Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

Chapter One

Dawn of a New Eclipse

She walked into the deserted park slowly, through the shadows and shattering silence. She held her weapon with both of her hands as she looked around, unsure what to feel. She knew that she shouldn't have gone there; knew that this was an obvious trap; knew that she might be killed, but she has to know what's going on-she has to know if her "family"- the family she had viewed ever since her father had finally pulled his hands away from her eyes struggling to see reality- is safe. And so here she was, walking through this path of unknown.

And suddenly, an unusual rustling of bushes made her look around, and glimpsed strands of green hair vanishing through the shadows. As she pointed towards that direction, ready to strike at the least noise, the silence is shattered as a voice rumbled through the air like lightning - and, slowly, she looked around, a growing sense of dread and shock climbing through her heart as everything came crashing through her- everything became clear, though, somehow, she still can't see clearly through all it.

And, suddenly, their brows furrow.

Cold wind blew around them as she pointed her weapon upon him, frozen in her spot, eyes fixed upon him. There she was - the girl had changed from a child to a woman whose eyes tell how hard she had been through all these years. As the stared at each other and as their past tumbled down upon them, he wondered if his eyes tell his story. Probably.

'Y-You -' she stammered at last, gripping her gun tightly.

'It's been a while,' he found himself saying as the clouds covered the moon, dimming their surroundings.

'You're supposed to be dead!' she exclaimed.

Lelouch Vi Brittannia stepped forwards to better light his lips curling into a smile. 'Oh? So you really do think I would die that easily, did you, Ayumu Aclostes - No, Ayumu Alstriem.'

'Are you mocking me?' she snapped.

'No, I am only telling the truth. You cannot deny the fact that, though you continue hiding your real existence, you are still the head of the real Alstreim family - as passed on to you by your mother.'

Ayumu backed off, still pointing her gun towards him. 'Why are you here? What do you want?'

'I have to find the answers to my questions.'

'You are going to seek out conflict again?'

'If by that means I will know the reason for my current existence, so be it.'

'Then, if that's the case, then I will not let you leave as long as you are alive.'

'Really? Are you saying that you will shoot your gun?' he mocked.

Ayumu glared. 'Are you saying I cannot?'

Lelouch smirked. 'It depends on you.' She held her spot as he walked closer until the weapon touched his ribs. 'Can you shoot me, Ayumu?'

The clouds parted, and light streamed through it. They looked at each other.

'What do you want?' she finally whispered.

'I believe that you can answer my questions, Ayumu,' he said softly.

'What can I tell you? Maybe once, I know more that you - but now you have greater knowledge than I have.' She put down her gun, and her hands hung limply on her sides. 'What knowledge do you still seek? Don't you have enough already? Too much could kill you.'

'Tell me the reason why I am still alive. Tell me the power that had kept me alive. Tell me everything you know…about the geass.'

'You should be able to answer your own questions. You are a geass user.'

'But I do not understand how the power kept me alive.'

'Nor do I understand why you still seek the truth. Be thankful that you are alive…or maybe you can regret it, if you wish. The geass is a curse, not a blessing. That's what I know.'

'You know I cannot. I must learn the truth. Tell me why I lived.'

'You lived because it is not yet your time to die.'

'That philosophy had greatly influenced people. I do not believe in such.'

'Then you must. Because the geass follows the same ordeal, like life - full of mysteries, secrets and lies. If you want to know how you lived without the code, then I cannot stop you.'

'Tell me,' he muttured. 'You have known geass ever since you were a child. Tell me about this power.'

She sighed, hair flying with the wind.

'I would stop looking for answers, if I were you, Lelouch. Focus your eyes on the world you had tried to change for the better. Everything is turning worse; your sacrifice could be for nothing at all.'

He narrowed his eyes. 'I would, when I finally found everything I had to know.'

'Then you must hurry.'

'Therefore, you should tell me -'

'It's like I have a choice. Just make sure that you'll give them back to me afterwards.'

She ran against the flow of the crowd as explosions echoed and lights flared from beyond, drowning all the screams and wails. Many times did she collide with passing people, but she didn't stop; she had no time to do so. Right now, the world she knew is in danger once more; she couldn't risk a single second, for even a moment's delay can change everything.

