Hehe. Apparently all of you took that last note rather well. To all the fans of Apollyon and Eve, I will apologize now and get it over with. As to what that actually meant, you'll find out later.

Also, OMG, if you start a damn argument on the review board, I swear I will remove everything you've written. I did not start this for an argument to take place so if you don't like the story stop reading. As I'm not getting paid to write this stuff you aren't getting paid to read my stuff, so stop bother the people who do like this story. Everyone else, just ignore OMG and don't respond to anything he says.

Recrudesce of Evangelion

Chapter 8: Return

Asuka opened her eyes and blinked a few times before they adjusted to the light. She felt numb all over but was able to rise up. Then, she saw Shinji. He was just lying there completely still, eyes still closed. Was he asleep? Or dead. Dread seeped into Asuka's mind. She tried to get up but found she couldn't. There was no feeling in her leg, for that matter there was no feeling in her lower body.

"What the hell?"

Asuka ignored that and started crawling towards Shinji. She checked to make sure he was breathing and then his pulse. Both were strong. That meant he was still alive, but he might be in a coma. Asuka nudged him a few times before he finally woke up, a relief for her. He opened his eyes and that relief turned to horror and surprise. Instead of the blue and serene eyes she had always seen there was only blackness inside them.

"Oh my god. Shinji."

"Asuka? Is that you? Where are you? Everything is so dark."

Asuka took hold of Shinji and helped him sit up as best he could. She then hugged him and cried.

"I'm so sorry, I made you blind. I'm sorry."

"The battle. I thought it was all a bad dream."

"No. I wish it was too. I'm sorry Shinji."

"It's okay. You're with me now. But, is anyone else around?"

"I-I don't know."

"Then let's get back to the apartment. I'm sure Apollyon and Eve can offer an explanation."

"But who won?"

"Does that really matter right now?"

Asuka looked into the darkness that was Shinji's eyes now. There weren't even eyeballs there. She felt another stab of guilt at having done this to him.

"Don't worry about it," Shinji said as if sensing her look, "Come on, let's get up and go back."

"Uh, Shinji? I, umm, I don't think I can walk."

"What? Why not?"

"I, I can't feel my legs at all."

Shinji's face darkened.

"Oh. That's my fault. I must have damaged your spinal cord. I'm sorry Asuka."

"Hey, I robbed you of your eyesight, and that's a lot more important. And stop apologizing already!"

Shinji got up to his feet and stood there before Asuka.

"I'll carry you," he said, "and you can act as my eyes."

Asuka smiled as she had Shinji turn around and kneel down. She got onto his back and Shinji started walking with Asuka providing directions. It wasn't too long before they made it back to the apartment. When they went in, Asuka gasped.

"What?"

"Nothing's changed."

"Should anything have?"

"No, I mean there is nothing different about it. There's no sign that this place has been used at all. There's no sign that Apollyon or Eve was here."

Shinji frowned. "Eve kept a vase with flowers on the table. Is there one now?"

"No. Why would they vanish just like that?"

Suddenly there was a sinking feeling inside Shinji's stomach.

"Oh no."

"What?"

"I-I don't think any of that really happened."

"What?"

"I think we also lost our AT-Fields and that was something we dreamed up."

"What? Everything? Then nothing was real?"

Asuka started feeling uneasy. Did that mean Shinji really didn't love her? But she didn't want to be alone again.

"No. I think the actions were false, but the emotions were real," said Shinji, "If we didn't like each other, we never would have had those encounters."

Asuka felt hope blossoming.

"So does that mean you do like me?" she whispered into Shinji's ear.

"Yes. No matter what."

"But do you love me?"

"Of course. Otherwise I would never have tried so hard to make you happy."

Asuka smiled. "Thanks."

"So what do we do now?" Shinji asked.

"Same thing we were trying to do before. End Third Impact."

"Okay. But since everything we found out back then was not real, I think most of the information is pretty much useless."

"But we still have the information at NERV headquarters," said Asuka, "And hopefully we'll find another wheelchair."

