It's nearly been a year since I posted the first chapter of this story. So it feels right that after all that time going over what I wanted to get down in the second story in that greater narrative, I would post it now. As I don't expect most of you to either follow me on Twitter or to have read my other stories, I'll keep it brief. There is now a solid post schedule for my work. With this being updated twice a month, because of a delay, this was meant to be posted on the second Thursday of the month, but don't worry, the second chapter will be posted next week to keep to that twice-a-month thing. And it goes without saying, that you should read the first story, End of an Era, before reading this else you'll be lost. Of, and chapters will be written to have between 4 and 5K words, when there's an exception, I'll say so.

Chapter 1: Harsh Truths

Laying in a bed that was of better quality than she had been used to for the last few years, with the sounds of birds chirping outside the window, Cornelia couldn't find it in herself to take any joy from any of it. It didn't matter that she wasn't in one of their hide-outs, or that she and the rest had journeyed to another world and met up with her brother, his wife and her first and seemingly only nieces. All of it felt like thunder in the distance while she remained deep underwater.

Years she had spent searching for answers, trying to figure out why her sister had been forced to give that order and so cruelly cut down, forever to be known as the massacre princess. Only to discover that it was a fluke, bad timing and a poor example that was the culprit, with no malice or intent from any one party but instead just...chance.

'If I had been there…if I had just' She went back and forth over it, how they last spoke ended with her angry with her, calling her out for her ideals to change things for the better, referring to her by her official title. If she had just been more open, if she had just been willing to listen…maybe Euphie would have confided in her. If she had known, she could have helped, she could have been there and been able to stop her, keep her away from any Japanese till they could have figured something out.

But she wasn't, and the news of what happened that day had only fuelled the nightmares that dogged her ever since. Only now, it wasn't her brother being a monster that led to her death, but her failure as her sister to be someone she could confide in, someone she could rely on. Her entire night had been nothing but ever-increasing terrible scenarios where she would watch her past self-reject her sister and then watch, helplessly, as the hands of fate worked their cruel magic-compelling her younger brother to cast that dreaded spell on their beloved younger sister, tears in his eyes as he pled and bargain for it to stop, for her to help them.

But it never worked, as she was always held back, stuck in mud or just paralyzed from the neck down as she would watch as the geass spell was cast, as Euphie would walk off with a gleeful step before the killing started. So many bodies, so many lives lost, and for what? No grand goal, no larger picture, or greater purpose, all of it carried out because fate in all its cruelty, willed for possibly the one bright spot in the imperial family to be snuffed out, her corpse a cursed and horrific cherry atop the cake of tragedy.

She didn't know when she started crying again, she didn't know how she still had tears left to shed after the night she had, all she knew was that she gave into her frustration, anger and grief and let her emotions flow like a river.

Guilford's hand stopped right as he was about to grip the knob and open the door, the man was worried and heartbroken over hearing the cries of his wife through the door, something he had the misfortune of getting used to these past couple of years as the losses and unknowns got to her. Now, they knew the truth and he almost wished they didn't. At least before, there was the hope in him that they could pin the blame on Lelouch, that he had planned and carried out an evil act to serve his rebellious goals, but what was there to be angry about now? Who was to blame?

No one, which meant all that pain and anger had nowhere to go, it just…continued to fester and grow. Not even a good night's rest had been within their reach as his wife suffered through constant nightmares, breaking up a mess which led to him tending to her the entire time, having only managed to get her to return to the world of dreams for what he prayed was a dreamless experience for a couple of hours, enough time for him to get ready and go down to the kitchens to see if he couldn't prepare breakfast in bed for her. He had some help from the staff, but standing in the hallway, a cart by his side with the food hot and fresh, he felt like he had somehow failed in his duty as her husband.

No, he shook his head, he couldn't think like that. this was a rough time for them, of course, it was but he had to be there for her, that was his vows to her as her husband and knight. Taking a breath, and hoping that the coffee he drank earlier was as good as he was told to keep himself awake after little sleep, he opened the door and immediately went to her side, taking her into his arms and letting her whale into his chest, his hand on her band and head as whispered whatever soft platitudes he could to her.

20 minutes later, she had calmed down, but that light that he fell in love with was absent from her eyes as she just lay in bed, with no motivation to get out of it, to get dressed, to meet with the others or explore this new land filled with wonders that the younger, child versions of them would love to have seen. 'My lady, I have prepared breakfast for you. They didn't have your favorites but I'm told that the fruits are incredibly sweet.' She didn't respond as he set the tray on the bed over her lap, adjusting the pillows to support her back more.

