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Code Geass: Rei of the Revolution

Chapter 34: The Thought Elevator

"Uh... Oneechan? I don't think it's going to be easy..." Rei said.

"Why do you say... that?" Kallen asked before looking to her left.

She saw the Britannian airship as well.

'Oh goddamnit...' Kallen thought. "Now just how are going to get past that?"

"I don't know..." Rei said. "The Air Glide is still an experimental prototype..."

"Air Glide?" Kallen asked.

"Yeah, it can make the Byakuen fly." Rei said.

"Wait, if that's how you got here, why can't we just do that?" Kallen asked.

"Well... this is a prototype, so it might cause a power drain. For that reason, back up energy fillers were put on the Byakuen." Rei said. "I'm not even sure if they'll last as well."

"Damn..." Kallen said. "And if we get into a fight..."

"We'll be defenseless." A voice said.

Zero came out with Euphemia.

"Z-Zero! You're ok!" Kallen said.

"Of course I am. I've been through worse." Zero said.

Euphemia gasped at the sight of an unconscious Rai.

"Rai!" Euphemia said as she rushed over to the unconscious pilot.

Kallen pulled her sidearm out. Rei grabbed her hand.

"R-Rei?!" Kallen muttered.

"They'll hear the gunshot." Rei said.

"Besides, we have more pressing issues at hand." Zero said.

A red mark appeared over the floor. Rei's eye glows red. Zero froze for a moment. Rai was suddenly awoken. The three began to freeze up as though something seized them.

The altar gave off a red light. The symbol on the wall lit up with the same light. Mostly everyone was captivated by the light.

'What is happening?' Schneizel thought.

The ceiling above the altar collapsed. The dust spreads out. As it cleared, Zero, a puzzled Euphemia, a shocked to death Rai, and a red haired Eleven and a white haired Eleven, along with the White Beetle itself stood before everyone. Soldiers came in and surrounded the whole group.

"Hold fire! You'll hit the Princess!" Bartley roared.

'So that's Zero?' Schneizel thought. 'And that child...'

"Get back! Don't go near me!" A panicked Rai yelled as he got away from Euphemia.

"Hm?!" Bartley grumbled.

"You know him?" Schneizel asked.

"Yes, we found him when he emerged from that stone wall in the altar." Bartley said.

"Could it have reacted to him?" Schneizel asked.

"Maybe it did..." Bartley said. "And that brat too... he's here as well..."

"So you and the White Beetle have met before." Schneizel said.

"Yes, shortly after this man came through, that boy did as well." Bartley said.

Kallen got off and pulled out her sidearm. The Byakuen suddenly moved and closed the hatch. It turned to the wall and placed its hand on it.

'What the hell is he doing at a time like this?!' Kallen thought.

'That symbol! That's the same as Geass!' Lelouch thought. 'Wait... is this some altar? If so... was it meant for people with Geass?'

The wall lit up.

"NO! Let me go back!" Rai exclaimed as Euphemia pulled him back.

"What are you saying?!" Euphemia exclaimed.

"You don't get it! I'm a danger to everyone here! Don't you understand that?!" Rai said. "I've caused the slaughter of millions! Im a murder! A killer! I sent every last one of them to their deaths! Just let me go so I can atone for it!"

"Sir Hodges, I demand that you—!"

Rai slapped Euphemia across the face with the back of his hand. Euphemia looked at Rai and noticed that his eye had a blinking light. She recognized that glow. It was from when Rei's eye glowed.

'Why does Rai have that glow?' Euphemia thought.

The glow became so intense that it was almost blinding. The light faded and... they were gone! Zero, that girl, and the boy just suddenly vanished! The soldiers approached. Rai immediately got away from the Princess. He still looked paranoid.

"Sir Hodges, I suggest you calm down." Schneizel said.

"Answer me!" Rai ordered.

A red sphere began to expand towards him. The soldiers instinctively got away from the sphere. It continues to expand until it touched Schneizel and collapsed. Euphie looked to her brother, who now had red rings on his eyes and an emotionless expression.

"Y-Your highness?" Bartley asked.

He waved his hand in front of Schneizel. Nothing happened. He was like a statue.

"Tell me, what is thing?" Rai asked.

"Well... I have come to the conclusion that this altar could in fact be some sort of... inter-dimensional gateway to some other world." Schneizel said.

"A gateway? To where?" Rai asked.

"That I do not know." Schneizel said.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Rai asked. "How can you not now where it leads?"

He was silent.

"Talk!" He demanded.

"I do not have an explanation for that." Schneizel said.

