Chapter 28

The elevator doors opened with a hiss and Lelouch, dressed in his Ashford uniform, stepped out of the otherwise empty car into the lavishly decorated lobby. Following a group of middle-aged men past a glowing neon sign that read 'Casino' in bold red lettering, the raven-haired teen casually surveyed his surroundings. All around him, gambling patrons dressed in formal high-end suits and elegant dresses were hunched over bustling gaming tables and flashing slot machines, blowing away more money than the Japanese staff that served them made in an entire year. While the callous wastefulness of the wealthy gamblers struck a nerve with him – how could it not when they blew off an average person's yearly wages in a single day without a second thought? – Lelouch was downright disgusted with the Casino's so-called entertainment.

Situated in the center of the room, and surrounded by chain-link fence, was a fighting arena that rose prominently from the floor below. From the upper viewing area where he was currently standing, Lelouch and the gamblers were able to watch in comfort as the fighters – two Japanese brothers, judging by their similar facial features – mercilessly threw punches at one another with little regard for their own wellbeing. Every time a particularly hard blow drew blood, the Britannian men cheered and laughed as they demanded further violence; the barbaric bloodlust made him once again curse the very system that promoted this mistreatment and further cemented the idea that his path was the right one.

Turning away from the fight and its spectators, the raven-haired teen casually glanced at his watch. Eleven-thirty. Only half an hour until the fun begins, he noted quietly as a sign caught his attention.

His lips curled into a satisfied smirk as his eyes fell upon a section of tables that had been cordoned off behind a glass wall and a sign advertising chess games. Behind the partition were several older men huddled over their respective boards as they plotted their moves and marched the pieces across the board. Many of the men were people whom Lelouch immediately recognized and dismissed as potential opponents; they were bureaucrats and minor nobles that he had already beaten one or more times in the past. Just as he was starting to reconsider his plan of passing the time with a quick game, however, he spotted somebody who piqued his interest.

The player in question was much younger than most of the other players, probably only in his late thirties or early forties if he had to guess. Beneath his expensive tuxedo, Lelouch could easily make out the strong, muscular build of a man who was no stranger to physical labor – something almost unheard of in Britannian nobility nowadays – as well as the slight unmistakable bulge of a large handgun being concealed beneath his jacket; the raven haired teen might have been intimidated by this piece of news if he had not been aware of the man's identity or been carrying his own, much better concealed, weapon in a holster on his right leg. The most distinguishing feature, and the one that was a dead giveaway to his identity, was his dark skin and blonde hair.

With a confident smirk, Lelouch made a beeline for the otherwise empty table. He was only a few feet from his target when one of the player's many bodyguards stepped in his path. Like his four fellow associates, he was a mountain of a man and wore an ill-fitting suit that did nothing to hide his significant physical strength or sidearm. Despite being indoors, all five of the guards wore identical black shades that merely reflected the world in front of them, effectively hiding whatever emotion their eyes might have given away. As with their boss, however, none of them gave off a particularly intimidating aura and came across more as brutish thugs rather than disciplined professionals.

"Beat it kid, the boss is too busy to waste his time on some high school student," the thug said roughly, pointing to his boss; the man was busy groping a clearly uncomfortable waitress dressed in the skimpy bunny uniform of female casino staff. "Why don't you go back to your textbooks and let the adults play?"

Lelouch looked past the bodyguard and directly addressed his employer. "I would have thought the infamous Black King would be more than capable of dealing with a mere student. Do you intend to hide behind your subordinates rather than accept a challenge?"

Black King shifted his focus away from the scared girl, who took the chance to silently slip away unnoticed, and stared at the boy who was calling him out. "You have quite the mouth on you, school boy. What is your name?"

"Lelouch Lamperouge, of Ashford Academy," Lelouch said with a touch of formality.

"And you have the courage to challenge me to a game of chess, Lamperouge? You do know who I am, don't you?"

"Of course, Mr. Black King. You are one of the settlement's most skillful chess players and have supposedly never lost a match," the raven-haired teen replied with a grin. "Further more, and unknown to all but a select few, you are the head of one of Area Eleven's largest underworld crime syndicates."

"Very impressive for a student, Lamperouge. Very well, you may have your game."

Without a second glace, Lelouch stepped past the now-relaxing bodyguard and took a seat opposite of the crime kingpin. He decided to take a moment before formally addressing his opponent to casually signal a waitress over. Rather than being approached by the same brunette that had been violated by Black King, he was instead pleasantly surprised – and had no trouble showing it with a large smirk – to see that his server was none other than his redhead ace pilot. Like her fellow waitresses, Kallen was dressed in a bright pink bunny suit that left very little to the imagination and clung to her like a second skin; her face was flushed a deep crimson and she had trouble looking him in the eye.

After sending her off with an order for iced tea, Lelouch turned his undivided attention to the Black King. "Seeing as you have a penchant for playing as white, I won't bother asking you that. Instead would you have any trouble with a timed game of thirty seconds per turn?"

"In a hurry, school boy?" Black King laughed mockingly. "If you can handle that, I have no problem with a quick game. To make things even more interesting, what do you say to a little wager?"

"What did you have in mind?" Lelouch asked without a second thought.

Black King closed his eyes for a moment as he considered it. "Would two thousand be a fair enough wager for a student?" he asked finally.

"You have a deal, sir."

Both players then settled further into their seats and began placing their respective pieces on the chessboard. Once the two opposing armies of black and white had been properly arranged, their masters wasted no time in making their opening moves. The opening turns flew by at a lightning pace as the players went off instinct as they tried – and failed – to gain a significant advantage over the other. Granted, the fight was clearly starting to lean towards Lelouch during the mid-game, but it wasn't nearly as easy as he had expected; Black King was one of his more challenging opponents since moving to Tokyo.

Time continued to flow by almost unnoticed as both players focused solely on the game before them, the only real indication of the outside world's passage being Kallen silently returning several times to either deliver a new drink or remove empty glasses. After she had left for the third time, Lelouch peeled his eyes from the board long enough to watch her recede into the crowd. Sometime between the game's start and now a medium-sized crowd had gathered to observe the match that had been raging on for over twenty minutes; their mumbled conversations conveyed the general surprise that Black King had yet to pummel the young challenger into submission by now.

