We have the second chapter, which oddly enough wasn't meant to exist as a continuation of the last one as when I planned out all the plot points and materials for chapter 1, it was meant to be just the one chapter, but it final draft turned out to be longer than expected, guess I'm still used to overstuffing my chapters but it does allow me to better pace things. Anyway, same deal as last time, please leave a comment on what you liked, what you didn't, and where you think I can do better.

Chapter 2: Turning Point – Part 2

In the time it took for Jeremiah to arrive, the trio stayed silent as Lelouch seemed to meditate or nap, Anya couldn't tell as for the most part, he didn't move from his spot, he didn't fidget, he didn't even open his eyes though part of her was grateful for that as the sight of those crimson ravens, they scared her. C.C. was closer to the powered-down Shinkiro, having turned her attention to the light reflecting off the water as he flowed to and from with the current. Anya herself convinced that she didn't need to be as cautious around the two, also shut down the Mordred and left it, taking a seat with her pistol in hand.

30 minutes later, they all heard the sound of a knightmare approaching but where C.C. and Anya flinched at the possibility that it was either a Black Knight r Imperial one, Lelouch stayed calm as he recognized the unique sound of its float system. As he thought, the knightmare landed close by before a few minutes later, the former purist landed in the cavern, having taken the short route from the cliff above. 'Your majesty, Jeremiah Gottwald, as you requested, has arrived.' Jeremiah bowed low to his liege, who merely opened an eye to watch him as he nodded his head.

'Thank you for your timely arrival, I trust that you weren't followed?' Lelouch asked, fully aware that his enemies knew that Jeremiah was loyal to him, not Britannia or the Black Knights, so him going somewhere without good explanation would have been obvious to even someone like Tamaki.

'Unlikely your majesty, I took the liberty of removing my IFF and placing it on one of the Akatsukis as it left to join the search, it will take some time before anyone realizes this.' Jeremiah had been fortunate enough to receive his call just before he could head out, which gave him time to remove his IFF and place it on a decoy. That, along with a lie about where he was going seemed to have worked as the entire time he flew here, he kept an eye out for anything on his own IFF screens and radar and saw nothing of note.

'Good. With you here, we can start.' Lelouch nodded his head as he finally stood up, walking towards the cautious Anya with the confused Jeremiah in toe.

'Start what, your majesty?' The cyborg asked, while he wouldn't question his Lord, he did find it odd that someone that had been his Lord's stanch enemy ever since they arrived in Japan.

'I want you to use your geass canceller on Anya.' Lelouch told him, keeping his gaze on the girl whose eyes widened at the scene of him living up to his words. Hearing this, Jeremiah turned to face her as well but didn't see the usual red rings around her eyes. Was it a subconscious command?

'She's under the effects of a geass?' Lelouch replied, he wasn't sure at first but having thought about Shirley and how she reacted when he first arrived, he had been able to theorize that his canceller seemed to unlock memories that would otherwise be suppressed by geass and while he first believed that Geass prevented the brain from recording short term memories into long term storage, Viletta's pursuit of him disproved that, which meant that Anya's memories weren't gone or damaged but merely scattered, out of reach of her mind through conventional means, but he had an unconventional solution.

'More like suffering the side effects of one, you can clear her mind, right?' He turned to the cyborg, his sight trained on the man who nearly flinched at the look in his Lord's eyes.

'Of course, your majesty.' Jeremiah nodded his head before walking up to the girl, bowing once he had closed the distance. 'Greeting, Knight of 6. I trust that you're aware of what is about to happen?' While he would still carry out his order regardless of her feelings, he would appreciate this if she was at least willing. Having no real clue about what the two had talked about, nor knowing what geass was, Anya was still apprehensive.

However, she didn't have many other options and Lelouch seemed to be genuine, and if Zero really was dead, then he wasn't her enemy, right? 'Not really but…this might be my best shot at remembering again.' She looked at her hands, clenching them a few times as he wished to have that back, she may not be sure if she was always like this, but she liked to believe she was, that she could return to that. Seeing her confused, but firm resolve to go through with this helped remove any reservations from the mind of the traitorous noble.

