Welp, only three people actually voted in the last chapter and two people were in favor of Fall Into Dusk whereas only one was in favor of The New Revolution; therefore, I will be posting the first chapter of Fall Into Dusk after I post this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Anyway, thank you to Shadow-Shinobi666, Scrapper123, DYnoJackal19, OBSERVER01, agarfinkel, Adamantium-Soldier74, Doommajor, Blacksword Zero, DarthMaine, B-Kira, anand891996, and Scarease for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are great!

Well, here is the last chapter of this arc, the last chapter before the dreaded chapter 30, and cliffhanger ending! Fair warning.

Bakura: shouldn't you have said that before you said there was a cliffhanger?

Maybe. Eh, it's not that bad of a cliffhanger...well...sort of anyway. Oh and one more thing, Ashford Academy is going to be a year-round school so they, technically speaking, do go to school in July (since year-round schools typically don't have as long summer vacations are regular schools do) but they have all of August off.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

. . .

July 25, 2016

Hidden Base, Island of Olkhon

Adeline stepped out of the carrier and immediately saw her furious brother standing there. She cringed, prepared for the lecture she was about to receive as Unity stalked toward her and Nightfall, who had stepped out of the carrier behind her. But she was surprised when Unity bypassed her and went straight for Nightfall.

"What. The. Hell, Nightfall?" he hissed in fury.

Nightfall raised an eyebrow. "I thought we already cleared the air 'bout your kid sister," he said.

"That's not what I'm upset about," Unity said flatly, folding his arms across his chest. "Reyes and Michal told me about you going against my orders regarding the prince."

"Tch, that fucker is just trying to get me in trouble," Nightfall huffed.

Adeline blinked. "But you told them point blank that you called dibs on killing the prince," she said in confusion.

Nightfall whirled around to give her a venomous glare. She gulped and bolted to hide behind her big brother; Unity placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as he glared at Nightfall.
"What part of 'I want the prince
alive' did you not understand?" he snapped.

"The part that requires me keeping the enemy alive," Nightfall spat back, fury on his face. "I may enjoy killing, and I can't lie and say I didn't enjoy trying to kill that little fucker, but I was doing a good thing for the Liberators. Our defeat"—his lip twisted in irritation at that—"at his hands is proof that he is much too dangerous to be left alive!"

"And I've already told you that having someone like Prince Lelouch on our side would only help our cause," Unity hissed causing Adeline to blink. She hadn't know that.

"But you fail to realize that Prince Lelouch ain't never gonna turn against Britannia!" Nightfall shouted.

"How do you know that? You don't know anything about him.
"Neither do you!"

"I know more than you do. I didn't spend the last year in the Chinese Federation doing who knows what."

"Is that what this is all about? I have my own fucking reasons for being in the Chinese Federation and, no, I don't have to tell you a fucking thing."

"While I am curious to know why you spent the last year in the Chinese Federation, this is not about that. This is about you disobeying my orders regarding the prince!"

"I don't give a fuck about your orders. He was the enemy commander! I was doing my duty to the Liberators when I attempted to kill him."

"But you disobeyed my orders. I am the leader of the Liberators, Nightfall, not you. We agreed that if I let you kill whoever you wanted, so long as I don't tell you that a certain person is off limits, then you will obey my orders. And I told you that the prince was off limits!"

"We had lost the fucking battle, damn it. I could've dealt a serious blow to Britannia by killing the fucking prince who'd just defeated us!"

"And I didn't want that!"

"What is so fucking special about this prince that you would throw a fucking tantrum just because I tried to kill him? He didn't act at all like you thought he would when we fought by the way."

"Yes, he didn't react as I expected him to react but I wasn't that surprised because it showed more about his character, that he was determined to defeat us, so much so that he was willing to forget, for the moment, about what happened to his little sister. As for why he is special, he is an enigma and I want to know more about him."

"Tch, so that's it? You won't let me kill him because you want to learn more about him? That's fucking ridiculous!"

"It may be but the more information one knows about the enemy, the better they stand the chance at defeating them."
"You talk about defeating the enemy...I could've defeated the enemy myself without knowing a fucking thing about him! I had him in the palm of my hand. I could've killed him in an instant if it hadn't been for that white knightmare and now you're yelling at me because of that? What the fucking hell is wrong with you? Is this fucker so much more important than the Liberators' cause?"

"Of course not! I just think that we shouldn't automatically assume that the prince needs to die."

"Just because he's an enigma? That is a fucking stupid reason to keep an enemy commander alive!"

"I want to keep him alive because I want to know if it is true that Prince Lelouch truly hates Britannia!"

Adeline's eyes went wide while Nightfall fell silent, brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"What the fuck are you talking about? Why do you think the prince hates Britannia?" he demanded.

"Just little things that I've noticed with everything I've found out about him so far," Unity said. "It's all pointing to the same thing; that Prince Lelouch, at the very least, holds a strong resentment toward Britannia. And if he does then he might be more willing to support our cause and we would gain a powerful ally."

"Little things? Right." Nightfall scoffed. "You can't paint an accurate picture of the little fucking prince just by gathering little tidbits of information and you most certainly can't determine whether he'll support our cause or not just because of the little tidbits of information that you've found. All you're doing is foolishly attempting to gain an ally and ignoring the danger that he poses while he is not on our side."

"If he is on our side..." Unity began.

"That's just it! We don't know that the fucking prince will ever join us. We don't know that he won't but I, for one, am not going to let a dangerous enemy run around just 'cause you think the fucker can be a powerful ally someday."

Unity scowled. "You are to leave Prince Lelouch alone, Nightfall. That is an order," he said firmly.

"Fuck your orders! I will kill that little fucking prince and there's not a damn thing you can say to stop me!"

. . .

29

The Declaration of Nightfall

November 25, 2016

Airport, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11

Stretching her arms above her head, Adeline walked toward the baggage claim of the airport, one hand holding her passport and her ID as she spotted the number of Britannians that were milling around. Reyes was supposed to meet her there but Adeline figured she would have to get through customs first.

As she went through the long line at customs, her thoughts drifted. They were mostly on the Liberators and what was happening within her organization. After she had overheard Nightfall and Unity's argument three days after the Battle of Sapporo, things had started getting worse within the Liberators.

If Adeline was being honest with herself, she would say that the Liberators had, over the course of the past four months, split in half. The leaders of half of the Liberators cells worldwide supported Nightfall's view on what to do with Prince Lelouch while the other half supported Unity's. And there was a lot of bickering between the two allies over what to do with the Demon Prince.

So far, Nightfall hadn't made any move to fulfill the promise he'd made to Unity after that argument, when he declared that he was going to kill the Demon Prince. Right now, he seemed to be occupying his time with destroying Britannians in the other areas and had been doing that for the past four months.

