Song: "Mad World" (feat. Gary Jules) - Official Music Video


POV: Lelouch vi Britannia and Shirley Fenette

After what felt like a lifetime's rest, Shirley would slowly awaken from her slumber. The blur would lift, thus she noticed something when her emerald eyes opened up. Her Lulu was no longer in bed with her. Anxiety and trepidation suddenly felt bum-rushing her as memories, or echoes of it, flashed before her eyes. On the day she died, up to the times till his staged death. Of a man who had been a fallen revolutionary, forever disgrace, who now walked the paths of the Demon Emperor, who died as he fell with wide open arms. His sister, the one that started his goals, was fitting present in the end, as she cried for him while the entire world cheered.

Death to the tyrant. Hail to the revolutionary who had murdered him.

She lifted herself up a little as her head turned to the side, only to find Lulu, much to her relief. The later was just sitting near the window, with a contemplative gaze, that seemed to direct itself somewhere far away. It had a sober picture to it.

"...Lulu," She muttered softly.

Getting out of bed, she would walk towards Lulu, with her slippers on. As she drew near, her hands would gently touch his shoulder, bringing his attention, turning his face towards hers.

"Shirley?" Lelouch's expression was inquiring and full of concern.

"What's wrong, Lulu?" She would ask, flashing a simple smile.

Lelouch's gaze would look back to the window of the hotel and spoke softly. "I was simply pondering my potential options for the future, that is all."

In response, Shirley would begin to try a slightly bolder tactic, by sitting on her Lulu's lap, with arms locked on his neck. Her eyes spoke 'I'm listening.', which made Lelouch sigh as he ultimately revealed a bit of his worries.

"I cannot deny that I am still worried. We have only one month to prepare before everything falls into motion. There was an old saying in chess, "In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else." (*1). Hence that was what I'm doing. Upon the revelation of you being from my own future, as truthfully happy as I am to see you once again, it...it made me ultimately realize that I and my allies may not be the only ones who had come back to the past. It could potentially be anyone. Whether if its you, or someone else that I may or may not know. And of course, this includes my enemies, past and future."

"Like your parents," Shirley muttered softly, placing her hand on his face, and caressing it.

"That is correct. Though of course, that remains to be fully seen if they have those similar experiences that you and I both have. I sincerely hope not, but that is something to consider. And even if not, there is always C.C."

Shirley would recognize the name of the green-haired woman who would give Lelouch the very power of Kings that set into motion the game of chess between himself and his father. She who was termed to be 'Zero's Mistress'. In the past, Shirley would have twitched at such a role that had been given to the woman, even if it were just a simple cover story. But now, all of that never mattered. She wanted to support Lelouch with anything she could muster. Seeing him died made Shirley fully reflect of her past actions, and wanted to do better with the second chance that was a rarity for anyone to be given.

"If I rescue her before the deadline, there's still the problem of whether or not she completely remembers who I am and the future that you and I come from. Because at this time, she's still in contact with my parents, hence the moment I would do so, I would be within the sights of them and the entirety of the Geass Order."

The Geass Order.

From what Shirley understood, it was a very secretive society, older than even Britannia, having some level of influence throughout history and its events. And, its destruction at the hands of Lelouch and his allies, which was sparked with her own death.

"Another factor is Nunnally. She had just called me and told me that she had strange dreams. And for whatever reason, she had a dream of me dying."

"Dying?" Shirley became attentive.

"But that's the only thing so far that she could say. She never mentioned anything about Zero Requiem, nor would it be an indication that Nunnally is the same as us. She just so happens to have an indecipherable dream of myself dying, but no other than simply just that. And of course, there is a factor that one of my allies, General Kenobi, had already surmised to me. He currently had over five years of war to deal with compared with own previous life, and he noted that changing history, even if minor, can have some level of consequences. On this point, I would agree, as there are too many variables in place. With each movement of a pawn, an effect ensues where the opponent would no doubt change their tactics. Same with history. Just one mistake would cost an unnecessary life. One choice, one decision...one phantom pain, that becomes fleshed and concrete the second it goes around."

