Work Text:
The Orange`s Speech
Pendragon, KT-TV studio
5 th of December, 2028 a.t.b. / Revolutionary Year 239
All lights in the room were directed at the sitting area in the studio. Operators were finishing their job with correcting their cameras.
Sitting area had three armchairs: white, orange and crimson red, all turned to the cameras or at least slightly to the side. Between them was a small coffee table, with three glasses of water and a 1-litre decanter to refill.
On the white chair sat Milly Ashford – a prominent journalist, one of the most popular TV reporters in all of Pacific region, including Japan, China, Korea and, of course, Britannia. She even gained a reputation of an honest and brave journalist in Europe, as she uncovered several enormous corruption schemes on natural gas extraction in Eastern Europe.
She was swarmed with makeup artists, trying to get her ready as quickly as possible.
They quickly retreated as she waved them off. Time was ticking, only a minute before launch. Her eyes quickly glanced over the script. All important questions are written, all points that she needed to remind people of, her two speeches on the beginning and in the end, which she hadn`t really bothered to read, as she always resorted to improvisation instead of them.
The offline viewers sat in their chairs, readying for the show. Aside from usual people, there were some renowned military officers, both in Britannian and the Black Knights uniforms, all were participants of old events. None from the leadership of the Black Knights, as it seemed.
And, most importantly, the guests had arrived. And they are…
"3…2…1…" operator kept signaling to the journalist. "And…Now!"
Blonde hostess begun, with a happy smile on her face "Greetings Pendragon and greetings to all of our viewers all over the world, be it Principality of Britannia, Japan, France or any other UFN nation! I`m Milly Ashford and now we begin this discussion."
"Around 10 years and three months from now, the Demon Emperor Lelouch was defeated by the Masked Knight – Zero." Her voice was sad, as many lost their lives in that period. "For many, his death was truly a triumphant day, though the memories of his bloody rule, of lives slain in combat or from secret police, were alive. This day brought liberation upon the world."
"Some may wonder, what had happened? What drove this young man, who at some point was regarded as a 'Savior of Britannia', diminishing the rule of nobility and giving freedom to occupied Areas, to becoming the world tyrant, who had Damocles above Earth, threatening to cut the throats of billions of innocent, should they revolt?" Ashford didn`t had to make any fake expression or words, as it was painfully interesting for her as much as for people to learn. "And who could better tell us the possible reasons for it, if not the people who stood behind many of the events of 2010`s"
Milly then raised her left hand, pointing it on the empty chairs across the coffee table, "And now, presenting to you," A hidden communicator in her ear glowed red as some technical details were sent from the studio, "Jeremiah Gottwald, the former Knight of One of former 99th Emperor of Holy Britannian Empire!"
Only small applause could be heard from the audience in the studio, mostly from the Britannian army veterans, who saw combat in Japan during 2010-2018 time period. In that time, 'Knight of Orange', as he was dubbed in the net, left the curtains and came into view of cameras, shaking the hand of the hostess. He wore his usual suit, closely resembling the one he had during serving both Zero and Lelouch, only with some more orange-colored elements and a pin with a symbol of his 'Orange' farm, production of which was rising to prominence as one of the best in the Homeland.
"Please, take a seat", blonde offered. "Thank you, and please, call me Jeremiah." He accepted and sat in his, ironically, orange armchair. Not even a single thought to sit on the red armchair had crossed his mind.
Journalist begun, "I`m happy to see you, Jeremiah. For the last 10 years you completely disappeared from the news. There were a lot of speculations regarding your fate. Some said that you died and others even claimed that you were leading an insurgency against new Empress in the South America. Could you bring some light over your recent past?"
Cyborg let out a hearty laugh, "No, nothing like that! I have no animosity towards rule of 100th Empress Nunnally vi Britannia. My days now aren`t as fun as those people claim! After… Emperor Lelouch met his end," His face dropped for a moment, as he continued, "I continued my duties for some time, clearing out the damages of the past. A lot of things were ordered to be dealt with. I cooperated with new Royal Guard of the Empress, as I proceeded to carry out orders of His Majesty. For example, we destroyed a… weapon trafficking route from Zilkistan," He quickly recounted that official pre-written explanation for his presence in that kingdom, "that was supporting resistance against His Majesty in the beginning, and then to different fundamentalist terrorist groups after His Majesty passed away. That threat is now long forgotten, as the Prime-Minister Schneizel sent afterwards forces to clean out the remnants of that group.
