Chapter One: The Book

One of these days, Lelouch was going to obliterate Britannia.

The bombers had flown overhead and delivered their payload into the village. Houses had been reduced to ashes, and as Lelouch Vi Britannia saw the bodies, he noticed many were shot. That meant Britannian soldiers had been through here since those here were Japanese.

Lelouch supposed he could go to them, ask them to take him home. But going back to that man was... never, especially since the soldiers might shoot them for fun. He'd heard other kids screaming cut off by rifle shots, after all.

"Is it over, Lelouch?" asked Nunnally as he walked through the streets. They'd eaten their last rations a while ago, so Lelouch needed to restock. Heading to what might have been a gas station, he sighed.

Then he looked up to Nunnally and forced himself to smile as he carried her on his back. "Nearly, Nunnally. Don't worry.

"There were just some supply trunks driving through here. We don't want to run into them."

"Why not?" asked Nunnally.

"If they're Japanese, well, they might not be happy to see two Britannians," said Lelouch. That was the understatement of the century. Britannia had landed a few days ago and had been blowing up everything in sight. The Sakuradite mines were left intact, but everything else had been expendable. Buildings that were centuries old had been blown to bits as an afterthought. "And if they're Britannian I... well, I don't really want to go back home, Nunnally. You remember what we discussed?"

"Mother is gone, and we won't be safe there," said Nunnally, sounding sad.

"Right," said Lelouch, forcing himself to sound cheerful. "But, if we stick together and keep going, I'm sure we can make it on our own. We just need to find the Ashfords, and we can work from there.

"Come on, Nunnally. We're nearly there, I think."

Not really. Tokyo was a very long way away from where they were. A few days, perhaps. And even if Lelouch got there, he might miss Reuban Ashford. He didn't know what he'd do then.

The good news was that Lelouch had gotten very good at lying.

He'd lied to his sister when they'd arrived in Japan and been given an old shack to dwell in. He'd lied to her about getting beaten up by other kids while the people who were meant to be guarding him watched. Lelouch had lied to her about how he met Suzaku and lied about...

About everything.

Nunnally was blind. She could only see the world he described to her, so as long as he could explain the smells and sounds...

Maybe she could be happy.

It distracted Lelouch from the hatred he felt at times. But when he was alone, and Nunnally wasn't talking, Lelouch had nothing but hatred. Hatred of the Emperor for exiling them and shuffling Mother's death under the rug. Hatred of the Royal Court that cared nothing for common decency. Hatred of Japan for treating them like scum when they were hostages of a royal line. Hatred of Britannia for its atrocities. Hatred of himself for getting him and Nunnally exiled.

Even hatred for Suzaku, at times. TheThe boy had been, no, was a friend, but Lelouch had often let him win their arguments. To avoid a conflict in front of Nunnally, or because Lelouch benefited a great deal from his presence. The victimizing of Lelouch had gone down a great deal after Suzaku stepped in.

But that was long ago.

For all Lelouch knew, Suzaku was dead since they parted ways.

"Do you think we'll be able to see Milly again, Lelouch?" asked Nunnally.

"Yeah, of course," said Lelouch, letting none of the sheer rage he felt leak into his voice. Nunnally's big brother and the son of Marianne the flash were like two different people. "And after your eyes open, it'll be just like old times again. I'm sure you'll be able to walk in no time. I mean, I'll bet they'll come up with treatments that'll... that'll..."

Lelouch halted as he came to a particularly large field of bodies. Many of them had been torn to pieces by heavy caliber weapons—one more war crime in a day filled with them.

"Lelouch, what's wrong? What is that smell?" asked Nunnally.

"Oh, it's nothing, Nunnally," said Lelouch, moving around the bodies through a broken-down ruin. "We're just going through some old trash heaps. We'll get past it again in no time."

"I wish we could have stayed with Suzaku," said Nunnally. "Why couldn't we stay, Lelouch?"

"We didn't have a choice, Nunnally," said Lelouch. "He was going to his family, and if we'd have gone with him... well... I doubt they'd have been happy to see us. It could cause problems for Suzaku.

"It'll be better if we reach the Ashfords. Maybe after the war is over we can see Suzaku again."

"I hope so," said Nunnally.

Lelouch didn't believe it for a second.

And then he tripped.

