Chapter 11 - Homecoming

A large group of travelers walked into the cave, their equipment being lugged by a white behemoth. What they found in the cave was what they'd expected. The Zohar Modifier. But now, instead of shining and floating in all it's power and glory, it lay still, dank, and dormant. Citan Uzuki looked around a little. "Well, it seems we're a bit late."

The party of travelers looked around a bit. It was quite the group. Citan led the party, followed by Bartholomew Fatima, Billy Lee Black, Rico Banderas, Elhaym Van Houten, Maria Balthasar, Sigurd, Emeralda, Margie the Great Mother of Nisan, and, most surprisingly, Kahran Ramsus. Yui and Midori Uzuki were present as well, fixing lunch for the group.

The white gear opened, and Fei Fong Wong jumped out, landing in a crouch. "Well, what'd you expect, Doc? This thing just fell out of the atmosphere with the relics. You expected it to be shiny and new?"

Citan frowned. "Well, no. Certainly not, but I didn't think it would be broken so easily, either."

Bart groaned. "So you mean we came all the way out here for nothing?"

Citan smiled. "No, not nothing, young one. I think we shall do as we had originally planned and bring it down to the Yggdrasil. I don't think Taura and Balthasar would want to hike up here."

Elly smiled and shook her head. "I think they would if they had to Citan. I agree that we shouldn't make them at their age, but I think their enthusiasm would bring them up here if necessary."

Citan smiled. "You are correct Elly, as usual. Billy, Ramsus. Come help us with these straps. Fei, man the Xenogears. Let's try to get it onto the flat as carefully as possible."

"Emeralda… help?"

Citan shook his head. "No, that's okay, my dear. Why don't you and the other young ladies start with lunch? It's a bit old fashioned, but I think the boys and I have this."

They nodded, and went to work. Or at least they tried to. A sudden flash came from the Zohar Modifier, and engulfed the party. Fei looked around and grimaced at their location. A voice floated down from above. "Greetings once more Contact. Greetings to your companions as well."

Fei frowned. "I thought you were supposed to be freed after Deus's destruction."

There was humor tinged in the voice as it spoke. "I am. But I have stayed, for a time, to thank you for my freedom. I knew you would find the artifact. You did not disappoint."

Fei smiled. "You are welcome."

There was a warm comforting feeling conveyed by the voice this time. "I also came to bestow a gift. You who are here, I bind. You are bound now, together through eternity, transmigrant to the end. Use your years well."

Citan grinned, and hugged his wife. The wave existence spoke on. "In return, I ask only one thing."

Fei looked about, somewhat concerned. "And what's that?"

"That you leave this place, and leave the modifier where it sits now, closing the cave with the power of the Xenogears, so that it may never be opened again."

Bart blinked. "But… why? We were going to try to restore it, so that the gears would function again…"

Citan glared at Bart, and continued hastily. "We were going to try to figure it out so that it would work without your presence, or that of another of your kind."

The wave existence spoke again after a pause, and was soft but firm in it's speech. "Doctor. I am sure that you and these others have only the highest-minded ideals for what will be done. But understand that others will not be that way. What would they do with the secrets you could unlock from the artifact? That is why I ask this of you, for certainly the gift of transmigrancy is nothing compared to my freedom."

Citan sighed, but nodded. "Your words make sense. And you are correct, others would want to do harm to others with what we discovered, even if all we discovered was how to make the gears functional again."

Bart kicked at the non-existent ground. "Yeah, I understand, I was just hoping to pilot Andivari, or even my Brigandier again."

The Wave Existence's voice was again humor filled. "With your transmigrancy, you may yet. The engine will recharge again on its own – eventually." Bart cheered. "But it will be many of your millennia before this happens." Bart sighed and the others snickered at him. "Good bye, all of you. Again, you have my thanks."

---

Citan sighed. "So, we did what was asked of us. Fei sealed the cave with Xenogears, and we never even went near it again."

Kaworu smiled. "I would guess that means you have no idea where it is now.

Citan grinned. "Are you kidding? That was before the continents split up. We have absolutely no idea where it is. All we know is that it's become active again. If we could find the Anima Relics we could align the gears here again, but those we never found at all."