A flash of memories came back, but by bit, that gnawed and grated through Lelouch's mind. All of the deaths that he had caused, the regrets and the desire to move pass them, the sinner with so much blood on his hands, with questionable motivations, of whether he was selfless and selfish. Lelouch vi Britannia was a man of contradiction, with a flawless and flawed perception. Even he himself questioned if it was truly an act of selflessness on his part to take his own life in atonement for his sins and for the sake of a new world, or if he had just wanted to commit himself fully to dying.

Even Lelouch knew that Zero Requiem was only a child's foolhardy attempt to keep the peace permanent. He knew that in the end, at some point, the world would be in conflict again. Humanity would make the same mistakes. That was an inevitability that Lelouch could not ignore. But at the very least, it would have bought some time before that point. A few decades or so, even a century if rather fortunate.

He simply took the chance and hoped that things would be better. He would call out his own hypocrisy, as he was more of an idealist than even Suzaku, as much as he would not want to admit. He keeps these close tightly to his chest, with a penchant for making people think that he was the villain in order to set things into motion, either for his own selfish motives or through some greater good.

He took the chance, for Zero Requiem.

If given another chance, would he try to take it again? That was the question. Many would assume that the answer is a net positive. But, with everything else, it is no longer feasible to hold to such contentions.

Because in the dark future that he and two of his allies had borne witness to, sinners of the same wooden cross, there was something utterly inhuman, of a primordial sort, filling a burning earth of a thousand potentialities that crisp into smoke and ashes. Of entire worlds beyond, of alien cultures that had hundreds if not thousands of years of culture, decimated. The biospheres wreck asunder, as strange winged-creatures of fallen dominoes scour through the skies. The trees, the plain grassy fields, the swamp filled with mud and soil, the wonderous beauty of the blue skies that provided the light of the sun, all of that and more, everything beautiful, was gone.

A darkness. A Great Eye.

Do you believe in the devil?

A question lay behind the mystery of that dark future. Even when having knowledge about C's World, of the so-called 'God' that describes the collective human consciousness, even he was mostly indifferent to such things. Gods? Devils? Other creatures besides man that came from folktales, legends, and myth. These, he never truly cared. He read about them. He could even recite them based on his knowledge and intellect. He even takes inspiration from many of these things during his time as Zero. But in the end, he was what you may call an indifferent and practical agnostic. Even if there were such things, what did that matter for him in the end? All he truly cared about was Nunnally's desire for a new world, filled with everlasting peace. That was why he became Zero in the first place.

But now, he is forced to be confronted by that question. That was a question that he could no longer just brush aside, nor ignoring it in favor of something more grounded and related to the here and now.

The Evil Eye that would forever mark its presence, as of entire kingdoms filled with raging fires that never passed out, of an absolute new world order, imposed on all. The Dark Lord of the Universe. Its entire presence and existence seem to be mocking Lelouch, even without meaning to. If the Britannian nobility considers all underneath them to be under their heel, the Dark Lord would consider them even less than a mere atom that never really amounted to anything under than to submit to his will, for it was only his right to bring true order across the endless screaming potentialities.

Potentialities of Lelouch's own life. Of timelines that range from a wavelength of similarities as minuscule, to entirely different portions of what may come to be. Of worlds even beyond that. His deeds and impact on history are merely one mirage out of many. A mere passing footnote of history that would eventually forget him, and is simply a thing of the past that no longer cares, as cruel as it sounded. A speck within the bowels of eternity.

A dark future, with each passing moment that draws near. The howling screams of trillions which resembled the slavery of the Israelites of old against their Egyptian oppressors; of future eras of his world that lay broken civilizations that used to be, of eternal fires of industry that spread throughout the corners of this strange universe. Of an evil that does not die.

"The future is lost," That person would say. "It is there and back again that we must strike, to influence that future. Sauron's tight grip on the future had grown to such lengths that exceeded even his own reign during the Second and Third Ages of Middle Earth. The Valar, even now, would try to keep this growing darkness in check, but it's already spreading to far to the edges, affecting the mortals and lesser gods who cannot oppose him. The Clone Wars is one of a few conflicts that empowers him, hence the inevitability for Sauron to orchestrate seemingly coincidental and contrived first contacts, when history does not record as such. As the Dark Side of the Force enshrouds this conflict, it allows Sauron to gain a foothold without as much as lifting a finger directly. But...it is through the midst of that darkness that even the light that is needed would shine, no matter how many lights grow out."

