Hello everyone. It's been a while since my last update here, and I'm glad I'm back again. As with Bleach: The Strawberry and the Red Knight, I am committed to finish this story until complete, and maybe finish this one first. I'm still not sure when I'll make the last chapter, and if I'll make a sequel to this one with the Black Rebellion under this butterfly effect. I'll think about it for later.

Anyway enjoy.

Chapter 9: The witch and Geass

02/04/2022

Tachikawa District - Duchy of Kanto - Area 11 (Japan) - Holy Britannian Empire

Sayoko Shinozaki turned off the light in the tent where Nunnally now slept and quietly went elsewhere. She seemed that today they were getting used to this kind of life as refugees despite how little difficult it was from the beginning. On the other hand, the situation here remains the same as always for everyone with the large number of refugees still coming to this area and therefore the need to bring more food rations, water, blankets and even a roof to be able to rest peacefully.

The rest of the students established in this sector had also adapted to their stay here, but only by force. Many of them also lost their homes due to the Gojira radioactive storm and who knows what else, and one wondered when all this torture of staying here like caged animals in such a small space will end.

Sayoko couldn't help but feel sorry for them even though the country of these people conquered her nation 6 years ago and her people took away their identity and freedom. While she could hold a grudge against any vile and awful person like any Britannian she would see and their country, but she couldn't because she met good Britannians who didn't take a dim view of her apart from Milly, the disowned young Lelouch Lamperouge and his disabled sister Nunnally Lamperouge. Without a doubt those 2 brothers were the best people she had ever met. Lelouch was a very respectful and considerate boy with both her and his sister and she had great respect for him. Although she sometimes she would have preferred that he not miss classes and spend more time with them instead of going out into the city to bet on chess games.

The sweet and innocent Nunnally had earned all her affection and acted in a motherly way taking care of her in Lelouch's absence. In fact, she was interested in everything related to Japan including origami, which had later become their favorite pastime every afternoon. Even here there were papers and a small table to work so they had entertained themselves very well making origami every afternoon.

Still, she sometimes wondered how long this was going to last. With the destruction of much of central Tokyo, the death of Viceroy Clovis, along with subsequent uprisings by Japanese residents in their ghettos, Area 11 had become a very difficult place to live in these days and who knows how long it would take will extend this spiral of madness. She paused for a moment to turn around and look at the rest of the refugee tents around her that stretched as far as the eye could see like a great forest. In all of them were the rest of the students and teachers.

All those who have lost their homes were in a bad situation, and not because of lack of food or warmth, but possibly a vengeful Japanese insurgent group is coming here to try to get revenge and justice for the abuses they suffered in these 6 years and they no matter if they had to take it out on these defenseless people.

Sayoko understood very well how those poor people felt to push them to commit such extreme and brutal acts. 6 years of intense abuse and mistreatment by their abominable occupants, including the taking of their cities, had upset them and lost a sense of morality that the only thing that left them was a strong resentment and spirit of revenge of any kind against their executioners and they couldn't do anything but think about making them feel when they had the opportunity the worst hell they've ever experienced. While she was able to understand this feeling to a certain extent, but it did not mean that they sympathized with them in their way of satisfying themselves through extreme violence. She had already sworn an oath to protect Lelouch and his sister, and if necessary, all the academy students who are like a second family to her. No matter what, she would protect them with her own life if necessary.

Just as he was about to resume her walk, she suddenly saw the person devoted to him walk out of a corner of the tent with a... pizza box?

'I didn't know Lelouch-sama liked that.'

If the maid knew something in these 4 years that he had been working for him and his sister, it was that the respectful young man liked to have this type of aperitif. Not even in her memory did he see young Lamperouge buy a pizza or eat it with his sister. This is new.

Invaded by curiosity, Sayoko decided to approach Lelouch.

"Excuse me, Lelouch-sama, do you think you're allowed to eat pizza here?" She asked without knowing if it was possible to buy food from public places to a refugee camp.

Lelouch looked at the maid for a moment with a tired look but managed to keep his composure. "Fortunately, yes, and I was able to convince the military to have the delivery man come."

The Japanese maid didn't seem too convinced about that as she had no idea a delivery man had jurisdiction to bring homemade food into a guarded shelter. Before she could ask further, Lelouch cut her off in time.

"How is Nunnally today?"

"Oh, she's resting right now. No need to worry." She answered with a smile.

"I see, thank you very much, Sayoko." Lelouch thanked with a smile.

She nods in thanks before saying one more thing to him. "Still, you shouldn't order food that has nothing to do with the military sending, do you understand?"

"I totally understand. I won't do it again." He responded with a 'nice guy' expression. "I'd better go to my tent."

And with that, the young boy resumed his march past of Sayoko. Once he turned the maid's back completely, Lelouch allowed himself a serious look hiding a strange restlessness as if a dangerous opponent was waiting for him who could leave him in check.

Once he reached the entrance to his tent, he looked a little hesitantly, but continued without pause and pushed aside the curtain to gain access inside. Once he entered, just as he expected, the first thing he found upon entering was the cause of his discomfort sitting on his bed looking him like she was waiting for him for a while.

"About time you came back. I was starting to think you were eating my pizza." He stated the mysterious green-haired, golden-eyed girl with some impatience as she glared at the other teenager with her arms crossed.

