Here's the next chapter. Anyway, I don't own Code Geass or any of the characters just the OC.
—…
39. The Sun And Moon
Hovering over Kamine Island was the flagship of the Britannian Emperor, Charles. Also, aboard that ship was a member of the Knights of the Round; The Knight of Twelve, Monica Krushevsky. She was looking at the remains of the Tokyo Settlement that was hit by the F.L.E.I.J.A. view monitor and turned to Charles to inform him.
"There was a giant explosion in the Tokyo settlement. It appears that a F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead caused it. Your Majesty, should we remain here at Kamine island?" Monica asked concerned.
"Enough. Let Schneizel handle mundane affairs." Charles said dismissively.
Avalon
Aboard the main bridge of the Avalon, soldiers were reporting the results of the blast and the amount of damage that was done to the settlement, including how many lives were lost.
"At least ten million inhabitants are believed dead from initial impact with the blast." A soldier reported.
"Secondary damages might have caused twenty-five million more casualties. All rescue facilities were wiped out, so we can not care for any of the wounded." Another soldier reported.
"The Tokyo settlement is no more…" A third soldier reported.
"No… How could this have happened…" Nina gripped her head in horror as she read the ever-growing list of casualties that kept scrolling down. "They're all… They're all…"
Nina looked at the list of the deceased and finally comes to her senses (albeit violently), remorsefully realizing they were killed by a weapon she made.
Tokyo Settlement
Meanwhile, back at the Tokyo Settlement, as the sun came up and it was now the morning, inside the cockpit of the Lancelot, Suzaku looked on in horror at the remains of the Tokyo Settlement.
"Prince Schneizel… How could you?" Suzaku whispered in despair.
Gino flew the Tristan over toward Ashford Academy where the school was fortunately outside the blast radius and received minimal with no casualties.
"The school was outside the blast radius but…" Gino had a disapproving expression. "This is gone beyond war."
Also still in the air, Todoh and his forces look at the crater that was once the Tokoyo Settlement with disbelief.
"If they use this weapon again, the Black Knights will be completely wiped out," Todoh said to himself.
Just then, Soul contacted Todoh. "Todoh, come in."
"Soul, we can't remain here. We've lost Asahina. And we have massive casualties." Todoh reported.
"I see," Soul responded unhappily. "I everyone who was with you alright?"
"Yes, we're all still here," Todoh said.
"In that case, fall back," Soul ordered him. "Inform all troops to fall back to the Ikaruga, we'll figure things out there."
"Understood," Todoh replied before asking. "What about Zero?"
"Zero's alive, though he was injured." Soul lied before going on. "I'll bring him back to the Ikaruga."
"I see. In that case, I'll leave it to you." Todoh said as Soul hung up.
After that was done, Lelouch contacted Logan's Agravaine to speak to him.
"Logon, it's me," Lelouch said emotionlessly. "Have all forces land in Tokyo Settlement. Search for Nunnally."
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Logan disobeyed. "I've ordered our forces to return to the Ikaruga."
"What?" Lelouch's tone became angry.
"You need to go back too," Logan ordered Lelouch this time. "You're not well, it isn't good for you to be—"
"Do you think I care about that!?" Lelouch angrily cut him off with a yell. "Find Nunnally now! That's an order! Have all forces, search for Nunnally!" Lelouch's eyes were filled with a mad fury and a blind rage as he yelled at the top of his lungs.
In a way, Logan wasn't wrong when he said Zero was injured, it just wasn't a physical injury.
Ikaruga
Inside the Back Knights' flagship, Ohgi was running down the hallway after being informed that their prisoners had escaped.
"The fugitives are on the portside runway, right?" Ohgi talked into his radio.
"Wait. We need to reorganize our forces first." Futaba said on the other line.
"Understood. I'll be back there in a minute." Ohgi said before hanging up.
Meanwhile, Cornelia and Darlton make it out of their confined rooms and climb onto the top of the Ikaruga's portside runway, where Diethard and four troops confront them.
"That's far enough, Fugitives," Diethard said confidently. "Or would you prefer I call you by name? Cornelia, Darlton."
Once again, Darlton stood defensively in front of Cornelia, while she sneered at Diethard. "So it's you. Newsman and turned coat." She said wittingly.
"You don't seem surprised finding us on your ship." Darlton noticed.
"Zero already informed us of your capture. But it won't do to have you escape now." Diethard signalled to the troops. "Aim for her legs. I wanna take her alive, men. Feel free to kill Darlton."
"Yes, sir!" The Black Knight troops all said in unison.
Before they can fire though, they hear a siren and look up to see an enemy envoy craft above them that was preparing to land on the ship.
"Attention. We are carrying a Britannian special envoy on an urgent diplomatic mission." A soldier on the craft said through a loudspeaker. "We have no hostile intentions."
"Diplomatic mission?" Diethard questioned before contacted Minase. "Minase, was that craft cleared to land here through official channels?"
As the aircraft landed and opened its door, everyone was shocked and surprised to see the person exit it was Schneizel, accompanied by Kanon.
"Schneizel!" Cornelia said relieved.
"Prince Schneizel?" Darlton looked surprised.
"Impossible! Why would he step right into the midst of his mortal enemies?" Diethard asked completely taken aback.
Tokyo Settlement
"Attention, all forces! Fall back to Makuhari, and reform our battle line. All forces, fall back now!" Todoh relayed the order he got from Soul to the rest of the Black Knights.
While they were falling back, Lelouch was still desperate to find Nunnally.
"Logan, I told you to search for Nunnally!" Lelouch demanded.
"That can wait," Logan told him. "We need to head back."
Lelouch just became angrier. "Never! Nunnally has to be alive! Find her! Find Nunnally—"
Before Lelouch could protest further, Jeremiah's Sutherland Sig appeared behind the Shinkiro and held it back to stop him. Rolo's Vincent also arrived beside the Agravaine.
"As long as Lelouch is safe…" Rolo started.
"…Then we will have another chance." Jeremiah went on.
"…For now, we need to stop." Logan finished.
Kagoshima Settlement Coast
At a different time, there was now a cease-fire at the battle taking place between the Black Knights led by Xingke and the Britannian forces led by Bismarck. Xingke landed his Knightmare in the Knightmare Hanger and stepped out of it.
"Why have they called temporary cease-fire? What are the Britannian up to? Why did Bismarck withdraw?" Xingke questioned continuously.
"We're trying to find that out. But they don't seem to be preparing a new attack. And there's a cease-fire in Tokyo as well." Xianglin informed him.
"Did Zero order it?" Xingke asked.
Zero's Personal Room
Back at the Ikaruga, the door to Zero's room opens while C.C and Shirley are still inside. Shirley was sitting on the couch while C.C was dusting the bookcase. They both look to see Lelouch, Logan and Rolo enter through the door as Lelouch was being held up by Rolo who had his arm around his shoulder.
"Master, you're back." C.C started to greet Logan but stopped when she saw none of them was in a good mood.
"Lulu?" Shirley went over to Lelouch with concern.
"Hang in there, Lelouch," Rolo said while moving him.
"Nunnally…" Lelouch uttered in despair.
"Set him down on the couch," Logan instructed him.
Rolo did so and sat Lelouch down on the couch and removed his Zero mask as he hunched over lifelessly staring at the floor in silence.
"What's wrong with him?" Shirley asked, worried about the state Lelouch was in. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm afraid he's gone into a state of shock after," Logan said dismayed. "Seeing Nunnally get caught in the blast was too much for his psyche to bear."
"Then is… I mean is Nunna really…" Shirley was hesitant to even say it.
"It hasn't been confirmed, but considering the odds of surviving a nuclear blast, I wouldn't get my hopes up," Logan said.
Suddenly Rolo's phone started ringing and he saw it was Jeremiah who called him while searching for any remains of Nunnally.
"Jeremiah? Please give Zero some time right now. You can talk to him later." Rolo requested of him after answering the phone. "Yeah, right. It may not mean much of anything.… After all, we're here with him."
"Rolo, hand me the phone." Logan requested and after being given the phone, he spoke to Jeremiah. "Jeremiah, if you find anything, report it to me and I'll pass it on to Zero.… Right."
Logan hung up and gave the phone back to Rolo before he also sat down and removed his mask.
"Mmh… Now, what do we do?" Logan thought.
Avalon's Knightmare Hanger
Back in the Lancelot's Hangar in the Avalon, Nina herself is contemplating the situation, having never calculated there would be so many innocent casualties.
"I didn't understand what this kind of destruction really means. It was all just Numbers but now…" Nina trailed off.
"You need to make a choice, Nina. Do you abandon science to preserve your heart? Or abandon your heart and sacrifice yourself to science?" Lloyd told her the two options.
"How can I do either? Did you make such a choice, professor Lloyd?" Nina asked.
"I didn't have to. I'm a sociopath." Lloyd admitted, not minding that fact. "I was born with an abandoned heart."
"But I'm the one who built the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead…" Nina said emotionally. "All those people's lives are gone… I killed them…" On the verge of tears, Nina dropped to her knees. "All of them…"
Ikaruga Lounge
Meanwhile, in the lounge aboard the Ikaruga. Todoh, Urabe, Chiba, Diethard and Rakshata had all gathered while Chiba was using the phone to call Soul.
"That's right. He's waiting in the conference room.… Okay." Chiba hung up the phone and turned to the others. "I informed Soul, he said he'll meet us there, I'm not sure about Zero though."
"We don't have any choice then. We'll have to meet Prince Schneizel without Zero." Diethard said.
"But Zero's our leader after all. Should we be making decisions without him?" Rakshata asked while relaxing.
"It can't be helped, he might still be injured," Urabe said.
"Diethard. What didn't you take Schneizel captive?" Chiba questioned accusingly. "We could've avenged Asahina. He only has one Knightmare guarding him."
"Because they came equipped with a massive F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead," Diethard informed them.
"F.L.E.I.J.A.?" Chiba repeated.
"Like the one that just destroyed the Tokyo Settlement." Diethard continued. "It's a new weapon. If they unleash it, it will kill us all in a heartbeat."
"We don't know what Schneizel's objective is here. So our best option is to meet with him and find out." Todoh said.
"I think I'll pass. I wanna system check my Guren now that it's back." Rakshata said.
"Then the negotiators will be myself, Chiba, Urabe, Diethard, Soul, as well as…"
"I understand."
The door opened and they saw Euphie enter with a composed expression.
"I will also act as a negotiator." Euphie proclaimed.
