5 「The Emperor's Will」

In the Nightmare of Nunnally, the conditions that gave Lelouch's Geass which acted as an invulnerable armor were based on his physical well-being at the time. It virtually saved his life, allowing him to survive and automatically have an armor which gave him the appearance of what became Zero.

In the original anime series, he gained the power of the King as not only was his life in danger, he wanted power to change this and give his little sister the world she wished for. The conditions however this time around had completely changed. Lelouch's life was no longer in danger, he hadn't been pushed to the brink with loss as CC hadn't been gunned down in front of him. He had also not been left alone.

At this very moment, his convictions and thoughts were what would bring about the conditions that gave him his Geass.

Graham was forever curious. To him it may as well compliment his own powerset. Graham had the geass known as 「The Emperor's Will」, as opposed to Lelouch's 「King」 from the original animated series. It could be assumed that an Emperor was stronger than a King, considering the lack of restrictions Graham himself seemed to have.

On the other hand it appeared that if Lelouch had the power of the King like he had before, it would be not only a conflict of interest, but conflict with the use of the Emperor's power.

Lelouch was an intellectual, he was a genius strategist with a natural charisma. People followed him both with and without his Geass. He was capable of scheming to the highest caliber and setting a sequence of events which would land him wherever he wanted.

In a sense, he was the Advisor. In a sense this followed with his need to not only protect his little sister, but give her a world of peace with him in it.

In order to sate these conditions, his bestowed Geass became Telepathy, which was not only a powerful tool, but also a powerful weapon. The rules of this ability was simple, if he never knew of their existence, his power won't touch them. The downside was mainly that it was one sided, making direct interaction difficult without a facilitated way to respond. He can use this to relay orders to other people, to distract enemies or other people through mental hallucinations that could have a chance at effecting the senses. This was utmost perfect ability which could have been bestowed upon him.

While it didn't necessarily control anyone, it definitely made sure he could coordinate with those whom were like minded. Lelouch wasn't disappointed.

In the moment in which his Geass became visible, CC removed her hold on his hand and retracted her arm; wrapping it back around Cheese-Kun. "You said the Pizza will be here shortly, where is it?"

Her attention had moved from Lelouch and over to Graham, tucking her chin into the plushie she held so dear.

'Pizza?' Lelouch's thoughts reached Graham's mind which immediately made the friend of his lock their gazes together.

CC blinked a few times seeing the two of them looking at one another and snickered to herself and rolled over on the bed. She knew that the pizza would be here any moment, so it didn't bother her that no one answered the question.

"Y-yeah, Pizza. Shrimp, scallops, and all the great sea food of Japan." He spoke of the nations former name in a hushed tone, but he seemed rather happy with CC's selection of food. He had a habit of mixing and experimenting with tastes, be it with food or drink.

Lelouch was rather surprised by the reaction of his friend, unaware that he had actually heard his thought that he had focused towards him. His geass deactivated and he placed a hand on his face, in thought.

"Interesting..."

Graham nodded with a mellowed out expression, "Oh, Yes, very. Of course." His agreement didn't actually sound like an agreement. It was more as if he was more amused at the power Lelouch had received. It was very befitting.

Considering how he had just used it, he could only assume how much fun he could have had if he had gotten that one instead. Messing with people was part of his normal demeanor, enjoying people's reactions to direct or indirect stimuli.

Lelouch made a face towards Graham, a frown clearly written on his face due to his friend's reaction.

"I'm a bit tired," his frown turned into a cheeky smile, one of arrogance and curiosity. It was easy to read, for Graham, that his friend wanted to go out and test his power. "Since it's late, I'll be returning home."

Nodding at Lelouch, Graham smiled softly as he watched the childhood friend vacate the room. Soon enough, he was gone. He was picturing the scene in the Lamperouge household, where his friend declares he would never lie to his little sister.

In a sense he never really lied to her, only withheld information she never asked for.

Graham was now wandering what exactly he was going to do when he lost control of his abilities. He could only picture the madness that could be caused by changing the data of biological thought and technological programming on a whim without complete control.

It simply meant he needed to be careful in the use of his thoughts and words, he couldn't use them lightly. His mind going back to the point that Lelouch had accidentally ordered the Princess Euphy, to massacre the Japanese in the special zone.

Closing his eyes, these events were becoming more and more real.

C.C. sat up on the bed beside him, her legs curled to the side with Cheese-kun in her lap. Her eyes looking over Graham who seemed to be visualizing something. Her mouth opened partially, her jaw moving to the side a bit, thinking of what to ask.

When she had made the contract with him, she had seen many questionable things. A small glimpse at a reality which looked very different from their own for instance, a different history jumbled with this one's events.

"Why did you want the Geass in the first place?" She inquired, recalling back how he had answered one of her questions before.

Graham looked over at her for a few moments, a printed smile across his lips, one blank without meaning. "To protect my friends with an unrivaled power. To be a puppet master. To reforge the Japanese Empire and eliminate Britannia."

He didn't use the word Obliterate, he only used it with Lelouch who had an obsession with the use of the word. It was his lowkey way of making fun of him and his obsession.

C.C. nodded at the use of the word eliminate. You could obliterate a stone, but could be a chunk left behind. If one were to eliminate a stone, it's likely there would be nothing left as it had been removed.

As the dorm room doorbell buzzed, Graham quickly shot up to his feet and tugged his wallet out from his front right pocket. Opening it, he pulled out the sum of the bill and the appropriate amount for a tip.

Once he opened the door, the pizza delivery man was casually standing there, looking up and down the hall as he waited for the door. He would be there with the pizza and an aluminum container of custom loaded cheese fries consisting of cheese wiz, bacon bits, chives and fresh roasted garlic.

Trading the merchandise for the cash, Graham retreated into the room and closed the door with little patience. It was almost as if he had slammed the door, despite it not being the case.

Before he even made it to the bed however, CC intercepted the box and swiftly swiped it from his hands. Causing him to fumble the container of fries, to the point he ended up hugging them to his chest. "Oi, Cera."

"Gotta problem?" She raised her brows as she sat down, one leg over the other as she placed the pizza hut box in her lap and opened it. Taking out a slice and opening her mouth; sticking out her tongue to catch the tip of the slice and guide it into her mouth. A gentle savory moan reverberated in her mouth at the taste.

Graham simply stared at her as he placed the container down on the bed and sat down; opening it and putting a few fries in his mouth. "Shish ish the firsht shing I've eaten all day..." He spoke with his mouth full, falling back with his legs hanging off the side of the bed as he stared to the cool off-white ceiling.

"That's not healthy," Cera responded with a monotoned voice of sarcasm as she ate the pizza.

Shrugging at her sarcastic commentary, he looked over at the green haired 'Witch of Britannia' and thought of her history. She had been a slave and directly changed the path of history through the use and study of Geass. "Neither is living with a literal Deathwish," he suddenly retorted with his own sense of dark humor, having commented on her wish which she hadn't even divulged to him as of yet.