NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: EVOLUTION
BOOK III

An Evangelion Fanfic in Many Parts

By Sentinel 28II (aka Sentinel 28A)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Welcome to the next chapter of Riana's story! I'm glad you've stuck with the story so far. My updates aren't quite as fast as they were before, but I have less time to work on it these days. Nonetheless, I'm going to stay as regular as I can. My intention is to divide up this saga into several "books" so the story doesn't become too unwieldy (or more unwieldy than it already is).

A tip of several hats for inspiration on this chapter (besides the forever hat tip to Hideaki Anno and Gainax for such a memorable universe to play in): Stephen King, Garth Ennis, and George Patton-which is quite the selection of individuals.

Now strap yourselves in and drink the LCL, because the ride begins again.

WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE: With two battles against the Angels under her belt, Riana Arashikaze can now be legitimately called an Eva pilot—even if her comparatively primitive EVA-03A lacks an AT-Field. She has forged bonds of genuine comradeship with Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami, and earned at least the respect of Asuka Langley-Soryu. Riana genuinely enjoys being an Eva pilot, and has adjusted well to life in a foreign land. She also has found, with some chagrin and worry, that she enjoys battle.

Not all is going well for Riana. Her magical powers—the entire reason NERV recruited her- have manifested, but she can barely control them, let alone do anything spectacular. However, Gendo Ikari suspects that Riana may be far more powerful than she herself knows. Moreover, Riana's only living relative—her grandmother, Rissa Arashikaze—is most definitely more than she seems.

With SEELE dead and the Dead Sea Scrolls changed, the Eva pilots and NERV drift into unknown territory, where prophecy is no longer certain and the bonds of friendship will be strained beyond belief…

Riana Arashikaze slowly awoke. The sand beneath her was warm, and oddly comfortable. She sat up and looked around. She was on a beach…next to a sea of blood.

"Dammit," she sighed. "Not this dream again."

Riana was experiencing more than her share of weird dreams these days. There was the one where she had gone ice skating with Shinji, Rei and Asuka (she had short hair in that one, for some reason). There was the one where she had choked Rei while screaming she was actually a fictional character in someone else's story (Riana put that one down to one too many bowls of green tea ice cream). There was the one where Shinji had seen her stepping out of the shower (that one wasn't too bad). And then there was this one, where she woke up on a beach next to a red sea. The problem with knowing you were in a dream, Riana reflected, was that it didn't guarantee immediately waking up from it. The stupid movies lied to me, she thought.

Still, Riana decided, she might as well play out the dream to its end. She stood up, brushed off the sand from her gray plugsuit, and headed over the hill. Sure hope this one's better than the last time. Really don't need to see Shinji choking Asuka, and Rei…whatever the hell Rei was.

Just like in the last dream, it seemed to take a long time to get to her destination, wherever it was, over sand dunes that seemed to get progressively higher, deeper, and tougher to climb. She reached one that took her getting on her hands and knees to reach the summit.

When she did, she wished she hadn't. The sea of blood was still there, the waves still washing ashore and breaking softly. The beach didn't have Shinji Ikari or Asuka Langley-Soryu, or even the half-skull of Rei Ayanami.

Instead, it was an unending beach of dead bodies.

"Why can't I have wholesome dreams?" Riana wondered aloud. She looked at the starry sky, bisected by a rainbow of blood. "Other girls get dreams about their boyfriends and weird metaphors about their periods, but oh no, I get dead bodies!" she shouted at the sky. "I swear, if there's a killer clown in here somewhere, I quit! You hear me? I quit!" Yelling at the stars seemed to do nothing, so Riana, muttering curses she learned from her grandmother, half-walked, half-slid down the dune to the beach.

The beach was carpeted with dead, but there was a clear path through them. At first, Riana ignored them—clearly, her subconscious, her destiny, or God wanted her to go this way, so that way she would go. Her boot touched one body, and she jumped in fear, because she thought it had moved, though that was unlikely, with its throat bitten out. Riana looked closer: the body was male, barely dressed in a breechclout, his face bearded and clotted with blood, the eyes staring and dead. She straightened up, and saw one hand gnarled around a war club.

