Chapter One: It's the Rumor, the Legend, the Mystery

Ten Years Later

C.C. stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway. She hadn't been to this place for a long while, not since she had come to search for Marianne's son here. Unfortunately, she hadn't been successful that day, although she had learned two things. One, that it wouldn't be safe to reveal where Lelouch was until she was sure that the men who ran the Geass Order were dead. Two, Genbu Kururugi's son had still been alive.

She flipped her hair back over her shoulder, glancing at the plain walls that made up the hallway. She hadn't expected to come back here after she had led Suzaku Kururugi from this place; it had become too dangerous for her, and far too boring. Her original reasons for joining with the group in the first place were because it offered her a place to hide from a mother who was always pushing her towards suitors and towards the men that were always trying to court her. She'd had enough of the hundreds of promises of undying love for her and had run away. In the Geass Order, she could live quietly and have an excuse to travel, which kept her from becoming bored again. Although, she had to admit that her life had gotten a bit more complicated now that she was out of favor with the leaders.

Circumstances had worked against her in the end. In a week, Lelouch wouldn't be safe any longer; he would have aged out of the system. So she would have to make sure that she knew what the Geass Order would be planning to properly maneuver Lelouch into place. Thanks to Marianne, she wouldn't have to actually help Lelouch find his way back, there would be someone waiting for him. And, just like that, her involvement was over with and she could move on with her life.

Move on to what was the next question she had to answer. C.C. wouldn't deny that this had been interesting, but she was sure that there was something equally as interesting out there. Or, if that wasn't the case, she would at least have the thrill of keeping one step ahead of the exiled men who remained within their defunct group.

She paused to look at the sigil painted onto the wall, chuckling at the bungled spelling of the group's name. Prince Vincent had named their group after the mythological geas, although it had quickly been misspelled by the rest of the group to geass. In any case, the spelling hadn't mattered, but the principle; that they had all vowed to eliminate the lies from the world. Unfortunately, Prince Vincent had a very childish view of the world and that had led him to being used by the Japanese government.

C.C. shook her head, giving the bird-like sigil one last glance before continuing to walk down the hall. The politics of the group didn't matter to her; she had abandoned them long before she had stopped drawing the sigil on her own forehead. What mattered was how they were going to move next, which was why she had returned despite the danger. There were still a few here that still liked her enough to speak to her, even if she had never tattooed the sigil onto her body or led their so called prodigy away.

She slowed as she heard someone rushing down the hall, the corner of her mouth twitching up. There was no way that she had gotten here unnoticed, most of the exiled men were too paranoid to just hope that their hide out was never found. But it was a relief that this person seemed friendly, any of the former members of the Japanese government would have approached her with caution.

The person rounded the corner, C.C. allowing herself to smile as she recognized Mao, the young man rushing up to her and hugging her. C.C. bit back her usual caustic remark that he was too old for such obvious displays of affection, Mao wouldn't listen to her anyway. He was still clinging to the dream that they would be able to be married, despite the fact that C.C. had no interest in marriage or Mao and that the Geass Order would never let him go. Mao was an excellent assassin, with the right encouragement and that encouragement was fairly easy to give.

She gently pushed him away, allowing Mao to keep a hold of her hand as she looked at him. "Hello, Mao."

"Hello to you too." He was nearly bouncing in place. "I missed you, C.C. I really did. It was so dull here."

"They would have kept you busy."

"Hm?" He tipped his head to the side, staring at her for a moment before breaking into a wide smile. "Oh, they did. They did. I followed all of your orders."

C.C. narrowed her eyes at that. They were still using the same encouragement, saying that all of the orders were from her and that all of his victims were just bad people who were trying to hurt her.

She shook her head, not bothering to acknowledge his statement, it would be better if she didn't. "I just came back to see what you guys were up to."

"You're on a mission?"

"Yes." It was better not to explain.

"But Kirihara said that you weren't to be trusted with missions after what you did."

C.C. just smiled. Of course the word would spread through the group about Suzaku; she had just taken their most effective pawn, although she doubted that Suzaku would have become that. He was too stubborn just to give up his own ideology for something that was pushed on him with torture.

She cleared her throat, looking at the wall. "His plan wouldn't have worked."

