Chapter 7: Zero's Country.

AN: So, yeah. I said that it wouldn't be for three weeks at least, but I had a sudden wave of inspiration. Still, I will slow down on the chapters because ... well I really have to concentrate on my studies. And I have also to concentrate on the plot. Even if there's no problem with the next chapter, the following ones are yet to be imagined. So, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, peace :D


February 18th 2018, 4:30 AM

Suzaku and Euphemia were doing a nightly romantic ballad on the streets of Fuji.

"Are you sure you won't get cold?" Suzaku asked.

Euphemia shook her head. "No, I have my coat." She grinned. "And if I am, you're here to bring me heat."

Suzaku blushed. Euphie approached him slowly, trying to kiss him. At this moment, Suzaku felt like he was stealing someone else's place. The other Suzaku was in the other timeline, with Euphie dead and him being Zero. It was unfair, Suzaku couldn't really profit of this moments without having some remorse.

Their lips approached.

Suddenly red circles appeared around both their eyes.

'Live!'

Suzaku and Euphemia ran away in opposite directions.

A bombshell exploded in the place they were 5 seconds before.

"Dammit!" He cursed. "At least he doesn't have bombs dropping to his head!"

Euphemia blinked, retaking her senses.

"Who are you referring to?" She shouted.

"Myself!" He shouted back.

Suzaku narrowed his eyes. 'Euphie avoided the bomb as well, Does that mean that …?'

"What's happening, Suzaku?" Euphemia shouted, horrified.

"Britannia attacks the Zone!" Suzaku shouted back.

Euphie widened her eyes. "What? But why? How? Who?"

"He could've told me it was for today!" Suzaku shouted for himself, more than slightly annoyed.

"Maybe he didn't know." Euphemia replied, guessing that he was talking about Lelouch.

Suzaku shrugged. "He's Zero. He knows everything. Let's get back to a safe place."


Lelouch was in the Gawain's cockpit with C.C, dressed as Zero.

"So." Lelouch said. "How was it?"

C.C removed her mask and said boringly. "I prefer when you do the recording. I'm a rather reserved person."

Lelouch chuckled. "The people won't see the difference, especially with the voice-changing device I've put on the mask."

"Still, there's no way I'm commanding the armies." Zero said, stroking her green hair nonchalantly.

"I'm taking care of it." Lelouch replied before activating his radio.

"Black Knights!" He shouted. "The Britannian Army is attacking the Japanese people, and it is our duty to retaliate!"

Takeshi was the first one to take off from the Ikaruga with his Knightmare. He was sure this battle was provoked by Zero, and war could've been avoided, but …

'This battle is only there because of Britannia's existence.' He thought in order to give him some determination. 'Yes, this is how I must think.'

Kallen followed him quickly, along with Todoh, The Four Holy Swords and 50 flight-enabled Akatsuki.

"Prepare for a tough fight!" Lelouch shouted. "The enemy's units are way numerous than ours but they didn't expect an aerial offensive. Sink their cruisers and destroy their aerial fleet. We must buy time before General Katase arrive with the grounds troops."

The Gawain approached the Britannian forces and Lelouch fired with the hadron cannon, destroying most of the aero ported Sutherlands in the first line.

The Ronin and the Zangetsu crippled the left flank with their machine guns.

Kallen fired her Radiation Wave Laser Beam to one of the cruisers while the four Holy Swords in their Akatsuki Zikisan fired their Radiation Wave missiles to other ships.

The Britannians retaliated, but their shots were stopped by the Radiant Wave Shields from the advanced Knightmares who were protecting the other units.

Then the Black Knights put themselves in attack position and fired at the same time.

The Sutherlands on their aero ported devices didn't stand a chance, while the flight-enabled Britannian Knightmares avoided mostly the hits and went in contact with the enemy.

The Britannians were now 200 and the Black Knights 60. Still, the Britannians didn't have the advantage. They had lesser Knightmares; they didn't expect this kind of offensive and were ordered to slaughter civilians during the night. And their commander, the Prime Minister Guinevere su Britannia, was far away, probably sleeping. Needless to say, The Black Knights had a way higher moral than the Britannians.


