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#badparents #cc #chapter10 #cliffhanger #ragnarok #rejected #kallenstadtfeld #lelouchvibritannia #suzakukurugi #fanfic #codegeass #reorganisation
Published: 2019-01-29 20:37:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 2376; Favourites: 2; Downloads: 0
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Kaminejima
Britannian Airspace
Logres-class HIMS Great Britannia
Schneizel sat in the throne of the Imperial Flagship having just heard the most outlandish tale from the last man he would expect to tell such. Apparently Sir Kururugi had failed in his mission to assassinate the Emperor but, according to Lord Waldstein's story, that soon wouldn't matter anyway.
Uniting humanity by stripping away their individuality? A lesser man would have snorted at such a childish idea. Humans couldn't be ruled by honesty, their very nature denied it, and yet his father actually believed they were really so good at their core? The very fact that he intended to do away with that same nature proved him a liar. And how would he do it anyway? With those strange ruins housed on this island?
Not enough of what Bismarck had told him made sense. It was…frustrating.
Besides the here and now took precedence over his father's idiocy, namely the sudden revolt of the garrison here. There was a threat that needed taking care of. You've never accepted defeat with grace, Lelouch. Such a pity.
"Kanon." He addressed his friend, "An update on the battle please."
"Almost finished, Your Highness." Kanon replied readily, a tablet in his hands detailing the reports from the three ships in their flotilla. "Reports from the Avalon show no further air units in the vicinity, our gunners say the same, and the Black Knights are nearly finished on the ground."
Ah yes, what an unlikely alliance that was. Schneizel had been admittedly surprised by the young woman who had taken the helm in Lelouch's absence. No older than sixteen and yet she commanded the rest as if she were Zero's equal. Even after the Black Knights had told her everything she'd maintained her composure, which already rated her as more dangerous than Lelouch's other stooges. Xingke may have taken command of the Ikaruga but no one, save possibly the Chinese, were deluded enough to think that Kaguya Sumeragi didn't decide the ship's course.
I'll have to watch that one. It wasn't just the fact that she commanded the Black Knights with such ease that made Schneizel uneasy. A teenager being put in charge of the United Federation of Nations, and showing that she could actually do the job, told him that this girl was more than just another flunky. She had charisma, intelligence and, when needed, ruthlessness; all the necessary traits required for a career politician. Did you know this when you chose her, Lelouch? Probably. You always did like to plan five steps ahead.
In this case, even if it worked against his little brother now, it meant Schneizel had to tread lightly. If she could command the Black Knights, why not this new federal alliance? If she could control the Federation, why not the world? Until Damocles was finished he would have to be very careful around her.
"Highness!" His thoughts were cut into by one of the bridge crew frantically calling out to him. "Something's happening out there!"
Something could mean a lot of things. People really needed to learn to speak plainly. "Elaborate."
"I-I don't know what it is!" The man stammered in reply, his countenance growing shakier with every word he said. "Th-these readings don't make any sense! It's like a magnetic pole just appeared out of nowhere!"
A magnetic pole? Impossible. And yet, at his feet, Bismarck's expression turned into a small victorious grin. Refusing to humour him, Schneizel called for a satellite scan. A moment later the main screen showed Kamine Island, unchanged in any way…save for the sky above it. His sceptical frown suddenly tightened, the only outward sign of his surprise at what he saw. High above the Great Britannia, an aurora had appeared right on top of the little island. Now what is that doing there?
"Highness!" Another of the bridge crew called out to him, their communications officer if he remembered correctly. "We're receiving similar reports from our spies in China! Another aurora has also appeared over Jerusalem* and…God…" The man had suddenly gone pale as the latest report came in.
"Go on, officer." Schneizel instructed his crew. "Tell me."
"P-Pendragon, Your Highness! There's one over Pendragon!" The announcement brought the entire crew to a standstill, then the worried murmurings began: What did this mean? What had the Emperor done? Why was there a magnetic pole forming over their capital? Even Kanon was marginally unnerved at the news.
"So this is happening worldwide?" Schneizel mused to himself, the only one besides one other not giving in to panic. And what a curious factor that was. His attention returned to the still smiling Knight of One at his feet. "Bismarck?"
The man in question didn't hesitate to answer. "It must be His Majesty's Plan coming to fruition. If His Majesty succeeds in carrying out his vision then whatever is left of the world will be yours to govern, per his royal decree. Although…" Here he couldn't resist turning his grin into a sly smirk as he glanced up at the Second Prince "the sense of politics will have changed greatly."
"Hmm." Scowling at the Emperor's top dog Schneizel put the dig out of his mind, returning his attention to the reports coming in. After a moment he discarded those and instead focussed on the little island before him where there were now the reports of earthquakes.
The Emperor was down there somewhere, whatever it was he thought he could achieve beginning at last. This is what you abandoned your Empire, your subjects for, Father? A chance to play God? Well, on some level he could understand but all the same it was a repugnant lapse of duty that the people had placed upon him.
No matter though. By a magnificent stroke of irony, there was someone down there who was just stubborn enough to stop that foolish man in his tracks.
C's World
The Sword of Akasha
As far as anyone could tell nothing seemed to have changed. However, by the confident expressions of Charles and Marianne's faces, whatever they'd intended had been achieved.
The first signs of their success were small: Something started to bother Lelouch, nothing really painful or debilitating, just an annoying beat behind his left eye. The pulse grew, however and before he knew what was happening, his vision was assaulted by a single passage.
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.
Blinking didn't help him any, if anything it just enforced the writing and blacked out the rest of the world around him. Not blinking didn't doing anything either, as the letters continued to grow in prominence and the rest of the world died away.
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.
Dimly he recognised the language as Italian, and further involuntary reading of the passage gave him the chance to translate it: Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. Not a very reassuring message for an endeavour to unite the world.
"Lelouch?" Kallen noticed his still form first, she'd have expected him to react in some way to whatever it was the Emperor had just done but he hadn't even flinched. When he didn't respond she gave him a sharp nudge. "Hey, c'mon! Now's not the time to shut down on us!"
