BACKUP: Code Geass: Requiem chapter 2
Now that I finished the game Devil may cry 4 I found myself bored and yet inspired enough to write the next chapter
FF.net link = http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4566113/3/
Title: Code Geass: Requiem
Chapter: 02, The face of a devil
Pairing: Suzaku / Lelouch (but includes the rest of the cast as well)
Spoilers: Set after the series
Summary: A man walks this world his name and history unknown however the face he carries is one of a man who has sinned, a man he doesn't remember being, a man named Lelouch vi Britannia.
“That’s right, he killed me...”
The rain didn’t stop for the evening, it continued to pour down on him as he lay there in the mud. His body was cold and was slowly sinking into the wet soil, there wasn’t much he could do because he wasn’t conscious. There he could see someone, a person that stood far away from him with his back turned to him, he was waiting. Up on the hillside a dog barked and ran forward to the edge, it looked down and spotted the body between the trees and instantly its upper lip curled up, revealing teeth as it snarled. Someone else stepped next to the dog and an elderly hand ticked the dog on its head as if punishing it, it looked up at its owner and yelped softly as it retreated to stand behind its master. In one hand this person carried an umbrella and like the dog did this person notice the body at the bottom of the hill. She smiled, revealing wrinkles in her cheeks.
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There were noises coming from the hallway, her body stirred and she groaned in annoyance before realising that noises could mean danger. Her hand grabbed a kunai which she hid beneath her pillow and in one swift movement she jumped of the bed and opened the bedroom door to the hallway, but upon seeing a familiar face did she lower her weapon and removed her murderous glare.
“Jeremiah-san, what are you doing at this hour?”
She asked and the man in front of her turned to her, she noticed the serious expression on his face and feared that something was amiss.
“I have to leave for a while... Sorry for waking you up”
“Leave? Whereto and for how long?”
She placed the kunai on one of the drawers in the wooden hallway when Jeremiah turned and entered another room, she followed him and stood in the doorway as she observed his actions. There was one suitcase on the bed and it was partly filled with clothing, he turned to place more things in this trunk and amongst them was a laptop.
“Something’s going on, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone...”
With that mention her eyes widened and she was reminded of the actions her previous master had completed, although she had been in prison at the time she knew deep inside that it had to involve him. Since she only knew little of geass could she only assume that it involved him, why else would Jeremiah leave in the middle of the night, he as well served him and he served him still even after his death.
“Did Suzaku call? Is this about ‘him’?”
She asked with a serious tone as he closed the suitcase.
“Maybe...”
“I’m coming”
“No, you have to stay here”
A cold answer but she remained content, if Jeremiah didn’t want her to tag along then it was best to follow his orders, but if this did involve Lelouch then she wanted to be there.
“I don’t want you getting hurt, sorry Sayako”
She moved aside as he passed her, suitcase in his hand as he walked to the front door. Sayako was about to follow him when both she and Jeremiah noticed that another bedroom door had opened, Anya was now looking at him with a stern expression and before he was able to say anything she said.
“I’m going...”
“Anya, you can’t leave. What if they recognise you, you will be arrested!”
The former maid said to her but the girl was already dressed and she noticed that she as well had been packing. Sayako looked at Jeremiah in hope that he could stop her from leaving, but he merely smiled and probably already knew that nothing could make her stay here.
“I want to see what it is like outside this farm, I want to see your miracle...”
She added and closed her bedroom door, Sayako sighed as she now too realised that nothing could stop the curious girl and watched how she walked up to Jeremiah’s side. She smiled at the two and nodded.
“Please be safe, don’t do anything stupid...”
She said and bid them farewell, Anya bowed in return and went to get her coat.
“Please bring him back...”
She then added as she stood up straight again, there were tears in her eyes and a hand was placed on her shoulder. Jeremiah smiled as she whipped the tears from her eyes.
“Please...”
“I will, you know I will”
She then watched from the doorway as the two drove off in one of the pickup trucks. When she had first heard about Lelouch’s death she was extremely saddened. She had spent years with the two siblings, hiding with them from the Britannian family. Always had she known that the two could never be happy, Nunnally perhaps because she had her limitations but Lelouch certainly not. To lie about your identity and to live in fear that you might be assassinated, it was harsh world. Never had she seen him complain but secretly she had always wished happiness to him. She laughed as she remembered all the little things back then, back when she thought that he was cross-dressing or when she realised how close Lelouch was to Suzaku, she remembered how shocked she was when she started realising that they were more than just friends, she realised that he might be able to bring him happiness but when she saw how different they were did she realise yet again that the former Prince could never be really happy. She had known of his identity as Zero and still served him, she remembered how angry Rolo was at her when she became out of character while she was in disguise and how annoyed Lelouch looked when she gave him his date schedule. But those things were in the past, she now lived on an orange farm with both Jeremiah and Anya and he had told her about his wish, she secretly wished the same. She wished that Lelouch could be happy for once, perhaps in the afterlife or in his next life she wanted him to be truly happy.
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“So what I wanted to propose is this...”
Nunnally watched as the young Empress of China struggled with her written lines, her personal guard Li Xingke bend over and helped her when she lost her line. At the moment she was reading lines from a long list of subjects she wanted changed in her country as well as in Britannia and Japan, the list consisted of rules she and her council had thought of that could improve the economy and could help people instead of destroying them. The production of Knightmare Frames should be focussed more on frames that could help rebuild their destroyed cities and that could help in the food sector, which was also their original intend before Britannia started to upgrade them to war machines. Nunnally, as well as many others listened to the young girl, even when she struggled to get her words right, Nunnally knew that it was hard being an Empress and since Tian-zi was younger than she was she could only imagine the weight on her shoulders, but no one commented her about it, because they knew how strong the little girl was and how she was the most righteous amongst them all to fulfil this job, with her guardian by her side she could do anything.
