44This fic was inspired by Thanathos' 'More than just a Man'. That fic was unfortunately abandoned way too early and I found that I really needed to at least tell my own interpretation of a vampire Lelouch and C.C.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. Many of the Vampiric characteristics were inspired by 'More than just a Man'.
Also to note, I am Australian so I will be using a lot of Australian spelling for many words. Aka, expect to see a lot of 'u's and replacement of 'z's with 's's.
"Hello" - Speech
'Hello' - Thought/Mental Communication
"Hello" - Radio/phone/walkie talkie
"Hello" - Speaker
Prologue: An Immortal Maiden
December 5th, 1999 a.t.b
The birth of a child is a very common occurrence, and here in Pendragon, capital of the Global Superpower, the Holy Britannian Empire, or more commonly known as just Britannia, was no exception. Thousands of children are born every day in the city alone, where the Elite of Britannian society flourish under the umbrella of Nobility or Royalty. A situation that one specific individual present within the city had seen countless times, all across the world, in places whose names have long since been forgotten by history.
Within the confines of the Imperial Palace, a woman was giving birth, with the husband standing nearby. The specifics of this certain birth would become legend as the husband was none other than the 98th Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia, and the mother to be was Marianne vi Britannia, who was merely one of his many consorts on paper, yet in reality was the woman he truly loved and the true, if unofficial, Empress of Britannia. Surrounding them were several doctors and nurses, who were either assisting Marianne in giving birth or were on standby, yet the happily married couple were in their own world even as Marianne lay on the bed struggling with the pain as she grew ever closer to releasing their child into the world.
The occupants of the hospital room were so preoccupied with Charles and Marianne that they all failed to notice the figure standing at the doorway. If they had, many of the doctors and nurses would have, quite understandably, mistaken the figure as a teenage girl, with her average height, waist-length light-green hair and golden eyes. Despite the blank expression on her face, her piercing eyes were focused on both Charles and Marianne alone, simply waiting. She was no stranger to royal births, but for some reason, whether it was her continued association with Charles and Marianne, her curious nature or some unknown variable, she felt compelled to watch instead of just excusing herself and doing something much more... pleasurable with one of the Hospital staff, many of which she had already seduced. It would be quite simple to meet with one of them for a simple rendezvous.
She was shaken from her thoughts as Marianne screamed and then faltered, as a crying sound was heard from the newly born Royal. A boy if she wasn't mistaken, from the sounds of it as well as the conversations between the staff amongst themselves or the couple. As if Charles hadn't had enough boys already, even amongst the many children he had already conceived. Then again, he had over one hundred consorts, so it was to be expected.
She waited a bit longer as the crowd of nurses around Marianne slowly dissipated, with Charles forced to leave his beloved behind to get back to his duties as Emperor, a reality that she did not envy him on. As he passed her, she caught a brief look of surprise in his now cold eyes as he finally acknowledged her being there, before moving on. He knew her reasonably well so it was easy to tell that he expected her to be indulging herself in pleasure elsewhere.
After he walked out into the corridor, the girl finally was able to see the baby, who was currently crying in his mother's arms. Somehow, he must have noticed her staring at him because he ceased crying and looked directly at her with violet eyes, the same as Marianne's. Marianne noticed and gave a small smile to the girl.
"C.C., allow me to introduce you to my son, Lelouch vi Britannia, the new Eleventh Prince of Britannia." Marianne said to her.
C.C. gave a small smile in greeting towards the prince, who had now turned his infantile attention back to his mother.
"An interesting name, especially for a Britannian." C.C. commented. "A very rare one."
"Yes, it is." Marianne agreed, nodding as she looked down at her son. "Yet fitting for the child of the 'Commoner Queen', don't you think?"
Ah yes, the title that all of the other consorts of the Emperor and infuriated members of the nobility had given Marianne, who took it in stride and revelled in it. Out of all of the Emperor's consorts, Marianne was the only one from the commoner masses. Not only that, but she was also briefly the Knight of Six of the Knights of the Round Table, the best of the best in Britannia. This led to much of the Nobility looking down upon her with anger, envy and jealousy as she quickly rose to the top to become Charles' favourite.
However, she had enamoured many with a positive and honourable attitude, as well as being the best Knightmare Pilot in Britannia, being the only one to defeat the Knight of One, Bismark Waldstein, despite his secret power. This act immediately earned her the respect of all of the then Knights of the Round, including Bismark himself, who viewed her as his true goal to surpass in the future. Her attitude as well gave her much needed support from more liberal and reformist voices within Britannian society, such as the Ashford family, makers of her own personal Knightmare: the Ganymede. One of the few to be aware of the mask that she wore, C.C. knew this side to Marianne was not her true self, or at least was the side that she put forward in public for all to see except for Charles, V.V and C.C. In reality, Marianne was, something that would be shocking for all her admirers if they ever learned the truth, quite selfish, focused more on her own or Charles' personal gain over everything else. Yes, her love for Charles was very real and she was very playful, but that was it.
Speaking of the woman, C.C. suddenly noticed that Marianne was laughing for some reason. She blinked as she brought her attention back on the Empress, only to find that Marianne was laughing at her.
"It's not like you to be this distracted by a wandering mind, C.C." Marianne noted with a playful smile. "I've been calling out to you for a minute at least."
