Lelouch and Kallen stood in the Metaverse, near the rendezvous point with the Glinda Knights and Irregulars. Marrybell had left behind a pair of packages for Kallen, one containing a spare Royal Guard uniform for Kallen, and the other holding a pilot suit, so that she could blend in among them. Arthur had already gone on ahead, while Kallen had found a secluded spot to change into the uniform in privacy, leaving Lelouch to wait patiently for her.

"I-I'm done," he heard Kallen's voice say. After a few moments, she came back into view, wearing an outfit that under other circumstances he might have mistaken for a fancy school uniform. It had a white blouse with a black necktie that fell slightly past her breasts. Red sleeves with black cuffs and gold-trimmed epaulettes on the shoulders were fitted over the blouse, along with a matching red and gold collar, and a short pinkish-purple cape that flared out slightly to the sides, though it seemed to taper off and stop somewhere around the waist. The waist itself had a black underbust corset, open in the front but fastened snugly around Kallen with gold-colored straps, which in turn secured a red frilled skirt, with black in its valleys and a white underskirt, also frilled, underneath. Thigh-high white high-heeled boots sheathed Kallen's legs, and she had a red beret with a black trim on her head.

"So... how do I look?" Kallen asked, her cheeks red. She turned around for him, causing her cape to flutter in the air as she did so. As a whole, the outfit was tasteful enough.

"It... suits you well," he replied once she was facing him again. "You always look great in red, Queen. It's... a cute design too... though don't go telling West that. We may never hear the end of it."

Kallen smiled slightly, though it quickly turned to a grimace, and her cheeks even redder with it. "I mean... it could have been a lot worse... but it's still a Britannian Royal Guard uniform. It... just... feels weird, Zero!"

Lelouch smirked slightly. "But aren't you Warrant Officer Karen Stratmann, recent KMF Corps graduate at the top of her class, recommended for service in the 88th Princess's Royal Guard unit?"

Kallen glowered at him. "You know that's just a cover that West came up with, should anyone see me and ask."

"I know. I'm just teasing you a little," Lelouch replied. "But I understand how you feel all too well." His voice dropped, taking on a more thoughtful tone. "It makes me wonder though..."

"What is it, Zero?" Kallen asked, worry entering her own voice.

"I was just thinking... if I was still a prince... and if I somehow met the real you hiding beneath your meek facade... I'm sure I'd definitely have wanted to name you as my Knight of Honor."

"Huh?! Zero, I..." Kallen began.

"More than anything, it's a position reflecting the utmost trust in the chosen Knight. But I'm even certain that you'd be more than a match for any of the Knights of the Round."

"You're not just trying to flatter me, are you, Zero? How can you be sure of that, when you've never seen me in real combat against another Knightmare?"

"I mean every word of it, Queen. Remember, my mother was Marianne the Flash, who served my father as the Knight of Six. She was without a doubt the most skilled Round of her generation, and you're just as talented and determined as I remember her. Your battle reflexes in the Metaverse are second to none, and then there was the time you managed to get us away from The Reaper in that old Glasgow.

"The way you were able to push your machine past its normal limits, pull off stunts to avoid The Reaper's attacks, and move through the tunnels at a breakneck pace... No ordinary devicer could have done even half of that and survived. And that's assuming they had a modern Knightmare like a Sutherland or a Gloucester. You did it with a Glasgow, a frame that's already considered obsolete, and sacrificed peak performance so that more people could actually pilot it." He chuckled. "I'll admit that the Ganydmede that my mother piloted has been long since surpassed technologically... but she still could have used it to run circles around the mass-production frames that followed. If you had a fine-tuned, modern Knightmare, Queen, one that didn't hold you back, it would be clear to all that you're the one most worthy of inheriting my mother's title."

He shook his head. "I don't care if those in Pendragon say that Dame Alstreim is the second coming of Marianne the Flash or not. From what I saw at the ball, she doesn't have the same fierce determination, or capacity for love, that my mother had." He firmly met Kallen's gaze. "But you have those things, Queen."

"Zero..." Kallen whispered.

He shook his head again. "No, that wouldn't do at all. What good is simply inheriting another's title?" He chuckled. "But while we're still talking about hypotheticals, if the me who stayed a prince ever became Emperor... how would 'Knight of Zero' sound, Queen, a Knight of the Round above all others?"

"I couldn't be a Knight of Britannia," Kallen said slowly. "But... I could be a Knight for Zero."

Lelouch sighed. "Dealing once more in reality, the optimal scenario for us would be positioning Noire to take Britannia's throne after we change the Emperor's heart. She's still recognized as being in the line of succession, she's loved by the people, and she has the compassion needed to make a kinder and gentler world a reality. With her as Britannia's reigning Empress, we'd be able to dismantle everything that Charles zi Britannia stood for with a minimum of unnecessary bloodshed, even abolishing the monarchy itself in the end. But she'd still need Knights to protect her in the meantime, and we'd have to change the hearts of any nobles who continued to stand in the way of reform."

There still was his plan to steal the Treasure of the Public from Mementos, but that wasn't something he was going to say aloud when Igor might be eavesdropping, especially if the Prison Master had a connection to Mementos, as he suspected. Besides, nothing said that those two plans were in any way mutually exclusive of each other.

"You'd still have a Black Knight as the ruler of Britannia," Kallen replied, "and the Black Knights follow you, Zero. So wouldn't you be the Emperor of Britannia in all but name?"

"I suppose you're right, Queen..." He frowned. "Truth be told, I don't really want to force Noire into that role. But I don't want Nemo to have to return to that life either. If I were to do it myself, she'd be pulled into it with me. West can't do it either, not without provoking far too much opposition from the nobility and remaining royals, as she's much too low in the line of succession. Having Noire on the throne also theoretically neutralizes the Second Princess, one of Britannia's best generals, as a threat. She'd never take up arms against her beloved sister, and could be counted on to protect her instead."

Kallen grimaced at the mention of Cornelia, and several moments of awkward silence passed between them.

"Well, let's focus on the task at hand," Lelouch said finally. "You'll be accompanying the Glinda Knights on their raid against the cult's compound in the Taklamakan Desert. It's over 5,000 kilometers away from Tokyo, so according to West, would take a bit more than five hours to get there along the most direct route, assuming cruising altitudes. In practice, it will likely be at least eight to ten hours, if not a bit longer."

Kallen nodded.

"The Grandberry will skirt along the northern border to avoid being detected over population centers," Lelouch continued, "and fly low when in Chinese Federation territory to evade enemy radar arrays, though you'll also be under the cover of darkness for much of the trip. It's expected that the High Eunuch's forces will be in disarray, but there's no sense in giving them or the cult any advance notice if possible."

"It would all be much quicker if we could simply bring the entire ship into the Metaverse. It would be completely undetectable that way," Kallen grumbled.

"The MetNav's ranged doesn't extend that far. It has an effective navigation radius of 3.65 meters." Lelouch replied smoothly. "If any part of you is within that range when the phone begins navigation, your entire body will be brought into the Metaverse. Likewise, if you're in direct contact with an object that can be moved, it will also be transported into the Metaverse, provided that it fits within the navigation radius. The effect is bounded by building walls, which is why we never pulled in outsiders when we used it in alleyways, but it works around corners, which is how we accidentally dragged Diamond into the Metaverse with us so long ago."