Lelouch fired again with the hadron cannon, destroying the ships that were trying to approach the littoral. Suddenly he saw something approaching the battlefield. It was a squadron of twenty Vincent and fifty Gloucesters that were led by a familiar Knightmare.

He smirked. "So, you came to see the show … mother."

Lelouch activated the radio.

"Takeshi, Kallen!" He shouted. "Go intercept the aerial reinforcements!"

Takeshi slashed another Sutherland with his MVS and was the first to left the aerial battle.

"Asahina!" He shouted. "Cover me, would you?"

Asahina slashed a Gloucester that was going to fire at the Ronin's back.

"No problem." Asahina replied, smirking. Then he used his machine gun to destroy three other Sutherlands in his perimeter.

Todoh used the Zangetsu's break sword to destroy a Gloucester nearby, and then used the machine gun in its machine's shoulders to make the enemy break formation. The Black Knights profited to shoot at the Britannians more precisely, crippling their forces drastically.

'We finally gain the advantage.' Todoh thought relieved. 'If Lelouch, Kozuki and Takeshi manage to destroy the reinforcements, we will be able to …'

Then something caught his eye. Britannians' field forces had landed on the east of Fuji and were approaching the city dangerously.

"Urabe, Senba! Go intercept them!" Todoh ordered.

"Roger." Urabe replied. He and Senba slowly retreated, and six Sutherlands were shooting at them. They turned to their attackers and activated their Radiant Shields. When the enemies Sutherlands were concentrating on Urabe and Senba, Chiba destroyed them all with her machine gun.

Takeshi approached the enemy with an incredible speed, and in the meantime was programming the seventy enemy Knightmares' signature. It was something great with the Ronin; the machine guns were following the targets and provided an auto-aim.

Suddenly he noticed the purple Knightmare was preparing its cannon. And it was aimed at the main force of the Black Knights.

Takeshi put the Ronin in the trajectory of the cannon and activated his shield. It was a special type of shield, composed of Blaze Luminous and Radiant Wave shielding.

Takeshi took the Stark Hadron Cannon like a boss.

'Holy shit!' He thought, amazed. 'I knew this thing could take a hadron blaster … but four?!'

Anya widened her eyes, slightly annoyed. "This could be a problem."

The Ronin approached the Mordred dangerously, giving time for the Guren and the Gawain to come.

Suddenly Kallen and Lelouch went in range to shoot and crippled Anya's forces with their long-range weapon.

Then The Gawain and the Guren distracted the Mordred, and Takeshi finally had the free hand to attack.

He activated his twelve machine guns and destroyed half of the enemy's forces.

Then he used his VARIS to shoot at the five Vincent who were trying to encircle him.

Then he drew his MVS.

Needless to say, the Britannians didn't stand a chance.


Urabe and Senba approached the littoral. The Enemy managed to land a hundred units who were approaching Fuji dangerously.

They launched their missiles.

The Britannians tried to retaliate but their shields were stopping the bullets.

"I think it is overkill." Urabe said while using his machine gun on a Squad of Sutherlands, who had a hard time avoiding the shots. "I mean, we have wings and a shield, we have superior units..."

Senba was taunting the enemies by flying close to the ground. He used his sword to slash a Gloucester nearby.

"But we're two thousands and they're millions." Senba replied, smirking.

"Yeah, you're right." Urabe replied, smirking as well. Then he launched a radiant wave missile on the ground, which caused the entire forces to lose balance.

The two pilots used this distraction to destroy them mercilessly.

"It's a sweet little revenge." Urabe said, once the enemy was obliterated.

"Do you have any energy left?" Senba asked.

"I'm at 65%." Urabe replied.

"Me too." Senba said. "The enemy has managed to deploy some of their forces to the west. Are you down?"

Urabe shrugged. "If it's proposed nicely."

