Chapter 3
"You did this to her."
Sentaro stared at his sister. "What?"
Kristine's eyes had started to glow.
"The day you left," she said, "No….the day you wished her out of your life, it broke her!"
"She was never the same." Keima said, "She dove into work, trying to forget, but as you know, we can never forget."
"It ate away at her like a poison." Kristine said, "She became weaker and weaker……."
"What you see is the result of five years of heartache." Keima said, "And you were the cause!"
Sentaro glared at them.
"You can't blame this on me!" he shouted, "She's just as much at fault as I am!"
Keima turned and looked at Belldandy.
"Why did you want him here?" he asked, "He'll never consent to help her."
"Consent to what?" Sentaro asked, "Why am I here?"
Belldandy let out a sigh. She then placed a hand on Sentaro's shoulder. Suddenly, Sentaro was no longer at Yggdrasil's core. He was now in his Grandmother's office. She maneuvered him into a chair and walked towards her door.
"Cayla." She called out, "I am not to be disturbed. By anyone."
"Yes ma'am." came Cayla's voice.
Belldandy closed the door, then walked around behind her desk and sat down.
"Did I do that to Mom?" Sentaro asked.
Belldandy sighed. "As you said, you weren't entirely at fault. There were many things that led her to this. The sudden loss of your father, then your constant fighting, followed by your wish. Then the Rogue Demons have been far more active then ever before." Belldandy looked out the window. "Your mother has also been experiencing nightmares, related to a demon that captured her so long ago." She leaned forward. "Don't take what your sister and your uncle say seriously. But also, pay attention. There is much anger directed towards you. Much of it is unwarranted, as they do not have the full story."
"And you do?" Sentaro asked.
"Yes." Belldandy answered, "She came to me after you wished her away. I couldn't believe you'd do such a thing, so I asked her to tell me, which she did." Belldandy's eyes narrowed slightly. "Everything."
Sentaro looked down at the floor, not able to meet his Grandmother's eyes.
"What do you think?" he finally asked.
"As I said, the fault is not entirely yours. Your mother finally admitted to me that she was wrong. She became overly protective of you, and didn't give you the free reign that you needed. Yet, your actions caused her need to protect you increase to the point it became smothering. Which led to your final fight." Belldandy sat back. "Keima and Kristine do not know this. Though your mother did try to sway them, they let their emotions blind them. Seeing as she was resigned to what had happened and then watching her slowly deteriorate, they choose to blame you and thus, their anger towards you."
Sentaro sat and let all that he had just been told sink in.
"Why didn't you tell them?" he finally asked.
"It was not my place to." Belldandy replied sadly, "and your mother specifically told me not to."
Sentaro went quiet again. Finally after a few minutes, he looked up at his Grandmother.
"Why was I brought here?" he asked.
"To do what we cannot." Belldandy replied, "Fix Yggdrasil."
"How?" Sentaro asked, "I'm not a god."
"That is exactly why." Belldandy said, "Strange as it may be, a mortal mind is what is needed."
"I don't understand." Sentaro said.
"Skuld had to explain it to me several times before I fully understood." Belldandy said. She then stood up and moved to the window. She looked back at Sentaro and motioned for him to stand beside her. Once he was standing at the window, she turned and looked out.
"What do you see when you look out there?" she asked.
Sentaro looked out for a moment.
"I see a city surrounded on all sides by green pastures and forests." He said, then looked back at his Grandmother. "What do you see?"
"I see a city full of billions upon billions of souls." Belldandy replied, "Each soul happy with the life they have lived and enjoying their paradise as you put it."
"Whoa." Sentaro said, looking back out the window, "I knew heaven was big but….wow."