"Of course you tested it," Kallen said. "I should have known. That's so you, Zero. But how then was the Black Mask able to kidnap Noire? People were packed a lot closer than that at the ball."

"I'm guessing they tried to get away as soon as his flash grenade went off, but it's also possible that his Navigator, or whatever equivalent Britannia managed to develop, has a smaller effective radius than ours. But now I wonder... if we could get enough phones and somehow rig them together..."

Once again, silence settled between them.

"Well, I'm sure that West will give you a more complete briefing on your mission once you've boarded the Grandberry," Lelouch said, breaking the silence.

Kallen looked at him and frowned. "Something's still bothering you, Zero. What is it?"

"Is it that obvious?" Lelouch sighed.

"It is," Kallen replied.

"If the king does not lead, how can he expect others to follow? I should be there alongside you, Queen, but I'm stuck keeping up appearances back at Ashford Academy with that detective around. I don't know most of the Glinda Knights or their capabilities either, and its West's ship anyway, so I had to leave most of the operational planning to her."

"I know you don't like it when you're not in control, Lelouch. But if that was the only thing on your mind, you'd be more frustrated than anything else. Be honest with me."

He shook his head. "We've changed the destiny of an entire nation, and the repercussions of that will be felt throughout the entire world, and for all time to come. The revolution in the Chinese Federation will become the beginning of the end of Britannia. The goal that we've fought so hard for is within reach. My first reaction was exultation... but now... I'm also worried that-"

Lelouch felt Kallen suddenly grab hold of him. "Stop right there, Zero! Are you trying to jinx us?! That's the sort of thing people say in sappy movies to make it clear that they're never going to see each other again! I refuse to let it end that way! Snap out of it! Is the Metaverse any less dangerous than this?"

He blinked, and then let out a wry laugh. "You're right, Queen. How foolish of me. If you're more than a match for any Knight of the Round, then I shouldn't be worried at all." He laughed again, but it was more of a chuckle this time. "I suppose this will seem a bit silly then... especially since you know that I'm not I'm not superstitious, but I thought..."

His cheeks flushed slightly, and if he had said he had felt a bit silly before, his embarrassment was now magnified several times over.

"You thought what, Zero?" Kallen pressed.

"I... uh, thought... that you would... um... appreciate this. So, please... take it!"

He handed Kallen what appeared to be a black and red brocade bag, woven with a pair of golden Japanese characters across the bottom, and an intricate pattern, in the same color, above them. The bag could fit in a hand, and was drawn closed by red thread at the top, by which it could be attached to a bag, a phone strap, or another suitable surface.

"An omamori," Kallen murmured, her eyes widening slightly, "containing a prayer for victory."

She was careful not to actually open the bag. Japanese superstition held that to open an omamori was to let the protection of the prayer within, usually written on paper or carved in wood, escape. That wasn't to say that an omamori's purported power would last forever. After a year's time, it would be expended, and the omamori was to be burned in a ceremonial fire at the shrine of purchase, as a means of honoring the deity who had blessed it.

Cynically, Lelouch thought that it seemed a convenient way to ensure that people would keep buying them. But the Metaverse didn't operate according to the same rules as reality. Here, he could feel actual power in the omamori, which it drew from the Cognition of believers throughout Japan.

Judging from her reaction, Kallen sensed that too.

"Lelouch... Where did you find this?"

"Nezu Shrine, where we went for Tanabata. I picked it up as I was waiting for my meeting with Kyoto."

"I get that Nezu Shrine is kept open through Kyoto's influence, but I still have a hard time believing that Britannia would just allow something like this to be sold. 'Victory' isn't exactly a subtle message these days."

Lelouch laughed. "Who says that Britannia knows anything about it, Queen?"

"Of course." She broke out into a smile. "Thank you, Zero. It... means a lot to me."

"It was the least I could do, Queen. I mean..." he frowned. "You're the one who's sacrificed the most in the relationship. I know that you said you were fine with Leila joining... But is that really true, Queen? I..."

Kallen grimaced. "You really need to work on 'not ruining the moment', Zero." She looked him firmly in the eyes. "I'll admit, it's not what I first hoped for when we got into a relationship together. But Shirley's almost like a sister to me now, and both of you wanted Leila to join as well, so I wasn't going to stand in the way. But don't think that's the only reason that I agreed to it! I mean... I totally get the whole thing with her living a double life, and losing her family to Britannia. In that way, I can understand her, just as I came to understand Shirley. She's proven herself too. She's not only loyal to you, but... she risked her neck for me. That's not something I'll forget any time soon."

She put a hand over her heart. "Besides, Zero, you should know by now that there's something else that means far more to me, far more than whether you're with other girls or not. You were doing so well... until you decided to start apologizing..."

From the way that her blue eyes were daring him, Lelouch felt that he was being tested. No, he knew that Kallen was testing him, and he was afraid of answering her incorrectly, lest he cause her to doubt the sincerity of his feelings for her.

But from the look in her eyes, she really, really wanted him to get it right.

"You don't have time to think it out," White Rider urged within him. "Seize the reins and act. Don't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!"

One of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse giving him relationship advice... that was hardly a reassuring thought. But then again, it was a Persona of the Chariot Arcana, and victory and conquest were parts of White Rider's domain. After a moment, Lelouch realized that his Persona was correct. What Kallen wanted was...

"You're right, Queen. That was indeed foolish of me." Taking Kallen in his arms, he leaned down slightly toward her.

Triumph flashed through Kallen's eyes, and she raised herself slightly to meet him.

Their lips met. Lelouch continued to hold Kallen warmly as he tried to communicate what words could not.

What Kallen wanted was his love and affection, reassurance that it was still truly there, and that he hadn't simply moved on from her in spite of his words to the contrary.

He gave her that as best he could.

Any tension in Kallen's body seemed to melt away, and breaking the kiss for a moment to smile, before returning it all the more passionately, leaving Lelouch struggling to keep up with her.

"Not bad..." Kallen said finally, still embracing him as she held his gaze. After a moment, she smirked slightly. "You've definitely improved, Zero. Then again, you've had some 'practice' recently. But thank you, Zero. I needed that."

"Hey, Queen, are you almost ready?" they heard Arthur's voice calling out in the distance. "We're waiting for you!"

"Just another moment, Tama!" Kallen called back.

"Well, I guess I have to get going now," she said, turning back to Lelouch.

He nodded. "Be careful, Queen. Don't let West get too carried away either. From what I've seen, she can be a bit of a handful."

"Don't remind me!" Kallen said, blushing furiously, no doubt remembering whatever had happened between them in Mementos. She shook her head, and then glanced down at herself.

"Do you really think she's so bad?"

Oldrin Zevon came into view. Unlike Kallen, she was wearing a pilot suit, but its design was -

"Is that really what the Glinda Knights wear when they're piloting Knightmares?" Kallen asked, nervously glancing down at her second package before returning her eyes to Oldrin.

