-1Disclaimer: Hmmkay... I'm relatively sure I don't own any related copyrights to either Neon Genesis Evangelion or El Hazard. Bottom line; if anything in the following document pisses you copyright holders (or representatives) off just say the word and ill remove this faster than you can say "the fate of destruction is the joy of rebirth" or "My names Kalia... Why are you so old?"
Sounds etc. (Authors comments) "Talking" 'thinking/internal monologue'
(An) Okay, whatever the HELL possessed me to write this fic I'm not entirely sure but since I'm pretty much 100 percent sure it hasn't been done before and I guess primarily I thought tossing two of the most opposed anime characters in history together might provide some momentary amusement I thought; why not?. Mainly also because since although most people HATED the second El Hazard OVA however I found its real redeeming factor to be its leading villainess, I mean come on she had everything that makes a short lived character lovable; well used scenes; great lines (even in the dub); she was a bioengineered something-or-other; totally cute, even when she was evil; the whole hair cut into bangs with light either white, silver, blue or sheer black tones (I'm thinking Rei, Kaoru, Lain, Ifurita, Melfina and god knows how many others) ANYHOO, due to a momentary lapse of judgement and moment of madness I decided to throw one of the most evil anime characters and the most meek, introverted... Hell almost opposite in every conceivable way, together... And why you say? Well... I have a keyboard, a monitor... And an internet connection and because for some reason I can't currently comprehend... I felt like it... Meh to hell with my explanations and justifications... Game on!
Demons and Angels
Prologue: Death, rebirth and everything in-between
Failure...
It was in this instant... As the Key staff of Ifurita fired off a full powered discharge directly through the very core of her being... As she felt her very self begin to cave way to oblivion... She knew that was it...
...She was a failure
...She existed for revenge; and she had failed in that aspect; therefore she had lost the right to exist...
...But that was okay, she summarised; had she succeeded in accomplishing her purpose this would have been her destiny anyway...
...But there was another reason; on her back rested the hateful wishes and desires of millions of people long since dead; entrusting her with their legacy; their hopes... But no more; she had failed, therefore weather she wanted to or not she couldn't complete her mission... That was the only thing that elated her artificial soul in the last few nanoseconds of existence...
She had failed...
...But she was done.
...And now she could rest, permanently this time.
At least that's how it obviously should've been, but when you find yourself partly fused with an anti-matter based super weapon capable of collapsing dimensional barriers, and in fact was in the process of doing so; having your physical form supercharged and almost completely converted into energy when in such a precarious situation, the obvious is something which is in all truth non-existent, this combined with another unwavering truth, and that is... That fate can be a real bitch sometimes...
Energy... That's all she was now... A swirling mass of near nothingness traversing through the infinite boundaries of an infinite number of universes. But, as like in the old saying, that an infinite number of monkeys working at an infinite number of typewriters would eventually come up with the complete works of Shakespeare, that a mass of once humanoid and now not even self aware energy, travelling through an infinite mass of space, for an infinite amount of time at a near infinite speed would eventually find a place where it could rest, and... As fate had already saw fit to ensure... It did...
Like lightning to a lightning rod the energy was drawn... To a place in a dimension where another being currently in as fit a state as it was, was currently about to be reborn to its original state by will of its own from within the exposed ruby like core of Evangelion Unit-01... As the essence of one bio-engineered fighting machine was absorbed by another, and as all these mysteries and unpredictable events unfolded only one thing was now certain:
Yui Ikari was starting to wish she had made Unit-01's core a whole lot bigger than she originally had.
---
"Ahh..." She breathed out slowly as a strange almost alien concept struck her... Awareness, something she hadn't possessed since time immemorial...
See that's the problem with being stuck in a non corporeal state; she could've been that way for five minutes or five trillion years, all she knew was... She was. Well at least to some degree that is. Her grey eyes opened as she found herself floating freely in a place which apparently had no concept or actual reality. Now although she had never dreamed before, well since as long as she could remember (which was really just the past few seconds of contemplation), though she was almost sure this must be what a dream was akin to...
Taking stock she pulled herself up into what could be observed as a standing position, or at least more alert and erect in appearance as she eyed her own form up and down; two legs; two arms; a matching torso; a skin-tight white suit with adorning gauntlets. "Guess I'm all here then..." She lamented with a raised eyebrow and was about to continue her observations as suddenly she gasped in shock, inadvertently letting out a slightly girlish scream as she caught only the end of the call which echoed through her very soul.
"-HIM BACK!"
It took a moment or two for her to compose herself, though it seemed as that voice's demand stayed glaringly loud like a constant roar throughout her entire darkened void-like surroundings.
It was then that there was a blinding flash around her which the small demon girl found herself wincing from as she finally managed to drown out the din around her that a voice sounded... The first voice she had heard for as long as her memory could recall...
"Who are you?" the curious voice enquired.
The white haired girl quirked her head around curiously as silence descended as if it were a bubble around them and blinked suddenly in surprise...
She was confronted with the image of a floating naked teenage boy baring a mask of intrigued curiosity, not shocked or stunned, just curious about her presence and had the look of someone who had just skidded to a halt on their way somewhere after stumbling across something of reasonable interest.
"Who are you?" she echoed, although having little memory remaining she still felt little inclination to surrender her personal information for no reason.