"Hey Asuka, let's not use a motorized one, okay?"

"Why not?"

"Cause then I get to push you around. I'll be your legs, and you'll be my eyes."

This brought another smile onto Asuka's face.

"That's remarkably sweet of you. Never thought you had it in you Third Child."

"Yeah well, anything to be close to you, Asuka."

Asuka guided Shinji into the living room and he set her down on the couch. It was then that the two realized something.

"I won't be able to cook anything," said Shinji, "and it'd be kind of hard for you to cook without being able to stand."

"I think we need that wheelchair now," said Asuka."

Shinji nodded. "Well, up you go."

He picked her up again and started walking. After a rather long hike that exhausted Shinji and it also turned out to be fruitless. When they reached the entrance to NERV, they found it was completely blocked.

"Umm, okay," said Asuka, "I really don't think we can get in."

"Where else are we supposed to go?" Shinji asked, "We kind of need the MAGI to work."

"Well, for now let's just get a wheelchair and we should find one in a hospital. For now, just sit down. You need the rest."

"No I'm fine."

"Shinji, don't make me force you to sit down."

Shinji sighed. "Yes dear."

Asuka smiled. "Now that's a good boy."

Shinji laid Asuka down gently before plopping down himself. Though he tried not to show it, carrying Asuka was a lot more work than it seemed.

"Shinji, what do you think happened to NERV?" Asuka asked.

"I don't know and I'm not sure I want to find out. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been good."

"There just has to be some way to get hold of the information inside the MAGI," Asuka said stubbornly, "Maybe there's a remote access terminal or we could link up with one of the other MAGI supercomputers."

"Of course! There's one in Germany, the United States, and probably China too. I'm sure other countries have them as well."

"So what if they do? It's not like they would have any of the information regarding Third Impact."

"Hmm. Good point. There has got to be a way though."

"Well, I'm rested so let's go find that wheelchair."

Again Asuka was lifted onto Shinji's back and was carried around. This time it took a while longer for them to find a hospital as both stayed in the NERV infirmary if they were ever injured. Once inside, they had almost no trouble locating a wheelchair for Asuka. However, it was only then that they realized the magnitude of what had happened during Third Impact.

Littered all over the hospital facility were the clothes of the former doctor, nurses, orderlies, and patients. They were a haunting reminder of what Asuka and Shinji had themselves avoided, though how was a question neither knew the answer to. While Shinji could not see anything, he certainly felt the dark atmosphere in the installation. Asuka didn't just feel it, she saw the cause of it. Here and there clothes lay there in a puddle of LCL. It was not a pleasant sight no matter what how you looked at it.

"Hey Shinji, let's get out of here fast, okay?"

"We still might need some medical supplies," said Shinji, "I really don't have any idea how bad our wounds are."

"You're right. Fine, let's get the wheelchair, supplies, and get the hell out of here."

"Yes Asuka."

Locating a wheelchair didn't take long. Finding the storage rooms did. Asuka didn't want to go through any of the LCL and she was sure Shinji didn't either. This forced them to take several detours before getting into storage.

"Let's see. Morphine, bandages, hmm, what else do we really need?"

"How about aspirin? Or antibiotics."

"That might be a good idea."

Shinji pushed Asuka along the rows of shelves as she looked at the supplies. Fortunately a lot of them were marked in English so she was able to tell what was in what.

"Okay, I think that's enough. Should we go home now?"

"Do we have any food?" Shinji asked.

Asuka blinked. "I hadn't thought about that. Well, I doubt we'll be able to carry both food and medical supplies considering my current condition. Let's go home, check, and if we have to we'll go food hunting."

Shinji pushed Asuka out of the hospital and the two made their way back to the apartment with all the supplies in Asuka's lap. Once they deposited all the stuff on the couch Shinji pushed Asuka to the kitchen. She pulled open the fridge and found it still full of beer and ramen.

"We'll survive," she said, "but it's still going to be on instant. You sure you want to live like that?"

