"I have no use for that weakling! That is what it means to be royalty! You are dead, because to me you have never existed, yet you dare to speak to me in that way!"
Lelouch clenched his fist at the memory. It had been over seven years since he had been exiled with his little sister Nunnally to Japan, now called Area 11, for daring to demand answers from his father after the assassination of their mother, the Empress Marianne, at the Aries Villa. For a time, they had lived at the Kururugi Shrine, but then the Britannian military had invaded Japan for its sakuradite reserves a year later, proving that their father didn't care if they lived or died. As far as Britannia was concerned, the former Eleventh Prince Wandering across the war-torn landscape, they had eventually found refuge with the Ashford family, allies of their late mother, who were building a school, Ashford Academy, in the new Tokyo Settlement that Britannia had erected upon the ruins of the old Tokyo.
There, he had adopted the alias of Lelouch Lamperouge, and had blended into an ordinary life at the Academy, fashioning the mask of the easy-going, brilliant but lazy student council vice president, who had relieved his boredom through gambling at high-stakes chess matches. He had some friends on the Student Council, but most were unaware of his true identity. And while he had sworn to destroy Britannia in the aftermath of the invasion, he lacked the power to do so, and so he kept his head down, for it was more important to keep Nunnally safe. If they were discovered, they could be used as political pawns once again. As for the future, his prospects were dim. He would never willingly join nor be fit for the Britannian army, and he had little interest in working for a corporation and becoming just another cog in the machine.
Ashford Academy had a beautiful campus, and the Ashford family had even given them a well-apportioned residence in the clubhouse, along with the services of their maid, Sayoko, who was a great help for looking after Nunnally when he was away at class or gambling. But it was also his prison, a gilded cage, and as of late it had begun to turn into an oppressive place…
He was distracted as he saw a blue butterfly fluttering in the garden nearby. For some reason, it reminded him of a very strange dream he had the night before….
He had seemingly awoken on a hard bed, finding himself in a room with walls lined in blue velvet, an ethereal melody, haunting yet beautiful, echoing through the chamber. Looking around, he saw iron bars before him, blocking the way into a larger chamber…. No… locking him in! A prison cell!
As he leapt to his feet and reached out to the grab the bars, he saw the white sleeves of a straitjacket on his arms. It couldn't be real - he didn't remember being captured? The fog filling the bottom of the chamber beyond, which strangely had a faint blue glow, much like the rest of his surroundings, only added to the scene's dreamlike quality. But the cold bars beneath his fingertips seemed tangible in a way that dreams were not. Uselessly, he shook on the bars, but they held firm.
"It seems the prisoner has awakened," a female voice voice said. A moment later, a girl stepped into view. She appeared to be about his age, with green hair that fell to her waist and golden eyes. She was dressed in a blue uniform that marked her as one of the prison's wardens.
"Can I see him?", a slightly higher voice said excitedly. A smaller girl bobbed over, with the same golden eyes and unusual hair color, though her hair only reached her shoulders. She couldn't have been older than ten, yet she was also dressed as a warden.
"Who are you people? Why are you imprisoning me here? Let me out!" Lelouch demanded.
"Ah! I'm sorry!" the smaller girl cried. "Please, don't hurt me, Mr. Inmate!"
"Hmph!" The older girl took out an electrified baton and slammed it against the bars Lelouch was holding, giving him a painful shock. "I hate men who make little girls cry."
"I see my attendants have given you a warm greeting," a deep voice said from behind the two girls. "Trickster, welcome to my Velvet Room."
Peering through the bars, Lelouch saw the most bizarre-looking man that he had ever seen — a man with pointed ears, bulging, bloodshot eyes, and an absurdly long nose. The man was dressed in an immaculate suit, and his spindly fingers were covered by white gloves, but this only seemed to make his appearance even stranger.
"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter," the long-nosed man continued. "It is a room that only those bound by a contract may enter freely. You shall find yourself in such a contract before long."
"What contract?"
"My name is Igor," the man said, ignoring him. "I am the master of this place. We have much to discuss, Trickster."
