Blood surrounded her—crimson red mixing with her dirty blonde hair. Frantic breathing erupted from her. Her blue eyes slowly opened to a scene of pure carnage. Rotten flesh and boiling blood surrounded her. Death surrounded the air. She sat up in a rush, trying to take in the situation. She looked down at her hand, internally screaming at her pale flesh covered in crimson.

To her, right was a loaded gun. The girl instinctively jumped away from the weapon in terror. She fell back upon a hard concrete floor. Steel walls surrounded the violent scene, containing the bodies and her within its separated world. Wooden boxes littered the warehouse, each box lined with tied ropes.

The girl didn't take a minute to think or contemplate her situation; she turned towards the nearest door and ran. She threw open a thin steel door to meet a tall spiral staircase. Her steps created loud noises as she ran upwards. She knew not where she was going; she merely wanted to escape. She reached the top of the staircase and greeted another steel door. Opening it, she stepped onto the roof of the warehouse. There she encountered a strange sight.

Before her was an expansive city, however, most of the city was taken over by large scale interlocking plates stacked together. The interlocking plates were pure white, enough to reflect the full moon hanging overhead during the starry night. One thing ran through her mind. She was not home anymore.

It was an early autumn morning. The trees outside were shedding their leaves as they softly fell to the ground, adding to a large pile that had been scraped the previous day. Next to the barren tree was an average brick house with clear windows. Within this house was a young girl resting upon a blue bean bag.

Within her hands was an open packet of cheap chips and a chocolate bar hung from her mouth. She bit onto the chocolate bar and quickly swallowed it, leaving the rest for later. Her eyes were glued to a small television in front of her. It was quickly set up with several cords thrown around the room she inhabited. She had been surfing through channels for hours on end, finding nothing interesting to watch, nothing to waste her days away.

She softly sighed and turned off the television. Nothing catches her attention anymore, the same interests she once held had become disinteresting. Long ago had she torn down posters she bought when she was younger. Long ago had she sold her merchandise and DVDs. An era when DVDs were still used. She stood up from her bean bag. Throwing her bag of chips aside, she took another bite of her chocolate bar and exited the room. Without saying a word, she left her house and began to explore her urban neighbourhood.

The streets felt empty, even though cars were travelling past her, they never felt human or there to her. They passed too fast for her to even recognise their existence, they, in turn, could not remember her. She walked through piles of orange autumn leaves. She had always enjoyed the sound the leaves made when they crumbled underneath her. She enjoyed the chill breeze that flowed through. Shadows were still being cast upon the urban streets from the early morning sun.

Within those shadows, she spotted a strange sight. A silhouette of a tall figure was in the distance, too far for her to see details. She was about to ignore the figure until it slowly raised its arm towards her. Her first detail was spotted, she could make out quickly a gun held within its hand. Before she could react. Before she could scream.

He fired.

A bullet pierced through her chest. A burst of blood spilled from her thin body. It happened too fast. She could barely stand. She was growing weaker. She fell to the ground, surrounded by dead autumn leaves. Blood flowed from her chest. Her vision was fading, becoming blurry. She could only see the figure turn away from her. Everything was becoming slower. She could barely move. She couldn't speak anymore. She could however, think. The only thought rushing through her was hatred.

She cursed the person who had shot her. She cursed the person who had robbed her of her blooming youth. She cursed whoever had stolen her life, her chance to live. Her hatred was like a spiral, descending further downwards, further down into a swirling abyss of anger. Until her vision turned black. And consciousness faded.

Darkness is an interesting concept. A place where no light can possibly reach. A barrier blocking sight. If you exist within eternal darkness, do you ever exist? How long had she been floating within nothingness. A few seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Centuries? Time was unknowable in death. At least, she thought she was dead. It's hard to judge time within an unchanging world. At least it was until the constant changed. A voice broke the timeless world.

"Fufufufufufu… Such powerful emotions, it's not every day you find a soul harbouring so much negativity as yours. Yes… This could be quite interesting, you who craves vengeance and me with a wish unfulfilled. We could use each other, partners in crime, at least I believe that's how that saying goes." It was a faint male voice, with a mocking tone.

