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

I do not own Code Geass

Prologue

Collective Unconscious. C`s World. God. It goes by many names.

It is responsible for masks that everyone is forced to wear. Mask of ruthless baron. Of killer. Of warmonger.

Of emperor.

During his life, he swore to fight. If there is a God, who forces humans to fight against one another, this God should be killed. And for this, he, Charles zi Britannia, has dedicated all his life, even by forcing a mask of an emperor.

And here he stood, observing the solution he and his brother came up with - the Sword of Akasha. Its existence remains a secret, and 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 had more than several visitors, mostly from Geass order, V.V. and Charles himself.

Charles was standing near the abyss, looking mindlessly on the C`s world and the sword. A small girl, which was almost unnoticeable in comparison to the emperor, stood by his side.

"Is everything goes according to the plan?"

"Yes, it is"

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 young and alien body always reminded him of the day she was killed, when he was close to losing her forever. She could see it, and it worried her. But not only her husband`s well-being was concerning her mind.

"Still worried about Lelouch, Marianne?"

"How can I not be? He performs so much like you! And because of that I`m worried that he could go too far from what we had planned. Imagine younger version of yourself fighting against you! This could either end up in Lelouch dying, or in Ragnarok being delayed. 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:

"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 frown: "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 it by hiding truth.

And now, seven 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?"

"He`ll come to realise it in time"

"And what if he doesn`t? Least we can do is speak to him!"

Usually, Charles could get angry for these 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 throughout the Empire. His army can prove to be an obstacle. He is almost worthy of being recognized as my son"

"Charles! That's harsh even from you!", 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"

"You sound like Schneizel. I doubt that you would like your parents if your father said to you the same", she said. "He also knows about Geass. He will find out about Ragnarok sooner or later. Better to have his support before he goes in with guns loose"

He tried to change the topic, trying to avoid her anger. "Yes, about Schneizel. Lelouch was his main opponent, and Schneizel is actively trying to challenge me for quite a while."

"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 good from the idea.

Charles, whilst planning in the meantime, was also interested in the idea.

"All rebel activity in Area 11 will lose its support, even if the idea won`t be implemented completely. If Schneizel knew about Geass and about Zero`s true identity, 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 only a 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. Losing an access to sakuradite mines means danger to our hold on Thought Elevators. I don`t think we can trust V.V. or Euphie`s idea that much", Marianne said, with a bitter sadness in her voice.

"I will tie Schneizel by activization of talks with the E.U"

"I think we need to extract Lelouch back to us, before he gets 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 in this world," Charles mused for a brief moment. "Anyway, 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 empathy and support in her eyes. She knew how hard was it for him to say this. She hated V.V. 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 immediate forces could be enough, but if I`d cooperate with some other Knights…" Marianne turned away and went out, with her cape flowing freely in the air.

Charles followed her with his eyes, speaking to himself. "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