We Are (Not) Cursed

by BardInTheForest

(Pax Ikari vol III) When Shinji Ikari rides the train from Nagano to Tokyo-3, he is made the epicenter of a reality altering event. With the reality he had occupied now changed forever, he must conceive of a future that will accomodate diametrically opposed ethos. A man who has never known love is now responsible for the fate of the very humans he's been kept from, for good or ill.

56. Chapter 56

+++++ The Runic Throne.

"Schneller, meine kleinen Lieblinge, schneller." Asuka was squatted down in the miniature Unit-04, urging the grade school aged children onwards towards the waiting military transport vehicles. Each soul that passed through the extended A.T. Field she was holding in place was offered encouragement and solace, though it might not be their mother looking over them they still had a mother keeping them safe.

The former JSSDF Major, Kiyomi Honda, now liaison between the Ikari Empire's military forces and friendly non-aligned national militaries, Kiyomi Ikari, chewed angrily on a cherry stem as she counted heads. "Got word that Sachiko has the shelters in order on the other end. We're going to have just enough room."

"Are the satellite clusters showing anything?" She'd carve more space in the shelters herself if necessary, no children were being injured while she drew breath. "Or the fleet?"

"Lots of empty space. No unexplained gravitational anomalies within the local cluster." Kiyomi didn't like it either. "Whoever is planning this attack on their side is either an amateur or has goals we're not seeing right."

Standing up to the full five-meter height of Unit-04, Asuka watched as the tail end of the fleeing column of schoolchildren came into sight. "Forty seconds, Tactical. Am I staying here on defense or am I going in there and making new friends?"

The woman staffing the position formerly held by Misato replied in cold, dispassionate tones, "Once the field is clear you are weapons free to engage targets at your discretion, Unit-04. Admiral Rose has full confidence that the Throne remains secure, out."

"I'll keep the lawn clear, Two," Kiyomi huffed out. As much as she wanted to be in the fight, she knew her place in the plan and would not become a problem by trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. "You get in there and make sure we have an Emperor once this is all over."

The coloration of the miniature Evangelion she piloted matched the blue of her eyes, the white of her beloved husband's hair. It might have been a problem, once upon a time, but the woman she was now was nothing like the animal she'd been then. Before, she would have been through the breach the instant the last child was touching the portal between realms. Now, she watched and waited carefully for the pathway to be clear before bull rushing through and tearing the ignorant savages apart that dared to threaten innocent children. "Hey Ball-Gag," she roared over the din of combat, "why aren't these things dead yet?"

"I learned not to steal kills from Asuka the first time around." While The Silent One wouldn't let on that he was feeling more confident now that another 'Big Gun' had hit the field, he wasn't so shallow as to hate himself for feeling that relief. "They're rallying to the southeast, The Guard is trying to hold that corner, but they don't have the numbers to keep it for long. I'm almost done with evacuations, do what you can."

The Shinji that was her husband wasn't fond of 'playing'. He was a kind, gentle, man. The Shinji that was her brother-in-law loved 'playing'. As much as she hated herself for what she had been before, she hated that another Asuka had been given such a treasure and abused it. Ripping another two enemies apart at their waists, she sighed melodramatically. "If I have to." Turning sharply to slice through any foes between her and Akane, Mikoto, Nicolette, and Idunn, she was a little worried when she didn't hear what she'd expected from The Silent One.

"Good hunting, Asuka." The only other 'miniature' Eva in existence was acting, for the first time that she'd seen, with genuine worry. It didn't fit him at all.

The anxiety in those words tugged at the back of her mind, that anxiety was taken out on a variety of aliens hellbent on pushing towards oblivion at the hands of an army of the strongest women she'd ever known. Leaving a kilometer-long bloody swath of the dead and dying behind her, she leapt over the top of the four former bodyguards into the central mass of opponents they were stopping from overrunning a stalled hospital evacuation. Inverting her A.T. Field and hauling dozens of aliens into a crushing embrace, she eased some of the pressure they were under for a moment before using the shattered and tattered bodies as projectiles to scythe down even more. "Hey Apple, what's the holdup?"

"ICU patients." Idunn was finally able to return to using her preferred method of firearms to keep enemy assaults back. "Takes longer to evacuate under good conditions, a lot harder when the route to the portal isn't clear." Adding to her own kill count, she motioned for her fellows to reposition in support of Unit-04. "How's things on the other side?"

Asuka unslung her own long-range solution to begin firing explosive bolts into thicker clusters of howling alien scum. "Busy, but Kiyomi and Sachiko have it under control."

"Where the hell's Hikari?" Akane reloaded her weapons, then began refilling magazines for everyone else. "She's supposed to be in charge of sending people to the right place, deconflicting groups, and resource allocation."

"I don't have an answer to that," Asuka lied fluently. "All I know is that Kiyomi and Sachiko are doing a fantastic job, and the other end of the portal could not be in better-" The ground around them began to quake, throwing off her shot and forcing her to focus on her footing while the four ladies around her simply jumped into the air and floated to wait it out while still retaining lethality downrange. With her eyes not on the enemy, she was able to see the beginnings of the hospital behind them collapsing. Dropping onto her back, she deployed her A.T. Field to buttress the key areas and hit the buttons to communicate on a broad spectrum, "Hospital in the southeast is coming down! We've got to get them out of there now, or they're not leaving at all!"