Lelouch just frowned slightly in distaste. If he had already had enough trouble with Godzilla that he was tearing their lives apart and completely hindering his future rebellion plans, this was surely another thing he didn't understand.

For a awhile, while he was researching in his tent about the Godzilla situation in Tokyo, he was suddenly interrupted when someone had apparently infiltrated the camp and entered his tent this strange girl stating that she had come to make him a contract. As soon as he saw her, Lelouch had recognized her as the girl he and Rivalz had met when they were in Tokyo before Godzilla unleashed its radioactive storm.

The 3 had taken refuge in the underground train station just in time before this happened. They didn't exchange many words from the time they spent their stay there until they were rescued by the army, and they hadn't seen each other since then, until now.

As soon as she appeared, Lelouch demanded to know who she was and why she was here, only for her to reply that she was hungry and needed to eat a pizza now. Of course, Lelouch was not kidding, but the intruder kept insisting if he didn't want her to reveal his true identity as the seventeenth heir to the throne of Britannia, which took him by surprise. This served to dissuade the former prince and he did as she asked in exchange for an explanation, which she readily accepted.

And that was how he ended up in this situation, standing there with a frown as he watched the intruder sitting on his bed happily devouring a slice of the pizza, he had brought her.

"Mmm, yummy." The intruder laughed happily as she continued to chew a piece of the slice in her mouth. "I haven't eaten in a long time."

Lelouch grunted in irritation seeing how she delighted in eating her food so casually without considering it was on his property. She was supposed to explain to him who she was and what she was doing here, And yet here she was, eating so absentmindedly completely ignoring him as if he weren't here or even existed.

"Delicious."

Lelouch let out another low growl this time and decided he had had enough of this shit.

"Ahem, ahem."

This time the girl tilted her head (while chewing her pizza) in the direction of the dark-haired teenager and looked at him carefully.

"What…?"

Seeing that she finally seemed to want to pay attention to him, Lelouch jumped at the chance.

"If you're done, I'd like you to answer my questions. Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here?"

The intruder looked at him for a moment before realizing that she had forgotten that.

"Oh right…" She set the slice she was holding onto the box and turned to the other teen with a smile. "Call me C.C, nice to meet you."

"¿C.C?" Lelouch asked confused.

"Yeah, let's just say it's kind of a code name, and I'd rather you address it that way from today on, understand?"

Lelouch didn't have time to discuss why and decided to play along.

"Well, C.C, back to my question-

"Yeah, yeah, I already heard you." C.C interrupted before Lelouch completed the sentence. She looked at her seriously. "The reason I came here is because I want to make a contract with you."

The former prince's eyes flickered a bit upon hearing that. "A contract you say?"

"Yes. By the way, won't you ask why I know your true identity as a prince of Britannia?" She asked with a smile.

The former prince narrowed his eyes fiercely seeing the intruder as a dangerous enemy as he remembered that she had revealed to him earlier that she knew about his true identity as the prince exiled to Japan 6 years ago and that he presumably died during the war. Only the Ashfords who adopted his and his sister were the only ones who knew their identities due to their relationship with his late mother and they made sure to keep this a secret. No one except Milly and her grandfather knew about the true identities of the Lanperouges brothers, not even their friends. To the world, the disowned and exiled brothers were officially declared dead during the invasion 6 years ago, and he wanted it that way.

If the Imperial Family found out that 2 of their former members were still alive, they would surely do anything to force them back and turn them into diplomatic tools for their use, and that was the last thing Lelouch himself wanted. Now that he had this stranger who also knew about his true identity, there was only one thought in the boy's head as to who the intruder's identity might be.

"Are you a spy sent by the emperor?" Lelouch asked in a threatening manner with a certain level of hostility.

Instead, the girl was not intimidated at all and just gave him a strange friendly look.

"No. I do not work for your father the emperor." CC replied with no problem. "In fact, I'm not siding with anyone except my contractor."

"Contractor?"

"Yes, you."

However, Lelouch didn't let his guard down as he looked directly at the girl as if he expected any kind of aggression or something.

"I'm not mood for jokes, who sent you?" Lelouch snapped as he took a few steps towards her.

"I already told you that no one sends me." C.C replied now in an annoyed tone, instantly stopping Lelouch. "I was just looking for you so we can make a contract."

"And what contract is that?" He asked her with uncertain, although with some curiosity as well.

CC just gave a mysterious smile. "I know who you are perfectly. You who had lost a loved one long ago and the world threw you and your sister into this godforsaken land, only for that same world to invade and subjugate all its inhabitants…" She spoke almost poetically. "It was thus that you decided to take revenge on the country of your birth and those who took your mother from you and blinded and crippled your sister, keeping in mind that your main enemy is none other than the emperor of Britannia, and that is why you spent 6 years planning your future rebellion, isn't it?"

Despite his attempts not to look surprised, he couldn't help but that the revelation hit him squarely. In fact, his mind seemed to be in chaos trying to analyze the situation. Everything she had said so far was true. He had a great grudge against the Imperial Family, the imperialist policies of his native country and especially his own father for having allowed his mother to be killed so suddenly and be so indifferent to Nunnally's state.

In response to what the empire had done to Japan, Lelouch swore his oath of revenge that he would one day destroy Britannia, and the only person who had heard him say his proclamation was his childhood friend Suzaku Kururugi whom he hadn't seen anywhere this 6 years since he was adopted by the Ashfords. He didn't think anyone else was listening to him back then.

