31 「Kaminejima・エンド」

A wild boar for supper, hunted by Suzaku, Lelouch and Graham. Pastries from the European Union's city of Paris for an after dinner treat, obtained through Graham's power of teleportation. The members of the Black Knights, Princess Euphemia and her honorable Knight, and the Japanese Empire's future leader had a grand night of excitement.

Their plans were coming to fruition. While other parts that would come in the future were dreaded, they saw that it was a needed tragedy, the loss of life.

No one here enjoyed the idea of murder, killing other people, but if it meant living free from oppression, then so be it.

The next morning, Graham opened his eyes. He was propped up against the wall in the cave. Kallen's head was rested on his left shoulder, Marika had hers rested on his right arm, and Anya was sleeping in his lap.

He made a groggy groan, but no one moved. He felt trapped beneath them, suffocated. He felt extremely warm and overheated. He started to recall his past life, whenever he slept in the same bed as someone else, he found it hard to sleep. At least for a long period of time.

He often found himself staying up at night, watching them sleep, while keeping himself preoccupied with his work.

He let out a soft sigh and wrangled about beneath them until he was able to prop Marika and Kallen on the cave wall, so they wouldn't fall over as he stood up.

Graham then glanced over at the smoking remains of the fire. A small smirk forming over his lips as he felt Anya shuffling in his lap and turning to cling to him. Her eyes were closed, but she grasped tightly against his shirt, pressing the side of her face against his chest.

She either subconsciously didn't want him to get up since she was likely comfortable where she was, or she was awake and didn't want him to move. Scooping her up into his arms as he stood up, her eyes opened partially with a, difficult to read, disappointed expression on her face.

She nuzzled into his armpit, hiding her face and trying to go back to sleep.

Graham on the other hand walked over to the firepit and began dismantling it, by kicking it apart with his feet. There were no embers, just smoked out wood. It was clear if anyone entered through here, they'd see someone had been staying on the island. Perhaps a group of people.

A few hours later the sun was reaching almost directly above them. This made it clear that the day was almost near lunch hour.

Graham stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Anya in his lap as they stared at the growing and shrinking waves. It was as if they were bowing before him, raising their heads, and worshipping him. He closed his eyes and imagined a red sun fading to blue, a white light encompassing the sky. Everything being crushed, the atmosphere being torn from their very green rock, by the otherworldly strength of a blue sun's solar energy.

Anya leaned forward as she basked in the sun's rays. Her eyes gazing over the horizon as a dot made an appearance. They were coming, the Britannian forces from the other island.

Were they looking for them? Or did they believe them to already be dead and gone? However assuming anything could leave too many holes. Her eyes narrowed upon the air ship on its way. They dare to have fired on the Britannian Princess, sacrificing a royal blood for a mere terrorist, whom ironically was also a royal thought long dead.

"They're coming," Graham said under his breath, having enjoyed the sights up until this point. Slowly he stood up, bringing Anya to her own as he did so. His hands tucked under her pits, grasping beneath her shoulders.

Blinking a few times, she'd simply remain in his arms as he lifted her up, almost in a low toss, suddenly wrapping his arms right under her chest cavity. She hung there like a plushie in his arms as he hopped down from the bolder and onto the sand below.

"This is uncomfortable," Anya muttered as she glanced up at him, her cheeks puffed up.

Settling her down on the sands, "Make haste towards the others. They should be in the center of the Island."

Nodding to him, she took a step away with a tiny smile over her lips. It was clear she had confidence in him, despite how little common sense she had. She'd then turn away from him and runoff in the destination she was meant to meet the others at.

...

The Avalon had arrived, the Britannian forces walked upon the beaches. They were closing in on the cave. They were coming for the thought elevator and the Gawain was coming with them. Their goal was now known, their objective was no to find the princess let alone the escaped terrorists.

They were no longer a priority, at least not yet.

