Please see the AN at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 12: Queen Bees

I watched in equal parts confusion and amusement as the green haired woman lowered her hands, "So, did he answer you?"

I'll admit, I was somewhat curious, attempting to pray to Catharsis never occurring to me. To be fair, his personality made it seem like such a thing would be a waste of time.

"No." Was the flat response, "But then, that's hardly surprising."

Knowing her past as a nun, I suppose she must be used to unanswered prayers. Still, I was on a time limit. This whole situation was rushed, I had been hoping for more time before coming here. Or at least to not look so painfully young when I did so.

"Knowing him, I would have been shocked. Have you changed you mind on my offer?" I decided to move the conversation along.

Her golden eyes looked into mine, their gaze incisive. She had leaned back after her attempted prayer, and was now laying across the bed, in an obviously intentional sensual position. She had apparently decided to abuse my fondness for her character, it seemed.

"If I did," She started, "How would this work? You just put in that chess piece and it's done?"

"Usually." I responded, "But not this time."

The information she had gained from our connection via the Code confirmed some of my suspicions. The Code was absolute when it came to mental realm. I could stop it from accessing my memories with my defences, but once it had gained access there was nothing I could do but show the memories as I experienced them. I could not alter them in anyway, or lie or make up new memories to show instead.

Thankfully, it seemed what was true in the show also held true here, while the Code could access one's memories, it could not do so all at once. It could only look into a few at a time, and if memories were linked, it condensed them down. It was how Lelouch could see the entire story of CC's time with the nun and how CC could see my experience of watching the anime.

That was unlucky. Thankfully not the worst outcome, but certainly not ideal. My plan for this introduction was to be as truthful as possible, in contrast to my previous, more manipulative recruitments.

CC was old, observant, as well as very mistrustful of others. Refusing to allow her to access my mind with the Code would only make her even more suspicious. It would also prevent my secondary goal for recruiting her specifically. So, I needed to allow her to see enough of my secrets to feel like she was in a position of strength, but not enough to foil my plans. Her knowing of my childhood infatuation with her character is, while slightly embarrassing, still well within those bounds.

The worst outcome would have been her seeing the conversation with Catharsis and finding out about the way the Stamp functioned. I needed to hide the exact effects until I had more time to endear myself to her. It would be dangerous and risky, like balancing on the edge of a knife. But then, precious little in his life was not without risk recently.

I started to explain my position to Immortal Witch, "For the rest of my Peerage, simply resurrecting them with the Piece and bringing them back with their agreement was enough. But, unfortunately, you know some information that would be very inconvenient to me to be spread around."

She hummed, not replying, merely looking at me calmly as I continued, "So, I would need some kind of assurance from you."

She didn't react outwardly, but shifted herself to show off her body more alluringly, attempting using my attraction against me, "What type of assurances?"

I took the chance to drink up her form, trailing my eyes up her long, sensuous legs. My body might not be fully ready to indulge in lust, but my mind could certainly appreciate her form. I had been keeping my interest in the female form contained around everyone in DxD, fully conscious of my appearance as a child.

Now however, I would take the chance so graciously offered to me.

My roving eyes did not prevent me from responding to her, however, "As a Witch and a Code-bearer, I would have thought you would have guessed. After all, I am technically offering you employment as my Queen, why should we not draw up a Contract?"

"Geass too? You truly are a greedy man." I shrugged, not offended at the truth.

"This is a negotiation. You are more than welcome to amend any of the terms offered." I locked eyes with her, attempting to impress my seriousness onto the immortal, "I want this to be a benefit to us both. I don't want you to feel trapped, like you are now. I am offering you excitement, a new adventure, but I am taking a large risk by doing so. This way, we are bound to each other in a way you understand deeply, not just by some form of magic you have no experience with."

She didn't respond at first, merely staring at me, looking for a break in my composure or sign of deceit. Seeing none, she sighed, "Is this your plan? Recruiting me for your harem, gaining Geass and services for your political games, in return only promising to grant my wish, due to what you saw in that piece of entertainment?"

The way her voice lingered on the word wish was tinged with mockery.

She was working up to rejecting the offer, but I interjected, "No. I cannot promise to fulfil your wish."

She looked surprised by that, so I continued, "I cannot promise to love you. I liked your character, but that was a character, in a show, not you. I'm sure there are plenty of things I will discover about you, both good and bad."

