Creation began on 08-02-18
Creation ended on 08-06-18
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Hope from the Sky: Marley meets Unit-01
A/N: This is it.
Marley, a large and powerful nation, looked no different from the towns and villages located within the Walls of Paradis. If anything, most of the coastal environment resembled places during the early Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, before the development of atomic power and shortly after the development of automobiles. But the people that lived there, all descendants of people that took power away Eldia to retake their place in the world, all seemed as detached from the fact that they were at war with an island nation they never went to, with people they never met, and indifferent to the fact that they had become no different from the Eldians that once oppressed them. Even if there were a handful of those that knew the truth, there were still the many that were as ignorant of the violence that existed around them and could be unleashed upon them at any moment.
THUD! Something loud was made heard to the people of the town, causing them to either look out their residential windows, look up at the sky or just drop what they were holding out of concern and fear.
Even the Eldians of the internment zones heard the sound and were confused by its meaning, if it meant anything. Was the Marleyan military experimenting with something new? Did some Eldian do something to upset the peace?
THUD! The loud noise came again, sounding closer now.
"Mommy, what is it?" An Eldian girl asked her mother.
"I'm not sure, sweetie," her mother responded.
BOOM! Something nearby, in the ocean, exploded out of it, creating a cloud of water that cascaded across the town, dousing everyone on the streets in salt water.
"What is that?!" A man yelled, pointing to something that was slowly approaching the shoreline.
"A Titan!" A woman screamed. "It's a Titan!"
If only they knew that what was rising out of the ocean and walking towards their home wasn't a Titan at all…but something much stronger than any they had ever seen. A massive, purple humanoid with a horn, covered in seaweed. It walked onto land and walked down the empty streets, watching as the people ran away.
"Please, stop running, everyone," they heard a male voice come from the horned giant, but they continued to run. "Excuse me! Everyone! STOP!"
The scream was enough to silence everyone on the streets and in their homes, forcing them to look up at the purple giant.
"Uh, thank you," the voice, sounding like a young child's, praised them. "I see you, each of you, and I want to see you as just people, despite your differences and ethnicities. Yes, you're Marleyans…and Eldians…and that shouldn't matter unless those that simply want to continue echoing the past that also shouldn't matter no more simply out of spite. Now, you see me…and your first instinct is to run to safety, not knowing if I'm friendly or hostile, but when you hear me speaking, it sends a different message to you, making you wonder what is going on. I…am the Evangelion, a friend and ally of the Eldians from the island of Paradis…and I am no Titan…but have fought against Titans like how you fight against any that don't agree with you. Now, go ahead and ask what I want…or need. Ask me."
But nobody, not the Marleyans or Eldians, dared to raise their voice at him. Their fear was so strong they couldn't.
The Evangelion turned its head towards a hillside…and walked towards it. Slowly, carefully, it navigated across the streets, ignoring the buildings, stopping every few moments to permit people running to clear the way, and it sat at the base of the hill.
"What did you all see just now?" It asked them. "What, exactly, did you all see just now? A mindless Titan, even a controlled Titan, would most likely just demolish buildings and grab people to devour or kill. I don't. I try to be careful…because I don't want to harm any of you unless I have absolutely no choice…and we have a choice. I prefer to talk things out rather than use physical force."
Suddenly, a little Eldian boy from one of the internment zones ran down the street, towards the base of the hillside where the Evangelion sat, against the will of his father and unimpeded by the men in charge of policing them, and stopped in front of it.
"What do you want?!" He asked the horned giant.
"Finally, one of you asks the most important question," the voice praised the boy. "What do I want? I just want for there to be real peace between Eldia and Marley. I want for all of you to forget about the cruelties and selfishness of the past and start anew with a clean slate, to give up this senseless fighting that will only lead both nations to further discord. That's what I want."
Then, as if seeing an opportunity to prove a point, the Eva lowered its left hand and asked the little boy to hop onto it. The boy, more curious than afraid, did as asked and then the hand slowly lifted off the ground.
"What do you see around you today?" It asked him. "What do you see around you for the first time in a long time?"
"I see…that this town is far bigger than I thought it was," he answered. "I see…the people down below having to look up while I'm looking down at them. I see…that large gate that always keeps the Eldians locked up and separated from the rest of the town."
