Flashback

Kallen ran a thumb over the forehead of the dead giver of Geass, which for her long experience with the phenomenon almost seemed a contradiction in terms. C.C was the implacable nightmare and ally, and to see her opposite in this state took some confirmation for her to take seriously.

Sure enough, the mark of a Geass giver, the Code C.C had called it, was absent, his forehead far cleaner than the elderly conscience the half-boy would leave behind. She could only hope it was all he had left behind, as she scoured ahead for traps.

All she came across was a vast wall, not dissimilar in design to the site underneath Kamine Island, if grander in scale. Given Schneizel's reported obstinace over that godforsaken spit of Pacific island it did not surprise her to discover that it was involved intricately in whatever designs the shadowy Directorate possessed.

It took twenty minutes of cautious approach to allow her fingers to glance the wall, a mere swipe, however among the varied things she had anticipated, the wall striking back was not among them.

It was a bizarre experience, the wall seeming to wrap at its edges and pull itself around her, placing her in a cocoon. What followed was a bizarre psychedelic experience that defied any reasonable explanation. Any attempt to grasp at its quantities or rationalise any one dimension would cause irreparable change to all others in what seemed to be a drug fueled interpretation of the Uncertainty Principle, as she watched a colour palette vomit over her eyes while she fell, and fell up.

This process continued for some time, time being difficult to measure in this context, however she was eventually placed on a stone floor with considerable vigour, faceplanting in front of a set of stairs.

After what was not the most graceful of entrances, Kallen attempted to prop herself up onto all fours and springing up into a running start position, and then on into a combat stance as she looked up and around at the bizarre setting she found herself in. For one, it was certainly an improvement in terms of lateral stability, as the Romanesque platform of steps and pillars was at the very least still relative to Kallen's feet, which was a positive, however the surroundings, a twilight, cloudy evening surveyed by Jupiter, as not as easily explained as the 'night on acid' experience that she had gone through to get here.

Once she had her bearings, and was certain there was nothing behind her, she charged forward, heading up the steps with great vigor towards a sight that convinced her that whatever wall-based drugs had brought her this far were still in effect; C.C was standing next to the Emperor of Britannia, calmly chatting next to a large faux-double helix that spanned the entire horizon that could be seen. After a moment's gawking, she indignantly roared "C.C!", after deciding that her witch being here was more bizarre than the Emperor, if only on the basis of blatant treachery.

The pair turned to Kallen, who was pointing accusingly like a pariah, and after a moment they finally spoke, the Emperor Charles filling the infinite stage with his vast voice.

"Ah, your leftovers have arrived C.C." he announced, sporting the grin of the snuggest man to ever live. Kallen could only sneer as C.C, feigning a caring motion, called over "Oh hello there. Sorry I couldn't make it to the battle, I've been a bit busy."

"The hell you have!" Kallen shouted, before pulling out a pistol, skipping past Geass, and firing the entire capacity into Charles's chest. To her dismay, the Emperor only recoiled, maintaining his upright stance and chuckling.

"That would have killed me ten minutes ago. Did you not see what happened to Victor?"

Kallen hesitated, uncertain as to who this Victor character was. Noting this, the Emperor laughed "Surely you saw him, on your way in; my brother, cursed to the eternal life of C.C. I was able to set him free, bless his soul, just as I will set you all free."

The rebel remembered the boy well, though as V.V, and not a person with a name. He had not been a person with a name; he had been a problem. The Emperor seemed to know this, and asked "Do you even know your sponsor's name?"

He smiled triumphantly as Kallen tried to hide her frustration, before he laughed again and spoke her name to address her, asking "Well what do you think of that? Mm?"

Kallen now sensed she was losing whatever advantage she had, and attempted to shift the discussion, and distract herself from the undying woman's real name, which had seemed to make the witch at once uncomfortable and prideful. After a moment, she asked "What the hell are you planning?"

"What is my incentive for revealing my designs to you?" Charles sneered, defying the trope of villains revealing their plans at the last moment, however C.C muttered "We're both immortal, what can she do?"

Charles shook his head, but still sighed and said "Do as you wish, the Sword of Akasha, with your help, is nearly ready."

Kallen moved to grab the razor out from her boot, however the green haired Geass giver stopped her, asking "Are you really going to keep trying?"

"Damn right I am!"

She tried to move forward with the blade, however the immortal woman held her back, simply saying "Don't…"

Kallen shook herself in frustration, asking "Why the hell should I not? That's the damn Emperor!"

"I'm more than aware." the witch answered, before continuing "But in this instance, there is nothing to stop."

