Chapter 18: "Transgression" IV – At Least with Sorrow
Kallen was infuriated by what the Britannians were doing to the Japanese. She piloted her Guren to rush down the mountain and ran towards the stadium.
"Damn you, Euphemia! How dare you deceived us!" the Red Lotus of the Black Knights roared as she fired up the Radiant Wave Surger to send a Britannian soldier inside a Sutherland to hell. Killing soldiers on the battlefield was one thing and Kallen did not have much problem with it, but to massacre the civilians? Euphemia was simply a she-devil disguised as an innocent young girl!
All other Black Knights followed the Guren's lead and rushed towards the stadium as well, defeating the Britannian units standing in their way. The Japanese crowd cheered as the Black Knights appeared.
Meanwhile, Suzaku was panicking to find Euphemia. "Euphy! Euphy, where are you?" the white knight yelled as he flew his Lancelot across the air. He didn't even care to fight back against the Black Knights' Burais, simply activating the Blaze Luminous Shield to deflect their bullets.
"Oh my! This is turning into a mess!" Lloyd exclaimed inside the air unit, staring at the map with Cecile.
The scene then showed a lone Gloucester shooting zealously at the Japanese. The Guren rushed in and knocked off the Gloucester's machine gun. "Stop it!" Kallen barked as she hit the Gloucester to halt its actions.
"Are you Japanese?" the pilot inside the Gloucester yelled. It was none other than Euphemia. "How dare you raise your hand against me, Euphemia li Britannia?"
Kallen was shocked for a brief moment, but instantly turned into a sadistic expression, manoeuvring her Guren's right arm up in preparation to strike. "Oh I see, so here you are, Your Highness? I shall here and now claim vengeance for my people…!"
"Hold on! I'll deal with her." suddenly came Zero's order from above, halting Kallen's attack. She looked up and saw the Gawain was floating in between the Guren and the Gloucester. The Gawain then fired its ten-finger slash harken to dismantle the Gloucester.
"What should we do, Zero?" Kallen asked dangerously, "Are we going to take her prisoner?"
"There is no point in doing that, anymore," Lelouch responded with a stern expression on his face, knowing it was too late for him to do so.
The present day Kallen, now knowing the truth behind, feels an immense guilt surging in her mind for cursing and wanting to kill an innocent girl who genuinely wanted to help the Japanese, but fell victim to Lelouch's Geass power. Kallen lowers her head, her shoulders shaking and her fists tightened and pressed against her legs as she muses, 'I am sorry, Princess Euphemia. I am truly sorry for wrongly cursing you to hell and almost killed you out of vengeance. I… I…'
Suddenly, a hand is placed on Kallen's shaking shoulder, snapping Kallen's mind out of an endless cycle of self-hatred. "You didn't know," Milly softly whispers to her red-haired friend. Kallen finally breaks down and buries her head into Milly's chest, in which the blonde girl gently brushes Kallen's red hair to calm her down.
Zero tries his level best not to lower his head to show any emotion that may leak his real identity to the audience, but he nevertheless tightens his fists. 'I already know what abhorrent things the power of Geass can do on people, but to see it turning Euphy from a gentle girl to a mindless murderer…'
A Euphemia wearing a bloodstained white dress emerged from the destroyed Gloucester, frantically finding weapons to continue massacring the Japanese as Lelouch's Geass command compelled her to do so. She picked up a submachine gun from a fallen Britannian soldier and shot at the landing Gawain. "It's now or never! I must kill all the Japanese!" the Geass-controlled princess said to herself.
Suddenly, the submachine gun ran out of ammunition. "I have to… hurry!" the princess once again looked around, finally saw an ammunition pack lying next to the fallen soldier. She picked it up and tried to fit into her submachine gun.
Lelouch stared at Euphemia from his pilot seat on the Gawain, and then donned his mask and landed himself onto the ground without saying a word.
Nunnally can't stand to see her sister went berserk anymore and turns away from the screen. 'Sister Euphy…' the young Empress starts to sob, sickened by how Geass had twisted her beloved sister into a murdering maniac.
Seeing how distressed her younger sister is, Cornelia pulls Nunnally into her embrace. "Nunnally, we have got through this. We must stay strong and work towards the future that Euphy has always wanted," the elder Britannia sister says to the younger Britannia sister. However, what Cornelia says to Nunnally is not what Cornelia is doing: her eyes are filled with tears as she sees how Geass had corrupted her docile sister into a murdering maniac.
"Emm, this should go in like this…" Euphemia tried for a moment and finally got the ammunition pack fit into her submachine gun. She then noticed someone's walking towards her: it's Zero.
