Crossroads

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass

Note: This is my last chapter for this month. The next will probably in January. Maybe there will be a bit delay following next month. But don't worry fellow readers, I will try my best to update!

Btw, I know it's a bit early to say this but I won't be free during Christmas so MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my readers! :D

Imperial Palace, Pendragon City

"Today is the day where the new leaders of Britannia are being elected by His Majesty, Emperor Lelouch." Milly Ashford of Britannia TV station reported. The cameraman focused at the Imperial Palace and then to the guests arriving at the place. Most of them were from Black Knights, House of Lords and Britannia's allies. Meanwhile most of the royal members and the Purist Faction were not allowed by the guards to even step their foot in the ground. The camera focused on the chaos between Princess Carine with a guard.

Inside the main hall of the palace, most of the guest had been seated at their respective seats. Security was tight around the area with the Knight of Rounds, Sir Gino Weinberg and Lady Anya Earlstreim guarding the area. Each guest were not allowed to bring most of their belongings inside to prevent the assassination attempt from happening again. High tech body scanners were placed at the main entrance with dozens of guards standing there.

The french horn was blown, signalling the arrival of the Emperor. All cameras and eyes focussed to the throne chair. Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia appeared precisely on time with his usual white uniform. Walking in a slow and proud manner, the Emperor was escorted by Zero into the hall. The crowd was silenced as the emperor sat on his throne. Everyone in the hall were worried whether the Emperor will return to his demonic self just like how he ruled the empire before the truce with Zero. Some of them were shivering as the Emperor looked around. The atmosphere was so tense that even those who were watching the ceremony from TV could feel it.

"On this very day, Emperor Lelouch shall elect six important leaders that shall be the guardians of the Holy Empire of Britannia. Your Majesty, shall we begin?" Zero said. Emperor Lelouch nodded.

"We shall start then" Zero officiated. The ceremony started with Emperor Lelouch handing back Area 11 to the newly elected Prime Minister of Japan, Ohgi Kaname. The Black Knights cheered as they witnessed the historic day for Japan. Then it was the election of Tohdoh Kyoshiro as the new leader of Black Knights and acknowledgement to Black Knights as Britannia's Special Military Division. After that it was the election of Second Prince Schneizel as the advisor to the Emperor which had caused some of the Black Knights to sigh.

Lastly it was the knighting ceremony. "We shall announced the new Knight of Two, One and Zero." The announcer announced. Everyone waited anxiously to see who was the new Knights. The drum rolled and the door of the hall opened.

Three figures appeared. On the left was Kallen Kozuki-Stadfteld; the red haired girl dressed in a red knight uniform while on the right was Jeremiah Gottwald; the former knight of Empress Marianne dressed in a blue knight uniform. The appearance of Kallen who was a half blood had shocked the Purist Faction and the royal members who sat outside of the palace and watched the ceremony through a big screen.

"A half breed as a knight? Is Lelouch nuts?" Princess Carine blurted out. Princess Guinevere and the others shook their heads. Even Prince Odysseus was startled. The Purist Faction booed at Kallen. They were also not satisfied with Jeremiah as a knight. For them Jeremiah was a traitor and he should never be awarded with any title. In fact, they should have stripped him off his title as Margrave.

However the figure in the middle shocked everyone. Dressed in all black knight uniform, the figure was Zero himself! Zero, Kallen and Jeremiah stood a few metres away from the Emperor and bowed.

"Your Majesty" they spoke spontaneously. Emperor Lelouch nodded. From his seat, he eyed at the three knights to be.

"Kallen Kozuki-Stadfteld, wilt thou upon this day, pledge thy fieldty to Britannia and stand as knight of the Crown?"

"Yes, Your Majesty"

"Does thy wish to abandon thy self and be sword and shield for the sake of greater good?"

"Yes, You Majesty"

Kallen unsheathed her sword, a katana to the surprised of the guest. Normally a Britannian sword would be used for knighting ceremony. It was the first time a katana being used. She handed the sword to Emperor Lelouch. He held it in an upright position touched gently the shoulders of Kallen with the tip of the katana.

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia do hereby dub thee, Kallen Kozuki-Stadfteld, may your courage and devotion become a shining example to the people of the Empire."

Emperor Lelouch returned back the katana to Kallen. Kallen sheathed the katana back to its scabbard and faced the crowd as soon as the emperor allowed her to stand up. The crowd clapped their hands with slight disgust over a half breed being a knight. Then the ceremony continued with Jeremiah being knighted as the Knight of One and lastly, Zero as the knight of Zero.

The crowd clapped their hands again and thought the ceremony had ended. But they were wrong. The Emperor had not sit back on his chair. He was gazing at a certain figure standing at the door. Everyone raised their eyebrows and turned behind.