Until now...

"You were spying on me?" He asked in a slightly surprised tone.

"Yes, but don't worry, your secret is safe with me." She replied with the same smile. "After all, we're going to be complicit in this."

"Accomplices? What are you talking about?" Lelouch asked still not understanding the point of this.

In that, CC put her feet on the ground and used her legs as leverage to stand up and took a few steps in front of Lelouch looking at him seriously.

"I want to help you start your rebellion ahead of time. The contract we are going to make is that I am going to lend you a great power that will help you in your fight against Britannia, only in exchange for you fulfilling my part of the bargain when you have finished yours, you understand?"

"What power is that?" Lelouch asked still skeptical about the intruder's intentions.

She just gives another mysterious smile before saying;

"You'll see that it will benefit you." She stated before raising an arm and holding out her hand to the other teen signaling for him to do the same. Lelouch was still uncertain of the girl's intentions, but he decided to do it anyway.

Raising his arm as well and reaching for CC's, both hands came into contact, and the last thing the former prince saw was that the girl's forehead suddenly began to flicker in an eerie crimson glow that took the form of a tattoo in the shape of a bird form with outstretched wings causing Lelouch to widen his eyes in shock.

The next thing he knew, he was no longer in his tent and his body began to sink into a strange metaphysical dimensional space.

"Do you want the power so you can change this world?" CC's voice echoed in the teenager's mind in a ghostly way.

"What?" Lelouch asked confusedly as his mind went blank. All his eyes could register was that his body was moving at full speed through some sort of blue dimensional tunnel with multiple green or red lines resembling veins or wires running through as well.

"If you had the power to face the world, could you live?" The voice asked again as Lelouch saw several blank images of the girl appear and disappear.

"This is going to be our contract..."

Suddenly the whole scene changes showing 2 large dark spherical bodies (one from above and one from below) trying to come into contact with each other while a strange whitish glow emerged from above.

"In exchange for this power, you must grant me a wish later. If you agree to the contract, you will live as a human, but also as a completely different one. A different providence, a different time, a different life..."

And again, he was drawn through the blue dimensional threshold.

"The power of Kings will isolate you. Before I finish, let me ask you if you are prepared for such a charge."

Lelouch's mind reflected on what the girl said. He thought about the things that were happening right now and the things that had happened in his past. Lelouch thought and was preparing himself as he was ready to fight and defeat Britannia and thought of the people he had met and lost in Japan.

Lelouch didn't know what the future would bring, he wasn't even sure if he would live or die in his fight against the country of his birth, but he was sure that whatever it was, he was going to need everything he had at his disposal and he thought that receiving a new power could help him in his own rebellion. He only hoped that he wasn't making a mistake by accepting the contract, but he also thought that whatever happened, he would find a way.

"Very well. I accept your contract!"

And so, the pact was signed.

Lelouch snapped back to reality as he realized he was still standing in his tent with the mysterious green haired girl in front of him and his hand still holding her. She just gave a mysterious smile of satisfaction.

As Lelouch tried to understand what all that strange hallucinogenic trip he had just witnessed was, he suddenly felt a strange sensation in his left eye. At first, he didn't know what it was exactly, but something told him it wasn't normal.

Then he saw CC nodding towards the mirror on the left side of the room. Instinctively heeding, Lelouch looked in the mirror and saw his reflection, but the teenager only noticed what he had in his left eye. His iris was no longer the usual purple color, and instead was now crimson and in the middle, just below the pupil was a strange image of pinkish light in the shape of the silhouette of a bird with the wings extended upwards surrounding the pupil on both sides.

Geass…

"Have you seen Nina anywhere?" Shirley asked Rivalz noticing the absence of the intellectual green-haired girl. She hadn't heard from her for 2 days.

The blue haired boy shook his head a little.

"No, I think she's still locked in her tent." Rivalz replied a little disappointed. "She lately she's been behaving strangely ever since we got here. She doesn't come out of her tent even to eat something."

Both Shirley and Milly nodded at that and couldn't help but worry more about the poor girl.

They understood how she felt. The arrival of this super-radioactive monster had affected many people and caused irreparable damage. The Ashford Academy that her grandfather had built with all the money he had after Marianne's death was now surely nothing more than a jumbled mountain of rubble and radioactive piles that would be unrecognizable even to those who dwelled within it. It was a real tragedy for them. Even if her grandfather saved what was left of his fortune, it was going to be very difficult for him to start over with all the chaos following the tragedy in Tokyo.

Even if the Purist-backed military kept order and the government running, I couldn't tell how long this would last once that super-radioactive monster strikes again. Perhaps in the end they will have no choice but to abandon Area 11 and its natives to their fate and return to the Homeland, which would be the last thing Lelouch wanted.

"Well, how about we go see her?" Rivalz suggested. "Perhaps we can have a quiet talk with her."

"I don't think it's the best." Milly answered sounding serious. "At this point it would be best to leave her alone for a while longer before we can talk to her."

Shirley looked at the blonde with some surprise. "Are you sure, president?"

Milly didn't reply as she put on the same expression that somehow reminded her a bit of Lelouch. When it became clear that she wouldn't respond, Rivalz and Shirley decided not to press her and leave the subject for another time.

Everyone was having a bad day.