That mission in particular was the last one that I participated in. Most of the days I`m spending on my Orange farm, which I begun to work on since late September 2018. In between the missions I`d stop there, but now I`m retired, so a little bit of rest, with an honest work is giving me enough to live on." Retired soldier then smirked, "Heh, my past self would never dream of such normal life. Ha-ha-ha, and yet, here I am!"
First info-box appeared on the screen, detailing the events of 'Zilkstan Crisis' in 2020, which led to deposal of the ruling priestess Shamna and her brother Shario.
Milly let a polite laugh as well. This was certainly funny, but his reputation was still complicated, to say the least. "I remember that, but I didn`t know you were in Zilkistan as well. Me and my operator were lucky to leave the country before many journalists got arrested under false accusations.
Moving further…or better to say 'moving back', when and how exactly did you meet Emperor Lelouch?"
Jeremiah furrowed, recalling the events, "My story with him is quite old. I firstly met him in my long-gone times of being a Royal Guard. He was then 6 years old, and probably didn`t notice me at the time. I was a typical soldier, who was protecting Aries Villa, where vi Britannia resided."
"Everything changed on that cursed day. I was meant to guard Imperial Consort Marianne vi Britannia, mother to both Lelouch and Nunnally. That night I was ordered to stand down and move to other position far away from the hall, because Her Majesty had some private meeting." His eyes became watery, but he quickly got hold on himself. "To this day I curse that I obeyed that order, as she was murdered by some unknown assailants."
Most of the audience didn`t know much about her, so they could only sympathise. Only Britannian side expressed almost equal grief of his own, as her reputation was strong since she firstly arrived on the battlefield.
If Orange could see the info-box that had appeared on the screen, he could`ve been mad at the lack of details about her glorious life.
"For a long time, I didn`t had any contacts with him. After he confronted then-emperor Charles zi Britannia, His Majesty was sent with Her Majesty to Japan. There was some reasoning for their presence, as they were something similar to peace ambassadors. But, when the war started, Britannia didn`t evacuate them. The Kururugi Shrine, where they were meant to reside, was bombed in the first days of the invasion. For the lack of bodies and for finding some of their personal items destroyed, both His Majesty Lelouch and Her Majesty Nunnally were named KIA." He clenched his jaws and his fists, even though he then took an effort to recompose himself. Viewers couldn`t catch what exactly angered him in the way future Demon Emperor was threated, but they could feel sadness for Empress Nunnally`s well-being. Some had noted for themselves possibility of Britannian invasion of Japan upon Lelouch, but didn`t think too much on it.
Milly looked at him with sympathy, "So that`s why you moved to Japan after the war?"
He wiped his face with a handkerchief. "Yes. I moved to Area 11, as it was called then, to conduct my own investigation. To tell the truth – with time my hopes were failing, and I resigned to at least recover their bodies back to the Homeland. Failing Lady Marianne was a tragedy for me, but recovering her children would at least somewhat lessen the impact it had. Most of my subordinates never knew why I asked to be there. Afterwards, I became a leader of Purebloods, the period I can`t recall without a feeling of shame."
Hostess read the different question. "Regarding the 'Orange incident'. Considering that Zero won and established now-existing UFN, could you now."
'Views are going up; the feedback is positive. When another guest will appear, they will be even better. We`re sending her to you, you have time for one more question' a voice from the studio said over the communicator.
Milly nodded, turning over to the next page on her tablet. "You told that you had lost any communication you had with then exiled Prince Lelouch. Could you share how exactly had you met him again and ultimately decided to join him as a Knight of One?"
Jeremiah straightened himself in armchair, with a mixture of amusement and embarrassment on his face. "Of course, though that was a somewhat embarrassing story."
