Under Yggdrasil's Branches
written by the.Merines
started: 09.12.06 20:04
finished: 09.13.06 21:23
published: 09.14.06
disclaimed: I do not own Evangelion, Xenogears, Xenosaga or anything contained within or associated with them. I do, however, own Xenogears, Xenosaga Episodes I-III, and an ADV EVA thinpak. I forget which one, there are so many... This is a side-project for me at this time, just a little test of my writing abilities.

Introductions

In the beginning there was no Earth.

Then, God said, "Be," and the world was created. However, it was still without human beings. One day, God said to His angels in Heaven, "I wish to create a human to be my deputy."

The Angels asked, "Are we not enough to carry out your orders?"

"I know better," was God's reply. Then God created Adam. He gave him permission to live in Heaven, to do as he pleased, to eat and drink what he liked. Adam could eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the fruit of one particular tree.

And so Adam enjoyed himself. Soon, however, he became lonely. So he said to God, "Please give me a companion." And God gave him a friend, Hawwa.

After creating Adam and Hawwa, God taught them about the world. One day God called all his angels and said, "These are my creations. You should bow down to them in reverence." All angels obeyed except for Iblees and Shaitaan.

Shaitaan said, "Why should I bow? I am made from fire, and he is from only clay. I will not bow to him." Iblees was more cunning. He began to think of ways to make Adam disobey God. One day, he whispered into Adam's ear that the fruit of the forbidden tree was the best-tasting of all fruits.

"If you eat it, you will live forever," he said.

Adam was tempted by what Iblees said and ate the fruit. As soon as Adam and Hawwa ate the fruit, they realized they had made a mistake. Because of this, they hid themselves from God. However, God was everywhere in His knowledge and knew. God was very angry with Adam and Hawwa and threw them down to Earth. The two wept and begged for God's mercy and forgiveness. At last God took pity on them and pardoned them. Then He said that, if they obeyed God, Adam and Hawwa could return to Heaven when they died.

If they did not obey God, however, something horrible awaited them- Hell.

Adam and Hawwa spent the rest of their lives obeying God and doing good in the hope that they would one day be able to return to Heaven with God's approval. They had many, many children. This is why Adam is called the father of the human race.

…

Ikari Gendo grinned a wry little grin. 'What an interesting, yet ultimately silly, concept," he mused. He set down the tattered old book and looked at the other piece of paper on his desk. He looked over its contents once again; most of it would be censored before being sent out. 'My son… The destiny which awaits you is incredibly cruel. The mark which is written in your DNA… isn't the same as his. The Lord marked Cain as an act of mercy, so that he would not be killed for his crime.'

"If anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over," Gendo muttered. 'He was cursed by God to live forever, to wander the earth without purpose. Our own Committee chairman… You are the one whom I cannot kill, whom I cannot appear to disobey. You are the one who murdered her. Yui was your Abel. When all is said and done, one way or another, you will continue to walk this planet… forever.'

Ikari reached out and grabbed a pen, scrawling a note on the paper. 'Come here.' A woman stepped out of the darkness in his office's corner and approached Ikari. Her dark blue hair was cut short in the back, while her long bangs were parted in the middle, covering her purple eyes when viewed from certain angles.

"Simple enough, Commander," she said softly. "Will he really respond?"

"I believe he will," he responded with his usual cold confidence. "If not, I will send out agents to find and retrieve him. Miang, the day he arrives will be the beginning of the end. If God exists as He does in the Bible, then we are beyond being pardoned. In order to enter Heaven, we will have to force our way there." Miang smiled knowingly behind him.

"It is time for human beings to become something so much greater. Now, what will you do with Ramsus?" she asked, shifting the subject. "With your son's arrival, his presence will become nothing more than a distraction."

"Worried about your charge?" Ikari asked coldly.

"Not in the way you're implying," she retorted in a playful tone. "Because of who he is, we can't simply send him away. He has nowhere to go."

"Yes. He will continue his training at his present schedule, with no changes. If for any reason the Third Children decides to disobey me, Ramsus will be a suitable substitute. That orphan has been troublesome all along. The old men may still hold some power over him… He will feel jealousy towards the Third, undoubtedly." The Commander stood, holding his son's summons in his hand.

"Feeling anxious?" Ikari stood, the light which hit his glasses allowing his eyes to be seen. To Miang they looked unusually soft, almost regretful.

