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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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onereallygoodlambonastick · 3 years

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sometimes i have no pity for lelouch -- at some point, my empathy for him is eclipsed rather rightly by the blistering reminder that -- yeah, hes a white boy, hes a white boy given a godly power, he gets to look people dead in the eye -- and im not saying he hasn’t been hostage, that he hasnt been capital. but he has not had to lose his entire fucking way of living, of speaking, of knowing, of existing; english is native to him. this language im talking in, its a colonial language. fuck you. colonization means extinction events. understand: they met and became friends and then there was war and they were both victimized, but which of them is more survivor. i have no pity for lelouch, and good fucking riddance. i think about suzaku’s rage with him, the historical-heart-burn, the glorious-long-time-coming, and i understand it now, i understand it far better than before. i have always been trying to downsize it, trying to make it fit, make it digestible, palatable, make him as harmless as he was in season 1 (because its unlikable -- intellect, rage, depression -- in a bipoc guy) -- but i see now that i was wrong. a desire for resistance, but colonized. another reproduction of a factitious line i force him to walk. it was very white of me. i was trying to make things right. but i wasn’t -- not like, hold hands with him and kiss his forehead and what a hero he is and what enormous sacrifices he has to make and make it make sense -- more like, yes he should and hate, spit, shout, freely vilely rage want to destroy him out of your life for what he is for what he has done to you for his fucking father and for his fucking country and the empire that convinced you you were less than dirt that groomed you from a child’s traumas into a soldier who would commit war crimes against his homeland thinking it all would be worth it one day. more like, make sure he knows what he promised he killed euphie who was going to make a reservation so make sure he does you better, make sure he fucking makes it -- make sure you know that he fucking said he would burn it all down and get the land back.

more like, you’ll make sure of it.

#suzaku #lelouch

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gracelesslamb · 4 years

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“Don’t Talk”

Rated: Explicit

Fandom: Code Geass

Pairing: Cécile x Lloyd

Summary: Lloyd will do anything for giant robots. Even show an interest in girls. Sort of. There’s not really a plot it’s mostly just smut.

“Cécile, you’re a woman aren’t you?”

Cécile Croomy holds back her grimace at the obliviousness of Earl Asplund’s question. Could the guy get any more cliché in his cluelessness?

“Yes. I’m a woman. Where are you going with this?”

The Earl chuckles, running his fingers through his light violet locks idly. “Obviously it is to ask a favor of you. I require practice in the art of copulation—“

“ExcUSE ME? That ISN’T something you just ASK for practice in. Look, I get that you don’t understand how human attraction works but you don’t just ask your subordinate, who is not your betrothed to...do stuff like that with you!” Cécile fumes, turning back to her work, her cheeks flaming a bright crimson.

Another condescending chuckle. What was wrong with this man? “Science is trial and error. I want to please my future wife, Miss Ashford, so I can get my hands on those antique Knightmare frames, and I have no experience whatsoever with the opposite sex. Odds are if Miss Ashford isn’t pleased with my performance, the opportunity to study those frames would slip through my fingers!”

Cécile sighs. “Then take Miss Ashford on a date or something. Why should I help you practice?”

“Because you would give me honest feedback. I do see you as my conscience after all. I don’t exactly know how I am supposed to conduct myself in such situations and I will probably need instruction. Besides...it has been awhile since you’ve had a lover.”

The heat rising in Cécile’s face rose to a boiling point. He was right. It had been awhile since she had gotten any action whatsoever. Instead she was just making eyes at Suzaku, who really didn’t notice her or anyone else since Princess Euphemia died and honestly she couldn’t blame him. But...Lloyd? She was pretty certain Lloyd was asexual and sleeping with him would be like going to the doctor’s office except with penetration.

Wait.

Why was she even thinking about it? Granted the Earl of Pudding was easy on the eyes, with his fluffy lilac hair, somewhat handsome face, his lithe frame and...those hands. She wasn’t a prude and had occasionally indulged in casual flings and one night stands before, but never with someone she would actually see daily. Granted, she definitely knew that Lloyd would have no problem pretending their little fling never happened because he was...Lloyd.

“S-so...let me get this straight. You want me to...what? Let you go down on me for science?”

“Correct. In fact, I don’t believe we will need to have intercourse. Unless you want to, of course. If that’s the case I will provide adequate contraception.”

Cécile cringes a bit. He’s so..clinical about this. But...she was intrigued enough by the idea of Lloyd going down on her that she nods hesitantly.

“F-fine. But if you’re weird about it, I’m gonna make you stop, okay?”

“Yes, yes. I understand. I’ll drop by your place tonight at 8:00 sharp.”

Cécile nods again, blushing profusely and not daring to look her future bed partner in the eye. Jeez. What had she gotten herself into?

——————————————-

Later that night, Cécile was ready. She had settled on some deep purple lacy lingerie that was covered by a fluffy white robe. She was fresh out of the shower and sitting on her bed in sheer anticipation. God, why did she agree to this? Sheer curiosity about how her boss would be in bed? That’s a good explanation as anything else she could come up with.

The doorbell rings and she gets up and opens the door. Lloyd, wearing his standard uniform, strides in as if he owns the place. A simple messenger bag is slung over his shoulder, which she assumes has the box of condoms inside. Hopefully he won’t work her into such a frenzy that they’ll need them.

“So, then. Where is your bedroom?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at her current state of dress. “I see you’re ready to get started, hmm?”

A blush rises in Cécile’s cheeks as she points in the direction of the bedroom . “I-It’s that way, you jerk!” she mutters.

Lloyd grins at her embarrassment and walks toward the bedroom, setting his bag on the side of the bed. Cécile, still red-faced, walks into the room and closes the door behind her and dimming the lights to set a less clinical mood. Well. Here they were.

She hesitantly sits on the bed, patting the spot next to her. Lloyd takes the hint and sits beside her. “So, where do you want to start? Some kissing? Or do you want to just get undressed right now?”

Cécile swats his arm lightly. “Just...just shut up and kiss me.”

“Hah. As you wish.” Without hesitation, Lloyd crashes his lips onto hers, threading those delicate fingers through her drying hair.

The kiss was sweet. Sensual. Slow. Enough so that Cécile’s eyes flutter shut and she just lets him nibble on her bottom lip and surprises even herself when she allows her lips to part and the kiss deepens. Eventually, though, the absurdity of who was kissing her was too much to bear and she breaks the kiss, pushing Lloyd away, who just smirks in response.

“What’s wrong? I thought my skills were adequate, judging by your reaction.” he remarks smugly, in such a way that made Cécile want to clock that smug smirk off his stupid face.

“N-nothing’s wrong I was just...expecting something different from you.” Hesitantly, she pulls him into another kiss, which Lloyd reciprocates by pulling Cécile into his lap as she snakes her arms around his neck, slightly toying with his soft hair. This was...surprisingly intimate.

Eventually Lloyd pulls on the robe’s sash, letting the material fall open. Cécile, in turn unbuttons his lab jacket, causing both of them to break the kiss and discard both lab jacket and robe.

“I see you’re enjoying yourself, Cécile.” Lloyd murmurs in her ear before pressing kisses against the skin of her neck, causing a quiet moan to leave Cécile’s lips.

“Ooh, I like that noise. Do it again!” Lloyd comments, before heating up his kisses, adding small bites and suckling to the mix. Céline, already embarrassed that she made such a noise, bites her lip before another moan comes out. “Lloyd, shut up!” she hisses.

“Yes, yes. Just making an observation. How am I doing so far, might I ask. Pretty good judging the noises you’re making, hm?” He pulls her into another heated kiss, swiping his tongue across her bottom lip, begging for entrance. Cécile breaks the kiss to answer, “Passable.”

“Well...I suppose I need to step up my game then, hmm?” Lloyd grins, pulling her back into the kiss, deepening it immediately and sliding his tongue inside of Cécile’s mouth, causing tingles to emanate throughout her body every time his tongue collides with hers.

While they kiss, Lloyd’s hands begin to wander from her back, to the inside of her thighs, causing Cécile to gasp softly into the kiss. His hand creeps upwards and cups one of her breasts through her bra while the other hand reaches behind and...attempts to unclasp the garment, causing Cécile to break the kiss and collapse into giggles as he struggles. “D-do you need help?” she asks, biting her lip as she buries her face into his shoulder, pulling down Lloyd’s turtleneck to press teasing kisses against his neck while he struggles.

“No, no. I simply need both hands to unlock this contraption.” Lloyd mutters breathily, looking over Cécile’s shoulder to see the clasp. Finally, after a few moments of more struggling, Lloyd finally unclasps the bra with a triumphant, “HAH! Success! Now, can you get off of me and lay on the bed?”

“Only if you take off your shirt too.” Cécile fires back, tugging at his shirt.

Lloyd sighs as he complies . “Very well. I suppose that’s a fair trade.” He pulls off the shirt revealing a fairly wiry body with very little body fat or muscle, but it was still pleasing to look at.

Cécile gets off of Lloyd’s lap and slides out of her bra, carefully laying down, avoiding the Earl’s gaze as she does.

Lloyd climbs on top of Cécile, engaging her in another kiss as a hand caresses a modestly sized breast in his palm. Breaking the kiss he murmurs, “I’ve never seen one of these up close before.” Moving down to her breasts, the Earl pokes at one of them with a look of fascination on his face, making Cécile roll her eyes. This man was 30 years old, five years her senior, yet he acted like such a child sometimes. Most times. All the time.

He spent a good amount of time playing with them, poking and prodding at them, squeezing and flicking at her nipples, causing several moans to escape Cécile’s lips, against her better judgement. He had got her going and now she was definitely feeling heat between her legs as he continues to play with her breasts.

“Y-you can put your mouth on them if you want.” Cécile murmurs, gasping softly as Lloyd takes a nipple into his mouth, tracing his tongue around the nipple, causing Cécile’s eyes to flutter shut as she bites her bottom lip to hold back another moan, her legs rubbing together as her lower regions begin to throb with anticipation.

Of course Lloyd was completely oblivious to Cécile’s thighs rubbing together and he continues to play with her breasts far longer than Cécile would’ve liked but she gave the Earl some slack — he’d never played with boobs before.

Eventually, Lloyd decides it’s time to move on and he kisses his way back up to Cécile’s lips, leaning in her ear. “So...how do you want me to pleasure you?” he asks. “With my hands?” His deft fingers rub at her clothed core, causing Cécile to sigh in pleasure. “My tongue?” he nips at her earlobe, “or..” his voice lowers into a whisper. “My cock.” With that he rubs himself against Cécile’s aching core, causing her to moan louder than she expected. He was...a decent size judging by what she had felt through his pants.

“A-all three?”

“How greedy.” Lloyd murmurs softly, pulling down her panties and immediately stroking her core, which by this time was soaking wet. “I guess I did promise to go down on you for science.” he mutters. “But now I need to take care of my own arousal too. How annoying. Do I have permission to penetrate you after cunnilingus?”

Cécile’s face burns bright red as she nods quickly, too embarrassed to say anything.

“Excellent. Then let’s get this show on the road, shall we? Spread your legs for me!” Lloyd exclaims, as if he was about to test a new feature on the Lancelot.

Slowly, Cécile spreads her legs, revealing her core to the Earl of Asplund, who grins with delight as he settles between her legs. “Now, let’s see if I remember my female anatomy correctly.” he murmurs, experimentally sliding a finger inside of her, his face flashing in surprise as her insides just suck him in. “Oh my. That’s..interesting. Just sucks you right in there, huh?”

Cécile was getting impatient. Her loins were on fire and needed relief. “Just get on with it, Lloyd. Please!”

“Fine fine.” Lloyd begins to thrust that finger inside of her, once twice, three times before adding a second, and locating her clitoris, which he presses his tongue against, causing the other scientist to moan softly. “K-Keep doing that” she murmurs under her breath.

“Hmm...your taste is..hm. Interesting. It’s not bad it’s just..” another lick. “Strange. And a bit salty.”

“Stop—mm! talking!” Cécile says, her eyes feeling heavy and fluttering shut as her head tilts back against the pillows as Lloyd thrusts his deft fingers inside of her while swirling his tongue around her sensitive button. With all of this stimulation, it wasn’t surprising that her first orgasm quickly approached her and she fell over the edge with a loud gasp of pleasure, panting slightly.

Lloyd looks up from his ministrations and pouts. “Aw. Did you finish already? I was just getting started. Oh well. Guess that means it’s time for the main event, huh?”

He sits up and removes his pants, underwear and all, revealing a very hard, decent sized shaft. Unashamed of his nakedness, Lloyd hops over to the messenger bag he had brought, finding a condom wrapper and tearing it open and placing it on his shaft.

Cécile watches him while he does this, still trying to catch her breath after her orgasm. He was a virgin, so he probably wasn’t going to last very long, but given the fact that he was 30 years old and not a teenager anymore counted in his favor.

Lloyd climbs back on top of Cécile, pulling her into another passionate kiss just to get her blood boiling again, rubbing the tip of his cock against her entrance, thrusting inside of her sharply, causing both of them to gasp. Cécile tangles her legs with his as Lloyd begins to move in and out of her. Their breathing is heavy and the movements of their bodies results in the bed rocking and creaking back and forth in time with their movements.

