Matou residence.
The change after the death of Matou Zouken was largely noticeable.
Lelouch knew little about the man beyond what Kariya told him. However, it was easy to see that, with his oppressor gone and dead, the man was feeling way better. According to the cripple himself, it felt like a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Of course, after what happened in the basement, Kariya was still weakened and frail. His body hadn't escaped malnutrition just yet and he was still unable to feel anything over a good portion of his own skin. But with the help of some medicine and short rest, he looked less pale. More alive than he'd been before when Lelouch first came face to face with a man so desperate, he used his own body as a feeding ground.
The Crest worms inside the Master of Berserker were mostly gone. As Byakuya stated, some survived. But without their creator to influence or control them, they might as well have been inert batteries. It was only a matter of when they would completely die off and dry up their mana reserves now that they weren't replenishing themselves with his flesh and blood. However, Kariya wasn't focused on them right now. His attention was on the little girl, his niece.
"Everything will be better now, Sakura. I promise."
Lelouch glanced at the child still clinging tightly to her uncle's side. Kariya had been repeating that message over and over to her for the better part of the sunless morning. Although repetitive, it was understandable for the little girl who was still having a hard time believing her nightmare had ended.
The raven-haired boy felt disturbed by what she had to endure. In all honesty, his disgust hadn't at all abated. From what Nobu reported to him about last night's events, it could've all gone sourly wrong had Zouken not needed the child alive and well in the first place.
'To think he planned to use the adopted girl as a new vessel to replace his destroyed body…' The Demon Emperor had always hated the idea of children being used by their families amongst his world's nobility. Arranged marriages and political hostages were one thing, but using gruesome magic to not only torture a person but take over them as well? It was a completely different matter. One that didn't deserve consideration at all. 'This child went through only a fraction of what made Kariya look the way he is right now. If she hadn't been saved… how could've she turned out—? No. Imagining that is unneeded. No need to disturb myself with my own presumptions.'
The girl lived and she'd be spared further horrors in the future. That's all that mattered, for him as a bystander and Kariya as her saviour.
The little girl started to yawn again. She was certainly exhausted, both physically and mentally, after everything that happened. Giving his niece another quick hug and a promise to eat breakfast with her a little later, she reluctantly walked off to her bedroom. This left Lelouch alone with the Matou brothers.
Byakuya himself was still wary of him. A result of Nobunaga's heavy-handed treatment of the scared man. But now free of Zouken, neither he nor Kariya managed to avoid the matter at hand. Without the monster who masqueraded as their family head, the Matou house needed to agree on what to do next. So important was the topic that the runaway sibling didn't use his current state as an excuse to push it aside.
As of now, three people sat inside the guest bedroom with a light, bust still somewhat tense, air about them. Both Servants were absent. Berserker, with no fight or foe in sight, vanished into spirit form. As for Avenger, she'd been left to burn away what was left of Zouken's workshop. Even if the man was dead, Lelouch preferred to play it safe and destroy anything and everything that was created by that man's magecraft. Even if Berserker torched it all, it was better to be safe than sorry.
"What do we do now?" Breaking the silence, Byakuya got straight to the point.
"We return Sakura to Aoi," Kariya stated firmly, one-eyed gaze directed at the ceiling above.
"A good idea, but it won't be easy," the older brother sighed. "After what you did to Tokiomi, Tohsaka wouldn't be pleased to see either of us. Besides, even if we tried, she'll probably doubt our motives after Zouken took Sakura away from her. I don't know what will happen, but if we bring Sakura back to her, things may get complicated."
Kariya narrowed his eye. "What would you know, brother? Just a few hours ago, you were fine with letting Zouken break Sakura."
"What choice did I have?!" the tension peaked as the man shouted back. "That was Zouken's—… The old bastard would've forced me to do it even if I didn't want to! Between letting her get hurt or getting myself killed trying to…" It took a second, but the man quickly cooled himself off. Breathing deep, he tried to speak again but couldn't help the cracking in his voice. "That… bastard tricked you into fighting this war, stupid. He knew full-well you would lose if you hadn't gotten lucky, but he didn't care. All he wanted out of your struggle was a laugh when you finally broke. Someone like that…"
'How could he fight it' was left unspoken. Truly, even freed as they were, the man was likely still in the trappings of fear and doubt. Like a looming feeling that Zouken may come back with a vengeance. Not all men escaped trauma so easily after conquering the cause. Lelouch knew better than to speak up here, during a sensitive topic between families.
"He ordered me around for years... after you left… you know?" Byakuya muttered under his breath as he relived the nightmare. "Day after day, he'd boss me around. And when he didn't like what he saw, or just when he felt like it, he'd push me into the pit every now and then. Even though it wouldn't do jack except hurt me because I have zero talent as a magus, that bastard just… just…"
'Training', but not for the purpose of making Byakuya a more capable magus. It was 'training' to cripple the man's will to fight back. To break any and all resistance. To make him an obedient pawn.