"We can get real food later," said Shinji, "I'm really tired right now and I just want to get some rest."

"Humph, I guess you would be after pushing me around like that."

Asuka yawned herself, not knowing how tired she was. Strangely enough, Shinji heard her.

"I'm not the only one tired," he said.

"How'd you know?"

"I just heard it. I don't know how. For some reason I could hear it clearly too, as if I had done it myself."

"Odd," said Asuka, "Well, maybe your hearing is trying to compensate for your lack of sight. It's happened before to people who can't see."

"But should it be happening so soon?" Shinji asked.

"Don't know, but let's not worry about it just yet, okay? You need rest and I need rest. Let's just crash and think about it later."

Shinji had rarely heard that idiom before but didn't argue. Both stayed in the living room and laid down on their own separate couch before closing their eyes.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The MP EVAs continued to break apart until every last one of them crumbled. What were once symbols of humanity's greatest achievement, the attainment of Third Impact into one celestial being, was nothing more than pieces of meat. The last restrictions upon the trapped souls of Third Impact broke off and more poured out and began their long journey back home. Many chose to remain, but those that did soon found that the completeness was no more and they themselves were fading away. By then, it was too late. There was no escaping it.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shinji wasn't sure why he woke up but he did. At the same time Asuka did the same. They looked at each other, Shinji staring at her as if he still had eyes and Asuka looking into the two black spots that should have held them.

"You felt it too?" Asuka said.

"Maybe. I just knew I had to wake up."

"Let's look outside. Maybe something happened."

Shinji got up and felt his way to Asuka. He helped her into the wheelchair and pushed her out onto the balcony. Asuka gasped when she got there.

"Shinji, the MP EVAs, that big head, they're all gone."

Shinji frowned. "Really? But wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"Maybe, but where did they go?"

"I honestly wouldn't know."

Asuka realized that was certainly true. If she didn't know, how could Shinji? She then looked up and gasped again.

"Oh my god."

"What is it?" Shinji asked, concerned.

"Shinji, there're two moons."

Now that stunned Shinji as well. He blinked a few times and wished he could see them.

"How is that possible?" he asked.

"I have no idea but it's there. But it's so dark, I can barely see it. It's like a black moon."

"A black moon?" Shinji said, surprised.

"Yeah. Why?"

"During Third Impact, I remember seeing all those souls orbiting a black moon. Is that what it is? A place to hold all those souls?"

"Maybe. Not like we can touch it though. It's in orbit, right?"

"Yeah. A shame though. Come on, let's get some more sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Well, I think that'll work," said Asuka.

In the convenience store by their apartment complex the two were looking through its selection of sunglasses. It was actually pretty good, considering it was just a small shop. The sunglasses were more for Asuka's sake than Shinji's as she kept getting freaked at seeing Shinji without eyes and Shinji knew this. That was why he had suggested getting sunglasses. Asuka hadn't bothered to argue as it allowed her to get what she wanted without actually saying it.

Shinji pushed Asuka out, her already holding a bag of groceries in her lap. The two had gotten up rather early and had decided to get to work right away.

"What else can we do?" Asuka asked Shinji.

"You're asking me? I'm blind and I have no idea how to end Third Impact. Actually, I'm out of ideas for everything."

Asuka sighed. "Why is life so hard?"

"So we can enjoy the good times," Shinji replied, catching her by surprise. "If life was easy we would never appreciate the things that are truly valuable."

"You know, you're right. How did you ever figure that out?"

"I've had a lot of time to think about all this."

"Well, hopefully someday we will end Third Impact. Wouldn't that impress Misato?"

Shinji chuckled. "I think we've already impressed her too much. Especially after what you did to the MP EVAs."

His face darkened slightly, something Asuka didn't realize at first.

"Sorry."

"Not this again," said Asuka, "Look Shinji. Don't worry about all this crap about bringing up unwanted memories. As you so wisely put it, if you push memories away then you won't ever learn to move on from them."

"You're right."

