Immortal Ikari

by Traitor of All Traitors

Suppose that Shinji was in an incident long before he was sent for by his father to come to Tokyo-3? Suppose the incident left him scarred in more ways than one can imagine? Suppose that he became a new participant in an ancient struggle between light and darkness where a mysterious prize was at stake along with the world itself. In the end, there can be only one!

11. Feast of the Ages

Creation began on 02-26-17

Creation ended on 08-22-17

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Immortal Ikari: Feast of the Ages

Even though he'd been told that hot baths and showers helped to cleanse the mind as well as the body, for Shinji, it was often just a way to escape from some of his darkest memories or even darker thoughts by using the hot water. As he looked up at the bathroom ceiling, the immortal child sunk into the hot bath, feeling his joints cease in their aching.

Meanwhile, Akira had just finished putting on the coffee as Takuya stepped out of their bedroom.

"How is Shinji doing today?" He asks her.

"Other than the aching joints and stiff muscles, he's mentally rested," she answers him.

He sat at the table and then Akira set a plate of pancakes and scrambled eggs down in front of him.

"Thank you, dearest," he praised her.

"You're welcome," she responded, setting down hers and Shinji's for later when he gets out of the bathroom. "I'm hoping that Quentin and Jose are still around when I go out today."

"Why them?"

"As much as the Game compels us left that are immortal to come after each other, I'd still rather see them as friends and allies before having to face them as adversaries."

"Just promise you'll be careful out there. On second thought, I'll come with you."

"It's not Quentin or Jose that I'm fearful of, Takuya. It's only The Demoness."

-x-

"…Well, of course, I'll try to contact her, but I can't promise that they'll be interested," Takeru told Gendo, being handed his burner cell phone that he had to scavenge garbage bins across a town for months to acquire. "And with the Game affecting the immortals left, the ones that will headhunt every chance they get will take every advantage to be the last one standing. That means that if you want to meet with them, and if they choose to meet with you, it's gotta be someplace immortals can meet where their safety is guaranteed, where fighting is prohibited and they don't have to fear losing their heads, which means that it has to be on holy ground, like the temples."

"Why can't you just wear holy items, like crucifixes?"

"Anyone can wear those, but they mean nothing to an immortal. You could wear multiple trinkets associated to many religious practices, and you would still lose your head. Places deemed holy are the only sanctuary afforded to immortals. You could barricade yourself within a fortress as big as a city, and it wouldn't make any difference unless it was on holy ground. And with an immortal like The Demoness playing the Game for the Prize, you would have to accept the precautions against enemy immortals to keep the friends and loved ones of morality-driven immortals safe without interfering with their very lives."

"And this is all for something that only the immortals can obtain when there's only one left? What is so special about this…Prize?"

"I don't know what the Prize is, Gendo. My time in temples and churches, however, along with the long periods of meditation, gave me only a brief glimpse of what it entitles the victor. I saw two potential futures that depended upon the type of immortal that survives. In one of them, there are people able to live. I mean, actually live. There's barely any crime or depravity, and the weather changes with the passage of the seasons. It was only a brief glimpse, but it was a possibility of what could happen if a good immortal won the Prize."

"And the other possible outcome?"

"Just as much crime or depravity, but it's a world reborn of suffering in darkness, day and night, ruled by just one person that has obtained all the power they would ever need to reign over mankind until the planet was no more than an echo of its former self… But that…is only if an evil immortal won. So, this is truly a struggle between light and darkness, good and evil, hope and despair."

"But what if mortals were to intervene?"

"Minor interference from mortals in immortal affairs is tolerated to a certain degree, but if the interference is constant, preventing a battle from being won between immortals, then the Game becomes more dangerous…for everyone. The fact that there can be only one is heavily stressed upon. Mortals can encourage and support the immortals they know, love and trust, but their interference should be only minor, like that of a cheerleader or confidant."

"And you're sure that there will be no new immortals because of this…Gathering?"

"I won't lie to you, Gendo. Only twenty of us were left in the world before the Gathering occurred…and now that number has been reduced…and you can't increase it or halt it, no matter what you try. I don't expect you to accept everything being said as the truth, but the Game is not to be trifled with by anyone that can't accept the harsh reality of how it plays with most immortals."

Takeru then dialed the number he got from Akira, waiting for the call to be received.

"Just so that you know, you're coming, too, if they're all for it," Gendo told his father.

"Okay."

-x-

"Yo, Shinji!" Kensuke greeted the immortal boy as he stepped into the classroom and sat at his desk. "We didn't see you for two days. Class Rep. was beginning to worry."

"I was not," Hikari defended. "It was actually Suzuhara that was worried."

"Really?" Toji reacted. "Weren't you the one that suggested we go to his home and check up on him?"

Shinji chuckled at their concern for him.

"Your concern is greatly appreciated," he told the three. "I assure you that I'm quite fine."

Just then, Rei stepped into the classroom and sat at her desk beside the window.

"Ayanami has been absent from school at around the same time you were," Toji informed Shinji. "And the day three monsters appear and go underground, nobody was sure what was going to happen."

Shinji turned to look at Rei and then back at his confidants.

"So long as I'm alive, I'll do whatever I have to in order to prevent any so-called end of the world phenomenon from happening," he told them. "Are you all free during the lunch period? There's a lot I need to get off my chest."

"Yeah, man," Kensuke told him. "Whatever you gotta share with us. Whenever you need to vent."

-x-

The sight of the new crime scene where a murder had occurred left Akira concerned that The Demoness was working overtime to end the Game as soon as possible so that she could win the Prize. People were starting to gossip as she drove further down the street.

"And the worst thing of it is they don't have the slightest clue as to why these beheadings are occurring," she told herself.

Whoosh! She felt the presence of another immortal nearby, one with lethal intention, and stopped at a crosswalk where people were relocating from one side of the street to the other.

Looking, she saw one of the men from that day on the rooftop leaning against the side of a building, loitering with an attitude.

He looked over at her and frowned, then pointed over to a parking lot across the street from him.

If this guy thinks he has a chance against me, he's very pathetic right now, she thought, and then felt her iPhone vibrate in her pocket. Probably Takuya checking up on me and making sure that I got the groceries and not going after anyone just yet.

She took out her phone and found it was an unregistered number.

"Sorry, but unless you leave a voice message," she declined and pressed the button to terminate the call, "I won't bother with the caller."

-x-

"…Wait, she doesn't have your number registered in her phone?" Takeru asked Gendo after Akira failed to answer her phone for the third time. "If they don't know who's trying to contact them, or if a message isn't left to indicate who was trying to get in touch with them and why, they're not going to respond. Isn't that how people stay in touch these days, knowing who's trying to get in touch with them and why?"

"We haven't exactly been getting along," Gendo stated to his father.

Of course, that was an understatement. But Takeru knew there were other ways to get a message and leave a message; one just had to be creative and open to the possibilities.

"Do it old school, then," he told his son. "Contact those you know that may have some contact with them and have them deliver the request message. Neighbors, doctors, friends, people that they trust."

"If I knew any of them, I would try so," Gendo told him; the head of NERV had to own up to his immortal vagabond father that when he left his son, he cut off all ties with him, distancing himself from all aspects of his child's life, including the people he might've associated with.