"Assistance en route," the voice of Sailor Mercury was showing the strain of maintaining coordination of the Tier One assets on the ground. "ETA, ten seconds."

"Closer to three," one of the Sailor Venus copies announced, the pair supported by both Sailor Jupiters arriving faster than estimated to begin directly hauling anything living to somewhere less immediately lethal. "Was that quake natural, or are we about to fight mole people?"

The Silent One, sounding far more grim than he had when Asuka had spoken to him minutes prior, cut over the comms, "Gravitic interference. I don't know how much longer we're going to be able to hold open this many portals. Unless Usagi, Hera, and Hikaru can get those fragments further away, it's going to get worse. Unless you think you can eradicate the enemy forces you're facing, fall back and support the evacuation centers."

A lot of crosstalk stopped Asuka from saying anything to encourage a Shinji she admired. Getting back to her feet, she watched Lilith of Eden and Eve of Eden take to the air, moving towards the three enormous segments of the only casualty of The Wanderer's fight in space. She saw the Sailors move with more haste and less care, understanding that they were now fighting for 'alive' instead of 'healthy' and moving the patients rapidly. She watched women who'd earned their place at the side of legends knuckle down and pick their fights with an eye towards another battle in the war. She watched a world in full retreat…and she began to truly hate the monsters that would bring unprovoked war to a world full of innocents.

Scanning for her next target, Nicolette was the first to witness the change in coloration in Unit-04. "…Oh no." The pure, glistening white had begun to bleed crimson. "Asuka, sweetie, we've got this. There's no reason to-"

The automated systems of Unit-04 initiated the safeguards that would at least warn anyone nearby that its pilot was no longer acting in a fully rational capacity. The entire purpose of the armor itself was to tame Asuka Langley Soryu Ikari's nigh-unrivaled power enough for her to fight alongside 'squishier' targets. Asuka herself had come a long, long way since she'd first stepped upon Japan's shores. "WARNING. RAGE STATE IS NOW ACTIVE. WARNING. RAGE STATE IS NOW ACTIVE." She still had a way to go before she would be considered truly 'stable', however.

+++++ The Silent World, Stationary Orbit.

The Wanderer was not doing much better than his allies below. The damage he'd inflicted upon the enemy fleet was mostly superficial, with what little structural damage he'd done limited to preventing them from moving into position to resume the bombardment of the surface. Having to dodge directed energy weapons throwing around an entire year's worth of solar production in microseconds while eliminating as many landing craft as possible was taking all of his focus now. He understood how dire the fight on the ground had become, and could only do what he was doing without adding new complications to the problems they already faced. Unfortunately for him, that meant the additional complications landed on his shoulders first.

Rotating along his dorsal axis, he managed to avoid the first flying kick from the Sailor for Saturn that had attacked him earlier. Choosing between having to tank an energy beam or taking a slapshot from Hotaru's staff, he begrudgingly accepted the glancing blow from the energy beam and used the added momentum to out-position his foe preventing follow-on attacks. Why are you attacking me? I work with your fellow Sailors!

Either choosing not to reply, or not hearing his question, Hotaru reapproached to disrupt his efforts in keeping the energy beams directed away from the planet and the landing craft from reaching the surface. Her short-cropped hair swayed freely in the low gravity, her darkened leather armor disrupting her outline against the deep black void behind her. She was beautiful, and entirely focused on killing him.

Straining himself, now contending with sixteen different capital ships, thousands of landing craft, and a hostile Sailor, The Wanderer grit his teeth and let himself drift. He could no longer 'focus', no longer limit himself to what humanity would believe possible. He was a being of the most primal order, and as much as he despised having to lean into that existence…failure was unthinkable. Fine. You want to be unreasonable? Let me show you what happens when reason no longer runs the show.

+++++ The Runic Throne.

Jorth, widow of Thor Haraldson, counselor exemplar of Shinji Ikari, and generally all-around good woman to have in your corner when things are going poorly, was well known for her brutal and blunt honesty. Everyone from The Wanderer himself to the lowest criminal alive knew exactly what they were getting when they spoke to her. Which, of course, amused her greatly from time to time when she was able to take advantage of that incredibly myopic and naïve view of her nature. She was a Priestess of Nature, and Nature was known to lie all the time.

So, too, did Jorth lie when it was necessary to prevent greater ills from taking root. She didn't need an ounce of skill in the art, considering everyone believed everything she said without reservation, she only needed to carefully husband the lies to stop them from becoming too common to throw off the entire balancing act. Right now, her lies were keeping panic from spreading. "She is with her sisters, seeing to the needs of our children."

Gretchen Ikari, a skilled diplomat in her own right, was one of the scant few people that could consistently pierce through Jorth's shadow puppetry to see the truth behind the show. "Jorth, it is only you and I in this room. There is no one here to bother with the pretty lights and dresses of the theater. Where is she?"