Her eyes wandered to Suzaku who stood on the other end of the room as a guard, his hands behind his back although they weren’t visible through the cape. She studied his mask from a distance, whenever he was with her in private he wore it but she never looked at it because she was too busy worrying about him. Her brother had worn the same mask for a long time and with that thought pity entered her heart when she remembered that he wore it for her, to make the world a better place for her.
“Onii-sama...”
She whispered and looked down at her hands, she craved for his touch again, the touch she had forgotten. Looking up she realised that Suzaku was watching her and upon eye contact did he turn to Tian-zi again. She wondered if anything had happened, if he was alright. Early in the morning his voice sounded so sad and he hadn’t said a word to her beside sentences he said because of his duty, she wondered how long it would take before he could actually talk to her like he could before, had his heart really died along with her brother?
She watched as he suddenly turned and left the room, Suzaku never left her side and she found it strange that he now walked through the door to the hallway. An ominous feeling inside her told her that something must have happened, Suzaku had her worried for several days now and now it seemed to be worse. She worried for him but remained to attend the meeting, maybe afterwards could she talk to him.
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The entire meeting had been suffocating, or so he described it. The longer he remained in their presence the more paranoid he became, his body felt warm and his hands shook against his will because he didn’t give in to his addiction the night before, instead his mind remained focussed on what he had seen the night before. The nameless tombstone, the dug up dirt and white flowers covered with mud, he didn’t want to be here, he wanted to be out there where he could look for him if he was even around and if this was a joke then he could at leased hunt down those who caused it and murder them.
“Your hand is shaking, did you get enough sleep?”
Nunnally had asked him when they boarded the plane, of course he didn’t sleep well, he hadn’t slept peacefully since that day. The mask he wore, the sword he had carried back then, he still had it he didn’t know why but he had never thrown it out. His hands still remembered the touch of the hilt, he had never touched it since that day but his hands still remembered and thinking of that sword made them shake all the more. He passed the guards that stood outside the room, none of them dared to question his actions, they trusted him because he had ended the crisis in the world and as he past through the hallways to look for an excluded area where he could be alone he thought of their stupidity. One alone he leaned against the wall and tried to calm himself down, his breathing had been laboured for a while now because of the worries that plagued his heart, his shaking hand dug in his pocket and pulled out a cell phone, still no call from Jeremiah which could only mean that something bad must have happened.
“Damned...”
He cursed as he tried to dial his number, his hand was shaking so badly that his fingers slipped over the wrong button, tonight he had to use it and with that he noticed how addicted he had become to that drug. The phantom Lelouch had not come out yet to haunt him, but then again he only gave into those when he was alone and because he denied them during the day the phantom never seemed to show himself, this was why he called him phantom Lelouch because he only came out at night like a ghost. He wondered how long it would take before Nunnally would find out, but he threw that thought away when he finally managed to dial Jeremiah’s number and looked from left to right before entering one of the side rooms in the hallway, locking the door behind him before he removed his mask and took a deep breath. Sweat had formed itself on his forehead and the black cloth that covered his mouth and nose stuck to his skin as he pulled it down, he inhaled deeply and welcomed the fresh air. He pressed the phone against his ear and waited, the slow beep continued to echo in his ear and he leaned against the wall because it was taking so long. Sighing he realised that he the phone wouldn’t be answered and cut the connection, he frowned deeply as he put the phone back in his pocket and pulled the cloth back over his mouth and nose. Nunnally would probably wonder where he went, he should go back.
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Someone was standing there. There was someone standing up ahead of him, a person. He watched from a distance, this man had his back turned to him and was sitting on the ground, as if waiting for something to pass him. He wasn’t able to see his face but something about this man made his heart ache.
“Just like before...”
He whispered and his hand passed over the left side of his chest, with the blink of an eye could he see blood on his hands that in the next second was missing from his fingertips. He raised his hand again but saw that there was nothing wrong with him. Looking forward again he watched the silent man and he felt unsure of himself.
“Who are you?”
He yelled out but there was no answer the figure didn’t even move when he called for him and he tried to step forward to walk up to him, to perhaps see his face but then something made him realise that it was a bad idea and he stopped.
“If he sees my face... the face of a devil”
He whispered to himself and was afraid to expose himself any further. What if this man would try to hurt him? He remembered the rain, the villagers and the screams. A hand passed over his mouth and he coughed, his body felt weird just thinking about it and slowly he bend down to rest on his knees as he tried to calm himself down.
“Suzaku...”
He whimpered out and his eyes snapped open when he felt tears rolling out of them to hit on the dark surface beneath him. Still he had no idea of who this person was but the words meant something to him, was Suzaku the place where he could find his answers?
“Suzaku...”
He whispered again and his eyes slowly closed, the eyelids grew heavy and he turned to lie on his back as he felt himself drift further away from where he was. The next event he could only describe as strange, it was as if he had drifted in a deep sleep and was now waking up, his body felt heavy yet warm and slowly he opened his eyes, he blinked several times to adjust to the lighting before realising that he was staring at a wooden ceiling.
“Where...?”
He mumbled and turned his head to look at the rest of the room, he was lying on a futon in what seemed to be a storage room of some sort. The walls were filled with various masks, from frog masks to foxes and from demon faces to cute cats. Several crates stood on one end as well as a bookcase, the bottom planks were filled with boxes, the middle pots and brushes while the top planks were again filled with masks. As he looked around he suddenly heard the door on the other end closing with force, he head turned to see if anyone was there but he saw no one.
After a while he finally found the courage to sit up, his body was still tired and when he pushed the heavy blankets back he noticed that his chest had been bandaged as well as his left shoulder, a hand passed over his chest but he felt no pain, nevertheless he didn’t remove the bandages and instead wondered where he was.