Wow, she had been reminiscing a lot right now, more so than usual. Especially if she had been unresponsive for over a minute. However, C.C. being who she was, recovered quickly.
"At least it was shorter than most of the times I catch you and Charles looking into each other's eyes when no one else is around." C.C. smirked at the blush that appeared on Marianne's face, one of the few times C.C. had seen her blush at all.
"I do have to ask," Marianne began, after recovering from C.C.'s playful jab, "why did you stay? You've seen more births than anyone alive, so I can't imagine how different this one would have been compared to any other birth?"
"I don't know myself, Marianne." C.C. answered honestly, shrugging. "Maybe it was just boredom…"
"You use that as an excuse for a lot of things." Marianne interrupted.
"...or I just wanted to stay to tease you and Charles." C.C. continued on, internally getting irritated at what Marianne noted, and that a part of her agreed.
It was at this moment when a nurse entered the room, silencing the conversation between the two. C.C. couldn't help but stare at the pretty blonde woman as she walked to Marianne's side and began talking to her about something that C.C. tuned out. Instead, she was eyeing the Nurse, especially her bust and neck.
'Looks like I'll be having some fun later.' C.C. thought to herself, no one noticing her canines having grown larger than regular humans.
The vampire continued to look at the nurse, before giving one last look at Lelouch. She suddenly had a strange feeling that their fates would be somehow linked in the future, one way or the other.
April, 2008 a.t.b
C.C. sighed before taking a sip from a glass of wine, trying to ignore the sense of unease that threatened to make her day already worse than it was. It was times like these that she was thankful for her vampiric power to alter regular human's perception of her seem to be in the background, thus mostly ignoring her. Especially when she was surrounded by arrogant nobles.
C.C. was currently standing off to the side in a grand ballroom, where hundreds of nobles were present to celebrate something that the immortal vampire did not even bother to learn, only having attended because Marianne invited her. Besides, she was again bored, and she needed something to keep her mind off the meeting she had earlier on with V.V. about Ragnarok.
'I know he's your brother, Charles,' C.C. mentally said to herself, 'but I really don't like him at all.'
To sum up the meeting perfectly, it was just one argument after the other as V.V. not only refused C.C.'s request to learn more about Ragnarok, but also challenged her leadership of the Geass Directorate, her own creation within Charles' Britannia. He argued that while she was a trusted associate of their conspiracy, his position as the brother of the Emperor, but also in the know of Ragnarok's true vision, so he should be in charge of the secret hand of Britannia. C.C., of course, refused outright. How dare that...tiny, smug looking Hobgoblin have the gall to threaten her to her face! He may also be a vampire (having been turned at such a young age), have a Code and be immortal like herself, but she had literal centuries of experience on him, she's forgotten more about torture and killing than he has ever learned. She almost did kill him on the spot, as she knew he would regenerate due to his code.
However, it was at this point that Charles and Marianne intervened. They sided with C.C. for the most part, though she recognised that Charles mainly did so out of a need for them to not give her the excuse to leave and thus not have her code for Ragnarok, rather than out of friendship or genuine agreement with C.C. Marianne acted as the peace broker and thus convinced V.V. that C.C. should stay as head of the Geass Directorate, with the caveat that if she ever stopped being an associate for the conspiracy, leadership would immediately pass to V.V. Surprisingly, V.V. accepted this condition eagerly, thus arousing C.C.'s suspicion. However, Marianne and Charles convinced her to accept this condition to prevent the argument from happening again.
To keep her mind off that particular conversation, she was eyeing any potential individuals she could later seduce and add to her ever expanding harem of lovers and blood donors. So far, she had seen many female nobles and a few male ones that she found attractive enough (she did have a preference for women over men, but would gladly take a worthy male and dedicate herself to him for as long as he continued to prove himself), but she would have to do her research on them as she did have standards regarding her food.
Then, as she was looking at a gorgeous noblewoman that she really hoped had a good personality, Marianne entered the hall along with her two children. Lelouch was currently eight years old, while his younger sister, Nunnally, was four. While C.C. may have been a stranger to them, they were no strangers to her, thus her attention immediately focused on them, especially Lelouch. Ever since his birth, she couldn't help but be intrigued by him, with how he and his sister both inherited Marianne's positive traits, and amplified them, making them much more selfless than their mother, though they did not know that due to how well Marianne hid her selfish side to everyone else.
Lelouch was a peerless strategist, like the varied ones that C.C. had seen in her long life, on par with the likes of Sun Tzu and Napoleon, even as an eight year old child, truly showing how far he could grow when he became an adult. His only rival within the Royal Family, no, within Britannia itself, was his older Brother, Schneizel el Britannia, having been the only individual to ever beat him in chess, a game of which Lelouch is THE master of. However, even he had the calm, sophisticated arrogance that was present in most of Charles' children, but even then it was very much subdued compared to most of his other siblings.
Nunnally on the other hand, was a very compassionate and kind girl, always striving to be the peace broker between her siblings that she interacted with. Almost everyone who she talked to, even those with less than favourable personalities, couldn't help but act nicer or just feel their spirits lifted whenever she was around. She was undoubtedly one of the few bright spots left in the world.
While she was four years younger than Lelouch, that didn't stop them from being the most important individuals in each other's lives. The strength of their sibling bond was almost envious, at the very least comparable to that of Charles' and V.V.'s sibling bond, but even then those two were twins.
