Chapter 1
September 14, 1012 ADDE (After Death Demon Emperor)

On November 22, 1 ADDE, Zero, the masked revolutionary, rid the world of Lelouch vi Britannia, also known as the Demon Emperor. In the subsequent years, Nunnally vi Britannia, the Angel of Britannia, labored hard in order to restore peace to the war-torn world. Since then, humanity has enjoyed peace and prosperity…

A finger tapped Sifir's shoulder, bringing the blond boy out of the documentary and back into reality. "What, Quinn?" he asked, irritated.

"We're going to leave for the technology section." his friend replied, looking around and bouncing on his heels anxiously. His gaze glossed over the various exhibits without really seeing them.

Sifir sighed. He would've loved to stay longer in this part of the museum, but no matter. He could simply do a virtual tour of it later on through the Internet. But it wouldn't be the same though. Besides, the genuine thing wouldn't be there, in front of him. There was something novel about standing in front of a real thousand-year old artifact.

"Fine, then." He said, casting a last longing look back towards a hologram of a mini-figure of Jeremiah "Orange" Gottwald stood directing the parade transporting Suzaku Kururugi towards his court martial. Stationed a few metres away from it was Prince Clovis' transport, complete with a statue of Zero standing resolutely against impossible odds. He felt a thrill of excitement run through him just by looking at it. If he walked just a bit closer, he would be able to experience it all again–the suspense, the dramatics, the mystery.

…but no, he could sneak back and go through the exhibit later.

As they headed back out towards the entrance, they passed display cases containing tattered Black Knight uniforms and cheap Zero costumes that were used by the Japanese to get exiled during the opening of the second SAZ. On the other side, mini figurines of various people and Knightmares were placed on a table. As he walked past, Sifir noted the Guren and the Lancelot, which were locked in eternal combat with each other. Next to the two was the iconic image of Zero's Knightmare surfing along a pair of Slash Harken cables and the Ganymede tossing the pizza for one of Ashford Academy's legendary pizza festivals. Its blue arms were raised, reaching for the round pizza dough that sat suspended above its head.

They passed a two metre replica of the Kawaguchi hotel, and as Sifir focused on it, knowledge about the use of Sakuradite appeared in his mind via the telepathic transmitter embedded in his brain. "Say, what do you think would've happened if Zero hadn't decided to show up when the JLF hijacked the hotel?" he asked idly.

Quinn glanced at the replica for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know, you're the history buff here."

Sifir sighed. It was a shame that no one really thought about the past anymore. He would've given almost anything to debate about various outcomes and come up with theories about Zero's Revolution with someone in person. His peers simply couldn't see the beautiful intricacies of every plan that Zero executed as well as the raw, savage ruthlessness that the Demon Emperor exhibited when he forced the entire planet to bow to his senseless insanity. With the exception of Schneizel, who pushed Zero to a stalemate in a game of chess and could've beaten the Demon Emperor had he not been afraid to sacrifice his own life instead of surrendering to that monster, popular figures like Napoleon and Eowyn paled in comparison to the two leaders.

Despite his evil nature, there were some things that Sifir found remarkable about the Demon Emperor. He could take advantage of any situation, and with the help of his knight, Suzaku Kururugi, use it to further his own malicious goals. Interestingly, many had noticed that the Demon Emperor's tactics were remarkably similar to Zero's. Both had a penchant for dramatics, and often utilized their surroundings to destroy their enemies. The widely accepted fact was that the Demon Emperor had gained his skills by observing Zero, though one blogger went as far as to suggest that they were the same person a few months back. To say that every historian on the Internet was outraged would be a gross understatement of epic proportions.

Nevertheless, the blogger who had suggested the idea established himself (or herself) in a little corner of the Internet, where he continued to spout nonsensical reasons as to why Lelouch the Demon Emperor was Zero. Sifir had to admit that he presented some very convincing arguments that no one could deny. Zero had supposedly "died" after the Final Battle of Tokyo, though no concrete evidence was provided by the leaders of the Black Knights. And when Zero had reappeared at the execution of the Black Knights, he sported almost inhuman capabilities that would've been impossible without today's muscle-boosting technology. And when analyzed, the speech patterns of Lelouch and Zero matched disturbingly closely. An analysis of the movement patterns of Kururugi and the Zero that killed the Demon Emperor also produced similar results. So somehow, the suddenly very influential entity on the Internet had argued, the Knight of Zero had survived the destruction of the Lancelot and assumed the role of Zero just so that he could kill Lelouch.

In fact, a detailed investigation on the tv broadcast revealed that the Demon Emperor had even smiled as he was stabbed through the heart. That fact alone seemed to shake everyone up badly, though a theory was created mere minutes later saying that the Emperor smiled because he had been seeking an end to his misery for a lifetime, and death had finally brought peace to him. Insane people tended to have that kind of reasoning.

As a result, the controversial blogger announced barely a month ago that he was going to visit Lelouch and Kururugi's graves at the old Britannian cemetery to find out more on the mystery.

He never returned.

