The year was 2035 A.T.B. of the Imperial calendar. 17 years had passed since the Great War had decimated the world, and in its place peace had firmly taken hold. The United States of Japan was a thriving nation with a stable economy based off of the export of Securidite (an energy conducting material vital to the operation of Knightmare frames) and tourism. The place was a popular tourist destination, Japan being a nation with rich historical background. As the starting place of the Black Rebellion and a major battleground of the Great War, the land was full of museums and monuments, the largest of which was the Empress Nunnally vi Britannia International Wartime Memorial, which also served as a museum chronicling the rise Zero and the defeat of Lelouche vi Britannia. As it was located conveniently close to the Ashford Academy, it was a popular site for school trips, as was the case today.
Cecianah Kozuki stood, transfixed by the massive painting hanging on the wall in front of her. It was a picture of a man with jet-black hair and purple eyes striking a noble pose with his sword, looking up into the sun. He looked so handsome and dignified; it was hard to believe that he was Lelouche the Demon, instigator of the Great War and enemy of the entire world. Cecianah turned her attention towards the plaque at the bottom of the picture.
Lelouche vi Britannia was 10 years old when his mother, Empress Marianne the Flash, was killed by political infighting among the royals. He and his sister, Nunnally vi Britannia, fled Pendragon and took refuge in the former nation of Japan. It is unknown where the pair went after Britannia invaded Japan, though it is suspected the emperor-to-be was somehow involved with the Black Knights. On March 16th, 2017, a Royal Officer named Villeta Nu filed a report stating that she was following a possible lead on a Black Knight guerilla operative named Lelouche Lamperouge. Officer Nu disappeared for several months before reappearing at the height of the Black Rebellion, and the case was transferred to the Britannian O.S.I. (Office of Secret Intelligence) shortly after. The case file has still not been made public, and (former) Officer Nu has declined to comment on the nature of the case. However, the strategies employed by Lelouche during the Great War indicate that he learned them by spending time in the Black Knights and watching Zero in action. Indeed, their strategies are so similar that many historians argue whether or not Lelouche learned them directly from Zero himself. After assassinating his father, Emperor Charles zi Britannia, and seizing power in 2018, one of Lelouche's first orders was to abolish the Nobleman system and make all citizens but him equal. Most historians agree that the purpose behind this order was twofold: First, to avenge the death of his mother (who was killed by conspiring nobles) and secondly, to eliminate potential rivals. After crushing several unsuccessful uprisings, Lelouche declared that Britannia was ready to join the newly formed U.F.N. However, this proved to be only a ploy designed to lure the U.F.N. into a false sense of security, as Lelouche declared war on the U.F.N. at the same peace talks that were to allow Britannia to join. Lelouche eventually defeated the U.F.N. and conquered the entire world, but was publicly assassinated by Zero one month after his victory. After Nunnally vi Britannia ascended to the throne, a peace treaty was created and Britannia was allowed to join the U.F.N., officially ending the Great War.
Cecianah stood there for a few moments, lost in thought. She was jerked out of her reverie by her sister, Raiko Kozuki. "Hey sis. What's up?" she inquired teasingly, for it was not unusual for Cecianah to daydream.
"Oh, nothing, sis." smiled Cecianah, taking in note of her sister's appearance. Raiko Kozuki was the very image of her mother, Kallen Kozuki, with the same eyes and hair color, only with hair that fell down to her hips, usually pulled back into a ponytail. She did this to distinguish herself from her mother, who liked her hair short and loose. Cecianah, on the other hand, looked nothing like either her mother or her sister, with waist length jet-black hair and amber eyes. When she was seven, Kallen had told her that she was adopted. At first it had bothered her, but now she didn't mind. Looking at her and Raiko, it seemed laughable that she had ever thought that they were blood sisters. Not that they weren't sisters in every other respect, for Cecianah and Raiko were very close.
