.hack/EVA: Catharsis: Gathering of the Unwilling
Disclaimer: In this universe in the quantum foam, I do not own or in any way shape or form hold a claim to the .hack series or Neon Genesis Evangelion.
" " denotes speech
'italics' denotes thought
'bold' denotes location names
'bold italics' denotes skill use
Moganna's Apartment
Even in the heart of the busy city of Tokyo-3, there sometimes lingered profound silences, shadows hidden in the hollows of light, natural anechoic chambers proof against the hustle-bustle of the outside world. Whether caused by superior soundproofing, a chance cancellation of sound waves tumbling into another, or just an air of stillness, the effect was the same.
The greatest of the virtual rooms in the residence of the Child of Twilight was a place where such a silence existed, attuned to what the Creator's room had once been, a repository of secret lore, containing all the knowledge in The World, the library of the gods themselves. In this nigh-holy place sat two figures back to back, enjoying the warmth and solidity of one another amidst the all too uncertain times they were living through.
"That fight in the Arena…" one murmured, thinking back to a recent confrontation with a certain Gendor. "Was that really…"
"…your father?" asked the other, nothing readable in her voice, silver hair catching the light from all around and throwing it back into the room. "Do you think he was?"
"I…don't know," Shinji admitted, blinking once. "That battle…it was like I was really fighting Father, almost as if he was telling me not to chase after him anymore. But I don't know whether or not…"
He trailed off, falling silent under the weight of thoughts.
"I think he would have wanted you to decide for yourself whether or not he was who he seemed, and whether or not to trust his words," Lycoris whispered gently in reply. "After all, wasn't that the point of his words? 'To stand upon your own two feet and destroy' the memory of him?"
"Maybe…but what did he mean by taking fate into my hands and forging a miracle?"
"They say…they say that knowledge is power," voiced the Child of Twilight, thinking back to the time of her creation. "That to know something, to understand it, is part and parcel of overcoming it. That to defeat a foe in truth, one must understand how the other sees the world and change that perception, bit by bit, flicker by flicker. To erode away the boundaries one has set upon reality, winning without striking a blow. Maybe he wanted you to understand yourself, and with your own hands, change the world."
"Just mine?" the Third Child inquired, a hint of teasing back in his words. "Does that mean you won't help me, Reimeiki-chan? And here I thought you could make miracles happen all on your own. After all, aren't you the sister of a goddess?"
"A goddess, with only one follower?" the silver-haired girl shot back, amused. "As for miracles…miracles are not so easily attained. To gain something beyond your reach, something of equal value must be sacrificed."
"Just as Aura gave her life to stop the Second Network Crisis?" Shinji asked tentatively, aware that it was still somewhat of a sensitive subject.
"Yes…" Lycoris said eventually, tone almost wistful. "I wonder what it must be like to live as a Goddess, and one day abandon that throne, to return to the winds. I wonder…is she free now, as AIDA sweeps into the World she so dearly loved? And I wonder, can she hear the voices of those of us remaining?"
"I think that she may be more free, and less, than any of us," Shinji mused aloud, giving an answer that wasn't really an answer. "But I know that when I pilot EVA-01, I can sometimes feel Mother there, and so I feel that there is no such thing as a voice that cannot reach someone."
The silver-haired girl tilted her head as something clicked in her mind.
"Is that why you visit Ayanami-san every day?" the Child of Twilight questioned, a quiet certainty of sorts in her voice. "Because you think your voice can reach her even in her dreamless sleep? Or that you'll find some answers in a quiet place?"
"Well…I—" Shinji paused, not sure whether or not to continue. "I've found some answers in her room, but even more questions. There's the Fourth Child, for one with the grey hair and red eyes who is Ayanami's replacement…he's very strange, and I don't trust him because he knows too much. He spoke of Plaird of the Seven Sisters, of Ayanami as a Lost One…and I know that NERV would never have put something like that into a personnel file. He even said something about her being an Angel, which is absurd. The Angels have all been cruel and powerful, and Ayanami has never been anything but kind to me…she even saved my life a few times. If anything, he's more of an Angel than Ayanami is."
