Here's the next chapter. Anyway, I don't own Code Geass or any of the characters just the OC.
36. The C's World
Finding himself back inside the mysterious dimensional world known only as C's World, Lelouch looks up the stairs to see his Father there looking down at him as if he was expecting him. Shocked to see Charles, Lelouch hides behind the leg of the Shinkiro to avoid his Geass which requires sight.
"It's been a long time, Lelouch, my prodigal son," Charles said.
"Answer my question about 8 years ago! Why didn't you try to protect mother!?" Lelouch questioned demandingly. "You knew the others were plotting against her! You knew everything!"
"People are not equal." Charles merely replied.
"What?" Lelouch said angrily.
"You have a unique form of Geass. A power that no one else possesses. Use it. To get the answer from me." Charles spoke as if he was urging him.
Lelouch narrowed his eyes behind his Knightmare.
"He's baiting me!" Lelouch thought knowingly. "Trying to get me to use my Geass on him. But if I look into his eyes and he'll look into mine! His Geass requires eye contact just like mine does. So the moment I look at his Geass will take control of me and he'll alter my memories. What do I do?"
"What's wrong? Are you not my son?" Charles asked, condescendingly. "A prince of Britannia."
"I have no time to make the wrong choice!" Lelouch thought as he activated his Geass and took out a switch.
Geass Order
Meanwhile, outside at the remains of the Geass Order's headquarters, The others are moving around the facilities and searching through anything left behind while also bringing all of the corpses to the designated area. After placing them all in corpse bags they began setting up some equipment around the inside grounds. Rolo, now wearing his R.R face coverings went over to Logan who was dressed as Soul.
"We've finished setting everything up," R.R reported.
"Good, when we're done here we can burn the remains of this place to dust," Soul said. "It'll be the last we ever hear of it."
Soul then sees Jeremiah kneeling down next to a corpse and walks over to him.
"Bartley…" Jeremiah wiped the blood off of Bartley's dead body. "I hated you for reconstructing me with this body. But your loyalty to the Imperial Family was genuine. So be it. I'll make my final decision. I will respect you." He decided with respect.
"Is that all you wanted to say?" Soul asked as he stood in front of him. "Didn't the two of you work together under Clovis?"
"I relationship was strictly business, we only spoke when passing orders," Jeremiah confessed. "I hardly knew the man and even though we never had a positive opinion of each other. Still, I will respect any man who stays true to his loyalty."
"I see." Soul let the matter go. "Tell me, where are Cornelia and Darlton."
"Why don't you see for yourself?"
Soul looked to see both Cornelia and Darlton appear only a few feet away from his, both of them frowning at him with seriousness in their eyes.
"Cornelia li Britannia and Andreas Darlton, it's been quite a while, hasn't it?" Soul greeted them.
"Spare me the pleasantries, you're going answer some questions of mine," Cornelia demanded.
"It seems you misunderstand the situation you're in." Soul reminded her. "We have you outnumbered and out-gunned, not to mention we have Knightmares on our side."
Cornelia narrowed her eyes. "Yes, and let's not forget your advantage in possessing Geass as well."
Both Soul and Jeremiah didn't show even a hint of surprise when they heard her say that, the reason being they had already figured that they would know having already guessed Cornelia's motive for being here in the first place.
"Well, it seems you learned quite a bit during your time here." Soul summarized. "Perhaps it would be safer to just kill you both."
Darlton narrowed his eyes and stood protectively in front of Cornelia. "I will never allow you to harm Princess Cornelia."
But as Darlton reached for his gun, his eyes widened as he realized it was no longer on his person. Then both he and Cornelia become surprised as they look to their right and see R.R standing there while aiming Cornelia's long-barreled pistol at them. Cornelia looked down at her hip and saw that her weapon was no longer with her, despite being there less than a second ago.
"I wouldn't resist if I were you," R.R said.
Then Lyra appeared at their left and showed that he was holding Darlton's gun and also aimed it at them.
"You'll find being harmed the least of your concerns," Lyra added.
Though he seemed reluctant, Jeremiah brought out his wrist blade and Soul pulled out a gun as well and pointed it at them.
"Even you can understand at this point that you've been cornered," Soul said.
"One of them must have used some kind of Geass to steal our weapons." Cornelia deduced. "Meaning, they could have killed us already if they wanted, they're just trying to provoke me."
Realizing the fact that she was completely at their mercy and being frustrated about it, Cornelia was still about to keep her cool in this situation and decided to simply raise her hands.