Darkness forever shrouds the very concept of the future. The cosmos lay in ever-present danger in this strange, temporal war. A war of gods, opposing the Devil's Eye.

"Already, Sauron would try to pollute the collective human consciousness of your cosmos, to bend it to his will. It is subtle, and undetectable, but there will be times when it would become so apparent that it would become undeniable. Terror and division are Sauron's greatest weapons against men of goodwill, and all other races besides. Your world, young Lelouch, is something Sauron would try to take. Your world of origin (*2) is at the heart of your universe, and if Sauron takes it, he will touch the consciousness of mankind, pollute it, and create a devasting army that will sweep all others. He has already done so, to other iterations of your world of origin's history. Beware the shape of black smoke that roams abroad, seeking and reveling in nothing but pain and chaos, like wild dogs that would forever bite. Men's souls, twisted and perverted, forged into Sauron's weapons, a mockery of what used to be."

What Lelouch's parents had tried to accomplish, the Dark Lord would have succeeded, at least in part. Some worlds that resembled Lelouch's own have already fallen. The souls of those worlds had been twisted into something else, a fate that was worse than death.

"...Shirley," Lelouch spoke with a concerned tone. "Can you do me a favor? From now on, I want you to keep a close eye on Nina. She is one of the key players in this world's conflict. The last time Nina became my enemy, she used her intelligence to perfect the devastating nuclear weapon, FLEIJA, and Suzaku would use it against me, though at the cost of a million people. As much as possible, I want to prevent things from escalating before they reach their tipping point."

"Hmm, I understand, Lulu," Shirley nodded.

There were many memories that Shirley would remember. Nina Einstein is one of those regrets that she, who should have been closer to Nina as she was a fellow student council member, could have prevented. But at the time, Shirley was dealing with her own dilemmas. Her father's death at Narita, her conflicting feelings on whether to take revenge and kill the man who killed her father, and the time when Mao...manipulated her into bringing Lelouch right where he needed him.

"...Lulu," Her tone was cautious. "There's...also Mao."

Lelouch's expression turns to a grave understanding. "Yes, him too. At some point, he and I would meet. With his Geass, he could read your mind like an open book. So anything I would tell you now, or tell you in the future, could be compromised. At least, that was before there was a contingency that I have already planned out in order to deal with it, so I would not worry about him taking advantage of you this time, Shirley."

Lelouch...

"...!"

Both Lelouch, and even Shirley oddly enough, would hear an echo that reverberated in the former's mind. For Lelouch, it was a familiar one.

Kenobi, what do you need? Lelouch would say.

Hmm. Strange. It seems that there is someone who is eavesdropping on our conversation, and not deliberately. Is there someone with you, Lelouch? Obi-Wan Kenobi would surmise.

...Yes, Lelouch affirmed, while taking quick note of this curious development. It's someone that I can trust. I have told you and Big Boss about her before. Her name is Shirley Fenette.

Ah, the woman you lost from before. Kenobi said, with a feeling of empathy. Well then, hello to you, my dear. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Master and General. Though, I would assume that Lelouch would have told you about me and certain other things.

Umm, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kenobi, and yes, he did explain to be a bit what you and Lelouch have been doing. Shirley looked weirded out, hearing the voice of an old man in her mind. Her eyes were looking in various directions in natural response, though there was no one that she could see.

Kenobi, quick question, is there anyone from your future that travelled to the past? Lelouch asked.

There are actually, though only a few, and most of whom are currently back in my galaxy. One of them is with me, my second-in-command in the 7th Sky Corps, Marshal Commander Cody. Kenobi explained.

Ah, I remember you telling me about him. Lelouch thought with interest.

There's more. I've already linked up with Big Boss. It turns out that he too is experiencing a similar predicament. A few people he knew from his future had ended up in your world too, along with the entirety of his former MSF unit. My clones and the MSF are now co-working together at present after Big Boss and I provided a bit of explanations. Now, we are getting to work on improving the MSF's Mother Base, located a few kilometers just near your South Pole. As for myself, well, I've already told some of my troops to provide and prepare your extraction so that you could join with me here at Mother Base.

