THE RAILWAYS END—CHAPTER EIGHT
In which Delirium is enchanted
A German shepherd schemes
Monopoly is interrupted
Hikari falls down
And the dead are running away on Earth…
The realm of Delirium is astonishingly different from that of her brother, Dream of the Endless. It is as if the entire contents of the world were poured into a blender, spun for seven minutes, and then dumped out again.
If you ever enter her realm—which is highly discouraged—you must tread carefully, for there is no physical path. You can be tossed down rows of unseen steps, fall into invisible holes.
But these mere things are miniscule next to the disturbing grandeur of Delirium's realm. The whispers of diseased minds echo through it, and…
No. It is impossible to describe the realm of Delirium. But pray that you must never go there…for very few escape unscathed…
Barnabas scratched his right ear and yawned widely. Even dogs could get bored, and he would have loved to have lain down and catch some sleep, but that would have meant taking his eyes off of his charge and that, he had learned the hard way, could mean being lost and wandering the mortal world.
She was currently staring up with childish wonder at the sign.
DISNEY-JAPAN IS NOW OPEN!
NEW MULAN GREAT WALL ROLLER-COASTER!
POCAHONTAS RIVER RIDE!
FUN FOR ALL AGES!!!
'Especially for immortal beings who consider gravity to be optional,' thought Barnabas as he looked warily at his companion. Delirium's mismatched eyes were sparkling with growing excitement.
'Here it comes…'
"YiPPEe! COmE oN, BArnaBaS, Let's gO lEt's go Let'S GogogOgogoGOgO!!!
"Now, Del, calm down; of course we can go, but first I want you to do something for me please,"
She looked at him from behind her legs and replied, "ReeeAALly, BArnaBas? WhAAt?"
"Let's get a third person to come along,"
She puckered her lips, flung her arm over her head, and looked like she was going to think, but Barnabas knew her too well and knew that she had already agreed; Delirium loved company.
"OKeE-DOkEE; nOw WhO sHOuLd iT BE?!?"
Dream of the Endless had realized that one of the treaties with the Realm of Chaos was about to expire, and so he had invited the Supreme Manifestation of Chaos, Princess Jemmy, to the Dreaming in order to negotiate a new treaty.
Unfortunately, as the King of Dreams remembered, Princess Jemmy was hardly known for punctuality, as she had a habit of wandering about. It did not help that the Kingdom of Dreams was one of the more fascinating places in all of existence.
And so, Daniel waited patiently at a table, with a considerable amount of ice-cream stacked in a large bowl at one end, tapping his long white fingers on the top beside state documents.
"uM, BRotHEr? I'm iN My GaLLEry AnD i'M hOlDIng YOuR…Uh…SiGNEt? SIgN? SiGil? YeS, SIgiL…uM…"
Dream sighed, "You are welcome in my home, Sister,"
To Dream's left, the air seemed to crack, like glass. The crack widened and opened up to reveal Delirium and her dog.
Daniel stood regally from his chair.
"A good day to you, my sister," he nodded to the dog, "And to you, Sir Barnabas,"
"HeLlo, DrEAm," she squinted at him, "BuT nOt tHE fIRsT DrEAm, tHE nEXt oNe,"
Dream smiled slightly.
"And to what do I owe the honor of this visit?"
Delirium squinted again and put her right arm around the back of her neck thoughtfully.
"uM; I THiNK iT wAS FuN SOmEThiNG…"
Barnabas sighed, "She wants to go to the new Disney Park in Neo-Yokohoma and I thought that we should bring a third person along,"
Dream looked at his younger sister, who was centuries older than he was, as a star blazed in his left eye.
"I see; and I am to fulfill this role, I presume?"
"If you can spare the time,"
"I see. Barnabas, may I have a word with you?"
The dog padded up beside the King of Dreams as Daniel turned aside.
"I presume that there is some alternative motive beyond my sister's additional company?"
The dog hung his head before replying, "Well…yes. I would…rather not get lost…again,"
"I see," sighed Daniel as he turned back to his sister, who had produced a fish and a beetle, and was making them kiss (Lord knows how).
"Sister?" he asked pleasantly, to get her attention. She turned her attention from the now rapidly merging insect and fish and smiled in that uncertain, tipsy way of hers.
