Chapter 7, 'Cornelia's trap'.

Ok, story's name has changed ever so slightly to

The Lady of Zero: Lelouch of the Rebellion

ok? just a simple reminder.

oh, and a comment has inspired me to begin work on a Youtube trailer for the Lady of Zero, so expect one soon! i'm all excited about it, bt i have to choose the right music and find the right pictures and videos to use it in, so be patient with me.

and a message to reviews last week:

Great reviews! those were all amazing theories on the last episode, and remember, if you want to add an idea about the last episode, or about the Lady of Zero, a plot, character or questions on Amaya, just ask and i'll answer as best i can (unless i plan to reveal it in future chapters).

But please, remember to

also...

REVIEW!!

Lelouch's feet fell down heavily as he entered his room, not looking at CC, whom added another sticker to her reward card of pizza hut. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh?" she mused, as Lelouch's eyebrows knitted together in thought.

"What has you looking so serious?" Lelouch did not reply automatically, his mind lost in thought of the latest news report...

"Military authorities reported that they have surrounded the Saitaima Ghetto, a known hiding place for terrorists." the news reporter announced, her face giving nothing away. "Viceroy Cornelia is also on the scene, and entry into the area is prohibited. It appears that a full scale assault will be launched in two hours."

"Cornelia's surrounding Saitama Ghetto." Amaya repeated from her seat, her eyes widening as she digested this face. She turned to Ohgi, not needing to tell him to tell her everything he knew, her emerald orbs glazed in alarm.

"In two hours. It was on the news." he added, pausing before continuing. "I don't know why-" Amaya's eyes narrowed. Cornelia would never randomly surround somewhere. there was always a reason, there was always a motive to Cornelia's plans. she paused a moment, as she furrowed her brows in thought on the conditions.

they were surrounding an Eleven Ghetto, with no evacuations of the Elevens.

They were going to atack the Ghetto.

There was virtually no reason behind this assault.

"This reminds me of…" her mouth opened slightly as she remembered a battle with very similar conditions...surely Cornelia would never... "Shinjuku…" she whispered, turning sharply to Ohgi, standing, clenching her fists. there was only one difference: they had told the whole of Area 11, where and when it would take place. 'So Cornelia, you do have a motive after all...' she thought as her face paled considerably, Ohgi still standing behind her.

"She's trying to lure Zero into the Battlefield!" she cursed, sharply turning and picking up the phone.

C.C stared at Lelouch as he organized his army uniform he had stolen, from the bed, spread eagled, still wearing the white prison suit Lelouch found her in. she gazed at him emotionlessly as she stated

"You're not falling for the enemy's provocation?" Lelouch smirked as he did not look up, stating merely

"They went through such trouble to invite me though..." he paused for a moment before adding darkly,

"Besides...there's something i would like to ask Cornelia personally." C.C sighed as she continued to stare, her golden eyes not moving from him.

"Destroying Britannia or discovering who murdered your mother...which is more important to you?" annoyance flared on Lelouch's face as he snapped took out another piece of the uniform.

"The two are of equal importance." the royal family members are competing with each other to see who will ascend the throne and see who will become the next ruler." his eyes narrowed as he paused in his work, his fists clenching. "Or rather, they're being forced to fight...by THAT man!" his violet eyes flared up as his thoughts turned to his father. C.C's expression did not change, as she noted with interest

"But the very thing you hate is the same thing that makes Britannia strong. The Royal Heir who is best fit to become the ruler of Britannia is the last one left standing." Lelouch stood as he turned to C.C, nodding in agreement, crossing his arms, moving his weight to his left side.

"Exactly. the weak ones lose and are cast aside." his eyes narrowed at the memory of Nunnally, hospitalised, blinded, crippled.

"Britannia is that kind of nation. that kind of world." C.C did not reply immediately, blinking, thinking on his words, before replying softly.