'I see, then so be it.' Jeremiah told her as his geass canceller activated, creating a near unperceivable blue wave that encompassed the part of the cave the three were in. As Lelouch had already used it to clear the command he placed on himself when he went up against Mao, there was no effect on him and for a moment, it seemed like Anya was the same as she didn't react.

'Was that it, I don't…feel.' Anya felt disappointed that whatever they attempted didn't work, but midway through her sentence, her mind began to clear as it felt like waterways that had long since backed up suddenly cleared, with that clearage, she could start to recall things she normally would forget like what she had to breakfast a few days prior, the conversations she had in her classmates before the 2nd battle of Tokyo. More than that, she could recall things even further back, years back as one memory came out over all the others: the night that Marianne was gunned down by the strange boy. 'I can remember. I was there when she died.' She looked at Lelouch, wondering how she never recognized him when she had stayed in his home, she had played with him and Nunnally, however how briefly.

Seeing that she was indeed starting to remember things, Lelouch offered a small smile of sympathy, knowing that she was no doubt focused on that dreadful night when their lives changed forever. 'You were, forgive me for never recalling you, I'm usually quite good at remembering faces.' He said, missing how Jeremiah looked lost by this exchange. However, Anya did notice but didn't seem to care as she started to smile, crying tears of joy as she started to recall everything, she felt so happy that she started to cheer while she cried, jumping up and down like a little girl but she didn't care, she hadn't felt like this since she was a little girl and she would make up for the lost time.

None of them stopped her as she went through the jubilation of regaining a part of herself she wasn't even sure ever existed. Anya near danced around, bumbling as she could recall her favorite foods from childhood, the names and faces of her parents, how she was memorized when she first met Marianne the flash, the excitement of getting to spend 3 whole weeks with her learning etiquette. However, she came to a stop, her expression turning ugly as rage and disgust came to the forefront as she started to recall that night in more detail, and what came after.

'And she took my life from me! She…she used me like a puppet, I never wanted to be a soldier and….and.' Anya paused, looking at her shaky hands, nearly dropping her gun as she hugged herself, trying to stave away the self-loathing as her face, a mess of tears, sweat, and snot only continued to weep as she fell to her knees. 'I've killed so many.' She whispered out, as if afraid that a vocal admittance would bring the reaper down on her, to drag her away for her crimes.

Here, C.C. looked away, as she hadn't ever thought about how Anya would take all this, and even now she didn't really care all that much but she also knew that was part of the problem as she started to think to herself when did she start using others like tools, when did she become okay with the freedom and choices of others being stripped from them? Jeremiah didn't know what was going in, as Anya, in her entire tirade from the heights of joy, the valleys of rage and now the depths of misery hadn't given much away as she babbled about seemingly anything and everything she could. Still, he could recognize the look of someone lost, someone questioning themselves and their actions as he had that look once, and he wouldn't wish it on his worse enemy, at least in death.

Lelouch, who like C.C. had all the pieces, along with the understanding of what she was going through, stepped forward once more, kneeling to her level and placing one hand on her shoulder as a sign of comfort, and another under her chin to raise her face to meet his own, the poor girl is so emotionally raw and confused that she didn't even flinch away from his eyes, despite now knowing what she feared that gaze so much. 'Please, raise your head, Anya. You can't hold yourself responsible for their lives, not when you weren't in control of your own.' He told her, but this didn't seem to help her as she broke away from him, fumbling to her feet as she heard his words and recalled his last name.

'No! You…you're her son! Killing you, killing you!' Anya screamed out in mad fury, her gun pointing right at his head and ready to kill him. She couldn't take revenge on that witch, she didn't even know where she was but she hoped that killing her eldest will make her hurt. Seeing this, Jeremiah was in the move near instantly.

'Your majesty!" His blade shot out as he jumped in front of his master, ready to take care of the knight, C.C. also stepped up but a calm, firm, and strong hand on his shoulder halted him in place.

