Annella stared at her see-through hand, asking the famed question 'what the hell is happening?' in her mind multiple times. She had an inkling guess to what's going on, but if she were to accept it now without calming her frantic breathing, she'd most likely be swallowed by her anxiety. So she slowed her breathing and started counting the seconds she held her breath and exhaled it.

"Inhale…" she breathed in, "Exhale…" she breathed out, "Good, we're calm now, right?" she asked herself, her eyes still locked at her glassy hand.

She closed the fingers on her clear hand and brought her right beside it. She compared the sight and texture of both arms and breathed heavily in acceptance of her fate.

"Okay… I'm disappearing. Cool, never experienced that before," she reassured herself, "But why? Did I mess up on something…?" her mouth gape as a thought ran into her mind, "Did something happen to Mom and Dad?"

She quickly took her phone and started calling her clueless dad.

Lelouch hid himself inside a confining closet to avoid the curious eyes of his minions. After witnessing an unexpected event, he found himself running around in a panic without his mask on. It took him a full minute to realize that he'd been flaunting his face around their base, fortunately he hadn't bumped into anyone so he quickly went inside the closest room he could find and hid at the inconspicuous closet his desperate eyes saw. He let down the cloth covering his mouth down to catch his breath, he relaxed and closed his eyes for the moment to think of his next move.

"How will I be able to get out of this stupid mess?" he thought, "I could use my Geass, but the risk of running into a group of people is high, and someone might see me without my knowledge. More importantly, I don't even know where I am…"

He suddenly heard a murmuring noise from outside the closet. He looked through the small slit openings of the closet and saw two of Tohdoh's loyal holy swords. Nagisa Chiba and Shōgo Asahina, he recalled their names. They were both wearing their gray donned uniform, clearly showing their distaste to the Black Knight's black outfit. Ironically, as loyal as those two are to Tohdoh, they are the most suspicious and least trusting to him, Zero. He remembered how Urabe – one of the holy swords – instantly accepted his identity and unhesitatingly sacrificed himself in order to save him. He thought that maybe his colleagues were the same, but the angered question the two asked him last night made him aware where their loyalties lies, and that is to Tohdoh and their Japan. A cocky Britannian Prince hiding behind a mask is most likely not in their friendly list, so Lelouch gulped nervously as he tried to stay quiet in the confines of the closet.

"Did you saw Kōzuki running around while holding Zero's mask?" Asahina started, "Maybe we can bear witness to Zero's face today," he scoffed with a light laugh.

"That Kallen… she must be looking for me," Lelouch thought restlessly, "I still can't believe that she swings that way," Lelouch remembered the scene at the large room, "There's nothing wrong with it, but I seriously thought that she was interested in…" he wanted to say himself, but the thought was quickly diminished as he recalled the passionate kiss between her and C.C. "That witch, I'm sure she's responsible for this, I definitely have to think of a way to keep that woman in line."

"It doesn't matter, I couldn't care less what that bastard looks like," Nagisa spouted, taking both the glasses man and Lelouch's attention to her, "I'm still suspicious of him, I don't like how he gets to keep secrets while we're out there sacrificing our lives. Urabe died thanks to him," she spieled the last bit with slight fury.

"You heard the story right? He died well protecting him," reasoned Asahina, "Besides, we're at war, death is mostly expected," he said with a tone of sadness. Lelouch couldn't help but sympathize with the two of them. Urabe had saved him with the cost of his life, and as the leader, the lives of his men is his responsibility. It's hard, but it's a burden he have to carry.

"I know, but still…" Chiba trailed off.

"Enough about that, what about you?" Nagisa looked at the four-eyed soldier curiously, "When are you going to confess to him?"

"Him?" Lelouch pondered. He's stuck so he might as well listen to some gossip.

"What are you talking about?" Chiba asked with visible reddened cheeks.

"You know what I'm talking about," chuckled Asahina, "We're at war, we don't know when our lives is going to expire, its best if we settle our secret admirations right?"

"T-That's…" the woman said with downcast eyes.

"Don't worry. Dense as he is, I doubt the commander's going to reject you," he teased the blushing woman.

Both Lelouch and Chiba perked at the mention of commander. Lelouch knew the commander is, since those two only had one person in mind as their commander.

"Shut up," Nagisa said in mock annoyance. She strutted towards the door and left the glasses man in thought.

"Though I guess, I'm not one to talk…" Lelouch heard him say as he followed his companion out of her ear shot.

"A love triangle?" Lelouch thought in realization, "It'll be best for the order if they can settle it soon, maybe I should talk to Tohdoh about this," his phone then started buzzing, taking him out of his thoughts.

"Annella?" he said as he looked at her name in his phone. He accepted the call and put the phone on his ear, "What is i–"

"Are you alright? Where are you?!" he heard her loudly. He noticed the panic and worry on her voice.

"I'm fine. I'm at the base, why–" he didn't get to finish his question again as she interrupted her with the same concerned voice.

"How about Mo–Kallen?" she flubbed for a second.

"Kallen? She's here as well, why–"

"Good!" she exclaimed loudly, causing Lelouch to move the phone away from his ear slightly, "I'm–" he didn't get to hear what she's about to say when he abruptly cut the call after he heard Tamaki's voice enter the room.

"Tamaki?! Why are people blazing in here?" he then peered through the slits again and steered his eyes around the room. There was a pool table on the side, a number of comfortable couches laid about everywhere, and a huge plasma TV glued on the wall, running a news report about a doctor and a nurse having done a world record about 'doing' something and them inspiring couples everywhere.

"Is this the recreation room? Why is there a damn recreation room around here?!" he shouted loudly on his head, "Of all the rooms to hide in," he quickly turned off his phone in caution of someone calling him again.

"As I'm telling you, I saw a ghost who looks like Kallen yesterday," he heard Tamaki said to the people he's with.

"This is going to be a long day…" Lelouch thought heavily in his mind.

"I'm going to the base, have your men open the gates for me," she waited for a second for Lelouch's response only to hear a click, "Hello? Dad! I mean Lelouch?!" she shouted. She brought the phone down and saw her call had ended.

"He hanged up on me!" she exclaimed with a scowl, "Don't tell me something happened to him…" she gritted her teeth in impatience. She tried calling his cell again only to be received by a robotic voice detailing that her call can't be achieved.

"Drat," she hadn't introduced herself to the Black Knights, so casually walking inside is out of the question. She then looked at her left hand and steeled her eyes, "No time to waste."

She hurriedly stripped out of her school uniform and started to put on her combat fitted casual clothing. Having dressed on her black cap, black sleeveless shirt, and navy blue jeans, she hastily went near the doorway to put on her leather sneakers. Once outside, she ran with all her might towards her motorbike.

"Mom, Dad, I won't let the two of you divorce!" she yelled it out like a battle cry.

Unbeknown to her, a brown-haired student caught sight of her running figure, and admired her speed and form. After suspecting the odd time of her transfer, Suzaku Kururugi planned on confronting the girl about her connection with Lelouch. He was left standing when he heard her, a bit puzzled at his thoughts.