The boy pulled himself from his sidelong almost swim-like posture into a standing position that mirrored his counterpart as he bowed ever so slightly, "My name is Shinji Ikari..." The boy said politely.
"Hmm..." the girl said acceptingly but dismissively, turning away to look around herself.
"And..." Shinji prompted.
"And what?" the white haired girl enquired still with a tone of disinterest.
"Who are you? I... Don't think you should be here" he said carefully, as if finding it difficult to voice his feelings correctly.
The girl, who had up until now had bore a somewhat carefree and curious look suddenly gasped slightly; her eyes widening; as she suddenly swung back around in the fluidic-like space she was in, giving the boy her full surprised attention, "Shouldn't... Be here" she echoed; her eyes holding a lost and borderline pitiful look that the Third Child could tell, even though they had just met, didn't belong in her eyes, "I shouldn't be... Anymore"
"W-what happened, I don't see how, did you come here on purpose or-"
"-Purpose..." suddenly she flashed a sad smile, "...I had one of those once... I think... A purpose... Something I was meant for..."
Shinji's posture became more relaxed as he stared at the solitary girl, "What was it... You were meant for?"
The girl made no reply, yet it was clear she was thinking about the question, as if the world they were in had filtered out those memories of her purpose and leaving her with only recollection of her personality and self image "I... Don't remember... It feels like it was such, such a long time ago... But I know, whatever it was, I must have failed in it... I feel no reason... Nor need... to exist again"
Shinji found himself without anything to say, so he asked the only thing he could, insignificant as it was, "What's your name?"
Silence descended for a few seconds until the girls sad smile suddenly brightened as the girl found recollection in that area at least, "...Kalia" she said simply as her eyes suddenly focused and flashed her associate a baffled look, "and why the hell don't you have any clothes on!"
Shinji suddenly gaped as he glanced downwards, suddenly noticing he was clad in nothing more than his birthday suit; the sudden blush on his face illuminating the empty void around them, "Ah... Well umm... I'm-"
"-Butt naked?" she interrupted a strangely wide grin on her face. Causing him to stammer incoherently to the point it was aggravating.
Shrugging her shoulders and rolling her eyes the girl merely swung around so she wasn't facing her counterpart (or his shame), "It doesn't matter... Tell me what you are doing here" she enquired in a level demanding tone. Then her face turned to a mask of severe agitation as she glanced upwards, "And who the hell is making that noise!" she demanded, in reference to the call which was seeming to hang in the air.
"I'm not too sure of the first question. I just know I was on my way somewhere when I met you... But that voice... Yes... That is where I must be... There are still things that must be done, I cannot remain here... I have to go home..."
"Hmph, fine, get lost" Kalia mumbled dismissively
"W-what about you?" Shinji asked curiously, with a hint of concern in his voice.
In an almost lifeless tone she replied, "I already told you... I've lost my purpose for existence..."
"What was your purpose?" Shinji enquired curiously, sparking Kalia into deep thought.
"Such a long time ago... By my own devices or not; I can't tell. Either way the result is the same; I've lost it... Even the memory... I'm still me... But I've lost the meaning behind it... Therefore there is no point in me existing any longer"
Shinji could've sword the mysterious girl had inadvertently done an imitation of another short haired girl he knew and he found that depressing him to no end, "B-but you do still exist; you're right here"
"aren't we the master of observation..." she muttered sarcastically.
Silence descended again for many a moment.
Shinji's eyes narrowed, "W-what if I were to... I dunno, give you a purpose?"
Kalia blinked suddenly and quirked her head around from the foetal position she had unconsciously folded herself into, "What?" she gasped, whether it was from shock or was simply incredulous, neither knew.
Shinji backed up defensively, "W-what I mean is... Well... What is it you can do? Do you remember?"
"Yes... I know still what I'm capable of... My name is Kalia..." Inhaling; as if bracing herself she defined her statement "...Child of Destruction... Created to fight, to destroy... For a reason that is now lost to me"
Shinji fell silent; that was not an answer he could've expected, normally he would have backed off and ran away from the situation, but in this place he felt himself a lot more open than usual, so at least with her answer he had something to work with, "Well..." he began, pausing to think, "There is a war on right now... Believe it or not we're fighting against a hoard of angels trying to wipe out the human race... So... I was just thinking... Perhaps you could find a new purpose"
The white haired demon suddenly laughed to herself, "Kalia... Protector of the weak and defenceless... For some reason I find that option so ridiculous its hilarious"
Shinji sighed, it was like talking to a manically depressed brick wall "Okay... How's about I guarantee you'll get to destroy... Umm... Giant monsters and eh... Stuff"
"Tempting... It has seemed like an eternity since I got my rocks off if you know what I mean... But what is done is done..."
Shinji rolled his eyes, normally by now he would have given up, but for some reason he felt like leaving the girl here would end up gnawing seriously at his already overborne conscience and either way may have some other repercussions. Letting out a frustrated groan he spoke, "Right, I see only two ways out of this"
"Well?" the girl sighed.
"One; you can stop moping and feeling sorry for yourself 'Christ! Your almost as bad as me!' or two; we can sit together bugging each other from now... Until the end of time"
Kalia's eyes widened; she'd only been with this kid consciously for the better part of five minutes
and she already felt like ripping out his rib-bones and impaling him with them (and as far as she could tell that had to be some kind of a record even for her) if this was her non-existence she felt she may as well try and seek a purpose...