"And you don't like being locked up at all for something you never did to hurt anyone, do you?"
"No, sir, I don't."
"And if I were to simply rip the gate open and allow you to walk among the free people, because freedom is your right like everything else is…what would you do?"
"I'd just want to find my mommy the best gift for her birthday."
The Eva nodded its head in the positive before lowering its hand back to the ground, letting the boy off so he could rejoin his mother. Then, it looked over where the gate was and, with its left arm's thumb and index finger, ripped it up from the ground.
"If there's any among you that have any honor to seek out peace, I'm more than willing to talk. And my allies of Paradis are willing to talk, as well. We don't need to fight."
But while some of the people were skeptical of such a belief, there were others that found it hard to believe that Paradis sought peace with Marley after so long.
-x-
"…It looks like he's getting their attention so far," said Sasha to Levi, as they and a few other corps members watched the Eva sitting against a hillside from the control center in the carrier, courtesy of the Eldians that possessed the knowledge of how to work with computers and improved communications.
"Yeah, so far," he agreed with her, "but will he be able to persuade them to hand over Grausam Zanki when the time comes? That's what I want to know later on."
"Grausam Zanki, the Atrocious Demon Slayer," went Eren, using the translation Shinji had provided the group when asked if the guy's name had one.
"And the Akuma Titan," added Armin, a little bothered by the fact that, because Kaede had asked Shinji what the name meant, this guy viewed himself as a literal embodiment of the Devil.
-x-
"…Are we sure that's not a Titan?" One of the commanders of the Marleyan military asked as he and several soldiers entered a room with the best view of the Eva from a safe distance as it continued to sit by the hill in the internment zone that housed the Eldians.
"It's far too massive to be a Titan, sir," another man expressed, "also, its movements are too swift. Even large Titans take too long to move their legs, but this thing can move as though its size and weight don't apply to it."
"Worse than that, Commander Magath," another soldier responded, "it spoke."
Theo Magath, commander of Marley's Eldian units, looked to his soldiers and questioned, "Most Titans can't speak."
Looking through a pair of binoculars, he saw how the Eva just seemed to be observing the land around it, as if waiting for something to happen.
"Any confirmed casualties?" He asked.
"No casualties, sir," a female soldier answered him, "although, it destroyed a gate in the internment zone when it asked an Eldian child what he would do if it wasn't there."
"What kind of creature emerges from the water, comes onto land…but doesn't cause destruction? It should at least be attacking some of the people and buildings."
"What are your orders, sir?"
"Mobilize the tanks into the internment zone. I want to make absolutely sure that this…thing doesn't try anything. And I want the Eldian child that spoke to it brought in for questioning."
-x-
It was heavy and difficult to dredge up out of the water, but being aided by at least eight of the Wall Titans that were nearby, Kaede's Dark Titan was able to bring up the rest of the second aircraft carrier found by the Garrison yesterday when asked by Historia to salvage it. While not as massive as the first carrier, it was an impressive sight to behold. And it got Kaede out of her cell for a while during her prison sentence.
"How'd something like this end up halfway in the water?" Ymir asked, noticing that the carrier's hull appeared to have no apparent damage that would cause it to sink.
"Who knows for sure?" Historia responded, and they began the second phase of the salvaging operation: Boarding the carrier to see if it could be used by them.
As of late, with the progression of knowledge transmission by Kaede's possession of the Founder, dozens of civilians in the coastal city began to volunteer their aid to the advancement of Eldia's newfound discoveries from their past. A few of them had begun to tinker with old devices called radios and were certain that they could establish communication with the carrier the Survey Corps were using.
Kaede lowered her right hand down to lift the queen, her bodyguard and ten Garrison soldiers up to the deck. As far as she could tell, the ship was probably dead in the water and needed to be drained of whatever water was left inside it before any attempt could be made to try and use it.
"Oh, man," went Kitz Weilman as he noticed water still in an entrance to the carrier…and an octopus hanging on the ceiling. "We're gonna need water pumps…and cutters."
"Why don't we just have Ms. Sogen rip a few holes in the sides?" A man asked.