"There lies the problem." Belldandy said, "Skuld's explanation was that when a mortal sees things, their mind breaks it down. Yes, they know they are part of a whole, but they are focused on a task. For us gods, we see the big picture here in heaven. We look at everything as a whole without breaking it down." Belldandy turned and looked at Sentaro, "Thus, when one of us tries to access Yggdrasil's core, our minds become overwhelmed with information and we……shut down. It was not always so. When Yggdrasil first started up, the Gods could directly link with Yggdrasil, but as Creation grew, so did Yggdrasil until we could no longer access it in such a way again. That led to sharing the load amongst all the gods. We still can control Yggdrasil, but now through many Terminals."
"So why did Mom try to link to the core if you just said it would overwhelm a god?" Sentaro asked, "Why did you need to link in the first place?"
"A Rogue Demon placed a virus in the system." Belldandy said, "We still don't know how. But that virus began to corrupt the system, locking up terminals and programs, while starting others. The earthquakes on Terra 2 and Earth are only the tip of the icing on the cake. There have been several stars that have gone nova. A planet that developed life forms it was never intended to have. If things continue as they have, it will eventually destroy the Universe." Belldandy turned back to the window. "We knew we had to regain control of Yggdrasil and eliminate the virus. But we had no way of unlocking the terminals. Skuld though, she knew of the Core Access, having been down their several times to debug the core. She came up with the mortal theory after reading up in the library on the core. Being a half goddess and half mortal, as well as being a Norn, your Mother volunteered to access the core." Belldandy looked back at Sentaro. "At first she was fine, but then……..it overwhelmed her. Her mortal side prevented her from being totally lost to us, but for now, she is trapped by the core."
"So what can I do?" Sentaro asked.
"You are fully mortal." Belldandy said, "As a descendant of myself, you could technically classify as a Norn, though you are not a god, nor are you female. You're knowledge of computers will help you inside the core."
"I suppose I was also chosen because I know of the Heavens." Sentaro said, "You didn't want to pull some regular guy who hadn't a clue off the street."
"Not that I would but it in such a way, but you are correct." Belldandy said. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "It was never my intention to do this to you. I wished we could see each other in different circumstances………"
Sentaro placed a hand on his Grandmother's shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"No matter what happened between me and mom," he said, "I never blamed you for it. I never forgot you either." He then hugged her. "I'll do it."
Tears rolled down Belldandy's eyes as she returned the hug to her grandson.
"I'll make the preparations." She said softly.
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Sentaro stood leaning against the railing that overlooked the entry hall of the Yggdrasil building. Far below, Gods and Goddesses scurried about, still trying to regain control of the run away system. He heard footsteps behind him, followed by Megami saying thank you. He turned around and found Megami standing across from him. Just behind her off to the side stood Dawn in her Valkyrie outfit.
"So." Megami said, "Do I get an explanation now?"
Sentaro turned and looked back over the railing. "I would have thought you'd been paying attention to what was said."
"I want to hear your version." Megami replied, moving to the railing.
Sentaro looked off towards the ceiling far above.
"After Dad was killed, everything was just so……..surreal. Mom wondered around the house, not really doing much. Celes was there for Kristine and me. Even Mana was there." Sentaro sighed. "Mom made several trips up to Heaven to visit Dad. Kristine went too. But I……was not allowed to go because I was mortal." Sentaro turned and looked at Megami. "You have any idea what it's like to be the only mortal in a family of gods? It sucks. Kristine could come and go as she pleased. She was a First Class Goddess and could protect herself. I had a curfew and had to be home by a specific time. You know how many times I'd be out with friends, and then suddenly find myself teleported home? I lost count." Sentaro sighed and looked back out towards the ceiling. "And then Kristine was always being complimented on her successes, where I was always hounded on for my mistakes. I got tired of it. So, Mom and I had it out, our last big fight." Sentaro turned and looked at Megami. "They make a big deal on wishes here, especially ones from the heart. They are like contracts, unbreakable. So I told my mother I wished to never see her again. The rest, well…….. you heard. My Uncle and Sister pretty much hate me. Great Aunt Skuld and Urd don't hate me so much as they are annoyed with me."
"So what do they want you to do?"
"Believe it or not, fix the world computer."
Megami's eyes widened. "Can you do that?"
