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felikatze · 4 months

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THE ISLANDER EUPHRASIE THEORY: THE CRACK HEADCANON THAT RUINED ME FOREVER

HI. you might know me as the kingphie divorce guy. or as the guy who wrote the 6k ludonarrative essay. Today i am going to introduce to YOU @the-bitter-ocean's fantabulous ISLANDER EUPHRASIE THEORY!!!

DISCLAIMER

This post contains SPOILERS for ALL of In Stars and Time. INCLUDING THE ACT 6 SECRET!!

You have been warned.

ALSO!!!!

The original headcanon/theory is VERY MUCH Ocean's fantastic work! I am merely rehashing all the arguments for it that have been laid out across various chats into one cohesive thing people can look at. Also citations! Who doesn't love those.

WHAT IS IT?

Well, it's quite simple. It's the theory that Euphrasie, love of my life and Head Housemaiden of Dormont, is from the forgotten island, same as Siffrin and the King.

(Yes, this is why divorce AU exists.)

WHY DO YOU EVEN BELIEVE THIS?

Quite a lot of reasons, actually.

It's really funny

Let us begin with: the basics.

SUPERFLOUS AESTHETIC DETAIL

HAIR COLOR

This is Euphrasie. She's very pretty. I love her.

You might notice several things about her, like her fantabulous white hair.

Well. What other characters have white hair?

You have guessed correctly. The ONLY OTHER white haired characters with actual artwork are Siffrin and the King, both from The Island The World Forgot. Thus we can assume that it's a typical hair color for islanders. Makes it stand out very much that Euphie also has it.

(What about the beautiful one- sh sh sh he's blonde. He's blonde.) (Well, actually, considering that they are the only one who acknowledges that Vaugardians are also weird, what if he's from the island as well? Checkmate atheists.)

EYELASHES

(EDIT!!!!! FINALLY PUTTING THIS ON THE MAIN POST!!!

Turns out I was incorrect in this. Some characters (Mira, Isa) also have eyelashes on SOME portraits. The mentioned chars r still notable for Always Having Em, + the Loop lashes are like, literally intended as plot twist foreshadowing, but, hey.

That's what you get for writing essays at 1am.

IN RETURN!!! Someone pointed out to me [i forgot who sorry] that Euphrasie's capelet.... has stars on it!! It's speckled like the starry sky!! Now isn't that a neat coinkydink.)

(Original text left up because I respect my past self's artistic vision. And his lunacy.)

Correct. Eyelashes.

Going back to our portrait of Euphie, she is drawn with precisely three eyelashes. Why is this notable? Because Siffrin and Loop are.

So much so, that being drawn with three eyelashes, is specifically an element of foreshadowing to Loop's true identity.

(squints at character portraits) literally no characters besides Siffrin, Loop, and Euphrasie have eyelashes? Oh my god. What? Nobody has eyelashes? What the fuck? (okay, some moments later: Mirabelle has eyelashes in some battle artwork, but these three are the only ones specifically with eyelashes in dialogue portraits, which is still incredibly odd.)

SPEAKING HABITS

(EDIT!!! Another Point that is Kind Of Off, in that other characters [e.g. Odile] also do this occasionally. Again, keeping the text for my creative vision.

In return I get to inform you that the King makes the "not so bright, Bright One" pun TWICE in different loops, thus implying the King likes puns. Take this as you will. That's been my psychic damage, buhbyeeee~)

Hey, so, you know when you talk to people in Dormont, a lot of the NPCS will have a nametag that just says "[something] One" right? Daydreaming One, Castle-Loving One, Beautiful One?

And I've seen people wonder, are these titles? Nicknames?

And I bring you this: Siffrin addresses these people with these epithets in his head, because they have no fucking clue what anyone's name is.

So Siffrin just naturally lapses into this style of nicknaming strangers.

Which two other people also do.

Bright one... ...... Do you remember? Traveling one! Are you done talking with your companions? Yes, wonderful, wonderful!

Funny little tidbit that these three characters all speak alike isn't it :)

Okay. With aesthetics out of the way, let's move onto the next tier of this iceberg:

THE MECHANICS OF FORGETTING AND BEING FORGOTTEN

I realize in the process of writing that we must outline the nature of the curse. What gets forgotten and what gets to stay?

The particularity that's important to us right now is: what people get forgotten?

All evidence points toward this: an entire person is only forgotten if they were physically present on the island when it vanished.

I'm pulling up two example cases to prove it: Siffrin and the Daydreaming One.

The thing with Siffrin is: we know he witnessed the exact moment the island vanished. And, very notably, Siffrin was in a boat.

You can get the dialogue that proves this only in ACT 2 in a secret room most people don't find on their first playthroughs, which is both very funny and very evil. Here's the dialogue.

Siffrin: "I ran away from home once!" [...] Siffrin: "And so I took our boat! Got to the beach, rowed away from the shore a bit. I was going to come back right away, I just wanted to scare my parents a bit!" [...]

Siffrin: "I started to row back towards the shore... And then, I... I... ..." Isabeau: ... Sif? Siffrin: (Woah! What?) "Um, yes?" Isabeau: Um... You were telling us how you ran away from home? Siffrin: "I... was?" Odile: You... Were. Bonnie: DID YOU FORGET WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT WHILE TALKING ABOUT IT?!?

Siffrin is from the island, but was not physically present when it disappeared. This resulted in Siffrin forgetting their entire identity, including given name and spoken/written language.

Additionally, this is confirmed via Word of God to be the exact moment the island disappeared, so here's proof I'm not reading into it:

Shoutout to bibliomaniac's insane google spreadsheet for the easily searchable screenshot. god bless. Brinny, ily.

On the other hand, with the Daydreaming One, we have proof of a person who is not originally from the island, but was physically on it at the time of disappearance.

Siffrin: "Don't you have a sister?" Daydreaming One: I... I don't? I just said I'm an only child, silly!

(For her to forget someone like her sister, so easily... Her sister must've traveled to...)

Secondly, we know that remnants of the island were not completely forgotten immediately.

Memory faded gradually, starting with the ability to still speak and think about it with accompanying headaches, until it ramped up in intensity and everything is simply gone.

The Sparkling Diary in the library is more or less proof. Memory of the island was gone, but... people still remembered that they forgot something. People still knew what they were talking about, (an island north of Vaugarde), just without the specifics.

"Urgh. Also, Dad noticed no one can say the name of the island north of here anymore?" "I tried to say it yesterday and I got like the WEIRDEST headache for HOURS."

And Odile also remarks the following

Odile: We also know that people could remember that country clearly, before.

This will be relevant later. Moving on.

CONTRIVANCES

THE HOUSE'S OBSERVATORY

SO. The House of Change of Dormont has this funny little room on the third floor. It's an observatory. To look at stars with. When entering this room for the first time, Mirabelle says this:

Mirabelle: What...? Was there a room like this in the House? Y-yeah, I remember! Someone was working here... Studying... They looked like... ... Um... Sorry, I can't remember.

This reveals to us several things:

This room is innate to the House, and not brought here by the King's weird redecorating

Someone from the House was using it for study

All memory of who or what was studying and being studied was erased alongside the island's existence

Of course we can say, "yo, what if Euphrasie was using this room and just forgot?" but that is. a headcanon. I ADMIT! It is a stipulation

However, I find the general presence of the Island written all over the House incredibly interesting.

Inside the Observatory, there's a pile of papers with messy handwriting. You can't read these in until ACT 4. Even in ACT 4, you can't read them. But you do learn what's written on them.

(A pile of papers.) (It looks like someone was trying to write your country's name.)

Inside the observatory is also a globe. Upon repeated interaction in... act 4, i think, you get this:

(You see a spot on the globe where the paint has started wearing out, like someone kept dragging their finger on it.) (You drag your finger there too.) (Erased. You almost want to look for lightless paint.)

BOOKS

During the various quests to discover the truth of the loops, you run into a lot of books, written in the forgotten language. Now, Dormont is not close to the island. Dormont is not close to the coast.

Bambouche is. That's why Bonnie has heard about the island before and knows it was a big deal - they lived really close to it.

Bonnie (and then1): I think, I think my village was really close to it!!! My sister said it was all everyone could talk about for weeks!!! Mirabelle (anxious1): That's so frightening... I'm glad that whatever happened, she didn't get caught up in it!

As we can see in this map, Dormont is in the southern half of the country, and very centrally at that, meaning it has basically maximum distance from all waters and ports. So why does this landlocked small town have so many books in this language?

These aren't just dry books, either. In Dormont's library, there's actually a translated version of volume 2 of The Cursing of Chateau Castle.

(You take the book out again.) (You can read its title, now...) (Your heart is beating, badump, badump, badump.) (It's...) (... A translated copy of "The Cursing of Château Castle", issue #2.) (You start laughing.)

CONCLUSION OF THIS SECTION

Islanders lived in Dormont. Maybe even multiple! We've established that whoever is in Dormont when it vanished would not simply disapper, instead

they forgot where they're from.

One day, the islanders in Dormont could no longer remember being anywhere but Dormont. Being anything but Vaugardian. The observatory fell into disuse, as the person studying there gradually forgot what they used it for, even as they desparately tried to hold onto it, boring holes into the globe, and scribbling its name over and over until its unintelligible.

And, in all likelihood, eventually that knowledge was just gone forever. They simply became part of Dormont, none the wiser to their own history.

Books slipped into cracks. Rooms fell into disuse. Nobody remembered to clean out the remnants.

Now. The real cinch of this.

Why, in particular, do I think Euphrasie is one of them?

Answer me this, then.

How does Euphie know what Wish Craft is?

1. How could she read it?

Euphrasie knew specifically that Wish Craft exists, when all books on it are written in a language nobody can read.

The book in the storage room? The diary in the room behind the star door? The book in the secret library? None of them are legible.

There are no legible records of Wish Craft.

2. What about the Favor Tree?

Euphrasie knew specifically that Wish Craft is related to the Favor Tree. It's also a Vaugardian practice to make requests of the Favor Tree, but they're just that - requests. Nobody thinks they actually have power.

Only Euphrasie does. She thinks it's the key to defeating the King.

(This is... A list of people who wished to save Vaugarde!!!) (You look around her desk, trying to find out more.) (Why would she record the people who wished to save Vaugarde?) (... There!!!) (It's a little notebook, jammed between random boring paperwork...) (In it, the Head Housemaiden talks about Wish Craft... How in the days before the King attacked, she noticed everyone was wishing to the Favor Tree for the same thing:) (To save Vaugarde.) (And she started wondering if this wish could be the key to the King's defeat, somehow...) (So the Head Housemaiden knew about Wish Craft!!!)

Except, when Isabeau talks about it...

Isabeau: Well, it's just a random big tree. But when you're a believer of the House of Change, the biggest tree in a certain place is called a Favor Tree! It's like, it’s the tree with the most power, so you can ask it things? As a favor?

He struggles a little to explain it. Almost, as though the tradition came from some other culture, imported into Vaugarde, and no one can definetely remember where it came from.

To note, here, is that the Favor Tree is hugely associated with Loop, and wishes in general. Wishing on a Favor Tree is such a hugely powerful ritual when executed correctly, that it caused the entire timeloops.

And I'm not even gonna break out citations to prove that Wish Craft is associated with the island. Come on. You know that. You played the game. It's required to beat the game.

If you haven't beaten the game, what the fuck are you doing here. Go back and play it, baka.

3. Something's breaking, failing, rotting

At the end of ACT 4, when Siffrin confronts Euphrasie about her knowledge of Wish Craft, Euphrasie is distinctly aware of this: the people of Vaugarde are wishing wrong.

It's true. All of Vaugarde wished to the Favor Tree, wished for us to be saved. We wished for a savior. A way for us to win against the King. And Wish Craft gave us the means to do it, didn't it? Made sure it'd work? [...] But... But something went wrong, didn't it? Something goes wrong, every time!!! [...] The only answer I can find... Is it's because we did it wrong. I don't know what happened But we must've done it wrong!!! None of us in Vaugarde knew the exact ritual, but-- But we must have done it so wrong, it broke, and it doesn't answer to us at all anymore!!! [...] I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!!!

There's only one person who knew how to make a Wish correctly. And he made it by sheer instinct. Something they could not place even if they tried. Just... a forgotten ritual, dredged back up by muscle memory. Something he's probably been doing since he's a little kid, something that's so backed into their habits they use Wish Craft to carve figurines out of wood.

To end, I leave you with this. Dialogue you get when you try to talk to Euphrasie again, before you talked to everybody else.

If you talk to me... REALLY talk to me... It's all over. What "it" is, I have no idea... I know... I can feel that... I couldn't change whatever comes next, even if I wanted to. But I know it is the will of the Change God. Or, no, perhaps... The will of something even bigger... ... Something will end, once you talk to me.

There is a way for Euphrasie to know all of this. To know Wish Craft exists, to be aware she's doing it wrong, but not knowing, remembering quite enough to get it right.

If she knew it all beforehand already.

#Feli speaks #in stars and time #isat spoilers #isat #euphrasie isat #head housemaiden #ALL THE TAGS. I NEED PEOPLE TO LOOK AT THIS. PLEASE. IT'S 1:30 IN THE MORNING.#i spent two hours on this i think

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musicalhistorical · 11 months

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Euphie Headcanons- meeting the multiverse!!

This also includes a list of who she trusts first, what the relationship sorta looks like, etc... Euphie is just my precious okay?!?????

- When she first entered the multiverse, she’d just killed her best friend, and the blood from the battle still stained her suit.

- It was initially believed that she’d been dangerously wounded, and Miguel was going to have some words with her because of it.

- Every party was confused because she’s only 13 inches tall, but hissing like a stray cat. It was evident that she wasn’t wounded in the end, but the sheer size of everyone else terrified her.

- Hobie was the first person she managed to get comfortable around- and it was because he realized that food was the way to get her to trust anyone.

- He gave her food once, then she followed him around and hasn’t stopped since.

- She’ll tag a ride on his shoulders, and sometimes he’ll be wary of how loud he is around her bc she’s very skittish around loud noises

- Whenever anyone says anything about Hobie, Euphie is there and her teeth are BARED. She can’t speak due to her teeth, but she’s incredibly vocal and her displeasure is clearly shown. She’s very territorial over her friend

- Noir was the next person because he was…just calm. She was drawn to him, though his hat and height made her a little wary- who knew why?

- She can often be found napping on his hat, or in his coat pockets. He knows better than to make sudden movements whenever he’s at HQ, and even if they’re fighting he makes sure she’s out of harms way.

- Thanks to Peni Parker, Noir is kinda used to being thought of as an honorary dad, Euphie ends up becoming his second daughter. He’s gotten one of his pockets adjusted to make sure that she can nap in it without him worrying about her slipping out while he swings around the city or fights bad guys.

- Miguel took a longer time to get used to; Euphie mainly lurks around the edges of his office. Lyla may have noticed her, but Miguel sure hadn’t. Just as well- she was terrified of him. Still, she did want to explore the platform that he stood on- and so she did.

- And she didn’t even wait for the platform to go down all the way either- thanks to being part jumping spider, she was able to jump right up to the platform, only to ignore him and explore the area.

- He’ll never admit it, but he’s always double checking and making sure that she’s not underfoot (if she’s with Hobie and Noir and they’re letting her walk on the ground they get a stern talking to lol)

- And he installed a fridge in his office so that she doesn’t have to walk all the way to the kitchen for food when she needs it. She stays in his office a lot because it’s a nice respite from the chaos of the other spiders, and he definitely isn’t taking numerous photos of her napping in the hammock she was finally able to weave in the corner of his office 🤭

#euphie eulysses #euphie atsv #euphie and hobie #euphie and noir #euphie and miguel #euphie has two unofficial dads #and hobie big brother or something #euphie headcanons #euphie brainrot

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honeysidesarchived · 3 years

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WHERE THERE IS NO TEMPTATION, THERE IS NO GLORY.

⊱ a santino d'antonio / oc short-fic

euphemia volpe has never wanted for very much; a safe place to sleep, a soft place to land. to love someone, and be loved back. she has all of those things now, but it's most unfortunate for her that she has fallen in love with a man who will never be satisfied with what he's got.

pt. i: contact is crisis

words: 3.3k

warnings: language, some depictions of a relationship that is not entirely healthy, extensive use of my very basic knowledge of italian (padded with google translate, thank you google!), and an unfortunate amount of endearments and pet names. this does not deviate from john wick chapter 2's canon ending, so please bear in mind this will contain major character death.

rating: m for mature language ??? probably closer to t, but will change later on.

notes: as some of you may know, this has been (unfortunately) sitting on my drive since i first watched john wick chapter two almost a year ago--maybe over a year! i can't remember. all i remember was seeing santino and going "SOMEONE has got to kiss that man". so you know, here i am. this short-fic (only a few, short parts) will take place over the span of the events of john wick chapter 2. yes i built some tiny amount of lore for the camorra. yes i had the opportunity to write a fix-it fic and did not. no i am not taking criticism at this time !

special uber big thank you to my beta and my wifey @starcrier who read this a year ago and when i casually said, "hey, so what if i posted this" told me to do it. also @faithchel, who through the occasional sly prompt slid in from ask games (i see you) has been a true angel while i sort through this, and equally as encouraging!

and of course thank you to you all, who read this. i know this is not the usual content you followed me for but i appreciate you all the same. <3

“I cannot believe that I will marry a man so stupid.”

Euphemia is practically frothing at the mouth, she’s so mad; she storms into the chic New York loft, tossing her purse onto the nearby counter, her heels clipping against the polished floor decisively. It’s late; the silk slip of a dress draped across her body brushes the floor in a sweeping train, and she balances herself on the counter with one hand while she steps out of the stilettos with the assistance of the other.

“Euphie, luce della mia vita,” Santino says, striding in after her and completely at ease. He is, infuriatingly, as he always is; perfectly composed, his dark curls in place and his suit immaculate. Euphemia eyes him through the mirror of her vanity as he sidles up behind her. “We’re not married yet, princesa, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“Luce della mia vita,” Euphemia drawls mockingly. She drips the words in honey on the way out of her mouth, sliding a dainty, glittering bracelet from her wrist and dropping it on the counter. “You sound like a fucking idiot, Santi.”

His gaze darkens, but his voice is still silky when he says, “Watch your tone, cara mia.”

“What for?” Euphemia thinks she wouldn’t be able to watch her tone even if she wanted to; not anymore, not with this hanging over her head. She turns to stare at her fiancé, pressing her index finger to his chest. “You’re going to get killed by Baba Yaga anyway. No point in behaving myself, is there? Idiota.”

“Euphemia.”

“You leave John Wick alone, Santino,” she bites out. “You don’t ask for a thing from him. Of him. About him. I don’t want John Wick near my life.”

Santino grabs her wrist, the hand with the engagement ring sitting on it—snatches it out of the air like a cobra striking, grips it with hands that usually are much kinder.

“Everything that you have now is a gift from me,” he warns her, voice pitched low. “You like your nice engagement ring? Your nice dresses? This nice loft we live in?”

His fingers grip, nearly bruising; these are the only times that he doesn’t handle her with care, that his elegant fingers don’t splay against her skin reverently—when she’s pissed him off.

“I’ve given it all to you, all of these things, this life that you like having and don’t want John Wick near, so I would suggest watching your tone for that.”

There is a brief moment where Euphemia thinks she might finally, right now, resort to the violence of slapping Santino in the face. The threat is not lost on her; it’s Santino’s favorite thing to do when he’s angry. And for her to commit an act of violence against her fiancé would be unthinkable almost every other time, in any other situation. Euphie would not have considered it in the least, but there are times—on occasion—where she thinks for a second that she doesn’t recognize him; that he’s become some amalgam of all of the men who have grabbed her too hard or told her she owes them. Men who have used her meanly.

