A/N: Hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. I'm on a bit of a roll here. This is one of the biggest chapters I have ever written clocking in at 9,500 words.

In response to a review: The idea I have for Lelucia is the fan-art i have associated with this fic as the cover image.

Trigger warning: Implied mental health issues, mentions of suicide/attempted suicide and self harm, PTSD.


Kallen was a light sleeper, she had to be, she grew up with the mentality that at any point Britannian troops would try to snatch her in the night, discovering her "impure" blood lineage.

So she opened her eyes the moment she registered the sound of the door moving in the student council room.

Right in front of her was a full head of silky black hair, and her cheeks instantly flushed red, remembering what happened earlier.

She remembered a kiss... a lot of kisses the connection she made to the girl next to her, the one that captured her love in their past life, she couldn't help but nuzzle her head into Lelucia's silky hair. She smelled... lavender, and vanilla, a connection was made then, that scent, that was Lelucia's scent, something to take comfort in and connect to in the moment.

Inevitably, she had to remove herself from the back of Lulu's head to look up at the interloper that had walked into the room. Her eyes landed upon C.C.

The witch gave her a smirk, and Kallen huffed

"We need to talk." She said quietly, tilting her head to the exit.

Kallen reluctantly agreed, careful not to wake Lelucia, who appeared to still be sleeping as she slipped off the couch and walked with C.C. out of the room.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Lelucia's eyes opened, and she stared at the door Kallen and C.C. just left from... and her anxiety began to rise.

Where did they go, what where they up to?


C.C. and Kallen step outside, where Shirley and Milly are waiting. It's past curfew so nobody else was around to see or hear the conversation about to unfold.

The witch looked at the gathered individuals. Kallen was lax, Shirley seemed reserved, and Milly appeared to he a bit high-energy.

"She needs us."

It was a simple enough statement, but the meaning was vague, and Shirley jumped in to answer.

"We'll all be there for her, she has us, at Ashford, we're her friends."

C.C. shook her head

"It's more than that, she needs all the help she can get to claim the Britannian throne."

Shirley is taken aback by this, visibly concerned.

"No we can't possibly force her to do that!" She exclaimed, not very loudly, but higher pitched than normal, earning a well deserved shushing from Milly.

"She doesn't have a choice. The ragnarok connection is imminent, likely to occur within the next 2 years if the previous timeline holds water. She has to kill the Emperor and by right of conquest, take the throne for herself."

"Does it really have to be her?"

"It does. We absolutely cannot allow Schneizel to take the throne, we know what happens if that becomes the case. And Cornelia is the Empire's attack dog with no patience for politics."

"What about Princess Euphemia? Or even Nunnally?" Milly pressed, playing devils advocate.

"Too soft." Kallen answered, siding with C.C. "Euphemia and Nunnally are kind and gentle but in world politics you need to be cutthroat and decisive, both things that they lack."

The witch nodded. "Every other member of the family is either a slack-jawed idiot or a narcissistic sociopath, or a mix of the two. Lelucia is the only logical choice. She's capable of many great and terrible things if push comes to shove and has the experience to back it up. But she can be just as kind and gentle as Euphemia and Nunnally when they want to be."

There was a collective agreement on that. Lelucia had done many terrible things for the right reasons, but it was ultimately their love and desire to keep their sister safe that acted as the catalyst.

"She has a bigger heart than anyone realizes, with lots of room to spare. Especially for people she's close to. All of us to be exact." C.C. finished.

The 4 girls looked at eachother, wondering who might make a comment first.

"A place for us... where exactly?" Shirley asked.

C.C. took that moment to smirk, sauntering over to Shirley.

"Milly is right, you're definitely a 10."

The pervert student council president cackled with glee

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" The ginger shrieked.

C.C. rolled her eyes.

"Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. You may claim to be there for Lelucia as a friend but I think we both know there's more to it than that, for all of us."

Kallen tinged red and cleared her throat, while Milly preened and Shirley looked away, awkwardly rubbing her hands together as her cheeks tinted pink.

"I don't mind sharing." C.C. offered, licking her lips. "Or... getting to know you more 'intimately'.

Milly began to unleash her patented evil president laugh while C.C. continued.

"It's not like anyone would bat an eye once we go public. Every Emperor and Empress in Britannian history had multiple consorts, even the best of them where still horndogs. Being a polygamist comes with the territory of ruling the Empire."

"B-but I-"

"Shirley." Kallen cut her off. "Would you rather share Lulu, or not have her at all?"

That ultimatum made the swim team member clam up, thinking about it for a few moments before nodding along.

No matter how many times they where torn apart, she would always love Lulu, that's what she had said as she laid dying in the mall, and she had meant it.

"Fine... we can... try this out."

It wasn't a contest, each girl here had a piece of Lelucia's heart, and in turn she had captured all of theirs.

Forcing her to choose one would undoubtedly hurt her, as well as the ones unlucky enough to not be "the one".

"There's one more thing to talk about." C.C. interrupted their internal musings about their interconnected relationship with Lulu. "As her contractor I have a psychic connection to her. It's not particularly strong. But enough to know about the state of her mind."

The other 3 girls noted that C.C. had lost her playful attitude and got serious, getting them to pay attention as she spoke.

"I think she needs our help more than she let's on. I can't look into her private thoughts, but the energy around her- her mental state. Its... concerning. I can't make out exactly what's wrong. I could make an educated guess but I don't want to jump to conclusions, not right now anyways."

"What's the guess?" Kallen asked with concern, and C.C. shrugged.

"The most prevalent one coming to mind is that she feels guilty, immensely guilty in fact. For the things we suffered when Lelouch was Zero and when he killed himself, I wouldn't be surprised if she was... immeasurably depressed."