"Survival of the fittest is the most basic rule of all." Lelouch snapped the case shut as he snapped hotly,

"If that's true, then what happens to Nunnally?!" he demanded, his fingers shaking slightly, as he turned his hear to C.C, his violet eyes filled with undiluted anger. "Should i simply just give up on my sister because she is frail!?" he winced as the memory of her rose again.

"I refuse to accept that! i'll wipe out that sort of world myself!" he hissed as he turned, promptly frozen at the sight of C.C, who had moved off the bed, standing still with a loaded gun pointed at him. nethier could say a word, each refusing to break eye contact.

"You can't go Lelouch." she finally broke the silence, making Lelouch's eyes narrow ever so slightly. "You need to fulfill your part of our bargain, so i won;t have you dying before that." a small smile graced Lelouch's lips as he pointed out to the witch,

"Notice that what you are saying and what you are doing are contradictory." C.C did not lower the gun, only responding with a shrug as she continued with

"Oh, i'm not going to shoot you. i'm merely going to shoot you in the leg to quieten you down."

'Damn.' Lelouch cursed in his mind, suddenly feeling a numbness come over his threatened leg. then his eyes zeroed in on the gun, as a smirk sprang to his face.

"Now i get it! you're unable to use Geass yourself, aren't you?" C.C's eyes narrowed, and gave all the answer Lelouch needed, as his hand tightened on his case.

"I'm not surprised. i suspected as much, you obviously wouldn't have asked me to do it if you couldn't have done it yourself." he said this as he slowly reached into his jacket pocket, taking out his own gun and aiming it at the green haired girl. she quirked an eyebrow in amusement.

"Do you honestly think you can threaten me with a gun?" Lelouch's smirk did not end, as he replied

"Yes i do." before bringing the gun up to his own head. C.C's confidence dropped in an instance. her hand holding the gun lowered slightly, as Lelouch continued to stare at her.

"Before i met you, i was dead." he said softly. "An imputed corpse, existing behind a false guise of life. a life of which i did nothing real." his fingers tightened on the gun, as he clenched his jaw.

"Day to day, i continued living, as if i were a zombie, and i always had the feeling that i was gradually dying! if i'm condemned to go back to that..." his fingers tightened on the trigger, as his eyes never left C.C's.

"Then i would rather-"

"Stop it!" C.C snapped, lowering her gun compeletly, a look of anger and frustration gracing her features. Lelouch smiled as he lowered the gun.

"I see now." she said softly, looking at the floor. "It's life without meaning. and a life like that..."

she paused as Lelouch's mobile went off, as he glanced at her before pulling it out, wincing softly before answering, remembering the last time he came across Amaya...

"Oh, Zero!" she called down the hall, causing him to turn in surprise, having spent the last week living to avoid her.

"Fujiwara-sama." he said respectively, paling as he remembered the last three times ha had talked to her he had promptly hung up, despite her protests.

"I really must apologize for last weeks events." he said quickly, mind going over non cat involved excuses. what could he say?! 'Sorry, i was chasing a cat that stole my mask. and was being followed by my entire school, led by my mad student council president.'

"What events?" she said in an innocent voice, her emerald eyes large and innocent, making him wince.

"I was just in the middle of a very important mission." she cocked her head to the side suspiciously. "Which is why i had to hang up on you. three times." he winced, wishing he hadn't mentioned it particular part.

"Which type of mission?" she asked, hand on hip, eyes still suspiciously innocent.

"...Retrieval..." 'might as well be partially honest...' she smiled lightly, down the hall.

"Oh that! oh you don't have to worry about that. i understand. it was a very important mission." he nodded.

"Thank you for understanding." he sighed, as he turned to meet with Ohgi in the meeting room.

"Oh, Zero, that's why i called you!" she sighed, making him turn. she had crossed her arms, and taken a few steps forward.

"Ohgi told me to tell you that you're not meeting in the meeting room anymore. Tamaki needed it for something." she shrugged. "I think he made a lot of pizza for a celebration or something...anyway, you're supposed to meet him just down here." she indicated to the basement. he paused.

