.hack//EVA: Catharsis

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

Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, Roof of Hulle Granz Cathedral

The Queen of the Dark looked down upon the two below, a knowing smile flitting across her lips even as, behind the visor, one of her elegant eyebrows arched in surprise. Her companion at the time, the one named Rumor, was slightly more vocal in his reaction.

"Is that…the Goddess?" he asked, his voice an uncharacteristically hoarse whisper. "Rumor had it that she had returned to The World, but—"

"No," replied Tsukinoki, her tone firm, but gently so. "She is the one who came before, who was called the unwanted Child of Twilight. Her name is Lycoris, sister of Aura."

And she is quite an unexpected arrival in The World: R2. She left the system of The World except as the core fragment of code in the Goddess' Daughter…now she returns, logging on from the outside. What a curious development…especially since she seems to know Shinji.

The grey-haired little Harvest Cleric closed his eyes, showing not a little shock and surprise. Whether it was at the piece of news or at the fact that the Queen of the Dark had known this when he hadn't, no one would know, though it could quite possibly be the latter. Rumor prided himself on being able to collect and pass on the various legends and rumors in The World, particularly anything related to the Twilight or the .hackers, after all, and in this new version of The World…many had forgotten the past.

Some would say that this meant that his role became more important because of that, but when all had forgotten, of what use would it be? A new world this was, meaning new stories and new legends yet to be written…even the names of the .hackers and the Descendants of Fianna had mostly been forgotten.

"The sister of the Goddess, the child not yet seen? Many legends have I heard in my time, but this one is news even to me."

Were there legends that even he did not know? The thought disturbed him, though it was only logical that it might be, for Rumor had come into existence long after Aura's ascension to divinity, whereas Lycoris had been of an earlier age.

Tsukinoki smirked at this, chuckling as she regarded the little Harvest Cleric and thought of what the future might hold. Aura still watched, she knew…the message from Zefie proved that much. As it was, she simply gave one of her more cryptic answers, with a small verbal barb.

"Remember that your namesake will always be vague, pointless to clarify rumors as they adjust and adapt to the time and place. Before a rumor may begin, someone must see or hear…and someone must instigate the rumor, granting it a life of its own. It's dangerous to believe in rumor."

The gray-haired one chuckled, nodding, with a wry smile, as if acknowledging a hit.

"Ah, but rumor doesn't go away no matter how hard others try. And like a ripple on a calm surface, it changes events and things to be."

Tsukinoki shook her head, as the breeze wafted about her so that her luxurious blond hair streamed out and themselves rippled like waves.

"But even you, dear Rumor, can only follow events after the fact. So why don't we go and greet them?"

The regal queen tapped her staff upon the roof of the cathedral and vanished in a column of light, as the young boy of the waters shook his head and did the same.

Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, Inside Hulle Granz Cathedral

Skari looked over at the empty altar, wondering what the statue of the girl once there had looked like, tilting his head and screwing up his face into a rather curious expression.

"The Navel of Lake?" he asked, being unfamiliar with the term.

Footsteps echoed in the Cathedral as Lycoris walked around him, her dress swishing about her bare feet, and the infinity symbol upon it eerily glowing in the dimness. She turned, climbing up onto the altar and holding up one of her arms, taking the spider lily from behind her ear as she looked out into the cathedral.

A beam of light fell from the upper story window squarely upon her face, causing her to appear angelic, otherworldly, even ethereal as her golden eyes peered at the Adept Rogue, who could not suppress a startled gasp at how lovely she looked, or the fear that he was about to be harmed for something.

The word "Beautiful…" slipped from his mouth before he realized it, and Lycoris' lips upturned slightly as she began to reply.

"This place was not always called the Hulle Granz Cathedral, the place which hides heaven. Nor has it always looked this way. There was a lake about this cathedral once, Alba's lake, which has long since boiled away. This church used to be Root Town, reachable with the keywords 'Navel of Lake', since it stood in the center of the lake. Do you remember where the name comes from? We read about it in the Epitaph of Twilight."

And I have lived through and seen many of the events foretold in the Epitaph. I wonder though, if there is to be a new meaning to them, a new story for them to unveil.

Shinji thought for a second, his form going still as he sifted through the muddled, half-repressed events from his homeroom.

The coming of Aranami-sensei, the reading and…ah, that's it.

"The Navel of Lake," he began uncertainly, "where Apeiron, King of Light met with—"

A note played.

Once again, it was the distinctly recognizable A in C Major, a sound which heralded the coming of change in The World once, and that might just do so again.

A column of light manifested itself, shimmering within the dimness of the cathedral, with an orb of gold-flecked silver spiraling down around it. Shinji turned in shock at this unexpected sight, taking an involuntary step backwards. In an explosion of brilliance, both disappeared, revealing the form of two Harvest Clerics, one the statuesque blonde sorcerer-queen he had seen before, and the other a small boy dressed in robes like the sea.