Zero signalled for the french horn to be blown. Kallen and Jeremiah stood beside the Emperor. As soon as the figure stepped slowly into the hall, everyone gasped; including the other knight of Rounds there. Schneizel shot a puzzled look.

"The arrival of the Emperor's second advisor, a brilliant strategist from Britannia Military Forces whom had been away in the EU for the war. Now, the brave soldier had returned to homeland to serve the Emperor." Zero announced. More gasps could be heard as the figure's face could be identified from closer range. Some rubbed their eyes to make sure they were really seeing it. Kallen and Jeremiah chuckled. They glanced at Sayoko who was playing Lelouch's role as the Emperor perfectly. She managed to put on Lelouch's serious expression as the Emperor without flaw.

Outside, the royal members and Purist Faction were whispering to each other. Each had the stupefied look on their face. "There-there are two Lelouchs?" Princess Odysseus exclaimed. Princess Carine gawked.

The figure looked up at the Emperor and chuckled as he felt he was looking into the mirror. Both had the same raven black hair, violet eyes and the same proud look. The only difference was Julius was wearing a black colour knight uniform with light purple on the inside of the cape and an eyepatch on his left eye. The two looked the same but their clothes were a big contrast; black versus white.

The figure kneeled down and said in a familiar proud and cold voice. "I, Julius Kingsley had return to serve Your Majesty

Somewhere in Area 10

"Impossible!" Kanon shouted. He put his face closer to the TV screen as the camera focussed at Julius Kingsley's face. Luciano raised his eyebrow but seemed not attracted to it. Cleaning his bloodied axe, the Vampire of Britannia glanced at an old man leaning against the wall with his dead wife on his shoulders. He was vomiting blood and seemed to be seriously injured. He eyed at Luciano with fear all over his face. The old man's left hand was holding his chest while the other was stroking his dead wife's hair. Both of his legs had been hacked and blood was all over the place.

Luciano grinned. He had tricked the man into believing him as a police and entered into the house. Poor man, his wife suspected Luciano as a fraud and tried to call the police. Luckily Kanon was fast enough to shot her with his beloved Kalashnikov gun. The wife died instantly. The man tried to attack Kanon but Luciano grabbed an axe from a human size statue beside the door and the axe dug right into the man's chest. The man tried to scream but Luciano pulled out his gun and shot right through his throat.

And soon, they brought the two bodies to the living room as Luciano wanted to watch the man died slowly. Luciano smiled deviously. He licked the axe with his tongue causing the old man to shudder.

"You...are a demon" the old man muttered. Luciano guffawed. He cupped the man's chin. "So what? The demon will sent you to hell!" He whispered and then pulled out a bottle of cyanide from his pocket. The man struggled as he poured the cyanide into the mouth.

"NO! Argh!" The old man screamed and wriggled. White foam formed as his eyes rolled up. In a few minutes, he fell to the ground and died. Luciano kicked the dead body away.

Kanon grimaced in disgust at the condition of the corpse. He turned away and continued watching the footage. No matter how many times he look, this Julius Kingsley looked exactly the same as Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia.

Are they twins? He wondered.

Just then his phone rang. Kanon picked up the call. It was an unidentified number. "Hello?"

"How is my plan?" The voice asked. It seemed robotic and not human. But Kanon recognised it. It was his master. The brownish peach hair man turned off the TV and headed to somewhere secluded.

"We had contacted with some of the Black Knights. They agreed with our terms" Kanon answered.

"Who are they then?"

Kanon looked around. He make sure there aren't anyone around him. "Chiba Nagisa, 4th Squad Commander and Kent Sugiyama, Commander of Special forces are one of the main leaders joining us. Besides we have managed to contacted Raksharta Chawla and lured her with huge sum of money to build Knightmares for us. She agreed."

The voice did not said anything, it was waiting for Kanon to explain further.

"The Purist Faction led by the descendants of Kewell Soresi and Princess Guinevere with the other royals are on our side. Oh yea, we even have Diethard Reid, the reporter on our side."

Kanon glanced around again. Luciano was still at the living room, disposing the bodies. "I see. What about Cornelia and her knight?" The voice asked.

"Er...she never replied our invitation." Kanon hesitated. He disliked making his master furious and disappointed with his answers. Kanon will always make sure his master will get a good and acceptable answer.

The voice twitched. "I shall contact her by myself" he then ended the call. Kanon shivered. Is he angry? Just as Kanon was about to head back into the living room, he felt a tap on his shoulders.

"Kanon Maldini" a familiar female voice said. Kanon gasped and quickly turned behind. A slender purple hair lady and a tall jet black hair bespectacled man stood behind him. Both were clad in commoner's clothes.