The hallway was empty, carefully had he slid open the paper door to see if anyone was there, someone had been there he was certain of it. Carefully he walked down the hallway, his bare feet passing over the wooden floor, his heels stepping on the cloth of his sweatpants and he raised his hands to rub his arms because it was slightly colder out here in the hallway. He continued walking until he saw something against the wall next to him, it was a mirror and for the first time did he actually see what his face looked like. Black hair, violet eyes, he really looked like that man didn’t he. Even without knowing what he looked like had he recognised himself in the picture, he found it strange but also disturbing because he couldn’t recall being a tyrant or brute, he couldn’t remember anything. As he looked in the mirror he remembered that showing his face could be dangerous and turned to walk back when he figured that if this person had been like the villagers from before that he wouldn’t help him and bandage his wounds, perhaps this person knew him? He turned when he heard footsteps behind him, as if someone was running down the hallway but when he looked there was no one there. He continued walking until he heard the sound of a radio coming from a room on the other end of the hallway, he couldn’t see if someone was inside because the sliding doors had been shut but he carefully opened them after pulling through his hesitation with courage and heat washed over him. This room was much warmer than the hallway and the room he woke up. He looked around and saw a woman sitting on the other end of the room, the dog by her side growled in a low tone and looked up at him. The German shepherd remained seated next to the woman and his eyes turned to her, her hair was grey and short and her eyes seemed distant, she was sitting on an easy chair with a thick blanket over her lap.
“Calm down, Nori... He’s not going to hurt you”
The dog whined in annoyance and placed its head back on the wooden floor. Lelouch looked at the ground, his hand didn’t leave the doorpost in case he had to leave the room.
“Sorry for intruding...”
He said in a quiet and polite tone and bowed to her, he didn’t know why but he found it appropriate to do this.
“Shut the door, it’s getting cold in here. Sit down”
The elder woman commanded and he closed the door, walking forward he sat down on one of the pillow surrounding the low saloon table in the middle and there he remained silent as he waited for any comments or questions, when nothing was said he looked at her again and saw that her eyes were still staring off in the same direction as before, he followed her gaze but found nothing interesting to look at and wondered what this woman was doing, the dog that was lying next to her still looked at him and didn’t break eye contact.
“There...”
She finally said and closed the book that was lying on her lap before putting it on a table next to her chair.
“Sorry, I just had to finish this chapter. Some books can get so addicting after all...”
“You were reading it? But how?!”
He quickly went silent and apologized for commenting, the woman smiled at him and finally looked him in the eyes, only then did he realise that she was blind, the lens over her iris and pupil had turned white. She must have been reading with her hands.
“How are you feeling...?”
She asked him and gently smiled at him as she placed her hands on her lap and now gave him her full attention. Lelouch didn’t know what to say, he still mistrusted this situation but she waited calmly for his answer.
“My body feels heavy...”
“It has reason to feel like this, Nori found you passed out during the storm of last night. You’ve slept for an entire day”
“I’m sorry...”
“For what...?”
“I’m sorry for being a burden to your household”
They both remained silent until he heard rumbling from the door he had come in from, he looked at the light yellow paper decorated with cranes and wondered who this person was, the woman however sighed and said in a somewhat louder tone.
“Misaki, you can come in now. No use hiding from me...”
He could hear curses coming from the other side of the door and it opened again, a young boy walked in of around 10 years old and as he walked inside he looked at him with an angry look. He didn’t know what to think of it.
“How did you hear me, I was being really careful this time”
He complained before sitting down on the other end of the table, Lelouch looked at him and studied him from a distance. The boy was young, brown eyes and light brown hair that was short yet curly, he could see freckles on his face but before he could look any further was he given a glare and the child stuck his tongue out towards him, he became instantly annoyed but ignored this Misaki person and turned his gaze back to the woman in front of him.
“This here is Misaki, he’s my pupil”
“Pupil?”
He asked curiously.
“I paint masks, it’s a family tradition and has been in our family for centuries. We paint masks and travel from festival to festival to sell them”
He then noticed how this room as well had several masks hanging from the walls, they were indeed painted but some of them looked like masterpieces, one of them looked different from the others though, it wasn’t a mask that could cover a whole face, it was made to cover someone’s eyes. Dark glass covered areas that covered a person’s eyes and the model looked like two wings bound together at the nose and spreading to fit around a person’s face to the side of their head, the mask carried a solid white surface and the edges of the dark lenses as well as the mask edges were finished with gold.
“Misaki, make some tea for our guest and get him something to eat, he must be starving”
“There is no need to, I can leave if-”
“And where would you go?”
He went quiet at that comment. He didn’t know where he’d go, he didn’t remember having a home or place where he could stay. He only remembered a name, Suzaku. But it was still unclear to him what it meant.
“You can stay as long as you mind, as long as you don’t make trouble”
“Is it alright?”
He asked her and again she smiled gently.
“Of course, now Misaki...”
“I know, I know... I’m going!”
The child stood up from his seat and walked to the door with heavy steps, he slammed the door shut behind him as he continued down the hallway, cursing and badmouthing this so called new guest as he went. Lelouch watched and listened as he continued.
“Don’t worry, he’s a good child”
“I’m sorry for being such a bother...”
“Stop apologizing, it will do you no good”
Another awkward silence and he looked down at his hands, he hated these moments.
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When dusk came he returned to his room, it came soon because he woke up late in the afternoon and fall made certain that dusk came early as it prepared the world for winter. He felt bored and estranged by everything around him, he had eaten in silence while the old lady began reading her book and the annoying child Misaki left the room to walk Nori and hadn’t come back since. He failed to ask her any questions about his current situation but deep down he remembered how the world looked like, or how he thought the world looked like because it had now changed which he assumed because the tyrant Emperor was proclaimed dead, he was weary about his situation, he didn’t want to ask too many questions to have her wonder about him. She probably acts this way because she can’t see his face, but that child Misaki could and perhaps he was merely following his master’s orders to remain polite in whatever way that may be. He wanted to ask her so many things, he wanted to know who this person was and perhaps then he might know more of himself as well, perhaps then he could figure out what Suzaku meant. He walked up and down the small storage room and looked at the various masks hanging on the wall, his finger passed over one of them and he was surprised to see that there was no dust covering the porcelain art piece, with step he found his mind fixated on that name again and partly felt himself in a daze because of it, his hand passed over the bandages around his torso and placed itself flat against his heart where he could feel it thumbing, whenever he thought of that name it seemed that it thumbed a little harder. He was however snapped out of the trance when mentally a sword tip appeared out of the darkness, it moved forward but when the door opened it vanished. He was shocked at the sudden appearance and disappearance of this illusion but still turned to the doorway and saw Misaki walking inside with clothes, he placed them on one of the crates before grabbing a bottle which was lying on top.