"But are you sure you're alright?" Urabe asked her. "The Viceroy… I mean your sister was…"
"Even if I am upset by the loss of Nunnally I cannot let that cloud my judgement and prevent my doing my duty. Besides, millions of innocent lives were also lost including my sister. I can only wallow in remorse after all of this has been dealt with." She said before thinking. "Besides, I know someone who's suffering much worse right now."
Despite trying to act composed, Euphie's eyes were red and her eyelids damp showing she had just finished collecting herself after crying her eyes out, she just hoped not many people noticed.
Ikaruga Knightmare Hanger
In the Knightmare Hanger, Kallen just finished landing the Guren and exited it a Minami and Sugiyama went up to her.
"Kallen!" Minami greeted her.
"Thank goodness. You're back in one piece." Sugiyama said.
"Sorry to worry you. I'm okay. Where's Zero?" Kallen asked.
"I heard he is in his quarters," Minami said.
"Soul passed on a message that Zero was wounded." Sugiyama informed her.
Tokyo Settlement
Back at the remains of the settlement, Jeremiah was flying around in the Sutherland Sig while searching the crater for Nunnally.
"Lady Nunnally, I pray you're still alive. Fervently." Jeremiah said upset.
Soon he picks up something on the monitor but instead of Nunnally spots Suzaku at the base of the crater, standing idly.
Zero's Personal Room
Meanwhile, in Zero's personal quarters, everyone was still in his room, Shirley and C.C were hoping to tend to Lelouch in his broken state, Logan on the other hand had just finished speaking with Chiba on the phone as Rolo stood beside him. Logan went up to Lelouch.
"Lelouch, Schneizel has just arrived on the ship," Logan informed him.
While this information surprised the others, Lelouch didn't react. This irked Logan as he continued.
"The others plan to meet up with him and they're waiting for us," Logan said.
"…What about Nunnally?" Lelouch quietly let out.
"Jeremiah's still looking," Logan said.
"…Then tell me when he's found, Nunnally," Lelouch said still staring at the floor.
"Lelouch!" Logan started to lose his patience. "You can't just pretend this isn't happening. Besides, Nunnally was caught up in that blast, you know she couldn't have survived that. On that note, We lost a lot of our members who were in the settlement as well and you haven't even acknowledged that fact, even Sayoko is gone."
"No of that matters…" Lelouch brushed off, not moving. "…I just need to get Nunnally back."
"Lelouch?" Rolo thought.
"Lulu?" Shirley thought.
Hearing him completely disregard the lives of other people, especially Sayoko who cared so much about him and was in his inner circle since the beginning surprised and upset them. Logan, however, stood there with his eyes covered by his bangs as he said in a serious tone.
"Rolo, Shirley, C.C, wait outside this room," Logan ordered them. "There's something I need to say to Lelouch in private."
None of them knew what he planned to say but didn't think it was a good idea to argue with him right now, so Rolo put his visor back on and led the other two out the door. Once they were alone, Logan moved until he was directly in front of Lelouch.
"Hey, Lelouch…"
Lelouch could only look up at Logan for a few seconds because right after that, Logan swung back and punched Lelouch as hard as he could over his face. The punch had enough weight behind it to knock Lelouch off the floor and with how light Lelouch was he was sent flying into the bookcase as he hit the floor and some books fell next to him. After that, Logan kneeled in front of him and grabbed Lelouch by his collar.
"Did that wake you up!" Logan snapped at him angrily.
Lelouch's eyes had more light in them now compared to a moment ago, but it was mainly due to confusion.
"Why did you—?" Lelouch was cut off.
"How long wasting away here?" Logan continued still mad. "We're in an emergency situation right now, everyone is on high alert and the Tokyo Settlement is gone! You're a leader of the Black Knights and in case you've forgotten everyone is waiting for your instructions on what to do next!"
"That isn't important to me, without Nunnally I—" Lelouch was cut off again.
"You're saying that now that Nunnally is gone you plan on abandoning your responsibilities and give it all up?" Logan said what he was thinking, knowing how he Lelouch felt thanks to his Geass. "Lelouch, you always put Nunnally first. Deep down… That's the reason why part of me hated you." He confessed.
Lelouch's eyes went wide. "…What?" He asked, never having expected him to say that.
"We all had different motives, but everyone here still shared the same goal of defeating Britannia and liberating Japan, except you Logan accused him. "Every time you said you wanted to save Japan or talked about justice and saving those who were innocent, you were always lying, I didn't need Geass to know you were lying. It was all just lip service to get others to believe in you. You couldn't care less about Japan or anyone else, all you cared about was Nunnally. You even lied to her."
"You're wrong!" Lelouch denied. "I would never lie to Nunnally!"
"Making the world a gentler place." Logan brought up. "Nunnally wanted to make the world a better place for everyone without discrimination, you had her believe you wanted the same thing but you didn't. As long as the limit area around where the two of you were was peaceful, you were content. Even if the world was still cruel and merciless to everyone else, as long as it was nowhere you could see and t could never reach you, you were satisfied. The gentler world you planned on making was only gentler for you, that was your lie."
Lelouch was silenced by that accusation but couldn't rebuke as Logan wasn't done.
"In the past, no matter who died you always looked the other way as though it wasn't an issue, but whenever Nunnally was involved you forgot everything else and focused solely on that like you were tunnel-visioned. Now that Nunnally is gone you're saying they're no point to this? What about the rest of us? If it had been any of us instead of Nunnally would you be acting this way?"
Logan gripped his collar heard before asking emotionally.
"What about Jeremiah who devoted his life to you? What about Kallen who trusted and believed in you even after finding out who you were? What about Urabe who fought beside us even after finding out we were students? What about Shirley and Euphie who choose to be with you over their homes, their families and their entire homeland? What about Suzaku who gave up his place beside Euphie and his countrymen's trust to protect what was most important to you? What about Todoh, Ohgi and all the other Black Knights who acknowledged you and followed you as their leader? What about everyone in Japan who thinks of you as their saviour who would change the world for the better. What about…" Logan grits his teeth before saying this next one. "What about me?"
Logan struggled to hold back his emotions as he told Lelouch everything that he wanted to get off his chest.
"We've been best friends ever since we were kids and no matter who we were up against and how large the task was we also faced it together, I'd even like to think I know you better than anyone. Are you saying that despite everything, that's how little I… We all mean to you, that even all of us together still don't equal one Nunnally?" Logan questioned him.
Lelouch was taken aback, unable to answer or even think of one. As though he genuinely never considered any of this. What did all the others mean to him? Did Nunnally mean so much to him that he would literally trade away everyone else for her alone? He didn't know because he never considered such things.
Logan let go of Lelouch and stood up. "In the beginning, I only cared about achieving our goal, but it's different now. All the lives we've touched and all the promises we've made, I want to answer to them. I want to make the world a gentler place where people don't need to live in fear of war or enslavement. That's why I have to see this through and end Britannia's tyranny. But I can't do that unless you're there too, after all." He looked at Lelouch remembrance. "Are we not the Heart and Soul of Rebellion? Are we not the Sun and Moon?"
Lelouch's eyes shot up. "The Sun and Moon?" He thought as though a memory that was buried in a deep concern of his mind had suddenly sprung up and resurfaced.
Logan then picked up his mask and headed for the door. "I'll be in the conference room."
As he opened the door, he allowed the others to reenter as Lelouch just sat there by the bookcase now with a new expression, like he was deep in thought.
Ikaruga Conference Room
Later, already in the conference room was Schneizel, Kanon and Cornelia. Darlton was instructed to wait on standby. The three of them were all seated as Cornelia informed Schneizel of everything she discovered about the Geass Order.
"That's all. Everything I saw and heard at the Order." Cornelia said.
"Thank you, Cornelia. With this information I can…" Schneizel stopped when the door opened.
All the members who planned to take part in the negotiations had arrived. Soul, Euphie, Todoh, Diethard, Urabe, Chiba and Tamaki.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Diethard said
"Yeah, sorry. We've had our hands full with the ten million dead people you slaughtered." Tamaki said enthusiastically.
Diethard stopped and faced him. "Tamaki, we discussed this already. You can't be here for this."
"Actually, he can," Soul argued. "He's here to act as Ohgi's proxy."
"That's right. I'm the Black Knight's interior custodian minister. So I can sit in for my bud Ohgi infilling him later. That's the new position Soul gave me." Tamaki said pleased.
"But are you sure that's a good idea at the moment?" Diethard asked Soul, still concerned.
"No. Please. I'd like for him to join this as well." Schneizel requested, getting their attention. "Shinichiro Tamaki. A Zero's and Soul's oldest comrade. You're the brave veteran of many historic battles.
"You all know about me, huh?" Tamaki was gleeful at the praise and sat in one of the open seats.
"Tamaki, please," Diethard told him off.
"Let him be." Soul waved it off as he also took his seat.
Todoh, Diethard and Euphie also sat down, while Urabe and Chiba stood beside Todoh. While sitting, rather from the moment she entered the room, Euphie kept her eyes on Cornelia and Cornelia did the same.
"Cornelia." Euphie addressed her.
"Euphemia," Cornelia responded with narrowed eyes.
"I had planned to continue our conversation after the battle, but I didn't think you'd break out on your own," Euphie said unhappily.
"Did you think I'd just quietly remain as your prisoner?" Cornelia asked harshly.
"No," Euphie sadly shook her head. "Knowing you for as long as I have, I should have expected you'd do something like that."
"Euphemia." Soul cut in. "This isn't the time for a personal conversation."
"I agree," Schneizel added as he looked to Cornelia. "I understand how you feel Cornelia but this is not what we came here to discuss." He looked back at Soul and smiled. "We came here to negotiate."
Tokyo Settlement
Meanwhile, at ground zero of the Tokyo Settlement, after spotting Suzaku, Jeremiah landed nearby and went over to talk to him.
"You rescued me a long time ago, didn't you?" Jeremiah brought up reminiscent. "Very gracious. I came here to thank you for that honourable act. Indeed. You and I share a rather odd connection, don't you think? I suppose it's fate that we became allies in the end." He then turned around. "I'll take my leave now, sir. I must search for Lady Nunnally."
As Suzaku watched Jeremiah re-enter his machine, he stared at the ground with despair.
"Nunnally's dead. She's gone." Suzaku quietly said before thinking."There was more than one F.L.E.I.J.A. I foolishly assumed Prince Schneizel gave me the only one when in truth he had another one prepared in case I didn't fire. How could I have possibly believed he'd leave it up to chance like that?" He thought in self-loathing. "Forgive me… Nunnally, Lelouch."