After a minute she exhaled with a sigh, "Alright... What do you suggest then?"
Shinji hummed in thought "Well... I was on my way home when I met you... I dunno, you could... Come with me"
'pfft, humans only live a set lifetime; at least it wont be an eternity ill be stuck with this imbecile'
As if out of nowhere a shaft of brilliant light pierced through the darkness, momentarily blinding the girl, as she opened her eyes to find the boy standing illuminated by the light; looking slightly amused with a serene smile at her, his hand extended
"Well... Coming then?"
Hesitating for a second, the demon-girl pulled herself out of her hunched up position, staring up at the boy as his soft, yet somehow deeply sad eyes stared into her as she unfolded her arm and extended her hand up towards his.
As their limbs closed together the shaft of light erupted around them as their energy patterns were converted back to their normal state... And set free
---
"GIVE HIM BACK!" the distraught lavender haired Misato Katsuragi practically roared in command at the stoic form of Evangelion Unit-01 before breaking down into tears once more, completely unaware of the spectre of Unit-01's exposed core glowing brilliant red, shooting out two small bursts of red energy which instantly reformed as they struck the cold metal surface of the catwalk.
"Huh?" Came her dreary enquiry through her teary eyes as she finally registered the loud thud that sounded in front of her...
The major's eyes widened in shock at the sight that befell her:
There; dripping in LCL on the catwalk, was a very unconscious Shinji Ikari, and her instincts kicked in almost instantaneously.
"Shinji!" She exclaimed, as she jumped up to grasp the child in her arms, with such speed she almost tripped over as she suddenly did a double take as she got a better perspective of the scene in front of her...
"What?" she breathed out as she stared down
Just laying beyond the prone pilot who had his hand extended out in front of him and, bafflingly, intertwined with the hand of a second prone figure... A girl, with white hair and tanned skin; laying half on her side; not naked like the pilot but instead wearing a strange almost skin-tight white cat-suit; the legs being a slightly greyer shade unbeknownst to them matched her eyes, the shoulders and arms adorned with metal plating and large red gems...
It was almost after three minutes of gob-smacked staring by all observing parties that it was Dr Ritsuko Akagi who was the first to regain her senses and demand a pair of stretcher parties and a security force to accompany the pilot and stranger who had appeared.
---
It was 2 days later when, although still unconscious, the Third Child was accepted to be in good health. Meanwhile, having been transferred into the same hospital room as the pilot (although still having a single heavily armed Section 2 agent poised at the foot of her bed at all times), that the tests on the stranger began to take a more definitive turn...
"Well? What's the good word Ritsuko?" Came Misato's voice as she strolled into one of NERV's monitoring rooms, its wall dominated by several large monitors and one large one built into the floor.
"Well Shinji it seems is getting stronger by the hour and we've predicted he should awaken within the next twelve hours. But the anomaly is still proving to be somewhat of a confusion"
Although hiding her frown at her friend's cold term for referring to the mysterious girl the Major couldn't hide her curiosity, "So have you figured anything out about her yet? Have you found out where she came from?"
"The blood sample we took is still being analysed. And as for where she came from... We still don't have a clue. But we have found out one thing"
"What's that?"
"That outfit she's wearing..."
"Yeah; the one you had trouble getting off her"
"And we still haven't; it seems parts of it are so tightly attached that they almost seem part of her body, so we're not quite sure if forcibly removing them would be a wise option to take... For all we know it could kill her... And then... There was this-" with this Ritsuko leaned over and hit a key, causing an image of what was clearly the girl's outline with a magnified section highlighted with notes surrounding it.
"W-what, what is it?"
"We don't know... Is like some sort of hole at the base of her spine, as if something were to be plugged in, its clearly mechanical in appearance, yet as far as we can the majority of the rest of her seems to be purely biological"
"So... You're saying she's bio-mechanical?" Misato offered
"Yes, it would seem so" Ritsuko replied almost definitively.
"Just like..."
"Yes..." Ritsuko interrupted in anticipation, "...Just like the EVA"
"A coincidence?"
"Possibly... We cant be entirely sure, she could I suppose be some kind of product of the EVA. Also our x-rays and MRI scans, as far as they can penetrate that is, show mechanical attachments seamlessly integrated into her frame as part of her body which certainly reinforces the theory"
"I see, but what do you mean 'as far as they can penetrate'?"
Ritsuko inclined her head, slightly impressed at her friend's ability to be asking just the right questions as of late "That is another thing... Only exposed parts of her body; her head, hands, lower back and feet are the only parts we can get a scan through to her. Although we cant remove it, we did cut off a sample of that suit she's wearing and it came up with some extraordinary results..."
Misato walked up to the screen as it brought up and image of a small piece of cloth with multiple analysis results surrounding it, "Translation?"
"It isn't just some kind of tight suit designed for ease of mobility or feeling like our plugsuits; its made of some kind of hyper-heat and pressure resistant material we've never encountered, its clear what she's wearing is some kind of specifically designed combat exo-suit. Those gems we haven't even had a chance to look at and our metallurgists have been bugging my department to get a sample of the metallic areas on her shoulders"
"God... So what does Commander Ikari have to say"
"Well the commander as far as I can tell, sees this one as nothing more as some kind of 'meat by-product' of everything that's happened to Unit-01; so as long as she doesn't prove to be a threat and the repairs on Unit-01 and the continued monitoring of it's S2 organ aren't affected, he sees the entire situation as inconsequential"
Misato crossed her arms in slight agitation, "And I'm guessing he hasn't even asked if his own son is in good health"
Ritsuko sighed sadly as she began mashing in commands on a nearby console, "You should know better than to ask that..."