"Everything starts from here. The path to God's resting place, Mahonon, as written in the Dead Sea Scrolls…"

…

A month later, the fourteen-year old Ikari Shinji arrived in Tokyo-3 via train. He had been summoned by his father, whom he had not seen in ten years. Even on the anniversaries of his mother's death, in all those years, not once had he crossed paths with that man. Based on his own assumptions and the words of his teacher, his father was a cold-hearted and uncaring man. 'In other words, he's a bastard. What kind of father doesn't contact his own son for ten years? Not even a birthday card or anything. Now all of a sudden he calls me here, away from everyone I've ever known…'

At least that's what his teacher said. In truth Ikari could not remember a single thing from more than three years before. There was a definable gap in his memories- beginning with his mother's voice and ending when he woke up in a small rural village three years ago. At first it had bothered him greatly. He spent many sleepless nights crying as he tried to recall things which didn't seem to exist. His teacher helped him, and eventually he got over these problems.

Supposedly, according to what wasn't covered in black tape on his father's summons, someone was supposed to pick up Shinji… 'Twenty minutes ago,' Shinji thought as he checked his watch. It was nearly one in the afternoon.

"Your attention please," a voice suddenly called from a network of megaphones set up around the city. In actuality Shinji was not in Tokyo-3; the train station was five kilometers outside of the city limits. "As of 12:30 today, a special state of emergency has been declared for the entire Kanto region, centering in the Tokai region. All residents, please calmly and quickly retreat to your designated shelters. Repeat, as of 12:30…"

"What does that mean?" Shinji asked no one in particular, mostly because the platform had been completely empty for the past half hour of his visit. "I get asked to come here and now asked to evacuate. I'm not a resident… so I'm basically screwed. There don't seem to be any shelters near here," he noted as he looked around. "Plus I'm talking to myself."

Shinji sighed loudly. 'There's only two stations between here and Tokyo-3. The person who was supposed to pick me up sure is late… and now there's some kind of big emergency. Maybe I should just walk the rest of the way. Is there gonna be a war or something?' As if to verify his last thought, a jet fighter suddenly flew overhead. "Jeez, he sure is flying low!" The sound of the jet's engine was overcome by a deep bass, which shook the ground beneath Shinji's feet. Before he could consider the ramifications of such noises, however, a missile flew through the train station.

The young boy instinctively covered his head with his arms. After it had passed, he followed its path as it flew up and over a mountain just a few hundred meters from the station. It exploded with enormous force, seemingly in mid-air. Almost like it had ran into something…

His suspicions once again proved correct as a… well, a monster stepped out from behind the mountain. 'That noise… was that thing's footsteps? What is that thing! It's the cause of the emergency!'

A fleet of VTOL aircraft slowly edged into the airspace around the huge being. All at once they loosed their payloads, shooting everything they had at the monster. Its body was lost in the blasts for several agonizingly long seconds. A lance shot out of the smoke, piercing the metal frame of one VTOL. The craft lost propulsion and fell ungracefully to the ground, where it exploded upon impact as its engines overloaded.

Shinji was horrified at the monster's apparent invincibility. It had taken over twenty direct hits from what seemed to be powerful missiles without a scratch! As he stumbled back away from the fighting, new aircraft flew in from the atmosphere above the monster. They weren't the same as the VTOLs which were already on the scene. Indeed, their odd humanoid shapes seemed to defy gravity rather than fly.

'Is this some kind of new technology? Robotic fighters? If the military had these as a secret weapon, why didn't they use them in the first place?' The new weapons were dwarfed by the monster, but seemed to hold their own as fighting resumed. The humanoid weapons shot what seemed to be energy beams at the monster, while at the same time nimbly dodging its lance attacks.

As Shinji gawked at the fight, his ride finally arrived. The engine noise was drowned out by the explosions, so when the driver honked the car's horn, he visibly jumped. "Sorry I'm late!" a female voice called. He turned slowly, wondering what other strange things he would see today. To his relief, the woman who had contacted him a week earlier was sitting in the driver's seat. "You're Ikari Shinji-kun, right?"

"Yeah, and you're Katsuragi-san," he stated as he got into her car.

"'Misato' is just fine." As they sped away, Shinji found himself fixated on the battle, which he now viewed through the car's side mirror. "You seem awfully calm, considering all that you just saw."