Their coupling was surprisingly intimate as the Earl was too winded to offer much more than a few gasps and moans, making the entire ordeal much more erotic rather than the clinical nightmare Cécile was dreading. In fact..she wouldn’t mind this becoming a regular thing. The only problem was that outside of obligation, Lloyd had no interest in sex whatsoever and the obvious: he was engaged.

Cécile didn’t have feelings for Lloyd, rather she would definitely admit to having affection for the eccentric young man who just really liked building giant robots and pudding. Maybe that counted as feelings.

Lloyd’s thrusts begin to speed up and the bed creaks louder paired with the sound of their bare skin slapping together and their shared gasps and moans. He was definitely close. Cécile holds on to the Earl’s waist as they chase their orgasm together, her body arching into his as they both reach their high almost simultaneously.

As they come down from their high, Cécile pulls Lloyd into a gentle lip lock, which he reciprocated, surprisingly. It was gentle and intimate and as they pull away, they both smile, pressing their foreheads together, his glasses almost falling into her face.

As they lay there, arms wrapped around each other, Lloyd finally breaks the comfortable silence. “...So what are your thoughts? I am expecting a report after all.”

Cécile rolls her eyes and laughs. “I’ll give it to you in writing later. For now just...don’t talk. Alright?”

“Alright.”

#code geass #lloyd asplund #cécile croomy #fanfiction

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the-starless-sky · 4 years

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BAE / EmBlem!!! full ver.

EmBlem!!! Lyricist：MICRO Composer：藤本和則　 Arrangement： Kazunori Fujimoto

Listen on Spotify

BaNG AmBitious And you know what it is... Get ready for the EmBlem!!!

VVS [1] I’m the finest My rhyme & flow is the highest Welcome to my world Make your heart go shinin’ baby Just like a forbidden fruit Once you hear it, you’re instantly down with me Come here, or I’ll leave you behind If you want it, then swallow me whole

Follow me, yeah I blow your mind SUZAKU is here to change the vibe 247365 [2] Everyday one of a kind Always bringing out my 100% Becoming someone’s puppet is nonsense Love yourself more, I said Make your life go pop pop

Feeling contradiction in others’ standards Don’t get led astray, release your egoism It’s over, it’s over We’re done reading between the lines Let’s go now, let’s go now Hoist your own flag

Just the way I wanna be This one way, real me Wont ever yield my identity Be proud of yourself My ego, my ego It’s natural to live the way you like A stray child!? A stray child!? Look at my EmBlem!!!

Just be what you wanna be So get up on your feet Release the extasy Be proud of yourself My ego my ego Let’s prove it through our way of life A stray child!? A stray child!? Shout it out who you really are

Wow oh oh oh Oh oh oh Wow oh oh oh Raise Your EmBlem!!!

Wow oh oh oh Oh oh oh Wow oh oh oh BAE’s My EmBlem!!!

Way back I was the one I was the one Son of a gun who sneers with cold eyes, I was What's real!? What's freedom!? I'll prove it, my hip hop Before anyone else, bang!!! You Know I'm Vitious!!!

B -> A -> E, We meant be When 3 pieces gather, it's a masterpiece I don't need anyone's recognition All I need is a thick pride in me Raise up Jolly Roger BAE's da new hip hop star Not enough freedom, fashionista Gather around & join us

My vision rather than someone else's standard Don't get led astray, release your egoism It's alright, it's alright Dance without reading between the lines Let's go now, let's go now Hoist BAE's flag

Just the way I wanna be This one way, real me Wont ever yield my identity Be proud of yourself My ego my ego It’s natural to live the way you like A stray child!? A stray child!? Look at my EmBlem!!!

Notes

[1] VVS is apparently a grading system for diamonds. It stands for Very Very Slight, means ‘super shining’/number one best quality.

[2] 24/7, 365 days a year.

Hajun’s korean verses are, as usual, translated with the help of my amazing friends!! Thank you so much!!

As I thought, I love you Allen 💞

#bae #paradox live #song translation #translation

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rolorules · 4 years

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Tanjoubi Omedetou, Niisan!

Part I

"Evening, Commander! Better be on your guard, he's particularly moody today."

Villetta Nu, who had just exited the lift that had taken her to the secret OSI control room raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you for the warning, Victor, but I think I know how to handle him."

"Good for you, Commander. Well, good night, then."

Villetta entered the room that was filled with control panels and screens that, among other things, showed footage of the hundreds of cameras that were hidden all across the premises of Ashford Academy. The panels were manned by a single fair-haired OSI agent whose name she had yet to memorise. Unlike Victor, he looked more annoyed than upset, and the reason for that was obviously the only other occupant of the room. And Victor had been right. Rolo, who was lounging on the sofa, looked dark and brooding. A casual observer would simply have interpreted this as anger and reacted like the blonde agent, who shot Rolo a nasty glance, musing that the one thing child actors and child assassins have in common is that they start getting troublesome once they hit puberty. Villetta Nu, however, had achieved at least some basic understanding of the teenage boy's inner workings, so she guessed that something else was going on.

"Good evening, gentlemen! Anything to report?"

"Good evening, Commander! Nothing to report. We're just sitting here having a good time," the agent said sarcastically, exchanging another mean look with Rolo, who also returned Villettas greeting, gave her a brief nod and then went back to toying with the locket that was dangling from his mobile phone.

"Rolo, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, Commander. I'm just thinking about how to best fulfill my mission."

There was a stifled snort behind Villetta. She looked at the agent, then at Rolo, and said: "I'll relieve you, agent. You can call it an early night."

"Understood, Commander." The agent gave her a grateful look and hurried to the exit, trying not to let his relief show too much.

When the door had closed behind him, Villetta turned to Rolo again and said:

"Now, Rolo, will you tell me what's really going on?"

The purple-eyed boy hesitated briefly, then said: "My big brother's - I mean - Lelouch's birthday is next week, and I still have no idea what to buy for him."

Villetta smiled. "Is that all? Maybe you don't have to buy him anything. Just draw him a picture or something like that."

Rolo gave her a look that seemed to question her sanity.

"What am I? Five?"

"Then buy him a book, he seems to be very fond of reading."

"Yes, he probably knows all the classics. He is very smart and learned, especially for his age."

"Excellent."

"But I am not," Rolo sighed, "so I wouldn't know what to pick."

"Or maybe," Villetta's inner teacher said, "you could buy him a treadmill. He could really do with some exercise."

"I don't want him to hate me - yet." Rolo smiled, beside himself. "If Lelouch wanted to do sports, he would simply attend your lessons rather than skip them, don't you think?"

"Fair point." Villetta conceded, slightly annoyed. "Maybe you should ask his friends from the student council."

"I have considered that. But as his little brother, I should know him better than they, and I should not have to ask them for help. But I overheard their conversations concerning his birthday."

"And?"

"Well, Rivalz wants to invite him on a trip with his bike to Mount Fuji (which will mean more trouble for us, we'll probably have to wire the bike - or Rivalz). Of course I could borrow it from him and do the same, but that would be boring. President Milly says his birthday party in the evening will be her gift, but it's more like a gift to herself because she loves to throw parties, and Lelouch and I are celebrating his birthday in the afternoon anyway. Miss Shirley says she won't give him anything because it would be embarrassing. Plus, she wouldn't want her gift to be drowned in the sea of presents Lelouch is going to be showered with by all the other girls on campus."

"She, too, has a point." Villetta nodded knowingly. "Maybe you should not think too much about it and just buy some off-the-mill gift."

That suggestion made Rolo look exceedingly unhappy.

"Now what's the matter?" asked the P.E. teacher/soldier/secret agent, who felt increasingly like an agony aunt.

Rolo hesitated briefly, then asked: "Did you ever feel obliged to someone who is technically your enemy?"

He could have sworn that the commander was blushing, but dismissed the thought as ridiculous.

"Why - where does that even come from, Rolo?"

"Well, my big brother, I mean Lelouch, he gave me a present for my birthday. It was not actually my birthday, of course, but his sister's. But anyway, it probably was pretty pricey and I'm sure he put a lot of thought into it. So I feel that I should give it my all and find a great present for him, too. Is that wrong?"

Villetta Nu looked at Rolo's mobile phone and the heart-shaped locket that had been dangling from it for about a month and which the boy assassin would hardly ever let go. Realisation dawned on her, and her heart once again broke a little for the boy with the sad purple eyes.

"I don't think you're in the wrong here, Rolo. On the contrary, one good turn deserves another, as they say," she replied, trying not to think of a certain member of the Black Knights, "and it also benefits our mission if you take your role seriously, just don't forget that you are not really Lelouch Lamperouge's little brother, but an agent of the OSI."

"I will not, Commander!" Rolo replied.

"Good. I think you should go now. Lelouch is probably already waiting for you."

"You're probably right, Commander. Thank you. Maybe I have another idea whom to ask, but that can wait till tomorrow. Good night."

"One more thing, Rolo," Villetta said as he was about to leave the control room. She hesitated to break it to the boy, but went on: "You realise that Lelouch probably had his sister Nunnally in mind when he bought that gift, don't you? So don't let it affect you too much."

"I do and I won't commander." he said.

Too late. he thought.

While the elevator was taking Rolo to the ground floor, he was trying to sort his feelings.

His sister Nunnally. Did she even have a cellphone?

Part II

"Your name is Rolo, right? It's been a while."

"It has indeed, Lord Kururugi."

"No need to be so formal. How's the Vincent doing?"

"He's a great piece of machinery. I am eager to try him in actual combat."

"Don't be," Suzaku said, smiling at the fact that Rolo referred to the KnightMare Frame as "he". "How can I help you?"

"Well, allow me to put it bluntly, My Lord, given the fact that you and Lelouch used to be childhood friends, I was hoping that you could help me find a suitable birthday gift for him."

That request caught the Knight of Seven off guard, so his immediate response was: "Oh right, December's not far away." Pushing aside his mixed emotions, Suzaku went on: "I'm not sure if I can help you. I used to pray at our shrine for him on his birthday. Apart from that, I mostly gave him something that I had made myself. like a nice calligraphy of his name, or a wooden katana sword that I had carved myself."

"That's amazing, Lord Kururugi."

"I know right?!. I had made one for myself too and wanted to have a duel with him, but he did not like that."

"Of course not, it involved physical activity." Rolo remarked drily.

"True." Suzaku grinned. "That hasn't changed, apparently. His sister Nunnally would knit dolls for him that looked like the three of us."

There she is again. How did she even do that?

"But what he liked best, I think," Suzaku went on "was a Shôgi set that I had made from cardboard and plywood, but he had to leave it behind when we escaped from home during the war."

"That's something like Japanese chess, right?" Rolo said. "I'm not surprised. That sounds like a game Big- Lelouch can actually win. And he certainly likes to win."

"You seem to have gained a pretty good understanding of Lelouch's personality," Suzaku replied, "but it's not just the winning that Lelouch likes. He likes to win knowing that he has outsmarted the enemy. That's his way of ascertaining superiority."

"You're right. I have often seen this when - "

"Rolo, you're okay?"

"Yes, more than okay. Thank you, Lord Kururugi. You have been a great help."

"I have?! That's good to hear. Then please keep me updated on the situation in Ashford."

"Yes, My Lord."

"Like I said, no need to be that formal, once I return to the academy, you will have to call me Suzaku anyway."

"Yes, My Lord."

"Goodbye, Rolo."

"Goodbye, Lord Kururugi!" Rolo said, suppressing the urge to bark "ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

Part III

The door of the Lamperouge Brothers' apartment opened and in came a bunch of plastic bags filled with teddy bears, gift-wrapped parcels, sweets and colourful birthday cards, followed by Lelouch Lamperouge, who was trying hard not to drop them. "I told them not to," he exclaimed, "I told them last year they shouldn't have, but they never listen."

"This is Valentine's Day all over again," a panting Rolo said while entering after his "brother". He was carrying a huge cardboard box filled with similar items. "Where do you want me to put the presents, Big Brother? Do you want to open them right away?"

No, please put them in my room, Rolo. I want to celebrate with my little brother first. We can open the gifts later."

"We?"

"I hope you'll help me." Lelouch grinned. "This is too much for a single person."

"Fine, Big Brother." Rolo said when he put down the box on Lelouch's sofa. "But please let there be no panties this time."

"I don't mind the panties," Lelouch's grin widened to that peculiar Lamperouge smirk, "as long as they are for boys. We have to live on a tight budget after all."

Rolo, who did not want to hear about tight budgets or tight panties, said "Let's celebrate. You get the tea, I get the cake."

So the cake was brought forth. It was a collaborative work of the Lamperouge Brothers. Lelouch had taken care of the dough, Rolo had done the icing. The cake had the obligatory 17 candles, and inside the circle that they formed, there was something like a smiley with light-purple eyes and light-brown hair featuring two cowlicks. Above the emoji there was a huge speech bubble, saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIG BROTHER!" Which, incidentally, was exactly what Rolo said at that point.

Lelouch laughed in delight (and amusement because of Smiley Rolo, given that the original was not really much of a smiler, except now). "Thank you so much Rolo, you could not have made me happier."

"I hope I can, Big Brother, I still have a present for you when we've finished our tea."