Why are all these happening? Why is the conflict starting once more? Why?

She cannot help but wonder. It had only been six months…now this…all the sacrifices, all the hardships…

'Kallen!'

'Oghi!' she exclaimed, turning around to face the minister. 'How- why- ?'

'I will explain everything later,' he said. 'It seems that everything started right after the vanishment of Empress Nunnally Vi Brittannia.'

'Nunnally - ?'

Oghi cut her off. 'Kallen, I know that you have a lot of questions, but now is not a time to answer them. You know what you must do.'

Kallen had no time to think. She merely followed and ran towards the hangar. Quikly boarding the Guren, she inserted the key and the machine started to load. She wondered if it would function like before; though Rakshata (with some help from Lloyn Asplund and Cecile Croomy) had done her best to restore the knightmare to its original state, many major pieces were beyond repair. It was already something that they were able to rebuild it, though; Kallen had been really thankful about that, and remembered Rakshata's words.

'Guren is still not good enough. It's not as fast and as strong as before. If you fought against a new model, you'll be beaten.'

The speakers crackled. 'Kallen? Are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' she found herself saying, and then flew out.

Kallen was instantly attacked, but she was ready for it; somehow, her experience in fighting had left her almost quite unconscious of what she is doing, and her mastery of the abilities of her knightmare helped a lot, as well as the occasional recklessness of those who underestimate her. She ripped a couple into halves, and destroyed a dozen more when, suddenly, her screen lit up a warning as a laser beam fired behind her, towards her direction; Kallen swerved sidewards just in time, and caught sight of the knightmare. It was nothing like she'd seen before, but what intrigued her the most is that it has black energy wings.

Her speakers crackled. 'Pretty good huh? But it's only basic.' The voice that came out is from someone she didn't know, and the voice itself is quite unexpected. It was from a girl, with every trace of childishness and playfulness on it.

'Who are you?' Kallen asked.

'Do you really have to know? Wouldn't it be fun if you just don't know?' another voice echoed. Kallen gritted her teeth, searching for another knightmare nearby, but there doesn't seem to be anything around nearby apart from the knightmare before her eyes; she couldn't detect anything. Where is-

The black knightmare lunged forward; a scythe came out from nowhere, and the Guren flew under it, fast. As it attacked again, suddenly, a thick laser beam came from above, cutting through her left wing; she groaned, remembering Rakshata's words. Guren is still not good enough. It's not as fast and as strong as before. If you fought against a new model, you'll be beaten.

The two voices laughed in chorus as she flew up, baring her teeth and clutching the controls tightly. She tried to attack the visible knightmare frame, but before she could hit it, another laser beam flew fast towards the air. She crashed into the ground with half of her knightmare destroyed.

'I can't believe that you're the ace of the Black Knights,' the first voice said. The black knightmare raised its scythe, and swung downwards. Kallen closed her eyes.

There was a flash of light. Then…silence.

She wondered if this was death.

Something lit up from nearby, and she heard a familiar voice. 'Oi! Wake up! You can't sleep! You can't die!' Then another, softer voice. 'Kallen?'

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw is the huge familiar red knightmare flying above her, cannons positioned in front of it. The other one was beside her, holding her knightmare up as it flew.

'Gino? Anya?'

'I'll catch up,' he heard Gino say as they flew away.

'Gino,' Kallen heard herself say faintly. 'Leave me alone. Just help Anya.'

'Just shut up, okay?' Gino sounded serious, 'You should think of yourself first! You're bad.'

'Japan…'

'Japan will be safe.' There was a long pause. 'Don't worry about it…with all these, he'll probably returen.'

Will he? She thought as explosions echoed around her, making everything hazy. Can he?

The voices of the two echoed in her head. Many times she had heard them before; they were her half-sisters, her sisters in her father's side, the sisters she had greatly loathed, had made her believe that she was an only child during the times she forgot her true identity - her true self. And now that she can remember everything, she can only feel the single emotion flowing through her - rage.

'Anya? Anya! Hey it is you!'

'Can't you recognize our voices? We're your sisters!'

Anya forced herself to speak emotionlessly. 'Kleshia…and Katrina. The twins.'