The Major snorted distastefully "Hmph guess that's true" Misato said walked over to a nearby wall and leaned back against it drearily, not noticing the panel near the doctor blinking to life indicating some rather important news "So what we could be looking at is that this girl could be some kind of mini-EVA hybrid or something then, is it?" She enquired curiously, just noticing Ritsuko hunched over that same screen with her oval glasses on reading the information analytically.
"Well I've got a question for you Misato; if the anomaly is in fact an EVA creation... Why has her blood pattern analysis just returned as Code 601?"
"What?" Misato breathed, pushing off from the wall and sliding across next to her friend to look at the screen which, indeed, had the words blood pattern analysis in the top left with the rest of the screen being dominated by a large '601'. Silence fell for a second as Misato spoke slowly as if in deep thought as she spoke the meaning behind the code and what happened to be the words hanging over them "Cannot... Be... Identified?"
"So it would seem" Ritsuko said levelly as she stood back up to full height.
Misato remained at the screen, staring at the simple code as if it would offer some clarification, "Then just what the hell is she?"
"I don't know. Even when analysing the Fourth Angel the Magi could at least come up with a wave-pattern comparison of it's DNA to our own; but this is something so different the MAGI can't even compare it to anything it can currently comprehend"
"So if the angels were something that were beyond our scope of understanding then this girl is-"
"-As I said... A complete and utter anomaly"
Sighing out, the Major asked the only question she really could, "Well... How is she? As far as you can tell anyway?" Misato asked curiously, her eyes locked on an image of the slumbering girl.
"Well we've registered a steady of what we must assume is a heartbeat; blood pressure, assuming it is blood, is a little low, else normal; brain activity, which as a side note seems to be the only thing which is almost identical to ours, is a little weak but not within any danger limits. Overall she seems fine, in any normal person I can only say she's suffering from a severe case of physical and mental exhaustion"
"Just like-" Misato began, but was interrupted by Ritsuko once again.
"Yes, just like Shinji... Although she seems to be recovering at a faster rate; the initial amount of activity and strength initially showed was barely a tenth of Shinji's"
"But now she's recovering so much faster" Misato said in awe as she continued to stare at the girl.
"Yeah.. Even if she isn'thuman you've got to wonder; just where does such a small form get all that energy..."
It was ironic as, at this time, if one were to be monitoring something as insignificant as the power consumption levels for the medical scanning an observation equipment directly connected to the 'anomaly', one would've noticed such levels were bordering on nearly fifty times greater than normal; yet it was being done at such a slow yet constant rate the equipment was relaying that energy through so many of it's component parts as it would not blow a fuse or alert those using it...
---
It was nearly half a day later that the guard in the room of the two who had recently emerged from Unit-01 had begun to relax on his shift; having started with two counterparts, after a few days the detail reduced to only two until, for the last 2 days, had been just by himself with a mere break of six hours, covered by a temp trainee while he rested until he was placed back onto duty. Now after such strenuous repetitiveness, with steadily official relaxation of the guard it couldn't be helped that the tall man with his MP-5 rifle had gone on a steady downward tangent from full constant attention; to occasionally resting his weapon at his side to take a stretch and yawn; to keeping it down with his arms folded; to, after many hours and little sleep, led to leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed barely paying attention to anything even around him. Needless to say; his job satisfaction was waning quickly...
And he could hardly be faulted for his lack of alertness to the events which followed next, primarily for the plain and simple reason that anything remotely human who had been comatose for several days now could hardly be expected to suddenly spring themselves to alert with just a momentary glance away.
Pity that one of the prone figures... Just so happened to be a tad past that borderline, on what one really could consider as 'remotely human'
heck even the almost seemingly constantly alert Rei Ayanami; of whom had been sitting vigil by the Third Child's side for nearly 24 hours now, had become somewhat off-guard in her observations herself...
Kalia had found herself conscious; laying flat on a soft surface; this was her first thought, it was as she barely opened her eyes that she noticed the tightness on three sections of her body was caused by restraints holding her down; ignoring these the white haired girl sat up; the straps over her snapping off at the buckles which held them in place at each side of the bed as she sat effortlessly up into a sitting position, shrugging her arms free, she brought her hands up in front of her face; examining her lower arms and progressively the rest of her body, just then hearing the resounding click and feeling of something cold and metallic pressing against the side of her head.
"HANDS IN THE AIR!" Came the unnecessarily loud command from her side, causing the girl to stare sideways up and down the steel cylindrical object planted firmly against her skull.
Kalia blinked, unaware also of the mumbling and groaning of the person this loud call had suddenly began to stir from his slumber as, from her facing forward position, her grey eyes traced sideward down the barrel of the rifle aimed at her; while Ayanami stood at firm attention ready to either swiftly call for help or otherwise depending on how the situation developed...
The white haired girl's eyes continued to focus down the side of the weapon that was threatening to attempt to blow her brains out, although felt little concern for her own safety; heck, unbeknownst to them her epidermis alone had been genetically engineered to be nearly twenty times the equivalent resilience of hardened steel, and that was without diverting any of her energies to reinforce her defence.
