Chapter Thirty-Eight: Maddening Truth

*You will forgive me for the title change. I promise.

Lelouch was still frozen in place, his impossible, horrible decision placed before him. He held Bloodbeard down with the help of Suzaku's superior strength and with the Geass Canceller he ensured that Bloodbeard could not use his powers to change or summon the Infected.
"You might be able to save this world if you let Nunnally die," said Bloodbeard, "of course without the Eternity Chalice, without letting mankind sip divine providence, it will take a long time and who knows what humanity will evolve, or devolve, into in the time it takes you to struggle and strive towards a better world."
Suzaku pressed his green blade on Bloodbeard's neck to force him into silence while Lelouch merely stood still.
"This…this can't be true," said Lelouch.
"But it is," said M.M. "Look at the history of mankind and you will see that only when mankind was opposed by the evils in the world did they find the goodness in them to survive. The man you hold down is the force pushing mankind into darkness and without him to be the bringer of Armageddon then Nunnally will not be able to fulfill her destiny as the holder of salvation and the great weight of her heavenly duty will crush her."
"SILENCE," yelled Mikhail. "You have said nothing of this until now foul conjurer, why did you not warn…us of this earlier?"
"All good things come in time," said M.M.
"You're saying that by giving this monster the death he deserves now will simultaneously mean the death of Nunnally, how is that in anyway good?" growled Suzaku.
"I only give information to those who need it when they are ready to receive it," said M.M. "By now you all should know this. You Suzaku Kururugi the Champion, you Rivalz Cardemonde the Hero, you Gino Weinberg the Cavalry, you Lelouch VI Britannia the God-King, and you…Mikhail Mordred, the Archer."
Mikhail hissed at the wizard for revealing his identity at such a horrible time and while Gino and Rivalz were ignorant of the importance of Mikhail's name, Lelouch and Suzaku's eyes were wide with shock.
"Hello…my son," said Bloodbeard.
Mikhail shot an arrow past Lelouch and into Bloodbeard's throat with such speed that Suzaku couldn't deflect the arrow with his sword.
'He's fast,' thought Suzaku.
"You do not call me by such things," said Mikhail, "although for the sake of drama I can only reply by sending my greetings to you…father. Now tell the truth and say that you are merely afraid to die and have resorted to lies."
"How did you survive and more importantly how are you here now?" asked Bloodbeard. "You were born in 1789."
"He was what?" said Rivalz.
"Admit you lie," yelled Mikhail as he let fly and arrow.
Gino instinctively activated his Geass and caught the arrow only to be struck from behind by Mikhail's fist.
"Too fast for your own good," said Mikhail.
Mikhail notched another arrow as he turned to face his father only for his grandfather's sword to be pointed at him. Thus Mikhail had arrived at the moment he had been dreading for some time now.
"What…do you want…with Nunnally?" asked Lelouch.
Mikhail sighed and decided that even though it was sure to be painful it was best to be honest.
"I wish to love her," said Mikhail.
"Care to explain?" hissed Lelouch.
"I want my every day to be spent in her presence," said Mikhail, "to see her laugh, to watch her smile, to hold her hand, and to make her my wife."
Lelouch's eyes widened and his heart raced with excitement and rage. All the while Suzaku was watching Lelouch focus on the wrong person named Mordred.
'Damn it Lelouch, now is the worst possible time to go into 'over protective brother' mode,' thought Suzaku.
"I repeat myself in case you didn't hear me Lelouch," said Mikhail. "I love Nunnally and wish to take her as my wife."

Ohgi had placed a bug on Gino before sending him out to meet Lelouch and, along with the rest of the Black Knights, heard every word.
"Awkward," said Tamaki. "Seriously this guy from nowhere turns out to be Bloodbeard's bastard and he pretty much tells Lelouch that he wants to screw his sister. This is right out of a soap opera."
"This is serious," yelled Kallen. "Lelouch is going to have to choose between letting Nunnally die by ending Bloodbeard now or letting him live and risking the world in a final battle. On top of that this son of a bitch is making Lelouch lose his focus."
"Indeed, the last time Nunnally's safety came into question Lelouch left the Black Rebellion," said Chiba.
"Now history repeats itself," said Ohgi. "I guess this means we're just going to have to betray him again."
Kallen shot Ohgi a murderous look and activated her Geass just as Ohgi activated his own and became a metal of a high melting point.
"Kidding," said Ohgi.
"Don't," said Kallen, "ever talk about threatening Lelouch, or even joke."
"You can't say this isn't funny," said Ohgi. "It's all one great joke."

"Lelouch, I don't know who this guy is or what he and Nunnally have going on but now is not the time to lose focus," said Suzaku. "We need to determine if any of this is true or if it's all another one of Bloodbeard…or M.M's tricks."
"What would M.M have to do with any of this Suzaku?" yelled Lelouch.
Suzaku felt his heart sink in sadness and he silently begged for forgiveness. When he thought about what he had learned of the past and why they needed to happen he found a horrible logic, Lelouch needed such suffering in his life in order to make him a great man, but Suzaku, if it was the last title he'd ever wear, was an honest man.
"Bloodbeard told the truth," said Suzaku. "M.M tampered with your Geass when you spoke with princess Euphemia at the SAZ."
Lelouch's heart froze and his eyes widened with horror. All the guild and pain he had borne since that day weren't his to bear. He had been manipulated all his life, just as Bloodbeard said, and he was being manipulated still.

