AN: So a short chapter update this time to prove I'm still alive. Jokes aside I'm going to make the effort to make updates more regularly. I have this story pretty much mapped out, but it takes time to produce the really big chapters, but I'll continue to work on this for as long as I'm able to.

"Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Location:?

Char p.o.v.

"So, is this hell?" I asked.

"Hardly, it's a bit empty if it was," said Charlemagne.

"True."

"Instead, think of this place as a dam, a barrier holding back a torrent of concentrated psychic energy from reaching the heavens."

"Makes sense," I said, looking as more blue wisps rose around us. "So, this is where all of mankind's desires are being kept, instead of being turned into the sword of Akasha."

"Yes, all of the desires, wishes, and prayers of man are trapped below us, which is why I have to ask you something, Char?" said Charlemagne.

As I faced him, his face was cast in shadows until another blue ball of flame illuminated his scowl.

"Why have you done nothing, with the time I have given you!"

His voice bellowed with anger, and his once tired features twisted themselves into a scowl.

Startled by the sudden change, I stumbled back.

"What do you mean nothing? I'm trying, aren't I?"

"Do not play the fool Char, you of all people in this world should know of what I speak of. Think of where you are!"

I felt sweat build on my forehead as I gazed around the barren chamber until my eyes focused in on the frozen floor. Beneath the ice, I saw countless specters swim in spirals, and I also noticed the white spider webbing cracks scattered around the chamber, signs that the seal I was standing on had begun to break.

"You've been here the whole time?"

Charlemagne's head fell, a quiet hum of anger and tinge of desperation choked the fire from his voice.

"Yes, I've been keeping this place sealed so that my father and uncle could not draw the energy necessary to produce the sword of Akasha," he said. "Yet for all these years of torment, all you have become is the perfect heir to father's empire."

His words stung, they bit deep and penetrated the very core of my soul because I knew he was right. When all was said and done, what have I done with the extra time I've received. Nothing but play my part, fulfill the role I was given, and why? Because I shouldn't exist in this story? Because I was afraid of losing control and the power I now possessed. No, I stayed the course out of fear, fear of the unknown, and the fear of dying again.

"You're right, I may pretend and act as if I have everything figured out, but I'm terrified of change. I've been treating my situation as a game of chess. I thought if I could know my opponent's moves ahead of time, I would have no trouble defeating them. But when faced with the unexpected, well, it seems I'm one who's blinded by his own pride."

"At least you're not too proud to admit it," said Char.

"Yeah," I said, "I guess I had to be humbled sooner or later."

"Hmph, at least you haven't been trapped with the souls of the damned for more than a decade."

Silence crept over the two of us as we both wrestled with the conflicting feelings which raged inside our minds. After I swallowed enough of my shame, I broke the uneasy calm.

"So, since we're trapped together for the foreseeable future, I might as well ask, how did all this start?"

Charlemagne cast me an ugly look.

"I mean how'd you end up here at least, I got to know?"

Charlemagne sighed, and the breath seemed to sap the vitriol from him as his body slumped forward.

"It all started with a foolish wish," he said as I received a headache and a flood of fractured memories.

I saw various landscapes race past me until my vision settled upon Pendragon, the imperial palace. From there, I was transported to my old room, or rather Charlemagne's old room at the palace.

"Growing up was a lonely experience for me, my father never showed interest in me, my mother absorbed in politics, and with my brother already showing himself to be a prodigy, I was always alone. This left a void in my heart, but instead of despair, I asked myself why, why did my life become like this? I was a prince born into privilege, luxury, and opportunity. But I was never able to connect with those in either my direct or indirect family."

Now images of a focused Schneizel, a preoccupied mother Corrine, and a distant father Charles spewed forth. Each memory illustrating a young boy's melancholy and unheard cries for love and attention.

"Instead, I had to deal with the lies, deceit, and demands of court life never once feeling that I was loved. I suppose that's why he approached me."

Now my view was filled with a dark, nondescript hallway in Pendragon with a young Charlemagne beside me at one end and a smiling V.V. at the other.

"At the time, I didn't wholly understand what he was saying. That he was my uncle, and he wanted to help me by making a deal with me, but in my eyes, the wild promises of power that my uncle made were enough to tempt me to accept."

The mindscape then turned red as the geass contract took effect. The young Charlemagne cringed from the exchange then writhed in pain on the floor as his geass took effect.

"As you well know, Char, a geass power takes form based on the desires deep within one's own subconsciousness. For me, my geass manifested through my desire to understand others, especially my distant family. However, as soon as I manifested my geass, I lost control of it."

The scene then shifted back to an empty manor now devoid of color, and fragments of the home were being pulled apart by the void. At the center of it was Charlemagne on the floor, cradling his head.

"Instead of the love and warmth I desired from my family, my geass made me a conduit for sensing the emotions of everyone around me. It was only after I drove myself into isolation to find some sort of refuge from the myriad of emotions hammering my mind that my uncle V.V. came to revisit me. This time he said he could help me control my power, he said my geass was special, powerful, unique even, but his designs for me were far from helpful. He took me to the temple above me and lashed me to this device in hopes that using me as a focus, he could speed up his and my father's project to unify humanity. However, as soon V.V. started the experiment, I saw what they were trying to destroy."

Charlemagne looked up towards the non-existent heavens with a solemn look.

"That thing they call god, looming just out of sight, must never be touched by such selfish men."

"So, what did you do?" I asked.

Charlemagne looked back to me.