He knew next to nothing about any of the people Shinji spent time with apart from Akira and her current husband.

"Do you have the number of any school that Shinji goes to?" Takeru suggested. "When parents can't reach their children directly and they're at school, they leave a message for their teachers or principals to relay to them in cases of emergencies."

-x-

It was strange to believe, almost unlikely, but they had seen him practice with his immortal ancestress in their swordsmanship. They knew what he was capable of when he needed to defend his head, but the thought of him now having claimed another adult immortal that held a secret that could prevent the deaths of the immortals remaining made Hikari, Toji and Kensuke feel a little bad for Shinji. If only because they knew he did what he had to in order to stop further harm from befalling those like his grandmother and her friends and allies. And the immortal he confided in them about was one of the bad ones, so what he did could've been seen as a public service of sorts if the rest of the world ever found out.

"…So…one of the last ones left is this woman called…The Demoness?" Toji asked him as they were having lunch on the rooftop.

"That's right," Shinji answered. "If what Akira told me is true, and the memories I obtained from Aceline confirm from her own experience, she's far worse than all other immortals, past and present. If she wins the Game, everyone will be at her merciless reign."

"But…you were able to get this power from Aceline before she could," reminded Kensuke to him. "If her reason for trying to get her was for it, then, despite any feelings I have about how it was done to obtain it being of the wrong sort, you were most fortunate in your endeavor to get it before she did. So now, you can help those that want to get out of the Game get out without killing them. I mean…you can do that now, right?"

"That's the thing of it," Shinji explained. "I can…but I haven't tried to yet on any that may want to escape the Game. If I do it with Akira, at least she'll be safe from me if I make it to the end, but I don't want to force her to get out if she doesn't want to. And then, there's my paternal grandfather. My father's father, who I didn't find out was immortal until just a few days ago when the Gathering started and I saw those left alive…and learned how he ended the way he did and why he had to abandon his family. If I take his Quickening, he can be free and try to pick up the pieces of his life while starting anew with a clean slate."

He was conflicted, they could see that on his face. Shinji wanted to avoid the possible conflict with his two immortal relatives and their friends, but he didn't want to take away their right to decide whether or not to walk away and reclaim their lives from before the Game. And from what any of the four were aware of, this power wasn't something that could remove Shinji from the Game, just those that sought to be removed from it; the power he received from Aceline was his and his alone until someone claimed his head…or he won the Game.

"Hey, Shinji," went Hikari to the boy, "when this is all over and done with…let's all go…do something only kids would do."

If she was trying to encourage him to not give up just because he found some sense of difficulty, Shinji was impressed.

"Like what?" He asked her.

"Movies, rollerskating, the beach. I don't really know, anymore. Who knows what children do that brings joy to their hearts?"

"Those that believe in never saying 'die'," he accepted, looking at his left hand, showing off a little of one of the powers he obtained from the Angels by making it glow with pinkish fire. "Never give up, never lose faith, and never say 'die'."

-x-

Better a principal or teacher than Rei herself, who probably wouldn't have done so if she found Shinji's current state unpleasant, even though she didn't know why just yet…and maybe never. When NERV called the school with a message for Shinji, the albino was left somewhat disgusted because it was Commander Ikari who called to leave the message instead of a representative, like Dr. Akagi or Captain Katsuragi.

When class was back in session, the elderly teacher looked down at his desk and picked up the note that had been left there.

"Uh, Mr. Ikari," he uttered, and all eyes were on Shinji, "this message came from the Principal's office from your father."

Shinji sighed and got up to retrieve the note from him.

"Thank you," he told him, looking at the note and wondering why his old man would insist upon such a request from any of them. It's not like I want to reconcile with them, anyway. That's never going to happen unless they let go of their intentions. Ever.

Whoosh! He stopped walking halfway back to his desk, looked out the window…and felt Akira receiving a new Quickening, relieved that she was still alive.

-x-

The guy wasn't even one-hundred-fifty years old, and Akira's new Quickening revealed that his introduction to the world of the immortals began during the first World War…and that his original name was Johnathan Spades. A former soldier that constantly believed in wars and how peace was nothing more than a band-aid to a temporary solution. He had thought that by beheading Akira, he would have all the experience he needed to face The Demoness and be the last one standing, able to bring about eternal peace through the use of the Prize…but Akira found that he himself had become heavily corrupted by his delusions of war and his inability to try and live without the threat and need of it, becoming a lowly fiend.

Now, drenched because of the sprinklers, Akira ran back to her car and hid her sword in the back seat before driving off before the police came to investigate.

I better go to one of the temples in case I feel that this could be a Dark Quickening, she decided, wanting to avoid a Dark Quickening for the second time in her life because the guy was insanely messed up inside from his past experiences.

-x-

"…This is your bike, Shinji?" Hikari asked, pointing to the minibike Shinji got on outside the school building.

"Yeah," he answered her. "Is it that surprising that I ride one?"

"Surprising?" Toji questioned him. "Shinji, I'd be surprised if you weren't some sort of magnet for attracting the girls."

"It's just to help me get around faster. You can't get everywhere on foot, you know. Plus, I'm striving to be environmentally friendly, so I don't use fossil fuels in this. Just biodiesel or an electrical engine."

"If I didn't like you so much, Shinji," went Kensuke to him, filming his bike, "I'd say you were the weirdest kid I've ever met. But you're actually the most impressive kid I have met."

"If we're on for tonight, I'll call y'all and see if you can join me," Shinji accepted, putting on his helmet and started the engine and rode off on the street. "Bye-bye!"

As the three walked down the same way Shinji rode off, Rei walked past them, giving off an unpleasant vibe that stopped them cold.

"Yikes," went Hikari, clinging onto Toji. "What was that about?"

"She really doesn't like him," he answered her. "She hasn't made one friend since last year…and it's like she hates Shinji…just because she views him as being unpleasant."

"Do you think she knows his secret?" Kensuke suggested.

"No, he hasn't told her anything he hasn't told us about on himself. He confided in us because we saw what happened and we took an oath to guard his secret. He saved my sister's life that day the first attack happened…and I look up to him for that…even though I'm looking down at him."

"Do you two think he'll win?" Hikari asked.

"Just as people used to say that slow and steady wins the race, I believe that size doesn't matter for someone like Shinji to overcome his greatest of challenges," Kensuke answered.

"I hope he prevails," added Toji.

-x-

"Akira?" Takuya gasped, seeing his wife's current state of dress, damp, and her face stained with uncertainty. "Oh, my goodness, Akira, what happened to you out there?"

As she dropped the groceries to the floor as her husband held her, she revealed her first Quickening of the Gathering to him, her fear of amassing another Dark Quickening…and how she spent two hours at the nearest temple and meditated to keep herself in check.

"I'm okay, though," she assured him.

The door behind her opened up…and Shinji came in.

"I'm glad you're here," he told her, going over and hugging her right leg. "I felt the Quickening and that you were the victor."

"That probably makes the number of us left just Quentin, Jose, Takeru, the both of us…and The Demoness," Akira confessed her belief.

"Six of you left?" Takuya spoke, concerned. Four of you are of the light, one is of the darkness…and one of the gray because he refuses to play the Game.

