Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion. All characters and other related items are property of Gainax.
It was a cold night on the California coast. The nights were always cold. A man half dressed in army fatigues sat up in his cot and looked around him. The rest of the battalion was sleeping; again it was only he who suffered the nightmares. Realistic dreams haunted this man every night. Always the same; always letting him see just a bit more. He always found himself in a darkened corridor; the rest of his squadmates next to him, rifles at the ready. There was always light at the end of the corridor, and there was always a shape obscuring the light. The shape of a boy. A boy with black hair and plain features. A boy with a cross emblazoned upon his chest. The squadleader would always yell the same commands. It always came down to a fire fight. Bullets rippled through the air as the boy at the end of the corridor moved his hands impossibly fast, blocking the volleys. Then he would always find himself blinded by the orange light. And then he would wake.
*******************************************************************************************
Shinji Ikari looked at himself intensely in the mirror, his eyes focused on his own chest. He reached his hands up and touched the scar. He shuddered. Shinji had no idea where the mark had come from; it had just been there after his battle in the rain.
"Shinji!"
Shinji turned to look at the closed door, and then back at the mirror again as he buttoned his shirt.
"I know Asuka, I'm coming."
********************************************************************************************
Misato Katsuragi had said her goodbyes to her two roommates as they went out for the night. Now she simply lay upon her bed, and tried to not think of him; she tried not to cry. It only seemed to be getting harder. She had blocked it out for a while. But then the night of the battle Shinji had hugged her. He had told her that he knew how much she missed him. Now all of the pain of her loss returned to her again. She had joined NERV to take vengeance upon the angels. But now that they were gone, she felt empty. She had hoped for a long time that he might have been able to fill that emptiness.
"Kaji."
******************************************************************************************
With the final whistle blown the Tokyo 3 high school basketball team headed for the locker room, and then soon after to the parking lot for transportation. Toji Suzahara and Damon Robinson had no rides, but that was fine with them. The walk wasn't too far. Toji began to dribble his basketball along the sidewalk.
"Hey Toji."
"Yah."
Damon said nothing as he continued to walk alongside his friend.
"Hey Toji."
"WHAT man!"
"Sorry."
"That's fine, just ask me the damn question."
Damon nodded, putting his hands into his jacket pockets and producing a toothpick to chew on.
"Do ya ever think about piloting again?"
Toji stopped dribbling the ball.
"I don't really want to talk about it."
"I know you had a rough go of things, but that was all unfortunate circumstance."
Toji didn't respond, so Damon continued.
"Look man all I'm saying is that one of these days NERV might find itself in a bind. And when NERV finds itself in a bind, the people of earth find themselves in a bind. We very well could need you. You very well could make the difference between life and death for the people of this planet."
Toji looked towards the ground as he let out a sigh,
"I know."
******************************************************************************************
Koaru Nagisa could feel it. It was so close. So agonizingly close. "Just a little bit further…" he murmured inside of his own echoing mind. And then it was so. Koaru could feel himself stepping from his body. He could feel the cold steel of the ground below him. His vision began to come into focus and he glanced at his hands. They were ghostly blue, and he could see right through them. He turned his head and felt the facility around him. "There is so much pain in this place." He could feel it all around him. "Is this how the lillin define their reality? Through this pain?" Koaru ventured to take a step forward, and was satisfied when he found that he received the desired effect of forward movement. Then another thought hit his mind. "What am I now?" Then he knew it. After all of that wondering he understood it. "My divinity will leave me, and then I will cease to exist. It is the ultimate freedom, an existence without pain, yet why do I now wish to avoid it?" Koaru had no answers to this. "I must rid myself of it, and then I will be human. Then I will be free. I must have a vessel."
Again Koaru searched his surroundings. Though this time he searched for something entirely different. And soon he found what he was looking for as well. "Your buried deep my friend," Koaru said to himself, "deeper than I." The ethereal boy clasped his arms to his sides, and slowly sunk through the floor, quickly disappearing from sight.