"You—! Have you hypnotized his majesty?!" Bartley asked. "Undo it!"

"Be silent, you insolent cur!" Rai yelled.

Euphie was appalled by the sudden outburst.

"C-Cur?! We don't know a damn thing about you aside from the fact—!"

"I am a Prince of Britannia and I demand that you be silent or you will be silenced!" Rai said. "I... I am the son of Kairezen xi Britannia, son of Dagon von Britannia, and as such, you will obey my orders!"

"Have you gone mad?!" Bartley said. "Soldiers, seize him!"

The soldiers went over to him.

"Obey my orders!" Rai ordered.

Another red sphere expanded to the soldiers and engulfed them before collapsing. The soldiers stood still.

"Arrest that man!" Rai yelled.

Euphie smacked him across the head. The red circles around Schneizel's eyes faded. He shook his head. The soldiers shook their heads as well.

"Your highness, do you remember anything?" Kanon asked.

"I remember him yelling and then... that's it... everything else is blank." Schneizel said. "I... can't remember anything else beyond that. Kanon, when I my mind went blank, what was I doing?"

"You were answering some of his questions." Kanon said. "It was almost as if you were put under his control."

"Yes... and when it was severed, everything I experienced during that time period must have been possibly cordoned off by whatever influence he had over me..." Schneizel said. "What did I tell him while I was under his influence?"

"That this might be a gate to another dimension." Kanon said.

"Why yes... of course! The Black Knights! They must have gone into another dimension! It's a gateway to another dimension!" Schneizel said. "By god Kanon, what if this thing is actually more like a teleportation device?"

"A teleportation device?" Kanon asked. "But how do we even know how it works?"

"The Beetle had its hand on the wall and then there was that light, so that must be how it works." Schneizel said. "I think I know why father is so interested in these artifacts now..."

"But then how would they get out?" Kanon asked.

"That I do not know Kanon." Schneizel said. "This is a bizarre discovery..."

"What's even more bizarre is that Sir Hodges claimed to be the son of a man who was related to the grandfather of the Emperor."

"What? For real?" Schneizel asked. "Start a DNA analysis."

"Right away, my lord." Kanon said.

Elsewhere...

Lelouch, Kallen, and the Byakuen found themselves in what appeared to be a temple floating above a giant sea of clouds.

"Where... is this place?" Kallen asked.

"Judging by the shape of these clouds, the size of the sun... I think we're on Jupiter." Lelouch said.

"Jupiter?! We're all the way out here?!" Kallen exclaimed.

"No." A voice came from the Byakuen.

The cockpit opened and Rei stood up. He suddenly began to float and touch down. Rei turned around and looked at the group with a symbol on his forehead glowing.

"While this is in fact Jupiter, it is actually not Jupiter at all." Rei said.

"Wait a minute... who are you?" Lelouch asked.

"I am C, and I speak to you through this child." The boy said. "We are the collective subconscious of all men, women, and children, alive and dead."

"Wait... seriously?!" Kallen said. "Is that even—?"

"Is my mother there? Is she? Please, let me speak to her." Lelouch said.

"Lelouch?" Kallen asked.

C turned to Lelouch.

"Speak of thy name of thou mother." C said.

"Marianne vi Britannia, is she there?" Lelouch asked. "Let me talk to her."

The body of Rei shook its head.

"She is not here." C spoke.

Lelouch looked in denial. He shook his head, looking enraged.

"Impossible... you say that you are the collective minds of all people that are either dead or alive, what the hell do you mean she's not here?!" Lelouch asked. "What the hell does that mean?! Is she stuck?! Is that what you're telling me?! She's stuck between being alive and dead?! What the hell do you mean when you say she is not here?!"

"She is not here because her soul is still tethered to the world of the living for which she is not permanently one with the collective." C spoke said.

"My mother, alive? Impossible!" Lelouch said. "There was a body! She died! I saw it! How can she still be alive?! I want proof! Tell me or I'll make you tell me!"

"She possess the power of the king, just as you do, child of man." C said.

"What?" Lelouch asked. "My mother had... Geass? Are you... telling me that my mother had a Geass?"

"Geass?" Kallen asked.

C turned to Kallen.

"The Power of the King, a power bestowed by someone chosen by the Code Bearer who bears the mark known as the Code of God." C said. "The power manifests into the form of the many deepest desires of man."

C turned to Lelouch.

"For instance, his Geass was shaped to his desire to lead." C said. "And his mother had the desire to live. And so her power allowed her to move her soul into a vessel."

Lelouch looked in absolute shock.