"Give him a moment, Kallen." C.C. told her, her green bangs falling back down over her head, hiding her Code away. "His Geass is reacting to the change mankind is undergoing. It's not the easiest thing to adjust to."
You seem pretty calm about it. She couldn't help noting, the Witch's return also reminding her of just how much she'd kept from them. If it weren't for the situation they were currently facing, she'd seriously consider kicking the Verdette's ass for that. For now though, she just focussed on bringing Lelouch around.
"Hey!" She snapped at him, shaking him roughly. "Rise and shine! Are you seriously gonna sleep through the end of the world?!" He remained unresponsive, his left eye rolling around in its socket as if he was dreaming. She however didn't have time for his nightmares and gave him a firm slap in the face. "Wake up!"
That did it. The words faded somewhat and his awareness of the world returned…along with his pain receptors. "Gods, Kallen," Lelouch muttered, rubbing his cheek "did you really have to hit me?"
"Try staying awake during the apocalypse and I'll consider it." With him back though she turned her attention to the two adults present, one of whom still had his arm outstretched whilst the other watched the sphere above as if waiting for something to happen. Finding out what that something was didn't take long though.
As the twin-helix of rage and misery continued to penetrate the sphere the world around them once again began to change. This time though, instead of peacefully fading into a corridor or a library, the sky began to violently crack until suddenly the whole eternal sunset background literally shattered apart leaving a new realm in its place. What had once been a warm ideal view of heaven turned into a cold machine-like enclosure. The Jovian planet still remained but now it was surrounded with black and grey, a small speck of colour in an otherwise metallic world.
"Behold!" Marianne called out joyfully. "It's begun! The Sword of Akasha is slaying God!"
"Away with this world of strife and woe!" Charles intoned, which was followed by a responding moan as the helix plunged ever deeper. "Away with this world of rage and hate! Away with this world of dreams!"
His attention then turned to C.C. and he began to walk towards her. "Now, all that is left is to merge our Codes. Then the old world will end and the new one shall begin!"
The Emperor's words caught Kallen's attention and she quickly moved to stand between the two Codes. "Not happening! What happens when she loses hers?"
"I think the answer would be obvious." C.C. answered for them, outwardly unmoved but within somewhat confused. It was unlike the redhead to stand up for her, they knew each other better than that to think the other needed to be protected.
Knew it. Marianne's implications of what had happened to Victor had given her an idea of what was about to happen to C.C.. As such Kallen stood her ground, glaring up defiantly at Charles "Then I'm not budging."
"We've been through this, young one." The Emperor chided, his stride not lessening as the gap between him and success closed at last.
"Doesn't matter, it's not happening." She snapped back, "So just take that new world of yours and shove it up your ass!"
Aside, Lelouch and Suzaku observed the byplay without uttering any opinion of their own. All this talk of a world without deceit sounded nice, good, everything they'd struggled against each other for; surely Nunnally and Euphie would be glad for all the lies in the world to die away.
And yet…
"Lelouch." Suzaku broke his silence first, glancing over at his friend's unmoving figure. "Why did you want to control the world?"
"Don't waste my time, Suzaku." The other replied still looking ahead at his mother, who in turn watched her husband as he approached C.C. without a shred of remorse in her expression. "You know it was all done for Nunnally."
Maybe that's how it started. He would concede that much. However a glance to his left at the two girls who had kept Lelouch alive all this time brought up a question that, once upon a time, he would have deemed unfathomable of the former prince. "Or are you just using her now as an excuse?"
An excuse? Lelouch's face screwed up in offence and he cast a sideways glare in warning at the Knight of Seven, but it melted away when he saw where Suzaku was looking. Regarding those two women himself for a second he was suddenly hit by the possibility that what he was saying might actually hold truth. Nunnally had been important to him, enough to challenge Britannia, but to genuinely care about Japan? Or for another's wellbeing besides his own little sister's? It pointed towards a conclusion he'd never truly considered, passing it off as a convenient lie to maintain the guise of Zero.
A small chuckle escaped his lips as he returned his gaze to Suzaku in acknowledgement. "Yes, you're right, I am. I have fought to protect everything I thought I wanted to protect."
Thought so. Not so different from his own methods this past year when he thought about it, desiring the position of Knight of One so he could shield Japan from the horrors of the world. They both wanted to protect something and now the Emperor threatened it all. "If you're going to achieve that end, you need to take action."
"Yes." Lelouch agreed. "The means to that end requires that I reject something."
"Which is?"
The prompt was unnecessary, but he mentally thanked his friend anyway as he too now walked forward to stand ahead of Kallen and C.C. adding his own defiant glare towards Charles who at last stopped at this latest intrusion. How nice of him to show he cared enough to hear him out, but he wouldn't like what his son had to say.
"I reject you!" Lelouch declared, "And I reject everything you believe!"
Reject? Charles found himself amused at his son's words, did he really think this could be stopped now with a debate? That time passed fifty years ago…but he could humour him a little bit longer. "And why is that?"
He didn't immediately respond, his glare passing to the miserable twin helix above them. He began his rebuttal with a question. "Why do people lie? We have established that they do so in their struggle against one another, but there is another reason: it's also because they have something to protect."
His words caught C.C.'s attention, her previous curiosity rising again as she muddled through her Warlock's words. Protect? Her lies to him had protected her, yes, but the way he was spinning it sounded as if she had been protecting more than just that…had she been? She had no reason to…
Ahead, Lelouch's gaze dropped back to the Emperor not having lessened in its intensity one bit. "By your own actions, I acknowledge you as also being guilty of this act. And yet you now want a world without change." His glare became a disgusted scowl at the idea, "How stagnant! You could hardly call it life, nothing more than a world of memories – closed and completed – a place I wouldn't want to live in at all."
"But Lelouch." Marianne spoke up, a small sliver of worry in her tone hidden behind her hopeful smile. "Does this mean you're rejecting me as well?" Her boy was a troublesome one, of course he'd take issue with Charles, but surely he wouldn't oppose those he genuinely loved.
