A Code Geass fanfic. I own nothing.
A sequel to The Funeral.

~ Truth or Lies

A weak man and a strong woman

Jacob starred at Zero, as if trying and failing to understand what he'd just been told by the vigilante. The others in the room weren't much better off. They knew who was beneath the mask now, but it seemed as if simply by wearing the mask the person beneath became an enigma.

"Are you familiar with the concept of justice, mr Edwards?" Zero asked, as he reached for something beneath his cape. Edwards nodded, fright evident in his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Zero withdrew a gun from his cape, pointing it directly at Edwards head, finger on the tricker. "Are you absolutely positively sure? I don't like being lied to." Some of the Black Knights snorted, forgetting themselves for a minute. Zero, not liking being lied to? Pot calling kettle black.

"Zero, are you sure you should.." Ohgi began, but was cut off.
"I am above law, prime minister. Those who can not be killed cannot be contained. I deal out judgement when other fails too. I am trias politica, the separation of powers, in one man. I am the one man, who can wield these powers alone."

The frowns deepened on the faces of the Black Knights as Zero continued. Edwards stared at Zero, pale and starting to shake.
"Please don't kill me!" he begged, trying to move away despite him being bound.
Zero brought the gun closer to Edwards head, tilting his head lightly.

"I despise men like you Edwards. You believe in your own ideology, but when faced with the consequences, you cover in fear and forget everything in order to safe yourself. You seemed to think that attempting murder on a empress would put you in prison. And you would've liked that, being able to brag about what you attempted to do, about your courage, your betrayal. But, as a dead man, no one will never ever hear about you. You will be forgotten, sink down in history as a mere footnote. If you're lucky."

Zero raised the gun, pressing it against Edwards head. "The only ones who should kill are those prepared to be killed. Goodbye Edwards."

"NO!" several occupants of the room jumped into motion, Edwards yelled in fright and pushed back, the chair falling backwards, the ladies hands flew to their ears and eyes while the others looked away, awaiting the shot.

A faint click was heard, and everything stopped. Xing Ke, Ohgi and Tohdoh all stopped, Kaguya and Nunnaly lowered their hands. Edwards was lying on his back, tears running from his wide eyes, shaking and gasping. "You.. you.. you are too weak to kill a man!" he laughed.

Zero pulled back the gun. "It takes nothing to take a life. I'm not like you Edwards, I don't kill without reason. And you are a petty reason" he put away the gun.
"I never meant to kill you. Or I simply forgot to load the gun. Take your pick, it doesn't matter to me. I've said to you all I wanted to say. Now you are ready to be handed over to the rightful wielders of justice. And I believe they are going to execute you. To think, you'll die knowing Zero spared your life, and your own countrymen condemned you to death."

Zero took a step back. "I've seen what I needed to see, and heard what I needed to hear. You are a footnote in history Edwards, nothing more. Possibly less." Zero turned around, bowing lightly to Nunnaly.

"Your majesty."

With that he left the room and the shocked occupants.

The Black Knights walked back into the office in which they only a small hour prior had witnessed the death of Suzaku Kururugi.

Zero stood in the middle of the room, waiting.

"What was that?" Ohgi demanded, when the door had been securely closed and locked. "What was the point? We thought..!"

"That I would shoot him? Please, don't insult me." Zero reached up, and removed the helmet. Her long green hair fell down around her, as C2 reappeared. The Black Knights relaxed. For a brief moment they had all wondered if Suzaku had returned from the death.

"Where is Edwards now?" C2 asked, looking at Tohdoh.
"Locked away. He'll be handed over to the britanians as soon as we have everything under control. We've already leaked information to the press, that both Nunnaly and Zero are alive and well. Zero was hit in the arm and leg, which caused the blood. He was wearing kevlar under his clothes, stopping the bullets from killing him."

C2 nodded. "Good." she placed the mask on the table, shaking her hair.
"I will have to cut my hair, there is no room what so ever inside that thing."

"Where's Suzaku?" asked Nunnaly

C2 looked at the empress. "Somewhere safe. I'll arrange for his funeral. I suggest the same place as Rolo and Lelouch."

Nunnaly nodded, as an awkward silence filled the room.

"So. What's with the outfit?" Tamaki asked hesitantly, eying C2 with a slightly sick look in his eyes. She raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"The bullet holes are in the exact same places as Suzaku's.. are you wearing his clothes, and his blood?" Tohdoh asked, eyes reflecting the same feelings as the others.

C2 laughed. "Of course not. This is my Zero costume, giving to me by Lelouch." she looked down at herself. "Though it is sad that I had to ruin it like this."