The next day

Today was an ordinary day in the refugee camps and fortunately there was no incident between the residents themselves either due to the excessive number of people or the insufficient food for all, although that could end as time progressed. There was also no racial incident between the 2 refugee ethnicities either Britannians and Elevens, and the 2 kept a great silence without coming into contact with each other like 2 worlds apart, although that could also change depending on how things go today go ahead.

At the moment peace reigned and the military always made sure that a conflict did not break out in this protected area. That was why some people were given permission to leave their camps to take a little walk around the perimeters of the camp, but not too far away. Lelouch was one of those passers-by who took to walking alone to breathe the fresh air, but the latter had a rather different goal.

Currently, the exiled prince looked at his image reflected in the water of a puddle calmly, but not because now he lacked a mirror to see himself and needed the reflection of the water as a replacement. His only attention was focused on his left eye to see what was now occupied by an unnatural image that would be physical proof to anyone who saw it that this boy had ceased to be entirely human due to the contract he made with that witch last night.

Flashback

"Geass?"

"Yes."

Lelouch could only stare in bewilderment at his reflected image in the mirror of his tent, but his attention had only been focused on the seemingly 'unnatural' image he had in his left eye in the form of a body silhouette of a colored light bird crimson. His iris had also changed color erasing the attractive purple and replacing it with a dark red which gave him an intimidating appearance.

"The Geass I have granted you represents the Power of Kings, that is, the power of absolute obedience that allows its victims to obey their wishes according to the user's whims like a powerful hypnosis."

"Hypnosis?" Lelouch repeated turning to the girl, apparently 'not' human to confirm if all this was real.

"Yes, it will be very useful to you."

For a long time, the young heir to the throne of Britannia had received at some point in his childhood, long before his banishment to Japan, the best education that could be offered thanks to the influence of his mother in hiring a good tutor had instructed him in many things of life such as what was real and what was not. Among the things that were considered fictitious and fantastic was, of course, magic and everything related to the sorceress being considered simply a product of human imagination and superstition since ancient times, but now...

He couldn't explain what exactly was this strange hallucinogenic trip that he had seen before and this phenomenon in his left eye and his mind just wanted to advise her that this is a hoax and that this is not real as she wanted him to believe, but something told him it wasn't, and as exaggerated as it seemed to his logic, it could be very useful to him.

Lelouch stopped paying attention to the reflection and turned his look at the supposed non-human girl who was looking at him with contemplation, waiting for any question that would come out of the young ex-prince's mouth. Which didn't take long.

"For what reason do you give me this?" He asked trying to sound unfazed by the situation, but he couldn't help letting a small edge of uncertainty slip into his tone.

She looked at him for a moment before replying smoothly.

"Because it's what you wanted, isn't it? The power you need to make your deepest wish come true, which is, of course, to destroy Britannia."

Destroy Britannia. A phrase that was always familiar in the former prince's mind from 6 years ago as an oath of revenge when Britannia had occupied all of Japan and renamed it Area 11 and had always made it a target in mind over the years. It was a personal revenge started even before the Second Pacific War after the death of his beloved mother and the trauma suffered by his poor little sister in which she was left blind and crippled and what further fueled the flames was the closure of the investigation by his father to find those responsible for the attack, his lack of concern for Nunnally seeing her as worthless and useless for being 'weak.'

That had been the height of what the young prince had to endure between conspiracies and palace intrigues by some members of the Imperial Court who despised his mother for being a commoner, being the favorite of the emperor, and of course, having designated his eldest son as successor to the throne. It was for that very reason that she was assassinated at close range in the palace hall by a group of terrorists.

Over the course of these 6 years, Lelouch had been secretly earning funds, including gambling, to get the necessary resources to start his rebellion.

However, that would not be as easy as he would have liked since even with his unparalleled intellect and the few resources he had obtained, they are not enough to deal with a huge empire that covers a third of the world.

And yet, here appears a mysterious (apparently non-human) girl who grants him a mysterious power that he had never heard of, although it seemed to be taken from a fantasy novel or something.

"Though of course, after you finish your part, you'll have to fulfill mine." CC added next causing Lelouch to raise an eyebrow.

"And what is your part?"

However, instead of answering, the girl looked away from him and focused on the pizza box to take another slice giving a gesture of having finished this conversation.

"I'm sorry, but I can't talk to you about this yet." She responded smoothly while chewing on her pizza. Lelouch's frown deepened further at this elusive reply.

"Instead of asking more questions, why don't you try your Geass on a few people to see how it works and see if it will be useful to you?"

Lelouch continued to look suspiciously at the 'intruder' not knowing he should listen to her or warn someone of her presence so she wouldn't cause unnecessary trouble here considering that she knew of his former identity as an exiled prince and that would be a big problem if this were exposed to light and all of Britannia discover that the exiled princes who were supposed to have died 6 years ago during the invasion of Japan are actually alive under the protection of the Ashfords.

He didn't know how she could have discovered his identity and another thing that surprised him was the fact that she also knew about his great hatred of the Empire of Britannia and that he intended to start a revolution against him. There were many questions that were impregnated in his head about this girl, her intentions and above all trusting her, but he knew that somehow, she would not answer any of those questions leaving him alone in the dark. However, he was also curious about this strange power that he still thought was taken from a fantasy tale, but that, according to her, it could advance his plans to rebel against Britannia and find answers to what he was looking for. It might be worth the try and the effort, but still, that didn't mean he could trust her.

