Highschool DxD: Lelouch of the Reincarnation by Flux Casey (DxD x Code Geass)

Summary: A new life. Reborn in a world of devils and chess-themed intrigue. After sacrificing everything for a peaceful world, was a Demon Emperor being granted his own personal heaven?

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14014587/1/

Word count:121k

Chapters:31

Chapter 1: Turn 1: Unrated

"I destroy the world... And create it anew."

-(-)-

"My Lord, may I present to you, your first born son."

The new father took the babe in his arms, breathing a satisfied sigh. A boy. An heir. And from the demonic power coming off of the child, exactly the kind of heir his house needed.

He looked to his wife. She was exhausted, with a weary smile on her face. She needed rest. Giving her a nod of acknowledgement for doing her duty, he left with the boy, not seeing the confused and hurt look his wife directed at his back.

Such a small thing. So weak and pitiful now. But once the boy grew, he knew that untapped strength would flourish and bring his house to new heights.

… Lelouch. Yes. That was a good name. The lamb. For while that was what little Lelouch was at that moment, one day he would become a kingly ram. One fit to head the House of Bael and uphold their proud legacy.

-(-)-

One might not expect a four year old boy to frown quite so heavily, so thoughtfully. Such is the outcome when a brief lifetime puts together the pieces of a previous one. It hadn't coalesced immediately on his birth, as though the brain of an infant could process such a thing when it hadn't figured out shapes yet. Instead it had been slow. Time going by, infant Lelouch Bael would have sudden and surprising moments of insight, see a flash of a memory, left confused as to what it meant and yet unable to express it. His mother Misla thought them nightmares. And they were, after a fashion. Nightmares he had lived.

But as time passed, as his brain developed, synapses began firing in familiar patterns, thoughts coalescing in familiar routines, finally the pieces came together. And they formed a still as yet inexplicable result.

Lelouch vi Britannia was alive. Again. And again, after a fashion. His impressive mind had already begun crafting theories on the how and why of his being there. The World of C was all the proof he needed that the mind, the soul, it existed separate from the body, capable of traversing realms impossible. That alone would be enough to consider this plausible. But Codes, Geass, those powers that had ruled his life for the entirety of his revolution, they were basically a glitch in the fabric of that world. A strange and unexpected outcome of his death like this one? It wasn't so inconceivable.

He wasn't slow to notice his new life was once again one of ostentatious wealth and privilege. Just wonderful. Another life of secret plots and backstabbings. He wanted to believe that might not be the case, given he doubted he was for a second time born into a family where his father was trying to unravel an ancient conspiracy of immortals in an attempt to invade a realm of pure thought all to touch the face of God... But he was also apparently a devil now, so his hopes on that weren't high. The Demon Emperor gets reborn as a devil. Of course he does. What other fate could await him but hell itself?

"How's my little man?" his... mother said as she peered through the doorway, only for a worried look to cross her face when she saw him. "Lelouch, is something wrong?" she asked, hurrying over and kneeling, checking him over, trying to find an explanation for the strange look on her little boy's face.

She was so similar like this. So caring. That was why she worried him. His life as her child insisted that she was there to make everything okay, but his life as another woman's child told him it was only a lie.

It made the deception he would employ easier to stomach. "Mama, why are we devils?" he asked, as innocent and childlike as he could. It would do him no favours to suddenly display perfect diction and an adult understanding of the world. He would keep up the charade for a few months, slowly divest himself of it to not arouse suspicion.

She settled on her knees, giving him a patronising look. Well, probably not patronising when he was supposed to be four years old. "That's a hard question to answer, honey," she admitted as she ruffled his hair. It felt... Good, in a way he didn't want to acknowledge. Just play the part. "You're a devil because your papa and I are devils, and we're devils because our mamas and papas are devils."

"Are there people who aren't devils?"

"Sure there are!" she informed him, pulling him onto her lap, having decided it was story time. "There are humans and angels and dragons and fallen and youkai and gods and all kinds of people!"

"Gods?" Lelouch asked. "I thought there was only one of those." If he was a devil, that rather confirmed that the Judeo-Christian faiths were correct, thus there should not be other gods.

His mother's smile grew... strained. "Yes there is that one, but there are also a lot of lesser gods."

"What are they like?"

"Well..."

-(-)-

"Lulu!"

Curse this world and every other, he would never escape that damnable nickname. Closing his book he deposited it on the table and hopped off of his chair. The Bael family had a rather extensive library. Eyebrows would be raised if the staff or his parents realised he was reading books on human history.

He had wanted to know if... Well... He wanted to know if his plan had succeeded. It had been a few years now at least. He wanted to know if the world stayed at peace with him gone. He believed his plan accounted for every factor, every possible eventuality. He would not have hinged the plan on his own death otherwise. But if he had the chance, he wanted to know that he had earned the happiness of the people he cared for, and for everyone else in the world.