"I don't care what you say about me. I don't want to… but I will say it now. I didn't want the girl to go through what we did. To suffer what we barely endured." He'd lowered his head but kept the determined tone. "Shinji's barely older than Sakura, give or take a year alone. Do you know how afraid I was that Zouken might try to do the same to him as he did her? Or maybe… worse…"
A talentless child of a talentless son. The grandfather who sought an heir would have no use for them except as feed to his bugs. Servitude was an option, but why keep them when they were practically worthless to one as a magus? Even if Byakuya was kept alive, it was merely out of convenience in keeping their home seemingly occupied to the general public. A façade of normalcy that hid the monster in the basement.
But then again, a creature that was vile was still able to maintain the guise of an elder grandfather living in a lavish home. Considering the versatility of magecraft, it was no stretch that he could simply do away with his useless sons and grandchild and just hypnotize their neighbours into ignoring them entirely.
Zouken only kept them for fun, not much for function.
"That doesn't matter anymore." The runaway brother brushed his elder's plight like a stain on his jersey. "Fact of the matter is that Zouken is dead and will stay that way. What's done is done…"
"You—!"
"Gentlemen, please," Lelouch spoke up before they devolved into a pointless argument. "Getting into a tussle about the past won't change or help what needs to be addressed in the present. And while thinking about what has happened long ago is pointless, it's insensitive to lose ourselves to this when we are all still under pressure."
He gave an understanding nod to Byakuya but also levelled a furrowed brow at Kariya for his tactlessness. He didn't want to intervene in family matters too much, but he couldn't afford them to fight about it. With their attention on him, he resumed.
"Without your father, the two of you are now free. I'd say be happy about it. But the issue about Sakura should be resolved peacefully."
"Peacefully, huh?" Byakuya chuckled sourly. "Sorry, uh… kid?"
"Lelouch Lamperouge." Kariya corrected. "Don't be tricked by his looks. Lelouch might be young, but unlike you or I, he's not one to cower in the face of death." He leaned closer to his brother and added quietly. "Even if he's someone who helped me, he's far more dangerous than any of the other Masters that remain."
"Hm." Byakuya nodded with a stern expression before glancing back to Lelouch. Reading that look, it came off more wary than sceptical. Even without Avenger around, it seems the man wasn't able to look him in the eye properly. "So, kid, you helped out my little brother in surviving this far and also against our old man… I guess I should be thanking you again for that."
"There's no need." Lelouch shook his head. "I simply did my ally a favour. In return," he paused and allowed said ally to finish the sentence.
"Yeah." Kariya sighed with a tired smile. "As promised, now that Sakura is saved and Zouken is gone, I'll be dropping out of the war entirely. I won't get in your way nor will I actively seek out the Grail. I'll just lay low and wait until things blow over from now—Ngh!"
Before he could finish, however, Kariya groaned. A hand flew to clutch his temple as the cripple quickly seized his breathing with a gasp. Neither Byakuya nor Lelouch made to move, surprised by the sudden and wordless spasm but also concerned that Kariya seemed to be fine when he raised his free hand to stop them. They just waited for him to speak.
"Berserker. I feel like… like he was trying to speak with me..."
"Your Servant disagrees with our course of action, does he?" Lelouch asked, expecting as much but opting to wait and see what Kariya would do.
"I don't know… what he wanted specifically. It was just another one of his screams. It feels like… like that time at the docks. When he just charged at Saber."
Lelouch's eyes narrowed when he realized what the implication meant. But of course, it'd be that. "Hm. It seems your knight in shadowy armour still bears a grudge against dear King Arthur. Perhaps he still wishes to cross blades before you completely remove yourself from the fight."
Kariya was taken aback by that. Due to never having asked what the Servant wanted, that wasn't as much a surprise. More so with an incommunicable Berserker. Revenge and overthrowing Zouken may have also played a part in that, but the point still stood.
His Servant wanted to continue fighting even if his Master didn't.
"Huh… Guess I never really spared him much thought…" Kariya admitted with a wry smile and a sad gaze to the floor before meeting their eyes. "Guess I'm still going to be in this for a while."
"Oy, are you crazy?" Byakuya was quick to admonish him before scowling. "Know what? Forget what I was going to say. You were pretty damn insane to pull the stunt off last night anyways."
"What's your problem?"
"You are my problem, you careless bastard. You just barely escaped Zouken eating you alive from the inside, and now here you are about ready to jump into the fire?"
"It's my life. I do with it what I please!"