AN: This chapter has been rewritten because I along with a number of readers was not fully satisfied with how the first version I posted turned out.
to an anonymous reviewer known only as XxsakuyaXx I'm pretty set on the name Merlin.
I had a bunch of school work to do this week and I also had a lot of trouble getting the events in this chapter to flow right, that's why the update is a little delayed but hey, I update so often you guys really can't complain anyway can you? (ya'll so spoiled) :D
That and I did encounter a smidgen of writers block…Damn this chapter was really, really hard.
But the good news is the inspiration monster did give me a hard punch in the back of the head for a major part of the story that will come along much, much later. The idea is so freaking epic I'm really proud of myself for thinking of it.
I own nothing
Ch. 26 Confrontations
A man approached the Emperor from behind "Your Majesty the remains have arrived"
"I was just conversing with Clovis actually; the project must proceed without a moments delay."
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Area Eleven
Lelouch was for once enjoying a nice breakfast with Nunnally. He felt it was important to spend some time with her today because today was Clovis' state funeral and afterward he'd have to go greet the new Viceroy at the airport.
"Lelouch?" Nunnally asked.
"Yes Nunnally?"
"Do you think we could go to Ashford to watch the funeral?" she asked.
He thought about it for a moment "I guess we could, but why?"
"I just think it would be good to be around our friends today is all. It's important to be around those who care about you, you know."
"Alright, but we can only stay for a little while. Afterward I have to meet the new Viceroy at the airport."
She smiled "Thank you Lelouch."
He finished his eggs and got up from the table "Hurry up and finish eating, if we're going to go there for the funeral we better go pretty soon. I'll go have someone get a car ready for us."
"Okay Lelouch."
He went to his bed room and put the rest of his uniform on and contacted Jeremiah "Jeremy, Nunnally wants to go to Ashford to watch the funeral, be up here in about ten minutes." He then arranged for a limo to be ready for them in the next twenty minutes.
"What are you up to?" CC asked lazily from under the covers.
"Taking another step in my plan." Lelouch said.
"Have fun with that." she said before she rolled over and fell back asleep.
"Lazy woman." Lelouch muttered before he left the room to wait for Jeremiah to show up. Afterword he would have to come back up here to have a little chat with CC.
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Kyoto
"What could the Britannian Emperor possibly have to gain by bringing Prince Lelouch back into the fold? He seemed so quick to be rid of the boy so many years ago."
"I think a better question is what is it that's making him cooperate?" Taizo Kirihara said smoking his pipe
The young girl sitting outside the circle looked up "What do you mean?"
Kirihara looked in her direction "Kaguya, you will never know the true meaning of pure hatred until you see it in the eyes of a child. There is no possible way Lelouch would serve Britannia of his own free will."
"Perhaps Lelouch has an ulterior motive. You know about the legislation on new labor laws he instilled after Prince Clovis was assassinated. They were quite beneficiary to the Japanese populace." Hidenobu Kubouin said.
"Yes but it was the military he runs that destroyed Shinjuku in the first place. There were thousands of Japanese civilian casualties." Tousai Munakata argued.
Kirihara silently thought to himself.
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Ashford
The place looked deserted most of the students and teachers were probably already lined up in the gym waiting for something to come on the over sized screen it housed. Lelouch wheeled Nunnally in that direction with Jeremiah not far behind them. Once they reached the gym doors they quietly slipped in and stood to the side against the wall near the teaching staff.
None of the students had noticed them come in they were too busy prattling on about the latest gossip or about what was for lunch today some were griping that they had to come in and stand around again. Only a few teachers turned their heads when they heard the door open. Milly's grandfather gave them a nod but no one said anything to alert the rest of the school to their presents.
It wasn't long before an image of the Britannian flag appeared on the screen Lelouch cringed when the national anthem stated playing. About half way through the song he had hated even as a small child when he had no ill will towards Britannia it cut away to a stage with a large portrait of Clovis hanging behind it.