"Should I be jealous?" Lycoris broke in, not-entirely-teasing. She had seen how Shinji glanced at the blue-haired girl on occasion, and how his character in The World was modeled after said girl as well. "They do say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…"
"No no no, Reimeiki-chan…I think one demon is enough for me to deal with on a day to day basis," the Third replied, amused. "One that is infected with AIDA, and who can't seem to decide whether to kill me or kiss me. She's—"
"Asuka Langley Soryu," the silver-haired girl supplied, as if she already knew the name Shinji was about to speak. Then her voice turned cold, drawing upon the frozen winds of the north. "Yes, I've seen the tension between you two, especially how much she as Eris dislikes you as Skari. But what's this about kissing?"
"Erm…uh, I, uh…"
"I'm not going to hurt you, Ecchi-kun," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Just tell me what happened."
Shinji took a moment to collect his thoughts
"I was in Ayanami's hospital room the night after we found her in her apartment," he recalled, "Asuka came in, started calling me a pervert, forced me up against a wall—twice, and kissed me before storming out. That's all that happened, I swear. And then much later, she tried to PK me as Eris using the power of AIDA…."
Lycoris' blood ran cold in her veins on hearing Shinji's last sentence, and she turned, wrapping her arms around him as if thankful he was still there.
"She tried to PK you?" the silver-haired girl repeated, the color draining from her face. "How did—no, that doesn't matter. I won't let you become a Lost One…you don't need to worry, I'll protect you, Shinji-kun."
"And I'll protect you," Shinji whispered, thankful for the comfort of his lover's arms.
Θ Blowing Her Fortune
Dull vrooms grew steadily louder, as plumes of dust rose in the distance. Through the harsh daylight of the desert plains rode three bikers, intent on finishing the boss of the field: the rumored Maxima Bazooka, a powerful monster like Gun Giant in appearance, but much deadlier. This particular field run served two purposes: the first being training, as always, the second being a chance to test out newly acquired Steam Bikes.
Incredibly rare pieces of equipment (with a price tag that matched) used only by guild leaders and those able to afford them, Steam Bikes were a source of envy in The World. Those who possessed them were looked upon with awe, or at least with envy, the powerful instruments of transportation and war garnering jealous stares from those in the town.
'Of course, maybe we would also get more respectful stares if somebody hadn't tried to run over everyone in Celestial City Dol Dona after we acquired our vehicles. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited too, but the fields are for killing, not the Root Towns. Especially not the one built on the remnants of fallen Fort Ouph, the Aerial City.'
So a certain Flick Reaper thought anyway, slightly annoyed with her companions, whose heads seemed to have inflated in a ratio inversely proportional to the amount of funds left in their accounts. Still, she could understand the power the Steam Bike conferred, since there was something positively electrifying about running down a monster to open battle, taking down over half its life energy to begin with.
Still, there was a certain gravitas and style that needed to be maintained even on the field, as battle should be clean, without waste, the expression of—
"All right, this kicks ass!" whooped Tribal Grappler Aruna, as he brutally rammed a Doppelganger that had hunted him down, stunning it, as a four-faced Chimera (Lucky Animal variant) appeared and clawed it for massive damage. He then pulled off a rather cowardly trick of using Smoke Screen to let him zoom away, only to turn around, revving the engine, and crash into the monster with a wheelie once again.
"Tiger Bite!" he roared, somersaulting backwards off his bike and landing in front of the shadowy Doppelganger, fists blurring as he smashed in its face, causing it fade to grey and wink out of existence.
"So, you finally beat one," Tomoyami observed in that musical voice of hers. "Congratulations…what did you get?"
"Yeah, I finally beat a Doppelganger on my own," the Tribal Grappler boasted, as he remounted his mechanical steed, "and my new weapon…hey, what's this item? Own King? Don't I get a weapon or something?"
"You have to beat the Doppelganger more than once for that," the pigtailed Flick Reaper replied, ever so slightly amused. "Neat trick, by the way—we'll definitely have to try that against the boss. What do you know about it, Arano?"
She addressed the question to the jester like Shadow Warlock travelling with them, the mage who so loved his hardware, but yet had a few problems controlling it. He seemed to favor the Motocross Madness school of steam bike handling, dodging obstacles at the last possible second, launching his bike off a cliff so as to better smash a group of PKs below, etc.
"Yeah, why not?" Arano responded, his Steam Bike skidding to a stop near the other two. "Mind you, we should be careful…the Maxima Bazooka may be blind, but it has exceptional hearing, able to detect even the faintest sounds from a target. Plus…while it is big and bulky, it is also agile, with formidable strength and a special bazooka attack."