C.C. then focused on Marianne, whose face displayed that of pride as she silently watched her two children politely greet the many guests trying to create any sort of bond between themselves and the vi Britannia children.
Soon enough though, both siblings seemed to focus on something on the other side of the room, their eyes widening in surprise before their faces were covered in grins. They seemed to ask Marianne something, who evidently agreed and they quickly rushed off, away from the crowd around Marianne. C.C. tracked where they were going and quickly found them greeting two newcomers to the celebration. She instantly recognised the teenager that was Cornelia li Britannia and her younger sister, Euphemia li Britannia, both of whom were also part of the royal family, from a different mother, but still sired by Charles.
Due to the amount of consorts Charles had, few ever interacted together at all, much less actively as much as possible. Cornelia, Euphemia, Lelouch and Nunnally were exceptions to this rule, especially the latter three. Since Euphemia was only one year younger than Lelouch, they quickly formed a close bond while Euphemia had a very similar personality to the younger Nunnally and thus the three had quickly become best friends within the royal family. Cornelia was the captain of Marianne's Royal Guard detachment and idolised the Empress, and was for all intents and purposes the older loving sister of all three. If any of those three were hurt in any way shape or form, there would be hell to pay.
While there were other children of Charles that often met up with and were quite welcoming to the vi Britannias, such as Clovis la Britannia, Marrybell mel Britannia and Schneizel el Britannia, it was the two li Britannias that C.C. could definitely say loved them truly as family and for who they were, a love that was completely mutual. The four enjoyed every second of time they had together.
Right now, Cornelia was hugging Lelouch while Euphemia was hugging Nunnally, who had leapt upon her with sheer happiness, a happiness that was quickly returned with the hug. They then swapped hugging partners and then walked away from the main group, so that they could converse by themselves without getting interrupted. C.C. quickly lost sight of them, but knew that they were probably trying to see if the Ashford heiress, Milly Ashford, was present as well in order for them to invite her to join them. If Marrybel was at the party, then they would invite her as well, but C.C. already knew she wasn't here.
She then turned her attention back to the party and for the next hour or so, after some prodding from Marianne, reluctantly conversed with many of the guests. Her mood once again fell as she listened and listened to all of the 'woes' of the nobles. Externally, she put up a patient and welcoming façade, but internally she felt like puking. Thankfully, after that hour, the party began to wind down and many of the guests started to leave en masse. This gave the immortal vampire a much needed breathing space from all of the nobles.
Marianne and Charles were close by, talking with some of his other consorts, who looked on enviously at the relationship between the Emperor and True Empress, with some even looking at Marianne with barely disguised hatred and jealousy. C.C. scoffed. They had no chance of even having a sliver of the relationship that Charles and Marianne had, much less interfering in it at all. Still, C.C. had to hand it to the two royals for putting up with this hate and jealousy without complaint or any action, as that would make things too unstable in the Imperial Court.
Looking away from the Emperor and his consorts, C.C. once again spotted the li and vi Britannia children, with an additional person. It seemed that they did find Milly and were now all hanging out together. C.C. subtly moved closer to them in order to listen in on their conversation.
"Lulu is my best friend!" Milly pouted. "So I should get to spend tomorrow with him!"
"No, it should be me!" Euphemia countered with an equally adorable pout. "I am his sister and I was forced to be away by Mother last week, so I missed out seeing him then!"
"You're both wrong!" This time it was Nunnally putting her 'case' forward. "I am his sister, I know him best! I think he should spend more time with me!"
Surprisingly it was closer to an argument, one between Euphemia, Milly and Nunnally as they were trying to convince Lelouch to spend more time with one over the others. Meanwhile, the boy in question was trying to back away from the catfight, but was held against his will by the three girls, while the usually serious Cornelia was to the side, her hand covering her mouth in a partial attempt to silence her laughter, her facial expression showing amusement and adoration.
"YOU SEE HIM ALL THE TIME, THE MOST OUT OF ALL OF US!" Milly and Euphemia ganged up on Nunnally, who was surprisingly confrontational about this topic. In fact, C.C. had not seen the three girls argue about anything to this extent before.
It all points to one thing: Lelouch, it seems, is destined to be a lady killer when he matures.
Unable to come up with a suitable counter to that point, Nunnally deployed her most dangerous and most successful weapon: her cute pout. Its effect was immediate. Her two opponents began to panic, as they knew that they could not resist for long. Which in reality meant that five seconds in and they immediately capitulated to the avatar of cuteness and innocence.
A very pleased Nunnally went up to the now free Lelouch and hugged him, though C.C. noted that both Euphemia and Milly had expressions of mild jealousy. However, they seemed to shake it off as they knew that Nunnally was much younger than them and was thus allowed to monopolise her brother. For now.
"Don't I get any say in this?" Lelouch asked, not pleased at all that his time was being parcelled out without any consideration for his own preferences. Granted, he would always appease Nunnally as his big brother instincts were too dominant within his psyche at the moment, but who could blame him, as a result of having someone like Nunnally as a younger sibling.
"Don't bother, Lelouch." Cornelia advised, finally recovering from her laughter. "We all know that you are the most vulnerable to Nunnally's pouting, and that once all three of them have decided something, you can't do anything about it!"