"It's your move again, schoolboy," Lelouch's opponent said confidently.

"It seems we have drawn quite the audience, doesn't it Mr. King?" the raven-haired teen replied with a disarming smile.

Black King shrugged. "Not really any wonder why. You're the only person who's lasted this long against me; people are bound to notice that."

"The masses always enjoy the underdog," Lelouch agreed as he picked up his king, moving it one square forward and out of its protective ring of pawns.

The crowd broke out in hushed whispers at the unorthodox move while Black King merely raised an eyebrow in curious amusement. "What exactly are you playing at, Lamperouge? Nobody in their right mind would willingly open their king to attack."

"If a king does not lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?"

The middle-aged man had no proper response to this and instead went on the offensive in an effort to exploit the supposed weakness in Lelouch's defense. In his sudden rush of overconfidence, however, Black King made had made the terrible mistake of underestimating his opponent. He was soon shown the error of his ways as, piece by piece, his army was whittled down by the black queen, one of her rooks, and several well-placed pawns in a series of pre-planned ambushes. Not even five minutes after he had committed himself to the attack, Black King's own king was staring down the business end of Lelouch's queen and rook. For the first time since it had gathered, the crowd was absolutely silent as they stared slack-jawed at the final positions of both player's chess pieces; it was an absolute landslide victory in black's favor.

"A good game, Mr. King," Lelouch said graciously, extending a hand as was customary in any game. "Although I would suggest that you try and anticipate–"

"You cheated."

"I'm sorry, cheated you say? At chess?"

"Don't play dumb, school boy," Black King hissed angrily. "You cheated me and there is no way in hell I'm paying some high school brat."

The crowd, which had been slowly filtering away and back to their own gambling, stopped in their tracks at hearing this accusation. Most of them were knowledgeable enough about the game to know that cheating in chess was exceedingly difficult under the watchful eye of a skilled played, but that wasn't the drawing factor; the raised voices and tensed up security guards ready to draw their weapons were what attracted their attention. Lelouch wasn't fazed by this threatening show of force by the thuggish bodyguards, nor Black King's obviously empty claim of wrongdoing.

"Would you care to explain how I managed to pull that off in a room full of witnesses, in a game that is notoriously difficult to cheat?" the raven-haired teen demanded politely.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, or anybody else!" the underworld kingpin declared. "Now get out of my sight before my associates take it upon themselves to 'help' you."

"After you keep your word and pay our wager. I wouldn't want to have to spread the word that Black King can't honor a deal, would I?"

"Are you threatening me, kid? Because I could have you–"

The sound of glass shattering and metal hitting the marble floor interrupted the irate man and stopped his guards, who had been making their way to Lelouch, in their tracks. Kallen, who had been delivering a drink to another guest, had seen the quickly deteriorating situation and did the best thing she could to draw the gangsters' attention away from pummeling her friend: she pretended to accidentally trip and fall onto Lelouch. She had succeeded on that front – they no longer looked like they were about to strangle him – but now she had a dripping wet and thoroughly vexed raven-haired teen lying beneath her on the floor to deal with.

"I'm so sorry sir, it was my fault," Kallen said in as submissive a voice as she could muster, getting to her feet as quickly as possible. "If you like, I can take you in the back and help clean that up."

Lelouch followed suit and looked down at his school uniform in distaste. It was drenched in, judging from the smell, what had been a very expensive wine. While he understood that she had effectively disarmed the situation in a seemingly innocent enough manner, he certainly wasn't happy about getting knocked down and drenched in alcohol. Finally, he put on a convincing smile and nodded his head.

"That would be very appreciated, thank you."

"Right this way then, sir," the redhead said cheerfully with a bow before taking him by the hand and lightly dragging him behind her.

Neither said another word as they weaved in and out of the foot traffic that surrounded the gaming tables. Silently slipping in through a service entrance beside the bar using Kallen's forged employee identification card, they then made their way through the narrow corridors until they reached a small storage closet. Looking around to make sure no cameras or staff were watching the door, Kallen swiftly picked the lock and shoved Lelouch inside with a small duffel bag – she had hidden this, along with an identical one, in a nearby trash can several days ago– containing Zero's costume, mask, and a small handgun made entirely of plastic. Taking the duffel's twin, she picked the lock of a broom closet nearby and went about changing into her pilot's suit and the standard Black Knights' visor. After strapping her own handgun to her hip, the red headed ace stepped out into the hallway to see Lelouch already waiting for her.

They briefly went over the plan and layout of the staff areas on this level before taking off in a brisk stride towards their goal. Thanks to advance surveillance by undercover Knights, this particular passage was devoid of any surveillance equipment and, because of the timing, it was clear of any staff. Not that it mattered if either had been present anyway, seeing as their plan would render identification from such sources impossible. Several minutes later and they finally arrived at a pair of oak double doors marked security.

"Are you ready, Q-1?" Lelouch asked gently.

"It's been a while since you called me that, Zero. What's the occasion?"

"We began our rebellion with you as my Q-1, so isn't it fitting that I should call you that on the beginning of our resurrection?"

"I guess it is," Kallen said as her lips curled into a grin. "In that case, let's not keep the Emperor waiting any longer."

"You've been around me too much," the masked teen chuckled as he drew his pistol.

Taking this as the sign that the time for playful banter was over, Kallen mirrored his actions at the exact moment Lelouch threw the doors open and dashed inside. The room itself was sparsely decorated and lined with banks of monitors displaying feeds from the multitudes of cameras throughout Babel Tower. Several neatly organized desks were scattered around the corners of the room, all abandoned except for one. Sitting at his desk was Sergeant Louis Montgomery, commander of the tower's security detachment, his green eyes widened in fear as he stared down the barrel of Zero's pistol.

"Z-Zero?! You're supposed to be d-d-dead!"

"Obviously that isn't the case, Sergeant Montgomery," Zero replied coldly. "My Knights and I are alive and well, as you can plainly see."

