Fanfic / Code Geass: Zero's Requiem

Zero's Requiem is an ongoing Code Geass Fan Fiction by Serocco. It bills itself as a For Want Of A Nail story that changes the outcome of the Euphinator incident, and thus, the majority of the plot from then onwards.

Unlike what one would expect, however, the story surprisingly starts off with Marianne during her time as the Knight of Two (a canon rank she attained in the series proper), in what seems to be a prologue. We'll see how it develops.

The fic appears to have been deleted from FanFiction.Net, but the prologue that was there has been split into a separate story here

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Tropes:

• Adaptation Expansion: It enjoys exploring and expanding the canon depictions of the characters' backstories and personalities. On the other hand, you'll notice how certain details from canon were changed here and there. For example, Charles has his own code, when he never did in the actual show. The Sword of Akasha lacks the Dyson Sphere, and it has the blade shown in Nightmare of Nunnally.
• Ascended Extra: Expect at least some of these to pop up sooner or later.
• Asshole Victim: Alahn Mercer and Ronald Thursley.
• Bad Boss: Ronald Thursley was the captain of the security guards in front of the throne room. Killed four of his guys before he was gunned down.
• Bait-and-Switch: Henrietta straddles Cedric's waist, leans close to his face... and headbutts him.
• Bare Your Midriff: C.C.'s wearing a tube top in her debut, but there hasn't been much attention given to it yet.
• Big Brother Is Watching: Auerbach can "hear" the thoughts of whomsoever happens upon the vicinity of a Thought Elevator.
• Boom, Headshot!: Mercer killed Liggins this way.
  • C.C. did the same to Mercer, appropriately enough.
• The Chessmaster: Marianne
• Color-Coded Characters: The Britannian military commanders all have a color motif. Andreas Darlton is violet/purple, Bouris Upson is green, Carvys Thrincher is blue, Avery Carrack is red, Bledrie Senthrum is white and Ciarran Osprey is orange.
• Dangerously Short Skirt: C.C. fights a pack of palace guards with a short green skirt.
• Dark Skinned Redhead: Alastrine Niddique.
• Dawn of an Era
• Deadpan Snarker: C.C., of course.
  • Auerbach as well. His first line is "Are you rehearsing a script?" when Marianne talks to herself about the contents of the Thought Elevator.
• Death by Irony: Ronald Thursley, the palace guard who killed his comrades via friendly fire, gets killed by his comrades via friendly fire.
• Deal with the Devil: Charles and V.V. received their codes from Auerbach, according to Marianne.
• The Dreaded: Auerbach, for sure. His mere presence is enough to discomfort the normally-serene Marianne Lamperouge.
• Doomed by Canon: We all know what happens to Marianne in canon. There's little to doubt the same will occur here.
• Eagleland: The United States doesn't exist, but Americans still do, evidently.
• End of an Age: Britannians fear that Zero will cause one.
• Epic Fail: "Is Spanish just English, but in another language?"
• Evil Sounds Deep: Auerbach shares the same demonic voice tone as the The Darkness, according to Word of God. That should explain everything you need to know about him.
• Evil Overlord: Rhydderch
• Expy: Henrietta mar Britannia has the same appearance as Princess Henrietta of Tristain.
• Foreshadowing: The title of the second chapter, persona non grata is Latin for "an unwanted person". Auerbach makes his debut in that exact chapter.
• General Ripper
• God of Evil: Implied. "Your ideas, their work," Marianne once said to Auerbach, in reference to the Thought Elevator. Given his usual demeanor, he sure has the "evil" part nailed.
• He Knows Too Much: Mercer shoots Liggins in the head for hearing something about Geass.
• Humanoid Abomination: Auerbach describes himself as the "source" of the Thought Elevator, whatever that means. It's also implied that he is the Sword of Akasha, but we're not sure if it's true.
• Human Shield: C.C. hid behind Thursley just as Coughlin and Nuttridge opened fire. Given Thursley's track record, as well as the fact that they only fired once C.C. was out of the way, it seems that Coughlin and Nuttridge killed Thursley intentionally.
• Knowledge Broker: Wizard, just like his canon counterpart. He's even called one in the story.
• Lack of Empathy: There's a distinctly low amount of concern coming from Thursley over his accidental murders of four of his comrades.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Alastrine was rather... interested in sharing a guy with Marianne.
• Mean Boss: Olivia Zevon, as far as Cedric is concerned.

• Mr. Fanservice: Hunky, muscular call boy Cedric Lahirr is introduced without his shirt. Thanks!
  • His brother, Ciarran, is not slouch either. He's leaner, introduced in his boxers, seems to be The Charmer...
• Ms. Fanservice: Henrietta and Alastrine both shamelessly sport some delicious lingerie.
• O.C. Stand-in:
  • Auerbach provides an interesting subversion. He wears the same armor as the Knights of the Rounds◊ in Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally, but he's not an actual member.
  • Michael Loughner, the colonel that talked to Bartley in chapter three? He's one of the Code R researchers◊ that Bartley keeps ordering around in canon.
  • Francis Eardley is one of those palace guards◊, minus the banana peals on his helmet. A lot of the OCs in Chapter Nine happen to be palace guards, as well.
  • Saiduhr wears the same uniform as Lelouch's Royal Guard◊, despite not being a member.
  • You see those guys surrounding Charles?◊ That's what Roger Murdoch looks like.
  • Denecour, Decorous, Kiriakou, Demetrios, Berenice, Nearchus, Iadarola, Andriscus are all names and personalities given to the background extras who appear to be members of the Britannian Imperial Family.
• Oh, Crap!: Marianne gets a very brief one after Auerbach reveals that he can hear her thoughts (and thus, her intentions).
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The normally serene Marianne completely drops her smile once Auerbach shows up.
• Precision F-Strike: "She took my fuckin' ship."
• Quirky Mini Boss Squad: Pluton.
• Rank Up: Loughner's briefly mentioned to be a major before Bartley promotes him to colonel.
  • Jeremiah Gottwald goes from a security captain into a margrave.
• Reality Warper: Maybe. Auerbach screws with the scenery to intimidate Marianne in chapter two, but it stops as soon as she blinks, so we're not sure if it was an illusion.
• Silent Antagonist: Thursley never speaks, but he's quite a pain regardless.
• Slasher Smile: Auerbach sports a permanent grin on his "face". Since it's the same as the Knights link above, we imagine it's rather freaky.
• The Tease: Henrietta had a moment where she looked like she was about to kiss Cedric, before headbutting him. Said he needed to bring another guy first.
  Cedric: You evil woman!
• Three-Way Sex: Implied, between Cedric, Alastrine and Henrietta, though he's the call boy.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Alastrine and Henrietta, respectively.
• Unwanted Assistance:
  • Ronald Thursley, who killed four of his comrades while trying to fight C.C. One has to question if he was ever really "helping" to begin with.
  • His compatriot, Rodney Coughlin (one of the two who killed Thursley, mind you), accidentally stabbed Owen Nuttridge's head while trying to attack C.C.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Three of the male members of Pluton wear skimpy bolero jackets. Deconstructed once C.C. burrows a couple of bullets into their chests. Tabram and Eddowes, the two who get shot, die of their wounds due to the lack of protection.
• Wham Line: "What did you do to my code?!"
• Yaoi Fangirl: Henrietta, at least, wants Cedric to get a second guy to participate if he wants some action with her.
• You Are in Command Now: Marianne promotes Jeremiah into a margrave after recognizing that a two-bit security captain isn't gonna convince other two-bit security captains to follow his lead.

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