Max Revive

Kururugi Suzaku, Knight of Zero

Poland, Warsaw countryside

Four days since Suzaku departed for Europe

"…Bastards… you bastards… you left nothing behind, huh? V.V."

On the edge of a steep cliff buried deep beneath the earth, C.C froze in place. She overlooked what used to be the European base of operations for the Geass Directorate. As told by the former director herself, the flourishing society of the cultists twenty-odd years ago was nothing short of a metropolis.

Untouched wreckage of a bygone civilization was what greeted Suzaku as he emerged out of a cave tunnel, it was the destination of a muddy path they traversed to reach the centre of a hollowed mountain. There was simply nothing standing in a field of dusted concrete and rusted steel. The entire town was devastated, so much so that the relics of the Order's city in China could be considered a perfectly preserved landmark.

"- 'And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.'." Keeping her presence discreet, Leila quoted, mostly to herself.

"Listen… I don't need this allegory from you right now. Next thing I know you'll be telling me that Israel is run by the Jews." Harshly, C.C. critiqued their companion's sense of irony.

"But is it not appropriate? That even the mightiest cities will eventually crumble to nothingness."

"You won't find it nearly as hilarious if you have to be the one combing through this." C.C. replied, concealing a drip of agitation in her tone.

"If I've offended you with what I said, I apologize." Leila quickly mended her mistake, even if neither of her guests thought of it as anything too rude.

"No… it's alright… it's pretty funny, I'll admit. You've been very helpful guiding us here, and I thank you for that. If only all of my contractors could be this supportive."

"Of course, I'm here anytime you require my assistance." After bowing reverently, the former-nobility took a step closer to the edge where the witch and knight stood in contemplation and cast her glance over the ruins of the city once more.

"Miss Breisgau, have you been down there?" Suzaku asked, his gaze still surveying the destruction below.

"Yes. I discovered this place completely by accident… or perhaps it was the wheels of fate placing me here to be your guide. Regardless; unfortunately, in that debris there's nothing to find except the howls of the wind. I do not recommend you venture in there yourself."

"I don't doubt it…" C.C. tried to hide a scowl into her palm as she commented. "Suzaku… are you big into spelunking?"

"Can't say I am, it tends to be somewhat claustrophobic."

"If claustrophobia is the only problem we got here, we might not have it so bad."

"Then it is inaccessible?" Apparent as it may be, Suzaku just had to check one last time how futile it was to continue their effort.

"You could say that, if V.V. demolished the city this thoroughly, it's unlikely any of my research survived."

"Should we try China?"

"Sorry to shatter your delusion. Like I told you, we razed that place to the ground. Lelouch supervised its demolition, he's not someone to leave behind traces."

"…Let's get out of here for now, we'll think of something." Suzaku said, eager to leave the eerie cavern well alone.

The trio doubled back on the same trail that brought them to a metaphorical dead-end on foot, while also being a very literal dead-end in Suzaku's quest for a method of reviving Euphie in the truest sense of the word.

"Miss Breisgau, may I ask some questions?" Suzaku slowed his steadfast stride to match Leila's, inviting her to join him in a bit of small talk while C.C. walked off ahead.

"Of course. Go ahead, Sir Kururugi."

"How long has your people being out here? Away from society?"

"Roughly a year by now. And we've not reverted back to primaeval beings, the fruits of evolution are still appreciated when we need to refuel our cars and repair our equipment." In retrospect, it made perfect sense that reliance on technology wouldn't simply disappear during a camping trip.

"I suppose it's hard to only live off the land in this day and age."

"Indeed. It might not change your view, but I want to stress that we're not anti-establishment, it's more complicated than that."

"I have no ground to judge you, more so that you were not soldiers of the Britannia military." If anything, Suzaku could effortlessly empathize with the preference for a simple and honest life outside the entanglement of warfare and policies.

Leila presented a peaceful smile for his understanding. "Thank you."

"Is the entire W-0 unit with you out here?" Suzaku asked once again.

"They are, we came to a unanimous agreement to partake this change of lifestyle after a major battle during the fall of the EU. We also have a squadron of knights from the Order of Michael, I hope this won't change your opinion of us?" Briefly, Suzaku pondered what tricks could be hidden behind Leila revelation that served no purpose other than providing more justification for Britannia to take interest in her group.

If it was her virtue of honesty that compelled her, then she was better than most people he knew.

