CHAPTER 12:

FAMILY VALUES

Cornelia grimaced as she peered through the information on the disc drive that she had been given. Jeremiah Gottwald had delivered it to her, saying he'd found out where it was from Bartley Aspirius. She was glad he had argued against sending Aspirius back to the homeland, even in disgrace. Now the fallen officer could be interrogated, wrung out for every drop of information he had.

The imagery she saw in there was disgusting. Despite being a veteran of many a battlefield, and having made some questionable choices as a commander, this truly sickened her to the core. A green-haired girl with golden eyes, someone that Cornelia found vaguely familiar, was subject to various experiments. There were even images of the girl, dubbed 'CC' (Cornelia found it irritating that it was spelled that way, but she was called 'cee-two' in the audio). One dated back to the First World War, a century before. Another was a painting, showing her in what looked like Jesuit armour, but with a distinctive bird-like emblem (similar to the one that was occasionally visible on her forehead during the experiments, she noted). If this wasn't a hoax, and the pictures and the sickening footage showed her recovering from dismemberment, decapitation, immolation, dissolution in acid were true, then this CC girl was completely immortal, and had been around for centuries.

That being said, this 'Code-R' project had to have had support from more than just Clovis. At the very least, it would have to reach the upper echelons of the Britannian government. While she couldn't be sure, something of this stank of Schneizel. Even if he wasn't involved in Code-R, Cornelia had the sneaking suspicion that he was aware of it on some level: Schneizel was an inveterate schemer, a Machiavellian mastermind who left any ethical considerations by the wayside.

Of course, it could go to the top, or close to it. Cornelia remembered what Zero had discussed with her, and what she shared with Lelouch. Marianne's killer had not only been trusted by her, but was powerful enough to have the Emperor cover for the killer, and the list of people she knew was small. But then again, maybe her father had more trusted people than Cornelia knew. She couldn't claim to know all of his associates.

The scary thing was, while she had every reason to disregard the word of the masked terrorist, his words made too much sense. She had the feeling that this was why. He had told her the truth, or at least part of it, in order to sow discord amongst the Britannian forces. But why do that? He had the power to kill her with ease. He was able to do so to Clovis, the battle outside Saitama showed that he and his associates could wipe out Knightmares in the same way one could swat flies, and he had annihilated the hotel in a pillar of light similar to that eyewitnesses saw destroying the mobile command centre of Clovis.

So what did he have to gain by keeping her alive? Did he think her a better Viceroy than Clovis? That admittedly wasn't much of a stretch: Cornelia found the paperwork her brother left behind to be ridiculously disorganised, and even without knowing about Code-R, she would have shot him for that. Or perhaps he had some regard for her?

Or maybe it was something really simple. She already thought that there was a possibility that Zero was an associate of Lelouch's. Maybe Lelouch held her in such high regard, Zero chose to spare her as a favour to Lelouch.

Or maybe, maybe it was something scarier: Zero was trying to bring her to the side of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Cornelia shook her head. She couldn't think about that. What she intended to do was to do what she should have done years ago. She needed to find Marianne's killer and bring them to account. What was more, regardless of Ainz Ooal Gown's power, she intended to deal with the other terrorists in Area Eleven. She needed to buy time to find a way to deal with Ainz Ooal Gown, at least before her father and the vultures within her family noticed, especially Schneizel. She didn't like being beholden to that snake for anything, and if she wanted his help, she knew he would extract a price for it.

Still…Lelouch…a smile touched Cornelia's lips. He had changed. True, not all of it was for the better: he had that stubborn habit of calling Elevens Japanese, indicating some rather disturbing sympathies for them. And he had admitted to hating what their father had shaped her into. But he said he still loved her and Euphie. And Nunnally could see again. If there was any good news to come out of coming to Area 11, it was this. And Cornelia refused to let Lelouch and Nunnally down a second time…

Lelouch looked down at the form on the bed. Kallen had come to him, begging for a boon. She had just found out that her mother had been taking Refrain, and she begged Lelouch to do something.

Kallen, it seemed, felt guilty. She had despised and disdained her mother for staying around as a servant in the Stadtfeld mansion, a maid, while Kallen's father was off in Pendragon, and Kallen had to deal with that utter bitch of a stepmother. Kallen had, until she had discovered the Refrain vials in her mother's room and her mother was in a Refrain-induced delusion, cooing at a younger Kallen and Naoto, believed she was just being stupid. That she was sticking around out of pride rather than trying to hold onto Kallen as the last fragment she had of the past.

"…Will she be all right?" Lelouch asked Villetta, who was looking over Kallen's mother.

"Curing this should be relatively easy, su," Villetta remarked. "Making sure she stays that way is another matter. To cure something as entrenched as a drug addiction, we need a heavy duty magic scroll, su."

