Thank you to anyone who reviewed this week, I really appreciate it! I really do love scrolling down and reading through the reviews I get, so you guys are awesome! I've been busy these past two weeks, but writing this story has gotten me through that, so thank you guys for giving me a reason to keep writing! Without further ado, the continuation of Of Queens and Emperors.


Chapter 8

Shirley awoke with a start, breathing heavily and forehead drenched in sweat. Her orange hair stuck tightly to her face in some places and frizzled wildly in others. Unconsciously, she grazed a finger past her tingling lips, memory still fresh in her mind.

"What's happening with me?" She whispered. Her heart was threatening to burst out of her chest, pounding away like a drum, and her mind was reeling from confusion.

She could still feel it. All of it. The pain of knowing her father had died, stabbing at her like a knife. Raindrops, pouring down on her, even as tears streamed down from her face. And then…relief. It had washed over her in waves as she laid her eyes upon him, her savior from the cruel world she had been subjected to. In that moment, he was a black knight that represented her one escape from the cruelty of the world.

And then, it was a mess of hot tears and accusations, none of which he deserved. And then, his lips were on hers, as she clawed at him hungrily and readily. They were melting into each other's embrace, fitted together like two pieces of the same puzzle. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and his were cool and soothing, in that shade of violet that she loved so much and lusted after at times. There were two pairs of eyes, closed in ecstasy as they held each other in the pouring rain, euphoric and miserable at the same time. She could have gotten whiplash from all of the emotions that had invaded her mind.

But it wasn't real. It couldn't have been. Sure, it was vivid, but dreams always were, right? If it was a dream however, it begged the question. Why was she thinking about Lelouch that way? There was no way that she was interested in him, at least, not in that way. He was handsome, sure, but she wasn't the kind of girl to fall for someone based on their looks, at least, she thought she wasn't.

"Please Lulu…help me."

In frustration, she pulled at her hair. Her father was out there in the Underworld somewhere, probably being tortured as she spoke, and here she was, selfishly fantasizing about some boy. To say that she was disappointed in herself was an understatement.

Glancing over at her alarm clock, Shirley saw that it was already three in the morning. Giving a tired sigh, she allowed her body to collapse backwards, the bed creaking slightly as she did so. Staring up at the ceiling, she tried to put those deep purple eyes out of her mind, to no avail. They had been haunting her incessantly, ever since that time his hand had held hers in the park, as much as she had tried to fight against the thought of them.

Giving a cry of desperation, Shirley rolled onto her right side, burying the side of her head into her pillow.

"Who exactly are you, Lelouch?"

And then, softly, Shirley whispered to herself, "Who exactly am I?"


Sona tapped her foot impatiently, finding herself anxious for the first time in a long time. Fretfully, she smoothed out her skirt, having opted to stay in her school uniform this time, as they were meeting after school. However, she knew that Lelouch had training and the like, so they had planned to meet at the front of the school after he had finished a training session with one of the members of his Order. It was an older man, named Master Genbu.

"Kaichou, I have to go home now. I'll see you tomorrow?" Genshirou Saji, her faithful pawn asked hopefully. He was a handsome blonde haired boy who was unknowingly the object of affection for several girls, including several of her servants, and he was completely oblivious to the fact. However, Sona had to admit that she had no eyes for him. He was an attractive male, but paled when compared to Lelouch, at least in her opinion.

In response, Sona nodded and smiled at the brown haired boy, "Of course. See you tomorrow Saji."

Obediently, Saji nodded and walked out the gate, waving at Sona as he did so. Not lost on her was the slight expression of disappointment that crossed his face once he thought that he was out of sight.

She sighed. He had made it perfectly clear that he was in love with her, but unfortunately, she had to spurn his advances several times. The truth was, he was her servant, and, although she did like to pamper him, he wasn't and likely would never be anything more than that. Thankfully, he didn't actively try and interfere with her and Lelouch, but she could tie that he clearly disliked the Geass user.

"Sona!" Suddenly, she heard the voice she had been waiting for, and immediately, her face lit up in joy, all anxiety forgotten.

