Good news, everyone! This chapter will be the first one since the early chapters of the first book to get the complete Grammarly treatment because I was finally able to organise a means to pay as just like before, they just accept U.S. dollars. Also, there have been some changes made in chapter one, as I wrote them without fact-checking what I already set up, so if things seem a bit off with who is where, know that I've altered them to better fit what was meant to be the case.

Chapter 3: Harvest And Faith.

Milly hadn't had much time to speak with the rest as they were escorted out of Lelouch…palace. She still found that hard to believe, as she met him at Aries Villa, but for years afterwards, he resided in the student council building, a far cry from that. Now, it would seem he found himself in a palace once more, only this one wasn't on earth.

Once outside the gates, Rivalz and Chiba were taken to the workhouses, Kallen was escorted to help with construction, and Anya dragged Gino off to have fun. However, he didn't see against that by any means of that stupid but lovable smile of his was any indication. She was taken down into town and rode a bus carriage out towards the farms, where she and 19 others were given a change of clothes and told to meet with the woman who operated the farm.

That woman was what she expected from a farmer; tanned, well-built and even wearing a star hat to keep the sun out of her eyes. When she spoke, it was with a thick Portuguese accent that Milly only understood because her job required that she pick up other languages, if only to communicate with all her contacts.

'Alright, we have a full day's work ahead of us. We need to pick this entire patch clean so they can start making the final plans for the coming festival and store what isn't used for the winter months, so unless you all want to eat nothing but potatoes and beans for 3 months, let's get to work!' She clapped her hands as the group dispersed, getting onto their jobs as they collected baskets and went to their tomato trees, picking whatever ripe ones they could and gently placing them into the baskets.

Milly, however, didn't know her role as she expected that the farmer would be more specific from how the others moved; it seemed like they had been doing this for a while and understood what was wanted of them. This made her stick out as the woman approached her. 'You, you understand all that?'

'Y-yeah, just wondering which group I'm in, that's all.' She replied her Portuguese wasn't the best, but it was enough to have a decent conversation as the woman looked her over.

'Hmm.'

'Is there an issue?' Milly asked as the woman rubbed her chin.

'I saw you with Lord Jeremiah yesterday.' The taller woman stated, making her flinch a little, but she kept that under wraps.

'I was in the last group; it's why I'm here.' Not a lie; Milly was merely leaving out details, but this didn't dissuade the farmer, who shook her head.

'No, I'm sure I saw you standing with someone else; they look familiar….' Milly started to sweat a little, as she had no reason to think she knew her as she had never caused issues with someone from Portugal. Still, the woman snapped her fingers with a smile that lowered her fears.

'I remember, you were with the Devil's Right Hand, weren't you? Man, she looked different than I remembered, but I guess she couldn't advertise that now.' That nickname was what the Europeans called Kallen, wasn't it? Partly because it was known she was Zero's best pilot, partly because of how she used the Guren's RWS in battle.

'You seem to know her?' Milly asked her, her shoulders relaxing as the woman laughed.

'Know of her, we never served anyway near one another. But I've heard stories in passing from the former Zero that threw me for a loop. I thought he'd be this mysterious, handsome man in his 30s, only for it to be some skinny 20-something.' Milly snorted in amusement, as Lelouch might have had a demeanour and face that left girls swooning. Still, for the longest time, he had the most abysmal physical performance of anyone she knew, including her grandfather, who, when she was still a student, was pushing 70; even she could outrun in a full evening dress and high heels.

The funniest part was that his physical performance seemed erratic; if he was carrying Nunna, he could do it for hours without so much as sweating; if he was running away from one of her many schemes, it could keep pace with the track team. But when it came to actual P.E., he only ever bet out Nina, which wasn't much of an achievement as she was the only one who avoided P.E. more than he did.

