AN:

Samurai Seven: I don't know where the misconception of Kallen becoming a yandere came from, but that's not what's happening. Kallen hasn't fully commited to the 'killing Euphemia plan', but it's just something she'll resort to if Lelouch ends up dying. I didn't even know the Pendulum existed until you mentioned it, so it may or may not make an appearance. As for Charles and V.V killing Euphemia somehow, I don't know. It could happen in the future, but I don't have any plans for it now.


Chapter 66: The Glinda Knights

Airbase Yokota

"Ugh. What an absolute shame." Luciano muttered as he got his plane first, "Seriously? A small group of terrorists did all this?" In the background, another Hercules landed, which carried the remaining Knightmare's, "I knew that Dasko was an incompetent fool, but this is too much."

"Mr. Bradley!?" a technician exclaimed as they moved to unload the Knightmare's, "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Is there a problem?" the Knight snapped as he walked past the man in an orange jumpsuit.

"N-not at all!"

"There better not be." he muttered as Gino approached in the distance.

"How was your nap, Knight of Ten?" the blond asked mockingly, "Was it as comfortable as you hoped?"

"Can it. Where's the car?"

"Seriously? You're expecting royal treatment now?" Gino asked as the duo made their way across the landing strip. "You know we were waiting for you, right?"

"Then, what are your thoughts on Yokota?"

"I think it's a fine airbase. It's a little damaged from the attack, but that's what we're here for."

Luciano rolled his eyes, "Figures."

The two finally arrived at the terminal, where Oldrin was impatiently tapping her foot, while Anya looked through the pictures she took during the flight. "Luciano Bradley! This is unacceptable!" she reprimanded the man as he got closer, "How dare you make Marrybell wait for you! You'll face some serious consequences for this."

"Stuff it, short stack." the Knight calmly dismissed the woman, "You don't have any control over me."

"That's just unnecessarily rude." Gino stepped in, "Can't we all just get along?"

"I don't have time for this." Luciano waved off the blond's comment, much to Oldrin's disbelief.

"Oh!? You don't have time for this? Seriously? You're the one who made US wait for YOU!" she shouted while stomping her foot, "Not only are we behind schedule because of your selfishness, but we're gonna get an earful from Carine!" the group stepped out of the terminal, where an entire escort was awaiting them, "And honestly, that's probably the most embarrassing part about all this."

Luciano carelessly opened the door to the limousine that was at the center of the convoy. Inside, Marrybell desperately hid some kind of magazine within her seat cushion, "About time you got here." she immediately scolded the man as he took a seat furthest from her, "Do you have any idea how long we waited?"

"My apologies, your excellency." the Knight responded, taking a complete 180 from how he spoke to Oldrin moments earlier. "I didn't mean to offend."

"This guy!" the Princess' personal Knight secretly cursed the vampire of Britannia within her mind.

Gino sighed as he sat across from his violent comrade, "So… we're going to meet Viceroy Lila. That's pretty exciting, right?" he desperately tried to change the subject. Anya was too busy taking pictures of passing buildings as the limo drove along the highway. Luciano was too busy cleaning his nails with his dagger. While Marrybell was looking over important documents on her tablet. And Oldrin was still seething. "It's going to be a long ride."


Naoto looked over his shoulder cautiously while heading down an alleyway. However, his journey came to an end when a mysterious figure dressed as Zero stood in his path, "Is… is that really you?" he asked shakily.

Instead of answering, Zero merely stood there silently, "Where is Kallen?"

Those words confirmed the Kozuki's suspicions, "She's… missing." while he couldn't see the face of the man before him, he knew he was surprised, "I notified the Black Knight's to search for her. But… it's only been a short amount of time. I'm sure we'll have her by the end of the day."

Zero let out a shaky sigh, "Damn it. Where could she have gone?"

"I have no idea." Naoto clenched his fist, "I feel so useless. First I failed to save Lelouch, and now… I can't even find my sister."

"Don't push all the responsibility onto yourself, Naoto." Zero reassured the man, "It was… my fault that this happened too. If I had only been more cautious, this wouldn't have happened."

