"I hereby renounce my claim to the throne!" – Regular speaking

'How dare the Emperor abandon Nunnally!' – Regular thinking; Italics not in singular quotations are used for emphasis

"Q-1, strike the left flank now!" – Speaking as heard over radios and other communication devices

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, DIE!" Speech influenced by using Geass

Thank whatever deities exist for Spring Break.

I had an exam every single day the week before Spring Break and I am so done with schoolwork right now. I am going to enjoy this break as long as I can.

I highly recommend the Guilty Crown anime that I ended up binge watching a few weeks ago (in a single night no less, over seven hours of no sleep and totally worth it). It's considered by some to be a spiritual successor to Code Geass, before Season 3 was confirmed at least.

Okay, to the story. I know that this chapter took me a while, but it's finally where I want it so I feel good about posting it. However, there is a scene of a romantic nature in here (no, it's not a lemon) and I want to stress that it DOES NOT mean that the final pairing is set in stone.

Someone mentioned in a review that they were going to stop reading my story because I mentioned I liked Suzaku and Euphemia in one of my Author's Notes. I just want to preempt anyone who thinks like that and let them know that there is more to my story than the pairings and that actions taken by characters this early don't mean pairings are set in stone.

I'm sorry that I spoiled this chapter a bit, but I felt it needed to be said here.

Regardless, I know it has been some time, but I hope you enjoy this new chapter nonetheless.

Disclaimer: I don't own any franchise that is used in this story nor do I make any profit from it whatsoever.


Chapter 11: The Goddess of Victory


(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Ashford Academy – 8:03 pm – September 27 – 2017 a.t.b.)

The windowless van pulled into the campus quietly, with Lelouch, Nemo, and C.C. sitting comfortably in the back while Sayoko drove them from Saitama. The maid had been surprised at the addition of Nemo to their impromptu escape from the battlefield, but she was more concerned about getting them all out safely so Sayoko took Lelouch at his word that Nemo was safe to allow into their home.

Once they arrived, Nemo hopped out of the back of the van followed closely by Lelouch. When he turned around after helping C.C. avoid tripping over his cloak, the crimson-eyed girl had disappeared. He blinked. "What the?" Lelouch searched around, not seeing any hint of Nemo's whereabouts. "Where'd she go?" He really hoped he hadn't made a mistake taking Nemo in like he did.

"Don't worry, she's around." C.C. responded, not necessarily getting rid of Lelouch's worry but he accepted her statement for the moment. He had only accepted Nemo's oath because he trusted C.C.'s word and because he couldn't afford to allow the potential she had to be used against him in the future.

Lelouch directed C.C. to get into his room and change out of his armor before silently making his way towards Nunnally's room. Sayoko had disappeared almost as quickly as Nemo, likely heading to her own bedroom to get some rest. Lelouch carefully removed the gloves from his soldier uniform, knowing Nunnally would want to touch his hands to reassure herself that he was okay. His sister had been really sleepy lately, but he hoped she was still awake so he could assure her he was okay. If he was gone without her for a few hours she would get nervous until he proved to her he was alright.

The former Prince knocked softly before the automatic door opened. "Nunna, are you still awake?" He spoke softly, just in case she was asleep. Lelouch always made an effort to let Nunnally get her rest.

"You can come in Onii-sama." Nunnally replied through a yawn, sitting up in her bed. She had used the Mark Nemo longer than she ever had before and was really feeling the exhaustion now that the adrenaline was fading. Nemo's ability to vanish was the only reason she had managed to sneak back into her room without getting caught. Nemo was sitting next to her bed, leaning against the wall as she tried to recover on her own. The Mark Nemo took a lot out of them both, especially since they had been using it actively in battle. They were both lucky to still be conscious, especially Nemo since she didn't sleep on her own unless they had used up most of their combined energy.

Just because her twin fed off of her energy when she slept didn't mean it was impossible for Nemo to sleep, she just had to be downright exhausted for it to be necessary.

Lelouch smiled softly and walked over, sitting on Nunnally's bed. He grasped her hand, squeezing softly before she returned the favor. "I'm home, you can rest easy now." He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand comfortingly.

"Thank you, Onii-sama." Nunnally yawned again, turning to face Lelouch's voice after laying down. "Sweet dreams." She murmured, feeling her exhaustion taking her towards sleep. She felt a soft brush on her forehead and smiled.

Lelouch leaned forward and kissed Nunnally softly on her forehead, and whispered, "Sweet dreams, Nunnally." With that, he gave one last squeeze before standing up to depart from Nunnally's room. He had business to do before he could go to sleep.

As soon as Lelouch left, Nemo rose and began to walk to his room. "Nunnally, you can join with me if you wish." Before either of them could get their much needed rest they needed to speak with Lelouch. Nemo observed Nunnally's breathing even out and blinked, feeling the strange sensation of being in control of her own form while a second consciousness settled into the back of her mind. Every other time Nunnally had been unconscious so it was a new feeling for her.

Nunnally blinked, taking in the surroundings of Nemo's inner consciousness. "Huh, strange." The young Princess noticed her clothing had been left behind, and she was instead wearing Nemo's normal attire, though her appearance remained her own. The surroundings of Nemo's mind was similar to a laboratory. There was a row of computer monitors with a rotating chair set in front of each one and a set of test tubes all hooked up to a wall and there were thick, dark cords running in a bunch of different ways. Each cord was attached to either a wall, a test tube, or a computer monitor. Turning she saw only a blank wall and a single double door.

"This was the facility that created me." Nemo's voice echoed around Nunnally, and a pair of screens flashed, showing her what Nemo was seeing on the outside. "For as long as I existed, I was either held here or captive with C.C. in that spherical prison." Nunnally walked over and sat down in one of the chairs that were in front of the screens. She elected to remain silent and allow Nemo to speak to Lelouch since she was in control this time around.

Lelouch sat comfortably on his desk chair while C.C. lounged on his bed. She had changed back into her prisoner uniform quickly, taking care to put his armor back properly. The Witch had been more respectful of his belongings than she had been before, something he appreciated. Still, the young revolutionary was more concerned about going over the battle to try and see where his mistakes had cost him.

He pulled his journal out from its hiding place in his desk and carefully considered what to write. He rubbed his chin in thought, ignoring the slight stubble, carefully considering his greatest flaw during the conflict in Saitama. Cornelia had outmaneuvered him, in part because he still wanted her alive to question about his mother's murder. If he had simply wanted to kill her, he would have blown the G-1 as soon as Sayoko had signaled the explosives were in place.

Clearly, underestimating Cornelia and her ruthlessness had been his first and greatest mistake. By failing to take her full skills into account, he had been doomed to fail from the start. Know your enemy as well as you know yourself and you need not fear the result of any battle, to paraphrase Sun Tzu. He began to write, carefully considering each word. As Lelouch wrote, a way to ensure that he would be fully capable of facing Cornelia's forces on the battlefield once more and coming out victorious came together within his mind.

In his time here before the invasion, Lelouch had learned quite a bit about the inner workings of the Japanese government. And one organization from that time was one that was rumored to help terrorist groups throughout the Area, most prominently the Japan Liberation Front. He hoped the one who he knew best in the Six Houses would be willing to help.

He wrote a letter, planning on getting Sayoko to deliver it either tomorrow or the next day, making sure to avoid anything too obvious in his phrasing.

When Lelouch was finished, he leaned back in his chair and stretched. He closed his journal before putting it away and folded up his letter, putting it off to the side. He spun around in his seat and stood, making his way to his closet. He wanted to get out of his clothes, he felt dirty.

The grime of the battlefield felt disgusting on his skin and he wanted to take a nice warm shower. As he removed the top of his uniform, leaving his chest bare, he let out a high-pitched shriek. Nemo just appeared right in front of him without any warning.

Lelouch tumbled backwards, landing roughly on the floor as he quickly buckled up his pants. He'd been literally a few seconds away from removing them before his newest Witch appeared out of nowhere with absolutely zero warning.

C.C. was outright laughing while Nemo's giggles were quieter, but still audible as Lelouch fought to calm his racing heart. He rubbed his head slightly, glad to feel only a slight bump from his impromptu collision with the floor. "What the hell?!" He growled, not enjoying this like his two Witches were. "How the hell did you do that?" The White Witch being able to summon a Knightmare out of nowhere was one thing, but being able to conceal herself so completely and simply appear out of nowhere?