"I get that it has to be tight to prevent losing consciousness under high g-forces, but that?"

Like the formal uniform that Kallen was wearing, the pilot suit was a striking red, and it also had white boots in a similar style, with matching gloves that reached halfway up her upper arms. But the body of the suit was markedly different. It was a leotard, though one that seemed to extend all the way up the back, trimmed in gold, and with material on the back flared out at both sides like coattails, until it tapered off around the knees. She also had a communicator hooked over her right ear, curving down to a thin mouthpiece, and wore long red ribbons to hold her blonde hair, styled into twin tails, in place. But perhaps the outfit's most conspicuous feature was a pink, heart-shaped piece of fabric that hugged Oldrin's breasts.

"Th-that's like something a s-showgirl would wear!" Kallen sputtered indignantly, "Or like when we had to-"

She instantly cut herself off and clenched a fist before she could embarrass herself further in front of Oldrin. But if Lelouch knew Kallen, she was probably thinking of either when she had donned a bunny suit to infiltrate the Black King's Palace, or when she had dressed herself up as a dancer as part of Milly's plan to get them into Gao Hai's Palace.

Oldrin gave Kallen a curious look.

"My point is, you don't feel at all bothered wearing something like that?" Kallen scowled. "What kind of pervert designs pilot suits like these?!"

"I agree," Lelouch added. "The 'talents' of whoever made that suit would be better spent designing swimwear or lingerie, like Clovis did." He felt his own cheeks grow warm. "What I'm saying - is that at least it makes sense for those sorts of things to be revealing!" he said quickly. "But why is a design like that even in the military?"

"West designed it," Oldrin said simply, crossing her arms. "I'm used to it. She likes this sort of thing. Besides, when she goes into battle she wears the same uniform as the rest of us." She laughed lightly. "She even designs her own sleepwear too."

"That's not the point! It's already bad enough that I have to dress up like I'm a Knight of Britannia, but to wear something like-"

Kallen cut herself off as she remembered exactly who she was talking to, and regarded Oldrin warily.

"I see that you haven't had positive experiences with Knights," Oldrin said. "But I don't blame you. Too many who call themselves Knights forget their duty to protect the weak." She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "When all of the world is a hopeless jumble, the Black Knights better exemplify the ideals we should live up to than most."

"That's from 'Over the Rainbow,' or rather, its introductory verse," Lelouch interrupted. "It goes like this: 'When all of the world is a hopeless jumble, and the raindrops tumble all around...' It was cut from the best-known film adaptation, but it's sometimes included in theatrical productions of The Wizard of Oz. I took my little sister to one once. She couldn't see it, not back then, but she loved the songs." He chuckled. "Of course you'd know about that, with your Persona."

"Are you making fun of me?!" Oldrin said, suddenly flustered.

"Not at all," he replied. "It just hadn't occurred to me how well you'd probably get along with her."

Oldrin seemed to accept that.

"Anyway," she said to Kallen, "I hope to show you that there's still some real chivalry out there. And if you're still not fond of the outfit, then at least you never had to don the Valkyrie Squadron's uniforms while infiltrating the Knight of Ten's Palace."

"What were those like?" Kallen asked, a morbid curiosity in her voice.

"Imagine this pilot suit. Then color them purple and black, add cleavage going almost all the way down the front, with your breasts only half-covered at best, expose much of the back, and reduce the length of the boots slightly. The only place where they actually covered more was the shoulders, and even then only by loose pieces of black cloth."

"Ugh. What a creep. I'm sorry I asked."

"That's the least of it. Besides trying to kill us, or really anyone he felt like murdering, the Knight of Ten wanted to sink his fangs into our newest member," Oldrin continued. "That is to say, he was trying to recruit her into his personal squadron, though she hadn't actually joined us at the time, and I'm sure he would have thought nothing of violating her if it amused him."

"Now you're making me wish I could have smashed his face in!" Kallen seethed.

"West thought much the same way," Oldrin said. Turning from Kallen, she gave Lelouch a curious look. "That reminds me. Our newest member is very eager to meet you, Zero. You changed her brother's heart, you know. It wasn't long after you first appeared on the scene."

"I did? Who was it?"

Oldrin shook her head and laughed lightly. "I think that's something I'll let her handle on her own. We've spent too much time chatting already."

Lelouch sighed. "Something to look forward to then."

Maybe if this unknown Glinda Knight's brother had been cruel to her before his change of heart, such a meeting could end well.

But from the smirk on Oldrin's face, he seriously doubted that.

xXx

As Lelouch went to bed that night, he knew that Kallen, Arthur, Marrybell, and the others were already well on their way to the Chinese Federation and the cult's compound in the Taklamakan Desert.

He also knew to expect Igor to summon him. The Prison Master always did so shortly after they managed to change someone's heart, and doubtlessly the long-nosed man would have something to say on the revolution currently underway in the Chinese Federation.

Indeed, a field of blue, filled with chains filled his mind's eye as he drifted off to sleep, pulling him down toward the Velvet Room.

But then, without warning, there was what could only be described as a sudden pulse of power, and the blue instantly turned to red, as the grating sound of a blaring alarm filled his consciousness...

"Oh, this is new," a voice said to his side. It was one he knew and loved, but it was distorted, slightly deeper than normal and with an unnatural reverberating effect. "It looks like the Nose tried to call both of us here..." There was a giggle, filled with dark amusement and laced with disdain. "But he meant to summon the other me! I think this is the first time we've really had a chance to talk like this, big brother!"

"Nemo," Lelouch said, looking over to where the voice was coming from, a cell just a few over from his. Sure enough, there was his little sister's Shadow, though now clad in prison attire like himself, pacing in her cell. Besides her blonde hair and glowing golden eyes, her features were exactly the same as Nunnally's, but there was something markedly different in her movements. They were almost feline, like an untamed tiger constantly searching for weaknesses in her enclosure.

Curiously, Igor was nowhere to be seen. Shi and Tsu were absent as well, and so Nemo's gaze remained fixed on him. She stopped pacing and approached the bars of her cell. Leaning forward, she grasped them with her hands held slightly over her head, and began to slowly but perceptibly shift her weight from one foot to another.

"I let my other self call me that, but we both know that I'm your little sister, Nunnally vi Britannia... and she is also me."

Her eyes continued to bore into him as she waited for him to respond.

"You're a part of her," Lelouch corrected. "You are my sister, but not in her entirety."

Nemo giggled again. "Perhaps, big brother, but I'm the greater part of her. The Nunnally you know in your daily life is but the tip of the iceberg."

She stepped away from the bars for a moment, and resumed pacing, though her eyes never left him.

"Don't get me wrong. She really is too kind for her own good, but that's exactly why there's so much pain and anger inside her heart." Nemo's features contorted. "We were maimed, betrayed, and abandoned! She didn't want to understand how Father could be so cruel to her, or why no one in our family except you would stand up to him, and so it hurt her all the more!"

Without further warning, Nemo violently grabbed the bars of her cell again, her arms straining as if trying to tear them apart, but they refused to budge.

