(Short chapter this week, as the next one will be a fight scene. Going on vacation, but I'll try and get it done soon anyway. In any case, enjoy...)
There were seven of them–Shinji Ikari, Gendo Ikari, Asuka Langely Soryu, Toji Suzuhara, Rei Ayanami, Kaworu Nagisa, and Ed. Shinji had opted for his normal attire of slacks and shirt, while Gendo wore his customary suit and turtleneck. Toji, Kaworu, Rei, and Asuka all wore business suits, while Ed, looking the most incongrous of all, wore a pink dress and high white socks, but no shoes. Except for Shinji, all of them wore dark glasses.
The phone rang, with the now customary tunes of 'Fly Me to the Moon.' Gendo opened it. "We're in. We'll be back in an hour."
Rei was first through the back door of Maison Ikkoku, checking the lot behind the hotel, one hand in her coat on the butt of a pistol. Satisfied that it was clear, she walked towards a limousine parked under an awning, her red eyes constantly sweeping for threats. Shinji, Toji, Asuka, Gendo, and Kaworu followed; Ed, much to her disgust, was ordered to stay behind and keep an eye on things.
As they walked towards the car, no one noticed Kaworu pull out a cell phone and push the Redial button. Leaving it open, he surreptitiously tossed it into a garbage can.
Toji once more at the wheel, the limousine steered through the traffic on one of Tokyo-3's boulevards. Rei stared out of the window as usual, while Gendo and Kaworu talked quietly. Shinji and Asuka were all too close together opposite from Gendo, and were doing a rather comical routine of doing their best not to touch each other even accidentally, which was not easy, since Toji was manuevering through traffic with all the panache of a Rally Vincent or a Misato Katsuragi.
Shinji remembered Misato Katsuragi, though he could not remember who she was. Until his 'awakening', he remembered Misato as a hot teacher he had in secondary school, but since then, he seemed to remember differently, as if Misato was somehow closer than just a kind teacher he occasionally lusted after. As if bidden, he noticed the Neko Noodle Shop go by on his left. "Damn," he breathed.
"What?" Asuka asked.
"I used to eat there. Really good noodles, even if the staff was a little strange. I mean, the waitress was named Shampoo..." He shook his head. "I have these memories from my life. None of them happened. What does that mean?"
"The Eva Matrix can't tell you who you are," Asuka asked.
"And this Oracle can?"
Asuka shrugged. "That's different."
"Did you go to her?"
"Yes." Asuka looked lost in thought for a moment, which Shinji knew even from recent experience to be unusual.
"So, um, what did she tell you?"
"She told me..." Asuka tossed her hair back and looked out the window. "None of your business, baka."
"What?" Shinji asked, wondering what nerve he had touched now. He noticed Rei staring back at them.
"What are you looking at, Wondergirl?" Asuka snapped.
"I do not know," Rei answered, with just enough difference in tone that one could not be sure if she was genuinely not sure or if she was needling Asuka, who, in any case, took it as the latter.
Before the fireworks could commence, Toji cut across two lanes of traffic, throwing everyone to one side in the limo, and neatly slid into a parking space in front of a long stairway, flanked by trees. After assorted screams of terror and maledictions directed in Toji's direction, including at least one thrown object, had calmed down, Gendo rather unnecessarily announced. "We're here." He opened the door and let Shinji go out. "Just Shinji. Follow me," he told his son.
They walked up the long open-air staircase, listening to the cicadas whirring around them. "So, this is the same Oracle that made the prophecy?"
"Yes," Gendo answered. "She's very old. She's been with us since the beginning."
"The beginning?" Shinji asked.
"Of the Otaku Resistance."
"And she knows everything."
Gendo smiled. "She would say she knows enough."
"And she's never wrong."
"Try not to think of it in terms of right and wrong, Shinji. She is a guide. She can help you find the path, but not to walk it."
Shinji sighed. He was really getting tired of his father's zen monk impression. He almost liked him better as cold and distant. "She helped you?"
"Yes," Gendo replied.
"What did she tell you?"
Gendo turned as they reached the top of the stairs. "That I would find the Third Child."