"…They had a visit from the spirits."

"Is she alive?"

"She is under sedation, as are Kodama and Nozomi. Tsuru is doing what she can, and the children are being kept from destroying anything by Sayako and her niece." Jorth shook her head. "I will not pass on what has been spoken, it is not for human ears."

Gretchen grimaced. "For human ears or not, it was enough to knock them down. If it's that dangerous-"

"Then it will be all the more dangerous for being misunderstood as viewed through the eyes and ears of a trio of striplings barely off their mother's apron strings." She shook her head slowly, making her opinion completely clear. "We rely on cold reality, not hot tempers. I should not have to remind you that the only reason we are not justly ruled by an emperor and his lone bride is that visions were trusted without proper analysis and vetting."

Blowing out a long, slow, breath was the only thing that kept Gretchen from grabbing the stubborn priestess and shaking her until the truth fell out. She wasn't intimidated by the other woman's air of mystery, nor was she particularly concerned with the hidden knowledge she possessed. She'd dealt with many strange things in her time working with the reformed United Nations, and met many people who knew far more than they should without the benefits of entire intelligence networks. Her husband loved the woman, and that meant her peccadilloes had to be tolerated as they could be. "We are ruled by an emperor alone, and that is for the better. Instead of inane jealousy and mistrust, we have a household full of talented women to deploy at a moment's notice. Now, stop attempting to distract me from this. What has Sayako said about everything?"

"Precious little, as is only sane. She told me that she caught the edge of the message, and that there was nothing to be done for it." With a short nod, she turned about to walk back through the door into the room where the three sisters were resting. "This is not of man's world, child…do not meddle."

Despite an ardent desire to kick the door open, to remind Jorth that she was not the only educated, experienced, and capable woman in the household, Gretchen again took a slow, deep, breath and blew it out. Whatever was brewing between her husband and the woman he loved more than anyone in all of reality, it was not going to be resolved when that woman was unconscious. She had other obligations to occupy her time with…for now.

+++++ The Silent World, Surface.

Catherine d'Azincourt, no stranger to battlefields, found it very easy to locate her target. Not, she figured, that she'd have a hard time finding him in the middle of a whorling maelstrom of lights and sounds. Other than the man responsible for all of creation in the skies above this variation of Earth, he was the brightest point in sight. Calmly approaching the woman guarding his back, she bowed politely in greeting before speaking, "Good afternoon, Samurai. If I might speak with your beloved for a moment?"

"I'm a lot busy right now, Lady," The Silent One muttered, fatigue coating his tone. "Your man is back on his world, working his way through Tartarus, if that's what you need."

"She was speaking to me, dear," Tsuruko chided him gently. Looking the fae up and down, she redirected the conversation back to its original track, "I do not believe he is available at the moment for a speaking engagement. As a representative endowed with his utmost trust, would I serve as a viable alternative?"

The words rang of truth. "Hm…mint. How odd to taste that again from the tongue of a mortal. Yes, you would serve this conversation as well as he, so long as you have his assent we can proceed," the fairy general nodded.

"I have had many dealings with yousei, over the years. I learned quickly to be cautious and sparing with my words." Tsuruko motioned for Catherine to continue.

"Ah, that would explain it nicely. This world…is strong in The Word…. That might complicate things."

"It was a world filled with love and generosity, which balanced out the darker acts some few attempted."

"A fair assessment." Catherine rolled her tongue about in her mouth for a second then sighed. "Are you capable of ratifying accords in his name?"

"I would prefer to involve the full council, but if this is a matter that cannot wait, I believe I have their trust as well."

The Silent One interjected, "I have a council?"

"I wasn't speaking to you dear, it's not polite to eavesdrop," Tsuruko chided him again.

"My Liege has a proposition," Catherine ignored the byplay to continue the discussion, "one I believe will benefit all sides. She wishes to discuss it in person, but requires that the contest currently occupying The Silent One be…tempered somewhat first. Instead of invading the field of battle, she wishes to seek a temporary alliance to render aid."

"Indeed?"

"No member of my army shall in any way attempt to injure or harm any member of yours for the duration of our alliance. Word shall be given before the alliance is dissolved, with sufficient guarantee of safe passage back to neutral territory for both parties before hostilities shall commence. Does this agree with you?"

Instead of rushing the decision, she thought through the words presented to her. "And, aside from your ruler, only your army shall take the field?"

"Yes."

"Then we have an accord."

Maintaining a calm exterior, Catherine murmured, "May our ancestors forgive me."

Before Tsuruko could ask what she meant, a shimmering haze blossomed into existence before dissolving and revealing a regal woman, half the height of an average human, easily staying aloft with a pair of wings that identified her as another fae. Her dress was immaculate, a cream and forest-colored affair that flattered her skin tone and hair color fabulously. Opening her mouth, seemingly to speak, she paused before turning to glare death at Catherine d'Azincourt.

"Of course, Your Majesty." Catherine quickly spun back to Tsuruko and took the swordswoman's hands and placed them over Tsuruko's ears. She then gently pried Tsuruko's lips open and then stepped back and assumed the same pose.