On the front, they remained united, though. Adeline knew that was only done because if the world found out that the Liberators were fighting amongst themselves then they might use that to their advantage. And that was not something either Unity or Nightfall wanted; that was one thing that they both agreed upon. So they remained united in public even as they continued to bicker and fight amongst themselves in private.

It was because of this that Adeline found herself in Tokyo. After getting scolded for sneaking onto the carrier and participating in the Battle of Sapporo, Adeline thought that her big brother would never let her leave her room, let alone help out with the Liberators. But, a week ago, when they'd watched the Knighting Ceremony of Suzaku Kururugi that had been broadcast worldwide, Unity decided that he had a job for her.

She was to infiltrate Ashford Academy and try to find as much information as she possibly could on the Demon Prince, his sister, and his new Knight of Honor. She knew that she'd be able to spy on Nunnally easily enough; everyone knew that the princess attended Ashford after that failed assassination attempt.

That was another thing that Unity wanted her to do. Try to find who tried to assassinate the princess and, if possible, deliver that news to the prince himself. Adeline had been confused by that but Unity assured her that it was all part of his plan and so she agreed.

She'd been tutored for most of her life after the incident that resulted in the scar on her shoulder so, at the very least, she wouldn't be behind. She had turned fifteen though so she'd be in the high school division but she was sure she'd still be able to gather information. Still, she hadn't gone to an actual school since she was a kid so she wasn't entirely sure just how it would work but she would do it.

She finally got through customs and left the airport, looking around for Reyes. The survivors of Michal's cell had retreated back to their original base and gone to ground on Unity's orders. They didn't have much to do since their cell had really been annihilated at Sapporo; there was no denying that. There were only four survivors, well, actually, five but Snows had been killed at Hirosaki; she, Michal, Reyes, and Nightfall were the only survivors that were still alive.

Adeline spotted a sign being held above the head of a dark-haired man dressed in black slacks and a red button-up shirt: Adeline Pelletier. She walked toward it, dragging the luggage she'd brought with her.

"Adeline?" Reyes, she recognized the voice in an instant, said.

"Yeah, that's me. You must be Al," Adeline said.

"Yes. C'mon. The car's parked out front," Reyes said and turned around as he tucked the sign under his arm.

Adeline followed him and the two of them climbed into the back of the car, the driver shutting it behind them before he slipped into the driver's seat. Turning in her seat as the car started up and pulled away from the airport, Adeline asked, "Just how were you able to get this all together?"

Reyes smiled a little. "It helps that the only ones who'll recognize me are that terrorist cell in the Shinjuku Ghetto and they've been scattered since their leader's death," he said and grimaced a little. "I'm still trying to track 'em down. Unity wasn't happy with me for leaving them when those Britannians showed up during the meeting."

"So where am I staying?" Adeline asked before Reyes could go off on a tangent.

He glanced at her. "I have a friend who's willing to house you while you attend Ashford," he said. "You may not know this but I'm actually half-Britannian."

"What?" Adeline blinked surprised. "So you're like me?" She'd always known she was half-Britannian, though she didn't know who her real father was. She'd only ever known Unity and he was the one that raised her since their mother had died when she was really young.

Reyes nodded. "Half-Britannian, half-Mexican. Mom was Mexican, Dad was Britannian. I actually grew up a bit in Pendragon and met Lucy when we were both children. I've told her that you're my cousin and need a place to stay due to family problems and she's agreed to take you in. She has a daughter around your age and I highly suggest you become friends with that girl."

"Why?" Adeline asked curiously.

"She's a member of Prince Lelouch's Royal Guard. Also, it might not be such a bad idea to show off some of your skills; gain her trust and, in turn, attempt to gain the prince's trust. If you have the prince's trust, spying on him will be easier."

Adeline pressed her lips together as she thought about her brother's second set of orders. "Could that be why brother wants me to find out who tried to kill Princess Nunnally?" she asked.

"Probably so," Reyes said with a nod. "If you tell Prince Lelouch who tried to kill Princess Nunnally, that may go a long way of securing his trust in you."

"All right," Adeline said. She pressed her lips together, then asked, "How are things going with Nightfall?" She'd been on a plane ride for the past couple of days, journeying from the Europia United to Area 11, and the last thing she'd heard was Nightfall aiding a Liberator cell in taking out a portion of the 5th Division in Area 5.

"Nothing beyond what happened in Area 5 but I ain't putting nothin' past that bastard," Reyes growled and squeezed his eyes shut. "We're managing to maintain a united front in public but…if that damn idiota keeps on doing what he's doing, I fear that we won't be able to keep it a secret for much longer."

"Maybe if we can prove that Unity's right about Prince Lelouch then, maybe, Nightfall will come around," Adeline suggested.

"It's possible, I suppose, but I'm not holding my breath."

. . .

Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement

"You look beautiful," Milly said with a grin as she stepped back and Shirley turned around to look at herself in the mirror. She smiled to herself as she smoothed the dress; it was a pale-pink dress with darker-pink straps, a dark-pink belt around her waist, and dark-pink lace covering her cleavage. The skirt of the dress, itself, was also dark pink and she also had black stockings underneath to protect against the cold since it was going to be chilly.

She took the shawl that Milly handed her and wrapped it around her shoulders and then grabbed her purse, taking a deep breath. "I still don't know where we're going," she admitted, turning to Milly as she slung her purse's strap on her right shoulder.

"He's probably keeping it a surprise," Milly said with a smirk.

"Are you sure that I'm not overdressed, Milly?"

"You're fine, Shirley. Even if you are, you'll definitely make an impression, not that you didn't already when he came back to Tokyo," the blonde girl said with a grin and Shirley blushed brightly.

"I...I didn't...I mean...I..." She stammered out. She hadn't meant to do that. She'd just reacted when she saw Lelouch and hugged him; she had not meant to knock him down and she certainly hadn't meant to end up in that position.

"I'm just teasing, Shirley," Milly soothed, patting her shoulder. "C'mon, Lelouch should be arriving any minute now."

"Um, right," Shirley said and followed the blonde out of the room. They headed out of the dorm room and across the campus toward the entrance to the school. It was late evening but, just like last time Shirley had gone on a date with Lelouch, there were people wandering around but, like last time, they quickly found somewhere else to be upon seeing Milly's glare.

They walked out of the gates and Lelouch, with his Knight Suzaku standing beside him, glanced toward her, a smile crossing his face as he pushed away from the limo. He walked over to join her, holding out a hand. "You look as beautiful as ever, Shirley," he said, lifting the hand that Shirley had placed in his and gently kissing the back of it.

