+++++ The Blue House. (Thursday, September 2d, +12, Waning Crescent 3/4)

The bedroom they returned to was devoid of human life, bearing only a single, stately, potted plant that was sitting on the windowsill undergoing the photosynthesis that allowed it to live. A quick glance at the clock put the time at where he would have anticipated being at school, which gave an explanation for the lack of emotional warmth from within the house itself. Shinji moved towards the bathroom, intending to shower the sweat off of his body. "Once I take a shower, we'll find someone and let them know I'm back."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Hikaru agreed, following him towards the doorway unseen.

Leaving the door open behind him, he turned the shower on and walked in without waiting for it to warm up. As often as they might tell him he could use as much warm water as he liked, he felt no need for such luxuries after a lifetime of not receiving them save for in the presence of his tormentor. "You're going to get your clothes wet," he'd figured she was intent on staying near him, and gambled on being right despite not facing her.

"Oh, I stripped pretty quickly. I'm just waiting for the water to warm up."

He exhaled through his nose to stifle a sigh. "I can understand your explanation for everyone else. Why are you this interested in me? You're immortal, you've been around forever, I can't possibly be this interesting." Her hand alighted at the base of his neck, and his shoulders tensed.

Instead of caressing him, or touching the casing of the magatama, she simply left her hand where it was. "Because I am a woman of wealth and taste." Letting the tension naturally subside, she slid her hand down his back as it did so. "I have been around longer than you could possibly comprehend, yes, and I understand your personal journey far better than you believe I do. A servant, forced instead to stand as a king. Let me show you what I can offer, and in return all I ask is that you don't choose to side with that bastard."

Turning around to smear soap on his chest, he looked at what she was clearly eager for him to acknowledge. She wasn't 'beautiful' in the sense that Rise, Mitsuru, or Misato was. That, somehow, added to her allure. She was 'normal', after a fashion. A woman with her charms, far above average but not so far that she was as unreal as…. "You can look however you want to, right?"

"Yep."

He turned back to wash the soap away. "You don't want me to see you as unapproachable. As 'inhuman'."

"Nope."

Ducking his head into the water, the temperature creating a great deal of steam now that it had warmed, he added, "How can I see you as anything but, if you could change how you look on a whim?"

"Because my true appearance would cause some serious problems with your visual cortex. I wear this appearance for the same reason you wear clothes in public. It's only polite to not intrude upon the minds of others, isn't it?" She hugged him from behind, letting him warm her frozen form.

"Why are you cold?"

"Because one of the things that few Lilin have managed to correctly determine is that Hell is not a warm place. My home is naturally a barren tundra, and I've adapted to living there." She breathed in, then exhaled in contentment. "Not, however, that I don't enjoy it when someone manages to warm me up."

The way she was 'taking' from him reminded him greatly of how he'd been 'taking' from the series of women he'd slept with. There was a lack. A lack of warmth, of comfort, of touch. All she was asking for was for him to help her, and she knew that all he could do is go through the motions until he figured out how to succeed. "I'll…give you a kiss, for now. Once we've talked with everyone else, I won't feel…bad, you know…if…."

Her voice held restrained joy, "Because you are a goodhearted man who is worried about his friends. I wasn't going to jump you, silly. I mean, I was going to play with you, but that's because I like to fidget with things while I'm waiting. But I'll accept a kiss quite happily." When he turned back to face her, she gave him a wide, playful, grin. A grin that dissolved in curiosity as he took her chin between his forefinger and thumb, and put all of the skill he'd gained in life into the 'simple' kiss he'd promised. The pain he endured, the confusion and anger, all of the ways that he had been kept ignorant of everything he could have become, his first true gift to her had carried the knowledge that he was not a whole and healthy man. Despite this, she returned the kiss in the same 'simple' manner. Just a hint of tongue, enough that she was able to secrete a trickle of a diazepam-esque chemical into his system. He would be whole, and he would be stable, when they met her once friend. After all, if she just snapped her fingers and fixed him, he'd not gain the necessary resilience to handle future problems without her.

