I was going to update this on Halloween but I got home after midnight so that didn't work. But you get a late Halloween treat! My two CG stories are getting updated at once!

Yup. You heard me right. I am updating Fall Into Dusk at the same time as this story.

Anyway, thank you to Blacksword Zero, demedichi, Guest, harlequin320, DarkAeroSage, Artorius Divinus, Shadow-Shinobi666, OBSERVER01, DYnoJackal1, Doommajor (x2) Wisegirl12xx, B-Kira, anand891996, QuaintReticent, Scarease, and Shimmering-Sky for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome!

Happy late Halloween everyone and I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Reviews are much appreciated, as usual.

. . .

. . .

March 21, 2017

Cairo, Outskirts of Area 18

"Princess! They're overrunning our position!" Andreas Darlton called over the radio as Cornelia stabbed her jousting lance toward the irritatingly fast canine-like knightmare frame but the knightmare dodged out of the way. She scowled in fury as she thumbed on her headset to respond to Darlton's words.

"Pull back. Draw them toward the city's heart. We'll have more space to move there," she ordered, since most of her forces were concentrated in the south since that was where the first attack had come from. A full-out frontal assault was what the Liberators had used this time to attack Cornelia's forces and she was irritated, not just because she hadn't seen it coming but also because she wasn't winning.

It irritated her that she couldn't do what Schneizel and Lelouch have already done, defeat the damn Liberators. She was the Goddess of Victory and yet the Liberators were the only terrorist organization out there who'd managed to outwit her.

She couldn't let that happen again. She had to win. She couldn't afford to lose. She knew that Castor and Pollux had lost quite a bit of prestige when they lost to the Liberators twice and she knew that she couldn't let that happen. The Emperor would not look upon her favorably if she lost to the Liberators twice after all.

"My princess, communications with the defensive line has been lost. They weren't able to retreat in time," he Knight of Honor, Gilbert G.P. Guilford, called as he rammed his jousting lance into the side of a canine-like knightmare only to jump back to avoid those dreaded claws that could cut through metal.

A boom sounded and Darlton called, "We've lost contact with Squad 3."

"We need to retreat, my princess. We're losing too many of our men," Guilford said.

"I will not retreat like a dog with my tail between my legs," Cornelia growled in frustration as she, yanking out her assault rifle, shot forward and unleashed a barrage of bullets on the canine-like knightmare that was charging toward her. It swiftly dodged out of the way, the two assault rifles on its shoulders popping up and firing at her but she dodged out of the way. She withdrew her jousting lance again and shot forward, intent on spearing the canine-like knightmare through the factsphere.

Only for a canine-like knightmare to ram into her from the side, throwing her off her feet. She cried out as her Gloucester was sent tumbling to the ground. She smacked her head, hard, against the side of the cockpit and winced, gritting her teeth.

"My princess!" Guilford shouted and Cornelia, struggling to remain conscious, watched as Guilford launched his knightmare at the two canine-like knightmare and Darlton was quick to join him.

A third canine-like knightmare dodged around the two enemies that Guilford and Darlton were fighting and launched itself at Cornelia's Gloucester as she managed to get it to its feet. Those metal-cutting blades sank deep into Cornelia's Gloucester's factsphere, causing red warning signs to blare at the damage and Cornelia snarled as they dug deeper and pierced the Yggdrasil Drive.

Damn it! I have no choice! Snarling out a curse, Cornelia yanked the ejection lever and the cockpit ejected from the Gloucester, sailing across the ground. The canine-like knightmare leapt away from the Gloucester in time to avoid it as it exploded, sending debris flying in all directions.

"My princess!" Guilford called worriedly.

"I ejected in time," Cornelia said, wincing as the cockpit crashed into the ground.

"Claudio! Edgar! Go retrieve Princess Cornelia and get out of here," Darlton ordered. "All forces. Retreat back to base. Now!"

Cornelia, undoing the straps that kept her pinned to the cockpit, gritted her teeth, her long purple hair framing her face as she wiped away the beads of sweat on her forehead. She hated it. She hated that she had lost, again, to the Liberators.

Damn it, she thought in frustration as she climbed out of the cockpit and waited for two of her Glaston Knights to retrieve her.

. . .

34

The New Viceroy of Area 11

March 22, 2017

Medical Ward, Viceroy's Palace

Suzaku read the article of what happened in Cairo, just outside of the newly established Area 18, to himself as he waited for Lelouch to wake up again. A day had gone by since the incident in the Shinjuku Ghetto, and since Prince Clovis was killed and Lelouch was injured, and things were starting to calm down somewhat. The terrorists in Shinjuku had fled, or gone to ground, and the ceasefire was preventing anyone else from getting hurt or killed. So far, nothing had been released about what actually happened, though Suzaku was sure that they wouldn't be able to keep it from the public for very long.

He shifted, wincing a little, as he turned the page in the newspaper. The bruise on his chest from when he'd been shot by Clovis's Royal Guard still ached but he really was grateful he'd been wearing a kevlar vest; he really did not want to get shot again.

"When did you start reading the newspaper?" Lelouch's voice asked and Suzaku, lowering the newspaper, turned to his friend, finding his amethyst eyes fixed on him. His shoulder was bandaged and, while his skin was still a little pale, he looked all right.

"My prince, are you all right?" Suzaku asked as he closed the newspaper and put it on the table next to the medical bed as Lelouch pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Just tired, though those painkillers the doctors gave me are still working because I don't feel anything in my shoulder," Lelouch mused, resting his back against the back of the medical bed. "So why were you reading the newspaper anyway?"

Suzaku shrugged, faintly embarrassed. "Boredom," he said. "Your sister faced off against the Liberators again at Cairo by the way."

"Which one?"

"Cornelia."

Lelouch hummed. "Did she win?"

Suzaku shook his head.

"Hmm, odd. She's not stupid. I wonder why she didn't notice the missing portions and put the pieces together like Schneizel and I did," Lelouch murmured thoughtfully.

Suzaku studied his friend, and prince, for a long moment, frowning as he recalled a lot of what happened the day before and his mind went back to the incident with Clovis's Royal Guard. He still didn't know, nor understand, how it was that Lelouch was able to command them to kill themselves, and for them to actually listen.

"Just spit out whatever question you have, Suzaku," Lelouch said in exasperation.

Suzaku's lips thinned. "How did you command Prince Clovis's Royal Guard to kill themselves like that? I thought Royal Guards only obeyed the prince or princess they serve," he said.

Lelouch was silent for a long moment, his eyes thoughtful and calculating and wary. It was as if he was attempting to decide whether to tell Suzaku or not, which made Suzaku fell a bit upset. Does he not trust me? He thought, studying his friend who was still deep in thought.

Do you trust him? An inner voice asked him and Suzaku wanted to say that he did, that he trusted Lelouch with his life, and yet it wasn't as if Suzaku wasn't keeping his own secrets from his best friend. Or, more or less, a secret, one that Snows, at Hirosaki, knew and one that Suzaku just didn't feel comfortable telling anyone. He didn't know of how Lelouch would react if he learned about what he'd done.

"Do you trust me, Suzaku?" Lelouch asked finally, breaking Suzaku out of his thoughts.

"Of course I do, my prince," Suzaku said in an instant.

Lelouch turned to his friend, studying him with inquisitive eyes, lips curved into a frown. "Even if I tell you something that sounds like pure fiction and asked you to trust that I am telling you the truth?" he asked.

"What is this even about?" the Knight asked.

"You asked me how I got Clovis's Royal Guard to kill themselves and I will explain but I need to know that you will not think I'm crazy once I do," Lelouch said and, when Suzaku raised an eyebrow at his friend, added, "More crazy than you already think I am."

The Knight chuckled before he grew serious. "I'll reserve my judgment for after I know just what the hell happened yesterday," he said finally.

"Fair enough," Lelouch acknowledged and began to explain what happened.

Suzaku was considerably shocked that the green-haired girl, somehow, returned to life and gave Lelouch some sort of mind-control power and that was how Lelouch had been able to order Clovis's Royal Guard around as he had. It was hard to believe and Suzaku did, for a moment, think it was pure fiction until he recalled that his best friend never said or did anything without a reason. And what reason would there be to tell Suzaku such an outlandish story if there wasn't some truth to it? Lelouch also wasn't one to tell stories.

"It's...hard to believe," Suzaku said finally when Lelouch was finished. "Very hard and yet...I did see it happen before my very eyes. But why?"

"Why what?" Lelouch looked at him in bewilderment.

Suzaku frowned, folding his arms across his chest. "Why did you order them to kill themselves? Surely there could've been another way," he said.

Lelouch blinked at him, obviously a bit surprised by the question. "They were about to kill us, Suzaku," he said. "And they were soldiers. They knew what they were getting into when they were ordered to kill me, to kill a member of royalty and the Emperor's new favorite at that." His voice sounded half amused and half scornful when he said those last words.

"Still." Suzaku sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Suzaku, they would have killed us. I did what had to be done," Lelouch said firmly.

Suzaku held his friend's gaze for a moment, then nodded his assent. "Doesn't mean I have to like it," he said finally.

The door to the medical room opened before Lelouch could respond, and they both looked up as Nunnally was wheeled into the room by Adeline. Nunnally's large bluish-purple eyes immediately landed on her brother and relief shone in them. "Big Brother!" she cried.

"Nunnally, what are you doing here?" Lelouch asked bewildered.

"Nunnally wanted to see you and Margrave Gottwald told us that you were in here," Adeline explained, wheeling Nunnally over to the bed. Nunnally immediately grabbed Lelouch's hand and squeezed it as she held the hand up to her face, resting her cheek against it.

Lelouch gently stroked his little sister's cheek, a soft smile on his face. "I'm okay, Nunnally," he said.

"You're hurt," Nunnally whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes and Suzaku flinched when he saw them, looking away, feelings of guilt welling up inside him. Even if Lelouch assured him that it wasn't his fault, that he was just following orders, Suzaku still did blame himself a little for his prince getting hurt.