"What do you want with me? I'm just a simple soldier, I don't know anything!"

Kallen chuckled lightly. "Not even the codes to the OSI base buried beneath this very tower? I find that especially hard to believe, considering your office holds the only elevator that leads to it."

Montgomery flinched as if struck. "How did you know about–"

"We know many things," Zero interrupted. "Such as how you force yourself on innocent Japanese girls when you think nobody is watching. That, however, isn't what is important for us right now; your co-operation in calling the elevator to this floor is all we care about."

"Go to hell, I would rather die than help terrorist scum like you," the Britannian sergeant said rather unconvincingly. "Besides, I don't even know about any codes! I'm just a simple–"

"Soldier, right? Yes, we already got that," Lelouch interrupted tiredly as a portion of his mask opened up to reveal the crimson Geass sigil in his left eye. "Enough with this ignorance routine. Call up the elevator right now and then kill the power to all levels ten seconds after the doors open for exactly thirty seconds. Finally, I want you to reactivate the generators and trigger the fire alarm; you may evacuate with everybody else once you complete your mission."

The mindless drone of a soldier gave a brief salute. "It will be done, my lord."

Kallen watched in an almost dream-like state as the security chief walked over to a bookshelf on the far wall and punched the code into a seemingly innocuous panel beside it. Despite Lelouch's lengthy explanations and stories of how his power worked, there had always been a nagging doubt somewhere in the back of her mind that it was all some sort of joke and that he used other means to force others to do his bidding. Now after seeing it in person for the first time, however, she had little doubt in the supernatural power that he wielded; it was more than a little intimidating.

Lelouch noticed the equally reverent and scared expression on her face and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's a lot to take in, watching somebody do whatever I tell them without question, isn't it?"

"It's, I don't know… almost sad to watch a person lose all of their will like that. Even if it is the very enemy I've been sworn to destroy," she replied quietly. "It just seems wrong to me."

"I suppose you are right about that, Kallen. But I've used this Geass too many times – destroyed too many lives because of it – to back down now before we see out goal through. If you don't want to watch, I wouldn't hold it against you. This is my curse to bear, after all."

Kallen looked upwards into the single visible eye of Zero, still burning with his Geass. "Lelouch, I–"

Whatever the red headed ace was about to say was cut off as a low hissing sound reverberated through the tiny office. Turning to face the noise, they saw the bookshelf sliding open to reveal a pair of gray steel doors imbedded into the wall. After another moment of waiting, those too slid apart as lights beyond flickered to life, illuminating the elevator's interior. Wasting no time, they hurried past the mindless drone of a man and took positions on either side of the door moments before they began closing again. A retinal scanner above the control panel glowed ominously green, silently waiting for somebody to place their eye in front of it to confirm their identity.

You will just have to keep waiting, Lelouch thought absentmindedly as he counted down the seconds until his plan went into motion. We have an alternative means of going down.

Almost as soon as he had finished his thought, the power flickered once, twice, and finally cut out entirely along with the sudden blare of sirens. The pair spent several seconds in absolute darkness anxiously fumbling with their weapons as they waited to see if their plan would succeed or fail. Just as things were starting to look as if they had direly miscalculated, a lone emergency light flared to life, illuminating the elevator car just as it lurched downwards on its way back to the basement.

Kallen let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness that built in safety mechanism actually worked like we planned. I'm not exactly ecstatic from the idea of being trapped in a powerless elevator."

"Afraid of cramped, dark spaces, are we?" Lelouch teased, earning a soft punch from his subordinate. "You had nothing to fear Kallen, the company that built this car always installs an emergency program that sends the car down to the ground floor if the power ever goes out. By shutting down the tower's generators, we managed to bypass all of the security protocols for this elevator just long enough to ensure they can't stop us from entering the base."

"That doesn't seem like a very effective security system for the emperor's so-called elite intelligence agency…"

"It's unlikely the head of the Japanese division even knew about that failsafe. I'm willing to bet he is just another incompetent bureaucrat that got his position by title more than any real ability."

"Typical Britannian politics at work."

Lelouch held back a chuckle from hearing the absolute disdain in her voice. "Be thankful for the corruption you are mocking right now, Kallen. Without it, we would probably be dead by now."

Kallen knew he was probably right about that, even though it hurt her pride to admit it. And so, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of being declared the winner, she remained quiet for the remainder of the ride. Without any power going to the elevator – which instead relied on gravity and friction to maintain a constant speed – the nearly two hundred-meter drop took about three minutes of nothing but the silence permeated by the soft, muffled noise of steel grinding on steel. This time was spent going over final checks of guns and electronic equipment. It wasn't as if they doubted their preparedness or the quality of the gear though; there was just simply nothing else to do as they waited for the descent to stop.

After what seemed like Kallen's tenth time fiddling with her magazine and slide, the car's downward motion started to slow down significantly with a high pitched screech. Coming to a full stop with a jerk, the elevator fell into absolute silence. Outside, several hushed voices could be heard conversing in distressed tones as the distinct click-click of assault rifles being cocked echoed. Lelouch and Kallen nodded to each other and, in a rehearsed motion, threw open the roof hatch above them. With great physical strain, Lelouch somehow managed to boost her up and out of the car before being hoisted out, seemingly without effort on her part.

CC and Kallen were right, he reflected in embarrassment, I really do need to get in better physical shape if simply lifting her a meter off the ground has me out of breath. Maybe I should talk to Todoh or Jeremiah about a basic training routine later.

The mere thought of physical exertion on a daily basis under either of those men's supervision scared him more than a little but the alternative hurt his pride far too much. A prince – even one who has been exiled and declared dead – and revolutionary leader such as himself should boast at least some degree of physical prowess in front of his men, after all. That would have to wait, however, until the current objective had been accomplished. Stealing a glance to the fiery haired woman crouched at his side, he was pleased to see she had prepared a pair of concussion grenades for the inevitable breach from the OSI personnel.