They all collectively thought back to when they saw Lelouch cutting himself as a boy and blanched. Kallen reached up to loosen her collar and a cold bead of sweat rolled down Shirley's cheek while the Ashford Heiress stared down at the floor.

Kallen seemed to come to a decision on something at that point, but didn't voice whatever it was she seemed to conclude.

"I'd go into more detail if I had details to give, but until she opens up to us more the only thing I can say for sure is that she's struggling with something big." The witch concluded.

Everyone silently agreed on that. It was very likely, with everything they had to go through during the original timeline...

Kallen briefly thought back to that night in the ghetto, when Lelouch was ready to take refrain, tried to kiss her. Was looking for comfort, any comfort at all, that broken shell she met... was that the beginning of the end? Did his fall to complete despair start there or was it only a symptom of something that had been around for even longer?

She had refused him then, she would not refuse Lelucia now. Not ever.

"I... think one of us should try to be around her at all times." Milly spoke up after a few moments of awkward silence. "She used razors on herself in this timeline too, and it was harder to get her to stop. She might... do something she won't be able to regret if she relapses."

"How would we do rotations?" C.C. asked, seeming to agree to the idea.

"Probably based on our schedules. We all need to maintain our regular habits so people don't suspect anything." Shirley offered her take. "We each share at least one class with her. I know Milly is with her in English. Kallen is in his History class, I'm in her second elective class, music."

"You could enroll me here as a student?" C.C. suggested while looking at Milly. "Put me in all the classes that none of you 3 are in. That way there will always be one of us there in case she has any... issues."

Kallen knew the witch was trying not to be harsh in her language, but she remembered what Lelucia looked like earlier, coming out of that Classroom. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Her reaction to just a mild touch made her practically jump and slam into the wall. That... was not a good sign.

Milly agreed to the idea. "Yes, I think that can work perfectly. We'll introduce you as a transfer student from the homeland and get you set up with fudged paperwork to look legit under scrutiny."

C.C. nodded.

"We should also consider how to be around with her outside of classes." Shirley imposed. "Lulu is gonna be Zero... doing Black Knight stuff and I want to help."

"Me too." Milly pushed in support of Shirley's proposition. "I refuse to be sidelined, we're both gonna join the Black Knights."

"Can you fight?" Kallen asked, biting her lip.

"I took mixed martial arts classes a few years ago." Shirley offered. "I preformed well, and I think Milly has a conceal carry license right?" She asked the blonde

Milly grinned and nodded. "If anyone pulls up on me I'll start blastin!"

"Aside from that I'm sure they have other ways of contributing." C.C. pointed out. "Milly's playful personality can help the Black Knights with boosting morale, and Shirley's kindhearted nature could start to smooth over the racist anti-britannian sentiment that lingered in the BK the first time."

"I'm also studying to become a doctor." Shirley pointed out. "I haven't had any actual experience like shadowing at a hospital but I hit the books hard."

"Really? A doctor?" C.C. asked, not knowing about this tidbit beforehand.

"Mhm. My dad is the head of a big pharmaceutical company and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. To try to become a nurse practitioner."

"And you guys already know where my skills lie." Ashford interjected. "I DID work as a news anchor. My personality and natural talent with information distribution and organizational skills makes me perfect for recruitment and intelligence... and planning parties!" She chirped, throwing her hands up and giving an endearing smile.

Everyone except C.C. collectively shuddered, remembering all the wacky festivals the president would put them through, but it was all in good fun at the end.

The witch just licked her lips remembering a giant pizza. She wanted that damn pizza.

"Anyways..." Shirley said and cleared her throat. "I could be a field medic helping any Black Knights that get injured." Shirley concluded.

Kallen winced. She knew that Shirley would be well liked because of her personality, but... she didn't want the girl to suffer. She hadn't experienced war, she definitely wasn't going to be ready for all the screaming... the blood, the gunfire, the smell of sulfur and iron.

Kallen decided not to argue. Allowing Shirley and Milly to join was, at the end of the day, Lelucia's decision.

"So, we got school life figured out. And C.C. along with myself will be around her in the Black Knights until you guys can join, what about outside of school and Black Knight duties?"

"Isn't it obvious? Lelucia needs to be able to relax and enjoy herself, we'll take her out on dates!" Milly chirped with a grin.

"D-d-d-dates!?" Shirley squeaked, her cheeks flushing red.

"Of course." Milly chided. "We take her out into town and have fun. All work and no play makes Lulu a dull girl."

"She has a point. We can't just let Lelucia run herself ragged. Even if it's as simple as playing chess with her or watching TV with her or just conversations. She needs time to relax and unwind. Something she didn't let herself have during the Black Rebellion was free time." C.C. elaborated. "Going on date nights at least once a week or more will help her de-stress between ops."

C.C. grinned "Plus, there's a higher than average chance you'll get to make out with her. Kallen can attest to that."

Kallen's face turned red as her hair as she tried to splutter out some excuses while Shirley looked visibly pissed at Kallen for stealing kisses from Lulu before she could.

Milly just closed her eyes and squealed with excitement, bouncing on her heels and making her breasts experience jiggle physics. This caused C.C.'s gaze to linger on the blonde's chest. Milly noticed this upon opening her eyes and lecherously sauntered over to C.C. before grabbing one of the witch's asscheeks.

C.C. smirked, reaching a hand up to cup one of Milly's tits through her uniform.

"Would you two stop acting like perverted old men!?" Kallen admonished while Shirley squeaked and looked away.

"Oh come now Kallen... you know you wanna do this with Lulu, it might give you some ideas on how to treat her right~" Milly tutted before letting out a low moan, and C.C. grinned victoriously.