"Because we want to try and use this ship, not be stuck with just one. Plus, as tempting as that may be, we can't rely on the girl for everything. With the return of lost knowledge every other day, we'll be able to do more than we thought we could."
As they went over the tools they'd need to drain the ship, Historia and Ymir walked up the steps of the ship's island and came upon an open door. Upon entering the room it led into, the pair saw a lot of wet consoles, eels and starfish lying around.
"I think we might've bitten off more than we can chew with this one," Historia believed, feeling disappointed, looking out broken window at the Dark Titan and eight Wall Titans.
Suddenly, the Dark Titan leaned over towards the island of the ship turned its head, enabling Kaede to partially emerge from the nape.
"Graugh!" She grunted, ripping her head away from some of the fleshy mass of her Titan body. "This is a major find for us, but you don't seem happy, Historia."
"It is, but we might be able to use it, Kaede," she told her.
"It's been mostly underwater for a long time, but, surely, we can use it. If everyone pitches in and knows what they're doing."
"That's a big 'if', Kaede," said Ymir to her. "You're hopeful."
"I've also been trying to do some new things with my Dark Titan."
"What new things?" Historia asked her.
Kaede strained as she moved her head. Her Dark Titan raised its left hand up and turned over to show its palm, revealing its fingers all lengthening a little, becoming crystallized.
"Urgh!" She panted. "The Armored Titan automatically hardens whenever summoned. The Jaw Titan has naturally-hardened claws and fangs. Only the War Hammer Titan is truly versatile in its ability to harden its flesh, but when I put in effort, I can make my Titan produce a spike on its hand…sort of."
"Do you propose to poke holes in the ship?" Ymir suggested.
"Only if Historia permits me to do so, I will."
"Not just yet, Kaede," Historia told her. "We'll see what the people can do with what we discover first. If nothing pans out, then we'll try your suggestion. Impressive display of control, though. You're improving."
Kaede bowed her.
"Historia, Your Highness!" A man yelled, running up the steps to the room. "Your Highness, we just made contact with the Survey Corps' carrier! The Eva's in Marley!"
The three women looked at him in shock.
Do your best to cause the least amount of harm, Shinji, thought Kaede, hoping that Shinji could carry out his plan without the need for conflict.
-x-
He was bored stiff waiting for the Marleyans to respond to him, but he was willing to wait all day now since he ate before he got into the plug…and had two more rations with him in case he had to eat again.
It wouldn't be so bad if I could go to the bathroom in my plugsuit, he thought, looking out at the town, seeing some of the people slowly approaching the Eva. "You know, we'd probably get somewhere if you just talked. I mean, conversations don't get traction if there's no communication between people."
Then, he saw several tanks rolling onto the streets in front of him, aiming their cannons up at his Eva; he had been informed by the former Titan Shifters made by Grausam's serum that Marley had access to tanks.
"You know, that's unnecessary," he told them.
He saw a man with a megaphone and he brought it up to his mouth.
"You call yourself a friend and ally to the Eldians of Paradis Island, and that makes us Marleyans uncertain of what to make of you," the guy explained. "Who'd want to associate with these demons and call themselves a friend and ally of them?"
"And you think I shouldn't?"
"They're a cursed people, doomed to walk lowly lives."
"And those that choose to care for them, about them?"
"They are just as worse."
"Sir, that's…pretty immoral. How much about Eldians do you know? How much do you really know about them? I've only known them for less than a year, but I don't see any difference between them or you."
-x-
"…What is Shinji doing?" Historia, in the room the Garrison was using to communicate with the carrier that brought Unit-01 to Marley, asked, confused by his way of talking to the Marleyan man.
Kaede, putting her left index finger under her mouth, realized what her boyfriend was doing and explained, "He's just using his common sense. If the Marleyans think we're demons, Shinji wants to know how and why he himself should see us as such. But he won't be swayed."
"This…radio communication technology is quite incredible," went Ymir to the young Garrison man that was making it so that they could piggyback on the carrier's link with Unit-01 to listen to the conversation.
"Yeah, I know," he responded.
"…They're the only ones of their kind that can turn into Titans!" The man had shouted to Shinji. "Giant, man-eating monsters that look like people, but aren't people! No good can ever come from associating with them!"
