The World of C
Lelouch wondered if this place was a dream. Or… maybe it was something else. A nightmare, perhaps? Considering who he'd just ordered dead, maybe it was a fallen deity's attempt to lull his mind into a false sense of victory before indirectly playing around with him once more.
Then again, for the one to tell him of such, also admitting their identity as the centuries-old founder of the Einzbern clan while bearing the same face as the woman he'd taken hostage… It was hard not to scoff at her words. Magic was still a complete mystery to himself after all.
But considering his Geass seemed to work on Angra Mainyu, would it perhaps allow him to gain the answers he sought—?
"Such an unnecessary use of your power would be merely a waste, your majesty." The woman spoke, contrary to expectation, respectfully, regally. With eyes closed, she made a small bow. "I beseech you to stay your hand. I come merely as a messenger."
"For someone who should be long dead, you seem to be well-aware of my identity and power." Lelouch's gaze narrowed further. He opted to be indirect. "Then again, after reading through Zouken's journals, you're not who I expected as one of the three founders."
"… Zouken… " A hint of nostalgia broke her flat expression. A slight wince of her crimson gaze was all that she let slip before schooling her intimidatingly cold features once more. "… That… is true. I… the former head of the Einzbern clan, had died over two centuries ago."
"And yet, here you are. Alive and well, are you not?"
"No, your majesty. Not alive." She shook her head once more before directing an almost robotic gaze towards him. "I, the former shell that was Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, am now a part of the Grail. My death… was merely the first step into joining with the device. What I am now is what carries out the victor's desire for the Grail."
In a way, she was a sacrifice as well as a cog for Heaven's Feel ritual. Whatever it was had been lost to time, as with Zouken's notes and sanity. But be that as it may, she still existed within the cup. Meaning her original goal was to work from within the device. Perhaps, as a guide, guard, or mechanism to utilize the artefact. Or maybe even all three.
Then, that implied…
"Does that mean then… that you had allowed Angra Mainyu to take it over?"
'And wrought upon the mess I had to clean up' went left unsaid but was mentally heard. It was pretty apparent when Justeaze lowered her head immediately.
"The internal corruption of the Grail by something it had summoned was… not something I and my colleagues had taken many precautions for." The monotonously regrettable tone irked Lelouch somewhat. "Presumably, a Servant would no longer be able to influence the external plane once they'd lost connection, be it through their demise or the loss of their anchor. However…"
"There was an exception," Lelouch finished for her. "That which your own kin summoned in a desperate attempt to bend the rules to your clan's favour."
"I have no excuses."
Regal and dignified as she was, her sincerity was clear. And due to the fact he knew neither she nor the initial founders intended for the twist this war had gone down, he could accept it. Not that he could forgive their incompetence, however.
"For ridding the taint, as well as freeing me from imprisonment, I wish to extend my gratitude, your majesty."
"Enough with the platitudes and get on with the point." Feeling impatient, he urged her. "What do you mean by him, by Angra Mainyu still being alive!"
"Your highness," sensing his annoyance at the matter, the doll-like face of the Einzbern founder shifted warily. For better or for worse, she complied with a nod. "As you know, the Servant Avenger, the very first one, had been summoned by my kin during the previous Grail War. And though they had twisted the rules to allow for one of the unorthodox classes to be called from the Throne, he had been the weakest Servant to ever be summoned and was summarily defeated. However… as you can see, he persisted in this world—"
"I already know of this! Tell me what I do not!"
"Though he has been defeated here," she answered quickly. "Even now, the one called Angra Mainyu has simply returned to the Throne… that which houses all Heroic Spirits, weak and strong, remembered or not. What's more, death is truly meaningless to a Heroic Spirit for they are just copies of their original legend. Killing him, in this world or another, be it with Geass or not, is futile."
'A spiritual clone, you mean?' Lelouch clicked his tongue at the assertion. An undying enemy was one thing. But a foe that could be called upon time and time again… that was a nuisance. "My main objective was to kick him out from the Grail—!"
"Which has worked, your majesty!" she said, trying to appease him with a bow. "The entity known as Angra Mainyu no longer hides within the cup. But I'm certain, though it has lost this vessel, that the Heroic Spirit will try to find another. But that in itself is within the realm of impossibility."
"What do you mean?"
"The Grail is the only possible artefact that can actively house its existence. With the mana stored within, and its nature of being a Conceptualized Artifact that was repurposed to feed on human desires, the ethereal entity needs the Grail specifically to be as active and corrupting as he was. What's more, it is the only thing that could give it a chance at being reborn in this world. I am confident that, wherever Avenger had vanished off to, it wouldn't survive long on its own."