'Yeah, he wasn't what people expected of him; he enjoyed defying expectations.' Milly replied, recalling when she decided to host a cross-dress ball. It was a hassle to get him to agree, having to rope in Nunnally to ask him just so he would say yes. But when the day came, Lelouch looked like the bell of the ball, even using his acting chops to make his voice sound much more feminine. When she finally picked up her jaw, she swore he was smirking behind that fan he used to cover his face.

Her temporary boss didn't know that part of him, but she knew enough to know he was good at what he did. 'He was good at getting people to hope that things could get better. That was why I joined the Black Knights European division; I wanted to be a pilot with as much renown as the Guren.' She smiled, thinking back to those days when she heard about what he was doing and rather than join the regular E.U. armed forces that were getting their asses kicked in Africa, she went for this new armed force.

'I think she'll be happy to hear that. Kallen's always been a fighter; even when she pretended to be sick and feeble in Ashford, she excelled in areas where she could.' Milly replied, as now that she knew more about Kallen, she could suspect that Kallen put so much into maintaining such high grades when someone like Lelouch did enough to pass because it was the only way Kallen could express that she wasn't some invalid.

But now that she knew this woman was a Black Knight, she had another difficult question. 'Were…were you in the final battle?' She had met more than a few veterans of that day, and most came out of it scarred in the same way, if not on their flesh, then in their hearts and souls. People like Kallen and Tamaki were no different.

'In Japan? No. My unit remained in Europe, fending off Schneizel's traitor. We did pretty well for ourselves, but when we got word of what happened in London, Berlin and Paris…we surrendered.' The farmer took a deep breath, sighing as she remembered that super-sized cluster fuck. They hadn't believed it at first; how could they? Throughout history, cities have been attacked; they have been razed to the ground, but that was over days if not weeks.

The notion that 3 significant cities could be wiped out in seconds seemed impossible. Still, those among their ranks remembered something they tried not to consider: the second battle of Tokyo and its horrible conclusion. Britannia, the same Britannian Schneizel helped to build and lead, was willing to destroy its own cities and kill millions of its own people if it meant keeping them out of enemy hands. So the idea that Schneizel wouldn't be willing to do the same to ensure they dropped their weapons set in quickly.

Milly noted her hands moving as if reaching for a smoke but paused mid-way, most likely because she was trying to quit, as the farmer continued. 'We tried to go to ground and harass them when we could, but with diminishing returns and continued reprisals, I had to throw in the towel 2 years in. That blonde bastard son of a dead whore rarely went for us, and we couldn't stand to see innocent people suffering for our sins…'

'Rome made that clear.' Neither added anything to that, as that was a dark day for everyone. For Milly, it demonstrated how the kind Japanese boy she once knew was well and truly dead. Replaced by a heartless enforcer. 'I couldn't do that to my family, my husband-bless his heart, has never been good in a fight, much less with a gun. So, when he heard about a possible out, we took it and fell back to what our families have done for centuries: Farming.' She gestured with her head to the other side of the field. A large beefcake of a man dressed similarly to the farmer, conversing with a man on a horse-drawn carriage.

'Rome was a bad time for everyone, both those within and outside the city.' Milly commented before trying to move on to better things. 'You said something about a festival?'

The woman seemed to agree that things were getting too morbid and laughed as she replied. 'Hmm? Yes, the Fall Dance. 3 days of games, performances, food and drink before we all have to remain indoors for winter.' Milly found that to sound like it would be a blast. She has read about such festivals in history books and how Britannia had outlawed the last one over 250 years ago.

'Rumour has it that Lady C.C. is pushing for a massive Pizza cooked on the final day, which means we'll need to supply more tomatoes than normal for it.' Milly didn't know this C.C. like Kallen; the rest did, but she liked her more by the second.

Clapping her hands together, the woman finally decided that Milly should earn her keep as she pointed towards one of the smaller groups of pickers. 'Speaking of, you're with group 3. What I need you to do for today is pick and clean 200 trees, head down the road to help them milk their cows, and finally return here to repair some fencing on the far side of the farm. You'll meet Pedro later; he'll explain everything in detail for that part.' Milly's face was increasingly white as she relayed her duties for the day.

