(I do not own Code Geass. It and it's characters belongs to Sunrise and its production team. This is solely a not-for-profit fan activity, and in no way intends to infringe on copyrights held by Sunrise.)

Turn 9: Refrain

Lelouch couldn't sleep well. In fact, this has been a frequent occurrence ever he agreed to that cursed god when he was on the verge of dying, forever having nightmares haunting him of what he had done.

"I am not too sure about accepting such a contract yet though, after what the last contract did to me as a person, forcing me to commit terrible deeds for a disgusting purpose," said Lelouch.

"Why not?" asked another voice. "Why think about things such as morality when you're about to die? You could gain more power as a result of this contract, and use the power to survive, to live on. Isn't that what your goal is? Accept this contract and be done with it!"

"I'm not too sure though...I mean look at the last contract i agreed to it. It condemned me to a life of forced choices, choices which I did not choose to take, but is what I agreed to do in order to live. To die now would free me from this contract." said Lelouch absently.

"DO IT NOW. YOU WILL AGREE TO THIS CONTRACT NOW." boomed the other voice, which quickly faded away as soon as dream began, shifting to another.

"I NEED THE REMAINING DESCENDANTS OF ARTHUR LAMORAQUE ALIVE. WHY ARE YOU KILLING THEM OFF?!"

"No! I was just removing any potential obstacles in your path to gain control of the third without anyone suspecting anything!" screamed Zero, clutching at his head in pain.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE NOW MY PAWN! REMEMBER, WHO SAVED YOU BACK WHEN JAPAN WAS INVADED?!"

"Yes, my Lord! Just please, relieve me of this pain!"

"REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE MY SUBORDINATE." boomed the voice as it slowly faded away, along with Zero's splitting pains inside his head.

"Sayonara...my dear sister." whispered Zero. "Plasma Stakes, ready."

"AH!" screamed Zero as head began to throb again, with greater intensity than before.

"I'M CLEAR OF YOUR INTENTIONS. EXPERIENCE THE PUNISHMENT FOR DISOBEDIENCE!" thundered the voice as horrifying memories flew past Lelouch's head. His mother's dead body in the middle of the entrance hall of Aries Villa, with his sister Nunnally quivering underneath it. His own investigation into his mother's death which forced him to confront the cold hard truth that he had been lied to, that the world is not a nice place that he envisioned to be, that one of his own family members murdered his mother. His subsequent confrontation with his father, and eventually getting used as a token piece in exchange for peace, that he was not valued as a living person, just another chess piece to be used and sacrificed.

"ARRGGGGGHHHHHH!" screamed Lelouch, as all of his unpleasant memories began to surface. "Stop please!"

The bombardment of the memories subsided. However, it was only the beginning. Various people began appearing, people that he had known personally.

"I was right all along that the son of Marianne is a weakling, wearing a mask to become someone else, abandoning his own identity and associating with people of similar calibre. That is what a coward would do." said the Emperor, suddenly appearing in front of Lelouch.

"No, I'm not a weakling! I have the power to trump you!" denied Lelouch.

"So the little son of the Britannian royalty can geass people, am I wrong to say that?" asked Ohgi, his face stern, changed from the face of the Emperor. "You can command others to do whatever you want, am I right? Did you order us to follow you too?"

"No, I did not! You chose to follow me of your own accord, with what I've done!" shouted back Lelouch.

"Brother, your abilities are evil. You're violating people and robbing them of their own human dignity." said Nunnally, changing forms. "You're saying that all of this is for my sake, but what you're really doing is satisfying your own need for revenge, just like that incorporeal voice in your head."

"NOOOOOOO! IT IS NOT!" screamed Lelouch, suddenly awake from his nightmare, with cold sweat staining his sleepwear. How can I break free from the chains he has placed on me?

(Two weeks after the unveiling of the Black Knights)

The past few days have taken a toll on Kallen, as she lay on her bed trying to sleep to the soothing sound of the radio. It was tough living a double life, student by day, rebel by night. Immediately after the unveiling of the Black Knights, Zero had them start small, raiding warehouses holding banned goods, undeclared imports, and smuggled items by night. It was okay for the others, as they mostly had nothing to do in the day, as they couldn't get any jobs in the settlement, as per Area 11 rules, but it was hard for Kallen as she had to keep up with all of her classes while being the Black Knights' top Knightmare ace. Suddenly, the song that the radio was playing ended, in which the radio talk host begun reading out the news.

"It looks like they've finally begun to clean up things at the Lake Kawaguchi Hotel. It's been over two weeks since Zero announced the existence of the Black Knights and yet they still have yet to find any information about them." announced the radio talk show host.

"Didn't the army track their escape route?" asked his partner.

"After the release of hostages, they escaped using a rail line on the opposite shore, disappearing in the large underground train network system."

"Crash!" a loud crash could be heard from outside Kallen's room, jolting her awake. Quickly putting on a bathrobe, she opened the door to see what the commotion was all about. Out in the hallway was the person that Kallen had mixed feelings for. Her birth mother Beside her birth mother was a ladder with broken rung that had fallen on its side, along with a chandelier that had fallen from the ceiling and crashed to the ground. Quickly putting two and two together, Kallen deduced that her mother was trying to clean the chandelier, only for the rung on the ladder to break and cause her mother to lose her balance and bringing down the chandelier as well.

Shocked at what has happened, her mother did not notice Kallen's presence initially. When she picked herself up, she spotted Kallen by the entrance of her room.

"Kallen...I mean, young mistress. Forgive me for waking you."

"You fell from the ladder again?"

"I'm sorry. This time, it was the step ladder that broke."

"Clean it up at once!" ordered Kallen. "I will have to leave for school soon!"

"You've been attending school a lot lately, young mistress. Have you made any friends there?" asked her mother.

"That's hardly any of your own business!" retorted Kallen, retreating back into her room and slamming the door shut.