Lelouch wasn't sure what it was, a loose stone or his own feet, but he landed hard. He barely managed to keep himself up.

"Lelouch, are you okay?" asked Nunnally.

"Oh, it's fine, Nunnally, really I tripped over something," said Lelouch, aching with pain.

"What was it?" asked Nunnally.

Lelouch looked back saw it was a book. "A book. It's uh...

"It's a Bible. I guess this must have had some Christians out here."

Christianity had once been the official state religion of Britannia and still was. Those days were long past, though, with violence and hatred being the gods of Britannia now.

"Didn't we do a lot of missionary work before the Emblem of Blood Era?" asked Nunnally.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Lelouch. Idiot, his voice was not cheerful. He had to stay enthusiastic for Nunnally.

"Lelouch, there is something wet here..." said Nunnally, and Lelouch saw she was touching a puddle of blood. A corpse of a priest was some ways off.

He had to hide it.

Lelouch pulled himself up quickly, almost violently. "That's just a puddle, Nunnally. Come on, let's keep moving."

"But it was-" began Nunnally.

"Why don't we read from the bible for a bit later, after I get tired," said Lelouch, grabbing the book. It was a distraction, and it might help her.

"But the Royal Family always said it was just a book for commoners," said Nunnally. "Something to keep them motivated."

"Well yeah, but we're sort of like commoners right now," said Lelouch. "And, well, we didn't really think much of Japan when we came here. But we became friends with Suzaku and learned a lot from him." Stay positive and upbeat and get out of this building.

"Okay," said Nunnally.

Lelouch hurried out of that town and got back on the road. As he walked, he found the bible was heavy on him. He had half a mind to throw it away and tell Nunnally he dropped it. But then he'd have lied to her.

Yes, Lelouch had colored up the truth to help her, but that was all for her benefit. Because this bleak world was horrible to her, and he couldn't give her a good life. By telling her things were better, she was able to live a better life. But...

To lie to her for his own benefit?

Never.

"Actually, why don't we... why don't we stop now for a bit," said Lelouch, feeling sick. "I can't carry you forever, after all.

"Come on, this place seems a bit better. And there's a spring here."

It was a clearing with a spring for water. In the shack they'd gone to, they had access to a water pump. But there hadn't been any indoor heating, and they'd often had to bath in rivers. Lelouch and Nunnally cleaned themselves off and dried in the sun, drinking of water.

"So what does the book say?" asked Nunnally, after a moment.

Oh right, the book.

The bible.

Did Lelouch really have to read her that dry story? If he was going to read Nunnally bedtime stories, he'd prefer to tell her ones with no genocide. Or rape. Or torture.

What was he thinking, of course, he had to read it. "Okay, um, I'll start at the beginning;" Lelouch drew up the book and opened it. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."

"What waters?" asked Nunnally.

"It's a metaphor, Nunnally," said Lelouch. "No one who believes in this stuff seriously thinks that God was hovering over water. Think of the waters as a metaphor for what existed before existence. Like uh... chaos from Greek Mythology.

"Or 'waters' could be just a weird translation. You can't get the real meaning behind these texts without reading them in Hebrew. Or, well, Greek in the case of the New Testament."

"You know a lot about this stuff, don't you, Lelouch?" asked Nunnally.

"Mother had me study Greek. I think she was trying to keep me out of trouble," said Lelouch. "And Schneizel recommended the book as a historical document. It has a lot of history in it that is fairly reliable. On some things, it's our only source.

"But I can't remember anything from those days. Not much, anyway."

"It'll come back, Lelouch," said Nunnally.

"What?" said Lelouch.

"Don't worry, I'm sure of it," said Nunnally.

Lelouch realized he'd been more himself there for a moment. "Fine, do you want me to keep going?"

"Of course," said Nunnally.

Lelouch read further along it. "And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

"God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day." Good god this book was boring. "This is kind of dry stuff, huh Nunnally?"

"Yeah, but it's better to read it than just feeling unhappy all the time," said Nunnally.

"I'm not unhappy at all," said Lelouch. "I mean, the invasion isn't nearly as bad as we thought it was going to be when we saw the bombers. I'm sure... I'm sure it'll all be over soon." He paused." He sighed. "...I think I can keep going, Nunnally. We ought to keep moving."