****************************************************************************************
In truth Nishka Zalomai was nervous. She had agreed to the date without a moment's hesitation, and would soon be on her way, but she couldn't help but worry. Things had been sort of strange between herself and Kensuke Aida. They hadn't exactly met under normal circumstances, and she found it hard to be normal around him after what they had been through on that night; that night in the rain. Nishka hoped that tonight they would get to know each other better; that they would be able to shake off the memories of the night they had met, and become closer. "At least Asuka will be there," she thought to herself.
*******************************************************************************************
The answer had finally hit commander Fuyutski only minutes earlier. He had finally managed to answer one of his own most burning questions. "If the dead sea scrolls had appeared in the place where second impact had taken place, might not a new set of scrolls appear from the place where Third Impact was born?"
"Hyuga!"
"Sir"
"I want you to organize a search party. Have all non-essential personnel meet me in the main hall immediately."
"Right away sir."
****************************************************************************************
"Kensuke, try not to look so nervous."
Shinji Ikari and Kensuke Aida were sitting in the quad area outside of the Tokyo 3 university dorms. Asuka was currently inside the building with Nishka.
"I'm not nervous."
"Yes you are."
"I know."
They both laughed.
"Don't worry about things man. Were gonna have fun tonight. That's what this is about. Just remember that."
Kensuke nodded.
"I know." In truth Kensuke was already feeling better. "Just have fun," he told himself.
Shinji noticed Damon Robinson walking back to his dorm. "He must be coming back from basketball," Shinji thought.
"Hey Damon!"
The American boy turned, looking for who had shouted his name.
"Oh. Hey Shinji, Kensuke."
Damon turned around and walked over to the bench where the other two boys were sitting.
"It's the big date tonight isn't it?" Damon said with a grin on his face, "I hope you guys have a good time."
Damon paused and looked at Kensuke, chuckling slightly. He sat down next to his spectacled friend and put his arm around his shoulder.
"You look like hell man."
Kensuke laughed.
******************************************************************************************
Koaru Nagisa could see the levels of NERV slide past him as he sunk through the layers of the facility. "Soon," he told himself. Then the metal floors of NERV gave way to dirt and rock, and soon Koaru reached his destination. It was a rather small room, a metal box really with a large fan spinning slowly. Koaru could see the body clearly. It had begun to decay slightly now, and the color had been completely drained. He appeared to be a relatively young man. Physically fit, probably healthy in life. He had long brown hair that was pulled back into a pony tail. There was a bullet hole in the man's head.
"It is time."
******************************************************************************************
"What do you mean you can't open the shaft?!"
Commander Kozo Fuyutski was becoming more frustrated with every passing moment. A complete search of the facility had come up clean of anything abnormal. Everything but this. It was a special elevator that he had never been informed of. It had a password, retina scan, thumb scan, and all manors of other security measures. Fuyutski knew that they were all programmed for Gendo, without any real evidence.
"Damn it."
The commanders radio began to beep. He reached down and lifted it to his mouth, holding down the button on the side.
"What is it?"
"Commander, we have a blue pattern energy reading emanating from directly below your current position," Aoba said over the radio.
"What? Blue pattern? An Angel?"
Before the commander could say another word a massive green light erupted from below terminal dogma.
*******************************************************************************************
Shinji Ikari knocked his bowl of soup to the ground as he stood and marveled in horror at the massive cross shaped green explosion erupting in the distance.
"No! That can't be!"
Shinji moved from the table and ran from the restaurant towards the green pillar of flame. Asuka yelled after him.
"Shinji what are you doing."
The third child shouted his response as he began to run faster.
"It's an Angel."
Asuka, Nishka, and Kensuke stood and began to run as well.
*****************************************************************************************
Rei Ayanami collapsed onto the floor of her apartment, splattering paint onto the carpet.
"How? Koaru…?"
********************************************************************************************
Ryoji Kaji sputtered and began to cough uncontrollably as the green lights faded from behind his eyes. He tried his best to breathe but found it difficult. He could feel the pavement under his skin. Sensation. Life.