Raiko noticed the picture behind Cecianah and instantly became a little more solemn. "He looks so… Impressive, doesn't he? Still, I mean-"
"You know what, Ces? I think he looks like you." joked Ben as he walked up. Benjamin Johnson was a member of the student council, just like Cecianah and Raiko, but he was also the star of the school football team. Tall and well built, with brown hair and blue eyes as well as a fun and easygoing attitude, he seemed to be every girl's dream boy. Well, almost every girl's dream boy. Raiko thought he was all that and more, but Cecianah didn't really care for him. She thought him to be too arrogant, as though he thought good looks and popularity could carry him through life. In some ways, she thought wryly, he really does think that. After all, his grades a terrible.
Raiko looked back and forth from the painting to Cecianah. "Hey, you're kinda right!"
"No, he's not. He was a world-conquering emperor, and I'm just a schoolgirl. What could we possibly have in common?"
"Well, now that you mention it…" Ben adopted a kingly pose, pretending to give orders. "'Ben, don't do that, it's against the rules. Ben, don't eat that, it's bad for your health. Ben, work harder, your grades are terrible. Ben-'"
"Shut up." muttered Cecianah, though Raiko was busting up in laughter.
From across the hall, one of the other student council members called out gleefully "Yeah, that Ben guy is a total loser!" Ben smiled wryly and good-naturedly went to beat up the offender.
Cecianah turned back towards Raiko. "You go on ahead. I wanted to check out that garden over there."
"Okay. See you in a bit."
"Yeah. Later."
Cecianah walked toward the entrance to the garden, thinking as she went. As terrible as Lelouche the Demon had been, she had to admit that after touring most of the museum she had developed a grudging respect for the former emperor. There was something noble about avenging the death of a loved one, something righteous about striking back at a world that had betrayed you.
Without realizing it, she had reached the center of the garden. It was enclosed in a bubble of special plastic, so that sunlight could still filter through but the noise of the traffic outside was filtered out. It was a tranquil place.
In the center of the garden, surrounded by tall hedges, was a small clearing with a statue in the middle. The statue was that of a loving mother playing with her children, a boy and a girl. The inscription at the bottom of the statue read, in old Britannian letters, "Verily, we were all young once." With a jolt, Cecianah realized that the little boy was a young Lelouche vi Britannia.
Looking closer, she deduced that the mother was Empress Marianne and that the little girl was a youthful Nunnally vi Britannia. She wondered what it must have been like for the current empress, for she knew from history class that Nunnally had fought against Lelouche in the Great War. Had they been close? Had it been difficult for both of them? Or had they both merely been looking out for their own best interests? From what she knew of the Royals, they hadn't exactly been your classic happy family. But if this statue was anything to go by, then Lelouche and Nunnally had had a normal childhood, maybe arguing just like other siblings, but probably loving each other all the same. If that was the case, then-
Cecianah was unpleasantly jolted out of her reverie by a hand roughly grasping on her shoulder. To her embarrassment, she emitted a squeak of fear and spun around. Facing her has a tall man in black pants, a black trench coat, a black hat, sunglasses, and a black scarf that obscured his face. "Sorry I scared you." he said, and to Cecianah's surprise she found his voice very cultured and pleasant. "But you're in danger here. There are men who might try to hurt you. You need to leave."
"Wait, I don't understand. What are you-" but she was interrupted by the sound of several guns being cocked at once. The man in black whirled around to face 5 men in tan trench coats. All of them had drawn MGs-17 submachine guns and had pointed them at Cecianah and the man in black.
"Umbra Imperatoris agents, eh? I don't suppose we could talk things out?" said the man in black almost mockingly.
"Silence, Geass demon." said one of the men in trench coats. "Your pleading will get you nowhere."
"At least spare the girl, will you? She hasn't done anything wrong."
"She is the daughter of a witch. We must kill her."
"She isn't technically a 'demon.' Why take an innocent life?"
"Silence, warlock. Someone like you could never understand our reasoning."