So fifteen minutes later Lelouch was fiddling with the ribbons around a parcel that a nice lady from a shop at the Omatosando Mall had dilligently wrapped in expensive-looking paper. After Lelouch had removed the wrapping, he held something like a small, slim suitcase in his hands. He gave a quizzing look to Rolo, who was eyeing him nervously.

"Just open it."

"It's a chessboard!" Lelouch said enthusiastically, examining the foldable board and the figures. "These are great, theý look refined and modern at the same time. I particularly like the king. This is just perfect. Again, thank you, Little Brother. That must have cost a fortune! How long did you have to save your allowance for that?"

"You're welcome, Big Brother. It really wasn't that much of a deal." Rolo (whose "allowance" came in the form of a credit card with no limit, courtesy of the OSI) said and grinned smugly.

"I challenge you to be my first opponent, Rolo! The clash of the Lamperouge Brothers. A duel for the ages. But beware, I'll show no mercy!"

“I wouldn't have it any other way," Rolo replied. "I accept your challenge."

That was of course not totally true, Rolo mused, while Lelouch was arranging the pieces on the board. Before he had come to Ashford, he had known next to nothing about chess, how to move the pieces on the board at best, but his brother had taught him a lot about the game, and he had also read a few books about it, even joined the Ashford chess club for a while, so that he would at least have a fighting chance against Lelouch. Still, he was no match for him, but Lelouch would at least go easy on him for the first ten minutes or so, firstly, because he did not want to frustrate his little brother too much, secondly, because it allowed him to enjoy the prospect of victory a bit longer (Rolo always thought that this was how a cat felt when it had caught a mouse and played a little before the kill).

What Lelouch did not know was that his gift had a second part in the form of a tiny chess computer that Rolo had also bought. This model had allegedly defeated a chess world champion and allowed you to enter a start setting and go from there. Rolo's plan was to use his time-stopping Geass, should the need arise. He did not want to cheat to win though, only to provide his brother with a bit more of a challenge. The victory, after all, was part of the gift.

"Ready, Rolo?"

"Yes, Big Brother!"

"Happy Birthday!" Rolo said softly one more time, rather pleased with himself and the world.

#rolo lamperouge #lelouch lamperouge #suzaku kururugi #villetta nu #code geass #birthday #fanfiction

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somegirlsnerdywords2 · 4 years

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Anime i’ve Watched

That begin with a Y!

Yep this is how i’m going to bring over all the anime and manga i’ve watched and posted about on the old blog. It’s not so detailed but it will have to do. Anything new I watch or read from this point on will have their own posts.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU):

Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama, Romance, School

Synopsis: Hachiman Hikigaya is an apathetic high school student with narcissistic and semi-nihilistic tendencies. He firmly believes that joyful youth is nothing but a farce, and everyone who says otherwise is just lying to themselves. In a novel punishment for writing an essay mocking modern social relationships, Hachiman's teacher forces him to join the Volunteer Service Club, a club that aims to extend a helping hand to any student who seeks their support in achieving their goals. With the only other club member being the beautiful ice queen Yukino Yukinoshita, Hachiman finds himself on the front line of other people's problems—a place he never dreamed he would be. As Hachiman and Yukino use their wits to solve many students' problems, will Hachiman's rotten view of society prove to be a hindrance or a tool he can use to his advantage? [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2013 with a total of 13 episodes.

My Thoughts: Apparently I really enjoyed this series when I originally watched it. That being said, I recently tried to start the third season and called it quits about half an episode in because it just wasn’t doing anything for me and I found Hachiman questionable. I have no idea what you should take from this comment.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO!):

Genres: Romance, Comedy, Drama, Slice of life, school

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku picks up immediately after the events of the first season, continuing the adventures of the Volunteer Service Club—the dispassionate Hachiman Hikigaya, the cheerful Yui Yuigahama, and the competitive Yukino Yukinoshita—as it dedicates itself to helping any student with issues that they may face. With the rift among his own group widening, Hachiman begins to realize that his knack for quickly getting to the root of other people's troubles is a double-edged sword: sometimes the best solution is not necessarily the most appropriate one. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 8/10

Finished airing in 2015 with a total of 13 episodes.

My Thoughts: Same as above.

Yakusoku no Neverland (The Promised Neverland)

Genres: Sci-fi, Mystery, Horror, Psychological, Thriller, Shounen

Synopsis: Surrounded by a forest and a gated entrance, the Grace Field House is inhabited by orphans happily living together as one big family, looked after by their "Mama," Isabella. Although they are required to take tests daily, the children are free to spend their time as they see fit, usually playing outside, as long as they do not venture too far from the orphanage—a rule they are expected to follow no matter what. However, all good times must come to an end, as every few months, a child is adopted and sent to live with their new family... never to be heard from again. However, the three oldest siblings have their suspicions about what is actually happening at the orphanage, and they are about to discover the cruel fate that awaits the children living at Grace Field, including the twisted nature of their beloved Mama. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 8.5/10

Finished airing in 2019 with a total of 12 episodes.

My Thoughts: An intriguing premise with interesting characters and nice art. Plus I just love when things suddenly take a disturbing turn... as long as it’s done well and not just played for straight up shock value. Looking forward to the next season.

Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo (Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches):

Genres: Harem, Mystery, Comedy, Supernatural, Romance, School, Shounen

Synopsis: When Ryuu Yamada entered high school, he wanted to turn over a new leaf and lead a productive school life. That's why he chose to attend Suzaku High, where no one would know of his violent delinquent reputation. However, much to Ryuu's dismay, he is soon bored; now a second year, Ryuu has reverted to his old ways—lazy with abysmal grades and always getting into fights. One day, back from yet another office visit, Ryuu encounters Urara Shiraishi, a beautiful honors student. A misstep causes them both to tumble down the stairs, ending in an accidental kiss! The pair discover they can switch bodies with a kiss: an ability which will prove to be both convenient and troublesome. Learning of their new power, Toranosuke Miyamura, a student council officer and the single member of the Supernatural Studies Club, recruits them for the club. Soon joined by Miyabi Itou, an eccentric interested in all things supernatural, the group unearths the legend of the Seven Witches of Suzaku High, seven female students who have obtained different powers activated by a kiss. The Supernatural Studies Club embarks on its first quest: to find the identities of all the witches.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 7/10

Finished airing in 2015 with a total of 12 episodes.

My Thoughts: Pretty girls everywhere and a few pretty guys. Loved the opening and the dreamy sort of art. The art throughout wasn’t bad either. Wasn’t overly impressed with the anime itself but certainly didn’t hate it. Also has an OVA for those interested.

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge:

Genres: Comedy, Shoujo

Synopsis: Ever since her crush rejected her by insulting her appearance, Sunako Nakahara has been a shut-in with a hatred for beauty, embracing all things morbid and occult-related. She is sent to live in her aunt's mansion which, to her dismay, she'll share with four exceedingly handsome boys her age. Furthermore, her flighty aunt has made a deal with these boys that in exchange for living there rent-free, they are to turn Sunako into a proper lady by the time she returns from a trip around the world. Thus begins Sunako's hectic life with abrasive Kyohei Takano, ladies' man Ranmaru Morii, calm Takenaga Oda, and friendly Yukinojo Toyama. As she interacts with them she finds them less obnoxious, and she may not be as much of an outcast as she thought. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 10/10

Finished airing in 2007 with a total of 25 episodes.

My Thoughts: One of the very first animes I watched and I absolutely loved it. The style, the atmosphere, the comedy, the characters, all of it!

Yuri!!! On Ice:

Genres: Comedy, Sports

Synopsis: Reeling from his crushing defeat at the Grand Prix Finale, Yuuri Katsuki, once Japan's most promising figure skater, returns to his family home to assess his options for the future. At age 23, Yuuri's window for success in skating is closing rapidly, and his love of pork cutlets and aptitude for gaining weight are not helping either. However, Yuuri finds himself in the spotlight when a video of him performing a routine previously executed by five-time world champion, Victor Nikiforov, suddenly goes viral. In fact, Victor himself abruptly appears at Yuuri's house and offers to be his mentor. As one of his biggest fans, Yuuri eagerly accepts, kicking off his journey to make it back onto the world stage. But the competition is fierce, as the rising star from Russia, Yuri Plisetsky, is relentlessly determined to defeat Yuuri and win back Victor's tutelage.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2016 with a total of 12 episodes.

My Thoughts: The series that spawned a million pieces of fan art, fiction and merchandise. The figure skating anime.... who hasn’t heard of this one. Pretty enjoyable series in my opinion with an excellent opening and lovable characters. Too short though.

#my teen romantic comedy snafu #anime #the promised neverland #yamada-kun to 7-nin no majo #yamada-kun and the seven witches #yamato nadeshiko shichi henge #Yuri!!! on ice

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mass-effect-tales · 4 years

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403 Forbidden

Yeah hey hi I'm alive and back with a new fic. I really have no excuse for disappearing so I hope you enjoy this fic as an apology!

Chapter 1: Zero

When most people in the Citadel think of c-sec the image that comes to mind is uniformed turians patrolling with the rare human within the ranks. Marie Hitomi does not fit the image of a c-sec officer.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to put your hands behind your back and step into the car." Marie said as she took out her handcuffs to arrest the inebriated krogan in front of her. To the krogan Marie looked like a child with her four foot five frame against his seven foot build. Unable to stop himself the krogan laughed, leaning against the c-sec vehicle to keep from falling over.

"I didn't know it was take your kid to work day! Where's your daddy little girl? Didn't he tell you not to talk to strangers." The krogan laughed harder as Marie's face turned a deep shade of red. The krogan's laughter turned to spluttering as her partner and mentor Garrus Vakarian turned the krogan around and began to cuff him.

"Sir I'm going to ask you not to mock my partner while you're in the middle of being charged for public intoxication." Garrus said as he eased the krogan into the back of the car. Marie was already walking over to the passenger side and climbing in. She wished her hair was longer so she could hide her embarrassed face.

"You did good today, two traffic stops and a public intoxication, I'd say that's a productive day." Garrus praised, giving her shoulder a pat. He meant every word; it had been 5 months since Marie graduated top of her class in c-sec academy and Garrus became her mentor. While most of the others in the force either ignored her or bet she'd quit before the year was over, Garrus and Chellick did all they could to make her feel welcome at the c-sec office.

"Garrus, this is the eighth time that I've been mocked on duty. No matter what I do, the only ones that seem to take me seriously are the volus and that's only because I'm taller than them!" Marie huffed, looking out the window as Garrus drove to the station. No matter what she tried it seemed no one would take her seriously except Garrus and Chellick. When they arrived at the station she helped Garrus drag the now passed out krogan into the drunk tank before returning to their shared office. Both were surprised to see Chellick waiting for them with a pair of files in his hand.

"Perfect timing you two; I have a case from executor Palin and I want you both on the team." Chellick passed Garrus and Marie each a file with a list of companies and dates.

"Someone has been hacking into these companies. So far nothing seems to have been changed but since the first report more companies have found backdoor programs in their systems and we're being pressured to find the culprit before they decide to take action."

Marie felt like she was going to burst with excitement. Finally a way to prove herself! If she could help solve this case then people would have to take her seriously!

"Do we have any leads? Did the cybercrime division find anything?" Marie questioned as she looked up at Chellick. This was her first real case and she was going to do everything she could to show she could handle it. She didn't like the way Chellick's mandibles fluttered as he looked away.

"Unfortunately the cybercrime division couldn't find even a trace of the hacker. The backdoor program seems to be made completely from scratch and doesn't match any known hackers we've arrested before."

Garrus leaned against his desk as he pondered the best course of action. While he was good with tech, hacking wasn't one of his strong suits. He knew Marie only knew how to override door locks and Chellick had zero experience in either case. If they were going to solve this, they were going to need a professional on the team.

"If that's the case then we should hire one of these hackers. The best way to catch a hacker is with another hacker." Garrus suggested, moving to sit down and turn on his computer. "Remember the case with the information leak at Rosenkov Materials? We hired that quarian who figured out it was a Rosenkov employee leaking the info."

Chellick nodded, remembering the case well. It was a sound idea, something that he was thinking of himself as he waited for Garrus and Marie returned.

"The only question is who would want to work with c-sec? Most of the known hackers have been arrested by us at least once."

"I might have an idea." Marie piped up making Chellick and Garrus look over at her. What if we hire one that hasn't been caught by c-sec?"

Both Garrus and Chellick's browplates rose in confusion. It wasn't a bad idea per se, they just didn't know where to look for a hacker that hasn't been caught. Marie grinned and grabbed her jacket as she headed out the door.

"I'll be back, just going to take a trip to see Barla Von."

--------------------------

Noxis was jolted awake at the sound of a gunfight outside his apartment. Taking a peek outside he could see a couple of blood pack members were in a shootout with some blue suns that wandered too close to their turf. With a groan Noxis tried to drown out the sound of gunfire by playing some music from his omni-tool as he dressed for the day. Turning on his computer a notification popped up with a message from one of his contacts. He read the message as he microwaved leftovers from yesterday's takeout.

Got a message from B, says he has a potential client for you. Names Marie Hitomi and B said she seems desperate to find a hacker.

Here's the catch, B mentioned she said she's with c-sec at the Citadel.

Let me know if you take the job, I would love to hear why c-sec is desperate for a hacker.

- V

Noxis raised a browplate as he finished reading the message. Taking a bite out of his still slightly cold noodles he began an extensive search on Marie Hitomi to see who he was dealing with.

