Chapter 27: Unlearning your Assumptions

"The only true wisdom is knowing when you know nothing."

-Socrates

Lelouch p.o.v.

When I awoke dazed and confused with my hair caked in sweat, I was simultaneously thankful to be alive and disgusted by the bitter taste of failure on my tongue. As I propped myself up, I saw a stretch of unfamiliar coastline greet me along with the afternoon sun, which continued to cook me within my Zero outfit.

"Ugh, what the hell happened," I said while dealing with a dull headache.

Slowly I got up and regained my wits while I scouted my surroundings. The sub-tropical island's topography and vegetation I was currently on seemed similar to Shinkine island but without any signs of human activity based on the lack of planes or ships in the area.

I wracked my brain and tried to rationalize how it was that I came to be transported from inside the Lancelot to wherever here is?

"I guess I should be thankful I wasn't captured, but what happened back there? I was taken captive by Suzaku, then this light blinded me, and then I woke up here. Was it Geass that caused it? That would explain my lack of memory of how I got here, but it felt very different."

I knew geass could affect the mind, but to think that it could affect the physical world as well? I'll have to ask C.C. when I get back, but first, I need to find a way off this island and make my way back to the Black Knights.

The crunch of sand and rock alerted me to a presence approaching my left, but when I turned to face them, I was stunned to see a soaked pinkette staring down the barrel of my gun.

Euphemia stood there soaked to the bone but deathly silent, her eyes wide while she stood before me frozen like a statue. Despite her disheveled look, my sister held on to the presence and grace of a goddess.

She too seemed frozen in place, but when she spoke, it was her words that sent a chill down my spine.

"Lelouch, Lelouch, it is you, isn't it?"

She knew, despite disguise, costume, and persona as Zero, the symbol of rebellion, my sister Euphemia could still see right through me.

"I haven't told anyone about you, I swear. Please, before you shoot, let me see your face," she said.

My childhood sweetheart and sister's voice brought my mind a glimpse of happier days as a child when my innocence had yet to be shattered by murder and betrayal. The memory dug up long-forgotten feelings of love and diffused any animosity I could muster. So reluctantly, I surrendered and lowered my gun. I then unmasked myself to the blinding rays of sunshine and joyful tears of my sister.

"Lelouch," said Euphemia as her voice cracked while tears rolled down her cheeks.

While I said nothing to our heartfelt reunion as I tried to mask the conflict of emotions that raged inside my mind.

Char p.o.v

We hiked for about half an hour until the sounds of rushing water reached our ears. With Rai taking point, we continued toward the sound of the waterfall while I steeled myself for what was to come. I could be walking in on a naked Kallen and Suzaku wrestling on the ground. The prospect of such filled me with a sense of unease on how I should proceed, so I don't come off as some sort of voyeuristic pervert.

After a short trek up a rocky slope, we came in sight of a small island waterfall. The discovery should have relieved me with the promise of water, food, and a chance to get out of this sweaty sand-filled pilot suit. However, the absence of one fiery red-head in her birthday suit gave me pause.

Rai began to step forward out of the covered tree line, but I grabbed his shoulder before he could step one foot into the open.

"Hold up, something isn't right," I said as I held Rai back from diving into the cold refreshing river.

"What is it?" he asked as his eyes darted up and down the opposite riverbank.

I also scanned the area and tried to look past the idyllic scenery. I tried to reach out with all my senses and mind to pinpoint where Kallen and Suzaku should be. But everything had started to feel hazy recently.

"I'm not sure, but whoever I was sensing should be around here."

Could Suzaku and Kallen have already run into one another? That seemed possible, or were they both in entirely separate locations? But before I could rattle off more questions inside my head, Rai interrupted me.

"Wait, I think I hear something," he said, breaking me from my inner dilemma. I tried to focus past the sounds of birds and insects that permeated the air until an irregular splash drew my attention downstream.

"This way," said Rai as he moved downstream.

As I made to follow him, I braced myself for whatever I may face ahead, no matter how out of place it may seem. When I moved a branch to the side, I saw who I was looking for. A tied-up sullen-looking redhead and a relaxed Suzaku ready to catch some fish.