"You mean... she evaded death on that die? She moved her soul into another person's body as she was on the brink of death?" Lelouch asked. "Her 'death' was all but a deception to thwart her killer? Is that what you're saying? That she... that she cheated death? If so, how did she come to possess it?"

"That is true. She evaded death and eluded her killer." C said. "She had made a contract with the one whom you have formed a pact with."

Lelouch's eyes shrunk in surprise.

'CC?!' Lelouch thought. 'CC gave my mother Geass? That means she knew... she knew my mother and for that reason, she... she knew her killer all along... she... she knew all this time.'

He dropped to his knees, now realizing what all of this began to imply. Every person who died either by his hands or by the hands of others since that day in the Aries Villa was...

'Impossible... then... that means... all of that was... I killed Clovis for...' Lelouch thought.

He shook his head and got up.

"You called to him, didn't you?" Lelouch asked. "Why did you bring Rei here? For what purpose?"

"I have brought thy child here for a purpose for which he must complete." C said. "To destroy the Sword of Akasha before Ragnarok begins. Before the end comes. Before all becomes none."

"What?" Lelouch asked.

BANG!

Rei fell as a splotch of red formed on his chest.

"Rei!" Kallen cried, rushing to Rei and catching him.

"Nice try, pathetic Gods, but what you say won't delay the inevitable." A childish voice said.

Out came some child with ridiculously long hair and pink eyes. He had a mark on his forehead. It was just like the one on CC's forehead.

"Rei! Speak to me!" Kallen said.

She heard him cough.

"Kallen... Oneechan?" Rei asked.

"Be thankful I only shot him in the back and not his head." The child said. "Damn Gods... almost tried to ruin everything. Now there's a mess that needs cleaning up."

"You... who are you?" Lelouch asked.

"Who am I? Well that's not important. But what is important is now I know that bitch is still alive." The child said. "Seriously... a Geass that moves one soul into another body... just when I thought I put her in the ground, she flips the bird on me and now all of this happens."

"You... knew my mother?" Lelouch asked. "Were you the one who tried to kill her?!"

"And you are?"

Lelouch took off the mask.

"Lelouch vi Britannia! The son of the woman that you despise!" Lelouch said.

"What?" Kallen asked. "You're a..."

"Kallen, this is no longer your concern." Lelouch said. "It's between me and my mother's killer now."

"But—!"

"Oh I already knew that." The child said. "Your mother tried to sway my brother, your father. And so I killed her, or at least I thought I killed her. But I'm sure your father is convinced she's dead, so it really doesn't matter."

"My father is your brother? Impossible!" Lelouch said. "The official records states he was born an only child! He never had a brother, at least not a brother from the same flesh and blood that he came from!"

"Oh Lelouch, nothing is impossible. Sure, officially he was an only child, but he merely manipulated the records to make it looks as if I didn't exist." The child said. "I may not look it now, but I am totally older than him by one or two years though since we were born as twins and everything."

"So my father knew you existed and kept the truth of your existence hidden and canceled the investigation to hide you from the authorities because you just so happened to be his twin brother." Lelouch said. "And did he tell you what you did to Nunnally when he had to cover up your murder?!"

"Oh I only crippled her." The child said. "Your father was afraid that if she remembered seeing me, that would be a problem, so he simply messed around with her memories and made it appear as though she was blinded by trauma when in actually, that blindness was forced upon her by the Geass I gave him."

Of course... it wasn't a coincidence! It was deliberate! His father had Geass and used it on Nunnally! He made her blind! He looked enraged.

"But hey, don't blame him. Blame me for causing all of this unnecessary drama." The child said. "Besides, I did technically kill your mother after all."

"Lelouch! He's only trying to get into your head! Don't listen to him!" Kallen said.

"Lelouch..." Rei said.

"Then what about the war with Japan?!"

"Totally necessary. The sakuradite merely an excuse to go to war for something totally bigger by the way, we uh... didn't know that we'd find one of those temples you found until now that is..." The child said. "These Thought Elevators, especially the one you found here, they have a role to play."

"And just what is that role?" Lelouch asked.

"The obliteration of the Gods." The child said. "To power this sanctum we stand on in which the Sword of Akasha will finally snuff out the light of the Gods forever! And once it is over, everything will be peaceful, just like your sister wanted."

"He's... wrong..." Rei spoke.

"I shot you in the lung, how are you still capable of breathing and talking at this point?" The child asked.

"He's lying?" Lelouch asked.

"C... he told me that this place was linked to other altars aside from this one... all for the purpose of... destroying C..." Rei said. "C is connected to all of us... so if C dies... we all die..."

