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silentexplorer18 · 1 year

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Six: Unraveling

Word Count: 4,500+

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When you woke the following morning, all three shinobi were waiting outside of your room like watchdogs. You could sense the tension in the air, and for a moment, the happy warmth that had burned in your chest all night began to fade. Had they found out about you and Kakashi’s almost shared kiss? Did they know? Had he told them? The fear dropped through your stomach like a stone, bumping and skittering along the notions of civility and regality that caged your chest like sharp wire.

“What is it?” There was no point in beating around the bush.

Tetsu and Maki gave you polite smiles that did not meet their eyes, and Tetsu stepped forward to speak, ever the paradigm of charm. “There is nothing to worry about, Princess. Please, let’s begin your day.”

Rather than wait for you to turn down the hall, Tetsu and Maki took the lead, and Kakashi lagged behind, as though waiting to follow you. You tried to catch his gaze, but Kakashi stubbornly evaded it.

Nausea bubbled in your gut. Never, in all the time that the trio had graced the palace grounds, had you been sandwiched between them. Never before had they demonstrated such an obvious circlet of protection, least of all with you wholly unaware of their motives. And Kakashi couldn’t even look at you. Had something happened? Had you been seen on the outskirts of the forest? Had Kakashi come clean about you?

The fear that you’d so determinedly tamped down before burst forth like the most insidious of volcanic eruptions. The smoke clouded your judgment and choked you with your own confusion. The memory of Kakashi’s hands on your skin flickered and burned like hot embers. Maybe it had been a test. Maybe they were checking to see whether or not you’d sleep with a strange man. Maybe the idea of protection was an illusion. Maybe Kakashi had been hired for the sole purpose of extracting your weaknesses and secrets, only to demolish them with an iron fist.

Maybe you truly were alone in this world.

There was no other reason that you could think of for his sudden shame around you.

☽☽☽⚜☾☾☾

But it wasn’t shame. Kakashi could not meet your eyes for one reason alone: fear. After being in the ANBU for so long, he assumed he had no fear left in him. It had been trained away in battles, trimmed off like fat to lean muscle. Yet, facing you in the morning made fear buzz through him like a sharp electric shock.

Would you regret the intimate conversations you’d had with him last night? Would you hate him for the almost-kiss? For the way his hands brushed against your skin, enraptured by the simplest of touches? Would you hate him, as you had hated all the other men, for their interest in you? Or would you hate him for not being able to act upon his interest any further?

He was trapped, and, either way, he feared the consequences of your displeasure.

So, he pretended there was nothing there, and he threw himself into work. He’d scoped perimeters and set seals around the palace. He’d learned the poison-neutralizing jutsu that Tetsu had performed. Kakashi had done everything in his power to fix things.

But he could not fix the displeasure that you displayed as the day continued to progress. Especially as Tetsu and Maki lead you from the bathing chambers to your father’s private study. In fact, a wild look of alarm, dismay, and betrayal whirled across your features as you looked over your shoulder at him. But there was no time for him to explain what was going on, nor time to ask you why you were so visibly upset. There was only time to watch as Tetsu and Maki lead you into the lion’s den.

Seeing you kneel on the floor made him ache with guilt and the longing to rectify your almost certain discomfort. However, he could do nothing besides watch as the Daimyo began to speak.

“Danger has befallen the palace, as you saw last night. I do not know what enemies you have made in your foolishness,” he spat with a contemptuous glare, “but your idiocy must come to an end. You will be kept under tight lock and key. There will be no chances for you to turn the palace into chaos when there are attacks underway.”

“Yes, sir.”

Your obedience made Kakashi want to punch something. Hard.

“The shinobi will guide your movements. Follow their leadership.”

You bowed your head again. Kakashi’s toes scrunched in his sandals, and a beat of silence lapsed through the room before the Daimyo barked, “Dismissed.”

You rose with a grace and elegance Kakashi could hardly look away from, but your eyes were dull and tired. Disappointed. It made his chest ache.

☽☽☽⚜☾☾☾

But there was no way for you to know how deeply your suffering impacted his own. So you moved with the dull grace that being in the Daimyo’s presence always necessitated. You also avoided the shinobis’ stares, hoping that your eyes would not betray your dismay. This was a life you never wanted.

In the hall, the men paused, watching you carefully. “We do not want to hinder your activities any more than necessary,” Tetsu offered gently. “Where would you like to go?”

The options were minimal, but you knew there was only one thing that would recenter your soul. Tending to your injured plants would help you obtain the will to survive in this hell for a while longer. It would help you feel less confined to the suffocating walls of the palace for a few moments of safety and solitude.

“I would like to go outside and garden, if that is permissible.”

The three shinobi shared a glance. Kakashi and Tetsu seemed wary, but Maki was eager to allow you a semblance of freedom still. “That should be fine!” he assured.

Tetsu stopped him with a swift elbow to his side. “You are not the team leader,” he growled under his breath, smile still firmly affixed in an attempt to keep up a sense of false civility.

Maki merely whined, rubbing his side in dismay. “We have no reason to expect further attacks during the day. Surely we can let her outside.”

“I don’t see a problem with it,” Kakashi intervened, clearly sensing there would be no end to the dispute otherwise. “But we should do a perimeter sweep first. I can stay with the princess while you two…”

“Right!” Maki replied warmly. Why he was so keen on you gardening, no one was quite sure.

Tetsu merely relented with another smile that failed to meet his eyes, and you felt discomfort brewing in your chest.

Sure, a perimeter sweep was likely necessary, but Kakashi had taken the opportunity to rid your company of the other two shinobi. You were trapped with him. And though it was unlikely he would do anything in the center of the palace, where guards or servants could rush by at any moment, you had no idea why he had wanted you trapped alone.

When you fixed your eyes upon him, he was already watching you. It did not dispel your unease.

But he was watching you with a warm expression—or warm from what you could tell given you were privy to such a small portion of his features. It seemed he had captured you alone for a reason. “What’s on your mind?”

That you are plotting to betray me. That you are a secret swindler. That you will destroy me and everything I love if given the chance. That betrayal is imminent. That my feelings for you will be my demise because you do not feel the same way. There were a multitude of answers to choose from, none of which felt right. You settled for: “Why did you lie for me?”

It was an easy place to start. The night prior, he had lied to the Daimyo about the events that had transpired. Perhaps his reasoning for doing so could quell your reservations about his motivations…

Yet, your query seemed to startle him. He paused, straightening his shoulders in a way that made his uniform stand out against the ornate filigree of the palace walls that you’d known all your life. “It’s my duty to protect you.”

And that’s all it was. Duty and nothing more. You were a fool to think anything otherwise.

It took effort to keep your expression neutral, but Kakashi could see right through you. He was watching you like a hawk the second your expression faltered, and he posed the next question immediately. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“No. Nothing at all.” And, truthfully, there wasn’t. Kakashi had done no wrong. It was you and your foolish heart that had run astray.

“Then what—”

He wouldn’t drop it. Not until he figured out the root of your issue. It was better to come clean than drag such matters on. “I thought we were friends, Kakashi.”

“Friends?” He outright blanched at that, and, suddenly, you wished the earth would swallow you whole. “This is… you’re a… This is a mission—”

“Forgive me,” you interrupted curtly, “for my err in judgment.”

Finality snapped through your voice, demanding an end to the conversation. Yet, Kakashi still opened his mouth, shifting in a way that suggested he wanted to say more.

“You’re a princess,” he whispered.

The title stung. After all the secret, whispered moments you’d shared, moments in which you’d bared your heart to him unquestioningly, he would put you on a pedestal for your ridiculous, untrue title? How could he? “I’m ordinary,” you hissed back, knowing that at any minute the shinobi would return, and you would have to feign friendship—something you now knew to be doubly untrue.

Kakashi stared at you with that one, visible eye, expression and voice almost somber. “You could never be ordinary.”

Your heart clenched as he repeated the same line he’d used when you first met him. All those weeks ago when the chaos had started felt like an eternity from now. Yet, the divide between you and Kakashi still remained. It appeared it always would.

☽☽☽⚜☾☾☾

As the group started off toward the palace gardens, Kakashi trailed behind the others. Although he was always alert—always searching for hidden threats—there was something more pressing weighing on his mind. He’d done something wrong.

How had you believed the two of you could be friends? He was in no way deserving of that. He was merely a shinobi. Kakashi the friend killer. He was not worthy of the companionship of a princess, even a false one.

He’d let his heart get the best of him, and it had ruined everything. You’d completely closed yourself off. He’d have to work doubly hard to communicate with you, to keep you safe. No matter how much his heart beat against his chest whenever you looked his way, there was nothing to do but protect you in the best ways he knew how. The mission had to come first.

☽☽☽⚜☾☾☾

Due to the length and complications of the preceding events, you reached the garden much later than usual. The sun was already high in the sky, and it beat across your shoulders in a way that made sweat bead under the length of your dark dress. Your fingers swelled with the heat, making the rings on your fingers ache from the additional pressure.

How you longed for the days when you could come out in the early mornings. How you longed for the days prior when you and Kakashi had wordlessly worked on the garden together, sharing in a secret moment where your naivety could convince you he was truly a good person. Oh, how things had changed. You would have done anything to go back.

The shinobi at least had the decency to keep their distance. They lurked around the perimeter of the garden, occasionally conversing in whispered words and muttered grumbles. Although you tried not to pay too much attention to them, you couldn’t help noticing that Kakashi was as relaxed as ever. Your disagreement—if it could even be called that—had hardly rattled him. The connection between you had been seldom more than a one-sided flicker. How foolish of you to have thought otherwise.

A formal lunch was served with a few select defense strategists late in the afternoon, after another dreaded bath, but you were able to slip away from the post-meal pleasantries for another stent in the garden. It was a reprieve you were infinitely grateful for; the Daimyo and his wife grew even more curt and impatient in the aftermath of the attack. Your ever-observant ears were yet to detect the true meaning why.

The roses needed pruning desperately, but you were wary of shocking them with clipping after the jostle they’d recently had. However, your hands found their stems in the delicate dirt, and you could hardly resist caring for the most tragic parts of them. It was only as you stood to shift to a new set of bushes that you noticed Kakashi wandering toward you.

“Hey.” His voice floated across the space between you as he drew closer, and you glanced up to find a gentle, reassuring expression plastered to the visible portion of his face. He wasn’t trying to harm you, you realized. He wasn’t using the vulnerabilities you’d shown him against you in any truly malicious fashion. No, he was just disengaging from you. Stepping back. Abandoning you to your fate.

Somehow, it was almost more cruel.

“Hello,” you murmured, gaze returning to the white and gold petals in front of you.

He loomed over you, but after spending so much time with Kakashi, the gesture felt anything but threatening. Damn your traitorous heart.

“We need to talk.”

Your head cocked gently, but your eyes did not stray from the blossoms arching skyward before you. “What about?”

“We’re fairly certain,” he spoke softly, and in the following admission, his voice grew even gentler still, “the poison bomb was targeted to you specifically.”

You sucked in a breath. At some point, you knew this would be coming. You just knew. But so soon? You’d barely had time to live, and they were already plotting your death? How cruel. You would have jumped at the chance to flee the country, to never to rule again. Yet, they still insisted on killing you. It was truly barbaric.

☽☽☽⚜☾☾☾

Kakashi studied your reaction closely, prompting you when you did not respond. “Any idea why someone would try to poison you?”

You hummed lowly and shook your head, and Kakashi felt his heart sink. Did you really not trust him to tell him the truth? As observant as you were, you must have known something!

A small gasp had him looking down at you again. You were clutching your finger, a pearl of blood gathering on the tip.

A maid rushed forward, ushering you back toward the shade of the palace while another ran to retrieve bandages and hot water. The commotion was minimal, small enough not to warrant Kakashi’s concern. But something else was.

In all the time he’d watched you tend the garden, he’d never once witnessed you catch on the stickers of a rose bush. You moved fluidly in the garden, with practiced motions he could only admire. So why were you injured now?

Slowly, he crouched beside the plant you’d been tending, eyes trailing through the forest of thorns. There was blood on one, but that wasn’t what caught his attention.

Carved into the dirt below the plant was a message.

There are too many ears here. We’ll talk later.

As he reached for the watering can to clear away the evidence of your conversation, Kakashi could only marvel at your quick thinking. You’d cut yourself on purpose.

☽☽☽⚜☾☾☾

As the maids fussed and pouted over the small slice running across your finger, you could only hope the shinobi you’d allied yourself with was observant enough to know you weren’t a klutz.

You had no reason to trust him. No reason to think you should keep risking yourself after he so clearly drew the line between you. Yet, you couldn’t help the hope that somehow he’d get you out.

He had been retreating, but retreating armies could be swayed with the right battle cry. If you played your remaining cards right, maybe, just maybe, he would find a way to save you. Though, you hardly wanted saving, nor needed saving. But worlds aren’t conquered alone, battles aren’t defeated in isolation, and you don't have many options left when it comes to forming allies.

You would share your information with Kakashi. You had to. The walls were closing in, and if you couldn’t find a way to break one soon, fate would eat you alive.