Three times already. Three times I haven't been with my prince and he's gotten hurt. What kind of Knight am I? He thought morosely.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Lelouch reassured Nunnally. "It'll be all right in no time."

"Oh I hope so," Nunnally said.

"And how are you today, Nunnally?"

"...Okay, I guess," Nunnally said softly, lowering Lelouch's hand and running circles over the back of it. "I...woke up again last night from nightmares and I still...can't seem to talk with the new kid Rai. I mean...he's nice and all but..." She trailed off.

"I understand. These things take time, Little Sister. It'll get better," Lelouch said reassuringly.

Nunnally nodded, still looking unhappy.

"Why don't you tell your big brother about what the Student Council did for you?" Adeline suggested.

Nunnally brightened up a bit. "That's right," she said. "This morning, Shirley noticed that I was feeling a bit gloomy and so she and the others decided to make me breakfast and they made me pancakes shaped like flowers and stars. Then Milly showed me a bunch of the pictures she'd taken over the past couple of years." She then giggled and added, "You look like a girl in a dress, Big Brother."

Lelouch went bright red and he started sputtering. "I thought I burned all of those pictures," he complained while Suzaku hid his laughter. "Shut up, Suzaku." Apparently, he hadn't hidden it that well.

Nunnally giggled, a small smile on her face and, while the distress was still there, it wasn't quite as prominent as it was earlier. "Rivalz and Adeline brought out the paints and such and I painted a couple of pictures too. One's for you, one's for Schneizel, one's for Euphie, one's for Cornelia, and one's for Clovis." She turned and reached for the backpack resting on the back of her wheelchair and Adeline moved to help her.

As they did that, Lelouch tensed and the smile was wiped from his face but he managed to relax and plaster it back on by the time Nunnally turned to him again, holding up one of the pictures that she'd painted. Suzaku studied his friend, wondering why his friend had tensed at the mention of Clovis's name.

"This one's for you," Nunnally said. "I'm hoping to give Brother Clovis's his in a bit."

And then Suzaku realized why Lelouch had tensed at the mention of Clovis's name as he, too, recalled what he'd witnessed in the command center at the Shinjuku Ghetto. No wonder he reacted that way. Nunnally doesn't know about what happened to Clovis, he thought.

Lelouch took the picture but didn't look at it, seeming trying to come up with what to say.

Nunnally noticed that something was wrong. "What's wrong, Big Brother?" she asked, taking Lelouch's hand in hers. Lelouch handed the picture to Suzaku and clasped both of his hands around Nunnally's, a soft somber look on his face.

"The news hasn't been released to the public yet, Nunnally, but...I have some bad news," he said softly.

Nunnally gazed at him with large eyes. "What is it?" she asked.

Lelouch's jaw clenched but he relaxed a moment later. "There was a conflict in the Shinjuku Ghetto, Nunnally, and Clovis was commanding the operation. When it looked like he was losing, I helped out with my Royal Guard," he said, gently squeezing his little sister's hands and then releasing them as he added, "But, somehow, no one knows how, a terrorist managed to get into the G1 while I was talking with Clovis and..." He trailed off as Nunnally's eyes went wide, tears appearing in their depths.

"Brother Clovis?" she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Nunnally. He shot me first and then shot Clovis. I couldn't help him," Lelouch said.

Nunnally started crying and Lelouch, forcing himself out of his bed, wrapped his arms around his little sister in an awkward, due to his position, hug. "Why? Why did he…? Why?" she sobbed.

"Shh, I don't know, Little Sister, I don't know," Lelouch murmured, gently stroking his little sister's hair with the hand that didn't have an IV sticking out of it.

Suzaku left them to their private sibling moment and turned to look at the picture Nunnally had painted; it was of a rather crudely drawn tree with pink flowers dotting the branches with a stream winding its way past it. Suzaku, with a jolt, recalled that this was how he'd described what the garden of the Kururugi Shrine looked like when Nunnally had asked him.

She still remembers that? He thought in surprise.

Eventually, Nunnally managed to stop crying and Lelouch sat back, wincing as he did so. "Think the painkillers are wearing off," he murmured.

"I can go get a doctor if you want, Your Highness," Adeline said.

"If you would, please," Lelouch said.

Adeline bowed and left the room.

Nunnally wiped the tears from her eyes. "It's so hard to believe that he's gone," she said softly. "I mean, it was just yesterday morning that I was talking to him and now..."

"I know," Lelouch said, stroking his little sister's hair. "I know."

Nunnally sniffed. "Brother Clovis...he wouldn't want me to be sad," she said softly, turning her bluish-purple eyes to Lelouch. "I'll miss him but...he wouldn't want me to be sad."

"He wouldn't. He'd probably want you to remember all the good things from when he was alive," Lelouch said.

Nunnally nodded in agreement and smiled softly. "Yeah." She paused and added, "Are you going to look at your picture?" It was clear that she wanted to change the subject, to no longer have to think about what happened to her elder half-brother.

"Of course. I'm sure it's beautiful," Lelouch said with a faint smile as he took the picture that Suzaku was holding and glanced at it, recognition crossing his eyes. "The Kururugi Shrine..."

Nunnally smiled softly, sadly. "Yeah. I remembered when Suzaku described what the garden outside the shrine looked like so I painted it. Does it look all right?" she asked hopefully.

"It looks beautiful, Nunnally," Lelouch said. "Looks almost exactly like I remember it."

While Suzaku was sure that Lelouch wasn't telling the complete truth, the beaming smile that crossed Nunnally's face was well-worth Lelouch's partial lie.

. . .

Throne Room, Imperial Palace, Pendragon

Cornelia li Britannia strode into the empty throne room, head held high despite the weight of her defeat still resting heavily on her shoulders. Her cloak billowed about her feet as she moved, the herald announcing her arrival, and her boots clicked against the polished wooden floor. As she walked, her thoughts drifted to Area 11 and, most importantly, the news that she'd just received from Schneizel; Clovis had been killed and Lelouch had been injured in a terrorist problem that had arisen quite suddenly.

She didn't know how it happened but she was not happy to say the least. One of her dear half-brothers was dead and the half-brother that she had just gotten back a year ago had been injured. Yes, she wasn't happy but, at least, Schneizel had spoken to Lelouch and learned that he was making a full recovery so that was good.

She honestly wasn't sure how she was going to break the news about Clovis to Euphie.

As it was, she wondered just how Nunnally had handled the news since she was positive Lelouch wouldn't let Nunnally find out by the media when the media made the news public.

Though that made her wonder just why the news hadn't been made public yet.

Pushing those thoughts out of her head, since she had something more important to worry about—that was her meeting with the Emperor to discuss her recent loss against the Liberators at Cairo—Cornelia finished the trek to the throne and knelt down. "Your Majesty," she said respectfully as she lowered her head.

"Cornelia," Emperor Charles zi Britannia's voice said. When she was a little girl growing up, Cornelia always attributed her father's voice to thunder since it was always so loud. As she grew older, she'd gotten used to it but, now, she could hear the thunderous qualities that had scared her when she was growing up.

"Your altercation with the Liberators in Cairo was...rather disappointing," Charles went on. "Of all people, I would have thought the Goddess of Victory would be able to handle the Liberators, especially since she's gone against them twice, and yet that is not what happened. Care to explain?"

Cornelia bit her lip but started speaking. "They did not use the same method that they used against me the last time that I fought against them, You Majesty, and it took my forces by surprise. I have no excuses," she said. She didn't. She'd lost; no matter what she threw at the Liberators, it hadn't been enough and she nearly lost an entire regiment as a result.

Charles hummed and Cornelia heard him stand up. "You failed to defeat the Liberators, despite knowing what it is you were facing; therefore, I am reassigning you. You may take the Glaston Knights with you but you are to be reassigned to Area 11. You will be the new Sub-Viceroy of Area 11 and, perhaps, you may use your battle prowess to aid the Demon Prince in his task of eradicating the terrorist threat in Area 11, supposing he needs it as that will be for him to decide."

Cornelia resisted the urge to wince, surprise flooding him as she realized what the Emperor was saying. While he didn't outright say it, he was basically stating that Cornelia was to be subordinate to her younger half-brother. But that brought about another question...

"Your Majesty, you said I would be Sub-Viceroy of Area 11. Who will be the new Viceroy?"

"The current Sub-Viceroy of course," the Emperor said calmly.

. . .

Shinjuku Ghetto, Area 11

Tadashi made his way down the street, heading toward the building Prince Lelouch had told him his little brother was hiding out in. At his side walked Rayne and Lila, whom Lelouch had told to go with him just to be safe, and they were scanning the area, looking around for any sign of terrorists. The ghetto was in poor shape; buildings were crumbling, bodies still littered the street—though Lelouch had ordered the Black Knights to give the people killed in the battle proper burials and Tadashi could see some of them walking around, retrieving the bodies—and debris covered the ground.

"Wow, still hard to believe what happened," Rayne said, gazing around with sadness in her eyes.

"Yeah," Lila murmured, shivering as she looked away from the bodies. Tadashi recalled that, while Lila had witnessed battle before since she graduated from basic training, she'd never actually seen so many civilian causalities. That was because they'd been working for Lelouch and Lelouch tried to avoid civilian causalities.

Tadashi had witnessed massacres before and walking down the streets of Shinjuku brought back memories of the vicious attack on Sapporo over a year ago.

Gritting his teeth and shoving the memory away, he moved quicker, wanting to get to his brother and reassure himself that his brother was all right. And also find out just where their father was.

They neared the building and Tadashi pushed open the door, hearing it creak as it swung open, and stepped into the building. He gazed around the dark building, pulling out a flashlight and turning it on, casting the beam of light around the decrepit living room, searching for where his brother might have hidden himself. He made his way deeper into the room. "Fuyuki?" he called, his voice echoing in the empty house.

Silence greeted him for a moment before Tadashi saw something stir in the corner and he turned his light to it, relief flooding him when he spotted his brother shielding his eyes from the bright light. "Oh thank God!" he said and darted over. Lelouch had said that his brother was alive but seeing his brother alive made all the worry he'd been feeling wash away.