And admittedly Lelouch's scowl did diminish somewhat as he turned his attention to her, though his look could hardly be considered soft. "That depends, I suppose. Is your intent the same as His Majesty's, Mother?"
So he really would… That actually hurt a little. But she would press on, Al was waiting for her. Besides, children loved a happy ending and she happened to know just which buttons to push with this group. "Surely you can't deny how good it will be to be reunited with all our loved ones? Even those who have died, including Nunnally and Euphemia."
That crossed a line with Suzaku and he now directed a harsh glare at the Empress. How dare she bring her into this? An innocent warped by this game; Lelouch may have pulled the trigger, but they set it up that way. In the face of his growing outrage though, Marianne remained unmoved.
The pain of his little sister's name came and went, and with it the extra fury of his mother trying to manipulate him. Thus Lelouch closed his eyes and left out a calming breath. "As I expected. You both believe that this new world you envision is best for all."
"A world without pain." Kallen threw in, her own ire rising at the woman's tempting them with dead loved ones. "Sure sounds nice…but you'd remove all pain that ever was! I was made by my pain! I hate that I feel it, but I still need it to be me!"
Grateful for his Queen's input, Lelouch built off her statement. "Kallen speaks the truth: Though it hurts, those experiences are a part of us. No matter how good your intentions, forcing them upon us so that we never felt it in the first place may as well be a lobotomy."
"A trivial concern." Was Charles' retort, "In time, the people will come to accept it as fact."
"That time will never come!" Was he not the proof of that? Right here and now, with all the facts finally given to him regardless of how outlandish they were, Lelouch was no closer to agreeing with his parents' actions. How could he, when they were denying something?
"Only one thing is undeniably certain! I understand now that what you may have done to me and Nunnally was born of good intentions..." Furious, his gaze fell back onto his mother, the one he thought he knew now revealed to be nothing he'd ever believed in. "But the hard fact remains: You abandoned us in a foreign land!"
"We did that to protect you!" Marianne insisted, her irritation beginning to grow over her son's obsessive need to hammer something evil on them. "Victor would never have given up as long as…"
"Are you seriously still singing that?!" Kallen cut her off, her vicious glare at last moving away from the Emperor to stab at this equally disgusting human being. "If you're such good parents, then where the hell were you when Britannia invaded Japan?!"
Her question stopped the Empress cold…as well as make C.C. observe her previous Contractor anew; the answer was obvious really. Strange that a woman who professed the desire for truth would hide such from herself.
Not so hard for her son though, his Queen had just asked the rhetorical question faster than him, and he readily gave the reason: "The plan was such a priority that it didn't matter if Nunnally and I were alive or dead. This new world would make it irrelevant, correct?"
It burned but that was reality: Where parents put their aspirations above their children's wellbeing; where the son accumulates the sins of the father just for sharing his name; where the daughter becomes a monster at the bidding of another brother. That was this world's truth, and the truth would follow them into the new one. "Argue it any way you want, but it still amounts to the same pile of self-serving excuses!"
"Lelouch!" His mother called out to him again, "You're taking this too far! We always meant to-!"
"Take us home via the Thought Elevator?" He finished her protest, bile rising up his throat as he watched her again go silent. Clearly she'd realised the flaw in that argument. "But first you'd have to activate it, and what did you just say? The dead will rejoin the living, so what do you care about the future?!"
"The future will be built by Ragnarök!" The Emperor insisted, growing impatient at this menial delay. "Once it's finally done, the gentle world Nunnally wished for will be-!"
"SILENCE!" They dared speak of her desires?! Tempting Suzaku with Euphie was one thing but to drag Nunnally into this was intolerable. And what did they know of what she'd wanted?! "The world you would build, where the dead return and all past transgressions are forgotten, will be kind and gentle only to you! Nunnally's dream was a world where kindness is extended to everyone, from the closest of friends to the most distant stranger!"
"And she could've done it too!" Kallen joined in. Hearing them spout off knowing what that sweet girl wanted was the highest insult she could conceive coming from them. She'd spent time with Nunnally, had heard her stories, laughed in their conversations. Reality cast them as enemies but she'd never been treated as such by her. "But you had to have your perfect world, had to put so many people down, had to make millions miserable just so you could feel good about yourselves!"
Their words bounced off apparently deaf ears in front of them, however what they said also travelled back to the people behind them. For C.C. it wasn't anything new, she'd known from the beginning what she was doing was selfish – benefits of being immortal, after a while the morality of the world just became meaningless...or it had been until Lelouch had started making her question things again.
As for Suzaku, he listened to the words of these two would-be terrorists and found himself pondering their validity based on all he'd seen and done. ...They might be right. At the very least, Euphie never said Lelouch was Zero. It had meant lying to Princess Cornelia, whom she adored, and to him, her own knight, but she had still done it. She protected Lelouch, even though doing so ultimately killed her. Shirley was the same. C.C. is obligated to do so but that doesn't mean she had to save him at Narita, she could've found someone else. And Kallen… Where did he start with her? She'd taken torture, interrogations, temptations…even the threat of Refrain… and not once did she betray Lelouch, even though she probably had more cause to do so than anyone else here.
Which means I have to…
Opposite them the Emperor scoffed, his annoyance at his son and the girl finally affecting his words. "Let's assume what you say is true: What of it?" He asked them, sneering at their obstinance. "There's nothing you can do about it, Ragnarök has already begun!"
His seemingly certain declaration should have made them back down, in the face of such power – an immortal being calling upon a weapon powerful enough to kill God – any normal human being would do just that. But Kallen, stubborn as ever, just dug in her heels. Lelouch, however, chose to be a bit more confrontational.
"You think so?" He asked them, almost conversationally, before flicking his fingers up to direct his parents' eyes to his own which had remained uncovered. "Have you forgotten what your actions birthed? I am Zero! The Man who makes Miracles!"
If he'd expected that declaration, or his veiled intent, to threaten him the boy was seriously deluded, or just desperate. "Your Geass will have no effect on me." Charles reminded him, unphased. "Nor will it work on anyone else save the young Alstreim, and even then what could a human do to stop me?"