The soft clunk of the watering can pulled you from your daydreams, and you caught sight of something you never imagined seeing: a shinobi watering your flowers.

Obviously, he’d understood your message and took the initiative to clear it away in the most unconscious, unassuming way possible, but the thrill zinging through your chest came from the way he so delicately doused the roots of the plants, assuring that not even a single drop of water touched the leaves that were so easily prone to mold. Unlike the rest of your companions, who acted with little regard for your one public joy, Kakashi moved with deliberate, considerate motions as he emptied the container along the row of bushes. You could only hope he would be just as deliberate and considerate with you.

☽☽☽⚜☾☾☾

It took ample effort for Kakashi to convince Tetsu and Maki that a solitary approach to information extraction would be ideal. They, understandably, did not want to inadequately perform their duties. However, they could not overlook the reality that you had not come to anyone but Kakashi when it came to startling issues. That knowledge caused them to eventually relent.

But Kakashi could hardly believe it. Why would you go to him for help? Why would you seek him out when he was as much of a threat to you as the others were? Why had you put your faith in him? And, the most pressing of his concerns, had he destroyed that faith by upsetting you?

Fear ate away at his gut through the rest of the afternoon and evening. No one could tell how deeply he worried for your varyingly intertwined futures, but that didn’t stop him from worrying all the same.

☽☽☽⚜☾☾☾

Kakashi agreed to walk with you to the gazebo that night. He seemed relaxed, even as the two of you piled into the small structure.

It wasn’t a particularly extravagant thing. With ivy and morning glories crawling up the sides and weaving knots over several of the windows, the space provided a pseudo-privacy. Any real spy—enemy or ally—would have no trouble detecting the two of you within the confines of the structure. However, it was nice to imagine you were alone and far from the stifling formality of the palace.

The gazebo itself was well-kept, if overgrown, and the slatted floor was smooth as you knelt against it. Although you did not mind tarnishing your gowns, the tongue lashing you’d receive for returning in a torn skirt would have been more unbearable than you’d care to admit.

Kakashi was watching you carefully, back resting nonchalantly against one of the gazebo’s support beams. The position hardly looked comfortable, but he slouched into it with a grace that could only indicate some level of satisfaction. Your skin burned under his scrutiny, but his focus had nothing to do with you and everything to do with the information you had to share. The knowledge of that righted your hopeful, traitorous mind.

“There is war on the horizon,” you explained softly.

His visible eye narrowed in silent question, and you carefully spread a map you’d torn from a book ages ago across the wooden slats on the floor. Your finger drug across the worn ink, tracing cities you’d never seen and places you’d never go in an arc across the country’s northern villages.

“There is unrest here. The northern factions—specifically a group called the Sheep’s Army—have colluded to overthrow some of the Daimyo’s policies. Political upheaval appears to be imminent.”

Kakashi nodded slowly, and his voice was businesslike as he spoke. “The Sheep’s Army wants to overthrow the Daimyo, and you’re attacked as collateral?”

“No. At least, I don’t believe that’s where this last attack has come from. The Sheep’s Army, they would have claimed it.”

Another nod. That dark, narrowed eye stared at you with dizzying intensity, and it dawned on you: he really cared that you were kept safe. If nothing else, that mattered to him.

“Then who?”

Again, your finger trailed over the map, gliding over the southern cities. A few of them you’d been to. A pretty face to make the civilians pleased. “Unlike the North, the Southern part of the country has flourished under the Daimyo’s policies. When word of the Sheep’s Army got out, many citizens joined together to form the Concerned Army, a group working to support the Daimyo. Of course, the two groups are fundamentally opposed to one another, so they hold a rather severe hatred toward the other party.”

“Civil war?” His reply was instantaneous, and you marveled at how quickly he’d come to a conclusion that even your father—a lover of war—was yet to accept.

“Indeed. With the state of our agriculture in the North and the economic upheaval in areas of the south, the country would be on the brink of collapse.”

“And what? Your father stages your death to draw sympathy?”

The words died on your tongue, and you were sure the surprise and hesitance on your face was as plain as day to someone as observant as Kakashi. Was your father plotting to kill you? Was that the reason he gave little consideration to the possibility of a civil war? The thought hadn’t occurred to you until now, and you weren’t sure how to process it.

Kakashi was clever. Much more clever than you, though you’d never give him the pleasure of saying so. Was it possible he’d noticed something that you hadn’t? Surely he had access to more information than you did.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t what you were going to say, was it?” His words broke you out of your thoughts, and you glanced back up to meet his gaze, forcing strength and resolve into your expression. Information was the only tool you had in your arsenal to save your life, and you’d share every last drop that you could.

“No, it wasn’t. Though, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.”

His steely resolve egged you on. If he could face death every day with the strength of an expertly forged blade, then you could face this with strength, too.

“I was going to say the Daimyo’s advisors. If the Daimyo and his family die in a tragic accident, an advisor can take the place of Feudal Lord. A new ruler pleases the northern cities—“

“And your death prevents the southern cities from forcing a royal family member into the role.”

“Precisely.”

The wind whispered through the ivy, tousling his hair and your dress. It rustled the map below your hand, nearly ripping it from the ground.

You wished it could blow you away. Then, you’d be free of the life and the death, the pampering and the underhanded plots, the war and faked familial peace. Just a speck, blowing in the wind. But that would never be the case.

Rolling the map, you tucked it back into your clothing before standing. Between parts of the twining vines curling up the sides of the windows, you could still look out to see bits and pieces of the river.

Silence stretched between you as long and languid as the summer’s heat. The fireflies flickered. The lake rippled as though it were a melted beast barely breathing after a long afternoon in the sun.

The world was peaceful, if only for a moment.

☽☽☽⚜☾☾☾

You were beautiful. Standing there in front of the ivy, a faint dusky glow glistening off your skin, you were the paradigm of opulence.

But there was something deeper standing in your eyes. Something almost as real and raw as the surprised horror dawning on your face when he’d proposed the Daimyo’s possible plans.

To Kakashi’s infinite surprise, you let your guard down around him, if only a little. He knew it had to be calculated; you needed an ally more than anything. However, he still couldn’t squash down his interest in the many hidden moods you seemed to possess.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

You glanced at him in surprise, as though you weren't suspecting an interruption, and Kakashi feared he’d broken some unspoken social rule you’d set in place.

However, your soft voice floated toward him, full of a melancholy so intense that it howled through his heart. “Sometimes I wish I could just go.”

The vulnerability nearly stole his breath away. Sure, you’d revealed your disinterest in becoming ruler before, but now, here, with the way your brows pinched and gaze searched the horizon like a door would suddenly appear to sweep you away, you displayed your true intentions tenfold. This was another deep layer behind the impenetrable mask you’d built up. A layer almost more interesting and complex than Kakashi could fathom.

Distantly, he knew you were playing your true colors like a deck of well-guarded cards. There was no way for him to know what you would play next. But all of it would have some merit, some intention. He’d yet to see you do something without reason.

You needed an ally. With nearly half the country fighting for your head, and just as many enemies inside the palace as out of it, you needed someone who would stand beside you when things got rough. A strong, competent soldier. Someone battle ready in all the physical and mental ways you weren’t.

Yet, Kakashi couldn’t help thinking there was more to it than that. Perhaps it was the vain part of him, but he couldn’t imagine you choosing to tell him because of his physical prowess or skills. It must have been another reason, another part of him that drew you in. His heart ached to believe that you chose him for him.

And to keep you by his side, to keep your trust, he had to play his cards right. He had to show you just enough of his hand that you would continue to trust him, tell him things, depend on him. Just thinking about it made his heart race.

But you were being genuine, so he needed to be genuine, too.

“I can’t let you run. But… maybe someday sooner than you think you can have the life you want.”

You nodded, but your expression held little of the hope Kakashi anticipated seeing and all of the disbelief. “That’s a more outrageous claim than you realize,” you breathed back.

And maybe it was. But Kakashi wanted to believe you’d achieve your dreams—that your hopes, no matter how small, wouldn’t be in vain. He just couldn’t be the one to give them to you.

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Taglist: @zorosq, @september-ctd, @lilpsychoqueen, @berkeliums, @levisbebe, @canibea-whore-yet

A/N: This series isn't abandoned! I'm just very slow! Sending love to anyone that has been hanging in there for this update, and I hope everyone is having a happy 2023!

#kakashi hatake x reader #kakashi hatake fanfiction #hatake kakashi x reader #hatake kakashi fanfiction #kakashi hatake #hatake kakashi #hatake kakashi x you #kakashi hatake x you #kakashi x reader #kakashi x you #kakashi x y/n #naruto fanfiction #kakashi fanfiction #kakashi naruto #the daimyo's daughter #silent writes

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squareblind · 3 years

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Watchdogs Legion: Can an open world games have open world politics?

Watchdogs Legion: Can an open world games have open world politics? #watchdogs #legion

Watchdogs Legion, released on the PS4 in 2020, developed by Ubisoft By Neil Merrett “The London of Watchdogs Legion is truly a marvel of open world engineering and design – an anarchic playground for the player to hack and sabotage through in the name of liberty. Yet the game is less satisfying as a form of interactive satire, especially when providing consequences for the difficult decisions…

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naruwitch · 3 years

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Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron: Chapter 33: Island of the Gods

The sound of seagulls cawing and cold water lapping against her legs was what roused Nonette into consciousness. Blinking as the sun hit her eyes, she saw about a dozen of the birds circling above her.

With a gasp, she sat up. Looking around, she saw that she was alone, but there was no sign of Britannian troops or Knightmares anywhere. It was clear she was still on one of the islands if the sandy beach and glistening ocean was any clue, but it didn't seem to be Shikine Island. Otherwise, she was sure that she would have been picked up by now.

"How did I get here?" she muttered. All she remembered was fighting Zero in the Black Lion and then…

"It's no use," she growled, "I can't remember anything!"

Nonette knew that without any Knightmares, it was unlikely that she could call for help or request a rescue party. The best she could do would be to get to higher ground. She was sure that her unit was looking for her, and if what she remembered was correct and her other colleagues were here...

Prince Schneizel had some explaining to do.

Until then, though, she would have to simply survive, and the first thing to do in that case was to find some freshwater.

Hiking up along the mountain trail, the faint sound of rushing water caught her ear. Likely a waterfall. At least she knew there was a good water source here.

Turning around a bend, Nonette nearly leaped out of her skin as she came face to face with a large green lion head.

Under normal circumstances, she would have at least drawn her gun to defend herself, but the only weapon she had was her sword. She instinctively gripped the handle but not drawing it just yet, merely staring the lion down.

After about a minute of tense silence, Nonette slowly moved, realizing the lion wasn't moving. That likely meant whoever was piloting the lion wasn't inside.

That meant whoever was piloting it was somewhere in the area too.

Now on her guard, Nonette cautiously snuck towards the sound of the waterfall. She had no way of knowing if the pilot was armed or not. However, even if she didn't have a gun, all of the Knights of the Round were proficient with swords, or knives in Bradley's case. She would just have to make sure that she got in close to fight properly.

Sneaking as silently as she could through the foliage, she finally found the source of the sound, and as she expected, it was a waterfall.

What she wasn't expecting, though, was to see someone already occupying the pool beneath it, and she couldn't help but gasp.

It was a young man with platinum blonde hair. His bareback was towards her, so she didn't see his face, but what she could see was… horrifying.

Whip-lashes, bullet wounds, other crisscrossing scars (likely from knives) covered the teen's back. There were also fainter, more straight lines. Surgical cuts. She could barely make out any clear, smooth skin. But most horrifying of all was right in the middle of his spine.

A brand. The symbol wasn't anything she recognized. If she had to pick a word to describe it, though, it looked like some sort of mutated, three-pointed claw.

This man had been tortured. Brutally. As well as experimented on and labeled as property. Of all of the cruel things she'd heard the Empire doing to the Numbers, she was at least glad that branding had been outlawed. Wounds and injuries could heal, but brands, they weren't easy to get rid of. Most were impossible to remove, and from where that one was located, it was unlikely it could be done safely for him.

She must have made more noise than she thought, as a moment later, the teen turned from where he had been bathing. His eyes widened when he saw her.

Her eyes widened in shock too when she saw his face.

"Prince Zephyr?!"

The Knight of the Round was in too much shock that she overlooked the blond reach for something behind him and fired it at her. Next thing she knew, she felt a cord wrap tightly around her, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground. Moments later, she cried out in pain as electricity ran through her body.

Then she blacked out.

On another area of the island, with a bit more of a rocky shore, Zero stood by, calmly observing the new location that he and Zen had somehow ended up. When he had come to, he had been unable to rouse his Lion. He knew she'd wake up on her own eventually, but what concerned him was that he was unable to contact the castle or the other Paladins. Something on this island was jamming the signal. The best thing to do for now would be to wait until Zen woke up to leave and regroup with the rest of the team manually.

"As I thought," he muttered, "This is another island… though the vegetation and climate are the same as Shikine Island. We can't be that far from it. I can't contact the castle right now. And with my face all over the news, I can't pass myself off as an ordinary person asking for help either. This is annoying."

