Rage and Vengeance

"If his heart rules him, his conscience will soon take the place of the rod."

~Ancient Egyptian proverb

"What progress have you made?" Euphemia asked.

"We have gained ground in the North, but were stopped five miles in," High General Alistair Alezan explained, "No ground was gained in the South." The princess liked to keep up to date regarding the military affairs, and while it may have been treasonous to think, she was kind of glad to hear of the slowing advance. For every conquest the Empire made, it had the potential to make her mission harder, since it served as another power base for Charles to build on. The Alezan siblings made efforts to keep things functioning in a way that favored the dissidents, which was not at all impossible in their positions as the commanders of the Army and Air Force, but they could only do so much.

"But there have been further issues," Alistair continued, "According to Camilla, there are signs of antagonism stirring in certain divisions. Particularly towards the Euro Britannians."

"What do you mean?"

"For the time its mostly consisted brawls at the mess hall and the barracks and the occasionally dirty language, but there's nothing stopping things from going further." That was not at all good to hear, because it was all too true. Conflict between the two groups could very easily mushroom into something much bigger, which could come back to haunt the Grand Duke. He was an ally of the dissidents, and he would often take steps to advance their interests in that region, but his power was still limited by that of the Emperor. If the Duke lost any status or prestige in the region, it could seriously compromise their efforts.

"I imagine this is due to failures in the campaign?" Euphemia inquired, "The soldiers blame them?" Alistair nodded in affirmation.

"My sister is working to strike a balance, but she's fighting an uphill battle."

"Tell the Fourth High General I'm thankful for her continued efforts and service," Euphemia said, "I can only ask that she do her best." Alistair just nodded, before he checked his documents again.

"According to field reports, many of the problems have been from Leila Macal," he explained. Euphemia scowled at the mention of her; she had heard about her, she was a descendant of nobles who disagreed with Charles, and despite almost certainly being able to find a place amongst the dissidents, they chose to just flee. Anyone who ran away from a mess was a coward in her opinion; everyone had the obligation to help clean up the mess. And when a house was in such a state, you didn't just blow up the house (as many seemed to aspire to do).

"There is nothing to be done about her," Euphemia said, "All I can tell you is not to die."

"That may be above my pay grade, Your Highness," Alistair answered with a slight chuckle. Euphemia didn't return it, as she chewed on her lip. She hadn't been joking when she said that; Alistair was the First High General, and the commandant of the entire Imperial Air Force, but he was also a general with a reputation for honor and humanity, meaning he had plenty of people who would've loved to seem him go. While the Alezans were an old and respected family in Britannia, they still had their enemies, especially now that they were High Generals, and on the front.

"Also Your Highness, you should know that two of our agents were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy," Alistair then added. Euphemia's heart skipped.

"Was any information lost?" she asked quickly.

"They both bit cyanide pills before they could be interrogated," the High General answered. Euphemia sighed in relief, before looking at the table solemnly. While it wasn't standard practice and certainly wasn't expected, let alone asked, many an agent had met their end like that. It seemed the most surefire way of preventing valuable information from leaking. But it didn't make her feel any better.

"What were their names?" she asked.

"I… I don't know," Alistair answered, apparently surprised by the question.

"Figure them out, and see to it that they're remembered," Euphemia instructed, "They died in service of their country." When Britannia was free of her father, Euphemia intended to build a memorial to commemorate all the brave souls who said "no" to his regime.

"Of course, Your Highness," Alistair said, bowing his head. As he did, another thought came to Euphemia.

"What of the local insurgencies?" she asked.

"Nothing larger than ordinary, but they have been more bold since Zero appeared," Alistair answered, "Since the occupational forces haven't arrived yet, we've been trying to deal with them our own way, but the viceroys are making things difficult." The princess chewed on her lip. This was to be expected, as the viceroys across the empire owed their position to the Emperor.

"If I may be so bold, Ma'am, I would recommend engaging Princess Cornelia on this matter," Alistair said. Euphemia's fists involuntarily clenched at that, and when she didn't respond, the High General took it as an invitation to continue.

"The support of the Chief General would be invaluable. It could push some of the moderates in the military over to our side, and give us that extra edge needed to stabilize our hold." Of the Council of High Generals, the only ones Euphemia knew personally were the Alezans; she had a few engagements with Second High General LaGuardia, and while she certainly seemed to be a professional officer who had no taste for cruelty or oppression, Euphemia didn't know her. She did however know Joseph Wyrman, the Fifth High General, and general commander of the Area Occupation Force. An elitist in every sense of the word, he believed that Britannia belonged wholly to the nobility, the commoners were merely the drones to increase their wealth, and the "Numbers" the ones to grind up for that wealth.

