Japan's military should have been able to defend itself from Britannia, despite an outdated navy being its worst problem. Years of Prime Ministers with an army background had left its toll in its supply and leadership. Yet all government´s plans for the war counted on an amphibian invasion of the home islands and were prepared for it. The army was well trained and funded. All of it proved useless against the Knightmare Frames and the ruthlessness of the Britannian army. A million people died during the invasion, most of them civilians. While analysts speculate the Japanese army could have lasted a month, until EU and Chinese reinforcements arrived, the massive civilian casualties, 4.5 million, coupled with the dismantling of the Kururugi government, led to the unconditional surrender of Japan. Of the 1.5 million Britannian military personnel sent, only 30 000 died, half of them in the Battle of Itsukushima. But as much as 10 000 died by the hands of common citizens in urban fighting.

-Excerpt from History of the Britannian Areas

2010, Tokyo

A smell of rot and ash was the first thing Nunnally perceived upon waking up. Or more accurately, it was that smell that woke her up.

It was a small miracle that she had fallen asleep in the first place, being carried on her big brother's back. Her brother was weak in body, and trembled with every step, his breath revealing how tiresome the task was for him. It would have made more sense for their friend, Suzaku, to carry the crippled girl. Suzaku had trained since birth under the supervision of some of the best trainers and martial artists in Japan. But Lelouch was stubborn, always had been. At least she got some sleep. Some.

The smell was uncomfortable for Nunnally. She did not really care what it was. If she were older, she probably would have known what surrounded her, even with her blindness. Yet, the silence… The dreadful silence among the three friends, none daring to break it. A young girl like Nunnally, not understanding just what has happened in the last few days and so she asked the damned question, but Lelouch remained silent. But it was answered by their friend.

"It's just a garbage fill, Nunnally. Try to sleep some more, ok?"

A kind answer, as expected. A cheerful one was not. Not from Suzaku. While a good kid who showed as much kindness to the crippled and blind girl as everyone else, he was also a rather straightforward, serious and petulant boy; she had to admit. Cheerfulness was not something he would show in such an uncomfortable and awkward trip. And yet he answered in such a chirpy voice, like a child in a carnival. Where were they going to anyways? And why? She knew why, it just didn't reach her heart. The suddenness of it, after everything that had happened to her, it would be like a cruel joke.

Then her brother finally stopped. His breathing had become erratic. But he did not let go of her. Nunnally was worried for him and tried to speak to him. Nunnally complained, like a petulant child, that they should rest. Lelouch listens more when it's about her, she thought. And then Lelouch said something that made her shut up.

"It's the corpses" Lelouch finally answered, "The corpses of the Japanese father killed"

Nunnally finally understood the joke, the cruel joke that fate had played on them. She did not found it funny.

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The boy known as Lelouch vi Britannia wondered why he answered like that. Wasn't he supposed to protect his sister from this cruel world? Didn't he promise that to himself?

What for? The cruel world still found them in this supposedly isolated country, in this haven of good memories. There was no point in hiding it anymore after everything that their father… after everything the emperor had done. The emperor allowed his mother to die; the emperor exiled him to another country; and finally, when he found a new home, the emperor assaulted it and burned it to the ground.

Lelouch took a moment to look at them. The corpses. The Japanese had always been polite, if not kind to them, a pair of exiles from a hostile nation; it was their way. He had even begun to think, briefly, that Japan was their home. And yet, how many had died because of Britannia? Because of his family? How many would suffer due to the war? Lelouch wanted to cry for them but no tears would come out. No, that wasn't it. He could not allow himself to cry. There was so much in his head; about injustice, about war, about oppression. He had to do something. Not only for his sister but for all those Britannia had broken. He had to avenge them, to rouse them, to help them here and in the entire world. And so, Lelouch vi Britannia had an epiphany, of what he had to do….

As they reached their destination, the outskirts of Tokyo, he realized there was no point in lies. And so in front of two witnesses he spoke the words, not words of peace and reconciliation, but words full of rightful hatred.

"I swear… I swear that I will destroy Britannia"

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There were many words that the two youngsters could have said, words that could have changed their destinies and the world's. But they parted ways in sadness, acknowledged by the silence. Suzaku would stay in a location previously agreed with his tutors, namely Lieutenant Colonel Todoh, while the vi Britannia siblings would make their way through Tokyo and… Lelouch had no idea. There was no plan but to go forward. Sure, they could hail the Britannian army or some noble that would be sure to arrive, but Lelouch would rather die with his sister than give up their lives to those people.

The week passed before them. Luck and no small amount of cunning had helped them avoid most Japanese and all the Britannians. Lelouch was not sure where they were anymore. Her sister and he felt hunger and thirst and fatigue. Even so, they were still alive. Even if only so by eating the leftovers left by the other refugees, they were still alive. Where were they? Eastern Tokyo? Did it matter?

