Hope from the Sky

by Traitor of All Traitors

Inspired by the works of other writers that took to it, this is my first attempt. Shinji and Unit-01, victims of the Twelfth Angel attack, find themselves in another world with giants that crave human flesh. Can Shinji offer his Eva's assistance in allowing mankind to cancel their extinction, or will he be joining them? Finally Finished. Bonus lemon chapter now uploaded.

65. Carved in Stone

Creation began on 08-23-19

Creation ended on 08-31-19

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Hope from the Sky: Carved in Stone

The Temple of the Unknown was not a place in Yggdrasilus City that most people would venture to, but these two members of the Fritz family insisted that these travelers did. It was a cavern that led deeper underground, right into a large chamber occupied by nine thirteen-meter Titans that looked as though they were afflicted by albinism due to lack of sunlight.

"About ten years ago, these Titans started carving into the walls and displaying imagery that didn't make any sense to us until they started putting them in order," Frenzia explained to them. "As far as I could tell, these Titans have been around since the days my paternal great-grandfather ended up after a fight between Marley and at least three other nations."

"You mean, you're related to people that were involved in the war?" Calvi asked her.

"Which war, exactly, sir?" She requested to know from him, indicating that there were several wars that she was unaware of. "Just don't touch anything in here. The Titans treat this place as if it were sacred. I guess it is sacred to them. So, if you value your hands, please keep them in your pockets. You might see things that make sense to you in some way."

Historia and Ymir looked at one section of the wall and found it seemed to relate to something that had happened a few years before: A Titan looking over a wall at the people below. It also appeared to be on fire in a sense.

"The way the Titans tell the story," Richard Fritz told them, "just beyond the storm wall, in the outside world, people up and started to fear and resent the very power that Ymir Fritz had found and unleashed upon them when she passed. A man from her bloodline had tried to set an extinction course for all related to Eldia, but it was slow and hindered by other people that lived with the Eldians by choice or by survival, for centuries."

Shinji and Kaede looked at a carving that detailed Titans attacking people across the land without any sense of self, causing untold destruction in the process of eating them.

"From a personal standing," Frenzia expressed her opinion, "that's a long time to be afraid of and angry with someone."

Levi looked at a carving featuring nine Titans bowing down to a tenth Titan that stood above them, either obscured by the dark indent made during the carving process…or this was to indicate how this Titan was different from them.

"But then the strangest thing seemed to happen," Frenzia continued, leading them to a carving of a giant falling in the sky…and then doing battle with a large Titan set ablaze. "It seemed that two forms of salvation would appear during an inevitable period of death and destruction. One of the Titans the Eldians were afraid of…would appear to protect them from the Titans that were unleashed to eat them…and a giant cast out from the heavens would fall to the Earth…and bring hope to the hopeless as it sought sanctuary in its new dwelling."

"The Eva," said Shinji, examining the carvings depicting them, "and the Dark Titan."

"But look at the dates they were completed," Kaede pointed out, seeing a number of dates carved under the pictures the Titans had made. "This one was completed eight years ago."

"Can these Titans predict the future?" Ymir asked Frenzia, standing in front of a carving depicting what looked like Unit-01 facing off against this Unit-02 (all she could really describe it best as was a behemoth with four eyes), tearing its head off.

"We don't really know what these Titans can do," she responded. "They just carved these on the walls and we spent our time trying to decipher them. None of the carvings show any signs of having anything to do with Gigante Island, just Paradis Island or the Marleyan-dominated lands. So, I guess Paradis must be a hot spot, huh?"

Historia looked at a different carving depicting a young woman being crowned, no doubt herself.

"But," Richard went as he stood in front of a carving further down the temple cavern, "some events have probably yet to transpire, assuming these Titans can predict the future. Do any of these carvings depict anything to you that might have happened already?"

Levi stood in front of the one Richard was in front of and could only deduce that this situation had happened earlier.

