Okay, this is the end of it, there is no more additions to this. This proved to be such an extended project that I'm going to take a little break after posting this. Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 11: A talk between immortals

(The Inn)

"I doubt you're going to kill me, but I still have my reservations about being along with you." Lelouch spoke up, breaking the silence that had been over them for the past couple of minutes as Rory seemed content to just watch him like he was an interesting animal at the zoo, and now that he made that comparison, he felt the irony of it as his ears moved ontop his head.

"That's a bit harsh, besides, I couldn't kill you even if I wanted to." Rory joked with him, though whether she was serious or not was up for debate. "I do, however, have some questions that I hope you will answer."

"Do I have a choice?" Lelouch asked her, not even bothering to get up. Rory giggled at this, seemingly finding his attitude amusing.

"Of course you do, I won't hurt you if that what's your thinking." Rory told him, though she was being honest here as even if Emroy had told her so, she still hadn't seen anything from him that would warrant a violent response from her. Lelouch laid there and thought about it for a couple of seconds as he weighed the pros and cons before he came to a decision.

"…Well, I suppose I do owe you for helping us. But there are some questions that I won't answer." Lelouch offered to her. Here was one of the few apostles in the world, and from what he had heard about them, they were quite powerful and influential both in the imperial court and culturally.

"Hmm, fair enough. First question." Rory agreed to his terms before she all but jumped onto his bed, getting right in his face as she smiled at him, her cheeks gaining a notable blush to them as he could hear her heart rate increase ever so slightly. All of which made him extremely uncomfortable. "How did you acquire such a lovely scent?" She asked him, her question coming out like a hot breathe than anything else.

"Excuse me?" He asked her, wondering just what the fuck she was talking about, and why he seemed to have a penchant for attracting lolis, at this point, the only young girl he knew that didn't like him was Tianzi which was a godsend as Xingke had enough reason to hate him, he did NOT want or need the man to have any more reason besides Kaguya, to suspect he was a lolicon.

"Blood. You smell of bloodshed, and not just a couple or a one or two dozen. You smell like the deaths of small armies, of fields of corpses." Rory told him, looking like she was very much aroused by what would make most sane people disgusted if not sickening. Heck, even he, as messed up as he is, didn't think that smelling like death was attractive, what he thought was attractive in a girl was her ability to not only defend herself and her goals but also kick a whole lot of ass. There is a small difference but a difference nonetheless. "So how did a young immortal, one who hasn't even seen his 20th winter, have such a pungent aroma of destruction and death?" She asked him, posing a very good question as they hadn't been any major wars in quite a while, or rumors and news about a mass murderer, so one would find it strange that he had such a scent to him.

"So…that is what I smell like then?" Lelouch asked her, not sure how he felt about it. He already knew he was a monster, and that his morals and code of ethics were very complex and objectively evil, but it's kind of odd…to know that you carried the smell of your sins of you. There was a corner of his mind which he wondered who smelled like more death, Suzaku or Nina as while she did create the weapon and call for it to be fired the first time around, she was not in the right state of mind and never was on the side of them again afterward. Suzaku on the other hand, was in the right state of mind but liked to try and justify it as never his decision, his fault.

"Only to a select few, but for me, I could track such a scent from miles away if need be." Rory decided that he didn't need to know that someone like he left a scent that she could pick up from well over 12 miles(19.3km) "But don't worry, it only becomes noticeable when you did your transformation, right now, you only smell like a few dozen deaths." She assured him as right now, she could still identify him, but if he was around a quarter-mile away(400m), she wouldn't be able to tell him apart from any other person there.

'That doesn't make me feel better.' Lelouch thought to himself as he sighed, but then she did deserve an answer as to why he had such a scent to him. "…In a previous life, I walked the path of blood. Where I'm from, we have a very…different approach to warfare, one that is faster, more efficient…but also colder." He told her, his mind flashing back to the invasion and subsequent occupation, to Shinjuku, Saitama, Narita-all the way towards the battle of Mt. Fuji. In all of these cases, morally grey mindsets and modern weapons led to the deaths of thousands.

"How can war be any colder than it already is?" Rory asked him, her side leaning towards the side in curiosity. She had seen her more than her fair share of conflicts and none of them were ever pretty. Sure she got used to it, even reveling in it but came with decades of desertification of her undying faith in a God of war and Death. In response to her question, Lelouch let out a little laugh, though it was a bitter one.

"Trust me. Never underestimate's man's penchant for destruction and death on a grand scale." He didn't tell her any more than that, seemingly lost in whatever memories he had locked away in there. Rory seemed pensive about this. Not completely buying it, but not dismissing it either as she could understand his last statement, war could bring out the monster in anyone and as Apostle that regularly followed wars and battles, she had seen countless men and woman be reduced to mindless monsters, be victims for horrid acts and more importantly, she had seen the aftermath's effects. Not just on the land, but on the perpetrators and victims alike. It wasn't uncommon for soldiers to go mad from their experiences, or for young children, forced into playthings for others, to left husks of their former selves.

