1:00 A.M.

Aerial Fortress Damocles

The cold cup of tea lay forgotten on one of the many tables in Schneizel's private lounge, both men far too tired to acknowledge its presence and clear it away. Regardless of the serene expression he maintained at all times, Schneizel could succumb to exhaustion just like any other human – Britannian Prince or not. Even so, he would never show it, nor would he be seen to display any emotion other than indifference. People could be forgiven for thinking he rarely had a true thought pass through his mind. They would be incorrect, however; at all times he had at least one.

"A strong soldier is one who obeys his leader's orders implicitly and a strong leader is one who can evoke absolute support from his soldiers."

His oldest memories were of this piece of wisdom, yet he had no recollection of who had gifted it to him. Perhaps it was Charles Zi Britannia. He often thought it might have been the Emperor, but ultimately paid it no heed. It was the philosophy by which he swore; that was enough.

He turned his head to look at the man in the other chair. The black cloak he had once worn lay discarded on the ground beside him, although there was something to be said about his meticulousness in the fact that it had been perfectly folded, even in exhaustion. His regal clothing was similarly free of any imperfections, despite having been seated in the same position for several hours. Even his posture was formal enough that if it weren't for his eyes being closed, it would be difficult to recognise that he was asleep at all.

Schneizel wanted to go to sleep himself, but had decided to instead wait for an update from the Area 11 law enforcement. It was worth waiting, even though he knew that they were extremely unlikely to have any sort of substantial lead on someone who had evaded them so spectacularly. The two had learnt enough about this person for the moment, but they had agreed that Schneizel should wait for the call so as not to alienate his soldiers.

As if sensing his thoughts, an orange light appeared next to the display in front of them, indicating that there was an incoming call waiting. He slowly fiddled with the controls on the table next to him, ensuring that the camera was focused entirely on his own face, before accepting the call.

"This is Schneizel El Britannia."

"Your highness!" the man on the other end began with a mix of nervousness and excitement. It wasn't somebody Schneizel remembered having ever spoken to before. "We have had a number of officers examine the area below the execution site and have come to the conclusion that Zero escaped in a car."

"A car? He had access to at least four knightmare frames; why would he use a car?"

"Well, probably because it was more difficult to track or easier to hide or…" the man trailed off in embarrassment, having finally realised that Schneizel was speaking to himself, rather than asking for his opinions.

"How do you know it was a car?"

"There was a video camera in the area below, one of the many set up in response to Zero repeatedly taking advantage of the interlocking plate system over the last few years. They were all fairly cheap ones, so the quality isn't good," he explained hesitantly, ducking his head slightly at the end as if expecting the blame for the cost-cutting measures to fall to him.

"I would like to see this tape."

Schneizel waited until the man reappeared on the screen after the video before he responded. "What happened to the pilots in those knightmares? I didn't see them get out."

The officer turned slightly green at the question. "We found them inside their frames. They had each been shot in the head, most likely by themselves. Their names were checked on the records and two of the four had been suspected of terrorist involvement, but it was never proven."

"Have you recovered Kanon or made any progress identifying this new 'Zero'?" Schneizel asked, despite being fairly certain that the answer would be no.

"Nothing on Kanon yet, Your Highness. This should explain why we were unable to track the tire-marks."

Schneizel watched in complete apathy as the video feed switched to sped-up footage of Zero driving in and out of the underground area in the same direction for almost twenty minutes. The timestamp identified it as taking place during the early morning hours of the day.

The man reappeared on the screen and began speaking immediately. "We've got a team of professionals trying to trace the tire-marks, but there are so many different sets that it could take up to three hours to find the most recent one."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, Your Highness!" he replied formally, saluting the camera.

Schneizel nodded and ended the call, leaning back against his chair. He hadn't expected anything more from the local officers; with Kanon out of the picture they were nothing more than a bunch of green recruits, all trained from scratch in the aftermath of Odysseus' ascension.

A cough distracted him from his thoughts. "You're awake?"

"I woke up during the first video," his companion admitted. "It is somewhat disconcerting that my subordinate fell prey to that scheme."

Schneizel furrowed his brow. "I will think of some way to punish him when he returns."

"Do what you want," he replied indifferently. "Will he remain loyal if you do?"

"I have taken measures to ensure his continued loyalty."

Both men stood, one picking up his cloak and wrapping it back around his shoulders. "I know you have. Don't concern yourself with Zero for the moment; just worry about completing your duties."

Schneizel walked towards the door and opened it for him.

"Yes, My Lord!"

Tokyo

Suzaku didn't know how long they had been driving. It could have been two hours, maybe three since 'Zero' had saved him from execution; Britannia may have wanted him to appear pristine for the execution, but they weren't so hospitable as to provide him with any accessories capable of telling time. The car's stereo system was likewise unhelpful; if the volume was set to maximum, the Britannian police would be instantly alerted by the echoes when he turned it on.

This 'Zero' was an enigma. Since ushering him into the car, he hadn't spoken at all. His most recent words were that they could 'talk more once they were in the clear,' but evidently he didn't believe that to be the case yet.

Perhaps he was focussing on the road; that could explain his reluctance to enter into any sort of conversation. Everything surrounding them was pitch-black, save for the light given off by the lowest setting on the car's headlights. It was a miracle that Zero was able to navigate for this long without so much as once touching a map. It was an even greater miracle that he could maintain close to top-speed without colliding with any of the columns holding the Settlement up. Even Suzaku wouldn't have been able to accomplish such a feat without at least a few test runs of the route.

