Interlude 4: Unexpected answers
"Is something wrong?" asked D.S. with amusement when she saw that no one was saying anything about her sudden appearance. "It looked as if you had seen a ghost."
The silence was still present even after D.S. spoke again, until finally Zero suddenly rises from his seat, almost as if something inside him had suddenly activated.
"Sorry, we just didn't expect to see you now, Miss D.S." Zero's words come out weakly, showing that the masked man even with his words was still surprised and disturbed by the strange aura that the young woman with an uncanny resemblance to the Demon Emperor and the Immortal Witch seemed to give off.
"Come on, you have to say it louder, after all you are the famous Zero, aren't you?" D.S. says mockingly, not letting her gaze leave Zero's mask for a moment, looking as if she was able to see through it with complete ease.
Zero could only stifle a shudder at the woman's words and what they implied. "Y-yes, you're right."
"Of course I do, after all I am never wrong," D.S. finally stops looking at Zero and ends up observing the others in the room. "And what's up with you guys? You were planning to discuss what you've seen, weren't you? Why are you so quiet? I think you should talk."
As if by some kind of spell, D.S.'s words bring everyone else out of the trance they seem to have been in since the appearance of the mysterious woman, especially a certain Empress.
Nunnally upon hearing and seeing D.S. can only bow slightly to the woman. "Sorry, Miss D.S., we just didn't really expect to see you so soon... or in this way."
D.S. just lets out a small laugh at Nunnally's attitude. "Don't worry, Empress Nunnally. But it's a little funny to see you say almost the same thing your Knight said. Besides, don't forget that you have no reason to bow down to me, after all you are the Empress, understood?"
"I-I understand," says Nunnally, blushing a little with embarrassment.
"Excellent," D.S.'s gaze travels around the room, making anyone in her field of vision flinch for a moment, making D.S.'s smile somehow manage to widen even more. "You guys certainly seem to have a lot to say, so how about a repeat of last time? You can leave for a moment to go to the bathroom or to freshen up and we'll meet again in ten minutes. Are you all right with that?"
Everyone just nods as they quickly get up and walk to the exit (with the exception of Nunnally, who is still in her chair while Zero helps her out). Finally, outside and with the door closed, the audience members just stare at each other until Tamaki ends up sitting on the floor.
"Damn it," Tamaki commented, wiping a hand across his forehead to remove the beads of sweat accumulating there. "I can't believe it again... Shit, what the hell is wrong with that woman?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," says Chiba, touching her chest, feeling her heart thud. Her gaze travels to Tohdoh. "General, you..."
Tohdoh nods while frowning. "Yes Chiba, me too."
"I can see that everyone is very distressed, but I would really advise you to calm down," says Zero, holding Nunnally's hand tightly. "It's true that Miss D.S.'s presence can be... overwhelming, but we've already seen that she doesn't seem to have any desire to hurt us at all."
Milly swallows some of her own saliva. "We know that, but... I still can't be calm when she shows up."
Rivalz nods. "Yes, I feel like my heart is going to burst whenever I see her."
"Believe me, I share the sentiment, Mr. Cardemonde," says Schneizel, who looks a little calmer than the others, although even he has a couple of beads of sweat on his face, "But Zero is right, we can't keep acting like this every time Miss D.S. shows up in front of us. What do you say we go to the powder room first to try to calm down a bit? Then we can talk more about Miss D.S. when we are calmer. Of course, you can also just go somewhere else if you prefer. Just remember that we can't take too long."
Hastily everyone nods at his words, so they all quickly go to different places to try to calm down, some head to the bathrooms, while others simply take a short walk through the corridors of the building and, finally, others decide to stay near the room, sitting on the floor or leaning against the wall to try to catch their breath.
Nunnally and Zero decided to stay close to where they had been watching the videos, although a bit far away from everyone else who decided to stay rather than leave.
"Su... Zero, can I ask you something?" asks Nunnally in a whisper while still holding the masked man's hand.
"Of course, Your Majesty," replies Zero, moving closer to Nunnally so that no one could hear them.
A small smile shows on the Empress' face, but it disappears as Nunnally bites her lip for a moment. "Zero, about what we talked about... What's going to happen to us? What about your wish to... die? With Sister Euphy? With my big brother? You said you would live and I believe you, but..."
Zero can only close his eyes as he listens to Nunnally, not the least bit surprised by her questions. "No need for me to say anything else, Your Majesty," he says as he feels Nunnally focus her gaze on him, causing a sigh to escape his lips. "Nunnally, believe me when I say that I don't plan to die, I plan to live until time no longer allows me to... D.S. said that each disc contained 25 recordings, right? We may be done with the first disc today, so I think it would be best if we discuss this after we finish, when everyone is asleep, okay?"
Nunnally just watches her friend for a moment, but ends up nodding. "All right, but please give me your word that we'll talk about this and swear to me that you won't break either of these two promises."
"I promise, Nunnally."
Finally, another smile appears on the face of the young Empress. "Then I look forward to that moment, Suzaku."
Unlike Nunnally, there was only a solemn expression on Suzaku's face. "I'm sorry, Nunnally. I really don't think our conversation is going to end up being a good one... at least not if the first disc ends up where I think it will."
Another couple of minutes passed until finally everyone returned to the hallway where the door leading to the room where D.S. was still waiting for them. Everyone looked a little calmer than they had originally, but it could be see that a few worries were still on their minds.
"Is everyone ready?" asks Zero as he looks at the others. "When we go in, we'll have to discuss what we've seen, plus Miss D.S. will probably want to tell us something."
