Chapter Text
R2 Episode 23: Face Underneath the Mask-I
Lelouch, an exiled prince of Britannia, was given a wonderous power: Geass, the ability to command anyone to do anything at all. Now wearing the crown of his father as Emperor, and surrounded by those whose faith in him is unshakeable, Lelouch stands first and firm as renewed chaos descends across the world. For many who are burdened by uncertainty there is little hope, but some may still choose to seek the future. Little do they realize they follow Lelouch toward an inevitable battle, and an unavoidable destiny.
LLLLLLLLLLLL
When C.C. stepped out from Lelouch's cabin, that left Rivalz and Nina alone with Jeremiah and Sayoko. Who the mysterious greenette, called only by her initials, really was, they still had no idea, but she was clearly in a position of importance. For now they could only assume she was the Emperor's confidante. They hadn't been eager to ask her personally, and although Margrave Jeremiah, and this Sayoko woman, seemed at ease with her and might have the answers they sought, the teens still weren't especially comfortable broaching the topic with them either.
The once-disgraced nobleman knelt by a large bed fitted with dark purple covers, watching over Sayoko resting upon it. She too was an unknown for the Ashford students, but had a more discernable link to the Royal Family than C.C.
She appeared from what she said to be some kind of special agent for Lelouch, and had been since before he became Emperor. As soon as C.C. was in sight she began telling her the results of some mission to rescue Princess Nunnally. The fact two civilians were present as well didn't seem to matter to her. Perhaps it didn't.
After a time the door opened and Lelouch, draped in his fineries, and C.C., wrapped in her trusty white straightjacket, entered.
Rivalz had been staring intently at the pink carpet, Nina's hand in his to provide some reassurance, and when their friend returned he looked up with relief.
"Lelouch!"
Lelouch nodded and held out a hand to acknowledge the boy.
Sayoko attempted to sit up.
"Master Lelouch..."
Lelouch extended his raised hand to her, bidding her lay back down.
"Just relax, Miss Sayoko."
She seemed reluctant at first, but eventually Sayoko obeyed and eased herself back down. Lelouch observed her carefully, running his eyes up and down her frame. She truly was in bad shape. She was even still wearing her battle uniform from the night of his last operation as Zero, when FLEIJA was demonstrated to the world.
That had been two months ago.
"Rivalz." Lelouch addressed his friend, making eye contact then moving on to Nina. "Nina. I know what's going on doesn't seem to make much sense. I can't right now, but I will explain what's going on - what's been going on from the beginning. I promise. No matter what else-" he paused mid-statement, his brow furrowing, seemingly in regret, "-I am still the Lelouch you know."
As soon as Lelouch had made his oath, Rivalz and Nina turned their heads and shared a look, conferring wordlessly amongst themselves. Rivalz gulped and forced a smile, still not quite sure how he was supposed to act around the Emperor, his once-classmate. Nina looked on, despondent and unresponsive.
Less than ideal reactions, Lelouch decided. He really would have to make things right with them later. For now though, there was the matter of Nunnally.
"Sayoko," Lelouch began gently, "can you tell me what happened?"
The ninja-maid gave a small sound of acknowledgement.
"My lord, there were two escape planes during the battle for Tokyo. The one destroyed by FLEIJA was a decoy."
Lelouch held back a scowl. A decoy. Of course. He should have known. If his mind have been centered and clear that night he had no doubt the thought would have occurred to him. But that was all speculative - it was so incredibly easy to criticize his past self for what he could not see at the time. It was also pointless.
"I reached Miss Nunnally," Sayoko continued glumly, "but her plane took off before I could get her out. We were picked up by Schneizel's forces. I was wounded while making my escape. I've been hiding in the Tokyo slums ever since."
Now, Lelouch thought, her limp and the bloodstains on her clothes made sense. She'd been shot, apparently through the flesh above her hip, luckily missing the bone, perhaps as she was rounding a corner. There was more though. She wasn't saying it, but the implication was there. If she was in hiding for two months while Lelouch was away in Britannia, she probably didn't receive proper medical attention. She must've had to patch herself up with whatever materials she could get her hands on.
He'd have to arrange for her to receive physical therapy as soon as possible. Even so, Lelouch knew. He'd looked into the matter a great deal over the years because of Nunnally. Sayoko may have had her life, but the bullet that hit her must have severed nerves to her leg. She likely would never move it again.
Sayoko could tell what Lelouch was thinking. She'd spent several years attending to him and his sister on the Ashfords' order. She knew the look he wore on his face. Besides, she'd already come to the same conclusions about her condition.
Regardless though, there was no time to dwell on it.
"When I heard you would be coming to Tokyo again I knew it would be my only chance to report in." Shame consumed Sayoko's face, and she looked away, preferring the comforting sight of the navy blue wallpaper over meeting Lelouch's gaze. Right now she just couldn't bear to look him in the eye. "Mission failed, sir."