"I SAID-" he began to repeat louder, but was interrupted as the girl opened her mouth.
"Interesting..." Kalia said in a curious tone as she leaned sideways to stare at the length of the rifle, "...This... Is some kind of weapon... isn't it ?" she enquired, as the man froze when her hand slowly reached up and ran down the side of the black steel with a ghost of a childish smile on her face, totally uncaring of what the object of her interest was capable of.
The man merely backed up a few steps reflexively, having nothing to really say as the girl didn't seem in the least bit intimidated and now just had an almost pouting 'whatcha do that for?' look on her face. Running out of options the man cocked the side of his weapon for emphasis and levelled it at her head once again; the action of chambering a round merely drawing out further confusion. Having no specific orders to kill the girl combined with the fact she hadn't really done anything that can be classed as provocative; he did the only thing he could, and reached for his radio.
Looking simply curious and innocent, on the inside however, Kalia's mind was ablaze of tactical contemplation for reasons she couldn't understand; they just seemed... natural to have.
'Physically inferior...' her mind tacked as she stared at the guard, 'some kind of light weight body armour' she added as she stared at the visible bullet-proof vest he was wearing under his suit jacket, 'some kind of projectile weapon, barrel width and length indicates no threat' then as an afterthought she stared at the thing in his hand 'and some kind of short range communications device' humming in acceptance of the facts she had she merely chose to take stock of her most pressing issue; and that was the weakness she could feel in her body, "Low energy..." she mumbled quietly, staring down at her arms; she had awakened with just enough power absorbed from her surroundings just to get herself up and about and had inadvertently used that just sitting up and breaking her restraints. It was beginning to turn out however that her subconscious may have been a little short in its calculations, "Damn..." she whispered, slumping back onto her bed and rolling onto her side to conserve her energy until she could find a suitable source to juice up on.
---
Kalia awoke again nearly twenty minutes later, this time to the rather annoying experience of someone shining a torch in her eye.
"She's conscious..." Ritsuko announced with a surprisingly level tone as the sleeping girls pupils contracted suddenly after being exposed to her pocket torch, as she released the girl's eye, her other eye opened to look up, wincing at the sudden brightness and the fact that there were several strangers staring down at her, "...And the other one..." she said as she moved her torch to her other eye when suddenly, like a panicked animal, the girl's small arm suddenly swung up and batted the torch out of her hand sending it flying halfway across the room.
Ritsuko recoiled back in shock along with Major Katsuragi, Kalia also sliding backwards against her pillow defensively almost hugging her body to herself like a cornered animal as her grey eyes blinked left and right rapidly around the room.
"H-hey, just calm down there, no ones going to hurt you..." Misato said slowly in as careful a tone as she could, carefully extending a hand towards the girl.
"Don't touch me!" She snapped, batting the majors hand away from her.
"Look, we just want to ask a few questions... Weather you like it or not you're going to have to-" Ritsuko explained, but was interrupted again by the girl.
"I don't give a damn what you want, just keep away from me and tell me; where am I? What is this place?" Kalia said at a quickening pace as he voice became more and more frantic.
Ritsuko exhaled defeatedly, "I can see you're in a panic and I sympathise. So I'm just going to give you a little something to help you relax" Ritsuko said as she withdrew a syringe from her pocket.
"You... What the hell do you think you're doing!" Kalia demanded as she eyed the needle in the doctor's hand, she didn't need a degree in this world's medical technology to know what that was.
"Just relax, we're trying to help" Misato said softly, gripping the girl's arm.
"NO, NO! I said let me go!!" Kalia demanded in a panicked struggle; it wasn't really the fear of a shot that was driving her into a frenzy, it was the confusion of awakening into this strange place with no definitive memory of the details of her past, completely weakened and with ultimately nowhere else to turn.
What she would give for just a quick wind of her keystaff...
If the Major's hand were to move just a bit lower towards her had, Kalia was sure she could just drain her energy away to boost herself just enough to get free, but in her current position, she was trapped... again.
crack!
This was the resounding sound as the doctors mini-torch cruised through the air and struck her squarely on the side of her wrist causing her to drop the syringe as she flexed back in pain...
All eyes turned sideward toward the sound of the panting breath...
"Leave... Hah... Her... ALONE!" came the demand of a clearly infuriated and extremely awake Shinji Ikari.
"Shinji..." Came Misato's stunned breath as all eyes in the room stared at the Third Child who had apparently managed to climb out of bed, still in his hospital gown and swipe the nearest throwable blunt object and hurl it without even thinking. Managing to pull himself up from his crouching position with the help of the metal frame of his hospital bed, "...We were only trying to..." Misato began as she attempted an explanation...
None had however looked more stunned as Kalia who's tanned appearance looked seriously pale, as if she'd seen a ghost.
"Funny..." Shinji began with annoyed sarcasm, still trying to catch his breath as he continued, "...But last time I checked it was law that patients had the right to refuse treatment... Hah... Or was there a memo I missed?"
---
His intervention certainly did calm things down, although if the doctor was angry about the sizeable bruise that she would no doubt be soon sporting on her wrist, she hid it well.