To say that news that M.M caused the Massacre of the SAZ was a shock among the ranks of the Black Knights would be an understatement.
"That hack," yelled Tamaki, "that son of a bitch."
"I…I don't understand how…why would M.M do that to Lelouch?" said Kallen.
Ohgi remained silent in contemplation. He had been given much to think about ever since Bloodbeard first appeared. His notions about Lelouch, God, and humanity had all changed and were changing still. He wondered how events could have been different, how if certain truths had been revealed things might have changed, and if such a small thing as the freedom of a relatively insignificant island nation really mattered when pitted against the survival of the human race.
The Human Race, the Britannian Race, and the Japanese Race, were they all different and thereby in conflict with another. Could a person be Japanese and Britannian and still not Human? Was a Britannian different, somehow better than a Human? Were the Japanese any worse or better than either Humans or Britannians? If both Britannians and Japanese were Human then why did they fight each other?
"Because it needed to happen," said Ohgi.
All eyes, all angry, shocked, and confused eyes, turned to him and his face never changed from that of vacancy.
"I can't say why it needed to happen but it did," said Ohgi. "For better or for worse Lelouch needed the guilt, Suzaku needed the rage, and we needed to be abandoned. We might not understand it, we might not even like it, but we needed it."

"All those people…needed to die?" sputtered Lelouch, "for what?"
"For you," said M.M, "all for you to become the king the world needs for it to survive."
"You mean for the Status Quo to continue onward," said Bloodbeard. "It's as I told you Lelouch, fate is a cruel thing, and chaos is the only true freedom. Everything the wizard has done, everything Arthur ever did, and everything you've been led to believe was all to keep God alive and happy, to ensure praise and worship, even at the cost on untold suffering for millions. How does it feel Lelouch to know the horrible truth of reality, to know that you've always been nothing more than a pawn, that so many people were sacrificed, Euphemia, Rolo, Shirley, C.C, that you caused so much pain to your lover Kallen Kozuki, and your friend Suzaku Kururugi, all because of the whims of God and the demands of fate? Really, it's much better if you let me end the vicious cycle. Let me break the wheel of fate and set us all free."
"Shut up," growled Suzaku, tightening his sword arm around Bloodbeard's neck.
"And it just keeps getting worse Lelouch," said Bloodbeard, ignoring Suzaku, "you've just found out that my son, my only surviving child if I'm correct, is fated to marry your beloved sister Nunnally. The fruit of my loins is going to be the one to deflower your little sister. I guess that makes us in-laws eh? Do you really want that Lelouch, a constant reminder of my existence long after I'm gone? To see my face in the faces of all the children that crawl out of Nunnally's…"
Bloodbeard's words became lost when Suzaku had enough and slit the bastard's throat.
"I got tired of listening to your crap," said Suzaku.
"Be not too harsh Sir Kururugi," said M.M. "This is not the arena for the Final Game to be played. However it is not my choice to make. The choice lies in the hands of the God-King."
"What?" said Lelouch.
"Fate now splits into a fork," said M.M. "I see a world on the brink of destruction where war, famine, plague, and pestilence have had their horses aided by the forces of the Underground Fellowship of Dictators and there is no hope, not even with the united might of the Geass empowered Black Knights. I see another where conditions are the same but there is a chance. In the former Nunnally VI Britannia dies, her body burnt by the glory she must deliver, as a mother would die if she cannot birth her child properly. On the subject of mothers I see Kallen Kozuki, or Kallen Lamperouge-Pendragon, give birth to a child, a son, who is doomed to starve."
"A son…doomed," said Lelouch, "Nunnally…dead."
"In the other future I see the God-King, the Champion, the Hero, the Cavalry, and the Archer fighting against the Beast with a chance if it is only a chance," said M.M.
"Just…a chance?" asked Rivalz.
"Beyond that is up to you," said M.M. "But only if a decision is made here now and it lies, as it always must, with the God-King."

Nunnally awoke from her sleep with a start, a terrible feeling running through her body, and somehow she knew the cause of it. It had something to do with Lelouch and Mikhail.
"Lelouch my brother and Mikhail my love please if for nothing other than my sake find peace with each other," she whispered. "I want both of you in my heart and in my life."
Nunnally prayed to the gods she believed in, not realizing that the power of God was already flowing through her body, filling her with heat and fear.

