Author's Note: For those of you wondering, the Kallen x Lelouch love isn't scheduled to show up until quite a bit later. Good things come to those who wait.

--

"So, you wish to renegotiate. Perhaps there is someplace we may speak in person?"

--

Lelouch awoke in his room, his mind still replaying the recent events that had occurred several days ago. After Arcadia's attempt at intervening, he had postponed any and all action against Britannian forces, again citing the lack of evidence against them. Instead, he planned out patrol routes for members of the Black Knights, a precaution to prevent any further events from occurring. It had been nearly a week since then, and no further incidents had occurred. So far, so good.

'It doesn't make sense,' he thought to himself, thinking back to the unusual alliance request. 'Arcadia choosing this time to jump into the conflict? If only I could figure out what they really wanted...'

After checking his alarm clock, he got himself up and ready for the day at Ashford. Maybe a normal day at school could help ease the issues on his mind. However, that hope vanished the moment he entered the breakfast room and got a view of the academy's massive front entrance from the window.

The elaborate campus courtyard was crowded with students, the focal point being a tremendous white and gold floating battleship. Approximately the size of Prince Schneizel's Avalon, the airship that was before Lelouch's eyes bore several flags, all marked with the emblem of a flawless white rose.

'That ship...!' Lelouch noticed in shock. 'There's no way...!'

His entrance into the room was noticed by Nunnally, who was seated at the table in her wheelchair, Sayoko tending to her.

"Big brother, did you hear the news?" she asked with a cheerful smile. "It seems the academy is having a very special visitor today. The prince of Arcadia came all the way from the Euro Universe to tour the academy and the new Special Administrative Zone."

"That's interesting," Lelouch commented, his expression betraying his disbelief. Coming to Ashford? What in the world was Abraxas doing here?

"Everyone seems to want to meet him," Nunnally remarked, her nimble hands still at work folding paper cranes. "Miss Sayoko and I were going to go watch his arrival after breakfast. Would you like to come along, brother?"

"Um, sure, I suppose I could," her brother answered. Lelouch's eyes never left the tremendous airship touching down on solid ground, virtually the entire student body surrounding the landing site.

'There's no way he's only here on a tour,' he thought to himself suspiciously.

--

Lelouch, Nunnally, and Sayoko had all joined the still-growing crowd outside the school, surrounding the magnificent Arcadian flagship. Lelouch noticed the vessel's logo, the trademark white rose with the ship's given name, "Calypso", embossed across the front of it in elegant script writing. As the silver-haired form of Abraxas von Arcadia stepped off of his ship to the applause and welcomes from the student body, four Arcadian officers stayed a few paces ahead of him, delicately scattering the petals of bleached roses among the path on which he walked.

"Isn't this a bit overdramatic?" Lelouch asked no one in particular, raising an eyebrow. His rhetorical question was answered when Suzaku appeared out of nowhere, stepping in alongside his longtime friend.

"It's an Arcadian royal tradition, Lelouch," the honorary Britannian explained. "Arcadia has long idolized the white rose as a divine form of life. Sprinkling rose petals on the ground is like a means of purifying the land, making it fit for a member of the royal family to walk upon. It's almost like a metaphor that they walk among the heavens, rather than on the same mortal plane as us."

"And people think I have an ego problem," Lelouch muttered, crossing his arms. His eyes followed the Arcadian prince when someone else caught his eye. Tilting his head slightly to the right, his jaw nearly dropped at who he saw.

Kallen, his loyal Black Knight, his Q-1, was standing there, waiting for Abraxas. She wore her Ashford uniform, and her hair was combed down, like any other normal school day. It seemed like she was using her meek persona as a "tour guide".

The dusting of rose petals concluded as the four officers reached Kallen, briefly checking to make sure she was carrying nothing suspicious. Following that, the officers retreated back to their prince.

"She's clean, Your Highness," one of them informed him. "Are you sure you won't be needing any bodyguards?"

"I am perfectly capable of defending myself," Abraxas assured them pointedly. "Return to the Calypso. This shouldn't take too awfully long."

"Y-Yes... of course, Your Highness."

As the four officers were sent back to the Arcadian flagship, Abraxas von Arcadia gave one last wave to the welcoming students and faculty before offering a hand to Kallen.

"Miss Kallen Stadtfeld, I presume," the prince remarked, cleverly using her school name to avoid suspicion. He took her hand and kissed the back of it courteously. "I have been told that you would be my escort for my academy tour today. A pleasure to meet you in person."

The school bell rang, forcing the academy staff to round up their students and return them to their respective classrooms. It took several minutes to clear the courtyard, but soon Abraxas and Kallen were alone. Lelouch had no choice but to leave the scene with everyone else, completely bewildered that Kallen would take such an unexpected action without his knowledge, let alone his consent.