Kalia who had also calmed down, but had once again exhausted herself, was sitting fully up against her pillows, eyed the pilot curiously, of whom was now sitting on the edge of her bed and staring back with the same curious look.
"Why did you help me?" the girl asked suddenly.
"I don't know... But I do... Know you" He said carefully as he continued to stare at her, "...Right?"
Kalia nodded, "You don't remember... Do you?" the demon-girl stated more than asked.
"I'm sorry... When things like this happen with EVA... Its like it was all a dream that I cant quite remember exact details beyond general flashes and instincts"
"What were you doing inside the EVA?" Ritsuko's voice enquired from the side to the girl.
"EVA?" Kalia enquired to Shinji.
"Umm, I'm not to sure how to put it, but to simply put it I would have to say that that place we met was inside the EVA; which is in fact a sort of giant kind of bio-mechanical fighting machine I have the ability to pilot"
"So what were-" Ritsuko began
"-No need to repeat yourself blondie, I heard you the first time"
Ritsuko's eyes widened at the bluntness of her reply, "And?"
Kalia fell silent then, as if never hearing her question, turned back to Shinji, "Before I'm doing anything... There's something I want from you" she said as she pulled herself up with slight difficulty but once she was up she stabilised on her feet and approached the pilot who had now gripped the bed sheets nervously as the girl stood over him, "As I can see... There is only one thing I know of now... Besides me... And that is you" Kalia said, her grey eyes piercing in an almost mesmerizing fashion into Shinji' dark blue ones, "And now..." She said almost in a whisper, "I want you to give it to me... Now"
"What?" Shinji unwillingly yelped out.
"N-now wait just a damn minute you!" Misato suddenly demanded to the girl of whom was now practically laying over the frozen form of Shinji Ikari.
"You cant do such an embarrassing thing... For gods sake there are people watching!"
"Pfft! An objection on embarrassing things coming from mister naturist?" she said with an insanely wide grin, practically eye to eye now.
"Naturist? Shinji do you have a hobby we aren't aware of?" Ritsuko enquired with a very raised eyebrow.
"I swear I have absolutely no idea what she is talking about!" Shinji half squealed as Kalia had him practically pinned him down.
Kalia suddenly grinned "Well, I wont say another word if you give me what you promised you would... Give me what I need" she gasped practically to his face in a far more seductive method than she intended.
"I.. I cant... Give you anything"
Shinji's eyes suddenly widened as the desperate look in the girl's eyes turned almost shockingly distraught as the confusion of her situation caught up as what she felt of as her only lifeline was cut...
Gripping Shinji's fingers so hard he felt she might break them he stared into the desperate look that suddenly flooded her eyes like a disease, "You... Promised..." Her fingers, intertwined with his, suddenly tightened to the point it was painful.
"What? TELL ME... What did I promise you" Shinji suddenly demanded in a clear tone, gripping back the girls hands as if to gain leverage.
Kalia suddenly slumped forward, her white bangs resting over half of Shinji's face as she spoke directly into his ear not even remotely covertly, not caring who heard...
"Give me my purpose... Give me back my existence"
Shinji suddenly gasped as her words stuck more than a few chords with him, "I... Did promise you that... I don't remember but I know I did"
"Then tell me... Give me a reason... Give me back my existence"
"Shinji you have to-" Ritsuko began but was interrupted brutally.
"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU!" Kalia suddenly snapped, with a hint of hidden desperation in her tone, "Please... Just tell me... What is my goal... What do you want me to do?"
"He-..lp... Me" Shinji's virtually inaudible whisper came, almost silent, directly into the ear of the form clinging to him.
"What? Say it... Say it again!"
"He...lp ME!" Shinji said quietly but ended in a clear difinitive shout.
"What is it you want? What is it you need from me?"
Panting Shinji spoke, staring right into her eyes, "I need you to help... Help me to fight!... HELP ME WIN!"
Kalia was now breathing as heavily as the Third Child as they stared into one another's eyes, as her breathing calmed down over the teenager, she smiled, "Sure... I can live with that... As of now... I fight with you" She said, suddenly staring so clearly her grey eyes were almost crystal; so active; her wide smile seemed almost inhuman as Ritsuko finally spoke up (Misato currently in a state of near total shock)
"Are you ready to answer some questions now?"
Kalia hummed again in her usual detached method.
"Wha'dyou want lady?" she asked rolling her eyes...
Ritsuko frowned indignantly as she spoke, "Just Tell me how it was you came to be inside Unit-01's core; What exactly it is you are and where exactly it is you came from"
"I was brought there... From somewhere... And now I'm here" Kalia said, pausing to think as she spoke.
"From where?" Misato finally spoke up curiously
"Where I was before" she answered simply
"Where?"
"Dunno, cant remember"
"Can I ask a question?" Came Shinji's voice"
"What?"
"Will you get off me now?"
"You're no fun" Kalia pouted rolling off Shinji and sitting up.
"Do you remember your name at least?" Ritsuko asked feeling somewhat exasperated.
"Of course I know that, the name's-"
"-Kalia... Her name's Kalia" Shinji said suddenly, his eyes suddenly widening.
All eyes suddenly turned to Shinji, then back to the girl, who was looking at Shinji with a slight smirk on her face.
"Is that right?" Misato enquired.
"Either that was a lucky guess... Or you're not quite as amnesiac as your making out"
"You remember anything else Shinji?" Asked Ritsuko curiously.