The distant chatter of students brought Sifir out of his reminiscing as they rounded a bend in the hallway, they were greeted with a plethora of students wandering in the midst of a sunlit room filled with hundreds of models of computers, machines, and devices. On one end, an anti-gravity projector floated a few centimeters off the table. A cube of biometal, a synthetic material that was integral to human-machine communication, was suspended in the air as well. Sifir also spotted an ancient, century-old portable storage device, or PSD, lying next to the first teleporter prototype. According to the information beamed from the exhibit, it took hours for the first PSD prototype to convert an object to light, and even then there was a chance that the object would be mutated beyond recognition when retrieved. Of course, PSDs were now much smaller and more reliable.

"Hey Zero-lover!" an unfamiliar red-haired girl called. "Did you get locked in school last night because you fell asleep researching about the Black Knights again?"

What? How does she know? Before he could formulate a proper response, a thin, meek-looking girl walked up. "Leila, can I have my ring back, please?"

"Why should I give it back, Juliet? Can't you get another one from your prestigious Stadtfeld relatives? They have plenty of other rings, don't they?"

"I would still like my ring back, please." The girl said with all the patience of a time worn rock.

"You want it? Come get it!" she taunted, pulling out a small, palm-sized pink purse. Flicking a hidden switch, a miniature claw shot out of one end of the purse, its blade-like fingers gleamed menacingly under the sunlight. With her other hand, she dangled the ring from a finger. Her feral smile grew larger. "But I'll have to microwave you from the inside out with my new pet," She said as she lovingly traced a finger over the claw. In response, the claw crackled and glowed with red lightning.

"Use it, Kozuki!" A dark skinned blonde girl whispered. "I need some field data to work with, you know!"

Kozuki? Why does that sound familiar… Sifir wondered as he watched the situation unfold like some cheesy family drama.

"Shut it, Chawla. You gave it to me, so I get to use it however I want." She growled.

Juliet paled at the sight of the ruby orb embedded in the middle of the claw. "Leila, please!" She implored helplessly.

Suddenly, the ring floated off Leila's finger. "Hey!" She cried out and tried to grab it, but Sifir snatched it out of the air before she could.

"Here you go, m'lady." He said courteously, depositing the piece of jewelry onto Juliet's hand with a bow.

Juliet's face broke into rare smile. "Thank you. How did you do that?"

Sifir held up the anti-gravity device that had been hidden in his hand. "Zero says that the strong must defend the weak, and as loyal citizens of the world, we must do what is just."

"Must you always act like that stupid terrorist?" Leila muttered under her breath.

Sifir turned sharply towards her. "He's not a terrorist, he's a freedom fighter! Don't you know the difference?" He snapped. "Without him, we'd still have war and famine today! Would you like that?"

Juliet glared at him. "I don't give a damn about your stupid crap." she muttered as she turned away.

He sighed. Listening to his classmates squabble over petty little conflicts got tiring after a while. He'd much rather be somewhere else.

That's it, Sifir decided. If he remembered correctly, Kamine Island, a place of great mystery during the Zero Revolution, resided less than twenty kilometers from this museum. It would be a shame to not visit it. He turned towards Quinn. "I'm going to check out Kamine Island. I'll be back in an hour." He told him.

Quinn looked at him skeptically. "More like six hours. Don't blame me if you come back here at midnight only to realize that we've left already. You never reply to telemessages."

Sifir snorted. "Telemessages are so annoying. Its enough that I have to deal with my own thoughts bouncing around in my head, much less my appband beeping at me every few seconds. Besides, I know how to get back on my own. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." He pulled his PSD out of his pocket, walked to the window at the side of the room, and beamed out his skimmer, the object materializing from a light beam underneath a protective cover in a matter of seconds. The sleek black vehicle, about the size and shape of one of those antique motorcycles, hummed quietly as it powered up, rising slightly off the ground when its miniaturized float system came online.

Swinging a leg over it, he waved to his fellow classmates one last time before accelerating straight out the window, the force field that made up the barrier rippling to let the machine and its rider through.

The lonely cries of seabirds circling overhead greeted Sifir as he stepped off his skimmer and onto the warm sand. His shoes automatically expanded to adapt to the different terrain, their soles widening to distribute his weight over a larger area so that he didn't sink as much into the sand with each step. He beamed his skimmer back into his PSD and looked around. A bit farther inland, a long line of rocks tumbled down from a cliff, forming a natural staircase into the dense forest that occupied the clifftop. Seeing no other path farther inland, he jogged up to the rocks and slowly scaled the uneven terrain. An overgrown deer trail snaked up from the edge of the cliff and deeper into the forest. With a thought, his shorts, ideal for enjoying the warm weather, grew longer to suit his purposes of hiking through dense vegetation.

The narrow path was steep and seldom used, but didn't pose a challenge to Sifir, as he had played immersive video games like many other boys his age. The games were designed to induce a sense of realism to its users, appealing to the gameplayers with the sense of sight, sound, smell, taste, and feel just like one would in reality. It was one of the most popular forms of exercise, as the game forced the user to move his or her body as he or she navigated through the game. One could play through a wide variety of different scenarios, from simple obstacle courses to life-threatening situations. Playing those artificial-reality games were the closest thing he could get to a real adventure. Climbing a steep trail was nothing compared to being chased by angry monkeys through a dilapidated temple for hours on end.