"Lelouch. Nice to see you." Sona chirped happily as her boyfriend arrived at the gate, looking slightly disheveled. He was still wearing his uniform, although he had taken off his necktie and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt, exposing just enough of his chest for Sona to blush in embarrassment as she saw him. He really was getting stronger every day, and the results were showing, from what she could see.

"Sorry I'm a little late." Lelouch said apologetically, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"No problem. I had some work to finish at Student Council anyways." Sona replied, holding her hands up to let him know that it was okay. Truth be told, she had actually been waiting at the gate for a good ten minutes with Saji, but seeing Lelouch made the wait well worth it.

"So, shall we be on our way?" Lelouch asked, offering out his arm, which Sona gratefully took and wrapped herself around. As she did, she felt his muscles bulge slightly and sighed blissfully. She wasn't a normal teenage girl by any means, but even she had to approve of an exceptional physique.


"So, Lelouch. Rias told me that you went to the Underworld to break a prisoner free from the Fallen Angels?" Sona asked as they sat down in a café, gratefully accepting two menus from the waitress, who wisely made the decision to remain professional, unlike some other waitresses who received a thorough dousing in water, courtesy of a jealous Sona.

"Yes, it was Master Genbu, one of the Geass Order's code bearers." Lelouch replied, scanning the menu but ultimately deciding on a coffee.

"So then, I assume that you're planning to rebuild that order of yours?" Sona asked, to which Lelouch nodded.

"I suppose so. It is my destiny and all." He chuckled.

"Does it really mean anything to you at all?" Sona asked with an expression that bordered on frustrated.

Lelouch looked at her, confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you even know why you want to do this?" Sona replied, interested to know the answer.

Lelouch looked to be deep in thought as he sat back and placed a hand on his chin.

"I don't really know exactly why I want to do this, but I know I want to, and that's what is important to me. It doesn't matter to me why I want to do it, but that I want to do it."

"Then what's preventing you from just giving up on it all and just living a normal life?" Sona asked.

"Well, too many people are counting on me for me to do that. I can't just let them all down." Lelouch replied.

"Interesting." Sona whispered to herself.

"Well then, Sona, since you asked me, let me return the favor. What exactly do you plan to do?" Lelouch asked, switching gears.

As he asked that, he could sense an uneasiness come over Sona. Instantly regretting his words, Lelouch opened his mouth to apologize, but to his surprise, Sona answered before he could speak.

"My plan is to build a school for Rating Games." Lelouch nodded in understanding. Rias had informed him about Rating Games, which were competitions between Devils that utilized their servants. He had been interested to learn about them initially, as they were, at least in his eyes, merely dynamic games of chess, which intrigued him greatly.

However, being just a human and not a High Class Devil, he had no right to participate in one past the role of advisor. Obviously, he could tell that Sona was likely well versed in Rating Games, given her aptitude for chess. However, to think that her dream was to impart her knowledge, it made him feel oddly proud.

"But not like the ones they currently have. I want to build one for low class and reincarnated Devils, not like the elite schools for High Class Devils only." Sona continued, and Lelouch nodded in approval.

But as she finished talking, her face suddenly fell, and her hands grew limp, causing Lelouch to quickly grasp onto her hands in concern.

"Sona, what's wrong?" He asked.

"This is usually when they start laughing." She replied sadly, showing Lelouch a weakness that he had never seen before from her.

"They are all the same. They always tell me I'm crazy for wanting to do this, and that I'd be wasting my talents. All they believe is that Rating Games should be used to promote the strength of the Pure Bloods, and that teaching lower Devils would be a waste of time." She said bitterly.

At this, Lelouch frowned and squeezed her hands tightly, "And they'd be wrong. You're not wrong to think that way. Those who believe otherwise are despicable. I believe that you know what right above everyone else. Isn't that why you're the next head of the Sitri Clan?"

Lelouch's eyes widened for a moment, unsure what had come over him in that moment. Hearing that Sona was looked down on for her ideals suddenly made him incredibly angry, and sent him into an inexplicable rage. It felt as if a memory had suddenly come over him, but nothing of the sort was to be found. Just a sudden distaste for inequality. Was this one of his repressed personality traits, or something else?

He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but one thing he was sure of was that he definitely did not support the current stratified Devil system.