The sight of the two rival knightmare pilots together put me at ease as I set one group of contingency plans aside and stepped out of the brush.

"Hey, how are the fish biting?"

To my own amusement, both Suzaku and Kallen were spooked by my sudden appearance. Suzaku jumped almost a foot out of the water; it made me think he almost had a heart attack. While Kallen looked as if I had walked over her grave and now was looking to escape into the bushes. The only reason she didn't make a break for it was because of Rai being there a step behind me and that we were both armed.

"Char, sir, what are you doing here?" Suzaku asked, flustered as he moved to stand up straighter.

I could see Kallen staring intently, no doubt worried about her own fate. While I hate to disappoint her, I decided to assuage her worst fears.

"Sadly, no, I am not your knight in shining armor, Kururugi. It just so happens that me and Rai here were whisked away along with you and your guest over there," I said as I gazed over at Kallen, who scowled back at me.

"Yeah, like Char said, whatever happened back at the base affected the whole Island," Rai added. "By the way, who is your prisoner over there?" He asked, holding his handgun ready.

"She's a Black Knight pilot I found and captured. I incapacitated her and tied her up. She's no threat," said Suzaku as he tried to ease Rai's overcautious nature around strangers.

But I just jumped across the river to where Kallen was until I was in front of the redhead.

"It sure is a small world, isn't Kallen Stadtfeld," I said.

"Screw you dirtbag," said Kallen.

"Such foul words from such a pretty mouth, your parents would be ashamed to hear you say such a thing," I said back.

Kallen shrunk back into the side of the tree, hiding her face as she pulled back into her own little world.

While Suzaku looked as if despair washed over him the moment I said his classmate's name, Rai looked intrigued.

"Who?" Rai said, confused as he was out of the loop about Kallen's connections to Suzaku and myself.

"Rai meet Kallen Stadtfeldt or Kozuki if the lady prefers it," I said. At the same time, Kallen spat in my general direction. " Student by day, ace Knightmare pilot of the Black Knights by night, and fellow lover of the color red by the way. "

"So Naoto's sister took her brother's place and was absorbed into the Black Knights, got it," said Rai nodding along.

While Rai was processing who Kallen was, I accidentally dropped a bombshell on Suzaku a little early.

"Red, wait, don't tell me all this time, it's been you I've been fighting," Suzaku said now on dry land again.

"Yes, it was me, and when my friends get here, you'll all be sorry," she said.

"Oh, I doubt that," I said as everyone looked at me, confused. "While the phenomena that lead to us all being marooned here on this island is uncertain. I know for a fact that before I reached the Island, I personally destroyed all Black Knight vessels in the vicinity of Shinkine Island."

My words hit Kallen like a gut punch, and she fell limp while muttering the names of her friends and fellow Black Knights under her breath. While I got the desired effect of breaking down Kallen, it left a bad taste in my mouth, so I decided to leave her a little hope before she becomes impossible to communicate with.

"Unless the Black Knights have a submarine, then I'm sorry to say your friends are swimming with the fishes."

A glance and I felt my words have the intended effect as Kallen stopped herself from sobbing openly and became quiet as she gathered her resolve once more.

"Well, that's all well and good, but where does that leave us here and now?" Asked Rai as he brought us back to our current situation of being marooned on a deserted island waiting for rescue.

"We follow Suzaku's lead and survive Rai. That means the two of you continue to gather food and fuel for a fire while I guard the prisoner," I said as I sat down against a tree a few feet away from a sullen Kallen.

"Alright, I'll get back to hand fishing. Can you gather firewood, Rai?" Said Suzaku as he lowered himself back into the stream.

Rai nodded and turned to leave but not before disparaging my choice of essential duties.

"You just don't want to get wet again, do you," said Rai looking down on me.

"Let me remind you I almost drowned today, and besides, I am a prince, so I can pull rank when I want to Rai."

"Right, firewood coming right up your majesty," said Rai, giving me a mock bow as he walked into the forest.

I waved Rai off, and Suzaku and Kallen looked surprised by the informal interaction between the two of us. No doubt, they imagined me a monster all the time and were surprised by my basic humanity. I paid them little attention as I thought about my next move and how to play our rescue by Britannian forces, hopefully to my full advantage.