"I guess she's just a normal girl with family problems," Suzaku concluded. He abandoned his plan and started his way to the military.

Kallen momentarily stopped to catch her breath. She's been running around the consulate looking for Lelouch, but to no luck. She then brought the obsidian mask in front of her and saw her reflection on it. She thought back on what she did earlier and shook her head when she felt the growing heat on her face. She looked back again to the mask and thought of the man behind it, she wondered what thoughts ran in his mind when he saw her doing that with the green witch of the Black Knights.

"Why did I even… I'm sure that woman used a trick on me," she thought with a blush, "Though her lips did felt good…" Kallen unconsciously put a finger on her lips, and once she noticed this, she shook her head again to take the thought off her mind.

"Kallen, is that Zero's mask?" a female voice called Kallen from behind. She turned around and saw the smiling figure of Naomi Inoue*, the commander who provides logistical support for the group on her Black Knights' uniform. Kallen thought of hiding the mask behind her, but subsequently left it in the open after not knowing where to hide it.

"Y-Yeah, it's a backup mask. I borrowed it for something," she lied, "Have you seen him? I plan on giving it back to him," the woman in front of her just eyed her suspiciously.

"So you're looking for Zero to give him his 'backup' mask? Why? Did something happen to his original mask?" she slyly questioned the redhead. Kallen thought twice on how to lie to the sharp woman, but was saved by the smile she gave her afterwards, "Don't worry, I've no plans to unmask our mysterious leader. And to answer your question, no I haven't seen him."

"I see, thank you Naomi," Kallen said with a sigh of relief.

"Say, do you know what he looks like?" she asked, to which the girl suddenly tensed up, "Judging by that reaction, I guess you do."

"Umm…" Kallen uttered.

"Well, you are his personal guard, I'm sure you two had bonded enough for him to trust you his identity," she smiled at the panicky reaction of the red-haired girl, "Let me help you then, Zero might let me in the secret if I lend my hand."

Kallen thought of brushing off her offer, but considering that the woman is the one with the most sense in the old group, she decided to might as well accept her help. Considering her position in the group, her help is readily needed.

"Alright, I'll be back in just a sec," she took Kallen's nod and went off to the nearby room. She came back half a minute later, "Put Zero's mask in here, it'll be troublesome if other people saw us flaunting around his mask," she held out a shoulder bag and Kallen happily put it there, thankful for her new help.

Kallen took the bag and put it around her shoulder, the circular figure of the mask putting a slight bump on the bag, but it was inconspicuous enough for others not to take notice. They then walked the hallways in search for their unmasked leader, until a thought struck Kallen. The woman by her side had been a source of older sister wisdom for her through the years they'd fought together. She was a close friend of late brother, and had found herself confiding with her about a lot of things ever since his death. She's also the only other female of their small resistance group for a long time, so the two had developed some sort of sisterly bond.

"Naomi," Kallen started as she gathered up the courage welling on her chest. The purple-haired woman glanced at her curiously when Kallen paused for a while.

"What is it?" she asked.

"H-Have you kiss someone of the same gender," the redhead asked in a soft voice, unbefitting her fiery personality.

"Eh?" Naomi uttered as she looked at the younger girl with intrigue, "Who did you kiss?"

"N-No one!" she stammered, "I-I'm just asking…" she quickly went back to her timid pose.

"Is that so," the woman said, clearly not believing what she just said, "To answer your question, I had."

"You had?" Kallen repeated, "H-How did it feel?" she asked with curiosity.

"It felt like a kiss," she said, thinking of the right words to say, "Though women's lips are much softer compared to men."

"I see…" she remembered the experience and she agreed that C.C.'s lips was soft.

"There's nothing wrong with it, you know," Inoue said when she saw Kallen's downcast eyes, "The heart tends to like people not because of their genders, but because of who they are," she wisely said with a smile.

Kallen beamed at the wisdom she'd been given before remembering the person she just kissed. Her shoulders slumped depressingly at the thought of her heart liking someone like C.C. The older woman looked at her with worry, knowing that her wisdom seemed to have the opposite effect.

"What's so special with C.C. anyway?" she found herself asking, "Sure she's beautiful, and people can just stare at her eyes and imagine running their fingers on her silky green hair…" she got lost off track before reminding herself again, "But her personality is horrible!" she reasoned loudly. She bumped her head softly with her hands causing the older woman to chuckle with concern at the girl.

After speeding and breaking traffic regulations for the last half hour, Annella had arrived fiercely at the gates of the Chinese Consulate. Her glare alerted the guards standing at the gates, prompting them to approach the girl and question her business.

"Ma'am," started the taller guard of the two that walked towards her. He didn't get to continue when the redhead focused her glare on him.

"Open the gates," she demanded.

The two guards backed away as they saw the hostility on the girl's eyes. They tensed up and was about to ready their weapons, but was put to stop by the girl's sudden jump. She kneed the shorter guard on his face and put him to sleep. Before the other one could react at the phenomena, she quickly spun and gave a graceful roundhouse kick to the taller guard's chin. The guard was knocked unconscious and his body flaccidly fell on the ground.

All of a sudden, Annella snapped out of her bloodlust and looked at the two unconscious men on the ground.

"Oh crap, I did it again," she put a hand on her temple and massaged the slight strain on her forehead, "Master even warned me time and time again to put my rage in check…" she looked at the mess she'd made while muttering a soft apology to the fallen soldiers.

While her mother tried her hardest to raise Annella properly, unavoidable issues tends to be undealt with or put on the side. Especially when as a child, she would wind up by herself most of the time, voicing her view on a certain villain. Growing up with people who constantly dismisses her views and opinions lead the girl to bottling up her anger inside. Bit by bit, the number of times it happened caused her to snap at someone at seldom times, and it would always ends up with broken teeth and bruises from the side that receives her fury. She had improved in controlling her rage after being put under Suzaku's guidance. However, being under great distress, such as what's she's experiencing at the moment, shortens her fuse.

She thought of hiding the unconscious guards before anyone could see them, but the plan immediately dissolved the moment the gates opened without warning. She quickly hid behind the bush nearby and stalked the person who went outside the gates.

Li Xingke had his head down while mumbling something to himself. He was kept busy by the file of papers he holds and seems to be planning on issuing an order to the guards stationed outside before he looked at their senseless figures on the ground. He dropped the file of papers in a panic as he sensed a presence behind him. He quickly grabbed the hilt of his sword, but he was slow to react as a powerful heel made contact on the back of his head, rendering the great Chinese General flat on the ground.

"Sorry long-haired dude," she said before dashing towards the closing gates.