Perhaps he should have taken the claims of being a Witch from C.C. more literally if a Doll made from her was so gifted. If a simple Doll could do this, what was her Code capable of? Regardless, those were considerations for another time.

Eventually Nemo calmed down enough to answer Lelouch's question, though she was slightly distracted by his upper body being shirtless. His chest showed signs of actual muscle forming, instead of simply being skinny like Nunnally remembered. Clearly his escapades as Zero were helping him develop more, though if he ever went to gym class it would probably have had the same result. "I can hide my appearance from almost anyone if I don't want them to see me." C.C. was clearly an exception to that rule, but the emerald-haired immortal was too busy snickering at her accomplice's reaction to her appearance.

"Thank you, Nemo." Nunnally whispered as she stared at her brother as he dragged his hand over his face, sighing in exasperation at Nemo's reply. She was glad her twin had worded it like that because she was representing Nunnally right now and, as far as Nunnally was concerned, still bound by her promise to never lie to her brother. Her feelings had carried over their link before Nemo had even spoken, but it was nice to see the dark girl respect her wishes.

"And who can see you even if you don't want them to?" Lelouch asked, trying and failing to hide his current irritation. He noticed she said almost anyone and was eager to head that potential problem off quickly.

"I have the power to disguise myself from anyone who is not like C.C. and reveal myself only to those who I desire." Nemo replied, trying to come up with a good way to describe the ability to only reveal her existence to select individuals unless they held the power of the Code. "Think of it like invisible ink. Unless you look at it from under a special light it's invisible." She started. "Only, in this case, the ink can reveal itself to those it chooses and hide itself from everyone else. And people like C.C. have special contacts in their eyes at all times that let them see the ink no matter what." Nemo scratched the side of her head in mild irritation, hoping that explanation cleared up the bare basics of her ability to conceal herself.

Lelouch considered the description for a few minutes, sitting down and leaning back into his chair. His shower could wait until after this conversation. "Alright, I understand." It was a rudimentary explanation, but it got the point across well enough. He considered the opportunity this presented him with.

Nemo's ability to literally hide in plain sight would make her the perfect spy if he ordered her to shadow Cornelia or others who would likely have information useful to his revolution. Still, he felt there were too many risks to go down that route for the moment.

He would have no way of ensuring that Nemo wasn't going to transmit information about him to his enemies. The oath she made for him was binding in name only, and no matter the devotion he saw in her eyes as she recited it to him, Lelouch was unwilling to put himself at such a great risk as to put his newest ally so close to the Britannian leadership.

The risks outweighed the benefits, but it wasn't a bad idea once he confirmed Nemo's loyalty to him enough to where he could trust her to not act on her own and contact Cornelia or her allies.

"Now, I would like you to explain how exactly you have a Geass." Lelouch's next order was focused on gathering information regarding the capability of glimpsing the future. Outright precognition was considered impossible, but so was being able to simply order anyone to obey any command. Geass was a power that transcended human knowledge on what was and wasn't possible.

"That's a little complicated." Nemo would have to seriously watch her words to avoid breaking the spirit of Nunnally's promise to never lie to Lelouch. Still, neither she nor Nunnally were stupid. "The short answer is that I'm what's called Wired." She began, knowing that Nunnally was paying attention to her words from within her mind, both to watch for any hint at a lie and to finally have a question about what that word meant get answered. "The long answer is far more complicated, but if you want it I can give it to you." If her King ordered it, she would divulge as much as she could without compromising her identity.

"The short answer is fine, but explain to me what you mean by being Wired." He wanted to shower before sunrise and he had a feeling that a long answer would take far too much time. Lelouch felt the short answer would have to suffice for now.

"Well, people who are Wired are those who have Geass, or Geass-like abilities, only they never entered into a contract with someone with a Code." Nemo described the meaning behind the term. "Some might be able to easily tell the placement of people around them even if their eyes are closed, they might be able to know instinctively the paths out of a dangerous situation, or it could be as simple as being able to simply understand things that shouldn't be able to be understood." Such as the ability to know what is truth and what is not.

"My ability, my Geass, is to see the potential of the future. I can see the paths that are available at the time of my using it, but the further I look the more clouded things become." Nemo held up her hands. "And there's no guarantee what I see will come to pass, the future is never static." She allowed her hands to fall back down to her sides. "The furthest I can see is a few days, and even then that only allows me glimpses of what may come."

"I see, that's more than enough." Lelouch, while disappointed, had expected such realistic limitations, as realistic as limitations to a power that could glimpse the future could be at least, and dismissed them as unimportant so long as Nemo could use her power to serve him well. "Can you at least see what Cornelia's next move will be?" He wanted to see her use this power and try to get a few days' advantage over his elder sister.

"Very well." Nemo closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she opened her eyes and her left flashed with her power, allowing her to glimpse the near future for Cornelia.

Cornelia placing her head in her hands/throwing down a folder. Cornelia sitting/pacing in her office/in a meeting with other officials. Cornelia outside a hotel/at a funeral.

Nemo allowed her power to fade, flinching slightly as she reverted back to the present, trying to make sense of her visions. It was a little disorienting, turning it on to focus on a single individual to get an idea of what they would be doing over the next few days. It was very different than using it to predict her enemies in combat. She placed her hand over her left eye, pressing against it to try and relieve the pressure before reporting what she saw. "I think Cornelia has something going on at a hotel soon, or a funeral. I couldn't tell which." The other visions were irrelevant right now, that vision had been the most significant.

Though it had also been rather clouded. More clouded than any of her other visions. She suspected that was a sign that there were many, many possible futures beginning at that spot.

"That's all I could get, sorry." She rubbed her eye tiredly, feeling the pressure abate. 'Note to self, don't use Geass for the next few days.' Nemo thought to herself, with Nunnally's agreement.

"That's just fine." Lelouch took note of Nemo's exhaustion and sent her off with a wave. In an eyeblink, Nemo's body vanished right before his eyes. Not one hint remained that she had even been in his room in the first place. 'How terrifying.' He thought to himself, regarding Nemo's power, before closing his eyes and going over what he had learned.

It didn't take him long to determine what kind of event around a hotel would be drawing Cornelia's attention. There was only one event taking place at a hotel that would merit the attention of the Viceroy of Area Eleven.

Lelouch made his way towards the bathroom to take his shower, he would need to move faster than he thought.


(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Viceroy Palace – 11:32 am – September 28 – 2017 a.t.b.)

Cornelia sighed once more as she looked over the casualty reports from Operation Pride Fall. The long list of names, names of her soldiers, who would soon be returned to their families for proper burials was disheartening. Discounting those who had fallen in battle to Zero's ragtag forces, there were many names on this list that died solely in the destruction of her Command Center, a style of attack she had not foreseen. There was no surviving security video to show how Zero or one of his allies had managed to penetrate the mobile base, but Cornelia knew she had gotten lucky.

If she hadn't been out personally inspecting her forces, she would have been caught up in the blast and likely killed. As it was, the debris from the explosion managed to injure a number of soldiers and eliminate a few dozen Knightmares. Only a few who had been outside the Command Center had died, most of the death toll coming from inside the base. The Second Princess turned her attention to the photos of her base of operations for that battle, narrowing her eyes at its remains.

'Zero was desperate.' That much had been obvious considering his forces were being dismantled by her personal unit and the Irregulars, but she couldn't figure out why he waited to blow the place if his target had been her life. 'Unless he was planning on using it to force me to talk.' She considered, deciding it sounded like something the dramatic masked man would do to try and shock her into submission.

"I want this report sealed, draft another one to release to the media detailing the names, but state that they all died valiantly in battle." Cornelia ordered one of her subordinates. "Let the families know before releasing the report so that they can have time to grieve privately." The man known as Diethard bowed and went to carry out her orders. The man was almost too good at his job sometimes, handling the media exposure of Prince Clovis, and now Princess Cornelia, with an ease that spoke of experience in media manipulation for the sake of Britannia.