While I did ruin the bonding between Kallen and Suzaku as frenemies, that part of the story matters little now. By running into them, I need to figure out what to do with Kallen. Do I allow her to escape with Lelouch and let them steal the Gawain like they are supposed to?

No, that's a terrible idea...

Besides, if Suzaku is incapacitated by the Thought Elevator's presence on his broken psyche, what will I have to face within the temple below so close to C's world so soon. However, with the release of that much psychic energy from unsealing the sword, V.V. and Charles are most likely more interested in creating the Sword of Akasha by molding the will of mankind to their designs rather than trying to get rid of me at the moment. Anyways that should buy me some time from further retaliation. Coming back to my present situation my best bet would be to avoid running into Lelouch and Euphemia and head straight to the Avalon when it shows up and hope to get out while the going is good.

Another option is if I should just have Rai geass Kallen and Suzaku and be done with being such a manipulative bastard to the two of them.

While it would solve the problem forthwith there were multiple problems with that plan. Without ear protection, I couldn't be sure if Rai would be affected by his own power. A simple command of loyalty may work but could leave open loopholes and let other people take advantage of them. Or they could turn on me at a moment's notice should another geass user, code bearer, or geass canceller come into play. Not to mention having to get Rai to agree to such a plan would be difficult as well.

Suzaku popped out of the water and tossed two fish onshore before wading back in to catch some more. I took a nearby rock and smashed the flailing fish once on each of their heads to put them out of their misery.

Kallen, whose eyes drifted to the fish, looked at me for a second, sized me up for the fifth time since I revealed myself out of the brush, and then went back to scanning the woods for her opening to escape.

While I went back to thinking about manipulating Kallen and Suzaku and best use their animosity towards me to my advantage, no matter how asinine it sounds in my head. Although I wondered if my plans or actions could change their minds at all or are Suzaku and Kallen always meant to be my enemies. Who am I, some asshole Britanian prince, compared to fighting for one's family, country, and freedom?

No, I shouldn't give up on them because my presence here proves that change is possible. So changing the stories that make up Suzaku's and Kallen's identities will change their future. So I can't waste this opportunity, I need to mend some of the bridges I have burned, and stop making people want to kill me so badly.

Thinking back on my time as Char I've always had the knowledge, power, wealth, and privilege to negotiate from a position of strength without having to expose my own weakness. Now I've realized that I have made a fatal mistake with my logic. Even though I know these characters, I've hardly treated them as people. For without an understanding of who Kallen, Suzaku, Lelouch, and the many other power players in this twisted game are, my knowledge is worthless.

And if I want to affect change I have to take risks and not fail Charlamagne for giving me this chance at living his life. Instead of trying to bully everyone into making them my servants because it will be good for them. I need to connect with Suzaku and Kallen as human beings, not as characters to be collected and used at my leisure. But with my previous actions and ego, I've already dug myself a hole to get out of with trying to make friends with my enemies. Nevertheless, I need to act not like a prince but as a decent human being if I ever want to have a chance to avoid the coming disasters.

Although to overcome Suzaku's and Kallen's bloodied destinies will require some outside help for an understanding to be reached among us. I'll have to talk to Rai when he gets back, if an individual approach is futile, then perhaps as a team we can find some common ground as a group to save the world.

Britannian Island Base

Naoto p.o.v.

I'm the first to admit that I'm not totally familiar with the operation and structure of the Britannian Military, but even I could tell the frantic situation around me was anything but normal. Soldiers with ground-penetrating radar and a myriad of other sensors scoured the crater below. I'm not sure what they were going to find and I doubt they did either but they did their work diligently as their superiors yelled orders down to them to find any lead as to where the princess had disappeared to.

In the immediate aftermath, Alya had left in a rush to meet with the visiting royals while also coordinating the search out at sea.

That left me and Johnny on the base with Nonnette to search here and oversee the recovery efforts.

I found the whole situation quite strange, even stranger than the whole code R business that got me dragged into hell and back. Strange lights, people disappearing from thin air, the whole situation defied logic and stunk of the supernatural.

"Hey, Naoto!"