Ashford Academy
Meanwhile, at Ashford, which has been turned into an emergency shelter, all the people there are rushed into the auditorium thanks to Claudio S. Darlton, the last of the Glaston Knights who instructs all of them through the loudspeaker.
"Survivors are directed to register in order," Cloudio announced. "Along with your ID number, give your name, age, address and blood type. If you require medical attention, please go to the medical information desk and take a number. To minimize disorder, please calmly…"
While Claudio was giving his announcements, Milly stood on the upper wings of the auditorium and beside a window with a quiet and empty gaze. Soon she heard a loud scream and someone ecstatically rushing toward her. That someone being Rivalz.
"Rivalz," Milly said surprised.
Rivalz stood and stood before her with joy, relief and fear. "Oh prez, just tell me you're alive."
Milly smiled and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Yes, I am. I'm alive." She confirmed.
"Thank goodness." Rivalz teared up.
"You can say that again," Milly said.
Soon they start laughing hysterically with both joy and terror.
Ikaruga Conference Room
"Now that I think about it, I never finish my match with Zero, did I?" Schneizel commented.
"Zero won't be attending," Diethard explained. "Not until we have the details of the proposal."
"Of course I didn't expect him to show up," Schneizel said.
Diethard raised his eyebrow. "Hmm?"
"He's not the type who consults with others," Schneizel continued. "No, he keeps things to himself and keeps people at a distance."
"That's strange," Diethard replied. "You talk about him as if you know him intimately."
"More than any of you do," Schneizel responded.
They were taken aback by what Schneizel had just said.
"Zero is our younger brother," Schneizel informed. "Cornelia and my own. And Euphie's older brother."
Diethard, Todoh, Chiba, Urabe and Tamaki gasped at the revelation. On the other hand, Euphie and Soul were surprised but now aware of what Schneizel was truly planning.
"Now, it makes sense." Euphie thought, worriedly.
"Schneizel, this was your plan from the start wasn't it?" Soul thought with narrowed eyes.
"What are you saying?" Tamaki asked shocked.
"He is the former 11th royal prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, Lelouch vi Britannia," Schneizel revealed. "The man that I both loved and feared more than any other."
"Impossible!" Todoh said shocked.
"You're telling us that Zero is a Britannian prince?" Tamaki asked shocked.
Cornelia looked at Diethard. "Diethard please, in all this time, you never figured it out? Even with all the information you were getting from Jeremiah and Villetta?"
"You're wasting your time," Diethard said scoffing off what they were telling them. "You can't cause confusion here by spreading irrelevant stories. It's not Zero's lineage that matters but rather his efforts and all the miracles he has performed for us."
"But what if those miracles he performed were actually tricks?" Schneizel brought up.
"Tricks?" Diethard asked.
"Zero possesses a special power and it is known as Geass," Schneizel explained, "It's the absolute power to compel anyone to obey him. You can think of it as extreme hypnosis."
Soul's eyes widened. "Geass as well, how much does he know? This might be bad."
"You're saying his miracles come from that power?" Todoh asked.
Tamaki got up from his chair angry. "Are you trying to diss my man Zero? He's got brains, guts, and he kicks Britannian butt. A prince with Geass power? Where's the proof of all this bull, huh?"
"The proof is right beside you." Schneizel pointed to Soul, putting attention on him. "Zero isn't the only one with this Geass power, Soul and possibly others have it as well."
"Possibly?" Soul thought, rethinking things. "He doesn't know for certain, that must mean his information is limited." He deduced. "Then we still have the advantage."
"You call that proof?" Tamaki sneered. "That just another accusation without any evidence behind it."
"Even if you can hide it from them you can't hide it from me, Soul." Cornelia glared at him. "I was there at the Order and so I know what you are hiding."
"Soul, what does she mean?" Todoh questioned him.
Soul inwardly sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped." He then said out loud. "The only thing I will admit to is that both Zero and myself possess a power known as Geass."
Everyone looked shocked, though Euphie for different reasons. Schneizel merely looked pleased. "I didn't expect you to confess so quickly."
"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm just making sure they don't misunderstand," Soul said before looking to the others. "Schneizel and Cornelia know of the existence of Geass, but they know already anything about its effects. Geass isn't some omnipotent power that can force everyone to obey you, it has many limitations, and not every Geass is the same, unlike Zero I don't have the power to compel anyone to do anything."
"So you say, but now I ask where's the proof in that statement?" Schneizel pointed out.
"He doesn't need to prove anything!" Tamaki shot back. "Soul's my buddy and our leader, if he said it then I believe him."
Diethard followed up more calmly. "His standing is completely different from your own, even if we believe in this Geass power, we are far more willing to believe in our leader rather than an enemy commander."
"And we don't have all the facts yet, so regardless of evidence, we'll wait until we hear everything before coming to a decision." Todoh finished.
"Then let's get back to the original topic." Schneizel decided. "You know that Zero is a Britannian prince and that the miracles produced by him and Soul to an extent were illusions created by their Geass, yet none of you minds that?"
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't erase a single thing they've done for us," Diethard told them.
"Besides, we don't have problems with Britannians even if they're royals as they as they're on our side in freeing Japan, after all, we've got one right here." Tamaki gestured to Euphie.
"Thank you, Tamaki," Euphie said gratefully.
"On your side?" Schneizel smirked. "You believe that Zero's goal was liberating Japan, but that was simply a cover. His true goal was something completely different."
"What are you saying?" Chiba asked.
Cornelia gave them a cold look. "Lelouch was a prince but he was an exiled one at that. What you didn't realize was that he holds a deep-seated hatred for the Imperial family and the Empire itself. His only goal was to destroy Britannia as a whole, he only planned to use all of you to reach that goal."
"Indeed, Lelouch cares for neither this nation nor its people." Schneizel carried on. "Area 11 was merely the best place for him to gather soldiers and followers and with the promise of freedom along with his Geass he convinced others to obey him while moving them like Pawns on a chessboard."
"That's a lie!" Tamaki denied. "Zero's a Knight for Justice, he would never do that."
"Euphie, you know Lelouch better than they all do, what do you think?" Schneizel asked her.
Euphie looked uncomfortable but answered nonetheless. "I can't deny, the hatred Lelouch had for the Imperial family was unimaginable." Before anyone could reply, however, Euphie had a more resolved expression and continued. "But, Lelouch had motives other than revenge and destruction. You can't just presume to speak for him as though you know everything."
The others seemed content with that answer but Schneizel wasn't done.
"But I know enough about Schneizel to comprehend how he thinks. I dare say I can comprehend his thinking better than anyone in this room." Schneizel said. "Not only that, I know much about you as well, Soul. I know what you are to Lelouch."
"What does that mean?" Soul questioned.
"It means, while Lelouch chose you to be his partner, you're actually more than that," Schneizel explained. "You're the one that keeps in grounded and in control, the one that stops him from letting himself become clouded by his emotions, something that was always a weakness of his. And while you may not be as smart as he is or as capable a commander, you're much more levelheaded and stable, the truth is Lelouch needs you far more than you need him." He reasoned. "That became apparent during his year-long disappearance, if you went around the Black Knights would have fallen apart, but instead they became stronger and kept the support of the people. That also explains why you're here now but he isn't."
"Lelouch will be here." Soul confidently insisted. "That I have no doubt."
"In that case, why don't you share what you know with us in the meantime?" Schneizel suggested. "You know more about Geass than anyone here, so why don't you explain how it works, I'm sure those on your side would also like to know."
"Soul, I hate to agree with Schneizel, but I do believe we should be given all the details." Todoh requested.
"True, we can't move forward without all the facts." Diethard agreed.
"It'll affect our future plans as well," Urabe said.
Soul nodded. "I had already planned on doing so, but first, let's gather everyone who is involved with Geass in this room first." He suggested. "That way everything you hear will be straight from the horse's mouth."
"Very well, that's reasonable. And we'll also have Darlton join us." Schneizel.
"Fine." Soul then took out his communicator. "R.R, I need you to gather the following."
Zero's Personal Room
Still in his room, Lelouch on the couch, thinking about what Logan had said before he left. While Shirley and C.C were still with him, Rolo had just stepped out after being called by Logan. Lelouch didn't pay attention to that though as he thought back.
"The sun and moon." Lelouch thought.
Flashback: Japan, 8 Years Ago
It was a warm evening in Japan as the sun started to sunset and could be seen clearly from the mountains around the Kururugi Shrine. During this tranquil time, two boys set on opposite sides of a tree's tusk and rested against it. Those two were Lelouch and Logan back when they were kids.
Not only was the sun setting, but the moon was rising as well, and at this high spot as well as the angle they were facing, you could see the sun from one side of the tree and the moon on the other side. Lelouch was facing the moon and Logan was facing the sun.
"I always love being up here at this time." Young Logan said. "Seeing both the sun and the moon in the sky at once. It's always a great view."
"Yeah." Young Lelouch agreed before looking down. "Though, I wish I could show it to Nunnally."
"Speaking of which, where is she?" Young Logan asked.
"Back at the house, she's with Suaku so I know she's safe." Young Lelouch said.
After that, the two kept their gaze on the sun and moon respectively. What really made the sight beautiful was that on the moon's side, some stars were becoming visible. Young Logan then brought up.
"Hey Lelouch, did you know that moonlight is really a reflection of sunlight?"
"I do, the light from the sun lights up the moon and in turn that causes the moon to light up the night sky." Young Lelouch said. "What's impressive though is that even though the moon is much smaller than the sun, it shines brighter."
"But there's another way to look at it, the sun shines a dazzling light that brightens the world, but he can't shine all the time, and the moon can't she on his own but he can be there when the sun isn't. When they act together they can both shine brighter and one can be there when the other can't." Young Logan visualized. "Like partners, or friends who are always there for each other."
Young Lelouch smiled when he saw it that way. "That's one way to look at it. It reminds me of that comic we read, the one where that High School students travels to another world and becomes a King, while his best friend is also there and acts as his Wiseman. They ruled together and brought peace to their kingdom." He remembered fondly. "I remember they were also called the sun and the moon."
"Yeah, that was one of my favourite parts of the story." Young Logan looked up at the sun and recited a line. "Walk straight and be true to yourself, radiate a greater brilliance than anyone around you, may you become everyone's shining sun."