The others nod, whereupon Zero opens the door and enters along with Nunnally. D.S. was still in place; with the same smile she had had when everyone but her had left the room.
"Well, I was wondering when you'd show up," says D.S. with a fake sad expression, as she watches the others settle back into their seats.
"We're sorry we're late, but we're ready to discuss what we need to discuss," Nunnally looks down for a second, but finally looks up again. "Miss D.S., is there a reason why he's back in front of us? I know you said you'd show up whenever you wanted, but I don't think that's all it was on this occasion, was it?"
A strange chuckle escaped D.S.'s lips upon hearing the Empress' question. "I guess I should have expected that question from you, after all you are still her sister," a shudder ran through Nunnally's body, the unexpected comparison to Lelouch made her bizarrely nervous. For her part, D.S. just kept laughing. "But well, you're not wrong, at least not entirely. It's true that I didn't show up just so I could have even more fun, after all I must give you an announcement."
"An announcement?" said Nunnally a bit confused, while nearby both Zero and Schneizel watched the strange woman with more interest.
"That's right, I came to tell you that I'm going to give you another disc to watch."
Nunnally bites her lip. "Another disk? But I thought the records you had given us already showed everything that had happened with my big brother."
D.S. laughs gloatingly again as she relaxes in her seat and runs her hand through her hair, though her gaze doesn't leave Zero for a moment. "I did, after all this disc will contain almost nothing of Lelouch vi Britannia at all."
Ohgi frowns. "Why didn't you give that disk to Her Majesty and Zero from the beginning? In fact, why would you give us a disc that wouldn't show Lelouch? First of all, he's the reason we're watching these videos, plus we can't stay much longer to watch another disc either, many of us still have quite a bit of work to do."
"Don't worry about the time, this disc is much shorter than the others, I doubt it will be a problem for you to see it," D.S. answers almost contemptuously as she doesn't even see Ohgi, as her gaze was still fixed on Zero. "As for the reason for giving you this disc now and not from the beginning, it's because I originally wasn't planning on giving it to you as I didn't consider it entirely necessary, but seeing the reactions you've shown so far, I thought it would be a waste to leave it out, knowing that it can surely entertain me quite a bit more than I originally thought."
"And what is the reason you plan to give it to us even though it contains nothing of Lelouch?" asks Tohdoh, annoyed by D.S.'s attitude.
"The reason is that even though it contains nothing of Lelouch vi Britannia, the person who stars in this disc is connected to him in a certain way," D.S. replies arrogantly, finally pulling out of nowhere another box with 'R-1.5' on the lid. "The connection between that person and Lelouch is quite interesting."
Schneizel gazes the box. "And would you be so kind as to tell us who you are talking about, Miss D.S.? Who is this person who seems to share a strange bond with Lelouch?"
D.S.'s smile becomes predatory. "That person's name is Julius Kingsley."
Immediately upon hearing that name, Zero's entire body feels extremely heavy, while inside the mask its wearer's face shows an expression of pure dismay. "No, it can't be... Not that name!"
Schneizel's expression also changes, but in this case to one of mild surprise upon hearing the name. "Julius Kingsley..."
"Julius Kingsley... Agh! ", Nunnally senses as if a terrible pain appeared in her left eye, feeling as if it would explode. "B-big brother, that name... Why... why do I feel so bad hearing it? It hurts... it hurts so much."
On the other hand, the others just looked confused at the name, none of them had ever heard of anyone being called by that name.
"Julius Kingsley?" said Kaguya in confusion. "I've never heard of someone by that name."
"Neither have we, right?" Ohgi asks the rest of the members and former members of the Black Knights, causing them to nod as they have never heard the name before either.
D.S. amusedly moves her arm from side to side. "It's no surprise that you never heard of him, after all very few people actually even know of his existence, and of those who do, only one is still alive, as the others are long dead, and even the people who died most recently, died already six months ago. Well, there were two others... but they don't really have that knowledge anymore and before you ask me about them, I'll tell you at once that I don't plan to say anything."
A shudder runs through Zero's body as he hears D.S.'s words and feels her gaze on him. Zero fully understands what the woman meant. "She..."
Others also reacted to the date of death of the people who knew who Julius Kingsley was, with Nunnally, Kallen, Cécile, Lloyd and Tohdoh looking at the masked man, while Schneizel just shows a strange smile.
"I see, so that's what it was," thinks the Prime Minister of Britannia as he holds back a laugh.
"So one of the people you are talking about is Lelouch, right?" asks Xingke without expecting D.S. to actually answer his question.
D.S. nods as she claps her hands. "Yes," she says as her expression turns mocking as she sees the surprise on Xingke's face. "What, did you think I wouldn't respond? Believe me, this time I'm more willing to tell you a few things, as long as I see it won't ruin my fun."
"Then will you tell us who is the other one who knows about this guy?" asks Tamaki raising his hand.
"Of course not, if I told you something like that then there would be no need to show you these records in the first place," D.S. replies amused while looking at Tamaki as if she were looking at a stupid circus animal. "Besides, there is already someone here who can tell you the name of one of the people who knew who Julius was."
Chiba bites her lip. "Who?"
"Who else would it be but the illustrious and charismatic Prime Minister of Britannia?" D.S. replies, her words dripping with sarcasm as she states the person's description.
Quickly upon hearing the description, everyone turns to look at Schneizel, who only continued to have a strange smile on his face.