I turned and saw Johnny speeding toward me in a jeep that he had requisition from what was left of the local garrison offshore.

"What's up, you find the boss man yet?"

"Nope, but we found the Lamorak."

"Where?"

" On a beach not far, hop in I'll drive."

I got into the passenger seat and we drove down a series of winding dirt roads through thick forests and oceanside cliffs.

"So Naoto, what's your take on this whole clusterfuck of a situation?" Johnny asked.

"Which situation are you talking about? Or are you referring to the whole mess as a whole?"

"The whole but why don't you break it down in your own special way then I'll add my two cents." He said as he gave me a wink.

"Well, first there is the mass infiltration or defection by the base soldiers on the island who joined the Black Knights in their ambush."

"Yeah, the black knights must have had this planned for a while to get that many people on the island, not to mention those converted cargo ships and fighters they found floating offshore," Johnny added.

"Maybe but I think it's very unlikely that everyone was a black knight on the island," I said.

"Then how the hell Zero get so many personnel on the island we're going to?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we'll be pulling a lot of britannian bodies out of those destroyed knightmares in the next few days."

Johnny scowled but said nothing as he agreed with my morbid thoughts which lead to a discussion about loyalty and traitors in our midst neither of us wanted to get into.

"As you say, but there is no way that light show was a part of the plan, right?"

I had no answer to Johnny's question. From my own limited experience, I could tell this situation with multiple people vanishing was far from normal for Char's forces.

"Well as soon as the boss gets back I'm sure he'll have a fancy explanation or something," said Johnny as he focused back on the road.

As we turned the corner and came out to a sandy beach the giant red Knightmare known as the Lamorak could be seen kneeling on the beach depowered. The appearance and posture of the machine made it look like a samurai sitting in seiza.

Around the machine, a dozen technicians and twice as many soldiers tried to get into the machine and prepare it for further transport.

As we stopped and got out of the jeep about ten meters away I noticed something strange about the machine. Despite the sense of dignity and appearance of an honorable warrior, the crimson machine gave off a feeling of hostility to the personnel climbing all over it like ants. This feeling of mine seemed to be shared by everyone working as they avoided the face of the machine where the feeling seemed strongest. Well everyone saves for the one woman stuck in a staring contest with the said killer machine.

"Took you two long enough," said Nonette.

The knight of nine turned away from the organized chaos and gave the two of us an unpleasant stare.

"Sorry Nonette, took me a while to find this guy here," said Johnny as he patted me on the back treating me like some sort of lost puppy.

Unfortunately, Nonette was not amused.

"Ugh, I'm surrounded by incompetence, so save your glibness for after we, pry the prince from his slumber, find the missing princess, and my loveable pupil," she said.

Nonette's tone confirmed that even the higher-ups had no idea what happened.

"And Suzaku Kururugi?" I said.

At the mention of my countryman, Nonette's expression soured and I could have sworn she was holding back a snarl.

"Yes, him," she said dismissively, "I'm sure he's fine or was vaporized in some freak accident. But first, let's see if we can find any clues in the big guy behind me.

"Lady Nonette we just cleared the access codes we're in!" A technician yelled from beneath the Knightmare.

Looking up to the chest of the Lamorak the hiss of hydraulics opened up and revealed nothing.

"Damn where the hell are you, boss?" Said Johnny, visibly frustrated at the empty cockpit.

Everyone on the beach then seemed to have the same thought as Charlamange's disappearance was counted among Princess Euphemia, Rai, and Suzaku.

"Not you too," Said Nonette bitterly before she turned and stormed off taking the jeep Johnny and I had just arrived in.

"Damn guess we should go join the search too, come on let's regroup with the others," said Johnny as he looked for another set of wheels for us to use.

I watched Johnny walk towards a group of engineers to wrangle us some sort of transport. But before I joined him I looked back at the Lamorak on the sand. The sight of a weapon without its master only gave me more questions and nobody here seemed to have any answers. A small part of myself felt as if I was being handed an opportunity. The sweet call of freedom and liberation whispered into my ears. If I could make it back, rescue my mother, and find Kallen my family could be whole again. But that was easier said than done. For now, I would have to wait and see if the prince resurfaces and if not, well then, I'll be planning my defection to the Black Knights as soon as I get off this forsaken Island.