"This has to be the War Hammer Titan," he pointed out to one of the Titans depicted in the carving, "and this must be the Dark Titan being stabbed by it. This happened over a month-and-a-half ago. This carving of the Eva throwing a sphere with a man inside into the water here, as well; we had exiled and condemned a man to serve eternity in Titania's Abyss."

"Uh, Shinji," Kaede uttered as she looked at a carving on the other side of the cavern, "you think this happened and we just didn't know about it?"

Shinji ran over and looked at the carving…and his eyes widened. The carving in front of them depicted a Titan holding a person in its grip and the Dark Titan on her knees.

"I…I don't think this has happened yet, Kaede," he answered her. "Excuse me, Ms. Frenzia Fritz, but what do you think of when you see this carving here?"

"When I see this one?" Frenzia asked him. "Well, I think of a man so cruel and twisted, that he'd sink to the level of a monster and threaten the life of an innocent person with their untimely death to force another person's hand. But the Titan in this carving…scares me with its inhumanity. If it were devoid of any conscious thought, it would've just eaten that person in its hands because it's only following its basic impulses to feed, but it looks as though it's acting like the person has value to the other Titan it's facing. Is there anyone you know that would use the power of the Titans to threaten the life of another person like that?"

"Just one person, but we dealt with him over a month ago after deciding how to best dispose of him so that he couldn't get away. I wouldn't expect any more trouble from him so long as he's buried alive at the bottom of Titania's Abyss."

"You went to Titania's Abyss? I read that that's a cold place to visit. It's so cold that even the sun can't shine there, that there's nighttime…during the daylight hours."

"It's where we put him," Kaede explained again, worried that Grausam might've been prophesied to return in the future. "If he couldn't be killed, he could at least be contained and disposed of. Out of sight and out of mind. The thought of anyone releasing him from his underwater icy prison would be too much to risk causing a panic."

"Heh," went Richard as he walked past the couple and Frenzia. "If this man is the Titan depicted in the carving, then I'm afraid you can't fight against what has been preordained to occur. If he returns in the future, you may have to deal with him again."

Kaede looked worried about this possibility. She had finally gotten over what that horrible man had done to her, and now the thought of him coming back was as nightmarish as her being reduced to nothing more than a laboratory specimen against her will.

"If he ever does come back," Shinji expressed, standing up for Kaede, "I'll take care of him myself before he can cause more problems than we can already handle."

"Excuse me, what's with this carving right here?" One of the Survey Corps members asked, looking at one at the back of the cavern, away from the others, with two Titans on either side of it, as if worshipping it for some reason.

"This?" Frenzia questioned. "It was among those completed nine years ago. We call it The Unity of the Three Rulers of Eldia. If this one's a predestined event, the factors don't add up in some cases. There are three rulers…but the one that we do know of…tries to deny such a destiny."

Historia looked at the carving…and saw three people sitting before a crowd of people. The three in question were of a man and two women.

"Who rules here?" She asked.

"The current ruler of Gigante Island is the father of the man everyone expects to lead them after he passes. Voight Fritz. His eldest child is my brother, Draven Fritz. We go back to our earliest days of the playground."

"Oh, that's nice."

"Except Draven… He's been known for trying to run away from his birthright."

-x-

"So…who in here wants to be the first to get a taste of the power of the Jaeger Titans?" Grausam asked the people in front of them as he presented his completed batch of Jaeger Titan Serum, prepped in eight syringes and inside ten vials.

Gendo was tempted to try it first, but he didn't get to where he was when he was running NERV by putting himself in harm's way, even for the sake of power. That was something he'd make others that were expendable do to fulfill his requirements. But he didn't have Rei, anymore, and he couldn't simply call upon anyone at NERV to aid him.

Grausam could see that they were afraid of the power that was right in front of them. They wanted it, but were worried over what it could do to them if they took it, even if it only lasted for half an hour until they needed to inject themselves again. Maybe they thought it was dangerous or poisonous, despite his assurances that it wouldn't kill them; he'd use them on himself to prove its safety, but because he was already a Titan Shifter (and a heavily-unstable one, for that matter), it wouldn't work on him like it would've on those that weren't Titan Shifters.

