Lie and Seek

by draconichero21

On Planet Earth, there are multiple superpowers that oversee the global populace, most prominently are those that follow the Church of Seiros: Adrestia, Faerghus, Leicester, and Britannia. A chance meeting interlocks the fate of Lelouch and Edelgard, unknowingly putting the fate of mankind in their very ambitious hands.

39. Haunting Memories

(A/N: Aaaaaand, we're back with more Lie and Seek. I really liked how this chapter turned out. In fact, I think it might be one of my favorites. Oh, and before I forget... [stirs pot, serves you meat and potatoes]. Enjoy!)

---

19th Day of the Wyvern Moon

Unaware of Kronya's self-destructive episode, Zero took note of a few things on the bridge, before heading to weapon maintenance to make sure infantry weapons were up and running. The Black Knights and the Golden Deer would be infiltrating a laboratory that Zero was expecting to run deep underground. This would be a mission with no HLKMFs used unless the enemy forces activated one, suggesting they weren't worried about the ceiling collapsing.

Zero found two of his best frontline fighters, Kallen and Ayano, examining the guns and swords respectively. Kallen was checking for any malfunctions in the rifles while Ayano was checking batteries in the energy swords and had plans to move on to the lances and axes after.

"How goes maintenance checks?" Zero asked. "I know Kronya already stocked and checked everything, but malfunctions can happen when you least expect them and a second set of eyes is always beneficial."

"So far, no issues," Kallen said.

"Speak for yourself. I found one energy sword that isn't holding a battery charge," she pointed to where a lone hilt sat on a crate. "You can check it out for yourself."

Zero nodded. He turned to Kallen. "How are you holding up?"

"Uh, fine, why do you ask?"

"This is your first real mission with us since transferring out of the Green Pheasants. You've changed houses twice now to my understanding. If something in the Ashen Wolves isn't to your liking, you need only speak your mind."

"N-No!" Kallen blushed. "Uh…thank you. I uh…I really appreciate that, Zero, but…"

"Yuri always likened the Ashen Wolves to a flock of sheep he had to shepherd. In practice, before you are my soldiers of war, you are my students, first and foremost," Zero told her.

Kallen blushed brighter.

"Are you coming down with something? Your face is all red."

"No! Nothing!" Kallen exclaimed and fanned herself. "M-Maybe the temperature's a little warm."

"The maintenance bay should be kept at an even seventy-two degrees. Let me check the thermostat."

Kallen got tongue tied at how to respond to how seriously Zero had taken that suggestion. While inspecting the thermostat, Ayano looked over at Kallen with a judgmental look. It was plain as day what she was thinking.

Before Kallen could say anything to tell her to cut it out, Ayano went back to checking the stability on an energy sword before quipping, "Eh, aren't the first, won't be the last!"

"H-Hey!" Kallen shouted.

"Thermostat's working fine," Zero said, walking back over. "If you're getting stressed, Kallen, you can take a moment to relax. We still have thirty minutes before touchdown."

"N-No, I'm fine, really." She swallowed. "Maybe I am a bit nervous. Like you said, it's my first real mission with you as my professor. I transferred out of the Violet Tigers before Professor Eisner even came to the Monastery and Ohgi and I go way back. He's a friend of my brother's."

"I see," Zero responded. "What made you leave that relationship for my classroom, exactly?"

"Because…I believe in you," Kallen stated. "You appeared almost like a dashing hero onto the scene. At Saitama, with such a small force, you escaped and left the JLF and Cornelia's forces licking their wounds." While such a statement basically placed Kallen at the scene, Zero was a fellow rebel like her so she didn't think much of it. "You got the people of Duscur back their territory from Viscount Kleiman with such little bloodshed. I feel like…you're what the Japanese people really need to bring down Rhea's reign."

"I see. I completely understand. Kallen, your faith is not misplaced, and today I will show you, as your new leader, why I am fit to command you as your leader."

Kallen gave Zero an eager smile. "Right!"

---

After parting ways with Kallen, Zero sought out Lysithea. She had information on the enemy, and he wanted to hear about it. When he found her, she was in the mess hall with Hapi. The two were eating donuts.

"Oh," Hapi said, munching away, "Hey, Zero. Donut?" She asked, pushing the box forward. It didn't take more than a moment for Hapi to realize that Zero would have great difficulty partaking. "Ah…right…sorry."

"It's fine, Hapi. I appreciate the genuine offer," he replied and then looked at Lysithea. "Is now a bad time?"

"No, not at all," Lysithea said.

"Hey, if we're gonna be talking about those dudes in the robes, mind if I hear about it too? I've got a bone to pick with this Odesse fellow myself."

Zero looked at Lysithea, her approval pending.

"It's fine. If she has a history, then you both should hear this," the small teenager stated. She inhaled and took a deep breath. "I was two years old. My family answered House Hrym's call for aid in a revolt against the Empire. We didn't really do much of anything. We just sent supplies. Not one soldier left the territory, but we were still seen as abetting an international incident. In retribution, the Empire held sway over House Ordelia's territory and seized the region's resources. During that time, a bunch of mage folk in black robes built a laboratory underneath my family's manor. If you can believe it, I'm not actually my parents firstborn child, but I'm their only child now. All of my siblings died in those horrible experiments! They kept poking us with tools and…and injecting us with…Goddess knows whatever was in those syringes."

"Lily…"

"I lost the color of my hair, I've got five years left to live at most, or so I'm told. Can you even imagine what that's like?"

"That explains a great deal about you, your desire to be recognized, and the fact that you don't waste a day to improve yourself. When you have little time to make a difference in the world, you tend to be motivated," Zero commented.

"That's why I've decided, I'm going to dissolve House Ordelia when I have the chance and not have children."

"Lily, no! Don't!"

Lysithea got argumentative. "What would you know? My parents have suffered enough! My house's legacy is in shambles! Until recently, it felt like we were barely part of the Alliance altogether! Do you know what it was like growing up like that?"

"It can't be any worse than living in a CAGE!" Hapi shouted. "Sure, maybe you got experimented on, but at least you were living under your house! I got plucked out of my village when I was five and then this Odesse guy, yeah, the one we're after, he sold me on the black market to this weird woman in Faerghus! You had siblings to share the pain! I didn't have anybody! I…I…" Hapi sighed. Almost immediately, the room shifted.

Zero's internal helmet radio rang. "Zero here."

"Hey, Zero, Yuri here up at the bridge. Could you check up on Hapi? We just had to evade a flock of birds."

"She's fine, just a little emotional. I'm standing right here. I'll help her through it," Zero stated and ended the call.

"At least you got something out of it, Lily. A chance to do some real good with your life. If I sigh, animals attack people. I came from nothing and I have nothing. I was held in a cage and fed barely properly cooked meat, asked to perform like some kind of…sideshow! If anyone should be screaming "Beasts!" like Kronny does, it would be me! I got laughed at, pelted with ice cream, peanuts and tomatoes. It was hell."

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that…" Lysithea began to apologize.

Hapi swallowed back a sigh, shaking her head. "No. No, it's not your fault, Lily. I just…"

"It sounds like this Odesse fellow has some things to answer for. Don't worry," Zero told the girls. "Vengeance will be swift. Before the sun has risen above his lab, he won't be alive to greet the dawn."

"Zero…" Hapi said with a smile.

"And Lysithea," Zero said, looking at her. "I don't know what facilitated your decision to cut yourself off from the history of life, but it's not the kindness you think it is. Like Hapi said, you have the opportunity to do something great. Don't squander it. Turn your curse into someone else's blessing."

Lysithea looked at Zero oddly. Unlike Hapi who didn't know what she was talking about, at least that was how Lysithea felt about it at first, Zero seemed like he had a more even head about the situation. Turn her curse into someone else's blessing? Sure, her twin crests gave her an amazing array of talent, but still…

"If you're uncertain of the validity of my words, watch me today. I will prove that I am someone worth following." He gestured to her with a gentle hand. "Don't give up on life, Lysithea von Ordelia. Leave the world better off than you found it, for generations to come."

"Is that what you plan to do?" Lysithea asked.

"Of course, should I fall, I have countless apprentices ready to take my place! I am more than a man! I am an idea!" He spun on his heel to leave the room. "And ideas are bulletproof." He then walked out.

---

The exact location of Odesse's lab was in territory of the Adrestian Empire once belonging to Persia…before Adrestia and what were now the forces of Rome conquered it. To this day, it was the eastern most held continental territory held by Adrestia, not counting the floating island part of it that lay south of Neo-Japan.

Still, it was odd, in Zero's mind, to see such a laboratory so far along the Persian gulf. Chinese Federation held territory was just on the other side to the southwest. Were the Agarthans that unafraid of an invasion? Or perhaps they had connections with China. Questions for another time. For now, Zero needed to embark on an invasion. He'd arrived in the dead of night according to their arrival time zone. The operation would begin at exactly midnight in the region. However, preparations would begin now.

Slowly, under cover of darkness, Zero, the Black Knights and their voluntary help, made their way to circle and enclose Odesse's lab. Well, most of them. Ayano was manning the Akane and awaiting for Zero's signal in the hangar. On his signal, she was to perform a bombing run and get a direct hit on the building. When Odesse's men began fleeing the burning wreckage, Zero's forces would move in and pick them off. Marianne, a user of ice magic, would then help to put out the flames and allow a thorough investigation of the area. Kronya had intel, but not blueprints, that Odesse's lab led deep underground, so, once the initial wave was done. This was far from over.

"Man, this lab is out in the middle of nowhere," Claude commented as he and the others approached. "Makes sense that it would have to have an underground network. Can't believe this is the place though. Half-expected our pale-skinned snitch here to bring us to an area swarmed by her comrades just looking to shoot us."

"Do you have an off switch?" Kronya snapped.

"Wasn't born with one, no," Claude commented.

Kronya growled.

"Both of you knock it off!" Hapi snapped.

"You're in an unusually sour mood, Hapi," Yuri stated.

"Yeah, because this place gives me the heebie-jeebies. Reminds me of that lab that lady used to keep me in, locked in a cage," Hapi remarked.