At this point, Naoto didn't have the strength to argue. He just wanted to be led at this point. To him, it was clear that he was an unfit leader. After all, he had only been in command for a little over a day, and so much has gone wrong. "If it was Lelouch, none of this would've happened." he thought to himself. And in all honesty, no amount of encouragement from the Prince could shake this self-doubt. Naoto had to get through this alone.

"I understand that she's upset at the possible prospect of my death, but even so… fleeing from the Black Knight's? It's too foolish." Zero muttered while taking out a tablet, "Why would she do something like that?"

Overhead several helicopters flew past them, heading toward the Viceroy palace, "Oh… I almost forgot about that."

"Forgot about what?" Zero asked while scrolling past an article that was posted moments ago.

"Marrybell Mel Britannia is coming to Japan today."

"And she'll be taking over operations to subdue the Black Knights." Naoto looked at the masked man as he read an article about the Princess' arrival, "I can't deal with this right now." within his mask, Lelouch scanned the endless walls of text, hoping to find some kind of relief for the problem he's struggling with, "I knew. I knew and yet… I hoped she was only going to be following Carine's orders. But, if she's assuming complete control, then that's a severe problem." he scrolled past a picture of the red-haired Princess as she crossed his mind, "Of everyone I played in chess, other than Schneizel, Marry's the only person who managed to give me some semblance of a challenge. And, if that translates to her skills as a commander, that means she'll be more than what I can handle right now, especially with everything that's going on." Lelouch turns his tablet off, "I'm going to have to completely change tactics now."


Black Knight Warehouse

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Tamaki exclaimed as his eyes were glued to the TV.

"What? It's not like this hasn't happened before?" Sugiyama asked as Viceroy Lila introduced Marrybell onto the stage.

"Dude, were you not listening!? She said that Marrybell came to Japan exclusively to fight the Black Knight's!"

"So? Isn't that what Carine was here for, too?"

"That's not the only issue." Ohgi finally chimed in, "Lila said that she's here with a group that specializes in subduing terrorist." the man's face hardened, "And… they have three Knights of the Round with them."

Those words shook the entire warehouse to their cores. Everyone knew what just one Knight of the Round was capable of, and yet… now they had to deal with three? Some were even beginning to question if they could do this. Were things getting too intense? Was it time to back out? "Getting cold feet?" the metallic voice of Zero chimed in as Naoto followed close behind.

"Z-Zero!" the Black Knight's stood at attention.

"I understand that the Knights of the Round are very threatening. However, has their arrival made you all forget about what I'm capable of? About all that I've accomplished?"

Zero, we're not doubting your abilities." Ohgi stepped forward, "It's just… this is going to be our greatest challenge yet. Do you really think we stand a chance of winning?"

"As long as Schneizel doesn't get involved." Lelouch smiled within his mask, "Of course. This is nothing but within expectation." he lied.

"So… you're saying we can win?"

"More than just win, we'll be able to push Britannia out with the plan I have in mind."

Naoto watched the TV as Marrybell gave her speech, "If we defeat three Knights of the Round, Britannia will have two options. Either pull out of Japan, as they've lost far too many resources." he sighs, "Ah. Who am I kidding? There'll only be one option. Upon hearing of Marrybell's defeat, the might of the entire Britannian Army will come down upon us. But, that's what Lelouch wants, isn't it?"

"By the way, where is Tohdoh?" the Prince asked as more Black Knight's gathered for the broadcast, "I told him to meet me here a few hours ago."

Tamaki shrugs, before jumping in surprise, "Oh. He's here."

Lelouch turned around, only to come face-to-face with Tohdoh, who had an annoyed expression, "Zero. Do you mind explaining to me what this is?" the miracle worker handed the masked man a peculiar note covered in blood.

After reading it for a few seconds, Lelouch's eyes widened, "This is…"

"One of your boys stumbled into one of our JLF safe houses, demanding we give this to you." Nagisa chimed in.

Naoto peers over Lelouch's shoulder, and is shocked by what he read in his mind, "I'm coming for you, Zero. What the hell!? Who wrote this? It couldn't have been Britannia because it's in Japanese. They also wouldn't let any survivors go. Maybe another resistance group? But why would they oppose us?"

"We do have the identity of the culprit." Tohdoh announced suddenly, drawing everyone's attention.

"Culprit? What's that supposed to mean!?" Tamaki exclaimed, "And what have they done?"

