Reign of the Tabri
Chapter 19: Tabri (ReMembrance)
Logani concentrated hard. Not hard as in how a normal human would do it. Hard like only a Tabri could. He thought hard as in changing the sleeping form of Tabris into something resembling Tabris. That was really hard.
First he shredded the embryonic layer. He then spread the body out so he could see what he had to work with. Wings spread, arms extended and feet lowered. The six eyes opened and stared blankly into space.
Logani could see what he needed to do. The scales could become the armor, the wings super concentrated into the shoulder pylons. The s2 engine would need to be shifted up slightly, the claws retracted a little. He decided he'd keep six eyes.
He began.
Shinji sat down on a rock and cradled his head in his arms. He was not sad, that was what made him sad. He'd killed Kowaru all over again now. It stung only slightly less then last time had.
Rei stood and examined her body structure. She was fully healed, that was for sure. She turned to watch Logani do his work.
Asuka waited uncomfortably. Inside of her a rebellion raged. A small part of her kept bugging her to go comfort Shinji. A bigger part told her to go hit him and tell him to stop moping. Either way the fighting was wrecking her head. It needed to stop. She took a tentative step towards Shinji. She planned to do… something.
Before she could take another step Logani finished. He sent the finished creation soaring upwards and into the roof. It broke through and continued upwards, into the land above.
In the ship Touji felt a rumble and looked out of the window. What he saw would follow him for the rest of his life. A giant Eva/Angel sized creation broke through the ground and onto the surface. Touji nearly wet himself. 'Tabris?' he thought, 'or did they win?'
It would be a little while longer till he found out.
Logani turned to look at the others. It seemed to him that Asuka was a little closer to Shinji then she'd been when he began. He decided to not worry about it. He nodded and said, "Let's go."
Shinji lifted his head and looked past Logani. "What about that?" he asked.
Logani turned and found Michel's body still lying were it had fallen, abandoned. Logani scowled. He was not about to just leave something like that lying around. He walked up and picked up the corpse by the throat. He casually tossed it into the abyss. He turned and nodded again. "Let's go," he repeated. This time there were no contradictions.
The exited the same way they had entered the strange chamber. Only this time Logani did not lead. Asuka set off at a brisk pace, almost as if hurrying away from something, or someone. Rei matched her pace and was only a few feet behind.
Shinji continued to sit on the rock. Logani approached him and sat down across from him. He rested his hands on his head and starred out into the abyss. "You know," he began, "when I first learned you'd killed father I was angry with you," he smirked and closed his eyes, "At least half-a-dozen times I almost assassinated you myself. Particularly after the other attempts failed."
Shinji brought his head up to look at Logani. "Other attempts?" he said dumbly.
Logani continued on, ignoring Shinji. "But now, you know, I'm glad you killed him. He was a liar, and a deceiver. This world is better without him," he said.
Shinji pot pissed fast. He reached out and snagged Logani by the collar of his shirt. He pulled his face close to his own and spat out, "Other attempts?"
Logani locked on to what Shinji said and slowly nodded. Shinji released him. "What other attempts?" Shinji demanded.
"There were quite a few," Logani said slowly, "through out the years. Originally it was just to get to Gendo. Then later we realized he was going to have you pilot Unit 01. You became our biggest target."
"What?" Shinji said, "Why!"
"To stop you from stopping the Messengers, somehow you always avoided us thought" Logani said, "Come on, walk with me and I'll explain." They both stood and exited the smaller chamber. Logani sealed it behind them.
"You have to understand Shinji," Logani began, "It was nothing personnel. It was just that your father was working to stop our father's breathing," his face took a thoughtful form; "You know we're really alike a lot? Both our father's were lying bastards."
Shinji hung his head. "And now they're both dead," he said. He was beginning to look like he might vomit.
Logani hung his head as well. He knew he should not have brought that up. 'O well,' he thought. "But look," he began, "I need to explain this to you. Can you listen?"
Shinji did not respond. He just marched on at Logani's side. Logani sighed and decided to take that as a yes. "We learned from father in 2000 that the Messengers were going to attack. We were told the order, the ways they'd attack, and in a sense everything."