Once inside, Annella cautioned herself as if she had just infiltrated an enemy's stronghold. She quickly hid at the side of a huge circular pillar when a group of Black Knights walked by. She eyed the female knights' uniform and pondered on stealing a pair from an unlucky someone. She quickly entered a room once another group of people appeared behind her. She dashed along the large hallways with careful steps to avoid any unwanted gaze. She then found a purple-haired lady sitting alone in a bench, daydreaming about their leader's manliness. Nelly quietly snuck behind her and smacked her nape with the side of her hand, taking the 'day' off her daydreams. She looked at the girl she had just knocked out and found a familiar face.

"Miss Minase?" she blinked twice at the woman's face, "Sorry about this, I'll make it up to you someday," she dragged the poor woman's sleeping body to the nearest empty room she could find. Once inside, she stripped her off her uniform and was shocked by the woman's lack of underwear.

"Oh right, she's a pervert," Annella recalled the time where the woman explained to her that she likes the feel of cloth directly on her skin, "She was a pervert ever since, huh," she hummed. She felt like a criminal when she slid out the woman's skirt, so she tried her hardest to not look between her legs. Since she doesn't want to leave her naked, she put on her clothes to the woman, albeit with difficulty. Once that was done, she left her hidden at a nearby closet door, and afterwards, put on the borrowed uniform.

"Good, phase one complete," she said to herself as she fixed her ponytail, "Now on to phase two, finding C.C." she headed outside the room and started looking, but without a map, she was lost after a few minutes of wandering around.

C.C. stared at the ceiling with ill eyes. She'd been sick for the last few hours and while she relished the forgotten experience, it had become an annoyance after the never ending coughing and sneezing. She rose up in her lay with difficulty to reach the glass of water that Kallen had prepared for her earlier. As the water ran down her throat, the memory of the fiery girl's embarrassed and yearning gaze towards her fancied her intrigue. She did not expect her to follow through her teasing, much less her reaction. What she anticipated, however, was the redhead's witty counters or bashful stuttering, but she couldn't say that she wasn't entertained by her blushing embarrassment. Lelouch's untimely entrance was also the icing she needed to complete her daily fill of amusement. Still, the feeling of having done something undesired still loomed to her, and as she went back to lie down in the sofa, she started thinking of the reason as to why Kallen fell for her false plea.

"Maybe it's because I'm sick," she pondered, "She had been awfully obedient earlier."

A loud ruckus from the left opened door took her attention, and she livened up her ears to hear what it's about.

"What's going on?" someone said, she recognized the owner of the voice, it was Kaname Ohgi, Zero's Deputy Commander.

"Sir," yelped by one of the soldiers, "The Chinese General was found unconscious in front of the gates, and there have been reports saying that Lord Zero is missing."

"Zero? Was he even here?" Ohgi asked.

"Yes, sir, he was reported to have been inside the consulate for the last hour," silence followed and C.C. guessed that the deputy was thinking of what to do.

"We may have an intruder inside our midst," Ohgi said after a few seconds, "Rally our troops, we're going to look for the intruder and Zero, have the gates closed and no one is to leave without prior notice."

With a resounding echo of approval, the soldiers marched off to do what they were told. C.C. thought of getting up and closing the door, but her lethargic body put a stop to it. Just as she was about to plant a pillow over her head to drown the noises of heavy footsteps, the once leader of the resistance group entered the vicinity. When he got around the glass wall halting a straight access to the room, he saw the sickly figure of C.C.

"Miss C.C." he said, "Have you seen Zero?" the woman just weakly shook her head, "I see," he was about to step out before C.C. called out to him.

"Lock the door when you get out," she said in her sweaty form, "And put a 'don't disturb' sign, I'm sick, I don't want to be bothered."

The indecisive looking man quietly let her order drown into him before agreeing to follow. He stepped outside and put an impromptu sign with ink and paper.

"Better," C.C. said when she heard the man ran off to who knows where, "Time to sleep."

Before she can slip to her dreams, a loud knock on the door interrupted her. This caused irritation to the immortal as she yelled for the unwanted guest to go away. The knocking stopped for a moment, but it was suddenly replaced with a powerful force that knocked the door away and made it crash to the glass wall. The wall fell slowly and as it made contact with the ground, the glasses shattered with a sharp noise. C.C. held her head for the growing headache and watched as her visitor looked at her with feral eyes.

"It's you," C.C. said weakly, not finding the energy to voice her irritation, "If you're looking for Zero, he's not here."

"No, I'm looking for you, Cecilia…" the newly recruited redhead said, trying to catch her breath. The immortal raised an eye curiously at the mentioned name. If she was surprised, she was hiding it well.

"Is something wrong?" C.C. asked.

"Yes, very…" she then looked at her with a desperate glare, "I have to tell you something."

"Oh?" the immortal woman said, interest rising in her voice, "Do tell."

"I came from the future…" she revealed before being silent.

"Okay?" C.C. said with cough. She motioned for her to continue, but Annella just kept on doing some weird gestures with her mouth. She bumped her chest quite painfully, and an expression of regret instantly appeared on her face. She put a hand to massage the pain in her chest as she walked towards the immortal with heavy steps. The green witch's golden eyes followed her as she closed in, "You should really follow up on that statement."

The girl in response flimsily lunged at her, grabbing her by the shoulders. She opened her mouth multiple times, but no voice came out, just some soft individual grunts. She pointed a finger on her mouth and glared at the immortal with a plea of desperation in her violet eyes.

"You can't speak?" C.C. guessed to which the girl nodded excitedly with a smile of relief. Her game of charade continued, and she motioned her fingers into writing something, "There's my pen over there," she pointed at her opened journal in the table.

When the girl saw that, she immediately ripped out a page on the back which surprised C.C. Her complaint fell on deaf ears as the girl busied herself on writing on the paper. Once finished, she gave the paper to the sickly immortal.

"I'm Lelouch and Kallen's daughter," she read aloud. She let the statement out in the air for a moment to process it. Once it hit her, she looked at the girl with incredulity. This was a first for a very long time for the old immortal to be taken with such surprise.

Nelly nodded multiple times with her eyes stuck on her disbelieving face. C.C. felt somewhat convinced and continued to read.

"I can't give you any proof nor any details right now, but I need your help," she read softly, "I'm disappearing…" she looked at the girl and she brought her left arm in to view. C.C. was surprised when she saw the transparent hand. She pointed a finger and aimed to touch it, and was taken aback when she felt it connect to the end of her skin.

"Is that the reason why you can't speak?" C.C. asked, and the girl nodded unsurely. The immortal thought of what to do for a second before taking a tissue and nodding as she wiped her nose clean, "I'll help."

The redhead immediately beamed with happiness at her answer. She took the paper and started writing down the words she wanted to say. She gave it back to C.C. and it read 'Did something happen between mom and dad?' The immortal speculated for a second before a thought struck her. Her eyes went wide as she look guiltily at the girl.

"I think I know why…" Annella just looked at her curiously.

"How could an intruder get inside?" Kallen said in irritation. She and Inoue had been just briefed earlier of the current situation. With Zero missing, C.C. being an alluring tease, and an intruder that's been knocking people in every corner, Q-1 has a lot going in her mind at the moment.