They walked towards an old temple. It was very quiet and peaceful, the shoji panels spotless, prayer wards floating gently in the summer breeze. A few cherry blossoms covered the ground. When they reached the door, Gendo spoke again. "I told you I can only show you the door, Shinji. You have to walk through it."
Shinji rolled his eyes and reached for the door handle. His hand closed around it, and he was abruptly sent flying backward as the person behind the door flung it wide open. "Morpheus!" a cheery voice yelled, and Shinji, picking himself off the ground, saw simply the most beautiful woman he had ever seen throw herself into his father's arms. Dammit, Shinji thought, how come Dad always gets all the chicks?
"Hello, Urd," Gendo smiled. "You never change."
"Still got that sexy beard, I see," Urd grinned. She noticed Shinji. "Oh, sorry 'bout that." She pulled Shinji to his feet and enclosed him in a hug. Shinji felt a pair of rather large breasts being shoved into his chest, as well as sinuous legs being wrapped around his. "Mmm...you're kind of sexy too, in a wimpy sort of way." Shinji soured. "Ah, I'm kidding!" Urd said, and kissed his cheek, which were already burning bright red. She led them through the door, still halfway glomping Shinji, who made a promise on the spot to visit this Oracle frequently. "Make yourself at home, Morpheus," Urd winked at Gendo, pointing him down another hallway. She took Shinji's hand and led him into another room. "You can wait here with the other potentials, Third Child. I'll be right back." She winked at him and sauntered off into another room.
Shinji sat to catch his breath. This was not what he had expected, though it was kind of neat being smothered by a supermodel, which was the only analogy he could think of. He looked around at the other people in the room, the "potentials." It appeared he was the oldest one, for others were children, or at least looked that way. Among those Shinji noticed was a young girl with her hair bobbed in a pageboy, dressed in a sailor fuku (which did nothing to calm Shinji's nerves), who was playing with a rather cute turtle. Across from her sat a girl, also dressed in a schoolgirl uniform, but she was much nearer Shinji's age and wore green instead of blue. She was trying to show the first girl how to use a bow and arrow. Finally, there was another girl with purple hair, pulled into two ponytails, who was typing on a computer.
Shinji got up and walked over to a boy with hair as black as his own, though it was spiked and sticking out in odd directions. He was dressed in an orange karate gi of some kind, and staring at the wall.
"Hi," he said absently as Shinji sat down beside him. The boy looked about seven or eight.
"Um, hi," Shinji replied.
The boy pointed at the wall. "Do not try and see through the wall. That's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth."
"What truth?"
"There is no wall."
Shinji looked. It looked like a solid enough wall to him. "There is no wall?"
"Yeah." Seeing that Shinji was confused, along with the rest of the audience, the boy shrugged, reared back, closed his eyes, and blasted a hole through the wall in a tremendous explosion. "See?" he told Shinji. "No wall."
He folded his arms across himself, obviously satisfied with the object lesson. He did not look so smug a second later when a hammer crashed into his head, wielded by an irate looking raven-haired girl, who looked no older than the girls in the room. She obviously wielded some authority, because the boy went down and stayed there. Shinji noticed in passing that she had similar markings on her forehead and cheeks as Urd had. "Oooh, dammit, Gohan!" she shouted. "I told you–no blasting in the house!"
"Sorry," Gohan weakly apologized.
"The Oracle will see you now," the girl told Shinji, thumbing at the door. Shinji had no desire to argue with that hammer, so he got up and rapidly went through the door.
He walked through into a kitchen, which was filled with the sweet smell of freshly-baked cookies. Shinji saw the room's only occupant, and her beauty stole his breath away. If possible, she was prettier than Urd, whom she resembled. Her platinum hair drifted behind her in shining waves, stirred by some unknown breeze, framing a face that could only be described as angelic. Like Urd and the girl with the hammer, she had tattoos of some sort on her forehead and cheeks. She wore a simple blouse and long dress, with a Piyo Piyo apron thrown over it in a haphazard and yet utterly beautiful way. When he got his breath back, he opened his mouth to announce his presence, for she was looking away from him, but she merely raised a slim hand. "I know, you're Shinji Ikari. Let me check something, and I'll be right with you." Her voice flowed like music.
"You're...you're the Oracle?" Shinji stammered.