Again his argument was correct, there was no human present that he could ensnare. "But you're wrong." Lelouch declared, his gaze tipping slightly upwards to get his hint across. "There is someone else here, isn't there?"
Someone else? He hadn't felt anyone else join them from outside. Charles glanced at Marianne but she just shook her head, a similar confused expression on her face as well. What was Lelouch pulling? Geass only worked on people with a mind connected to the Collective Unconscious, what could he possibly hope to… A connected mind…
Eyes going wide in realisation, Charles' gaze shot upwards. "You can't mean to…"
"Yes." Lelouch replied simply, arms stretching out wide in prostration, tipping his head back to stare up at the Jovian sphere. "Geass is a creation of C's World, an extension of the Collective Unconscious, mankind's desires given agency. And all men are not created equal, remember those words?" How ironic was that? In building the persona of a tyrannical emperor his father had technically told the truth. "No one human shares exactly the same desires, there's always a unique spin – a unique dream – that separates them all from each other, maintaining their individuality. Which means my power will work!"
"Nonsense!" The Emperor decried, his gaze returning to his son. If he couldn't do it, what hope could Lelouch possibly have? "Even if all men dream their own dream, you seek to defeat God! A mere king has no power to do so!"
And that's where we differ, Father.
"I don't intend to defeat God, this is a request!" Yes, the request of one little human being. That is what I am, all that I am. Let that be enough!
Not letting another second go by, Lelouch cried out to the sphere. "GOD! COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS!"
Insanity! Charles couldn't believe what he was seeing. Since when did his son, who based everything he did on facts and empirical evidence, go off on faith? Snorting in disappointment he returned his attention to C.C. who had also peered up at the sphere, this distraction had gone on long enough. He was just about to get back on track when a gasp from his wife stopped him. Looking round he saw that she too was looking up worriedly at the planetoid. No, it's not possible!
Concern now took his mind and he too looked up. What he saw turned it into fear: The Collective Unconscious, which had been a Jovian orange, was now glowing an unearthly gold – it had responded to Lelouch's call!
NO! Turning back to Lelouch he made to do something to silence him before he could utter his wish…too late.
Upon seeing the glow, Lelouch seized the opportunity. "GOD! THIS SINGLE HUMAN HAS A WISH FOR THE WORLD: DO NOT STOP THE MARCH OF TIME!"
Even as he uttered the words, something shifted. The Crane didn't fly and yet, strangely, this reaction didn't bother him as much as it should have. What did catch his attention, as he uttered his plea, was the Italian words that hadn't ceased in their assault on his vision suddenly vanished. Almost immediately his anxiety diminished, dropping down to a mere pecking on the edge of his psyche.
His relief at that change didn't translate to everyone present though. At the climax of her son's selfish desire, Marianne finally broke rank. "Lelouch!" She chastised furiously, "You ungrateful child, don't you dare-!"
THWACK!
She was cut off by a crimson-gloved fist to the face which sent her spinning to the floor. Nursing the bruise, she turned up to glare at the girl who'd thrown it. "Y'know, I didn't even know that was gonna work." Kallen admitted, returning the furious look to the woman she'd just decked. "But I gotta admit, just trying was almost as good as actually getting to do it."
"Idiot girl!" The Empress snarled, getting back to her feet and advancing on her menacingly. "Don't you realise what you're giving up?!"
The question got a scowl out of her but little more as she firmly and honestly replied. "Nothing I can't live without."
"Then I pity you." And with that her advance turned into a lunge, only to be stopped again this time by a sword blade.
Suzaku, remaining quiet for so long, had been all but invisible to the rest of the group so that when he did reappear it was as if he'd come out of nowhere. For a moment, Kallen tensed up seeing him so close but a quick glance from him reminded her of the situation – they could settle things later. Right now he focussed his efforts, and not a little bit of his own rage, at the Empress. "No one would have wanted this! And you should be ashamed to even think Euphie would!"
Frustration piled atop of ire as Marianne turned to face this latest annoyance. "Ashamed?! You should be grateful that I saved you at all! Don't you want to see her again?!"
"I'll see her in due time!" He snarled back. "But I won't be forced into it by you!"
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS BOY!" Charles bellowed at his son, fury and fear filling his tone. How could Lelouch do this to them? This was for the greater good! "YOU WOULD DENY HUMANITY THEIR ONE CHANCE AT TRUE PEACE FOR A FANCIFUL DREAM!"
"DREAM OR NOT!" Lelouch shouted back, his eyes never leaving the glowing sphere as the pecking suddenly picked up its tempo again. "WHAT I WANT…IS TOMORROW!"
The two Codes felt it immediately, though C.C.'s reaction was merely a surprised breath. Charles however saw the change in Lelouch through C's World's eyes and knew what it represented seconds before it happened.
High above the gold glow gave way to a purple tint that settled into the winged symbol of Geass sprawled across the sphere and a familiar red ring encircled it. Another moment passed without anything really happening…and then the mighty blade of misery began to fall apart. It didn't so much collapse on itself as it did disintegrate, all the negative thoughts and feelings that made it up giving way to the possibility of the future, leaving the Collective Unconscious untouched.
"It can't be!" Marianne cried, turning away from Suzaku and Kallen to stare in shock at what had happened.
Charles too turned away from Lelouch, staggering forwards in disbelief as he watched his life's work tumble back down into the abyss. "It's falling! The dream that I, Marianne and my brother all shared…it's all falling away…"
"Let it go, Charles." For the first time in a while C.C. spoke up, resignation filling her tone as she dropped to the floor, pulling her legs up against her chest as she looked upon her Warlock's work. "Just stop. It was presumptuous of us to even attempt this."
Presumptuous?! She would turn away from her own wish as well?! Just what had Lelouch infected her with that even a woman who knew the hopelessness of this world would stand against this plan? Fury began to take over shock and Charles turned back around, his marked palm outstretched. "You think this is over, C.C.?! So long as we hold these Codes, no matter what occurs we can still...!"
