#supergeass

[eachainn]

C.C. sighed and walked around in front of Mao, careful to avoid the devil’s trap spray painted on the ground. She eyed the chains and handcuffs carefully, picking out the sigils. So the Lamperouges had gotten new toys since she had played dead. That was interesting and something to look out for.

She slipped her hands into her pockets, standing in front of Mao. “How did you know that I wasn’t dead?”

“I knew I couldn’t kill you. I just knew it.” Mao beamed up at her, C.C. slightly disturbed by the way that he seemed to mean every word that he was saying. As it was, he was more human than demon. She huffed and rolled her shoulders, barely listening as Mao blundered on.

“I had hoped as much when I stabbed you, because you’re too smart to just die. So I kept going for you, because I knew you were coming back. You’d never leave us, C.C. You’d never leave me. You’ve earned your place as the queen as they just have to learn how to see it.” He paused to cough, turning his head. C.C. saw the marks in his neck, Mao turning his head too quickly to count how many. “But they will learn. They’ll learn to be loyal like I am. They’ll learn to love you like I have.”

“Of course, Mao.” She bent down to rest her hand on one of the old floorboards. C.C. paused long enough to check that it would run right to the devil’s trap before yanking it up. She tossed the board to one side, stepping easily into the trap. “You are loyal.”

“And I continued it for you. I found the tablets and I almost got the Lamperouges to surrender. Now the won’t beat us, because Lelouch won’t let anything kill Nunnally.”

“No, he’d never do that.” C.C. reached up to stroke Mao’s hair, ignoring the way that he leaned into the touch. The information was enough to keep her thoughts busy.

The trials would kill Nunnally, which meant that she would never have to worry about them again. Of course, she had been hoping that she would be able to bargain her way out, especially since she had been helping the Lamperouges. It had taken careful planning to never be seen in their way, which was why Mao was such an asset, had been an asset. She didn’t care much for what he had done while she was gone, nor did she care about the way he had seemed so eager to make a deal with Abbadon. C.C. couldn’t bring herself to trust the same creatures it had taken Lucifer to subdue. She didn’t have any plans to let the archangel out of his cage at the moment, nor did she want to. She would be killed immediately for her betrayal.

It would be better to just lay low again, as she had been doing. Something was afoot, she could feel it as a slight buzz under her skin, an itch that she just couldn’t reach. With the trials on hold and Abbadon out in the world, the better option would be to tag along with Lelouch and Nunnally, just until the scales tipped in her favor again.

C.C. took her hand away from Mao’s head, looking down at him. “You did wonderfully, Mao. Everything that I wanted.”

“Thank you.” He held up his hands hopefully. “Will you help me out?”

“Yes.” She leaned forward, placing one hand on his shoulder. “A reward for my most loyal subject.”

Mao smiled and nodded. He was still nodding when C.C. stabbed him in the heart.

She closed her eyes against the flash of light, listening to Mao scream. When she was sure that it was over, she stepped back. For a moment, she wanted to throw the angel blade away, but she stopped herself. She needed a weapon until she could find out what was going on and she bet that Lelouch would enjoy knowing that he was disarming her, at least to the extent of his knowledge. Anything to get her back on to the winning side, where she stood a chance in the end.

C.C. flicked the blood off the blade and walked out of the circle. Even if the Lamperouges came back to finish the trials, they would have to start over with the last one, which would give her time to plan and think. She needed to do that before she rushed into anything else.

She went to stand by one of the stained glass windows, leaning against the wall as she peered out of the one pane that had broken. C.C. had meant to search for a sign that the Lamperouges were still around, since she had just willed herself into the church to answer Mao’s call for help.

All thoughts of searching for Lelouch and Nunnally left her head when she looked up at the sky. The angel blade dropped from her hands as C.C. pressed herself against the window, trying to get a better look as the sky lit up.

----

When it came, it was like a punch to her chest.

Euphemia reeled backwards, knocking into Naomi. She thought she heard the other angel cry out, but she couldn’t be sure, not when her whole body was burning. Euphemia tightened her grip on her sword, resisting the urge to claw at herself. There was nothing there, she was sure of it. There was no wound, no change in her status, just the slow burn of something just beneath her skin.

She looked up, watching as the other angels dropped their blades to stare at themselves. Only then did Euphemia notice the way that they glowed, the shine of their grace rising to the surface of their skin. It was like they were showing off, trying to intimidate her into backing down. But, from the expression on their faces, it wasn’t purposeful.

It reminded her of the moment before an angel died, when their grace rose to the surface, leaving only an empty vessel and ashen wings behind.

Euphemia spun around to look at Naomi, her eyes widening as she saw Naomi glowing as well. She didn’t know what it meant, only that the other angels were distracted and it gave them time to get out. She dropped her sword and reached out for Naomi, only to have the ground jerk from under her.

She heard the other angel’s scream, first in a pitch only other angels could hear and then it suddenly dropped, the sound coming from human vocal chords. Euphemia screamed too, the pain spreading from her chest over her whole body. And then she was falling.

She tried to flap her wings, to right herself as she plummeted to the earth, but she couldn’t feel her wings, couldn’t feel her grace. There was a brief flash above her, Euphemia reaching up for the blue light that spun out from her body, frantically trying to grab at it with all too human fingers. Without her grace there was no way that she was going to survive the fall, no way that she was going to be able to fight demons, no way to protect the Lamperouges. There was no way for her to be useful.

Euphemia wailed forlornly, her grace finally slipping away completely, leaving just the burn on her back from where her wings had torn off and burned far ahead of her. She sobbed, wrapping her arms around herself. There was nothing left of her, just a human vessel of a girl who had wanted to please God, and even the human was gone. She had been swallowed by the Leviathans, her soul warped with the rest of Euphemia and then sent to Heaven. Euphemia could only hope that she was safe. She started to mutter out an apology to the young girl, but didn’t get to finish.

She hit the ground hard. Euphemia expected bones to snap, but she just tumbled end over end until she came to a stop. She caught up against a tree, clawing for a hold on the bark so she would have something solid to hold on to. Euphemia rested there for a moment, breathing in the dulled scent of the ground before she began to pull herself upright, leaning on the tree.

The sky was full of falling angels, she noticed that first. Euphemia tipped her head back to watch them streak to earth, most of them dissolving before they hit the ground. They would be reborn, created anew to live a human life. They would never know what they were missing. But the ones who were in vessels, in humans when they had been shoved out of Heaven would know. They would be like her, aching and sore from their missing grace and so vulnerable.

Euphemia shivered and ducked her head. She took a deep breath and let go of the tree, swaying on her feet for a moment before she nodded. She could do this. There was always a place to go when she had gotten into trouble. If she could find Lelouch and Nunnally, then they could find a way to fix it. Just because she had fallen didn’t mean that she didn’t have faith anymore. Out of everything left in her world, she believed in them.

----

Suzaku came to slowly, aching and disoriented. Two things he hadn’t been for a long time. Since he had been falling.

That thought had him scrambling to his feet, Suzaku angrily brushing aside his trenchcoat as it got tangled up around him. He raised one hand to his throat, making sure that it wasn’t still cut before nodding to himself. That much he knew for sure, he was uninjured physically. The rest he didn’t even have to seek out to know. He recognized what it felt like to be without grace.