'This has been planned far in advance,' he realised, his eyes lighting up at the prospect that the Black Knights still had the resources and ability to pull off such a heist. A second thought struck him a moment later, his elation immediately dissolving into solemnity. 'Zero was always known for his miracles.'

Lelouch had been the original Zero, bestowing the title – for that was what 'Zero' had become – to him when he died. Suzaku had promised to see his duty as Zero through until the end, but now somebody else wore the mask.

If they were from the Order of the Black Knights, he had nothing to worry about; they would hand it back over once they were safe. If it was someone else entirely, then he would have to take action.

Suzaku clenched his teeth. Lelouch had left the responsibility to him; he would carry the burden until he could no longer do so. He didn't know whether he would pass the torch yet again when he became too old, or whether the world would be content for Zero to die, but before then he wouldn't allow anybody else to encroach on Lelouch's trust.

The car pulled up abruptly, startling Suzaku and throwing the unconscious Kanon to the floor.

Suzaku winced. That would hurt when he woke up.

Zero wasted no time opening his door and motioning for him to follow; Kanon was left lying face-down on the floor. He was led towards what appeared to be an abandoned building, an eerie sense of déjà vu accompanying him as he walked. The glass doors at the front had several deep cracks in them, the roof had caved in on one side of the lobby, and the only room accessible from it seemed to be through a pair of doors on the far side. Zero motioned for him to enter.

It wasn't until Suzaku set foot in the room that he fully understood the source of his familiarity with the area. It had been the same building the Black Knights – Lelouch – had taken him to when he was first rescued from execution. Some of the tension drained away from him; only the Black Knights could have known about the significance of this place. It was true that he no longer had to concern himself with the possibility of a Zero with different motives and goals, but it also meant that they wouldn't be able to secure the services of another brilliant strategist.

He chuckled to himself. He had been so naïve the last time he was here.

"Kururugi Suzaku."

He looked up to see Zero standing on the stage and moved to join him. "Who are you?"

Zero ignored his question. "Have you lost the will to live?"

"Wh–what?" Suzaku stuttered. 'Who is he? Tōdō, maybe? Cornelia?'

"You aren't Kururugi Suzaku."

The statement took him off-guard. "What do you mean?"

"Kururugi Suzaku would never have allowed me to lead him for three and a half hours without knowledge of where we were going and what my plans were. You never attempted to speak to me, despite these conditions," he stated. "Have you become so dependent on Zero that you have forgotten Suzaku?"

Despite being almost certain about Zero's identity, Suzaku refused to directly answer the question. He would find his own path. He walked past Zero and leant against the wall with his right hand. "It is difficult to be Zero."

"I know."

"How would you know?" he growled.

He seemed unconcerned by Suzaku's vehemence. "I am Zero right now."

Suzaku fought down the urge to punch the wall in front of him. "Wearing the mask doesn't make you Zero! Mine was broken, but that doesn't make you Zero either!"

"You truly have forgotten Suzaku. Has your time in Schneizel's captivity affected you this much?" Zero asked. He continued without waiting for an answer. "You can't continue living as Kururugi Suzaku, but you can't continue living without him either. As for your mask, you can take mine."

He lifted a hand to his head and detached the mask, offering it to Suzaku over his shoulder.

"Thank you," he replied, accepting the mask. He held it in his hands for a few moments, turning it over and staring at it intently.

"It was no problem."

"Stop acting, Tōdō. I understand what you're trying to say, but I…" Suzaku trailed off, eyes wider than they had ever been in his life. In that moment he realised something impossible.

He held Zero's mask, but the man's voice hadn't changed.

Suzaku's heart beat wildly in his chest. 'It couldn't be…could it?'

Slowly, as if barely able to force his body to move, he turned around, coming face to face with those eyes.

The eyes of Lelouch Vi Britannia.

The eyes of a King.

"Lelouch…"

Before Suzaku could finish his sentence, Lelouch moved forward and pierced his neck with a syringe, injecting the entirety of the chamber into his bloodstream. He lost consciousness immediately and crumpled to the ground, the drug seizing control of his mind.

Lelouch watched emotionlessly as the mask of Zero hit the ground, the last vestiges of a blue liquid dripping out of the needle at his side.

"Forgive me Suzaku. I have deceived you more than you could know."

2010 a.t.b.

August 10

Kururugi Shrine

Midday at Kururugi Shrine saw two young boys taking refuge from the sun's scorching rays in the cool upper-branches of the courtyard's tallest tree. Lelouch leant against the trunk with his hands behind his head, his legs resting on one of the tree's branches, one foot on top of the other.

To his left hung a black bag from a small knot, comfortably within reach of even the most athletically-disinclined ex-Britannian – a title which Lelouch was loath to admit that he was the leading contender for. To his right sat a mahogany chess board, placed across two parallel branches which jutted out from the main trunk at Lelouch's breast level. Since they had befriended each other, Suzaku and Lelouch had often spent their days sitting in that tree and playing chess. This was such a common occurrence that the two had sourced out a hammer and nails to permanently affix their board to the natural beams supporting it.

Of course, this almost only ever took place when Nunnally was unavailable to join them. Unless she was sleeping, eating, or completing the meditation exercises she had been taught in order to deal with the stress of her mother's assassination; Lelouch refused to leave his little sister behind, being unable to climb trees herself. Very few times had he deliberately sent her away; even then, it was an act of mercy, protecting her from the harsh truth of what he and Suzaku were discussing.