Young Lelouch looked up at the moon and also recited a line. "Illuminate the way with a gentle light shining in the darkness, the one who nestles close to the sun, may you become the glowing moon."
As they both silently stared at the two sources of light in the sky, both of them enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere in the air. That was when Young Lelouch asked.
"Hey, Logan, if one day in the future I were to become the sun, will you be there with me to act as the moon?" Young Lelouch requested.
"Sure, I don't mind." Young Logan accepted without even needing to think about it. "But, how else will be there?"
"Who else?" Young Lelouch repeated.
"Come on, it can't just be the two of us." Young Logan told him before looking up again. "Tell me, if you are the sun and I am the moon, who are the stars?"
Young Lelouch looked up and now saw the many stars in the sky that surrounded the moon.
Flashback End
Back in the present, Lelouch had just finished reminiscing on that day so many years ago and instinctively, a small smile appeared on his face.
"It's been so long that I had almost forgotten about that." Lelouch thought. "But how could I when it was so important?"
Lelouch was now in a more stable and composed state of mind compared to how he was a little while ago.
Ikaruga Conference Room
In the conference room, as the meeting was still going on. Darlton, Orpheus and R.R were now present as well. Soon the doors opened and this time Kallen entered as well, behind her was Villetta and with her was Ohgi.
"Ohgi?" Tamaki said.
"Villetta as well." Cornelia said.
"Ohgi, I didn't send for you," Soul said, questioning his attendance. "The only ones to arrive were supposed to be just Kallen and Villetta."
"I know but please let me be here for this as well." Ohgi requested looking to Villetta. "If this is something that involves her, then it involves me too."
"What are you talking about?" Chiba questioned narrowing her eyes. "Why are you involved with a Britannian Noble?"
"Ohgi, you'll explain yourself to the others later, but for now we have more important matters to discuss," Diethard told him. "That said, I don't see a problem with him being here, he is the deputy commander after all."
"True, very well." Soul relented. "Now, everyone aside from Zero and Jeremiah is in attendance."
"Then that means that everyone here to some extent knows either Zero's identity or of the existence of Geass," Schneizel said.
Those words sparked a reaction from Kallen. "Hold it, what's going on here?"
"Kallen," Soul raised his hand to her. "I afraid the gig is up."
Todoh raised a brow. "Kozuki, are we to believe that you were aware of Geass this whole time and the fact that Zero possessed it?"
"Well…" Kallen had trouble answering, still trying to come to terms with everything that was happening.
"Don't answer yet." Schneizel cut them off. "Before we begin, let's have everyone explain all that they know of Geass and how they found out, and don't bother trying to lie. Cornelia, you and Darlton may start."
"I learned of Geass after discovering its source, a hidden underground facility, known only the Geass Order where scientists and researchers were experimenting on Geass and creating soldiers who possessed it," Cornelia answered with disgust. "All I know is that Geass is a power that robs its victims of their free will and controls them like puppets."
"The same, I was with her that time," Darlton said. "Not only that, this order doubled as some kind of religion and its members acted as cultists, they've been active for possibly longer than we can imagine."
"A religious cult of Geass soldiers?" Diethard repeated. "As well as researchers? How can we believe any of this?"
"Because it's true." Soul verified. "Everything they said is a fact."
"Let's stay on topic," Schneizel suggested. "Villetta Nu, tell us what you know."
"I learned of Geass after becoming a member of the O.S.I," Villetta confessed. "But I already know anything of Geass itself."
"O.S.I? Isn't that the intelligence department that works directly under the Emperor?" Chiba questioned. "Why does one of their agents know of Geass?"
"All the agents do, it's because the Britannian Emperor also knows of Geass," Villetta answered. "Because I knew Zero's true identity, I was assigned to monitor him by surveillance and thus I was told of the power of Geass to make sure I'd be fully aware of her assignment."
Todoh narrowed his eyes. "That still doesn't explain why she is with Ohgi."
"Kallen Kozuki?" Schneizel asked her next.
Kallen still seemed unnerved by all this but answered all the same. "I first learned of Geass after the incident at the special zone last year, I know of its existence when we arrived at Kamine Island and Soul explained it all to me in detail afterwards." She confessed.
"And are you saying you still followed him despite knowing he possessed the power of Geass and what that meant?" Cornelia questioned her.
"It didn't make a difference to me, I was surprised at first but in the end, Zero is still Zero," Kallen said earnestly without any doubt. "I chose to follow him and my thoughts won't change just because he has some supernatural power."
"Yeah, Kallen's right!" Tamaki loudly agreed. "Zero is still Zero, we won't turn against him just 'cause he has some freaky powers."
"Your steadfast loyalty is admirable but is that really how you feel?" Schneizel questioned them unconvinced. "You know that Geass how the power to twist a person's mind and force them to obey him so how can you be sure that you actually did chose to follow him, how do you know you only feel this way because his Geass compels you to?"
Tamaki and the rest of the Black Knights were silenced by that implication but Kallen was adamant. "He told me that he didn't, that I chose for myself, I chose Zero."
"So you say, but would he honestly admit to such a thing merely because you asked?" Schneizel asked almost mocking her faith. "It would defeat the point of controlling you in the first place."
Kallen was having trouble holding herself back as Soul spoke out. "Aren't you the one getting off-topic now?"
"Yes, forgive me," Schneizel said. "Euphie, you're the last one."
Euphie frowned at him before speaking. "What I know of Geass and its functions were explained to me at the same time as it was to Kallen, as for when I first learned of it." She stopped before admitting. "It was after it was first used on me."
Almost everyone in the room became wide-eyed upon hearing those and what they could have meant.
"Euphie, you're saying you admit that Lelouch—"
"No," Euphie interrupted Schneizel, not intending to let anyone believe for a second that Lelouch was guilty. "The one who used his Geass on me was someone else who knows of Geass but isn't present. It was our father—Charles Zi Britannia."
Upon hearing her declaration, everyone who didn't know this already was shocked once again, Cornelia and Schneizel were the ones who were shaken the most, never knowing or even suspecting that fact.
"Father had… A Geass?" Cornelia asked taken aback.
"So that's it…" Schneizel whispered to himself before asking. "Euphie claim father used his Geass on you, what did he order you to do?"
"I think you're misunderstanding." Soul cut in. "The Emperor may have Geass but he doesn't have the power to order anyone to do anything with it. His Geass is of a different variation."
"Variation?" Diethard repeated. "Are you saying Gess has other effects aside from controlling others?"
"I believe I should now explain to all of you exactly what Geass is, otherwise you won't be able to understand," Soul said. "Geass is a supernatural power that's origins date back to possibly centuries. When a person is given a Geass power the power they get depends on the person and no two powers are exactly the same. Schneizel you called Zero'spower extreme hypnosis but it's no parlour trick like that.
"Oh, then what is it?" Schneizel asked curiously.
"His Geass lets him look into a person's eyes and have power enter through them until it reaches their brain, after that, it forcibly rewrites their brain waves until to matching whatever order he gave them." Soul explained. "After that, their will, convictions and personal feelings become irrelevant and they can only do what it is until they were told to do, finishing the order will even take priority over their life."
"Whoa, isn't that like brainwashing?" Tamaki asked, unnerved by this revelation.
"That's not incorrect," Soul confirmed. "But it can only be used on a person once. After it's been used, Lelouch can't use his Geass on that same person ever again.
"I'm surprised you so willingly shared this with us, after all, that makes Zero even less trustworthy." Schneizel pointed out. "If it's true that he can completely rewrite a person's mind, who's to say he hasn't used it on some of the people in this room already or maybe some of you are under his control right now?"
Chiba gasped. "You're saying we could under the control of Geass?"
"That's not…" Ohgi started.
"Don't get caught up in his flow," Soul told them before Schneizel could go further. "You can't confirm any of that."
"Yeah, that's right." Tamaki jumped on the bandwagon. "And don't forget, your Emperor has Geass too, how can you say he never used it on any of you guys, how can any of you trust him?"
"Trust?" Schneizel thought amused. "Soul, why don't you tell us about your Geass?" His request caught everyone's attention again. "The fact that you know so much about Geass can only lead me to believe you possess one as well. And you know who else does. If we're all being truthful here, you have an obligation to confess."
"I already intended to, the ones who possess Geass are myself, R.R, and Lyre," Soul confessed.
Some of the others were surprised to hear that three of them had this Geass power they were still learning about.
"All three of you?" Urabe asked.
"And, what powers do you have?" Todoh questioned.
Lyra stepped forward first. "My Geass gives me the power to alter my appearance to other people, I can choose any appearance I want and then when I stand in a person's line of sight they only see me as the appearance I chose. I face voice and manners are all whoever they think I am if I became someone they already know. But this power can only be used for five minutes and needs an hour of cooling down before it's used again, also it can't be used through a screen, I need to be there in person."
"You become another person?" Ohgi asked. "Have you have used this power on any of us?"
"I didn't because there was never a reason or need to," Lyra answered.
R.R then stepped forward. "My Geass is time suspension."
"What, are you saying you can stop time?!" Tamaki asked both shocked and amazed at the same time.
"Not exactly, my Geass freezes the perspective of time." R.R began to explain. "When I use my Geass, anyone within a certain range becomes frozen in place, both mind and body. When I deactivate it, they don't remember ever being frozen it feels like time was frozen for them."
"I see, that explains all those times in battle where it looked like you were teleporting." Darlton deduced. "That was your Geass at work."
"That's right." R.R confirmed. "But, I can only use it for a few seconds and the time it was activated is also have the time I need to wait before using it again."
"How very interesting," Schneizel said. "That just leaves you, Soul. What is your power?"
"The power to see through deceptions," Soul answered immediately. "While my Geass is activated, whenever I look at someone I can see what they are really thinking. My Geass tells me if they're telling the truth or lying and what emotions they currently feeling, while in my line of sight, no one can hide their true intentions from me."
"That's amazing." Diethard thought. "With a power like that he could easily uncover any conspiracy or betrayal within an organization before they can become a problem."
Schneizel was impressed as well but saw it another. "That quite ironic, that means the only person who can keep a secret is you." He accused. "You can tell as many lies or withhold as many secrets as you want and no one will ever know but if someone tries to hide anything from you no matter how minor, you'll discover it immediately."
"I don't care for what you are insinuating," Soul warned him. "Besides, we aren't done. The last Geass is the Emperor's Geass. Memory rewrite."
Cornelia's eyes widened. "Memory rewrite?"
