The year was 2018 a.t.b. The masked freedom fighter Zero, man of miracles previously thought dead, creates another miracle as he publicly assassinates Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia, freeing the world from his tyrannical rule. So it was written in history books.

Little did anyone know that Lelouch planned his own death in advance, uniting the world against himself, so that the world's hatred would disappear with him -- killed at his request by his friend Suzaku Kururugi, hiding under the mask of Zero. Lelouch made this sacrifice to atone for his past atrocities and create a world where his younger sister, Nunnally, could live in peace.

But even the purest, most noble dreams and most well-thought-out plans prove to be disappointingly fragile when faced with the stubborn, wayward foe known as reality...

Round 01
LELOUCH'S LEGACY

To say Ashford Academy was overcrowded that hot and sunny day would be an understatement. Even back in the times of Milly Ashford's crazy festivals, the school grounds have not seen such a gathering of students and outsiders alike in the central park, around a newly-installed street TV screen, on which the former student council president was seen performing a live news broadcast.

Rivalz stood in a remote corner, looking at Milly's giant face with eyes of naive adoration. Next to him, leaning against the school wall, stood a female student wearing a hood, concealing her face but not occasional loose strays of red hair. She was constantly looking around, concerned, and at the sight of a lovely, smiling Japanese couple walking by, pulled the hood lower.

"Living legend, my ass..." Kallen mumbled, but even the nearby Rivalz couldn't hear her in the overall noise.

"Never in a year have the streets of Tokyo been so lively!" Milly said from the screen cheerfully. "That's right: exactly in a year, as today, in the anniversary of the Bloody Emperor's demise, the people of Japan are waiting impatiently for the arrival of the 100th Empress of the Holy Britannian Empire, Nunnally vi Britannia!"

The camera panned over the airfield, showing Kaname Ohgi in a formal suit -- fitting him about as much as the rags of a Japanese rebel would fit a sophisticated Britannian aristocrat -- standing on an airstrip in wait, along with other members of the Japanese government, surrounded by two rows of security guards. Knightmares of the Black Knights -- the Shenhu and two Akatsukis -- stood alert nearby.

The airport terminal -- a neat two-story white building -- was paralyzed that day. Passengers waiting for their own flights did not spend their time chatting and walking around duty-free shops; the spacious interiors were nearly deserted, save for the area around the wide glass wall that offered a view on the airfield. A noisy crowd gathered here, mostly Japanese with a few rare foreigners here and there, gossiping about politics -- most delightfully raising the topic of Nunnally's past.

"That Nunnally, she used to be the governor here... Britannian governor... of the Elevens..."
"A second Massacre Princess... tried the same bait again..."
"Hey, hey, at least she was nicer than that Calares guy, you can't deny her that!"
"She's Lelouch's full sister, right? Same mother?"
"Yes, but the Bloody Emperor had her chained too, I was there when Zero--"
"Brother, sister, doesn't matter, same cursed blood! She'll make Euphemia and Lelouch look like angels in her time, mark my words..."
"A crybaby like that doesn't have the guts to be Empress anyway, you saw how she cried a river over Lelouch that day?"
"They said she was blind, well, look at her now. Liars, it was a stunt to inspire pity..."
"I heard Zero is with her..."
"Zero? On Britannia's side? Impossible, I won't believe it until I see myself!"
"Maybe Zero is just waiting for the right moment to kill her too, eh?.."

A girl in an elegant black dress, with knee-long blonde hair gathered into a thick braid, passed by the crowd, muttering something unintelligible. It would take some effort to recognize her as C.C. now; she had grown a little, her cheeks were hollow, and her eyes permanently lowered and filled with anxiety and sorrow. There was now a small scratch on her neck.

Uninterrupted, she passed through the passport control checkpoint, showing the bored operator a passport with the Britannian coat of arms, for Celeste Cromwell, born 2002 a.t.b. Walking upright, confidently, she reached the end of the slanted floor, where the exit to the airfield was. A lone security guard stood there, also bored; at the sight of C.C., he eyed her skeptically like she was at least a wanted mass murderer.

"Where you going, ma'am?" he asked angrily. "There are no flights boarding right now, and we're awaiting the —"

The girl stopped. "I would just like to have a closer look at the Empress. You can inspect me, I don't have concealed weapons or anything. What's the problem?"

"Is that a joke? The entire field is restricted access at the moment. Go away."

C.C. sighed. "I guess I have no choice, then..." she muttered. Her left eye lit up with the Geass sigil. "Just a small favor for a dame. You won't deny it, will you?" she smiled.

The guard melted; his hands trembled. "O-o-of course, my lady!" he exclaimed as he leant towards her, attempting to take her hand. "Come, have a look at the Prime Minister while you're at it, anything for you! Just be careful out there. Could we meet someday when I'm off duty, sweetheart?"

