A/N: I know using the year 2012 doesn't sync up but I wanted to make it as close to our current world as possible. X)

Chapter 1: Witness World

The world was a groggy, dizzying place. Blurred light swam before Lelouch's vision. Yet he did feel comfortable and warm. The sound of traffic was coming from somewhere. So were voices, and they were very near.

Lelouch opened his eyes with a snap. He looked around and barely had time to register that five or six people stood crowded around the foot of his bed before each one of them cheered loudly. Before he knew it they had all tackled him and he was at the bottom of a dog pile.

"Brother, you're awake!" squealed a sweet voice.

"Nanaly!" Lelouch said with relief. He smiled as she blindly kissed him on the cheek, but internally he was panicking badly. Had his plan failed? How could he have survived that stab from Suzaku? He lifted the covers but there was no bandage around his torso. He set the blankets back and stared at the people around him. Apart from Nanaly he had no clue as to who they were.

Lelouch took in his surroundings. He seemed to be in a hospital room. A flag that he had never seen before hung on the wall beneath the mounted television: it had thirteen lateral stripes and a star-filled blue corner. Perhaps this was the logo of the hospital he was in?

"You just woke up from a week long coma!" a curly-haired girl informed him.

"Really?" Lelouch breathed. With a jolt he wondered, did he still have his Geass? He set his gaze into the girl's eye and said, "Give me your name and a detailed explanation of what happened."

"That's just like you," sighed another girl.

"I'm Dania Marton," she reported. "Nobody knows exactly what happened to you. You collapsed in Econ class and simply didn't wake up."

Lelouch frowned deeply. "What is the date?" he asked.

"It's September 29th, 2012," Nanaly informed him brightly.

How and why was he put in the past? Lelouch put his fingers to his forehead. If this was 2012, he ought to be twelve years old and living with the Ashfords in Japan. Ifthis was the past, then Zero and the Black Knights had never existed.

"Is there any news on Area 11?" he asked.

The strangers looked at him strangely without comprehension.

"What is Britannia doing right now?" Lelouch demanded urgently. He leaned forward. "You!" he said to a sandy-haired guy. "I command you to tell me what theEmperor and Britannia are currently doing."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," the guy said mechanically.

Just as Lelouch's nerves were about to reach breaking point a nurse walked in the room. Relief and feverish happiness flooded Lelouch's heart as C.C. entered. Her green hair was tied up in a long ponytail. She instructed his guests to leave the room for the examination.

"C.C., what the hell is this?" Lelouch said at once when she had locked the door.

"This sure has got you worried," C.C. said cheekily. She approached him, clutching a medical clip-board to her chest. "It's rather funny to see you squirm."

"C.C.!" Lelouch said dangerously. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so helpless and frustrated.

"Those who behold Geass cannot be sent to heaven or hell," C.C. explained in a quiet voice. "All those who do are sent to this Dimension, what we call 'Witness World.' You still have your Geass. But you live in a different world."

Lelouch sat very still, taking her words in very carefully. He wondered if he should be angry about this part of the contract C.C. had not mentioned. But he had no time to be mad or flustered.

"Tell me all about this world," he said.

"This is the world in which Great Britain failed in taking over its main colonies in the 1600's," said C.C. "The Revolution succeeded and you live in the country the United States of America. Your father is a descendant of the Tudors, and he's a major political and business tycoon. You're disgustingly rich. You got yourself into Harvard and excel based on your brain. The memories are all there."

Lelouch took a deep breath and closed his eyes. To his surprise, he suddenly remembered everyone in this life. He went to Harvard University in Boston, Massachusettes and he had grown up in upstate New York until his mother died. He was then sent to family members in Connecticut.

"All of my family members have the same names in this world," he muttered to himself. "And for the most part it mirrors what I had before. Charles and Marianne married despite not being royalty."

"You recovered those memories all on your own," C.C. smiled as she took a seat on his narrow bed.

"What is the point of this?" Lelouch frowned. His mind was a confused fusion of Lelouch vi Britannia and Lelouch Lamperouge of America. It felt agitating, like there were two brains in one head.

C.C stood up and walked over to the window. She gazed outside and the sun illuminated her angelically. "Something has been proposed, Lelouch. People who have used a certain weapon are sent to this realm as well. Someone died precisely on the same time and day as Lelouch vi Britannia, in a third world. The gods have become wily. They want to see who can win: Zero or Kira."

"What weapon is it?" Lelouch asked.

"I can't tell you," C.C. said sadly, and she turned her face so it was cast into shadow.