"Seems like we have to postpone our search," the older woman said with a shy of dejection, "I'll head to the control room to check the security cameras, be careful Kallen," and with that the redhead rushed through the corridors in search for an intruder.

She arrived at the recreation room a minute later. Once she opened the door, she was greeted by the lifeless sight of Tamaki and two other of her comrades. They were sprawled around the floor, except for Tamaki who lay painfully at the pool table. She walked towards Tamaki when she noticed him move.

"Tamaki!" she yelled out. The man roused up and looked at her with half-opened eyes. Kallen then noticed a huge bruise on his forehead, "What happened here?"

"It's your ghost, Kallen…" he said with a weak cough, "Run…" and the loudmouth had been put to silence as his consciousness slipped away and his head fell on the pool table once again.

"Eh? What do you mean? Hey," Kallen shook his body, but Tamaki didn't respond.

"Leave him Kallen, he was struck hard in the head," appearing from inside the closet after failing to reach Narnia, Lelouch stood with his usual composure, "Do you have my mask?

Kallen turned around and wondered where he came from. Her question was answered when she glanced at the open closet behind him.

"You hid in there?" she asked with a soft laugh as she hand his mask to him, seemingly forgetting the sorry state of her comrade.

"It's undignified, but I was left with no choice," he said with a frown before putting his mask on. The clink of metal that locked his mask in place gave both of them a second of relief.

"What happened here? Did you see the one who knocked them out?"

"Yeah…" he said with slight hesitation, "Annella's gone rogue," Kallen's eyes perked up at the mention of the name.

What happened was that Annella was trying to stay incognito, but because Tamaki noticed her and kept pestering her, she got annoyed to the point of abandoning her cover. Usually she'll just let it pass and ignore the guy, but years of dealing with the man's idiocy combined with her panicked state, led to a head being smashed in the pool table… Tamaki's head. Though Lelouch and Kallen is clueless of the reason behind her action.

"You mean that girl from yesterday?" Zero nodded, "Why?"

"I don't know," he said as he kept thinking for an answer, "I sensed panic when she called me on the phone earlier, and she seemed furiously hasty when she arrived here. Those three didn't even stand a chance," he stared at the unconscious bodies on the room.

"Is she targeting you?" Lelouch noticed the danger in her eyes, which caused him to be a little disoriented when he remembered seeing the same glare from the currently wild Annella.

"I don't think so," he averted away from Kallen's glare, "Though she seems to be searching for something or someone…"

"What should we do then? I've been told that our men are dropping like flies, even that Xingke guy was found unconscious outside."

"I've witnessed it just earlier and beforehand, but to think her skills are this outstanding," he looked at the sorry state of their security, "I'm oddly reminded of Suzaku."

"That guy?" she scoffed at the thought of her former classmate, "He is stupidly strong."

"Yeah, and he's back in Ashford to check up on me," he wanted to massage his forehead, but settled on just placing a hand on his mask. He feels exhausted at the number of times he'd been getting unannounced headaches, because of problems appearing out of nowhere. Nonetheless, such trifles are still in his expected happenings, except for their current situation.

They were then disrupted by the marching noises of others, and a second later group of people came inside.

"Lord Zero!" one of the men said, "It's good to know you're safe."

"Lord Zero, there's an intruder in our midst! Your orders?" said by another one.

"Go in groups of four and search the area. I want the target alive, so don't use unnecessary firearms," the soldiers seemed taken aback for a second before saluting and heading out. They then passed out his orders to others, their screams and loud steps reaching ears to anyone nearby.

"You're with me, Kallen, I doubt I'd be able to subdue her on my own," Kallen nodded and followed behind him.

'How could you!' Annella wanted to scream, but her lack of a voice limited her with wild flailing of the arms. She stood over with her hands posed intimidatingly on her hips in protest to what the lime immortal had done.

"To be fair, she was asking for it. Do you even see how provocative your mother's clothes are?" she was only received with an angered glare. She raised her left arm again, which is now transparent up to her elbow, and pointed it at her, "It's my fault, I know, but it's just one harmless kiss. I didn't know it'll doom your existence."

Annella wanted to shoot her, but she reasoned herself that it'll just be a waste of time. Instead, she took another paper from C.C.'s diary, while ignoring her complaint to leave her poor journal alone.

She gave the torn paper to her and it read, 'Fix this mess!'

"I will, I will," she said in a bored tone. Despite the shocking and intriguing revelation, C.C. is too sick to care right now, "Just let me take my nap, I'm sick."

Annella then took her by the sling of her white mini shirt, and gave her a deathly glare. She mouthed out the word, 'Now!' and C.C. was forced to affirm. Annella then took the limette and carried her on her shoulder. The shorter girl slammed her fists softly on her back, demanding to be carried properly, but the redhead was occupied by the loud steps nearing the room.

"Freeze!" Kento Sugiyama, C.C.'s pizza chef arrived with three other Black Knights, "Let go of the girl!" he yelled as he pointed his dart gun. It isn't lethal, but the small darts had been dosed with a sedative that can fell a wild beast.

He received his request in a surprising manner when the hostage was thrown at him forcefully. He caught her, but the force of the throw pushed him on the ground. C.C. just groaned in annoyance at being tossed aside.

The act did its purpose and distracted the other three soldiers, giving little red time traveler the second she needs to attack. She jumped and gave a one spin Nelly-kick to the dumbstruck soldier at the right side of the wing, and the man fell in pain and lost hold of his weapon. Annella took up his tranquilizer gun when she landed and shot the other two as she narrowly evaded their fire. When the dart pierced their skin, they slump forward to their slumber.

She walked near the teal-haired man and pointed her gun above his face. Sugiyama got terrified at seeing the violet glint in her eyes. The girl smirked as the man squirmed beneath C.C. before firing the last round of sedative. The man got hit in the neck, and it immediately took him into a dreamless sleep.

C.C. also a witness of her surprising bloodlust, grew curious at the expression she had made, but before she can examine it any further, the girl's eyes turned back to normal as she shook her head wildly, removing the ferocity from her face. She then looked at her surroundings then took two of the unused guns lying on the floor. The immortal was surprised when one of the guns was thrown towards her. She caught it awkwardly and Annella gestured a shooting sign in her hand, telling her to back her up. C.C. just looked at the weapon before looking back at the redhead. She stood up and sighed in agreement.

"I'm guessing you're the intruder then," C.C. stated, "Still, you're quite the warrior, aren't you?" she said tauntingly, to which the girl just looked at her with a troubled expression, like a rebellious teen who did something behind her parents back, the lime witch noted.

She then surprised the centuries old immortal again by sweeping her off her legs and carrying her over her arms. C.C. didn't had the energy to protest so she just endured the rough treatment. Annella rushed out of the room with C.C. slung on her shoulder, the baggage immortal reflecting on her regrets of meeting with the vi Britannian bloodline as she let out a sneeze.

