Power of the Kings: Round Two

The C's World

In the blink of an eye, Lelouch and I are standing outside the Shinkirō on some kind of platform in the sky. A place that I've seen before but am unfamiliar with.

"How were we pulled out of the Shinkirō?" Lelouch asks, looking around at the nowhere and everywhere we seem to be. "Where is this place? It's not an illusion or a hologram."

"That' is correct!" the emperors voice booms around us.

Lelouch gasps, looking forward as his face scrunches in anger at knowing his father is with us in this place. His arm held in front of me as an ineffective shield.

"And Knightmares are such inelegant things. Especially in the face of this system, the Sword of Akasha!"

"It's you!" Lelouch cries out.

"Lelouch, my son, the time has come at last! The time for final redemption!"

I take a few steps backward, bumping into the leg of the Shinkirō. It is strange to be in the same place as the one we've been chasing to eliminate for all this time. I know I should have some fear, but knowing that no one's Geass, not even his, can be used on me makes me feel strong in the face of his evil.

"It's been a long time Lelouch," Emperor Charles grins. "My prodigal son."

Lelouch runs around to be behind the other leg of the Shinkirō. "Answer my question about eight years ago! Why didn't you try to protect mother!" His voice echoes around us, but there are no walls for that to be possible. "You knew the others were plotting against her! You knew everything!"

My heart breaks for the little boy that witness the murder of his mother and crippling of his sister. That little boy has been struggling with that trauma and anger for eight years, and it has led us to this moment.

"People are not equal," Emperor Charles answers.

"What?" Lelouch spits out.

"You both have a unique form of Geass, a power that no one else possesses. Use it to get the answer from me!"

I look back at Lelouch, knowing that this is a clear attempt by his father to bait Lelouch into looking directly into his eyes. Both of them need eye contact in order to use their Geass, which means the moment Lelouch were to lock eyes with the emperor, then his memories would be altered. All I can do is hold him still, which doesn't help us at all.

"What's wrong? Are you not my son, a prince of Britannia? And are you not the daughter of the fallen Prime Minister?"

Lelouch catches my gaze as he takes out his contact, and I understand what he is going to do without a single word. All he does is show the baton, and the moment he presses the button I flip to the other side of the Shinkirō leg to protect myself. There is an explosion, and I can here the shattering of glass everywhere, confirming that this place is covered in mirrors to make it look like an open space.

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you! And now die!"

The emperor growls, but there is no way for him to escape the countless mirrors that hold Lelouch's command. "Very well then."

I peek around the leg to watch as the emperor pulls out a gun and shoots himself right in the heart. For a moment he remains standing, and then he falls back as the gun clambers to the ground.

"I won," Lelouch mumbles, stepping around the legs to see with his own two eyes his dead father. "I won. "Nunnally...Mother...Sakura...I, I did it." His body clenches up as if the effect of winning is too much for him to handle, and then he lets out an agonized scream.