"You were locked in a cage?!" Hilda shrieked, only for Leonie to shush her. "Oops," she whispered, "Sorry. You were locked in a cage?" she repeated only loud enough to be heard over the coastal wind.

"Yeah, it's how I ended up with my power that inadvertently summons animals. Every time I sigh, wild animals show up. I can't control it. Well, okay, sometimes I do it on purpose. One time I got the crud beaten out of me while I was doing a job for Yuri-bird in Britannia and I sighed so much a bunch of squirrels attacked the house. Heard one of them bit the villa owner's thing clean off. Serves that guy right!"

"Oh man," Balthus sighed, "I remember that incident. You were in pretty awful shape when you got back. I remember cause I'm the one that patched you up while Yuri uh…did some business stuff."

"Yeah, not my best moment," Hapi admitted.

"To be fair, pretty sure any of us would love to summon an army of squirrels to attack someone that wronged us that badly," Claude remarked.

Hapi snorted giddily.

"All right, that's enough anecdotes," Yuri remarked. "What's our status, Zero?"

"Ten minutes to go," he said, and turned his attention to the moon.

"Man, is this the kind of thrill you guys get when you're waiting to go smash things up?" Hilda asked. "It's kind of exciting."

"Oh, I'm sure Holst would be thrilled to hear that you're feeling giddy about a life of espionage and sneak attacks, Hilda," Claude joked.

"You don't know Holst," Balthus responded. "I remember once when we were younger and he had me sit with him for a forty-eight-hour stakeout because he "wanted to wait for the right conditions.""

"…That guy ain't right," Leonie remarked, sounding concerned.

Zero signaled with a gesture for everyone to quiet down. And aside from Marianne sneezing once and Hilda handing her a handkerchief, everyone was.

Zero continued to look at his phone. "Three…two…one…"

BEEP! BEEP!
BEEP! BEEP!

Zero quickly sent a message to Ayano. Piloting the Akane, she went, "There's the signal," and rocketed out of the parked Neverland, flying over the lab and releasing her payload all in one fell swoop, lighting up the building in a huge fireball. It didn't take long for Odesse's forces and lab personnel to come running out of the building, some on fire, some just armed. Either way, it didn't matter. They were immediately gunned down by Zero and his allies.

Inside the lab, Odesse received news from one of his advisors. "Lord Odesse! We're under attack!"

"What in blazes? What do you mean we're under attack?!"

"…Sir, the whole building shook!"

"I thought that was an earthquake! Urgh, no matter! Gather all of our best men and head down into the basement. Lock all the entrances. I don't know how my lab was found, but I'll be damned if I let all my research get destroyed! We'll slip away in the confusion and—"

Odesse's computer was suddenly hijacked and Zero's visage appeared on it, illuminated, not that Odesse knew, by Yukiya's phone camera.

"And you'll do what?" Zero questioned. The audio had come in just before his visual to set him up for that line.

"Y-YOU! What is the meaning of this?!"

"I said it when I stopped the hotel jacking at Lake Kawaguchi, or perhaps you need your ears cleaned, Odesse of Agartha." Zero fanned his cape out to the right and let it billow in the early morning wind. "Those without strength, rally behind us. Those with it," Zero said as he lifted his head, "Fear us!"

"You won't get away with this! Thales will have your head!" Odesse shouted. "Kronya! Where's Kronya?"

"She's where she belongs, fighting for me!"

"So Kronya's turned on us, has she? Then you will all perish by my hand!" Odesse shouted.

"Big words, but I've squared off against the Death Knight and lived. You are insignificant and come dawn, you'll be nothing but a memory."

Odesse smashed his computer monitor and proceeded for the basement, bided his advisor that had reported to him, to follow him underground. Odesse then proceeded to engage in every shady villain's pastime: thinking out loud.

"Zero can destroy the main lab for all I care. What's really important is what's underground. Come, I need to contact Myson and Thales immediately."

"Understood, sir. I'll let the men know."

---

Barging into the Agarthan hideout, Zero commanded his students, and the Golden Deer and their allies forward with a gesture. The enemies outside had been defeated and Ayano was still around with the Akane to keep watch for any stragglers. Furthermore, Yukiya had the targeting computer of the Neverland pulled up on his phone. With just the push of a button, he could send out a drone to tail and strike a fleeing enemy.

Meanwhile, Leonie and Claude were pouring on heavy ordinance from their rifles while Lysithea and Constance poured on attack magic.

"Weird, I thought they'd put up more resistance," Claude commented.

"I know what you mean. This feels too easy to infiltrate," Zero pointed out.

"Automated defensive reinforcements incoming!" Ryo shouted as a bunch of nasty looking spider-like droids, armed with rotating cannons and laser blasters for heads began barreling towards the group.

"And done. Aaaaaaand…done!" Yukiya exclaimed, swiping left on his phone. "Shut down!"

Instantly, all the defensive robots lost power, a testament to Yukiya's hacking prowess.

"That's our Yuki," Hapi praised. "No techno gizmo or advanced AI beats his computer skills."

"Eh, it's a gift," Yukiya shrugged.

"Don't get complacent," Zero reprimanded before the words could come out of Claude's mouth, judging from the expression on young man's face. "We still haven't found Odesse. Until he dies, the mission can hardly be called complete."

"You got it, Zero," Hilda said. "HEEEEYAAAAH!" She charged forward and split a grown Agarthan soldier in half with her axe.

Guess she really has turned over a new leaf, Zero thought, watching Hilda clobber enemies left and right without taking a single hit in return. She was really putting her back into it too.

More researchers were attempting to flee outside, but Kallen, Balthus, and Akito had the three main exists blocked off and cut them all down by axe or by sword. Zero couldn't help but notice how smoothly this was proceeding as he walked through the area, shooting the occasional incoming hostile shouting "Die, Zero!" with a blast of magic. The impact caused enough internal damage, and suffocation from the dark magic fumes, to render the target deceased.

Kronya, for her part, followed closely behind him, Athame clutched in a reverse grip in front of herself. She looked more timid and more skittish than Bernadetta. Such a sight was something Zero had never seen on the normally kill happy assassin. But as Zero saw her face out of his peripheral vision, he knew that the look on Kronya's face wasn't fear, but…confusion.

And if he could read minds, he would understand why. The girl was horrified, not at Zero slaughtering her countrymen, but at how easy it was for him. And it wasn't as if the Agarthans weren't putting up a fight. But Kronya could see it, and likely Zero could too. The very sight of Kronya silently following behind Zero brought confusion and hesitance to all that saw her. It wasn't as if she was difficult to pick out from a crowd, even by Agarthan standards.

"Kronya! Don't just stand there, do something! AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGH!" A fellow Agarthan shouted before he was shot in the chest by Leonie, the impact knocking him off his feet as he landed on the ground, cracking his head open from the fall.

Kronya's fear and confusion intensified. Here she was, in the middle of a battlefield, against her own countrymen, and what was she doing? Standing idly behind who should now be considered public enemy number one. His back was completely exposed. It wasn't as if the Absolute Zero HLKMF was even on. A swift stab to the back of the neck, even with Claude watching her, wouldn't be that difficult. She could react faster at this distance.

So why not just stab him?! It would be so easy. Zero was weaker than her. He was a mushy, squishy beast of a human, and she was strong as iron, proud Agarthan.

But every time she squeezed Athame, imagining the quickness of the deed, an image flashed through her head…Zero patting her on the head.

---

Many Years Ago…

A very tiny Kronya stumbled into the training room, clutching a dagger she'd been given from her designated parental unit. Today, she would finally learn the art of killing. She would have the opportunity to make her parents proud. She was not the only small Agarthan released into the arena. Many others she had never met before were also released, but almost all of them were a bit bigger than her. Seventeen humans were set loose against the three dozen or so smaller Agarthans, all of them adult-sized. Many of them already knew complex magic.

A man with an abnormally large forehead stood behind a blast screen, gazing down at the group. His piercing black eyes stared down at the youngsters. "Only the winning side will be allowed to return home. Do not stop until all enemies lay deceased. FIGHT!"

With the sound of that declaration from the overseer, Solon, a fireball from one of the humans blasted an Agarthan standing next to Kronya to smithereens. If she'd been standing there instead, that would be her charred corpse that the others could smell. Her eyes moistened with fear. This was the price for failure. Many of the small Agarthans suddenly began running around…and many of them died. The much larger humans beat, blasted, and stabbed them with ease. Kronya herself, found that she was quite fast, able to dodge the humans with ease, despite her small size. She didn't know it then, but this was the building block for a special skill that ran within her veins, her Keen Intuition. For moments, human attacks appeared to be moving in slow motion, giving Kronya ample time to dodge, especially at a distance.

Of course, she was still just a young girl. Her combat prowess wasn't perfect. Kronya ended up getting kicked across the arena and banging her back and head into the wall. She dropped to her hands and knees, her keepsake dagger still clutched in her hands.

One hopeful amidst the young Agarthans crawled forward towards Kronya. He'd lost an eye, and his legs had been crushed below the knee, but he was still alive. He reached out for Kronya.

"Help…help…me."

A human then stomped on his head, crushing it. He then turned his blade and Kronya could see her terrified, shocked eyes reflected in it. She was going to die.

No, Kronya thought, eyes going from shocked to determined in a split second. I won't.

Her bioelectricity surged. Every single part of her body pulsed, shifting every neuron, every synapse, into something that saw only survival on its mind. And nothing was going to stop it. And, in that moment…

The human thought he had Kronya dead to rights, but then he blinked, and the tiny girl was suddenly in the air, leaping up to shoulder height. Her dagger was ready to slice his neck, and a gleeful smile ran across her face.

…A demon was born.

Kronya took the man's head clean off at the neck and then threw it at another human to get his attention.

"Ha ha ha," Her laugh was like the chirping a dove that had developed psychosis.

Kronya leapt from human to human, armed with nothing but her dagger, stabbing and slashing her way through each of them. She was like a jack rabbit's speed had been merged with the leaping power of a tree frog, and the killing prowess of an angry crocodilian.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! AHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kronya laughed and laughed, through this training exercise.

The next.

And the next.

And the NEXT!

Growing.

Learning.

Becoming stronger and stronger.