"Oh, I thought you were Japanese!" Euphemia said with her cheerful voice as she knew that the person behind the mask was not a Japanese. "I have thought about it. We should announce the opening of the SAZ of Japan together… huh? Japan?" the princess was confused by her own words. Why was she opening the SAZ of Japan again when all the Japanese needed to be killed?
"Yes, I'd like to do that with you together, if possible," Zero walked pass Euphemia. As he finished his sentence, he turned around and pointed his gun to Euphemia.
At the same instance, Suzaku finally spotted Euphemia standing on the street. "Euphy," Suzaku was relieved to see his princess alright.
Sadly, such sense of relief was short-lived.
BANG!
"Huh?" Euphemia started to lose balance and fell backwards. She then realized that Lelouch had just shot her. 'Lelouch… why?'
'Farewell, Euphy. You were… probably my first love,' Lelouch mused as he shot his second favourite sister to death.
"No!" Nunnally screams at the screen. How could her Big Brother be so merciless and shot down Euphy like nothing happened?
Cornelia, on the other hand, bites her lip tight and, surprisingly, does not say anything even though her eyes are filled with tears. She even spares some of her effort into comforting her shocked younger sister.
Cornelia's abnormally calm reaction to Lelouch murdering Euphemia has caused great concern to Guilford: this is not the fiery warrior princess who treasures no one more than Euphemia would have reacted to such a scene! "Your Highness, please order me to do whatever you wish," he said to his liege and lover, "I, Gilbert G.P. Guilford, am always your sword and I will do whatever that will please you, so…"
"It was mercy killing," Cornelia interjects Guilford, taking the loyal knight by surprise. Before he can say anything, though, Cornelia continues, "It was mercy killing to relieve Euphy from hell. There was no way to stop her from continuing to kill the Japanese. Even if she could be stopped, Euphy would have been haunted by all the bloodshed she caused for the rest of her life. It was mercy killing. It was…" and then tears finally fall down from Cornelia's eyes and she can't continue.
"Princess…" Guilford immediate realizes that Cornelia is doing her best to hold herself together for the sake of her remaining younger sister. However, that doesn't mean Cornelia's heart is not hurt by seeing Euphy being killed by Lelouch; quite on the contrary, she is on the verge of an emotional breakdown as well, prevented only by her strong self-discipline and a steeled mind that grew from her long and distinguished military career.
"Your Highness," Guilford stands up and walk in front of Cornelia, hugging her head into his chest and gently strokes her long, purple hair. "You have done well. Please, do not hold back."
It is at this cue that Cornelia finally breaks down. "It was mercy killing. There was nothing else anyone can do… but why? Why did Euphy have to die? Why did my sweet, little Euphy have to die for this nonsense?" and the tough, warrior princess can no longer continue to stay tough, finally giving in and buries her head into her knight's embrace, tears falling down her eyes. This triggers Nunnally to cry as well, and Guilford kneels down to embrace the two imperial sisters, allowing both of them fully release their emotional frustration and sadness.
The Ashford group is not faring well either. Sure, they have previously seen the scene where Lelouch was about to kill Clovis, however the actual killing move was not shown but merely implied. Here, the disc directly shows how Lelouch calmly and cold-bloodedly shot through his own sister's heart without any hesitation.
"Dude…" Rivalz is speechless; he can't find the right word to say.
Shirley and Milly are both shocked to see what Lelouch did to his sister. "Lulu, how could you?" Shirley's voice is shaking. She still can't believe the kind boy who had helped the two wronged elderly people on the road would be capable of doing such a heinous thing with little hesitation.
Next to Ohgi, Villetta observes her former students' reactions to the scene and remains silent. Being unrelated to Euphemia and Lelouch, the scene has much less effect on her emotion, which she sees it as nothing more than another killing happening on the battlefield that she has got used to during her military career in the Britannian Army. However, Villetta finds another thing that Lelouch did disgusts her. 'Lelouch was such a dick. Why would he muse to Princess Euphemia that she was probably his first love while killing her? What kind of messed up guy would say that to a fair maiden while shooting her to death?'
Kaguya, while also saddens to see how Euphemia was killed by Lelouch, notices the difference in the reactions Cornelia and the Ashford group have so far towards how Lelouch exploited Euphemia's plan versus how Schneizel exploited Euphemia's plan. 'Lelouch used Princess Euphemia's plan in a way that went completely against her objective, while Prince Schneizel used Princess Euphemia's plan in a way that was compatible with, and even helpful to achieving her wish. Such was the terrifying talent of the Prime Minister of Britannia – even though he was using Princess Euphemia's plan to achieve his own goal, it appeared to be more palatable and thus understandable than how Lelouch used Princess Euphemia's plan to his own advantage,' the Chairwoman of the UFN Supreme Council muses.