'200 trees?' She squeaked out as she saw that just one tree had around 3 dozen tomatoes, some needing workers to use step ladders to get to.

Slapping her back, the woman confirmed this, not noticing how much the reporter-turned-informant had gone pale. 'Yup, our farm has over 20,000, and I only give you 20 extra hands. Chop-chop, those tomatoes won't pick themselves!' She laughed as she walked off to handle her duties for the day, leaving a reluctant Milly to get to it.

Getting to it, Milly grabbed one of the free baskets in one hand and started to pick, starting from the higher branches and working her way down. After only 10 minutes, she realised that she was much slower than the rest of them as for every tomato Milly picked, the person to her left and right picked 3 to 5, and while Milly was being slow, partly not to bruise the tomatoes, they managed to move as fast as they did without any bruise as far as she could tell.

After a while, one of her pickers got closer to speak. 'Hey,' She looked to the side to see that he was young, no older than 17, but well built for his age. But what stuck out the most was the fact he was missing an eye, the scarring around where the pupil used to be, making it clear it wasn't a mere accident that took his left eye from him.

'Something you need…?' She asked him, waiting for him to give his name.

'Afonso Braganza.' The boy introduced himself, holding out his hand for her to shake, which she did as they got back to picking tomatoes, the younger boy managing a higher speed than her even as they talked. 'Are you new?'

'Milly Ashford, and yes. I was with the group that came in yesterday.' She introduced herself, seeing no need to try and hide who she was.

'Then allow me to welcome you. My sister and I have been here for the last 3 years, and I can tell you, it's multitudes better than what we left behind.' He laughed, looking towards the sky where the sun was bright and warm despite the season.

'Oh, older or younger?' Milly asked.

'Younger. She'll be 6 this year.' His smile dampened somewhat. 'She doesn't remember what life was like before Damocles, and I didn't want to only have that as a core memory.' Milly could understand that, as she had thought about such a thing more than once these last few years. On the lives of those who are too young to remember better days, of those who were born into the terrifying and oppressive world Schneizel and his supporters were building.

She worried for those innocent souls; if they were raised in the dark, how would they ever have a concept of light? It would be the same as it was for most Britannians who were born into a flawed and discriminatory system. Still, since they didn't suffer any negatives, they saw no need to change things. Noting that he had waited for her to pick her tree clean before heading to another, she gave the boy a smile.

'That's an admirable trait, you know? Older siblings look out for their younger ones.' Lord knows she had seen Lelouch turn into a worrywart over Nunnally more than once, or a demon depending on the situation, as was the case when Nunnally was pushed down the stairs by a bully that brought a little too hard into Charles's beliefs of how the strong ruled over the weak. He had been furious when he found out, and his revenge was swift.

Not even 3 weeks later, that bully's family lost all their money and had to declare bankruptcy. Her older brother, who was a ranking member of some phone company, was arrested for embezzling funds, and her mother, the lady of the house herself, was out of shame over such scandals and failures. She remembered seeing the girl approaching him before the worst of it hit. She begged for mercy on her hands and knees, and he merely played coy, as if he wasn't the cause of her family's tragedies. Once her noble mother took her own life, she dropped out and moved back to the homeland to stay with relatives.

Her grandfather never got him to admit it, but he was clearly the reason for it. However, she never figured out or got him to spill as she could only guess it was a combination of bribes and using his criminal connections from all those chess matches. After that, not a single soul at Ashford was foolish enough to make Nunnally sad. Still, it isolated her from people her age, who were all terrified of ending up the next Françoise. Hence, that is why she hung around the student council.

'So, they tell me, but it makes the lost eye worth it.' Afonso tapped his eye patch.

'I didn't want to ask…' Milly started as the boy laughed it off.

'It's fine; I get that look you gave me earlier all the time. Someone missing an eye isn't normal; I understand it. I wouldn't mind sharing the tale of how I lost it.' He seemed eager to share the tale; perhaps he saw it as an exciting story or an excellent way to introduce himself.