"CaN wE Go? cAN We? PlLlEAsSSeE?"
"I am afraid not, my sister; I am awaiting the arrival of an important dignitary. I am very sorry."
Delirium's lower lip trembled, and her eyes began to tear up. Dream sighed to himself and patted her head, giving his sister a small smile.
"Now, sister; just because I cannot go does not mean you may not have…fun. Have you asked our older sister?"
"BuT sHE's ALwAYs BuSY…"
"I see; well…"
Shinji wasn't sure exactly what Matthew—Dream's raven—did around the Dreaming. The bird, for some reason, seemed to relish in perching on the boy's shoulder and grandly answering his questions, but Shinji had no idea what the bird was supposed to be for. He had asked Mervyn—the grumbling custodian with a head made from a pumpkin—about it.
"What does th' Boss' bird do? I'll tell ya what he does: he sits on the Boss' shoulder, eats dead stuff, molts all over the friggin' place, and shits all over the floor!! That's what the Boss' bird does!!!"
Were it any other person, Shinji would have thought Mervyn a likely candidate for walking into his workplace and opening fire with a gun large enough to push over a cement truck. But when—in an alarmed state—he had told Dream about Mervyn's apparent breakdown, Daniel merely listened quietly and nodded as if in approval. Then the King of Dreams explained to the boy that Mervyn had been that way before his present form and anyway this was how the pumpkin-headed custodian was supposed to act.
But back to the raven; Matthew was currently in Shinji's apartment, staring at the boy over a game of Monopoly. The former Third Child was in turn staring down at the game-board.
"You know something?" Matthew finally said, tilting his head to the left.
"What?" was the boy's thoughtful reply.
"This would probably be more fun if one of us knew how to play Monopoly."
"Yeah," agreed Shinji, "My teacher had some games, but he didn't really have time to play with me,"
"Hmmm," Matthew rumbled, drinking the tea next to his left wing by dipping his beak into the stuff and snapping it rapidly, "My old man had the time, but I guess I forgot the rules over the past twenty years."
"Your father played games with you?" Shinji was obviously amazed.
If the bird could have raised an eyebrow, he would have.
"Hey, I know your old man was a deadbeat son of a bitch, but that doesn't mean…"
"Uh, n-no," Shinji felt a small ping of depression at the mention of his father, "What I meant was I didn't think a raven would know how to play games…and I didn't know raven fathers stuck…around…"
Matthew stared at the boy for a moment, and then burst into laughter. Shinji was now as confused as ever. The bird flapped his sizeable wings in his mirth and knocked over a few of the little red hotels.
"Did anybody tell you about ravens in the Dreaming?" cried Matthew between chuckles.
"Well…no…
"I thought so. Here's the deal, new boy: there's only one raven in the Dreaming at a time, it's a rule that the Boss made before your country was an island.
"I've been the raven for about, oh, twenty years, ever since the Boss let me stay."
Then it came rushing back, the conversation with the Dream King when he had first come to stay here.
"Oh yeah, Lord Dream said you were a mortal man once; what happened?" a thought rushed into the boy's head, "Th-that is, if you want t-to…"
"Ah, it's no problem, I…uh-oh, looks like Danny's calling you,"
"What?" Shinji looked down and saw that his lower body was disappearing into a rapidly fading smoke. Upon seeing this, he did something that most mortals would do when their bodies were vanishing.
He panicked with screams and all.
"Ah, calm down," said Matthew, lazily stretching out his wings, "Daniel's just calling you to him. You get used to it."
And suddenly, Shinji was in a different chamber entirely, facing his Lord and Master. He bowed at the waist to Dream of the Endless.
"Y-you called for me, my lord?"
"Indeed; Shinji, you are familiar with my sister, the Lady Delirium?"
The former Third Child finally noticed the girl floating over the table upside down.
"Oh, Lady Delirium," another bow, "Sorry, I didn't see you,"
"HeLLo AGaiN, sHINji-mAn, wOUld yoU LikE a FiSh?"
As soon as she had finished the offer, a small yellow and blue fish appeared and immediately entered an orbit around Shinji's head. He looked toward Dream, who had put on an amused smirk as he watched his sister attempt to make friends with the former mortal.
