Alright, we are back with another chapter. The last one left off at a pretty good spot so I'll try to keep things in that same motion and as I promised in the last chapter, they will be a time-skip in this chapter but don't expect something massive like a couple of years, things still need be set up and explained since I hate when fictional works just skip over most of what they need you to know or just act like they already explained or showed this…when they didn't. Anyway, I won't waste your time here, if you like the chapter, please tag this as one of your favorites and follow if you haven't already and remember to leave a review down at the bottom. I love hearing your opinions and take-aways so don't hold back.

Chapter 6: My name is Chirona

(Imperial Capital of Sadera)

"Let's just hope I find what I'm looking for here. Lelei was upset enough with me over wanting to split from them for as long as I asked." Lelouch said to himself as he found himself in the heart of the empire, the imperial capital. It had been around a month since he had that little chat with the merc sent to check up on the bandits and in that time, he hadn't been idle. He had been both studying his magic but also looking into the criminal underworld of the empire. Sadly that didn't give much in the way of result since he wasn't as connected as he was back in his world and criminals operated differently here so finding anything at all proved to be fruitless.

'That mercenary said that he met with his employer somewhere called 'The Dancing Orc'. That should be in the south-eastern parts of town.' He thought to himself as he thought of where he wanted to go but when he looked down the main obvious street, it was chalked full of both stores, vendors, and carts. Getting through all that would prove to be a challenge and he wished to get this done quickly, so he walked over to someone who looked to be a local and tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Excuse me, but are there any less crowded paths leading to the southeast of town?" He asked the guy as he pointed towards where he wanted to go.

"You mean Akusho?" The guy asked him as he looked him over. Seeing that the boy looked barely out of childhood and going by his robes, he would say he was a wizard's apprentice or something. Not the typical king of street rat that would want to head over there. "Why would want to go there?"

"I have a friend that I'm meeting there but he didn't give me exact directions. Could you help me out?" Lelouch responded, lying as easily as breathing as, by this point in his life, he had perfected the art of making and maintaining a 'hammock of lies'. Besides, he didn't owe this random stranger anything.

"Oh well, I guess a foreigner would have trouble with that. Just take that road over there. When you reach the large flower shop, take the 2nd left, and then take the 4th right. That way should be clear of most of the vendors but I'll be careful about muggers. You don't look like you're put up much a fight." The guy pointed out an alternative route which had much less activity on it. Lelouch nodded when he looked over before turning back to him.

"You'll be surprised. But thanks anyway." Lelouch replied before the two parted ways with the dark-haired youth walking down the route that had been pointed out to him. As he went, he started to pick up that slowly but surely, the buildings and streets, which had once been splendid and decked out, were starting to fall towards the other side of the spectrum. He also noted that there were more and more people just sitting on the sidewalks begging or slaves being made to work for masters that barely looked like they could afford to them.

'I suppose I should have expected that one he told me it was a slum. Kinda something that comes with any large human settlement and double for societies who put little in the way of welfare for its citizens. Though I suppose that much like the world powers of my old world, they just don't classify everyone as a citizen to avoid having to care for all of them.' Lelouch noted as he picked up more than a couple scenes of poverty and strife as he walked down the road, and he wasn't even in the slums proper yet.

"The city does have its charms, clearly whoever was in charge of city planning knew what they were doing." At least there wasn't things like sewage flowing down the roads or people just dumping waste into the street and whenever he went by a place that seemed to be a butcher of some kind, there weren't guts and bones just tossed outside haphazardly, in one case, he saw a butcher in a back alley dumping his trash into a marked container with a lid he put back on as soon as he was done.

'And here's the 4th right. That guy didn't tell me it was an alleyway, but hey, what could go wrong for a foreigner in an alley away from the main streets?' He thought to himself sarcastically as he decided to take a chance and head on down the alley. It wasn't even a full minute before he was stopped by a gang of obvious thugs.

"Sorry bud, but there is a fee to pass here." The one standing in front of him, the largest of them told him as he pushed him back but he held his footing and didn't trip.

'Of course, this happens.' Lelouch thought to himself with an eye-roll, maybe he should have just stuck with the main roads. "Is that so?" He asked, his tone calm as if his life wasn't in danger, which it wasn't but these idiots didn't know that.

"I wouldn't try anything if I was you. Why don't you just pay your traveler's fee and get out of here like a good barbarian." Great, so this place was just like ancient Rome with the blatant racism against non-imperials, lovely.

""That fee is 20 Denari." They told him as they all pulled out some kind of weapon from small clubs to daggers, clearly ready to intimidate him into submission if not downright attack him.

"Alright," Lelouch said as if it wasn't a big deal as he started going through what money he had brought with him. He had only brought about 125 Denari but seeing how he had only asked Cato and Lelei to travel separately for five months, the funds he had brought with him should have been enough to keep him going and if not, he could always try some work here and there. So losing some coin wasn't that big of a deal to him.

"What?" And it was apparent that these guys were not accustomed to their victims being so willing as one nearly dropped his weapon in shock as the dark haired youth just counted up the coin in a purse before placing it into the hand of the one in front of him.

"20 Denari, as you stated." Lelouch said to him as he gestured for him to move out of the way. "That is your fee, so why don't you let me pass so we can both carry on with our day, yes?"

"Hold on you little punk! The fee has just increased to 60 Denari!" The leader of the group demanded of him, either he was greedy or he was pissed that Lelouch didn't bow and scarp to get past him. Still, this was starting to annoy him.

"It was 20 a moment ago." Lelouch reminded them as they still had the money he gave them but now he could see that they had no plan when they jumped up, they assumed that he only had 20 Denari or less and weren't expecting him to have more.

"Watch yourself, smart-ass. You're not walking away without paying." One of them said as he poked him in the side with his dagger and though the boy flinched out of instinct, he didn't react anymore than that, his facial expression only grew more annoyed by it rather than scared.

"As I thought, just a bunch of greedy fools." Lelouch muttered to himself, speaking in English to mask what he had said to him, it wasn't like they didn't know he wasn't from around here, his accent was still quite thick after-all.

"What was that?" One of them asked him

"Looks we have to teach you some mann-!" The one with a dagger to his side started as his patience had run out, so Lelouch acted. It was quick, with the one hand, he wrenched the blade away from his side, not minding that it cut into his hand while in the same fluid motion, he pulled out his dagger and buried it to the hilt in the side of the poor bastard's throat, an instant kill.