"So do you know who this Julius Kingsley is, Schneizel?" asks Cornelia, looking at her half-brother with a frown.
"You could say so, although I don't really know too much about him either," Schneizel answers while looking at D.S., and then lets out a small sigh. "You probably remember the war Britannia had against the EU, where Euro Britannia managed to conquer almost half of the entire EU, making it almost completely collapse."
Kaguya nods. "Yes, several members of the Republic decided to join the UFN when they saw that we were the best chance they had to try to reclaim the territories they had lost during the war," Kaguya's gaze turns colder. "In fact, I remember that it was you who was leading the Britannian forces during the conflict, many even said that things could have ended very differently if it wasn't for your presence in the diplomatic meetings."
Schneizel smiles without a hint of embarrassment. "I'm flattered that you also think of my leadership and strategic skills, Miss Sumeragi," the former Prince ignores Kaguya's frown and how Cornelia rolls her eyes. "But in reality things were not so simple. During one point in the conflict, the EU's eastern front had to counter what appeared to be a massive bombardment at several strategic locations."
"But that doesn't make sense," said Kaguya lowering her gaze. -"I remember that during that time I kept a close eye on the whole conflict, and I don't remember ever getting any kind of information about such an attack, the only thing I could get was that for a moment a great panic occurred on the eastern front, but I could never figure out the reason."
"It's because there was never such an attack," says Schneizel, enjoying the surprise of the young UFN leader. "Everything about the bombing turned out to be more than a hoax to spread panic and fear throughout EU society, the real attack was a massive cyber attack that managed to disable much of the EU's weapons power, which forced the military on the front lines to withdraw."
Kaguya nods. "That I do remember, I was able to manage to get some reports, although what happened after that seemed to be quite confusing, according to what I was able to gather."
Tamaki already tired of all the political talk rubs his head. "Agh! So that all happened, but what does it have to do with that Julius guy?"
"It was Julius who did the cyberattack, wasn't it?" says Tohdoh as he understands what Schneizel meant.
Schneizel nods. "That's right, it was Mr. Julius Kingsley the person who carried out those operations. The truth is that when the whole conflict was over, I was curious to see who was responsible for those operations, because they turned out to be quite useful to make progress in the conquest, but there was a problem..."
"A problem?" said Milly confused. "What problem are you talking about?"
"The problem is that I really couldn't learn anything more about Mr. Julius Kingsley," says Schneizel to the surprise of many. "For some reason all the information about him seemed to be completely missing, I could never find his birthplace, family, previous accomplishments, etc. I honestly thought he had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the conflict, almost as if he had been born in the middle of the war."
Zero clenches his jaw. "Schneizel..." the masked man remembers that Lelouch had acted during that time as Julius. "Yes, it was just that... Julius was born in the war, born to replace Lelouch, but in the end he didn't make it... Lelouch."
Xingke frowns. "So you couldn't find anything? Nothing to tell us what relationship he must have with Lelouch for us to be shown this new disk?"
"Not exactly, for I was able to find two rather interesting facts, although those facts said nothing about his person."
"What were they?" asks Chiba, strangely anxious.
"The first was that our father had apparently been the one who had personally placed Mr. Julius on the eastern front of the EU," the Prime Minister's gaze travels to Zero, ignoring the surprised expressions of the others. "The second, was that during his time at the front, he had been escorted by the Knight of the Round Suzaku Kururugi."
Schneizel's words create a tense silence, where everyone is just trying to process the new information they had been given, while D.S. for her part just looked at everyone as if she was having the time of her life.
"Suzaku... escorted him?" Nunnally says without being able to avoid looking at Zero, while feeling the strange pain in her eye again, but this time feeling, in addition, that her throat seemed to tighten for a moment. "I don't understand, why would Suzaku escort someone who made my big brother feel like...? Agh," Nunnally bites her tongue trying to hide the pain she felt in her head and throat.
The others who knew about Zero's true identity couldn't help but look back at the masked man, all professing a strange feeling of apprehension at the new information they were given.
For his part, Zero just tried to ignore the gaze of the others, while concentrating his own on Schneizel. "Schneizel, how is it that you learned that? The Emperor had made all the arrangements to keep my involvement with Le... Julius a secret."
"What do you mean Suzaku was the one who escorted him?" asks Gino in confusion. "I don't remember him ever being ordered to do something like that, do you, Anya?"
She nods. "Yes, we never learned about it, but maybe he just didn't tell us for some reason."
Guilford nods. "That's most likely, after all it was apparently the Emperor himself who gave the order to this Julius Kingsley, so it's not hard to believe that he would want to hide Kururugi's involvement, especially seeing as it seems he tried to do so with Kingsley's own identity."
"That's right, you will end up seeing what happened with Julius and Suzaku during that period of time when they were together," says D.S. in a strangely relaxed tone. "That's why the disc will be much shorter than the others, after all you will only see scenes of the two of them."
"But, it's really curious, after all it seems that what we will see of Julius happened during the year in which Lelouch disappeared," says Xingke drawing everyone else's attention.
"Oh, that's right," said Ohgi without noticing how nervous Villetta had become. "All that stuff about Suzaku escorting Julius past during the war could only happen after Zero disappeared, but before he came back."
Chiba nods. "Yes, maybe this will finally tell us what the Demon Emperor was doing all that time."
"What Lelouch did in that year...", Kallen thinks as she recalls the explanation C.C. had given her about Lelouch losing his memories. "I know C.C. told me that Lelouch had lost his memories because of someone's Geass, though she never told me whose exactly... Could that have been the Emperor's Geass? But then..."