And Santino has divulged his plan to push John Wick for a favor.

So, yes: she thinks she might, but then her hand is moving of her own volition, sliding the engagement ring off of her finger and stuffing it into his jacket pocket, the more pacifist choice than what her mind is screaming for her to do.

“You have never had nothing, Santi,” she says, biting out the words, “so allow me to enlighten you; I have had nothing before you, and I will be just fine having nothing again.”

His eyes narrow, gemlike slits that sit heavy on her. She yanks her wrist of his grip and says, “And it is a good thing we are not married, si? A divorce would have been so messy.”

“Euphie,” Santino says in a sigh that lacks venom, as though he weren’t just threatening to take everything from her, as though she were the hysterical one, “don’t fuss.”

Don’t fuss, he says, because Santino has only ever had women before that bend themselves over backwards until they break for him; don’t fuss, he says, because he likes and maybe loves her, she thinks, but he doesn’t like or love when she talks back. Santino has always had someone to wait on him, to serve him, and Euphemia has never seen his parents together but she would that his only vision of marriage is that of a subservient, dutiful, loving wife.

“Oh, but my darling,” she coos, very undutiful and decidedly not subservient, “I wouldn’t want you to have to worry about all of the nice things you give me. You can enjoy them all yourself, for the brief time before Baba Yaga kills you for asking him to do a job he does not want to do, when he has announced his retirement.”

It’s a terrible way to feed the monster inside of her. That monster is a pusher, a puller, the kind that picked and chipped away at Santino until he lost that shred of his manicured control and gave her something, anything she could work with. It was impossible to love a man who was so buttoned up there was nowhere for her to put her love.

His expression tightens in the way that she recognizes as his controlled fury; bottling it, merchandising it, saving it for later. Santino is not incapable of killing his sister himself, but for some reason—a reason that Euphemia is sure is only known to him—he won’t. Some stupid shit about blood and family, probably.

“Take the ring back.” Santino’s voice is smooth, belying the danger lurking just beneath. He fishes the engagement ring out of the pocket of his suit jacket, where she’d dropped it, and picks up her hand again; this time, his fingers don’t grip with bruising force, but cradle. Euphemia thinks she might have pushed him, then, right to the line, because his eerie calm is unsettling as his fingers meticulously slide the engagement ring back into place.

He says, “There, you see? This is where your engagement ring belongs and will stay. Here, on your hand. Just like this is where you belong and will stay—here, with me.” His hand comes up to her face; she turns away, and he catches her chin and forces her to look back at him.

“You know I will get you anything you want,” Santino murmurs, “but you have to ask.”

Nicely, is the implied word. A good fiancé, a good wife, wouldn’t storm out of the car after he mentions John Wick in passing, ripping through the loft, calling him names. She knows all of this and she thinks, then maybe I’m not a good anything.

But she can tell when she’s pushed Santino’s buttons just enough—enough to make a point, and not enough to incur his wrath. Not entirely.

“Please, Santi,” she says, her voice still hard but softer than it was before, and already Santi is shaking his head so she plunges on recklessly, “do not cash in John Wick’s debt to you. Ascoltami, I know you—I know you will do something to put yourself and John Wick on opposite sides of the playing field.”

Santino’s gaze is sharp and clear. He drops his hand from her face, shrugging, and says, “So what? I will be playing chess, and John Wick will be playing checkers. You worry too much, Euphie.”

“What you mean to say is that I think before I act.”

He shrugs, and threads his fingers through her hair, reaching up with the other to brush loose strands of it from her eyes. He rumbles pleasantly, “Don’t you trust me?”

Euphemia grits her teeth. Her hands come up to grip his wrists, watching him with a prickle of dread in her chest. “Don’t you trust me, Santi?”

Santi’s gaze darkens. Like that, he drops his hands from her, tucking them into the pockets of his slacks as he turns and wanders further into the bedroom, taking all of his warmth with him and leaving Euphie to marinate in the cold glow of the vanity’s lights.

“You can say no,” she says after him, frustrated. “You don’t have to keep an air of mystery about it.”

“What do I do then, tesora?” Santino demands, turning to look at her from the foot of the bed where stands. “Kill her myself? You know I can’t. You know that you cannot ask me to do that.” A pause, and then, with an added air of entitlement: “And Wick owes me.”

There are complicated feelings wrapped up in the whole of it, she knows; Santino, who wants what his sister was given, but cannot bring himself to end her. Euphemia, who only wants Santino, who doesn’t care if he has a seat at the High Table or if he’s a sister-killer or not, who only wants him to look at her longingly like he did when they first met, just for forever instead of a brief moment in time.

And both of them, intrinsically linked, because Santino isn’t wrong when he says that he’s given her everything she has now and Euphemia isn’t wrong when she says she would be okay with nothing again.

She doesn’t ask it of him; he is right, that she can’t, that she wouldn’t. Gianna has only ever been kind to her, at least face to face, and if Santi’s sister had any reservations about Euphemia, then Euphie would find herself in a completely different situation. Not engaged to the only other heir to the D’Antonio empire, that was for certain.

Instead, then, she says, “I cannot ask you to do it, you’re right. I cannot ask you to do it, and I cannot keep you, and I cannot throw you away, Santino. I was less tired when I had nothing.”

She turns away and walks herself into the bathroom, fingers trembling as she undoes the delicate zipper of the gold dress, letting it pool at the floor in a whisper of fabric. The engagement ring sits heavy on her hand. It’s beautiful—and just what she wants, and also the thing that she fears the most, because she doesn’t know what it means to Santino and only what it means to her.

“Euphie.”

His voice comes from the doorway of the bathroom. She turns on the hot water in the tub, a beautiful porcelain clawfoot that she picked herself. It was one of the first things that Santino gifted to her, the first essence of her in the loft that is now almost entirely half-and-half the two of their tastes.

Euphemia doesn’t say anything, because she doesn’t know what to say, so she ties up her hair and shimmies out of the last of her clothes. She can feel his eyes on her, waiting for her to flower into submission and turn around and beg, oh, please Santino, forgive me, but he should know better because she has never and will never do that for him.

“Cara mia.”

“Do not.” Euphemia’s voice wobbles. She slides into the bathtub before it’s full, the water stinging her skin where it touches. “I can’t stand to hear your voice saying sweet things to me when you are willingly walking yourself into your grave.”

“You are being a little dramatic.” He makes his way over to her, kneeling down beside the porcelain tub, ghosting his fingers over her forehead and then the bridge of her nose, fluttering in a way that treasures her and causes her grief all at once. “Just one job, Euphie. That’s all I’m going to ask of him. And then it’s done, and you won’t have to be worried about the Boogeyman.” The pads of his fingers dip into the hot water and then skim along the slope of her collarbone, raising goosebumps on her skin. “And John Wick, whose lifelong peace you are very concerned about, can go back to his dog and his car.”

Euphemia thinks, it’s never just that, with you, because she knows Santino—she knows he’s hungry, has always been hungry, a boy magicked into a man’s skin all hurt and needing and starved, unable to inhibit himself properly. No self-preservation telling him when to stop, never telling him when enough is enough. Not really.

I see you, though, she thought, her gaze flickering over Santino’s face to trace the handsome lines of his expression. She would have never agreed to marry a man before she saw him without his face off; without knowing the monster underneath.

But while she knows this, and she sees Santino D’Antonio for what he really is, she is an idiot and a fool and loves a man sick with the magic of his own perceived destiny, a destiny he believes he is owed, so she says softly, “Promise me, Santi.”

“On my life,” Santino replies with that boyish charm she knows so well. He speaks as though he is not going to leave her in the morning to visit Baba Yaga, as though she doesn’t fear he won’t ever come back. “Now give me a kiss, princesa.”

“I mean it, Santino—”

“I do, too.” He cocks his head to the side. “I won’t ask twice.”

Euphemia acquiesces; not because she fears what he’ll do if he does feel he has to ask twice—because he does hate that—but because as much as she says she would be happy to have nothing again, she is content to bask in the something that she has now, while she has it.

She kisses the corner of his mouth. He slides his damp fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck and says, “Do you love me?”

“Of course.” Her voice feels rough with an emotion she doesn’t want any of. “Of course, Santi, that’s why I—”

“All I need is a yes or no, my little fox, not an essay.”

Her eyes narrow. She turns her face from him; he shifts his position at the end she’s leaned against, dragging his hands along her shoulders to ease the tension in her muscles. Her body reacts instinctively to him. She is a long cry from the girl scamming rich men out of their wallets and time, but there are some things she is still weak to; touch, the acknowledgment that she has a body, that she is real, to be reassured that she is alive.

Santino is so very good at that. He leans over the end of the tub and kisses her cheek, fingers working into the knots of her shoulders.

I am so afraid, she thinks, her eyelashes fluttering shut. I am so afraid that I will never see old age on you.

“Tesora.” His voice is a lull. Pulling her back in, pushing her back under, reminding her that to relinquish herself to someone is a luxury she does not want to go without anymore. To let someone else take control, to not have to worry about making decisions all the time; this is something that she always wants.

“Yes,” Euphie says, “of course I love you, Santi.”

She can feel his smile against her cheek.

“Good girl.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Tell me your favorite words.”

It’s both early and late; the clock’s cool blue numbers are keeping her awake; Santi’s hand slides along the curve of her hip admiringly above the silk of her nightdress, and his nose brushes the bump at the base of her neck. Euphemia shifts. When she does, the edge of her engagement ring catches on the silky pillowcase, but she doesn’t care—it will always do that, because Santi won’t pick another and Euphie won’t ask him to.

Goosebumps prickle along her skin with the air conditioning, cranked as high as she likes, whispers across it when her shoulder slides out from underneath the comforter. She rolls over to look at him. It’s unsurprising that he’s still awake, and he doesn’t look surprised to see she’s awake, either.

“My favorite words?” she prompts. Santino brings his hand to her face, his thumb dragging absently along her lower lip.

“Si,” he replies. “You are always reading. You can speak a few languages. You must have favorite words, no?”

His request does bring a smile to her face, tired as it is. They may have spent the rest of their waking evening wandering around each other like wounded dogs, wary and licking their wounds, but they are here now, together, in their bed.

Euphie says, “It is late, Santi.”

“And I cannot sleep.” He brushes his nose along her jawline. “But perhaps the soothing voice of my one greatest love will lull me.”

She laughs. Her hand finds his, their fingers interlacing, woven together. He pulls back from her and kisses the engagement ring, but he is waiting. He means it.

“Tendresse,” Euphemia says, the word rolling soft out of her mouth from misuse. Santino quirks a brow expectantly and kisses the pulse point of her wrist. “Tenderness.”

He nods sagely. Against the soft skin of the inside of her wrist, he murmurs, “You are a most tender creature, Euphemia D’Antonio.”

Her fingers slide out of his, running along the slope of his cheekbones and then the bridge of his nose. “That is Euphemia Volpe. If you’ll recall, we’re yet to be married.”

Santino leans in, captures her fingertips playfully with his teeth, and then kisses her palm with a warm, rich chuckle that sends pleasant heat spiraling down her spine. “You will never forget that I was fool enough to say that to you, will you?” he asks. “Tell me another.”

His eyes are just as warm as his voice, and twice as earnest. In these moments, Santino is the most charming; boyish and quick-witted, unburdened by the elements of the world, by his own desires. He thinks of nothing except them. Euphemia feels like she’s in her own little world with him, in their bedroom at three in the morning, while the air conditioner whirrs and ticks and he asks her something so unimportant, like what her favorite words are.

And then, Santino leans in and kisses her cheek, the corner of her mouth, and the underside of her jaw to prompt her.

“Amore,” she murmurs, feeling like the breath has been sucked out of her lungs by his longing. His tenderness.

“Oh,” Santino says, against her temple, “I know that one.”

When his stubble tickles her neck, she squirms, shifting away from him so hat she can take a breath; but he chases her, leans in and captures her in his arms so that he can nose the hair by her ear and kiss there.

“Euphie, my gorgeous girl,” he says in the way that wrenches her heart; drenched and drowned in adoration. “Perfetto e tutto mio.”

Santino wraps his arms around her and pulls her to his chest, his fingers tracing constellations on her back where the night dress slips away from her shoulder blades. Sweet Santi, covetous Santi; she is his greatest art piece, his favorite collector’s item, and in these moments she has never felt more treasured. There is something equal parts safe and selfish in wanting someone to treasure you.

“Say it for me, Euphie. You know I love when you do.”

She buries her face into his neck. Her eyes burn. He will go to Baba Yaga tomorrow, and she will have to pretend not to know, or it will wreck her. Euphie considers ways to keep him in bed in the morning; delay him, make him forget about John Wick and this glory that he is chasing forever.

“Sono tuo,” she murmurs. Tears sting at the corners of her eyes If he feels them against his skin, Santino makes no indication than to card his fingers through her hair. “Always, Santi.”

Always, always, always yours.

#john wick fic #santino d'antonio x oc #santino d'antonio / oc #spilled ink #c: euphemia volpe #c: santino d'antonio #i have nothing to say for myself except thanks and ily all <3 #scheduled post #x: senza tentazioni senza onore

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naruwitch · 3 years

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Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 38: Jupiter's Sanctuary

Red. That was the color that surrounded the Castle of Lions from all sides. No, not the bleeding red of blood, or the orange flames of fire, but bright red clouds of dust and gas as Jupiter's Red Spot swirled in all directions outside.

Upon making it back to the castle, barely so much as touching down in Zen's hanger, Lelouch ordered for Allura to guide the Castle of Lions to their Solar System's largest gas giant, where in its lower hemisphere, they'd spot a hurricane that had been blowing and surging practically since the planet formed.

"Take us into the eye of that storm. It should provide enough interference and temporary shelter until we can regroup. Quickly!"

Despite the nearly mesmerizing display of the storm outside, no one was in the mood for exploring or observing it.

Yes, they got away. Yes, they'd managed to shake the Galra for now. But they all knew it wouldn't last long, and that didn't even take into account the losses suffered. Dozens who managed to make it back to the castle were left heavily wounded. Several hallways had to be boarded off and converted into makeshift extensions of the infirmary to treat all of the wounded. Only those with absolutely life-threatening wounds were allowed into the pods first. The rest had to wait and suffer the pain until one opened.

Lelouch and Nunnally both gazed anxiously into the pod that currently held Sayoko inside, the nearly mortal wound to her abdomen dying her cryosuit a rosy red as the machine worked to knit her skin back together, face still pale and slight shadows under her eyes from the blood loss.

Lelouch swallowed, fighting back bile as images of his maid-turned-surrogate-mother bleeding out on Zenobia's floor flashed back to his mind. Despite Lord Guilford's efforts to stop the bleeding on both Sayoko and his sister, they almost didn't make it.

'How many times have I been down here?' Lelouch wondered bitterly, 'Only watching as someone close to me nearly died in these things?'

Nunnally didn't say anything either, only glancing at her brother apprehensively, trying to read his face to offer words of comfort or encouragement, to tell him that Sayoko, and everyone else who made it would be fine. But so far, she had come up empty.

Lelouch didn't bother to turn around as the faint hiss of the infirmary doors opened behind him and the clear clacking of footsteps echoed through the room.

"...What are our losses?" Lelouch asked bluntly, nearly devoid of emotion as Allura approached the pair.

"...Civilian casualties remain zero for our side," Allura said briskly, "But as for our fighting force…? I'm afraid more than half have fallen."

"...I see…" Lelouch said so quietly Allura nearly doesn't hear.

"Lelouch, it's…" Nunnally started but stopped at the look on her brother's face. At that point, she knew that words wouldn't be enough to convince her brother otherwise right now. That he had done the best he could to save as many lives as possible. That this wasn't his fault.

"Where's everyone else?" Lelouch asked, still not turning around.

"Kallen, Rivalz, Shirley, and Milly are with their families. Helping them get settled," Allura said, "Coran is with the rest of the engineers repairing the damaged Knightmares. I believe Suzaku is with his cousin and Tohdoh's squad, and Rai and Nonette are looking over C.C. right now."

"She hasn't woken up yet?" Lelouch asked.

"No…" Allura shook her head, "She's still unresponsive, but clearly alive."

"...And our 'guest'?" Lelouch asked tersely, nearly spitting out the word like venom.

Allura scowled as well, "Currently contained in a cryopod. He won't be able to do anything for now, but we're not taking chances. We're having guards posted to him at all hours, and they have orders to take him out again if he somehow escapes."

"Good," Lelouch nodded slightly before turning out of the room, "If you'll excuse me, I have something else to attend to."

The two princesses watched him go with looks of concern. Yes, Lelouch looked like he was being strong, but they, Nunnally especially, knew better. Lelouch was barely holding it together, focusing on the tasks at hand just to keep from breaking down himself. While Lelouch had gotten better at showing his vulnerable side when around the Paladins, he still had much to work on. It was even rare for Nunnally to see (or hear at the time) her brother cry about anything, but the sobs she used to hear coming from his room during their earlier days at Ashford didn't fool her. Nunnally had no doubt that only after Lelouch was in the quiet of their bedroom would he finally let it out, and it would be painful for him, but she was determined to still be there for him no matter what.

"He'll be alright, Nunnally," Allura said softly, as if reading her mind, "He may be leading this fight, but he's not doing it alone."

"Yes…" Nunnally nodded solemnly before looking more directly at the Altean, "By the way, I never got to thank you for earlier… Thank you for saving me and Euphie. And thanks for looking out for Lelouch and the other Paladins."

Allura smiled sadly, "Ever since I learned of Altea's destruction, I've grown to consider the new Paladins as my family. And that does include you as well." Allura placed a hand on Nunnally's shoulder, "I told Lelouch long ago that I'd be there for him, no matter what. And I want to make that promise to you too, Nunnally, if you'll let me."

Nunnally smiled and wrapped her arms around Allura's waist, feeling the Altean do the same to her.

They'd be there for Lelouch. Both of them.

Kallen fidgetted, her mind flashing back to the day in the hospital when she last saw her mom face to face. She was still clad in her Paladin armor, her helmet resting next to her on her bed. If finding out aliens were real was overwhelming enough, finding out your own child was a pilot of one of the greatest weapons in the universe, and one of the only people that could stop said alien race was likely even more shocking. Kallen knew her mom deserved to know where she'd been these last months, and she was grateful to be given the chance to do so.

"Mom, you still with me?" she asked after a short silence.

"Um, yes…" Mrs. Kozuki nodded, "It's just a lot to take in… I know how much you hate Britannia, so it doesn't surprise me as much as it should that you'd fight against them, but you're even fighting an entire alien race as well…?" She glanced up at her daughter with an anxious expression, "I know I can't stop you Kallen… but this is how I lost your brother as well. I know our life was far from perfect, but I never wanted…"

"I know mom, and… I'm sorry for dragging you into this, but I couldn't just sit back and do nothing anymore, especially after Naoto…" Kallen felt her throat squeeze as tears pricked her eyes, "...At first, it was about revenge, I won't deny that. But ever since this, finding the Lions, fighting with the other Paladins. Even before this with the Black Knights… It's more than that now. We're fighting to actually help people now, to actually save lives. And I don't regret it, not for a second."

Kallen felt a soft hand on top of her own and she looked up at her mom again.

"I think I understand," Mrs. Kozuki said softly, "I know how much you care about your friends and what you believe in. Your brother was the same way, but… but I want you to know… I'm proud of you, Kallen. Just promise me that you'll stay safe. I don't want to lose you too."

Kallen didn't waste another second as she engulfed her mom in a hug.