“Sensei says that it will help you sleep”
He said in a much calmer tone but when he saw that Lelouch was looking at the masks he became instantly angered.
“Don’t touch the masks!”
He yelled as if insulted by him just standing there.
“You better do some chores while you’re here, I don’t like leeches!”
The confused man became annoyed by this behaviour but the boy left before he could do anything, the door slammed shut and footsteps could be heard moving away from him. He sighed and walked to crate where clothing lay, however it was not the clothing he wore before and that was obvious to him. He reached out to the bottle on top but was unable to finish his move when a throbbing pain filled his chest, he gasped and a hand pressed against the bandages as he fell down to one knee. As quick as it came the pain had now left and the was slowly fading, his breathing was fast and short and sweat had formed on his forehead, he had seen that sword again when he fell down on his knee, he was certain that he had seen it.
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As he walked down the hallway to meet up with the Empress he checked his phone again, he had the ringtone set on vibrating and even when knowing that he hadn’t received any calls did he still look just to be certain, but he was only face with disappointment when he saw that he had received no incoming calls. Placing the phone back in his pocket he continued on his way and walked into the Empress her bedroom, Nunnally turned her wheelchair to him as he entered her expression was that of worry and he knew why he was summoned.
“Suzaku...”
“Please don’t call me that, your Highness”
He wasn’t in the mood to hear how she worried for him, his hands were still shaking and his mind was still set on getting a hold of Jeremiah.
“Please, take off that mask”
“I can’t, you know that”
She lowered her gaze in disappointment and turned to mend the flowers that stood next to her. Every time they were alone she would call him by that name again and she would then ask him to remove his mask, I couldn’t let Nunnally see him. He didn’t want her to see what the world had done to him and what toll this duty had on him, he didn’t want her to see the face that had killed so many because she was too fair of a maiden to witness it even if she had done the same.
“Why did you leave today? Was there something wrong?”
She asked him and looked at him with her violet blue eyes, he still had to get used to her now that she had gained her sight. It became more difficult to control his emotions around her, but the mask covered that up for him.
“It was nothing, I was distracted”
“You’ve been distracted ever since last night, please tell me what happened that made you so upset”
“Nunnally...”
“I want to help you Suzaku, can’t you see that the only person you have left is me! I know you are still lost in grief but please, talk to me!”
She pleaded him and he could see tears in her eyes, his pain was affecting her but there was nothing he could do about it. After all this was his burden to bare, not hers. He turned to leave.
“I’m going...”
“Suzaku!”
He stopped at the door and turned to her one last time, he felt no sadness, pity or regret towards her because she was his Empress now and she had to be strong no matter what happened around her.
“One day, when everything is in place I will show you my face. But now I can’t, sorry Nunnally”
With that he had left and now he was alone in yet another unfamiliar bedroom. The mask and coat were removed and lay next to him on the bed together with his mobile phone and once again did he find himself if grief over everything that had happened today and the day before. He looked down at his hands and noticed their steady shake, he turned them to fists but not even that could help now. He turned his gaze to the small box lying on his nightstand, he had time tonight to use it, he had to use it or else he wouldn’t survive through the next day.
“One more time...”
He whispered but when his phone started buzzing over the blanket he quickly turned and flipped it open.
“Hello, Jeremiah?”
He blurted out without checking to see if it was indeed him who was calling him, but when a familiar and calm voice answered his cry he felt relief. Jeremiah was probably going to tell him how everything had been a mistake, Lelouch couldn’t just have left like that. After all he was dead.
“Sorry for contacting you at this time, I had to be certain that we could talk alone”
“Did you see the grave? Did you find the bastards who did it?!”
He became annoyed with the calm tone from the royal guard and got to his feet but sat down when he said the following.
“Calm down Suzaku, please. I indeed saw the grave and it is strange as you said. I don’t want to believe it but when I went to the nearby town to find out if they had seen anything suspicious I witnessed something strange and even now I am still shocked”
“What did you see?”
“The night before something seemed to have happened there, nearly half the village came into contact with something that made them pass out of shock, some of them had woken up but they couldn’t tell me anything. They kept on murmuring about a demon of sort that had returned to haunt them”
His eyes widened in shock and he almost lost grip over the phone, he looked down at the ground as he mumbled.
“That can’t be true...”
He knew what they meant by demon, he had called Lelouch’s power demonic in the past as well. But that couldn’t be true, how could that be true?!
“Suzaku... Answer me, Suzaku!”
He was snapped out of his thoughts and pressed the device back against his ear.
“Yes?”
“I want to investigate this further before we start making conclusions. As much as I hate to say it, it sounds too surreal to be true so please don’t get any strange ideas”
Much like Nunnally had done did Jeremiah now plead him, he wasn’t planning on doing anything stupid. It would attract too much attention to those around him and if rumours would spread then it would all turn to the worst.
“I’ll stay by her majesty’s side, don’t worry. Call me when you find something”
“Of course, bye”
With that he closed his phone and threw it back on the bed, he leaned forward with his head in his hands and took a deep breath. Lelouch couldn’t be alive, it was impossible. That would have been his master trick if that had been true. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment only to snap them back open when he felt something cold against his back, a familiar laugh entered his ears and he looked over his shoulder where a pale hand was resting on his tanned skin.
“Why such a sad face?”
He laughed short and ironic as he turned to this illusion that sat before him, the phantom placed both hands on his shoulder and wrapped his arms around his neck as he leaned forward.
“I’ll make you feel good again, Suzaku...”
He whispered in his ear and looked at the box standing on his night table, Suzaku followed his gaze followed his and his shaking hand reminded him that he needed this. He leaned forward and grabbed it from the table.
