Prologue - Contract

For a year after the death of Lelouch, the world had entered a sort of era of peace, but shortly after that year began another war. While in battle with enemy forces, Jeremiah Gottwald has been brought in due to suspicion of the enemy having some form of geass. Due to his battle prowess as well as his ability to cancel out geass, he was to be a useful asset in this battle.

Unfortunately, they did not account for one aspect of this plan… Schneizel. At one point during the battle, Jeremiah had discovered the geass user that had been rumored in the enemy's army. It was a similar geass to Rolo's though this one didn't stop the enemy's perception of time, it just left them unable to move while still hearing and seeing everything.

Kallen Kozuki, the Black Knight's ace pilot, despite only being a reserve member at the time, had been clearing the front-lines as she always had and with the new Zero showing his own battle prowess in the field, the battle almost seemed won. Until the geass came. Kallen fell into range of the geass and the man began closing in on her.

That was the moment when Jeremiah saved her life. He intercepted the geass user's attack and activated his geass canceler, freeing Kallen from the it's shackles, and allowing her to retaliate. Nearly half an hour later though, there was a bright flash of light in the sky, eliminating a large amount of enemy forces, as well as allies.

Schneizel el Britannia, the most challenging opponent that Lelouch had ever faced, had fired a F.L.E.I.J.A. But that was impossible. He was never to use those ever again. They were Zero's orders. However, Schneizel was no longer following orders. It turned out that Schneizel had been nearby when Jeremiah used his geass canceler. And now, back in full control of himself, he began to enact his plan.

Schneizel's use of the F.L.E.I.J.A. ended the battle, but it began the next great war. He went to work, rebuilding the world in his own way. He took the throne for himself, casting Nunnally aside, and only sparing her because he did not consider her to be a threat against him. The Black Knights defected from Britannia, choosing to stand in opposition to the world Schneizel intended to create.

Nina Einstein, the mother of the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead, had long since left military operations. Ashamed of the destruction her creation had caused, she swore to never create another weapon again. However, in this time of need, Nina began to design several anti-F.L.E.I.J.A. systems and while they weren't perfect,it was all she could do to make sure Schneizel didn't destroy the world. They worked together with Zero and the Black Knights to create an underground network of bunkers. Ones that could counteract the F.L.E.I.J.A. somehow.

There had been hope that Schneizel would not be able to create more. But as the designs were already in his hands, he had them produced in mass quantities. He used them to destroy many of the world's largest cities in order to force all of the violence to stop, at the threat of being vaporized by the deadly weapons in his possession.

Since then, the Black Knights had done everything in their power to stand up to Schneizel, but they were slowly losing ground and quickly losing people. Soon the whole world was under Schneizel's thumb, and suddenly Lelouch, the Demon Emperor, was no longer regarded as the most hated man in history.

Everything Lelouch had worked so hard for, everything he fought for; his sacrifice… it was all for nothing in the end.

-September 22, 2021 a.t.b.-

Three years since the death of Lelouch vi Britannia

Kallen ran inside of one of the underground bunkers and slammed the door. "Dammit!" She shouted.

"Kallen? Are you okay?" Ohgi asked, that same older brother-like tone to his voice.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, but it took me a while to get away from the Britannian Royal Guard."

Zero nodded. "I see. And did you manage to do it?"

She shook her head. "No. Carline was too heavily guarded. I couldn't get near her. I'm sorry."

"This is all that Lelouch's fault…" Ohgi said, still holding the grudge from years ago.

Kallen looked at him in disbelief. How dare he say that, especially in front of her. Especially today. "You take that back..." She said, coldly.

"What?" Ohgi asked. "Isn't this the same type of world that he created when he became Emperor too?"

"No, Lelouch never intended for something like this." Kallen said. "If anything, this is all your fault."

"Mine?"

She nodded. "If you hadn't gone along with Schneizel and betrayed Lelouch, we would've had the great Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia instead of the demon. This… what Schneizel is doing now, is exactly what he was planning on doing before!"

"How do you know?" Ohgi asked. "Kallen, I know you cared about him, but Lelouch betrayed us first. He was just using us for-"

"Stop saying that!" Kallen shouted.

"Kallen." Zero spoke. "Perhaps… it's time we came clean…" He said, removing his mask. "About everything."

Ohgi at him in shock. "Suzaku… Kururugi? But I thought that you-"

"That I was dead?" Suzaku said. "For all intents and purposes… I'm supposed to be." He said, placing the mask on a small table. "What Kallen is saying is true. This was Schneizel's plan all the way back then. He was the one using you. Not Lelouch."

Ohgi shook his head. "No way. But then that would mean-"

"Sit down." Suzaku said with a pained look in his eyes. "I think it's time you knew about the real Lelouch."

Kallen and Suzaku took turns, explaining the different aspects of who Lelouch truly was as a person and what his intentions had all been the entire time he'd been fighting under the guise of Zero. They told the truth of several of the atrocities that Lelouch had caused, and eventually the Zero Requiem.