"As long as you're not forcing anyone to stay against their will, I won't interfere with your manner of living. Maybe once everything is settled and genuine peace is upon us, you guys can return to society."

Gracefully, Leila flashed another gentle smile to the dignified knight, reminding him of the purpose he aimed to achieve in the European continent. Euphie… I'll show you that our world still has a place for you.

Lost in a short period of self-reflection, Suzaku didn't notice his step gradually decelerating until Leila barged straight into the centre of his vision. "Are you not going to ask why we decided to desert?"

The frank disclosure from the ex-commander of the W-0 unit came so suddenly it baffled Suzaku slightly. He dabbled with the concept of posing that same question himself but deemed it too sensitive of a condemnation to make before it reached the tip of his tongue.

"I believe you have a very good rationale behind it. To a certain degree, I find myself relating to it." There was a short pause in the momentum of the conversation, likely due to Leila not expecting the lack of inquisitiveness on Suzaku's part. Ironically, she almost seemed eager to tell someone her side of the story.

Realizing that, the Japanese soldier complied. "But since you've brought it up, I'd like to hear more, if you're willing to share."

"Yes… I'd like an outsider's opinion."

"I'll do my best to keep up."

"Are you familiar with the battle of Castle Weisswolf?"

"It was the final battle between your W-0 and the Holy Order of Michael. By its end, the Euro-Britannia forces were defeated and your team disappeared without a trace." It was by no means a significant conflict during Britannia's campaign to conquer Europe, although the same could be said for the campaign itself.

"During that fight… we all saw our own desire to live, our own wish to elongate today into tomorrow. And sadly… the EU we sought to preserve no longer exists, taking with it our motivation to keep to our duty. Thus… we chose desertion." Leila momentarily sealed her eyes, reminiscing the finer details of the path she chose.

"I won't pretend it was a virtuous decision we followed through on. And if the past is to catch up to us, I won't hide away from the consequences of my actions. But right now, we live this life of harmony that I will do everything in my power to protect." That was where the simple tale ended, Leila paused to give Suzaku a moment to insert his remark.

"I think… there is value in knowing what it is that matters to you the most, being able to perceive that which we truly desire and pursuing it. Knowing what you've done is worth the price, protecting what really matters to you; I believe all of those things are righteous. People might hate you for it, but they cannot blame you."

Suzaku was by no means known for his philosophical outlook or vast accumulation of knowledge on the many aspects of life. Therefore, the only judgement he could pass down was based on the feelings of his heart. It was what he would've done in the same situation, or at least what he thought of himself as willing to do.

"…It means a lot to me… for someone with your perspective to approve me of the things I've done. There're days that I still wonder if I made the right choice when it came down to it." Leila thanked him, concluding the friendly chat to its end.

The warm glow of the morning sun gracefully painted the outside world in a hue of orange, the sparrows flocked towards the sky above singing a tune greeting them back to the embrace of nature. Not too far away, Suzaku saw C.C. playfully stroke her fingers through the dew resting on top of greeneries abound, enjoying the fresh air of winter so rarely appreciated.

"Talking about anything interesting?" C.C. spoke first, directed at Suzaku.

"Not to you." A hum was his reply.

"Then it's time well spent, what now?"

"Let's head back to the camp first, we'll see from there."

C.C., the immortal Code

"So… Leila, my dear contractor. I thank you for being a healthy young girl who doesn't have buyer's remorse for that Geass. Likewise, for letting us stay the night and taking us to the city ruins." Slouching on the sofa inside Leila's mobile home, C.C. caught a grape in her mouth as she addressed the merry band of outlaw's leader.

"It's no problem, I'm glad to be of assistance."

"Aren't you awfully generous to us? Two strangers in strange lands, undertaking a stranger quest."

"Backed by the might of the Britannia army. I fear hostility towards you will only bring upon my people your retribution." Coolly sitting by her desk, Leila distracted herself with C.C.'s idle chatter when she really should've been working on the pile of paperwork stacked by her side.

"That hurts me, dear Leila. Do you see me as someone to take revenge for something so petty?"

"I'd prefer not to gauge your wrath if it can be helped. We don't mend too well with Britannian task forces." C.C. purred lazily in place of a proper retort, letting Leila sort through some of her administration tasks in solitude.

