A Demon's Requiem
This little thought bug slowly burrowed into my head when I read one of Akumakami64's yarns a few years back and merged with another idea that have been brooding for almost as much time: with all the whole "[Insert Code Geass Character Name] goes back in time to help Lelouch" fad, it has always came under the air of hope, of redemption and, for the most part, beneficial to that character and the world as a whole.
But what if that trip was not for benevolent causes or by a being with the best of intentions in mind? What if the Zero Requiem and the events that followed actually ruined said plans and this was an attempt at correcting those mistakes in order for the intended goal to succeed?
Okay, maybe this little story blurb isn't as grand, but it can be under the right author.
And before we being, let's get all the legal-ise out of the way.
Disclaimer: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Revolution as an intellectual property is owned by Gorō Taniguchi, Ichirō Ōkouchi, and Sunrise. I have no claim to any portion of the franchise as my own and simply ask fellow readers to support the official release of the media whenever possible.
Move One: The Proposition
It was the anniversary of the day when the revolutionary Zero freed the world of the Demon Emperor and his tyranny, the year when the One Hundredth Empress of Britannia had lost a beloved brother. How many years had it been since the climax of the Zero Requiem, Nunnally vi Britannia could not recall without heavy remorse and distress. There were those, mostly the ignorant, who offered words of encouragement in the execution that Lelouch vi Britannia was not the brother that she knew and loved, that her tears were wasted upon such a man.
Instead, the words only twisted the knife in her heart as a reminder of her own role in his downfall, of how easily she was manipulated by her own half-brother Schneizel el Britannia. She attempted to bury such thoughts, such emotions deep within her psyche for the good of the Holy Britannian Empire and for the world as a whole. Such actions that which only increased her steady decline into depression.
Still, she must perform the same address she had spoken for so many years, words that were little more than routine and only those who were truly, truly close to the empress would know that the speech was just hollow words to placate the masses. The same masses that called out Zero's name in triumph.
Before Nunnally approached the podium to deliver the same speech, a gloved hand of reassurance was placed upon her shoulder. She did not need to spare a glance to know who owned that hand, nor did she make such any such actions to either reject or accept such a gesture. Not when the whole world watched her every action, not when the United Federation of Nations scrutinized her words. Only Kaguya Sumeragi knew of the pain she held, but geopolitics prevented any more than a sympathetic look.
For her part, Nunnally had been quite civil in her interactions with the current Prime Minister of the United States of Japan Kaname Ohgi and his wife Villetta Ohgi. If she wanted to, she could have revealed the treasonous actions the duo had done along with the leaders of the Black Knights in exchange for a free Japan, without any regard to the rest of the UFN. However, for the sake of the peace her brother forsook his life to create, she must keep the silence.
It was the only thing she could do to keep his memory.
Yet, her relationship with both her half siblings were equally distant due in no small part in their own respective roles that lead to Lelouch's sacrifice. Even if they were the only blood ties she had, she could simply not force herself to reignite such a lost relationship, not after all that had been done even if the reasons were justified in their point of view.
Even so, she must keep a strong face in order to honor her beloved brother's memory.
Still, she was allowed some relapses in the façade she now bore before the public, so long as it remained within the recesses of her mind and not outspoken. As she approached the podium, a thought repeated itself each time she had to honor this particular anniversary. A thought that perfectly spoke out her regrets, her sins, and her powerlessness. 'If there was only another way…'
'DOTH THINE TRULY WISHETH AN AVENUE, CHILD?' An alien voice thundered in her mind. However she was not the only one affected as nearly all who attended the anniversary address held their head in pain from the mental roar. It was then did Nunnally noticed a shadow was cast upon her and she looked up at the source.
The being was, at best, a perverse corruption of the humanoid caricature and stood a titan even compared to previous emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Brittania. As grotesque as it was divine, equal to the armor it donned as it was more alien then it was gothic. It stood upon two pairs of digitigrade talons, to make symmetry of its twin pairs of arms that terminated in lethal claws. It bore three pairs of chiropteran wings cloaked in onyx black, raven feathers: Two upon its back and one upon its hips. Each were as massive as they were magnificent and foreboding. Its face little more than a tangled mass of feelers as its six unnatural, yet godly and alien eyes stared back at her, as if it stared at her naked soul. Ram horns and antlers crowned the being's head as if it were in parody of humanity's own hoste of demons and gods.
"Majesty-!" The empress' security detail attempted to save Nunnally, even risk the use of Knightmare Frames, but the effort was for not. With but a brief gesture of its claws, the being had rendered the bodyguards a mist of gore and viscera, the Knightmare Frames twisted piles of scrap. Though brief, the being showed unto the entire planet that there was nothing within humanity's collective arsenal that could counter the being.
Though nervous, and possibly equally frightened, Nunnally sat regal upon her motorized wheelchair and inquired "Who are you? What are your demands?"
