Act 2 of my story… I never thought I'll use that kind of language, but then again, up till recently, I didn't think I'll ever try to write something worth publishing and needed the practice. I saw my older sister as she finished a course for her animation degree, which was fun. Was weird listening to my dad laugh as if he wasn't against the idea since 'where's the money in kids' stuff'

Chapter 9: Voices in the Night

For what felt like the 100th time, Lelouch opened his eyes to a strange dream or a nightmare that would take time to start. He found himself not in Ares villa reliving that night, nor at Ashford watching his sister be taken back to his father. This time Lelouch found himself in a new situation; a hilly expanse, few trees no matter where he looked, and a sky that seemed forever trapped in the afternoon, the setting sun halfway down the horizon, yet the entire area was as bright as midday. However he had been dreaming of this place a lot in the past few nights, but there was something different this time.

'This is new.' He noted as he walked forward towards the new additions to this place, those additions being the fact there were hundreds of black rams. He had seen his fair share of sheep recently and knew how rare they were, so for so many of them to be here, he didn't know what to make of it. One of them came towards him; it observed him as if wondering why he was there as well before; with a soft bleat, it came closer to him. He didn't know why, but he reached out a hand to it, his fingers catching its soft wool, far more delicate than he would have thought, but he didn't have time to wonder about that as the sheep got behind him and started nudging him forward. Figuring that the animal meant him no harm, he let the animal lead him through the hundreds of other sheep, all the while the others who stopped whatever they were doing to gaze at him, making him a little nervous as they went as before long, he had most of them watching him, but doing nothing else.

Just as he started to wonder what was the point of the creature leading him through what must be thousands of sheep, something came up. 'Is that a river…since when did I dream of rivers?' It was anything close to the streams he, Suzaku and Nunnally had ventured to in their youth, nor was it this picturesque one he had seen in who knew how many paintings. It was large enough that he could barely see the other side, with a current that seemed to be strong enough that he would need to be a madman to even attempt swimming in it, but more than that. Around its banks, many of the rams gathered, resting in the water or drinking from it. Feeling thirsty himself, he got down to his knees and reached his hands into the water, cupping them to collect some to drink himself; no shame in drinking right next to a farm animal; after all, he knew the saying about the water that a horse drinks, why not rams?

He drank the water, which tasted like nothing he had ever consumed. It tasted like mineral water, but one with far more metals was lumpy as if filled with dirt, but he could see and taste nothing of the sort. More than that, he was compelled to drink more, so he kept at it, the water settling into his stomach like lead but giving him a feeling of energy and power. On his 10th cupping, he noticed that he had changed, or his hands had, as they began to bleed. Falling backwards, he looked at them in shock and slight horror. Still, he realised that he wasn't his own blood as he had no cuts and that even with his hands out of the water, the drops of crimson fell down and instead and being absorbed into the dirt, they flowed into the river, mixing with its waters and being taken downstream, which he only now notices seemed to flow right where the half-set sun sat.

'What…' He felt himself being pushed back towards the water, turning his head revealed it to be ram. The others had paused to watch him just like before. Not knowing what was happening but not wishing to anger these animals, he moved back towards the water but didn't drink. Once more, the rams nudged him forward, one even coming forward to drink alongside him, as if trying to coax him back to it by showing it was a safe, a notion that made him chuckle but nevertheless follow its lead. He continued to drink, that feeling of power returning, and a sense of…weight removed from his shoulders as the blood appeared again, but it flowed off his hands. Where they were once coated, they revealed his pale skin underneath the lingering red.

Out of nowhere, the river picked up speed, the strong but seemingly gentle current picking up strength till it seemed like a raging sea. The rams didn't seem to mind, but they ceased drinking, so he did the same and watched. Out of the water, mist formed and moved quickly, blanketing the river's banks with a thick fog that Lelouch could barely see anything further than a couple meters. Soon he couldn't hear the rams either, their beats and hove-steps being replaced with the steps of a man-but, not a man, as while this new presence walked on two legs, its footfalls were heavier, grander if he could put a word to it. Soon, from the fog, the figure began to be visible, if only in shape, as even once they got close to him, they were shrouded in shadows, with all he could make out, aside from their hulking height of 3m, was that said being had a strange helmet.