Suzaku muttered and curse under his breath and spun. He was about to punch a tree before he stopped himself. He was human now, so fragilely human that he didn’t want to risk anything. Until he found help or figured out how to stop Metatron, all he had was the body that was technically his now. At least Suzaku had the advantage there, he knew how to live a human life.

He took a deep breath and turned, running out of the forest. He needed to get to a clear spot, to get his bearings so he could figure out where to go. What he wanted to do was to take flight for Heaven and tear into Metatron himself. He wouldn’t even bother trying to take the angel’s grace away nicely, he would rip it from his body without mercy. Suzaku was tired of being used, of being told only the minimum to fight for a cause that he didn’t know the full extent of. They all thought of him as a soldier, but they didn’t know how long he had been holding himself back.

What he could do was a different matter entirely.

He couldn’t fly back to Heaven, his wings had been stripped from him when Metatron had taken his grace. He couldn’t even return as an angel, all he had was the dim hope that he would die and then remember enough to find Metatron. The only thing left for him to do was to find Lelouch and Nunnally. He was alone and newly fallen, which meant weak and there were many things that he could no longer defend himself against. Suzaku needed friends if he wanted to survive. And he wanted to be able to help Lelouch and Nunnally. They were the only ones he could trust now, and it was habit to find them when he was hurt. Lelouch and Nunnally were safe.

Suzaku swiped at a tree branch, ducking under it before it hit him in the face. He jogged out into the open, taking a deep breath as his lungs protested the run. Giving into his body, he slowed down, taking more deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. Being human meant having limits, he would have to try and remember them from before. The vessel he had taken, his body now, was young and strong, and he had that in his favor. But none of that would help him if he truly got in trouble.

He stopped in a field, looking around for any sort of landmark. He remembered where he had left Lelouch, but it was another matter entirely of seeing where he fell. Suzaku frowned when nothing came up, scrambling for his pocket. He knew that he had a cell phone, knew that Lelouch’s number was in it. Even if he had never called his friend while he was on the run, Suzaku had put it in there. There was no way that he could just cut Lelouch out of his life, he had tried before but the human was just impossible to get rid of.

The screen lit up, Suzaku breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn’t broken the phone in the fall. He scrolled through his contacts, pausing on Lelouch’s number. He smiled to himself, about to press call when something flashed across the screen of his phone.

Suzaku turned in place, looking up at the sky as more flashes passed. Humans would have called them shooting stars, falling stars. The latter was more correct.

The angels were falling.

Suzaku fell to his knees, ignoring the phone in his hand as he watched the lights in the sky. They were innumerable, uncountable. They were all of Heaven plummeting down to earth and crashing down. All of them for the revenge of one angel. All of them because of him.

Suzaku shook his head, feeling his throat clog up. He had given Metatron everything and now all of Heaven was burning, every member of his family. He had raged against them all before, when he had been shut up by Naomi, but he had never wanted this. Never wanted them all to fall.

When his vision started to blur, Suzaku reached up to wipe the tears away. He wanted to see, wanted to watch. This was his fault and he had to watch the outcome, he had a duty to watch as each angel fell in the vague hope that he would be able to remember where they landed, remember where their grace was. Then, maybe, he would be able to make it up to all of them. Maybe restoring them to Heaven would finally be enough to prove that he was sorry for what he had done.

Suzaku remained kneeling on the ground until the last light had fallen to the ground. Only then did he allow himself to weep.

[eachainn]

Euphemia turned, watching as Suzaku and Lelouch disappeared. She narrowed her eyes, staring at the spot where Naomi had stood.

She hadn’t been around when they had met Metatron, the angel hiding in the guise of a man named Odysseus, or when Metatron had found Suzaku. She had been too busy recovering from her trip through and then out of Hell. Euphemia rubbed her chest at the memory, sure that she still ached from the repetitive motion of hacking through demons and running as fast as she could. It was a phantom ache, Euphemia had already healed her vessel, but her grace remembered the sensation.

Euphemia swayed in place, torn between two directions.

What she should do was go after Lelouch and Suzaku. Nunnally was in trouble and Nunnally was as much of her charge as Lelouch. She had agreed to that in the moment when she had agreed to help Suzaku fight the civil war. Nunnally’s life should come before anything else.

But then there was Naomi. The angel had never directly hurt her, she had just talked, just explained. There had been nothing beyond what Lelouch had done to any of the people he had manipulated. But Naomi had hurt Suzaku, had worked him over until Suzaku had become the soldier that he had been before any of this all started. Euphemia hadn’t stayed around to see the end, she had just fled to help Lelouch and Nunnally, because she didn’t want to make the choice that Suzaku had been forced to make. Now she regretted it. She hadn’t been important or a danger, so Naomi could have talked to her about her plans.

Euphemia let her hand drop back to her side, nodding to herself. There was one thing that she could do to help them. She would follow the information to the source and figure out what was going on with Naomi. Maybe then they could manage to close Hell as well as save Nunnally.

She took wing, flying up to Heaven and where she usually found Naomi.

Euphemia was prepared to see the white room and Metatron being interrogated, she hadn’t expected anything else from Naomi. Instead, she saw that the white room was a mess, the chairs tossed to one side and the desk pushed almost to the wall. She flung open the door, ducking a swing as Naomi backed past her.

The angel glanced over at her, using the one hand that wasn’t holding her sword to motion away. Euphemia shook her head, looking over to who Naomi was fighting.

Her mouth dropped open as she saw Metatron advancing on her with one of Naomi’s drills. He looked calm and collected compared to Naomi’s panic. Euphemia licked her lips and let her blade slide out. There was no other choice for her in the end. She waited for Metatron to pass her before flying into the room, lunging at his back.

He spun to face her, parrying her attack with a swiftness that she hadn’t expected from a scribe. Euphemia stumbled backwards, jumping to the side to avoid falling over a chair. She settled into a crouch, gripping her sword tightly as she watched Metatron.

She couldn’t see Naomi around him, but she hoped that the other angel would get what she was trying to do. With the two of them, they could kill Metatron and stop him from what he was doing. And then she would get her own chance to save Suzaku after everything that she had done to him. Euphemia nodded to herself, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet, waiting for the attack.

When it came, she twisted to the side, yelping as the drill bit slashed down her arm. Euphemia stumbled back a step, giving Naomi room to dodge in and swipe at Metatron. But the scribe was expecting the attack, Euphemia could tell by the way he shifted easily to the side.

Naomi fell with a shout, her blade clattering off to the side. Metatron stood over her, the drill in hand.

Euphemia lunged forward, forgetting about the battle. They could come back and fight another day, especially when Naomi had allies in Heaven. And they had Suzaku. There were still angels in Heaven that thought that Suzaku could solve their problems. There was a way out for them, even if they won.

She grabbed onto Naomi’s shoulder, taking flight as Metatron came after them again. She felt metal slide along her wing as she took flight, not enough to wound but enough to deflect her flight.