"I cannot promise to fulfil your wish." I reiterated, "The only thing I can promise you is that I shall try. I swear to court you honestly, to discover all I can about you, to truly get to know you. So that when, if, I fall in love with you, or vice versa, it's because of who you are. Not some half remembered caricature. Even if I am unsuccessful, I swear I shall do my best to ensure your happiness."

I spread my arms out, demonstrating my openness and sincerity, "Give me time. Both of us are immortal, time is something we have in abundance." I looked at her, letting her see the determination in my eyes, "Give me time and I swear to you, I will make you see that life is worth living."

The last thing I expected after my gambit was for her to laugh the way she did. Laughing at my honesty would be in character, but not the way she did, with genuine mirth.

Suppressing her laughter, she looked at me with mischief in her eyes, "For one who resents his new youth, you are surely shameless about using youthful charm as a weapon, aren't you?"

She obviously picked up on my confusion at her statement, but did not deign to enlighten me on what she meant. Whatever it was, it seemed to have changed her mind, so we moved on to debating the terms of our contract.

On her side, she demanded that I did not attempt to control her as if she was my servant, provide for all her needs while she lived with me and made me promise that should her abilities become known by others in my world, I would not let her be experimented on or imprisoned for study.

On my side, I asked that she kept anything she learned from my mind to herself, she take her role as my Queen seriously when in public and that she does not intentionally sabotage me or the peerage.

In return, I repeated my oath that I would strive to grant her wish, or see that she had it granted elsewhere should I not be able to do so. A time limit was set, the same as my other Peerage members save Shiro, of 100 years. Once this time was up, should she still wish to die, I promised I would find a way to kill her permanently, but I was entirely sure that would not come to pass.

Once the long discussion about the details of the terms and how exactly we expected such things to work was complete, it was once again time to experience the Code.

This time, she did not have control, or any guidance towards what we saw, as the connection was both ways. I experienced her life in miniature, the points of most intense emotion. This left me with an understanding of pain, constant unceasing suffering. She has experienced so many deaths, while remembering each one with perfect clarity.

Several moments jumped out in the rapid collage, the searing pain of the first time she was burned alive, the pain of being stabbed through the eye, her arm being crushed, shattering her legs as she fell from a high height and the slow, choking suffocation that came from being hanged and not breaking your neck in the drop.

If this is how she experienced life, with these memories, no wonder she wanted to die.

A part of me was also aware of what she experienced from me, the familiar hot, angry feeling coursing through me in sympathy. I knew what she was seeing, the moments in my life I was the most intense, the most emotional, the most alive.

One stood out from it all, the experience coming back to my mind immediately. The warm, sticky feeling clinging to my arms, the wet, spongy snapping of bones under my grip, the strong impact of blows delivered with lethal intent.

The transfer ended with several flashing images, a group of silent, inhuman figures with closed eyes, two planets about to collide, a flash of a familiar symbol. An edged crane, with wings spreading out in flight.

The connection ceased, leaving my usual tight control in tatters. My feelings rose up, close to the surface, but I beat them back with long practice. Idly, I noticed CC looking at me, a new understanding in her eyes, but whatever it was she wanted could wait until I was more in control.

When I was recovered, I raised my hand to my now glowing eyes, my Geass activating naturally with a thought. As I say the current flow and shift around the limb, I smiled.

I flexed the hand, watching as the current changed direction, pooling in my palm.

'Yes,' I thought as I grinned viciously, 'I could definitely use this.'

She tapped the desk, her frustration at once again being outmanoeuvred by a child of all things welling up, unbidden. She focused however, at the other woman lazily sprawled into the chair in front of her. She had threw every test she could think up on etiquette at the other Devil, even some she was certain her colleagues would fail, but the green haired menace passed them all, with flying colours to boot.

She suppressed a growl, before biting out, "For someone so well mannered, that is certainly an undignified way to sit."

The other woman merely raised an eyebrow, face unmoving, as she replied, "Dignity is something that is only useful when it is required."

Serafall waited for the explanation, knowing the type that likes to leave vague statements hanging before clarifying them later. She was disappointed however, as the annoyance in front of her remained silent.

The unbroken, awkward lull in the conversation continued, neither side seeming to wish to be the first to interrupt it. Serafall didn't want to give the woman the satisfaction, but this 'CC' seemed to be perfectly content to sit there, unmoving and unspeaking.

Eventually, it was the Satan that acted first, moving the papers and registrations on the desk around and focusing on one particular part of the tests. It's possible to fool the senses of other Devils, but Ajuka's machines were a lot harder to get the better of, making her confident in what she was about to say.

