Breathing in, he finally spoke calmly, albeit barely. "Just a few days before we heard the announcement of our brother Clovis' death, I had returned home particularly a little late."
"Eh?" she stared back, a little confused.
"On that night," Lelouch pressed through grit teeth. "You said Sayoko had taught you something new. How to make origami and paper animals. Can you make one… right here and now?"
"B-big brother, this isn't the time for that—"
"Answer me, Nunnally." He stood his ground as she wavered slightly, taken aback by the coldness of his demeanour. "Please. Just… answer me…"
"But… Big brother, I—" Getting his stubborn silence, she could only try and avert his attention elsewhere. "Now is not the time. And besides, I don't remember something like that happening years ago. I don't—"
"You… don't remember… do you?" Lelouch backed away.
For someone who'd been in a coma, he was standing up quite well, wasn't he? Fine enough to not need rehabilitation. What's more, a searing pain invaded his left eye, burning through all the way to the back of his head. Like he'd been shot through it! Had he suffered a stab to the gut, the injury that would bring about his supposed coma, why was it that he neither felt pain nor a wound on his chest?
No. He did. An emotional wound burned and boiled in his heart.
"You… don't—No. You can't. Because you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't you?!" An accusive look took over his expression. His eyes roved over the 'Nunnally' standing before him. He noted the doppelganger similarities. But more so what caught his eye was the damning differences from the seemingly helpless girl who never wavered before those she loved. "Who are you?"
"Lelouch!" She stammered as she tried to come close… only for him to step back further away. "What are you saying? It's me, Nunnally! Your sister—!"
"SILENCE! Don't speak her name in front of me, imposter! The family I loved would never say what you did! She'd never say such words of comfort… not before truly scolding me!" Lelouch held back the tears as he pointed at the fake before him. With a commanding tone, he shouted, "Reveal yourself to me now, damned falsehood!"
For a moment, the girl looked about to cry. Had she been the real sister he loved and adored dearly, she just might've after understanding that her dear brother had turned into a raving madman.
But the false child did not weep, no. This one smirked ruefully.
"… Aaah… I guess my ruse is at an end…" The false Nunnally's smirk broke into an ear-splitting grin. Then, her mouth widened further. "Heheh… Ahahahahah! HAHAHAHAHAH!"
The false Nunnally stared at him as she laughed hysterically. A madness that would be forever absent from the genuine article emanated from the one before him.
As she continued to laugh, her voice became more and more distorted. The voice of the little girl was soon replaced by something seemingly unholy. Something corrupt. Following her voice was her form.
From the top of her head, she has split down the middle. Out of where her scalp should've been, a black mass raised its form and stared straight at him. It wasn't hard to, considering the black gooey form had hollow sockets akin to eyes meeting his own.
"If only… you wished for it… Lelouch…" The petite figure of his sister vanished, replaced by a robed figure dripping mud all over the floor beneath it. "If only… you would have wished… to stay in your world… To continue this dream… We… could have avoided it…"
"What—?!"
Emboldened by rage, he dared to speak against the monster. But his words were cut short upon hearing the cracking of the floor and the walls. Gone was the illusion that was his dorm in Ashford Academy. Now, he and the creature stood against one another in a world of darkness.
Yet, still determined, the boy demanded. "You… What in the hell are you?!"
"Still unaware?" If it could tilt its head sideways, it would've done so. "Though your peers continued to seek me, is it yet still not so clear?"
Lelouch narrowed his eyes. He pushed away all the images the creature had tried to enforce on him, to influence his actions, and thought deeply. He remembered his task, his goal… that being to destroy the war. To prevent one thing from getting into the wrong hands—into anyone's hands…
"The Grail—nay. The corruption within it!"
"Indeed." Its voice didn't come from its mouth. Now that Lelouch didn't see a maw for it to speak through, he realized the creature was speaking into his mind directly. "The war has reached its end. Seven sacrifices have sated the cup. All that remains is to make a wish. So do it, Lelouch Lamperouge. Ask and I will grant your wish!"
"Seven—? What of my Servant?" Lelouch demanded, fury in his eyes. "Where is my Avenger?"
"Irrelevant. The war is over! Now, your wish—!"
"I refuse!"
The robed figure of mud paused for a moment. "… What?"
"Did you think, that for even a second, I'd demand anything from you just because you'd read my mind?!"
Considering what he knew and didn't, what the fake earlier tried to convince him of, it could only be that. Mind reading. Or was it better to call it 'sifting through his innermost emotions'?
It picked on his deepest desire to see Nunnally once more. It tried prodding his heart that wanted to know how everyone was doing after his departure. But it ignored his newest wish to live on in that world. Why? Because the Grail needed him to wish for something it could grant! An impossible desire that could only be achieved through its activation.
World conquest had been an easy task for him once before. Why bother using the Grail then if only to make things easier?
But then, he had Nobunaga, didn't he? He had her, a dream who was not just. An accomplice who'd go through thick and thin with him! Someone that would help him gain far more than a glimpse into the life he'd left behind!
"I refuse you! I refuse to ask for my wish because I don't need your help to bring it about!" Amusement in the form of a smirk flitted to Lelouch's lips. Now very conscious of being misled, he remembered the task he'd been assigned in exchange for living once again. "Besides, considering Alaya's request, allowing myself to fall for your schemes is tantamount to betraying my benefactor!"
The moment he uttered that name, the Grail's manifestation shivered. The linen that comprised its robes began to writhe lick black tentacles hued with blood-red energy.