Villetta was also lost in thought. "When they put me on Lelouch's watch and told me about his memories," the former Britannian soldier frowns. "Agh, how am I going to be able to explain this to Kaname."
"Then it is important for us to see it. I want to know what happened that year." Milly says, frowning at her confused memories. "Rivalz and I never told anyone but Nunnally, but the fact that Rolo for some reason seemed to replace Nunnally in several memories was already confusing, but now I can also remember that when I got my real memories back for a while Lelouch seemed to have disappeared, only to come back as if nothing had happened, while those fake memories made it seem like he was never gone, but also apparently he wasn't in his role as Zero during all that time... Agh, it's all really strange, I really want to understand what happened, especially if those false memories are someone's Geass fault."
Rivalz nods. "I want to know what happened during that time, too."
"What happened during that time...," Nunnally frowns as she recalls that Milly and Rivalz had told her how strangely several of their memories of her had been altered in such a way that she didn't appear and instead a boy named Rolo appeared. "Could it have been someone's Geass? But whose? Our father's? But that doesn't make sense... Big brother, what happened to you?"
The others except for Zero nod as well, all wanting to finally understand what had happened during that year when Lelouch had not shown himself to be Zero.
"Excellent, then it looks like we're all interested in seeing it," said Schneizel, purposely ignoring the fact that Zero wasn't moving at all. "I guess all that would be left is for you to tell us when exactly we should see the disk, Miss D.S."
D.S., bored, shrugs her shoulders. "When I want you to see it, I'll show up and tell you."
"Can't you just tell us now?" asks Jeremiah skeptically.
"I have my reasons for not doing it right now, so for now you will have to wait until I show up again and tell you to see it. Believe me, even if you tried to see it before or after I tell you to see it, it wouldn't work at all.
Sayoko tilts her head to one side. "It won't work? Why?"
"Let's just say that I simply made it not work if you see it before its time," a chuckle escapes from the lips of the strange woman. "But well, leaving that aside for the moment, don't you think it's about time you two got down to business? I said I'm willing to say more now, so maybe you should take advantage of that and start as soon as possible."
Cornelia nods. "You're right, we'll see that disc when it's needed, but for now we should focus on what we've already seen."
"I agree, now is an excellent opportunity to see if we can learn something we don't already know," says Schneizel. "You would do us the honor, Miss Ashford."
"Sure," says Milly, opening her notebook, oblivious to the looks Sayoko and Jeremiah were giving each other.
The former maid leans over to the Cyborg and whispers, "Then should we really tell them about it? When should we do it?"
"When they start talking about the elevators," Jeremiah answers in a whisper. "But remember that we should only say what we agreed on during the break."
Sayoko just nods, remembering the talk they had had with Anya.
"Well, the first thing to discuss would be Lelouch and his actions," says Milly.
Gino frowns. "Well, nothing has really changed, has it? Lelouch really hasn't shown one reason why he would be willing to do what he did in the SAZ plus his time as Emperor, in fact, he has shown the opposite."
"Yes, for the moment during these four episodes we saw we could only witness how Lelouch showed that he really wanted Suzaku by his side and that he valued and loved Princess Euphemia quite a lot, without being willing to do her any kind of harm, let alone put her under the control of his Geass to force her to commit carnage."
Cornelia feels her stomach grow heavy. "Yes, at the moment we haven't been shown any reason why Lelouch under his own volition could have done that to Euphy... Could it really be all the Geass' fault? Was Lelouch not in control of his actions when he did it? But then..." the former Princess clenches her fist in frustration. "Who am I to blame then for what happened to Euphy? Lelouch? C.C.? Damn it, why does everything have to be so complicated?"
"Lelouch..." Zero also feels an apprehension in his stomach. "If it was seriously the Geass who controlled you at that moment... Damn it, Lelouch!"
"We're still left with the theory that the Geass manipulated his actions, and in fact I'd say that's actually the most likely option now," says Rakshata. "That possibility is the only one that doesn't contradict what we've seen so far."
Xingke and Tohdoh nod, both agreeing that it seemed to be the most likely option, given what they had seen so far.
"But then, what would that mean for Lelouch?" asks Ohgi biting his lip. "If it really was the Geass that made him do that, how do we not know that everything he did afterwards was also because of the Geass? For all we know, everything bad he actually did may not have ended up being truly his fault."
"Don't say that," says Chiba annoyed. "We could already see that he betrayed us at the port and laughed after causing the collapse in Narita, all that while he was in his right mind, besides it's not as if the Geass just made him a slave, even Mao seemed to retain some mental faculties."
Guilford nods. "Yes, we can't take all the blame away from the Demon Emperor for the acts he did just because of the possibility that the Geass manipulated him in some way, we could already see that he was willing to do terrible acts if he managed to get what he wanted, and even went so far as to enjoy it, not caring that he might end up hurting others, like his classmate."
"Lelouch didn't enjoy doing it!" Milly protested, annoyed. "Lloyd already said it, Lelouch in the collapse only observed that his plan was successful, but as soon as he saw that he had caused the death of Shirley's father he felt bad, it almost seemed that he would have stopped being Zero if it wasn't for what C.C. told him."
"Are you really defending him?"