Mikhail raised his head, feeling as if something was amiss, and his thoughts turned to Nunnally. He had been placed into a cell aboard the Valhalla with his father and the wizard being held in individual cells. The Black Knights had all gathered in the Brig to discuss the recent news and discoveries, all save Rivalz and Guilford who went to fetch Cornelia.
"I say we knock off all three of these guys and be done with it," said Tamaki.
"Do that and we might well be sending the world into hell," said Tohdoh. "We need to be smart about this."
"That's right, we have no idea whether we're dealing with the truth or another lie," said Xingke.
"There is no truth, Li Xingke, only truths," said M.M.
"Shut it you murderous hack," yelled Tamaki. "Like we're supposed to trust you now after you caused the Massacre that killed thousands of our people."
"Do not expect me to weep or feel guilt or to gloat," said M.M. "I did it without pleasure or malice. I did as was needed."
"The sacrifice of all those innocent lives was needed?" spat Chiba. "How can that possibly be needed?"
"Look to whom you originally blamed," said M.M. "He played with his Geass as if it were a toy, whipping it out like an angry child in need of discipline, and thus he was."
"Don't you dare try and turn this on Lelouch," yelled Kallen.
"It wasn't his fault," said Suzaku.
"In many ways it was," said M.M. "All I did was make his Geass activate but it was Lelouch who chose the words that sealed Euphemia's fate, words spoken in jest as if they carried no weight. Look now at the boy and see how he hangs his head in shame of his bad deed, hiding in the corner like a child sent to time-out."
All eyes turned to Lelouch who held his back turned to them, away from the crowd, and his head hung in shame.
"Lelouch…you were just joking," said Suzaku. "Sure it was in bad taste but you didn't mean them."
"Whether he meant them or not the words were his and his guilt and the pain of his lesson has made him into a man," said M.M, "one who is wiser and stronger than he was before. As I told you before Kururugi, an iron will is forged in fire, all I did was light the flame."
"And in that fire countless lives were burned away," hissed Chiba.
"I repeat that I do not feel guilt for my actions," said M.M. "I have had to do such things before in the service of the Collective. I have spread plague, I have caused floods, and I have led armies, over my many centuries I have spilt the blood of millions both guilty and innocent but all in the service of the Collective, the service of God."
"And the needs of God outweigh the needs of Man," said Bloodbeard. "Listen well Black Knights, this is what you are fighting for, a deity that cares not for you but for its own needs. If you were really Knights of Justice as you've so often claimed you would release me and watch me win."
"Shut up you maniac," yelled Tamaki. "Both of you are nothing more than murderous psychopaths."
"Is it murder when you kill in the service of Japan?" asked M.M.
"That's different," said Tamaki.
"How so?" asked M.M.
"I'm a soldier who fights for a righteous cause," said Tamaki, "for the safety and freedom of my country and my people."
"I am a soldier as well boy," said M.M. "Like a soldier I follow the orders that are given to me without question or hesitation. Kururugi has heard this from me before and even he agrees to it because he knows it applies to himself as well. In truth it applies to us all. We are all nothing more than slaves to duty."
"It's as I told you before Lelouch, there is no such thing as freedom," said Bloodbeard. "The wizard just admitted it. None of us are born free, we are all bound by the demands of fate, and that is what I seek to destroy. Is it really any different from you war against Britannia?"
Lelouch said nothing much to the surprise and disappointment of the Black Knights who expected a dramatic comeback.
"Nothing to say? Pity, so I guess I'll just keep talking," said Bloodbeard. "Look what fate has made me do and how it has punished me for trying to destroy it. It has turned me into a villain, a monster, and forced me to destroy so many things. The woman I loved, I mean really loved, and as I once thought, my only legitimate son."
"Fuck off Father," said Mikhail.
"Speaking of little Benny Bastard where the hell do you stand in all this?" yelled Tamaki.
"I am not a bastard and I am loyal to Nunnally," said Mikhail. "Think what you may about my origins, I care not of your opinions."
"Then you won't mind if I say you're as full of bull as these two," said Tamaki.
"If that is what you believe then so be it," said Mikhail. "I have nothing more to say until Lelouch talks of what he wishes to do and if it involves Nunnally's life believe me I will speak loudly and if I must…violently."
Tamaki was about to speak again when Mikhail gave him such a glance that he stepped back. Tohdoh, who held Mikhail's bow and arrows, looked at him with his Geass and he could see all the possibilities of combat that would break out if he were to fight Mikhail. The archer who sat in his cell was a very deadly opponent whom his powers showed would win at least 60% of the time.
"I take it the wizard trained you?" asked Tohdoh.
"He did," said Mikhail. "In C's World where I grew away from other humans until you arrived in C's World and I saw…her."
"Nunnally?" asked Suzaku.
"I saw her eyes though miles of trees
and she saw me," said Mikhail. "I was shocked by her. I had never seen something so…beautiful in my life. I stood by the castle ever since and was taken to Earth with you. I have met the empress, I spoke with her soon after you left, and with fear and humility in my soul I approached her. The wizard had told her about me, about what we were to become, she was nervous at first but I did nothing to make her afraid. I could not speak as I can now save in fractured tongue. Nunnally gave me a voice and I gave her the truth of who I was for I had always been told about my father. She accepted me and upon her command I kissed her lips."
Lelouch clenched his teeth tightly, so tightly they nearly broke, and he walked towards the archer in his cell. Separated by mere glass the two men who claimed to love Nunnally more than life itself locked eyes, recognizing a warrior when they saw one, and both could tell that they weren't going to be friends.
"The son of Amadeus Bloodbeard, Mordred Pendragon, the Mad Titan who has brought the world to the brink of destruction is supposed to marry Nunnally, is that right?" asked Lelouch.
"Only if she will have me," said Mikhail.
"She will," said M.M.
"You come from good stock," said Bloodbeard with a laugh.
Lelouch sneered at the thought of his innocent sister being deflowered by the spawn of a demon's loins.
"Open the cell Ohgi," said Lelouch.
"Are you out of your mind?" said Chiba.
"Lelouch we don't have time for you to…Ohgi what are you doing?" yelled Viletta.
"Opening the cell," said Ohgi, "obeying the orders of my commander. Although I would suggest you give him his weapons if nothing but for the sake of fairness."
"On your advice then," said Lelouch.
Tohdoh handed Mikhail's bow and arrows to Lelouch who in turn handed them to Mikhail and without another word the two men left the room.
"What the hell Ohgi?" yelled Tamaki.
"Lelouch has brotherly duties to attend to," said Ohgi. "Hell if he and Kallen had a relationship before I even knew him as Zero I'd be raising my fists to him and ignoring the world all together too and lord knows what Naoto would have done."
Kallen blushed at Ohgi's words before pushing more serious thoughts forward. The decision Lelouch had to make was something that couldn't be ignored. One choice had them in a world where Nunnally died and their child starved, a world Kallen desperately didn't want to come into existence, and the other was an uncertain chance. Logically the option for Lelouch, given his protectiveness over Nunnally, would have been the world where he at least had a chance but she knew his hatred of Bloodbeard was intense and well deserved and he wanted him dead more than anything.
"I'm going to bed," said Suzaku, "I've been up for god knows how long and I am dog tired."
"How can you sleep at a time like this?" yelled Chiba.
"Because I've been fighting demons and giant monsters," said Suzaku.
"Damn it Kururugi you need to get Lelouch back here right now," yelled Tamaki.
"Let Lelouch do what he wants," said Suzaku. "I'm not his babysitter even though god knows he needs one, he can be really childish sometimes, anyway goodnight."
Suzaku left without another word and the only noise in the room was Bloodbeard's chuckle.
"Will you shut up," yelled Tamaki.
"Sorry, it's against my nature," said Bloodbeard. "Besides I can't help but wonder if my son has inherited any of my warrior skill as well as his mother's natural aim and speed. Oh dearest Madeline, yours was the only life I regret taking."
"You don't sound so broken up," said Kallen with a murderous glare.
"I've had my period of mourning," said Bloodbeard, "it was centuries ago."
"Centuries ago?" said Xingke.
"Mikhail was born in the late seventeen hundreds," said M.M, "he grew in C's World where time is only a matter of thought. You could stay in C's World for over a hundred years and not age if you only consider yourself existing there for a day."
"But…if that's true how much time passed for us?" gasped Tamaki.
"A few days," said M.M, "whereas for Mikhail it was close to twenty years and for Rivalz when he trained with his mentor as a consciousness it was a matter of years."
"Years? Rivalz hasn't aged since the day he went into his coma," said Tamaki.
"I repeat, as a consciousness, as a soul spending a brief time in Heaven which is timeless," said M.M.
"You didn't think it was appropriate to tell us this before? Or any of this bullshit like how you caused the Massacre?" yelled Tamaki.
"How could you let us go deceived in such a way?" asked Chiba. "Have you no humanity?"
"You ask for humanity from a being who is not exactly human," said M.M. "If you tell me that those deaths were tragic I will not argue but I have no regrets and in all honesty you do not have the means to punish me."
Tamaki was about to say something that Ohgi knew would have involved the Geass Canceller but before the loudmouth could say anything Ohgi stood before his peers.
"He's right," said Ohgi. "He have neither the means nor the right to punish M.M."
"But Ohgi, he's responsible for everything that happened to us," yelled Tamaki.
"No," said Ohgi. "We are responsible Tamaki and by not taking responsibility for our actions we have only made our world darker and more violent."
"What are you talking about?" said Chiba.
"War, terror, and crime, these evils are the creation of man and we have for centuries blamed them on demons and ghouls, and even though we now know demons and ghouls exist we are still not excused," said Ohgi. "It wasn't God who caused the invasion of Japan, it wasn't the Devil that turned it into Area 11, and it wasn't M.M who made us betray Lelouch. These are the actions of man and man alone. Lelouch understands this, which is why he stood silent, because he knows the dark heart of man better than anyone I've ever met. It was his choice of words that caused the Massacre, M.M just provided the opportunity, and the only real way to avoid the Massacre would have been if he found better words. It was his arrogance that caused those people to die and he has accepted that the responsibility for his actions. That was why he initiated his own death, why he cut himself in the dark, and why he went out with Mikhail."
"What are you talking about?" hissed Kallen.
"Because he knows M.M was right, because he knows the path he has to take, and he's very frustrated by the responsibilities he's had to take," said Ohgi, "and he just found someone to take all that frustration out on."