He knelt beside his brother. "Are you okay? Hurt anywhere? What happened? Where's Dad?" he asked rapidly.

Fuyuki's eyes welled up with tears and he threw his arms around Tadashi's neck, burying his face into the burnt-orange-haired young man's chest, choked sobs escaping his lips. Tadashi blinked but curled his arms around his brother in an awkward hug; they have never been ones for physical affection but they did hug occasionally, such as on the anniversary of their mother's death.

"Hey, it's okay, bro, it's okay,." he said as soothingly as he could.

Fuyuki sobbed and pulled back, gazing at Tadashi with teary eyes. "Dad...he...he..." he trailed off and tears fell from his eyes again.

"What happened to Dad?" Tadashi asked, a bad feeling starting to go through him.

"He's...he's dead," Fuyuki whispered. "B...Britannia killed him!" He burst out crying again and Tadashi, teeth gritting, drew his brother closer to him, rubbing his back. He had seen the bodies that lay strewn across the bloodstained streets and many of them were Elevens but had simply thought that they'd been killed by the terrorists before he and the rest of the Royal Guard had managed to help the 1st Regiment get the terrorists' attention. And yet…

Did the 1st Regiment cause some of those civilian causalities? Did they kill my father?

Tadashi didn't know but it was likely because he and his fellow Royal Guard members sure as hell didn't.

"He didn't do anything wrong and they killed him," Fuyuki whispered.

"I know," Tadashi murmured, "but we knew that this could happen. Not everyone were like those soldiers that saved us at Sapporo, y'know? C'mon, little bro, let's go."

"Where am I gonna go?" Fuyuki said. "I don't...I don't wanna go home."

"Hey, don't worry 'bout that. We'll figure things out. I ain't gonna let nothing happen to ya," Tadashi said and gently helped Fuyuki to his feet. While he said that to, more or less, reassure his little brother, Fuyuki's question was a good one. Just where could he go?

Tadashi decided that getting him out of the Shinjuku Ghetto would be best for now. And, as he thought about it, he remembered that young man that his father had become friends with who lived on the edge of the ghetto. Maybe he would be willing to watch Fuyuki for the time being. "Hey, maybe ya can go with Hisoka for a while."

Fuyuki sniffed and nodded. "Y...Yeah, I...I guess but...but what about Dad?"

"Prince Lelouch has ordered that all the causalities be given a proper burial," Rayne said.

Fuyuki smiled a little, though his dark gray eyes were still sad. "Prince Lelouch really isn't like the media portrays him," he said as he followed Tadashi as he guided him out of the abandoned building.

. . .

March 23, 2017

Viceroy's Palace, Area 11

"Jeremiah!"

Jeremiah turned to find Kewell walking over to join him, blue eyes narrowed as he came to a stop next to the turquoise-haired young man. "What can I do for you, Kewell?" he said. He was just on his way to the Viceroy's Office to speak with Prince Lelouch; while he was still recovering from the bullet wound in his shoulder, Prince Lelouch was forced to step in as the Interim Viceroy due to his position as Sub-Viceroy until the new one was announced. In a sense, he was basically attempting to calm the chaos that was raging in the settlement following the battle in the Shinjuku Ghetto and Prince Clovis's assassination, which Lelouch had announced that morning when he informed the settlement that he was taking over as Interim Viceroy, and Jeremiah was trying to help him to the best of his ability.

"The situation in the settlement. It's getting worse," Kewell said.

"Yes, I know. And?"

"Haven't you considered that we need to appease the masses? Has any headway been made in finding the assassin?"

"No. Sir Kururugi said that the assassin leapt out of the window when he arrived."

"And he didn't go after him?" Kewell's brows crinkled in disbelief.

"Sir Kururugi is Prince Lelouch's Knight of Honor. The prince was his first priority," Jeremiah said. Even if he still didn't quite approve of Prince Lelouch's decision, there was no denying that Kururugi did take his duties extremely seriously, even more so when they were in public.

Kewell snorted. "I still can't believe the prince chose a Number to be his Knight. But that's not important. What is important is that we need to stop the chaos. If the assassin managed to escape then we should find a scapegoat to appease the public," he said. "And I have just the one; one of the only Eleven survivors that was last seen pretty close to the G1 Base. We can use him."

Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. "A civilian? His Highness would never approve of using a civilian like this," he said.

Kewell narrowed his eyes. "The prince has much on his mind at the moment, I'm sure, Jeremiah. Perhaps it would be best if we handled this matter ourselves," he said.

"He is the Interim Viceroy. We can't just do this behind his back. We must speak about it with him and I have no doubt he will not approve of your plan," Jeremiah said.

"And just how does he expect to handle this matter then?" Kewell demanded. "There will be riots in the streets if the Viceroy's killer, or a scapegoat in lieu of the Viceroy's real killer, isn't brought to justice. We need to do this."

"Kewell, you will do nothing unless His Highness says otherwise," Jeremiah snapped.

Kewell's lips twisted in a scowl. "Fine," he said, turned on his heel and strode off, back taut with fury.

Jeremiah watched him go and, making a mental note to contact Villetta and have her keep an eye on Kewell before he did something rash, turned around and began walking toward the Viceroy's Office again.

. . .

Viceroy's Office, Viceroy's Palace

Lelouch rested his forehead against the large glass windows of the Viceroy's Office, eyes closed as he took a few deep breaths to quench the nausea that was welling up within him while waving away Suzaku's concerned query with his good arm, since his other was in a sling again. Ever since the day before, when he'd been forced to tell Nunnally about the death of their elder half-brother, Lelouch had been trying to fight off the guilt. It wasn't as if this was the first time that he'd ever killed anyone, people had died during the engagements at Osaka, Sapporo, Hirosaki, and Akita after all—and he had been the one who killed Snows when Snows was trying to kill Suzaku—but this time, it was different.

This time, it was the elder half-brother that was one of only two that Lelouch had truly cared about.

This time, it was a half-sibling that Nunnally had become close to.

And seeing Nunnally cry…

I'm sorry, Nunnally, but Clovis wasn't the brother that you and I knew, that you'd become close to. What he did to Shinjuku and what he tried to do to me is evidence of that, he thought but hadn't told Nunnally because, doing so, he would have to admit what he did. He didn't like lying to his little sister but he couldn't bear to see what Nunnally's reaction would be if she found out that the true killer of Clovis was her very own big brother.

Again, guilt and nausea rolled deep within him and Lelouch took another deep breath, a faint smile crossing his lips. "Demon Prince indeed," he murmured to himself. "Demon Prince with a heart, I suppose." He chuckled bitterly, his eyes still closed.

"My prince?" Suzaku said in concern again.

"I'm fine, Suzaku," Lelouch said, opening his eyes once he'd calmed his nausea down and pushed the guilt away, constantly reminding himself that he had done what needed to be done. Adopting an apathetic mask, he turned and walked back to the desk just as the door swung open.

"Your Highness," Jeremiah greeted him with a bow.

"Jeremiah, how are things going with the search for the assassin?" Lelouch asked. He'd left Jeremiah in charge of that, after insuring that the assassination could not be traced back to him—there was a reason he'd used that terrorist he'd ordered to obey his every command in the way that he had, even if getting shot again hurt like hell.

"Nothing, Your Highness," Jeremiah said with a grimace. "Whoever Sir Kururugi had seen must have gone to ground and I have found no one matching Sir Kururugi's description. We are still looking, however."

Lelouch hummed. No surprise there. That had been my final order to that terrorist and I have no doubt Kallen and her terrorist friends have gone to ground too. Hmm, speaking of Kallen, that's another problem that I am going to have to tackle. He did not like the idea of having a terrorist anywhere near Nunnally, not after what happened with Tara, but he would take into account the fact that Kallen had been the one to warn Nunnally before the first assassination attempt.

And he still had to interrogate Tara. Now that he had Geass, he was planning on using it to get the answers that he still wanted, about Tara's own Geass power and why she went after Nunnally.

For now, though, he had to focus on the matter at hand. "For now, just keep searching," he said out loud. He had to make it seem, to the public anyway, that he was doing his part in finding his half-brother's assassin after all.

"Yes, Your Highness. I did find out something else though."

"Oh? What would that be?"

"I found the identity of the group that attacked the outskirts of the settlement that the 1st Regiment managed to drive away. When I asked some members of the 1st Regiment, they informed me that the terrorists came from the Saitama Ghetto. And the Saitama Ghetto, I know, is the home to the Yamato Alliance."

Lelouch hummed, eyes narrowed in thought. Was it possible that the Yamato Alliance was responsible for both attacks? He thought.

. . .

Shinjuku Ghetto, Area 11

Kewell Soresi made his way down the street, ignoring the various members of the Black Knights that were roaming around, gathering the bodies of the deceased. Even if most of them were Elevens, Prince Lelouch still insisted that they be given a proper burial The prince was still young and his sympathy toward the Elevens was often overlooked because of his fearsome reputation; however, in light of recent events, it was clear that the prince was too busy with running the country for the time being to actually track down the assassin.

And, thus, the public were getting restless awaiting for justice to be served.

Kewell didn't understand why Jeremiah didn't seem to understand that. Jeremiah had changed since the Eleventh Prince returned to the Royal Family and it irked Kewell that Jeremiah had obviously forgotten what it meant to be a purist. And to be loyal to a half-commoner at that! It was ridiculous.

Kewell may not like that Prince Lelouch was half-commoner but there was no denying that the prince had accomplished what Kewell never expected him to accomplish in his victory at Sapporo. To a degree, Kewell respected the Demon Prince but the boy was still young and far too sympathetic toward the Elevens, the very same group of people that was responsible for his elder half-brother's murder.

So Kewell was doing the prince a good service in ensuring that the Elevens knew their place and, in lieu of the real killer, someone would get punished for what happened to Prince Clovis.