As if on cue, the elevator doors below were pried open and a hail of gunfire ripped into the interior. Bullets pinged off the walls and floor as half a dozen standard issue assault rifles spat fire from their muzzles. One by one, the guns fell silent with a hollow click as their firing pins fell on empty magazines and the final shell casings hit the floor. Frantic movements outside indicated undisciplined technicians desperately trying to jam fresh magazines into their rifles.

"Two of you, go make sure Zero and his partner are dead," a woman barked harshly.

Kallen took this as her sign and lightly tossed both flash-bangs into the confined space below while Lelouch slammed the hatch shut as soon as they had cleared the opening. Two loud thunderclaps reverberated soon after, shaking the car's roof and causing both Black Knights' ears to ring. They ignored the unexpectedly loud explosion and once again tossed the hatch aside, leaping down and scooped up two of their assault rifles, leveling their new firearms on the stunned Britannians lying on the floor in agony.

"Which one of you is in charge of this outpost?" Lelouch demanded while Kallen collected the remaining discarded rifles.

A young blonde woman dressed in a regal white skirt suit and green cape spat at his feet. "I would sooner die than tell you anything, so why don't you just shoot me and get it over with?"

"I see," the masked teen said with a hint of mirth in his voice upon recognizing her from just before the grenades went off. "Well I suppose that answers my first question. Since you appear to be a loyal subject of the emperor, I won't waste any more of your time. You and your subordinates are free to go."

"You're just letting us go? How arrogant are you to spare an enemy's life, Zero?" the now wide-eyed woman demanded incredulously. "As soon as we leave, the entire world will know you're alive and His Majesty will crush you like an insect."

"You can try," Kallen snorted.

Ignoring his ace's comment, Lelouch nodded in agreement at the woman's comment. "You are probably right about my existence becoming once again known to the world. I can only hope it does reach the emperor's ears, since he is the reason I've come here today."

"Now take your men and get into that elevator; Zero and I are on a tight time schedule and you've wasted enough of our time," Kallen added, motioning with her machine gun towards the bullet riddled interior of the elevator. "And don't even think of trying anything funny, or I will shoot you myself regardless of my superior's generosity."

Not wanting to test the sincerity of her words, the scared technicians nodded numbly as they started picking themselves off the floor. With arms raised high in surrender, they slowly began backing away from the gun-toting rebels and towards the car. To their surprise and horror, however, their blonde haired leader merely stood where she was with a look of pure outrage etched into her otherwise lovely features. She ignored their quiet pleas to leave and brushed off any attempts to gently pull her from where she stood. Instead, her piercing blue eyes glared daggers at both Black Knights and looked for a moment like she was seriously considering to charge.

"That overconfidence will be your death, Zero," the base commander said venomously. "You will regret the day you insulted the honor of Monica Kruszewski and the Royal Imperial Guard."

Lelouch merely gave a mock bow and chuckled as, with a little extra encouragement from Kallen's gun, Kruszewski spun around on her heel and gracefully strode into the elevator car. A few moments later, and the damaged doors slid closed with a strained groan, leaving Kallen and Lelouch alone in the underground intelligence headquarters. With a great sigh of relief, Kallen dropped the more cumbersome rifle and holstered her pistol.

"You really need to stop provoking the enemy, Lelouch. I almost had to shoot that woman and something tells me that would have been a bad idea."

The raven-haired teen followed suit with his own weapons before letting a brief chuckle slip out. "You aren't the first one to tell me that, believe it or not."

"Let me guess… CC?" Lelouch nodded and she once again gave an exasperated sigh before adding with a dramatic shrug: "If you won't listen to her, then there is no way you're going to stop when I do; you're a lost cause."

"You will have to explain what you mean by that later," he said after a moment. "For now, we need to contact the others and let them know it's time to move into phase two."

Not bothering to glance at her approving nod, he pulled a small radio transmitter from his pocket and pressed the single button on its panel. The light above it transitioned from red to a bright green that, for the briefest of moments, reminded him of a certain immortal witch. Pushing it into the dark recesses of his mind and vowing for the hundredth time to make sure he got his companion back, Lelouch took off down the hall at a leisurely pace in search of the main server access room, supposedly located one floor down. As they were bounding down the stairs, a dull and muffled explosion rocked the tower's foundations and caused the lights to flicker several times before returning to normal.

That must be Jeremiah's group exiting the blimp, Lelouch thought as he glanced at a small timer strapped to his wrist. That gives us roughly ten minutes to get the files we need and rendezvous with Todoh's assault force.

The clock now ticking down even faster, Lelouch and Kallen put on an extra burst of speed; they had a job to do, and only one chance to make it happen.

Nunnally vi Britannia let out a tired sigh as she gently fumbled with a locket given to her by CC. It had been shortly before Lelouch had sent Euphemia, Sayoko, and herself had gone to the Narita cabin when her brother's girlfriend, completely out of the blue, approached her with small velvet box. Inside it was a small heart shaped pendant that opened up to reveal what –according to CC – was a picture of the three of them taken during their trip to the beach. When asked for the occasion behind such a gift, CC tried to casually pass it off as something she had done on a whim but Nunnally knew better than that; CC was a very considerate and caring person underneath that devil-may-care attitude of hers.

At first Nunnally had been reluctant to accept something that she was certain had cost the green haired woman a significant amount of money but, after much persuasion, she finally accepted it and allowed CC to place it around her neck. Once she had closed the chain's clasp, CC had then stepped back and declared that it looked as if the small trinket had been made especially for Nunnally to wear, earning an appreciative smile from the young girl. CC was then about to leave the room for one of her usual pizza runs – how she could do that on a daily basis and yet maintain a supposedly trim figure was beyond Nunnally – when she had paused just long enough to say something that still puzzled Nunnally to this day.

"I'll never be alone so long as I keep this locket close to me…" she muttered quietly in remembrance. "If only that were true…"

It had been what was starting to seem like an eternity since her Uncle VV and Suzaku had brought her back to her former home at the Aries Villa, just outside the city limits of Pendragon. From day one, the attendants assigned to assist her throughout the day had been friendly but distant; they only spoke when spoken to and treated her like one would a fragile doll. Even with her attempts at making friends with the various maids and butlers, Nunnally found her room slowly becoming a prison with few allies.