That left the commander of the Imperial Navy, Third High General Caesar Octavius. Euphemia knew nothing at all about him, save that he lost his arm in battle; he kept to himself mostly, and only attended military meetings, and even then only occasionally. Her allies on the Council couldn't tell her much about him either save from what Euphemia already knew. True Cornelia's support could lean him in their direction, but there was no guarantee.

"Its more than that," Euphemia said, "Could you really see my sister siding with us?" Alistair opened then closed his mouth, getting the message. Cornelia was a woman steeped in military discipline, and was no fan of their father. Much to the contrary, Euphemia knew that Cornelia hated him almost as much as she did; she blamed him as much as others for Lelouch and Nunnally's death. Euphemia also knew Cornelia wasn't actually a racist at heart. To her, conquering lands was strictly business, not personal, and she did not necessarily approve of the conquered's treatment. But the Japanese were an exception, and Euphemia had a good idea as to why: they were the ones who murdered Lelouch and Nunnally.

"Of course, Princess, forgive me if I sounded presumptions," Alistair said, bowing, before something offscreen seemed to take his attention.

"Go if you need to."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I will continue my work here."

"Of course, thank you First High General," Euphemia answered, "All hail Britannia."

"All hail Britannia," Alistair answered, putting his hand over his chest, and bowing his head again, as the connection cut out. Euphemia sighed, as she rubbed her forehead.

Something that her conversation with Alistair had indicated to her was how few allies she had in Japan. Aside from S.S. and Marquess Stadtfeld, there was no one she could really trust with these sorts of matters. She would've loved to bring more here, but they had responsibilities in other places that they couldn't abandon. And in this day and age it as so hard to tell who she could and couldn't trust. That was when Euphemia's mind turned to Suzaku. He was definitely a capable fighter, and from what she'd observed, a man of integrity and honor. But she still only barely knew him, and wasn't sure he could yet be trusted with information and drive that the dissenters held. Sitting back in her seat, Euphemia looked over her suite. As she did, she noticed her adviser sitting in a chair by the window, his nose in another book.

"What are you reading?" she asked.

"A chronicle of Genghis Khan," S.S. answered.

"Let me guess, you served in his court too," Euphemia said, rolling her eyes again.

"Actually no, I was in Baghdad during his time. I warned the Caliph to withdraw to Damascus, but he of course didn't listen. I otherwise avoided Genghis during his term, though I did spend some time in Kublai's court." Euphemia rolled her eyes as she listened to him drone on.

"Can I ask you something?" Euphemia asked her advisor. S.S. just nodded, not looking up from his book.

"Do you think Cornelia would support me if I told her the truth?" At that, S.S. looked up, as he snapped his book shut, considering the answer.

"She might support you," he eventually answered, "As for the your movement, you can't be sure. Your sister has become a woman driven by rage; she seeks to avenge the deaths of all the family taken from her."

"Cornelia's not an evil woman," Euphemia said, "She may savor defeating her enemies, and killing those she thinks deserve it, but she doesn't enjoy acts of wanton cruelty like others do."

"Her record would indicate otherwise," the immortal said plainly. The princess, though she really wanted to, honestly couldn't argue with that; but she had to believe, no, she knew Cornelia wasn't evil at heart.

"At any rate, perhaps that's not the issue at hand," S.S. responded, as he stood up and approached her, "Cornelia's goal is to slaughter those who murdered your siblings. To that end, there are now two kinds of people in the world: those who help her, and those in her way. I shouldn't have to tell you what she would do with the latter."

"You really think she'd go that far?"

"When Mehmed II arrived at the gates of Constantinople, I reminded him that his goal was to take the city, not destroy it; to rule the people, not slaughter them. He agreed then, but as the siege dragged on he grew more frustrated, to the point where he lashed out at me, declaring he would crush everyone standing in his way in the city, no matter. He didn't realize his error until two days after the looting had begun." The immortal then shook his head slightly.

"I don't think he ever really forgave himself for letting all that pillaging take place," he said.

"So you're saying Cornelia will become consumed by her anger and frustration," Euphemia said slowly, "and she'll burn half the country to the ground just to find Zero."

"And at that point, even Zero's death wouldn't satisfy her," S.S. added.

"So what can I do?" Euphemia asked after a pause.

"I'm afraid I can't say for certain. The most I can offer is that your may end up being your sister's only chain to the ground." Well that wasn't any pressure at all.

Euphemia needed a place to unwind quietly. She didn't think it was selfish to want a day or two off. The hotel on Lake Kawaguchi seemed apt enough. Now was just the matter of convincing Cornelia; somehow that seemed like just as big a hurdle to clear.