The woman stood and bowed to him. He instantly returned the bow, deeper and holding it longer. "Call me Belldandy," she smiled as she straightened up. "I suppose you expected some withered old tiny woman or a dirty old panty thief."
"Er..." Shinji said, not sure exactly what he had expected.
Belldandy turned and pulled a tray of cookies from the stove. "Smell good, don't they?"
"Yeah."
"I'd ask you to sit down, but you're not going to. And don't worry about the vase."
"What vase?" His question was answered a second later when he turned around and knocked a rather-expensive vase to the floor with a crash.
"That one," Belldandy sighed.
"I'm sorry," Shinji said, trying to pick up the pieces.
"Don't worry about it," Belldandy repeated. "I'll get Shinobu to fix it."
"How did you know?"
Belldandy only replied, "Duck."
"Huh?" Shinji looked down at the vase, thinking there was some aquatic waterfowl he was supposed to see, so the effect was the same. An arrow sailed over his head, missed Belldandy's by inches, and imbedded itself into the wall. He straightened up very slowly.
From outside, there was a wet-sounding thwack, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. "Sorry, sis!" yelled the black-haired girl's voice.
"That's all right, Skuld. There was no reason to hit Kagome." Belldandy turned back to Shinji, and looked him over. "You're a little cuter than I thought. I can see why she likes you."
"Who?" Shinji asked, tired of sounding like an idiot.
"Not too bright, however," Belldandy smiled. "Do you know why Morpheus–Gendo–brought you to see me?"
"I think so."
"Do you think you're the Third Child?"
"I don't know."
"I'm going to let you in on a little secret," Belldandy said. "Being the Third Child is like being in love. No one call tell you you're in love, you just know it." She set the cookies down on the counter and walked over to Shinji. "I suppose I'd better have a look at you. Open your mouth." Shinji did so. Belldandy stuck a thermometer in it, held it for a second, then withdrew it. "Right on the mark. You're in good health, Shinji."
"Um, thanks."
She looked at Shinji's palms next. "Be happy I'm the Oracle, Shinji, and not my sister Urd. You don't want to know how she would read your horoscope." She looked carefully at Shinji's hands, then ran her fingers across them. "I'm supposed to say, 'That's interesting, but...', and then you say..."
"But what?" Shinji finished.
"You already know," Belldandy smiled sadly.
"I'm not the Third Child."
Belldandy shrugged. "You have the gift, Shinji, but it looks like you're waiting for something."
"Like what?"
"If I told you that, we wouldn't have much of a story, would we? And thousands...well, hundreds...all right, dozens of people would be disappointed. That's the way these things go." Shinji was snickering morosely to himself. "What's so funny?" she asked, though she already knew.
"Dad...Gendo, or Morpheus, or whatever you call him. He almost had me convinced I could do this. Again."
Belldandy stroked his cheek softly. "Don't blame him. Poor Gendo. Without him, we're lost."
"What do you mean?"
"Are you sure you want to hear this?" Belldandy took her hand away. "Gendo believes in you, Shinji. He always has. And no one, not even me, can convince him otherwise. He believes it so blindly and hates himself so much for the mistakes of a past life, that he's going to sacrifice his life to save yours."
"What?!" Shinji exclaimed.
"You're going to have to make a choice, Shinji. On one hand you'll have your father's life, and on the other hand you'll have yours. One of you is going to die. Which one...is up to you."
"Well, that's a crappy deal," Shinji growled.
"I know. I'm sorry, Shinji, truly. You have a good soul, and I hate giving people bad news." Belldandy's smile returned, still tinged with sadness. "Don't worry. As soon as you step out of this temple, you'll start feeling better. You'll remember that you don't believe in this fate stuff, and you'll think I'm just some sort of blond bimbo who likes to spout off mysterious things. Like bippity boppity boo or something. But no fate but what you make, right?" She handed Shinji a cookie. "Here, take one. I promise, by the time you're done eating it, you'll feel wonderful."
"What's in it?" Shinji asked.
"Nothing but what is already in you." Belldandy walked with him out the door.
Shinji stepped out of the temple and faced his father, who was standing, hands behind his back and staring at the trees. He held up a white-gloved hand. "What was said was for you and you alone."
"Don't you have any normal friends, father?" Shinji asked, munching on his cookie. They walked down the staircase towards the limo.