"I met him in June 2018, I think? Probably around that time. He was studying in Tokyo back then, and I was issued by OSI to 'deal' with him under suspicion he was linked to Zero. Back when His Majesty kept his identity secret under alias of Lelouch Lamperouge…"
"Wait, so you`re telling us that you were ordered to kill a Britannian Prince by Emperor`s intelligence service? Moreover, you were an OSI operative at some point?" Milly jumped at the revelation. Happy faces from the SMM-analysts showed that the audience was as interested as herself.
Jeremiah shrugged, hiding the fact he very well knew who and why ordered it "Not that I was…Well, you could say I worked for them after they helped me with my wounds after the Battle of Narita mountains. This cyborg body is thanks to them."
"And about the first part of the question?"
"Order was issued by one of the departments, which was interlinked with OSI at some point in time, though it had a lot of independence. A rogue director, details about whom I learned later as he met his death from Charles zi Britannia because of unrelated topic, issued the assassination. I fought against some guards, who were placed to observ… to protect His Majesty, but that effort was in vain in the beginning, as he wasn`t in the Academy at the time. I had encountered him an hour later on one of the metro stations. He was quick to defeat me, as he came prepared to face not a normal opponent, but a cyborg."
Blonde's eyes sparked with interest. "So, in a 'duel' between you he won?" Emperor Lelouch wasn`t known for physical prowess, so that was something to behold. "What was next and how did you join his side?"
"I will remind that I didn`t know who he really was, only that he was allegedly a part of the Black Knights informant circle. That was more than enough for myself to attack him, as I hated Zero for the release of Kururugi Suzaku, which tarnished my reputation. So, when Lelouch revealed to me that he was Lady Marianne`s son, I told him about my reason of being there, which I mentioned before, and he then helped me to recover after duel."
"Thank you, Jeremiah." Her eyes searched for another point to hop upon before she heard that the guest has arrived.
"I still have some questions for you, but they will be later asked. Because now a second guest of our program enters the studio: meet Kallen Kozuki! Please, take a seat"
This time, audience was much more receptive to the newcomer. Japanese Ace, known all over the world as the only one, who had defeated the White Reaper, the Knight of Zero himself. She wore her normal outfit, with a grey jacket, skirt and normal boots. Applause was heard even from some Britannian veterans, who admired her battle spirit and prowess.
"Thank you, and call me Kallen," she said into the camera, taking a crimson red armchair. "I actually planned to come here the same time as Orange, but there were some delays at work."
"OK. So, Kallen, we welcome you here in this room. Much like Jeremiah, you also went under the public radar, and you made a small number of appearances on public occasions, like events on the memorial of Battle of Mt. Fuji or the Second Tokyo Battle. There were some rumours even of your retirement from the military or making a business in New York, not even mentioning less respectful ones. May I ask why and what have you been doing in this time?"
"I heard some parts of this show on my way here," She smirked, looking at Milly, "When Orange was working on a farm all this time, I continued to do what I know best – piloting knightmares. I believe me and Jeremiah had fought side by side in the aftermath of Emperor Lelouch`s murder. Like him, you could say that I 'retired' from the active combat after Zilkstan, but this isn`t a complete truth. More to say that there was no enemy that required my attention"
"My, how confident" Milly couldn`t help but laugh, as well as Kallen. She didn`t want to spill any controversial thoughts on her mind.
"But it`s true!" Kallen stopped her laugh to sip some water, "For the next years I`m working in the Tokyo KMF Academy, specializing in finding and training Aces out of all pool of students. Essentially a teacher or a tutor of sorts in a military academy. Some were quite successful and now are leading different units of the Black Knights, some decided to use their skills in civilian life. Not that much to say, aside from the fact, that I am proud of what I`m doing. It wasn`t a future I envisioned. Truthfully, during the battles of First and Second Black Rebellions, I never even considered what would be in my future. And what I truly never expected to happen is a normal life as a civilian."
"Oh, regarding your participation in the Black Knights. How did you join the organization and had you ever met before?"
Kallen begun, taking a moment to think. "I don`t remember when I first met Jeremiah. We certainly met in the Battle of Narita, as my Guren was the reason his body was wounded so much. Sorry for that" she said, without remorse or without taking much pride in it. From the looks of it, they became brothers-in-arms, even while fighting most of the time against each other.