"Yeah! Quit speaking in riddles!" Sugiyama added.

"It looks like you idiots aren't aware." Nagisa answered with a scoff, "Then let me inform you, that several of your warehouses have been wiped out." a heavy silence overtook the room, "According to the survivor, the culprit has been systematically taking them out one at a time. Killing all but one, to tell the tale. Not only that, but your Burai's have been torched."

"It's culprit, singular. So it's only one person?" the Kozuki questioned, "One person took out several warehouses without us knowing? How is that possible? I don't even think Kallen could succeed in such a task."

"Why wasn't I informed of this when the first warehouse went down?" Zero asked.

Tohdoh pointed at Zero's office, "I suggest we take this out of prying ears."

The masked man glanced at the warehouse, which came to a complete stop, eager to hear about the one responsible for their destruction. "Very well. Let's go."

"Tohdoh!" Nagisa called, "You're going to speak with him alone? Again?"

"Relax." Urabe put an arm over the woman's shoulder, like an annoying brother, "What they're discussing is some super-manly stuff that a woman like you wouldn't understand."

While the holy sword was only joking about such a thing, Tamaki suddenly jumped in by saying, "Exactly! Us super-manly men have to stick together! That's why Zero's my best bud!"

"Ah. Another super-manly man I see." Urabe approaches the Black Knight eagerly, making Nagisa roll her eyes, "Then it seems we have much to discuss!"

The two commit to a firm handshake, sending a loud crackle echoing throughout the warehouse, "Right on!"

"You idiots!" Nagisa, annoyed by their actions, grabbed both 'manly-men' by their hair, and smashed their heads together, "How can you joke at a time like this!?"

Tohdoh heard the commotion from above, but merely sighed instead of getting involved. He and Zero entered the office, where, upon closing the door, said, "Zero, I must ask that you take off your mask for this meeting."

Lelouch smirked, "What? You really don't think it's me?" he said while taking off his mask, "Happy?"

"Very. It's good to see you back… despite your unfortunate capture at the hands of Britannia."

"So, Naoto told you?"

"Correct."

Lelouch and Tohdoh took a seat across from each other, continuing their conversation at the table in the middle of the room. "So, back to business."

The miracle worker paused, before continuing, "It was Suzaku."

The Prince's eyes widen, "You're kidding. How did he know of our safe house locations?"

"I don't know. But… ever since I faced him in battle…." Tohdoh remembered how the Knight effortlessly defeated him at Yokota, before going on to face off against Naoto, "I have a feeling there's more to him than meets the eye."

"Explain."

"I can't. Not in depth, at least." the miracle worker sighed, "He just… feels older than he should be."

Zero shook his head, "Whatever. So long as there's a possibility that he knows where we're located, we have to change our warehouse locations." the leader of the Black Knight's took out a map, "Show me which ones he's attacked, and I'll have all surrounding locations relocate."

Tohdoh did as was asked. Upon completion, he faced Lelouch, "Though, I wonder why he chose to attack them alone. Knowing where we're located is one thing, but also being strong enough to confidently wipe out the soldiers there? It just… seems so out of character."

"I agree. While I acknowledge that Suzaku can be a fool sometimes, that's only when it comes to saving civilians, or coming to the aid of his friends. But, just attacking out-of-the-blue like this? I would've expected him to expose our locations to Britannia instead. So why didn't he?" Lelouch tapped the table anxiously, "There are just too many unknowns here. For now, return to the JLF, and make sure you aren't followed. We can't afford to have any more warehouses or safe houses getting compromised."

Tohdoh nodded, "There is one more thing." he took out an envelope, and slid it across the table, "General Katase wants to let you know that he'll be heading out to the Chinese Federation to discuss the growing Britannian threat in Japan." upon seeing Lelouch reading the contents, he explained further, "The Chinese believe that Britannia sending Marrybell here to deal with the Black Knight's is nothing but a ruse. They still think that the Black Knights are too small of an organization to be considered a real threat."

"And so they think that Marrybell's here to secretly gear up an assault against the federation." the Prince finished his sentence. "Their reasoning is sound. After all, with Scheneizel taking a trip to the EU to discuss politics, they'll be too busy to respond to Britannia attacking the Chinese Federation."

