Legend of writing format (to understand which is said/thought etc.)
But it wasn't so : narration (Don't think I need to put this one in, but I'll be complete :p)
'What now?' : Thinking
'What do you mean?' : dialogue through the mind
"Really?" : Speaking normally
"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you: Die!" : Highlighted part is said as a command under the use of geass (only used for the initial hypnosis, later commands are written normally)
…
He did not know when he became conscious again, but the first sensation he felt, a light breeze gently caressing his face, made him aware of it nonetheless. His eyes were still closed. A testament to his unwillingness to believe that this was, in fact, not a dream. He wanted to believe that it was all over, and he could finally rest.
Yet the world seemed cruel to him in particular, since he soon began to realize that he wasn't dead somewhere in the abyss, atoning for his sins with eternal loneliness.
No, he was sure he was alive, as he soon felt the rays of sunshine against his face. And with newfound resolve he finally opened his eyes.
What greeted him was a newly dug grave with the remnants of a tree behind it, serving as a gravestone. On top of this improvised gravestone lay a heart shaped locket, one that immediately gave away the identity of the occupant of said grave.
'Rollo.' Lelouch thought to himself, seemingly losing all the resolve he had just built up. Rollo had given his life to save him. To save the person that had shunned him in their final moments together.
To say that he didn't hold a grudge against the boy would be a lie. He tried to replace his precious little sister and killed Shirley. And yet, he still felt the small semblance of a tear stream down his left cheek. A tear in recognition of the time they spent together, even if it was forced by Charles' geass.
He wiped it away soon after realizing it was there though. Now was not the time to mourn a loss he had already come to accept before the Zero Requiem. Even if he still had hoped that perhaps maybe he could have saved him after being sent back in the river of time.
Now however, he had to complete his end of the bargain. Or 'win-win situation' as the being, calling itself the Collective Unconscious, named it. He had to stop humanity's downward spiral into oblivion by guiding it, protecting it from itself.
"Easier said than done…" he said with a small sigh as he started observing his surroundings once more, clad in the garments of Zero with neither mask nor cape. He could see the setting sun's rays reflecting on the large body of water that lay before him.
Mt. Fuji, desecrated by the Britannian mining outpost, lay in the background. Its snowy peak only barely visible form the ground.
If not for the carnage that he knew was about to occur, he wouldn't have thought the world was on the brink of total war.
Charles, as he deemed the man not worthy of his title which signified his parenthood, was likely making his way to Kamine Island right now. Seeking to activate the Ragnarok Connection and 'killing God' with the Sword of Akasha.
Foolish if you were to ask him, but then again he himself also made his fair share of foolish decisions, never mind speaking of the Zero Requiem.
He should try to follow the original timeline's timetable, at least until he was inside C's World. Suzaku, C.C. and Anya, or rather Marianne, would also be making their way there. And since he had been standing here contemplating the weirdness of being back, he was already behind schedule.
"Let's start then." he muttered before making his way back to the Shinkiro.
…
He proceeded to geass as much soldiers of the Britannian military outpost as he could, enslaving them to his will. Although he still felt a slight discomfort at blindingly geassing anyone that stood in his way, knowing full well they would die as a result, he didn't care anymore.
If the result of his morals was the destruction of humanity, then he and everybody who could care should consider them thrown out the window. For he saw what the disastrous result would be if he were to fail.
The scenes were still fresh in his mind. The bodies of his friends. Some burned, others mangled and most of them unrecognizable before they were even fully dead. The last millisecond of light still in their eyes conveying the untold horror and pain they were experiencing.
The image of his sister in a never-ending coma, laying in a hospital that might as well have been a prison. Only having been able to stay in the land of the living for so long because of the countless machines connected to her body. Breathing her last breath while still unconscious, long after the purists drove Britannia into a war driven frenzy for racial supremacy.
No. That will not come to pass. Not so long he still drew breath. If he had to become the demon once more, sentenced by the jury of fate to live for eternity as a tyrant of the world, he would be placing that dark crown on his head before the sentence was even completed.