--------------------------

Marie could feel herself falling asleep at her computer as she finished filing another report. She was left behind at the station while Garrus and Chellick left to collect the hard drives from the first reported incident. Suddenly a chat box opened in the middle of her screen. Confused Marie tried to close out the window only to see that there was no close button. A message suddenly appeared in the chat with the name Zero as the sender.

Zero: I hear you're looking for a hacker

Marie didn't know how to react. Was this the hacker Barla Von mentioned he was going to get her in contact with yesterday or was this their culprit messing with her?

Zero: our mutual acquaintance mentioned you to me

Well that at least reassured her that this was the hacker Barla Von mentioned. After a pause she sent a reply.

MH: Yes, I'm looking for a hacker to assist with a case. You of course will be compensated for your work assisting c-sec.

Zero: meet me at Purgatory, we can discuss payment there

Before she could reply the chat box closed and she was left staring at the report she was reviewing. Quickly sending a message to Garrus she grabbed her jacket and quickly rushed out of the station. Since she wasn't cleared to drive a squad car on her own yet she would have to reach Purgatory on foot.

It only took ten minutes for Marie to reach Purgatory and a minute inside the club to realize she didn't know what this Zero person looked like. Even at 2 in the afternoon the club was bustling with people dancing and drinking. She was going to sit at the bar and hope Zero sees her when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Follow me." A distinctly turian voice said to her as she was led to a booth nearby. Sitting down Marie was surprised to see a barefaced turian sit down across from her. In the dim lighting his carapace looked almost black but Marie could see by the table light that it was really a dark grey. The white sleeveless hoodie he wore stood out against the dark plates of his bare arms.

"So princess, care to explain why you need a hacker instead of talking to your buddies in cybercrime?" He asked, opening his omni-tool to reread some data he found on her. Marie bristled at the nickname. She had been called multiple nicknames in just the few months she had been on the force but nothing made her react in the way his nickname did.

"The name is officer Hitomi and I would appreciate you using it." She said, hands balling into fists under the table. She could see Zero give her what she guessed was a turian version of a smirk as he pulled up a photo on his omni-tool. To her horror she could see it was a photo of her when she was fifteen and her mother tried to get her into the beauty pageant lifestyle.

"Really? Because I think princess suits you just fine." He chuckled, minimizing the photo and pulling up another window; this one with a photo of her and her parents and older brother.

"Marie Hitomi, second born to Robert and Sayumi Hitomi. Your family runs Suzaku Industry and Hitomi Technical University right? Daughter of a businessman and a university Dean on Earth and yet you're working as a cop on the Citadel. What's wrong? Don't want to go into the family business so you're rebelling against mom and dad?"

Marie didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right and remained silent. Zero chuckled again as he sent an invoice to her omni-tool. A glance at her showed he was asking for 100,000 credits.

"If you want a professional hacker then you're going to be charged a professional hackers fee. I don't come cheap but I'm good at what I do. If you can't handle it then I'd suggest finding someone else." Zero smirked, leaning back and relaxing into the booth. If c-sec was really desperate for a hacker then he was going to get as much credits as he could from them.

"Of course I'll wait here if you have to go and ask your superiors for the money. I'm sure they have some tax dollars lying around somewhere."

"Done."

He was surprised when his omni-tool dinged with a credit transfer confirmation. Looking at the confirmation message he wasn't expecting to see the money came from her personal account. He looked back at Marie who looked proud of herself. Maybe his silent hunch that she was a trust fund brat playing cop wasn't too far off.

"Well with that settled, I think I deserve to know your name since we'll be working together and all." Marie said as she stood up and held a hand out to him. Even in the dim light he could see the fingernail indents in her palms as he took her hand and gave her a lazy handshake.

"The names Noxis Venictus, can't say I'm pleased to be working with you just yet Princess."

#mass effect #mass effect fic

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rose-mori · 5 years

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Hello!

I used to write a lot of x reader fan fictions but I stopped coming up with ideas and I stopped writing cause I couldn’t think of anything to write about. Now here I am knowing characters I want to write for but still having no ideas to write about them so this is my attempt to get back into writing hoping that people will have ideas they would like me to flesh out for them! I will be multi-fandom because from previous experience I find writing for just one thing is pretty draining (plus the fandoms I wanna write for seem to have very few fics I need to change that for all of them 😤). Here’s hoping this time will be better than the last few!

List of properties and the characters in them I can write for:

Fire Emblem Three Houses (All of Golden Deer House + Sylvain, Dorothea, Annette, and Ingrid are the characters I’m most familiar with but I can attempt the others. I’ll update this when I get a feel for other characters when I do the rest of the routes)

Persona 3,4, and 5 (any of the story focused characters, includes party members such as but not limited to; protagonists, Yosuke, Ann, Mitsuru, Ryuji and so on, also includes characters that play an impact on the main story such as but not limited to; Adachi, Dojima, Akechi and so forth, the only game I will do other s-link characters for is P5, the only spin off character I will write for is Kanami Mashita, under no circumstance will I write for Nanako, Ken, or any other child character and will only write them as a side character in any fic... basically I’ll only do things like Yu x reader where reader helps nanako with homework and it makes Yu feel warm and fluffy or something lol)

The Wolf Among Us (Bigby)

Devil May Cry (Dante, Nero, and Nico)

Code Geass (Lelouch, Suzaku, and Kallen)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Arthur)

Space Dandy (Dandy)

I can’t really think of anything else for right now but I’ll probably make more posts of things that I end up liking I’m sure, you can also ask me if I’m familiar with a fandom not listed and see what happens! I play a lot of games so most video game characters are a safe bet to ask about.

Rules and other things to know:

I only do character x reader’s

I’ll only write the reader as either female or gender neutral I hope that is ok!

I’ll write fics/one shots and headcanons, please let me know which format you want your request to be!

Please be as specific as you possibly can when you request as I said before I’m not very good at creating ideas for the general ‘plot’ but if I have an idea in mind I can write quite a bit so please do tell me as much as you can about what you want me to write about! The more details to the request the better the outcome!

I do have to go to my job so please be patient, however you’re always welcome to follow up with me and ask how long it may take for your request and see how far along I am to completing it

Criticism and suggestions are welcome! They will help me become a better writer!

I’ve never written nsfw but I can definitely try

If I happen to be uncomfortable with a request I will let the requester know via private message if it wasn’t anonymous

I may do commissions in the future when I feel more confident in my writing ability, commissioned fics would be longer and perhaps even fully personalized for the person commissioning, we’ll see!

Thank you so much for reading all the way through. Please consider requesting or enquiring about a character or fandom not listed. I see fics as a little escape from problems or just everyday life in general and I want to be able to sprinkle a little bit of joy in someone’s day or week!

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hereliesbitches--me · 4 years

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@draconicmatriarch asked: "Rosie." She stalled, letting Suzaku sleep on her folded legs. "Am I a bad person for loving someone despite knowing that they still do terrible things?" She didn't have the strength to say his name, but everyone knew. "I could spare so many people suffering if I could kill but one man. That's what a queen should do, right? Destroy one for the sake of many. B-But I can't," she sobbed. "I can't kill him. As soon as I raise my fist, I see a scared child that was once him."

-------------------

What is it that makes a person fall in love? Who ever had the answer to why the heart one day begins to thump a little faster when you see a particular person? Why one day a simple friendship is suddenly forever altered by a change of feelings from the blue? Who is to blame for the strands a desperate soul throws to the winds in hopes it catches its match?

Can you change what fate decides? or does it all dwindle down to the simplistic needs of basic animal biology to have companionship?

Rosie has been in love before. She tasted its bliss and basked in the euphoric highs that would have been the closest to heaven a person like her could have ever been. Rosie knew love so intimately, held onto it with such desperation, she believed not a damn thing in the world could ever hurt her again. But that was one of life’s greatest lessons; For to love was to fall into its deceptive arms of comfort, knowing well there lay a sword to fall on should you lay down your heart in callus hands. Love held the power to heal you, to build you, and break you down all in the same breath. And now she stood the result of its breaks, a shambled, pessimistic deity trapped within a human skin. A broken doll. Giving advice to a mother with a heart that still dares to love. A bastard chicken , of all things to have tied herself to. Its been a long but pleasant day for them, spent catching up and tiring out the little halfling tyke on their little adventure through Kia’s lands. Rosie appreciates her company, she loved Suzaku, but good things had a tendency to vanish quickly in the Moon’s life -- this moment was no different. She knew that question was coming from a mile away, a thought that ate at Kia throughout the day as they walked and talked, nagging at the back of her mind. Her shifting, her wandering eyes, the way her fine lips opened and closed with practiced words never spoken, did not go unnoticed. Now at last they spill out with all its hesitance, with the practiced pacing of a politician, carefully asked in the sanctuary of two friends that shared almost everything. For some odd reason, Rosie finds herself winded by the question.

She must bite her tongue before her cynicism comes pouring out. In fact, it takes everything in her power not to twist her face and scowl in disgust at the outrageous question that should have had an obvious answer for anyone listening ; The reality of this was far more complex than a simple yes or no answer, so she settles for balling her fist til her knuckles turn white and holds in those words with her stolen hair she managed to retain in. Kia is delicate, she knows, as any woman would be when the heart full of misplaced love is raw from its emotional misuse. If it had been anyone else, Rosie would have bitten down with cruelty of the harshest truths, to call her a fool and roll her eyes at the notion of sympathy for a bastard king of pea brained birds just because he was left twisted by childhood. But this Rosie knows love, and how blinding and controlling love can be when it has latched its silken strand and binds itself to another. Now there came a child born from it, and the dragon is the bird in the cage, pinning after a man who will never appreciate her the way she deserved to be. All these words jumbled in her mind makes it difficult for the cat to filter through and pick just the right ones that can be strong together well enough to cushion the crushing blow Kia needs to hear. She’s torn with the bias of bitter resentment, and the instinct to be a comforting friend. For a while, Rosie can’t bring herself to look at the Queen. Because if she looks, everything she thinks may be conveyed too well through her eyes that Kia will shatter. She fixes her gaze instead to the colorful sky, a mural of pinks and oranges as the sun begins settling along the horizon, shades that could smooth her temper and malice. Softening her worn edges well enough, the angel sucks in a breath into her desperate lungs, flaring her nostrils in subtle irritation, before letting it slip away with the breeze and her negativity.

A Moon’s purpose is to bring and keep balance. Balance it.

“ It isnt exactly so clean cut as a yes or no answer, despite what the people around here whisper to each other…” She starts. Yes, the sonar ears on her head can hear a whole lot when people have no idea just what cat ears can pick up. The mentioned featured twitched and folded back slightly , her tail swaying with emotion she would not convey in words. She sniffs and turns slightly, enough to reach her hand out and stroke through Suzaku’s blonde tufts, stare shifting to study the sleeping boy intently, “ As Queen, you’re tied to your duty to your people . But being a Queen doesn't mean you’re not a living being with feelings. Its the human part-” She stumbles slightly, “ Eh, its the person you are that helps you empathize with your subjects and the people around you. It shouldn’t come as a shock that the empathy can be spread further to the companions you work with, especially when politics are thrown into the mix.” Adding politics and love certainly made for a slippery slope that don't make the conversation any easier. In the midst of her reply, Kia’s crackling voice as she heaved a sob tore Rosie’s focus upward to her dear friend just as the tears pooled and spilled over her round cheeks. An unsightly appearance, red faced and blubbering, for a queen.. A sight that seers through Rosie’s skin and makes her wince, in both a flush of bubbling wrath and the cold chill of empathy that washes over those flames. How could anyone ever expect a woman to kill the father of her child? No matter the nature of it, no matter how the celestial herself felt, Rosie cant blame Kia for her nature of seeing the good in people. There had been something between her and Shahin that passes as a secret only lovers will ever know and understand, no matter how much the bastard pretends that there is nothing. Fighting her trembling anger, Rosie transforms and redirects it to shuffle herself higher on the grassy hillside to pull Kia within her arms. Careful not to disturb the sleeping youth, Rosie’s brows knit together and crease her forehead in rippling waves of worry as she cradled the Queen. Stroking through the silken raven hair, she pressed her cheek upon the crown and purred soothingly,

“ Kia, I understand you. Trust me, I do. I know what love can do, what it makes you think and feel.. But it can’t be used as an excuse for him.” She whispers, gentle yet stern, her eyes falling closed, “ Even still, I nor anybody can force you to act against your heart… So, if you really believe there is something in him that can be saved or reasoned with,” Her scarred palm bearing the cross rose to wipe the tears away from Kia’s cheeks, relinquishing her venom to a kinder alternative for the Queen’s sake, “ Then I’ll help you. I can try to change his ways with some convincing, a little at a time. But , if all else fails..”

Rosie sits up straighter, wills herself to meet the crimson gaze of the Dragon with solemnity as she held her by the shoulder,

“ I won’t ask you to kill him.

But I will do what I must,

if I feel its for the safety of you and Suzaku. And Your kingdom.”