She moved on. The next group of bodies wore bronze armor, their heads hidden behind helmets that left only the eyes and mouth exposed; their hands clutched long spears. She did not recognize them, but she recognized the next bunch: Roman legionnaires, their armor now more leather than bronze, the shields bigger and square, not round like the ones before, holding shortswords rather than spears. And then knights, in plate armor, the swords longer and heavier. At the foot of another dune, men—and now women, as well—dressed in pirate garb. The fatal wounds were now not just stab wounds or gaping slashes, but bullet holes as well.

She climbed over that low dune. At the bottom of that one lay a tangle of men and horses, uniforms of dark blue, with gaudy filigree and sabers and flintlocks. There were no bladed wounds on these men, only bullets; they were riddled with them. Riana's stomach heaved at the sight of what roundshot and canister could do to flesh and bone.

Riana began to run. The bodies piled deeper on either side of the path now. Uniforms became a lighter blue, and an off-gray. They darkened again, with gold ranks; then there were men and women, half-naked, in war paint. The air thickened as bowl-like helmets appeared and the uniforms became khaki, and the corpses were not just shot or blasted into bloody ruin, but bloated and green. She ran faster as the body piles towered on either side of her, green and khaki and field gray and olive drab. She picked her away around the blasted remains of a tank, the crew inside carbonized into caricatures of human beings. Uniforms were camouflaged now, green and desert colored, mismatched and haphazard.

And then, abruptly, the bodies stopped. Riana emerged from the charnel house into an empty beach. This was somehow worse. There were no bodies. There was just ash, and shadows burned into the beach; where the shadows were, there was no beach, but sickly green glass. Riana stared, turned in place to look at the mountains of dead behind her, and the red sea beside her. All her humor was gone now.

The blood sea was from the bodies, streaming down in wide channels to feed the crimson surf.

Then, abruptly, Riana heard voices. Somewhere—in front of her, once she turned from the bodies—there was someone alive.

Riana sprinted down the beach, stirring up ash as she went; her heart pounded and her lungs felt like they would burst, but it was worth it to get to something living and away from the unending graveyard. Predictably, there was a dune blocking her way, but she took at the run, and reached the top.

And once more, wished she hadn't.

There were bodies below her again. Not as many, but they were once again soldiers of some kind, dressed in black uniforms and body armor. Not that the latter helped, since they were also dead. Intermixed with the dead soldiers were people she recognized as wearing NERV uniforms. There was a gunshot, and she turned in the direction of the noise.

It was her father. Riana recognized him, even though she had never once seen him: Thomas Arashikaze.

"Hello, Riana," he said.

"D..Dad?" Tears ran down her face. If this was hell, then it would be tolerable with the father she had never known. She ran down the dune and threw her arms around him. She half expected there to be nothing there, a ghost, but Thomas was as solid and real as she was. "Daddy?"

"That's my little girl. Well, not little anymore. You've grown." His rough hands went through her hair. "It's good to meet you." His voice was just like she had imagined it: strong, confident, yet gentle.

"It's good to meet you too, Daddy." Even though she knew her father had not been a particularly tall man, and Riana was tall for her age, she still only came up to his waist, as if she was still a little girl. She drew away from him, and looked Thomas in the face. He was ruggedly handsome, and she recognized the impish, mischievious look that stared out of the photograph on her desk. "What are you doing here, Daddy?"

"Killing enemies. 'Scuse me for a second." He kept his left arm around her as he turned and fired a pistol. Someone on the ground who had been weakly moaning was now silent. Riana looked at the body and her eyes widened. Her father had just killed Ritsuko Akagi.

"Dad, that was—"

"Riana? Is that you?"

Riana turned and her heart leapt at the sight of a woman she had known, but only for the first hour of Riana's life. Clarice Arashikaze grinned at her daughter with the grin that Riana recognized from her own mirror. "Oh, my!" She ran over to Riana and enfolded her in a hug. "Oh, my!" she repeated. "It's good to see you again! It's been so very long."