"Alright." he said, as she smiled again, indicating him to go on down, and following him.

"He should be just in here." she smiled as they walked, pausing in front of a lonely door, and he noticed there were no people around.

"Are you sure Ohgi said-"

"I'm very sure, Zero." she said strongly. "You can trust me." she smiled again as she pulled the door open, leading to a dark room. he hesitantly took a step in, looking around the small space. a storage cupboard.

"You must be mistaken-" his words were lost at the slamming of a door, and the sound of a key locking the door. his eyes widened in realization, as he tugged at the door, realizing he had fallen for the oldest trick in the book.

"I'll leave you here to think about how it's rude to hang up on people repeatably!" he heard her say through the door.

"You can't be serious!" he gasped, banging on the door.

"Do i look like I'm joking?" she sighed, and his blood froze as he heard her walk back down the corridor. he cursed as he banged again on the door.

"You can't do this!" he yelled, again banging on the door.

"Come on!" she called. "You're Zero, the man of miracles! if you can get out of Shinjuku Ghetto, you should be able to get out of a cupboard!" he heard her climb the stairs as he banged again.

"See you later!" she laughed heartily, as the door to the basement closed, leaving him trapped in darkness.

It was 3 hours later, when Tamaki came downstairs to the food storage for more garlic bread, was he freed from his prison.

"Greetings, Q-1." Zero's voice came smoothly.

"You're not going, are you?" she snapped. "You and I both know this is a trap!"

"But they've gone through so much inconvenience for inviting me." he chuckled.

"Zero, don't-"

"She will attack whether I am there or not." he interrupted. "Which would you prefer?" she paused.

"Fine." she snapped. "But so help me, if you die I'll bring you back to life to send you back to hell!" he chuckled, ether ignorant or unaware of her very promising and real threat.

"Today, Q-1, I shall create another victory. And this time, against Cornelia." she sighed.

"Look, where do you want me? My Knightmare's not ready yet, but I can take one-" "No. with all due respect, Q-1, I want you there."

"What?" she gasped, his answer confusing and shocking her. "But-"

"Yes. You are the best pilot. And that is precisely why I am saving your debut until both you and your Knightmare are ready." she frowned down the phone. "I also want you to send all other troops out. I'll be contacting where and when." she nodded slightly. "Fine..." " I'll be sending more troops over to join. Goodbye." she paled.

"More-" but he was already gone. 'Well...' she thought to herself, staring at the phone in thought. 'At least he said goodbye. at least he learned SOMETHING about hanging up.'

Lelouch smiled inside his Sutherland, before contacting Amaya again. "I am in position. send me the co-ordinates for the battle." he announced. there was a pause as Amaya send it, then realizing what he was in.

"How on earth did you get a hold of a Britannian Knightmare Sutherland?" she asked, more impressed then curious. Lelouch chuckled. "I have a talent for these kind of things." he answered, as he studied the lists and plans Amaya send.

"Now Q-1, I will need you to get me on all local frequencies." he smiled.

"Okay." Amaya sighed, as he heard her type quickly, and precisly 36 seconds later continuing with, "Okay. you're in...remember my promise, Zero."

"How could i forget?" he smirked, as he switched himself onto the radio channels.

"This is Zero." he announced, "I assume all of you have heard about the Shinjuku incident. Do what i say and you will be saved."

However, as Amaya watched the plans unfold, following Zero's orders on who to place where, she realised it was all a chess game to him. The thought confused yet intrigued her. Of course, Chess was a game of war, but to actually apple the same rules and exceptions to an actual battle was…extraordinary. That was until everything seemed to stop.

"Idiots!" she shouted as the reports flooded in. Resistance fighters had stopped listening to him, and she knew what that would mean. Cornelia would kill them. And Zero knew that too. She soon only had visual of the Britannian forces lining up. Then she heard Cornelia's voice over frequencies.

"All Knightmare pilots, reveal your faces!" she paled.

"But Zero…" a woman near her gasped.