"Oh, no offence taken." He said, with a loud laugh from the bottom of his lungs. "I was leading the reserve unit into the battle, as Zero had dropped himself upon our heads. I was quite arrogant at the time, and really believed that no elev… that no Japanese could face me in the battle, moreover in a superior Knightmare Frame. That lesson was hard-learned, but well-deserved for me"
Redhead fell silent for a moment, "If I remember correctly, you were the only pilot I faced who had ejected in time." Jeremiah smirked. "And you can`t even imagine how bloody pissed I was! I remember seeing Zero near you and I really thought that from that position I could bring him down" he said, with another hearty laugh.
"Khm-Khm," Milly faked a cough, "Could you please tell us, how did you both joined the Black Knights?"
Kallen responded first. "I`ll begin, since I was one of the founding members. Me, Ohgi, Sugiyama, Kento, with Zero being the leader, were in the core of the Black Knights."
At the same time, one redhead posted an angry comment under the interview, drawing a sneeze out of the Ace.
"Kallen, did you knew Zero before the creation of the organization?" hostess followed up the question.
"Knew is a strong word. In the beginning, most of us didn`t know him. But we established contact with him back in the battle for Shinjuku Ghetto, when a temporary alliance was built between us, in order to survive the massacre brought upon it." Kallen mused, "In fact, it was me who out of all of us spoke with him first. I was engaged in combat with two Sutherlands, when he reached out to us, somehow getting his hand on one of our radios…"
Jeremiah almost jumped out of his armchair. "Wait, so it was you in that Glasdow?! Must admit, your skills were exceptional." Kallen looked at him confused, before catching on, "So you were that one pilot I lost my Glasgow`s arm to?" He nodded, "Heh, as I now think about that clash, I`m completely certain that only your lack of access to proper spare details for Glasgow was the key factor to my survival back then. To almost best me in a Sutherland, while being in a Glasgow… My respect." Kallen then shook his hand. Strangely, she never spoke with him about that battle. In her own defence, at the time she was too centered on the present events, which were astonishing and impossible to ignore. "Oh, and that was Zero who gunned your KMF down, he stole one of Britannian Sutherlands"
The two shared a laugh, before returning to the topic.
"Wait, where was I? Oh, of course. Zero" her eyes lowered to the ground, "He hid his identity quite well, as I learned who he really was only after a month after we joined forces and created the Black Knights. We had a lot of trust issues at the time, no matter how much Zero had proven himself to be more than enough competent to lead us to victory." Kallen took a breath, calming herself before trying to say something unthinkable. "I remember, how with a single speech he could reform us. Firstly, that was a day before we saved Kururugi…" *a glowing black inform panel showed over the translation, telling the younger audience the events on that day* "…Zero directed us against terrorist methods, beginning to transform us into a more disciplined force. Then, at Lake Kawaguchi incident…" *another info-box was shown yet again, re-telling the events from the Black Knight perspective* "He made us rethink our goals. And that could be even without a formal speech, no. On a completely routine discussion he could easily form a different opinion in the mind of his opponent. It was mindboggling how much we grew in a span of one month! Outsider couldn't comprehend it, nor could we.
For us, the Japanese Resistance of that time, he struck us as a man with a goal, which extends far beyond what he could hope for. He regarded the liberation of Japan not as a dream, but what would be the stepping stone to destroying Holy Britannian Empire, that was built by that bastard Charles." Kallen then stopped herself. A lot of more embarrassing stuff could be said accidentally, what only was worth the day Lelouch died or on the celebration of it a year later!
…though, that`s for another day…
"And you, Jeremiah. Why and when did you join the Black Knights?" She gestured to Jeremiah to speak. "Around the time I spoke with his Majesty, I joined the Black Knights. He gave me an impression of a boy… no, of THE man with a noble dream, that he knew he would accomplish in a future. Zero struck me as a person, who was close to fulfilling it, so that was it – I jumped at the opportunity and the next day I already was an Ace in combat in China.