"I don't know." Sentaro said, "But I told my Grandmother I'd do it. I don't want to disappoint her."
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Sentaro reentered the Yggdrasil core a few hours later, escorted by his Grandmother. Already there waiting was Urd and Skuld, as well as Keima and Kristine. What surprised Sentaro was the fact that Arael, the Angel, was also present.
Sentaro walked up and looked down at his mother, still sitting in the chair.
"So how are we doing this?" Sentaro asked.
"We can't remove your mother." Skuld said, "And there is only one connection to the core."
"Then how….?"
Skuld pointed at Arael. "She's going to link your mind to your mothers, then you'll access the core from there."
Sentaro's jaw dropped. Even Belldandy, Keima, and Kristine were surprised.
"And just how will he accomplish that!" Keima asked.
"I will help him as best I can." Arael said, "But success lies in his hands alone."
"Great." Kristine muttered, "We're doomed."
Belldandy glared at Kristine. She then turned and looked at Sentaro.
"Are you still willing?" she asked.
Sentaro looked down at his mother.
"Yes." He answered.
Skuld waved her hand and a chair appeared beside the one Sayoko occupied.
"Sit." Skuld said.
Sentaro complied. Arael moved and stood between the two chairs.
"You must relax fully." Arael said, "You will feel strange at first, then you will find yourself in your mother's mind."
"What will that be like?" Sentaro asked.
Arael hesitated slightly.
"It is hard to describe." She replied, "Everyone's mind is slightly different. You might find yourself appearing within a memory of your mother. As I said, I will help you as much as I can, but you will be on your own. Are you ready?"
Sentaro closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I'm ready."
Arael placed her hands on Sayoko's forehead, then on Sentaro's. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Her hands then began to glow.
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To Sentaro, it felt like the world was spinning. His stomach lurched from side to side. Then it stopped.
Sentaro opened his eyes.
He was for all purposes in the middle of nowhere. The sky above was a strange orange color. Looking down, he found himself standing upon and strange liquid.
"What is this place?" he called out. "Arael?"
"Hold on." He reply came from everywhere.
Suddenly his world was twisting again in an explosion of colors. Sentaro closed his eyes and waited for it to stop. Which is finally did with a thump.
Sentaro lay on the ground a moment, trying to control his still churning stomach. He then opened his eyes and sat up.
He was sitting on a hilltop next to an old iron fence. Before him lay a vast city on a lake. For some reason, the city seemed familiar to him.
"Arael?" he called out.
Before him the ghostly image of the Angel appeared.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"In your mother's mind." The ghost image replied, "This is but a place of memory where she currently exists."
"She's reliving the past?" he asked.
Arael nodded. "Yes."
Sentaro stood up and looked around.
"You wouldn't happen to know where would you?" he asked.
Arael's eyes narrowed slightly. "I do recognize this place, though I never visited it."
Sentaro waited a moment, but Arael did not continue.
"Arael." Sentaro asked, "WHERE am I?"
"Tokyo-3 on Earth. The year 2015."
Sentaro blinked, thinking on that information.
"The Angel Wars." He finally said. He turned and looked at Arael. "When you and your brethren attacked Earth."
Arael nodded sadly. "Yes."
"Do you know at what point I'm here?" he asked, "What Angel's have attacked?"
Arael shook her head. "I do not have that knowledge."
Sentaro looked down at the city.
"Well there's only one way to find out."
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Sentaro felt strange, walking down a street full of people who had lived almost five hundred years before.
"Arael." He said softly so that none of the people could hear him. "Does Mom realize I'm here?"
"No." came the reply. Arael's ghost shape reappeared before him. "These are but shadows of your mother's mind."
"Can they see you?"
"No. I appear only before you."
"That's good. It'd be hard enough to explain my clothes, much less why a ghost is floating by me."
"Your clothes are of this time."
"Huh?" Sentaro looked down and found himself dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. "Strange."
Sentaro walked down to a newspaper vending machine and looked at the front page. On it, massive figures squared off against another. The caption underneath stated it was an image of the eleventh such attack the city had faced.