Before long, she was developing complex maneuvers like strangling a human with the grip of her legs as she flipped them forward off their feet before plunging Athame deep into their heart. She was ruthless, heartless, and unstoppable. She was, without question, the best killing machine that Agartha had ever developed in many generations.

"Excellent work, Kronya," Solon said, using his cane to approach her from the shadows. "I'm proud of you."

And that was it, just a smile. A smile from the very man who gave Kronya her baptism in blood. Even her parental units had died while Kronya was undergoing her metamorphosis. By the time she had a moment to collect herself, and recognize herself in a mirror, she was…alone. In fact, aside from Solon and Thales, most of the Agarthans that she'd known as a young girl had died. They died because they were weak. Kronya knew. If you were weak, you died. That was the law of the Agarthan Empire.

And yet…

---

2nd Day of the Wyvern Moon

2017atb

Kronya remembered being clung to against her will by these annoying, yapping, chittering children of the Goddess, all cause…all cause…

"GET AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!"

Friends? With these weaklings? Was she losing her mind?

Zero approached. Kronya had high hopes that he would tell these annoying beasts to get off her. But he didn't so much as grab one of them. Instead, his hand fell atop Kronya's head, caressing it gently. Sure, he was wearing gloves, but…it felt warm. He was wearing a helmet, and yet, Kronya didn't have to see his face, to comprehend the gesture.

She'd infiltrated humans before. Although she'd failed to acquire Monica von Ochs, she had acquired a new disguise in this era, and it was far from her first disguise over the years. She knew how humans showed affection to each other. Hugs. Kissing. All of it totally gross.

…Or so she thought.

"I'm proud of you, Kronya. You did good."

It was almost the same thing Solon had said to her, years ago, and frequently, and yet…when Zero said it, it wasn't just admiring her for her handiwork. Kronya could see her face reflected in Zero's visor. That was how she knew…that Zero wasn't looking at her deeds, but at her. To him, she mattered.

Kronya, unwilling to confront these complicated emotions, simply said the first disparaging thing that came to mind, "…No fair, Zero."

---

19th Day of the Wyvern Moon

And now, ever since that day, ever since that moment, Kronya had been doing whatever Zero wanted like some kind of…lovestruck puppy. It made her so angry! She was the superior race! She was the stronger warrior. So why was she acting like she was the pet with the collar around her neck?! Why couldn't she bring herself to disobey Zero! To go back to how things were, to do what Thales would want: gut this stupid beast like a trout and be done with it!

The image and the sensations of Zero caressing her head flashed through her mind again. But…this was the wrong environment to be confronting such emotion. And, in fact, rather than filter these emotions normally, Kronya's psyche, unable, or perhaps unwilling to confront these feelings in a healthy way, fractured like glass…and subsequently shattered.

The cackling dove had returned. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha," she chittered. "Yeah…I'll do something. I'll kill you! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!" Kronya shouted, her usual psychotic grin plastered on her face. She lunged at the nearest Agarthan, plunging Athame right into her chest. Kronya then grabbed the pale-skinned woman by the face and broke her nose into Kronya's rising knee.

"Uhhhhh, is she gonna be okay?" Claude asked.

Zero did not immediately answer. He just watched.

Kronya blazed through the building, leaping to and fro like a madwoman. She was like a black widow spider on caffeine with the fangs of a Smilodon, the acrobatics of a monkey, and the temperament of a homicidal hornet.

"Hahahaha! AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kronya cackled, messing up Agarthans with ease. "I'll do it! I'll kill them all Zero! ALL FOR YOU!"

"Sheesh, she's worse than Akito when he loses his marbles," Balthus commented.

Kronya started kill stealing and she didn't even care. Hapi watched as the pale-skinned redhead landed right in front of her, feet in someone else's chest, dagger in their neck.

"Why…Kronya?" The Agarthan asked.

"I don't know," Kronya laughed without an ounce of sanity. "I don't know!" she exclaimed, sniffing, tears running down her face.

"Kronny?" Hapi reached out to her comrade in arms, but Kronya was already leaping away to kill someone else.

Zero watched the number of hostiles thin out considerably. And all the while, he stayed where he was and just watched.

"Hey, Zero! You gonna reign her in, or what?" Claude shouted at him. "I don't want her to suddenly turn around and stab us."

Zero just stood there.

"Hey, are you listening to me?!"

"Kronya!" Zero finally called. "When you're done, we need to head underground. Are you coming?"

Zero needs me…what a RUSH, Kronya thought. It was as if Zero's praise was presently a drug, and she was more than willing to overdose.

Throwing a discarded weapon from her most recent victim into someone else's eye, Kronya sped over to him. "Ready when you are, Boss."

"See? She's not going to attack everything in the room, just what's my enemy," Zero said.

Zero was looking ahead, but Claude noticed Kronya twitching, both her lips and eyes. "Y-Yeah, sure."

"Got the schematics pulled up, Zero," Yukiya said. "Looks like main entrance to the basement is this way," he said, pointing in a given direction.

"The enemy will have already fled down the main entrance. We'll need an auxiliary passageway."

"Well, its been sealed off, but there's one—"

"No need to worry about anything being sealed off. Balthus!"

"Yeah, Zero?"

"Switch places with Ryo and have him guard your exit. I need you to make an entrance for me," Zero commanded.

"Oh there's no need for that Zero," Kronya said in an overly sweet voice, "If you need a wall cut down." She raised Athame. "I'll take care of it."

Lelouch contemplated the idea of leaning on Kronya too heavily. The fact that she was now hugging herself sent off more alarm bells. Still, he had a plan and switching unless necessary, he felt, wasn't a great idea. "I'll still have Balthus come along. What if I need two entrances broken open simultaneously."

"Sure," Kronya said, almost cooing, "Whatever you say."

"Is…she okay?" Hilda asked. "She looks…uh…" Hilda wanted to say horny, but that wasn't very nice or ladylike, was it?

"You let me worry about her," Zero responded.

"Yeah, sure," Hilda remarked, sweating.

Taking a group to the auxiliary entrance that needed to be open, Zero left the rest of the Black Knights behind. Now, only the Golden Deer, Yuri, Constance, Balthus, Hapi, Kallen, Yukiya and Kronya were following him.

When the group got to the blast door, Kronya did try slashing it open with Athame, but her blade couldn't cut through that much steel that quickly. Balthus dented it with one blow of his Hero's Relic. Hilda then finished it using her axe and crest.

Zero took one look at how disappointed Kronya was and told her, "Your specialty is in killing organisms, not opening doors. Everyone has their strong suits."

"Y-Yes," she stuttered, "Of course."

"That tunnel looks awfully dark," Claude pointed out.

"The power to the area must've been damaged in the attack," Zero stated. "You don't leave an escape tunnel unlit. Marianne, can you provide a glow with some faith magic."

"Um, me? N-No, I…"

"You can't?" Zero asked.

"Pssht, worthless," Kronya commented.

"I don't remember Faith magic being your specialty o' miss assassin," Yuri commented.

Kronya raised Athame, but Zero blocked her arm.

"Your magic potential is higher than Yuri's and Balthus's and I need them ready in case of an ambush. Their true talents are in close range combat. You are a healer that also has ice magic," Zero told her. "Can you do it or not?"

"Marianne, come on. Don't be so hard on yourself. You can do it. Pretend you're guiding Dorte through a valley at night," Hilda encouraged.

"Who's Dorte?" Lelouch asked.

"He's a horse at the ranch Marianne likes to visit in Rome. He's her favorite to ride. It's basically stress relief for her," Claude explained.

"I…I'll try," Marianne said, and concentrated. Pretty soon, a large glowing field of light illuminated the area around her and the others.

"Whoa there, that's mighty impressive," Yuri said. "I can only manage a little glow ball in my hand."

"See, Marianne?" Hilda asked, encouragingly. "There are things only you can do."

"Unfortunately, she'll have to be close to the front of the formation. Don't worry, I'll protect you," Zero told her. "You're the lynchpin of this next leg of the operation. If something happened to you, we're screwed."

Kronya knew better than to feel jealous, not that she did, that would be ridiculous. She knew about the vital components of a good plan. She was crazy, not stupid. Like Thales would often say, "Everyone has their roles to play."

"I'll um…" Kronya said, but her high from earlier was wearing off and now she was back to fumbling around her social status. What? I'll protect you. As IF! Zero was dumb…and…and dumb…and…

The last few minutes of utter carnage finally caught up to Kronya. Oh god…oh god Thales was going to be so mad at her. No…no it was fine. Nobody had to know she came along. Z-Zero went ahead with this of his own accord. She didn't know he'd slaughter everyone.

"Kronya, you're falling behind," Yuri said. By the time Kronya looked up, seeming to be having a panic attack in the middle of the side room, everyone had moved on, "Let's go."

"R-Right!" Kronya did her best to try and keep up with Yuri.

"Hey," he said. "Listen. I get it. Not easy the first time backstabbing people you've long since worked with. But…this is the group you chose to belong to. Sometimes, we don't like the beds we make, but when we do, we gotta sleep in 'em. You get me?"

"That's a stupid phrase," Kronya snapped, grouchy.

"Well, if you're in a foul enough mood to disparage my crimes against language, guess it's nothing too big to worry about. But, try to keep the existential crisis under wraps until we're back in Rome, yeah?"

"Y-Yeah," Kronya stuttered.

Swallowing, she followed Yuri into the tunnel, the entire group heading for Odesse's lab, and whatever danger lay within it. The path was long, winding and full of automated defenses that Yukiya kept having to hack into and shut off. However, not all of the defenses were computerized. Some were mechanical. However, Claude, Yuri and Zero were pretty good at letting everyone to know where to watch their step and the group helped each other avoid these spots. All except one.

Marianne von Edmund had many things. A crest. A friend that was a horse. A terrible adoptive father. However, good hand-eye coordination was not one of them. In addition to her poor self-esteem—and perhaps bolstered by it—Marianne was very clumsy. So much so that she ended up tripping over her own two feet and into the wall, pushing in a panel that shot down a single arrow from the ceiling.

Yelping, Marianne was shoved out of the way…as the arrow pierced Zero's shoulder.