"Oh you're good~" The blonde complimented

"Comes with experience." The witch responded with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Milly turned to look at Shirley while the witch and the she-devil groped each other.

"Wanna join in? Like I said before, you're a perfect 10~" Milly teased

"MADAM PRESIDENT!"

Kallen slapped her face before rolling her eyes and turning back to the student council room door- opening it, she looked at the couch where she left Lelucia...

The princess was gone.


In the underground tunnel network, Lelucia paced, gripping her arms as she stared at the floor. Her mind felt like it was coming apart at the seams.

She trusted them, trusted Kallen. She promised the redhead she wouldn't lie to her and first chance her traitorous queen gets she starts talking behind Lelucia's back!

She's just trying to help-

SHE'S TRYING TO USE YOU

Take Nunnally and run

Why would Nunnally ever want to see you again?

Stop it...

LOOK AT YOU DEMON EMPEROR. YOU WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF MILLIONS, WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?

You never should have come back, you put everyone in danger

You're useless at everything but murder and mayhem, you're exactly the kind of monster Zero exists to punish

Stop it.

ARE YOU GOING TO LET THEM USE YOU AGAIN AFTER EVERYTHING YOU SACRIFICED AFTER EVERYTHING YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH

You're nothing more than a pawn

The Emperor saw you as a useless insect from the day you where born, who's to say he's wrong?

Please stop.

THAT MAN DESERVES DEATH KILL HIM

He wasn't as bad as the Demon Emperor, isn't that right Lelucia? You liar, you coward, you used your Geass on Nunnally you sick, twisted bitch

You deserve death more than anyone else. Grab your gun from your room and end it now.

Help me...

WHO WOULD EVER WANT TO HELP YOU FILTHY HALF-BLOOD CRETIN YOUR EXISTENCE CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED EVEN YOUR OWN MOTHER SAW YOU AS WORTHLESS

You heard what they had planned, they're going to put you on the throne so they can kill you again, another Zero requiem.

They should kill you now to get it over with, poison? Garrot wire? A gun? Maybe Milly will have Sayoko behead you, thats if Suzaku doesnt get to you first.

Nononono they wouldn't do that Milly would never do that she-

HATES YOU, HAS ALWAYS HATED YOU, EVER SINCE YOU LOST YOUR WEALTH AND STATUS YOU'VE BEEN NOTHING MORE THAN A BURDEN TO SOCIETY JUST LIKE THE NOBILITY, A FILTHY COCKROACH

You're a freeloader living here free of charge, you made millions off of your gambling trips and never gave Milly or Ruben a dime, is that gratitude?

You are greedy, evil, a blight upon the world that must be cleansed, kill yourself and save everyone some trouble.

"SHUT UP!" Lelucia finally snapped, her eyes alight with rage as she whipped around and slammed her fist into the concrete wall. Pain shot through her arm, and she yelled as her hand began to throb.

She clutched her injured hand and slumped against the wall. The voices gone, the only thing she could hear now where her own sobs, her eyes welling up with tears once more.

Somebody... anybody... please...

Wake me from this nightmare.

She didn't know how long she was there, how long she cried for. She didn't pay a lick of attention to her surroundings as she wrestled with her inner turmoil, her eyes slammed shut as she simply sat there and cried.

She closed her eyes

A hand touched her shoulder and she bolted, scrambling away from the contact as she turned around to face whoever it was that was down here with her.

Shirley.

She crawled back on her hands and feet and shook her head.

Her heart beat fast, loud, like a drum, she felt cold, she felt like she was about to vomit

"Killed you, my fault, my fault I couldn't..." She cried. "Stay away from me Shirley I'll only get you killed!" She ordered, activating her Geass.

Shirley just smiled blood pouring out of her lips as the ghost walked towards her, a gunshot wound in her chest that kept bleeding, her dress stained red, her skin sickly pale.

"Go away..."

Dead

Dead because of you

She loved you and you killed her

"I-I order you to live!" She said weakly.

Her back hit something, and she whipped around to see Euphemia standing there, smiling at her. A gunshot wound in her chest, covered in splatters of blood, a bamboo Pistol in hand. Her eyes where glassy and red ringed.

"I did it sister! I killed all the Japanese just like you wanted me to!"

No... no... no no nononononono-

"I never wanted that..." Her voice was meek, fear, anxiety, guilt, they rolled over her like a tidalwave

"Then why did you order it?" The response was immediate, Euphemia's smile was gone, she stared at Lelucia blankly.

"I-i didn't mean to- I..."

"You made me slaughter everyone. You shot me, killed me in front of Suzaku. And then you dragged my name through the mud to justify your wanton slaughter."

She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, she just stared blankly at the bloody body of Shirley while Euphemia kneeled behind her, holding up one of Lelucia's hands and placed the bamboo gun into her grasp.

"You know what to do."

Lelucia took the gun, her hands shaking as she pressed the barrel against the side of her skull

She pulled the trigger.

"Lulu!"

Lelucia's eyes snapped open, inhaling sharply and beginning to hyperventilate, she couldn't get enough air, her vision was blurry from her own tears as she cried, she was a mess, her entire body shook.

Someone hugged her

She wanted to resist, wanted to run away, to tell them to leave her, but she couldn't say anything.

What's wrong with me...?

She felt herself being picked up and carried away, and she passed out cold.


It had been Milly's idea to search the underground tunnels when no trace of Lelucia was found in the entire building. They nearly gave up until they heard her screaming at someone to shut up, and they all bolted in the direction of the pained cry.

"Lulu!" Shirley cried out in a panic, she sprinted over to the curled up exiled princess, sliding to a stop and pulling her into a hug.