"The eleventh attack?" Sentaro muttered, "That's the Eleventh Angel?"
"No." came Arael's reply, "The image you see is my brother Bardiel, the thirteenth."
"Thirteenth?"
"Yes." Arael replied, "Sachiel, the Third was the first to attack the lil….mortals."
Sentaro looked around.
"If my memory serves, my Mom lived with Mrs. Ryoji." Sentaro looked around. "Where's a phone booth when you need one?"
"A what?"
"Phone booth." Sentaro replied, "There will be a phone book that should tell me where to find Mrs. Ryoji's apartment."
"Oh."
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The idea of using a phonebook to find the apartment failed upon finding said book. It listed the major businesses and some residences, but he could find no number or address for Mrs. Ryoji.
"Well this is just great." Sentaro muttered, "How the hell am I going to find my Mother if I can't even find her address?"
"Get the hell out of my way stooge!"
"Listen here you German Bitch! I have as much right to walk here as you do!"
"Like hell you do you stupid monkey!"
"What! I'll show you you demon!"
"DEMON! I'LL SHOW YOU……..DAMMIT SAYOKO! LEMME GO!"
Sentaro smiled. Coming up the street, almost exactly the way his Father had described it at bedtime, was his Aunt Asuka, Uncle's Shinji and Touji, as well as his mother. All appeared to be around age fourteen, and on their way home from either school or from NERV.
"Touji." Shinji said, "Isn't this your street?"
Touji looked up. "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow Shinji. Later Sayoko. Bye Demon!"
Asuka let out a low growl and tried to lunge at Touji. Sayoko still held her back.
Sentaro watched Touji pass him, then turned back to watch the other three teens continue up the street.
"Well." Sentaro said, "I guess I have to try to talk to her sometime."
He quickly raced up behind the children.
"Hey Mo…..uhhh…." he paused, realizing he couldn't call her 'Mom'.
The three children turned and looked at him funny.
"Who the hell are you?" Asuka asked.
Shinji looked at him funny. "Are you related to Kensuke Aida? You kinda look like him."
"AHHH YOU'RE RIGHT!' Asuka screamed, ""HE'S A PERVERT!"
"You'd better watch yourself." Sayoko said, "We've got bodyguards. You try to hurt us….."
"I need your help." Sentaro said, finding his voice again.
"Help?" Shinji asked, "Help with what?"
"Yggdrasil has crashed."
Sayoko blinked. "What? How do you….."
"You are the Goddess Sayoko." Sentaro said, "This is your memory. These events have already occurred."
The three children blinked at Sentaro.
"What?" Shinji asked.
"Are you some kind of wacko?" Asuka asked.
Sentaro ignored the other children and looked directly at his mother.
"Your mother is Belldandy. You have two Aunts named Skuld and Urd. You have to believe me."
Sayoko stared at Sentaro, her eyes wide with fright.
"How can you know these things." She whispered.
"Because I am your son." Sentaro replied.
Sayoko started to laugh nervously. "I haven't got a son. I don't even have a boyfriend."
"You must believe me." Sentaro said, "I am your son. This is just a memory in your mind. It is not real!"
Suddenly strong arms grabbed Sentaro. He looked around and found himself surrounded by men in dark suits wearing sunglasses.
"Are you children alright?" the man asked.
Shinji nodded. "We're fine."
"Right." The man turned to Sentaro. "Take him in for questioning."
"No wait!" Sentaro cried out. "This is your mind! These people aren't real!"
Sentaro felt something slam into the back of his neck, then all went black.
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Sentaro opened his eyes and found himself staring up at a ceiling. Sitting up, he discovered he was in a cell, sitting on a cot. The back of his head also hurt.
"Ughhh." He moaned, "For something that doesn't exist, it sure hurts like hell."
He looked around a moment. The walls were featureless, the door had a small window in it, closed of course. Other then the cot, the only other fixture was a toilet.
"Arael?" he called out softly.