He had been the one to help put Clovis in the best possible light during his tenure as Viceroy. Cornelia didn't care nearly as much about her public reputation as Clovis had, but it was still useful to have an ally willing to help spin things in the media if necessary. The cleansing of Saitama was being called a great success, despite Cornelia considering it to have been a draw. She had beaten his forces, but Zero had still managed to inflict heavy losses on her side as well as evacuate a number of the terrorist group she wanted to exterminate. The body count of Yamato Alliance members was far lower than the reported number of members she had gotten from the scouting report, meaning that there were still members of the group out there and they had likely allied themselves with Zero by this point.

'They're worse than cockroaches.' Cornelia had dealt with numerous terrorist groups when she was in the Middle Eastern Federation, now known as Area Eighteen. She knew if she failed to stamp out a terrorist group in the first assault, they would only come back with greater numbers and more vicious than ever before. She had hoped to be able to systematically eliminate every terrorist group in full so that there wasn't the opportunity for them to be able to return and exact vengeance, but Cornelia knew that was just wishful thinking.

She had succeeded with the Blood of the Samurai, but the Yamato Alliance had survived, if only barely.

The Second Princess examined another photo, this one showing Zero standing atop the platform before he fell back underground. Cornelia knew, if Zero had any sense at all, he had already worked to consolidate the remaining Yamato Alliance members under his influence. So not only would the Alliance return with greater motivation than before, but their commander would be a madman with a talent for manipulating the battlefield.

And that wasn't even getting into the other terrorist groups who would be emboldened by Zero's actions in both Saitama and Shinjuku, defeating Clovis and matching her. There had already been a spike in terrorist attacks during the past few weeks since Zero announced his presence to the world.

Cornelia just hoped that none of the active groups would be foolish enough to attack Kawaguchi this Sunday. The balance was already unstable as it was, with the proxy war in Africa nearing its end, and the last thing that the fragile cold war between Britannia, the Chinese Federation, and Europia needed was some Eleven terrorist making things worse by disrupting the Sakuradite Accords.

The war on terror in Area Eleven would only get worse from here, Princess Cornelia knew that much.


(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Sumeragi Co. President Office – 1:01 pm – September 29 – 2017 a.t.b.)

Kaguya sighed as she sat behind her desk, messing around on her computer when she should be working on the budget for October. Sometimes she wished her parents were still around if nothing else so they could handle the business side of things so she could be a normal girl. Paperwork was utter hell, there was no other description that would accurately convey the misery she felt as she procrastinated. The video of Zero declaring his existence to the world was playing in front of her on silent. The fifteen-year-old Sumeragi had been entertaining herself with wild guesses about who could be behind the mask of the man who saved her cousin.

Suzaku may have joined the Britannian military against his remaining family's wishes, but, unlike the old fossils who would probably be dead by the end of the year, Kaguya didn't care too much about that. She had gotten over that a while ago. Family was family as far as she was concerned, and the young corporate powerhouse did not want him to die. No matter how unbelievably stubborn her cousin was, she still loved him dearly and wanted only the best for him.

The fact that Zero had saved Suzaku at great potential personal risk to himself, combined with the charisma he exuded, had held the young Sumeragi in a state of admiration for weeks now. After his actions in Saitama a few days ago, very nearly killing Cornelia had she not been personally inspecting her forces, she felt herself almost becoming infatuated with the masked revolutionary.

A knock sounded from her office door, drawing Kaguya out of her reverie. "Yes, come in." Her secretary came in and the young man standing before her gave a small nod of respect. "What is it? I don't have any meetings for the next few hours." She said as she minimized the video of Zero she had on her computer discretely. She had just gotten back from lunch a little while ago and didn't want to have to deal with anyone so soon after she returned. Kaguya got so little time to relax at work so she worked hard to ensure she could have enough time to just enjoy herself without having to deal with the Board.

"A letter was dropped off at my desk while you were at lunch Madame President." Her secretary announced with a slight gulp. "There was also a warning that it was for your eyes only and that anyone who opened it who wasn't you would lose their eyes." Kaguya noticed the signs she had missed moments ago when the young man had walked into her office.

His face was pale, his eyes were flickering from side to side, and his hands were shaking. She would bet that his palms were sweaty as well considering he never had to handle anything like this before.

"I checked with our security team but we couldn't see who delivered it on our cameras." He continued. "We did a few checks to make sure there were no contact poisons on the outside and did a scan to ensure it wasn't some kind of new explosive, but the tests all came back negative. So, somewhat against my better judgment, I decided to give it to you since your security team cleared it." The young man placed the envelope on her desk, it was unaddressed except for her name on the front, and then rushed out of her room with as much dignity as he could muster to get back to his job without having to deal with something so serious.

Kaguya stared curiously at the envelope in front of her. "Interesting." She wondered how the courier had managed to avoid the security cameras entirely. That shouldn't have been possible considering there were a few that were locked into position observing specific areas to cover the blindspots of the moving cameras.

Speaking of, Kaguya pulled up her own security feed on her computer, ignoring the video she had pulled up for now, and adjusted the camera feed that faced her desk so that it wouldn't be able to observe her as she opened the envelope. Some things were better left off the record entirely after all.

As Kaguya tucked her fingers under the envelope and carefully opened it, she held her breath. Her nerves were slightly frayed, but she took comfort in the competency of her security team. She plucked the folded letter inside and opened it carefully, wondering just who had gone so far out of their way to send her a message in such a strange way.

Dear Goddess of Victory,

I know who you are. I want to meet with you. Come to the old shrine alone today after sunset.

Killing is a necessary evil. Underestimation is the key to victory. Reapers hide in all of our shadows. Understanding is something very few are allowed to grasp. Rage is just another weapon. Under the masks we all wear are familiar faces. Gods only have the power we grant them. In darkness and blood is where we are all born. Hell is what I will bring to this world. Order is what I seek to create. Underneath the world of light lies another steeped in darkness. Silence sometimes reveals more than anything said aloud. Enemies of mine shall all die by my orders.

I know you will understand my message. Burn this letter and tell no one of this or you will be having some problems in the future.

Sincerely,

The Demon of the Forest

As she scanned the code, Kaguya sensed a familiarity about this message. Something about how it was written tugged at old, faded memories of her childhood. With a quiet gasp, she realized how to crack it. Grabbing a small pen, she circled the first letter of each full sentence. It was a message that was crafted to reveal that someone knew one of the biggest secrets hidden by the Six Houses of Kyoto, a secret only a few people alive knew.

K.U.R.U.R.U.G.I. H.O.U.S.E.

Kururugi House had always been the Sixth House, but with the death of Genbu the Six Houses hadn't had anyone able to take over that role. After Britannia began searching for a group of six influential individuals after they learned of the Six Houses, they decided to refuse to take in a sixth member. Five members of the Six Houses was a simple secret, but it was one that could expose everything.

And the title used by the writer at the bottom sealed it. The young Sumeragi knew exactly who this letter was from.

Kaguya nearly dropped the letter as she felt her fingers go numb. 'He's alive!' The young Sumeragi knew only one person who would know that nickname from a summer that seemed so long ago. She only knew one person who would use that code and she knew exactly what she needed to do tonight.

'Looks like I'll be going home for the first time in a long time.' She hadn't returned to the Kururugi shrine since the Britannia's invasion. She just couldn't find it in herself to go back after so much had changed. Kaguya hadn't thought she could face the place that held some of her happiest memories after facing down the death of her nation. But for the sake of her old friend, she would face down her memories.

For her Demon's sake.

She folded up the letter into a tiny square as she repressed a relieved and joyful laugh, becoming somber after her happiness finally began to dim. 'Lelouch, what are you up to?' Kaguya thought to herself as she unbuttoned her shirt for a moment and tucked the refolded letter inside her bra to conceal it before fixing it so she could get back to work. She actually had a reason to finish all of her work before the day ended now, she wasn't going to leave anything on her plate that might potentially make her late to this meeting.

Kaguya wasn't going to burn this letter just yet. Feeling it against her heart would serve as proof that one of her closest friends was still alive despite her belief that he hadn't survived.

The young Sumeragi wanted to meet her wonderful Demon before destroying the only link she had to him.


(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Ashford Academy – 3:25 pm – September 29 – 2017 a.t.b.)

