All right, I know I promised more updates during Winter Break, but I started playing Persona 3, and let's just say that I've put in 50 hours in the last 4 days. Needless to say, my writing was slowed down, even though I still received several reviews, all of which I am thankful for. Please enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 14

Odysseus waited until he was out of the room to let his mask slip. He had acted as strong as he could, but the pain was too much.

For all of his life, all he wanted was for someone who loved him for who he was, not who his parents were, or what his future post was. He wanted people to love him for being him, not for being the First Prince of Britannia. But he had quickly learned that such people were few and far between in the Imperial Court. All everyone ever cared about was gaining favor with him. No one ever asked him about his feelings, or about his thoughts or interests. No, all they wanted was for him to remember their names, in the hope that they would gain wealth or status.

He never really bothered to learn their names though, at least, not at first. But when it became clear that doing so would ultimately benefit him in the future, he had no other choice. Pretty soon, he had a group of men that he associated with, but still, he never considered any of them friends. And his siblings were no better. Sure, Euphie and Nunally were nice enough, but they were really too young to befriend him. Cornelia and Guinevere never really wanted to associate with him, and Schneizel had always acted like he was above him.

And then, there was Lelouch. He had known that she wasn't entirely normal either, but she had always genuinely been interested in him, or at least he thought she did. He knew now that it was all a lie, a ploy for her to gain power. Honestly, she was no better than any of his associates.

And here he thought that he was going to have a friend, and maybe something more. But Lelouch's confession had made him undergo a revelation. The truth was, the title of king was a lonely position. One could not afford to form friendships if they wanted to get ahead.

Love was an outdated and irrelevant concept. Love did not win you titles, or empires. No, all love did was hurt you and abandon you with its impossible promises.

"Prince! What happened back there?" Monica asked as she rushed up to his side. However, once she noticed his expression of anguish and pain, she quickly closed her mouth.

"Nothing. I just learned a valuable lesson. If you trust anyone, all they will do is lie and hurt you." Odysseus replied melancholically.

"Did this have something to do with Princess Lelouch?" She asked.

"Don't ever mention her name again." Odysseus replied harshly, eyes burning with anger at the mention of the woman who had broken his faith in love and friendship.

"I'm sorry, Prince." Monica bowed in apology, but Odysseus interrupted her.

"Don't be. You've proven yourself to be more loyal than her, after all."

"Are you sure nothing happened back there?" Monica asked, concerned for the suddenly moody man.

"No, nothing happened." Odysseus replied. He was hurt and beyond furious, but he was still a rational man. As much as he wanted to spit in her face and leave, he knew that it wasn't the right decision politically. Decisions based on emotion never were.

The right thing to do was to act as if the conversation had never happened, and that he had never fallen in love with her. It would hurt like hell, but it would be the smart thing to do.

"So, Shirley, spill the beans, who was that man that drove you to school today?" Milly asked Shirley, who had just been doing homework.

"How did you hear about that?" Shirley stammered quickly in response.

Milly rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, it's not hard to hear about a gorgeous man dropping off a member of the Student Council. So come on, tell me! Is he your boyfriend or something?"

Blushing at the accusation, Shirley shook her head furiously, "No way! He's almost ten years older than me!"

"Well well well, I always knew that you went for those older guys." Milly replied.

"What?" Shirley exclaimed.

As if on cue, the door opened to reveal Kanon in his usual green outfit, minus the hat this time.

"Shirley, I'm sorry to interrupt you right now, but your presence is required at the Viceroy's Palace. Your father believes that it's best for your safety if you return there." He said urgently, leading to Shirley nodding in response.

"Wow, Shirley, now that I see him up close, I have to give you props. You know how to choose your men." Milly said, leading to Shirley's face to turn red in embarrassment.

"It's not like that!" She replied, but Kanon decided to play along with Milly.

"It isn't? I thought we had something!" Kanon said with faked sadness, clutching his chest.

"Kanon, shouldn't we be on our way?" Shirley prodded, eager to leave the odd situation.

Regaining his professionalism, Kanon nodded, "Yes, we should. Sorry, but I couldn't help but play along."