"AAAHHHH!" Suzaku screamed as he saw Euphemia got shot by Zero and fell onto the floor. He rushed his Lancelot to Euphemia at full speed, effectively diving from the sky.
"Why now, of all times?" C.C. reacted and fired the Hadron Cannons towards the Lancelot, trying to stop its advance. "I can't let my contractor die!"
However, the Lancelot dodged all of the Gawain's attack and spin-kicked the black giant Knightmare Frame down.
"Suzaku!" Kallen yelled as she tried to stop him with the Guren's giant claw.
"Get out of my way!" Suzaku roared, not in the mood of fighting with Kallen at the moment. He rushed down and picked Euphemia up, then quickly punched down the Guren and rushed back to the Britannian airship.
Back on the airship, Lloyd and Cecile were running towards the elevator to meet Suzaku. As the elevator doors opened, both were shocked to see a dying Euphy on Suzaku's arms.
"Please, I beg you, save Euphy!" Suzaku cried frantically.
"That was a difficult time," the present Lloyd comments.
Cecile bites her lip as well, recalling that day when she saw the 3rd Princess of Britannia bathed in her own blood, lying helplessly on Suzaku's arm. It was one of the most shocking and unforgettable scenes she has ever witnessed in her life.
Zero, while remaining visibly unshaken, is having a turmoil in his head now as he sees the tragic scene once again. 'Euphy… I am sorry. If only did I come a bit earlier, you would not have been gunned down…'
Meanwhile, Lelouch, C.C. and Kallen were standing on a staircase in an abandoned building, meeting with the Six Houses of Kyoto, accompanied by Ohgi. Among them, Lelouch recognized the girl to be one of the relatives of Suzaku.
"Zero, from now on, you will be under our…" Lord Kirihara spoke on behalf of the Six Houses of Kyoto.
"It's the opposite!" Lelouch interjects, taking Kirihara and Ohgi by surprise. "From now on, I shall have the Six Houses of Kyoto to come under my command. I won't allow any objections to that, since you have no other ways to go anyway!" Lelouch coldly stared at the leaders of Kyoto.
Back at the Britannian airship, the medical officers taking care of Euphemia walked out of the ICU and decided to separately inform Cornelia and Schneizel of the bad news that Euphemia was not going to live until Cornelia could be back to the Tokyo Settlement.
"He had just gunned down his younger sister and caused so much chaos, casualty and sufferings to us Japanese, yet all he cared was to take over the Six Houses of Kyoto? Just how power hungry that demon was?" Chiba barks. How could Lelouch be that calm and used the chaos to his own advantage as if nothing happened? Did that man even have a heart?
Tianzi is also uncomfortable with what she sees on the screen. "Kaguya, he stared at you with an evil gaze!" the young Chinese leader points out to her friend.
Kaguya, however, is pretty chill about that. True, she may have proclaimed herself to be Zero's wife, but as a veteran politician, she understands that the relationship between Lelouch and herself was that of using and being used, and Kaguya has never had the illusion that Zero actually treated her any more than something of use to him, in exchange to get what she wanted from such relationship.
Nevertheless, the no.1 task now is to appease her younger friend's mind. "It's alright, Tianzi, we ultimately defeated the evil man, and I am still around," Kaguya gives her best smile to the young Chinese girl.
Inside the ICU, Lloyd, Cecile and Suzaku were all staring at Euphemia, who was lying inside a medical ventilator, her eyes surrounded by black patches and her skin becoming unhealthily white. Suddenly, Euphemia called Suzaku's name, temporarily pulling Suzaku out of a state of despair. Cecile lifted the breathing device to allow Euphemia and Suzaku to have their final conversation, and then she signaled Lloyd to leave the princess and her knight alone.
Suzaku remained silent for a brief moment before finally made up his mind to ask Euphemia the one question he wanted to ask for the longest time, "Euphy, please tell me. Why did you issue such an order at the stadium?"
"Order...?" Euphemia asked back in a weak voice. Her memory has been vague since she last saw Lelouch in the G1, "what… do you mean?"
Suddenly, Lelouch's Geass command took effect once again, red rings surrounded Euphemia's bluish pupils. "Never mind that, Suzaku… you are Japanese, right?"
"Eh? Yea… Euphy?" Suzaku was confused why Euphemia asked him such a question, but nevertheless answered in the affirmative.
Suddenly, Euphemia struggled. "No, that's wrong! No, that's wrong… I can't… keep… thinking… such thing…" she then closed her eyes and then reopened them, and the red rings disappeared. She has miraculously fought against and prevailed over Lelouch's Geass power of absolute obedience! "Suzaku…"
"Yes, Euphy?"
"The ceremony… Japan… how did it… go?" Euphemia sweated as she was mustering her strength to inquire her knight about the people she so cared about.