"You haven't answered my question!"
"I shall elaborate upon that later," Igor replied, raising his hand dismissively, "for our time is short."
"You are fast asleep in the real world," the older girl explained, giving him a nasty look, while the younger girl still cowered before him. "You are experiencing this only as a dream."
"Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others," Igor said. "Shi, stand up!"
"M-my apologies, Master," the younger girl stammered as she scrambled to her feet.
"The older girl is Tsu," Igor continued. They are your wardens here, and with me shall observe your rehabilitation."
"Rehabilitation?" Lelouch asked suspiciously.
"This place reflects your heart. For it to appear as a prison means that you see yourself as a prisoner of fate. How curious. But it is not simply your own rehabilitation toward freedom that I must oversee. Ragnarok - what you might call ruin, rapidly approaches, driven on by the world's distortions. Only a Trickster might stop it. Do you have the resolve to do so?"
The world was distorted, that was true. One could plainly see that by how ruthlessly Britannia preyed upon the weak. But Ragnarok? And a prisoner of fate? He had never-
"What are you talking about?" Lelouch asked.
"You did not decline outright," Igor mused, continuing to ignore him. "That at least is a start." A prison bell rang. "But it appears that our time tonight is up."
"You must return to sleep, Inmate, so that you may awaken back in the real world," Tsu said, glaring at him. "Now are you going to cooperate..." She raised her baton again, and her lips formed a smirk. "Or would you prefer to be put out cold?"
The words were softly spoken, even with a mischievous touch to them. She was daring him to talk back with those golden eyes of hers. She was still mad at him for frightening her younger sister. He hadn't liked the idea of being gawked at while he was behind bars, but he hadn't meant to startle the small girl so badly. But he doubted that the older warden would care for any justifications that he might offer. It would just give her an excuse to strike with her baton again.
Still, something about Tsu made him sense that she was far more than she seemed, even without the baton. Against an unknown opponent, caution would carry the day, especially if she was anything more than just a figment of his imagination.
"I'll do it myself," he said coldly.
"Good. It seems that you're a quick learner, Inmate," she replied.
Lelouch began to turn toward the hard prison bed.
"Think on what, I have said, Trickster," Igor's voice echoed behind him. "I shall summon you again at another time."
The Velvet Room began to to fade around Lelouch.
"See you later, Mr. Inmate!" Shi called.
"Enjoy your rest while you still can," Tsu muttered ominously.
Shaking his head, Lelouch returned to the present, back on the grounds of Ashford Academy. The Velvet Room, Igor, and the green-haired girls had all been just a dream, but at the same time more vivid than any he could recall having before. He shook his head. A psychologist would have a field day trying to analyze the dream. What neuroses or repressed memories would they claim to find? But of course, he wouldn't be telling anyone about it.
His phone buzzed. Flipping it open, Lelouch saw an unfamiliar app with an icon depicting a red eye on the screen, labeled "Metaverse Navigator." Where had it come from? Was it malware? In any case, he didn't trust the strange app, so he promptly deleted it. He would have to check his phone more thoroughly later, to make sure that it was really clean, but for now he had to head to class.
The campus, and the Tokyo Settlement as a whole, had been on edge lately. Besides intermittent terrorist activity from Japanese rebels, there had been a number of disturbing incidents on the news. Ordinary people had suffered from psychotic breakdowns, seemingly without warning, leading them to commit random acts of violence and sabotage. Just earlier in the week, one of the trains on the lines encircling the settlement had crashed when the engineer had refused to slow down while approaching a station, causing numerous injuries. And then there were the mental shutdowns. The victims would unexpectedly fall into a vegetative state, and would invariably die shortly thereafter. The Viceroy of Area 11, Prince Clovis, had promised thorough investigations into these incidents as well as stringent new security measures, which had somewhat reassured the Britannnian public living in Area 11, but meant more oppression of the Japanese, or 'Elevens' as they were called.
