The stalker
Lelouch was with Rai as both of them looked at the unconscious woman whom they took, as Rai had already explained what happened to him about something that was making him do things.
"So you didn't know what happened as your body moved on autopilot?" Lelouch asked.
"Yes, I can't remember anything after that." Rai didn't even remember how it happened; it was like his was under someone else control.
"It's called Geass; it's the power of the kings." C.C. decided to explain, knowing it was time to unravel few secrets.
Lelouch being the smart one "I recalled that it meant contract at Celtic, right?"
"Yes, by making a contract with an immortal, you will receive the power of Geass; it is called the power of Kings."
"So if I made a contract, someone similar to you would receive such power like Rai here."
"Yes and no." It depends on the person's qualities. It is not like you receive the same power as Rai here; you might receive powers to slow down time, super strength, body phase, high perception, etc." C.C. continued explaining.
"So, in the matter of speaking, Rai uses some kind of power, which is geass, that causes this woman to be unconscious for whatever reason." Lelouch felt like a migraine was coming. "As much as I wanted to ask more, we have a huge problem. What are we going to do with her?" Lelouch pointed.
"We could toss her to the police," C.C. suggested.
"She's not a pet or a lost child, C.C., and what Rai commands could cause her amnesia or something, and people like that who are dumb by Britannia are deemed expendable."
"So what? We took her, raised her like a pet, and saw if she knew anything at all," C.C. said.
"Not a bad idea. I think Rai should be the one that causes this; it's your responsibility to look after her." Lelouch pointed at the other demon slayer.
"Say what now?" Rai didn't hear it right. Also, I was baffled that C.C. was immortal.
"It's your responsibility, and you must; it's our duty to help those in need," Lelouch persuaded Rai.
Rai heard this, she had no choice but to comply with the request. "All right, but I need a few things."
"Just ask what you need?"
So Rai explained that Lelouch needs to give him a bigger place to stay since he is going to have another roommate and somewhere else, like a less Japanese-populated area. By luck, there is a place not far from Ashford, as it belongs to the NAC, and Lelouch could use a favour from Kirihara.
"So it's settled that from now on you are in charge of taking care of this woman and making sure nobody knows."
"Fine out of responsibility, I guess." Rai complies as Lelouch said.
A day has passed since what happened to the docks, as the black knights are getting more popular by the day as their feat was already known in Area 11. But it is not important that the big news is that a knight of the round is coming to area 11.
Guildford was at the airport, ready to greet Monica Kruszewski, the knight of twelve, as she appeared in front of Guildford, Darlton, and Sub Viceroy Euphemia. With Princess Cornelia still away from whatever she was doing, it's Euphemia's responsibility as her representative.
"Welcome Lady Krushevsky to Area 11." Euphemia greeted the knight of the round, even though she is royalty. The knight of the round only answered to the Emperor himself, as they are his swords and spears.
"It's fine, Princess Euphemia. As much as I wanted to have a brief, I believe we have business that involves the situation in Area 11." Straight to business, as they say.
They knew what she meant. Just because Monica Krushevsky might be the newest recruit for the Knight of the Round doesn't mean she was lacking in information gathering.
"I don't see the viceroy princess Cornelia anywhere," Monica asked.
"Forgive me, Lady Krushevsky. Princess Cornelia had a business to take care of, and as she went to Pendragon, you might have missed her." Gilbert explained the knight of twelve.
"I see, it must be important that she be willing to get back to her homeland. Still, as a knight of his majesty, it's my duty to put an end to these terrorist activities, especially the zero and the black knights. This was an opportunity to show her capabilities as a member of the Knights of Round.
"What will you need, my lady?" Gilbert asked.
"I need any information you have on Zero and the Black Knights, especially during her highness' kidnapping, and what happened after that."
"I understand, my lady." Gilbert accepted the order.
Ashford Academy
It was still incredibly early, but Shirley hadn't slept at all since she came back from Port Yokosuka. She sat at her desk in her personal dormitory and appeared to be writing some kind of note. Her thoughts were in such a jumble, knowing the only thing she could do was shed tears as she crushed the note in her hand and threw it away.
"Shirley..." Her roommate asked.
"What are you doing so early? Is that a letter?"
"It's… uh… oh, it's nothing." Shirley lied.