Suzaku was surprised. "Euphy… you don't remember anything about it?"
Just as Euphemia was meeting her end, Zero was back at the podium of the SAZ stadium, with crowds of Japanese cheering at him below. The Six representatives of Kyoto stood behind Zero as a show of solidarity.
"People of Japan! People who are oppressed by Britannia!" Zero began.
"Are the… Japanese… happy?" Euphemia asked Suzaku concernedly.
"Never forgive Euphemia!" "Witch!" "Liar!" "Damn her to the depths of hell!" the Japanese cried out in the stadium in utter fury and contempt.
"That's right, Euphemia is the very symbol of Britannian hypocrisy, a mass murdering maniac who cloaked in the flag of a nation!" Zero exclaimed, further fanning the hatred against his innocent younger sister who fell victim to his demonic power.
"Did I… do… a… good job?" Euphemia asked Suzaku nervously.
"Euphy… the SAZ of Japan…" tears began to swell in Suzaku's eye. Knowing that Euphy was towards the end of her short life, the always righteous and stubborn Archaeopteryx of Britannia had finally decided to temporarily evolve into a more advanced and flexible form of himself to do things right this one time. "It was a big success! Everyone was happy, happy for Japan," Suzaku lied as he gave his best smile to the dying princess.
"Good… to know…" Euphemia closed her eyes and finally smiled.
Back at the stadium, Zero kept pushing all the responsibilities to the innocent Euphemia and exploiting her forced massacre order to its fullest. "I now hereby declare our independence from Britannia! However, that doesn't mean the revival of the old Japan, as I shall not allow history to repeat itself! The new Japan we go on to build shall be one broad enough to accept all peoples, histories, and ideologies where the strong shall not reign over the weak. And it shall be called… The United States of Japan!" Zero threw his two arms open, exclaiming the name of the new nation in the most exaggerating pose possible to drum up public passion.
"That's right! This is the time for the building of a new nation!" Diethard exclaimed maniacally, exhilarated by the fruit of his labour he was finally able to witness and record.
As the crowd of Japanese were electrified by Zero's proclamation, Euphemia was starting to lose her sight. "It's strange… I can't… see… your face…" she stuttered her words as she mustered her last strength to raise her left hand and moved it towards her knight. Suzaku immediately caught her left hand with his own two hands.
"Remember… to go to school…" Euphemia continued, "I… had to drop out… before I could finish it…"
Suzaku's tears finally began to waterfall out of his eyes, but he somehow managed to keep a smile on his face. "Euphy, we can now go to school together! That's right, let's go to Ashford Academy together! There is a fun Student Council, and with you…!"
Euphemia seemed to understand that she did not have much time left as well; she smiled at Suzaku and said, "Can you… attend school… on my behalf… as well?"
Suzaku realized the time was almost up as well. He finally lost his smile. "No! Euphy! Please don't go!"
"Ah… Suzaku…" Euphemia whispered as she closed her eyes and tears falling out of them, "I am so glad… to have met… you…"
BEEP!
The electrocardiogram showed a flat line on its screen, signaling the death of Euphemia li Britannia, the 3rd Princess of the Empire, at the early age of 16.
Inside the Government Palace of Area 11, a stunned Cornelia was seen staring at the ceiling, her mouth slightly opened, and her eyes showing disbelief to the news she had received from the medical officers.
Even though a lot of bombs about what happened to Euphemia has been dropped already not long ago, the audience once again falls into complete silence.
"Princess Euphemia…" Nina starts to cry. She has always known that her goddess was the kindest person in the universe, but for her to die in such a tragic way is too much for Nina to bear. Cecile immediately hugs Nina tightly to allow the bespectacled girl to release all her emotional distress upon seeing the scene.
The Ashford group also breaks down emotionally. Shirley cries upon seeing how Princess Euphemia met her tragic end while being cursed by the very people she was trying to help, and the orange-haired girl was disgusted by how Lelouch flamed public hatred towards Euphemia so shamelessly, even labelling her as a "mass murdering maniac"; Rivalz is saddened by Euphemia's regret of not being able to finish school and had to ask Suzaku to do it on her behalf, a promise that Suzaku had never honoured before he died; Milly, the natural leader of the group and the one with actual experience with the dirty aristocratic behind-the-scene happenings, sheds her tears for the misfortune the doomed interracial couple had suffered from; and Kallen is further swallowed by the guilt that has been growing inside her as she learns more and more about the truth behind the SAZ massacre.
Things are not going well for the Japanese audience as well. Ohgi bites his lip upon seeing the truth behind what he once thought to be a righteous fight against a deceitful princess; Tamaki opens his mouth and has no words to come out of it; Chiba is simply disgusted by how Lelouch blamed everything onto the innocent Euphemia, even though Euphemia was a Britannian princess that the Japanese woman has automatically come to hate.