But he drifted off as he saw the two non-Geass holding humans staring at him in shock. Was his persistence truly so surprising? He would fight for eternity to see this world born if that was what it took! Lelouch would not thwart him in this!
Even as he thought that though, the awe on the two normal humans increased. And then he noticed that they weren't really looking at him but the floor around him, what was so interesting about that? Frustration made him impetuous and he too looked down, intent on doing away with whatever was blinding them to his fury…and found himself staring as well. "Wha-what is this?!"
The lower half of his body had vanished, the only trace of it having been there at all being a glittering violet outline that was slowly working its way upwards. Seeing such had left Suzaku and Kallen suitably stupefied, despite everything else this world had thrown at them, watching the Emperor slowly dissolve in front of them was something they hadn't expected to witness.
"This isn't a falsehood, Father." Lelouch uttered, his arms dropping back down as he looked upon the man, for the first time, with pity. "It's reality's response."
"Charles!" Marianne's terrified cry followed her as she rushed to her husband, only to be cut off when she too stopped. Fear gripped her as she looked down to see the same glow eating away at her lower body. Turning back she set a furious glare on her son. "What have you done?!"
That was a question Kallen wouldn't mind answered as she tentatively made her way back over to Lelouch's side, her amazed eyes not once leaving the spectacle before her. "What's going on? What do you mean by reality responding?"
"I have a theory." He replied, his gaze also fixed on the disappearing form of his parents. "Charles and Marianne are still intent on creating their ideal world…but that would contradict the wishes and desires of the human race, which pushes ever forward into the future. Think of it like the human immune system: These two represent an illness which pervades the human body…but give the white blood cells enough time and that sickness will eventually be consumed."
His pitiful gaze didn't shift a bit as he looked upon the two adults. "Which is exactly what is happening now, Father. You're being eaten."
"Eaten?!" The Emperor yelled in disbelief, that couldn't be right! He was immortal! Nothing could touch him!
"But that doesn't make sense!" Marianne decried, looking beyond them to the one who wasn't making any sort of stand. "What about C.C.? Why aren't you disappearing? You supported this plan as much as we did!"
Once I did…She acknowledged sadly, looking upon the pair whom she'd once thought would grant her wish only now to see them fade away. "Sorry…but I finally realised something." It hurt but everything Lelouch had said added up, the fact that C's World itself seemed to agree with him needn't have been shown. "The love you have is only for yourselves."
"No!" The Empress protested fearfully, the violet trim now having passed her hipline and making quick work of her waist. "That's not true! We love our children very much!"
And that's the problem, isn't it? Pity turning to disappointment, Lelouch placed a restraining hand on Kallen's shoulder before she could run Marianne over the coals a third time. He had his own grievances to air. "Do either of you have any idea of the meaning behind Nunnally's beautiful smile?"
His question brought both parents up short. "The meaning?" Marianne asked, confused as to why he'd bother debating something like this as he killed them.
"Why don't you understand?!" Her question just flamed the disappointment warring with heartbreak over this person who had never known her daughter. "Nunnally was blinded! My little sister was crippled! She knew there would be things that she would never be able to do for herself...so her smile…" Tears for that beautiful sight pricked his eyes, he could see it right now, full of love and warmth and kindness. "Nunnally's smile was her way of thanking the world for having people who loved her in it!"
His declaration puffed up Kallen and Suzaku, both of whom had been on the receiving end of that smile he was talking about. Both of them had looked into that kind face and found something better. He couldn't have said it any better if he had tried…
The parents however, focussed on their disappearing act, were less convinced. "Now you place fantasies upon a facial expression?!" Charles barked, "You're labouring under a delusion!"
"I WILL NOT LET YOU CALL THAT A LIE!" Lelouch all but screamed his own furious response. Call him a liar for anything, from fighting the good fight to the sun setting anywhere but the west, but questioning Nunnally's smile? "Over my dead body!"
And with that fury came his disdain as he looked upon the pathetic sight of his parents, now only their upper torsos and arms left untouched by C's World's clean up service as the Sword of Akasha finally died away to nothing. "Look at you both! Your refusal to accept reality, content to watch us from afar, and you expect me to believe you know a thing about Nunnally?! Don't make me laugh! There's only one truth here: You, my own parents – YOU ABANDONED US!"
Fury begot fury, the Emperor's own rising to the fore the more the idiot in front of him spouted his nonsense, until at last Charles couldn't hold it back anymore. Shoving past a shocked Marianne he launched himself straight at Lelouch, his right arm (the only one he had left) reaching out for him.
"YOU MAD LITTLE FOOL!" With that roar he latched his large hand around the boy's neck and held it tight, one set of furious amethysts glaring into a glowing defiant identical pair. He was set to squeeze tighter until he felt the girl suddenly latch hold of his ascot. "Release me, child!"
"You first, Majesty." Kallen snarled back, sapphire eyes glinting dangerously. "Get the hell away from him."
"Q1." His uttering of her code name caught her attention though she didn't look away from the Emperor for a second. "Stand down. The same goes for you, Suzaku!" He called behind him when he heard his friend lift his sword up to mount a defence. "Stay out of this."
Lelouch himself hadn't broken eye contact with his father, this was something he needed to do himself. Their help was appreciated but, as the Emperor's hand also started to fade away, it was ultimately unnecessary. Seeing such made Kallen back off a step, but she remained right by his side all the same.
Desperation made Charles try one last time to get him to see reason, he had to know what was waiting for him beyond this realm! "Can't you see that, if you refuse me and what I offer, you will inherit his world – Schneizel's world! Make no mistake, good and evil exist on both sides of the same card! Even still you-!"
"Regardless of what awaits me," Lelouch cut him off, resolute in his decision. "I'll always reject the world you envision. NOW BEGONE!"
His command echoed throughout C's World, the unspoken desire to be rid of these creatures that walked and talked like humans but hid monsters beneath the skin. The realm reacted to his wish, accelerating the near-complete consumption process, in spite of the protesting cries from the Emperor and his wife until they were nothing more than a few scraps of debris…and then even that was eaten away.