"Enough, I surrender." Cornelia declared.
"Princess?" Darlton looked at her surprised.
"It's fine Darlton, we have no choice," Cornelia informed him. "Besides, from the start, they were planning to take me alive, I have too much value as a hostage."
"As clever as always, I see." Soul commented. "Jeremiah, R.R, cuff them, we'll take them back to the Ikaruga as our prisoners."
"Understood," R.R responded as he went over to them.
"Please, don't resist." Jeremiah requested of them as he cuffed them.
"Wait." Before they could be led away, Cornelia stopped in front of Soul. "I have agreed to be your prisoner without resistance, so in exchange, let me see my sister, Euphemia."
Cornelia's request almost sounded like a demand, as if saying she will try to resist if they refused, regardless of her current situation. But none of them was surprised, all of them knew how much Cornelia cared for Euphie and how far she would go for her.
Soul nodded. "Very well, I'm sure she would want to see you again as well."
Cornelia acknowledged his promise and let herself along with Darlton be led away by R.R and Jeremiah.
C's World
In a last-ditch effort, Lelouch clicks a switch that fires glass shards out from the Shinkiro. The shards scatter all over the area, and Lelouch looks at one of them before giving the command.
"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you." Lelouch stares into the glass shard that shows a reflection of Charles in it. "And now… Die!"
Upon his command, the light from his Geass bounces of the glass shard and into another one which causes a chain reaction where the Geass hits and bounces off every glass shard before it shots out and smacks into Charles' eyes.
"Very well, then," Charles responded as all the shards fall to the floor and break.
Lelouch who is still behind the Shinkiro takes out a single glass shard he had with him and uses it the act as a mirror so that he can see Charles' reflection. Now under the effect of Geass, Charles pulls out a pistol and shoots himself in the heart, then falls over, appearing to be dead.
"I won…" Lelouch whispered in disbelief as he came out from behind his Knightmare. "I won. Mother… I… I did it." Lelouch attempts to suppress his emotions but is unable to. "GAAAHHHHHH!" He lets out a scream that was a mixture of victory, anguish and weariness.
Area 11 Government Bureau
Meanwhile, at Area 11, Nunnally was in the Viceroy's office and was behind her desk as Suzaku enters the room and walks up to her with a sullen look on his face.
"Hello, Suzaku." Nunnally pleasantly greets him. "Are you ready for the meeting later today?"
"I am, but that's not why I came here," Suzaku said with an upset tone. "Viceroy Nunnally, I regret that I have troubling news to report."
"Oh, what's wrong?" Nunnally asked, becoming worried. "Has something happened?"
"I'm afraid so," Suzaku said before he broke the bad news. "Earlier I received a report that prisoner… That Kallen Kozuki was no longer in her cell and it is believed that she has escaped from our custody."
This information made Nunnally gasp before she looked down with an upset expression. "Kallen's gone?"
Suzaku nodded in confirmation. "Our security system was down temporarily during the time of her escape so it's not confirmed, but we believe it's highly likely that Black Knights were responsible for her escape."
"I…See," Nunnally replied.
Nunnally looked and sounded disheartened, not only because of the escape but also because Kallen had gone as quickly as she arrived and it happened before Nunnally even had a chance to have a real conversation with her, which made her upset. Suzaku was upset because he knew to some extent that Kallen was going to be freed by Lelouch and the others and yet it still upset him to see Nunnally become saddened by it.
Geass Order
Meanwhile, back at the remains of the order, while everyone else was doing their thing, C.C comes up to V.V, who is still on the stairs leading to the Thought Elevator looking bloodied and torn up, and muses over him.
"How many years has it been since we were together face to face, V.V?" C.C wondered. "In the end, I couldn't run away from my destiny, could I?"
"Now I bear the burden of… That destiny…" V.V painfully muttered.
"Huh?" C.C became surprised by his words.
"…Of immortality…" V.V finished.
"What?" C.C went over to him and checked something. "V.V, are you…?"
"So please, Charles…" V.V painfully muttered.
Flashback, Britannia - Year: 1965
Many years ago outside the Imperial palace within the capital of Pendragon, a young Charles and V.V who were both children at the time made a promise under the night sky.
"Well, do you swear it?" Charles asked.
"Yes. In this world full of lies, we will never lie to each other." V.V promised.
Flashback End
V.V looked down as he remembered that day and quietly spoke. "That's because I… I am your… Your big brother…"
"Looks like I found you."
