Code Geass: Broken Blade

Summary:

"You shall be broken on my will, though you all were made of steel." The Britannian Empire broke the King of Knights; the Red Dragon is rescued by The Demon Lelouch. Together, they will obliterate Britannia.

The Wounded Dragon

For a long time, the King of Knights lay dreaming, dreaming of what had been, and what could be. She regretted many things, but she retained her ideals.

Then Saber heard it, the bell that was to wake her when Britannia needed her.

Arturia was not greeted by men with politeness and dignity, instead, she was dragged out, and given a sedative before she could fight back, her instincts had failed her in the brief moments between sleep and wakefulness.

It was then that Arturia Pendragon knew that she was no longer dreaming, but she was wide awake in a nightmare.

She was brought before a tall imposing figure; she could tell that he was a monarch by his clothes and speech.

"Arthur, King of Britannia, I Emperor Charles Zi Britannia offer you a Kingship, if you swear to serve me, we shall conquer the world for ourselves, Britannia is a grand country where only the strong survive to trample on the weak!"

"Perhaps I would be flattered by your words Your Excellency if I had been brought to your country in honor, given great gifts and a fine feast to celebrate my return. What kind of man snatches someone away when they awake from sleep?"

Saber glared at him, "You can save your excuses, the men that retrieved me were little more than ruffians and thugs! Do not think that mere flattery will keep me from seeing what you truly are!"

"I would not serve a cruel tyrant, though he clothes himself in finery and calls himself an Emperor," Saber snarled at him. "I would rather die!"

"Death you may yet crave from me, as a boon!" the Emperor told her. Charles Zi Britannia gripped her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his hard, cruel gaze.

"Take her to Area 11, break her and when she is finally broken, have her quell the peasant commoners there. It is far enough away that none know the legends of King Arthur there."

"Bring me a sword," he ordered a guard. It was brought to him.

"You shall be broken on my will, though you all were made of steel. I could use my Geass on you, but your legend says you are immune to magic."

He broke the sword over his knee and a shard slashed Arturia's face drawing blood, but she did not flinch.

They dragged her to a transport and locked her away. Saber only knew that pain and suffering awaited her. Where was this Area 11? What foreign land would be her prison? Where was Merlin?

When she arrived she was taken to the local prison, where political prisoners were kept. In terror she searched through the prisoners when she realized that they were Japanese, looking for Shirou, she was relieved to find he was not there.

The Britannians took great delight in showing her various medieval torture devices. It made her shudder. Of course they would use those barbaric instruments on her, as a way to torment her more.

The torture was unending; every day was filled with torment and agony. Floggings, beatings, crushing her fingers in the thumbscrew and when she refused to scream, they dragged her into another room.

The Knight of Ten, Luciano Bradley gloated over her. "Look, Your Highness, a chair fit for a king!"

They forced Arturia to sit on the chair, pinning her with a heavy bar. The chair was covered in spikes, even on the arms.

In agony, she let out a scream and all she heard was the despicable knight's laughter in her ears.

"I swear, by my faith, so help me God, I will one day obliterate Britannia!"

With those words, she sealed her fate, she would escape, and she would crush this horrible rotten world under her steel-toed boots.

Lelouch Vi Britannia had unexpectedly drifted into a deep sleep. He rarely slept, he was so busy between his school life and leading the Black Knights he rarely took the time to really rest.

In his dream, Lelouch looked up and saw the Lion of Britannia, the symbol of Britannia shown on their flag. The body was that of a lion, but the lion's tail had a snake's body and head at the tip.

To Lelouch's surprise, it was battling a great Red Dragon, it was a fierce battle, but the Lion struck the Dragon down and tormented it relentlessly. It roared in pain and fury but it could not escape.

The Red Dragon flapped its wings and tried to fly away, it struck the Lion with its claws but it had no effect.

The battle was terrifying and yet fascinating, and Lelouch was horrified, not even in childhood had he experienced such a terrifying dream.

Lelouch watched as the lion ripped the Dragons' flesh and bit it, Lelouch could only watch as the Dragon turned and looked at him, pleading for his help.

That was when he woke up.

"That was a strange dream," Lelouch muttered to himself.

He looked up as Kallen Stadtfeld entered the room.

"I have received word of a dangerous weapon recently brought to Area 11 by the Britannians, they said it's one that will win the war for them," Kallen told Zero.

"What can you tell me about this weapon?" Lelouch asked in his "Zero" voice.

"Her name is Elise Watoson, we don't know anything about her, but she was classified by the Britannians as high priority and top-secret."

"Who gave you this information?" Lelouch looked at her.

"He said his name was Lord El Melloi II, he sent me a video message."

"How did he find out about her?"

"He said a man named Myrddin found out about her," Kallen replied. She folded her arms. "Do you think this is legitimate?"

"I'm not sure, but if Britannia does possess a powerful weapon, then we should steal it from them and use it against them."

They gathered the Black Knights. "We're going to steal a high-value target from the Britannians. She's a very valuable prisoner to them, so she might have intel regarding the military."

The Knightmare frames headed out late at night. They surrounded the prison.

"Open fire and breach the walls, free as many prisoners as possible while I go secure the main objective! Kallen, C.C., you're with me!"

The Black Knights opened fire and Lelouch and Kallen rushed in on foot as the guards moved to engage the Knightmare frames, Kallen and Zero shot anyone who saw them.

Lelouch found the prison manifest and found the name "Elise Watoson".