'Stand down, Jeremiah!' Lelouch's voice carried strength and his absolute will, the smoldering flames within his gaze catching for a few seconds back into a raging fire that quelled any resistance from his knight who wordlessly stepped aside. He turns his gaze towards C.C. seeing her concern as Anya only seemed to be spiraling from the information overload causing her emotions, normally docile, to lash out. 'You are well, C.C.' He asked her, his gaze calming down somewhat as the fire shrunk down to a much smaller size as he stepped up, getting closer to Anya who despite having the gun, kept backing away till her back hit the wall, with the former terrorist looming over her.

But he surprised her, and the other two when he didn't disarm her but grasped the gun in his hand and moved her aim right for his heart, the barrel digging into his body. Anya didn't know what to make of this, but the shock stunned her enough for him to speak. 'You believe killing me will give you closure, a sense of justice?' He asked her, his voice soft yet still unyielding, she felt complied to answer even without his power as she gave a shaky nod. 'Well, I certainly can't fault your logic, but it is flawed.' He shook his head at the end.

'Why, because it's wrong? Because it won't make me feel better?' She had heard all about such platitudes from others, from the plays she would attend or movies she would watch with Gino.

'No, you have every right to be angry, to want payback for the wrong done to you but killing me doesn't give you a damn thing, more than that, it would be rude as I've already killed her.' His response got her to pause, her widen eyes looking at him, looking for any sign of deceit or trickery but finding none in those violent pools that seem to go on forever.

'What?' Here, Lelouch sighed as he took her gun from her, something that proved to be easy as she barely had a grip on it anymore as most of the murderous fury run its course.

'We'll explain things later.' He looked towards the entrance to the cave, he didn't have a watch on him but he could guess it was around 11 to midnight.

'Explain them now!' Anya, recapturing some of that anger yelled at him as he turned and walked back toward the Shinkiro.

'No, if we remain, we're liable to be captured if not killed and I doubt you'll be able to face Schneizel right now, never mind explain why you haven't called us in yourself.' He didn't even face her as he walked past Jeremiah, nodding to the man as the girl seethed before she calmed herself, despite everything, he had done everything he said he would, and she could see the logic to his words, if Britannia and the Black Knights wanted him dead found so badly, they weren't going to leave till they searched every rock on this island and with a knightmare like the one Kallen was handling in the search, it was a miracle that she hadn't found them as is.

'So we'll leave, and then you will talk.' She told him as she turned to return to her own machine as Lelouch made it to the Shinkiro, which both he and C.C started to board he turned to the other two as the witch powered up the knightmare, ensuring that its IFF was still deactivated, they'll have to see about removing it later.

'That I will. We'll head for Shikine Island, it's still abandoned since the Black Knight's attack last year but it should still have some supplies we can pinch.' He told the two Anya nodded as Jeremiah bowed to him, rushing out of the cave to where he had left his machine. Within minutes, all three knightmares were off, it would be another 10 minutes before anyone realized that Jeremiah had removed his IFF, and even longer before Anya's lack of response would become a major concern but by then, both were nowhere to be found.

About 40 minutes after they left, through the use of the confusion from the attempted Ragnorok connection, Zero's death, and Anya's disappearance, as well as some trickery on their end, the four made it to Shikine island without being spotted. As he had said, the Britannian naval/air base on the island had been abandoned some time ago, the imperials had done so for budget reasons as the actual attack itself did only moderate damage to the structures and if the place remained in operation, they could have repaired everything within a couple of weeks. Because of that, the four found themselves with an entire base to themselves.

Once they landed and moved their knightmares to the old hangers, they split off to search for supplies and after a 90 minutes search, they found that the onsite water tanks still worked which meant that they could shower and drink, that first thing was very appealing to Anya as she washed up considering she was a mess. However, as they expected, they couldn't find any food and only 3 half-filled energy fillers but that last one could get them back to the mainland if they didn't get into any fights along the way. Still, without power and with no desire to waste what little fuel they had merely lighting the place up for someone to see, they had instead decided to spend the night in the old officers' quarters, burning whatever they could for light.

Lelouch had asked for privacy, with left him and Anya in the old commander's office as a fire set in the opulent waste of taxpayer money fireplace kept them warmed and helped to light the room. And for 40 minutes or so, he filled her in on everything that she didn't already know. About geass, the Order, his parent's plans, V.V.'s jealously driven assassination attempt, why they had invaded other countries, why they let him run rampant for so long, and the eventual fates of the three. He didn't leave anything out, not even the truth about the SAZ massacre which worriedly, didn't elicit the same feelings of shame that it used to from him as he told Anya about how it was his foolishness that killed hundreds, and soiled his sister's good name.