"No, I'm not saying what he did was right, but Lelouch never enjoyed hurting others, we all could see him disgusted by what happened in Shinjuku, plus how upset he looked when he saw Suzaku being bullied... We all could witness how much he cared about Shirley! Isn't that worth anything?" Milly grits her teeth as she feels some tears gathered in her eyes. "What right do you even have to criticize Lelouch for that while you were working for Princess Cornelia? At least what he was doing served to advance some of his plans, while forcing Suzaku to execute his Master served no purpose, it was just being cruel for the sake of being cruel."
Guilford just looked at the reporter for a moment without saying anything. The Knight would normally be angry that someone would tell him that about Cornelia, but seeing how sad the blonde looked at the memory of her deceased friend and what Lelouch had done for her, he only felt any possible anger evaporate, being replaced by a strange mixture of grief and embarrassment.
"You're right, I'm sorry," says Guilford to the surprise of several. "It was out of line for me to bring Miss Fenette, and you're right about the actions of the Dem... Lelouch, he has shown that he can feel bad about what his actions provoke."
"Thank you," says Milly, also starting to feel a little bad about what she said. "Ah, I'm sorry too for what I said about..."
"No, it's okay, don't worry."
An awkward silence filled the place, although Cornelia could be seen to be showing a small smile at Guilford's actions, happy that her Knight was not lashing out at Milly just to defend her.
"Thank you, Guilford," Cornelia thinks as she recalls the confrontation her Knight had earlier with Tamaki. "It's good to know that even now you're not able to really get angry at someone who suffers like that... In the end you've truly matured compared to the day I met you, so I hope I can do the same if Lelouch... I certainly hope so."
Xingke lets out a fake cough. "Well, I think we've seen all we can discuss on the matter, for now we can really only wait and see what ends up happening in the end."
"Of course, unless you can clarify our doubts, Miss D.S.," says Schneizel, looking at the woman with interest. "You said you would be willing to give us more information, would you mind telling us the cause of what happened in the SAZ?"
D.S. lets out a derisive snort. "Please, you know that revealing to you what happened would take all the fun out of it that I could get," she lets out another laugh as she ignores the stares sent her way by several in the audience. "Although I suppose I can say a thing or two."
"Really?" Tamaki says genuinely surprised.
"Of course. Well, I can tell you that what caused the whole thing happened during the time Lelouch and Euphemia were alone together during the SAZ, and it was not planned by Lelouch."
Cornelia frowns. "So it was something that happened out of the blue... But what could have happened?"
"It's really weird, we could already see that Lelouch projected all his plans well in advance," says Kaguya thinking about it. "That it seemed to be somehow spontaneous is hard to believe."
"I suppose it must be strange for you," D.S. says childishly as she plays with her fingers. "The second thing is, if I had to describe what happened there, I'd say it was all a bad joke."
Everyone looks confused.
"A bad joke?" says Cécile. "What do you mean, a bad joke?"
"The right in the wrong can sometimes cause a lot of harm, even if that wasn't what was intended," says D.S., as she shrugs again without really paying attention. "Besides, I already told you, that's how I would describe it, it's up to you to make sense of it."
"A bad joke..." thinks Zero frowning as he tries to make sense of D.S.'s words "What could she be talking about? Can what happened between Lelouch and Euphy really be defined as a bad joke? Agh, I don't get what is that even about right and wrong? "
Cornelia grits her teeth. "Right and wrong, is it Lelouch and Euphy, is it the SAZ and Lelouch's rebellion? Hell, I don't get it at all."
"But that doesn't make sense!" says Kallen in annoyance. "How do you expect us to understand what you mean when you describe what happened there as a bad joke? Thousands of innocent people died, and all you can tell us is that it was like a bad joke to you?"
For the first time, D.S. seems genuinely irritated, showing a frown on her face. "I told you, you must make sense of it, not me."
Somehow D.S.'s words make everyone feel a shudder, realizing that continuing to harp on the strange woman would serve no purpose other than to make her angry.
"Perhaps it would be better if we left this topic for later," advised Xingke. "It is obvious that at the moment none of us understand that what happened was apparently a bad joke for Miss D.S., we could look at it in the next break to see what else we learn first."
"Nah, actually what happened with Euphemia and Lelouch is quite close, I have no doubt you will see it before you have another break," says D.S. still a bit annoyed.
"So what do you advise us?" asks Tohdoh with a raised eyebrow. "Why would you tell us if it's going to happen so soon?"
The woman shrugs her shoulders. "You asked me and I answered, whether you wish to discuss it or just wait to see what happens is your choice, not mine."
The audience members look at each other, not really knowing what to make of D.S.'s unenthusiastic decision to discuss what she told them or just leave it to watch the next chapters first.
"Would all of you rather we discuss it now or just drop it?" Schneizel asks, breaking the silence.
"Let's just leave it," says Cornelia, crossing her arms. "You heard her, it won't be long before we see what happened, we'd better hurry rather than waste time discussing something that is already going to be shown to us so soon."
Kaguya nods. "I agree, it would be best if we just watch the next episodes, it seems like it will be faster and understandable."
The others nod, agreeing that it would be better if they simply hurried.
"So then the next point would be about the Geass and the use Lelouch made of it," says Milly reading her notebook.
"Skip it," says Cornelia. "We've already seen what uses Lelouch gave him, and we even discussed a bit before about how exactly the command he gave Kururugi works, it's no use talking about it again now."
Milly nods. "Then it is time to talk about C.C., her immortality, the contract and the promise she made."
Anya shakes her head. "We can't talk about that either, after all we haven't learned anything new about it."
"That's right, we really didn't see much of Miss C.C. in these four episodes we watched," says Sayoko rubbing Anya's head.