Tomoyami had heard from Lycoris about the Maxima Bazooka at the Inverted Castle, and how much trouble it had caused her companions on that particular quest, so she was aware of some of the techniques they had used, as well as what hadn't worked so well, helping her to formulate a strategy. Given their high levels, the three were fairly confident that they could take on any monster on this field and prevail, but it still didn't do to be careless.
"Hmm, that sounds reasonable…someone will go in with his bike then, and try to take the monster by surprise," she agreed, eyes glancing over at the tall, muscular Aruna.
The tribal grappler may have been dense when it came to feelings of romance, but when it came to danger and risk to self, his early warning system was top notch.
"Wait…why are you looking at me?" he asked suspiciously. "You're the almighty PK of the Shadows, shouldn't you be the one to engage it?"
"Listen to her, Aruna," instructed the Shadow Warlock. "You don't have much armor or defense, so your best chance to get in range is to run down the enemy, shocking it for long enough for Tomoyami to come in with that scythe of hers. I, of course, am best at magic support, unless you really want me to try hitting that thing with a Grimoire. A textbook might be a good weapon in class, but not compared to a scythe or a mailed fist."
"Huh, alright then, I guess that means I get the glory for this ki—"
Aruna shut up abruptly on finding the edge of Tomoyami's scythe a hairbreath from his face.
"Now now, don't get ahead of yourself. Just be glad I helped you two with paying for the bikes," the pigtailed girl said with a wink, withdrawing her weapon from attack range. "Besides, you're working with a Chaotic PK, better not do anything too hasty or I might just kill you, Invincible Pervert or not."
Aruna gulped nervously, as Arano began to chuckle—a sound soon silenced by Tomoyami's fierce glare.
"Yes, ma'am!" Aruna barked out, the standard reply to one of the pigtailed girl's requests.
"Alright, let's ride!" the Flick Reaper ordered, as with a revving of the engines, all three Steam Bikes shot ahead towards the location of the Maxima Bazooka. Unfortunately, like a sentient mountain standing against the wind, the great ogre would not be so easily weathered away, as detecting the rumbling of the bikes, the monster sprang into the air, blasting the ground below with the cannons mounted on its arms.
"Evasive action! Silent spellcasting now!" Tomoyami ordered, as the three threaded their way through the minefield of attacks.
Arano, intrepid as ever, summoned a silent "Vak Don" and "Ani Zot" at once, smashing the Maxima Bazooka from the air with a flaming meteor, sending it right into the claws of darkness below, searing, tearing, rending its flesh without it being able to retaliate.
Crash!
Just when the enraged monster was struggling free of the spells, Aruna crashed into the beast with his Steam Bike, a move that should have stunned the creature and caused heavy damage. Taking advantage of this, he launched himself forward from his bike, pausing just above the monster and dropping like a rock towards its head.
"Palm Blast!"he called out, his fists launching volley after volley of strikes onto the creatures head as it bucked and shook, rearing up to smash him away. But he evaded its unwieldy strikes, dodging inside its reach to lash out with his mailed gauntlets once more. "Shell Shock!"
In a normal situation, the monster would have been severely damaged…but these were not normal circumstances.
"No way!" Arano shouted, noticing the boss' health had not been affected by the fierce volley. "Its HP…it's infinite!"
As if in response to the shocked observation, the Maxima Bazooka crouched down, head nearly touching the floor, then unleashed hell with its bazookas, creating a huge impact on the ground that sent the others flying backwards, and itself flying upwards, as a layer of living shadow spun itself out from the monster's core, covering it in black ooze.
"What…this is…AIDA…" Tomoyami of the Shadow realized, throwing caution to the winds as she leapt from her bike and spun forward, demonic scythe in hand poised to cleave the layer of infection from the monster. "Stay back, I'll handle this, both of you just support with magic, status effects, and healing. Heavenly Wheel!"
"Uh, but…didn't you say this was a team effort?" Aruna objected, right beside her as she attacked the abnormal foe. "We're your teammates, we're not going to let you fight this alone. King Hammer!"
Unfortunately for the Tribal Grappler, his attacks on the Maxima Bazooka had no effect but to enrage it, as it shifted towards him, lumbering forward at a surprisingly rapid clip, footfalls making a clash-clash-clash as they impacted the ground one after another—
—only to be blocked by a determined Flick Reaper calling upon the power of darkness, the whirls and arcs of her scythe's path forming a shield of danger that kept the opponent back. Shadowed hands then unsealed themselves, lancing from the Maxima Bazooka towards the feisty pigtailed girl, but for now, she managed to keep up her defense with her skills, slashing and deflecting the shadowy tendrils as they streamed towards her.