C.C looks up and V.V also struggles to look as they see Lyra walk up to them with a gun in his hands as Soul accompanies him.
"Orpheus… I should… Have figured…" V.V muttered.
"I knew from the start you'd still be breathing, V.V," Orpheus told him, before pointing his gun at him. "But to me, that hardly matters."
V.V let out a small, pain-filled chuckle. "I'm going to… Be killed by a… Lab-rat? What a joke."
BANG!
Orpheus angrily pulls the trigger and shots V.V in the forehead, with that the light vanishes from his eyes and he slumps over, having fully been taken by death, which Soul found peculiar.
"Why isn't he regenerating?" Soul questioned. "Wasn't he an immortal?"
Lyra seems to notice that as well, he had no qualms or complaints about V.V being dead, but he was very much aware of the immortality he possessed and thus also became confused that killing him was as simple as a bullet to the head all of a sudden.
"Not just that, where's Lelouch?" Soul also pointed out. "He was supposed to be around here?"
"I think I can answer both of those questions," C.C told them.
C's World
Back in C's world, Lelouch stood over the body of his father and looked over it, believing he was dead.
"I killed him. It was so easy." Lelouch noted, with a hint of dissatisfaction. "I had questions for him, deaths he should've answered for. But now…"
"Oh? Who's?"
Lelouch gasped, started at the hearing Charles speak even though he was supposed to be dead, it didn't stop there as Charles opened his eyes.
"You're impudent, Lelouch." Charles declared with a villainous grin.
"You're alive?" Lelouch realized with shock and horror. "That's impossible. The bullet went through your heart!"
"Rotten schemes, deceptions…" Charles slowly rose to his feet as he spoke. "You really thought you could defeat me with those cheap tricks? You want the power of a king? Then have the courage to come at me like a king!"
Charles now stood, towering over Lelouch like a dark cloud as Lelouch reactivated his Geass. "Die!"
The Geass flew into Charles' eyes again but this time it stopped short and faded before activating. "You think that's how a king does it?"
"My Geass isn't working!" Lelouch realized in shock.
He then looks to the side and notices the gun that Charles was holding was now laying on the floor. Lelouch then runs past him, takes Charles' gun and shoots him some more, but all of the wounds heal right after they are inflicted.
"You still do not understand? I am beyond the power of guns or swords now." Charles declared as he removed the glove of his right hand. "No matter how you attack me it's useless!"
Charles revealed that on the palm of his hand was a Mark of Immortality vigil that meant that he was now immortal and this made Lelouch's eyes widened in disbelief.
Geass Order
C.C had just finished explaining everything to Soul and Lyra. Why V.V was dead and where Lelouch was.
"So the Emperor is immortal now?" Soul said, looking at the door. "And he brought Lelouch into C's world with him."
"He traded his Geass for a Code," Lyra added.
C.C merely looked at V.V dead body with wonder. "Charles, why steal V.V.'s Code now? Why would you kill the older brother you loved so much?" She asked no one in particular.
"The reason doesn't really matter at this point." Soul looked at C.C. "C.C, send me in there as well, I need to help Lelouch."
"I will, the truth is I was planning to enter there as well," C.C confessed as she gave V.V one last look. "V.V, you loved Marianne, didn't you?"
"I'll tell the others that'll you'll both be occupied for a while," Lyra assured him. "Contact me when you get out."
"Right," Soul said.
Lyra then walked away while Soul and C.C approached the door to the thought elevator and placed their hands on the door as C.C smiled and looked at him.
"Logan." C.C solemnly spoke. "It's time for us to part ways."
Logan blinked with confusion inside his mask.
C's World
Back in C's world, Lelouch was knocked down the stairway and fell to the floor as he laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling.
"He's become immortal, too. I can't win…" Lelouch thought with a look of realization and hysteria. "There's no way I can win!"
"I've gained new power in place of Geass. A power that goes far beyond." Charles declared, atop the stairs. "And so Lelouch, behold and I shall show you the true nature of this world!"
Suddenly a mechanical control panel raises up from the floor beside him and Charles holds his hand over it as his Code started to glow. Lelouch then sits as a circle of bright light appear on the floor around him and he finds himself becoming consumed by it.
Maze Of Subconscious
Now Lelouch found himself in a different world, a blank world filled with a void of white nothingness, and from that void, a wall of horrific white-and-red masks seemed to appear from nowhere and was staring at Lelouch from all direction.
"What is this?" Lelouch wondered as he stepped back with confusion and terror.