Lelouch's expression as he sat was anything but serene. His posture may have indicated perfect contentment, but his eyebrows were knitted together above his closed eyes in intense concentration. Details filtered through his head faster than that of even the most intelligent adults. He had not been a Britannian Prince for nothing; chess was an absolute necessity for any child of Charles Zi Britannia's to learn, and he was no exception. As it was he had excelled spectacularly at the game during his stay at Pendragon Palace; the only two people who had regularly defeated him – and he had faced many opponents – were his elder brother, Schneizel El Britannia; and his father, Charles Zi Britannia.

Lelouch Vi Britannia was no child when it came to strategic planning; his record proved that much.

Regardless, it would take incredible skill, dedication, and commitment to achieve his goals. He would have to be stronger than the world to achieve them, but one day he would. He had promised himself that he would, for Nunnally's sake.

His sister's eyes – the eyes he would give anything to see open again – had been sealed shut by the horrors she had witnessed. So far gone was any hope he may have retained that his father's rule was redeemable, that every fibre of his being ached to see the man brought to justice.

From the beginning, Lelouch knew only one thing.

He would destroy Britannia.

On the opposite side of the chess board, on an almost identical branch to the one Lelouch occupied, sat Suzaku. Unlike his foreign counterpart, Suzaku sat with one knee held to his chest and the other dangling over the edge. His left shoulder was pressed against the trunk to balance him.

In contrast to the perpetually stern-faced Lelouch, Suzaku had a falsely tranquil expression adorning his features. The next day, Prime Minister Kururugi Genbu – his father – was to announce a do-or-die resistance policy against their Britannian invaders. Blood would be shed in the thousands of litres, people would have their loved ones torn away from them through conscription and futile attempts at militant patriotism, and eventualy Britannia would win. These were the facts; there was no changing them through force.

The political situation hit Suzaku far harder than it hit Lelouch. Despite Lelouch finally acknowledging Japan as his home, Suzaku was related by blood to the leader of Japan and hence felt an obligation – no matter how young he was – to do the best that he could for his country. It was futile to resist Britannia's invasion; the only thing they could do was to disarm and allow Britannia to claim them as one of their colonies.

No matter how many times he tried to convince his father to drop the resistance, the man disregarded his political comment as almost any leader would to a child. Suzaku may have been a child physically, but nobody who had been fully exposed to the almost frightening mind of Lelouch Vi Britannia could retain the impossible desires and naiveties of the average child.

Suzaku knew without a doubt that the only way to prevent the pointless carnage was to kill his father. Without him, the Japanese would surrender to Britannia, but they would survive – that was what was most important. It wasn't a pleasant thought to know he had chosen to end the life of his own flesh and blood, but it was a choice he had to make. There was only one way to save Japan, and it wasn't through the system. He would embark on the path of carnage, yet it would be carnage of his own choosing; every drop of blood spilled would be for Japan.

From the beginning, Suzaku knew only one thing.

He would destroy Britannia.

"You've left your Queen open here," Lelouch pointed out, moving his own Queen – the White Queen – to capture the piece. He indicated the square below his knight. "You could have played here instead. Sometimes it's better to send a mole into the enemy base than to attempt a frontal attack."

Suzaku chewed the inside of his lip. "I didn't see that."

"That's understandable; you were probably trying to distract me from my check by launching an attack here," he commented in his distinctly un-childlike tone, pointing to his own Queen. He sighed and moved a Pawn forward. "You shouldn't have defended against it at all. My check was a fake to distract you; even if I had followed through on it, you could easily have cut me off by hiding your King behind your Queen."

"I see." In truth Suzaku didn't understand entirely, but he could tell that Lelouch was trying to slow him down somewhat. He knew that he could be hot-headed at times, but for all his maturity he was still a child; creating a separate temperament for a board game was beyond him.

Lelouch, however, was the complete opposite; he was somewhat impulsive and quick to anger himself, but once he was behind a chess board he spoke with the air of a seasoned grandmaster.

Suzaku stared at the board, his eyes focussing on Lelouch's White pieces before coming to rest on his own Black ones. His eyes narrowed. "What are you doing, Lelouch?"

"Nothing." Lelouch seemed unconcerned, a smirk touching the corner of his lips.

"You've never let me win before; why would you do it now?" he growled, insulted by the blatant attempt at throwing the game.

His opponent shut his eyes again. "I'm not letting you win."

Suzaku's eyes scanned across the board once again, searching for any feasible way he could be wrong. He picked up the Black Knight and held it above a vacant square. "There's no way you can possibly win if I move here."

"Then do it."

He placed the piece down. "Checkmate."

Lelouch opened his eyes and looked at the board. "No it isn't."

"Yes it is!" Suzaku insisted. "There's only one square you can move your King to and it's covered by one of my Knights. The square it's on is covered by my other Knight and you have no way to capture it. That's checkmate, Lelouch!"

"What if I do this?"

Suzaku watched curiously as Lelouch reached out towards the pieces, his expression contorting into rage as his opponent casually plucked the White King off the board and held it in front of his face, examining it for imperfections.

"Wha–What?" he stammered, watching the other boy wipe a dirt mark off the side of the piece. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?" he asked, although he had clearly already anticipated the answer he would receive. For all of his chess knowledge, he sounded extremely curious.

"Because it's cheating!"

"What if it wasn't cheating?" he questioned, slowly turning his head to face Suzaku. "What if the normal rules of chess didn't apply? What would happen then?"

Suzaku glared at him. "But it's just a game!"

"And if it wasn't?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but something stopped him. Deciding to humour his impossibly confusing friend, he furrowed his brows and looked at the board once more. It seemed fairly even on both sides piece-wise, but Black had the impossible disadvantage of having no enemy King to attack. After almost a minute of thinking – through which Lelouch sat in silence and with closed eyes – he leant forward and moved the White Queen to an empty tile near his own King.

