Disclaimer: I don't own either of the Code Geass, Gundam Seed or Star wars franchises. This story is not written with comercial purpose in mind. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.

A Black Knight Rising

=ABKR=

Prologue: The Lady of the Lake

12 March 2009 A.T. B

Near Lake Sibhayi

South Africa

"Please watch. You'll love this!" My "host" grinned at me and pointed at portable TV set that was perched on a folding table. It was an old, white and black model, powered by a car battery of all things.

I glared at the bastard, which amused him to no end.

This whole situation was a disgrace, one that I had to blame on politics back home in Pendragon. That was the most likely reason why my plane was shot down over the supposedly neutral country of South Africa, before I ended up in this mess.

Being stuck into a wooden cage on the shore of a lake wasn't my idea of fun. The fact that the supposed rebels that were holding me, for ransom that was highly unlikely to be ever paid, were well cultured and fit looking, was my first clue in how dip shit I was. Their Euro Sphere accents and the fact that most of them were white, without the tan the locals were likely to have was the second.

My captors were either mercenaries, in which case I was likely FUBARed, or European special forces. If the latter was true I had a reasonable chance to be exchanged, for some consesions. In the former I should be doing my best to get the fuck out of here. Which was rather hard at the moment. My hands were expertly tied for different bars of my cage, which was in turn rather sturdy. I should know, I spent the last couple of days trying to set myself free, something my hosts found hilarious. The fact that the local, gunship sized mosquitoes were doing their best to eat me alive wasn't helping either.

The news recap, straight from Pendragon the bastards were eager to show me, made me furious.

First was a rehash of days old news, which I obviously missed. Empresses Marianne was dead. Murdered. Fuck, fuck, fuck! That suddenly explained the timing of my own misfortunes. I'd bet the family's title that my "accident" happened at the same time.

Marianne was one of the greatest allies my mother's branch of the family had. At least my big sister should be reasonably safe while she was in the middle of her own division, pacifying an uprising in Area Six. My mother and little sister Euphie however... They were amidst that viper nest that was Pendragon, which was just demonstrated to be much less than safe for the members of the Royal Family.

Then my thoughts went to Lully and Nunnaly. They were friends of the family, not to mention my own half-siblings. Nunnaly was Euphie's bestest friend, or at least my little sister said so the last time I saw her in the flesh. Truth to be said, the little firecracker was growing on me as of late. As far as I was concerned, the lad was all right too. For a kid that constantly buggered me and Cornelia about telling him war stories. Which was awkward, because we didn't have much to tell that would be appropriate for children's company.

"You would love to see the next part." My host smiled brightly at me.

The tune of the Anthem sounded for a few seconds, while the small screen was showing the Royal Crest. Moments later it was replaced by a picture from the Emperor's audience chamber, which was apparently packed.

My father was sitting on his throne, clad in his usual uniform like suit. He was looking bored while he was examining the assembled nobles. Nothing new there.

Then it happened. Lelouch marched in, wearing a white uniform and a ridiculously looking cape. He had a furious expression on his face.

"Damn it, kid!" I hissed. I could do nothing but watch helplessly the train wreck in progress, while wondering why the hell the inevitable accident had made it to the media.

He went to the edge of the allowed zone before the throne and started speaking, without the customary bowing or kneeling. Bad protocol that, not something Charles could get him get away with when the whole world was watching. If father cared for once that is. I had the sneaking feeling that I was watching a set up and my siblings were going to get railroaded.

I fucking hate our politics.

"Your Majesty, my mother has passed away."

Damn it kid, you should have put emphasis on the fact that she was the god damned Empress! That's how you do it!

"What about it?" Charles glanced at Lully, with severe yet bored expression on his face.

That had predictable results. I groaned while my brother was shaking with rage.

"What about it?!" Lully spat and leaned forward.

"Did you request an audience with the Emperor of Britannia just to say that?" Charles shook his head in disappointment.