"Oh really? I don't see why not. After all, it's not incredibly complicat-" The man in black's jest was cut off by a few rounds of machinegun fire tearing through his body. He jerked for a few moments, then fell at Cecianah's feet, clearly dead. Cecianah looked on in horror as his blood formed a pool around his body.
Then the men turned their guns on her. "Well, daughter of a witch, any last words?" sneered the one who had talked with the man in black.
No thought Cecianah desperately. No, it can't end like this. Her life flashed before her eyes. Raiko, her mother, her father, Ashford, the student council… Then her desperation turned to pure anger. If only I weren't so weak, she thought. I only I had power! Then I could kill these men. I could destroy anyone who tried to threaten me. I could find out why they wanted to kill me in the first place. I could do anything! I would do everything! Power! I would do anything for it.
Then, to her shock, the man in black's hand surged back to life, pulled down her sock, and grasped her bare ankle. As soon as their skin came into contact, Cecianah saw herself in a different place. Red energy surged all around her, and the man in black's voice echoed all around her, seemingly everywhere at once.
Power? I could give you such power. With it you will not only be able to escape these men, but kill them all. With it, you can crush anything or anyone that gets in your way. But this power will be both a gift and a curse. You must control it, or it will control you. And if you use this power of a king, you will walk a path of solitude.
Yes, Cecianah. Anything to be able to escape this place. To get my revenge.
Very well then. echoed the man in black. In exchange for this miraculous power, you must grant me my one wish. I hereby grant you the power of Geass!
Cecianah was suddenly returned to the present. But she felt… Different. Newer. Stronger. She chuckled and looked up, making eye contact with the man on the very right. She felt her energy flowing into him, down a red pathway lined with what looked suspiciously like neurons, until they finally affected the very structure of his brain. Though his companions did not notice it, his eyes began to glow red. He nodded and stepped back a few feet.
"Last words?" she and the man said in unison said. "Only three. 'Look behind you.'" In confusion, the other four men looked at their companion, only to be sprayed by a burst of machinegun fire.
The man was terrified, unable to understand why his limbs wouldn't respond to him. Cecianah could feel this, but she was too exhilarated to care. She laughed and inadvertently the terrified man laughed too, horrified at his own reaction. Then she had him unload the rest of the round into his own chest. Taking care to step over the pools of blood, she went on her way.
Cecianah knew that because the garden had been soundproof, nobody had heard the gunfire. Nevertheless, she estimated that she had 15 minutes tops before the bodies were found. She had that long to get herself away from the garden and rejoin her classmates.
As she walked up to the group, Raiko turned around and frowned at her. "What's wrong?" she asked. "You look pale."
"I'm fine." Cecianah assured her. Then the intercom system came to life.
"Attention all visitors! The Empress Nunnally vi Britannia International Wartime Memorial has decided to close for the day. Please make your way to the nearest exit." Amid the many grumblings and moans of complaint (and here and there a shout of triumph), the class made it's way to the exit of the museum.
When Raiko and Cecianah got home, they found a note scribbled on the fridge. It read:
Hey kids. I got an urgent call from work, so I need to go into the office. Your father should be home by six, providing this doesn't end up involving his department too. Find something to eat, relax, and do your homework (that means you, Raiko). Love- Mom
Gino Weinberg, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Order of the Black Knights (U.S.J. charter), had found quite the niche in his office community. Even though the entire world had joined the United Federation of Nations (and thus forsaken native military power), the Black Knights still had their contracts to protect their host nations. Thus, these days the Black Nights found themselves fighting terrorists more than outside powers, and because their work now involved more detective work than simple fighting power, many former soldiers had been drafted to anti-terrorist departments. Gino Weinberg was one of these, though his Knightmare frame, the Trisiten, was still used whenever more serious firepower was needed. In his office, he was famed for being one of the more favorable bosses, being much more laid back and relaxed then most. Even though he was now approaching 35, his easygoing attitude and charming smile hadn't changed much since the Great War, and more than one of the pretty and young office secretaries had tried to approach him. However, each time Gino had turned them down, explaining that he had a family who trusted him and a wife he loved very much. Indeed, the reason he was only a Lieutenant Colonel after 17 years of service was that he had spent most of his early married life as a stay-at-home dad.