His train of thought was cut off when he heard a noise to his right. Looking over, the person he spotted made him gasp.

'Euphie!'

The princess herself, soaking wet, also gasped as she came face to face with the mysterious masked revolutionary.

Nonette groaned as she regained consciousness for the second time that day. As she tried to move her hands, she realized that they were bound in what felt like hand-cuffs.

"Have a nice nap?"

Nonette gasped and looked up in surprise, the sun blinding her vision partially as her captor stood in front of her, now fully dressed in a black bodysuit and white and green armor. She noticed that they were by the Green Lion again, and the teen was perched on top of its nose.

Getting a better look at the teen now, there was no mistaking it.

"Prince Zephyr, is that really you?" she gasped hopefully.

The teen frowned and narrowed his eyes and pushed off the Lion's muzzle, landing on the ground.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, lady," he said severely, "My name's Rai."

"What? No, that's not…" she protested before pausing, "Don't you recognize me?!"

"Yeah, your name's Nonette Enneagram, Knight of Nine. A member of that bastard Emperor's personal watchdogs. It's hard not to figure it out considering how famous you are," he said, eyes still narrowed.

"That's not what I…" Nonette cut herself off and seemed to think for a moment, before looking at Rai again, "I see. If you don't remember… amnesia, maybe?"

Rai stared at the woman critically. It was evident that she knew him, but he had no recollection of her. Not from before or during his Galra captivity. She did call him Zephyr, though, which is what the other alien prisoners called him as well. That couldn't be a coincidence.

"Zephyr… what happened to you…?" Nonette whispered. Rai was surprised to see tears falling from her eyes. "Those scars… who did that to you?"

Rai gasped, his hand instinctively reaching around to the small of his back where the cursed brand rested. So she'd seen all of that? He hadn't even shown it to the other Paladins. The only person on the castle that had seen it was Coran, which he only saw due to performing a mandatory physical on each of them shortly after they arrived.

The Altean had been horrified, but not surprised that Rai had gone through such treatment. At the time, Rai had asked if Coran recognized the writing branded underneath the symbol. When the Altean confirmed he did, he asked to know what it said. Coran had hesitated at first, but Rai insisted.

According to the Altean, the script roughly translated to: 'Property of the Galra Empire.'

The Green Paladin begged the older Altean not to tell the others, and Coran agreed, knowing that these things were personal and sensitive to prisoners of war.

Now knowing that someone other than Coran knew about the brand made Rai unusually uncomfortable. Like he was exposed. Naked even.

As the Green Paladin's mind raced, all Nonette could do was bow her head as tears of joy and sorrow flowed down her cheeks. She'd found her prince, but what was the cost of it?

Zero's hand gripped the knife he had attached to his side as Euphemia continued to stare at him. He seemed to be her sole focus.

His mask hid the conflicted look upon his face. What on Earth was he supposed to say to her? Besides the hotel-jacking, this was the first time he was seeing his sister face to face. He remembered before their exile how he, Nunnally, and Euphie used to be. She was the first girl he had ever truly loved, besides his mother and sister. But now what did he do? He could use his Geass on her to make her forget she'd seen him, but that thought didn't seem too appealing right now.

"Lelouch," she addressed, taking him by surprise, "Lelouch, it's you, isn't it? I haven't told anyone about you, I swear! Please… let me see your face."

There was about a minute of silence before the Black Paladin moved. It wasn't to attack, though. Slowly and calmly, he let go of the knife and reached up to remove his helmet and mask, allowing the princess to see her half-brother's face.

Tears gathered in Euphemia's eyes as she cried tears of joy. Not wasting any more time, the princess ran forward and embraced her sibling.

Lelouch stood frozen for a moment, too stunned to move. Soon, his own emotions overpowered him, and two sank to the sandy ground, hugging each other close.

"I've missed you so much!" Euphemia gasped between tears.

"I've missed you too, Euphie," Lelouch whispered back.

Ocean and sand. That was all Kallen could see with her Geass as her vision swept around the area.

The second the Hadron cannon's attack had ceased, the rest of Team Voltron was shocked to see that not only Lelouch but Rai and both of their Lions had vanished! So had Nonette Enneagram and Princess Euphemia. And Kallen was getting increasingly irritated the longer her Geass couldn't locate them.

From what she could gather, the Britannian forces looked just as agitated. Several soldiers were scanning the area, likely looking for the princess and the knight.

She and the rest of the team still couldn't believe that someone would throw away and endanger their own men like that. True, in war it was inevitable that people would die, but it was a completely different story when soldiers were willing sacrificed like that! And the fact that the attack wasn't stopped by Princess Euphemia's interference!

"I can't find them!" she reported into the comm, "Not even my Geass is picking anything up!"

"Keep looking!" Suzaku practically barked, "They've got to be somewhere!"

"Hey, first of all, don't use that tone with me, Suzaku!" Kallen snapped back, "Second, I doubt looking in the exact same place for the fourth time, and yes, I counted, will bring different results! It's a little something called insanity, you know!"

"Plus, it's kind of hard to do a bigger search with all of the troops down there," Milly pointed out, "They were clearly after the Lions, so they could try and ambush us again if we aren't careful!"

"Allura, has the castle picked up the Lions' location yet?" Shirley asked.

"No, nothing!" Allura replied, "Wherever the Lions landed, the castle isn't picking up their signal!"

"Maybe they both got knocked out?" Rivalz suggested.

"No, the castle would still be able to find the Lions if that were the case," Coran answered this time, "Wherever they are, they're in an area that is completely blocking out their signal, in or out!"

"If it helps at all, I do sense that Lelouch and Rai are both alive. It's most likely that Zerith and Zen are with them wherever they went," C.C. spoke up, "Come back to the castle for now. It won't help anyone if you exhaust yourselves searching like this. The Knights of Round could still be in the area."

Kallen growled before spitting out, "Fine!"

With that declaration, the five remaining Lions turned tail and flew straight back to the castle.

Meanwhile, back on Shikine Island, the Le Fay continued to float over the beach, overseeing the cleanup and search party down below. The Gawain had been recovered, but unfortunately, both the Black and Green Lions appeared to have vanished, much to everyone's bewilderment.

Inside the ship's main hanger, Cecile was busy typing on a laptop by the recovered Gawain. Next to it was also the Tristian, Mordred, and Galahad. She was going over the data the Gawain managed to obtain during the fight, but she still felt shaken over what had happened.

"So Nonette really just vanished?" the voice of Gino Weinberg, the Knight of Three, echoed through the hangar, and Cecile looked up in surprise.

"Without a trace," Anya Alstreim stated plainly, staring at her personal electronic diary.

"And the two lions that were in the area are gone too. The Prince won't be pleased with this," the Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein addressed gravely, "Are you positive you've looked through all the data?"

"No, Lord Bismark," Cecile addressed, "it's all just static in the Gawain's systems. No trace of what happened to Lady Enneagram or Princess Euphemia either."

"Hey, Mark, no offense," Gino suddenly said, eyeing the Knight of One suspiciously, "You didn't tell us that sacrificing Nonette like that was part of the plan!"

"Are you questioning the intentions of the Second Prince and Viceroy?" Bismarck challenged with a deadly gaze.

"But you also didn't intervene when you saw Princess Euphemia was there either!" Cecile couldn't help but point out in a rare burst of anger.

"If it wasn't clear for you to see, Miss Croomy, the three of us were also occupied with the other lions!" Bismark snapped. Cecile cringed back in fear of the Knight of One's wrath.

Before she could apologize, another voice entered the conversation.

"In all situations, priorities must not be forgotten either," Prince Schneizel acknowledged, walking into the room.

Cecile gasped, "Prince Schneizel! Y-You're here!"

"You impudent little…! How dare you look down upon the Second Prince of the Empire!" General Bartley exclaimed as he appeared as well.

"General Bartley…?!" Cecile lost her footing and slid down the stairs to land on her rear on the ground.

"Nice one," he commented.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Schneizel asked gently as he helped Cecile to her feet.

"Uh, thank you," she gasped as the prince helped her to her feet.

"Gah…! She's unworthy!" Bartley growled.

"You're quite the devoted subject, aren't you, General?" Lloyd observed.

"Primarily because the prince is the one who commuted my sentence and saved me from being chained up deep beneath Temple Tower!" General Bartley barked.

"I wish you'd stop thinking of me so formally," Schneizel told the General matter-of-factly, "You've been a great help to me in this current matter, as you were to my brother, Clovis. It is I who am grateful to you."

"M-my Lord!" Bartley gasped.

"Please, Bartley. Now my Lady Cecile, if you'll excuse me. Bismarck, Alstreim, Weinberg, please follow me. We'll discuss the events that transpired. In the meantime, Lord Asplund, you and Lady Cecile will use the Le Fay to locate Euphemia," the prince ordered before turning to leave the hanger.

"As you wish, Your Highness," Bismarck bowed curtly before he and his colleagues turned to follow the prince out.

Right as Lloyd turned to follow as well, Cecile spoke up, "Please wait! Were those orders yesterday issued by the prince?!"

"Silence! You don't want to be in contempt of royalty, do you?!" Bartley exclaimed.

"To be honest, I've been wondering about that too," Gino admitted awkwardly.

Despite the accusations, Schneizel responded anyway, "Those orders were mine, yes. I also fired the Hadron. Even in a situation like that, priorities mustn't be forgotten. The Empire is facing what is likely its most dangerous adversary. I saw an opportunity to eliminate the leadership, and I took it. I certainly didn't expect Euphie to rush out like that, but if something anomalous happened, we would have still been able to rescue both her and Lady Enneagram. That's what I gambled on."

"Okay… if you say so," Gino shrugged, but he still looked reasonably uncertain

"Yes, My Lord," Cecile nodded as well, "I understand now, and I sorely regret my rudeness. I accept any punishment you decree."

"Nonsense," Schneizel dismissed, "It's my fault for not protecting my subordinates. Can you ever forgive me?"

These were the last words Schneizel said as he left the hanger, but the Second Prince's mind was extremely troubled. While it was true that he ordered to have the experimental weapon inserted into the Gawain in an attempt to capture the Black Lion, somehow the machine had vanished, along with Zero, the Green Lion and its pilot, and Lady Enneagram. The Gawain didn't disappear, so it was a mystery as to why the two Lions vanished.

Something else was at play, and he hoped that he could somehow still talk the matter out with his brother before the situation became too dire to be reversed.

"How did you figure it out? Did Suzaku tell you?" Lelouch asked as he leaned back against a large stone. Euphemia was sitting on the other side, Lelouch's cape draped over her bare body as she had stripped out of her dress so that it could dry off.

"No. Well," Euphie stopped to think about her words, "he never specified you were Zero. He did say you were with Voltron, though. But I figured it out during the hotel-jacking."

She didn't see, but her brother nodded, "At the time, I said too much without thinking."

"Of course, I was never one hundred percent certain until now," Euphemia added.

"I see… I'm naive, as well. Even so, why didn't you discuss your suspicions with Cornelia or Schneizel?" he asked.

"I didn't because my sister never listened to me. And it never felt right to talk about it with Schneizel. Besides that… I think things are depressing enough as they are… Oh, Nunnally — how is she? Is she really all right? Suzaku said so."

"Yes," Lelouch answered, "She's better than she's been in a while, actually."

"I see… Can I assume that she knows everything? About Zero… and Voltron?"

"Yes," Lelouch nodded, "She knows everything, and why I'm doing what I'm doing."

"Lelouch I… I'm so sorry…" Euphemia stuttered, her voice cracking slightly.

"For what?" he asked, glancing back in confusion.

"For… for everything!" she gasped, holding back tears, "The hatred you must feel for us. The hatred towards the Emperor… towards us."

"No…" Lelouch answered, cutting Euphemia off, "Euphie, even after we were exiled, I never hated you. Of course, when I saw what Clovis and Cornelia became, I was scared at first that you changed too. But when I spoke with you at the hotel, I was relieved to see that I was wrong. You're still the same girl that would play with Nunnally and me at Aries Villa. You're still our sister."

"Lelouch…" Euphie murmured.

"I know you and Cornelia had nothing to do with my mother's murder. From what she told me, she investigated it extensively," he added as an afterthought.

Euphemia nodded, though, on the inside, she was relieved to hear that Lelouch and Cornelia talked. That meant her sister was still alive after all.

"Cornelia did think a lot of Lady Marianne and looked up to her," Euphemia said, "It frustrated her that she couldn't find who did it."

"Yes, I know…" Lelouch nodded again.

Suddenly, Euphemia's stomach gave a slight groan, and the princess looked down with a blush, "I believe feeling relieved has made me hungry."

Lelouch couldn't help but chuckle a little as he stood up, "Well, we're in luck. Somehow Zen was transferred here along with me. We should be able to find some provisions with her."

"Zen?" Euphie asked, confused as Lelouch went to gather her clothes.

"You'll see," was all he said with a light smile.