"Given how I'm allowed my weapons I take it I'm not going to be killed like some kind of dog am I?" asked Mikhail as he and Lelouch exited the Valhalla.
"If I kill someone it is only if they are able to fight back," said Lelouch. "Obviously you can fight back."
"What will become of the Robin Hood after my death?" asked Mikhail.
"I'll recycle it into a new Guren and give it to Kallen as a wedding gift," said Lelouch.
"And what will you tell my beloved Nunnally?" asked Mikhail.
"Don't you dare speak her name," yelled Lelouch. "You don't know her and she doesn't even know you exist."
"That's where you're wrong," said Mikhail. "I have told you of my meting Nunnally, of how she gave me voice that I may recite my love for her, and how she allowed me the taste of her lips. It might also interest you to know that while entertaining the lady in the forests of your island soldiers of the UFD arrived and one whom I had wounded tried to capture her. I killed the soldier with all my savagery and when I turned to Nunnally her eyes were soft to a beast such as me, those soft, heavenly eyes that shame the brightest stars. When I close my eyes they cut through the darkness and strike my heart like a spear, I see her face as pale and as lovely as the moon, and smell her sweet scent that is lovelier than the lilies at noon. But her beauty alone is not enough to earn my love. I see her soul, the soul of a bird longing to fly, but grounded by broken wings and thrown in a cage…by a cruel master."
Lelouch narrowed his eyes as Mikhail's voice deepened with those last words.
"A cruel master, care to explain?" asked Lelouch, his hand on Caledflwch.
"You, Lelouch, are a very poor older brother to Nunnally," said Mikhail.
"You…
"Don't know? I've talked with Nunnally," said Mikhail. "We talked, and talked, and talked until she fell to sleep with my kiss upon her brow and I tried, for her sake, not to vomit when her eyes turned dark when the mentions of your lies, your crimes, and your abuses to her came up."
"Abuses?" hissed Lelouch.
"The first thing you did with you Geass was to kill when you could have used it to bend the will of doctors and surgeons to your will and perhaps give her back her legs," said Mikhail. "Did the thought not come to you whilst you lied and slaughtered her other brothers and sisters."
"They wanted her dead," yelled Lelouch.
"Not Euphemia, not Cornelia, or Schneizel," said Mikhail, "and she cried when Clovis had died at your hand. Do you know that she worried when you lied to her? Did you think her so unintelligent that she could not tell when you were lying to her? Did you have such little respect for her that you believed you could say anything to her and she'd take it as gospel?"
Lelouch felt his blood pressure rise as his body began to crackle with purple static.
"Oh, you're getting angry," said Mikhail. "Would Nunnally ever have become a target for that anger? Your rage has caused you to hurt her in the past as she has told me. Your hatred for Britannia and your father outweighed your love for Nunnally and in your hated and lack f respect for her you drove her to become your enemy. You fought her, continued to lie to her, forced her to fall, and then chained her."
"Everything I did I did because I loved her," yelled Lelouch.
"As one loves a pet," yelled Mikhail. "You claimed to have wanted a free world for her and yet deny her any freedom at all. You let her continue to be a prisoner in her own skin and keep her close, claiming it's out of love, but really you do it because you know she cannot rise against you when in your heart you realize that even though she will sit forever she stands far taller than you."
While Lelouch agreed with the last statement, that Nunnally had a strong will, he did not like Mikhail's harsh accusations.
"What of you?" yelled Lelouch. "You claim to love Nunnally but I have no proof that this is true. It's easy to make up lies about events that have never happened and even if you have met Nunnally how can I tell that she loves you in return? For all I know you are an assassin who wants nothing more than to take Nunnally's virginity and then her life."
In anger Mikhail swiftly drew his bow and shafts and Lelouch his sword. Both men stood with the tips of their weapons pointed at each other's neck, ready to kill the other in the name of Nunnally.
'All I have to do is say that I uncovered the truth about him being a spy and I'll be entirely justified,' thought Lelouch, 'and when I see Nunnally again and mention his name she will nt know who I'm talking about.'
'Nunnally…I love you,' thought Mikhail.
Lelouch and Mikhail's muscles tensed, ready to let their attacks fly, but an idea suddenly came to Mikhail.
"No," he said.
Mikhail threw down his bow and quiver while Lelouch held onto his sword.
"Nunnally loves you, her ability to forgive is nothing less than divine, and my love, my respect for her, cannot be measured," said Mikhail. "For her sake I will not fight you. But I say to you, if you love Nunnally, if you respect her, then respect that my fate is not yours to determine. That duty falls to the Empress. I know of your power, through C's World we can go to Camelot, and you can have her decide my fate."
"Do you expect me to buy that?" asked Lelouch.
"I expect you to respect Nunnally's office as the Empress of the Holy Britannian Empire, your empress," said Mikhail. "You are bound by her laws and customs while in her country and executing me would be nothing more than the disrespectful actions of a vigilante. If you hold her laws and authority in such little regard then you hold her in little regard."
Lelouch gritted his teeth, he knew a gamble when he saw one, but Mikhail had a point. By all rights he was still a citizen of the Holy Britannian Empire and he was bound by the laws of the Empress and there was some part of him that wanted the truth. If Mikhail and Nunnally had met he needed to know if she was alright and more importantly, if she did have feelings for the mysterious archer. The only thing that prevented him from acting was that the answer might have been yes.
"While you're there you can do the right thing for Nunnally, for once, and let her decide her fate," said Mikhail. "Include her in your plans and let her be a true queen, one who deserves your respect."