'Only if you're comfortable.' Still, she wouldn't push him on this. Tamaki was prickly enough about his scar.

Afonso hummed as they picked their full baskets and walked towards a cart left for them to place them in. As they did so, he started the story. 'Well, I was young-well younger, stupid and angry. I saw how things were going and what happened when my parents were accused of 'collaborating with terrorists' about 2 years into the regime. I never heard from them again.' He frowned as he could recall how terrified he was, having to hold his baby sister and try and calm her down after some white cloak fucks busted their door down in the middle of the night and dragged his parents off in their pyjamas.

His father tried to act strong, told them they'd be back, that it was just a mistake. Still, that hope died 2 weeks later when he heard of their executions, having never even gotten the performance of a proper trial. As morbid as it was, he was grateful his little one was too young to remember or understand it, as he could give her a happy lie about how their parents went the same way as their family's rooster.

'So, a 14-year-old fool sought out a resistance group of remnants of the Portuguese armed forces and joined.' Milly nodded, as she had heard this sort of story many times. 'For a while, I was doing what I knew was right, I was fighting back, it was small stuff, a raid here, a kidnapping there.' His smile carried both a fondness and also bitter regret.

'But well…it was too good to be true. We overreached, or maybe the damned White Cloaks had always had our number and just decided to dial it. I don't know how it happened, only what happened.' He stated as he went to explain how things went so badly so fast.

'What was that?' Afonso asked as he got up from his seat, having been watching some of the older rebels playing cards when their roof started to shake, which was soon followed by more as the unmistakable sound of explosions and gunfire rang through the air as someone near kicked the door down, panting from where they had run from.

'It's White Cloaks! Everyone grabs a gun and-' He didn't get to say more as a rocket landed close to him, the explosion blowing him to bits as his blood splattered across the room, which Afonso getting some of his face and clothes.

'Jesus…he's…he's' The boy nearly threw up, either from the shock or the realisation that had been found or some combination of the two; he didn't know at the time and wouldn't have cared to find out as he was grabbed by one of the others, their card game forgotten as they caught their guns, many of which old hunting rifles with service rifles being rare.

'Ignore it, grab a gun and get out there and kill them!' He was told, handed one of the smaller guns he could handle as the rest ran outside to confront the threat. He followed after them, as he had for months and saw that the situation was far worse than he hoped, as their little mountain hideout was being assaulted on two fronts by White Cloaks coming up the mountain in armoured vehicles with mounted machine guns.

'They have knightmares!' He looked to where he heard the yelling and saw, to his horror, nightmares making their way in, taking their time as if to mock them as they fired their guns at them, only for their bullets to ping off, dealing no damage. He ignored that and got into one of the trenches, shooting when he could.

'We won't last 10 minutes; where are those rocket launchers?!' Someone yelled as they needed a way to neutralise their armour, give them time to repel them and organise a retreat.

'They were in the ammo cache they blew up!' Afonso wasn't the only one who cursed when he heard that, as those bastards would target their best weapon against them, making an already David vs Goliath situation into something akin to a fish in a barrel.

'Shit!' His commanding officer sighed, the ring of the battle mellowing out as the man looked at him, his eyes accepting the bitter reality. 'Kid, you gotta run.'

'What! But I can't!' He couldn't just run; that was what cowards did!

'Yes, you can!' His commander yelled at him, grabbing him by the shoulders. 'We're screwed, kid; even if we had those rockets, they know where we are. They have the numbers. I wouldn't put it past them to have a jet on the way to turn this place into a slaughter field.' He painted just how bleak their situation was. The boy cannot refute it, no matter how much he used to. Looking at the others, he expected they'd agree with him, want him to stand and fight, but they were all the same. Giving him smiles of encouragement or nods.

'You're young. You have a little sister that needs her brother. Get outta here and live for her! Just…' His commander, a man he had always seen as a pillar of strength, seemed so weak at this moment.