Lelouch arrived at the briefing room and was shocked at the sight of four of his men knocked out, and beneath them was shards of the glass wall that used to stand in front of the entrance.

"What happened here?" Kallen came from behind him and rushed to aid her comrades. A sudden groan of one of the members took their attention, and they saw the sprawled man on the right wing of the room move slowly. Lelouch approached the man and helped him get up.

"What was the last thing you remember?" Lelouch said.

"L-Lord Zero!" the man suddenly jolted when he saw his boss' obsidian mask, but quickly fell as the pain in his face reminded him of what happened, "I–We were attacked, Lady C.C. was also taken," he wiped his bloody nose with the hem of his uniform.

"C.C.?" Kallen remarked and looked at the disheveled sofa that the pizza woman laid in earlier, "Zero, do you have any idea why she took C.C.?"

"I don't know, though I doubt she took her as a hostage," it took a second for Kallen to realize the futility of having an immortal as a hostage, "As I suspect," he continued, "She doesn't seem to have any plans on killing our soldiers," he took a knee and examined the dart stuck at Sugiyama's neck.

"Then why is she doing this?"

"I have no idea, but she seems desperate…" Kallen was about to ask how he thinks so, but was interrupted when Lelouch immediately stood up, "You," he faced the groggy man, "Did your group break down the door?"

"N-No," the man said, a bit flustered at talking to their leader personally, "It was already broken down when we entered, and there were already some glass shards in the ground."

"I see, do you have your tranquilizer gun with you?" the man searched his pockets, but came empty handed, "She took their weapons…" Lelouch groaned, but because of the voice synthesizer it became more of a growl that startled both Kallen and the recruit.

"Kallen, do you have any weapons with you?" Kallen brought out a mini-taser and her pouch knife out her bag pocket, "All right, that will do. Avoid fatally injuring her if possible," he was then offered a baton by the dizzy soldier. Even though he didn't plan on fighting, he took the man's baton to avoid disregarding his subordinate's good intention. He hid it on the side of his shirt.

Kallen grumbled for a bit before nodding her head in affirmation. She's growing curious at the visible concern that Lelouch shows to the new recruit whose wreaking havoc in their base. She had worked and followed the man in front of her for a year, but this was definitely a first for Kallen, to see him act so hesitant when giving orders.

"Do you have any questions, Q-1?" at the mention of her codename, Kallen stood in attention. Even though she couldn't see his face, she assumed that there's an expression of doubt behind his mask. As a soldier of the Black Knights or as the personal guard of Zero, it's her duty to clear that doubt to the best of her abilities. So rather than voicing out her concern, she gave him a determined look before marching ahead of him. Lelouch, though a bit puzzled, was glad that Kallen placed her trust on him.

Before their search could continue, they were interrupted by a group of soldiers when they stepped outside of the room. The Deputy Commander was the one leading the fray.

"Zero," Ohgi called out. He was together with three other soldiers, all carrying firearms meant for capturing, "Things are getting hectic around here, we found Tohdoh and the holy swords asleep at the cafeteria."

"Those guys?!" Kallen said in disbelief.

"When did you found them?" Zero asked.

"About half an hour ago, apparently they encountered the intruder setting up some sort of barricade with the tables. Witnesses accounts that they exchanged fire for a short while, but because the opposing side has Lady C.C. as a hostage, Tohdoh decided to talk it out," Ohgi breathed heavily before continuing, "The other side agreed on the deal, and when C.C. was walking towards Tohdoh's group, the intruder threw a smoke bomb towards them. When the smoke faded, Lady C.C. was gone and Tohdoh's group was left unconscious."

"Just who is this person?" one of the soldiers, Minami Yoshitaka, exclaimed in the air, "There have been no reported casualties, but to be able to take down General Tohdoh like that, not to mention, alone…"

"Enough," Zero interrupted, "Our dear intruder is someone I know," the soldiers gasped and Kallen looked at him, curious as to where he's going with.

"You know him?" Ohgi voiced out.

"Her," Zero corrected him, "She was the pilot of the Gloucester who saved me yesterday."

"Her?" Minami fell into thought, "I was skeptical at first, but to think a woman was behind those…" he then caught the odd stare that Kallen gave him, "Uh, no offense, Kallen," the resident redhead just countered with a disapproving scowl which made him lower his head.

"Regardless," Ohgi continued, "If she helped us yesterday, then why is she attacking the place?"

"I don't know," Zero answered, "But you saw her skills, she's a needed asset for the Black Knights."

"Is that the reason why you issued an order to capture her?" Ohgi asked.

"Yes, though not only that," Zero flapped his cape minimally, "She's been a great help to me, and she doesn't seem to plan on causing any casualties, and I want to hear her reason for doing this directly. Besides, we'll probably suffer unneeded losses if we were to use deadly firearms," he walked away from the entrance of the room to let them see the mess inside.

"What happened here?" Ohgi repeated what Kallen said earlier as he slowly walked towards their fallen comrades.

"She had no weapons when I first saw her attack Tamaki and his group in the recreation room," Zero continued to talk when the abled soldiers rushed to aid the unconscious men on the floor, "She's been scavenging weapons from the people she knocked out. Fortunately she's only been met with debilitating weapons, though if she's already in possession of other firearms, she's not showing any signs of using them."

"Zero, where did you find this girl?" Ohgi asked while being amazed and terrified at the same time.

"People of the same cause tend to gravitate towards one another," he excused, though only Kallen noticed his avoidance of the question.

"I see, she was also part of the reason the Black Knights were pieced back together," Ohgi stated, "Alright, I'll pass down your orders to the others after we carried these guys to the medical ward," he picked up Sugiyama and slumped the man's arm over his shoulder. Zero agreed and they went off, leaving Lelouch and Kallen at the empty hallway.

"Where did you find her, Zero?" the redhead gave him an accusatory glance, and Lelouch knew why. Even if the mystery girl is a major reason that the Black Knights are back together with most of their full force, thanks to her saving their leader, her current actions shows that she's capable of tearing the Black Knights apart from the inside. Whether she plans to do it or not is the question.

"She approached me," he answered, "The day before I recover my memories, she told me to talk to her when I'm 'Zero'"

"What? So she knows who you are before then?" Lelouch just bobbed his obsidian mask.

"We met again the day after the events in Babel Tower, and she… allied herself to me," he purposely left out the part where he hugged the girl despite being wary of her at the time. Kallen gave him a look of astonishment, and it was the second time he saw that expression from her. The first time was when she found out his identity, and that didn't end well.

"Zero, I know you're brilliant and it's not my place to say this, but isn't that suspicious?" she started, "A super soldier suddenly came about and offered her services to you, and you just accepted?" For the first time as Zero and Q-1, Lelouch felt small.

"I…" Lelouch wanted to say that he felt threatened or was threatened, but nothing of the sort happened so he was stuck in 'I', as rare at it is.

"Wait, did you use your Geass on her?" Kallen questioned in a whisper.