"She is right." came a voice from behind. Kallen turned around to face a black haired woman, who, after examining Kallen's apparent confusion, explained "I'm Lelouch's mother Marianne, it's nice to meet you Kallen."

After briefly wondering whether she had wandered into a bizarre interdimensional family reunion, she waved aside and roared "Nevermind that! What is going on here?"

Marianne shook her head, but in more of a pleasant fashion than normally typified the action, like a parent explaining something to a child while silently acknowledging how cute the situation was, and then began "The Sword of Akasha was Charles and Victor's big idea since they were very young. My husband came to power among a court of lies that had killed his own mother, and the siblings swore to use their new power to create a world without lies."

As the skyline began to darken, Marianne continued. "At first this just meant political power, in the same way our son has tried in Japan, but just as he is now seeing, they saw that without extreme measures, this sort of transformation is impossible. However, at the same time Victor not only discovered Geass, but earned a Code. With these, they realised that a world without lies could indeed be crafted. This is the purpose of the Sword of Akasha: Instrumentality."

Kallen was now catching on, asking "You'd put that sort of world on everyone by force?"

"Towards the end of a better life." Marianne countered. "All the lies and secrets that divide us, gone. How much pain has been caused by our selfish, petty hidden thoughts? How much has my dear Lelouch isolated himself? How has Suzaku Kururugi, bless his soul, lost his deserved position as Prime Minister? How have you lost the trust of the Black Knights, your closest comrades? These are the lies that divide us; paranoia through distrust, affairs, and yet more distrust."

Kallen was by this point suspecting that this Marianne character had some manner of supernatural awareness of the world, however the rebel was still shocked as to its extent, dropping her knife. To say Lelouch was paranoid was not a feat of deduction, though she had been unaware of the real reason for Suzaku's resignation. All that said, it was the revelation of the Black Knights distrust of her that really put her off. What had she done? She could only guess. Lies were integral to her identity; at this point she could well say she was made of a collection of lies. She doubted she could get two people to ever agree on who Kallen Kozūki really was, which suited her just fine. But the Black Knights, according to Marianne, seemed to be disagreeing a little more than was ideal, which worried her greatly.

Seeing Kallen's uncertainty, Marianne leapt, continuing "Everyone will win. We can all see each other for who we are, the dead can reunite with the living, and your friend can finally reach her own end; mortality."

Kallen then turned on the green haired immortal, who was looking solemn, and asked "That was what you wanted? To die?"

"I've been alive since the third century. I think I've done plenty."

Kallen felt utterly defeated. The elderly witch had had enough, and in believing Kallen would not be able to fulfil her wish, had thrown her lot in with the not just the empire, but Charles' own harebrained scheme. It was a desperate state of affairs that grew more desperate as the floating double helix behind them began to expand, shouting with voices that drowned each other out.

However, the voices in Kallen's head were far louder. This plot hit her from out of nowhere, from so far beyond her realm of thinking it took her several moments to catch herself, in which time Marianne and the witch both walked past her, the latter snarkily commenting "Enjoy your private musings while you can."

Kallen shook her head, her forehead sinking lower as she was left alone, facing away from the light. She was initially uncertain; the lies that surrounded her had cost her a great deal, and Charles's random imperialism seemed to now have merit, however the more she thought, the more she realised these were not wholesome actors.

She now thought beyond Japan, a new realm for Kallen, but a necessary one. For the first time her self-given responsibilities dwarfed that of her countries, and yet included them. The stakes were so vast they drowned her.

But she knew, if the people of Japan relied so much on the little secrets to enjoy individuality, then surely all people of the world must? What made them different?

Suddenly, her outrage grew. Who was this man to make decisions for all the people of the world, especially on an issue that would inherently remove their ability to make private decisions? More specifically, what authority did he have to do this for anyone outside Britannia? They at the very least recognised him as their leader, but he did not rule the French, the Germans, the Poles, the Turks, or the Japanese.

This was just an extension of his imperialist games.

"Damn it…" she hissed, bending down to her knee and sliding up her knife quietly. She couldn't kill him, but she could distract him long enough. If she didn't spend every conscious moment doing all she could, it would be a moral failure to Japan and to the world.

"Stick to ruining your own damn country!"

Shouting this at the top of her lungs, she turned heel and hurled the knife into the back of Charles' forehead with all her might, before shoving the green haired witch out of her way and throwing herself at the mercy of the spiral.

"I don't know who's listening… but please, stop this now! I command you, stop it now!"

Many thanks to MORTheDivineBeing, Ladynx, TitanFire999, Patjeeson, MMBrowsing, and GTHC for reviewing this Arc!