Still, from how he carried himself right now, she could tell that he had seen something that that nature. And going by how he sounded, it wasn't something new but he must have been like her, someone who saw the horror of fire and iron from a young age. All that was evidence that he wasn't from the empire. 'Well, besides the accent and the fact that he didn't even know who I was, it's pretty clear that he's not from the empire or any of the surrounding kingdoms. I wonder, is this part of the reason Emroy instructed me not to directly assault him?' She asked herself as her Lord and master had made a surprise and very unusual appearance after the first night she met in, in her dreams like usual.

"Second question, are you truly an Apostle?" She decided to move onto the next point. This time, Lelouch was more prepared for her question so he didn't take too long to answer.

"In a sense, I am. I was made a servant for a God, who in turn granted me some boons, including my immortality." He told her, leaving out some details as he wasn't sure who well they would translate here. 'Though, I do wonder if other Apostles were picked on a whim like I was.'

"Really, then how do you explain your tattoo? I have never seen anything design like it, never mind the fact it glowed when you entered that berserker form." She countered as she didn't have anything like it, not even that Giselle had a tattoo like this and she had her fair share of body art. She may not have seen it, seeing how when she saw him without the wraps, he was being carried on Kali's back, but the hellhound girl had been very vivid in her description of it. Again, it was a good question which he couldn't lie about.

"Where I'm from, certain…magic users have them. They could gift hexes to normal people. I suppose… that it was given to me, as a way to make sure I don't forget." He told her a very dumbed-down version of the relationship between Code bearers and their contractors as geass must have counted as a type of magic. There were ways to explain the effects of some geass on their targets and users, but others? Like how do you send your entire conscious mind into another person in like a couple of seconds? Or freeze other's perception of time, and how would that fuck with your heart? Then there was the unexplainable mess which was immortality.

"Forgot what?" Rory asked him as he reached for his chest, feeling where his mark was underneath all these bandages.

"My homeland, and the people I left behind." He answered her, feeling homesick all of a sudden, as stupid as that was as he planned to die.

"Can't you just return to your homeland, it might take time but as an Apostle, you have the time?" Rory inquired as it wasn't like a couple of months on the road would mean much to someone like them. She didn't know of any place he spoke about with such magic, but she wasn't an expert on the subject either so it could just be some faraway kingdom or tribe he was talking about.

'Ha, if only that was possible.' He thought to himself, recalling that faithful meeting and the pain he felt as he altered him for her amusement before she chucked him into this new world. "That is not an option, I was banished. I doubt that they even remember me." He spoke aloud, and he wasn't lying. He wasn't allowed back into his universe. Janaysia was clear in that he would be forgotten, and the only way he could be that is if all traces of him were removed from the field.

'So the mark is also a punishment as much as it's a gift. I wonder which God he serves if they saw fit to do so.' Rory thought to himself as she laid a little but no weak finger on her lip in contemplation. She knew that some of the gods could be quite vindictive, but for that to happen, you would have needed to commit a great crime against them, and she had heard nothing from Emroy about this one so she was in the dark on what the normal response should be. "I see, well, if it makes things any better, from one apostle to another, when you live as long as us, you tend to drift away from your place of birth either way." She told him, she didn't remember how many people she had met over the years, and how many of them had long since died. Either from age, illness, or in battle, they all would die and enter's Hardy's domain, where she would never willingly trend.

Her remark about losing people to the ages struck a chord with Lelouch as he looked at her, wondering just how old she was as that sounded very similar to something C.C once told him, but where she sounded apathetic and yearning for her death, Rory seemed less affected by it, treating it like an everyday thing.

"Still, that tattoo seems to be the source of your power, yes?" Rory pushed on, not letting him ponder on that point for too long. He nodded his head in confirmation of her question as the girl got up and started to move around the room, her movements were pretty quiet but his new ears tracked her each step nonetheless. "How unusual, but not in a bad way. I never heard of an apostle who could regrow entire limbs like you did."

"Seriously, but how do you return from injuries like the common folk like to talk about?" Lelouch asked her as got up himself, he stayed in bed at least now it was easier to face her.

"Well, indeed, we don't age, and illness and other ailments have no effect either. But we do have our limits." Rory told him as recalled one time that in hindsight, was rather amusing. "I learned the hard way that while we don't regrow limbs." She told him with a small smile on her face.

"How did that work?" Lelouch asked, curious.

"I was younger then…well relatively young. I was about…22, no 23 years old and I was in a fierce melee. I'll spare you the details and I lost three fingers. I thought they would just grow back, but after some days had passed, they didn't so in desperation, I searched the battlefield for them. It took me three days to find them." Oh, she recalled that time, she was losing her mind as she noticed that all her hand did was not start to go green or anything like that.