"I can't believe it…" Ohgi said. He looked to Kallen, seeing the expression of pain and sadness she'd been carrying for these past three years. He had noticed it had gotten worse since the war began again, but he'd never known quite why. "So you mean… Lelouch, he-"

"He gave his life for us…" Kallen said. "In order to create a gentler world for everyone. Not just…" She felt tears begin to fall.

Suzaku tried to hold back his own tears. "I'm sorry Lelouch… I failed…" He said, slamming his fist against the table. "Not only did I fail to protect the peace… I failed to protect Nunnally too…"

"What?" Ohgi said, shocked. "What happened to Nunnally."

Suzaku placed his hand to his head, as if in immense pain. "She was… in the F.L.E.I.J.A. attack in Kyoto… she didn't make it out…" He felt tears begin to fall, overcome with his anger and self-hatred. "Dammit! First Euphie… then Lelouch… and now Nunnally."

Ohgi wasn't sure what to do. After all, all of this information was a little overwhelming, considering what he had previously believed.

"Hey!" A communicator went off in the room. "Anybody there?"

Suzaku picked it up quickly. "This is Zero."

"Zero, thank god." The voice said. "I found someone who said she knows you."

He looked shocked. Most of the people that he knew were dead or in prison now. "Who is it?"

"She won't tell me her name, but she says she needs to speak with you. Do I have permission to bring her-"

"Do it." Suzaku said. "Make sure to blindfold her first. If she's an informant, we can't take the chance."

"Right, I'm on my way now. Milly out."

Kallen looked surprised. "Milly? Wait, why is she-"

"She was one of the people who figured it out." Suzaku said. "She'd known Lelouch for even longer than I had. They were almost forced into a political marriage when they were younger, if you can believe that. She figured out pretty quickly what Lelouch's plan had been."

Kallen nodded. "Really?"

The door opened and Milly leaned her head inside. "Alright, I've got her right here." She said, with a smile.

Kallen stood up. "Milly, what happened?"

Milly had blood on her face, and appeared to have an injured wrist. "Don't worry about me. Let's just say I don't exactly work as a news person anymore." She said, awkwardly. "They found out I was a part of all of this. Anyway… here she is."

Milly pulled the girl into the room and the three prior occupants gasped.

"C.C.?" Kallen said.

C.C. looked up. "Kallen. It's been a while, hasn't it? How've you been?" She had hoped she was facing Kallen, though she was slightly off angle, so she wasn't really facing toward anyone.

"How have I been?" Kallen asked. "How do you think I've been these past three years?"

C.C. shrugged. "I don't know, that's why I asked. Anyway, could someone take this thing off for me? I need to be able to see in order to do what I came here for.."

Milly shook her head. "Sorry, but unless-"

"It's alright." Suzaku said.

Milly nodded. "Uh, sure." She said, undoing the knot on the back of the blindfold with her uninjured hand.

C.C. smiled. "Ah, much better."

Kallen glared at her. "What do you want, witch?"

C.C. centered her gaze on Kallen. "It's quite simple, really. I would like to form a contract with you."

Kallen's eyes blinked in confusion. "A contract?"

She nodded. "Yes."

Suzaku looked at Ohgi and Milly. "The two of you… could you give us some privacy?" He commanded, acting in character as Zero despite no longer having the mask on.

Suzaku turned his eyes toward C.C. "When you say, 'contract'..."

"Yes." She replied. "I am referring to geass."

Kallen was even more confused. "Wait, why me? Couldn't Suzaku-"

"Because, geass is different based on the individual person who wields it." C.C. said, calmly. "There are two factors that determine how each person's geass will behave. The first is that individual's personality. And the second is the wish that person has in the depths of their heart." She explained.

Suzaku's eyes shifted toward Kallen. "And you believe Kallen is the only one who can have a geass capable of what you want?"

C.C. shook her head. "I don't think it, I know it." She said. "Kallen, what if I told you that this does not have to be the future."

"Huh?" Kallen said.

C.C. nodded. "You wish to be able to go see Lelouch again, do you not?"

Kallen looked down. Despite everything going on right now, even more than her desire to stop the war, she wanted to see him again. "More than anything…" She said. Admittedly, even if the peace that Lelouch's death caused had been eternal, she would still have wanted him back.

"Then I propose a deal." C.C. said with a smile. "In exchange for you granting one of my wishes, I shall grant you the power to save him."

"Wait." Suzaku said. "If you do that, you'll be going against what we all wanted. A world that has a future, rather than a stagnant world of the past."

C.C. nodded. "I realize that, but is this the world that Lelouch desired?" She asked. "One ruled by fear and bloodshed? I'm certain that, had Lelouch foreseen this happening, he would not have gone through with the Zero Requiem."

Suzaku didn't want to admit it, but C.C. was right. Really he was more apprehensive due to the subject of geass than anything.

"C.C." Kallen said. "What is your wish, exactly?"

"I cannot yet tell you."

Kallen's eyes widened. "What?" She said. "Hold on… you can't really expect me to agree to a contract without knowing the terms."

"Lelouch did." C.C. responded. "Relax, I'm not going to try to steal him from you or anything if that's what you're thinking."