"What the—? Suvi Lei! OrLei Zas!" shrieked the Shadow Warlock, hurling a mighty barrage of light energy at the streams of darkness, searing away a few of them, and paralyzing the main body of the monster—unfortunately, it had no effect on the living AIDA integrated with it.
"Reaper's Dance!" Tomoyami howled with determination, this time taking the offensive as she used her scythe to slice through the shadows. It was at times like this that she was thankful for the enhancement her weapon code had been given. "Really, both of you, get back! If this thing kills you, you'll become a Lost One!"
'Lost One?' was the simultaneous thought in Arano and Aruna's minds. 'This thing turns people into Lost Ones?'
Not altogether surprisingly, the bare-chested Aruna didn't listen this time, as he invoked "Rue Kruz", blasting the main body of the monster with water.
"Sorry, Class Rep, no can do," he said with determination. Though he could sometimes be very cowardly or lecherous during casual times, he had an iron will that sometimes showed itself as well. "At the very least, I can distract it for you, right? Tiger Bite!"
"Heh, yeah, I'll be your opponent," shouted Arano, putting up a false front of bravado as he began to recklessly cast to catch the monster's attention. "OrVak Don! OrAni Zot!"
The Maxima Bazooka AIDA Monster paused, redirecting its tentacles towards the two immediate threats—giving Tomoyami enough of an opening to cut through the shadowy mass and bring her enhanced scythe down on the main body.
"Reaper's Touch!" she cried, the mighty slash cleaving the AIDA monster in twain, destroying it.
One moment, Arano had been awaiting death as the implacable shadow spears hurtled towards him, the next, he stood there disbelieving, the monster was gone, with a panting Tomoyami standing in its place, having defeated it with a final blow.
'Wait a minute…she took down a monster with infinite HP? That means…'
"You're a hacked character, aren't you?" he asked of the Flick Reaper, eyes narrowed to angry slits.
"I see you have discovered Tomoyami's secret," intoned a coolly musical voice from behind the trio. "It appears I was not needed after all. I must say, that was an impressive battle."
The trio whirled, their weapons pointed at the speaker, who was by all appearances, was an all too familiar Shadow Warlock clad all in black, with flowing purple-black tresses, violet eyes, and a silver infinity brooch. In other words—
"Aranami-sensei?!" Aruna and Arano voiced in shock, as Tomoyami merely raised an eyebrow, biding the new arrival to continue.
"In a sense…" the other spoke cryptically. "Corruption is spreading quickly through The World, with AIDA Monsters like these being merely the tip of the iceberg. Come, Tomoyami of the Shadow and…your companions. Lady Helba requests your presence, dothacker."
'Wahhh! Helba?! Tomoyami knows Helba?! She's…one of the legendary dothackers? No way…'
In the stunned silence that hung over the party, the Flick Reaper spoke.
"As you wish," she acknowledged. "Take us to meet her."
At the sound of her voice, spirals of golden light blinked into existence, whisking the four there to a place not entirely of The World.
Net Slum Tartarga
Shadows and black spots now danced over almost every field of The World, with strange, warped monsters, their forms shot through with red and black, spawning from them, creatures similar in effect to the Data Bugs of a bygone age, with a nameless power directing them. And just as during the Twilight Incident, no normal player could stand against these AIDA Monsters, at least, not without extreme levels of difficulty.
The only safety then, was to take refuge in one of the few remaining sanctuaries: the Root Towns, Hulle Granz Cathedral, and Net Slum, with the first two crowded near to bursting, and the last just recovered from a massive battle at the bridge, when the Obsidian Knights Balthasar and Casper had fought one another for dominance, even as their parent AIs contended with each other in the other world. During that battle, strange patterns had formed on the Macabre Dancer Balthasar, something like a magic tattoo giving her enhanced strength, speed, and vitality, which Casper had nearly fallen to, holding out only with Zelkova's help.
'That was the first time I unsealed the Goddess Scythe in battle,' the young boy mused, the oversized weapon in his hands feeling strange compared to his old Wavemaster's staff. 'But I suppose that that too is a step in accepting what I have become, no longer a storyteller but a peacemaker and protector. Rumors after all, have a life of their own, whereas this new world may need someone to bring an end to strife.'
