Hour 24: Part 1

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11:00, 16 minutes before death

It felt very solemn.

The very air held it's breath, dragging it's way through nothingness, with unnecessary vigor in the way it dared not even blow a puff of wind.

The only thing heard was the rustling of fabric as Lelouch was seated on the grand, shining float.

He rubbed his hand together, twisting and lacing and knotting his fingers together absentmindedly, feeling the heat drain out of his face when he saw Nunnally and the Black Knights be brought out before him, wrapped up in chains, being guided to their deaths.

Everything he's built, will now be destroyed.

Lelouch felt Nunnally's eyes burn into him, shooting more than daggers, digging heated knives into his skin, filled with so much hatred it made his skin crawl.

Lelouch's face remained blank,

cold,

proud

of nothing.

"Your Majesty, we are ready to begin."

Lelouch nodded.

The engines began whirring softly, humming a monotone tune in low, gravelly voices.

A jolt was felt as the float propelled forward, slowly, lazily, before beginning to roll faster and faster.

Lelouch leaned his chin on his hand, feeling his lips droop lower and lower, that ever-present scowl grazing his face.

A sudden commotion sounded behind, with several officials reprimanding someone loudly.

Turning around, Lelouch froze, feeling his heart beat and his mind swell, his skin grow cold and his face grow hot.

C.C. was being held back by several guards, and she seemed to want to run toward the float, but of course, she couldn't. Her mouth opened, and she seemed to shout something, but at that moment, the Britannian anthem sounded, and her words were drowned out with the loud roaring of music.

Lelouch opened his mouth to say something, but found he had no words.

He had so much to say, so much to ask, but in this roiling sway of tunes, his speech would be mere breaths.

C.C. looked up, her face having calmed to a serene acceptance, and caught Lelouch's eye.

And in that moment, so much was conveyed, so much was said and uttered and screamed and shrieked, so much was cried out to the heavens and stomped down into the ground, it left Lelouch breathless and overwhelmed and yet...

so satisfied.

Somehow, every bit of question and confusion weighing Lelouch down began to fly away, and he heard C.C.'s voice, for all the silence it was.

Lelouch turned back around, facing the endless, silent crowds lining the edge of his procession, though this time, wearing a sly, malicious smirk, instead of that sad, dull frown.

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