A dismissive huff was the only reply. Looking back towards the field, and the fighting retreat her allies were engaged in, she cleared her throat and took in a sharp breath. When she parted her lips, this time, the single word she called out would shake the ground around them all, "CHARGE!"

A living wave of fae, glowing in emeralds, violets, and ceruleans, roared into existence along the western flank of the enemy forces. Ten miles wide and ten feet deep, the Seelie Army rolled across the entire forward position of Asura's military. It wasn't long before the enfilade demonstrated its results. Each [Song] remaining untouched was surrounded by no less than four bloody skeletons, bits of flesh and gore left hanging loosely off them, mildly confused and trying to realign themselves with the new realities of the battlefield.

"Ah, excellent," the Queen of the Fae stated contentedly. Turning back to Tsuruko, she motioned for the swordswoman to lower her hands. With her audience once again facing her, she inclined her head in greeting. "And a fine hello to you, Child of Yamato. I greatly appreciate your trust."

Catherine attempted to maintain a modicum of diplomacy, "It is my great pleasure to-"

"You shut yer feckin' mouth, ye snarly wobknobble," the Queen interrupted her General with a sudden burst of fiery anger. "Go see to the Army, General, and let the real women waggle their chins at one another." Waiting disdainfully for Catherine to bow and take her leave, the Queen kept her eyes on what The Silent One was doing. Each attempt by the ships in orbit to fire upon the battlefield was forced away, sending the projectiles harmlessly towards the sun. "Mmm, he uses the largest source of gravity in the local area to attach his portals to something that won't be hurt. Your husband is quite calm under pressure, isn't he?"

It was evident to Tsuruko that the Queen was an extremely mercurial individual, and would require careful handling. "He is, Your Majesty. It's one of his charms."

"Aye, aye…very hard to distract, too." With a final smile at what she saw, the Queen looked to Tsuruko and assessed her demeanor. "So, you speak for him. A few days before your death, a few days afterwards, and you already have his trust. Speaks well of you."

Mercurial, Tsuruko thought, and very well informed. "We have a shared capacity to see into each other's spirit, it has helped us come to an understanding regarding our past, and our future."

"It also means that you know what is happening to him, right now."

"I'm right here," The Silent One grunts out, his skin sallow, his defense of the world unyielding.

Tsuruko nodded slowly. "He is dying, slowly."

"He is," the Queen agreed without any significant emotion. "I would like to help save him, but as you well know he cannot ask for help from me. What he is will not allow it…what I am will not allow it."

"That…is not a part of his charm," Tsuruko replied, waiting for the trap.

"Still here," The Silent One sighed.

Gesturing up towards the sky, the Queen of the Fae ignored his comments. "I would, then, propose something of an alternative solution. An offer, instead, to support Odin himself…in exchange for payment from your family."

"You would avoid incurring the ire of The Word, by instead offering your aid to one not bound by it…a clever move, but one that puts you at a disadvantage. You cannot operate in good faith with The Wanderer, without doing the same to us, which means your price is not…onerous," Tsuruko responded slowly. "I will listen, on behalf of the council, to your price."

"Which avoids certain others from having to hear our discussions." The Queen's smile was pleased, with herself as much as Tsuruko. "A certain pig-nosed sallyknocker," her words came out harsh and cold, "screwed up my people's chance to connect with Fatesbane. We, just as much as you, have been being pressured to join with The Vast Unity. We have no interest in Her stupidity, and less interest in losing our right to choose our own path. Fatesbane would have been a far better solution, but instead We offer to aid The Wanderer's battle above…in exchange for a marriage between myself and The Silent One."

Before her beloved could speak, Tsuruko slapped him in the back of the head. Keeping her eyes on the Queen, she began negotiations in earnest.

+++++ The Runic Throne, inside the palace.

"Shouldn't we be with her?" Maya Ibuki was busily connecting the women of her world to medical equipment that she was only familiar with due to her connection to Maya Ikari. "We can handle things here, and we don't need to be coddled by one of his most trusted wives."

"I," Maya Ikari replied with a hint of a grin, "can't do anything to help her. You can't do anything either." Resuming her seriousness, she kept moving sanitized medical supplies to where they were needed. "She's tough, and this isn't the first time this has happened."

"That doesn't mean we don't have a responsibility to her."

Ritsuko Akagi, once again standing next to her counterpart from another dimension, tried to ignore the overwhelming temptation of two Maya's movements to focus on what was in front of her. "You can't be serious! You want us to just abandon him completely?!"

"Want?" Misato Ikari, turning her icy glare on Ritsuko Akagi, loomed large over all other women present despite her being the shortest woman present. "You aren't being given a choice. The last thing we are going to allow is the capture of someone that could be used to pressure him into doing anything."

"So you're just going to keep us prisoner here?" Misato Katsuragi, still displeased with what she's seen of her own counterpart, was the only person not cowed by Misato Ikari's pressure. "He needs support, and you know that."

"And he's going to receive support," Ritsuko Ikari responded with an eye roll. "As soon as The Silent World is safe, both of his brothers are going to go try and get him to see reason. There is literally nothing you could do that is going to be better than that. One of them would be more than enough, both of them aren't going to face much challenge."