She didn't even respond, her eyes where dull and half-lidded, cold to the touch, she barely had a heartbeat and one of her hands where bleeding. She had been crying, her eyes where bloodshot. Lelucia struggled weakly against the hug, mumbling something and shaking, gasping for air.

C.C. rushed in next to Shirley, quickly grabbing Lelucia. She used her psychic strength to induce a deep sleep, causing Lelucia's bodily functions to start returning to normal as she began to pass out.

Everyone shot worried glances at the witch and her warlock but rushed to gently pick her up and carry her back while sleep consumed the princess.
They watched her, waited, for something, anything. Unsure of what to do Shirley looked up at C.C.

"She hasn't spoken to Nunnally yet, has she?"

The witch shook her head

"Not unless she did this morning."

"Lelucia was still out cold when Nunnally came down to see her. She had to leave for her morning classes." Milly answered.

"Classes should have ended about 15 minutes ago, she should be back soon." Kallen muttered

Speak of the Devil and she shall appear, but since Lulu was the devil they'd have to settle for the angel on their shoulder.

Nunnally rolled in, her eyes wide open with Sayoko behind her, she seemed to be extremely happy but stopped smiling the moment she saw Lelucia out cold on the bed.

The maid waited for Nunnally to enter the room before shutting the door behind her and quickly running over to Lelucia, brushing past everyone else. The maid placed the back of her hand on top of Lelucia's head.

"What happened?" The maid asked tensely

"Relapse." Milly answered, and the ninja maid narrowed her eyes.

"Make sure she doesn't leave." She said before getting up and briskly walking to the kitchens.

Nunnally meanwhile simply sat in her wheelchair, right next to the couch that her sister was laying on. She stared impassively at her sibling, watching them sleep.

But even as they sat there, waiting, watching with a face set in stone, she reached a hand out to grab one of Lelucia's hands and gently hold it.

She didn't want to cry, not in front of everyone. She didn't want to show weakness, not after being useless for so long feeling like such a burden.

Her lips quivered, and she closed her eyes, simply sitting there and holding Lelucia's hand. The sound of Sayoko's cooking was the only noise in the otherwise quiet room.

"Can you wake her please Miss C.C.?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea." C.C. replied after thinking for a moment

"Why?" Nunnally asked pensively, causing C.C. to shift in her seat.

"She's in a bad state right now. I don't think waking her up is going to be a particularly healthy experience for her."

"I need to talk to her." Nunnally protested. "I was her whole life, I probably still am to some degree. If I can talk her down we may be able to keep her stable for a while."

"A fair point." C.C. admitted. "I'll do it but if it looks like she's gonna have another episode I'll put her under again, alright?"

"Thank you, miss C.C."

The witch nodded and brought her hand up, pressing both her index and middle finger against Lelucia's temple and causing her to wake.

Her eyes opened and she was immediately smothered by Nunnally who wrapped her big sister up in as good of a hug as she could.

Lelucia hugged her back practically on instinct.

"Nunnally..." Lelucia whispered softly. "I'm so sorry-"

"Shh." Nunnally hushed the other princess. "It's ok."

"I used my Geass on y-"

"Nii-Sama."

Lelucia flinched, but ultimately understood the message and stopped talking, just enjoying the hug.

They stayed there like that for a time, until Nunnally slowly let her go.

"Big sister... you have a chance to do things over again. I'll be here to support you this time, every step of the way."

"I can't."

"You can." C.C. replied smoothly.

"You did." Kallen added on.

"There was too much bloodshed!" Lelucia snapped, turning around on the couch she wouldn't have to look at any of them.

"I can't do it again... I can't..."

"Why does Evil prevail, Nii-Sama?" Nunnally asked

Lelucia did not give a reply

"You know the answer, don't you?"

"... Evil prevails because good people do nothing to stop it..."

"You're a good person."

"I'm not a-"

"Stop it!" Shirley snapped. "Don't even say that! You are a good person, Lulu."

"I got you killed."

"Rolo was unhinged, you couldn't have known he would shoot her." C.C. reminded the princess.

"I murdered her father."

"You accidentally killed him not knowing he would get caught in the debris and he was there doing evil experiments." C.C. again stepped in, and Shirley nodded quietly.

"... Euphie..."

"It wasn't your fault." Kallen countered

"It was."

"Not." Milly this time

"I placed a Geass on her and then I shot her after she murdered over a thousand people how-!"

"You didn't mean to!" Kallen barked, getting angry now, this reminded her so much of the depressed Lelouch she met in Shinjuku.

"It doesn't matter if I didn't mean to." Lelucia protested quietly. "All that matters are-"

"The results." The voice of one Suzaku Kururugi piped up from the door frame of the student council room, wearing the Ashford boys uniform.

"Hey Suzaku." Kallen said amicably, although scooting slightly closer to Lelucia, on a protective instinct most likely.

"Hey Kallen." Suzaku replied in kind, and took survey of the room. Everyone seemed to have mixed emotions about seeing him. On the one hand he was their friend and ultimately stopped Schneizel's nuke-flinging spree.

On the other hand, he killed Lelouch.

To say it was awkward would be to say that water is wet.

Suzaku picked up a chair, carrying it over to the side of the couch, though careful not to get to close. And he then sat down.

"Do you remember the day of the invasion?"

"How could I forget?"

"We climbed up the hill, next to the shrine- well I climbed it and you sorta just flailed around hopelessly." He chided with a smile, and Lelucia seemed to loosen up her body language a little. "I can't remember what kind they where-"

"Daisies." Lelucia provided, and Suzaku nodded.

"Right, Daisies. I think Nunnally would have liked them. We had to work together to achieve it though."

"Is this a metaphor?" Lelucia suddenly asked.

"I'm saying that by working together, we can accomplish that dream. That vision of a peaceful world."