As the two left, Milly sighed and turned to Nina.

"What do you think he meant when he said that it would be best for her safety? Do you think something big is going to happen?"

Neil watched in interest as Lloyd tried to weld two sheets of metal together while Cecile looked on in concern. Fueled by his comment at dinner, Lloyd had decided to reopen the file on an energy wing system.

"Cecile, hand me the wrench." Lloyd ordered, fiddling around with some wires. He was determined to figure out how to put Cecile's designs into practice, but without a preexisting model or research, it was not easy.

"Right." Cecile replied, handing him the wrench. She watched in interest as Lloyd tried to improvise a solution. Sometimes, despite the fact that he acted like a child, Cecile could not help but to be in awe of the man's pure genius.

Lloyd placed the metal around a bolt and began twisting, with little success. Trying to get more leverage, he tried to push with his legs, with no effect.

"Earl of Pudding!" A voice shouted out, causing Lloyd to lose his concentration and fall to the ground in a dazed heap.

As he gathered his bearings, Lloyd saw a familiar face looking down at him in glee.

"Rakshata!" Lloyd grunted in reply, getting to his feet.

"Looks like you're as clumsy as ever." She said smugly while Lloyd fumed.

"Well, at least my Knightmare shredded your Gun Rus." Lloyd snapped in reply, which was the clearly the wrong move, as Rakshata's face flashed anger.

"Don't talk about my children like that!" She replied angrily.

"Well, maybe if they were better made, we wouldn't have this conversation." Lloyd replied with a conceited tone.

As he watched the two bicker back and forth, Neil turned to Cecile in confusion.

"I assume they know each other?"

Cecile nodded, "Yes, she attended the Britannian Engineering Academy with me and Lloyd. Over the years, she has developed a rivalry with Lloyd."

"Oh, well, I wasn't aware of that fact." Schneizel lamented, walking up next to the two.

"Prince!" Cecile exclaimed, quickly bowing in respect.

"Please Miss Croomy. That isn't necessary." Schneizel said with a hearty laugh.

With an embarrassed look, Cecile lifted her head up, "Sorry. I just didn't realize you were coming to visit."

"I assure you, this trip was all business." Schneizel replied, "You see, Li Xingke kindly gave me the contact information for his brightest engineer. I figured that bringing her together with Lloyd would result in a beautiful partnership."

"Well, I'm sure that for all their differences, they'll find a way to work together." Cecile reassured.

"Then I guess I'll have to leave it up to you. You do know how to handle Lloyd better than anyone else." Schneizel said, patting Cecile on the shoulder. Surprised at the responsibility she had been given, Cecile nodded in understanding.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have an important announcement to make in a few hours."

Kaguya Sumeragi gave Taizo Kirihara and the rest of the Kyoto House a worried look as they sat in the waiting room of the Viceroy's Palace. They had been ordered there under armed escort by Prince Schneizel, which did not bode well for them.

From across her, she could see Taizo doing an admirable job of hiding his nerves, the only sign that he was not at ease being a few small beads of sweat on his brow. However, she knew that inside, he was probably panicking. They had all known what the possible consequences of helping the rebels of Area 11 would have been, but that didn't mean that they were really prepared to face them.

She carefully took a sip of her tea and placed the cup down, hands shaking all the way. She wasn't one to usually show nervousness, but under a situation like this, she imagined anyone would be. She was only a teenager, despite the responsibility and power that she wielded. Most girls her age would be concerned with boys or fashion, not the political happenings of Area 11. As technically the second most powerful individual when it came to the resistance, only below Kirihara, she had no time to be a teenager. Either she had to grow up, or she was going to lead her people to ruin. She had chosen to try and grow up, but it didn't mean that she was completely ready for her role.

"Kaguya, do you think he means to kill us?" Taizo whispered, and Kaguya gave him a shrug in response.

"The Britannians have taken direct control over us. I can only imagine that we are no longer necessary in their plans." Kaguya responded pessimistically.