"Men," said one of the women present, walking over and picking up a syringe. "I'll volunteer."

"You might want to step outside first," Grausam informed her. "Whether at fifteen or fifty meters, a Titan transformation is dangerous when done indoors in a confined space."

The woman sighed and walked out the room to the deck of the ship.

Gendo and the people of SEELE followed her, leaving Grausam to ponder whether or not he should follow them.

"Well, I have to make sure the serum works for them," he sighed and walked out of the lab after them, once more grateful to be on his feet like before when he escaped Paradis five years ago.

-x-

For an underground city, Yggdrasilus City had a large racetrack where the people often visited to watch these different vehicles compete against one another. The track was as large as Shiganshina…but with less in the way of crashing into.

"Draven seems to be…really good at this," Historia expressed to Frenzia and Richard as they showed their guests the track and the vehicles being used to outpace one another. "Are you sure he's the one driving the blue one?"

Historia pointed to a blue Prius that looked heavily modified with a darker frame, being driven by a young man in his mid-twenties with blond hair and sea-green eyes, whose face was displayed on a large screen in the background of the trace, alongside several other faces that were in the race.

"Yeah, that's Draven," answered Richard. "He enjoys the running so much that he earned the nickname Speed Demon. He's the only one that actually enjoys the thrill of running, but he's got some skills…and he's sick as Hell."

Everyone turned to face him when he said that.

"He means that in a positive way," Frenzia clarified, "referring to his driving skills. People that use a form of language that's referred to as slang use words like 'sick', 'dope', or even 'crazy' to address what they see as the best qualities of people."

"Whoa!" Agnes and Anastasia gasped as they saw the Prius jump off the road and slam back down in front of a red Camaro with a spoiler. "None of the cars in Marley can do that!"

Then the Prius turned around and started riding forward while backwards, still outrunning the other cars, causing the people to cheer louder.

"He's also the only one reckless enough to drive backwards," Frenzia added. "That's Draven 'Speed Demon' Fritz for you. Fast, reckless and one of the best on the road."

The race suddenly ended a few minutes later and Draven got out of his Prius, sporting a muscular build with ripped jeans.

"And the winner and still-reigning champion of the track is Speed Demon Fritz!" An announcer cheered and the crowd screamed over him.

Draven looked up at the crowd, seeing Frenzia and the new faces that didn't belong on Gigante, noticing that one of them was a young girl with blond hair, feeling an aura of familiarity from her, and then he walked away.

"I guess he knows who you are now," went Richard to Historia. "It just means things are shaping against him all over again."

Historia looked down at the departing Draven, wondering why he tried to resist his birthright when it was his right to rule. In a way, they were like opposites; she had become the queen to ensure stability among the Eldians of Paradis and had grown into her position quite well because she had Ymir, Shinji and Kaede to keep her on the right path without ending up as a puppet for the adults to manipulate…but Draven…was a man that seemed capable of ruling his people, even had the trust of his people…but tried to keep away the responsibility that came with ruling…by running from it.

"Do you believe we should introduce ourselves to him, Historia?" She turned and faced Shinji, who had asked.

"Uh, yes," she answered him. "Yes, we should introduce ourselves to him."

-x-

"Is there anything new, Maya?" Ritsuko asked her protégé as she sat in a chair on the bridge in Central Dogma, referring to the activities of Shinji through the synchronization between himself and the Eva.

"No, ma'am," she answered her. "The synchronization between ceased after he had escorted a bunch of helicopters full of allies and enemy prisoners through a storm system to an island we can't find through the satellite system. The dense storm wall makes pinpointing it impossible."

"Does he know why they had to go to an island that we can't locate?"

"Some people wanted to see a tree that grows on that island, supposedly bound to a shared history between the people he protects from the people he fights against."

"They take the time to travel away from Paradis, perhaps the most technologically-advanced place to be right now because of the resources that had been hoarded away in a preserved city, just to see a tree on another island?"