"Oh, right," Misato Katsuragi snarked, "that's why they're currently stuck in a protracted battle against a superior force. Because they aren't able to be challenged."

"Stick out of ass," Maya Ibuki called over from where she was setting an unconscious Chie in place. "Just because you aren't the only Misato in the room doesn't mean that you're less special."

"I am not jealous," Misato Katsuragi wheeled around on her junior officer. "I am pissed off that-"

"He," Misato Ikari clapped her hands to emphasize each word she spoke, "chose me." With everyone now focusing on her again, she continued, "He is a god, not a man. I am basically a nun that gets some, not a doting housewife kicking my heels up and eating bon bons. If you don't want to be a part of that, you don't have to be! You're not me! You can make your own choices, accept your own mistakes, and own your own successes, I don't care! You are not going back until it is all clear, that's it. That's all I am telling you to do."

"I doubt anyone is going to be able to 'get some'," Kyoko Zeppelin asserted, walking back into the room and reasserting control over 'her' personnel. "The man who sent us away from our world was not the same man who nearly drove me to mounting him in an elevator. He suffered life altering damage to his brain, and there is no way to know if he will or even can return to what he was." It hurt her to watch as Maya Ibuki's front of buoyant optimism fade, but she had a duty to keep clear eyes. "Until we know what we are doing, and what he is doing, we are staying where we are. I have assurances from The Wanderer himself that we will be given useful tasks, and we will be expected to do them with the skill we are capable of. Stand down, Captain, and be ready to do your job."

+++++ Tartarus.

Fighting against Azrael was unlike fighting against any other foe he'd faced. Each time Shinji thought he saw a path forwards, the scythe-wielding angel closed it off with calm efficiency. Animus, not wanting this fight, was too lethargic to properly capitalize on any mistakes it saw, which led to a continued stalemate between all forces present. Sliding backwards several steps, once again finding that Azrael was not pressing any advantages he had, Shinji again attempted dialogue, "Why are you so determined to stop me?"

"Because there are none so blind as those who will not see." Once Animus backed off as well, Azrael returned to his neutral stance in the center of the hallway.

"What do you think I am avoiding?"

"The truth."

A minor surge of dizziness caused Shinji to wobble on his feet. Placing the heel of one hand against his temple, he trusted that Azrael genuinely wasn't interested in killing him, only thwarting him. "The truth is subjective, even in such rigid fields as science. Could you perhaps be a little more descriptive?"

"There is no need for me to explain, you only need to open your eyes."

Bad fight, Animus added.

Another wave of dizziness rocked Shinji. Stumbling down to one knee, he fought to keep up and down straight. "My eyes are quite open…." His body became his newest enemy, stopping him from retaining any form of coordination. "Did….poison?"

"No," Azrael replied, a hint of disgust at the suggestion. "You recently received serious physical trauma, after a lifetime of severe mental trauma, emotional trauma, and physical abuse. How much have you suppressed, child? How much have you shoved off to the corners of your mind, allowing it to fester, to rot? How certain are you, right now, that who you believe yourself to be is actually who you are in reality? You stand within the gestalt of consciousness, not only of humanity but of every species that remained upon your realm…do you truly believe that there is not one single mind that could see right through your willful blindness?"

Animus watched impassively as Shinji collapsed to the ground, body quaking. When the spams slowed, then stopped, it looked towards Azrael with an open question.

"I bear you no ill will. You have suffered far too much, and even my touch is unable to grant you solace…take him, seek shelter." Dismissing his badge of office, Azrael made it clear that hostilities were currently over. "His brethren will come and find him soon. It would be best that they not find him somewhere…cramped."

+++++ The Silent World, surface.

"A fine negotiation," the Queen of the Fae crowed happily. "Ah, but it's been a fair bit of time since I last had the pleasure of haggling with someone so capable as you, m'dear."

Tsuruko bowed slightly in recognition of the praise. "To summarize, then: you would join us in marriage as an equal, no higher or lower than any other bride; you will provide forces to help maintain the peace and defend the Ikari Empire; you will seek friendship and camaraderie with your sisters in marriage; and you will agree to limit your attempts at levity to that which will not encourage strife or rancor amongst our new family."

"And he will agree to serve as King of the Fae, co-equal to myself in standing amongst the Seelie Court. Also, he'll agree to consider a bit of the slap and tickle with members of the court from time to time, to keep the Court's population up." Extending one hand, the other curled in a fist against her hip, the Queen had a contented grin playing about her lips.

Gamely accepting the gesture and engaging in the Western habit of sealing the deal with a handshake, Tsuruko felt relief that she'd managed to keep from stepping on a mine anywhere during the tense negotiation. "It is an honor to welcome you to our sisterhood, Your Majesty."

"Ugh," the Queen rolled her eyes, "please just call me Titania, m'dear. We're all equals, and you are enough of a queen in your own right." Releasing her grip, she snapped her fingers and unleashed another portion of her armed might to assist her new family.

+++++ The Silent World, stationary orbit.

