Aftermath of Princess Euphemia's Massacre

As Euphemia took in ragged breath after breath, her eyes watering as she strained to focus on Suzaku.

"How strange… I can't… see your face anymore," Euphemia whispered tenderly to Suzaku, her breathing becoming laborious. "Keep going… to school… I had to stop… before I… before I had to chance to finish."

"Euphie… y-you can still go yourself," Suzaku tried to assert in denial to reality, his voice cracking a bit. "I know, why don't we go to Ashford Academy together. The student council is so much fun. Euphie…!" He choked back a sob.

Staring up with mournful, teary eyes, Euphemia countered, "You have to… do it… for me… K?"

"Please, Euphie!" Suzaku implored desperately. "NO! Don't go!"

Euphemia took a sharp, confused breath and breathed in a frail voice, "Suzaku, I'm so happy… that… we…" The mortally-wounded girl's voice dropped mid-sentence off, her hands fell limp, and her heart monitor flatlined.

"EUPHIE!" The princess heard her beloved knight's desperate cry before the life faded from her.

I'm so… sorry, Suzaku…

Then, abruptly, Euphemia found herself sitting in a small but comfy room, opposite a television set.

What the- Where am I? Am I dead? Euphemia had never seriously considered what the afterlife would looked like, but this small room was certainly the last thing she'd have imagined.
A door to the room opened, and a young woman with short, slightly-messy auburn hair stepped inside the room. "Greetings, Princess Euphemia Vi Britannia. You may call me...D.D., or simply D2."

Euphemia sat flabbergasted for a moment before recovering her senses. "DD? What kind of name is that?"

"It's a name I must use, I'm afraid, Princess."

"Please… Just call me Euphie. Tell me, where am I? What happened?"

"Euphie, I'm afraid to inform you that you're dead. This is a sort of… purgatory. An in-between world for the dead."

"I see. I was afraid of that. What happened? How… is Suzaku?"

"Well, it's a long story. Suzaku… is taking it… very badly, I'm afraid."

Euphemia hung her head. "I'm so sorry… for abandoning him… like this… But I still don't know… how I died… The last thing I remembered is shaking hands with Le- I mean, Zero, during the ceremony of the Special Administrative Region. Next thing I remember was waking up in some medical bay… But Suzaku told me the ceremony was a great success… the Japanese were happy..."

"He lied," D.D. stated flatly.

"Wha- he- what-?!" Euphemia gaped like a fish. "Suzaku would never lie to me!"

"Suzaku would never lie to you out of malice," D.D. stated plainly. "But he would lie to you to make your passing easier. Because the truth was too painful, and you were dying."

"Still but-"

"Euphie, if Suzaku botched a mission miserably and got lots of people killed," D.D. lay out a hypothetical situation. "And lay dying from his mortal injuries… and begged you to tell him what happened… what would you say? Would you tell him he failed miserably?"

Euphemia lowered her gaze, knowing well what she would have done. Then she raised her head again, eyes welling with tears. "So… something horrible happened at the ceremony, didn't it? Was it… my fault?"

"I will show you a series of videos that will tell you the long story of how all this went down, and all that has happened since your death. It will be dark, it will be violent, it will not be pretty. You may well see sides of your dear family and your dear Suzaku you never hoped to see."

Euphemia closed her eyes for a minute in contemplation. "But… I still wish to see it. I still wish to face it. Do you feel like it will help me out?"

"Yes, I believe it will. And I plan to let you do something about it."

"If… everything has happened already… can I still do something about it?"

"Yes, but I will explain after we finish watching the videos."

"Very well. For what it's worth, D2… thanks. For letting me see the truth."

D.D.'s stoic gaze wavered for a moment, and she looked down. "Let's finish the videos and see if you're still thanking me then."