Seeing that he wasn't having success, he tried a different approach. 'We should eat and meet up with the others, now that we're here, we need a plan of action.' Again, she didn't seem to acknowledge him or the food, Her eyes might have been open but she saw nothing. Nothing in the room at least.

'Euphie wouldn't have wanted this,' her eyes gained some light to them, one fuelled by fury but he was an expert to handle her rage by this point as he plowed on through. 'She loved you, more than anything. I know she has been looking out for you this entire time, and that it must make her sad to see you like this.' He finished, before lifting a spoon full of the soup he had made for her.

'Please, my lady. Have a bite, I promise that we'll get through this…somehow.'

A couple of hours later, the group gathered for breakfast. Having been provided with a change of clothes and a place for a nice shower the night before, Kallen took her seat from the night before but noticed that while C.C. entered the room, followed by the servers with their food, her husband was absent. He wasn't the only royal missing as despite it being 9 am, the early risers of Guilford and Cornelia were still missing. Looking around, she saw that she wasn't the only one who noticed the absence.

C.C. didn't seem to care about the three missing heads, or if she did, she knew the reasons why as she tended to her daughters, helping them eat their meals. 'Cornelia had a rough night from what I heard, so she won't be joining us. My husband also had some work that required his attention, so he ate his breakfast earlier and left to tend to it.' C.C. answered the unspoken questions.

'What work?' Milly asked as she had hoped that they could speak more.

Wiping away some food from Aidokleia's lip, C.C. gave her a smirk. 'Despite how lazy he can be, he still governs these lands as its lord, which means meeting with officials, speaking with concerned locals and managing general affairs.' He was great at what he did, no one who saw him work would deny that, but she did enjoy listening to him groan about work and how he wished to just return to the easier days of treasure hunting.

It seemed that Milly managed to get some of her secret jokes as she chuckled as she chewed her food. 'So, it's more of the same of what we were like back at Ashford.' He was the same back then as well, lazy to a fault but when it was something a friend asked of him, by God did he work his ass off. He liked to pretend she was a tyrant, and she kinda was but he never wavered when she asked and seemed to take joy in bringing whatever she wished to do to reality, up to and including wearing a dress and going the extra mile of styling himself to look like any fair maiden, complete with messing with his voice to sound more feminine.

'We haven't attempted to make the world's largest pizza yet, but that is something I've penned for a coming festival. When you have magic and giants to aid in the process, you find that the limits are much greater than before.' C.C. added, and while her husband dreaded a 3rd attempt to make something as he put it to be, 'a waste of time, money and resources that only she wanted to do', their daughters were a different story.

At the mention of their favorite food, the two girls grow extremely excited, nearly vibrating in their seats. 'It's going to be super big!' Aidokleia reached her hands to her sides, trying to show just how large it would be even though she didn't even understand how long a meter was yet.

'I want it!' Epainespoina was right there with her, much to her husband's dread as she had a hard enough time controlling two but when pizza was involved, it was like they could access more of their mother's sly nature and father's intelligence.

Mercifully for her, this was one of the rare times that C.C. wasn't encouraging them. 'Dear, it's not going to be made for a while, be patient.' She stated as they returned to eating their breakfast, the mood was better than it had been before thanks to the two balls so energy seated next to the lady of these lands. But not a single adult was foolish enough to believe that the mood had changed on a fundamental level as while they had to cut things short last night, what they did learn was enough to leave them all with disturbed sleep, to say the least. For Rivalz and Milly, it was realizing that Shirley had figured out his secret and got involved in something like terrorism. For Kallen, it's finding out that he was never her enemy-not truly, while with Gino, it's realizing that despite his crimes, Lelouch was one of the better members of the royal family.

'What do you intend for us to do?' Nagisa seemed to bring them back to the present, her eyes focused on the green-haired witch, but lacking the old suspicions she harbored for her.

'Did you not speak with the locals when you first arrived about jobs?' C.C. asked them, getting nods from some as she relaxed into her seat. 'Then that is what you'll be doing for the day.

'That's it?' Tamaki asked, having expected that once they knew who they were, they'd be…he wasn't quite sure but something.