"But we needed him. Everyone said we did, especially after we lost Genbu."

"Genbu was an idiot."

"It's not polite to disrespect the dead." C.C. tensed at the voice that drifted down the hall.

She stepped to the side, finding herself staring at Kirihara. With the deaths of Prince Vincent and Genbu Kururugi, Kirihara had taken over the group. From what she had heard, he had promptly kicked out all of the members who were using the Geass Order to work to free their own countries, leaving them to deal with Britannia on their own.

C.C. raised an eyebrow, walking around Mao to face Kirihara. The old man just smiled and gestured towards the open room. She hesitated before walking in, knowing that Mao would wait out in the hallway for her. While he could be clinging and annoying, there was no question that he would step in to help her. The irony almost made her laugh. The Geass Order's finest assassin was loyal only to her.

She chose to remain standing as Kirihara settled down at his desk after shutting the door. The old man shuffled the papers around, not looking at her as he spoke. "It's been far too long, C.C. We could have worked out your misstep sooner if you had come earlier."

"It's not about that." To her annoyance, Kirihara didn't look up from his papers.

"I guessed as much." C.C. leaned forward as Kirihara drew a folder out from one of the drawers, dropping it onto the table. She took a step forward, tipping her head to the side to read the name there and then freezing. "Did you really think that we wouldn't know where he was or that you could hide him? He's the only Britannian royal that's still within our grasp, the bait in the trap, we wouldn't lose track of him so easily."

Kirihara pulled out a picture, turning it around so C.C. could see it. "And it was easy enough to guess that you would come down here soon enough. You're just doing this to get Marianne's attention again. Once she has both of her children back, she can safely forget about them again and you two could go back to being friends as you were before."

He had come close to her initial reason for promising Marianne this. With Charles gone, there was a chance that she and Marianne could go back to the way they were before Marianne had decided to let other people into her life. It was a completely selfish reason, but C.C. had long since stopped scolding herself for those. Now, it was more for the fun of it, or the idea that she had been able to keep out of the Geass Order's hands. In reality, it looked like they had just let her go. But she had a plan for that too.

C.C. smiled and walked over to lean on the desk, pulling the picture close to her. "Yes. I suppose that would work. But I think that you would rather kill Marianne and her children, which doesn't work for me."

"I never said we would be working with you."

"And I never thought you would. I'm just saying that there's a problem with your plan, because it messes up my own."

"You are no obstacle."

"Really? And where is Suzaku?" She couldn't help teasing him with that, the knowledge that one of his plans had failed utterly. Without Suzaku's presence and support, he couldn't say that he was bringing back the old government. And Suzaku was anything but supportive of what the group was doing.

"You insolent woman." C.C. straightened up, about to deliver a retort when she saw the gun in Kirihara's hands. She frowned, realizing that she had miscalculated and pushed too far on the wrong day. She had lost him his last pawn, and she was the only thing standing in the way of this other one. Kirihara couldn't know about the secrets that she had planted to leak out over the past year. The police would start getting reports of the Geass Order, documents that even they wouldn't be able to doubt the authenticity of. C.C. had hoped to have had the police already searching for the Geass Order by the time Lelouch had aged out.

She smiled, shaking her head. It appeared as if she had managed to grow a conscious, hating the thoughts that spun around in her head. Kirihara couldn't get Suzaku or Lelouch, nor would she let him get Marianne or Nunnally. C.C. had been hoping to wipe the Geass Order out for a while, and she had the best chance right now.

With a sad smile, she turned towards the door, mentally cursing Marianne. If it hadn't been for her, C.C. would have been able to just walk away from this without a care in the world, but Marianne had to have grown fond of her children and, in trying to protect them, C.C. had to have grown a conscious. The whole business was quite annoying. "Mao…"

Kirihara was a bigger idiot than she thought, or too mad to think straight. He fired the gun just as Mao was entering the room, giving the man enough time to see her shot. C.C. only had the time to smirk at Kirihara and to watch his face as he realized what he had just done.

Gino walked back over to where Suzaku and Kallen were standing, hating the way that Suzaku looked up eagerly. He didn't want to do this again, to watch Suzaku break apart before shutting down. Gino looked away for a moment, hoping that Kallen would get the hint and insist that they keep moving before Gino had to actually say the words.