"Precisely. Either they sent a large enough force to aid China, leaving their mainland open for an invasion from Schneizel, WHEN the political talks go south. Or, keep their forces in the EU, ensuring the talks are successful, due to not taking violent action against Britannia, but this will leave the Chinese Federation susceptible to an assault."

"It's obvious which one they'll choose." Lelouch casually tossed the envelope on the table, "Self preservation trumps all."

"That's why the Chinese Federation want to attack Britannia at Japan before they can amount a large enough force."

The Prince's eyes widen, "That's a fool's errand."

Tohdoh closes his eyes, "I know. But… the choice is up to them."

"Even with Yokota Air Base sustaining heavy damage, the Black Knight's efforts, at the end of the day, are like a stick in the large machine of Britannia. Sure, we might stop them momentarily, but they'll continue moving due to our operations being heavily based here in the Tokyo area." Lelouch looked over his map of Black Knight warehouses once more, "A land assault is practically suicide at this point. Surely they know this?"

"In the meantime, I will be left in charge of the JLF to make sure operations proceed smoothly." Tohdoh bows slightly, "I hope we'll be able to continue our cooperation successfully."

Lelouch smiled gently, "Don't do that. I should be the one bowing to you, after all, I'm in your care."

The miracle worker chuckled slightly, "I might be the biggest support for the Japanese morale, but you're still the mastermind here. I have no doubts about that."

"You overestimate me." Lelouch put on his mask, "I haven't done anything special yet."

Tohdoh stood up, "Nonsense. You've done so much. Building the Black Knight's and-"

"Only after I defeat Marrybell, will I take your compliments." Zero stood up, and headed toward the door, "Now, I'll see you out."


The Roof of a building overlooking the Black Knight Warehouse.

Suzaku looked through his binoculars as Tohdoh and the four holy swords were escorted by Zero and a few Black Knight's outside, "Bingo." he muttered while marking a red X on a map in his lap. "Looks like those sleepless nights finally paid off." he returned to looking at his target, "Now… where's Kallen?"

Scanning every nearby roof, Suzaku found dozens of Black Knight's disguised as civilians standing watch. Making sure nobody could just walk in. "Where is she? Is it possible that I really did incapacitate her by breaking her leg?" he shook his head, "No. She's a lot tougher than that. This must be some kind of ruse." the Knight struggles to keep his eyes open as he begins to lose consciousness. Luckily, he snaps awake, "No. Even if she's not here… I can't fight in this condition. If I make any mistakes… my chances of killing Lelouch will go out the window." he begins to back up his things, "I know his location now. That's all that matters. I'll return once I'm well rested, and ready for a fight."


Once Tohdoh's car left the Black Knight warehouse, Lelouch went back inside to his office. Taking a seat on the bed, he removes his mask and hold his head in his hands, "Damn it. Where are you? Kallen?" while he managed to hide his worry for the red head in front of Tohdoh and the other Black Knight's, it was eating away at him from the inside. Every second that passed by without seeing her, his worry grew. He was wondering what she was eating. If she was sleeping okay. Or if she was safe. He was hoping she'd be found by the end of the day, but even he knew that if she didn't want to be found, the Black Knight's wouldn't get her. "Kallen… why are you doing this?"

Suddenly, the door opens, and Lelouch's eyes instantly look toward it, eager to see if it was his girlfriend or not. "Hey." the green-haired woman holding a key in her hand said, "We… haven't found her yet." C.C entered the room, and closed the door behind her.

"Do you know why she ran?"

The immortal shook her head, "Not exactly. Though, it could be possible that she feels guilty for not being able to save you."

"But I'm here now." Lelouch muttered.

"At the time… she thought she failed." the immortal's breath hitched, "Though… the night we went out to save you, she came in contact with Suzaku."

The Prince's eyes widened, "What? Suzaku? What was he doing there?"

"He was there… because I asked him to help us." upon seeing Lelouch's eyes narrow in confusion, C.C elaborated, "I had tried to fool him into helping us rescue you from Rolo and Clara. However, once we got there… it was openly revealed that you were moved to Yokota Air Base. And… Suzaku turned on us, injuring Mario, Maya, and Kallen in the process." she took a pause for the information to set in, before continuing, "Moments before I arrived to Kallen's aid, I think Suzaku said something to her, because… she seemed to be effected by something upon hearing of Naoto's failed rescue attempt. Though, maybe it was the prospect of your death that scared her?"