Black Knight Submarine

C.C. p.o.v.

I walked the dark corridors of the Black Knight's submarine and found myself strangely nostalgic. As I recall this was my second time inside a submarine, but I sincerely hope that this one makes it back to port. I hated reviving from drowning which was the cause of a few of my deaths and always involved longer than usual to reach dry land afterward.

As I walked closer to the mess hall in search of nourishment or more pizza I could hear the subdued murmurs and hushed conversations from the Black Knights who once again had the taste of victory stolen away at the last minute. If Lelouch were here, he would surely be disappointed and throw a fit over things his oh so brilliant mind couldn't predict. Such as targeted temporal teleportation or a following psychic release that could be felt all over the world or so I think since such events merely gave me a splitting headache. The ramifications of what Charles and V.V. attempted to do will have to be put on hold for now since finding Lelouch and stabilizing the Black Knights came first.

All things considered, the Black Knights situation could be worse. From my personal experience in being witness to many would-be revolutionaries attempts to overthrow the status quo. Joan of Arc, who left her mark on history as well as scarring my own body for the centuries to come, George Washington the forgotten revolutionary stabbed in the back by his allies, and Napoleon Bonaparte the conqueror of Europe and father of the revolution.

All three etched their names in history either through infamy or glory. Zero has proven to be infamous as the greatest threat to the Britannian colonial government in Japan. But whether Zero seizes victory and glory or becomes just another martyr means little to me. I can only hope that Lelouch has the will to mature his geass and inherit my code. So I can finally lay my tattered soul to rest after so many lifetimes.

"What was that!" A voice up ahead from the mess hall shouted.

And here comes the organizational infighting, it always shows up sooner or later. As I walked into the mess hall I saw many Black Knight's looking on at both Diethard and Tohdoh as the two men stared at each other with mutual disgust.

"What do you mean, without Zero this organization is nothing!" said Diethard as he slammed his fist on the table.

"But it's not a group without members, besides we have no guarantee Zero and Kallen are both still alive," said Tohdoh as he stared down the journalist. "The way you speak is like a typical Britannian to me."

"Urgh, alright answer me this then, how is it that we have followers of almost every ideology under the sun, yet how is it that the lot of them can corporate and work together, because of our results? Tell me who gets us those results?"

By now everyone was listening to the two men argue and my presence by the doorway was unnoticed.

"I'll be the first to admit that he does get results, but is he worth the lives of everyone?" Tohdoh said as he bites back rage on the deaths of his old comrades.

"In history, sometimes the life of a single man is worth more than those of a million. I thought a soldier like you would understand such things."

"You dare say such things here," said Tohdoh as he edged to lunge out at Diethard.

"Easy now guys," said Ohgi as he tried to be the peacemaker.

But despite his earnest disposition, Ohgi could do little to stop the two men's anger from bubbling over. So I decided to divert the coming disaster and rift in the Black Knights as my favor for the day for Lelouch. So I strode up towards their table to dispel their fear-mongering.

"Alright I guess I'll tell you all, they're both very much alive," I said, not bothering to look at the rabble behind me.

"We have no time for your wishful thinking," said Tohdoh.

"I just know it and the information is true," I said.

In truth after the event that opened a gate to C's world my senses had regained their sharpness, I remembered having decades ago. With this newfound clarity, I could sense Lelouch was alive and thus I assumed Kallen was as well. However, like most times I try to reassure people there's always that one idiot that opens his mouth.

That one in the black knights was Tamaki.

"Oh are you some sort of psychic oracle now huh? You may be Zero's girl and all but I thought I told you to get some training on a knightmare dumbass woman!"

It was just something about loud-mouths like him that always get on my nerves no matter where I am.

"Oh it's been a while since anyone has had the nerve to talk to me like that," I said.

"Like Zero's mistress, has any right to get uppity with us," he said, not backing down and instead of barking out insults like the insecure goon he was.

"I guess I was wrong about calling you a man because at least a man's mind would not be filled with such vulgar ideas," I said as I brushed against the man's psyche seeing his inner self.