The void was then replaced by a maze of large mechanical gears that surrounded him as the masks continued to float there. Suddenly, Charles reappeared and stood there in front of Lelouch as if nothing was wrong.
"What is Geass? I want the truth!" Lelouch demanded.
"How strange. A child who's wrapped himself in lies desires the truth from others." Charles taunted.
"What?" Lelouch replied.
Charles continued. "The false name and false mask of Zero. What has it gotten you!?"
"Everything!" Lelouch angrily answered. "It got me all the things that ordinary people can never obtain! Followers! Territory!"
"You lost Nunnally." One of the masks spoke, rebuking his claim. "Suzaku is also lost to your lies."
"Shut up!" Lelouch snapped. "I did what I had to do. People lie to survive. No one is to blame us."
"You want others to know your true self yet you only show them a false face." A mask accused as it took the form of a masked Lelouch. "How can anyone know if you don't reveal yourself…"
"If you hide behind a mask."
"You are afraid that they'll find out who you really are."
"No!" Lelouch denied.
Suddenly, all the masks vanished and Charles reappeared before Lelouch.
"In the end, your lies serve no purpose. Because you are me and I am you. All else is illusion." Charles recited which confused Lelouch.
"Now you're the one who's lying!"
The sound of a familiar voice got both of their attention as they looked behind them and saw, from the wall of gears, Logan appeared before them as well, dressed as Soul but without his mask.
"Logan?" Lelouch spoke.
"Ah, you've arrived as well." Charles seemed pleased.
"How are you here?" Lelouch asked. "And what is this place?"
"I'm not sure," Logan replied, stopping beside Lelouch. "But don't let him get under your skin. If you get too rattled you can't think straight." He advised.
"I'm glad you are here, and at how far your Geass has evolved." Charles proclaimed. "The power that you possess is an excellent one, so much so that I somewhat wished that I possessed it myself."
"What?" Logan asked, confused by his speech.
"Having the power to see through truth and lies, in a world where humans are filled with tricky and deceit that is arguing the greatest power a king could possess. On the other hand, while you can see through the lies of others you hold behind a mask and tell lies that others cannot see through." Charles accused. "That makes you the most deceitful of them all."
"You're one to talk!" Logan angrily shot back. "You may not wear a mask but you've spouted nothing but lies every time you've appeared before others, your family, your people, the whole world! You've never shown anyone you're true self, you might as well be wearing an invisible mask."
"Is that what you think?" Charles asked, not believing his accusation. "How naive you are. Though there are worlds without end, there is but one being in the past, in the future, and now, only one!" He declared.
"Only one?" Logan repeated, taken aback.
"What are you saying?" Lelouch asked, not understanding.
"Charles. Playtime is over now." This time the wall of gears around them opened up and C.C appeared before them as well, addressing Charles. "There's nothing in it for me now. No value in the games anymore."
"C.C?" Lelouch spoke surprised to see her.
C.C ignored him and Logan and kept her attention on the Emperor. "You don't have to cajole them like this to get me here. I already exist in this realm."
"True enough, C.C, In that case, I shall grant your wish," Charles told him.
Those words surprised both Lelouch and Logan.
"You know what C.C.'s wish is?" Lelouch asked in shock.
"And what do you mean you'll grant it?" Logan asked, his eyes widened.
C.C looked away from them, unable to meet their gazes as she spoke. "Lelouch, Logan, it's time you both knew the conditions of our contracts and what I desire. My wish is to die." She solemnly confessed. "To end my existence in all worlds forever."
"You want to die?" Logan asked, shaken a bit. "To end your own life?"
"But why?" Lelouch asked, also shaken. "Why would you want to die?"
"In the final stage of Geass, the user attains the position of the one who granted them the power." C.C explained to them now looking at them with a calm expression. "Thus you have both gained the power to kill me."
"Kill you?" Lelouch repeated, still shook. "C.C…"
"That's not what we asked." Logan reminded her. "Why would we even?"
"Of all those I made contracts with, none has ever reached that point." C.C informed them, still calm. "But now there's Charles. He has done it."
"You mean you made your contracts with us so that you could cease to exist?" Lelouch questioned, looking upset.
"Correct," C.C confirmed.
"And this whole time, you wanted to make sure we stay alive no matter the cost, just so that we could kill you one day?" Logan asked, not knowing how to feel.
"I believed one of you would certainly reach this point, in not both, maybe even Rolo at some point, so I had to make sure you all survived until then," C.C explained.
"But… Why would you want to die?" Lelouch asked, with sadness.