"Father's Geass lets him rewrite a person's memory." This time Euphie explained. "When he looks into a person's eyes he can change their memories with different ones that he chooses, or even just erase memories outright. By altering their memories he can change their very personality and make them believe they are whoever he wants them to be."
"I see, so father had such a power." Schneizel overlapping his hands over each other. "It's not the same as Lelouch's but just as worrisome."
"You said that he used his Geass on you, when was that?" Cornelia asked.
"It was a year ago, that time Lelouch and I were captured during the ceremony for the Special Zone," Euphie confessed.
"What?" Cornelia was taken aback. "But the ones who captured you on that day were members of the Geass Order,?"
"That's right and father was at the heart of that order," Euphie informed her scornfully. "Almost every action they took was by his command."
"Basically, the Geass Order was under Britannian rule." Soul continued. "Charles Zi Britannia was a Geass user and conspired with the order long before he was the Emperor of Britannia."
"He's had Geass for that long?" Cornelia said disturbed. "How far does all this go?"
"This does change perspective though," Diethard spoke out. "It was one thing when Britannia was only aware of Geass, but to know that it also controlled the source of t and the Emperor being at the heart of that source begs the question. How many others in Britannia possess Geass?"
"That's true, I can't answer that, but there's still something left unanswered." Schneizel pointed out, still not worried. "Euphie, what did father do to you with his Geass?"
"He put me in a comatose-state to keep me from interfering," Euphie said. "The truth was that I was only captured as bait knowing that others would follow after. His true target was Lelouch. Father rewrote his memories by making him forget that he was Zero, that he was a former Prince and made him believe he was just an ordinary Britannian civilian."
"I see, that explains the reason behind Zero's year-long disappearance," Schneizel said.
"Is that true?" Ohgi asked. "Zero was under the control of a Geass?" He sounded surprised that someone who had Geass was controlled by Geass.
"Why don't you ask Villetta?" Soul suggested. "She was the head of the team of agents who kept him under surveillance that whole time.."
Villetta looked uncomfortable at those words. R.R then started. "It took a lot of time, but we were able to restore his memories during the Babel Tower incident."
"Wait, Babel Tower, wasn't Urabe also a part of that operation?" Chiba remembered.
"That's right," Urabe said, not hiding it.
"Then, did you also know who Zero really was?" Tamaki asked.
Urabe shook his head. "All I knew was that Zero was a Britannian student. I didn't know anything about Geass or him being a Prince."
"But if you at least knew his identity, why didn't you tell us?" Ohgi questioned.
"And why would I do that?" Urabe got up from his seat with a scowl. "That secret was one that was told to me in confidence, if I just went around telling it to others in spite of that, it'd be no different than an act of betrayal."
Now Ohgi became uncomfortable, deciding to stay silent instead of replying but hoping no one would notice.
"Urabe is right." Todoh agreed. "There should be no reason from him to have told us anything, as Diethard said, Zero's lineage is not important. His actions and achievements define who he is. All Black Knights operate under that mindset."
"Old man Kirihara," Tamaki said getting the attention of the others.
"What about him?" Diethard asked.
"Back when we wanted to get Kyoto to back the Black Knights, Zero, Soul ad R.R showed him their faces." Tamaki reminded them, looking to Kallen and Ohgi. "Remember, you were there too?"
"Hey yeah, that's right," Ohgi remembered. "Not only that, both sides talked a though they knew each other."
"And he said they were true enemies of Britannia," Kallen said.
"Yeah, that means that Old man Kirihara knew Zero's identity all along but still believed in him and told us we should follow him," Tamaki said expressively. "So if even he didn't care who Zero was behind his mask and still believed in him, there's no reason why we all shouldn't."
"I suppose that's a good point, so far seems none of you has any reason to doubt Zero or Soul, however, Soul." This time Schneizel addressed Soul. "Let me ask you something, all that you've told us up until now… Is it true?" Schneizel asked.
Soul raised brow. "What's he up to?"
Schneizel continued. "You've told us all there is to know about Geass but how can we confirm any of what you said I true. If you can neither prove nor disprove anything, what reason do we have to believe any of it?"
"You of all people ask that?" Lyra questioned before reminding him. "Wasn't it you who came here to tell us about Geass without any proof yourself?"
"Yes, but now that we know for a fact that Geass does exist, there should also be evidence supporting what you claim as facts." Schneizel pointed out. "For all we know, you could be telling us whatever you want knowing we'd have no choice to believe you, given you know more of Geass than anyone at present."
"It was a trap, he had us confirm Geass to try and turn things around on us." Soul deduced. "And what exactly would we have lied about?"
"For starters, Euphie." Schneizel addressed her. "You said that father used his Geass on you, but how do you know it wasn't Lelouch who merely made you believe it was Father?"
"That's ridiculous." Euphie adamantly denied. "I know that Lelouch didn't do that nor would he."
"But think, you know that a Geass was used on you but you hardly noticed any changes at all. And, almost immediately after the Geass was used on you, you chose to forsake your homeland and join hands with Lelouch and his people." Schneizel pointed out. "When you look at it like that, wouldn't it make more sense that your actions were the result of being under his control."
"You're wrong." Euphie held her ground. "No matter what you say, I refuse to believe that."
"You refuse to believe it but you can't deny it's a possibility," Schneizel said before asking. "Tell me, when did you first learn that Lelouch was Zero?
"When we met at Lake Kawaguchi during the hotel jacking," Euphie answered.
"That's even more suspicious." Cornelia pointed out. "You knew Zero's identity from the beginning but you said nothing! During that time he could have easily used his Geass on you."
"During that time he could have also easily killed me." Euphie shot back.
"Because you were more useful to him alive," Cornelia said.
"Because he wouldn't do something like that!" Euphie snapped at her. "Is it so hard to believe I joined Lelouch because I chose to? That the only reasonable explanation in your eyes is that I'm not in my right mind?"
"It's not only you Euphie, but it could also be everyone," Schneizel told her. "Just like how there's no proof that it wasn't used on you, there's no proof it wasn't used on any of the other Black Knights."
"There's no way that's true!" Tamaki strongly denied it, refusing to lose faith. "Just 'cause they have this power doesn't mean we can't trust them. Soul already told us everything honestly."
"But that's just it isn't it?" Schneizel went on. "The only basis of your belief is personal feelings. You don't want to think that something you believed for so long is actually a falsehood so you chose to deny it, but if you look at it from an outside perspective. If someone did have this power and they could freely use it on others without them ever finding out, wouldn't it be natural to assume they would use it?"
Everyone was quiet. Schneizel knew exactly what was he doing, with his gift with words and natural charisma he was a master at manipulating other people. He knew exactly what button to push and how to get under their skin as well as make a case where no matter how much they wanted to deny it, they couldn't completely dismiss it. Schneizel felt that he was only a few moves away from checkmate. An he may have been right.
That is… If Soul wasn't here.
"In that case, what if there was a way to prove everything I said is true?" Soul suggested.
All eyes were on him, Schneizel was the most interested. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what if there was a that I could fully prove without question that everything I say as the truth as well as proves that Lelouch hasn't been controlling anyone here with Geass?" Soul elaborated.
"Interesting, but do you actually have such a sure-proof method?" Schneizel asked.
"Yes, I do," Soul said without doubt. "All we need is Jeremiah."
"Jeremiah?" Schneizel repeated confused.
"Wait, I don't get it," Tamaki spoke act, as though he spoke for everyone else as well. "How's Orange gonna prove anything?"
"As you all know, Jeremiah is now a cyborg," Soul said. "What you don't know is that he fine-tuned by scientists who were part of the Geass Order."
"What?" Chiba asked surprised.
"But if that's true, why would Jeremiah be with them?" Todoh questioned. "We were told he was an undercover operative working for Zero."
"He is, Jeremiah was taken by them after barely surviving the Battle of Narita and experiment on against his will, that's how he became a machine. Originally they planned to make him an assassin to kill Geass users." Soul explained. "But on his first assignment to kill Zero, he joined him instead because he was always on our side. Do you know why he was made to be a Geass assassin?" He asked them. "It's because he is equipped with a very special device; A Geass Canceller."
Once again, everyone who didn't know already was shocked by this information.
"Geass…Canceller?" Cornelia repeated slowly.
"It means exactly what the name suggests, Jeremiah's built-in device will automatically activate if a Geass is used on him or willing activate if it being used on someone nearby, when activated, any and all forms of Geass will be terminated, so anyone under its effects will be freed from them." Soul explained. "Meaning, we can use Jeremiah's Geass Canceller to confirm whether or not anyone is really being controlled."
"We trust you have no problem with that?" R.R said.
"It's true, this would be the most effective way to clear out any doubt." Euphie agreed.
"And if the variable of Geass is removed, there will no longer be any controversy that could affect the rest of our negotiations," Diethard added.
"Then it's decided, we will bring Jeremiah and have him use his so-called Geass Canceller to bring these accusations to light." Todoh decided.
Schneizel was quiet for a moment before speaking. "Very well, I also believe this is appropriate, we need to know for certain what's true and what isn't after all."
Even though Schneizel was trying to maintain his composer, on the inside he was visibly upset. He believed that he was only steps away from taking control of the situation but now with this new information he felt that things were getting further out of his reach. And while he didn't like the way things were going, he couldn't say or do anything to stop them.
Zero's Private Room
After some time had passed, Shirley had decided to approach Lelouch who had just reminiscing.
"Lulu, are you alright?" Shirley asked concerned.
"Well… I'm not really sure." Lelouch answered slowly.
"Well, you seem to be doing better than before," Shirley noted looking relieved. "You're more lively after whatever Logan and you talked about."
"Yeah, it really made me think," Lelouch said.
"About what?" Shirley asked.
"Everything I've done up until now and what I should do from now on," Lelouch said, looking down. "I never doubt myself all that much, but now looking back on things I can't help but wonder."
"Lulu." Shirley sat next to him. "You know you can tell me anything right? That's why I'm here remember? To be someone you can trust."
Lelouch thought about it and decided that he didn't mind confiding in Shirley and he just felt like he wanted to tell someone how he was feeling at the moment.
"For the moment I first became Zero, I've always been focusing on one goal. To make the world a gentler place where Nunnally could find happiness." Lelouch said. "It sounds so simple when I say it out loud."
"That's not wrong though, you wanted Nunna to be happy," Shirley said. "It's not wrong to fight for someone you love."