"I promise, mom. I swear on my life…"

Shirley bit her lip, trying to gauge her parents' reactions. Just like Kallen, and after helping them get settled in, Shirley told her mom and dad everything that had been happening, including the things that she had come to realize about Britannia. About the disturbing parallels she saw between the Galra and the Britannian government's policies. She honestly wasn't sure what her parents would say. Her father was a scientist in the Britannian army, a position she knew he held with great pride. And even after they moved to Japan, Shirley couldn't recall if her mother ever really interacted with the Japanese (their manor being fairly deep into the settlement), honorary citizens or otherwise. Or at least, she never saw such interactions during the few times she was home during the school year. She didn't want to think her parents were bad people, but finding out your child was one of your nation's greatest enemies was likely not a pleasant surprise.

"...Look," Shirley said, the silence finally getting to her, "Whether you agree with me or not, you're still my mom and dad, so we're not going to kick you out or anything, but… you can't change my mind either. I'm too deep into this, I can't just turn my-"

Aurora Fenette suddenly stood up and shakily walked to the door.

"I...I need a moment," she muttered when the doors slid open for her and she retreated down the hallway.

Shirley's eyes shimmered as she watched her go before reluctantly turning back to her father, his expression still unreadable.

"Dad… I… I'm sorry, I just-"

"Shirley," Joseph said calmly, meeting his daughter's eye, "I want you to be honest with me. Does all of this…" he gestured around the room, "...Does this really mean that much to you?"

Shirley was silent, her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn't sure why her father was asking her that question. And the way he was… it sounded almost like coming to a crossroads, though she wasn't sure for whom. But no matter what he meant, Shirley shut her eyes and vigorously nodded her head.

Joseph didn't say anything for a moment, then he sighed and stood up.

"...Where are you going?" she asked nervously as the doors slid open again.

"There's something I need to do," he said vaguely, "and I'll talk to your mother too, Shirley. Just give her some time."

With those last words, the doors hissed shut, leaving Shirley still staring at the door, unsure what to feel at that moment.

"...And that's pretty much all that's happened until now," Rivalz finished after settling down to talk to his mother and siblings about the adventures they had gone on so far. Amelia, Isla, Ava, and his baby brother Joshua remained mostly silent throughout the story and still were as if most were still trying to digest what they had heard. (Though with Joshua being only three, he seemed more interested in 'inspecting' one of the pill bug aliens that joined them in the lounge. It had a surprising amount of patience for having its hair and fur pulled on by the toddler).

Amelia opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but seemed to think better of it and just ducked her head back down to her lap.

The twins, Isla and Ava, both looked at each other, though didn't say anything either.

Rivalz cringed, "I know it's a lot to process so if you need some time I totally get it…"

"Girls," Topaz Cardemonde said finally, "will you take Joshua outside for a moment? I want to talk to Rivalz alone."

The girls didn't question her as Amelia swiftly scooped the boy up, ignoring the whine that followed as he was pulled away from his new 'pet plushy' and quickly hurried out.

An awkward silence followed as mother and son faced each other on the couch. It put Rivalz on edge.

Normally his mother was a very outspoken woman. She supported any passion her children wished to pursue, from Amelia's paintings and art to the twins' love of sports and cooking. He remembered in his earlier years how his mom used to be much more reserved when their dad still lived with them. Lord Corbin Yates from the moment he married Topaz had life all planned out for her and their children. They'd have a son who they'd raise to lead the family one day, then the rest of their children would be daughters they could wed off to well-off or even noble families so they could 'spend the rest of their lives in comfort.'

That changed when Joshua was born. Lord Yates hadn't wanted another son. 'Too much hassle trying to divide up the inheritance' had been his excuse. Topaz knew that if Corbin found out it was a boy, he'd likely demand it be aborted. But if there was one thing that his mother and her family had been solely against even by Britannian standards, it was abortion. They told their daughter that if she ever so much as thought about killing an innocent baby even before its birth, they'd disown her.

So, Topaz went through with the pregnancy, keeping the gender secret from Corbin as she did. Though Rivalz was only fourteen at the time, he remembered the look of sheer disgust on his father's face when Joshua turned out to be a boy. Despite this, Topaz loved and raised Josh just as much as Rivalz and his sisters.

Then one night, one of the family's head maids came to his room, her face pale and with a packed bag, telling him to quietly meet his mother by the horse stables. All three of his sisters were there, and his mother was carrying Joshua in a baby sling. They had escaped back to his mother's family that same night.

Rivalz didn't find out until several months later, when her mom finally filed for divorce, the real reason for their flight.

Apparently one of the maids, the same maid that helped them escape, had overheard a plot that Corbin was discussing through his slightly open office door. He was apparently planning to get rid of Joshua ("Sell him on the market, ship him to the EU, make it work!") and have it disguised as a kidnapping. There would be a bribed investigation where the cops 'gave up' after a few months of 'searching' and Joshua was long gone. Where? Not even Corbin would know… or even care.

Upon hearing this, the maid immediately alerted Topaz. It took several attempts to finally convince her of her husband's treachery, but after noticing some unusual activity in their bank account, she made arrangements with her father and mother to come live with them until this was sorted out.

It didn't take much convincing after that for Rivalz to turn against his dad and take his mother's surname, Cardemonde, instead. He hadn't seen that man since.

"Mom…" Rivalz started, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I dragged you and everyone into this. But please-"

"Rivalz…" Topaz raised a hand to silence him, "When I left your father, taking all of you with me, that was likely the hardest decision I ever made. To this day I still ask myself if I did the right thing."

Rivalz blinked, confused. Where was his mom going with this?

"I did my best to raise you into a good man, and I like to think that I've done so, even if the ultimate result is… not what I expected."

"Mom…" Rivalz murmured, unsure what to say.

"Son, in that message, you said you believed you were doing the right thing. And sometimes the right thing isn't always the most popular thing, especially in our society… I'll admit, I'm not sure how I feel about this arrangement, but… above all else, Rivalz, know that I'll always love you."

Rivalz felt his shoulders sag slightly. It may not have been the answer he wanted, but hearing that last part gave him hope that he could have his family see things from his view. For now, though, he could settle for this.

"Just…" his mother spoke again, "Just don't get yourself killed, please?"

Despite himself, Rivalz laughed softly, "Got it, Mum."

"...Milly, when I joked to my colleagues that one of your ideas or schemes would one day bring about the end of the world, I meant it as just that. A joke…"

Milly laughed nervously from next to her grandfather as they strolled down one of the Castleship's halls, giving him a tour before officially settling him in.

"Um, well in my defense, the Galra were technically already on their way here, so it wouldn't have really mattered if we had found the Blue Lion at the time or not, so…" Milly argued back a little uneasily.

Ruben huffed out a laugh and shook his head tiredly.

"For what it's worth, Milly," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'm proud of what you've accomplished so far. It may have taken being abducted by aliens to do so, but you've grown into a fine young woman that I'm honored to be the grandfather of."

Milly smiled and leaned into her grandfather's side, "Thanks, Papa. Though… in all honesty, I doubt Mum and Dad will agree."

Ruben grimaced, "Leave your mother and father to me. There's a reason I asked you to move with me to Japan after the war, and I haven't regretted that decision, especially not now. I don't want you to make the same mistakes they did."

"I won't, Grandpa," Milly exclaimed, "I'm old enough to think for myself on the important things in my life."

"I hope so, and I believe you are…" Ruben said gently, "Just don't ever lose sight of that, Milly. At least promise me that."

Milly smiled, "You have my word, Papa…"

"Well… that was a shitstorm…" Nonette muttered from her position against the wall. Her left arm was in a sling and had several small, attachable Altean cold packs that Rai couldn't bother to remember the name of on her face and attached to the areas of her chest and back from the Gawain's hadron cannons. It was a miracle that she survived with mostly second-degree burns, much less that her Knightmare hadn't blown up with the Siegfried machine they'd faced. Though, the fact that she wasn't in the direct line of fire may have helped a little.

"Yeah…" Rai grimaced in agreement, "But… it could have been worse… So much worse."

The Paladins, upon arriving back, had been horror-struck when they learned about V.V.'s attempted assassination. While Allura had managed to hold him off briefly, the results likely would have been worse had Chigusa (or Viletta Nu as they learned she'd finally regained her memories) not intervened as well.

What truly baffled them though was the state that C.C. was in even now. The immortal still hadn't regained full consciousness, and their medical scans couldn't find the cause for her comatose state.

"Is it true what I've heard about her?" Nonette asked, "That she's immortal?"

"Yeah, it is true. We're still not sure how, but she is…" Rai nodded before chuckling humorlessly, "With Suzaku, that means that all of us have a Geass now, yet I'm the only one that didn't get it from her."

Rai's thoughts grew dark as he thought back to the one who did. He felt his stomach churn when he recalled how that witch had cut him open and sewed him back up again, more often than not wide awake as she did so. Plus, if she was the one behind Mao's robeast…

He looked at C.C. again, eyes narrowing, "Haggar likely did something. It looked a lot like her power from what Nunnally described."

"Is there anything we can do to help her?" Nonette asked.

"I don't know…" Rai admitted. He looked down at his hand in thought. Magic, now that it was confirmed to be real, was clearly a tricky area. One thing Rai did know though was that the Geass held some sort of mystic element, but C.C. had said that Geasses don't work on her… but his Geass wasn't from a human... "I guess… There's something I can try but I'm not sure if it will work."

Nonette didn't say anything but watched warily as Rai approached the sleeping immortal. Hesitating for a moment longer, he placed a hand on C.C.'s forehead, activating his Geass as he did so.

He gasped as images flashed through his mind. "What…?" Rai felt himself flung into a colorful void before landing in the middle of a battlefield. Barricades were dug around him and explosions were going off everywhere. A squad of tanks came rolling over a hill and…

"C.C.?!" Rai gasped as he spotted the immortal sprinting across no-man's land before she ducked down into the barricade.

"Hold it right there!" a man barked before a bullet fired. Rai watched in horror as the shot penetrated C.C.'s skull.

C.C. screamed as the landscape changed again. This time it was even older times, stones being thrown at a cathedral and...

"Oh god…" Rai gasped as he stared at the blazing stake, C.C. tied to the center of it, screaming in agony.

Rai was shaken from his stupor as another scream hit his ears. But this one was not one of pain, but of pure, blood-thirsty rage.

He barely caught a glimpse of a white-haired being streaking through the crowd of people, sword cutting down any in his path when he was yanked away.

"Rai!" Nonette shouted, pulling him away. The Green Paladin blinked and shook his head, barely catching the layer of dark… something faded from his arm.

"What…?" he whispered, looking up at C.C., only to see the same dark aura disappear from her entire body.

"Rai, are you alright?" Nonette asked in concern, "You're crying."

"I am?" Rai asked, hand reaching up to his cheek and feeling the dampness there. He glanced back at C.C. If that was what he thought it was then… no wonder she acted the way she did. So numb. So… unfeeling.

"...Cera…"

Rai blinked up in alarm. That was C.C.'s voice. Was she waking up?

"You finally called me... by my real name..."

"...Okay, you creeped out at all, Ohgi?" Tamaki asked, eying their prisoner in the stasis pod, "I know he looks like a kid but…"

"Well, according to Lelouch he's not," Ohgi said, looking just as uneasy, "He's actually the Emperor's brother. His and Nunnally's uncle."

Tamaki scowled and glanced at V.V. again, "Looks more like his grandkid to me."

"Maybe. But…"

"Yeah, yeah," Tamaki waved Ohgi off, "Magic and all that spiel, I get it."

The hiss of the pod chamber doors caught their attention and Tamaki tensed when Viletta entered.

"Oh, Chi… Sorry, Viletta, right?" Ohgi asked, surprised to see her.

The woman didn't answer right away, as if debating something in her head, then said, "I would like to speak Ohgi. Alone."

Tamaki narrowed his eyes. Most of the crew had been told that Viletta finally regained her memories, and if that was true, he didn't want to leave Ohgi even three feet away from her. "If you think I'm going to just-"

"Shinichiro," Ohgi interrupted, causing his friend to stop, "It's fine. I'll be fine."

"What?! You can't be serious! She's no ordinary Britannian you know, she's one of those Pureblood psychos!"

"Yes, she was," Ohgi confirmed firmly even as Viletta flinched slightly, "but she has nothing to gain by trying anything right now. Just leave us be for a minute, okay?"

Tamaki still stubbornly glanced between the two before sighing harshly and leaving, but not before shooting Viletta an 'I'm watching you' gesture.

With Tamaki gone, Ohgi suddenly felt awkward. While he may have been confident talking to his friend, he couldn't help but feel his guard raise slightly when facing Viletta. It hurt him to do it too. The two of them had gotten close over the past couple of weeks, and the thought of facing her as an enemy now felt surreal.

"I…" he finally started when Viletta stayed silent, "I'll be honest, I'm surprised you're choosing to stay with Voltron, with us, instead of going back to Britannia. I know others would have… and already have…"

...Considering you're a Pureblood went unsaid, but the message was clear.

Viletta frowned slightly, "I'll admit, the thought did cross my mind too. But I'm also not really a fan of having my entire race being sold off by the person we're supposed to be serving. Not only has he kept secrets, but is endangering everyone, including his people."

"I'm guessing by 'secrets' you mean V.V. here," Ohgi asked, gesturing to the immortal in question.

Viletta grimaced again, "That… and what I heard happened to Lord Jeremiah. Though, we're still unsure if Britannia had a hand in that or not yet."

"Jeremiah…" Ohgi muttered, furrowing his brows for a second. Then they raised in recognition, "He was the one that set up Suzaku, right? For killing Prince Clovis. If I recall, you were also a part of that at the time."

Viletta sighed but didn't deny it. "Not one of my finer moments, I'll admit… When I ran into Miss Fenette on the Avalon, one of the things she told me was that Britannia was evil and at that time, I couldn't understand why she would think that. I thought Zero had brainwashed her or something of that nature. But now that I look at things from her perspective, and with everything that has happened, I understand a little more."

Ohgi remained silent and continued to listen.

"Not only that, but she still saved me, an enemy soldier, pointing a gun at her. She could have just as easily left me for dead. I know it was likely to interrogate me and even without memories they still could have tried something. But they did the opposite. I was treated kindly, as another member of the group, even by you… If our roles were reversed, I can tell you right now that they wouldn't have gotten the same treatment. We would have used them to our advantage. As a pawn or a decoy."

Ohgi grimaced but didn't argue as he agreed. He had no doubt that that would have been the case.

"But… I'll admit, I'm still curious to know more. You all have lost so much, but you keep getting back up and pushing back. How do you do it?"

Ohgi shrugged, "I honestly don't know. I guess… if you really care about something, those things are just worth fighting for. And that makes them all the more precious to you."

Viletta blinked and looked down, "I never thought about it like that…"

Ohgi smiled, "If you want help understanding, I'm more than willing to be there for it."

At those words, for the first time in their conversation, Viletta smiled.

"I'd appreciate that."

"...Well, thank goodness they're all salvageable," Lloyd said as he lowered down from the damaged Lancelot, "the crystal isn't damaged, but the big problem will be getting a hold of replacement parts considering… Well, we can't exactly waltz back to our planet right now. What with it being occupied by aliens and whatnot."

"Lelouch explained to us briefly about the various governments of your planet. We may need to cautiously retrieve our resources from the other sovereign nations," Coran said with a grim frown, "but who knows how quickly the Galra will expand to the rest of the planet, especially with Zarkon himself there. I also have no doubt that they'll try and use some of your world's technology, regardless of how primitive, to their advantage."

"If you ask me, we should start searching for allies off-planet as well. Preferably ones with more advanced technology as well," Rakshata suggested.

"Oh, I agree," Coran nodded, "the princess and I have discussed several possibilities as of late. The more systems that we free from Galra rule, the better."

While the three continued to discuss such options, Cecile observed the footage from Lancelot and Gawain. Particularly, of Zarkon himself. Even just seeing him on recorded footage sent shivers down her spine.

'It doesn't seem possible…' she thought, 'How can one creature single-handedly stand up to a whole squad of Knightmares. None of the pilots made so much as a scratch on him. If they were normal Knightmare frames I could understand, but these were all upgraded from the castle, and even with that…'

Swallowing, she rewound the footage again, this time zeroing in on the weapon Zarkon was using. While she had never seen the Paladins fight in melee combat, she had heard from some of the Black Knights how these weapons, Bayards they were called, worked. How they could morph and shape into any tool that the Paladin needed or was suited for, from guns to swords.

So… did the Galra come up with a similar weapon, because from the description, whatever Zarkon was using acted a lot like the Bayards...

Cornelia blinked her eyes open, her vision slowly clearing as she looked around in confusion. The last thing she had remembered was passing out on the Black Lion's floor. She vaguely recalled Lelouch barking an order and Guilford leaning over her with some goopy orange substance on his hands. Otherwise, her memory was blank.

"Cornelia…?"

Whatever thoughts of returning to sleep Cornelia had gone flying out the window and bolted upright in the bed. Which was a bad idea as she felt a jolt of agony shoot up her right shoulder.

"Cornelia!" Euphemia yelped as she shot up in fright, Arthur yowling in annoyance as he was launched off her lap. "Wait, don't do that! It's not done yet!"

"Wha…" Cornelia gasped, blinking spots out of her eyes as they trailed down to her arm… or what was left of it.

'Oh that's right...' she remembered. Her arm was gone now, and whatever strange device that was attached to her shoulder, humming softly must have been repairing the damage.

"Sister, please, lie back down. It won't heal properly otherwise," Euphemia pleaded again before helping her sister back down on the cushion.

Any pain that Cornelia had felt previously, though, was wiped away as tears formed in her eyes. Her throat closed up in sheer relief at seeing her little sister alive and well.

"Euphie…" she breathed, sniffling as a tear trailed down her cheek, "You're okay…"

"Cornelia, don't worry about me," Euphemia responded, "you need to rest still!"

"I'll be fine, Euphie," Cornelia reassured as Arthur reclaimed his position on Euphemia's lap, "...I'm just glad that I didn't lose you down there."

Euphemia gasped softly before looking down ashamed. "I'm sorry, sister. This is my fault. I thought… I really thought with the SAZ that I could make a difference. Instead, I just made everything worse, like I always do!"

Cornelia frowned as her sister began to cry softly. "Euphemia, you were not the one who gave that order to shoot. You did not hold a gun in your hand and fire. Lelouch wanted to find a way to unite Earth for when the Galra came. We were offering the olive branch to our father, and he threw it away without even looking at it. He was the one stupid enough to form an alliance and sell out the planet to aliens, to monster even worse than he is..."

Cornelia couldn't hold back the shudder when she thought back to Zarkon. She had fought him face-to-face and he had bested her. Badly. And looking up at him from the ruined earth beneath her, she saw nothing in those glowing violet eyes of his.

"...Schneizel always used to tell us that a person's eyes are like windows to the soul," Cornelia said and Euphemia looked up at the mention of their older brother, "But when I saw Zarkon's eyes, there was none. There was nothing there. Just an abyss. A void that could never be filled or sated…"

Euphemia felt the color drain from her face. While it was true that she hadn't seen Zarkon herself, the stories she heard from Lelouch and the other Paladins were enough to scare her, but with her own sister adding onto it with such dread in her tone only made this nightmare more realistic than ever before.

What was even more heartbreaking, was that Lelouch had had to face a monster like that on his own.

Guilford looked up as he heard footsteps approaching the door he was guarding. He relaxed when he saw who it was, though.

"Guilford," Lelouch acknowledged as he came up to his room of the castle. Considering the infirmary was still flooded with patients, Lelouch inclined to let Cornelia recover in his room. Besides, there were a few things he needed to discuss with her and Euphemia in private, and it would be too much of a hassle to either move her or move everyone else in the area away.