"I can't imagine it was pleasant." Lelouch made a face at that, he had also seen the aftermaths of such large-scale destruction and the smell was one of the things you never forgot. He couldn't even begin to imagine having to look through piles of bloated bodies for three small fingers.

"The field? No, the amount of flies and rats made it rather unsettling, luckily for me, even severed from my body, they are still immortal fingers so they weren't too bad. Emroy must have shined down on me seeing how the rats hadn't gotten to them yet either." Rory told him, showing off the hand in question which didn't even have a cut or scarp on it.

"So even if you lost a limb, all you need to do is reattach it?" So from what he was getting, reattachment was possible in most cases, but complete regeneration wasn't.

"Not really, all I would need to do is just hold it close to where it was cut off, my body would do the rest. I thought it was the same for every Apostle until I met you that is." Rory confirmed for him as she walked towards the window, and opened it up to look at the people below, getting on with their lives under the early morning sun.

"What about organs?"

"My, you sure are curious. Makes me wonder what you are planning to do to a maiden such as myself." Rory counted, giving him a look as she smirked at him from her place at the window. Lelouch in response laughed at that, finding her brand of humor to fit him rather well.

"Perish the thought, I am simply one that seeks as much knowledge as I can, and seeing how the chances of me bumping into another Apostle in the next decade are quite low, I'll take this chance to learn as much as I can." He told her he would not let this chance slip through his fingers.

"Well, to answer your question. So long as they stay inside, they heal whatever damage is done to them. Though sadly it means that while I can't die from drinking too much, I also can't stay drunk for long unless I continuously consume alcohol, something that can be quite expensive." Oh, that was one of the parts she didn't like as it made parties boring when she couldn't enjoy the same buzz as everyone else.

"Hmpf, well I'm a man that doesn't like the idea of intoxicating myself with booze in the first place. I like to stay lucid and alert so that just sounds like a plus for me." But for him, that was a plus as granted, he was underage till the last year of his life, but even in his final days, he didn't touch a drop of liquor. He had even used it as a weapon in the past, whenever he was particularly bored during a chess match with some noble, if there was booze present, it would steer them to drink more and more of it until they were bat shit wasted, it was then that he'd got them to either raise the stacks so high they paid hundreds of thousands when they lost, or when he would pick up some useful information for blackmail.

"Well then, I hope you're prepared to that way for the next 1,000 years." Rory told him, getting a real kick out of the fact his eyes shot opened and his ears stood on edge at that. Did he seriously not know? From what she knew, the gods didn't leave that part out when they formed their contracts so he was an oddball.

"A millennium?" He repeated. C.C had only been around 700 years and that left her wishing for death above all else, leaving her largely apathetic to the affairs of the world and mortal men. How would he last that plus 300 years.

"Of course, in exchange for being made Apostles of whatever God chose you, you agree to be their hand on this earth for 1,000 years. After that, we are released from your contract as you become a God yourself." Rory told him, explaining a rather simple pat of being what they were.

"So I'm don't age?" Lelouch asked, eyeing her and noting that someone like her must have gotten this deal pretty early in life to still look like that. The only other immortal he knew about even younger was V.V seeing how his father's records, which he ceased when he came to power, had him fake his death when he was around 11.

"Yes. From my own experience, you get over it in about a few decades. You can imagine being trapped in a body of a young girl like myself made life rather…difficult. The types of men willing to sleep with me were always the weird ones." Rory told him, showing her disgust at all the weirdos she had met over the years that wanted a piece of her. She set them all straight through, either through logic or with her ax. Though that begged the question.

"Did you?" Lelouch asked her, wondering just how old she was for this to be a normal thing for her.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Rory laughed at him. Enjoying that she could speak so freely with someone who could understand her situation, after all, it wasn't often she found another immortal, even if it was rather strange. But she decided to keep this going and answer him. "And no, I never slept with such creeps. I have had…lovers, now and then. But like with most other things, I outlived them." She revealed to him, and at this point, he didn't even find it surprising that she all but admitted to being bi. This empire was very similar to Rome and in Rome, their definitions of straight, gay and bi-sexual were close to none existent.

It was rather fortunate that even with the image of her being intimate with another woman in his mind, he wasn't rattled as his long since mastered his teenage hormones, reasoning that a great many people throughout history had been taken out by their enemies because they were thinking with their dicks, so he mentally trained himself for such to lose its effects. C.C being a nudist whenever they were alone and she was bored helped things as if he could keep himself under control where that beauty walking around naked, it would take a literal love goddess to make him act like a horny teenager.

"Must have been hard, dealing with that I mean. Loss is never easy." Lelouch instead focused on that, giving his sympathies for her losses.