"If you only had taken the money, then at least you'll be leaving here with your lives." Lelouch muttered as he pulled his blade free and let the poor sob fall to the ground, choking on his blood a moment before going still, the life bleeding out of his eyes the same as the blood from his neck wound.

"You'll pay for that!" Seeing all this, the rest of the were first stunned by the speed of the kill, most likely never gone up against someone who knew how to kill and kill effectively before they got their shit together, but they had taken too much time.

"No I don't think I will," Lelouch told them as he quickly jumped back, with the one behind him having been disposed of, he as free to look at all of them. "Lelouch Ja Nemesis command you. Obey my three commands." He ordered them as he activated his geass and starred at each of them in the eyes, their wills breaking near instantly as they all relaxed and stood straight.

"Yes, my lord." They all replied as one. It would have been creepy but this wasn't the first or even 20th time he had done something like this. As he didn't have much time, Lelouch didn't have a lot of time to deal with them. He could just stab them right now or have the lot of them kill each other but that felt….lacking. They had wasted his time and were dirty crooks, they needed something….more punishing. It didn't take long for him to think of something.

"My first command, freeze where you are, don't move a muscle," Lelouch ordered them, he needed them to stay still for what he had planned.

"Yes, my lord."

"My second command, don't speak a word. Don't make a single sound other than whimpers." It would also help if they couldn't call out for help. They weren't in the slums yet so someone might come over and see what was going on if they heard some guys screaming for mercy and/or help. He didn't want that to happen.

"And my final command to you, regain your awareness, your perception of the world around you, your thoughts are now yours once more." He released them from his control. Like with most people that were under his control, he had to wait a couple of seconds for the fog to clear from their heads and for them to make sense of what just happened. Only this time, they caught on pretty quickly that they couldn't move from their spots nor talk, only whimper like beaten dogs which they all started doing as they must have been terrified of what was happening to them.

Was this cruel? Yes.

Was this morally wrong? Yes.

But was he enjoying watching them whimper and start crying? Also yes.

"Excuse me, but I don't have a lot of time to play with you." Lelouch spoke up to get their attention again, they may have not been able to move their heads but their eyes all faced him at the same time. All silently asking the same question. "Oh don't worry, I used a little….spell to keep you both quiet and paralyzed, so don't bother trying to call out, no-one will hear your whimpers." Lelouch explained to them as he brandished his dagger and slowly walked over to them, enjoying every second they looked like they wanted to get out of there or piss themselves. He soon close enough to one of them to place his dagger over his eye, keeping it mere millimeters from the eyeball itself.

"I told you, didn't I? If you had only taken the 20 silver then all of us would have walked away happy. I wouldn't have to deal with you and you would have gotten to walked away with some more money you stole." He reminded them, he wanted to know that there were this close to walking away, that none of this could have happened if they had stopped to think and restrain themselves from going to the same well twice.

"Shame how greed works, it's a hunger that can never be filled. So I'll just put you out of your misery right now," Lelouch finished with a shrug of his shoulders he buried the blade into the man's eye and brain with a single thrust. He wasn't dead but he'll be soon enough once the shock or blood loss sets in as he pushed the guy off his blade and let him fall as well. His geass command keeping him as stiff as a board even now. "Don't worry, I'm a busy man, so I'll make this quick." He told them the rest as he flashed them a smile that had way more pearly whites than any humans should. To the bandits, they would have all sworn that they saw his canines were larger than normal but they couldn't since none of them would be leaving that alley.

(Later – Near the Akusho Slums)

'Just as bad as I thought it'll be. Great, I took a little too much time with those idiots and ended up wasting time.' Sometime later, Lelouch found himself near the imaginary border between the rest of the city and the slums. He had….taken care of those thugs and quietly left the scene before anyone could see him, the last thing he needed was some kind of bounty or warrant for his arrest. Still, though he wasted time, he did gain something from it. 'But I did pick up 100 Denari. I can use this for lodging in a suitable inn for as long as I'm in town.' He thought to himself as he looked down at the Denari that he had not only reclaimed from their corpses but also the money that they already had, all in all, that added 100 Denari to his funds.

"I'm sorry but please let me go!" A feminine voice cried out in distress, they seemed close by.

"Shut it!" And whoever was making them stressed was as well. He had heard that the slums were a hotbed for rape and poverty, meaning that while they weren't in the slum proper yet, the odds of help coming were pretty low.

"Why is there always something?" Lelouch asked as he rushed over to where he heard the voices coming from.

"I swear to you, I meant no disrespect, I ask your forgiveness." He heard the same voice call out, seemingly pleading with whoever was giving her trouble.

"Forgiveness? For a demi? You crossed through the main city, your kind isn't allowed such an honor!" Great, at least he now knew the odds are, this wasn't a sexual assault but more of a xenophobic crime. He turned the corner just in time to see the next part.

"I didn't know, I was only trying-Arg!" The girl tried to respond but she was slapped down, though she didn't fall over. The why she didn't was simple, she was a centaur….or least, centaur-like. Her upper half was one of a fair-skinned woman in her early 20s. She processed long black hair styled with some braids. She had light green eyes though he could only see the one sensing how the other was closed due to the slap and red mark on her left cheek. The inhuman part of that was that she had two horns growing out of the top of her head. She was dressed in simple clothing that one who say belonged to an adventurer but from how she carried herself, she didn't seem like one that had been adventuring for long, a newbie most likely. All that was her upper body, her lower body though covered with a long, red curtain like skirt, was one of a horse with fine, well maintained black coat. Being held to her lower body with straps were bags and other equipment.

"You thought nothing! We're gonna have to teach you a lesson about your place, you damned horse!" One of the men surrounding her, all of which were wearing the uniform of the city guard, yelled at her as he seemed close to drawing his sword.

"Hey!" Lelouch spoke up, drawing their attention as all seven of them turned to face him, with the seventh being the centaur girl he was helping out.

"What do you want, brat?" One of them, clearly the captain going by the fact his gear was fancier than the rest of them demanded of him.

"Go back to your mother's tit, boy. This doesn't concern you." Another told him, sizing him up and judging him to not be a credible threat. Shame, if only they knew better.