He and the three purists that were behind him, Villetta stood at his side in confusion since Kewell hadn't told he about what he was doing, came to a stop in front of a house. He recalled that Eleven boy that was part of Prince Lelouch's Royal Guard had guided the Eleven there the day before.

"Why are we here, Kewell? Villetta asked, narrowing her golden eyes.

"Helping His Highness," Kewell said, not letting on that he hadn't, exactly, been given permission to do this but he was sure the prince would understand the necessity of having a scapegoat before the chaos got worse. He moved toward the door and knocked on it.

The door opened and an Eleven man opened it. "Um, can I help you?" he said.

"Yes, we're here for Fuyuki Akiyama," Kewell said calmly.

"Why?"

"At the moment, that is not for you to know. Where is he?"

"Hisoka? Is something wrong?" A young boy that couldn't be older than fifteen asked as he came to the elder man's side, his dirty blonde hair framing his quietly depressed face.

"Are you Fuyuki Akiyama?" Kewell asked.

"Um, yeah, what's this about?" Fuyuki asked.

Kewell stepped forward and stated firmly, "Fuyuki Akiyama, you are hereby under arrest for the murder of Prince Clovis la Britannia and the attempted murder of Prince Lelouch vi Britannia."

. . .

Off to the side, watching the entire scene, Inoue narrowed her eyes, her grip tightening on her gun as she watched the poor boy, his dark gray eyes wide with shock as he tried vainly to protest his innocence. Why? Why would they arrest a civilian for what happened? She thought.

Inoue was only there because she actually lived nearby and had gone back to her rundown apartment to get changed and also see if she could find any traces of where Yoshida went, or if he had ended up as one of the causalities. While she had found Yoshida, unconscious in an alley with, for some odd reason, glass embedded in his arm, she had not been expecting to find one of the few civilians to survive the massacre being arrested.

"C'mon, Yoshida, let's get back," Inoue said, tucking her gun away. Michal and Reyes will wanna know about this, she thought.

The two of them darted off, Yoshida nursing his arm which was still bleeding a little from the glass shards, and Inoue glanced at him. "What happened?" she asked.

"I...honestly don't remember," Yoshida said in bewilderment, looking at his arm.

Inoue frowned. "Maybe you hit your head or something?" she suggested.

"Maybe."

The two reached the temporary base that Ohgi had claimed the day before and Inoue noticed that all of the members of the Kozuki Resistance, minus Kallen, were there as were Michal, Reyes, Susumu, a tall, dark-green-haired young man, and Taichi, a brown-haired young man.

"Everything okay?" Sugiyama asked as Inoue guided Yoshida over to a chair, ordering him to sit down and, tracking down a pair of tweezers and a roll of bandages, began to slowly remove the shards of glass from her friend's arm.

"Not really," she said and explained what happened.

"What?! Why those Britannian bastards!" Tamaki shouted.

"They're blaming a civilian for what happened to Prince Clovis and Prince Lelouch?" Ohgi said in shock.

"They must not have been able to find who really did it but to use a civilian..." Michal shook his head, disgust marring his features and also confusion. "But I don't understand. Prince Lelouch went out of his way to have his men avoid civilian causalities so why would he use a civilian as a scapegoat like this? It just doesn't make any sense."

"What do we do?" Minami asked.

"Is there anything we can do, Michal?" Susumu asked, frowning in concern.

Michal's lips pressed together, eyes narrowed in thought.

"What if we claimed credit for it?" Reyes suddenly suggested, causing everyone to look at him. "The Liberators, I mean. Prince Clovis was the one responsible for the massacre so it wouldn't exactly be out of character that we'd take out an enemy commander who is far from innocent."

Michal frowned. "I'll have to talk with Unity about this," he said. "I should also get into contact with our spy. She might be able to find out if the prince had anything to do with this or if his men were acting on their own."

. . .

Viceroy's Office, Viceroy's Palace

Lelouch was going through the information he had on the Yamato Alliance when a knock sounded on his door. Lifting his head, he called, "come in!" and watched as Villetta Nu, her silver hair swinging behind her, strode into the room and saluted.

"Your Highness," she greeted him.

"And what brings you here, Major Nu?" Lelouch asked, putting down the paper he'd been reading.

Villetta lowered her hand. "Your Highness, is the investigation into who assassinated Prince Clovis still going on?" she asked.

Lelouch blinked, frowning in confusion. "Yes, it is. Why do you ask?"

"Because Lieutenant Colonel Soresi arrested someone earlier for the assassination of Prince Clovis, Your Highness," Villetta said.

"What?" That's not possible. "Who?"

"A boy by the name of Fuyuki Akiyama, Your Highness."

"What?!" Tadashi shouted, jumping to his feet, dark-gray eyes flashing with shock and anger. "They arrested my brother? He didn't do nothing! He was hiding in that building the entire time, on Prince Lelouch's orders, for crying out loud!"

"Warrant Officer Akiyama, calm down now," Lelouch said firmly, standing up.

"But..."

"Warrant Officer, let me handle this. Your brother won't be charged for a crime that he did not commit. I will, personally, see to his release," Lelouch said, jaw clenched as he strode around the desk and toward the door. "Where are they now?"

"The boy's in interrogation now, Your Highness," Villetta said.

"Very well." Lelouch stormed out of the office, furious that Soresi would actually use an innocent civilian as a scapegoat, because that was what the boy was, and behind his back at that!

Suzaku fell into step beside him as the rest of his Royal Guard filed out after him, Jeremiah was shaking his head and muttering under his breath, as they walked.

. . .

Interrogation Chamber, Tokyo Military Base

"I didn't do nothing wrong," Fuyuki cried. "I already told you where I was! Prince Lelouch, himself, ordered me to hide in an abandoned building and play dead should the terrorists stop by and that's what I did 'till my brother found me."

"We have evidence that suggests otherwise," Kewell said coolly.

"Then it's false! I didn't do it! I have a damn alibi. Just ask Prince Lelouch himself!" Fuyuki cried out as one of the purists next to him struck him hard across the face and Kewell's eyes narrowed. He just needed the boy to take the fall, to confess but he was obviously going to be stubborn.

"You're lying. Why would Prince Lelouch associate with an Eleven?" Kewell said.

"He saved my life when a Britannian soldier tried to kill me," Fuyuki spat and cried out again when he was punched in the face by the purist.

"There you go with the lies again," Kewell said. Damn, he's stubborn, he thought.

Fuyuki, ignoring that, added, "And his Knight's an Eleven. If that's not associating with Elevens, I don't know what is."

Kewell's lips twitched because the brat did have a point but he ignored that as the same purist punched him hard in the side, knocking him out of his chair. "You would be better off admitting to your crime. It will mean the difference between a life sentence or execution," he said.

"Fuck you, you bastard! I'm innocent," Fuyuki shouted, the first half of his sentence in the Eleven's banned language but the rest in Britannian. He cried out, again, when the same purist kicked him in the side.

The door to the interrogation chamber slammed open at that moment.

"What the hell is going on here?" Prince Lelouch's voice snarled and Kewell, standing up quickly, turned with a salute as did the rest of the purists.

"Your Highness, I was just..." Kewell began.

"Save it, Lieutenant Colonel," Prince Lelouch cut him off. "Major Nu explained what you did, without my consent. The boy you have arrested is innocent and I will not have you attempt to use an innocent civilian as a scapegoat because you are unable to find the true culprit behind my brother's murder. Warrant Officer Akiyama, release the boy now."

The burnt-orange-haired Eleven didn't need to be told twice as he darted around Prince Lelouch and over to the other boy's side, kneeling down beside him. "It's okay, little brother. I'll have ya outta this in a jiffy," he said as he started to work on removing the younger boy's restraints.

"I will deal with your punishment for going behind my back and undermining my authority later. For now, you are all dismissed," Prince Lelouch said coolly, his expression dark and his eyes like amethyst icicles.

Kewell, jaw clenching, saluted. "Yes, Your Highness," he said before he and the rest of the purists filed out of the room.

. . .

After Kewell left, Tadashi looked up from where he was helping his brother into a sitting position. "What will happen to him?" he asked, slinging his arm around his little brother's shoulder as the smaller boy slowly got to his feet, wincing as he moved.

"I'll deal with it. It seems they treated you rather roughly, Mr. Akiyama," Lelouch said, turning to Fuyuki who was leaning against Tadashi, face tight and eyes glittering with pain. "Warrant Officer, take him to the medical ward. Lieutenant Moore, go with him to ensure that Mr. Akiyama gets the proper medical care."

Tadashi grimaced because he knew that, because they were in the middle of a military base that was run primarily by Britannians, and Britannians who disliked Elevens, that was necessary. Tadashi has always known that the number of Britannians who were like Lelouch or the rest of Lelouch's Royal Guard, excluding Jeremiah, was very small.

"C'mon, Fuyuki, let's go," he said and guided his brother out of the interrogation room. Lila moved to his side and the three of them made their way down the corridor toward the elevator.

Fuyuki lifted his head to look at Lila. "Is this one of your friends?" he asked.

"Yeah, this is Lila. Lila, my brother Fuyuki," Tadashi said.

"It's nice to meet you," Lila said with a slight incline of her head.

Fuyuki leaned closer to Tadashi and whispered, "Wow, she's pretty."

"Yeah, she is," Tadashi said with a faint blush reddening his cheeks. Lila, overhearing Fuyuki, also blushed a little and looked away.

"Ah, let's get to the medical ward," she said quickly, sounding a bit flustered, much like she had when she'd comforted Tadashi on the roof back in Sapporo after he'd fired that shot that killed a terrorist who was as young as them. His lips quirked but he said nothing as he and Fuyuki followed the blonde girl into the elevator.

They rode it in silence to one of the upper floors until Fuyuki broke it. "I just don't understand. Why would they think I did that to Prince Clovis? And why would I harm Prince Lelouch? He saved my life," he said in confusion and turned to Tadashi. "Prince Lelouch said that they were going to use me as a scapegoat. But why?"