For her part, Sona's eyes widened in surprise as well, although it was for an entirely different reason. She had never heard anyone support her plan, outside of her peerage. But Lelouch had reassured her, with such passion and intensity that she had actually been taken aback.

"Thank you." She whispered appreciatively, looking away so that he would not see the blush on her face. It made her feel incredible to know that someone actually supported her plan, and the fact that it was Lelouch only added to her joy. To tell the truth, she had actually doubted herself and her plan, but after seeing the way that Lelouch had argued for her, it had reaffirmed her conviction.

"No problem. I believe in you, Sona, even if you lose faith in yourself. I've seen your intelligence and skills before, and if anyone can succeed, I know that it's you." Lelouch said, once more adding to the pink dusting Sona's cheeks. He had been the first person outside of her sister to actually approve of her plan. Even her parents had expressed doubt about it at times.

Appreciatively, she leaned over across the table and gave him a quick chaste kiss on his cheek.

As she watched him rub his cheek slowly in confusion, she couldn't help but crack a smile at his expression. In response, he smiled, happy to see Sona smiling once more.

At the sight of Lelouch smiling warmly, Sona could feel her heartbeat increase and her breath quicken. He really was handsome, especially when he was smiling with a little twinkle in his eye.

If she wasn't in love with him before, she was now.


"Jeremiah, can I ask you something?" Shirley said awkwardly as they walked home side by side. Since they were devoting most of their time to training Lelouch, they had bought an apartment nearby Kuoh Academy, and acted as father and daughter to neighbors, despite the relatively small age difference between them.

"Sure thing." Jeremiah replied, eager to help out the girl.

"What would you say if I told you that I was dreaming about someone?" Shirley asked slowly, trying to keep herself from yelling out the last part in a panic. The words felt foreign as they came out of her mouth, and she did not want to dwell on them any more than she had to.

"First I would ask who the lucky boy was." Jeremiah replied playfully, enjoying the sight of an embarrassed Shirley. For all of the time he had known her, he had never seen her act quite like this before. It was rare for her to show any emotion, having been trained exceptionally well by her father.

Beyond that, he had never known her to be interested in any sort of boys. First off, most of the male members of the Geass Order knew better than to try and ask out the daughter of Master Seiryu, and furthermore, Shirley seemed to be more interested in training than in dating.

So to see her like this was very rare indeed.

"Well, it's not like I really have feelings for him or anything!" Shirley stammered quickly before dropping her head, seemingly in shame.

"Lelouch." She whispered softly.

"What was that?" Jeremiah asked, straining to hear.

Shirley threw up her hands in frustration before raising her voice, "I said Lelouch, all right?"

"Oh, really? And what sort of thoughts were they?" Jeremiah asked slyly.

"Well, it was just a dream, but I thought about us meeting in the rain and…" Shirley trailed off, too embarrassed to continue on.

"And?" Jeremiah prodded.

Groaning, Shirley took a deep breath to calm herself, "Kissing."

At those words, Jeremiah's eyes widened in surprise. What Shirley had just described sounded remarkably similar to what had actually happened between Shirley and Lelouch back in their proper universe. Could it be that her memory was returning?

But why would it suddenly come back now, when it had not surfaced at all in the past year? Someone must have caused this sudden recovery of memory, but who?

As the questions raced through his head, Jeremiah kept a straight face, not wanting give away his thoughts.

"Well then, I would say that you might have a crush on Lelouch. He is a handsome young man, after all." Jeremiah replied suggestively, completely hiding his thoughts. He could not let Shirley know the truth about her past. For now, he would just have to let her suffer over her feelings, now that she thought she liked Lelouch.

It was the best thing to do until he could find out more about the situation.


Yawning as he returned to the shrine, moon already out, Lelouch leisurely strolled into the gates, eyes closed as he enjoyed the coolness of the night.

He really was making exceptional progress with Sona, which bode well for future dealings with the rest of Devil society. There was a certain advantage to having relations with the heiress of a prominent family after all. Besides that, he felt as if he was really beginning to like Sona in return.

She was beautiful, strong willed, and most of all, intelligent. He found that he really did enjoy their conversations much more than he had originally intended to. Beyond that, the potential benefits that brought with her by being a High Class Devil were incredibly enticing. In short, she seemed to be the perfect girl for him.