Lelouch groaned, knowing that his older sister was right. He quickly changed the subject, asking Cornelia about her latest assignments as the head of Marianne's guard, to which she earnestly reported small details, not everything as they were still classified. Meanwhile the three younger girls pouted. Sometimes, Cornelia and Lelouch, due to her military mindset and his strategic gift, often went into their own world of tactical endeavours, with both trying to sound ideas between each other, leaving the others feeling a little bit excluded.
C.C. smiled before backing away, leaving the five to their own devices. They were a welcome distraction, but now she had to resume socialising with the Nobles. Oh Joy.
Thankfully the party was almost over, and C.C. was just finishing up a polite conversation with a horrendous fellow when she spotted to the side a beautiful young aide of another noble. She was a blonde, brown eyed lady with pale skin and a very voluptuous body, making C.C. feel just ever so slightly envious of her three sizes, even though she herself was no slouch in that department herself. Looks as if she found a potential lover for the next few weeks.
So, like a person with a newfound purpose, or just one desperate to escape boredom, she approached the aide, who was helping out a noble with taking notes, her posture being very professional, but her eyes revealed her lack of interest and boredom as if she had been doing too much too quickly. Well, C.C. was here to 'rescue' her. She decided to intercept the Noble first, as that was the cleanest way of separating the two for the night, and allowing any future correspondences to be possible.
"Excuse me, my lord," she greeted the Noble, who didn't look too bad all things considering, but still was being cautious, "Would you kindly allow me to borrow your aide whenever I want?" she asked bluntly, activating her vampiric hypnotising ability on the Noble. The Noble himself stiffened for a few seconds before relaxing, his eyes glazing over. "Of course." he replied. "Please treat her well." Oh, looks like her fears were unwarranted.
As he walked away, leaving a very confused aide alone, C.C. decided to strike and stood to her side.
"Hello," She started off simply, "may I have your name?"
The aide blinked in surprise at her sudden appearance. Of course she really didn't notice C.C. was there even as she hypnotised the noble. "Um, Hannah," She replied out of habit before noticing the much more expensive dress that C.C. was wearing, showing her the distance in terms of societal positions.
"My apologies, My Lady," she curtsied, trying to hide her sudden anxiety and fear, "I didn't mean to…"
"It's fine." C.C. waved it off. Honestly, even over seven hundred years after her birth, she still found the whole concept of aristocratic society quite…backwards and stifling for herself, and dangerous for others. "I would rather not be called my Lady if you would be so kind."
Even if she hated it, C.C. had learned how to best speak like a Noble, if only to get out of speaking like one for very long. "You can relax, I'm not offended." she told Hannah, who was rigid as a statue. As the woman relaxed, C.C. smiled as she looked Hannah directly into her eyes. "Do you mind if we move outside for a moment?"
"Not at all," Hannah replied, her face flushing as she suddenly began to realise just how beautiful the woman in front of her was. "I didn't catch your name before…"
"Please, call me C.C." the vampire replied, easily recognising when her charm was beginning to work.
A few hours later, C.C. was cradling Hannah in her arms, silently biting into her neck and feeding slowly, while fondling Hannah's breasts, the lady moaning in pleasure, her eyes dull and unfocused. C.C. withdrew from her neck and used her left hand to nudge Hannah's head around just enough to allow her to kiss the woman, utterly dominating her with her tongue. As Hannah leaned into the kiss, C.C. began her ministrations and left the kiss, before biting into the neck in a sensual manner.
As Hannah was plunged into what felt to her like an eternal euphoria of pleasure, C.C. had quite a tasty meal, sucking Hannah's blood quite easily, the metallic taste causing her taste buds to celebrate in joy. Of course, she wouldn't drain Hannah of a lot of her blood as that would kill the lady, but she took enough to make Hannah feel lightheaded for the next few hours. However, since the vampire fangs also released aphrodisiacs into the body, she would be addicted to C.C. for a while, as long as C.C. didn't turn her into a vampire in the meantime. This meant that C.C. now had a dedicated source for sustenance and pleasure, which she would embark on momentarily
The following hours of movement, moaning and screaming made C.C. really enjoy being an immortal, highly sexual vampire.
July 2016, a.t.b
C.C. stepped off of the ramp and gracefully landed onto the wooden planks of the rundown harbour, somewhere on the coast of the southern home island of Area Eleven, the former country of Japan before the Britannians had invaded six years ago. Six years since Marianne was assassinated by V.V., an act that showed the immortal brat's true colours and how much Marianne's relationship with Charles made the little hobgoblin jealous.
As soon as the vampiress learned the truth, she hightailed it right out of there, as she was not only one of Marianne's closest allies, but she had sired Marianne, turning her into a vampire, which ended up sparing her soul with her special vampire ability, and he was already planning the assassination of Marianne's children from the very moment Marianne's bullet riddled body collapsed onto the staircase at the Aries Viella. However, Charles sending the two siblings to exile in Japan, though seemingly extremely uncaring to all but a handful of individuals who knew the truth, did spare them for a few months, allowing them to live.
However, Japan's fate had been sealed long before, as not only the fact that over 70% of the world's Sakuradite was mined and produced by Japan but also the extremely secret discovery of a Thought Elevator was hidden on one of the small coastal islands, meant that Japan's tenure as an independent nation was about to come to a bloody end.