"—I believe the words you were looking for are: Helba, Queen of the Dark," commented the sorceress in white, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Not for the first time did Skari's mouth fall open, working up and down like a fish out of water, though nothing came out. This was the second time he had encountered Tsukinoki, and it was no less unnerving than the last time. As was getting to be a habit in The World, he had a feeling that there was something that he should know but didn't, something that he was missing…and that the regal, queen-like Harvest Cleric held most of the pieces to the puzzle.

As for the other Harvest Cleric, the one with tousled grey hair, big blue eyes, and a small teardrop shaped tattoo on his left cheek who went by name of Rumor, Skari was more uncertain. While he seemed to defer to the one he called "Queen", Skari rather thought that the small boy was more than he seemed to be. For one, Rumor had such incredible power, as demonstrated by the dramatic rescue of the day before…and how had the Cleric been able to find his party? Again, there was more to

"Now now, I would close that mouth if I were you, slayer of Angels. There are greater mysteries than what you see before you."

Tsukinoki smirked as Skari finally shut his mouth, his teeth coming together with a rather audible 'click.' Then she looked over to Lycoris, the girl in red, who she had recognized from long ago, inclining her head in greeting.

"It has been far too long since we met, Lycoris, Child of Twilight…and sister of Aura, goddess of The World."

Rumor was a little more deferential, going down on one knee and saluting with his staff. He studied the silver-haired girl in red who stood upon the altar, speaking softly, much more solemnly than was usual for him.

"Greetings, Lycoris, forerunner to the Goddess. It is truly an honor to meet the one who came before the time of Twilight, mi'lady."

While this was being said, Tsukinoki glanced over at Skari and was barely able to suppress a chuckle at seeing his goggle-eyed expression.

A Goddess? Lycoris is related to a goddess? Since this IS The World, I would say that it is merely roleplay, but these powerful and mysterious characters seem to know her…and even to respect her. There's more going on here than I think…and why does she want to spend time with me?

Lycoris' reaction was rather less blatant than Skari's had been, merely a slight widening of the eyes and a flickering of her gaze over the new arrivals, both of which she recognized, after a fashion.

One was the Queen of the Dark, had sheltered her after her "erasure" from The World, caring for the remaining fragments of her, and in a way, Lycoris supposed that she could be considered a friend, as enigmatic and powerful as Tsukinoki, or Helba, was and would once again be.

The other was an information seeker and rumormonger of sorts, who had also frequented the Slums, though he had not noticed her in that distant past. Still, Lycoris knew of him in the way that distant relations will, having continued to gather information even when she had been fragmented, up until the point when Zefie had set her free.

So, other AIs continue to roam The World, though Aura has vanished, returning to the wind, as she was wont to do. Her name is that of the goddess of the wind…

She looked at the new arrival with wide eyes, smiling sadly at how shocked Skari seemed to be about all this. The boy had had a long enough day without all of these new complications arising to haunt him.

For a moment, silence reigned, and in the background could be heard the gentle ticking of the pendulums as they hung suspended in the seemingly endless cathedral. Then Lycoris spoke, looking upon the two Harvest Clerics and one very confused Adept Rogue.

"Hello, Helba…old friend and guardian. And greetings to you, young Harvest Cleric…Rumor, I think. I cannot remember much after my first passing. But in this World, I am no goddess…just one who will self-preserve. I was a failure when I was born, an unwanted child."

She took a deep breath before continuing, a breath which seemed to catch in her throat for a minute.

"It was in this church that my father cast me away, and now my aim is simply to interact with The World and grow with it. I do not throw away individuality to become a God…I merely dwell here, in these Twilight days, a living memory of what came before."

Naturally, these words made the Queen of the Dark quite curious, and she murmured under her breath a quote from the Epitaph:

"The whole cannot be changed.

We have already lost that chance.

Because the time left to us was short,

We were mistaken in our path.

But now do we realize,

We should change not the whole,

But the parts."

Skari had the distinct impression that he was becoming involved in something that he didn't quite understand, something beyond the whisperings of his heart or his dirty mind. In fact, his usual mantra was voicing its concerns in force now, the discordant strains of "I mustn't run away" echoing in his head. In spite of that voice, he took a furtive glance towards the door, only to be caught by the Sorceress in White, who transfixed him with her stare alone.

It was then that he decided that he never wanted to be on Tsukinoki's bad side…or Lycoris'. For one thing, he had very poor luck with the fairer sex, and the last thing he needed was to be blasted into a thousand little bits by a vengeful woman. As the old proverb went, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," as Eris had so aptly demonstrated…and Tsukinoki was more intimidating now than Eris at her worst. Lycoris as well, but for entirely different reasons, as he found his eyes roaming over her again, and was caught by the playful silver-haired girl, who went as far as to wink at the mortified young man.