'Just be sure to remember us and light a candle at the church for us, will you?' Looking at the others, he saw in their eyes that they wished for the same thing. Seeing this as their final few minutes on earth, they want someone to remember them, to remember their stories and to share them with others.

Crying, the boy rubbed at his eyes as he got up and ran out the rear of the trench, rushing for the treeline. 'I…I will!'

'Good kid, my daughter would have loved him.' The last thing he heard from them was a father in the group who came from his village. He knew his daughter; she had been brash but kind and loved her dad fiercely. How…how was he to tell her she won't ever feel his hugs again?

'I cried the entire time I ran through the snow and trees. I was with them for months and got to know many of them. Why they fought, what they believed. It felt like I was betraying them by fleeing, even if that was what they wished for me.' In the present, Afonso explained that as he recalled running for what felt like hours, his body was high on adrenaline, fear and sorrow to the point he was numb to his building exhaustion.

'I…I just need to get home…make sure Isabel's still in bed.' He thought to himself, making it into the final stretch before returning to his village, but he heard more yelling, screams, and gunfire. His tired, fear-filled eyes looked over the hill between him and all he had known and saw smoke.

'Oh no, nonononono!' Getting a second wind, he scrambled up the hill, nearly dropping his gun more than once as he reached the top, and saw his world in fire.

'White Cloaks!' He heard someone cry in terror; the boy witnessed friends and neighbours he had known since he was a little boy fleeing for their lives, carrying children or supporting the elderly and sick.

'Why are they here?!' Another cried before being shot; terror ruled all while white cloaks in their winter gear mercilessly gunned down all they could see, kicking down doors and shooting whatever they saw, if not setting fire to homes that people had barricaded themselves in.

'Burn it all. The town's been declared a terrorist hotspot!' A white cloak yelled as if the massacre they were conducting didn't even register to them.

'What?! That's insane, it's just me….let them kill me!' He yelled, nearly falling to his knees as there had only been 8 people from here, including him. Why make hundreds suffer for that? Why! His mind flashed to his house, near the other side of town. He had paid for his sister to be babysat while he was out, but these bastards were kicking down downs, setting fires or dragging people out where they were shot.

'Isabel!' Regaining strength, he rushed into the hell that was his home, evading fleeing residents and white cloak butchers, shooting any of the latter that were in his way. Turning the corner, he saw someone approaching his home, still untouched as he charged the man, screaming like a beast.

'Get away from that house!' The man didn't have time to turn as Afonso ran him through with the bayonet fixed to his rifle. Even if it was more a kitchen knife duck taped to the barrel, it dug into the butcher's flesh all the same as he pulled the trigger, blowing a hole in his gut. The man fell to his knees in pain as the boy jumped onto his back, pulling his knife from his side and stabbing into the man's back, over and over. Even as he stopped moving, he didn't stop till he had driven the knife into his bloody and torn back for the 15th time.

He got up from that, the blood, snow and dirt on his hands and clothes not registering to him as Afonso didn't bother opening the door the right way, bashing it down and hearing his baby sister screaming. Rounding the corner, he saw her hiding behind the kitchen table, with the girl peeking out. Upon seeing it was him, she rushed into his arms with tears in her eyes. 'Brother! It's loud!' He hugged her close.

'Keep your head down; everything will be all right.' He told her, picking her up and going for the back door. They had a cabin a little way up the mountain; they could lay low before making their way to someone safe. But it would seem that his luck ran out as a grenade landed close to them, the boy instinctively shielding his sister with his body and while he avoided the worst of it, a piece of shrapnel got him in the eye as he went down, screaming.

'Brother! You hurt!' His sister, Isabel, yelled at him, as he could only see out the one eye, the other nothing but agony and red. Picking himself up, he heard others approaching before he found himself surrounded.

'I…I won't let you…hurt my sister!' He put his sister behind him, and having dropped his gun, he drew his still bloody knife. He knew it wouldn't do much, but he wouldn't go down without a fight.