"I say it does, it's kinda sad really. It takes what, six guys to gang up on one girl? I get that you're weak but have some pride." Lelouch started as he mocked them, walking closer as he held out his staff at the ready, his hand resting on his still undrawn dagger. This would be the first time had gone up against what he assumed were competent soldiers here, if they operated like they do in ancient Rome, then that would mean that the troops stationed in the city were some of the best.

"What was that, you little shit?" One of them said as they backed away from the girl and started to approach him, their swords drawn, and at the ready. He'll have to be careful with those, he wasn't too sure how regeneration would work if they managed to take his head off his shoulders and wasn't keen to find out.

"Oh, so you're weak and deaf? Man, your mother must have been sad when you popped out. I hope you apologize to her for being such a disappointment." Lelouch kept up as he removed his hand from his dagger's hilt and rather instead reached into the folds of his new clothing.

"Watch your tongue, boy. You might just lose it." The captain warned him, sounding close to taking it out himself if Lelouch didn't back down and run now.

"That will be interesting. But I find it hard to be threatened by you and your merry band if weaklings. Care to try and change that?" Shame for him, Lelouch wasn't a man to run from someone like him. Hearing this, the captain didn't even bother getting angry as he gestures for his men to move.

"Take him." He ordered his men as two of them rushed him as the other two stayed back with their leader. But what they thought would be a simple take-down before Lelouch could use many types of magic, turned into something unexpected. Faster than they could react, Lelouch dropped the staff and pulled out two things. The first being her small piece of flint and the second being his dagger which he had reached for with his other hand now that the soldier's eyes tracked the falling staff.

"Burn." Was the only thing Lelouch said as he struck the flint across the blade of the dagger, the sparks generated from the sparks were feed by him using a simple wind spell to feed the flame and using another spell to increase the size of the fire itself. The result was that the first soldier, the closer of the two was hit right in the fact with a sheering hot flame that caught fire and started to burn him alive.

"What the hell?" The other asked as he jumped back from the flailing body of his comrades as he tried desperately to put the fire out to no avail as the rest of them watched on.

"But I didn't hear any spell." Another said as the group all watched in stunned silence and growing levels of fear at this boy who, without hesitation or mercy, set someone on fire with nothing but a dagger and some flint.

"Come now, all it took was two bodies dropping for you to doubt yourselves? At least face this with some dignity." Lelouch said as he picked up the fallen staff and used it to harshly jab the fallen, burning man in the neck to put him to rest.

"Kill him!" The captain now ordered his men, furious at the loss of one of his people. The other three, wanting revenge for the loss of their comrade all charged him, this time shield raised to prevent another fireball from taking them out. Though that would have worked if he wanted to just spam fireballs, Lelouch had other ideas.

"Now you see me," Lelouch said as he dropped down some powder bombs and used his wind spell once more to mix it with the smoke. The result was a large smokescreen swallowing up the area of the street. "Now you don't." He finished as he vanished in the smoke, leaving not a sight or sound to track.

'Who is this guy? Why is he helping me?' As this was happening, the centaur girl was left to wonder to herself just who was this man and why was he helping.

"Where'd he go?" One of the soldiers in the smoke called out as they stayed close together to try and find their target. The cloud wasn't too big but they couldn't make heads or tails where that kid could have gone.

"I don't see hi-" His buddy was about to reply but before he could, he found a dagger being buried into his neck before it was quickly removed, leaving only his body and the faint image of Lelouch disappearing into the smoke as the only signs of his presence.

"What happe-ARG!" The second one asked as he quickly turned to that direction with his shield raised to defend. Sadly Lelouch had wanted him to do that as he launched another fireball at the man from behind. It hit and one of his legs was set aflame as the man dropped to the floor, screaming as he tried to put the fire out.

"Boss, what the hell is going on here?" One of the two remaining men asked as they could hear nothing but screams from the smoke cloud. He didn't dare venture in and suffer the same fate as their three other men but they were starting to get scared of what the hell was happening.

"Just what the hell, is he trained in combat?" The captain asked as they heard the screams of one of their men before he too was silenced. After, there was nothing. Or at least, there was nothing until they noticed a glint coming out of the smoke, dashing out of the smoke, Lelouch came barrelling down on them as fast as he could, staying low and holding his dagger and staff at the ready.

"Boss, look ou-!" One of the remaining two guardsmen with their captain called out as he pushed his commander out of the way, for his troubles, he found a dagger buried into his neck. His friend wasn't any better Lelouch fired off another fireball right into his face, taking him out as the force of the fireball.

"You got in my way, get out of it." Lelouch said as he pulled his dagger free of the dead man before casually walking over to the burning guy and uses his magic to increase the size of the blaze to cover his whole body.

"How did you….when did you?" The captain, the only one still standing asked him as he backed away from this….this thing. Lelouch for his part, kept his approach as he had noted that the Centaur girl had taken the chance to move away for her safety.

"How? You don't need to know." Lelouch replied to him as he gestured towards the five bodies on the ground, all of whom either dead or dying. "Crime is pretty high around here, not as high as the slums but high enough that no-one will notice a couple more bodies in the streets for a while." Lelouch explained to him as they both knew that the odds of back-ups showing up were pretty low in this part of town. What Lelouch didn't know was that these guards had strayed from their normal route to follow the girl to harass her, so no-one even knew they were here right now. "You want to go one on one?" Lelouch asked him, his eyes shining with an uncanny shrine of malice.

"Screw this, I'll get you for this, you hear me!" The captain yelled out in fright as he turned tail to try and ran, leaving his back open to an opponent who had far better range than he did.

"Who said I'll give you a chance?" Lelouch said as he used a telekinetic spell to life up one of the swords of the dead man and with a flick of the wrist, sent it flying towards the captain, the force of the blow being strong enough for the blade to take the head off the guy in a single strike. "That takes care of that." Lelouch thought aloud, not caring for the six bodies spawned out around him as he turned to face the reason he killed them in the first place.

'He's…..He's coming towards me!' The centaur girl thought to herself as she felt her freeze up in fear as he approached her. She wanted to run from this dude since he just killed several people like it was nothing but at the same time, she had this….feeling that he wouldn't harm her.