+++++ The Velvet Room. (Thursday, September 2d, +12, Waning Crescent 3/4)

Qodeshah walked into the bar of The Velvet Room, intent on seeking some liquid analgesics after the headache of dealing with itinerant idiots who lacked vision. When the typical sounds of musical perfection were not present, she frowned in confusion. When she saw Igor, the barkeep who doubled as a guide to wayward souls, listening intently to a seemingly young woman who was perched on a barstool before him, she felt her jaw clench.

With long, chestnut brown hair, and a figure that was evocative of a beauty on the cusp of blooming, Hikari Ikari sat calmly drinking a candied water while holding Igor's absolute attention. When the long-proboscised man glanced over towards Qodeshah, Hikari set her drink down and thanked him for the 'treat' before dismissing him to elsewhere in The Velvet Room. Turning on the barstool and stepping down to the floor with a dancer's grace, she met Qodeshah's eyes with calm indifference. "I have often tried to help my husband understand that women are…different than men. That we tend towards stubbornness when we know we're right, and the last thing we ever want to hear from some puffed up, self-important, man is that we're wrong."

This…whelp wanted to pretend that she was someone of import? "I would never accuse your husband of being self-important, child. He wields incredible power, and he does so with due consideration of its target."

Hikari's lips curled into a pitying grin. "And yet you still wish to play him like a bitch. Since we're not going to be polite about this, I guess I'll get to the main reason for my visit. You're coming with me. Whether you come with me conscious, in one piece, or even alive at all is entirely up to you."

"You and what army, hmm? I don't have time to-" When her throat compacted, followed up by her ribcage bowing inwards, Qodeshah found herself on her back seeing stars. She hadn't even seen the little bitch move.

Flipping the succubus over onto her front, and tying her hands and ankles together securely the way one would to a hog bound for slaughter, Hikari showed no signs of exertion for her efforts. "I apologize, Miss Elizabeth, for the blood on your carpet."

Unseen, the silver-haired matron of the Velvet Lounge replied, "It is quite alright, Your Highness. Lavenza will have no trouble removing the stain. We have a fantastic enzyme cleaner, which we'd be more than willing to offer you should you require it."

"That would be lovely, thank you. We have scuffles in our home from time to time, and I believe that Fuuka-chan would adore a way to remove some of the stains that get left behind." Standing tall before bowing in gratitude to the ancient cosmic horror in the guise of a beautiful librarian, she kept her manners out front for the woman who'd warned them of the plot's existence. "I am certain my husband would authorize some form of recompense for services rendered, feel free to contact me directly with anything that you might feel…appropriate."

Qodeshah spat out blood, along with a terse, "So much for your vaunted neutrality."

Elizabeth was disinclined to care overmuch. "You attempted to foment a coup within my home. The Wanderer provides stability, safety, and most importantly freedom to act as we must as stewards of the Journey. What I actually offered them was your skull amidst an assortment of cheeses as an apology for not taking note of your insanity sooner, Her Imperial Highness convinced me to allow her to come and collect you instead."

"Her sisters would be upset," Hikari asserted with quiet regret. "If death is required, we will handle it 'in house'. I wouldn't have such an important institution as yours burdened with the consequences of such an act. Brother, dear, if you would be so kind?" A portal spiraled open near her, and without delay she picked up Qodeshah and lobbed her through it. "Thank you, again, for your patience. Please, enjoy your day." Turning about on her heel, she floated through the portal herself to be about what was necessary.

After the portal closed, Elizabeth allowed herself to relax her death grip on her clipboard. She had never before seen, in the flesh, a being of such horrible power willingly limit itself to service under another. "What new cosmology has come from stranger aeons than those which gave birth to us, I wonder."

+++++ Tokyo-3 High School. (Thursday, September 2d, +12, Waning Crescent 3/4)

Explaining to his security detail, back at the Blue House, that he'd been taken by Hikaru for emergency medical care that could only be provided in a facility attached to Tartarus led to some questions as to why he'd needed said emergency medical care. After the third time reminding them that he was standing before them, healthy, and wanting to get to school so he could tell everyone there that he was healthy, they finally had agreed to take him. Calls would be made to 'interested parties', freeing him up to tell 'the princesses' in person. Now that he was walking across the school's entryway, accompanied by Hikaru, he simply hoped that 'in person' wouldn't lead to his requiring more emergency medical care.