"Can't you tell us anything about it?" asks Tohdoh to D.S.
The aforesaid moves her hand from one side to the other while sticking out her tongue. "Not in this case, you said yourselves that you had already discussed what Lelouch did with his Geass and that you haven't seen much of C.C. in these chapters. I suppose I could give you technical details of how Lelouch's Geass actually works. But it would be useless, after all no two Geass are alike, and even if you were to find someone else with a similar or even identical Geass, believe me when I tell you that there would be certain differences."
"So there are more people with Geass in the world?" Kaguya asks, focusing on the last thing D.S. said, "Is there really a chance we'll meet them?
"You can, after all C.C. is still free, isn't she? She still has her ability to give the Geass to whomever she wants."
"And has she?" asks Cornelia with a frown.
D.S. snorts derisively. "I can't say that, in fact, I think I've already given you enough information on the matter."
It was obvious that several were still dissatisfied with what they had learned, although others seemed to be simply happy to have received any information at all.
"Fabulous, now it looks like there are more possible crazies we'll have to deal with," Kallen says, crosses her arms in annoyance. "I hope for C.C.'s sake that she doesn't end up being the one to blame for that."
"Well, I guess that means we should at least be well prepared for any possibility regarding the Geass," says Schneizel with his typical smile. "Well, if no one has more to say, perhaps we should move on to the next topic of discussion."
Milly raises her hand as she looks at D.S. "You said you could give us technical details, right? We saw some time ago that Lelouch used his Geass on Kabeko, one of our classmates. Can't you tell us if the Geass is still on her or if there is a way to remove it?"
"That's right, I almost forgot about it," says Rivalz, pounding his hand with his fist.
"There is a way to help her, but honestly it would be better if you could watch the recordings, you can see better how you can do it," says D.S. while watching Jeremiah out of the corner of her eye.
The aforementioned bites his lip as he feels the woman's gaze. "So even she knows about that... Well, I guess that was to be expected seeing what she has presented to us, I'll have to talk this over with the others to see how we might deal with her in case of emergencies."
Milly nods. "I see. I hope we can help her quickly."
No one says anything, so Milly looks at her notebook again.
"Then the next topic is Suzaku, his reason for joining Britannia and the death of his father.
Kaguya frowns. "We could already see the reasons why Suzaku joined plus what really happened with my uncle."
"Yes, I really don't know what else we could discuss about that," Kallen comments as she looks at Zero. "Now we all know what really happened. We should just move on unless anyone has anything to say."
"Don't look at me," says D.S. with a chuckle. "You have already seen this and I really don't plan to say anything of a personal nature about anyone, I will only tell you information about things related to some events and the Geass."
Tohdoh lets out a sigh. "Then let's move on."
"The next point is Lelouch and C.C.'s relationship, but seeing as we haven't seen much of that either, we should skip it," Milly turns to see if anyone protests, but seeing that no one does she looks back to her notebook. "Next would be Lelouch and Suzaku's relationship."
Tamaki snorts. "Is the same, we already knew that Lelouch considered the brat his friend and wanted to protect him, he even just used the Geass on him so he wouldn't let himself be killed."
Kaguya nods. "Yes, it's obvious that Lelouch was fond of Suzaku and vice versa, and now we've also been able to see that Lelouch never used his Geass to make Suzaku become his servant or slave."
"Yes, they seemed very close," added Tianzi.
"Which makes it clear in the end that Suzaku must also have joined Lelouch of his own free will," says Xingke. "But it's odd seeing as his relationship with Princess Euphemia was very valuable to him, even to the extent that the relationship is romantic in nature."
"It's certainly strange, I don't see why Suzaku would join Lelouch after what he did to Princess Euphemia," says Ohgi rubbing his chin. "We know they were friends, but I don't see what friendship could exist after that."
Rivalz nods. "Yes, I really even now can't see why Suzaku would team up with Lelouch for world domination, though I also don't understand why Lelouch would want to do that in the first place.
"Maybe Lelouch told Suzaku what happened between him and Princess Euphemia," Milly commented. "Now we know it wasn't planned, and if what happened was something like a bad joke, there may be a chance that Suzaku saw that Lelouch wasn't guilty."
"No, that never happened," Zero thinks bitterly. "Lelouch, I'm really close to finally knowing what happened between you and Euphy... Agh, I can't believe that part of me is afraid to really find out what happened, afraid to know that maybe... you're not to blame for anything."
Rakshata smokes from her pipe. "Even if he had told him what really happened, I don't see how he would still decide to join him in cruel world domination, it quite contradicts the morals he has shown so far, at least when he served Britannia he did it out of his suicidal desire and a strange illusion that he could make things better if he got to the top."
Gino nods. "Yes, I really don't see the point. Suzaku would never join something that would simply be cruel to the citizens for no reason, for as long as it lasted."
"Well, we've reached a dead end," Xingke let out a sigh. "Maybe we should move on to the next point, after all Miss D.S. has already made it clear that she doesn't plan to reveal anything personal to us."
"That's right, the reason why Suzaku joined Lelouch will be something you will have to learn on your own." D.S.'s smile becomes mocking in nature.
Milly nods. "Then they touch on the memories Nunnally inherited from Lelouch."
"I really don't think there's any reason to talk about it, I still haven't gotten any new memories of my big brother," says Nunnally a bit nervously, the young woman for some reason not saying anything about the pain she had felt when she heard about Julius and Suzaku escorting him.