Kallen shot the guards dead and Zero found the keys to the cell and opened the door.

Lelouch gasped, there was a woman, chained to the wall, covered in blood, her body was in awful condition, it was apparent that she'd been tortured.

"C.C., who is this?" Lelouch asked, staring down at the injured woman, chained to the wall.

The exiled prince of Britannia touched her hand and reeled back as an image assaulted his mind. The image of a great Red Dragon badly wounded and in pain, roaring with rage and fury. He was both terrified and fascinated but did not understand the meaning of the strange vision.

Lelouch realized that the nightmare that had woke him earlier that day was about her. But who was she that he could have a prophetic dream about a complete stranger?

"Who are—" C.C. began to ask.

"Saber, my name is Saber," she gasped.

Her bloody eyes fluttered open and her gaze fell onto the man, he wore flamboyant black clothing and covered his face with a mask. It was an elaborate disguise to be sure.

C.C. the Immortal Witch gazed upon the broken Red Dragon of Britain. She felt a connection to her but did not know what it was.

Lelouch couldn't help but be drawn to her eyes, they were emerald green, she was beautiful, but what drew him in was the hate and rage he saw there, Saber's eyes burned like a green flame, and it drew him like a moth to it.

She hated Britannia, no matter who or what she was, she would join him, her hatred was equal if not more than his own.

Is she a military official? Someone who spoke out against my father, they called her a "weapon", is she a tactician or a knight? Britannia prefers to execute dissidents, so why haven't I heard of her on the news? The name Elise Watoson is clearly an alias, who are you really Saber?

"Zero, we need to take her and go, the Britannians are coming!" Kallen Stadtfeld told him.

Kallen Stadtfeld opened fire on the guards as they approached. Lelouch used the keys they had obtained from the guards outside to unlock her chains.

Lelouch caught her as Saber fell into his arms. He reached up and wiped the blood off her cheeks.

Saber was startled, his touch unclenched her heart, and she could breathe again.

"Kallen, have the others released all the other prisoners?" Lelouch asked.

"Yes, Zero, we have," she replied, running ahead of them, gunning down any Britannians who stood in their way.

"Then it's time for the Black Knights to withdraw," he instructed as they evacuated the prison.

Saber wished she had the strength to laugh, How fitting that the King of Knights should be rescued by these so-called Black Knights.

These people were hardly what she could call knights, but they had knightly hearts to say the least. She suspected this man calling himself Zero had come up with the idea as it made for excellent propaganda, it was apparent that this was a group rebelling against the government.

The Knighmare frames escorted them away, shooting down any pursuers.

They made their way back to their hideout, the small team of medics examined her, but they shook their heads. There was nothing they could do for her.

They lay her on a couch as Zero began to question her.

"Saber, what did they want from you?" Zero asked her.

"They wished for me to become a pawn to control their areas. I refused," Saber replied. "This country is unjust, the strong trample upon the weak, they are led by worthless rulers who would rather crush the weak than defend them. A just rule, guided by just laws; those are the true duties of a king or an Emperor."

"That is a fine speech, who do you think you are? Arthur the King of Knights?" Zero's voice dripped with sarcasm. Those words were easy to say, but such idealism did not exist in Britannia.

"Call me Wart!" Saber smirked, it was the truth, but he clearly wasn't buying it, which didn't matter to her in the least.

"How amusing, Saber, enough talk of myths and legends, let's get back to the present. What do you know about the Britannian military?"

"Nothing, I know nothing," Saber replied.

"Then what are you?" Zero asked.

"I am a Knight of Britannia that is all you need to know, I refused to follow the Emperor's direct orders, and I was sent here."

"The Emperor's direct order?!" Lelouch asked in surprise, she'd spoken to his father, was she really so important to him that he would have her tortured?

"We don't have the resources to give you proper medical care, unfortunately, if we take you to a hospital, they might find you," Zero told her. What was he to do with an injured woman with no medical care or technology to care for her?

"Take me to Fuyuki," Saber instructed.

The other Black Knights balked at her. "Fuyuki?! Fuyuki is a myth!" Tamaki shouted.

"If we go to Fuyuki, I can be healed there," Saber explained.

"She's out of her mind!" Tamaki smirked.

"It really exists? Then why haven't the Britannians found it yet?" Kallen queried.

"I don't know, but I can take you there, but only three of you," Saber told them.

"I will go; I will take C.C. and Kallen with me, is that acceptable to you, Saber?" Zero glanced at her.

"Yes, I will take you with me," Saber was thoughtful.

"If we humor you and take you there, will you join me?" Zero asked.

"Only if you allow me to make my own decisions when I fight."

"Fair enough," he replied, she was in no condition to fight at the moment.

Still, all this talk of myths and miracles shouldn't seem too strange, he did possess Geass and that could be considered magic to ordinary people.

Saber glanced at C.C. "Do I know you? I have seen your face before, but I cannot recall where, hmmm."

Saber was thoughtful, Once I get to Fuyuki I will be healed of my wounds, then I will grind this country to dust!

Lelouch saw her clench her fist, he saw a look come to her eyes, and he wished he could harness that hate for his own purposes. She clearly did not approve of him, but she did not refuse his help either, he would win her to his cause soon enough.

Lelouch smiled confidently, he had a good feeling about her, now then, he would have to find a mythical city. He wanted to laugh; it felt like something out of the Arthurian myths, like searching for the Holy Grail.