"It's providence, a boundary. Only when it's finite can we call it life." C.C answered.
"You call that a reason!" Logan snapped at her.
"That's wrong! We call it life because we feel it!" Lelouch angrily argued.
"Same thing." C.C replied stoically. "There is no life unless there is death."
"That's just wordplay!" Lelouch continued to argue.
"Life and death are two separate concepts!" Logan added, clenching his fists. "To say one has no worth without the other is pretentious, it's not real!"
"People die. That's real." C.C argued, now smiling.
"Then why are we born at all?" Lelouch asked, not yielding. "What's the purpose of it? The meaning?"
"You know the answers. Those things are all just illusions." C.C happily answered.
Lelouch shook his head. "No, living just to die is too sad!"
"Without death, all we have are random events, accumulation, you can't call that life." C.C reasoned. "If you have a reason for living then you have to kill me."
Lelouch was taken aback by her complete willingness to die.
"Then what do you call life, living your whole life just waiting for death, that's anything but living!" Logan denied her logic. "The things we've experienced were never illusions nor were they random events, our reason for living was the will to live itself! We live therefore we are!" He declared.
C.C became a little surprised by his words as Lelouch's expression showed that he completely agreed with him after that C.C smiled again as if she was satisfied with the way things were.
"I wanted one of you to kill me. If you did that and you'd be Charles's equal. You'd finally be able to beat him. That would have been my final act of assistance as your accomplice. But I should have realized it would come to this. So fare thee well, Lelouch, Logan. You're both too kind to end our contract."
With that, the control panel from before reappeared beside C.C and this time she placed her hand over it as her Code started to glow as well as a red light appeared beneath Lelouch and Logan.
"Wait! You're…" Lelouch called out.
"C.C!" Logan reached out.
They both spoke at the same time before they suddenly found themselves falling through this strange world into a pit of red lights where they vanished from sight.
C's World
After the two Geass users were gone, Charles and C.C left that world as well and now reappeared a the top of the stairs way within the Thought Elevator.
"Charles, why did you steal V.V's Code?" C.C asked him
"Is there any point in asking such questions?" Charles questioned back. "After all, you are about to die."
C.C smiled. "I suppose you're right."
Area 11 Government Bureau
Meanwhile, back at the Government Bureau, a meeting was taking place between Nunnally and the head officials and ministers of Area 11. As they were wrapping things up, Lohmeyer held in her hands a schedule and was preparing to leave.
"So very well then, I'll proceed with the redevelopment of the Saitama ghetto according to this schedule," Lohmeyer reported.
"Wait a minute, please," Nunnally said.
"Huh?" Lohmeyer stopped and faced her.
"Here." Nunnally held out her hand.
"Is there something wrong?" Lohmeyer asked as she approached her.
"This plan you worked out. It isn't going to penalize the Elevens, is it?" Nunnally asked as she held Lohmeyer's hand.
"Of course not. It's the best possible plan for them and for us." Lohmeyer assured her with a gentle tone.
"That is… a lie, isn't it?" Nunnally realized which made Lohmeyer gasp and quickly let go of Nunnally's hand. "Please rework the plan once more. I don't wish the Elevens to be disadvantaged by it."
"Princess. I am an expert. Please let me handle that." Lohmeyer requested.
"Miss Lohmeyer. I… I believed it that I… I'm the Viceroy." Nunnally reminded her with insistence.
Britannia — Dallas Research Center
Now, over at In Vogue, Schneizel enters the research room while Nina and Kanon were waiting for him.
"Please forgive me. I had to speak with Nunnally." Schneizel said.
"It's all right. We're still getting ready." Nina said.
"What happened?" Kanon asked.
"Oh, you know the topic. Lloyd's Camelot group and Suzaku." Schneizel said.
"I meant with the Toromo Agency." Kanon clarified.
"Oh that. It depends on the result of this test." Schneizel answered, looking pleased.
Area 11 Government Bureau
Back at the Government Bureau, Nunnally having finished her meeting with back in her office and was speaking with Suzaku again.
"Yes. My brother Schneizel contacted me. We can raise Area 11 status to satellite region. He said it's in recognition of improved public order and productivity." Nunnally happily informed him.
"That's good news," Suzaku said before he thought on a different topic. "Since they've taken back Kallen, Lelouch, Logan, and the others are probably preparing for their big plan to take back Japan, starting with the Tokyo Settlement." He then looked at the girl in front of him with concern. "But if that is the case, what happens to Nunnally?"
