Ty (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ersatzdivinity) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomweekly2019-01-28 05:29 pm
ersatzdivinity) wrote in fandomweekly2019-01-28 05:29 pm
Entry tags:
[#004] Smothered Checkmate (Code Geass)
Theme Prompt: #004 - Victory
Title: Smothered Checkmate
Fandom: Code Geass
Rating/Warnings: PG-13: violent death, blood. Also spoilers for the end of a 10-year-old anime.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 607
Summary: Lelouch muses on predetermination and the cost of victory.
It is over, and I am dying.
The game is over, and I have won.
It had to end this way, of course. Chess is a game won or lost from the very first move, from the very first pawn sacrificed. I have known from the moment I pulled the trigger and murdered my brother Clovis that eventually the same sacrifice would be required of me. I am sorry for the pain I have caused, am causing, to the people I leave behind, but there was no other way.
I can hear Nunnally sobbing, calling out for me from the place I had her chained before this parade began, before my dais, first in a parade of my enemies. Chained, and betrayed, and abandoned, and lied to again and again, and still she cries for me. For her big brother. Lelouch. No one will ever say my name with love again. I have made certain of it. Does she know, I wonder? Does she know that I do this for her, for the promise I made her when we were children, to make the world a better place? She must know.
I worry, then. I worry that I am leaving her alone. Surrounded by wolves and worse than wolves. The sudden pain in my chest has very little to do with the sword lodged in it, blade piercing my heart and protruding from my back. Some pains lie deeper than others.
No one knows this better than the masked man standing before me, hands on the hilt of that razor-sharp blade. After all, how much pain have I caused him? How much more will this inflict, this horrible, impossible thing I have asked? But I had to. He is the only man I have ever known to make the impossible a reality. I would trust no one else with Nunnally. I would trust no one else with my death. And Suzaku, you've always wanted to die, haven't you? In a way, this is me finally granting you your wish. Suzaku will die, and Suzaku will live on as Zero. He will be the guardian of peace, a knight for justice. My knight. My best friend, my protector, my rival, my enemy. We have been so many things to each other. Surely you can be just this one more. I am sorry to ask it, but it couldn't be by my hand.
From this close I can hear the choked sob muffled by the helmet, and I lift a hand slick with blood to its mirrored surface, fingers gentle as they stroke the place I know a warm cheek lies beneath. I touch the cold glass, and wish I could wipe his tears away.
I am sorry, I think, and my hand falls away, limp. But there was no other way to win, and you know I've always been a terrible loser, Suzaku. Forgive me.
I hear him whisper a goodbye as he pulls the sword from my body. It doesn't hurt as much as I expected. Instead, all I feel is absolution. The world spins as I fall, and I can hear the crowd chanting, Zero, Zero, Zero. Good. I can hear Kallen voicing her allegiance, I can hear Cornelia calling for the release of the prisoners, I can hear Jeremiah sounding a retreat. All as planned. All part of my final gambit.
Dying is easy. One final breath. Checkmate. White King is eliminated from the board. His Queen will do a better job, her and the Black Knight. I have won. The game is over. And finally, finally I can rest.
Title: Smothered Checkmate
Fandom: Code Geass
Rating/Warnings: PG-13: violent death, blood. Also spoilers for the end of a 10-year-old anime.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 607
Summary: Lelouch muses on predetermination and the cost of victory.
It is over, and I am dying.
The game is over, and I have won.
It had to end this way, of course. Chess is a game won or lost from the very first move, from the very first pawn sacrificed. I have known from the moment I pulled the trigger and murdered my brother Clovis that eventually the same sacrifice would be required of me. I am sorry for the pain I have caused, am causing, to the people I leave behind, but there was no other way.
I can hear Nunnally sobbing, calling out for me from the place I had her chained before this parade began, before my dais, first in a parade of my enemies. Chained, and betrayed, and abandoned, and lied to again and again, and still she cries for me. For her big brother. Lelouch. No one will ever say my name with love again. I have made certain of it. Does she know, I wonder? Does she know that I do this for her, for the promise I made her when we were children, to make the world a better place? She must know.
I worry, then. I worry that I am leaving her alone. Surrounded by wolves and worse than wolves. The sudden pain in my chest has very little to do with the sword lodged in it, blade piercing my heart and protruding from my back. Some pains lie deeper than others.
No one knows this better than the masked man standing before me, hands on the hilt of that razor-sharp blade. After all, how much pain have I caused him? How much more will this inflict, this horrible, impossible thing I have asked? But I had to. He is the only man I have ever known to make the impossible a reality. I would trust no one else with Nunnally. I would trust no one else with my death. And Suzaku, you've always wanted to die, haven't you? In a way, this is me finally granting you your wish. Suzaku will die, and Suzaku will live on as Zero. He will be the guardian of peace, a knight for justice. My knight. My best friend, my protector, my rival, my enemy. We have been so many things to each other. Surely you can be just this one more. I am sorry to ask it, but it couldn't be by my hand.
From this close I can hear the choked sob muffled by the helmet, and I lift a hand slick with blood to its mirrored surface, fingers gentle as they stroke the place I know a warm cheek lies beneath. I touch the cold glass, and wish I could wipe his tears away.
I am sorry, I think, and my hand falls away, limp. But there was no other way to win, and you know I've always been a terrible loser, Suzaku. Forgive me.
I hear him whisper a goodbye as he pulls the sword from my body. It doesn't hurt as much as I expected. Instead, all I feel is absolution. The world spins as I fall, and I can hear the crowd chanting, Zero, Zero, Zero. Good. I can hear Kallen voicing her allegiance, I can hear Cornelia calling for the release of the prisoners, I can hear Jeremiah sounding a retreat. All as planned. All part of my final gambit.
Dying is easy. One final breath. Checkmate. White King is eliminated from the board. His Queen will do a better job, her and the Black Knight. I have won. The game is over. And finally, finally I can rest.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Thank you for sharing.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Thank you :) I have a lot of love for this fandom, I'm glad it carries.
no subject
no subject
I really like the end of the anime, for all that I'll read and write a million fix-it fics, and it all comes down to how peaceful Lelouch is -- how content with the end he's orchestrated for himself. This very much encapsulates that contentment, bittersweet though it is. ♥ I particularly like, But there was no other way to win, and you know I've always been a terrible loser, Suzaku. Forgive me.
Well done.