The fifth child stood slowly, smelling the air and listening to the sounds of the city. He flexed his right hand and then he flexed his left hand. Everything seemed to be in order.
"Time to go."
Kaoru looked down at the coughing creature below him. He looked normal enough; the rotting flesh had healed and he was obviously alive now. Kaoru reached down and grabbed him by his arms, tying his best to get him to his feet. After a few moments however he gave up and simply dragged the man out of the road and into the darkness of an alley. The fifth child set the man down on the pavement and scanned the area. There it was; fire escape.
"Up."
*********************************************************************************************
Toji Suzahara knocked quietly on the door of Hikari Horaki's apartment. The door was flung open suddenly.
"Toji?"
"Uh, yah hi Hikari," Toji saw a worried look on the girls face, "Uhh, I'm not late or something am I?"
"No, look, um,… I think you better see what's on the news."
*******************************************************************************************
Shinji Ikari finally reached the spot where the light had been. Yet now there was nothing to be seen but a group of frightened people. There was no damage from the explosion for some reason. Nothing but a large hole that went straight down into the ground.
"NERV…"
Shinji realized he wasn't breathing and gasped for air, as Asuka and the others caught up to him.
"Where are you?" Shinji said quietly, "Angel."
"Shinji are you okay?" Asuka questioned as she reached him.
Shinji nodded.
********************************************************************************************
"What the hell are you?"
Ryoji Kaji was using all of his strength to sit up and look the strange boy in the eyes. All he got for an answer however was a laugh.
"I said what the hell are you?"
"I," the gray haired boy said triumphantly, "am a human."
"Well that's great kid-" Kaji was cut off as the boy began to speak again.
"You, are an Angel."
"What? What do you mean? What the hell is this?"
Koaru Nagisa was not terribly concerned with the questions of the confused man, but he was a little curious. He walked over and unbuttoned the brown haired man's shirt, wondering if he would find a red jewel. He found no red jewel, but he did find something just as interesting: A cross shaped scar.
********************************************************************************************
Commander Fuyutski blinked as his eyesight returned to him and the green light faded. He shook his head several times back and forth as well. With this done he ascertained that there was no damage for some reason. Nothing but a hole that seemed to go below Terminal Dogma.
"You!" The Commander yelled at a nearby technician standing back up from the blast, "I want you to get your hands on rappelling equipment immediately."
"Rappelling equipment sir?"
"Just do it! And Hurry!"
"Yes sir!"
And with that the man was off and running. Kozo walked to the edge of the pit and looked downward. Looked and wondered.
**********************************************************************************************
Shinji Ikari slowly walked away from the site of the explosion with his friends in tow.
"I think we better call it a night," Asuka said with a somewhat shaky voice.
"Ya," Nishka said, "I agree."
Shinji nodded.
"Alright then," Kensuke said, "You guys live over that way, so don't bother coming with us," he glanced over at the blonde Russian girl, "I'll walk Nishka home."
"Okay" Asuka said, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
********************************************************************************************
By the time they reached the apartment Asuka was exhausted. She yawned loudly.
"Misato?" She yelled into the dark living room, "Shinji hit the lights."
"Righty," He said back as he flipped the switch.
"Huh," Asuka said as she looked into Misato's room, "I guess she must have had to go to NERV."
"Probably," Shinji concluded.
"Okay then. I'm going to go to bed, okay? I'll see you in the morning."
Shinji nodded
"Okay, goodnight."
"Night," Asuka said as she entered her room and shut the door behind her.
Shinji yawned and sat down at the couch to watch some television. After about twenty minutes he heard a knock on the door.
"Finally she's back," Shinji said to himself as he quickly opened the door.
A man stood in the doorway. He was disheveled, wet, and obviously confused. His shirt was ripped and Shinji could easily see a cross shaped scar emblazoned upon his chest.
"What the hell? Kaji?"