Kallen had Gino watch Lelouch and Mikhail at speeds that allowed him to seem invisible and when he reported back everything he had heard Kallen suddenly bore a strong resemblance to a volcano and left after expressing her fury.
"What are we more likely to survive: the end of the world or nine months of a pregnant Kallen?" asked Tamaki.
"Speaking from experience the Apocalypse is a more survivable option," said Ohgi.
"It's nice to know that you two can joke while Lelouch runs off without giving us any orders to fall back on," said Chiba, "again."
"He left us this," said Ohgi, holding up the Geass Canceller.
"That's another topic for discussion," said Xingke. "What are we going to do with a hand held Geass Canceller."
"Use it duh," said Tamaki.
"Against who?" asked Ohgi. "Remember Lelouch supposedly killed the rest and even if we destroy Bloodbeard that just leaves us. Then again if there are other Geass Users in the world this could be the most horrible weapon in a war that could destroy the entire world, although if we are the last then we will all be sharing in Lelouch's original plan."
"What?" said Tamaki.
"He wanted to unite the world through a common enemy," said Ohgi, "this would take it to the next level. It was once said that the only thing that would unite humanity would be a threat greater than humanity. A dictator is one thing, a dime a dozen, and at the end is still human, even if we call him demon and the human race doesn't care in the end, we're back to slaughtering each other the next day. But replace the Demon Emperor with a whole race of actual demons and it's a different story and suddenly mankind meets something greater than itself."
"If you're trying to say something Ohgi then just say it," said Viletta.
Ohgi flipped the Geass Canceller in his hand, admiring its metallic shine in the light, and he couldn't help but chuckle. Viletta had heard her husband chuckle and laugh before but this wasn't like anything she, or any of his friends had heard before. The chuckle soon burst into a full, manic, laugh. He laughed as a madman would laugh and stood as tall as he could with the Geass Canceller in his hand.
"What the hell is so funny?" yelled Tohdoh, displeased with Ohgi's laughter.
"MY NOOSE," yelled Ohgi.
His words confused and frightened the Black Knights in ways they had never been before.
"Our noose," said Ohgi, still laughing. "Lelouch entrusted me with this key to mankind's victory over the power of Geass, to give it to humanity to use on the only ones who would have the power to devastate the world as Bloodbeard has, us. It's absolutely brilliant, my god Lelouch, you brilliant little devil, you dark, violent Jesus Christ. Yes, yes I can see it all now…I can see it all…we are not the court of Arthur, we're the disciples of the new Christ, and I am Judas."
"Hey, Ohgi," said Tamaki, "you're a acting a little nutty. Why don't you sit down?"
Ohgi cut a demonic look in Tamaki's direction and he could practically sense Tamaki clamp his sphincter shut in terror.
"Look at it," said Ohgi, holding the device, "the color silver, the thirty silver coins given to Judas Iscariot by Pontius Pilate in exchange for Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Good old Judas, so wracked with guilt by what he had done had the good decency to hang himself even as the other disciples abandoned and condemned Christ to his fate upon the cross. I neglected to hang myself but I see I've been given the chance to correct my mistake and ensure we all pay the consequence for our actions. With this gift to humanity we will all be hunted down and killed by those we tried to save and I will not fight back."
"What are you talking about?" growled Tohdoh.
"Come now Tohdoh, you know human nature," said Ohgi. "They will never allow anything more powerful than them to remain on earth with them. As soon as Japan is set up again we will be stripped of our powers and justly hung, allowing humanity the victory they need, and the weapons to ensure that they'll always win against the forces of God and Geass when they arise."
"In other words Genocide," said Tohdoh.
"It was always going to end in Genocide," said Ohgi. "The only question was who would be the ones who suffered the Genocide. If you don't want it to be the Japanese, no, not the Japanese, this isn't a world of flags anymore, it never was. This is a world of Gods and Miracles, that is the world that M.M sees, can't you?"
"Honestly no," said Tohdoh, "all I see is a world at war and a man who is losing his grip on reality because of it."
"But what is reality?" said Ohgi. "You've seen C's World; you've heard how it touches other worlds, and what possibilities lie beyond. This ship is actually supposed to travel through C's World, into other planes of reality. I haven't lost my grip on reality; reality has crushed me in its hand. We were so wrong, so foolish, and so arrogant, and now the hour of our punishment, or our salvation is upon us. Maybe I'm wrong about humanity, maybe we were right about Lelouch, or maybe we're all, good intentions or not, demons born."
Ohgi flopped down on the command chair still finding himself amused by his mad thoughts.
"Bloodbeard said this struggle was one of redemption and madness," said Ohgi. "I think…I've fallen into madness."
Outside the bridge, Kallen held her ear to the door, hearing everything, and when she heard how insane Ohgi sounded she put her hand to her mouth in terror. Gino was also unnerved by Ohgi's words.