Tadashi sighed. "I dunno, little bro," he said because he honestly didn't. Well, not entirely anyway. He knew that the Britannian military hadn't found who assassinated Prince Clovis and harmed Prince Lelouch, Jeremiah had made that clear and had also made it clear that the terrorist had likely gone to ground. So he suspected that played a part in why Fuyuki had been arrested, even if he wasn't a member of the military, but he still couldn't figure out the real reason why.

Maybe Lelouch will know. I can ask him anyway, he thought as they left the elevator and began walking to the medical ward.

. . .

Viceroy's Office, Viceroy's Palace

Dimitri was in the midst of searching through the various articles, reports, and various other pieces of information that he'd managed to obtain about recent events when something popped up. Pulling up the tab on which he'd kept the news site, which updated its database constantly with new news reports around the world, he blinked in surprise by what had appeared. He opened the article, narrowing his eyes as he quietly read the headline, a bit surprised when he read just who the article was written by as well:

The Liberators Strike Back! Prince Clovis's Assassin Revealed

By Ella Weitz

TOKYO SETTLEMENT, AREA 11—On March 21, 2017, a terrorist attack in the Shinjuku Ghetto, just outside of the Tokyo Settlement, occurred. While the details of the battle are unclear, one thing is clear; Prince Clovis la Britannia, Third Prince and Viceroy of Area 11, was found dead in the command center of his G1 Base in the wake of the attack, assassinated at the hands of a terrorist. Though no one knows just how the terrorist managed to get into the base, many blame it on the incompetence of the 1st Regiment who remained behind to guard Prince Clovis, we have received news of just who was responsible for the assassination. It was none other than the Liberators themselves.

The Liberators is a well-known, very powerful, and very large terrorist organization who was known for having an impressive streak of victories against Britannia until the White Prince of Britannia, Schneizel el Britannia, and the Demon Prince of Britannia, Lelouch vi Britannia, handed them back-to-back defeats. It should not surprise many that the Liberators would seek revenge for these losses; so why was it that Prince Clovis was killed and Prince Lelouch, who had been injured in the fight in the G1 that led to the Third Prince's death, was spared?

The Liberators' mysterious leader, a man simply known by the nickname Unity, had this to say in the video clip he had sent to the media that revealed his organization's part in Prince Clovis's assassination:

"Prince Clovis la Britannia, as you well know, was assassinated on the afternoon of March 21, 2017, and it was by our hand. The Liberators stand with those who seek freedom from the tyrannical oppression of the Holy Empire of Britannia but we do not stand by those who harm the innocent for no reason. That is exactly what Prince Clovis did. Even though the terrorists, a radical group known as the Yamato Alliance, were the ones he was fighting against from the moment they bombed the edge of the settlement and killed many innocents, Prince Clovis had his men turn their fire onto the civilians themselves. Men, women, and children were gunned down at the behest of the Third Prince for no reason other than they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Therefore, my Liberators took matters into their own hands. We assassinated Prince Clovis for the atrocity that he committed in the Shinjuku Ghetto. The Demon Prince, who was present at the time of the assassination, was spared for one reason only. He did not partake in the vicious assault on the civilians of the Shinjuku Ghetto, instead focusing his men's efforts on fighting off the Yamato Alliance and that is something I can respect. Prince Clovis, however, did what he did for no other reason than his own hurt pride and that is something that I will not tolerate. The Liberators will continue to defend the innocent and defend those who cannot fight for themselves just as we will continue to show respect toward those who are willing to fight us head-on and will not use civilians to further their own selfish agendas."

The Liberators, having remained hidden since their disastrous defeat at the hands of the Demon Prince at Sapporo, have made their statement known to the world. They remain a powerful organization and their actions here, with the assassination of Prince Clovis, have clearly revealed that they are not defeated yet.

No word yet on how Interim Viceroy of Area 11, Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, is responding to this public confession.

When were you going to tell me that you'd been promoted out of intern, Ella? Dimitri thought. Granted he'd been busy since he last spoke with Ella at Aomori so he supposed that was why. He pushed the thought aside and refocused on the matter at hand.

"Your Highness?" he said, lifting his head from the article to look toward the prince who was resting his chin on his palm, glaring at the computer screen in front of him, his lips twisted into a slight scowl.

"Yes, Dimitri?" he said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"You read it too?"

"Yes. It seems the Liberators have decided to make their move after all, though whether they are truly behind my half-brother's assassination or are just taking credit for something someone else did, I do not yet know," Prince Lelouch said, his lips pressed together in a thin line and eyes narrowed in thought. "I will have to speak to the public in response to this confession soon. Jeremiah!"

"Yes, Your Highness?" Jeremiah said.

"Contact Diethard Ried. He did well in broadcasting the Battle of Sapporo as well as my Knight's Knighting Ceremony so I will have him broadcast my response to the Liberators' leader's words," Prince Lelouch said.

"Yes, Your Highness." Jeremiah pulled out his phone and walked out of the office, resting his phone against his ear as he did so.

Prince Lelouch leaned back against his seat, his eyes once again on the screen, brow furrowed slightly.

It was late afternoon. The sun was slowly ascending down to the horizon, casting shadows into the office as it drifted into silence for several long minutes.

"So can I ask you something, or, er, a couple of things actually?" Tadashi said, breaking the silence.

Prince Lelouch glanced toward him. "What is it?" he said.

"Well, first off, what ever happened to Lieutenant Colonel Soresi and the others with him?" Tadashi asked since he had still been in the medical ward with his younger brother when Soresi and his men had been called into the office for their punishment. Dimitri had to admit he was thankful that he hadn't been the one to get on the prince's bad side.

The prince turned his gaze back to the screen, scrolling through it a bit as he said, "They were stripped of their rank, demoted back down to an ordinary soldier, and the purist faction that they were part of was disbanded. Major Nu was the only one to be spared because she was the one who brought their insubordination to my attention. I would have court martialed them but I figured demotion would be a much better punishment. If they step out of line again, though, I will not be so lenient." His voice darkened just a bit at that but he cleared it up as he added, "How is your brother?"

"Still a bit shaken but he's fine. I walked him back to Hisoka's earlier. He'll be fine. He's a strong kid," Tadashi said.

Prince Lelouch nodded. "And what was that other thing you wished to ask me?" he said.

Tadashi hesitated, then asked, "Why did they use Fuyuki? I mean, you said that he was being used as a scapegoat but why…?" He trailed off.

The prince was silent for a long moment. "It was convenient for them. When in doubt, blame the Numbers. It's been done many times in the past so why wouldn't they do it now?" he said.

"That's wrong though," Suzaku objected. "Fuyuki was innocent and a civilian."

"I never said it was right, Suzaku, I just said that it's been done many times so it's not that big of a surprise that they would do it again since they weren't able to find the real assassin," Prince Lelouch said and went back to scrolling through whatever was on his computer screen.

Dimitri returned his attention to his computer, minimizing the tab with the news article on it and going back to examining the reports he'd obtained. A few of them were messages that he intercepted sent among the various military officials throughout Area 11; Prince Lelouch had asked him to keep an eye on that to ensure that no one else did what Prince Clovis and the 1st Regiment did in not informing him of a terrorist threat.

One such message was a new one though and Dimitri pulled it up when he noticed it was addressed directly to the prince but was encrypted. He narrowed his eyes since the encryption made it impossible to see just where the message came from, at least unless he could break the encryption.

"Your Highness, I've got something that you might want to see. It's encrypted and is addressed personally to you. The message itself is not encrypted but they encrypted the return address," he said, turning his attention to the prince.

Prince Lelouch frowned. "What is the message?" he asked.

Dimitri turned to the message and opened it up, eyes widening a little when he read the message out loud for the prince to hear:

Nightfall wants you dead.

We do not.

And, at the bottom of the message, was the crest of the Liberators.

"But what does that mean?" Rayne asked in confusion.

"I think it's fairly obvious," Prince Lelouch said. "Nightfall is acting on his own but wants me to believe that the entire Liberators organization is the one after me. Unity, or whoever sent that message if it wasn't Unity, clearly wants me to know that Nightfall is, indeed, acting on his own. Granted, that is supposing this message is authentic. Dimitri, any way to figure out if the message is an authentic one?"

"I cannot do it but I can send it to the analysts in the Intelligence Department and they might be able to figure it out," Dimitri said.

"Then send it."

"Yes, Your Highness."

. . .

Kozuki Resistance's Temporary Base, Shinjuku Ghetto

"...half-brother's death will not go unpunished. Now that the true culprits behind his murder have been revealed, I will ensure that justice is served. To Unity, the leader of the Liberators, this is my message to you: I respect that you are willing to try and ensure there are no civilian causalities but I cannot respect the hypocritical nature of your words. You say that you will defend those who cannot defend themselves but what happened last Christmas is proof that you do not adhere to your own words. Or, possibly, you have no control over your own organization and the crimes of your subordinates are your responsibility. As a leader, you are responsible for their actions," Prince Lelouch was saying on the television screen later that evening, his face dark and his eyes were cold. It was a far-cry from how he always looked whenever he was around Nunnally. A mask, Kallen decided. The mask of the Demon Prince.

"Grr, damn you, Nightfall," Reyes growled.

"I believe he did receive my message though," Unity said on the computer screen as they were video chatting with him when Prince Lelouch came on the air. "Otherwise, I do not think he'd have included that last part."

"It's like he's saying 'keep your dogs on a tighter leash'," Reyes mused.

Kallen had to admit that, if she really thought about it, the prince's words could be interpreted like that. She only listened with half an ear to the rest of the prince's speech as she turned her attention back to Ohgi and her friends, and the mysterious B.B. character who was seated by the broken window, brow furrowed as he gazed outside.

"Now what?" Tamaki asked. "I mean, we fulfilled our end of our deal with Michal."

"You still have to fulfill your end of our deal," Unity said. "I still want the Demon Prince, alive and unharmed."

"Tch. You're asking the impossible," Tamaki scoffed.

"And, frankly, I can't see him turning against his family, not after that speech of his," Inoue admitted as the speech came to an end.