"Its difficult... I guess there was so much information it overwhelmed me, it comes out as flashes the stuff I've managed to figure out that is. The rest feels like its been blocked out, like it was... I don't know... Forbidden"
"I... See"
"Hmph, I don't know about you're damaged brain, but my mind has no such limitation" Kalia said with a hint of pride.
Sighing, not sure if there was even a point in asking the girl so she bit her tongue and asked anyway, "And what do you remember?"
"Well, I remember this big empty void... A loud annoying voice demanding something back, and what else? Oh yes, the nudist boy here" she explained, stabbing a thumb at Shinji to her side.
"I am not a-" Shinji stammered out, blushing furiously.
"Yeah yeah whatever. I need to get out of this place" She said suddenly as she stood up, wavering however grasping her head as if struck by a wave of dizziness.
"Are you alright!" Shinji said reflexively as he jumped up, grasping her by the arm to steady her. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing alright; I'm just a little weak right now" She said, slipping her arm free and taking a few steps to steady herself.
"I think you need to rest; there are still a few tests we'd like to run"
Kalia sneered as she narrowed her grey eyes at the doctor, "I'd bet you would... But I've had enough rest, my strength and potential energy won't regenerate further if I remain inert for so
Long. I can't let that happen"
"Why? What are you so desperate to do?" Misato asked.
"I've got a purpose again... But I'm useless as I am"
The room fell silent once again as Shinji stood up and grasped a nearby bag and headed towards the rooms ensuite shower/toilet.
"What are you doing?" Kalia asked with little interest.
"Getting changed, you feel like you want to go wander and I'm going with you, but unfortunately I'm a bit adverse to doing that wearing only a hospital gown"
It was as the room went quiet again as Shinji went off to change, leaving Kalia humming and rolling on the balls of her heels as Misato suddenly spoke.
"What are you? And stow the little miss innocent crap, what do you want with Shinji? And don't even pretend that you're just some run-of-the-mill human"
"You're right; I'm not; not human at all" Kalia said lightly with no hint of seriousness in her tone.
"Are you bio-mechanical?" Misato asked as Kalia fell silent again.
"Mmhmm" she hummed in agreement
"Designed for?" She asked again quickly.
"I'm not entirely sure; fighting I guess" she answered in her usual tone as she went back to her humming
"So... You're a weapon then" Misato summarised.
"Hmm, yes and no" she answered intentionally annoyingly answering only the questions she was asked.
"Yes and no?"
"Weapon is such a harsh word" she clarified.
"But you were created" Misato summarised.
"...Uh huh" Kalia answered, but clearly losing the humour in her tone.
"If you know that, then tell me who created you" Misato enquired in a slightly more demanding tone.
Kalia suddenly snarled at the woman, "Are you going deaf in your old age lady! I already told you I don't remember ANYTHING!"
Misato growled more at the age quip than her refusal to offer satisfactory information, taking a breath to steady herself, she spoke again. "Okay. Then what do you want with Shinji? Why him?"
"To be honest... I have no idea, besides the fact it was he who gave me my new directive, since what was most likely my previous programming was erased when whatever happened to turn me into some kind of swirling mass of energy happened... Plus; he's kinda cute don't you think"
"He's also standing right behind you" Ritsuko observed clinically, causing Kalia to swing round and subsequently, make Shinji try and look as small as possible .
"You're insane..." Misato observed shaking her head.
Kalia smiled cutely in response, "You're probably right, though I'd personally only go so far as to say unbalanced"
"Umm, I'm just going to... Get something to eat" Shinji said over Kalia's shoulder to Misato, I haven't eaten anything decent in a month and I'm very hungry"
"You sure you're alright?" the major asked worriedly.
"I'm fine"
"He's been given a clean bill of health so I don't see why he should be kept in any longer" Ritsuko added.
"Great, ill go with you!" Kalia said happily.
"You are not going anywhere" Ritsuko said firmly.
"Why? What am I going to do? I'm barely strong enough to stand and walk, let alone go wage war on anyone. Besides... I haven't even been told who to fight yet"
Shinji's voice spoke up nervously from behind them, "I... Could keep an eye on her; I've got my cell, you know, just in case anything happens" said the third, with his hand currently on the door handle.
Misato held for a moment in silence in thought, "Shinji... She could be-"
"She's not dangerous... Not to me... I know she's not"
Misato's jaw hung slightly open at the decisiveness in the Third's eyes for a moment, exhaled, then spoke, "alright... But know you're going to be kept under constant surveillance at all times"
"Alright..." Shinji replied with a nod of his head.
"'kay" Kalia said with her usual deceptively innocent smile.
Sighing Shinji yanked the door open, jumping back in shock as five automatic rifles were suddenly aimed at his head.
"It's alright..." Misato sighed, "...They can go"
Shinji nervously weaved around the armed black suited men, Kalia merely shooting the one in her path a dangerous glare causing him to wince and slide out of her path.
---
"You think it was a good idea to just let them go? We don't really know what she's capable of yet"
"I doubt she's going to do anything to Shinji but as far as what she's capable of I didn't want to get her angry enough to show us"
"Your appeasing her then?" Ritsuko summarised
"For now... If she's telling the truth, then I guess there's no need to worry... She says she doesn't remember who created her"
"And?"