Despite V.V.'s efforts and his subversion of a special forces unit, Lelouch and Nunnally survived thanks to their Japanese guards and hosts, successfully fleeing into the shadows and away from the eye of Britannia. She was there in the background when Lelouch declared his intention to 'obliterate' Britannia, watching over him and Nunnally quietly for a time, though due to the influx of Britannians coming into the country, she had to flee to another place to prevent both her and the vi Britannias from being discovered.
Now she was back in Area Eleven, after years of movement in order to escape the ever vigilant eye of V.V., who had usurped her position as director of the Geass Directorate and continued to try to find her. God, that hobgoblin really is the very definition of a yandere as the Japanese keenly label that kind of behaviour. She'll have to tell Marianne that one later.
However, that time was not now. Instead, she was here in Area Eleven in order to check up on Lelouch and Nunnally in person, not only for Marianne's sake, even though she knew that both Charles and Marianne were keeping an eye on those two, but also to see how Lelouch had grown. Ever since his birth, she had not forgotten that feeling of fate connecting the two of them together, so she wanted to see how that connection would shape her future.
Yes, she was curious. Anyone who was in her position would be as well. You could only live for so long satisfied without getting bored.
She approached the abandoned subway entrance. From what she remembered of the past from the last time she visited Japan, this would lead to the city of Shizuoka. As she entered, she suddenly shivered as a bad premonition came upon her. C.C. had learned the hard way many times to trust her instincts and thus she turned back, only to find herself face to face with five Britannian soldiers, all armed with rifles pointed directly at her.
'How did they...' C.C. thought to herself before she felt something poke her at the back. 'Damn it,' she scolded herself as she turned around, looking directly at the barrel pointed at her body, seconds before it fired and she fell to the ground with a hole in her chest, her blood decorating the ground.
The Britannian sergeant who fired the shot looked at his handiwork with glee, while his soldiers lowered their weapons. His five underlings walked towards the body, with one lowering himself and poking the body with his rifle. With no reaction, they all assumed she was deceased.
"Surely we didn't need to kill her, Sarge?" one asked.
"Ha, why not?" another answered. "Bitch was a passenger on a smuggler's vessel, especially one not in Prince Clovis' pockets."
"You heard our orders, private." the Sarge replied to the first soldier. "A fugitive from the E.U. who posed a serious threat to Britannia, was stowing away on the smuggling ferry that just arrived at the nearby eleven made harbour, or so our resident OSS officer told us, was to be shot on sight as soon as she approached any of the cities." he gestured to the subway entrance behind him. "That would lead to the ghettos near the city so technically we had to shoot her right here before she could escape and agitate the Elevens any further than they already are, the monkeys."
"Why kill a fugitive from the E.U.?" the first soldier asked again. "I mean, if she's against the E.U., then shouldn't she be willing to work with us against them?"
"I only follow the orders, not make them." The Sergeant shot down the questions, effectively ending the inquiries for good. However, while he did so, they did not notice the hole in C.C.'s chest rapidly shrink and her eyes opened up.
"Huh, shame we had to kill her." another soldier commented. "It really would have been nice to have had some...fun with her before we would have to shoot her."
While one other Britannian soldier nodded his head, the others looked disgusted both at his tone and what he implied. The first soldier actually backed away slightly, as if trying to keep himself clean of any sin (despite being a Britannian soldier). Even the Sergeant, as much of a bastard that he was, admirably held down his clear disgust when he spoke next.
"You may have been allowed to do that in the past in other units, Brian, but not this one." he sternly admonished with a rigid expression behind his helmet. "We may be superior as Britannians, it may be our duty to keep Numbers and all non-Britannians in their rightful place of inferiority, but that doesn't give us an excuse to rape! Understood!?"
The last word was spoken in a soft yet venomous tone that it was Brian's turn to back away, but in shock and slight fear this time. However, he wasn't able to respond as an angered C.C. leapt up and punched him in the chest with superhuman strength, breaking most of his bones from the impact of the force. He was sent flying back and landed hard on his back, his body now paralysed for good.
"THE FUCK?!" The NCO screamed before he and his squad collectively aimed their weapons at C.C. but suddenly halted as if they were hit by a brick wall. They quivered in their boots as they looked at the green haired woman, an expression of tranquil fury present on her face, her mouth pulled back into a snarl, showing off fangs that should not be present in a human mouth, her golden eyes promising a future of pain.
Almost immediately, she quickly killed off the four she wanted to spare being drained of blood and incapacitated the last soldier in around a minute and was now presently feeding off of the soldier, her fangs having ripped his throat open for her to drain him quickly. He struggled against her, but his feeble mortal strength was nothing against a centuries old vampire. She normally wasn't as sadistic as most people would assume, but here, always enjoyed draining rapists and their supporters of their blood and feeling their despair and desperation. Alas, she could not savour the moment as Britannian reinforcements had to be close by so she quickly finished him off, feeling him die in her embrace, and unceremoniously dropped his body on the ground before turning to face 'Brian'.
Though paralysed from the chest downwards from her punch earlier, he was dragging himself slowly away from her carnage. She noted that he had passed a pistol that he could have used to shoot her when she was distracted but had ignored that in favour of his own self-interest of survival.