"And now his Royal Majesty the ninety-eighth Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire!" a voice announced.
Lelouch balled his fist as he watched his father approach the podium. "All men are not created equal!"He began "Some are born swifter of foot, some with greater beauty; some are born into poverty, and others born sick and feeble, both in birth and in upbringing. In sheer scope of ability every human is inherently different! Yes, that is why people discriminate one another, which is why there is struggle, competition and the unfaltering march of progress! Inequality is not wrong! Equality is! What of the E.U. which made equality a right? Rabble politics by a popularity contest! And the Chinese federation with it's equal distribution of wealth? A nation of lazy dullards! But not our beloved Britannia! We fight! We compete! Evolution is continuous! Britannia alone moves forward advancing steadily into the future. Even the death of my son Clovis demonstrates Britannia's unswerving commitment to progress! We will fight on! We shall struggle, compete, plunder and dominate! And in the end the future shall be ours!" he raised his fist in the air "All hail Britannia!"
"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA! ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!" the live audience of service men on the screen coursed repeatedly.
"How inappropriate." Lelouch muttered to his knight "Typical of father though." The three of them silently filed out of the gym to go to the clubhouse so Lelouch and Nunnally could wait for their friends before the rest of the school realized they were there. When they got to the regular meeting room it wasn't long before Milly, Kallen and Rivalz walked in.
Kallen stayed standing casually in the doorway trying to be nonchalant around them, trying desperately to act like she wasn't suspicious of them. Even though she wanted answers now wouldn't be the best time to get them.
"I thought that was you I saw out of the corner of my eye." Milly said
"Yeah well Nunnally thought it would be best to be around friends today."
"So what's up? You still Viceroy?" Rivalz asked.
"Yeah until about two; I'll be relieved of my post when the new one arrives today. I'll have to go greet them at the airport later so I can't stay too long." Lelouch explained.
"Ah man we never get to hang out any more." Rivalz complained.
"Sorry Rivalz, if I had my way I'd still be a student. Instead of you know…having to do prince stuff day in and day out; it's a pretty stuffy lifestyle."
"What's the point in being so powerful if you can't even go out and do the stuff you like to do?" Rivalz pouted. "When was the last time you had a good chess match huh?"
Lelouch thought about it for a moment. "It was right before Shinjuku actually. We were on our way back to the complex when we got attacked." He looked to Jeremiah who was just hanging out in the background "Remember? You got intimidate that noble because he didn't realize it was me and was being disrespectful."
"That was fun." Jeremiah said absentmindedly.
If Rivalz looked like he'd just been slapped in the face. "The two of you go gambling together?"
"Well it was just that one time. It was actually supposed to be my day off but those terrorists had other ideas." Lelouch said not noticing the look of betrayal on Rivalz face.
That's when Shirley walked into the room with a folder "I got the permission slips you asked for Milly…" she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Lelouch and Jeremiah standing there in the room.
"Oh…Hey Shirley …" Lelouch said.
"Lulu!" What are you doing here?
Nunnally answered for him "I wanted to to be around friends after we watched the bother Clovis' funeral so Lelouch and I came here."
"What are the permission slips for?" Lelouch asked curiously.
"Some of us are going on a little trip to Lake Kawagucihi next week." Milly explained "You should come with us."
"Sorry I've got some field testing I've got to do for some new Knightmares next week."
"I didn't realize you still had to do the sort of stuff, don't you have people for that?" Milly asked.
"Normally I wouldn't do it myself but these Knightmares are still experimental and one of them was made specifically for me to pilot." Lelouch explained before the phone on the table started ringing. He picked it up playfully swatting Milly's hand out of the way when she tried to take it from him. "Ashford Academy Student Council…no this is…oh." He turned and looked at Kallen "It's for you, says he knows you."
She took the phone from him and put it to her ear "Hello?"
"Hello Q-1" the voice on the other end said.