"I must say, Damocles' decision to make you his Queen surprises me. It looks like you have even less Magical power than his Knight, Kasane did when she was resurrected." She had hoped that implying that the verdette was weak would provoke a reaction from her, but she had no such luck.

Instead, CC merely shrugged with an unchanging expression, "Probably."

"You know that you are not supposed to lie on the registration right? I highly doubt your birth name is really 'CC'." Serafall continued to press.

She was met with an impassive response, "It's the name I've had for a long time."

Serafall grinned ferally, as she had moved onto one of the other things she wanted to discuss, "About that, you stated your birthday was 'sometime in the 1200s'. That's very vague."

It also meant that she was claiming to be older than Serafall by almost 200 years, as she was born in 1431.* She knew better than to judge others on their youthful appearances, but there was no way a Witch who lived that long would be this magically weak.

The amusement in those golden eyes had been growing as she picked up on Serafall's rising irritation, but now it showed in the slight smirk on her face as CC replied, "I did not possess a calendar, so I don't have the exact date."

The Leviathan conceded that a Human of those times would not have the means for exact dating, but there a was another issue with the claim, "We have no records of long-lived, green-haired immortal witches. No sightings of you. No mentions of your name. Surely someone who lived that long would at least have some information about them leak?"

The responding shrug was nonchalant. "Sounds like a you problem." At the narrowed eyed glare that was sent her way, she elaborated slightly, "I value my privacy."

"Yet you threw that away to join Damocles' peerage. That doesn't add up. What did he do to convince you?"

"He made me a promise."

It was clear that she considered that a sufficient answer, as she merely stared at the Satan, waiting for the next question.

"What sort of promise?" Serafall was interested now, being very curious as to the relationship this woman had with Damocles.

"That's private."

Serafall let the sigh that had been building since this conversation began pass her lips, "Why Damocles? If you are really as long-lived and experienced as you claim, why not another Devil house, one that is a higher Noble Ranking? I'm sure many would fall over themselves to have you. Why throw your lot in with a House that hasn't even been officially recognised yet? That seems like a gamble."

CC was even more visibly amused by the question, a vindictive smile on her face as she easily saw through what Serafall was attempting with this line of questioning.

Her response, when it came, was forced through the universal translation of the Devils so it was heard in French, "Ceux qui n'ont pas La Foi sont maudits pour être aveugles à jamais."**

Serafall turned the expression over in her head, translating it with practised ease. She shot the other woman a gob-smacked look, "Did you really just quote a sermon to a Satan?!"

The interview was not any more productive after that exchange, but Serafall had her suspicions all but confirmed. This Witch really was as old as she said she was and was obviously highly experienced in Politics and courtly games. This 'Promise' she made with Damocles must have been one that leveraged that, seeing as she did not have significant Magical might.

She had to admit, it did a lot to salve her wounded pride.

It seemed the one outsmarting her and the other Satans was not a child after all.

*Serafall was born 30 May, 1431 (Yes, very symboltisms)

**"Those without faith are cursed to be blind forever" Ran it through several translators and grammar checkers, seems correct. I don't actually speak French and HELL SHALL FREEZE OVER BEFORE I LEARN.

Powers Gained This Chapter for picking up CC:
Fatality Defence: Damocles can resist instant death and existence erasing effects. Similar to other Defences, he may use willpower and energy to resist these effects. However, should he be unable to resist, he will not die instantly, but will be struck with enduring and intense agony for a time equivalent to the power of the effect that was resisted.

Science Talent: Damocles gains an innate talent for understanding and comprehending physical phenomena. He can more easily understand any research notes or reports that her reads and can more easily discern the results or testing he conducts, so long as he follows the Scientific Method.

Sexual Talent:Allows Damocles to intuit his sexual partner's fetishes and kinks, as well as the sensitive areas on their body. Additionally, ensures that sex is idealized like Sexual Calibration. If Damocles has not yet entered puberty when he takes this Talent, he commences it as soon as it is taken

AN: This one fought me a lot. I wanted to have a section at the end explaining Damocles' Talent choices and where CC was stamped (Top of her right shoulder), but it didn't flow like a wanted it to. Looking at the timeline of the story and the scenes I want to hit next, I should be able to get through 3 or four important bits next chapter, but we'll see how my muse takes me.

I'm very proud of the CC/Serafall section at the end!

Sorry for the massive delay, work has been highly stressful (Promising promotion while dangling goals in front of me, then when I achieve them putting another goal instead of following through) and I've had a lot of trouble sleeping.

Thank you so much for sticking with me through the delays.

I will attempt to write faster, but I always say that...