"You doing alright?" Before she could gather her thoughts, Lelouch had closed the distance between the two of them, thankfully, his dagger had been put away in the walkover.

"Y-yes, I am. Thank you." She replied as she stared at her feet, though being taller than him, that still meant she could see him and how her response didn't seem to bother him all that much if the bored look on his face was anything to go by.

"No problem. I enjoy putting idiots like these men in their place." Lelouch responded as he looked to the side where the headless body lay, the head itself had rolled quite the distance away and the eyes of the man seemingly were looking at them, something that was very unnerving to the girl.

"Yes….well….you really showed them…." She tried to respond but couldn't get those bodies out of her mind. This was something that Lelouch noticed among the fact she was scared of him so he decided to try and change that, at least for the moment.

"Listen, one thing you need to know about me is that I', lazy. I hate hard work." Lelouch told her as he would never deny that fact, heck, most people that knew him on a personal level could attest to that. From Milly down to Lelei, they all knew how he loathed physical labor.

"Pardon?" Clearly she didn't know what he was talking about or why he brought it up in the first place but he figured it was something he needed to say to explain the next part.

"So knowing that, ask yourself this. Why would this mysterious guy help me, kill all her harassers then try anything to harm her? Why not just let the fools do it?" Lelouch asked her to get her to see that he wouldn't harm her. He would have tried appealing to her emotions but he witnessed first-hand how hard that was and he was pressed for time. "I can see it in your eyes, you're afraid of me. Don't be. I have no reason to harm you." He finished as he turned around to walk away.

"Wait!" He paused as he looked back as she came rushing over to hi, though having the lower body of a horse made that very quickly for her as she caught up with him.

"Hmm?" He sounded, letting her calm herself down before she spoke.

"Please let me repay your kindness!" The girl let out with a blush on her face as she did a small bow to him in a manner not dissimilar to all those anime scenes where one character is apologizing to another.

"I didn't help you for some reward." He told her honestly as though he did step in to help her, he wasn't some adventure nor was his some knight in shining armor.

"I know…..but I need to repay you and I need to make amends for my behavior. You stepped out of your way to help me, I need to thank you for that." She explained to him as she worked up more courage to speak with him.

"I should really be-"

"Please, it'll be a blight against my name if I left this good deed unpaid." She insisted, giving him pause as he thought about it for a while and decided that it wouldn't hurt to take some time off. He was planning on staying in the capital for a couple of days.

"Good deed?" Lelouch repeated as he thought it over a little more before deciding to go along with this. "Alright, fine. I was heading for a place to eat. You coming?"

"Of course, I'll pay for both of us." She replied, now smiling as she followed along with him. Though there was something about that smile, he didn't know why but he found that he rather enjoyed seeing that smile.

(Later – In a bar)

"So, you didn't give me a name before." Sometime later, the two of them had found a small bar where they could sit down and chat, though in the centaur's case, stand.

"Oh! My apologies. My name is Chirona, Chirona Cinrun. It is a pleasure to meet you." Chirona introduced herself with a little curtsey, showing off that she was raised with manners.

'How odd, another C.C. then?' Lelouch thought to himself amused as she was nothing like the immortal witch he once knew. "Lelouch Ja Nemesis. The pleasure is all mine." He spoke up as he bowed his head a little before the two of them went back to looking through the menu for a meal to order.

"Please, order whatever you'll like." She insisted as the bartender came up to their table.

"Is that right," Lelouch said as he looked through the menu for something that seemed tasty and meat-based, but at the same time affordable as he was never a picky eater, at least not an unreasonable one. "I have the number 3, replace the wine with some water." What he had ordered was a simple beef meal with a side of potatoes.

"I have….the number 5, please." Chirona ordered what amounted to a salad plate which he supposed make sense, horses were herbivores but he didn't know much about the diet of centaurs but now wasn't the best time to ask.

"So tell me, are you new to the capital?" Lelouch asked as the two waited for their meals to arrive. It was pretty quiet around them as though there were patrons in the bar, they had stayed clear of them for reasons the two of them could guess.

"Yes, I'm…I'm not from around here. I only arrived in the city today" Chirona responded as she tried to find the best answer without revealing too much at the moment. Seeing this, Lelouch didn't press the issue.

"I could tell, most demi-humans avoid the main streets like crazy. The fact that you didn't either meant you were foolish, brave, or just not from around town." Lelouch noted as it was an unwritten rule that in the capital, demi-humans couldn't be seen on the streets during the day unless slaves. Most stuck to back alleys and wore hoods or robes to disguise themselves from both the local guard and citizens who took their nationalism too far.

"And you are?" She countered as she heard his accent and couldn't place it to anyone she had heard in the city, heck, it wasn't even an accent of any of the provinces she had traveled through to get here.

"No, I'm not. Just arrived in town as well." Lelouch replied to her as he leaned into his chair, looking out an open window at the open streets as a vendor here and there tried to sell their wares. Maybe he'll get Lelei some souvenir or something.

"Then how did you know how demi-humans act around here?" Chirona asked him, her eyes narrowing as she thought she caught him in a lie only for him to laugh it off.

"Keep a keen eye out. You'll be surprised by what you noticed about the world around here. When you were being attacked, three demi-humans could have stepped in but didn't. Most likely your case wasn't the first one, nor will it be the last." He explained as he had learned a long time ago to always keep track of your surroundings, a skill that had saved his life more than once.

"That's horrible! How could people be treated like that?" Chirona asked him, apparently appalled that such treatment was allowed.

"Really depends on your definition of people. The empire isn't exactly the most….accepting place in this world." Lelouch chose his words carefully as he didn't want to gain the attention of the wrong people as though immortal, that didn't mean invincible nor immune to just being thrown in jail to rot.

"That doesn't make it right." Sadly for him, his quest didn't seem to know when and where to voice your opinions when in a country that wasn't as accepting of criticism as one would expect.

"Never said it did. But that's how things are done around here." He replied as their food arrived. "Speaking of around here, why are you in town?"

"I'm looking for my family." Chirona answered his question, though it seemed that the topic brought up some sad memories for her.

"Family? Centaurs in the city?" Lelouch asked her, having not touched his food since this seemed to be a sensitive topic.

