A/N:Last chapter was rather short, so I thought I'd lengthen this one a little.

Chapter 25 Point of no return

Cassius le Britannia couldn't be any more frustrated than at this very moment. That little commoner twerp Lelouch was still alive and their plan had failed. That brat still had his eyes set on the throne, he knew, and as far as he knew the brat would succeed. Lelouch was a big favorite of Charles zi Britannia-he knew this much from the way the Emperor had practically treated their return to the Royal Family.

For their father, of all conceivable ironies, to actually like a disgusting half-blood like Lelouch made him want to vomit. Lelouch was a threat, and he had to go, as soon as possible. This he knew. Yet his whole family seemed to have practically fallen for the little brat.

Even Schneizel loved them, for reasons that he didn't understand. He didn't understand what was so great about the vi Britannia siblings, and his sister Carline didn't, either. That was how they agreed on things. When they were children, the vi Britannia siblings had been so spoiled that it was ridiculous. That was why they had made it their royal duty to torture them as much as possible; to show them where their place was in life.

They were simple scum who didn't deserve to sit on their father's throne and the rest of the court knew that. Yet they all hailed Lelouch the moment he had returned and he was instantly a favorite of the court. He was a filthy half-blood, not even a true noble, so what right did he have to place his filthy hands upon that throne? None at all.

His little sister Carline came into the room at that moment, hands balled into fists. "That little wretch is still alive!"

"I know," Cassius said grimly. He wished Lelouch would just die, why was he so much like an annoying fly? He just wouldn't stay dead no matter what happened. "I don't get it. Why isn't he dead?"

Carline stuck her nose in the air. "He's stubborn, I'll give him that. But he does have a weakness...that air-headed sister of his. Why don't we kill her?"

"Nunnally?" Cassius said.

"No, let's kill Euphemia. Then he'll really suffer," Carline said evilly. "She's just useless; an incredibly useless girl who cannot do anything for our Father. Her only reason to be here is just as a puppet for Father to keep little Corny in check!"

A menacing voice came from behind them, "Excuse me, Carline, are you serious about what you're saying?"

Both of them turned around and froze upon seeing the Witch of Britannia standing behind them, looking furious. Instantly, fear filled the little cowards' veins.

"We were kidding," Carline lied, "Yes, kidding."

"Kidding, huh? I see...nice try, Carline. If you're seriously going to kill Euphemia, then I will show you no mercy even though we are siblings. No one kills my sister, is that understood? I don't want to see you snooping around either her or Lelouch." Cornelia growled.

"What if loony Lulu kills her?" Carline sneered.

"Lelouch is my brother and he is your brother, too. You are to show him nothing but respect, not pathetic insults. People like you are the reason Lady Marianne is dead."

"That old witch who died in front of weak old Nunnally? The little weakling who went "blind" after the whole tragedy of seeing her mother die? Yes, that's so sad! That was probably one of the best days of my life!" Carline said euphorically. "The blood in the air smelled so good."

"I cannot forgive you for spewing such disgusting garbage!" Cornelia growled.

"Cornelia, that's enough. Let's go somewhere else now," Schneizel chided. "I'm sorry you all hate Lelouch, but that's unfortunate. Lelouch is here to stay, Carline and Cassius, and I'm afraid you two will have to overlook your prejudices."

Carline and Cassius both fumed, but stormed out the door anyway.

"Cornelia, I'm sorry you had to hear that crap," Schneizel said, "But it seems to me like people are not going to change the way they feel about Lelouch automatically."

"I know," Cornelia whispered, "But to think that Lelouch will have to hear such disgusting talk about him. How is he going to deal with it?"

Schneizel smiled at her reassuringly. "Everything will be all right, Cornelia. Lelouch is capable of handling himself just fine. You and I both know he will be all right."

Cornelia flushed. "Yes, but you know I worry about him."

Schneizel chuckled. "Lelouch is alive and all right. I have ordered Suzaku to bring him back here, alive. So all's well that ends well."

Sure enough, Suzaku appeared in the doorway, followed by Euphemia and Lelouch, who looked beaten-up, but otherwise all right. Cornelia hugged both Euphemia and Lelouch as tears of relief came out of her eyes.

"Lelouch, you naive idiot...what were you trying to do? You could have been killed!" She cried, sobbing.

Lelouch blinked. He didn't think his sister was capable of feigning tears. He smirked. "Cornelia, you're looking embarrassing in front of Euphie."

"I don't care," Cornelia said, but her eyes said otherwise. She cried a bit more as she held onto both of them.

"Sister, please don't cry, it's embarrassing." Euphemia chuckled, sort of embarrassed to see her sister acting this way towards them.

"Embarrassing? No, Euphie, what's more embarrassing is that I could've lost both you and Lelouch, so please don't die on me like Clovis did. Please, live...both of you."

Euphie looked at Lelouch, who was staring at Cornelia in complete disbelief. He had expected her to scold him, hit him, anything but hug them both and cry. Cornelia had always been stoic, so for her to cry at all was a rarity in and of itself. She was showing her human side to them. She cared for her siblings above all else.

"It's a pleasure to have you both alive, Lelouch, Euphie," Schneizel said. Lelouch merely nodded after freeing himself from Cornelia's death hug.

Euphemia bounded over to him. "Brother Schneizel, I'm glad to see you again!"

"As I am glad to see you, too, Euphie. I am relieved to see that both you and Lelouch are alive and well."

Lelouch knew full well that Schneizel was up to something...he just didn't know what he was up to. But he was going to find out, no matter what happened. He wasn't Schneizel's puppet and he was most certainly was not going to be a pawn on the battlefield.

Schneizel, if you think you can easily manipulate me, you're mistaken. This will be the final battle between you and I, a battle to see who can use the other better.

"See, Lelouch? They do care about us. They're not evil," Euphemia said.
Her gaze came to rest on Carline and Cassius, who were still there.

"How come you're not dead?" Carline huffed. "Such a pity."

"The same could be said about you two," Lelouch retorted coldly. He had his hand on over his eye.

"Hurt your eye, you annoying idiot?" Cassius taunted. "That's too bad, little sissy. You gonna cry over it?"

"As a matter of fact...no, I wasn't. Rather, I'd like it if you would leave us alone. Don't you think you would rather go outside and say those things about the Japanese to them? You probably have nothing better to do, after all." He said, and watched as the Geass went into both of their eyes.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we do need to leave. Carline, let's go," Cassius droned vacantly, his eyes devoid of any emotion as they both walked out.

"Lelouch, is that your...?" Euphie asked, pointing at his geass.

"Yes, it is. In the meantime, I expect to have something to cover this with, like an eyepatch," He said.

"Lelouch, what is the state of the Special Zone right now?" Cornelia asked, but paused as she noticed Lelouch was again covering his left eye. "Lelouch, what are you hiding from me? Let me see your eye."

"I can't show you," Lelouch whispered softly.

"Lelouch, do not be so reckless!" She pried his hand away and then she gasped. "My god...Lelouch, what the hell happened to your eye?"

Sure enough, a gleaming, permanently active Geass shone in his left eye.

'Oh, no, what am I gonna do now?'