Her eyes immediately snapped to where Lelouch's knight was standing. He was still there next to Lelouch who was speaking with Milly 'I was wrong?' she thought to herself 'it wasn't him after all? Where they not involved?'
"Sixteen-hundred hours at Tokyo tower." The voice continued.
"Wait! Who are you?!" she asked but the person on the other end had already hung up. She realized everyone in the room was looking at her. "…Um it was a prank call…is there any way I can trace it?" she asked.
"If it was a prank call then it was probably some student goofing around on campus so I don't really think so." Milly said.
She nodded "You're probably right."
Soon enough the time came when Lelouch had to go and drop Nunnally back off at the complex so he could get to the airport on time to meet the new Viceroy. "I have to get going if I'm going to drop Nunnally off at the complex and make it to the airport on time." He said walking out of the room "I'll see you guys around, I'll be visiting a lot more when Nunnally comes back to school next week."
She watched him leave before she heard Rivalz start his theatrics.
"Ah man!" he wailed once he felt they were out of ear shot.
"What's your problem?" Shirley asked.
"My problem!? My problem is that my buddy replaced me! With Mr. Scary-Knight-Guy…You heard him they even go gambling together!"
"I'm sure Lulu didn't replace you Rivalz." Shirley insisted sounding annoyed.
"Rivalz, you do realize that Lelouch has known him longer then he's known any of us right?" Milly asked.
"…What?"
"Yeah Nunnally told me he used to be a guard for their mother. Besides you should be grateful Lord Jeremiah went gambling with him that day if he hadn't those terrorist would have killed him." she scolded.
Meanwhile back at the Government complex CC was erasing a massage on a voice recorder. "There I did you your favor Lelouch; you owe me a Cheese-kun plushy." She said to herself.
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The Airport
Lelouch watched as the plane carrying the new Viceroy touched down. It was most likely that it was another one of his siblings.
Once again ignoring the news crews filming this he got out of the car he was sitting in with his ever present knight as the airport employees drove a set of steps up to the door on the side of the plane before it swung open. When it did there was a cheerful feminine cry of "Lelouch!" before he saw a pink blur rush down and towards him engulfing him in a tight hug. It took only a moment for him to resister just who this blur was.
"Euphie? You're the new Viceroy?" he asked completely forgetting his manors for a moment, thankfully that he had not been given a microphone and there for could not be heard by the obnoxious news crews.
"No I only came because I wanted to be here with you and Nunnally; I transferred to your old school." She said not letting go.
He finally got her to loosen her grip and put some space between the two of them. "Well it's certainly nice to have you around but if you're not the new Viceroy then…" he didn't finish his sentence instead he was cut off by another familiar voice that radiated authority.
"Euphemia, what did I tell you on the plane?" it scolded. That's when he saw her being followed by her knight Gilford and a scar faced man he didn't know; this would be the first time he laid eyes on her since he was a child.
'Cornelia' Lelouch mentally sneered remembering what Clovis had reviled while under his Geass. He'd have to get her alone somehow it shouldn't prove to be too very difficult. The questions were what did she know? How was she involved? And what was he going to do when he found out?
Euphie turned to face her sister "follow protocol" she pouted.
"Yes, now in the future please show some restraint." She then brought her attention to Lelouch "from here on out I shall be reliving you of your post as Interim Viceroy, Commander."
"Thank you Viceroy I wish you luck with your new position."
The new crews stated packing up grumbling that they had to come out for something so anticlimactic and short. They grumbled even more after Cornelia nodded her knight over to them to tell them she ordered that the footage of Princess Euphemia's display of sisterly affection towards they young Commander was not to be used or there would be consequences.
"How is the investigation regarding Clovis' death so far? Any other leads?" Cornelia asked.
"The main suspects are still the members of the terrorist group that caused the disaster in Shinjuku. The Sutherlands they stole from the train Clovis asked me to send for reinforcements were all later found abandoned, so it's not like we can look for a hidden hanger full of stolen Knightmares. Unfortunately we have no leads as to their identities either."