He hadn't found Lelouch. He didn't think Lelouch was anywhere in this city at all. In all honesty, he believed Lelouch was dead.

It wasn't his place to disobey an order from Lady Marianne, nor did he have he heart to. Marianne had taken him in after he had run from his parents in a fit of childish temper. She had treated him fairly, just like any of her other guards instead of a noble's son, and Gino had enjoyed just being one of the boys. Just last year, he had been elevated into the position of knight and assigned to Lady Marianne's escort, a position of honor since Jeremiah Gottwald screened all of the incoming knights. Lady Marianne herself had entrusted him with this mission, so it wasn't his job to say whether or not he believed that Lelouch was still alive, it was just his job to do his best to find the missing prince.

But it wasn't fair to bring Suzaku along.

He was fine with Kallen; the red head was a source of endless fun, whether it be from her eagerness to fight him or to tease right back. And he would have been fine with Suzaku as well, just on any mission but this. Everyone at the castle knew that.

He rubbed a hand over his face and shrugged, slightly annoyed that Kallen was still standing there. He walked up to the two of them and flopped down beside Suzaku, carefully not meeting the guard's gaze. "Nothing on my end. And, with that, we're out of leads."

Kallen scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "We didn't have much of one to start with."

Gino nodded, glancing over at Suzaku just in time to watch the guard curl in on himself, his hands closing around something. Gino got a glimpse of blue before looking away, letting Suzaku have his moment. They would move on when Suzaku was ready, although to where Gino didn't know. They had been looking for Lelouch for a week now, but had found nothing.

He sighed and got up, smiling at the two of them. Kallen would be in a worse mood as the failures continued and Suzaku would just shut down completely. It was up to him to keep the morale up. "I think we should make a round of the orphanages before calling it a day."

"He would be eighteen now." Gino started at the sound of Suzaku's voice, hating the completely level tone. "He wouldn't be in an orphanage anymore."

"Well, that's where we start. We can get information from them." He slung an arm over Suzaku's shoulders, trying to get a reaction from the guard. "But first, lunch."

"Pass." Suzaku slipped out from under Gino's arm, one hand disappearing into his pocket as he walked away.

Gino shook his head, bounding over to Kallen to wrap her into a hug when she tried to follow.

"Gino…what are you-"

"Let him go, Kallen."

"We can't just let him wander off!"

"We will." He let go, gently tugging on her arm to get her to follow him. "Let's walk and talk, alright? I think we can do that." Gino looked around for something to distract their attention, quickly spotting a hot dog stand. "How about hot dogs? It's been a while since I've had one. English food is great, but nothing can beat a good hot dog."

Kallen glared at him, probably already seeing through his attempt to distract her. He had been doing this the entire trip, every time it got too much for Suzaku. Gino didn't approve of Suzaku's presence, but he had to admire the guard's bravery. He was risking so much just to find this one prince.

Kallen remained silent as they stood in line for their food and after, when they wandered looking for a place to sit. She even allowed him to take one bite, Gino savoring the hot dog for as long as he could before looking at her. Kallen raised her eyebrow, her own hot dog sitting uneaten in her hand. "You said talk, so talk. It's what you're good at."

"So you've noticed?" Gino smiled, sitting back on the bench and shaking his head. "I never thought you would. I thought that I would be forever pining for your attention."

"Shut up, Gino." She was blushing, refusing to look at him now. "And I don't think you're actually pining."

Gino grinned at the memory of the night before, the things the two of them had gotten up to before Suzaku had come in from his late night wandering. Gino sobered a minute later, remembering having to slip into Suzaku's bed to hold the guard to keep Suzaku from hurting himself as he dreamed.

He shook his head, letting out a long sigh. A glance at Kallen showed him that her patience was running out, and he was risking losing his hot dog over his delay. Gino grinned at her, resettling himself with an arm flung over her shoulders. "I just think Suzaku needs time alone. With us, he's like a third wheel."

Kallen pushed his arm off of her shoulders. "One, there is no us. You're going to have to work harder for that one, Gino." He pretended to pout as Kallen scooted slightly further down the bench. "Two, he spends too much time alone. When he's not searching for Lelouch, he's wandering off."