"Your-Your Highness!" Kanon exclaimed. His voice was too loud that it had attracted Luciano. Luciano headed out from the living room and was slightly startled at the presence of the royalty.

"Princess Cornelia. The goddess of War. Or should I say the fallen Goddess of War?" Luciano sneered. Cornelia ignored him but her knight, Guilford took the offence and glared at the Vampire of Britannia. Luciano guffawed. "And also Gilbert Guilford, the Spearhead of the Empire. Did you get the title because of your spear shaped head?" He joked. Guilford grew more irritated. The tall black hair knight pushed up his glasses with his middle finger.

"I had received your invitation. It interest me a lot as I believed Zero killed Euphemia and her death should be avenge with Zero's death!" She said bitterly. Clenching her fist, Cornelia thought of her dead sister who was branded the Massacre Princess and was shot by someone. Her young innocent sister died at such a young age. Cornelia couldn't forgive herself. Her failure to protect Marianne and Euphemia had cost her dearly.

"You are joining us? He would love to hear that!" Kanon exclaimed. Cornelia raised her eyebrow. He? Who?

"Are you not the leader of this plan?" She asked. Kanon covered his mouth. Shit! He had accidentally slipped it out! The man hesitated. Cornelia shot him a quizzical look.

"I...I..." He stammered. Guilford took out his gun and aimed at Kanon. "Speak it out! Or this will be treason to Princess Cornelia!" He threatened. Luciano raised his eyebrow and was somehow amused by the scene. Kanon raised both of his hands up and was slightly terrified.

"I don't know" Kanon answered. Guilford twitched. He grabbed Kanon's neck and placed the gun below Kanon's chin.

"Say it or never!"

Kanon sighed. "The Second Prince, Schneizel" he replied. Cornelia and Guilford gasped.

"Schneizel? I thought..." Cornelia muttered to herself. The idea of Schneizel being the mastermind had never appeared in her mind. She heard Schneizel had been geassed to obey Zero from certain sources. How can he do that?! The geass would have prevented Schneizel from doing anything not under Zero's orders!

She looked at Kanon in disbelief. Kanon shrugged and pushed the gun on his chin away. Biting his lips, he glared at Guilford. Guilford pretended he had done nothing wrong.

"If everything is clear now, shall we discuss of our plan? Schneizel has given me all the orders to conduct his plan" Kanon said coldly. He was very annoyed by Guilford's actions just now.

"Oh, sure. What is Schneizel planning actually? He only mentioned of an attack against Lelouch and Zero in the letter" Cornelia asked. Kanon led them to the living room. Luciano quickly cleared up any evidence that proved of the murder of the old man and his wife. He had just finished burying their bodies in the garden, so no one will suspect of a murder had took place in the house.

"It's quite complicated. But His Highness is trying to gather forces of those who rebelled against Lelouch vi Britannia's rule. And also those who go against Zero's truce with Lelouch vi Britannia." Kanon said. The way he pronounced Lelouch and Zero's name were so bitter as if he had been forced to speak out their names. Cornelia nodded. They sat on the sofa and discussed the matter.

"So where does he get those forces? I am sure it will be from the Purist Faction and Guinevere and co." Cornelia said. Kanon nodded. He criss crossed his legs and folded his arms. Luciano leaned against the wall while Guildford stood behind Cornelia.

"Correct. However, we have managed to recruit some of the Black Knights. In fact 45% percent of the Black Knights are against Zero's decision to form a truce with Lelouch vi Britannia." Kanon explained. He refused to refer Lelouch as the emperor as he thought Lelouch doesn't deserved to be one. It was his Schneizel alono who should be the emperor.

Cornelia raised her eyebrow. "45% percent? That's really a lot!" She exclaimed. Kanon smirked. "Yes, they were divided upon hearing Zero's decision. They seemed to have lost their trust to Zero whom they thought will destroy Britannia. Instead, Zero turned his back and supported Britannia. For your information, we had Nagisa Chiba, Kent Sugiyama and hired scientist, Raksharta Chawla in our forces. And not to forget Luciano Bradley." Kanon said and pointed at Luciano. Guilford frowned.

Cornelia rubbed her chin. "Not a very impressive row of fighters. Never heard of those Black Knights members. Luciano Bradley is fine, don't you think Guilford?" Cornelia asked. She looked at Guilford who was pulling a sour face. Luciano grinned.

"The former knight of One is alive too, you see. I don't know how he survived but he is on our side" Luciano interrupted. Cornelia and Guildford gasped. The former knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein is alive? Bismarck was a legendary and great knight during his years and having him in the forces will be an advantage. He used to be the strongest in the Knight of Rounds before being surpassed by Kururugi Suzaku. The pilot of Galahad rarely showed any emotions to anyone and even Cornelia thought he was as mysterious as Emperor Charles.