Graham and Anya were in the Black Fox, Marika was at the helm. He sat beside her seat, his legs resting beneath him. His eyes were closed as he listened to the silent hum of the machine's idle. Their location was right on the edge of the forest, where there was a patch of stone. Their camouflage kept them hidden from prying eyes.

If there were wind, it was likely they would be found due to the movement of the sand. That would only spell trouble and the ruin of his own plans. At least he knew the weather conditions of the day, being bright and sunny, barely a cloud in sight.

The Prince was entering the cave with the Gawain and a familiar general who served under Clovis. It was clear they were working together, and that the general was indeed not being held beneath the temple.

What was treason nowadays if you had connections with the royal family? It was rather laughable.

Graham watched as Lelouch, Suzaku, Kallen and Euphemia made it to the invisible mark above the cave. Just as they grouped together, 'traded hostages' and 'confronted one another,' the world beneath their feet shifted and collapsed.

The group found themselves falling on a platform into the cavern below. They all landed in front of the Prince and his men. Bartley telled orders to protect the Princess, all the while having the men attempt to physically capture Kallen and Zero.

It was no use. The two were nimble on their feet. They took down the guards who were in the way of Gawain. Lelouch entered the cockpit while Kallen turned around and emptied several rounds at the feet of the Britannian Soldiers. Probably nicking one or two of them with bullets.

Once she was out of ammunition, she jumped up into the arms of Gawain and climbed up onto its shoulders as it made its way out of the tavern. It was just like he remembered, all of it.

Graham watched as the flying Knightmare frame escaped and flew off into the sky. The blackfox under the control of Marika would begin to make its move. Just as the other frames were told to back off and let them go, the fox uncloaked and darted along the beach.

"Unidentified Knightmare frame moving along the beach!" One of the officers shouted in the direction of the Prince and his general.

"What is the meaning of this?" The duo stepped out and looked around. Narrowing their sights on the large black fox which was yipping and snarling at enemies who dare come close to it.

"A robot animal of that proportion? That's no frame I've heard about!" The General shouted as he pointed at it, only for the Prince to lower the general's hand with his own.

Lloyd and Cecile who were amongst the Britannians stared at the unidentified moving object. "Who made such a thing?" He asked himself out loud, hoping someone were to answer this question. "It's bigger than any one of our Knightmare frames in production."

Cecile glared at it for a moment, noticing that it had a flight module similar to the ones she had set up prior. "They are as advanced if not more than us..." She let out a sigh, greatly disappointed that they weren't the only ones to have such complicated and reliable technologies.

"Your orders sir?" One of the Officers asked as they approached the Prince.

"Silence the contraption before it makes the cavern collapse even further." He ordered only to rest his eyes on the fox once more. No one was currently in the cave any longer.

The blackfox had come to a stop, it was no longer yipping and shrieking like the fox it was. Instead it looked straight at the Prince, and then towards the cave. The look on its face was menacing and instilled wariness in all those whom looked upon it.

"Oh shit.." The Prince and everyone who was watching him, ducked down as the fox opened its mouth and fired a perfected 'Hadron' Cannon directly at the cave. However it was quite notiable that this beam looked different from the normal Hadron based weapons, the color was a bright blue-violet.

As soon as it entered the cave, there was a sudden explosion. It wasn't a continuous beam however, it was just a short burst. The entire cave system would then find itself collapsing, the door had been sealed permanently.

He did as he planned, made sure no one could enter nor leave through that particular door. Once that was done, Graham ordered Marika for her to pull out of the air.

The Knightmare frames present began to fire on them, only for the stealth module to activate and virtually make them invisible.

Llyod and Cecile were once again jealous of their unnamed rival, but couldn't quite understand the reasons behind their behavior. What was their goal? Who were they aligned with? They had never seen such technological advancement based on their own tech as of yet.

The fox would leave, quickly gaining on Gawain's position as they were leaving the area. Avalon no longer in pursuit. It was time to return to their base of operations, the submarine which was heading back to the mainland of Japan, more precisely, the northern section of Japan known as Hokkaido or historically as Ezo.