Silence was the only reply Sayoko received. Lelouch looked with sympathy upon his broken agent, once his maid and he her ward. Rivalz and Nina glanced between them uncertainly, feeling the mood take an uncomfortable dip. C.C. watched on - always watching. Jeremiah narrowed his eyes as an idea struck him.
"You're Japanese, aren't you?" At his query Sayoko rolled on Lelouch's bed to face the cyborg. "Why did you hide? Why didn't you go back to the Black Knights?"
Sayoko's expression shifted abruptly, at once becoming deadly serious.
"Master Lelouch," she started gravely, "there's something else you need to know."
LLLLLLLLLLLL
The open sea was beautiful, Kallen thought.
She sat in the cockpit of the Guren SEITEN, pressing the hulking warmachine forward at top speed through the air, a streak of red and sparkling pink against an infinite backdrop of blue. She'd been flying for a while now, and all she could see was the vast Pacific, Japan long behind her and every tie she still had to the Black Knights with it.
After leaving Ashford ahead of Lelouch, Kallen had gone straight for her knightmare, and as expected found it waiting for her just outside the school. There were Black Knights guarding it, but she only had to throw them a lie and seem in a hurry for them to back off. After all, as far as they knew she was still the Captain of Zero Squad.
It was only after she began the startup sequence that she had any trouble. The SEITEN was still linked up to the Ikaruga's comm network, so the moment Kallen stuck in the ignition key every officer on the flagship's bridge was fully aware of it.
Ohgi opened a channel to ask Kallen what she was doing almost immediately, but she cut all communications without answering. Seconds later she was in the air and the Black Knights were scrambling to pursue her. She doubted they knew she'd joined Lelouch, but Kallen figured she'd made it apparent at the very least that she wasn't on their side anymore. Not that it was any bother for her. She'd gained a huge head start, and the SEITEN was faster than anything the Knights could send against her. All she had to do was fly forward and she'd escaped the Black Knights' grasp entirely.
Which brought her neatly to where she was now - alone, flying over the ocean.
It was a strange thought for Kallen that she was no longer a Black Knight. She'd devoted herself so fully to Zero and his cause it had become a major part of her identity. Or at least, that's how she saw it. She never thought a time would come that she'd leave them. Yet that's exactly what she'd done, and surprisingly she didn't feel the slightest bit of regret for it. She felt as though she were filled with energy; she felt lighter, like she'd finally thrown off chains she hadn't been aware were placed upon her.
Once, it had been the height of liberation for her to fight Britannia and call herself a part of something. The Black Knights' betrayal of Zero though caused her to question her position in their army. All of a sudden she stopped feeling at home amongst longtime friends and dutiful comrades, and now that she'd abandoned them, she knew why.
Kallen was the first and the last of the old guard. Everyone else had eventually come to accept the change of leadership after Zero 'died from his wounds'. Kallen could not. Lelouch had been the key to all of it. Without him there was nothing - the Black Knights were nothing.
Kallen was following her heart by following Lelouch, and nothing could top that feeling.
There was a beep from Kallen's radar, and she glanced over to it. An unknown knightmare was coming directly toward her, though it was still too far away to bring up on visuals.
Kallen figured it must have been Suzaku in the Albion, and her assumption proved correct seconds later. The other knightmare hailed her, and a window opened on her HUD to show Suzaku's ever-humourless face.
"Kallen," Suzaku questioned uncertainly, "is that really you?"
The redhead smirked back.
"Yeah, I'm real happy to see you too, Suzaku."
"I don't know what's going on, Kallen, but you shouldn't be here. You should be at home, safe."
"Huh. You two really are alike."
The image of Suzaku on Kallen's HUD scrunched his face in confusion, and she laughed. He wasn't as bright as Lelouch, so that was one difference at least.
"Lelouch said the same thing about going home," Kallen clarified. "And that's precisely what I'm doing. Wherever Lelouch goes, that's my home."
Now fully understanding what she meant, Suzaku frowned. He disapproved of her choice, that much was obvious. It still surprised Kallen though. He didn't appear angry that she was forcing herself into his and Lelouch's affairs. If anything, he seemed worried for her.
She decided to change the subject.
"Hey, Suzaku. I want to know something. How many people is Lelouch controlling with his Geass, really?"
Suzaku hesitated at her request, then sighed.
"It's not as many as you might think. Lelouch only used Geass to ensure the loyalty of his generals, the Imperial Guard, and his Ministers." He stifled a groan at the mention of the politicians. "We're still trying to find out how many of them are alive. Only a few were known to be outside the Capital today."
"You're saying the rest of the army isn't under his control?"
Suzaku nodded, his expression darkening.
"That's right. I advocated using the power on everyone, but he said it wasn't necessary."
Kallen balked.
"You wanted Lelouch to geass more people?"
In the distance Kallen could finally spot a twinkle, the Lancelot Albion just starting to come into view.
"We're up against someone who would use FLEIJA without hesitation," Suzaku practically growled. "We have to win, no matter what lines we have to cross."