Euphemia grunted as she landed heavily in a human’s heaven, closing her eyes as she caught her breath. She was aware that Naomi was pulling at her wrist, Euphemia shaking her off for a moment. She got carefully to her feet, looking around as angels surrounded them. And, by the way that Naomi was acting, they weren’t a friendly faction. Euphemia narrowed her eyes, pushing Naomi behind her and brandishing her blade.

The other angels stopped, but they were just waiting for her to move. They would probably all attack at once and they would aim for Naomi first. Naomi was unarmed and obviously hurt, bleeding from multiple places where Metatron had scored a hit. Euphemia was the only one with a blade, and one blade against ten angels wouldn’t be enough. It was the kind of ambush that only Suzaku or Gino could have gotten out alive. She swallowed and settled into a crouch, feeling Naomi press against her back as they waited for the attack.

---

Suzaku landed in Naomi’s office, glancing around. Naomi wasn’t there, but everything was in disarray. He frowned, taking a step back as he surveyed the room.

Every time he had been in the room, it had been neat. Now it looked like a disaster area and he could see bits of blood splattered on the floor and on the desk. Even the equipment that Naomi used for interrogations was scattered on the floor, including the drill. Suzaku shivered at the sight of blood on the bit, forcing himself to walk forward. Naomi wasn’t there, so he would be safe, even if it meant that he wouldn’t be getting the information he wanted.

Naomi had said that Metatron was lying, but he wasn’t willing to accept it. Metatron had been the only angel that had told him the truth to him from the beginning. He still had no idea what Naomi had wanted from him, expect that she had wanted the angel tablet and for him to kill Lelouch.

He walked over to the drill, going to crouch beside it when he felt something press against his neck. Suzaku froze, staring at the drill before slowly straightening up, feeling the blade move with him. He clenched his hand into a fist, ready to call on his blade if he got the chance. Then, carefully, he turned his head to see who had him.

Suzaku narrowed his eyes when he saw that Metatron was standing behind him, the angel smiling.

“She told you that I was lying?” Metatron didn’t wait for him to nod, just laughing and pressing the blade against Suzaku’s neck. Under the pressure, Suzaku began to back away, aware that Metatron was moving him back towards the one upright chair left in the room.

He didn’t take his eyes from Metatron, even when he was shoved back into the chair. It was only when the restraints clamped down that Suzaku began to thrash, his mind going back to the last time the chair had been used. Suzaku screamed, arching his back and pressing his wrists against the restraints. Even if his vessel broke, he could just heal it. But he was not going to let himself be used again, it had happened too many times.

Suzaku settled back against the chair, panting for breath. He eyed Metatron as the angel moved around him, attempting to kick him only t miss. Suzaku hissed and tried to push himself upright, his heels pressing against the end of the chair.

Metatron walked over and shoved him back down, Suzaku grunting as he felt ribs break. Metatron just chuckled and patted his chest, Suzaku feeling the ribs knit again. “Don’t struggle so much. You and I have one more thing left to do.”

“Let me go.”

“Don’t you want to know?” Metatron leaned in with a smile. “I would. Then again, I enjoy stories, I enjoy knowing what is going on. You don’t. You’re just a soldier, which is why I needed you. You would never question orders.”

“Let me go.”

“Of course. But I have one thing that I need from you.” Metatron leaned over him, Suzaku gasping as the angel slit his throat. He clawed at the armrests, trying to pull away from Metatron even as his vessel tried to draw in a breath. Suzaku looked over at Metatron, watching as the angel pulled out a small vial. He tried to ask a question, only able to make a soft gargle.

The noise seemed to amuse Metatron, the angel laughing as he held the vial in front of the wound in Suzaku’s throat. “What you were doing was the beginnings of a spell for me, one that will help us all. Heaven isn’t going to close, Suzaku, but the angels are going to learn a lesson. And all I need from you is your essence. After this, you get to live out your life on earth with the humans you value so highly. When you’re done, come and find me. I’ll listen to your story.”

Suzaku coughed weakly, flinching away as Metatron healed the cut in his throat. He tried to sit up, feeling a bit woozy. His head flopped to the side, Suzaku panting for breath as he watched Metatron tuck the vial with his grace away. Suzaku closed his eyes when Metatron patted his head, too weak to pull away any longer.

“Be sure to tell me everything, Suzaku. I’ll be waiting.”

A cool hand was rested on his head, Suzaku gasping as he was sent away. For a moment, he was disoriented, Suzaku automatically trying to correct his flight. There was nothing when he called on it, Suzaku flailing before he landed hard on something. He yelped as his head hit the ground and then he blacked out completely.

---

Lelouch burst into the old church, not bothering to step around the devil’s trap as he charged for Nunnally. He caught his sister around her waist, pulling her away from Mao. “Nunnally, stop!”

She grabbed onto his arms, Lelouch flinching at the blood that he felt against his arm from the cut on one of her hands. He looked up at her as Nunnally stared back at him, her eyes wide. “What are you doing Lelouch?”

“It’s going to kill you, Nunnally! The trials are going to kill you.”

“So?”

He almost let go of her at that. Lelouch tightened his hold, shaking his head. “No. I’m not going to let you do that.”

“Why not? It’s what we’ve wanted, Lelouch.”

“I want Hell closed, but I want you around after this.”

“After everything that they’ve done-”

“I don’t care! It’s all worth nothing without you Nunnally, nothing.”

She stopped struggling for a moment, her eyes wide. Lelouch swallowed and pressed his forehead against her shoulder. “Please, Nunnally. Don’t make me lose you.”

He was shoved away again, Lelouch letting her go. He stumbled back into one of the walls, staring at his sister as she walked back over to where Mao was slumped in his chains. For a moment, she looked like she was going to ignore him and go through with it, but then she turned.

“Why? After everything that you’ve been telling me, after how hard we’ve been pushing ourselves and Nina, why?”

Lelouch shrugged. “Because it isn’t worth it.”

Nunnally scoffed, her bloodied hand hovering close to Mao’s face. “What part of it? Our mother? Father? Everyone we cared about? What part of it isn’t worth it Lelouch?”

“You dying.”

“I’m not important.”

“Yes you are and I’m not doing this without you Nunnally!” Lelouch slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. He stared at his hands, preferring that to his sister. “I tried to live a year without you Nunnally, and it didn’t work. Shirley and I…it was like I was dead already and stuck in Heaven. Part of me enjoyed having that, but I hated it. It wasn’t Shirley and Isabel that I liked, it was the idea of having that. After the Apocalypse, I wanted something normal. I wanted a reward.” Lelouch laughed, aware of how broken it sounded. “But it wasn’t a reward without you. That’s why there’s no light at the end for me, because the end will either be with me dead or you dead. And I can’t have the latter.”

He took a deep breath, watching as his hands shook. “And…I understand why you didn’t look for me, Nunnally. I understand what it feels like to lose everything and just wallow, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like it. But…Nunnally, I just-”

Lelouch cut himself off as he heard Nunnally sit down beside him. He glanced over at her, watching as bright light flared in her veins. He winced and looked away, allowing Nunnally to turn his head back to her.

His sister stared at him for a moment before she sighed and slumped. “What do I do about this then?”