"That's probably it. I don't know what Suzaku could possibly say to Kallen that would affect her this way." the clueless Lelouch stated.

"I can think of a few things." C.C took a seat next to the boy, "Though, it would be complicated to explain." she watched as the boy studied a map of Tokyo intently, marking some areas with blue crosses, triangles, or squares, while making others in red. "Should I… tell him? How would I even explain it? Oh, Lelouch. Did you know that Kallen, Suzaku, and I are actually from the future? No. That wouldn't work. It'd be too much for him." the Prince sighed as he put the marker down, almost unsatisfied with how things were, "But… I have to tell him something, right? Even if it doesn't include time travel… I could make up things to fill the gap. It would only make things more complicated, but at least he would understand…"

Just before she could open her mouth, Naoto entered the room, closing the door behind him, "Lelouch… we have to talk."

C.C ended up staying silent, as the Kozuki sat at the head of the table, "What is it, Naoto?"

"We've got Britannian movement in the Harajuku, Sugamo, and Shinbashi sectors. It's only three Knightmares total, but they've…"

"Completely wiped out our forces there?" Lelouch clenched his fist as he used the blue marker to cover several red marks.

"H-how did you know?" Naoto asked.

Lelouch put on his mask, "In thirty minutes, Britannia's going to be making an announcement." he began walking toward the door, "They're going to use this move as proof that they're not here to mess around."

"You already know what happened?" C.C asked with a perplexed look.

"The Knight's of the Round have made their move." Zero said simply before walking out.

Unbeknownst to him, Naoto clenched his fist in frustration, "Damn it. How could I not figure that out? I'm supposed to be here to replace him, and yet… I couldn't figure something out so simple." Ever since his failure at Yokota, Naoto had been harshly comparing himself to the Prince at every turn, wondering; what would I have done? Could I have pulled that off?. He was being unnecessarily harsh to himself, and it was a needless comparison. But no one could stop him, as they didn't know what was going on through the Kozuki's mind. This was a trait he and his sister unfortunately shared.


Due to the tightness of the Harajuku area, Marrybell decided to send in Gino, who could guarantee minimal civilian casualties there while fighting against Black Knight forces.

She made the right call.

"Up! Watch out!" Gino said while casually dodging a punch in his Gloucester, "You don't want to hurt anyone, now, do you?"

His opponent was a Black Knight Burai, who fought recklessly around the large buildings. And he would've caused some of them to crumble, if it weren't for Gino leading him away. Once the Knight got the Burai into position, he quickly blitzed it, ripping out the cockpit in the process. "You won't be going very far without this." he laughed innocently as the boosters tried to escape the Gloucesters grasp. Inevitably failing. Meanwhile, the corpse began to fall on two innocent women, who were helplessly watching the fight as they were stunned with fear. Luckily, Gino managed to stop it with his leg, saying, "Sorry pretty ladies. But… if you don't want to get hurt, you better get out of here." he winked within his cockpit, despite the girls not being able to see him.

Meanwhile, in the Shinbashi sector, which had been left mostly in ruin due to war, it was mostly devoid of life, except for a few apartments, which housed Elevens who were struggling to get by in life. A perfect battle-space for Luciano, as was deemed by Marrybell.

And once again, she was right.

The Knight effortlessly sent a Burai crashing into a building, crushing it to dust. Luckily, there were no civilians in it, as the little Japanese people that lived here, fled at the sight of the Burai speeding down their streets. "God~ I love this part of the job!" he opened his cockpit and smelled the air, "Mhm~ Fear smells so good…" his eyes locked onto a group of Burai's approaching him. So, with his cockpit still open, he moved his Gloucester to intercept. While the Black Knight's had faced Gloucester's before, Luciano's was modded to have extreme speed and additional claw fingers, allowing him to get the jump on the approaching prey.

After grabbing his opponents by the face, he slammed them into the ground, before savagely stomping on the cockpits, killing the pilot without mercy. "This guy's insane!" a Black Knight foot soldier shouted while running away, joining his comrades, who also saw this as an unwinnable battle.