Nemo's laughed again, harsher this time. "That's when I truly came into my own! From then on, she could only survive by making herself harmless, and endearing herself to others who would take care of her. Anything else had to be pushed under the surface. And so I grew, in the dark depths of her soul, waiting for the day that I could finally be unleashed and take my revenge!"

"I suspected as much," Lelouch said, not flinching from the Shadow's gaze. "As Jung said, 'the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser the Shadow.' That's as true for Nunnally as it would be for any other person."

"That's right!" Nemo grinned and loosened her grip on the bars, sounding entirely too cheerful for the wicked look that she wore. "It feels so good to be able to finally show you my blackened heart! Oh, you've glimpsed it when she lets me off my leash, but until now, I've just been a phantasm unseen by others, or a witch who surfaces in her dreams!"

Yet in the next moment, her features contorted again. "She still doesn't fully accept me," Nemo snarled. "She recognizes that I'm there, and she accepts me enough to use the name I chose for myself as her own, but she always shies back from embracing her darkness. She continues to turn her eyes from the truth! And so I make sure to keep reminding her of it!"

"You understand me though, don't you, big brother?" Nemo asked softly, her words sounded almost pleading, as if she wanted to cling to him. "You have that same darkness within you. We even share the same power... the number zero..."

Her voice trailed off, melancholy in a way that he couldn't ever recall hearing from Nunnally before.

"Of course I do," Lelouch told her. "Whether you're Nunnally or Nemo, you're still my little sister, and that will never change."

"That's right!" Nemo grinned, her mood instantly brightening. "But enough about me." A devilish look glinted in her golden eyes, as finally ready to pounce. "How is it having your very own harem, without even needing to rule a kingdom for it?"

"W-what?! N-N-Nunnally..." he sputtered, taken off guard by her sudden line of questioning.

"Why are you so surprised?" Nemo asked. "Shadows don't hold back their desires."

"And curiosity is a desire too?" Lelouch asked.

"Of course it is! I tried to get my other self to grill your newest girlfriend for details while we were doing her hair. We practically had her captive! But that goody two-shoes didn't seize the opportunity to its fullest!"

Wonderful. Nunnally's Shadow sounded like she had more than a bit of Milly in her.

"I know that you slept with her," Nemo pressed. "Do you know how many girls would be jealous of her right now? She has such flawless skin, and she has such beautiful, silky hair. Not only would they kill to look like that, but she got to be with you, big brother! Do you have any idea of how many girls at Ashford Academy would love to date you? It must be a dream come true for her! But I don't blame her. I couldn't marry anyone who doesn't measure up to you!"

If anything, Nemo sounded envious herself.

"I'm sure you'll find that person, Nunnally," he said cautiously.

"Don't get me wrong, she's a great match for you," Nemo replied, almost seeming to sulk. "Kallen and Shirley too. Have you already slept with all of them?"

"D-don't think that's the most important thing in a relationship!"

Nemo's golden eyes narrowed. "Have you or have you not, big brother? Remember, you made a blood oath with my other self, promising not to lie to her. And since I am her, you also made that oath to me." She smirked. "But if it makes you feel better, the same goes for me."

"What do you mean?"

Nemo's voice took on a conspiratorial tone. "I mean that if there's anything you wanna know about us, just ask. For example..." Her voice turned suggestive. "Have you ever wondered when your sister started to-?"

"I appreciate your concern for fairness," Lelouch cut in quickly, "but I'm reasonably certain I won't want to ask whatever you were about to say."

"But my point stands," Nemo said, tilting her head slightly. "You can ask me whatever you want, and I'll give you a truthful answer."

"You realize that one day I might take you up on that offer, don't you?"

Nemo's smirk spread into a wide, impish grin.

Lelouch sighed. "Fine. If you must know, I've done so with Kallen and Leila, but I haven't been with Shirley in that way yet."

"Why not?" Nemo demanded. "She's been pining for you longer than almost anyone else!"

"Shirley said she wanted to take things slowly. I'm sure she wants to wait for the right moment."

"Ugh. The two of you can wait all you like, but nothing will happen unless one of you takes the initiative! You do that fine when it comes to heists and battles, but sometimes you seem hopeless when it comes to romance, big brother!"

Nemo... had a point there. Kallen and Leila had both taken the initiative in advancing their relationships, but Shirley had not. That wasn't to say that he would intentionally do anything that would make Shirley uncomfortable, but it was likely that he would need to take the lead if he was to deepen his bond with her.

"I'll keep that in mind," he told his sister's Shadow.

"All things considered, I'm amazed that your women are so nice to each other," Nemo mused. "Father's wives at best politely ignored one another. Then again, Father's harem was always more about politics than love. Your own harem is the exception, rather than the rule."

Lelouch bristled slightly, both at the comparison to his father, and Nemo's choice in words. "This is nothing like how it was with my father."

"How long are you going to keep denying that?" Nemo said, her golden eyes flaring with sudden hostility. "Where do you think we got the darkness within us? You have our mother's looks, but you take after our father. My other self takes her own appearance from our father, when he was young, but the same darkness that resided in our mother passed on to me!"

"What are you talking about?" Lelouch asked. Her insistence on continuing to compare him to their father was irritating, but for some reason, he found what she was saying about their mother even more infuriating. "Our mother was-"

"You don't remember, do you?" Nemo laughed, cutting him off. "But I suppose I can't blame you for that, big brother. You're not a Shadow. A human like you can't possibly remember every little detail from their childhood... especially when they choose to forget some of them."

"But you can?" Lelouch asked, still feeling irritated.

Nemo giggled. "Of course I remember." She put both of her hands over her heart. "Traumatic memories that my other self chooses not to face, and the mundane events of living day to day that are quickly forgotten with time... even dreams, which slip away as soon as she awakens... All of them get pushed into her unconscious, into me. There's nothing that I don't know about your sister, because I am her."

The alarms around the Velvet Room suddenly began to blare more insistently.

"Damn it!" Nemo snarled. "It looks like the Nose is going to be back any moment now! No talking to him about what we discussed, brother!"

"What about you?"

"Are you kidding? Even my other self won't know about what the two of us discussed here, if neither of us talks!" The Shadow laughed again. "Still, I must say that I enjoyed our meeting, even if it was cut short. You'll talk to me again, big brother, won't you?"

If what Nemo was saying was true, and she had a perfect recollection of Nunnally's childhood, then she might have information that could lead them on the trail of those who were truly responsible for their mother's murder. There could also be any number of bits of gossip that Nunnally might have heard around Pendragon, but had never understood the importance of at the time, which could now provide vital insights.

Lelouch knew that he couldn't pass that opportunity up.

"I said it before. I'll always be here for my sister," he told the Shadow.

Nemo seemed exultant. "Then it's a deal!"

I am thou… thou art I

My bond stands renewed in pursuit of the truth.

This union, born and embraced by will unyielding,

shall become the balefire that lights thy path.

