A/N: I have made this chapter quite brief because all of this is there in the anime and all reading this must have seen it (I am assuming) I didn't want to it to be unnecessarily long including details everyone knows. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight exactly what went differently in this that led to the event that began this story. The story starts with the next chapter.
PROLOGUE
"I won't shoot a civilian, sir. I can't follow your orders." declared Suzaku.
"Very well" came a low menacing reply. Without warning a gunshot was fired.
"SUZAKU!" Lelouch yelled, seeing his best friend fall. He was in shock to see Suzaku die in a heartbeat.
The escape from there was a blur. But Lelouch ended up at gunpoint, an inch from death. Yet, for some inexplicable reason the girl from the capsule took the bullet for him. The man in front of him said something he never registered. He was still processing what had just happened, when the 'dead' girl in front of him grabbed his wrist and he was pulled into what seemed like a different realm.
"You don't want it end here, do you?"
"what?"
"you appear to have a reason for living."
"The girl? That's impossible!" how could a dead person be talking to him?
"If I grant you the power, could you go on? I propose a deal. In exchange for this power, you must agree to make my one wish come true. Accept this contract and you accept its conditions. While living in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different providence, a different time, a different life.
The power of the kings will condemn you to a life of solitude. Are you prepared for this?"
"Yes. I hereby accept the terms of your contract."
Confident, he rose, geassing the soldiers to kill themselves. On witnessing this, the potency of the geass hit him.
He turned to the girl wondering why would she give him such a bizarre power, when a knightmare came. Geassing the pilot, he obtained the knightmare and proceeded to escape.
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Cecile looked at the young soldier with concern; private Kururugi, she learnt. He had been shot and had lost a significant amount of blood. The doctors hurriedly worked on him trying to save him.
She sighed looking at the pocket watch they had recovered from his pocket. Apparently, had the watch been on the side that had been shot, the damage would have been decidedly less.
"Murphy's law" she muttered. "Poor boy".
She had volunteered to take care of him and hoped he would get better soon.
After a while the doctors had decided that his condition was stable enough and moved him to the critical care. They informed her that it would take him a few days to regain consciousness.
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Lelouch looked at the display smugly. He had established contact with the rebels and had been giving them directions.
'A few more moves and it'll be checkmate' he thought twirling the black king. This had been easier than he thought.
"That's right. I can defeat Britannia!"
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Kallen saw their coordinator's plan unfold beautifully. She had acted as a decoy and as the enemy units concentrated in that area, the ground had been swept off their feet, quite literally.
'This guy is a freaking genius' she thought as she fired her slash harkens to take out an enemy unit. This was the last wave of reinforcements according to the radio guy. How he knew was a complete mystery. Taking out the last of them, as she was supposed to, she retreated as per the plan.
Reaching the rendezvous location, she exited the Glasgow and made way inside the warehouse.
The others had already assembled there and were trying to pacify the scared Japanese, many of who were crying over the loss of their loved ones. It made her blood boil.
"Damn Britannians " she seethed.
The warehouse suddenly broke revealing a battalion of the Brit soldiers, their weapons drawn out.
"So, this is where you rats were hiding" the one in charge mocked. "Too bad the exterminators are here"
But before they could fire a booming voice came-
"I CLOVIS, THE THIRD PRINCE OF BRITANNNIA COMMAND MY FORCES TO RETREAT IMMEDIATELY. ALL CIVILIANS - BRITANNIANS OR ELEVENS- SHOULD BE GIVEN MEDICAL HELP."
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"Lelouch vi Britannia, the eleventh prince of the holy Britannia, at your service."
Clovis gasped. How was this even possible?
"Lelouch!" came his shaky voice "It's good to see you. I'll contact home. We must head to homeland right away."
"So, you can use me as a political tool once again." Lelouch said, advancing with a gun pointed at Clovis. "Have you forgotten why it happened in the first place?"
Clovis visibly blanched at this. He had a feeling that Lelouch won't hesitate to pull the trigger if provoked.
"Yes, it is because my mother was killed. It was made to look like the work of terrorists but I know you people killed her."
"Lelouch, I swear it wasn't me." Clovis pleaded desperately trying to pacify Lelouch. But he only saw a red bird like symbol in his left eye.
"I believe you. But you can't change the world without getting your hands dirty" was the last thing Clovis remembered hearing following a loud gunshot and everything went blank.
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Lelouch entered the classroom the following morning and noticed a few girls surrounding a red-haired girl who he immediately identified as the woman piloting the red Glasgow, but decided to question her using geass just to be sure. He followed her out during lunch time and once she was alone, geassed her and confirmed his suspicions. Unfortunately, she suspected him because of his miscalculation and he had to record a conversation and geass Sayuko to play in on the phone to erase her suspicions.
Now that he was sure of having a secure connection to one of the resistance cells, he decided to take a few days to properly plan out his next moves and look for allies.
Clovis' death had just been announced along with the start of investigations. There were no suspects announced yet. He wondered who they would frame for the murder.
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Jeremiah was slumped on his chair in his office. He had failed yet again to protect a royal. First Lady Marianne, then prince Lelouch and princess Nunnally and now prince Clovis. He could never forgive himself for these shortcomings. The worst part was that the investigation team had absolutely no leads. Of course, framing someone was the best option. And that eleven Kururugi would have made the perfect scapegoat, what with being the son of former Eleven prime minister. But the insolent fool was in critical care and had still not gained consciousness.
In his musings, he hadn't noticed Viletta enter his office.
"Jeremiah" came her voice breaking his reverie. "What is to be done now? The investigation doesn't lead anywhere and princess Cornelia will be arriving in a few days."
Jeremiah sighed. "Kururugi was the perfect scapegoat. Being the son of the Prime Minister, he would have more personal reasons to carry out regicide. It was quite believable. But using just any Eleven would create suspicions."
"How about a charged criminal who had managed to escape punishment? There are a few such Elevens. We could always show their past record if questioned."
"Perhaps".
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It had been two days since Lelouch had killed Clovis. There had been a public announcement that Clovis' murderer had been captured and would be executed the very next day.
'A Japanese ' Lelouch thought staring at his computer screen. ' How typical of them'
a thought of saving this man hit him, but he quickly discarded it. He was in no position to carry out an operation like this. He could ask Kallen's group but he didn't believe many of them would support him despite the Shinjiku incident. And they weren't wrong. Jumping into this was nothing short of suicide. No, he wouldn't do something this rash. Let the Britannians enjoy this 'victory' and when they least expected it he would attack.
Lelouch returned home, late and tired. He had discovered a few more resistance cells and had gained a few allies, most notably the Yamato alliance. He had moved them with his words and let them know that he had been the one to kill Clovis, not the now executed Japanese, and that it was he who arranged for the ceasefire.
Instead of complete darkness, he was greeted by a warm light. On entering the room, he got the biggest shock of his life. Nunnally was there folding origami cranes with that 'dead' girl.
'How?' was the only thought that formed in his mind.
As his sister continued to prattle, his mind raced with the various possibilities of how she survived and had found him. Quickly wrapping up the conversation, he led girl to his room and confirmed that she was indeed the one who had given the geass. He tried to ask her a few questions which never got answered. In the end, he decided to drop the matter; if she was indeed staying here, he would have plenty of opportunities to ask her. She won't resist for too long, of that he was sure. His skills in smooth-talking were well honed as was his convincing ability. If nothing worked, well, he still had the geass.