Lelouch couldn't help it anymore. His anger peaked. "To think I fell in love with the likes of you!" he said furiously. He was almost shaking with rage. "You may look like an angel standing there but you're just a manipulative bitch, that's all you are. I would rather have taken a Code and lived with you forever in hiding, but now look where I am!"

"I was ignorant," C.C. said and she turned sharply to face him. Her expression was serious and determined. "I did not know of this. I was granted a major favor to come to you just this once. I apologize with all my heart, Lelouch. I am forever on your side, but I can't help you this time."

"I don't care about a Kira," Lelouch said. He got out of the bed and joined her. He was no longer feeling so angry, but he was distraught at the thought of losing her. "This world is a democracy; there is no need to save it. I would rather float around in limbo, lovely and dead as planned."

"Now, those aren't words I'd have expected from you," C.C. said with a coy smile. "You've still got your Lelouch vi Britannia spirit. You've still got your Geass. Before long you will feel compelled to face off with Kira. He once changed the world in the name of justice; from what I heard he gained it through fear."

"I see," Lelouch sighed heavily. He looked out of the window at a flying-by bird. "This world is relatively peaceful. I've got nothing else to do, so I might as well fight to maintain peace."

Without warning C.C threw her arms around Lelouch and pressed her lips into his. Lelouch kissed her back passionately. After several days of sunlit bliss they broke apart.

"Good bye, King Lelouch," C.C. smiled sadly.

Lelouch looked into her eyes that reflected the gold from the streaming sun. If this was his fate then he simply had to accept it. "Good bye, Cecilia."

"Light?"

Voices filtered through to his ears slowly.

I'm alive, Light thought. He had survived the encounter with Near. His blood suddenly boiled. Had he really been foiled? Of course not, he told himself, I am unstoppable. He opened his eyes and sat up straight.

"Light!"

His mother stood next to his bed, beaming. His little sister was there as well and they took turns hugging and kissing him.

"Your father is at the station," his mother said while she wiped tears out of her eyes. "You were in a week-long coma, Light!"

"So it's September 29th?" Light asked sharply. "How did I get in a coma?"

"You just collapsed on the 23rd," his sister said nervously. "The doctors couldn't explain it, I'm afraid."

Where was the Death Note? He still had possession of it if he could think about it. Was Ryuk hiding somewhere? Light looked around surreptitiously. Everything appeared rather normal. That was until he spotted the digital alarm clock on his bed table.

The year displayed said 2012. What on earth was he doing in the past? Light narrowed his eyes in thought. The year 2012 had occurred before he came about the notebook, meaning Kira had not existed.

"Mom, do you think I can have a rest?" he asked, putting on a tired voice.

"Yes, of course," his mother said kindly. "We'll be back later to get you out. You've got some intense class work to catch up on."

"Right," he laughed nervously. The door closed behind the ladies and he immediately took to scowling about the room. "Ryuk?"

"Mornin' to ya, Light-oh," a familiar voice cackled. Light looked up and wasn't surprised to see Ryuk grinning at him wickedly from upside-down.

"Dare I ask?" he said grimly.

"That's up to you, isn't it?" Ryuk replied. He turned the right way up and sank to the floor, taking the place where Light's mother had stood moments before.

"So you'll answer my questions this time?" Light said suspiciously.

"Just this once," Ryuk said holding a long black index finger in front Light, who frowned with annoyance. "I told you those who use Death Note can not go to heaven or hell, right?"

Light watched him silently.

"This is where you've turned up," Ryuk explained. "To you, it's basically the same as what you came from except that you didn't become Kira yet. Your life went on in this dimension in which it was fated that you did not pick up my book. In this world, there's no L or any hint of Watari."

Light's eyes widened. He leapt out of bed, his heart singing. He clenched his hands as fists triumphantly. "This proves that I'm meant to do this," he hissed. "I'm being given a second chance. Even in another dimension I'm chosen to be God!"

"Once little hitch," Ryuk chuckled.

"Oh yeah?" Light asked.

"There's a guy named Zero who came here from yet another world," Ryuk said through a leering smile, "and he has a power that allowed him to become a god of his world, pretty much. The shinigamis have decided that they love human entertainment so much that we want to see who will make it this time."

"What's the point of this?" Light said a little impatiently.

"No particular objective," Ryuk said airily. "Whoever wins will be granted immortality or the choice to return to the world you just died in."

"Immortality," Light breathed. A glimmering peace of hope came shining through the clouds in the rainy day outside. "This is it! This is the world I'm meant to rule over. That last one was just practice!"

Ryuk lifted his wings to take off, but Light stopped him.

"This time," Light said with a twisted smile, "I'll take those eyes."

...