With the birth of the Lust Persona,

thou hast obtained the winds of blessing,

granting thee further power to tread the abyss…

Wait, what?! The speech made by the echoing voice in his head was almost entirely different from every other time he had forged a bond with a new confidant, and the speaker sounded different from before... It was almost as if their voice was halfway between Nunnally's natural one and that of her Shadow. Then there was the new Arcana itself... Lust? Not only was it another Arcana outside of the standard deck, but to think that it would be associated with his sister, or rather, her Shadow...

No. The Major Arcana were more symbolic than literal, and "Lust" could apply to any sort of overpowering desire. Even if it was exactly how Shirley's Deadly Sin had manifested, he didn't love her any less for it, and the same would be true with Nunnally.

It also wasn't possible for him to hate Nunnally's Shadow either, for to do so would be to hate his little sister, who was so very precious to him. Unexpected as it was, he could already feel the tentative bond he had forged with Nemo granting him the power he had been promised, and he would need every bit of it that he could gather with Ragnarok rapidly approaching.

Dream and reality seemed to flicker. Nemo's glowing golden eyes faded and were replaced by Nunnally's violet ones, while her hair changed from blonde to sandy brown. She remained in the straitjacket though.

Nunnally blinked several times. "Lelouch?" she asked, her voice back to its normal pitch and free of any unnatural echoes.

Lelouch wanted to say something to her, but if Igor was on his way back to the Velvet Room, they would be under the Prison Master's observation at any moment. Perhaps he was already eavesdropping on them. Telling Nunnally about his discussion with her Shadow here or in the real world would be no different than telling Igor himself, and that would break the terms of the deal he had just made.

Quickly, he touched his nose, trying to make it look like a careless gesture, but hoping that Nunnally would recognize why he couldn't talk to her right now.

Her eyes widened slightly, but it seemed she had grasped his meaning. She quickly adjusted her expression into as neutral of a mask as she could.

The Velvet Room flickered again, and Igor appeared in its center, seated at his desk. Shi and Tsu were there as well, standing by the cells in which Nunnally and himself were imprisoned.

"What have you done, Trickster?" Igor demanded, his voice booming and echoing through the Velvet Room, while his bloodshot eyes bulged outward. "Somehow, you have acquired an Arcana that should not be!"

Lust was a Major Arcana as foreign to the deck as Faith was, yet Igor's reaction to the formation of that bond was also completely different. But Lelouch couldn't say that he had expected Igor to react otherwise. Igor was angry because something had happened that he could not predict, and if there was one thing that the Prison Master hated, it was not being in control. Though perhaps some of Igor's ire toward what the Lust Arcana itself represented was genuine. The Prison Master had made clear that he held the Deadly Sins and anyone who embodied them in contempt, save for himself.

"Certainly you have the means to discern that from this panopticon of yours," Lelouch retorted. "Or has it occurred to you that people don't like being spied on, especially when they're enjoying what should be their most... intimate moments together?" Yes, let his real anger misdirect the Prison Master.

"I clearly did not punish Tsu enough for her insubordination earlier," Igor said. "That will be remedied. She put her affection for an Inmate ahead of her duties as a warden of my Velvet Room."

Tsu remained at attention, not saying a word, even as Shi looked fearful for her sister.

"She's not your slave!" Lelouch shouted angrily. Irked as he was by Tsu's earlier prank, nothing justified treating her in that way. "Nor is her sister!"

"You presume to speak of matters you know not of, Trickster!" Igor bellowed back.

"You're wasting your breath, Inmate," Tsu said bitterly, not making eye contact with him. "No matter what happens, I can't die like a human can. I'm simply not allowed to."

"Impudence!" Igor snarled. "Be thankful, Warden, that I do make you taste pain everlasting for your transgression."

"Thank you, Master," Tsu replied, her face impassive.

Lelouch was still furious, but he knew that to speak out further on Tsu's behalf would only invite further reprisals upon her.

"What of yourself?" Igor said, turning his displeasure toward Nunnally. "Do you know what just transpired with your brother?"

Nunnally shook her head. "No. I just got here."

Unable to find a lie, as she was technically telling him the truth, Igor slouched in his chair, brooding.

"It is no matter," Igor said after several moments. But it was an obvious lie, which made it all the more disconcerting, since Igor usually was careful enough to at least use half-truths.

"There is another matter that we must discuss," Igor continued, still not fooling anyone into thinking that his anger had subsided in the least. "That is the chaos that the two of you have willfully unleashed in the Chinese Federation. Even now, mobs have formed in every major city, mindlessly tearing down their society, without thought to how order will be maintained in the aftermath."

"And to think that you believed that the ordinary people of the Chinese Federation didn't have it in them to rise up against their oppressors," Lelouch smirked.

"But my big brother and I were able to give them hope!" Nunnally chimed in.

"What you have accomplished is not rehabilitation, but ruin!" Igor roared.

"What exactly did you expect?" Lelouch asked. "I've always said that I want to tear down the old world, so that a kinder and gentler world can take its place."

"They are lemmings who you have driven off a cliff and into anarchy! Without a strong leader to guide them, their entire nation will devolve into civil war before long."

"The people of the Chinese Federation still revere the Empress, and she'll have Xingke and Kaguya lending her their strength," Lelouch countered. "But they aren't there to take the High Eunuch's places. We would never have gone to the trouble of changing Gao Hai's heart if it meant that the people of Chinese Federation would merely exchange one yoke for another. They'll guide their people through the worst of the chaos to come, and provide an interim government, but in the end, it's up to the people themselves... And that's how it should be."

"The Empress is but a child, as is the heiress of Kyoto, and the bodyguard's condition means he will not be long for this world. And you think that the people can fill the void?!" Igor fumed. "The act of making decisions is accompanied by nothing but pain. As such, the people prefer not to think for themselves. Even when they do choose, they remain as ever prisoners of their base desires, or are swept along by currents that they know naught of. If left to their own devices, the world would slowly meet its demise. Faced with ruin, the masses will inevitably come to pray for salvation. Humans are too foolish and too weak to do otherwise."

Lelouch had already come to the conclusion that as one who was entirely too much like his father, Igor could only be his enemy. They were only temporarily united by their shared desire to stop Ragnarok. Igor's mask as a mentor had slowly cracked as he was questioned time and again, with glimpses of his true face coming out in fits of rage at being challenged in any way.

But now, Lelouch saw that Igor wasn't even bothering to hide his tyrannical nature. The Prison Master casually admitted to mistreating Tsu for the crime of coming to warn him, while threatening her with an arbitrary, sadistic, and wholly disproportionate punishment. It was also clear now that Igor valued social order at any cost, no matter what cruelties or injustices were committed by those in power. How could it be otherwise, when Igor had all but said that he preferred the reign of the High Eunuchs to the revolution against them?

Igor would never willingly permit them to bring about the world that they sought to create when he was completely opposed to it. That made it more important than ever to eliminate Igor before he could eliminate them, yet they still had to play the Prison Master's game for now.

"You're wrong," Nunnally said softly.

"What?!" Igor snarled.

Lelouch didn't need the Third Eye to feel the Prison Master's aura erupt with killing intent that was only barely held back for now.