"T...Thank you," Shirley stammered out, her cheeks red.

"My prince, we should get moving," Suzaku said from behind them, giving Shirley a gentle smile in greeting.

"Bye Shirley, Lelouch, have a good time," Milly said with a wink and jogged off, cackling while Shirley went red, Lelouch just blinked at the blonde girl, and Suzaku started snickering a little, only to stop when Lelouch glared at him.

He guided Shirley over to the limo and slipped into it with Shirley just behind him. Suzaku climbed in last, taking up a position next to the door and the limo began moving. Shirley turned to Lelouch, who was still holding her hand, she realized.

"Where're we going?" she asked curiously.

Lelouch smiled back at her. "It's a surprise," he said.

. . .

Gardens, Viceroy's Palace, Tokyo Settlement

Lelouch guided Shirley into the Viceroy's Palace, inclining his head in greeting to his Royal Guard and heading toward the stairs while Shirley gazed around with wide eyes. "T...This is the Viceroy's Palace," she gasped, turning to Lelouch. "Why're we here, Lulu?"

Lelouch smiled at him. "You'll see," he said. "Lila, go and tell the cooks to get everything ready. Jeremiah, please inform Clovis that I'll be in the gardens if he needs me, and to not need me for the next few hours."

"Yes, Your Highness," Jeremiah stated firmly before he strode off.

"Yes, Your Highness," Lila said and darted off to the kitchens while Lelouch led the way up the stairs, Suzaku walking on his right side while Shirley was on his left, her arm in the crook of his elbow.

She grimaced. "If I'd known there'd be stairs, I wouldn't have put on heels," she muttered.

Lelouch chuckled. "You can take them off if it will make you feel more comfortable," he said.

Shirley smiled a little. "I think I'll be fine," she said.

"We won't be taking stairs all the way to the gardens though, even I wouldn't want to do that," Lelouch said.

"That's only 'cause you hate exercise," Suzaku put in. "You look a little out of breath as it is."

Lelouch glowered. "Exercise nut," he muttered and Suzaku chuckled.

When they reached the gardens, Shirley stopped, her eyes wide when she saw the beautiful gardens that stretched out in front of her. Lelouch smiled a little at her reaction as he led the way through the foliage. Trees were growing along the edges and bushes dotted with a myriad of different colored flowers dotting the area. Thee was an artificial stream that wound its way across the garden with water lilies floating on its surface and vines coiled around the trunks of the trees.

"This is beautiful," Shirley whispered, turning to Lelouch.

"Yeah. Clovis designed it after the gardens at the Aries Villa, where Nunnally and I grew up," Lelouch said as he led the way over to where he'd set up the picnic he'd planned out.

"That's nice. It must bring back some good memories," Shirley said, following Lelouch deeper into the gardens while Suzaku took up a position near the door within full view of the prince and his date.

"Yeah, it does," Lelouch muttered but then smiled at Shirley when she glanced curiously at him. He sat down on the picnic blanket and patted the spot next to him; she blushed but sat down as well, smoothing her dress.

"If I'd known we'd be having a picnic, I'd have dressed better," she said.

"You look fine, Shirley," Lelouch assured her.

Shirley smiled a little. "So what's for dinner?" she asked to change the subject.

"You said that one of your favorite foods was pasta so I made some for tonight," Lelouch said, gesturing and a couple of maids came into the gardens carrying platters.

"Really? You cooked it? I mean, I know you can cook but..." Shirley broke off and her cheeks went red again with embarrassment.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. Shirley really did blush a lot around him. "I find that homemade meals are better since there's so much more put into it," he said.

"Yeah, I agree," Shirley said, gazing at the plate that had been placed in front of her. Lelouch had decided on simple chicken fettuccine alfredo with a salad tossed in balsamic vinaigrette, which he knew was Shirley's favorite salad dressing, and garlic bread on the side.

"Oh, this looks delicious, Lulu," she said and picked up her fork. She twirled it in the pasta and bit into it, causing some noodles to slap her chin before her yellow-green eyes went wide. She swallowed and said, "Wow, that is the best pasta I've had in a long time."

Lelouch chuckled and handed Shirley a napkin. "You've got some on your chin," he said.

Shirley blushed in embarrassment. "Thanks," she said, taking the napkin and dabbing it on her chin. She put the napkin down and served herself some of the salad, biting into it, her eyes widening. "Oh, I love this salad dressing."

"I know. That's why I included it," Lelouch said, eating his own dinner and smiling a little at the surprise on Shirley's face.

"How'd you know that?" the orangette asked in confusion.

"You mentioned it to Nina when you both thought I was asleep in the middle of class last year," Lelouch said with a shrug. He hadn't been sleeping; he'd just been deep in thought but had still managed to hear that little tidbit.

"Oh. Sorry."

"What for?"

The orangette looked down as she swallowed a bite of her salad. "Well, I guess for harping on you so much for sleeping through classes or skipping classes like you did," she said. "I mean, you shouldn't have skipped classes but I guess I shouldn't..."

"Shirley," Lelouch said, stretching out his free hand and placing it on Shirley's free hand. "Whenever you did that, it simply showed that you cared and I understood that and I do thank you for being willing to look out for me like that."

Shirley blushed. "Y...You're welcome," she said. She bit her lip, then asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm? Sure."

"Why did you keep skipping classes like that to go gamble? I mean, it made it seem like you have a gambling problem. Um, do you?"

Lelouch chuckled and went back to eating. "No, I don't have a gambling problem. I'm just good enough at chess to make a pretty decent amount every time I play against nobles who think they're the best chess players out there," he said. "I did it for Nunnally, Shirley. The Ashfords took care of us and provided for us when we first arrived here after the invasion but they'd fallen on rough times when they fell from grace following my mother's assassination. I didn't want to burden them with having to support me and Nunnally and since I didn't technically exist and I couldn't risk anyone finding out I was still alive, I couldn't get a job so I took up gambling. It allowed me to not only provide for Nunnally but also pay the Ashfords back for everything they'd done for me and Nunnally."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Shirley said and the two of them fell silent.

"So, Shirley, what do you plan on doing after you graduate?" Lelouch asked, deciding to break the silence.

Shirley frowned to herself. "I haven't really thought about it," she admitted. "But...I'd like to go to college and, maybe, go into medical school."

"So you want to be a doctor?" Lelouch asked.

"Yeah. I just like the idea of helping others, you know," Shirley said.

"Lila is planning on going to college and medical school after her term in the military ends," Lelouch commented, remembering how Lila had come to him during the trek back to Tokyo and told him about her decision before respectfully asking permission to do so when her term was over. He'd agreed, telling her that she was always welcomed back to his Royal Guard after she graduated medical school if she wanted to.