"He'll be fine, Kallen. He's just tired of failure like the rest of us."

"You don't get it!" She glared at him. "You always do this Gino, you just assume you know someone."

"I think I know Suzaku."

"You think you know." Kallen crossed her arms, Gino leaning back slightly. He had made her mad now, he could tell by the way she held herself stiff and narrowed her eyes. "You think you know a lot of things, but you don't."

"I'm his best friend, Kallen."

She rolled her eyes. "You're missing the obvious. You've only known him for a couple of years; you've only seen what he's like in the presence of other people. You've never seen him when he's alone."

"Of course I haven't. He wouldn't be alone if that was the case." Kallen smacked him on the back of the head, Gino wincing and leaning forward. He carefully peeked back up at her, surprised to see how angry she was.

"You idiot! Until you started hanging out with us, you never came down to the guard's barracks; you were content to just live your life in comfort. And don't start about you being in exile because, believe me, you weren't. You just saw what Suzaku was like around the nobles, where he was supposed to look happy and pretend that everything was alright. What else could he do? Did you ever stop to consider that?"

Gino shifted in his seat, surprised and a bit uncomfortable by Kallen's sudden anger. He had heard so much about how she had despised Suzaku for his attitude by being almost too willing at times, too accepting of the abuse that the other nobility heaped on him when he was on duty. He almost had her rant memorized about how they should be treated as people since Japan was free again, but he had never heard her talk about Suzaku like this. It almost sounded like she was defending him, which made him jealous and even more uncomfortable. What right did he have to be jealous when what they had between them was a casual thing?

He looked up as Kallen sat back with a huff, surprised to see her wiping tears off of her cheeks. He swallowed and reached out to touch her hand with his freed hand, gently running his fingers across the back of her hand. When he looked up again, Kallen was staring down at her lap, hiding her face behind her bangs.

"Stop pitying me."

"I'm not. I swear, I'm not. I'm just worried." Gino felt her tense up. He shook his head and turned to face her, scooting closer. "Explain this to me, because I thought you hated him."

"I don't hate him. I hate the way he acts, there's a difference." She pushed her hair out of her eyes with a sigh. "I hate how he's so willing to just accept what everyone has to say about him without a fight, just to prove that he's trustworthy. And I hate the fact that he works so hard, even when he knows he's never going to rise from where he is now. He knows that, I've talked to him about it, but he doesn't seem to care." Kallen paused, staring at the hot dog in her hands. "He puts so much effort into everything he does and he's not even going to get recognized for it, and I hate him for being alright with that."

Gino stared at her for a while before carefully slipping an arm over her shoulders. To his relief, she didn't shrug him off. Gino scooted closer, getting comfortable before staring out into the park.

What Kallen had just said had presented him with a new picture of Suzaku. He had always known Suzaku as the reliable guard who was always smiling, always on time. Suzaku had been the only one who didn't seem to resent that he was a noble, even if the resentment from other people was just based on the fact that his parents had the money to give him whatever he wanted. Until now, Gino had just thought that Suzaku was generally just a happy person and that repeated failures were just wearing on him.

He sighed, giving Kallen a gently one-armed hug before broaching the subject that confused him the most. "Why does he have to earn their trust?"

Kallen gave him an exasperated look before focusing on her hot dog. Gino pouted and pulled back, letting her eat. He supposed that it was only fair that he wait for Kallen to talk, especially since she didn't like to talk about these things. She would rather focus on finding Lelouch and getting back to Marianne, with or without the lost prince.

By the time Kallen had finished and thrown the wrapper in the trashcan, Gino was nearly bouncing in his seat, nervously tossing the balled up foil from one hand to the other. He was treated to a glare before the ball of foil was taken away from him. Kallen didn't move to throw it away, instead letting it roll from one palm to the other as she spoke. "You remember what happened on the night that Emperor Charles died?"

Gino nodded; there was no way that he could forget that night. There had been panic in Pendragon until Schneizel had been crowned, and even then riots had popped up briefly. The rest of the royal family wouldn't come out of the imperial palace and there had been rumors that they were dead. Gino's family had gone to their summer house in California to avoid the riots, but his mother hadn't let him outside without at least two guards, in the fear that the heir of the Weinberg house would be killed. Of course now he was sure that she wouldn't care at all.