"I propose a contract, do you accept?"

The girl was shocked, mostly at her sudden regathering of consciousness thought and at the mysterious voice. She was confused. Yet, she feared the current state she just escaped from, where nothing happened, and she was an empty existence. So, without even considering her options.

She accepted the contract. And the darkness enveloping her was replaced with light.

It had been at least an hour since she had awakened in her new situation. She was positively convinced that the strange contract she accepted within death had led to this situation. She had escaped from the warehouse and just kept running, not sure where she would end up. She had to hide, she would receive strange looks when a young girl ran past people covered in blood. So now, she sat leaning against a wall in a dimly lit alley. The pause allowed her to regain her breath. Slowly breathing in and out until she gained a clear mind.

She noticed her usual clothing and appearance had been drastically changed. She wore a high school uniform and now had blues eyes and blonde hair. Something she distinctively lacked before. She lightly chuckled to herself out of stress and confusion.

"Just what the hell happened to me?" She mumbled to herself.

She fumbled around her clothing, looking to see if she could find anything to tell her where she was or what was happening. To which she stumbled upon a yellow leather wallet within her pocket. Withdrawing it, she explored its contents and found an I.D card within it.

Her face stared back at her. With a blank and calm look. A stale and boring photograph on a forgettable I.D. The real treasure was held within the name. Lily Acantha.

She sighed and looked above her. A storm was brewing. Dark, oppressive clouds formed around the city skyline. Then the rain poured. Each drop was like a bullet. Fast and hit hard. Soon her blonde hair was drenched and from the edges of her fringes drops continued to fall.

"Lily? Is everything alright?" A mysterious voice erupted. At first, she didn't respond. That name was not hers. Yet her body reacted first. Her blue eyes turned towards the voice and at the edge of the alley, peering in was another girl. One she knew, yet never met. The stranger wore a uniform similar to her own. Her main features consisted of long brown light hair. The only response Lily could muster was a look of fear.

The girl rushed towards Lily in an apparent panic.

"What are you doing here? You look like you've seen a ghost!" The stranger exclaimed.

"I might be right now…" Lily responded with a nervous chuckle under her breath. The girl she was looking at, no, talking to, shouldn't be real. In fact, Lily had witnessed her die. She remembered distinctly, as that episode had left her depressed for weeks afterwards. She was, after all, a fantastic character.

"Is everything alright-" She tried to place her hand upon Lily's left shoulder. In a quick moment, by pure instinct, confusion, and fear, Lily smacked her hand away. An awkward silence persisted between the two of them. Lily broke the silence first.

"Shirley I'm-"

"Don't worry about it! Just… let me take you back to your dorm room, okay?" Shirley responded and lightly smiled at Lily. All Lily could do is look down and nod her head.

The walk was short, silent and awkward. Lily's mind was a clouded and disjointed mess. Trying to understand how she was currently viewing a fictional character within a made-up environment. Lily had the chance to observe the Tokyo Settlement as they progressed. Noting on the large scale skyscrapers and ruins of past conflict within the city. The night was quiet. The streets felt empty and deserted. Which only made her curious about the implications of Shirley wandering during this time.

The scale of Ashford Academy is often overlooked. The extravagant large building was only highlighted under the bright full moon. Lily felt small entering into the large courtyard, this feeling heightened by the school building looming over her. It looked so pleasant. A peaceful environment was blissfully unaware of its incoming fate and demise. The thoughts worried Lily, so she repressed them for a later date to deal with.

"Shirley… Can you, uh, show me to my dorm room?" Lily asked. It felt strange to her, casually interacted with one of the core characters of a show she enjoyed. In her mind, she wanted to panic and explode on everything that had happened to her. Still, she wanted to take a more logical approach to the situation.

"Sure! Don't really know why you want me to, but I'll do it." She said with a small smile and led Lily towards the dorm building.