"Well, it's not like anyone here tried to contact him before they left, Senpai. He's completely cut off from us unless either he or we initiates communication."

"Well, with my research on the portal revealing that it's stable and will most likely remain that way unless someone on our end tries to detonate an A-Bomb in it, I would say that we can just jump in and visit him if we wanted to. Either that or try to replicate the mishap that opened it in Nevada and open one here in Japan."

"Could we even do that?"

"It's just a theoretical possibility. Nothing is for sure."

Meanwhile, Misato was being instructed by Fuyutsuki to contact the NERV branch in Nevada to see if anything had happened in the last few days.

It'd be nice just to meet with him in person instead of over an intercom, she thought as she tried to reach the Nevada branch. "That's odd."

"What is it?" Kaji asked her.

"The phone lines to the NERV branch in Nevada are down."

"And that's odd because why?"

"They're not supposed to be. Even after the loss of Unit-04, they still had power for everything there. Their new primary job there now is to keep people away from the portal since it leads to the space of the other universe…and it's suicide without a shuttle or protective gear."

"Have you tried calling a certain number of times? Sometimes, each branch has a limits to calls ignored before any other branch suspects something is wrong over there. That branch takes seven calls to be ignored before it turns out something is amiss there, whether it's downed transmitters or personnel distress."

"Well, I called eight times, and nobody picked up, so I guess that means something is wrong over there, then."

"Okay, then, Fuyutsuki needs to be informed."

-x-

"Fritz," went Frenzia to Draven as the man that would be king after the passing of his father, the current king, continued to walk down the road to a building that looked as though it had veins protruding from its sides due to being built under one of Titanus Yggdrasilus, many roots. "Draven Fritz."

But the man continued to ignore her and the others with her.

Frenzia sighed and turned to the others.

"Look, whatever happens in this next moment, just let it go. Don't try to intervene," she told them. "This is a habit."

"Oh…okay," said Shinji, confused about this.

Frenzia then whistled and yelled, "Yo! Speedy!"

Draven stopped walking and turned to face her, a look of irritability on him.

"You stopped calling me that after we broke up…parasite," he uttered, sounding like he had better days than whatever was going on now.

"There's no blood between us, so you don't need to restrain yourself with me, little brother," Frenzia told him, dropping her spear to the ground.

"Frenzia, are you seriously going there? You wanna go that far in front of the newcomers?"

"I'm not gonna hold back, even for you."

Draven walked over to her, looking like he was see-sawing between restraint and release…and right then and there…

Wham! He punched her right in the gut!

"Oh!" Richard gasped as he and the guards got in front of Historia and the others to keep them from intervening. "Here we go again!"

Frenzia kicked Draven in his gut and jumped him to the ground, trying to restrain him, but Draven pushed her off and got on top of her, about to punch her in the face. She moved her head to the side, avoiding his blow, and then kicked him off, sending him face-first onto the grass.

"You still can't hit worth a damn," he told her as they got back to their feet. "You still can't hit worth a…"

She tackled him back to the ground and pinned his arms.

"I got you this time," she told him. "Admit defeat!"

"Eat my nitrous oxide!" He responded.

"Uh, are you sure we shouldn't intervene?" Kaede asked them.

"Yeah, this is just a lovers' quarrel," one of the Frenzy Tribe members explained. "They used to date five years ago…until she decided to call it off because he was going to be king one day and would need to be with some other girl."

"You do realize that with them here, especially these three, that future comes ever so closer towards me!" Draven yelled at Frenzia.

"Your father told you, what the Titans carved is only true if fate wills it so," she responded, "but you're not the king yet, and you're in the presence of two queens! Show respect, even if you hate destiny's grips!"

Draven grunted and yielded.

Frenzia got off him and helped him onto his feet in front of everyone. And then, they walked over to them.

"It is nice to make your acquaintance," Draven greeted them kindly.

Shinji, merely because of habit and culture, bowed his head to him.

Kaede followed suit to show respect to the man.

Historia, mainly because her advisers did it, bowed her head to Draven.