"Maybe, but… What is that… thing?"

"We had a tank battalion waiting for it on the shoreline, but it was completely wiped out. High-explosive, armor piercing warheads don't seem to have any effect either," she noted, a small glimmer of satisfaction in her voice. "That… is what we refer to as an 'Angel.'"

"Angel?" he repeated slowly.

"Maybe now isn't the best time to explain," she said, her voice becoming tense. "Cover your head!" Before Shinji realized what was happening, the body of a missile was briefly visible on the road in front of them before the explosion blinded him. He felt the car tossed into the air.

The next thing he remembered was Misato pulling him out of her once-pristine Alpine A310. "Those morons! What the hell good is a fragmenting warhead gonna do… except put all kind of shrapnel through the body of my car! And my dress… Arg! This thing cost a fortune! And my sunglasses, these were designer!" she lamented as she held up the shattered accessory. "Watch out!"

Once more Shinji was thrown to the ground, this time covered by Misato's body. He caught a glimpse of the monster flying down towards their location before his vision was blocked by the woman's chest. The ground shook violently as the weight of the huge being slammed against the earth. An odd sound followed soon after, similar to the landing but deeper pitched and higher in the air. Misato jumped to her feet and helped Shinji up. Another monster, barely more human-shaped than the first, had slammed its body into the other one.

"Th-there's another!" Shinji yelled. "Another monster!"

"Yeah, but that one's on our side," Misato explained over the cacophony of the titans' struggles. "Oh man," Misato said as she glanced down at her watch. "We really need to get going! Come on, get in the car!" The two got in as quickly as they could. "Buckle up," the woman stated as she stomped on the accelerator, "and think positive thoughts!"

Again they sped away from the battlefield. Various pieces of Misato's car and the slag which punctured its body clanged against the pavement as they fell. Shinji turned around in his seat to catch 'their' monster being violently thrown to the ground. "That one's getting hammered!" he shouted.

'Just as I thought,' Misato thought. 'Rei's not experienced enough in Unit 01; the burden is far too heavy for her as things are now. I told them to hold her back… The Commander is just as stubborn and cold-hearted as everyone says. And that woman who is always with him doesn't seem much better.'

…

In the Command center, things were chaotic. "Pilot's life signs are dropping!"

"A-10 nerve response rate down below five percent!"

"Unit 01: hemorrhaging through the chest plate seams!"

"She wasn't able to handle it, as we expected," Miang stated from her perpetual position behind Ikari. The Commander sat at the command desk, steepled hands resting below his nose. This was what the bridge staff referred to as the 'Gendo Pose®.'

"N2 deployment from the UN forces in thirty seconds!"

"Retrieve Unit 01 using route 192 as quickly as possible," Ikari ordered in a powerful voice. On the huge holoscreen which hovered in front of the bridge, the purple unit was on its knees. It was pure luck that she had fallen on one of the return routes. The ground around the fallen mech illuminated and quickly sunk down into the earth, an armored shutter door sealing the route. Through the complex system of elevators built beneath Tokyo-3 and the outlying areas, EVA-01 would soon be back inside the Merkava, NERV's underground headquarters.

…

Back on the highway leading towards Tokyo-3's center, Shinji noticed something odd. "All those planes and small robots are running away!" His body heaved forward against the seatbelt as Misato slammed on the brakes, bringing her beaten vehicle to an abrupt stop.

"Put your head between your knees and brace for impact!"

Everything was silent for a moment. From a kilometer above the target, a United Nations plane dropped its deadly payload. The N2 weapon had been developed during the Impact War. It was ironic, because its creators wished for a weapon with the power of a nuclear bomb, but without the radioactive fallout. The monster was enveloped in beautiful light before the reaction occurred.

Again the car was tossed, this time much more violently. It flipped more time than Shinji could count, making him sick to his stomach. After the shockwave had cleared and the sounds of debris hitting the car's exposed undercarriage stopped, the pair of humans extracted themselves from the old Alpine, which was left setting on its side. "You OK, Shinji-kun?" Misato asked as she tried to pat the dust off her dress.

"Yeah… My mouth's full of dirt though…" Misato's shoulder's suddenly slumped.

"I… I can't take anymore of this," she whimpered.

'Jeez, so much for maintaining integrity in front of children…' Ikari mentally noted.