"Why do you still have to deal with all this logistics when you're running a literal group of hippies?" A dozen minutes later, C.C. scraped the bottom of her tolerance for boredom listening to the sound of ink drying over pages.

"Well, the key word is 'running'. Running anything requires management. I have to calculate our monthly budget and expenses, manpower and necessities, resources and consumption. Being out in the wild doesn't mean I'm willing to abandon a system of order."

"That just sounds like bureaucracy with extra steps. Where's your indigenous spirit? Living next to nature like the Indians?"

"Indigenous spirit won't optimize our spendings or tend to our every need. And the Indian population of North America was either assimilated into our culture beyond recognition… or wiped out." To be frank, C.C. didn't imagine she would receive such a specific rebuttal to her casual joke. It wasn't required for Leila to prove herself an intellectual in the eyes of the witch.

"Aha, but you said 'us'. You're admitting to being a Britannian."

"I won't deny whose blood runs through my veins. I just believe birthplace to be a terrible criterion for judging one's character." That was another refutation to C.C.'s point. If she was more invested in their argument, she might start becoming annoyed instead of entertained by her opponent's insight. "Miss Witch, do you remember where you were born?"

"…It was somewhere in Western Europe, probably Germany or France."

"Huh, ironic."

"You got me there." The musing took C.C. to the farthest corner of her fading memories. Harking back to her days as a lowly slave, mistreated and abused until she befell her terrible fate at the hands of her own power. It wasn't a pleasant experience, so she left it at that.

"Do you ever miss modern society? All the convenience, just poof, gone."

"Miss it…? No. we live here, away from most of its benefits, certainly. But more importantly, away from all of its liability. No more laws, no more taxes, no more crossing the road only when the light is green. That sort of stuff. And personally, I'm not sending my people to their doom on bi-weekly bases."

"Still, not anything that you'd want to have out here?" C.C. dug deeper and Leila pondered harder.

"I miss Facebook."

"…Facebook?"

"There were funny posts on it. And maybe also YouTube as well."

"Wow… boomer-core."

"Anyway, enough of talking about… whatever it is we were talking about." Said Leila unexpectedly, pulling C.C. away from chuckling at her status as an influencer. "I have yet to give you my gratitude, Miss Witch."

"Well, I definitely won't turn away someone tooting my horn." Once her permission was given, Leila stepped away from her work and lined herself up directly before C.C.

"Thank you, Witch of the forest. I'm indebted to you. This power you've gifted me is what allowed me to protect those I love. If you ever need my help, I'll do everything I can to assist you." The blonde Geass user earnestly expressed her gratefulness, demonstrating a sophisticated bow for the Code bearer.

"I'm happy for you, Leila Breisgau. That the power of kings brought contentment to your life instead of devastation." In an almost melancholic voice, C.C. whispered. "And you can just call me C.C. I take care of my contractors."

"Thank you again, Miss C.C. I wish to offer you a helping hand on your quest if you'd permit." Leila said, sparking interest in the immortal.

"Do tell."

"We never had the chance to discuss this yesterday during supper, when you were eating all the pizza, but my Geass is the power to connect people." The note about C.C.'s indulgence of the baked goods was largely unnecessary, otherwise, the topic had surely attracted her full attention.

"Like a mind-reader? It's not my favourite type of Geass, not gonna lie." The confrontation against a blunder wearing headphones and sunglasses born from her failure never stopped pricking her heart, even if the pain grew dull over the passage of time.

"I can do that if I wish, but it's so much more. At first, I was able to… encourage- I shall say- others to face their own lies, mistakes, regrets with honesty and sincerity. It was what enabled me to save my… my…" Abruptly, Leila cut off her sentence halfway and averted her gaze. "-Save someone very important to me. At the time, I thought that was all it can do."

"-However, now…?" Absorbed by her tale, C.C. egged on the young ex-noble.

"Then, I got to thinking. What are people if not a combination of our consciousness and our flesh? Is it not our mind that separates us from the animals? And if our physical body is what houses our spirit, then isn't my Geass the power to connect consciousness rather than individuals?"

"Oh… oh, no way… no way." C.C. was just about to burst out a burst of giggly laughter. It was a bizarre case of fallacious argument against the universe itself. "It just keeps getting better."

"My Geass… lets me connect myself to the Collective Consciousness. Some may call it God. If so, I've seen its face. And to God, time is a dimension more flexible than it is to us mortals."

