A/N - Well, the feedback from the last chapter was better than expected, and kudos to anyone who left a review, they really help. Also, yes, I know that I said that Geass doesn't work on other Geass users, which is absolute horse_, and I apologise. It obviously does, seeing as Lelouch got so badly pwned by his dad.

This is the last of the quick updates, and the rest will probably come out once or twice a week. This is also the last chapter of Part 0, and Part 1 will be released next week.

But enough from me, let's push some drinks down the aisle and some scenery past the window.

His Lilac Queen: Part 0 - Due Divergence, Due Reward

Chapter 4

- Wreckage of the Storm -

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

Catching up to his sister's retreating form, Lelouch roughly spun her around to face him, unable to comprehend the cause for her violent reaction. The cold drafts of the night had plastered her rose hair around her face, strands catching in the tears that covered her cheeks. No longer were her eyes blazing with contempt, no longer did she carry herself with the fury of a harpy, tearing into its prey. Her frame was twitching and trembling, as if in shock from her own actions. This wasn't the same daemon he had unleashed on his childhood friend mere moments ago.

"What happened to you Euphie, this isn't like you!" he demanded, undeterred by her sudden meek demeanour. "What aren't you telling me, what did he do?" There was something he didn't know, something she was hiding. No lover's spat could have instigated such a confrontation. She had been in rage before he had even spoken her name, planning to crush him before she even exited the cave. The man had never had a chance.

"Nothing, there is nothing else." Her eyes betrayed her, though, tearing up even as they glanced down to her feet. Intelligent though she may be, his sister was an atrocious liar. "He didn't do anything you don't know about. I just...I…"

"You what Euphie, felt like destroying him!" he roared, spinning around to face the cavern walls, unable to coalesce the image of his gentle sister with the screaming nightmare that had inhabited her body. "Yes he was a fool, yes he was a murderer, but so am I! He did nothing to deserve that torture."

"Pain makes a good teacher," she stated, her cold words undermined by the waver in her tone. She couldn't hold even these shambles of a mask for long. "He was in need of a small lesson." He needed it, they needed it, if he was going to become the person she desired him to be.

"Then so am I!" Lelouch was finished, no longer willing to act into her weak little facade, he wanted answers. Something was driving her, more than her hatred, or the Japanese boy's actions in her name. She knew something, and he would find it. "I have committed evils just as horrendous as his, I have murdered, manipulated, lied, cheated, stole...how am I absolved in your eyes!? Brother or not, I deserve your scorn as much as he does."

"I NEEDED HIM, OK!" she screamed, unable to stand in the face of her brother's self-loathing, his misdirected anger. Too many days she had spent watching him accept the weight of the world, holding it high despite the shattering toll on his mind. Too many nights wishing to console him, to absolve him, to protect him, far too many to allow this stupid feud to go between them. "We need him, and he needs us."

"For what, a punching bag? What does that even mean?" Euphie just squeezed her eyes shut, lowered her head, and released the floodgates, forever warping his opinion of her, proving just how different she had become.

"As a weapon!"

…

…

Lelouch could only gape at his sister, unwilling to accept the words ringing in his ears, echoing against the cavern walls, etched in his mind. She had been planning it since the start, the right words to break him down, to shatter his desires, leaving only a penitent martyr in its place. Now that he had nothing, the knight wished for nothing more than absolution in the eyes of his former lover. Willing to bend to any shape, to accept any challenge, destroy anything in his way. No longer did he fight for her dreams, for her affection, now he lived only for the sins he had committed in her name, staining her along with him. His sister, his loving, gentle innocent sister, had just played Suzaku like a flute. Driving him down, to build him back up, all for her own designs.

"And after he is your 'weapon, what then?'" he spat in disgust, trying to wind her up, get her to spill her plans. Each false accusation bit him as hard as it did unto her. "Does he become your perfect slave, following you around like a dog, leaning over backwards for your whims? Will he ever really be absolved, or is he just a little pleasure slave in your eyes?"

*SMACK*

"Don't you dare," she screamed, as his own hand flew to his now-bruised face. "Do you know how much that hurt, to say those things? Do you really think I could be that cruel, the inhumane? He meant the world to me, but he ruined it for himself. I don't love that man with any ounce of my being, but you're right, he didn't deserve that. He went astray, and collapsed under the pressure others place upon him. I won't forgive him, not yet, but no one is beyond redemption."

"...What is there to gain from this, Euphie," he whispered, dropping the false anger he had thrown her way, his eyes conveying the sadness he felt as he finally accepted and lamented the loss of his sister's innocence, proof that Nellie and he had failed to protect her from the horrors of the world. "Where does Suzaku go, where do we go? What is it that you want to do? What would need him to be rewired into a lifeless weapon, rather than a living human?"