'She can remember us!' Kleshia said delightedly as her knightmare raised its scythe.

'Yay!' Katrina agreed happily from nowhere. Invisible.

What did my sister say on how to detect the invisible knightmare? Anya tried to remember, thinking hard. Then she did, as well as the pain of remembering her lost siblings after a long time.

'So, why are you fighting against us? We're all Alstreims over here-'

'No. You are not Alstreims.'

Kleshia laughed. 'Remembering your sister, Anya? She's long gone.'

'You are not Alstreims,' she repeated in the same plain tone. 'That surname is from my mother's, a surname adapted by our father to prevent the family's extinction. You have no right to use it as we are not of the same mother.'

'Intelligent. Good one Anya, you're learning,' Katrina answered back sarcastically.

Anya charged her cannon. And then, facing upwards, fired.

It hit a couple of pest knightmares from above, which exploded and fell into pieces around them. It hit the Mordred and the black knightmare, and some small parts clanged on an unseened knightmare not far-

The Mordred fired, but it moved; before it could get far from the raining debris, however, a white knightmare appeared from nowhere and slashed at what she took in as its wings. Tristan flew away at once; something shattered, and in an instant, a dark maroon knightmare appeared before her eyes.

'Katrina, you're too recless!' she heard Kleshia snap.

'Just shut up and let's start dancing!' Katrina snapped irritably, and the two twins attacked.

Both twins made their way towards the Mordred in near blinding speeds; Tristan blocked the maroon one on its way to Anya and they both slashed at one another; the black one raised its scythe and attempted to cut the Mordred in halves, but the Mordred flew upwards and sent missiles towards its direction; it missed. Kleshia raised her scythe once more, but this time, she swung to Tristan's direction, which was having a hard time with the maroon one; Tristan spun around just in time and met it with its blade. Out of nowhere, a laser beam fired; the Mordred fired as well and both attacks met in the air. For a moment it held on, but then exploded. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Tristan not far behind her.

'Pretty good, aren't they?' Gino said bitterly. 'It must've run on your blood.'

The smoke vanished. Before Anya or Gino could move, however, suddenly, the black knightmare flew away.

'What-?'

'We will not pursue,' Anya muttured heavily. 'We lost.'

An image lit up on her screen. 'Let's go. We're being called back now.'

'But what happened? I don't understand it,' Gino muttered as they followed the other knightmares to the headquarters of the Japanese armed forces. 'They started a fight and it would end like this? What did they get, anyway?'

'They stole the remaining hidden sakuradite resources.'

'What? Sakuradite?'

'Yes.' They docked.

Two points of light appeared from the parking area of the park as they walked out - him, leading tha pack and walking rather calmly; she, meanwhile, weapon pointing at his back and feeling tense. One of the car doors opened, and a green haired woman stepped outside, wearing a white dress and carrying a stuffed toy.

'So you managed to persuade our dear hero of the Orient Seas,' she said.

'So you're with him,' Ayumu muttered.

'Ayumu. It's been a while.'

'Let me guess. C.C. opened your geass.'

'She granted me this power,' Lelouch said quickly. 'She did not open it.'

Ayumu laughed. Lelouch stared at her as C.C. sighed.

'Why are you laughing?'

'I can't believe,' Ayumu said. 'That C.C. never told you anything. You're too innocent. You don't know anything about the reality, and you lived with that power thinking you were given that - there are two kinds of geass users in this world, one which nearly everyone is and the other, the rarest and the strongest, holds the most mysterious secrets in the geass world. You and I belong in the second group.'

'What do you mean?'

'You were born with that power. You're someone granted with two lives. You're a naturally born geass user, someone whose powers are superior and above than the rest of the others - someone whose powers fill the world with mystery, someone granted the power to live once again in death. You are the foundation of the new world, the center of the unfolding mystery geass.'

Here you go! I hope you liked the first chapter of my first fanfiction. There are still a lot of secrets and lies to be unfolded, especially in the geass world. Thanks for those who read this! Please review! I would greatly appreciate comments, positive or negative, for the betterment of the story. Thanks!

Acknowledgements: To my classmates, I-OLS batch 2010-2011.