"Gotcha!" Rai shouted as he snatched another fish from the stream. Of course, it wasn't necessary to go hunting for food since Zerith had several packs of food goo stored inside her, but Rai wasn't going to let this opportunity slide. It had been ages since he'd had some decent Earth food.

"You know I can help you with that!" Nonette said. She was sitting by the shore, her hands still bound behind her, but she hadn't made any moves to get free. Rai's outer Paladin armor lay in a neat row beside her.

"Not a chance!" Rai couldn't help but snap a little back. He didn't care if the Knight of Nine claimed to know him; he wasn't going to take any chances while he was temporarily unarmed.

"Sheesh, were you always this stubborn before?" Nonette grumbled a little, but there was no malice in her tone. Instead, there was fondness and admiration as well.

"Oh my!" a now fully clothed Euphemia gasped as the two approached the still powered-down Black Lion in the forest.

"This is Zenobia," Lelouch introduced, "But I call her Zen for short."

"Well, hello, Zen," Euphemia greeted with a small smile.

Lelouch couldn't help but chuckle a little. He had yet to explain to Euphie how the Lions were sort of alive in a way, but he figured it would be easier to explain when Zen regained consciousness.

"I'll get inside and gather some provisions…" Lelouch trailed off, frowning a little. Sure the food goo would keep them alive for a while, but it wasn't exactly the best-tasting thing in the universe. But he wasn't in the mood to try and set any complicated traps right now. His physique may have improved over the last few months, but it was best to conserve as much energy as possible too, just in case he had to fight.

So he turned back to his sister, "Euphie, why don't you look around and see if you can find some berries or something? They would help improve flavor at the very least."

Euphemia blinked in surprise, "Does it really taste that bad?"

"No…" Lelouch shook his head, "It's just an acquired taste, let's just say that."

After a few seconds, Euphie shrugged, "All right, if you say so. I'll be right back."

"Be careful!" Lelouch shouted after her as she hurried off. As he lost sight of her, he sighed, looked at the head of his downed Lion, and then up at the sky.

"I just hope we're found soon…"

The atmosphere on the Castle of Lions was tense. For most of the night prior, the Alteans and Black Knights alike had been working non-stop to try and locate the Lions from above while the Paladins continued to scan on Earth's surface. Eventually, Coran made an executive order for the Black Knights and the princess to turn in for the evening, and they all did so reluctantly. They wouldn't be able to help Zero and Rai at all if everyone on the ship was acting like a gang of bumbling, sleep-deprived karjekals (whatever those were) by the time they were located Coran had said.

Now that the five remaining Paladins had come back, Coran had ordered them immediately to bed themselves, even if it was technically still mid-day down below. They protested, of course, which forced the older Altean to amend his statement and ordered at least a nap, which he promised to wake them from within a few varga.

Ohgi sighed as he picked at the food goo on his plate. He reminded himself that they wouldn't have to live off of this alone for much longer, as several of the seeds now in the new greenhouse had at last started to sprout.

He didn't want to offend the Alteans for their ways with food, but would it kill them to add at least a little seasoning to this from time to time?

He and almost everyone else in the dining hall looked up as Coran himself walked in.

"Still no sign of them?" Ohgi asked anxiously.

"Unfortunately no," Coran informed them, shaking his head, "The princess is continuously scanning the island and the area around it, but she still has yet to locate either the Green or Black Lions, which is deeply concerning."

"And you still don't know what happened to them?" Tohdoh asked who was seated next to Ohgi.

"No, it's like they vanished into thin space," Coran said solemnly.

"Um, you mean 'thin air' right?" Minami corrected.

"Ah-yes that!" the Altean corrected sheepishly.

"And it's isn't the result of a special ability on the Lions' part?" Tohdoh pressed further.

"Well… I wouldn't say one of the Lions doesn't have an ability like that, but it's highly unlikely that they used it given the situation."

"Do you think they could have wound up on one of the islands nearby?" Inoue suggested.

"We haven't picked up any signals from the surrounding islands yet. But once the Paladins are rested enough, I'm sure they'll start searching the other islands next."

"I beg your pardon Coran, but would that be wise?" Tohdoh asked. This statement drew the attention everyone in earshot, "Britannia will likely start to do the same, and the Green Lion is the only one equipped with stealth capabilities. Should the remaining Lions be too reckless and get spotted by enemy forces again, considering that several Knights of the Round are now present..."

"Colonel?" a small voice gasped from the entrance. Looking towards the door, Nunnally sat in her hoverchair, her eyes wide, "You're not suggesting that we stop looking for Lelouch, are you?"

Tohdoh blinked, and his gaze softened, "Of course not, Nunnally. I'm simply stating that we must exercise caution doing so. We can't afford to lose any more men, especially not another Paladin."

"Quite right," Coran nodded, "Rest assured, Nunnally, until we get solid confirmation that Rai and Lelouch have either been capture or, dare I say this, killed, we will not cease our search."

"Hell yeah!" Tamaki exclaimed, "There's no way those two kicked the bucket that easily!"

Biting her lip, Nunnally nodded, her heart hammering in her chest. She had just got her brother back not too long ago. If she were to lose him again so soon…

The princess's thoughts were cut off by a small hand on her shoulder. Looking up at the source, C.C. came strolling in.

"Well, for once you're correct about one thing, Tamaki," C.C. said, "those two are very much still alive. I can sense that they are."

"Thanks to that Geass thing they have, right?" Asahina asked.

"Yes," C.C. nodded, "So if the two are still alive, we can assume that the two Lions are fine as well. If Britannia had managed to capture either one of them, they likely would have made a statement by now."

"Even so, the fact that neither are responding on the comms is concerning nonetheless," Allura's regal voice said, calling everyone's attention to her as she walked in herself. Despite getting some rest herself, the princess looked a bit worse for wear with slight bags under her eyes. Her skin looked a little paler as well. "Coran, if memory serves correct, some of the shuttle pods are still equipped with the prototype stealth systems. If Lelouch nor Rai don't respond with the next twenty-four Earth hours, I suggest we use those to take to Earth and look for them ourselves."

"Very well, Princess. Does anyone object to this course of action?" the advisor asked the group as a whole.

No one spoke up, so Coran nodded, "Now Princess, please do sit down, you look like you're about to pass out!"

"I'm fine, Coran. Just… stressed," Allura protested.

"Well… aren't we all?" Coran sighed, several murmurs of agreement rippling through the group.

While this was going on, Nunnally couldn't help but bite her lip nervously. She was positive her brother was all right; she was sure she would feel it if he wasn't, but that didn't stop her mind from wandering to the worst-case scenarios.

'Lelouch… where did you go?'

"Lelouch… what exactly is this?" Euphemia asked as she eyed the green goo curiously. It looked like mashed potatoes drenched in green food coloring, but she had a feeling that it wasn't anything like that. She managed to find a decent amount of edible fruit on the island, much to Lelouch's relief. Hopefully, this can help with the taste.

"This is… uh…" Lelouch hesitated. Come to think of it, Allura and Coran never mentioned what the goo was officially called, did they? Everyone on the ship simply called it 'food goo.' The name probably just stuck. "We eat this a lot when we're on the Castleship. It was our only food source for a while. Now that we're back on Earth, we've managed to sneak some trips to markets and grocery stores, and Coran has been working with Milly and Rivalz to set up a greenhouse too."

"I see," Euphie nodded, "That's quite resourceful."

"Thanks. In a pinch, though, this stuff will at least keep us alive. It's not five-star quality by a long shot, but it'll sustain us until help arrives. Fruit only lasts so long, and hunting can be unpredictable without the right tools, which we, unfortunately, don't have."

Euphie nodded as Lelouch handed her a plate with a small amount of the goo on it, along with a spork. The fruit was situated between the two in easy reaching distance, and after pouring his own portion of the goo, the Black Paladin dug in. He was more than used to the texture and taste of the strange space food that he could eat it without too much incident, but he was fairly curious about how Euphemia would respond to it.

According to Kallen, Cornelia had refused to even touch the goo the first few times it was brought down to her in her cell. She only starting begrudgingly choking it down when she couldn't take the hunger anymore. Euphemia wasn't necessarily a picky eater, so he really didn't know what to expect from his sister.

Euphie tentatively scooped up a small amount onto the spork, eying it cautiously. She slowly brought it to her mouth and almost immediately gagged. She brought a hand to her mouth to keep from spitting it out and forced herself to swallow.

"It's... delicious," she tried to say politely.

Lelouch chuckled in sympathy, seeing right through her, "It IS still pretty bad, though. I think Alteans focus more on the nutrition value rather than taste most of the time."

"I see."

"This is what they make you eat?!" Nonette asked in shock and disgust after speed shoveling the food goo into her mouth. At least the faster she ate it, the less she tasted it. The fish had been tasty, though.

Just like Lelouch, Rai raided Zerith's emergency supplies, which included several bags of pre-packed food goo. He managed to catch a fair amount of fish, but he also wanted to preserve the supply as much as possible.

Biting into the first fish he could grab from the fire when he finished, he forgot how delicious Earth food was. That greenhouse and possible… oh, maybe they could give aquaculture a try too.

The Green Paladin shrugged, unbothered as he took another bite, "Everyone eats it, even the Alteans. Most of the time, this is all there is."

...Okay, that last part was a bit of a lie, but C.C. guarded her pizza stash like a dragon guarded treasure. After Tamaki tried to sneak one out of her hiding spot his first week on the ship, the immortal nearly sent him to the cryopods in a fit of rage.

Rai chuckled at the memory. He would never have thought the cocky, loud-mouthed rebel would have such a squeally scream.

After that, no one dared touch, much less question where the stash was hidden.

"It's honestly not that bad once you get used to it," Rai continued, "There's way weirder food out there in space. One of the other Paladins had a space bug stew one time."

Nonette rose an eyebrow but shook her head, deciding not to think about it.

Rai then jumped when the Knight of the Round let out a large belch.

"...Did you just burp?" he gasped.

"What? It's a normal bodily function. A Knight of the Round can't do that?" Nonette jabbed with a smirked.

"Well, besides the family itself, you guys are practically royalty, making yourselves look good," Rai commented before frowning, "All the while hiding just how rotten you are underneath."

Nonette's smile faded. "You really hate Britannia? Can't say I blame you given what happened…"

"It's kinda hard not to hate Britannia considering it's mostly filled with narcissistic warmongers who'll do anything for victory!" Rai began. 'You're just like the Galra' went unsaid at the last moment.

Nonette sighed, "I'll admit, some of the Empire's actions have been anything but honorable."

Rai scoffed, "If you're so hung up about honor, then why do you still do it?"

"It's not my choice, not my call," Nonette quickly explained, "The Emperor's orders…"

"Of course!" Rai threw his arms out in exasperation. "It's always 'the Emperor this' or 'the Emperor that'! I swear if I ever see that bastard, I'm gonna kill him myself if Zero doesn't get the chance to!"

Nonette looked toward Rai in minor surprise, "You… you really don't remember, do you?"

This snapped Rai out of his rant, "Earlier, you called me a different name. What was it?" the Green Paladin asked.

"Yes, Zephyr. That's your name," Nonette answered.

Rai flinched back. So he wasn't mistaken. The same name that associated him as Champion…

"My name is Rai," he denied.

"No!" Nonette exclaimed, sounding almost desperate, "Your name, your real name, is Zephyr zar Britannia."

At this declaration, Rai stumbled back in shock. No… this couldn't be true! But if that was his name…

"Then, that means…"

Nonette nodded, "Your father… is Charles zi Britannia.

"The stars haven't changed, have they?" Euphemia said softly as she layed down on Lelouch's cape on the sand, gazing up into the sky with her brother, "They were the same back then. We all used to gaze up at the stars together. Remember that? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could live like that again? I'd be so happy then!"

The princess turned over to look at her brother better, "What are the stars like up there? Are they still like this from above?"

It took a few moments for Lelouch to answer, but he smiled slightly when he did, "Yes. If anything, I think they're even more beautiful. You feel closer to them."

Euphemia smiled in wonder, "What else have you seen? Will you tell me?"

"I can try," Lelouch answered with an amused smile, "But you know I wasn't much of a storyteller. I'm still not."

Euphemia giggled as she listened silently to the story of Voltron.

Rai felt his hands shaking as he fully processed the words that came out of Nonette's mouth. ""No… that-that's not true…" Rai stuttered, "I can't… you're lying… you're lying!"

"I'm not!" Nonette exclaimed before her face became somber, "I'm sorry, but that's the truth."

Rai couldn't take it as he fell to his knees. The world seemed to be closing in around him as he clutched his head, a loud ringing in his ears.

"Zeph!" he barely heard Nonette shout along with a shuffling. Was she trying to get out of her bounds? And do what?

All further panic was lost as a loud roar echoed through the trees. The ground shook beneath Rai's form as a large shadow draped over him.

"What the hell?!" he heard Nonette scream as the Green Lion stood protectively over her Paladin, his distress calling her into action.

Another weight fell on top of the Green Paladin, but unlike before, where it felt suffocating, this one felt warm. The feeling of safe, safe, safe sang like musical notes in his mind, harmonizing with a gentle but powerful purr.