Truth be told, the only visitors were her youthful uncle, his ever-present bodyguard, and Suzaku. Though few and very far between due to his duties as a newly promoted Knight of the Rounds, the young brunette enjoyed the presence of her oldest childhood friend the most; their conversations would go far into the night and served as a constant reminder that she was not entirely alone. From what he told her, everybody in Ashford was doing fine and Lelouch, still in hiding from Zero at another location, mentioned her constantly and was looking forward to seeing her after the danger had cleared. In the end, however, it was still hard to let the Japanese teen leave on missions because it meant losing her one remaining contact with her former life, as well as her greatest potential ally. The other two males were a different story entirely.

Although VV seemed amiable enough and made an effort to visit on at least a weekly basis, there was always something off about the way he spoke and avoided most of her polite requests for news on the state of affairs in Japan. When she really tried to press for more answers about her current situation, he would usually just repeat the same old line that he had brought her to the capital because of an uncovered Black Knight plot to capture the exiled vi Britannia siblings and use them as leverage against the crown. At first that had made sense, seeing as Lelouch had been preparing for their departure into the Narita Mountains but, after a month of no changes, she had started to slowly lose faith in this statement.

And Rolo, always following in his master's shadow, was hardly what she would call a talker. Judging by the pitch of his voice whenever he spoke – a rare occasion in its own right – Nunnally was able to confidently place his age around her own, give or take only a year or two. This realization had come as a great surprise to her when she thought about what he was tasked with doing; protecting the brother of the emperor could not be an easy job, even for a man much older than Rolo. Despite his apparent lack of interest in having anything to do with her, Nunnally decided that if she had any chance of befriending anybody in the villa, it would lay with him.

At first her attempts to pull him into conversation went about as well as expected: Rolo would ignore her comments without so much as a glance in her direction. This initial brush off didn't discourage her in the slightest, however, so every time VV and his young protector paid her a visit, an attempt was made to pull him in. Progress had been slow – almost painfully so – but eventually, over the course of several additional months, she managed to engage in increasingly longer conversations with him. Small victories aside, Nunnally found that their talks were still lacking the familiarity that exists between two friends; there was still something that was holding him back, she felt, from fully coming out of his shell.

It had then eventually became apparent that in order to break down the final barrier, she would need to figure out why he seemed to hesitant to let her in. The fact that he held her uncle in high regard and that respect drove his strong sense of duty was all too obvious. But beyond that, there was nothing she could think of that he had talked about that would make a boy such as himself become so introverted. Perhaps it had something to do with his childhood? If there was one thing that she could fully appreciate, it was how having a traumatic childhood event could shape a person's personality.

Seeing as he never spoke of himself on a personal level, however, she couldn't even begin to guess what, if anything, might have happened to him as a kid. That key fact in mind, she knew of only one person who could probably shine some light on the situation: her uncle VV. Up to this point, he hadn't seemed to be bothered by the fact that his young niece was trying to make friends with Rolo and she assumed this was because he felt that his subordinate needed to socialize more. It was then a complete and utter shock when she had approached him with her concerns; even to this day, she recalled exactly how he had reacted.

"Uncle VV, can I ask you something?"

The blonde haired immortal looked up from the opened folder of documents that lay before him on the table. Instead of immediately replying, he fixed his niece with a guarded look. This was his usual reaction whenever Nunnally's inquisitive side worked its way into their weekly visits; she would ask a question and wait until he had most likely decided the best way to approach it. It was all very cold and calculating.

"Does it have anything to do with how much longer you will be staying here?" he replied finally with narrowed eyes. "Because I've already explained that you–"

Nunnally shook her head. "No, it isn't anything like that. I know that things in Japan… I mean Area 11, are still pretty dangerous because of Zero going into hiding with some of the Black Knights."

"Oh, alright then. What is it you wanted to ask me?" VV said, his voice much more friendly and relaxed than before.

The wheelchair-bound girl nervously fiddled with her hands as she tried to find the right words. For reasons unknown to her, Nunnally suddenly found herself suddenly hesitant to ask what should have been an innocent enough question.

Why am I suddenly so nervous to ask about Rolo? She silently wondered. It's not as if there is anything wrong with trying to understand him better… right?

Well, are you going to ask whatever is on your mind or can I get back to my reports?"

The immortal's irritated tone broke Nunnally from her musings. "Sorry, I'm just not too sure exactly how to ask this. It has to do with Rolo never wanting to talk about himself and it is worrying–"

"You're concerned about Haliburton's wellbeing? I had no idea my young niece was such a comedian," VV said between bouts of cruel laughter.

Nunnally had not been expecting such a harsh response from him considering the level of devotion Rolo held for him. In spite of her kindhearted nature – or perhaps even because of the way she saw the world – the young brunette's lips curled downward in a rare show of displeasure. VV saw her disapproval and eventually regained his composure, picking up his teacup and taking a sip before leaning forward.

"Are you seriously concerned with the feelings of that worthless, failed experiment?"

"Failed… experiment?" Nunnally repeated; she wasn't quite sure that she had heard correctly.

"Yes, a failed experiment of mine," VV sneered. "Rolo Haliburton is nothing more than a mistake whom I happened to find a use for. If it were not for me, he would still be a filthy street urchin, dead in a gutter outside Pendragon. He should be thankful for his position; more importantly, you shouldn't waste anymore of your time on him."

Nunnally had heard just about enough of her uncle's cruel dehumanization. "That's a horrible thing to say, uncle! How can you treat your subordinates so callously and expect to still receive their loyalty?"

Neither the immortal Geass director nor his bodyguard could believe that the seemingly meek and well-mannered girl was capable of speaking out in anger against anybody and their expressions showed it. Rolo, after seeing a girl he knew little of defend him before arguably second most powerful man in the world, could not help but allow a fraction of a smile to show. Thankfully for him, this went entirely unnoticed by his boss, whose facial expression was twisted into a mask of unveiled anger and contempt; never before had somebody dared speak out against him, much less some over-privileged brat born from that woman.