Turning her attention back to the Queen of the Dark, Lycoris sighed, inclining her head.

"Exactly. As I am now a shadowed one, that is what we may change now in this greatly changed World…the parts, though who we are and what we are. Against the Cursed Wave called Time, that is all we can do in the moment. For now…all who are within this world are blessed, even in the absence of Aura."

Rumor's lips quirked upwards as he heard the words of the Goddess, or at least of the Goddess' sister. In a way, the two were alike, born of information and data, though Lycoris had far more potential than he, born in the Age of Aura.

"Rumor has it that are shadows encroaching upon this land. Shadows growing from the void, born of errors in the system, not of the black box. They were born in the absence of the Goddess…unless you can take her place?"

He bowed deeply, not quite willing to meet Lycoris' gaze, as he was quite aware of the gravity of his request. So it was that the little gray-haired Harvet Cleric missed the sad expression on her face, and the lone tear that traced a tentative trail down her cheeks and to the floor.

She was lost in memory as a grainy image of an old man with unkempt white hair and piercingly green eyes appeared in the vision of the other three. Her voice croaked as an old file was brought forth, one that had been shown to Alberio long ago, and hauntingly, she repeated the words that AI Harald had once told her:

"I cannot become Aura. It's not who I was designed to become. I…I am a failure…"

When vision was restored, the girl in red, once seemingly confident and playful, broke down in tears, the spider lily in her hand falling the floor in front of the altar as she herself crumpled, curling herself up into a ball, head resting on knees held close to the body.

Tsukinoki shook her head. That had not gone as well as she had hoped, and she knew that it was probably time for her to leave before things got worse…or other bad memories were triggered. The Sorceress in White walked up to Lycoris and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry to bring up the past," she murmured sympathetically, knowing that it was not her place to console. She turned to Rumor and gave him new instructions:

"For now, you've done enough. Go seek the one of Winter, who quests for purpose, and speak to her in your usual way."

A in C Major sounded, as the form of the blue-clad Harvest Cleric formed once again into a sphere of crackling silver-gold and vanished.

Then Tsukinoki turned to Skari, fixing him with her gaze, though as always, the visor that she wore hid her eyes.

"Take care of Lycoris, Skari. Like you, she has had a difficult life, but her story is harsher than even you know, Third Child."

Now Skari really did take a step backwards, truly disturbed by the notion that this woman knew who he was in real life.

"How? What? Bu—"

"—don't ask questions that I cannot answer."

He had a suspicion as to who this might be, and decided to voice it in the hopes of finding an answer of a sort.

"Dr. Akagi?"

Tsukinoki only chuckled and shook her head.

"Not even close. We will meet again, hopefully under better circumstances."

A spiral of light and the sorcerer-queen gated out, leaving Skari alone with a sobbing Lycoris. Not really knowing what to do, he just turned to her and took a tentative step or two forward. Gulping down a lump in his throat, he bent over, picking up the spider lily that she had dropped on the ground, and sitting down next to her.

With more control than he knew he possessed, Skari put an arm around the shaken young girl, restoring the spider lily to its rightful place behind her ear.

"You're not alone," he managed to get out, as he felt Lycoris' arms encircle him and squeeze as if clinging on for dear life, as if he were the only anchor in an uncertain world.

Truth be told, this was the closest that he had ever been to a girl, and he was royally embarrassed. Not in the "I'm blushing like a tomato" way that would happen when Arano and Aruna teased him, but the "I'm glowing as hot as molten iron" way that might cause others to joke of him as Skari of the Crimson Cheeks. Still, in spite of his fear and embarrassment, it would be wrong of to run away, and so he just held her comfortingly as she leaned against him, her face buried against his chest.

"You're not alone," Skari whispered again, more firmly this time. He knew what it was like to be unwanted, to be considered a failure, and he would not abandon this girl who was so much like him, who thrilled and intimidated him on so many levels in real life, and in The World.

It seemed an eternity before Lycoris' hot tears ceased to flow, and a tentative hand touched Skari's face, causing him to look down at the girl in his arms. She smiled weakly, saying only "Thank you, Ecchi-san."

She leaned close to him and kissed him gently on the lips, before simply sinking back into the comfort of his arms, as Skari stiffened for a moment, then relaxed. In real life, Shinji's was indeed blazing like a second sun, and he didn't really know what to think. His mind had long ceased rational thought with a beautiful girl so close to him and everything else that had transpired. Lycoris on the other hand, just found it hard that someone would actually care about her, as no one else had wanted her in the past...ever.

Suffice it to say, with the myiad of half-formed thoughts and feelings going through their minds, it was quite a long night...