“We’ll figure that out. Let your big brother handle this.”

Nunnally shook her head. “You can’t just take control of everything, Lelouch. Let me carry some of the load.” She held out her bloodied hand to him. “Let me help you.”

Lelouch felt the corner of his mouth twitch up into something like a smile, but he didn’t answer. Nunnally probably didn’t need to hear his answer either. They both knew that Lelouch would continue trying to shoulder everything, and Nunnally would continue to stop him. They had always existed like that. He sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a cloth and wrapping it around her wound. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Yes.” Nunnally stood up, offering her hand to him. Lelouch took it and hauled himself up, watching as Nunnally swayed for a moment. He reached out for her only to have her push him away. Nunnally shook her head and gestured to where Mao was. “But what about-”

Lelouch lunged forward as Nunnally fell, grabbing his sister around her waist. He buckled under her weight, straining to keep them both upright until Nunnally flickered back into consciousness.

She grabbed at his jacket. “Lelouch? I don’t feel so well.”

“It’s alright.” He turned his head to kiss her temple. “I’ll take care of you.”

She frowned. “You don’t have to.”

“Let me do this one thing. Let me just be your big brother for a while.” He didn’t get a response, Lelouch glancing down at Nunnally before hauling her towards the door.

He could feel her trying to help, but Nunnally just seemed to have the strength to cling to him. Lelouch gritted his teeth, turning so his shoulder would take the brunt of the force of the door. He didn’t know where to turn to fix Nunnally, not after the trials had damaged her. They would have to turn to Nina to find out what happened after they stopped the trials, especially so close to the end. Lelouch couldn’t stomach having to see Nunnally suffering for the rest of her life.

Lelouch lost his hold on her as they stumbled outside, managing to keep Nunnally from falling down the steps. The two of them crumpled to the ground, Lelouch leaning back against the railing as he hauled Nunnally into a sitting position. Maybe he could get something to hold her over, at least until Nina was finished translating what he needed.

“Suzaku! Euphy!” He paused, waiting for the familiar rush of wind and the sounds of wings. When it didn’t come immediately, Lelouch stood up, screaming as loud as he could. “Suzaku! Euphemia!”

When the silence continued, he got ready to try again, stopping as he stared up at the sky. It was lighting up, and it wasn’t sunrise, not for hours. Lelouch dropped to a crouch beside his sister, his mouth dropping open as he saw bright pinpricks of light beginning to form before they resolved themselves into falling stars. He stared at them, trying to count and then giving up as it began to look like it was raining.

Lelouch looked down at Nunnally as she used him to pull herself upright, not minding her grip on his arm. She pressed close to him, staring at the sky as well. “What’s happening?”

Lelouch shook his head, unable to voice his answer. It was too inconceivable to him, especially in such a mass number. Instead, he closed his eyes and pressed his face against Nunnally’s hair, feeling her hold him tighter.

She patted his arm, Lelouch feeling her hands shake when they stopped. “The angels are falling, aren’t they?”

All Lelouch could do was nod.

[eachainn]

“There are easier ways to kill me than that.”

“That’s not what I called you out here for.”

“Then why did you?” Akito narrowed his eyes, the only change to his usual neutral expression. “The last time you called me, you wanted to make sure that I knew not to call you, which I already knew.”

Lelouch snorted. “What about Leila?”

That got a snarl from Akito. “She was an emergency and she’s safe. Now hurry up and tell me why you called mebefore I decide that it would be in my better interests to just leave?”

Lelouch stared at Akito for a moment before making a decision and pushing his machete back into hiding. He had no other choice than to turn to the varcolac, no matter how much he wanted to stay far away from Akito. Apparently, he had no choice by to keep close ties to Akito. And, thus far, it hadn’t turned out too badly for him. He sighed and took a step back so he was leaning back against his car. “It’s Nunnally.”

A raised eyebrow was his only response. Lelouch took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to keep himself calm. It wasn’t like he and Akito had traded tales of their life outside of Purgatory with each other. He couldn’t expect Akito to know how important Nunnally was to him.

“We’re working on…something big, and she hasn’t been back for a month.”

“So, why do you need me?”

“Because I don’t know where she is!”

“Then get your angel on this.”

“I can’t, he’s not here. I can’t get to Nunnally and I’ve tried everything.” He had spent the last month searching frantically for something that would let him get back into Hell so he could help her, anything but another demon deal because he was sure that he was persona non grata to Mao and most of the demons under his control. There was only one way that he thought would work, and for it he needed something not human. “I need you to go back into Purgatory.”

“Why?”

“Because of what went on before and what Nunnally and I are doing, the spaces between the realms are thin. There’s a chance that there are entrances into other realms. I need you to find one and pull her from Hell.”

Akito held up a hand, shaking his head. “You want me to just allow you to kill me and then willingly walk into Hell, just to grab your sister?” Akito snorted. “I have things up here to look after.”

“I’ll protect Leila.”

“Will you?”

“Yes, because she’s as important to you as Nunnally is to me.” Lelouch drew out his machete, watching as Akito took a step back. “And because Nunnally will take you out of there. Take my sister out and I’ll be waiting for you at the exit with your body.”

Akito shifted in place, Lelouch watching him carefully. It had been a long shot in any case, almost too much to demand from anyone. Lelouch wouldn’t have been forced to this end if Suzaku had still been around, if the angel hadn’t run off with the tablet. And there was no one else other than Akito, Lelouch didn’t have any other creatures he could turn to. He wouldn’t have been so desperate if Nunnally had been back sooner, even a week would have been better than a month. If Nunnally was still gone, that meant that she had either been killed or that Euphemia had lost her. He was working on the only plan he could formulate.

Finally, Akito nodded, the varcolac stepping forward cautiously. “I’ll do it, but only because then we’ll be even. But if anything happens to Leila, I will make you regret it.”

“Of course.” Lelouch breathed a sight of relief, hefting the machete in his hand. It wasn’t the best way to kill Akito, but it would work in the meantime. “Just get her out safe.”

“It’s Purgatory. There is nothing safe about it.”

“Then in one piece.”

Akito nodded, squaring his shoulders and staring at Lelouch. Lelouch glanced around before stepping forward and slicing Akito’s head off. He winced at the sound, dropping his machete to catch the varcolac before he fell to the ground. Lelouch didn’t want to draw more attention to himself than he needed. Mao’s demons would be watching him, he was sure of it. Lelouch didn’t know if they were aware of what he and Nunnally were doing, but he was willing to bet that Mao would figure it out.

Lelouch grunted and dragged Akito’s body over to the car. He would call in a few favors to make sure that Leila was protected, but he wouldn’t be able to look after her himself. He would drive up to Maine and wait for Nunnally to appear, because she could come out within a day or in another tow months. Lelouch was not going to miss his sister’s return.

He hauled Akito’s body into the trunk, making sure that he had the head safely tucked away before he slammed the trunk shut.

---

Rolo stepped back as the angel flung out her arm. He resisted the urge to grab onto her in the darkness. She needed to be free to fight.

They had been lucky for a while, able to sneak through the edges of Hell without being noticed. But Rolo hadn’t expected for their escape to be easy, not with Michael and Lucifer screaming in the Cage. He also hadn’t thought that it would take them so long to escape from Hell. It felt like they had been running forever.