There was a long silence. Each of them were thinking of the line up of the forces. Cornelia was thinking of how Bismarck whom the late Marianne often praised was alive while Guilford was wondering how did that idiotic Luciano Bradley managed to get into the forces. Luciano was thinking a way to kick Guildford out while Kanon was thinking nothing.

Then, Kanon broke the silence. "So, Prince Schneizel had proposed to execute his plan called Project Infinity. He will used Zero's forces to go against Lelouch vi Britannia and Zero. The new line up of Glaston Knights will be as backup force while Princess Guinevere will bring her forces too." He paused and looked at Cornelia and Guilford. The fax machine nearby rang and a document was faxed. Kanon seized the paper and have a look at it. Then he passed it to Cornelia. It seemed that Schneizel had expected Cornelia to definitely join their forces.

Project Infinity

Leader : Infinity

Second in command. : Kanon Maldini

General commander. : Cornelia li Britannia

Deputy Chief :Gilbert Guilford

Secretary of Media & Intelligence: Diethard Reid

Science Secretary. : Raksharta Chawla

Deputy Science Secretary : Johann Asplund

Special forces. : Bismarck Waldstein

Commander of Special Forces :Chiba Nagisa

First Squad Commander : Luciano Bradley

Second Squad Commander : Nonette Enneagram

Third Squad Commander : Kent Sugiyama

Operators : Mutsuki Minase

Ayame Futaba

Frederick Szywanoski

Glaston Knight captains : Claudio Darlton

Valkryie Squadron. :Guinevere su Britannia

Carine ne Britannia

Purist Faction Forces captain. : Kewell Soresi Jr.

Marina Soresi

Knightmares:

Gloucester

Sutherland

Gekka

Akatsuki Command Model Zikisan (Chiba Nagisa)

Percival (Luciano Bradley)

Galahad (Bismarck Waldstein)

Cornelia's Gloucester (Cornelia li Britannia)

Vincent Commander Model ( Guilford & Enneagram)

Headquarters:

European Union former embassy (bought over by Darlton Family)

As soon as Cornelia finished reading the list, Kanon stared at her.

"Any questions?"

Cornelia thought to herself. Just then Guilford asked.

"What do we call ourself? We must have a name for our forces" Guilford asked. Luciano couldn't help but guffawed. All eyes were on him.

"Schneizel said it was like bleaching a black cloth. Let me give you a hint, we are the bleaching agent"

Cornelia frowned. She looked at Kanon who doesn't seemed to be amused by Luciano. "Yes, we are the White Knights led by the White Prince of Britannia under the identity the White King or his new name, Infinity" Kanon answered. Cornelia and Guilford was startled. The plan seemed to be identical of the Black Knights formation.

"What is Schneizel thinking? Isn't he copying the Black Knights? Is he joking? The White Knights?" Cornelia exclaimed. She couldn't imagined that she was joining a terrorist group lead by another royalty. Kanon pulled a sour face upon hearing Cornelia's comment.

"Do not question Prince Schneizel's decision!" He snapped. Kanon bit his lips and looked away. Guilford was about to strangle Kanon but Cornelia stopped him.

"Fine" she replied. Kanon nodded. "Good, we the White Knights shall only serve one master, and our master is no other than Infinity." He said and then smiled. It was the first time Kanon smiled since he was separated from his master. He was back to Kanon Maldini, the loyal, friendly and cunning right hand man of Prince Schneizel.

Author's note

Finally! This chap is kinda more detailed as I have to research on the knighting ceremony, the Knightmares and rechecked with CG wikia to make sure everything makes sense. What do you think? Reviews please! :) And please like the story too! It meant a lot to me. Thanks for reading.

My long explanation of the members of the White Knights (202 words)

Johann Asplund is Lloyd Asplund's younger brother. (OC)

The Soresi are also OC

The others are in the anime and also stated in CG wikia.

The White Knights are combination of royal members, former Britannia soldiers, former Knight of Rounds, Purist Faction, Glaston Knights, Valkyrie Squadron and Black Knights.

I have decided to put Chiba as a member of White Knights as I always thought she was kinda, you know rebellious? I particularly dislike her character (other than Ohgi) so I put her in the villain side.

For Sugiyama and the others, I just hand picked them to join Chiba. Raksharta, well she refused to work with the Britannia military as Lloyd is there and moreover she need more cash to produce more of her 'children'. She isn't the villain, just a character like Lloyd whose love for science is everything.

Oh yea, for Diethard he was attracted to the White Knights concept as it was like the Black Knights.

All the members does not know Schneizel is Infinity except for Cornelia, Guilford, Kanon and Schneizel.

I tried my best not to use any OC even though it is a very small character to make the story link to the original CG.