"You made the holes? What about the blood?"

She looked annoyed. "I just told you, I made them. The blood is mine."

They looked at her, doubt in their eyes. "You're lying."
That clearly surprised her. "Why would I lie about that?"

"Ah, come on! You are saying you shot yourself to create an exact replica of Suzaku's clothes and you're acting like we're crazy! We can see you are not hurt." Chiba deadpanned, folding her arms. The others nodded, frowning.

C2 looked at them, surprised. Then she smiled. "I forgot, you don't know. Well then, allow me to demonstrate."

She pulled out the gun from earlier, and looked down herself.
"I think that.. there's a wound missing around.. here." she placed the gun against her chest, and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot caused the others to jump back in shock. C2 sank down on the floor, blood pooling around her.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Tamaki yelled, panicking "She shot herself! What the hell?"

Nunnaly and Kaguya starred at the still woman on the floor, eyes wide and shocked. Ohgi had his arms around Kallen, who had looked ready to throw herself at the witch. "Don't Kallen!"
Tohdoh kneeled besides C2, feeling her neck. He shaked his head.

The rooms occupants looked at each other, shock written all over their faces.

"What's the big idea? She comes here, gets all emotional with Suzaku, allows him to die, says she can speak with the dead, turns into Zero, scares the shit out off everybody, and then she just shoots herself?" Viletta sounded both angry and terrified. Two deaths in her house in one day. She did not like that.

"What do we do now?" Ohgi asked, letting go of Kallen.

"Stop yelling for one thing." a grumpy voice sounded.

Tohdoh did something he'd never done before in his life. He scrambled back to his feet, eyes wide. The rest of the Black Knights lost their jaws for god knows what time that day.

C2 moved, and a second later she raised herself up in sitting position. She looked down herself at the wound and blood.
"Perfect." She then looked at the others.

"but.. you shot yourself! You died!" Kallen stammered, not believing her own eyes.

C2 waved her off, as she stood up. "Please stop with the yelling. Committing suicide isn't exactly fun. It gives a splitting headache."

Nunnaly looked at her curiously. "How can you be alive?" she asked calmly.
C2 looked at the empress, a smile forming on her lips.
"You remind me so much of Lelouch. He always saw my inability to die as something very intriguing." C2 lowered herself onto a chair, shaking blood out of her hair.

"I can't die. Not from age, not from disease, not from wounds. Nothing can kill me. I am the bearer of something called the Code. I can't tell you where it's from or how it works. But think of it as the final stage of Geass."

"That's what you and Suzaku talked about." Kallen remembered the words C2 had shared with the dying Suzaku. "He knew about your.. immortality."

C2 nodded. "Yes. Both he and Lelouch knew, along with a couple of others. Most of them are dead.. in fact, with Suzaku all who once knew is dead now. You are my new secret keepers." C2 looked at Tamaki.

"I know you picked up your habit of calling me a witch from Lelouch. He called me a witch because of this inability to die. He pitied my because of it." She closed her eyes. "And as his Geass grew stronger he started to refer to himself as the devil himself." she smiled to herself. "He really enjoyed making up names."

She then shook her head. "How I envy Suzaku." she said sadly, before standing up.
"But no need to cry. The world is still in need of heroes." she kneeled down in front of Nunnaly. "And the people leading the world is still in need of protection." she laid her hands in Nunnaly's, looking into the bright eyes of the young empress.

"Your majesty, please let me take the place as your guard, as Zero. I am able to protect you in ways no other can, and you'll never once again have to fear for the life of the person behind the mask. I am no longer human, though I am now more human than I've been for centuries. Suzaku's frail mind couldn't handled the constant loneliness. But I can. And as my last promise to Lelouch and Suzaku, let me guard you." she laid her head against Nunnaly's knees. "I never want to be insignificant again."

They watched in awe, as C2 rested her head against Nunnaly's knees. Nunnaly had tears in her eyes, as she gently put her free hand on C2's head.

"I'll consider it a great honor to be protected by you, lady C2. You are the one who kept my brother alive for so long, who kept him sane. I hope you'll do the same for me, so I can fulfill my brothers dream. Please rise as a knight of the empire, Lady Zero."

C2 stood up, taking the sword by her side. In a shift motion her long hair fell to the floor. She took the mask of Zero, placing it upon her head.

The voice of the first Zero, of Lelouch, replaced C2's voice.

"We have things to do."

And the epic music fades out. I didn't really plan for the chapter to be so 'all hail C2', but what the hell it works.
It's amazing what a little bit of time off can do to my writing, two chapters in one week.

Epilogue is coming up, hopefully next weak.