Once his own head wound was addressed, Guilford insisted on standing guard. While he knew it would be foolish for someone to try and attack the princesses during this time, he didn't want to take chances, especially since Cornelia was still once the Viceroy, and many Japanese citizens were still less than pleased to even be in the same proximity as her.

"Lelouch," the knight acknowledged as he stepped aside.

Without another word, the Black Paladin entered his quarters.

"Lelouch!" Euphemia exclaimed happily when the doors opened.

Lelouch immediately smiled and embraced Euphie in a hug, "I'm glad you're alright, Euphie. I apologize for not seeing you sooner."

"It's alright," Euphemia shook her head, "I know you were… busy."

Lelouch smiled bitterly. 'Busy' was one way of putting it he supposed. But a neutral expression soon replaced it.

"I'm sorry to ask this, Euphemia, but there are some things I need to discuss with Cornelia in private. I'll come find you again later, okay?"

Euphemia nodded, though a little reluctant, but she ultimately stood up, Arthur in her arms, and exited the room, leaving her two older siblings behind.

With a hiss of the door closing behind them, Lelouch suddenly found himself silenced, unsure of what to say first. Though it seemed Cornelia was in a similar boat.

"I…" Lelouch rasped, his tongue feeling like lead. Licking his lips, he started again, "I'm sorry for the loss of your men."

Cornelia nodded, "I appreciate it. They fought bravely to the very end…"

Lelouch nodded jerkily, trying desperately to hold back a sudden wave of hot, bitter tears.

"How…?" Lelouch whispered, "How are you so calm about this?! You men died! Sayoko almost died! And you…! You lost your arm! Trying to protect me!"

Cornelia felt her heart squeeze as she watched Lelouch struggle to keep himself together. While on the surface it may not seem like it, Cornelia valued every soldier and knight that served under her. Losing even one of them was difficult enough and she suspected that with how small of a group they started out as, he brother and the other Paladins simply weren't used to watching other people die for them. In their eyes, the roles should be reversed. They were supposed to be the defenders, not the defended.

"This isn't your fault Lelouch, no matter if you believe me or not. All of my men, myself included, made the choice to protect you. And I don't regret it. Yes, it cost me an arm, but I'd gladly lose both if it means you stay alive… I just barely got you and Nunnally back, and I'll be damned before I lose you again."

Lelouch grit his teeth, "But I don't want to lose you either!"

This exclamation startled Cornelia as he sat down on the other side of the bed.

"I… I know I've been avoiding you since you came here, and I'm sorry for that. I guess… despite my Geass telling me otherwise, I couldn't see you as the sister I knew back at Aries Villa, or didn't want to… But when I saw you, with Zarkon on top of you, I…" Lelouch furiously wiped his tears away, "...I'm so sorry…"

Cornelia could only stare in surprise as her brother tried to pull himself together. She wanted nothing more than to hug him but honestly wasn't sure if that was something Lelouch wanted right now.

"Can we…" he took a breath, "Can we just talk? Just you and me? Please?"

"...Of course," Cornelia said softly after a moment.

"Thank you…" he exhaled in relief. Now the next conflict. Where did he even start?

Well… the beginning is usually a safe place, wasn't it?

"...When you heard that Nunnally and I had been killed, how did you handle it?"

Cornelia frowned and looked down, her own eyes misting with tears.

"When I wasn't comforting Euphie, I would cry myself to sleep every night. I kept telling myself that it wasn't true, that there had to have been a mistake. I don't think it was until about a month later where it finally sunk in for me that you were gone… or so we were told."

Lelouch couldn't help but scowl at that last part. "And yet no one seemed to remember that it was Britannia that initiated that attack in the first place. They blamed the Japanese for our deaths, but Britannia started the war. After they won, they just found that blaming the conquered nation was easier than taking responsibility themselves. A world, an empire, like that is one I never want to live in."

"Yes…" Cornelia nodded in agreement, "After the grief finally passed, I wanted to confront the emperor myself. Demand to know why he didn't keep you and Nunnally safe during the fighting. But I feared what he would do to Euphie if I did so. I was a coward…"

"No…" Lelouch shook his head, "Had I thought it through before confronting him, I likely would have done the same for Nunnally. Though I truly didn't expect him to banish her along with me."

Cornelia nodded, "I know this isn't an excuse, but being unable to blame the one who truly did it, I turned my anger onto the next best thing in my eyes. The Japanese. If the empire was blaming them, I might as well play along. I suppose I just kept telling myself that again and again until I actually believed my own lie… Or maybe I should have confronted him anyway, whether with you there or after the war. Hell… when we were watching you go I could have stepped forward and gone with you two. And Euphie as well. I… I should have tried harder to protect you like I promised I would. Like… like I promised to protect Lady Marianne before…"

Now Cornelia was crying and Lelouch sat silently, looking at her, patiently waiting for her to go on.

"...I completely understand if you hate me for everything, Lelouch. I couldn't protect your mother, and I failed as a sister as well. Terribly."

"...I did feel that way for a while. When no one came for us during the war, it was the final nail in the coffin for me so to speak. That us being sent to Japan was the final part of a plot to destroy our family. I closed myself off after that. I was afraid to form attachments with anyone, whether afraid they'd betray me or I'd get hurt if I lost them. And I know feeling hurt when losing someone is proof of caring for them, I just didn't want to feel that again." Lelouch paused before smiling a little, "However, joining Voltron, becoming a Paladin, not only did I forge attachments again, I felt something I never had before. Through everything, the Paladins and the Alteans aren't just my teammates or even friends anymore. I think of them as part of my family. When I told them who I really was, both as Zero and a prince, they were shocked, yes, but they also didn't judge me. I was fully prepared to step down as leader from the mistrust, but the opposite happened instead. They were willing to help me, to support me."

Cornelia smiled again, "I'm happy to hear that you have the support you need, Lelouch. After everything, you deserve to be happy, with a family you can trust."

"Thank you… if you would be willing, I'd love for you to be a part of that too."

This statement surprised Cornelia again. While it was clear that Lelouch no longer saw her as his enemy, the fact that he wanted her in his life like that was not what she expected.

As if reading her mind, Lelouch continued, "True, you may have been my enemy, but once you understood the entire situation and knew the truth, you didn't hesitate to help. I'm grateful to Nunnally for doing that. It showed me that even you were capable of changing. So… if you're willing, I'd very much like to have my older sister back. I'm sure Nunnally and Euphemia would like it that way as well."

Cornelia didn't notice the tears running down her face until they fell in droplets on her remaining hand. Now she was the one crying in front of her brother. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes… well actually, I do have one condition. Please don't sacrifice yourself again. Not like that." Lelouch amended, gesturing to Cornelia's arm, "I… I already thought lost you once. I don't want to feel that way again. I don't… I don't want to watch anyone else I love die."

Cornelia found herself nodding, wiping at her eyes, "Deal."

Lelouch then smiled and in a move that even surprised himself, he pulled his arms around Cornelia's shoulders, burying his face in her shoulder. She hesitated for a moment before doing the same with her remaining arm.

"I love you, Cornelia…" Lelouch whispered.

"I love you too, Lelouch…"

Contrary to everyone's fears, Tohdoh's eye itself wasn't as damaged as they originally thought. It was still functional and the only damage he'd have would be a grisly looking battle-scar on his face over it. Coran had offered to use one of the medical devices to heal it faster, but Tohdoh insisted that it be used on the other soldiers first before him. If worse came to worse, losing an eye wasn't really as big of a loss as some make it out to be. For now it was bandaged, gauze and a medical pad wrapped around his head.

"No word from Kyoto, Kaguya?" Suzaku hesitantly asked his cousin from their position on one of the star decks, the reed hurricane illuminating the room in a rusty red.

Kaguya shook her head sadly. "No. They all stayed behind. I doubt any of them survived, and if they did, they won't for very long considering their age…"

Suzaku grimaced, gritting his teeth. While he hadn't been as close with the rest of Kyoto since Japan's fall, that didn't change the fact that they were still kin of his. Kin who had been lost or slaughtered in the battle varga prior.

"This is a nightmare…" Chiba muttered a hand pressed to her forehead, "I knew they would come eventually, but to see them, and just be told…"

"It kind of makes you wonder how long it would have taken for them to get here if Voltron hadn't shown up," Asahina added.

Senba and Tohdoh shot the bespectacled member a hard glare. "Now hold on, it's not fair to blame this on Voltron…"

"I'm not!" Asahina insisted, raising his hands in surrender, "I agree with you. At least we were warned and able to prepare but…"

"...I guess it doesn't change the fact that we still led them here, is that it?" Suzaku asked, head looking down in shame, "Maybe if we had stayed away, it could have bought Earth more time. Maybe some people could have lived a little longer..."

"...I disagree," Tohdoh said gravely, drawing everyone's attention, "I still think Voltron coming now rather than later was the best call. Had they chosen to stay away from the planet, the war Britannia was waging would have continued. And without Zero, without Lelouch's, leadership, the rebellion he was organizing would have fallen apart quite quickly. That's not taking into account how many more innocent lives would have been lost because of it. Ironically, it was the threat of the Galra coming, and the knowledge we received beforehand of it that was able to bring most of the Earth together when it was so divided. Yes, it was a gamble, one that Lelouch himself admitted to, but a gamble that had to be taken and was well worth it in my eyes."

"...Yes," Chiba nodded finally, "You're right."

"Apologies, Colonel," Asahina bowed his head, "I didn't think about that…"

"We may have lost the battle for now, but the war is far from over," Senba added, "Urabe's death, and everyone else's, will not be in vain."

Suzaku thought back to the very thing Lelouch has said back on Arus. About the possible scenarios that could happen when they returned and thinking about what his sensei just said as well, he even back then, Lelouch was taking all strategies into consideration, accounting for all possible outcomes on a military and civilian level. And unfortunately, especially in war, there were times when there wasn't a 'good' option at all, but a choice between two evils instead and trying to judge which one was worse, and which one would ultimately bring victory with the best outcome. And he also found himself agreeing with his sensei.

Considering all of the factors, all the ways this could have gone terribly wrong much earlier, it really could have been much worse. They could still fix this, right? They had to fix this. For Urabe. For all of the people who died trying to defend their home, their world from monsters.

'And if they have the will to not give up… perhaps I can find that will too…

It wasn't long after that Suzaku started the trek back to his room. He had no doubt that Lelouch and Allura would be calling them all for a team meeting soon to discuss their next move and he hoped to take a few minutes to meditate and clear his mind before that.

"Oh…!" a small gasp caught his attention as he rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a pair of familiar lavender eyes.

"Euphie!" he exclaimed in relief, just barely lifting his hands in time to catch her when she ran into his arms.

"Suzaku! I'm so glad you're okay!" she cried, leaning into Suzaku's chest as they both lowered to the ground.

"You're glad I'm okay?!" the Purple Paladin almost laughed in disbelief, "I'm glad you're alright!"

Euphie let out a wet chuckle, feeling tears trickle down her face, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry for everything..."

Suzaku paused and pulled back to look at the princess, "What are you talking about?"

Euphemia looked down, not willing to meet Suzaku's eye, "Sister told me already, but… and I'm not trying to blame myself for what happened… but it feels like anything I'm actually good for, it's worthless when everyone else is fighting."

Suzaku frowned in concern when the message became clear. Euphemia may say that she wasn't blaming herself, but Suzaku didn't believe her from the tone of her voice.

"Euphemia, your idea for the zone… there was nothing wrong with that! I personally loved the idea. And it would have worked! It would have worked if…" Suzaku didn't finish his sentence. Not that he needed to.

Euphemia didn't say anything, only sighing and placing her head against Suzaku's chest. It clear that she still didn't believe that.

Suzaku bit his lip. He hated seeing Euphemia like this, but if there was one thing he noticed that many of the Britannian royalty seemed to have in common, it was that they tended to blame themselves for things they either didn't have control over or weren't even involved with in the first place. Such mental gymnastics always shocked him.

"...Euphie, I never told you the truth about why I became a soldier, did I?" Suzaku asked suddenly.

Euphemia blinked and looked, confused about the sudden change in topic.

"Euphie… I killed my own father. And I joined the Britannian military because I thought that was the best way to atone for what I'd done." Euphie was now looking at Suzaku in shock, "I used to believe that if I went by the system, I could find a way to change things for the better, even if I died in the process. But… that was just an excuse I kept telling myself. I understand that now. I was trying to avert the blame, to lessen the guilt I've been carrying for so long… but then I realized, my friends helped me realize, that dying wouldn't let me atone for anything. I was just running away from my problems. If I'm serious about wanting redemption, the best thing I can do for that is live. To live for a cause I believe in.

"So that's why, no matter what," Suzaku said softly, smiling gently at Euphemia, "I'll be there to help you every step of the way as well. You have my word on that."

Euphemia didn't know when the tears began to fall again, but she did know when she once more threw her arms around Suzaku, feeling warm, happy, and relieved as Suzaku embraced her back, holding her as she cried with tears of joy.

"Suzaku?" Rai's abrupt voice rudely interrupted the moment and Suzaku couldn't stop the slightly irritated sigh that escaped.

"What's going on, Rai?" he responded as he pulled away slightly to answer.

"The Paladins need to meet in my room. C.C.'s awake."

All of the Paladins made it to Rai's room almost as one and nearly ripped the doors apart to get inside. They were all relieved to see the immortal awake again. Nonette politely left the room to give them space.

"Well, it's not like whatever was done to me would have killed me…" C.C. attempted to say nonchalantly.

"So?" Shirley gasped, "That doesn't change the fact that it still happened! What if you do die some time and actually stay dead?!"

"You're a part of this ragtag crew as much as the rest of us, C.C.," Kallen smiled, "You ain't going to get rid of us that easily."

C.C. actually looked startled before huffing out a laugh, "You've all become so clingy…"

"But you love us for that, don't you?" Milly winked with a smirk.

The door to the room opened again and this time Allura entered. She also looked relieved to see C.C. awake as well.

"I'm glad to see that you are alright, C.C." Allura said in relief, "And I must apologize for not getting there to assist you sooner. If I had, I could have prevented whatever knocked you out."

C.C. shook her head, "I doubt that would have mattered… Whatever attack that was that V.V. used, it wasn't one he originally had."

"What did happen anyway?" Rivalz said, voicing the question everyone wanted answered at the moment.

"I am not sure how he got on the ship," Allura confessed, "Whatever means he used, it bypassed most of the castle's security. We're just lucky that the internal security caught him before he could cause any damage."

"Yes. He was targetting Nunnally and Euphemia," C.C. confirmed. Lelouch stiffened, body rigid with sudden rage. Suzaku's face also contorted but managed to keep his expression somewhat calm. "I tried to stop him, but… he threw something at me. It looked like a small black marble. But when it hit me…" C.C. shivered, suddenly looking ill.

Lelouch scowled, looking down in thought, all of this new information swirling in his head. V.V. snuck onto the castle, undetected, and then displays a power that not even C.C. was aware of? And the fact that C.C. seemed scared of it?

"...It was Haggar," Lelouch finally stated gravely, "It had to have been. It's the only thing that makes sense."

"So… Charles really did form an alliance with the Galra. Or with Haggar at least," Suzaku said.

"Meaning… they did all of this of their own free will," Kallen frowned angrily, seething. While she may not have liked Britannia from the beginning, but this was a new low and she felt even more betrayed. From the looks on the rest of them Paladins' faces, they were feeling similarly. Even C.C. looked disturbed.

"...Cera," Rai murmured.

C.C. blinked and gasped in surprise. Everyone else also looked at the Green Paladin in confusion.

"That's your real name, right? Cera?" Rai asked.

C.C. suddenly frowned, "It seems you have a habit of eavesdropping… and sharing secrets."

"Cera? I like that name," Shirley said, honestly.

"Same," Rivalz agreed, "It's way better than calling you C.C. all the time at least."

"It's at least a lot more human calling you that," Kallen said.

C.C. scoffed, "That's a joke! As if I want to be 'more human.' After all, I…"

Everyone stared as C.C. started to tear up, clutching the sheets of Rai's bedding like a security blanket.

"I've forgotten how… How to be human. I can't age. I can't connect with anyone without them passing by me. They move on, while I remain the same. I can't find love, or have a family, or watch them grow old and mature," C.C. was practically sobbing now, "And I can't die peacefully with them. I… I can't die period…"

Unable to stand it any longer, Shirley sat on the bed next to her and pulled C.C. into a hug. She didn't resist only crying harder as the Orange Paladin rubbed her back gently.

"It's okay… shh, shh, it's okay," Shirley soothed to the best of her abilities.

"C.C… We're here for you now," Milly reminded her, "You don't have to deal with all of this alone."

"We know that we still don't know much about you, but…" Suzaku hesitated, "but you're still our friend and ally."

"Yeah, and you've helped us so much since this whole adventure began," Rivalz added.

"You've been playing a part in this just as much as the rest of us," Kallen said, "We likely wouldn't be here now without you."

"Plus, didn't we say that we'd find a way to make you mortal again?" Rai asked, remembering the conversation they had after facing Mao, "You haven't forgotten that, right?"

"Rai's correct. We haven't forgotten that promise," Allura agreed, "Every being deserves to live life fully, and if this immortality, this curse, is standing between you and that, then we will help you break it."

"And once it's done… You can have a family of your own," Lelouch said in finality, "You can do all of those things you wish for. So please, C.C., or whatever you'd like us to call you, let us help you do that."

C.C. gasped out a wail before reaching out blindly, grabbing Milly's arm, being the closest, and pulling her roughly. With a yelp Milly collapsed onto the bed, dragging Rivalz with her. It wasn't long after that the rest of the Paladins and Allura joined C.C. in a group hug. She still continued to sob, but instead of sorrow, it was tears of joy that she shed.

"Thank you all for coming…" Allura addressed everyone present. After a couple more hours of resting, Lelouch and Allura requested for a number of people to meet them and the other Paladins on the bridge. These people consisted of Nunnally, Ohgi, Tohdoh, Cornelia (being transported in a hoverchair with Guilford behind her), Nonette, Villetta, Euphemia, Lloyd, Rakshata, Cecile, and Kaguya. C.C. and Coran were also there, standing with the other Paladins.

"Firstly, I wish to apologize for the defeat we've suffered. Your planet may be held hostage for the time being, but the war is far from over. There is still hope to counteract this."

"We're planning a counterattack already?" Ohgi asked in surprise, "But… we don't have the resources or people for that yet!"

"This meeting isn't to plan the counteract for Earth," Lelouch informed everyone solemnly, "Several more preparations and precautions must be taken before we can even think about trying to take Earth back. No, we called each of you here to inform you of something. Something about Voltron."

"Or, more specifically, why Voltron broke apart when Zarkon showed up," Coran added, face grim.

"Voltron… fell apart?!" Nunnally gasped, eyes wide.

"I wondered about that myself when I saw that…" Tohdoh muttered, his good eye narrowing.

"So I wasn't imagining that…" Nonette muttered.

"Did it happen right as Zarkon came?" Villetta asked.

"No, it was right before. I remember seeing Voltron freeze up right before that mothership appeared in the sky. Then it broke apart," Cornelia reiterated. Guilford nodded in confirmation.

"Considering, from what we understand, it requires the Lion pilots to think and act as one to form Voltron," Rakshata said, "I highly doubt that it was due to mechanical failure."

"Highly unlikely," Lloyd agreed, "None of the Lions suffered too much damage after they returned to the castle."

"Then… Why did it happen?" Kaguya asked.

The Paladins all glanced at one another with uncertainty, as if asking the others if this was really a good idea… whatever it was they were about to reveal.

Finally, Suzaku let out a sigh, "As most of you have probably guessed, the seven of us aren't the first Paladins to use Voltron."

