*This will be considered as an alternate timeline that takes place after the events from the Rayearth series and throughout the Code Geass series, where I'll be making a few changes that's not part of the canon Code Geass. Enjoy the story!*
Chapter 1: Distress Call from Cephiro
Opening Theme 1:
To Change The World And Myself
I Need To Believe In What I Can Achieve
And That Belief Is Always And Forever In Me
This World Is Getting Worse To My Dismay
And I Simply Looked The Other Way
No Longer I Falter, No Longer
I Worry No Longer
I Tremble No Longer
'Cause Now I must Choose
When You Gave Me The Courage
To Stand And Take Action
You Gave Me What I Cannot Lose
One Time My Soul Was As Dark As The Night
But Then You Entered My Soul With Your Light
I See The Sun, My Heart Knows No Limits
Today, I Shall Live A Life Anew
I'll Open Up All My Windows
To See The Sky That's So Blue
To Change The World And Myself
I Need To Believe In What I Can Achieve
And That Belief Is Always And Forever In Me
In the present time:
Hikaru's POV:
Hi everyone, my name is Hikaru Shidou, 17 years old and is attending Ashford Academy after I graduated from my Junior High School.
It has been seven years since the Holy Britannian Empire has controlled Area 11 as part of their territory. During that time, it was also three years ago when me, along with two other female elevens, have been summoned in Cephiro, the Land of Will. I maybe just an ordinary eleven living in the Tokyo Settlement while being watched by the Britannians, but in Cephiro, I happened to be a Magic Knight of Fire.
Despite me being a Magic Knight, I decided to keep this a secret to myself, along with my other friends, Umi Ryuuzaki and Fuu Houoji. They happened to be the Magic Knights of Water and Wind. When we first had our adventures in Cephiro, we came across all sorts of encounters and fought various villains and monsters. To make matters even better, some of those villains became friends and allies of ours as well. We all had a really great time in Cephiro. Unfortunately, at the end of our first adventure, we were being forced to kill the very same person that summoned us to Cephiro to become the Magic Knights, Princess Emeraude. As their pillar, Emeraude was being forced to support Cephiro with the strength of her willpower. Because of this, she could not fall in love with anyone but the land itself. However, her love for High Priest Zagato has gotten stronger without any of us knowing it. After we brought Zagato down to his knees, the Princess went mad and started attacking us out of retribution. Sadly, we couldn't hold back our fight against her any longer. After we killed Princess Emeraude, we Magic Knights went back to our world in tears.
Despite the tragic tale of how Princess Emeraude, the pillar of Cephiro, met her end, we did not give up hope for our beloved land of will. The second time we came to Cephiro was when we faced off various invaders from three other countries: Autozam, Chizeta, and Fahren. After several battles with them, their leaders eventually yielded to our allegiance. However, our war to save Cephiro was still far from over. Another evil force rose up from the darkness in which was created by the hearts of the frightened people of Cephiro. That was when we faced off Lady Debonair and Nova, a warrior girl who's a lot like me and fights the same way that I fight. It turns out that Nova was my missing piece of my heart. Not that it matters anymore; my friends and I were able to defeat both of them.
During our battles in Cephiro, it was believed that I was destined to become the next pillar of Cephiro. At first, my friends were worried that I might get caught up with what Princess Emeraude had been through. But I made up my mind. After we defeated Debonair in battle, I decided to rid Cephiro of the Pillar System, letting its inhabitants rebuild their land without my aid. Of course, my wish became true and that Cephiro was saved once again and the Cephirians praised and congratulated us for our heroism before we went back to our world. After that, Umi, Fuu, and I decided to live the rest of our lives as Elevens in the Tokyo Settlement. Just like me, Umi and Fuu attended the Ashford Academy as well, regaining our friendship there and making friends with some of the Britannian students there. We thought for sure that after Britannia took over Japan, we believed that they would stop there and live in peace with the rest of us elevens, despite those foolish rebellions that they were throwing at the Britannians. What we didn't know is that the Britannians were somehow able to bridge a connection from Cephiro to Area 11.
It was a bright new day in Area 11. A lovely young woman name Hikaru Shidou was about to get up to start another day with her friends at Ashford Academy. Despite her being the shortest of the Eleven trio, Hikaru happens to be a headstrong girl that can get reckless in a one many ways. For a long time, she does Kendo with her three elder brothers, teaching her on how to use swords and protective equipment. But in Cephiro, she knew that she was able to do more than just Kendo. Thanks to Master Mage Clef, Hikaru was given the power to wield Fire and Lighting Magic. During her travels in Cephiro, Hikaru was granted the power to don a mighty, armored immersive robotic being known as a Rune God. Hers is Rayearth. As for Umi and Fuu, they gained the power to don the Rune Gods of Water and Wind: Selece and Windam. Rune Gods been helping the three elevens fight off bigger enemies, including evil rune gods brought forth by Emeraude, Zagato, Nova, and Debonair. But now that Cephiro is at peace, Hikaru and her friends have no need to don their Rune Gods into battle anymore.