-x-

"…The principal and teacher were adamant when they said that the Third Child got the message you had your…father send him," Ritsuko explained to Gendo in his office. "Maybe they're out…dealing with this…this thing they're involved in."

Ring! The phone on Gendo's desk rang, and he picked up.

"This is Gendo Ikari," he spoke.

"Shinji gave us the message you sent him at school," he heard Akira's voice. "Before I say what will be the response to your request, the three of us want to know why?"

"My father revealed to me some disturbing information that pertains to each of you that have this…involvement with a power beyond my understanding. Also, Yui and I wish to meet with you on neutral ground for a civil conversation."

"That's all, you say?" He heard Shinji's voice; presumably, this call was involving all three of the people the message was directed towards. "No hidden agenda? No plotting? No deception on your part, whatsoever? Just a civil conversation over a meal?"

"That's right," Gendo answered him.

"Where and when?" He then heard Akira's husband ask.

"The Gurumejueru (Gourmet Jewels), about eight blocks away from the eastern temple. At eight."

Ritsuko was surprised that he would ask them to go to that place. It was one of those middle-class, family-themed restaurants and hadn't gotten much revenue with the Angel attacks. Without much doubt, the place would likely close if things didn't improve for their business.

"We allowed to bring people we know?" Shinji asked.

"You may," Gendo answered.

"We'll be there," Akira informed. "Good day to you."

The call ended and Gendo hung up.

-x-

"…Well, without much doubt, if things keep going the way they are, we might not need Asuka here at all," said Misato to Hyuga on the bridge in Central Dogma.

"Why, because Shinji fought and defeated six Angels on his own?" He asked her.

"Yeah. And…he's really beyond us. Beyond what we had expected of him."

"You sound as though you're terrified of him."

"He carries a tanto, had a jian with him, and was able to rip a table bolted to the floor like it was made of cheaply-made papier-mache. Yeah, he terrifies me. He certainly doesn't like being compared to his parents when I tried to point out a few similarities."

"I'll be honest, Katsuragi, but I don't see any comparison between the boy and his parents. He sounds like he'd rather be like anyone else except them."

"Yeah, but he's having dinner with them tonight. I wonder how that will turn out."

"If nobody does something to set somebody else off? It might go well."

-x-

"…I'm surprised that they agreed to this," Fuyutsuki expressed to Yui as they, Gendo and Takeru arrived at the Gurumejueru at seven-fifty-five, five minutes ahead of schedule. "Immortal? Hard to believe."

"I asked you to shoot me in the back, and you saw me heal, Fuyutsuki-San," Takeru told him. "How are you not convinced?"

"People would kill for immortality."

"But to risk being killed for it? Those that fear death haven't truly embraced life…and those that haven't the faintest clue on how to embrace life are the ones truly dead."

They walked inside the restaurant and looked over towards a large table occupied by several people, one of whom was sitting in a…booster chair.

"There they are," Gendo uttered, and they went over. "You're here."

Shinji turned to face his father, seeing him, his mother, the sub-commander and his paternal grandfather with him, and responded, "You said eight, so we all came at seven-thirty."

"You waited for half an hour?" Yui asked.

"All we really had were bread sticks," answered Takuya.

"And…your invitees?" Fuyutsuki asked, noting their larger party.

"Friends of mine over the years," Akira explained. "Jose Jones."

The dark-skinned bowed his head to them.

"Nice to meet you," he expressed to them.

"Quentin MacLeod and his sister, Clyde."

Beside Jose on his right were the current Highlander and his adopted sister, accompanied by a Great Pyrenees that seemed to be protective of the two.

"Hello," they greeted.

"My classmates, friends and confidants," went Shinji, introducing his trio of invitees. "Hikari Horaki, Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida."

The three teens bowed their heads to the adults.

"Nice to meet you," Yui expressed, seeing four empty seats on the other side of the table.

It was eight minutes after they ordered their chosen meals that they engaged in what was hoped to be a civil conversation.

"So…I take it that each of you knows about this…thing that has been happening for a long time?" Fuyutsuki asked as they waited for their food.

"If you mean the Game, then, yes, we do, sir," said Clyde him. "Pretty much everyone here at this table knows something about the Game…and everyone directly involved in it."

"So…only five of you, including my father and son, are practically ageless?" Gendo asked them.

"That's right," went Jose, setting down his book on the tourist locations around Japan. "Five out of the six left…out of the twenty that arrived for the Gathering. But we've agreed to not fight each other while we're here. I swore on my brothers and sisters to Akira when she called me, and I stick by it."

"We each have a more pressing matter that we're hoping will refrain us from going behind our respective bonds and turning on each other," added Quentin. "Personally, after Akira called me, I was surprised to hear what Shinji had accomplished last night."

"And…just what did you accomplish last night, Shinji?" Takeru asked his grandson.

Before Shinji could answer him, a waitress came by with their orders, and waited until the woman left, two minutes later.

"After we left NERV, we went to see Le Femme Aceline," he explained his bout with the immortal woman. "It turned out she had a power that only seven immortals from the past possessed that could preserve the lives other immortals by simply removing their Quickening…without the need for defeating them through the traditional method. But she never put this power to practical use with anyone she met, preferring the traditional method over the preservation method."

"You…fought her for it?" Yui asked him; she was uncertain if she could question directly whether or not he went and killed another person that was just like him.

"Yes," he answered. "I did."

"So…basically, Shinji…you can now take another immortal's power…without resorting to taking their head?" Takeru questioned. "That is what you're saying, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then…could you take mine, please?"

There was a silence around the table. Most were in unseen awe over the plead of one immortal to be stripped of their immortality.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Gendo asked him.

"It gets me out of the Game, I don't have to fight anyone for the Prize…and those that still want to play the Game won't have to fight me for something I no longer have."

"I meant to ask each of you of this offer," said Shinji, indicating that he didn't want to fight any of Akira's friends or Akira herself. "Though, I won't force you to reconsider or anything."

Even Akira had to think about it. If she forfeited her Quickening to Shinji, she'd be mortal again, able to move on with Takuya, to grow old with him, even have children with him. She wouldn't have had to repeat this part of her life where she met someone new, decades or centuries later, and fall in love and end up having to bury them after watching them die.

"But that'll leave only you to face The Demoness, and she's a sick-twisted mother," said Jose. "No offense to the real mothers here."

"When he says that, he's referring to the fact that the woman in question is, beyond any reasonable doubt, evil incarnate," explained Quentin. "No morality, no remorse. I doubt she was ever loved by anyone in her past."

"Uh, just how old is this woman?" Yui asked them. "This…Demoness?"

"The Demoness," Akira corrected her on the name of the immortal woman, "and the thing of it is…none of us left are sure how old she is. But when you sort through the memories of other immortals that have faced her in the past, you get only a glimpse of the years in which they saw her. Even they weren't sure how old she was when they met her."

"One going theory, though, is that she's been alive since before the creation of the Holy Bible and its variations," said Quentin. "Basically, before Anno Domini…and before the one called Christ. Possibly older than the ancient civilizations that we know of."

"If she's that old," went Hikari, "then she's…really ancient."

"The oldest, known immortal was reported to be over five-thousand years old before he died," stated Akira. "Some believe that the ancient immortals…are often very powerful, almost invincible."

"God-like?" Gendo asked her.