"People making decisions isn't just accompanied by pain," Nunnally replied, remaining calm and not even flinching before the Prison Master. "It's also accompanied by hope, the wish to seek their own paths forward and find happiness." Nunnally shook her head. "It's true that people may be weak on their own. I know that all too well. They struggle and make mistakes too. But nonetheless, I believe in them! One day, people will be able to understand each other, and they'll build a brighter future together."

The roiling aura emanating from the Prison Master lessened somewhat, killing intent replaced with what was unmistakably contempt.

"Idealistic as only a Fool could be," Igor scoffed. "Hope is but a delusion, at best helping the masses accept their lot in life, but leading them to despair when they realize its futility."

"Yet because of our hopes, we've come this far already," Lelouch said. "You want Ragnarok stopped, don't you? But you're not capable of doing it yourself, are you? If you were, then you would have already done so. Instead, you sought us out because we foolish, weak humans had a power that you didn't, a power that you needed, even as you disparaged it. So unless you can actually do something to put an end to our father's plans yourself, don't question our methods."

"You tread a dangerous line, Trickster," Igor growled. "You think yourself wise, and you have indeed grown strong over these last few months. But my foolishness is wiser than your wisdom, and my weakness is stronger than your strength. As ever, you are consumed by the Deadly Sin of Pride!"

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong," Nunnally recited. "He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

Lelouch looked at his sister curiously. That had to be from the Bible. But how was she able to quote it so easily? Certainly it hadn't been from their childhood in Pendragon. Distant as their father had always been, Lelouch knew that Charles zi Britannia held a dim view of the Bible and its Commandments, viewing them merely as lies that the weak used to protect themselves.

At a glance, Igor seemed to be regarding Nunnally with a similar expression, but Lelouch quickly realized that it was something else entirely.

Igor didn't understand what Nunnally was talking about.

The Prison Master knew what the words themselves meant, and could even feign interest, but their significance eluded him, or at least was not something he deemed pertinent to the situation at hand.

Nunnally might as well have been spouting gibberish as far as Igor was concerned.

Seeing her brother's confusion, Nunnally looked over to him with a smile. "While I was doing Leila's hair with Sayoko, she asked me how I was doing since I regained my sight, and if I had been able to read any good books lately. That turned into a conversation into about how hard it was to find books written in Braille for me after the war, but you got them anyway! That was from one of the first Braille books that I read on my own, First Corinthians. I read it over and over, until I learned most of it by heart! Before I knew it, the two of us were sharing our favorite verses from it!"

That made sense, now that he thought about it. He didn't remember specifically seeking out a book from the Holy Bible for Nunnally, but along with the old classics of literature, it would have been among the easiest to find a Britannian Braille copy of, given its worldwide circulation. He could also imagine his younger self bringing it back to Nunnally after finding it just to spite their father. With what had to be such a powerful memory on Nunnally's end, and Leila's Catholic education, it was little wonder that the two of them had found so much common ground on the topic.

"Enough of this prattle!" Igor said, cutting Nunnally off before she could say any more. Leaning forward, he steepled his fingers as he glared at them. "Tricksters! I shall permit to continue as you see fit for now. But remember that I am always watching you. Stop Ragnarok as you may, if you prove incapable of guiding humanity on its proper course, I can always find others better suited for that role."

So not only did Igor need their power to avert Ragnarok, it seemed that Prison Master was unwilling to dispose of them for now, lest he throw away his best chances at doing so. It also told him exactly when Igor would try to eliminate them, allowing him to prepare accordingly.

"Forgive my sister. I understand," Lelouch replied. "Seeing our father's plans come to ruin remains our highest priority."

Nunnally nodded in turn.

"I am gladdened to hear that, Trickster. See to it that you do not disappoint me. To that end... " Igor gestured, and Shi and Tsu began to prepare the guillotines. "I did not summon you tonight merely to lecture you on the consequences of your actions. It is time for me to unveil the final ritual by which you may execute your Personas, and it is better that I explain it once to the two of you rather than twice."

"What about Marrybell?" Nunnally asked.

"She is still awake in the real world, and is thus not able to join us at present," Igor replied.

Of course. Marrybell was the Grandberry's commander, and it was very likely operating on a skeleton crew, to save as much of its capacity for rescuing captives from the cult's compound as possible. Hopefully, she would manage to get some rest before the raid. Tiredness was the enemy of clear thinking, something that every commander needed.

"We've used the guillotines before," Lelouch said to Igor. Indeed, it was surprising how very used to them he had become. He still felt it keenly whenever his Personas died and were reborn, and he didn't think he would ever become fully accustomed to the sensation, as the blades cut into different parts of his psyche each time. But his conscious mind was long past experiencing any sort of anxiety when the guillotines were brought out.

"Not like this, Trickster," Igor replied. "This ritual cannot be undertaken alone. You will choose a Persona to be executed, and another Persona-user will do the same. Of course, the Persona-user in question must have a soul that is compatible with your own. Therefore, we will search the lines of possibility for another you who has faced similar ordeals and is willing to participate in the ritual. The potential unrealized in this world may even grant the resulting Persona abilities it could not acquire otherwise. Because you must open your soul to others for this ritual to succeed, I call it a... 'Public Execution', Trickster."

"Wait... are you talking about the 'many-worlds interpretation'?" Lelouch asked. While Nina's research primarily focused on nuclear physics, she was also fascinated by quantum mechanics, to the point that Lelouch was sure that if she had been the one to name Arthur, she would have called him 'Schrödinger'. Personally, he thought that would be a rather cruel name to give a cat, even if Nina didn't intend it as such, and simply wanted to honor one of her scientific heroes.

Igor chuckled and waved his hand lazily. "In a manner of speaking, though there is no need to concern yourself with the details, Trickster."

"The details are always important," Lelouch countered. "If what you've said is true, the Velvet Room is not merely a place between dream and reality. It must also be a place between space and time as well if Personas from other worlds can gather here." He shook his head. "That's not even getting into the implications of parallel realities other than the Metaverse existing at all, but I'll leave that aside for now."

"Hmmm... Shadows distort space and time around them," Tsu murmured. "Normally, the effect from an individual Shadow is too small to be noticeable, but the stronger the desires that gave birth to the Shadow, the greater the effect. The same is achieved if you have numerous Shadows gathered in one place. Personas and Shadows are really just two sides of the same coin, so there's no reason why that wouldn't be true of Personas as well."

"There's another detail that we need to address," Lelouch said. "Fusion always combines multiple Personas into a single Persona, which inherits some of their powers." He met Igor's gaze again. "But as you described it, each participant in this ritual is only contributing one Persona."

"What is your point, Trickster?"

"What reason does the other me have to participate in the ritual, if we're each losing a Persona from it, but I'm the only one getting a Persona back? Does he expect me to give up Personas for him in turn?"

"Your perspective is limited, Trickster. Suffice to say that your counterpart will benefit from the ritual as well. However, it will place some strain on you, and therefore I must limit the use of this ritual to no more than once per day. It is for your own safety, Trickster. The same goes for you as well," Igor added, glancing over at Nunnally.

Lelouch frowned slightly. Not only had Igor avoided giving him a real answer, but part of him couldn't help but suspect that the Prison Master was deliberately holding him back.

