Rolo groaned as he returned to consciousness. His whole body felt lethargic, but any sign of the pain he'd been feeling previously was mysteriously gone. Am I in the afterlife? There's no way I could've survived that much usage of my Geass.

A sudden flash of pain shot through his skull and suddenly he was bombarded by images behind his still closed eyes. Lelouch smiling at him as he handed his "little brother" a white box, which would contain the first and only birthday gift Rolo had ever received,

The look in Lelouch's eyes as he "promised" to help Rolo capture C.C. and to never lie to him,

The rage and insanity plastered all over Lelouch's face as he revealed the harsh truth to his so-called brother,

The shock, desperation and an alarming lack of the determination that had always been present, as Rolo tuned out his brother's desperate pleas to Just let me die! as he carried out his first, and seemingly last, decision as an actual person -

The pain returned, as a stronger, pounding thud. He gasped, clutching at his head, and rolled over onto his side before curling into a ball. He kept his eyes closed in case there was bright light...wherever he was.

"Ugh, why isn't Margaret back yet?" An unfriendly sounding feminine voice complained. "He's starting to wake up."

"Margaret and Theodore have business to attend to for the foreseeable future, so you will be my main assistant until further notice." A man's voice, mysterious but not unfriendly like the woman's voice had been.

There was grumbling, then a rushed "ShutupIhateyou,youstupidjerk!"

Strangely enough, the sound of their voices seemed to be making the pounding in his head lessen. Rolo groaned again, but with the pain not as strong as it was before the instinctive desire to clutch at his head (as if that would somehow make the pain cease) was rapidly fading, he slowly let go of his and discreetly began to feel around himself for clues about his location and perhaps his situation the the man and woman kept talking.

"So, are you going to explain why this place is so homey, at least? Or do I have to wait until he leaves for that explanation?"

"All in due time, Marie. For now, the fate of our guest is top priority."

StupidIhateyoujerk!" "Marie" mumbled. Then she sighed reluctantly. "We know you're awake. I don't know what you've gone through and I don't care, but the Nose wishes to speak to you so please don't waste his time." Her tone was still unfriendly and clearly reluctant but had a strange unsureness, as if she barely had an idea what she was doing.

Seeing as how he was in a unknown place and wasn't even alone, after dying, Rolo reluctantly followed the demands of the unknown woman. He opened his eyes, blinking until his vision cleared. He was met with the sight of a rich royal blue wall. Glancing down, he discovered he was on a bed big enough for only one person that was the same color as the wall. Ignoring his remaining lethargy, he pushed himself to sit up and faced the direction that the voices had come from. The sight that he was met with made him gasp in shock, unwilling to blink in case he missed some sign of trickery.

The room he was in was a near exact replica of his room back at the Geass Directorate... Very nearly. Ignoring the obvious shade of blue that nearly everything in sight seemed to be, several objects that should only have been found in his room at Ashford Acedemy were scattered around as if they belonged there. Another weird addition to his old room was a mannequin about his size and shape that displayed a Black Knight's styled uniform. Further inspection revealed it to be the same one he wore when he helped Lelouch and the Black Knights massacre the Geass Directorate. Directly in front of him was a expensive looking small table. What was on it made his eyes bug.

There was absolutely no way it was the real thing...yet his heart and mind unanimously agreed that the chessboard in front of him was clearly Lelouch's. What was almost even stranger was the arrangement of the pieces on the board. Both Black (Lelouch, C.C., Black Knights) and White (Britannia, Kururugi, V.V.) had been positioned to surround a lone, spare pawn that was the same shade of blue as nearly everything in the room. Seeing this caused a strange tugging sensation in his heart that he could apply no reason to.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor; I am the proprietor of this place. This is my temporary assistant, Marie." The male voice spoke up.

Rolo's eyes jerked from the chessboard to the people on the other side of the table. Sitting in a chair was a bizarre old man with a long nose, pointed and bulging, bloodshot eyes. He wore a black suit with white gloves. Standing beside him was a teenaged girl with pale skin, chin-length brown hair and gray eyes. Her face was slightly made up, having shadowed eyes and light pink lipstick. Her outfit consisted of a sleeveless white shirt, a black tie with various safety pins and a checkered skirt along with a black belt and a fancy, golden buckle which resembled a heart with wings. Additionally, she had black striped red protective sleeves and black striped white stockings . She carried a deep blue bag adorned with golden designs and wore a matching officer's cap with a golden button and a V gravure. She also wore a a red chocker necklace with a lock.

Forgetting his bewilderment, Rolo narrowed his rosy eyes at the both of them. "Why am I here?" He demanded. "Why am I still...?" He couldn't help but trail off, but continued to glare at the strangers.