Abraxas let the silence between himself and the red-haired pilot linger for a few moments longer before deciding it safe to speak freely.

"Clever timing, Lotus, I must admit," he commented. "We have much to discuss."

--

The day dragged on for Lelouch. Regardless of how hard he tried to focus on other things, he could not shake the feeling of betrayal that gripped his psyche. Seeing Kallen that morning with Abraxas triggered something within him, making him want to vomit. The worst part, he knew, was the fact that he could not confront her about it as Zero, as that would clue her in as to his identity. Shuffling into his room, Lelouch braced his head against his hands, racking his brain to figure out a way to solve the situation.

"Having a bad day, are we?" questioned the witch that laid sprawled on his bed lazily.

--

"What makes you so sure this eternicite exists?" Kallen questioned curiously. Despite allowing Abraxas a chance to reconcile the possible alliance, the pilot still found it odd that a person of such high standing would be chasing after something so frivolous.

"I did not always spend my time within the Arcadian palace, Lotus," the prince explained. "I studied in Britannia for several years in the field of Knightmare design, much to the displeasure of my family. They expected me to devote myself to preparing for my ascension to the throne, but I had far more aspirations. Why do I believe it exists? Because my mentor found it. During a particularly cold winter night, he took shelter in a nearby cavern while on one of his research trips. It was there that he came upon that mineral the world has forever sought."

"So your mentor thinks he found a metal that scientists today have never been able to find," Kallen drawled disinterestedly. "And you didn't find that hard to believe?"

"He described it with such detail," Abraxas answered, visualizing the day he had heard the stories of the renowned mineral. "The way its pure golden luminescence radiated from it, the brilliant light it shone onto the cavern walls, the way its glow warmed the body and spirit even in the most frigid of temperatures. He could feel the power that it exuded. He knew he had to get an excavation order."

Kallen listened reluctantly as she led Abraxas around the academy campus, keeping up the façade that they were actually on a tour of the school grounds. The entire story seemed too farfetched to her.

"So if he got an excavation order, why don't you have eternicite already?" she eventually interjected. Her outburst got no reaction from the Arcadian prince. She was starting to get annoyed with his stone-faced demeanor. "Let me guess, your mentor is hogging it all."

"The eternicite was never found," Abraxas corrected her sternly. Kallen's skepticism reached a new high after that remark. "The excavation order was carried out within a week, but it had vanished entirely. Not a trace of it remained."

"If you ask me, it sounds like a hallucination," the redhead retorted sharply. Abraxas merely blinked.

"Believe what you want," he conceded. "My offer has no bearing on whether you think it true or false. Help me find eternicite and you gain my support. It's a very simple contract. Should we find the eternicite vein, I will even be willing to split the payload."

He offered his hand to Kallen, extending the agreement he had proposed.

"What is your decision, Lotus? Yes or no?"

--

"So Kallen is wandering around with Abraxas von Arcadia, huh?" C.C. repeated, the same emotionless voice as ever. Lelouch nodded silently, his head resting against his hand in thought. C.C. remained motionless, staring up at the blank ceiling as if she found something interesting on it.

"I know of him," she said. "He's a pretty dangerous man."

Lelouch's eyes diverted, now fixed on the green-haired girl spread out on his bed.

"Dangerous?" he questioned. "What makes you think that?"

C.C. tilted her head slightly toward Lelouch, making eye contact briefly before returning her gaze to the roof.

"I thought you knew," she remarked. "His Geass."

The last thing C.C. heard was the bedroom door slamming shut, and when she looked back, Lelouch was no longer present.

--

"I don't think the Black Knights would be using their time efficiently searching for a metal which we don't even know exists," Kallen affirmed, beginning to realize that Zero's suspicions were well-founded after all. Abraxas was clearly delusional if he expected this fairy tale mineral to exist, but his determination grew only stronger.

"Must this meeting come to my last resort?" Abraxas sighed, lowering his outstretched hand. "I traveled so many miles to speak with you, in the hope that the Red Lotus would be more understanding."

Kallen's body became more rigid, her hand creeping closer to where she kept her pouch knife. As she edged backwards slowly, Abraxas closed just as much distance between them.

"A.A. told me that this meeting wasn't going to get me anywhere," the prince laughed. "But perhaps we can come to a more appropriate agreement once I figure out what makes you tick."

Before she could take a swing with her blade, Kallen was rendered motionless by a force she couldn't comprehend. The last thing she saw was Abraxas' eyes, the right one brown, the left one crimson, a shimmering eagle sigil overlapping his left iris.

The last thing she heard was Lelouch screaming her name.

--

Author's Note: Well, I thought I was going to have Knightmares in this chapter. Oh well, they'll show up in the next one, most likely.