End of flashback

Even now he was still wary of the authenticity of this strange power called Geass. It is true that with the naked eye, even reflecting in the water, he had an unnatural appearance and presence, but he could not see it with his own eyes, much less in the left one where the image of said power was located. He still had good sight in his left eye and despite the fact that his eyelid was instilled by a kind of sigil of light in the shape of a bird's silhouette, he could see completely normally as in his other eye which, unlike the left one, there was nothing strange about it, so it kept its natural purple color. This, of course, made him somewhat doubt the authenticity of this power.

However, despite this, the fact that she now possesses a power that allows her to manipulate people's wills like a mind controller seemed a bit tempting to let it go since, according to the words of that mysterious self-dominated girl, CC could use it as a weapon for what he wants even to make his greatest wish come true to destroy Britannia. Of course, apart from the Geass, he was also a bit suspicious about this CC since he still didn't know much about her and where she had come from in the first place. After granting her this power, it became clear that she wasn't quite human since she herself possessed supernatural abilities like a sorcerer or something like that which would break one of the fundamental laws he believed of the fantasy world, but this was not what really worried him.

That girl somehow knew many things about him that no human could, including his former identity as a prince of Britannia and the fact that he hated his tyrannical country and wished for its complete destruction. Until now he did not know how and for how long she could know, but fortunately she confirmed that she had not told anyone, and she thought to keep that promise. However, that didn't mean that it changed his attitude towards her as someone 'very suspicious' since he didn't know who she was really affiliated with even if she said she wasn't with the emperor, it didn't mean letting his guard down at all times.

Another thing that worried him was that pact. While it seems that the girl had granted him power to accelerate his plans and fulfill his wishes to destroy Britannia, but this did not come without a price, since, in exchange for achieving his main objective, he would later have to grant her wish as a reward, which he knew absolutely nothing about. All the more reason to distrust her since she nonchalantly refused to tell him anything about herself and why she was helping him in his future revolution.

'Be that as it may, if what she said is true, I have to take advantage of it now…'

Yes. Even with his doubts and skepticism about this power, Lelouch couldn't help but be very curious as to whether this strange power is what she says could be a key element in her future rebellion against the Empire of Britannia. He had to know if this was of great use to his cause and go where a man could not go in history, although, on the other hand, he did not know if this was also the solution against that unforeseen element that is currently immobile in the ruins of the Tokyo Settlement and was the architect of Area 11's chaos. He'll have to ask C.C later. but first...

Turning away from looking at his reflection in the pond, the former prince fixed his gaze ahead to see a lone soldier not far away presumably standing guard. Lelouch looked at him like a predator preying on him and suddenly had a little flashback with CC

"To use your Geass, you must make eye contact with your victim, staring at them before giving them the command to come out of your mouth. That way the person will be at your mercy."

Lelouch remembered the instruction well and decided to take the risk to make this soldier his first test pawn. But first, he made the Geass disappear from him with a single blink (CC did well to explain how to turn his power on and off at his will) making his left eye return to normal.

"Hey, excuse me."

The soldier heard someone call his name and turned his head to the side to see one of the students residing in the refugee camp approaching for some apparent reason. Said teenager stood a few meters in front of the guard.

"Do you want something, boy?" The soldier asked curiously waiting for what the young man wanted to talk about.

"Uh, yeah, I'd like you to do something for me." The student replied with some hesitation before his left eye turned crimson red and a sigil in the shape of a bird's silhouette appeared in the middle.

"Obey my orders."

And upon this request, the bird emblem began to move flapping its wings in flight, apparently 'detaching' itself from his eye and entered one of the guard's eyes. The phenomenon traveled through the optic nerve at great speed until it reached the interior of the brain and modified his mind.

On the outside, the soldier look with a blank expression emotionless as if he was in a trance and also sported 2 glowing rings around his irises. Lelouch looked at this carefully seeing that his power was taking effect on his victim.

"Yes sir. What can I do for you?" The soldier asked in an unusual tone that Lelouch could identify as 'hypnotized'.

The teen watched the results expectantly and prepared to try the next thing.

"Your name and rank."

The 'hypnotized' soldier gave his military salute before replying. "Sir, I'm Corporal Henry H. Mendelsohn, of the 102 Coswall Infantry Unit integrated here in the custody of the camp."

Lelouch nodded a little when he saw how the soldier responded to what he said, but that wasn't enough to convince him if the hypnosis was strong enough to force him to do anything he wouldn't do in his right mind. As such, he decided to try something else.

"Give me your weapon."

Without batting an eye or asking any questions, the mesmerized soldier moved his hand to the holster on his belt and pulled out his M11 pistol, then handed it to the teen without issues. Lelouch looked carefully at the weapon in his hands and really couldn't believe that he had handed it to him without any hint of hesitation as if he were someone very important whose authority shouldn't be questioned as if he were the emperor himself. Lelouch looked up at the soldier and saw that he still had the same expression as before looking attentively at his 'master' as if he was waiting for the next order and something told the teenager that he would be willing to carry it out no matter what.

In this span, Lelouch thought what he should do next. He couldn't help but feel elated and satisfied inside. Really this power that allows him to bend the will of people with any order he gave him really worked and was at his disposal to do whatever he wanted with it. Of course, Lelouch wasn't really that kind of person that he harnessed a power from which he could manipulate the minds of others to do mischief, mischief, or steal. He would only use it in case of need or if something important came up. Or as in this case… accelerate his rebellion plans and take on the world.