"Well, you did mention that Voltron was an ancient weapon. Nearly as old as this castle," Cecile reminded, "So that does make sense."

"Right…" Kallen nodded, "Anyway, we're apparently only the second set of Paladins to use the Lions, and that was only after we found them after 10,000 years of hiding."

"Yes," Allura confirmed, "My mother and father were two of the original Paladins in fact. The Paladins of the Purple and Red Lions respectively."

"Oh… cool," Ohgi couldn't help but say.

"Anyway, for someone to be a Paladin. Their energy kind of has to match that of the Lion," Rivalz went on, "Kind of like putting the red balls in the red box and blue balls in the blue box so to speak."

"Basically, the seven of us have a quintessence that mirrors that of the Lion we pilot. We did mention when we first got back that the Lion chooses the pilot, not the other way around, right?" Rai asked.

"So theoretically, not just anyone can fly a Voltron Lion," Guilford stated, "You have to be bred for them."

The Paladins winced at the wording. "I guess that's one way of putting it…?" Shirley cringed.

"Anyway, just like us, the Paladins before us shared the same quintessence with their Lions as well," Milly went on, "And a bond between a Lion and its Paladin is strong. Like, really, really, really, really, really-"

"I believe they get it, Milly," C.C. interrupted.

"...Really incredibly strong."

"But… What does this have to do with Voltron breaking apart?" Euphemia asked hesitantly, voicing what everyone was thinking.

"...Because the Black Lion still shares a connection to its previous Paladin. A Paladin that is still very much alive," Allura spoke gravely.

"...'Still shares'...?" Ohgi asked, face suddenly growing pale as realization slowly dawned on him. Similar expressions were mirrored on most of the other occupants.

"The original Black Paladin…" Lelouch spoke up, the air now heavy with trepidation, "...My predecessor was... or rather, is... Zarkon."

#fanfiction #code geass #voltron

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frostsong · 4 years

Text

DISTRACTION

Estinien Wyrmblood/Euphemie de Dansereau

People watching while volunteering at the Firmament--or rather, person watching.

content warning: NSFW (blowjob, vaginal sex)

Euphemie knows exactly what she’s doing.

She maneuvers her way through the crowd in the Firmament, bearing a crate of fresh deliveries on her shoulder while her free hand raises an order slip, confirmed and completed. Her hair is wound up high in a ponytail, bouncing as she dodges cut timber from above and cart wheels from below, getting caught up in the contagion of energy that defines this monumental work in progress. It’s alive and bustling, moreso than Ishgard has been in over a generation--the children scurry past her and wave, careful not to get swarmed by flux of workers, and giggle to each other with wide smiles when she waves back eagerly. While she still has her share of detractors, made before or after her heroic deeds, Ishgard is slowly starting to become home again, a thought so sentimental it leaves even him smiling, but only when she isn’t looking.

Estinien remains in his own corner near a group of carpenters, having pledged some of his own time and efforts in the woodworking. The tireless labor makes him shed his outer tunic for the black, sleeveless inner shirt, his hair tied in a messy knot. He’s taking a respite, having cut several pieces for the others to carve into or nail together, and now he stands in the shade off to the side, a mug of cider in his gloved hand.

He can see her even then, now with a rolls of brightly-colored fabric held between her arm and side, breeches straining over her toned thighs as she steps over a cluster of pots, all the while reaching upwards to greet a draconet in a happy wave. She nearly trips when her other leg almost knocks a pot over, but a Lalafellin lad catches it just in time, crying out in apology while she does the same, bent over to talk at his level. The former Azure Dragoon frowns as her derriere is in full view, round and toned as she squats to talk to the other a little while longer, elbows propped atop her knees. It’s distracting enough to make one of the carpenters start waving in front of his own two eyes as an effort to catch his attention, something about several more planks needed before a certain hour. Estinien blinks and nods himself off of his gaze, but can’t help casting one more look, but by then she’s gone.

The next time he sees her is at the entrance, leaning against the stone wall, mouth opened in fits of laughter. Hilda stands beside her, nodding and making some crude comment about some crude idiot she’s humbled, and judging by how Euphemie takes the unsettling details in stride, he guesses it’s an everyday occurrence in the job. The two were close after realizing they had much more in common than they initially believed, and their shared struggles in both the war and the ongoing changes within the city only served to bolster their friendship. Estinien is standing closer by than before, feigning interest in the Skybuilder’s Board as he studies the two of them in his periphery, hoping his casual garb would aid in keeping him unnoticed.

Hilda makes note of her blouse, opened a few buttons lower than what most of their kin would consider modest, the ornate beads of her rosary resting between the valley of her cleavage. Euphie snickers and raises the icon of the goddess, saying something along the lines of “it’s right where it’s supposed to be, next to my heart”. The two share a laugh before clasping their hands one last time in a farewell gesture, and right as Euphemie turns to leave, Hilda sends him a knowing wink, earning her a scowl.

It’s beginning to get agonizing watching the way her Grandmother’s rosary dangles between her breasts, the sheen of perspiration shimmering under the noonday sun. It isn’t as if he doesn’t know what they look like, what they feel like under that white blouse of hers. Euphemie must have multiples, for he distinctly remembers how it ripped in his grip during a hasty foreplay several nights ago. He remembers too, how she bent her head slightly backwards as he’d leaned in, chin between the valley of her breasts, the medallion felt like ice against his collarbone, grinning wickedly back at her before the flat of his tongue hit her skin--

Her voice cuts off his memory--a memory, not a fantasy--and his eyes grow wide when she’s standing right in front of him, head tilted to the side and blinking at the sight of a disarmed and distracted Estinien before her. Of course he tries to push it aside in an instant, tries to tell her off, but her smile only grows as her gaze stray downwards from his face, down to his groin.

Shit.

He has a hard time keeping his hand off of his mouth in shame, hissing at her that it isn’t the time and place, but whether or not she heard is irrelevant, already resting her thighs on her calves and getting dangerously closer. The difference in height makes her crane a little higher, silver hues meeting his, the wet tip of her tongue gliding over her lips as she whispers for him to stay quiet if he can, because she wants this as much as he does. Peering down at her with his back pressed against the wall, he grimaces, both at the blood building in his member and the vision that is her having her lips around it, tongue caressing the bulb his tip, her eyes occasionally fluttering to check his expression. His nostrils flare as his head throws back against stone, letting out a guttural groan as he releases right into her throat, wincing when he feels her suck it all out.

She smiles and laps up the remainder of his fluid like it’s spilled pudding, and by then he’s had enough of holding her at a distance. He hoists her up around his waist, a yelp then a giggle leaving her mouth, cut off short by his invading tongue, long and fueled by an entire day of yearning. He fondles her ass once he gets her breeches hanging past her thighs, palming the taut muscle as his fingers work their way to yank her panties hard against her crotch. She shrieks high at the friction, and the edge of his mouth pull in a grin while he leaves bites over her neck, collarbone, back down to the familiar scent of her chest. The rosary pinches at his cheeks as he takes the medallion between his teeth, dark brown eyes peering upwards to find her own gaze to ensure she’s watching. When she looks back, her eyes are glazed over in lust, already losing the hints of bravado she’d dared earlier when she got down on her knees for him. He grins with the holy symbol still in his bite, because it’s the look he’s wanted on her since he first saw her this morning. And he gets more of it, first prodding his length between her folds then piercing her, making her throw her head back in an open-mouthed moan out of sheer ecstasy. She begs and whimpers like a cat in frantic heat as he thrusts harder, faster inside her, grunting and groaning like a wild boar. He doesn’t know how long they’ve been here, or if anyone’s looking for either of them, but he doesn’t care. She’s a thorn that’s always nagged at his side, since the day he first met her, and now that she’s actually here, in the flesh, and very much alive he doesn’t plan on letting her off so easy, on some wicked reminder that he too, is alive all because of her.

She curls up around him when she finishes, and he has to hold her lest she falls to a heap at his feet. They both catch their breath, forehead against forehead, the scent of sex heady in the air, and when she meets his gaze she laughs, faint and breathy.

“I’m glad it worked.”

It takes him a minute to process the meaning behind her words, before he sighs loud and defeated, too weary to take vengeance on her act of manipulation. Maybe this was her own revenge for him ruining that blouse. He rolls his eyes and lets the back of his head roll to the side against the stone wall, as the side of her cheek lands to rest on his chest.

“Fucking gaelkitten.”

“I love you too.”

#ffxivwrites2020 #late bc i completely forgot about free day but just adding this to fill in #eggpens #euphemie de dansereau #estinien wyrmblood #you have no idea how i love writing about rosaries being used in such a sinful way

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incorrect-codegeass · 4 years

Note

Lelouch

Why I like them: Lelouch is a really, really complicated character, but he’s a wonderfully complicated character. I love how deep he goes. I love writing him too, it’s so much fun to see how everything he’s gone through actually affects him. There aren’t that many characters I know that are actually constructed as well as Lelouch is (outside CG, that is). So yeah. Also, have you looked at him? That boy is beautiful as fuck and rocks dresses better than I, a female presenting person who feels the most comfortable in dresses and skirts, do. “I saw a man so beautiful I started crying” really fits Lelouch. Why I don’t: Uh, well, since I love Lelouch it’s a little hard to answer the question, but perhaps it’s that he’s absolutely horrible at taking others’ feelings into consideration and yeah. He’s also quick to sacrifice people around him until they actually become important to him, which is like, yes, understandable considering the environment he grew up in, but also “Lelouch what the fuck no.” Favorite episode (scene if movie): The moment he announces he’s now the emperor is definitely among my favourite ones (I’ve rewatched it perhaps a few too many times), as is the episode where he falls from the roof totally on purpose and Re; (bc srsly Zero Requiem is something too beautiful I can’t--). Favorite season/movie: Second season without a question, still have only watched the first of the movies so,,,, Favorite line: Nooo I cannot choose I love so many lines that he has...... I’ll just give you a few. “When will the war end? When someone wins”, “To defeat evil, I must become an even greater evil”, and “I must spill yet more blood, so that the blood already spilt will not be in vain.” Those at least are absolutely amazing. Favorite outfit: I love basically any that isn’t his Zero outfits bc gold and purple don’t fit that well together. They’re good, yes, but having to see them on him so much is kinda ugh (unless his jacket is open bc then it looks better and also the new Zero outfit in Re;surrection is good). Like ok I do like the Zero outfit but still. Anyway. Here are some I love.

Please let me love you.

OTP: Uh. SuzaLulu. It has not changed since the last time we talked about this. Brotp: In general my favourite platonic ship for him is just him and Nunnally because I love me some cute siblings being siblings, but actual brotp would probably be him and Kallen or him and C.C. because honestly we know that he and C.C. really, truly care about each other (regardless of how bad they are at expressing it for most of the series). Please give me content of C.C. and Lelouch being best friends and being up to No Good and causing chaos (but like, no bloodshed chaos, nothing harmful). Head Canon: Lelouch was actually good friends with Anya (as was Nunnally) when they were children (though realised this far too late and that’s why he considers Suzaku his first friend anyway) and secretly hopes he could get her to come to his side because that’s another dear childhood friend fighting him on Britannia’s side. Also considers Milly more of a sister than any of his actual sisters aside from Nunnally, Euphie and Cornelia. Unpopular opinion: Again, not sure if it’s an unpopular opinion at this point anymore, but what Lelouch did was not right. He did what he thought was necessary, but even he himself knew that what he was up to was wrong, evil, so yeah. A wish: Hey let’s get him to therapy as well he needs it just about as much as Suzaku does ok I want to see him getting better like actually better An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Please let’s not have him lose one single loved one anymore like,,, he’s lost far too many, either to death or bc he doesn’t know how to keep people. Like, Shirley? Dead. Rolo? Dead. Kallen? Hurt her (if mostly to save her life and give her another chance) so badly she left him, and Lelouch is dead (yes I’m mostly ignoring Re;surrection completely). C.C.? Again, Lelouch is dead. Suzaku? Lelouch is dead (also hurt him so badly that their friendship was, well. Not beyond repair but these two idiots are so horrible at repairing their friendship that one killing the other did nothing good to their chances). Rivalz? Again, hurt him and also Lelouch is dead. Milly? Still, Lelouch is dead and she was left with only the certain knowledge he was the Demon Emperor (even if she might believe otherwise bc she knew him). Euphie? Dead. Nunnally? Lelouch is still dead ok and for the last few months of his life she was basically manipulated into hating him and believing he didn’t love her or care about her, by both Schneizel and Lelouch himself. The Black Knights (while not loved ones, they were important)? Betrayed him. You know, I think it’s starting to look like this should not happen to anyone, let alone an 18-year-old damnit. 5 words to best describe them: Petty, dramatic, caring, revengeful, intelligent. My nickname for them: Lulu (as one may guess), ‘Louch (as seen in a few fics of mine, such as Tides Brought to You), and also Bitch, This Petty Fucking Bitch, and This Arrogant Gorgeous Asshole.

...Do the last four even count as nicknames?

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bluepenguinstories · 4 years

Text

Happiness Overload Chapter Sixty

Finally: cotton candy. Held in my hands, stacked high, almost a mile wide. Or maybe like a foot long. Or some odd centimeters (but not the even ones). Such sweet, cottony candy.

“There’s something bittersweet about finality, isn’t there?” I asked the guy at the cafeteria who gave me the cotton candy.

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” he grunted.

I shrugged and told him, “yeah, me either. I mean, it’s bittersweet when things come to an end no matter the outcome. But when it comes to cotton candy, it’s just sweet. That’s why I love it. That, and fruit snacks. Say, which would be better: fruit snack flavored cotton candy or cotton candy flavored fruit snacks?”

“Cotton candy isn’t a fruit. It’s just sugar.”

“Oh yeah. What would you call sugar, anyway? It’s a crop, right? So, is sugar a vegetable? Or a seasoning? Could sugar be considered a spice? But then again, spices are bitter and sugar is sweet.”

“I don’t have time for philosophy. I make food and serve it.”

“That’s fair!” I snapped my fingers. “For me, I can’t even be sad even if I wanted to. My whole cotton candy journey was a long and arduous one. It must have taken the length of two characters’ arcs just to find the cafeteria. Can you believe that?”

He groaned. Jeez, tough crowd. I took a bite out of my cotton candy and the taste was so good that more cotton candy formed from out of the space where I took my bite. As long as eating cotton candy made me happy, I’d get an unlimited amount of cotton candy, which was guaranteed to be unlimited, because being full only made me happy when I felt like being full, and I never got upset stomachs, because it has the word ‘upset’ in it and being upset didn’t make for a happy Blanc.

“Say, what makes you happy?” I asked the cotton candy maker, who I was sure made other food, but everything else paled in comparison to cotton candy. Well, cotton candy paled in comparison to fruit snacks. It’s all relative.

“Making food,” [insert guttural adjective here] the cafeteria worker.

“Great!” I waved finger guns at him. “Then that’s all you’ll be doing for the rest of your life! Hope you at least get a chance to eat what you make, but I don’t make the rules!”

“Yeah,” his face crinkled into a smile. “MAKING FOOD MAKES ME HAPPY!” He bellowed.

I took a bow.

“You’ll do great. I probably won’t see you again. I gotta meet up with a couple of friends, though there’s no telling how long that will take. Then some things will happen. Probably. Happy things I’m sure, because those are the kind of things I like to happen!”

I skipped off, cotton candy in hand, in search of Velvet and Coriander. As much as I wanted to cross their names off of my happiness list (which I never really conjured up, it was more of a mental list. Sure, I could have, but I wasn’t a big fan of work, and writing things down on a piece of paper was just too much work for this human-shaped happiness), something told me that they weren’t quite out of the woods. I put my finger (not the index finger, the happy one (obviously, the pinkie)) on my chin and got to thinking.

“Now, that whole artist thing sure created an ethical dilemma. One that I don’t want to boggle my mind with, but I’m going to have to figure this out one way or another.”

I had to think of that artist. Dr. Katsushika. She didn’t go by that name, at least not often, but that’s what it was. Or that’s what it would be if she went by that name. To be honest, I would have felt bad for Velvet, and doubly bad for Coriander. Sure, there were folks like that in The Flashbulb. Many more than those two faced, but there was only so much time in the void, even if time in the void didn’t quite exist. But I didn’t feel bad for them, because feeling bad wouldn’t have made me feel good. But that would have made me feel bad, if I could feel bad.

All that said, Dr. Katsushika didn’t quite make me feel good either. Retract that. Dr. Katsushika would have made me feel bad, if I could feel bad about anything. She wasn’t what I’d call someone who made others happy. Even if she liked that word almost as much as I did. When it came down to it, she was the ethical dilemma: if dying didn’t make her happy, but it put Coriander at peace, was that OK? On one hand, it was probably better if she had died, but on the other hand...happiness comes first.

“I knew it! I fuckin’ knew it! You can’t make everyone happy!” I stamped my foot. Then my left hand formed a mouth. Y’know, like a hand puppet.

“SURE YOU CAN! BOTH PARTIES DON’T HAVE TO BE HAPPY RIGHT AWAY!” My left hand told me. On the other hand...cotton candy.

Ah, yes. My Left Hand was right. It was all clear now that the pieces would soon come together. I just had to disregard any sort of ethical dilemma, disregard logical conclusions, and let things run their course. That course being a corrected one.

Hey! Would it come off as a surprise to say that I’ve had a hand in everything this whole time? Specifically, My Left Hand. More specifically, Euphy! Maybe a better question was: would it ruin the impact of everything that’s transpired? Hmm...probably. But it wasn’t like it was anything major, really. Euphy’s hands were long and could find their way anywhere. That said, most of my friends’ actions were their own and for the most part, I was hands-off. The best explanation I could give was that I tossed around a few metaphorical breadcrumbs here and there.

So with that out of the way, let’s just say that a few more breadcrumbs were about to snow down like dandruff.

Tick-tock, knick-knack, knock-knock.

Those were the sound effects made once my little bug found the correct door (and no, they were not behind door number three, but game shows really were the pinnacle of television). Of course, neither of them answered. All the better. As far as I figured, neither of them wanted to see me. Especially not the spice rack. Which, given what I put her through, was understandable.

All the same, thanks to all my spare time locked away from all the other Flashbulb employees, I once learned the fine art of lockpicking. Not to say that I could have just broken free of my enclosure any time I wanted to, but I sure was glad I learned the craft all the same. If not, I might not have gotten into their room.

Like a thief in the night (not that there was any sense of day or night in our headquarters), I slipped into their room. To my surprise, they both must have been heavy sleepers. There they were, hand in hand, holding each other close. Like still life models. It brought forth the urge to chuckle, something I had to surprise in order not to get caught. Even asleep, they continued to be an inspiration.

Oh. There would be questions.

“How did you survive? Didn’t I slam you into the floor and kill you?” The outraged, or horrified Coriander (the art formerly known as Mavis) would ask me.

I would smirk all smug, close my eyes, with my index finger (a very smart and astute finger, the one finger who puts the most work into every craft) pointed up, and then tell her:

“Simple: I created an android of myself to pull the strings while I watched in a hidden space. You really should have paid better attention. Not that it would have done you much good, as I had packs of blood stored up in the android set to spill out upon a fall. It’s true: I really do think of everything!”

She would probably yell and/or scream, “I HATE YOU,” and I wouldn’t know what to say to that. I had no smug remark. As far as I was concerned, she had every right to hate me, to wish me dead. Hell, I’d wager that she’d try to kill me all over again.

But alas, I was alive, and I’ve had my fill of both of them. I’ve painted so many paintings, and sent one of my little flies (microscopic robots) to scout out the area and find them for me. All in the span of time that they spent lovemaking. Yes, I knew about that too. But rest assured, I had my fly leave the room as soon as it went in. Say what you will about me, but I respected others’ privacy.

