Don`t know, whether I should write this, since this is extremely obvious, but:

I do not own Code Geass

Prologue

The sword of Akasha, a truly magnificent weapon. Though its existence remains a secret, its influence will be enormous, changing course of entire human history. Decorated with antique structures and in the style of old Hellenic temples, it never has more than several visitors.

As usual, Charles was standing near the abyss, looking seemingly mindlessly into the C`s world and the sword itself.

A small girl, which was almost unnoticeable in comparison to the emperor, came to his side.

"Charles, is everything goes according to the plan?"

"Yes, it is", said he calmly.

His thoughts weren`t stale, though. His mask of confidence and stoic posture of the emperor was nothing more than a mask. Ever since the death of Marianne, he couldn`t keep doubts from his mind. Seeing her in this body always reminded him of that incident. She could see it, and it worried her.

"Still worried about Lelouch, Marianne?"

"How can I not be? He seems to be planning something grandiose. I`m worried that he could go too far from what we had planned. After all, he`s my son."

With softness and sadness in her voice, she continued: "I even sent some of my agents to Area 11. How he handles himself, how he cares about Nunnally, he always reminds me of you. Oh, how do I miss seeing him in person!"

After some pause, she spoke:

"Considering, how V.V almost killed Lelouch several times, I`m worried that if he or Nunnally die and plan fails, we`d lose them forever."

"If the plan fails? I never knew you had doubts in it."

"Being around masterful strategists does make you learn something new", she said with a slight smile, which was quickly replaced by a grin: "I`m still surprised by dishonesty V.V. had shown us. I could understand jealousy, but to even lie about it? Especially to you? That`s too low even for him".

That hurted Charles. He knew, she had a point. His life, his power, his main project – all was built on a promise. Promise of slaying the God. Promise, made in his childhood, could never been fullfeed, if he was keeping secrets from his brother, as well as his brother would break the promise by hiding truth.

And now, 7 years after that bloody day, he still did not get an explanation. While it was true that her soul was alive on Earth, wandering around in Anya`s body, he missed her. Missed that woman, who was irreplaceable for him. After the assassination, she never properly returned to the state she was before. No wonder, she had lost her body and went through one of the worst experiences, known to humanity – betrayal and death.

The day he sent Lelouch to Japan, he was relieved. For Charles, even a warzone could be considered safer than life in a court. Especially after what happened to Marianne.

He was shocked when he learned about how an airraid on Kururugi residence almost killed both his son and daughter. The access to C`s world cleared out any doubts about their possible death, but this day, as well as days after Marianne`s assassination, were of the most importance to him.

In the entire Royal Family, there were only three people, who possessed the extreme intelligence, could manipulate entire nations and with enough possibilities to even conquer the world. They were Charles, Schneizel and Lelouch.

He saw himself, when he saw Lelouch. Smart, theatrical, capable. Perfect candidate for an heir. His anger and willingness to fight to the bitter end – he couldn`t ignore it, he respected him for it.

But he also feared, that his lifestory was not that soft for Lelouch to become like Odysseus, but harsh enough to despise everything Britannia stood for. Charles couldn`t be more apathetic to it, but if he would get enough power to challenge the completion of Ragnarok could lead to entire set of problems.

"I always kept an eye for him. Millions, won from parasitic nobles, illegal matches, minor preparations for revolt – he is quite an interesting boy" – Marianne said – "It saddens me, that I didn`t saw him grow up. Especially it worries me, if he doesn`t accept what we`re planning. Had we even discussed it with him for assuming his support for granted?"

Usually, Charles could get angry for such words, but he isn`t that stupid. He is an Emperor, not some Clovis. Doubts were eating him, and he found, that he couldn`t argue with her.

"I`ve had my own reports from OSI about Area 11 about administration and recent developments. His tactics, though absolutely reckless, had sent a lot of shockwaves for us. His army can prove to be an obstacle. He is almost worthy of being recognized as my son"

"Charles! That's kind of cynical from you, close to being absolutely disrespectful!", Marianne said, while striking a pose she`d usually do before storming into the Royal Palace on a horseback long time ago.

"Is it? Never gave it a thought"

"I doubt that you would like your parents if your father said to you the same", she said. The temple fell silent for several minutes.

"Anyway, Schneizel seems to plan on supporting Euphy`s proposal. SAZ, or how was it called? No matter. It seems quite interesting" Marianne said, showing some worriedness. She remembered how Euphemia was friends with Lelouch and didn`t expected much of a benefit from the idea.

Charles, whilst rethinking his plans in the meantime, seemed interested in the idea.

"Effectively, it`d mean destruction of all rebel activity in Area 11, even if the idea won`t be implemented entirely. If Schneizel knew about geass and about a person who is behind Zero`s mask, he`d better prepare himself for a massacre. This initiative can be either extremely effective or break any resemblance of peace if something goes wrong".

Both Marianne and Charles didn`t care much for Area-Number system, it was part of their masks anyways. "Risks are too high. The situation itself can be thrown into chaos, possibly threatening both Ragnarok and cooperation with C.C. and Lelouch. I don`t think we can trust V.V that much", Charles said, with a bitter sadness in his voice, "I will stop Schneizel by activization of talks with the E.U"

"I think we need to extract Lelouch back to us, before he gets completely out of our hands." Marianne said this as advice. "The idea is nice, but if it happens – Lelouch can always throw a hell of a fit. Remember that meeting?"

"How I could not remember? If only he knew you`re still alive on this planet. Anyways, is this what you recommend? Very well. His futile rebellion will be prevented, before it fails miserably and threatens our plans even more. In the end, he is my son and to challenge me like that will be extremely hurtful for him. He should`ve better prepared", Charles said, and then added: "Depending on the course of action my brother pursues, we should get some stable ground to eliminate his threats to us. Sadly, he is the one who broke our trust"

Marianne looked at him, with sadness in her eyes. She knew how hard was it for him to say this. She hated him for his jealousy and dishonesty, but for Charles, he still was his brother. Having to choose between his love and children and last brother is painful.

"I hope, that someday he`ll understand how much his betrayal hurt me, but now, I don`t see any other possible way to deal with him, but by weakening his influence"

The pair went back to look at the Sword of Akasha, bearing new ideas in mind and scheming new plans. Charles could`ve never hated mundane affairs more, than anyone, but now he has to intervene.

"I`ll make arrangements for our departure. My forces could be enough, but if I`d cooperate with some other Knights…" Marianne turned away and went out. 'Soon we will have a reunion, just you wait, Lelouch!'

"Very well. Let the plan proceed"

How`s the chapter? I`m fairly new to writing such texts, so reviews are welcome.

Idea with Charles coming back for Lelouch isn`t that uncommon. In fact, there are probably 1K of such texts.

I`m planning on changing some events in regards to emperor`s involvement, but not so sure about other events. Charles did like Lelouch(at least, ideas behind his moves were for his protection), giving him a more realistic perspective of a parent would go interestingly.

Quick edit(17.01.2024) - I was working with the fic in the Word, and completely forgot this fic was looking worse than I thought due to some technical issues. Now it should be better