Which meant being angry about it was pointless. He already used his Geass to remove any trace of it within the Grail, that was considering he was still within it. However, blaming Justeaze any further would do him no good. Not when he still hadn't asked her how she knew about him. And his power.
"Just how much do you know?"
He need not say about what. Justeaze merely acquiesced with a nod. "You're a fallen emperor from another world. One who was called to prevent anyone from winning this Grail War. Thus preventing the reincarnation of Angra Mainyu and the end of this world. As well as freeing me."
"Then… you must also know who it was that summoned me here."
"Yes." Justeaze nodded once more. But unlike earlier, her eyes betrayed an emotion akin to contempt. Or was it frustration? "The Collective Unconsciousness of mankind and the drive for its survival as a whole. The one many magi revere but also abhor for her influence on their research to the Root… Alaya."
That thing… that entity… The one he had many questions for but never a chance at interrogating.
Lelouch remembered the night when he was summoned to this world.
Still in his bloody royal robes, confused, startled, and very much in a panic, he had been forced to stare at an incomprehensible mystical being in an empty void while it demanded him to stop a war from reaching a definite conclusion.
Alaya hadn't given him much information or knowledge of this world beyond the surface level. And even that was pretty ambiguous to the otherworldly him. On that night, the gist was thus.
'The Grail is corrupted. It will twist any and every wish in an attempt to destroy humanity. Prevent anyone from getting Grail. Summon your own Servant. Don't die.'
Well, Lelouch failed only one of those orders. Yet, even still, she persisted and he remained cautious. Alaya made it clear that he was only human, neither having Geass or skills in magecraft beyond the Command Seals.
That raises the question, then, didn't it? How exactly did he get his power back?
"For someone known as the Collective Unconsciousness of mankind, Alaya sure doesn't like to explain anything, doesn't it?" he scoffed, knowing he wouldn't get any answer from such a callous entity. "Only pushing tasks on a mere human at their convenience."
"On the contrary, your majesty. Alaya wouldn't hold back information from that which she summons at the behest of saving humanity." Justeaze countered with a neutral tone. "Whenever she summons her Counter Guardians to prevent a calamity caused by mankind, she withholds nothing for the sake of averting disaster. However, such a right is exclusive only to say, Guardians. Something that you are not."
Counter Guardians? Didn't Angra Mainyu mention that before?
"If I am not a Counter Guardian, then why did she call upon the recently-deceased me to this world to embark on a mission to defend humanity? Doesn't sound like I had a choice in the matter either."
For the first time, a small smile curled up from the corner of Justeaze's face. "That's because, your majesty, the Collective Unconsciousness of mankind fears you. You and that mark on your throat."
Lelouch frowned. He couldn't see it, but his gaze narrowed on her upon feeling the scar and noting its familiar shape. "What…?"
"Alaya is afraid and is on high guard around you. Think back, your majesty. Back in your world. It was then when your parents almost managed to destroy your world's own Collective Unconsciousness of humanity which was in a dormant state and couldn't protect itself, that you appeared to save it. If it wasn't for you and your power, they would have succeeded. Humanity in your reality would have perished in that very instant, lost to an eternity in the void without anyone or anything to keep it from destroying itself."
That still didn't explain why he had a code inscribed on his person. There was no one to steal it from. Not C.C. and certainly not Charles when he'd vanished into the ether.
"However, your majesty not only managed to save the Collective Unconsciousness via preserving it, you even enforced your will upon it." Justeaze continued. "'To continue the march of time', was it not? That is what Alaya fears. She is afraid of a mere human who is so able to control a being on par with her. Most likely, considering you could demand one to eternal enslavement to their task, she fears you might willfully destroy others as well."
"Destroy the Collective Unconsciousness? I have no reason for such!" Especially since this was what his parents wanted. Lelouch will make sure their wish won't be ever accomplished. For Nunnally's sake—
"However, should their duty of preserving their own worlds conflict with the preservation and continued existence of yours, would you stand idly by?" Justeaze knew she made a good point, though she didn't gloat about it. "Forgive me for stating, however, your majesty was once a normal and impulsive human. One who was also known for making unusual and risky decisions all for the sake of your single-minded objective. It is because of this that Alaya deems making you a Counter Guardian is far too dangerous a risk. Not only will you gain access to her powers, but you will also be directly connected to her. Knowing of your character and your power, the World itself is threatened."