"I see, well you no longer have to worry about that I shall be leading the investigation from now on as well."
"Understood. We should get going, Viceroy, we both have many of duties to attend to."
The two Princesses allowed the chauffeur to help them both into the vehicle. When they got to the complex Lelouch had them shown to their apartments which were in fact Clovis' old rooms. Nunnally was already there with Sayoko waiting for them.
"Nunnally!" Euphie cried excitedly
"Euphie? Is that you?" she found herself caught up in a hug. "You're the new Viceroy then?"
"I believe that position belongs to me." Cornelia interrupted. She walked over to the girl and knelled down to her level "it's good to see you again Nunnally. It's such a wonderful thing that you and Lelouch are still with us."
"It's nice to see you too Cornelia, Lelouch said you were in Area Eighteen."
Cornelia smiled "the conflict there is over, so I volunteered to come here and fill the vacant position." She looked to Euphie "Euphie, why don't you take Nunnally and go out into the garden. I need to speak with Lelouch for a moment."
Euphie nodded and followed Sayoko as she pushed Nunnally's chair out the French doors "Sister it's just like the garden at Aries Villa!" she called but Cornelia wasn't listening she was too busy giving Lelouch the once over, taking the image of her long lost brother in from head to toe.
"Schneizel was right you have grown." she said softly.
"It was bound to happen." He smiled.
She came close to him and swept him up into a bone crushing squeeze that pretty much pressed the air out of his lungs "Don't you ever disappear like that again" she whispered. She frowned when she finally let go of him "You're still too skinny…and pale. You haven't been taking good enough care of yourself. I'll have to fatten you up some."
Lelouch gasped for air trying to catch his breath. "And you're still unusually strong."
He entertained the thought of taking this as his opportunity since Euphie was out of the room and her Knight Gilford and the scar faced man who had introduced himself as his sisters advisor, Darlton, were down near the Knightmare hangers with Jeremiah helping to organize the Knightmares for the Glaston Knights division that Cornelia had brought with her. But it was too risky any of the three who didn't know of his power could walk in room at any moment.
"It's good that the two of you are here it will make it easier on her; we went to Ashford earlier to watch the funeral on international television. Nunnally was quite adamant about not missing it since we couldn't attend she also wanted to be around our friends."
"And how is she?" Cornelia asked.
Lelouch sighed "She was quite upset by the news especially when she heard I had been attacked as well. She's coping though."
"To think all this time you've been taking care of her by yourself." Cornelia said sympathetically while pushing some of his hair out of his face.
"I did have some help. The Ashford family was quite supportive, and Sayoko is quite good at what she does."
"That's something I'm glad to hear." We should join Euphie and Nunnally out in the garden before they come in here and drag us out there with them. Lelouch nodded and followed her to join his other two sisters.
After lying on the grass and reminiscing about their childhoods for what seemed like forever Cornelia had to excuse herself and Leave when Gilford and Darlton arrived and told her of a minor problem that needed her attention. Lelouch checked the time "I hate to have to cut out on you too but I have an appointment I need to keep. I see you girls later though." He got up from his spot on the grass and left the garden. He would need to quickly change into his street clothes before he left and he would have to call Jeremiah on his communicator to tell him to hold things down for him until he got back.
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Kallen walked through the small museum 'Why here of all places?' Kallen thought. She saw Ohgi and some of the others out of the corner of her eye they were whispering among themselves.
"Are you sure it wasn't Gottwald that contacted us? You said Kallen was so sure of it before." One of them said.
"Yeah, she called and told me she must have been wrong because she was looking right at the guy when she was contacted. So it couldn't have been him."
The intercom came on "Attention please paging Miss Kallen Stadtfeld of Ashford Academy. One of you personal items has been turned in at the kiosk at the observation deck."
Ohgi and the others turned around Kallen had already left for the kiosk.