"I thought she was part of your Royal Guard?" Shirley said.

"She is but she asked me for permission to leave when her term in the military ends. Who am I to stand in the way of someone and their dreams?" Lelouch said. He served himself some salad as he asked, "So can I ask you something, Shirley?"

"Sure thing, Lulu."

"When did Tara join the Student Council?"

Shirley frowned, looking confused but the dark look on Lelouch's face was enough to get her talking. He was still pretty convinced of just who Tara was; at the very least, since she had the same eyes as the person from the museum, there was a chance it was her, or she could be related to the person who shot at his sister.

"She joined on the 14th of July," Shirley said.

Lelouch stiffened, nearly dropping the fork in his hand. "The 14th?" He repeated, frowning. "As in only two days before the assassination attempt?" He realized his voice had risen when Shirley flinched away from him and quickly calmed down.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you, Shirley," he said, forcing himself to calm down and placing a hand on Shirley's again. "It's just...I suppose I'm being paranoid. It just seems oddly suspicious that a new student would join the Student Council only two days before a student tried to kill Nunnally." He'd looked through all the reports of the assassination attempt to determine that it was, indeed, someone who was a registered student who had attended the dance Milly had held.

"You don't think...Do you think Tara tried to kill Nunnally?" Shirley said in surprise.

"It's a very definite possibility," Lelouch said, gritting his teeth, his brow furrowing but he pushed the thought away. He was on a date and shouldn't worry about that, at least not right now. He turned to Shirley who was watching him in concern and gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry. I just..."

"No, I understand," Shirley said. "You just want to know who tried to kill Nunnally. It's all right."

The two of them fell silent and Lelouch, pushing all thoughts of Tara and the assassination attempt made on his little sister aside for the time being, thought about something else and his lips quirked. "Suzaku?" he called.

"Yes, my prince?" Suzaku asked, walking forward with his cloak swirling around his ankles.

"Go and ask someone to go get those pictures from Akita for me," Lelouch said.

Suzaku's lips quirked but he bowed. "Yes, my prince," he said and walked off.

"What pictures?" Shirley asked confused.

"You'll see. I think you'll find them amusing," Lelouch said with a smirk. "While we're waiting, do you want to hear about some things that happened while I was out of town?"

"Like what?"

"Well, there was the time that Rayne saw a snake and knocked her brother Kay into a fountain when she leapt away from it," Lelouch commented. "And the most recent incident involved Rayne too. You've gotta see the pictures. It explains it much better than I can." His lips curved into an amused smirk and his amethyst eyes shone with amusement.

Suzaku walked over to join them a few minutes later, holding out the packet of pictures, looking amused.

"Thank you, Suzaku," Lelouch said, taking the packet and searching through them for the specific pictures as Suzaku inclined his head in acknowledgment and returned to his spot by the door.

When he found the pictures, he pulled them out and handed them to Shirley. She took them and looked at them, her eyes widening and then she started giggling as she flipped through the pictures, her giggles turned into laughter when she saw the picture of Rayne practically buried under a group of dogs.

"Poor Rayne," she gasped with tears of amusement in her eyes.

"Dogs really do love her," Lelouch said and started snickering as well at the memory. He may not have witnessed it personally but it was still very amusing to see the pictures of it.

Shirley laughed. "Yeah, I guess they do," she said.

. . .

November 26, 2016

Student Council Clubhouse, Ashford Academy

"Whoa, this place is huge," Adeline whispered, gazing around as she followed the blonde girl that had met her at the gates of Ashford Academy. Behind her walked Lucy and Caleb Moore, the two with whom she'd be living while she attended Ashford; they had decided to enroll her right away and thus she found herself being given a tour of the entire campus.

Milly Ashford, the blonde president of the Student Council, smiled as she gestured to the clubhouse. "This belongs to the Student Council," she said, leading the way into the ballroom. "This is where we usually have our meetings. So if ya wanna join the Student Council, ya can. You need to join a club anyway and the Student Council can always use new members."

"Are you dragging another poor new girl into the Student Council again, Milly?" a blue-haired boy said in amusement as he stepped into the ballroom.

"Why not?" Milly said with a pout and the blue-haired boy chuckled a little, looking anywhere but at the blonde girl. "Where's everyone else, Rivalz?"

"Nina's with Nunnally, Kallen's with Tara, and Shirley's talking with Lelouch on the phone," Rivalz said with a shrug.

Milly grinned. "Ohh, someone's got a boyfriend," she said in a singsong voice.

"He's not my boyfriend!" An orange-haired girl cried as she stepped into the ballroom, her phone held against her ear.

"And I think you might've just broken your boyfriend's eardrum," Milly added cheerfully.

Shirley blushed and quickly mumbled an apology into the phone and then nodded. "Okay. I'll see you then. Okay. Bye," she said and hung up. "Lulu sends his greetings. He's swamped with paperwork; otherwise, he would've come by to visit."

"Well, I guess I'll have to introduce Adeline to him later," Milly said.

"So you know Prince Lelouch?" Adeline asked, trying to keep her voice casual.

Milly nodded. "We've been friends for a while," she said. "Shirley, there, is Lelouch's girlfriend."

"No, I'm not!" Shirley cried.

"Okay, okay, Shirley's Lelouch's girlfriend but neither of them are willing to admit it," Milly said.

"Madam President," Shirley whined, her cheeks red and Adeline couldn't help but smile a little in amusement.

A dark-green haired girl pushing a wheelchair on which was a sandy-brown haired young woman whose eyes were closed entered the ballroom. They were followed by an armed woman that Adeline figured was a bodyguard. That must mean this is Princess Nunnally, she thought. "Oh, I didn't realize we had guests," the dark-green-haired girl said softly.

"This is Adeline Pelletier. She's a new student and a new member of the Student Council," Milly said brightly.

Adeline blinked. She hadn't exactly said that she was going to join but she decided that she might as well; if these people were friends with Prince Lelouch then this might be her chance to get close to him and find out more about him.

"Hello," she greeted them politely.

"Hi Adeline, I'm Nunnally. I'm not a member of the council. I'm an honorary member," Nunnally said with a faint smile as she held out a hand toward Adeline.

Adeline moved forward but stopped when the bodyguard stepped in front of Nunnally, watching her with narrowed eyes. She held her hands in front of her to show that she didn't have anything on her.

"Briana, you can let her by. Sorry about Briana," Nunnally said as her bodyguard, frowning, stepped back but kept her eyes fixed on Adeline. "She's good at her job and everyone's been kinda paranoid recently."

