25 「Alstreim」

「Area 11: Mt. Fuji Underground Facility. 2232 September 3, 2017 」

The mask which covered her memories, the blanks in the puzzles were solved. She could align everything in chronological, she could dream once again. She no longer felt like she was someone else fifty percent of the time. The smile remained on her face as she was unconscious, being dragged along the ground.

She wore her typical white shorts and crested turtleneck crop top that showed much of her lower torso. Her attire was rather revealing, showing skin on all corners. Arms, legs, her abdomen and lower back.

If she sat in a chair, one could easily catch a glimpse of her butt crack. She was slender, looked weak, fragile. Anyone who misunderstood what she could do, would definitely see her as the weak link.

Graham simply watched her from the corner of his eye, watching as he dragged her by her ankles with one hand. Her right arm bumping against the rail support grid. In his other hand, he held his helmet, which he let freely swing and whirl around his fingers.

They entered what looked like a locker room for workers. There were jumpsuits and helmets laying around, as well as tools. He made his way into the nearby office, he made sure not to let her head hit any of the benches.

If he could read minds without using his power to change data, then he would definitely want to see what she was thinking about. Despite how he was moving her about on the ground, and how red her back was getting, he could only imagine why she had that little smile on her lips.

As they entered the administrative office room of the Overseer, he placed her down on an office chair behind the main desk and tied her arms to its own arms. Then he tied her legs to the arms of another chair he brought around.

This in particular would make it hard to move, and would allow her to easily hurt herself should she struggle or panic. He placed a stool between the two chairs to support her back end, though this too had wheels on it. So if she were to make the wrong move, she'd come crashing down.

Placing his helmet on the side of the desk, he sat down, pushing the keyboard out of the way as he did so. The monitor of the computer however falling off the back of he desk with a loud crash sound.

He glanced over at it and snickered, seeing the frame busted and the glass of the screen cracked. "I swear, rich people are really cheap when it comes to hardware." He turned his attention back towards Anya as she seemed to move ever so slightly.

His eyes locked onto her red ones which were lazily looking at him. Her smile had disappeared, but she was casually taking in her surroundings. Then paused when she looked into his eyes again as the geass emblem appeared once more.

In that moment she was thrown into a flashback. Her body tensed as she remembered the original death of Marianne, and seeing the symbol in the woman's eyes, before losing some of her memories.

She never remembered having seen that before, it was clear that her memory was back. There were many things which she found shocking, including Marianne and Charle's plots. They wanted to bring about the end of the world, and yet here she was doing their bidding without questioning a single thing about it.

She tugged her left arm, the chair holding her upper body jerked to the right as she did so, almost causing her to lose balance on her mid-body with the stool.

"Did you... Do something to me...?" She asked looking at the man with the glowing eyes. The lights weren't on, so the main thing that shown to her was his Geass. "How come I have, memory?"

He noted the brief pause with her second question, asking about her memory. How she suddenly had it. "Yes, I removed the Devil from your mind, who was clouding your memories."

"Marianne vi Britannia..." She recalled, or more so corrected him, since he called the consort whom had the Emperor's undoubtable support the devil. In that moment she tensed again, a flashback informing her that Charles knew of her condition the entire time. He was using her as a host for his wife's consciousness. He was the reason she had been suffering.

Her jaws clenched tightly, gritting her teeth as various other memories were overlapping old ones or the empty spaces between. It was clear that Marianne had damaged quite a few memories, but everything was returning. Her experiences, and she was going to watch and remember everything that Marianne had done as well in her body.

"You have been deceived Anya, used as a pawn, by people who want to destroy the very world which holds those whom may be dear to you." Her condition, depression, had been something he had been rather familiar with. In his past life, from what he could even remember of it, there were many instances where he showed the same stoic mask she had before her memories were restored.

Anya stared at him. Her loyalty was to the Emperor of the Britannian Empire. She had always followed his orders, she never disobeyed, she never questioned anything. Yet the more he sat there, looking at her, the more her thoughts began to jumble. Was he making her think? Her eyes closed as she maneuvered herself into a comfortable position, at least as best she could.

She was definitely thinking about breaking out of this contraption. However she ran the scenarios through her head, following general laws of physics. If she kicked up the other chair too high, the balance would be lost. The arms make it so these chairs can't overlap, so that was out of the question.

That and she had no idea what kind of person he was. From what Marianne knew, which was limited, he appeared to be an opportunist. For some reason Marianne and Charles seemed to believe Lelouch had geass of Absolute Authority, just like the original timeline.

This if Graham could read her mind on this subject, wouldn't be able to comprehend why other than the fact that he had gotten an entire resistance movement to follow him.

Who would knowingly follow a Britannian Prince against an Empire of the same Dynasty without thinking it as a power move? Not many people, that's for sure.

"What are you able to do with those eyes?" Anya narrowed her gaze on him once more as she moved to sit up in one of the chairs. She shoved the stool away, or at least tried to, with one of her legs. However she was failing at the task, rather hard one might say.