"Just go away...please!" muttered Kallen under her breath, ashamed of what lowly depths her mother had sank to.

(Yesterday…)

The warehouses just situated at the edge of the Tokyo Settlement had finally quieted down, after hours of noisy traffic of trucks moving goods in and out had died down. The day business had ended, but the night business was just starting. Hidden out in one of the warehouses was one such particular deal where illegal goods were being traded.

"I know it's welfare, but it seems to be waste to be giving this to the Elevens." remarked a businessman casually.

"Which is why I'm selling them to you, right?" answered the seller.

"Who cares anyway? It'll be better cut down the Eleven population with this."

"I'll transfer the payment to your wife's account as usual."

"It's a good thing that Zero appeared, all efforts in the administration is now focused on catching him and his so called Black Knights that no one is going to bat an eyelid at us."

Suddenly, the lights in the warehouse turned off, engulfing the warehouse in total darkness, which was then followed by shots of gunfire. The two businessmen immediately crouched down, fearing that something has happened. One was shouting, "The emergency lights! Turn on the emergency lights!"

"What's going on?!" shouted the other as he turned on the emergency lights. Standing in the catwalk were the Black Knights.

"Y-you're!" the businessmen were shocked.

"The Black Knights!" shouted Kallen as she abruptly stood up in a daze, only to realise that she had been daydreaming yesterday's raid in class, but it was too late. Some of her classmates started laughing at her sleeping in class.

"Kallen, I know you are sick most of the time, but please pay more attention in the limited amount of time that you're in class." chided Miss Danielle.

"I'm sorry about it ma'am, it won't happen again!" promised Kallen as she sat back down.

(During lunch break...)

"Kallen, it's not like you to sleep in class like that!" remarked Shirley as she munched on her sandwich.

"Well, you know..." began Kallen, as she desperately tried thinking of an excuse.

"Why not take some lessons from Lelouch? He is the master of sleeping in class." suggested Rivalz, gesturing at Lelouch, who was sleeping with one of his hands holding up his head, making it seem like he wasn't sleeping.

"Lelouch is asleep right now?" Right, Lelouch. I need to ask him something without revealing my hand, lest my suspicions turn out to be false.

"Yep. He sleeps whenever the class is too boring, or when he stayed up late the night before, though nowadays he's been sleeping in nearly half of his classes. I wonder what's he up to."

"Stop!" screamed Lelouch, suddenly being jarred awake, before realising that he was safely in class, with everyone staring at him.

"Apologies for disturbing everyone. I'm currently feeling a bit under the weather at the moment. Forgive me." said Lelouch as he exited the classroom.

(Meanwhile...)

"Cornelia, our forces in Europe really need your support." said Prince Schneizel over video conferencing. "The EU's starting a renewed offensive along the El Alamein, and our current forces stationed there are unable to hold the line with their current strength, while the majority of our forces have been stuck in combat with Narva, with the W-0 unit. With your genius abilities, we could easily hold the ground against them."

"I heard you, Prime Minister, but I stand firm on my decision to turn down your request, as Area 11 is in need of critical need for peace and stability, mostly as a result of the famed terrorist Zero and his Black Knights. I want to solidify domestic affairs and then promote this place as a model Area. For that, wiping out terrorist organisations is a priority, along with the curbing the rampant use of drugs. I wish to stay to resolve these local issues before I'm willing to move anywhere else."

"Hmm...okay then. May Area 11 prosper in your care, Cornelia." replied Prince Schneizel curtly before cutting the connection. Cornelia sank into her chair, exhausted by the tense interaction with Schneizel. Schneizel is definitely not happy that I'm staying put here in Area 11. But I will not go away, not until I have brought Zero to justice personally.

A knock on the door soon broke Cornelia's thoughts. "State your name and purpose." called out Cornelia.

"Sister, do you always have to be this formal?" came a soft-spoken voice that Cornelia immediately recognised to be Euphemia's.

"Oh, Euphy. Come on in, and take a seat." Cornelia immediately softened up. She was previously mad at Euphy for disobeying her orders to stay inside the Viceroy's palace, but seeing the trauma her sister had to endure at the hotel hijacking moved her to treat Euphy with gentle care. "You want to talk to me about something?"

"Sister, about the Black Knights, what are you going to do about them?" asked Euphemia.

"They killed our mother, I'll never forgive them for that! However, I'm currently hearing reports of them weeding out people who abuse their powers. For that, I'll let them swim a while longer. I owe them that much for saving you. But Zero will still have to face justice for the murder of our mother." said Cornelia harshly, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes sister, I got you. This is the part where I keep wondering. Why would Zero decide to attempt to kill you when he spared Clovis? It doesn't just make any sense." asked Euphemia.

"Zero said something about my family heritage or bloodline something like that." replied Cornelia. "But our mother was a commoner like her parents before her, I don't see what is wrong...although he did mention a name. Arthur Lamoraque, I think. It may be worth checking it up what's his history." Cornelia logged onto her desktop computer's internet and typed the search words "Arthur Lamoraque" into the Google search engine. Almost immediately, the search returned some results, but were all what does the name Arthur Lamoraque mean.

"Looks like there's a single entry on him." said Cornelia.

At the same time, Cornelia's search triggered an alarm.

"My Lord, someone has been searching for Arthur Lamoraque." reported an monitor. "The IP address is scrambled, using military grade encryption. But that's no problem for us."

"Who in the right mind would be searching for an ancient disgraced exile?" said a man with long purple hair that covered one of his eyes. "Anyway, whose encryption are they using? Chinese Federation? EU?"

"My Lord, therein lies the problem. It's neither Chinese Federation nor the EU. It's ours. More specifically, the search came from the Viceroy Palace in Area 11."

"Cornelia's territory? I see. Keep monitoring the situation. I want every single action recorded. We cannot have any more leaks of information ever since Lady Marianne went rogue. Grandmaster V.V. will not tolerate it."