The interior was more magnificent than the exterior. To Lily, it felt as though she stumbled into her childhood dreams of being a princess. Each step from her just felt wrong, she didn't belong, and it shouldn't exist. Shirley led her to an average and unsuspecting door. One that looked the same as every other. No distinguishing features.

"Here, we are! I think you should really get rid of the… blood on your clothes. I don't think it's my place to question where it came from. Just know that if something wrong you can talk to me, you know? We're classmates after all, and you know where to find me." Shirley stated clearly concerned for Lily. Yet Lily just silently nodded and opened the door in front of her. The room was small but luxurious. A large bed with folded blankets and pillows introduced itself to her eyes. The new sights, the new world, it was too much for her. She didn't get a single step in before she collapsed against the door she had just closed.

Her back rested against its wooden frame. All she could do was look down at her hands. Her mind began to race. What the fuck is happening? She needed to orient herself. Gather the facts and what she knows. First, I die, don't know who shot me or why, but I'm dead. Then some voice? Made a what, contract? With me, then I wake up in a warehouse, covered in blood and a gun beside me. I'm in the world of Code Geass, I only watched that anime a couple of times, couldn't I end up somewhere more peaceful, say pokemon?

Soon, the extreme pressure and confusion got to her body, and she began to grow tired. She lacked any energy, barely any to even get up and move to the bed. So she took the most prominent and stupid choice. To sleep against the door.

The night was rough. Sleeping against a door wakes one up with a sore neck and several pains across the body. However, she did not wake up naturally. She woke to a knock behind her. Originating from beyond the door that made her bed for the night.

A loud and short yawn erupted from her mouth. She slowly picked herself up from the floor and opened the door whilst rubbing her eyes. When she opened the door, she was greeted by a tall, middle-aged man. He wore casual streetwear, had a short stubble, and short wavy white hair.

"########" He spoke, her name. Not Lily, but her real name.

"Who-?" Before Lily could finish her sentence, he pushed past her and entered her room. He ignored all attempts of protest from Lily and sat upon the edge of her bed. "What the hell are you doing!? Who are you!?"

The stranger looked towards Lily. He just sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing them with his fingers.

"You made a contract with me. I'm here to make sure you fulfil it." He spoke in a soft and mocking tone, a familiar style. A manner Lily knew she had heard before. In death.

"So you're-"

"Call me Verus, or whatever, I honestly don't really care about names." He opened his eyes to glance at Lily. His eyes were sharp and seemed disinterested in his environment.

"Can you at least give me a chance to speak! You keep cutting me off! Least let me ask you questions so I can understand what the hell is going on! Like, are you like C.C and V.V, do I have a geass now, how did this happen, what do you want, etc. etc." Lily stated furiously about the man just storming into her room. She leaned against a wall and folded her arms.

"First question, C.C and V.V are slightly different to me, but we are close enough they're a decent analogy to explain my existence. Secondly, yes, somewhat, that'll be explained at a later date, I can't reveal everything to you just yet. Thirdly, I pulled you from the veil of death, you have no idea how many loopholes I had to find to get you out of her grasp. Finally, my goals are not the same as the others. I don't want to die or kill a god or whatever, in fact, I certainly like living."

"I feel as though I've learnt nothing and a lot at the same time."

"You'd be surprised how often I hear that. Have you got any coffee?" He responded as he sat up from the bed. He began to wander the small room, looking for any sign of a kitchen.

"How the hell would I know!? You just dropped me here!" Lily jumped up and began to follow Varus. "Why would you want coffee now, anyway!?"

"I dropped you yesterday. More than enough time to establish yourself if you ask me." He opened seemingly random cupboards and pantries in a desperate search for caffeine. "You got me to talk and overthink. Coffee is a good way to start a morning and cure any headaches."

"I don't know-"

"I'm going to order one over the phone then. I'm sure Area 11 has some sort of delivery service." He picked up a phone resting beside her bed and began to dial a number. The two then sat in awkward silence, waiting for coffee from a cafe to arrive.