He reached out for the nearest wall, leaning against it. He wanted to rest, even though he wasn’t tired. Hell was oppressive, even without the lakes of fire and tortured souls that Rolo had always expected. Instead there was nothing but darkness or dimly lit hallways. The angel was the brightest thing around, which was probably why she was drawing all of the attention.

The angel grabbed onto his hand, tugging him along again. Rolo had to jog to keep up, constantly looking around for more demons. They hadn’t given up, but they were circling. He could sometimes see them and sliding shadows over the brief flashes of light. He felt like the broken bodies of deer he had seen on the side of the highway, with vultures circling over head. The two of them were a dying animal, the demons were just waiting for the right moment to attack.

A demon moved past, Rolo turning to stare at it only to stumble. Only the angel’s grip on his arm kept him from falling over. The angel tugged him forward, Rolo almost falling against at the strength behind the pull. He reached up to grab at her arm, about to pull himself free when the angel let go of him.

He was left standing in the dark as she moved ahead of him, staring at some part of the wall before tapping at it. She placed her hand on the section of wall, making a soft sound of surprise when it gave under her hand.

Rolo scampered over before she could wave him over, crouching so he could peer at the tunnel that she had revealed. It was short and angled steeply up, but he was sure that he could clamber out through it. The best part was the light that he could see at the end of it. He glanced back at the angel, giving her a smile before crawling into the tunnel.

He expected the angel to follow right behind him, but when Rolo turned she was still by the entrance. Rolo frowned and reached back for her. “Come on.”

“No. You go. I’ll lead them on ahead.”

“There’s no other way out.”

She turned slightly so she could look at him. “There are other ways out. This one is just…it’s not meant to be here. Hurry, or it might close.”

Rolo nodded, about to climb through the tunnel when a thought struck him. If the tunnel wasn’t supposed to exist in the first place, then he couldn’t be sure that it would lead him out of Hell. There was every chance that it would lead him right into an upper level, or even back to the Cage. Space and direction had no meaning in Hell. He almost backed out of the tunnel and demanded that the angel take him out of Hell the usual way, if there was one. Instead, he swallowed and scooted back. “Where does this lead?”

“I don’t know, but it’s out. That’s all that matters.”

Out was good. Anywhere but back in Hell was good. He licked his lips and looked back at the angel. “Where will I go once I get out?”

“If it leads back to earth, then you’ll just float up to Heaven. Your body is still in the Cage.” A howl drowned out what the angel was going to say next.

She turned to look out into the darkness, reaching back with one hand to shove him forward into the tunnel. “Go now!”

He didn’t argue, scrambling up the tunnel as fast as he could.

Rolo expected to feel rock beneath his palms, but it just felt like dirt. Cold dirt that crumbled away behind him in handfuls as he clawed his way up. The darkness and the weight of the dirt on all sides reminded him of the time that the angels had raised him from the dead with promises of seeing his mother again and righting all the wrongs of the world. Rolo had still been naïve enough to want some kind of revenge on Charles, the father who had led him and his mother die. He had wanted to be able to do the one thing that Nunnally and Lelouch hadn’t been able to do. And it had gotten him locked in the Cage.

He grunted and hauled himself up further, keeping his eyes focused on the circle of light above his head, watching as it slowly grew larger. Rolo would risk dying again, or what passed for dying when he was only a soul, over being dragged back down. He wasn’t sure what the demons would do to him, whether they would just torture him or throw him back into the Cage, but he was going to fight if they tried to get him. He would fight and struggle just to get to the promising ring of light.

Rolo didn’t know how long he spent climbing on all fours, it didn’t matter like the passage of time in Hell. All he knew was that the light kept getting closer and then he was there.

He stuck his hand out first, groping for a hold on the other side. After a moment of waving it around, someone grabbed his hand.

He yelped and nearly fell backward, but the person at the other end hauled him out of the tunnel. Rolo clawed at the hand, kicking at the person as soon as his feet were free. He was let go immediately, Rolo rolling down the short slope before getting to his feet.

There was nothing that he could use as a weapon, not without bending down again. At a loss of what to do, Rolo clenched his hands into fists and raised them. Only then did he look at the person who had pulled him out, his face going slack with surprise.

Nunnally was staring back at him with a look of equal surprise, holding a strange weapon in her hand. The important thing was that she had not raised it against him.

Rolo swallowed and lowered his hands, about to ask what was going on when there was a chorus of howls and snarls from behind him. He turned around to look, catching a glimpse of Nunnally standing up on her tip toes out of the corner of his eye before he was dragged backwards.

He craned his head back to look at Nunnally, his half sister just shaking her head and giving him a shove. “Run!”

Rolo didn’t bother arguing.

---

Nunnally braced herself against a tree, gulping down breaths of air. For the moment, monsters had stopped chasing them, which was good. The only bad thing was that she didn’t know where they were going. Rolo had spotted a bright light in the distance, which they were heading for in the hopes that it would be something, but there were literally no landmarks that Nunnally could discern. There were just the trees and rocks that made up Purgatory. She wiped a hand over her forehead, smearing more mud there. Trees, rocks and mud; that was all that Purgatory was.

She looked over at Rolo, glad to see that he was taking the chance to rest as well instead of panicking. He had taken her shouted explanation well, aside from an incredulous look when she had said where they were. He had even come in handy, snatching up the weapon when she had dropped it to slash at some of the monsters that were coming after them. Even as their heads rolled on the ground, Nunnally had the sneaking suspicion that they would just be back later.

She pushed herself away from the tree, shaking her head. They couldn’t rest for much longer, not if they wanted to get to whatever the light was. She glanced at Rolo and jerked her head to the side, her half brother getting to his feet.

They were about to begin running again, continuing their run of however many days they had been trapped in Purgatory, when there was a shout from beside them. Nunnally turned in time to see a strange, half melted creature lunging at them. There was no time to dodge, all she could do was bring up her weapon to guard her face and hope that she would be able to gain some leverage on the ground.

The attack never landed, Nunnally opened her eyes as there was yelp and a crash. She stared at the back of the person in front of her, tipping her head up to meet Akito’s gaze. The varcoloc nodded at her before shoving her away. “Keep going.”

She nodded, dashing to where Rolo was jogging in place, waiting for her. In the world of monsters, she was not going to question Akito’s orders. That could wait until they were clear again. The first thing she would ask him would be how to get out, and then how he got back into Purgatory. It couldn’t have been coincidence that Akito had showed up, the varcolac had been well hidden since the incident.

Rolo grabbed her arm as soon as she passed, the two of them running for the edge of the trees. As they ran, the howls and snarls got softer. Nunnally risked a look back, watching as Akito tossed monsters to the side, wielding a black blade as easily as she and Lelouch handled their weapons. She wanted to shiver, remembering the similar weapons that Lelouch kept at the bottom of his duffel bag and the way he would stroke the bone handle with a wistful look.

They cleared the trees, still clinging to each other and panting hard. Nunnally brushed her hair out of her face, looking up the rocky cliff to the blue light that was pulsing at the top. That couldn’t be natural, at least to Purgatory. Nunnally went to step forward when someone grabbed her arm.