"Of course!" she said, grinning and waving at the guard as she exited the terminal building and walked away, trying to stay out of the view of security cameras. "Yes, yes, I know..." she whispered, frowning. "I hate doing that... I just want to look at them once again. But why, I wonder... it won't bring him back, will it?.."

* * *

Inside the royal plane, Schneizel paced around Nunnally's wheelchair. He was dressed in style, if somewhat hastily -- the lower of the two buttons on his floor-long grey jacket was hanging loose. His face radiated confidence; the child empress, on the other hand, looked nervous and detached, constantly blinking and adjusting her pink dress.

"A wise move, I should say, that federative treaty project..." the prince said, putting his hands behind his back. "That should quell the uprisings around the country, at least somewhat. But I fear the consequences for you, sister -- with so many assassionation attempts already. You will be blamed for ruining Britannia's pride, and rightfully so, even if this is a politically weighted and reasonable decision. Some people just won't learn unless... properly educated," Schneizel put on a creepy smile, "and that would be far more easily accomplished with a more charismatic and decisive emperor, one who is not reluctant to be the ruler of half the world--"

"Schneizel!" echoed a demanding voice. The door to the adjacent section opened, and Zero entered, shaking the floor with his loud steps. "I told you before: this is not just for Britannia's sake, but for Nunnally's as well. This is the only way we can work together to build the world she desires!"

He didn't even need to see Schneizel's widened eyes to understand: the Geass took effect. "Your word is my law, Lord Zero," the prince replied enthusiastically, bowing to the masked figure.

The three heard the sound of the plane hitting the ground and coming to a stop. The outer door opened; Zero grabbed the handles on Nunnally's wheelchair and steadily rolled it out and down the ladder, with Schneizel following him calmly. Ohgi, standing on the red strip extending between the rows of guards, approached them and shook the girl's hand.

The crowd gathered in the Ashford Academy park responded with gasps and frowns at the sight of the handshake on the TV screen. Villetta Ohgi, sitting in Tamaki's bar patting her protruding round belly, just smiled at the sight of her husband.

"We, uh, welcome our Britannian guests to the United States of Japan," the Prime Minister began his speech, stumbling and constantly trying to look away from Nunnally. "Although our country had troubled relations in the past, we hope that, uh... we have reached a point when we can solve any remaining misunderstandings without causing any more... um, unnecessary bloodshed, when we can all... work together to--"

Just as the plane door closed behind the Britannian delegation, four of the security guards suddenly dropped off their uniforms, revealing bombs of liquid sakuradite attached to their shirts. Ohgi froze and blinked. The other guards immediately pointed their rifles at the four, but Ohgi made them a sign not to shoot.

"Shoot one of us, and the empress and the traitor Zero will die in the explosion," calmly said one of the infiltrators, apparently their leader, with sharply-cut hair, a long face and a protruding chin.

* * *

Britannia Mainland
Capital City of New Pendragon

Early evening.

A near-empty street on the outskirts, a decorated bridge across a quiet canal. Here, unlike the noisy city center, time moves slowly, news travels slowly, and the citizens' daily life goes mostly undisturbed.

The lone pedestrian here, a twenty-five-ish woman in narrow sunglasses, with shoulder-long straight black hair, no doubt came here for sightseeing. She was dressed modestly, but neatly. Formal brown trousers covered her long legs, and the front of her white shirt depicted the old Britannian imperial palace, destroyed a year ago with Schneizel's FLEIJA. On her feet were lightweight, low-heeled summer shoes.

Stopping in the middle of the bridge, the passer-by unzipped her handbag, took out a small camera, and started frantically photographing everything she saw: the canal itself, reflecting the sun, the surrounding buildings -- mostly low-story, of classic Britannian architecture -- and the rare cars driving by. Judging by the expression on her smooth face, everything around seemed new and exciting to her.

Having finished the "photo session", she packed the camera back and continued the walk. About a cityblock past the bridge, she became so carried out in turning her head around that she bumped into a sloppily-dressed man of about thirty years old who exited an alleyway right in front of her.

Her sunglasses fell off, exposing her distinctly Asian eyes. "Excuse me," she said automatically with a Japanese accent. Her ethnicity left no doubt anymore.

"Eleven?!"

This cry instantly gathered a small crowd of similarly-dressed men from around the corners. The foreigner retreated into the dusty alley, where she quickly reached a dead end and became cornered. "Go back to your dirthole, Eleven!" she heard menacing voices. "What are you doing here, in Britannia?"

The woman flopped her mouth, but didn't say anything. The gang got closer; some of the assaulters were visibly drunk.

