First, I want to thank you for reading this story. I hope you have enjoyed it. I wanted to take a moment to answer a few questions I've received from readers and friends about this story. This information is accurate to this R3 Alter story as of October 2021. I don't promise that none of the information regarding unreleased content will later change. I'm a believer of the idea of stories as organic things that can evolve and change, so until it's released that potential remains.

- DaCosta Rosencraft

Question 1: How did this story start?

A: While I was working on an idea for a story related to my Cromwell Universe fan fiction, I began planning a new art project to go along with it. The story was going to feature a number of my characters, known as the Two-Six, standing in for various heroic spirits from the Fate franchise; a rendition (not really a retelling) of the Holy Grail War. When assigning matchups, I got to Hime of the Two-Six, who herself was based on Euphemia from Code Geass.

While working through some ideas, I ran into a number of complications assigning a matchup between Hime and any of the Fate/Grand Order servants. I ended up drawing a sketch of Euphemia in Artoria Alter's dress. I intended it to be a one-off since that particular matchup didn't resonate well for me given the story I was trying to tell. But I liked the basic idea, and I began to write a mini short story with that image as a basis.

The basic idea was that from within FGO Euphemia normally was more akin to Jeanne D'Arc. But Euphemia is essentially a Brit, so the closest to Jeanne on the Brit side would be Artoria Lily. But if you take Euphemia's story arc, it matches too well with Jeanne and you end up with a Jeanne Alter potential with Suzaku as your Gilles de Rais. So, if Euphie is Artoria since she can't be Jeanne, then that would mean Suzaku would end up creating Artoria Alter, not Jeanne Alter. I liked where that story was going, so I kept going with it. That is what wound up being this story, R3 Alter, albeit with some additional tweaks.

Question 2: Who is this story aimed at?

A: I would say that R3 Alter is made for both everyone and no one.

I am clearly not a professional writer. This story, like all of my stories, is written because they're what I like. I am writing it because the original anime or game or manga or characters were of enough interest, with an interesting enough twist or combination with another story or character, for me to want to write about. There's little rhyme or reason, barely any purpose.

As such, I don't especially write my stories hoping to get a bunch of fans or likes or whatever. I absolutely appreciate any fans, any enjoyment given to people out there, but I don't write with the intention of aiming for popularity. I'm aware of what would most likely make popular choices, popular course of events, etc. But I don't think about that sort of thing when I write.

So, my story is written really for no one in particular. But it also is a story that basically anyone can get into if it so interests them.

Which I guess gets to what I believe the secondary meaning of the question is. As a fan-fiction the obvious idea is that any reader be a fan of the series involved. In that regard, I'd probably be more of a Geass story than a Fate story at this point. I say this from the perspective that much of the interactions and narrative arcs are things that would more make sense or appeal to those familiar with Geass. That probably isn't surprising, since the cast is entirely Geass characters at this point, with a few original characters tossed in. The Fate elements are mainly setting and lore, much of which comes in at the backend of the story. Because of the complexity of the Fate franchise, I take time to lay out some of these concepts plainly, so if you didn't know anything about Fate you'd still understand it, whereas the same can't always be said about what makes certain character choices or interactions significant.

Question 3: When exactly does this story take place, relative to the Geass Universe?

A: This story builds off the canon of the original 52-episode anime series, with some additional elements borrowed from the Akito the Exiled OVA that took place between seasons one and two of the anime, and the Oz of the Reflection manga which should generally also take place during the events of the TV series. My story begins six years after the end of the anime, in the fall.

Question 4: Will Lelouch appear in the story soon?

A: I've gone back and forth on the way to handle Lelouch. I can't promise it'll satisfy everyone, or anyone, but I like the plan I have in place for him right now. I think it's a fitting role for him to take. Will it be soon? I can't say it'll be terribly soon, but not too much longer. There isn't actually too much further to go in this story anyway.

Question 5: Code Geass and the Fate franchise are obviously part of the crossover in this universe. Are there any other series involved, like something else from the Nasuverse?