She spun around to hit them, freezing when she saw that it was Akito. Nunnally reached back to stop Rolo from attacking, narrowing her eyes at the varcolac.

Akito let go of her and lifted his hands in surrender. “Lelouch sent me to find you. But it looks like you would have gotten out fine without me.”

He jerked his head toward the blue light, but Nunnally didn’t turn to look. She was too busy going over what Akito had said.

The varcolac had come into Purgatory to get them, which meant that he had let Lelouch kill him just for this. Akito could have said no and they could have gotten out, but he had saved their lives. There was no telling what else he had kept off their trail.

Nunnally swallowed and nodded, beginning to nudge Rolo up towards the rocks when Akito held out his hand.

“You won’t get him out like that.”

“Then how?”

“There’s a spell, bound by blood.” Nunnally nodded and went to cut her arm, stopping when Akito rested his fingers on her arm. “But I go first. I’m not getting left here.”

Nunnally wanted to refuse. Akito was a monster, he belonged in Purgatory. But, on the other hand, he had laid low. He hadn’t attacked anyone, except for those who had tried to kill him. It wasn’t an excuse for the one dead body that she knew Akito had caused, but it was a point in his favor. He was like some of the others, the ones who just wanted to live a normal life. And he had come after them when he could have walked away. He had no ties to them, no reason to want to help them. But he had allowed himself to come back to Purgatory.

She took a deep breath and cut her arm, holding the weapon out to him. For a moment, Akito hesitated, looking between her and the weapon before the corner of her mouth twitched up. He took the blade from her hand. “Press your arm against mine and repeat what I say. Then do the same with your friend over there.”

“And then what?”

Akito drew the blade up his arm, tilting his arm so the blood wouldn’t drip off quickly. “Walk into that light. Your brother will be waiting for you there.”

He passed the blade back to her, holding out his own arm. Nunnally pressed their arms together, listening carefully to the words that he chanted before repeating them. She flinched back when Akito dissolved into light, blinking quickly when her vision cleared. The varcolac was no longer there.

Nunnally nodded to herself, cutting her other arm. “Come on.”

Rolo followed her lead, dropping the blade to the ground as soon as he was done.

This time, Nunnally kept her eyes shut as she recited the spell, only barely seeing the flash of light as Rolo dissolved. She opened her eyes when it was done, only staying long enough to pick up the weapon again before making a dash for the light.

[eachainn]

30 Days of Writing: Day 30 – Transformation.

But the biggest blow was the fact that Suzaku hadn’t come back with Lelouch.

When both Lelouch and Suzaku had disappeared, Euphemia had been worried because she couldn’t feel them anymore. She had searched for them, but she hadn’t been able to make herself go up to Heaven, not while she could still remember the bodies of her brothers and sister sprawled around her. How could she go home after doing that to her family? Then again, where could she go after playing God? There was no place left for an angel like her, an angel that had managed to fall in every way possible.

The worst part was that she hadn’t suffered for her mistake. She had lost her memory and worked to heal people while Suzaku had searched for her and fought the hallucination in Nunnally’s head. She had been too late to save Nunnally and Suzaku, she had just had to watch as Suzaku had taken the punishment meant for her. She had almost backed away from helping Lelouch and Nunnally go after the Leviathans while Suzaku, still half crazy, had volunteered immediately. Suzaku had also been the one sent to Purgatory, the home of the monsters that Euphemia had subjugated. He had suffered through the penance made for her and Euphemia had done nothing.

She let go of the tree to drop her face into her hands, wings spread for balance. She had failed in all the ways an angel could fail and she wasn’t punished for it. What she wanted to do was to just rip out her grace and let herself become a human. That would be a suitable punishment for what she had done. But Lelouch and Nunnally still needed her, in case something bad happened to them. And Suzaku needed her now that Gino was gone. Who else would pull him from Purgatory? Her penance would be to help Lelouch and Nunnally, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

Euphemia took a deep breath, trying to coax some air into her lungs around the blockage in her throat. She knew what sorrow felt like, she had felt it during the civil war when angels were dying around her and when Suzaku had lost confidence in her. This was something worse, this was more like survivor’s guilt, because there were so many that deserved to live more than she had.

She pulled her wings closer to her, wrapping herself in them in the almost childish idea that she wouldn’t be hurt by the world if she couldn’t see it.

Euphemia remembered the one of the few times that Suzaku had been able to stop fighting in the civil war, when he wasn’t with the Lamperouges. She had once been his confidante, the angel that he was the closest to. Euphemia had once taken pride in that, like she had once taken pride in her deal, because she had been able to give Suzaku the edge he needed in the war and a way to visit his humans.

He had told her of the one time Diethard had tried to convince Lelouch to say yes to Michael, how Lelouch had come back from the experience looking shaken and frightened. Lelouch had never told Suzaku the whole truth, just snippets of what had happened. But Suzaku had told Euphemia that the first thing that Lelouch had said to him was “Suzaku, you can’t change. Understand?”

Suzaku had taken it like the order it was. Euphemia knew that Suzaku would follow that order to the end of his life, because it had come from Lelouch, one of the humans that meant the most to him. But she couldn’t help but think that Lelouch had wasted his time worrying about the wrong angel.

The warning should have gone to her.

[eachainn]

30 Days of Writing: Day 29 – Promise.

The blood was making stick to her. Nunnally made an effort not to make a face at that thought. After spending nearly her entire life hunting, the thought of blood sticking to her shouldn’t have made her so disgusted, but it was the blood of a hellhound and it was splattered all down her front, even over her jeans. Nunnally was sure that she had gotten some of the blood in her mouth, even though she had turned her head to the side after she had made the cut. She rubbed a hand over her mouth. She would rinse it out later.

Lelouch stopped pacing, Nunnally focusing on her brother as he stood in the middle of the room. There were probably better places to have this confrontation, but Lelouch wouldn’t let her. The look on his face said that he wasn’t going to let this go until he was satisfied.

“Lelouch, I-”

“I thought that we had already agreed on this, Nunnally. I would do this.”

She shrugged, trying her best to look sheepish. “It was an accident. I just acted.”

The way that Lelouch narrowed his eyes told her what she needed to know. Her brother didn’t believe her, he just thought that she had ignored his order and had gone on with what she had wanted to do. He probably just thought that she was being stubborn and overprotective. Lelouch had just come back from Purgatory and was trying to deal with Euphemia and what she did. He was friends with a varcolac and Suzaku was nowhere to be seen. It was a lot and Nunnally had already told him that she was watching him to be sure that everything was alright. Lelouch probably thought that she was trying to look after him again.

But that wasn’t it. It had honestly been an accident when Nunnally had acted.

She had run into the barn and had seen Lelouch on his back with the hellhound on top of him. She had panicked, because it had looked like her brother was about to die, and she had seen that once already. Nunnally wasn’t sure how much worse actually being able to see the hellhound had made the situation, but she hadn’t been able to focus on her brother in the barn. Her mind was back in the house in Illinois, with Lilith possessing Nemo’s body as she gloated over Lelouch. She had only been able to see Lelouch being dragged off of the table and being torn apart before her eyes.