Kururugi Suzaku, Knight of Zero

The campsite built in the middle of the wilderness was busy, noisy and lively. Filled to the brim by many of Leila's crew running around keeping up with their daily tasks. It was a microcosm of society at large, just shrunk down to fit about thirty people instead of thirty thousand.

"-Is Leila back? I'm waiting on her to approve of next month's expenses projection report."

"Yeah, she should be. I saw her and the visitors pull up earlier."

There were mumbles around every corner, all discussing the hottest topic of the week.

"-So like, is this Kururugi guy supposed to be famous or something? I heard he works directly under Britannia's Emperor."

"Yeah, the dude is a Knight of Rounds. -Hey, Ashley, wasn't Kururugi the lackey for that crazy eye-patched guy last year? When we were still fighting each other?"

"Sure was. I'm not too in on the details, although some shit happened between them and the Order, he got beat by Jeanne and thrown in jail with the eye-patch dude."

"Oh… so he isn't too big of a deal?"

Suzaku snuck by, catching the rumours within earshot while lingering out of sight. The battle in the Order of Michael's HQ was as far from a fair fight as humanly possible, and the fact remained that he bested all other participants in Knightmare combat. However, a loss was a loss and Suzaku wouldn't be too irked by the mention of one out of a handful of defeats under his name.

Without putting any real effort, Suzaku managed to wander purposelessly to a riverbank where not a single soul resided. The lonely surroundings gave him a suitable environment to deliberate the next course of action to take, which he projected could take some time.

We can go back, dig up the ruins and find C.C.'s research… the two of us aren't enough. Call in a team? It will be suspicious… no guarantee of result. Go to the site in China? Destroyed by the Black Knights… maybe they have salvaged it? What is… this 'it' that we're looking for? To evolve my Geass? What is… my Geass? So many possibilities, so little lead.

Is this the extent of what I can do for you, Euphie? Is death preferable to being trapped in purgatory forever? Maybe it is me who's too greedy… Innately, his train of thought was bound to circle back to his only motivation, and it was during that period of contemplation Suzaku failed to notice Leila approaching from behind.

"You… seemed troubled, Sir Kururugi." Leila quietly said, not drawing unnecessary attention.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You're disappointed with the lack of results today."

"You could say that." Suzaku's replies were short, just as Leila's accounts were on the mark.

"Well, you aren't the only one, boy." Accompanying the European traveller, C.C. also appeared.

"I'm glad you care."

"I've become somewhat… invested in this side-quest of yours. That's why I've come forth with progress." Suzaku whipped around, now paying heed to what his companion had to reveal.

"Go ahead."

"She can help us- well, help you help us." C.C. motioned at the patient gypsy, letting the spotlight fall onto her.

"How so?"

"Do you believe in fortune?" The strange direction that Leila suddenly steered their discussion to caught Suzaku off-guard, that was not close to what he predicted.

"Fortune… as in wealth?"

"As in fate." Resolution was permeating from the response Leila gave to Suzaku, there existed a clear drive behind her messages even if he couldn't see through it yet. Although C.C. was amusing herself to no end, dramatically keep her usual smirk afloat.

"It is what it is. I seek not for the will of the land or the whims of the gods."

"Let me ask again. Is the future something already set in stone since the dawn of time? Or is destiny so fickle, the flaps of a butterfly could tailor its course?" More cryptic connotations, how many times in one day did Suzaku needed to be reminded that he was no expert on philosophy?

"I don't think I understand, what's the meaning of this?"

"If you'd like, I can see snippets of your destiny." When announced so plainly, even Suzaku could wrap his head around what Leila was offering. To be convinced of her ability, however, that was another matter.

Not even two months ago, Suzaku struck down Bismarck in the sky over Pendragon. The Knight of One whose power allowed him to perceive the future was still no match for the capabilities of the Albion and its Devicer's will to survive. However, if Leila could provide a reading close to the accuracy provided by Bismarck's Geass, then there certainly could be merit in giving it a go.

"I've seen many supernatural elements in my life, you will be disappointed to know you're not the first future-seer I've met."

"It's not something so simple. My Geass lets me connect to the Collective Consciousness, from there, I can distinguish the ripples in our flow of time that you've made, are making, and will make in the future. They're your decisions that had, have and will have shaped the causality of our universe." If she wanted to differentiate herself from the Knight of One, that sure did the trick.