A small part of Shinji's mind was hearing all of this. It dawned, on this small part, that if they'd known everything they could have stopped it. "If you knew it," he asked sullenly, "why didn't you stop it?"
Logani's closed his eyes and stopped walking. "It was all an aspect of sides then," he said quietly, "we didn't want our father to die so we did the only thing that made sense at the time. We helped him, even as the human sides of us screamed not to."
Shinji couldn't help but ask another question, "Help him?"
"Yeah," Logani said, "We cause hundreds of "accidents" in NERV. Delays for Evangelion production, deaths of every key official we could get to, disappearance of key materials. We even completely removed NERV 02, making it disappear in under five seconds."
Shinji's eyes narrowed. "That was you!" he shouted, "You killed hundreds that day! Because of that Eva 03 was brought to Japan! Because of you Touji has to use artificial limbs!"
Logani, not being one to take blame when it was not his, scowled. "Wouldn't that be more wisely blamed on Bardiel? I mean, at least the whole Touji part."
Shinji was beyond listening. He turned to storm out of the city but was stopped when Logani shouted after him, "Is there no way to redeem oneself?"
Shinji turned back around. He starred Logani right into the eyes. "How many innocents have died by your hand?"
Logani's eyes narrowed. "You think I'm evil? I killed my own brothers and sisters to save innocent lives. I'm willing to lay down my life a hundred times to save humanity. Something I honestly care little for. I'd give my soul to stop the Messengers."
Shinji shook his head. "I didn't question your resolve. Now tell me, how many innocents have you killed!"
"Who is innocent?" Logani said accusingly.
"What?" Shinji shouted, "How can you ask that?"
"Are you an innocent Shinji? You only protected yourself and humanity. Still, you killed Messengers. Beings that have lived for millennium. Am I an innocent? I have ordered many humans deaths, true but never directly killed one. Yet I still seek to help you stop the Messengers and save humanity? How do you weigh innocents?" Logani shouted.
Shinji struggled with this. 'What is an innocent? Someone who hasn't done anything? But did the Angels ever really do anything? Sure, they tried but does that count?' His head began to swirl. He pressed his hand to his forehead to try to stop it. It would not.
Soon he found himself aboard an all too familiar train.
Across from him was the all too familiar form of himself. Outside he could hear the lumbering of the train as it went down the tracks. Shinji opened his mouth to speak but he beat himself to it.
"He's right you know," said the Shinji Ikari who watches Shinji Ikari, "What is an innocent but an interpretation?"
The Shinji who is watched by others was not going to be thrown off balance this time. "You're bending words. You're just trying to justify actions!"
"But are not actions justified by their means?" asked the Shinji Ikari who watches Shinji.
"The ends don't justify the means," said the Shinji Ikari who is watched.
"What about the Angels?" asked the Shinji Ikari who watches.
"What about them?" asked the Shinji who is watched.
"You had to kill in order to save humanity. Did not saving humanity justify killing the Angels?" asked the Shinji who watches.
The watched Shinji shouted, "Of course it did! It was to protect innocent lives! It was to save humanity! Anything justifies that!"
"But does not any leader think this way?" asked Shinji, "Even a leader of Tabri? Would he not try to protect his people, just as you did yours?"
He found himself speechless. Shinji felt a lurch in the train. He looked out the window and say that the train was now curving to the left. Now becoming farther and farther away Shinji could see tracks leading to the right. He turned back to face himself and could only begin to think an answer before he awakened from the dream world.
Logani moved to catch Shinji's falling body. He was only halfway there, Shinji still only beginning to fall, when Shinji awakened. He opened his eyes and turned the beginning of a fall into a step forward. Logani stopped his rush forward in an instant.
Shinji locked onto Logani's eyes. "The ends justify the means," he said, "but you should've thought of the means first. You should've thought about what a world without humans would be like."
Logani leaned backwards. 'He thought of all that while he was sleeping for that long!' he thought.
Shinji continued, "You were right to try to protect your people, as any good leader would. But you were wrong, like every bad politician is, to follow only what the people thought they wanted. You should've thought ahead and seen what your path would lead you too."
Logani took in his words calmly considering that Shinji could either be condoning or complementing his whole life. He waited patiently for Shinji to continue.