In response to this climate, an unofficial group calling itself the Student Self-Defense Force had formed at Ashford Academy, but Lelouch held a very dim view of them. The SSDF had taken on the task of overzealously enforcing the school rules, and its members held highly prejudicial views of the 'Elevens'. Racism, even among the student body, was hardly unusual, for most had grown up exposed to a constant stream of imperial propaganda and rarely strayed outside of the settlement, where their views might be challenged. But whereas the average Britannian was apathetic to the plight of the Japanese, the SSDF, like their Purist parents, thought that any Eleven influence was dangerous.
Thus far, the Student Council had been able to do relatively little to restrain the SSDF, except when members clearly broke the rules that they claimed to uphold. Openly opposing an organization like them, which supposedly represented patriotic Britannians, could prove costly, and the last thing the Ashford wanted was for its allegiance to be called into question and the unwanted attention that would bring to the Academy. It wasn't as if the Student Council was unanimous in its opinion either. Nina spoke supportively of the SSDF, saying they made her feel safer on campus, especially at night, when they held shifts to maintain a watch. A number of teachers praised the SSDF's initiative as well, and had joined a growing chorus of voices calling for it to be officially recognized and funded as a student-led disciplinary committee.
The SSDF was seemingly everywhere across campus, its members identified by the armbands they had fashioned for themselves, marching back and forth on their patrols, constantly looking for infractions to report. Since they had begun operating, there had been fewer of the wacky school events and festivals that Milly loved to organize, perhaps because she felt beleaguered with everything else going on, and few people felt in the mood to participate. Humiliating as some of these events could be, Lelouch privately missed them and the color they had brought to life at Ashford. It was harder to slip off campus too these days without running into a SSDF member, who would deliver a typical stern speech about how, as a member of the Student Council, he should be setting a better example for the student body, as if he didn't already have Shirley on his case about that.
"Good morning, Lulu," a female voice said as if on cue, noticeably less chipper than it usually was. Looking up, he saw Shirley Fenette, a fellow Student Council member, and a member of the swim club. Her green eyes, usually so bright with energy, were downcast, and she sounded unusually tired.
"Is something wrong, Shirley?"
"Um… it's nothing. I'm all right," she said unconvincingly.
Lelouch's eyebrows furrowed. She was trying to hide something.
"You know that if there's something bothering you, the rest of us on the Student Council would always be happy to listen."
"No, really, I'm fine, Lulu. But thank you for your concern," she said, managing a weak smile.
He finally saw what was wrong. Though they were mostly concealed by foundation, there were faint bruises marring her fair skin. As far as he knew, Shirley didn't usually use makeup, so they had to be pretty bad for her to resort to such measures.
"Shirley… did someone do this to you?"
"Do what, Lulu?"
"You're bruised."
"Oh, these?" She let out a nervous laugh. "You know how clumsy I can be sometimes be out of the water, Lulu. I just had a bad fall, that's all. Yeah… that's right! I just don't want the others to worry about me."
"Is that really true, Shirley?" He knew it wasn't. Unlike him, she had very little practice at lying. But he couldn't help her if he didn't know who was responsible for hurting her. Just the thought that she was being mistreated made him angry, in a far more visceral way than the injustices he saw Britannia perpetrate every day. He told himself it was because she was a fellow member of the Student Council.
"Oh, look at the time! Sorry, Lulu, I have to go! I'll be late to class! See you later!"
Shirley ran off, leaving him in a dark mood.
He would get to the bottom of this.
The first few classes of the day passed largely without incident. Lelouch found himself barely paying attention, especially during history class, which was more propaganda than anything, though he could still regurgitate the canned answer on a moment's notice when called upon. He was worried about his friends. He had to discretely speak to Milly about Shirley as soon as possible. Lunchtime would be ideal. And then there was his old friend, Suzaku, who had been having a rough time ever since transferring to Ashford Academy.
To say that Suzaku's arrival at the school had been a surprise was an understatement. While Suzaku had become an Honorary Britannian, and that theoretically entitled him to the same basic rights as most Britannian citizens, in practice Honorary Britannians were still discriminated against, and the tuition required to afford a private Britannian school like Ashford Academy was out of the reach of most. Suzaku clearly had a powerful patron further up the chain of command in the engineering division of the Brittanian army who was sponsoring his education.