Suddenly, a noise got heard somewhere from above, and a dark figure jumped down from some balcony, landing in front of the woman and facing the attackers. She saw a young man, about eighteen years old, with long black hair dropping down and reaching his waist. He was wrapped in a black cloak (like Zero, she thought) and -- as she saw from the brief moment his face was turned to her -- wore a white mask concealing the upper half of his face. Something about him, especially his theatrical posture, reminded of the knights of medieval romances; it seemed as if he was about to draw out a rapier and rush headlong in the name of his dear lady.

But it didn't happen. He just stopped in front of the approaching troublemakers, showing with his posture that he feels superior to them.

"How noble of you," he said in a mocking, yet clear and gentle voice. "Most importantly, how brave. You probably think you're doing the right thing? That it's the duty of all Britannians to pursue what you call Numbers, like that? You think that it's patriotic, that you're heroes for using such overwhelming force, that you deserve a med--"

He didn't finish. The apparent leader of the gang, the man who was previously bumped into, reached out for a knife and made one swift movement across the "rescuer"'s neck. He fell on his back to the woman's feet, motionless, his neck bleeding...

* * *

Japan, Tokyo Airport

"Traitor?" asked Zero amusedly.

"You, Japan's hope — you sold out to Britannia!" said the long-faced man. "We fought in your name — what for? So that we would lick Lelouch's feet for three months, and then, when you finally showed him his place, you would suddenly expect us to make peace with his sister and forgive the oppressors? This won't happen, Zero! Just admit that all you wanted was to rule Britannia in her name!"

"Touching," said Schneizel, calmly and sarcastically. "But if you wanted to just kill us, you would do so already. What are your conditions?"

"First of all, your gang flies immediately back to the Americas and never again touches Japanese ground. Britannians can only visit, not stay and live here. Your country publicly apologizes for its war crimes against Japan and pays the expenses needed to undo the damage done by eight years of occupation, in particular the destruction of Tokyo. The corpse of the treasonous Kururugi--"

Zero's fingers twitched upon hearing that name. This is getting serious, he thought. When we get back, we must make the precautions against grave robbery, lest they discover... But here... what can I do? If there was only one, I could have knocked him out, but four... They're learning, evidently.

"Suzaku Kururugi," he interrupted, "was an international war criminal. His fate after death must be decided by the whole world, not just Britannia and Japan. As for the rest... I see that dissent and corruption have struck the Black Knights as well. You are old-timers..."

Should I make use of the emergency defense? thought Zero. But they can ask how I got that information... If I get exposed, then-- No! It's for Nunnally. I'm here to protect her... and she must... I must... live!

"Security!" exclaimed the masked knight, turning his face to one of the cameras. "Emergency protocol J3QQ4!"

In the airport building, a security operator widened her eyes, but hearing Zero's voice, decided not to hesitate. She quickly hit the required keys on the keyboard--

--and holes opened in the airfield floor throughout the length of the red strip. Zero suddenly grabbed Nunnally out of her wheelchair and ran at inhuman speed up the ladder, kicking down the plane door, which was made out of thin plastic and covered with metal paint. A second, thick and undeniably metal, door quickly dropped down behind the two, isolating them inside the plane as...

Schneizel, Ohgi, their cohorts and the security guards dropped unconscious all at once.

"Errr..." Milly's voice said over the live TV feed, "it appears that some kind of gas was released at Zero's request. Aid should arrive to the Prime Minister very soon, and the terrorists will be apprehended. We... er... will continue to provide coverage of this unexpected situation! Please don't panic!"

The crowd at Ashford, already frozen motionless by the sudden bomb threat, responded with loud gasps.

"Ohgi!" exclaimed Kallen, revealing herself — but nobody turned to her, the visitors' looks were glued to the screen.

"Kaname!" screamed Villetta, grabbing the end of the bar table. Tamaki bashed the table with his fist in fury, knocking over a glass of wine.

The cockpits of the three Knightmares on the airfield opened, and Xingke, Chiba and Futaba jumped out and rushed towards the incident scene, trying to bring Ohgi to his senses. More security guards appeared from the terminal and quickly handcuffed the four perpetrators. C.C., or rather Celeste Cromwell, used the panic that rose throughout the complex to quietly slip away, making her way through the waves of people attempting to get to the airfield. In the now-empty waiting hall, she looked critically at the display, now saying "All flights suspended" instead of listing the arrival and departure times, and walked away with a disdainful "hmnh".

Xingke's shake awakened Ohgi, who looked around in puzzlement. "W-what just happened? Where are Zero and Nunnally?"

* * *

"Sleep gas," Zero explained tiredly, putting the empress into a richly-decorated armchair aboard the plane. "Installed by Lelouch back when Japan was his, to prevent exactly these kinds of accidents."

"Suzaku," Nunnally asked demandingly, "is this the future you killed my brother for?"