"They don't live here and we don't have family members I know of in town but about two months ago, raiders attacked my village and kidnapped my father and sister among many others. I've been searching for them ever since." She explained to him as she recalls the night raiders hit their home. Many were killed, more were captured. She would have left as soon as she realized that her family was missing but she was needed with the survivors, but once things were clear enough, she had gathered her things and raced off to search for them.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did you find a trail that lead here?" Lelouch gave his condolences as he could understand the plight of a missing sibling.

"Yes, I found some information about some centaurs being brought into town the other day and rushed here as soon as I could." Chirona replied as it hadn't been too long since she heard the rumor and though it wasn't much, it was better than nothing.

"I can tell, looks like you've been living off the land for a while now." Lelouch said as he gestured towards all the gear that was strapped to her person. Clearly, she was one that carried her supplies.

"I could say the same thing about you. But what about you, what is your reasons for coming to the city?" Chirona asked to try and get more information on the person seated opposite her.

"Two reasons, I wanted to speak with a blacksmith here and see if he can't help me with something." Lelouch replied as he started to eat his meal, really enjoying the well-cooked beef, though it lacked seasoning, he found that he didn't mind all that much, if anything he seemed to enjoy it more plain and simple.

"And the other?" Chirona asked him as she started to eat as well, keeping her manners to her.

"I'm tracking someone and my leads have lead me here." Lelouch responded after he used a small cloth from his pocket to wipe his mouth. He would have left for the capital earlier but he still had things that needed to be done before he split from his two traveling buddies. Cato only accepted his decision if he agreed to meet them in Rondal after five months had passed.

"So we're both chasing someone in the city." Chirona stated with a light smile as she enjoyed her meal and company.

"It appears so," Lelouch agreed with that sentiment before they returned to the silence for a bit as the two of them ate their food. "Say…"

"Yes?"

"How would you like to travel together? At least until we leave town. I could do with some company." Lelouch didn't know where the suggestion come from, maybe his seven months with Lelei and Cato had changed him a bit, or maybe now that he wasn't hiding from an empire he didn't feel the instinctual need to keep his distance from others, either way, but he found that he rather enjoyed the company of others, now more than he once did.

"That's kinda out of no-where." Chirona replied, not giving an answer but merely stating the facts as they were.

"It is but the point still stands, I've found that two eyes are better than one." Lelouch countered as he was willing to help her out, family was important and should be protected.

"I don't know…" Chirona said as she eyed him, at first he didn't get it but then recalled their situation and the world he was in.

"Look, I'm not that kind of guy. You feel uncomfortable, leave and I won't stop you." He told her as while he did find her extremely attractive, horse half and all, he wasn't that kind of guy. Hell, C.C. used to joke that he didn't have a sex drive as he never acted whenever any of the women in his life tried something. He never really saw it like that, he used saw it as self-control. He even made sure that his soldiers knew of his standards during his Zero days and whenever reports of such reached him….he made sure they met painful ends as remainders that he had eyes everywhere.

"Then swear on your parent's honor that you will not try anything….unsavory with me." Chirona ordered him, wanting him to make a vow that very few dared to break.

"That….will be a problem." Lelouch replied honestly as he wanted to be upfront that such a vow didn't mean much to him.

"And why is that? Too afraid to dishonor them?" She asked him as her eyes narrowed at him but he kept his cool and answered like an adult.

"Quite the opposite. I'll spare you the details but let's just say that my and my parents…..are not in speaking terms, hell I would swear an oath on their graves and break it to spite them." And he would, he was a vindictive son of a bitch when he wanted to be and after everything he learned about Charles and Marianne, he couldn't care less about them.

"Then swear on your God that you stand by your word, or are you on bad terms with them as well?" Chirona changed it up after hearing that. She didn't know what had happened between him and his parents, she had always been treated well by her own and was raised to honor one's parents but he wasn't like her, so she'll drop it unless it becomes an issue.

"No, I can do that," Lelouch agreed to that before he started the pledge. "I swear, on the honor of the Goddess, Janaysia that I will uphold my word and treat you with both respect and dignity as a fellow person." He finished it and as it did, he realized something. 'Hold on, where did I get that name from, she never gave me one?'

'That's because I didn't, I sent it to you since you needed a little help.' He heard the voice of the being that sent him to this world, but he didn't see her. Was he imagining things? "Well then, I don't recall that name as belonging to one of the Gods or Goddesses, but I'll take your word for it that you didn't make it up." But before he could get into that whole mess, Chirona spoke up again, sounding confused by the name he had used.

'You're watching me.' He stated rather than asked as he recalled how she had told him she had watched his world and the events that played out, would it really be a stretch to say she was watching him now from on high?

'Of course, I am, that was the reason I sent you to that world of all worlds. I want to see you have another great adventure. However, whether or not it'll be another Shakespearean tragedy or Sad Dramatic Greek Epic tale is still up for debate.' She told him with an arrogant giggle, man he really annoyed him when others had the advantage but he supposed he'll have to deal with it. After all, who was he to challenge a God? "I can assure you, the name is real, it just….isn't a well-known Goddess here." Lelouch spoke up before things got weird, man, it was odd having two separate conversations at the same time.

'So you're controlling things? Is this all a game to you?' He asked her, wondering just how much of this world was her plaything? Wondering how much she made people her suffer for her amusement.

'Dear boy, everything can be trivial when you're a being that has existed since the beginning and will live to see the end of all things. But no, I have little influence there aside from some scattered followers and old abandoned shrines here and there. Everything that has happened up until now hasn't been my doing.' She replied to him, she would have been offended that he thought she cared so little for humans but the truth was she really didn't care all that much, granted she cared more than Hardy did but she still wasn't one to shed a tear if a couple million or two were to drop dead.

'So it's someone else doing then?' Lelouch picked up since she didn't say that the Gods had no influence, only herself. He knew of the other Gods and even of their apostles, but he hadn't seen any of these servants nor had he seen anything that could be considered concrete proof of the Gods being more than just belief. But now, he had something.

'I wouldn't know, I haven't spoken with the Gods of your new world is quite some time, maybe 1300 years or so, feels like just the other day.' Janaysia replied as she wasn't all that liked by most of the Gods since she was a supporter of change, something they didn't like. There were outliers but for the most part, they kept their distance. She was at least happy that they didn't send one of their apostles to try and kill Lelouch as there was no way they didn't sense him entering the world through her little portal.