As to say, why I left… the Second Battle of Tokyo left a lot of things to rethink. Her Majesty Nunnally vi Britannia was considered to be killed in a blast. Fate of His Majesty was unknown to me, only that he was wounded in the battle. When I`ve met him again after he took the throne, I switched to his side, trying to atone my mistakes."
Milly looked into her tablet. "There were a lot of rumours, borderline conspiracy theories, that Zero had some kind of hypnosis techniques only known to him or even a supernatural ability to make someone his slave. Could you disprove us these claims?"
Kallen turned her head towards Jeremiah, with a disturbed look on her face. He laughed, "Ha-ha-ha, no, that was pure charisma of his. He could easily gather people of completely different political ideologies, hell, even Britannians and Japanese under one roof and have no critical issues with it." His face turned into an amused demonic grin. "I can`t imagine how much dangerous he could become if he really had anything like what you said."
Blonde seemed satisfied, and herself decided to laugh at it. "A man can dream and a man can come up with any crazy theory! Now, another question about Zero. The theories on the net about his identity range from forgotten Japanese army officer, to some kind of Japanese war spirit incarnate, to even Prince Clovis! Can you tell us his true name, and whether new Zero and Old Zero are the same people?"
Redhead started, with slight amusement at first part and a sadness at the last. "Ha-ha, what I can say he certainly wasn`t Clovis. We do know who he is, though I learned about his identity on accident, somewhere in the middle of the First Black Rebellion. He was considered dead because of memory loss, which he had recovered from by the attack at the Babel Tower.
Who he is – I cannot tell you" she let off this with a knowing smirk, "it`s completely confidential. For the same reason I won`t directly answer about 'New Zero' you spoke about."
Milly smiled at this, quickly gesturing 'tight-lipped', as her hand swept in between her lips.
"By now I`m sure our viewers are as interested as I am, if not more, so it`s time for the questions from our dear audience, be it online or offline!"
She scrolled through the comments, searching for the best one. "Oh, this will be juicy!"
Kallen shivered, remembering that old seen expression from Milly, which she never saw after leaving Ashford Academy. Blonde`s eyes were incredibly happy. "The first question is from a Britannian women, currently residing in Japan. Do any of you have a soulmate?"
Jeremiah laughed, having a suspicion he might know this woman quite well. Kallen, in the meantime, clenched her fist, placing in upon her skirt.
Orange Knight kept an eye on Kozuki, but still went with the question. "Well, you could say that things are going well with one woman I know…"
Hostess raised her attention to the max. She never really overcame her high-school curiosity. "Oh? Mind telling us the details? Who is she, how did you two met and how far have you gone?"
Old vet couldn`t help but blush slightly at the implied question. "I met her while I was serving in the Black Knights. Firstly, I simply had a lot of respect towards her, as she was as powerful as I am, honour-bound and loyal to the cause, though for different reasons."
"Is she Britannian? I haven`t heard of some talented warriors that you have interacted with in the Black Knights, who would be of your nationality."
He placed his head upon one of his arms. "No. She is Japanese, in fact. Some would refer to her as a ninja."
The audience was quickly captivated by such unexpected revelation. One of the biggest racist ever known, who despised everything Japan had to offer, revealed that he was in a relationship with one of the people he fought against! "People change, and Lelouch made me see most clearly how much I was wrong."
"Wouldn`t your…partner be surprised to hear you speak so highly of Emperor Lelouch?"
"No, I really doubt she will. We are a lot similar in our stances on a lot of things."
Milly then returned to the beginning of this question. "How did you two met?"
Jeremiah brushed aside his hand, "It isn`t really a romantic story, as our first conversation begun and ended with a several kunai's thrown at me, as I charged her with my blades at the ready"
Deep behind the scene, studio team was almost screaming about the success of this episode. 'Right now, around 1-2 million people are watching us live on the net, keep it rolling!'
"Wow! That sure is a hot date in my opinion! But why had you fought against each other?" Milly hunted for more and more info out of this goldmine.
"Remember as I told you about how I met Lelouch? She was one of the guards back then. The fiercest one I`ve met. If not for my robotic parts and my reinforced chest armour, I doubt I could survive that day!"