Opening the door to his classroom quietly, any hopes for an equally quiet introduction to the classroom setting was dashed when he took note that Isako had halted the class upon feeling his approach. "Uhm…hi?"

"Inside, close the door." His teacher-slash-wife crooked her finger, and he obeyed without hesitation. Upon reaching her immediate area, he was quickly given a onceover to verify that he was 'okay'. "I have asked that everyone let me talk for them, because there are a lot of volatile emotions flying around right now. I, as an adult, have a far easier time repressing the urge to simply start yelling at you for something, and it would not serve us well at all for anyone to lose their temper while we discuss what has happened."

Shinji could feel the emotional flotsam well enough on his own. "I…."

"Shh," she set one finger across his lips, "before you start flailing, let me speak." Her eyes moved past him, to Hikaru. "Who are you, and what did you do to my husband?"

"Your darling little husband calls me Hikaru," the new woman avoided introducing herself with a confident bow. "What I did was remove a great deal of pent-up negativity. He'd been assaulted by The Great Will, indirectly, which had resulted in a more…tangible manifestation of his doubts and fears coagulating inside his bloodstream. After he successfully lanced the connection between him and The Great Will," she gestured to where Shizuko was sitting in a new row at the back of the class, "I was able to piggyback off of the lovely work done by Yuka," her gesture moved to where the gyaru sat fixated on Shinji, "and help him stabilize his connections to those of you who are…giving more than you're taking."

Sensing Ulala's explosive outburst before it could gain steam, Isako pointed at her student, then pointed at the floor. The message was clear, and the young woman returned to her seat. "That is an awful lot of work for someone who might pass as a high school student, if it weren't for her eyes."

"The Grovemother made a wise choice, bringing you into his harem," she applauded. "Calm, protective, loyal. Excellent qualities for the young women in your care to emulate. I can't tell you what I am, dear lady, nor can I tell you who I am. You can call me Hikaru, because that's what he calls me. You can also call me an ally against the raging asshole that hurt him. You can also, also, call me…interested."

"Oh fuck this!" Ulala slammed her hands down on her desk and stood up violently. When Chie made to restrain her, she shoved the other woman's hand off and spat out, "I wasn't given the chance to give him anything! The instant I get a chance to shack up with him, I get torn out by Yuka. I'm going home," she said, moving towards the door, "before I start punching people."

Mitsuru moved to intervene, either to vie for peace or attempt to control the rapidly devolving situation, and was waved off by Rise, who had seen both Eriko and Sumire go to join Ulala. "She's missing the forest for the trees."

Rise nodded, standing and making calming motions. "I know you've been trying to help, but right now she's not going to listen to you. Let me try, I think Eriko-chan and Sumire-chan are doing the same thing. Lots of changes, little time to adjust, right?"

With an inward sigh of frustration, Mitsuru nodded. She had to start allowing Rise to show leadership if she was ever going to develop leadership. "Be careful."

Shinji slid the door open for Rise, and when Isako opened her mouth to protest his leaving as well, he glowered at her. "I'll be right back, I need to clarify things with them myself."

Grateful for his presence, and his nature, Rise took hold of his arm and pulled him along. Once they were in the hall and hurrying onwards, she said as much to be certain he knew it, "Thank you, Shinji-kun."

"It's my fault in the first place. If nothing else, that makes it my responsibility to do something about it." His bearing and wording made it clear that he wasn't interested in speaking further on the topic, his focus on 'listening' for the loudest emotional noise available.

School hallways gave way to the front courtyard, which revealed Ulala snarling various invectives either at or to the ladies that had accompanied her out of the classroom. Sumire, from what Rise and Shinji could see, had left in an attempt at keeping the peace. She was making soothing motions and trying to keep the conversation from growing further in volume than it already had. Eriko, on the contrary, was seemingly just as upset as the temperamental boxing prodigy. She wasn't saying anything, however, which might have indicated that she was either trying to help maintain the peace or interested in leaving with Ulala to do whatever it is that they could to blow off steam.

