thekingsgambit | IC: Dreampostin~

[Does withdraw her hands, but doesn't move away otherwise.]

I-I apologize. I don't know what happened — will you tell me? Lelouch? Please, tell me.

You, you really don't know?

[Breaks into sudden chaotic laughter, the sound so much more disturbing than a child should make.]

Elder sister is very blind to what she doesn't wish to see.

[Does pull back this time to look once more at the scene behind him, to look around the room again. She can recognize so many of the bodies piled in the room, but that's not what gets to her, what gets to her is how many she simiply cannot place — how many aren't even Britannian. In that moment, it all seems too elaborate, too detailed, to precise. Was there a war? Charles is always in search of another nation to conquer, and many of these bodies... so is this—?

Is this loss? Is this shock? Is this the end? Is this defense, is she protecting herself? Is it possible? She shakes her head and looks back to Lelouch.]

I don't understand. What is it you're trying to say? I do not understand...

[Still laughing and backing up further from her, as he sweeps an arm dramatically before the horror behind them.]

Silly Cornelia, open your eyes! This is the surprise we promised you all along. It's so unfair you wouldn't even recognize it after all the work I've put into it. I tried to be as thorough as I could. But it's too bad there wasn't enough time to make things easy for poor Euphie. I did much better with the others, don't you think? Please, elder sister, tell me if you like it.

What has happened to you? Come on, get up. We need to leave, Lelouch.

[Stops laughing abruptly and reaches out to place a still blood-wet hand over her mouth.]

You really need to be listen, elder sister. You're always so stubborn.

[He meets her eyes, the purple seeming a bit redder than usual.]

I did this. All of this. I killed them all, and it's only right that I get my credit. So please, Cornelia, answer my question. Please?

[Blood. Almost immediately after Lelouch covers her mouth, she begins to gag from the stench of blood. Only her mind doesn't go to the fantastic this time to explain how suddenly it hits her; rather, it repeatedly asserts that she's been controlling her breathing since she regained consciousness and now that Lelouch has covered her mouth, she is finally forced to breathe through her nose, to smell.

With slight roughness, she tears Lelouch's hand away from her mouth, taking gasping breaths as she falls more quickly into panic. Schneizel is still ignoring them. He has set Euphie up on the pyre and now struggles with a cigarette lighter that, judging by where he stands and the state of dress of the bodies around him, was taken from the pocket of one of the deceased. Real or imagined, she's surrounded by the dead and the mad with no though to what she can possibly do or how she can possibly end this.

When she makes her next attempt, she is in tears.]

Listen to me, Lelouch. Whatever has happened here, it cannot be your doing — you aren't capable of such crimes. We have to get you out of here, elder brother Schneizel as well. There... must be survivors somewhere, people who can tell us what is happening here. All right, Lelouch?

[The tears and the desperation in her voice cause the uncertainty and even a tiny bit of fear to return to his face. He pulls back again, curling a hand to his chest.]

... Not capable of... ?

[Listen; is that the sound of a little girl crying from behind the throne?]

[Recognizes that crying and tries to look past Cornelia, his voice distant and small, as if trapped in some thick fog.]

... Nunnally?

[She peeks out at her name but keeps crying just as hard.]

[Looks back herself, deliberately shifting out of Lelouch's way.]

[Pockets the lighter and simply watches his siblings.]

[At the sight of that tear-stained face, the entire scene and everything that came before or after loses all importance to Lelouch, as he scrambles toward the throne.]

Nunnally...

[Walks over to kneel beside Cornelia.]

[Straightens herself when he arrives, no longer crying; she wants to stand, but won't before he does. Instead, she places her hands on his knee and arm, and tries to move away so that it'd be difficult for him to turn back toward the death.]

Elder brother, what is going on here? Euphie— [coughs] how did— [again] she's not, cannot—

[Turns away and tries to control her gagging.]

[He, of course, doesn't respond, intent on watching Lelouch and Nunnally.]

[Looks up at him again when she recovers.]

Elder brother?

[She waits a little longer for a response. When one doesn't come, she edges closer to him and bows her head against his chest.]

We'll leave as soon as Lelouch returns with Nunnally. There is... nothing else we can do here.

[She's still crying, but steps a little further away from the throne with Lelouch's approach. The move revealis that she's clutching Lelouch's red-ribboned box to her chest.]

[Slows down as he gets closer to her, holding out his hand.]

N-Nunnally, it's all right... it's okay... don't - don't cry. I'm here. It's going to be all right.

[Cries a little harder and clutches the box a little tighter.]

[Notices box this time and takes another step toward her, forcing his voice to sound lighter.]

Oh... Nunnally found it. I - I wanted to give it to you after the party. But... it's okay if you want it now. I'll open it for you. That's okay, right?

[After a moment, her tears tone down to hiccuping sobs and she slowly extends the package to Lelouch.]

[Carefully undoes the ribbon while the box is still in Nunnally's trembling hands. It's hard when his hands are trembling just as much. One his hands finds the side of hers and falls upon it lightly, his tone soft and fragile.]

Don't worry, Nunnally. B-Big brother will make it all right again... I promise...

[He slides the lid off the box to reveal a dark pink hairpiece, inlaid with golden edges.]

See? It's just as pretty as Nunnally...

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