"Do you think they're still in existence?"

Citan nodded. "From what I could tell, they were made just like the original modifier, so they should have survived impact at least. But who knows what's happened to them."

Kaworu nodded, and Citan leaned back in his chair. "Well, let me continue. After all of this, we enjoyed many good years together. But eventually, we sealed the gears in the Yggdrasil and Yggdrasil in the Kislev, and buried them. Emeralda agreed to be sealed with here, so that she could wake up when the gears did and let us know about it."

Kaworu nodded thoughtfully. "So she woke up…"

Citan nodded. "Just before my… accident, I'd imagine."

Kaworu nodded. "So, has everyone been located?"

Citan shrugged. "Almost all of them. Some are confirmed dead, others simply unfound." He looked up at Kaworu suddenly. "And I'd watch my back if I were you."

Kaworu arched a brow. "Oh?"

Citan nodded. "Miang."

Kaworu started. "But… isn't she…?"

Citan sighed. "We thought so, but apparently she wasn't destroyed with Deus, simply separated from Elly. When Deus was destroyed, Miang was not. The master Urobolus ring was…"

Kaworu finished for him. "Rendering her alive as she was, but masterless…"

Citan smiled. "Yes, and she doesn't like you for some reason. Perhaps it's because-"

"Yes, I'm fully aware of the reasons she would have for hating me. But… such is life. Thank you Doctor. You have given me much to think on."

---

Three sharp, staccato blasts rang out, one after the other, in metered precision.

Mana Kirishima stood in the firing range, wearing her eye and ear protection, blasting away at her target, and gritting her teeth. At the touch of a hand on her shoulder, she spun around, berretta in hand. The blonde boy dove to the floor, covering his head with his arms.

"Don't shoot!"

Mana lowered the gun. This action caused the young man, Kensuke she now realized, to scramble behind a partition. She put the gun completely down on the bench next to her. "Sorry for scaring you Kensuke."

He looked up over the partition a little wild-eyed, but relaxed a little when he noted her hands no longer held her berretta. He stood and brushed off his knees. "Well, at least my reflexes are okay, but for a second I almost went for my gun, only to panic when I realized I didn't have any of them on me." Mana smiled a little at this, and her target paper reached the front then. Kensuke's eyes widened at the number of holes. "That anyone I know?"

She sighed. "No, just blowing off some steam."

Kensuke's rolled his eyes. "More like blowing someone's head off. Seriously Mana, what's got you so ticked off?"

Mana paused, and Kensuke put on his best comforting, 'I'm your best friend you can tell me anything smile'. She broke. "Kensuke… am… am I… no. That's not the right question to ask. Is Shinji obsessive?"

Kensuke shook his head – a little too quickly for Mana's liking. "Shinji? Obsessed with Asuka? Nope. Not at all. Not possible."

She groaned. "Kensuke, I didn't even say her name, or that it was even a person."

Kensuke gulped. He just knew he was going to get blamed for this somehow. "Well, um… maybe. Just a little." Just because they've been lovers for thousands of years doesn't mean a thing.

Mana didn't seem to appreciate this answer either. "Kensuke? Have you seen his art studio?"

Crap. Kensuke knew when he was defeated, and this was definitely one of those times. But still, he owed it to Shinji to try. "Well, what do a few paintings mean? I mean, I'm pretty sure he'll get around to you. Maybe it's just a phase. I mean, a lot of great artists go through periods where they do mostly the same thing. Maybe this is his Asuka phase…" She just looked at him for a bit. Kensuke got nervous, and he knew he had to change the subject – fast. "Well, um… instead of just standing here using still targets, let's go down to the VR lab and see if we can get some real training in. What do you say?"

Mana nodded slowly. That does sound like a good way to take my mind off of this…

Kensuke smiled at her, more than a little relieved, and they left.

---

The Seibzehn was a unique gear. Instead of reacting to thought commands, it reacted to voice commands. There was no joystick; in fact, there were no controls at all. The unit hardly needed Mana, except that she was the only person Seibzehn would respond to. There was no cockpit either. She stood on top of Seibzehn's head to give him orders. This was only possible because Seibzehn moved so slowly.