"I didn't or rather I couldn't," the redhead gave him another questioning look, "She has something that could cancel my Geass…" when that left Lelouch's mouth, he knew he's gonna get another earful.

"Zero..." Lelouch prepared himself, but Kallen was interrupted by the sound in the intercoms.

"Umm, paging Zero and Q-1, I repeat, paging Zero and Q-1," the voice echoed throughout the consulate.

"Was that C.C.?" Lelouch asked and saw that Kallen has the same question on her head.

"What's this?" the voice started, "Oh, the intruder had kidnapped me and wants the two of you to come to the storage room, alone. I repeat, alone. Anybody, except for those two, who tries to get near the storage room will be shot by multiple sedatives or kicked painfully in the face," she let out a sneeze that reminded them that the immortal was sick.

"Zero, Kallen, please come," C.C. started, "She threatened on spilling my guts and see if I'll grow more if you don't, so please co–achoo! And bring a box of tissues with you," with that addendum, the message ended with a click. Both Lelouch and Kallen groaned at the disturbing image of the immortal woman's unlimited guts spilled all around the consulate.

There was a bout of silence as the two exchanged stares, or in Kallen's case, look at the reflection of her troubled and bemused face through Zero's shiny mask.

"Does that girl know about C.C.'s… you know, unable to die ability?" Kallen broke the silence.

"I don't know, but if she does, I doubt I'll be surprised," Lelouch answered with a dejected sigh, "Lead the way, Q-1."

Annella looked at the ill immortal sitting on a wooden chair. They were at the moderately large storage room full of supplies and random stuffs. They had arrived ten minutes earlier at the damp place after coming from the broadcasting room. C.C. had took someone's Black Knight's jacket along the way, and put it on because she felt cold. She was tied up on the chair by Annella as planned. Her wrists and ankles are tied tightly on the arms and legs of the chair, making her look the role of a hostage. It was part of the limette's plan, though Annella was rather creeped out by the teasing moans she let out while being tied up.

"Something the matter?" C.C. said when she saw the girl's troubled expression. The currently mute Annella just stared at her with questions on her face. Having had countless interactions with mortals in her long life made her an expert in reading people's faces, thus even if the redhead can't communicate with dialogue, she can precisely guess the girl's thoughts through her expressions.

The girl slumped her shoulders and slowly shook her head. C.C. guessed that she's worried at the success rate of their current plan, and the girl was indeed worried about it.

"Don't worry, if a kiss caused this then I'm sure a kiss can solve it as well," she smiled, and the girl just looked at her with doubt, "I'll use my tongue," she smoothly brought out her tongue as if to prove she's deadly capable on using it.

Annella looked at her with a bit of embarrassment. She usually doesn't mind talks that involves r-18 stuff, but if it includes her parents, she has an inkling that she'll be traumatized for life, and the therapist who'll take up her case will definitely be a rich man or woman.

"If I can ménage-a-trois my way into this, then all will be good," the lime-haired beauty said proudly and teasingly, "Who knows, maybe you'll be conceive earlier."

And that was all Annella could take before she gone beet red as a chill ran down her spine. She covered her ears tightly, closed her eyes, and crouched into a corner to ignore the woman that could potentially be her step-mother. The thought of it increased the freakish queerness she'd been feeling and she couldn't help but want to smash her head into a wall to forget everything that ever happened. C.C. on the other hand is pondering whether time-travel works that way.

They stayed like that for about two minutes before a knock on the door took their divided attention. They both exchanged glances, and nod as they put their plan into action. Annella put a tape on C.C.'s mouth and then quickly hid away from view. She removed her presence as she became one with the Japanese doll beside her.

"I'm here," Zero's voice echoed from the outside. There were some voices of protest coming from behind him, but it was hushed when Zero delivered an 'I got this' speech.

"Back down, Zero," Kallen's voice hollered out. A second later, a large bump on the metallic storage door was placed upon C.C.'s sight. The force caused the lock to break and the door opened quietly.

When the two heroes arrived, they saw the kidnapped immortal tied in a chair. They rushed to her side, and was about to free her when the floor beneath them disappear, causing the three individuals to fall helplessly in the dark.

"Ugh…" Lelouch groaned out. He felt a soft sensation when he tried to move his body, and when he raised his head, he saw Kallen laying protectively underneath him, her hands clutching on his cape to make sure he didn't fall on an unlikely death, "Kallen?" his reassurance over his safety was immediately replaced with worry as the girl didn't move, "Hey, Kallen!" he shook her slightly and a wave of relief washed over him as Kallen started to groan.

"Zero…" Kallen said weakly. She looked around for a second, lost in her thoughts before going wide eye in remembering their situation, "Zero! Are you alright?" she asked while still under him.

"Worry about yourself first," Lelouch said with a smile, though his mask unfortunately hid it from the girl's view.

"I'm glad you're ok," Kallen said, sheepishly smiling as she noticed her arms embracing him awkwardly.

They stayed like that for a while, seemingly lost in their own world as they stare at each other. And even though Lelouch wore a helmet, for a spectator like the forgotten immortal, it felt like Kallen could see through the violet shades of Zero's mask.

C.C. was troubled, she didn't want to interrupt the two, as them exchanging such glances was the goal of their plan to begin with, but the itchiness on her nose made the ruination of their moment inevitable. As the seconds passed by, the tied up witch struggled on holding out till a sudden breeze of cold air broke through her resistance, causing her to let out a sneeze with her closed mouth.

The two teens instantly snapped out of their trance and saw their rescue target lying head first on the ground while tied in a chair and a tape plastered around her mouth. They promptly walked towards her in haste to fix the uncomfortable position she was left in.

"Thanks, you got the tissues?" she said with bleary eyes after Zero removed the tape on her mouth. Lelouch then gave her the box she wanted while Kallen cut the ropes that tied her with her pouch knife. C.C. took the facial tissue with her freed hand and immediately wiped her reddened nose with it.

"You're still ill," after freeing her, Kallen brought the back of her hand on C.C.'s neck to feel her temperature. She felt the immortal's feverish heat the moment her skin connected with hers, "Zero we need to get out of here," she took the lime-haired woman and carried her over her back. C.C. snuggled over Kallen's piggyback carry, while Lelouch felt somewhat emasculated by their roles, though he got over it a second later when he concluded that this is the most efficient way of travelling.

"It seems we didn't fell that high," Zero stated as he looked at the dark crevice from where they came from, "Where are we, anyway?" Kallen just shrugged, but the girl behind her raised her head.

"We're in another secret passage," she started, "The other one was made for Knightmares and heavy transport while this one is made for human travels."

"I see."

"Why did she dropped us here?" Kallen brought up, "More importantly, she knows where the secret passages are? Just who is that girl?"

In truth, Annella didn't know the layout of the consulate, and only the Chinese soldiers knew of the passage. C.C. however, found it in one of her whimsical escapades, so she was the one who plotted on dropping the three of them in this secluded area.

"It doesn't matter," Lelouch said, "We only have one direction to go to, let's get going."