"The first time, yes. I was rather…depressed by it, losing him as he was such a unique and caring man. I stayed with him until he passed from ripe old age, surrounded by our family, I was there was our children and grandchildren bid farewell to him." Rory told him, a fond smile on her face as she remembered the first man she ever loved. She wasn't lying about her grief over his death as she had yet to truly come to terms with the fact he was growing older, while she was. Still, they had a good life together and he amazingly kept traveling with her on their journeys until he was in his early 60s. Then by some blessing, he lived to see the ripe old age of 89 before he passed to Hardy.

"But I soon learned to deal with it." She told him as after she eventually got over him, she moved on and found others. Some sparks weren't as strong as her first, while others were stronger. "After all, as normal creatures move from lover to lover after deaths and break-ups, so do we." She then turned the mood on its end as she gave him a teasing smile. "Bit of advice, if you can go for a demi-human, most of them have much longer lifespans than humans." She told him, getting him to cough into his hand at the rather lewd comment. The weirdness of the situation was not lost on him.

"Thanks for the advice." He replied through his mind was trying to understand just how bizarre this entire situation was right now. 'Taking romantic and relationship advice from a Lolli, this is my life now. If that witch was here, she would find this so very amusing.' That was something he knew she would have loved to see or hear about, she might have even gotten close with the girl with him which spell doom for everyone else as she shuddered at that thought of what the two of them could get up to together.

'Although, now that she has said it, I wonder…did C.C ever have kids? I mean, girls are physically capable of such from as young as 12 and if Rory here could have kids, then she should have also been capable of such.' That was a question he never asked her, now that he thinks about it. Rory said she had kids and grandkids but she hasn't told him she stayed in contact with that family. Was C.C the same and she just distanced herself from them? Damn, he could have been friends/partner in crime with a mother for two years and never known.

"I'm serious, I've noticed that humans really enjoy elves, especially dark elves and after spending some…quality time with one a couple centuries back, I can tell you they are very much worth it. For a young Apostle like you, you could stay with one almost your whole life, it'll be like a marriage." Okay, if Rivalz was here, he would have lost his damn mind at the thought of a dark elf as the boy loved his fantasy girls. It was an effort on both his and Shirley's part that Milly never threw a fantasy-themed costume party as he didn't need to learn which students had which kinks concerning species that didn't even exist on earth…Plus because Milly had an idea of making him some kind of demon king who would keep the angle princess(Nunnally) locked away in a 'tower' which others would need to brave to save her. That he was very much against, and yes, the irony of being pretending to be a demon king wasn't lost on him.

"Ignoring the…image you just gave me. Why do break it off then?" Lelouch asked her, wondering as to why she left those demi-human lovers if they could live long enough lifespans to keep up with her.

"Hmm, we drifted apart. She and I wanted different things and decided to end things with no hard feelings. She should still be around, elves do have that lifespan on their side." Rory said, referring to a lover she and separated from around 100 years ago.

"So my third and final question," Rory said, taking a seat on the table as she turned to face him. "Just who are you, Lelouch Ja Nemesis? You are not human, not anymore. And from what I've been told and seen for myself, you are far more than just an Apostle."

'I'm not sure I should tell her, I don't know what she would do with that information,' Lelouch thought to himself as he looked at her, trying to come up with an answer that would work here. 'No, this is a new life, even if it wasn't how I thought I would end up. She's a fellow Apostle, she will find out about this sooner or later, and maybe this time. I want it to come from me, as a way to repay her for being this open with me. I have a feeling I know more about her than all but a handful of others.' He decided as he took a big breath before falling back into his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"So?" Rory pressed him when he didn't speak for a couple of minutes, seemingly lost in thought.

"You might want to sit down, my story is quite long and would take a while to fully explain." He told her, even if he knew it was rather redundant.

"Oh? It's sure to be quite interesting." Rory replied, leaning forwards as that sounded to be quite promising.

"It is, allow me to tell you the story of the life of Lelouch vi Britannia, and his quest to see his empire burn." Lelouch started, and for the first time since he came here, he told someone of his story, the whole story and nothing but the story. He didn't leave anything out as he told her everything relating to his journey from his goals to the motives and reasoning of not just himself but his allies and his enemies.

.

.

(Later)

"And after meeting with the goddess I would later learn is called, Janaysia, I found myself in some river only to be picked up by a young witch in training by the name of Lei La Lalena. After that, I become a student under her master, Cato El Alterstan, and well, the rest isn't important right now." He finished it, after around 2 solid hours, with breaks spread about but for him to rest and catch his breath, he had finally finished telling someone of his tale. For a minute or two, the room was silent, having just been the two of them as no-one else had come up to see him since woke up. Rory for her part, as silent as a church mouse as she processed the absolute roller-coaster of a story he had just told her. He was starting to think she would deny it and call him a lair but then to his surprise, she jumped up to her feet in joy.