'Damn it Charles.' she thought to herself. 'At least try to make sure your Social Darwinist policies and poor attitude don't affect the military by making many of them useless, that's just poor taste.'
She easily caught up to him and began her (hopefully last) kill for the day when something impacted her on her exposed shoulder and dug into her flesh. She reacted quickly, releasing her victim, whose death was now inevitable, and throwing herself to the side before reaching for whatever hit her with her hand. She found it easily and pulled it out, her eyes widening when she saw that it was a tranquiliser dart.
Almost immediately, her vision began to get blurry as she staggered backwards, the tranquillisers starting to take effect. Normally, human sedatives did not affect her much at all due to her vampiric nature, but this was different. There were vampire specific tranquillisers in existence, but they were very rare because vampires were just folklore for the vast majority of society.
Before she could make the connection to who may have the equipment to deal with Vampires, C.C. felt her legs give out and she collapsed on the ground. She only had the strength to mutter a curse before her eyes closed and she drifted into unconsciousness.
The OSS officer that shot her with the tranquilliser dart stepped out of the shadows, followed by two of his peers and a member of the Royal Guard. They knelt before C.C. and checked her pulse. After seeing that she was still alive, they began attaching handcuffs to her wrists.
"So was it necessary for this unique equipment to be used to apprehend a single fugitive?" the Royal Guardsmen asked.
The OSS officer didn't respond, finishing the bindings on C.C., including a muzzle. Not even admiring their work, the OSS trio quickly picked up the vampiress and carried her away to their vehicle, with the Guardsman following behind, stumped yet afraid for his own life, as he knew the reputation of the OSS when someone asked too many questions.
As two of the three OSS strapped C.C. in when they arrived at their van, the other briefed the Guardsman on the necessity of the precautions and the restraints for the 'girl'.
"So, she isn't human?" the guardsman muttered, utterly shocked at what the OSS officer just told him. "If so, why tell me? Shouldn't you shoot me to keep me quiet?"
The OSS officer smiled. "Consider this the first gift for Prince Clovis' new think tank."
That was all that was needed to be said before they too got into the van and it drove towards the Tokyo settlement, where Prince Clovis, the current viceroy of Area Eleven, awaited them.
August 2017, a.t.b
To say that not only was C.C. in a world of pain, but also that fact that she was very, very pissed, was an understatement. In one of the few moments of consciousness she has had in the past year, she found herself wrapped in a straight-jacket of some kind with remarkably strong straps and restraints, gagged in order to prevent her from biting anyone, floating in a container of a mixture of base salt water and other chemicals that were very much a non-lethal poison for vampires, unable to even try to sleep through anything due to the constant barrage of UV lights irritating her skin and weakening her... oh and the fact that she was currently being transported by a lunatic, considering the constant jerks to either side and very sharp turns.
She could handle one, maybe even two of those things at once, but all at once was very, very painful and did little to improve her mood. Right now, she was in the position of a guinea pig, and has been for some time now, especially when she was held by that bastard Clovis' think tank's main headquarters. While they had made sure she was unconscious for most of the time she was held captive there, the few times she was aware of where she was, she found herself strapped to a table like a lab rat about to be dissected for a school science class. And a few times, they forced her to be awake while they dissected her, just to see how her brain would react to being cut up and how it heals while aware, or to investigate her regular vampiric abilities.
It also didn't help that Code-R, the name of the think tank, was sponsored by the OSS, which meant that they were funded by both the Emperor and the Geass Directorate which meant that V.V. had sold her out to Clovis and Charles did nothing about it. In any case, the past year had been hell to her, and the driving wasn't helping, even if she was being moved elsewhere, for whatever reason.
'If I get my hands on Clovis, that hobgoblin and anyone involved,' C.C. thought to herself darkly, 'it will get very messy and bloody. I promise that much at least!'
Her thoughts were interrupted by the truck suddenly swerving, throwing her body around the tube, before crashing a moment later, just when she was getting her bearings again. She was for once thankful for being submerged mostly in water as it cushioned the blow against the side of the spherical container. She narrowed her eyes as she focused her attention on the two other individuals she knew were in the truck as well. She couldn't see them but knew where they were with the only vampiric power that she could use at all at a reduced capacity in her current circumstances: the ability to sense individuals in the nearby area, like all of the people she could barely make out on the outskirts of her senses who were most likely investigating the crash.
'I was mistaken...If I get my hands on anyone involved with Code-R AND whoever's driving this truck...' she was swearing to herself before suddenly her eyes widened as she felt someone nearby amongst the probable bystanders that she hadn't sensed in a long time.
'It can't be…' she thought in mild shock. 'Of all the people near where the truck crashed, the last person I would expect to be there would be…'
As the presence got closer, she was able to confirm that it was Lelouch vi Britannia. One of the two individuals she was seeking when she first arrived in Area Eleven for the first time. What a coincidence that he was so close, yet so far. In fact, he got even closer, though he was the only one to do so.
Suddenly the truck started up again and she felt Lelouch fall into the truck. Well, that was convenient. Fate it seemed has decided to give C.C. a good day for the first time in a while. She had finally found her Prince. The question was now how she was going to get out of these restraints and the container to actually meet him.