“One last time...”
FF.net link = http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4566113/3/
Title: Code Geass: Requiem
Chapter: 02, The face of a devil
Pairing: Suzaku / Lelouch (but includes the rest of the cast as well)
Spoilers: Set after the series
Summary: A man walks this world his name and history unknown however the face he carries is one of a man who has sinned, a man he doesn't remember being, a man named Lelouch vi Britannia.
“That’s right, he killed me...”
The rain didn’t stop for the evening, it continued to pour down on him as he lay there in the mud. His body was cold and was slowly sinking into the wet soil, there wasn’t much he could do because he wasn’t conscious. There he could see someone, a person that stood far away from him with his back turned to him, he was waiting. Up on the hillside a dog barked and ran forward to the edge, it looked down and spotted the body between the trees and instantly its upper lip curled up, revealing teeth as it snarled. Someone else stepped next to the dog and an elderly hand ticked the dog on its head as if punishing it, it looked up at its owner and yelped softly as it retreated to stand behind its master. In one hand this person carried an umbrella and like the dog did this person notice the body at the bottom of the hill. She smiled, revealing wrinkles in her cheeks.
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There were noises coming from the hallway, her body stirred and she groaned in annoyance before realising that noises could mean danger. Her hand grabbed a kunai which she hid beneath her pillow and in one swift movement she jumped of the bed and opened the bedroom door to the hallway, but upon seeing a familiar face did she lower her weapon and removed her murderous glare.
“Jeremiah-san, what are you doing at this hour?”
She asked and the man in front of her turned to her, she noticed the serious expression on his face and feared that something was amiss.
“I have to leave for a while... Sorry for waking you up”
“Leave? Whereto and for how long?”
She placed the kunai on one of the drawers in the wooden hallway when Jeremiah turned and entered another room, she followed him and stood in the doorway as she observed his actions. There was one suitcase on the bed and it was partly filled with clothing, he turned to place more things in this trunk and amongst them was a laptop.
“Something’s going on, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone...”
With that mention her eyes widened and she was reminded of the actions her previous master had completed, although she had been in prison at the time she knew deep inside that it had to involve him. Since she only knew little of geass could she only assume that it involved him, why else would Jeremiah leave in the middle of the night, he as well served him and he served him still even after his death.
“Did Suzaku call? Is this about ‘him’?”
She asked with a serious tone as he closed the suitcase.
“Maybe...”
“I’m coming”
“No, you have to stay here”
A cold answer but she remained content, if Jeremiah didn’t want her to tag along then it was best to follow his orders, but if this did involve Lelouch then she wanted to be there.
“I don’t want you getting hurt, sorry Sayako”
She moved aside as he passed her, suitcase in his hand as he walked to the front door. Sayako was about to follow him when both she and Jeremiah noticed that another bedroom door had opened, Anya was now looking at him with a stern expression and before he was able to say anything she said.
“I’m going...”
“Anya, you can’t leave. What if they recognise you, you will be arrested!”
The former maid said to her but the girl was already dressed and she noticed that she as well had been packing. Sayako looked at Jeremiah in hope that he could stop her from leaving, but he merely smiled and probably already knew that nothing could make her stay here.
“I want to see what it is like outside this farm, I want to see your miracle...”
She added and closed her bedroom door, Sayako sighed as she now too realised that nothing could stop the curious girl and watched how she walked up to Jeremiah’s side. She smiled at the two and nodded.
“Please be safe, don’t do anything stupid...”
She said and bid them farewell, Anya bowed in return and went to get her coat.
“Please bring him back...”
She then added as she stood up straight again, there were tears in her eyes and a hand was placed on her shoulder. Jeremiah smiled as she whipped the tears from her eyes.
“Please...”
“I will, you know I will”
She then watched from the doorway as the two drove off in one of the pickup trucks. When she had first heard about Lelouch’s death she was extremely saddened. She had spent years with the two siblings, hiding with them from the Britannian family. Always had she known that the two could never be happy, Nunnally perhaps because she had her limitations but Lelouch certainly not. To lie about your identity and to live in fear that you might be assassinated, it was harsh world. Never had she seen him complain but secretly she had always wished happiness to him. She laughed as she remembered all the little things back then, back when she thought that he was cross-dressing or when she realised how close Lelouch was to Suzaku, she remembered how shocked she was when she started realising that they were more than just friends, she realised that he might be able to bring him happiness but when she saw how different they were did she realise yet again that the former Prince could never be really happy. She had known of his identity as Zero and still served him, she remembered how angry Rolo was at her when she became out of character while she was in disguise and how annoyed Lelouch looked when she gave him his date schedule. But those things were in the past, she now lived on an orange farm with both Jeremiah and Anya and he had told her about his wish, she secretly wished the same. She wished that Lelouch could be happy for once, perhaps in the afterlife or in his next life she wanted him to be truly happy.
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“So what I wanted to propose is this...”
Nunnally watched as the young Empress of China struggled with her written lines, her personal guard Li Xingke bend over and helped her when she lost her line. At the moment she was reading lines from a long list of subjects she wanted changed in her country as well as in Britannia and Japan, the list consisted of rules she and her council had thought of that could improve the economy and could help people instead of destroying them. The production of Knightmare Frames should be focussed more on frames that could help rebuild their destroyed cities and that could help in the food sector, which was also their original intend before Britannia started to upgrade them to war machines. Nunnally, as well as many others listened to the young girl, even when she struggled to get her words right, Nunnally knew that it was hard being an Empress and since Tian-zi was younger than she was she could only imagine the weight on her shoulders, but no one commented her about it, because they knew how strong the little girl was and how she was the most righteous amongst them all to fulfil this job, with her guardian by her side she could do anything.
Her eyes wandered to Suzaku who stood on the other end of the room as a guard, his hands behind his back although they weren’t visible through the cape. She studied his mask from a distance, whenever he was with her in private he wore it but she never looked at it because she was too busy worrying about him. Her brother had worn the same mask for a long time and with that thought pity entered her heart when she remembered that he wore it for her, to make the world a better place for her.