"Suzaku, you're not hiding anything, right?" Nunnally asked, sounding worried.
"Of course not. You're the one person that I'd never lied to." Suzaku promised her.
"Then will you tell me why you became a Knight of the Round? and why you chose to become my aid?" Nunnally asked as she reached for his hand, but Suzaku stepped back before she could. This upset Nunnally. "Suzaku, you're just like him, aren't you? Like my brother."
Suzaku looked upset by the fact that he couldn't tell her the truth and so he kneeled in front of her and gently held her hand in both of his hands.
"Nunnally, forgive me but I can't tell you what it is you want to know at the moment, but that's only because I myself am not ready to say it, however," Suzaku looked directly at her as he spoke honestly. "Before long I will be able to, at that time I promise to answer any question you may have, truthfully."
Nunnally stayed quiet for a moment as she caressed Suzaku's hands with her own and spoke.
"Suzaku… I trust you." Nunnally assured him.
Geass Order
Back at the Geass Order, Rolo and Jeremiah had just finished taking Cornelia and Darlton into custody and now Rolo was having a conversation with Orpheus.
"Where are they?" Rolo asked. "I thought you and my brother went to meet up with Zero?"
"We did, but right now they taking care of something important," Orpheus told him. "Right now, they're inside the Thought Elevator with C.C."
"Something important?" Rolo repeated before looking back at him. "In that case, we'll wait for them to return, in the meantime, tell me what happened in detail."
Orpheus nodded before he started to explain.
World Of Memories
After falling through the red lights, Lelouch and Logan found themselves in a world of mist and fog that hinders their view of anything around them.
"Where are we?" Lelouch wondered as he looked around.
"The fog is clearing." Logan noticed.
Now able to see, they find themselves on an old road in a small medieval town. Looking around, they notice a little girl in tore up worn-out clothes, a cuff and clean on her ankle and a pained look in her eyes walking lifelessly down the road, and she walks closer to them she is about to fall over.
"Hey!" Lelouch calls out.
They both run up to her and Lelouch tries to catch her, but to both of their surprise, she falls right through him as though he was a ghost, and then the fog completely vanishes as the world around them loses its colour and everything becomes black-and-white.
"What's going on?" Logan wondered.
"It's no use." A familiar voice informed them.
They both turned around to see C.C standing behind them. She was wearing the same outfit she wore when she first met them, exact it was a different colour—Dark blue. And she had an emotionless expression.
"These are in my memories. " C.C informed them. "You can't interfere."
"C.C?" Lelouch spoke before realizing something.
"Your memories?" Logan repeated before asking. "Then, is this similar to what happened back at Kamina Island?"
"There's no point in asking her," Lelouch told him. "You're not C.C, are you?"
"What?" Logan asked, confused.
"Who are you two?" C.C asked, sounding like she honestly didn't know. "Tell me."
"You don't remember us?" Logan asked.
"I'm Lelouch and he's Logan," Lelouch answered uncomfortably. "We are your…"
As Lelouch trailed off, the scenery around them changed as numerous historical places, such as the Colosseum, Stonehenge, and a Britannian palace are shown. The trio eventually comes upon a small wooden church, where a Catholic nun has given the girl refuge and the nun is kneeling down before the girl who is laying on the floor.
"Do you have some reason to live, child?" The nun asked.
"I don't know… I just… Don't wanna die!" The girl stated afraid.
"Then let's make a contract." The nun offered as they saw that on her forehead was a Code of Immortality, the same on that is on the present C.C's forehead. "I will give you a special power so you can survive. And in return one day you will grant me a special wish. Do you swear that you'll do it?"
"That girl is you." Logan realized.
"Then this is…?" Lelouch asked.
"It is." C.C confirmed their suspicions. "I swore to uphold that contract."
"What kind of Geass power did you manifest?" Logan asked.
"The Geass I manifested was to make people love me," C.C answered.
"Love you?" Lelouch repeated.
"Because deep in my heart I… I wanted to be loved by someone." C.C confessed. "And my wish was granted. Because of my Geass, I was loved by everyone."
As the memories went on more imagines are shown of a young C.C with her Geass activated and being loved by the people around her. First, there were townspeople who were offering her food, then she was cleaned up and given new fresh clothes, after that there was a large crowd of people who were gathering around her which made her very happy. But the more she grew up and the stronger her Geass became, the less happy she seemed.
