That horrible smell was overwhelming. It was a stench that he recognized all too well: The fetidness of blood. His lips formed into a deep frown; why was he smelling blood? The place he was in right now shouldn't have blood in it…

… Wait. Was he even in that place? According to that man, the souls of those who have lost their lives go to C's World, so there can't be any blood in there, right?

His eyelids slowly opened. His vision was blurry at first, but as he blinked his eyes few times, he saw a dark gray ceiling. He blinked his eyes few more times; he was sure that C's World didn't have a gray ceiling, only an object that looked like the planet Jupiter.

When he realized what he was seeing wasn't caused by his blurry vision, he slowly went into a sitting position to look around him. The young man's violet eyes narrowed in shock at the sight he saw. He was surrounded by dead bodies, which explained the awful odor that came from the blood.

As he examined the bodies, he noticed that most of them belonged to Japanese people, while few others belonged to Britannians wearing the uniforms of Clovis' Royal Guard… and then there was a certain green-haired witch who was surrounded by a pool of her own blood with a bullet hole in her forehead.

No… this can't be happening… this could not possibly happen. There was no way something like this would happen! He put his hand on his forehead, trying to grasp the absurdity of the situation he was in. Sweat began running down his face, and his breathing became heavy.

I'm… back to the past…? That was impossible in many ways. Time-Travel was something that existed only in fiction… or so he thought. Not to mention that he used his Geass on the Collective Unconsciousness to make the march of time continue. So... why was he back in time?

He shook his head violently. Things were very confusing for him now, but thinking too much about it will only be a waste of his time. He looked back at the 'lifeless' body of the green-haired woman. If C.C remembers about the future, then I hope she has an explanation to how this happened, He then scowled as his eyes hardened. But if she doesn't remember… Lelouch paused before slowly standing up, and just after that, the wall in front of him crashed.

The Demon's Renaissance

The young man was glaring daggers at what appeared from behind the wall. It was a purple Knightmare Frame that goes by the name Sutherland. He knows who the mecha's pilot is, though. A power-hungry, bronze-skinned woman and one of the very few members of the Purist Faction who remained loyal to 'Orange' after the Orange Skirmish.

However, even though she was one of Jeremiah's most loyal subordinates, she caused him no little amount of grief in his previous life. First, she used his traumatized friend who had just lost her father because of his actions in order to capture him, which eventually led to her own death. Second, she shot his second-in-command officer during the Black Rebellion and that resulted in its failure and his capture at the hands of his best friend. And lastly, she has convinced the very man she had shot along with the rest of his allies to betray him.

He once thought of an option regarding what to do with Villetta, but now he changed his mind.

"What happened in here, boy?" She demanded. "And what is a Britannian student doing here anyway?!"

The former prince merely raised his hands up in the air, following the script from the previous timeline. "My name is Allan Spacer, and I'm the son of a Duke," He said. "I request your protection and I can assure you that my father will reward you handsomely for helping me." He smiled inwardly, knowing well enough about Villetta's obsession with nobility.

"R-Really?" She stuttered.

"Yes," The boy replied with a nod, his smile now visible on his lips. "He might even convince the Emperor to grant you a rank of nobility… that is if you are interested."

"O-Of course!" But then, a frown immediately appeared on the tan-skinned woman's face. "However, if I find out that you were lying, I will execute you for impersonating the identity of a nobleman in a war zone."

The violet-eyed boy's smile widened. So cautious. But… "You can find my ID card in my breast pocket," He proclaimed. "This will confirm my identity."

She descended from her Knightmare and walked to the raven-haired youth, holding a pistol in her hand and pointing it at him. "Keep your hands in the air where I could see them until I confirm your identity."

His smile turned into a smirk as his left eye turned crimson red with a bird symbol in it. "I don't think so," He said. "Hand over your Knightmare and your handgun."

All of a sudden, she lost her will as she tossed her key and gun to the boy and then told him the code of the frame. As soon as the gun landed in his hand, the expression on the raven-haired boy's face turned into a dark one. He immediately pointed the weapon at the older woman, and without hesitation, shot a single bullet that penetrated her skull; her body fell on the ground with a thud.

The teen-aged Britannian immediately took out his cellphone and activated his Geass once more. He saw that the power only flared in his left eye, and he sighed in relief. Thank goodness it has returned to its initial state. Otherwise, I don't know how I will deal with it without the contact lenses that block it.

He then proceeded to holster the keys and the gun in his pocket before picking up the green-haired woman in bridal style. As he walked towards the Sutherland, he found himself lost in thought. Forgive me for what I did, Ohgi, The young Britannian told himself as a grimace appeared on his face again. But it will be for the best if you never meet this woman again. She made you keep secrets from me despite what Kirihara said, and then convinced you to make irrational decisions. He shook his head and sighed. Well, I suppose it is partially my fault for keeping secrets from you and everyone else, but that doesn't mean you should have believed her so easily along with Schneizel.

The raven-haired boy climbed into the Knightmare and placed the green-haired woman behind his seat. He then sped off towards the battlefield.

A short while later, a groan caused him to turn back; the eyelids of the woman were twitching before she slowly opened them. The former prince smiled before turning away. The woman looked around her and found out that she was inside a Knightmare; the one who was piloting the machine was the young man she has given a Geass to. "I'm surprised that you have picked up a woman who was shot in the forehead," She said. "Were you going to give me a proper burial?"