"He's in one." she cursed.

"All units," she began, before she turned back to the screen.

"What…" she whispered, now more confused then ever. Zero stood there.

"OPEN FIRE!" was all she heard as Amaya screamed,

"NO!" to even her shock, as she watched Zero fall almost gracefully, behind the wall.

A silence fell over the room, as people stopped what they were doing. Amaya stared at the screen.

"Get up." she whispered. She could not lose him. It was like losing him all over again.

"Get up!" she almost yelled louder, banging her fist on the table. Had he forgotten her promise already?! How dare he die?! She grabbed her communicator.

"Zero?" she called. No response.

"Zero!" she called again. Again, no response.

"ZERO, IF YOU DO NOT ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW I SWEAR I WILL DELIVER ON MY PROMISE!" she screamed down the phone. "AND DON'T YOU DARE THINK I WON'T!" there was a silent buzzing, before to her relive and everyone's shock, his voice came on.

"No need for that, Q-1." he said coldly down the phone.

"Your alive." she sighed in relive again, falling back into her chair, giving the thumbs up to everyone around her, who all sighed in relieve as well, as they quickly returned to their work.

"Indeed." he replied in the same silent, angry and cold voice.

"We lost." Amaya confirmed down the phone.

"We would not have if we had more organised ranks!" he snapped, as Amaya raised an eyebrow at just how much he remined her of a certain person whenever he lost. "We need more then just resistance groups, Q-1. We need a force, a people, a nation!" Amaya grinned.

"Should I be glad to have you back Zero, or should I be afraid?" he chuckled down the phone.

"Why not a little of both?" she moved on.

"Why didn't you let me go?" she demanded. "And don't tell me that debut stuff again!" he was silent.

"Amaya, your Knightmare's name is to be 'Roiyaru Kakumei'." she blinked in surprise as she slowly repeated

"Royal Revolution?"

"Q-1, you will be head of the Knightmares. My Commander-in-Chief. Your Knightmare must be perfect, a perfect symbol to the Britannians about what exactly we are." she was still shocked to silence as she fell into her seat. "Royal blue is the colour of the Fujiwara, is it not?" he added.

"Roiyaru Kakumei…" she repeated. She liked the name. "When should it be ready?"

"Give it time, Q-1. I promise you, you will not be disappointed." she sighed as her thoughts turned to something he had said.

"Commander-in-Chief?" she asked him.

"My second in command, if you like. Do you accept?" she sighed, pretending to think seriously on it.

"…Fine. I'll accept the position." she said down the line, but all she heard was the tone again. She cursed as she threw the phone on the table, wondering why he ended all conversations like that.

Within the next two weeks, he had evaluated each member of their group, granting positions based on their score. Kallen had been granted Commander of the First Squadron, while she had been granted one slightly above/below that, Squad Zero, Zero's own personal Squad.

Amaya could not help it. When she thought of Zero, her thoughts always turned to him. She kept repeating, over and over,

'He is dead. The dead stay dead. They cannot return.'

but still, every time he brushed past her, every time he spoke. Every time he would glance in her direction before looking away slightly. She would feel…a connection with him that she hadn't felt in years, almost pulling her towards his cold demeanour. She opened her mouth once or twice, almost screaming

'ARE YOU HIM?!' before changing the subject. Her mind kept going back to what Tohdoh had said.

'You do not know his name, his face. How do you know you can trust him?' she honestly could not answer that question.

And she hated it when she could not answer a simple question.

chapter 7, DONE!

CAN I GET A WHOOP WHOOP?!

excited for next weeks? it's worth the wait, you guys are getting a really loooooooooooooong one next week!!

A small preview for next weeks chapter...

'The Order of the Black Knights'...

where...

The resistance group have their debut onto the stage...

Amaya must help save a childhood friend, and put a stop to an extremist who takes things a little too far...

Zero confronts Cornelia...face to mask...

Lelouch also confronts the world about exactly what he stands for...

so stay tuned

and review! :)