"Hey, can I play too?" Asahina asked suddenly on his radio. "The enemy seems to have landed more than 300 Knightmare Frames on the south-west of Fuji; they were probably on the cruisers."

"You four go destroy their army." Todoh ordered, referring to the Holy Swords. "Once I'm done with this battle, we'll destroy their ships once and for all. Minami will deploy the field forces to back you up."


Rakshata was in the command center of the Ikaruga, with a pilot instructor and a politician.

"I'm going to back up the four Holy Swords." Minami said, leaving the room.

"Sure, sure." Rakshata replied casually. Then she noticed that the cruisers were attacking the Ikaruga.

"It's time to see if the hadron cannon work well." She said, twisting her smoke pipe in her hands.

The Ikaruga fired at the enemy ships.

Sawasaki was startled. "I knew I was right to be on your side!"

Rakshata chuckled. "We're the winner team."

"So?" The politician asked hopefully. "Do I get a prestigious post on the new Japanese Government?"

The Ikaruga landed, permitting the field Knightmares to be deployed.

Minami was on his flight-enabled Gurosuta, along with Inoue and Sugiyama. It was an upgraded Gloucester, with a more dense metal and a better maneuverability. He was leading the Special Forces, composed of twenty Gurosuta and twenty Akatsuki.

"Inoue, Sugiyama, come with me in first line!" He shouted on his radio. "Tamaki and Yoshida. Stay behind and put yourselves in attack formation."

Tamaki raised his fist and exclaimed. "Put these Brits to the water!"

Minami, Inoue and Sugiyama approached the Britannian army and used their shoulder-mounted bazookas to bombard them. Even if they were three against three hundred, they had the advantage of being in the air, were trained to avoid the bullets and had an amazing resistance with their Radiant Wave Shielding. They managed to distract them while the Ikaruga fired the hadron cannon on the Britannian forces.

Suddenly the Four Holy Swords came to back them up, and the battle turned into the Black Knights' complete advantage. The Special Forces only had to finish the job properly under the leadership of Zero.

"Good." Minami said, relieved. "Now it's Katase's turn to appear. We're going to march on the Special Zone!"


Lelouch, C.C and Kallen were fighting the Mordred for nearly fifteen minutes now. Well, mostly C.C and Kallen, since Lelouch was busy supervising the battles going on. They wanted to capture the Eighth Generation Knightmare Frame, and more especially Anya. She held the conscience of Lelouch's mother and Lelouch wanted to test something.

"I don't think it is Anya we're fighting." C.C mused. "Don't you agree?"

Lelouch shrugged. "It doesn't matter now." They activated the Absolute Defense shield to counter the Mordred's Stark Hadron.

"Enough played, we're going to immobilize her." He ordered.

The three Knightmares finally arrived above the ground and Kallen made her move.

She changed the shape of her deadly left arm and activated the Gefjun.

The Mordred became immobilized and floated in the air, 100 meters above the ground. Kallen launched the Gefjun net and made them stuck to Anya's Knightmare, paralyzing it completely.

Then they proceeded to make the Mordred land. They were soon joined by a squad of ten Akatsuki who had finished controlling the aerial space above the littoral with Todoh.

"Capture the pilot but don't harm her." Lelouch ordered.

Takeshi was slashing another Vincent with his MVS. He cursed silently: he had 10% energy left and twenty enemies remained.

Suddenly five Gloucesters went above him and cornered the Ronin. He activated his VARIS and managed to destroy one but wouldn't be able to activate his shield.

Thankfully, he was soon joined by Todoh, Kallen and a Squad of Akatsuki that were taking over.

"Thanks, General." Takeshi said, sighing in relief. "That was close; the Ronin doesn't have much energy left."

"You've done enough." Todoh replied, a smirk on his face. "Let us finish this."

The Ronin landed on the harbor of Fuji.

Takeshi opened his cockpit and was greeted by thousands of Japanese.

"What a fight!"

"That was amazing!"

"It's a cool Knightmare you have here!"

"Long live the Black Knights!"

"Destroy Britannia!"

Takeshi grinned. Things weren't so bad after all.