But to have an Honorary Britannian at the school immediately drew the ire of the SSDF, who saw Suzaku as an intruder at Ashford Academy. As such they scrutinized his actions more closely than those of any other student, and always interpreting them in the worst possible light. Milly had made it clear that such bullying of a fellow student would not be tolerated, and had even privately invited Suzaku to join the Student Council, but Suzaku had been worried that it would only escalate the situation. The worst appeared to have stopped for now, but there were still vicious rumors circulating about Suzaku, and Lelouch suspected that even if the SSDF were to accost him, Suzaku wouldn't say anything about it.
The bell rang, and it was time for Lelouch to head to his least favorite class — gym. It was harder than ever for him to get out of it, and in turn that cut off much of the income he would have earned from gambling, but with things as they were, he had little choice in the matter.
Coach Villetta Nu was a very popular teacher on campus, mostly for the wrong reasons. It was a common opinion among male students that she was highly attractive, and a number of girls admired her for the confidence with which she carried herself and her no-nonsense attitude. But she also made little attempt to hide her bigoted views about anyone who wasn't a pureblooded Britannian. It was a fact that Lelouch found particularly ironic, as her dark skin made it clear that she was hardly pureblooded herself.
Villetta's temperament had gotten far worse when Suzaku arrived, and it was rumored that she had helped organize the SSDF in the first place. Frustrated by Suzaku's continued excellence in gym, which had earned him the respect of at least a few of the students, she had started forcing everyone else to strive even harder as well, determined that Britannians would not be surpassed by an Eleven. Lelouch for one thought that she was like a slave driver, though he had always had a lower tolerance for exercise than most.
As he came around to the end of another lap, his lungs burning and his legs aching, he saw Coach Nu accosting a girl with short, straight red hair sitting on the sidelines, Kallen Stadtfeld, and he couldn't help but pause to eavesdrop on the exchange.
"Any young Britannian woman should be more than capable of doing a few laps," the Coach said to Kallen, scorn evident in her voice.
"I told you, I'm sick," Kallen replied, with a slight edge of annoyance in her voice that he had rarely heard from her. Usually, Kallen was a quiet, meek girl who tended not to voice strong opinions. But she was right to be irritated. She was supposed to be excused from strenuous activity like running laps on account of her weak constitution.
"Doesn't it shame you that an Eleven can do it, but you can't? As a noble, you are supposed to set an example for your lessers."
Lelouch scowled. With its social Darwinist ideology, Britannia had little tolerance for the sick and feeble. And if Kallen, a noble, was treated in that way, how would Coach Nu mistreat his sister, whose disabilities were more and outwardly pronounced, and was ostensibly a commoner?
"I wouldn't go talking to a noble that way if I were you," Lelouch said, deciding to speak up. "Her family might not be pleased to hear that a commoner would presume to lecture their daughter." While he generally hated Britannia's parasitic nobility, it was the one line of argument that he knew that Coach Nu would respond to, and Kallen didn't deserve Coach Nu's verbal abuse.
Coach Nu turned, anger crossing her features. She hated it whenever someone brought up her commoner status. "And you will learn not to speak to me in such a disrespectful manner, Lelouch! I'll see you in detention later. I'll have another two laps from you too." But she chose not to harass Kallen futher, and left to "encourage" other students.
Kallen looked at him for a moment, a curious mix of gratitude and contempt in her expression, before breaking eye contact, looking quite bored as she sat on the sidelines.
As Lelouch returned to finish his torturous laps, a thought occurred to him. Coach Nu supervised the Swim Club, which Shirley belonged to. Could she be the one responsible for Shirley's bruises? It could be possible, with the Coach's awful mood lately. But what reason would Coach Nu have to direct her wrath at Shirley? He couldn't bring such an accusation to Milly without some proof behind it.
Still, Coach Nu seemed to be acting with impunity lately in spite of her increasingly cruel behavior. If she was really the one behind the SSDF, then she had practically taken over Ashford Academy.