Ragnarök had been averted.
Kaminejima
Britannian Airspace
Logres-class HIMS Great Britannia
For the last ten minutes reports from around the world had continued to pour in as the strange seismic activity and impossible manifestations of magnetic poles grew in their intensity. For the most part, Kanon handled those as Prince Schneizel maintained his silent vigil on the island before them. What he was waiting for was anyone's guess though his loyal Aide did have one theory. Whether or not he could pull it off though was another matter.
And then the news changed.
"Highness!" The comms officer reported, eyes riveted on the report with palpable relief. "Word from Pendragon! The aurora is dissipating!"
The news startled Bismarck, though he managed to concentrate it into a small flinch that no one save the Second Prince noticed. Schneizel made no point to call him on it though, his attention fixed on the report. "Is this the only case?"
"No, Your Highness!" Another of the bridge crew replied, his tone also carrying a returning sense of ease. "Reports in Britain and Jerusalem say the same! The earthquakes have stopped and the auroras are disappearing!"
Then we can expect the same in China and the other locations. He surmised calmly, though his sense of triumph didn't translate onto his face which remained impassive. Good news to be sure, but that still left the question of…
His mental query was answered though when Bismarck lurched forward as if in pain. Seeing such silenced most of the crew, the Knight of One never showed discomfort. The man himself would take such a word as an understatement, it felt as if a part of himself had suddenly just died. "It…can't be!"
Such words from him confirmed what Schneizel had suspected. "Can I assume by your expression that…?"
"Yes." Bismarck replied emptily, unable to deny what his Contract was telling him, though he'd give anything to believe it wasn't so. "His Majesty, Charles zi Britannia, has been…bested."
Bested. A cute choice of words. And finally Schneizel allowed himself a small amused smile. It would seem his father had fallen prey to another, ironically fulfilling the cycle that, according to his own Knight, he'd never truly believed in. What a perfect end for you, Father.
This would raise questions though, just looking around him now he could see the bridge crew glancing at each other nervously. It didn't take a genius to guess what they were thinking either: Is the Emperor really dead? Who killed him? Who's the new Emperor? What happens now? Etcetera, etcetera.
Well they needn't worry too much. Schneizel considered as he stood from the throne and gave instructions to leave this airspace and make for Cambodia. After all, they'll all be dead very soon. Well played Lelouch. He couldn't help acknowledging his little brother's new move. Whether he knew this would happen or not, he'd just sewn chaos into Britannia's ranks.
Well played indeed.
C's World
The Sword of Akasha
Once again the world began to change. The metallic enclosure fell in on itself, disintegrating, and what light there had been before died away as the still-glowing Jovian sphere began to return from whence it came, the last sign of its presence being the red winged sigil that it would forever marred by.
The lack of light should have worried them had it not been for C.C.'s presence. With no further reason to stay here she activated her Code and removed them from C's World, depositing them all back on top of the ruins within the cave on Kaminejima.
The glare of unnatural light clicked in Kallen's mind first. "We're back." She murmured to no one, almost surprised that they would ever see this world again. However, she adapted quickly after a brief look around – noting the damage on the platform and the even greater destruction done to the once pristine wall – and turned to face C.C.
Being back in the real world also meant dealing with reality and there was more than one person here who had questions for the others, or issues that hadn't yet been resolved. As she seemed to be the only active person here Kallen took it upon herself to get the ball rolling, she left Lelouch's side to approach the Witch who remained behind them, still sat on the floor.
Nonchalant as ever, she barely noticed the redhead's approach until she was right above her. "Is there something you needed, Kallen?" She asked, still seemingly in her own little world.
"You were dead." Kallen simply stated, cutting right through all the usual bullshit and getting right to the point. "Why did you do that?"
Her lack of exposition wasn't a problem, C.C. knew exactly what she meant. But she was going to be disappointed if she thought there were any answers to be found here. Thus, the Verdette merely shrugged. "I don't know."
"You don't-!" That had not been the answer Kallen had been hoping for. "C.C.! You jumped in front of a firing squad! A normal person would be dead! You were dead! I don't care!" She cut C.C. off as she went to lift up her fringe. "I don't care about the damn Code! I watched you die! And you can't even tell us why you did that?!"
In the face of all that frustration, C.C. remained outwardly unmoved. Inside though was another matter, it was nice to know Cera's passing had had an effect. Poor girl had deserved at least someone to miss her. As to why she threw herself in front of Lelouch...
"I don't know why Cera did what she did." She repeated, though she noted the use of her old name garnered a curious side-glance from Lelouch. "I may remember her actions but it's like seeing it through a window: I lack context."
All right, that was a lie. She knew exactly what Cera had felt and thought all the way through that brief return to her youth, that wasn't the thing that confused her. What was odd was how quickly those feelings had formed, or that they had at all. Cera the slave-girl had known better than to hope for a kind owner, so what had made Lelouch, and then Kallen, so different?
Her confusion didn't help the lady in question though and she let out an annoyed groan. And now she talks about herself in third-person. Are we sure she came back right? Shaking her head at C.C.'s sheer…C.C.-ness, Kallen pushed on. "Alright, how about all the stuff you kept from us? You knew about this plan, and Lelouch's mom being alive, and you never said a word."
"No, I didn't." C.C. had been labelled many things over her long life, but one thing she'd never been called was a tattletale. They had been two separate Contracts and she was beholden to keep her accomplices' secrets.
"I should be pissed off with you." Kallen told her, vainly trying to hold on to a glare. And why shouldn't she be? "I really, really, should kick your ass from here to the E.U. for all the crap you've pulled."
"Could you aim for Italy?" The Witch requested, a sly smirk rising as she observed Lelouch's Queen desperately trying to stay all puffed up. So cute. Her gaze slipped over to their raven-haired audience. "Only someone got Cera hooked on Pizza and I'm having a craving."
"See! That! That right there!" Snapped Kallen, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "You think you can hide stuff from us, lose your memory, get yourself killed and come back again, and then just ask for Pizza?!"