"It is nice to meet you, sir," she replied. "I am…"

"Historia Reiss," Draven cut her off, surprising her with how he knew her name before she even mentioned it to him. "I know who you are, Queen of Paradis Island."

After hearing that, Kaede felt the need to correct him by stating that Historia was the Queen of Eldia, being that the Eldian nation was reduced to just Paradis itself, but decided to hold her tongue, keeping her opinion to herself.

Draven then turned to face her.

"Miss Kaede Sogen of the Dark Titan," he spoke, surprising her that he knew who she was. "You're the Queen of the Titans. You're the only one of your status to have ever lived…and will ever live."

"Some children call me that because I'm the only Titan Shifter left on Paradis…and because I'm a pretty face."

"Children often prefer a pretty girl over a nice guy."

"So I'm told."

Kaede wasn't sure if there was going to be something mentioned about her gray hair, but she was hoping that Draven wouldn't say anything about it; the fact that some people were referring to it a bit more than necessary was starting to creep her out a little.

"You must have no idea," Draven uttered, cryptic.

"I must have no idea…about what?" She asked, and he pointed to her hair. "This has been like this ever since I was little. The only other way to say it in a way that makes sense is that…my drapes match my carpet."

"Huh?!" Calvi went, confused by what Kaede said. "What? What in the world does that mean, what she just said?"

"Put quite simply," said Shinji, who understood it better than some, "gray is my girlfriend's natural color. You can be a blond, brunette, blunette, redhead, but unless the hair isn't dyed another color, you're hiding your actual hair color."

"Oh… Oh." Calvi then realized, wishing he hadn't asked because now he had a dirty image of the Sogen girl in his head that he wanted out.

-x-

BOOM! The transformation was different from what Grausam had often experienced when he explained how it was done, but the results were still the same.

The woman that volunteered didn't become a fifteen-meter or fifty-meter Titan after she injected herself in the left arm and slit her right wrist. Instead, she became a ten-meter Titan, identical to her human appearance of having short, ebony hair and green eyes, but like all other Titans, lacking the reproductive organs associated with the human body.

"I thought she was supposed to be fifteen meters," Lorenz told Grausam.

"That's what I was expecting myself," he responded. "One of the important factors of endowing anyone with this power is making sure that they still retain their intelligence. What good is the power if the mind is the first thing to go?"

"I…heard…that," the newly-made Titan Shifter uttered, sounding as though she were having some difficulty speaking. "Your…serum…needs more refining. Everything hurts."

"Clearly," he agreed with the woman; if at first he didn't succeed, Grausam would have to revise his formula in order to make it work its best for these people. Trial and error makes perfect.

After tearing herself loose from the Titan body, the woman looked as though she had seen better days due to the minor burn scarring that was on her face from being attached to the hot Titan flesh for a few minutes.

"Not bad for your first taste of the power," Grausam praised.

-x-

"…So…why is there all this commotion about Ms. Sogen's hair?" Levi asked Frenzia as the sun began to set and the evening hour approached while they were up close to Titanus Yggdrasilus, seeing that it was quite the colossal monstrosity that it was by the Frenzy Tribe as their escort.

"You mean to say that you don't know?" She asked him back. "None of you know?"

"What, are people with natural gray hair in their youth some sort of rarity that we don't see much of anywhere? I thought she was getting this commotion because she has all the Titan power in her possession."

"Her gray has nothing to do with the Titans. Well…it kind of does…and doesn't. The reason goes back over a hundred generations, right after the passing of Ymir Fritz herself."

Kaede and Shinji had climbed up the steps at the base of the massive tree to this ancient building that looked as though it had been grown right out of the bark long ago.

"Oh…my…gosh," the girl had expressed as she set foot inside the building. "It doesn't seem like any time has passed in here at all."

Shinji walked around the large and long table and wiped his left hand across the surface of it, shifting off a layer of dust into the air beside him.

"If this place were lived in again," he uttered, "all you'd have to do is clean up a little."

Historia picked up a chair that had been knocked over and sat down on it, finding it still durable enough to support her weight.