"And you can't tell us how that could have happened?" Cornelia asks D.S. while looking at her with suspicion. "How is it that Nunnally was able to obtain Lelouch's memories?"
"Well, you see, when an older brother and a younger sister love each other very much and touch each other while one of them is dying, a magical connection is formed where the other can see their memories, showing how much they love each other" along with her words, D.S. uses her hands and puts them together as if they were kissing while making noises with her lips simulating the sound. "Special attention to the issue of one being older and the other being younger."
A lot of mortified or disgusted faces could be seen in the audience after D.S.'s 'explanation'. Cornelia had turned a little green with disgust and anger, while Nunnally looked like a tomato because her face was so red. The others looked the same as Cornelia, several averted their gazes, but none made even the slightest noise... Well, except for one.
"Really?" said Tamaki in surprise. "Damn, I didn't know brothers could do that! Well if that's so then... Ouch!" Tamaki clutches his head as he feels Kallen hit his head, making him look up at her. "Hey, why did you hit me?"
"Tamaki... Shut up."
Tohdoh lets out a sigh of exasperation. "Leaving that aside, I guess your answer means you don't plan to give us a real answer, right?"
"What makes you think so?" asks D.S. with a grimace while her voice drips with sarcasm. "Seriously, you're right that I don't plan to talk about it, it wouldn't do any good and it's complicated by several things."
Lloyd looks at the woman with interest. "Is there some kind of process that had to be followed to make it happen?"
"I already told you that I don't plan to say more about this, so it would be best if you continue with what you are going to discuss, in the end you will see more of the subject on the last disc anyway." D.S. looks with amusement at Milly. "The next topic is Marianne's death and Charles' ability to talk to the dead, right?"
Milly, a little surprised, only glances quickly at her notebook. "Well... yes."
"Well leave it, I'll just tell you that Charles does have a Geass, and it's not the power to talk to the dead."
Another round of grimace of surprise appears on the faces of the others in the room, either at the information or at the fact that D.S. was willing to reveal it so abruptly.
"What?" says Chiba too surprised and trying to deal well with the information.
"Didn't you hear me?" D.S. looks at Chiba as if she was dealing with a child. "I said that Charles has a Geass, one that is not the power to talk to the dead."
Chiba angrily grits her teeth at D.S.'s tone "Yes I heard you, but what you say... Agh."
"I think what Ms. Chiba is trying to say is that we find it rather surprising that you were willing to disclose that information, Ms. D.S.," Schneizel says in a helpful tone, although his eyes seemed to show that his thoughts were elsewhere.
Kaguya nods. "Yes, you didn't seem willing to reveal almost anything to us before, and even what you told us before doesn't compare to this. I guess asking what his real Geass was would be too much, wouldn't it?"
D.S. also nods as she claps her hands. "Right. What I told you about Charles and his Geass is enough, it would be boring if I just gave you the definitive answer."
"Wait, so how was it that the Emperor was talking to Prince Clovis?" asks Nina in confusion. "Did it have to do with where he was?"
The mysterious woman gives a couple of claps. "Right, wow you guys are on a roll today. You're right about that place being the reason Charles was able to talk to Clovis and, before you ask, the answer is no, I won't tell you what that place is or how to get there."
"Why not?" asks Cornelia annoyed, tapping her seat. "If we could get to that place, then we could talk to the dead too, couldn't we? I could talk to Euphy and my other brothers and sisters again. We could all talk to whomever we wanted."
Cornelia's words make several people open their eyes to the possibility that they might be able to speak again with those they had loved, but had also lost for some reason or another.
"Could I really talk to my... big brother again?" thinks Nunnally feeling a couple of tears appear in her eyes. "Could it really be? Could I really talk to my big brother? If it's serious then I could hear him again, I could offer him apologies as he deserves them...I could see him again."
"Could I really talk to my brother and Lelouch?", Kallen thinks barely able to contain her excitement. "Maybe I could bring my mother, she would be ecstatic to be able to see Naoto again, maybe even dad..."
Zero can only grit his teeth. "Seeing Euphy again... I already knew it was possible, it was one of the few things C.C. told me when I asked her about it, but... No, I don't deserve it, not after everything I've done."
The others were also thinking about the possibilities of talking to their loved ones who had passed away, some enthusiastic, some nervous, but all excited in one way or another.
Suddenly a loud bang is heard, as if an entire building had collapsed, causing everyone to snap out of their fantasies and thoughts to see a genuinely angry D.S. staring at them all, causing them to feel as if the end of their lives was just around the corner.
"Don't get too much into your fantasies," says D.S. in a strict tone, completely different from her usual tone. "Believe me, fantasizing too much will only make the disappointment greater when the truth doesn't match the fantasy."
"But you said it was that place!" Rivalz protests. "Why couldn't we go there? I could go back to Lelouch and Shirley to ask them what really happened."
Milly nods. "Yes, why can't we do what the Emperor did to talk to them? You already said it wasn't because of his Geass."
A sigh of exasperation leaves D.S.'s lips as she grabs her forehead "Things are never that simple. Charles' Geass may not have been talking to the dead, but getting to that place is not something that many can do, in fact, there are currently less than four people with that ability."
"Who?" Kaguya asked until an idea popped into her head. "Wait, you're not saying that C.C. and that blond boy from before are the ones who can go to that place?"
"Wow, you really were smarter than you look at first glance," says D.S. recovering a bit of her good humor. "Yes, if you want to get to that place you would need the help of someone with C.C.'s skills or that 'kid', although I guess I can tell you that his name is V.V."