"If you move here, then you'd win by checkmating me."

Lelouch grinned, taking him by surprise. "That's right, Suzaku. I'd win!"

Dropping the White Queen haphazardly onto the board, he immediately reached for the Black King. A wicked gleam surfaced in his eyes as he pulled his arm back and launched the piece directly at Lelouch, who could do nothing to move out of the projectile's path. His eyes widened as it struck him in the exact centre of his forehead with deadly precision and fell towards the ground below.

Lelouch scowled. He hated bruises.

Suzaku, on the other hand, was looking exceedingly pleased with himself. "Ha! Now I'm the same as you!"

"What if I left my King on the board and you had me checkmated?" Lelouch asked, the scowl gradually fading from his face. "Would you still have taken yours off?"

A frown worked its way onto Suzaku's face; it was almost impossible to predict when Lelouch would completely change his mood. It was almost as if he had two separate personalities at times: the arrogant and abrasive ex-royal, along with the calm and calculative strategist sitting before him. He was never quite sure which of the two was the real Lelouch, either. Although he vacillated seemingly at random between them, Suzaku had noticed that he rarely acted like a child when Nunnally wasn't present.

It was as if he had unwillingly matured beyond his years, yet was still trying futilely to grasp the childhood he should have had.

If nothing else, he seemed determined to protect his sister from what him and – to a lesser degree – Suzaku had gone though, regularly sugar-coating anything he felt could tear away at her innocence when she asked him to explain it to her. Suzaku wasn't sure how effective it was, but he found himself following suit more and more over time.

They were his best friends. He would do anything for them.

"No. There's no point doing that. I'd have won, anyway."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow and placed his King two squares away from Suzaku's. "What if I put it back on right here?"

"You can't just do things like that!"

Lelouch's eyes narrowed, staring off into the distance in deep thought. "I have to know how to, or I'll never win."

Suzaku's expression softened.

"Chess is a two-dimensional game," he continued, slipping into a philosophical tone which didn't seem to suit a child his age, yet somehow fit Lelouch Vi Britannia perfectly. "The players are what makes the game three-dimensional."

"What are you saying?" Suzaku was once again perplexed by his friend's insight; he had only learnt the meaning of 'dimensional a few days ago himself.

"I'm saying that when there's no King for you to kill, then the only way to win is to kill your own."

Any response Suzaku intended to offer was cut off by a low rumbling sound in the distance. Their eyes met. There could only be one reason they were hearing that sound.

It was Britannia.

Suzaku was the first to clamber down the trunk of the tree, Lelouch in hot – albeit still horrendously slow – pursuit. He reached the hill at the back of Kururugi Shrine a few seconds later, scrambling up it and reaching the top by the time Lelouch had made it even half-way.

"Lelouch?" he called, not seeing the boy in his peripheral vision. He spun around and realised that he hadn't made it up yet. "Hurry up!"

"I don't think I can pull myself up!"

Suzaku groaned and extended a hand towards his friend. Their fingers met in midair and entwined, giving him enough leverage to pull the boy up. They stood there for a moment – Lelouch with his hands on his knees – trying to catch their breath. In unison, they remembered what had drawn their attention and spun around to face it.

The land was peaceful all the way from Kururugi Shrine to Mount Fuji, the sun's rays bathing it in a tranquil glow. It was a hideous contrast to reality. The sky from where they stood to the mountain was besieged by thousands of Britannian airships, like a swarm of angry wasps gathered around their nest.

"They're here!"

"Go and get our bags. I'll find Nunnally. " Lelouch was the first to start running, although he was overtaken almost immediately by Suzaku skidding down the hill past him.

Suzaku had already vaulted up through the branches of the tree and retrieved both of their bags by the time Lelouch had reached the door. The sound of it being thrown open violently echoed across the courtyard as he raced back towards the house, finding it still swinging when he made it there. Their haste was probably somewhat unnecessary, but more than anything, Lelouch always had to be sure that Nunnally was safe. He caught up to him in Nunnally's bedroom.

"Onii-sama?" Lelouch's shoulders visibly sagged in relief at the sound of her voice. She was lying on the bed and had evidently just woken up. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, there's nothing wrong," he responded after a moment, the lie burning yet another grotesque mark on his conscience. He ignored it. He didn't need a conscience, anyway. "You just need to stay here for a while. Can you do that for me?"

The young girl nodded somewhat hesitantly. "What about Suzaku? Where's Suzaku?"

Lelouch moved to take the girl's shaking hands, but pulled back at the last moment, deciding instead to grip her shoulder supportively. Since the death of their mother, she had developed an uncanny ability to decipher even the most tightly guarded emotions just by holding the person's hand.

He turned his head to see Suzaku standing in the doorway holding both bags. An unspoken agreement was made between the two of them and Suzaku nodded, leaving him alone with Nunnally.

A few minutes later, a tense, but no longer panicked Lelouch joined him in one of the other rooms. He was handed his backpack by Suzaku as he sat down, fishing through it and removing a thick manuscript which had been bound with twine across the horizontal and vertical axes. He placed it on a low, marble table between them and reached back in to withdraw a box of matches from the bottom of the bag.

A pointed look from Lelouch prompted Suzaku to follow suit, opening his own bag and taking out a small box made from pine. He placed it on the table next to Lelouch's manuscript and opened one of its three components, withdrawing a glass vial filled with a thick, red liquid.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's safe?"

"No! I just took it out of the crate," he snapped. While they had slowed down to a degree, the tension was still extremely high.