The Wanderer was, at some point in history, a man. Not necessarily an exemplar of the gender, nor someone that people would be ill-served in striving towards being more like, but simply a man. He learned to stand on his feet, as a man. He learned to defend what he believed in, as a man. He learned to open up about his pain, as a man. He learned to lean on others when doing otherwise would cause even larger problems, as a man. As a man, though, the most important lesson he learned was that women were every bit as capable of unrestrained violence as he was.

He had fought gods. He had fought concepts given flesh. He had fought alien warriors far more deadly than any human could dream of becoming. Fighting the Sailor for Saturn in low-gravity orbit around a version of his home planet was akin to fighting while balancing atop a monofilament wire stretched between two metronomes set to different rhythms. There was a pace, a meter to things, but the instant you let yourself become complacent you paid in blood.

Fighting now as Creation, and not as someone bothered by mortality or morality, he made both the Sailor and the starships around him pay dearly for every drop of blood he was now shedding. Twisting the laws of nature as he bent the frames of the attacking vessels, forcing the ancient young woman to accept reciprocal blows if she wished to strike any damage to him herself, he ensured that those below him had the time they would need to evacuate.

All of his efforts might have been focused on two matters, but his attention still allowed for unexpected new inputs without sacrificing his goals. The sudden appearance of dozens of seventeenth century Ships of the Line on the battlefield tested that allowance. The presence of winged fae crewing the vessel, out in space, without any protection from the lack of breathable atmosphere or the deadly ionizing radiation pushed that allowance harder. The manner in which one of the fae, dressed in an appropriate manner for an admiral, lifted her baton upwards was the straw that broke his devotion to remaining unimpressed. The fusillade of cannon fire that erupted from each ship's more than one hundred barrels, sending kinetic ammunition against battleships that could bend entire stars to their will was almost comically baffling.

Until each of the sixteen ships he still faced was torn to shreds by the volley.

Unlike The Wanderer, Sailor Saturn couldn't hope to multitask at an above divinity level. Forced to witness the same absurdity that he was, she paused her assault to try and figure out how her sanity had cracked so badly. That pause was fatal to her attempts at regicide, and the cost was a thundering backhand that sent her rocketing down towards the surface of the planet in an uncontrolled and uncontrollable tumble.

+++++ The Silent World, surface.

Sitting propped up against a nearby berm, The Silent One allowed his new wife to tend to his injuries. Breathing heavily, bruised from head to toe, he couldn't muster his usual devil-may-care attitude and was therefore forced to try being human for once, "I…don't think that…we'll be able to-"

Titania shushed him gently, her smile understanding and appreciative. "We'll be about that when the event can be your sole focus. For now, just try to focus on regenerating your insides." Spreading a salve across some of the worst of his damage, she hummed an ancient tune of contentment. "Incoming, by the way."

A single second after the warning, Sailor Saturn smashed sideways into the nearby earth. An attosecond after she did, a lightning strike stretching from far above the Earth's surface slammed into the ground to reveal The Wanderer with his foot shoved hard against his quarry's throat. "Suzuka." A second bolt of lightning ripped through the already charged air to deposit The Wanderer's spear and Spear. "If she so much as dreams about moving, take her head off."

Placing her wooden sword against Sailor Saturn's throat, The Wanderer's beloved wife Suzuka accepted her role as potential executioner with magnanimity, "Of course, Dear Heart."

"Congratulations." The statement directed towards The Silent One held multiple meanings, and standing as he was without most of his shirt and his hair in disarray he fully expected a scathing retort. The lack of one after two heartbeats caused him to ask much more quietly, "How bad?"

"I've been standing in the equivalent of several times the gravity of that black hole we saw last year for a couple hours, from your perspective." The Silent One lifted the shoulder away from Titania in a shrug. "Containing that was still easier than telling Tenshi-chan 'no'."

One end of his lips lifted into a smirk, the hidden message well-received. "Tsuruko, if you would please go find one of my wives with appropriate medical training." Gesturing towards his body, and the steam boiling off his flesh, he explained the request, "I can't get myself to spool down enough to not 'yell', as it were."

"Of course, ani-ue." With a respectful inclination of her head, Tsuruko accepted her task and was gone in the blink of an eye.

"Suzuka, how much longer do you think the ground war will continue?"

The willowy swordswoman shook her head, keeping her eyes on the unconscious form of Sailor Saturn. "It's over, what you're hearing is Unit-04 redecorating the nearby city."

"Hm…Rage State?"

"Rage State."

He blew out a short sigh. "She's getting better."

"She secured our southeastern flank," The Silent One spoke in his sister-in-law's defense. "Pulled The Guard out of a bad spot, held a hospital having trouble evacuating their ICU through the brawl, and hasn't killed anyone that didn't have it coming. She earned her dinner."

Coming from who it did, The Wanderer felt a mixture of relief and pride. "I'll try to help her see that, after she calms down." Turning to face his savior, he met her as a fellow ruler out of respect, "Your intervention was most timely, Your Majesty."

"We were simply in the neighborhood, Your Majesty. It is only right that we offer a hand to someone in need, is it not?" Titania stressed the lack of need for gratitude, working around The Word.