Although he admitted that he had been using her, at least initially, his feelings had changed as he spent more and more time with her. He found that he truly did appreciate her company, and that he really enjoyed spending time with her. It had not been a chore to date her, as he had originally expected.

He cracked a smile at the thought. Obviously, he would never lose sight of his goals, but it wouldn't hurt to at least enjoy his work somewhat while he could.

Although, Sona had brought up an interesting point. Why exactly did he feel such a strong need to complete his goals? Nothing was stopping him from just shirking his responsibility and leaving it up to Shirley and Jeremiah to rebuild the Geass Order, so why couldn't he just step away? It was an intriguing question indeed. He had managed to avoid answering it back in the café, but now, it was the only question on his mind.

"Lelouch!" He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by the sight of Raynare, who was dressed in a kimono not unlike the one that Akeno normally wore at the shrine.

"Hello, Raynare." He responded disinterestedly as he walked right past her. In response, Raynare pouted and latched onto his arm.

"Lelouch, I prepared dinner for you tonight. Why don't you come and eat first?" Raynare asked sweetly.

"All right, I suppose I need food." Lelouch replied, allowing Raynare to drag him into the dining room, where Akeno was waiting patiently at the table. However, at the sight of Raynare touching Lelouch, her smile suddenly grew more forced as she resisted the urge to vaporize the Fallen Angel with a lightning strike right then and there.

"Lelouch, why don't you eat first? I have something I need to discuss with Raynare." Akeno said, ushering Lelouch into a seat before grabbing the Fallen Angel by the collar and leading her out of the room.

Akeno released Raynare out in the courtyard of the shrine, leaving the girl gasping for air.

"All right. What do you want with Lelouch?" Akeno asked seriously, abandoning her normal demeanor.

"What does it look like? I'm going to marry him one day and right now, I'm practicing my duties as a future wife to him." Raynare said confidently, causing Akeno to stare at her for a moment before she began giggling.

"What's so funny?" Raynare snapped in reply.

"Nothing. Just that you think you have a chance with him." Akeno managed in between laughs.

"Don't I?" Raynare asked angrily, furious that she was being laughed at.

"Very well, if you want to keep deluding yourself, then why don't you fight me right now? This will decide whether or not you truly have a chance." Akeno taunted.

"Fine. Then I accept." Raynare replied, creating a spear of light.

"Exactly what I was waiting for." Akeno said softly, readying lightning in her hands.

With a cry, Raynare forcefully flapped her wings, instantly propelling herself forward and into Akeno, who stood her ground without any fear. She quickly stabbed the spear of light forward, only to find it met by a bolt of lightning.

With a scream of frustration, Raynare hopped backwards, giving Akeno the opening she wanted. With no hesitation, she closed her eyes and muttered an incantation. As she did so, storm clouds quickly assembled in the sky above them, and, without warning, a lightning bolt cleaved open the sky, striking down with unparalleled speed and intensity at Raynare.

With a grunt of effort, Raynare dove forward, just as the electricity shattered the ground behind her. In response, Raynare reached her arm back and flung a spear of light from her prone position. As Akeno put up a small barrier to block the attack, Raynare took the opportunity to scramble to her feet.

Creating two spears of light, Raynare switched her tactics, deciding to stay on the defensive while Akeno struck at her with smaller lightning bolts. As each approached her, Raynare utilized her weapons to knock the electricity aside, resulting in several small explosions of bright light as the lightning and light met.

Akeno began panting a bit as she flung strike after strike at Raynare, to no avail. She was getting tired, and she knew that she would have to end the fight quickly for any chance of victory.

Meanwhile, Raynare was getting tired as well, having expended most of her energy trying to block Akeno's attacks.

"Time to end this." Akeno whispered to herself, stopping her smaller attacks and instead opting to charge up for a larger strike.

Sensing and opportunity, Raynare charged forward with all of her force, not to be stopped by anything as she hurtled towards Akeno at a dizzying pace. Just as she stabbed forward with her spear, Akeno placed a hand in front of her, releasing a ball of electricity that flew straight at the light of Raynare's spear. As the two attacks collided, there was an explosion of golden sparks and immediately, Akeno and Raynare were both flung backwards violently by the sheer force of their attacks.