"Lake Kawaguchi?" Lelouch asked Milly as he relaxed in the Student Council's meeting room. They needed to work on the budget for October, Milly had blown a lot on the Cat Festival and they needed to rebalance it if they didn't want to piss off any of the clubs around Ashford, but then the mischievous young woman brought up a vacation of sorts over the weekend as a reward for getting it done to try to motivate them. Unfortunately, the fact that she picked Lake Kawaguchi did not bode well, especially after what Nemo had told him about Cornelia's near future.

He knew only one thing that would be drawing Cornelia's attention and that was the Sakuradite Accords held at Kawaguchi Hotel. It was an annual meeting that would go on to determine the distribution of Area Eleven's Sakuradite reserves that had been successfully mined to the rest of the world in relation to Britannia. They would be held in the resort hotel at Lake Kawaguchi this year, something that would make it difficult to relax. Negotiations were always tense and drew the attention of the entire world because one wrong move could spark a war if something went wrong and a major world power didn't get their proper share of the energy resource.

The last thing he wanted to do was show the face of a supposedly dead Prince on any of the potentially thousands of cameras that would be at the resort. He and Nunnally would not be exposed so easily.

"Yeah, I thought it would be good to take a little vacation over the weekend since this month has been so crazy." Milly answered his question with her usual upbeat attitude. "Things are becoming way too serious after Zero and everything so I thought it would be fun." The President looked around the table, trying to persuade everyone with the force of her stare. "Who wants to go?" She hoped that she could get everyone out and about together for a little bonding time. It had been far too long since they had a group outing and it would be the first with Suzaku and Kallen as a member.

"I have some training to do for the military, sorry." Suzaku's reply was disheartening for Milly and it seemed to have a cascading effect as some of the others around the table began to give their answers.

"I have plans Sunday." Alice answered next, shrugging in slight apology. "Sorry Madame President." Silently, Alice was happily celebrating the fact that she had training that day so she wouldn't have to suffer under Milly's madness on the weekend. 'Training might be hell, but at least it won't be nearly as humiliating.' Alice thought, trying to hide her internal rejoicing and seem apologetic.

"I have a doctor's appointment, sorry." Kallen's short reply ended with a cough as she disguised her glee at finally being able to use her ill girl routine to get out of something she felt would probably qualify as torture. The last time Milly had dragged her into something she ended up watching Shirley get groped by the blonde in a shared bath after being invited to relax in the hot springs like conditions. Alice had joked that she was lucky enough to not have much for the President to grab, only to be promptly proven wrong as Milly gleefully switched her attention to the middle schooler and then jumped to Kallen after Alice's squeal of terror.

Kallen had resolved herself to never let herself be alone with Milly ever again after that night. The only ones who had been spared were Nina, because even Milly could recognize that would be going too far for the poor nervous girl, and Nunnally who hadn't been there in the first place.

"I have to tend the bar that day, so I definitely won't be able to make it." Rivalz's reply was genuinely apologetic, as he would really have enjoyed spending time with his crush and other friends at the resort.

"I just don't really want to go." Lelouch shrugged, being the only one openly unapologetic about his response. He ignored Milly practically deflating with each rejection. He may have cared for Milly, no matter how insane she could be sometimes, but even he wasn't going to voluntarily subject himself to her madness on a weekend away from school. Aside from the risk of exposure being around Milly for an extended period of time outside of school and at a resort would likely result in him finally losing that last thread of sanity he had dangling around somewhere deep in his mind.

"If Lelou isn't going then I'm not. Sorry Milly." Nunnally said, genuinely feeling bad as best Milly could see. The crippled girl hid her worry for Milly and her friends who she knew would end up going and getting caught up in some of the crazy stuff in the coming days. She didn't know what would happen, but she hoped her friends would remain safe. Her Geass' vision, rather Nemo's, hadn't been very clear about what would happen at Lake Kawaguchi.

"Oh!" Milly groaned with a large pout. "None of you are any fun." She crossed her arms with a humph. "Well, we'll show you! Shirley, Nina, you're both in right?" She demanded, her stare cowing the usually reserved Nina into accepting while Shirley responded with an enthusiastic "Yes, Madame President!" That's what she had come to expect from her minions… Friends! She meant friends.

"Good!" Milly ignored her mental slipup and powered through. "After we finish this up then prepare for the best vacation you ever had!" She would make everyone who refused to go as so jealous. This girls' day out would be packed with as much as she could get away with within a single day and damn it she was going to enjoy making the others regret not accepting her generous offer to enjoy such a vacation.

After a few hours, Lelouch found himself dressed as inconspicuously as he could get away with, huffing as he hung up his phone. Apparently, there were some minor problems getting the living members of the Yamato Alliance to integrate properly into his group. Some egos were clashing and he had to put his foot down as Zero, declaring Ohgi and his group to be in charge when he wasn't available. Some feathers got ruffled, but when he brought up the cowards who had abandoned him during the battle the remaining leaders of the Alliance submitted for now. But he couldn't afford to allow them to have influence right now and the excuse of their comrades' betrayal would only work for so long.

Eventually they would begin to question why they weren't being given positions of influence, positions they had in their group when they were independent, and it would cause some friction in the future. The Yamato Alliance wasn't the only group that was being steadily brought into the fold, but they were the only one that had members who had been in charge on some level. At the moment, aside from the Yamato Alliance and the Kozuki group, all other members of his group were defectors from groups around Shinjuku. None were leaders, merely those who were draw in by his persona and wanted to fight for Zero.

Currently his forces numbered under a thousand, but that would be changing soon. Recruits weren't flowing as much as they had after his first appearance, so he would have to act publicly again soon in order to continue to draw in more disaffected Japanese to his ranks. Getting one of the members of the Six Houses on his side would allow him to put off another public appearance for a little while longer, but only for a few days more.

Lelouch crouched down, sitting comfortably on the steps of Kururugi Shrine underneath the Torii. He decided to contact Ohgi, it was time to set up another meeting face to mask. 'Perhaps that strange gift will come in handy after all.' A noble had once bet more money than he could spare on a match with Lelouch and so gave him a lavish mobile home in its place. He could use it as a base for himself and his Lieutenants, there was no paper trail after all.

Gambling with minors was just as illegal as gambling as a minor so the nobles he faced typically ensured it was impossible to track their payouts since they would get in an equal amount of trouble alongside the humiliation of having lost to him be known to the public.

Truly, pride was one of the most effective silencers.

The sound of footsteps rushing up the stone stairs echoed around the shrine and Lelouch stood up, placing his hand in one of his pockets as he awaited his Goddess' arrival. Once he saw the familiar face of his old friend, he smirked. "Hello, Kaguya." Her gasp was quiet, but in the silent night around the pair, it was audible enough for Lelouch.

Kaguya felt her eyes sting, an uncontrollable smile coming across her face. "You're really alive." Her whisper was almost as silent as her gasp. Her voice was choked up and tears of happiness flowed down her cheeks. The young Sumeragi bounded up the steps and tackled her old friend, laughing in uncontrollable joy. Her happiness echoed throughout the abandoned shrine, giving life to the otherwise soulless landscape.

Lelouch grunted as he felt Kaguya's head crash into his midsection as she wrapped her arms around his body tightly. He returned her hug after taking a step or three back to keep himself upright. The exiled Prince felt the girl's shaking and smiled softly. Perhaps acting as Lelouch rather than as Zero would be the better decision in this case. He brushed his hand through her hair slightly, noting the cute red bow she had chosen to use to tie it up into a ponytail, and tried to calm down the hysterical teenager. "Hey now." He whispered softly, as the trembling slowly stopped. "Surely you didn't believe I would die so easily." The Princess of Japan pinched his side before pulling out of her tight hug.

"Not a single word for seven years, and when you finally do tell me you're alive it's a threat!" She whispered harshly, still unable to conceal her happiness despite her anger. "You really are a Demon Lelouch." She huffed, trying to clamp down on her tears of joy. "Leading a poor girl on like that for so long." Kaguya finally managed to stop herself from shaking and took a good look at her friend that she had thought was dead for the past seven years. Lelouch was still as skinny as she remembered, but he was tall now. He was dressed simply, with a red sweater and red and white jacket along with some black jeans, a grey belt, and black shoes. She burned his face into her memory, noting the minute differences she could see after seven years of absence. His eyes looked colder, but they still shined with the intelligence she remembered as a child.