"AGH!"

"AH! Zero!" Constance shouted.

"Guh…I'm fine," Zero remarked, only to suddenly feel short of breath and drop to one knee. "Guh…no I'm not…"

"The…the arrow must have been poisoned!" Kronya shouted.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault!" Marianne shouted. "I just can't do anything right! Zero's going to die and it's all my fault!"

Kronya strung her up against the wall. "SHUT UP!" she shouted. "You think you're the only one in this entire group that can make mistakes?!" She shouted. "Well you're not! I just killed a whole bunch of people back in the main lab and don't think my sword arm still isn't thirsting for more blood! I can easily add your timid ass onto the pile. It'd be easy! You're more pathetic than a worm! It would be easy! But…you're the best healer we have right now! If anyone can cure a poisoned arrow, it's you!"

"But…"

"IT'S YOU! NO BUTS!"

"Better do what she says, pal. Kronya gets stabby when things don't go her way," Balthus remarked, though the tone of his voice suggested he was just as unnerved by Kronya's outburst as everyone else.

Marianne started to cry. Kronya raised her blade to stab her in a fit of rage, but her wrist was caught by Hilda. The girl also wrapped her arm around Kronya's neck.

"You touch Marianne and I'll break your neck!" Hilda snapped.

Kronya hissed, but only didn't retaliate because she knew that killing Marianne wouldn't solve anything.

"Marianne…" Zero said. "Please…I can feel my lungs…burning."

Yuri knelt down, keeping a firm plug on Zero's wounded shoulder. "I can keep his health up, but if he doesn't get treatment for poison soon, it'll eventually kill him."

"I…I just…" Marianne panicked.

Zero forced himself to stand. "Marianne, the weak are not helpless," he told her. "It is the strong that bully the weak that are the most afraid, afraid to lose that strength that life gave them. As long as you can live, you can do. So do." Zero grabbed Marianne's right arm with his right hand and then used his left hand to press her right hand to his now closed wound thanks to Yuri. "Heal me."

Marianne blushed, cleared her throat, and then concentrated. For a moment, it didn't matter that she had no confidence in herself. Zero had confidence in her." Concentrating, and in a flash of green light, she cast a restorative spell to purge the poison from Zero's body.

Zero then dropped to his knee, using a palm to steady himself, panting.

"Oh no! Did it not work?" Marianne asked.

"No! It worked…just…catching my breath," Zero said. He then wrapped himself up in his cape. "Excellently done, Marianne. Thank you."

"While you were busy trying not to die, I got the rest of the tunnel schematic pulled up," Yukiya said. "We're almost to our destination. After that, it's a toss up whether or not we're going to be able to find Odesse in this place. I don't have a floor plan for the underground lab. Not yet anyway."

"Must be on a closed network," Zero remarked, adjusting his cape. "Let's move. And Marianne…"

"Y-Yes?"

"The next time someone asks you to heal them, don't hesitate. Confidence is earned by repeating the same success over and over. You're a good healer. You have plenty of faith in the Goddess. Now have faith in yourself."

"Y-Yes, okay," Marianne stuttered. "And…sorry…for…"

"What's past is past and no one was hurt. Come," Zero then walked forward.

Kronya stayed in the middle of the pack. Zero definitely confused her. Sure, he said he'd protect Marianne, but shielding her with his own body? Nearly dying? Thales wouldn't do something like that. He'd use an energy shield, if he protected her at all. And sure, Marianne was their ticket to the end of the tunnel, but she was some mush for brains loser.

And yet…

"The weak are not helpless. It is the strong that bully the weak that are the most afraid, afraid to lose that strength that life gave them."

Kronya grabbed her shoulder. What Zero said didn't make any sense to her. And yet…

"Confidence is earned by repeating the same success over and over."

That much she agreed with. That was how she became a near perfect assassin.

A continuing fascination with Zero began to grow. He was no Agarthan, for certain. She'd seen his face, one of only three in this entire group, to know what it looked like. He was…decent…for a mere beast. Her breath shortened and her chest clenched as dumb thoughts crossed her brain.

Kronya shook them from her mind. M-Maybe if I ask nicely, Th-Thales will let me keep him as a pet. …Yeah. That…that's fine. It's…it's fine. She scowled. I'm fine.

As the group came upon the tunnel's other entrance, Balthus smashed it open with Hilda's help, the group emerging into a spacious area about as big, wide and tall as Garreg Mach's Holy Mausoleum. However, the area was plated with far more metal instead of stone and brick. And it looked like it had been renovated out of the cave they had all emerged into.

And then, dark magic energy blasts flew from their 9 o' clock position. The group scattered, but not too far from each other.

"Damn those beasts! They followed us all the way down here!" They heard a member of Odesse's forces shout.

"How'd they catch up to us so fast?"

"Who cares? Get 'em!"

Another battle ensued. This time, the opposing Agarthan forces put up much more of a fight. Zero had to give Odesse credit where credit was due.

Leaving your weakest men to buy you time as you escape with your strongest. How very Agarthan. Still, it won't avail you any. "Don't let them get away! All forces, pursuit tactics!"

"Leonie! Follow Yuri! Hilda, with Balthus! Lysithea, with Constance! Marianne, stay with me and Zero!" Claude ordered.

"Right!" The members of the deer shouted.

What followed was a pursuing chase of the Golden Deer and the Black Knights chasing fleeing Agarthans through a dark cave that seemed to double as an underground lab, probably a testing arena. Why was it so big? Well, that only seemed to concern Claude at the moment. Everyone else was too busy attacking.

Hilda leapt forward a good four feet into the air and brought her axe slamming down on some poor fool's mask, bifurcating his face. Kallen ran past her, driving her axe through another guy's midsection. Yuri sped past her, taking out two and then three more Agarthans. Leonie used an energy lance with attached chain to nail a fleeing Agarthan.

Balthus grabbed an Agarthan by the head, hurled him in one direction and then let loose a blast of pressurized wind with the aid of Vajra Mutshi, turning the torso into chunks of flesh, sending organs and limbs everywhere.

And as for Kronya…all she did…was run. She didn't attack. She didn't turn on Zero's forces, but she hadn't yet drawn Athame to attack. Her breathing was heavier than a normal human in constant sprint. Her face was breaking out into sweat all across the forehead and cheeks. Because she knew…she knew that she wasn't running away. She was on the hunt…and her prey…her prey was…

They're weak, a voice that was barely her own told her. Zero is strong. You feel it, don't you? You feel it aaaaaall the way inside you. Zero is strong and you crave his strength. You want Zero to be stronger than Thales because…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Kronya screamed and hurled Athame out in front of her, piercing some poor Agarthan's neck and coming out the other end where it clattered on the ground. She picked it up. The chase continued.

…You like him.

Screaming with even more fury than before, Kronya took to murder as a way to vent out frustration and less so on the high of murder, which she had grown accustomed to her over the years.

Tears streaming down her face, Kronya continued to run straight forward. Now she was running away, but she was running away from her own shadow, afraid it would grab her, strangle her. She was…she was…

"Kronya!"

Kronya gasped. She had completely blanked out. Her body was leaned back, supported with someone's hands on the back of her head and her lower back. Zero's hands. Blushing, Kronya got upright and dusted herself off of cave dust and whatever blood she could wring out of what little clothing she was wearing.

"I-I'm fine."

"You most definitely are not fine," Zero stated, angrily. "You just stopped moving and you dropped your weapon. The way is clear and we're ready to move, but if you're going to be a liability, I'm sending you back to the Neverland. I need all of the soldiers under my command in fighting fit shape. That includes you."

"I'm not one of your soldiers though. I'm a spy! I'm Thales's woman on the inside! You know that."

"As long as you are attending my lectures, you will be treated like one of my wolves, like one of my knights," Zero told her. "And regardless of what you believe, you chose to reveal Odesse's location. You chose to help me. You can be filled with regret all you want. I understand that slaughtering other Agarthans may be difficult for you. But I never demanded you do anything. I asked you to come along. You've obeyed up until now. I haven't forced you to do anything. You made choices. And you—"

"Am I strong or am I weak?" Kronya interrupted.

"Hmm?"

"Answer me! Am I strong or am I weak?" Kronya demanded to know. "Please…I…I need to know."

Zero put a hand on Kronya's shoulder. "You are strong, Kronya. Strong of will, strong of body. And as a Black Knight, we are the strong meant to uplift the weak and the helpless. And when one of us is weak and helpless, we unite to become even stronger. That's what it means to be an Ashen Wolf, to be a Black Knight."

"Zero…can I see your face?"

Zero didn't move overtly, but Lelouch flinched, both under his mask and his fingers twitched sightly on Kronya's shoulder.

"I…I want to make sure the poison…isn't affecting you. It's…it's okay right? I've seen it before and you said everyone went on ahead and…and it's dark down here. So…"

Zero radioed Yuri. "Yuri, I am taking off my helmet a moment. Do not let anyone away from the group, especially Claude."

"Copy that, Zero," Yuri reported back.

Zero shifted gears to a private call to Yukiya. "Yukiya, how are those exits coming?"

"All sealed off, Zero," Yukiya said. "Password blocked and everything. How's Kronya doing?"

"We'll both be along in a moment. She appears to have come to her senses," Zero told him.

"She's doing all right, guys," Yukiya told the others on a hot mic. "Well, we're waiting for the next phase. Odesse can't get out of here. Even his teleporters have been corrupted with my viruses. Don't wait too long though. We've only got so long before even a half-competent computer tech can undo this damage."

"Understood," Zero said and then shut off his comms except for his emergency signal. He then took off his helmet to let Kronya see his face, then lowered his secondary mask so his nose and lips were visible as well. "How's it look?" Lelouch asked. He was prepared for anything. If Kronya tightened her grip on Athame, he'd notice. He was prepared to bind her with Banshee Theta if necessary.

"I…think I need a…closer look," Kronya remarked. Remnants of Agarthan poison can show up anywhere, you know." She looked at his all black hair. "The hair…" she looked at his alluring purple eyes. "The eyes…" Her gaze trailed further downward. "And…and…"

Kronya lurched forward, grabbing Zero's cheeks with her hands, shoving her lips against his own.