'So that's it? 9 years of my life, all gone. For some plan to kill "God"?' Anya slumped into her seat, feeling drained as she heard the last of his explanations as Lelouch nursed a drink of water.

'It's oversimplified, but that's correct.' He didn't think calling the Collective Unconscious 'God' was an adequate level but it didn't matter at the moment.

'So it was all a lie, just for that parasite to cling to life.' Anya asked as she looked at herself, at the custom Knight of Round pilot suit she still wore, having nothing else but even so, how could she take pride in something she never chose for herself when her actions had always been driven to serve the goals of three self-absorbed zealots?

'It wasn't all a lie, your connection to Gino was and is still very much real, you made that, you cherished it.' Lelouch handed her the second bottle of water, a comforting smile present as she took the drink, offering a small thanks as she downed half of it, morbidly wishing it was alcoholic.

'I still do…he' She started after she stopped drinking, smiling a little as she recalled how the crazy stuff that the tall blonde, Great Dane of a pilot would get her involved in. he was the one that dragged her to the second attempt to make the world's largest pizza after all. 'He was the only one willing to put up with me, the only one that never got mad when I forgot something or had to look something up first on my phone.' Even now, with her mind now hers and hers alone, she couldn't quite understand the boy, and how he could put up with her for so long where others lasted maybe a couple of weeks.

'He is quite the individual, even knowing he was my enemy, he's always been one I can respect, not just for his skills but his character.' Lelouch joked as he recalled when he first saw them at Ashford, thinking that Suzaku had called them there to help keep an eye on him, but that quickly fell through as it was clear neither was aware of such information and just wanted to have normal lives, well he mused to himself, as normal as two Knights of Round could have while still actively fending off a rebellion. The two remained quiet for a bit, letting the crackling flames and cool summer night breeze drown out the silence before Anya asked a question.

'What about you?'

'What about me?' Lelouch asked back, turning to her as she looked at her near-empty bottle of water.

'Princess Nunnally's dead, Zero's dead, Lelouch is a wanted man, and that para-Marianne wasn't who you thought she was.' Anya elaborated. She wasn't too close to Nunnally, both while they were kids and as her bodyguard, but even she could see she was a kind spirit, a rare thing in their cruel world. She could tell why someone would choose to fight for that but she thought back to the F.L.E.I.J.A. blast. Then to the truth about Marianne, Lelouch's words about masks and purposes came to mind and left her wondering, what will he do now?

Lelouch didn't immediately answer, mainly because he wasn't quite sure what to say as an answer, it wasn't like he had a solid plan for his future, nor did he really have any answer for his current state other than this empty rage. What he felt, didn't burn like the flames of hate and love he normally had, those always felt like an ocean ablaze, all-consuming, all-powerful, nigh unstoppable but controllable, manageable. But this…this felt like a deep, endless valley where even the wind went to die. He had read many books on philosophy in his time, and with how he felt, it seemed to give credence to an early 20th-century Spanish philosopher who posed the question of what happens when a cause you once held so dear it gave your life meaning-losses that meaning. According to his writing, it was like a well-known house was to one day vanish, you might not have lived there, or known the people who did, you might not have even seen it all the time, but you would always know it was gone, even if something else might take its place.

It took him around 2 minutes to formulate his response. 'To be honest, I'm surprised that I haven't fallen to insanity yet, for years all I wanted to create a better world for Nunnally, find out the truth behind my mother's death, and get revenge on those who conspired against her. All of it made moot.' He answered, as back in C's world, it took a lot of bravado not to fall apart as he learned all he had. And when he exited, he directed his attention to mocking Suzaku but with both done, and then waiting for Jeremiah, he was surprised he didn't just break down in crazed tears.