Kallen sighed. "I don't know. Wouldn't it all just lead up to the same end?"

"The Zero Requiem was his last resort. He was forced to use that plan of his because everyone else he could count on was dead or abandoned him." C.C. said.

Kallen's eyes shook as she felt guilt well up within herself as she remembered the Black Knights and their betrayal.

"I see… Goodbye then, Lelouch."

She cast her gaze downward. "I really did abandon him didn't I?" She said. "And just after he thought he'd lost Nunnally..."

"Kallen." C.C. said. "I'm not here to throw you a pity party. I simply want to know if you truly desire to save Lelouch."

Kallen nodded. "Yeah, of course I do, but-"

"Good." She said. "Because you're the only one that can make it happen."

She was very confused about why she'd said that. "I can't be the only one."

"You, in fact, are the only one." She said. "No one else is able to support him both in his everyday life and in the Black Knights other than you." She said. "Not even I could provide the support he needed. I'm simply no good when it comes to matters of the heart."

She nodded. "Well, yeah, but…"

"There's also the matter of the differences in geass." She said. "I believe that, if your desire is to save Lelouch and still bring about world peace, then it is only you who can do it." She said. "So, Kallen Kozuki… will you save him?" Before she could respond, she clarified. "To be clear, I do not mean Zero. Will you save Lelouch vi Britannia?"

Kallen stared as C.C. reached her hand out toward her.

"Do it." Suzaku said. "This world is not the one that Lelouch and I sacrificed our fates for. All of the death and destruction caused by Schneizel… his actions have made everything we did to be in vein." He said, firmly. "If I could prevent this from happening… I would." He had come to this conclusion after thinking over what C.C. had said earlier.

Kallen thought hard about her decision, but it was when she cleared her head that she found her answer. It was obvious. Those amethyst eyes, that sparkling smile, the compassionate and commanding sound of his voice… she would give anything to experience them again. "Yes." She said, with a smile of determination. "I'll do it. I'll save him."

C.C. smiled. "Very well." She said, placing her hand on Kallen's. Various images flashed through her mind, but once they faded, she felt… different. She felt like she had truly grown in power as she felt a strange force in her right eye. "So, what now?" She said.

"You will need to harness the power of your geass in order to go back and save him." C.C. said.

"Go back?" She asked.

The witch sighed. "Of course. How else would you be able to do it? Geass is an incredible power, but it's not limitless. You cannot simply change reality with geass alone, just like you cannot change fate with it alone."

Kallen looked a bit confused. "So what does this power do?"

"You have been gifted with the power of the king." C.C. said. "You're a smart girl. You will come to know what it can do in due time. For now all you need to know is that it can send one's consciousness back in time."

Kallen nodded. "Alright, I've got my mission. Save Lelouch and bring about peace." She said, as if it were that simple. C.C. nodded as Kallen pulled out a small compact mirror and opened it, looking into her own eyes before she saw a strange symbol form in her right eye. She felt the power of the king flowing through. "Let's go then."

"Wait." Suzaku said. "Before you go back, I have a request."

She shook her head. "I can't promise you that Lelouch won't give you the 'live on' command."

Suzaku shook his head in response. "That isn't what I was going to ask."

She nodded. "Alright, what is it then?"

Suzaku looked down, a bit shamefully. "As long as you're going back… do me a favor." He paused. "Euphie..."

"Huh?" Kallen asked.

Suzaku turned to face her. "Save Euphie for me. If you do, you'll be saving not only me, but him a lot of grief and heartache. You might even save our friendship. I'd like to say Lelouch and I were friends til the end, you know? Besides, I..."

Kallen looked into his eyes, seeing the same emotions she experienced anytime someone brought up Lelouch's name. Both his and Euphemia's names had been drug through the mud, going down in history as some of the most evil people to ever live. Kallen smiled and nodded. "I will." She said. "I promise."

He smiled. "Thank you, Kallen."

She stood up and looked into the mirror on her compact. "You loved her, didn't you?"

Suzaku smiled up at her. "As you did him."

She gave him a warm smile before putting on a face of steely determination. "Alright, let's do this."

C.C. nodded. "Oh, and Kallen, there is one thing about your power I've neglected to-"

Okay, that's the prologue done. I'd originally had chapter 1 mixed in, but this is page 8 and chapter 1 went on for at least another 10, so I split it up. I hope you guys will enjoy this story as I'm putting a lot of thought into it. I don't want it to be Code Geass but with extra scenes, so even though some of the early parts of the story will be the same, I will be making things go quite differently as time goes on.

I decided to make Schneizel the final villain again though since it only makes sense and I felt this was a smart way to do it. I always wondered if something might go wrong because Jeremiah used his geass canceler on the wrong person. Oh, and don't worry, I've thought through the rules for Kallen's geass, and I won't be using it as a reset button every single time something doesn't go right. That would make for a pretty boring story.

I don't know if I'm ever going to write about how this future is going though since it won't be the one that happens at the end of the story. As for what C.C. was warning about, that will become evident in the next chapter.