As Lelouch walked the streets of the lapidated city, and Lelouch noticed the people hiding amongst the ruins of once magnificent buildings, all of them with a look of fear and uncertainty. Their clothes, of good quality and brand as expected of a developed nation, were dirty and showed signs of wear. They carried backpacks, some had food or water, some clothes, some had nothing.

How many people did his father left homeless, how many lost family and friends, how many suffered?

Before he could lose himself in useless thoughts, he heard the noises of engines. Lelouch, and many of the refugees in the streets, rushed into the abandoned building. He saw a Britannian infantry company patrolling the streets. The company broke up in various platoons and went into different streets. Lelouch kept his and his sister's heads down, counting the seconds. From time to time he could hear shots and screams. Lelouch shut his eyes. He wanted to scream, to run to his mother, to get Nunnally to safety, ANYTHING.

"Hey! What do we have here?"

Lelouch raised his head and saw one of the refugees, a brown haired Japanese, almost a teenager, scowling at him and his sister as if they were scum. He took Lelouch's hair and lift him to until they were eye to eye.

"Tamaki!"

"Calm down, Tamaki! This is not the time!"

"What are some freaking Britannian brats doing here?!

Lelouch shot the man a glare. The other two were right in calling him out. This idiot was going to get them all killed! He had to think quickly, but how to get him and his sister away from these men and the soldiers? He had no idea! Damn it!

"Hey, you filthy elevens! Get out of there and surrender!"

There were two soldiers in the street, ready to kill anyone just because they could. The tallest of the sensible Japanese threw himself over the rest, covering the two grown men as well as Lelouch and Nunnally with his body. Lelouch knows it is in vein. The soldiers will find them and kill them all! In that moment, filled with desperation, Lelouch finally has a plan.

"Don't shoot! My name is Alan Spencer! My father is a duke!"

He turned around to look at the Japanese, the three of them frozen by fear. He looks into the eyes of the third man, a long haired man, with a pleading look. The Japanese looked at him with confusion for a second before understanding dawns on his face.

"Tamaki, let them go. Now!" said the man, almost shouting. However, Tamaki had no time to obey the instruction even if he wanted to, for in that very moment, two Britannian infantry soldiers where in front of them, faces concealed, pointing their assault rifles at them.

One the soldiers took quick notice of the situation. Noble children, held hostage by these eleven monkeys? By policy, he could not negotiate with them, but there was no way he could let go of the chance of having nobility indebted to him. Luckily, the elevens were unarmed, he and his partner could overpower them easily. Might as well, they had orders to crush the resistance here. Just as he raised his weapon and prepared to shoot, the noble boy stepped forward.

"Please, wait! These men helped me and my sister get to safety. Spare them, I order it!"

Now the soldier was offended. Noble or not, his company had orders from the prince himself. The monkeys would die, one way or another.

"Sorry, little lord, but we got orders to kill everyone by his royal highness. Now step aside!"

Just at that moment, one of the elevens tackled him, shouting nonsense in that monkey language of theirs. He grabbed the assault rifle and began struggling for it. This monkey would be no match for him, how dare he even try!

"Do not interfere! I'll handle this eleven myself!"

Lifting his weapon, he hit the eleven's jaw and followed by kicking him in the chest. He pointed his weapon at him but before he could shoot, something pushed him from the side. It was the noble boy. He tried make him let go, but he wouldn't. Screw it. He pushed the boy away. But as he did, he felt a pain on the side. The pain soon became unbearable. He crouched to the ground, and as he did, he took notice of pistol near the boy. That damned eleven lover took his pistol! He shot him! The bastard shot hi-

Everybody was frozen on the spot. Nobody could believe what they have seen. One of the soldiers had collapsed, dead, killed by a mere child. The other was frozen as well, and while they could not see its face, it probably had the same expression as theirs. At that moment, perhaps forgetting himself, the boy tried to stand up. Ohgi took a step forward to help him, but then the soldier raised his weapon.

"None of you move! Boy stand up! Good, now all of you go over there! Eyes to the wall! Not you boy! You over there"

He pointed to a nearby wall, and the four of them had no option to obey. What could they do?

"Now you filthy eleven monkeys will die! You better watch you eleven lover, or you are ne-"

The man stopped speaking just as the sound of a pistol firing reached their ears. Could the boy-? They turned around and saw it was not the boy who had helped. Behind the corpse of the soldier, there was a little girl. They took notice of her before with the other child, but forgot about her in the commotion. They were definitely paying attention now, to the cripple girl on the ground, pistol in trembling hands and fear reflected in her violet eyes.

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Nunnally was cripple and blind. That was her reality. Well, that is actually not true. She had been crippled by the bullets that killed her mother but no damage came to her eyes. They were pristine and unblemished. So why was she blind? Why had not she opened her eyes?

Because she did not want to.