"I prayed, to god, the gods, anyone, and anything that was listening. I prayed for the strength to change my fate, the future, and protect this world from being spoiled by a calamity being called down upon all of mankind." He said, sounding exhausted. "Then as I was being buffeted by the hurricane of malice and misplaced prayers my uncle calls a sword, I received an answer. It was like a whisper on the wind and yet rang clear in my ear. Then I saw a glowing green thread running from me to who knows where. Then the thread began to reel back into me, first becoming taunt and pulling something towards me. And like a fisherman reeling in his catch, I saw a faceless spirit come through the storm and merge with me. Next thing I knew, the sword of Akasha reversed its direction and locked itself away, and I was locked down here dormant until another code bearer unlocked our connection, and I became aware you Char."

I was quiet for a minute after Charalmange finished. I couldn't remember any of this from the original story, but I knew that he was speaking the truth. It made sense that V.V. and Emperor Charles would try to speed up Ragnarök any way they can. And their view that geass couldn't affect C's world or God/the God's had to have come from somewhere.

"I see," I said, trying to come to terms with my still unclear origins and all the fuzzy details along with them.

A string of fate coated in a green light, was it similar to the same green light I saw before in the real world when my shields were about to fail, or am I just overthinking things?

"Do you really?" Asked Charlemagne.

Did I, probably not, but from what I heard and what I have speculated myself, I gave him my answer.

"Yes, though some outside force, be it God, fate, or through some other higher being, my spirt was brought from my reality into this one as an answer to your plea. My sixth sense is likely a byproduct of a bleeding effect your geass has had on our shared body, and now V.V. sent me down here to either trap us both or have us destroy each other to unlock the sword am I wrong?"

Charlemagne chuckled, "no, you're not. But don't worry, I have no plans to destroy you, besides I'm in no condition to do much of anything right now."

I then started to cough, I wheezed until I was on my knees, and when I looked in my hand instead of blood, there was a black bile substance coating my hand.

"But this place will kill you the longer you stay here," he said. "Unfortunately, escape is next to impossible from this depth."

Now his harsh words sank in, and I finally noticed how it was getting harder to stand with each passing moment.

"So, this is it, all these years wasted playing pretend in your shoes just to die in some dark frozen hellscape. Huh, you were right, Charlemagne I did waste the time you gave me," I said as I settled to sit at Charlemagne's feet.

"Maybe not, there may yet be a way for us to escape this prison," said Charlemagne after a moment.

I looked up at him, intrigued by the prospect of escape.

"As it is now, any chance of escape from this place is impossible. However, if the seal below us is shattered, then the ensuing torrent of spiritual energy could allow for one to return to the physical world," he said.

"Wait, hold up, time out, I thought you wanted to keep the Sword of Akasha locked up!" I said.

"True, but circumstances have changed," he said as his body began to glow.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I said as motes of light began to leave Charlemagne's body and then absorbed by my own.

"You need not fear my body rejecting you anymore, I'm giving you what strength my soul has left, it should give you the strength to carry on, and allow you to grasp the future."

I pulled myself up and hobbled over next to the cross to look up at Charlemagne's face.

"You don't have to do this. I can finish things without you throwing your life away, I just need more time!"

But Charlemagne merely smiled at my chagrin.

"In the years that I've been trapped here, I've seen your memories of what this world's future is supposed to be."

I stopped my protests and listened to the fading man before me.

"So much death, so much sorrow, and so much agony await this world of ours," he said with eyes full of sorrow and tears of blood streaked down his face. "I know that there is nothing that can stop the oncoming tide of blood. The world is on the brink and twin calamities threaten all who call this world their own. So, promise me Char, that you create your own destiny, defy the bonds of fate, and do everything in your power to prevent the oncoming calamity."

I nodded as Charlemagne's body became motes of light.

"Good, I now entrust the rest to you, and know that I will always be with you as the light to guide you within the darkness."

With those last words, Charlemagne el Britannia disappeared. He did not cry, beg, or panic in his final moments. Instead, Charlemagne adopted a serene expression as he let go of his burden and finally found peace.

Would I have lasted as long as he did were I in his place? No, the strength Charlemagne showed was greater than any human could find in himself alone. Instead, his fortitude was strengthed in his faith that some stranger would someday hear his cries and alleviate his burdens. That stranger so happened to be me, and as I watched the last moments of Charlemagne I wept.

Through my teary eyes, I saw his remains dissolve and turn into small motes of golden light which flickered in the void, remnants of his tattered existence floating like fireflies in the night. One by one they came to me and melded with my skin, a feeling that brought warmth and peace in such a cold and foreboding place.

"Charlemagne, I'm sorry that you had to suffer alone all this time, but I promise your sacrifice won't be in vain," I said.

Just as my words left my mouth, a thunderous crack rumbled around me. I looked down and saw the ice had started to give way as the seal was now broken. Before I could think of what to do, I began to float upward as if gravity had no hold over me.

In an instant, like a great flood, I was swallowed and propelled upward by a great force. The torrent swept over me and covered me in a thick oily substance from which many hands emerged.

Now blinded, I was assaulted by countless entities while I spun through the void uncontrollably. Soon the feeling of weightlessness left me along with the spectral hands, but instead of emerging back into the temple of the sword of Akasha or the collective unconscious, I felt the pressure of the ocean fall on me. Then I fell unconscious, but before my mind withdrew to the darkness I saw a glimmer of sunshine piercing the water and felt my body go limp as I was now at the mercy of the waves.