'Seeing how you just admitted to being a being well over 10 billion years old, I can see how a millennia or two could pass by your quite easily.' Lelouch shot back as he knew from science class that the universe, or at least his old one was quite old, being 12 something billion years old. He had no idea how old this one was but he guessed that it was close to that number.

'Don't you know it's rude to bring up a lady's age?' Janaysia told him with a tone that just leaked with a grin, she was enjoying this.

'Anyone older than several centuries doesn't get that courtesy. You're old, just accept it.' But he didn't yield as he treated this like how he treated conversations with C.C. Honestly, she would eat as much junk food as she liked and laze about like a house cat and never gained a single kilo of weight. He liked to think that her code had something to do with it but that sounded far too fantastical.

'You really are a breath of fresh air, most would be scared silent by me.' Janaysia laughed, sounding more amused than she did the last time they had spoken from his reply. As they had their little chat, thankfully, Lelouch and Chirona had fallen into a comfortable silence as they ate their food.

'Most fear death.' He replied as he took a particularly harsh bite of his beef, easily biting through the thick piece of meat before he started chewing.

'Oh, trust me. There are far worst fates the death, but I'll let you get one with your date.' She responded with a little laugh despite the fact her message was quite morbid.

'This is not a date. We're only having a quiet meal together.' Lelouch responded as he felt the urge to facepalm, he didn't need more people teasing him about his lacking love life.

'So you say, is she quite a catch, if you can look past the whole horse bits.' Janaysia replied as she most likely checked the girl out and found as pretty as he did. She didn't stick around in his….head before she stopped responding. He waited a second to see if she was just being silent but could make the call that she was leaving him be.

'That was…weird…didn't think I had a psychic link with her. Do all Apostles have that or is this special?' Lelouch wondered to himself as though he had dealt with mind-readers in the past, he had never had a full conversation in his own head. But he decided to leave that be and just enjoy his meal.

(Sometime later)

"That was a lovely meal." Chirona said as the two of them left the bar behind and started walking about again, staying to larger streets so that she could move around more freely.

"Yes, it was quite the experience. Would you like to accompany me as I speak with a blacksmith?" Lelouch asked her as he was enjoying the company.

"I would." Chirona replied, finding that she enjoyed his presence as well so the two started walking off looking for a blacksmith. "So what seems to be the issue? You only seem to carry the dagger and staff."

"I need him to try and work a special ore I obtained into a useable weapon for me." Lelouch replied to her question, though truth be told, he hadn't thought about what type of weapon he wanted forged from the staff. At this point, his goal was finding someone who could even smelt it.

"Iron?" Chirona asked as she tapped her trusty two-handed sword that was sheathed at her side. She may not be the best fighter among her village but she knew her way around one and two-handed blades, enough to defend herself on her travels.

"No, Uru." Lelouch replied to her, though he was careful to keep his voice down, the last thing he needed was someone hearing him and deciding to try and steal it.

"No way, how didn't you get your hands on that stuff?" Chirona asked him, shocked that he had come across such a rare metal, he must have been lucky lately.

"It was on job the other day after I completed the task, I had the local smith check it out. He couldn't do a thing with it." Lelouch answered as they saw a sign for a smith coming up.

"Well let's hope that we find someone who can." Chirona replied as they approached the place. The two of them spoke with the blacksmith and though he wasn't confident he could work with uru, he did promise to give it a go, telling them to swing by the next day to see what he could do. The two of them found that they enjoyed the other company and ended up spending the day together as they searched for clues for their respective reasons for being in the capital and while they did that, they found out more about the other. For Lelouch, he found out that she wasn't a regular centaur-like the ones he had heard about in his travels but rather, she as a Bicorn. She explains the two main differences between her sub-race and others was the fact they had two horns growing out of their heads like the stereotypical demon pictures he had seen growing up and the fact her race is a product of unfaithfulness.

She explained that Bicorn ancestors were once unicorns. She explained that when that unicorn's wife, husband, or lover cheated on them, their inherent magical energy, which is supposed to be kept pure is corrupted and they turn into a Bicorn, he had asked her if that was why she was searching for her father and sister and not a mother to which she replied that her parents loved one another and were faithful to the other and that her mother had passed when she was little. She added in that bicorns had bicorn children if they were to….mate with other bicorns or compatible species outside their own. The only exception being unicorns as she didn't know what would result from such a coupling.

In turn, she learned more about him and how he has been traveling for months now with his master and senior pupil. She found it adorable that his senior was a girl some years younger than he to which he just joked she'll have to wait and meet Lelei herself as though she kept her emotions to herself most of the time, she was a treat. She also learned more about his magic and how since he had learned all great wizards and witches had to present some kind of great new spell or theory, he was planning on taking transmutation magic a whole new level, dubbing it, Alchemy. The fusion of both the power and awe of magic and the intricacies and wonder of science. She had never heard of science outside of astrology but he insists that it is real. She wouldn't lie and say that she understood any of his notes when they stopped at a park for him to explain but she could see the genius in them.

One last thing that became apparent throughout the day, however, was the fact that in most places they went to, it was quite clear she wasn't wanted. They were lucky that most stunk to just glares and whispers like cowards, so or that's how Lelouch put it, but in others, they had to deal with people demanding she leave. They had noticed this back at the bar and even with the smith but at least there they were still willing to service them. Now it was like she carried some great plague.

(Later that day)

"This is as good a place as any to stay while we're in town." Lelouch said as he brought her out of her funk as the two stood in front of a rather nice looking inn. The sun had set some time ago which left nothing but the lights from the street lamps, bars, business, and people's homes to bathe the area with illumination. They had just left another inn, one which told them they are filled for the night and the one before that claiming that they didn't have space due to renovations. They would have brought their excuses from each if they didn't see customers go in after they did and gain the rooms they are denied. They weren't being allowed to sleep there, plain and simple.

"I don't think I can afford this place." Chirona said as she looked the place up and down. Though she might have the funds, she had another reason for thinking she wasn't one that belonged here.

"No worries, I can help pay the bill, just don't eat me out of house and home." Lelouch cut in, knowing what she was worried about but he had resolved himself to stick with her. She needed a friend and he'll be that friend and nothing some fat, old innkeeper told him would change that.