"Yes My Lord."

Back in Cornelia's office, Cornelia and Euphemia read the single entry, listed on Eolas, the top free-content internet encyclopedia.

"Arthur von Lamoraque, a historical ghost of whom have great influence on the founding of our nation but all known records of him were wiped out, apart from his early history. A renowned hunter and warrior, he was one of the five great generals that led the victory in defending the British Isles from the Roman Empire alongside future Celtic super-king Alwin I. Born in Carlisle, the capital of Cumbria, or North Lancashire as it is called today, a chance encounter with Aldwin I of the neighbouring Brigantes made them fast friends, as they frequently hunted together and shared their spoils equally amongst each other. Eventually, when Alwin rose up against Emperor Claudius, the then ruler of the Roman Empire by then, he stood by the king's side as one of his generals. They even married each other's sisters, thus making Arthur royalty by marriage." narrated Cornelia as she read the words displayed on the screen. If he was part of royalty, then why did mother began her life as a commoner?

"However, soon after Alwin had been crowned as Celtic super-king for driving out the Romans, on Alwin's quest to Scotland to slay the Great Destroyer, one of the three Vile Levis, a large rift drove apart the two best friends. It was unclear what was it that caused the rift, but things were never the same anymore. The two friends constantly fought, be it on ruling policy, or private matters. This continued until Arthur was eventually exiled from the Celtic government for treason. Soon after, Arthur Lamoraque was never heard of again and all traces of his existence were decreed to be wiped out on the orders of Alwin. No one ever saw or heard about him ever again, becoming a myth." said Cornelia. "So what about Arthur that Zero alluded to, that we are cursed? Furthermore, are even related to him in the first place?"

Suddenly, a pop-up window appeared, displaying the message: 'Do you wish to find out?', with the yes and no buttons below.

"I thought I turned on pop-up blocker? Why did this show up?" wondered Cornelia. "Anyway let's see where this goes."

Upon clicking yes, two PDF files was downloaded. Cornelia opened the first file to see what it contained. What she saw surprised her and Euphemia.

The file was a chart of names, and not just any names. It was the family chart of her entire family from Arthur Lamoraque all the way down to her and Euphemia's generation, with all the names included, reproduced with startling accuracy, that Cornelia could only conclude the information was reliable.

"Oh my god." mouthed Euphemia. "It's true after all."

"Let me see what's in the second file."

The second PDF file, initially wasn't much at first. It was someone's journal scanned into a PDF format, but the writing and the yellowed pages obviously showed that it was very old indeed. Closely reading the document made Cornelia realise that the document was in fact, a scanned version of Arthur's journal. The journal detailed how they slew the Great Destroyer and the aftermath. What drew Euphemia's attention was the line writing about how one of his descendants have been cursed to become the Great Destroyer's sacrifice while the rest will be subjugated into his service when the red sun attempts to rise from the ashes.

"Sister, look! At this line where it says, 'The Great Destroyer has been destroyed…', his bloodline will be cursed to serve him in future." exclaimed Euphemia.

"I see. So what? An evil ancient monster will come and force us to serve him? I dismiss that ridiculous claim. We're living in the 21st Century, not the ancient times." explained Cornelia. "I'm sure with our technology, we can beat him. Come on, he was beaten by two young men last time. A full platoon of Knightmare frames would destroy him in an instant."

"Maybe, but you won't know what it can do. Anyway, what does all this have to relate to Zero?" asked Euphemia.

"I don't know, but I intend to capture and interrogate him." said Cornelia. "Then he can face the music for all he has done. Anyway, I need to get back to work. Mac!"

"Yes Your Highness?" answered one of the guards standing outside, marching swiftly into Cornelia's office.

"Mac, see her out will you? And see to it that I'm not to be disturbed unless it's an emergency for the next 3 hours."

"Yes Your Highness! It will be done. Princess Euphemia, I'll be escorting you out."

Now, time to review on what happened in Saitama and make sure these mistakes are not to be repeated in our next encounter, thought Cornelia as she walked towards the curtains and closed them shut so that she could work away from any prying eyes.

(At the same time, somewhere unknown…)

"Hmm..I see." remarked the purple-haired man. "Save a copy of the downloaded file and when there's another transmission like this again, trace to find out where they are sending such classified information from."

"Yes My Lord. Could it have been Lady Marianne?"

"Might be, but we need to keep our minds open, for it could be anyone."

"Yes My Lord."

"Man…living a double life sure is tough though," muttered Kallen as she stumbled into the student council meeting room, yawning from the lack of sleep.

"Come on Suzaku!"came a voice. "Hold him down will you!"

"Oi Suzaku! Cut it out already!" retorted Lelouch. "Stop it! I demand that you stop!"

"Sorry Lelouch, but this is the president's orders." replied Suzaku.

"Yeah, as if you're not enjoying this as well. Your face betrayed you. You're laughing at me!" exclaimed Lelouch, was tied to chair while Shirley, Rivalz, Suzaku and Milly, all dressed up in strange animal costumes, tried to apply makeup to him. "Quit struggling Lelouch!" said Shirley, in an attempt to persuade him to stop struggling.

"Good afternoon, meow!" Milly greeted Kallen upon noticing her presence.

"Afternoon...but what's all this?" asked Kallen.

"Didn't we mention this before, that due to the upcoming midterms, we're handing out welfare packs to each and every student to encourage them to work hard before we finally hand our positions over to our juniors." explained Rivalz.

"I see. I must have forgotten about it."

"We've gotten one suit ready for you as well!" chirped Shirley, pointing towards the rack, which hung a few animal costumes. "It's right over there! Don't you worry about the size though, it is quite spacious inside, sos it should be okay."

"Wait what?! I'm changing into one of those costumes as well?!"

"Kallen doesn't need one," remarked Lelouch. "You're wearing a mask already, aren't you?"