"Really, sir? They can turn into giants that eat people?" Shinji asked, making it seem as though he was a curious individual. "They don't look like they can turn into giants. I saw them for weeks, and not a single one on Paradis turned into a Titan. They do, however, live nice lives that got better after I just…dropped on them by accident."
Well, he did drop from the sky, Kaede thought as she smiled at how Shinji expressed bits of his arrival to Paradis without giving the whole story away.
"But there were a handful of people that could turn into Titans," Shinji uttered, "a bunch of young men and a woman at first. It really hurt me to see them actually trying to bring harm to people they never met before, for reasons the people couldn't understand because they wouldn't talk. Terrible things just happen when people choose not to talk about themselves…and they ran from me when I just wanted to talk to them."
Historia, Ymir and Kaede looked at one another and understood that Shinji just told the Marleyan man a fib.
"Um, why did the boy just lie about the former Titan Shifters we have?" A female Garrison member asked them. "We have them in captivity."
"Because Marley doesn't know that yet," Ymir stated. "Since everyone that came to Paradis from Marley hasn't returned, their superiors don't know what happened to them. This means Shinji can spin the lie as much as he can to make it as convincing as possible for them to buy."
"Is that so?" The Marleyan questioned.
"Well, it's normal to feel fear," Shinji stated. "Everyone feels fear. But I wouldn't hurt anyone unless there was absolutely no choice…and there's always a choice. Even in the darkest of days where suffering is a constant, people can find peace in their sleep. But for the people that choose to inflict suffering onto others, their minds can never know that bliss unless they atone for their bloodshed. They can't know rest…ever."
"These Eldians die every day, and I sleep just fine."
"That's if you haven't inflicted suffering onto them. Those that do, however…the peace that they seek in their sleep ends up as nothing more than a luxury they can't have without repentance."
-x-
As the Eldian boy and his mother sat in front of Calvi with uncertainty, the Marleyan leader of the current military faction of this nation pondered how to handle this little concern.
"Now, I'm sure you're both aware of the problem we have outside," he spoke to them.
"You mean the purple giant sitting by the hill that isn't a Titan?" The boy responded, pointing towards the window.
"Yes. I'd just like to know what you said to it."
"It asked me what I saw when I looked out at the town, if I enjoyed being locked up for something I didn't do to anyone…and what I'd do if the gate that kept us locked up wasn't there. I just said I'd look for a gift for my mother."
"It…didn't ask you for any…larger things? Why you're isolated to one part of any town or city? Whether or not you were a potential Warrior Unit candidate or anything of the sort?"
"No, sir, it never asked me anything like that."
Calvi found it unusual for this giant to not seek out answers to questions like this. Was it truly seeking peace between Marley and Eldia? Was it truly not out to cause them any devastation?
"You two may go," he told the woman and her son, and they quickly left out of the room. I don't trust this thing.
-x-
Grausam Zanki, walking down the streets of the town for the umpteenth town without the need to look behind his back, watched as the people that he thought very little of were unable to stop looking at this giant that didn't look like any Titan he'd seen or produced over the years.
What are you? He wondered, unsure if he should feel threatened by this thing or not. Why are you here? Are you truly in league with those Eldians bastards?
Deciding not to risk anything, he rushed back home to inject more of his serums into himself before he had to run to the research division to produce more of his Jaeger Serum in case his superiors desired Titans to defend Marley.
-x-
Fear and Disgust
"…So, this Grausam Zanki," went Eren to his half-brother, Zeke, a few days ago after discovering the identity of the man responsible for the intelligent Titans that arrived with the Angel. "I heard a rumor from some people…that you know him."
Zeke Yeager, ever since the revelation that his Titan power was stolen from him by these Eldians, looked up in his prison cell at Eren.
"Grausam Zanki, the Titan Doctor. I only know him enough to not know him, that disgrace."
"A disgrace, huh? Isn't he an ally of yours?"
"Not to me. He's not part of the Warrior Unit. Marley may trust him because of his ability to produce Titans with intelligence…but he is not to be trusted…whether you're an enemy to Marley or an ally."
"Is that so?" Levi, who was also present when the conversation started, spoke up as he appeared. "Some of us were under the assumption that Grausam, since he had escaped from Paradis and sided with Marley, was affiliated with you in some way."