They stared at him for what felt like an eternity, Lelouch not moving as he felt compelled to remain still as he was inspected. He didn't know what he was looking for, but the figure seemed to find it in him as he slowly nodded. 'Yes…you're suitable, mortal.' There was another quake as the area began to be overrun with water as if the river had rapidly overflown its banks, and soon he was washed away, his head vanishing beneath the waters. Still, he never lost sight of the figure that watched him.

His eyes flashed open, but this time he wasn't in a dream; he was in his bed in their new safe house, at least one of them. He looked around and saw that nothing had changed since he had retired for the night as he slowly rose, his blanket falling to his waist, revealing he wore a simple set of grey pyjamas to bed. Groaning at how strange he was, he looked to the side at the digital clock and saw it read 04:89. He figured he would be woken close to 2 hours before the sun rose.

'I feel I won't go back to sleep after that.' He signed, getting up from the bed and turning the lights on. Walking back over to his bedside, he collected the contact case he kept there but paused as he looked at himself in the mirror, his hollow geass filled eyes staring back at him before he put on his contacts. With a quick blink to make sure they were in place, he looked at himself, and while his gaze remained empty, the red and violet eyes had turned orange, completing the look he was going for as his teal-dyed hair made him look just like any other member of the Gottwald family.

Lelouch and Anya were up and about the following morning, shopping for supplies in the small Welsh town of Rhayader, their self-exile final destination. It was off the beaten path, far from anything that would warrant greater attention, a must in their new world as Schneizel's grip had been quick to reach far and wide, searching for and disappearing possible threats to his control, if not eliminating them. Of course, despite their somewhat rural location, news quickly revealed the destruction of several cities, London included, and the new edicts from the Schneizeil's international police force. Such made the locals extremely wary of the over 70 people, mainly Britannian, that just showed up one day and moved into the houses on the outskirts of town. Still, in the month they had been there, that worry had diminished as none had done anything to warrant it past the novelty of their arrival.

Of course, because most had been nobles who hadn't done much to care for themselves their whole lives, it was still a work in progress for them to get suited for rural life as while they did bring some o the staff, it wasn't like they could still do it all, not when some of them would need to take on new duties such as tending to their crops or repairing minor things. All this and more, and their group, while free from the World Police, were as commoner as the rest of the folk, who seemed to take joy in their misery with comments like "Once English, Always English". 'Is that everything?' Lelouch asked as he pulled a small cart already laden with supplies purchased throughout the morning through the village centre, its many small stores open and busy with customers as the occasional beat-up truck or old car drove by.

'Almost. Josephine wants us to pick up more flour.' Anya, going by Anya Hills, replied as she looked over the list of things they had been tasked to get, most of which were things that the matriarch of the Gottwald family, Josephine, had requested. This not being their first trip, Lelouch didn't complain much, but as he moved to ask how much they were expected to get, he was hit with a sudden and powerful dizzy spell, losing his grip on the rope he was holding as he fell to one knee, his eyes throbbing with pain.

'Dammit…what is this…?' He asked himself as Anya, along with others, noticed his situation as the girl quickly moved to his side, all while his eyes continued to throb with pain as he heard the bleating of sheep, dozens of them, along with voices that seemed to whisper and yell at the same time, creating a mess of noise that he couldn't understand as his dizzy spell only got worse.

'Henry!' That was the last thing he heard before he passed out, dropping face-first into the old cobblestone pavement as others rushed to help.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself back on the hilly plains, right by the river, which had returned to its normal limits since the last he was here, the blacks rams all around. 'Here…again?' He asked himself, wondering what was so special about this place as the rams turned to him and once more led him to the river. 'What is this place? Why have I seen it every night?' He asked himself as he stood by the water's edge, not kneeling to drink, but it didn't seem like the rams wished for him to do so. Instead, they nudged him in, and while he wouldn't want to try, he wasn't given much choice as they kept it up till he was shin-deep in the water.

'The wall between is damaged.' His back stiffened with alertness as the exact figure from before appeared, Lelouch not knowing how he didn't even notice and if he just formed within a blink of his eyes. Just like before, his form was clouded with darkness, leaving nothing to be seen from him except that strange shape of a helmet.

