I do not own Code Geass. I only own any original characters created by me.

~ ~ ~ AVE IMPERATOR ~ ~ ~

~ Chapter 1: The day a new Emperor was born ~

[Kamine Island – 24th June 2018 a.t.b.]

Lelouch watched absently before him as his feet led him to the exit. C.C. and Suzaku behind him, without uttering a word. He had just completed his long-awaited revenge, that bastard of his father was dead...and he had also been joined in death by the one who, once upon a time, the former prince was proud of being able to call 'Mother'.

In a sense, his entire family (excluding the countless brothers and sisters he had) was dead. His father, his mother, his little sister Nunnally and even his 'little brother' Rolo. All dead because of his revenge, one way or another, and a lot of other people had died with them.

Now it was all over and Lelouch felt...empty. What was waiting for him now? The Black Knights were his enemies after his brother Schneizel had convinced them to betray him and Lelouch was certain that the silver tongued snake had other cards to play.

However the regicide had no time to even think about that, he had to think of more imminent problems, such as...

"Lelouch."

...such as dealing with one of his biggest problems.

"What are you going to do?" Lelouch slowly turned to the Knight of Seven "You killed your father and stopped his plan, but what will you do now?"

"I'd like to do a lot of things...but that's not something that concerns you." said the former prince with a cold voice before walking away, followed by C.C. who was wary of the knight, only to be stopped by his former friend. The Knight of the Round was glaring at him with his sword raised, ready to strike.

"You killed Euphie." hissed Suzaku, his green eyes burning with hatred "She was the love of my life...and you took her away from me."

"You did the same with Nunnally." Lelouch's retort carried with it even more hatred "You killed her with that inhuman weapon, which took the lives of millions of people. Your hands are stained with blood as much as mine, Sir Kururugi."

"And now they will be stained with the blood of one more person." Suzaku lowered the tip of his blade, with the clear intention of piercing Lelouch's heart "This will not bring Euphie back to me, but it will ensure that you cannot bring further chaos into this world!" and without waiting for an answer, he attacked.

A large amount of blood was sprayed into the air as his sword found the flesh.

However it was not the flesh of his target. Both Lelouch and Suzaku were shocked to see the sword pierce C.C.'s left forearm, with the witch who didn't even flinch before she moved her arm outward, causing the brown-haired boy to lose his balance. Without giving him time to react, she hit him with the palm of her right hand to his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs, before following with a spinning kick to the right temple, which made Suzaku fall to the ground, unconscious. Lelouch could only stare at her wordlessly as she removed the sword from her arm, throwing it to the ground.

"My patience has a limit, boy." she glared at the downed soldier "And you've exceeded that limit too many times."

Without another word, she grabbed Lelouch by a wrist and dragged him out of the cave and then stopped to observe the outside. The former prince did the same but grimaced when he saw that the clashes outside had by now completely ceased. Well he could not expect much from mindless drones without a real commander to give them orders, not to mention that now the Black Knights didn't even seem willing to fight against Schneizel, given the proximity of the airships.

He shook his head 'My brother now controls them too, and yet I shouldn't be surprised...'

"Still thinking about your soldiers?" asked C.C. looking at him with a calm face.

Lelouch shifted his gaze toward her and then her wound, which was still bleeding. After a moment of silence, he tore off a sleeve from his jacket and, much to C.C.'s confusion, he bandaged her wound, in a rather professional way.

"You know that I don't need things like this, do you?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that I like to see you bleed." Lelouch retorted, making a small knot to keep the bandage still.

"Oooh? Do you mean to say that you worry about me now?"

"I made a promise, remember?"

C.C. was silent for a few seconds, looking for a way to answer. Damn it, she was supposed to be the one to put Lelouch in trouble, not the other way around! Finally she succeeded in formulating a sentence, while also sounding indifferent to the subject "Well I don't think you've made much progress with that promise."

The immortal expected an exasperated or even angry response from Lelouch, but instead the boy pulled her towards him and she felt something warm pressed against her lips. It took her almost two seconds to realize that Lelouch was kissing her but before she could begin to appreciate it, the boy ended the kiss, before embracing her against his chest.

"Do you think that, as progress, it is acceptable?" asked Lelouch, the smirk almost palpable in his voice "I remember the promise and I'm not going to break it. The smile that you have always deserved, I will make it a reality, but first I must know...will you stay with me? Even if we had the whole world against us?"