A: The Nasuverse, the shared universe that the Fate franchise occupies alongside works like Tsukihime and Garden of Sinners, is very large and diverse. It's a far cry in terms of scale, but Geass has its own interconnected universe of stories too thanks to the various spin-off mangas and games, albeit more loosely due to how events don't mesh across these stories many times. For instance, as much fun as Nightmare of Nunnally may be to me, it has next to zero connective tissue with the main series other than names and faces.

That said, there isn't a lot of extraneous stuff from those stories here. This story essentially retells the beginning of the Holy Grail wars, so in that respect it's not even a Fate/Grand Order or Fate/Stay Night story as most casual fans know it. And because of the focus on the anime canon, most of the other media related to Geass aren't compatible as they aren't really canon to one another, let alone the anime. The only real exception is the Oz of the Reflection manga.

I think the purpose behind this question is more to do with wanting to know what to consume in order to understand my story.

On the Geass end that is simple; the anime TV series, the Akito OVA, and the Oz the Reflection manga.

The Fate side is more tricky. Much of the stuff I cover is not succinctly told in any one place, and is instead pieced together from the Fate VN routes mostly, as well as various spin-off manga and anime. Understanding that I try harder with the Fate material in my story to tell you what's going on there, map it out within my story itself, rather than relying on you to know or remember these details. In that regard, you don't really need a whole lot of information prior to jumping in. If you've seen the opening, maybe the first couple episodes, of any Fate anime then you probably have all the working knowledge you'll need. There will be little Easter Egg type bits you might miss, but not much, and nothing that would really hamper your understanding. You will, however, definitely want to know about the FGO Demonic Battlefront story. Whether that comes from playing the game, watching the anime, or reading the compiled story online somewhere, definitely check that out, as it gives you a pretty good clue for how my ending will look.

I don't really borrow much from anywhere else for this story right now. The mobile game Epic 7 will come into play, so to speak, near the end of this story, so there's that to look forward to. There, it's a pretty straightforward take. If you've played the game/want to play the game, then you only need to make it through Ep 1 to know all you need to know for tie-ins to my story. That is again something story wise that I explain enough of for you to get the idea.

Half the fun of any crossover is seeing the story and characters you're familiar with in a different setting, so I will always recommend that a person check out any work that is part of my story if they aren't already familiar with it. But, unlike my main-line series, this R3 Alter story doesn't have that imperative that it be expansive in incorporating other series for crossovers. So, there's actually not much else you need to know.

Question 6: You say your Fate elements are far more limited, what exactly are you looking at in terms of where that comes in?

A: Well, as I said, the Nasuverse is very large and complex, and I'm not about to pretend I know the whole Fate franchise back and forward from every intermediary story, manga, game, or even playthrough.

The main intended story I am looking to use for my story is the First Holy Grail War as spoken of in the Fate/Stay Night game lore. This differs from the Fate/Grand Order tale of the First Holy Grail War. For the sake of those who don't know, but also for brevity, FGO's first, and only, Grail War takes place about 200 years after what would have been the start of Stay Night's wars. As a result, circumstances, impetus, and a lot else, was very different.

Getting down a little bit more to the nitty gritty, this R3 Alter story of mine marries elements of the First Grail War and the Second. It's not a perfect telling of that first war, which in the Nasuverse was the cooperative formulation of a ritual for the same goals by the Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Zouken families. Those three's alliance fractures over differing views on how to achieve those goals, resulting in a fight over the product of the ritual, the Holy Grail. Subsequent rituals take on the fight for the Grail as an essential element itself, rather than a consequence. My story encapsulates that "formulation of the ritual" part of the process, though it reimagines the alliance that began forming the ritual.

The general goal of the ritual is essentially the same in both cases, although the purpose behind reaching that goal differs. The purpose of the ritual, as conceived originally in Fate, is to reclaim Third Magic, the magic of the soul. The greater aims once that is accomplished, however, differ between my story and Nasu's since Euphemia's goals carry a significant difference as well.

I do have a follow-up story planned, R4 Alter. That story more or less takes on the Third thru Fifth Holy Grail Wars. Not literally, but figuratively in terms of how elements from those stories are melded into mine.

Question 7: When/Will any Fate servants make an appearance?