"No," answered Shinji. "Immortals are nowhere near the pantheon of deities. You can read up on deities and what they're capable of, but you can never be one. Not unless you're comfortable with being a shadow of a deity. You can wander around in their shadows, in the darkness…but you will never get to bask in the light or be recognized as a real one."

"And how can you be so sure of that?"

"If people became gods," expressed Toji, intervening, "what exactly would they represent as gods? What would they be responsible for as gods, and what would their intentions be toward others?"

"Right on, Suzuhara-San," went Jose, supportive of his response.

"Yay," added Clyde.

"Yet, this thing you're all fighting each other for, this…Prize… Couldn't it make you a god?" Gendo questioned; whatever it was, he had hoped there could be a way to gain it for himself.

"Maybe," went Akira, "but what good would it amount to?"

"The possibility of a new kind of tyranny," said Takeru and Takuya.

"Which isn't good…for anyone," Takuya finished on his own.

"Good immortal, a grand future," Hikari stated. "Bad immortal, an eternity in the darkness."

"But…who decides who's good or bad?" Yui asked.

"One's own sense of morality," answered Shinji. "You don't go into someone else's house and start trashing their possessions and hurting their loved ones unless you're just looking to pick a fight with them, even when there's a possibility that they're not the type you can expect to overcome."

"Basically, one with a death wish," went Kensuke, clarifying what Shinji meant.

"Yes."

Whoosh. Suddenly, all five immortals went straight-faced and quiet, each with a look of irritation and concern on them.

"Uh, Shinji?" Hikari questioned.

"Quentin?" Clyde added, noticing that her brother was very tense.

"She's here," said Jose, his chopsticks left upright in his bowl of ramen.

"Who?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"The Demoness," answered Takeru, frowning, his second egg roll hanging from his mouth.

"By the bar," stated Shinji. "She's watching us."

Yui and Gendo looked over at the bar…and saw a woman sitting at the left end of the counter, nursing what looked like their third drink, dressed in a black and red dress and wearing an unusual choker on their neck. The woman seemed odd to make their son and the other immortals at their table tense.

"That's her?" Gendo asked, unsure if he should even have any concerns about the woman.

"Yes, that's her," said Akira to him. "The Demoness."

"But…she doesn't look dangerous," Yui confessed.

"They never do," said Jose.

Then, despite their verbal distance from her, The Demoness turned her head to face their table, letting them see her expression was one of cruelty mixed in with a seductive quality.

"Oh," Hikari gasped quietly, clinging onto Toji's left shoulder.

Clyde did the same with Quentin.

"If it weren't for her name and what you guys said about her," went Kensuke, "I'd say she's hot."

The Demoness then got up and downed the last of her drink before walking over.

"I take it back," the otaku shuddered, fearful. "She's not hot. Definitely not hot."

"I know we all agreed not to fight against each other," Shinji told the other immortals, "but that agreement doesn't really apply to The Demoness, does it?"

"No, Shinji," said Akira, reaching down to her right side, where her tube case was for her sword. "It doesn't apply to her."

"No one makes a move unless she does," Jose uttered, reaching into his jacket for the hilt of his sword.

Takeru merely stayed quiet, unwilling to get involved. If he had to do something, he would take the mortals to the temple nearby; he swore to never fight any immortals and he refused to break his oath.

As Shinji reached down his left side for his tanto, The Demoness uttered, "I'm not here to fight any of you. If I wanted to fight, I would've brought out my sword, which I don't have on me right now. Even if I wanted to fight you, the only one of you that would rival me is less than half your sizes."

"If that was supposed to be some kind of joke, none of us are laughing," went Gendo to her, and she looked at him.

Then, she looked at Yui…and then back at Shinji, as if seeing a resemblance between the three.

"Your parents, I presume?" She asked him.

"Unfortunately," he responded.

"A pity for them. I can't imagine you being their son. Just looking at them and hearing your father's voice tells me enough of the type of people they are."

"Is that so?" Takeru questioned.

"Just three words, one for each person, to describe their fates, past and future."

"I doubt you know anything about one's fate…other than being the one to decide it against their will," Jose told her.

The Demoness looked at Yui before saying, "Deceiver."

This sparked Akira's curiosity. What had Yui Ikari done (beyond the obvious acts of vileness) to be called a deceiver?

Looking at Gendo again, The Demoness declared, "Disgraceful."

This word reminded Takeru of his own disgrace towards his family by leaving them without revealing the truth to why.

"And as for you, Shinji, the word that most suits your relationship with your parents… I think it's pronounced in your native tongue as… Gisei," The Demoness informed him, which caused several of the people at the table to feel disrespected.

"Hey," went Akira to her. "Watch the way you speak to him."

"You know not what you say, woman," added Gendo, though his response could've been more for his and Yui's own defense than it could've ever been for Shinji's.

"He's not…" Yui expressed, but her words never made it out of her mouth.

"He's not what?" The Demoness asked her. "Please, speak honestly. There's no truth without honesty."

But Yui didn't say anything more.

"Whether that's all I am to them or not," Shinji responded to the immortal woman's choice of words, "it doesn't mean I'm defined by them any more than I could be defined by what they chose to do with their lives. Their lives, not mine. I exist separate from what they do…and am not tied to whatever fate awaits them at the end of the long road that is mortality. We branched off into different directions a long time ago…and the route I took is all the more vast than the ones they took."

"Is that so?"

"It is. I'm not big on any aspect of science or politics that they're on, so I could care less about what lines they may have crossed that will get them into trouble that's bound to be far worse than anything I could imagine happening, which is why, even as I invoke these choice of words, I don't get my hopes up about the three of us being together at the end of everything. I'd be lying to myself, deluding myself into believing that such a thing is possible…when deep down, it is not. I weigh my present state with relationships that have a tangible meaning, such as those I have with my three classmates, my grandparents. I try not to ask for much than what my heart longs for. Even immortals can find solace in the company of those they care for, even if there's a fearful chance of having to watch them grow old and leave you. I'll still be weighed down by them."

"You know what's silly about your pompous belief?" The Demoness asked him. "I actually believe you…and that's the coldest of truths to come from me."

She then looked at Fuyutsuki, who seemed uncomfortable with her presence.

"Hmm…this elder is one that seems conflicted by old desires and regrets," she stated. "And yet, despite his internal torture, he still prefers his end to have people around him, no matter how stained they are with sin. And a secret that is his disgust with the one who disgraces all for his own gain."

Fuyutsuki went wide-eyed, as though this immortal woman had just read his mind.

"What is this that only a handful of you at this table know of and keep secret from the rest of society?" The Demoness asked, turning to face Yui and Gendo again. "Something that relates to what happened fifteen years ago…that wasn't caused by a meteorite hitting the South Pole. Oh, I can still relive those days of unrest and torture that were the result of an act that took so many lives. Fifteen years ago was many times worse than my previous experiences over the ages. London being razed to the ground, the Black Plague that claimed millions of people, the Sack of Rome, the Egyptian plagues. Hardly an act of the divine…but mainly of mortal hands that think they're in control…when mortals are just as expendable as the wealth they hoard away is."

"You mean Second Impact," went Quentin to her.