"Er…yeah, Mama." It wasn't that Riana did not want to hug her mother, it was that she was being smothered by her; evidently, that was where she got her bust from. Riana shifted herself around so that she was hugging her mother in a more conventional fashion, rather than being stifled by her bosom. "You're so beautiful, Mama!"

"Not as beautiful as you, Riana." The hug tightened.

Riana opened her eyes, and to her surprise, she saw Gendo Ikari floating in midair, frozen in a look of utter terror, his legs gone below the knees and smoking. "Mom! What—how—is that—"

"Oh, my." Clarice let go of her daughter and turned. She closed her eyes and inclined her head. Gendo's body seemed to become desiccated, as the flesh turned dark brown and shriveled, and his hair turned gray before it fell out entirely. A decomposed Gendo Ikari hung in the air for only a moment before it fell apart into a skeleton and then dust. "I'm sorry about that, Riana. Mommy had to deal with him." Her eyes opened, and Riana saw something there that she did not like. "No one threatens my daughter."

"That's what Arashikazes do to our enemies," Thomas put in. "How's it going over there, Allie?"

"Mmf! Good!" Riana whirled to see another family member. This one she remembered dimly from when she was a toddler: the odd, almost punk hairstyle, the green eyes shared with her brother, but an expression of sadness and a smile that never quite made it to those eyes. Riana's hands went slowly to her mouth as her Aunt Allegra glanced up at her, and smiled. The smile made it to the eyes this time, but once more, there was something wrong about them.

The eyes were a distant second in horror to the fact that Allegra was covered in blood. In her hands was an arm. At her feet was what was left of Asuka Langley-Soryu, torn apart and eviscerated, her blue eyes glassy and sightless. Riana's aunt waved the arm towards her. "Don't tell me you've never wanted to take a bite out of Asuka." When Riana said nothing, Allegra shrugged and tore the arm down the middle, like a piece of paper. More blood spattered her black uniform.

"Are you a…a…a…" Riana stammered.

"Vampire? Don't be silly. Vampires aren't real." Allegra licked the blood from her fingers. "But I must say that cannibalism is underrated. The blood of enemies is rather tasty."

Riana backed up and felt cold steel behind her. "Oh, there you are," said a new voice.

"Gramma." Riana did not have to see her. It made warped sense: the rest of her family was there, save one.

Riana slowly turned around. Before her was an Eva, all black, but not whole: the head was a crushed ruin and one leg was completely gone. Rissa Arashikaze stood atop it, leaning on a sword. Riana's grandmother pulled the blade out, dodged a gout of LCL from the Eva's chest, then jumped down. "Wondered when you'd get here."

"I'm in hell," Riana breathed. "I'm in hell."

Rissa shook her head. "This isn't hell, Riana. Not even close. And you're not dead."

"I think I am, though!" Allegra laughed. There was a sucking noise, then a pop. "Ooh, an eyeball!"

Riana did not dare turn around at that; she knew if she did, her sanity would shatter completely. "What is…all of this?"

"This?" Rissa replied. "This beach, here? This is where our enemies are, Riana. They're all dead. All of them. They may not know it yet, but they are all dead." She motioned towards the distant mounds of bodies, though Riana still refused to turn around. "And those? That's my legacy, granddaughter, the age long strife you see. Where I have fought in many guises, many names, but always me." Rissa held out the sword. "And now it's your legacy, Riana. Take this."

"I can't…"

There was a hand on her left shoulder. "Of course you can, Riana," Thomas said. "Become an Arashikaze. Become a part of the family."

"It took me awhile too," Clarice added, from Riana's right shoulder. "But eventually I did it too, Riana. I had to marry into it, but oh my, it was wonderful."

Allegra came into view, glowing slightly green. She wiped gore on her pants and belched. "Sorry. Excuse me." She took the sword from her mother's hands and held it out by the blade, the ornate hilt pointed at Riana. "Try it, you'll like it."

Despite herself, Riana took the sword. It felt alive in her grip. The blade was coated in a sheen of orange LCL, but it reflected the starlight in a bright shine. She felt the power, the magic in it. It flowed down her arm and through her body to her feet. She gasped with the feeling, with enough force that her eyes closed involuntarily with the sheer thrill and her toes curled inside the plugsuit boots.