What? wondered Kallen, Can he actually see through me? Calm down Kallen, I'm sure he's trying to get on my nerves, this has to be some stupid comment of his.

"Yeah, and you're a riot. Why don't you go on television then? I'd bet you'd be extremely popular." retorted Kallen.

"What do you think, Ms. TV star?" asked Rivalz, turning to Shirley.

"Would you quit joking about that?! It's been a huge pain in the ass since all that!" complained Shirley. "We get followed day and night with people trying ask us questions. Even in the bath as well! We haven't been able to leave school for a week already!"

"Not that I feel for you, but I don't see why that means we can't leave school either!" lamented Rivalz.

"Hmpf! That's the price of friendship that we all have to pay!" explained Milly. " 'We ask not the same day of birth, but the same day of death together.' From 'The Romance of the Three Kingdoms'."

"Is that you're idea of a proposal?"

"It's me saying that we all share the suffering."

"Man, she's mean!" muttered Rivalz, "Don't you think so Suzaku?"

"No, I'm just glad that we could be together like this." said Suzaku, with tears welling up.

"What's wrong with you? This place is supposed to be for us to unwind and relax, you know!" said Rivalz, grabbing Suzaku with an arm choke and playfully pinned him to the ground, which others laughed at the sight of Suzaku pinned on the ground in an awkward position.

"But still, that's what we like about Suzaku though." remarked Shirley.

"Yeah, although sometimes he can be a bit dense at times like this." agreed Milly.

Kallen, still standing at the entrance of the meeting room, thought to herself, That's right, I managed to save lives. Ever since our spectacular introduction at the hoteljacking, the Black Knights have taken the world by storm. Just as Zero said in his proclamation, the Black Knights have proven to be allies of the weak, attacking terrorists who get civilians involved, soldiers who abuse their authority and position, and even corrupt politicians. Greedy corporations and criminal syndicates who take advantage of the people are also targeted as well. Any form of evil that wasn't judged by the law was punished by us. In the blink of an eye, we'd become heroes in the eyes of the public. Our supporters grew in size and funding and supplies were given to us through anonymous donations. Our organisation grew day by day, with more and more people joining our ranks. Of course, this wasn't something people admitted to publicly, as our leader was the one who killed Empress Victoria. No one in the Black Knights understood why he had killed her, seeing that she was one of the very few royals that cared about Numbers, as the one who led the implementation of the 'Honorary Britannian' system. Also, many comrades in our organisation wished to know who he really is, myself included. But I have a feeling that if we pressed him on this issue, he'd disappear. And without him, I don't think we stand a chance against the Britannians...I mean, we were almost nothing before he took over. Our supplies were running short, we were losing people to desertion and carelessness, and our morale was at the lowest when Naoto got killed.

"Kallen watch out!" shouted Tamaki, slamming Kallen's Sutherland out of the way, breaking Kallen train of thought. A rocket flew by both their Sutherlands, slamming into the wall behind them.

"Tch. In a closed environment like this, they still are willing to use bazookas?" muttered Kallen.

"I guess they're getting desperate, seeing as to how we're systematically shutting down their entire business." remarked Tamaki, swiftly taking out one of the enemy Knightmares with a shot from an OTO Melara 57mm shotgun. "The balance on this was so good, that I somehow feel like I'm playing a shooter game on easy!"

"Good thing Zero is able to procure some top-notch Knightmare weaponry, otherwise I think we're a goner already." replied Kallen, throwing GCS's M1108 anti-tank dagger into one of the enemy Knightmares, which exploded shortly after it embedded deep into the Knightmare armour, taking out the surrounding Knightmares in the explosion. "I wonder where he got them from?"

"I wonder about that too, but I don't think it's wise to ask him about where he got it from." said Sugiyama, sniping the last remaining Knightmare that tried to flee with his BAE Systems 57mm sniper rifle. "Though I heard he got it from a sympathizer with the Empire."

"We surrender!" announced one of the remaining men, with all of the remaining men dropping their weapons and raised their hands in surrender.

"Good job my Knightmare Corps. My infanteers, detain them!" announced Zero over the radio, broadcasting to everyone over a speaker. Swiftly, the Black Knights' Alpha Infantry Squad rushed forward, with them bearing their brand new rifles which were looted from a supply train meant for the White Warriors, a PMC set up by Clovis la Britannia as a front to constantly supply the Black Knights with the best weapons from Britannia, including some prototype Knightmare weapons.

Despite getting the best weapons, the Black Knights were far from a proper fighting force, only getting by relying on their leader's plans. As they soon found out that their individual fighting skills were not up to par, when the mafia decided to change their mind and hit the foot soldiers with everything they got.

"Knightmare Corps, support the infanteers with suppressive fire! Use only the 25mm anti-personnel machine gun to engage the targets!" shouted a frantic Zero over the possibility of sustaining heavy losses, having been caught by surprise by the ferocity in which the mafia struck back despite being cornered.

"Roger." Kallen, Sugiyama, Tamaki instantly acknowledged and began to lay suppressive fire for the infantry. The tide of the battle soon turned to their side and with the last mafia member down dead, could the Black Knights finally relax. They had won, but at what cost? A total of 7 lives were lost out of a total of the 16 men squad.

(Hours later...)

"What the hell did you think you're doing?!" shouted Tamaki, slamming his fist at the wall. "Lives were lost tonight in what is supposed to be an easy operation! We still haven't forgotten what you did in our last campaign to help the Yamato Alliance. Sure, we saved them, but a lot of good soldiers were lost in your vendetta against the Viceroy and her mother!"

"Stop it Tamaki. You shouting about our losses today won't get us anywhere." said Ohgi, who was leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "You understand that the moment we decided to form the resistance is the moment when we decided some of us will have to die right? Or do you think we will defeat Britannia with no losses to our side."

"But-" retorted Tamaki.