C.C. for her part, raised her thin and delicate eyebrow at him, as if still questioning his intelligence even after all these years. 'Did you think you'll get to lounge around my house for free? I didn't like bums then; I don't like them now. If you still wish to speak with Lelouch, you can do it tonight at dinner but till then, off to work with you.' She informed them, making it clear that there would be no exceptions regardless of who they were and what they meant to them.

'And-' Whatever Gino was going to ask was interrupted when there was a knock at the door, with C.C. giving her permission for the person to enter. That person revealed herself to the missing maid/kunoichi, Sayoko who despite the half-decade since they had last seen her, had aged beautifully, the maid attire she wore taking nothing away from that. Directing an honest smile towards her former master, Milly she turned to her current one with a bow.

'Pardon me, my lady but it's time for me to collect the girls.' She informed them as the twins, upon seeing her jumped out of their seats and raced towards her.

'Auntie Sayo!' She laughed as she knelt to meet them, letting them give her a big hug each before she hugged them both, the girls laughing at the kind, warm gesture as she stood up, but grasped one of their hands in hers.

With the greetings out of the way, the two immediately went into explaining what had happened last night to her. 'We met another auntie, her name is Nelly!'

Sayoko gave them both a smile, even though she had already been informed by her master Lelouch of the situation. 'Is that right, then you can tell me all about her as we go out.'

'Out?' Epainespoina cocked her head to the side, her single black strand of hair falling over an eye.

'No playroom?' Her older sister, Aidokleia asked as they liked their playroom, it was a fun place and sometimes their mamma or pappa would be there, but they were busy with work a lot.

'Not today, your father wishes to have you close while he works, so you get to spend time with him.' Hearing that turned their confusion into joy as they cheered, jumping up and down as they grabbed at Sayoko's hands, trying to lead her out of the room to find their dad, even if they didn't know where he was at the moment.

'Yay!'

'Let's go, Papa waiting!' With that note, the trio left the room as Sayoko bid them farewell as she "dragged" out of the room, she'll get control over them soon enough and lead them where her master and their father were.

C.C. relaxed further into her seat as if wounded by the scene. 'Oh woe is me, with such little provocation, my daughters have abandoned me.' While those who didn't know her looked confused, those who did just groaned with Kallen just keeping a straight face with C.C. who eventually stopped what she was doing and flicked a bang of hair over her shoulder.

'Oh, you used to be so much fun to mess with, Kallen.' C.C. started as Anya spoke up.

'Gino's been excused from work today, remember. I wanted to show him around the place and catch up.' She grabbed into Gino's hand, having not left his side since they were escorted in for breakfast, the tall in for his part was more than happy to keep her glued to his side.

C.C. tapped the table in thought. 'Oh, we did agree on that, didn't we? Have fun, just don't have too much fun, I don't want to hear about you requesting maternity leave anytime soon.' Gino blinked at the insinuation while Anya glared at her, her cheeks gaining a touch of red to them.

'Unlike you, I'm not a sexual deviant.' Anya shot back at her, with the woman in question not rising to the bait about her love life.

'And who would you even suspect that?' She asked her if Anya might have been correct that she and her husband were quite satisfied in their love life, including what they did behind closed doors but Anya would need to expose why she would even know that.

The pink-haired girl seemed to know that as she huffed and grabbed onto Gino's hand tighter, leading him out of the room. 'I'm not going to have this talk with you, witch.' She told her, making a list of ways to get the woman back later but for now, she had better things to think about. 'Come on, Gino, I want to show you the marketplace, they should have some great stuff to show off!' She didn't wait for him to respond and dragged him out the door, leaving the group as C.C. chuckled in amusement as she got up from her chair as well.

'They're off to have some fun, I see but it's time we part ways for the day I too have my tasks to get to.' She waved them off as she got up to leave as well, only stopping when Chiba asked another question.

'Wait, what do you intend to do with Cornelia and Guilford? You said that they had issues last night.' The Japanese woman asked her, as she turned her head to observe her over her shoulder.

'I have something in the words for them, but you all have other things to worry about, so I would advise you to get to it.' She replied before stepping out, giving the maid outside instructions about something they couldn't quite hear before she walked off.