Sadly it was not to be. Even a modern history book told him everything about this world was different. The calendar was different, having never adopted the ATB calendar. The nations were different. There were no Areas. Britannia was never established in the colonies. The British Isles were never conquered by Napoleon. International coalitions spanned across the globe. No Chinese Federation, instead just China. No Europia United, instead a European Union that was little more than an economic agreement with delusions of grandeur. No Britannian Empire. There was once a British Empire, and it still existed to some extent but only on paper. Conquered a third of the world only to succumb to rot and decay. It was an amusing thought that if he had done nothing, the Britannian Empire might have gone the same way.

It was all so different. It was wonderful! And... Also disheartening. He had just wanted to know he succeeded. Just a simple confirmation. But he was further away than he could ever be from finding that answer. Should he have gone to the hell of his own world, he would know. But here? He would never know here. He was back to taking it on faith that he got it right. Faith in his plan and in the people he left behind.

The fevered scampering grew closer, the library door making a racket as tiny fists banged on it. "Lulu! LULU!"

With a put upon sigh, Lelouch opened the door. "Lelouch," he corrected the tiny person on the other side, "Le-lu-sh."

"Uh-uh!" the toddler in the doorway denied. "Too hard! Lulu, play!"

'Too hard'. Someone named 'Sairaorg' doesn't get to complain about names that are difficult to pronounce. "Okay," he sighed even as he smiled, following his cheering, wild-haired younger brother to whatever he wanted to do.

He would never escape being a pushover for younger siblings either.

-(-)-

"Focus. You are a Bael. Therefore this will come naturally to you."

Personal attention from his father. Not something he had ever wished for Lelouch lamented as he held his hands outstretched in front of himself. He had not expected this. Had been given no reason to expect this. He expected he would never actually see Lord Bael unless his father needed something from him. If his mother was vaguely similar to Marianne during his time at Aries Villa, his second father was comfortably similar to Charles.

Comfortably in that he was equally arrogant, equally focused on status and prestige and equally ruthless. At least as far as little Lelouch had seen. Thus there were no complicated feelings he would need to unpack when it came to Lord Bael, unlike for his mother. He could hate him at his leisure.

The personal attention he had gained was also for an unexpected reason. Lord Bael had gotten it into his head to teach Lelouch magic. At first Lelouch had been enthusiastic even if it did mean spending time with Lord Bael. Becoming a devil had been an adjustment so far. His father cut an imposing figure. On catching a glimpse of his reflection and seeing how weedy and tiny he was by comparison he felt restless. Like he needed to do something about it. Like he needed to, dare he say it, exercise. It made him shudder just thinking about it. So being ordered to learn magic, a fantastical but more cerebral pursuit? He would take hold of such an opportunity even were it not a distraction from his perplexing disgust for his noodly arms.

Sadly, learning magic had so far proven a disappointment. It was lucky for Lord Bael that the explanations that would soar well above the heads of five year olds was in fact being delivered to a teenager in a five year old's body. Lelouch understood what was being said, but what was being said was disheartening. The magic Lord Bael was looking for was innate. Instinctual. No higher thought required. It was quite literally a case of a monkey being able to do it, provided it happened to be a monkey with demonic power.

"My lord, isn't it a little early to expect him to demonstrate the–" Lelouch's mother tried to intervene on his behalf.

Even as his wife, she called him lord.

"He is a Bael. He has the power. And now he will show it to us."

In that moment, it was easier than ever for Lelouch to impose the image of one father over another. A wild, dark mane and sharp chin warped to grey-white rolls and a stately square jaw. Even their expressions bore similarities, the same look of impatient warning, an indication of imminent disappointment and the consequences that would follow.

And the worried look of his new mother. A sight that had the opposite effect. He could not see Marianne in that expression. With what he learned in the World of C he knew why. Of the plots and plans working in the background. Not just Charles, Marianne too saw him as a tool. A pawn. A piece to be used, and discarded if necessary.

But this woman... This woman that his childlike self so wished to love and trust as 'Mama', he could see none of that in her, no matter how his more cynical self insisted it had to be there. All he could see was a woman worried for her son.

… No. It was not Marianne he saw in her. It was someone else. And both new self and old agreed as his arm swung in Lord Bael's direction with a flare of malevolent energy, any who made her sad would not be forgiven!

It... Was a little disappointing when Lord Bael simply raised his own hand and easily cancelled the energy out with his own. It was probably for the best that he didn't murder his father in a fit of pique, even if it would have beaten his personal best time for patricide by a country mile.

"Good," Lord Bael remarked while his wife ran forward to hug her son. He was not the slightest bit ruffled by the event. "You have proven fit to call yourself my son and a child of the House of Bael."

"He tried to kill you!" his wife exclaimed with horror, though with how she continued to hug her son's head into her chest it was clear the admonishment was aimed at her husband rather than her son.