"It is indeed. My congratulations include you as well. I look forward to speaking more around a good meal, once we're able to quit the field completely." He hated to do what he had to, but he was not going to risk one brother to save another. "Please ensure that your husband receives proper medical attention before he is allowed to leave your side, you have my permission to anchor him if necessary."

The Silent One wasn't interested in being left behind when he was needed, "I can-"

"Swear to Maya, I will call Tenshi." The Wanderer shut down dissent, holding a hard stare with his brother for half of a minute. "We're tough, we're not indestructible. You saved your planet, let me save our family."

"…Don't go easy on him, he's been an asshole."

Choosing to ignore the request, he spoke quietly to his wife, "Put her in a Kaworu Special. When I get home tonight, barring another crisis…I'd really like a massage and a bath."

"There is still ought to be done," Suzuka said with tender affection, "but I will see that time is made for your injuries."

His wife knew that he carried burdens far beyond anyone, even his own brothers. He was glad beyond words that she wasn't like…. "Thanks, Suzi…I am lucky to have you in my life." Without another word, he disappeared.

+++++ Tartarus.

'Cramped' was the first word to come to mind as The Wanderer manifested a fragment of himself inside the enormous prison that was Tartarus. Still considering the strange feeling of being too large for his own skin, he remained largely still to avoid antagonizing Animus. He could feel the four-armed abstraction of half of Shinji's unconscious mind warily guarding Shinji's unconscious form, something that he felt not only laudable but heartwarming. "Even the most aggrieved side of us still wants to live…this is good."

Bad fight…no fight? Capable of speech but not of the highest order of emotional connection, Animus tried to assess the threat posed by a being it knew it couldn't defeat on its best day.

"There is rarely such a thing as a good fight, my friend. I do not wish to fight you, only bring him to where he can get some help."

No take. The statement wasn't intended as a threat, or even a warning. It was a caution against something dangerous, a parent calling for a child to not put their hand in a fire.

"What's wrong?"

If take, I go.

"And if you come with him…you're going to be forcibly bound together without having gone through the rest of the steps towards integration." That didn't strike him as a good idea. "You'll develop schizophrenia at best, become fully dissociative at worst."

Animus nodded eagerly. No take.

This wasn't the play. "Can you protect him, here? Is there somewhere I can take you both that will help?"

A polite cough drew his attention to a nearby woman, her platinum hair primly ordered and yellow eyes glowing with a desire to be of service. "I believe I have just the place, Your Imperial Majesty." Gesturing towards a nearby open door, and the blue-toned lounge and bar within, she smiled hopefully. "Free of charge."

The Wanderer identified the speaker after a few seconds thought, "Elizabeth, if I remember correctly, is the name you've chosen to take for this form?" Her smile remained hopeful, telling him that he was correct. "If I let you take them, will you guarantee your family's best efforts in rehabilitating his injuries?"

"My sisters and I will expend every ounce of energy we have to see him through this crisis." Elizabeth agreed without hesitation. "We might even be able to restore the bonds he severed in ignorance, if you would be willing to allow us to host those women he'd become connected to. Should it ease your mind, we would be willing to post a form of surety. Have it held in trust by your family until such a time as we are able to restore them to you unharmed."

"…You know that this may be a matter of eons, yes?"

"The gifts your wife sent us were lovely," she hedged around the question. "It opened more than a few eyes to the potential of an alliance. Should our deal come to require a margin of flexibility, we would hope that you remain the wise and benevolent ruler we have seen you to be."

Taking a moment to consider her words, The Wanderer began to feel the fatigue from the day's events climbing up his spine. "Let's try speaking in fewer riddles, ma'am…. You take both halves of my brother, and those women who've dedicated themselves to him, for as long as you are capable of keeping them safe or until they've been restored to full health, and in return you give me…what?"

"My sister. Or, really, sisters. Their personality is…unique." She wasn't upset to see the 'man' begin to re-emerge from the god, nor to accept his demand for less rigid formality. "A more than formidable fighter when united, and quite nearly as unstoppable when separated. They would ensure that your children come to no harm, freeing your wives up to help defend against…Her."

A hint of a frown crossed his lips. "I…would worry about them becoming bound to me. Any woman that spends too much time 'unaffiliated' in my presence generally winds up 'married', so to speak."

"They would welcome the opportunity, good sir." Elizabeth shrugged, unconcerned. "They were the first to truly go on about the benefits of us working together. About our lives thus far becoming meaningless in the face of unopposed Order. We are creatures of pure Law, a fact that plays no small part in my offer here today to you."

Good take. Can help there, keep safe. Animus eagerly nodded to the plan. We go, we live.

That the half of Shinji's psyche made of pain and misery was eager to go gave him enough strength to accept the burdens he would take upon himself. "You understand how long you'll be there, yes? This is not a short assignment."

Moons and moons walk over pain and fire. Walk back take moons and moons.

"We will do what we can to reduce the pain that you must endure," Elizabeth assured him calmly, "and you will not take this journey alone."