“Onii-sama...”
She whispered and looked down at her hands, she craved for his touch again, the touch she had forgotten. Looking up she realised that Suzaku was watching her and upon eye contact did he turn to Tian-zi again. She wondered if anything had happened, if he was alright. Early in the morning his voice sounded so sad and he hadn’t said a word to her beside sentences he said because of his duty, she wondered how long it would take before he could actually talk to her like he could before, had his heart really died along with her brother?
She watched as he suddenly turned and left the room, Suzaku never left her side and she found it strange that he now walked through the door to the hallway. An ominous feeling inside her told her that something must have happened, Suzaku had her worried for several days now and now it seemed to be worse. She worried for him but remained to attend the meeting, maybe afterwards could she talk to him.
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The entire meeting had been suffocating, or so he described it. The longer he remained in their presence the more paranoid he became, his body felt warm and his hands shook against his will because he didn’t give in to his addiction the night before, instead his mind remained focussed on what he had seen the night before. The nameless tombstone, the dug up dirt and white flowers covered with mud, he didn’t want to be here, he wanted to be out there where he could look for him if he was even around and if this was a joke then he could at leased hunt down those who caused it and murder them.
“Your hand is shaking, did you get enough sleep?”
Nunnally had asked him when they boarded the plane, of course he didn’t sleep well, he hadn’t slept peacefully since that day. The mask he wore, the sword he had carried back then, he still had it he didn’t know why but he had never thrown it out. His hands still remembered the touch of the hilt, he had never touched it since that day but his hands still remembered and thinking of that sword made them shake all the more. He passed the guards that stood outside the room, none of them dared to question his actions, they trusted him because he had ended the crisis in the world and as he past through the hallways to look for an excluded area where he could be alone he thought of their stupidity. One alone he leaned against the wall and tried to calm himself down, his breathing had been laboured for a while now because of the worries that plagued his heart, his shaking hand dug in his pocket and pulled out a cell phone, still no call from Jeremiah which could only mean that something bad must have happened.
“Damned...”
He cursed as he tried to dial his number, his hand was shaking so badly that his fingers slipped over the wrong button, tonight he had to use it and with that he noticed how addicted he had become to that drug. The phantom Lelouch had not come out yet to haunt him, but then again he only gave into those when he was alone and because he denied them during the day the phantom never seemed to show himself, this was why he called him phantom Lelouch because he only came out at night like a ghost. He wondered how long it would take before Nunnally would find out, but he threw that thought away when he finally managed to dial Jeremiah’s number and looked from left to right before entering one of the side rooms in the hallway, locking the door behind him before he removed his mask and took a deep breath. Sweat had formed itself on his forehead and the black cloth that covered his mouth and nose stuck to his skin as he pulled it down, he inhaled deeply and welcomed the fresh air. He pressed the phone against his ear and waited, the slow beep continued to echo in his ear and he leaned against the wall because it was taking so long. Sighing he realised that he the phone wouldn’t be answered and cut the connection, he frowned deeply as he put the phone back in his pocket and pulled the cloth back over his mouth and nose. Nunnally would probably wonder where he went, he should go back.
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Someone was standing there. There was someone standing up ahead of him, a person. He watched from a distance, this man had his back turned to him and was sitting on the ground, as if waiting for something to pass him. He wasn’t able to see his face but something about this man made his heart ache.
“Just like before...”
He whispered and his hand passed over the left side of his chest, with the blink of an eye could he see blood on his hands that in the next second was missing from his fingertips. He raised his hand again but saw that there was nothing wrong with him. Looking forward again he watched the silent man and he felt unsure of himself.
“Who are you?”
He yelled out but there was no answer the figure didn’t even move when he called for him and he tried to step forward to walk up to him, to perhaps see his face but then something made him realise that it was a bad idea and he stopped.
“If he sees my face... the face of a devil”
He whispered to himself and was afraid to expose himself any further. What if this man would try to hurt him? He remembered the rain, the villagers and the screams. A hand passed over his mouth and he coughed, his body felt weird just thinking about it and slowly he bend down to rest on his knees as he tried to calm himself down.
“Suzaku...”
He whimpered out and his eyes snapped open when he felt tears rolling out of them to hit on the dark surface beneath him. Still he had no idea of who this person was but the words meant something to him, was Suzaku the place where he could find his answers?
“Suzaku...”
He whispered again and his eyes slowly closed, the eyelids grew heavy and he turned to lie on his back as he felt himself drift further away from where he was. The next event he could only describe as strange, it was as if he had drifted in a deep sleep and was now waking up, his body felt heavy yet warm and slowly he opened his eyes, he blinked several times to adjust to the lighting before realising that he was staring at a wooden ceiling.
“Where...?”
He mumbled and turned his head to look at the rest of the room, he was lying on a futon in what seemed to be a storage room of some sort. The walls were filled with various masks, from frog masks to foxes and from demon faces to cute cats. Several crates stood on one end as well as a bookcase, the bottom planks were filled with boxes, the middle pots and brushes while the top planks were again filled with masks. As he looked around he suddenly heard the door on the other end closing with force, he head turned to see if anyone was there but he saw no one.
After a while he finally found the courage to sit up, his body was still tired and when he pushed the heavy blankets back he noticed that his chest had been bandaged as well as his left shoulder, a hand passed over his chest but he felt no pain, nevertheless he didn’t remove the bandages and instead wondered where he was.