"Uh, thanks, but I don't have any place to put it,"
Delirium frowned, "yOu dOn'T? ThAt'S tOO bAd; a LoT oF pEOplE doN'T hAVe pLACes tO pUt fISH," she rolled over in midair onto her stomach, fingers interwoven with her chin resting on them, "woUldn'T iT Be NiCE iF EVeRYbodY haD a PlACe to Put a fISh?"*
"…I guess so…"
Dream sighed and waved a hand. The fish dissolved into a swirl of colored smoke and then disappeared.
"Shinji, my sister wishes to make a visit to…an attraction in your homeland; she asked me to accompany her, but I am afraid that I must attend to other duties…"
"So you want me to go with her?"
Shinji's lord nodded before catching a rather large blue ladybug that Delirium had created and tossed at the back of his head. He set it on the ground before drawing himself up to his full height again.
"Why me?" queried the boy, pointing a finger to himself.
"You are one of my few servants from Earth, from Nippon. And," Dream grasped Shinji's shoulders as a star shined brilliantly in his left eye, "You are trustworthy; I believe you can complete such a simple assignment with little difficulty."
Deep blue met bottomless black. One pair betrayed nothing while a cauldron of emotions bubbled in the other; pride, brief pleasure, and eagerness.
Shinji bowed, "T-th-thank you, sir, I'll do my best."
"I trust you will," said the King of Dreams as he made his way back to his seat, giving a small smile to his servant, "If you need my aid, call my name and I will bring you back here."
Shinji felt the small hand of Delirium on his shoulder and managed to look at her before he, the youngest Endless, and her dog vanished in a kaleidoscope of colors.
Dream of the Endless sat at his table, only to get up again as a small child with a pink balloon and a T-shirt—which stated that whoever was reading it was only jealous that the voices talked to her—appeared at the door.
"Welcome, Princess Jemmy; I trust you will find the ice cream satisfactory…"
The van was borrowed from Hikari Horaki's father, and it was perfect for the transportation of five teens, two children (one of which was injured and was restricted to a wheelchair) and one adult woman.
The trip was planned when Hikari had mentioned a desire to take her little sister away from the stress of Tokyo-3 to Touji. Realizing that his own sibling could use some fun, he took it to Misato who then expanded its sphere to include the two remaining pilots, her reason being that they could all use a getaway from Tokyo-3…more specifically away from reminders that Shinji was gone.
Hikari almost immediately charmed Touji's little sister Yumi and the two were good friends before the van had even pulled away from the hospital. Kodoka was no less friendly and barely noticed the other girl's condition as she chatted away about things ranging from cartoons to possible future pets. The teens barely talked except some small matters and to fend off questions over the possible acquirement of pets.
After about an hour of travel, they finally arrived at the new massive park in Neo-Yokohama. Built around a replica of the castle from Beauty and the Beast, the area was filled with shops, rides, and a number of service stations. A nearby beach was marked for further expansion but today it would serve another purpose: to serve as a landing pad for the Mil-49 VTOL aircraft now settling into orbit around the park. The Mil-49 was designated to carry the pilots back in case of an angel attack.
Touji nimbly climbed out of the van first and strode to the back to get his sister's wheelchair. Hikari and Asuka helped Yumi out of her seat and into the chair and they moved toward the park.
'Magic Kingdom', Shinji read off of the map he had retrieved off one of the Information Booths. He looked at Delirium of the Endless, who was currently engaged in twirling about wildly. He sighed.
They have no idea.
"Where do you want to go first, uh…mistress?"
Delirium stopped and frowned as if she had just bitten an old lemon.
"WhY DId yOu cALl mE tHAt?"
Shinji blinked in confusion, "What?"
"YOu cALLed Me 'mISTer'…nO, No, yOU CAllEd mE 'mIStRESs'; nO oNe CAlLs ME tHAt. ThEY cALL mE 'Del'."
"Oh…sorry; I just thought that…"
"ThE oNE wITh tHe dOORs,"
Shinji looked at her, confused again.
"E-excuse me?"
"YoU aSKeD Me wHEre I wANtEd tO Go fiRSt,"
"Oh," he looked at his map, "Oh! You want to go to the Monsters, Inc. Door-Coaster!"
"You're a quick study," quipped the dog at Shinji's feet, "There aren't a lot of people who can understand Del on the first try,"
Shinji looked down and frowned slightly.