"Well why not?" C.C. asked, shrugging again. "You're not going to get any of the answers you want so why not indulge me for a bit?" Then her smirk turned lewd. "Who knows? Maybe satisfying my needs will jog my memory."
Indulge? Satisfy? Why the hell is she…? Then it registered just what sort of look the lime succubus was shooting her way, and suddenly that last sentence sounded a lot more suggestive of something else. Wait, is she saying…me…with…and…? Kallen could feel the blood running up and flushing her cheeks, C.C.'s implication triggering her imagination. It was last year all over again! As if I'm just going to do that to get her to talk and…who the hell's laughing?!
The light chuckles she caught belonged to someone behind her and, going by the sound of the voice, she could guess who. Whirling around she fixed the culprit with the mother of all stink-eyes. "And what's so funny, Highness?"
"Apologies." Lelouch professed, not meaning a single syllable – gods, he'd missed this! "I just find it relieving that, even though we just saved the world, C.C. can still get under your skin with the simplest of bait."
Seriously?! C.C. annoyed her and he found it funny?! Exhaling her frustrations, she now gave the sassy prince her full attention. "Oh you get a laugh outta that, huh? Well how about I try a…"
She trailed off though as Lelouch, still wearing an amused expression, turned to face her fully. It wasn't the fact that, for once, his smile reached all the way to his eyes…rather it was the eyes themselves that brought her up short. Blinking a couple of times didn't change what she was seeing and Kallen let out an unconscious gasp when she realised it wasn't an illusion.
"Lelouch…" Her shocked tone lessened his relaxed expression as she continued to stare at him. "Your eyes…"
Her trailing comment served to completely wipe away his smile in favour of a frown, something was wrong with his eyes? A blink of his own didn't reveal anything, he could see just fine, but she still seemed to see something he couldn't. "What's wrong with them?"
"They're glowing."
What? His surprise matched hers as he tried to find out if this was true. Her comment also garnered Suzaku's attention, he'd been keeping his distance but hearing that both of Lelouch's eyes had lit up brought up his guard, he could guess what that meant.
The defensive movements of the Knight of Seven didn't go unnoticed by Lelouch, and he could admit to being somewhat offended by that, but he was more focussed on this change that he couldn't see...though a theory was building. He looked beyond Kallen to silently ask his Witch, who had peered up to observe him when this new development had been brought to his attention.
"Your Geass has changed again." She confirmed what she saw he'd been thinking. "It's entered the Dominant Stage."
"Dominant?" Kallen glanced back the Verdette's way, rightfully wary of such a title. "Does that mean it's more powerful now?"
Once again C.C. just shrugged. "I don't know, every Geass is different. The changes won't be known until he uses it on someone."
So that's what I felt. Her explanation sounded right to Lelouch, it would make sense why he didn't see the Crane fly, but there would be time to go over that later. For now, his attention back on someone he'd thought lost, he simply made his way over to her after giving Kallen a reassuring nod that he was okay. C.C. followed his approach with her typical unaffected expression until he stood before her.
Looking her over the first thing he noted was the red stained holes covering her straitjacket, triggering his memory and fury at what the Black Knights had done to her. He managed to control it to a mere wince and a raised eyebrow before drolly commenting. "You've looked better, Witch."
Snorting, she gave him a reproachful smirk. "Well if somebody hadn't decided to play up his megalomania, maybe I would."
Her pinning the blame on him wasn't unexpected, he would be annoyed if he wasn't so damned happy to receive a barb from her again. Too long. It had been much too long since he'd been subject to her wit, thus he just gave her an acknowledging smile and offered her a hand up. "I suppose I'll be paying for it for a while?"
"Three full wardrobes and unlimited Pizza for a month." She readily replied, reaching up and placing her hand in his. "And don't get me started on that pitiful excuse of a burial. I've had better send offs from-oop!"
When Lelouch pulled her to her feet he then tugged her close, prompting her surprised squeak, and wrapped his free arm around her waist. The other arm then let go of her hand and found a new perch on her head, fingers running through her hair. He would smirk at having caught her off guard – hugs really weren't their thing – but right now he just wanted to feel her.
"How about two wardrobes and I'll make the Pizza myself?"
Homemade Pizza? Some of her shock at her Warlock being so hands-y melted away at the promise of such. There were three types of Pizza in the world: served, take-out, and amateur, and he had just offered to make her the most meaningful kind. That at least deserved a small hug back which she promptly gave him. "I want spicy beef with jalapenos and chilli powder. Think you can survive that?"
Yep, she was making him pay. Gods, he'd missed her!
"Promise not to do that to me again," He murmured back, pulling her a little closer "and I'll make whatever you want."
Behind them, Kallen observed this tender moment and matched it up against the one they'd had on the Ikaruga. Such closeness between the two still seemed a bit weird but this time it didn't feel wrong, maybe because even in the middle of a hug they still found time to bicker like a pair of old-marrieds. As annoying as C.C. was, and despite how pissed off she should be about everything, all she could feel was glad to have her back. Maybe I'll kick her ass tomorrow.
As for Suzaku, he found himself rethinking the relationship he'd thought he knew between Lelouch and this witch. I had no idea she was that important to him. With Nunnally gone the number of people he'd be so physically tender with should have been zero, yet here was proof of the opposite. Just how well do I know him?
The moment passed though and C.C. pulled back, her aloof expression softened somewhat with a small fond light in her eyes as she gazed upon this aberration of human ambition. "Abide by our Contract and I'll try my best." Her usual response got a wry smirk out of him but her continuation, she smugly noted, wiped it right off. "After all when death comes you should at least be smiling, right?"
She remembers that? Lelouch felt his cheeks go red at the reminder of the promise he swore in China. Idiot, of course she does! Doesn't miss a thing, our Witch. The small teasing grin that was forming on her face said as much. Blasted girl's worse than Milly!
As for C.C. she couldn't help her smile, he should've known she'd hold him accountable for that. Preying on a poor girl's desires, had he no shame? Of course not, he wouldn't be my Warlock otherwise. Patting his adorably flushed cheek, she peered over him to see the other two.
