Inspiration: This story was partially inspired by another story. In this case it's A Blast From the Past by Shadow At Midnight. Check it out if you want to see just how the hell this got up off the ground.

A/N: I do apologize for the last chapter being rushed. I was kinda being a dumbass so hopefully this chapter somewhat compensates for that.

Phase 6

The Goddess of Victory and the Gentle Princess descend

Cornelia scowled as she stared at the few soldiers of the Purist Faction that remained. Barely five minutes had passed since their unmarked plane touched down at the Military Aerodrome and already she knew that both her and Euphie were going to have a lot of work on their hands. A woman approached and said, "Please forgive us, Your Highness. The Purist Faction's pride got the better of us and we paid dearly for it. Even so, the bureaucrats want to throw a banquet to celebrate your arrival. Lord Jeremiah is currently busy slapping them down."

"It seems that Jeremiah Gottwald remembers my dislike of pomp and circumstance. Good." Cornelia smirked before turning her attention to the woman in front of her, "And who are you again?"

"It is Villetta Nu, your Highness. I am Lord Jeremiah's second-in-command. He sent me here pending further orders. Though I had no idea that you were arriving today, Your Highness. May I assume that Princess Euphemia is here as well?"

"You are correct, Villetta. I was sent to replace Clovis as Viceroy and Euphemia will become my Sub-Viceroy. In any case I would like to hear from him about the hunt for that masked bastard, Zero."

"Then please follow me, your Highnesses." Villetta said as she saw Euphemia emerge from the plane. Cornelia and her sister allowed Villetta to lead them to an armored limousine and held the door open for them. After the two princesses were in, Villetta entered as well and then the vehicle took off.

"Lord Jeremiah ordered me to keep an eye on the two of you until you were inside the palace. Security measures are being increased even as we speak due to Zero somehow getting past guards, Knightmares, and security cameras to assassinate Prince Clovis. This includes metal detectors at the entrances, searching any vehicles that approach the Palace, and a 24-hour shift for some of the guards. There's even a consideration to install motion sensors inside the palace itself to supplement the surveillance cameras." Villetta immediately spoke after Cornelia had been giving her a questioning look.

"That . . . I think that the motion sensors would be overkill to be frank." Cornelia replied.

"Paranoia is the word of the day. Even moreso with your unannounced arrival. Where are Sir Guilford and Sir Darlton, by the way?"

"They are still enroute to Area Eleven. The Glaston Knights however are still busy cleaning house in Area Eighteen."

The rest of the ride to the Viceroy's Palace was uneventful. Even when the limousine pulled into the garage no one said a word until its passengers were inside the palace itself.

"Hmm, this place . . . it's tastefully opulent." Cornelia said as she and Euphemia looked around while following Villetta to the Viceroy's Office. Inside the Viceroy's Office on the left hand wall there was a large portrait that depicted the Vi Britannia family. Her breath hitched as she looked at it and whispered, "Nunnally, Lelouch, and Lady Marianne . . ."

Jeremiah walked in from a side door and said, "Prince Clovis painted that portrait himself. He said that he only relied on his memory for this. I had it placed here to remind myself of my greatest failure in an attempt to stop history from repeating itself someday. Greetings Princesses Cornelia and Euphemia. Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald at your service."

"Clovis painted this, you say? It's better than I remember him being."

"That is a sentiment shared by the curator of his Highness's personal art gallery. It's likeness to them is uncanny, I must admit."

Cornelia then faced Jeremiah and said, "I believe I have you to thank for not having bureaucrats attempt to fawn over me or Princess Euphemia as soon as we stepped off the plane."

"I merely recalled my time as a guard of the Aries Villa under your command. Your dislike of pomp was legendary amongst the Guard."

"I'm glad that I left that impression." Her expression changed into something much more serious than it was only moments ago. "Pleasantries aside I need to know how the hunt for Zero is going."