"Second Impact, huh? If you buy into the beliefs of the meteorites that hit the planet with enough force to overwhelm places and bring ruination, extinction to several organisms. But that's only if you believe in that bull. There was no meteorite fifteen years ago. Everything that happened to create the symphony of mayhem and unrest…was all the doing of mortals that wanted to do something without even asking for permission."

"And…what did they want to do?" Toji asked her.

"Renounce the old ways…by renouncing their status as mortals…to replace the deities that made them. But you can't replace any divine authority, no matter how hard you try, by sacrificing the lives of everyone on the planet. Kill one life…and you're nothing more than a murderer. Kill one-hundred, a well-experienced killer. One-million, a monarch. All, and a god of loneliness is all you become."

"You…you don't know what you're saying," they all heard Yui finally say to her.

"And would you know?" She asked her back. "Would you really know? Or are you only capable of deceit? In either way, there's little chance that everyone will follow your beliefs. I know I wouldn't. Even your son knows he can't follow you."

Suddenly, all eyes were on Shinji, who didn't say anything about it.

"Then he's defiant towards his parents," said Gendo.

"We're all defiant towards our parents or guardians," The Demoness expressed. "Some are just more so than others. Can you really tell someone else to do something for you…and not expect them to question it…or show hesitation, even refusing to do so? If he has more reason to be defiant towards you and his mother…then it's only because you threatened the lives of his grandparents at one point before you discovered his immortality. Really, threatening an immortal's relationships? That's a line even I wouldn't cross until the time was right for me to do so…which hasn't come to pass just yet."

It felt like every time anyone spoke to her…or whenever she looked at them, it was like she was able to know all these things they either said or did, as if she were some sort of psychic.

"Just what is it that you want, The Demoness?" Fuyutsuki asked her.

"Just what every other immortal wanted before falling to me," she answered. "The Prize…and everything else that comes with it. Everything else…all at once."

"Care to elaborate?" Kensuke asked her.

"No. But you can use your imagination. What does anyone want more than anything else in existence? I am one of many tastes that come with desire."

"If someone like you won the Game, you'd be an apocalyptic outcome from which there can be no salvation," said Quentin to her.

"But I haven't won the Game, Highlander. Not yet. As long as there's more than one immortal, the Game is still in play…and the Prize has not been claimed. And you can't beat me."

"My brother could beat you if he wanted to," went Clyde to her, standing up for her adopted brother.

"Grr," their dog growled.

"Your faith in your…brother is treasured, but I'm simply stating a truth," The Demoness responded. "I am the deadliest of the immortals. I am from an age that people of today can't even begin to comprehend because they have no understanding of the shadows of the past, which hide many secrets. Each of you…will always be under me in terms of age and power, which includes the power to know what each of you have done in your past…just by looking at you."

"We'll see about that," went Shinji, "at another time."

She looked at him, enticed by his determination.

"Before I go, I will say this to you. If it ever comes down to you and I at the end, I do hope the battle is most gratifying. It has been ages since I've had a lengthy fight with someone that actually stood a chance against me." She told him, and then bowed her head. "Pleasant evenings."

She turned and walked away.

"The Demoness," Shinji stopped her, which surprised her as he turned to face her. "Fukyu Ikari."

She turned back and asked, "What does that mean?"

"Immortal Anchor…Immortal Ikari," he answered her. "Every immortal has their designation…and this is mine."

"Immortal Ikari, huh? I like the sound of it. It has a heavy meaning. See you around."

She then walked out the door and down the street.

"Yikes," Toji sighed. "You were right, Shinji. She is scary."

"I still can't imagine her being anything like you and your grandmother," added Hikari, still clinging to Toji's arm. "There was something just not right about her."

"There was a lot that wasn't right with her," said Jose. "The deadliest of us, indeed. Intimidating, cruel, no hesitation. She has all the necessary traits that make her a deadly warrior among women."

Fuyutsuki didn't ask, but he could guess that all of the immortals at the table were frightened to various degrees by The Demoness, barely able to keep their fear of her in check. Even he was afraid of her, and he had only met her this evening.

"And you five can't just go at her at once?" Yui questioned.

"That would be against one of the Rules, ma'am," Kensuke told her.

"The Rules?" Gendo questioned.

"It's as I've told you before," went Takeru to them. "Immortals have to follow the Rules when it comes to the Game, one of them is to never fight more than one other immortal at once. It must always be one-on-one."

"I saw Quentin go up against an immortal a few days ago," Shinji explained. "I could only watch as he fought his adversary. I couldn't help him, no matter what. Even if I wanted to, it'd be a violation of the Rules. Thankfully, he survived his fight and defeated the other immortal."

"The only exception to that rule is when an immortal foundling is attacked during their grace period," Akira explained further. "If you're immortal and you choose to attack an inexperienced immortal that has yet to fully master their newfound power at the tutelage of their immortal teacher, then a one-on-one battle doesn't apply."

"You talk as though it has happened to you before," Takeru expressed.

"It was I that was attacked by an enemy immortal during such a grace period," Shinji revealed. "If you read the news article about missing or kidnapped children, a man that had his head cut off and a report about a woman that showed up and saved them, you'll find only most of that story is true."

"You were attacked by an immortal during the time Akira was teaching you how to defend yourself?" Toji spoke. "That's messed up."

"It didn't end well for him in the end. I guess you could call it an adrenaline-induced panic attack. He became my first beheading in the Game. Not an experience I would wish on anyone."

As much as Yui wanted to talk these other immortals down and have Shinji walk away from this Game, or just take a chance and have him confined somewhere where they couldn't find him or hurt him for his head and whatever power he had amassed over his short period of immortality, but got the feeling that doing so would just be another violation of the Rules they lived by. Even if she wanted to protect Shinji, what The Demoness said about Shinji being unable to follow her beliefs and his own revelation that he couldn't delude himself on any hopes that he and his parents reconciling would ever happen hit her deeply. It was, even though he seemed to have aged very little since the day she went into the Eva, he wasn't the same boy she left behind to ensure a bright future for all of mankind.

"They say the first Quickening from your enemy is always the most painful," went Jose to him. "Did it hurt for you?"

"Yes, it did," he answered, "but Akira helped me to get over it."

"Yet, you still play this…Game," uttered Gendo. "You didn't…turn away like your grandfather did."

Shinji looked up at his father and responded, "Had there been another alternative to being made a victim allover again, it would be living on holy ground for the rest of one's semblance of eternity. However, that option wasn't for me. It's a way station for immortals, a safety net to avoid conflict during times where you can't afford to endanger others present. But in due time, the Game will end, and all places deemed holy ground won't be needed by immortals as refuge…because there won't be any more immortals. Question, though: Since when do you care whether I walk away from something or not? It's not like you to show any real interest in what I do."

"Yeah, he's right," added Takuya. "It's just another fact of the life of an immortal that is stressed upon towards mortals. There is no control over what they do. You can live with them, you can work alongside them, even marry them if you're willing to spend the rest of your life with them…but you can't make them do something against their volition."

"Trying to control one that can't die is against the Rules?" Toji asked him.

"No, but it's against the law to enslave someone else to do your bidding," answered Jose, who was familiar with the rule of tyranny and enslavement, which led to his death and resurrection.

"Did something of that sort…happen to you, Jose-San?" Hikari asked him.