As soon as Hikaru got up on her two legs, she was wearing yellow Pajamas while walking towards her dresser. Before she was able to get dressed, Hikaru spots a small, flashing light coming from one of her drawers.
"I wonder who could it be?" Hikaru asked to herself.
Just when Hikaru went up to her dresser, she pulled it out with both of her hands and reached underneath her clothes. As soon as she pulled her hands out of the drawer, Hikaru took out a golden pendant. It had a small mirror with jewels surrounding it. She had that pendant for a long time. Ever since she came back to Cephiro for the second time, Hikaru met a young, tall and handsome man dressed in black. His name is Lantis the magic swordsman of Cephiro. Remembering her time with him, Hikaru fell deeply in love with Lantis. However, she wasn't able to confess her love towards Lantis because from what Captain Lafarga of the Cephirian Guard said, he was Zagato's younger brother, the very man that Hikaru killed in order to save Princess Emeraude. Ultimately, Lantis never blamed Hikaru for such intent because he blamed mostly on how Cephiro was being controlled by the Pillar System earlier. It was Lantis who gave Hikaru that golden pendant for her to wear, saying it granted her the power of protection. It was three years ago since Hikaru last saw Lantis. Even though he lives in Cephiro and Hikaru lives in Area 11, she still was happy that she was able to be with the man that she loves.
While Hikaru held the pendant with her right hand, it was emitting a small golden aura. Before Hikaru knew what was going on, the pendant shot out a harmless beam at the wooden floor, revealing a small screen of Clef. Upon seeing Clef again, Hikaru couldn't tell if she were to be excited or relieved to see the Master Mage again.
"Clef, it's been a long time. How's it going back in Cephiro?" Hikaru asked.
"I know I have a lot I want to say, but now is not the time for it!" Clef responded in a solemn tone.
"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked, concerning for the Master Mage.
"An unknown fleet of ships appeared in Cephiro's airspace, we already ordered all citizens to evacuate to the Castle for safety measures," Clef explained. "We may need your help in dealing with these unknown invaders. I don't know what they're up to right now but I have a very bad feeling that it won't be good. "
"What should I do, Clef?" Hikaru asked.
"Let Umi and Fuu know about this too and head to Cephiro as soon as you're ready," Clef instructed Hikaru. "I'll explain to you what will be done first once you get there."
After making his last speech, the screen started fading away along with Clef before disappearing from plain view. As the light disappeared from Hikaru's pendant, she knew what she had to do. After a few seconds of standing around, Hikaru put the pendant around her neck, dressed up, and ate breakfast before meeting up with her friends at Ashford Academy.
At the Ashford Academy, Umi and Fuu are waiting for Hikaru inside the school in the cafeteria. Just like Hikaru, they're both 17 years old. They were both wearing Ashford School Uniforms. The moment they went to find a table, they met up with the other Britannian students, Rivalz Cardemonde, Nina Einstein, Shirley Fenette, and Madam School President Milly Ashford. At first, when Umi and Fuu met them, Milly made a couple of silly jokes about them being Elevens, much to Umi's annoyance. They may be Britannians, but Umi, Fuu, and Hikaru were able to warm up to them after their secretive adventures in Cephiro, believing that they can be reasoned with, the same way they reasoned with Princess Aska of Fahren, Geo Metro from Autozam, and Tarta and Tatra of Chizeta. For three years, Hikaru and her friends were able to attend to most of the school events throughout their first and second years in Ashford Academy. Today is different because, President Ashford had to go over her paperwork in the Student Council Office while Nina, Shirley, and Rivalz went to reorganize the papers in the file cabinets there.
Umi was seen as a 17-year old girl with long, smooth blue hair. As for Fuu, she had short-golden hair and is wearing glasses on her face. However, every time Fuu donned her Rune God, Windam, she was not seeing wearing her glasses at the moment. As Umi and Fuu went sitting down at the Cafeteria drinking tea, Lelouch Lamperouge from was watching them across the table. "Hey girls, what are two up to?" Lelouch asked Umi and Fuu.
"Well, nothing usual Mr. Lelouch," Fuu answered sheepishly. "We're just waiting for Ms. Hikaru to drop by, that's all.
"Oh really?" Lelouch asked Fuu further.
"I wonder what will Britannia will do during the time Area 11 is under their occupation?" Fuu asked to herself. "Not that I'm worried about the future of our families. I'm just wondering if there's a chance they would peacefully co-exist with us elevens in the future."
"Oh come on, Fuu! I seriously doubt they would co-exist peacefully with the rest of the Elevens." Umi grunted in dismay. "I mean, did you hearing about the latest news headlines? It has been several days since the Black Knights rose up from the ashes and lead the other Elevens to attack the Britannians on sight."
"Yes I have, Ms. Umi," Fuu answered. "They may be terrorists fighting against the Britannians, but as long as the Black Knights don't cause any trouble in Ashford, we'll be fine here. Right Mr. Lelouch?"
"Uh, yeah sure Fuu," Lelouch replied nervously.