Indeed, the only reason that they managed to hold onto their industries after the Britannian invasion was so that they could act as moderators between the Britannian rulers and their Japanese subjects. However, in a situation like this, in which Japan was under martial law, there was no need for moderators. To the Britannians, those who were useless were better off dead.

Her eye was caught by a flurry of sound and footsteps approaching the room. In walked Prince Schneizel, Prince Odysseus, and Princess Lelouch. Along with them, Kaguya recognized several men dressed in green who were likely the Knights of Princess Lelouch, and the Knight of Twelve, Monica Kruszewski. Strangely however, Princess Cornelia was absent from the group.

"Representative Sumeragi, I would like to ask you to accompany my little entourage." Schneizel said, pausing in front of the six assembled leaders.

"Of course." Kaguya replied, standing up nervously. Odysseus and Monica stepped aside, allowing her to walk up to Schneizel's side. As she did, she glanced at the faces of some of the guards to get a feel for the situation, but her efforts were fruitless, as everyone kept emotionless faces.

As they went on their way, Kaguya couldn't help but ask, "Why exactly do you want me to come along?"

"Well, I believe you are best suited to be the representative of the Japanese People." Schneizel replied frankly.

Suddenly his words hit home. He had said Japanese. Not Elevens, but Japanese. She knew that it was possibly just a slip up on his part, but it did seem like an odd comment.

"All right, we'll be going outside to the press conference. Try and put a smile on for the cameras." Schneizel ordered.

Complying, Kaguya smiled slightly as she was led out the doors of the Viceroy's Palace.

Immediately, her vision was bombarded by camera flashes and her ears were filled with the sounds of questions being posed by a mob of reporters.

Schneizel stepped up to the podium, and immediately, the mob silenced. Kaguya couldn't help but to be impressed by the power of his mere presence to these people.

"For years, the Britannian Empire has operated on the ideals of my father, which called for the subjugation of foreign lands, stripping them and their people of their identity and name, and instead, replacing it with a mere number. Here, we established Area 11, forging a new identity for this country and its people.

Well, sometimes, we must look to the past to achieve progress. That is why, as of today, Area 11 has been abolished. It will now be known as its original name, Japan. In addition, two other former dominions of the Britannian Empire shall also be known by their original names, Australia and the Philippines.

Should anyone want to challenge this decision, they will have to do so by force."

Immediately after he stepped away from the microphone, he was immediately bombarded by questioning reporters.

However, Schneizel merely ignored them and turned to return to the doors, Lelouch following quickly behind, slamming them shut to keep the crowd out, leaving the others to field questions.

For a moment, Kaguya was completely stunned. The man had just ended years of tradition and doctrine without batting an eyelash. Furthermore, he had just indirectly challenged the Empress of Britannia without any sort of fear of retaliation.

"Who is this man?" She whispered to herself before she noticed that several reporters had come up to her.

"Schneizel, are you sure that we should be leaving Odysseus to answer questions? What if he gives off the wrong impression?" Lelouch asked worriedly, but Schneizel shook his head.

"Lelouch, you need to trust your subordinates. If you don't, how can you expect them to trust you? Trust is mutual, and one cannot be an effective leader without it." Schneizel replied, admonishing her slightly.

"Yes, but still, I fear that Odysseus is not in the best state of mind right now…" She trailed off, but Schneizel looked at her in interest.

"Oh? And why is that?" He asked, although he was certain that he already knew the answer.

"He might have stumbled upon the truth." Lelouch said slowly, trying to ease the pain of each word.

Schneizel sighed, "Lelouch, we both knew that this was going to happen. What did I tell you? We cannot afford to become attached. We will never get ahead that way. I know that it might not seem fair, but the world of politics is not fair."

"Don't lecture me on politics. I can handle myself as well as anyone." Lelouch retorted.

Schneizel nodded, "That may be so, but we still cannot let emotions dictate out actions. Everything we have done and will do have been and will be dictated by reason, not emotion."

"Why are you trying to lecture me now? What's done is done." Lelouch asked.

Schneizel ran a finger through his hair, "Lelouch, I was going to announce this publicly, but I'll inform you now. I'm appointing you as commander in chief of our Allied military forces. We cannot let Guinevere build momentum with victories while we are sitting around and mounting a defense.

