A/N: I know better than to start up new stories like this when I have so many unfinished works... Yeah, like that's ever stopped me before. XD Lol. Consider this a pilot chapter for a Code Geass story focused on Suzaku. I hope you guys will enjoy this short snippet I have ready to present. Best wishes and God bless you all!
Warnings: Spoilers for the ending of Code Geass if you've never seen it before. Otherwise...I have no warnings to provide.
Disclaimer: Code Geass belongs to its respective owners and affiliates. This is merely a Fanfiction made for entertainment purposes only.
To the Beginning
-1-
The distant hum of a monorail train filters in through an open window in a small, almost barren room in the Honorary Britannian barracks, barely reaching the ears of the young man slowly awakening from a fitful sleep.
Though alert enough to observe the quiet surrounding him, he does not open his eyes immediately.
It has been three years since he first donned the mask of Zero to plunge his sword through his best friend's abdomen, thus sealing their agreement to destroy the world and create it anew together. The world's hatred, concentrated on the persona of the Demon Emperor, disappeared the instant he breathed his last.
Of course, this left Suzaku Kururugi to bear yet another curse.
Sacrificing his identity, his friendships, his reputation, and the very essence of the man he had been, he took on the responsibility of safeguarding the one destined to lead the world into a peaceful future, the 100th Empress herself, Nunnally Vi Britannia.
This fate is his punishment for killing his father as a child.
There was no bitterness or sadness left inside of him after Lelouch Vi Britannia was buried.
For three years he set about each task mechanically, embodying everything Zero was to not only Japan, but to the world.
He was a hero in the sight of all.
Inside he knew he was nothing more than a shell of a man without a soul around to care whether he lived or died, not that such things mattered anymore. Peace reigns in the world he occupies now. Gunfire and the screams of the innocent no longer reach him.
At some point he stops seeing the face of the smiling princess who once delivered him from this perpetual loneliness.
Nunnally, kind and gentle, still tries to reach out to him despite the grief she feels for her brother and the resentment she carries because of his part in that grief. Suzaku suspects she's aware of who he is beneath the mask, though he doubts she would ever confront him about it. It's enough to know she still values the stupid child who went out of his way to make her laugh, the heartbroken boy that carried her on his back through a path of corpses, and the knight that loved her sister more than anything else in the world.
It's unfortunate that those memories can't bridge the gap between them.
But such consequences are the result of the Zero Requiem.
He is Zero. Empty. Alone.
His old identity is merely a memory haunting him in the mirror of his private chambers.
Even then...he doesn't recognize himself most of the time.
The life he leads is a hollow existence without hope or desire, only duty to the pledge he made to Lelouch in his dying moments.
This compels him more than the Geass Command to live ever could.
The world has gained its peace…
But Suzaku has none of it.
This fact becomes all the more apparent when he fully realizes where he is.
The hum of the monorail train, the open window, the low barking of voices outside his door…
"Am I…"
His eyes burst open the exact second the wooden door on the other end of the room does. Suzaku twists beneath the thin sheet of his cot, his emerald irises catching a shaky glimpse at the Britannian soldiers standing at the threshold of his room.
Leading them is Jeremiah Gotwald.
He sits up carefully, confusion overriding his thoughts when he speaks.
"Jeremiah? W-What's going on?"
The man sneers, his golden, almost orange-colored eyes, reflecting a sudden and intense rage.
"You dare to address me so casually, low-born scum?"
Several guns cock in his direction, and in that instant Suzaku realizes Jeremiah stands whole before him. He doesn't have a cyborg body nor is he acting with any sense of humility.
"Regardless of your Honorary Britannian status, you are nothing but a filthy Eleven at the end of the day, Suzaku Kururugi," he continues, taking a step toward him.
"What's happening? I don't understand. I'm dreaming, aren't I?"
"You are hereby charged with the murder of our beloved Viceroy, Prince Clovis La Britannia of the Holy Britannian Empire." With a snap of his fingers, two soldiers come forward with metal batons and handcuffs.
"But I…Jeremiah you know I didn't…"
Interrupted by a vicious strike to the side of his head, Suzaku collapses against the floor with a sharp gasp. A dull sense of pain registers soon after, followed by the uncomfortable sensation of blood dripping from his head to the floor.
He catches a tiny glimpse of the droplets, and the sight nearly makes him gag.
"This is…"
"Get him out of my sight," Jeremiah commands, his footsteps echoing off the floor. "I will interrogate our culprit later. We'll get a confession out of him one way or another."
Suzaku keeps silent as he's lifted to his feet, knowing from experience that talking will do no good in this situation.
Even so, one question repeats in his mind while blood flows from the familiar wound.
"Must I…always live in torment?"
A/N: And that's the first chapter of this little work. I have a second chapter written out already for this, although it needs an extensive edit, so please let me know if you guys are interested in me continuing this. Many thanks to all of you for checking out this first chapter. Also, I didn't mention it in the earlier author's note, but this story is named after the song To The Beginning by Kalafina. I think it's the second Fate/Zero opening song. Definitely check it out if you've never heard it before. It's a great song. Otherwise, that's about all I need to say for now. Best wishes and God bless you all! Thanks for reading!