Caught out by his jarring change of attitude, she almost missed the mournful expression Lelouch had adopted, as she looked into his violet eyes. This was the part of her she wished to hide from his haunting gaze, to never see the true sadness marring his perfect orbs, a grief formed from his own inability to protect her. The side of her that had spent months trapped in purgatory, learning from him, training herself, planning, all to make manifest his dream for a better world. But nothing lasts forever, for she had known that the last remnants of her childhood, her naivety, her innocence truly had left her, somewhere between her death and rebirth. He just had to accept that.

"Euphie...please," he begged, dropping his head, voice barely above a breath of wind, blowing painfully against her, his anguish staining his words, just like his soul. "Why...what do we do? I have nothing. The Knights rejected me, the Empire is in shambles, my pawns all captured. Tell me...please."

"Stop, now," she whispered firmly, halting his tirade of resignation. "You aren't alone, surely a genius like you can see that." She grabbed his cheek, redirecting his gaze back at her, wiping the tear that had fallen down his cheek. Stroking his face, she continued. "C.C is still with you, and she wouldn't leave you for the world. Jeremiah, Sayoko, they would give their lives, just to see your dreams come to life. And do you really think Kallen turned her back on you? She loves you, dummy, she would be here with us right now if she knew. Don't whine and wail that pitiful rubbish when you have friends right under your nose. And never forget..." She touched his face with her other hand, holding his head firmly in place with a featherlight touch. Leaning in closer, she closed her eyes, her breathless whisper resonating louder than a host of fireworks.

"...You have me."

Leaning in closer, she was but centimetres away when a sly voice reverberated down the tunnel, disrupting her moment. "Hey boya, is everything alright over there? I heard some shouting outside, and I thought the lovers might be having a spat…" C.C halted her question as she emerged from deeper within, and noticed the compromising position the two were in, but more importantly the pure fury radiating off of the pinkette princess. A small spike of jealousy twitching within her, she slowly sashayed over to the pair, hanging off of her warlock's shoulder, all but moulding herself to him. "Is something wrong, my prince?" she asked in a sickeningly innocent, honest voice, causing Euphie to wretch in disgust. Lelouch smiled slightly, missing the two's exchange, before shaking his head.

"No, everything is fine, my witch." Slyly looking over to the pissed princess, she held up the victory sign, causing a vein to tick above her lilac eye. 'Mine.' The unspoken claim was heavy in the air, yet Euphie could do nothing to deny it, not with Lelouch right there. She had seen them in C's World after all, and knew of the history between them. How could she refuse them what they both definitely deserved? Easily, and with good cause. But for now, she stood down, merely pouting in disappointment.

"You were right when you said the empire is in shambles," she said instead, the serious edge in her voice catching the pair off guard. "The death of the Emperor will only make it worse. The last thing we need now is an inheritance fight amongst our siblings. The nation needs a leader, and fast."

C.C quickly put the pieces together, smiling deviously at the girl's plan. "...So we give them one, and Geass those who oppose."

"Exactly, and after they all bow down to our violet Emperor, we fix this broken empire from the top down. None will be able to oppose your whim, and now that Suzaku's on our side, we already have the perfect knight to carry out our word." she continued, lilac eyes shining with anticipation and pride.

"There will many who oppose you," C.C pointed out, her face clouded in thought. "We can't Geass everyone, and even if we do, we would be no better than Charles."

"We need allies, people who will legitimise our ascension on their behalf. And every knight against us is a pawn for Schneizel. We need to find everyone we can, and bring them to our side." Euphie continued, her head already spinning with possible candidates. They were not the only ones who held issue with the state of the Empire, and with the right words and promises, even armies can be swayed.

"And your plan…" Lelouch asked, finally able to slip a word into their rapid conversation.

"Simple, we ask them." They replied in sync.

"Surely there is more to it than that…"

But his sister had already departed, exiting the cave and walking to the near-comatose Suzaku. He ran after her, both eager and afraid to see their next confrontation. Maybe it really was as simple as asking, after all, Lelouch had a tendency to overthink things. Coughing to gain his attention, Euphie pretended to take no notice of the slight flinch the knight had when he saw her. "Sir Kururugi, will you serve Emperor Lelouch, in order to create a better world?"

He stared blankly in response, switching his gaze between the princess and the prince, before lowering his eyes. If he followed her brother, he could start earning her absolution, and that meant more to him than anything else. But really, it's not like he had anything else to lose. Uncaring that he was about to sign his soul away on a blank check, he nodded back at them.

"...Yes...my lord."

A/N - Well, that was a shorter one, but it was required. I know, there has been no action yet, but trust me, it really kicks off next part, and only builds from there.

No, I said this before, this is not a normal harem. Do you really think that someone like Lelouch, who hated his father, would want to actively court or engage multiple wives? It will be a matter or circumstance, and we'll see where it goes from there.

Leave a review for who you think should become an Empress, and I'll work it out. But otherwise...

Aenarion the White, singing out.