The only thing of any note on top of his head was the communications array. Which was active. Rico was on the monitor.

"Okay. This is what we know. At oh-nine-hundred hours, Fei's team went on a battlefield intercept with orders to halt the conflict, regardless of who or what was involved. At oh-nine-thirty hours, we lost contact with the intercept group, and have remained in the dark for more than two hours now. Be on your guard at all times, and remember that first priority is the recovery of the intercept group – both pilots and gears. Understood!"

"Yes sir."

"Yup!"

"Of course."

With that, the gears crested the final ridge, and looked out below them. The only thing available to see was charred earth and smoking metal wrecks. There was also the remains of what appeared to be a (formerly) underground bunker. The gears landed, and Rico signaled for the pilots to exit the gears. Rico swore as he surveyed the scene. "Leave the gears here for now. Spilt up and search for survivors. Be careful. Whatever did this… h… it might still be here."

They nodded and split up. Mana drew her berretta and stalked forward quietly, as Kensuke had taught her. Shinji…

After many minutes of searching, Mana froze suddenly. There were no overt signs, but something was very wrong, and she knew it. As she inched forward, she heard a soft thud over to her right in the distance.

She moved carefully, but quickly through the wreckage, pausing only to stare at the imprint in the remains of one evangelion. The shape was odd. It was a strange ovalish-square mark with several protrusions sticking out of it. Almost like a human hand… But that's impossible. No one is that strong.

Mana shrugged it off. The only possible answer was that some debris had hit it funny. She continued on, slowly working her way down into where the bunker was. Then, the thud came again, this time much closer, this time punctuated with a whimper of pain. It's close!

As she inched her way closer to where she had heard the sound, she heard a mocking laugh ring out. "And you imbeciles were supposed to be tough? Big bad bullies in their Evas. You punks are nothing without your little toys, and I disposed of them easily enough. Now just think about what I'm going to do to you…"

Mana kept inching, and there was a muffled whine. "Oh no. You misunderstand. I haven't yet begun to inflict punishments on you!"

Mana took a deep breath to calm herself, and then flung herself around the corner, bringing her gun up to catch a man with the barrel aimed directly between his eyes. "Drop him! Now!"

The man being aimed at grinned. He was wearing a black and red formfitting bodysuit, accenting his muscular build. He wasn't bulky by any stretch of the imagination, but the way the suit fit made it absolutely clear that he was an overt threat. His face was very pale, and his long red hair fell loosely in greasy strands down his back. He was holding up one of the enemy soldiers in one hand as he considered both her and her gun. Then he grinned, and tossed the man aside. He hit a piece of the rubble with enough force to knock it over.

If he had been solid enough. Flesh is soft, however, and he was simply impaled. Mana thought she would be sick, but she held firmly. All around the red lunatic's feet people lay prone and bleeding. Their unnatural stillness, and the strange angles their limbs lay in told Mana they were dead.

Mana's hand shook on the gun as he turned fully towards her and leered. He noted it, and formed a grin. "Are you… scared?"

He started towards her, and Mana instinctively backed up. He continued. "You should be you know. I'm just that much stronger. That much faster. That much better."

Mana's back hit the wall, effectively trapping her. The man smirked even more and began stalking even closer now. He was ten feet from her when she closed her eyes and screamed.

For an instant time seemed to stand still for Mana, and then there was a crunch from in front of her, and she opened her eyes. There, in front of her, was a gleaming blue fist. Seibzehn…

It was indeed the blue behemoth. As she began to relax, there came a sudden shifting noise from where Seibzehn had crushed the man into the ground. Seibzehn seemed to tip forward for a moment, and then slammed into the rubble in front of her, having been completely flipped over by him.

The man turned to wards her and grinned that same sadistic grin. "Ouch. That wasn't very nice you know."