"But in the end, it was too much. Love without limit was love without meaning. I forgot what love really was." Her memories shift the memories of the nun and C.C is now at the age where she looks like her current self. "The only person I believed in was her. Because my Geass couldn't work on her she was the one person who would scold me for being trivial. And yet…"
Things now shift back to the old church where they first met, the nun was standing before but C.C sat down currently Stark Naked having been previously stripped of her clothes. Her Geass had evolved to the point where it was in both of her eyes.
"Yes, yes. I gave back all the gifts I received like you told me to. But it can't be helped, can it? It's because of the Geass." C.C defended herself. "I'm grateful to you Sister, but this is a pain for me, too. I'm so tired of all the proposals and flowers. Now some of them are starting a religion around me." She complained.
"Then shall we end it?" The nun offered quietly.
"Huh?" C.C looked at her.
"I need someone to take my place. Someone with a Geass that's exceptionally strong. So eternity can finally end for me. Can you imagine the agony?" The nun's voice broke as she almost crazed. "The hell of living on and on for eternity?"
"What are you talking about?" C.C asked, confused by her sudden change in demeanour.
"I'm sorry dear. I'm afraid I tricked you!" The nun manically declared with a hysterical smile.
It was revealed that immortality and the price that comes with it had driven the nun insane to the point of tricking C.C just to get her wish. She then injured C.C to make her accept her Code which rendered the nun mortal again and causing C.C to gain her scar. Now C.C laid there on the floor covered in her own blood and with the Code of Immortality while the nun laid near her own the floor and bloodied as well, only she was now dead.
"She had just pretended to be friends with me right from the start." C.C explained. "I was a tool. A way for her to end her life. That's all."
Hall Of Paintings
As the memories come to an end, C.C now appears in a world surrounded by paintings and picture-frames that all showed different points of her life. It was like a giant art gallery. She also shes that both Lelouch and Logan and still right beside her.
"You're both still not in here. That means neither of you from my past. You're real people, aren't you?" C.C asked surprised.
"Are we?" Lelouch asked, unnerved by what he just saw. "I couldn't really say."
"I wonder if you're very important to me." C.C wondered.
"Well, the reverse is definitely true," Logan admitted.
"Oh? The fact you two were sent here means I wanted to try to save one of you or maybe both of you from something or someone." C.C pointed out which got their attention.
C's World
Back at the Thought Elevator, Charles and C.C still stood atop the stairs as C.C looked up at the sky.
"The people who hated me, the ones who were kind to me, all of them eventually vanished into the flow of time." C.C said softly. "The endless flow of eternity."
"But now your tormented days…" Charles reminded her.
C.C approached Charles and slowly closed her eyes. "Yes, they're over now. My long journey ends here."
Suddenly, Lelouch reappears inside the Shinkiro at the bottom of the stairs and Logan appears on the Shinkiro's shoulder.
""C.C!"" They both called out her name.
"You've both opened it?" Charles asked in anger and shock. "The Thought Elevator."
"I see it now. This room of existence is itself a system for interfering with thought!" Lelouch deduced.
"Lelouch, move in closer…" Logan requested.
But before he could finish speaking, the Shinkiro shook. Determined not to let them interfere, Charles calls on several magenta pyramids to trap Lelouch in the Shinkiro and stop it from moving, preventing Logan from closing in.
"Soon it will be over. Lelouch, sit where you are and watch!" Charles then takes C.C. and puts in a dance-like posture, with her hand on his chest.
Behind them, a large flashing and dazzling light appeared as C.C actually looks afraid. Logan grits his teeth before shouting.
"Shut up! No matter what you think! She's mine! I won't let anyone take her!" Logan angrily denied as his Geass flared.
Lelouch then joined in. "Tell me C.C, why didn't you make one of us take your place?" He demanded. "You could've earned your death that way. Force us into your hell of eternal life! C.C, it wasn't out of pity, was it?"
C.C started tearing up as Logan called out again.
"I could see through it all, all of your lies!" Logan proclaimed getting her attention. "When you said that your greatest wish was to die, I didn't need my Geass to know that wasn't true! Nor do I need it now to see what you're truly feeling! I know what it is you want! That's why I won't let you die, not like this, you're going to live and I'm going to give more happiness than you ever could have dreamed of!" He swore to her with all his might.
After hearing that, C.C is persuaded to let go and she pushes herself away from Charles and runs back to the control panel.
"What do you think you're doing, C.C?" Charles demanded.
C.C didn't answer as she manages to release the pyramids from the Knightmare. With the Shinkiro free, Lelouch flies it up in the air and starts typing on the keyboard.
"Do it!" Logan shouted.