He pulled away slightly so he could look into her eyes and her her answer. C.C. simply raised one hand, caressing his face "You fool." she smiled "The world is already against us and I'm still here, so you should already know the answer. But if you really need a confirmation..." standing up on her toes, she caught his lips in another kiss and this time they both managed to appreciate and enjoy it. It lasted only a few seconds, but for them it was more than enough to strengthen their bond. When they separated, Lelouch embraced her again and C.C. returned the gesture "What are you going to do now, my warlock?"

"Well my witch, first we need to reach the Shinkirō. It's a long journey from here to Pendragon." said Lelouch with a small smile on his face, walking toward the place where he had hidden his Knightmare Frame.

"Pendragon?" C.C. was actually confused now "Why?"

"Charles is dead, Britannia is without an emperor now. It is only a matter of time before the whole world learns about his demise; it also depends on what Schneizel will do." explained Lelouch and the immortal witch could hear the smirk in his voice "However, such a large empire will need a leader...and as far as I know, an emperor cannot miss his coronation."

[Pendragon – 28th July 2018 a.t.b.]

Nobles from all over Britannia were gathered in the throne room, summoned to the capital by an official order from His Majesty the Emperor, according to which the ruler of the empire would have announced something of extreme importance to his court after a month of complete silence.

Since he had ascended the throne, Charles zi Britannia, had never been absent for more than a few days and his disappearance had caused quite a stir among the various Britannian nobles, and his trusty knight, Bismarck Waldstein, and the Prime Minister of Britannia, Schneizel el Britannia, were also missing. Obviously there were also many other members of the royal family who were absent, but most of them were justified as army officers, such as Cornelia and Marrybell, or because they were engaged elsewhere in political matters, such as Pollux, Castor and Laila.

The whispering of the various nobles was suddenly interrupted when a guard tapped the floor with a ceremonial spear three times "Presenting His Royal Majesty, the Emperor of Britannia!"

All the nobles eagerly awaited the arrival of their sovereign, but instead of his heavy steps, they heard light and calm footsteps and, after a few seconds, someone who was not the emperor appeared from behind a red curtain beside the throne, shocking everyone present. A face that many hadn't seen for years had reappeared before them and that boy, whom everyone considered dead, sat on the emperor's throne, with a satisfied smile.

Lelouch vi Britannia had returned home.

Slightly loosening the collar of his uniform, the young prince looked at the faces of many of those nobles, remembering how they had laughed at him when, years ago, he had been thrown away as garbage by his father. Oh they had no idea how he had decided to take revenge on them.

"L-Lelouch...?" his violet eyes immediately found the origin of that hateful voice, his half sister Carine, one of the few relatives that Lelouch had always hated "Is that really you?!"

"Yes, your eyes are not misleading you, dear sister. I have returned, and I am ready to begin my reign as the 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire." said Lelouch with a smirk "After all, with the dead of Charles zi Britannia, a new leader must be chosen...and since I was the one to kill the man, by the rites of conquest, I am the new Emperor of Britannia."

His words froze everyone, both in the throne room and in the rest of the world.

"W-What are you talking about?!" Guinevere looked at him with shocked eyes "Our father is dead?!"

"Yes. That man died by my hand." in theory the previous emperor had died in somewhat surreal circumstances but Lelouch preferred to ignore that detail, just as he ignored the indignant and outraged screams of the nobles. However, none of them tried to stop him or remove him from the throne 'Typical nobles without backbones...they will probably send someone to do what they want, as usual.'

"GUARDS!" his sister Guinevere's voice overwhelmed that of everyone else "I order you to arrest that murderer!"

'As I was saying...' thought Lelouch with the grin still on his face as several guards rushed towards him, ready to strike him with their weapons, but unfortunately for them he was not alone.

Like a bolt from the blue, a shadow descended from above and struck their weapons with a single move, breaking the shafts of their spears. As the blades hit the ground, a single orange eye glared at the guards with uncontrollable hatred "How dare you raise your blades against His Majesty! If you care about your life, you will immediately cease all forms of violence, because otherwise none of you will escape the ferocity and loyalty of Jeremiah Gottwald!"