"See?" Allegra giggled. "Told ya."

When Riana opened her eyes, Rissa was holding someone from behind, with one hand by the throat. Although he was bigger and muscular, he could do nothing but struggle weakly in her grasp. "To be apart of this family, Riana, you must kill our enemies. Do you understand?"

Riana nodded. She felt her lips peel back in a feral grin. She was shaking in anticipation. "Yes!" she shouted. Her head whipped to see her father and mother. "Can I?"

"Sure. That's a good little girl," Thomas smirked.

"You're so beautiful," Clarice said, her eyes sparkling with tears. "Of course you may."

"Go for it, kiddo!" Allegra exulted.

With a wild laugh, Riana thrust forward—the sword had become a naginata blade, and it easily cut through clothes, skin, bone and heart to burst out the back, a foot of glittering, bloody steel. The man—boy, really—that she had killed coughed blood and slumped backwards. He fell, and Riana put out a boot to pull the naginata out. It came free with a sucking noise, not unlike the sound that Asuka's eyeball had made when Allegra had plucked it out and ate it. Riana acknowledged that now, and she looked at her aunt, who winked at her. "Like I said," she said, "tasty."

"Welcome to the family, Riana," Rissa spoke. "How does it feel?"

Riana stared down at the body of Toji Suzuhara. "It feels…" She ran her gloved hand over the naginata blade. "It feels great."

Riana started awake. She did not sit up in a hurry, or wake up screaming. Instead, as she blinked away the cobwebs of sleep, she felt rather refreshed.

"Are you all right?" Rei Ayanami whispered from beside her.

Riana sat up slowly. "Yeah…I think so." It took a moment to realize that this was the reality, and her blood-soaked family, the graveyard, and the impaled body of Toji was the dream. "Yeah," Riana repeated. "I'm all right, I think."

The dawn was streaming in through the windows. "We should get up," Rei said. "It will be time to leave for school soon."

Riana checked the clock. Normally she felt surly and exhausted at this time of morning, but this time she was fine. "I need to sleep with Rei more often," she laughed softly.

"Excuse me?" Rei asked.

"Nothing, Rei." Riana stood and began to fold up her comforter. "Rei, I can't thank you enough for letting me sleep over. That really…" Her voice trailed off.

Rei was standing as well, and noticed Riana staring at her. "What is it?" She plucked at the shirt and drew it over her head. "You have seen me naked on several occasions, Riana."

"N-no, that's…that's not it." Riana shook her head. "It's nothing. Guess I'm not quite awake yet."

"You are not a morning person," Rei stated.

"You got that right." Riana finished folding up the comforter, threw it over her shoulder, and stuffed Inu-Yasha into it. "Anyway, thanks again. Really."

"It was nothing." For just the briefest of moments, Riana thought Rei was going to smile. The other girl didn't, but there was something friendly in her expression, at least.

"Well, see you in school—"

"Riana." Rei's voice stopped Riana halfway to the apartment door. "Your grandmother. You should call her. Talk to her." When Riana said nothing, Rei continued, "You should not become like Shinji-kun and Commander Ikari. It would not be right. It is not right for…" Now it was Rei who could not complete the sentence. "It is not a good thing," she eventually finished.

"No…it's not." Riana smiled. "I'll call her after school, Rei. I promise. You're right. We just got a little hot at each other, I guess. I'll apologize. I know better than that." Riana looked at her slippers. "So does she, but oh well." She opened the door. "Okay…see you in school."

"Of course." Rei waited until the door was closed, then took off her underwear, grabbed a towel from a drawer, and walked into the tiny bathroom. She was about to turn on the water when she saw her reflection. Her red eyes blinked, then she took a closer look, first at her hair, then at her fingernails.

Both were longer. Her blue hair now reached to her shoulders, and her nails, which were usually well-trimmed, were long—not excessively so, but longer than Rei had ever let them get. When she glanced down, her toenails were longer as well.

Rei sat on the toilet and trimmed her nails quickly and efficiently. She almost padded back out to find some scissors, then looked at her reflection again. A ghost of a smile flitted across her lips.

She rather liked her hair, at that.