"The World?! How?! HOW?!" The distorted voice cracked further. Fury and madness, hate and disdain of the very notion of the World's Subconscious interfering flared and caused the void to rupture and shake. "You… are not even a Counter Guardian! How…?! How did that thing summon you?!"
"It seems you're mistaken, omnipotent wish-granter!" Lelouch's arrogance was on full display as he taunted. "I was never summoned for I am just a Master of this war. A mere human!"
"A mere human was given a task by the World?! Do you take me for a fool?!"
"Fool or not, I do not care for you in the slightest! The only thing I care about is reuniting with my Servant! My accomplice and partner! Now, end this charade and return me to Fuyuki at once!"
It was not a wish. Not even a request. It was an eternal refusal to do anything unless he was given what he wanted. Stubborn as a child, it might've made it seem, but the Grail could only manifest itself for so long.
"Wait! I can return you to your original world! You can be together with them again! You could reunite with those you love!"
The being tried to convince him. Tried the same shtick over. But it was to no avail. For Lelouch knew better as he asked, "And what is the price of such a wish?"
The robed figure froze in silence.
"You are no omnipotent wish-granting device. Had you been, you would've answered my earnest desire as soon as I was brought into this space! No, the Holy Grail doesn't grant a wish itself but gives access to the magical process that is Heaven's Feel. However, it isn't magic that involves space or transporting humans across dimensions, isn't it?" The boy watched as the mud figure writhed, having its tricks revealed. "I can imagine that travel between worlds is a costly venture and that it will demand something else in return. But considering it wasn't within your realm of capabilities, to begin with, I can guess that it's far beyond any normal price to pay. Meaning you either sell lies or the illusion of truth."
"You…!" It was angry. So much so that Lelouch could feel his skin crawl. But seeing as he wasn't dead yet despite angering the godlike creature, it clued him into another fact.
"Hm, you seem far too eager of me to make a wish. However, you can't grant one unless I make it." He noted the shifting body flinch at that. He was spot on. "You want something out of this. Even if it means forcing me to make a request, don't you, O almighty Grail monster?!"
"… Hahahahah… Perceptive brat… You're right! I do want something out of it." The being started to chuckle. More and more, its laughter pervaded the space around them, shaking it, causing it to reverb even in his mind. "Once the wish is granted, I shall be reborn. My soul that has been trapped by this godforsaken cup will finally be able to manifest in the real world and can finally exact my revenge against those who damned me! Judging by your past, I'm sure you can understand me. We have many things in common, don't you think so, Lelouch—?"
"Who gave you permission to call me by name or look into my memories?" Lelouch said with narrowed eyes. It was troublesome enough that Nobu did it but he'd given her the exception because they were partners. This entity on another hand was not and would never be granted such privileges. "I don't care about your vendetta. It has nothing to do with me. Return me to Fuyuki this instant!"
"HAHAHAHAHAH!" The Grail roared with laughter. "A brat who knows not fear?! You must not understand who I am, you—!"
"I don't care! A broken tool that won't work properly can shove its introduction up its own ass!"
The Grail's manifestation growled furiously. "Broken?! Me?! You know not of being broken, insolent bastard! You know not of torture! You know not of suffering! You know nothing of true evil! NAY! I am NOT broken! I am the very manifestation of human sins! I who'd been reviled in life to be revered in death am not broken! FOR I AM A GOD! I, THE SOURCE OF ALL HUMAN SINS! I, THE VERY EMBODIMENT OF ALL THE WORLD'S EVILS! I, THE CURSE WROUGHT BY HUMANKIND! MY NAME IS—"
"Angra Mainyu."
Those words left Lelouch's mouth without him intending to say them. He paused, not knowing how or why he knew the Grail's name—Nay, the name of the being within the Grail. But suddenly, Lelouch's mind was rushed with a burst of information. It didn't take long before he knew exactly who the being before him was.
Angra Mainyu, a being believed to be the Persian god of darkness himself. But, In reality, he was no more than an ordinary villager made to be the scapegoat of all. Tortured, cursed, beaten, and wronged. All of this was done to him by his own people, his own friends and family. Over, and over, and over, and over again.
A mortal man made to suffer their sinful indulgences, one who became the manifestation of people's desires to see him as all 'their evil'. A strawman figure made to be the reason for their own suffering. Such was the fate of Angra Mainyu, the embodiment of mankind's sins.
Lelouch felt like he read a book but also felt as though he'd known all about it. The rush of information just kept coming, all relevant to the formerly nameless entity himself, but nothing more. Not even why he'd gotten such info only now. 'What is…? What is going on?'
"… How… do you know… my name?" Angra Mainyu, sounding just as confused as Lelouch, uttered dumbfoundedly. However, then his tone became even more surprising. "What… are you?! Why do I sense… something… within you?!"
"Hn?!" Lelouch, wary of the already-writhing robed creature, took a step back.
"How?! It cannot be…! That's… impossible! There were already seven! Then… an eighth?! There cannot be more than that already! Yet… you… YOU—?!"
Suddenly Lelouch started to feel something. It was like the surge of power that he never had before. Not only power but the knowledge that he didn't have before. Never had before.
What's more, he felt something ingrain itself on his throat. Placing a hand to check it, his concern was proven right when he felt a new scar that seemingly carved itself painlessly on his skin. But, far more worrying than its sudden appearance was its form. A very familiar symbol in the vague shape of a bird with outstretched wings.