"Don't you want to kill me?" Lelucia asked, making Suzaku pale and shake his head frantically.

"No! No never! I never wanted to-"

"You did. You wanted to kill me a lot. Aren't you going to finish the job so I can't hurt Euphie."

"Stop it." Milly said firmly. "Suzaku was your best friend, he still is. Zero requiem was a last ditch effort to make everyone's sacrifices and mistakes mean something. Right now you haven't done anything wrong."

"I will."

"Not with us here to help." Kallen replied, and then she sighed.

"Lulu, look at me." The redhead requested, and Lelucia eventually removed her head from the couch cushions to look up at Kallen.

"Tell me what's wrong."

The princess stared up at Kallen and eventually replied. "I don't know how to explain it, I cant... focus."

Kallen thought for a moment, before reaching around and pulling open a drawer in the night stand, taking out a rubik's cube and offering it to Lelucia.

The exile looked at it for a moment, raising an eyebrow but deciding to follow along with it as they slowly sat up and everyone present watched with baited breath to see if they could get some answers as she grabbed the puzzle and began to work on it, absent-mindedly.

"...I saw a world that wouldn't change." She said eventually, causing everyone to perk up. "I saw a world where everyone around me was ignorant to all the evil going on around them... the abuse, the neglect, the racism, and senseless violence... I was sick of it. I was sick of the status quo, sick of watching people suffer while others did nothing... that mindset is what caused me to get into the middle of the Shinjuku massacre to begin with. I saw Kallen's truck crash, the one that held the capsule. I wanted to help, to see if everyone was ok."

This caused everyone to smile.

"I saved as many as I could... but I was also... angry... so very angry. About what happened to mother, and Nunnally. And then I shot Clovis in the head." She said, pausing her work on the rubik's cube. "The shock of what I did- it didn't hit me until early the next morning, after finally coming down from my adrenaline high... I threw up. I've seen Clovis beg for his life twice now and both times I smeared his brain all over the G1's command throne."

Only Shirley seemed to react negatively, but it seemed to be to the imagery more than anything.

"It was hard." She continued. "But eventually I got over it. I was drunk on the dopamine from my victory over Clovis so I tried to pull the same stunt against Cornelia. The results where... less than stellar." She admitted, and C.C. smirked.

"That's when I had the idea, to create the Black Knights. A group of like-minded soldiers who could follow the ideals I put forward... I started my rebellion stringent on my own sense of morality much like Suzaku. Kill the corrupt, help the weak, I saw myself as a superhero like... I dunno, batman or something." Everyone laughed at that and Lelucia smiled.

"And then what?" Shirley asked, enraptured by the story.

"Narita." Lelucia answered quietly, and everyone seemed to lean in with renewed interest.

"It was difficult to keep going. But after that I knew I couldn't stop. I owed it to Nunnally, to myself, to everyone that had already been hurt or killed by my actions. I had to make sure it meant something... even if more people got caught in the crossfire." She mumbled as her work on the Rubiks cube was nearly complete.

"And then the SAZ?" Suzaku asked quietly, and Lelucia flinched, her whole body freezing up for a moment.

"Yeah..." She whispered. "When I came back from my amnesia... I thought I had leaned from my mistakes, that as soon as I got the Black Knights together again it would be a cakewalk... it wasn't. I didn't make the same mistakes, I made brand-fuckin-new ones, and Shirley paid the price for it." She said darkly, and Shirley looked saddened.

"I did all I could, to try to hold myself and the black Knights together... but the mask, the wall I put up. It started to crack, people began to see my weakness, that Zero wasn't what they thought he was. Then the battle of Tokyo happened, and I thought Nunnally died."

The little sister twitched, and her gaze looked down at the Rubik's cube as one last rotation completed the puzzle.

"I hated it."

This caused everyone to look baak up at Lelucia.

"Hated what?" Kallen finally asked.

"My actions, the path I had set out on, the bloody swath I had carved, the sins I committed in the name of my desire to destroy the old world and make way for a better one... I grew... bitter. And I hated everything."

Lelucia's hands tightly clutched the finished puzzle.

"I hate myself."

"Don't say that." Kallen said sharply sliding off of her chair and onto the couch, she hugged Lelucia from the side, gently pulling the princess closer to herself.

"Lulu." Kallen began. "Everyone here loves you. You know that right?"

Lelucia shrank in on herself, and in response Kallen gently used her free hand to tilt Lelucia's chin up and look at her.

"Right?" She repeated.

"...Even so." Lelucia started her reply. "I don't think I deserve it. I failed everyone here."

"Nobody should have to 'deserve' love." C.C. spoke up suddenly. "It's something we need, what we are entitled to. Genuine human connection isn't something you should have to earn."

Lelucia didn't have a response for that.

"We love you Lulu." Milly said comfortingly. "Everyone in this room and a lot of people outside of it. I just think you need some help seeing it."

Lelucia looked up at Milly

"What do you mean?"

"Be honest with us Lulu." Shirley cut in. "When was the last time you got to hang out with friends and have fun?"

"The student council-"

"Meetings are more like mandatory work with occasional banter, doesn't count." Milly interjected.

"Gambling?"

"A toxic outlet and technically your job, nope." Shirley shot that down.

Eventually everyone started to come to the same conclusion as Lelucia failed to provide another response.

"Oh my God." Kallen said dejectedly. "You- you've never gone out before, have you?"

"What do you mean?" Lelucia asked. "I go outside all the time."

Kallen facepalmed.

"No genius. I'm taking about 'going out' as in going out into town to like, watch a movie, a football game, go to the arcade, a nice restaurant, a park, and so on, with friends."

"Nunnally takes priority." Lelucia answered simply. "There was no time."

Nunnlly slammed her eyes shut and clenched her fists.