Shinji's mouth opened, preparing to interject when Ulala was forced by the very human need for oxygen to take a breath amongst her diatribe, and his exhortation that he would find a way to restore what had been lost, if she'd just give him enough time to get his own feet beneath him, was replaced by him instead shouting, "Run!"

An oddly shaped shadow had materialized just above them, spanning from behind him across all fourteen meters between he and Rise and the trio of women they'd been moving to. Doing the only thing he could do, Shinji grabbed Rise and dove perpendicular to the shadow's length. Unable, or unwilling, to look away he impacted the ground just as an enormous hand rendered Eriko, Ulala, and Sumire into little more than gore and viscera.

"Yeuch," a manic, booming voice sneered out as it lifted its hand from the ground. "Filthy little vermin."

At a moment where three of his first ever friends had just been made into so much gelatinous ruin, Shinji wondered at why he wasn't…angrier. He was hurrying to his feet, dragging Rise back into the questionable safety of the school itself. The entire time, however, he did not once feel the sickly-sweet urge to become absorbed by the rage that he remembered so clearly. The deaths of three squads, the two VTOLs, women that he hadn't known had inspired more of a reaction in him than three talented, wonderful, young women he'd lived with, one of which he'd slept with. He shoved Rise towards the classroom as Hikaru appeared at his side. "Stay here," he ordered the idol. "I'll be right back."

More than a few of his fellow schoolmates bore witness to him returning Rise to safety. Even more saw Hikaru grab his arm before he vanished out of the school building. Before five minutes was over, everyone had heard the rumors that Shinji Ikari, the gallant hero of Japan, was going to save them all.

+++++ NERV. (Thursday, September 2d, +12, Waning Crescent 3/4)

Reappearing on the gantries next to Unit-01, Shinji was not surprised to see Andreja preparing it for combat. "Keep them safe," he ordered to Hikaru, sending her back to the school to do what she could to help. Striding up behind the enormous engineer, he began stripping off his clothes. "How quickly can we launch?"

"Hmm?" Andreja glanced behind her, noting Shinji's approach and frowning at the incongruity of his presence so quickly from the school. "We are waiting for the Captain, yes? She will determine where you deploy."

Keying in the code to extend the entry plug, Shinji shook his head, negating the idea. "It is at the school, and might already have murdered everyone there. I'm not waiting for anyone. How quickly can we launch?" The plug opened, and he climbed into the cockpit without a plugsuit.

"Ah, Shinji-kun, thank you for your alacrity." Naoko's voice carried through the loudspeakers from her place upon the bridge, as well as through the integrated speakers in his seat. "Once Captain Katsuragi-"

"No. Fill the tube, launch me to the school." He began to pull memories he didn't remember gaining from the places his mind never ventured, and started the LCL injection sequence as soon as the entry plug settled in place. "The alternative is I climb up there myself, your call."

"We do not have a full complement of staff. If we launch now, you won't have the support you need."

The LCL finished pressurizing, and he began the connection sequence himself. "If you don't launch me now, you're not going to have most of the superstructure between me and the school. A-10 engaging." He felt Unit-01's will fight him, momentarily, for control. It just as quickly peaceably submitted to his commands.

"I understand that they are important to you, but-"

"Your objection has been noted and dismissed. Eva Unit-01, launching." He tore himself free of the magnetic field that stabilized the Eva in the stables, then crouched down to gather energy for his jump.

"Shinji," his mother's voice cut over Naoko's. When he paused long enough to look over at her on the bridge, he saw her place her hand on the glass separating her from the chasm below. "Draw it away from the school towards the west. The area there is deserted, and you'll risk fewer casualties."