"We thought we fought a righteous war," Tohdoh suddenly says gravely, "in reality, we all became accomplices of the modern Pierre Cauchon and Geoffroy Thérage, condemning and executing a holy woman."
Everyone is shocked by Tohdoh's comment. Is he comparing Euphemia to Jeanne d'Arc?
Nevertheless, Tohdoh continues. "Regardless of not knowing the full fact and being withheld from the truth by Lelouch, it is still unquestionable that my honour is scarred by this event. I shall go to the Fuji Mausoleum after this to offer my formal apology and my unreserved respect to the young princess who sacrificed her life, reputation and honour for the sake of the Japanese."
"I… I will go with you too!" Kallen follows Tohdoh's lead. More than being angered by how Lelouch exploited Euphemia in such an inhumane way, Kallen is angry at her naive past self for so easily fell for Lelouch's barefaced lies and wrongly cursed an innocent and gentle young girl who truly cared for the Japanese.
"Yea! Let's go together!" Tamaki exclaims. The red-haired man is still reeling from the shock when he finally understands how messed up his fight against Euphemia actually was, and as simple as the man is, he is all for admitting the huge cock-up the leader of the Black Knights had made and offering a sincere apology to the wronged imperial maiden.
"Maybe we should publicize this to the public to restore Princess Euphemia's reputation?" Ohgi suggests, "Once the public has learned the truth, Princess Euphemia's reputation would be…"
"No, we can't," Kaguya immediately cuts Ohgi off and rejects his idea, taking the Prime Minister by surprise.
"Why? Once we publicize the truth behind the SAZ incident, we will be able to clear Princess Euphemia's tainted name," the Prime Minister insists.
Kaguya sighs at Ohgi's lack of political quotient, but nevertheless offers her explanation. "First, we can't let the public know that Lelouch was the original Zero, or else there will be an uproar from the public, destabilizing the current world order. Second, we can't let the public know the power of Geass, otherwise the public would panic, damaging public confidence in the current governance structure and its leadership; third, the world is just about to forget the SAZ massacre incident completely thanks to Lelouch's atrocities across the world during his treacherous reign, and so to publicize this footage to the public is simply asking the public to recall what Princess Euphemia had done to the Japanese people."
Ohgi is aghast at Kaguya's explanation. Why didn't he realize all those before?
Kaguya mentally shakes her head in disapproval of Ohgi's competency as a political leader of Japan, but nonetheless continues, "Anyway, I think I should go to offer my apology and respect to Princess Euphemia as well. Please let me join you, General Tohdoh."
"I am honoured," Tohdoh replies.
Cornelia, Nunnally, Zero and Guilford quietly listen to the conversation among the Japanese audience, and they are pleasantly surprised by the high regard the prideful Japanese general has accorded to Euphemia. 'Chairwoman Sumeragi is right, there is no good reason to publicize this footage to the public anymore,' Cornelia muses, before putting a sad smile on her face, 'Euphy, this has come a bit late, but you have finally earned the understanding and respect from those who opposed to you the most. I cannot be more proud of you for accomplishing such an impossible feat.'
"…recorded," Anya silently takes photos of everyone's reaction to Euphemia's tragic death scene.
It was evening and Zero was walking along a corridor in a building under the control of the Black Knights. He entered a room as C.C. was closing the venetian blind.
"Are you planning to assault the Tokyo Settlement?" C.C. asked as she turned back to face Lelouch.
"That's right," Lelouch took off his helmet, "this is the best chance for us to do so… oh," Lelouch looked at C.C., but immediately realized that he could not turn off his Geass anymore and looked away.
"Don't worry about it, your Geass has no effect on me," C.C. said calmly as she saw how Lelouch looked away, "You know that, right?"
Lelouch looked back at C.C. and smiled sarcastically. "Right, and now that my Geass is out of control, I guess it's time for me to say goodbye to everyone as well."
C.C. turned back to the window. "Apart from the loss of control over your Geass power, is there any other changes you are experiencing?"
"Not really, but…" Lelouch sat down on the sofa and put down his helmet, his hands clasped and his head sank, "Euphy… she tried to resist the Geass… and my orders. I was wondering if my power had weakened… but I think… I think such a malignant command was simply against her very nature."
"And?" C.C. began to walk towards Lelouch.
"That's it," Lelouch raised his head once again, but quickly turned back, his voice and arms started shaking, "It's just…"
C.C. knelt down before Lelouch and hugged his head into her chest. "We have a contract, right? I will be by your side… only me."