The man reacted instantly to the sound of his name. His eyes snapped to attention, like he was caught sleeping in class. Shinji watched as Kaji's knees buckled. The third child managed to catch him before he fell, and carefully dragged him into Misato's room. Shinji's mind was reeling. Not only was Kaji obviously alive, but he bore the same cross mark on his chest that Shinji himself wore. "That explosion…"
Then Shinji felt something strange. He ran out of Misato's room, and then out of the apartment. He extended his AT field from his feet and quickly found himself on the roof of the building. The white moon glared down on him as did the black moon. The answer wasn't there though. Whatever had brought him up here was not to be seen. Shinji could here another person coming to the apartment door down below. "Misato." Shinji began to quickly descend the side of the building using all of the skills he had learned. By the time he reached the apartment Misato was already inside; already to her room.
"Misato wait!"
But Shinji was too late; she had already hit the lights. He had hoped to talk to her before she saw Kaji's sleeping body. But it was too late for that now. With a scream Major Misato Katsuragi passed out onto the floor. Shinji sighed.
The third child picked up the body of his guardian and laid her sleeping form on the bed next to Kaji.
"I gotta get some sleep," he said to no one in particular.
Shinji turned around and walked back through the apartment to his own room. He lay down onto the bed without changing from his clothes. "What the hell is going on," he asked himself. Then Shinji felt it again. "Who…?" Shinji Ikari got out of his bed and walked back out into the hallway. "The roof…?" Shinji glanced at the apartment door, but then entered Asuka's room instead. "She looks so peaceful when she sleeps," he thought to himself. The third child walked to the second child's bedside and gently touched her hair.
"Goodnight Asuka," Shinji said as he placed a kiss on her cheek. The third child then stood and walked out the apartment door.
************************************************************************************
The rooftop was cold to Shinji's touch as he ascended its heights. This time however he was there.
"Koaru."
"Hello Shinji. I'm sorry if the angel gave you a fright earlier tonight. That was not my intention."
"Do you mean Kaji?"
The fifth child nodded.
"You have questions for me, do you not?"
"Yes," Shinji said, "Yes I do."
Shinji paused for a moment.
"Koaru, I have made my choice. Thank you for showing me the way."
"I am happy for you. At the time I was unsure of what would take place next. But now I am confident that I know. You have chosen to fight, have you not?"
"Yes I have."
"Then I believe I can reveal to you the true nature of this conflict. Shinji, do you know why third impact resulted as it did?"
"No."
"Shinji, the aftermath of third impact as it exists at this moment is the result of mankind's revolution against God. Mankind in its folly tried to make itself a God. This god would be the ruler of a sinless world. It is often described as a "dead sea." Though the world of the dead sea is that of purity, a world free of sin, it is also free of life. The only being that exists is the god itself. This world, Shinji, is the world that you rejected during third impact. But now the world that you spared has become swallowed by the revolution that mankind sought against its own creator. What I am saying Shinji, is that at this very moment there exists not one, but two gods of this world, a god that created man, and a god that man created. There can be only one. Thus the war will soon have an end. You, Shinji, have already chosen the god for which you fight. You have no doubt noticed the mark on your chest."
"The cross."
"Yes. It is indeed his symbol."
Koaru slowly unbuttoned his shirt revealing the same cross mark on his chest.
"We are two of the three Shinji, as well as two of the nine."
"Two of the three? Two of the nine? What do you mean?"
We are two of the nine children. You have already seen the mark upon the man who is the last of the three."
"Kaji."
"Indeed. Very soon the purpose of the three will be revealed to you."
Shinji nodded.
"So the Wraiths fight for a dead world free of sin. A world created by a god that is essentially mankind itself. And we fight for a god that allows to exist in a world full of sin, and pain; that allows us to exist in a world of life. A world where we may find our meaning, our happiness, even though we will have to suffer through this reality that we call life in order to find it."
Koaru smiled.
"We will meet again soon, Shinji. Now I believe it is best that you return home. Return to the ones that you wish to protect."
Shinji nodded.
"Thank you Koaru."