All the nobles in the front row took a step backwards, frightened by the almost palpable rage in the cyborg's voice as he went to take his place at the right of the new emperor, who chuckled a bit before gesturing toward his follower "Probably many of you already know it, but for everyone else...I present to you Jeremiah Gottwald: dear friend, personal knight but above all captain of my royal guard."

When those words left his mouth, the huge doors of the throne room were opened from the outside and many of those present were convinced that other royal guards would come in, ready to take away the madman who had sat on the throne, yet their hopes were thrown out of the window when a dozen black-cloaked figures entered the huge hall. They were all threatening, wearing a mixture of medieval armor and avant-garde military armor, complete with a black cape and a helmet with a cross-shaped visor. Without saying anything, those twelve shadows walked towards Lelouch before standing in front of him, turned toward the nobles.

As one being, they drew their swords before pointing them down and resting both hands on the pommel of their weapons.

"We serve His Royal Majesty, Lelouch vi Britannia!"

Lelouch could only grin upon hearing those words. After reuniting with Jeremiah, he had spent several weeks tracking down elite soldiers around the motherland with the sole purpose of creating his own group of guards. Most of them had needed an 'incitement' to become his faithful servants while the others, incredibly, had decided to follow him voluntarily. The new emperor had only later discovered that those soldiers were actually devoted servants of his mother and were therefore honored to be able to serve her son.

"Lelouch, please!" said boy looked down at his older brother Odysseus "This is too much! Doing such a thing on an international broadcast is absolute madness!"

"Madness?" repeated Lelouch, raising from his throne with one hand over his face "If this is really what you think, dear brother, then let me show you how this is actually what the empire needs. Now, acknowledge me as emperor!"

"Lelouch, you must stop now or-!" Odysseus' words died in his throat when he saw Lelouch's eyes shine with the Geass symbol clearly visible in them and, like him, everyone else saw those cold eyes. Their minds had no way of resisting his order and, in a few moments, all the nobles, members of the imperial family and the guards who had tried to attack him now had hands on their hearts and fanatical smiles on their faces.

"We hear and obey, Your Majesty!" they chanted in unison "All Hail Emperor Lelouch!"

"ALL HAIL EMPEROR LELOUCH!"

"ALL HAIL EMPEROR LELOUCH!"

'I like the sound of those words.' thought Lelouch allowing a small grin on his face while standing in front of the throne, where he admired his new loyal supporters with a satisfied look. His satisfaction grew further when, raising a hand, the whole hall fell silent, ready to hear his words.

"All men are not created equal. These are words that my predecessor has uttered on more than one occasion, and despite all his faults, Charles zi Britannia was right. In this world there will always be the strong and the weak..." his eyes suddenly became hard and cold "But so what?! Does this mean that the strong have the right to do what they want with the weak? I say no! If it weren't for the weak, the strong would never have arrived where they are now! If there were no servants, the nobles would not even be able to wear a pair of shoes! If there were no workers, factory owners could not earn their much desired money! If there were no soldiers ready to die for their homeland, the commanders could not win even the simplest of battles!

"This dull and backward ideology of the strong that devours the weak has no place in an ideal world, a gentle world like the one that my late sisters, Euphemia li Britannia and Nunnally vi Britannia, wished for! Under the dominion of my late father, this empire has known nothing but war and death! Those days are over! It is time for the strong to work together with the weak to build a better world!"

Lelouch raised a fist to the heavens "Together we will build our future, where wars and famines will only be a distant and sad memory! To all the weaklings of this world! To all those who are tired of the endless wars that contaminate our world! To all those who only want peace! Rise and be ready, because your moment has arrived!

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

The entire throne room trembled when all the people present, both Geassed and not, echoed his words, signaling to the whole world that a new era had just begun.

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

Their voices resounded in that huge room for several seconds, while the whole world remained frozen after seeing what had just happened. In the areas controlled by Britannia, many began to wonder what would change, while those who still resisted Britannia were very wary, since Lelouch was the son of Charles, the one who had made their lives a living hell.

Finally, Lelouch sat on the throne again as all the nobles began to leave the hall along with the first guards who had tried to attack him. In a few seconds only he, Jeremiah and his royal guard remained, but then C.C. came out from behind the red curtain like he had done earlier, carrying a small wooden box with her.

"Did you find it?" asked Lelouch as she sat on his lap, holding out the box.