While it's true that he missed C.C's snarky remarks, what she has said made him frown as it confirmed to him that the witch doesn't remember anything from the previous timeline. After all, C.C would surely remember that he didn't pick her up in the past as he thought that she was truly dead. "No. I actually knew that you weren't dead."

"Oh?" The green-haired woman raised an eyebrow, not amused. "And may I ask how did you figure out that I wasn't dead?"

"Well, you did grab my hand after you were shot," The raven-haired boy responded. "And as a result, you have given me the power known as Geass."

Even though he couldn't see her, the former prince of Britannia knew that she had her infamous smirk on her face. "My, aren't you such an intelligent boy?" She asked while still keeping her smile. "May I inquire about the name of my contractee?"

Contractee…now that's a nice one. He smirked in amusement. "Lelouch, Lelouch Lamperouge."

"Hoh?" The woman raised an eyebrow again. "An alliterate name? How nice."

"And what is the name of my contractor?"

"You may call me C.C."

"C.C?" He repeated. "Is that even a human name?"

C.C just shrugged. "That's not my real name and I don't like using it anyway," She then leaned closer to him. "So, do you like the power I gave you?"

Well, not really, but I do need it. "Yes, I do."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Right now, I'm not going to use it because I'm going to help the resistance group here in Shinjuku fight against the Viceroy's forces."

"Really?" The green-haired woman inquired, raising an eyebrow once more. "And why would a Britannian student help a group of Eleven terrorists in their fight against his countrymen?"

"I have my plausible reasons for that."

"Being all mysterious, aren't we?"

He just smirked. "Being mysterious is one of my favorite hobbies."

She also smirked in amusement. You have an interesting son, Marianne.

Lelouch then remembered something and took out his cellphone from his pocket. His hand was trembling and C.C noticed that. "Is something the matter?"

"No." He dialed a number as he found himself in anguish thoughts. The young man put the phone on his left ear as he waited for the person he had called to answer. After almost a minute, the call was answered. "Hello?"

"Master Lelouch, how can I help you?"

"Sayoko, I want you to tell my sister to have dinner without me," Lelouch said. "I'm going to be late tonight."

"As you wish."

After he hung up, he looked down with a downcast expression on his face. Nunnally… He was pained and despaired by what happened between the both of them towards the end of his life as they both parted off on bad terms... yet he felt as if she told him that she loved him in his dying breath.

"You seem to be getting depressed a lot."

The former prince snapped out of his thoughts. "I was… remembering some bad things that happened to me."

The witch remained silent for a while and only observed the young man with her ever expressionless face. "Reminiscing about unpleasant memories when you're about to enter a battle will only help in hindering you."

The raven-haired teen felt a smile appear on his face. You were always like that. "You're right." He picked up the walkie-talkie in order to contact a certain red-haired ace pilot. "The west entrance. Use the tracks to move to the west entrance."

"Who is this?! How do you know this code?!"

The former eleventh prince flinched at the tone. Only two possibilities ran through the mind of the boy: One, she doesn't remember anything about the previous timeline like C.C. Two, she remembers everything that happened in his past life, but is pretending to not know anything because she doesn't know whether he remembers anything from the original timeline or not. He honestly hoped for the latter, but he still wasn't sure how was he was going to confront Kallen if that turned out to be true...

"It doesn't matter who I am right now," He stated. "If you want to emerge victorious against the Britannian forces, you have to follow my orders."

The battle between Lelouch's forces and the Viceroy's forces went similarly to the battle from the original timeline. The younger son of the Emperor knew that his older half-brother wasn't a strategist or a tactician, so there was no need to change the strategy he has previously used.

… Or there was a change that has to be made? "To all forces! Retreat as fast as you can!" He ordered while using his charismatic and authoritative voice. "The Britannian forces are going to send in more reinforcements! We won't be able to defeat them with our minimum numbers! Make sure to hide your Sutherlands properly! Is that clear?"

"Yes!"

A brown-haired Japanese young man was piloting a Knightmare with a confused look on his face. He was told that terrorists were wreaking havoc in Shinjuku, but he has yet to encounter a single unit. "Where are they…?"

A young woman with purple hair appeared in the screen in front of him. "Private Kururugi, if you still couldn't find any terrorists, please return to the base."

"Yes, ma'am."

From afar, Lelouch and C.C were watching a massive white Knightmare roaming the ghetto. They were both wearing foot soldiers' uniforms.

"I never expected the reinforcements to be only one unit." The green-haired immortal remarked.

"Yeah, it sure looks like a powerful Knightmare, doesn't it?"

The witch just shrugged. "Whatever," As she walked behind the young man, she asked him yet another question. "Why did you make me wear this uniform anyway?"

"It will be easier for us to sneak into the Viceroy's base with these on."

"Are you going to torture Clovis to death?"

"You're going to like that, aren't you?" He inquired back with a smirk. "But to answer your question, no. I'm actually going to spare his life."

For the first time in a long time, the woman couldn't hide the shock that was apparent in her golden eyes, and that actually amused the teenaged boy. Just what was he thinking? Sparing the life of the man who has killed countless of innocent people and most importantly, made human experiments on her?

TBC…

There is something you must know about me. I. Suck. At. Knightmare. Battles. Big. Time. Yeah. So any help is very much appreciated.

I hope you have enjoyed the first chapter. Review please!