It took several minutes before Rai finally calmed down. Zerith didn't move that entire time, pressed her quintessence gently but firmly against his, almost like when Arthur rubbed his head against their knee.

"Thanks, Zerith," he whispered, getting to his feet.

The Green Lion chuffed before slowing sitting down on her haunches like she did in her hangar in the castle. The second he was out of her shadow, her particle barrier shot up, shielding the Lion from any other outside threats.

Nonette stared up in shock. She was positive that no one else was inside that Knightmare. So how did it…?

"Surprised?" Rai asked, cutting her thoughts off, "Though it's probably obvious by now, the Lions aren't any ordinary machines."

The loud roar made Euphie and Lelouch jump and looked towards where it seemed to come from. Lelouch recognized it as one of the Lions and frantically looked up at the sky. Had they been found? It certainly hadn't been Zen roaring; he would have felt her waking up.

"What was that?" he heard Euphemia ask.

"...It'll be dangerous to investigate in the dark. We'll check it out in the morning. If I'm correct on what it was, we may have found our way off the island," Lelouch answered before glancing at Zen. Whatever had been in that Gawain Knightmare must have really injured her for her to still be out of it. He only hoped she woke up soon, or the castle had some way of getting her back on board as well.

Rai took a few more minutes to calm down. Now that Zerith was back online, her presence certainly helped slow his heart rate.

Nonette still stared at the Lion, looking ready to bolt if she had to.

Rai sighed, "Calm down, she won't attack you unless she thinks I'm in trouble… but you already saw that, so…"

Nonette visibly swallowed, honestly not sure what the best course of action would be. She wouldn't do anything to hurt her prince, but it would be suicide to fight the Lion, especially not without a Knightmare.

"Hold on…" Rai muttered, before glaring at the knight again, "Something doesn't add up. If it's true that I'm supposedly a Britannian prince, how come there aren't any records of a 'Zephyr zar Britannia' in the royal archives?"

Along with Lelouch's own knowledge, Rai had been using as much spare time as he could to research the Royal Family, trying to see how many of them could become potential allies to the Coalition. So far, Euphemia was the best option, but other possibilities included Odysseus eu Britannia (official crown prince of the Empire) and Marrybell mel Britannia (current Viceroy of Area 24, formerly Spain). Of course, now that they had Cornelia in their custody, there was always the chance for her to have a change of heart and join their side. According to Nunnally, she was willing to fight with them, but several Black Knights were still doubtful.

But like he said, throughout his sweep of the family, not once was there any mention of anyone named 'zar Britannia.'

"That's because there officially isn't one," Nonette revealed, "The Emperor wanted to keep your existence a secret, along with your sister-Oh right, Sophie! If you're alive, then is she?"

Rai grimaced, but still answered, "I don't know. The last time I saw her, she was supposed to be sent off to a work camp. I haven't seen her since."

"Work camp? Where?!" Nonette growled, looking infuriated.

Rai scoffed, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. And I honestly don't know myself. Like I said, that's the last time I heard about her. Her current status is unknown to me too."

Nonette deflated at that, but Rai could still see the fiery anger in her eyes. It was clear that Nonette did seem to know him and his family. She knew Sophronia's name, and he never mentioned it in front of her. Was it possible that she really was telling the truth? He wished his Geass functioned the same way Lelouch's did; that way, he could know for sure.

"...I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered to himself as he sat back down. Nonette looked up at him as he leveled her with a stare, "Look, I honestly have no clue if you're telling the truth or not, but… I need some answers, and an untrustworthy source is better than no source at all."

"I would never lie to you, Zephyr," Nonette insisted.

Rai didn't completely believe her, but he took a deep breath. He decided to start with something else he already knew, "What's my mom's name?"

Nonette answered immediately, "Erina Kurugui."

The world seemed to stop for the millionth time that day as he processed this information.

"K-Kururugi?" he stuttered.

"Yes," Nonette nodded, "Your mother was a member of the Kururugi family. The younger sister of the late Genbu Kururugi, in fact."

"What?!" he gasped, "Wait… so that means that Suzaku and I… are cousins?"

Nonette paused for a moment, then chuckled a little, "Huh, that thought never crossed my mind, but yeah, I guess you are."

Rai to take a breath as he processed this new information. So, in the span of less than an hour, he learned that not only was he Lelouch and Nunnally's half-sibling through that disgusting man, Charles zi Britannia, but now he and Suzaku were cousins.

He wondered if Suzaku knew about this or not.

He quickly wiped that suspicion from his mind. Sure, maybe Suzaku knew about his aunt, but he never mentioned having a cousin named Zephyr. And he was sure Suzaku would have said something if he had. Unless… he had been sworn to secrecy. He had proven that he was good at keeping secrets, at least.

Rai groaned. He felt like his head was about to explode, but he had to keep going.

"So, let me make sure I've got this right so far. The Emperor of the Britannia is not only my father but he, a man who actively encourages racism and war, married a Japanese woman?"

"No," Nonette shook her head, "They never got married. Erina and His Majesty had an affair that was kept secret from both families."

"Okay… why?" Rai had to ask. It made no sense. If it were for political purposes he'd understand, but this sounded more like a one-night-stand sort of thing. Were they drunk or high when this happened?

"I don't know," Nonette honestly shrugged, "As far as I know, I'm the only one who knew about this."

"Okay, so why did you get to know about us?" he asked suspiciously.

"I was assigned by the Emperor to be your knight to protect you," she answered simply.

So that explained a few things too. Why she was so protective of him and so desperate to rescue him from Zero and how furious she became when he told her about where Sophie may be.

"Okay, so where did we live? Before we disappeared anyway?"

"It was on an island known as Fiji," Nonette explained, "It's in the Pacific, east of Australia."

"Fiji?" Rai asked, "I don't remember that island being part of the Empire."

"It isn't," Nonette shook her head, "Officially it's considered an independent nation even now. The fact that it's not in Britannia's territory is likely the reason you and your family were hidden there."

"Okay… so happened to us then? How did we disappear?" Rai almost demanded.

At this, Nonette looked down sadly, "I can't answer that because not even I know. Before you vanished, I had been called away on another mission to quell some riots in Area Sixteen, the nation once called the Philippine Islands. When I got back… you were gone. It's like you were never there to begin with."

Rai nodded. He felt a small tickling in the back of his skull. Something was fighting in his memories to come to the surface, but it felt like a thick pane of glass was keeping it back.

"I'm guessing you searched for us?" he guessed.

"Yes," she nodded fervently, "I talked to practically every local I could get my hands on but none of them seemed to know who I was talking about. Then I pulled some strings in the higher ranks of the Empire to find out if you had been moved unexpectedly, I tried every trick in the book. I found nothing…"

Rai stared at the knight as tears gathered in her eyes, but remained silent. He could tell she wasn't finished.

"When nothing turned up from my own investigation, I confronted the Emperor himself and demanded to know what happened to you all. I got nothing out him, and as punishment, he demoted me."

"And yet now you're a Knight of the Round, one of his elite," said obviously.

To her credit, Nonette didn't take offense and just shrugged, "I practically started over after that. I rose in the ranks of the military, and eventually, the Emperor offered it to me. I saw it as an opportunity to use the position to expose the Emperor's darker side. I figured if the people saw it, they would remove him from power. Maybe even by force."

Rai stared wide-eyed. He hadn't expected that. She wasn't doing this out of loyalty at all! At least not to the Emperor.

"It's revenge," he realized, "You did all this to avenge my mom, my sister, and I?"

Nonette looked up from where she had been staring at the ground and looked Rai straight in the eye, "Yes. I'd avoid war if necessary, but if there were no other option, I would. I...I was your knight, assigned to keep you safe. And I turned my back for what felt like a moment, and you were gone. I failed you."

Rai remained silent, unsure of what to say. Here was a Knight of the freaking Round blatantly telling him that she will betray the Emperor she had swore to protect just for his sake?! Maybe… maybe he should tell her about the Galra. Voltron had questioned whether it was possible to recruit any of the Knights. If they did, that would be huge!

But something still stubbornly stopped him. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth yet.

"I don't expect you to forgive me, much less believe me, and I understand if you don't, but that's the truth," she finished.

Rai bent down, his hands covering his face, fighting back a surge of bile rising in his throat.

"Are you all right?" Nonette asked with concern.

"I...I need a moment," he said quickly before practically sprinting towards Zerith. The barrier opened just enough to let him in, and the Lion bowed to let her Paladin enter her mouth.

He collapsed before he could make it to the pilot seat, breaths coming in heavy and quick. It was only Zerith's strong purr that prevented him from fainting. If she was flesh and blood, he had no doubt she would have been curled up on his chest and vibrating like a phone.

So many thoughts were racing through his head. He had finally learned his history, but at the same time, he wished he hadn't heard any of it. Despite learning all of this, more questions were still swirling in his head. The ones that Lelouch had brought up before the dual sprouted up again. How did he and his family end up with the Galra? Was the Emperor involved somehow? How was that possible, though? From what he could tell, once the Galra set their eyes on a planet, there were no negotiations. The planet either surrendered and became slaves, or the inhabitants fought to the very last man, and then the Galra took the planet anyway.

Like Coran had said, "You would know if the Galra had been there."

He was sure that the key was in his lost memories. If only he could remember-!

Suddenly, Zerith growled urgently. It was enough to shake the Green Paladin out of what was likely the beginning of a panic attack. Looking up at the window, he saw through Zerith's eyes to see lights shining from another area of the island up.

"We couldn't find Lady Enneagram washed ashore on the other islands, so it's obvious we should look here," Schneizel reasoned as he directed the search party from the Le Fay's throne room.

We'll send a search party out in the morning," General Bartley replied next to him.

"Hmm… And this must be what you mentioned?" Schneizel questioned, looking at the structure down below.

"Yes! We uncovered it when the Shinjuku incident occurred," Bartley explained.

Ah… Yes, I can see why this would've attracted Clovis' interest," Schneizel realized with a nod.

As the morning sun peaked over the ocean's horizon, Rai silently lead a still bound Nonette up the mountain. The Knight of Nine still made no attempts to escape.

"Are you sure you really saw a light?" Nonette asked.

"Yeah, definitely," he answered.

Leaving Zerith behind in the jungle foliage for now, Rai figured if they were Britannian forces that he could just drop Nonette off and sneak back to look for Lelouch and join back up at the castle.

"It must be a search party," Lelouch reasoned as he and Euphie trekked up the mountain on the other side. Zen still hadn't woken up, much to Lelouch's disappointment. Maybe this the problem was something only Allura and Coran could fix.

"Once we learn who it is, we'll know how to deal with them."

"'Deal with them'?" Euphie questioned anxiously.

Lelouch grimaced at the wrong word choice, "I mean that we can decide what to do once we realize who it is. If it's part of Voltron, nothing bad should happen to you, Euphie. And if it's Britannia…"

"I may be able to help. I can approach them while you sneak back to your Lion," Euphie suggested.

Lelouch nodded. That sounded like the best possibility.

"A Thought Elevator, you say?" Lloyd asked as he, Prince Schneizel, General Bartley, and several other soldiers stood inside the cave. On the massive stone doors in front of them appeared to be very ancient hieroglyphics, but they weren't ones that they could identify.

"I'm afraid archeology isn't my strong suit, especially this paranormal stuff," the Earl confessed quite casually.

"Why, you… Show some respect!" Bartley barked in irritation.

"As I was saying, this is way outside of my field," Lloyd continued to complain, "I wish you could've asked Cécile about this instead."

"Please don't complain so much," Schneizel said sternly, "My father is fascinated with this as well. Isn't that right, Bartley?"

"Yes," General acknowledged when the Prince looked at him, "We've found artifacts similar to these in a number of places around the world. Except for this one that I discovered, all the other sites are directly under imperial control. This is mere speculation on my part, but I think the real reason we're invading other countries is to obtain these objects!"

"And so, in order to analyze this ancient occult data, you're going to use the Gawain's Druid System, untuned prototype that it is?" Lloyd questioned before gesturing to the obtained and newly repaired Knightmare next to them.

"That's why we called you in," Schneizel answered.

"AH-HAH!" Lloyd exclaimed in understanding.

Unbeknownst to the men, one soldier eyed the monument critically, their yellow eyes narrowing in suspicion.

There was no doubt now. This was the source of that blockage. Now… how to remove it?

"I think it was around here," Lelouch muttered and he, and Euphemia approached a clearly at the top of the hill.

"Lelouch, if it is a search party, then will our time be over here?" his sister asked sadly.

Lelouch sighed, "Yes, it will. Only for now, though. I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again very soon."

"I sure hope so," Euphemia answered with a smile. Lelouch smiled back, but the moment was ruined when they heard rustling in the woods on the other side of the clearing. Lelouch quickly put his helmet back on and braced himself for a confrontation when the people appeared.

'Rai!' he thought in surprise as the Green Paladin emerge from the foliage along with Nonete Enneagram, who seemed to have her hands bound.

"Nonette!" Euphemia exclaimed happily, jumping up.

Nonette and Rai both gasped, "Princess Euphemia!"

