I'd hate to be Lelouch in that situation. His mind seems a bit off though; I would think he'd try to find a way out from pure intellect first (zaps tomb with mind beam).

Very well written. Awaiting Ch. 3

This is interesting... I'm looking forward to seeing where you end up going with this. I hope Lelouch ends up magically alive and he's just been chillin' in his coffin this whole time, passing out whenever he uses up all his oxygen XD

This story is confusing is it about random storys he makes up or does he get to escape the coffin you should find a way for him to escape please.

I am officially ready for this. I'm all controlled and I won't freak out. *breathes*

"Please leave a review on whether you think this was angsty enough." No fear of neglecting that on my end, bwaha. Also, I love how you are so thoughtful in this fic. "Is it enough to believe something? Or is it knowledge that is the most important?" It's awesome when you do that to me as a reader. You make me reflect, too.

"It was, after all, so easy for all his carefully laid plans to go so wrong." I love that sentence because of the weight it carries and the awful moments of Lelouch's life that it alludes to. I think if you want to tailor it a bit though, you might consider that you have "all" in there twice and "so" twice as well. I sort of like the double "so," though. Hmm. Just a thought. Again, I love this sentence anyway.

"The darkness enclosed him without as his imagination caged him from within." Excellent ending sentence for that section.

"something deeper than instinct kicked in and he was running again." Nice.

"He came to himself again in a different ally." That's another sentence I really freakin' like for its simplicity and yet its depth, but watch the typos. "Alley," not "ally." Total wrong impression if you leave it as is. *snort*

I love this part. Instinct - or Geass? - kicking in before he can help it, losing himself, finding himself again only to wish his senses lost once more, because he just can't take the constant flight. Well done. Uggh.

"This curse would only force him into flight or fight... He could never stop running." Damn you, Lelouch. Seriously.

"Being blind for long had given her the advantage in hearing things that weren’t said." AUGH. You have so many excellent sentences like that in here. The really short, straightforward ones, but that give you so much to think about in one little bite. This is strong writing. This is you at your best, I think. Sentences like that.

"there was the only who held the same connection to her beloved brother." Dude, what? Here is my biggest piece of criticism for you. Proofread better. Give it a day or two so that it's fresh and you're less likely to miss things. Or have someone else proofread it closely. You get so excited over having finished another piece of work that you become hasty, and post before a piece is the best it can be. This piece is GOOD. It's a freakin' shame to find typos and mangled 'WTF' sections of sentences when I KNOW you could be all on top of that if you tried.

"the void Lelouch had left in both of them." Felt THAT one in a visceral way. Errgh.

Right, and the section after that one? This is where I'm going to figuratively die while reading, isn't it? I'm already angsting from Suzaku's POV.

Note to self: Here you are, writing just fine from Suzaku's POV, while I was throwing fits about possibly needing to write from Lelouch's. IF YOU CAN DO IT, SO CAN I, DAMN IT.

The fan in the warehouse reminds me so much of the end of the Death Note anime. I can't remember well, but wasn't there a fan in the background of that whole warehouse scene while Near was kicking Light's ass?

"He should have just asked Jeremiah to return himself to normal. If it hadn’t been for some irrational belief that it was Lelouch’s wish for him, he would have." Firstly, when you say "himself" in the first sentence, it makes me think you mean Jeremiah. The subject of your sentence is "he," Suzaku, so you can just say "him" and we know it's referring to Suzaku. Secondly... this whole idea in general... I sort of wish you had expanded a little more on the idea, just so I could see more of Suzaku's logic behind the decision. In my Suzaku-mind, I'm not sure I agree with the thinking, but then again, I've never really thought about it so hard. Not yet anyway. ...Is that bad? Oh god, I'm being a bad Suzaku again, aren't I? Maybe I can think it through here? Totally aside from your story, of course. I'm not saying I don't like what you have; I just wanted more expansion. I also want to know my own interpretation, since it seems I haven't given it enough attention yet.