"I bet it's a love letter, huh? Something special for Lelouch?" Her roommate teased.
Shirley did her best to hide the pain. "In a way."
Student Council Room
The student council was discussing Princess Cornelia's kidnapping as it became a hot topic, and there were rumors that Zero was her lost lover.
"Impure?" Rivalz hung his head in disappointment. "That's a little harsh, isn't it, Nunnally?"
He immediately turned to Milly. "You're on my side, aren't you, Madam Prez?" She pushed his face back with a rolled-up magazine.
"Don't kiss up to me just because Lelouch isn't hanging around. Nunnally saw right through you, and so do I."
Nunnally, he giggled slightly. "Anyway, I'd like to meet Princess Euphemia if I could." That especially caught Suzaku and Milly's attention. They were aware of the fact that Euphemia was their half-sister, but at the same time, they knew the danger that could happen if something like that was arranged.
Nunnally, I could almost sense something in Suzaku's mind. "Oh, what's the matter, Suzaku?"
Suzaku winced slightly. "Oh, it's just... She's a member of the Royal Family, and..." trying to make some excuse, the phone suddenly rang, and Suzaku was the one to answer. "Hello? Ashford Academy Student Council."
"Suzaku?" Lelouch asked on the other line.
"Lelouch?" Suzaku was happy to hear his voice, which also caught Nunnally's attention.
However, no one appeared to notice Arthur underneath the coffee table reaching his paw out at the phone cord.
"Sorry for calling you. I apologize for not attending the academy today or the council, as I'm busy with work.
"No, I need to understand that you're not the only one here." Suzaku answered.
" Pardon"
"Shirley isn't here today. In fact, I haven't seen her at all today, like she never even came to class. In fact, I haven't even seen Kallen or Rai today either." Lelouch didn't respond, something that made Suzaku concerned. "Hey, are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm still here," Lelouch replied. "Listen, something's going on, and I'm going to be home late tonight. If it's not too much trouble, can you stay with Nunnally, please?"
"Uh yeah, I don't see a problem with it, but... Lelouch, you've been cutting classes pretty frequently." "If something's wrong, I can help with what you're doing." Suzaku was worried.
"Don't worry, I've got plenty of help. And looking after Nunnally is good enough, thanks."
"No problem, I..." Suzaku almost lost his grip on the phone as Arthur pulled down on the cord. "Hey Arthur! Put that down!"
Lelouch was looking at his phone with concern, as his gut feeling was telling him Shirley was getting herself into trouble. As far as he knew her, she never skipped classes, and even if she did, she would tell Milly. So something must have happened, and I decided to ask Shirley's roommate about it.
XXX
Rai was looking at the woman whom he had met by accident. As they say she was lying on the bed, and he kept watching over her for any sign of waking up. In truth, he felt uncomfortable knowing there was a woman in his room.
The problem is that he was a hormone teenager, and looking at the opposite sex made him feel uncomfortable feelings."Why can't I just call C.C. or Kallen to help me?"
"Yeah, I can't,' as Kallen would call him a pervert and would shove the women to the nearest garbage disposal while C.C. doesn't care at all." Rai just sighs at the complicated situation he is in. She may be an enemy, but she was such an attractive woman that he couldn't deny it.
Rai couldn't help but feel torn between his internal struggle and the physical attraction he felt towards the woman lying on his bed. He grappled with conflicting emotions, unsure of how to navigate the situation without compromising his own principles or succumbing to the hormones of his teenage years.
The woman opened her eyes, and the first thing she looked at was Rai and asked, "Who am I?"
"Oh bugger!"
At the Viceroy royal palace, Euphemia, or vice viceroy, was sitting on the throne while discussing the issues with the situation in Area 11, especially the black knights. As two of Cornelia's most trusted were protecting the naïve princess.
"Have you heard the word from my big sister?" Euphemia asked, not using honorifics.
"No, your highness. Princess Cornelia did arrive at Pendragon, but after that, she remained quiet, and I haven't heard anything from her. Even the knight of Nine felt like she was ignoring her." Guilford got a call from the knight about how she complained that Cornelia was giving her the cold shoulder.
"That's troublesome," knowing that whatever Cornelia was searching for was so important that she didn't want Euphemia to know. It was frustrating that whatever Zero did with her sister, something big would happen.