"That is so amazing! Who could have thought your story would be so dramatic, filled with such, loss, action, suspense, political intrigue, and tragic romance." I didn't think…anyone would be this ecstatic with hearing his life story. If he didn't know any better, he would assume she was one of those invested fans he met in the Ashford academy book club. "If I were anyone else, I would think you made that all up, or just copied something from some great, ancient drama." Well, when she put it like that. He could see someone like Homer or Shakespeare wanting to use his life as a muse for their next great work.

"Trust me, some days I woke up feeling the same." He had to agree with her there as his old life, no matter how tragic, was still one that was quite the journey.

"To think that you're from another world and that you didn't come from the gate, is it unprecedented! Truly this is a once-in-a-lifetime, no. Even rarer than that, such an event has never been recorded before." Rory gushed as she thought about the implications of this, though he was grabbed by something else.

"Wait…you don't seem surprised that I hail from another world." Lelouch asked her, finding it odd that she wasn't reacting as much as he thought she would to learning about other worlds besides her own.

"Hmm? Of course not. Yes, it is strange but it's not like you're the first one to come to this world from another." Rory told him, waving it off like it wasn't the point which in of itself was very telling.

"So you mean to tell me there's a way to travel between worlds, using this…gate you mentioned, yes?" Lelouch asked her, thinking back to the numerous Thought Elevators scattered throughout the world back in his old home. All of them appeared to be designed off gates, so did that mean that they were connected to more than just C's world.

"It's not that simple," Rory told him, having finally calmed down as she took her seat again, seeing that he was fishing for information.

"That's to be expected. Even in my old world, as technologically advanced as it is, we don't even know about the existence of another world, never mind know of ways to travel between them." Lelouch conceded on that point as before meeting Janaysia, the thought of other worlds never even crossed his mind. He was too focused on what to do on his own. But still, "Is there a magic spell of some kind, a ritual that must be performed?" There had to be a way to travel between them, right? And if so, he needed a way to ensure that this world never connected with his old one. The situation there must surely still be fragile and throwing in this whole mess would only make things more complicated than they had to be.

"No magic can open or sustain gates between worlds, only the Gods can do such an action." Rory told him as she had heard of scholars spending their whole lives trying to do just that, but it was futile. The amount of power needed was simply out of mortal's reach.

"How?" Lelouch asked her as he didn't recall any gates being involved when he got sent here, so did that mean that there was more than one method. Rory got up from her seat and went towards the window, closing it softly as if she was about to say something that shouldn't be heard by others.

"There is a place west of here, it called Alnus hill. On foot, it'll take you a few weeks to get there from here, and on horseback, it takes several days." She started, he didn't have a map on him so he didn't know the exact location, but he was pretty sure he could find this place with just what he had just been told. "It is on that hill, that the Gods open up the Gate that connects this world to any other."

"Wait, if such a place exists, why don't more people know about it?" Lelouch found himself asking, it was a valid question as he hadn't heard a thing about this gate or Alnus hill in all his time traveling and interacting with people. Such a thing would surely be a religious site or something.

"Time really. The Gods don't open it with set intervals, and how long it stays open also varies. Throw in the fact that it's been almost 2,000 since the Gate was last opened and you can see why people have forgotten about it, even though all the races from elves to dwarfs can track their histories back to that hill." Rory told him, though she wasn't around when the gate was last opened, she had met people throughout her life that had figured it out and had told her.

"And because of that, it would be foolish to ask you when it will open again, correct?" Lelouch concluded as this meant that trying would be a wasted effort.

"Yes, it could appear in an hour, in a week, a year, or even a century from now. Only the Gods know such things." Rory told him, honestly, she didn't think she'll live long enough to see it open herself, but things were interesting enough with it right now.

"Well, back to the matter at hand. Could you please not tell people what I've told you? I would rather not spread that story." Lelouch asked of her, had didn't need that part of his life coming out and this world could do better without it.

"I will agree to that, under one condition." Rory countered him with a smile.

"Really, more back and forth?" Lelouch asked her, wondering why she was asking this of him, only for the girl to laugh at his slight dismay.

"You already dealt with knights, witches, and kings. You should have seen this coming." Rory told him with a smile still on her face.

"Hmm, you got me there." Lelouch said as he prepared for whatever she would ask of him. Hopefully, if it was too crazy, he could convince her to do something else.

"My condition will be you try and keep yourself under control. Granted I've been ordered to not stand against you unless you stand against Emroy, but at the same time there is a reason that things haven't changed here." Rory told him, giving him her reasoning for her condition as she got up from the table and walked up to him. "I would appreciate if you don't bring about the age of knightmares and missiles as you called them." She told him as she lifted her hand towards him, wanting to shake on it. For his part, he found her condition largely minor and it still left him a lot of leeway.