As Gino approached his home on foot, his mouth twisted into a wry smile as he realized that despite the fact that Lelouche had stripped away his family's status, the only thing that had really mattered to him at the time, he really owed his entire current life to him. If he hadn't tried to rebel, he would have never joined the Black Knights, and never would have married his wife. For that matter, he wouldn't have his two kids, either.
"Hey girls!" he called out as he walked in the front door. "Is your mom home?"
"No." chorused Cecianah and Raiko. Gino sighed and looked at the note on the fridge.
"What about your homework?" he asked.
"Done." Said Cecianah as she walked into the kitchen. Raiko merely groaned as she did the same.
"Not going too well?" Gino asked his daughter, grinning.
"I'll never get this chapter of math. Mr. Cardemonde is cool and all, but even he can't make it understandable."
"You know he wants us to call him Mr. Rivalz." said Cecianah.
"Yeah, I know, but it's weird, calling a teacher by their first name."
"So how is good 'ole Rivalz doing these days?" inquired Gino.
"What do you- Oh, that's right! You and Mr. Rivalz used to serve on the student council together, didn't you?" exclaimed Raiko.
"Yeah, we sure did, along with Milly too. You know her as Principal Ashford, though."
"So was he like that with Principal Ashford back then, too?"
"What, you mean, did he like her? Yeah, sure did. That's still going on, is it?"
"Yeah. It's kind of sad, actually."
Gino laughed. "It's all his fault, you know. What he doesn't realize is that she'd totally go out with him if he'd just muster the nerve to ask her out. She's been waiting 18 years for that. They'd better get a move on soon. Clock's tickin'."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you know… If they wanna have kids…"
Raiko grimaced. "Ah, geez dad. Gross. Don't even talk about stuff like that."
"Hey, just sayin'."
At this point, a very exhausted Kallen chose to make her entrance. "Hey kids. What's for dinner?"
Everyone looked at Gino. "Hey, don't look at me." He protested.
"Well, all right." said Kallen, heading over to the stove with calculated slowness. "I'll cook it…" She grinned triumphantly amidst the many choruses of "No!" "Come on!" and "You do it dad!"
"All right, all right, geez…" grumbled Gino. "I don't even know my position in this family anymore. I cook all the meals, I do all the laundry, and it was all I could do to stop myself from taking her name instead of her taking mine."
"Well, honey, y'know…" grinned Kallen.
Gino held up a finger. "Don't even say it. 17 years you've been trying to get me to change my name, but it's the last shred of manly pride I have left. Don't take even that away from me. Heck, you even had our kids called 'Kozuki'!"
"Hey!" said Kallen, pretending to be offended. "I went through a lot because of that name!" Everyone laughed.
"So what will it be tonight?" asked Gino. "Hamburgers or Sushi?" Kallen and Raiko immediately called out "Sushi" at the same time that Cecianah said "Hamburgers". "17 years in this country" said Gino, shaking his head "and I'll never get used to the food here. Cecianah, you must have Britannian blood in you, 'cause you are the most sensible, level-headed, rational woman I know."
"What about me?" protested Kallen.
"I repeat: Cecianah, you must-" he was interrupted as Kallen good-naturedly threw an oven mitt at him. "Anyways, I'm cooking the food, so my vote counts for two. Hamburgers it is!" Raiko and Kallen groaned.
"What did you mean when you said Cecianah must have Britannian blood in her because she's rational?" smiled Kallen dangerously. "Not feeling a bit of your old nationalism, are you?"
"Old nationalism? Girl, I'm still a nationalist. Face it, we didn't become the world's largest empire by being stupid."