Lelouch and Mikhail arrived in the grand hall of Camelot and at the most opportune of moments as Nunnally had just been wheeled in for breakfast. Before a word could be uttered, before a hand could be raised in greetings, eyes were made wide with shock as when Nunnally saw Lelouch enter with Mikhail; the God-King noticed that it was only the briefest of glimpses in his direction before her eyes were immediately focused on the archer.
"Mikhail," she uttered in shock.
'She's shocked and she called…his name,' thought Lelouch.
Looking at the archer, Lelouch did not see smugness in his eyes, which were fixed on Nunnally, but regret. It was as if he had broken some promise to her and he desperately wanted her forgiveness.
"My love," he said as he took knee, "forgive me but I was faced with the option of either hurting you by conflicting your brother before you or dying by his hand for the crime of my birth."
Lelouch yelled and delivered a powerful kick to Mikhail's midsection that sent him into the wall.
"Mikhail!" yelled Nunnally in fear.
"You cry…for HIM?" yelled Lelouch.
Everyone else at the Round Table stood back in terror, seeing Lelouch's rage build up like a hurricane, and for fear of being struck they kept their mouths still.
'My god what's going on?'thought Milly.
'Has his majesty gone mad?' thought Jeremiah.
'This is interesting,' thought Schneizel.
"Nunnally," yelled Lelouch, "do you know this man?"
Lelouch pointed with his sword to Mikhail's injured form and the tone of his voice was unlike anything Nunnally had ever heard before and it terrified her but she knew that if she didn't answer he would only get angrier. Then again he was only going to get angrier if she did talk but at least she had done as she was told like a good little sister.
"I do," said Nunnally. "Brother he is…he is the man I love."
"Do you know who he is? Who he really is?" asked Lelouch.
"Yes, he is the son of our enemy, Bloodbeard," said Nunnally. "He told me Lelouch, he told me who he was and bared his soul before me with all honesty. He never touched me in a lecherous way, even as he held my naked body so that I could swim. He did so upon my request and like a gentleman kept his trousers on and defended me when I was almost captured in the night. If he has told you any of this then now you must know that it is true."
Nunnally felt hot tears run down her face as she confessed to her brother as if she were a criminal who had been tortured for information, but in her heart she felt good, and that she had no sins to confess to anyone, least of all to Lelouch.
"BROTHER I LOVE HIM" Nunnally yelled with all her conviction.
The strength of Nunnally's honesty and hot passion was enough to visibly make Lelouch stagger as well as emotionally.
'Nunnally…you love…the Son of Bloodbeard,' thought Lelouch.
Lelouch had always been extremely overprotective of Nunnally in the past that was a fact as solid a stone, but what he felt now would have been said to be going beyond overprotective. The sensation of betrayal, of hatred, and fury was unlike anything he had ever faced before. The power welled up along with his anger and Lelouch raised his sword to the ceiling and a bolt of purple lightning struck the stone roof causing a piece to break off and fall a mere three feet close to Nunnally to everyone's horror, even Lelouch's. He felt his anger subside for a second before he was suddenly tackled to the ground by an equally angry Mikhail. With his great speed Mikhail drew a hidden knife and tried to cut Lelouch's throat when Lelouch threw him off. Luckily for Mikhail his weapons had traveled with them and he quickly picked up his bow and arrows just as Lelouch readied his sword.
Nunnally watched in horror as her worst fear came to life before her eyes and the two men she loved most in her life attacked each other. Lelouch let fly a bolt of purple lightning just as Mikhail launched an arrow from his mighty bow. Mikhail, with almost inhuman speed dodge the bolt and Lelouch only managed to avoid the arrow by the slightest skin of his neck. They launched their attacks again, this time hitting each other in their respective shoulders. However even with a wounded shoulder Mikhail was strong and fast and launched another arrow before Lelouch could focus his power again and struck him in the sword hand causing him to drop Caledflwch. Mikhail then launched another arrow and struck Lelouch's knee but before he could fire another arrow Lelouch used his supernatural powers to charge at Mikhail and grab him by the throat before he could attack again and threw him onto the Round Table, cracking it slightly, and raised his wounded hand, the lighting crackling around it, with the intent to kill.
However Mikhail once again proved too fast for even the superhuman Lelouch, taking an arrow and stabbing his enemy in the left eye. As Lelouch reached for his painful wound Mikhail leapt up and tried to break Lelouch's neck but even in pain Lelouch had his wits about him and with a roar that would have broken down the walls of Jericho, Lelouch threw Mikhail directly onto the throne of the king and shattered it.
"Lelouch please stop," cried Nunnally.
Lelouch waved his hand and as if the wind was his slave, his dear Nunnally fell to the ground.
"Lady Nunnally," screamed Sayoko.
"Lelouch have you lost your mind?" yelled Milly.
"Stop this now," yelled Schneizel to Jeremiah.
Gritting his teeth Jeremiah looked at his fallen lady and his mad lord and was faced with the choice he never wanted to face, which of Marianne's children would he serve? In the moments when Lelouch's sword flew to his hand and when Nunnally begged Jeremiah to stop her brother the Orange Knight's choice was clear.
Drawing his sword and activating his Geass Canceller Jeremiah Gottwald charged at his former king but before he was even in range Lelouch struck him with a bolt of purple lighting.
"Jeremiah," cried Sayoko.
As she watched her husband be struck down Sayoko shed hot and angry tears and threw her shuriken at her former master, only for Lelouch to deflect her attack with ease. He then turned his attention back to Mikhail, ignoring all other possible interruptions.
He could not see a golden glow coming from Nunnally's body. If he could he would see his sister in a state of both burning agony and fiery bliss as her clothes were burned away by the golden light that covered her body, her hair, and filled her eyes. As Lelouch was about to bring the sword down on Mikhail he felt a sudden burst of heat run through his body which suddenly became lighter than air. He cocked his head with his good eye and saw that Nunnally was the source of the heat and that her body had changed to become some sort of shimmering, golden goddess with blood dripping from her legs as if they were fishing lures.
'My god, it is true,' thought Lelouch, 'Nunnally is the Fisher Queen, the Holder of God's power on Earth.'