Kallen considered her rival's argument and couldn't find much room to disagree. Whatever conflict Lelouch had planned to instigate, if he'd had his way it most certainly would have excluded the use of FLEIJA.
Schneizel adopting the warheads as his primary weapon escalated things drastically. An army controlled by Geass - that would obey every order without question and had no need for morale - would be a paltry sin in comparison. They would be perfect pawns. Still though...
"You've changed, Suzaku," Kallen mused. "Back when you and I first fought, you never would have agreed to something like that, even if it meant allowing worse things to happen. And I..."
She scoffed to herself and donned a melancholy smile. She considered everything that had happened then willed herself to finish the thought.
"I guess I've changed too. No matter what evils I'm ordered to commit, if it's the will of His Majesty, then so be it."
Suzaku's expression softened. Gone was the warrior hell-bent on victory and vengeance, replaced with a weary veteran, filled only with disappointment at what Kallen had to say.
The Albion came fully into Kallen's view, polished white and gold, green wings shimmering, and paused before her.
"C'mon," the image of Suzaku ordered quietly on Kallen's screen. Ahead of her the Albion waved an arm for her to follow, then bolted off back the way it came. "They're waiting for us back at base."
LLLLLLLLLLLL
After Sayoko finished her report for Lelouch, the emperor chose to let her rest, and asked that everyone return to the lounging room. There, he and C.C. each proceeded to take a nap themselves, leaving Rivalz and Nina uncomfortably alone with Jeremiah, who seemingly did not require sleep to function.
Eventually though, the jet's pilot made an announcement that they would be docking inside the Avalon for the last leg of the journey back to Hawaii, and Lelouch jolted into full alertness.
It had come as quite a surprise to the Black King after ascending the Throne to find his brother's Avalon in Britannia, apparently having left it in the dubious stewardship of Earl Asplund. It had caused him no small trouble before, when he'd worn the mask of Zero, though in truth that was mostly because Suzaku was never far behind. Even so, it felt right that he claim it for his own, if only to rub it in Schneizel's face when the inevitable conflict between them boiled over.
When it came time for his conference with the UFN, Lelouch naturally decided to take his flagship, though he and his Guardsmen deployed in short-range luxury jets to enter the city. After all, it would hurt the Zero Requiem if Emperor Lelouch was seen publicly alongside the famous knightmare carrier during a diplomatic meeting.
Soon enough after the pilot's announcement, the airship slowed and came to a stop, and its door opened to reveal the Avalon's hangar.
Lelouch glanced in Jeremiah's direction.
"Take Miss Sayoko to the infirmary. Rivalz, Nina-" he looked them each in the eye as he called their names, "-come with me for now."
The Emperor didn't wait for confirmations before standing and heading for the door. He exited, Rivalz and Nina rushing to stay close by his side and C.C. lazily moving to join them on her own time.
Jeremiah meanwhile returned to Lelouch's cabin and found Sayoko was fast asleep. She must have been exhausted after everything she'd been through. Her tale was a harrowing one, and the cyborg hesitated to wake her after everything she'd endured in service of his lord.
As it happened, he didn't have to. Sayoko's eyes flitted open as he entered the room, a reflex developed during her training as a ninja, and she relaxed at the sight of him.
"We're inside the Avalon now," he explained. "His Majesty asks that you be taken to the infirmary."
Sayoko hummed in acknowledgement and rolled over on Lelouch's bed, trying to get to her feet. She sucked in a breath and winced in pain, and Jeremiah frowned.
"What are you doing? You're in no condition for that right now." He drew close to her and held his arms out. "Come now."
The ninja-maid looked away, ashamed of her weakness, but reached her arms around Jeremiah's neck all the same.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
"You've served your master well. Your wounds are proof of that. I don't mind carrying you."
He picked her up and held her close, and without delay headed straight for the Avalon's small hospital.
It took quite a while, even with an elevator ride cutting down on travelling distance. Sayoko didn't say much along the way, but after a few minutes Jeremiah prompted her.
"Miss Shinozaki, was it?" he asked, confirming her name.
She nodded back.
"Yes. And you're Jeremiah Gottwald, Margrave of Godswoodmarch."
"That's surprising. You know what part of Britannia I'm from?"
"It's my business to know who the Young Master spends his time with."
Sayoko chuckled weakly at her joke, and Jeremiah cracked a smile.
"I'm impressed," he said. "You're very loyal to His Majesty, aren't you?"
Lelouch's two servants came to a door marked by a large placard, and it opened automatically for them. Inside was a doctor sitting at a desk and checking through forms, and as they entered he looked up at them.
Jeremiah addressed the man tersely.
"I need you to look at an old bullet wound that only received field dressings."
"Oh," the doctor responded, standing and guiding the cyborg toward a bed where once a princess died. "Set the patient down here. I'll get everything we need."
With that, he scurried off, and Jeremiah followed his instructions, setting Sayoko carefully against the bed's stiff cushioning.