Such was his resolve.
By the time he was done, he had procured himself a small army, a little more than he had had originally, ready to die by his command. Not that the small addition off troops would change their fates.
"Go, protect the island from any who dare trespass with your lives." he ordered with a regal tone. The need for the dramatic truly never left him.
"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!" they all shouted with fanatical fervor, the fire of geass in their eyes and smiles on their faces as if their god had just commanded them.
They sped of soon after, in search of any who might disobey their single reason for living. Lelouch watched this all with a small grin forming on his face. 'That never gets old.' he thought to himself, as he turned around and started walking towards his second reunion with his 'parents'.
…
While Lelouch was slowly walking towards the ruins, chaos reigned among the Britannian forces at Kamine island. Unsure who to trust, soldiers started firing towards one another, unsure of their loyalty.
Although Suzaku wasn't surprised by this, as only one person could cause such chaos, Lord Waldstein, who stood in his way of killing the Emperor, could not hide his shock at the sudden betrayal of their forces.
Taking advantage of this, he attacked the Knight of One, in an attempt to finish what he came to do before Lelouch could interfere.
Yet before he could even reach the one eyed knight, a stray missile landed in-between them, causing him to fall in a small landslide.
Before the impact knocked him unconscious, the last thing he saw was the sky being set alight by countless explosions caused by the battle that was raging overhead.
…
The emperor of the country that owned more than one third of the world stood on a platform in a dimension that housed the being many would call God. He had just used his code to activate the darkly colored Sword of Akasha, which after this action started to take the shape comparable to a deformed DNA-helix. A sinister sight, one that is prepared to strike if given the command by the codes.
Lelouch looked on as Charles made his declaration of attempting to kill God. If he didn't know that he was already so close to accomplishing it, he would have called the man mad, yet here they were.
And so he made his entrance, "Well would you look at that, the most powerful man in the world attempting to kill God. If a manifestation of humanity's hubris exists, you would certainly be it." He approached the emperor while voicing his disdain for the man.
The emperor turned around slowly, not even deigning him worthy of the effort to do so faster. If he felt any sort of surprise or shock at the sudden appearance of his son, he didn't let it show.
"Is that why you've come here Lelouch? To insult me one last time before you can revel in the perfect world I will have created. A world without lies." the emperor answered his errant son, no emotion other than the pride of his accomplishment evident within his voice.
Disgusted by the person he once called his father, he said, "No, I've come to stop you and your mad quest for your 'World without lies'. Although a beautiful title it will be nothing but a hell, one where humanity will turn into the monsters we all hide deep within us, what we truly are. The manifestation of the vile nature of the human race. I won't allow it."
Amused, the emperor entertained his son, "And how do you plan on stopping me? Nothing can kill me and your geass doesn't affect me." A smirk adorned the ruler of Britannia's face, confident in his inevitable victory.
"Indeed, 'father'," he spat out the word as if it were the vilest thing in the world, "but by coming here, to this realm which only has one exit, you have already ensured my victory." Not even a second later after finishing his sentence, the well timed bombs placed on the ruins exploded.
And while the emperor stared wide-eyed at the realization what he had done, when C's World began slightly shaking and thunder clashed against the edges of the platform, he muttered with the beginning of a smirk on his face,
"I call check."
…
Suzaku woke up with one simple thought, 'Is it morning already?' But when his vision turned sharper he realized the light shining down on his face was not generated by the rising sun, but by countless explosions in the air. If not for all the needless slaughter it signified, he might have been able to appreciate its beauty.
When he looked around him he realized he was not alone. Anya, for some reason, was holding a marker close to his face, while C.C. was watching on with an disinterested look only a few steps away.
"A- Anya? C.C.? what are yo-" he tried to speak but was quickly interrupted by the Knight of Six, who strangly had a different air to her. "I'm not Anya, Kururugi. I am Lelouch's mother, Marianne."
His eyes turned wide at the unexpected declaration. But before he could give voice to his doubt of her sanity, he realized her eyes were outlined by a bright red, a sign of geass. "So you took over her body?"