"How long has this town been abandoned?" She asked Richard.

"Oh, one-hundred-twenty-seven years," he answered. "We still come here, but we don't stay here. Every once in a while, Titanus Yggdrasilus…makes her temper known."

"Makes her temper known?" Ymir questioned. "You mean, the tree has an attitude?"

"A subtle attitude, if you will. Subtle being that she's not aggressive, but still able to cause a problem if you don't watch your step."

"Whoa!" One of the Marleyans gasped, and everyone saw that a vine hanging on the side of a wall had started moving on its own like a snake waiting to strike.

"Just like that," Richard stated, going over to the woman and kindly having her back away. "If that vine had managed to entangle you, it wouldn't have let go for a whole day. That's how subtle it is. We really need to go now."

As everyone stepped out, Agnes and her mother took one last look around the large room and sighed at how incredible it all was.

"We could resolve a lot in here," Anastasia suggested.

"Yeah," Agnes agreed with her. "It wouldn't just be a ceasefire, but a permanent peace between Marley and Eldia."

Then they departed to rejoin the others.

-x-

"The MAGI of NERV's Nevada branch are shut down," Ritsuko informed Fuyutsuki, Misato, Kaji and Yui in the former commander's office. "Access to their security is disabled, indicating that the entire personnel there have become compromised."

"But why?" Misato questioned. "What is going on over there?"

"More like, what is going on over there to keep anyone from wondering what might be going on in the other dimension?" Yui countered. "What you showed me that Gendo tried to do back when Shinji refused to return or surrender his girlfriend… With SEELE exposed to the world, what's keeping them from gathering their forces and resources and relocating over there?"

Fuyutsuki then suspected something far worse than SEELE relocating to the Titan universe. He began to suspect that Gendo, still possessing a degree of contempt towards Shinji, might actually give into his arrogance and attempt to actually harm the young man that was the Eldians' hero.

"What if Gendo still has a grudge against your son?" He asked Yui. "What if he tried to persuade SEELE's remaining forces to go to the other world…just to fuel a vendetta that's one-sided?"

"Since Human Instrumentality can't be implemented and the Angels have ceased their attacks since the defeat of the last one that appeared, what is there left to do for those that wanted to make it happen?" Yui questioned. "Invading another world untouched by Second Impact, still rich in resources that can be harvested, would make a profit for whoever was willing to cause conflict with whoever owned those resources."

"But if your husband's got a grudge against Shinji, who's to say that he won't try to hurt him on a personal level like before?" Misato told her. "He tried to bomb Paradis Island after Shinji refused to surrender himself and Kaede over to NERV, and he only failed because the JSSDF bombers grew some balls and backed off. And before that, we sent Asuka to collect some of the Titans and then Ms. Sogen because she could turn into a Titan with intelligence…and we later found out that it was her step-grandfather that turned her into a Titan Shifter against her will, just so that he could escape that walled society they used to reside in before Shinji began to change things for them. Hold on… What if that's also why they might've gone there? Shinji's recorded memories revealed that this Grausam Zanki was able to temporarily bestow the power of the Titans onto Marleyans while he developed the means to bestow it upon his own people while retaining their intelligence. What if they're hoping to obtain that power for themselves?"

"Regular Titan Serum would just turn Eldians into mindless behemoths that seek out people to devour in search of those wielding the power of the Titans," Kaji stated, "but a serum that can turn you into a Titan, even for just a while, with your intelligence intact… That would make for a resource that enables mediocre soldiers to become living weapons to take out their lesser enemies…just by crushing them under debris or swiping their arms around."

"We need to contact the UN," Fuyutsuki declared. "If the Nevada branch has become compromised, then we need to retake it."

-x-

"…With so many lanterns using glowing shards of hardened Titan flesh in the hallways and on the streets, it feels like daylight twenty-four/seven down here," said Ymir to Historia as she and the others were led to personal rooms within the building they were currently in.