"Are you sure? From what I can grasp, it sounds like not something you'll do for everyone."

"You're a kind person, Sir Kururugi. I have faith that whatever it is you're trying to achieve, it'll be a positive change in the world. Besides, I owe a debt to the Witch of the forest for giving me this Geass, it's the least I can do to repay her." As far as validations go, that wasn't half bad.

"C.C.?"

"I trust her, do you trust her?"

"…Then I will. If you would please, Miss Breisgau."

It may just take an eternity calculating every pro and con of letting Leila see into his past, present and future; that was time he didn't have. Therefore, Suzaku went with his gut instinct, counting on his unkillable acquaintance's advice that the young European wouldn't take such a roundabout way to harm him.

A split second was all that it took, during that shortest fraction of interval possible. Suzaku witnessed both irises of Leila's eyes twisting and flickering into the symbol of the radiating bird, with its wings spread far apart ready to soar towards the unknown sky. It was an almost surreal feeling, only matched by his travels to the World of C. However, the Geass tinted in blue never flew into his own eye, instead it picked a route to nowhere and disappeared all too quickly.

"Is… that it?" Being Geassed was never a pleasant experience, but Leila's performance was far too lackadaisical if Lelouch was any standard to go by.

Mysteriously, the young nomad was the one too stunned and baffled to respond as opposed to Suzaku who was the subject of her trickery. His perplexity not eased by the complex expression slowly forming over Leila's face as she regained her senses of reality.

"Miss Breisgau?"

"Oh- yes, my bad… sorry about that, I'm just so surprised by what I saw. If anything, it's like reading the ending of a long novel in a single sitting and digesting it all afterwards." Leila said. Proving her shift in mentality wasn't a joke, she lightly slapped both of her cheeks to resettled into the correct frame of mind.

"Is there a result?"

"Well… to put it simply, your trip here is totally pointless."

— —

A Geass for the transportation of souls… I guess it does make sense. In fairness, that was technically what he did in the World of C, transferring Euphie's consciousness from the collective.

If he were to trust Leila's prophecy, and he did, mostly. All that was left for Euphemia to plant her feet onto the solid ground once more was providing her with an appropriate body and inhabit it with her spirit. To Suzaku, that solution sounded way too elementary and begged for disaster, but frankly, he was at his wit's end and all of his ideas were nowhere to be found.

I suppose there're no rules that say Geass have to be complicated. If it works, that was all Suzaku cared about. As proven by his lack of persistence when Leila refused to divulge the rest of his future, the winding voyage he was meant to take. She cited her prediction's unreliability and the fluctuation of timelines as the main culprits. That the more days ahead he knew about, the less likely those days would come to be.

Focus… focus on the now, focus on Euphie…

A foreboding frown came into view before Suzaku, his own likeness in the blank screen woke his fixation on the mystical exploit to remind him of the inactive Knightmare he flew. Shaking away the ambiguity clouding his judgment, the pilot plugged in the key of the Lancelot and was swiftly greeted by the Britannian flag followed by the booting sequence.

Suzaku tapped into the external cameras, scanning the viridescent forest that surrounded him despite knowing no danger could possibly come to somewhere so far from society. Next, he looked down, by where C.C. was standing beside the kneeling frame. The green-haired woman was saying her final goodbyes to their ungrudging hosts, even some of the more contentious ones.

She's much better at dealing with them than me… Suzaku mull over the sentiments briefly, realizing there was a message in there somewhere about how an inhuman, indestructible witch was more sociable than himself; although he never could fathom what that meant in time as C.C. climbed into the Lancelot's open palm.

"Call me!" Smiling gleefully, C.C. tossed the blonde an artifact to remember her by, the car keys to the Humvee they drove in on.

"No, you call me!" Leila shouted back over the low humming of the Albion's energy wings, spread far apart and ready to depart.

Soon afterwards, the white KMF boosted off the ground and steadily flew in the direction of its mothership awaiting across the nation. Suzaku kept a firm hand on his sticks which kept the firm mechanical hands around C.C. stable, protecting her from the elements one would find cruising at roughly the same speed as a commercial airliner.

"—C.C.! I still think you should've come inside!" Suzaku tried to talk over their radio, but all he could hear on the other end was the deafening scream of the howling wind.