"Or Wish Upon a Star," Lelouch mused. "It healed Nunnally's spinal injuries, after all. But Kallen's mother is not the only one affected by Refrain. Cornelia said she was intending to go after it, probably by attacking the pipeline in from the Chinese Federation. I think we should go after the financiers, the dealers and the distributors, as well as any drug labs we find within the area."

Kallen's face was twisted into fury and hatred. "My lord…I insist that those we find be thrown to Demiurge and Neuronist Painkill. Not for the sake of information gathering…I want their demises to be prolonged. I fear that, in my fury, I would make these lower lifeforms' suffering too swift."

"I will consider it, Kallen. These fools have profited from the misery of the Japanese. My people in my first life, your people in this one. These fools are dancing on the strings of the Chinese Federation, not caring as long as they can make a profit and make the Japanese miserable. It is past time they learned what true misery is." His eyes flickered over to Kallen's. Softly, he said, "Kallen…do you think she would be better off within Nazarick rather than in your house?"

"…You would let a human stay here?" Villetta asked.

"Ainz Ooal Gown serves to protect the weak so that they may become strong. We cannot do this for everyone…but for the Captain of the Floor Guardians, I would. Indeed, for those precious to us here, I would. However, the question would remain, what to do about your stepmother, Kallen?"

Kallen sneered. "That woman is no mother of mine. Even before I realised the truth about my mother staying at that manor, I despised that woman utterly. She is a blonde bimbo bitch with breast implants, bleached hair, and more plastic in her face than the average Barbie doll, and she has the gall to look down on me with contempt for being half-Japanese. It's no wonder my father, spineless coward that he is, stays in Pendragon as much as he does. Should he return, I am tempted to kill him, along with that sow."

"Calm down, Kallen," Lelouch said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We will think of a plan to deal with your stepmother. However, it is your mother I am most concerned about. To kill someone is far more easy than keeping someone alive, after all. And while your mother may not be dead in body, she is in danger of dying in spirit."

"…You're right, my lord," Kallen said, her voice thick with emotion. "I have already lost Naoto. I cannot afford to lose her too. For a feeble human and not a Supreme Being, she has too large a place in my heart. Forgive me, my lord, for admitting that. I know I should only have enough room for you in my heart, but…"

"No. You forget your own creator, Tabula. And there is your mother and brother in this life. Your comrades in the resistance cell. And, of course, your comrades in the Tomb of Nazarick. There are many kinds of love, Kallen. I love you all as the children of my comrades. Euphie was my sister in spirit in my first life, and in fact in this life. To love the weak is no sin, despite what my father claims. Few people are completely weak. Those weak in body can be strong in mind or spirit or heart. Your mother endured much, even as it killed her soul by…MMMPH!"

That last exclamation was made because Kallen had suddenly whirled, and pinned him to the wall, before locking her lips to his own, her tongue probing at his mouth. Her body ground against his. Kallen suddenly broke away, mortified. "I'M SORRY, MY LORD!" she yelped, blushing. "I…I just couldn't…I couldn't stop myself. Your words…your words filled with your most ardent love…I couldn't resist."

"It's…it's fine, Kallen. Just…try to." He smiled, albeit a little shaken, at the Succubus. "…I'm not stringing you along, Kallen. But…I want to prove myself worthy of the love I forced on you when I altered Tabula's settings. Not to you, you don't seem to mind…but to myself."

"But why would you think yourself unworthy?"

"Aside from the fact that, before we regained our memories, we barely knew each other? You view me as a god, a deity. For all my admitted hubris in this life as Lelouch vi Britannia…I never thought of myself as a god. First and foremost, I was a fallen prince…no, a brother, desperately trying to find a way to create a world fit for my sister. True, I wished to overthrow the Emperor, and find out who was responsible for my mother's death…but Nunnally was what mattered to me the most. But…I realised something. As Lelouch, I turned in on myself. I didn't truly have friends, just…acquaintances. I was like a lich in my mind, a shambling construct of bones, a walking dead man whose only reasons for living were revenge and the care of a crippled sister. CC changed that. She gave me many gifts, not just Geass, but my memories, my powers…and perhaps most importantly, Ainz Ooal Gown back. Euphie may be the only other Supreme Being to have come back, but even if she hadn't…you all would have been enough. I am no god, no deity…but I want to become worthy of your adoration and respect."

"…You already are," Kallen said softly. "Even given what you did to my backstory, you did much by stopping Clovis, and by saving the people in the Saitama Ghetto. You treated us all with a respect above and beyond what we deserve. We are the servants of the Supreme Beings of Ainz Ooal Gown. But you elevate us into so much more, into kith and kin, positions we still find ourselves wanting in. We too want to become worthy of the treatment you give us."

"…You already were," Lelouch said, echoing Kallen's earlier words. "Never, ever think that you are merely my servants. Never believe that you are unworthy. The only way you can fail to be worthy is if you fail to live up to the tenets of Ainz Ooal Gown."