"Its like Coach Nu thinks she's some kind of Baroness, and Ashford Academy is her castle," he fumed to himself after class as he walked toward the Clubhouse, where he would hopefully find Milly.
There was a subtle shift in the atmosphere… and then Ashford Academy began to distort itself around him, imposing turreted walls appearing around the campus, while thorny hedges materialized alongside the path he was walking on. The sky turned an eerie, glowing red, and a tall building rose over the hedges behind him from where the gym had been, a rectangular edifice made of gleaming white stone, which seemed like a cross between the Britannian government bureau and a medieval castle.
"Impossible… Am I still dreaming?"
"Intruder on the grounds!" A voice suddenly called out, and a bright light shone upon him from a watchtower. At once, there was the sound of clanking footsteps running toward him, and before Lelouch could begin to formulate a plan, he had been surrounded by masked knights.
"That's him !" A member of the SSDF shouted, pointing at Lelouch. The knights nodded and unsheathed their swords, which looked awfully real. Yet the SSDF member didn't seem to notice how bizarre all of this was, a sort of lack in internal logic that made the experience seem even more surreal.
"The Baroness has authorized us to use deadly force if you resist," the nearest knight said as he advanced.
Lelouch knew there was no way he could overpower the knights, let alone escape them, so he swallowed his pride and raised his hands in surrender.
The knights roughly took hold of him, forcing a bag over his head so that he couldn't see, and then dragged him off. From how the air became cold and damp, he could only assume that he had been taken underground.
After some time, the bag was removed, and the knight behind him shoved him into a dingy cell before leaving. While the real Ashford Academy had a network of maintenance tunnels and sewers underneath it, Lelouch knew that it certainly did not have a dungeon. But what then was this place, if it was somehow more than a nightmare? Would that mean that his earlier dream with the Velvet Room had been real too? But there was no Igor here, infuriating as the strange man had been, to offer him any sort of explanation, nor the strange green-haired girls, even if the older one had managed to get under his skin.
He searched for a means to escape, but just as the Velvet Room had been, his current prison was secure. Digging his way to freedom was out of the question, for he couldn't even hope to budge the stones that made up the walls of the cell, and he wasn't so foolish to honestly think there would be a secret passage out of the dungeon like in some fantasy novels, though he thoroughly combed the cell anyway. But the conclusion remained that the only way in or out was through the now locked cell door.
"The Baroness has come to see you!" a knight announced as he came down the stairs. He was followed by another knight and an imperious figure, who could only be the Baroness herself.
It was none other than Coach Villetta Nu. Her silvery teal hair was styled as it always was, tied up and sheathed into purple fabric that held it to the side in strict ponytail, but instead of her gym outfit, she wore a military uniform, of an older baronial style. It was decorated with numerous medals and cut in a way that emphasized her curves, though Lelouch wouldn't permit that to distract him. Over it, she had a long, ermine cloak, far more extravagant looking than would be expected for one supposedly of the lowest hereditary noble rank, and a jeweled coronet upon her head, making her seem more like an empress. A whip was fastened to her side, but was hardly what made her seem most threatening.
While Villetta naturally had golden eyes, they now had a malevolent and distinctly supernatural glow to them.
"So, it's Lelouch. I should have expected that you would be one of those sneaking around my castle. You always try to shirk your duties as my subject, and then you dared to speak against me not an hour ago."
"You're a teacher! We're your students, not your subjects! Ashford Academy isn't your personal fiefdom!"
"But it is. I was entrusted with this castle. At first, I thought it was a dead-end assignment, but then a filthy Eleven breached the castle. Truth be told, I was hoping to find him here with you. I could then execute him for treason and daring to show himself here. But I guess I'll have to settle for seeing my other self expel him. No one will believe an Eleven, and I'll have plenty of students willing to testify against him."
"You're planning to frame Suzaku?"
She laughed. "If I can distinguish myself here and rid the castle of such a dangerous influence, then my lord will take notice! But if such filth slipped in so easily, then perhaps there are other traitors trying to hide here, let in by the castle's old owners. I'll root them out too. I'll be promoted for sure!"