"—I had to make a good exit! And sharing a cockpit with you is really gay!"

"—What!? That- that makes no sense!"

"—Shut up, nerd!"

C.C., the immortal Code

Imperial Capital Pendragon, Underground

One week after Suzaku's return

"My lord, we have completed all the preparations." Meekly, with a tiny bit of fear sprinkled in, a doctor exited the tents and informed Suzaku of his project's progress.

While technically not the proper size, what Suzaku had established underneath the Imperial palace was a full-fledged field hospital. Where no sunshine could ever hope to reach, a team of two dozen medics, surgeons and nurses were busy ever since the Knight of Zero ordered them to undertake a highly unorthodox assignment after swearing a vow of secrecy.

Not too far away, C.C. leaned against a pillar placidly. She too was feeling her fair share of anxiety from their daring operation, some may even describe it as immoral and wicked. After all, it was a medical trial on a much larger scale than dissecting dead frogs during science class in high school.

"Is it ready?" Demanding in a manner that was grim yet caring, Suzaku lifted his ever so wistful glare off the gate leading to the world beyond.

"It is, my lord. But I must warn you, sir. Bluntly… I'm not too confident with regards to what we're experimenting with here." The head surgeon fiddled in his place, careful with his movements as he whipped a drop of sweat off his brow.

"Is this an ethical problem?"

"No, no. Very much a technical one. The scientific theories behind repairing a brain are fairly sound, so is being able to resuscitate individual sections of a brain post-mortem. But putting it into practice is… daunting, to say the least. No less on the subject of your choosing…"

"So it can be done?"

"Well… like I explained when we first spoke… research into neuroscience has been able to revive various brain functions of a deceased individual; days, sometimes weeks after death is diagnosed, but they were never able to revive the consciousness…"

"I plan to do something about that. Don't concern yourself with the rest."

"Yes… understood, My Lord." Evidently, it wasn't too ludicrous that the doctor Suzaku hired to act so unsettlingly skeptical about the work he had done for the empire. "If nothing else, we'll continue."

Once the permission to proceed came down with a curt nod from the Knight of Rounds in charge, the head doctor retreated back into the medical tent for the final touches. There existed a very tame yet almost tangible layer of pressure in the stale air a couple of hundred metres underground. A fitting reflection of the foul practice Suzaku and C.C. were seeking to exercise.

"Do you think it'll work…?" When C.C. noticed there was nobody else in a ten-metre radius of Suzaku, she correctly presumed that he was talking to her.

"I dunno, try asking me that another ten more times, maybe I'll give you a different opinion then."

A reaction must have zapped through the stoic Japanese's thoughts, but as per his character, he refused to act upon it. "When Leila said providing a soul with a proper vessel is all it takes, do you really think she knows that I'd try to repair a corpse?"

"If you believe that she can predict the future, then of course."

"I still don't think I get how her Geass works…"

"Do you know how any Geass work?" Suzaku had a rejoinder somewhere on the tip of his tongue but didn't end up manifesting itself. "In layman's terms; she sees the course of the world, sees what you've done that changed it, and how you'll change it in the future."

"…That is unless destiny is fickle, able to be tempered with at a whim." Suzaku concluded quite elegantly, earning a slight smile of recognition from the witch.

"If I were you right now, I really would hope that isn't the case."

"Do you think she knows Lelouch's future too?" The knight's next remark made C.C. stop her brainstorm dead in its tracks.

"I'm not her now, am I?" It felt somewhat humanizing to realize even herself, the ageless Code wouldn't know how to sway the will in the stars until it landed upon the earth.

"You really aren't." After that, only silence remained.

— —

"My Lord… this is everything we can do, everything that is feasibly possible with today's technological advances. We've successfully recreated all parts of the body that was damaged; either by the wound, the autopsy- which is minimum, I must add, and some decomposition that was bound to take place as perfect as the embalming procedure is." Again, the doctor was rather tremendously elaborating the details of his work, much to C.C.'s boredom.

"-C.C., we're done, do you mind taking a look?" When the decisive pilot grabbed the witch's attention after the doctor had stopped rambling and returned to his work, Suzaku politely asked for a favour from her.

One peek into Suzaku's resolute eyes told C.C. it would be a crippling battle ahead if she wanted to skip out on his request, thus she decided it wasn't worth waging a war over such a negligible task.