"I knew it." She whimpered. "I was a burden, you gave up on having a life to take care of me-"

"No! No Nunnally I never thought of you as a burden! Ever!" Lelucia tried to shoot Nunnally's thoughts down but the younger sister persisted.

"It's true! I took up all your time! You where always there for me but you could never let anyone be there for you! You gave up the rest of your childhood just to make sure I was comfortable!"

YOU MADE HER CRY YOU MONSTER

I- I didn't mean to!

Look at what you've done you sick bitch

I didn't-

Kill yourself

Lelucia stood up then, avoiding contact or talking with the rest of the people present as she briskly walked up to her room.

C.C. sighed and walked over to Nunnally, kneeling next to the younger princess and hugging her.

Suzaku followed Lelucia while the girls stayed downstairs, unsure of what to do.

He knocked on her door.

When he didn't get an answer, he sighed and walked in after turning the handle. The door creaked a little as he walked in, and it slowly clicked shut behind him.

Lelucia was facing a window, unwilling to turn and face him.

There was a pregnant silence between them, he opened his mouth to speak, to try and say something, anything, but words failed him, and he shut his mouth and stared.

After a few more moments, she eventually broke the silence.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"... Enjoy what, exactly?"

"Killing me."

"No." The answer was near instant. "No I didn't."

"I did."

It took all of his willpower to remain composed.

"Why?"

"Because Euphemia finally got the justice she deserved, and I got to die instead of living with my sins... took the cowards way out."

"Everybody who loved you watched you die." His emotions bled through as his hands balled into fists

"I know." She replied quietly. "I hurt the people I care about. That's why I desperately want to push you all away. I want to die in a gutter alone and not drag anyone down with me. But you won't let me do that, will you?"

Her answer was a rush of footsteps and a hug from behind, tightly wrapped around her.

"Stop saying things like that, you selfish ass."

She smiled sadly, and they both quietly cried together.

"What happened to us? We where so close before." He asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" She countered. "We where both blinded... me by revenge, and you by guilt... and in the end we just kept hurting each other until we lost sight of who we where completely."

"Lelucia." He began. "I'll help you, as much as I can. I don't want to see you hurt ever again. You where like a sibling to me."

She chuckled lightly. "If killing me is all it takes to get your help I should have ordered you to shoot me when I rescued you in the first timeline-"

"Stop." He said firmly, his grip getting tighter.

"Sorry." She murmured. "Gallows humor."

Apparently that was the wrong choice of wording as his hug somehow got even tighter.


Eventually, once the hug started getting uncomfortable Lelucia and Suzaku walked down the stairs to see the gathering of love interests +1 little sister still gathered in the same spot they where left in. (edited)

Now with her thoughts composed, she tool a deep breath and sat back down on the couch she had been on earlier, seemingly more focused now.

"First things first... I apologize for the things I said. And for any way I may have wronged you all in the first timeline..."

Suzaku sat next to her on her left as she said this while Kallen was on her right- and annoyingly for Shirley, C.C. decided to drape herself across Lulu's lap with her legs on Suzaku's and her head on Kallen's squishy thighs being used as pillows.

She took a deep breath.

"Evil prevails because good people choose not to act." She repeated her answer to Nunnally's question. "I will do it again. I have the will to destroy. I will destroy the Britannian system, the corruption of the world. I will do it all over again. I will create a world that everyone can be happy in, and see each other as equals."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "I will not destroy cultures, religions, nothing of the sort, only the beliefs and systems by which the strong oppress the weak- by any means necessary. However I will endeavor to do it with as little bloodshed as possible. I already have a rough plan but... after the SAZ begins to unfold we enter no man's land, and much of our knowledge of past events becomes less useful for predicting the movements of our enemies."

It's at that point that Nunnally spoke up. "The dimensional supervisor said that the SAZ was a no-win scenario."

"In the original timeline yes. I may have been altruistic at the time but I was also dangerously short-sighted on my goals. I wanted to kill my father, avenge my mother, and burn down Britannia. The entire series of events from Shinjuku til Zero Requiem was the result of me flying by the seat of my pants and winging it in almost every way imaginable. I know that the SAZ is going to happen, and I know how to handle it without anyone innocent people getting hurt... Especially not Euphie..." She added quietly, her right hand shaking a bit.

Kallen placed her hand on the shaking appendage and it stopped instantly, and Lelucia seemed to relax a little at the Queen's touch.

"What I am trying to say is that I need your help. From everyone here in this room, and from a couple of people outside of it... I... I can't do things alone, not again. I may have had C.C. last time but... she also had other plans at the time and was not entirely honest with me until the very end. Not that I blame you-"

"I don't take offense. I know what I did, and I'm sorry I did it. I cut contact with Marianne and no longer wish to partake in their plans. You are my only concern now... and whoever you ally with." She tacked on as an afterthought.

"We're here for you Lulu, all of us." Shirley said with a smile. "We'll be there, every step of the way."

"Yup!" Milly chirped. "Can't get rid of me that easily. Who else am I going to make perverted jokes about when I'm bored?" The president said with a cheeky grin, causing everyone to smile or laugh a little.

"Thank you." Lelucia said quietly, giving a heart-melting, genuine smile, the kind she and her past-self always reserved for Nunnally now directed at them, and it brightened the room.

"Today, we begin the foundation of the Black Knights, not as a masked revolutionary leading a bunch of terrorists but as a group of close friends who share a dream." Lelucia announced, her natural charisma bleeding through.

"This group will be our anchor. Our safe haven. I may keep secrets from the other Black Knights for one reason or another if absolutely necessary, but here I make you the same promise I made Kallen earlier. I will not lie to you. Never again. My lies are what divided me from those I cared about, it hurt us, got some of us killed. Here there will be no masks, no hidden agendas, no misplaced trust. We are only who we are when we meet one another in privacy." She grinned.