A chill passed through Lelouch. "You're a Britannian spy!" How much did she know? Had she already discovered his true identity? Was Nunnally safe?
"That may be the profession of the me in the other world, but make no mistake, here I am this castle's ruler. Greatness lies before me!"
"So it's all about power… You stand for everything that's wrong with Britannia."
"Speaking against the Empire now too, Lelouch?" the Baroness said. "I had intended simply to discipline you… but there's only one punishment for traitors." She raised a hand. "Guards! Execute him!"
The guards drew their swords once again, light glinting off the deadly blades. Confronted with imminent death, Lelouch felt his heart freeze in his chest.
"You're not so brave now, I see," the Baroness sneered. "If only you had known your place."
"This can't be happening!" Lelouch thought frantically. "I'm about to die, without having done a single thing with my life. It's gone in a heartbeat! Nunnally!"
But then… that butterfly appeared again…
Time seemed to stand still as it landed upon his hand, and then Lelouch found himself swept away as a bizarre series of images flashed by him… a tunnel… falling through water… a sun appearing between two artificial spheres… a kaleidoscope of shimmering blue butterflies flying past him…
"You don't want it to end here, do you?" a female voice said from around him, young yet somehow seeming very old at the same time. It seemed to be a voice he had heard before. Jupiter appeared in the vision now, high in the sky and watching over countless streams of possibility.
"You appear to have a reason for living," she continued. "If I grant you the power to fight for your freedom, could you go on? I propose a deal. In exchange for this power, you will agree to make my wish come true."
Now Lelouch found himself among a field of stars, surrounded by countless masks, seemingly staring into his soul.
"Accept this contract, and you accept its conditions. While living in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different time, a different providence, a different life."
He saw his father, standing amid a strange temple, surrounded by clouds.
"Distortions in the cognitive world….So Ragnarok begins once again?" the Brittanian Emperor's voice boomed.
Ragnarok… that was the ruin of which Igor had spoken in his dream, wasn't it? But Lelouch didn't really care about that. Seeing his hated father was all the motivation he needed…
"The Power of the Wild Card will condemn you to play an unjust game, where the odds have already been stacked against you. Are you prepared for this?"
How was that any different than things had always been? His enemy ruled an empire that controlled a third of the world. But if he had power, he could at least hope to fight against it.
"I accept the terms of your contract!"
"Then look inside your own heart, and let the wings of rebellion spread wide!"
Suddenly, Lelouch felt like he had been punched, and there was another voice, this time echoing from within his very soul. It was the voice of a demon.
"You recall the promise you once made, years ago. It was not a mistake then, was it?"
"No."
"Then I shall heed your resolve. You have made your contract with her. Now vow to me: I am thou, thou art I. Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage!"
Lelouch screamed in agony.
"Show the strength of thy will all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!"
Lelouch found himself back in the cell, hunching over. As he looked up, he saw that the other Villetta was looking down upon him imperiously, her guards approaching for the kill.
He smirked.
"Tell me, Coach Nu. How should a Britannian who detests his own country lead his life?"
"That's a foolish question to ask, Lelouch. Such a traitor has no future."
The nearest guard swung his raised sword down in a lethal arc - but the blow never came. There was a sudden rush of wind, knocking the guards back. When the wind passed, Lelouch felt that there was something on his face.
What was this? Instinctively, his hands went on to feel the foreign object. A mask? But it felt as if it was welded onto his skin. There was an excruciating burning sensation, and the only thing he knew in that moment was that he had to get it off his face. Desperately gripping the mask, his fingernails dug into his skin, drawing blood, and with a sudden surge of strength, he ripped it off. Blood now covered his face, but a wicked grin spread across his face, for at last he had power.
"Arsene!" Lelouch shouted, declaring the name of his other self, long dormant within him.
Cool blue flames erupted around Lelouch, wrapping themselves around him, and from his own twisted grin emerged the burning orange smile of a demon. As the demon, a horned figure with a tall top hat, cravat, tuxedo, and red jacket rose on black wings, connected to Lelouch by ghostly chains, the flames spread out, revealing that Lelouch's Ashford Academy uniform had been transformed into a flowing, high-collared black trench coat over a stylish gray waistcoat with red gloves.