So... Jeremiah went on living on his Orange Farm, right? One could assume that he still had his power to Geass Cancel. In that case, there WOULD have to be a reason why Suzaku wouldn't just ask to have the Geass removed. For some reason, I vaguely imagined that Jeremiah would lose his power or ask to have it disabled all scientifically, since his power is in his robotic eye. Either that or he would somehow succeed in canceling his own Geass Canceler? I think Jeremiah would be quicker to think of Lelouch's wishes, since that's ALL he focuses on toward the end, and maybe HE would be the one to determine first that Suzaku's Geass needs to stay. And also maybe Jeremiah just wasn't comfortable with his Canceler anymore in general after all the bullshit that happened around Geassing. So I always thought Jeremiah's power would poof before Suzaku even had a chance to think about asking for his Live On to be removed. Either that, or I just had this undeveloped idea that Lelouch's Geass to Suzaku was simply so powerful that not even the Canceler would work on it. Maybe once the person that gives the Geass dies, no one can undo his Geasses? I don't know. I've always just assumed that my - uh, Suzaku's - Geass had to stay, though, and maybe that speaks for itself. That I never thought to question its presence even after Zero Requiem was over maybe means that I DO have some subconscious irrational belief that it has to stay. Here's where we may differ in our interpretations, though. You think Suzaku's irrational belief is that the Geass was part of Lelouch's wishes for him. That may be so, but for me, that wouldn't be why I'd hold on to its presence. I see your wish for me as me needing to become Zero and protect Nunally and all that. You wanted me to live, too, sure - but by the time Zero Requiem came along I had already agreed to take on Zero's duties and I wouldn't have needed the Live On Geass to make me. So I think... I'd hold onto the Geass simply because it came from you. *twinge* You'd be gone, but what remained and what was called up every time my life was threatened would be the thought of your feelings of protection toward me. You didn't want me to die; you cared, even if you were a dumbass and a fool when casting the thing. So every time the Geass kicked in after your death, I'd be reminded that I was... living for you. That now *I* want to live for you. Not that *you wanted* me to live, for you or for my own self or for the Requiem. Does that make sense? I think you nailed part of it for me when you wrote "It had come from Lelouch’s pure desire for him to live," but it's just that that fact means something slightly different to me-Suzaku than to your Suzaku here. XP

...I just spent SO LONG mulling over that "cold box" paragraph to chew on all that. Hah.

Whoaa, scarily enough, I knew the woman wouldn't be Kallen, and my first instinct was that it would be Viletta instead. But a second later I had brushed that aside, all, "Wait, why would I think it might be Viletta?" But then it WAS. Awesome.

Wait... how is Suzaku's lie immortalized in history if he died without his mask on? You said he wasn't wearing the Zero mask. Viletta would notice that, no? She'd KNOW it was Suzaku Kururugi. Then everything is EXPOSED. Then it means Suzaku FAILED. Entirely!

...Or is that supposed to be even more of the irony here? Because if it is, mother fucker. That SUCKS.

Wait, wait. I'm confused. "The justice Suzaku Kururugi had strived to serve had been erased." Erased because now he's dead and he can't carry out Lelouch's wishes further, or erased because he didn't have the mask on and now everyone will know the truth about him being alive and taking over for Zero? "All that would be left was his lie, immortalized in history." His lie being 'Suzaku Kururugi is the new Zero,' right? So is that lie being immortalized in history being interpreted in a positive way here, or a negative one? Immortalized in a good way or a bad way, and from whose viewpoint? You lost me. "Zero Requiem and the truth was dead." Dead in which fashion? Dead in that Suzaku is dead so he can't carry it out any more, or dead in that the whole world will now be exposed to the truth of what Zero Requiem was? Aagh.

...Moving beyond that. I love the idea that, although Suzaku has to run from death for a long freakin' time, eventually he does have to die. One CANNOT *entirely* outrun Death, even if Geassed.

And Suzaku's last thoughts. Painful! You really make me have to think about this as Suzaku, you know. There are a few things on my mind, but I won't tell you them. I'll save such things for when it's most appropriate. *swallow*

Anyway, this is well done, as usual. If anything, it could have used some expansion, but as it is I think it still does its basic job.

...MAKING PEOPLE ANGST.