'Who would have thought I did just that when I wiped out the order and hunted down V.V.? Who would have thought she was never worth all the effort and spilled blood?' He gave her a smile that tethered on the edge of hopelessness and depression, he looked down, thinking about how he had been prepared for it, for the battles, the blood, the death, and the loss. How he hardened himself in the aftermath of the SAZ massacre, and how he hardened himself again for the Geass Order massacre. All of it was for a goal but here his father's words rang through his head, on all he had lost in his pursuit of that goal. He knew that moral intentions couldn't and wouldn't excuse actions, that his good intentions were paving a bloody path to hell, but he thought it worth it for Nunnally, for her dream, her smile.

'Now even Nunnally's gone.' For a moment, his rage grew to even greater heights, aimed at Schneizel for his masterful design in getting him to distrust Suzaku about that twice-be-damned weapon. He didn't care that it didn't make logical sense for him to use it, he didn't care that anyone else would have called his bluff, because he knew Suzaku-he knew that he was so bull-headed and self-obsessed that if pushed, he would use it. 'There's a part of me that wants to just fight again, to destroy the Black Knights along with the empire.'

'But?' Anya could sense the unsaid word as he took a deep breath, his anger dying as quickly as it came to be.

'But there's a larger part of me that keeps asking: What would be the point? Sure they almost certainly acted without Kaguya and the UFN's consent and knowledge, but she can't oust them now, nor can I really prove anything, not when Zero's identity was only known to a select few.' He posed the situation to her.

'Why can't you just geass them into compliance, or admit to the charges?' Anya immediately closed her mouth, her hand flying to it to seal it further as she couldn't believe she made that suggestion, but the amused face of Lelouch somewhat calmed her.

'Don't worry about it, I've had similar thoughts more times than I care to admit. When you have the power to ensure that no one can lie to do, that they always do what you ask of them, why wouldn't you consider using it?' He chuckled as he laid bare what he had always considered, not just for that loudmouth Tamaki, who could barely do his task, but also for the likes of Asahina and Nagisa who from day 1, were always critical of him though he couldn't blame them too much.

'But every time I thought about it, I couldn't help but ask: Isn't this what Charles would do? Use people like pawns, move them, manipulate them, and discard them?' A feeling that was made worse when he learned his father had a geass, one he used to make a pawn out of him which he sent to Europe before he recalled him after his geass command over him began to weaken and sent him to Ashford.

'I feel nothing for using it on my enemies, they stood against me knowing full well their lives were on the line but on allies? On friends? The mere notion turns my stomach.' Even now, after all, was said and done between them, he hated that he had been forced to place a command on Suzaku.

'But they are your enemies, they're betrayed you.' Anya rose a good point that it wasn't like the Black Knights would welcome him back with anything less than a firing squad.

'They did, but I have no interest in getting involved with them anymore. Besides, if I know my brother, he'll take care of them soon enough.' He replied though he didn't elaborate as he had a few ideas on what his ambitious and emotionally distant elder brother would do with an arsenal of city-erasing weapons and a power vacuum in the single largest country on the planet. He didn't need to as Anya could guess that things would get pretty bad soon.

'Then what do you plan to do?' Still, She asked him the question again, one similar to the one C.C. asked him a couple of hours prior.

'For the moment, leave Area 11.' He repeated the same response he gave her.

'Even if it means leaving behind Ashford?' Anya asked him, having seen how he cared for them for herself. Lelouch paused but regained himself quickly as he had already thought about this as far back as when he had been betrayed and outed from the Order he created. Even if he had succeeded in trapping his father in C's world while he remained out, he couldn't return as Kallen and Viletta would have told the rest about Ashford. If he had been trapped inside C's world, a different method-same result.

'You recall that, don't you?' He joked but she only glared at him for his unwanted black comedy. 'Right, that wasn't in good taste. But for Milly and Rivalz, I couldn't return to them even if I wanted to. My enemies know that Ashford and...if I did, I'll only bring them more problems. So, it will be best to cut ties with them and disappear.' Shame that he wasn't able to tell Rivalz much in their call, but he couldn't have told him too much, or else the boy get himself in trouble. Seeing him, and considering her options, Anya made a choice.

'Will your self-exile train have room for one more?' Her question got him to look at her, slightly confused.

'What?'