"But it's more than that, looking back on it, it feels like I did things more for myself than for her," Lelouch confessed. "It's not like I ever asked her what she wanted, I just made the decision for her and pursued it. It's like I treated her like she was made of glass, that I had to be with her all the time or she wouldn't be safe and acted she like was always dependant on me, the idea that she could look after herself seemed unthinkable."
"It's natural to worry about someone when they're all you have." Shirley reasoned with him. "There was a time when you two only had each other right, and she was a little girl who couldn't walk or see, who would blame you for being overprotective, it showed how much you cared about her."
"But it also showed how little I cared about others," Lelouch said bitterly. "Everyone had their own reasons for joining me but they still gave everything they had to help me reach my goal, I never could have gotten here without all of them. And yet, I always acted as though nothing else mattered as long as I get back Nunnally, it's not like I ever tried to look at things from anyone's perspective other than my own or weighted any value in what they wanted. Even after all we've been through, I could still disregard them as long as they weren't Nunnally. I mean, the Tokyo Settlement was destroyed and all I cared about was Nunnally, as though no one else's life was worth noticing, how self-centred could one person be?" Lelouch asked regretfully. "Shirley, was everything I've done until now wrong?"
He asked her was the voice of someone who was desperate for an answer. Shirley could see that he was hurting and wanted to say something to make him feel better but all she could do was speak from the heart.
"Who can say? I think everyone has times where they wonder if the choices they made were the right ones." Shirley said.
Lelouch's shoulders sank. "Yes, that's true."
"But, the morning always comes right?" Shirley added.
"What?" Lelouch looked up at her.
"I think the fact that you feel bad proves that you aren't as self-centred as you think, you do care about your friends even if you had a bad way of showing it. And it's not like everything is over, it's not too late to make things right." Shirley placed her hand over his. "Even if Nunna isn't here, you can still make the world a better place for her, you can make the world a place she would have loved. And if you want to make up to everyone and repay them for helping you so much you can the world a place where you can be happy with all of them. You shouldn't just keep everything bottled up, instead, you should be honest about how you feel let those around you know how important you are to them." She then smiled brightly. "After all, no matter how sad things are, the morning always comes again."
Lelouch stared at her for a bit as he took in all of her words. In Lelouch's mid he saw the void of space and in that vast darkness there was him as the sun, but his light was growing dim and almost faded. That was when he remembered the words of a friend.
(Tell me, if you are the sun and I am the moon, who are the stars?)
Suddenly that void lit up with stars that illuminated darkness in every direction. The brightest star was Nunnally but the stars around that one were, his friends from Ashford, the core members of the Black Knights along with Kaguya. His inner circle consisting of, Kallen, C.C, Euphie, Orpheus, Sayoko, Jeremiah, Suzaku, Rolo and of course Shirley. And shining brighter than any star was the glowing moon that appeared behind which was no one else but Logan.
Lelouch felt the light from all of them brighten up his dark world as though it was cleansing him. All the feelings of despair and hopelessness washed away as he thought to himself.
"That's right when I lost mother, I could still find happiness because I had Nunnally. And now, even if Nunnally is gone, I was ever alone for a second, I still have so many others besides me." Lelouch though warmly because frowning. "What have I been doing? Wasting away here in stagnation when there is still so much I need to do?"
Lelouch stood up and reached for his mask.
"Thank you, Shirley," Lelouch said with gratitude. "You helped me realize that I can't stop here. I need to make things right."
"I'm glad you feel that way," Shirley said, truly happy to see Lelouch free from his slump and that she was able to help him.
Soon there was a knock on the door. "It's Jeremiah."
"Come on," Lelouch said.
The door opened and Jeremiah walked into the room. "I was unable to find Lady Nunnally, but I was told to attend the meeting with Prince Schneizel. I came to report to you before going."
"You arrived just in time, Jeremiah," Lelouch said pleased. "I was just getting ready to there myself."
"My Lord," Jeremiah looked a though he didn't expect that. "Are you well?"
"I am, in fact." Lelouch put on his Zero mask. "I'm feeling much better."
Lelouch walked past Jeremiah and went for the door, as Jeremiah watched Lelouch go he turned back momentarily to look at Shirley and suspected she was partially responsibly for the change in Lelouch's emotional state and gave her a quick look of gratitude before following Lelouch.
Ikaruga Conference Room
Back in the meeting room, the others waited for Jeremiah to arrive and after a bit of time, the doors opened. As they all looked, the one entering the room wasn't just Jeremiah but beside him was Zero as well.
"Zero?" Ohgi said surprised.
Schneizel didn't show it on his face but he was honestly surprised as well, he didn't actually expect Lelouch would be here.
"I know you'd arrive at some point." Soul said pleased.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Zero said, walking up to them. "Now then, what's this all about?"
"Before we start Zero. We would like you to remove your mask." Todoh said.
Lelouch was surprised by that request and that it came from Todoh, but remained composed. "I must decline until someone tells me what is going on."
"We told them," Cornelia said with a glare. "Everything you didn't want them to hear from us. About you Lelouch and the Geass you all possess."
Lelouch had expected that. "I doubt even you know everything, Cornelia."
"I know enough." Cornelia shot back. "And thanks to Soul, they all do as well."
"It's true," Soul confessed. "I probably should have consulted with you first but it couldn't be helped considering the situation. With our trust put into question and with all that Schneizel and Cornelia already knew, all we could do is inform the others of the facts and avoid them being swayed by controversies and misunderstandings." He explained. "But, we still need a last bit of proof."
"That's why we called Jeremiah." Euphie went on. "We need his Geass Canceller to prove no one here is under the effect or control of Geass. That way we can clear away any accusations directed at you by Schneizel."
"In that case, what incentive do I have to unveil myself before a panel of my enemies?" Zero questioned.
"None, if you are truly not Lelouch Vi Britannia," Todoh answered. "If you are you have nothing to lose considering we all already know your identity and it will further prove we can trust you."
"You don't have to prove anything to me though." Tamaki continued to support him. "Mask or not I'll always trust you."
Jeremiah stood beside Zero and whispered. "My Lord, should I…"
Zero held his hand up. "You needn't worry."
Lelouch was calm. The truth was he had planned to unmask the moment he had seen Schneizel and so he reached for the helm of his mask.
"Very well." Lelouch then removed his mask to let everyone see the face that had remained hidden for so long. He allowed everyone to see his face, his unmistakably Britannian features and his obvious youth. "Is this want you wanted, Schneizel?"
"Whoa, so that's what he looks like," Tamaki whispered.
"He really is a Britannian Prince," Chiba whispered.
"Zero," Ohgi whispered.
Schneizel shrugged. "I will admit you're rather more agreeable than I expected, Lelouch. This lacks the vitriol of our last encounter."
"I don't have the energy right now," Lelouch admitted, turning to the Black Knights. "So was there anything else you wanted now that you've seen my face?"
"Your heritage and identity are not our main concern," Diethard told him. "What concerns us is the use of your Geass."
"And how is that?" Lelouch almost sounded bored.
"Did you use your Geass on any of us?" Todoh questioned.
"If I told you I didn't, would you believe me?" Lelouch asked.
"Even if we did, that wouldn't satisfy Schneizel," Soul told him. "That's why we need Jeremiah's Geass Canceller to act as proof of your innocence."
"That sounds fair." Lelouch turned to Jeremiah. "Jeremiah, if you would."
"Gladly," Jeremiah said.
The cyborg then stepped up to the centre of the room and faced them as his mechanical eye opened up and he activated his Geass Canceller. Once it activated, the circular field of blue energy spread out and encompassed everyone in the room. After a second it vanished and everything was normal.
"Tell me, does anyone feel different?" Lelouch asked.
They all looked at each other to see if any of them had something to say, but no one did. Kallen and Villetta's eyes had a red glow around their pupils for a moment before the glow broke away. But nothing happened to any of the Black Knights.
"I don't feel any different," Urabe said.
"None of us do," Todoh summarized.
"Then that proves it," Lelouch told them. "When I use my Geass on someone, they lose all memory of everything before, during and after the time they were controlled, if no new memories have entered your minds after being hit with the Geass Canceller then it means Geass was never used on you."
"I knew it along," Tamaki said. "Zero never controlled us to do anything."
"That's right," Kallen agreed. "Everything they told us was the truth."
"There is your proof, Schneizel." Euphie proclaimed. "I told you before that Lelouch hadn't used his Geass on me and I was sure of it, now you have no choice but to believe it as well."
"She speaks for all of us," Diethard added. "We now have concrete evidence that none of us we're being controlled by Zero, so your arguments and accusations are now void."
"I suppose you're right, now in this room was under the control of Lelouch's Geass, I'm gracious enough to admit when I'm wrong, that said." Schneizel wasn't done. "Can you say the same for those not among us?"
"Now what are you talking about?" Todoh narrowed his eyes at him.
"We didn't come here without doing some research. We looked into and gained files of everyone in incidents we believe to have been manipulated by Lelouch's Geass at some point." Schneizel informed them.
Kanon stood up and placed the files on the table showing a long list of people. The others all looked over the list and were surprised by the large amount as well as the kinds of people on the list.
Kusakabe, General Katase, Guilford, the leader of the resistance group from the Saitama ghetto from the first battle with Cornelia, Jeremiah, Shirley, Gao Hai, a teacher from Ashford, Euphie, Suzaku, Clovis, Kallen and Villetta.
"I don't believe it," Chiba said.
"Coronel Kusakabe," Urabe said.
"Major General Katase," Todoh said.
"Clovis," Diethard said.
"He used on me too," Villetta said.
"Wait a second, Kallen, Euphemia, and the woman with Ohgi are on the last but Jeremiah just proved they weren't under the control of Geass." Tamaki pointed out. "So why should we believe this?"
"I can't speak for you, but the other two never admitted to anything." Schneizel pointed out, catching their attention. "Besides, this is a list of suspects, so while it's not confirmed, we have enough reason to believe it and there could still be others."
"You're still hoping to catch me in checkmate, Schneizel?" Lelouch thought with contempt. "Fine then, I'll just destroy your last resort." He then said out loud. "You said it wasn't confirmed, so you can't prove any of this."
"But neither can you." Schneizel pointed out. "A vast majority of the people on that list are either dead or not here, so you can't use your Geass Canceller to prove anything this time."
"But I do have a way to prove it in a manner that you can't deny," Lelouch argued. "That is Geass itself."
"Geass?" Schneizel repeated.
"That's right, as you know, anyone under the control of my Geass has no choice but to follow the order they were given," Lelouch said. "So, all I have to do is use Gess on myself, that way you know I'm telling the truth."