Nunnally and Cornelia both stare at the screen with very complex emotions flowing through their minds. Nunnally is still shocked at seeing how Lelouch ruthlessly shot Euphemia to death and knowingly fanned public hatred against her, but as Lelouch's only full-blooded relative besides Marianne and Charles, she understands the pain Lelouch was suffering in doing all those horrible things. The question then becomes: if she chooses to forgive Lelouch for what he did to Euphemia, then what about Euphemia, who had clearly been wronged by Lelouch's actions to the utmost? Next to Nunnally, Cornelia is also being confronted by a similar dilemma in her mind, arguably even more so because the victim in question was her only full-blooded relative besides her parents, yet at the same time she understands Lelouch's situation even more because of her military training and experience. The one thing that tends Cornelia's balance towards not forgiving Lelouch is the additional crime that Lelouch used his supernatural power to further corrupt Darlton, her dear friend and loyal subordinate, forcing the loyal general to do something against his will right after Lelouch had, despite accidentally, forced Euphemia to do something against her will.
"He actually felt remorse about what he did?" Villetta asks incredulously. "But that's hypocritical! If he was going to regret about wrongly casting Geass on Princess Euphemia, why did he further exploit Her Highness in the first place?"
"He was just a hypocrite," Chiba snarls, "it's not like anyone was forcing him to do all those despicable deeds, but he still did it and pretended that he felt bad about it."
"N…" Shirley wants to say "no" to Chiba's accusation, but this time she cannot muster enough strength to say so. It is just as Villetta has described: no one was pointing a gun at his head to force Lelouch to do all the heinous things he did, and once he had finished doing those horrible things, he expressed remorse about what he had just done? The orange-haired girl doesn't understand anymore. 'Lulu…' she muses with utter sadness and a tint of jealousy when she sees how her dear Lulu sought consolation from the mysterious lime-haired woman for the horrendous deeds he had committed at his free will.
"He didn't have to say all that in private if he didn't mean it. However, if he meant what he said in private, then he should not have done what he had just done in the first place, in which he had total control on whether to do it or not. So, why?" Gino is also confused as well. Lelouch was so contradictory in what he said and what he did!
Meanwhile, Milly frowns as she sees how unbelievably calm C.C. was. '"I will be by your side… only me"? That sounds to me like a witch murmuring seducing words into a lost lamb's ear… what was her ultimate objective in doing all these horrible things with Lelouch when there was no apparent material or emotional gain for her? It can't be that she was really after Lelouch's soul, can it?' Milly muses. Next to her, Rivalz is utterly confused as well, not understanding how Lelouch can be so contradictory in his actions and words.
Zero, however, immediate understands Lelouch's apparent contradiction between his words and his actions. 'I now understand what you said to me during our confrontation at Kamine Island. This was you wallowing in remorse for what you had done when you have the time for it, wasn't it? You knew what you did was abhorrent, but you had no better alternative to the situation but to keep going forward, however regrettable it was. Lelouch, I will still not forgive you for what you did to Euphy even if you did heed to your words and wallowed in remorse for what you had done, but I now understand more about what your thoughts on the single biggest mistake you had ever committed.'
Guilford chaired the military strategy meeting in the absence of Cornelia, and the military advisors were reporting that rebellions have broken out in various locations across Japan despite Britannian's best effort in keeping the news off the internet. They were especially concerned about the Black Knights, the largest insurgent group of all, were absorbing the masses along its way to Tokyo Settlement, and the advisors urged Guilford to make a quick decision on the way forward.
Meanwhile, the amnesiac Villetta, or "Chigusa" as Ohgi called her, was observing the riot on the streets from Ohgi's apartment while speaking with him on the phone. Villetta finished the call with Ohgi happily after Ohgi called her "Chigusa" for the first time, but such happiness disappeared quickly as a number of Japanese rioters broke into Ohgi's apartment, starting to accuse Villetta as a Britannian spy.
"Chigusa…" Ohgi unconsciously calls out his wife's name on the screen.
"I am here, Kaname," the present Villetta hugs her husband's left arm tightly, "I am not going anywhere."
"Thank God," Ohgi relaxes as he offers his left shoulder for Villetta to lean on.
In the underground storage space of Ashford Academy, Milly was warning a busy Nina to get back upstairs of the school as the insurgents were heading towards Tokyo. However, different from her usual timid and obedient self, Nina simply acknowledged Milly's advice but continued to work on the Ganymede with an angered expression on her face.
'Please… wait for me, Princess Euphemia. I'll avenge you, I swear!' the bespectacled girl mused as she kept working on the school's pizza-making Knightmare Frame.
"This is the first time I see Nina's serious face," Rivalz comments.
"I was surprised as well. I'd never imagine she'd be that tough," Milly recalls what happened that day.
"Sorry, Milly…" the present day Nina apologizes timidly, "I wasn't in my right mind back then."