Of all possibilities this was not something Lelouch was prepared for. But…he went with it. Being the taller of the two, he felt Kronya crane his head forward, pulling him deeper. Animalistic sounds rose up from her throat. And her kind called his kind beasts.

For Kronya, she was on autopilot. She'd never been taught seduction. This was far from anything resembling that. This was desire. Hot…

Kronya licked at Zero's tongue, mouth opening only to bubble around his lips again, like a catfish its mouth pressed against the glass of a fish tank.

…Passionate desire. Beast or no beast, Kronya desired Zero. There was a certain…electricity when it came to following Zero's commands. Yes…it…it was all about Zero, certainly nothing to do with the those other weirdos. She had no friends, no true comrades. She was a weapon, a tool. She did things and said things that her commanders wanted to hear.

"GET AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!"

Zero had made her think that…somehow.

If…if Zero could somehow usurp Thales…

Her whole body froze.

No…no he couldn't do that. He'd…he'd get hurt and then…and then…

Kronya broke away from Zero and then pushed him away, turning around, sitting down and hugging herself around her knees, shivering. Oh sweet merciful hell, what did she just DO?! She grabbed at her face and hair in a panic. How…how did she let this happen?

"Kronya," Zero spoke to her, putting his mask and then helmet back on. "I can't begin to comprehend your emotions right now. But…I do know one thing. If you continue to fight yourself at every turn, you'll die a miserable death. Not because of betrayal, but because your intention to please Thales and myself will see you bring yourself to ruin. In the Chinese Federation, there's a saying: he who chases two rabbits catches neither. For now, Thales and my goals are aligned. I'm too valuable for Thales to simply get rid of. And you are my only lifeline to him. At any point you could go home and end this relationship, but I understand now how difficult that is for you. You enjoy taking orders from others. It's the only way you know how to live. So, for the time being, follow my orders. Thales's last order to you was to obey every last order I gave you, wasn't it? Until that order is changed, you may obey me without having to worry about it."

Kronya spun around without getting up. "But what if—"

"Don't worry about the what ifs. Worry about the here and now. And if Thales tells you to turn on me, make your choice then. In a way, serving me serves him. Think about it that way, and, for the time being, the problem goes away."

Kronya could feel her panic and misery fading and fading fast. In a single speech, Zero had undone everything that was making her feel hurt. She'd felt weak, and in a single speech…he'd made her strong again. She stood up.

"F-Fine," she said, arms folded. "I…suppose that works for now. Oh and…what I did…that…that never happened. You imagined it!"

"You mean the fact that you kiss—"

"You imagined it! It never happened!" Kronya shouted angrily, looking him dead on into his visor.

Lelouch smirked from behind his mask and helmet. "Very well. It never happened. That's in my best interest as well." He stood parallel with her. "Emotions in this line of work complicate things. Think only of your next target, Kronya. It makes life simple."

"Thank you, Zero," Kronya said and then realized what she said and how genuinely she said it. "Er…I-I mean…" she shoved his hand away and walked a few paces away from him. She then cleared her throat. "Right, well then. We…we still have a mission to complete, don't we?"

Zero nodded. "We do. Let's go."

The pair rejoined with the rest of the Wolves and the Deer and proceeded onward into Odesse's deepest laboratory. No one, not even Kronya, was prepared for what they saw. Cages. Dozens of them. And inside? Humans and what used to be humans. The humans that were completely human looked underfed, and were either terrified or had lost since lost their will to go on. That was, compared to what else was here, relatively normal.

The other cages were far, far worse. Many humans were growing strange mutations, like their hair being replaced with what looked like a coral reef. One girl had a lobster's pincer for an arm. And there was a boy on the ground that had lost his arms and legs, eyes bugging out, and appeared to be turning into a human sized caterpillar.

Hilda covered her mouth. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Wh-what is this place?" Kallen wondered aloud. "It's horrific."

"I was kept in a place just like this, years ago," Hapi said. She did not sound scared. She sounded mad. She sounded like if she saw Odesse, she was going to slowly walk towards him and choke the life out of him. "It's how I got my power to communicate with animals against my will. I wasn't mutated, but I looked just like some of those kids. Hungry and scared. I'll never forget that woman, how she treated me like I was some kind of PET!" Hapi snarled. "And I'll never forgive Odesse either for selling me to her in the first place!"

"This is just like the facility that my family was held in. There were more of these places?!" Lysithea gasped, horrified.

Bright lights suddenly illuminated the entire experimental prison facility. There was no better thing to call it. Odesse stood in front of the group, carrying a cane made from similar material as Kronya's Athame. However, judging from the glitching, it was a short-range hologram.

"This is my true laboratory," Odesse explained. "This is where all of my tests are carried out. The young ones here should be honored. They will serve a far greater purpose in life than as orphans off the street."

"Oh yeah?" Claude asked, not only completely serious, but also scowling, "And how many of these so-called orphans weren't such until you murdered their parents?"

"I ask not where Solon finds me his subjects. I'm just the man with the tools, not the maker of plans," Odesse said.

"How can you perform these experiments on such innocent children?!" Hapi shouted. "They're just kids!"

"Hard as it might be to believe, unlike my fellow Agarthans, I have no ill will towards humanity. I want to shape it, to grow it," Odesse stated. "Humans are weak and fragile. If my fellow Agarthans see certain humans as inferior, then it is up to me to create a superior species. Crest experimentation? Small potatoes. I see greater heights. One where massive beasts control the globe, where humanity doesn't stand alone as an apex predator."

"Oh! Yeah! Because that works out so well in the movies!" Claude exclaimed sarcastically. "And we saw one of your little experiments off the coast of Leicester. Real piece of work that one."

"Ah, such a shame to lose such a valuable experiment. A piece of work though, you say? So it was tough. Well, it served its purpose, I suppose. It lived for over two years in that ocean and made me very rich. It cost me seventy test subjects, but it was worth it," Odesse stated as though experiments were as simple as buying eggs at the grocery store.

"Seventy…that monster was made from…seventy human lives," Hilda sounded horrified, and understandably so.

"These experiments end today," Zero said, pulling out a Cartridge pistol.

"Do they? I'm still breathing, and you're in my territory now."

Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath everyone's feat, but not in the "we're falling" sense, but rather, the cages were growing further and further apart and growing higher and higher up on the wall. The room, it seemed, functioned as an arena when need be.

"It's been a long time since one of my greatest experiments had anyone to play with." The hologram tapped its cane to the floor, but the sound echoed from within the nearby walls. Zero tried to pinpoint exact where he heard the noise. However, loud, thunderous footsteps echoed as something cast a shadow on one of the walls. "I hope you will all live long enough to provide me with useful data."

What emerged from around the corner was a beast no one, not even Kronya, had ever seen before. And many, though not all, were terrified by its appearance. The beast stood a good thirty meters tall, with a horn above its nose, a crest of horns around its jaw, sharp jaws with six especially sharp fangs on either side of its mouth, both above and below. Spikes adorned its scaly neck. The monster was dark blue in color with an armored back of unfriendly looking spikes. And its tail put even the most lethal medieval Morningstar to shame. And it was caked with dried blood. However, aside from all of these features, its most striking feature was its glowing lilac eyes. To Lelouch, it looked like the Ankylosaurus from Hell.

"Matilda, crush them," Odesse commanded and tapped his cane, the sound now harder to hear the echo of. Worse? A light washed over the room. Lelouch knew this light array well. It was a jamming signal that shut off HLKMF Crystals.

"Guess we're doing this the old fashioned way," Claude remarked. "Boy, do I not like that."

"By the time you beasts finish tangling with my pet, I'll have reported back to Thales. I will tell him of your betrayal, Zero. He will not be happy."

"You won't be going anywhere," Zero said. "I…no we will stop you! Your days of hurting innocent people are over!"

"I'm not hurting humanity, I'm saving it! Evolving it!"

"Call it what you want, but it's sick and it's wrong!" Hapi shouted. "Coco! Lili!" Hapi shouted, readying magic in her palms. "Gimme a hand."

Hapi began running straight towards the monster.

"Hapi, wait! We don't know what it can do! What if it's immune to magic?" Zero shouted in alarm.

"You think that's going to stop me?!" Hapi shouted. She began pelting magic miasma blasts in this monster's face. "I'm not going to stand here and be lectured by a guy that uses human lives as guinea pigs!"

The monster appeared to shrug off Hapi's attacks, only to get shot in the side of the arm by a Cartridge Rifle. Leonie had fired upon it with her rifle.

The monster snarled and swat at Leonie with its tail, only for Hilda to get between it and Leonie with her axe. Surprisingly, the monster's organic tail held up unbelievably well against the energy axe. In fact, Hilda was even getting pushed back a little. Eventually, she was overpowered, but at least Leonie was safe.

Fortunately, the creature had been distracted long enough that it had just enough time to witness Claude running right towards it before Claude ducked under its body. He began firing, hoping the underbelly was a weak spot. However, when the creature began to drop its mid-section down on top of him, Claude rolled out of the way…only for Matilda to try and roll on top of and crush him with her spikes.

"Ugh! You idiot!" Lysithea shouted. Clapping her hands, she performed one of the few non-offensive spells she knew: Rescue. This teleported Claude back to Lysithea's side in an instant.

"Phew, thanks for the save," Claude responded. "Thought I was a pincushion for a second there."

"Kronya, get in there and try and find a weak spot," Zero told her.

"Right," Kronya said. She had no problem with this. An actual beast was easy pickings. And if it was born from a weaker beast, all the more reason to test its strength.

"And Kronya?"

"Yes, Zero?"

"If you can't find a weakness, make one," he told her.

Kronya nodded. "Got it." She then sprang to action with Athame, running around to try and cut into the beast's armored skin. She was too fast for the hulking monster, even try as it might to swat her out of the air and off the walls.

It then took a pressurized blast of wind to the face, courtesy of Balthus. "How do you like that, pal?" Balthus asked, bouncing on his feet, readying his fists like a boxer in a title fight. He wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Come on! Bring it on you overgrown…whatever you are!" Balthus shouted.