A strange, hot, thunderous sensation was sent through the bodies of all the Black Knights, with even Bloodbeard and M.M feeling it. It was powerful enough to wake Suzaku from his bed.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
Quickly dressing and grabbing his sword Suzaku ran out into the hall, heading towards the brig, and nearly ran into Kallen when they both got to the door. They entered and found Bloodbeard laughing hysterically on the floor of his cell and M.M silently standing.
"What did we just feel?" asked Suzaku.
"Does it have anything to do with Lelouch?" asked Kallen. "What have you and your sadistic God done to him now?"
M.M looked up, his ancient eyes holding darkness that briefly unnerved the two experienced soldiers.
"Rage has always invoked action," said M.M.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" hissed Kallen.
"Lelouch has forced Nunnally's hand and she tapped the power," said M.M.
Neither Kallen nor Suzaku found that news satisfactory.
"For once no riddles M.M," said Suzaku. "What has happened?"
"You know of Lelouch's rage and his protectiveness of Nunnally," said M.M, "imagine his reaction to the knowledge that she loves his enemy's son."
A terrible image flashed through Suzaku's mind but he refused to believe it.
"Lelouch would never attack Nunnally," he said.
"He has, unintentionally and in blind rage, but he has," said M.M.
"That's a lie," yelled Kallen.
"It is not," said M.M. "Lelouch has tapped into the long feared rage of the God-King, the fire that burns demons alive, and has forced Nunnally to channel the power she will later be filled with as the Fisher Queen. He might as well have forced a banding iron into her womanhood."
"What happened?" asked Suzaku.
"You know of Nunnally's soul," said M.M, "she would never kill but she will banish. She has banished Lelouch."
"Banished him where?" asked Kallen.
"A place of punishment," said M.M, "a part of C's World meant for the violent and the cruel."
Both Suzaku and Kallen didn't even want to think about what that meant.
"Get it assholes?" said Bloodbeard. "Lelouch is in hell."