The tall blonde woman simply smiles to show that she doesn't mind about this little past incident.
Suzaku sat on his stool in front of Euphemia's dead body, troubled by the question that had bugged his mind for so long. 'Euphy… I just don't understand. Why did you give that order?'
"Shall I tell you?" suddenly, a child voice rang behind Suzaku. Suzaku was jolted by the voice and turned back, seeing a boy with strangely long, blond hair that touches the ground.
"Who are you?" Suzaku asked incredulously.
"Please to meet you, Suzaku Kururugi," the boy greeted, "my name is V.V."
"V.V.?" Suzaku was stunned to see a little boy on board of a Britannian airship. How did he get through the security?
"So that was V.V.?" Cornelia's eyes sharpens upon seeing the little boy's image on the screen, finally knowing what the mastermind of the underground Geass facility in the Chinese Federation looked like. Nunnally also frowns as she finally get to see the image of the mysterious boy who took her away from Ashford Academy during the Black Rebellion.
"Do you know him, Your Highness?" Guilford asks concernedly.
"I haven't met him face to face, but I did encounter him once when I was in the Chinese Federation when he was in his machine fighting the Black Knights. Simply put, he was the mastermind behind the evil power of Geass," Cornelia replies, shocking all others in the audience except Zero.
"You mean that little boy was also involved in Geass as well? But how come? He was just a little boy!" Ohgi says in disbelief.
"He said his name was V.V. Was he related to C.C.?" Rakshata deduces.
"Is he Ms C.C.'s younger brother?" Rivalz guesses.
"They don't look alike though. Cousins perhaps?" Milly comments.
"Why did he have such long hair?" Tianzi is curious. Not even she has such long hair, and Tianzi is a girl!
As the only one in the audience who knows something about V.V., Zero decides to rein in the situation. "As always, I am sure there will be an explanation to that as we continue to see what happens next. Let's get back to the footage."
Inside a G1 now under the control of the Black Knights, Zero rose from the throne and walked forward. "Once we have defeated Cornelia, we win. All forces! You all have your orders! Now be ready!" he then walked pass C.C., who was sitting on the side of the corridor, heading towards the exit of the control room, "Diethard, have Tohdoh handle the front line. I'm leaving you in charge here."
"Understood," Diethard replied.
As the door opened, Zero, followed by C.C., was stopped by a young Japanese girl. It was Kaguya Sumeragi, one of the representatives of the Six Houses of Kyoto.
"Thank goodness I made it in time!" Kaguya said in a relieved tone before turning into a slightly teasing tone, "That was so mean of you, the way you headed off to the battle without me! I was hoping that I'd finally get to talk to you."
"Lady Sumeragi, I thought the heads of the Six Houses remained in Fuji?" Diethard was surprised to see Kaguya on the G1.
"I followed after you!" Kaguya winked, "So I can see how my husband fight." This took both C.C. and Diethard by surprise: when did Kaguya marry Zero?
"What? Lulu had a wife?" Shirley exclaims. Not only was he merciless to his kind, younger half-sister, he also fooled around and kept a secret wife behind everyone's back?
"Kaguya, you married Zero?" Tianzi is shocked to learn that her best friend was Zero's wife.
However, Milly sees right through what was happening. 'This was most likely Chairwoman Sumeragi declaring marriage to the leader of the biggest resistance group unilaterally as a means to consolidate her influence in the movement for Japanese independence. She is an accomplished politician who is able to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the largest international organization after all. I'll just say nothing though, it's such a waste to let go of Shirley's lovely jealous face haha.'
Next to Milly, Rivalz just wants to find a handkerchief to bite to assuage his jealousy on how Lelouch could so effortlessly attract beautiful women to himself.
"Don't joke around," Zero bellowed. What nonsense was this girl talking about?
Kaguya, however, was unfazed by Zero's warning. She went on to explain the political merits of having her as his wife, given that Zero was unable to show his true face to the public.
"Do you think we can win this battle?" Zero asked.
"Of course! I am the goddess of victory after all," Kaguya nodded cheerfully.
However, what Zero said right after was not what Kaguya had expected. "I'd be lucky to have you then. Unfortunately, I've already made a contract with the devil. I have no room in my life for deities right now." He then walked pass Kaguya and exited the G1.
C.C. looked at Lelouch intently, while Kaguya was utterly confused by what Zero had just said.
The present day Kaguya looks at the scene and finally understands what Lelouch meant by having contracted with the devil already. 'Lelouch, I see now you were bearing the heavy burden of wronging Princess Euphemia and the sea of innocent blood caused by that.'
"That was rude of him to say that right in front of C.C.'s face," Villetta comments, "that boy really has no finesse when it comes to things like these."