The passage got darker the more they move forward, so Lelouch took out the baton he was handed, Kallen's stun gun, and teared a piece of cloth on his cape. He wrapped the cloth around the wooden handle of the plastic baton, and then struck the cloth with electricity to create an impromptu torch. It took them about half an hour to reach the end of the passage, but rather than be met by an exit, there was only a grayish square room with a circle metallic door at its ceiling. It was placed in the middle, and the lack of a handle suggests that it can only be opened from the outside.

"A dead end…" Kallen said in dejection.

"Damn," Lelouch removed his helmet to relieve himself from the uncomforting heat that's making him sweat profusely because of his confining clothes.

He looked around the walls and found candles placed on a number of ceramic plates placed on uncharacteristic ledges stuck on the walls. He took the time to light every candle up with the dying torch while Kallen took a knee to lay C.C. gently.

"I'm sorry, you two," C.C. weakly said when Lelouch walked towards them. She roused up with a flair of dramatic by acting faintly as she got up. Kallen immediately went to her rescue and help her stand properly, "This wouldn't had happened if I wasn't captured," she coughed. Kallen and Lelouch just stared at her, slightly perplexed at her odd behavior.

"Hey," the redhead said, "We don't blame you, and it's not your fault."

"You're right," the woman smiled, "I should thank the two of you instead," she slipped away from Kallen's hold and hobbled towards Lelouch, "Thank you…" she said when the boy caught her ailing figure. She then did something that surprised every vicinity in the room aside from her.

She held Lelouch's cheeks and tiptoed towards his face, planting her lips on his. The man known as Zero was taken aback, but was stopped by the girl's surprisingly strong hold of him. He was about to pull out before the green-haired beauty locked him up with her tongue. Kallen, the only spectator of the scene, was stunned at the duration of the immortal's 'Thank You Kiss.' Her mouth was gaped slightly, no words coming out as she stared at their locked figures. It took a while, but Lelouch finally found the strength to break away from the woman's strangle. He noticed the sly grin coming from C.C. while he stared at her in shock.

"W-What are you doing, witch?!" Kallen voiced out Lelouch's question loudly as he was left stunned. The redhead's voice continued to reverberate in the secluded room, but it was suddenly put to stop when the witch approached the source and silenced it with her lips.

The same thing happened, and both the kisser and the victim couldn't help but reminisce their early affair, intensifying the kiss. The immortal made sure to better the experience, after all, she has her pride. Kallen on the other hand, melted over C.C.'s embrace and her knees bent weakly as the kiss continued. It went on to the point that the shorter girl stood flatly as she continues to lean forwards to the red-haired beauty. A few seconds later, the two women fell on the ground with their eyes closed as their tongues danced wildly in the candle-lit room.

Lelouch gulped at the lovely sight he's seeing and couldn't help wondering whether he was dreaming or not. His rational side then screamed at him to get his act together and ignore the surging flow of blood between his legs to stop the witch before things gets out of hand.

"Hey, witch, let Kallen go," he ordered in a flustered state, his voice seemingly hesitant to the tease. He was surprised when C.C. did as told and left a reddened and dizzy Kallen. She then looked at him with the same grin she wore and Lelouch couldn't help but be somewhat annoyed at himself for being stopped by it. He grumbled under his breath and walked towards them, but his stride was suddenly interrupted when C.C. kicked his legs, tripping him forwards.

With his poor athleticism, he fell comically to the witch's trap, and landed over to the confused redhead when the immortal evaded his fall. He felt his lips touch something, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself staring intently at the blue irises of his loyal subordinate. Their lips connected just as strands of their hairs interlocked. It was probably because of the green witch's influence that the two of them didn't instantly broke the kiss, but instead kept the chaste kiss as they continued to admire the person they're connected with. Kallen let out a soft moan when she closed her eyes in yearning, and Lelouch took it as a sign to deepen their bond. He closed his eyes and let his instincts guide his body.

"Good," C.C. whispered to herself. She sat at the side quietly, admiring the spectacle that resulted from her hard work. She hadn't noticed it, but she started feeling better the more they continued to make out.

When the three fell from the trap door, Annella slipped away from the crowd that formed around the hole. There were talks of rescuing them by coming down the hole, so she immediately closed the entrance with a push of a button. Since no one knows about the passage, they couldn't have guessed that the button needed to open and close the door is in the back of the Japanese doll she hid from view. She took the doll's kimono when she slipped away from the Black Knights to hide it better, and also because she likes the appearance, which was black in color, designed by white and red petals, and tied in a cute black and red bow.

After slipping away from the view of the order's members, she ran towards the one destination that C.C. and her parents will arrived at, the strongest and most secure room of the consulate, its military briefing room placed in the middle of the consulate's main castle. She had taken out the big wigs of the order and the people in the control room in order to limit their capability on conducting a thorough search, though she had left Ohgi to at least keep the Black Knights in line, and so far it's working. No one had seen her yet, and nobody's panicking, though a lot seemed on edge.

She also found out earlier from C.C. that the long-haired guy she knocked out earlier was the Chinese General leading the place, so she instantly relished on her good luck after learning of that information.

When she arrived at the room twenty minutes later, she searched the entrance to the secret passage and found it hidden under a sofa. She went down the tunnel through a ladder and closed the heavy circular door to deny access from below, and when she came up, she closed the entrance and fixed the sofa's position. Afterwards, she put on the kimono she took with the intention of pretending to be a Japanese doll to camouflage herself, since the room is chuck full of inanimate objects meant for decoration. It was laid uniformly on the sides while a huge technological table is placed on the middle with lots of computers and screens. She then saw her reflection on one of the screens and admired her look. It fitted on her nicely though its skirt is rather short, only reaching above her knees. She then took notice of her red hair and she frowned when she realized that she wouldn't pass up as a Japanese doll, even if she can pretend to be a one armed manikin.

As she pondered on what to do, she noticed the large armor standing intimidatingly at the middle of the decorated manikin guards. A smile crept up on her face when an idea started to brew. She rolled the sleeves of her kimono and started taking the armor apart. It took a while, but with all the effort she put in, she was finally donned in an ancient Chinese General's armor for war.

The minutes passed by and she still hasn't noticed any signs of recovery. Her whole left arm was now transparent and her voice still wouldn't come out. She was sweating profusely under the heavy armor and thoughts of removing it surfaced from her mind, but before she can entertain it, a sudden creaking of the door made her jump. She hastily lined herself with the manikin guards as a person stepped inside the room.

"I'm telling you, this is where I end up when I fell in there," a brown-haired soldier said, his usual red headband was replaced by a large square bandage on his forehead.

"Tamaki? He's already awake? Then again, he always had a thick skull…" Annella quickly shut her mouth as she realized she can speak again. She glanced at her left arm and was goodly surprised by its solidity, "C.C. you did it!" her celebration was cut short since her voice was picked up by the sharp ears of Tamaki.

"You hear that?" he said to the person behind him, and Annella's heart started to race. A second later, the person walked inside, and was revealed to Annella as the younger version of her foster uncle, Kaname Ohgi.