"But I will not know that for sure until I speak with him myself. I need to know more about him and there is only so much I can figure out when my spy has very little contact with him," Unity said, which briefly made Kallen wonder just who Unity's spy was. She hadn't bothered on asking, since she knew that he wouldn't tell her, but she was still curious.

"At the very least, if you can't get to the prince, chances are neither can Nightfall, which is a good thing," Reyes commented.

"Not when it comes to actually capturing the Demon Prince," Tamaki huffed, throwing up his hands in frustration. "Damn it. It's like you're asking for some sort of miracle or something! We can't just waltz right into the Viceroy's Palace and kidnap him."

"Especially not with his Royal Guard and his Knight around him all the time," Kallen agreed.

"Then get him alone," B.B. said from by the window, still not looking at any of them.

"Tch, easy for you to say. Just how the hell can we do that?" Tamaki scoffed. He, like the rest of the Kozuki Resistance, didn't exactly trust the mysterious B.B. but, since the prince was looking for him, they thought that they could use him to draw the prince in. However, in light of recent events, Kallen wasn't so sure that would work.

Frankly, the only reason that B.B. was staying with them was because he knew too much and had admitted that he had no intention of leaving anytime soon for some reason he refused to explain.

"I am sure that there will come a time when you can get him alone. When in battle, for example, you could separate him from his men then since Sapporo is evidence that he does fight with his men on the battlefield," B.B. said calmly.

"It'd still be tough," Ohgi said.

"Yeah, especially since he is a pretty strong pilot. He was able to hold his own against Nightfall for a while and that's difficult to do, especially with Nightfall trying to kill him the entire time," Michal mused.

"Nevertheless, our deal still stands. If you want more support, resources, and weapons then you must capture the Demon Prince," Unity said.

"Still think it's an impossible mission," Tamaki growled.

Kallen had to agree.

Michal suddenly smiled. "Well, you might have your chance of trying next week," he said.

"Why do you say that?" Sugiyama said.

"Susumu"—the spy who'd returned to the Yamato Alliance on Michal's orders the day before, and was only there to report—"reported that the Yamato Alliance is planning something for the Weapons Depot northwest of the settlement next Thursday. And wouldn't it be interesting if such information was slipped to the Demon Prince, a Demon Prince who is already well aware of who was behind the attack on the outskirts of the settlement and who supposedly started the incident a few days ago? After all, Unity has already put the blame for the attack on the edge of the settlement and the fight that led to the massacre on the Yamato Alliance after all."

Kallen's jaw dropped. "You put the blame for the Shinjuku incident on the Yamato Alliance?" she repeated.

"Yes," Unity said simply.

"I see you share Michal's opinion on the Yamato Alliance," Reyes mused. "Can't say I blame ya if their leader really is Nightfall-level psychotic."

Ohgi nodded in agreement. "Naoto never really got along with the Yamato Alliance after their old leader Izumi was killed. Actually, none of us really did," he said.

Kallen raised an eyebrow. She hadn't known about that. "When did this happen?"

"It was before Naoto agreed to let you start spending more time at the base," Ohgi admitted.

"Just how bad are they if they're Nightfall-level psychotic?"

"It's not them, it's the leader. The rest of the members are just sheep who do whatever their new leader tells them," Michal said coolly. "They are radical terrorists, plain and simple. What Unity said happened in that message he gave to the media is the truth."

Kallen gritted her teeth. Killing civilians, innocents...It was then that she realized the enormity of what Michal was saying earlier. Her jaw dropped again. "You plan on setting the Demon Prince on the Yamato Alliance?" she said.

The devious smirks on Unity's and Michal's faces answered that question.

"And you might be able to use that battle to get to the prince, possibly if the opportunity presents itself," Michal said.

Kallen glanced at her friends, still in surprise but saw that Ohgi was looking thoughtful if a bit nervous.

"It's a risk," he said finally. "But...we need the resources and the weapons."

"Yeah, still sounds impossible but, hey, we might get lucky," Tamaki said.

"Yeah, though we should, um, try to come up with a plan of sorts," Ohgi said. Kallen smiled encouragingly at the former teacher, knowing that he was still very nervous and hadn't yet gathered all the confidence he needed to be their leader. He was getting there but Kallen knew that it would take time.

"Yeah. Well, we've got a week. Might as well make the most of it," Minami said.

. . .

March 25, 2017

Throne Room, Imperial Palace, Pendragon

Cornelia sat down next to her brother Schneizel, gazing out at the sea of faces that stretched out in front of her. The memorial for her brother Prince Clovis was to take place in a few minutes while the funeral itself would occur within a few days of Clovis's body returning to Pendragon. However, Cornelia, and her little sister Euphie, would already be in Area 11 by the time that happened. The Emperor had ordered Cornelia to set out as soon as the memorial was over and so she, and the Glaston Knights and Euphie, would be on the next plane out of Pendragon.

She still wasn't exactly happy with her new predicament because she knew it was a punishment. It was supposed to be a punishment, striking her in her pride by forcing her to become subordinate to her younger half-brother.

She didn't blame Lelouch for that. Her younger half-brother really had achieved an impressive victory over the Liberators and, while it was irritating that he'd managed that, she was rather proud of her little half-brother's achievement. He'd really amassed a strong reputation as a result but then, she knew that would happen; the Liberators were such a large and powerful threat that to face off against a cell of the Liberators' organization was a trial that could make or break a person.

For Lelouch, it had caused the reputation he'd started to make for himself after his victory at Osaka to skyrocket to the point that even choosing a Number as a Knight hadn't affected it in the slightest.

That brought another thought to Cornelia's mind. Just why did he choose a Number to be his Knight of Honor? She resolved to ask her little half-brother when she arrived in Area 11.

Schneizel cast a sidelong glance at her and Cornelia, realizing that the memorial was starting, immediately straightened up, her grief over Clovis's death slipping onto her face for a brief moment before she masked it again. Their father stood up and strode to the podium and opened his mouth as he began to speak.

"All men are not created equal. Some are born swifter afoot. Some with greater beauty. Some are born into poverty. And others are born sick and feeble, both in birth and upbringing. In sheer scope of ability, every human is inherently different. Yes, that is why people discriminate against one another. Which is why there is struggle, competition and the unfaltering march of progress. Inequality is not wrong, equality is! What of the E.U., which made equality a right? Rabble politics by a popularity contest. The Chinese Federation with its equal distribution of wealth? A nation of lazy dullards! But not our beloved Britannia. We fight, we compete! Evolution is continuous! Britannia alone moves forward, advancing steadily into the future. Even the death of my son Clovis demonstrates Britannia's unswerving commitment to progress. We will fight on! We shall struggle, compete, plunder and dominate! And in the end, the future shall be ours. All hail Britannia!"

"All hail Britannia! All hail Britannia! All hail Britannia!" The rest of the sea of faces chanted.

. . .

Auditorium, Ashford Academy

"All hail Britannia! All hail Britannia! All hail Britannia!"

Lelouch had to fight hard to keep his apathetic mask on and not glare daggers of hatred at the Emperor whose image dominated the screen. Inwardly, he was sneering. Of course you would speak a motivational speech during your own son's funeral. Of course, he thought.

The Emperor raised a hand, causing the clamor in the throne room to calm down, before he stated, "As such, as of today, as proof that Britannia is moving toward the future and is following its commitment to progress forward, I hereby declare the new Viceroy of Area 11. From this day forward, the new Viceroy of Area 11 shall be my son, the Demon Prince of Britannia himself, Prince Lelouch vi Britannia!"

Lelouch started, surprise flitting across his face but he abruptly masked it except for the slightest narrowing of his eyes. Why? Why are you giving me so much power? He thought, recalling that he was still in charge of the terrorist threat of Area 11, essentially giving him almost full control of the military—General Andon still maintained full control—but now he had full political control of Area 11?

What are you planning, dearest father? Lelouch thought scornfully.

"Wow, that's big news, Big Brother. Father must be really proud of you to give you this position, though I'm not sure why he did it during this memorial," Nunnally said as she turned her bluish purple eyes to Lelouch and he gave her a small, half-smile, still marveling just a little bit at the miracle that gave Nunnally her eyesight back.

She was dressed in a black dress with a veil covering her eyes to show her mourning for their elder half-brother and, while her eyes were still sad, there was genuine happiness mingled with confusion in her eyes upon hearing the Emperor's order.

"He rarely addresses the public anyway so, perhaps, he thought it would be pragmatic to include that announcement now," Lelouch replied.

"I guess." Nunnally tilted her head to the side, her eyes thoughtful. "Well, you were the Sub-Viceroy so I suppose it's not that big of a surprise that you'd get this position. I wonder what Clovis is thinking. Do you think he's happy wherever he is, Big Brother?"

Lelouch resisted the urge to look away as guilt welled up within him again. He gave his little sister another faint smile. "I'm sure he is, Little Sister," he said.

"Maybe he's up there painting. Since we both know he loves to paint," Nunnally said.

"Yeah, maybe."

. . .

Kozuki Resistance's Temporary Base, Shinjuku Ghetto

"Well, that just made this a hell of a lot harder," Tamaki huffed as they all listened to the Emperor's announcement.

"We might still be able to pull it off if we find an opening during the fight at the Weapons Depot," Sugiyama said.

Kaname nodded in agreement, pressing his lips together. "But if we fail at the Weapons Depot then our chances will be a hell of a lot slimmer. He's going to be even more protected now than before," he said. He knew he was restating the obvious but he couldn't help but reinforce that fact. Even if Michal and Reyes still wanted him and the rest of the Kozuki Resistance to go through with the harebrained task, they had to know that it was going to be even tougher now.

"We know that, Ohgi," Yoshida said.

Kaname sighed. "What I'm trying to ask is: do you think the Liberators' support as well as its resources and weapons is worth the risk?" he said. He wasn't trying to dissuade them from the task, he was just trying to ensure that they knew of just how hard it was going to be, of just how risky it was. Naoto would have done the same thing.