"Miss Shinozaki," Jeremiah began again once they were alone, "I want to thank you for your service to Master Lelouch and Nunnally before they had me."
Sayoko smiled up at him, a warm but pained smile. Britannian medical science was astounding, but she wasn't about to delude herself. It wasn't likely she was going to be able to serve anyone anymore - at least not as a ninja.
"If you are thankful, would you promise me...?" Her time as a fighter may have been cut short, but Lelouch and Nunnally's battles were not yet over. Sayoko knew - she was worthless to them now, when they needed her most. "Please protect them. Protect Master Lelouch and Mistress Nunnally for me where I no longer can."
Sayoko tried to stay strong, but Jeremiah could see her eyes begin to grow wet with tears. He cast his gaze upon her and furrowed his brow with the utmost determination, and set a metal fist against his heart.
"This," he vowed, "I solemnly swear."
LLLLLLLLLLLL
For Nina, the Avalon was nothing new. She'd been aboard the ship many times while working for Schneizel. For Rivalz, it was an otherworldly experience, the sheer amazement he felt at seeing the inside of a real Imperial KMF carrier overwhelming his lingering sense of unease.
After disembarking his jet, Lelouch led his Student Council friends out of the main hangar, on the way, Nina recognized, toward the central lift. From there, they could travel to any level of the warship - permitting they had the appropriate access codes. She herself used to have clearance to every deck except the bridge and officers' quarters.
That was probably no longer the case though, considering she was a deserter.
The Avalon crew seemed in more of a hurry than usual, Nina thought, like they were right before the Second Battle of Tokyo. Normally one could expect to encounter only a few people going from one area of the ship to another - the minimum crew number was actually quite small. Now the Avalon seemed to be up to full complement, and everyone appeared to be very much on edge.
Rivalz meanwhile didn't seem to notice.
"This is surreal," he gasped as they passed by a gaggle of engineers, who all thumped a fist against their hearts when they noticed Lelouch.
The group turned a corner and almost bumped straight into a peculiar man, bespectacled and silver-haired, and dressed in a long green military coat, an emerald pinned and hanging from his lapel. Lelouch and C.C. sidestepped him though, almost as if they knew he was there before they saw him.
Before them was Lloyd Asplund, a perplexed frown smeared beneath his glasses, a distinctly foreign expression for someone normally so cheerful. Upon laying eyes on Lelouch however, the earl grinned with relief.
"Ah, Lulu! It's good you're back. Listen, we need to talk about-" He was about to launch into a discussion of highly classified information, no regard for who may be listening, but stopped when he spied a familiar face. "Oh? Nina?"
Nina blinked in dull surprise.
"Professor Lloyd?"
"Well," the ASEEC Director cooed, glancing back at Lelouch, "this is unexpected, Your Highness. You got me a gift! She's here a lot earlier than we planned."
Lelouch merely smiled in reply and gestured to the girl in question.
"She's all yours, Lord Asplund." He turned his head next to look Nina in the eye. "Nina, go with Lloyd. He'll explain everything."
The emperor spoke delicately, fully aware of how fragile Nina could be at times, but his gaze was piercing, making it instantly clear that she had no choice in the matter.
Nina nodded uncertainly, and, satisfied, Lelouch shifted his attention finally to Rivalz.
"Let's go, Rivalz."
He didn't wait for a reply, marching off without another word, C.C. trotting along behind him.
Lelouch's stride was long, and Rivalz was distracted watching Lloyd whisk Nina off, chatting pleasantly to her about something that sounded decidedly unpleasant. When he finally noticed Lelouch was leaving him behind, there was quite a distance between them, and he had to run to close it.
Luckily for the schoolboy, the young king stopped in front of a metal door before long, allowing his friend to fully catch up. There was a control panel on the wall, and he typed in a code, the door opening and revealing an elevator car.
He entered, joined by C.C. and Rivalz, then selected their destination.
"I assume you know my history now?" Lelouch said once they were alone. He stared forward, not making eye contact, but Rivalz knew the question was directed at him. He nodded vigorously.
"Yeah, of course! After you showed up in Pendragon and said you were the emperor I couldn't believe it! I looked up the Imperial Family Tree, and there you were! How were you able to keep such a secret?"
Lelouch continued to stare forward.
"Nunnally and I were young when we were declared dead. We weren't household names yet."
"Yeah, but still...!"
A moment passed in silence, then Lelouch finally turned his head, his eyes narrowing and meeting Rivalz's own.
"I said that I would tell you everything, Rivalz," he reminded, not a trace of fun in his tone. It was darker than Rivalz was used to from Lelouch, and it made him pause.
"You've got a lot of secrets, don't you, pal?"
This was what Rivalz had been waiting for.
It was the day Shirley died when Lelouch and Rolo just disappeared, leaving Rivalz the only member of the Student Council left. He'd been alone for a long time, and had spent much of it wondering to himself what his best buddy could be doing and why.