"What?" asked the German Shepherd.
"Well, are you sure you should be here? I don't think…"
"Don't worry," yawned the dog while he scratched his right ear, "As long as we've got Del here reality itself is at our disposal. She can take care of anything that comes our way; right, Sweetie?"
Delirium had picked up a leaf from the ground and was changing it into something not unlike a tiny kangaroo.
It was one of the most bizarre things Rei Ayanami had ever experienced. She did not understand why anyone would want to seat themselves in a rail-riding vehicle that smashed at full speed into a large pool of water.
Even after she had gone through it she did not totally comprehend it.
The First Child was not completely wet, but the water had splashed onto her head, causing her hair to droop down and allowing the water to drip onto her uniform.
She was currently sitting at a small table out in the sun, in the hopes that the heat would dry her out at least a little. Rei closed her eyes and turned her face into the sun while a pale hand slipped into her pocket and touched a thin piece of plastic…
"Hey, First!"
Startled, Rei pulled her hand out of her pocket and stood up, her chair toppling backwards.
It was Asuka, with two ice-cream cones clenched in her hands. One was two scoops of vanilla, while the other was a Rocky-Road generously sprinkled with small bits of chocolate. The German girl thrust the vanilla toward the First Child.
"Here; Misato didn't know what you liked so she got you vanilla, like your personality,"
Rei blinked. This was completely unprecedented in her experience (Asuka giving her something, not the jab). She tentatively reached for the offered ice-cream, murmuring her thanks.
To add to a day of surprise, Asuka sat in a chair at Rei's table, licking her treat. Rei picked up her own seat and sat down before she began slowly eating the ice cream in her hand.
The two ate in silence until Asuka stopped eating and looked up. Rei turned and tried to follow her line of vision, but saw nothing but some clouds.
"Where do you think he is now?"
Rei frowned, "Who?"
Asuka scowled, "Shinji, you idiot, who the hell did you think I was talking about?!"
"Oh," whispered Rei, "Is he not in the Tokyo-3 Memorial…"
"I know where his body is buried, dumkoff! I'm talking about his soul!"
Rei's mouth slightly opened and then closed. Asuka sighed and ran a hand through her fiery hair.
"I'm sorry; you don't understand a lot of things, I should know that by now,"
Asuka looked up again.
"Have you ever heard of Valhalla?"
"I have heard the name," said Rei quietly, "but I know nothing of it,"
Asuka snorted, "You need to get out more; Valhalla is the Viking version of Heaven, a wonderful place where dead warriors go to drink, eat, and screw," Asuka finished off her ice cream, tossed the remnants of her food into a nearby trash-can and put her hand to her chin before continuing, "I was just wondering if that's where Shinji might have gone,"
Rei looked at the Second Child questioningly and replied, "Do you think Ikari might be comfortable in such a place?"
The German girl blinked and frowned, and then she chuckled.
"Is there something you find humorous?"
"I was just thinking of that little dork in the middle of a crowd of muscle-bound blondes all towering over him, and getting a nosebleed at the sight of all the women," Asuka giggled in reply.
"But is Valhalla not a mythical place?"
"Well, yeah," said Asuka, crossing her arms and leaning back, "But they have to come from somewhere, right?"
"'They'?"
"You know: the mythical places; Valhalla, Atlantis, El Dorado. Something had to inspire those stories, right?"
The Pilot of Unit-02 smiled wistfully, "I've always wondered about that, you know? I've always wondered how it came to be that so many people suddenly said 'This place exists'. They're just so sure they know that a place like it exists when they don't even have any proof—screw that, they don't even need proof. They just know it exists and that's just fine," and for the first time since they met, Asuka smiled at her fellow pilot,
"Sometimes I wish we could have that again, you know?"
Rei frowned slightly, "But, what of the Angels?"
Asuka's smile disappeared again and she sighed.
"Have you ever been anywhere besides Japan, Rei?"
The First Child shook her head.
"I've been raised in Germany, visited France, Italy, Spain, England, and America; everywhere I went there was some famous cathedral there. I used to go on tours on my days off—usually Sundays—and everywhere I went, there would be a priest and some worshippers, but never really more than maybe a dozen.