#draconicmatriarch #:V: Chronostory:#ayyy another one a year later ive been sitting on

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ailleahariko · 4 years

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'Iimbravam Selinōtan (New Multiverse Naga OC)

Hello dearies,

It’s me again. I know that I was working on my first Creepypasta/Death Note crossover drawing on my touchscreen desktop. But I’m afraid that I would have to postpone it for now until I get the money to have it fixed. As you can tell I’m already practicing how to draw on a laptop (mom lent me her old one to borrow until then). So drawing might end up being finished much slower than ever now. I’m also am taking a break from Kabus’ design, since I’m trying to figure out how to fix their curly ponytail and to figure out what they’re going to wear. So my little dream demon oc Kabus and his twin brother dream angel Almajara’s design can wait for now. I’ve been working on a new MLP OC and have recently made a side ask blog for him as of yesterday. So I’ll be working on their design. Of course I’ll be crediting the base maker for the pose/drawing style of the pony. As for the a few changes to it, credit goes to me (part of the mane, hooves slightly, antlers, and tail wig). But the rest of the credit for the linework of the base belongs to them. The watermark would stay put once finished with them.

So...I’ve created a new multiverse monster boi oc. This pretty boy’s name will be one hell of a tongue twister and mouthful to pronounce and spell out alone. I’ve smashed certain words from certain languages to create his name. So as you can tell, he’s a naga (half human, half snake), but will also be a hybrid at the same time. He’ll be featured in the Code Geass fandom for a bit until I decide to through him into another fandom and go back and forth with his gorgeous snaky ~ass~. I’m sure y’all would love him as much as I do when creating him! I’ll post WIP updates of him as I go. I wouldn’t mind taking questions for him at all. No need to be frightened of him once he’s been finished. Hell I might even possibly shove him into The Arcana fandom as well, if I feel like it! Love that game! Even though...I’m still in the prologue...might have to ask ma if I’m allowed to download an app to play the game on and might have to start ALL OVER again with the prologue...but as my naga boi....

But yeah I’ve already got an idea on what to do with his snaky ~ass~! Mwahahahaha! Nothing and nobody can stop me now with this new handsome child of mine!!! I’ll start doodling him as I work on my newest MLP OC, whenever I wake up. I’m thinking of shipping him with Suzaku and Lelouch....maybe Shirley? or not? Since I’m very picky with pairings/shippings. Huge fan of SuzaLulu, Lulu x oc, and Suzaku x oc going on. Maybe might have him date other people from my other favorite fandoms, like Kiddo (Death The Kid) from Soul Eater, or Light from Death Note, of Kagefusa from Manyuu Hiken-chou (not for minors!!! Love this *cough*ecchi*cough*anime*cough*), etc. I’ll figure out what to do with ‘Iimbravam’s design in my dream(s). So yeah, he’ll be a very awesome character to create! The name sounds soooooo awesome and romantic at the same time, to the point that it clicks!!! Can’t wait to doodle my naga boi and work on some fanfics on my Ao3 account! I’ll be making a Ao3 side blog real soon (or whenever I wake up!) and will accept fanart of him! I know that I’ve got Siritun and Lelouch Phantomwing and a few other noodle bois to draw and finish up on design wise or art wise in case I already drew and finished their design.

I’m trying my best here to make a new drawing style to improve my skills. So doing that on a laptop is going to be very tricky and such. If there’re any artists who are willing enough to help me out, please send me some tips on how to shade my art better! I’m still a beginner at shading, since I’ve never shaded anything in the long run! Would be fantastic if I got some tips on how lighting works and such! I also don’t mind becoming friends in the end after all!! I just want to improve my skills as an artist, so I don’t look gross to the world when it comes to self-taught stuff....So anyways, if you have some artful and useful tips where to the point of it not being hard to understand (learning disabilities over here!), then that’ll be super! Also no fancy dancy words either...if it’s a word I’ve never heard of...please be kind enough to explain the definition. Cuz Google has more than one definition to a single bloody word and it’s hard enough to figure out which one you’re using in a single sentence...and if anyone has any writing tips for me, please tell me (so I can become a better author)!

Love,

Áilleahariko

#my art journal #journal #new oc idea #naga boyfriend #naga #snake boi #slower art #apologies #new ask blog #new side blog

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sweet-evie · 4 years

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Also how are your sims (leloucn sueaku, cc and euphy?) now? =) I love when you speak about them. (I have never played to the sims because my pc wasn't enough powerful buuuut I heard that you can do a lot of strange thing, like putting a man pregnant XD I wonder if some things can happen while you don't look? Just curiosity about this game, because I can just watch people play so...)

Ooooh! 😁 Thank you :3

When you get a PC one day that’s powerful enough to run the game, play it! 😁 Because you totally won’t regret it 😉 Yes, you can do loads of strange things like Mpreg XD It’s every Yaoi fan’s dream :3

Side note: One time, when I was playing on a saved game that was themed ‘Vampires,’ vampire Lelouch was abducted by aliens and got pregnant, and he gave birth to vampire-alien twins. And ALL of that happened while he was married to C.C... I’m sad I didn’t get to take a screenshot of it because it was so sudden and unwanted for me. [I’ll screenshot their family tree when I play the game tonight]

But damn, were those alien babies unwanted. The game randomly named them Kylie and Kelly. XD It ruined the gameplay story I had going on, so I had to sadly return the alien babies to their home world. Because Lelouch ain’t no paying child support when he’s been raped and probed by aliens! (Never mind how rich he is as a writer).

Yes, that’s his and C.C.’s vampire life 😆 Also, the house I got for them was from the EA gallery. I think it’s called Corvinus Harrenhaus or something :3 I didn’t build this one, because I was too lazy...

Anyway... My current Sims game save file with a lot of Code Geass characters is pretty active. 😄 And sometimes pisses me off because I’ve made them all autonomous and I regret my choices because they never follow what I want them to do anymore 😅

But ohmygod, I love it at the same time, because it creates quirky pictures. (Sidenote: I love leaving the game unpaused when I leave my computer, because I want to see what my Sims will do when I come back).

It birthed these...

Suzaku marching in the middle of a blizzard. XD

Suzaku doing daily military tasks in the middle of the night, when he should be sleeping...

Lelouch and C.C. doing drugs XD

Building snowmen with townies from Sulani. XD

Suzaku doing the dirty with Euphy in the Jacuzzi tub...😄

Yeah, my Sims are pretty unruly. XD And I have multiple saves with Code Geass characters in them. Recently, I’ve started afresh with a new save file. This time, I built C.C., Lelouch, and Suzaku’s house myself, and it’s not the best, but I like it. :) I’ll post it on Tumblr some other time. Also, Euphy is still dating Suzaku and living with Cornelia, Schneizel, Guinevere, Odysseus, and Clovis. I’ve got Kallen, Gino, Nina, Shirley, Rivalz, Milly, Nunnally, Charles, and Marianne in that world too, which I’ll share some other time. :)

Thanks for the ask. 😉

#wbad ask me #code geass #sims 4 #gameplay #lelouch vi britannia #c.c. (code geass)#suzaku kururugi #euphemia li britannia #suzaeuphie #cluclu #wbad sims 4

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naruwitch · 3 years

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Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 35: The Bloodstained Alliance

"About this Special Administrative Zone of Japan, there are some...unpleasant rumors going around about Princess Euphemia."

"Yes, and about her connection with this Voltron. Some are going as far as to say they brainwashed or blackmailed her into doing this, as a way to get Britannia to surrender."

Ever since Princess Euphemia's announcement of the Special Administrative Zone, Britannia had been buzzing with theories and rumors about the Princess's motivations behind this. Particularly in the high ranking military. Some believed it to be a ploy for Britannia to let its guard down so that Voltron's forces could finally finish them off.

"It could also be the perfect opportunity to finally put an end to this fighting," Lord Guilford spoke up, his tone firm. Like Guilford and Darlton, who were heatedly discussing the announcement with Bartley and several other officers, others saw it as an opportunity to finally put an end to the bloodshed and constant war ravaging the nation for years. Hundreds of thousands of people had already died, both Numbers and Britannians. If the stronger force (yes, their pride was forcing them to admit that this Voltron was indeed stronger than them) was offering a truce, wouldn't it be foolish to not at least humor them?

"As Viceroy Schneizel himself stated, Zero's goal is to cripple Britannia, not destroy it. We've seen time and again that Voltron could easily do that at any moment. We've been lucky that their patience hasn't run out," the bespectacled knight continued.

"Not to mention that Voltron's success has inspired rebellions in almost all other areas of the Empire," Darlton continued, supporting his fellow knight, "Our forces are spread thin enough as it is. With Princess Cornelia, Princess Euphemia, and even Lady Enneagram, a Knight of the Round, being captured and held prisoner, many speculate that the Emperor is losing his grip. If there is a chance for this to be resolved as peacefully as possible, I'll take it!"

"Pardon me for sounding overdramatic," General Bartley interjected, "but need I remind you that Princess Cornelia has been Voltron's hostage for months now? Besides the fact that she's in enemy territory, this is bloody aliens we're talking about! For all we know, Zero is simply a puppet for these interlopers and are threatening harm upon Cornelia unless Euphemia cooperates."

"Not to mention most of Voltron's forces remain unknown," another officer pointed out, "Yes, Black Knight activity has dwindled to nearly none, but it's clear if Zero's stance is anything to go by, that the group has thrown its batch in with these aliens. None of our spies that we've attempted to incorporate into the group have been successful."

"Isn't that only more reason to end the fighting this way?" Guilford argued, rising from his chair, "With all of these unknowns, it's simply too dangerous to keep fighting them! If we push them hard enough, they'll cut negotiations, and we'll be back where we started! A nation against a power that's only so many encounters away from wiping us out!"

"Voltron and Zero are cowards!" the man by Bartley spat, "If you have such a weapon at your disposal, then use it! You could easily win against any nation!"

"Why you little-"

"Enough!" Bartley barked, silencing Darlton, "While I commemorate you both for your loyalty to the princesses, I think your personal feelings are clouding your judgment. Especially you, Guilford."

"Excuse me?!" the knight exclaimed.

"While you may have answered to your princess originally, there is still one who has the final say in this matter. You may be Cornelia's knight, but the word of the Emperor far trumps her."

Guilford grit his teeth, restraining himself from strangling Bartley in that very moment.

"Speaking of his majesty, is there still no word from him? He's been silent ever since Euphemia's declaration."

"He hasn't spoken to the Viceroy yet either," Bartley muttered, "but with something like this, I doubt he'll stay silent forever."

"Holy quiznack!" Rai gasped as he pulled up a video feed as well as what appeared to be a registration page on his laptop. Suzaku and Euphemia were looking over his shoulder, "Over 200,000 people have applied to join the Japan Special Zone. From the way it looks, that number is only going to grow!"

"That's fantastic!" Euphemia exclaimed happily, "Everyone is rallying because of what Voltron represents."

"It's not just Voltron, Euphie," Suzaku said with a smile, "they're supporting your actions too...I'm glad."

"Suzaku?" Euphemia asked, noticing the Purple Paladin tear up a little.

"Euphie," Suzaku said, "Ever since I became a paladin and seen what the Galra have done, even I couldn't deny the similarities they shared with Britannia. My idea of reforming Britannia from within seemed to grow more and more unrealistic to the point it became just a pipe's dream. But… you may have just proven me wrong."

"Oh Suzaku," Euphie smiled gratefully before her smile faded slightly, "while I appreciate the praise, I fear that they may only be cooperating because there's an even greater threat. The start of this alliance will be shaky at best."

"We can worry about that when the time comes," Suzaku assured her, "I'm sure Lelouch will come up with a plan to keep this peace secure."

"And I hope I can help bring that peace to the rest of the universe as well," Euphemia said sincerely, "Once Zarkon is defeated, I hope all worlds out there can finally be free as well."

"We'll make sure of it," Suzaku promised, "And I'll be right by your side!"

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that? You're a Voltron Paladin after all," Euphemia teased with a giggle. Suzaku chuckled as well.

"And I'm not even here," Rai says aloud, causing the pair to jump. They'd honestly forgotten he was still in the room. However, they could tell from the tone of his voice that he was grinning.

"What's the status on the Knightmare testing, Coran?" Lelouch asked as the male Altean's face appeared on the monitor of the Castle's bridge.

"They're going quite well!" the adviser said with a smile from the castle pod he and Rakshata were occupying within the Solar System's asteroid belt, "Number Seven, my boy, your idea was just the answer we were looking for!"

Rivalz looked down, blushing at the praise. More often than not, the Blue Paladin felt like he didn't contribute much to the team outside of being comic relief and helping out with chores, so it felt nice to know that he made a lasting contribution with his suggestion.

"Is Sayoko okay? In case… you know… something goes wrong?" Shirley asked anxiously. The moment the crystals had entered the lab, Rakshata had insisted that they work them into the Guren Mrk-II first since that was her 'special child.' Since Sayoko had initially been the pilot for it, she had gone along on the test flight, with Sugiyama keeping an eye on Nunnally until they got back. ("It's time for another therapy session anyway," he had said.)

"Not to worry," Coran reassured them, "Miss Sayoko is in very capable hands. Her suit alone will provide her with plenty of protection in open space should she need to eject manually."

"Good," Lelouch nodded, but everyone could hear the warning in his tone. Sayoko had been the closest thing he and Nunnally had had to a mother since their banishment. If something were to happen to her…

"Keep us updated on your progress," Allura ordered, "And we'll be expecting all three of you back here within three Earth hours."