Almost immediately the Angel appeared in her ghost form.
"I was wondering when you'd call." Arael said, "You have been out for sometime."
"Right. What happened?"
Arael sighed. "It seems to be worse then I previously thought. Your mother believes that this is truly happening 'now', that it is not a memory. As a result, her mind set up a defense, those agents."
"Great." Sentaro muttered, "Not only do I have to figure out how to get out of here, now I have to figure out how to get around Mom's defenses."
"It shouldn't be too hard."
Sentaro turned and stared at the Angel.
"What do you mean 'it shouldn't be too hard'?"
"You are her son. You are one of the few who know her best."
"I don't know anything about her life here!" Sentaro shouted, "What little I do know came from my father! Mom NEVER talked about her time here in Tokyo-3."
Arael's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I see." She said, "But her mind is still of the person you know. It has just, forgotten itself in this memory. Should you get her to remember future events……"
"It might snap her out of this." Sentaro finished, "Then we can fix Yggdrasil and get out of here." He looked around the room again. "But how do I get out of here?"
Arael closed her eyes.
"An opportunity is about to present itself."
"Huh?"
Alarms began to scream out.
"What's going on?" Sentaro asked.
"Zeruel comes." Arael said softly.
The entire cell rumbled slightly. The sounds of distant explosions reached his ears.
"Dammit." Sentaro said, "It's the middle of an attack and I'm stuck in a cell." He then glanced over at Arael. "Can you do anything?"
"No."
"Damn." Sentaro muttered.
Then something crashed into his cell. Sentaro leaped back against the wall and closed his eyes as dust filled the cell. When he opened them, he found himself staring at an enormous eye.
"GAH!" Sentaro backed up against the wall.
He and the eye stared at each other for a moment. Then he noticed that the cell had been breached enough her could exit.
"Ask and ye shall receive." Sentaro muttered as he squeezed past the eye. "Pardon me."
Outside, Sentaro found that the eye was still connected to a giant head.
"Creepy." Sentaro muttered, "Hey Arael what is….."
Sentaro blinked as something bright went off. It was soon followed by a wave and roar that knocked him off his feet. He rolled onto his back, groaning in pain. Before him a mushroom cloud shot up into the sky before suddenly spreading outward. Sentaro watched the cloud for a moment, then saw why it had spread out so suddenly. A large dome covered the area, at least it looked like a dome. Upside down buildings stuck out like stalactites from the ceiling. Several large holes had also been blasted into the dome, showing daylight beyond.
"Arael?" he asked, "Where am I?"
"I do not know." Came the angel's reply. "I never made it to the city."
Sentaro muttered for a moment, then a thought crossed his mind.
"Arael, you said you knew of Tokyo-3, though you had never visited it. HOW do you know of it?"
Sentaro waited, but no reply came.
"Arael." Sentaro called out, "Tell me how you know of Tokyo-3 if you've never been here?"
The ghost form of Arael appeared before him, sitting on the ground, her head bowed.
"I attacked this city after my brother Zeruel," she said softly, "My attack penetrated the minds of two of the pilots, and exposed their thoughts to me." Arael looked up, pain in her eyes. "Your mother and Asuka were the pilots."
Sentaro was quiet, another piece of his mother's past clicking into place.
"Using their memories, do you recognize this place and time?"
Arael was silent, then nodded.
"This is the Geofront. At this time, Asuka is in the Central Dogma." Arael replied, "Your mother is hurrying to her Evangelion to……" before Arael could finish, two massive shapes blasted out of the ground nearby, before slamming back into the earth. Sentaro was knocked off his feet again by the tremors. He watched in awe as a massive purple figure pounded on a strange white and black creature. Arael watched as well, her face one of sadness.
The purple figure was relentless in its attack. Just as it seemed ready to deliver the final blow, it slumped over. The creature took this opportunity to punish the purple figure. This went on for several moments, before the eyes of the purple figure lit up. Sentaro felt is stomach churn as the purple figure literally shredded the creature, before it began to eat. Beside him, the ghost of Arael was no longer watching.