"Excuse me for intruding." Someone came.
"Lady Krushevsky, may I know why you're here? Darlton asked.
"I know it's not my reason to meddle with family affairs, but after reading the reports, I felt like Princess Euphemia required a knight as her protection."
"A knight?" Euphemia didn't expect to hear.
"Yes, if we assign one knight as a permanent guard, then we can build a complete royal guard unit around her highness," Guilford explained. "As a Sub-Viceroy, Princess Euphemia has the right to be a personal champion."
"I agree, I believe Princess Cornelia would approve. Knowing a knight could keep Princess Euphemia safe," Darlton also approved.
While the grownups were happily discussing it, Euphemia felt dishearted, knowing she wanted a knight of her own choosing.
XXX
This thing about saving people's lives... Cecile began as Lloyd worked on the computer in front of the Lancelot. "At first, I thought he was just being, you know, sensitive. But now, with all that's happening, it's starting to feel more like an obsession."
Lloyd helped himself to a cup of pudding. "His performance data is still solid, right?
"You can't just treat him like he's simply one cog in the machine. We have to deal with the human issue first."
"Even if he thinks of himself as a machine,"
Cecile didn't know what to say, knowing it was true.
Lelouch met Shirley's roommate Emma, as he was concerned about why she skipped classes and didn't come to the student council room.
"She did mention Narita before she went out, and she's probably still there.".
"Thank you for your help, Emma."
"No, problem."
There was still plenty of construction to clear out the landscape and demolish buildings below the mountain. But Shirley wasn't paying attention to any of them. The schoolgirl was at a memorial constructed for all the soldiers who died in the battle.
So many thoughts ran through her head: Lelouch, the boy she had a crush on, was secretly the masked terrorist known as Zero. The one who injured her father was also the one who saved her life at the hotel jacking. The question was: Why was Lelouch even fighting in the first place? What in the world is going on?
"Yes, what is going on, anyway?"
Shirley turned around in surprise to see a man in a white coat with a visor over his eyes and a pair of headphones.
"A very fine memorial. Isn't that right, Miss Shirley Fenette?"
Demon Corps base Katase and the remnant of the JLF were now wearing the Demon Slayer Corps standard uniform as they were discussing what to do. Zero told the group that they should stay low for a while as they needed time to rest.
For Kallen, she can't help but think that something isn't right.
XXX
Narita
After arriving at the ruined city, Lelouch walked through the ruined buildings. He winced slightly as he saw them, knowing he was directly responsible for all of this destruction.
However, he knew that while he did arrange for the city to be evacuated, he understood that there were some things that remained outside his control, including Shirley's father. Even if the man was guilty, his phone rang.
The caller ID was Shirley's phone. "Shirley, I'm here. Are you okay?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Shirley can't come to the phone right now.
Lelouch was surprised, knowing this wasn't Shirley. Who are you!?" Lelouch demanded. The man said nothing as he threw Shirley's phone towards Lelouch's feet, which only made him even angry. "What have you done with Shirley?"
The man clapped his hands once more. "Oooh, I like it—the scary face. The face of a man whose woman was taken away from him."
"What the hell did you do with her?" Lelouch was angry.
"You want to know, then you'll have to accept my challenge." The man said, "First, drop the phone; I mean zero."
Lelouch's pupils shrank. How could this man know about him?!
"Drop the phone and that sword you always carry." He did just that and dropped his phone on the ground, including the Nichirin blade. "Follow me, oh, and if you're looking for a name, it's Mao."
The man named Mao turned around, and Lelouch reluctantly followed.
'He's Chinese, so I don't think he's a spy for Britannia, and he doesn't seem like he's involved with the Chinese Federation either. But how could he have known about me?
After about ten minutes, Mao had brought Lelouch to a railcar near a forested hill. "You know, I'm really glad that everyone's so busy with construction right now. This railcar was a pretty popular place for tourists until the war between you and your big sister. But now it's closed, which means we have no one to disturb our privacy."
"Then what do you want?" Lelouch questioned Mao as he opened the door. Letting both of them inside the railcar
"I'm the one who holds the life of someone you care so dearly about in my hands." Mao sneered evilly. "Tell you what, though; you specialise in this, right?" Mao revealed a chess board in between two seats with the pieces already arranged. "Beat me, and I'll let her go. But if I win, her life is entirely in my hands. Not that you have a choice anyway."