'What? What's the "wall between"? What does it have to do with my geass acting up?' Lelouch asked him, only to receive another shock as the eyes of the figure gazing down at him flashed with a familiar seal of geass. Still, while he had seen the power in the eyes of many, this was different as this…titan, its geass gaze struck him with more force than any man he had ever faced before. It was otherworldly in its majesty and power.

'You will soon learn, mortal.' The figure told him as they turned and walked off, and just as fast as they appeared, they were gone.

C.C. placed the cloth on his forehead, soaking it in cool water just before, with a frown as she tended to her warlock, who had been unresponsive for the past couple of days. Once Anya and the locals had gotten him back, they moved him to the tiny house he was sharing with the witch, and he had been in bed ever since. 'This is getting out of control; do you have no idea what this is?' Jeremiah asked, his worry for his lord clear as he, Sayoko and Anya were also present in the room.

'I had my suspicions, but none would fit this case.' C.C.'s response didn't offer much in the way of assurance, but she didn't have much to give as this wasn't the first time her warlock had been hit with a dizzy spell since they came, but it was by far the worst as it usually was a minor thing that passed in a minute or so.

'You've never dealt with something like this? You said that it feels when his geass went runaway.' Sayoko, the Japanese kunoichi dressed as a maid, questioned, preparing some more medicines the local doctor had prescribed for him.

'I'm not God, nor anywhere near as all-knowing. As for the feeling this gives me, it's similar but…different.' C.C. didn't like that kind of tone from the woman but felt she and the rest had bigger things to worry about them their distrust of her.

'How?' Jeremiah asked as the maid came forward and gave C.C. the small cup of pills and another with water which she slowly gave to Lelouch, helping him swallow the pills and water without issue.

'When his geass went runaway, it felt like a spike in power; it's still the same thing-just stronger, but this…there was a change, one I've never felt before.' C.C. felt it every time he had one of his dizzy spells. Still, it was because of those differences that she didn't know what to do as while she had limited how many contacts she made over her long life, she had still made more than enough to have had good reason to think she knew all there was, but this was proven that to be false.

'So, we can do nothing to help him?' Anya asked, her arms crossed as she looked away, angry like the rest of them over the situation.

'We'll keep tending to him, it's nothing life-threatening, but I'll keep close to him till he wakes.' C.C replied. Some time passed before the group left, needing to return to their duties for the day, but she was clear they would be back the next day. The only exception is a former Knight of Round, who remained in the room with the two.

'What is it, Anya?' C.C. asked her, her back to her as she fluffed Lelouch's pillow and wiped away the feverous sweat.

'He's not the only one, is he, witch?' Anya's statement got her to pause, the woman keeping her back to her as she wondered how she knew Lelouch wasn't the only one with strange dreams.

'And why would I tell you?' C.C. asked her, getting Anya to sigh as she turned to leave, stopping at the door.

'Secrets mean little right now.' Anya wasn't happy that C.C. felt like doing just that. She didn't want to see anyone else suffer, yet their best chance at that decided she didn't need their help, which made her want to slap the immortal across the face.

'Trust me, girl. I've seen and done far more than you could ever imagine. My dreams have been confused messes for centuries.' C.C.'s cold retort was meant to shut this down, but it didn't turn Anya as she thought it would as the girl turned to look at her over her shoulder. While she had a small and cute pout, her eyes were far more profound, the gaze of someone that had lost something dear and could never get it back.

'And yet,' She quickly glanced at the comatose Lelouch before she turned back to C.C. 'You wake up in a cold sweat.' She didn't stay long enough for C.C. to ask her how she knew that, softly closing the door behind her as she left, needing to help finish the chores in the fields for the day.

A couple days later, Lelouch was up and about, and while they wished he would take things slowly for a while, at least till they had a better idea of what was causing this, he didn't have it. From the moment he woke up, he stated that they needed to leave; to make for some castle called Carreg Cennon and that they needed to leave as soon as they could. They didn't think it was wise, but they reluctantly agreed with him. This led them to leave the town, borrow one of the neighbours' trucks, and drive for over an hour to the place.