"I believe that you believed what you were doing at the time was right," Shinji said, "And I respect your desire to continue to fight for what you believe in, especially if it's on my side. But I cannot agree with your methods."
Logani nodded. It wasn't exactly what he wanted but it was something. Shinji was willing to fight with Logani and that was all that really mattered.
Shinji returned his nod and turned to return to walking. He followed the path until he was back in the tunnel to the outside.
Logani remained in Domus. He looked over the city with a practiced eye.
He examined the entrance to the Tabri meeting cavern.
He raced Robertus to their padded seats on the balcony. He won by just a few inches, his hand being ever so slightly longer then his brother's. He smiled and proceeded to rub it in his brother's nose.
Below, on the stage, Father smiled at their playing. Today he would declare Logani High Speaker of the Conclave of the Tabri. On this day his life would change forever.
Logani's eyes drifted to a certain house were one of his sisters had once lived.
Leslen had become quick friends with Logani when they first met. She had looked into him and seen a good future. It didn't matter to Logani that she would've seen this in anyone, it made him glad to meet her.
She'd been the brains of their outfit, Robertus was the muscle and the laugh, Logani had been the clean public image, the solid leader. Leslen had always been available for him to bounce ideas off of. She would listen whenever he needed to vent on issues of the conclave. She would offer advice on things when he could not seem to get it from anyone else.
Logani turned once more, this time to look at the home of his former political rival.
Michel had been the angriest when Logani had been appointed, by their father, High Speaker of the Conclave of the Tabri. He had waited with his lackeys after the inauguration. Caught up in all the celebration Logani had not thought to expect it.
He was the last out of the gathering chamber. He closed the door softly, more then a little tipsy. He turned around to find Michel and two others popping their fists in anticipation. "Whoa," he exclaimed.
Michel sneered. "He says whoa," he let out a soft chuckle, "whoa. Ha ha ha, whoa. You're dead Logani!" He pounced forward, utterly oblivious to anything else, anger taking over his body.
Logani set himself and entered with a roundhouse kick to Michel's head. Michel was diving forward fast enough that he never saw it coming. It connected and shoved Michel backwards, to be caught and thrown back up by his lackeys. Michel steeled himself for another go.
Logani was not going to let him do it. Before Michel was ready he'd already summoned Death to his rescue. Robertus and Leslen were not far behind on his call list.
Death came out in full force, easily removing the lackeys with elbows in the back. Michel was held upwards by one hand, Death's unblinking gaze staring into him. After a moment Michel passed out. Death lowered him and turned to Logani. Logani nodded and the lumbering death trap returned to its home.
Leslen and Robertus showed up shortly. Leslen was surprised that Michel had tried something as utterly obvious as a front assault. Robertus was a little disappointed that it was over before he got there.
'Good times,' Logani thought. As thinking of that type often does Logani was suddenly bombarded by images of bad times. It didn't help that he turned to look at the entrance and exit of the cave system.
He had left at night. It had seemed like it would be better that way. He'd known that he was, in a way, abandoning Leslen and Robertus but he didn't care. They were old enough to look out for themselves.
If only he'd known that his leaving would drive Michel to power. That soon Robertus would be running for his life and that Leslen would be left alone. If only he'd known what would happen with his leaving.
He approached the stairs sullenly, sometimes taking two steps for every one step. It was nearly twenty minutes before he reached the top. What he found there would not have been to his liking, if he was in a sane mood.
Michel waited for him, again, with a smile. "Aw," he smirked, "poor Logani running away?"
The few others of Michel's inner circle made similar jabs but he was too far away to hear them. He'd felt like everything hurt, like it was time to lay down and not get back up again. For awhile he'd done just that.
Logani clenched his fists in anger at what had happened that night. He was angry at Michel, ow sure, but his anger was mostly directed at himself. He had run away. But at least now he was cleaning up this mess he had made.
He began climbing the steps, this time at a better pace, one last time. 'I will never return here,' he decided, 'even if I live.'
He reached the top, took stock of the city one last time, and entered the tunnel. He closed the tunnel behind him as he went. 'Don't look back,' he thought. He never did.
Got it out tonight, barely. Look for 20 in probably two days, maybe three. As I said before it'll be like this one. More reviews are good. Thank you. r&R