The hallway was empty, carefully had he slid open the paper door to see if anyone was there, someone had been there he was certain of it. Carefully he walked down the hallway, his bare feet passing over the wooden floor, his heels stepping on the cloth of his sweatpants and he raised his hands to rub his arms because it was slightly colder out here in the hallway. He continued walking until he saw something against the wall next to him, it was a mirror and for the first time did he actually see what his face looked like. Black hair, violet eyes, he really looked like that man didn’t he. Even without knowing what he looked like had he recognised himself in the picture, he found it strange but also disturbing because he couldn’t recall being a tyrant or brute, he couldn’t remember anything. As he looked in the mirror he remembered that showing his face could be dangerous and turned to walk back when he figured that if this person had been like the villagers from before that he wouldn’t help him and bandage his wounds, perhaps this person knew him? He turned when he heard footsteps behind him, as if someone was running down the hallway but when he looked there was no one there. He continued walking until he heard the sound of a radio coming from a room on the other end of the hallway, he couldn’t see if someone was inside because the sliding doors had been shut but he carefully opened them after pulling through his hesitation with courage and heat washed over him. This room was much warmer than the hallway and the room he woke up. He looked around and saw a woman sitting on the other end of the room, the dog by her side growled in a low tone and looked up at him. The German shepherd remained seated next to the woman and his eyes turned to her, her hair was grey and short and her eyes seemed distant, she was sitting on an easy chair with a thick blanket over her lap.
“Calm down, Nori... He’s not going to hurt you”
The dog whined in annoyance and placed its head back on the wooden floor. Lelouch looked at the ground, his hand didn’t leave the doorpost in case he had to leave the room.
“Sorry for intruding...”
He said in a quiet and polite tone and bowed to her, he didn’t know why but he found it appropriate to do this.
“Shut the door, it’s getting cold in here. Sit down”
The elder woman commanded and he closed the door, walking forward he sat down on one of the pillow surrounding the low saloon table in the middle and there he remained silent as he waited for any comments or questions, when nothing was said he looked at her again and saw that her eyes were still staring off in the same direction as before, he followed her gaze but found nothing interesting to look at and wondered what this woman was doing, the dog that was lying next to her still looked at him and didn’t break eye contact.
“There...”
She finally said and closed the book that was lying on her lap before putting it on a table next to her chair.
“Sorry, I just had to finish this chapter. Some books can get so addicting after all...”
“You were reading it? But how?!”
He quickly went silent and apologized for commenting, the woman smiled at him and finally looked him in the eyes, only then did he realise that she was blind, the lens over her iris and pupil had turned white. She must have been reading with her hands.
“How are you feeling...?”
She asked him and gently smiled at him as she placed her hands on her lap and now gave him her full attention. Lelouch didn’t know what to say, he still mistrusted this situation but she waited calmly for his answer.
“My body feels heavy...”
“It has reason to feel like this, Nori found you passed out during the storm of last night. You’ve slept for an entire day”
“I’m sorry...”
“For what...?”
“I’m sorry for being a burden to your household”
They both remained silent until he heard rumbling from the door he had come in from, he looked at the light yellow paper decorated with cranes and wondered who this person was, the woman however sighed and said in a somewhat louder tone.
“Misaki, you can come in now. No use hiding from me...”
He could hear curses coming from the other side of the door and it opened again, a young boy walked in of around 10 years old and as he walked inside he looked at him with an angry look. He didn’t know what to think of it.
“How did you hear me, I was being really careful this time”
He complained before sitting down on the other end of the table, Lelouch looked at him and studied him from a distance. The boy was young, brown eyes and light brown hair that was short yet curly, he could see freckles on his face but before he could look any further was he given a glare and the child stuck his tongue out towards him, he became instantly annoyed but ignored this Misaki person and turned his gaze back to the woman in front of him.
“This here is Misaki, he’s my pupil”
“Pupil?”
He asked curiously.
“I paint masks, it’s a family tradition and has been in our family for centuries. We paint masks and travel from festival to festival to sell them”
He then noticed how this room as well had several masks hanging from the walls, they were indeed painted but some of them looked like masterpieces, one of them looked different from the others though, it wasn’t a mask that could cover a whole face, it was made to cover someone’s eyes. Dark glass covered areas that covered a person’s eyes and the model looked like two wings bound together at the nose and spreading to fit around a person’s face to the side of their head, the mask carried a solid white surface and the edges of the dark lenses as well as the mask edges were finished with gold.
“Misaki, make some tea for our guest and get him something to eat, he must be starving”
“There is no need to, I can leave if-”
“And where would you go?”
He went quiet at that comment. He didn’t know where he’d go, he didn’t remember having a home or place where he could stay. He only remembered a name, Suzaku. But it was still unclear to him what it meant.
“You can stay as long as you mind, as long as you don’t make trouble”
“Is it alright?”
He asked her and again she smiled gently.
“Of course, now Misaki...”
“I know, I know... I’m going!”
The child stood up from his seat and walked to the door with heavy steps, he slammed the door shut behind him as he continued down the hallway, cursing and badmouthing this so called new guest as he went. Lelouch watched and listened as he continued.
“Don’t worry, he’s a good child”
“I’m sorry for being such a bother...”
“Stop apologizing, it will do you no good”
Another awkward silence and he looked down at his hands, he hated these moments.
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When dusk came he returned to his room, it came soon because he woke up late in the afternoon and fall made certain that dusk came early as it prepared the world for winter. He felt bored and estranged by everything around him, he had eaten in silence while the old lady began reading her book and the annoying child Misaki left the room to walk Nori and hadn’t come back since. He failed to ask her any questions about his current situation but deep down he remembered how the world looked like, or how he thought the world looked like because it had now changed which he assumed because the tyrant Emperor was proclaimed dead, he was weary about his situation, he didn’t want to ask too many questions to have her wonder about him. She probably acts this way because she can’t see his face, but that child Misaki could and perhaps he was merely following his master’s orders to remain polite in whatever way that may be. He wanted to ask her so many things, he wanted to know who this person was and perhaps then he might know more of himself as well, perhaps then he could figure out what Suzaku meant. He walked up and down the small storage room and looked at the various masks hanging on the wall, his finger passed over one of them and he was surprised to see that there was no dust covering the porcelain art piece, with step he found his mind fixated on that name again and partly felt himself in a daze because of it, his hand passed over the bandages around his torso and placed itself flat against his heart where he could feel it thumbing, whenever he thought of that name it seemed that it thumbed a little harder. He was however snapped out of the trance when mentally a sword tip appeared out of the darkness, it moved forward but when the door opened it vanished. He was shocked at the sudden appearance and disappearance of this illusion but still turned to the doorway and saw Misaki walking inside with clothes, he placed them on one of the crates before grabbing a bottle which was lying on top.