"Assuming she was telling the truth, and she knew what happened inside the EVA; then wouldn't she have known where she came from"
"what are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying; if she didn't originally come from EVA... Where did she come from?"
---
Besides the usual click click of the elevator's floor indicator the silence covered the small descending box and its two occupants like a blanket...
"Something on my face?" Kalia asked, even from a sideways glance she could tell Shinji was stealing glances at her.
"N-no! I was just wondering..."
"Hmm?"
"I heard you say... You aren't human, i-is that true?"
"That's what I said" having said this she turned completely to him, raising a hand and tracing a finger down his cheek, "...Scared?" causing him to yelp involuntarily she let out a small giggle.
"W-well can you blame me for being a bit nervous?"
Frowning slightly she dropped her hand to her side, "Why, don't you like me?"
"N-no it's nothing like that"
Kalia smiled widely, "Ahh, so you do like me"
"I've only known you a day!" he said incredulously, though he couldn't deny he found the girl attractive, her forwardness was overwhelming.
"I've known you as long as I can remember... You're all I know"
Shinji's eyes widened for an instant as he considered the girl's position, then averting his eyes downwards, "Really... You shouldn't have such faith in me"
"Too late" Kalia said simply looking off smiling slightly, "...I've made my decision; and now you're stuck with me"
Shinji couldn't help but smile at her almost childish decisiveness.
"So... Where are we going?" Kalia enquired as she followed Shinji as the elevator doors opened.
"Cafeteria, I'm not sure about you, but I'm starved" with that, Shinji suddenly stopped, turning back to his companion.
"What?"
"Do you eat?"
"I don't have to, let's just say I'm very adept at using different kinds of energy, though eating isn't exactly the most efficient way of gaining energy, I can help, so... Yes, I can eat, I just don't feel the need to"
Shinji stared off to the side in thought, "Oh... Umm, so, do you want to?"
Kalia's eyes narrowed, "Like I said... I need the energy"
Shinji smiled as he turned around, glancing her up and down quickly as he turned around, "good; but watch your figure..."
The demon blinked twice as he walked off, "MEANING!"" she asked indignantly in a higher pitched tone than she intended, shocked more as Shinji could be heard laughing under his breath as she ran to catch up, when she found Shinji at a halt at a cross in the corridor, staring at someone...
---
"Ayanami..." Shinji said as he noticed his fellow pilot waiting for the elevator.
"Pilot Ikari... You look well"
"Y-yeah I'm up and about"
Rei nodded, "I see, that's good, I'm... Glad to see you again"
"Hey... It's you" Came Kalia's voice as she stopped beside Shinji.
Shinji's head turned to Kalia, back to Rei and to Kalia again, "You've met?"
"Well, she was in the room we were both sleeping in when I first awoke for a moment"
"I see... You have awakened also"
"Everyone is so observant around here" Kalia muttered to herself, yet loud enough to hear.
"Identify yourself" Rei said, her crimson eyes burrowing into the white haired newbie.
"R-rei, this is Kalia, Kalia; this is Rei Ayanami, pilot of EVA Unit-00"
"Hmm" Kalia hummed cocking her head and eyeing the girl up and down.
"W-we were just going to get something to eat, would you like to join us?"
Rei contemplated the offer for a moment, "I'm sorry, but I must return to my apartment, I... Have gone without sleep for too long" the albino girl said as she turned away slightly.
"How long were you by him?" Kalia asked suspiciously.
Rei blinked at the suddenness of the question, "I... Was by the EVA when he was released, I... Stayed with him until you awoke"
Shinji glanced at his watch as the ding elevator's arrival sounded, "B-but Rei that was over 24 hours ago, th-that means-"
"-I'm sorry, I must go" Rei said quickly as the elevator doors closed, segregating them.
Shinji held in his spot before turning and heading off, "My god, she' must've been awake for so long..."
Kalia shrugged her shoulders as she fell in place, "Ill say; she's been away so long her eyes've gone red..."
---
"Well we're almost there; I'm sure we'll be able to get all the 'energy' we want" Shinji said, smiling back to her, as he suddenly noticed her frozen to the spot ; tensed up, her breathing seemed heavy, her right hand seemed to be twitching as Shinji prepared to walk up to her she interrupted.
What Shinji couldn't was sense her thought tracks and feelings and one thing Kalia could do, as a defensive mechanism, was sense and detect energy sources and, like a light magnetic force, she could sense the reverberations of it and when in her weakened state; the source that was buzzing her drew her a few steps to the right...
"Kalia... What is it?"
"Shinji..." She began wide eyed as her hand extended ever-so-slightly towards the opened service hatch containing a group of thick black exposed cables as her eyes locked onto a large sign on the inside of the door next to them, "...Tell me..."
"What?" Shinji breathed, as he stepped forward cautiously.
Kalia felt her gauntlet on her right hand buzz as she spoke, "...What does 'high voltage' mean?"
To be continued...
Authors Notes
Okay ill admit I made Kalia a little less malicious and insane as she was in the series, but I thought with her single minded mission to wipe out all of civilisation erased, all that was left would be her usual personality and a sense of loneliness, but don't worry; I plan on returning her to her full grade badass self once she has the full ability and inclination to do so. I've kind of started this fic to add colour to the two I'm currently writing (the other being an EVA/DBZ fic) and weather or not I decide to really continue this fic will I guess be linked to readers reaction to this untouched area...