Unable to directly see the results of her rebellious reply but knowing it wasn't good, Nunnally continued. "Nobody deserves to be spoken to like they're an accident, especially not somebody that's done nothing wrong to you. I think you should–"

"How dare you speak to me like that, you insolent brat!" VV roared angrily, slamming his fist into the table. "Don't forget your place around here or who saved you from Zero. I can just as easily have you placed in a cell for criticizing a member of royalty!"

Rolo took several cautious steps forward. "Director VV, maybe now isn't the best time to–"

"Silence, you reject! I will not be told how to act by a nobody like you. Do I make myself clear?"

Temporarily cowed into submission, the boy took a bow. "Yes, sir…"

"Of course I did," VV said gruffly as he collected his papers and rose to his feet. "We're done here for today. You might want to take this opportunity to reflect on who you align yourself with, my dear niece; court politics are volatile and can be fatal to those who choose the wrong side."

I've already decided, and it isn't with you whom I will ally myself with, she thought doggedly before forcing a smile. "Don't worry Uncle VV, I'll make sure that I'm on the right side."

The immortal man took this as the proper amount of submission mixed with civility and left without another word. Rolo made to follow him but paused as the threshold to steal one last glance at the brave young girl who had jumped to his defense without a second thought in spite of the obvious danger it presented. Much to his surprise, Nunnally, as if somehow sensing his eyes on her, looked up and stared seemingly right back at him. A strange jolting sensation shot through his chest as the kindhearted princess flashed a warm, genuine smile and nodded, as if to acknowledge his silent thanks. Just as soon as the moment had happened, however, it was interrupted by an irritated VV shouting his subordinate's name. Nunnally's smile faded and Rolo quickly backpedalled out of the room, closing the door behind him and once again leaving her alone with nothing but her thoughts.

It was now, in her gilded cage, surrounded by symbols of her once opulent and innocent childhood, that Nunnally vi Britannia allowed her tears to fall unashamedly.

"Princess Nunnally, are you alright?" Rolo asked with concern. "You're… crying."

Said girl shook the mental cobwebs away as she once again joined reality. Reaching a dainty hand up to her cheek, Nunnally's fingertips brushed a wet patch of skin. That confirmed it; she had indeed been crying in that brief moment. Too caught up in the memory, she must have completely spaced out to both the tears and her guest.

No, not a guest, she corrected quickly. Uncle VV appointed him as my personal bodyguard that same day.

It was true that very shortly after his heated exit, the blonde haired immortal had sent a nervous Rolo back to her room with a writ officially signaling his transfer as protector of the captive princess. Although she appreciated the gesture – and certainly had no problems with having an excuse to spend more time with him – Nunnally knew that concern over her wellbeing was likely only a secondary motivation for such an order; Rolo was probably sent to double as a spy to report on any additional signs of rebelliousness. With this change in guard, however, came yet another alteration to her daily life: VV no longer paid her any visits.

Apparently he had seen no more need to continue putting on some parody of familial bonding after showing his true colors, not that she minded much. After thinking long and hard about it, she had managed to come to the conclusion that he was probably just using her – just as Lelouch had warned her about when they were exiled to Japan – for his own personal gain. Very shortly after Rolo's more permanent appearances began, the maids and attendants slowly began showing up less and less until they were only there to help her get ready in the mornings and deliver meals. For all intents and purposes, Rolo Haliburton had become her only real point of human contact.

In spite of this near-instantaneous change in routine, Nunnally was able to accept it with not much trouble; she thanked her brother for imparting her with ability to adapt and survive like that. It was only a matter of time then that both she and Rolo would grow to become close friends, seeing as they spent the majority of their waking hours in each other's presence. With this newfound closeness came a willingness amongst the two of them to share personal details with the other. For Nunnally, this mostly included her and Lelouch's past, her new life at Ashford, and the small family of friends she had made there. Rolo took especially great interest in her tales involving Lelouch and CC for reasons she quickly understood.

Abandoned at birth by his unknown parents and with nobody willing to take him in after he turned six, he had been forced to fend for himself during much of his childhood. In order to survive, he had been forced to beg, scavenge, and even steal enough food and money. After enough time, he had become skilled enough in the art of pickpocketing that his targets had no idea and managed to make enough money to scrape by. One day, at the age of eight and while working the streets near the front gate of the Imperial Palace, he had been caught in the act by VV and was quickly taken in by his organization. This secret group, which Rolo swore he couldn't give any specific details on, then trained him and honed his skills for a single purpose: to become a covert operative skilled in the arts of assassination and espionage.

"I'm fine, Rolo," she said finally and much to his relief. "I was just thinking of my uncle's last visit. Sometimes I still can't believe how quickly things changed since that day; he revealed his real nature and, more importantly, you became my first real friend here."

"Your first… friend, Your Highness?" the stunned boy repeated; he hadn't thought of their relationship that way before.

Nunnally covered her mouth to suppress her giggles. "Of course you're my friend, silly. Everybody else in the palace is either afraid of my position or pities me. Everybody except you that is."

"But still… why choose me as a friend? I'm not a noble. I'm not a genius. I'm not even a very interesting person to talk to," he replied sadly, head bowed slightly. "Nobody has ever wanted to get to know me without something in it for themselves as well."

"Well you aren't wrong about that," Nunnally said, drawing his attention upwards to her face, "I am getting something out of this too. By getting to know you, I get to have a friend whom I feel safe sharing anything with. But that's exactly what being a friend mean, isn't it? Both people are allowed to feel safe and have people they can rely on when they are going through something difficult."

"I've never had anybody like that before," he muttered quietly. "But if you are alright with having somebody like me being your friend, Your Highness, I think that I would like that very much."

"You don't have to be so formal with friends Rolo, so please just call me Nunnally from now on."

"N-Nunnally?" he paused, only continuing when she gave an encouraging smile. "Is there anything special that friends specifically do at this point?"