"I've got to keep going." Raynare muttered as she tried to stand back up, but she suddenly found her body giving out on her, and instead, collapsed back to the floor. However, as she did so, she spotted Akeno on the other side of the courtyard, struggling to do the same, and failing as well.

"What's going on out here?" Lelouch asked as he ran out the door of the dining room to find Akeno and Raynare both lying on the ground, breathing heavily.

Although on the surface, he was distraught over the situation, in reality, he was smiling underneath. He had hoped that at some point Akeno and Raynare would fall for him as well and clash, but he had not expected it to happen so soon. Seeing such a sight did wonders to raise his spirits, which were already high from his progress with Sona.


Shirley lay in her bed, staring up at her ceiling as she tried in vain to get some sleep.

"A crush." She whispered to herself, not quite believing the words that came out of her own mouth. After all, it seemed ridiculous to think that she actually had a crush on someone, much less Lelouch. There was just no way!

He was lazy, arrogant, weak, handsome, alluring, mysterious... Shirley shook her head vigorously, trying to get rid of the crazy thoughts plaguing her mind. But somehow, it seemed natural to think of him in that way, as if she had always thought of him that way, which was crazy because, as far as Shriley knew, she had never had any feelings for him.

But ever since that time in the park when he had put his hand on top of hers, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She could still feel every contour and detail of his hand as it had grazed by hers slightly for the slightest of moments, but to her, it had felt like an eternity.

Shirley sighed. She really was going crazy.


"That's good Lelouch. You're really coming along." Genbu said approvingly as they both reclined on the couch of the Occult Research Club, where they normally practiced. Both of them were utterly exhausted, and merely collapsed into two sweaty heaps on the couch. Contrary his appearance, Genbu was actually quite fit and held his own against Lelouch during their training session at a level that surpassed even Shirley and Rias.

"Thank you, Master Genbu." Lelouch said gratefully. It felt good to have vindication for all of his hard work, even if he could already feel the tangible effects.

"In fact, I don't know if there's much else I can actually teach you. My doctrine is quite complicated, but you seemed to have picked it up without much problem at all." Genbu replied sheepishly. Honestly, he was expecting to impart his knowledge to Lelouch slowly over a long period of time, but Lelouch had already learned everything there was to learn from him within a month. It really was spectacular.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow at this, "Really? Then I would like to ask you one more favor."

"And what would that be?" Genbu asked interestedly.

"I would like you to form a contract with Raynare and allow her to receive your tutelage." Lelouch replied.

"The Fallen Angel? You want to induct her into our order?" Genbu asked, to which Lelouch nodded.

Looking at the younger man in confusion, Genbu scratched his head, "Why did you wait until now to ask me? We could have started her training much earlier if you had just informed me of this."

Lelouch shook his head, "No, I had to make sure that her loyalty would be to us. We have no use for traitors."

"And you know for sure that she is loyal?" Genbu asked, understanding Lelouch's caution. After what had happened to the former Geass Order, it made sense that he would want to be selective in choosing its members.

"Yes, I can. I suppose I could have used my Geass to fully guarantee it, but I would rather not waste my one command on that." Lelouch replied.

Genbu shrugged his shoulders, "Well, if you are confident in it, I don't see why not."


Lelouch reclined back into his booth, and stared out the window as he tried to sort out his thoughts. Outside, it was wintertime, and already several months had passed since he had been transported to this world. He smiled at the thought. So much had changed since he had arrived.

He had discovered the existence of Devils, Fallen Angels, and Angels, and their great conflict. Not to mention, he found out that he was the host of a dragon, and that he was also fated to become the leader of the Geass Order. More importantly, he had rediscovered most of his mannerisms, personality traits, and other aspects to himself lost to mental blocks, although Jeremiah had made it clear that he would not remove the final block, containing the full extent of his memories, until much later. But even in that field, he was already making significant progress by experimenting on Shirley.

As far as his Geass Order was concerned, he was less than satisfied with his progress so far, but it couldn't be helped. So far, the only person that he had made any sort of progress in initiating into the Order was Raynare, who was currently on the route to being trained by Master Genbu, once she formed a contract with him.