Case in point, I slipped underneath the bed. I was in no rush and the cold, metal floor was really quite comfortable. Those two also had all the time in the world. The problem was that their world didn’t have much time left. That was A-Okay, though. Because I told them I would help them and damn it, I meant it!

It wasn’t like I woke up between a rock and a hard place. In fact, the bed I was on was quite soft, and Coriander’s back was also quite soft. But even still, I felt like I was between an unstoppable force and an unmovable object; the unstoppable force being the comfort of being on a bed, and the unmovable object being my cute girlfriend who was currently asleep on top of me.

Well, if my time awake was time wasted, so be it. I couldn’t be any more satisfied knowing that I held in my arms both the one I loved, and the one who loved me. There was still a world to save, somewhere out there, with however much time it had left, but let’s face it: I was too tired. So I smiled as I stroked her back, then turned my head to fall asleep once more.

Whether sleep was for the weak or I was weak without sleep, one thing was clear: I didn’t get enough of it. Then again, how could I even tell? Trick question, I couldn’t. It was all a wild-ass guess based on how tired I still was. I was so tired that when I lifted my head, I didn’t have the strength to get up all the way, so I lowered my head back down onto Velvet’s chest. Big mistake that was. As soon as I did so, I felt a wet spot on my cheek and for a hazy moment, I thought nothing of it. Until I did. And started to freak out.

“Oh no! That’s drool! I drooled on her boob! She’s always saying I do that and I always say that I don’t do that but I just did! What am I supposed to do?” My words spilled out in a panic. Spilled out like drool. Ew. No. Stop.

I stared down. She was still asleep. I poked her cheek for good measure. Nothing.

“Okay. Good. I can use this to my advantage,” I mumbled. I could get a tissue from the bathroom. Wipe her boob down. Wait. What if that woke her up? Well shit, too late to consider that, I was already up and out of bed.

Ugh. What if she wakes up and notices and points it out and I wouldn’t have anything in my defense! I’d be caught drool handed. Ew. At least I’ll wash my hands.

I got into the bathroom and washed my hands. To my surprise, there was a stack of folded clothes on the counter right next to the sink.

“Was this here before?” I muttered. Well, I was too tired to think about it too hard. Maybe if I was less tired, I could have asked questions like, “is this an automatic feature of The Flashbulb’s technology?” or “was this here this whole time and I just didn’t notice?” and of course, the most important question would have been, “did someone sneak in here?”

But no. Call it stupidity, tiredness, or a lapse in logic, because I just took the clothes and put them on. They fit quite well. Not too tight, not too baggy. Really, if there was any complaint, it was how generic they looked. Plain white shirt and pants. Nothing much else to say. I wasn’t even sure why describing them at all was worth mentioning.

Once I left the room, clothed and cloth in hand, I froze in place. Lucidity took hold and all the thoughts I should have had weighed down on me as I stood face to face with the one I thought I had killed. The same one who put me through such torture.

“You…” I forced the words out. My blood was boiling, but I just couldn’t bring myself to move. “You can’t be here…” I was about to say, “...you aren’t real. You’re not here.” But the rest of my words didn’t come. I closed my eyes.

“Surprise! Bet you thought you’ve seen the last of me!” Her words rang through. No, there was no mistake: it was her.

I opened my eyes and looked around for something to use as a weapon. Not that it would have done me much good. I should have just kicked her face in and whaled on her, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Worse yet, I started to tremble where I stood.

“Really, this wasn’t how I expected our meeting to go down. I wanted to wait until both of you were awake, but maaaan, that Velvet is one heavy sleeper! You’re welcome for the clothes, by the way. Did you know that I’m quite the seamstress? Quite the tailor? It’s true! Just one of the many art forms I’ve learned throughout the years!”

I growled. That was all I could bring myself to do. I wanted to lose all control and beat her to a bloody pulp. I should have been allowed that after all that was done to me. She shouldn’t have been alive, she should have been dead. All the pain, everything she caused, and there she stood, without so much as a scratch.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Came a voice beside me. Hoarse and droned, but unmistakably Velvet’s. I looked over and when she saw who was there, she too got on the defensive.

“You! How...how did you get in here? For that matter, how are you alive?” Her voice changed to that of more serious and harsh in tone.

“Finally!” Dr. Popsicle grinned. “I’ve been waiting for someone to ask that! It’s simple, really, I –” The mad artist never got the chance to finish. Velvet shut her down quick.

“You know what? I really don’t care. It doesn’t matter how you’re still alive, but I won’t forgive you for what you’ve done to me or my girlfriend. So I’ll make sure to kill you this time.”

“Your girlfriend? Oh, congrats! You made it official!” Popsigirl chuckled. I managed to break free of whatever mental restraints were placed on my physical being. I began to charge at her and gave her a swift kick in the shin.

She seethed, but even in pain, managed to keep a smile. “Right...I deserve that,” she winced.

“Velvet!” I yelled. “Grab something to throw at her! No mercy!”

She gave me a nod in response and felt around, then grabbed a knife. Blessed. I continued the beat down as I shoved the artist to the floor and began to kick her repeatedly.

“I’ll kill you!” I yelled. After a few kicks, sure to at least bruise up her sides, she put a hand up in the air.

“Wait! Wait!”

I didn’t want to wait. How dare she tell me that?!

“You guys can kill me if you want, but you might want to think it over!”

“What?!” I stopped for whatever reason.

“OK. So. Imagine: you kill me, I’m on the floor. My body rots. The smell gets real bad. Either someone notices my body, ups the security and finds out who killed me, or, let’s say hypothetically, you manage to defeat the whole Flashbulb, which I can’t imagine you guys doing without my help. You’ll probably have to kill many others along the way, too, of course. All of those bodies, that smell, it all tends to add up. If you’re going to be stuck here for the rest of your lives, is that really what you want to walk around smelling all the time?”

Such drivel. As if she really believed she could weasel her way out with some loose logic that anyone could poke a hole into.

“Of course,” she went on. “You could dispose of the bodies. The question is, where and how.”

“Enough,” Velvet interrupted once again. “First off, what is this wet spot on my chest?”

Really? You’re really going to focus on that when we have more important things to worry about? Even still, I guess it would be bad on my part if I told her it was drool.

“It’s probably sweat. We were going at it pretty rough,” I told her.

“Ah, that makes sense,” Velvet replied, and I was saved.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t watch!” Popsigirl chimed in, much to my disgust.

“Second off!” Velvet hushed the intruder. Although I suppose as a whole, Velvet and I were the intruders. “Bold of you to assume I have a problem with the stench of death. Sure, I’d probably vomit every time I passed by a dead body, but I’d rather make that sacrifice than know someone like you would still be around to hurt the one I love.”

“Oof. Well, you raise a find argument. Some sacrifices may be necessary, after all. Gee, I’m getting a kick out of discussing these things with you! We could have some really creative debates!”

“Screw that,” Velvet spat. “It’s bold of you to even be in our presence right now!”

“That it is!” The art fanatic proclaimed. “And you two have every right to hate me.”

“Good, because we do,” I found my voice once more. Velvet nodded along.

“But even if that’s the case, I’d like to make it up to you guys. The way I see it, neither of you have much time left before your version of Earth is kaput. And if you just flail around the headquarters randomly, you’re never going to save anything. Hard truths, y’know?”

“Here’s a hard truth: you can’t make it up to us. I can only speak for myself, but even if it takes longer, even if I fail, I don’t want to stoop so low as to accept help from someone like you. Besides, you’ve already claimed to want to help us before, and I remember all too well how that went.”

Both of us were on the same page, but I started to feel a little mixed about it all. The whole reason I wanted to get to the headquarters was to exact revenge on the ones who made me who I was. Yes, I knew that the world was ending, but that wasn’t my main reason. But I knew there were better reasons to defeat them besides revenge, which Velvet had those better reasons, and yet she was willing to sacrifice them for my sake. Not only did I not deserve that, but if we had a chance…

No. I knew better than to think about that. The one in front of us was the one who had traumatized me, used both Velvet and I for her amusement. We had no reason to trust that someone like that could help us, and even if she could, I didn’t want to be in her presence. It hurt so much just to stand there. Worse, I was wearing clothes that she had made for me. Total red flags right there.

“I...I feel sick,” I said at last. “I’m going back into the bathroom.”

“What about dealing with the other person in the room?” Velvet pleaded.

Really, what about it?

“I trust you to make a decision,” I replied.

“But I don’t want to make a decision without you!” She called for me, but I already closed the door. I sounded so bitter even though I knew I wasn’t mad at Velvet. I just didn’t know what else to do. So I locked myself in until I felt safe enough to come back out.

Gee, things were going to be harder than I thought. Well, according to the ancient art of boxing, “sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches.” So that’s just what I did: I reached into my shirt and pulled out a pile of clothes. Voila! I threw them at Velvet and got into my most Serious Person impression.

“Put these on. You’re not modeling for one of my drawings, and besides, you two don’t wanna be running around the headquarters naked,” I commanded.

“I bet you have it rigged so the clothes have some kind of mind control or body control thing, or it’s got some explosives attached, or there’s tracking devices, or –”

“All good ideas,” I stopped Velvet from listing other things. “See? Even now you give me such good ideas! But no: they’re just clothes.”

She eyed me, but gave in all the same. As she did so, I decided to sit on the floor. Not to worry, it wasn’t to better enjoy the view, I just figured the floor was a good place to be. Once she was all dressed, I got back to business.

“Now, I don’t doubt your guys’ resilience, you two displayed it quite well back there,” I chuckled. “But as I said, you can’t just run around and hope for the best. That’s even worse than how others have tried to overthrow us in the past, and their organized efforts didn’t pan out well. Do you know why?”

She said nothing, but continued to glare.

“It’s because everyone could see them coming, so just as the groups were prepared, so too was the company. Which meant they could hire all the guards, janitors, death squads, you name it. Traps and gadgets, weaponry beyond your comprehension. No offense, of course, but the only thing you two got going for you is that no one sees you as a threat. Sure, you had guards after you, and they saw you as intruders, but after you fell down and into my domain, everyone just walked on and figured I killed you guys.”

Still no response. Well, I had more to say, so good.

“But really, it’s a matter of time. The more it seems you have a chance of winning, the less of a chance you actually have. I mean, you don’t think there’s cameras in this room? And listening devices? You’re lucky I’ve disabled them, but still, there’s bound to be other cases where such things weren’t disabled, and you two were caught sneaking in a room or two. Hmm?”

“I get that evil monologues are what you guys are good at, but can you just get to your point?” At last! Velvet spoke! Hurrah!

“What you guys need to do is simple: just run up to the front of the ship, say that it’s been taken over, and do so before your guys’ world is destroyed. Easy enough, right?” I may have skipped a few steps in my head, but she did want me to get to the point, so really, that was on her.

“How did you get to that conclusion?” Velvet sounded baffled as all heck, which was baffling to me, to be baffled at all.

“Because I’ll take care of the rest! See, once you get up to the ship, either they don’t take you seriously at all, or they see you as an actual threat, and if it’s the latter, they’re going to want to throw everything at you. But if they can’t get a signal to contact any guards or anything, they won’t have anything to throw at you. Meanwhile, I’ll be organizing various Flashbulb members to revolt and we’ll open up portals and kick the guards into those. It’s really funny that we had a Morale Department seeing as worker morale here isn’t very high.”

“I see. And the guards won’t overpower the workers because…? I doubt the ones in front care all that much about killing their own in order to maintain power.”

“Ah! Yes! Power! See? That’s something I didn’t think about! Aren’t I glad I have you around?”

She growled. Sheesh, I expected that from the other one, not the velvety person.

“The Flashbulb’s hierarchy goes as follows: the workers, the scientists in the departments, and then the Grandmaster Flash. Everyone answers to Grandmaster Flash, except I’ll let you in on a little secret: there is no Grandmaster Flash. There never has been a Grandmaster Flash.”

“So what? It’s a conspiracy within an organization shrouded in conspiracy theories?”

I snapped my fingers. “Bingo! But also, it’s not the wisest of decisions! See, it was born from a rumor spread by those at the front of the headquarters. Apparently they got together and wanted to get out of work, so told the other departments something like, ‘Grandmaster Flash says I don’t have to do anything.’ At first, the others must have been confused, but as the rumor spread, the ones at the front cleared up the manner by saying, ‘Grandmaster Flash is secretive and makes all of the decisions. Maybe if one of your departments is really good, you will be recognized and one of you will become the next Grandmaster Flash.’ But yeah, it’s a con to keep everyone working hard and to allow the ones at the front to do whatever they want!”

Her eyes widened. Good. She was catching on.

“So basically, if we want to defeat them, we just gotta get them to admit that there’s no leader?”

...Swing and a miss. I rolled on the floor.

“No, silly! Instead, just say ‘we’ve taken out your leader’ or something. That will make them take you guys a little more seriously. And then, when they call for backup and nothing comes, bingo! You’ll have them pissing their pants and I’ll be laughing at them from afar!”

“That still sounds really far-fetched and way too convenient. And besides, how can we even trust you to follow through on your end and do all those things?”

“Good point! You can’t trust me! For all you know, I could rat you guys out and watch your downfall! That’s the poetic nature of all this! Such revolutions like this really are a work of art!”

Velvet shook her head. “This doesn’t sound good, no matter how hard you explain. The fact that you’re even alive…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I sighed. “You want me rolling in my grave instead of on the floor, which, there are no graves here, so why would I be?”

“You did all those things, unrepentant –”

“What can I say? An artist should never apologize for their art.”

“Good,” Velvet crossed her arms. “Because here’s another hard truth: I will never forgive you. No one is obligated to forgive you for the things that you’ve done to them and the sooner you learn that, the easier life will be.”

“Duly noted. But don’t you worry! You don’t have to actively work with me or anything. Just run to the front and say that you’re overthrowing the whole organization, and I’ll do the rest.”

“You say that, but…”

“...Or...you two can run around naked and get killed a horrible death and fail miserably in your mission. Choice is yours, really.”

“I don’t want to do this. If I do, it will feel like I’ve gone against Coriander. If I can find another way, with her, I will.”

As she said that, the one and only spice girl (in the void. Not to discount the infinite amount of spice girls out there across an infinite amount of universes. Also not to discount the infinite amount of Spice Girls, either. I was particularly fond of the version of them where they put out an EDM Folk Death Metal album. Truly ahead of their time) stepped out of the bathroom.

“Let’s just do it, Velvet,” Coriander announced in a dull and lifeless tone. “If there’s more of a chance with this, I’d rather go with it.”

I put my hand on my chest and smiled. So it seems I was forgiven after all! Good! Even though when I looked over at Coriander, her face looked like it was filled with hate and sadness, but I’d take what I could get.

“Now!” I took one good look at the both of them. “Before you two start running off, perhaps you’d like to know how much time you have left.”

“Don’t we have plenty of time, though?” Velvet objected. “Seeing as time doesn’t flow the same here, plus all those time travel devices. I think we’re allowed to take our time, given all that.”

“You’re going to apply logic to a sci-fi setting? What’s wrong with you?” I countered. “I’m sure you can understand how things work if you think about it for more than a few seconds.”

Velvet groaned, Coriander grunted. They must have understood once I said that: time still flowed down on their version on Earth, and maybe even at a faster rate than in here.

“For all you know, your Earth could already be destroyed,” I added. “And you can turn back time, that would just make an alternate Earth, which means there would already be a Velvet occupying there, and…”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Velvet grit her teeth.

“So in order to figure out how things are going down there, I’ll send my little bug to see if there’s anyone I can talk to! That way I can confirm that there’s at least some people still alive, and that they can tell me what the situation’s like!”

I put a little earbud in my ear, then sent one of my little bugs out from my pocket and watched as it warped away, using a built in fragment of a time cube, and waited until it found someone. After a little while, I heard the bug beep. That was my cue.

“Hey! Is anyone still alive on this planet?!” I yelled, as I had no idea how loud I should have been.

“Oh, just little old me,” a voice on the other end came up. I just about jumped for joy! There was life! And with a pleasant voice like that person’s (a soothing mix of baritone, treble, and alto), it seemed like my two muses were in luck.

“Hi there! Yes! This little thing I sent down was one of my art projects! Good to see it was a success!” My heart was racing so fast I could have entered it in a horse race, except hearts weren’t horses. Not unless you did some genetic experimentation, but that was neither here nor there.

“If only I got to hear this conversation from your memories,” he crooned. It really got me thinking: did he know who I was already? Well, I didn’t even know if the voice was a ‘he’, but I just figured such a disembodied voice being a ‘he’ would have been a nice thought, and then I started thinking about how I might have gone about drawing that. Oh, but I was getting distracted once again.

“Then I could see who you are and what your motive was. I could even taste you, just a little,” ‘he’ continued. While some may have found that to be just a bit creepy, I imagined ‘he’ must have thought of me to be a mix of paints.

“Yes! That would be so artistic! Maybe it could mix together at once like a collage!” My excitement might have been showing a little too much. Restraint, too, was an art.

“Where did you send this little bug down from?” ‘He’ asked, which seemed obvious enough to me where I sent it from. Maybe obvious to ‘him’ as well, if ‘he’ called my art project a ‘little bug.’

“I think you know already!” I replied, still with as much cheer as before. Restraint never was my strong suit.

There was a pause before either of us said anything else, so maybe I should have just cut to the chase.

“Are you really the only one left?” I asked. “How’s the situation on Earth?”

The voice on the other end came in once more:

“There were many booties a clappin’,” spoken in a sing-song voice. “But yes, I may be the only one left. There might be a few others. Not sure. Probably won’t last long, though. I’d give it...what? A few more months? A year? Then everything, so happy it could all die.”

“Oh, that sounds so beautiful!” I would’ve been this person’s biggest fan had I been down on that version of Earth and in that specific period in time. “Say it again!”

“It does, doesn’t it?” My next source of inspiration agreed.

“But! And this is a big but!” I had to get myself back on track, else I’d be in awe the entire conversation.

“...You cannot lie?”

“I can’t! One of the greatest artistic achievements! Aha! I am among a true scholar! Oh! But I didn’t go on! See, I’ve got a couple of muses with me who would like to possibly save Earth. Think there’s any way they can do that?”

“Let’s say I could pull a few strings. Buy some time.”

“Great!”

“But, and this is a big booty, I can only delay it for so long. If your pals can’t do anything soon, then I’m afraid my hands are tied.”

“Sounds good! I’ll let them know! They’ll be so excited! Hold on just a sec!”

I put my hand over my ear and said to Velvet and Coriander.

“So someone on Earth says you’ve got time, and could even buy you guys some more time! Isn’t that great!?”

Whether they were excited or my imagination was telling them that they were, I was excited enough just to tell them the good news. Then I uncovered my hand and spoke once more to the jolly fellow.

“Hey! Hey! I’m still here, are you?”

“Indeed, good friend. I have a feeling you and I would get along quite well. Which means I would probably not get along with you at all. But if only I could have found out.” Gee, what a friendly person. Like a star-crossed friend that I never would have met, because if there was anywhere on Earth I’d have wanted to go, it would have been back in Japan, with my father.

“That’s okay! There’s artistic merit in mystery! Leaves some for the imagination!” I assured the good-natured spirit.

“Well, before you depart, I just want to ask a favor of you.”

“Sure!”

“If you could give me an audience, that would be great. I think I’m done being in the shadows. It’s gotten quite boring. So, I would like it if I could speak with others.”

I thought about it. I could already do quite a bit with disabling communications, so opening up a line of communication didn’t seem too hard, either.

“Not a problem!” I assured ‘him’.

‘He’ laughed hysterics. “It’s good to know I had your permission, given I already had the ability to do so.”