Mao sat in one seat as he was forced to play this game of chess.
'He knows my identity, even knows about the conflict between the Demon Slayers and Britannia, and yet... he said he's not aligned with Britannia. I don't think he was lying, but how did he know?'Lelouch thought to himself as he moved one piece on the board.
"What I do know is that he's trying to lure me to an isolated place. Shirley was the bait, and he's trying to get me away. Guess I'm on my own here.'
"You know, I've never actually played this game before, don't you?" Mao teased as he moved one of his own pieces.
'So long as he has the advantage.' Lelouch continued to think as he tried to find a way out of this. And the only way was by beating him.
Mao used one of his pieces to eliminate the knight on Lelouch's side.
"You liar, you have played this game before!"
Mao ignored Lelouch "Tell me something. What exactly was it that made you change your mind?" Mao teased. "You became Zero to completely obliterate Britannia, right? But there's more to it if I understand something that happened during your childhood." Mao doesn't know why there's something not even his geass could read; only the sound of water could be heard when he tried to go deeper.
"None of your business; I doubt a psychopath would understand."
XXX
By the time the railcar reached the top of the hill, the game was over, and Mao had removed Lelouch's king from the board. "Checkmate."
Lelouch was shocked by what he was seeing, and what he was looking at was that he was actually being beaten in chess by Mao. 'How could he predict every move I made?! Who in the world is he?!'
"Impossible!" Lelouch thought. 'He's actually beating me?!'
"So… May I assume that I've won?" Mao grinned with satisfaction that he had managed to beat the one person he hated the most. The railcar stopped at its station, and Lelouch was shocked, as he couldn't believe that he had actually lost.
"How did you..." Lelouch asked, knowing there must be some trick.
"Well, you can look at it this way," Mao said. "Now you know how your opponents in the past felt when they lost to an arrogant know-it-all punk like you."
Lelouch clenched his teeth but remained calm and glared at Mao, who was still smiling, much to Lelouch's dismay.
"I wonder, Lelouch. Didn't C.C. tell you about me?" Mao decided to ask.
"C.C.?" Lelouch is surprised that the psychopath knows about the immortal witch.
Mao clapped his hands, happily reading Lelouch's mind. "Yes, you finally realized, and you are correct." "I am indeed Mao, and yes, unlike you and your demon slayer friend," Mao took off his sunglasses, showing his Geass on both of his eyes. "I possess Geass."
"You're just like Rai, who has Geass; my guess it allows you to read a person's mind," Lelouch deduced. It was how Mao was able to beat him in chess so easily. Even a rookie or a child could defeat a pro if they knew their opponent's moves.
"That's correct; that's how I know about you, Lelouch, and your skills, for that matter, including that Black Blade." Mao was careful, knowing how skilled Lelouch was as a demon slayer, as he could cut his head in just seconds.
"Where's Shirley?! Tell me where she is!" Lelouch demanded, as he had enough games.
"Calm down; she's physically fine. I didn't touch her. Although…"
Lelouch saw someone through the window, and he was surprised to see familiar orange hair. "Shirley!"
Lelouch was shocked to see the state Shirley was in, and that was when Shirley looked shook up and her eyes were red, as he guessed that she was crying. Lelouch was mortified by the state Shirley was in, and he glared angrily at Mao.
"You bastard!" "What did you do to her?" Lelouch said, enraged.
"I didn't touch her," Mao replied, waving both his arms innocently, "like I said before. Although I did make her realize that she's evil, just like you."
"You what?" Lelouch replied, confused, as he doubted Shirley had an evil bone in her.
"Lulu," Shirley said weakly, shaking as if she was in some kind of dilemma. She knew the person she had a crush on was Zero, and he hurt her father.
Lelouch looked at Shirley, and she was shaken in both despair and fear.
"Lulu, I'm sorry," Shirley said, feeling ashamed. "I'm so sorry."
Lelouch rushed out of the railcar and got to Shirley slowly. The former prince approached her. "I'm here, Shirley," Lelouch assured. "I'm here. I don't know what messed up things he said to you, but I can disregard them. Whatever he said to you, it's not true."