"Don't move!" Zero exclaimed, grabbing Euphemia's arm and drawing his knife, "This girl is my prisoner!"

"Le-Zero!" Rai exclaimed.

"Just play along," Lelouch whispered as his sister looked at him frightened. He then turned to address the pair in front of him, "Back away from my subordinate Lady Enneagram. Do that, and no one gets hurt here."

"Zero, you!" Nonette exclaimed angrily about to charge the terrorist. She had just found her prince; she wasn't about to lose him again. She was stopped in her tracks as she felt Rai grab her arm and hold his Bayard against her back.

"Nonette, wait! Please!" Euphie shouted, escaped Zero's grasp, and running towards the knight.

"Euphie, wait!" Lelouch shouted, but the moment he stepped into the clearing, a massive glowing red Geass sigil formed on the ground, much to everyone's shock.

'A Geass?!' both Lelouch and Rai thought. Suddenly, both Paladins felt their own Geasses burning in their eyes, them having activated all on their own.

Rai suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his head as he fell on his knees, clutching his head as he yelled in pain. The Geass sigil was no longer in just one eye, but both!

"Zephyr!" Nonette shouted, her bonds suddenly breaking, freeing her hands. Before she could kneel to Rai's level, though, the ground underneath the group shook violently, and the floor began to descend.

In an unknown location, a young boy smirked victoriously as his two targets fell right into the trap that he had set up for them.

The Thought Elevator began to glow a bright red, much to the shock of the Britannians as the entire cave shook viciously.

"Oh, not good…" Lloyd muttered as the readings on the Gawain skyrocketed to off-the-chart levels.

Simultaneously, on the beach Lelouch and Euphemia were that same morning, Zenobia's eyes flashed awake, and she leaped to her feet.

With a deafening roar of both anger and fear, the Black Lion shot into the air and beelined towards the Thought Elevator's location, the Green Lion right behind.

"Princess! The Green and Black Lions!" Coran exclaimed, "we've finally managed to obtain their signal. And they're closing in on one of the islands!"

"Aw, and just when I was about to try my new feature out!" Milly groaned with a pout, her hand having barely left C.C.'s when the signal alarms blared.

"Paladins, to your Lions now!" Allura ordered.

"Yes!"

"Got it!"

"On our way!"

As the Paladins all scrambled to their elevators, Nunnally let out a sigh of relief, leaning on a pair of crutches this time. If they found Zenobia and Zerith, that means they could finally find Rai and her brother.

"Hang on you two," Allura said, "We're coming to get you!"

"My Lord, please save yourself!" Bartley exclaimed in a panic as debris continued to rain down everywhere. He attempted to pull the Prince away as a large platform slowly dropped down from above, carrying with it Zero, another figure in green armor, Princess Euphemia, and Nonette Enneagram.

"Lady Enneagram!" Lloyd gasped, shielding his face, "And is that Zero?!"

Seeing the terrorist and one of his subordinates, the soldiers quickly raised their weapons to shoot them, only to be stopped by General Bartley, "Don't you fools! Princess Euphemia's with them! Capture them! Capture them!"

Rai struggled to his feet, his eyes wide, but he managed to grip his Bayard unsteadily.

Scanning the crowd, Zero cursed.

"Quiznack, we're in trouble!"

Then suddenly, something else caught Zero's eye. One of the soldiers that had his weapon pointed at him. But one look into his eyes told Lelouch that that was no soldier.

Instinctively, Lelouch shot at the soldier with lightning, and just as expected, the soldier vanished.

"Wha-what?!" Bartley exclaimed, having witnessed this too. An annoyed growl drew the group's attention to the center of the cave, and the Paladins' blood ran cold.

"What?!" Zero gasped at the sight of Haggar's hunched form. Her gold eyes glared back at him.

"No…" Rai muttered, taking a step back, pure terror freezing his spine, "What are you doing here?!"

Haggar shouted in fury and fired a beam of quintessence directly at Lelouch. The Black Paladin barely raised his arms in time to try and block when another crash echoed through the cave. Two large paws landed on either side of Zero, followed by a ferocious roar, which seemed to make the entire mountain tremble.

Lelouch didn't waste one more second, instinctively grabbing Euphemia around the waist, and with a yelp, Euphemia and Lelouch were snatched into Zen's mouth.

"Princess Euphemia!" both Lloyd and Bartley exclaimed as they watched as the princess was seemingly swallowed whole along with Zero.

Just as Zerith was about to scoop up Rai, the Green Paladin felt something grab him around his waist. He didn't have time to register who or what it was before he found himself and Nonette sprawled across the floor in Zerith's mouth.

The Lions didn't waste any more time as the duo shot out of the cave entrance, sending rocks, stone, and Knightmare Frames flying. Then Zen pivoted in the air, facing the cave entrance and her mouth lit up with blue light.

Lloyd gasped.

"HIT THE DIRT!"

A couple of soldiers fell on top of Schneizel to shield the Prince while everyone else immediately hit the cave floor and covered their heads just as Zenobia's blast of quintessence energy hit the Thought Elevator point-blank. The structure exploded and collapsed into rubble, leaving nothing salvageable.

The little boy gasped when he felt it, the feeling of the Thought Elevator collapsing. He fell to his knees, and he clutched his head, his eyes shaking with shock and rage as he took multiple rabid breaths.

"No… no…" He stuttered. "They… they destroyed the Thought Elevator!" V.V. ranted like a spoiled brat, "No! How dare you…! Voltron… you dare! You'll pay for this! You'll pay!"

C.C. blinked as she felt the exact same thing happen as well. At first, she was shocked, as destroying a Thought Elevator was no easy feat, but her expression quickly morphed into a smirk. She could only imagine the faces V.V., Charles, and Marianne were making right now.

"I did warn them, didn't I?" she stated with a satisfied smile, smothering a giggle.

"Viceroy, are you all right?" one of the soldiers gasped as everyone got to their feet.

"Yes, I'm fine," he muttered, dusting himself off, "So… that was Zero?"

"Halt! Stop where you are!" another soldier suddenly shouted.

Looking towards the entrance, the Second Prince spotted the cloaked woman that seemed to spook Zero. She was staring out at the sky with a scowl, likely watching the Lions fly off.

"Identify yourself!" Bartley shouted as soldiers surrounded the woman.

She simply growled, annoyed, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Wha-what?!" Bartley exclaimed in shock, eyes wide, staring at where she once stood. Most of the other soldiers had similar reactions.

"Well… you don't see that every day," Lloyd commented.

Schneizel, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes, gaze calculating. Despite the loss of the Thought Elevator, he had learned two important things.

First, Zero was scared of that woman. Who she was, Schneizel didn't know, but it was rare that his brother showed actual fear to anyone. The last person to bring this emotion out of his brother was their own father.

And second… Those Lions had not had pilots in them when they had come to collect Zero and the green pilot. His logical mind kept saying that it was impossible, but he had seen it just now for himself!

Which allowed Schneizel to draw another conclusion he thought he never would in his life.

Those Lions weren't just advanced machines. They were alive.

Schneizel's thoughtful expression soon shifted into an intrigued smirk.

"Well, well, this game just got much more interesting…"

Lelouch quickly scrambled to the cockpit and pushed Zen to fly faster. They had to warn the others, fast!

"Hailing Castle of Lions, this is Lelouch!" he exclaimed urgently.

"Lelouch! Are you and Rai all right?" Allura's voice carried over the speaker.

"Yes, we're both fine!" Lelouch nodded, "We're heading back as we speak."

"Heads up then!" a voice inside his head exclaimed, "We're coming to intercept you!"

"Wha-! Milly, is that you?" Lelouch stuttered.

"Yep! Say hello to my new Geass, Lulu. I call it Absolute Telepathy."

"You made a contract with C.C.?" he asked.

"I knew I wouldn't have control over what the power would be, but I figured it was worth a try to see if it could be used to find you two," the Yellow Paladin explained over the radio this time.

"Wait, use what to find us?" Rai questioned from inside Zerith.

"...Huh, there's a drawback already. I guess I can only talk to one person at a time," she deduced.

"We'll explore it's practical uses later," Lelouch said, "We'll meet you outside the castle. And Princess, inform the rest of the crew to expect some guests."

"Guests or prisoners?" Allura asked for clarification.

"...One is for sure a guest, the other… I'm not sure. Rai?" Lelouch questioned.

"...We can decide when we're back on the ship," the Green Paladin said.

"Very well," Allura acknowledged, "We'll see you a couple dobashes… I'm glad you're both all right."

With that, the intercom switched off, and Lelouch spotted several colorful figures heading towards him and Rai.

"Lelouch…" Euphie asked, noticing the frightened look still on her brother's face, "...Who was that? Down there?"

"Someone… very bad."

#fanfic #code geass #voltron

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signor-signor · 4 years

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Pre-S3 Shorts Idea

May 18, 2020 - We’re 40 days away from the 4th anniversary of Wander Over Yonder’s second season finale, and have I got something special to share with you.

You know how there was a series of shorts (directed by @owner-of-wendys) involving Lord Hater’s broadcast of his attempt to destroy Wander taking place between S1 and S2? I just thought of something innovative, and anyone who’s ever worked on the show should also check it out.

Suppose Hater is still chasing Wander and Sylvia around the new galaxy in his Skullship, as depicted at the end of The End of the Galaxy (just before the cliffhanger that still hasn’t been resolved). Meanwhile on the ex-secret planet, Andy the Watchdog has quick interviews with various groups of refugees who provide their own reasons for wanting to get off the planet as soon as Wander and Sylvia return. Some others just give an update on their status. As we might have noticed after Dominator’s ship exploded, other Watchdogs became acquainted with the refugees, so it stands to reason that Andy did the same.

Without further ado, I give you... (drumroll)

The Eye on the Galaxy

The Rulers - Bingleborp, King of Flendar (with Flendarians) King of Sherblorg 7, Beeza (with Ballzerians), an appearance from the queen from The Axe, Cashmere (with Baahallans), Demurra and Dracor (with their guards). Just as Destructor’s about to start, time runs out.

The Elderly - Stella Starbella and Mittens, the lost and found guy, Trudi and her clones, the Slug Boss (with the two mummy thugs), Papa Doom (with his gargoyle companions), a call from Ms. Myrtle, who just saw Wander and Sylvia dashing by with the Skullship in pursuit and having deployed an Eye Drone for Andy to check on anyone and anything too big to sit on the ex-secret planet.

The Teammates - Badlands Dan and his gang, Oink and the Motorhogs, red and blue ants, the Insurgent Generals, maybe a call from the Robomechabotasquad asking what happened to Robomechabotatron.

The Youth - Melodie and the kids who appeared in The Legend, Olive (with her mother), the Slug Boss’s grandsons, rock babies carried by the Rock Lady, Huckleberry Knucklehead (backed by his parents), the smartphone son (with his camera parents), the trio of teens from The Black Cube, maybe Demurra and Dracor’s daughters and son.

The Gutsy - Ripov, Thrax and his cohorts (Andy would have added Thrax to The Business Folks, but that group was fully booked), Harvax and Stok, the Slug Boss’s nephew (with the two mummy thugs from earlier), Ryder being shown via Eye Drone and “trying to free a karate sensei from his chamber,” explaining his abscence in The End of the Galaxy. I’d mention the three bounty hunters from The Bounty, but I’m not too sure about their status.

The Reformed - Destructor (picking up from The Rulers), Major Threat, the Black Cube accompanied by his new girlfriend Tracy (plus Stacy and her new boyfriend, both of whom have already realized the Cube turned over a new leaf), a postcard from Westley (found by Barry), maybe the half-torn picture strip of Wander and Bot 13/Beep Boop (found by Jerry when he was sent to check on Dominator and Emperor Awesome in The Rival), Something the So-and-So, who gets cut short like Destructor did previously.

The Business Folks - Blarpee’s cashier, Okeydokian restaurant manager and his employee Michelle, apple-and-lemon-headed bartender, landlord and fast food manager/fry cook, garbage collector, Dr. Scrivellix (the dentist), Clancy and Nancy Shmancy, the plumber, curator of MOGA, Weasel, the two Okeydokian movie directors, hat shop owner, the locksmith.

The Mysterious - Neckbeard, Lords of Illumination, fortune teller, Mooplexians, Keister von Derrière and the other Gnees (with censored heads), the Eye Drone checking on the planet where the currently closed structure of the celestial star being stands, a special one-time visit from the Intergalactic Guru via hologram.

The Creatures - The bunny rabbit from The Good Deed, the pit monster from The Birthday Boy, the fire lion, Grizzlocks, Giant Hoarder Scorpion, Trigrex of Nil, electric bird mother and three chicks, the Frankenstein monster, squills from The Wanders, the Hufflerumples, animals from The Breakfast, animals from The Night (the centipede being the only one from the episode to speak), Frederick, maybe a doom dragon or two, the mother and child from The Egg. Seen via Eye Drone are the Gracknore, Buster, and the giant worm from The Hat that promptly gobbles up the Drone.