Kallen stared at him for a moment before nodding herself. "There was a group behind it, led by Prince Vincent, but mostly filled with dissenters from the Japanese government."

"The ones from Genbu Kururugi's cabinet?"

She nodded. "They wanted revenge for what had happened when Charles' father, Emperor James, had taken over Japan, so they took it out on his son. Even when they were working for peace, they wanted revenge above that. It ruined everyone then, my brother still has problems finding a job under a Britannian employer, just because they're afraid. And that's why Suzaku can't rise up in the ranks, because they're afraid of him most of all. They don't know if he's just acting and is waiting to strike against them or he really doesn't believe in what his father did." Kallen raised her hand to her throat. "The tattoo doesn't help."

Gino watched as Kallen traced the bird-like symbol that every Britannian feared before clenching her hand into a fist. He had never seen the tattoo himself, but Suzaku wore enough high collared shirts to make it obvious that he was hiding something.

The tin foil ball rolled to a stop, Kallen staring at it as she cradled it in her palms. "Now you know why I don't think we should let him wander off. He lives for this Gino. I think he'd kill himself if he ever found out that Lelouch is dead."

"I don't think he would go that far."

"You've seen him." Kallen looked up. "He always volunteers himself on these searches and they keep letting him go. Every failure is killing him."

Gino didn't respond, he didn't need to. He saw that it was true every day that they didn't return with Lelouch in tow.

He stood up and offered Kallen a hand. "Let's go. We can get a list of the orphanages before looking for Suzaku."

Kallen stared at his hand, sighing before standing up on her own. "We'll find him easily enough."

Gino watched as she tossed the tin foil ball into the nearest trashcan, fighting to keep his trademark smile in place. "Aries Villa?"

Kallen nodded, shrugging and beginning to walk away. "Where else would he go?"

Officially, the Aries Villa was closed. Emperor Schneizel had offered it to the Japanese government to do what they wished to it, to establish their government there or use it as an embassy. Instead, it had been boarded up and left to rot and be raided by people looking for an easy way to make money. Trespassing was forbidden by law, although it was never enforced, just because no one knew what to do with the site where the Britannian royal family had almost been slaughtered.

As it was now, hardly anyone went in anymore. Everything that was easy to carry through the small opening that could be made in the boards was gone, leaving the huge portraits of the family and heavy decorations behind. It was just a skeleton of what it once had been, completely devoid of human life and completely silent.

That was the reason that Suzaku went there when the burden of his failure became too much. He didn't want to distress Kallen and Gino, they were already working so hard to find Lelouch, nor did he want them to worry about him. He was fine; he was just tired of failure.

Suzaku made his way along one of the sides of the villa, one hand on the wall to guide him as he stared down at the pin in his other hand. He had been so sure when they had come to Japan. Lelouch had been lost here, so it would make sense that he would be here. There were chances that Lelouch had managed to make it somewhere else, which was why he had gone on all the other searches, but none had ever felt as close as the one he was on now. But that still meant that he had to deal with seven days of repeated failure.

He stopped, turning his back to lean against the house. He reached up to pull the collar of his shirt down, exposing his neck for a moment. Suzaku would only do this when he was sure that no one was around, so no one would know what had been done to him and make the wrong assumption. Not that he blamed them for it, how else were they supposed to react when they saw the bird-like symbol tattooed onto the neck of former viceroy Genbu Kururugi's son. After all, he had only been ten when his father had tried to take Japan from Britannia by force, it would be easy enough to assume that he had been made to believe the same ideology when he had been captured.

But he didn't.

Suzaku lifted the collar back into place, hiding the tattoo again. He hadn't been raised to be like his father, he had just been used to gain the trust of the Britannians, a tool just like any of the sons and daughters of Charles zi Britannia. But he was going to be better than his father, he was going to keep his promises and do his best to protect people instead of killing them. And he would start by returning the pin to Lelouch.

He pushed away from the side of the villa, walking around the side until he reached the door that led into the kitchens. Here the boards were easy to wiggle until they made a hole big enough for him to clamber through.