"Enough! Shinichiro Tamaki," said Zero. "You're absolutely right that I'm responsible for the lives that were lost today. However, we need to move on and see how we can improve to reduce the lives lost. Tonight clearly demonstrates that we have a lack of proper training for our members. I'll try to see if I can rectify the problem.

"Okay, I understand." acknowledged Tamaki, stomped off towards the door.

"Oh and one more thing Tamaki," began Zero.

Tamaki turned his head towards Zero. "What is it now?"

"Thank you for your honest feedback, I appreciate it."

(The next day morning…)

"Brother, I hardly see you at home nowadays. Where have you been?" asked Nunnally when Lelouch trudged in the front door.

"I'm sorry for not being at home accompanying you, Nunnally. It's just that I need to submit my proposal for my final year project this week. You know, the one about my research into the process of annihilation."

"I see. Well...keep up the good work you're putting in!"

"Thank you for your encouragement, Nunnally."

(Elsewhere, in the council meeting room...)

"Are you alright?" Nina recalled what Princess Euphemia said to her during the hotel-jacking, as she worked hard on her own final-year project regarding the interactions between Uranium 235 and Sakuradite. The first person who cared about my own existence. Not even my parents cared about me in such a self-sacrificial way, always busy at work, preferring to leave me alone or in the care of babysitters. Princess Euphemia...

(Deep inside the Narita Mountains…)

""I don't get it, why are the masses helping those who saved Princess Euphemia?" complained Kosetsu Urabe.

"Even Kyoto are backing them by sending in Knightmares and the Guren Mk II." mentioned Ryoga Senba.

"To those wannabe Robin Hoods?" scoffed Shogo Asahina.

"They're not even part of the resistance! Their killing of Lt. Colonel Kusakabe was a clear signal of their actions!" argued Nagisa Chiba. "We cannot let things stand as they are now."

"Hmm…" murmured Kyoshiro Todoh, deep in thought.

(Later in the day...)

"Mistress Kallen! Mistress Kallen!" came her birth mother's voice. What is it this time? thought Kallen as she stepped out of her room. "You have a visitor waiting for you at the door!"

"Ms President?" asked Kallen, surprised at the sudden visit of the council president.

"I just wanted to give you something." replied Milly.

"Where should I show her to mistress? The parlor, or perhaps the-" said her birth mother.

"To my room."

"As you wish."

"Oh. When I heard that you have a visitor, I was certain it would be a boy." came a condescending voice that Kallen knew all too well. Her step-mother, or her 'real' mother, as listed on her birth certificate. "Out all night and missing school, you're lucky your father is in the homeland. I mean, there's no fighting one's blood after all, am I right?"

"You're the one that is enjoying dad's absence, aren't you?! Seeking all the young men to accompany you all because father lost interest in you, am I right?"

"You wench. H-how did you...why you-" cursed Mrs Stadfeld.

"Crash!" as something broke behind Kallen's back. She turned around and witnessed her mother sprawled on the floor and picking the pieces of the broken vase that had fallen over.

"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry about it Mistress!" said Kallen's birth mother.

"What is wrong with you?!" shouted Mrs Stadtfeld, angry over the breaking of household furniture.

"Forgive my Mistress! Forgive me!" said Kallen's birth mother.

"Honestly, you're so useless! The only thing you're good at is selling your own body!" berated Mrs Stadtfeld as Kallen looked on the unfair treatment of her birth mother but unable to do anything.

(A while later, in Kallen's room…)

"Quite a complicated home life you have there." commented Milly.

"What is it you wanted to give me?" said Kallen, cutting immediately to the chase.

"Oh, my grandfather asked me to give you this." said Milly, taking out a large A4 size envelope with the school's logo branded on it.

"The school principal?" wondered Kallen, surprised.

"Your school transcripts since middle school." replied Milly. "I thought it's best not to give them to you at school, in the presence of prying eyes."

"You knew then, about my secret, do you?" asked Kallen. "That I'm a Britannian-Eleven half breed."

"Unfortunately yes."

"The Britannian woman you saw earlier was my stepmother. She couldn't bear children, so my father decided to seek out other women. However, they were unable to divorce due to financial reasons, which is why they live separated now. My real mother was that idiot maid that knocked over the vase." explained Kallen.

"Ah, I see."

"My mother's such a fool. At the end of her quest for love, she is just treated like a servant, a one-night stand that just conveniently produced a heir to be discarded with. She doesn't have any real skills, and no matter how much my mother and the other servants insult her, all she does is quietly laugh along with them like it's nothing." lamented Kallen. "She didn't specifically have to work in this house, did she? All she's doing is clinging onto some old lover!"

"You really hate on your mother, don't you?" asked Milly.

"She just depresses me. I mean, how can she take all of the abuse like its nothing and do nothing about it?"

"My my, how heavy this conversation has turned out to be! Imagine it, the wife, the daughter, and the other woman all living together in the same house." remarked Milly.

"No, it's not like that. We all can have a three square meals and a roof over our heads for free. The situation here isn't that...unbearable, most of the time that is." said Kallen as she poured tea for Milly.

"Still, while some things you can bear the burden of on your own, when you pile all of them up, they will eventually break you. But anyway, rest assured that your secret is safe with me. I know I like to know other people's secrets, but I have no interest in telling anyone else about it." assured Milly as she sipped her tea.

Meanwhile, in the basement, Kallen's birth mother opened a drawer in her room in the basement with shaking hands, and reached for the syringe that she's been using for the past few days. Set me free from this misery...

(A few days later, in the council meeting room...)

"I can't believe you teared up yesterday. How embarrassing!" remarked Lelouch, as he sat reading the newspaper, reading up on what has been reported regarding the Black Knights' moves.

"Call it me being honest. Ow-" replied Suzaku, accidentally cutting himself while cutting cardboard.

"Well...it was a good thing that the Black Knights were there to save them." remarked Lelouch.

"Well...if they wanted to catch criminals, they could have joined up with the police force. Why don't they go and do that?" wondered Suzaku.