One of them stepped up, a woman if he wasn't delirious from blood loss. 'I still have a job to do.' He reached for a pistol, probably to execute the both of them there and there if not for their saviour.

'As do I.' Someone spoke up, short but intense and kind.

'Wha-!' The group looked around but didn't have the chance to fight as around them, in a defensive action, the earth itself shifted and moved as spikes of rock shot through the snow and pierced through white cloaks, impaling them like meat on a stick, the sight making his sister scream in terror before the spikes crumbled, the dead fell to the snow.

When the last crumbled, he saw that the culprit was a tall man with raven hair and piercing red eyes, the owl symbol in them captivating him. They wore some black and red armour, so different to what he had seen before and closer to what he had seen in period pieces. The helmet was closer to those worn by Spartans, as even with the ram horns on the side, he could see their face. He observed him for so long that he didn't realise that he was approaching him.

Kneeling, he removed his helmet, showing off more of his face to them, giving off an air of security and power. 'Little one, would you let me see your brother's wounds?' He smiled towards the little girl, conveying his apology for scaring her with his choice of execution.

Looking at him, she felt that he wasn't scary like those people in white. He reminded her of the old man who liked to give her cookies. 'Will you hurt him too?'

Holding out his blood and flesh hand, pinkie out, he declared. 'Pinkie promises I won't.' She hesitantly reached for it, her finger nothing compared to his, but they locked them all together. With that promise secured, she didn't fuss as he led her brother and her out front, using the flames as a means to better study his face as his hands, one of which he noted was a prosthetic, examined his wound with a frown as he took in his injury.

'Who…who are you?' Alfonso eventually asked.

The man let go of his face, reaching into his pouch and pulling out a piece of candy. He offered it to the little girl at his side, who took it without hesitation, the sweet overriding everything else to her. 'A ruler, and he who has sighed a pact with the he who receives many guests,' From another pouch, he took out a small piece of paper, one which shared the image of the owl on it, which glowed before Lelouch placed it over his eye, immediately he felt the pain rescind to a more manageable level. 'This will hold you over for now, but I fear your eye is lost to you, my boy.'

Suddenly, there was a sound that he had come to dread, the screeching of Knightmare wheels as they were approached by 6 machines, their guns trained on them. In contrast, another squadron approached them, leaving no chance to escape.

But where he was terrified for his and his sister's life, the man merely picked up his helmet, putting it back on as he grabbed his spear before he declared with a voice that couldn't be ignored. 'I give you, those that follow the words of the false God, this one chance. Lay down your arms and flee. Never again harm the innocent, and repent for your sins! Do that, and I shall spare you!' Afonso thought he was insane. What would he do against them that he could say such a thing? But he didn't voice that fear, as that voice… somehow promised that he could and would live up to such a statement.

While the soldiers on the ground laughed at this, one of the knightmares speakers turned up as its pilot replied to his offer with bemused dismissal. 'You do think we have any authority over us; you're nothing but a criminal, and when we bring you in chains to the Chancellor, we'll be rewarded beyond our wildest dreams!' With that, they all fired, and Afonso shielded his sister, who screamed, waiting for the end.

But that end didn't come. Fearful that he had already been riddled with bullets and delirious, he opened his eyes a little, only for them to bulge out of his head as he saw what was happening. The knightmares of soldiers were still firing, but their bullets weren't hitting them; instead, they were blocked by a significant purple barrier. The shots eventually died out as their would-be killers realised what had happened. Their saviour sighed, but he smirked as he began to recite something that would stick with him for the rest of his days.

'Pride, that dire sin, which transforms mortals into pitiless fools. Oh, Muse, let thy furies resound as I hurl these unrepentant souls, shrouded in darkness by wickedness, to the abode of Hades. Pay no heed to their cries and anguish, for they have forsaken the path of righteousness and virtue. May their hearts be tormented while they are devoured by the beasts of sky and earth.' As he spoke, it was like they could fall and feel a rippling in the air, as if a strange energy was being pulled in, which gave the brother and sister duo a sense of comfort and warmth as it tickled them.