A: Right now I don't have any plans for any Fate servants to appear in R3. I'm debating a cameo or two for Fate characters in the general sense, though who I'm thinking about would likely not be immediately recognized by most casual fans of the series. There is also a famous important Fate moment I am thinking about incorporating, but I'm not fully decided on that either. That is certainly to change with R4, however.

The reason for not directly including any servants is because, as I've stated, the goal here is to tell a Geass inspired setup for the system that becomes the Holy Grail War, with Geass characters in the place of Fate characters. This isn't a full-blown Holy Grail War yet, so there isn't the usual system of masters and servants in place. And since that system isn't in place, in a world that hardly recognizes the thrall of magic at all, there isn't nearly as much potential for either.

Question 8: What about a follow-up to R3?

A: There is a follow-up to R3 Alter called R4 Alter. If R3 Alter can be viewed as the story of the first or second Holy Grail War, R4 would be the third through fifth all rolled into one.

In fact, I would say that right now R4 feels a lot more like a different take of Fate/Prisma in terms of the state of the world, Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night in terms of the response. Of course, there will be some elements of Fate/Strange Fake as well, just because of the nature of that story and from where my R4 Alter starts, but it's fairly superficial.

E7 will continue to have some minor setting impact, but it's mostly a continuation of what was brought over from the end of R3 Alter. I am considering bringing over a character or two as well, but I'm not too certain on that yet given how I would have to make that work.

There are other stories I hope to add in as well. For example, Date A Live will be mixed in. The interaction there probably makes a lot of sense for anyone familiar with that series, yet it won't likely be the way most would expect. Or maybe it will, I'm not too sure how it would be received.

I also plan on adding in some servants from the Fate franchise, most likely leaning more heavily on their representation in FGO than in other media (Artoria as in FGO rather than in Stay Night for example).

Between who gets covered in R3 Alter, and whose left, I don't currently foresee having any additional Geass characters make an appearance. Since most of the main and secondary cast appear in my R3 story, any additional Geass characters would have to be relative unknown or minor characters, or come from some canon other than the TV anime and Akito OVA. I doubt I'll use anything from the mangas or dramas, or the Re;Surrection movie, so that would only leave the upcoming new TV series. But, since the new TV series is set to follow along after the Re;Surrection movie's cannon, I doubt I'd use that either.

Question 9: Do you already know how the story will end?

A: Yes and no. Inspired by the type of game Fate/Stay Night was, my intention from early on was to have multiple endings.

For those not familiar, FSN, like many, many, games in Japan, has multiple storylines leading to different endings. Typically, in these sorts of games, the endings are divided between good, bad, and true. The good ending is usually the one that is the happiest for the protagonist; things work out for them, they're victorious, and it's more or less happily-ever-after. The bad end is usually where the antagonist wins, or at the very least the protagonist loses. The true ending is the canon ending. It mixes elements from the other two and would normally be the ending that would get the anime treatment in an adaptation, unless another ending was just so popular (this was the case for FSN if I'm not mistaken).

To put this into context that Geass fans might understand, imagine that R1 – the first season of the TV series – was the bad ending. The Black Rebellion fails, Lelouch is captured by his father, and is more than likely going to find himself executed. Then R2, the second season, was the good ending. Lelouch survived the bad ending only to wage his war anew. He still dies, but it's on his own terms, and accomplishing, in some measure, his original goals. Given what the new series is set to be, that would make the Re;Surrection movie the true ending. It still has all the elements of the other two endings, but as it is the one a sequel is based on, it can't be really considered anything else but the true ending unless and until a sequel is made to follow either R1's or R2's endings.

Likewise, my plan is to have three endings; a true, a good, and a bad. I more or less have the good ending written, but I am still working through the bad and true endings. I know at least how the true ending will generally go, it's just a matter of details. The bad ending needs the most work as I don't really know for certain how I want to frame it. It's pretty bad though; you can probably imagine it fairly easily given where things have already gone in my story. It's setting up to have a real Camelot/LB6 feel to how sideways things end up going.

At the moment I plan to simply title those final chapters according to their ending (so, "Good Ending: [subtitle]") so there won't be any mistake which is which. You should presume everything that precedes those chapters is cannon to each ending – the only difference between these "universes" is the way the final events play out.