"It looks like blood."

Suzaku looked at it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess it does a bit."

Lelouch reached out and took the vial out of his hand, careful not to knock the stopper off the end. He lifted it up to his eyelevel, shaking it slightly and tilting his head to one side. Carefully, he removed the stopper and sniffed the liquid. The smell was so intense that he immediately reeled backwards and resealed it.

"What is it?"

"There's definitely a lot of blood in there," he explained. "It must have been synthesised from someone's blood."

"It must have been what?"

Lelouch groaned. The Imperial family had been very particular about having a large vocabulary, but the Kururugi's evidently hadn't found it to be a necessity. "It means that it was made from someone's blood."

Suzaku wrinkled his nose in disgust. "That's yuck!"

Lelouch's face lit up with a diabolical grin. "You have to drink it!"

"Do not!"

"How else could you take it?" he asked, dropping the grin completely.

"It's injected," Suzaku replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I've got them in here somewhere…"

Lelouch grimaced slightly and re-examined the vial. "Injected? That would hurt; there's a fair bit in here."

His expression lighting up for a moment, Suzaku pulled out a piece of paper, folded into quarters. "Ah, here! Instructions!"

His outburst prompted a blank stare from Lelouch. "It came with…instructions?"

"How else would we know how to use it?"

"That's not what I meant," he responded, shaking his head. "Why would something like this come with instructions? It doesn't seem like the kind of thing Britannia would want just anyone being able to use."

Suzaku shrugged. "Maybe it was for a stupid noble or something."

"I guess. What do they say?"

He took a moment to reread the contents. "According to this, once it's been injected, you have exactly one minute to specify which memories you want erased and which you want created."

Lelouch furrowed his brow. "So I just say it?"

"That's basically everything," Suzaku replied with a nod.

A frown quickly worked its way onto Lelouch's face. "Basically everything? We can't do anything half-heartedly, Suzaku; this is too important for that. I need all of the information."

He quickly checked the piece of paper. "That was everything."

"Good. How do I restore your memories?"

Suzaku carefully shut the lid on one compartment, turning the box around and opening another. Inside was a plastic vial, filled almost to the brim with a blue liquid. The lid was of the screw-on variety, rather than the rubber stopper used on the other vial. In all likelihood, it had been designed for durability.

"This one will give me my memories back."

Lelouch placed the first vial on the table, frowning once more and lifting up the document. "Why didn't you tell me that when we were writing this?"

"I didn't know until I read these," Suzaku insisted, dropping the instruction sheet onto the table. "All I heard was my father talking about a memory-altering drug being shipped from Britannia to Tōkyō. There were a few other details, but they didn't mention that."

"We were lucky, then," Lelouch concluded. "Are there any dangers?"

He checked the instructions once more. "Well…There's a long time before it can be safely removed."

"How long?"

"Nine years."

Lelouch groaned and glanced at the document in front of him. "That makes things difficult, but we don't have time to rewrite it. Your father is passing the new policies tomorrow; we have to act tonight."

He gulped. "I know."

"Nine years should be all right. It will take at least that long for you to get into the position we need you in."

Suzaku's eyes took on a faraway look. "It will be hard to become number one, especially with Laroque's performance in the Special Trainees."

"Special Trainees?" Lelouch asked in confusion. He had heard nothing about any 'Special Trainees.'

"It's a new program for children to be trained from a young age specifically to join the Knights of Round. It's so intense that only the most patriotic parents send their children there; at least, that's what father told me last night." He explained. "There are only two of them at the moment, Laroque and a girl a couple of years younger than him."

Lelouch massaged his temples. "Potential enemies."

"Potential allies," Suzaku corrected, surprising Lelouch with his perspective.

"True. You should join, in that case; a few years of extra training wouldn't hurt." Indeed, to Lelouch, it sounded like an excellent idea.

"Don't they have some sort of test?"

"Why are you asking me? I only found out about them a minute ago!" Lelouch responded, frustrated that he had once again not been given all of the information available. He forcibly calmed himself and continued. "They might have a lie-detector test to test your allegiance like the Knights of Round, but that's what the memory drug is for."

"I know."

He picked up the manuscript and waved it in front of Suzaku's face. "Have you even read this?"

"Of course I have! Don't be stupid, Lelouch!" he snapped, swatting it out of Lelouch's hand and back onto the table. "Have you?"

Lelouch glared at him as if it was an insult to his intelligence to even suggest that he might not have. "I know every word of it; I'm the one who wrote it!"

Suzaku leapt to the side of the table and grabbed him by the collar, growling in anger. "I put almost as much work into that as you and you know it!"

"That doesn't matter. Are you sure we didn't make any mistakes?"

Suzaku reluctantly let him go, watching as he brushed the imaginary dirt off his clothes and adjusted his collar. "I couldn't find any."

Lelouch opened his mouth to respond, but was distracted momentarily by the clock in the corner of the room. "Your father will be here in fifteen minutes. Are you ready for this, Suzaku?"

"I'm…I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

He nodded and pulled himself to his feet, surveying the luxurious furnishings of Kururugi Shrine. It was a far cry from the Imperial Family's concept of luxury, but he had changed since being exiled; it was enough for him. Regardless, there wouldn't be a Kururugi Shrine in a few days.

Reaching back down to his bag, he unzipped another pouch and withdrew a cloth bundle. He placed it carefully on the table next to both the manuscript and the wooden box and unfolded it slowly to reveal a dagger inside a leather sheath.

Both boys stared at it solemnly – almost reverently – each loath to be the first one to lift it into their hands. A bright golden metal made up the handle of the six-inch blade, although there was nothing so vibrant about its intended use.