"She has been residing in Anya's mind from the beginning, Suzaku." C.C. answered in Marianne's stead with a rather emotionless voice, not seeming to give any attention to the pouting expression Anya, or now Marianne, threw her way.
"You could have at least revealed it with a more dramatic tone, C.C." She said with clear disappointment. 'So that's where Lelouch got his need for theatrics from…' was the stray thought that immediately left Suzaku's mind as fast as it entered.
"Still, what are both of you doing here?" he asked with a small essence of caution, which did not go unnoticed by the two. Marianne, however, just ignored it as she lightheartedly replied, "We are here to enter C's world and end what we started. Care to join us?"
…
"YOU SEALED THE EXIT?!" Charles asked in a tone that lay somewhere between incredulity and anger.
"Indeed I have, curious isn't it? When a man suddenly finds himself no longer able to enjoy the fruits of his labor, he no longer deems his cause that appealing. Even if that cause was for the so called 'greater good'." Lelouch began in a lecturing tone as he proceeded to sit on a pile of rubble, parallel to where the emperor was standing.
"So tell me Charles," he asked mockingly "was it worth it? To now realize that even if you do kill God, you will never be able to leave as a result?" He stared expectantly at the emperor. Thinking within himself, 'I need to stall for time as much as possible until the others arrive. If I kill him now my moth-, Marianne will still be alive, and C.C. might also be killed if she does not realize that killing God was a fool's errand when they do get here. I need to be careful.'
"And so what? You seal yourself here with me? Doomed either way what I choose to do?" the emperor evaded. 'If only you knew' Lelouch thought. He didn't feel the need to talk to a dead man, but he might as well get some answers before it's too late.
"Did you ever love us?" he asked out of nowhere, taking Charles slightly off guard. "I am not asking this out of desperation but out of simple curiosity, did you ever love the children that were born from the only woman you loved? Or is there truly only a pragmatic monster hiding behind that mask?" he inquired further, his tone lacking any emotion one might expect. Only a sliver of scientific curiosity vaguely present.
Yet he was not graced with an answer by the emperor, the man keeping his silence as he continued to stare into the eyes of his son. Lelouch lifted an eyebrow at that, not expecting this to be the conversation where he would catch him at a loss for words for the first time.
"So you don't know either then?" he continued after a full minute of silence. And at that the emperor finally answered, "I did not have the luxury to do anything but focus on the goal me and my brother set for ourselves. Our resolve to send you to Japan is a testament to that."
And as he finished speaking, Lelouch heard another voice from behind him. 'Right on cue.' he thought. "Lelouch, you shouldn't be so hard on your father, everything we did was for the both of you. To create a better world where we can live happily ever after without all these lies."
He turned around to see Marianne standing there, in the same form and dress she had when she was murdered by V.V., minus the bullet holes and blood. He acted shocked, as he did not want to let it show he already knew what they were about to reveal.
"Mother? What- How?" he asked, while thinking he was glad that he at least had some talent in acting, or this would have been quite difficult.
"Lelouch, child, there is so much you don't understand. Why don't you just let me and your father finish this. Let us build a world without lies together. We did it all for you and Nunnally, after all."
'That's a lie, how ironic.' he thought, suddenly deciding he might as well cut back the acting a little, if that's how it's going to be. "Really? You did it for us? Why is it then that you waged war on the very country you sent your children to as political hostages?" he responded with a stone cold voice, eyes narrowing as if he were sizing up his prey.
"If my hunch is correct, your little plan was the sole reason me and Nunnally got caught up in all this. The reason she became a cripple. The reason she was denied a normal childhood." At this point, there were no longer any emotions of disbelief and faint happiness he tried to imitate only a few seconds ago within his voice.
"So what gives you the right," he lifted his right hand in a slow manner, slightly stretching out a single finger and pointing towards the royal couple, "to even mention her name, like you were doing her a favor." At this point he did not even try to hide his hatred anymore, a scowl visible on his face, his eyes cold yet full of disdain. No longer stood before them a lost boy, playing revolutionary on a faraway island.