The young heir to Net Slum gazed out upon The World, his golden eyes clouded, as beneath the foundations of the illegal Root Town, the great tortoise Tartarga moved with purpose towards the source of corruption. After the battle of Net Slum, the presence had moved out into the Sea of Data, with a terrible keening filling The World with sorrow. Retrieving bits of lost data, the rogue data entity had somehow also joined with AIDA, artificially boosting AIDA's rate of evolution and expansion exponentially.
'The network is under siege…if this is not stopped, the Third Network Crisis will be upon us.'
Already, The World had been affected gravely, with mass panic ensuing as people found themselves unable to log out, and riots breaking out in the Root Towns. Many PKs, sensing fear in the air, were running rampant, ruthlessly cutting down those who sought sanctuary in the Hulle Granz Cathedral or simply harassing those in the towns.
Once again, it seemed that Net Slum would be the staging point for a counterattack on the rogue presence, as it was not only independent of the other areas in The World, but something of a mobile fortress as well, allowing an unexpected aerial insertion. And in a battle against an immensely powerful being that was trying to hack the minds of all those connected to The World and instill fear from which it might gain strength, the element of surprise might be a vital advantage.
With a whirr, a golden spiral of light materialized from the air behind the young boy, fading to reveal the form of Tsukinoki, current Mistress of Net Slum and Queen of the Dark. The powerful Harvest Cleric looked extremely troubled, the usual expression of amusement gone from her face as she clutched her mighty staff in hand.
"Aura's Knights are attempting to deal with the anomaly, as is their role," the statuesque blond relayed, a hint or two of anger in her voice. "But it is spreading too quickly for them to contain. And…perhaps this could have been prevented had I been able to shut down the MAGI's I/O system. At least Net Slum was not taken over. Have you notified the others for the mustering of forces?"
"Yes, my Queen," the golden-eyed boy acknowledged. "Even as we speak, our allies are on their way, and Net Slum Tartarga is heading to the epicenter of the disturbance with flank speed. As for Net Slum, Balthasar was temporarily affected by the rogue power and attacked Casper, though she was ultimately restored to her normal form by a combination of efforts."
"Hm…" was all the Sorceress in White had to say in response, as twin spirals of golden light appeared in the aether, bearing with them the Adept Rogue Skari and the Child of Twilight Lycoris.
"So you have come, Third Child, Child of Twilight," the Queen of the Dark intoned. "As you have been informed, the situation is dire. A nanoscale Angel, the same as hacked the MAGI and corrupted your simulation bodies, has made its way into the Sea of Data, where it has joined with AIDA. With the power of an Angel, the AIDA's own strength has increased tremendously—our one chance is to strike it now, before it has completely taken over The World."
Lycoris gave a small nod, looking to the Adept Rogue beside her for his response.
"How…did an Angel get into The World?" questioned Skari, puzzled as to how a titanic beast could have entered the network undetected.
"Through the MAGI," was the pithy response. "This Angel is unlike any that you have fought in the past—it has no true form that you may stop with an EVA, and currently it exists only as data within the network. Even so, should you wish to prevent all those connected to the network from becoming Lost Ones, you must fight. The risk to yourself will be grave, so I ask you, will you fight beside me, dothacker Skari?"
"I'll do it," the Adept Rogue replied, steel in his voice. "I don't want anyone to have to go through what I did...I won't let AIDA take anyone else! Even if I have to grind to a halt, even if I alone stumble, even so, I will fight."
Lycoris' hand gave Skari a reassuring squeeze, as four more golden spirals appeared, depositing a rather motley group on the central bridge of the Slums.
"Whoa…what is this place?" asked a bewildered Tribal Grappler, upon finding himself in the city of junk data and vagrant AIs. "I don't remember this being in the manual."
"This is…Net Slum," a diminutive jester-like Shadow Warlock breathed, eyes wide with awe. "The legendary paradise of hackers, ruled by…"
"Helba, Queen of the Dark," spoke the Sorceress in White, amused at the expression on Arano's face. "I see you have heard of me. It is good to see you have all arrived safely in…Paradise. How goes it in the fields, Morganna?"
"Tsukinoki," intoned the Sorceress in Black and former goddess of The World. "The corruption continues to spread rapidly…this group of three was already confronting an AIDA Monster when I arrived, though Tomoyami managed to defeat it. The data enhancement proved most effective, though not on the level of an Epitaph."
"Few things are," was the Queen of the Dark's reply. "Now for your briefing: dothackers Tomoyami, Skari, and Lycoris, Net Slum Tartarga is currently on route to the source of the AIDA explosion, which we have pinpointed to a field recreated from data lost in the first version of The World. Ironically, for the resting place of an Angel, it was once the home of the monster called 'The One Sin'."