Suzaku left footprints in the dust as he made his way through the kitchens and out into the hall. He turned left, climbing up the staircase that would lead out into the main hall. The tapestry that had hidden the door was long gone, but Suzaku could remember it, an old ugly thing that depicted a unicorn being hunted down. He remembered that it had made Nunnally cry once, so he and Lelouch had never played down by the kitchens again.

He stumbled on the last step, quickly regaining his balance. Suzaku glanced down the hallway once before heading for the second level. He would do what he always did when he came here; check the bedrooms for any sign of habitation before searching through the rest of the villa. There was a chance that Lelouch could have come back here in the time between his visits.

Suzaku laughed at the direction of his thoughts, resisting the urge to shake his head. He knew he was obsessed, but it was for a good reason. He had been Lelouch's friend; he had an obligation to find him. And, maybe, if he found Lelouch he could get rid of the obsession.

It had been ten years since Lelouch had disappeared. One of those years, Suzaku had spent imprisoned with the former members of the Japanese government as they tried to decide what to do with him. The other nine he had spent preparing for this.

He had joined the guards at the age of fourteen and had been quickly assigned to guard Milly Ashford, a young girl who was staying with Marianne. It had been an easy enough job, just to keep up with Milly as the girl went through her wild years in high school before settling down and focusing on what her parents wanted her to do, find a good match for herself. Of course, she was proceeding as slowly as possible, which seemed to suit her just fine.

When the head of the Ashford family, Ruben Ashford, had stepped down and moved to England he had reverted back to being one of Marianne's guards. With Milly safe on the Ashford Estate with her grandfather Marianne had used him as a guard for Nunnally, at least until she had found a permanent guard for her daughter. She trusted him that much at least. Even with the tattoo on his neck, Marianne trusted him with the safety of her only remaining child. That didn't mean that she didn't watch him carefully at all other times, but Suzaku just accepted it as the price he had to pay. His father had plotted against the Britannian Empire, and he had never thought to report it.

And that was his career in a nutshell, the favorite, although least trusted, guard at the villa; which suited him just fine. Marianne liked him because she remembered what he had been like before that attack on royal family, which meant that he could spend time with her and Nunnally, albeit with several other guards in attendance. Suzaku didn't complain, because every time they met was another chance to gain Marianne's trust. Then, when he did find Lelouch again, he would have a better chance at getting the reward he desired.

Suzaku paused in the hallway, staring at the pin that still was in his palm before closing his fingers over it again. He didn't care about the reward money offered, not like the other people who dragged in their candidate in front of Marianne and tried to pass it off as Lelouch. He just wanted the chance to make up for his failure. He just wanted to be Lelouch's knight to prevent this from happening again. And, after everything he had done for Marianne, he was confident that he would be allowed that much.

He stepped out into the middle of the hallway, looking around before beginning to swing the doors open. Each one revealed an empty room, some of the finery missing and fabric hanging off of the beds. A few of them still had bloodstains, from where a Britannian prince or princess had met her end, or one of the attackers had confronted a guard.

Suzaku swallowed and move faster down the hall, now just checking for signs of habitation instead of letting himself linger. He clutched the pin tightly, feeling the edges digging into his palm. He was getting closer to Nunnally's room, the one that he didn't want to search at all. The rooms on the other side had been safe enough; he hadn't visited them enough in his childhood to form any attachment to them. Lelouch's room was bare now too, completely looted for things that could be sold because they had once been owned by the missing prince, so that was safe.

Nunnally's room still had the bloodstain on the floor, his father's blood soaked into the carpet as a reminder of what he had done.

Suzaku shivered, his hand resting on the doorknob to Nunnally's room. It was the last one that he had to check before going through the other floors on this wing. He wouldn't get to the other wing today, which was somewhat of a relief. He could hide in the villa, but not for too long. Then he would start to remember things, and it would hurt.

He sighed, letting his hand dropping away from the doorknob as he turned away. Since he had come to Japan, he hadn't been able to open that door. He had once stood there until Kallen and Gino had come to get him, trying to work up the courage to just open the door and face the fact that he had killed his father for a good reason. He had been protecting Lelouch and Nunnally, but he wasn't quite able to accept that excuse. It would be easy enough after making one excuse to come up with others that would allow him to kill people.