“Oh, you sly devil!”

Then, without so much as a good-bye (although I’ve had worse phone conversations), my little bug left and within a few moments, had returned to me.

With that out of the way, I took the earbud out and grinned.

“So basically, you’re already pretty close to the front of the headquarters! I suggest you get going, because it’s hard to tell how long you guys have even after all that! All I can tell you is that there is still hope!”

Velvet and Coriander looked at each other, put on their shoes, then were about to get going. But before Velvet left the room, she turned to me.

“Why are you doing this?” She asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I just started thinking that even though art has been my life ever since I was a child, if I have to hurt others to make art, then maybe I should find a different path.”

“That’s good, but that still doesn’t absolve anything you’ve done,” she spoke in a low tone.

“I wouldn’t count on it!” I grinned.

“Maybe the right question I should be asking is this: just who were you before you joined The Flashbulb?”

I shrugged once again. I wasn’t good at being concise, but I’d try.

“Also an artist. Someone’s daughter. Something like that. Hey, I have a favor to ask you and you don’t have to accept, but I just thought of it!”

“Yes?”

“If you ever figure out who I was on Earth, please don’t think of the other versions of me as evil. My actions are my own.”

Velvet nodded. I wasn’t sure if that was her agreeing to my favor or not, but both Velvet and Coriander left at that, without so much as another word. I looked out the door and watched the two run off, then I went back in. It was time for me to do what I did best.

#happiness overload #scifi #writing #stories #cotton candy #finality #the end of all things

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sinofdelusion · 5 years

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SINoALICE x Code Geass: Resolve to Take Up a Sword: Turn 1

*Italicized only dialogue indicates in-battle dialogue

A r e y o u s a d ? Y o u w a n t t o r e w i n d i t , d o n ' t y o u ? I a c c e p t y o u r w i s h . W e l c o m e , h y p o c r i t e . W e w e l c o m e y o u .

- Part 1

"No, that wasn't Euphie's intention..." Choking on his voice, Suzaku opened his eyes. When he came to, he realized he was laying in an unfamiliar place. His eyes were drawn to what was reflected in them, the pocket watch that was a memento of his father. Though his hand was already moving to take it, Suzaku's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. (This was supposed to have been left with Euphie.) Yes, she suddenly massacred the Japanese, and so Zero shot her, but in her last moments she was worried about the Japanese even as her chest stopped moving—

(Maybe this is a dream?) Suzaku began walking with a vague awareness. As he was aimlessly walking, a voice suddenly rang out from overhead. "Out of the way, please!" When he looked up, a girl fell from a tree. Feeling a sense of nostalgia from somewhere, Suzaku reflexively caught the girl. "Um, you aren't hurt, are you?" "I'm okay... Um, the truth is, I'm being chased by bad guys." "Eh?"

The girl was a shrine maiden who bore the responsibility of performing a ceremonial dance as an offering. It seemed like peace would come to this world because of it. "In this world, fighting is an everyday thing. I don't know if it's true or not, but if my dance can bring peace, then I will believe and try. But there are some that try to get in the way... Like that!" "Eh?" As soon as the girl had noticed, Suzaku's sword cut the threat that had been chasing the girl.

"Suzaku!" "It's okay. Leave this to me."

Suzaku and the girl were heading towards the place where the ceremony would take place. On the way, the girl was attacked by enemies several times, but Suzaku easily repelled them. Furthermore— there was something more worrisome. What appeared before him should be called a monster, and Suzaku was half-convinced that this was a dream. (If this is a dream, how do I wake up? No... what awaits me when I wake up from this dream is—) Euphemia's bloodstained form crossed his mind. As Suzaku unconsciously shook his head in denial, a woman appeared out of nowhere with a sneering smile.

"Having trouble, young man?" The woman with dark brown skin and hair the color of a dull rose saw Suzaku and the girl and laughed. "Who are you?" "I'm a fortuneteller with hair the color of cinders. I'll tell your fortune for free, to celebrate our encounter." Saying that, the fortuneteller's eyes narrowed. "... Ah, I see it. Young man, your weakness will certainly destroy you." "... Excuse me?" "That was a prophecy. If you really want to stop it from happening, you have to recognize your own weakness. And I know. The truth of what you call killing..." Leaving Suzaku dumbfounded, the fortuneteller disappeared like smoke.

- Part 2

The fortuneteller's words weighed heavily on Suzaku's mood. The shrine maiden sympathized with him and began to brightly speak of her circumstances. The girl spoke of how she longed for people's stories, how she confided in the young chief priest, "I would like to dedicate my dance not for the sake of my mission, but for the sake of my loved ones." The girl's ideals and fondness filled her smile, and reminded Suzaku somewhat of his lady. "... That's right. You should dance like you believe in yourself." "Right! Well then, let's be off!" The girl turned and began to run towards the ritual site. However, a large amount of monsters appeared there.

"Where did these guys come from?!"

"No! Suzaku! You can't attack them!"

"Why?! Aren't these monsters?!"

"That's right, but it's wrong. These people are—"

"Eh—? That... can't be."

"Don't kill her! My older sister's in there!"

In the end, Suzaku massacred all of the monsters at the ritual site without discretion. "Staying here is dangerous. Let's run!" Carrying the dumbfounded girl in his arms, Suzaku began running into the forest. But— Slap, a good and satisfying sound rang out as Suzaku's face was smacked. "Eh...?" Looking over, the girl he was carrying in his arms was crying her eyes out, glowering at Suzaku. (Ah, she slapped me didn't she) As he guessed this, pain flashed through his cheek and he registered reality.

- Part 3

"Even though I told you to stop..." The girl glared at Suzaku with bright red eyes as she sobbed. "Why did you kill my older sister?!" She denounced Suzaku right in front of him, demanding an answer like spitting blood. "... For the sake of protecting you, it couldn't be helped. In that situation, I had to determine whether I could save your older sister—" "I don't want to hear your sound reasoning!" A black mist began gathering around the girl who had escaped Suzaku's arms. "Why... why, why?!" As she screamed, the girl turned into a monster before Suzaku's very eyes.

" I w a n t e d t o p r o t e c t t h e m . . . m y o l d e r s i s t e r , a n d e v e r y o n e e l s e . "

" A n d y e t , y o u k i l l e d t h e m a l l ! "

"No! I was trying to protect you—"

" T h e r e ' s n o p o i n t i n s u r v i v i n g b y m y s e l f . "

" I w a n t e d t o p r o t e c t e v e r y o n e ! "

Burying the girl who had become a monster, Suzaku collapsed to his knees. "Is this reality after all...?" "That's right. What you killed was a Nightmare." Lifting his head at the familiar words, there stood the fortuneteller who had given him the ominous prophecy. "That was... a Nightmare?" "It's different from what you know, huh." "What was that prophecy you gave me before?" "Ah, that thing where your weakness is going to destroy you?" "I... got stronger. Moreso from that time." "I don't know what time that is, but it's best to just accept it. Otherwise—"

"You'll be swallowed up." "Eh...?" As the fortuneteller spoke those words, something passed behind her. "Euphie?!" The person that Suzaku wanted to protect and had pledged his loyalty to as a knight. And his beloved that he had held feelings for— That was the late princess's figure just now.

- Part 4

Nightmares— They weren't the machines Suzaku knew very well and piloted; rather, they meant something closer to bad dreams. The amount of people becoming Nightmares increased, as if the girl had been the catalyst. Unable to endure the murders happening one by one in front of him, Suzaku swung his sword, but they were killed before he could help them, and those he saved became Nightmares themselves. "I can't do anything with my power!" This helplessness. Keenly aware of this, now an old person was struck down in front of Suzaku. "Stop!" Unable to ignore his cries for help, Suzaku ran to the old person.

" K i l l . . . k i l l , k i l l ! "

"Calm down! You used to be a human being—"

" G a . . . G a a a a a a a a a h ! "

"I knew it, I can't talk to them like this..."

"Damn it!"

"T-Thank you. You're my savior!" The old person he had saved hadn't become a Nightmare and offered him a prayer of gratitude. Seeing that old person safe, Suzaku's heart was saved a little. (If you become a Nightmare, there's no turning back) If that's the case, that girl and her sister— (... It couldn't be helped) Those who became monsters had no reason, they were no longer human, attacked everyone, and caused disaster. (If that's the case, then I—) Suzaku swears in his heart to take up his sword for the weak.

- Part 5

"This is all your fault!" A young man suddenly yelled, attacking Suzaku. "You?!" "Why did you kill the shrine maiden?! Even though she wished for the peoples' happiness!" With those words, Suzaku guessed in that instant. This young man was probably the chief priest the girl had mentioned. "... It can't be helped. It couldn't be helped. She became a Nightmare." "You made her do that!" "No! I tried to help her!" "But you killed her!"

"Once someone becomes a Nightmare, they're no longer human. Surely you know that? If I had let her be, more people would've died." "Yeah, I know that. What you did was right. People will praise you for it. But do you understand what killing someone precious does to someone?!" The chief priest's shout struck Suzaku's heart. (... Euphie, I...) "Even though there might have been a way to turn her back to normal... Shrine maiden, shrine maiden...!" A black mist slowly covered the chief priest who was howling with fury.

" W h y d i d y o u k i l l . . . w h y d i d y o u k i l l h e r . . . "

"— If I had left her like that, she would've killed other people!"

"W h a t ' s w r o n g w i t h t h a t ? ! T h e r e a r e m a n y m o r e l i v e s — I l o n g e d t o b e c l o s e t o j u s t o n e p e r s o n , I j u s t w a n t e d t o s a v e h e r ! I s t h a t w r o n g a s a h u m a n ? ! "

Suzaku looked at his sword in half-dazed state, the corpse of the chief priest who had loved the dead shrine maiden dearly in front of him. The blade of his sword was wet and red with the blood of the things he had killed. (Since that day, both of my hands have been soaked in red.) — Yes, from when he was very young, trying to stop his father from escalating the war. And then— (Now my entire body is... covered in blood) How many would you say you've killed for the sake of saving people? How many people's desires have you trampled? "Aa... aaaaaaaaaaaa!" Suzaku screamed, overflowing with unending repentance.

"... It's okay." A soft voice gently fluttered down. "It's okay, Suzaku. You can still start over." A slender, white finger slowly stroked Suzaku's tear-stained cheek. "Euphie...?" When he called the name of his lady that should've been dead, she smiled sweetly. (No, Euphie's dead. But this is...) "I accept you entirely." The voice that Suzaku never thought he'd hear again was familiar. "So you should start over together with me." That smile full of affection is no different from when she was alive.

(— This is probably an illusion) And yet Suzaku's fingers reach towards Euphie. At that moment, just for a moment, the fortuneteller's words rang in Suzaku's ears. "Your weakness will certainly destroy you." (... Ah, but I—) "Yes, Your Highness." Suzaku knelt in front of Euphemia, holding out his sword...

" I t ' s over? E h ? S e r i o u s l y ? "

" I s n ' t i t natural t o end i t t h e r e — ! "

" N o . I t w i l l continue i n t h e next cour."

" A h , it's split cour? T h a n k g o o d n e s s ~ "

" I f t h e r e ' s s o m e t h i n g abnormal w i t h t h e world lately, just d e s t r o y your enemies."

" T h e r e i s n o solution."

"'Salvation' i s w h a t y o u need to carry out."

" W h a t h a p p e n s w h e n y o u d o n ' t g e t salvation?"

" T h e loop c o n t i n u e s o n f o r eternity."

" T h a t i s t o m y liking."

" F o r t h e sake o f salvation, w e m u s t live i n t h e happiness o f lies."

" T h e weak man c r e a t e d this loop."

"Crash! And some change is n e c e s s a r y . "

" H o w e v e r , i s n ' t t h a t s u p e r f i c i a l t h i n g i r r a t i o n a l ? "

" I ' l l s h o w y o u his past f o r n o w , p l e a s e t h i n k o f c o u n t e r m e a s u r e s . "

" A n d w i t h t h a t , o n t o t h e next cour!"

#sinoalice #code geass #resolve to take up a sword #translation

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codetrainwreck · 5 years

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Lelouch of the Re;surrection Summary

This summary is extremely outdated/wrong and only here still for historical purposes. alchimique doesn’t speak Japanese at all so it was bound to be wrong in places.

I made a new, accurate summary after actually seeing the movie myself in Japan which you can view here.

This summary compilation post was sourced from:

My friend alchimique who went to Japan and saw the movie (check out the merchandise and cafe pics on her Twitter!)

An anon from /m/ who also saw the movie and posted the movie pamphlet pictures

Japanese Twitter

touchreceptor’s summary, she also saw the movie!

Australians who saw the movie at the Madman anime festival

Screenshots used are from the existing trailers, review screenshots, KMF lineart, the movie pamphlet, and also the week 6 Japanese theater film strip bonus item. Major spoilers, obviously.

I have 3 disclaimers:

This summary is not perfect

No, I haven’t seen it yet either

I am, and always have been, a Schneizel fangirl only. I don’t ship Lelouch with anyone and I don’t have an agenda here. I have to say this at the start because depending on who/what you ship, this summary is going to make you question reality.

There are more pictures of Eyebrows-kun than other characters because he’s pretty and I’m the person compiling this so enjoy like, all of his appearances lmao.

Onwards!

(If you need a primer to Zilkhstan characters/stuff/lore, check out this post)

Opening scene is the first 5mins from the BD/DVD fan disk that was released before: Tamaki makes a 2nd cafe. Ohgi and Villetta are there with their son, Naoto, named after Kallen’s brother / Ohgi’s friend. We get narration that world is at peace. Nunnally is helping with refugees in the desert area near Zilkhstan. They get ambushed. Shalio is able to “predict” (we’ll get to that later) all of Suzaku’s movements thanks to his sister’s Shamna’s prophecies. There’s a trap set in the desert where Suzaku’s KMF lands. Suzaku and Nunnally get captured.

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After Suzaku’s captured, it cuts to a portable TV in back of a truck showing cartoons of a cat and dog on a trampoline and a kid is pointing and giggling at them. The cartoons get interrupted by news about Nunnally and Zero going missing. CC lowers the volume and talks to Jeremiah. It pans to right to reveal a person wearing a tan cloak/poncho and white shirt and pants. And a familiar hat. Hat flutters away. It’s Lelouch. But his eyes are glassy and he’s like an empty husk. (The familiar clothes/hat is the cart driver outfit from the end of the R2 TV anime. However, the cart driver scene doesn’t exist in the recap movie and Re;surrection timeline. Additionally, it’s clear from Lelouch’s mental state that he couldn’t do something like drive a cart w/o CC’s help.)

(If you’d like to know more about how they got Lelouch’s body, check this separate post with an explanation from the movie pamphlet)

Cue “Kono sekai de”.

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CC is seen traveling with Lelouch. She’s walking with a giant pack on her back while he walks slowly in front of her wearing a bandana on his head and a white shirt. Then he’s in the back of a truck (no bandana) just sitting around until turbulence causes him to fall over.

CC is seen driving the truck but then it breaks down. She tries to pay a mechanic to fix it but he refuses. They then take a train. Lelouch is seen ambling down the narrow hallway while CC struggles with the pack and she ends up falling and getting stuck while Lelouch doesn’t notice. There’s a nighttime scene at a open air structure and Lelouch is seen sitting on a stone wall in the dark. A spotlight passes over him and CC drags him down out of sight.

Lelouch is seen lagging behind so she nudges him along. Eventually they tag along with other refugees on a truck along a train track. He’s wearing a poncho and is squatting down as she’s making arrangements. He gets up when she puts her pack back on and then follows her quietly.

Then they’re seen going into town and they’re in their hotel. Both are dressed in local clothing. Lelouch is laying on the carpet watching Milly interview Shestal on the news with big blank eyes. CC realizes this while she’s cooking local cuisine (meat buns, naan-like bread, etc) and then switches the program to the same cartoons on the portable TV as before.

On the TV, Milly was talking about “The Puzzlement in Hashvess”. Milly is still a reporter and Rivalz is now her errand boy. There was news about Nunnally and Zero being MIA.

CC puts the food on a middle eastern dining style mat. We see that Lelouch has a Code on his throat. It looks like a shadow there. Lelouch picks up a bun and squeezes it. It starts oozing meat juices (clear at first, then turns red) and THIS FREAKS HIM OUT. He screams a lot and accidentally punches CC in the nose and makes her bleed. She calms him down as he tries to run away.

He’s still glassy-eyed half-dead doll person at this point. CC looks outside and sees a suspicious truck. She hides sleeping Lelouch in his bed behind a curtain and gets READY TO FIGHT. Turns out it’s Kallen. CC asks why she’s there, and Kallen says they (her/Sayoko/Lloyd) were sent to save Nunnally.

But it turns out that The Bad Guys (a squad of assassins led by Kujapat, all from the Geass Cult) followed them. Kujapat shoots CC because if she was a tourist, she wouldn’t be in this particular location. After, Kujapat Geasses Kallen, making him her ally and her real allies her enemies, so Kallen ends up fighting Sayoko and Lloyd cause she sees them both as Kujapat. Sayoko subdues Kallen. CC tries to shoot Kujapat as he escapes but she misses. After, Kallen is released from Kujapat’s Geass and he tries to Geass CC instead, but of course it doesn’t work and him and the bad guys scram.

CC remembers Lelouch is still there. He’s quietly freaking out behind the curtain in a ball. Kallen notices him and goes “O_O” and everyone else is like “Oh. Is that LELOUCH?” The sight of other people makes Zombie Lelouch freak the fuck out. CC explains that this isn’t the same Lelouch they knew before.

Cut to EVIL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT. Suzaku is tied up in his dungeon thing. Shalio wheels up and is like “Sup, Suzaku.” Gets mad at him and whips him a bit. Shalio has a camera that displays different parts of Suzaku’s body zoomed in / CSI enhanced as well. Shalio is then called to do something and leaves Suzaku all alone. Also, Suzaku’s spinkick is such a meme even in-universe that they identified Suzaku was the new Zero because of it.

Cut back to CC and the gang. They’re in Sayoko’s truck now. Lelouch is looking through a kaleidoscope and drinking something at the same time. Liquid dribbles down his chin and someone (CC?) wipes it away. Kallen asks what the hell is going on with Lelouch. CC explains that she revived him in body only, but now she needs to get back into Cs’ World to grab his soul, and an entrance to Cs’ World is under the Great Prison of Sorrow in the Gimsurat Flats. Kallen starts crying and thinks this is all terrible.

They take their truck and drive it to the prison (that one in the rocky place with the bridge) and Sayoko disguises herself as a man while the others disguise selves as prisoners (the white suits). Lloyd stays in the truck. Sayoko leads them in and then she and Kallen kick the shit out of everyone. CC gives the prison key card to one of the prisoners and the prisoners let themselves out and arm themselves.

Lelouch is confused. CC leads them all to the Gate of Alam - this chamber with a door with the Geass signal on it (it’s got softer curves). Kallen tries to Lelouch it’s okay, but she gets upset when Lelouch just stares blankly at her. She starts crying, and Lelouch tries to comfort her and pet her hair (reacting to her sorrow) and she ends up bawling into his shoulder/chest. She doesn’t like it when he looks at her with his zombie vegetable stare. The Gate of Alam is covered by water. CC activates the flood gates, revealing the door and a V-shaped path with a stepping stone in the middle.

CC activates the door and transports herself and Lelouch to Cs world. Sayoko and Kallen (skin under eyes puffy) chat a bit. Meanwhile Lloyd is doing some hacking into the facilities and creeps on Suzaku who is still alone in the dungeon and is like “oh this won’t do~~”. As it conveniently turns out, the door they need is also right under the prison Suzaku is in.