"As of tonight, we are the Syndicate." She declared, taking out a Black King chess piece and holding it high. Kallen, Suzaku, Milly, Shirley, Nunnally and even C.C. all smiled triumphantly.

"Here here! I'll go get the champagne to compliment Sayoko's cooking!" Milly declared, making Kallen blanch.

"No not again! MADAME PRESIDENT!"

This drew laughs from everyone present, and Shirley decided to speak up again

"Hey Lulu, how did you and Suzaku actually become friends anyways?"

"Well after I was exiled-" Lelucia began after a moment. "I was hospitalized in Japan soon after touching down from my flight before finally meeting Suzaku at the Kururugi shrine."

"Hospitalized?" Kallen asked. "What for?"

Suzaku winced, and decided to answer for Lelucia.

"She had been... physically harmed prior to her flight."

C.C. perked up at this in quiet consideration. The exile was almost instantaneous, there's no way she could have been attacked unless-

"He beat you." Kallen said, horror dawning on her face and seeped into her voice and it was matched by Shirley, Milly and Nunnally while Suzaku remained stone-faced.

"Nobody is allowed to defy the Emperor without consequences." Lelucia said apathetically.

'Oh-' C.C. thought. 'Marianne has got to hear this.'


The sound of porcelain shattering permeated the Emperor's study. It was an otherwise comical sight, as a tiny girl seemed to be rampaging through the office of the most powerful man in the world, and he looked absolutely terrified.

"YOU BEAT HER!?"

Evidently, this was not something the pseudo-dead Empress knew about.

"My baby- OUR baby came to you begging for justice, and you BEAT HER!?" She screeched

Another expensive piece of art was thrown at the Emperor, which he barely dodged behind his desk.

"I had to make an example of her! And after V.V. did what he did I was livid! It was an overreaction I know!" He defended.

"YOU HOSPITALIZED HER!"

"I'm sorry dear!"

"YOU SHOULD HAVE TOOK HIS CODE THE MOMENT YOU GOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO WRING HIS SCRAWNY LITTLE NECK! I WANT THAT HOBGOBLIN DEAD!"

"We need him for-"

"We don't need him for ANYTHING!" The possessed Anya emphasized her point by grabbing a Webster dictionary out of the bookshelf and chucking it at him, making him duck to the side as it smacked into the wall behind him

"We only need his fucking code and you can take it whenever you want! He KILLED me, and he MUTILATED Nunnally! He dragged her kicking and screaming out of bed and he shot her up! She was FIVE. YEARS. OLD!" She punctuated each of those last words by throwing even more books at him. "I've had enough! KILL HIM! TAKE HIS CODE AND HAVE HIM EXECUTED! THE LITTLE SHIT DESERVES NO LESS!"

The Emperor closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Give me some time to plan it, alright? I need to handle this delicately, remember he pretty much owns the Geass Directorate and a large portion of the OSI, we need to make sure the backlash is minimal and contained. I'll do it, just... give me time."

Anya glared, before crossing her arms and letting out a huff.

"Good, there's one other thing."

Charles raised an eyebrow but was silently relieved the decor was not being used on him for target practice. "Go on."

"We need a backup plan." She replied. "You and I both know we need 2 codes, and both of them need to be from willing donors. C.C. refuses to talk to me, the only thing she let slip in our connection is that Lulu was injured before her exile took effect." She said pointedly.

"So... you're saying C.C. is no longer a willing donor?"

"That seems like the most likely case... and even if it isn't there's always risk that it can be that way in the future. She may very well get attached and I'm not about to hurt our babies, not again, not ever. And she's a friend."

He nodded quietly, mulling over what his wife said.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I don't know." She admitted. "I think... that we should wait and see how things turn out in Japan. Until we figure out what my Lulu is really up to all we can do is bide our time."

"Of course." The Emperor agreed, and Marianne sat down next to him, both of them beginning to ponder their future.


"Anyways-" Lelucia began after a moment of awkward silence. "I'll tell you all the important things, Suzaku and C.C. know most of what I'm about to tell you but the rest of you should be in on this."

Everyone nodded in anticipation.

"Who here is familiar with the word Ragnarok?"

"The prophesied End of Days in Norse Mythology." Shirley answered. "Their version of the apocalypse."

"Quite right Shirley." Lelucia praised with a smile, making the other girl blush.

"My father has a plan decades in the making, codenamed ragnarok. He needs to meet 2 criteria in order to make his plan reality. First, he needs access to a number of structures located all across the globe known as thought elevators. This is his real reason for world conquest. The ideas of social Darwinism is nothing more than a bold faced lie, a Public facade. He uses it as an excuse to conquer territories so he can access their thought elevator."

This was news to most of them, with Kallen visibly balling up her Fists. The fact that her homeland was invaded over a lie- not even for something real like Sakuradite somehow made the whole thing even worse.

Lelucia noticed this, and gently placed her hand on Kallen's shoulder. The small gesture was comforting enough and it made the redhead calm down.

"The second requirement-" The exile then continued "Is that he needs 2 code barers as willing donors. My uncle Victavian Von Britannia, also known as V.V. is one such code barer. He is the man who murdered my mother, and... mutilated Nunnally."

Nunnally's grip on the wheelchairs arm rest tightened considerably

"However there is one thing working in our favor. V.V. is only one code barer. C.C. is no longer a willing participant in the Ragnarok project, and has effectively severed ties to my father and his ilk."

"You told us what he needs for Ragnarok, but not what Ragnarok actually is." Milly pointed out.