"Right!" Lelouch replied, aiming the weapons. "You have stolen enough from me and many others already, father! You won't have her, too!" He declared.
Lelouch proceeds to shoot at various parts of the Thought Elevator, to Charles' dismay and horror. This causes numerous Geass illusions to run rampant around them as the Thought Elevator falls apart.
"No! No, you'll ruin it all!" Charles yelled.
With the shrine and the Thought Elevator destroyed, an unconscious C.C hurtles downwards, with Lelouch flying after her with the Shinkiro as Logan reaches out to her.
"I know why you had that Geass and what it was you were always wishing for!" Logan declared, holding out his arm. "And now that I know your true wish I know that I can fulfil it! Let's go back, together!"
As Logan reached out, he was finally able to take hold of her arm in his hand and without him noticing, both of his eyes began glowing as they lit up.
"I've got her!" Logan confirmed.
"Alright! We're leaving!" Lelouch exclaimed.
Britannia — Dallas Research Center
Back at In Vogue, Schneizel, Kanon and Nina were watching as the scientists test out Nina's new weapon—A nuclear bomb known as the F.L.E.I.J.A. As it was fired into a testing site, they all watched on a monitor as the bomb went off, exploded over a very wide radius and vaporized everything within the blast.
"F.L.E.I.J.A. activation confirmed." One of the researchers confirmed.
"It worked!" Another researcher celebrated.
"I can't believe the explosive force!" Kanon uttered in amazement.
"Chief, congratulations!" Another researcher praised Nina
"Oh no. The whole staff at In Vogue deserves the credit." Nina humbly replied.
"You'll have to accept the compliment, Nina. You are a genius!" Cheneizel proudly completed her.
"I'm very honoured, Prince Schneizel." Nina graciously accepted. "Now, war itself will change, and mankind, with it."
"Damocles is here at last." Schneizel happily stated to himself.
Geass Order
Back at the Geass Order, Lelouch had managed to get them back to the real world and now he and Logan were standing near the door to the Thought Elevator with the Shinkiro next to them while Logan was holding an unconscious C.C as Lelouch finished contacting the others and they were waiting for C.C to awaken. After a few seconds, C.C looked like she was starting to wake up.
"Hey, we're back C.C Wake up," Lelouch said. "I've already contacted Rolo. It's time for us to get out of here."
Logan set her down on the floor. "Come on, open your eyes already."
As C.C finally opens her eyes, she sits up and looks at Logan. "Who are you, sir?"
It wasn't just her question that surprised her, her tone of voice sounded different, rather than the calm and stoic tone she usually spoke in, she sounded innocent and somewhat child-like.
"What are you saying?" Lelouch asked surprised.
Logan gasped when he noticed something. "Lelouch… My Geass is working on her?"
Lelouch's eyes widened when he heard that. "But, that can't be?"
Logan looked straight at her. "Do you really not know who I am?"
"Are you… My new master?" C.C asked, sounding afraid as her body trembled. "I can clean and help prepare food for cooking. I can also fetch water and tend cows and sew. I can read a little and count to twenty. Oh, I can even carry away corpses if you need that…" She listed down as though she was afraid of upsetting him.
Seeing her like this made them both flabbergasted and upset at what was happening. The only conclusion they could come to was that C.C had somehow lost her Code of Immortality after escaping C's world and as a result lost all of her memories of Geass and anything involved with it, including them.
"What should we do?" Logan asked, shaken by all this.
"Well, for starters we should head back and…." Lelouch paused as he looked up and for the first time since they got back, looked at Logan's eyes.
"What's wrong?" Logan asked, surprised by his pause.
"Logan… Your eyes…" Lelouch informed him.
Logan seemed surprised and looked at his reflection in a nearby puddle of water. In it, he saw to his shock that his eyes had changed as now both of his pupils had a Geass activated in them similar to how Charles' used to be.
And that's the chapter.
Happy Holidays everyone, I'm glad I was able to get this chapter out during this time of year. At first, I considered waiting until Christmas Day before posting this chapter, but I didn't want to make you all wait longer than you needed to, so think of this as my early Christmas present.
Considering I'm stuck in a tier-4 lockdown though, I can't exactly say I'm enjoying the Holidays this year, but that's my problem, I still wanted to get this done, and this'll be my last story update for this year. I'll be working even harder next year considering we're getting to the most important parts of the series.
So see you next time, hope you enjoyed, if you liked the story leave a review, if you want more clicked the follow/favourite and as always people have an awesome day.