(no subject)

[oathtotheking]

Player-

You've committed yourself, already. If you want to seek a second game, even that will not be with me. I have work to do and a charge to fulfill; you can't just pluck me up to toy with because you're re-watching the series and you see him somewhere.

- Zero

Comments

[princessclassic]

"Him"? Is something wrong, Lelouch?

sobeuphie

[oathtotheking]

[Hello, heartache. How are you? He's fine, mostly, but oh good lord Euphemia why are you here he can't--]

No, nothing.

[--be honest. Damnit. Suzaku is dead, he can't come back, not even for her--]

[princessclassic]

But you said your Mun saw "him" somewhere. Who's "him"?

[oathtotheking]

[A soundless breath.]

The last emperor.

[princessclassic]

....Father?

Oh, I see. You wish to fight against him.

That's all right, I understand.

[oathtotheking]

No. He was not the last emperor.

[princessclassic]

He....wasn't!? Then who...?

[oathtotheking]

The 99th Emperor of Britannia, His Majesty Lelouch vi Britannia.

[Has the world collapsed, yet? His chest seizes. Be honest.]

I should have clarified before: I am not Lelouch. I am Zero.

[princessclassic]

[Stunned silence.]

But....that's....

....I'm sorry, I-I should be going now. [Leaves, hurredly.]

I can't escape the narratives, man. orz suzakustopbeingbracket!wordy

[oathtotheking]

[...Yes, the world's collapsed. Mm. Fold away the anxiety, the want to do something, to stop her and make any attempt to explain. There's no point. Dead men don't speak, and she's better off not knowing. After all, he'd wanted to be remembered as a tyrant, hadn't he? He'd already punished his siblings, and Euphemia doesn't deserve it.

But--]

He changed the world.

[Half-voiced, more murmured and warped by the mechanisms in the helmet that make his voice so difficult to distinguish.]

[bursting]

[ Setsuna watches the man in the peculiar mask with a certain degree of suspicion, as he does most, but otherwise doesn't react, eyes wary but curious nonetheless. "Him?" ]

My mun is interested in you, it seems.

[oathtotheking]

[It's all a very long story, and not one he's terribly willing to recount. The suspicion is valid, though; he'd be suspicious of himself if he didn't know the life he'd led.]

Oh? What interest could I hold for them?

[bursting]

[ His eyes flash briefly with interest, but that's the only visible sign he shows that Suzaku's words have registered at all. ]

You don't think you're an interesting person?

[oathtotheking]

[It's enough to pick up on.]

It's a subjective quality, one decided by the onlooker. Additionally, I am scarcely a person. I am a reminder and remainder.

[bursting]

[ Aren't you insightful, then? Yet Setsuna remains stoic, firm, unyielding, and unwavering in his reserved expression. ]

Scarcely a person... you really believe that?

[oathtotheking]

[Hang on, not properly put together for this one. Kind of like with Euphie before. ...Though it's not like he has anything to hide from--]

Lelouch.

[oathtotheking]

[He has to be. Zero stands still--not so much at ease as controlled. He is impassive behind his mask. His head tips back at the question, a fraction towards a shoulder.]

A person lives; I exist.

[bursting]

[ Setsuna notices that as a soldier, yes, the near professional level of control, but now he will be letting a trace of emotion shine through his otherwise blank countenance. A mild, sympathetic twitch to his brow that says what his words don't—isn't that sad? ]

That's a terrible attitude to have. You're still a human being, aren't you?

[oathtotheking]

[He pledged an oath to a young man who once was his dearest friend. Who once was his most hated enemy. Who once was his companion in an attempt to right a world of wrongs. To whom he pledged an oath that would grant him both vengeance and penance.

Behind the elaborate mask, behind the black half-mask, Zero's lips twitch; it's the price he pays willingly.]

I am Zero.

[He hasn't been a human being in quite some time.]

[bursting]

[ Setsuna shakes his head, in blatant refusal of this assertion. He of course doesn't understand that Zero is a name for Suzaku, a moniker, and so... ]

No. No one is a "Zero".

[ Good luck with this one, Suzaku. A complete stranger you may be, a complete lack of existence, but Setsuna won't be hearing any arguments to the contrary. That's just how he is, like a certain emperor you once knew. ]

[oathtotheking]

[This... is almost painful, or so suggests the knot building in him. Emotional as Suzaku is (still, somewhere beneath the weight of Zero and that oath), Zero stands unmoving even as the corners of his eyes burn. Breathe. He can't afford to let things fall apart just because he's faced the dead twice. But nothing is as intimate as murder, not the way they executed it. Vengeance and penance all in one, a way to free the world. Dried blood in the crevices of his helmet he couldn't reach, and there are days he swears there is blood smeared along the glossy surface just like that day.

Lelouch, stop being the reason he loses his shit.

... But ever the same, Lelouch. And maybe under his masks, Zero's--or perhaps Suzaku's--lips curve in a sort of sad way. Breathe.]

Who am I, if not Zero?

[It is what it is; they made their bed.]

[oathtotheking]

[He doesn't really expect Setsuna to understand, so that's alright; Zero is a symbol to those who fell under the grip of Britannia. Strangely, this refusal brings out a small chuckle. "A" Zero?]

You misunderstand. "Zero" is what I am called, for I am not one individual but one who represents something for the many.

[It's that familiar quality that actually prevents Zero from immediately dismissing their conversation. Genuine, perhaps innocent, before they unleashed Hell. He doesn't wish to taint it, even with the meaninglessness of this space, so he'll omit those certain details.]

[bursting]

[ Setsuna is unaware of his mistake until Suzaku points it out, and even when he does, he just shrugs. Setsuna is indeed genuine, though he's far from innocent. The hardened look in his eyes says about as much. ]

My point stands.

dw y u gotta break? -chews on itttttt-

[oathtotheking]

[Very much like Lelouch, and perhaps himself in the past. ]

As does mine. Would it mean anything if I said this was an oath I took and will fulfill for the duration of my lifetime?

[Because some people stand so close to their ideals that they don't see those around them.]

CHEWS ON YOU

[bursting]

[ Nostalgia can be awfully bittersweet at times. With gold faintly ringing his eyes— ]

It is a foolish oath, then. You cannot cease to be a person. It is not your decision to make.