Well, Suzaku didn't leave anything big, but his death was quite a shock. I mean, you didn't even have to tell a lot, yet you put a good show for a shock already xD Not everyone can pull a good death. I was like, "OMG WHY" then he died :(

lol.

If I were to live eternity only to discover buried six feet...hell.

Truth is, to me, what we choose to believe. Truth is a selective being, and flits across all spectrums of our lives. We are shaped by our morals, and our morals are what we live by, are they not? And yet we choose our morals, our truths, the perception through which we believe.

I believe that this story is rather poignant, how Time passes by without Lelouch feeling it - we believe that the truth of time is that we will notice it slipping past us. However, for poor Lelouch, he is taken out of the stream and the only markers he has is of material things, which fade and rot away, like he would be if he didn't have the Code.

It's a magnificent story, composed of dreams and the things that make us human, written through the sole view of lelouch. Beautifully in character and full of meaningful poetry - to me, at least - and questions that have no answers.

And what will happen to dear Lelouch as his dreams start to fade?

Well done! It took a moment for me to realize that it was Suzaku who was running, rather than Lelouch, though. But it's a really neat and fun chapter, probably because no one else paints such a depressing portrait for the end of R2... or at least, I haven't read such a depressing one that actually made sense.

Though... why Villetta? *shrug* Not that it really matters. Poor Lelouch... angsting even after being put into the grave. T_T

Great chapter! A dark vision of what could happen, that's for sure. Poor Lelouch, trapped down there all alone. I hope C.C. ends up finding him, if he's ever found (his coffin will have to surface sooner or later, right?). Can't wait for more!

Yeah, 'commiserate' isn't quite the word. More like, 'Dear Lord, I hope no one, anywhere, would ever have to go through such agony!'

You've taken away his hope, and you've completely isolated him from humanity. He should, by all rights, be suicidal and insane. Considering he *can't die*, that's beyond frustrating - it's horrifying.

AUGH. You know, more and more I've realized that my life revolves around this ridiculous series, and you, sir, are not helping the case.

But holy crap I am so pumped to read the finished version of this story. *tries to contain self*

You quoted Oscar Wilde. *squee of joy*

"The sword pulled out of him again, droplets of his own blood shimmering in the sunlight." It's amazing how it takes only that to set the Suzaku in me to angsting like it's my professional job.

"He gulped in air, and took his hand down before it started to shake badly." As soon as I hit "shake badly" I wanted to do the same thing. That's such a simple piece of description, but man oh man, does it ever make you scared just like Lelouch.

"He felt... cheated. He was supposed to die by Suzaku’s hand, not his own godforsaken tomb." YOU feel cheated? Uggh, the first time I read this, I was just me. But since I've been in Suzaku-mode lately... now I'm getting... pissed off. YOU DIDN'T DIE, YOU BASTARD. GOD, HOW I HATE YOU.

"Please... help me." You know what? Those probably ARE the words that your sister has Lelouch's ghost speaking in From The Ashes. DAMN IT! I really wanted the three syllables to be "Suzaku." *pout*

But what if being buried down there ISN'T futile, Lelouch? You're probably right, and it probably is, but you won't even TRY to get yourself out of there? Where's the human emotion in you called HOPE? Where's the determination and desperation? Just try anyway! It's what people DO! Uggh, are such emotions above you or something? Do you think you're not good enough to live, still?! AUGH! THIS SAME STRAIN OF THOUGHT IS WHY YOU WOULDN'T TELL ME YOU LOVED ME BACK, AM I NOT RIGHT? *has no idea what she's saying anymore*

Ahem.

I have a technical question. If Lelouch is tightly sealed in there, and he dies again because of suffocation... how can he wake back up over and over? How can he wake up alive if the air inside that tiny coffin has already been depleted? There's nothing there for him to breathe no matter what.

...Oh duh, that second time you DO comment on the air and how it's miraculously still there. But what about after multiple times? Man, you fate sucks, Lelouch. But whatddya know? This time he IS trying to get out. I feel slightly better about that.