"That's it? Trust me, the last thing I want to bring about Pandora's box. The last thing this world needs is modern warfare." Lelouch told her as he shook her hand, sealing the deal between them.

"Well then, this has turned out to be much for fun than I was expecting. Get some rest, we leave in a few days." Rory breathed out as she stretched out her arms over her head as she bent over and picked up her weapon.

"We?" Lelouch asked her as she went to leave the room to leave him to rest by himself.

"Of course. You can't tell me such a tale and expect me to not get invested." She told him with a giggle as she opened and door and left, closing the door behind her.

.

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After that, we settled into a normal with myself being confined to my bed for another 4 days as my body healed. According to the healers that had seen to my wounds, if I wasn't an Apostle, I would be dead right now. Either way, I spent most of my time resting, drinking Chirona's herbal teas as we talked and in discussion with others. Kali and her father swung by, and even with the two of them injured themselves, they still thanked me for getting them out of there in one piece. We talked for a while and they eventually decided to come with us seeing how their benefactor that had kept them largely safe in the city was dead.

It did leak over hover that Rory wasn't the only apostle in town as first, it was the inn staff that were made aware, then everything in town found out about me. The only saving grace I had going for me was the fact that only the Innkeeper knew what I looked like, the rest of the staff and guests didn't and while watching that fat pig of a man all but kiss my ass to get into my good graces after my first impression of him was entertaining, it lost its appeal the third time around and become an annoyance. Other than that, I was mainly forced to remain in bed as my code slowly repaired the lingering damage done to me, which thankfully included my hair growing back, though it only returns to the length he was when I first came to this world which told me that at the very least, my hair would continue to grow, but now had a saved standard it would always return to.

One activity I didn't like was the fact my body had been permanently altered as even when I tried to change back, my new ears didn't do a thing other than just twitch as they moved about like some dog's. Not only was it hard, learning to use muscles I never had before, but the fact that my hearing was sharper didn't make things less pleasant. I already figured out that my body had been changing ever since I got here, Janaysia already admitted to making alterations to my code, but bloody hell, he had no idea dogs had to deal with this, he may have loved animals before all this but now he felt nothing my sympathy for dogs the world over.

Listening to the goings-on of both the guests and the busy streets below was hard enough as whenever made a loud noise, he would instinctively flinch and looked towards the direction the sound comes from but that first night, that was the real kicker. Having to just lay there on his bed, and listen to the guests below him have sex was the most awkward thing he had ever had to experience, and he had to explain to Nunnally why she getting cramps and why she would need to wear pads or use tampons when she hit puberty at the un-expectantly early age of 12. Granted they tried to be quiet since they were most likely told he was there, and the fact that the guy in question only lasted around 7 minutes before they called it quits and hit the hay but that didn't do all that much.

This brings us to the present, the large group had been gathered near one of the city's gates with the rising sun providing all the light they would need on this rather chilly morning. Numerous wagons had been arranged not just to carry those still unfit to travel under their power and the small contingent of soldiers that were to travel with them as guards but also to carry their supplies as the trip back to Chirona's was to take at least a month if they were lucky. If not and things went normal for them, they would need an extra week to make the trip.

Lelouch was in the middle of a conversation with Chirona as they discussed their travel plans for the trip, the man having been provided with a change of clothes, they weren't much, being pretty dressed in the same way as a low-level noble traveling, but it'll hold him over until he could get himself clothes he liked. Anyway, the two looked over the map, not yet leaving as they waited for Grey to come by. The man had told them the previous day that he was bringing some extra troops for this and when Chirona asked him who he was bringing as the emperor had already provided them with 100 regular troops, all he said is that he was bringing some fresh recruits since the trip wasn't expected to be dangerous and they 'insisted' on it. Neither of them knew what the make of it as this trip would be quite long, and if Grey was right, little more than simple escort mission. Lelouch recalled recruits being the type to rush into danger, to want to take the most exciting jobs they could, so this was quite out there for him.

"Grey said he'll be here just after sunrise, he's late." Lelouch muttered as he looked words the rising sun and wondered where the hell that grizzled soldier was.

"Give me some extra time, he's been such a huge help to us." Chirona, who wasn't in her usual attire due to her lingering injury, told him as to keep him patient.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you. But we do have a schedule to keep." Lelouch replied with her with a sigh, he had only been out of his room for a couple of hours now and, to be frank, he was pretty eager to get a move-on again. He had developed a sort of joy from traveling and with his code fully back to normal, all his lingering injuries had been healed.

"Oh come now, we can afford it. It's not like leaving an hour or two late will affect your journey all that much." Rory said with a yawn as she walked up to the two, still being drowsy from the fact they had decided to leave so early.