"What? No. I'm trying to save humanity from the Gods by... well... killing the Gods." The child said. "All the lies, the deceptions, all these vices man has, they are here because the Gods made it so! They gave mankind individuality and wisdom, only for mankind to be greedy, selfish, and savage imbeciles with so many beliefs that I bother not making a list about it!"

"And you think killing off the manifestation of humanity's own collective subconscious that binds us all to it will fix everything?!" Lelouch said. "Is that why Rei's parents had to die?! Why the Japanese were made to suffer for seven years?! Why millions had to die with conquest after conquest?!"

"Oh please Lelouch, sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. You're no different from me, your father—"

"Don't you dare throw that suggestion at me!" Lelouch said. "I am absolutely nothing like—"

"Oh... but it's not a suggestion at all. It's more like a resemblance, a strikingly similar one at that. Especially with the killing family members thing that I think he did a few times because I did the most of it." The child said. "I mean... have you ever heard of the Emblem of Blood?"

"Emblem of Blood?"

"I see... so it all makes sense..." Lelouch said.

"What the hell is going on here?! Answer me!" Kallen demanded. "What's the Emblem of Blood?!"

"Oh... it was... a period of frequent betrayal and assassination among every member of the royal family who coveted the Imperial Throne." The child said. "Me and Charles had to live in that godforsaken hell. A hell full of lies and betrayal... it claimed our mother and father, who did absolutely nothing wrong in this world. Killed for no other reason but to have a shot at the throne... you wouldn't understand the turmoil it put us through."

"And then my father overthrown the 97th Emperor. No doubt with you helping him." Lelouch said.

"Oh no, your mother helped along. I mean, who could possibly challenge such a strong independent and cunning woman like herself?" The child said. "Then we planned to kill the Gods and your mother was all up for it."

He glared at Lelouch.

"That is until she decided to have children and had second thoughts and even gave my brother second thoughts about it." The child said. "And Charles, who just so happened to love her above his own brother, decided to give her children, twice."

Lelouch noticed that the child's eye was twitching.

"She... she bewitched my brother... she was... taking him away... she... she was swaying him from the goal we worked so hard to achieve..." The child said with rage building up his voice. "That deceiving witch... that liar... that damned witch... she... she... she had to be eliminated... she had to be killed... but now she still lives... she still lives... and it's all CC's fault for hiding this behind my back..."

The child turned his eyes on a barely breathing Rei.

"And you... you disappointed me." The child said. "Instead of being obedient like the rest of the brats who you lived with for so long under the watchful eyes of myself and the Order, you decided to rebel against me and ended up all the way here."

Rei struggles to get up.

"Now that you're here, I can finally correct the mistake I made with you." The child said. "Those idiots should have killed you. Or better yet, your mother should have had an abortion."

Lelouch shot the child in the head. The child fell on his back.

"Let's get out of here!" Lelouch said, putting his mask on.

"But how?" Kallen asked.

"The same way we came in." Lelouch said. "He must have thought of entering this place, so it's possible that if we think about leaving, we might just get out!"

Rei got on the Byakuen and closed the hatch. The three suddenly vanished.

VV got up. They were gone. He got up slowly. He picked up the ejected bullet.

"Damn you Marianne... you deceiver..."

Back on Kamine Island

The three found themselves back in the cave. Britannian soldiers surrounded them.

"You're surrounded!" Bartley said. "Surrender yourselves immediately or be executed here and now!"

The Byakuen pulled out the cannon and started shooting at the soldiers. A piece of shrapnel grazed Schneizel's head.

"We'll use that to get out of here!" Zero said. "Byakuen! Cover us!"

"Right!" Rei said.

The two make it for the giant black Knightmare.

"The Gawain! Secure the Gawain!" Bartley ordered. "Don't let them take that unit no matter what!"

"Your highness!" Kanon said.

"I'm fine... I only got grazed." Schneizel reassures his friend.

Lelouch opened the cockpit to see two seats.

"A two seater... just like a Raikou." Lelouch muttered. "Kallen, operate the controls! I'll get the systems up and running!"

"Right!" Kallen said as she got into the front seat as Lelouch took the back seat.

The canopy closed and the monitors switched on.

"What is this thing?" Kallen asked.

"Doesn't matter, we'll break through them!" Lelouch said.

The two Knightmares make it for the exit. The Gawain opened its shoulder modules and fired bursts of red and black energy projectiles everywhere. The energy was cut off and the modules shut themselves down.

"An incomplete weapon... how inconvenient..." Lelouch said. "Oh well, there's one system we haven't used yet."

He pulled the lever back.