When Lelouch went on international television and assumed the mantle of Emperor, Rivalz felt more alone than ever. He felt betrayed. Lelouch had been keeping something so big from him all this time - from all the Student Council. Did he not trust them? Did he not trust Rivalz? Were they even really friends at all?
All Rivalz had wanted was some answers, and now he was going to get them. He thought maybe he should be angry. He considered chastising Lelouch for lying to him; of course he'd been lying - Rivalz was no fool. He'd noticed Lelouch acting suspiciously for a long time, but never said anything about it. The boy had always been mysterious, but after getting caught up in the incident at Babel Tower he'd grown even more distant, if that were even possible. It was like a shadow had fallen over him, like he wasn't really himself anymore.
The moment had come at last, a moment Rivalz had imagined and reimagined for months - months spent deciding exactly how he felt about Lelouch and his lies. And so Rivalz gave his answer.
"Well, you can trust me! I mean, we're friends, aren't we?"
Now it was Lelouch's turn to pause. It was strange, he thought, how different those words were coming from Rivalz from when they came from Suzaku.
There was no malice in Rivalz's expression, and no sarcasm in his tone. He was being genuine.
"Yes," Lelouch said quietly. "We are."
He hesitated, unsure if he should proceed. He'd already lost so many friends. If even Rivalz abandoned him once he learned the truth...
Lelouch had already decided though. It was too late for him to change his mind.
"The truth is, Rivalz," he began somberly, "I am Zero."
Whatever Rivalz might have been expecting, that wasn't it.
"Huh?"
"I was always Zero. I was the one who killed my brother Clovis, who organized the Black Knights, and who declared war on Britannia."
A look of dull stupidity had fallen across Rivalz's face. His incomprehension at what Lelouch had revealed was utterly impossible to mistake, and the only response he could muster after staring goggle-eyed for what seemed like minutes was a single word:
"Why?"
"I did what I did for many reasons. Ultimately, none of them but one really mattered." Lelouch's brows descended into a hateful glower as he thought back; back to before taking the Throne, before allying himself with Suzaku - back to Ragnarök. "Charles zi Britannia, my father, was a monster who needed to die. Among other reasons, I became Zero to stop him from destroying the world.
"I don't expect you to agree. But that's how it is."
Rivalz continued to stare, not quite knowing how to respond.
"Wow. I..."
The schoolboy thought back to every time Lelouch went missing. He usually said he went gambling, but he wouldn't take Rivalz along with him. And there were those times before the first Black Rebellion when he and Kallen were both gone on the same days...
Lelouch was royalty, and had been all along. How far-fetched could it be that he was Zero all along as well?
As for Lelouch, he willed himself to not look away. He'd promised to tell the truth, and so he had. The only thing left for him to do now was to brace himself for whatever Rivalz had to say about it.
The door to the elevator opened, and yet Lelouch and Rivalz did not move, and neither did C.C., standing aside and watching them. Always watching.
Eventually Rivalz broke the silence.
"Thanks, Lelouch," he said, nodding to the king and allowing a grin to settle back onto his lips. "I'll keep your secret. And maybe one day you'll feel comfortable telling me more."
The boy, a mere commoner and still dressed in his school uniform, looked the Emperor of Britannia directly in the eyes and smirked.
"When that day comes-" he pointed to himself with his thumb, "-you can count on Rivalz Cardemonde!"
For one of the few instances of his life, Lelouch was rendered speechless. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it again, no words coming. He gulped, feeling his body betray him, and smiled.
"Thank you," he choked out, trying to keep his eyes from tearing up, "my friend."
Normally Rivalz would have teased him about crying, but this time he didn't. He just kept on grinning, and let his friend compose himself.
Thankfully for Lelouch, it didn't take him long before he was in command of himself once more. He raised his chin and puffed out his chest, assuming a regal pose, and spoke.
"There's something I need to do now. Stay with C.C." He turned to C.C., who until now had remained silent - so much so if he wasn't already used to it, Lelouch might have forgotten she was even there at all. "C.C., take care of Rivalz."
She sighed and rolled her eyes, finally saying something for the first time in hours.
"If you insist. He can't be much worse company than Suzaku, at least." She received a glare of annoyance from Lelouch for her comment, but she merely smirked back, unphased. "Are you going to make a new best friend?"
Lelouch continued frowning at his Contractor for a few moments, then scoffed and smirked right back.
"Something like that."
LLLLLLLLLLLL
The metal doors of the Avalon's central lift opened, Lloyd Asplund walking out onto the airship's bridge with Nina trailing sheepishly behind.
"So that's the long and short of it," he said back to the girl with a shrug, finishing a previous thought.
Like the rest of the Avalon, the bridge was in a state of utter commotion. Every computer terminal was occupied by a technician, all of them chattering hurriedly into their headsets. Groups of men wearing pins and medals and stars on their uniforms argued at every corner of the room. Their words melded together in Nina's ears, each conversation layering on top of the next to become a single fluctuating, indecipherable buzz.