Her mother's dead had instilled a fear of the world, of everything. She did not want to see the world that took her mother. At least, that was what her subconscious said. In her conscious mind, she did wish to see. She wished to look upon this beautiful country, from the sakura trees to the magnificent Mount Fuji. Not hear it from his brother's mouth. She wanted to see them, see the faces of her brother and new friends; Suzaku, Kaguya, Kirihara, everyone. She wished to stop being a burden to everyone, if only a little bit.

And then the war came. She had no idea what happened, but the noises did not lie. Explosion, gunshots, death. All of these were part of this new reality. But she ignored it. If she could not see it did not exist, right? She could pretend, that they were just moving for god knows what not the war, that Lelouch carried her not because they were homeless but because of part of that weird stubbornness of him.

And then came the smell. And then she asked what it was. And big brother answered: "Corpses". It did not show, but that answer changed something in Nunnally. It did not matter if she could not see it, her brother did. The world kept going. It kept suffering. And Nunnally was part of it, like it or not.

The following days just accentuated that feeling. Her brother's effort to get scraps of food did not go unnoticed, as did not the cries of the countless mothers and children around them, the curses from the men against her country and family, the hatred. And she began to hate them too. Her family who threw her away to die in this country. Worse, they were the ones who attacked! The ones who tried to kill her and her brother and Japan! She hated She HATED THEM!

But Nunnally did not give voice these feelings. Surviving was more important and she did not even contribute to that. But she did channel it. She tried to open her eyes. Had been trying even before they arrived to Japan. She failed at that. The mere thought made her head hurt, but she kept trying. And failing. Mere trying made her recall her mother's death. The image of her corpse facing the ground was more often than not more than enough to fill her with dread. The expression of surprise, if not shock on her mother's face, the bloodstained dress, the vacant look directed at her; all these were part of the trauma. But there were times when the memory seemed to… flicker, change. Mother was on her back, a pleased expression on her face, looking anywhere but towards her daughter. In those moments, now that she hungered alongside her brother, had become more and more frequent….

The days passed, and one morning she heard sounds. Sounds of a military, footsteps and motors running and gunshots. Her brother rushed with her, probably to hide. She had no idea what happened and did not asked. Lelouch and she did not talk much lately. And then she heard voices, Japanese voices. For a moment, her brother let her go and she fell to the ground, more voices were heard before she heard someone shout in English.

"Hey, you filthy elevens! Get out of there and surrender!"

A soldier. Soldiers had caught up to them. Damn it! They could not be caught by their family! The couldn-

"Don't shoot! My name is Alan Spencer! My father is a duke!"

What was Lelouch thinking? That would not help! It would only make them return to their family to be killed. She put her head down, hoping it worked, but of course, it would not. It was too naïve an effort. They were not even paying attention to her anymore.

"Please, wait! These men helped me and my sister get to safety. Spare them, I order it!"

"Sorry, lord, but we got orders to kill everyone. Now step aside!"

She prepared herself to hear the gunshots, but they did not come. Instead she heard grunts and struggle, just what was going on?

"Private! Do not interfere! I'll handle the eleven myself!"

And then came the gunshot. The Japanese must be dead now. It was foolish to struggle. But Nunnally understood why. She did now. One had to fight, there was no other option for those who could against those who would do them harm. But she could not. Even now she was still the crippled and blind girl. Useless.

"None of you move! Boy stand up! Good, now all of you go over there! Eyes to the wall! Not you boy! You over there"

"Boy"? What? What had Lelouch done? What was going on? The anger she felt kept increasing and she felt it was going to explode. It did not matter if she died, but her brother! Her dear big brother! They could not take them, they could not!

And then she saw them. Three men looking at a wall, her brother a few meters at their side and, overseeing them, a Britannian soldier pointing at them. She had to do something. She had to save them. How? And then she saw it. A gun just within her reach. She did not even think about it. She grabbed the weapon and shot. The bullet reached the soldier at the base of his skull, and in one shot, he was dead. Nunnally had killed a man.

"Nunnally!"

She shifted her eyes from the corpse to her brother. He began running towards her but then fell to the ground.

"BIG BROTHER!"

She let go of the gun and tried to crawl toward him, but something then broke inside her. A pain she had felt before. She blacked out, but not before seeing the image of her mother, bloodied, but with a triumphant expression on her face. And despite not being directed at her, Nunnaly could see the eerily red glow on her mother's eyes…

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Hello. I am Lord Alania. After years of watching Code Geass and reading fanfics, I have finally decided to publish my own story. My intention with this story is to change the CG world in drastic ways and also worldbuild it as much as I can. The story proper starts in 2017, but I am writing a series of three prologues to introduce the world and some of its difference. They are not that big, but the will snowball into something grand. Now I am new to writing and English is my second language, so I hope you can offer advice in your reviews. Ok, see ya. Next prologue: Europa.