Whatever Lelouch was trying to achieve, he was blowing it, because he was letting his rage rule him. This was only going to get worse and I could do nothing. It was obvious that the kid had no allies in the Audience Chamber either.

"Bring the next one, I don't have time to entertain children." Father glanced at one of his aides, obviously dismissing my brother.

I was silently praying that the kid would make the smart decision - shut the hell up and get away.

The kid lost it.

"Father!" Lully shouted and darted forward. The honor guards standing between him and the Emperor moved like a lighting, their ceremonial, yet perfectly effective pikes swinging his way.

All Father had to do was to raise his hand and they stopped in their tracks, shouting "Yes, your Majesty!", before saluting the Emperor and getting back to their posts.

The boredom was gone from Charles' face. Now he had a thunderous expression on his face.

And I wanted to bash my head in something. Preferably headbutting one of my jailors.

"Why didn't you protect mother?!" Lelouch shouted.

Well it was a relevant question. A line of though that might have gotten him whatever he wanted, provided that he hadn't botched his audience already. However right now...

"Aren't you the Emperor? Aren't you the greatest man in this country?" My brother continued to rant. "You should have been able to protect her! At very least you should have visited Nunnaly!"

Fuck. That's was another mistake. Knowing our father's policies, that last sentence was enough to fuck up Lully'schances by itself. If my foolish sibling had went and outright requesting finding whoever was responsible and making an example of them, that might have worked beautifully. Even if the Empress has showed "her weakness" by getting herself killed. Which in itself was bullshit but it was how the damn court worked. Raw naked power made one right. Requesting vengeance on someone's behalf could work too. However ranting on the Emperor about being unable to protect someone who should be able to look after themselves... Such a thing flies against the whole Darwinism my father is so fond of.

So Lully fucked up, big time. It was time to see with how much shit Cornelia and me would have to deal with in order to keep those two safe. Provided I got out of here alive that is. If not, then I would have to count on 'Nel to look after our siblings. At least she knew what the hell she was doing.

I was pointedly trying not to thing what this whole mess did to Nunnaly.

"I have no use for the weak." Charles stated. There was a small hint of sadness that those who really knew the bastard might have seen.

The fuck was happening back home?!

"The weak?" Lully parroted.

"This is the true nature of the Royal Family."

Something that I was painfully aware of. It was one of the reasons I joined the military. Being perceived as weak was unhealthy in our circles. Besides I wanted to be just like my big sister, who was my idol as I was growing up. Plus she was one of the very few decent siblings I had. Which is saying something considering that we are about a hundred or so. I lost count sometime ago.

"Then I don't want the right to succeed the throne!" Lelouch declared.

That sentence froze the blood in my veins and I went rigid against the ropes binding me. Unless Charles decided to be uncharacteristically merciful, the little idiot just doomed both himself and Nunnaly! There were people that would love to make their lives hell just to get back on Marianne, who was now safely dead.

"God damn it Lully!" I hissed through clenched teeth.

My shock was mirrored on the faces of the nobles in the Chamber, which were conveniently shown by the camera crew. There were loud gasps and cries of disbelief. One simply didn't throw his right to inherit in the face of the Emperor himself, no matter one's personal feeling on the subject.

The way our father's expression shifted at those words mad his rising fury obvious.

"I won't succeed you or get in any more conflicts!" Lelouch screamed.

I simply watched the clusterfuck with a gaping mouth. The kid was determined to dig his hole deeper and deeper.

"You are dead." Our father declared. There was grim resignation in his voice. "You were dead since the day you were born."

Translation: You fucked up so much, I can't recognize that you were ever my son. Bloody hell...

"Who gave you the clothes you wear right now? Your home? The food you eat? Your very life?"

Further translation: You own nothing. You are nothing. There is no one protecting you now. Most importantly, you've earned nothing!

That's how the nobility of the Empire would be seeing him and his sister right now.

"So you weren't even alive in the first place! Yet, you show such insolence by coming here and making demands! Lelouch!" The name was spat as a curse.