As Lloyd came into view though, a feminine voice called out, rising above all the other noise.
"Officer on deck!"
All at once everyone on the bridge faced toward the silver-haired noble. They went silent, many of them stopping mid-sentence, and they stood to attention.
Nina watched on in puzzlement for what seemed like an eternity as the crewmen stared forward at her mentor with furrowed brows. They remained quiet, leaving only the sound of incessant beeping from radars and strategic maps projected on the ship's windows, and the low thrum of the Avalon's engines.
The moment dragged on, growing more awkward every second until finally Lloyd panned his gaze across the room and let out an embarrassed chuckle. He waved a hand uncertainly.
"Um... Carry on."
There was a small delay as the bridge staff waited to return to their work, none of them wanting to be the first to move. Soon enough though a few of them turned back to their tasks, and the rest quickly followed, the low ambience of a dozen conversations returning with them.
Nina opened her mouth to ask Lloyd what just happened, but as something caught her eye she paused. There was still one person staring their way.
"Miss Croomy," she noted. She must have been the one who'd called out before.
"Nina?" Cécile hadn't noticed the girl hiding behind Lloyd until she spoke up. "What are you doing here?"
Cécile approached them, and as she got a bit closer it occurred to Nina that she was dressed differently than usual. In place of her orange ASEEC uniform, now she wore a long, green coat and skirt, trimmed with gold thread and adorned with a symbol Nina didn't recognize over her breast. Long, pointed black boots reached up her bare legs, and a single emerald dangled from her belt.
"Le-" Nina started to answer her, stopping to correct herself, "-I mean, the Emperor brought me here."
As Cécile came to stand before them, looking upon Nina with curiosity and concern, Lloyd groaned.
"You really do enjoy embarrassing me, don't you, Miss Cécile?"
Cécile frowned, redirecting her attention to her superior.
"I do not," she sighed, shaking her head. "I just wish you would be a little more serious about all this."
Nina looked between the two of them in confusion, ever-bickering, and murmured.
"What're you talking about?"
Lloyd blinked and looked back at Nina, recalling her existence as quickly as he'd forgotten about it.
"Oh, I'm an admiral now. Little Lulu appointed me to the position. Thank goodness for the Empire's aristocratic tradition. How else are unqualified noblemen such as myself supposed to become officers?"
Cécile shook her head again.
"Suzaku trusts you, Lloyd," she chided, "and so Lelouch trusts you too."
"He certainly does - enough to let me in on all the unsavoury details of his plans." The man gave an exaggerated shudder. Checking over his shoulder at Nina, he could see the question on her lips, and he sighed. "That's the real reason I was given this job. I'm not here to fight battles or make decisions. I'm just here to make sure everything proceeds according to his grand design. I don't have any real power. I hope."
As Lloyd clarified the terms of his double-edged promotion for Nina, a technician seated near the front of the bridge turned round and called out.
"Admiral, report from ASEEC HQ: The RZA's repair and refit has just been completed."
The noble nodded once, confirming he'd heard the report, then hummed wearily.
"And considering the state of things, none too soon, I'd imagine."
With the original topic of discussion derailed, Cécile cut in once more, returning her attention to Nina.
"So, Nina, do you know why you're here?"
"Uh... Yes!" Nina nodded vigourously, shifting her gaze from Lloyd, a hand on his chin and his eyes staring off into the distance. "Lloyd told me all about it - about how FLEIJA was used to destroy Pendragon."
Lloyd leaned his head to Nina in contemplation and sighed once more.
"We're still waiting for answers, but for now the assumption is the Black Knights are responsible. Prince Schneizel may be involved as well, but we're not clear on how just yet."
"It's just awful," Nina whimpered. It was hard enough hearing about what had happened once, but somehow being brought up again only made her feel even worse. "I feel so guilty, like it's all my fault."
"Oh really?" There was a flicker of realization on Lloyd's face, his eyes going wide, and he yelped in sudden exuberance. "What a coincidence! His Majesty was hoping for just that!"
Nina's brow furrowed in confusion at Lloyd's words, and Cécile narrowed her eyes at the absent-minded lord. Too late he realized his faux pas, and he giggled nervously.
"Oh, well," he fumbled to explain, "His Majesty was very interested in learning more about FLEIJA, and your name just so happened to come up, Nina. You know, just once or twice."
Cécile frowned, doubt written clearly upon her face.
"Once or twice, you say?"
"Right! And it also just so happened, I may or may not have put the idea in the Emperor's head that you could come up with a countermeasure."
He faced Nina fully, peering from behind his glasses and past her own to look into her eyes. Relaxing a bit, he spoke once more, for her and no one else, more solemn than she'd ever heard him before.
"So, Nina? You did most the work designing FLEIJA. Do you think you could stop it as well?"
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There were two guards, dressed in full grey armour and carrying rifles, posted outside the door to a storage room in the Avalon's officers' quarters. When they saw Lelouch approaching from down the passageway they straightened their backs, and he waved to them dismissively.