'This still feels strange. He should be resting.' Sayoko noted the woman still dressed as a maid despite the fact the rest had changed into more outdoors suited clothing. As she and the rest had expected, Carreg Cennen may have once been a castle, but at present, it was nothing but a set of ruins long abandoned. That didn't stop their master, who, while never the image of health, looked far paler than usual. Once they stopped and made the small trek up the hill towards it, he had been doing nothing but looking around the place with a keen eye, pausing every now and then and reaching his hand towards a spot or placing it on the structure itself before he moved on.

'You heard his majesty, Sayoko. Jeremiah replied that this wasn't something he was willing to wait on as he also looked around the place, but because he didn't know the details of what he was looking for, he was forced to merely keep an eye out for anything that caught his attention.

'But why here of all places?' Anya asked, discarding the hilt of a sword long broken and rusted to nothing.

'…I do admit, this is rather strange.' C.C., for once, was just as in the dark as the rest of them, though she could admit that there was definitely something…off with this place.

'Have you ever been here, witch?' C.C. turned an irritated gaze towards the pink-haired girl for her dig at her.

'Just because I'm old doesn't mean I've been to every place there is to see.' Anay merely huffed a response as she got back at it. While the 3 of them bantered, Lelouch was silent as he looked around. Once he finished checking the outside, he moved into the actual structure of the place. Once he cleared the inner courtyard, he moved deeper as he could feel it getting closer while he hadn't found whatever he had been searching for. Once within the old walls of the site, Lelouch removed his contacts, revealing his geass as he looked around once more, but moved with more purpose as he checked fewer spots, but remained at each longer as he flashed his power, searching for a connection.

'Jeremiah, did you read up on this place as I asked?' He spoke up, gaining the group's attention as the cyborg nodded his head.

'Yes, your majesty. I sought out as much information as I could.' Jeremiah had found what he could, but the internet and local library had needed to be more detailed in their descriptions as most of what he could see was from some tourist website.

'Tell me about it.' Not really caring for the source, Lelouch pressed him as they walked deeper in, confident that no one would disturb them as was area was closed for a few days, and he had used his power to keep anyone with reason away for the day. The last thing any of them wished for was for word to reach anyone that knew of them.

'Well, it was an important castle in its day, so much so that it was one of the first placed that king Edward I attacked and took as its location and tactical importance was of great use in his campaigns to subjugate Wales.' Jeremiah gave him a summary of what he read, though he also knew that the hill was once an iron-age settlement. Lelouch kept up his search as he spoke, his geass flashing but a little brighter as he got closer to his unknown prize. C.C. felt this, too, as her earlier feeling only grew.

'Yes, that seems to make sense only,' He figured that was what was recorded as he came towards the inner keep, but he didn't enter the place as he led them along its side instead. 'It wasn't the only reason he had to take this place. What made him want it so badly rather than just destroy it. Someone he never found.' Lelouch was thankful for that last part, as if someone else had managed to uncover it, this would have proved far more challenging.

'How would you know that, my lord?' Sayoko asked him, getting him to turn back to her, a shadow of a smirk on his pale face.

'Because if he did, my father would have kept it secured or passed it off to V.V. for study.' This managed to grab their attention, C.C.'s most of all as if Charles would have been interested in it, it could only mean one thing. 'There we are.' Lelouch smiled, placing his hand on the part of the wall which looked no different from the rest. With his hand resting on the old, weathered stone, he flashed his power again but with more force than before, directing his gaze at the rock as if it were a person. And much like a person, it bent to his will as there was a shuddering tremor, and out of wall straight lines formed, having been covered by centuries of dust as slowly, a small doorway opened up.

'A hidden passage?' Anya asked, surprised to see such a thing.

'Geass…he was hunting for geass artefacts?' C.C. was just as surprised as she had seen many things in her life, but she had never encountered such a thing; a hidden passage that could only be accessed with geass? Hidden in a castle of all places? Lelouch didn't let the experience get to him; as he reached into his bag and pulled out a bulky lantern, turning it on, he turned to them.

'Let's get going. We shouldn't stay here too long.' Lelouch told them as he walked in, being careful with his step as the 3 of them shared their own look, but followed suit with their own lanterns, entering a part of the castle that had been sealed off to the outside world for who knew how many centuries.