Pushing past the last layer of leaves, Sifir stepped into a clearing. Curiously, it was completely devoid of any sort of vegetation. To his left, a boulder with unnaturally straight edges sat, barren of any sort of life as the clearing before him. He took a few steps forward, trying to find the reason for the sudden lack of greenery.

As soon as his foot touched the barren ground, he felt a sense of…power. It resonated with a deep part of him that he had not known existed until now. He glanced around nervously and glimpsed a flash of movement among the trees, though maybe that was just an animal or a leaf blowing in the wind. He took a step towards it, and the ground gave away from beneath him.

Sifir yelped as the rest of his body followed the crumbling earth down. Reflexively, his hands caught the sides of the hole for a moment, but the brittle layer of dirt crumbled the moment he touched it.

The side of his body hit a mound of dirt with a hard thump and his left hand touched cold stone. More rocks and debris rained down from above and hammered his body. He winced as he sat up, blinking dust out of his eyes. He lifted his shirt gingerly and checked the skin underneath. Fortunately, he hadn't suffered too much from the fall and his pants and shirt had automatically stiffened to absorb the impact. There were only a few scrapes and his side would bruise a little, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with the medicine in his PSD. He gingerly got to his feet and surveyed his surroundings.

Light shone down from the hole Sifir had fallen through, illuminating a long, dark hallway lined with huge, crumbling, Romanesque columns on both sides. A huge, cracked mural sat on the far side of the hallway. Large chunks of the stone were missing from the center of the mural, though Sifir could see a hint of a large symbol that once dominated the center of the wall. Thin lines branched from the destroyed figure, and large chunks of stone from the surrounding rock and columns littered the entire length of the hallway.

Curious, Sifir walked towards the mural. The huge, monolithic structure emanated a sense of power that inspired a deep reverence within him, not unlike the old temples and cathedrals he had visited before. The architecture suggested that this structure was at been around for at least several millennia, making it one of, if not the oldest structure Sifir had ever seen.

As Sifir stepped onto a round dais and neared the wall, a loud clank echoed throughout the cavern. Looking down, he saw that his foot had struck a metal plate. He picked it up and examined the object. Most of the paint had peeled off from the ravages of time, but a hint of dark purple was still visible underneath a thin layer of rust. Given the dry environment, it would've taken a long time for the metal to even rust a little bit. Maybe a couple centuries old? Obviously, someone had visited this place long after the mural and the columns had been built…and probably tried to destroy it.

He retrieved an archeological analyzer device from his PSD and placed it on the ground. Sensing his intention, several blue lines shot out of the cube-like machine at spread themselves on the wall and the purple plate as several tiny dots of light, bringing back information of distance, chemical traces, and age. After a moment, the lines disappeared, and Sifir picked it up. It took a few seconds to analyze the information gathered before sending its findings to his telepathic transmitter. The purple plate appears to be made of type E quality metal, usually only found on military-grade machines at the time. And it's about…a thousand years old? Then that must've been part of the armor on a Sutherland! A smile crept across his face. If I send one of the researchers this plate they can help me figure out some of the mysteries surrounding Kamine Island during the Zero Revolution. There was nothing he enjoyed more than a challenge. The analyzer beeped. Oh? Another foreign substance at the foot of the mural?

Walking over, he crouched down and started digging through the layer of gravel that littered the area. Plastic, the thing said I'm looking for plastic. The device beeped again and he paused. A thin laserbeam from the device in his hand pointed out a few shards of purple plastic mixed among the debris. Curious, he fingered the jagged edges and wondered where it would have come from. Never mind that, I can ask the researchers to analyze these things for me when I get back. He dug out the rest of the shards and stored them away before standing up. The device beeped again. Something in front of me…a bullet hole? He traced his fingers around a small indent at eye level. These things all have something to do with the mysteries, don't they? Now, if I could find the answer to these questions…

A clear hum akin to the ringing of a bell suddenly filled the air, accompanied by the low rumble of an earthquake that rocked the cavern and sent more stone columns crumbling down. What?! An earthquake? Why now of all times?!

He threw himself against the mural just in time to narrowly miss a large rock falling from the ceiling. As he did, he noticed that the strange lines and the segment of the symbol had started glowing blood red. What's happening? He wondered as he batted away another falling rock. The sound rose in pitch as the shaking increased and the world faded into blank whiteness.

Random images flashed through his mind's eye: two planets suspended above each other, a cracking grandfather clock whose hands moved backwards, distant silhouettes stumbling across a blank white plain. Moments later, the whiteness disappeared, and the rumbling grew.

Sifir took a step forward, and painfully stubbed his toe on a stone pyramid. What the hell?! Where did that come from? He hissed in pain and fell backwards, banging his head on the floor to wind up staring at the cracked ceiling.

Can things get any worse?

And then the ceiling fell in.

AN: Like it?