[I dont own code geass]

I've been meaning to write this idea for a while now, and tonight I finally got around to doing the first chapter. I kind of threw all this together at one time really late at night, which usually results in a bit of a mess, but I'm gonna publish it anyway because I've been wanting to for so long. I suppose I could wait 'till morning to reread it, but.... f*ck it.

Hope you enjoy! Also please review!

She stared at the picture that was placed in her hands with a mixture of shock and sadness. It was a picture of Lelouch, clothed in the Emperor's robes, one of his arms stretched out toward the vast audience below him. She was not looking at him, however. She was staring at the girl sitting near him on the stage, the one with the green hair and the stoic expression on her face. She was staring at herself.

She suddenly remembered where she was and wiped the surprise off her face. She looked back up at the man standing in the doorway. "I can't deny, it's a striking resemblance."

The man smirked. "Striking indeed."

She studied him for several seconds before replying, "and you think it's me, do you?"

The man's smirk widened, his crooked teeth peeking through slightly parted lips. "I know it's you, C.C. The infamous Black Queen, the Emperor's Witch. My accomplices and I have the evidence to reveal your identity to the press, but we're willing to make a deal-"

"Tell me, please, when was this photo taken?" She suddenly interrupted, her eyebrows furrowed in mock contemplation.

"During Lelouch's reign, of course."

She nodded her head thoughtfully. "And... I'm sorry, my memory is so bad these days... About how long ago was that?"

The man's smirk faded. "A-about twenty years, I believe..."

She let out an exaggerated gasp and theatrically threw her hand to her forehead. "Twenty years! Really, has it been that long? Seems like it was just yesterday!"

The man was now thoroughly confused. "Um, y-yes... Listen, if you're willing to pay us-"

She abruptly held her hand up to his face like a traffic officer, her dramatic facade gone. "Stop. Please." She shoved the photo back into his hands. "It's been twenty years. The girl in that picture would probably be around forty by now. Do you honestly think I'm forty years old? Please tell me, because if I really do look that old, I need to seriously consider hiring a new cosmotologist."

She watched as the man took a few seconds to carefully put together the words in his head before speaking, "Well, no, you don't exactly look forty, but recent advances in plastic surgery..."

"If I was C.C., and I did get plastic surgery, do you really think I wouldn't change my face to avoid people like you?" She raised her eyebrows at him questioningly.

The man was now reduced to a sputtering mess of confusion. "W-well, it's still possible-"

"What's still possible? That the 'so-called 'Black Queen' is currently living alone in a modest apartment, working 72 hours a week as a blackjack dealer in some random casino twenty minutes east of Las Vegas? What the hell kind of conspiracy theory is that?"

"But... my accomplices and I, we've done the research-"

She shushed him again with her hand. "You know what? Just go ahead and sell the photo to the media. Tell them your story. See if they believe it, because I sure as hell don't. Goodbye."

SLAM!

She stood still for a moment, then slowly leaned forward and, with a quiet thump, rested her head against the door in front of her.

It was true, she was the woman in the picture. For once, the conspiracy theorists were right. They had been following her movements, surprisingly successfully, for quite a while now. It began only a few years after the Zero Requiem. Her hair was still dyed black at that point, which she foolishly thought would be enough of a disguise to ward off very much suspicion. She wasn't exactly famous to begin with, few people knew of her existence, and far fewer gave two shits about it. But still, they managed to find her.

She found out about it while was searching the internet for information concerning the Zero Requiem. She was reading the biographies of the people involved, what they had been doing since that fateful day. And it was there that she saw herself. It was a picture of her as she walked behind Lelouch, likely on the way to one of his many council meetings. There was no name under her picture, instead only a link was provided in the form of a large question mark.

The link brought her to another site, headed with another picture of her, only this one more recent. It showed her, with black hair, working at a dog racing track in Tokyo. It was taken after the Zero Requiem.

But, honestly, she really didn't have much to be worried about. After all, hardly anyone knew or cared who she was. There was only a small group of people who wanted to solve the mystery of the Black Queen, but she had to admit they were quite persistent in their goal.

For years they followed her movements. Pictures showed her working at casinos and race tracks around the world. Poker tables, roulette, craps, blackjack; she had done them all. The website had a massive list of locations that she had been spotted at, and almost all of them had something to do with gambling. There were also several sightings at various Pizza Hut restaurants, a phenomenon that the website only described as "yet another obsession."

The website had a forum which she found especially amusing. There were countless theories on why she seemed so attached to jobs related to gambling, few of them very substantial, and none of them anywhere close to the truth.

It was ironic, she thought. A website dedicated to "the Truth" was nowhere close to finding it. Because they couldn't even imagine the real truth. None of them even considered that he might still be alive. They didn't realize the possibility. It was simple: she was searching.

Searching for him.

Searching for the Demon King.

Review! Tell me if I should keep this going, tell me what I'm doing wrong, tell me what I'm doing right! Tell me about the weather! Tell me anything! Just please review!!!

Oh also I have a question. I'm thinking of going one of two ways with this fic: either I'll write the entire thing from C.C.'s perspective, or I'll switch between her and Lelouch. What sounds better?