My brother stepped back, stumbled and fell on his ass, gasping as the extent of his fuck up was becoming to dawn on him. Or perhaps it was mere shock.

"A dead person as you have no rights." Father said outright what he was insinuating so far.

Remaining withing the Empire outside of the protection of my family would be a death sentence. As far as I knew, Cornelia was either with her division or searching for me. That left mother, who had lost her greatest ally and best friend. She had Euphie to think about too... Which meant that those two were on their own, for now.

"You'll go to Japan with Nunnaly. As a Prince and Princess, you will be a good bargaining chip. Or at least she will. Crippled or not, she is at least my daughter."

That was a polite way of saying that Lully could forget about any ambitions he might have ever had within the Empire, while Nunnaly wasn't necessary tainted by his foolish stunt. That's what a part my mind was telling me, while another was raging because the girl I was becoming to view as another little sister has been caught in Pendragon's political games and crippled.

I wanted to kill someone. My captors would do if I ever got out.

The news clip ended, replaced by the Royal Crest. My host shut down the TV and looked me in the eyes.

"Are you proud to be a Britanian Prince?" He smirked before leaving me alone.

I needed to get out of here. Now.

=ABKR=

It was later the same evening. I was still bound in my cage, with the added benefit of cool rain splashing everywhere and making me even more miserable if that was possible at all. The bloody giant mosquitioes were unfazed, still doing their damned best to eat me.

I cared for none of that. My mind was preoccupied with my family. Marianne was dead. That combined with my predicament meant that I couldn't count on either my mother or sisters being safe. Or still alive for that matter.

It was infuriating. I was ready to do anything to be abler to check on them and make sure they were safe.

"Anything?" A melodious voice asked.

I blinked. The rain... it had stopped, frozen in the air. The few of my captors that I could see were still like a statues, stopped in mid-motion.

So I had lost it. Probably heatstroke or some nasty disease brought to me courtesy of the fucking mosquitoes.

"You are surprisingly sane, my former knight."

I looked around and saw her. An ethereal figure was walking upon the surface of the lake, coming closer and closer. Her face was cast in shadow. Her feminine features were all but invisible because of her hair, which was a blazing starcsape that was almost painful to look at.

"I can give you enough power to keep them safe, if you play your cards right. I would ask for two boons in exchange."

I narrowed my eyes at her. This delusion sounded too good to be true.

"What's the catch?"

"I can promise you that I won't ask of you anything that will be detrimental to the brothers and sisters you are caring about. Neither to you mother, who is alive by the way."

"Good to know. If I say no?"

"I leave and you follow your fate, whatever it may be."

I could swear she was smirking.

"Okay. As far as delusions go, you are on the nicer side of things. It's not like I have much to lose..." I trailed off and nodded towards the ropes binding me. "Care to just release me and be on your way?"

"I just might. Then you get shot." This time she was the one nodding, her head leaning towards my guards. There were three of them in sight, all armed with assault rifles.

"That's not an outcome I would like."

"Well, of course not! As I said, you are on the saner side!"

"What do you want?"

"For you to remember. And be my knight again when you are finished your path on this world."

"That's not helpful." Delusion all right. One that was becoming stranger by the minute. For a moment I wondered if my captors had fed me some funny meds. That would explain it all right.

"All right. I accept." I was actually eager for something to get my mind off worrying for my family.

"I'm glad you made this choice, my wayland Knight." I could feel her beaming at me.

A soft hand touched my head and I screamed.

My mind was burning as I was remembering lives I didn't live, places and worlds that should have been impossible outside of science fiction.

Perhaps it all ended in moments. Or was it years? Thanks to her powers there wasn't any real distinction. Time didn't have much meaning for her.

"You." I glared at my patron. I had hoped to never lay my eyes upon her form again.

"Me!" She waved cheerfully.

"This is a set up, isn't it?" I groaned.

"Not mine! I swear! I had nothing to do with you being reborn on this world or how you ended up here." She waved at the camp.

"Not buying it."