"Yeah," she agreed with her. "But we know it's nighttime now. And we'll get in touch with Commander Erwin when we go back to base camp."

Meanwhile, in the room they were given, Shinji and Kaede looked out the window at the nearby roots of Titanus Yggdrasilus and once again marveled at its massive greatness.

"Hey, Shinji?" Kaede went.

"Yes, Kaede?" He responded, noticing that she was holding a lock of her hair in her left hand.

"I don't…seem like a rarity because my hair is gray, do I?"

"You said your father's hair was gray, so there's no way you're rare, even if you are the only one with gray hair alive. Why do you ask? Is it because of what Mr. Fritz said?"

"Well, yeah. I don't really…get why it seems like a big deal. Hair is hair."

"Yeah, they did seem to beat around the bush about it earlier. We can find out about it all tomorrow if you want to."

"I want to."

Unfortunately, the room only had one bed, something both individuals hadn't worked up to just yet in any capacity.

"You take the bed," Shinji told her as he made for one of the pillows.

Kaede grabbed him by his right wrist, stopping him. With a sigh, she uttered, "We should learn to put up with each other in the same, small space, Shinji."

"But…it hasn't even been a year yet, Kaede," he tried to find a way to work around this.

"We already sleep in the same room much of the time. And…I feel safer when you're near me."

Only because he couldn't find any further reason to fight this, Shinji sighed and started taking his shoes off.

"After you," he gestured to her, and she removed her boots and undid her skirt and blouse, leaving on her trousers and undershirt.

She climbed in first and waited for him to do the same.

"This is different," he told her as he got under the blankets with her.

"It's a couple's thing," she responded as she threw a drape over the small lantern that illuminated the room with light from the shards of hardened Titan flesh to reduce the light for rest. "Eventually, you get used to it."

-x-

Looking out at the frozen wasteland that was Titania's Abyss, Grausam frowned at how he had been buried alive here, and by people associated with Kaede, of all disgraces. But just being here made him strengthen his resolve to get revenge upon her, no matter what it took him to do so. Taking the concept of how revenge was best when seized while cold, he aimed to make the girl suffer before breaking her in half and drowning her in agony. The thoughts of how ranged from paying her mother a visit and going Akuma Titan on her…to murdering her boyfriend in front of her…or just killing his own son. But he would bide his time, letting his body readjust to the world after being in the cold for such an extended time; he was in no rush to go after Kaede just yet.

One step at a time, he thought. She might be the original Jaeger Titan born from my original formula, but she's still no different from a prototype, prone to flaws, even if the flaw that she lives and breathes. I'll rework everything and improve upon the abilities of the Jaeger Titan Serum to better my chances. You can't beat a man that has surrendered his soul in exchange for the power to escape and defy fate…and you can't sever the ties between one's freedom…and one's future.

-x-

Rei awoke in the dead of night, having saw something in her sleep that made absolutely no sense to her because it defied all forms of logic.

Ikari-Kun, she thought as she brought up her palms, drenched in sweat. Someone is out to hurt you…just as much as your father wants to for defecting from NERV.

In her dream, she saw Gendo Ikari, his face sporting strange burns under his eyes, facing Shinji, who looked as though he'd been injured because he was holding his right side with his left hand and the right side of his face was smeared in blood, and then Gendo raised his right arm up in front of his son, showing signs of burns that appeared to be worse than the ones on his face.

"You ran away from your responsibility, you petulant brat," he called out to Shinji, "and now I'm going to take away all that you cherish in this ill-fated world you call your home and grave."

"Do that," Shinji had retorted, sounding like he was on his last breath, "and you'll only prove that everyone was right about their beliefs regarding you."

"And what is their opinion of me?"

"That you're no better than any other person that can't let go of their hatred of others. Or in your case, you refuse to let go of your hatred of me, just as I've let go of my feelings of you since there's no point in whining over what never was and what will never be. Even if you kill me… Even if you take from me the people I love here more than those I could've loved back in the other dimension… I'll still be better than you because I was happy to be accepted by them, to be loved by them. What about you, Father? Is there anyone waiting for you at the end of this hatred you have for me? Do you have someone waiting for you when you return to them in that world that's half-dead and maimed? Do you?"