"Understood, Princess!" Coran saluted, but before he could cut the connection, there was a blinding flash through the pod's windows.

Before anyone on the bridge could ask what was wrong, they heard a loud, girly squeal from behind the Altean.

"Splendid! Absolutely marvelous!" Rakshata sang, looking ready to leap out of her seat with a victory dance.

Coran sighed with a shake of his head before cutting the connection.

"Are they going to be okay?" Milly asked, glancing around a little uneasily.

"Well, I mean, Coran did say he wouldn't let Sayoko get hurt, right?" Kallen asked.

"Oh, Coran I trust all right," Milly said, "It's Rakshata I'm worried about. She does tend to go a little… overboard sometimes."

"You say that as if you've never done that yourself, Milly," C.C. pointed out with a smirk.

"Hey!" the Yellow Paladin pouted.

"Either way, I'm sure Coran will alert us if something is amiss," Allura said surely, "Now that it's confirmed that the Balmera crystals are compatible with your Knightmare machines, we still have much to discuss."

"Right," Lelouch nodded before turning to address the rest of the room. Besides himself, and the other four Paladins, C.C., Tohdoh, Kaguya, and Ohgi were also present.

"So it looks like Euphemia's message was fairly well-received," Ohgi observed, "I mean, they're already getting everything set up back on Earth."

"According to Rai, the announcement has gained a great deal of support," Tohdoh said, "Most of it is coming from the Japanese population, but surprisingly we do have several Honorary Britannians backing the project as well. I've heard several members within our own ranks talking about joining the zone as well."

"This is technically a good thing, though, right?" Rivalz asked, "I mean, with so many people joining the zone, that means more support for Voltron, right?"

"Not necessarily," C.C. said, "Just because they choose to support the SAZ doesn't mean that they will support Voltron."

"C.C.'s correct," Lelouch nodded, "There will be those, not just from Britannia, that will never see eye-to-eye with something like this. Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done about it, even with two royal princesses-"

"Technically, three royal princesses, Lelouch," Shirley pointed.

Lelouch abruptly turned to the Orange Paladin, raising an eyebrow, "I'm sorry?"

"What about Cornelia?" Shirley said, "Nunnally did say that she was willing to help us too, right?"

"Yeah, and we have Nonette too," Milly added, "who, according to Rai, isn't even loyal to Britannia. Plus, Cornelia's likely the most influential member of the royal family right now, since she is, or used to be, the viceroy. I'm sure if we can both of them on board, that could garner even more support, especially from Britannia, which is what we need right now."

Lelouch was silent, face contorted in a frown. While it was true that Nunnally had told him about her conversation with their sister, a part of Lelouch still hesitated to trust Cornelia.

However…

If there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that no matter what, Cornelia would never betray Euphemia. And Euphie was entirely on board with this plan. Even if Cornelia didn't support some of the things Euphemia did, she never actively tried to work against her either. So long as Euphie was on their side, Cornelia would follow.

And if what Rai said about Nonette was true too...

"...We'll talk to them."

"Sire, pardon my rudeness, but are you serious about this?" Bartley asked Schneizel in the viceroy's office back on Earth.

"Quite so, Bartley," Schneizel answered calmly, "You know I wish for the fighting to stop as much as anyone else. If Voltron is willing to offer an olive branch through Euphie's project, I am willing to humor them and receive it."

"This could easily be a trap too, Your Highness," Bartley protested, "They could be waiting for us to let our guard down before striking us."

"Yes, yes, Bartley," Schneizel nodded knowingly, "I have considered that possibility. However, I highly doubt that that would be the case."

"How so?" Bartley asked skeptically.

Schneizel smiled, hands clasped behind his back as he stood, "As we've discussed previously, it's clear that Zero, through Voltron, possesses more than enough resources to raze Britannia to the ground at a snap of his fingers. The fact that he has yet to launch such an attack is our first clue. No, he doesn't want to see Britannia destroyed. At least, not anymore. Instead, he wants something from Britannia."

Bartley sputtered, "What?! What could Zero possibly want from Britannia besides its destruction?!"

Schneizel sighed, "Unfortunately, I have no definitive answer for that. I have theories at best, but there is too little proof to draw any conclusions. This is partially the reason I am supporting this ceasefire. Once we have the facts of the situation at large, and all the pieces are presented on the board, I'm certain we can… determine our next move from there."

Bartley didn't answer, but he made no further comment as he saw Schneizel's line of thinking. He was just like most other Britannian officials and officers. They wanted answers, and each encounter with the gargantuan robot only brought more questions. Even the partial victory on the island backfired in ways they couldn't have imagined.

"By the way," the prince interrupted his thoughts, "There is still no word from the Emperor regarding this?"

"Um, no sir," Bartley shook his head. At least this he could answer, "The Emperor has been silent ever since Princess Euphemia's broadcast, even back in Pendragon."

"I see…" now it was Schneizel who was frowning. The fact that their father hadn't commented about either the broadcast or the SAZ was concerning. Perhaps Charles was thinking along the same lines? Wishing to hear Voltron's explanation before making a move? If there was one thing he and his father shared, it was their dislike of being uninformed. This could be the one chance they had to gain the information they needed.

Schneizel blinked as the image of that strange woman flashed through his mind for a moment. Despite his brother wearing his mask, it was clear that Lelouch didn't merely dislike that woman but was scared of her. Why else would have lashed out (with a lightning blast?!) the way he had and brought Euphemia with him?

In any case, Schneizel hoped that with this ceasefire order, he could finally, finally, get answers.

"And that's the plan we've come up with, should you both agree to assist us," Lelouch said, standing authoritatively in front of Cornelia and Nonette's cell. Behind him, Nunnally was seated in the hover chair with Arthur in her lap, along with Kallen, Allura, and Tohdoh. The ex-prince had just finished explaining the ceasefire that Euphemia ordered, along with the plans for the Special Administrative Zone of Japan back on Earth, and what they hoped to accomplish with this.

This was only the second time Lelouch had spoken to Cornelia since he and the other Paladins captured her. Despite what everyone was telling him when they talked with the older princess, Lelouch simply couldn't bring himself to face her yet. Even though, via his Geass, he learned that Cornelia had nothing to do with Marianne's assassination and had genuinely tried to find him and Nunnally during the war, that didn't fix the trust that had been shattered during that time nor erase the pain of the royal family's betrayal.

"I understand the need for cooperation, Lelouch," Cornelia finally spoke after a few moments of silence, "but surely you see how risky this plan is."

"No quiznack, what gave you that clue?" Kallen commented sarcastically.

"We know that," Lelouch admitted, "and even without your assistance, we still plan to carry it out, but if you two are willing to cooperate, not only can we likely rally more Britannians to our side, but also build some level of trust between the factions. We're going to need that in spades once the Galra arrive since everyone will be focused on one enemy."

"You do realize that will likely mean cooperating with the Emperor as well, correct?" Cornelia reminded her brother.

Lelouch clenched his fists, "If it means Earth's survival, I will force myself to work with the Emperor. Grudges and vengeance become petty in situations like this."

"And afterward?" Nonette asked, "You know that once the Galra are pushed back that His Majesty isn't likely to change. I learned that the hard way after all…"

Along with the plans for the SAZ, Nonette and Cornelia had also learned what happened to Rai, his sister, and his mother. How they were abducted and taken prisoner by Galran scouts, how Rai had been forced into the gladiator pits, and how he'd been forced to become a living test subject for Zarkon's second in command, who they had learned was named Haggar.

Nonette vowed that she ever saw Haggar face-to-face, she would kill that witch herself.

"If all goes according to plan, should your Emperor attempt such an act, we'll have enough support from your planet's other countries and factions to stop him," Allura said, "Hence why we must solidify a united front against the Galra, and put aside all prejudices before that occurs. This will mean nothing if your world reverts back to what it was before we got here."

"And as Lelouch stated before, the more members of the Royal Family we have on our side, the higher chances we have of gaining the support that the Emperor will lose," Tohdoh added.

Cornelia shared a look with Nonette, who was staring back at her expectantly. Nonette had made it clear that no matter what happened, her place she by Zephyr's side (she was still in shock about the fact that he was a member of the Royal Family and half Japanese). From the very second that Lelouch revealed himself to be Zero, and from what Nunnally told her shortly after, the princess had been thinking and pondering on how she could regain her brother's trust. Nunnally had made it clear that she didn't blame her for what happened during the war, which was a relief. Lelouch was a different story. Even as a young boy, Lelouch had shown that he wasn't one to forgive easily.

The fact that he was extending the closest thing to an olive branch was a miracle on its own.

"I failed you and Nunnally once, Lelouch…"

"I know," Lelouch answered bluntly. Nunnally glanced between her brother and sister anxiously.

"...But it won't happen again."

"Oh, here you are."

Chigusa jumped and nearly dropped the sprinkler she'd been using to water the plants in one of the greenhouses.

"Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!" Ohgi gasped, hands up.

"No, it's all right!" Chigusa gasped out a laugh before turning the sprinkler off, "I wasn't paying attention, is all."

Ohgi a little and looked around at the vegetables growing in the vertical trellises. He had to admit, Milly's idea to apply hydroponics to the ship's greenhouse was not only inventive but saved them resources too. All they needed was water and the nutrients the plants would need from the soil. It not only saved space but made growing food cleaner as well due to the lack of soil.

Tending the greenhouse seemed to quickly be becoming Chigusa's favorite job, and Ohgi was happy to see that she was adapting well.

However, despite this, there was still no sign of her memories returning. Ohgi knew that something like amnesia wasn't something that could be forced. They just needed to be patient. Of course, there was always the possibility that her memories didn't return. He honestly wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Plus, there was the stress about the SAZ. So far, nothing seemed to be going wrong, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Sure, they had Euphemia, Nunnally, Lelouch supporting this, but they were only three members (four if Cornelia of all people agreed to support it as well) of the Royal Family vs. the hundreds of other members, plus the Emperor.

"Is everything okay?" Chigusa asked, noticing his frown.

"Hmm? Oh, no, it's nothing important," Ohgi attempted to wave it off, but Chigusa was just as smart as her other identity.

"Are you worried about the zone?" Chigusa asked. It was hard to be in the castle right now and not know about it. It seemed to be the only thing the Black Knights were talking about.

Ohgi paused then sighed, "I-I don't know… I-I just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. I know we've taken all the possible precautions, but…"

Chigusa frowned in concern, "Have you talked to Zero about it?"

Ohgi shook his head, "I don't have to. I can tell he feels the same way. I know this sounds bad, but when you think about it, the only reason we're doing this is because we don't have any other choice. Zero has always thought all of his plans through. So the fact that he's practically just winging this…"

Chigusa nodded, "Yes, I suppose that would make anyone nervous. But I'm sure once Earth understands what they're up against, they'll be more likely to cooperate. That's the whole point of this zone, right?"

"That's the idea," Ohgi confirmed, "but… there are people that just won't do that! People like-"

Ohgi stopped himself before he could finish.

"You mean people me?" Chigusa asked, looking down.

"Well, yes, but I mean like how you were like before. Not now!" Ohgi gasped.

"It's all right," Chigusa reassured him, "I understand. But… despite all of that, I can't help but be grateful to you."

"Grateful?" Ohgi asked, looking up in surprise.

Chigusa nodded, "I know I wasn't the best person before I came here. I was an enemy. But you still decided to take me in, to make me a part of all of this. It's like I've been given a second chance to be better. And I'll always be grateful for that."

Ohgi's look of surprise soon morphed into a smile. Her response surprised him, but upon hearing it, he felt a weight of his own lift off his shoulders.

"I'm glad to hear that. And if it means anything to you, I'll be more than happy to be there for you, memories or not."

Chigusa smiled back, "Thank you, Kaname."

It took another three days, but it was at last time. The area around the Special Administrative Zone was packed almost shoulder-to-shoulder with both Japanese and Britannians alike. Military personnel, including Guilford, Darlton, and his sons, on guard also stood on guard, Sutherlands, Gloucesters, and several specialized Knightmare units were present as well. High above in the sky, the Le Fey also floated above the zone.

For those who weren't there personally, everyone was tuned into radio, television, or any broadcast available in Japan, watching and listening. The E.U. and Chinese Federation were also watching, waiting with bated breath for the ceremony to start.

"We're bringing you live coverage from the stadium where the inaugural ceremony will be held for the Special Administrative Zone of Japan. The place is already packed full of Elevens… sorry, I mean Japanese. And those unable to get in are gathered outside the stadium."

"The question still remains, though. Will Zero and his forces truly make an appearance? While Princess Euphemia herself was the one to make this announcement, rumor has it that the princess hasn't been publicly seen for several days. Many are concerned that this ceasefire order is another ploy of the Black Knights… wait, what?"

There was a beat of silence as everyone listening to the broadcast held their breath.

"Oh! Okay-well, our satellites just picked activity in the atmosphere and-!"

A thunderous roar suddenly echoed around the stadium as large shadows fell upon the crowd. All chatter stopped as everyone looked to the sky with bated breath.

With a low sweep, the Black Lion whooshed around the stadium, wind picking flying in its wake. The silence was meet with screaming cheers as the six other lions followed, though none flew as low as the Black Lion. After several minutes of circling the sky, almost like hawks circling prey, the Black and Purple Lions finally descended, with the other five staying aloft in the air, directly above the arena, and to the south, east, north, and west.