"You aren't exactly alive as you are at this moment, but neither are you truly dead." "Igor" replied cryptically.

Rolo's eyes narrowed even further. "What does that mean?"

Igor reached into his suit and pulled out a deck of tarot cards. "This world exists in between dream and reality, mind and matter. Generally speaking, only those who have forged a contract can enter."

At the rate things were going, Rolo's eyes were going to be scrunched shut. "I don't recall agreeing to such an arrangement."

"Such is the state of this room." Igor gestured vaguely around the room. "Your heart and mind are in conflict over what others want of you...and what you truly want yourself."

Rolo inhaled sharply then exhaled. Is that why looking at Lelouch's chessboard brings such an odd feeling? He quickly glanced down at the board before returning his gaze to the bizarre man in front of him.

Igor chuckled. "I could grant you a remedy to your problem."

Rolo scowled. "What's in it for you?"

"The solution for my problem is the same as yours; the world around us has devolved into tyranny and inequality strong enough to permanently damage, if not destroy, the collective unconscious of humanity. There is a way to mend everything, but as things stand now, it would be at the cost of great sacrifice."

As cryptic as the man continued to be, Rolo caught onto what he was implying. He slammed his fists down onto the table, oddly not disturbing any of the pieces on the board. "What happened to my big brother?!" He demanded.

Igor placed the tarot cards on the table. He placed a few of them face-down in a circle and then placed one card face-up. Rolo wasn't familiar with Arcana at all but there was no mistaking the card that had been left face-up: Death.

Suddenly, an image similar to that of a hologram sprung to life above the face-up Arcana. The image depicted Lelouch smirking malevolently, wearing an Emperor's robes, sitting in the throne of his father. His purple eyes were both marred by the symbol of his Geass. Beside him stood former childhood best friend and archenemy, Suzaku Kururugi. Kururugi's face was blank but his eyes held the same amount of malevolence that Lelouch's did.

Rolo felt like crying. "Big brother, what happened?" He muttered. His stomach churned unpleasantly as disappointment, confusion, betrayal and anger coursed throughout him. He closed his eyes to prevent any tears from escaping and bowed his head, hunching awkwardly over the table from his spot on the bed. Abruptly, anger won the fight and Rolo's fists slammed down on the table again. Still, none of the chess pieces were so much as jostled, as if they were glued in place.

"If you did this... Then what was the point of my decision to save you? What does that mean for me...? For you...?"

"You can prevent any more damage from being done."

"H-huh?" Rolo reluctantly looked opened his eyes and glanced at Igor, remaining hunched over the table.

"You are neither dead nor alive in this moment- if you wish to help the one you care about most, you will be allowed to return. But if you so choose, you could easily pass on from reality and forget anything ever happened. It's your choice to make. Choose wisely."

Marie watched her "boss" with narrowed eyes. Igor was being far more direct than usual, if only even by a bit. She was more confused and suspicious than she'd been when the strange rosy eyed boy appeared.

Rolo meanwhile pondered the offer given to him. Lelouch was his big brother, the first and only person he genuinely cared for in his entire life...and Lelouch used him like everyone else did. Even after his death; Lelouch was using the gift of continued life Rolo had decided to give him to seemingly bring harm to the people he once declared he'd protect, for her sake. The thought of Nunally coming to mean just as much to Lelouch as he did, even after all the attempts to kill her, to replace her, despite the fact she and him were both dead, caused something unpleasant to stir in his gut.

Did the betrayal of the Black Knights so soon after her death truly cause you so much distress that you'd lash out at innocent people? What's Kururugi's role in this? Was there a way to prevent this?

Rolo clenched his fists. "Let me fix Lelouch's errors. I care about him to much to let him destroy himself."

Igor chuckled once more. "Your journey will sure be an interesting one. I look forward to it."

Before anything else could be said or done, Rolo's lethargy returned full force. He quickly found it difficult to keep his eyes open anymore. It wasn't long until he fell into unconsciousness...


It's done! It's finally done! (Rather quickly, to be honest.) Man, who knew Marie's outfit was so complicated?

I really doubt I got Igor in character this time around but practice makes perfect. I'm a bit iffy about Rolo but who wouldn't be a bit overwhelmed if their first real decision in life killed them, only to learn the person they sacrificed themselves for seemingly became the most evil person in existence?

Big thanks to AleizonAilix. They (I don't was to assume your gender) were a big help in developing this chapter. I doubt I actually would've developed the courage to so much as write this even if never posted it. I hope that they like this and wish for their continued support. (You should check them out, if you haven't already. They write brilliant What-if scenarios and just as good Gino/Lelouch fanfics.)