C.C. climbed up the ramp towards the Thought Elevator, placing her just in front of the massive double doors; underneath the ancient structure was Suzaku and a few nurses, all circling around a couple carts of medical equipment attached to an ominous stretcher. At one glance, she could see lines of tubes and cables were running from the machines on the trolleys to a figure lying unmoving on the stretcher, its entire body covered by a single sheet of white blanket.

This is strangely disturbing… As soon as the concept entered her mind, C.C. was finding it difficult to exorcise the eerie idea. After all, it wasn't every day someone gets to look at the fresh corpse of an imperial princess restored to her former beauty, about to undergo the first unrecorded operation of reanimation.

"She looks… as you'd expect her to." C.C. said unsure, but it didn't stop her from lowering the white sheet back down anyway.

"I don't expect her to look like anything." Suzaku added, a hint of uncertainty in his voice as well.

"Dead, is a start. And she's got some stitches running across her chest." No droll reply or serious censure came.

"…Are you ready to go?" Suzaku was holding in one hand the cold wrist of his princess, his other hand only inches away from the surface of the gateway.

"Let's get this over with." C.C. took an unswerving step closer to the Thought Elevator, close enough to come into physical contact with it.

And they made the leap, like they did many times before.

Across to the other side, the same desolate unchanging landscape awaited them. The view of the once glorious temple now in ruins drilled into her heart a twisted feeling of aversion, not so nauseating to sicken her, but surely uncomfortable.

"-Ah, Suzaku! Miss C.C.!" Also waiting for their arrival was the ghost of Euphemia, the version of her was a snapshot of her ideal self before the horrific tragedy.

"Euphie… we're all ready outside."

"Then it's time?"

"Yeah… you're coming back with us." Suzaku calmly reassured his princess, reaching out a hand to guide her.

"I'm ready too, can't wait to get out of this place. Was it weird digging up my body from the grave? It's not all messed up or anything, is it?"

"Nothing a roll of flex tape can't fix." The witch reassured her.

"Are you… you know… afraid, Euphie?" It wasn't apparent to the spirit, but C.C. could notice a part of the knight was projecting his own nervousness onto her.

"Oh you silly, what do I have to be afraid of? Am I going to die a second time? As a ghost? Or- or maybe my body slowly breaks down and becomes a zombie instead…! ~Hahaha~!" In lieu of another joke, Euphie's chuckles echoed out the otherwise tranquil heaven. Suzaku forced a smile to surface, overshadowing his previous expression of squirming unease.

"You gotta chill out a bit, boy." In some ways, the comedy on display was palpable to witness, with Euphemia being the cool and rational one in defiance of her death and Suzaku acting so restless when he was on the brink of victory.

"Yeah, Suzaku. Believe in yourself, it's all going to work alright!" Finally, another encouragement from his beloved princess settled his nerves.

"C.C… thank you, I never got the chance to say it but- thank you." To his credit, that surprised the Code bearer.

"I… I know, don't bend your over backwards trying to repay me now." She replied, secretly letting loose an honest smile not meant for anyone's eyes.

It started off as simple curiosity at first, observing what Suzaku- someone who bore immense hatred for the Power of Kings would do when he cursed himself to receive a Geass. In some ways, despite their ignorance on what he was capable of, C.C was certain that the Geass possessed by the Knight of Zero was one of the kindest abilities she had yet to behold.

Furthermore, giving the determined ace something to chase after would inevitably set his sight away from the awful plan Lelouch and his best buddy devised to save the world. At least that was a major part of C.C.'s motivation for bringing back Suzaku's dead girlfriend from the nether. It seemed very probable for him to lose the drive to carry out Zero Requiem if there was someone left in the world that he cared deeply about.

It was a human-like thing to do; something she thought she would try harder to become.

"Euphie… I need you to look into my eye, don't turn away."

"Okay… you have a little something- a bit of red in there…"

"Yes… yeah, it's… it's being put to use for good this time."

Suzaku gripped tenderly at the air that Euphemia's hand supposedly occupied, a gesture of their devoted bond together. He slowly paced backwards towards the gate to uncharted territories, never once breaking the contact that was forming between the unfaltering glow of his Geass and her glistering irises reflecting the same crimson.

"Euphie… to be honest, I'm a bit scared."

"Hey, I'll tell you a small secret… you're not alone in that, my knight…"

One step later, he touched the Thought Elevator.