"Once I went to this place called the Wies Church near a town called Oberammergau. It's a beautiful place, Rei, mein gott, it had everything: statues, candles, columns, paintings, everything that a priest could ever want. But it seemed like the only thing that most people wanted to do in there was to take pictures; the Cardinal who preached there only got a few dozen people at most."
"It is my understanding that many churches have closed because of a lack of attendants," said Rei.
"Ja, in Germany we have so many huge, old ones the government buys them and maintains them as places of interests; this was when one of the right-wing parties took over the Bundestag and started some preservation works on old buildings.
"But it seems so sad, you know: these places are built to glorify what my people believe in and now nobody seems to care…"
There was silence now, both girls contemplating their own thoughts.
"Where do you think he is?" asked Asuka.
"I do not think it could be hell; I might believe he is in Heaven."
Asuka gave her a smirk, one of limited pleasure.
"Yeah, no way that idiot's in hell…"
Shinji had been to hell and back.
He had first felt concern when he noticed the size and apparent speed of the ride, but he had a command from his master and he would obey.
The next concern came when he and the other two arrived at the end of the line. The ride attendant had stopped them and was about to deny the group because of Barnabas' presence but Delirium had asked the man if he didn't remember that they were all kids who just wanted to have some fun. The attendant then looked embarrassed, apologized, and let them in.
Eight minutes later, after a harrowing ride in a virtual reality roller coaster, Del was now happily skipping towards Main Street, while Shinji tottered behind, a bit woozy from his experience. Barnabas trotted beside the boy, offering support if the boy needed it.
"Barnabas, can I ask you something?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you like Matthew?"
"Not at all; he can fly—I can't, he's smaller than I am, theoretically I can drink and he…"
"No," sighed Shinji, "I mean were you human once?"
"Ah…" said Barnabas, looking up at the boy, "Well, no offense, but thank God I wasn't,"
"Oh," Shinji looked ahead, careful to keep Delirium in sight, before something clicked, "W-what do you mean?"
"Well—again no offense—you people are royally screwed up; I'm happy being a dog, we don't have to tear everything apart just to try and make ourselves happier."
"What does that mean?"
Barnabas just kept his gaze on Delirium, "It's not my place to say."
Hikari handed over the yen for the coffee-cup she was buying for her father. Mr. Horaki was not home for much of the day, a victim of the work schedule at NERV, but she still treated him with the respect due a parent.
She had responsibilities. She was the trustworthy one. The girl who could get things done. Her elder sister had faltered at the idea of her expected duties and so the middle child met her father's expectations head on.
The cup was placed in a bag which she gingerly took. After thanking the vendor again, Hikari turned toward Rei and Asuka at the ice cream shop across the street and stepped out…
She felt the smaller body hit her, and for a moment the world became filled wIth nICe FIshiEs aNd bLUebeRry wAfFLes AnD gOldeN gOLf CLubS…
And then she was lying on the street, her eyes blinking rapidly until all the little winged-pencils vanished from her sight. Hikari saw white legs that emerged from a long green t-shirt. Between them she could see a young man suddenly freeze, a dog looking questioningly up at him. The boy darted to the side behind a building, but Hikari had seen him already…
"Miss? Are you okay?" The vendor asked as he helped her to her feet.
"Hikari!" Asuka ran up to her friend, a rather calmer Rei following closely, "Are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh…oh, yeah, I'm…fine…" Hikari looked into her bag and her eyes widened. The mug was warped, the white, black, and yellow of the mouse on the side mixed with the other colors, like paints tossed uncaringly onto a blank wall. But what was strangest was that emerging randomly from what was once a coffee mug were the shapes of fish, waffles, golf clubs…
The vendor quickly snatched the ruined mug from the shocked girl's hands and went back to his booth, declaring his intention to replace it. Hikari seemed too dazed to say anything as Asuka suddenly began ranting at the girl who had bumped into Hikari.
"…you're friggin' going! You think that knocking people over is a part of the goddamn park?!"
"Pilot Souhryu…"
"I should knock your teeth into the back of your skull!"
"Pilot Souhryu…"
"What is it?"
"I believe you are frightening her,"
And indeed Delirium was somewhat frightened at the sight of this mortal girl screaming at her. No one ever screamed at one of the Endless; they were beings to be feared, respected. Others might become annoyed with them but no one spoke to members of the Endless in such a fashion as Asuka did.