Suzaku eventually reached out to grasp the brown, leather handle; the heaviness of the blade almost sickening him enough to drop it. It was his duty to be the first to hold it; it was his blade. He would not unsheathe it yet, however; some things were too horrible to deal with all at once.

"This is…" he began, the fingers holding the dagger trembling uncontrollably and almost causing him to drop it. "This is the blade I have to kill my father with…"

Lelouch placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's the only way–"

"–I know it's the only way to stop the bloodshed!" Suzaku snapped. "I was the one who suggested it, wasn't I?"

"Suzaku…we're running out of time." Lelouch's eyes were unfocussed as he spoke.

He sighed and hunched his shoulders in resignation. "You're right. I'll fill the syringe."

Lelouch schooled his features into a perfectly emotionless expression, watching Suzaku slowly pocket the knife and reach a shaking hand towards the vial.

He hesitated to call his stay at Kururugi Shrine 'enjoyable,' as such. More often than not, he had been on the receiving end of both verbal and physical reprimands from Suzaku for his distinctly royal attitude, yet that had not necessarily been a bad thing. Lelouch's technical mind preferred to think of it as 'useful.'

To accomplish his goals, he would need to be able to manipulate the Japanese people. Whether his manipulations would be against their will, solely to organise them, or a combination of both; Lelouch was unconcerned. Kururugi Shrine had given him a better understanding of Japan. Without intimate knowledge of everything from social customs to attitudes, he would never be taken seriously. Attempting to start a rebellion in Britannia itself would likely be easier than doing so in a foreign country, regardless of how desperate they were for one.

He may have found the Kururugis' hospitality more useful to his own goals than enjoyable, but there was no denying the reality of the situation; he had formed an extremely close bond with the young boy in front of him, who had just lifted a syringe out of the box's third compartment and was beginning to carefully fill it with the red liquid. It was a relationship that would be all but lost to him for the better part of a decade, but in the end it would be the one he would treasure the most.

From the moment they met, the deaths of Lelouch Vi Britannia and Kururugi Suzaku were sealed.

"I'm done."

Lelouch nodded, placing the blue vial back inside the box and, in turn, the box inside his bag. His expression was hard. "In less than a week, Japan will become Area 11. If we lose, it will remain that way forever. That is why we can't afford to lose."

"It's not impossible," Suzaku replied, his eyes firmly fixed on the blood red liquid as he tapped the syringe to remove a few air bubbles. "There's a barrier between us and them, but I will remove that boundary one day."

"You won't be alone," Lelouch reassured him. He gripped Suzaku's shoulder firmly. "One day we'll destroy Britannia. One day we'll restore Area 11 to Japan."

He transferred the syringe into his left hand slipped it between his index and middle fingers, ensuring that it was secure; they didn't have another vial to use if he dropped it. He slowly reached for the manuscript, removing the twine within a few seconds before firmly tying it around his bicep as a makeshift tourniquet.

Suzaku nodded resolutely, carefully handing the syringe to Lelouch. "Good luck, Lelouch. You'll need it."

"The same for you."

A hollow smile passed across his lips. "I won't really have much of a choice, will I?"

"I guess not."

Suzaku's eyes began to glaze over as Lelouch injected the substance into his arm, staring directly at him without so much as blinking.

"You will forget everything about the knowledge contained in the manuscript beside us, as well as your desire to fight against Britannia," Lelouch intoned with painstaking clarity, motioning towards the stack of papers on the table. He took a deep breath and continued; this was the most crucial part. "You will create a series of memories leading you to believe that it would be best for Japan if you killed your father tonight – in order to prevent a rebellion – and joined the Knights of Round with the goal of becoming Knight of One. They will convince you that the only way to achieve peace is by working with the system."

Suzaku's eyes flickered slightly, registering the modification.

Lelouch reached his hand towards Suzaku's pocket and plucked out the dagger, unsheathing it and cutting the twine, before slotting it back in exactly how he had found it. He glanced at the clock for the second time in under a minute; he still had thirty seconds left.

'Suzaku will probably be unconscious for a while when he's finished, but I should get rid of this anyway,' Lelouch thought, taking a match from the table and striking it against the side of the box. 'There's no going back, now.'

With the slightest of glances, Lelouch touched the burning match to the corner of the document. The clock showed that there was only fifteen seconds before the drug wore off. He watched in an almost solemn silence as the eerie yellow flames devoured months of hard work, leaving only ash in their wake.

The final words to be engulfed by the fire were those of the title – two words which would forever change the face of the world.

Zero Requiem

2019 a.t.b.

Suzaku's eyes snapped open and he leapt to his feet. He was confused – more confused than he had ever been – and he needed answers. There was only one person who could give him those answers.

"Lelouch!"

"Do you remember?" For the most part, Lelouch seemed unconcerned, although there was a slight glint in his eyes. It could have been relief, satisfaction, or a number of other things; but Suzaku was unconcerned at that point.

"Y–Yes," he stuttered, forcing the small amount of bile back down his throat. "It was us. We planned it. We planned it all?"

It wasn't a true question, but Lelouch nodded anyway.

As if a trigger had been pulled, Suzaku's expression turned feral, spinning Lelouch around and slamming him into the wall by the collar of his Zero costume. "No more lies, Lelouch! Did you use Geass on Euphy?"

"Yes."

"To massacre the Japanese?" he ground out, applying more pressure.

"I gave the order."

Suzaku moved his head closer, so that the tips of their noses were touching. He moved his hand to grip Lelouch's throat. "Why?"