As one would expect from such a place, it was a small, dark space, but there was dry as a bone; whatever kept the place sealed must have done the same for the elements as while clearly old, there was a notable lack of wear and tear one would associate with such an ancient structure, one would go as far and conclude the stairway leading deeper into the hill was in a similar condition to when it was first built. Despite that, they moved slowly, cautious of every step, as even with the stairs free of any substantial damage, none were taking any chances. 'That passage was built into the place's wall. How old is this castle, Jeremiah?' Sayoko asked, pausing as she started making murals on the walls describing stories long forgotten.

The man in question, who was right ahead of her, was taking pictures of those same murals, Anya holding up their lanterns to light their way and the images themselves. 'Around the early 14th century, but there were records of structures here as far back as the mid-12th century.' He replied though all of them realised that this wasn't the case. While he and Anya made sure to take as many pictures as they could, C.C. and Lelouch continued on, their interest not in the walls but wherever the stairs led them, soon they reached their destination as at the bottom of the stairs was a small page, and at its end was another door.

'Same thing as before?' C.C. asked her warlock who nodded his head, moving towards the door as he placed his hand on it, closing his eyes as if he was feeling it out.

'That should be the case.' He replied as he opened his eyes again, his geass shining bright, but the door didn't move an inch. Frowning, he didn't retract his hand, and after some time, he took a breath and stepped back, having found the issue. 'It seems stuck, Jeremiah?' He hated that they'll need to use brute force, but he had already unlocked its mystical mechanism, but it seemed even the mystic could jam.

Stepping forward, he handed the camera to his lord as he cracked his neck. 'Yes, your majesty.' Jeremiah braced himself, turning his cyborg side to the door as he rushed it, slamming into it a few times before it finally gave in, falling through, not just revealing itself to have been made from a good 6 inches of solid stone. Still, once the dust cleared from their forced entry, they finally found his lord's prize.

'A library?' Anya asked as they looked around the relatively large room, like the path leading it, it was dark, but their lanterns revealed that there were unlit candles mounted to the walls and a chandelier hanging overhead. But what caught their attention were the around 16 rows of wooden bookcases, taller than Jeremiah and filled with books, scrolls and what looked to be tablets. Lelouch stepped forward, his gaze widening as he finally saw what he had come for, what he had been led to find. Lelouch picked up one of the bigs, a quick gaze at the tablet to its size confirming that it was, in fact, a tablet with writing on it, one that matched the style he found within the book he opened up, though he couldn't make any sense of it was it wasn't even written in the Latin alphabet.

'These books must be hundreds of years old.' He noted, but to his amazement, despite that fact, all of them were in excellent condition, to mould or water damage to speak of.

'They're older,' He turned to C.C., who was looking through a scroll with a perplexed look. 'I can read a few dead languages, but this…I can't make heads or tails on this.' She had been born when people still spoke what was now known as Old French and had picked up many languages along her travels but was beyond her, clearly not related to the romance languages that came from Latin but more along the lines of Celtic.

'As I expected, it must be some form of old Welsh, could be older; these books look old even when compared to this room.' If Lelouch remembered things correctly, the paper had been brought to Europe around the 11th century and became mainstream by the 12th, which was before even C.C's time, so for this place to house stone tablets spoke of their age.

'But they must be related to geass, right?' Anya asked, lifting a relatively thick book and placing it on the stone table, where she opened it to check its unknown contents.

'That seems to be the case,' Lelouch replied as he placed the book back where he found it, taking in the sight of the place before he made a decision. 'We should take it all.'

'All of it?' Sayoko asked, getting him to nod his head.

He had been led here for a reason, and he was also interested in what this collection of a long-dead man and culture had to offer. 'I can't reseal this place, frankly, I'm not too sure why I could unseal it, and I would rather this doesn't end up in the wrong hands for if nothing more, than the historical tragedy it'll be for these books to be destroyed or lost once more to time.' They couldn't make this trip a repeat thing as his geass had only been used for today; even if he had altered his commands, the less they travelled, the less their odds of being spotted by the authorities and Schneizel's agents as his bounty had only increased from the previous 30 million to 50. No, they couldn't risk it.