"I think it's worth the risk," Sugiyama said finally. "We've been risking everything since the first moment we formed this resistance, since the first moment that Naoto approached all of us and asked us if we would be willing to put our lives on the line to fight to liberate Japan."

"Agreed," Inoue said with a nod. "Capturing the prince will be just like fighting the Britannian military; in both instances, we will be putting our lives on the line. Granted, I will admit that capturing the prince will likely be worse if we're caught."

"Yeah but, like Sugiyama said, we've been risking everything since we first got together," Minami said. "We've all run the risk of being arrested and interrogated every time we go against Britannia. Hell, stealing that poison gas capsule could have gotten Kallen and Nagata captured themselves." The entire group fell silent at the mention of the friend they'd lost during the Shinjuku crisis a few days earlier.

"I agree with all of you," Kaname said because they all brought up the same points that he was going to bring up when asked for his own opinion. "It'll be tough but if you're all willing to try then we can try. That's really all we can do."

The rest of the Kozuki Resistance nodded in agreement.

"What of Kallen?" Tamaki asked.

"I'll speak with her about this the next time I contact her," Kaname said.

. . .

March 26, 2017

Viceroy's Office, Viceroy's Palace

Lelouch gazed out the window of his new permanent office now that the 'interim' in his title was gone. He was still surprised that the Emperor was handing him complete political control of Area 11, and a near complete militaristic control as well since Schneizel had contacted him last night and informed him that his orders for the military was still in effect. But, essentially speaking, he had Area 11, Japan, in the palm of his hand.

He had the country that he saw as more of a home than Pendragon would ever be under his near complete control.

But if he could get complete control of Area 11, of Japan, then he could definitely use that to his advantage. However, in order to do that, he would need to be the Commander-in-Chief of the 11th Division and, at the moment, that was General Andon's position.

For now, he would play the role of Viceroy as the Emperor wanted him to do. No sense in making the Emperor suspicious of his ambitions; it would be best if Lelouch kept some of his cards close to him, especially his new Geass power.

Suzaku knew about it, primarily because he had seen it in action and Lelouch refused to use the power on his best friend for any reason, but Lelouch also trusted him with that secret.

He'd also tested it. He wanted to ensure that he worked out all the limitations that the power had before he used it on Tara and on anyone else who was important. So far, he'd found out that it requires eye contact, it could be used for up to a range of about two hundred meters, it could affect more than one person at once as long as they were within his metaphorical line of sight, and, finally, it could only be used on a person once.

As far as Lelouch knew, those were all of the limitations since he hadn't found out whether there was a time limit or not yet.

There was a knock on the door at that moment and Lelouch looked toward it, puzzled since he was pretty sure he didn't have any meetings that day. "Come in," he called, turning away from the window.

The door opened and then, to Lelouch's surprise, a flurry of pink shot across the office.

"Lelouch!"

Lelouch was knocked back against the window, wincing as his shoulder spiked in pain as a very familiar pink-haired princess hugged him. "Euphie?" he said surprised as Euphie pulled back, smiling, her lavender eyes bright.

"Euphie! I thought I told you not to do that when we got here," Cornelia's voice exclaimed in exasperation and Lelouch lifted his head to find Cornelia standing in front of the door, one hand on her forehead as she glared at her now sheepishly smiling little sister.

"Sorry but I just wanted to make sure he was all right," Euphie said, releasing Lelouch and stepping back.

"Almost driving him through a window doesn't help in that endeavor, Euphie," Cornelia said dryly.

Euphie blushed. "Sorry, Lelouch," she said. Her eyes landed on the Lelouch's arm, which was currently still in a sling from the gunshot wound, and she gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were injured."

"It's fine, Euphie," Lelouch assured her, placing his good hand on her shoulder before turning to Cornelia. "But what brings you two here, Nellie?"

Cornelia made her way forward. "The Emperor's orders," she said. "I am to be your new Sub-Viceroy."

Lelouch blinked. Cornelia was going to be his new Sub-Viceroy? She was going to be his subordinate? He didn't know whether to be shocked by the new arrangement or amused that his elder half-sister was going to have to follow his orders. So he settled on a mixture of the two.

"Well, that is quite the surprise," he said. "And why would Father"—oh how he hated that word but he had to keep up appearances—"have the Chief General of Britannia be my subordinate?"

"He thinks that, after Cairo, I was to be reassigned and that, if you need it, I am to help you with the terrorist threat here in Area 11," Cornelia said with thinned lips. It was clear she hated having to relay such orders, that the Emperor's orders for her were really doing a number on her pride. "As such, I and the Glaston Knights are here should you need us."

Lelouch waved a hand for Cornelia and Euphie to sit down as he walked over to his desk. "Your battle prowess is commendable and having you work alongside me to destroy the terrorist threat is not an opportunity that I am going to pass up," he said as he watched Cornelia and Euphie sit down. "What about Euphie?"

"Um, well, I wanted to experience high school," Euphie said shyly. "You know, as an actual student rather than being homeschooled. Nellie doesn't want me to, since she says it's too dangerous, but...I mean Nunnally goes to school so why can't I?" She sounded defensive, her brow furrowed in stubborn determination.

Lelouch chuckled. "I see you've grown more stubborn," he said and turned to Cornelia. "If she wants to experience an actual school life then I don't see why we shouldn't let her. She can enroll at Ashford Academy, that's the school that Nunnally attends, and can stay with Nunnally in the clubhouse. I personally ensured the security around the Academy so she will be safe."

"Please, Nellie!" Euphie begged, flashing Cornelia the largest puppy dog eyes that Lelouch hasn't seen in a while.

Cornelia sighed. "All right, fine," she said.

Euphie squealed in happiness and hugged Cornelia. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she cried.

Lelouch couldn't help but start chuckling again. "If you wish, we can head over to Ashford Academy later. I have no meetings planned for today anyway and I'm sure Nunnally would love to see you," he said.

And, this time, I mean that in the literal sense of the word.

. . .

Student Council Clubhouse, Ashford Academy

"This is all your fault, Milly," Kallen deadpanned, gazing around the disaster zone that the kitchen had been turned into. Rai, who was attempting to wipe the pancake batter and strawberry banana smoothie off his face, had to agree. They had all gone to the kitchen to make a late breakfast and smoothies and Rai quickly learned that Shirley and Rivalz should never be allowed near a mixer and a blender respectively.

And how the hell did they manage to get pancake batter on the ceiling?

"Hey, it was fun, wasn't it?" Milly said with a grin as pancake batter slid down her face.

Nunnally just laughed.

Rai smiled. Really, he hadn't expected to be accepted by the Student Council as quickly as he had. Only a little over three weeks had gone by since he joined the Student Council and, while progress on regaining his memories hadn't been made whatsoever, he had gained several good friends.

He gazed around at the chaos. Nunnally was in the corner of the room with pancake batter and smoothie in her hair, on her face, and on the pink dress that she was wearing. Adeline was at her side, trying to remove pancake batter that had gone down the front of her shirt; she also had smoothie and pancake batter in her hair and on her face. Nina had shielded herself with a cookie sheet she'd grabbed off the counter in time to avoid the worst of the flying food but still got some smoothie and pancake batter in her hair and on her glasses. Milly had been lucky to only get pancake batter on her face. Along with Rai himself, Kallen, Shirley, and Rivalz were the worst off; they all had been at the very center of the kitchen when Shirley lost control of the mixer, and nearly got her long hair that had come undone from its bun caught in the mixer itself, and Rivalz forgot to put the lid on the blender before starting it.

Needless to say, all four of them had a mixture of pancake batter and smoothie in their hair, dripping down their face, and on their clothes.

"Only you would think this is fun," Kallen huffed while Shirley attempted to get the worse of the pancake batter and smoothie out of her hair. It wasn't working out so well.

"It was," Milly said. "Food fights always are!"

"I wouldn't count this as a food fight, Milly," Shirley said with a sigh, gazing around at the disaster zone.

"It's more like brunch gone wrong," Rai said.

The pancake batter that was on the ceiling decided to obey gravity at that moment and fell, landing on Kallen's head.

Nunnally started laughing again as did Milly while Kallen's eye twitched as pancake batter slid down her already-caked-in-pancake-batter face.

Adeline's phone decided to go off at that moment and she, wiping the pancake batter off her hands to the best of her ability, pulled it out and read the text. "Nunnally, Lelouch just told me that he wants you to close your eyes when he arrives. He's brought someone with him and wants to surprise them," she said.

Nunnally tilted her head to the side curiously but nodded. "Okay," she said.

"Milly!" A voice called from the ballroom at that moment.

"Hey, Lelouch! We're in the kitchen! We'll be right out!" Milly shouted.

"We...We can't go out like this!" Shirley cried.

"It's not polite to keep royalty waiting," Milly said with that cheerful smile on her face. "Ah, Lulu won't mind at all. In fact, he might enjoy getting that pancake batter and smoothie off you." She waggled her eyebrows as she said that.

Rai blushed at the implication again and Shirley went bright red.

"M...Madame President!" she cried.

Adeline laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't see that coming, Shirley. We are talking about the Prez here," she said.

Nunnally giggled. "C'mon, let's not keep Big Brother waiting," she said and closed her eyes.

Adeline grasped the handles of her wheelchair and wheeled her out of the room.

"C'mon, Shirley," Milly said, grabbing Shirley and half-dragging her out of the kitchen.

Nina put down the cookie sheet and followed while Rai, Rivalz, and Kallen brought up the rear of the group.

He spotted the prince first as well as his Knight but the two beside him were unknown to him. The taller one had long purple hair that fell over her shoulders and indigo-colored eyes. She was dressed in a wine-red shirt with gold accents over wine red pants also with gold accents. A black-lined white cape was around her shoulders and wine red heeled boots were on her feet. The shorter one was a girl maybe a year younger than Rai with long pink hair that fell down her back with two buns on top of her head and strands falling over her shoulders. Her lavender eyes were highlighted by faint pink eyeshadow and she was dressed in a white-and-pink dress that went to her ankles with a rose necklace around her neck.