No. At that moment, he let slip what he became to reach the Zero Requiem. The Demon Emperor, humanity's universal enemy. The one that bathed in the blood of the innocents he massacred, all for the delusional promise of peace.
At this point, both the emperor and his wife didn't know what to make of this. They had not realized their son could project such hatred that could rival Erida, the goddess of hate herself.
And like it was echoing his hatred, C's world's surroundings became shades of blood red. As if agreeing with the wild emotion the Demon Emperor had tamed. Only now to be released from its shackles, to be let loose on the beings that had wronged its master.
Although it seemed like he was losing his calm, it was far from it. He now had a purpose, and he'd be damned if he let anyone ruin it. He was in control now.
He lowered his hand as he noticed that C.C. and Suzaku had arrived, standing behind him. They were frozen by shock at the spectacle that was unfolding. Not daring to interfere.
"C.C." he suddenly asked in the same cold tone, but with a certain gentleness added to it. "Do you still wish to die even if it would mean to destroy all that holds back humanity from becoming the worst of itself?" While he was speaking, he did not let his gaze falter from the cause of his hatred.
"Do you wish for me to be the monster I have become and continue to stand at my side, or do you wish to open the gates of Hell by slaying its sole guardian?"
If he were to look behind him, he would see that C.C. was staring at his back, wide eyed in confusion and shock. "I-" she began but was interrupted soon after.
"C.C. we had a deal, your death for your cooperation. So activate your code and end this!" Charles said, annoyed by her indecision.
Still, she hesitated. She looked back at Lelouch, at the same time as he looked sideways so he could see her in his peripheral view. And as she looked into his visible eye, she could spot the glint of determination within, one she had never seen so strongly in anyone her whole life.
And so, she made her choice. "C.C. Activate. Your. Co-" as the emperor began speaking once again, this time in a voice so cold it could only be perceived as a threat, she answered, "No." And in doing so shocking the royal couple to their core, and bringing a small smile to Lelouch's lips.
"Think about it Charles, it was foolish to even attempt this. Even if we did succeed, it wouldn't be a world that anyone else would want."
Fury was soon visible on the emperor's face, it becoming almost as red as their surroundings. He was about to retort, yet Lelouch had other plans.
'All tasks at hand have been cleared'
"Let's end this farce." He brought up his lowered hand once again and removed his contact lens to reveal the burning sigil of geass in his left eye. Everyone observed him curiously, as to ascertain what he meant by his action.
"That doesn't work on anyone here, and you know it." Charles said condescendingly, lecturing him about reality.
"Perhaps not on any of you no." Lelouch replied with a smirk. "But you seem to forget someone who was already here long before we arrived."
Realizing what he planned to do, the emperor nearly shouted in disbelief, "You are mad! The power of the king cannot defeat God!"
"Who said anything about defeating, your majesty?" sarcasm clear in his uttering of the royal title. "This is a request!" he shouted, spreading his arms wide and with his head tilted to the sky so he could witness the Collective Unconscious in the form most closely resembling the planet Jupiter.
"Collective Unconscious! I ask of you! Please don't stop the march of time, in MY NAME!" and so, the geass took effect. The planet lighting up, as if responding to his call for salvation of the human race.
"Lelouch you ungrateful child." the empress said as she started running towards him with outstretched hand. She was stopped in her way, however, by Suzaku, protecting him with his sword.
"This is not what Euphy would have wanted, this isn't what anybody would want!" he stated, keeping her from reaching him.
"You can't do this boy! Humanity will doom itself with its lies and deceit. How can you proclaim to fight for it if you deny it the possibility to thrive?!" the mountain of a man in his royal regalia that was his 'father', shouted, accusing him.
"Wrong!" he shot back with emotion in his voice. "I will not take away humanity's chance at prosperity! However, I will take away their choice if it means to stave off its destruction!"
And so his right eye transformed, emulating its counterpart.