Oh, of course, Tamaki responded to my insults the only way he knew how, by barking more noise that wasn't worth translating into words.

"Alright that's enough, this whole conversation has gotten out of hand," said Ohgi, ever the peacekeeper. " Alright how about this, we set a time limit until the end of tomorrow for Kallen or Zero to rendezvous with us while we wait outside of detection."

Both Tohdoh and Diethard accepted Ohgi's compromise while I walked back out in the hall while I felt a familiar presence I had not spoken to in a long time make itself known to me.

'It's been a long time Marianne.'

'Yes it has C.C. I see you've made a contract with my son,' the deceased empress said as she communicated through my connection with C's world.

'You did say I should look after your children when I left for the east, so I did for a time, but it seemed that fate brought Lelouch and me together again.'

'Yes and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that, although Lelouch's life came close to ending today if not for that intervention,' she said.

'So it wasn't your prank that whisked Lelouch and Kallen away to safety?'

Of course not, I've only been able to contact you now, did you really think a displaced soul such as myself could really pull something like that off?'

'I didn't think so,' I said as I rested my back against the wall. 'I'm sure it was the result of one of Charles's and V.V. 's experiments I wager.

'Yes V.V. always did like to push the boundaries between what should and shouldn't be done. So it wouldn't be a surprise to me if one of his little schemes backfired on him.'

Marianne's idea had merit, and based on my memories as head of the Geass order when she was alive, V.V. always did ignore my warnings of prodding into the darker parts of C's world. Despite me being centuries older than him V.V. never did care much for me and my opinions. Perhaps it was his pride or youthful arrogance, but he always did try to one-up me at every avenue and belittle me for our failures. And the aforementioned psychic event yesterday had all the hallmarks of one of his failed experiments. No doubt reaching for the sun, whilst wearing waxwings like Icarus.

Kallen p.o.v.

Despite being stranded on a deserted island, surrounded by my mortal enemies, and being a captive of my classmate and a prince of Britannia I could admit that Char and his flunkie could cook. With nothing but the fish caught from the stream, fruits from the forest, wild roots, and herbs I enjoyed plenty of fish until I was stuffed. But I dare not let my contentment slip out lest the smug princely bastard might say something. At least his henchman Rai, a white-haired boy about the same age as me acted like a gentleman despite him being a traitor and helped to feed me what with my arms still bound behind me.

"So Kallen, do you want the last fish?" Said Rai as he offered me a fish skewer that had finished cooking on the fire.

"No thanks I'm stuffed, but thanks for asking," I said as I leaned back onto my backrest of driftwood.

"Wow, so is this the real Kallen, what happened to the sick girl from school," said Suzaku as he sat across from me as he picked at his last portions.

I blushed at his comment and half expected a snarky comment from my right where Char sat. But he just kept staring into the fire, occasionally closing his eyes in thought for minutes on end. Rai on the other hand was going over the provisions to my left. Both Char and Rai had holstered their pistols while they built the fire and ate. But I didn't feel like pushing my luck just yet, at least not until I had a sure-fire way to escape back to the Black Knights.

"The whole sick girl persona was just an alibi to let me stay out of school and make a difference out on the streets, so yes this is the real me, got a problem with it?"

"No, I find you more charming this way," said Suzaku.

Again I fought the urge to succumb to Suzkau's kind words, and show weakness to others. A battle I was on the verge of losing.

Suzaku then got quiet and looked at Rai for a moment who nodded at him. Then after taking a deep breath Suzaku looked at the seemingly half-conscious prince beside us.

"Uh sir, I wanted to ask you something?" He said.

"Alright ask away," replied Char, still with his eyes closed.

Suzaku steadied himself again and then spoke again. His request equally shocked and infuriated me as Char finally opened his eyes to look at Suzaku.

"You want me to, Suzaku?" Char asked, sounding more amused than surprised by his request.

" I would like to request mercy in handling the Kallen Stadtfeld case, sir," he said, completely serious. "I know it never ends well for a terrorist, but Kallen is a friend and I hope that despite her crimes against the empire, that you will show clemency as you did in her brother's case."

Char eyed Suaku for a moment before grabbing a canteen and unscrewed the cap to take a swig of water.

"Is that all?" He asked.