Mana screamed again, and her gun flashed forwards, and she began emptying her clip at him. He just kept grinning at her, even as one hit him between the eyes and fell to the ground, wasted. Soon enough, the gun made a click instead of a bang, and he started laughing. "Did you honestly think that would do anything, after what I did to that machine of yours? Did you really believe that - urk"

He staggered backwards then, holding his head in one hand. He had time for one last word. "Damn."

And then, he collapsed, his hair fading to black, the suit disappearing, and his face coloring. Mana dropped the gun on realization. "SHINJI!"

---

"What happened out there?" Citan sat quietly in the Kislev's hospital ward. Kensuke and Toji were a little worse for wear, but otherwise would be fit for duty in a few days.

Toji grimaced. "Bastards. They had a hidden bunker there that wasn't in the intel. At first glance it looked pretty cut and dried, something we could win hands down, but then as we're putting the last one of the assholes down, the ground opens up and we're surrounded by Evas coming out of their launch catapults fully armed."

Kensuke nodded. "It's clear that they were waiting for us. Well, if not us, somebody was supposed to be ambushed there, that's for damn sure. Shinji… The captain rips into them first, but they're all around us, and they just kept firing. We all went down eventually… last thing I remember, sir."

Toji nodded. "It looked by the numbers, but it went straight to hell once we got there."

Citan nodded. "Well, you two are in good condition. Shinji… hasn't woken up yet, but we expect him to soon. You'll be permitted to see him as soon as he does, however."

The two nodded. "Thank you, sir. What happened out there? Rico won't talk about it, but Mana's obviously upset about it…"

Citan grimaced. "Well… I'm not sure I should be the one to tell you Kensuke. If you remember enough, you may realize what happened. After all, it's happened twice now."

And with that, Citan turned and walked out. Toji let his head collapse back on his mattress. "Id…"

Kensuke paled. "Damn…"

---

When Shinji's eyes fluttered open a few hours later, he was looking up at the ceiling of the Kislev hospital room. I've been here before. I know this ceiling…

"Shinji…?"

Shinij looked over at the sound of her voice to see Mana at his bedside. He smiled up at her. "Mana…"

He reached his hand out for hers, but she flinched and drew her hands back. "Wha…?"

Mana sighed as Shinji hesitantly pulled back his hand. "Look, Shinji…"

He frowned. "What's wrong Mana?"

She swallowed and composed herself slightly. "Shinji… it's… well… I don't think… I don't think we should see each other anymore."

Shinji's brain, not fully functional after just waking up, took this blow accordingly. "Huh?"

Mana rushed on, trying to get it out. "Well, it's just not working very well, you know? I mean first there was Emeralda, then there was… well, it's not important. But it's not going right."

Shinji's mind was racing a thousand miles a minute attempting to figure out just what had happened. "What did I…?"

Mana cut him off, shaking her head rapidly. "No… It's not you, it's me, I just can't… well, I was thinking that we'd be better off just being friends."

Shinji's mind was still working at its current performance. "Mana…"

Her head drooped. "I need to tell the nurse you're awake now, Shinji."

She walked off, and a moment later when the nurse came to check on him, the full significance of what had just happened hit him. Great. Just when you think it's okay to feel good about getting up in the morning.

---

May 25, 2018:

Citan sighed as he watched the latest attack on Tokyo-3 on the monitor. That's it. When the next one comes through, he'll be revealed as a fraud.

He hit a button on his desk, and spoke into the intercom. "All pilots, please report to the briefing room."

---

Three days later, Shinji stood on the deck of the Yggdrasil, Toji and Kensuke behind him, looking out over Tokyo-3 from the bay.

A little over two years since he had left, he was finally going home. And he'd be damned if there wasn't a small smirk on his face.

---

Neverwhere: I cannot even begin to believe how late this is. I took a Friday off of posting in the holidays, and then bam I forget for the end of time. This is shameful. But on the upside, we'll have something else for you by next week. Two if I have to write it myself.

Classic Cowboy: Never fear, I have finally graduated College, and I swear on all that I hold dear ... I shalt update the next chapter (which is my turn) much quicker then it took me to graduate college! ... took me six years so that should give me a good window grin

Neverwhere: Seriously. If he doesn't have anything by Monday, I'll kill him and start writing it myself.