Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of its canon characters.
"I destroyed the world... and created it... anew..."
Those were the last words the demon emperor uttered before falling into an eternal slumber beside his eternal slumber as the crowd cheered on. For him, it was like an eternity; life flashing before his eyes as he relived his most precious memories yet again. His times at Ashford, his first encounter with Suzaku and CC, his kiss with Kallen, and finally, the joyful period he spent with Suzaku and Nunnally as a child.
I guess this is the end then, he thought as the world turned to black. An eternal emptiness, stretching thousands of kilometers. stared into the emptiness as his right hand reached for his stomach where he was pierced, but no wound was found.
No wound... then this is the afterlife perhaps? Though Lelouch was not one for the paranormal and religious, after his encounter with a pizza loving immortal witch and the power of Geass, there were few things that could surprise him, with the exception of Milly's antics.
He waited for Death to greet him, in fact he had already thought of a script in his head to greet Death in return, but nothing came. Even after what felt like hours, it was simply a dark, eternal emptiness.
Then, it suddenly hit him. Maybe this is what hell looks like! If one were to be left in such an emptiness for an eternity, then it was certainly the equivalent to hell. Even knowing this, Lelouch only smiled. But this is what I deserve I guess, my atonement for my sins.
Then suddenly, the world was bleached in white. Lelouch tried to cover his eyes on instinct, but his hands would not move. He could only close his eyes and bear with the intense light.
After a few seconds, he could start to hear noises resembling buzzes around him. As time moved on, the buzzes became clearer and clearer, and eventually began to resemble words.
"It's a girl, My Lady!"
"Wonderful! What should we call her Charles?"
...What? Charles zi Britannia was dead, must be another Charles the- wait hold on, did he just say 'It's a boy'?
"Anything you like Marianne, don't make it something ridiculous though"
Hearing the voice of the 98th Emperor of Britannia again, he almost fainted.
Impossible! I killed him and mother and I saw it with my own eyes! Why are they here now?
"The moon is quite bright today... Luna, yes, Luna vi Britannia, 8th Princess of Britannia."
"Alright, Luna it is then."
Hearing this, it suddenly hit Lelouch. Wait, was I sent back to the past? And I'm a female of all things? Damn, I can't hear them anymore.
Though he tried to keep himself awake, fatigue embraced him as he fell asleep in his late mother's arms.
1998, Aries Villa
Lelouch was now seven year of age. He, or she, was currently in the garden reading a book named In the Wake of Britannia. There were still no signs of his mother, Marianne being pregnant, which worried him as he was looking forward to seeing his beloved sister Nunnally again after many years.
During the first six months of his new life, he simply focused on getting by as there was nothing to do for a toddler. In fact, it bore him so much that he was even considering dealing with Milly's pranks and antics a better alternative.
The second half of the year was undoubtedly much more interesting, as he finally received access to his mouth to speak freely after 10 months and the ability to walk after 9. Though it wasn't exactly difficult for an intelligent being, it almost gave the caretaker a heart attack when she was spoken to in fluent britannian by a 10 month old child.
He had determined through reading that the timeline in this world was slightly different his original world. The most noticeable difference was that the EU (Europia United) was not yet united, and was still divided between the Regions of Russia, Africa, mainland Europe and Parts of Middle East. Though this in theory would make them much easier to invade for Britannia, their constant state of war meant that all regions were much more militaristic and more heavily equipped. In fact, the current Britannian Campaign in the region was progressing at much slower rate than it originally was.
The other noticeable difference, was that he was now the 8th Princess of Britannia, born 8 years prior to his previous self. This both allowed him more time to prepare and more time to learn of the world, which was a blessing in itself. The gender switch part - not so much. In fact, so far his features were quite similar to his previous self, striking black hair and piercing violet er
Speaking of Marianne, she acted exactly like she used to before his exile in his previous world. Such a perfect image of a mother, that it made him wonder why she had to be such a heartless monster inside.
He let out a sigh as he continued to read, trying to find every detail of history that didn't match with his own world to make sure that he would not make a careless blunder later on.
This time, he would create the peaceful world Nunnally and the world wished for, and atone for all the sins he had committed in his previous life.
He was no longer Lelouch Lamperouge, but Luna vi Britannia, 8th prince of the Holy Empire of Britannia.
Charles zi Britannia was impressed, to say the least, with his new daughter.
At the ripe age of one, could already speak fluent britannian english (though with a childish accent due to the developing body) and walk. A day after he spoke his first words, he was already capable of engaging in complex conversations with both Marianne and himself. He initially believed that something had happened to the collective unconsciousness, but V.V had already confirmed that there were no abnormalities. It left both him and Marianne flabbergasted, but by no means did he not like it.
The girl had requested for formal military training at the age of five, and knightmare training a year later. (ironically she also detested the military training at the same time). By the time she was seven, she had already reached a proficiency level of 87% with the Ganymede. Though she was offered the chance to use the experimental generation three model formally known as the Glasgow, she refused and chose to stick with the Ganymede, claiming that it was more familiar.
She displayed more intelligence than nearly all of his children. He still remembered when she challenged Schneizel in chess moments after watching him defeat an earl whilst not having played chess herself, yet coming out victorious. It was the talk of the royal family for months after, much to the dismay of Schneizel and his pride as the undefeated.
In contrast to those of her age, her eyes were cold and sharp which, when coupled with her domineering posture due to her training, was truly terrifying to behold. In fact, the aura she possessed rivaled that of himself, which was both frightening yet exciting at the same time. How could an innocent soul who had yet to see the horrors of reality have such a piercing gaze? perhaps it was simply due to her heritage. With Marianne's raven hair and his violet eyes, she was the perfect image of a future empress.