Suzaku nodded and kept his eyes on the royal as he looked thoughtful, taking more sips while he hummed in thought.

"Sir, it was my suggestion that led Suzaku to the request so if you are to punish Suzaku for any impudence then I ask you to punish me too," Rai said as he came to his comrade's defense.

Suzaku looked stunned but not surprised by Rai's words but they did little to make Char decide as he glanced between the two and me.

Finally, after a minute or so of silence, I had enough of being spoken for.

"Can you two can it? I don't need you to bargain with your boss on my behalf!" I shouted, gaining everyone's attention.

"Kallen, I'm sorry but I can't let you throw your life away for nothing like this," said Suzaku acting as if he was doing me a favor by begging for me in my place.

Rage bubbled up from within myself and I faced Suzaku with all the buried resentments I had for the one who sold out his country and identity for status in Britannian politics. "And here I thought you were an alright guy Suzaku, but then you show your true colors as a Britannian lap dog, your father Genbu Kururugi the last samurai must be rolling in his grave, because his son is a coward and a traitor to his people!"

I had expected violence, anger, or some kind of rebuttal from Suzaku or the others. But despite a distressed look from Rai, a passive unreadable one from Char, Suzaku looked as if quiet despair came over him. He then looked to Char for some reason who shrugged and said, "tell her if you want."

"Tell me what?" My voice almost cracked because of my previous outburst.

Suzaku then looked at his right hand as if there's something there only he can see. He then looked me in the eye and said, " my father didn't commit suicide, I killed him with my own hands."

The plain admission of patricide from Suzaku doused my rage and turned it into confusion as I stared at the thrice-damned traitor dig his grave deeper. First, he betrays his country, then his countrymen, and even his family. I had to ask myself, is nothing sacred to this fool before me?

A silence settled between us as our staging contest of shock and contentment clashed. Ultimately our contest was ended by a third party.

"Right well, um I think we got off track a little, eh Char." Said Rai as he nervously looked between me and Suzaku.

But didn't add a snide comment or belittle either me or Suzaku instead he was silent so silent in fact that it forced both me and Suzaku to break our gaze to peek over at the meditative royal.

"You two finished?" He asked.

"Huh?" "Huh?" "Huh?"

The three of us all sat there confused by how nonplussed Char was by our shouting match in fact his impassivity.

"Because if you are then maybe the two of you can finally get serious?"

Seeing as I and Suzaku were still in a stupor Rai asked the question we both were thinking.

"Serious about what Char?" Asked Rai cautiously.

"Getting rid of this whole angsty love/hate rivalry you two got going on," he said pointing at the two of us like our grievances were nothing but school relationship drama.

"What no it's not like that, there's no way I'd like Suzaku that way," I said.

"Yes, I would never, even though she is, never mind that, what are you on about Char?" Suzaku asked, equally flustered.

"I glad you asked Suzaku, so let's cut the bullshit, all the pandering, and discuss the discourses of power in how they relate to our clashing destinies!" he said standing up while he left the rest of us confused.

Discourses of power, is this a lecture or a convoluted sales pitch to betray my friends for the greater good?

"Alright so if we're going to listen to this, why don't you tell them why they should listen to you Char," said Rai as he put his face in his hand as he must have felt embarrassed embracing the prince's delusions of grandeur.

"I'm glad you asked, Rai because my fellow aces, masters of the knightmare frame, and blood-stained brothers in arms I would like your help to save the world!"

"From what Zero, Britannia, you ?" I asked with contempt and sarcasm.

"From those who would kill God," he said in a voice that made me believe he actually meant what he said.

Suzaku was speechless by Char's audacious claims, Rai was passive accepting of it yet still withholding a sliver of judgment, while I was conflicted.

Part of me wanted to laugh at his lunacy some more, but as I looked at his face I saw he was dead serious. As the shadows from the flames danced across his face I swore I felt a chill run down my spine and in my heart I knew his words did not hold their familiar half lies. Instead, a dark burning truth had infested itself into Char and seemed to reach for me from the shadow making me recoil at these tricks of the mind. But in my soul, I knew he wasn't lying about what he wanted from me and that terrified me more than I could ever have imagined.