With an enthusiastic nod, Nunnally held out one of her hands with only the pinkie extended. Rolo stared in confusion at the gesture for a moment before grabbing it in a handshake. Upon noticing his new companion's barely contained giggles, however, he quickly pulled his hand back and looked down at the ground in embarrassment for whatever it was he had done wrong. He stayed in that position for several moments as Nunnally tried to calm down enough to speak again.

"You don't know what you did wrong, do you?"

The sandy haired boy shook his head slowly.

"That's what the Japanese call a pinkie promise, silly. It's something they do with friends who make promises to each other," she explained. "Give me your hand and let me show you."

Rolo did as he was told and, with a little help from Nunnally, mirrored her hand gesture. Still a little hesitant from his previous mistake, he slowly interlocked his little finger with hers. His skin tingled slightly at the lone point of contact – a not entirely unpleasant feeling, in his opinion – and he was just thinking of how impossibly smooth her skin felt when Nunnally began singing something.

"Cross my heart, hope to die. Eat a thousand needles if I lie. Pinkie promise song," her little chant finished, she withdrew her slender hand and looked at him with a bemused smile as she sensed his confused stare. "My friend Sayoko taught me that song and told me that it seals the promise forever."

"A thousand needles if one of us lies? Are you sure that's not a little extreme?"

"I didn't make the rules," Nunnally countered with a giggle. "I guess that just means you better not lie, right?"

"I'll try not to let you down then," Rolo promised as his phone rang. "Excuse me for a minute, Nunnally."

Rising from his seat, Rolo pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and walked to the balcony for privacy. As he spoke in hushed tones into the receiver, Nunnally sat in her chair patiently for her friend to return. And although she tried not to overhear anything – she wasn't one for eavesdropping on somebody's personal business if it could be helped – several times she was able to pick up the concern and surprise in Rolo's voice whenever he raised his voice. Shortly thereafter, the boy ended the connection and replaced his phone back in its pocket before walking over to a television screen on the wall opposite of Nunnally's bed.

"We're here live, at the scene of devastation that was once Babel Tower in Area Eleven's Tokyo Settlement," a female reporter announced frantically. "Only moments ago the tower, which had been taken over by rebellious elements claiming to be the Black Knights, was brought down by a massive explosion."

Nunnally winced at news of war once again taking hold of the small island nation that had been her home for much of her life; perhaps VV had not been entirely untruthful about everything after all.

"Although initial reports indicate that no civilians were inside when the building collapsed, there are many dead and injured soldiers. Our sources within the military, who have requested they remain anonymous, also claim that Viceroy Calares and his top advisors may be buried under the rubble of the fallen tower after being caught unexpectedly in its path. We now go live to–"

The woman's report was cut short as the screen flickered for several seconds. Thinking it was something wrong with the set itself, Rolo was moving to check it out when the picture fixed itself. Instead of the same scene of carnage and rubble, however, Zero's enigmatic mask stared out of the monitor and right at them. The rebel leader stood alone before a large red banner, silently waiting to allow his audience time for their minds to process what their eyes were already telling them: the Man of Miracles had returned to his rightful place on the world's stage.

"Hear me Britannia! All you who have power, head my words carefully. I am burdened by sorrow," he declared with an exaggerated flourish of gestures. "War and discrimination. Malicious deeds carried out by the strong. None of these things have changed; the world has not allowed them to change. The same abhorrent interplay between tragedy and comedy lives on and the people still suffer under an oppressive rule they are powerless to fix."

Zero, do you truly believe that you can do what others cannot? Nunnally wondered silently. Or are you no different from my father, and just using this as an excuse to increase your own power? Regardless of your intentions, fighting shouldn't be the only means to achieve them. It just can't be that way if you truly care for the people.

"That is why the resurrection of Zero was necessary. So long as the strong oppress the weak, my rebellion will continue to grow. Even without Infinity by my side, we, the Order of the Black Knights, will continue to fight. It begins today with the divine punishment I have wrought upon the inept and foolish Viceroy Calares," Zero exclaimed as he pointed to the upper right portion of the screen, which suddenly displayed the news broadcast of Babel Tower. "I shall fight against all those who abuse their power. Therefore, here and now, I declare the establishment of the United States of Japan! Starting from this moment, this room shall be the first dominion of the USJ. Race, ideology, and religion will not matter. Being a citizen will have but one requirement: to do that which is just."

With one final grand sweep of his arms, Zero's voice took on a louder and more imperious aspect. "Before I go, there is one last message for the Britannian Emperor, Charles zi Britannia: I am coming for that which belongs by my side. Soon, you too will know the feeling of defeat."

The Britannian emperor could not remember the last time he had genuinely felt the desire to laugh, which made this occasion unnerving to his Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein. "So my wayward son thinks that he has what it takes to rescue the damsel in distress. How amusing."

"If you say so, Your Majesty," Bismarck grunted as he regarded Zero's domineering visage as he might an insect beneath his boot. "Personally I believe we should just stamp out his resistance and be done with it."

"And that is why you are no fun, Waldstein. No imagination or desire to watch how things evolve."

The emperor and his knight turned their heads to face VV as he strode into the small, enclosed room with an arrogant smile. Ignoring the indignant expression on Bismarck's face, the immortal sat down in a chair that was bolted to the floor and looked through the one-sided glass behind Charles, into the room beyond. More of a prison cell than anything else, this room was barren and devoid of color or any furniture, with the only creature comforts being a military-issues cot and toilet in the corner. The cell's lone occupant – easily identifiable as CC – was huddled in the farthest corner in the fetal position, gently rocking back and forth as she muttered something that the microphones hidden throughout couldn't quite pick up.

"She's still acting like a scared child, I see."

"Yes, it seems that god's meddling was more effective than your scientists anticipated," Charles agreed as he also stared beyond the glass barrier. "Tell me, brother, what brings you here to the Indomitable? I would have thought you would be busy with relocating your base to the Chinese Federation."

VV shrugged noncommittally. "Everything's been going smoothly so I didn't see any need to direct the final preparations when my department heads are more than capable. As for why I decided to fly out here, in the middle of the ocean? I was bored."

"As to be expected from you, Victor."