Prince Lelouch raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Is there any particular reason why the entire Student Council and Nunnally have pancake batter and...is that smoothie?...all over you?" he asked.

"Nope," Milly said, popping the 'p'.

The prince sighed. "The last time this happened, it took the entire Student Council three weeks to clean the kitchen," he said. "And I still have no idea how you got cake batter on the ceiling of all places."

Huh, so that's happened before, Rai thought, wiping away some pancake batter that had slid into his eye.

"Me? We all know that's not true. That was all Rivalz's fault," Milly said with a grin.

"Good point."

"Hey! It was not my fault!" Rivalz exclaimed.

"Yes, it was," Milly, Prince Lelouch, Shirley, and even Nina deadpanned at the exact same time.

"Was it his fault this time?" Prince Lelouch asked curiously.

"No, it wasn't!" Rivalz shouted.

"Yes, it was," Milly, Shirley, Nina, Adeline, and Rai deadpanned.

Nunnally laughed. "Oh be nice, you guys," she chided. "We all know Shirley, Kallen, and Rai had a hand in what happened."

"Wait, what did I do?" Rai said confused.

"Yeah, and what did I do?" Kallen asked in meek bewilderment.

"That's easily explained. You two didn't stop 'em," Milly said dramatically.

"How was I to know Shirley doesn't know how to use a mixer?" Kallen said.

"And how was I supposed to know that Rivalz hadn't put the lid on the blender?" Rai said.

"You just were! Lulu always did!" Milly said cheerfully.

Prince Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "I never 'just knew'. I just paid attention to what was going on," he said.

"Then that's what you two should've done!" Milly said, gesturing toward Kallen and Rai.

"And how was I supposed to pay attention when Rivalz was trying to show off his singing skills?" Rai asked and the entire Student Council, and Lelouch, shuddered in unison.

"Hey, I am not that bad of a singer!" Rivalz said.

"True. You're better than Suzaku. He still makes nails on a chalkboard sound great," Prince Lelouch said with a smirk at his Knight.

"Thank you ever so much for that, my prince," Suzaku said, the sarcasm strong in his voice.

"Anytime." Prince Lelouch turned his attention back to the Student Council. "Well, seems I got a bit distracted. I actually came here for two reasons. One is so that Cornelia and Euphie can see Nunnally and the other is this." He waved a hand toward the younger girl and added, "Everyone, this is Euphemia li Britannia. She will be starting at Ashford Academy starting tomorrow morning and will be staying with Nunnally in the clubhouse."

"It's nice to meet all of you. Please call me Euphie," Euphemia said with a bright smile as she stepped forward to greet them, her eyes twinkling in amusement as she looked at them.

"Nice to see you again, Euphie," Milly greeted her.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Shirley," Shirley said. "Um, I'd shake your hand but I got smoothie and pancake batter on it."

Euphie giggled. "That's fine," she said, taking Shirley's hand and shaking it.

"I'm Rivalz," Rivalz greeted her.

"I'm Adeline," Adeline said.

"I'm Kallen," Kallen said meekly.

"Um, I'm Nina," Nina said softly.

"I'm Rai," Rai said, holding out a hand toward Euphie who took it and shook it in greeting as she did all the others.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Euphie said as she lowered her hand, still smiling brightly.

Nunnally wheeled herself forward at that moment, Adeline moving at her side, and smiled at Euphie and Cornelia. "There's something that I gotta show you, Euphie, Nellie," she said.

"What is it?" Cornelia asked.

Nunnally grinned. "This," she said and she opened her eyes, gazing at Cornelia and Euphie, whose eyes went wide with shock. "I can see again!"

"Y...You..that's...that's great!" Euphie cried and threw her arms around Nunnally, tears falling from her eyes. "You can see! You can see! How? Why? What happened?"

Nunnally patted Euphie's back as a shell-shocked Cornelia slowly moved forward, stretching out a hand and touching Nunnally's cheek.

"You can see? H...How?" she stammered out.

Nunnally smiled a little. "I'm not entirely sure myself," she admitted. "I just...I don't know why I was keeping my eyes closed. It was...as if I believed that I couldn't see and so kept my eyes closed but, recently, I just stopped believing that and opened my eyes and I could see." Her brow furrowed in puzzlement. "That made more sense in my head."

Euphie let out a choked laugh and pulled back from Nunnally. "I still...it's so hard to believe and yet it's happening. It's a miracle!" she said, a smile spreading across her face through her tears.

"Yeah, it is," Cornelia said, smiling softly as she reached out and hugged Nunnally.

Rai smiled at the heartwarming scene.

Naturally, it had to end.

Lelouch's phone rang and he, glancing at it, pulled it out of his pocket, answering the call. "I thought I didn't have any meetings today, Jeremiah," he said into it.

There was a moment of silence, then Lelouch's face darkened with rage. "Tara. Did. What?!"

Nunnally stiffened and Rai saw her face go white with fear as she whipped her head around, staring at her big brother. "W...What about T...Tara?" she stammered out, fear in her voice.

Lelouch didn't answer his little sister's question as a furious scowl crossed his lips. "Lock down the base this instant. Have the Black Knights secure the perimeter around the base. I don't care what you have to do, Jeremiah. Do. Not. Let. That. Bitch. Escape!" he ordered swiftly, coldly, his amethyst eyes flames of rage.

"What's going on?" Cornelia asked, staring at Nunnally who was shaking, the fear on her white face morphing into terror.

Lelouch didn't answer, just shut his phone and bolted to Nunnally's side, kneeling down and gently gathering the terrified girl into his arms, resting her on his lap as he rubbed her back. "Shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay," he whispered.

"N...No, no it's not. She...She's out. She...She..." Nunnally started to cry, tears of terror sliding out of her eyes as she buried her face into her big brother's chest, clutching at his shirt.

"Shh, shh." Lelouch whispered.

"What's going on?" Euphie asked, gazing at the crying Nunnally and Lelouch who was attempting to calm her down.

Suzaku finally took it upon himself to explain. "I don't know the entire story," he said. "But...Nunnally was nearly assassinated by the girl Tara twice, the second time only happened about three weeks ago."

"Oh dear," Euphie gasped, eyes wide as she darted forward and wrapped her arms around Nunnally's trembling form.

Cornelia growled in fury, her hands clenching into fists.

"I should've killed her while I had the chance," Lelouch growled, stroking Nunnally's hair.

"Why didn't you?" Cornelia asked.

"Because I wanted answers. I wanted to know why and who sent her," Lelouch replied just as his phone rang again. He pulled it out and rested it against his ear. "Yes?"

A moment of silence, then: "Keep her there. I'm on my way," Lelouch said and shut his phone.

"Don't go," Nunnally whimpered.

"Shh, I'll be back later," Lelouch murmured softly. "I'm just going to go ask her some questions and then I'll come back."

"But...But...I don't...you might..." Nunnally stammered out, tears flooding out of her eyes.

Lelouch gently took Nunnally's hand and Nunnally looked up as he interlocked his pinky with hers. "I will come back, Little Sister," he said softly. "Cross my heart, hope to die, eat a thousand needles if I lie."

Nunnally smiled. "O...Okay. Come back, Big Brother," she said.

"Of course I'll come back. I certainly don't want to eat a thousand needles," Lelouch said with a teasing smile.

Nunnally giggled.

Lelouch leaned forward and pressed his lips to Nunnally's forehead, closing his eyes briefly before, once Euphie let go of Nunnally, he stood up and returned her to her wheelchair. "Adeline," he said, turning to the golden-haired woman.

"I'll protect her, Your Highness," Adeline said firmly.

Lelouch said nothing. "Suzaku, give her your gun," he said.

"Yes, my prince," Suzaku said, sounding a bit confused but he pulled out his gun, resting next to the scabbard for his sword, and handed it to Adeline.

"If she gets free and comes near Nunnally again, Adeline, kill her," Lelouch said, his voice icy and devoid of emotion.

"Yes, Your Highness," Adeline said with a bow, her face also devoid of emotion, though there was a slight flicker of unease in her blue eyes.

Lelouch turned to Suzaku. "Let's go. I have an assassin to interrogate," he said. He glanced at Cornelia and added, "You can come with if you wish, Cornelia, but I think Euphie should stay here. Nunnally might feel more comfortable with her around. Besides, she could use a tour of the clubhouse where she'll be staying anyway."

Cornelia nodded and turned to Euphie. "Euphie, stay here with Nunnally," she said.

Euphie nodded, moving to Nunnally's side and taking the still scared girl's hand.

Lelouch swept out of the ballroom dramatically with Suzaku falling into step beside him and Cornelia followed him.

Rai watched them go before looking at Nunnally, who now had her face buried in Euphie's arm, clutching at her hand, and felt a pang of sympathy go through him.

I'm sorry that you had to go through something like this. It's horrible, like what happened with her...wait, who? Rai frowned in confusion, attempting to figure out just where that odd thought came from but as soon as he went to grasp it, it slipped right through his fingers.

. . .

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: some things are meant to stay the same, even if it ended up happening differently. But that ending! I get to hint at Rai's side character arc a little bit! I'm happy with it though

Bakura: who the hell cares?

Blaze: certainly not you

Luciano: (still falling and watching TV) he doesn't care about anything but stealing

Suzaku: (sweatdrops) how are you watching TV?

Luciano: someone threw a TV over the cliff yesterday for some reason

Suzaku: ok? (Mutters) who threw a TV over a cliff?

Lelouch: (walks into computer room, holding a machete in his hands)

Bakura: I didn't make that brat cry!

Lelouch: did you just call my little sister a brat?

Bakura: …no?

Suzaku: Lelouch, why are you carrying a machete?

Lelouch: (smirks evilly)

Suzaku: … on second thought, I don't want to know

Blaze: please don't kill Bakura today, Lelouch

Lelouch: all right

Bakura: (sighs in relief and then realizes what Blaze actually said) what do you mean today?

Blaze: (shrugs) I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated. And, once again, Happy late Halloween everyone!