While Cornelia handles the construction of a defense, Odysseus and I will be attending meetings to garner support from other countries to join our alliance. That will leave you to command the majority of our offensive force. But I just need to make sure that you are completely ready for this."

Lelouch nodded, "All right, I understand."

Schneizel smiled, "Good. I've already begun preparations for a fleet to be assembled. We need to act quickly if we want to have any chance of winning this war."

Kyoshiro Tohdoh watched in interest as a special news report came on the television screen. Alongside him, General Katase also took his eyes off of some reports given to him by the daily patrols they sent out. They sent out patrols less frequently, but it was still good to get a read on the situation outside of their stronghold every now and then.

Due to the presence of so many royal figures in Area 11, the Japanese Liberation Front was hesitant to continue their rebellion, the fear of retaliation drowning out all hope for victory. But at the same time, they were grateful for the respite, as it allowed them for a chance to regroup after several crushing defeats that had threatened to end the rebellion altogether.

As he listened to the broadcast, Tohdoh had to blink a few times to make sure that he was not hallucinating.

They had fought against the Britannians for years to reestablish Japan, and now, the Britannians were just giving them Japan back? True, they were still going to maintain control over the country, but still, the fact that they were going to give Japan its identity back was a major victory that, in all honesty, none of them ever expected to win.

He could tell that Katase had the same idea on his mind by the shocked look on his face, "Tohdoh, you just saw that too, right? I'm not going senile, am I?"

Tohdoh shook his head, "No, I can't believe it either, but it's actually happening. They've given us at least part of Japan back."

However, just as a round of applause began to start, the entire room was shaken by a large explosion.

Immediately, Katase jumped into action, barking out orders.

"What's going on? Somebody get me visuals!"

On one of the control screens, a large image of the outside of the Narita mountains came up, immediately dropping everyone's spirits. There was a large mass of Britannian Knightmares scaling the mountains, lead by an all too familiar unit.

"The Glaston Knights are attacking?" Katase exclaimed in surprise.

"That's not all sir! There is an additional Knightmare Frame that is causing havoc on our defenses. IT is an unknown model, but we can safely assume that it is Britannian as well." One solder yelled out.

"Was this their plan? To lull us into a sense of security and then attack?" Tohdoh growled before he ran off with the other Four Holy Swords to try and salvage the situation.

However, they didn't make it very far before a part of the ceiling was suddenly blown open, debris crushing several guards and dust completely blocking Tohdoh's vision. As the dust cleared, a single white Knightmare could be seen in a defensive stance.

"F-fire!" Katase ordered, flustered by the unexpected turn of events.

Hesitantly, several men raised up their rifles, but before they could fire any shots, the cockpit opened up, revealing a brown haired man in a green pilot suit armed with a sniper rifle.

"Now now, I wouldn't do that if I were you. This is an expensive piece of technology, and my superiors wouldn't appreciate damage to it. So just put your guns down, and let me speak for a moment."

Looking around at the frightened men, Katase sighed, "All right, do as he says."

Noticing that the men had lowered their weapons, Neil breathed a sigh of relief. He had been completely bluffing earlier, and it was entirely possible that he could have died.

"All right. Now, which one of you is Kyoshiro Tohdoh?" He said, reading off of a slip of paper.

"What do you want with me?" Tohdoh replied, ready to run if necessary, although he doubted that he would get very far.

"Ah, so I didn't accidentally crush you." Neil joked, although no one was laughing. Noticing the awkwardness of the situation, Neil cleared his throat.

"Erm, right. Anyways, Lieutenant Tohdoh, the recently formed country of Japan has recognized your exploits in battle and would like to extend an invitation to you and your unit to join the reorganized military that will be setting out to combat the Holy Britannian Empire." Neil continued, again reading off of his paper.

"What? Those Britannians think that I'll just abandon my comrades and join them?" Tohdoh snapped in anger.