Milly rose her brow. As much as she remembered, if he`s referring to the attack at the Ashford Academy and to Sayoko, this should`ve been impossible! She had no memory of it, except for orders from Viletta to hide in the buildings. Moreover, Sayoko completely disappeared for almost a year, reappearing only after capture of UFN representatives! Or rather, she did feel that she met her once on her graduation, but she couldn`t know for sure about that one.
"We met again when I was Knight of One. Miraculously, she survived Second Tokyo Battle, in which she infiltrated the Government Administration."
Kallen recalled her, as she was rescued by Sayoko right before being executed, and couldn`t help but lightly smile.
"Her wounds were quite serious; she was exhausted with a lot of bullet wounds and open cuts. It took several days for her to recover on the Avalon."
"Where is she now? Living with you, doesn`t she?"
"Yes, we currently work together on the farm." He then chuckled, "Though I wouldn`t be so sure she wasn`t here at the moment, hiding somewhere. Because of that, I would like not to talk about how deep our relationship is right now"
Sure enough, a second later a small piece of paper fell from the ceiling, with two words written in English: 'Thank you'. Unsurprisingly, nobody saw her even standing there, how she got there, and not how she left the spot after dropping small message.
"Um, that`s nice that there will be no fight, even though I`m intrigued a lot about it" Milly proceeded to crack a polite smile, with her eyes wandering to the other guest.
"And how is yours, Kallen? I heard you had a lot of admirers, as well as an entire mountain of those, whom you declined."
Kallen still looked down. Could she get it over or not? No, could she even reveal it – the better question, for which she couldn`t get an answer either.
"I…"
"Come on, there should be a man that you are interested in! You are too much of a spitfire not to. Or is it a woman, perhaps?"
"There was one man, for whom I… with whom I served 10 years ago. He was a charming person, both smart and charismatic. We did have a lot of similarities; our ideas and dreams were quite similar. In times of storm, he was a navigator, who`d get me out of the storm."
"Could you share us what is his name and what is the progress between you two?"
Instead of blush or embarrassment, Milly unexpectedly saw sorrow and strangely guilt in her eyes. "If only there was progress to report. He was killed ten years ago, after the Requi… just around the time Lelouch found his end." Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes, as she hid her face in her hands.
Audience let an exasperated gasp. For a lot of women watching it, they could sympathise with her. For a lot of men, they wanted to know more about a man who caught her attention this much. Those, who were witnesses of Lelouch`s assassination tried to recall whether there was another man killed in that time.
Milly approached her, trying to help her with the loss of beloved one. "I`m sorry, I shouldn`t`ve brought this up…"
Kallen removed her arms, recomposing her face but letting the words flow freely, instead of moving to another topic. "I remember, he made a promise with me, back when we left Japan for Horai Island, that one day we would study together in the Ashford Academy, which I left because of how much I was needed in the resistance. We longed for those peaceful times, but only I survived, for a purpose that I never got to understand. By finishing my studies there, I carried out his will as well. And now, look at me. I sincerely doubt world would be worse had he lived instead of me. Hell, even better. And the knowledge of it makes every day painful."
"But what of your successes? About what you have done to liberate the world? I`m sure he does observe this world from wherever he is without regret…" Milly tried to calm her, without much success.
"Even if it was, the world wasn`t the same as I… no, as we both wished it to be. There are problems, for which he was suited better than me. The world isn`t that ideal that we fought for it to be."
'And worst of all, I can`t even name him here. That the ones who got their way and lives were the ones, who caused his life to go down. To live and to know Lelouch got outlived by Suzaku truly can ruin any good picture of this world!'
Kallen took a deep breath, before reaching out for some water to calm herself. He was dead, she couldn`t do anything with this fact, but she would keep her composure for all his enemies to quiver.
With a slightly shaky hands, Milly took her tablet from the coffee table. "M-moving on, another question. 'What happened to the Diethard Ried?' asks one of the Black Knights veterans."
Gottwald quickly took this question for himself. "His Majesty told me he was killed during an assault on the Damocles, shot into chest by his subordinate. There were no official statements from him regarding his fate, as His Majesty said 'he didn`t deserve it'. His body probably was burned in the Sun."