When Kallen got to the kiosk there was a woman in a pink suit behind the counter she smiled and handed her a cell phone "I'm assuming this phone is yours?" she asked cheerfully. Kallen took it from the woman and looked at it. "Is there something wrong? It is yours isn't it?"
She looked back up at the woman "uh, yeah thank you so much" she said before she walked way towards the observation deck. She saw Ohgi and the others out there waiting for to show back up.
"Oh yeah, there's no debating it life is better here thanks to Prince Clovis and Prince Lelouch. I mean it's all due to Britannia that we were able to rebuild so quickly." She heard him say loudly trying not to look suspicious around all these Britannians. He saw her he gave her a small nod.
That's when the cell phone began to vibrate. She looked at the caller I.D. it said Zero. Then she answered it "Hello?"
"Board the outbound train on loop line five. Bring your friends." They hung up again. Kallen and the others did as the voice said and got on the train. It wasn't long before the phone started to vibrate again she picked it up "Ok what know?"
"Face forward and look to your right what do you see?"
The Britannians' city, it was stolen away from us and built on our sacrifices." She answered.
"And on the left?"
"I see our city. Remnants of a desiccated city after the Britannians sucked it dry."
"Good answer. Now make your way to the front of the train."
Kallen and the others did as the voice said and made their way to the front car of the train. Not noticing that the rest of the passengers seemed to be in some kind of a daze. They finally made it to their destination when the door slid open they found a cloaked figure stand with its back to them.
"Was it you on the phone?" Kallen asked.
"Do you think it's a trap?" one of them whispered.
"Well was that you in Shinjuku?" Kallen asked indigently. "Was that cease fire your doing?"
"Hey we're talking to you." Ohgi said.
The figure finally turned around as the train entered a dark tunnel. "What do you think of my tour of the settlement?" the masked man asked.
"Your tour?" another asked "come on it couldn't have been this joker."
"I wanted you to fully grasp the two, the settlement and the ghetto." It said spreading its arms.
Ohgi stepped forward "Yeah we already know there's a difference between us and Britannians, a very harsh one. And that's why we resist them." he said.
"You're wrong. Britannia will not fall to terrorism."
"Fall?" Ohgi asked.
"It is no better than a childish nuisance."
"What was that? You calling us a bunch of kids?"
"You should know your enemy it is not people but Britannia it's self. It is a war you must wage but not against the innocent. Take up your swards fight for justice!"
"That's all easy enough to say but we only took down Clovis's men in Shinjuku. Lelouch won't be so easy he's got an entire military including experimental Knightmares." Kallen yelled.
"We won't have to beat him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ohgi asked
"Prince Lelouch is an unwilling slave to the Emperor who wants to break free just as you do."
"That's one hell of an assumption, how do you know this stuff?" one of them asked.
"Why else would he have faked his own death all those years ago?"
"He faked his death?" Ohgi asked quietly.
"Lelouch is a powerful enemy but he can be an even more powerful ally. It would help us to help him."
"You mean destroy Britannia from the inside?" Ohgi asked.
"Something like that." the masked man said provocatively.
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Cornelia had taken care of the small problem from before and was now looking for Lelouch. She tried to contact him in his office and his Cell phone but there was no response from either of them. So she went to his apartments to find him but only found Nunnally.
"Nunnally do you know where Lelouch ran off to I can't seem to find him." Cornelia asked.
"He went somewhere in town. I think he said he had an important appointment; I'm not sure where it is maybe Miss CC knows."
"Miss CC?"
Nunnally blushed "Miss CC is Lelouch's mistress." She explained.
Cornelia's eyes widened. "Lelouch has a Mistress?" she asked in a flat voice.
Nunnally nodded "That's what Miss Sayoko said she was. I asked her because Lelouch said Miss CC wasn't his girlfriend or fiancé but they sleep in the same room so I got a little confused. Sayoko says it's only natural that at his age Lelouch would have physical needs that only a woman can satisfy." she stated.