Lelouch didn't even have the decency to look contrite. "I needed to hide myself and Nunnally after the invasion." He shrugged, dismissing her anger no matter how justified. "I couldn't allow us to make contact with anyone from when we lived here before Britannia invaded." Nunnally's safety meant more to him than anything, even the friendships they had made while they were guests of the Kururugi household. "Making sure the world believed us to be dead was far more important." He was already taking a risk with just this meeting, but it was safer to travel through the Settlement unmasked and inconspicuous. Plus, he finally had a useful reason to contact her beyond he and Nunnally simply missing her company.

"Of course, I understand." Kaguya said, the reality of the situation dragging down her emotions as she recalled the many reasons Lelouch would have had to not try and contact her. "How's Nunnally doing?" She asked, shifting to get comfortable as she sat on the steps of her old home. Being Suzaku's fiancé, Kururugi Shrine had been her home at least a year before Lelouch and Nunnally had arrived. She knew this place better than anyone else, with Suzaku having been too focused on his training and Lelouch having to take care of Nunnally. The young Sumeragi had explored what felt like every inch of this place back when she was a child.

Lelouch settled in next to Kaguya, noting her clothing as he observed her under the moonlight. Kaguya had a red bow in her hair, tying it into a ponytail that went to her waist, and a dark t-shirt with a meaningless design on it and a dark skirt. She had little black shoes to finish her little ensemble. Her clothing was meant to blend into the night and avoid drawing undue attention to herself, Lelouch approved of her forward thinking. He then turned his attention to the other changes he noticed in his old friend.

She was far taller than he remembered, but that was to be expected after having not seen each other for so long. She was still young, but she looked like she had gone through a lot. Her eyes held a weight they hadn't had before when they were young, even when she gleefully celebrated him still being alive.

They had changed. Suzaku, him, Kaguya, and even Nunnally. They had all changed from those long-lost days of happiness.

Kaguya's emerald eyes stared back at him, questioningly, waiting for his response to her question. "She's doing well." Lelouch finally answered. "We're both still in hiding, but she's safe and happy. Maybe you'll be able to visit with her soon, if we can arrange it in a way that won't be suspicious." Nunnally would love to visit with Kaguya again, and if he could get Suzaku involved it would be great to finally have the four of them all together again.

"That would be great!" Kaguya grinned, her eyes shining with excitement at the thought of seeing another one of her old friends. She was glad the young Princess had survived the invasion, it would have broken Lelouch beyond repair if Nunnally hadn't survived. She could tell that much even when she was a child. "I would love to see her again." As long as she could arrange to not be busy with either the Six Houses or her business it would be a blast.

"Come on, let's take a walk." Lelouch took Kaguya's hand and dragged her down the stairs with him. "We have a lot of catching up to do, no reason we have to stay in this muggy old shrine for the rest of the night." The moon was bright and the night was young, staying in the shrine seemed like a poor way to celebrate his reunion with Kaguya.

Kaguya grinned mischievously. "Lelouch vi Britannia, are you taking me out on a date?" She teased with a slight blush coloring her cheeks. She gripped her friend's hand tight as he very nearly took a spill down the shrine's stairs.

"What?" Lelouch squeaked before regaining his composure as he cleared his throat. "I mean." He stumbled over his words for a moment, Kaguya's question bringing back memories on how easily she could knock him off balance. "No, this isn't a date." He stated firmly, ignoring the girl's giggling from behind him as they finally made it to the bottom of the stairs. He waited and prepared to hail the next taxi he could find. "This is just two friends catching up after seven years." He hoped that would shut Kaguya up for a moment so he could fully regain his bearings.

Kaguya hadn't changed much it seemed.

"Sure." Kaguya replied, dragging out the sound of the word far more than necessary. "Whatever you say, Demon." She whispered teasingly, hugging his arm tightly against her developing bust for a little extra emphasis. "We do have a lot of catching up to do after all." Her teasing tone not getting much of a response as her friend had regained control over his reactions.

Yeah, she definitely hadn't changed.


(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Shopping District – 8:19 pm – September 29 – 2017 a.t.b.)

Kaguya and Lelouch eventually found themselves at a little diner in the shopping district of the Tokyo Settlement. It was late and many of the areas were full of either families, couples, or regular customers, but they found a booth easily enough in the far corner. Ordinarily, this would not provide nearly enough privacy, but the booth in the corner was slightly shadowed and out of the way. Plus, it would be difficult for anyone of importance to pick up their words over the general noise of their fellow customers.

Lelouch picked the seat that left his back at the wall, but allowed him to observe the rest of the customers and keep an eye on anyone approaching them. A young woman with a bow in her hair made her way to them quickly and gave them a smile as she pulled out a small notepad with one hand while she gave Lelouch and Kaguya a set of menus. "Hello, my name is Emily, do you know what you would like to drink?" She introduced herself cheerfully. "I can get those for you while you two decide what to order."

Lelouch ignored her good cheer and perused the menu before ordering his drink as he set the menu down for the moment. He would figure out what he wanted to eat eventually, but he was more focused on catching up with Kaguya for the time being. The waitress left after Kaguya gave her own order and smiled at his old friend once they were left alone. "I hope you don't mind, while it's not the best place for a private conversation I figured the both of us could use a good meal." Lelouch's measured words were meant to hint to the dark-haired girl to avoid any topics that were too sensitive for this kind of environment.

Kaguya quickly picked up on Lelouch's hidden meaning, smiling widely as she replied. "Of course, after all, you're practically skin and bones." Her tongue delivered the barb with a practiced ease, though with her wry tone it was clear she didn't mean anything by it. "Really, Lulu, you need to get yourself a wife to feed you one of these days or you'll just waste away." A giggle escaped her as she saw her old friend snort with a slight blush at her insinuation flushing his cheeks.

"You know that's never going to happen." Lelouch responded, ignoring the slight irritation he felt at Kaguya's ability to get under his skin so effortlessly. "Regardless, how have you been Kaguya?" Lelouch asked, his question silencing the girl's humor. "What's been going on these past seven years?" His attention was focused on both ensuring their conversation remained private and learning what had been going on with his friend while they had been separated.

The young teenager felt her mood become somber as she considered on how much she could tell Lelouch without anything regarding her activities as one of the main backers of most of the terrorist cells in Japan. "It's been… rough." She started, the most honest description coming to mind. "Suzaku was really depressed after he arrived at my parents' place. After Uncle committed suicide, he had nowhere else to go." She decided to stick with the version that the general public knew regarding her Uncle's demise, despite her knowledge that he had been assassinated by Britannia.

Kirihara had decided that her parents deserved to know the truth and she had overheard that conversation the night he chose to tell them. Her reaction hadn't been very good, but that was to be expected. She had a feeling that Kirihara had taken her under his wing in part to make up for the fact she learned her Uncle had been murdered at the tender age of nine.

"We lived together for a few years, but we never really managed to rekindle the kind of relationship we had back at the shrine." Kaguya admitted, feeling some residual sadness that still lingered when she delved into those memories. "We haven't spoken in years, but I've done my best to keep tabs on him after he left." She resisted the urge to pound the table futilely with her fist as she remembered Suzaku's decision.

"He chose to join the military eventually, I don't know why but I couldn't support him and watch as he threw his life away for Britannia." Kaguya almost growled, remembering how Suzaku had practically spit in her face. "I told him either he could stay with my family or join the military, but not both. That idiot chose to leave." A sharp sigh exploded from her nostrils as she tried to calm herself down. She had gotten over it a while ago, but remembering Suzaku's decision still stung some years later. Getting her emotions back under control, she continued. "Eventually, I inherited my parents company when they passed away and I've been running it ever since." She knew Lelouch already knew that much, considering how he had the letter delivered to her, but Kaguya felt it was appropriate to answer Lelouch in full.

She paused as the waitress returned to take their orders and deliver their drinks, once that was done with and the young woman left, Kaguya took a small sip of her drink. "That's about all that matters." Kaguya admitted, knowing she couldn't go much further without divulging important details. Details better left unsaid in a public place such as this. So she decided to try and fish out some information from Lelouch. "What about you?" She probed curiously. "How have you been doing in the seven years since the invasion?" As Kaguya had assumed him and Nunnally to be dead, she had never thought to turn her resources to check in on their status. She hoped they had been living well because it would have broken her heart if her two friends had been suffering without her knowledge when she was fully capable of helping them.