'AZI, ERRA, APOTHIS, KRONI, CHAOS, ZAHHAK, ANGRA MAINYU, MALSUMIS, YAMMU, AMATSU MIKABOSHI, TUANNU, TAU, UNKTEHI, WHIRO. MANY NAMES I AM KNOWN, CHILD. NAY MY OWN.' The being then spread both its wings and its arms in a display of simple dominance. 'IF THY WISHETH A NAME TO KNOWETH ME, LET IT BE AS DAEHOTH!'
The being, Daehoth, then appeared behind Nunnally in an equally impressive display of speed and agility. 'IT MATTERS NOT MY WILL, MY WISH, BUT THINE OWN, CHILD.'
"W-what do you mean?" Nunnally asked in an uneasy voice.
'I COMMAND MANY OF WHAT THINE ANCESTORS HAVE CALLETH 'HIGHER MYSTERIES', AND EASILY CAST THEM UPON THE MORTAL REALM.' And with the same gesture Daehoth had used to slay the bodyguards and Knightmare Frames, Euphemia li Britannia was alive once more. 'WITH BUT MY WILL ALONE, THE DEAD ARE RENDERED LIFE.'
Zero jerked from the sudden appearance of the formerly late Euphemia li Britannia, an act that betrayed his true identity to those who truly knew his original self. Such an action was not beyond Cornelia li Britannia whom, despite the council of her knight Gilbert G.P. Guilford, rushed towards the infamous "Massacre Princess" and embraced the now surprised princess.
"C-Cornelia? Wh-what's going on?" Euphemia inquired in natural confusion.
"Euphie, thank god that you're-" Cornelia began.
'AS EASILY AS DEATH IS BUT RENDERED UNTO THE LIVING.' With those words, Euphemia vanished as if she were but a cloud of mist, though her screams of horror still lingered. Cornelia collapsed to her knees, frozen in shock as her precious little sister, once among the living was made again among the dead as her arms were held rigid the pose onto which once held Euphemia. The sullen air was so great that the words of Guilford fell upon her ears.
'TRUTH IS RENDERED ONTO THE DEAF AND IGNORANT.' And the minds of all present were flooded with images, memories of a third party beyond their own reality. Images of what truly occurred at the SAZ Massacre, the Geass Directorate Raid, the Second Battle of Tokyo, the Ragnarök Connection, and finally the Zero Requiem.
"W-wait…." Ohgi gasped from the numerous revelations that flashed before his eyes. "Did you mean that-"
"HOW COULD YOU BETRAY THE UFN LIKE THAT?!" One delegate demanded in justified anger. "ALL THAT FOR JUST YOUR OWN COUNTRY?!"
"NONE OF YOU WILL GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Another delegate declared with an accusing finger towards Kyoshirou Tohdoh.
'JUSTICE UPON THE SINFUL I CAN BESTOW FREELY.' Daehoth interrupted. 'UPON THINE THAT PRAISED THE PASSING OF A MARTYR BE SWIFT,' With another gesture, a third of the population were rendered into clouds of blood, gore and viscera as suddenly as one were to flip the light switch.
'OR BE IN HORROR.' The deaths of the second third were not as swift nor as humane as unseen, supernatural forces rendered nightmarish torture of unspeakable magnitude. The afflicted third witnessed the dismemberment of limbs, the disembowelment of their organs, and the flaying of their own skins before an equally horrified audience whom are forever scarred by the divine punishment that was Daehoth.
'THE GUILTY SHALT SEE NO PEACE,' With but a flick of a finger, the spirits of both Ohgi and Tohdoh were violently ripped from their mortal bodies.
"KANAME!" Villetta cried out in anguish as she reached out to Ohgi.
"Colonel!" Nagisa Chiba equally gasp in horror.
'BUT THINE SHADES SHALT SUFFER DAMNATION UNTO ETERNITY!' Hellmouths dilated from beneath the incorporeal forms of both Ohgi and Tohdoh were grappled with daemonic chains and the souls of the corrupted before they were dragged down into a torment the world was given but the briefest of glimpses.
Villetta, for her part, could only stare upon the space from which her husband's spirit had lingered as she recalled how Ohgi slipped through her fingers and into the terrible abyss. She could not save the father of her child, the child who was now fatherless due to the actions of what is best described as a god.
'YET NONE SHALT EASE THINE OWN REGRET, CHILD.' Daehoth then turned to face Nunnally once again. 'THINE DECISIONS, CHOICES BOTH IGNORANT AND INFORMEND SHALT WEIGH HEAVILY UPON THY SOUL.' The young empress could not help but imagine a smirk amongst the mass of feelers upon Daehoth's visage. 'A BURDEN I SHALT RELIEVE, CHILD. FOR I BESTOW UPON THEE THE CHANCE TO CORRECT SUCH MISTAKES!'
"D-do you mean-?" Nunnally gasped from such a possibility.
'AYE, CHILD. TO STEP BACK INTO THINE PAST AND REWRITE THINE HISTORY INTO THE OUTCOME MOST DESIRED.' Daehoth answered. 'HOW THINE ACCOMPLISHES SUCH A LABOR MEANS LITTLE TO ME. THINE FREE TO TURN THINE OWN SIBLING FROM THE PATH OF WAR AND REBELLION, YET WITH THE CONSPIRACY OF THINE PARENTS TO PONDER, IS BUT A FEW, SCANT YEARS WORTH THE COST TO FORSAKE A LIFETIME? A TRUE LIFETIME, CHILD?'