I will also add this tidbit; in each ending, Euphemia is technically "successful" in reaching her initial goal, its only the results of that which are the problem, in part because of a bit of a difference in what her final wish is in each.

But, there is an R4 story that continues from where R3's true ending leaves off, and I haven't a clue how that one will end just yet.

Question 10: Do you stick to all the Nasuverse or Geassverse rules?

A: For Geass, I basically throw most of those rules out the window. That's partly because there aren't a lot of them to begin with. But more than that it's because I reframe the way the Geass universe's rules are understood.

If you've followed the story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the connected Disney+ series, there was a debate about how it seems to retcon the importance, function, of the Infinity Stones. From the Loki series that was on Disney+, the explanation arrived at is that the understanding of the Infinity Stones is presented in the movies from how the Avengers understand them, not necessarily how they actually work, or how others understand them.

Basically, the Avengers and those they interacted with considered the Infinity Stones more important, more immutable, than they really are. I treat Geass similarly; what is known of Geass is what Lelouch learns of it, and what C.C. tells him of it based on her own knowledge. But from within the series, we know that C.C through much of her existence was disinterested in the full picture of Geass and its possibilities, even when head of the Syndicate. The Re;Surrection movie, though I don't use its continuity, also demonstrates this.

It stands to reason, therefore, that there are elements of Geass she only has some terse understanding of, if not a total lack of knowledge about. You start adding in the existence of other supernatural powers outside of this particular ocular ability (the Nasuverse has a whole host of eye-based powers), make room for evolution or novel application, and there is bound to be stuff that will upend the understanding of Geass, even if all it turns out to be is the existence of some other ocular ability that is similar yet different from Geass itself.

As such, yes, I do violate some perceived rules of the Geass Universe, but only in so far as to explain that those rules were themselves not rules but theories based on a lack of complete and accurate information.

Much to the dismay of the more diehard Nasuverse fans, I choose not to obey all of the Nasuverse rules either. It won't spoil too much just now, but it's safe to say that Euphemia, Shirley, and Marrybell each violate various Nasuverse rules about what is possible, what isn't, when it comes to magic. I won't be any more specific than that, but I definitely break the rules of the Nasuverse, or at the very bare minimum take a ton of liberty with them. This is born of a desire to give more power to the magic at the center of the story's universe. In essence, I strive to create a starker dichotomy between what magic can do, and the state of the "mortal" world.

Through FGO, the idea is made more clearly that within its universe gods are merely beings of the most potent capacity to use magic in its truest sense, not merely magecraft (pseudo magic). Humanity, in its lack of ability to use magic so readily, stopped relying on it and charted a path without magic. By the time some tried to turn back, magic was lost and so they had to create magecraft in an attempt to get back to that place they once inhabited, and all endeavors since, including the Holy Grail Wars, have been attempts to reclaim true magic.

For my thinking, for a literary perspective, while imposing some limits on what magic can do is the obvious means of keeping the story from becoming a free-wheeling mess of actions that make no cognitive sense, it hampers other aspects. The story Nasu crafts is deeply complex and sometimes confusing because of all the rules that must be adhered to in light of the limits of what magecraft can do or what a venerable deity might be capable of if brought to the modern world in a diminished capacity. I lift those limits a few degrees, viewing that an ounce of omnipotence in a world lacking anyone else who can truly measure up should well feel like an unfathomable chasm. Even as things stand right now in my story, personal choice and decisions seem like the only limits on Marrybell's actions, as it well should. That C.C feels any sense of helplessness against Euphemia, when C.C herself is immortal, is necessary, as the Nasuverse itself refutes the concept of a person coming back from the dead… mostly.

In other words, to marry these two universes, C.C would have to have some means of being killed outside of a transference of her Code that can be explained by some means other than an until now unseen capacity to take in mana, let alone awareness of what mana is. To avoid violating this central tenet of the Geass Universe, I lift some restrictions in the Nasuverse, effectively raising the threat of what magic and magecraft can do, to comparatively diminish the thrall of what Geass can do.