"Yes, ma'am. I've been alive for three-hundred-seventeen years. I was a slave before I became immortal. It was Akira that helped me obtain freedom two years after I became immortal."

"I was traveling to places unknown to me in order to expand my insight and knowledge," Akira explained how she came to meet with Jose. "If you draw such things from only one place, it becomes nothing more than rigid and stale, able to be questioned by others that may know more than you do."

-x-

As she returned to her hotel suite and collapsed in a nearby chair, The Demoness sighed as she recalled the memories of her past…before everything changed for her. It was only in her past…where everything felt so peaceful…before she fell in love with the chaos that befell her. And yet, to find herself surrounded by so many people that were just of these miserable generations that didn't even come close to echoing the echoes and shadows of the people she met back in her blissful ignorance.

Immortal Ikari, she thought of Shinji, his petite stature, his innocent facade and understandable need for stable and meaningful relationships. Not many immortals…or even simple mortals…catch my interest like this child immortal has.

The last memory she had before being forced to wander the planet for eternity…was of her home crumbling to the abyss of time…and of her people screaming their final screams as buildings fell upon them and smashed their corpses. She was the only survivor.

To win the Prize is my destiny, my desire, she thought on the Game, and I will do anything and everything to win.

She got up and grabbed her sword. Knowing what the boy had done just by looking at him, she knew that Shinji had obtained the power of one of the Seven Salvation Immortals…while she had the power of the other six, meaning that there was a large chance that he would eliminate the other immortals at that dinner party by taking their power without taking their heads, leaving only the two of them left. She didn't really care, as it would remove other obstacles. The less immortals there were, the less time it would take to finish the Game.

In the end, only one of us will claim all that we're entitled, she thought, kneeling on the rug and holding her sword up high. The Prize…will afford the victor all that they could possibly desire. The power to rule all people, the power to maintain one's empire, even life over death. What a feeling… What a feeling this is…to be so close…and yet so far from the goal's conclusion.

-x-

"…Yet, none of you can just…find the means to coexist with these Angels?" Hikari questioned Fuyutsuki, hoping to change the subject from the immortals to what NERV was up to.

"It's hard to do so when they just show up and attack," the elder explained.

"Sorry, Hikari, but the chances of these so-called Angels coexisting with people is little more than a fantasy," Shinji told her. "One of them had the arrogance to single me out."

Fuyutsuki was them reminded of how Shinji viewed protecting only half the people of NERV with a sense of irony because he had a desire for the truth that they withheld from him. But was also reminded that he had given up on them ever telling him anything legit.

"Yet, it described itself as having an honor code to live by," went Yui. "It wouldn't go after anyone else…until after it defeated you, Shinji."

"Live by the code…and die by the code," he responded to her. "To go against one's code…is to be capable of anything beyond that of which one is capable of."

"And what is your code?" Gendo asked him.

""To never engage an inevitable conflict with whoever's after you unless you have no other alternatives, to keep the conflict from spilling out onto the public and dragging in innocent people that needn't know what is going on so long as it doesn't put their lives at risk, and to never seek a foe unless they're out seeking you."

"That's well-spoken, Shinji," praised Takeru to his grandson. "Quite the samurai."

Of course, if something happened to Akira, Shinji would've referred to himself as a ronin because he had the greatest amount of respect and admiration towards his ancestral grandmother.

"Thank you."

However, Akira recalled the fourth and fifth times Shinji got into conflict with enemy immortals. It had been almost two years ago…and on the same night, as well; some crazy pair had heard about the Japanese story of a little boy surviving a stab to the heart without any major need for surgery…and came looking for Shinji, a whole week before she considered declaring his grace period over, that she had imparted all her teachings to him and he could protect himself against his adversaries. And Shinji was able to do something no other immortal had ever done for her.

"What do you intend to do after the Game is over?" Yui asked them.

"Presuming that we all can walk away from it with our heads still attached to our shoulders?" Quentin questioned. "I know what I'm doing. Heading back to Scotland where it all began for me over three centuries ago. Maybe rebuild one its old castles."

"Return to my loft in New York and resume helping inner city youths to keep them from doing things that they end up paying for in the worst of ways," Jose added, "and probably buy a small yacht. Nothing really fancy. Just a little self-indulgence."

"Those are interesting plans there, gentlemen," said Toji. "What of you, Mr. Nagisa? What are your plans?"

Takeru sighed heavily; he hadn't thought of anything beyond relinquishing his immortality and just trying mend whatever relationships he could before he died at a later time in the future.

"Flat beer would seem nice," he joked a little.

"Eh-heh-heh," Shinji chuckled at him. "That's some big plans there."

"Yeah… I guess I don't think much on what to do with my time beyond the things that need to be resolved…if they can."

"Ahh…" Shinji then yawned; even immortals needed sleep half the time, and Shinji was no exception to this state of being. "Whenever you're ready to perform the method, I'm all for it."

Takeru then finished the rest of his beef broth in three gulps.

"Is whenever everyone is finished feasible with you? I don't want to rush them." He suggested.

"Yes, of course," the boy responded as he got up. "I need to go…consult the plumber."

As he left, Clyde also got up and claimed she needed to powder her nose, following Shinji.

"Um, your sister is very sweet, MacLeod-Sama," Hikari expressed her honesty to the Highlander.

"Is it alright to ask you…how you two first met?" Toji asked.

The table's remaining gathering of adults and young teens were quiet; it seemed like a personal question, yet asked to someone that had been around for a few centuries.

"Sure," Quentin answered the young man. "It was a few years after Second Impact. I had been involved in a search and rescue operation to find survivors of the small and violent outbreaks that occurred around Scotland, Egypt, Africa and the smaller areas around South America. It was in Scotland that I met Clyde and Gaul. She was four when she lost her parents and sister to a man that lost his farm. I was taking them with me to my apartment when the same guy that attacked her family came back to finish her off. Apparently, he couldn't afford to leave any witnesses or survivors, regardless of whether or not they could even do anything against him. He tried to shoot her through me. That's how Clyde found out about the shadow world of immortals."

"Oh, dear," Hikari shuddered as she covered her mouth.

"One of the few things that make having immortality worth living for around people. The guy wouldn't stop…so I stopped him. It was either him or my sister that would see the next day…and I chose for Clyde to see the next day."

"Good move," said Takuya to him, supportive of his decision to protect a little girl from a bad man.

"Not among my best decisions, but in the end, if I had to relive that day a second time…I would've made the same choice. I've seen enough good people suffer because of some sort of corruption."

Meanwhile, in the men's room, Shinji had finished relieving himself and vacated the stall to wash his hands. He jumped up onto the counter and sat beside the sink to apply soap and wash it off.

The door to the room up…and Clyde stepped inside.

"Uh, Clyde, you're not supposed to be in here," he told her; if the ladies' room was faulty for the time being, he would've ignored the fact that any female would have to make do with using the men's room.

"I just wanted to ask you something," she told him. "You're not going to go after Quentin, are you?"

"Honestly, I don't have any intention on fighting him," he revealed to the girl. "Even though the Game stresses that there must be only of us left in the end, I didn't know about your relationship with Quentin until he mentioned you and Gaul, so I can't and won't cross a line that takes someone's new family away."

"Then…can't you just remove him from the Game?"