Guinevere was on her bed in her quarters of the Avalon, who was stationed 500 kilometers away from Fuji. She awake at the shouts of her head of security.

"Your Highness!" He shouted.

She opened her eyes and snapped coldly. "What do you want, Antonio? I hope there is a good reason for you to awake me."

Antonio cleared his throat. "It's about the invasion of the SAZ."

She got out of her bed and put one of her expensive robe. "What? Are they finished yet?"

Antonio lowered his eyes. "Well, Zero expected us and brought his forces…"

The Prime Minister raised an eyebrow. "I know he isn't a bad commander, but I'm sure he couldn't do much against my armies."

He gritted his teeth. "In fact, he had taken the advantage immediately against our forces."

"What?" Guinevere snapped. "Send Alstreim and the rearguard immediately!"

Antonio hid his head with his hands. "We did …"

"Tell. Me. What. Happened." Guinevere said icily.

Antonio gulped. "They captured the Knight of Six. Our forces are nearly obliterated."

The First Princess got out of her room in order to go to the command center.

"Call the Viceroy of Area 11!"


Suzaku and Euphemia were in the undergrounds of Kirihara's house.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Suzaku said, bowing to the old man politely. "Our apartment has been destroyed, so..."

"It's alright." Taizo replied reassuringly.

"I can't believe the army did this!" Euphemia shouted, nearly crying. "We weren't doing anything bad!"

"Euphie…" Suzaku said, trying to comfort her.

But Euphemia was more angered than anything. "Those … those Barbarians! How dare they? How dare they?"

"I think it comes from a misunderstanding." Kirihara said weakly.

Suzaku rolled his eyes. "Oh, please! I know you're working for Zero and that you were funding the resistance groups in the past."

He looked at him sternly. "And what are you going to do?"

To both their surprise, Euphemia was the one to talk. "What do you think we're going to do? Britannia wanted us dead; they didn't respect my project of cooperation between our two people while Lelouch accepted it without blinking." She put a hand to her mouth. "Oops."

Kirihara chuckled. "I already know who Lelouch is."

"Well, that's okay." She said instantly in a Euphie-fashion, then immediately retook her stern tone. "What I'm going to do is that I'm going to collaborate with Lelouch." Euphemia turned to Suzaku. "Do you know what he has planned?"

Her Knight cleared his throat. "Well, I know that he wants to abolish monarchy, and for that he needs some support coming from former members of the Imperial Family to increase the legitimacy of his project."

Kirihara narrowed his eyes. "Him and Cornelia, am I right?"

Suzaku nodded. "That was the plan."

"Then I'll help as well." Euphie said slowly. "I mean, Cornelia, Lelouch and you are the only persons I can rely on, am I right?"

"You're not obliged to do this, Euphie." Suzaku said by taking her hand. "I don't want you to be known as a traitor."

Euphemia softened a little. "I don't want to abandon the Japanese people as well. I appreciate that you don't want me to be used as a political tool for Lelouch, but I'm doing this on my own will."

Suzaku grinned. "Lelouch didn't even expect me to cooperate; he just let me live my life. We're not even parts of one of his plans, and I'm grateful to him for that."

Kirihara cleared his throat. "I think it is time to face the crowd."


Guinevere was speaking to Jeremiah Gottwald, Viceroy of Area 11.

"Gottwald!" She shouted. "I want you to eliminate all the Elevens!"

Jeremiah smirked. "The Elevens? There is no such thing as Elevens. At this moment, every former citizen of the Japanese Republic residing in Area 11 has either entered the SAZ or has taken the honorary citizenship."

"Then, eradicate the Special Administrate Zone!" She snarled.

"Why should I?" Jeremiah asked, feigning innocence. "It would create riots, and the Area's economic benefits a lot from this Special Zone."

"This is an order!" Guinevere snapped. "I've already sent my armies destroying the Zone anyway."

"Then, why are you asking me to eradicate the Zone if you're already doing it yourself?" Jeremiah retorted.