A Complete World History: Emblem of Blood

Though some may assume otherwise, Britannia was not always the imperialist, cutthroat nightmare that Charles zi Britannia made it. Something always causes countries to go down this road, be it a war, a famine, or in this case, a power struggle.

The roots of the Emblem of Blood, as it would come to be known, lay in the ascension of the Emperor Brutus nu Britannia. As Crown Prince, he had a reputation as a womanizer, taking many mistresses to bed, which was something he would carry upon his ascension to the throne. Though considered an otherwise passable monarch, Brutus quickly used his position to get even more mistresses, sometimes from noble families, sometimes from commoners; soon the palace was filled with bastard children, numbering in the dozens, and only growing. While there was precedent for an Emperor to take additional consorts in the past, the Emperor Brutus took it to a wholly unprecedented level. Then he took it a step further, by not only acknowledging these children, but legitimizing them, thus putting them in the line of inheritance. So in addition to his dozens of legitimate children, he now had even more illegitimate children in line for the throne. Is it any wonder that such a vicious struggle for power took place?

The Emblem kicked off surprisingly quietly with the death of Crown Prince William, who had initially been one of the children legitimized by Brutus. It had been through poisoning, and it may have been written off as choking or natural causes, but the poisoner confessed the culprit, and it turned out to be William's younger brother, Frederick, who was the eldest child of the Empress. Apparently Frederick had been plotting to poison all of three of his elder brothers, and when word was released, he was promptly executed for murder. It may have stopped there, but soon the new heir was shot as he was riding. Though the culprit wasn't caught, it was assumed to be his younger twin brother, who was slo executed. It proceeded to mushroom from there…

Soon all the Emperor's children and wives were being made to poison, gun down, or slit the throat of their relatives, some to rise in power, some to simply stay alive themselves. In this chaos, alliances were made with powerful noble families, who were promised wealth and even more power if they gave their support. In this chaos, the mother of the future Emperor Charles, who had been a common woman, was murdered herself, as was Charles' own brother, Victor. Its estimated that approximately 50 people were killed in the Emblem of Blood, a good number of them young. During all of this, Emperor Brutus took remarkable little action; whether he kept no diaries or he did and they were lost, no one is sure why.*

The Emblem of Blood didn't so much end as it simply fizzled out. It went to such an extent that eventually there weren't anymore people to compete in it, and the alliance webs just fell apart. In the end inheritance went to Prince Stewart, and upon Brutus' death he ascended without issue.* Regardless of any of this, though, the damage to Britannia had been done. The nobility was left greatly empowered by this struggle, the military. And to top it all off, there remained a young man who had seen the absolute worst of humanity, and had apparently been convinced that none of the good mattered anymore, if there even was anymore good left.

*According to a few sources I found, he was actually more indecisive than people realized, and he simply didn't have the will to act on anything that happened. I have also heard counter arguments that he supported the struggle, because it helped him pick out his enemies and his supporters (it bares noting there was never an attempt on his life). I'm inclined to favor the former of the two theories, as it falls in line with a general lack of real action and activity in Britannia outside of the Emblem.

*His reign was otherwise uneventful until he was violently overthrown by Charles.

Note: The course of the Emblem of Blood draws on the Ottoman Empire actually, because it was custom that all the Sultan's sons had a claim to the throne, no matter who their mother was. You can guess how things went from there. Now add probably another couple dozen kids…

This was a talky chapter, mostly to set up the scene at Kawaguchi, and further examine where Euphie stands right now. In case you haven't noticed or don't read my other stories, my writing style generally approaches chapters as if they were scenes, instead of episodes. That's why they often are sometimes short, and only consist of one thing. Its always been the way I've wrote.

Come the next chapter, I intend on kicking things off further. And for the record, no, I did not make up that proverb at the top.

Be sure to review.

As a little add on to my rant last chapter, I've noticed in fan fiction that Britannia isn't depicted as having become what it was through any event or particular reign, rather it was always like that; an oppressive, vicious empire. Why? Because its Britannia, that's the only reason ever given; Britannia is bad by virtue of being Britannia. Yeah, because that's always how it is in reality. Germany didn't become a vicious, fascist nightmare because of economic and social struggles that were seized upon by genocidal madmen, it was because it was Germany. Russia didn't become a ruthless, totalitarian empire because of a revolution hijacked by power hungry tyrants, it was because it was Russia. And Japan didn't became a militaristic, fanatic dictatorship because of fears exploited by ambitious warmongers, it was because it was Japan. Because no one can be bothered to really explore Britannia beyond being the Evil Empire, there is no dynamic to any of these conflicts.

Also Lelouch's statement that uniting the world in hatred of one man is just plain ridiculous. The world was united in the hatred of Hitler, and look where that turned out.