Milly opened the questions yet again, ignoring most of them, as they touched previously discussed topics. It became harder and harder to look for them, as most comments fell into emotional responses to spoken in the translation stuff.
"A question from the audience: why Emperor Lelouch decided to execute political prisoners in Tokyo Settlement, not in the Homeland?"
He tugged his sleeve. "No comment"
As another string of questions erupted, most regarding the techical nuances of that day, Jeremiah felt slightly irritated at the situation, as he couldn`t answer them without revealing too much of Lelouch`s plans.
"Alright, and the last question for today: through all the hardships you went, through all obstacles and deaths, are you satisfied with how you participated in the history you helped to write?" Milly said, in a noble and honorable tone.
Jeremiah cleaned his throat. "I`ll start. If I had to say anything about my life and my service to His Majesty, I`m only disappointed in the way his life met his end. I knew a lot of members of the royal family. Some were nice, some childish, some were geniuses and some were literal demons. And none of them deserved a better fate than His Majesty. In better times, he would prove to be a good leader. Had the history took a different route, I`d be still a Knight of One under his command. And, hell, how much would I be proud of it!"
This didn`t provoke any good emotion from the people before him, as the audience both online and offline had a different idea on Lelouch from his. Some may hoped he changed and was much more reflective on the past, as in this speech of his he wasn`t as stalwart defender of emperor`s legacy.
Redhead was in deep thought at the question, when she heard Milly asking her response. "The only thing I`m satisfied with is seeing this world prosperous, united and more tolerant of one another, not treating each other as slaves."
One of the Black Knights veterans rose up, "Could you elaborate more? You, the woman who brought death upon White Reaper, who fought Britannia in impossible conditions and survived everything thrown at you to see Demon Emperor killed by your leader, Zero, could you…"
She felt like she was snapping, one string at the time. Her efforts to better guide her anger could offer some help, but even as she built all of them from her experience, they weren`t enough.
"Everything aside from the picture of this current world, I`d liked to completely change. I`m absolutely furious at the place in history books I got myself! Defeating the White Reaper? Fantastic, if only I killed the bastard in the Second or even First Battle of Tokyo, and millions would be alive! If only his life I could trade for the one I loved I`d fucking do it immediately! But no, he died on the Damocles, literally at the end of everything!" she spat the word 'died' with enough venom for Suzaku to feel shivers even while being at the other side of the world away from her. "Everything from Shinjuku to the last moment of Lelouch vi Britannia`s life – all I`d love to change, and to regard events that had really happened as nothing but a bad dream." Jeremiah placed a hand onto her shoulder. 'From the looks of things, though we fought for different sides, we carry on the same worldview. Truly pathetic that she wasn`t with us…' The longer he read into the situation, the more he was on her side, losing some inner strings in the process as well.
"The Zero I knew, the Lelouch vi Britannia I knew – fate of them should`ve been different! Lelouch should`ve never became an emperor, or would`ve better… I would`ve better been around him to punch some sense into him being a genius he was and not a demon he became. The Zero I knew should`ve continued to lead the Black Knights, should`ve been the one to lead the UFN into its age of glory and prosperity for all! Seeing anybody on the post of Chairman of both UFN and the Black Knights is…tolerable, unless they were part of the reason for how my dreams of happy life with a beloved at my side is destroyed!"
Soldier with a question got joined up by some civilian, nationality of whom she couldn`t tell for sure. "And that`s your take? Why would the Demon Emperor`s name carry so much respect? We all know what he had done, how the dissidents were purged, as well as any free-thinkers there were. You are a sword, who had succeeded in destroying his tyranny, shouldn`t you be more satisfied with the result? The man you talked about was a casualty of his demonic regime!"
As Kallen sat silent, trying to recompose herself and think of less aggressive response, a cyborg to her side rose from his chair. "All Hail Lelouch to you! What did all of you think changing Britannia meant? Papers? Essays? Or, perhaps, law-obeying tribunals without the need for fire teams? Don`t kid around. As a Knight, who stood by his side, I can`t be less tolerable of what you said… I completely agree with what Lady Kozuki said. Respecting your opponent is a sign of being higher, and you can`t even gather that much for an ally, should she speak ill of your delusions. Had His Majesty have had a better hand given to him, you would never know him by that imposed title of a 'Demon'!"