"Too slow~" Luciano activated his antipersonnel machine gun, and mowed them down, leaving a bloody mess to decorate the streets. Fitting of the one nicknamed, Vampire of Britannia.

Finally, the Sugumo sector remained, which had the largest area, and was the most open due to a little bombing 'exercise' Carine had committed to a few weeks back. A fitting area to put the Hadron Cannons, possessed by Anya, to work. That was the call Marrybell made.

And just like the other two, she was right once again.

"What the hell is that!?" a Burai pilot shouted as the Zetland crashes down on a soccer field.

"Who cares? We've gotta destroy that thing!" one Burai bursts forth with a jousting lance, which was taken from Air Base Yokota.

"Tag, you're dead." Anya calmly says as she grabs the Burai's head before it could stab her, causing the ejection seat to activate from the pressure, sending it into the highway. Two more Burai's try to gun her down, but thanks to her Blaze Luminous, the bullets bounce off her.

"Anya." Oldrin called in, "Use the Hadron Cannons when ready."

The pink-haired girl nods while activating her targeting array, aiming her new weapons at the three Burais before her, "Kaboom." she said while firing a stream of red energy toward the Black Knight's, overwhelming them instantly.

"Wh-what the hell is that!?" the Japanese man in the escape pod earlier shouted, his eyes strained with fear as he exited the cockpit, only to come face to face with such an overwhelming force. Needless to say, once the ray coated him, he exploded into a red mist, alongside his surroundings. Luckily, the beam stopped upon colliding with a building, but it still did major damage to the area.

Oldrin sighed, "Collateral damage. But… this is why we placed her in such an empty space in the first place. Certainly better than being in Harajuku."

Within Marrybell's G1, a voice announces, "Subjugation of Black Knight's complete. Calculating times."

The profile of each Knight appeared on-screen, with a small timer by their names, "Gino, excellently done. You managed to defeat all of the Black Knight's within 1:36, without injuring any civilian's." Marrybell complimented the Knight of three, "Very impressive."

The blond rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well, I did have the smallest area, so there wasn't much here."

"Still impressive nonetheless." Oldrin chimed in.

The Princess moved onto Luciano by saying, "Nicely done. You managed to subjugate the Black Knight's in 4:32."

"If I may interject, I believe Mr. Bradley was far less efficient in his job than Gino." Oldrin commented.

"Oh yeah!? Let's look at kills then!" the vampires shouted, "Cause I'm looking at 10 right now!" he pointed at the bloody corpses of Black Knight soldiers that lied before him, "And that's not counting the others I've killed!"

Marrybell sighed, moving onto Anya, "As for you, Anya. You managed to annihilate the Black Knight's in no less than 3 minutes flat. Splendidly done." The pink-haired girl simply nodded in response. "That's all, everyone. Return to base for further briefing."

"You did amazing, Lady Marrybell." Oldrin complimented the Princess, "Using those three Knights to the best of their abilities, and playing into their skill set, was masterfully done."

The Princess smiled, "You flatter me too much." she looked over the profiles of the Knights further, "I simply just looked at their profiles, and deduced where they'd perform the best. That's all."

"Even so, most Britannian nobles would've simply attacked those Black Knight safe houses haphazardly. What you've done today is minimize the collateral damage, and casualties, that would've been suffered through a conventional raid. That's something I see as spectacular."

Marrybell smiled, "Well… if you want to truly reward my brilliance, then I have a few ideas for later." Oldrin blushes slightly while looking away, "So cute."


Clara entered the hotel room, holding a bag of groceries in hand. At the center of the room, Kallen was intensely studying a map, alongside some kind of list that displayed the schedule of Princess Euphemia, "A-are you hungry?" the former assassin asked while cautiously moving toward the little stove she set up.

"Not right now." the red head answered without blinking, "I… still have to review the schedule a bit, and make some changes."

The pink-haired girl sighed, "S-so… Kally…" she used the red head's nickname she heard from Maya, as a way to mentally restore a little bit of power she had, "Are you really going to assassinate Euphemia?"

Finally, Kallen glanced at Clara, "Only if it turns out Lelouch is really dead."