Nunnally would have stayed frozen in place if she hadn’t tried to step forward, stuck in the memory of the last time her brother had been pinned by hellhounds when she couldn’t move. The fact that she was free to act was a revelation and a saving grace, because it meant that she could save him. Nunnally was sure that she hadn’t been thinking about the trials in the moment she had dove for the knife. She was just thinking that she could save her brother from the hellhounds and keep him from going to Hell. By killing this one hellhound, she could reverse everything that had happened to them since Lelouch had been pulled out of Hell.

It was impossible to rewrite time, but it had been the closure that she had needed. Even pinned to the ground with a hellhound snarling over her, Nunnally had felt a faint sense of victory when she had gutted it. Even with it’s black blood pouring onto her, it was a victory, because she had saved her brother. It was her belated attempt to make up for helping with the apocalypse.

Nunnally took a deep breath and met Lelouch’s gaze. “I just acted, Lelouch.”

“No. You were trying to do the trials for me. I said that I could handle it.”

“You did, and I know you can. But don’t you dare try to tell me what I was doing.” Nunnally took a deep breath to keep herself from shouting at her brother. Now was not the time to let out years of anger at him. Lelouch was defensive, and yelling would get her nowhere. “I was just trying to save you.”

“I had it under control.”

“You might have, but I am not ready to lose you again!” She swallowed and took a step back. “Do you really think you’re the only one that has a fear of hellhounds? What about me? I might not jump every time a dog barks, but I do panic when I see a dog coming after you. Will this be the time that you’re killed again? Do I have to watch you get torn apart? And how will you get back this time now that Suzaku isn't here? Euphemia has never been to Hell and she’s not a soldier, Lelouch. How will I get you back then?”

Lelouch stared at her for a moment, Nunnally almost sure that he understood. Then he held out his hand. “Give me the incantation, Nunnally.”

“No.” She took a step back from him. “It won’t work for you, but it will work for me. I’ll do these trials if I have to, because I’m not letting you attempt to kill yourself through them. Schneizel, Rolo, Gabrielle, Clovis, Shirley, Isabel and Suzaku might not be around to save you, but I am. And I will keep saving you until you get it through your head that I don’t want a world without you. It’s not worth it if you aren’t around.”

“Nunnally…”

She reached up to wipe tears away from her face. She didn’t want to be crying now, it would turn Lelouch from paying attention to wanting to comfort her. Nunnally took a deep breath and looked away from her brother, taking the moment to collect herself. When she was sure of herself, she looked back at him. “I need you to promise that you will let me do these trials.”

“I can’t. They could get you killed.”

“They might, but you’re there.” She smiled at him. “I’m trusting you to guard my back and the same should go for you. I just got you back and I’m not giving you up again. So, promise that you let me do these trials, because I’m not going to let you die. And I promise to fight until the end.”

She offered her free hand to him, carefully hiding the paper behind her back. This was not about the trials anymore, it was about the two of them figuring out how to fix what had happened between them.

Lelouch stared at her hand for a moment before taking it and giving it a firm shake. “I promise.”

[eachainn]

30 Days of Writing: Day 28 – Thousand.

Lelouch had survived thirty years in Hell being tortured before breaking, but Suzaku would never hold that against him. It was written that Lelouch would break and so it would be. Charles Lamperouge had never been destined to break, Lelouch had been the one secret that Heaven had had, the one thing that could one up Hell, at least until Lelouch had sold his soul. But Heaven had been prepared for that too.

Suzaku was still proud that he had been chosen, taken from his position to watch over earth to join the siege of Hell. He had gird himself for battle and charged in beside the rest of his brothers and sisters, knowing full well that he would probably die in the effort. He was just a foot soldier after all, no one special. It was his job to hold against the demons, to fight to clear a path to the Righteous Man. As long as more angels got past him he had done his duty.

But it hadn’t turned out that way. Suzaku had managed to push on when all those around him had fallen, even the captains who had been given the honor of retrieving the Righteous Man. Suzaku had watched the last one fall, standing by his brother’s side as the angel had crumpled under the onslaught of demons. Suzaku remembered getting mad then, tearing his way through the demons with his blade and wings, a creature of light and anger. Hell had burned brighter that day with the light of dying angels and his own fury.

And he had been the one who had found the Righteous Man. He had been the one to find the twisted, part demon that had once been human. He had been the one to stand before him, pulling Lelouch back from the soul that he had been torturing and throwing the knife away. Then he had grabbed the tormented soul before taking flight, twisting through the chains that had made up Hell. He remembered the screeches of the demons as he had flown out of their reach and the way that Lelouch had grabbed at him. Suzaku wasn’t sure if the soul had wanted to push him away or had been trying to cling, it didn’t matter. His mission had been accomplished.

He had been the one to pull the Righteous Man out of the pits of Hell, the one that would keep the apocalypse from happening, because he had the man that could stop it. He had saved the world. Even better, a lowly soldier had managed to piece together the broken body of the Righteous Man, although Suzaku had felt some doubt about his skills. Still, he had been given orders, to retrieve and revive the Righteous Man. He had followed the orders to the letter and then had returned to Heaven singing that Lelouch Lamperouge had been saved.

Now, he was being summoned, the one to meet the Righteous Man and tell him his mission. All from a lowly foot soldier. There were a chance for a promotion, one that Suzaku wanted badly. It was a chance to serve on the front instead of just remaining behind to watch. He wanted to save humanity, the race that God had told them to look after. Suzaku wanted to be there when the apocalypse was stopped and glory in a world saved.

He landed carefully, tucking himself back inside of his vessel. A storm was whipping up, a side effect of his excitement for the meeting. Suzaku wanted to banish it away, but he was sure that it would just appear again. He shook his head, carefully schooling his expression into something more acceptable. He was an angel, he didn’t get excited.

Suzaku extended his grace and shoved the doors to the barn open, striding forward in his borrowed body. 

[eachainn]

30 Days of Writing: Day 27 – Sunset.

He thought he heard Schneizel shouting for him, but Lelouch ignored it in favor of looking for his sister.

Nunnally just had to be around. He would tear through all the buildings in the town, kill any ghosts that came at him, to get to her. Schneizel wouldn’t be able to stop him from that. Schneizel wouldn’t be able to understand, he just thought they were trying to get Nunnally again, but he was more interested in the end game of the Yellow-Eyed Demon. Lelouch needed to know that Nunnally would be alright.

Charles had told him that he would have to kill her, which was something that he would never do. No matter what his father ordered him to do, Lelouch would never harm Nunnally. There would be a way to figure out what to do to help her, Lelouch would do anything to make it happen.

A crash made him jump, Lelouch reaching for the gun at his hip. He had the presence of mind to raise a hand to Schneizel to tell him to slow down and look around. Lelouch glanced back to see Schneizel nod, the man already circling around to the left. They would have to work through the town methodically, much to Lelouch’s impatience. He tightened his grip on the gun and took a deep breath, forcing himself to concentrate.

He couldn’t just rush around, because he might miss Nunnally or get himself killed. He couldn’t die, not while his little sister needed him.