"You're wrong, Lelouch," Mao said as he came out of the railcar as well. "The fact is that she's a sinner, like you, and both of you need to atone for your sins."
"For what I know of my sins, Shirley is innocent!" Lelouch declared his hatred for Mao.
"No, the ones who are going to pay are you two," you especially Lelouch after what you did." Mao pointed his gun at him.
"What did I do?"
"Yes, I'm referring to C.C.," Mao said, showing an expression of hatred towards Lelouch. "You had the audacity to treat her like dirt, and then you kicked her to the curb. What you did is unforgivable."
Lelouch was shocked as he looked at Mao. Knowing all of this was because of C.C., this person was something to the immortal, more like an obsession.
"So this is what this is all about?" Lelouch felt both pity and frustration. "How did you come to the conclusion that it happened if you saw that I hadn't mistreated her at all; in fact, the only thing she did was eat pizza from my paycheck?"
"Shut up, this is not petty! It is how I saw it, and now you're going to pay," Mao said while reading Lelouch's mind, "just like Shirley is going to pay for supporting an evil bastard like you, who then uses situations to get what she wants and take advantage of whatever suits her."
"You Fool!" Lelouch felt it was petty that all of this was because of jealousy.
Mao cut Lelouch off when he drew a gun on him and made Lelouch stop.
"It's time for both of you to die!" Mao declared.
Lelouch was wide-eyed and tried to quickly think of something. With his speed, he could tackle Mao, but Shirley would be caught in the crossfire. But then someone suddenly shot a bullet, knocking the gun out of Mao's hands. Lelouch, Mao, and Shirley were shocked, and they wondered what had happened.
"What was that?" Mao was surprised. "And why didn't I sense someone?" Mao guessed why and realized, "Unless, could it be?"
"That's enough, Mao," a familiar female voice said.
Mao looked and was surprised to see someone that he had not seen in years, and Lelouch was shocked to see the woman as well, carrying both his blade and gun. It was C.C. who had her long green hair tied in a ponytail and wore a lavender dress with black boots. CC held a gun to Mao, and Mao was ecstatic to see C.C. again.
"C.C.!" "I'm so happy to see you again!" Mao shouted like a child meeting his mother. "That dress is stunning on you. You're just as beautiful as ever, C.C."
"Mao." C.C. had a sad expression as she looked at Mao.
Suddenly, Lelouch charged towards Mao, punched his jaw hard, and sent him stumbling back into the railcar. The door closed, and the railcar started to move again and went back downward.
"No! No!" Mao shouted as he was being taken down, "C.C., I will come for you again! Don't worry, we'll be together again. I promise!" Looking towards the only person he loves in the whole world.
Lelouch picked up the gun Mao dropped and just kept glaring at the petty bastard. Knowing all of this was because of petty jealousy. This was more like a teen drama, and it felt petty.
Mao peeked up, glared at Lelouch, and swore that he would make him pay. "This isn't over, Lelouch! Mark my words, what I'm doing is not petty." Mao yelled, justifying his action.
Lelouch just glared at Mao and then calmed himself down and looked at C.C.
"I never expected to see you come," Lelouch said.
"Yes well…" CC said. "My options weren't very good for me."
"Your options?" Lelouch asked.
"Don't worry about it and take this back," C.C. said, tossing the Nichirin blade back to Lelouch.
"Thank you."" Lelouch softened his expression when he looked at Shirley, and he rushed over to her and held her. C.C. looked on and then looked back at where the railcar was going down with Mao in it, knowing she had some explaining to do.
Shirley was alone, looking towards the Horizon, thinking about what had happened and how she used her father's injuries to get closer to Lelouch. Lelouch might as well tell the truth about who he is and why he became Zero the Revolutionary.
Tell me, Lulu, why did you become Zero and fight the world?
Lelouch took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Shirley, whatever I'm about to tell you is a path that I can't walk away from anymore, even you. I'm giving you a choice: either you forget all of this and go on with your normal lives with no worries about anything related to war or stay for whatever happens; there's no going back for what I'm about to tell you.
"Tell me about your choice."
We already knew what path she chose. With Rai Geass, he could help erase Shirley Memories, but unlike Canon Lelouch, he won't, as he prefers to let them make a choice, as he won't be like Muzan, forcing them to become demons.