And an hour later, she was here, along with Rivalz as they worked to build another group home. Their group had been separated to join in with tasks as Nagisa and Milly had been sent to help with the harvest, she along with Rivalz was set up with the construction crews, and Tamaki was put with some of the fishing crews out on the water. They had been surprised by the fact all of this needed to be done, but they had learned from another refugee who had been there a while that this place… Annwn experiences the reverse of the seasons occurring on Earth, so while they had left in the last days of Spring, it was the final days of fall here.

She was curious that if she went South, would it be going into summer rather than winter, but didn't have the time to contemplate that with what she had to do right now. Adjusting her hard hat and overall strap, she continued to mix cement for the foundations of the place, foundations that weren't filling completely as they were leaving channels for heat to circulate, and a built-in heating system for the building when it was complete. She wasn't the only one mixing as around 8 others were at their mixers, pouring in more cement, adding water or turning the crank on them to spin them around.

There was chatter, but no one was slowing down, as they needed as many adequate housings as they could get done before winter's chill set in, which she had heard could be especially biting here so everyone was working hard to get shelter, food, water and plenty of firewood for cooking and warming the dozens of buildings around town. Just now, a cart loaded with freshly made charcoal rode past on its way to a warehouse for storage.

Her task done, she poured her freshly mixed cement into her wheelbarrow and rolled it to where she saw someone waving her down.

'That was fast, you have any experience with this?' The foreman asked her.

Kallen waved her hand half-heartedly. 'A little, but I wouldn't say I was in construction.'

If the foreman found her answer lacking, she didn't deem it an issue worth pushing. 'Hmm, well we take what we can get,' Her attention was on the cement and she took a stick from one of her large pockets and placed it into the cement she had made, inspecting it. 'Looks stable, no lumps and consistent, great! Just pour it into that slot over there.' With a smile, she pointed towards where she wished for Kallen to add to.

'Cool.' The redhead did as she was asked, having washed out the dye from her hair the previous night. As she did so, she decided to learn more about this place from the people who lived there.

'Say, how long will this take? Building a hostel big enough for 100 people can't be easy or quirk.' She inquired as the foreman was checking through their clipboard, their eyes popping up to look at someone as they worked and comparing it to what she had on her notes.

She hummed at Kallen's question before she answered it. 'It's not, but we're working nearly around the clock and got suitable materials, so by the time the first snow falls, we'll just be putting in the finishing touches.' She pointed towards a building a ways down the road that was in its final stages, that had only been under construction for 2 months and yet, it was almost finished.

'It's not so much the walls and supports that give us the hassle, it's the heating and plumbing that is the issue.' Someone added as they walked on by, carrying a bag of cement mix on their shoulders.

Guilford and Cornelia heard the knock on the door but weren't given the time to answer as it swung open to allow the lady of the house, or was it villa to enter? Like the previous night, she didn't wear any ornate dress or evening gown but chose to wear more comfortable and natural-coloured fabrics, with the only eccentric thing about her being that large pink ribbon wrapped around her waist.

She didn't care so much for offended Guilford looked at her breach of their privacy, she wasn't her husband and had her way of handling things. 'You can just-'

She stopped Guilford without giving him much thought. 'This is my house; I can go where I please when I please.' Her eyes were rather on the mess of a woman before her and she wasn't so heartless as to not sympathize with her. She might not have been close to her, but she could recognise how shattering heartbreak and tragedy could be, having both experienced it first-hand and witnessed it many times over her long life.

But it was because of her experiences with that which drove her to act as she walked past Guilford towards Cornelia who remained in bed and without ceremony, grabbed her and dragged her out of it with a yelp from the woman. 'You have 30 minutes to take a much-needed shower and get dressed, we have somewhere to be. Take any longer and I'll have the maids get you dressed like a child.' She instructed her, keeping Guilford in her line of sight just in case he tried something unwise, which seemed likely with how he was glaring at her for touching his wife.

'I'm in no mood for whatever it is you want, witch.' In response to Cornelia's dejected anger, she froze the bed solid with a single gesture, shocking both of them into alertness as her hand returned to her side, frost still lingering off her fingertips.

'Neither am I' Now that she's made that avenue a lost cause, she turned around to leave the room, only stopping at the door to give the two one last statement. 'Don't test my patience, lost princess. Wallowing in bed helps no one.'

Shorter than I wanted this first chapter to be, but I think that it accomplished what I wanted it to do. However, because of the nature of things, there won't be much action for the next few chapters as I set things up. But regardless, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and like I said in the beginning, the next chapter will be out next week.