"Probably because they don't think that the police can do it. I can see where they're coming from, with the inefficiency of our police force." replied Lelouch.

"The police may not be performing up to standard right now, but they could have at least evoked change from within to improve them for the better." argued Suzaku.

"And in the process of doing so, they get all tangled up with the red tape and bureaucracy. Not to mention that they could be tainted by the culture and ultimately lose sight of what they joined the police force for, instead becoming one of them. Becoming unscrupulous and prejudiced." retorted Lelouch.

"They can only say such things if they at least make the effort to change the system from within!" asserted Suzaku. "As long as they don't, all their talk is just self-righteous posturing!"

"Oh, you think that they could even get in the first place? Mind you, the majority of the Black Knights were previously Japanese resistance fighters. There's no way they would be able to join the police force with that kind of background. You can't even get to become an honorary Britannian, let alone become a police officer." countered Lelouch.

"Even still, it's all self-righteous banter! What constitutes as evil in their eyes?! What kind of moral standards are they using?! It's nothing but one-sided self gratification!" concluded Suzaku.

Lelouch tried to think of a counterargument, but suddenly, the door opened, and Shirley stepped in.

"Oh? Just you two?" ask Shirley. Almost at the same time, Suzaku got out of his seat.

"Well Lelouch, I wish we could continue our conversation, but I've got to go back to the base. See you later. You too Shirley." said Suzaku before he left the room.

"Oh. See you!" said Shirley, while Lelouch stared at the departure of Suzaku with a bored expression. When will he ever learn?

Upon the departure of Suzaku, Shirley turned and faced Lelouch, slowly approaching him, with her hands balled into fists, in a vain attempt to stem her nervousness.

"So Lulu,...I was wondering...if you had the time,...maybe we could go-" began Shirley, but she was being ignored by Lelouch.

"He said he had to go back to the base. 'Go back'...I see now. So that's where you think you belong, Suzaku…" murmured Lelouch.

(Hours later…)

"Refrain?" said Kallen, leaning over the railing overlooking the shops lining the streets.

"Yes. It's a psychotropic drug, aimed at making you feel like you're reliving the past again." explained Ohgi. "We ran by the drug we retrieved from the mafia to our contact at Einstein Laboratories, and he kindly graced us with his report."

"Sounds like it's a hot seller, especially with the Japanese." remarked Kallen.

"Yeah...who doesn't gets nostalgic of the days before Britannia occupied Japan." commented Ohgi. "This stuff is specifically targeted at the Japanese, won't be too surprised if it's the current administration funding all of these efforts. I mean, it's quite powerful. We caught some of our own men taking it as well. Anyway, we can't ignore it. Once we find out where their main operations are, we'll move in."

"We're already getting more and more supplies and I heard more and more people are willing to join us." stated Kallen. "We sure are popular, aren't we?"

"Well, we're the knights of justice fighting injustice after all. I'll contact you once we have the location of their main base of operations. Goodbye." said Ohgi as he hung up.

"Come on, Eleven! Say something!" came a nearby voice that caught Kallen's attention. She turned her head, seeing a couple of Britannian punks surrounding an Eleven kneeling on the floor. One of the punks even had his foot pressed on the shoulder of the Eleven.

"Come on, apologise! I said apologise!" shouted the punk who had his foot on the shoulder of the Eleven as he kicked him. The scene caught everyone's attention but immediately upon witnessing it, they decided not to butt in.

"Bowing and apologising is what you Elevens do best right?" continued the punk.

"Eleven." muttered Kallen, displeased. She decided to approach the punks, but before she could take another step, someone grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Lelouch?" said Kallen, as she saw her classmate.

"There's five of them. You could never win." commented Lelouch.

"So I should just ignore it?" asked Kallen angrily.

"Look carefully at the Eleven they're beating up." replied Lelouch. Kallen turned her head and looked hard at the Eleven being beaten up.

"Suppose we help him win, and if he manages to. Starting tomorrow, he won't be able to sell a single thing tomorrow. He decided on his own to become a slave to the Britannians. That's the price for working in the settlement. A sad reality indeed." explained Lelouch.

"But even so-"retorted Kallen.

"You got a problem over there?" asked one of the punks, who were all tired of beating up the Eleven and seeking new targets. "Feeling sorry for that Eleven?"

"Nah, they want in on the action, don't they?" replied another of the punks.

"Hardly," replied Lelouch. "But you're tired of bullying people now, aren't you?" said Lelouch as he activated his Geass.

"Yeah, I guess bullying others lost its luster. Wanna go to the arcade guys?" asked one of the punks.

"I got no cash!" replied another as they all walked away. Kallen watched in astonishment as the potentially tense situation got quickly defused.

"Easily bored, aren't they?" asked Lelouch.

With the punks gone, Kallen rushed to the Eleven lying sprawled on the ground.

"Are you alright?" asked Kallen. The Eleven sat up and took notice of what Kallen was wearing.

"A Britannian student!" the Eleven was shocked. "Wh-what can I get for you? How about a nice California Dog?"

"Is this your boyfriend?" asked the Eleven, looking at Lelouch, who was staring with disdain at the Eleven. "I'd be glad to get something for him too! I have ice cream too, if you like."

(A while later...)

"In a way, Area 11 is better compared to the old Japan." said Lelouch. "Thanks to it being brought under Britannian rule, it enjoys privileges that were previous impossible. Its defence and economic affairs have stabilised. Elevens can even get full citizenship under the Honorary Britannian system, that is if they follow the right legal procedures and are of the background that is favoured by the Holy Britannian Empire. Beyond that, it's only a matter of pride."

"And?" asked Kallen. "Knowing all of it, what does the great Lelouch Lamperouge think about it? What will do in this situation?"

"Nothing, really. There's nothing that I can really do."

"You know, you are quite smart, but you don't seem to be doing much using them?" remarked Kallen. "Shirley's been sighing all about it, saying how smart you are but never making an effort at anything."