Lelouch waited for a moment, carefully considering both his response and everything Kaguya had told him. The information was somewhat new, but it didn't reveal anything he couldn't deduce on his own. His own words would have to be in the same style. "I would rather not discuss that Hell, so I will tell you what occurred after we separated from Suzaku." Lelouch began, still contemplating just how to speak to avoid revealing anything to potentially curious ears. They had been speaking low enough to avoid being overheard, but customers were beginning to clear out and the noise level was going down. Soon, it would be all but impossible to discuss sensitive topics without someone being able to overhear.

His answer was cut off prematurely as their food arrived, but once their waitress left them to enjoy their meal he continued. "I had made contact with a servant of my mother's allies." He continued his tale as he ate. "We had to hide for a few days before they found us, but eventually we made it to safety and managed to blend in." That is, craft entirely new identities so that they could continue to live a normal life once Britannia managed to establish the colonial government in Tokyo after Genbu's suicide left the government without its head and Britannia was on its doorstep. "Beyond that, we've been living normal lives, though we could not risk contacting anyone so we had to content ourselves with keeping up on events in our friends' lives discreetly." It had been difficult to keep an eye on the major life events going on around those whom he and Nunnally had once been close to.

As Euphie had been far too young to have been in the public eye, they had no idea how she was doing beyond Cornelia being interviewed. Any sign something was wrong with their beloved half-sister would have certainly been revealed by how Cornelia acted, in particular if something bad had happened, so they both knew the pink haired Princess was alive and well.

Though that had changed however, as Euphie featured in the news far more often after becoming Sub-Viceroy under her elder sister.

Milly lived in the same place as them, though in a different building on the campus, so it was no trouble keeping track of her. Keeping up with her antics without being overwhelmed was more troublesome than anything else.

As Schneizel and other high-ranking individuals they had been close to were regularly featured in the news, they could glean at least a little bit about their lives, but not nearly as much as he and Nunnally would like.

Anya, despite being a Knight of the Round, was actually the easiest to keep track of thanks to her blog.

Kaguya had featured quite a bit in the news around Area Eleven after she inherited her parents' businesses a few years ago, in particular as to whether or not she would abide by the agreement her parents had set up with the colonial government or if Britannia would need to take corrective action. But that had been all the information they could get without contacting their old friend directly, as Lelouch was doing now, so they had to content themselves with the knowledge that she was safe. Like Euphie.

Truly, one would think that his and Nunnally's friends, many being important in some form or another, would feature more in the news than they actually did, but their private lives, the thing the pair most cared about, were often impossible to learn about.

"We've been doing alright for ourselves, but times are changing." With Lelouch's slightly ominous statement, Kaguya turned her attention back to her food, considering all that her old friend had managed to reveal without saying what he truly wanted.

The invasion had scarred him and Nunnally, that much was clear with his first statement. They hadn't managed to escape the fighting, though she had already known as much thanks to Suzaku. He had confided in her many of the terrible things the three of them had seen when they were fleeing to safety after the safe house Lelouch and Nunnally temporarily called home was blown to pieces. Lelouch's feelings towards those memories were very clear thanks to his dark tone and his description of that period as "Hell".

They had been living comfortably, though not likely as royalty since they kept a low profile and likely created a new set of identities to hide themselves amongst the Britannian public. And they were living with someone he had known before they came to Japan. Kaguya didn't remember who, but she did remember many conversations about the differences between Japan and Britannia and the court politics that shaped things at the highest levels of the Empire. Even as a child she had a curiosity about politics, and Britannia's style of politics was different from any other in the world.

The system of allies and factionalism that were united under the banner of the single ruler that was the Emperor was unique. It took a sizeable portion of the nobility and/or members of the Imperial Family to legitimize a successor after the current Emperor either died or was deposed, so there were many alliances and factions within the highest levels of Britannia's government, each positioning themselves to be the successor to the Imperial Throne. While only members of the Imperial Family were eligible to inherit, without support from either their family members or the nobility there was no way they would be recognized as legitimate.

Lelouch had met up with one of those old allies that his mother had on her side back when they lived in Britannia, likely one that had moved to Japan, either before or after the invasion. Though Kaguya was willing to bet that it was a family that had moved before the invasion since many of the nobles who moved to Area Eleven after it was formed were those who sought to exploit the lands before anyone else. She doubted those types were the kind Lelouch would trust with Nunnally's safety.

And finally, the last thing Kaguya could discern from Lelouch's words was that he had been trying to keep an eye on as many of those he had once had relationships with as he could throughout the next seven years. But he'd had to do it without being detected, though something had made him willing to reach out to her directly.

And that led to the biggest question she had about this little rendezvous he had set up with her. What did Lelouch want from her? There were many things she could hypothesize, but nothing he said hinted at what that could be. All he said was that "times were changing" and the only thing that could make a big enough splash to have Lelouch take a risk like this was… Zero's ascension as the newest leader of the resistance against Britannia!

With that, Kaguya knew enough to be satisfied until they could speak at a more private location. She and Lelouch enjoyed their meal in the comfortable silence that had developed after she began considering all that he had told her.

He hadn't said much, but it was enough to the point Kaguya really wanted to learn more about why Lelouch had called her out tonight.


(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Sumeragi Tokyo Port – 9:11 pm – September 29 – 2017 a.t.b.)

Kaguya twirled slightly, laughing as she danced in the breeze of the sea. She, rather her company, owned this port and so it was child's play, literally, to avoid the guard rotations that were set up to prevent trespassers. While she could have just flashed her ID and said it was a surprise inspection, that would reveal that she visited the docks tonight and she didn't want anyone knowing of this.

Lelouch smiled softly, watching Kaguya spin in a carefree manner, letting the wind blow through her hair gently as she danced. It was a reminder that, no matter how crazy she could drive him or how much responsibility she had, she was still a young teenage girl.

The young heiress plopped down on the edge of the pier, staring across the horizon at the moon's gorgeous reflection in the lightly moving water. "Here, come sit next to me." She gestured to the area next to her on the pier. "No one will bother us here." She explained with a grin as she turned her head back to look at her friend. "The guards that patrol this place aren't here unless a shipment is coming in, so we'll have complete privacy to talk." Her happiness at this small freedom was almost palpable, as Kaguya very rarely managed to evade all forms of surveillance that both Britannia and Kirihara had on her. To spy on her and to protect her, respectively.

This outing with Lelouch was the first time she had a breath of freedom in quite some time. And now that they were on her property she knew that she could let down her walls and speak with her old friend freely.

Lelouch stared at the moonlit figure of Kaguya, noticing how the natural light framed her form, in particular her eyes and smile, almost as though she were a figure posing for a painting at the sea's edge. 'She's beautiful.' Lelouch noticed for the first time. He was no stranger to physical beauty, being friends with Milly and Shirley saw to that, nor was he a stranger to the beauty of someone's heart, something that Nunnally reminded him of every single day, but he had never seen Kaguya in such a light before and it was surprising to see just how much his old friend had grown up over the years.

It was a change that he hadn't necessarily expected. Lelouch had expected his old friend to have changed, obviously, but he hadn't expected it to this extent.

As he made his way to sit next to her, he noticed that Kaguya's smile held not a single ounce of its usual playfulness. It was merely reflecting the sheer joy Kaguya held at being able to spend some time with him again.

Lelouch took a deep breath of the sea air and closed his eyes, allowing himself to feel the breeze and coolness of the late night air. He leaned back on his hands, taking in the full scene before him as he shivered slightly underneath his jacket.

"Why did you want to talk to me Lelouch?" Kaguya asked, enjoying the silence for a few moments before springing her question. "I know you didn't contact me just to catch up." If her friend could go seven years without talking then he would have no reason to contact her now beyond her earlier suspicions. She'd bet anything that Zero had something to do with why Lelouch was taking this risk to speak with her.

Lelouch hummed slightly, opening his eyes slightly to stare down at Kaguya. "When did you figure it out?" His query was met with a shrewd gaze from the Princess of Japan. She leaned over and stared up at him impishly, a smirk etching its way across her face.