The Prime Minister gritted her teeth. "Because they're incapables and they have lost against Zero."

The Viceroy raised an eyebrow. "You seem to have such low regards on your soldiers, your Highness."

She scoffed. "And why should I care about these ants?"

"Without a trusted army, a member of the Imperial Family isn't suited to be a ruler." He said. "After all, if the king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?"

"Do you actually believe this nonsense?" Guinevere retorted, snickering.

"Good bye, your Highness." Jeremiah said, and then smirked. "Oh, and I forgot! This conversation will be broadcasted in the entire World."

Then Gottwald cut down the communication.

Guinevere's expression was priceless.

"Call the military base of Fukuoka!" She snarled to the officers. "The base of Nagoya as well! And Osaka, and Shizuoka!"

The officers gulped, and then called the heads of all the military bases in Area 11.

Their answers were the same. When they were asked to invade the Special Zone, the officers simply shook their heads and refused to obey.

Except for one.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Fayel of the Shizuoka base." The officer said, making the military salute. "What can I do for you, your Highness?"

"Invade the Special Administrated Zone of Japan!" Guinevere ordered, on the verge of having her nerves broken. "This has passed under the hands of the Black Knights."

Fayel gulped. "At your orders, ma'am."


Captain Diego Martinez was affected to the command center of the base of Shizuoka. Like most of the Honorary Britannians soldiers who were affected in the Special Zone, he had been given the chance to become an officer. Before the establishment of the SAZ, Diego was a mere Private, but everything had changed for him when he did that mission: to look out for a ship that was revealing to be the Black Knights HQ. General Gottwald gave him a promotion as a reward, and Diego took it as a pact with the devil. He had been promoted Sergeant, then Lieutenant when he had been affected in the Shizuoka base. After passing the officers exams, Diego finally acceded to the rank of Captain. He wasn't the only one to get that chance: most of the soldiers affected in the Special Administrated Zone of Japan were Honorary Britannians coming from every Area of the Empire, and they profited of the equality Euphemia established there. Surprisingly, General Gottwald was the one behind all this.

Diego was startled. He just saw the images of Zero reappearing with his forces that seemed to be well equipped for a war against Britannia. In the end, the destroying of the ship didn't make much damage to the order and Zero had just been waiting for Britannia to lose patience by using the force against the SAZ. The imperialists couldn't stand equality and the revolutionaries couldn't stand inequality. It was inevitable that the World couldn't be on a stalemate forever.

The head of the base, Lieutenant-Colonel Fayel, just had a call from a member of the Imperial Family.

"We're going to fight against the Black Knights." He declared.

Diego was too ecstatic to obey the orders. "Why should we?"

"It's an order!" His superior shouted.

The other staff members were looking at the Lieutenant-Colonel with murderous intent. 90% of the soldiers of the base were Honorary Britannians. They wouldn't mind if Diego did this…

Captain Diego Martinez pulled out his gun and aimed at Fayel.

"Captain Martinez, what are you doing?" He shouted.

Diego smirked. "What I should've done from the very start."

Then he pulled the trigger.

Everyone in the room was cheering for Diego's actions, whether they were pureblooded Britannians or not.

"I'm taking the command here!" Diego shouted. "And I order you to surrender the base to the Black Knights and join their ranks! Hasta la Revolucion!"

Soon, he would give up the base to General Katase, highly surprised by the greeting he had received.

What Diego didn't know was that his actions had been recorded, and then being put on the internet by the Viceroy Jeremiah Gottwald in person. This scene would inspire many soldiers in the Empire for the weeks to come.


Suzaku, Euphemia and Kirihara were joining the other houses of Kyoto in the central plaza.

"Heya, Suzaku!" Kaguya cheered. "It looks like you're part of Kyoto again."

"It's not like Britannia gave me the choice." Suzaku retorted. "But it's good to not wear a mask anymore."

Suddenly, the crowd noticed the royal couple and began to insult them.

"Wooo!"

"Death to Euphemia!"

"Traitor!"

Euphie widened her eyes. "What?"