They went back to the apartment and Asuka restocked the fridge. All of Misato's beer supply was taken out and they brought that downstairs. Just for the fun of it, they made a pyramid out of the beer cans. This little side-activity gave them the chance to find something to laugh it. If Misato ever came back, she would probably be furious at them for letting her beer grow warm outside. But then again she needed to get back to be furious at them, and getting her mad was worth it to just get her back.

Asuka was pushed into Misato's room where she found a computer hooked up to the Tokyo 3 network. It was amazing the thing was still working considering how much of Tokyo 3 had been vaporized, that and the Geofront had apparently been sealed off. Unfortunately, having the Geofront sealed off was more hindrance than having half the city slagged.

"Nuts," said Asuka, "I'm using Misato's password but for some reason the thing won't let me connect."

"What's wrong?" Shinji asked.

"Oh, it's saying something about the network being disconnected or relay is out of range. Whatever that means."

"I think most of the communications equipment was disrupted or destroyed when the JSSDF attacked," said Shinji, "but maybe we could hook up to some kind of satellite feed. That might allow us to connect to another MAGI computer if ours is cut off."

"Might work," said Asuka, "I'm checking the locations of any communications towers. Okay, found one two miles from here. If we go today, we'd better bring some food along."

"Then let's make a lunch," said Shinji.

The two went into the kitchen and Asuka brought out the food. She didn't let Shinji touch any knives or sharp utensils so he wasn't able to help too much. When they were done, the food was put into lunchboxes and Asuka grabbed Misato's laptop.

"We can follow this map," she said, "and the tower should allow us to tap into its power so we don't have to worry about the thing's battery running out."

"It's supposed to last for twenty hours anyways," said Shinji.

"How do you know that?"

"I had to use it once. My laptop crashed so Misato lent me hers to do homework on."

He pushed her out the apartment and they took the elevator downstairs. From there it was about an hour before they reached the communications tower, mainly because they had to stop to rest a few times. When they got there, Asuka wasted no time in hooking up the laptop and connecting onto the internet as Shinji leaned back against the tower. He was glad for a chance to rest.

"Okay, I think I'm in. Yeah, I'm connected to the MAGI in Massachusetts. Hmm, I wonder why that one. Wait, it's asking for orders. Okay, what were its previous orders? Oh. Shinji, I think we got lucky."

"Why?"

"Because this MAGI was one that was ordered to take over the MAGI in the Geofront and it's succeeded. It's now waiting for orders. We can access our MAGI's data archives."

"That's good," said Shinji, "We'd better start looking up info on the MP EVAs."

"Doing just that," Asuka assured him, "Let's see, here are the design specifications for the MP EVAs. Wait, this is interesting. Apparently we were wrong about them. The MP EVAs are also made from Adam. But, there's something else too."

"What is it?" Shinji asked.

"These designs don't make any sense," said Asuka, "They weren't even built for combat. They were built exclusively to initiate Third Impact. But how are they so powerful? Oh my god."

"What?"

"The MP EVAs actually have names. Dear god, they're named after the nine symbols upon the Tree of Sephiroth!"

"What's that?" Shinji asked.

"It's something to do with Judaism and a little with Christianity. But what's important is what they represent. Oh my god. The blueprint for Third Impact has existed for this long!"

"Asuka, I can't read whatever it is you're reading," said Shinji, "Can you please tell me what's going on?"

"Third Impact was something that had been mapped out long before Seele or NERV tried to pull it off. Over the centuries wise men and such have been mapping it out and explaining the requirements that would allow it to be carried off. But why? How could they have known about this?"

"Didn't the Dead Sea Scrolls have everything?" Shinji asked.

"Checking. Okay, from what I'm gleaning, the Dead Sea Scrolls had the beginning of it. It had information about the possibility and had the mathematical formulas to prove it. However, the formulas weren't enough. No one knew how to carry them out or how they were supposed to equate."

"Not until they got all of the pieces," said Shinji, "But, who gathered all of them."

"Checking. Wait, no, this isn't possible."

"What is it?"

"It's, Shinji, our mothers finished the puzzle."