"I'm a man that doesn't like unexpected variables. You never know what could happen if you don't leave when you plan to." Lelouch answered her unspoken question as she had insisted they leave at mid-day so she could sleep in, but he wasn't a fan of that.

"Either do you know what could happen if we do leave on time." Rory shot back at him and before he could offer up any comeback, another two people joined up with their little chat group.

"Hey, twigs. What's the hold up?" Kali called out to him as she and her father walked up to them, the elder hellhound's forearms still covered in bandages while his daughter with a large smirk on her face, had most of her wraps underneath her clothing, giving off the image that she was fine when she wasn't.

"I wish you would stop calling me that." Hearing that nickname for him, all Lelouch did was sigh out his nose as she had started calling him when they met in his room a couple of days prior, and ever since, whenever she addressed him, she would use that pet-name for him. Though it was largely his fault as he had told her and her father to treat him as they would any other. And apparently, Kali likes to give people nicknames.

"Man up and gain some muscle and maybe I'll stop." She clapped back at him as she poked his arm, making him self-conscious about the fact that he was the skinniest guy there besides Rory and she is stuck with the body of a pre-teen girl. Chirona was the next on the chat, but she was still in much better shape than he was while Kali had arms that looked beefier than even Suzaku's and he was an exercise nut, even if he didn't spend all that much time on muscle building as he did cardio and martial arts training. Ghira was the most built of them, being notably larger than his daughter as he just laughed at his dismay.

"You packed up everything?" Chirona, speaking up to draw attention away from her friend, asked the two had they had wanted to check out both their home and their shop for anything they could bring along.

"Yup, everything we could worth a damn. Though those fuckers go rid of most of our clothes when they took us." Kali replied as they had mostly just taken small things like kitchen are and trinkets they had either collected over the years or made. Many of whom were décor like boxes and other tools which had some…interesting artwork them. When he saw them, he had questioned the girl and Kali just told him that many clients like their nudity and sexual acts on their products.

Now, seeing how the empire was similar to Rome, he didn't see an issue with this as the Greeks and Romans were famous for depicting sexual acts on common household tools and ornaments just for the hell of it, so he didn't look that much into it. It was suspicious when he heard her father mutter how only a few clients ask for that kind of stuff and that she normally keeps what she makes for herself.

"We did manage to get some new clothes, weren't those any good?" Rory asked her as the girls had gone out to get them new clothes to replace the ones they lost, and to get something for their apostle friend here who had lost his.

"I mean, they're nice and all but they weren't made for us. They are uncomfortable in some places." Kali said as she looked herself over as she looked over the rather…plain clothing she was wearing and how it was pretty obvious that it was made for someone who was humanoid in shape as her fur as well as the fact they weren't in her size made the clothes feel like crap in some places and way too loose in others. They ten kept up talking for some time, discussing both their trip and a little more about themselves Lelouch started hearing the last person approaching.

"Here he comes." He said aloud as his ears turned towards the direction Grey and his people were coming down.

"You hear him?" Chirona asked him as neither she nor the hellhounds could hear him yet, so the two turned to their noses as they tried to pick up his scents.

"I smell him, and some others with him, they don't smell like the folks around here." Ghira said as he took another whiff of the air and found that the scent of the people with him was…cleaner than the rest of the people here.

"Yeah…and is it just me, or the people with him…sound to be on the younger side?" Lelouch asked as when he listened in closely, he could make out the footsteps of 7 distinct people. One of which was Grey but the others were not…normal. Their footfalls though in unison like soldiers on a march were light and too repetitive to be of people with larger legs and therefore longer legs. There was also the point of whoever was calling out the commands, it sounded far too young…no, it couldn't be.

"You mean like teens?" Chirona, the only one present without some kind of super sense, asked them.

"I don't think…so," Lelouch shook his head as he started speaking, but then as the group got closer, it became clearer as to what was happening as his eyes widen in sheer surprise. "You must be joking." He muttered out of disbelief and irritation as the rest of them begun to hear the small group approaching and once they cleared that last corner, the rest of them begun to see just why he was surprised.

"Left and right, left and right, left and right, left and right, left and right and hold!" The leader of the group of little girls called out as they marched towards them, none of them no older than 10 years. All of them wearing this tiny version of training armor which would be downright adorable in any other situation besides this one as Lelouch didn't look amused, at all. Leading them, was a petite little thing with long, well-groomed red hair and red eyes. A very professional look to her as she came to a stop right in front of them before she called out her next command. "At ease." She called out to them, letting her group of children relax.

"Oh my." Chirona said, not knowing what to make of this.

"Is this for real?" Ghira asked, not amusement for this already spent as he realized there is only one reason that Grey, who looked very much amused, would bring them here.

"Grey, what is this?" Lelouch asked, turning to address the knight in front of them but before he could even answer. The redhead, the apparent leader of the troop, stepped even closer to speak to him. Her wording trim and proper but her voice still very much one of a child.