"Well… In any case let's get this car turned on its right side. We're running so late!"

"Just where are you in such a hurry to get to… Ms. White Rabbit?" Shinji asked with a light chuckle.

"I'm supposed to deliver you to the Merkava," she explained quickly, though her answer didn't help Shinji's understanding of the situation. "Now push!" The two heaved and ho'ed until the vehicle was back on four wheels. "Good job!"

"So what were you saying about… taking me somewhere?" Shinji asked as they continued onwards. No response came. Instead Misato grabbed her cell phone. "Um… I guess that's classified, too?"

"Hey, get a car train ready. The express one… Yes, of course! I said I'd take that responsibility… OK. See ya."

…

The next few minutes passed quickly for Shinji. Before he even realize it, the car had entered a tunnel. Misato parked on what Shinji assumed was the aforementioned car train, which promptly began moving the car and its contents downward. The woman handed Shinji a book. It's cover read 'NERV: For your own eyes only.'

"What's this?" he asked softly.

"Undocumented government organization NERV, under direct control of the UN."

"I've never heard of anything like that," he noted under his breath.

"Well, the UN keeps certain things secret. NERV, Angels, EVAs, Gears, our very existence… These are all top-secret things that you're privy to because of your father's summons."

"Is that where my father works? NERV?"

"Yes. I work there as well."

"Saving Mankind from the shadows, huh?"

"Is that sarcasm?" Misato asked with a small giggle.

"Nevermind… Um… Misato-san?"

"What is it?" she asked as she fixed her makeup.

"Why did my father send for me so suddenly? I thought… maybe he'd forgotten about me."

"You can ask him yourself shortly."

"We're on our way to see him, aren't we?" he asked. The twinge of sadness in his voice alerted Misato.

"You not comfortable with your father, are you?" she asked, trying to sound gentle.

"No, it's not that…" 'How can I tell her… How can I explain that I don't remember anything about my father, let alone anything from beyond three years ago? She'll think I'm some kind of mental case.' "Besides, even if I do see him, we'll just end up having an argument, probably."

The car train finally passed out of the underground tunnel and out into the open space of the Geofront. Shinji pushed his face close to the window. "Wow! What is this?" Shinji noted the other train tracks that circled the huge cave, as well as the lake and cluster of buildings near the center of the floor.

"This is what we call the Geofront. The natural sunlight is collected at the surface and transmitted here by fiber optics. At the bottom is NERV's headquarters, a fortress for all Mankind… the Merkava."

They soon reached the bottom and exited the car. Shinji followed the woman around for more than twenty minutes before he opened his mouth. "Um… Just when are we going to reach my father's office?"

"Wh-what! Just shut up and follow me!"

As if on cue, an elevator nearby opened. A blond woman dressed in a white lab coat, skirt, black stockings and glasses stepped out. She looked annoyed. "Captain Katsuragi, you're late!" the woman chastised.

"Ah, Ritsuko!"

"So late, in fact, that I was sent to find you! We don't have the time or the manpower to worry about finding lost puppies and the poor boys following them!"

"Sorry! I guess I still haven't gotten used to this place yet," Misato responded with a giggle. Ritsuko sighed loudly and then focused her attention on Shinji. "Is this the so-called Third Children?"

"Yep. According to the Marduk Report, anyway." Shinji began to feel uncomfortable as the two women looked him over.

"I'm Akagi Ritsuko of the first engineering division, the head of Project E. Please to meet you," the blond stated.

"Likewise," Shinji responded. He immediately cursed himself for responding in such a distant manner. "Uh, that is..."

"He's a bit like his father, in that he's kind of hard to reach," Misato explained. Ritsuko smiled just a bit.

"Well, Shinji-kun, I have something to show you before we meet with your father."

"Show me?"

…

In the Command center, things were still chaotic. "Angel still advancing!"

"Target broken through the power mine field perimeter!"

"Changing direction. Analyzing… Confirmed! It's headed directly towards Tokyo-3!"

"All personnel- move to first stage battle positions!" Ikari said before turning to Fuyutsuki, his Sub-Commander. "Fuyutsuki, I leave matters in your hands." The old man nodded, taking note of Miang's noticeable absence.

"Understood." The Commander exited the bridge via elevator. "Their first encounter in more than three years… I wonder if his son even remembers his face…?"