"Yeah, I read about what happened on the news," Adeline as a red-haired girl and an aqua-haired girl walked into the ballroom. "I hope they find the assassin soon. I can't believe someone would try to kill you." She shook her head, causing golden hair to fly into her face. She really couldn't believe someone would try to kill a blind, disabled girl.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," she added as she took Nunnally's hand and shook it in greeting.

"It's okay," Nunnally assured her. "This is Nina, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Nina," Adeline greeted her.

"Y...You too," Nina said shyly, looking a bit wary.

"So who's this?" the red-head asked as Adeline returned to stand with the Moores.

"Adeline. She's another new student," Milly said.

"We just keep getting new students," Rivalz commented in amusement. "First there was Kallen and then Tara and now Adeline? Man, we keep getting girls. When's a guy new student gonna start here?"

"You're just saying that 'cause us girls outnumber you," Milly said with a grin.

"Since Lelouch left, I'm the only guy left," Rivalz whined.

Adeline giggled and turned to the red-haired girl and the aqua-haired girl. The first stretched out a hand. "Kallen Stadtfeld," she said meekly and Adeline took her hand and shook it, noticing that, for a seemingly meek girl, she had a strong grip.

"Tara Archer," the aqua-haired girl said with a cheerful smile as she took Adeline's hand next.

"Bitch," Kallen muttered just loud enough for Adeline to hear.

Tara also heard and responded by slamming a foot on Kallen's foot causing her to hiss in pain and glare at Tara who just smiled a fake sweet smile back at her. Kallen looked like she wanted to strangle the aqua-haired girl, her meek facade seemed to crack a little but she quickly managed to repair it before anyone, but Adeline, noticed.

Adeline had only noticed because she'd been looking right at Kallen. She mused that if Tara had done that to her, she probably would have decked her.

"Well, since you're the new girl, why don't we throw a party to welcome you like we did with Kallen and Tara?" Milly suggested.

"A out-of-the-blue party? That sounds like you all right, Milly," Shirley said with a faint smile.

"Is that, um, a really good idea? I mean, with the budget…" Nina began.

"Oh, yeah, right, I'd forgotten about that," Milly said sheepishly. "Speaking of that, c'mon, you guys, we've gotta balance the budget today!"

Nunnally smiled in Adeline's direction. "Since you're new, I don't think Milly's gonna make you do anything so do you wanna make origami cranes with me?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, sure, but I don't really know how," Adeline admitted.

"That's okay! I can teach you," Nunnally said with a bright smile that Adeline found contagious. She smiled back even though she knew the princess couldn't see her.

Well, it seems like things are going okay and everyone's so nice, she thought as she followed Nunnally and the rest of the Student Council into the meeting room.

. . .

November 27, 2016

Meeting Room, Student Council Clubhouse

Lelouch was more than a little thankful that he actually got Sunday off. If he'd known of just how much paperwork was associated with being a Sub-Viceroy, he would have found someway out of it. Thankfully, he and Jeremiah found someone to dump most of the paperwork on and only had to focus on the more important documents that graced his desk. Clovis also let him have Sunday to visit Nunnally.

Now Lelouch and Suzaku were heading toward the meeting room within the Student Council Clubhouse, Lelouch's thoughts were on Tara and the fact that he'd recognized her eyes. He knew that he was likely jumping to conclusions and knew that he couldn't exactly question her; if she was the one responsible for what happened at the museum then she would never admit it.

It sometimes made Lelouch wish that he could make her tell him the truth.

Hmph, wishful thinking, he thought as he and Suzaku walked into the meeting room.

Lelouch stopped because there was another newcomer seated at the table, tongue sticking out of her teeth as she struggled to fold the origami paper in her hand while Nunnally patiently told her what to do. Kallen was writing in a notebook and sorting through the papers that Milly was handing her. Shirley and Rivalz were also going through their own paperwork and Nina was, as usual, at her computer. Tara was staring at the paper in front of her as if it was written in an alien language.

"Milly, did you drag in yet another stray to become your minion?" Lelouch asked finally, breaking the silence and smirking when everyone jumped.

"Lulu, where did you come from?" Shirley exclaimed.

"Through the door," Lelouch deadpanned as he made his way deeper into the room.

"Smartass," Milly huffed.

"I'm surprised you're doing paperwork on a Sunday," Lelouch commented, raising an eyebrow. "Is your new Vice President slacking? I usually had it done before Sunday even started."

Kallen tossed a quick glare at Lelouch before ducking her head meekly, but not before Lelouch noticed it.

"You only had it done that quickly so you could skip out on the meeting to go gambling with Rivalz," Shirley pointed out.

"True. So who's your new minion?" Lelouch asked.

Milly rolled her eyes, a faint smile on her lips. "This is Adeline Pelletier, a new student," she said.

"Naturally. Only you would sink your claws into every new student that walks through those gates and drag them into the Student Council," Lelouch said, smirking. "You really do love having minions, don't you?"

Milly grinned. "Of course I do," she said.

Lelouch chuckled and turned to Adeline who stood up.

"It's nice to meet you, Your Highness," she said with a bow.

"It's just Lelouch while I'm here, Adeline, and it's nice to meet you as well," Lelouch replied, holding out a hand and Adeline, blinking, stretched out a hand and shook his.

"So what brings you here, Big Brother?" Nunnally asked.

"Boredom," Lelouch said. "Clovis said I could have the day off and I had nothing better to do so I dragged Suzaku with me and came here."

"He's your Knight. You didn't have to drag him anywhere, Big Brother," Nunnally said with a giggle.

"Not that he could," Suzaku said cheerfully.

"Shut up, Suzaku," Lelouch growled but, as usual, there wasn't any heat in his voice.

Suzaku just smiled but said nothing.

"I've been teaching Adeline how to make origami cranes, Big Brother," Nunnally added, holding up one of the cranes she made.

"That's nice, Nunnally. How many have you made so far?" Lelouch asked curiously.

Nunnally pressed her lips together in thought. "Uhh, I think I'm in the four hundreds right now," she said.

"Wow, that's a lot. Why're you making so many?" Adeline asked, glaring at the piece of origami paper that was creased quite a few times in her hands as if it was its fault she couldn't fold it into a crane.

"'Cause I want my wish granted," Nunnally said. "There's an old Eleven legend that says if someone makes a thousand cranes then their wish is granted."

"What is your wish?" Kallen asked.

Nunnally smiled. "I thought about it a lot and I've decided that I'd wish for a peaceful, gentler world," she said.

Lelouch gazed at Nunnally and clenched his hand into a fist as he looked away. And such a world will never exist while the bastard Emperor lives, he thought.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Adeline frowning at him and relaxed his hand, giving her a mask of puzzled apathy. She blinked and returned her attention to Nunnally. "I like your wish, Nunnally. I'd like to see a world like that myself," she said.