As the truck picked up speed, she felt one of the two individuals in the drivers cabin, the female on the passenger side, suddenly go past her prison and Lelouch, apparently not noticing the intruder as she did not stop until she reached the back of the truck. Then she got into something then exited the truck at a much faster pace. Most likely she had jumped into a Knightmare Frame. This most likely meant that the driver and passenger were terrorists, not Britannian military or Code R scientists like she had originally thought. That complicated things a lot, especially now that not only did this explain the terrible driving, but Lelouch had most likely unintentionally become involved in the fight between Clovis and the terrorists.
The truck suddenly swerved to the side again, as if fleeing or dodging a shot and came across a bumpy path, well that's what C.C. thought as she didn't know where exactly they were. This continued on for a moment before the Truck suddenly came to a halt. After another moment of stillness, C.C. felt a new individual, someone C.C. had met before but did not recognise, quickly rush to the truck and began interacting with Lelouch. Though it seemed that they had fought for a brief second, the two quickly began to converse like normal people.
It was at this moment that C.C. heard a hissing sound, felt the air around her begin to flow out as the container depressurised. She closed her eyes as the process irritated them. Then it suddenly opened up, allowing the water to flow out with a splash and C.C. seemed to hang in the air for a split second as she opened her eyes, immediately focusing on the violet eyes of Lelouch, who looked much older than the last time she saw him, before gravity caught up and she collapsed to the slippery ground. Immediately, Lelouch, like the well-mannered prince he was, quickly rushed to her side, along with the other individual next to him. As they checked to see if she was alright, which she was as being confined and caught up in a crash would barely scratch her, if only temporarily, the two began to argue again.
"Does this look like poison gas, Suzaku?" Lelouch spoke in Japanese as he checked her for any obvious wounds and then began to undo her restraints as much as he could, starting with releasing her legs.
"That's what they told us in the briefing," the now identified Suzaku, who C.C. now remembered as Lelouch's friend during his exile. No wonder why she thought he was familiar earlier. Though she was slightly concerned that the son of the former Japanese Prime Minister was wearing a Britannian Military uniform.
"Stinking Monkeys," The arrogance in the interrupting voice was unmistakably Britannian. C.C. managed to twist her head as much as her restraints to spot the squad of Royal Guards, led by an officer with a scar on his face, that had arrived on the scene, having spotted the two teenagers and had their weapons raised, their targets instinctively covering their eyes from the light of the Britannian flash lights also aimed at them. "Being an Honorary Britannian will not excuse you for this!" the officer continued, his tone very much a mixture of anger and eagerness.
"But sir, I was told it was poisoned gas…" Suzaku tried to pacify the officer while Lelouch silently continued to unclasp as much of her restraints as he could, anticipating a need to escape soon. Very sensible, if C.C. had anything to say about it.
"How dare you question orders!" the officer shouted, as if he was about to erupt, but then ominously calmed down, causing C.C.'s instincts to claim the officer was about to create a very bad scenario for her and Lelouch.
"Still, in light of your excellent results in the evaluations, I'll overlook this mess," his calm tone, a contrast to how he treated Suzaku just a few seconds earlier, did little to assuage the three cornered individuals. That suspicion proved correct as the officer then flipped his pistol and offered the grip to Suzaku. "All you have to do is take this gun and execute that terrorist."
Once again, very typical of a Britannian Royal Guard, especially one of a royal such as Clovis la Britannia.
Suzaku, much to his credit, did not even consider accepting the offer. "But sir, he's just a civilian who got caught up in all of this!"
"Insolent dog!" The Officer was definitely not pleased with Kurugiri's answer. "Didn't you swear your life and loyalty to Britannia?!"
"...of course, but I cannot and will not kill a civilian," Suzaku replied, turning to face Lelouch.
"I see. In that case." the Officer noted before quickly shooting Suzaku in the back.
While C.C. herself expected it and wasn't as horrified as she could have been, instead the sight of blood causing her to feel hungry for the first time in over a year, Lelouch looked shocked and horrified. However, this was interrupted by the truck suddenly exploding, the shock wave sending everyone flying back.
C.C. recovered almost instantly, as did Lelouch, due to their positions before the explosion. The former prince grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the carnage before they both ran away from the scene, as the Royal Guard began to get up themselves, too disorientated to stop the two from fleeing.
After they put some distance between the two of them and the Royal Guard, who would have no doubt reported their position and her status of being free to Clovis, which would have severe consequences as he would no doubt do anything he could to get her back and ensure no one else could realise just what he had done. As they ran, C.C. then heard the sounds of violence suddenly erupt all around them, though Lelouch wasn't paying much attention to it, as he was completely focused on Suzaku being shot.
"It's all your fault," he muttered as they finally paused for breath. Well he did, she could continue a lot longer but he didn't know that. It also didn't help that she did stumble because of her prison suit. "Because of you, Suzaku, after just meeting him again for the first time in years, is dead!" He gave a hysterical laugh for a second before turning to face C.C. his eyes narrowing in thought. "Why is Clovis after you? Who are you?"
Good questions, which she did want to answer at least partially. However, there was just one thing in the way: the muzzle on her face. How very annoying, both because she did want to at least say a few things and she was hungry for blood. Thankfully, Lelouch did notice her expression on her face, and how her eyes were gesturing to the lower part of her face that was covered by the muzzle and proceeded to take it off.