The Sutherlands tensed as the Black and Purple Lions landed gracefully on the stage, tails lashing and eyes looming over the military units surrounding them, growling in clear warning. Then the Black Lion seemed to chuff before lowering its haunches and head toward the ground, the Purple Lion following suit.

The roars of the crowd only amplified as the 'Savior of Japan' himself, Zero, glided out of the Black Lion's mouth, helmet, cape, and all. From the other Lion, the pilot clad in his purple and white armor, helmet on and face shield darkened, also exited, only to pause and hold his hand out behind him.

To everyone's shock, Princess Euphemia was gently escorted out of the Purple Lion's mouth, and the Knight of Nine, Nonette Enneagram, exited right behind her.

What truly shocked the crowd, though, was the additional passenger that exited with Zero. It was none other than Cornelia li Britannia herself.

"Princess Cornelia!" Guilford gasped from within his Gloucester, nearly leaping from it to rush to her side. It was only Darlton's cautious but also shocked expression that stopped him.

The same shock was reflected on the Japanese citizens, as their cheers morphed into waves of confusion rippled through around.

A single wave of Zero's arm in front of the former viceroy silenced them.

"Enough!" the rebel's voice exclaimed in admonishment, "This day is not a day for violence or anything of the like. This is a day of cooperation and unity between Britannia and Japan that has been delayed for far too long!"

The crowd's cheers returned once again, even the voices of a few Britannians joining them this time.

Back on the Castle of Lions, now just above cloud cover above the planet. The Black Knights were all waiting anxiously in their newly operational Knightmare Frames, appropriately named Seishins. They were ready to soar out and attack at a moment's notice. From the bridge itself, Allura, Coran, and C.C. observed the ceremony from the screens.

"Are you sure letting Cornelia attend this ceremony personally was a wise move?" Allura inquired from her position at the teludav, frowning.

C.C. snorted, "Well, it's not like we didn't all agree to let her out in the first place. I do recall you were there for that."

Allura grimaced, but before she could make a snarky comment back, Coran spoke up.

"Lelouch and Nunnally are willing to trust her, Allura. And you know for a fact that Lelouch wouldn't have agreed to it if he didn't think it would work."

Allura sighed, "I understand. But…" the princess bit her lip, "...I can not help but feel like something is wrong."

Almost impulsively, Allura pulled up the commlinks connected to the Knightmare bay.

"Ohgi, Tohdoh, what's the status of our troops?"

"On standby, Princess," Ohgi answered.

"We're prepared to launch at any time," Tohdoh also confirmed.

Allura blew out a breath. At least they were ready. She just hoped the feeling of foreboding she felt was paranoia and worry for the Paladins down below.

"People of Japan! People of the world! Welcome to the Special Administrative Zone!" Euphemia greeted shortly after Zero's reprimand.

The crowd cheered once again, and Euphemia waited patiently for the noise to die down before continuing.

"Many obstacles have been overcome to bring this project to fruition, and I'd like to dedicate this zone not only to the Japanese people but also to the Paladins of Voltron, who, along with the Black Knights, have helped pave the way for this day to come to pass."

"However…" Euphemia's tone became solemn, which silenced the beginning of any further cheers, being replaced with murmurs of confusion, "...there is another reason I announced the opening of this Special Zone. It was to provide an opportunity to address the entire planet as a whole and deliver a message. A warning, to be exact. A warning that the entire world must heed!"

The crowd was now getting anxious, many gasping and some even inching towards the exits, as if expecting the Britannian soldiers to open fire on them at any moment. However, none of the Knightmares moved as the soldiers looked just as confused as the Japanese.

Euphemia handed the microphone to Zero, who addressed the masses once again.

"What Princess Euphemia speaks is true!" the rebel leader said, "As you all are well aware, Voltron's purpose is to stand against oppression and dominance, not just against Britannia, but any nation that uses their power unjustly. But there is another threat that is looming. A threat that not only you must be aware of, but every nation of this planet!"

The jumbotron at the top of the stage started to flicker.

"The footage you are about to see is real. They are no figment of one's imagination!"

From inside of Zerith, Rai was rapidly typing on a laptop he brought with him. He wasn't only uploading this to the jumbotron, though, but to every screen on planet Earth.

"Here we go," the Green Paladin muttered before pressing the 'enter' button.

On the jumbotron, recorded footage of hundreds of Galra ships invading on the Balmera they had invaded, and footage of Sendak's ship when they stayed on Arus when this whole crazy adventure first happened. There were several other clips that Rai managed to find through the few times he managed to hack into the Galra in some form or another.

"This is the Galra Empire," Zero said, pointing at the jumbotron's screen, "An alien regime hellbent on the domination of the known universe, with Darwinistic beliefs not too different from Britannia. Their technology is far more advanced than anything Earth has ever developed, and with the way the planet stands now, in such a divided state, our world will not stand a chance against such a brutal force."

This time, it wasn't just the Japanese people who were gasping and even screaming in shock. Several members of the Britannian military had similar expressions. Some even dropped their guns in shock.

Even Darlton and Guilford were speechless and pale, the latter looking towards Cornelia, who nodded.

"My god…" Darlton muttered, "That's what they've been up against?" If Voltron, a force that Britannia was lucky to come out of in one piece of, was struggling against this regime, then what chance did Britannia have?

"But that is why Voltron is here," Euphemia spoke again, "to protect all the people of Earth, regardless of their differences. The Paladins of Voltron are no different from any of us."

The screen shifted again, and low and behold, Milly's bright blonde hair filled the screen.

"This thing on…? Yep, the red light means 'on.' Okay, hello everybody or any alien lifeform that finds this video in the future!" the Yellow Paladin grinned, waving at the camera, "This is Milly Ashford, Paladin of the Yellow Lion of Voltron, or Maeraka as I like to call her!"

From the other side of the settlement, Ruben Ashford felt his pen slip from his fingers as his granddaughter's face lit up the screen.

"Anyway, as you can see," Milly grabbed the camera (or whatever the device was). She spun around with it, showing the inside of one of the Castleship's lounges, "I am not at Ashford academy, and it certainly doesn't look like I'm even on Earth. That's because I'm not. Long story short, my friends and I got kidnapped by a magic blue lion and shipped off into this awesome spaceship! With real aliens too! Crazy, right?! Anyway, just letting everyone know that I'm fine and we're hoping to be back home soon once we take care of the Galra Empire. Wish us luck!"

The video fizzled for a few moments before clearing up again. This time it was Rivalz on the screen.

"Hi! It's Rivalz Cardemonde, Paladin of Polaris, the Blue Lion. Hi, Mom, hi, Amelia. Isla. Ava. I'm here in outer space somewhere. I, um, uh, don't really know what to say. Uh, I miss you guys. I miss you guys a lot. I-I know you'll have a lot of questions, but… I'm doing what I think is right, and… yeah, that's about it. Anyway, I hope you're staying safe, and I'll hopefully be back soon. I love you guys."

"...MOM!" a shrill voice rang through the Cardemonde manor.

The next face to appear on the screen was Shirley. The Orange Paladin bit her lip and twirled a piece of her hair.

"Um, hi. I'm Shirley Fenette, the Paladin of the Orange Lion, Zinnia. Mom, Dad, if you ever see this…' the Orange Paladin paused, eyes getting misty, "Just know I love you and I'm thinking about you and I hope I can see you again soon… whenever that is anyway."

Aurora Fenette gasped, her hand flying to her mouth at the sight of her daughter on the screen. Joseph Fenette could only stare in shock before his wife lunged at him, sobbing into his neck.

"...I'm Kallen. Kallen Kozuki," the Red Paladin said bluntly when her video finally popped up, "Paladin of Aka, the Red Lion...what? You know I'm bad at this sort of stuff!" she snapped at someone behind the camera before sighing. "Okay, as everyone can guess from the last name, I'm half-Japanese, surprise, surprise. Anyway… mom, I'm so sorry I left without saying goodbye. I think of you and Naoto every day. I'm here to finish the fight that he helped to start."

As the last recording switched off (Rai didn't make one as he didn't have family on Earth and the Royal Family didn't know about him), the Purple Paladin stepped forward. Most of the crowd was already shocked to see the faces of the Ashford students that went missing months prior, but it was nothing compared to their reaction as Suzaku slowly removed his helmet.

More gasps filled the stadium, and there were even shouts of protest from several people both in the audience and but more so among the Britannian troops. And while they weren't among those protesting, Guilford and Dalton both shared faces of shock as well.

"All of you be silent!" Cornelia suddenly snapped towards the Britannian soldiers. This shut them up immediately. Even the Japanese ceased speaking, though it was clear the order wasn't directed at them. "I will not condone any form of violence here! You just witnessed proof of a formidable threat, and you're concerned about a soldier's blood?"

This admonishment seemed to pacify the Britannians, but the Japanese were staring at the princess in amazement. This woman, who was known as the Goddess of Victory and had shown little mercy or tolerance for 'Elevens' in the past, was now defending them. They weren't sure if this behavior was due to Princess Euphemia's presence or not, but Suzaku took this opportunity to finally speak.

"Yes, I know, I am Suzaku Kurugui, and up until recently, I was also a soldier in their military. An Honorary Britannian like many others here. When I became a soldier, I believed that if I worked hard enough, if I rose high enough in the ranks, I could help change the system, change Britannia from the inside. I hoped to try and use Voltron for the same purpose. But… I can't do it. Not alone, anyway."

Next to him, he felt Euphemia grasp his hand and squeeze it. She then addressed the crowd once again.

"And right now, we need that change more than ever. I know that our empire has committed countless crimes and atrocities, not just to Japan. And I swear to you, we will take full responsibility and do everything we can to make amends. But we can no longer be consumed by our differences."

Zero stepped forward next to the princess, "Now is the time for us to come together. Race, gender, religion, ideology, none of that matters anymore. We must be united under one cause! I implore the people of Earth: Stand alongside Voltron! The Black Knights already stand with us, as do many members of the Royal Family!"

From behind Zero, Zenobia lowered her head again, and from her mouth, another person glided out.

Nunnally, her eyes wide open, rolled up to Zero on her hoverchair and, to the amazement of everyone, stood up, though still wobbling as Zero steadied his sister.

Seeing the lost princess was shocking enough, but seeing the disabled girl now standing on her own two legs nearly sent everyone into a frenzy again.

"Zero and the Paladins helped to restore what was lost to me, and they can do that for everyone on Earth!" she exclaimed.

Next to her, Cornelia walked beside her, grasping her other hand, with Nonette coming up next to the former viceroy. To Zero's left, Euphemia held his open hand, with Suzaku still standing next to her.

"From this day forward... Voltron and Earth... STAND TOGETHER!" Zero proclaimed, raising his hands high, those with him doing the same. This earned cheers from the gathered Japanese, who became encouraged by his words and began to chant.

"VOLTRON!"

From above the arena, each of the Paladins was grinning.

"Paladins!" Coran's voice exclaimed over the commlinks.

"What's up, Coran?" Rivalz asked.

"Responses are coming in from all over the planet. They've heard us and are offering support!"

"YES!" Milly cheered, fist-pumping in her seat.

"We did it…!" Shirley exclaimed, tears gathering in her eyes.

Then, the screen on the jumbotron abruptly flickered, drawing the attention of everyone.

"Huh?" Rai gasped from his computer as the system he was working through was swiftly hacked into from another source.

"Rai, what's going on with the signal?" Zero demanded from below.

"I don't know!" the Green Paladin gasped, "Someone's hacking in! They're completely taking me over!"

"What? But who could possibly-" Allura gasped from the castle.

"I don't know!" Rai exclaimed in frustration. Looking closer at the code streaming onto his laptop, he suddenly gasped, "Wherever this signal is coming from, it's not coming from Earth!"

"...But, that could only mean-" Zero's thoughts were interrupted when the screen's image finally cleared. What were once cheers of triumph were transforming into gasps of horror once more as Charles zi Britannia's face glowered on the screen.

"A stirring performance, Zero," the Emperor boomed on the jumbotron.

"Father?!" Euphemia gasped, eyes wide with fear, while Suzaku and Nonette glared angrily at the monarch on screen. Instinctively, Zero pulled Nunnally towards him while Cornelia placed herself in front of the vi Britannia siblings, eyes narrowed at the man whose blood they shared.

"It amuses me how you and my foolish daughter continue to spew these ideals, such as unity. You must think that such counsel is wise. But this is nothing but a folly! Such terms as responsibility and peace are nothing but an illusion. Lies created by a childish and naive fantasy!"

"How dare you!" Nonette gasped, but the Emperor drowned out her voice.

"You wish to truly speak of responsibility? Our beloved Britannia has nothing to be responsible for! Our methods are our divine right! Any talk of change is preposterous!"

Suzaku didn't say anything, but he could tell that jab was likely exclusively targeted at him.

"I am pleased that I can finally put faces and names on you so-called 'Paladins,'" the Emperor then sneered, "Now I know who to mark as true traitors of the empire, along with you and everyone else on that stage with you!"

This declaration was met with shouts of protest and shock. Darlton and Guilford looked the most shell-shocked.

"He can't be serious!" Guilford gasped.

"The Emperor's gone mad!" Darlton added.