It's worth remembering that even within the Nasuverse, the ritual that is the Holy Grail War, the center of so many stories of the Nasuverse, is mostly looked on as little more than a parlor trick with little to do with true magic by those outside of the ritual. This is covered in the Case Files anime, where Waver despite being a rare survivor of a Holy Grail War is looked down on by the mages of the Clocktower, the most prominent mage group in the world. It's touched on in FGO's story as well in the lead up to the Lostbelt chapters, when Chaldea is taken over and you learn about how little faith the rest of the magical world had in the Chaldea project not because of its chances of success, but because they thought even if successful it wouldn't amount to much. It's a not-so-subtle joke within FGO that even though the Grail is such a potent mass of magical energy, it's easy enough to come by that any jokester with the right knowledge can make one for themselves – capable of great power and damage, but still of little importance to a true magus.

But, we don't really get a good sense of what magic more potent than seen in a Grail War looks like. If there is magecraft more impressive than bringing into the physical world the incarnation of a mythical king, complete with a sword that embodies the very essence of the planet itself, what does that look like? If there is some power that surpasses the abilities of the incarnation of a deity, let alone the process of forcing the incarnating of that deity in the first place, what does that look like? What would that actually do? What else can we do but break some of the rules of the world then? If the Age of Gods presupposes that all forms of mysticism exist, why then would a being approaching that threshold not be able to do what the mythical beings of that age could do, no matter how unimaginable that might be?

That's a lengthy way of saying that, similar to the note about what might be the case in the Geass side of things, I don't think a number of the supposed rules of the Nasuverse are as set in stone as one might think. These rules for the most part are expressed by individuals within the world itself, often times by a mage who is either parroting what a teacher told them, or so self-consumed with their own power or family's prestige that it would be more surprising if they didn't overstate their actual knowledge so as to downplay something they themselves simply didn't understand or didn't know how to do. Keep in mind that within the Nasuverse, the governing thought process is that all magus are arrogant, selfish, and classist. This makes them unreliable as sources of information, more so when presented with the veneer of being the perspective character you're meant to be rooting for. They aren't "good guys" as much as they are "protagonists" if that makes sense.

Question 11: Are there any details you can spoil about the sequel?

A: Honestly, since I've only barely planned out much of anything about the series or plotted out ideas in my head there's not a whole lot I even could potentially share, but I can give some detail.

R4 Alter will take place roughly a decade after the "true" end of R3 Alter. Due to the events of the ending of R3 Alter, there are new problems that must be dealt with, problems that seem beyond the capability of the survivors of the end of R3 to deal with. Exotic and extreme measures are taken to address the issue. This takes the form of a magic ritual. Under a joint global effort headed by the UFN, a ritual is undertaken to create a new power that may be able to resolve their all-consuming issue. However, the process goes awry, and the precautions meant to safeguard and balance the ritual end up spinning a new set of problems.

As mentioned with a prior question, the overall tone, tenor, direction of events, will be based around a variation of the Holy Grail wars from the Fate universe, a mixture of elements of the Nasuverse canon for wars 3-5.

I have plans for characters from the Date A Live anime to make an appearance, alongside several servants from the Fate universe. The Date A Live character will be Tohka. There is the potential for more, but I haven't decided yet. There will be a couple characters from Epic 7 that will appear, different from the group that will appear at the end of the R3 Alter. One of the two is up in the air, pending developments in E7 prior to my actually writing R4.

Since overall in my BotS series I touch on Fate a number of times, and use and name several servants, my goal is to use servants that I haven't necessarily focused on before. One will definitely be a little off-canon, as their "real-life" self has some other elements I want to touch on a little differently from the Nasuverse. For Geass, right now I can only really say that, like I mentioned before, I'm not really going to "add" anyone else from Geass. Honestly, there's no room to. Most relevant characters from the Geass anime are mentioned or actively a part of my story. I can't imagine at this point adding anyone unique to the other media, so no manga or movie characters most likely. I won't say 100% no (the new anime's eventual release might have a chance to convince me otherwise) but I consider it highly unlikely.

And since it's so early in that process for R4 Alter, I don't know for sure if I've got all my bases covered for characters or story. In fact, I know for sure that I have at least a couple characters that will be necessary, but whom I don't have identities for, so there's definitely the potential for new series to be tied in, or else additional characters from the previously mentioned series.

That's really all I've got so far. I could name the characters slated, but I feel right now that would spoil too much.