The creature took Balthus's declaration of a challenge well. It lowered its head, ignoring Kronya for a moment, and charged. The group scattered as Balthus ran to confront the monster head on. It would be all right. Heros Relics had the power to topple mountains in the right hands. And Balthus had crazy strength even without his HLKMF. And, if he lost an arm or whatever, Marianne was on standby."

"How's that de-jamming coming, Yukiya?" Zero asked.

"Give me time. These are complicated signals. Guh, for a guy with a simple security system, he sure knows his jamming programs," Yukiya complained.

Balthus reached Matilda head on as her diamond hard head met his gauntlets and Crest of Chevalier. A shockwave erupted as both warriors tried to overpower the other. Balthus, much to Kronya's and Odesse's surprise, won out as he toppled the monster onto its backside. Zero believed having the underbelly exposed would give the group an edge, but Matilda curled up into a ball like some kind of prehistoric Hedgehog and began rolling around the arena, trying to flatten everyone. Zero hoped it would hit a wall, but it veered away at the last second, veering right and u-turning towards Leonie and Hilda.

This, combined with the fact that the creature had taken to Balthus's taunt, had Zero come to only one conclusion. "Claude, we have a problem. It's sentient."

"Oh. Great. Just…throw that out there," Claude remarked. "Why not?"

"You sure about that, Zero?" Yuri asked.

"Let me test that theory," Zero replied. "Balthus, taunt it again!"

"Can do!" Balthus responded, "Hey! Ugly! Over here!"

The creature unrolled from its curled up position and then began to charged towards Balthus.

"Yeah, it can definitely comprehend human speech," Zero concluded. "That means it must at least have a human mind. Lysithea! Can you use Dark Spikes Tau?"

"Huh? I mean, sure, but why?"

"The creature is heavily armored. I'm hoping the spikes will penetrate its tough hide," Zero told her.

Lysithea nodded. "All right then, here goes!" She ran through the arena to get near Balthus as his armored fist met Matilda's skull head on, causing her to stagger back.

"Dark Spikes Tau!" Lysithea shouted as the magic tunneled into the monster's hide, but not very far.

"It didn't work?" Zero questioned as the magic spikes fizzled out.

"I made that spell to interfere with HLKMF electronics and shred flesh. Against armor…something else would be better," Lysithea explained. "I mean…I could probably make use of that spell against the hollower metal of a standard Knightmare, but that's not what we're up against. Still, I can see why you thought it would hopefully work." She doubled back towards Zero. "At least now we know its hide is really thick."

"Yes. But that still doesn't give us a good enough plan," Zero said.

The pair watched as Balthus's fist bashed itself into the charging Matilda's head again.

"Well, that appears to be working if nothing else," Lysithea stated.

"But for how long?" Zero asked. He watched Balthus charge in as Matilda pulled back her front left limb and turned her head down and away. "See?"

When Balthus missed, Matilda reached forward with her longer than one would expect could reach neck and tried to chomp down sideways on him. Fortunately, Balthus had enough sense to get out of their and both Claude and Lysithea took shots at the monster.

Constance then rained down lightning from above. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She cackled. "Witness the power of a Nuvelle!"

The lightning blast seemed to stagger Matilda, locking her in place, but in terms of lasting damage, the boney spikes upon her back seemed to mitigate the injury. And that wasn't the only problem.

"Constance! Be careful!" Zero shouted, watching as Matilda's whole body, starting with the horn, began to spark with energy. Lightning burst from her armored back and horn, zapping everywhere and nearly shocking a few of Zero's allies in the process.

Determined to put a stop to it, Kallen ran in with her energy axe, weaving between the blasts and sliced at the monster's forward right ankle, cutting into the flesh. Matilda groaned and attempted to stomp on Kallen, but she evaded the strike and leapt over the ensuing shockwave.

"Looks like its hide isn't tough enough to survive Energy axes and brute force," Lysithea pointed out.

"Seems like it," Zero stated. "Kallen! Hilda! Crests! NOW!"

"All right, all right, no need to panic," Hilda stated and activated her Crest of Goneril.

"Balthus! Keep taking point! Treat it like it's a supernatural bull fight," Zero said.

"Yeah, no problem," Balthus responded. "Leave it to the Monster Wrangling King of Grappling!"

Kallen, however, wasn't activating her crest.

"Kallen, what's the hold up?" Zero demanded to know.

"Crests…are the power of the children of the goddess. I'm Japanese!" Kallen shouted. "I don't need it!"

"Don't be stubborn! That's a falsehood the church has been spreading for years! If you have power, make use of it! Don't care about where it came from!" Zero shouted.

"I…"

"Zero's right!" Claude shouted, firing and then reloading. "Look, I get it, Kallen! Rome took over Japan and you don't want to use a power it gave you. But what does that say about me?" Claude rolled up his sleeve to show his Crest of Riegan on the outer side of his upper right arm. "I'm not exactly full Seirosian blood, either, but I use this because it protects the people I care about."

Claude activated his crest, creating a cartridge for his rifle out of pure magical energy and fired it at Matilda, nailing her right in the eye and sending her thrashing about the arena erratically. Hilda, actually putting in effort to try, followed the monster around the arena, looking for an opening to hack at its ankles, scoring a few hits.

"Kallen, remember who and what you're fighting for!" Zero shouted. "I am your leader and I will guide you to the salvation that you seek! Don't hold back, or you may not live long enough to regret it!"

Kallen took a deep breath. "Okay! I WILL!"

Kallen activated her Minor Crest of Ernest and took towards Matilda, the monster now gaining its sense as her eye stopped stinging. Kallen met it head on as Balthus had previously. Its hard head slammed into her energy axe. Sparks flew as the monster pushed Kallen back. She may have been strong, but she lacked Balthus's robust frame as was eventually tossed overhead by a powerful upward swing of Matilda's head. The monster turned and attempted to swat Kallen out of the air with her tail, but Kallen blocked. She then rolled over the tail, grabbed hold of it, swung around it and began to run down it towards Matilda's back. She then proceeded to wind up her arm and tried to bury her axe right into the monster's back.

This was a successful endeavor, Kallen cracking the beast's shell with her power, causing it to be immobilized.

Matilda howled in pain. She looked around. Blood-soaked rage blurred her vision.

Arena…This is the arena! ARENA! ARENA! ARENA! ARENA!

Matilda roared loudly, jutting her spikes outward, her injuries healing, forcing Kallen to leap off her back. She looked more dangerous than before. Even her nose spike had grown.

She then began charging much quicker than before, trying to bash in anyone she could spot.

Protect…must protect…the little ones.

Her impacts were damaging the wall and her tail slams were smashing up the floor, creating uneven terrain.

"Any plans, Zero? If this keeps up, she could hit a power line and we could all go boom!" Yuri shouted at him.

"Sorry that I didn't have fighting another giant monster without Hard Light frames on my list of contingencies," Zero responded. I have to admit…we're in dire straits here. If we didn't have that damn time limit, I'd say wait it out.

Matilda was learning the attack patterns of her foes. The non-spikey portions of her tail caught an approaching Balthus right in the chest, knocking him aside. She started firing off spikes from her back like projectiles that rained down like boney missiles. The terrain was getting completely torn up.

Hapi took action, casting a Banshee Theta, but the immobilization lasted only a fraction of a second. Matilda then nearly caught Hapi in her jaws, crunching the boney spike that Hapi had used as a foothold when Hapi evaded getting caught by it.

"Hapi, I don't think I need to say this, but whatever you do, don't sigh!" Yuri shouted at her.

"OH! Yeah! That's just what I need, Yuri-bird! More pressure!" Hapi shot back.

Hilda took a swing at Matilda's tail as it trailed along the ground, only for her weapon to get embedded in the monster's appendage and Hilda get thrown high into the wall, breaking her arm as she landed.

"Hilda!" Marianne shouted. She had to get to her side and oversee the damage.

"No! Marianne! Not that way!" Lysithea shouted.

Marianne had begun running right into Matilda's path. The monster took one look at her and began to charge. Marianne was either going to get gorged or impaled and Lysithea was fresh out of charges for Rescue after using it to save a few of her allies when Matilda's spikes came raining down.

As fast as her little legs would carry her, she ran out into the open next to Marianne, not really thinking things through. However, as Matilda neared, she came to a sudden stop when she spotted Lysithea.

"Raaah…Raaaaaaaaah!" Confused noises came out of the monster. Claude and Zero both noticed that whatever was going on, as Matilda backed up, it refused to attack Lysithea. When she'd hit it with Dark Spikes Tau earlier, the monster hadn't gotten a good look at her, but now it was right in front of her.

However, what Matilda saw was not Lysithea, but a similarly small girl, one with brown hair.

"Hey, Matty! Let's go play later, okay?"

"Rrrr…raaaaar…" Matilda began to have a waking fever dream. She lost something resembling the bestial mind she had and began banging her head against the arena walls to make it stop.

Marianne, in the confusion, took that moment to go running to Hilda's aid.

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm not taking another second to find out," Claude said and slung off the black bag he'd been carrying around. He then shouted, "LYSITHEA! CATCH!"

Lysithea had no idea what was suddenly hurtling her way but was surprised to see something long and thin lobbed high into the air that eventually was draped around her tiny fingers. As soon as she had taken a moment to catch what had been tossed to her, she recognized it instantly.

"This…this is…"

Leonie recognized it too. "Hey! Isn't that…that thing Lorenz got from his dad?"

"Claude! Where did you get that?" Hilda asked.

"Look, you can ask questions, or you can be thankful I know how to lockpick!" Claude shouted, "The choice is yours!"

Lysithea clenched the staff tightly. It glowed red, recognizing the presence of her Major Crest of Gloucester.

The harsh red glow of a Hero's Relic caught Matilda's attention. "Rur?"

Bolstered by the power of a hero's relic, Lysithea raised the staff high above her head. The weapon gave off powerful magical energy, unable to contain it all between the power of itself and wielder.

Lysithea then spoke calmly as she cast magic that ordinarily required a massive amount of preparation and for her to be much, much closer to her target, "Seraphim."