"And in doing so he proved himself," Lord Bael countered. "He may hate me as he likes, it makes no difference to me. So long as he is a credit to this house." With that, he swept out of the room.

Lelouch just stood there, confused, head secured in the warmth of his mother's arms. Did Lord Bael just give him tacit permission to assassinate him? Or he was so secure in his power he assumed Lelouch would never be able to harm him. Or if by the time he could, it would no longer matter. Or, or, or. It made little sense to him no matter what, telling him just how much he still had to learn about devils and devil society. Thankfully, learning was one of his strong suits.

-(-)-

… Chess.

A little context. Lelouch's mother offered to teach him a new game, and since he was still shedding the image of childish obliviousness he excitedly asked what it was.

And then she pulled out an eight-by-eight checkerboard from his mostly untouched games cupboard. And a box of funny little pieces. He oohed appropriately at the little horsey piece.

By gods pretending to be five was exhausting.

"Now make sure to pay attention, honey. This game can be a little complicated." She slowly and carefully explained the rules of the game, how each piece could move, spending extra time to make sure he understood what the horsey did.

She did not mention the castling or pawn promotion rules. But that was fine, he usually played with a handicap. Speaking of, "I wanna be these," he insisted, pointing at the black pieces.

"Are you sure?" his mother asked teasingly. "White gets to go fi-irst!" she singsonged.

"Nuh-uh! Black hair black pieces!" he insisted again with arms folded, putting on the airs of a child about to throw a tantrum if he didn't get his way.

"Okay," she acquiesced with the patient, soothing tone that he disliked liking. With her opening, she moved her pawn, g2 to g4. An atrocious first move. She was clearly going very easy on him while he 'learned' the rules. Well, since the counter was so obvious a child could see it, he moved his own pawn to d5, giving his bishop a path to threaten the exposed pawn. "Ah, oh! Well done, Lelouch! That's an excellent first move!"

"Thank you Mama."

Hm. Pawn to f3 to counter his threat. So, e6 to give a direct path to the exposed king. Her pawn moves to h4 to block an early mate. Well that's easy, he'll... Oh, he should probably take longer to figure this out, shouldn't he?

"It's okay, take your time. Chess is a game of strategy and–"

Okay, that's enough time. Bishop to d6.

"Ah... W-well done!"

White rook to h3. Queen to h4. Rook to h4. Bishop to g3. Checkmate. "Did I win?"

"You did!" she cheered, smiling beatifically at her seemingly gifted son. "Would you like to play again? Do you remember how to set up the board?"

"Uh huh!"

It seemed she decided not to go quite so easy on him this time, even so she tried to impart some of the broad strategies she was familiar with as they played. She even name-dropped some popular strategies, ones he was familiar with on explanation but named differently. It seemed in this world the Yorktown Opening was called the English Opening.

Their play lasted long through the day. Lelouch lamented he needed to throw most games to maintain the image he was trying to build. Being a genius is one thing, being an impossible savant is entirely another.

Overall though, it was a pleasant afternoon. The servants brought food and drinks for them while they continued. One blonde woman with an unusual red glow to her eyes brought some little cakes giving his mother an indulging smile before leaving. "Who was she?" Lelouch asked, moving a knight to threaten her rook.

"Oh, that was Sara, my Rook."

His fingers that were reaching for a cake stopped, his eyes looking to hers. "Your... Huh?" he asked, remembering late he was pretending to be baby Lelouch.

His mother let out a little giggle. "This is why I'm teaching you this game, Lelouch. It's very important in our society. When you're older, you'll be given a set of pieces just like these, and the people you give them to will be made stronger in exchange for working for you. It's called a peerage."

"So... She's... Just a chess piece?"

"Not at all! She's been my friend for a long time. Before you were born, even." Her smile turned nostalgic. "We've been through so much together. When I married your father she came with me to be my attendant. She's practically family."

"Huh..." he murmured, looking over the board. "So a peerage is like family?"

"Not for everyone," his mother acknowledged, "But it can be if that's what you're after. The key is everyone working together for a common purpose. Most importantly, to protect the King. For Sara, that's me. For your peerage, that will be you. We even have a special game where peerages compete. It's called a Rating Game. Like this but with real people."

Lelouch could not believe what he was hearing. At first he had thought that this world he had found himself in had been a joke on a cosmic scale. The Demon Emperor becoming a literal Demon Emperor. Instead... What if it wasn't a joke? What if some way, somehow, he had been lain to his eternal rest, his soul departing to his own personal slice of heaven. It was a society of morally flexible literal devils with a society based around chess to the point of having chess-themed wargames! Precisely what else was he supposed to think of that?!

Well his first thought was 'Yes please!' If this was a world tailored to him the least he could do was enjoy everything it had to offer.

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14014587/1/