But Rei never saw Gendo answer that question, for the man…just exploded into a ball of fire, replaced by a forty-five-meter Titan that looked just like him, but was heightened by his contempt towards his son. And then…she saw him slam his right hand down on Shinji, reducing him to nothing more than pulp with bits of broken bone underneath. She just saw Gendo…murder his own son…out of spite…and had without a doubt murdered several others just to spite Shinji.

A man that can't let go of his hatred towards another person, she thought. A man that refuses to let go of their hatred…and instead commits violence towards that person in order to make them suffer, only to spread more pain because they want others to suffer… Ikari-Kun must be warned. His father may try to hurt him out of spite…and everyone he cares for.

To be continued…

A/N: Again, we find out things that only feed our curiosity, and leave us wanting to know more. Grausam's Jaeger Serum needs to be reworked in order to work for SEELE's forces, Historia and the others meet another member of the Fritz royal family, and Kaede is suddenly a celebrity due to her hair coloring, and yet she has no clue to why that is so. And as for NERV… Well, Rei will tell them what she saw and why they should be worried for Shinji. Onto the omake now!

Omake (Ghost Rider-influenced)

Throwing her defeated step-grandfather's half-dead body to the ground in victory, Kaede, still reeling from the fact that Grausam nearly murdered her mother to spite her, turned to face Shinji, who looked as though he had just bore witness to a fright that would stay with him for years to come.

He approached her, seeing her face smeared in the flesh of her Dark Titan, and seeing only a sadness in her that threatened to consume her soul because she had almost killed the man that had nearly claimed her life years before.

"Monster," she uttered, turning away from him.

"You don't frighten me, Kaede," he responded, stopping her from leaving. "You can't drive me away from you."

Kaede turned back to face him, her Dark Titan flesh evaporating from own flesh, leaving her unharmed and looking only as though she were dealing with a form of grief. She watched as Shinji raised his right hand up to caress her cheek, feeling the warmth that invited her to him. It relieved her of her anger and sadness, returning her sense of hope.

"Congrats, Ms. Sogen," they both turned to see Shinji's father, who seemed pleased with the outcome that occurred here in this underground temple. "You defeated the Akuma Titan. It's time you surrendered the power of the Dark Titan. You get your life back in its entirety, the love you've always desired. Hell, you even get this poor disgrace."

Shinji frowned in contempt towards his father; despite the Hell they had almost gone through, the man was trying to possess a power that he couldn't control. And the power of the Titans, especially the Dark Titan…was something beyond even his comprehension that he failed to accept or admit.

"Let someone more capable of dealing with this power take charge of it," Gendo continued. "You can be free of it now. After all…what point is there for you to have such a power that you don't even use most of the time?"

Kaede looked at Shinji, as if needing his approval or support to make a choice, and then back to Gendo, displaying a confidence he hadn't seen earlier. Raising her right hand up and pointing the index finger at him, the upper half of her Dark Titan emerged from her back as the purple marks under her eyes returned.

"No, you forsaken man," she told him. "You don't deserve the power of the Titans…or my Dark Titan, for that matter. If it were anyone else, she'd be a curse. With me, she's my responsibility. I'm gonna own this power and use it to help the people however I choose to that benefits them. I am the Queen of the Titans, royalty incarnate that has lived among the commoners, and I will not let you try to harness a power you have no respect for, to take from people you have no respect for. So leave this place…and never return. You don't belong here."

Gendo frowned at them, knowing that Shinji would side with her over him at every chance he got, unable to possess the power of this incarnate deity that had been around for over two-thousand years…and having nothing in the end.

"I will find a way to make you both suffer for this," he threatened them.

"When you pay in arrogance, you're repaid with despair," Shinji told him, stating that if his father continued to show his arrogant nature towards everyone around him, he would receive only contempt from them.

And then he left out the temple, fuming over his failure to acquire the Titan power.