Everyone in the room was stunned by that suggestion. Euphie stood in defiance. "You can't."
"She's right, now one is asking you to go that far." R.R agreed.
"Don't be concerned." Lelouch placated their worries. "If it will clear away all doubt, I'm not worried."
"Lelouch, is this really what you want?" Kallen asked, also not happy about this.
"Yes, after all, I have nothing to lose," Lelouch said.
"Will this even work?" Cornelia asked suspiciously.
"It will, possessing Geass doesn't make you immune to Geass," Soul said. "On that note, I have a different suggestion in mind." He also stood up. "Why not let me do it?"
Now some of them were confused as Lelouch asked. "Do what exactly?"
"My Geass has one final ability that I never told you about, I gained it after we escaped the Thought Elevator," Soul said. "I have to power to force others to tell the truth."
Lelouch and the others were shocked by this revelation. "Force others to tell the truth?"
"That's right, not only can I see through falsehoods, now I can enforce truthfulness," Logan said before explaining. "Like you, I need direct eye contact, after that, I activated it and the recipient enters a trance-like state where they can only answer any question I ask them honestly. If you answer these questions under the influence of my Geass, that'll prove everything."
"I see, that's fine with me." Lelouch nodded in agreement with that suggestion. "What about the rest of you?"
"Well, I…" Ohgi muttered.
"I'm having trouble keeping up with all this," Tamaki said.
"Zero…Lelouch," Todoh spoke out. "The fact that you are willing to go to such extremes already tells me that you truly have nothing you feel you need to hide from us, as such you already have my trust." He said honestly and most of the others looked as though they agreed. He then looked to Schneizel. "All that's left is for you to be convinced."
"I see no problem with using this method. However, might I make one more suggestion?" Schneizel requested. "Why not have the rest of you unmask as well?"
"What?!" Kallen slammed the table. "That's ridiculous, why should they have to unmask?"
"Based on what Kyshiro Todoh said, ero has nothing to hide having unmasked and allowing himself to be Geassed, but the fact that the rest still hide their faces suggest they do have things they have to hide." Schneizel pointed out. "Is it really right to have Zero reveal himself while the rest of you remain hidden?"
"That's not fair!" Tamaki argued. "He only unmasked because you already revealed his identity."
"I don't particularly mind," Soul said.
"But Soul," Tamaki said.
"Now that we've come this far, there's really no point in hiding it anymore," Soul said, looking to the other two. "I assume you don't mind either?"
"I don't," R.R said.
"I see no issue," Lyra said. "I'll go first."Lyra removed his mask to reveal his face. To the surprise of everyone on the Britannian side, he was also a Britanian. Orpheus looked at them with little emotion as he introduced himself.
"I am Orpheus Zevon." He announced. "Also known as Lyra."
"Zevon, from the Zevon family?" Kanon muttered surprised.
"What's going on?" Cornelia narrowed her eyes. "Why is someone from one of the most distinguished Noble households of Britannia a Black Knight?"
"I have no attachment to the Zevon name or household, all I have for it is hate," Orpheus told her. "I became a Black Knight so I could destroy what I hate."
"You—" Cornelia was cut off.
"Enough Cornelia," Schneizel told her. "You know how the Zevon family operates and the fate that awaits someone in his circumstances, it's natural he would end up here."
"I suppose I'm next," Soul said. "But I must tell you, no matter how far you look, you won't find anything about me or R.R that relates us to Britannia."
"I'll take that into account," Schneizel said.
Soul and R.R unmasked together to reveal their faces to everyone for the first time (Aside from, Euphie, Kallen, Jeremiah, Villetta, Orpheus and Lelouch). Once they were revealed as Logan and Rolo everyone was taken aback again as they introduced themselves.
"I am Logan Raymond," Logan announced. "A friend of Lelouch's since childhood."
"And I am his brother, Rolo Raymond," Rolo added.
"Brothers?" Diethard breathed out.
"So that's why they're always together," Tamaki noted.
"He's just a kid?" Ohgi noticed about Rolo.
"You're R.R?" Darlton asked, the most surprised.
"I am," Rolo confirmed.
"Then, all this time… I was losing to a child?" Darlton thought with disbelief.
"Now that everyone is unmasked, shall we begin?" Logan suggested.
"I believe so." Lelouch stepped up in front of Logan. "Go ahead."
Logan activated his Geass in both eyes and pleased Lelouch under his control. "You will answer all questions truthfully."
The Geass flew out from his eyes and into the eyes of Lelouch. The rims of the former prince's eyes glowed red and he stood there stoically nd content.
"So that's Geass." Schneizel said.
"So that's what that power looks like," Cornelia said with contempt.
"Let's start with something simple." Logan began. "Lelouch, did you use your Geass to control Euphie or any of the core members of the Black Knights?"
"I haven't, as I said before," Lelouch said monotoned.
"Well, that was already confirmed, but you get the point," Logan said. "Now, who has a question?"
Todoh was next. "Did you use your Geass at any point on Kusakabe or General Katase?"
"I didn't," Lelouch answered. "Logan killed Kusakabe by himself during the hotel jacking and I never met Katase in person before."
Todoh processed those words and was inwardly relieved. "Kozuki is also on this list, did you use Geass on her?"
"I used my Geass to learn who she was?" Lelouch answered.
"Who she was?" Chiba blinked.
"He saw my face during the Shinjuku incident," Kallen explained. "I was also a student in the settlement at the time so he wanted to know why I was also a terrorist. They already explained this to me a while ago."
"Well, that's no biggie then." Tamaki waved it off.
"Wait, Chi…Villeta is also on the list." Ohgi corrected himself. "Did you use it on her?"
"I did, I used it so she would give me her Knightmare back at Shinjuku."
"I remember that," Villetta said. "I remember seeing you and Logan surrounded by the dead bodies of a battalion of royal soldiers, after that you used your Geass on me. When I came to, you two and my Knightmare was gone. Did you use Geass on them as well?"
"That's right," Lelouch said.
"On the captain of the battalion, yes," Lelouch answered. "He shot himself on my order."
"Why did you kill them but just take Villetta's Knightmare?" Darlton questioned.
"I was still testing the capabilities of my Geass so I wanted to see how much control I had over someone," Lelouch answered.
"Guilford is also on this list, did you use it on him?" Cornelia asked.
"I did," Lelouch said.
"And what did you have him do?" Cornelia questioned upset.
"I met him before the Battle for Tokyo and ordered him to not take part in the battle, to disappear until it was over."
"That's all?" Darlton asked.
"Yes," Lelouch confirmed,
"Did you also use it on Clovis?" Cornelia questioned.
"Yes," Lelouch said.
"What did you have him do?" Cornelia asked again.
"I told him to tell me who was it who killed my mother," Lelouch answered.
"His mother?" Ohgi asked.
"Lady Marianne Vi Britannia." Jeremiah answered solemnly. "An Imperial consort and Former Knight of Honour. She was assassinated when he was a child, it was believed to have been done by terrorists but it was more likely to have been an inside job." He finished the last part with a clenched fist.
"And what did Clovis tell you?" Schneizel asked.
"The ones who could tell me were you and Cornelia?" Lelouch answered.
"That's a lie!" Cornelia stood up and argued. "I had nothing to do with that!"
"He's only telling you what he heard." Euphie reminded them. "Clovis didn't know but he believed if anyone would know it'd be you two, that's what he told Lelouch and that's what Lelouch is telling you."
"Well, I don't know who killed her." Cornelia clarified. "I investigated the incident but found no leads."
"I was ordered by his majesty to transport her body, but that's where my involvement ends," Schneizel confessed.
"Then that's that," Orpheus said.
"I have a question." Diethard started. "How long have you all had Geass?"
"A little over a year," Lelouch answered.
"When did you first acquire this power?" Diethard asked.
"I first gained Geass during the beginning of the Shinjuku incident," Lelouch said. "The other two, a few days after we rescued Suzaku."
"It's true." Rolo vouched for him.
"How did you ll gain the power of Geass?" Urabe asked.
"It was given to use by C.C." Lelouch answered.
The created another reaction from the Black Knights.
"Huh? How'd C.C give you this crazy power?" Tamaki asked confused.
"There are two people in the world who can give the power of Geass to others, though they can't use it themselves," Lelouch informed them. "One is C.C, the other is a being named V.V."
"V.V, he was the one we met during our time at the Geass Order," Cornelia remembered.
"Yes. C.C gave us our Geass and V.V gave the Emperor and the power of the order theirs," Lelouch said.
"Hmm, I always thought there was something off about C.C," Tamaki muttered, leaning back into his seat.
"Then, if this is true, couldn't this C.C grant Geass the others as well?" Kanon asked. "Shouldn't she be here to be questioned as well in that case?"
"C.C was involved in an accident that caused her to lose all of her memories as well any powers she had and V.V died when we destroyed the Geass Order along with all the other Geass users there," Lelouch answered. "Now, the only ones left in the world with powers involving Geass are either in this room or the Emperor."
"I see." Schneizel breathe out.
"One more question." Euphie rose up and faced him. "Lelouch, what was your goal in all this, why did you become Zero and start this war against Britannia? What did you want to achieve?"
At this point, many of the others wanted to know as well as Lelouch told the truth.
"To destroy this world filled with war, hardships and conflict and in its place create a new one that was more gentle and filled with peace," Lelouch answered.
"Peace?" Cornelia scoffed. "Do you have any idea how hypocritical that sounds?"
"But it's still the truth." Euphie shot back. "And Lelouch, is that still your goal now?"
After the Tokyo Settlement was destroyed I had almost lost sight of any real goal but now I have gained a new one." Lelouch said before proclaiming. "I wish to completely end Britannia's rule and create a better world, not just for myself, but for everyone here. For everyone who followed and supported me until now."
Hearing those words brought a smile to not only Euphie but also Kallen, Jeremiah, Rolo, Orpheus and all the other Black Knights. They all looked either relieved or satisfied while Logan thought to himself.
"What happened in the few moments after we spoke?" Logan wondered.
"I believe that settles it." Todoh decided.
"That's right, we now know the whole truth and the question on whether or not he is trustworthy as been fully answered," Euphie said.
"Yes, Lelouch spoke only the truth and now we all know his true feelings, he is an enemy of Britannia and our leader. Something we've known all along." Kallen said.
"Are you satisfied now?" Diethard asked.