Yes.

It was finally time to start what he had raised 6 years ago, but before.

"Now I want you to go to another post and when you regain consciousness, forget the whole encounter with me and that you gave me your weapon, is that clear?"

The soldier obediently nodded as he said "Yes, sir." before turning on her heel and walking off the way he had come earlier. When his figure disappeared from sight leaving Lelouch alone, the former prince couldn't help but smile almost devilishly to himself as he realized that he really had the power to change things in his favor.

Now he could finally feel that his revolution begins now.

G-1 Base land-cruiser - Somewhere in Area 11

Even sitting comfortably on his personal throne at the back of the G-1 command room heading off to the next battle, he didn't really feel comfortable at least in essence.

Not that Jeremiah Gottwald was uncomfortable with the command seat reserved for commanders in command of a personal army like the one he was leading at this moment to put down one of the rebellions in some of the ghettos in the area, he was just impatient to start the operation and lead the charge himself. Although, on the other hand, he was also worried about the sorry situation of Area 11.

The radioactive storm from that monster from hell had not only leveled the foundations of the Tokyo Settlement and claimed many lives including that of the late Clovis, it had also severely hit the domain and control of Area 11. Panic and anarchy had starting to wreak havoc and that along with the pro-Elevens uprisings would lead Area 11 to its inevitable collapse. To prevent this, various surviving officials and military leaders, including himself, had gone to great lengths to set up a provisional government and do their best to safeguard the stability of the Area and prevent chaos from breaking out, but in the midst of the debate, the would-be Viceroy began to argue and compete with each other for the position of Viceroy without getting anywhere.

That could have happened in the worst case if Prince Schneizel had not managed to contact them and serve as an intermediary for the discussions. Further discussions took place until finally the second prince decreed that the new Viceroy to lead the provisional government would be none other than Margrave Jeremiah.

From the start, Jeremiah was surprised by this appointment. It wasn't that he didn't like the title, just despite his aristocratic position, he was neither a politician nor an administrator. All his life he had served in a military career, and he was a strong believer in chivalric doctrine. He was an exceptional cavalry commander and his passion lay in knighthood ideals as he had been raised on the old chivalric romances that formed the backbone of Britannia's culture. He believed in honor, carrying out one's duty proudly and righteously. In other words, he was a man fiercely loyal to anyone who would be deemed worthy.

He wondered if it was for that very reason that Prince Schneizel had chosen him to take temporary control of Area 11 until things got resolving up. If that was so, he made sure that he would fulfill his duty to the end.

His first task as provisional Viceroy was, of course, to try to maintain stability within Area 11 by establishing numerous refugee camps throughout the territory and, with the support of the Homeland, a lot of humanitarian aid was sent to alleviate the hunger and suffering of the people who had lost their homes. The plan had worked quite well, giving shelter to some 130,000 people and their number continued to increase, guaranteeing their survival, at least temporarily since things were not always peaceful due to the distribution of food in each sector and some thugs who took advantage of the misfortunes of others. But these factors are nothing compared to the next thing he had to deal with on his job.

Namely, many communities of Elevens had taken advantage of the instability in the Britannian rule to provoke numerous uprisings in their respective ghettos causing panic to the nearby Britannian population and obstructing the shipment of humanitarian aid to the camps, thus intensifying the chaos by everywhere. In response to this, Jeremiah had focused his forces, which fortunately hadn't suffered as much damage in the radioactive storm and was therefore fully available to quell any unrest (although it's a shame the same couldn't be said for Kyūshū, but Schneizel will take care of that) to carry out a pacification campaign or 'purges' as others want to call it to bring order.

So far, he had put down 4 pro-Elevens uprisings in just 2 days in a row and the campaign was still going on. He just needed to deal one more blow to one of the most persistent rebels after the Japan Liberation Front. Namely, the Blood of the Samurai.

According to intelligence service reports, the Blood of the Samurai had barricaded themselves in a hollowed-out mountain that had been their secret lair and right now had headed there together with a battalion consisting of 10 tanks and 2 squads consisting of 10 Knightmares respectively, led by himself. Despite his doubts shared by the rest of his officers that he could wipe out this group in less than a few days or more, threatening to turn this campaign into a battle of attrition, he refused to back down and pressed forward to besiege the enemy lair and put an end to it once and for all.

This was necessary since the rebel and independentist morale of the Elevens had gotten out of control giving them an uprising impulse throughout almost all of Area 11. Fortunately, the JLF were not among them, although the same could not be said of the Blood of the Samurai. For this reason, the Blood of the Samurai had to disappear immediately to remove the rebels' morale and reestablish control of Area 11.

"Lord Gottwald, we will be at the enemy's base in less than 8 minutes." Reported a military analyst who stood in front of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah, on his throne, nodded in satisfaction upon hearing that his long-awaited battle would soon begin.

"Is there any movement from the enemy?" He asked looking carefully at the analyst.

"Apparently they have already noticed our arrival and are organizing their forces to mount a good resistance."

Jeremiah rested his head on his gloved fist as he gathered the information. Certainly, the enemy had already anticipated their arrival as would be expected from one of the remnants of the extinct Japanese self-defense army which, compared to the JLF, had fewer resources and despite having a good number of troops, they did not have an effective commander to lead them effectively.