"Since our little date." She admitted with her teeth shining dangerously in the moonlight as she subtly bared them. "As much as I appreciated you footing the bill, I am not a fan of being manipulated, old friend or no." Lelouch wasn't so hard for her to read, and while his tactics were much more preferable to some of the other individuals who had brought her out with ulterior motives in mind, she still didn't appreciate it. The one thing she truly enjoyed was the ability to catch up with an old friend, but his manipulation out of pure habit had brought back memories.

She didn't appreciate being a puppet again, after she had learned to become a puppeteer herself.

Lelouch had a habit of arranging things and people around him in ways that suited his needs, his manipulations were often so subtle many people never caught on, but Kaguya had picked up on it as had Suzaku, once she pointed it out. Lelouch's force of personality and manipulative nature had been toned down by them eventually, but it appeared old habits died hard with the young man before her.

"That's earlier than you used to figure it out." Lelouch's lips shifted into a small smirk at the dig. "You've gotten more perceptive over the years." He had been probing her with questions that would hint towards any active support of the resistance groups in Area Eleven and as expected she had managed to deflect or avoid answering all of his questions that could have hinted towards terrorist sympathies with practiced ease. In fact, the only thing that gave her away to him was that it certainly appeared practiced.

Then again, it could have been just been how it almost seemed Kirihara were the one he was speaking with rather than Kaguya when she gave him certain answers. The old man had trained her responses well, but Lelouch had many a talk with the old bastard and knew how his mind worked. The hints Kaguya gave him were all the confirmation he needed to know who she worked with. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Kirihara accepted you into the Six Houses." He murmured, his smirk dropping as he sat up and stared at Kaguya from the side of his eyes. "You truly did inherit all of your parents' positions, both public and private." Lelouch took a deep breath. "You are right, I was manipulating you. In a manner of speaking."

"For what purpose?" Kaguya hid the hurt in her voice with her sharp question. She had been so excited to speak with Lelouch again that she had forgotten that if he had wanted to talk before now that he would have contacted her. The fact that he had let her think he and Nunnally were dead for so long, when he could have simply let her know otherwise, hurt. That meant he only contacted her now because he had need of her. "Surely you could have just gone to Kirihara with this?" She wanted to know why her old friend was using her.

"The Six Houses' support will be integral to my plans." Lelouch admitted, preparing himself to reveal his identity to Kaguya. "I needed to know that I would have at least one backer and Kirihara isn't someone I trust enough to be the first I reveal myself to." His face turned and he announced, "I need the support of the Goddess of Victory if I am going to succeed in freeing Japan, Zero cannot win alone." Kaguya's eyes shot to his in surprise, her lips parted as a sharp gasp escaped her. "I cannot win alone." Lelouch whispered, staring deep into the shocked eyes of his old friend.

Kaguya felt tears begin to build up in her eyes. "Y-you… what?!" She rasped, her mind short-circuiting slightly as she tried to process this new information. A choked giggle escaped her lips as she realized that the mysterious revolutionary leader she had been fantasizing about the past few weeks was Lelouch of all people. And yet, the more she considered it the more it made sense. "Oh my god." She breathed, trying to reorganize her thoughts so she could respond. "No wonder you took such a big risk to save Suzaku." She said to buy herself a little time. This was a lot to take in so suddenly.

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she raised her hand to cup Lelouch's face softly, staring into his deep violet eyes. "We're still not even, and I don't like being manipulated, but I can promise my support in the Six Houses." It wasn't purely a personal decision, she truly did believe that Zero was the best chance to free Japan from the grips of Britannia. But the knowledge that it was her old friend who was leading the future certainly made it easier for her to support him in his endeavors.

"Thank you, Kaguya." Lelouch voiced his appreciation sincerely, unsure about the intimate gesture the dark-haired girl was giving him, and mildly nervous about the potential revenge she would seek, but accepting her support gratefully nonetheless. Shaking off any sense of confusion, he continued. "I plan to speak with Kirihara as well soon, but I needed to know if I could count on you if things fall through." Based on his knowledge of the two, Kaguya had always been the one more loyal to him whereas Kirihara's loyalties were towards whatever advanced his goals further. That was why he considered Kaguya the least risky choice between the two and why he contacted her first.

"That's a conversation for another day." Kaguya spoke, leaning in slightly. "For now, let's just finalize our contract." And, before Lelouch could pull away, she leaned forward and captured his lips with her own.

Lelouch blinked as he realized Kaguya was kissing him, her eyes closed as she placed her other hand over the one he had on the pier to keep her balance, before closing his eyes and returning the kiss, trying to avoid his instinctive desire take control and let her move at her own pace. Her lips were soft, and she was a bit clumsy, but the heart and impulsiveness that typically guided Kaguya when she was younger were apparent.

Kaguya pulled back, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "I've wanted to do that for a while." She admitted, her breath coming out slightly heavy. "That wasn't your first, was it?" Lelouch wasn't nearly as clumsy as she had been, and she was willing to bet he'd had some experience considering how good he looked.

"No, it wasn't." He admitted, feeling flattered by Kaguya's affections. "But it was yours." He deduced easily enough. He licked his lips, tasting the flavor of the lipstick she had apparently chosen for tonight. 'Peppermint.' It was unusual, but unusual suited Kaguya just fine.

"Yes." There wasn't much to say beyond that. Kaguya had given Lelouch her first kiss. "I'm glad it was with you." She finally got her heart under control after a few more moments. "I figured you deserved a reward for saving my stubborn cousin," a giddy giggle slipped past her lips, "I'm sure he gave you some trouble so I wanted to both thank you and make up for his pigheadedness." Kaguya was feeling slightly lightheaded, so she decided to lean on the perfectly good support next to her.

Lelouch felt Kaguya's head hit his shoulder and maneuvered himself slightly to make her more comfortable. This was not how he expected his night to go, at least not entirely. He had expected Kaguya to see through his attempt to manipulate her, taking her out to dinner and probing her throughout their conversation for clues about whether she truly was a member of the Six Houses or if she hadn't inherited that responsibility from her parents as she had inherited their business, and he had expected to obtain her support after he revealed himself to her, but he hadn't expected her to reveal her feelings for him.

If anything he had expected to be slapped for manipulating her like he had. But perhaps she knew that, with him, manipulations weren't something that could be written out of his personality. It was simply in his nature to use all that he could to advance his ambitions, whether they be strangers or close friends. Kaguya had known him when he was a child, when his technique was a lot less refined, so perhaps she understood him better than he gave her credit for.

"Suzaku did refuse my offer of alliance, but I have spoken with him." Lelouch spoke quietly, knowing Kaguya was pretty tired after the emotional rollercoaster she had been put on tonight. "Zero couldn't speak to his ideals, but as Lelouch I have more opportunities to debate with him and perhaps get him to come around." While he disagreed with Suzaku's view on attempting to change things from the inside, it would be better to wait and show him the error in his philosophy as the opportunity arose rather than trying to force him to change his mind.

"You're in contact with him?" Kaguya perked up slightly, not having known this before. "How?" She asked, trying and failing to conceal a yawn. She snuggled into Lelouch a little more, trying to sap some of his body heat for her own.

Lelouch wrapped an arm around Kaguya's shoulders to bring her in closer in response to her attempt to burrow into his jacket. "He was enrolled in my school by Euphie after he ran into her a while back. He's been a little inconsistent in his attendance due to his military obligations, but he's doing well." That was the only information he could reveal without going into too much detail, he didn't want Kaguya to track him down at Ashford any time soon.

One of his worst nightmares, that didn't involve him losing his mind, was one that contained a meeting between Kaguya and Milly. The school had exploded within the week thanks to their antics in that dream.

He had vehemently decided to never allow Milly to get the idea to start a "fireworks war" into her insane mind.

"Let him know that I hope he's okay." Kaguya requested, feeling a desire to at least try to mend bridges with Suzaku. She hadn't spoken to him in years, and after seeing him set up for an execution realized that she really didn't want their last conversation to be a fight. "I'd like to talk with him soon." She yawned widely again, feeling exhaustion begin to settle in after everything she had learned tonight.

Lelouch patted Kaguya's side and shifted so he could rise. "I think it's time to leave." The wind was starting to get faster and he could see some dark clouds over the horizon. "A storm looks like it's coming in, we should both get home before it hits." After he stood, he offered a hand to Kaguya. "Come on, let's head out."