Luckily, the pink-haired girl had gotten accustomed to hearing Lelouch's name, so it would no longer accidentally trigger the 'die' command, "B-but why? The Princess doesn't have anything to do with the order. Heck, I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know Geass exists."

"It's not to get to her. It's to get to Suzaku."

Clara looks down, "Oh. That's the boy who broke your leg, right?"

Kallen stretches her legs, feeling the one previously broken was at the same strength level as her normal one, "Yeah. But this time… I'm gonna be the one to hurt him. Not the other way around."

The pink-haired girl sighed, "Listen. I understand you hate him, and that he has some kind of love for the Princess, but I don't think-"
"You don't know anything." the red head affirmed, "So don't speak to me about the morally right and wrong here."

Clara instinctively looked down in fear, like an abused wife, "I'm… sorry…"

Kallen sighed before leaning back, "Besides… I doubt I could actually go through with this plan anyway." she put a hand on her forehead, "Lelouch wouldn't like me killing Euphemia. And even if I didn't know she was Lelouch's sister…" the memories of the massacre Princess returned to her mind, "I don't think I'd be able to kill her… unless I still thought of her as the massacre Princess."

"W-well, it's good to see you feel that way." Clara looked down.

"Why's that?"

"Because it means… you're not a psychopath."

Kallen rolled onto her side, "Sure…"

Finally, the former assassin asked, "Wh-why don't you go back to the Black Knight's? I'm sure they'll be able to help you get revenge?"

The red head thought about it for a second, "No… I can't…"

"Are you… afraid?" Kallen stayed silent, despite Clara being right on the money.

In truth, Kallen didn't want to know if Lelouch was truly gone or not. She knew Naoto would've, or at least should've, found out by now. The red head acknowledged that it was for the best, but she just didn't want to face it.

"Then… why don't we go back to Ashford? I'm sure we'll be able to find your boyfriend there."

"We? I thought you were going into hiding."

Clara looked down, "Honestly… I don't think this is going to work. I'll be hunted for the rest of my life by the Geass order, so… that's why…" she took in a deep breath, struggling to get out her next words, "I want to…" she gulped, "Join the Black Knight's."

Kallen's eyes widen, "You really want to do that?"

Clara nodded, "It's… what I think is best for me."

"And why should I let you join? You already know too much about me to begin with." her eyes narrowed, "You also know Zero's identity."

"I haven't betrayed you yet. So, you can rest assured that'll be the same in the future." the pink-haired girl smiled genuinely, "And honestly… I'm too afraid to go against you anyway."

The red head sighed, "But what does going back to Ashford do for you?"

"It keeps me close with my only Black Knight contact." Clara snapped her finger, "This also means I'll be able to protect you further from the Geass order."

"But, I thought you said you could no longer use your Geass at will." Kallen used the information her acquaintance accidentally divulged last night to her advantage.

"Hey, at the end of the day, I'm still a trained assassin, and I know how to counter most conventional Geass."

"That is true… you offer invaluable information against the Geass order." Kallen nodded, "Alright. You can join, but only on the condition that you don't leave my side, unless I say otherwise. We don't need the other's questioning your joining." the pink-haired girl smiled, "Though, you'll have to lose the bandages. That'll only draw attention to you once we get back to Ashford."

Clara touched her face before saying, "I… I don't know if it's healed properly."

"It'll be fine." the red head reassured her, "I saw you re-wrap it yesterday, and your face is fine. Just a little light scarring, but nobody will notice unless they look carefully."

Hesitantly, Clara removed her bandages, letting them slowly fall to the ground, revealing her face, which had pockets of slightly discolored skin, evident of the beating she took from Kallen a few nights ago. "S-so we're going to Ashford now, right?"

Kallen stood up, packing her things in the process, "It'd be better for Lelouch not to see these. If he's alive." she crammed the plans to assassinate Euphemia into one, unmarked bag, "Alright. Let's go."


AN: I don't know much about Oldrin and Marrybell's relationship, but from what I've heard, they were supposodly lovers, so expect to hear small tidbits of that planted throughout the story, but it won't be the main center of their characters.

Also, Clara is joining the Black Knights. Whether that's for good or worse is in the future chapters, though I hope I can take it somewhere, as I've already got some ideas for her development.

And Kallen is opting out of killing Euphemia for now.