"I'm going inside," he announced simply, stopping to stand before them, no room for compromise in his tone. He cast his gaze upon one man, meeting his eyes through his helmet, then slowly looked down at the keypad built into the wall beside him. "Open the door."
"At once, Your Majesty." The soldier complied, taking one hand from his gun and turning to the electronic lock. As he began typing in a series of numbers, the other guard spoke.
"Shall we accompany you, Your Majesty?"
There was a ding of confirmation and the door slid open. Lelouch stared straight ahead.
"Wait for me here. I won't be long."
The Emperor stepped into the room and let the door automatically close behind him. The overhead lights were already on, shining down on bare walls and a tiled floor, and only one object to be found, everything else having been cleared out a few days prior.
Sitting in one corner and bound in a white straightjacket was a man; blonde and blue-eyed, handsome and young - still only a teenager. Boredom rested heavy against his features, swiftly replaced with annoyance as he glanced over at Lelouch.
"Lelouch the Usurper," Gino grumbled. "What do you want?"
The morning after Schneizel and Suzaku declared their intent to overthrow Charles, their coup ending in disaster, Bismarck bargained with the prince for the Knight of Three's release. Typical of him, Schneizel immediately allowed it, stating there was no point in holding him any longer. He had no fear of retaliation. Such was the power of the Second Prince of Britannia, he knew, not even the Knights of the Round could rightly accuse him of treason and remain unscathed.
Not that Gino minded if it meant getting off the Avalon with his Tristan and away from the prime minister.
The young Knight had no real love for Bismarck - he was more a collection of epic deeds than a man that one could know. He was severe and unapproachable, and for Gino, was hardly more than a respectable old war hero he hoped to one day surpass. Nevertheless, he was a welcome sight as he stomped into the room where Gino was being held and had him released, his mere presence causing Schneizel's guards to quake in fear.
From there, for a whole month, they went into hiding. It was Bismarck's most sincere belief that Charles zi Britannia was lost, and Prince Odysseus would soon take the Throne. And of course, since they had sworn oaths to the previous emperor, they, along with the other Knights of the Round, would likely be swept away and replaced before long as well. Schneizel did have his elder brother's ear, after all.
Then Lelouch arrived back onto the scene.
Gino was as stunned as everyone else who had known the boy as a commoner student and nothing more, but Bismarck confirmed it for him, apparently having known his mother at one point. Even more shocking, the Black Prince had allegedly killed Emperor Charles, and when questioned on it, Bismarck seemed terrified of allowing him to rule. His frantic condemnations of the new emperor while he clutched at his blind left eye were at odds with his usually austere demeanor, yet Gino had to agree, the Vice-President of Ashford Academy had usurped his crown, and had to be removed.
The first order of business for the two Knights then was to assemble the remaining Knights of Charles, and quite to their chagrin Bismarck and Gino had mixed results.
Nonnette Enneagram had apparently died in battle against the Black Knights on the Polish Front before their leaders and Schneizel agreed to a ceasefire. Monica Kruszewski had remained in Area 11, and upon hearing from Bismarck and his plan to depose Lelouch, joined up with them right away. Dorothea Ernst came some time later from her posting in France.
As for Anya Alstreim, she was gone, as if from existence itself. She didn't respond to Gino when he texted her phone, and there was no reaching the Mordred either.
When all of them were accounted for, the Knights of the Round still loyal to Charles numbered only four, yet, Bismarck reasoned, it would just have to do.
The next month had passed quickly, the Knights of the Round spending it gathering forces loyal to the old regime, or in mere opposition to Lelouch for whatever personal reasons, finding them in no short supply as the Noble Insurrections grew in intensity, and fear was rampant across the Empire. Once proud soldiers loyal to the Empire banded together under Bismarck as rebels, a twist of fate that would have been unthinkable just a few months before, and when they could not afford to wait any longer, they descended upon Pendragon.
They should have been invincible. Justice was on their side. Yet they were defeated, and Gino Weinberg, the last Knight of the Round Table, somehow still alive where all his companions were slain, was humiliatingly placed under arrest.
And now he was here, held aboard the Avalon by a treacherous prince once again.
Lelouch looked down upon Gino, restrained and at his mercy, and resisted the urge to smirk.
"I just wanted to tell you that the Black Knights have used FLEIJA on Pendragon City. We are now at war with them once more."
The Emperor showed no sign of distress as he spoke of the death of millions. His face was an impenetrable mask, from which Gino could only glean cold logic and supreme authority. It was at odds with what he knew of his one-time senior at Ashford, yet somehow it seemed to him oddly appropriate.
"What?" Gino breathed in disbelief. Pendragon was gone? There was no way - he couldn't accept it. It was impossible, surely! "You can't be serious. You can't be!"
"I can provide proof if my word isn't good enough for you. Perhaps we can ring up a general you were on good terms with before you joined Bismarck's Rebellion?"