"If it were up to me, I'd see him dead. His contribution to the military might've been a bonus for our superiors and what got him his citizenship, but he is not to be taken likely."
"You sound as though you're afraid of him, and from what I heard, he was crippled when he escaped. He only had one leg on him."
"He ain't so crippled now…and wasn't when I met him for the first time. If you ever see him…just kill him."
Eren then sighed as he walked away. It was clear from this conversation that Zeke knew less about Grausam than they did…and was better off not knowing him at all. So far, all that could be ascertained about the rogue Eldian…was that he was just a demented man with absolutely no capacity for redemption…just like his brother.
-x-
"'If you ever see him…just kill him'," the message Eren had given Shinji before he got in the Eva that came from Zeke still fresh in his mind. "It sounds like this guy's really as you said his Titan name translates into, an incarnate Devil."
The more reminders I get from everyone telling me that this man's gotta go, the more I feel that the guy's completely nuts like half the things I've seen, he thought, and noticing several blimps in the air now. Please, let's not do Plan 'B' just yet.
-x-
Tracking Unit-01 wasn't too hard for NERV. The satellites they sent in through the Dirac Sea portal were still operational…and there was only one Eva in that alternate universe. What was more, Misato had to make sure that the new Angel that got there hadn't attacked Shinji yet before he could be warned about it. The sight of the purple Eva on some large continent was quite a change, but it looked as though the people that lived there were beyond the capacity for reason if they were sending in tanks and what looked like militarized zeppelins.
"If Commander Ikari finds out about this, you'll likely be demoted or fired," Ritsuko reminded her as she and most of the Central Dogma staff were watching the sight in front of the Eva.
"And you don't think trying to see if Shinji will resolve the Angel issue will be worth this?" The purple-haired woman asked the faux-blond.
"Personally, I keep my feelings out of the issue."
"That's you."
-x-
With a newly-established video connection with the carrier, the Garrison was able to establish a video link with Unit-01's Entry Plug.
"Shinji, it's us," went Historia to the young man.
"Historia?" Shinji reacted, surprised that a communication window was just opened between Unit-01 and Paradis. "Kaede, Ymir? I didn't expect to hear from you so soon."
"Knowledge, Shinji!" Kaede uttered. "People here are turning into eggheads! What's going on with your plan?"
"I might be going to Plan 'B' real soon."
"Be careful," Historia told him, and the boy turned his head left, as if seeing something new where he was. "Shinji?"
"I think I might have more difficulty with Plan 'B'," he told everyone.
"Shinji," Kaede uttered, "what is it that you see?"
"A ring of light in the air," he revealed.
"A ring of light in the air?" Ymir repeated, confused.
-x-
Armisael, the Angel of the Womb, had appeared just in the air over Marley, seeing the Eva that seemed saturated with a strange power that evoked some sort of strength from within this very planet itself rather than the wretched abomination it was made from to pervert the All-Father it and its siblings were spawned from. Whatever this power was that it now possessed, Armisael aimed to destroy this Eva, even if it meant destroying these creatures that should've had some relation to the usurper they were made in the image of…but weren't.
-x-
"It just appeared out of nowhere," Ritsuko gasped, seeing the Angel appear on the screens. What will you do without backup, Shinji?
-x-
If this was another Angel, Shinji feared that this one was not going to be anything like the last one…and his greatest fear was that he wouldn't be able to deal with it without Kaede; he believed he was only able to defeat the previous Angel because of the Dark Titan's aid. Even with the enhanced power extension provided by the consumption of Titans, the boy couldn't deny that the Eva had its flaws and limitations, unable to fly, couldn't swim, project energy and was invulnerable to a degree against man-made weapons, but was vulnerable against Angels and other Evas.
"At least you own up to it, Shinji," he remembered Christine Sogen telling him before Kaede had revealed to him her status as the Dark Titan. "As long as you own up to your limitations, you're not hurting anyone with the truth."
Except that he was going to probably hurt people if this Angel chose to attack him with people present. Not unless he got the people to get away or he himself got away. He chose to do the latter choice, as he didn't want to endanger any settlement.
To be continued…
A/N: Damn, I didn't really see that coming at all. I swear, it just happened.