As the show ended, the two were standing on a quay, observing the waves. Night fell upon the city, lights glowing along the busy streets behind them.
Kallen tilted forward, holding her hands to the railings and looking to the ocean, wandering on the things she said earlier, on things she heard. Jeremiah stood at her right, being in as much thought as her.
"I always knew he was lying to me, to us, when he took up that mask of a 'Demon Emperor'. It was so wrong to see, I couldn`t express how much I hated every second of seeing it, of it being forced onto him."
Jeremiah looked at her. "Honestly, I never knew that you had such feelings for him"
She smirked, albeit sadly. "Never listened to the nonsense Tamaki was saying?"
Both shared a laugh, though that wasn`t honest with how they felt.
"Sometimes I wonder, how could I stop him from falling so deep. Looked into the ways I could help him gain more trust within my 'comrades'. Maybe, he could be alive and well somewhere here, without the nickname he got for himself." She spoke, with a wishful look in her eyes, continuing to look at the ocean before her. "Sometimes I hope that I wakened up some time in the past, like with a time machine of sorts, helping him out…"
"That`s not the way" Kallen looked at him with surprise. "The world we`ve got is the world he fell for. Going back in time is just a wishful thinking. Don`t misunderstand me – I`d love to see His Majesty rise yet again, without him intending to die. But should we succeed in changing the world, would this world be the same as this? That world would be a fake world. False memories, false life. Many things would progress differently, and we… we`d carry on the burden of knowing how His Majesty died, even when we`ll be by his side, as he marches on against the old world."
"Never thought of you as a philosopher," redhead smirked, "though a lot of it sound just like the thing Lelouch would answer."
"His philosophy just sticks with you, no matter whether you heard it once, during a year or for longer." The retired knight then took a small winged pin. "This I got as a symbol for my allegiance as the Knight to His Majesty. What I have said on the show I should`ve never said, I wasn`t ordered to reveal too much about Requiem." He then looked at her again, taking his eyes off the pin. "Though material things are never connecting you to anybody in itself, what is your talisman?"
Kallen stood for a minute, before taking off her necklace. "This," she held her key from the Guren in her hand, "this was lifechanging moment for me. With it, I destroyed thousands of enemies of Zero, of him. Hell, I even destroyed your Sutherland as well! I always carried it on myself. In the beginning I took it because of possibility of surprise attack, but later… Now I keep it as a keepsake. For a reminder of the days we had before."
She glanced to him "I`m a terrible knight, aren`t I? Here I am, with no purpose whatsoever. Japan is liberated, Naoto`s dream is achieved, but for all I think, only the void inside can be felt"
"'For the sake of what we`ve lost, we should go further' is what he told me, in the days prior the Battle of Fuji. I still feel guilty about what I could`ve done, and that I haven`t done that to somehow let him be alive. And yet, each of us lost a lot. Including His Majesty. But… we`re always dealing with the hand we`ve been given with." He looked to the ocean with sadness and hope in his eyes. "And for a hand he had, everything we have right now is nothing short of a miracle. Had he had a better starting conditions, then who knows how we`d live right now."
"Yeah, 'Miraculous Tomorrow', as they call it now. But…"
"What are we here for is to ensure nothing goes off the rails. I do not believe in system, as it is made of individuals comprising it, all of which have their goals. What I do believe in, are the brave people, who manage to keep system alive, without falling into sweet words of populists and propaganda of future tyrants.
For that, Kallen, we cannot give up. We should live, prosper and help with all we`ve got to those, who can secure prolonging this era."
He took out his watch, "Tomorrow, I will be leaving back to my farm. With the resources and the company I have been building, soon I`ll be able to be one of the backers of Her Majesty`s position, helping to ensure stability and better future for Britannia. When you depart to Tokyo, will you do the same for Japan, through whatever way you wish to go?"
In better days Lelouch might`ve been a fantastic ruler. And it was now her duty to keep these better days alive.
"I will"
'For him'