The youngest sister of the Endless backed away, even as the red-head quieted down. She hadn't meant to knock down Hikari Horaki of Tokyo-3. It was an accident. Hikari was nice, Delirium knew, and her aura smelled of strawberries and brand new playgrounds, a sure sign of the kind of people who Delirium liked.
"I—i—I'm sORrY, I diDN't kNOw sHe WaS tHERe…I dIDn't MEaN tO…"
"That's okay…"
Hikari moved around the corner of a building and caught a sight of a black jean-leg and white tennis shoe darting off behind a bush beside a massive man-made lake.
"Hikari?"
Asuka had followed her friend around the shop building. The Class Representative turned around and gripped Asuka's shoulder.
"You see that bush?"
The girl was pointing to it so naturally Asuka nodded.
"You approach from the right, I'll come in on the left,"
"What? Hikari, what…"
"Please Asuka, just humor me this once, please,"
The look in her friend's eyes convinced her, and Asuka nodded. She moved out into the street. Being in better physical shape, she moved faster than the Japanese girl and she approached the bush more quickly.
She turned and saw—to her half disappointment—that Hikari was being held up by a sudden glut of—ironically—American tourists wearing sneakers and carrying cameras, taking pictures sporadically.
What was she so excited about? Asuka thought to herself as she looked at the bush…to find two deep blue eyes, fright and surprise filling them, staring at her over the leaves. They stared out at her under a mess of brown-black hair.
Asuka was so shocked she didn't respond when the eyes vanished, and a human figure darted out from behind the bush. When her senses were regained, she looked after the retreating figure.
"Shinji?"
Rei was already unnerved by the girl that Asuka had been yelling at. She felt like she should know the name of the girl, and some part of her was scolding herself about not knowing the odd stranger's name.
These thoughts were knocked out of her—as was some air—when someone barreled into her from behind.
The albino felt the weight of the person atop her, the hot breath of heavy panting.
"Oh my God."
The murmur was very quiet, but Rei recognized it immediately. She turned her head as best she could and caught a glance of…
"…Ikari?"
The weight vanished as the boy sped off her back. When Rei looked up, the girl was gone as well.
Shinji ducked into an alley of sorts. "Of sorts" because it was artificial, like everything else in the park.
He leaned against the wall, panting hard. He had only one way to go.
"Lord Dream? Are you there?"
"Shinji? What is wrong?"
"I messed up," Shinji sank down against the wall, trying to hide himself in the shadows, "I need to come back,"
"What of my sister? Has something happened?"
"S-sh-she's fine. I'm sorry, I can't do this," Shinji covered his face with his hands, breathing hard, "Please, I want to go home,"
"Shinji…"
"Please! Just…let…please…"
Shinji broke down, there in the alley, the tears continued as the seat warped and shifted into a soft chair in his apartments.
He cried and leaned back against the chair, his eyes opening to see the King of Dreams before him.
"What happened?"
"I'm sorry," Shinji whispered as he slid out of the chair onto his knees, "I'm sorry. Just kill me,"
"What?"
"DO IT!" Shinji sobbed, his head hitting the floor before the Lord of Nightmares, "I'm shit. Nothing but shit; I screwed up,"
"Shinji, what happened on Earth?"
"They saw me…"
"Who?"
"Asuka, Rei, Hikari…I'm sorry…"
"For an accident? You have misjudged me, Shinji Ikari."
A long white hand reached down and picked up the boy.
"Shinji, you must…"
Shinji's eyes looked up.
"…Enough. Rest now; I will speak to you later."
Shinji bowed slightly and moved towards his bed before pausing.
"M-my lord?"
"Yes?"
"Y-you don't have a shadow," Shinji whispered.
Dream looked down at his feet.
"Ah, so I do not. Does that disturb you?"
Shinji shook his head and sat on his bed, staring down at the floor.
The King of Dreams stood before the flames in the library, brooding silently.
"From what I have heard of his history, my lord, I am not surprised he is upset. It can often hurt more to be reunited than to be apart, can it not, sire?"
"Indeed, Lucian. I wonder…" Dream fingered his emerald, "I wonder indeed: what could we offer him? His home is here now, what can we give him here?"
*This is perhaps the best line I have ever written.