"Let's get past the pleasantries, and address the elephant in the room. What do you plan to do about your rebellious son's open declaration of war against us?" VV asked pointedly.

The Britannian Emperor slowly turned to face his immortal sibling. "Absolutely nothing."

Bismarck raised an eyebrow at this. "I beg your pardon, sire?"

"You heard me correctly. I plan to allow Lelouch and his insignificant pawns to do whatever they please," Charles repeated. "Is there a problem with that, Bismarck?"

"If that is what you command, then I shall follow your wishes."

"Such a loyal pet you have there, dear brother," VV sneered. "He listens to your every order like a well-trained dog."

The offended Knight of One shot a glare at the never-aging director but said nothing. Any misgivings he had about him put aside for the moment – a considerable feat in and of itself because of the sheer magnitude of reasons why VV tested his patience – the 'man' was still the brother of the his emperor and the person who had granted him the greatest of weapons: the Geass allowing him to see into the future. None of this stopped him from allowing the small pleasure of picturing the day he could knock that smug grin off that child-like face.

The Emperor cleared his throat. "Bismarck, has Monica given her report on the Babel Tower incident? If I am not mistaken, she should have been touring the OSI facility today."

"She was, sir," the aging knight confirmed with a nod before pulling out a small sheet of paper. "According to her transmission, Zero and the red haired pilot infiltrated the base by cutting the power to the entire building and ambushing them with flash-bang grenades. She isn't positive, but Kruszewski believes they accessed the main servers after she and the OSI staff were forced to leave."

"Then it would seem everything is going according to your plan, Victor."

"You know I can't take all the credit for this. It was Marianne who pointed out the possibility of a link between those two, after all. It just took somebody with a… looser set of morals to decide how to put everything together."

Nodding in agreement, Charles turned once again to stare into CC's cell intently. "That always has been your strong suit; achieving goals without emotional attachment must be a perk of immortality. Bismarck, contact Monica and order her to remain in Area 11 with as many of the Royal Guard as she deems fit."

"And her mission objectives, sire?" the stern-faced knight asked dutifully.

"For now, she will do anything the Prime Minister deems necessary."

This answer confused the combat veteran slightly; as far as he knew, the Prime Minister was currently in the Chinese Federation discussing their eventual absorption into the Britannian empire.

Not hearing the immediate acknowledgement from his subordinate, Charles elaborated further. "My son, Schneizel, has been reassigned from his current negotiations with the Chinese to oversee things in Japan. That should be more than enough of a response to Lelouch's petty challenge to assure he doesn't suspect anything."

As Bismarck left the room to send the necessary messages, the edges of Charles zi Britannia's mouth curved upwards into a devious grin that mirrored that of his brother behind him. Thanks to nearly a year of planning and preparation, they were finally starting to regain the ground they had lost when CC and God had dared to conspire against him and seal away that which he and his cohorts coveted. With just a little more nudging in the right direction, the board would be set for his dream to become a reality.

I've made the first moves Lelouch – whether you know it or not. What will yours be?

Author's note: Hey guys, it's me finally… I cannot even begin to apologize for how long it has taken me to post this chapter. (?) months of no activity on my part is really just inexcusable and I wouldn't blame people if they have since dropped or forgotten about this story. Not like it makes any of this more acceptable, but I would like to at least state my reasons for everything.

The first issue was that I started writing my first drafts in an actual notebook (old school, I know!) and just as I was getting close to finishing, it just went up and vanished into thin air; it is still missing. After that first blow, I immediately tried to write what I could remember in my computer but it was slow going because of my horrid memory.

The next problem is a general lack of time outside of school to do anything BUT do homework. Seeing as I've been in college for over 2 years now, that shouldn't be anything new but it's honestly just taking its toll on me – both mentally and physically.

The final (and most demoralizing) thing I ran into was that, for the first time since I began this, I got a series of rather rude and depressing PM's (you reviewers are still great!) criticizing everything. Looking back at earlier chapters that they were especially harsh on, I went to that dark place where writers start wondering whether or not they should keep going; I didn't quite want to quit from that, but it sent my perfectionist personality into overdrive to rewrite much of what was done just to show those people how wrong they are. I won't be posting any of this until the story is done – there will be a totally revised version of All For You coming out eventually – but do know I wasn't just sitting around depressed. With all that in mind, please remember that while I always encourage people to point out areas of weakness or things they believe could have been done better, I do ask that you try and keep critiques polite, constructive, and free from profanity.

With all that ranting over with (sorry!) I'd like to discuss how things are now progressing. As you can tell, I've taken everybody's advice and made the scope of this story much wider. While we will still focus primarily on our fated lovers Lelouch and CC, I am now going to be giving much more coverage to other characters and their perspective on events. Already I got some great feedback from how I am giving Kallen the development she needed and making her more than just a fanservice element, so hopefully the same will be said about my portrayal of Nunnally and Rolo.

In addition to more perspectives, I am going to say right now that this will be the "season" of flashbacks. Many of you said the time jump was jarring and I agree. So there will be times where I go backwards and introduce new bits of information on what happened to our characters and probably more of some of their backstories. Let me know if that is something you want more of and, if so, who you believe would benefit from some additional background development.

A couple readers wanted me to do, I've posted a picture of what I imagine Infinity's costume to look like. You can find a link to it through my profile page. In the future, I plan to add more images that relate to All For You and will be sure to mention when I do.

The last thing I wanted to mention (I promise) is a little competition that I want to hold to try and make up somewhat for my long absence, as well as to celebrate the much more tangible beginning to the second half of this story. The winners – I will be choosing two – will be allowed to ask any one question they want to about this story and, regardless of potential spoilers, I will answer them to the best of my ability. The way I will decide a winner will be whoever leaves the best reviews for this chapter before next Sunday. By best reviews, I mean something that gives me useful information or ideas rather than just a simple "Great job!". And please don't leave the questions IN the review or PM, I will contact the winners for those when I make up my mind.

Thank you to all who have stayed with me during this hiatus. I'll be working on the next chapter as much as humanly possible and try to get it up before the Holidays and the New Year. Until then, stay tuned for the next installment of the newly revived All For You!