I understand. Though, I would also like to take Shirley along with me. Lelouch suggested.

That's more than fine. Kenobi agreed. I am rather curious of how she is able to hear us when even Cody and some others wouldn't know how I would privately speak to a certain person through the Force. Though, would she not mind a little trip to the ocean?

I wouldn't mind, Mr. Kenobi, Shirley explained, looking at Lelouch with a smile. Besides, it's a Saturday, so I have plenty of free time.

Then I look forward to meeting with you, Ms. Fenette. Kenobi smiled.


POV: Euphemia li Britannia

As the first light of day began to dawn and permeate the orange skies, from the buzzling crowds of the airport, there was a certain princess, wearing a disguise, with a hat, shades, and mask. Euphemia li Britannia had successfully managed to cross through Japan from her own homeland.

I'm back in Japan...once more... She thought sadly.

It was not easy for Euphemia to come here, but somehow, she managed it. Evading the royal guards, getting a passport that allows her safe passage to Japan, without anyone recognizing her. Though, she knew that it was only a matter of time before Cornelia found out that she was missing, hence she was sort of on a timer. But she just could not help it.

She wanted to see both Lelouch and Suzaku again. Her heart aches as strange memories had haunted her for the last few weeks that she had come back. Something she never told a soul. A burden that she carries, including the nightmarish dreams that would make her remember all of the dead bodies that littered the grounds of the stadium.

Kill the Japanese...

The sheer, unadulterated horror of that command. She could recall it, like a tempting seductress, like an addictive urge. It was gone now, thankfully, but a phantom remnant of it seemed to remain like a whisper. She felt like a danger to everyone around here. If she would see any Japanese, her first instinct was flight. She did not want to kill another Japanese again. It was a stupid risk for her to be here, but she wanted to see Lelouch and Suzaku again.

She understands that she is in the past, but she did not know how. It had been three months. One of them had her locked herself up for a bit in her room, though she didn't make that obvious. It was not like she had administrative duties or military campaigns that her older sister would be more than apt for. She was haunted and alone, with no one whom she could unburden to.

But she knew just where to go.

She knew where Lelouch and Nunnally were staying.

To get answers, she would need to go to them.

And...

I will save you, Lelouch. I won't let you die again. And Suzaku...even if you don't remember me, please wait for me. She thought sadly, but had the resolve made of steel.

Kill the Japanese...

Even if that resolve meant carrying the burden, the pain of the memories, of the slaughter of one nation.


POV: Siri Tachi

While the council meeting was taking place, Jedi Master Siri Tachi, the blonde-haired and beautiful woman, would meditate silently through her chambers, looking troubled. It was all because of a painfully obvious factor that had now become the talk of the galaxy. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his entire fleet, had gone missing. Efforts have now been made to try to find them, but there was still the problem of the war.

The CIS had taken advantage of this loss by pushing a bit further. However, that never really changes the brutal and deadlocked stalemate between the Republic and the CIS. Battles still carried on per usual. Citizens of the galaxy grew restless, day by day. It had been five years of never-ending conflict. It almost seemed like the Dark Side had spread out too much into the deep. It was like the stars were always flickering, in danger of the light now running with a ticking timer.

Her eyes closed. Her body posture is crossed, focused, and solemn.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Then suddenly, the hologram of a clone trooper would materialize. He had red-colored armor and red attachable binoculars, with attached black camo pants. He was Senior Commander Vex. While he was officially a part of the Coruscant Guard (*3), he was also secretly part of the 7th Sky Corps.

During the War, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Commander Cody had secretly given orders to detach a few of the 7th Sky Corps for a long series of undercover missions to infiltrate the Coruscant Guard, if only to keep the Chancellor's influence in check. When Siri found out about this, along with other, almost unbelievable revelations, she had become the Jedi General in command of this undercover unit.

The 77th Ranger Recon Company, the former name of the 7th Sky Corps, still existed as an undercover regiment hiding within the Coruscant Guard, and the one who leads them is Commander Vex.

