Neon Genesis Evangelion Epilogue: The end of the beginning.
"I feel sick"
Asuka lay inert, her expression unreadable. Her eyes moved like those of an old woman toward Shinji. In a dead and philosophical tone she spoke.
"What do we do now?"
Shinji fell down next to her and tried to die. After several hours of failing, he slipped into sleep. Asuka moved not, her mind finally lost in the woods of her impossible position. To one side was the sea of blood with Shinji partially obscuring her view of it. To the other was only barren ground, all that man had done removed forever.
(Cue 9th symphony by L.V.Beethoven)
A mind cannot exist without input.
Without the interactions with environment and fellow minds, the miracle of consciousness cannot endure.
On the train at sunset.
"You don't like people, do you?"
"I never have, no matter how hard I try, people always hate me and I hate them"
"People do like you Shinji, but you do hate people"
"I don't want to, it's their fault!"
"The fault is none but your own"
Asuka noticed Shinji was breathing shallowly and not moving.
"Always he has to beat me, even into the realm of the dead"
Black, a small line pulsing in the center
"What is the meaning of life?"
"I don't know"
"The meaning for you has always been avoiding life"
"What is life anyway, what am I missing?"
"You are missing the love of those around you, because you are afraid"
"I can't let others in or they will hurt me...again"
Images of little Shinji being left behind by Gendou
"If you stay away from life to avoid the pain, then you do not have love"
"I would rather have nothing then pain"
"Then you are already dead"
"No, I won't die"
"You are dead if you don't have any reason for living, death is only reminding the body what the mind already knows"
On the train at sunset
"Without love, life is useless"
"Your right, my life is useless"
"It won't be if you do something with it, love someone"
"I can't, I will hate and be hated"
"Then you should die"
Images of all the Angel battles
"Yes....I will die, soon enough"
"And join the false happiness that the others have embraced"
"They are happy, but I am afraid of people so I could never join them"
"The souls are lost in a false paradise and there is no shepherd to guide them"
Images of the third impact
"Where EVA is will not matter, it will represent a humanity that no longer exists"
"Why did I have to live, why was I born to suffer this pain?"
"Because it must be so"
"No, I refuse to accept pain!"
"Then you refuse to accept life"
"What's wrong with that?"
"You will not end that life which is pointless because it has purpose"
"My life has purpose"
Images of Shinji and Asuka lying on the ground after the third impact
"What is it?"
"I don't know"
Suddenly, the entire vision shatters and Rei appears in front of him. The world is a depthless white, no volume, no distance.
"You must stand Shinji Ikari, stand and face life"
"It's not possible, I can't go on in this world"
"Then change it"
"How?"
"You have the power to do as you please here"
"Where is here?"
"This is your life, and as you can see it is empty"
"I want to get out of here, I want to escape."
"Escape to a world that has no meaning to you"
"What am I?"
(Cue end 9th symphony by L.V.Beethoven)
Images of everything human
"You are the beast that shouted I at the center of the world"
Rei floats toward Shinji
"I am what created this, I am what you know as god. I created a perfect world, but it couldn't hold life. Finally, one of my creations corrupted the world. Then and only then was their life. You are that beast"
"What do I do now"
"Rectify my mistake once more"
"Why?"
"A world cannot exist if it is perfect. Life is not possible if it is perfect. SEELE tried to do what I could not. For my children to escape the false paradise, the lifeless sea, they need you to save them"
"What am I?"
"You are my enemy, my lost son, the savior of your people. You are Lucifer, the fallen"
"I am evil"
"You are weakness, which causes evil. Only through you can there be life"
"What do I do?"
"You must have a balance to yourself, to bring balance and life to the world"
Asuka watched the boy she didn't recognize slowly stand up.
"Shinji?"
Shinji stood on the red earth and his cry pierced the air.
"I!"
The nine crucified EVAs melted and sank into the sea. Wind rose and lightning struck all about him.
"Mother, I need you to return!"
Fire sprang up and burned around his feet.
"I realize why I fell, and now I must save those whom I made. With a heart of pure weakness I cannot prevail. Lucifer must have his armor of strong souls!"
A shrieking sound shattered the air and a flaming comet lit the sky. Asuka sat up, then stood as she watched a spear of light crash into the sea. A wave of blood splashed over the shore as Shinji stood, the storm all about him. There was a roar to the heavens and the sea parted. EVA-01, smoke rising from its glowing metal armor. It ran forward, up the slope of the shore, no blood upon its feet. Shinji turned to Asuka and spoke.
"I can be redeemed from the life I've chosen. The original sin was weakness, but it was weakness that wrought all that we are and ever could be. Utopia cannot exist, but a true hell is better then a false paradise. I have created this, now I shall solve it. Worry not of me, for I was lost from my first day on this earth. The boy I was did truly love you Asuka, but my weakness never allowed him to show his love. I bid thee farewell."
EVA-01s eyes glowed and Shinji vanished. Asuka stood, her mind uncomprehending to the events afore her. Inside EVA-01, Shinji spoke quietly.
"The mind of Lucifer reunited with the body at last"
(Cue Ode to joy by L.V.Beethoven)
EVA-01, the body of strong souls and Shinji Ikari, vessel of weakness, Lucifer, bringer of life became one. Lucifer himself was in the image of EVA-01, save for the bony wings that extended from its back. Lucifer looked in the direction of the giant body of Rei. She dissolved into the sea of blood and Lucifer turned his eyes skyward. In a booming a horrible voice, Lucifer spoke.
"My lord, I repent my wrongs. Receive thou foolish son into the realm of light!"
The body of Lucifer glowed white and the wings became as true wings, glowing white. Asuka stood against the winds. Lucifer opened his mouth and a beam of pure white light shot into the atmosphere. His hands extended out to his sides and the palms shone forth with light. For the barest of seconds the world stood still.
"I!"
Then the image of the light bringer was thrown to all corners of the globe, and a sea of light engulfed all. To all conscious minds regaining earthly form, Shinji Ikari appeared.
"Goodbye, my labor is complete"
Asuka was standing on grass again, a thousand naked humans about her and all around the world a cry of surprise went up. The naked forms of her friends and enemies crowded round to learn the truth. Alone to one side, Futsuyuki watched the strange sun creeping upwards.
"God alone knows why this happened"
Of all people, Misato stood next to him, neither noticing their nakedness.
"Shinji loved life so much he defied god to save us all"
Futsuyuki watched the half circle grow to a full ring of burning flame.
"It is what god desired of his childern all along"
Misato felt the true water of the ocean upon her feet.
"How can we know?"
Futsuyuki looked back towards her.
"The secret dead sea scrolls tell us. So it was written and so it came to pass"
Lucifer had returned to the land of his birth,that which he had not seen in millenia. This is not the end of the story, as life goes on constantly, thanks to the banishment, redemption and rebirth of Shinji Ikari.
The end