In other words, they are nothing but rabble.

And once entrenched like rats in their territory, it will only be a matter of time before they turn that makeshift base into their grave.

With that in mind, the Margrave rose from his throne, standing up drawing the attention of everyone in the command room who all turned to look at their new commander who seemed about to declare the following.

"Listen to me all well. In 2 minutes, we will start the Operation Fafnir to annihilate that rabble of the Blood of the Samurai." Jeremiah began. "As planned, we'll start by bomb them head-on with our tanks and once they're distracted, we'll surround their base with our Knightmares to unleash a larger wave of our fire in all directions without giving those poor bastards any respite and it'll just be a matter of time to exterminate them at once."

Everyone in the command room listened carefully to their new commander's strategy and saw it as a fairly viable plan to wipe out the rebels despite the misgivings of some, but they didn't show it to cause trouble. Once this assimilated, Jeremiah continued.

"I also remind them that we must execute this strategy well and not give them time to initiate a counterattack." He then he raised the volume of his voice a little. "They may not be the Liberation Front, but this group has also caused too much trouble, and their disappearance will not only set an example for the rest of those yellow monkeys to think twice before rising up, but we will also show them that we still the owners of Area 11, and we will not leave here no matter the circumstances!"

Most of the bridge could not help but be so moved and motivated by their commander's speech making them dispel their doubts about it. He was right that the Blood of the Samurai was one of the few more warlike resistance groups in Area 11 and until now they still hadn't been treated like the rest of the ghetto rabble. After Godzilla's attack, things had escalated further when this group threatened to lay siege to a city and cause a wave of terror that would later be joined by more Elevens of their ilk.

And as such, they had a duty to eliminate that group once and for all.

Once the speech assimilated, everyone present offered a "Yes, my lord!" in unison having regained morale. Jeremiah just stared at them steadily and determinedly before they all returned to their respective posts and duties to enact the operation that is to take place shortly.

Jeremiah himself also prepared to go to the hangar with his squad to board his Knightmare and personally lead the attack.

Only one thought crossed the Thoroughbred's head as he headed first to the locker room to change into his pilot's uniform and that was that for the next few hours, they would be crucial in stopping the Elevens' insurrection and no matter what, they couldn't have the luxury to fail this time.

He will not fail as he did 6 years ago during the Villa Aries Attack.

Still, even if they managed to quell all the uprisings in all of Area 11, that wouldn't solve the problem with the main cause of all this chaos still lying on the ruins of the Tokyo Settlement. It was likely that it would reactivate its destructive activity again and nothing could stop it. Just the mere fact of seeing him prowling anywhere and facing him again made his insides freeze and he didn't know what else to do.

He only hoped that Prince Schneizel would come up with a plan to finish it off once and for all.

Tachikawa District - Duchy of Kanto - Area 11 (Japan) - Holy Britannian Empire

"At this time, the violent activity of the Saitama Ghetto has ended with the intervention of the forces commanded by our temporary Viceroy Jeremiah Gottwald, and we have been assured that the terrorist group calling themselves the Yamato Alliance has been completely annihilated as well as its base in the ghetto, although some of its surviving members are believed to be scattered. In any case, the activity in the ghetto has been dealt with and everything has gone completely silent."

Even if C.C didn't show it easily, she was listening to the radio station inside Lelouch's tent with a solemn expression from the events that were happening outside. If she had ever flinched or cared about the hotbed of violence like a battlefield or a massacre like the ones the Britannians were carrying out in their purges against the Numbers, she had long ago grown accustomed to such a sight as natural that happens every day. Though of course, that didn't mean it was pretty to look at since she would be like a normal person standing in the middle of a dump full of smelly garbage, and as such she never liked violence despite her countless experience in that countryside.

In any case, she remained nonchalant the whole time and patiently waited for the return of her so-called 'accomplice' or contractor, whatever you want to call it. Not long ago she had already made the contract granting him the Power of Absolute Obedience, although it seemed that the prince remained skeptical of the authenticity of this power. In order to prove him wrong, she encouraged him to go out and find people he could use as guinea pigs, and he did. An hour had passed since he left, and he still hadn't come back for some strange reason. Maybe he hasn't found any subjects for his experiments or something? Or perhaps some mishap has occurred? Either way, she kept waiting until he came back.

She didn't have to wait that long anymore when a hand passed through the cloth curtain at the entrance to the tent ripping it to one side, and Lelouch stepped inside. C.C saw his arrival.

"I see you're finally back." Said the green-haired girl staring at the former prince. "What has taken you so long? Did you have a problem?"

"No. I was just looking for more people as an experiment to test this power." Lelouch answered while he moved a hand to his left eye, hiding it briefly, and that, as soon as he removed it, the image of the Geass appeared.

C.C stared in contemplation seeing that now her contractor was beginning to adjust well to the use of his power.

"Although you didn't warn me that the effect only worked once on each person." Lelouch added with a little hint of annoyance in his voice as he nullified his power with a single blink.

C.C only showed an expression of mock surprise. "Oh my, I already knew I had forgotten something important."

Lelouch just frowned in annoyance wondering if this witch really forgot or if she just didn't mean to do it on purpose to put him in a compromising situation but decided to let it slide for now.

"Well, I managed to make them not suspect me." He spoke as he walked further in until he sat in a chair in front of his computer and stared at his guest.