'It's a good thing we rented a truck,' C.C., seeing the logic in his choice, C.C. placed the scroll back and turned towards their cyborg. 'Jeremiah, why don't you and Anya head into town and buy as many boxes, fabrics and anything else we can use to transport these things back.' She wasn't about to damage anything while in transport if they could help it. And it would give them time to photograph the room in detail before they left.

'We can do that, but it'll take some time.' Jeremiah replied, sharing a look with Anya, who shrugged, she wasn't expecting this, but she didn't mind.

'We don't have a choice; I want to know what these books contain.' Lelouch said as he turned back to the books, leaving out how he wished to learn why he was compelled to seek them out.

The next day for the local historian, Thomas Clwyd, began as uneventful as he had grown to appreciate. Having retired from his position as a lecturer had Manchester university years prior, the 66-year-old spent most of his days relaxing, if not visiting the town. Although he was retired, he still taught some locals here and there and even worked as a tutor and substitute at the local middle school, having had no interest in the chaos of high schoolers. Today was supposed to be one of his off days, when he stayed inside and relaxed with soothing music, a good book and the Welsh countryside, but the knocking on his door proved that his day wasn't going as he wished.

The elder groaned as he got up from his seat by his window, walking towards the door where whoever was on the other side kept up their knocking. 'Coming, I'm coming!' He opened his door and saw an unexpected sight. 'Oh, you must be some of the new residents?' With a large truck in his driveway, four of the strange new people stood there.

'Yes, I'm Henry Gottwald.' Lelouch introduced himself, the rest following suit as Anya kept her first name but adopted the Gottwald family name while C.C. went by Cassandra Springfield. 'We were told you're the local historian?' He asked the man, getting him to nod.

'That would be me? What, you found some trinket in the moors or something?' He usually dealt with that in these parts, but it was mainly children that did that, so he wondered what they had.

'Much more, come with us. It's in the truck.' Lelouch directed his gaze towards the truck; seeing its size, the man's curiosity grew. Following them out, the previous night's rain made the path muddy, so the elder had slipped on some boots before he ventured out. Once they reached the truck, the tall one, Jeremiah, opened the rear, revealing that it was packed with crates. Anya didn't waste time as she climbed in and picked one of the smaller ones, carrying it to them where she placed it at her feet, but this was still around chest level for the rest of them. Henry opened the crate and carefully removed an extremely old-looking book, the kind that one would see on display in a museum, as he handed it to him.

'We found these old books in an old castle, they're not in English, French or any other language we can speak, and they're old. Extremely old.' Henry told him, a fact he proved when he opened it up and could immediately tell this wasn't written in the Latin alphabet, nor was it some form of old English.

'Books, you say?' Thomas' eye turned to the rest of the crates; where they all contained such old text? They said they found them in an old castle, but he was sure they had been thoroughly searched through the years. How did they find something many others missed?

'An entire personal library's worth. I don't need to tell you to be careful with these.' Cassandra replied, getting him to turn his gaze to her in surprise, but he saw she was being truthful. Looking through the book, he realised it was the real deal. From the quality of the paper to the ink used, this truly belonged in a museum.

'It's the real deal….' 'I can't believe it.' he muttered, turning the pages and taking it all in.

'Where did you find these?' He asked them as Anya asked for the book back, and he reluctantly gave it back.

'Carreg Cennon Castle.' Here, he paused, eyes narrowing at Jeremiah as he knew that place.

'Those old ruins? What, did you dig for them or something?' He asked them.

'Something to that….' There was something there, but it would have been asinine to rob some museum and bring them to him, so he wouldn't push…for now. After that, the man answered some of the questions, theorising that the text was a Welsh variant of Brittonic, which would make it extremely old, old enough that someone born before the age of Roman Britain would have a fair chance of being able to read it. They continued to talk about it, with the group asking for his help in translating the text-all of it, and while clearly a massive task, Thomas readily agreed even if he also had to agree to their request to hold off on making this known. However, he managed to get the four to agree to keep the collection so that he could both care for it and work in it without needing to head over to their side of town. After the 2 hours it took to move everything into a storage room he converted into his office, the group left the elder to start his work, his day of relaxing totally forgotten as he began to write his name into the history books.

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