"I'm sorry to disturb you on short notice, General," Vex replied with a grim expression. "But some of the boys have managed to inform me of a potential threat deep beneath the lower levels of the planet. There's...something not right down there. There have been strange reports of...cannibals eating the populace."


POV: ?

What was the mystery behind the lower levels of Coruscant?

Most upper-level dwellers wouldn't dare try to venture. Beneath the gloomy levels, there was a strange, darker presence that pervaded the lower levels. If there were screams, they have long since dissipated, with the sounds of crunches and bites. Various beings, human and otherwise...there was something very wrong with them. Their skins looked decayed, some were chewed and bitten off, and their eyes felt dead, and whose faces desire hunger.

The branching passageways were littered with blood.

"...Raaagh."

"...Raaagh."

"...Raaagh."

"...Raaagh."

"...Raaagh."

A nightmarish bioweapon had been unleashed. The radio transmissions and frequencies were dormant and silent, thus no one knew what was happening in the lower levels.

The nightmare of Blackwing (*4) has fallen through the bowels of Coruscant.


Trivia For Chapter:

(*1) - A quote that I would use from José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) who was a Cuban chess player who was the third world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.

(*2) - That person refers to a Code Geass Multiverse, if you want to call it that. The specific term 'world of origin' indicates the prime timeline, the canon timeline where all of the events of Seasons 1 and 2 came to be. It is this timeline, Lelouch's origin, where other timelines branch with their own canonical histories.

(*3) - The Coruscant Guard (original name), more commonly referred to off world as the Republic Guard, is a corps of elite Clone Shock Troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), organized to serve as a military police force and protect the Galactic Republic capital planet of Coruscant. As the Clone Wars continued to rage on, however, the Coruscant Guard would expand and have a presence found on a few other worlds such as Hosnian Prime, Naboo, and Alderaan.

(*4) - In the original timeline of the Star Wars Galaxy, there was the Imperial Bioweapons Project 171A, known as the Sickness, which was an infectious viral agent created through the powers of Sith alchemy that attacked biological tissue and transformed its victims into undead monstrosities. The disease originated from the Sith Lord Darth Drear on Odacer-Faustin sometime prior to 4645 BBY, and was intended to grant immortality to its crafter. Drear's initial experiments resulted in failure, and the Sith Lord fell victim to his creation. Over one thousand years later, during the period of unrest following the Great Galactic War, the Sith Lord Darth Scabrous attempted to recreate Drear's disease in the hope that he would succeed where his predecessor had failed. Scabrous likewise failed to create a path to immortality, and in the process unleashed the virus upon the unsuspecting students and staff of the Odacer-Faustin Sith academy. Before long, all of the Sith Acolytes and Masters on the planet died and were born anew as cannibalistic monstrosities motivated only by the will to eat.

Knowledge of the Sickness, as it had been known during the Odacer-Faustin outbreak, survived several millennia and eventually fell into the hands of the Sith Lord Darth Vader, Supreme Commander during the Galactic Empire's reign. Around 1 BBY, Vader commissioned a scientific team from the Imperial Biological Weapons Division aboard the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Vector to re-engineer the virus and turn it into a weapon that could be used to further Imperial interests. Operating in secrecy, the scientists recreated the disease under the codename "Blackwing" and prepared it for deployment. However, in that year, an accident aboard the Vector unleashed the Sickness once more, turning almost all of the personnel aboard the vessel into savages not unlike those on Odacer-Faustin. The infected took control of the ship and used it to cripple the Imperial prison barge Purge, thereby forcing the barge's occupants to enter the Star Destroyer and become prey for the Sickness.

The disease was created through Sith Alchemy and activated by the Murakami orchid—a highly Force-sensitive black flower. Victims of the plague suffered numerous, extremely painful side effects prior to death, and became mindless monstrosities postmortem. The virus was fully self-aware, and utilized the undead to spread the pathogen and either transform or eat any who avoided infection. Due to the extremely quick rate of transmission and the difficulty of isolation, successful treatment of the disease was rare; although one could be prevented from contracting the virus by injecting an anti-virus intravenously, those who were already infected had little chance of survival. The fluid that coagulated within the bodies of the infected and carried the virus throughout their anatomy bore many similarities with the entity known as Mnggal-Mnggal, leading some to believe that the two were in some way related.