"Anyway, I'd like you to tell me everything you know about this Geass and its limitations so I can be more careful in the future."

The witch nodded smoothly and spent most of her time telling him every detail about the Geass, how to use it and what its limitations are. Lelouch absorbed every word she spat out and immediately memorized them in his mind so he wouldn't forget them.

"So, to use my Geass, I have to have direct eye contact with the target just like you said before." Lelouch summed up everything he had learned. "Transparent objects like eyeglasses present no problem. Effective range is approximately 270 meters. It also appears that the victim has no memory of events before, during, or after the power is used, right?"

"Yeah. I guess that's enough for you, right?"

"For now, yes." Lelouch replied. "I guess, thanks to this power, I'll be able to speed up the same plans sooner than expected." Then he drew a small smile. "I will finally be able to destroy Britannia once and for all."

C.C just stared at him for a bit seeing how quickly he wanted to get to his sworn goal of destroying the mighty Empire of Britannia for everything he had done to it in the past and she couldn't be wrong about it, but that would be easier said than done as he would have to deal with one of the largest imperial unions on Earth.

"As committed as you are to your cause, don't you think it's very unwise of you to take on a mighty empire that controls a third of the world even with your Geass?"

Lelouch erased his smile adopting a serious expression before speaking again. "Don't think I don't know. For that, I need all the help I can get other than Geass to be able to take on the Holy Britannian Empire directly and I know where I can get it."

"I guess. But don't forget that you'll have to deal with something far more dangerous in the form of a god incarnate first." C.C said as he gently lay down on the sheet.

Lelouch's expression darkened a bit more at that simple mention of 'god incarnate' knowing very well what she meant. With all that he was learning about this new power and hoping to start his rebellion as soon as possible, he had forgotten about a certain element that he should have taken into account since it not only turned Area 11 upside down turning it almost into a seething with chaos and keeping the world worried, but it could also be a huge stumbling block that threatened to implement his plan if not dealt with immediately.

This could not have happened if Godzilla had never returned to Tokyo and unleashed all that hell that took Clovis ahead. As the situation was, it would be very easy to take advantage of it immediately and start his rebellion, but Lelouch knew that would not be prudent at all and even considering that destructive god that caused this great setback also represented a serious threat to his plans.

With that, Lelouch gets up from his seat and walks towards the exit of his shop to check out the panorama that stretched out ahead as far as the eye could see. Beyond the refugee zone were the many buildings that made up the Tachikawa district that remains intact due to not being hit by the radioactive storm, but he was not paying attention to said buildings, but to what was on the other side being the ruins of central Tokyo with Godzilla there.

"As you say, that thing represents not only a serious threat to humanity, but also a serious obstacle to my plans." He stated with gravity in his voice while his gaze was still fixed between the buildings that served as an obstruction in the view of the place where he had last seen the radioactive super levianthan. "If I don't do something about it, I might not be able to start my rebellion." He then turned his head back to look at CC

"I guess the Geass doesn't work on animals, right?"

"Your Geass only works on highly conscious beings like humans." CC answered as a simple fact. "Besides, even if it works on Godzilla, how is it going to kill himself? All I can think of is that it can generate a lot of radioactivity inside it. I may not be an expert, but if it accumulates too much energy inside it, he might end up exploding and taking everything around it, and possibly the ozone layer, and farewell to humanity."

Lelouch frowned in disappointment upon hearing that, but such a thing was to be expected. Then he just has to find a way to kill it.

"Even without your Geass, do you really think you can destroy that monster? You saw what it is capable of and even the army couldn't even harm it."

"Of course, it did. Apparently, the fighter-bombers managed to damage it severely." Lelouch argued turning around to look directly at CC

"And an instant later it unleashed that radioactive storm turning everything around it into a veritable inferno of flames." The girl countered naturally as a fact. From then on, Lelouch no longer had the strength to continue arguing, but still, he didn't give up.

"It still doesn't leave the fact that we're dealing with a living thing, and therefore it can be killed." He said with conviction as he turned his attention to the window. "The only thing I need is to know how without it causing more damage."

"That will be impossible for you. You will need to know more about it and you will also need the help of an army to be able to neutralize it."

Lelouch didn't say anything as he put his options in mind. Chronologically before C.C's intrusion and the gift she gave him in the form of a mysterious power called Geass, the former prince had been researching on his laptop everything about the current state of Godzilla in Tokyo and although it was not much at the moment, it seems that the monster is in a dormancy state, probably because it spending up all it's energy it had to use to unleash its radioactive storm and therefore it would have to hibernate indefinitely to recharge. That could give him a small advantage, but he will study it in the long term.

However, as C.C argued, he will need more than just knowledge to be able to definitively deal with this now immobile destructive god and that would be the necessary resources to do so, and unfortunately, he lacked it now. As such, he would have no choice but to continue to search the internet just like he did before, every move of the research team that is currently monitoring the dormant Godzilla and discover something new.

And if possible, he could use his Geass on some of them to learn even more and find a pattern with which to take advantage in his confrontation with the destructive god.

That's all for today. This chapter has been really long than the previous ones.

In the next chapter we won't see Godzilla again for a while, but right now Lelouch is trying a plan to deal with him now that he finally has his Geass a year before canon, but he still can't start his future Black Rebellion until Godzilla's threat is over treated.

Ja ne!