But they realised the sound was muffled when encased in a transparent bubble. Alfonso needed to learn how he knew what was to come. He merely acted on that as he hugged his sister's face to his chest so she wouldn't see what would come.

Once he finished his declaration of their fate, portals formed around them, shocking everyone with what appeared to be madness or a drug-induced illusion.

'What?' One of the soldiers made the mistake of taking a step closer to one, only to be rewarded by this when a demonic goat with twisted and jagged horns ran out and gouged his guts, ripping its head to the side and opening his organs to the cold mountain air. This wasn't isolated as from the smaller portals; more beasts of nightmares that looked like mutated dogs and rams came out, while from the larger ones, 3 wrecks of Sunderlands pulled themselves out of the mechanical hell they had been banished to.

'What in the hell did he do?' One of them screamed in terror before a dog bit his leg, sending him down where he was mauled by a pack of them, tearing the flesh off his bone while he screamed for mercy. Another in a knightmare poured his entire magazine into a sunderland and to his horror. At the same time, it took damage. It didn't slow down as it jumped on him, its face broken and burnt as terror shot through his heart.

'Demon, demon!' The pilot cried as his cockpit was torn open, and he was pulled out kicking and screaming before he was crushed and tossed aside like a broken toy. Soon, only one was left, who declared he'd capture their saviour for the bounty. He tried to flee, but his machine was grabbed by two of the zombie sunderlands and thrown back to Lelouch's feet, where it was held down as the cockpit was torn open as well, and the pilot pulled out.

'Wait…please, don't do this, spare me, I beg of you!' He looked pathetic as he begged in a village of innocent people he helped to slaughter; right after he tried to kill them as well, he had the gall to beg! Alfonso didn't question why he could hear this, but his sister couldn't, as he wanted nothing more than to yell at the man that he deserved no such thing.

'I gave you your chance, do not forget that.' Lelouch looked at him like he was filth before his sunderland threw him to the ground where a ram ran up from behind him, catching him on its horns that pierced his back, the pilot yelling in pain as he was jerked around, the already crippling injury made all the worse before the ram jerked him off, looking up, he saw that he was surrounded by those demon dogs that approached him like a wounded rabbit. He cried as he started to crawl away, having only his arms to rely on as the wolves followed him for a few minutes before pouncing on him and tearing him to pieces.

'That…that was an awakening for me. To see what true power looked like when it was used by someone righteous. Alfonso knew who he was, but in that moment…he was so much bigger than Zero ever was.' Alfonso didn't care for the horror he had just witnessed as so many white cloaks were brutally murdered. His eyes remained on Lelouch's back, to the two-pronged spear over that owl emblem he had on his back.

'He saved us, even when he could have focused on the town he was there to save. If not for that, we would be dead right now.' Milly was pale as the boy reached for a pendant around his neck. As she knew, Lelouch would be brutal but, by God, could bring terror.

'That pendent.' She asked, having not seen that before, but she could hazard a guess with that story.

'It's a sign of my faith. The faith of our leader, as it was through the power and wisdom of the Unspoken One that I've alive.' Alfonso brought it up to his lips and kissed it. She had seen people do the cross before he looked at her, an excitement in her eyes. 'You should come to temple with me, on the opening night of the festival, those that follow our faith head to the temple in town for prays and offerings.'

Not knowing what else to do or wishing to offend him. Milly agreed that, if nothing else, it would be a learning experience.

And that is that! It was longer than I expected, as I just started writing that flashback and didn't stop, so I had to cut some other content, but I can work on most of it in future chapters. The way that flashback ran so long was primarily a means for me to show why people follow him, as in the last two chapters, people told the cast why they follow him, and I was kinda relying on the show and the first book of this to help with that. Still, I want to rely on something other than such too hard as it's almost always better to show, not tell. Anywho, the next chapter will be out on February 22nd.

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