Asuka looked over at Shinji, expecting horror to be on his face. However, instead he looked thoughtful.

"My mother worked with biomechanics," he said, "What did your mother do?"

"What? Uh, I think she worked on advanced cybernetics."

Shinji nodded. "It's beginning to make sense now. Dr. Naoko Akagi. Look up that name."

"Okay, but how is she related to-oh. I see."

"Yeah. She's Ritsuko's mom. She was also involved with the construction and design of the MAGI supercomputers. What's more, she helped design and build Unit 00."

"How do you know all this?" Asuka asked.

"Because when I was drifting with all those souls, I saw things. I saw people, their memories. I saw so much that I'm only beginning to understand. But it makes sense now. The three that put the pieces together, Dr. Yui Ikari, Dr. Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu, and Dr. Naoko Akagi. This is their legacy. Third Impact."

"But, you're saying our mothers knew about this and they went along anyways?" Asuka demanded, "No, my mother would never help the genocide of humanity!"

"I doubt she saw it as genocide," said Shinji, "Look at the here and now. Humanity was suffering and Third Impact would have ended that. But it would have ended so much more. I think they believed it to be worth the price. And there's also Seele to consider."

"I've heard of them before," said Asuka, "They're the ones that wanted to initiate Third Impact so badly, right?"

"Yes. And we were just another wrinkle in their plan. Consider this. Me, you, and Rei. The three of us were connected to two of the women that began everything. But what does Ritsuko have to do with anything?"

"She was head of Project E," said Asuka, "She must have known about all this including Third Impact."

"That certainly would explain a lot. But there has to be more than what meets the eye. Our mothers worked in the Human Instrumentality Project for a reason. What was it?"

"Could Seele have something to do with it?" Asuka suggested.

"Perhaps. No. They were been manipulated, just as they tried to manipulate my father, just as he tried to manipulate them. It had to originate from our mothers. Otherwise none of this would have touched off."

"Why would our mothers ever do such a thing?" Asuka asked again, not sure she believed him.

"I don't know. But we don't have everything yet. The reasoning and designs behind our EVAs, Units 00, 01, and 02. They were different from the other EVAs for a reason."

"It might just be because the development wasn't advanced enough," said Asuka, "Besides, that's why they were called prototype and test type models."

"And yours was called the production model. If it was that simple, I'd just drop it. It never is and I refuse to believe everything is as it looks. Try to look up Unit 00's designs."

Asuka nodded though she knew Shinji couldn't see her. Finding the schematics wasn't hard and she displayed them.

"What exactly am I looking for?" she asked.

"Why do they say it was built from Adam?" Shinji replied.

"Okay. Let's see, something about the pattern on the core, the EVA's core. It has to do something with that. No, there's more. The Angels had a distinct DNA pattern. Unit 00 was built up from that DNA apparently. But it's different from all of the other Angels. Angels are made of a substance like solidified light but Unit 00 is purely biological. It isn't like that."

"I would hope not," said Shinji, "The EVAs were manmade anyways. The Angels evolved by themselves. Go to Unit 01."

"Why? Shouldn't I look more into its control systems?"

"We know how it is built from Adam," said Shinji, "We need to know more about what makes Unit 01 unique."

Asuka saw the truth in that but hesitated. Why was Shinji so determined to find out more about Unit 01? True it was his EVA and it had been crucial in initiating Third Impact, but there was always more than met the eye. She accessed the files on Unit 01 and brought them up. It took a few seconds before everything loaded. The laptop she was using wasn't powerful enough to keep up with the MAGI so there was a waiting time.

"Okay, I have Unit 01's data. The core was patterned, wait, the core wasn't patterned after Lilith's. Lilith didn't have any core for NERV to pattern off of. They just used the genetic material."

"Did the core develop on its own?" Shinji asked.

"Checking. Damn it, I can't make heads or tails of this information. It's something about energy fluctuations that inverted an AT-Field inside Unit 01. I think this happened during the construction, even before they installed the piloting system. But there's more, it says that the core was only a hollow sphere until some kind of accident. What? Oh my god."