Suzaku frowned and put himself in front of the Princess in order to protect her. Then he shouted the loudest he could.

"Japanese people, please calm down! We may have cooperated with Britannia in the past, but for me and for Euphemia these days are over! We were under the same bombs; today, our lives were in peril just like yours! We are now considered terrorists simply because we live here! We are on your side now, the side of the oppressed, because we are also being oppressed!"

Euphemia looked at him in a new light and blushed.

The crowd seemed to be appeased for a while.

Then Euphie spoke. "I as well!" She declared. "When I renounced my claim to the throne I decided to give up on my superior blood to put all my heart into this project! But now that I don't have any power, Britannia left me under your mercy. I understand your hatred towards my family, but please, I beg of you! Don't lose yourself in the prejudices my former country has fallen to!" She showed them her slightly injured arm. "After all, today you and I spilled the same blood."

The crowd was speechless for a moment, then began to applause and cheered the two golden teens.

They might not change Britannia from within, but they were doing well changing the Japanese's hearts for the better.


Guinevere was on her throne in the Avalon, extremely pissed by the turning of events.

"What should we do, your Highness?" Antonio asked.

"We'll put all the blame on Gottwald and Alstreim." The Prime Minister ordered.

Antonio frowned. "And what about Area 11?"

The First Princess looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to analyze the situation.

"If the military bases didn't obey my order, it means that the Colonial Area Number 11 is in the state of secession." Guinevere su Britannia declared. "We'll go back to Area 9 and prepare an invasion of Area 11 from Honolulu."

Antonio widened his eyes. "Are you serious about that?"

She narrowed her eyes and said icily. "Do I look like I'm joking? Zero is there, he defeated my armies, and the military bases don't want to obey me. I'll speak with the Emperor about that, and I'm sure he'll be of the same opinion. Area 11 has fallen under the hands of our enemies, and we have to take it back."


Lelouch and C.C posed the Gawain behind the Government building. They had done a small lap of honor around the city, just for the sake of it. Most of the higher-ups of the Black Knights were waiting for Zero.

"Where's Ohgi?" C.C asked, looking at the crowd.

Lelouch shrugged. "He's probably helping the injured people." Then he opened the hatch of the cockpit. "It's time to meet the others properly."

Zero descended from the Gawain, under the applause of the members of the BK, namely Tamaki.

"Zero." Diethard said, approaching him. "Everything is ready for the declaration of independence."

"Good." Zero replied simply.

Then someone else descended from the Gawain.

He was a tall young man, with raven hair and purple eyes. He looked at the Black Knights with a grin full of assurance.

Everyone was looking at him with interest.

"Who are you?" Tamaki asked.

His gaze posed on Tamaki, then on Diethard. The head of intelligence was trying to figure out who he was.

"Who am I?" The guy said mysteriously. "It's a good question. Let's say I'm a weapon of mass-destruction, and I'm about to be unleashed against Britannia."

Then he walked to the Government building, the Black Knights looking at him and gaping like a fish. Diethard seemed to have found another person to idolize.


Takeshi Sato was on the corridors of the Government building, having delivered a message to the Kyoto houses. It had been an hour since the Black Knights won the battle of Fuji and Zero was expected to speak to the people. He would probably be announcing the independence of Japan, Takeshi was sure of it. Still, it seemed like his leader was taking his time, like if he didn't care if the Britannian Army could attack at any moments.

'Maybe he made sure that the army wouldn't attack us.' Takeshi thought. 'After all, anything is possible with that power…'

In the corridor, Takeshi saw a young Britannian boy walking around. He looked at Takeshi with a penetrating gaze. Somehow, the situation seemed to amuse him.

The guy approached him.

"Do you know where I can find Suzaku Kururugi?" He asked casually.

Takeshi frowned. He knew he had heard this guy's voice, but where?

"He's on the room 412 with the Kyoto representative." He replied. "I come from there."

"Cool." The guy said, and then walked away to the elevators. "Thank you."

Takeshi followed him quickly. "Hold on! Can I know your name?"