"Why must Britannia ally itself with that wretched abomination, Voltron, when we have gained an even greater ally?"

Allura, Coran, and C.C. were also watching and listening to the Emperor's speech from the inside of the castle. The Altean Princess was practically seething. Was this man truly that stubborn and shameless? Why did he refuse to see reason when they were extending a hand for an alliance.

The Emperor's last words, though, did catch them off guard, especially C.C. The immortal was shocked and confused as well at Charles's behavior.

'What the hell are you thinking, Charles?!' she thought, 'Making this proclamation will only turn the whole world against you and Britannia! Why would you make such a move if you still wish for Ragnarok to succeed?'

Red warning lights began to blare all over the bridge and throughout the castle. The Black Knights, still on standby in the launch bay, looked around in bewilderment.

"Princess, what's going on?!" Tohdoh demanded through his radio.

"We're not sure-"

"Allura!" Coran gasped, face paling as he turned to the main scanners, "The castle's picking up multiple vessels entering the atmosphere!"

"Pull it on screen!" the princess commanded.

As the castle pulled up its outer surveillance cameras, Allura's blood ran cold. C.C. and Coran also watched in equal horror.

One after another, Galra warships and fleets closed in, surrounding planet Earth.

"No…"

"No…!" Zero gasped as he looked to the sky and saw the same warships descending from space.

Everyone, Paladin, Japanese, Britannian, every citizen of Earth was frozen in terror as the very threat they had been warned of moments of ago came into visibility.

"From this point onward, Britannia stands not as an ally to Voltron, but as their enemy! And our new Galran allies have graciously offered their support in our crusade!"

"WHAT?!" Suzaku shouted, eyes wide and staring at the Emperor, who he could only think was outright insane!

From within the Viceroy's Palace, Schneizel el Britannia felt himself shaking as he witnessed the events unfold in front of him.

"Father, what madness is this?!"

"He…" Lelouch could barely get the words out of his mouth, "He's actually… joined them…?!"

"If you wish for Earth to stand with you, Zero, then you must fight us for it!" Charles challenged, a broad grin on his face, "Will you and your precious friends save this planet or destroy it?! Time to learn the gambles of war! ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

Having heard the final declaration from the nation's monarch, Commander Corza looked over her own forces. Forces that the Emperor had personally requested to oversee this… union.

She sneered at the choice of word, but she was an old Galra, and she knew her emperor well. The only reason he agreed to such an act was because it was more beneficial to proceed down this route. Had Haggar not established contact between this planet's hierarchy and Zarkon, they could have easily rained death and fire upon these lesser lifeforms and took the planet for themselves.

'Oh well,' she shrugged aloofly. The long game was sometimes necessary.

"Commander Corza," a robotic voice rang over the speakers, "all vessels are locked on."

The commander smiled. Let the fun begin.

"Open fire!"

Like wasps swarming from their nests, hundreds of Galra cruisers and fighters shrieked across the sky towards the SAZ. One that appeared to be faster than the rest swooped down and blasted rapidly into the center of the stadium.

Screams of terror and pain erupted as the ground exploded from the blasts.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still. For the Paladins, the Japanese citizens, and several Britannians.

Then all hell broke loose as the Japanese panicked and began to run for the stadium's exits, only for many more to be blown away by more blasts from above.

This seemed to snap Zero from his horrified trance, and he leaped into action.

"Paladins!" he all but screamed into the comm in his helmet, "Defend the zone! Take down any Galran ship that you see! NOW!"

He barely heard the acknowledgment from his teammates as the Orange, Blue, Yellow, Green, and Red all roared in unison and rocketed up into the sky. It didn't take long for blue lasers and balls of fire to mix in with the purple, black, and red of the Galran attacks and debris.

"Lelouch!" Nunnally gasps, eyes large and panicked, clinging to her brother like a lifeline.

"We've got to ge-"

Before Lelouch could finish his sentence, he froze, along with Nunnally, Suzaku, Cornelia, Nonette, and Euphemia. It was like someone had hit the pause button on a movie screen.

Off to the side of the stage, a short, hooded figure crouched down, raising a pistol towards the group.

"Targets sighted," he said almost monotonously, his light violet eyes barely showing emotion at all.

His finger pulled down on the trigger.

BANG!

Blood spurted from Princess Euphemia's chest, but she made no move fall from the bullet's impact.

"First target eliminated…" the assassin confirmed before pointed his gun at his second victim, "and second tar-"

Yoru's eyes suddenly sparked to life, and the Purple Lion's head whipped towards the boy's direct, a malicious growl verberating from his maw. With a livid sounding roar, the lion lifted its paw and slammed down mere inches away from the boy's body.

With a grunt, the assassin landed with a gasp on his back, hood flying off his head, revealing light brunette locks and honey peach skin, the wind rushing from his lungs from the impact. He had managed to move out of the way in time before the paw crushed him, but his shock at the lion's sudden movement nearly cost him his life!

Despite this setback, though, he still had a mission, and he attempted to re-aim his gun at Nunnally's vulnerable head.

Then with a mighty leap that shook the ground, the Black Lion leaped into the air and landed directly in front of the adolescent gunman.

The young couldn't stop the scream of fright as Zenobia roared in his face, nearly shattering his eardrums. The lion then raised her tail, the end lighting up with intense blue light.

Any further coherent thoughts vanished as all, but primal instinct replaced the boy's mind as he immediately turned and ran for his life, his Geass flashing reactively as he felt himself be thrown backward from the force of Zenobia's tail laser obliterating the ground where he had been not two seconds previously.

Scrambling to his feet, the Geass assassin disappeared into the crowd of panicking Japanese citizens.

With a stumble, Lelouch regained his senses, Zenobia's roar still ringing in his ears, both mentally and literally.

"Wha-"

"EUPHIE!" The raw, anguished cry of his older sister caused Lelouch to whip around and gasp terror as he saw the princess lying in a pool of blood beneath her.

"NO!" Suzaku screamed, dropping to his knees and skidding to her side.

From the amount of blood already there, Lelouch could tell that Euphemia didn't have long.

Unless…

"Suzaku, get her back to the castle now!" Lelouch ordered desperately.

The Purple Paladins seemed to have the same idea, as he was already scooping Euphemia into his arms and sprinting towards Yoru's open mouth. The lion swallowed her Paladin and his injured cargo up before he was even inside her mouth and shot up into the sky.

"Nelly!" Nonette cried out before tackling the former viceroy to the ground as a round of bullets suddenly rained down on the stage. Lelouch did the same for Nunnally, shielding his sister, his armored back taking the brunt of several bullets.

But just as quickly, the quartet heard the sound of bullets again, but this time being fired away from them.

Looking up, Cornelia gasped to see several Gloucesters, her unit's Gloucesters, firing rapidly back at both Sutherlands and Galra fighters that flew close enough to the ground.

"Princess Cornelia! You must flee now!" Guilford's voice shouted from the cockpit of his Knightmare.

The princess in question stared in shock for a moment before speaking. "Why are you helping me?! You heard your emperor! I'm a traitor!"

"No!" the knight argued back, fervently, "The Emperor's the traitor here! Not you!"

"Our loyalty is to you, and you alone, Princess! Whoever that madman was, he was not the Emperor that leads our people!" Darlton added from his own Knightmare. Close by, the group noticed the specialized Knightmares of the Glaston Knights close by, also firing towards the sky and surrounding their father and the stage.

"...I thank you," Cornelia said softly, "All of you!"

"Lelouch!" Nonette exclaimed, "Get Nunnally out of here! We'll rally the troops down here and form a front here on the ground!"

The sky suddenly flashed with two large laser blasts, melting away several Galran fighters at once. As the smoke cleared, the Le Fey emerged, cannons and other artillery at the ready.

"Hm, an alien invasion," Lloyd Asplund said casually as if he was strolling through a peaceful park, "I'd say I'm surprised, but I'd be lying."

"What Lloyd means to say," Cecile's more frantic voice interrupted from the vessel's speakers, "is that we're in this fight too! We'll provide air support where we can!"

"But… you'll be slaughtered!" Lelouch exclaimed.

The Black Paladin then gasped as Cornelia approached and grasped his shoulders. At that moment, he didn't see the Goddess of Victory, the Witch of Britannia, not even the Second Princess of Britannia. He just saw Cornelia. His sister. His beloved older sibling, he once thought was gone forever.

"I'll be fine, Lelouch. Go, help your friends. Get Nunnally away from here," she said calmly but firmly, meeting his eye through his mask.

Lelouch finally nodded after a few seconds.

"Be careful," was all he said before turning to Nunnally.

"Let's go Nunnally!" he said urgently, gently grasping her forearm and running towards Zen.

"R-Right!" his younger sister gasped, nearly tripping over her feet. With a squeak, she soon found herself scooped into her brother's arms, one of his hands shielding her head as he darted into the Black Lion's mouth. After gently placing her back in the hover chair, now connected to the floor of the cockpit, Lelouch flung himself into his seat.

"Zen, let's go!" he shouted, and with a furious roar, the Black Lion pounced and shot into the sky.

Kallen screamed out a battle cry as Aka flung her jaw blade out. It ripped through several fighters, which exploded seconds later.

Corkscrewing around each other, Polaris with her sonic cannon active, and Maeraka's light bombs flashing, several Galrans suddenly either lost control of their vessels or were blinded enough that they ended up running head-on into other ships.

"This can't be happening… There's just no way!" Shirley muttered as she rammed into a cluster of v-formation ships.

"Well, I mean, I knew there was always the risk of this scenario, but…" Rivalz exclaimed almost hysterically.

"Guys, focus!" Rai snapped, Zerith blocking a barrage of lasers heading for Aka just in time, "If we get distracted, more people are going to die!"

Before anyone could respond, a large form shrieked past them, beelining towards the castle.

"What the-was that Yoru?!" Milly gasped.

"What's Suzaku doing?!" Rivalz gasped.

"Don't worry about him!" Lelouch ordered as Zenobia sliced through multiple ships, fires illuminating the lion's form behind her, "Rai's right! Focus on the enemy in front of you if you want to survive!"

"Lelouch, is Nunnally with you?" Kallen asked urgently.

"Yes, she's fine. We both are. Euphemia though… Suzaku's rushing her to the infirmary."

"What?!" Shirley gasped, "What happened?!"

Lelouch grit his teeth, "Someone-no, the Emperor tried to kill her…"

Seeing the Purple Lion returning to the castle, Allura, Coran, and C.C. raced to the lion's hanger. Shortly after the Emperor's announcement ended, the castle's link was cut. They only had access to the lion's commlinks but had no clue about the specifics that just transpired.

Nearly crashing onto the platform, Yoru screeched to a halt, not even stopping fully before lowering her mouth.

What came out had Allura gasping, hands flying to mouth. C.C. also froze.

"Oh, Alaaran…" Coran whispered as Suzaku held a blood-soaked Euphemia in his arms, his pristine white armor smeared crimson.

"Please! You have to save Euphie!" Suzaku gasped, his eyes wild, "Do something! You mustn't let her die!"

"Coran, prep a cryopod, now!" Allura frantically.

"Right away!" the advisor yelped before sprinting out of the hangar towards the infirmary.

With assistance from Guilford and Darlton, both Nonette and Cornelia managed to procure Gloucesters, both of which had float systems, for themselves. As they soared through the sky, staying close to the Le Fey, the princess saw that not only were the Galra fighters firing at the Japanese and other humans in their path, but several Sutherlands were also firing upon the people.

"What?!" she gasped. That couldn't be right! Euphemia had ordered those soldiers not to attack the Japanese.

Unless…

"You!" she shouted, accessing an open channel to the Sutherlands, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I don't see why a traitor should be concerned with these matters any longer!" came the response from the commanding officer of the units below.

Gritting her teeth, Cornelia didn't back down. "You were given strict orders before we were announced as traitors not to harm these people!"

"Apologies, Cornelia," the officer sneered, "But any orders from the Emperor trump those of any lowly princess!"

Now, everyone knew that Cornelia li Britannia had a temper, so if you wished to survive around her, it was best you didn't provoke it. However, if there was one thing that would instantly earn you her wrath, it was speaking ill in any way towards her sister.

Cornelia dove towards the massacre with a roar of challenge, Nonette and the rest of her faithful knights right behind her.

"No!" Rai gasped as he and the rest of the Paladins also witnessed a large number of Britannian forces turning on the Japanese. Bodies of men, women, and children were strewn everywhere, and neither the Britannians nor the Galra showed any signs of stopping.

"Why…?" Shirley cried, tears running down her cheeks.

"Even our own home?!" Rivalz uttered, eyes shaking.

Milly could only bow her head, feeling absolutely helpless.

"Lelouch, we need help!" Kallen shouted. Aka's head turned towards their leader.

"Yes…" Lelouch nodded, barely containing his own emotions of grief and anger. He promptly contacted the castle, accessing the channel that would speak from every point and room on the Castle of Lions.

"This is my order to all Black Knights!" he exclaimed, "Charles zi Britannia is now officially our enemy! The coward has sided with the Galra and openly declared anyone who sides with us as traitors, even fellow Britannians! All Black Knights and Paladins, wage an attack now! Wipe out all Galra and Britannian forces! Save the people! Hurry!"

#fanfic #code geass #voltron

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