Lelucia nodded. "I was getting to that. Quite simply, Charles plans to kill god- the dimensional supervisor. In doing so he will destroy the collective subconscious of mankind. He would erase what it means to be human, irreversibly destroying our individuality as a species."

The room went so deathly quiet one could hear a pin drop.

"That- that's INSANE!" Shirley snapped.

"He called it a world without lies, but it would just be a meaningless existence. Gaining experience. Life, death, the cycle of decay and renewal, it would all cease to be."

"Your life would become nothing more than a series of events, pointless..." Kallen muttered and C.C. nodded quietly looking up at Kallen from her position on the Queen's lap.

"Exactly. Thankfully for us, there are only 2 code barers that either side knows of. There are potentially more, but the other code barers are so deeply hidden that finding them would be nothing short of impossible. With C.C. no longer wanting to help them with their plan their entire Ragnarok program is effectively defunct."

Relief flooded everyone's minds as they relaxed knowing that for now the Apocalypse wasn't looming around the corner.

"The second item of immediate concern is Nina." Lelucia muttered, and everyone shivered. "It is no secret that the girl is as intelligent as she is unstable. We need to get her on our side. I'll Geass her if I have to but that's a last resort, I want to try getting through to her conventionally first."

Bile rose in Suzaku's throat as he remembered what he did during the battle of Tokyo... the weapon of mass destruction he fired at Kallen, with the city below.

"I will be honest with you all. I am going to need her to build her Fleijas. As much as I hate it, they are an extremely useful tool that cannot be ignored. They are the ultimate deterrence. A weapon so powerful that you need only fire it once and never again. This weapon is our only shot at securing Japan once it is no longer under the direct control of the crown."

Noting the specific choice of words, Nunnally blinked.

"You said not under direct control, what exactly do you have in mind Nii-sama?"

Lelucia grinned.

"Alright, that's enough about the past, so- here's the plan..."


"You wanted to see me, your highness?" Jeramiah asked as he entered Cornelia's office at the exact time Darlton had specified, quickly taking a knee and bowing before Britannia's goddess of Victory.

"I did Jeramiah, here." She said as she grabbed a document that was laying on her desk and offered it to him.

Taking the hint, he rose from his kneeling position and grabbed it, blinking in shock he looked up at the princess.

"My title as Margrave-"

"I had it reinstated, congratulations Sir Jeramiah."

The Knight of orange was left perplexed. He had expected to be ridiculed, humiliated, perhaps even shot. To be welcomed into the room of the most ruthless princess in the empire with no guards present and simply given back his title? He had no idea how to take that.

"Thank you, your highness." He eventually found his voice.

Cornelia waved him off. "Think nothing of it Jeramiah, I have full confidence in knowing where your loyalties lie." She hinted. "You came to J- Area-11 immediately after the invasion, correct?"

He nodded. "Yes, your highness."

"To find Lelucia and Nunnally."

He nodded again, sadness creeping into his voice. "Yes... your highness."

She smiled.

"You where always one of the best in the royal guard. I remembered seeing you play game after game of chess with Lulu, and playing tag with her in the gardens of the villa, and hide-and-seek, and terrorizing the other staff."

Jeramiah had to stop himself from crying as he closed his eyes. The happiness of those memories mixed with his self loathing at being unable to protect the woman he admired, and the little girls he swore to watch over. It was a painfully bittersweet trip down memory lane.

"Thank you, your highness." He said quietly.

"Think nothing of it Jeramiah. I am only doing what's right. I want you to take some leave, 3 days, paid as well. Screw your head on straight. The Purists are defunct at this point but not you. Once you get yourself together I want you to come back to this office for your assignment."

"Understood your highness." Jeramiah answered, giving a deep bow.

"Dismissed."

Jeramiah turned and walked out of that office with renewed confidence and conviction.


"That's certainly ambitious." C.C. said, breaking the silence after Lelucia had outlined her plans for the second go at her black rebellion.

"It will be difficult. Last time we didn't have the constraints you laid out-" Kallen began, but Lelucia raised her hand asking for silence.

"Last time I killed and used whoever was in my way without mercy, with rare exception, and it destroyed me. I bathed in blood because I was foolhardy and brash. I don't want to fail the way I did last time." She sighed.

"We will accomplish our mission, but preferably... using bloodshed as a last resort, rather than the go-to option I had defaulted to." She finished, making Suzaku smile.

"Are you sure that's wise?" C.C. pressured. "Holding yourself back-"

"Is necessary." Lelucia finished. "I threw my soul away the first time, I soaked myself in blood and in the end I lost everything. I can't repeat the same foolhardy decisions... I need to restrain myself, or else the past is doomed to repeat itself, and we all know how that turned out." She looked down at the ground.

"I don't want to be a Demon, not again, I already tried that route, it's time for a more measured and considerate approach, I need to be careful, and rational, my thirst for vengeance was slaked in the last timeline and I learned from my mistakes, I will be better... I need to be better, to set an example. Last time I was a hypocrite who didn't believe in my own speeches about justice and mercy, now I plan to follow through."

Shirley smiled, as did Milly and Nunnally alongside Suzaku. Kallen seemed worried, but ultimately understood and nodded in agreement while C.C. was noncommittal on the topic.

They where interrupted when Sayoko finally exited the kitchens, with a large pot on a temperature rack placed on top of a cart that she wheeled out with her.

"I suppose that's enough of that. We can talk more about our mission later, right now we should eat and rest." Suzaku suggested, and everyone including Lelucia agreed, though begrudgingly.

With that, everyone went to have dinner together, with idle chat lingering as they tried to normalize their relationships with one another. Lelucia immediately melted into her wholesome big sister mode as she doted on Nunnally, earning warm smiles from the others.

That night... wasn't so bad for the former demon.