"Lelouch didn't really show any interest in dating girls when he was in Ashford Academy, so I don't think he has much knowledge about how to treat the ladies right," Milly shakes her head. Next to her, Kallen also frowns at the lack of sensitivity of the raven-haired boy.
"In that regard, His Majesty was a friend of yours, Lloyd," Cecile suddenly comments.
"AHA! We are both smart people!" Lloyd says cheerfully, ignoring, or rather not noticing what Cecile is trying to get to.
"Give up, Cecile, you're not going to pound in any humanity into the Earl of Pudding," Rakshata taps her hand on Cecile's shoulder, shaking her head.
Nina watches the interaction among her three fellow scientists and sighs.
It was night time and Bartley was frantically directing his crew to arrange the experimental subject to be transported back to the Homeland. Suddenly, the container holding Jeremiah started to crack as the pressure inside the container rose, and Jeremiah, still connected to numerous wires attached to the container, fell out of the broken container and slowly stood up.
"A good morning to all of you," Jeremiah said once he regained his conscious.
Meanwhile, Darlton was inside his Gloucester being carried by a VTOL. He was suffering from the wound shot by Euphemia earlier at the stadium, forcing the strong general to use his right hand to press against the bleeding wound and panted painfully.
"General Darlton, you're in no condition for this!" a subordinate tried to talk the general out of the situation.
"I don't care! I have to be… at Her Highness' side…!" the general insisted.
"General Darlton went back to the battlefield after the SAZ incident?" Guilford is surprised by what he sees on the screen. "I have never received his signal throughout that battle. Did he fight till his last back then?" Guilford then salutes to pay his respect to the fallen general and close colleague, who served Princesses Cornelia and Euphemia with distinction till his last breath.
'Darlton, you were being forced to betray me while suffering from great pain, weren't you?' Cornelia muses as she watches how one of her most loyal and trusted generals suffered while being forced by Geass to betray his liege, rage begins to rise once again in her mind. How dare Lelouch used such an underhanded power to force her loyal general to do something he would never wanted to do?
Back at Bartley's research facility, Jeremiah, while at gunpoint of the security guard, was viewing information regarding the Code-R project Bartley had been conducting.
"Code-R… I see. You've given me an abnormally high active electrical potential and boosted my neurofilaments," Jeremiah said as he turned to the portly general with an innocent but somehow scary smile, "Oh, how understanding is such a happiness! You on me experimented in order to recreate it, didn't you? This patient…"
"Code-R is not a patient!" Bartley tried to explain to the babbling Jeremiah, "Anyway, can you please calm down? Your brain cells were destroyed past the Circle of Willis, so…"
"Spare me the excuses! You're the one who gave me like this because you hated me for sending you back to the Homeland!" Jeremiah exclaimed as tears shed out of his right eye, while his left eye, which became a mechanical one, vibrates randomly.
"Look, I promise I'll hear anything you have to say, but first let's return to the Homeland! We can't carry on a proper conversation in this situation," Bartley tried to pound reason into Jeremiah's head.
Suddenly, a voice came through the public announcement system, catching Jeremiah's attention. "Hear me, Britannia! This is Zero! A rebel against oppressors who abuse their power! We will wait until midnight. You have until then to surrender to me," Zero announced. Jeremiah was affected and knelt down upon hearing Zero's voice.
"How can they do that to Lord Gottwald, a loyal Britannian noble who fought till the last for Britannia?" Villetta is aghast at seeing her former superior being converted into some form of semi-cyborg. If even a Margrave would suffer from such fate, what say that she herself, not even a Britannian noble at that time, would suffer from? And what's worse, Prince Schneizel was aware of this experiment and approved it with no hesitation!
Cornelia frowns as well. At the time, she only knew that Bartley was conducting some sort of experiment, but she was not informed of the details and specifics. 'Schneizel hid this from me, and I was the Viceroy of the land where the research took place during that time! Just how much more did Schneizel hide from me when those things apparently would impact my rule over the Area?'
"What's the deal with General Asprius anyway?" Gino is curious, "why was he so obsessed with human experimentation?"
"All I know is that General Asprius was loyal to Prince Clovis," Guilford responded, "and my guess is that Code-R was a project that His Highness had started and invested much resource and effort into when he was still alive, hence the reason for the general to see to its completion."
Kallen looks at how Jeremiah had been transformed from a human to a semi-cyborg without his consent just because he was fried by the Guren at Narita and got picked up and used by the passing military research personnel. While she regrets nothing about trying to kill Jeremiah as an enemy during the Battle of Narita, she does feel bad to see Jeremiah suffering from something worse. 'Sorry, Jeremiah, I didn't know you suffer even more after our battle. I am glad you made it through afterwards and enjoy a peaceful civilian life now,' she muses.