The purple figure howled as it ate. With a roar, another figure appeared within the Geofront, a great silver figure.
"Your mother arrives." Arael said softly.
Sentaro's eyes widened. Now he knew what the purple, the black, and the silver figures were. They were Evangelions.
Sentaro turned to Arael.
"I won't be able to see mom for sometime I assume. Let's get out of here before someone sees us."
"You mean you."
Sentaro rolled his eyes. "Right, me."
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It took Sentaro a little over an hour to get out of the Geofront. The angel had severely damaged the area, resulting in many breaches. Knowing it wouldn't be much longer for security teams to move in to guard over the breaches, Sentaro moved quickly.
Once on the surface, he headed off in a direction he hoped would lead him towards the Ryoji apartment. He soon came across a road that he had been on earlier in the day. He walked along it until he reached the spot where he had seen his mother and the other pilots before.
After waiting almost three hours, he spotted two figures walking up the road. Both looked exhausted, as well as upset. Sentaro quickly walked up to them.
"Listen…." He began.
"Back off." Asuka replied, venom in her voice, "Unless you want Section 2 to beat your ass again."
"Arael," Sentaro muttered under his breath, "Give me some help here."
Arael flashed into existence.
"What do you want me to do?" Arael asked.
"Something." Sentaro muttered, "Anything."
"What was that?" Sayoko asked, "What are you mumbling?"
"Look," Sentaro said, "I was telling you the truth earlier."
"Right." Asuka said, "This is all in her mind."
"It is." Sentaro replied, He listened carefully as Arael said a few things to him. "Shinji was absorbed by Unit-01 wasn't he?"
Asuka and Sayoko both stared at Sentaro.
"How did…." Asuka began.
"Rei is currently in the infirmary as the result of setting off an N2 mine next to Unit-00." Sentaro continued, "Asuka, your Unit-02 is still being fixed from the Thirteenth Angel's attack."
"That doesn't mean anything!" Asuka shouted, "You could have hacked the Magi and figured it out!"
Sentaro turned and looked directly at his mother.
"Auntie Skuld was just recalled to heaven." He stated.
Sayoko gasped.
"How did you know?" she asked softly.
"I told you." Sentaro said, "I'm your son."
"No…..no." Sayoko grabbed her head. The world around them seemed to haze slightly. Sentaro pressed on.
"You have a daughter named Kristine." He said, "Your best friend is Mana Kirishima, a Demon from Hell. You have another good friend named Celes Victoria, a vampire."
"NO!" Sayoko shouted. The city around them twisted. Several areas seemed to crack slightly. Even Asuka wavered slightly.
"Tokyo-3 was destroyed over five hundred years ago!" Sentaro shouted, "You accessed Yggdrasil's core earlier today! You were trying to stop a Demonic virus that has infected the system!"
"ARGHHHH!" Sayoko fell to her knees, holding her head tightly in her arms. The world around them crackled and began to collapse. Asuka vanished with a slight pop. Then with a loud roar, everything around them vanished, leaving Sayoko still on her knees with Sentaro standing over her on an endless ocean of some liquid.
"Arael?" Sentaro called out, "What happened?"
Arael appeared upon the ocean. "You have succeeded, partially."
"What?"
"Look." The Angel pointed towards his mother.
Sentaro looked down. No longer was there a young school girl before him. In her place was a much older goddess, her hair a dark brown. He knelt down and gently rolled her over. It was his mother as he had last seen her almost five years before.
"Why is she unconscious?" Sentaro asked.
"It been a strain on her," Arael replied, "Pulling memories from the depths of her mind and making her relive them has caused her much stress. She will be unconscious for sometime to come."
Sentaro nodded, "So how do we fix Yggdrasil?"
"She is still attached to the system." Arael replied, "You will be able to access it through her."
Sentaro looked down at his mother and gently moved her hands to rest upon her stomach.
"Alright." He said, "Let's finish this."