Unknown to Umi and Fuu, Lelouch was secretly leading the Order of the Black Knights in rebelling against the Holy Britannian Empire as his paramilitary force. During that time, he kept his identity away from both the Elevens and the Britannians, along with his friends and his sister Nunally. As the leader of the Black Knights, Lelouch goes by the secret alias "Zero," the masked hero dressed in a black cape. As he spreads his rebellion, his main purpose was to unify Japan as an independent country. However, what no one knows is that Lelouch was doing all of this just to let Nunnally live in a world of happiness, trying to leave the rest of his brothers and sisters out of this, such as Viceroy Cornelia, Prince Clovis, Princess Euphemia, and Prince Schneizel.
"If Britannia hadn't came to Japan, what kind of future will you two will go for?" Lelouch asked Umi and Fuu.
"Me, Hikaru, and Fuu all want to live in a land where we can be with the people that we love, protect, care about and be happy about it," Umi responded to Lelouch after taking another sip from her teacup. "I mean, Hikaru, Fuu, and I came a long way in trying to achieve our wishes, regardless of our pride and our glory. As long as we're together, there won't be any challenges that we cannot face and no obstacles that will stand in our way."
"Is that so?" Lelouch asked Umi. "Well ever since my mother died, it left my dear sister Nunnally traumatized and rendering blind to everything around her. Not to mention that she can't move around without her wheelchair."
"We're so sorry to hear that, Mr. Lelouch!" Fuu said as she sympathized the exiled Britannian Prince. "Tell me, why did you abandon your regality when you were in the Britannian Royal Family?"
"Fuu, I maybe the 17th heir to the Britannian Throne, but I could not stand my father being so incompetent in not protecting mother from her killers," Lelouch responded in a depressed tone. "When I gave up my lineage, my father exiled me and my sister to Area 11 as political hostages."
"When you met Hikaru during the time you and Suzaku were both kids, what did you think of her now over the years?" Umi asked, remembering that Hikaru told both her and Fuu that she used to play with Lelouch and Suzaku during their childhood days.
"Well, I may not be as strong as Hikaru and Suzaku are, but it was thanks to them that I'm able to open up to most of the Japanese outside of school," Lelouch said while feeling relieved at the moment. "Though, I still wanted to find a way to change the world along with Hikaru, Nunnally, and Suzaku. However, since Suzaku is in the Britannian Military, I may have more difficulty in trying to reason with him."
"Is it because he happens to be an honorary Britannian?!" Hikaru asked Lelouch as she appeared from the doorway leading to the school's cafeteria.
Upon seeing Hikaru appear before them, now dress in her school uniform, Umi was startled by her speech as she jumped up from her seat like a frightened little rabbit.
"Dammit, Hikaru! Don't scare me like that!" Umi shrieked as she started hyperventilating.
"Sorry about that, Umi." Hikaru apologized, feeling a bit embarrassed, before sitting next to Fuu Houoji, putting her backpack underneath the tables. "I was just curious in where is Suzaku heading towards."
"Well, I remember him telling me once, that Suzaku's dream was to change the world from the inside," Lelouch explained to Hikaru and the other two female Elevens.
Before anyone could say anything, Lelouch's phone started ringing while inside the pocket of his school uniform.
"Excuse me ladies, I just received a phone call from my other friends," Lelouch told the three Elevens.
As Lelouch held up his phone next to his right ear, he walked out of the Cafeteria and into the hallway. But for Hikaru, she ordered her two friends to have a private conversation with them.
"Girls, there's something I want to tell you both and its best that we make sure that no one hears us," Hikaru said in a grim tone of voice.
Upon hearing what Hikaru just said, she picked up her backpack, led Umi and Fuu out of the cafeteria, and went to a nearby storage area before explaining to them what Clef told her this morning. After several minutes of hearing Hikaru's speech, Umi and Fuu could not help but sit next to her speechless. Before Hikaru could say anymore, Umi steps in to make her conversation.
"So, let me get this straight, Clef foresees another warning back in Cephiro and that he need our help once again to deal with this unknown invasion?" Umi asked.
"Yes, Umi!" Hikaru replied in a serious tone. "Clef will explain to us what we will be up against as soon as we get to Cephiro. But we'll do it after school so that we won't raise any suspicion from the other students."
"Understood, Ms. Hikaru," Fuu acknowledged the red-haired girl's request.
As soon as they're done with their private conversation, the three girls left the storage room and head to their designated classes. Unbeknownst to them, another female student was watching them from behind, with suspicion in her eyes. She had short red-hair and is wearing a female school uniform. Her name happens to be Kallen Stadfeld, who is secretly who of the Black Knights serving under Zero and is the pilot of Nightmare Frame Guren Type-02. Little did everyone know, that her real name is Kallen Kozuki one of the rebels fighting against Britannia. Despite her suspicions over Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu, Kallen did not wish that whatever they up to has anything to do with Britannia or with Japan. After seeing them leave for class, Kallen could not help but wonder what will the three Japanese women were really up to.
"I don't know why, but for some reason those girls are up to something that may give us Black Knights are fair advantage of taking back what was rightfully ours from those filthy Britannians," Kallen muttered to herself before going to her designated class.