"That's why I don't do anything. I go with the flow as Lelouch Lamperouge, choosing the option that will give me the most benefits out of it, even if others see me as lowly and despicable. That Eleven understands that fact with his identity, he could live a better life as long as he bows his head to the Britannians..."

"Slap!" Kallen's palm smacked Lelouch in the face. "You think you're so damned cool, don't you?! Playing the role of the critic as you view from the side?! I was a fool to expect anything more from you. I honestly thought you're a better man than this!"

"Yes, you're a fool, for not letting me finish talking." argued Lelouch. "Regarding the Eleven's situation earlier, is it ultimately the better? Within a confined way of thinking yes, that Eleven will have his future assured as long as he maintains this attitude. Nevertheless, your simple-minded rehash of the argument that he could only resist or bow to Britannians without consideration a middle way. Could he bow to Britannians by day, and resist Britannians by night without being caught? A very simple solution to that was to wear a mask then, to hide from the fact that he's a resistance member and go to work by day without anyone recognising him. The world is not quite simple always as black and white you know. I wish you consider all factors before making a judgement. Well, thank you for your company today and...goodbye."

"And...whatever I said earlier is not hypothetical, you know." added Lelouch, before walking off. "He's a part of the Black Knights."

"Wait!" shouted Kallen, chasing after Lelouch. "Wh-how did you know that's he's part of them?"

"Well, I screen the people who are signing up to join." replied Lelouch. "That reminds me, aren't you in it as well?" asked Lelouch, with narrowed eyes. "So don't you dare lecture me on not doing anything."

(At the same time, inside Kewell's bar...)

"Sorry to bring up the Orange thing from before, but I need to know this." said Kewell. "So you confirm that you couldn't remember anything from when Suzaku Kururugi was taken from us?"

"Yup." replied Jeremiah as he sipped on his glass of scotch. "But I don't expect you to believe me."

"No, it's just I found it strange, as during the Saitama incident, there were two recon soldiers who encountered the same thing which happened to them. Memory loss." remarked Kewell.

"What?" exclaimed Jeremiah, almost dropping his glass. "Fill me in on the exact details!"

"These two soldiers lost their memories shortly after the battle started, and after a few moments later, they reappeared just outside the command post. Their commanding officer claimed that he was given the virus that wreaked havoc on our systems from the two men, but they denied ever seeing their commanding officer during the whole operation. The only conclusion I could draw from this is that they too suffered from memory loss." recounted Kewell.

"You sure they're not some soldiers that infiltrated their way into the Britannian Army?" asked Jeremiah.

"I'm quite positive. These soldiers were purebred Britannian, with no reason to betray the nation." replied Kewell.

"Then we need to find out how are the terrorists doing this then." said Jeremiah.

(A few nights later, in front of a seemingly empty warehouse...)

"What the hell is Zero thinking, getting us to perform the job of the police?" asked Ishida Byakko, an ex-member of the the Yamato Alliance who joined the Black Knights. "After all his talk about bringing down Britannia?

"I'm sure Zero has a plan. Still, it doesn't feel bad for having people grateful towards us." replied Sugiyama.

"Yeah, I know we're totally heroes on the Internet." acknowledged Ishida.

"There's the signal from Zero!" exclaimed Tamaki over the radio.

"How did he get in?" wondered Ishida.

"Using whatever trick he always uses." answered Sugiyama. "It's best if you don't ask him how he does it."

(Inside the warehouse…)

"You finished packing the stuff for Nagoya?"

"Yes. It's nice and safe inside the settlement already."

Suddenly, the doors to the warehouse exploded as a result of a breaching charge. Knightmares painted black with light grey accents rushed in, followed by infantry troops.

"The Black Knights are here!" shouted Tamaki with the in-built speakers on his Knightmare, as he began to gun down the people who are involved in the operation with his anti-personnel machine gun.

"Intruders! Intruders!" shouted the retreating members of the mafia as they retreated to their arms lockers. Some of the mafia had already retrieved their arms and begun firing back. However, their efforts were immediately suppressed by the anti-personnel machine guns on the Knightmare.

"Ah! Knightmare!" shouted one of the mafia members.

"Screw this!" said another, backing off and running.

The three Knightmares swiftly dived deep inside the warehouse, quickly taking care of any remaining resistance before the ordinary troops moved in, as part of Zero's temporary plan to compensate for his troops lack of abilities.

"What did Zero do to these Sutherlands," said Kallen, in one of the modified Sutherlands. "The balance and agility of these Sutherlands is almost like a human being's movements, just like...that white Knightmare." Did he get the control program from them?

In front of Kallen's Sutherland, the shutter of the warehouse closed shut, but Kallen didn't care, crashing straight through it, tearing a hole in the shutter like it was paper. Inside the inner warehouse was dark, so in response, Kallen turned on the night vision. The Factsphere of the Sutherland emerged, scanning the surroundings.

"Japan! Japan!" came a voice that caught Kallen's attention. She checked the side of the screen and was immediately horrified. Japanese were everywhere, all apparently high on Refrain, reminiscing the past like it is some bad joke.

"Yes! I'm getting married next month!"

"I'm getting promoted! Finally, I'm posted to the Paris office!"

"You'll go with me to see the fireworks next week, won't you?"

"Leave everything to us! Our technology is the best in the world!"

"Refrain," muttered Kallen, disgusted by what the drug could do.

"I'm all set! I'm studying abroad!"

When you pile all of them up, they will eventually break you. thought back Kallen as she remembered what Milly told her.

"That's right, which is why I'm-" muttered Kallen, before another voice was caught by the external auditory sensors.

"Careful! It's dangerous to run like that!" the Factsphere caught a familiar voice that Kallen knew very well, but didn't expect her to be at such a place. Kallen scanned her surroundings, catching a glimpse of her mother appear on the screen.