From what he had learned, the other Masters were being held in various locations in the Underworld, none of which would be easy to infiltrate. So for now, he was stuck until he could muster up a force large enough to stage an attack or his skills developed enough for him to hold his own under the overwhelming conditions.

He felt movement next to him, and glanced over to see that Sona had adjusted her position under his right arm, and had moved closer into his body, snuggling up against his now more muscular and toned chest, thanks to frequent training with Shirley.

Sona definitely had been very valuable to him. He had told Jeremiah that he casted a Geass for her to fall in love with him, which was true for the most part. Really, what he had told her was to "do anything for me, even if it means betraying your family." Once he had learned that her sister was one of the Satans, the decision had been instantaneous for Lelouch. First, he was going to see if Geass could affect Devils, which he learned it could, and second, he was going to gain a valuable ally in the face of the Satans if he ever decided to cross the Devils.

The falling in love was inevitable already, as far as he could tell from the way that Sona seemed so comfortable in their current embrace, but the kind of loyalty that would transgress familial ties was something only Geass could guarantee.

With his one free hand, he picked up his cup of coffee, which he took black, and drank deeply, enjoying the aroma of freshly roasted beans amid the bustle of the coffee shop they were sitting in.

"So, are we going to discuss our plans for the next term?" Lelouch asked the girl sitting across from them, the vice president of the Student Council, Tsubaki Shinra.

As an honorary member of the Student Council, and unofficial advisor to Sona, Lelouch was one of the few people who were allowed to make executive decisions, along with the consent of Tsubaki and Sona of course. As far as the Student Council itself went, Lelouch wasn't terribly interested in most of them, save for the pawn, Genshirou Saji.

The boy had gone off on Lelouch when he first entered Student Council with Sona wrapped around his arm, going on about how he was the only one who was going to impregnate Sona and marry her. Unfortunately, Lelouch was forced to waste his Geass on ordering him to calm down. Since then, Saji didn't really bother him too much, thankfully.

"Well, we still have to plan the graduation ceremony for the end of the school year, and…" Tsubaki leaned in and hushed her voice so that no one else outside of the booth could hear, "Sona, there's still the issue of your marriage. Your parents are getting impatient with you."

"I know." Sona nodded somberly.

"I'm guessing they want some high ranking Devil, isn't that right?" Lelouch said, causing Sona to shake her head.

"But that doesn't mean I'll listen to them. I should still get to choose my husband. And I want it to be you, Devil or not."

Lelouch smiled warmly and kissed her forehead swiftly.

"Thank you Sona. Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out, just trust me." Lelouch said, giving her a reassuring look.

"Well actually, I've already taken care of that." Sona replied, "I've arranged for us to travel to my home during the break so you can meet my family. I'll have to convince them that you are an acceptable husband for me."

Lelouch laughed, "Well, you are always prepared. Very well, I guess I have no choice but to blow them all away."


As you guys probably guessed from the ending of this chapter, Lelouch is going to visit the Underworld and meet Sona's parents and Serafall. From what I've read so far, and that isn't much, I don't recall Sona's parents ever really being mentioned, although I assume that they are still alive, as someone other than Serafall has to be running the clan. However, I've been wrong before, so feel free to correct me on that, if anyone knows.

From the reviews I got, I've made the decision that I'll follow a bit of the Excalibur story line, although it will likely deviate. And the Khaos Brigade is going to come up as well, if only because I have a weakness for lolis like Ophis.

Besides that, I'll give out a warning that my next update might take a little longer than usual. My Playstation Vita showed up in the mail, and I'm probably going to start playing Persona 4 Golden and Dynasty Warriors like crazy for the next few weeks. I don't know, I just really have a weakness for them, so yeah, updating might be a problem, at least until I get them out of my system. But still, I hope you guys continue to read.

Also, I've gone without a beta reader for quite a while on my last few stories, but I employed one in Beyond Zero, and I think that it really did improve my writing, so if anyone is interested, please PM me. I would prefer to have one of my readers helping me out, so please, feel free to PM me!

Please leave any and all thoughts below, either in the form of a review or a PM! I really appreciate every review I get, so I really would like to thank anyone who has reviewed so far. You guys rock! Also, to those who have not been reviewing, thank you for reading this story! I really do appreciate every review, read, favorite, or PM I get!