"Hey I'm serious! Besides it's not like I'm about to draft you to another suicide mission again! I just want one of my best shadows back in the business. Eventually. I actually owe you one so that's why I'm here! I can't really help you unless you are one of mine! That's not how this world works. You remember who and where you are, right?"

"Code Geass." My expression became thunderous.

My mind was finally settling. The memories of multiple past lives settled at the back of it, changing me surprisingly little. Perhaps the scars of all that had happened to me were still present upon my being even if my memories were gone as I lived my new life. A life that should have been a normal one, leaving me to live, pass on and finally find peace.

That had been the deal. I should have known better.

"No." My patron became serious. "I had nothing to do with this!" She waved her hand around and I knew she meant the whole world, not only my cage and the place I was imprisoned. "There was nothing 'bright' in this life of yours with a few notable exceptions."

I knew she meant my mother and sisters. Perhaps Nunnaly and her idiot of a brother, too.

"What would have been my fate, if we didn't seal the deal? I know you are aware of it."

The shimmering being wilted on herself. "You would be dead within hours. There is an Imperial Black Ops team en route to your location. V. V. Changed their orders to search and destroy."

"That should be my Uncle, I think?"

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"I remember only bits and pieces. Something about the end of the world, or changing it at gun point?" I shrugged. "And what's this about Zero? Lully becoming a terrorist? I know he fucked up but that's..." I trailed off.

A certain image flashed before my eyes. It was Euphie. She was in her late teens, wearing a pink dress. Of course it was pink, that was her favorite color.

A ghost of a smile appeared on my lips. Then it froze.

It was my little sister, again in the same gown. She was clutching her chest, blood spreading under her fingers. There was surprise etched on her face. Her eyes were blazing with the Geass symbol.

That wasn't going to happen! I would keep her safe no matter what!

"It's not much, but you know enough. That's what would have happened. And I promised you the power to change it, didn't I?"

A soft, warm finger brushed a tear from my cheek. I barely registered it. Seeing my sister shot, even if it was only a vision of a possible future... That shook me to the core.

Right then and there I couldn't recall how this stuff with transferring my memories worked, but my previous lives were distant things. Oh the knowledge was there, I knew most thing instinctively. But those people were no more. They died when I had made the choice to live on last, normal life and try finding peace in whatever waited beyond.

"I was wondering..." My patron smiled. "You are different, yet the same, my knight. Go and live. Try not to worry your sisters too much." She brushed my hair like a mother does her child and stood up.

I could feel it. Like a cool wind passing through me. An echo, of every being in the universe, her very heartbeat. It was the soft warm of the sun, without it's harsh glare. It was the eye of a storm, which was made by the passions of every living thing, turned into living energy, into a chorus.

And for the first time since I was reborn as Delkatar Li Britannia, she sang within me. I could feel her. She was like calm stream, that was steadily growing stronger. She was feeding on my emotions, my fury and fear for my family.

The rain resumed falling as if nothing had happened. I smiled at my captors. The Dark Side was bubbling within me, begging to be unleashed. I knew that my eyes were turning yellow and didn't care.

The only thing that mattered were the ropes and men keeping me away from my sisters.

That wasn't something that was allowed to stand.

I recalled the false image of little Euphie being shot. My heart was gripped by a rage so potent I could taste it. I called and she obeyed, the Force flooding my whole being. A terrible smile appeared on my face, making my closest guard to blanch at the sight.

The Dark Side begged me to unleash her and give those bastards their just reward. I smiled and dived deep into her sweet embrace.

The ropes binding me snapped, then a wave of pure power shattered the wooden cage that was my prison for the last few days.

I stood up, the Force revitalizing my strained muscles.

The closest of my captors shook out of his shock and pointed his weapon at me. Surprisingly he didn't immediately open fire.

"Halt! On your knees!" The terrified man shouted.

"Your fear is delicious." My disturbing grin grew in size. The Force sang within me, a chorus of countless voices. It was time to unleash her upon this world.