Kaguya smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling herself up with a smile. "Yeah." She spoke tiredly. The wind whipped through her hair as she rose and stretched as she yawned. "It's been a long night."

Lelouch and Kaguya made their way out of the port, each surprised in their own ways by the events of this night.


(Shinjuku Ghetto, Area Eleven – Secret Mobile Base – 5:03 pm – October 1 – 2017 a.t.b.)

"Yes Kaguya, I'm sure about this." Lelouch responded over the phone, dressed in his Zero Armor as he prepared to meet with the core leaders of his group. "It's time to announce our existence to the world. Just have the transportation prepared so we can ensure our escape." He heard footsteps below and ended the conversation. "Look, I promise I'll be careful." He clicked the phone shut and pocketed it before putting on his helmet.

Zero made his way down the stairs and observed the leaders of the resistance group he had led back in Shinjuku. "Welcome to our new base." He announced his presence, causing Kallen and a few others to jump in surprise. "I do hope you find it to your liking."

"Where did you get this Zero?" Ohgi asked in wonder as he looked around the elaborate surroundings. "It must've cost you a fortune." Speaking of, the former leader would have to talk about compensation later. He hoped that Zero would be amenable to ensuring that his people were taken care of.

"Not a dime." Zero replied, making his way over to a couch to make himself comfortable. "A certain noble owed me a favor and delivered this to me, under the table of course, in exchange for me forgiving his debt." Truly, his gambling with Rivalz had paid off far more than he had ever expected. He still had yet to even dent the savings he had accumulated over the years, even with C.C.'s spending spree and his expensive gifts for Nunnally over the years.

It was too bad he'd have to kill the noble soon so that news of who owned it wouldn't ever be leaked to the media. Sayoko would have to arrange an accident for him in order to ensure his secret base remained secret.

"It's even got a TV." One of the other members noticed. It was Minami, Zero believed, if his files had been correct. The man picked the remote up from the table and clicked it on, revealing the news channel Zero had been observing before the group had arrived.

"-hostage crisis at Kawaguchi Hotel continues." A young woman reporting from the scene Zero had been keeping track of before he called his top subordinates to meet with him. "We'll have continuing coverage after the break, but first we have exclusive footage of the hostages, taken by the Japan Liberation Front." With that, the images on the screen shifted to show a number of people crammed into a dark room.

And among the hostages, Kallen saw Milly, Nina, and Shirley looking terrified as they tried to make themselves as small as possible to avoid notice. Kallen gasped as she discovered the knowledge that seeing people she cared about, at least a little bit since they weren't like most Britannians she knew, sparked a unique kind of fear in her heart. "We have to do something." She murmured, ignoring the commercials that were airing as she still saw the terrified faces of her somewhat friends stuck in that cramped room.

"What?" Tamaki spoke, his confusion at Kallen's response apparent. "You mean to help the JLF?" He snickered. "They seem to have everything under control, I say we just watch from where it's safe." Tamaki didn't think it would be smart for a small group like theirs to get involved with the largest resistance group just yet, besides he didn't see the need to get involved in the first place.

"Kallen is correct, Tamaki." Zero spoke, his voice modulator hiding any emotion he had been feeling. But Tamaki got the sense Zero was upset with him. "If you were paying attention you would have noticed that the hostages weren't just the diplomats or their guards, there were innocents trapped there as well." He rose from his position on the couch, making his way to a position where he could observe the entire group. "The JLF have callously chosen to ignore the fact that tourists have no true value as hostages, especially when it comes to Cornelia." With this, Zero held out one hand to the side, causing his cloak to flare slightly. "She will not care unless someone she holds dear is a member of the group of hostages, so why do you think she has not moved to take out the entire building?" Zero's question sparked confusion amongst his group before Kallen realized what he was saying.

"Wait, are you saying someone Cornelia cares about is secretly a hostage right now?" Kallen asked, confusion apparent on her face. "Who does she care about that much?" Kallen wasn't sure Cornelia had anyone she cared about, aside from–

"Princess Euphemia." A voice sounded from the staircase Zero had descended from, and the voice only grew in volume as its owner made its way downstairs. "The bond between full siblings in the Imperial Family is not one that should be underestimated." A young blonde girl with deep crimson eyes spoke authoritatively. "If you look at the history of Britannia, often one of the few members of the family the victors of the succession battles never betrayed were their full-blooded siblings. Cornelia is absolutely ruthless when it comes to dealing with terrorists thanks to her time in what is now Area Eighteen." The girl walked amongst the group, commanding all of their attention, before she made her way to Zero's right side. "The only reason she would hold back would be if Princess Euphemia were hidden amongst the hostages, but since the demands of the JLF have yet to be met it's only a matter of time before they discover her identity." The strange girl turned to Zero, a small smile across her lips. "Am I correct in that analysis, My King?" She asked, mischief apparent in her tone.

Lelouch felt his eye twitch slightly behind his mask. "More or less." He responded, though that had been more than just something he was going to say. That had been exactly what he had been going to say to Kallen. Word for word, except for her final question to him at the end. "Regardless, we will intervene in order to free the innocents caught up in the JLF's foolish scheme." Zero brought things back on track in order to prepare his subordinates for this mission.

Ohgi chose to ignore the short girl standing beside his leader for the moment, in favor of asking the question that was most pertinent to their immediate future. "How can we stand against the JLF?" He asked, troubled by a few things about this plan. "They're the largest resistance group in Japan and we're small fry." Ohgi was concerned that Zero's plan might put all of his friends at undue risk and wanted assurance that they wouldn't be walking into a deathtrap.

"We're more than a resistance group." Zero responded, flaring his arm out dramatically. "What we are, what we will be, are knights for justice!" He declared, conviction shining through the voice modulator despite its distortion. "Wherever injustice rears its ugly head, we will be there to fight for the sake of the powerless. And that is why it is so important for us to take a stand this night." Zero brought his arms back under his cloak as he turned his back to the group and made his way to a different room where he could peruse his plans more privately. "Tonight is the night we announce our presence to the world." He closed on that note, leaving the Kozuki group mystified by his words and their potential meaning.

Nemo followed in his shadow as he considered how things were progressing. With the backing of Kaguya he had the resources to do this far better than if he was working alone. He had Nemo by his side to tell him if he was about to make a mistake that would be significant enough to change the future negatively. He had the most loyal of his subordinates under his command assembled for the sake of this mission. And with the crisis caused by the JLF creating a backdrop to contrast himself in comparison to the typical terrorists, he would be able to give himself a moral high ground in comparison to the rabble amongst Area Eleven.

If all went according to plan, he would have nothing to worry about.


And so ends the Sovereigns of the Battlefield arc. The next arc will be titled The Knights of War and I hope it will be as much fun for you to read as it will be for me to write.

I hope that you have enjoyed the new chapter, I know it was long, but I felt you guys deserved a treat for waiting so long.

I hope I wrote the scene between Kaguya and Lelouch well enough, it's a little difficult to capture their characters when they interact since the one time Lelouch really interacted with her in the anime, beyond their time as children, he was the Demon Emperor. Every other time he was acting as Zero and I was going with my instinct on how I thought they would interact. Kaguya always struck me as impulsive, but guided by her heart. That, combined with how mischievous I feel she is and her mild infatuation with Zero, led to her being willing to kiss Lelouch with the excuse of "finalizing their contract" with each other after he revealed himself to her.

It's been seven years, but she still cares about him. Even if she's annoyed at how he's still willing to manipulate her like he used to, she still sees him as someone important to her.

Again, I want to make it clear that the pairing for Lelouch is not set by these facts. Just because Kaguya feels something greater than friendship towards Lelouch doesn't mean he reciprocates even if he is willing to use the loyalty her feelings in him inspire for his own gain. Lelouch has a rather skewed view on relationships due to his past as a Prince and his own issues with connecting to other people.

I just hope I can do the friendship between them justice since I expanded the backstory they shared with each other in my story. My current general plan is to write her the way I feel she would have acted had she known who was behind the mask in the anime. And that means she will be messing with Zero even more than just the "Zero's wife" comments she occasionally made.

I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter. Please review if you liked it. Next chapter, the Black Knights will finally be revealed to the world!

King Draconias Over and Out.