"I expect that you will make good use of this ritual," Igor said imperiously as he returned his gaze to Lelouch. "Let us begin with the Public Execution. The conditions are right, so I see no reason why you should delay."

Lelouch grimaced. Igor had been outwardly more civil toward them since his insincere apology on Nunnally's behalf, but he sensed that it was just an act. Igor was still furious at being contradicted by both of them earlier. If they refused to carry out the ritual now, the Prison Master's anger was sure to erupt again, all the more terrible than before. But if it really carried some risk, he couldn't just let Igor strong-arm his little sister into compliance.

Thankfully, he had allies among the inhabitants of the Velvet Room. Glancing over to Shi and Tsu, they gave him the slightest of nods, and at once Lelouch felt relieved. He knew that they wouldn't lie to him about this. He couldn't trust Igor, but he could trust that the ritual would not harm Nunnally or himself with the green-haired sisters watching over them.

"Very well," he told Igor. "I'll go first."

As usual, Igor had Shi and Tsu do all of the actual work of preparing the execution, sitting back as he watched. Lelouch selected one of his Personas, Anubis, which materialized in the center of the Velvet Room, before Tsu forced it into a sack of blue velvet. Another Persona materialized in front of Shi, but it was already in its own sack, preventing Lelouch from seeing which Persona his otherworldly counterpart had chosen to sacrifice.

There would be no way for him to predict the result of the fusion ahead of time.

It also occurred to him that this was Nunnally's first time observing an execution of his Personas, though she had obviously done it many times before with her own Personas. A part of him wished that she would have never had to witness an execution in the Velvet Room at all, but he knew that was foolish on his part. Consciously or not, he had held Nunnally back for too many years.

She was so much stronger than he had ever given her credit for, especially given that she grappled with such a powerful Shadow, yet managed to avoid letting it dominate her daily life. He had seen that happen before with the Palace Rulers. Coach Nu was the most obvious example, as her Shadow had taken her over almost completely, but thinking back on it, even Shirley must have been partially taken over by her Shadow, during and leading up to her brief stint as a Palace Ruler.

After discovering that they were Black Knights, the negative emotions she had long suppressed had forced themselves to the surface, paralyzing Shirley and causing her to feel that she was drowning in them, leading her to shut herself in her room. Her Shadow may have even pushed her to kiss him right after her father's funeral, instinctively acting on its lust without waiting for him to respond. That would have only added to the confusion and shame that Shirley had felt right afterward, making her Shadow even more powerful in the process.

"Commence the execution!" he heard Igor's voice bark, bringing him back to the present moment.

The guillotine blades descended, beheading both Personas. There was still the swirl of blue and white light that appeared whenever a Persona perished, but it was joined by a menacing red light that quickly turned orange and then yellow, and currents of darkness, making the execution even more of a grisly spectacle than it already was.

As the light show faded, the newly created Persona appeared. It took on the appearance of a kneeling Buddhist monk, dressed with yellow robes and with a green sash draped over its left shoulder, and its head was crowned by a tall pointed hat, also yellow and trimmed in green, which to a Britannian may have been reminiscent of those that the popes of old had once worn. But beneath the robes there was mummified flesh, tautly stretched over bony hands and wrists, and over the skull as well. The monk's eyes were gone, and its cheeks sunken, stretching its smile unnaturally wide, but its teeth remained, still pristinely white.

"I am Daisoujou," the monk said, its raspy words coming from dried vocal cords. "You with the body immune to rot... Let us welcome the impending day of salvation together as one..."

The monk's macabre appearance didn't faze Lelouch much. However, he suddenly felt a strange, tremulous sensation within him, raw pulsating potential, restrained for now but growing more insistent by the moment, as if demanding that he make a choice.

"Now this is unexpected," Igor murmured. "Could this also be power of the Wild Card?"

"It seems that some of your new Persona's abilities are about to mutate, Inmate," Tsu said.

"My big sister and I can help your Persona through the change, or we can help you hold it back," Shi continued.

"But as they say, opportunity only knocks once," Tsu finished. "So what will it be, Inmate?"

"There's no reward without risk," Lelouch replied. "Let the change continue."

"As you wish, Inmate," Tsu replied.

A new wave of power burst through Daisoujou. Makouga changed into Kougaon, an even more powerful bless spell, albeit focused upon a single enemy. Spirit Drain turned into the ability to restore some of his vitality and bolster his spirit between battles, which would be sure to aid him. Dekunda, passed from the Persona that his counterpart had sacrificed, became a technique teaching him how to concentrate to vastly increase the potency of his next spell. Finally, something within his soul resonated, bestowing another ability upon Daisoujou, one which would moderately increase the effectiveness of any spell that it cast, regardless of elemental affinities.

The overflowing power could not be fully contained, and began slowly radiating from Daisoujou, but Lelouch sensed that his new Persona has still managed to absorb a good deal of it, which would permanently strengthen the mummified monk.

"Wow, that turned out great, Mr. Inmate!" Shi beamed.

"Let us prepare for the next execution," Igor said impatiently.

Shi and Tsu did as they were told, raising the guillotines' blades once more, but, as they did so, there was an awful creaking noise.

"We might have pushed the guillotines too hard," Tsu murmured.

"Oh no!" Shi cried. "Did I mess something up? Is it safe for us to continue? If Miss Inmate-"

"We should be able to carry out at least one more execution before it gets too dangerous to continue," Tsu said after a moment.

"Then do so," Igor ordered.

Lelouch scowled. Once again, the Prison Master was showing that he didn't actually care for Nunnally's well-being at all, save for her use to him as a pawn to stop Ragnarok.

"You don't have to carry out the ritual if you don't want to," Lelouch told his sister. "You can always-"

"Your sister can make her own decisions, Trickster," Igor interrupted, though his dictatorial tone said the opposite.

"It's okay, big brother," Nunnally said. "I trust our wardens." Lelouch knew that she meant Shi and Tsu, but her response seemed to placate Igor.

Nunnally called forth one of her own Personas to be executed, and the preparations went much as they had before. Igor ordered Shi and Tsu to release the guillotine blades again, and the heavy pieces of metal dropped, the glowing blue "V"s emblazoned on them streaking downward toward the doomed Personas...

But then there was a sudden screech, and the blades got stuck, not even halfway down the guillotine's frame.

"It seems we pressed our luck too far this time," Tsu mused. She shrugged. "Well, it can't be helped. We were bound to have a fusion accident one of these days."

"Umm... w-what's going to happen now?" Shi nervously asked her sister, glancing over at the Prison Master, as if she was certain that he was going to punish both of them for their failure. Lelouch felt anger flare within him once more as he realized that Shi was probably right about that.

"We can still carry out the execution," Tsu told her. "I have something for emergencies like this."

She walked behind the guillotines, and took out a large chainsaw, with a blue housing and a golden "V" on the end of the guide bar.

Shi blanched. "Do we... really have to use something like that?"

"Let's just get this execution over with," Tsu replied. "Better them than us. Now help me, sister!"

Reluctantly, Shi took hold of the chainsaw, while Tsu revved it up.

Igor watched the whole scene, a malicious amusement in his eyes.