A powerful golden glow created a series of orbs that sailed forward from Lysithea's staff, magnified twice over by Thyrsus's power and slammed into Matilda with tremendous force, shattering some of her tough hide, exposing a second exoskeletal structure beneath, not unlike the type of pulsing red body structure the Deer had seen off the coast of Leicester. And, wrapped around a spike of her inner neck was a tiny golden glow that Zero couldn't quite make out what it was.

Half of Matilda's face was shredded and her back spikes had been pretty harshly blasted. Blood shot out of her left leg where Hilda and Kallen had both cut her. Her spooked vision landed itself on Lysithea, but it wasn't Lysithea she was seeing. Instead, she saw a young girl with brown hair…no…white hair…no…brown hair?

"Ahh…ahhhhhhh…" Matilda growled…and then roared at Lysithea, screaming almost. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Her amber spikes glowed and she released harsh, green flames from her belly and out her mouth.

Lysithea countered with another Seraphim. Her attack blew past the flames, consuming them as the orbs continued onward and smashed into Matilda's face.

More aware of her own self than before, Matilda was even more damaged, her second exoskeleton being exposed was helping her gain something resembling self-awareness. She saw a memory, a flashback, as a locket fell from her boney inner neck. That was what had been making the glow Zero had seen.

"Don't…don't…" Matilda got out, speaking with human speech with tremendous effort.

Zero looked at the monster.

The locket clattered on the ground. "Don't…cry…"

Cry? Nobody's crying, Zero thought. His brain performed hundreds of possibilities, performing several leaps in logic to arrive at as many conclusions as possible. He then saw the locket on the ground, and one possibility, one he was almost certain was the case, stuck out to him in his mind.

"The Insurrection it…my family…I lost so much during it."

An explosion suddenly rocked the battlefield and a fire suddenly broke out. As Yuri predicted, Matilda's rampage had caused a power circuit to combust. Fortunately, it didn't blow the lab sky high, just set the area ablaze.

Confusing Lysithea for someone else entirely, Matilda roared animalistically, charging up more green fire. Her bestial instincts were at odds with her human nature…and all she could do was fight. It was as if her mind was a prisoner inside her body. She saw another girl with white hair out of her left eye, seeing Lysithea in her right. But the girl she saw in her left eye wasn't holding a hero's relic. She was holding just an ordinary axe. Surrounded by flames…and covered in blood.

Matilda tried to speak again, but couldn't quite muster human speech this time. Only she could hear the words she meant to scream.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!"
DOOOOON'T CRYYYYYYYYYYY!

Her roar was more of a scream of anguish, a final declaration to try and establish her humanity, to reach the girl with the white hair. But, alas, she hadn't the means to break free. Her body and mind were too far gone. Matilda's right arm mutated on the spot and transformed its bone structure to be far more bulkier and used for swiping not crushing. Whatever her human desires were, they were only fueling the rage of her bestial body. It was accurate to say that Matilda did not even know what she was doing.

More of Edelgard's words flooded into Zero's mind. "All I could do was scream and watch the people I loved die."

With one last animalistic howl, Matilda let out a pained roar. This time, it was a cry to the girl she thought Lysithea was. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!" Tears streamed down the monster's face.

With the monster's protections against magic severely weakened from Seraphim and fire, Lysithea poured all of her magic into her next attack.

Zero was already on the move to aid Lysithea, but she needed no assistance. She knew what she was doing.

"Luna…Lambda."

Bolstered to an even stronger and larger version of the spell thanks to the power of Thyrsus, Lysithea's attack caught Matilda's arm first and foremost before it expanded outward, taking the monster's whole upper body, disintegrating it slowly.

Matilda could have fought it. Emphasis on could. But she didn't. In fact, she wasn't even screaming. She was…in her final moments…at peace.

A thought flashed through her mind. A young girl with brown hair, and purple hair ribbons, dressed in black and red, showing her a silly drawing. Matilda was in her own body, a tall woman of about 13 to the young girl's seven. Matilda stood with her beautiful reddish-brown hair and hoisting the little seven-year-old above her head in the garden of her home…of Enbarr.

A final tear exited the monstrous Matilda's eye. She was smiling as her whole body was consumed by the blast. …Thank you for your love, El. …And goodbye. …Be strong…my dear sister. And then…she was no more.

"Anyone know how we're getting up out of here?" Claude questioned, only for the ground to shake. Matilda had done a lot of damage, but she hadn't completely broken the elevator's mechanics.

Zero picked up the locket that had dropped from Matilda's inner neck and then fired a powerful Miasma blast at a part of the wall, revealing an office and a micro laboratory where Odesse was now exposed.

"How did you…?"

Odesse then noticed that the area had stopped glowing. Hard Light Knightmare Frames were now operational. Zero got up there with a thwip of his hard light whip and right into the man's face. He then took out an energy sword.

"Wait…please! All of my research! All of my work! Humanity can evolve! Please…Zero!"

Odesse suddenly found Zero's sword pressed up near his neck. "You turned a proud young princess into a monster! How can you call that evolution?! You disgust me!"

With his plague doctor's hood up, Lelouch could not use his Geass on Odesse. But that's what the energy sword was for, revealing the bald, frightened older man. In a flash of rage, Lelouch losing himself to his emotions, he decked Odesse across the face. He knocked the geezer to the ground and continued to batter him until his nose was bloodied and broken. Months of hand to hand training gave the once frail Lelouch enough strength in his fist to accomplish this much. With his energy sword, he even cut off one of Odesse's arms, but only after stabbing it over half a dozen times.

Panting, and now once again with his mind clear, Zero looked at the damage he'd caused Odesse. More tears running down this man's face. If Zero had the power, he would resurrect the man over and over just to kill him a thousand times. But a quick death was too good for him. Zero had other ideas.

Only now did Zero let loose the slot where his Geass was. "Run back to Thales with a message for me. Tell him the sins of the Insurrection of the Seven will be his undoing. You will answer none of his questions when you return. You will give him no field report. You will simply scream "The Sins of the Insurrection of the Seven will be paid back in full!" and then you will blow your own head off with your own magic.

Odesse had only a moment to feel his body being hijacked and utter the words, "The Power of the King…" before he fell into Zero's trance. Zero then set the area on fire by cutting through a generator with his sword to cover Odesse's planned escape.

"You have your orders, go,"

"Yes, Master Zero," Odesse said, rising to his feet, the trance having him ignore his severed arm, and left the room to get to Thales as soon as possible. Zero watched him go and put his sword away. He then clicked open the locket. Inside, he instantly recognized a seven-year-old girl with brown hair and pigtails, hugging what he believed to be Matilda before she became a monster. Sure, the young girl in the photo's hair was now white, but those ribbons and those eyes were unmistakable.

Edelgard…you should have been here…to see this. Perhaps…perhaps we could have saved her. He closed the locket and clutched it. I'm sorry.

---

It took some doing, but the captives of the Agarthans were slowly being rescued. Claude took the long way around to meet up with Zero in Odesse's micro lab now that the fire had been put out. He found Zero pouring over a file cabinet's worth of notes.

"What's all this?" Claude asked. "Odesse's research? You're not thinking of keeping this stuff, are you?"

"Not all of Odesse's research was about Chimeras and monsters," Zero explained.

"No kidding," Claude stated and picked up a file, only for his head to hurt. "Sheesh, what's this thing written in? Ancient Sumerian?"

"Close. Greek," Zero stated.

"I…bu…" Claude did not know how to openly respond to Zero being completely serious in response to his quip. "You can tell?"

"I'm very adept at linguistics," Zero stated, pouring over the pages.

Hapi and then Lysithea walked into the room.

"Hey, you two. What's up?" Claude asked.

"I came to see how Zero was doing," Hapi stated.

"And since Hilda's busy helping the kids we rescued not feel scared, someone has to keep an eye on you," Lysithea snapped at Claude.

"Well, you made the right call. You two have a history with our shady mage fellows, right? Well, jackpot on finding out more about 'em."

The two mages looked around the damaged office.

"I used to be poked and prodded in a lab like this once. Damn! I wish you'd let me talk to him before you killed him," Hapi grumbled. "I had so many questions for him about that lady he sold me to."

"I…also wanted to know more about my experiments too."

"Well, the good news is, there are a lot of files here. Mostly undamaged. It's in Greek, so I'll need time to translate them. If we take it all back to Abyss for translation purposes only, I'm sure I can get Seteth to agree to let me have access to them," Zero stated. He looked at Hapi. "And among them, I hope to lift your curse."

Hapi blushed. "No…Zero…you don't have to go that far. I mean, it'd be nice if you did, but like…" she chuckled silently to herself. "Aw heck, if you find something in that pile of papers, lemme know, you big softie."

"If…if you find anything mentioning House Ordelia, tell me too," Lysithea requested. "And…thank you, for asking the Deer to come along. I wasn't sure about you until today, but…I've gained a lot of respect for you, Zero. You're a good leader, better than Claude at least."

"Ouch. Unnecessary. I have feelings," Claude quipped, raising his hands and shaking his head.

Lysithea, deciding to take the moral high ground, stated, "That's…not the insult I meant it as. You're not bad Claude. Just really, really annoying."

"Aaaaand, what part of that isn't an insult," Claude responded.

"I believe Lily's trying to say if you weren't joking around all the time that you and Zero aren't that different," Hapi stated.

"I don't see it," Zero cut in, taking a social swipe at Claude.

"Ouch, boxed around from all sides," Claude responded, lowering his head and putting his palm to his forehead.

"We should depart before dawn," Zero stated. "And we'll be back before lunch at Garreg Mach."

"Sounds like a plan, probably'll score a nap on the flight back," Claude said, rolling his shoulders.

"I take it since it's daylight you won't be sticking around for a victory celebration, Zero?" Hapi asked.

"Correct, but that's mostly due to additional obligations, mostly with Seteth so I can talk to him about these files," Zero stated. He started filing everything into a briefcase.

"Lorenz is going to be so mad when he finds out you stole Thyrsus," Lysithea said. "If you had it all along, why did you wait?"

"Okay, first of all, I didn't steal it. I strategically transferred the equipment to an alternate location. Second of all, I waited cause I figured better wait unless we absolutely needed it. It was gonna be our trump card at the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, but now Mr. Mysterious knows about it. But, I thought we might have major trouble, so I brought it just in case," Claude stated, putting his hands behind his head.