"Um, I think so, yeah." Neil answered as best as he could, "Look, I know how important this cause is to you, but the truth is, there are about a hundred Knightmare Frames and close to 1,000 soldiers outside of this room, just waiting for the chance to gun all of you down. We've already routed any forces that you tried to send out to stop us, so really, any attempt to escape is essentially suicide. I really think that you should take this offer. If you do, we'll let anyone left here live, and extend to them the same offer to join the Allied military.

It's not easy to give up, I know, but you don't have much of a choice. Your rebellion is dead. The Kyoto House has cut all ties with your organization, instead opting to support the new government of Japan. I don't want to have to shoot down anyone else today, so just take this offer, please."

Tohdoh looked around at the last few surviving members of the JLF. The man was right. Anything other than surrender was certain death at this point.

Would it really be that bad to agree to the offer? After all, technically, he would be serving Japan, not Britannia. And besides, if even the Kyoto House had given in, was there any hope for resistance?

He stared Katase square in the eye, trying to look for help from the older man. Katase stared back with defeated eyes, nodding slowly.

With much reluctance, Tohdoh nodded as well, "Okay, I agree to the offer."

Joseph looked out of the window in his new office in the Viceroy's palace. At his old job, he had worked in a relatively ordinary room with a few personal effects, but now, it was like he was sitting a palace. With lavish decorations in every corner of the room, he really felt like he was royalty jut by sitting in his desk, which housed the most advanced computer that was available to the government, a far cry from his old beat up laptop.

He had to admit, he had been terrified of this position when it was initially offered to him. But now, after spending some time at his new post, he felt empowered. As if every action he did actually mattered in the long run. In effect, it was true. With just a few words, he could call for the murder of anyone in the country save for royalty, and with another few words, he could probably change the fashion of the country as well.

In fact, right now, he had just finished directing his masterpiece, Schneizel's announcement of Japan becoming a sovereign state. He had made the broadcast portray Schneizel in such a way that most Japanese would consider him a hero, willing to fight for their freedom from the evil Britannian Empire.

According to his spies out on the streets, the public was overjoyed for the most part, with most proclaiming Schneizel as the savior of Japan. Obviously, some Britannian nobles were displeased, but that was to be expected. Besides, they were not at all his target demographic. After all, the general masses were the ones who dictated popular opinion.

His phone began ringing, and immediately, he flipped it open.

"Hello?" He asked.

"This is Cornelia. I'm just letting you know that Tohdoh accepted the offer you drafted. He's surrendered to us and we'll be taking him back to the base to get him ready for his new role."

"All right. Keep up the good work." Joseph replied, snapping his cell phone shut.

The good news just kept flowing in.

With Kyoshiro Tohdoh, or Tohdoh of Miracles on their side, the options were endless. The man was a living legend among the Japanese, and he was planning to use that to his advantage. The man was going to become the icon for Japanese-Britannian partnership. One of the biggest challenges he had foreseen with establishing a base of power in Japan was anti-Britannian backlash. But if he could show that Tohdoh was willing to work with someone like Lelouch, then it would likely promote more harmony between the two ethnic groups.

Racism was never possible to erase, but it was always possible to try and alleviate it, and Joseph was confident that he had come up with the best possible option to do just that.

The war was far from being won, but at least he knew that they were on the right track.

I'm not sure that the Navy featured at all in the anime, but I imagine that Britannia still uses airplane carriers and destroyers and the like to maintain naval supremacy, so I'm just going to take some liberties with that in the future chapters, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, I know I've been neglecting Lelouch lately, but trust me, next chapter, the focus will be back squarely on Lelouch. Right now, I'm looking at the chapters as being divided up into roughly three parts. One part Schneizel and Odysseus, dealing with the political issues that are coming with this war. One part focused on Lelouch and her fleet, and one part on the Special Research Division, and the new characters that they are bringing in. Occasionally, I'll throw some focus on Joseph and some of the other characters, but as it stands, it seems like those three parts deserve the bulk of my attention.

As usual, feel free to leave any thoughts or ideas in either a PM or a review. I say it all the time, but I really love writing for those readers who are willing to take the time to review. I know that personally, I usually just read a story without reviewing, and I really want to thank anyone who takes the extra effort to leave one. I hope that you guys continue to read and enjoy this story!