This time, the reflexive disgust at speaking with his mother was throttled to death. "Understood. Thank you." A brief pulse of green light surrounded him as he jumped, distorting his physical presence and clearing away to reveal that he was about to come to a landing atop yet another oddly shaped entity. With one hand still smeared with human innards, the sinuous alien creature only had the briefest of glances at the coldly murderous Evangelion before twin boots the size of houses smashed into its face. Two wings adorned the angel's head, another two, smaller, limbs sprouted from atop its shoulders. A strangely elongated face and long, slender, arms were the only truly 'human' features it possessed. Another two legs at its hips, and a pair of mantis-esque arms for legs were counterbalanced by a scaly tail that terminated in a grotesque goatlike head. Sliding off of its face, Shinji set Unit-01 to backing away towards the west, as recommended by the woman who'd given him life.

"You…you dare?!" Drawing itself up to its full height, the latest in a line of assailants screeched in righteous indignation, "You touch my body with your filthy, unclean feet?"

Still, even here in combat, Shinji could not find the anger that he knew must exist within him. Unit-01 stood impassively by, unwilling or unable to match its foe emotion for emotion. "You killed them." His voice was distorted, his words not those of his own choosing. "Your hand drips with their blood. I assure you, your face is not the last part of you that I will touch with my feet before this is over."

Alabaster and gold filigrees contorted with indignation. "You dare speak to me like this? I am Merkabah, you insignificant filth! The Throne Chariot of The Great Will itself! You are nothing before my light! I will kill you!"

Unsheathing his progknife, Shinji set himself in a defensive posture. "You'll die trying."

+++++ NERV. (Thursday, September 2d, +12, Waning Crescent 3/4)

"Internal system scans show batteries are not being utilized, ma'am," Maya had reached the bridge, and spoke as she frantically worked on understanding what they were seeing. "A.T. Field is at full power, Synchronization Ratio at two-oh-two with an MOE of zero point zero zero two percent. Systems all show green."

Unit-01, as displayed on the enormous viewing screen, was fighting a tactical withdrawal towards the west. That was not to say that it was not forcing the entity calling itself 'Merkabah' to pay dearly for every centimeter of ground ceded, just that Shinji's plan was clearly still in line with Yui's recommendation. His mother felt nothing but pride for her son, overjoyed that despite everything he was not too proud to listen to her when it mattered. "Shinji, there is a hill to your seven o'clock. Once you position it on the far side, you will be clear to engage fully."

"Understood." There was no strain in his voice, no tension or fear in his body. He lay, seemingly unconscious as always, safely within Unit-01 while the Eva responded to his intent long before he formed it into conscious thought.

Ritsuko had taken up a position near Maya, focusing on gaining useful telemetry while also tracking the missing Misato. "Engineering team reports it will likely be seven hours before they can safely reach the elevator car. Catastrophic braking system failure, not enough evidence either way, before you ask."

Keeping her voice low, in an effort to not distract Shinji during combat, Kyoko gave Yui the unfortunate news, "We have confirmation that three of his classmates were killed by this one. They are the only casualties reported, so far."

"…Tragic, and unfortunate. Have Aoki-san arrange for a generous display of our sympathies to their families, in addition to and in coordination with whatever my son intends to offer." Yui's voice held a hint of true sorrow, the knowledge that her son had lost allies and companions pushing past her emotional barriers.

"Talk to Chiaki," Shinji replied blandly. Unit-01 had a firm grasp on one of the head wings, its boot preventing Merkabah from sitting upright or moving away from the tearing motions the Eva made. "I have no idea what you give to the family of someone who died."

"How are you doing, Shinji?" Ritsuko couldn't make any sense of his psychograph, his emotions all read as if he simply wasn't there. "Talk to me, big guy."

"I also have no idea how I am supposed to feel. I'll try to let you know after this thing is dead."

+++++ Tokyo-3 High School. (Thursday, September 2d, +12, Waning Crescent 3/4)

After the initial shock had worn off, Rise had crumpled into a sobbing mess. This was not, in Mitsuru's opinion, a black mark against the redheaded idol. That she could cry was a far better sign than the opposite issue would have indicated. Yuka, further proving that her gyaru tendencies were just a way for her to irritate the shit out of authority, was calmly and gently soothing Rise while allowing quiet tears to drip down her own cheeks. Yukiko, as ever would be true, had looked to Chie for strength and had not come away disappointed. The two had moved off to one corner of the room, intent on remaining alone and apart from their classmates for the time being.