"Of course, Your Highness. Shall we start no or should I wait until Guilford and Darlton arrive?"

"I will speak to them about this once they arrive. Euphemia, you should pay attention as well."

Villetta left the room as Euphemia, Cornelia, and Jeremiah got seated.

"To start with there has been no sign of a person such as Zero at any time during the past seven years. It's almost as if he simply appeared out of nowhere almost a week ago in Shinjuku." His eyebrows furrowed, "In fact recent information tells us that is actually the case."

Cornelia narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean? Have you gotten a lead on who Zero is?"

Jeremiah shifted uncomfortably,"Yes, but I will get to that. I need to preface it first." At her frustrated nod he continued, "The Elevens being in a constant state of unrest has only added to the problem and there has been virtually no urban renewal other than what was necessary to build the Settlement, thus the creation of the Ghettos. As for any secret meetings, we only have a handful of sleeper agents in fifteen resistance groups, none of them amongst either the Japanese Liberation Front or the Blood of the Samurai. Speaking about them though, there's been no word about their activities either from our spies or from other resistance factions. I suspect that the Blood of the Samurai may have disbanded." Jeremiah started.

"Those resistance groups should have been eliminated. Not just monitored! This is ridiculous!" Cornelia replied as a scowl set on her face.

"Prince Clovis would have worried about being recalled to the Homeland if his Area was a constant hive of military activity. Not to mention that he was of the opinion that those groups were no threat to the military forces protecting the Tokyo Settlement and the Fukuoka Base in Kyushu . . ." Jeremiah admitted before beginning to go into the details of the past few days.

"About five days ago the Purist Faction received orders to mobilize in pursuit of an unregistered group of terrorists based in the Shinjuku Ghetto. They had stolen a canister of deadly poison gas from Prince Clovis. I always wondered why only the Purists were mobilized as protocol dictates that at least three Knightmare Battalions are to be deployed in the event of a highly delicate situation like the Sapporo Incident or this. In any case, I searched through Prince Clovis' files once I became Interim-Viceroy to find notes on the gas and any possible counter-agents. What I found though was something far worse than I originally expected." Jeremiah said as he recollected the events of Shinjuku.

"I remember damaging the enemy Glasgow's left arm with one of my slash harkens and closing in for the kill. The damage must have extended to the slash harken in that same arm as the pilot tried to use it, but it failed to leave the arm. The Glasgow then ejected the remains of the arm into the path of my stun tonfa and used the explosion as cover to escape. After that we were ordered by General Bartley to enter the Shinjuku Ghetto and find the poison gas canister."

He thought back to seeing soldiers slowly killing every Eleven they came across. Not caring about their age or if they were even armed. "Prince Clovis later issued an order to destroy the Ghetto and kill its inhabitants." Jeremiah paused as Princess Euphemia's breath hitched and trembled at the idea of her brother ordering such a thing. Not knowing what he could possibly say he cleared his throat and continued, "This had the effect of drawing out the Glasgow, which proceeded to destroy several VTOL Gunships and tanks before I encountered it again. It was after this that I first encountered Zero. He had been commanding the terrorists during the battle as before it began they only had a single Glasgow, but during the battle they piloted Sutherlands. Zero himself ambushed my wingman and I while we chased the Glasgow."

"Zero led Prince Clovis's soldiers into a series of ambushes with the help of the Glasgow and Sutherlands from a supply train passing through."

Cornelia frowned at that, "Why was there a train full of working Sutherlands passing through the ghetto unguarded? By all rights my brother should have known better. There are rules in place to try to prevent this very thing."

He sighed before starting again with a grimace, "Forgive me for what I'm about to say Your Highnesses, but . . . the prince wasn't the most forward thinking when it comes to strategy. Nor were any of his staff on the G-1." The margrave swallowed audibly at the look she sent him. Looking away he went back to what he had been saying before. "The success of each ambush baffled Bartley and enraged His Highness. Prince Clovis then took personal command of his troops and made a critical error by breaking the encirclement-"

"He did WHAT?!" She stood up in rage and disbelief at what Clovis had done. He had all but sent a signed invitation asking Zero to go kill him.