"What is it?" Shinji asked.

"Shinji, it says here your mother disappeared in a sync experiment."

Asuka looked over at Shinji and saw his face was frozen. There was no emotion on it and she couldn't sense anything from him.

Memories of that fateful day returned to Shinji. He had fought so hard to suppress them and yet he knew he shouldn't have. But he had been too young to understand what was happening, only that something was wrong. Shortly after that his father abandoned him.

"My mother was absorbed into Unit 01," he finally said, "She was wiped off the face of the planet because of that accident. But I doubt it was truly an accident."

"What?" said Asuka, "What are you saying!"

"And that's why NERV was able to retrieve me," Shinji continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Only one soul can reside within an EVA. EVA is called a soulless being that does our bidding. How vain we were considering we created a God."

"Shinji! Snap out of it! What the fuck are you talking about!"

Shinji shook his head. "It's all rather sad, isn't it? Everything we believed in. Both of us believed our mothers loved us, no matter what. But in the end, what do we get? The EVAs are gods, Asuka. Gods that we created. And Unit 01 is the embodiment of humanity's strength and follies."

Asuka rolled over to Shinji and slapped him hard, knocking the sunglasses away.

"Damn it Shinji! Do not lose yourself now. I need you more than ever. Just tell me what's wrong!"

Shinji put the sunglasses back on and sighed.

"The world ended, Asuka. And yet, there's hope. But what first what must be done is the destruction of Third Impact. And we need the help of the people who started it."

"What are you talking about?" Asuka asked, "You said our mothers and Dr. Akagi had something to do with it. How are we supposed to talk to them?"

"If only Unit 00, 01, and 02 still remained. We might get somewhere."

"Why?" Asuka asked.

"Don't you see? The core was empty until after the accident. I would bet it was the same with Unit 02. And then Unit 00. Well, it's the only one left to fit in the puzzle. The EVAs, Asuka. The cores are all that is left of our mothers."

Asuka's eyes went wide. She had never considered that. But she had felt a comforting presence in Unit 02 when she fought against the MP EVAs. Was that really her mother? Then, why did Shinji act as if they didn't love their children?

"They loved us enough to sacrifice themselves," said Shinji, "but they sacrificed themselves to a false cause. And now we're the ones that must pick up the pieces. The Human Instrumentality Project will not succeed. It was doomed from the start. If humanity truly was meant to evolve in such a way, we would not be here. But, I think we have a chance to make sure it never happens again."

"What are you talking about?" Asuka asked again. She felt as if Shinji was losing his grip on reality. Was he?

"When the time comes, all humans will die. But we're different. We will die as well but we will not die like other humans. Do you think you can handle that?"

"First tell me what the hell you're blabbing about," Asuka demanded.

"It's simple. We can save the world but the world cannot save us. In fact, the world might end up condemning us. Are you willing to live with that?"

Asuka looked at Shinji. There was something different about him. Why was he asking her these questions. Then realization struck her.

"This isn't about you," she said, "It's about us. You're asking whether I'm willing to live with you and die with you."

"Of course. When we die, it will be together. One cannot survive without the other. And when we die, we seal Third Impact. We ensure it will never happen again."

"But why?" Asuka asked.

"Because we are the last of the true Children. No one else will have the ability to pilot EVA after us."

"How do you know this?" Asuka demanded.

"How? I do not know. What I know is that I want to be with you. What I'm asking you is are you afraid to stay with me?"

"No. Why would I be?"

"Because pain and happiness go with each other. In the end, will you always stay with me?"

"Of course."

Shinji nodded. "Very well. I'll tell you why I said all those things. Because within my mind's eye, I can see humanity returning. But I can also see that our death will change the world."

End of Chapter 8

Adaptation is taking longer to finish than I thought. After that, I'll probably finish the other EVA fics and move onto my C&C fics. And then back to the traditional CCS fics. Of course Across Time and Space will take a very long time.

Z98