But due to this, Charles was afraid.
After witnessing reality, how would she change? Would she turn into a sheltered girl who would be scarred for life, hiding from war of all sorts and become useless to Britannia, what would he do if this were to happen?
All the greater if she displayed the ruthlessness that was necessary to rule a nation afterwards, but what would he do if she broke? A waste of potential it would be, and that was exactly why he was afraid.
If by any chance the plans for the Ragnarok Connection is interrupted, he sincerely hoped that Luna vi Britannia would be the one to lead after him and fulfill both his and Marianne's dearest wish.
Little did he know that there was a surprise waiting for him.
One night. V.V was enjoying the moon's company outisde Aries Villa near a tree where he and Charles used to hide after Marianne's outbursts. As he took a sip of his tea, he heard footsteps approach him from his left, his eyes widened as he realised who it was.
What? How did I not notice her-no, how does she even know me and how did she know I was here?
V.V was beginning to panic. He couldn't memory rush his brother's favourite child, in fact he was more afraid of dealing with Marianne than Charles afterwards if he did.
"So this is where you usually hang out." The figure said with a smirk.
Seeing his surprised expression, Luna vi Britannia began to chuckle. "I saw you with father the other day, you resemble uncle Victor a lot, are you related?"
And she knows I'm his uncle as well, didn't Charles wipe my existence from the database?
"ah, yes, My name is Vincent zi Britannia, remaining child of my father."
The girl pondered for a second before smiling. "I see, what are you doing out here?"
"Enjoying the moon and thinking about father." Utterly bullshit, but should work on a child.
Instead of questioning further, the girl sat next to him and looked up towards the sky. He hadn't expected the company, but it didn't matter nonetheless. He was experienced dealing with the children in the Geass Order, so he knew that he couldn't carelessly scare the other party off as it would lead to complications if they ever happened to meet again, which was highly likely considering that the girl in front of him was his brother's favourite one out of all his children. Luna only broke the silence after a minute or so.
"Do you think supernatural powers exist?" the nature of the question surprised V.V.
"Yes, I believe the supernatural is all around us, yet we are only blind to it. Our wishes and hopes only fuel it." Though it was a meager response, it should be a sufficient response befitting the child he was currently acting as. What Luna said next however, shocked him.
"Quite a belief, yet I have a different one. I believe that special individuals are granted supernatural powers to balance the inequality in power around the world. People associate such powers with heroes and happiness, yet I believe that such power would only bring the curse of solitude to a person. They would be shunned and would never live the life they had hoped for."
V.V's back was now sweating from the girls words. The surprising accuracy of her belief to the reality of Geass was shocking to the say the least, to a point where he even believed that the girl had knowledge of Geass and Codes. Such thoughts swiftly left his mind as he realised just how ludicrous those claims would be.
Then suddenly, an idea dawned on him.
What if I grant her a Geass now and control her, that way we have a new powerful piece to play with and it saves Charles the trouble of explaining Geass to her later. He reviewed the plan in his head for a moment before revealing an evil smile unbeknownst to Luna.
"What would you do if I can grant such power." He said, causing Luna to look at him in shock, before returning to her usual expression, confirming that she didn't know the reality yet.
"Then I would gladly take it to save others the burden of carrying the role.." Perfect.
"Then I have an offer, accept this contract, and while you live in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other human, a different providence, a different time, the power of king will isolate you, if you are prepared for it, then use that power, but once you do there will be no turning back. Are you prepared?"
V.V was currently madly grinning to himself inside his head. He would have to hide the fact that he gave Luna a Geass until Charles decides to incorporate her in his plans, but it was worth the effort now that he had a powerful ally on his side in case of an emergency. Though he didn't yet know the nature of the Geass that would take form, he was certain that it would be powerful after the last few years he spent observing Charles and the child.
"Fine, I accept this contract." The girl said whilst smiling. Little did V.V know that he had just signed a contract with a devil.
After blinking for a few seconds, she decided to head back to the palace in fear of her mother giving her a mouthful later on for sneaking outside the castle after a goodbye to V.V. After escaping from V.V's eyesight, the girl began chuckling to herself with an evil grin.
"With this, uncle, it's a check" She muttered to herself before running back to the palace (Yes, running, you heard me).
And that's the first chapter!
This story was inspired by Enduring Retribution by Xlerons, Rise of a New Moon by our favourite Frostbringer and another story that I read a while back on this site, thanks to all three for their wonderful fictions for giving me this idea.
This is not a fem!lelouch redo story, Lelouch himself will be taking on a completely new role, so you can look forward to that. I have yet to ship any characters, nor plan romance atm, but we will see how it turns out.
This is also not a time travel fic (only), but also an alternate universe fic, as many events are different to the previous CG world.
Since Britannia's system of determining the position of princes and princesses is very confusing (considering that Marrybel and Euphemia share very similar birth dates yet are 3rd and 88th princesses respectively) I decided to give Luna the position of 8th princess.
The story starts 8 years prior for a reason which will be revealed in following chapters, so please stay tune!
Also, I simply didn't put in another recount of Code Geass's last scene, as I find that it's simply a way to lengthen the chapter and since every time travel/alternate universe fic starts of in the same way, simply skipped to Lelouch being killed.
I do not own Code Geass or any of its canon characters. Luna vi Britannia here is not the one in Rise of a New Moon, I'm simply using the name as I found it perfectly fitting.
See you all next time~