"Well, it got the job done," Zero stated. "Now then, let's gather ourselves and head out."

---

It was far later in the day, after dinner and before his evening lecture, when Zero stopped by Seteth's office with all of the files. He'd just given Seteth the general idea on the situation.

"Apologies for not waiting for the church's approval on this, but I had to act covertly," Zero finished with.

"With results such as these, I believe I can overlook it," Seteth replied, arms folded. "And this is everything you found?"

Zero nodded. "If you want to burn some of it, I completely understand, but I thought the church would see value in the research notes of their enemies. Anything you don't want to set on fire, I'll gladly hold onto in Abyss down in the forbidden section."

"I imagine you've read all of this already?"

"Just the titles," Zero answered.

"I see," Seteth responded. "I imagine this will go over well with Lady Rhea. Will that be everything?"

"It will indeed. I must be off," Zero responded and promptly left Seteth's office. He had only given the man the short version of the operation: targeting Odesse, freeing the children, and shutting down the lab. Everything else, especially where Matilda was concerned, was not shared.

Zero headed down to his private office in Abyss where one folder written in Greek sat in a drawer. He pulled it out and read page one. The title? How to Make a Chalice of Beginnings.

With the door locked, Lelouch sat with his mask and helmet off, chuckling to himself, with his feet on his desk as he read, "As if I'd give you everything Seteth. You're still my enemy after all." He then cackled mischievously. "Ahahahahahahahahahaha."

---

Elsewhere in Abyss, Edelgard was having dinner with Hubert and Monica when, much to her surprise, Kronya walked right up to her. Hubert immediately went on high alert. However, Edelgard gestured for him to take it easy. Kronya didn't seem angry or witty or even cheerful. The expression on her face said something else: forlorn and embarrassment.

"Um…Zero wanted me to give this to you," Kronya stated and held out the locket Zero had recovered from Odesse's lab. "He said…you should have it. And that…if you want to talk…he'll listen."

"How peculiar. A gift from Zero?" Hubert responded. "And with you as the delivery girl no less."

"Look, I'm just following orders. I don't need you telling me how to do my job," Kronya said. "Well…bye." She then sped off.

"What's that locket Lady Edelgard?" Monica asked her.

"I haven't the faintest idea. And I have no idea what he meant by…"

Click!

As soon as Edelgard saw the picture, she instantly understood. Hubert and Monica saw a tear run down Edelgard's right cheek. Hubert saw the picture inside and he was completely at a loss for words.

Monica saw it too and became sad and sympathetic. "Lady Edelgard…what does this mean?"

Edelgard got up from the table and turned away from both of her friends. "I'd like to be alone for a little while. Please."

"Lady Edelgard…I…" Hubert reached out to her, but Edelgard took a step just out of reach. She then took two more steps…and then sped off.

"Hubert…what was…?"

"I don't know," Hubert stated. "But…Zero cannot be Matilda von Hresvelg. First of all, he calls himself the man who makes miracles. And while that would be a good cover, Matilda's frame was much sturdier."

"What about Lady Edelgard's brothers? Could it be one of them?" Monica asked.

"No, most of the royal family had identifiable corpses after the twisted experiments performed following the Insurrection of the Seven. Lady Matilda's was one of the few we couldn't recover." Hubert curled and uncurled the fingers in his right hand. "This makes me uneasy. However, Zero said he wished to speak with Lady Edelgard. Much as this is unusual of me, I feel it's best we let the two talk, and ask Lady Edelgard to divulge the information once they've had their meeting."

"You're not gonna spy on them? That's so unlike you," Monica stated, mouth agape.

"Lady Edelgard's personal matters are quite the sensitive subject, even where I am concerned. I know my station, Monica. For now, we wait," Hubert responded, folding his arms. "I just hope everything will be all right."

---

Edelgard went right up to Zero after lecture, talking to him quietly amidst the noise of everyone leaving. "Professor…I…" She parted her collar to show Zero the chain of the locket around her neck.

He instantly understood. "Meet me in my office in about five minutes," he told her.

She did so, waiting patiently for him to arrive. The two stepped in. Zero locked the door. Neither one sat down.

"I…don't even know where to begin," Edelgard stated, holding her head with her hand. "I thought all of my siblings…gone."

"They are gone. What I dealt with early this morning wasn't former Crown Princess Matilda von Hresvelg, just a monster with her memories," Zero stated. "I didn't even know what I was fighting until she started talking."

"She…talked?" Edelgard asked, caught between shocked and so emotional she could cry. "Wh-what did she say? I must know."

"She said…don't cry, El."

Edelgard shut her eyes, gasping on breaths that were trying to turn into sobs. Down the path of complicated emotions it was, it seemed. She thought she'd shed all of her tears years ago, but it seemed that moments like this could still bring her back to a dark, haunted place.

"I won't ask questions," Zero stated. "I can only imagine how much of a shock this comes to you as. But…if you want to talk, I'll listen."

Edelgard strolled forward, gazing at the big map of the world Zero had on the wall above his desk. She didn't feel like crying as she reminisced. "Matilda was…she was like Princess Cornelia. Proud and strong, hardly anything could get in her way. They drugged her up. On the first day of our captivity, she staged a revolt." She turned to look at Zero with disgust on her face as she recalled what happened. "They broke her arm with a sledgehammer."

Edelgard recalled it all. Matilda was always the strong one, always trying to tell everyone else to stay strong. Of course, she was too caught up in nostalgia to vocalize this tidbit to Zero.

"One day, she was dragged out of our shared cell…and I never saw her again." She stared at her shoes and the floor. "Don't take Matty. Don't take Matty away from me." Edelgard spoke the words flatly, recalling the words she spoke back then, but not imitating their inflection. "I pleaded and I kicked and I screamed. I think I even bit one of my captors. I was, for all intents and purposes, throwing a temper tantrum at age fourteen. I could have easily been killed that day, but Matilda stepped in. She gave me one last hug and told me 'Don't cry, El. It'll all be okay.'" Edelgard sighed, staring back up at the map. "But it never was. And it hasn't been…for four long years."

"I sent a message to Thales, the leader of the Agarthans," Zero told her.

"You did what?!" Flame Emperor or no, this shocked Edelgard. Zero rebelling against Thales this soon would be disastrous.

Zero was telling Edelgard these words, unbeknownst to him, at the same time that Thales was staring at the headless corpse of Odesse after the man just finished screaming the words at him.

"I told him that the Sins of the Insurrection of the Seven will be paid back in full!" Zero declared.

"Zero, you don't know the first thing about the Insurrection of the Seven!" Edelgard responded.

"You're right. I don't know much. The Empire has hidden away a lot of the details," Zero told her. "But any Empire that tramples upon the bond between siblings is a transgression so foul, I will see their leadership's blood painting the walls of their homes before I'm satisfied! Thales is a dead man! It's only a matter of time!"

"Yet you keep Kronya around," Edelgard stated.

"Not every Empire's soldier can be measured with the same stick. In fact, where Kronya exists, more may follow. I will kill Thales, just as I have killed Odesse. And when I do, I want you to be at my side this time. You should have been there to witness Matilda's final moments. If I'd know that was going to happen, I would have absolutely invited you," Lelouch told her. "…I regret not being able to save her."

"You needn't apologize," Edelgard said. "I would have cut her down just like any other monster. She wasn't my sister, like you said, just a monster with her memories, twisted by awful experiments." Edelgard lowered her head, looking grateful, but also sorrowful. "She was one of the few Hubert couldn't find the body of when it came time to put down the experiments that ruined my hair and killed my siblings. I always assumed her dead anyway, just a pile of organs unfit to be called human. But this…" she said as she clutched the locket, "This is more precious to me than diamond now. The fact that she was kept alive…in such a miserable state…I…all I can say is…thank you…for putting her out of her misery. I hope she will rest easy."

"I'm sure she is," Zero stated, "Her last thoughts were of you, after all."

Edelgard nearly cracked, but she held firm. She nodded, showing Zero a strong look. She then turned to leave. However, before she made it to the door, she turned slightly towards Zero. "You said before you wanted me to be there when it comes time to kill Thales."

"I did, yes."

"Then believe me, I wouldn't miss that for the world," Edelgard told him. "He and I have a score to settle."

"Then I look forward to that day, Lady Edelgard," Zero told her. "Have a peaceful evening."

"I'm more likely to have nightmares after being told all of this," Edelgard admitted with a sigh. She stared at the light fixture in Zero's office, her thoughts drifting towards Byleth. "But…I have a guardian angel watching over me now, so maybe it'll be fine."

"You've been coming to my lectures almost every night these days," Zero said. "So would it be appropriate to say 'see you tomorrow'?"

Edelgard smiled cordially. "Yes, see you tomorrow." She then left Zero's office and made her way out of Abyss. Neither she nor Zero were aware of Kronya watching the two of them leave Abyss from the rafters. Then, from her perch where no one could see her, the assassin closed her eyes in solace…and disappeared into the night.

---

(A/N: I'm not sure if I affected any of you, but I want to point out that I was crying when I started writing the tail end of the fight against Monster Matilda. As soon as she says "Don't…cry…" I did the exact opposite cause I knew where it was all heading before I even finished writing the scene. And to top it all off, I was listening to the Fate/Zero soundtrack Excalibur, because I felt it fit Lysithea's crowning moment with Thyrsus.

Fun fact number two: there's a bit of foreshadowing that Matilda is Edelgard's sibling. They share an eye color, and what weapon was the most effective against her prior to the final series of blows? Axes. El's weapon of choice. And we are not done with the Roller Coaster, ladies and gentleman. Next chapter, a certain white-haired douchebag makes his L debut.

But Draconic, I hear you say, Shirley's dad isn't dead. And to that I respond, you are absolutely correct. So…how do you like the food?)

SPECIAL THANKS to my Patrons ShawnH and Wizard Aro for their contributions. And if you'd like to become a member, I charge the low, low price of only a dollar just to sign up. I don't offer much, but if you'd like to see content coming—and swiftly—consider subscribing/donating. And I'll see all of YOU next time!