"I think anyone would," Rivalz mused.

"I agree," Lelouch said calmly.

And I'm going to give you that world, once I find a way to destroy Britannia while under the bastard Emperor's thumb, he thought.

. . .

November 30, 2016

Hidden Base, Island of Olkhon

"Are you sure?" Unity asked.

"I'm sure, Big Brother," Adeline's voice whispered. "I saw him clench his fist when he listened to Nunnally's wish but he agrees with it and he sounded sincere. Unfortunately, that's all I've managed to find out. I'm becoming fast friends with the Student Council and Nunnally but the prince is another story entirely."

Unity sighed but nodded. "Keep at it, Adi," he said.

"I will. How are things over there? Has Nightfall tried anything?" Adeline asked.

Unity sighed again. "Nothing has changed but I have this feeling Nightfall's going to try something and soon," he said.

"Will he try to kill the prince?"

"I wouldn't put it past him but, thankfully, the prince is protected by both his Royal Guard and his Knight of Honor as well as a hell of a lot of security so he'll have a hard time getting past them to kill the prince. However, he may try something else," Unity said.

"Like what?"

"I don't know and that's what worries me the most." Unity couldn't deny that he was scared of Nightfall; the psychopath was terrifying and even more so when he didn't have any constraints. It was for that reason that Unity tried to keep him on a tight leash but, now that Nightfall has slipped from that leash and gone off on his own, Unity knew that something bad was going to happen.

"Yeah, I agree. I'll keep trying to find out more about the prince and let you know if I find anything," Adeline said.

"Be careful, Adi," Unity said.

"I will, Big Brother," Adeline said and hung up.

Unity lowered the phone and closed his eyes, leaning back against his seat, a bad feeling going through him. Something was going to happen and Unity had a feeling it was only going to make things even more complicated and dangerous.

And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

. . .

December 18, 2016

Meeting Room, Student Council Clubhouse

Damn you, Clovis. What is with you and your damn parties? Lelouch thought as he made his way across the ballroom and toward the meeting room within the Student Council Clubhouse with Suzaku trailing behind him. He didn't say anything, probably realizing that Lelouch wasn't in the mood.

He'd just come from a meeting with Clovis who told him that he wanted him to attend the Christmas Ball that he was holding for the nobility and that he wasn't going to take no for an answer, even though Lelouch tried to insist that he had too much to do. And then Clovis had insisted that he needed to bring a date, which was the main reason why Lelouch wasn't happy at the moment.

It wasn't as if it wouldn't be hard for him to find a date—he already knew who he wanted to take—it was the fact that he most certainly didn't want to expose said person to the nobility, to the people lost in their own little worlds. And he certainly didn't want to deal with them himself; he had enough of dealing with them during that party Clovis had thrown when he'd returned from basic training.

The last couple of weeks had gone by rather quickly. Lelouch spent most of it handling his duties as Sub-Viceroy, which was essentially doing everything that Clovis didn't do while watching Clovis to learn just what it took to be Viceroy. He also was dividing his time between that, searching for the assassin that tried to kill Nunnally, trying to figure out if Tara was the girl from the museum, keeping an eye on the terrorist threat, though there didn't seem to be many threats at the moment, thankfully, and trying to spend time with his little sister and his friends at Ashford. Frankly, he was lucky if he was able to manage two hours of sleep a night, and that was only because Suzaku, after finding him crashed out at his desk, practically dragged him to bed to get some sleep.

Even if he wasn't Lelouch's Knight of Honor, the amethyst-eyed prince already knew that Suzaku would've done that anyway, and probably would have enlisted Jeremiah's help to ensure that he got, at least, some rest.

Basically put, in the less than a month it's been since he'd become Sub-Viceroy who was in charge of the terrorist threat, he had become overworked.

Thankfully, the visits with his little sister and friends, as well as the times that his Royal Guard tried to get him to relax and get some fresh air, certainly helped him.

Now if only he could've convinced Clovis to let him out of going to that ball on the 25th.

He'd managed to calm down by the time he reached the meeting room and he and Suzaku walked into it, pausing when he saw what had happened.

Kallen and Tara were both covered in whipped cream. Rivalz was laughing so hard he was on the ground and clutching at his side. Shirley had whipped cream in her hair. Adeline and Milly were holding cans of whipped cream in their hands. Nunnally was giggling by the table while Briana's eye seemed to be twitching since her face was covered with whipped cream and Nina was hiding under her computer desk.

"What in the world happened here?" Lelouch asked bewildered.

Everyone glanced at him as one and Milly and Adeline grinned, shaking their cans of whipped cream.

Lelouch just barely managed to dive out the door and slam it shut behind him before Milly and Adeline released the contents of their whipped cream cans. If he had known that Adeline could be as mischievous as Milly when she wanted to be, he would have tried hard to ensure that they never met each other.

The door opened and Suzaku, scowling with whipped cream on his face and in his hair, stepped out of the room, glaring at him. "You could've taken me with you, my prince," he said irritably.

Lelouch smiled faintly. "Well, consider this payback for the pancake batter incident," he said, smirking as Suzaku went red with embarrassment. He clearly remembered the incident that involved pancake batter and, for some reason, feathers back at the Kururugi Shrine during the time Lelouch and Nunnally had been staying there.

"That...wasn't entirely my fault," Suzaku muttered.

"I know. Kaguya had a hand in it," Lelouch said in amusement. "Are they done?"

"They used the last of the whipped cream on me," Suzaku said with a grumble.

"Good." Lelouch walked into the meeting room, folding his arms across his chest and raising an eyebrow at Milly and Adeline as Suzaku came to his side. "Are you going to tell me what happened here now?" he asked.

"Just having a bit of fun," Milly said.

"With whipped cream?"

"Well, we didn't have any silly string and we ran out of shaving cream," Adeline said with a shrug.

Lelouch sighed. "Wonderful, there are two Milly's," he said.

"At least Adeline isn't as big a pervert as Milly is," Kallen muttered quietly.

"Yet," Milly said with a grin.

Lelouch sighed again. "Milly, don't corrupt Adeline," he said.

Milly pouted.

"So what brings you here, Big Brother?" Nunnally asked.

"Clovis," Lelouch said with a grimace. "He's insisting that I go to the Christmas Ball he holds every year and I have to bring a date."

"Oh." Milly grinned. "Are you going to ask who I think you're going to ask?"

"Who's that?" Adeline asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Lelouch said nothing in response and, instead, walked around them and headed for Shirley. "Shirley, would you like to go to the Christmas Ball with me?" he asked.

"I knew it," Milly said with a grin.