"V.V.?" says Kallen in confusion.
D.S. shrugs. "Obviously it's not his real name, but that's what he prefers to call himself."
"That's good to know," says Schneizel, as he thinks about what they have learned. "But then wouldn't it simply be necessary for us to be able to communicate with Miss C.C. or Mr. V.V. in order to get in? Or is there some reason why even doing so would prevent us from getting there?"
"There are, but that's something you can only really learn when you get to the last disc you'll see."
Tamaki hits his seat. "You've got to be kidding me! Do we really have to wait until we see the end to learn that? Shit!"
D.S. snorts as she plays with her hair. "It won't do you any good to complain, I've already given you enough information that I originally planned to keep to myself."
"And we appreciate it, believe us," says Schneizel, still smiling. "Just answer me this one question, please. Do the thought elevators and the Ragnarok our father spoke of have any connection to that place and the ability to talk to the dead?"
A thunderous laugh comes out of D.S. "Yes, once again you are right about that, everything is connected somehow. Charles' plans needed the elevators, and the elevators were what allowed him to get to that place where he could talk to the dead, but at the same time he could never have gotten in but for the abilities of people like C.C. and V.V."
"Which means the Emperor must have been working with V.V. or someone else with the same powers, right?" asks Cécile.
"Yes!" a shudder runs through everyone's body at the force of D.S.'s words and how frantic she suddenly looked. "Exactly, Charles was working with someone to get into that place, and that someone was none other than V.V. himself, but now the question you surely have is what is the relationship between the two of them, right? What makes them working together? What is Ragnarok? Well ladies and gentlemen, the answers to your questions... you'll see them on the discs. Just remember what I will tell you; Charles and V.V. were not alone, a third accomplice was there, just as Lelouch, Suzaku and C.C. worked together to destroy the world, so did Charles, V.V. and the third, for this story is about two kings who lied to the world, two immortals who lied to those they loved, and two knights who lied to themselves!"
And with those words, both D.S. and her seat disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving the others only to try to process what had just happened. For some reason several felt an uneasiness at the words, as if a horrible vision of something that should never have happened was revealed to them at the worst possible moment, causing there to be only a heavy, suffocating silence... at least until a voice was heard.
"What the fuck?" Tamaki's words for once encapsulate everyone else's thoughts.
Additional note: Just to let you know that I am not really the author of the work, the author asked me to upload the chapter because he can't do it at the moment for personal reasons, everything that appears in this chapter was written by him, only this note will be mine.
Another chapter of the translation, I hope you enjoy it.
For those who say that it is not really necessary to have someone with a Code to use the Thought Elevator and that at most you need a Geass, you are right, but the characters don't know that, and D.S. when he said that Charles needed someone with the power of C.C. or V.V. he was referring to the fact that without people like them he could never have obtained a Geass, and therefore he could never have used the elevator.
Translated with Translator (free version)
The text below is the original chapter notes (so remember that if the dates don't make sense, it's because I originally wrote these notes for the Spanish version, which came out much earlier).
I bet you didn't expect that ending, did you? No one would... Okay, I know, I know, it's been another three weeks since the last chapter, but hey, college has continued to suck my soul to levels that shouldn't even be legal, in fact I had two exams today. But I guess in the end all that matters is that I finally got it out.
Sorry for the delay, but the university is crushing me as I said before, besides even though this chapter is quite short compared to the others, it was really hard to write because of the whole Julius issue, the revelations of D.S., the year when Lelouch wasn't Zero and the thoughts of several characters, making me spend quite some time researching to see that I wasn't wrong at all in the information I presented in this chapter, and even now I'm not completely sure that I wasn't wrong, so if you see any continuity or data error in the chapter, don't hesitate to say so, it's better to accept a mistake and fix it than to ignore and let it could end up being a danger.
Tell me, what did you think about D.S. in this chapter? I doubt you expected her to reveal so much, let alone the words she said at the end of the chapter. Hey, a virtual cookie for anyone who can make sense of it and explain well what she meant, after all I'm sure we all know who that third accomplice is, right? Oh, and for those of you wondering about information that hasn't yet been discussed by the characters like Suzaku and Euphemia's relationship on a romantic level, don't worry, we'll follow up on that in the next chapter plus reactions to episode 21, which really is pure comedy for the most part.
You know, actually the death of Kallen's brother is something that is open to debate, as there are numerous nods hinting that he is actually still alive somewhere, though it is never really explored and thus Kallen never learns that her brother may still be alive. Eh, maybe it will finally be resolved in the new series they'll do, provided there isn't a big timeskip between that series and the end of Resurrection.
Well, I can't promise that the next chapter won't take as long as this one, but I hope for the best, that maybe a miracle will happen and teachers will have mercy for me and my classmates these weeks. See you in the next chapter.
Extra note after publishing the chapter: I made a couple of changes because of GladiatorKing01's comment about the SAZ people and the people who knew about Julius, the first one is very small, I just changed hundreds for thousands to make it more realistic, and as for the Julius thing I will say that I honestly hadn't forgotten about Andrea Farnese and Augusta Henry Highland, it's just that I always thought that Charles would have obviously changed their memories about what had happened as a precaution, so my mind didn't think of them as people who knew about Julius, but I already changed it and put D.S. talking about them indirectly and referencing that they no longer know, it may not be canon, but let's say it is in this story, which matters little really. Also to tell you that it is possible that the chapter has more spelling and grammatical errors than usual, since I could not review it well in that aspect, but as soon as I can I will do it.