"Now pull up!" Lelouch said.

"H-Huh?!"

"Just so it!"

The Gawain had green energy wings form before the machine began to fly. Rei switched on the Air Glide and began to fly with the Gawain.

The two Knightmares begin to fly away from the island.

"We're... flying?" Kallen asked. "And so is the Byakuen?"

"That's correct." Lelouch said. "Let's contact the Black Knights.

"Our Gawain... our precious and prized Gawain..." Bartley moped.

"It was a prototype anyway. An acceptable loss is what is now." Schneizel said.

He looked to Euphemia who approached him.

"Sorry for being so late and rough Princess." Schneizel said. "Perhaps I kept you waiting for too long."

"No no... I should have been more careful..." Euphemia said. "So... about Sir Hodges... is he—"

"We checked that just recently." Schneizel said. "His story checks out. He is indeed the son of the late Kairezen xi Britannia."

"What?" Euphemia asked. "You mean..."

"Yes. Apparently born in the year 1990, while his father managed to avoid having his head chopped off, he married a lady coming from a clan closely related to the Sumeragi clan." Schneizel said. "However much about him has been completely ripped out of the pages of history, almost as if someone didn't want anyone to know of this."

"So that would make him... our cousin?" Euphemia asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Schneizel said. "Still... he should have looked at around my age. Which would mean that his time inside that dimension he was hiding slowed his aging... for 17 years. Maybe time flows differently in there. And if that's true, that would explain the Black Knights suddenly reappearing exactly three hours from now. For them... I'd say they must have thought that they were in there for at least a few minutes."

Across the Ocean...

The sub surfaced as the Gawain and the Byakuen approached. The hatches open and the Knightmares touched down inside the cargo bay. The cockpits opened and out came the trio. The Black Knights looked enthusiastic to see them coming back. Rei got down from the Byakuen. He looked to see CC approaching him.

"Well, it would seem you brought them back." CC said.

"Yeah... I really did it." Rei said. "But..."

"But what?"

"It's nothing..." Rei said.

"So did my Air Glide System work?" Rakshata asked.

"Y-Yeah... it totally worked. Though the power consumption..."

"Don't worry, we'll analyze the data and figure out a solution." Rakshata said. "As for the Lancelot's technology, we managed to reverse engineer some of it. Expect yourself to test out a new weapon on the Byakuen very shortly."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Rei said.

Nina and Neha looked at Rei.

"You know, you really should try to have a relationship with him." Nina said. "Don't keep it professional. Make it personal."

"You know... you're acting a bit like Shirley..." Neha said.

"R-Really? I never thought of it..." Nina said.

"Maybe we both have fallen for him..." Neha said.

"EH?!" Nina exclaimed as her face turned red. "Y-You fell in love with him already?!"

"Wait! Don't tell him I said that!" Neha said as her face turned red.

A/N: And that's it for Chapter 34.

Jibun... oh fuck it.

Yes, unfortunately, this is canon. Lelouch's mother jumps to another body and hides in it and stays completely under the radar and CC, being the good friend she is to Marianne, doesn't bother to tell her son about her relationship with his mom and just pretends she never knew her. I had to assume VV didn't know about it in either R1 or R2. Charles knew exactly what was going on and had to sweep the incident entirely under the rug before everyone finds out VV did it for several reasons. Now if VV realized that Marianne had a Geass, he'd be absolutely pissed off at the fact that he basically fucked it all up and now he can't risk killing Marianne again knowing that Marianne can now jump from body to body and that Charles would catch on at some point if he dares to attempt it again.

If Lelouch found out prior to last few episodes in R2, he'd realize that his mother basically cheated death and that his quest to find his mother's killer was a wild goose chase (and seeing as now that he has found said killer and knows it was him now, he has every reason to be upset by all of this). His priorities would now change to kill said killer as payback for literally everything that has happened to him and all parties involved with his mother's death. I'm not sure how Nunnally would handle finding out about this, so I'll just leave that to interpretation.

Rai having a hysterical moment

I mean, of course he's going to be hysterical. He just remembered who he was and now remembers that he did so many bad things that it makes Suzaku killing his father look like it was an accident (which it technically is by the way since he got angry and stabbed his father with a knife out of pure anger).

Schneizel's eureka moment

I mean... after everything he had just witnessed, I'm pretty sure he is now interested with this 'ancient teleportation device.'

C

C, being the literal collective subconscious of humanity itself (either living or dead), I'm sure he had every reason to bring Rei over here to tell him 'hey could you blow up this temple thing? we don't like it and would want it gone now.'

Later peeps.