"The air was hot and dank with the smell of the salt of his sweat and the iron of his blood." If you removed "dank" from in there and added a Suzaku to the situation instead... and just took that sentence way out of context... do you have any idea how hot that piece of description would be?

*composes self again*

"Starved senses." Gah!

Auugh, and reading Lelouch's imaginings about the world is making me so sad. Probably because it's so beautiful even as Lelouch is trapped there in his own grave.

UGH, but the horrible future version is painful, too.

HOLY CRAP, I JUST HAD AN AMAZING IDEA. Well, I dunno if it would ever work, but dude... I just had the craziest urge ever to write a companion fic to this. "Suzaku-as-Zero unmasked and unceremoniously stripped of everything they had hoped for, yet unable to let himself die..." Suppose that Suzaku, still alive above the ground, is going about his duties, and we find that he worries too about what the future will bring. And maybe he has feverish dreams at night or something, dreams much like Lelouch's imaginings, and he's both tortured and soothed by them the same way that Lelouch is by his dying, but for Suzaku, it's because he's living? I dunno if I can really explain right now how I want to connect them while keeping them totally apart, but dude, the urge to write something from Suzaku's POV that somehow connects to this is ridiculously strong. Gah.

AUGH, dude, in that future prediction where Cornelia turns cold and stuff... I think that's the one fate that hurts me the most. CORNELIA, NO! I seriously am so fond of her. I was even before I knew I'd RP your Suzaku, and now I wonder if the feeling is still so strong because Cornelia made me a real knight. GAH, I love her...

Dear GOD, that paragraph about remembering C.C.'s kiss... all those descriptions of C.C. in there are so amazing. I read it over three times. OH! Have I told you yet that I'm planning a C.C. cosplay? I had so much fun being C.C. at AE, and it was almost as natural as Suzaku after a time. Maybe even more pleasant, because there was less angst and anger, bwahaha. It was like I could sit back and just observe the two characters that I love so much instead of having to be one of them. ANYWAY. I swore I'd be her again soon, and I looked at all her outfits and there are two I really love, but the one I love the most and that also happens to be simple is... the last one she's seen in. That's right, the dress from when she's lying on the hay in the cart after Lelouch dies. I will cosplay that. I was looking for material at the GD yesterday and everything.

...To be completely random while I'm all off on cosplay, you have a long pink Lacus wig, don't you now? *wiggles eyebrows* Since I was C.C. once and will be doing it again while you're Lelouch I'm sure, I think it'd be amusing if you tried being Euphie while I was Suzaku. *thinks about this a second... then bursts out laughing* I dunno, is that a stretch? And why didn't I think of this before? Tee hee.

WTF, contact lense? Was that part in there when I first read this? I don't think it was. Whoa. OH GOD, HIS CLOTHES ARE DISINTEGRATING TOO. This is so scary, dude. This fic is freaking me out.

THAT DESCRIPTION OF TEA IS SO INCREDIBLE. *groan* Why are you so amazing?

"Immortality in a windowless box was nothing he should scorn for the lives he had stolen." *bites lip* Oh, Lelouch.

"Finding out he hadn’t really died may cheapen the experience for some" *cough cough* Wow, mixed feelings flooding in from our RP like mad, here. I wonder, though... will I eventually get over it and be able to rejoice in your living? ...Naw. I'm so totally going to find a way to kill you. I have to; I'm Suzaku. *angst angst*

"Anything was possible, except his own intervention in it." That really gives you a lot to think about and chew on, right there.

I really like that ending quote, too. Hmm, and okay, I think I already gave you all my technical thoughts on this piece, so I'm afraid I don't have much more to say. This is brilliant, though, and I REALLY like the finished version. Nicely done, you.

Oh, my! Poor Lelouch!! D:

That was an amazing read. I really enjoyed reading it despite Lelouch's condition.

Not really sure where this fic is going, but I'd like to read more when and if you decide to continue. :D

I don't know if I've ever read such a sad fic before. That was something else. Congratulations on a wonderful, if very depressing, story.

--G. Wagers

;_; I'm commiserating. This piece is horrible. Well, horrifying. Well written, but horrifying.

It was nice, trapping the main character underground for who-knows-when. It's unique.