Zero jumped back. Not a single emotion could reveal itself on the mask, but behind it, the young Kururugi blinked his widened eyes so rapidly as if he at least suddenly saw Charles, Marianne and Lelouch in person, all grinning at him.

"I merely brought justice to the enemy of the world, Your Majesty," he said, stumbling. "As for his henchman, he was slain in battle before that."

"Don't you lie at least to me, Suzaku!" the girl exploded. "Zero Requiem. That was the name of that hideous plan of you two, wasn't it?"

Zero sighed. "So you know everything," he said defeatedly, pulling off his helmet. It was still recognizably Suzaku Kururugi: his stern face, though hardened, displayed traces of his former youthful enthusiasm and vigor, and the bitterness in his eyes slowly mellowed down as he kept staring at Nunnally.

"It's just like before," she continued, "you two never really thought about me. You just wanted power for yourselves and kept using my name as an excuse! Princess, governor, whatever -- did you really think I wanted all that? I wanted to be just Nunnally, I wanted to live with you and Brother quietly, somewhere, anywhere!"

Suzaku made another step back. For a brief moment, it appeared to him that Euphemia herself was reborn in her half-sister. He looked at Nunnally — and for a second, imagined his lost love's face.

I see. That day, it seemed to me that the world ended with Euphie. But it didn't. The world lived on, and I lived on... Perhaps I can still be happy, after all — but that's in Nunnally's hands now.

"And in the end, what did you achieve?" added the girl. "Brother and you are remembered as the greatest evil the world has known. I know it's not true, but I can't do anything about it. Brother is dead, you are believed to be and can't show your face, Britannia is in isolation and falling apart, and I have to deal with all this! While expecting assassins on every corner! Is this your idea of a kind world?"

"Ask Lelouch," Suzaku grumbled, putting the Zero mask back on, just before the blast door opened and Ohgi and Schneizel walked in.

* * *

The Japanese woman cowered in horror. The wannabe knight's corpse was still lying at her feet, his throat slit open and bleeding. His killer stood beside her, holding that same knife, still drenched in the young man's blood, at her own neck, whereas one of his companions reached down and grabbed her pants with obvious intentions.

Trembling, she cast a last desperate look at her attempted savior — and her jaw dropped as she saw the impossible. The bleeding stopped, and the wound on the neck sealed itself, rapidly shrinking until it disappeared completely, without a scar. The dead man opened his eyes and rose unsteadily, pushing the two drunkards away from the victim — they didn't resist much, themselves shocked by the sight to the point that it almost got them sober.

"What's the matter?" he asked with the same gentle voice, but with a degree of mockery. "Have you any idea what it's like to be killed — and not even the first time?"

The woman clinged closer to the wall, not sure whom to fear more now. The gang, shaking off their brief fear, surrounded the two, intending to dominate them by sheer numbers. Suddenly, he grabbed her hand —

— and the street around her disappeared. She felt ripped out of her body, transported, as a pure consciousness, into a different world. She saw... or heard? -- all senses seemed to mix into one in this reality -- strange images, all new, scary and unfamiliar. She felt like she was multiplying around, jumping from place to place -- if any places existed here at all. Visions ran in front of her: a long-haired girl in a straitjacket; a bird-like symbol floating around and appearing in the oddest of corners; two grey spheres, looking like planets, almost touching each other; a human silhouette leaping out of a coffin, rotating gears...

I see you are an explorer, she clearly heard the rescuer's voice. You observe and record, but by necessity, you interact with the world by your very presence. And if you could decide it at will -- whether or not to expose yourself to the world?

What are you implying? she asked with her thoughts.

I can give you that power -- for a price. A contract. In return, you will help me find out the truth about myself. What I am, the cause of my immortality, and a way to end it. For this, if needed, will you be ready to follow me to the end of the world?

Fine. I accept!

The last image she witnessed was the sight and sound of two loose gears meshing with each other. The woman found herself back in the same alley, but the situation was now radically different. The attackers were no longer approaching them; instead, scratching their heads and whispering "Where did they go? Ah well...", they were wandering off. The stranger was still clinging to her arm. He looked in her eyes; her left one now indicated an active Geass.

"Who are you?" she asked, still looking with some fear at him. "What's your name?"

"Name..." he repeated, biting his lower lip. "As much as I remember myself... I haven't had a proper name. Call me L.L."

* * *

Comments

C.C.'s hair is depicted as green in the anime. However, per my "tradition", I presume that the characters don't "really" have the unrealistic hair colors and they are just a stylistic convention.

I'll try not to touch characters whose storylines are for all intents and purposes finished, and not to disturb the status quo for them. This story is not an attempt at Code Geass R3, it will be an attempt to tie up the loose threads in the background of a new engaging conflict. Expect a tighter cast, since such canon characters as Kallen, Jeremiah, Anya, Villetta, etc. will likely get cameo roles at best.