"It was obvious," Rivalz said, rolling his eyes, a faint smile on his lips.

"M...Me?" Shirley stammered out, eyes wide with shock. "B...But...But I...I'm not noble. Why're you asking me? I'm sure, um, that there are plenty of nobles that could go with you, like Kallen or..."

"Shirley," Lelouch said, taking Shirley's hand in his. Her hand really was soft, even if it was shaking at the moment with nerves. He hadn't really had time to think about his feelings for Shirley, what with all the work that he's been doing, but he just had this feeling of rightness holding Shirley's hand like that. He didn't know how to explain it but he supposed he was starting to finally open his eyes. "I want to go with you."

Shirley's cheeks reddened. "I...I...I would love to go with you, Lulu," she stammered out.

Lelouch smiled. "Wonderful," he said and leaned forward, kissing her gently on the cheek. "I'll pick you up at 7:30 Christmas Day. The party starts at eight."

"R...Right," Shirley stammered out, looking like she was about to faint.

Lelouch let go of her hand and walked back to join Suzaku. "Go and get that whipped cream out of your hair, Suzaku. I'll be fine here for a little bit," he said.

Suzaku frowned at him, clearly not wanting to leave. Even if there were times that he lightened up and relaxed, when they were just surrounded by friends, he really was taking his responsibilities as a Knight of Honor incredibly seriously. "I can take care of it when we get back to the Viceroy's Palace, my prince," he said.

"Fine," Lelouch said, knowing full well that Suzaku would just be stubborn and he really wasn't in the mood to deal with a stubborn Suzaku.

. . .

December 25, 2016

Ballroom, Viceroy's Palace

The ballroom was packed with members of the nobility and decorated with dangling green and red lights on the ceiling. The large windows of the ballroom allowed in little light from outside but the flashes of lightning and claps of thunder outside and the rain that streaked the windows made Kallen glad that she was inside. She still hated it though. She was only there because her bitch of a stepmother and her father had insisted that she be there. She really wanted to be anywhere else; hell, she would rather be back at the Stadtfeld Manor than there. She just hated these kinds of things; at least at the last one, she'd gone to get more information on Prince Lelouch for her brother.

And her brother was gone now.

Kallen recalled the message she'd received from Ohgi a few days earlier, about how Reyes had contacted him stating that he wanted to talk. Ohgi was hesitant about accepting the message and Kallen could understand why. Reyes had left them when General Andon and the Britannians had broke in on their meeting; even though it was Tara that had betrayed them, Kallen still felt betrayed by the Liberators as well because they'd left her and her friends to fend for themselves.

And Naoto had died because of it.

She tightened her grip on her champagne glass but forced herself to relax, though it didn't help that Andon was at the ball. Dressed in his military uniform with all the medals that he'd earned over the years—just how many brothers and families have you killed or torn apart to earn those medals?—pinned on it, Andon was talking with General Bartley and Clovis nearby.

It was a little after eight and people were still arriving. Kallen even spotted Adeline there, walking alongside Lucy and Caleb Moore but had lost sight of her almost immediately.

Kallen, herself, stood out just a bit in her fiery red halter dress with slits that went to the middle of her thighs and red high heels. Her hair was pinned up in a bun with strands falling into her face; her bitch of a stepmother had insisted that she dress that way and Kallen recalled that her bitch of a stepmother wanted her to get Prince Lelouch's attention again.

She scoffed silently. She knew that the prince would be too focused on Shirley to even bother on looking at her. Not that she minded. Yes, the prince wasn't bad looking but Kallen wasn't about to even think about dating a prince of Britannia, her enemy. Besides, it was obvious Shirley was in love with Prince Lelouch and it was also obvious, to Kallen anyway, that the prince felt something for Shirley as well.

The door opened at that moment and the Herald announced, "Announcing the Eleventh Prince, Prince Lelouch vi Britannia," and everyone turned to the doors as Lelouch walked into the ballroom, arm in arm with Shirley. His Knight and his Royal Guard slipped in before taking up positions along the wall of the ballroom.

Kallen had to admit, Shirley looked beautiful. She was dressed in a knee-length forest green halter dress that brought out the green in her yellowish-green eyes over black tights tucked into dark-green high heels. Dark green lace covered her cleavage and an emerald-embedded necklace hung around her neck, resting on top of the lace. Her long, orange hair fell in waves down her back and over her shoulder with her bangs framing her face, clipped back by emerald-embedded star-shaped barrettes. Her eyes stood out due to the faint peach eyeshadow and her lips were glossy with peach-colored lip gloss.

On the arm of the prince, who was dressed in a purple-lined gold-trimmed black overcoat with long, wide gold-trimmed sleeves over a black button-down shirt and black slacks with his dark purple-lined gold-trimmed cloak around his shoulders, she actually looked like a princess.

"Who is that?" her bitch of a stepmother said bewildered.

"I don't know but she sure isn't noble," another noblewoman said.

"Why would he bring a commoner here?" another noblewoman said.

"Tch, I guess he takes after his mother, being the half-commoner he is," yet another noblewoman said.

More and more whispers abounded but if he heard them, Prince Lelouch completely ignored them. Kallen could see that Shirley was trying not to listen to them either but, judging by the way she kept looking at the ground, it was obvious that their words were affecting her. Kallen felt a pang of sympathy; it wasn't just the Japanese that were suffering from the likes of the Britannian nobility. Even if they were treated a hell of a lot better than the Japanese, Britannian commoners were still seen as inferior to Britannian nobility.

"Brother, welcome. And who is this lovely lady?" Prince Clovis asked as he sipped at his glass of wine, waving a server over and Lelouch took one of the wine glasses being offered to him.

"This is Shirley Fenette," Lelouch said, sipping at his own wine. "Shirley, I'd like you to officially meet my brother Clovis la Britannia."

"Ah, it's nice to meet you, Your Highness," Shirley said with a slight bow.

"And it is nice to meet you as well, Miss Fenette. Are you, by chance, related to Joseph Fenette?" Prince Clovis asked.

"Yeah, I mean yes Your Highness. He's my father," Shirley said. "Um, do you know him, Your Highness?"

"I do," Prince Clovis said. "We've met a few times."

The music changed to a softer song that Kallen recognized, though she couldn't recall the name of it.

"I love this song," Shirley said.

Lelouch turned to her and, putting down the wineglass on a server's tray, held out a hand, bowing slightly. "Might I have this dance, my lady?" he said.

Shirley blushed. "Ahh, sure, Your Highness," she said, placing her hand in Lelouch's.

"If you'll excuse me, brother," Lelouch said to his elder brother.

"Of course, of course. Can't keep the lady waiting," Prince Clovis said and smiled charmingly at one of the noblewomen nearby.