Suzaku stuffed his hands into his pockets, walking down the hallway. There were two more levels below this one to go through, and then he would leave. He would be sufficiently calm and distracted by then, able to move on past their most recent failure.

He swallowed, tucking his hand back into his pocket to hold onto his pin. He was reaching for the pin more often as the trip wore on and the failures built up. It was the one thing keeping him sane and focused when all he wanted to do was shut down and not move for a while. It was part of the reason he was glad that both Gino and Kallen were with him, one could get him moving if he decided to just give up.

The phone in his other pocket vibrated, like just thinking of Gino and Kallen had called the text message to him. Suzaku pulled out his phone, staring at it for a moment before slipping it back into his pocket. They knew he was here, or Kallen did. She would either come here looking for him or they would head back to the hotel without him. Personally, Suzaku hoped for the latter. He didn't want to feel obligated to go back to the hotel before he was absolutely exhausted. The stress was bringing his nightmares back.

Suzaku hissed and rubbed his neck, pressing his palm against where the tattoo was. He knew he was worrying his two friends, but there was nothing he could do about the nightmares, he had always had them. He had to learn to deal with them for when he went back. Kallen had been knighted the month before, so she would be living in the quarters next to the barracks specifically for knights while he remained in the guard barracks. While the guards there didn't treat him badly, he wasn't particularly close to any of them. He would be on his own again.

He let his hand drop down to his side, Suzaku forcing himself to let go of his pin. He would finish his search of this wing before heading back to the hotel. Hopefully whatever Gino and Kallen got up to would be finished before he got back.

The next floor was easier, just a few rooms, most of them for storage or parlors. Most of the doors were locked and had been since the day that the villa had been attacked. Suzaku coughed into his sleeve, his throat irritated by the dust, as he walked down to the last floor. Here he would only find open sitting rooms, the library and the ballroom that stretched across the middle of the villa.

Suzaku dragged his feet, hoping to spend another hour here. Now he could almost forget that he was seventeen, he could just imagine that he was seven. Any minute now Lelouch would come racing around a corner, chasing after Nunnally or trying to avoid one of Euphemia's attempts to make him dress up as a princess with her and Nunnally so Suzaku could rescue them from some evil creature. Lelouch would smile when he saw Suzaku and then drag him out into the gardens, probably with the excuse that they were going to do boy things and that the girls couldn't come along. Nunnally would be the only exception to the rule, because Lelouch couldn't deny his little sister anything.

He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before opening them again. There was no one there, just the double doors that would lead to the ballroom in front of him and the soft carpet of the hall beneath his feet. Suzaku ducked his head, listening to the creak of the villa, clenching his hands into fists. There would never be anyone there if he didn't keep moving, but he was so tired of all the failures and disappointments.

Suzaku slumped against the nearest wall, pressing his forehead against the peeling wallpaper as he tried to calm himself down. He wasn't really angry or frustrated; emotions took an effort that he just couldn't seem to make anymore.

He took a few more calming breaths, intending to push away from the wall and continue his search, when he heard something coming from the ballroom. Suzaku tensed, turning his head so he could stare at the doors, only now noticing that they were slightly ajar.

These were the only two doors that led to the ground floor of the ballroom, from there the stairs would lead down to the actually floor. This side was where the guests had made their entrances, and where the emperor and his favorite wife had stood when the ball was in full swing. The only other door on the inside was on the second floor on the other wing, and that led to the balconies. The doors that opened out into the yard and long since been boarded shut.

Suzaku pushed away from the wall, padding over to the door and carefully pulling it open wider. He expected the door to creak, pleasantly surprised when it didn't. He slipped through, crouching down so he would be concealed partially by the banister. In any case, if someone was in here, their first instinct wouldn't be to look up. He edged close to the rail, resting a hand on one of the carved columns before daring to peer over the edge.

At first, he didn't see anyone. He relaxed a fraction, straightening up a little bit more. The door could have been left open from the last time he was in here or by someone looking for anything to take out and sell. Either way, it looked like he had snuck in here for nothing. Suzaku flattened his hand on the railing, staring out into the ballroom one last time before turning around.