"But what did you mean that a Britannian in particular would be rational? What if she was Japanese?"
"Does she look Japanese to you? And, let's face it, if you're dumb enough to take on the world's dominant superpower…"
"Hey! We won, didn't we?"
"Yeah, after I joined."
"Here we go again…"
Raiko looked between her parents confusedly. "What do you mean 'nationalism'? Dad, didn't you betray Britannia during the Great War?"
Gino looked at her, suddenly serious. "I didn't betray my country. By the time I defected to the Black Knights, my country no longer existed. Lelouche was the one who betrayed Britannia. He thoroughly destroyed everything it had stood for. Even now, though it's no longer a dictatorship under Empress Nunnally, the old Britannia is gone."
Later, as Raiko and Cecianah were getting ready for bed, Raiko looked a Cecianah concernedly. "Are you all right? You seem quiet tonight. Is something the matter?"
"It's all right. I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Is it Ben? You know he was only joking around today-"
"As if I cared what he thought!"
Raiko was silent for a moment. "He really likes you, you know."
"Don't be ridiculous." protested Cecianah. "We have nothing in common."
"He really likes you, I mean." The edge in Raiko's voice made Cecianah turn to face her. She found her gaze surprisingly accusatory. Raiko plowed on, as though she was afraid that she would stop. "I mean, he can't understand why you don't like him when every other girl in school does."
"W-well," stammered Cecianah, trying to inject what she felt was some reason into the conversation. "If he only wants to collect the only trophy he hasn't got yet, then that's not exactly a recipe for a successful relationship, is it? He'd just lose interest in me and go back to pursuing some busty airheaded girl like he always has."
Raiko only looked at her critically and then flopped on her bed with a "hmph!" Later, as Cecianah laid there in the dark, unable to get to sleep, she had to admit she was genuinely concerned. She didn't like Ben, and it was clear that Raiko did, but what was she supposed to do? Go out with Ben because Raiko thought she should? That would only make Raiko angrier. But if she didn't, then Raiko would be mad that she was hurting Ben. Cecianah covered her head with her pillow. It was all so confusing!
But now you've got more important things to worry about said a little voice inside her head. Cecianah began to recall the events at the museum. Who were those people she wondered. And why did they want to kill me? As Cecianah rolled over and looked at Raiko's sleeping form, she came to a realization. It didn't matter what current difficulties she and Raiko were having. She loved her sister, and if something was threatening their life together, then she would eradicate it using any means necessary. And it wasn't just Raiko, either. Her mom, her dad, the student council at Ashford (including, she grudgingly admitted, Ben)… She would fight to protect it all. At any cost…
But then the memory of using the man to kill his companions and himself came back, and Cecianah felt her stomach lurch. Jumping out of bed, she barely made it to the bathroom in time.
After it was over, she washed her mouth out and looked in the mirror, staring hard at her reflection. Could she do it again? Could she take another life? Would it be worth it? From their room, Raiko called out "Ces? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." replied Cecianah. Looking back at her reflection, she reached for the power she knew was now inside her. Her left eye turned blood red, with a bird-like symbol inside of it. She could feel all of the energy in the house, from the computer in her room to the electricity in the walls to Raiko. Cecianah grinned, which, along with the red eye, gave her a slightly deranged look. Would she do it again? Absolutely. Family came first, after all. Cecianah began to cackle before realizing what she was doing and shoved her knuckles into her mouth in an attempt to stifle to laughter.
I must be really tired she thought as she headed back to her bedroom. As she went in, she heard the phone ring. Assuming that nobody worth talking to would call past 10 o'clock, she went fell back onto her bed. She heard Raiko answer the phone.
"Hello? Yeah, it is. Yes, she's right here. Yeah, I'll get her. Ces! It's for you."
Cecianah groaned and got up, taking the phone from Raiko. "Hello?" she asked blurrily.
"It's me." said the voice on the phone. Cecianah was visibly startled by the voice.
It was the voice of the man in black.