"Yes, I still can't believe that in all these years nobody has found your secret hiding place." said the witch with a smile.

The new emperor picked up the box before opening it, revealing that it was a well-made travel chessboard with all the pieces inside a small drawer on the side of said chessboard. Holding the white king, he smiled "Only Nunnally and I knew about that place, and this was the first gift Schneizel gave me."

Lelouch slowly placed the chessboard on the right arm of his throne and made to position the white king on the opposite side to him, but then stopped.

'If I really want to become an emperor loved by people...I have to change my style.' thought Lelouch before placing the white king on his side of the chessboard, followed by a trusted bishop to the right of the king (Jeremiah) and finally a beautiful queen to his left (C.C.).

"What about the other pieces?" asked the witch, looking at the chessboard with a raised eyebrow.

"For now I don't have other pieces." explained Lelouch while positioning the black ones on the opposite side "Tomorrow, after some absolutely necessary interventions, I will have to start looking for noteworthy soldiers who can become my new Knights of the Round." he looked at her with a smile "Are you interested?"

C.C. snorted before stealing a quick kiss "As if. I will content myself with being your empress."

Lelouch shook his head with the smile still on his face before moving the white king forward. After that opening move, he looked ahead as if someone else were sitting there, ready to play.

"Your turn, Schneizel."

[Toromo Agency's Base (Argentine) – 28th July 2018 a.t.b.]

"An impressive opening move, Lelouch, no doubt about it." Schneizel smiled at the small screen where his brother's speech was being repeated "Now that you're back, we can start our game...but will you know how to live up to expectations, now that you've entered the major league?"

Lelouch knew that one day they would face each other, Schneizel was certain about it, but what he probably didn't know was that his reign would last very little. Pressing some keys on a small keyboard, Schneizel made the replica of the speech disappear and two twins with light blue hair appeared on the screen.

"Pollux, Castor, is everything going according to the plan?"

"Yes brother." nodded the first twin with a grin "I think we will be able to get started within a month."

"That's good to hear." Schneizel then looked at the other twin "And what about the resources?"

"We're sending several loads to your base right now, including some prototypes that might come in handy." explained Castor with a small smile "However I can't help thinking...when you'll put your plan in motion, won't it be too risky to draw all the attention on us?"

"Fear not, Castor." the White King reassured him "When we will make our move, Lelouch will be forced to make a choice that will inevitably lead to his defeat. One way or another."

"I can't wait! I bet our sister Cornelia is calling for blood!" said Pollux with a cruel chuckle

"You can say that, and she's not the only one." commented Schneizel thinking about the various Knights of the Round who had followed him "Frankly speaking, I don't think Lelouch will have many possibilities. His intellect cannot save him forever."

Castor chuckled for a moment "You know, if you think about it, it's funny."

When he saw their confused looks, he showed an evil grin like the one of his brother.

"We are the Britannian Imperial Family and yet...we're going to start a Revolution!"

~ Next Chapter: Changes in the world ~

A.N.: Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. This is my second fanfic but I will try to update both of them as fast as possible (I do not guarantee the regularity of updates due to my work).

1) Most importantly, for this fic I was inspired by 'His Britannia' but I had permission from the author (Imperator's Slave) to write it. If you don't know his fic, I suggest you go and read it.

2) This fic will obviously be an AU and I will try to add also 'Akito the Exiled' and 'Oz the Reflection' in the mix, however I warn you that I watched Code Geass years ago, so some things that happened in the story...I don't remember them very well, let's put it like that. Forgive me for my oversights.

3) This will be a SYOC fic! I can create one or two new and original characters but then I start to be repetitive, so I would like your help! I mainly need OCs for the Knights of the Rounds. If you are interested in participating, write in the review the rank of your Knight (EXCEPT KNIGHT OF THREE, THAT IS FOR A FRIEND) and I'll send back the OC sheet. I'll write on my bio some rules (which will be on the sheet too) and the 'taken' list for the KotR.

[[[[[ALL SPOTS TAKEN!]]]]]

I really hope that you will give this story a chance and that you will follow it in the future.

I hope to see a lot of reviews but above all, a lot of OCs (Small warning: I will decide if your OC is okay, even if you're the first to review the fic it does not mean that your OC will be put in the story).

That's all for now, may your day be perfect.