"You heard something?" Ohgi asked.

"Yeah, I heard someone talking about my skull," he said which caused the hidden time traveler to nervously close her eyes, in hopes for the bad guys to go away.

"Are you sure you're not hearing things?" a person with glasses came in together with three armed soldiers, and Annella wanted to faint at the sight of them.

"No, I'm not!" Tamaki exclaimed, he then whisked away and moved towards the armor that hid Annella, "I'm sure I heard it around here…" his quest to find the intruder was fulfilled when he noticed the intimidating armor in the middle. He was about to examine it, but was instead held by the neck with its armored hand.

"Ack! What the hell?!" Tamaki tried to squirm away from its grip.

The others were surprised, but Ohgi immediately snapped out of it and pointed a gun towards the metal apparition. When Annella saw that, she tossed aside Tamaki and poised to rush Ohgi, causing the man to fire his gun. Because of his panic, he didn't noticed that the gun he pulled out wasn't the tranquilizer gun that Zero ordered to use. When Annella heard the loud bang of the firearm, she instantly recognized it as a pistol and tried to stay away from its trajectory. Fortunately, she managed to move her head in time, but the bullet hit the side of her helmet, breaking the old relic and revealing her face.

"K-Kallen?" Ohgi said wide-eyed and the other soldiers mirrored his expression.

"G-Greetings, friends…" Annella said, but she was only met with more silence.

Tamaki stood up from the floor a moment later and wore a proud look.

"And you said I'm just hearing things," the others just ignored him. When he got on with the program and looked at the girl in the armor, his face went pale, "G-Ghost!"

"Out of all the people to expose me…" she sighed and raised her hands in surrender.

Awkward glances were exchanged between Lelouch and Kallen as they try to find the right words to say in the hive of their mind. They had just put a stop of their intimate act, courtesy of C.C.'s giggling, and the result was a variation of blushing faces and teenage confusion.

"Over already?" with a satisfied smile plastered on her face, C.C. approached the sitting duo, "Don't mind me, I'll join in later."

"Now's not the time," Lelouch coolly said, but his reddened appearance says otherwise. He stood up and turned around to hide his flustered face, "We need to find a way out of here."

"H-He's right," Kallen nervously followed up. She also stood up and turned the other way around to hide her embarrassment, "We need to get out of here."

"Do we have to?" C.C. asked.

"Yes!" the two said simultaneously which caused them to turn around when they bump stares at one another.

C.C. was worried whether she accomplished her task properly so she pondered on continually teasing the two or not. She decided on the former and was about to put it into action before a wave of light came down on them. They looked at the source and found the heavy door opened.

"Hey! Are you guys in there?" the loud voice of Tamaki echoed in the room.

"Tamaki?" Kallen voiced out and Lelouch immediately put on his mask, "We're down here!"

"Alright, I'm bringing down the ladder, so watch out!" what followed was a swift freefall of a metallic ladder with a grinning Tamaki at the bottom. His grin was instantly replaced by a pained expression when his feet touch the ground, "Ow, this stupid old piece of crap," he smacked the ladder as if it's a sentient being.

"Tamaki," Zero called.

"Buddy!" the brown-haired man yelled out, "What do you think? I did a great job didn't I?" Zero only nodded while Kallen sighed in relief, C.C. however was a bit unsettled, "Oh right, we also caught the intruder," when he said that, the trio looked at him with surprised attention.

After ordering Tamaki to blow out the flames of the candles, Zero, Kallen, and C.C. came up and was surprised at the sight of their intruder dressed in a kimono. Her hands were tied behind her back and she wore an annoyed look towards the guns pointed at her. Zero noticed this and told his men to lower their arms. C.C. remained passive despite being alleviated by the girl's wholly left arm, Kallen on the other hand, felt puzzled at the girl's appearance, not because she's wearing a kimono, but because her face reminds her of her own. Annella noticed her curious stare, and tried to move her face away from sight, but considering her situation, she was failing tremendously.

"Zero," Ohgi said, "I'm glad you three are alright."

"Yes. How did you found out about this passage?" Zero asked.

"It was thanks to Tamaki," Kallen and C.C. looked at him strangely, and he guessed that Zero was doing the same behind his mask, "Apparently, he fell on the passage yesterday after being drunk, it was also thanks to him that we caught the intruder," he pointed at the girl who's shyly hiding her face, "He did a surprisingly good job," he said with a chuckle.

"I see, I guess I've been underestimating him," Zero whispered to himself. He then walked towards the captive girl who was the source of their base's turmoil.

"Annella," Zero's articulate voice took the attention of everyone in the room, "Care to explain why you did… all of these?"

Annella brought her head down, seemingly distraught. Zero sighed inwardly when he realized she wasn't planning on saying anything. He was about to order locking her up momentarily, but her sudden laugh caught all of them off guard.

"How pathetic," she said after her maniacal laugh. It put the soldiers behind her on edge, "So this is the Order of the Black Knights? To be put in disarray by one little girl, how sad."

"What did you say?!" yelled by one of the soldiers. If not for Zero's presence and Ohgi's insistent command to not harm the girl, the man wouldn't hesitate on hitting her in the back of her head.

"I only said the truth," she spouted tauntingly, "Don't you agree as well, Zero?" everyone's stare fell in the man wearing an obsidian mask and waited for his response.

"Yes," he said which surprised his subordinates, "Is that the reason why you infiltrated the place, and pretended to be an enemy?" his question baffled everyone in the room, except C.C. which remained stoic despite the curious glint in her eyes.

"That's right," Annella said, "As a member of the Black Knights, I only wish for the betterment of the Order."

"I see," Zero started, "You're right, just looking at the result of your actions, our current security is indeed weak. If the Britannians were to attack us now, it would only result in our defeat," this silenced the man behind Annella, "Not to mention, this chaos was done by only one individual," Zero indicated and the girl bowed like an actress on a stage play.

"Very well, Annella, your concern is acknowledged," Zero ordered one of the soldiers to take off her restraints.

"Thank you," she said with a coy smile.

The sudden appearance of Tamaki from down under provided the needed calm to ease the tension brewing in the room.

"So, have you guys decided on whether she's a ghost or not?" everyone looked at him oddly.

"Go back," C.C. said.

"Huh, why?" he asked. C.C. only pointed downwards.

"Promotion's on halt," Lelouch thought as he relished on having dealt with the day's disturbance.

This went longer than I expected, seriously.

*Oh yeah, Naomi's alive, yay! She's only a minor supporting character so I expect none of you will complain about it. Frankly, I put her there because I couldn't find someone whom Kallen can talk to with with her female troubles. The Black Knights could use more prominent ladies in my opinion, though that's only my opinion, that's why I'm putting it here.

Chapter 7 will probably be out late, I have the vision for it already, but my personal life's been bugging me, apparently my friends are worried I'm not being social enough, which I can't deny. So make do with this for now.