Mitsuru was also not terribly surprised to see Isako and Sadayo maintaining both a watchful eye over their number and occasionally offering a soft touch of support to one another. What worried her, insomuch as anything worried her anymore, was the way Hikaru and Shizuko were quietly glaring at one another. It was evident that a conversation was happening, and just as evident that neither side was interested in 'outsiders' becoming involved in that conversation. From her position next to the door, she was able to hear the excited hum of the rest of the school beaming with youthful enthusiasm over how their Shinji-kun had swooped in and drawn the enemy away.

Not one person outside of her classroom made any mention of the dead. Not one person thought to offer a prayer for their fallen schoolmates. It was a rare thing for Mitsuru to truly become angry. Rare, but not impossible.

+++++ Tokyo-3 Outskirts. (Thursday, September 2d, +12, Waning Crescent 3/4)

Shinji had ripped off three of the alien's limbs. The creature still fought and struggled, undaunted by the severe damage that had been inflicted upon it. In different circumstances, Shinji might have held a grudging respect for his foe. Circumstances that, at a minimum, would have had to not include the unfeeling murder of Sumire, Eriko, and Ulala.

A voice, distant and dim, spoke into the silence of his mind, You saved someone. That is one more person than most people could, or would, have saved.

Frowning at the intrusion, he almost lost focus enough to take a piercing blow from one of Merkabah's sharpened feet. Able to react in time, he instead used its momentum to snap the limb in half. "Twenty-five percent is still a failing grade."

"I'm sorry, Shinji, I didn't quite copy that." Maya's voice was quick to respond to his statement, hoping to form a connection with him that could let her in on how he was doing.

Instead, Shinji remained silent and aloof. He had no interest in speaking to them right now. He didn't want to feel her comforts. Not right now.

Think of it more as a pass-fail, then. The voice was neither cloyingly enthusiastic nor monotonously droning. It simply…was. That you acted, and acted to preserve life beyond your own, means that you pass. No one short of a god could have moved quickly enough to save all four. That you were fast enough to get her clear of danger is a testament to your strength and character. Mourn their loss, but don't do the very thing they'd never want you to do. It's not your fault they're dead. Put the blame where it belongs; put this animal in the ground.

He'd heard worse ideas. "It's all your fault," he tested the words. Tasting how they felt on his tongue, in his heart. "You killed them, without warning, without remorse." A hot glow triggered in his heart, a sharp, prickly, pain spreading through his veins like electric fire. "You came down here to kill everyone." Unit-01's green highlights melted away, a dark crimson color bleeding into their place. "And you dare to think that we're filthy?!" Leaning heavily into Merkabah, their combined weight digging into the hillside, Shinji felt his mouth begin to open wider and wider. You don't deserve to live.

+++++ NERV. (Thursday, September 2d, +12, Waning Crescent 3/4)

Yui Ikari knew that the Evangelions were capable of things that could never be explained or exposed to the world at large. They existed as a mockery of the progenitors of humanity itself, as a form of anti-paragon for 'those that came before'. Part of the reason she insisted on her son being a pilot was because she trusted, deep in her soul, that any man with her husband's blood in his veins would only ever use those powers to help humanity.

Watching as Unit-01's ever-widening mouth emitted a beam of pure white death, obliterating not only the central mass of the alien it fought but also most of the face of the hill they warred upon, she felt an enormous gratitude to her husband for knowing the difference between right and wrong. When Unit-01 followed that up by biting Merkabah's head off, swallowing it whole, she nearly joined Maya in vomiting then and there. It was not terribly hard to imagine a world where her husband instead stood where she did, where he not only countenanced but actively pursued turning the Evangelions into the monsters they were capable of being. All to return her to his side…. I have to stop Naoko from pursuing this. I cannot allow my son to suffer for my sins.