"Yes, I suppose even I have no choice but accept it at this point." Schneizel conceded.
"In that case, I'll release my control over him," Logan said.
Logan then deactivated his Geass and the red glow around Lelouch's eyes vanished as he was now free Logan's Geass and no longer had to be interrogated.
"Hmm, are we done?" Lelouch asked.
"We are," Rolo informed him.
"Ha, never doubted you for a second buddy." Tamaki excitedly placed his arm around Lelouch's shoulder.
"Tamaki, you're acting too excited." Urabe berated him, though Lelouch was willing to overlook it given the current situation.
Everyone on the Black Knights' side had different ways of showing it, but they all appeared to be satisfied by the outcome. Euphie looked over at Cornelia and noticed the look of dissatisfaction on her face.
"You still seem dissatisfied, do you still have something you wanted to say?" Euphie asked.
"A part of me was hoping that maybe you were just being controlled by Geass," Cornelia admitted before frowning. "But now I have no choice but to accept it, we are of different mindsets and remain on opposing sides."
"We were of different mindsets for much longer than you seem to have realised." Euphie pointed out.
"It seems so," Cornelia said.
"Given all this, I believe negotiations have failed," Schneizel said.
"Negotiations?" Lelouch repeated, removing Tamaki's arm from around him. "Why not just admit it? You never had any plans to negotiate in the first place, that was just a cover to board our ship. Your true objective was to reveal my identity and use your limited knowledge of Gess in an attempt to entrap us by turning the others against us and ideally have us killed."
"Yes, you're right. That was my reason for coming here." Schneizel confessed right away.
"You're even going to hide it?" Ohgi questioned.
"With Soul's Gess, lying would be pointless right now." Schneizel reasoned.
Todoh narrowed his eyes at him. "Then you admit that you came here to deceive us in the expectation that we betray our comrades for you?"
"I didn't deceive you." Schneizel disagreed. "I merely intended to tell you the truths that were hidden from you, I told you who Zero truly was truthfully and the existence of Geass."
"But your knowledge of Geass, as well as its abilities, were limited, despite that you had u believe you know all there was to know," Diethard argued. "Meaning you hoped to twist theories into truths you wanted us to believe, how can you call that anything but deception?"
"Yeah, you were trying to play us for fools," Tamaki added with a glare.
"Forgive me if you see it that way, though there were a few things I didn't take into account when I arrived here," Schneizel said. "For one thing, I thought learning that they possessed Geass, in general, would have sparked a bigger reaction from you all. You honestly don't mind that they've been manipulating others for so long with their Geass powers?"
"At least that's better than using F.L.E.I.J.A's." Euphie shot back, silencing Schneizel. "You want to know what sparked a big reaction from us? It was witnessing the Tokyo Settlement along with all of its people being destroyed by a weapon you're people created and you yourself fired."
"We are also aware that it was a tragedy," Kanon said, bowing his head slightly. "We wanted to avoid this outcome at all costs, however…"
"How dare you." Todoh's head shot up, his dark expression sharpening. "You did everything you could do avoid using that weapon… Except not actually firing it."
Schneizel templed his fingers and leaned forward. "We are of course immensely grieved by what happened. But it was unavoidable. We had to know if the F.L.E.I.J.A. was effective or not."
"That's your excuse?" Soul glared angrily. "You unleashed a genocidal weapon on Tokyo just to see if it would work or not? And as much as you claim to regret what happened, you sit there comfortably under the casual threat of unleashing other F.L.E.I.J.A."
"Not to mention you don't seem to care at all about all the people that were killed because of that weapon." Ohgi joined in. "Thoe were millions of innocent lives, including your own people."
"War always brings innocent casualties." Schneizel reasoned. "However, if the two leaders had been caught in that blast there would have been a good chance we could have ended the war right there. The loss of a few million lives wouldn't have been in vain if it led to world peace."
"That's how you justify this?!" Euphie snapped, unable to believe anyone could actually believe that line of thinking. "You think the deaths of so many innocent lives is the price to pay for peace?"
"Yes, I'm sacrificing the minority to save the majority," Schneizel answered, not seeing a problem with that.
"Even your own sister?" Euphie questioned.
"If it came to that," Schneizel answered though Cornelia and Darlton didn't seem to fully agree with that.
"I think that's enough," Lelouch said, getting their attention. "Schneizel, I'd like nothing more than to capture you at this point, but at the risk of you firing another F.L.E.I.J.A. I can't do that, so I think you should just leave."
"Very well, I think that's for the best." Schneizel got up from his chair. "But, I plan to take Cornelia and Darlton with me."
"That's fine," Logan said. "They no longer have value as hostages."
With that, Cornelia, Kanon and Darlton stood up as well and they followed Schneizel as he headed for the door. As the door opened, they all walked through without looking back and took their leave.
Logan walked up to Lelouch and whispered. "For now, I think we can call this a victory."
"Yes, but this is far from over," Lelouch replied.
Tokyo Settlement
The sun had begun to set as the sky turned orange. In the centre crater of Tokyo's ground zero, Suzaku remained standing there while staring at his reflection in the small pool of water in the centre and had an expression that looked like he made up his mind on something.
"This is something I must do." Suzaku thought to himself.
Britannian Envoy Craft
After leaving the Ikaruga, Scheizel, Cornelia, Kanon and Darlton had all board the same craft Schneizel arrived in and were already in the air, intending to return to the Avalon.
"Your Highness, are you positive this outcome was alright?" Kanon asked.
"I admit, things didn't go the way I had hoped, but we didn't walk away empty-handed," Schneizel said unconcerned. "We now know the identities of both Zero and Soul, how many of them have Geass and all of the abilities Geass power possesses. And I also know that those powers won't be enough to stop the F.L.E.I.J.A's or Damoclus for that matter."
Schneizel's gambit to destroy the faith and support Lelouch had from his soldiers as Zero had failed, but he still felt some satisfaction at what he got in return. And the Secon Prince was far from beaten.
Ikaruga Conference Room
Now that Schneizel and his group were gone, the others were deciding what they were going to do moving forward.
"Was it really all right to just let them go?" Kallen asked.
"We didn't have a choice, not as long as he had a F.L.E.I.J.A. ready to fire." Soul reminded her.
"So what do we do now?" Urabe asked.
"What do you mean?" Chiba asked.
"No, he has a point," Orpheus said. "Our war of independence was supposed to begin with the liberation of Japan. But now, with the loss of the Tokyo Settlement and its people, we're now stuck in a position where our next move has been halted."
"I say we take the fight to the Britannians," Tamaki suggested.
"We can't do that either," Diethard informed him. "Without permission from the U.F.N, we can't instigate combat unless falls under the motion to free Japan. And with a large portion of it having been wiped out, we don't even know how to go about freeing it."
"We also have suffered major casualties among our own members and many of the survivors are shaken from the results of the last battle." Todoh pointed out. "Sadly, the Black Knights are currently in no shape for a fight."
"We could contact Lady Kaguya," Rolo suggested. "The fighting at Kagoshima has also been halted, if she along with Xingke and the Empress arrive, we could discuss our next plan of action."
"But if we simply sit around and do nothing, it'll give our enemies more to time strike back and as long as they have the F.L.E.I.J.A. we're already at a disadvantage." Euphie reminded them.
"So we can't fight but at the same time we can't do nothing." Ohgi summarized, realizing the paradox.
"Gah! There's gotta be something we can do!" Tamaki let out in frustrion.
"Yes, we must do something." Jeremiah agreed.
As they all seemed deadlocked in trying to figure out how to address the situation, Lelouch decided to join the conversation.
"If you don't mind," Lelouch spoke out. "I believe I may know of a to handle this situation."
"Really, you thought of something?" Ohgi asked.
"Ha! I know it, you cooked up another genius strategy didn't you Zero?" Tamaki asked feeling excited.
"Something like that." Lelouch turned to Diethard. "I need to you to call the Empress and the others who went to Kagoshima and have them return. Then I need you to gather the remaining core members of the Black Knights as well Lady Kaguya, the Empress, Xingke and his people and tell them everything you all learned during this meeting."
"Wait, you want them all to know all the secrets that were revealed to us?" Todoh questioned.
"I do, I don't want there to be any more secrets, if you all know, it's only fair that they should as we.." Lelouch reasoned before going back to Diethard. "Will you do it?"
Diethard nodded. "I will, but may I ask what you plan to do?"
"I will be going out for a bit," Lelouch said with a smile. "To Kamine Island."
To Be Continued
And that's the chapter.
Man, I haven't written a Code Geass chapter this long in a while. Actually, this might have been the longest. A vast majority of this chapter was originally content though so it couldn't be helped.
The two main points in this chapter helping Lelouch overcome his rut and the meeting with Schneizel. For one thing, Schneizel only succeeded in the canon because no one knew anything about Geass with the Black Knights, and even though Schneizel didn't know everything, he knew enough where they had no choice to believe him. In this case though, without those advantages along with Ohgi's betrayal, he couldn't force a checkmate.
That said, the only way they could fully prove their innocence was by revealing all of their secrets, so Schneizel was still able to manipulate the situation where he discovered their identities and learned everything about Geass, so it wasn't a complete loss.
As for Lelouch, he needed something to get him out of his funk. In the series, whenever he's in a depressed state, someone always says something or does something to give him a new perspective and helps him get back on his feet. In this case, he had two people do so, Logan helped him the hard way and Shirley did the soft way.
Logan literally knocked some sense into him and finally called him on his bullshit. Your best friends are the ones who know you the best and Logan always knew that Lelouch put Nunnally above everyone, but he called him out on it because at times at like he doesn't care about everyone else and that they're only a means to an end to help him reach Nunnally, no one would just be okay with that.
I also went a bit into their backstory to show how deep their friendship is to help better explain their bond and why Logan with Lelouch just brushing aside the lives of anyone who isn't Nunnally.
As for Shirley, she helped in see that his life still goes on and that he have a better application for the people around him while also striving to better the world for Nunnally even if he can't share it with Nunnally. The talks with both of them gave Lelouch a new horizon on how he sees things and now he's able to walk forward without wavering anymore.
There are now only a few chapters left until the end game so look forward to what comes next. There was a lot of dialogue in this chapter so my bad if some of you aren't into that or felt it was dragging on but I just wanted to make sure they covered everyone so there weren't any loose ends left behind.
So see you next time, hope you enjoyed, if you liked the story leave a review, if you want more clicked the follow/favourite, if you want an early release feel free to become a patron and as always people have an awesome day.