“Sensei says that it will help you sleep”
He said in a much calmer tone but when he saw that Lelouch was looking at the masks he became instantly angered.
“Don’t touch the masks!”
He yelled as if insulted by him just standing there.
“You better do some chores while you’re here, I don’t like leeches!”
The confused man became annoyed by this behaviour but the boy left before he could do anything, the door slammed shut and footsteps could be heard moving away from him. He sighed and walked to crate where clothing lay, however it was not the clothing he wore before and that was obvious to him. He reached out to the bottle on top but was unable to finish his move when a throbbing pain filled his chest, he gasped and a hand pressed against the bandages as he fell down to one knee. As quick as it came the pain had now left and the was slowly fading, his breathing was fast and short and sweat had formed on his forehead, he had seen that sword again when he fell down on his knee, he was certain that he had seen it.
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As he walked down the hallway to meet up with the Empress he checked his phone again, he had the ringtone set on vibrating and even when knowing that he hadn’t received any calls did he still look just to be certain, but he was only face with disappointment when he saw that he had received no incoming calls. Placing the phone back in his pocket he continued on his way and walked into the Empress her bedroom, Nunnally turned her wheelchair to him as he entered her expression was that of worry and he knew why he was summoned.
“Suzaku...”
“Please don’t call me that, your Highness”
He wasn’t in the mood to hear how she worried for him, his hands were still shaking and his mind was still set on getting a hold of Jeremiah.
“Please, take off that mask”
“I can’t, you know that”
She lowered her gaze in disappointment and turned to mend the flowers that stood next to her. Every time they were alone she would call him by that name again and she would then ask him to remove his mask, I couldn’t let Nunnally see him. He didn’t want her to see what the world had done to him and what toll this duty had on him, he didn’t want her to see the face that had killed so many because she was too fair of a maiden to witness it even if she had done the same.
“Why did you leave today? Was there something wrong?”
She asked him and looked at him with her violet blue eyes, he still had to get used to her now that she had gained her sight. It became more difficult to control his emotions around her, but the mask covered that up for him.
“It was nothing, I was distracted”
“You’ve been distracted ever since last night, please tell me what happened that made you so upset”
“Nunnally...”
“I want to help you Suzaku, can’t you see that the only person you have left is me! I know you are still lost in grief but please, talk to me!”
She pleaded him and he could see tears in her eyes, his pain was affecting her but there was nothing he could do about it. After all this was his burden to bare, not hers. He turned to leave.
“I’m going...”
“Suzaku!”
He stopped at the door and turned to her one last time, he felt no sadness, pity or regret towards her because she was his Empress now and she had to be strong no matter what happened around her.
“One day, when everything is in place I will show you my face. But now I can’t, sorry Nunnally”
With that he had left and now he was alone in yet another unfamiliar bedroom. The mask and coat were removed and lay next to him on the bed together with his mobile phone and once again did he find himself if grief over everything that had happened today and the day before. He looked down at his hands and noticed their steady shake, he turned them to fists but not even that could help now. He turned his gaze to the small box lying on his nightstand, he had time tonight to use it, he had to use it or else he wouldn’t survive through the next day.
“One more time...”
He whispered but when his phone started buzzing over the blanket he quickly turned and flipped it open.
“Hello, Jeremiah?”
He blurted out without checking to see if it was indeed him who was calling him, but when a familiar and calm voice answered his cry he felt relief. Jeremiah was probably going to tell him how everything had been a mistake, Lelouch couldn’t just have left like that. After all he was dead.
“Sorry for contacting you at this time, I had to be certain that we could talk alone”
“Did you see the grave? Did you find the bastards who did it?!”
He became annoyed with the calm tone from the royal guard and got to his feet but sat down when he said the following.
“Calm down Suzaku, please. I indeed saw the grave and it is strange as you said. I don’t want to believe it but when I went to the nearby town to find out if they had seen anything suspicious I witnessed something strange and even now I am still shocked”
“What did you see?”
“The night before something seemed to have happened there, nearly half the village came into contact with something that made them pass out of shock, some of them had woken up but they couldn’t tell me anything. They kept on murmuring about a demon of sort that had returned to haunt them”
His eyes widened in shock and he almost lost grip over the phone, he looked down at the ground as he mumbled.
“That can’t be true...”
He knew what they meant by demon, he had called Lelouch’s power demonic in the past as well. But that couldn’t be true, how could that be true?!
“Suzaku... Answer me, Suzaku!”
He was snapped out of his thoughts and pressed the device back against his ear.
“Yes?”
“I want to investigate this further before we start making conclusions. As much as I hate to say it, it sounds too surreal to be true so please don’t get any strange ideas”
Much like Nunnally had done did Jeremiah now plead him, he wasn’t planning on doing anything stupid. It would attract too much attention to those around him and if rumours would spread then it would all turn to the worst.
“I’ll stay by her majesty’s side, don’t worry. Call me when you find something”
“Of course, bye”
With that he closed his phone and threw it back on the bed, he leaned forward with his head in his hands and took a deep breath. Lelouch couldn’t be alive, it was impossible. That would have been his master trick if that had been true. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment only to snap them back open when he felt something cold against his back, a familiar laugh entered his ears and he looked over his shoulder where a pale hand was resting on his tanned skin.
“Why such a sad face?”
He laughed short and ironic as he turned to this illusion that sat before him, the phantom placed both hands on his shoulder and wrapped his arms around his neck as he leaned forward.
“I’ll make you feel good again, Suzaku...”
He whispered in his ear and looked at the box standing on his night table, Suzaku followed his gaze followed his and his shaking hand reminded him that he needed this. He leaned forward and grabbed it from the table.
“One last time...”