He froze at the sound of footsteps, leaning forward over the railing to see someone walking out into the middle of the ballroom. Suzaku frowned, surprised that the person didn't notice him, but the person was too focused on something that Suzaku couldn't quite see.

Suzaku narrowed his eyes, leaning out a bit further as he tried to identify the person. The intruder didn't look like the run of the mill thief, with clothes that were worn but not thread bare. By their movement, it didn't seem like they were looking for anything either, just walking across the ballroom like he had done so many times before.

He leaned on the railing, completely forgetting about remaining hidden as he watched the intruder. If they weren't doing any harm, then he wouldn't chase them out. Besides, there was something in the way that they held themselves and the way they walked that caught his attention; it reminded Suzaku of the nobles and royals. Perhaps this was someone related to one of the victims of that night, just coming to visit the last place their relative had died. Or maybe it was some noble interested in the history of the Britannian royal family. This was the place that two sons of Emperor James had died, after all.

The intruder turned around, Suzaku tensing as they stared right at him. To his surprise, the intruder raised a hand, Suzaku shaking his head slowly. Normally people would run when they were caught, but this person seemed to be distracted by something. Still, it granted him a chance to see what the intruder looked like.

From here, Suzaku could tell it was a man, a skinny man who looked to be about his age. He had black hair and… Suzaku leaned over the railing, his heart beating faster. He needed to know the color of the man's eyes. Everything else was so close to what he remembered, what he imagined.

"Hey!" Suzaku jerked at the familiar voice shouting, watching as the man on floor jerked, like he had been woken out of something.

Suzaku turned around, watching as Kallen ran past him and down the stairs, already intent on getting the man who had snuck into the villa. He hesitated before charging after Kallen. At the moment, he didn't have a plan other than getting a look at the man. One look and then he could go away satisfied.

Mao stared at the picture of the young man, ignoring the bloody fingerprints that dotted the background. The man's face was still clear, and he would keep it that way, he needed to know what his prey looked like. Mao narrowed his eyes, letting Kirihara's lifeless body slip out of his grasp, barely hearing the thud as the man hit the floor. He was grateful for the information that the man had given him, but he had paid the price for killing his beloved C.C.

He swallowed, looking over the desk to where C.C. was sprawled out on the floor, a pool of blood spreading out from her head. He ignored the other bodies behind her, the men who had rushed into the room at the sound of the gunfire and Mao's enraged screams. He frowned and turned his gaze back to the file, flipping it open and looking through the information.

While he could not fathom the schemes that these men put together, he did know that they weren't happy about C.C. leaving and taking that boy with them. When C.C. had first brought him to the Geass Order, before she had been kicked out, he had been jealous of that boy, at least until he had heard that C.C. had just dropped him off somewhere. Apparently he shouldn't have worried about that boy at all; it was this man who he should have worried about.

Well, the second thing he would have to worry about. The first was making sure that all of the people who had wanted C.C. dead were punished. He just knew that they had all come up with this scheme to keep her away from him. Everyone was always trying to keep C.C. away from him, but they just didn't understand that she was his.

Mao dropped the photo onto the desk, walking around to the two other bodies. He carefully checked who they were, elated to find that he had killed one of the other leaders, which just left three more. That was easy enough for him to do and then leave. The other three probably hadn't heard about what had happened. The sooner he could leave the better, because that man was probably still waiting for C.C, and it was up to Mao to set him straight.

Mao choked on a sob, quickly turning it into a laugh a moment later. He would make sure the man knew that he had committed the ultimate sin, that his very existence was the reason why C.C. was dead. It was the perfect revenge. Mao chuckled, kicking the corpse to one side before kneeling next to C.C, carefully lifting her up. His revenge would have to wait until he had taken care of C.C. She had to be made to look beautiful before he was ready to let her go.

He carefully closed her eyes and brushed her hair back into place. Like this, she looked like she was sleeping.

Mao's grin wavered. "I'll avenge you, C.C. You didn't deserve any of this and I'll make them all pay, like you would have wanted. First with the ones who chased you out of the Geass Order and then this boy. Because he has to know, C.C, he has to know that you're mine."