"Guards, show this rebel your true power, and kill him!" The Baroness ordered.
The knights burst open in showers of what looked like blood, and from them emerged a pair of small creatures. At a glance, they looked far less imposing than the knights they had pretended to be, vaguely comical even with their oversized pumpkin heads, but there was a demonic glint of malice in their eyes. Yet they seemed to hesitate before Arsene, still looming above Lelouch.
"Don't just stand there gawking!" The Baroness shouted.
Lelouch laughed. "Perhaps they've realized that the only ones who should kill… are the ones prepared to be killed!"
Lunging forward, faster than he could have ever done before, he took the dagger that had materialized in his hand and viciously slashed the nearest creature, which gave a piteous moan before dispersing into dark wisps.
"Yes! This power of mine is yours!" Arsene roared in exultatation. "Swing your blade! Channel your animosity and unleash it! Kill them however you want! Run wild to your heart's content!"
The other demon now moved to attack, and released a burst of flame. Lelouch had anticipated a counterattack, and deftly stepped to a side, though he should have expected that Villetta's demons would be able to use magic. After all… he had that power now too.
Following Arsene's instructions, Lelouch focused his hatred for Britannia into raw power. "Eiha!" He shouted, the name of the spell whispered into his mind, his hatred taking the form of cursed red tendrils that appeared beneath and struck Villetta's remaining demon. Wailing, the creature fell down, defenseless, and was promptly dispatched by Lelouch's follow-up attack.
"Impossible!" hissed the Baroness. "How can my guards be defeated so easily? Don't think-"
"That I can get away?" Lelouch smirked, as he rose, holding the prison key, left behind by the fallen guard. "How about a taste of your own medicine?" Darting past her, he threw the cell door closed behind him, locking it and tossing the key away. Instinct told him that he wouldn't be able to beat Villetta in a one-on-one fight, but at least he would be able to buy himself some time.
The Baroness yelled at him and for her guards to free her, but Lelouch didn't waste time lingering there. He would find his way out of this world, and then he would learn how to use this new power of his to destroy Britannia.
A/N: Hopefully you enjoyed the first chapter! While this first chapter treads rather closely to Persona 5, as more of the Code Geass' cast is introduced into the scenario, we will start seeing larger divergences.
As is likely obvious to anyone who has played Persona 5, Villetta Nu has been set up in parallel to Kamoshida as the first arc's villain. However, her Deadly Sin is not the same as Kamoshida's, and that will continue to be reflected throughout her Palace. Admittedly, I have written Villetta as being more openly antagonistic than in canon, but given how ruthlessly she pursues her goals at the expense of other people, the distortion was already there. She is also not as well positioned at first in this story to achieve her goals as in canon, giving rise to further resentment and amplifying her distortion.
The SSDF originates from the Code Geass manga. When I read about them, they were just what I needed to transform the usually upbeat Ashford Academy into an environment more reminiscent of Shujin Academy.
I would elaborate more upon a certain scene in this chapter, but I will not do so here as to avoid certain spoilers for Persona 5.
Lastly, as for Persona's, Lelouch will be the only character in the story who will have the same initial Persona as a Persona 5 cast member (Arsene). For reasons that will be discussed later, I believe Arsene is a very fitting Persona for Lelouch as well, and this is also in keeping with the initial inspiration for the story, of having Lelouch cast into Joker's role.
Edit: Like Persona 5, this story starts in April, slightly earlier than Code Geass' canon story, which actually starts in mid-August, which places it between 7-7.5 years from when Lelouch was exiled, depending on which source you read, and six years and seven months from the invasion of Japan.
Edit 2: I recently started playing Persona 5 Royal, refreshing parts of the early game in my mind, so I thought it was a good opportunity to revisit some of the earlier chapters and revise them to add some details. Nothing that significantly affects the plot, but just rounding out a few scenes and putting in some details that probably should have been there all along.