…

"All-personnel, move to first stage battle positions! Repeat, all personnel…"

"First stage already? It must be progressing more quickly than we expected," Ritsuko stated as the trio boarded a small boat. It was moored in some kind of red liquid which Shinji had never seen before. "They are utilizing ground defenses."

"What? Why?" Misato questioned.

"Unit 01 is currently in cooling mode. It can be restarted at anytime."

"I'm not worried about the EVA. What about Rei? She seemed to take a beating back there! What will they do for a pilot?"

'Rei? EVA? Was there a person riding that purple robot from before?' Shinji wondered. Ritsuko seemed to ignore Misato's question.

"So, the N2 mine didn't work at all, huh?" Misato asked.

"No. It slowed down the target for a while, but it's began advancing again. It's also utilized an AT Field, and it's shown the ability to change its tactics during battle. It's learning and adapting. We don't believe it's being operated by remote control. The Magi indicate that it's an autonomous living being moving by some internal, programmed intelligence."

"You mean… just like EVA," Misato said in a low tone.

"Exactly." Shinji failed to notice the giant blue hand which seemed to have torn its way out of the metal wall to his back. After only a couple more minutes, the boat reached its apparent destination. Misato helped him off the boat and through a door. Beyond the door was nothing but darkness.

"Um… Where's the lights?" he asked timidly. The door closed behind the two women, leaving them in absolute darkness. Ritsuko let the air hang still for just a second before pulling the light switch on. Shinji fell back and onto his rear end at the sight in front of him. Not more than ten meters directly in front of him was a giant face. "Th-this thing? Is this the robot that saved us earlier!"

"Well, it's not exactly a robot," Ritsuko explained. "Although it is a man-made artificial creation. The all-purpose, decisive humanoid battle android, constructed in secret… It is mankind's last line of defense. Codename: Evangelion."

"So… all of this is… my father's work?" Shinji whispered.

"That's correct." Shinji's head snapped up. Above the EVA's head stood a man. Although Shinji had no memory of his father at all, he knew this man was the one. "It's been a while."

"F… father?"

"Shinji, listen closely to me. You're going to ride in her."

"Ride…?"

"You will fight against the Angel," he said, his cold voice full of confidence.

"Wait just a minute!" Misato shouted as she took a step forward. "It took even Rei seven months before she could even synchronize with her EVA!"

"All he needs to do is sit inside," the Commander insisted. "We don't expect anything more."

"Captain Katsuragi, our number one priority is to halt the advance of that Angel," Ritsuko chided in a rather demeaning tone. "If we have someone here who has absolutely any chance of synchronizing with an EVA, we must take advantage of that! Unless you have some kind of alternative?"

"…" Misato's face twisted into an angry frown.

"I see. Shinji-kun, this way…" Ritsuko put a hand behind his back and pushed gently, but he didn't budge. Shinji's hands were balled at his sides, his brow furrowed.

"You… You called me here so I could ride in this thing… and fight against that monster? Are you serious! I can't do such a thing!" he yelled.

"You must accept this explanation," his father said. "You are the best candidate we have. No… You're the only candidate we have."

"But, why me? I don't understand!"

"You don't need to understand! You just need to sit in the seat," the Commander shouted.

"No! What are you talking about! You expect me… Is this what you called me here for? So you could order me to my death!" The Commander regained his composure once more.

"If you don't do as I say, all of humanity will perish. As of this moment, mankind's fate is resting on your shoulders."

Shinji's mind raced… All of this was happening too quickly! "No! No matter what, I refuse to ride in this thing! I won't fight!" The elder Ikari took a step back.

"Fine. In that case I have no further use for you. You may go home… coward." His last word reverberated in Shinji's ears, whose eyes widened.

'I… If I don't sacrifice myself here and now… I'm a coward?' He looked towards Misato for support.

"Get in it," was her stern response.

'Even Misato-san… What the hell am I supposed to do!'

End.

Author's note: I got this idea after replaying Xenogears. The two stories are often compared, but I really couldn't find any decent crossovers between the two. So, here's the beginning of my attempt. I'm writing this as something to tide over the writer's block I'm feeling for my other stories. It may seem like EVA episode 1 with a few smatterings of Xenogears put in, but I plan on changing things very gradually. Hopefully I can add enough interesting additional storylines to keep a few of you reading.