"What? But this isn't your home." Chirona asked him, confused by his term of phrase. Right, he kept forgetting that since even back in Japan, most sayings from either Japanese or English could be used in both languages no problem.

"It's just an expression where I'm from. It just means don't abuse my hospitality." Lelouch explained to her as he started walking towards the door but she remained rooted where she stood.

"I really shouldn't, I can always find another inn to stay in." Chirona suggested as she started to act unsure of herself if her body language was any clue of that. Seeing this, Lelouch decided to take another page out of Milly's handbook on 'social skills, helping people feel better and making friends' and walked right one over to her, and to her surprise, he took her hand into his and started leading her in.

"Nonsense, money isn't that big a problem for me. Besides, if we're helping each other out, we might as well stay as close as possible." Lelouch told her as he had been quite adamant that they stay in the same inn, to keep an eye out on the other in case something happened.

"If you say so." Chirona yelped out as she blushed at the feeling of his hand in her own. His hand looked weak but it was quite strong and though she had seen him use them to kill, they felt as warm as a mother's love. They soon reached the door which thankfully for them, was large enough for her to enter, and in a fashion that she didn't recognize, Lelouch stepped forward and opened the door for her.

"Ladies first." He told her with that lazy smile she could admit to herself was growing on her, but she know felt herself blushing even more as she had never been treated like this before, treated like a high-class lady, and for some reason, she liked that he was the first to do so.

"Thank you." Chirona said as she walked in with Lelouch following in afterward. The inn itself was pretty well furnished and maintained and lucky for them, aside from the innkeeper manning the front desk, there was no one else in the lobby. That being said, he didn't look happy to see them the moment his eyes caught her walking in and that dismissive hate in them made her pause for a moment before she felt Lelouch brush against her side. Most would just think it was that, a brush but she had seen enough of him to know that it was his silent way of saying that he was with her.

"What do you want?" The innkeeper, a very rounded and short man rudely asked as the two approached the desk.

'Jeez, only been here 10 seconds and the service is appalling.' Lelouch thought to himself as at least back home, most businesses tried to hide their racism towards the Japanese but here there that seemed to be rare. "How much for two single rooms?"

"I can give you one single. We don't carter to her kind here." He told them as he gave Chirona a glare for daring to be in his establishment.

"And what does that supposed to mean?" Lelouch asked him as his eyes narrowed. A dangerous glint entering his eyes as he starred this racist fool down.

"Lelouch, please." Chirona, seeing where this could be leading, stepped in, and placed a worried hand on his shoulder to try and keep him calm.

"It means that we don't let animals sleep in this establishment. It's for people and people only." The innkeeper leaned in as he told them his apparent rule of service.

"Are you saying she isn't a person?" He asked the man, his hand tightening its grip on his staff as he wanted to just geass this damn fool into complying. They were paying customers, as long as they didn't cause a scene and paid their bills, then their races shouldn't matter.

"You deaf, she's a glorified horse. If she wants to stay here, she stays in the stables with the rest of the mauls." The innkeeper kept on insulting them, now clearly trying to start something with them but though pissed, he wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"How much for that?" Lelouch asked as he reached for his coin purse, noting that slight jolt that went through his companion at the thought that he might be caving in, but he never surrendered on someone else's terms.

"Hmph, 3 Denari." The innkeeper, believing that he had won this bout, told him.

"Here." Lelouch all but threw the money him as he turned around and with Chirona's hand in his own, he started to lead her out of the inn.

"Are you stupid? This is 6 Denari. What, you have more pack animals outside?" The innkeeper yelled at him as he looked down at the 6 Denari coins that had been tossed onto his table.

"No, that is for the both of us. I'll pay you per night, no exceptions" Lelouch didn't stop as he told the guy that he will be joining Chirona in the stables, surprising the both of them as they hadn't seen such a response as possible.

"What?" The innkeeper called out but the two left before he could get any kind of answer.

(In the stables)

"Lelouch, why did you do that? I could have gone somewhere else." Chirona asked once the two had settled into the stables, as they had expected, horses, mauls, and donkeys were being kept here but at least it as somewhat clean. The two had decided to try and find shut up closer to the horses who didn't seem to want to bother them as Lelouch laid himself down on some crates, using them together as a cot for the night. It was better than the floor.

"The only place they'll let you stay would be the slums. I don't know about you but I'm not about to let you have to deal with this alone." Lelouch explained as he used his bag as a makeshift pillow and started to move things inside it around to make it more comfortable for his head.

"But still, why did you give up a bed? The stables are not for you." Chirona asked of him as she never wanted him to have to sleep here with animals. She hated that she was seen as one of them but she didn't want others to have to deal with this.

"Not for us, we don't belong in one but I would rather be with you than sleep in the same building as a bunch of pigs in clothing." Lelouch replied as he felt better if he was close to someone like her rather than those idiots inside. Even from here, they could hear some of them causing some sort of ruckus in the inn's pub. "Besides, it isn't the first time I've slept in a barn or stable." He added in as he reached out one hand and a horse moved its head to it, letting him slowly pat it as it made content noises at his touch. Funny, he could get along with just about any animals and he never knew why. On a trip to the zoo when he was little, he fell into the wolf enclosure and to the shock of everyone, they didn't mind him and let him play around with them as if they are dogs.

"What, were you a farmhand before you become a wizard's apprentice?" Chirona asked him with a small smile as she tried to distract herself from their situation.

"Oh no, I just know that there are worse places to sleep." Lelouch laughed a bit as he answered before he finished messing with his gear and laid his head down. "Come on, we should try and get some shut-eye. I want to start bright and early tomorrow."

"Alright." Chirona said as he closed his eyes. He heard her moving about but imagine his surprise that rather than getting comfortable herself, he felt her move him closer to her.

"What the hell? Chirona, what are you doing?" Lelouch asked her as it had been some time since he had been around a girl this forward, she kept on moving him a bit until his head rested on her….well developed chest, and his upper half lay near her, feeling the warmth flowing off of her.

"It's a bit cold out tonight, if I can't convince you to stay in the inn, then the least I can do is make sure you're warm. Think of is as paying you back for trying to help." Chirona, though a blushing mess, said with a small smile as he wrapped her arms around him to bring him closer. She never thought she'll be doing this with someone she barely knew but she felt like this was the right thing to do.