"Geass isn't constant," Lelouch replied. He made no attempt to remove the hand threatening to suffocate him. "Mine grew in strength the day the Special Administrative Zone of Japan was to be established. I lost the power to repress it at will. It was my failure."

Suzaku's grip relaxed slightly, but his voice lost none of its venom. "That's a pathetic excuse, Lelouch."

"It's the truth."

"I know it is," Suzaku replied wearily. He had always held himself responsible – or at least partly so – for Euphemia's death; if he had caught Zero sooner, she would never have died. The drug had shown him that he was to blame. 'I created Zero. Lelouch and I created that monster.'

His eyes narrowed once again. "What about Shirley's death?"

"I could not control Rolo. That was my failure," Lelouch answered. "The outcome, however, was not."

Suzaku barely heard him speak, the psychological pressure literally forcing him to his knees. Lelouch rubbed his own neck and pulled Suzaku to his feet. "It should pass."

"It's not that." Suzaku shook his head. "Why aren't I against this? Why don't I hate myself for what we've done?"

Lelouch bent down to his eyelevel. "We used the drug to manipulate your memories so that your values would be directly influenced. It is imperative that you maintain your resolve from nine years ago."

Suzaku shivered, but nodded nonetheless. "Did you discover anything about the drug? It was never mentioned in the Knights of Round or the regular military."

"The Selective Memory Modifier – as it was named – was created by Bartley Asprius under the orders of Charles Zi Britannia," Lelouch replied. "He wanted to find out if the abilities of a Geass could be synthesised and used by another person. When the project was pronounced successful, he stopped providing samples from his own and sold the spare prototypes to high-paying nobles. Naturally, he removed any mention of Geass."

Suzaku stared at him. "So I've been under a Geass?"

"More than one," Lelouch reminded him. "I placed a Geass on you to live, because I needed you alive for our plan. I had thought about removing it using Jeremiah's Geass Canceller, but the drug had an extra limitation in that it couldn't be removed for nine years. If my hunch was right about it being derived from Charles' Geass, doing so could have killed you."

"Why didn't I ever hear about him using the same process with other Geass powers? Surely he would be collecting as many different samples as he could with access to that technology?" Suzaku asked. "Why didn't he use yours to control you?"

Lelouch thought about his answer for a moment. "He did collect other samples. The use of Laroque's Geass allowed Britannia to reach the Third Age of Knightmare Frame development before regular production even reached the Second Age. From what I understand about the process, it would never have been as powerful as it was when Laroque used it."

"But why didn't he collect yours? It would have been extremely useful to him."

Lelouch shrugged. "The process is long and complicated. It's one thing for him to use his Geass on the Student Council, but more people would notice if I went missing for months."

Suzaku leant heavily against the wall. "How can everything be so different, but not destroy our plan? The tiniest little thing could have made it useless, but all of these changes haven't changed anything?"

"We never knew about Geass when we wrote it, which is why you entered the Knights of Round for training and to attempt to convert any allies – particularly Laroque – to our cause once the drug was released," Lelouch answered. He walked to the back of the theatre and peeled a black film off one of the windows, looking out at the night sky. "The power of Geass sped up our plan by years, but Charles, Schneizel and Zero remained the same. We made sure to adjust for anything that had a realistic possibility of occurring, but we were fortunate that the changes weren't overly disruptive."

"You were right about Schneizel," Suzaku commented, lifting his head to stare at the various worn-out cables above the stage. "Did it work?"

"Yes, it did."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Will Schneizel revert to his previous strategy? Your performance as Zero tonight would have made him suspicious."

"Schneizel can reliably defeat anybody in the world other than me," Lelouch replied. He turned around to face Suzaku once again. "He believes me to be dead, so I deliberately used a Geass that was not my own in order to maintain that illusion. It's almost certain that he has identified another Geass as existing, but he will not be concerned enough about it to revert to the initial conditions."

"Where did you find another Geass user? You wiped out the Directorate yourself."

He made his way back over to Suzaku, stopping a few feet in front of him.

"Shirley."

"What?" Suzaku shouted incredulously. "She's dead, Lelouch, and it was your fault!"

"C.C. gave Shirley a Geass shortly after the Narita battle," he replied with a slight shiver; it still unnerved him how close his friend had come to death. He'd had many people he knew die during the war, but he could never be desensitised to a friend's death. Even Tamaki, who had been something of a nuisance to him, had struck a chord in him when he died. It had been enough to bring him and Shirley out of hiding for his funeral.

Tears were freely streaming down Suzaku's cheeks. He grabbed Lelouch by the shoulders and looked up at him desperately. "Then she used the Geass to survive? She's alive? Tell me, Lelouch! Is she alive?"

He nodded. "Yes. She is delivering a message to Kallen right now, so she shouldn't run into any problems."

"So that's why you didn't come to her funeral. You knew she was alive." Suzaku wiped the stray tears from his face, but not the smile.

"No, not quite," he admitted. "I found out on the way there. She dragged me into an alley to inform me that she was alive. It almost gave me a heart attack."

Suzaku laughed. "Naturally. Even the Tianzi could probably kidnap you with ease."

The glare he received almost gave him a heart attack.

"Shirley's geass, Absolute Animation, allows her to instantly create an artificial body of any description – so long as it is human – and control it as if it were an extension of her own body," Lelouch continued, ignoring Suzaku's barb. "When active, she loses vision in the eye that contains her Geass, which is then replaced by the corresponding vision from her double."

"Then the one who died–"

"–Was one of Shirley's doubles," Lelouch finished. "She replaced herself with one before entering the station. According to her, the knowledge of how to use her Geass and its abilities was instinctive. I experienced much the same thing myself."