"When we stop for tonight, Lelouch, could you read me some more?" asked Nunnally.

Oh no, this was going to become a daily routine, wasn't it? If Nunnally became a Christian, Lelouch would have to read this book every day. But, well, so be it. "Of course, Nunnally. Whatever you want."

And so they continued walking. Nunnally was quiet and a bit happier as they did walk together. But, as they walked, the sky grew darker and Lelouch had to find shelter to stop. He picked a toolshed the murderers with guns had missed and stowed there.

"And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear."" said Lelouch, looking up at the sky. He hadn't read a real book in forever, not since their exile. "And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good."

"He must be pretty powerful huh," said Nunnally.

"Not all that powerful, Nunnally," said Lelouch. "I mean, to people back then, sure. But these days, people can do a lot of the stuff they call miracles here. I mean, we've got canals, and reservoirs and we can change the course of rivers.

"Let me see, what's next.

"Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. According to their kinds, the land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day." Time to find an excuse to stop. "That reminds me. We've got to use our rations, Nunnally. Come on, I'll break yours for you."

"Could you read while we eat?" asked Nunnally.

"But Nunnally I..." Lelouch sighed. She was latching onto this book instead of him. But if it made her happy, fine. "Sure."

He took a little longer than he had to in order to open the rations. Together they ate them, and Lelouch provided commentary on them. As a result, he managed to skip out until after they finished eating. Then, he drew out the book and began to read for her;

"And God said, "Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.

"God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

"God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day."

Lelouch halted and looked up to see the moon shining down on them. Nunnally put a hand to his shoulder. "Lelouch, is something wrong?"

"Well, I... the moon is out early, Nunnally," said Lelouch. "I can see them both up there at the same time."

"Maybe it's a sign," giggled Nunnally.

"It's a coincidence, Nunnally," said Lelouch. "When you believe in something and look for signs, you are more likely to see things that look like them."

"But you weren't looking for signs, Big Brother," said Nunnally. "You were looking for an excuse to stop reading."

"No I wasn't!" said Lelouch.

Nunnally laughed. "This is just like when we used to play with Euphie and sister Cornelia. You were always finding excuses to go off and read."

"Cornelia would say we're being ridiculous by reading this," said Lelouch flatly.

"Maybe she wouldn't," said Nunnally.

"Let's get to sleep, Nunnally," said Lelouch, and he found he was smiling.

The next day, however, Lelouch awoke with a start. Looking up, he saw helicopters flying overhead. The wind of their choppers rushed through his hair as Nunnally sat up.

"What's that noise, Lelouch?" asked Nunnally.

"Um... there are helicopters out there, Nunnally," said Lelouch. "I think... I think they are doing some drills. We'd better get out of here."

Grabbing Nunnally, Lelouch put her on his back and rushed away, getting some distance. Taking cover behind some rocks, he heard the sound of machinegun fire.

"That sounds like gunfire," said Nunnally.

"They're trying to shoot at targets, Nunnally," said Lelouch. "Sort of practice I guess."

And then he looked around and saw what was missing. Cursing, Lelouch leaned against a stone.

"What's wrong?" asked Nunnally.

"I forgot the book," said Lelouch. "I was in such a hurry to get away I didn't grab it." Nunnally had liked reading that book. Now it was lost.

"Oh," said Nunnally. "Um... well, that's pretty bad. But, well, I'm sure we can find another bible later, can't we, Lelouch?"

Lelouch thought about it and sighed. "Right, yes.

"We'll find a better translation when we get home."

Home.

It seemed such a faraway and nonexistent concept. It would take a miracle for them to get through this and meet the Ashfords. And then another to not end up sent back to Britannia, and another to meet Suzaku again. Just as it would have taken a miracle for Lelouch and Nunnally to survive this long.

Lelouch had told himself he'd been lucky.

But if there was some sort of all-powerful being out there willing to offer aid, Lelouch needed it. He certainly wouldn't turn away the backup. Especially if it meant protecting Nunnally.

"Lelouch, are you okay? You've been really quiet," said Nunnally.

The gunfire died, and Lelouch smiled. "No, no, it's fine.

"We're going to be fine, Nunnally."

When the fires died down, Lelouch and Nunnally were still there. And Lelouch knew that one day he would obliterate Britannia.