Cornelia could hardly believe what she had just heard "I see, well when he gets back tell him I would like to speak with him in my personal study will you?"
"Of course."
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A little later
When Lelouch had gotten back from the train station and went back to his apartments to get back into uniform. Nunnally told him that Cornelia wanted to talk to him in her study. And he thanked her for letting him know.
When Lelouch got to Cornelia's apartments he wondered what she wanted to talk about that couldn't be said in her office. But was glad for the opportunity to get her alone now would be his chance. He got to his destination then knocked on the door and then poked his head in the room "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes I did." She pointed to an armchair "sit." He did as he was told.
"Before you start there's something I wanted to talk to you about." When she looked at him he activated his Geass and made eye contact.
"I order you to answer me" he said.
The same tranquil look Clovis had before he shot him came over her face "go on" she prompted.
"Sister are you the one who killed my mother?"
"I'm not."
"Then who was it?"
"I don't know."
This shocked him. "You were put in charge of her personal guard were you not?"
"Yes"
"Then why did you withdraw her escort?"
"I was asked to."
"By whom?"
"Lady Marianne"
"Mother? Mother asked you to…that's impossible." He said he didn't know what to make of it, it made no sense. 'My mother knew she would be attacked that day?...No it can't be if she did she would have gotten us out of there.' He thought.
"What really happened back there? Who killed her? Who killed my mother?!" he demanded trying to remember to keep his composure and not rouse the guards outside the main doors of the apartments by yelling too much.
She opened her mouth but didn't say anything.
"You don't know the truth…then who does? Someone must know. You yourself investigated what occurred that day."
"I remember his Majesty the Emperor ordered Schneizel to transport the body out of there."
"The body? You mean mothers? Then what was in that coffin?"
Once again she did not answer
"You don't know anything" he breathed as he let his hold over her fade.
When she came out of it she blinked a few times. "What was it you wanted to say?"
He looked at her innocently "You know what? Never mind it's nothing really. Now you wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Ah yes" she took a deep breath and collected herself "when I was told you were still alive I wanted to believe you were still the little boy I used to chase around the gardens at Aries Villa. But when I was informed that you were being faced with either marriage or military service I was forced to realize that you had in fact grown into the young man I see before me."
"Okay…" Lelouch said not quite knowing but still dreading where this was going.
She continued. "A young man who naturally has…an appetite for physical…pleasers…"
He instantly realized what she was trying to say and felt his face heat up and he closed his eyes "…Oh god…" he moaned burying his face in his hands.
She kept talking "…but it's important you take precautions in such matters."
"Cornelia…please…" he tried to stop her before things got irreversibly weird between them.
"Your mother is not around to do this so the responsibility of making sure you're not being sexually irresponsible falls to me!" she snapped blushing even more then he was. Obviously she felt even more awkward then he did.
"…Alright" he said not wanting to argue with her at the moment.
"Even though we will be following a strict code of formalities in public I'm still your older sister and you've been without proper guidance for far too long Lelouch. While I realize that I can't tell you how to live your life I am going to remedy the situation it's for your own good."
Lelouch gulped; maybe he should have waited till after she had said what she wanted to say before using his Geass on her it would have at least saved him from some future embarrassment.
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AN: I believe this new version better fits the plot and makes things a little more interesting, it also makes it so I don't have to write Zero out of the picture. And before anyone asks 'wouldn't he have been recognized at the tower? He's a prince after all.' Just remember he's used disguises before in this story and he's got Geass so even if he was recognized no one will remember.
I'd like to thank Velshard and All that's left unsaid once again for the ideas (I used too many of them to actually list but you guys know which ones are yours…did I use yours?...I'm pretty sure I used somebody's.)
CC will most defiantly have a more active role very soon.
I figured we were due for some major fluff of the humiliating Lulu persuasion. I hope you guys enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed writing it. There will be more in the future.
And Worker72 brought up a good point to me how should I handle the situation with Mao? Any ideas?