"Not unless he asks me to. A Quickening of the sort I now have the power to do requires the voluntary assistance of the immortal that wants to retire from the Game. The only reason I would be able to take away my immortal Grandfather's Quickening…is because he wants to get rid of it and be mortal again."

"So, I'd have to convince my brother to give up his immortality if I wanted him to get out of the Game and not risk getting killed, then?"

"So long as he chooses to do so willingly. You're concerned for him."

"I'm afraid for him, too. He saved my life from a bad man that took my parents and big sister. I'm grateful for having met him. He's the only family I have left in this life…and I don't want to lose him."

Shinji could sympathize with Clyde; he had Akira and Takuya, and he valued them to a much higher degree than his own parents…whom he resented deeply due to their past actions and in-progress objectives. Truth be told, he depended on Akira and Takuya to keep from becoming cynical and succumbing to the negative or darker qualities of his character. It was a constant struggle for him every time, see-sawing between his morality and strive to maintain a semblance of balance between the small speck of light in his soul and the darkness of his background that he felt stemmed from his parents and their own hidden sense of cruelty towards others and the world. It was also why he was trying to believe that the power of the mysterious Prize could be the solution to the world's so-called Third Impact fear from being made a reality; if the Prize was a way to keep the world from ending, it could mean a real future rather than the one he needed to keep from happening.

Nothing that has transpired ever since the Second Impact ball was set in motion has been worth any amount of pain, suffering and death for the world to come undone just so someone can remake it, he thought, feeling that Clyde really loved Quentin, immortal or not, just like Takuya loved Akira, immortal or not. Nobody has such a right to massacre what's left of the world or the people just to fulfill some damn belief in some damn prophecy that nobody else knows about. Not a soul. Not some rotten father or watch-only mother, not some titanic creatures that barely relate to humans…not even an immortal child that never got to grow up because of his stupid disgrace of a maternal aunt.

Shinji had become bitter, but this was only because of a choice he had just decided upon. Right now, for him, what he really wanted didn't matter if everyone could possibly suffer because of a handful of individuals that sought an undesirable conclusion for the world. If the Prize could ensure a better future than what people like his parents were after, then he had to make sure that The Demoness didn't win…but he wouldn't cross the line he marked and take out the other immortals here.

"Shinji?" Clyde asked, seeing his hands glow pinkish. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he responded to her, ending his train of thought, and his hands returned to normal. "I'm okay."

-x-

"…Okay, I have to be honest with myself," said Jose to everyone else at the table, "but I get the constant feeling that Shinji…has it out for you two due to an issue or series of issues that don't seem to be getting resolved."

Shinji's friends and confidants and Takeru looked at Gendo and Yui, whom Jose was addressing, and whom were silent.

"You'd be right about that, Jose," Akira told him. "It's…a delicate issue…and Shinji's…"

She couldn't find the right words to describe the personal issue to her friend. How could she explain to him that her most recent descendant had two parents that wanted to screw up the world based on some crazy prophecy that would put the fate of everyone who could still die on his shoulders?

"Don't tell me," he uttered, deciding to take a shot at the problem. "It relates to exactly what The Demoness said? She made it sound like something is up. Why else would she called Gendo disgraceful and Yui a deceiver and then call Shinji a… Well, I don't really know what it was she called him, but you were the most offended by it."

Jose wouldn't deny that he was bad with his Japanese, but the sight of those that understood it fluently were seriously put off by the meaning behind the word.

"She called him," went Takeru, unable to keep quiet about the disrespect Shinji was given by The Demoness, "a sacrifice. Basically, a scapegoat, an offering."

Hikari, Toji and Kensuke's facial expressions were of disgust.

Akira and Takuya's were of resentment towards the designation.

"I wouldn't want anyone calling my kid some crazy and pathetic thing like that," Jose responded. "I'd want them to repent in the harshest of ways."

"I'm not a believer of certain meanings behind certain phrases or terms," went Quentin, who was also offended, though it was more towards the Ikaris than The Demoness, "but I feel The Demoness is more dangerous than these two could be, regardless of whether or not it'll be now or in the possible future…and she needs to get her cap peeled way back."

Yui and Gendo were unfamiliar with what he just said, having never understood any of this…street language that existed.

"I mean you immortals no disrespect," Hikari spoke up, "but I believe the only one that can resolve this conflict you have with The Demoness…is Shinji."

"What makes you believe in that?" Gendo questioned her. "He's…tiny."

"We've seen him spar with Akira," Kensuke defended. "He might not look it, but Shinji's a lot stronger than he seems. How else could he defeat six Angels…and six immortals that came after him? Akira taught him everything he knows. And…he has people he wants to protect."

"Not to mention that you shouldn't underestimate someone because of their size," added Toji. "And it seems like The Demoness is more interested in facing him than the rest of you that are left."

"It's mostly because Shinji is a child immortal," Quentin explained. "They're rare among us because they don't live for long. Easy to find, even easier to take out. But Shinji's extremely rare; he's the only child immortal of this century. Only immortal for four years. Some barely survive just one year."

"How many of these…immortal children have you encountered in your life, MacLeod-San?" Yui asked him, curious.

"Excluding your son?" He responded. "Only four."

"Oh, my," Hikari gasped, feeling that Shinji was more lucky to have Akira than ever before.

"You really wanna put everyone's fate in his hands?" Gendo questioned.

"But isn't that what you were already doing?" Toji stated. "You have him and another fourteen-year-old operating giant robots, but he's the only one that's been in on the conflict."

"Just how much of what NERV has done has Shinji confided in you three?" Fuyutsuki asked them.

"Only what he has chosen to share with us, sir," answered Hikari. "He doesn't want for us for to worry too much about him. Not since that time in the robot when he fought the creature that looked like a pink squid."

Yui could see that, despite being somewhat involved in knowing what NERV has done, Shinji put their safety above most others in his priorities. Maybe more so than his parents'.

Akira finished her cup of jasmine tea…and expressed, "Shinji would suggest to anyone after him that they could negate the inevitable conflict by simply walking away, preferring to avoid violence due to the sense of pacifism; any measure of discord, whether or not it's inflicted on or by him, is unacceptable. But The Demoness is in this to win it. Everyone's an enemy, every place that isn't deemed holy ground a battlefield…and everyday a day that could spell certain doom for whoever she chooses to go after that is immortal. She embraces the Game. There's no chance of bargaining with her. There's no hope of reasoning with her. She's devoid of any capacity for remorse, fear…even pity is nonexistent within her."

"Couldn't you kill her?" Yui asked, which caught everyone off guard.

"I doubt it. She's older than I am…and much stronger. I don't say this often, but after we came to Tokyo-3, the power balance between Shinji and I has shifted more in his favor due to his Angel-endowed Quickenings. He and The Demoness must be almost equal in strength."

"An ancient, wicked woman…and a young, pint-size youth," uttered Takeru. "I put my faith in Shinji to stop her."

"Likewise," added Fuyutsuki, meaning so.

A minute of silence was shared between them by the time Shinji and Clyde returned from the restroom. The immortal boy noticed that only Hikari had yet to finish her meal.

"Did anything of interest happen while we were gone?" He asked Akira.

"A lot of talk about you, The Demoness and the Game," she explained.

"And what the Prize might or might not be?"