As soon as the fresh air touched her lips, she couldn't help but sigh in relief. Now she could feel like a proper person again, though she would have to find some new clothes so she could ditch this accursed straight-jacket. She then turned her attention back to Lelouch, who looked expectantly at her.
"Thank you for removing that thing off of my face," she decided to thank him first before answering his questions, "and for rescuing me from that…dreadful situation."
"As for who I am…my name is C.C."
"Since it was Clovis' Royal Guard that was trying to 'recover' you just before, did he put you in that tank?" Lelouch asked, though she knew he was actually asking why Clovis put her in the tank.
"Yes, though not alone." she decided to answer. "As for why I was in the tank, the answer to that can wait a little bit, Lelouch."
"How do you know my name?" Lelouch's face was now twisted in a scowl, but his eyes showed his surprise and shock at being recognised.
"Oh, I know a lot more about you than you would think, Lelouch vi Britannia, former Seventh Prince of Britannia."
Lelouch took a step back as he could no longer hide his shock. He did recover quickly. "So you know that I am a royal. I won't ask how because as you said, right now the answers can wait."
Obviously he had finally noticed the violence happening outside of the tunnel they were in. C.C. internally sighed as she had figured out instantly what was happening. Lelouch had as well, but his facial expression showed how angry and sad he was at all of the death happening at once.
"You know that your father and siblings would be most surprised at you feeling sad at the death of some 'measly Elevens'." she said to him, her tone showing that she did not like the term forced upon the Japanese by Britannia. "Even fallen princes most often carry their prejudices with them into exile."
"Charles zi Britannia's ideologies are meaningless, as he is as well." Lelouch growled out. "The 'Numbers' are human just like the rest of us. And I despise, with a passion, what my country has done to the Japanese."
He looked her directly in the eye with such a passion that she could not help but feel enticed by it. "I may not have the ability to stop what my family has done to Japan and the world, but I can promise you this: One day, they will pay for what they have done to Nunnally, mother, Japan and me!"
"Oh, how interesting!" C.C., highly amused, smirked at his determination and declaration. "A prince prepared to rebel against his country, not only due to how slighted he was by it, but by how it has wronged the country he was exiled to. Now that is something new that I haven't seen in ages!"
Now her mischief side was tingling as she formulated a plan to not only pay back Lelouch for rescuing her, but also get back at V.V. and his cronies, as Lelouch would undoubtedly become a spanner in the works for them. Maybe she could help bring forward his timetable.
"Are you done mocking me?" Evidently Lelouch was not amused.
"On the contrary, I wish to ask you this," C.C. smiled, something that no one would feel safe looking at. "Would you sacrifice anything for your cause? To destroy Britannia and free the Japanese"
"Anything involving just me." Lelouch declared. "There are things and people more important to me than my life and I would gladly give it up for them every time it is required."
"Even your own humanity?"
"I will be fighting against the largest superpower in the world, and the most powerful one. My humanity will be the first thing I'll have to sacrifice in order to make the hard decisions for victory. Though I will not sacrifice anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. Only those willing to fight should be the ones dragged into the war I shall rage."
'Willing to do what has to be done, but keep his morals intact as much as he can. I've made more from less.' C.C. made up her mind.
"If you were to sacrifice your humanity, I will give you powers and abilities beyond your expectations, all for you to use to topple Britannia, to free Japan and to protect your sister."
Lelouch looked at her like she was speaking nonsense. "What? Like the ability to snap my fingers and turn all of the Britannian Nobility to dust?" he snapped his fingers to show a point. "I doubt that you have that kind of power."
"Of course not," C.C. agreed, "the power I can give you is much less grand. You will not be able to conquer Britannia alone with just yourself and that power, but it will help you on your journey. It is not and should not be the only thing you use.
"However, should you agree, you'll sacrifice your human existence, and become inhuman. Closer to a monster in some regards than an actual human. Would you accept that in order to defeat your father's empire and ideology?"
Lelouch seemed to think for a minute, as if questioning whether or not he believed her, and if it was the latter, would he humour her. Finally, he looked back at her and nodded. "If it meant that Japan would be free, my father's Britannia destroyed and Nunnally living in a better world, then yes…yes I would."
And that is how Lelouch became a vampire!
Once again, this fic and much of its vampire lore and abilities have been inspired by Thanathos' 'More than Just a Man', such as there being no Geass, only vampiric abilities. Codes still exist, but are more like true immortal vampires with much more powerful abilities. So C.C. and V.V. are still immortal like in canon. That means that everyone with geass will either be Vampires or half vampires (not sure about this part of lore for my fic, so it may change in the future).
In regards to shipping, it shall be a harem story… for both Lelouch and Suzaku. As much as I love Lelouch harem stories, I do wish that Suzaku had some more love as well to make up for it. The definite members of Lelouch's harem are: C.C., Kallen, Shirley, Milly and Euphie, with potential members of Kaguya, Villetta, Marrybell, Oldrin, Anya and Cornelia (up to revision in the future), while Suzaku will get Cecile, Nunnally and Monica (Knight of Twelve), with more potential candidates. Feel free to offer ideas for anyone joining either harem, especially Suzaku's as I don't have many ideas for his one.
Until next time!
Regards,
dalek117
Edit on 7/03/2023. Thank you Seerking for betaing this chapter and finding a few things that needed fixing!