What wasn't said was the fact that many Counter Guardians were known to become broken shells of their former selves after serving Alaya for aeons. To make a Guardian of a young man who likely still had attachments to his flesh and blood now separated from him in another world outside his current one… Justeaze, dead as she was, felt a chill crawl down her spine.
"That's contradictory…" Lelouch muttered under his breath. "If she so fears my power, then why is it that she allowed my Geass to reawaken?"
Lelouch was sure that the power that brought him into this world should be able to take away his power. After all, it brought him back from the dead, no? Why is it that an all-powerful being as great as Alaya is unable to muzzle him even now?
"Because Alaya has no power over it," Justeaze stated it as a matter of fact. "Geass, the power you wield, is unknown to her. By that extension, as someone who works with a device that skirts her authority over the Throne, not even I can comprehend it."
"Even you, an ancient magus of a prestigious clan, are stumped by it?" the look in her eyes betrayed it before she spoke. It wasn't just that she didn't know. She feared what she didn't understand. Quite the human reaction from the doll-like apparition.
"It is neither magecraft nor True Magic." Her tone was monotone yet concerned. "It is alien to humanity itself, hence why the Collective Unconsciousness of this world line is unable to do anything beyond sealing it for some time. As your majesty knows, your power returned to you upon your death in this world. Her seal had broken at that instant, once your integration within this reality was lost."
"Hm…" This raised another question. "Then, Lady Justeaze, would you care to humour me?"
"What would you ask of me, your highness?"
"What am I?" the woman's features shifted uncomfortably. "Care to speculate?"
Was he not mortal? Apparently so, considering he died twice yet still lived.
Was he a Servant? A Heroic Spirit? Not likely, considering Gilgamesh's take on the matter. And he was a somewhat-omniscient demigod himself.
Then, was he now a Code-bearer? Just like his father and uncle once were? Just like C.C? It wasn't as though he hated the thought of it. Just that it still didn't explain much beyond his ability to have survived Angra Mainyu at all.
And although he could excuse the Code most likely coming from his defeating Charles, the symbol only appeared after he was killed twice. Both in his world and this one. Not to forget, somehow Lelouch had both Code and Geass.
C.C. had dictated the rules to this power: A person could only attain one version of it. Geass or Code. The power of the King or the curse that damned them to eternal solitude. Only one, never both.
In his case, it had become both. So… what did it mean for the anomaly that was the twice-resurrected Demon Emperor?
"That… would not be so simple to answer, your majesty," the woman sighed resignedly. "But for someone who'd been called upon by the Collective Unconsciousness, Alaya, for the sake of saving 'The World', Gaia, referring to you as… as a mere human is… now but a fallacy. If both that which my kin and I know as 'The World' all humans live on, as well as its protector, fear you, well… … An 'anomaly' is the politest term we would use to designate your highness."
He internally shrugged at that. Considering that a being on par with a deity was afraid, being vague was reasonable. Even if she couldn't openly admit to it, Justeaze's fear was apparent for she knew the truth and was afraid to step on his toes.
Perhaps, Nobunaga had been aware of it all as well. Only, she was just more accepting of him than his sponsor and this messenger ever could be.
"And," he urged her on. "What, pray to tell, is Gaia's take on this?"
Knowing now that Alaya was fearful, what did The World itself think, he wondered.
"Gaia is also afraid. Only, she was desperate at the time." Justeaze didn't sound as sympathetic as her words made it seem, yet she continued. "To save humanity, she needed someone more capable than another Counter Guardian. To that end, Alaya proposed a deal to the Planet's Will to Survive. In exchange for writing your legend and story into this reality's human history, Gaia would then be able to call upon you whenever needed."
"You mean to say that I was transported to this world and made into an unofficial Counter Guardian?"
"Nay. More in a sense that you were integrated as though you were destined to be a Heroic Spirit from the start. Not a mere part of the Counter Force, but a bonafide member of the pan-human history's roster of legends and myths." Justeaze paused. A seemingly snarky smile barely curled the corner of her lips before vanishing. "However, such an integration was far more than both Gaia and Alaya expected."
"You mean… my power, yes?"
"It is as you say. Though a foreigner like yourself was able to adapt to this reality, turning you into a member of the Throne did more than add your legend to the system. It also called upon your power. Geass, Such a mystery that neither the World nor Counter Force could comprehend, sought after you through time and space, shackling itself onto your very soul as though it had always been a part of you. It was due to this… miscalculation that left both entities quaking in fear."