— —

Flatline, flatline, flatline… then there was a pulse. Ever so faintly at first, but beneath the long threads of surgical sutures laid the irrefutable evidence of a rejuvenated heart, beating at a steady rate to cycle life anew through veins that ran cold as ice far longer than they rightfully deserved. A mistake of the past believed to be permanent was proven not the case thanks to C.C. and Suzaku's relentless effort and luck.

The white sheet shielding the maiden's face was reeled back over her shoulders, letting the dim light of Pendragon's underground seep through her shut eyelids bit by bit. Suzaku didn't notice it himself in the crucial moment, but he was holding in his breath as he tensely studied Euphemia's motionless features. The reports from the doctors and the noise from the machines slipped by his ear into the background.

When the time came for the period of intense anticipation to be brought to its conclusion, it was done relatively unceremoniously. Euphemia sluggishly peeled open her eyes, unfocused and tired as they were before inhaling softly.

"Su-…zaku…" Her first word spoken in over a year, her voice was so hoarse and raspy, lacking any of its former resonance.

"Euphie… Euphie…" However, for Suzaku, that was more than he could ever ask for.

His hands dearly clutched hers in its clutch, trembling just so slightly that it wouldn't tarnish his image. Seeing his deeply emotional yet coolheaded behaviour, C.C. made a note to mention to him later precisely when Suzaku last shred a tear.

"Suzaku… it is you… Suzaku." Weak and feeble were her movement, as one would expect for someone who just crossed over from the underworld. Nonetheless, Euphemia still tried her absolute best to reach her free hand toward Suzaku, to caress his cheeks or pat his temple.

However. that was when it went wrong. An error they should have in all likelihood predicted but were too elated to properly analyze.

The hand that C.C. initially thought to be going for Suzaku's face instead aimed for his neck. The delicate fragility of her current state didn't hamper Euphemia from trying pointlessly to choke her benign knight.

"You are… Japanese… Suzaku…!"

— —

Author's note

Sometimes I read some work, fanfic or otherwise and think 'man this is really good, if only I can write this good.'. Then I remember I'm actually don't speak English and is just smashing my face against the keyboard. My writing is kinda basic and that's kinda sad and stuff, but hopefully, the plot and characters are passable to be entertaining.

More wacky Geass nonsense that probably doesn't make sense, just what I expected. Ironically, the questionable writing in Aktio the Exiled OVAs lets me kinda get away with expanding Leila's Geass in such a retarded way, unless it doesn't and my writing is still bad. But I'll pretend to feel like less of a hack after seeing a literal portal open in the movie that teleports a Knightmare.

I think I've made her power pretty understandable, for the most part. Let me know if you think it's confusing and if it's a common belief I'll explain it in a later chapter, or just cheat and explain it in the next author's note.

As seen in the last chapters, the OVA characters mostly just make a cameo, except for Leila, who will have a bit more screentime in the future.

Since I've defended (read: cried about) my writing decisions many times, I won't do it again. But I do look forward to writing a post-massacre Euphemia, seeing as I've never seen this interpretation of her in the fandom. And although Frankenstein-ing her body is a bit on the creepy side, we've seen that Britannian medication is basically a plot device anyway demonstrated by Mao (shot up like a sponge, lives) and Euphemia (shot once, dies).

Thanks to everyone that left a review, it's nice to see people give their opinions on something I've made, always feels nice.

Replying to ThatIndieReviewer's chapter two review talking about Nina's reaction to her bomb and how many of the characters got away without punishment:

I actually agree with most of what you said, Nina's seen the effect of the bomb but when it actually goes off she loses her mind. I can defend her by saying she doesn't realize what firing it actually means or something, but it doesn't excuse her that much. I think that realistically the characters should be held accountable for their actions over the course of the story, except that really isn't the theme of Code Geass.

It's more Shounen in that way, where the bad guys can redeem themselves at any time and all the oopsies they've done is forgiven right away. That applies to all the characters you pointed out as having gotten away with it. The only one who really pays for their crimes is Lelouch, and in a lesser sense, Suzaku. Both of whom felt that they deserved it. So if that's the theme the show provides, I'll respect it and write to accommodate it. Maybe give the characters that need it a redemption, it is in the title of my fic, after all.

Anyway, I'mma going back to procrastinating, maybe I'll post another chapter this year.