"But I was a weak-"
'NAY, CHILD! THY SHALT BURDEN NOT THE LIMITATIONS OF THINE FORMER PAST SELF! STRONGER, ABLE, AND IN POSSESSION OF ABILITIES BESTOWED UNTO THEE TO FULLEST POTENTIAL!' Daehoth declared.
"By that you mean Geass…?"
"Majesty!" Zero gasped at the mere thought that Nunnally could even consider Daehoth's offer. However, no more words could be uttered as a yowl, a guttural laughter echoed.
'TO BE BESTOWED POWER SO LIMITING, SO SMALL, CHILD? THY PONDER LITTLE OF I.' Daehoth then continued. 'THINE GIFTS SHALT BE GREATER, AND WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE OF STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF EACH. IN EXCHANGE, THINE GIFTS WILL NOT BE FIRST MADE MANIFEST BEFORE THY NEED OF THEM IN THINE DIRE MOMENT OF NEED.'
A moment of pregnant pause was held before Nunnally then spoke "And what is the cost?"
'THE NATURAL COST OF SUCH ALTERATIONS TO CAUSALITY: THE WORLD!' Daehoth swung its arms across the entire space of the audience, or what remained. 'THE SIMPLE ACT OF SOJOURN INTO THE PAST REMOVES THE PRESENT THINE HATH FORSAKEN FROM EXISTENCE, DISTORTION OF SUCH A STEP ALTERS CAUSALITY ENOUGH TO CORRUPT EVENTS INTO A NEW PRESENT UNRECOGNIZABLE UNTO THEE!'
Daehoth then looked upon Nunnally once more. 'THOU ART ABLE TO SACRIFICE?' Nunnally could only consider the possibility.
She then asked. "Why do this?"
'THE GIFT TO WALK BACK IN TIME TO UNDO THINE MISTAKES?' Nunnally simply nodded. 'I BESTOW UPON THEE THE CHANCE AND GIFTS TO RENDER NO ACTS OF CHERITY. ONLY THAT THINE ACTIONS SHALT AMUSE ME, WHATEVER PATH THY CHOOSE.'
It was clear to all those present that this godly act was not benevolent.
"Give him back…" Villetta soon found her voice as she stood up against Daehoth. "Give him back to me-!" Suddenly, through unseen forces her tongue was ripped from the very root and rushed towards the dark god's claws.
'HOLD THY TONGUE, WENCH!' With those words, Daehoth slapped Villetta across her face with her own tongue and knocked her out cold. The blood from the sudden dismemberment from the oral muscle continued to flow and threatened to end her life in a morbid, yet mortal fashion.
It then turned back towards Nunnally.
'CHILD, WHAT SHALT BECOME OUR ACCORD?' Daehoth extended one clawed hand. 'THE WORLD THINE BROTHER FORGED IN HIS OWN BLOOD?' And then it extended another. 'OR THE WORLD FORGED BY THINE OWN HANDS?'
Almost without hesitation, Nunnally answered. "I accept."
'THEN FLY.' With a light tap from Daehoth's palm upon her forehead, Nunnally's world was shrouded in darkness.
For but the briefest of moments, Nunnally feared that she was betrayed by Daehoth. Such doubts, however, were swept away by a voice she long believed that she would never hear again within her own lifetime.
"Nunna….please wake up…" Nunnally opened her eyes to view upon the visage of her brother, the image of her brother she had long held when she lost her sight only to regain it again upon the Damocles.
"Bro…ther…." She spoke out, only to learn that her throat was course, dry, as if she had not spoken in a long time.
"Nunnally!" Lelouch exclaimed as he held her hand tighter. "Thank goodness you're alive!"
He was, however, surprised when Nunnally quickly rose from her bed and embraced him in an equally tight vice of a hug. Though he recovered quickly enough and returned the affection and without an equal amount of strength.
It was then that Nunnally knew that she was truly traveled to the past, just after the apparent assassination of their mother Marianne. That also meant that she was different from her original past self, but to what extent? What could she do to change her brother's fate?
And a small, tiny part of her had questioned an intolerable thought: Was it all worth it?
Yep, this is the brain fart that came about (more or less) when I read AkumaKami64's own interpretation of the time traveling story entitled "Nunnally of the Reboot: Angel of Zero" when Nunnally was offered a chance to travel into the past. However, this time, instead of a benevolent deity that is the World of C it is that of something…..less benevolent.
Case in point being all those graphic deaths and acts of karma on some of the Code Geass characters mentioned here. I mean, what goes through the mind of something that does that with full knowledge that said deaths and tragedies can be made moot with the alterations of the past? Nothing good I assure you. Probably for the pleasure, most likely, but still nothing virtuous nor charitable.
Still, under the right author, such a story can delve into the choices that cause one regret and the cost of changing that choice to one that is most desirable. Of a world that is sacrificed to suit one's own selfish need of redemption.
I'm not that kind of writer, but I'm sure someone out there is.