"Greetings, I am Piña Co Lada. Founder and leader of the Rose order of Knights. We are here to aid you, citizens of the empire, in your journey back to your home." The little girl introduced herself with a big smile, shocking those who knew as right in front of them, was an imperial princess...who apparently was also a soldier...along with her friends.

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This was going to be a long trip.

And done. Okay! This was quite the long thing, one I never thought would happen but it's done. As for some of the stuff that happened in this chapter. As for why she was so open with him, he has a fellow apostle and immortal, so she felt comfortable enough to speak freely with him. She didn't give him everything, but she did tell him a lot about her. As for the fact she's been a mother, think back to 5th-grade biology class, it's possible for girls that young to get pregnant, and considering that it was only relatively recently that it was generally accepted that girls in their teens shouldn't be mothers, you can see how it wouldn't be odd for a 13-year-old girl in a Roman/Medieval world to become a mother. Heck in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet's mother is only 26 and tells her that she was her age when she had her while her father is in his early 40s.

One last thing, with the thing about C.C being a nudist, I'm said this was she doesn't seem to have an issue with Lelouch seeing her naked, which makes some sense as if you live long enough, the conventions we all consider normal start to lose their importance. Don't worry, I'll start to see the irony in his belief on how only a love goddess can get such an extreme reaction out of him once he learns of Rory's desire to become a love Goddess.

I'm too tired to say more, so let's just get to the reviews:

M2R: Well, yes. She was quite clear when she told him he would be forgotten and if that was true, how would the requiem keep going if people all forget who to hate, so she had to do that to do him a solid. With the Minotaur fight, I hope it was an entertaining one as it was pretty hard to write. And yes, he will meet the other Apostles besides Rory, most will be OCs seeing ow you only know of the two.

OBSERVER01: Well, he didn't make a construct to fight it, I still think the fight went rather well.

Abyss Trinity: To your first question, secret. To your second, yes. To your third, can't he have a little of both?

SomePervyGuy: I didn't write this to make him into the next standard isekai protagonist with enough power to slay Gods. With the two Gods in question, Hardy is shown to not care for the lives of mortals, even those who worship her. Janaysia, well, she's a God and Gods are rarely purely good. With the CG world, they'll slowly learn the truth, but that will take quite some time.

FateBurn: Sadly, you are going to have to wait for that summary. I accidentally damaged the book where I was writing this down and well…I have to rewrite everything from memory and that is taking quite some time.

Tom2011: Don't worry, they won't do too much to affect the plot as I want the characters to drive the narrative forward.

Blaze1992: I already said he'll create some brand new magic styles, but for now, he'll focus on the alchemy.

Vein Bloodborne: Thanks, it was something I just wanted to add and it worked out surprisingly well. Plus it was a great way to show how the world is progressing, without him in it.

Command Unit: They will.

Ewerton De Silva Rodrigues: Thank you, with the fight, I tried to make it as engaging as possible. As you all read, geass didn't come into play, at least not in the normal sense.

Dontus –not Donut- Powerus: I don't recall ever saying that. All that did was show how his world was going on…without him or his influence. Yeah, it could open to his world, but that doesn't mean that it will. Plus, I thought we already established that it'll only open to his old world in omakes.

arga101: Well thank you, one of the reasons I fell in love with him as a character was because of those same reasons, he's resourceful and unlike other protagonists, his sense of morals are very different from the norm and are somewhat flexible. With his sense of justice, I disagree with you, the why being when he went out of his way to both check up on Kallen's truck, and according to Shirley, he once went out of his way to help an elderly couple and most likely, he has forgotten it. It was just something he saw as right and thought, 'I got to do something.' He just doesn't do that more often as he either lacks the power to make a difference, it might negatively affect Nunnally or both but here, those conditions don't apply. Will he become a hero? No. But he will help people when he can. Lastly, I get what you're saying about needing more slice-of-life scenes and other character's POVs, I'll try to add that into the story more.

Zetsubougintama: Paitence. I can't just throw characters in like that. Her name is up there because she'll be important, not because she'll be seen soon.

Guest: I can't deny that. I am not the best writer, and I don't have an editor.

Atila 25: On the one hand, I'm happy that people are reading it, on the other…I have no idea what you just said.

Guest: I never said was…but after this, I won't update for a while.

Paxloria: On your first question, I mistake on my part. Forget to mention she turned him over before that. On the second one, come-on, there was a reason I had him know so many languages, and he even points out that he spent a large amount of time and resources marketing himself as the demon emperor. Throw in the fact that he recalls how Janaysia banished him from his old word and it is pretty clear as to why he tries to speak with her, and she doesn't respond. Plus, she does try to speak with him and didn't understand a word of it.