Graham tilted his head to the side slightly, "Asking because Marianne used the same eyes to take over and ruin your life, I presume?" She didn't nod, nor acknowledge his answer to her question with a question.

"If you want me to answer that question, you will have to rescind your loyalties to your Emepror, and forever place your loyalties to me." Graham stated as he tilted his head to the side slightly. This was something which made her puzzled. If what Marianne had thought had been correct, then this wouldn't be happening. He wouldn't be giving her the option to choose.

Why did he want her loyalties anyways?

Anya let out an impatient huff from her nose, "Why do you want me?" She sounded blunt and direct, she wanted to know what she wanted to know.

"You're an expert pilot and combatant. You care deeply for your friends and colleagues. You want your childhood back. Though Marianne had depraved Rolo of this life, I can promise you another. Join me, you will make plenty friends, many new experiences and meet people very similar to you." He leaned forward with his hands folded in his lap as he was remaining seated on the desk. He didn't bother reaching out to touch her, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea.

Anya sat there in silent contemplation. He offered her shelter, so it seemed. He offered her friends, social interactions which she barely experienced or at least remembered half the time prior to this engagement.

She hated the fact she had been used, and neglected by someone who she had showed absolute loyalty to. She felt like she was treated as if she were just some meat sleeve for a ghost to wear.

How appreciated had she even been? She had been promised to be placed as the Sixth Knight of the Round by the end of October, yet was that because she was herself or was it because Marianne possessed her? This was embarrassing, she felt like a fool.

"Do you want to die with old memories, or live with new ones?"

Her mind clicked at the moment he gave the ultimatum. "What's my favorite animal?"

"Cat." This answer was almost instant, referring to the original timeline where she had taken a liking to Arthur the Cat.

"When was I born?" She shot another question at him, like a rapid firing cannon.

"October Twenty Sixth, Two thousand and three after the Ascension of the Throne of Britannia." He gave the answers within mere seconds notice without any form of hesitation.

She simply stared at him for a few moments and tilted her head, "What's your Zodiac?"

"Virgo," He answered the question truthfully without batting an eye, faster than he had answered the questions pertaining to her.

"Virgin," with a straight face she stated, he could tell her eyes were laughing.

"And? What of it? Haven't found a reason to lose it, nor take it, yet." His eye twitched slightly as she nodded slowly hearing him, before she herself paused as she ran over the last sentence a few more times.

Her face turned a fresh pink as she gawked in realization, though she normally lacked common sense. It seemed she was thinking of things she normally wouldn't. "T-take?"

Rolling his eyes, Graham would reach over and fix her crop top which had been sliding up a bit. "Was a joke. Now, seriously, answer me." He wanted to know her answer, will she swear loyalty to him, or will she die with her old memories.

"Can I change my mind afterward?" Her furrowed her brows as she focused her sights on him. It was as if she were trying to melt him with her eyes.

"No, you won't. There wouldn't be any need to."

With that she paused, what did he mean she won't? She bit her lower lip, she felt as if she was going to go into a contemplating mode once more. Was his Geass some sort of deal making power? Or was the deal in which he was presenting going to be better than anticipated; so good that she wouldn't want to change her mind?

"So I just... Swear on it?"

He smiled and slid off the desk, onto his feet, as he closed the gap between them. He leant down, his face centimeters from hers. She could bite, she could head butt him in the face, she could even attack him, it however was useless to try.

Anya could see in his eyes, he wasn't going to just let her go.

Taking in a deep breath, she knew only one way to place loyalty to someone. She was a military officer, this called on an Oath. Honor was a lie, like loving one's neighbor, according to the Emperor of Britannia.

"I, Anya Alstreim, hereby revoke and rescind my loyalties to... The Britannian Throne, Emperor Charles zi Britannia. I presently hereby give myself, my loyalties, to..." She seemed to struggle slightly putting the words together. She was leaving something she had known all her life. She was leaving behind something that destroyed her, her life.

She stared at the man who was looming centimeters from her face, her face becoming red instead of the gentle tinge of pink. "What is your name anyway?"

He stared at her for a few moments before letting out a soft sigh, "Zakku, you can call me Zach, or Graham alternatively." He gently brushed his hand against her cheek, caressing it quietly.

Even though she hadn't finished making the oath, what she had intended to say was irreversible. Her absolute loyalty to the Britannian Empire had been completely squashed. Why? Because he was able to get into her head, make everything personal.

He surrounded her in the arms of darkness, then invited to have a good time under his gaze of light. His geass made sure she could never break her vow, her oath, to him. "Lets get you out of those binds now, huh?"

After his comprehension 'spell' on her began to wear off, and his geass became inactive, her more introverted personality took its rightful place. Living like a husk for so long she wasn't all that expressive, but when she did show her emotions, there were strong triggers to it.

Nodding, her face was almost completely stoic, but there was a hint of a smile.