"Trying? I think I'm done a pretty good job so far." Lelouch, for his part, didn't resist as he just went with it. It felt….nice to have another warm body close to him like this, he couldn't remember the last time he had some a privilege. C.C often stole the bed but he never slept in it whenever she did.

"Oh yes, because when a girl thinks about a knight in shining armor defending them, this is where all the girls want to be as a result, sleeping in a stable filled with mauls and donkeys and a man they only met that same day." Chirona laughed at that one as this was the furthest thing from the stories little girls are told about their future husbands and protectors. If that were true, he would have most likely started a fight in the inn until they were given in, it took off to some far way lodging fit for emperors where her every whim was catered for.

"Beats sleeping in the same building as a bunch of pigs in people's clothing. I mean, honestly, did you see that inn-keeper, he looks like he eats like an orc." Lelouch replied as he didn't feel insulted by that as it was true and he could see that she was only making humor of the situation.

"Yeah, he does look like he sneaks a few extra things onto the plate." Chirona agreed with him as he looked like he had never had to run more than 10m in his life.

"More like a few extra plates." Lelouch corrected her, which led the two laughing up a storm at the jokes that made about their less than impressive host. They carried on like this for some time as they traded jokes and stories to lighten the mood, going up until the two of them started to feel drowsy as sleep started to take them.

"I knew that the empire wasn't equal but today….today was hard. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't show up, so thank you for being there." Chirona stated honestly as she didn't think today would have been nearly as good for her if she didn't have someone with her. She hadn't interacted with humans before her family was taken but it was great to see some treated everyone with respect and dignity. Even if he was willing to slaughter an entire group of guardsmen to help her.

"Don't think too much about it. If anything, I should be thanking you. I didn't think I'll make a friend when I came into town but I'm grateful I did." Lelouch told her, speaking from the heart when he called her a friend, to which she felt happy that they were at this stage.

"Good night," Chirona started as she wrapped her arms around him tighter to make sure she was comfortable before she started to doze off. "Lelouch."

"Right, night, Chirona." Lelouch replied to her as he let himself relax, at least a little bit, and fall asleep. He didn't know what laid ahead, but he was happy that he wasn't alone.

And that is that! The chapter is finished. What did you all think of it, seeing how this chapter was the longest of the story so far? As the name implied, I finally introduced an OC who as many of you guessed, will become a part of his party and a close friend down the way. I chose a Bicorn first to help show that the empire is very unwelcoming to both in-humans and strangers and she's both since she's not from the empire. I also took the moment to finally reveal that yes, he is working on Alchemy but at this point, it's mostly theories and notes as anyone who watched FMA brotherhood can tell you, the level of alchemy he's using right now is child's play which is to be expected as he is essentially creating another branch of mage, one that takes the scientific method into account. The next chapter will have the two of them investigate around and run into some more characters from the Gate universe, who will they be I wonder?

Reviews:

M2R: Thanks.

ChimaTigon: That's not likely seeing how it would difficult to explain their presence in this world without the gate opening to his old one. That being said, I heard that in the light novel I think, that the Gate becomes unstable and starts opening to multiple worlds at the same time so maybe. Either way, at this point, that is only sure to happen in the Omakes that will be written down the line.

OBSERVER01: He didn't climb to the top without some bloodshed. At this point, he's numb to killing and murder being bad because of morals and more because of what you are trying to do by doing it and how it affects him.

Abyss Trinity: Thanks, always nice to see that people think well of my work.

Vein Bloodborne: He's accepted that he's a demon, but he also accepted that destruction will always come before creation. It's one of the reasons I chose Alchemy to be his brainchild since it follows a similar rule, something must be lost to obtain something else. Everything has a price. In the end, the only two real questions are if it is worth it and if you're prepared to pay the asking price.

Darth Lelouch: I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Command Unit: Thanks for that, I hope you liked this chapter as well.

Tom2011: Well he got his food.

Regis cross: Here's to hoping that this chapter is just as good.

Necromancy94: Yeah, that was because I took down the notification and replaced it with the actual chapter, sorry about that.

Ivanoich1993: Thanks for explaining that. It slipped my mind.

RedBloodedMoon: I didn't think myself one of the amazing stories on this site but thanks for your kind words.

His regeneration is faster and better than the norm as he is brand is fuelled by his code of immortality that he got from his father who Janaysia modified. It's implied in the show that C.C can regenerate from being beheaded but for obvious reasons, never shown so we don't know how that works. Does her body just grow another head? Does her head grow another body? Does it work the regeneration of apostles in that severed limbs don't grow back but can be reattached no matter the condition they're in? So for the sake of some consistency, as his power is based on FMA Brotherhood, his immortality works similarly to the Homunculi in that their bodies will just grow another head with no issues such as memory loss.

I feel that since I ask for your guy's opinions in reviews, that I should answer them in each chapter. Before I used to do this at the beginning of the chapters but I was informed that scrolling through all that to get to the actual chapter was annoying.

YuukiAsuna-Chan: I couldn't put in the tags since there was no space for her, that being said, she will make an appearance and be part of the story. I just need to work on Lelouch and some OCs first as unlike Itami, he isn't a ranger with modern firearms and vehicles. He needs to build himself up first.

As far as we know, it's implied that if you take the code of someone who didn't give you your geass, you retain your geass powers. I didn't watch the last movie so I'm not sure if that stayed true but I tend to avoid the movies as they take place in their separate universe with all the stuff that is changed.

For getting involved, Lelouch was never someone to just sit back and do nothing, especially when doing something will help him since he got his supplies on the cheap and got in some practice as there is only so much theory one can do before they need to go out and do some practicals.

DarkRain4Eternity: Thank you for the positive review, I hope you liked this chapter.

Guest: Hopefully, using Grammarly helped with that.

Guest: They will be that that's down the line, I want to flush out his character first.

Alex Emiya: Thanks, I don't like it either whenever you get into a good story but then see that it was last updated a long time ago.

BlackArachnid13: I see, sorry about that, the change has been made but it will take some time to appear.

ZeroSenpai: Good eye, as the tags say, the Rose Knights will be part of this and they'll appear sooner than you think, just expect some changes to them first.

FateBurn: Thanks.