"Mother?!"

Suddenly, Kallen's mother tripped, and Kallen instinctively guided her Knightmare's hands to catch her.

"Naoto, really! You have to keep an eye on Kallen!"

Kallen cringed at what her mother said, after knowing that her mother is a drug addict.

"How weak of a woman are you?!" muttered Kallen, as she tried to hold back her emotions. "You gave in to the Britannians, to a man, and now to drugs?! Brother's gone! Just stop all of this!"

Suddenly, the screens inside the cockpit flashed white, as the Factsphere was overloaded with a flash bang. Moments later, the Sutherland's right arm joint exploded, after a quick burst from the 40mm Britannian standard issue Knightmare rifle.

Surprised by the sudden gunfire, Kallen turned her Knightmare in response to see who's been firing on her. Knight Police?!

Kallen quickly shifted her Knightmare to find some cover, with the Knight Police giving chase. Meanwhile, Zero led the normal troops into the inner warehouse.

"Isn't that a police unit?" wondered Ohgi, taking note of the unique markings and the colour scheme of the Knightmare.

"They're working with the police?! Tamaki, back Kallen up!" shouted Sugiyama into the radio.

"Roger!" Tamaki's Knightmare started chasing the enemy Knightmare.

Zero stood there, his face expressionless, but underneath the mask his emotions boiled. Corrupted filth!

Kallen's Knightmare was frantically dodging the rounds being fired at it while carrying the comatose body of her mother, who had passed out from the use of Refrain. A few shots chinked at its armour, but none hit the joints. Upon reaching the end of the aisle, Kallen deftly turned the Knightmare around, using her anti-personnel machine gun to fire back at the enemy. The machine gun wasn't designed to penetrate Knightmare armour, but did its job at providing suppressive fire, as the enemy Knightmare stopped firing and made attempts to dodge while Kallen's Knightmare moved to the next aisle. Behind was Tamaki, who wasn't much help either, as he was scared of hitting Kallen's Knightmare.

However, upon realising the rounds were too small to penetrate the Knightmare, the enemy raised its rifle began firing on Kallen's Knightmare before it was able to move to the next aisle. A few shots hit the waist and penetrated the armour, where the energy filler and Yggdrasil drive is located.

Kallen wanted to fire back, but with her remaining arm occupied by her mother, she was unable to. She then hastily made a decision. "You're in the way!" shouted Kallen as she moved to throw her mother aside. But at the last moment, she hesitated.

"Damn it! I don't want you, but why I can't leave you?!" screamed Kallen as she agonised over her sudden hesitation. "I don't want you, but!"

At that very moment, the Knightmare's left knee joint was destroyed by the enemy Knightmare, causing Kallen's Knightmare to crash to the ground. However, the enemy was soon dealt with, with a blast from the shotgun held by Tamaki's Knightmare. The Knight Police collapsed immediately, with its cockpit penetrated full of holes.

Meanwhile, Kallen's mother awoke, standing up faced Kallen's Knightmare. "Kallen, I'm always here for you, like I always have been." That's why...that's why you stayed working in the house?! For me?! You fool! No...the real fool was me.

"Kallen! Are you alright? Kallen!" came Ohgi's voice over the radio.

"I'm alright Ohgi." Kallen choked out the words, unable to hold back her tears, her guilty conscience for treating her mother that way without understanding her intentions. The world is not quite simple always as black and white you know. Kallen remembered earlier what Lelouch said about her habit of looking at things superficially.

"Damn, I hate to admit it, but he was right." admitted Kallen. Meanwhile, Kallen's mother kept rambling on and on.

"I'm so happy for you, Kallen. You can be a Britannian now. Now no one will ever hurt you. You're even free to travel anywhere and do many things." Zero kept quiet, watching Kallen's mother ramble. That was...her mother?

C.C., who stood watching the whole proceedings, thought to herself, False tears bring pain to others. A false smile only brings pain to yourself.

(A few days later...)

"It's an aftereffect of the drug. She can't talk much right now. However, she'll recover eventually given the time." explained the nurse.

"Mother, you got 20 years for drug abuse." said Kallen as she tried to hold back all of her emotions. "Just you wait, I'm working to change things for the better when you come back! I'll make a world where you and I can live normally without any form of prejudice!"

(Inside Lelouch's bedroom...)

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" greeted Clovis's voice.

"Ragnarok."

"Oh. Good afternoon Lelouch, how may I help you? And how did you find my gifts to you? Those weapons didn't come very easily you know."

"They worked brilliantly. I just want an update on how's Knightmare research development going in Britannia."

"Well...research into eighth generation Knightmare frame is well underway. The conglomerate Steiner Konzern are currently developing the transformable flight-capable test prototype Bradford, the traditional weapons company Macmillan Industries are developing the test prototype heavy artillery unit Zetland. Come to think of it, Bradford's first flight is scheduled for today. Once I get my hands on their research data, I'll send them to you."

"I see. Thank you. And thank you for the much needed supplies."

"No problem. I only wished to help my brother out. Goodbye."

"Bye." said Lelouch as he hung up the phone.

"No matter how I look at it, it still looks like an angry son trying to get back his father for neglecting him." remarked C.C. as she laid on his bed with a slice of pizza in one hand.

"You're not totally wrong, but you're not totally correct either. There's a third party driving this." replied Lelouch. "One not of this world."

"Oh. You mean the disembodied god who now speaks whenever he wants to inside your head?" revealed C.C., which elicited a gasp from Lelouch.

"You knew? But how?"

"We share a connection, remember? And I also know what powers he has granted you, and what he wants from you." said C.C.

"You knew my situation completely?" commented Lelouch.

"Yes. I see what you said about being an empty corpse."

"Then there's no hiding it anymore. He died during the invasion of Japan, and I brought him back to life and forced him to become my pawn." said Lelouch(?). "So what will you do about it then, Celeste?"

Soul count: 857