"I know all that I need to know about the Prize," said Takeru to them, sharing what his extended time meditating on holy ground had revealed to him. "If one of you wins the Game, good things will come about in the rewritten future…but if she wins the Game, everything we know, all that we hold dear or take for granted…will come undone however she sees fit."

"Peace and freedom for all humankind," Quentin spoke of what seemed to be the only choices they faced in their situation, "total domination or total obliteration. To choose one is to choose either the pen, the sword…or the end."

Hikari then finished the rest of her teriyaki chicken and expressed, "I choose the pen."

"The pen," added Toji.

"Yay, the pen," went Clyde, as well, even though she barely understood the concept.

-x-

Even though it was late out, Shinji and Takeru still wanted to perform the Quickening that was to remove the latter immortal from the Game without killing him…and everyone needed to see how the former immortal was capable of such a method. As far as they knew from Shinji, it required two immortals to be holding the same blade, so they would be using Shinji's tanto.

"Are you afraid?" Shinji asked his immortal grandfather as they stood outside NERV HQ, away from the city to negate the potential property damage a Quickening would inevitably cause, standing atop a cut tree's trunk so that he would be of a close-enough height with him.

"Of dying? Of growing old again? Those, I can live with." Takeru expressed, turning away to look at Gendo and Yui. "For me, immortality has been my bane going back forty years. I'm actually elated. Thank you for doing this, Shinji."

Unsheathing his tanto, the boy held it up and responded, "Thank me when you have a cut that doesn't heal instantly. But there's something else you should know: If you die of unnatural causes again, there's a good chance you will be returned to being a participant of the Game. You'd be immortal, all over again, and we'll have to do this…all over again."

"Great. I'd rather get sick and old than get shot at again. So…set me free, please."

Takeru then placed his hands on the tanto and felt a strange aura emanating from his grandson.

"May the knowledge and experience of immortals, past and present, now be shared!" Shinji shouted, and the ground around the two shook as electrical energy shot up around them.

The water from the artificial lake beside the base began churning as a small twister formed, sucking in some of it and sending dispersed droplets scattering everywhere within reach.

"Whoa!" Toji gasped as Hikari held onto him.

"Un-freaking-believable!" Kensuke expressed.

"This feels just like a Quickening," Akira stated, "but it's different. No fury, no vengeance, only life."

Yui couldn't believe that Shinji was able to do something like this! That people with immortality could do things like this! It almost made the purpose of the Evangelion being eternal proof of mankind's existence seem pathetic because there were people far older than everyone else on the planet.

Gendo was left astonished by the display of power as his father tightened his grip on Shinji's tanto, as if trying to keep from being sent flying.

Creak! A crack in the artificial ceiling above the Geo-Front formed.

Flash! A bolt of lightning struck the tanto and surrounded the two immortals with more electrical energy as fire encircled them in a ring on the ground.

Then, seconds after it had started, the ring of fire ceased, along with the twister and churning water. The lake returned to normal and the electrical display of power ended.

Shinji and Takeru, surrounded by scorched earth, appeared completely unharmed. Even the tanto was undamaged by the Quickening, despite being struck by lightning.

"Uh," Takeru groaned as he let go of the small blade and staggered back a bit, appearing fatigued.

Shinji fell onto his back on the trunk as his tanto fell to the ground, appearing just as exhausted by the unusual Quickening they had. He had seen and heard all that his grandfather had ever experienced in his past up to now, as though he were actually there when they all happened; Takeru didn't deny anything he either said or did, no matter how silly or whatever else it might've been.

"Shinji?" Akira called out to him, and he looked up from the sight of the lake to her. "Are you alright?"

He nodded that he was fine.

"Check him," he requested, slowly raising his left hand up, pointing to Takeru.

Takeru, who had fallen on his bottom, raised his right hand up in front of him, seeing a small cut on the palm. He didn't feel pain, but what put a smile on his face was that he didn't feel the cut regenerate; if he had been immortal, the injury, however minor, however major, would've healed instantly.

"Are you alright, Takeru?" Yui asked him as Quentin helped him onto his feet.

"More than alright," he expressed, undeniably happy. "Mortal…once more. Thank you, Shinji. Thank you very much."

-x-

"…So, he spared his biological grandfather the painful fate of being beheaded," went The Demoness, looking out her suite's window at the city outside, sensing the aftermath of a Quickening. "No matter. Now, there are only five of us left. Shinji Ikari, the Immortal Ikari, I look forward to seeing you again."

-x-

"I never knew you could experience that much pain in a Quickening like that," Hikari confessed as Akira and Takuya dropped her off at her home. "I mean, I saw Shinji in one before, but not like that. Not like that."

Akira, who was carrying Shinji in her arms as he was out cold, responded, "Each one has similarities, but each is always different for the immortal that receives them. They bestow all the power and knowledge ever accumulated in their lives. All their secrets, every last one of their identities used over the ages, all for the victor to know."

"Sounds like someone with a eidetic memory that has been through every form of conflict that has ever been experienced…and recalls all that ever happened. How do you keep from going mad with all that information in your head?"

"Have you ever watched that cartoon made in America called Avatar?" Takuya asked. "It's kinda like that for each immortal, except without the glowing eyes and past lives. The knowledge is stored away until they decide to use it."

"My little sister probably watches it. Well, thank you again for dinner tonight. I hope Shinji feels better tomorrow." Hikari told them as she walked into her apartment. "Good night."

The couple walked back to their Prius with the sleeping Shinji and drove back home.

"Do you think Takeru will be okay now that he's mortal again?" Takuya asked his wife as they drove down the empty street.

"So long as he doesn't die of unnatural causes, he'll be fine," she answered. "Did you see his happiness at being rid of his immortality? It was the best thing to ever happen to him ever since he became immortal. He can deal with simple situations like before."

They reached their building and carried Shinji into his room.

He didn't want any of the difficulties that came with being immortal, Akira thought about Takeru, undressing Shinji and putting one of his over-sized shirts on before putting under his blankets. He hated it for a long time, even praying to any deity to save him from what could have been an eternity of living without end. He lost nearly everyone he loved. Maybe as he gets his bearings, he'll be able to move on.

As she vacated his room, she sighed as another thought came to mind about the Quickening she witnessed. The removal of one's immortality without removing their head restored much of what had been lost to them the second they died. While they lost their limited invulnerability, enhanced strength, speed and accelerated healing and immunity to diseases, they regained their ability to age, to grow old, get sick, have children, to die so long as it was through natural causes. And as unpredictable as mortality had always been to countless lives, mortality was a grand blessing.

Not everyone is meant to understand that living many lives, doing the same thing, time and again, for generations…does not always compare to just one life lived with the people you love. She thought as she and Takuya went into their room to retire. Maybe it's time I set down my sword and forfeit my claim to the Prize. I can't really see myself doing anything with it. I don't really even want it.

"You're awfully quiet, Akira," Takuya said to her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she told him. "Just thinking about something."

"About what?"

"About stepping aside."

"Stepping aside?"

"I've been immortal since before the rise of the Yamato Dynasty. That's a long time to consider an eternity. Who wants to live until they're thirty centuries old? Not this woman."

To be continued…

A/N: Wow, I think this is the longest chapter so far in this story. What do you think?