"Θ Sickened Imprisoned Fallen Angel?"asked Lycoris.
"Indeed," responded Tsukinoki, who managed a slight smile. "You should be familiar with it, Child of Twilight. Let it not be said that Angels do not have a sense of humor."
"Angels…as in the monsters that NERV was created to fight?" questioned Arano with a raised eyebrow, at the same time nervous and hyped up. "Are we going…to fight it?"
"Yes," voiced Morganna, leaving no room for protest. "You must, for if we do not, then millions of people around the world will become Lost Ones. Mr. Aida, I believe in one of your journal entries you mentioned you wished to be an EVA pilot, did you not? Well, you now have the chance to fight an Angel. Should you not be pleased?"
"Yeah, I've always wanted to fight an Angel!" Arano crowed, looking around at his companions to see that no one else was quite as enthusiastic.
At least, Aruna wasn't until he recognized the other two dothackers, and his mind crawled to a halt.
"Lycoris? Skari? You two are dothackers?" the Tribal Grappler asked with incredulity, grabbing onto the Adept Rogue's robes and shaking him violently. "Man, why do you keep holding out on us?! First da babes, then—"
A gentle poke in his ribs was all he needed to revert to his nominally calm self.
"Huh…if Tomoyami fights, I'm going with her," he stated gruffly, trying to regain his lost sense of dignity. "I can't let a girl fight on her own."
"Touji…you know you don't have any special powers with which to fight, right?" the Flick Reaper asked hesitantly, touching the Tribal Grappler's arm almost gently for once. "You don't have anything that can protect you from the AIDA, like when we fought that monster earlier. You should stay here where it's safe."
"No," Aruna said firmly, tone unusually serious as he refused to give in. "You wouldn't have beat that monster without Arano and I helping you. We're da Invincible Perverts, right? Those monsters can't kill us. Besides, if we don't fight with you now, if you lose…"
He trailed off, unwilling to say anymore. If they lost, they would become Lost Ones anyway, so whether they fought or not did not really make much of a difference.
"Baka," Tomoyami muttered quietly, rolling her eyes in reaction to his display, yet smiling in spite of herself. "Fine, but stay on your bikes, alright? You, too Arano. Both of you can help me by distracting any present AIDA Monsters with your speed and surprise attacks, while I close and cut them down with my scythe."
"Sounds like a good strategy to me," Arano agreed, putting his stamp of approval on the idea, before going down on one knee before the Queen of the Dark. "So does this make us dothackers too, great lady Helba?"
"It does," replied the Sorceress in White, nodding in acquiescence. "Very well, analysis of the field has revealed the existence of AIDA Doppelgangers, three Spectrum Dragons, and the main body of the AIDA-Angel Iruel. Tomoyami, you and your friends will take out the AIDA Doppelgangers. Zelkova, you and Obsidian Knights are tasked with the Spectrum Dragon called 'The One Sin.' Skari and Lycoris will handle Spectrum Dragon 'God Eater', and I will eliminate Spectrum Dragon 'The One Death.' Morganna, you will assist the Azure Knights in defeating the main body of AIDA-Angel Iruel. Is this acceptable?"
Nods, and a chorus of "yes"es sounded from all around, as Net Slum Tartarga drew ever nearer to the insertion point, and the grim warriors prepared for a last, desperate battle, their thoughts private and kept to themselves.
'To work with the Azure Knights…to have to face HIM again…'
'I won't let anyone down. No one else will become a Lost One today.'
'No matter what, Ikari-kun, I will protect you…'
'A terrible sound fills The World…'
'All we can do, is not run away…'
'Woohoo! I get to fight an Angel!'
'So the twilight begins anew…'
From his vantage point on the bridge, Zelkova watched the assemblage of allies as below, a field broken and scarred by the Shadow drew into view. Its lands lay cracked and bleeding, with static or distorted graphics replacing the beauty of snowstorm, with here and there patches of shadow where AIDA creatures spawned. The work of Iruel had been swift in partially reconstructing a broken field from The World's memory, corrupting what had once been a place of memory with malice and woe.
And as the diminutive Flick Reaper surveyed the place which would soon become a battlefield, he remembered the Epitaph and recited what he felt to be appropriate lines:
"The sky in the East doth darken and air doth fill with mourning.
From the chosen land beyond the forest, a sign of the wave comes."