Gino watched Lelouch, checking and rechecking, searching for any sign of deceit in the king's expression. A small quirk of the lips, a twitch at the edge of the eye...! Yet there was nothing. Lelouch was being honest, or at least, as honest as any politician - even unelected as he was - could be.
Horror filled the Knight of Three, the thought of Pendragon being swallowed by pink light the same as Tokyo sending a shiver down his spine. He focused all his willpower on staying cool though. He could not show weakness in front of Lelouch.
"Why are you telling me this?" he wondered.
Gino was a prisoner now, his previous rank meaning nothing, yet here was the Emperor himself paying him a special visit. It didn't make sense, and it got Gino's suspicions crawling.
Again though, Lelouch showed no sign of unease. He met Gino's gaze, a flame of red seeming to burn just behind his purple irises, and answered plainly.
"As a former Knight of Britannia, I thought you at least deserved to know." He stood still and silent for a moment, letting his words sink in, then turned his back. "That was all."
The Emperor began to leave, Gino watching him go, incredulous, his mouth hanging wordlessly open. The metal door to the storage room opened and Lelouch stepped through the threshold, and then...
"Wait."
Lelouch stopped mid-step and slowly turned his head back to look upon Gino once more. The Knight was straining against his straightjacket, leaning forward, his brows knitted and his lips parted, pleading gently.
"Tell me..." he whispered.
"Hm?" Lelouch hummed back in query.
"How many...?"
Lelouch turned fully to the Knight of Three and let the door close behind him again.
"The radius of destruction was a hundred kilometers," he said, knowing exactly what Gino was referring to. He spoke without sarcasm and without sorrow. Traitor though he may have been, Lelouch explained the fate of Pendragon at the hands of FLEIJA to Gino without malice. "The Palace District, the metropolitan area, and the suburbs were all caught in the blast. There were no survivors."
Gino clenched his mouth tight, trying his best to rein in his emotions. Right now they wanted to explode in a hundred different directions at once, but he couldn't let them. He was beaten and dishonoured, but he still had some pride left. He would not show weakness before the Emperor.
"But..." His mind raced, desperately attempting to drudge out the correct words amid all the others filling his thoughts. "The Royal Family... Are they alright?"
Aside from Schneizel, Cornelia, and Nunnally, every member of Lelouch's direct family had been in Pendragon when the FLEIJA was launched. Odysseus, Guinevere, Carine, Castor and Pollux, and so many others - those few of his brothers and sisters and their families that still lived after years of intrigue at court and the brutality of Zero's judgement, had all been in the city, hadn't they? Lelouch hadn't really thought about it until now. It was a strange thing to realize, and an even stranger feeling to consider. Once, he thought he would feel elated if all his siblings were gone. Now though, when they truly were, all he could feel was emptiness.
Slowly, Lelouch met Gino's eyes again and stood, watching him, studying him, and replied with darkness in his voice.
"There were no survivors."
Gino had no reply to this. There could be no words. Instead, he let his gaze fall, and his head bow.
Lelouch watched on, quiet and polite, allowing the Knight to think undisturbed, the truth running its inevitable course and acceptance gradually setting in.
"You're lucky I had you transferred here," he began after a time. "If I'd left you in the dungeon below the palace you would have died as well."
Gino's head bobbed up, annoyance back on his lips, mixed with curiosity around his eyes.
"So, why did you move me?"
It was a question he'd been pondering for some time now. Gino never received an official trial after Suzaku defeated him and brought him before the Emperor. He only spent a couple days in a prison cell before being dragged onto the Avalon, and when he demanded answers, he was gagged.
Lelouch regarded him, no feeling making it onto his face.
"I'm sure in passing you must have heard I was going to meet with the UFN in Japan."
Indeed, Gino had heard about the scheduled Britannia-UFN conference. The guards keeping watch over him had been discussing it once when they brought him food.
There was a twinge of recognition from Gino, the smallest of tells, confirming it for Lelouch, and he continued.
"There was always the chance it could go badly, as it has now, so I wanted you close by."
To this, Gino leaned back, disgust filling him up, and he spat.
"You want me to fight for you?"
"I don't."
This made Gino pause.
Lelouch shook his head, keeping his eyes on the Knight, then, brows arching and a sudden lofty fervor coming into his voice, he explained.
"I want you to fight for your people. I understand, you don't trust me because I killed my father - your king. But no matter your disagreements with how I gained my crown, every man, woman, and child in Britannia is now depending on me to lead them through this crisis. So don't fight for me. Fight for them. Lift up your sword once more. Help me to avenge Pendragon and take justice for our fallen."
There was a long moment of silence between them as Lelouch finished, both he and Gino staring into each other, past each other, judging each other. Many seconds passed, but eventually Gino's expression softened, then hardened anew.
"Tristan flies only for Britannia," he muttered. "You have the loyalty of the Knight of Three. For now."
Lelouch chuckled in reply.
"Of course. Thank you, Gino. I'm grateful."
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