"That's how you survived, isn't it?" Suzaku asked carefully. "I didn't want to ask before. I was afraid you had sacrificed someone for the sake of our plan. You could easily have had ordered someone to disguise themselves as you with your Geass."

Lelouch chose to ignore the final comment; he had done far worse than that in his life. He supposed Suzaku had reason to suspect it would happen, for that particular method was a last resort in their original plan. "The doubles are also permanent, lasting even beyond disengagement of the Geass, as well as the 'death' of the bodies."

"Couldn't she use them as a remote army, then? They would be perfect soldiers," Suzaku asked. The gears in his head were already beginning to turn as he received new information.

Lelouch shook his head. "No. One of the limitations on her Geass is that her doubles can only deliberately interact with other objects in relatively minor ways, such as sitting on a chair or leaning on your shoulder; to use them to attack is beyond its capacity. Unintentional interactions – such as being stabbed, tapped, or bumped into – don't have the same limitations."

Suzaku nodded, allowing Lelouch to continue.

"It would also be painful for her to consistently use them for suicide attacks; all pain the doubles experience is felt by her between thirty seconds and one minute after disengaging the Geass, albeit considerably dampened. A bullet to the heart, for example, would only feel like a kick in the chest to her when she releases the Geass."

"So we have Shirley's Geass to work with as well," Suzaku muttered to himself. "What about Schneizel? How did he escape? It didn't happen the way we had planned."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow, the corner of his lips tilting up in a smirk. "Even after all this, you still call him that. Why?"

"It's easier that way," he replied with a shrug.

Lelouch ignored him. "I used my Geass on Nina to have her rescue him during the commotion after my death."

"Wouldn't Schneizel be suspicious of Nina? She allied with you in the war and provided you with a means to stop the FLEIJA he fired; she has no motive to help him."

Lelouch shook his head. "The crowd was far too thick to see what was happening, and I made sure to use my Geass on every camera operator in the area to stop recording a few minutes after my death. I also had the security thoroughly frisk everyone at the entrances to remove any cameras."

"I see. There were no cameras in the venue, so he couldn't have known who did the rescuing," Suzaku mumbled. "But what happened to Nina?"

"Schneizel has captured her," Lelouch replied, clenching his fists. "I have discovered that she is being held in a research facility two hours from the Tokyo Settlement. He has been forcing her to research further applications of nuclear weaponry by subjecting her to torture if she refuses."

"If Schneizel is going to resort to torture, why couldn't he just interrogate her to force a confession that she was the one who rescued him?" Suzaku asked.

He shook his head. "People under the effects of my Geass don't remember the commands I give."

Suzaku had the decency to look slightly sheepish. "I forgot. There's a lot of new information for me to take in."

"I know."

His tone darkened. "We can't let her stay there, though! We have to rescue her!"

"No," Lelouch replied bluntly. "We have more important things to do."

Suzaku gripped him by the collar and slammed him back against the wall. "How could you say that, Lelouch? This is our friend we're talking about! Would you really just leave her to the mercies of someone like Schneizel?"

"Nina is someone who desperately seeks atonement," Lelouch replied. Suzaku slowly released him and took a step backwards. "There are more immediate things we must attend to. Allowing her to make this sacrifice is a mercy that, as friends, we owe her."

His words struck a chord in Suzaku's mind, forcing his heartbeat to speed up noticeably. Since murdering his father, he had dedicated his entire life to atonement. He had even betrayed his entire country to do so. 'If there's anything I can do to help her, even if it's only one thing, I'll do it.'

"She was able to put aside my crimes and work with me to create a better world. She is a lot like you in that respect."

"It wasn't really me," he replied. 'I haven't been myself for nine years…'

Lelouch shook his head. "No, the drug can only artificially instil values. How you react to them is entirely your own nature."

It wasn't much, but it was enough to reassure Suzaku that he hadn't been a mindless pawn for almost a decade. The thought of that possibility was enough to make him shudder.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head and changed the subject. "Schneizel is operating out of Romania. We located an organisation registered as Toromo Institute there."

"How did you find that out?"

"An anonymous tip…" Suzaku trailed off. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Lelouch smirked, but refused to give a direct answer. "We should leave soon; Kanon is still in the car."

"What are you planning on doing with him, anyway?" Suzaku asked curiously. Lelouch's Geass made torture unnecessary, but keeping a highly-ranked military officer captive during a search would make things difficult. "You know, you could have just left him there."

Lelouch seemed indecisive for a moment, a phenomenon which seemed impossible to Suzaku. "I will take him back to my apartment for the meantime and keep him unconscious for a week."

"Why unconscious?"

"He can't be allowed to wake up," Lelouch replied. "If he does, he could die."

He didn't ask for clarification; Lelouch could be trusted to know what he was doing. As it was, his mind was so inundated with information that he couldn't bring himself to care either way.

Lelouch left the theatre in silence, pausing in the main doorway. He stared first at the car, then at the night sky. It had taken him hours of driving – often retracing his steps – and a concentration that would be beyond most people, but he had managed to cover his tracks perfectly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue baseball cap, fitting it firmly on top of his head.

"When you said you were going to destroy Britannia, you already had a plan," Suzaku mused, moving to stand next to him.

"There have been changes," he admitted. "But this is still the only chance we have."

Suzaku turned the Zero mask over in his hands. There was no voice-masker; this was the original. He slowly moved it to his face, allowing the mechanism to attach itself.

He held out his hand to Lelouch and they shook.

"For Zero Requiem."