The So-and-So - You can guess who the interviewee is in this one. Just like The Whatever, this short foreshadows what’s next for Wander, Sylvia, Hater, and Peepers.

The Rest - Of all the shorts, this one has the most interviewees, each one taking 2-3 seconds to give an answer. Cluckons, hogs, Bobbles, Zetuons, Flankarians, Tiki beings, rabbit-like folks from The Showstopper, Mr. and Mrs. Brittle, ornament beings from The Gift, the balloon man, Dragor the Distractible, Galactia, Veronicron and her husband Jim (the Neon Knight of Nalpraxis), Gelatinous Bob animatronic, Fleeblebort and Marsha and the two hillbilly families, flower-headed birds, any notable residents of Okeydokia, cloaked refugees from the end of The Secret Planet, Brad Starlight and his wife Remora having returned from their honeymoon, his cousin Chad, anyone I might have left out. Lastly, the hooded refugees, also from The Secret Planet.

DISCLAIMER: If these shorts should happen, some of the refugees mentioned here but not seen in The End of the Galaxy may or may not appear.

We can all relate to the refugees in some way. The refugees (most of them) have to wait for Wander and Sylvia to get them back home so they can go about their normal lives. At the start of S3, that’s where the Star Nomad, the ship allegedly made from the one that appeared in The Secret Planet, would come in. We have to wait for the COVID-19 pandemic to be over so we can go about our normal lives. Considering those who worked on the plans for S3 still haven’t given us more clues even in these difficult times, I think the time is right to make more people aware of WOY with this particular idea.

Of course, there is the matter of which medium to use. Animation will probably be time consuming, and much to the perpetual dismay of Wander fans, Disney still doesn’t want to pay to make more WOY. Heck, if there’s no time for animation, animatics might do. A much cheaper method might be the podcast - this way, no visual art has to be made. Hey, it worked for Futurama doing an audio episode titled “Radiorama,” not to mention The Loud House having a podcast titled “Listen Out Loud.” Then again, there’d have to be multiple voice actors reprising their roles, and I doubt they’d do it for free. In the case where visual art is needed, we could do what @suspendersofdisbelief and @benbalistreri did for Star Wanderer and make a comic version of the shorts with help from them and the other writers and illustrators, assuming they’re not too busy with their own projects. We don’t really need Disney’s permission to know exactly what’s supposed to happen after S2, do we?

Regardless of circumstances, I still think it’s a great idea, one @crackmccraigen and the crew could take into consideration whether or not Disney gives them a chance to properly close out the show after Kid Cosmic is done. After all, I am a Disney employee and the only one to come up with this particular idea as far as I know. The only question is, why didn’t anyone else in the fandom think of it before? Also, if @andydaly knew about my idea, maybe he’d be all for it, what with the country still in lockdown.

Look, many of us are still bummed WOY got canceled before S3 could get made, but moping about it and not doing anything to save it won’t get us anywhere. Formerly canceled shows like Hey Arnold!, Samurai Jack, and The Clone Wars got true closure, so I don’t see why WOY can’t do the same. If we all work together, we’ll make history.

To all you pessimists, cynics, and skeptics out there...

Hopelessness stops now.

#Wander Over Yonder #SaveWOY #WOY Season 3 #Long Reads #Eye on the Galaxy

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demethinkstoomuch · 5 years

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The Lucky One, Pt 3

Imagine what a strange position this must be: You’re Sylvain Jose Gautier, you’re fifteen years old, and all you want is to get laid. But it was just the worst day in everybody you care about’s lives, the world is falling apart around you, and you’re completely unharmed by all of it.

Content Warning: Blue Lions-typical Unresolved Grief

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Part 1 | Part 2

You’ve been talking about your latest exploits and your carefully crafted opinions on various palace girls for a while now. If it’s helped, you really can’t tell; His Highness still looks like he’s barely there. As one recounting comes to an end, you clap your hands together and get up. Like he’d been tied to you with a string, His Highness is pulled to sitting upright. Even that little movement has him grimacing in fresh pain.

“Please don’t. Please. I’m sorry for forcing you to —”

“Calm down. I just thought I’d ask if they can bring up some food. I don’t know about you guys, but I was on the road all morning, and I’m starving.” You’re grinning, but it’s one of your fake grins. A good one; you don’t want to have a bad fake grin for His Highness in his hour of need.”How about you, Your Highness?”

“...I’m fine. I’m not hungry,” His Highness answers slowly. “Dedue, would you like anything? Anything at all.”

“Yes, thank you.” Dedue eyes Dimitri seriously as those hard white brows knit close together. “Dimitri. Did you...truly finish your breakfast? Have you truly eaten?”

Dimitri doesn’t answer, and it’s a big, unspoken cloud hanging in the air. Desperation’s running pretty thick through Dedue while he stares wide-eyed at His Highness, like he needs to fix this and he’s as clueless as you are as to how to do it. It’s hit you before that this big guy was a kid, from your lofty perspective of almost 16 years, but here it is again: this is just a kid. And Mr. Serious, His Highness, Dimitri? He looks so much like a lost child that it’s practically punching you. And both of them are dealing with something way more mature, more serious, than you ever could. But you’re somehow both the most and least an adult in the room. Why.

“Well, why don’t we just get extra, so we can share if His Highness gets hungry?” you offer diplomatically. That gets Dimitri’s nod, so you poke your head out. The guard looks nervous. “You’re worrying for nothing. But hey, can you maybe ask the kitchens to bring a couple of plates of something up for us? Something Prince Dimitri likes, and a lot of it.”

“Of course! We’ve been hoping he’d get hungry.” The guard snapped to attention before hurrying down the hall in search of someone to pass this off to.

You come back in and the three of you wait.

“I wasn’t really specific. That a problem?” you ask them both. When Dimitri shakes his head, his next breath is taken hard through his teeth.

“I am not… do not care about such things.” Dedue’s brow wrinkles as he tries to pick his way to what he means.

"Not picky?” you suggest.

“Is that how you say that in Fodlan? Yes, I am not picky, then.” He nods softly.

“You must have favorites, though, don’t you?” Dimitri pipes up. Not trying to move much anymore, he leans back up against his headboard and the collection of pillows gathered there.

“...I do. I enjoy very spiced foods particularly. But I will eat most things. And cook most things.”

“You can cook? Nice! As for me, I’m also a guy who likes everything spicy.” You wiggle your eyebrows suggestively. His Highness looks at you with a particular brand of confused disappointment that means he has no idea what you’re implying, only that he knows it’s a you thing. You’re so glad to see a normal look like that on his face that you could just make innuendos that would fly the low, low height over his head all afternoon. “But any meal you eat with a pretty girl’s a good meal.”

“And you, Dimitri?” Wow, they’re just breezing right past that. Way to include a guy.

“...It doesn’t really matter.” Dimitri mutters, and now you’re back to worrying. It’s not like he’s so particular he’d ever try and insist on his own tastes, but you don’t get it. You know what he likes.

“He likes warming things. Maybe melted cheese? Yeah, that sort of thing. We used to call him a little mouse when he was little; you know, your Highness, it still fits!” Even Felix has grown past him somewhat, so he was officially the short one for the time being.

“Sylvain!” Dimitri’s voice cracks over the cry. There you go. Took him long enough to pay attention. You can’t help but chuckle at your poor, easily embarrassed prince sounding more like himself.

“Sorry, sorry, Your Highness.” But that gets him at least lively enough to occasionally respond to something about food while you wait. And if he sometimes pulls a strange look or goes quiet and spent, you just dance around the topic until there’s a knock on the door.

The lunch’s quite a few little croquettes, two small bowls of soup, and slices of apple cooked in syrup. And a pot of tea. Not a bad spread, really. You have to break out Dimitri’s personal tea set from his sitting room, because someone ‘forgot’ there were three people there and only gave you two cups.

At first, His Highness doesn’t take the bait. Not even when you point out that the croquettes have a warm filling of melted cheese and meat with juices that had spread into the potato-y outer layer. But eventually, his stomach growls loudly enough for the whole room to hear it.

“Dimitri —” “Dimitri —”

“I think... I might need to eat something, after all,” he interrupts you both before you can insist. “May I?”

When Dedue offers him basically his entire tray, Dimitri manages a wan smile to shake it off with. “Not so much. Besides, you need something, too.”

He eyes the silverware before deciding that it’s not going to work out with only one mostly-good hand, and so he just grabs a croquette. They’re pretty good finger-foods anyway, if anyone asks you. The first few bites are slow ones, ones where Dedue’s eyes are on him like a high-strung watchdog’s. Then something switches on inside Dimitri and he finishes it like an animal, taking big, hurried bites that he can’t possibly be chewing that fast, leaving bits of cheese and potato on his face.

“Dimitri. You must eat more slowly. You’ll only make yourself sick again if you cannot.” Dedue’s voice broke through His Highness’ feeding frenzy, interrupting the grab for the next croquette. Dimitri made a point of swallowing his mouthful before sighing.

“..You’re right. I’m sorry...For the display, I mean. I...don’t think I realized how hungry I was.” That’s when he reaches for the next one and takes a more reasonable bite, chews before swallowing, swallows before speaking again. “Are you trying to be my nursemaid now, Dedue?”

“...If it will allow me to stay here, then yes. I would like that,” Dedue answers with a real thoughtfulness. This gives His Highness a second’s pause, too, where they look at each other. The prince makes a pondering noise in his throat.

“...Thank you,” he says, and for what you can’t quite say, so you’re not going to touch it. You’re just going to have your soup. Makes the meal a little boring, but hey. You’ll live. Your eyes, thinking that, fall on His Highness again. You have something to ask, but you thought it better to ask when no one was eating. For all that energy put into it — energy spent that sends Dimitri back to leaning heavily against his pillow stack — Dimitri doesn’t eat much: just those two little croquettes and maybe half an apple, but he does look a little better for doing it.

“Hey, Your Highness… Have you been sick to your stomach lately? Because I could have asked for something a little lighter. I feel kind of bad.”

“Oh... “ Dimitri’s eyes shut for a second. “No, please don’t worry. It’s...Just hard. Right now.” With a wary and uncertain tone, he tries to find how to explain. “I just can’t seem to swallow food normally. I can’t choke it down. I just…Keep thinking about it. I just keep imagining it.” His voice shakes, breaking down to pain-laced fragments.

“I can still smell it. The ash and the soot and they’re still — they’re still burning —” He gags on nothing this time, hand over mouth, but he shakes his head when you try and grab him.

“Your Highness! I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to think about stuff that upsets you.” You’d thought you’d done a good enough job just by not asking him when there was food in his mouth. You’d thought you were very clever, noticing the potential trap there. You just had to ask, didn’t you? He swallows thickly, a shudder racing through him. The hand that was covering his mouth clenches, more scratching at his face than holding it. The grip flails and tightens around a series of grunts. He shuts his eyes tight, as each little sound feels like he’s pushing something back, step by painful step. Dedue, next to you, has his eyes tightly shut; he refocuses. His hand reaches out to hold onto Dimitri’s shoulder.

“It’s fine. I’ll be...Fine. It’s down now.” But he accepts the tea Dedue lets go of him to offer anyway, letting his trembling hand be half-supported by a larger one. Dimitri sputters, but that goes down, too. And when he’s done, he goes limp against his pillows, exhaustion creeping like a shadow back into that moon-pale face. “I should not have said so much. I’m sorry.”

This, delivered to the air, could be for anyone, about anything. When his breathing steadies, his eyes close slowly as a cat’s. So you stand up.

“No, I’m sorry. But you look pretty beat, Your Highness. I bet I’ll get yelled at if I don’t let you get some rest.” He almost tries to reach out to grab you back, but his free arm only moves a little, slowly, like it’s made of lead.

“Wait. Please. Both of you. A little longer. Sit with me a little longer.” He pleads so intently that his whole body’s shaking. “Just until — just until I fall asleep.”

“Of course,” replies Dedue, who true to his word looks like he might just have been planted like an oak into his chair beside the prince’s bed; he might just live there now. “...If that is fine.”

You sit back down and shrug, allowing Dimitri to sigh in relief.

“I certainly won’t say no. But you better actually get some — you look like a wreck. No offense, Dimitri.” In response, Dimitri lets out just a little noise that’s probably not denial. “Well, I’m pretty good for running my mouth, if nothing else.”

“You’re able to be...good for plenty, you know,” he mutters drowsily.

“Yeah, but why should I?” You chuckle and give him a wink.. “I’m good for the ladies, though, so that’s a second thing.”

You rattle into some more stories. You end up telling them both — more to Dedue, because he’s the one who makes attentive noises while you talked (you suspected more to just keep the conversation alive than out of interest — he’s not really looking at you, mostly) and has less context, and so requires more talking to lay it out for — about a festival the town near your home had held last Harpstring Moon. They’d had a pretty entertaining bear act, but then the bear’d gotten loose, and you’d thought it would impress the girl in that troupe if you went and retrieved it, and that was why you still had a scar on your chest. It’d heal, but hey. Chicks would dig a good scar while it lasted. You got the bear back, though. No one ever gives you credit for that. Maybe because you fell into an unconscious heap the moment the bear went in his pen. (Did you still get kisses? Yes, but not the ones you wanted. Not bear-collecting valor reward kisses. Or something like that.)