He was aware she knew exactly what he had said, but he repeated himself anyway. "Your brother took personal command and in his panic ordered the troops to break the encirclement with the intent to overpower the enemy. Then used his own guards to plug the holes." Knowing what he did now Jeremiah was well aware how outmatched the prince had been once Lelouch took control. There was little he could have done to have avoided the sound spanking he had been given if their chess matches from the Aries Villa were anything to go by.

"Those soldiers were ordered to encircle where the enemy was believed to be and charge in. Unfortunately the enemy was ahead of them and destroyed most of Prince Clovis' ground forces by collapsing the tunnels. This directly led to the very earth itself under the ground forces to collapse. This caused your brother to panic even more so than he had before. Not knowing what else to do he ordered the deployment of the Camelot's Z-01 Lancelot. It proceeded to eliminate most of the terrorist forces and almost defeated Zero. He managed to narrowly escape however and make his way to the G-1 Base. Where Zero forced Clovis to order a ceasefire."

Euphemia looked up from her hands, where her face had been buried in since she learned of the massacre, and spoke. Her voice wavering, "Which is when Zero killed him."

He hesitantly nodded and winced when her face fell back into her hands and a soft sob could be heard. "The guards don't remember allowing unauthorized personnel access and none were killed. The bridge staff and Bartley reported the very same phenomenon when questioned. The only explanation would come from the cameras, but the footage was erased and backups destroyed. That is what happened during the Shinjuku Debacle as we refer to it as now." Jeremiah said as his shoulders slumped. Remembering there was still something much more important to tell them.

"What do you mean they don't remember?" That had to be a lie. How could so many people at once suffer from a lapse in memory otherwise? It's just not possible.

"I mean that nearly three-quarters of an hour of their time is simply gone from their memories. I have no explanation for it. Much like you I didn't believe it until I did several lie detector tests." Though they know who Zero is now Jeremiah had no idea how Prince Lelouch accomplished such a thing. Real life doesn't work like that. At least . . . not as far as the margrave knew.

The new viceroy looked at him shrewdly as if trying to find some falsehood in his words just by making him uncomfortable. "That can't be your only evidence. I remember you well enough from Aries Villa to know better."

"There is." He nodded in agreement, "I never mentioned how Zero knew of the supply train. He somehow stole my second-in-command's own Sutherland. Not long after these reports started to come in she admitted to having the exact same memory lapse. However she was able to remember one small thing that gave us a legitimate lead on Zero himself."

There were few things in this world that chilled Cornelia's blood. Yet it was a sensation that only grew stronger as the margrave continued, "She remembered seeing a male Britannian student whose uniform consisted of a black jacket over a white shirt with a pair of black pants on. This description left us with two schools in the area. Ashford Academy and a private school named Odyssey Boy's School."

Her eyes lit up in recognition of one of the names, "Ashford? As in the Ashford family that used to support Lady Marianne?"

"The very same, Princess." He offered a shared smile as the name brought back many good memories. The Ashford's were well-renowned for their parties and, as they discovered, that is a fact that hasn't changed. "I requested Villetta retrieve the student rosters from both schools, but it was as I was looking through the Ashford list that I found something I thought impossible."

He fell into silence as he remembered his inability to process what he had found. The discovery had been the greatest thing to happen in his life in a long time. It was only when Cornelia cleared her throat that he shook himself out of it. Speaking back up as he let a single tear roll down his cheek, "I found your lost siblings. Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally had been hiding at Ashford all this time." He stopped talking again and quietly pushing a photo of the siblings over to the two stunned princesses.

"Th-they're alive?" Cornelia's voice was low and disbelieving though her hand was shaking as she picked up the picture. Euphemia was equally as shaken, but she only needed to glance at the photo before weeping. Her heart filled with overwhelming joy.