There was a shout. Lelouch spun to face the main street with his gun raised. He only kept it up long enough to determine that what was coming at him wasn’t a ghost but a human before he slid the gun back into its holster. Then he was running towards his sister.

“Nunnally!”

She jumped at the sound of her name, turning to face him. Lelouch thought he saw a relieved smile on her face as Nunnally stumbled toward him, clutching at her arm. His gaze dropped to the bloody sleeve on that arm, Lelouch almost ready to change course to find the person that had hurt his sister, but that could wait until he was sure that Nunnally was safe.

He was distracted from his mad sprint towards his sister by something moving in the shadows. Lelouch slowed down enough to see that it was a person, his eyes fixing on the knife that glinted in the moonlight. He almost stopped, Lelouch opening his mouth to shut a warning, only for it to come out as a choked out scream.

Nunnally didn’t get the message in time, Lelouch seeing her frown before her body jerked as the man stabbed her in the back.

“No!” He pulled out his gun as the man twisted the knife in Nunnally’s back before yanking it out. Lelouch fired off two shots, both of which missed as the man ran off. Lelouch cursed and threw the gun to the ground, not worrying about the man in favor of rushing forward to catch his sister before she fell into the mud.

Lelouch gathered Nunnally against his chest, brushing her hair out of her face with one hand as the other went to press against the wound. He flinched at the blood that he felt through her shirt, trying his best not to think about the space where his hand wasn’t supported by Nunnally’s skin.

“’louch?”

“I’m here.” Lelouch titled his head down to rest his forehead against Nunnally’s head. “I got the message, I’m here. You’re safe.”

There was no response, Lelouch swallowing and rubbing Nunnally’s back with the hand that wasn’t putting pressure on her wound. He felt her breath out against his face, just a short puff of air. He couldn’t feel anything else. Lelouch having to swallow around the lump that was growing in his throat before he could speak. “Stay with me, Nunnally. Just hang on and we’ll get you back. I’ll take care of you. You’re not going to die.”

He lifted his head to look around for Schneizel. The other man would need to drive so he could be back with Nunnally. He wasn’t going to leave his sister, not when she needed him so much. Not when he needed her so much. “Schneizel!”

Nunnally slumped against him, Lelouch flinching and clutching her close. “Sh. I’m sorry. We’ll get you out of here, alright?”

There was just silence in response.

Lelouch choked down a sob, ducking his head to look at Nunnally’s face where it rested on his shoulder. His sister’s eyes were closed and he couldn’t feel her breath, he hadn’t since she had said his name. He knew what it meant, but he was not willing to accept the answer.

He gave her a little shake. “Nunnally? Nunnally answer me.”

She flopped limply in his arms, Lelouch staring at his sister’s body in shock.

It didn’t make any sense. He had done everything he could to give her anything she wanted. He had given up everything for her many times over, and Lelouch didn’t regret any of it. He had driven as fast as he could to get to her, hadn’t stopped looking from the moment she had disappeared. He had disobeyed every order from his father, every sane advice that he had gotten from hunters for his sister. All of that had to add up to something, it had to mean something. Because it couldn’t mean that he had failed to protect her.

But she wasn’t responding to him, wasn’t breathing. She was dead.

Lelouch dropped his head to Nunnally’s shoulder and screamed.

[eachainn]

30 Days of Writing: Day 26 – Summer.

Sure that he was safe, Kanon bent down to pick up the head. Neither the head nor the body had started to animate again, which meant that they had the time to dispose of this body, and the ones that were still in the warehouse. Security wasn’t an issue, all the staff in the warehouse had been Leviathans. The problem would come when they blew up the warehouse, another in a long chain of storage facilities that Dick Roman had used. From the initial map that Kanon and Schneizel had figured out, they were almost done with the last of the facilities that were staging points for the Leviathan’s plan.

He made a face at the ooze still dripping from the head, walking back into the building. He had chased after the one runner, leaving Schneizel to deal with the last few in the warehouse. Even after recovering for six months, Kanon was wary about leaving Schneizel alone. Dick was dead, but that didn’t mean that any of the other Leviathans wouldn’t panic and shoot him again. They were all desperate now that their leader was dead, broken into factions. There were still a few trying to finish up Dick’s master plan, but most of them were just on a rampage, lost and confused. Kanon had made a point of going after those that were still trying to kill the human race, the second group wasn’t too hard to find.

What confused him the most was the silence from the Lamperouges.

Neither Schneizel nor Kanon had made an effort to contact Lelouch and Nunnally after Schneizel had been healed, not even when Schneizel had recovered completely. That had been Kanon’s fault mostly, because he had been afraid that they would haul Schneizel back into going after Dick Roman and Kanon was not ready to lose Schneizel.

With Dick dead through mysterious circumstances, Kanon had thought that the Lamperouges would try and find them, but the pattern hadn’t been followed. There was still time for contact, although Kanon was still reluctant to do so. He and Schneizel had a job to finish. He didn’t want to get caught up in whatever trouble Lelouch and Nunnally had gotten themselves into this time. Besides, it wasn’t a crime to want to enjoy his time with Schneizel, especially now that Schneizel had recovered.

Kanon opened the door to the warehouse with his shoulder, holding up the head as Schneizel turned to look at him. “Last one.”

Schneizel made a vague motion to his left towards the boxes, a few of them already rattling as the heads tried to rejoin the bodies. Kanon sighed and dropped the head into one of the few empty ones. “We need to find a better way to do this.”

“It’s on the list.” Schneizel didn’t look up from the quick tally he was doing of the bodies.

Kanon sighed and leaned back against the shelf, carefully rolling his shoulder. He had taken a hit earlier, nothing bad but certainly enough to bruise. It would be a pain when they hauled the bodies to be burned. So far, it was the only way of disposing the bodies that they knew of, although it didn’t seem to stop the heads from rattling around in their boxes. Kanon would want to burn them too, but he didn’t know if it would actually help and it was far better to play it safe than risk another Leviathan infestation.

Schneizel took a step back, nodding to himself. “Done here. Just need to finish up the clean up.”

“I'll haul, you set the charges.” To Kanon’s relief, Schneizel didn’t argue.

Kanon leaned down and started to drag the bodies outside. Hopefully, the blast from the warehouse would be enough to hide the pyre, although the cops weren’t likely to look too hard. All that they knew was that something fishy had happened in Roman Enterprises, courtesy of a false trail that Kanon had laid out as soon as he could. With some luck, the government would help them take down by removing funding and investigating, although it was more likely that the law enforcement would die instead of actually managing to kill any of the Leviathans. Thus far, he and Schneizel had managed to stay ahead of all of them, meaning that there was very little loss of life and very little attention on them.

He paused in the midst of dragging, sparing a moment to watch as Schneizel walked around the warehouse. It was a habit from when Schneizel was recovering, that Kanon had to see that he was still alive. Kanon still remembered the nightmares that he had woken up from, sure that Schneizel was dead. He just needed a reminder that Schneizel was still alive and would remain that way to continue through his day.

Reassured for a while, Kanon opened the door with his hip and dragged the headless body outside to join the other in the parking lot.