Prince Lelouch guided Shirley onto the dancefloor and Kallen watched as Prince Clovis went off to ask a noblewoman near him to dance.

"Hmph, wonder just what that commoner harlot did to convince the prince to bring her to this ball?" Kallen's bitch of a stepmother said.

Kallen bristled but held her tongue, even as her grip tightened, once again, on the wineglass. It was honestly a miracle the wineglass didn't shatter with how hard she was gripping it.

. . .

Lelouch spun Shirley, causing her to gasp and smile in exhilaration as they continued to dance across the dancefloor. The song that they had originally been dancing to had ended a few minutes back but Lelouch barely noticed as he continued to dance with the beautiful, orange-haired girl in his arms. He didn't think that even Shirley noticed that the song had stopped and another one had started; they were too busy looking at each other, a faint blush on Shirley's cheeks.

"Y...You're a great dancer, Lulu," she said as they spun across the dancefloor again.

"I would think so. Mother had me take dancing lessons ever since I knew how to walk and I kinda just retained it after all these years," Lelouch said. "You're not a bad dancer yourself."

"Ah, I'm not great. I'm pretty sure the only reason I haven't faceplanted the floor is because of you," Shirley said.

"Don't sell yourself short, Shirley," Lelouch said gently, removing a hand that had been resting on her back and cupping her cheek in his hand. He leaned forward and gently kissed it; she blushed and gazed at him as their dancing slowly came to a stop as the second song they'd been dancing to ended.

"Lulu..." she said softly and then rested her head on his chest. He curled his arm around her, resting his chin on the top of her head, a faint smile on his face as the next song started. He didn't even bother on leaving the dancefloor, he just started dancing again. It was a slow song anyway so he didn't really need to do much dancing.

As he danced, he caught the eye of Rayne who was leaning against the wall. She smirked at him, a knowing gleam in her eyes, and gave him an encouraging nod. Lelouch turned his gaze to the orangette pillowed against him as he slowed down and Shirley lifted her head, blinking up at him confused about why they had suddenly stopped.

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers, causing her to blink in surprise. "I'm not entirely sure just what I feel for you, Shirley," he said softly, "but I do know that I feel something for you and I do care about you a lot."

"Lulu," Shirley murmured and gave him a small smile. "Maybe...Maybe we can find out what you feel together."

Lelouch smiled and opened his mouth to respond…

And the lights suddenly went out.

It was so sudden. Sudden silence descended upon the ballroom as darkness enveloped the entire area and even the music had died down. Then the panic set in and Lelouch, gritting his teeth, pulled Shirley closer to him as he felt a few people bump into him in their panic as they struggled to escape.

"Don't panic. It was probably just a blown fuse," Andon's voice shouted above the cacophony of panicked screams but only a few people seemed to hear him. The claps of thunder that echoed outside mixing with the screams and shouts of surprise didn't make it any easier for anyone to hear the General's reassurance.

Lelouch felt someone touch his arm but, thankfully, a flash of lightning shining through a nearby window illuminated the area next to him just long enough for him to see his Knight. "Are you alright, my prince?" Suzaku asked softly.

"I'm fine. Shirley, are you okay?" Lelouch asked, tightening his grip on Shirley and she snuggled closer to him.

"I'm okay. It just scared me for a bit but it probably was just a blown fuse or something," Shirley said.

"Probably," Lelouch said.

"Dimitri's already left. He said he's going to try and turn the power back on," Suzaku reported. "Jeremiah and Kay went outside to make sure that the perimeter is secure just in case someone tries to take advantage of this incident."

"Good," Lelouch said, curling an arm around Shirley's shoulders as the orangette rested her head against his chest.

Gradually, the panic started to die down, though the thunder outside still made it difficult to hear anything.

Then the lights flickered back on and Lelouch relaxed, only to realize that he'd relaxed a moment too soon when a scream of horror sounded at the other end of the ballroom, near the doors leading into the kitchen. Already, a crowd had gathered in that area and they were all standing around something.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes and, handing Shirley off to Suzaku, darted toward the group. "Keep her safe," he called over his shoulder before he slipped into the crowd of nobles and meandered his way through them.

He finally reached the edge of nobles and stepped out of the circle, vaguely noticing Clovis and Andon standing nearby, but froze when he saw what was in front of him.

It was a bloodstained body, a mutilated bloodstained body. Angry red wounds were scattered upon his body, on his arms, legs, chest, stomach, neck, looking as if someone had ripped into him with a knife. His military uniform was stained dark red with his own blood, his medals and epaulettes spotted with crimson, his glassy eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling. Judging by his ashen skin and the lack of blood flowing out of the wounds, he'd probably been dead for a while.

"Oh dear God," Shirley's voice whispered and Lelouch whipped his head around, scowling when he saw Shirley standing next to him, one hand on her mouth, her eyes wide and her face a little green. Suzaku stood just behind her, giving the prince an apologetic look.

"She got away from me," he said.

Lelouch decided to deal with that later as he returned his attention to the body, the body that, despite how badly it was mutilated, he recognized in an instant.

The retired former leader of the 11th Regiment: Brigadier General Stromberg.

"Oh God, Lulu, look," Shirley gasped and, when Lelouch glanced at her, he saw her pointing a shaking finger toward the wall between the two doors leading into the kitchen.

On the wall, written in blood, were the following words:

Beware, Demon Prince, for this is what we shall do to you.

And, beneath that, drawn also in blood, was a crest.

The crest of the Liberators.

. . .

End of Arc II

. . .

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: dun dun dun!

Bakura: wow, them Liberators sure are sore losers.

Blaze: eh, possibly. I will say this. Keep the pre-chapter in mind. Oh and the chapter title.

Bakura: doesn't that give it away?

Blaze: (scoffs) the sad thing is, I don't know how many people even read the pre-chapters so anyone who doesn't read the pre-chapters will probably not get what I mean.

Bakura: whatever. So the next chapter is the dreaded chapter 30?

Lelouch: speaking of that… (pulls out flaming machete) what happens in chapter 30, Blaze?

Blaze: finish the chapter, Suzaku! (Bolts to hide herself in a bunker under a bunker under a bunker guarded by five knightmare squadrons, three war tanks, and four dragons)

Lelouch: (darkly) I have this odd feeling she's going to need all that protection and I don't mean just from me

Suzaku: probably. Anyway, Blaze also wanted to tell you that the first chapter of Fall Into Dusk will be posted within minutes of this chapter being posted and she hopes that you check it out.

Bakura: che, whatever

Suzaku: … why does she keep you around again? (Shakes head) you know what, I don't even care. Blaze hopes that you enjoyed this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated. Thank you for reading!