"Lelou and Nunna are alive. I never gave up hope."

Through her own happiness however Cornelia's mind was connected dots she didn't want to be connected. Jeremiah said Villetta's memory put them on a very real lead to Zero. Yet now he was talking about her missing siblings and producing evidence that they were alive. Perhaps even more damning is the look on the margrave's face. In a soft tone, "I-I'm happy, but what does this have to do with Zero?"

Jeremiah sighed and then continued with what had happened next. "I made the decision to mobilize the Purist Faction and a few infantry squadrons in preparation to storm Ashford Academy early in the morning after allowing a few hours of rest. We surrounded the Academy grounds quickly and gave them a ten minute grace period to come out on their own. When that time passed without them doing so I gave the order to storm the school with top priority being to ensure both Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally's safety." A prominent frown appeared on his face as recounted what he found. "I dismounted my Knightmare and rushed into where they had been staying only to find that they had fled."

The pinkette's smile faded into an expression of heartbreak having assumed she could see her beloved siblings as early as after this meeting. She was still happy to find they were alive, but things weren't as wonderful as she thought they were. "Why would they flee?" Her tone was confused and hurt.

Cornelia's feeling of cold dread doubled as she watched Jeremiah tense. Though it seemed to be due to nerves and his own dread. "They did leave a note behind, but . . . I'll let the note speak for itself." He admitted before sliding Lelouch's note over towards Cornelia..

Cornelia looked over the note. There were a myriad of emotions and thoughts running through her head, "I understand why you mentioned Zero now." She hesitantly gave her sister the note. Filled with trepidation as her fists clenched. It would seem her enemy would be their lost siblings. This was something she never wanted to happen. How could she bear to harm them?

"I'm so glad they missed us too." Euphemia gave them a smile despite being unable to miss the bad news within the letter. She had always preferred to look on the bright side of things.

"Indeed, Princess Euphemia. Milly Ashford herself also knows why Prince Lelouch would eventually go down this path anyway. You'll learn from her why Lelouch would have rebelled eventually." Jeremiah said before remembering something and said, "Kewell, one of the soldiers under my command, did two very stupid things before you arrived. The first was that he arrested an Honorary Britannian by the name of Suzaku Kururugi and charged him with killing Prince Clovis even though Suzaku is innocent of the crime. He had intended to use Suzaku as a scapegoat to dismantle the Honorary Britannian system in this area, but Zero once again appeared and put a stop to that.

"When Zero told Kewell to do everything in his power to let him escape with Suzaku, he aided the terrorist. After I questioned him about it, I learned that he now suffered a memory lapse similar to what Villetta, the G-1 bridge staff, guards, and General Bartley went through." Jeremiah said.

"What was that idiot thinking!? To use an Honorary Britannian as a scapegoat for his own agenda is just deplorable!" Cornelia shouted.

"Kewell's other very stupid action was to attempt to destroy the Saitama Ghetto. This backfired on the Purist Faction badly and we are now barely at platoon strength because of Kewell's foolishness. Zero and the terrorist group from Shinjuku appeared and through use of ambushes destroyed many of the soldiers that followed Kewell. One such ambush not only killed two soldiers, but a Chinese man with albino hair was caught up in the chaos and died. The man's remains are in the morgue right now."

"What is going on with this country!? Idiocy from subordinates, terrorist activity being constant, and now lost siblings are becoming enemies!" Cornelia shouted.

"It is now clear that Zero is Prince Lelouch. However if he is openly outed as Zero irrepairable damage will be dealt to the empire. Therefore, I would suggest keeping Zero's identity a closed secret that only we and people that we can trust will be allowed to know. Suzaku already knows and has been made to promise not to spread this information around." Jeremiah said.

"That is true. Darlton and Guilford will be briefed about this and made to promise not to tell a soul about this to anyone else." Cornelia replied.