'I…I didn't have much in a way of dreams when I was…' She had wanted to be a ballerina, one that was world famous but she was too shy to tell him that. 'But I know I didn't want to be a soldier; I didn't want blood on my hands.'

'What about Gino?' She too, like him, paused here as Gino was her only real connection for years, it wasn't like that parasite let her have time off to spend with her family.

'I care for him, he's been my only friend for years but, this is the life he chose for himself. He wanted to serve his country on the battlefield. I didn't.' She wouldn't ask that of him, even if she revealed the truth to him, he had always been less loyal to Charles and more to the empire, and regardless of reasons, their many wars had brought great prosperity to their empire, at least to those allowed to revel in it.

'Also, after everything I've learned, I'm not sure I can continue to fight for Britannia.' She gave him a dejected smile as even now, she would have ripped off this suit if she wasn't going to be left in her underwear.

'I see….' The exile took a moment to think before he finished his drink, got up, and gave her a dramatic bow as he smirked her way. 'Well then, welcome abroad the HMS Exiles. We'll be happy to have you.'

The following morning, the four made their final preparations to leave the island and Area 11 as a whole. They had talked a little longer after he accepted her into her exiles bandwagon before they went to bed, hungry but they could stock up on food later. Part of those final preparations was the large bonfire they created on the beach as the morning sun rose across the waves, burning away amongst the flames were his Ashford uniform and Zero gear, mask and all while in Anya's case, it was her Knight of Round pilot suit, the two now wore some spare uniforms they found the previous night, though both were ill-fitting, they didn't mind.

As they turned from the flames that burned their past to ash, they thought back to what they had learned once they woke up. It had been announced that Britannia would enter negotiations with the UFN over the fate of Japan and that Schneizel, along with the Knights of Round was pulling out of the Area, only leaving a small security force headed by the recently returned Cornelia. That same broadcast also reported that the Black Knights would do the same, leaving a security force headed by Ohgi, though Lelouch couldn't help but scoff alongside Jeremiah and C.C. at that.

Even now, as they boarded their machines to make their way to the main islands, the flames still burned as both looked back to them and said their final goodbyes, to their pasts, to their friends, to their now unwanted and unneeded masks.

'Is it as the report said?' Schneizel asked over the video call as Cornelia sat in the commander's seat of the Caerleon class that floated over Shikine Island, on the ground dozens searched of men and knightmares searched through the island for any additional clues.

'That seems to be the case, we found the remains of the bonfire and signs of a small group staying in the abandoned base.' Cornelia responded, with the chaos of 2nd battle, Zero's reported death, and then the emperor's yet-to-be-announced death, she had been too busy to properly rest. It took well over 2 days for the sighting by fishermen of a large fire on a seemingly deserted island to get to her.

'Interesting, but otherwise meaningless, I highly doubt that the three stayed any longer than the night. But you didn't call me just to tell me that, did you?' Schneizel, who had returned to the homeland, asked her as while they had decided to keep in close contact, it was well past when he would normally be in bed, so he could only assume this was important.

At this, Cornelia looked to the side, where he could assume stood others as they handed her a small clear bag, the remains of something burnt, white, and pink in it. 'I didn't. in the ashes, we found what appeared to be the remains of a Britannian pilot suit, a Knight of Round suit.'

'So, they have Anya?' At least they now had a creditable lead on where she vanished 3 days prior. Though if this was because she had been somehow caught off guard and captured or not was yet to be seen.

'Not just that but also found this,' She handed the bag away to someone before she showed him the real prize. 'But no bones. He tried to destroy it.' In her hands, was the bag containing the shattered, burnt remains of Zero's realm, and he could tell she was repulsed by merely handling it, how could she not when it was the creation of the man that had killed both Clovis and Euphemia and nearly threw the empire into chaos.

'Then it truly means the menace that is Zero is dead, though a part of me will miss the challenge. Keep at it and get back to Tokyo, things are even more unstable there than they are here.' Schneizel smiled as with this, he knew for a fact that his brother, though still alive, was no longer a player in the game, which proved to be a good thing for as he cut the call to his sister, he looked at the file on his desk. It had been closed, but the codename of the project gave him reason to smile as he left his office to head to bed.

That codename was Damocles.

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