Lelouch opened his eyes, both of them, and found his wounds healed completely, but he also found that he was not in Camelot anymore. Where ever he was now felt wrong, the air was sick and toxic. He rose to his feet and got a full vision of the world he was in, a desolate wasteland of soot and fire as far as the eye could see, just as Dante had described it, but somehow it felt worse.
"Where…where am I?" Lelouch cried as loud as he could.
The sound of thunder caught Lelouch's attention and he looked and saw a light in the distance, a blood red glow that sowed only the silhouettes of what looked like trees.
"Those aren't trees," said Lelouch.
They were bodies stacked onto poles and among them Lelouch could see another shadow, one who wore a crown similar to his.

"Are you trying to tell me that my husband, the father of my baby, is in hell?" yelled Kallen.
"Yes," said M.M.
"That's…that's impossible," said Suzaku.
"Afraid not," said M.M, "there is a chance to get out but it would mean Lelouch would have to meet someone whom he will not enjoy being with."
"Who?" asked Kallen, daring to hope.
M.M took a breath and collected his thoughts.
"There was an incarnation of the God-King between Arthur and Lelouch," said M.M.
Bloodbeard stopped laughing when he heard M.M.
"What?" yelled Bloodbeard.
"You were elsewhere in the world and if you heard of him you didn't even think he could be the God-King," said M.M. "This God-King was dark and violent, a warrior whose good intentions drove him to cruelty, in many ways Lelouch's true predecessor. He was born under the name of Vlad Tepes but you would know him better as…Dracula."

Author's Note: This is a shorter chapter than what I've been giving out lately but I wanted to put up something before the two year anniversary of this story. Damn, two years since I started, I was 19 and now I'm 21, I feel like an old man.
Anyway for those who wanted a fight between Mikhail and Lelouch I hope that even though it was brief the sheer rage of Lelouch was satisfying and that it was enjoyable. Also for those of you who are going to call foul on including a forgotten incarnation of the God-King I took inspiration from Doctor Who (which I do not own) and the story of the War Doctor, the Doctor's forgotten warrior incarnation, and I thought what great character throughout history would have worked for a dark and violent God-King that was banished to Hell even if he served God and I remembered Vlad Tepes whom Bram Stoker based Dracula off of. Now this is the historic Vlad, he is not a vampire, and when you think about it Lelouch is sort of like Vlad, who did take the name Dracula, Son of the Dragon, to strike fear into the Muslim invaders of Eastern Europe almost like Lelouch took the name Zero and struck fear into Britannia. Not to mention Lelouch is capable of just as much cruelty and barbarism as Vlad the Impaler was so I thought he would work here.
Now, Lelouch is in hell and going to have to crawl out and choose what path he has to follow and is going to be forced to discover the depths of his inner violence as he crawls his way up out of hell and learns more about the others who have held the power and what they have done with it. Also I wrote most of this song while listening to Everybody wants to rule the world by Lorde from the trailer of Dracula Untold and that only made me think of Lelouch even more because in the movie Vlad becomes a vampire to save his people and pretty much damns himself kind of like Lelouch did. This theme of heroes who become monsters is something that's going to happen in the sequel to this story which I've titled To Battle with Monsters.
I hope you can forgive the title change and that you enjoy the chapter. If you do not be honest but I make no apologies and stand by my work. Do with me what you will I shall not pander.

Next Turn: Dragons of the Inferno.