A giant geass sigil appeared on the planet shaped being. Although geass could not control it, it could help the Collective Unconscious if it wanted to do the action it was asked to do.
And so, with the help of the power of the king, it did just that. The Sword of Akasha, also known as the thought elevator, the would be the murder weapon of God, fell apart before their eyes.
As they watched on as the dream of the emperor of Britannia fell apart, they could hear him say in disbelief, yet still in a deep regal voice, "No. The dream that I, Marianne and my brother all shared… is no more."
"Just give up Charles, it's useless. We shouldn't even have tried this to begin with." C.C. said in a low voice, confirming the choice she made a mere minute ago.
"No, we still have the codes. We can still-" Charles started speaking, trying desperately to find a solution, before being interrupted by his wife. "Darling yo-" but she was affected by the same problem she tried to make her husband aware of.
They were disappearing slowly from the ground up into small pink shards, who in turn returned to C's World, disappearing from view.
"How is this possible? I'm supposed to be immortal." He asked with disbelief to no-one in particular. Yet Lelouch still answered, "Because you antagonized the single being that could pose a threat to you, ironic isn't it?" he asked back, smugness mixed with the coldness that returned after he set his sights on the royal couple once again.
"Now. As punishment for the torment you put my little sister through," with his eyes fixated on his parents, only pure hatred and disgust visible, he continued "I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you: Die!"
Screaming in despair for the last time, the formerly unbeatable emperor lunged forward towards his son, in a last gambit which proved futile. In midair, together with his wife, who was still standing where she stood originally, they started disappearing faster. Until they were finally gone from existence, Charles disappearing fully before he could reach his son.
As Lelouch observed this, he felt a burning feeling on the top of his right hand. Taking off his glove to confirm if it was what he expected, he shielded his hand from being observable by the two behind him, one in particular. 'Better be careful' he thought, trying to justify his paranoia.
When he saw the mark of geass on his hand, he couldn't help but shiver slightly at the implications, knowing that now he was fully committed.
And then, suddenly, time seemed to stop.
Lelouch looked around but found C.C. and Suzaku frozen, not seeming to notice the strange phenomenon. Confused he tried to make sense of it, until he heard a familiar voice going through his mind.
'Back in action I see.'
…
AN:
Hey, guys. Thanks for reading, I'm happy you could be entertained by my work. I know it looks like I am currently clinging to the canon as if it were my mother, but I need to establish future Lelouch first before I can begin diverging from the original.
Review(s):
RabbitHaremLover24: I'm not quite certain about the love interests. I find the battle between 'singular love-interest enthusiast' and 'Harem protectors' (as I would like to call them both) quite unnecessary and a little childish. Everyone has their own preferences and I am aware that I cannot please everybody no matter what I write. As a result I am a little scared to already make a decision so soon, as I would alienate much of my potential readers. Which I would hate to do as there is so much more in a story than just a romantic subplot. But, to answer your question, I am torn between L/C.C., L/Kallen or L/C.C./Kallen. Any more people and you get a group, which I do not have enough experience to write in confidence that it would be any good. Of course, I can still do it, if a great majority of you would like, but I must warn you that it could be hit or miss. Btw, I'm not going to overly bash certain characters to oblivion at the expense of the story, but I'm definitely giving certain traitors and naïve hypocrites what they deserve.
P.S. I don't know why everyone else does it, since its clear in the title of the website none of the works posted here are based on original content, but here is an obligatory disclaimer.
*Sigh*
"I do not own any of the characters, happenings and other forms of content that are from the Code Geass franchise, which is owned by Sunrise and other Copyright holders. All credit goes to them for the content I am basing this story off of."
Phew, that was a mouthful. Anyway see you guys next time, and be sure to leave a review if you see any mistakes in my grammar, have any tips or suggestions for the story, or just want to tell me how great I am (which I doubt).
P.P.S. I won't have a stable upload schedule, because I don't want to feel forced into making this. But I'll try to get it up as fast as I can, just please don't shoot me if I don't when you were expecting it ;)