Scenes with most of the new Zilkhstan characters. At the temple in the capital city, Kujapat tells Shamna about CC and teases Shestal. (Supposedly, he teases him for being a pretty face on TV. Poor Shestal. Not his fault he was born super pretty. orz)

Back to Cs’ World, we see beams of light representing Lelouch and CC and they land in a rocky place with that purple orb from the trailer. They approach. Lelouch is still confused as fuck. CC then sees Marianne and Charles inside the orb with a look of disdain. CC remarks that she can’t believe Charles still hasn’t let go of Lelouch after all of this time. They don’t speak but just appear and then disappear. As she touches it, it turns into orange and black ash.

C.C’s shaken by it but tries touching the orb anyways. I think there’s a particle effect that happens (the chaotic stuff we see in the trailer) and Lelouch FREAKS OUT and screams as he stumbles backwards and disappears. (You see the common theme here so far...)

Cut back to Kallen and Sayoko. As it turns out, the “prisoners” that CC freed to use as a distraction are not actually prisoners. They’re hired hands working for Zilkhstan to bamboozle CC and the gang in exchange for KMFs. Sayoko is subdued by a bald skinny dude with a killer beyblade and sticky gunk. Kallen is subdued by Bitool. The ass from the trailer is hers.

Cut back to Cs’ World. CC reaches for him but misses. CC is seen flying/floating about trying to find him. Various silhouettes appear here (such as Euphy). The last silhouette is Charles. The silhouettes all reach out then fall. Then you see a hand reaching for a bright light. Finally, CC wakes up in front of the door. The prisoners are there and have Lloyd/Sayoko/Kallen in burrito things. Then they shoot CC a bunch.

(For the longer explanation from the pamphlet about this particular scene in Cs’ World, please see this post)

So she’s just bleeding on the ground and then we see another figure standing in front of the door on this little stone step (there’s a channel of water running to the door; stone steps). And it’s..... LELOUCH.

Lelouch is back. And his mark is RED (sometimes it’s red, sometimes it’s like a scar). He tells all of the fake prisoners to kill themselves, and they do. Lloyd and Sayoko (she wasn’t Geassed in the recap movies) cover their eyes. Lelouch pulls CC out of the water and tells her that he’s back, and that they’ll have something to talk about later. He has both Code and Geass and there’s a new animation effect when he uses his Geass. But when other characters use Geass, the animation effects are the same as during R2.

Cut back to Suzaku. Suzaku is bandaged (very much like in episode 2) and it’s night time. He stirs to see Lelouch sitting on the ledge of a large window. Lelouch has Geassed a guard and a doctor (to patch up Suzaku). Moonlit. Lelouch is chilling and looking at a portable computer from Lloyd, casually talking to Suzaku. Suzaku gets up and staggers towards him and asks, “Is it really you?”

And then Suzaku ever so gently touches Lelouch’s face with his index finger to make sure Lelouch is real. The touch had higher budget than CC flying through Cs’ World. It’s close up of Lelouch’s lips and cheek and you can see how soft his skin is and that he isn’t a ghost.

CC and Kallen chat. CC mentions to Kallen that Lelouch intended to die and what she was doing here is out of her own selfishness.

Suzaku’s very emotional about Lelouch’s return, but Lelouch is just like “cool”. Suzaku asks him how he’s alive, what he’s been doing, etc. Lelouch tells him he’ll accept any punishment, so Suzaku punches him and starts screaming. Part of this scene is semi-graphic. The other part is abstract silhouettes (for some reason it goes white and the figures are blue/white/purple colors). CC has to pull Suzaku back before he beats Lelouch back to death. It’s the part from the trailer where he goes, “CC...” then collapses.

Suzaku takes a fucking chill pill and is now wearing a prisoner outfit too. Then they meet with Lloyd, who’s driving a KMF. It turns out that Bitool is still alive as he wasn’t with the other fake prisoners when Lelouch told them to die. Lelouch and CC are in a control room. Lelouch has that portable computer thing again. CC is there. Kallen runs in and hugs Lelouch. Suzaku comes in in his prisoner outfit and hops into one of the KMFs.

Outside of the prison, Shestal and a group of soldiers have traveled through the desert (following the earlier scene w/the Zilkhstan characters) and surrounded the compound. Lelouch is seen Geassing prisoners as “Lelouch vi Britannia”, reaches out via sound-only to taunt Shestal by insulting his family and calling him a dumbass, then issues commands to Sayoko, “K1″ (Suzaku), and the Geassed prisoners.

A fight breaks out. Because Shestal is in fact a complete dumbass (and also Sunrise hates me), he gets pissed and goes down below to where Suzaku’s room was at and breaks open the window with his KMF, the Jarja Bakah. (They don’t even say the name of his KMF in the movie, so I don’t think we’re ever getting an official romanization for this LOL.)

This is the part from the trailer where he says he’s here to get Zero. Except Lelouch and the gang are long gone and have left a Sakuradite bomb trap behind for Shestal which takes out him + the other floors in the prison. (Given the fate of his Akito character who also died after 5mins, I guess Legendary FGO Space Whale Nobunaga Shimazaki is destined to never live long in Geass stuff. Maybe there’s an eyebrow threading salon in the afterlife. Dude is so pretty but then those eyebrows haunt my dreams.)

Sometime after Shestal dies, Volvona asks for permission to go kick Zero’s ass to avenge his son. Shamna, however, tells him not to do this because of her “prophecy”. (We’ll come back to what actually happened here later.) Nunnally is seen in a tank on Shamna’s ceiling.

Meanwhile, at UFN HQ, Schneizel, Kannon and Rakshata are discussing their options for getting Nunnally and Zero back. Schneizel’s Geass isn’t always on. He only gets red rings in his eyes when he’s talking about Zero. Also there are the Indian teenager engineers working under Rakshata. Schneizel refers to them all as geniuses.

There’s a map during this scene that puts Zilkhstan around current day Pakistan and India.

(Also Schneizel is wearing glasses when he’s at his desk here and he looks really fucking handsome. His wardrobe has changed to be more form fitting and modern and he just looks like he’s everyone’s dad[dy] now. Holy fuck. I’ve spent 13 years drooling over this guy after seeing him flick his bangs around in the opening of the very first episode of the first season and this is just WL;K4L234KFJLK234019284IFSJKKLASFJ14L243JKL23K4324JK43KKLWKLDAKJLDAJKSDKJLAKSLD!!1111 I’M NOT A FUNCTIONAL HUMAN BEING ANYMORE.)

Lelouch suits up into his Zero outfit. This time he’ll taking up the Zero mantle as “Lelouch Lamperouge” rather than “Lelouch vi Britannia”. Suzaku looks on with a frowny face. CC, who has apparently had enough of this fucking movie already, is drinking a martini by the window.

Meanwhile, Shirley is shopping. She tries to call CC on her phone, but she doesn’t answer. After, she meets up with Milly and Rivalz. Milly just got back from Zilkhstan.

Lelouch and the gang meet up with Cornelia and many other returning characters such as Guilford (not blind), Tamaki (wearing a white bancho jacket with a heart on the back w/Zero’s name written on it; JP twitter seemed to really like this lol), and Ohgi. Cornelia has a new outfit and a gun-sword.

Because Cornelia is like the only smart person there at the time, she’s the only person who is remotely hesitant about Lelouch’s return and such. Lelouch takes off his helmet and reveals himself to her. Everyone else chimes in and gets her to help. Tamaki also leans on her gun-sword. She’s upset that Lelouch is alive while Euphy remains dead, but she agrees to help them rescue Nunnally.

Some more people show up, including Jeremiah, Anya, Cecile and Nina. They chill at a local town and Cecile makes a gross drink for Lloyd that almost kills him. Outdoors, Tamaki and Ohgi are being dumb. Ohgi tries to kill himself after thanking Lelouch for Japan, but Lelouch-Jesus stops him from doing it and also forgives him.

Suzaku is talking to Cornelia in the town (she brought him a hot drink) when he notices Lelouch do the collar up signal from their youth for “let’s talk on the roof”. (Reportedly, this gesture is out of focus and only noticeable if you’re a fujoshi.) Up on top of a tower, Lelouch is on his tablet thing again, looking over a memory card full of info from Kaguya.

Lelouch encourages Suzaku to say whatever he needs to say cause Lelouch himself doesn’t understand his resurrection or if it was actually successful or if he’ll roll over and die tomorrow. Suzaku says there’s two things that he wants to say to Lelouch. The first is that he believes Lelouch should become Zero again. He starts to say the second thing, but he stops when he notices that Lelouch is watching Ohgi and Villetta’s wedding video which Kaguya included on the memory card.

The wedding was super duper extra and you also see other characters, like Minami from the Black Knights cutting the cake. Schneizel and Kannon got retconned into being wedding guests. Suzaku tells Lelouch that everyone’s been doing well since he died. Then the wedding video focuses on Nunnally who is happy and having fun. One of them mentions Suzaku’s unspoken line. Suzaku finishes it by saying that he’s happy Lelouch is back and how lonely the world is without him.

Suzaku asks Lelouch what he’ll do after everything is resolved It pans down to Kallen and CC on the lower level, who are having a similar conversation. CC looks kind of sad.

(To give you an idea of the pacing, we have now reached roughly the 1/2 way through the film point.)

We are back with Shamna hanging out on her royal couch with her 6 booby guards. Shamna has Nunnally in a sensory deprivation chamber on her ceiling. Shamna is trying to use the Gate of Alam in her temple to enter Cs’ World to do Evil Villain Things. Shamna uses Nunnally to enter Cs’ World and reaches for an orb, but she fails and is teleported back out.

Seemingly, Nunnally’s connection to both Charles and Lelouch makes her connection to Cs’ World strong.

Lelouch is disguised and goes to an outdoor train platform in desert and Geasses two of the workers and also all of the passengers on the train. By middle of night / early morning, all of the returning cast have new mechs and gear. Lelouch tells Suzaku and Kallen to fight in the desert while everyone else goes to the urban area to rescue Nunnally. They sneak their KMFs onto the trains then jump out of them.

CC gets a new outfit that doesn’t have pants. She gets into 2 seater KMF with Lelouch called the Gekkoi. (If you’ve seen Gundam, it’s reportedly similar to a Zeong.)

Communications are jammed for Lelouch and the gang. Lelouch and CC are isolated. Lelouch starts freaking out. CC asks him if he’s given up. Lelouch has no idea how to win against this enemy. That’s when CC calms him by taking a gun out and putting it against his forehead (but this scene is difficult to take seriously because of her pilot outfit and the way the scene is framed). CC asks him, “Does it feel like despair? Cause that’s been my whole existence.” Lelouch chills after CC outdoes his edginess. He starts writing down theories about what’s going on as he’s talking to CC, who has sensed Shamna’s power. It’s written in English and list is seriously like: “They seem to KNOW EVERYTHING!!1111”

Eventually, Lelouch and CC land in Shamna’s room and shoot the guards all to death while Shamna’s laying in her own Avatar pod chamber thing. Shama’s chamber opens up. Lelouch shoots Shamna with the gun on the KMF. But this is a trap - it triggers her Geass. Her eyes glow and the sigil is yellow.

As it turns out, Shamna’s Geass rewinds time 6 hours back whenever she dies. She doesn’t actually see “prophecies”, she just knows what happens then she shoots herself to force the time rewind and looks like a fucking prophet. In the earlier scene after Shestal dies, she has seemingly allowed Volvona to go after Zero, it doesn’t end very well, then she goes back in time to stop him. (Why doesn’t she just go back in time and prevent Shestal from dying in the fucking first place? Holy shit. Sunrise fucking hates me.)

So, this turns into the Edge of Tomorrow / All You Need is Kill. Shamna retains her memories when time rewinds. Her power hasn’t always been like this, but this change occurred after Lelouch made a request to [God / Cs’ World / the Collective Unconscious / Jupiter] to let time keep ticking.

After going back, she’s now in a large bathing area naked with Shalio. She has her hands on his shoulders behind him and tells him he can leave things to her. The camera pans slowly and reveals she has a Code on her lower belly. Like Lelouch, she has both a Code + Geass.

Reset 1: Lelouch is stopped from reaching Shamna because she’s ready this time around. Shamna tries to get into Cs’ World again, but fails. Schneizel arrives in Zilkhstan with Kannon on a helicopter. Volvona comes to speak with Shamna and says that the Britannians want to talk. Shamna shoots herself in front of Volvona and her guards.

Reset 2: Gino, Tohdoh, Chiba and Hong Gu are attempting [democracy]. (The blonde lady next to Tohdoh is a character from the ending stills of the Miraculous Birthday.) Jeremiah and Anya are in the urban area in Zilkhstan. Jeremiah destroys a power plant with a KMF that shoots orange juice laser beams. With the power out, Shamna has to wait for it come back up. Except Shamna does not have time for this shit, so she shoots herself again.

Reset 3: Lelouch and CC try again. This time around, Shamna sees Jupiter but wakes up in her chamber again and sees her guards on the ground, and assumes they’ve died again. But 2 of them are still alive, and they get up and restrain Lelouch. Buuut, it turns out that Lelouch Geassed the other guards, so the 4 of them them get up and surround Shamna. She asks Lelouch if he’s going to tell her to kill herself, but instead he orders her to sleep so she can’t rewind time again. He then sets a bomb to explode her temple after 10 hours.

In the desert above the city, Kallen has been fighting Bitool and Suzaku has been fighting Shalio.

Kallen kills Bitool. Bitool was piloting a Guard Scorpion mech called the Batalaran Do that can resist the Radiation Wave due to its strong armor. In order to beat him, Kallen has to ditch the new armor on the Guren. Her new Guren armor blows up after she launches out of an energy bubble she was trapped in, and she apologizes to Shanti, one of the Indian teenagers working under Rakshata who made the new gear for the Guren and Lancelot.

Shalio beats Lancelot sIN into the ground (its wings are smoking), causing Suzaku’s live Geass to trigger. Shalio is both stupid strong and screaming about his sister. Like Kallen, Suzaku relies on the old Lancelot gear in order to defeat Shalio - after his new wings are busted, Suzaku uses the old energy wings.

Suzaku lands a critical hit and blows up Shalio. He’s yelling about Shamna cause he can’t feel her presence anymore, and thus can’t get “prophecies” from her anymore. Every loop, Shamna has been getting updates on the battle so she’s been telling Shalio and the others how to adjust plans. There’s a scene full of red and black scribble lines where Shamna screams and dies w/o resetting time. Her Geass can’t save her because No One Fucking Knows Why.

Cornelia and Volvona fight each other (apparently a rematch battle of sorts; they’ve clashed before). Cornelia corners him and thinks he should pursue a peaceful option. However, Volvona orders his troops to fire at both of them so he can sacrifice himself to take out Cornelia. But since the army has quit receiving “prophecies” from Shamna, Volvona is the highest ranking person left and now kinda in charge of the country so the army doesn’t actually want to sacrifice him.

Nina turned into MacGuyver so she kills Kujapat and the other assassins by dropping a wire from a KMF into water and electrocuting them to death. Cecile gets shot but no one covered her wound and people are worried she isn’t gonna make it. It’s clear that Lloyd is more connected to people now. After Cecile gets shot, he’s holding her. (Presumably, he feels bad about not protecting her - him and Nina have Cool Glasses that project Blaze Luminous shields.) Sayoko, Ohgi and Tamaki are in the urban area but it’s revealed after 12-13 years that Ohgi is about as good at running as Lelouch is.

Lelouch and CC go to get Nunnally out of the tank, but she’s in Cs’ World. They use Shamna as a route into Cs’ World. Lelouch finds Nunnally there through the fog laying on the ground. She wakes up and sees him and is shocked. They’re swallowed by black particles in Cs’ World. Lelouch holds her to his chest with the black and white filtering effect. Lelouch starts to Geass the approaching black mass, but then changes his mind, saying that Geass is his sin.

Following, a giant pair of rainbow hands emerges from the darkness, lifting the two up and the scenery turns colorful again with literal rainbows, and they’re safely teleported out of Cs’ World. Lelouch recognizes these hands as the people who helped him earlier when Cs’ World tried to consume him. In the real world, Shamna’s Temple explodes. The towns people of Gralbahd notice it.

While Lelouch is getting Nunnally, CC talks with Shamna as a distraction. It turns out that Lelouch’s Code is from Charles (hence the location of it on his body), but his Code and Shamna’s are both “incomplete” or “corrupted” (these words are the descriptions used by Japanese Twitter, I do not know what an “incomplete Code” is supposed to be). It’s explained here that Shamna’s goal was to use Cs’ World to make the world more fair for Zilkhstan. As a mercenary country, their economy was screwed pretty hard by Zero Requiem. However, she doesn’t want to return to being a mercenary culture, she wants them to be able to have peace too. (So... why not join the UFN?)

The movie pamphlet doesn’t mention fixing Zilkhstan at all, but rather that she’s doing this for Shalio’s sake since he’s disabled, similar to Lelouch’s goal in the anime. These can certainly be the same goal, but the pamphlet explains it differently.

Lelouch wakes up. Nunnally, Suzaku and Kallen are all there. They look outside and see shooting stars. The Ashford gang sees it too. Lelouch fulfilled his promise to see the fireworks with everyone. Lelouch talks with Nunnally. She begs him to be with her now, but she’s grown up now and doesn’t “need” him anymore. She’s sad, but she still smiles as Suzaku looks on. Kallen and Suzaku part ways; Suzaku now in a blue hoodie with the Zero suit in his arms.

The movie pamphlet contains pictures and a piece of the script where everyone parts ways.

CC is packed up already and is about to join a refugee caravan. Kallen comes and gives her the imitation Cheese plush. CC intends to depart. Then we see that Lelouch has run to catch up to her and is out of breath (lol). He says he wants to go with her, she tells him to stay with Nunnally or hit up Shirley, but he says that Nunnally doesn’t need him anymore and it’s too late for him to contact Shirley. CC tries to brush him off by saying she doesn’t even have a name. Lelouch replies that she can call him LL (pronounced L2), for Lelouch Lamperouge. CC starts crying and the 2 hold hands while walking through the refugee caravan together. “Revive” plays here.

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During the credits, we see a bunch of pictures:

Cecile recovers while Milly jabs Lloyd. Cecile looks annoyed about it.

Nunnally holding a puppy while hanging out with Kaguya + the Chinese Empress + the assumed EU girl (from the Miraculous Birthday ending stills) and they’ve all got matching outfits

Zerozaku visits the candle place from R2

Arthur is chilling w/another cat (btw, according to a staff member, Arthur is a girl cat)

Kallen with the new Indian engineers who hang out w/Rakshata (see: the Guren manga), Kallen is apologizing to Shanti for blowing up the Guren armor

Jeremiah and Anya are back on the orange farm with Sayoko hidden in a bush

Volvona and Cornelia sign a treaty with odd metallic heart in background while Gino, Kaguya, and the blonde girl’s secretary look on

Shirley gets a phone call

Villetta and Chiba are making food in the kitchen while Tohdoh has a child in a harness (unknown if it’s Villetta and Ohgi’s son or if Tohdoh and Chiba had a kid)

Ohgi reading a doujinshi about Tamaki’s love for Zero

In the post-credits scene, we see Lelouch and CC in front of a pile of bodies. They’re wearing complimentary black outfits that super extra fabulous and blingy. Lelouch has a rose choker. CC has a black transparent veil. Lelouch and CC have gone off to find other Geass users, take the power from those who can’t control it, and find those with the power to control it. The camera is facing Lelouch’s back. We hear him give the speech about how “The power of the King may isolate you”. He turns around to face who he’s talking to - you, the audience.

#code geass #lelouch of the resurrection #spoilers #lelouch lamperouge #cc #summary

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