And as the you of the story dodges and fails to dodge a confused dancing bear, His Highness’ eyes drop lower and lower, his responses less distinct, until all the movement left is the rise and fall of his chest, and the lightest flutter of his eyelashes. There's one last, worried mutter, just a faint little murmur on the edge of being a word, a stirring of the air. And then, quiet. The story ends immediately, and you take a breath in the silence the sleeping prince leaves around him.

“Poor guy… He’s got it so rough.” you whisper. A worry wakes up from where you’d put it to bed to gnaw at you, looking at that hollow, drained face, its eyes surrounded by shadows, dark bags and red rims, its skin colorless; a face that feels caught here, in the moment of crumbling away to nothing. And totally lost to sleep. So helpless and so frail and so — so like he isn’t, wasn’t, all the way here, the Dimitri you know. Like he has a foot out the door. He’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. The thought doesn’t keep; its real form moves its way out into the open air. “He’s not in any danger...So he’ll make it, right?”

And Dedue looks at you-- stares like you just hit his heart, his whole face collapsing like a landslide into open-mouthed dismay.

“He must.” It’s not a statement of fact or even so much a hope — it’s a plea, it’s a prayer. He whispers to himself, would have whispered even if you weren’t trying to avoid noise, “He has to.”

“He will.” With a heart full of regret, you decide to bluff a confidence in that you just don’t have. It’s pretty natural, and you fold smiling reassuringly in with picking up the now empty trays and plates. He doesn’t move, so you keep saying, “His Highness is tough, and he’s pretty brave. too. I just got spooked for a second.”

“He is the bravest person I have ever met.” Dedue’s eyes fall onto Dimitri’s sleeping face. He marshalls his expression back into order, into a hard resolve. “But that is why he needs to survive.”

“He will, he will. Count on it...Well, I guess I should probably get going.” You aren’t going to boot the guy out — the odds of him doing something bad are, you decided, approximately as likely as Miklan giving you a hug that you would enjoy. Of course, it’s not your choice. The guard walks in the moment you’re out the door.

“Get out,” he whispers, his voice dark. The guard puts his hand onto Dedue’s shoulder to manhandle him out, but Dedue doesn’t resist. “His Highness clearly can’t see any more guests. And we can’t run the risk of more regicide from your kind.”

That’s harsh. But what are you supposed to do, anyway? The best that jumps to mind is to at least do the most annoying thing you can think of.

“Shhhh,” you scold the guard in a hissed whisper. You try to carry the sort of ferocity Ingrid gets for that, but you’re pretty sure your delivery just doesn’t have it. You don’t do stern; sorry, big guy. But they both file out without things getting any harder. You put the dishes down to be someone else’s problem, and watch Dedue sink against the panelled wall between him and Dimitr’s chambers. He doesn’t look at the guard, and he doesn’t look at you. He buries his head in his hands and just... waits. He’s got nothing else to do.

“Good luck,” you mutter as you go, sincere as you can be. You hope it’ll all work out for him somehow. It’s not like you have any say in it, but hey.

#Fire Emblem: Three Houses #Fire Emblem: Three Houses Spoiler #Fire Emblem #Sylvain Jose Gautier #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #dedue molinaro #fanfic #my writing #The Lucky One #Today's Teenagers Are Extra Traumatized #I've been sad about Sylvain for a little bit #so here be sad with me

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d-i-r-k-s-t-r-i-d-e-r · 5 years

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The Futurist Manifesto

We had stayed up all night, my friends and I, under hanging mosque lamps with domes of filigreed brass, domes starred like our spirits, shining like them with the prisoned radiance of electric hearts. For hours we had trampled our atavistic ennui into rich oriental rugs, arguing up to the last confines of logic and blackening many reams of paper with our frenzied scribbling.

An immense pride was buoying us up, because we felt ourselves alone at that hour, alone, awake, and on our feet, like proud beacons or forward sentries against an army of hostile stars glaring down at us from their celestial encampments. Alone with stokers feeding the hellish fires of great ships, alone with the black spectres who grope in the red-hot bellies of locomotives launched on their crazy courses, alone with drunkards reeling like wounded birds along the city walls.

Suddenly we jumped, hearing the mighty noise of the huge double-decker trams that rumbled by outside, ablaze with colored lights, like villages on holiday suddenly struck and uprooted by the flooding Po and dragged over falls and through gourges to the sea.

Then the silence deepened. But, as we listened to the old canal muttering its feeble prayers and the creaking bones of sickly palaces above their damp green beards, under the windows we suddenly heard the famished roar of automobiles.

“Let’s go!” I said. “Friends, away! Let’s go! Mythology and the Mystic Ideal are defeated at last. We’re about to see the Centaur’s birth and, soon after, the first flight of Angels!... We must shake at the gates of life, test the bolts and hinges. Let’s go! Look there, on the earth, the very first dawn! There’s nothing to match the splendor of the sun’s red sword, slashing for the first time through our millennial gloom!”

We went up to the three snorting beasts, to lay amorous hands on their torrid breasts. I stretched out on my car like a corpse on its bier, but revived at once under the steering wheel, a guillotine blade that threatened my stomach.

The raging broom of madness swept us out of ourselves and drove us through streets as rough and deep as the beds of torrents. Here and there, sick lamplight through window glass taught us to distrust the deceitful mathematics of our perishing eyes.

I cried, “The scent, the scent alone is enough for our beasts.”

And like young lions we ran after Death, its dark pelt blotched with pale crosses as it escaped down the vast violet living and throbbing sky.

But we had no ideal Mistress raising her divine form to the clouds, nor any cruel Queen to whom to offer our bodies, twisted like Byzantine rings! There was nothing to make us wish for death, unless the wish to be free at last from the weight of our courage!

And on we raced, hurling watchdogs against doorsteps, curling them under our burning tires like collars under a flatiron. Death, domesticated, met me at every turn, gracefully holding out a paw, or once in a while hunkering down, making velvety caressing eyes at me from every puddle.

“Let’s break out of the horrible shell of wisdom and throw ourselves like pride-ripened fruit into the wide, contorted mouth of the wind! Let’s give ourselves utterly to the Unknown, not in desperation but only to replenish the deep wells of the Absurd!”

The words were scarcely out of my mouth when I spun my car around with the frenzy of a dog trying to bite its tail, and there, suddenly, were two cyclists coming towards me, shaking their fists, wobbling like two equally convincing but nevertheless contradictory arguments. Their stupid dilemma was blocking my way—Damn! Ouch!... I stopped short and to my disgust rolled over into a ditch with my wheels in the air...

O maternal ditch, almost full of muddy water! Fair factory drain! I gulped down your nourishing sludge; and I remembered the blessed black beast of my Sudanese nurse... When I came up—torn, filthy, and stinking—from under the capsized car, I felt the white-hot iron of joy deliciously pass through my heart!

A crowd of fishermen with handlines and gouty naturalists were already swarming around the prodigy. With patient, loving care those people rigged a tall derrick and iron grapnels to fish out my car, like a big beached shark. Up it came from the ditch, slowly, leaving in the bottom, like scales, its heavy framework of good sense and its soft upholstery of comfort.

They thought it was dead, my beautiful shark, but a caress from me was enough to revive it; and there it was, alive again, running on its powerful fins!

And so, faces smeared with good factory muck—plastered with metallic waste, with senseless sweat, with celestial soot—we, bruised, our arms in slings, but unafraid, declared our high intentions to all the living of the earth:

Manifesto of Futurism

We intend to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness.

Courage, audacity, and revolt will be essential elements of our poetry.

Up to now literature has exalted a pensive immobility, ecstasy, and sleep. We intend to exalt aggressive action, a feverish insomnia, the racer’s stride, the mortal leap, the punch and the slap.

We affirm that the world’s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath—a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.

We want to hymn the man at the wheel, who hurls the lance of his spirit across the Earth, along the circle of its orbit.

The poet must spend himself with ardor, splendor, and generosity, to swell the enthusiastic fervor of the primordial elements.

Except in struggle, there is no more beauty. No work without an aggressive character can be a masterpiece. Poetry must be conceived as a violent attack on unknown forces, to reduce and prostrate them before man.

We stand on the last promontory of the centuries!... Why should we look back, when what we want is to break down the mysterious doors of the Impossible? Time and Space died yesterday. We already live in the absolute, because we have created eternal, omnipresent speed.

We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and scorn for woman.

We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind, will fight moralism, feminism, every opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice.

We will sing of great crowds excited by work, by pleasure, and by riot; we will sing of the multicolored, polyphonic tides of revolution in the modern capitals; we will sing of the vibrant nightly fervor of arsenals and shipyards blazing with violent electric moons; greedy railway stations that devour smoke-plumed serpents; factories hung on clouds by the crooked lines of their smoke; bridges that stride the rivers like giant gymnasts, flashing in the sun with a glitter of knives; adventurous steamers that sniff the horizon; deep-chested locomotives whose wheels paw the tracks like the hooves of enormous steel horses bridled by tubing; and the sleek flight of planes whose propellers chatter in the wind like banners and seem to cheer like an enthusiastic crowd.

It is from Italy that we launch through the world this violently upsetting incendiary manifesto of ours. With it, today, we establish Futurism, because we want to free this land from its smelly gangrene of professors, archaeologists, ciceroni and antiquarians. For too long has Italy been a dealer in second-hand clothes. We mean to free her from the numberless museums that cover her like so many graveyards.

Museums: cemeteries!... Identical, surely, in the sinister promiscuity of so many bodies unknown to one another. Museums: public dormitories where one lies forever beside hated or unknown beings. Museums: absurd abattoirs of painters and sculptors ferociously slaughtering each other with color-blows and line-blows, the length of the fought-over walls!

That one should make an annual pilgrimage, just as one goes to the graveyard on All Souls’ Day—that I grant. That once a year one should leave a floral tribute beneath the Gioconda, I grant you that... But I don’t admit that our sorrows, our fragile courage, our morbid restlessness should be given a daily conducted tour through the museums. Why poison ourselves? Why rot?

And what is there to see in an old picture except the laborious contortions of an artist throwing himself against the barriers that thwart his desire to express his dream completely?... Admiring an old picture is the same as pouring our sensibility into a funerary urn instead of hurtling it far off, in violent spasms of action and creation.

Do you, then, wish to waste all your best powers in this eternal and futile worship of the past, from which you emerge fatally exhausted, shrunken, beaten down?

In truth I tell you that daily visits to museums, libraries, and academies (cemeteries of empty exertion, Calvaries of crucified dreams, registries of aborted beginnings!) are, for artists, as damaging as the prolonged supervision by parents of certain young people drunk with their talent and their ambitious wills. When the future is barred to them, the admirable past may be a solace for the ills of the moribund, the sickly, the prisoner... But we want no part of it, the past, we the young and strong Futurists!

So let them come, the gay incendiaries with charred fingers! Here they are! Here they are!... Come on! set fire to the library shelves! Turn aside the canals to flood the museums!... Oh, the joy of seeing the glorious old canvases bobbing adrift on those waters, discolored and shredded!... Take up your pickaxes, your axes and hammers and wreck, wreck the venerable cities, pitilessly!

The oldest of us is thirty: so we have at least a decade for finishing our work. When we are forty, other younger and stronger men will probably throw us in the wastebasket like useless manuscripts—we want it to happen!

They will come against us, our successors, will come from far away, from every quarter, dancing to the winged cadence of their first songs, flexing the hooked claws of predators, sniffing doglike at the academy doors the strong odor of our decaying minds, which will have already been promised to the literary catacombs.

But we won’t be there... At last they’ll find us—one winter’s night—in open country, beneath a sad roof drummed by a monotonous rain. They’ll see us crouched beside our trembling aeroplanes in the act of warming our hands at the poor little blaze that our books of today will give out when they take fire from the flight of our images.

They’ll storm around us, panting with scorn and anguish, and all of them, exasperated by our proud daring, will hurtle to kill us, driven by a hatred the more implacable the more their hearts will be drunk with love and admiration for us.

Injustice, strong and sane, will break out radiantly in their eyes.

Art, in fact, can be nothing but violence, cruelty, and injustice.

The oldest of us is thirty: even so we have already scattered treasures, a thousand treasures of force, love, courage, astuteness, and raw will-power; have thrown them impatiently away, with fury, carelessly, unhesitatingly, breathless, and unresting... Look at us! We are still untired! Our hearts know no weariness because they are fed with fire, hatred, and speed!... Does that amaze you? It should, because you can never remember having lived! Erect on the summit of the world, once again we hurl our defiance at the stars!

You have objections?—Enough! Enough! We know them... We’ve understood!... Our fine deceitful intelligence tells us that we are the revival and extension of our ancestors—Perhaps!... If only it were so!—But who cares? We don’t want to understand!... Woe to anyone who says those infamous words to us again!

Lift up your heads!

Erect on the summit of the world, once again we hurl defiance to the stars!

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