"…Thank you, Momonga," Kallen said quietly.

CC frowned as she peered at the online news article the next day. "So, why is Kallen's stepmother dead?"

"Let's just say it was a case of suicide by Geass," Lelouch said, perhaps a little flippantly. "Mixing alcohol with prescription medication you're abusing is never a good thing. The sad fact is, she was already doing it, the idiot. Used her contacts to dope herself up on pain medication, drank a lot in conjunction…if she hadn't been such a bitch to Kallen and her mother, I would have used the Geass to force her to sober herself up to prevent her from killing herself out of stupidity. Plus, while questioning her under the influence of Geass, I found out that the bitch had actually sold Naoto out to the Britannians, and was suspicious of Kallen's activities. She abused Kallen's mother psychologically and physically. While not the worst sort of human being, she only refrained from murder because she was afraid of getting caught, otherwise, she would have put paid to Kallen herself. Or tried, anyway. Even before she regained her abilities as Albedo, Kallen would have easily kicked her arse."

CC peered at him for a moment, before smirking. "You know, that's one of the things I like about you, Lelouch. As Satoru Suzuki, you were somewhat self-absorbed and embittered when the players left Ainz Ooal Gown. As Lelouch Lamperouge, you brooded over the injustice of your mother's murder, and the only person you truly cared for was Nunnally, your friends kept somewhat at arm's length. In a way, the combination of those two granted you a maturity of sorts. You're still ruthless, perhaps frighteningly so to many, and yet, you care more than you let on. You are the sum of two lives that managed to become better than your component parts. Now, I wouldn't say that killing off the Wicked Stepmother was the most moral thing to do, but…well, considering what I myself have done over the centuries, I can't exactly throw stones."

"I'm sure. Now, once we're done with Refrain…I think we should begin reaching out feelers. While technically we don't need the so-called Six Houses of Kyoto to supply funding or equipment, I would prefer not to rely on stuff from Nazarick, just in case. Especially as we are absorbing the resistance cell Kallen belonged to. I think we should also reach out to the JLF. Tohdoh may be an overly cautious general, but a seasoned military officer would be worth reaching out to. And the JLF could increase the manpower of Ainz Ooal Gown."

"And if they refuse?"

"Then I will simply let them go down fighting," Lelouch retorted. "Thanks to the JLF, whether they sanctioned Kusakabe's actions, or didn't keep him on a tight enough leash, the events at the hotel happened. I will fight for the Japanese, but it will be entirely on my terms. And those truly foolish enough to oppose Ainz Ooal Gown, well, they will be destroyed, one way or the other…"

CHAPTER 12 ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it. Not much to say, save that this was a nice little interlude chapter. The next chapter may be some time coming, though, as I still need to figure out exactly what to do with the Narita situation.

That being said, I've actually finished watching the first season of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, and I've managed to get my hands on Akito the Exiled. I've also got the eighth light novel of Overlord! Yay!

Now, for those of you who wanted to see Lelouch Liesmith, my possible Code Geass/Thor crossover that I alluded to in the previous chapter's annotations, I have some bad news. I am shelving the idea for now, partly because I am worried about it becoming an also-ran of this fic and Warlock in many regards. To tell the truth, it may never become a full story. This isn't to say it definitely won't, only that I have more interesting ideas in the pipeline, like my recently published Star Wars/GATE crossover GATE: Thus the Chosen One Fought There, plug plug. Lelouch Liesmith may still get developed. Whether I do continue on with it, though, is another matter.

rmarcano321: That's a pretty difficult question to answer. Given what I've read, perhaps the most evil is VV. Charles may have been a dick, but he had good intentions, twisted though they were. VV, well, he betrayed Charles, and broke the agreement between them. After I watch the second season, maybe that opinion will change. That being said, Lelouch skirts very close to the line, especially given what he does immediately after he causes the Euphienator incident.

Guest (regarding Shizu's identity): I'd already stated it earlier in the fic: Shizu Delta is the Lancelot! Pay attention.

MM Browsing: Now that I actually have Akito the Exiled, I'll consider that.

Chronos0305: Putting Albedo into Kallen was actually a decision I didn't make lightly. I was actually wavering between Albedo and Shalltear. But I decided that Shalltear, with her paraphilias, was a better fit for the perverted Milly. Plus, Albedo's knight armour isn't that far removed from her using a Knightmare.

Akuma-Heika: Regarding Momonga's education, you have a point. In fact, one of the First Doctor's companions, Vicki Pallister, stated in the Doctor Who story The Web Planet that, by the age of ten, she had obtained certificates in various areas that would seem advanced to us, and she comes from the late 25th Century…though she doesn't know what aspirin is, despite having studied medical sciences. Presumably it's obsolete as a painkiller and blood thinner by then…

No numbered annotations this time.