"And you?" She asked them, admittedly curious to know the paths of these people who had rejected world peace. "What will you do now?"
Her putting them on the spot like that caused both her targets to tense up, though Kallen did so because she half expected the witch to launch some kind of chaos that would either confuse or humiliate her. When nothing happened and they gave no answer, C.C. pressed on. "I have to admit you shocked me in there. I figured Lelouch would deny it, if only to spite Charles, but you…you stood with him, embracing reality and the forward march of time. However…"
Her prompt got Suzaku's attention first, she was right of course. In that moment they had been united in common interest to stop Ragnarök and together, though Lelouch had led the charge, they had done just that. But now that threat was in the past and he was still a Knight of Britannia.
"I know." He said, both in answer and resignation, his gaze turning flinty as it fixed on the Leader of the Black Knights and raised his sword. "Lelouch is the one who murdered Euphemia."
"Seriously?!" Suzaku's declaration spurred Kallen into action and she immediately came about to stare him down, keeping Lelouch and C.C. firmly behind her. "We just took down the Emperor – together! – and you want to bring that up again!? Why did I expect any better?" Trust that, even when they did manage to work together, this idiot would find a way to piss her off.
"Kallen, you're acting as if I want to do this."
"Don't you?" She shot back, not buying it for a second. "Isn't that all you live for these days? To kill Zero and rise up the ranks?"
Where was a rock when she needed one?
Her words stung…but only because they were true. "For a time, yes, that was all I had." He admitted, some of the sharpness leaving his eyes. "If I could kill Zero and become the Knight of One, maybe Euphie could rest in peace. But then I realised I didn't have the full story."
Their talk – his interrogation of Lelouch – at the Kururugi Shrine had only been a day ago yet it was as if years had gone by since then. He'd demanded answers and all he'd gotten were lies, every question he put forward Lelouch had had an ideal reply ready for him. At first Suzaku had even believed them…but then he saw his eyes, the same haunted expression filled with guilt and grief that he saw every time he looked in a mirror. Then he was furious with Lelouch for continuing to cover it up, for letting him think the worst of him…until now.
"He said it himself. People lie to each other because they want to protect something." He continued, a sense of understanding colouring his tone. "In that case, Lelouch protected me from a truth that I wasn't ready to hear. Right?" He asked over Kallen's shoulder to the source of their conversation who had turned to observe him with that unnerving new look of his. However Suzaku didn't back down. "How could I accept that Euphie's death, the massacre, and everything else about that day, had been nothing more than a terrible mistake?"
It was somewhat gratifying to see shock cross over Lelouch's expression, did he really think he was that obtuse? His morals warped by his death wish had gotten in the way before, this was true, but he was not an idiot. Their previous talk and this latest encounter had given him all he'd needed to work it out and, more importantly, to understand.
"V.V. knew that as well. It's why he told me about Geass right after Euphie died." Looking back on it now, it was rather convenient for the little monster to have found him then and there. He must have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to turn him into a puppet. Makes a person wonder just how much he interfered with last year.
"Therefore, I acknowledge that what happened was nothing short of a horrible situation beyond your control…but…" Now he locked down his emotions and focussed solely on his task, gripping his sword tight again as he stared Lelouch down. "None of that matters. It doesn't matter that you didn't mean to do it. It doesn't matter that your Geass went rampant at that moment, or that Euphie had no choice but to carry out the order. It doesn't matter that this was all a ploy set up by V.V. to tear us apart. You still did it. And as Princess Euphemia's sworn Knight of Honour, it is my duty to bring you to justice, Zero."
Throughout his speech Kallen had remained silent, admittedly because part of her was surprised Suzaku was actually smart enough to figure all that out. However when he got to the last bit, her temper flared and she spat at him. "Justice? Let's stick a vial of Refrain in your neck and then we can talk about that!"
That specific suggestion, Lelouch noted, got a barely noticeable flinch out of Suzaku – he wouldn't dare…! – but nonetheless he figured it was time for him to step in before these two brought the cave down around them. Stepping away from C.C., he moved forward and once again restrained his Queen with a hand on her shoulder. "Kallen, that's enough. He's right."
"Lelouch!"
He silenced her with a sudden sharp stare. Her defence of him was appreciated but, like with Charles, this was something he had to do himself. Not waiting for her to concede or refuse his wish, he stepped passed her to stand before Suzaku, still a bit of distance stretching between them but not something that would hamper the Japanese Knight if he truly went through with his intent. He can dodge bullets after all. Bloody exercise freak.
Taking in a breath, he now spoke his piece. "You are right, Suzaku. I did kill Euphie. The circumstances don't matter at all, the one who took her life was me. But…" his accepting expression now slipped into a mildly academic frown as he went on, "let's apply that logic to another example: After all, it doesn't matter that you gave me fair warning, nor does it matter that I was the one who gave the order to kill you. It does not fall on Kallen who followed through with said order, or her new Knightmare for overpowering you. It doesn't matter that the Geass I placed on you forced you to live by any means," Kallen's stunned 'huh?!' at that was noted (he was gonna get it if he survived this) and pushed aside, "nor does it matter that that monstrous weapon was the only option you had left: You still used it."
As he talked, the more he saw on Suzaku's face that his friend understood where he was taking this. Well he was the one who wanted to play by duty, surely he should've expected a turn around.
"And in using it, you killed Nunnally."
Silence followed his summation. Even C.C. had gone still at her Warlock's tone, having never heard him speak like that before. Kallen had though and she tensed, the demonic fury she'd seen on the Ikaruga flashing through her mind.
However Lelouch maintained his cool, simply unzipping his jacket and rummaging through an interior pocket. A moment later he found what he was looking for and pulled it out.
"So tell me, Sir Kururugi, Seventh Knight of the Round Table, Soldier of Britannia." He fought back sneer as he spoke the titles, his sharp gaze turning vicious, and pointed Kallen's handgun straight at him. "Why shouldn't I kill you?"