"My name's Lelouch." He replied simply, entering the elevator.

Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "Lelouch? What an odd name."

The guy named Lelouch pushed a button and turned to see him.

"It's not a surprise that I have an odd name, considering how twisted my parents are." Then the elevator's doors closed, leaving Takeshi on his perfect imitation of the goldfish.


Lelouch was opening the door of the room 412, revealing seven persons: The six representatives of Kyoto and Euphie.

Kaguya widened her eyes. "You! You're alive?"

"Yeah, yeah, Miss Sumeragi, I'm alive." Lelouch replied casually, saluting the other members of Kyoto properly. "Suzaku, can I talk with you in private?"

"Sure."

The two childhood friends were alone in an empty room.

"So, what are you going to do?" Lelouch asked. "Are you going to change Britannia from within?"

Suzaku rolled his eyes. "You know, I've changed my point of view on the World, with me being Zero and all. I think I should do what I think is right for me and for the people."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "And you're going to do what?"

"Follow Euphie in her task of cooperating with you." Suzaku declared.

"She really wants to cooperate with me?" Lelouch asked rhetorically.

Suzaku nodded.

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose. "I guess it won't do any harm, but it's not like I need her cooperation or something, even so…"

"By the way." Suzaku interrupted him. "Did you use your Geass on Euphie the same way as me? Did you tell her to 'live'?"

Lelouch nodded. "Yeah. And my power still works once, I've checked. What about you? Does the curse I put on you still works?"

Suzaku's face betrayed some anger. "Yes. But you should've told me it was for today! I've nearly been obliterated by a bombshell!"

Lelouch shook his head. "Sorry, sorry."

"Whatever." Suzaku said. "It proved that I still have that survival instinct."

"Yeah, about that…" Lelouch began, but was interrupted by a knocking in the door.

Suzaku opened the door, revealing a certain pink-haired Princess.

"You were spying on us?" Lelouch mused.

"No." She said quickly while Suzaku closed the door. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"I'm all ears."

"Who's Zero now?" Euphie asked.

Lelouch coughed. "My girlfriend C.C."

Euphie blushed. "Ah, the one with green hair."

"Yeah." He nodded. "In case things go wrong, the World will see that Zero is an anonymous woman instead of an exiled Prince. She was the one to suggest that."

"Are you using your real identity?" Euphemia asked.

Lelouch nodded again. "Suzaku told me you wanted to cooperate with me."

"It depends." She said. "What have you planned?"

He approached her and whispered something to her ear.

"…"

After several minutes of explanation, Euphie said finally. "I think it's a good idea if I go with you."

Lelouch shrugged. "Okay."

"And I want to appear with Zero when he makes his speech." She added. "I want the people to know that I didn't flee."

Lelouch grinned. "You have grown up. I'm glad you finally gave up on Britannia on your own consent."


It was 10:30 when Zero finally appeared to the crowd, in the central plaza, holding Euphemia's hand. Diethard was ecstatic and held the camera himself. The images would be sent to the entire World.

"Dear Japanese!" Zero exclaimed, even if it was a recording from Lelouch. "Today our own nation has been brutally attacked by Britannia, who wouldn't stand the principles Euphemia promoted here!"

The crowd was shouting "Destroy Britannia!"

"Even if Euphemia truly believed in this project she has been betrayed by her father's nation, like us all." Zero continued. "If we desire a better future, we have to get away from the Empire's influence. This is why; I hereby declare our independence from Britannia! But we will not turn back the hands of time! The new Japan we go on to build shall be one broad enough to accept all peoples, histories, and ideologies where the strong shall not reign over the weak! And it shall be called... THE UNITED STATES OF JAPAN!"

Lelouch couldn't help but cry. But this time it was tears of joy. Yes, Zero had a country, an army and a territory, but Lelouch didn't lose Euphemia, and Suzaku and Nunnally weren't lost to his lies. In a way, he finally had won against his father.

But it wasn't the time to cry. After all, Lelouch still had another country to create.