"This may be... extreme," he chuckled.

Shi and Tsu swung the chainsaw together. Unlike the guillotine, which would kill almost instantly, it took a few seconds for the chain to bite its way through Nunnally's Persona and that of her otherworldly counterpart, causing her visible discomfort in the process. Lelouch could only imagine the agony that her Persona had felt in its final moments.

Each of the executed Personas burst into the same swirl of blue, white, red, and black energy as before, though somehow it seemed less stable now. After a moment, the energy converged, and what first appeared to be a Persona in the form of a tall man appeared in the center of the Velvet Room.

Blinking a few times, Lelouch began to see the new Persona better. It was draped in a black robe that covered almost its entire body, with a red sun emblazoned on the front. The man carried a massive two-handed sword, set with gems in its pommel and cross guard, though the hands that held it remained hidden under the robe. Only the man's head was visible... a pale blue skull, crowned with a broad purple hat. No... that wasn't a hat... it was an enormous toxic mushroom growing right out of the figure's skull. Then Lelouch realized that smaller mushrooms were growing out from under the figure's robe, rising on thin stalks, the same color as the skull, and writhing back and forth as if they were tentacles.

It was no man, but an abomination in humanoid form.

It turned to face Nunnally, and spoke, its voice deep and foreboding.

"I am Chernobog. Let my dark powers corrupt us both... Anything is possible with you, the bearer of my mask..."

Nunnally nodded, accepting Chernobog's powers, though she seemed to be breathing heavily and perspiring slightly. Chernobog had to be a significantly more powerful Persona than the others that she held within herself, and so it took considerable effort for her to keep it from going out of control. Lelouch was all too familiar with that strain himself, and after a while he hardly noticed it all, but it seemed that this was the first time that Nunnally had taken such a powerful Persona into herself.

"Are you okay, Nunnally?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Nunnally said after a moment, straightening herself. "That took a lot out of me, but I'm alright now."

Nunnally may have entered into a deal with the devil twice over, first with Nemo and now with Chernobog, but her violet eyes were still clear and earnest, and that was all of the reassurance that Lelouch needed. Nunnally was still able to remain true to herself. Besides, it would be difficult for him to criticize her choices, when she could rightfully point out that he had done much the same as her. From the very start, he had promised Arsene that he would be willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for the sake of his own justice, even if it chained him to Hell itself.

"It...seems the accident also made your Persona stronger than it should have been... though it received no blessing from your bond," Shi said nervously.

"It's fine," Nunnally reassured her. "Thank you once again for your help."

Chernobog disappeared, leaving a rather displeased looking Prison Master in the center of the Velvet Room.

"I must ask that you leave now, both of you," Igor said softly, though his voice barely hid his disdain. "It will take time to repair the equipment that you have so recklessly damaged."

Hypocritical as the Prison Master was being, when he had all but demanded that Nunnally proceed with the ritual, Lelouch was certain that wasn't the real reason for Igor's disgust.

Indeed, Nunnally would later confirm that Chernobog was a Persona of the Lust Arcana, and thus had reminded Igor that some things remained outside of his control.

But as the Velvet Room faded from view, Lelouch once again found himself wondering how Kallen, Arthur, and Marrybell were doing, as the Grandberry neared its destination...

A/N:

I'm back, everyone! I had hoped to get this chapter out earlier, but real life threw me a curveball, which considerably slowed my writing progress. Fortunately, things are getting back on track, and I'm doing fine now.

I noticed that I had incorrectly used "wings of blessing" instead of "winds of blessing", as in the game, when new Confidants were introduced, and I had somehow never noticed the error until now. I have gone back and fixed it. I was also missing that entirely for Xingke and the start of the Emperor Arcana, so I have added that as well.

"Karen Stratmann" is a pun off "Karen Strassman", Kallen's English voice actress. Also, a direct transliteration of Kallen's name in Japanese does give "Karen" for her first name, though her official given name in English is still "Kallen".

The exact range of the Metaverse Navigator is never stated in game, though we can make some guesses as to an effective range based on screenshots. As it is, I chose the number in this story to be at least sufficient to permit it to encompass a Knightmare Frame if positioned correctly, while still conforming to what I could tell from the game. As for why I included such precision in the decimal, canon Lelouch is shown to test the limitations of his Geass power very methodically, so it seems natural that he would have studied the Navigator in a similar manner.

The Lust Arcana is from the Thoth Deck. It is not featured in the original P5, nor P5 Royal, though it appears in Persona 4 Golden as the "Hunger" Arcana in English (remaining as "Lust" in the Japanese). Chernobog was a Persona of the Death Arcana in the original P5, but has been moved into the Lust Arcana for this story, as he was in P4G. Selected Personas from other Arcanas will also be transferred into Lust, though they may be replaced by others in turn where appropriate. For example, I will be replacing Chernobog's position in the Death Arcana with Balor from Persona Q2.

In the Thoth Deck, Lust replaces Major Arcana XI, Strength. It should not be understood purely as Lust in a sexual sense, as it has much broader symbolism. The SMT Wiki offers an explanation:

"Lust symbolizes the danger of losing control, of being consumed by power. The card also implies strength, but strength which comes through Dominance. It is not true power, but the pure bliss of abusing power."

However, this is also an incomplete explanation of the Lust Arcana, focusing on its negative and self-destructive aspects. In its healthier aspects, the Lust Arcana is more about recognizing that one's desires represent natural drives, even if they are labeled as sinful or shameful by others. Embracing those desires as part of one's whole being, without attempting to "master" them or allowing oneself to be "mastered" by them lifts the weight of guilt from the individual, freeing them to pursue those desires while avoiding becoming addicted to them. In many ways, this can be seen as relating to the Jungian process of "integrating the Shadow".

"Public Execution" is also known as "Network Fusion", and in its game version makes use of online features to produce random Personas that have the opportunity to gain skills that cannot be obtained in any other way. Network fusion is extremely overpowered in P5 Royal, because you have the ability to match the Persona that you have sacrificed with another on the network. My story goes with the vanilla P5 version of Network Fusion, to differentiate it more from the standard use of the guillotine to create new Personas.

And yes, Network Fusion is handwaved as involving Persona-users from other worlds in the game. I elaborated upon it slightly, but just like the game, it is still a hand wave (albeit one that I made literal on Igor's part).

Lelouch and Nunnally have also encountered their first Fusion Alert/Alarm, an addition to Royal, in which all services of the Velvet Room become more effective, at the cost of there being a much higher rate of fusion accidents. Using the same execution ritual twice in a row has an extremely high chance of causing a fusion accident, as Nunnally found out. However, experiencing a fusion accident will cause the Alarm to end, as the equipment must be repaired and reset.

The in-universe explanation for the occurrence of the Fusion Alarm is different between this story and Royal. In Royal, Fusion Alarms are introduced as of the 3rd Palace a means that the residents of the Velvet Room use to incentivize frequent Persona fusion. In this story, they are a result of the increasing instability in the Metaverse, and thus a source of displeasure to Igor.

Until next time, and once again, thank you for everyone who's kept following the story. Your support and constructive feedback mean a lot!