The Wanderer blew out a sigh of frustration, looking further down the long chamber towards the inky blackness beyond. "I do not…enjoy making myself clear." Sending his eyes alone sliding back towards Elizabeth, his tone hardened, "I hope I do not have to."

"We are of a mind, Your Imperial Majesty. Hear my song now and know it for truth, I would have intervened sooner to stop this madness had I not been afraid of interrupting your test. I understand why you have done what you have, and I hold you in no way at fault. Please, let me demonstrate that my family is willing and eager to be of service. Let me set right what has gone so horribly wrong."

He nodded twice, allowing silence to answer for him. "Watch over all of them, if you would my friend," he spoke to Animus instead. "You are capable of greatness, just as your other half is, and even darkness and pain can be turned to good ends with the proper care."

I go. I protect. Creaking metal and pain straightened upright, showing physically what it could not put into words. If roused to violence, the only thing that could stop Animus from tearing someone apart was currently unconscious next to him.

"As must I." Nodding his thanks to Elizabeth, The Wanderer recovered the fragment of himself and returned home.

+++++ The Silent World.

Naru Ikari waited patiently for the engineers to remove Asuka Langley Soryu Ikari from Unit-04. She hadn't been asked by anyone to check up on the Pilot, nor had she told anyone what she was going to do. Anyone worth mentioning either to would already know that she saw herself and her crimes against Keitarō Urashima mirrored in the auburn-haired spitfire, and would know of the subtle truce the two had that was approaching friendship. Once the exit hatch was pried free, she moved to intervene before Asuka's embarrassment compounded through actions born of understandable frustrations. "Hey lady," she greeted her with unforced cordiality, pre-empting any possible cold start, "looks like you racked up quite the kill count today."

Where most who'd known her would have expected her to come out of Unit-04 breathing acid, Asuka instead exited with her head hung low. "…Yeah. Nothing really challenging, just a lot of cannon fodder." Catching sight of the towel Naru extended towards her, she flashed a grateful half-smirk. "Thanks."

"No problem. Mind taking a walk with me? I need to stretch my legs and get my mind out of combat mode before I go see my hubby."

"Subtle."

"I thought so," Naru admitted with nonchalance. "You're not the only one who needs a few extra laps to get her head right. Even after my Shinji fixed my chemical imbalances, I still have decades of personality to reconfigure. You can take the girl out of the bitch, but getting the bitch to leave the girl alone is a whole different cookie."

"Amen." Wiping the sweat free from her face and hair, she set out on a pace that would let their legs work without stopping them from allowing their words to do what needed to be done. "How many casualties did we take?"

"Too many. Four thousand KIA, seventeen hundred needed CASEVAC, sixteen thousand walking wounded. We met a peer force, and if it weren't for Titania showing up, things would have wound up a lot worse."

"Titania?"

Naru gestured over to where the Queen of the Fae was helping position their husband for better medical attention. "She's the ruler of the Seelie Court, was apparently hoping to hook her cart up to this new Shinji. Something went sideways there, and now she's married to my Shinji as the price for helping your Shinji. Seems…kinda batty nuggets, to be honest. But, she also seems to have a good handle on her crazy."

"Are you at all familiar with the mythology surrounding the Seelie Fae?" Asuka was nervously watching what she had believed to be a fairy tale, waiting for the other shoe-shaped N-Two Mine to go off. "Like…at all?"

"No. My studies weren't really focused on European cultures, more Southeast Asian and some South American." The memory of her 'study partner' hurt her, as it always would, but that story was over. She couldn't let the past linger like a ghost and be a good wife to a man who deserved her absolute best. "Something in particular I should know about?"

"Just…be cautious about how you phrase things around her. If you're at all familiar with the concept of a 'Rules Gnome', you'll see where I'm going."

Naru coughed out a light laugh. "Yeah, that's basically what it's like dealing with nine-tenths of the women in my household. Even Shinji needs me to be careful how I phrase things. He's my husband, and has a lot of leeway in interpreting things, but if I stray too far out into left field he's going to have to hurt me to not have to kill me."

"…Your marriage is weird."

"Pot DE Kettle, Pot DE Kettle, black, over."

Asuka's laugh wasn't nearly as reserved as Naru's, the pilot understanding the radio brevity joke and accepting it for the truth without rancor. "Ok, yes. You got me there. Just be careful, ok?" The admission she was presenting still irritated her, but it was getting easier and easier to do the more she did it, "I like having you around for times like this."

Pulling her friend-slash-sister-in-law to a stop, Naru hugged her close and replied, "I like having you here too. Not too many understand what it's like to try and free yourself from under the thumb of a bitch wearing your skin."

"Yeah, but that's a good thing," Asuka chortled, enjoying the embrace and returning it fully. "Being part of a very exclusive club means that there aren't more of us out there making good men's lives miserable."

"Very, very, very true." Settling back, she winked playfully. "Let's head back to your place, make sure nobody's stealing our job and trying to make our husbands miserable without telling us."

+++++ Author's Notes.

First trio of surgeries done. Few complications, recovery is needed before we continue. Thank you all for your warm wishes, I really, really appreciate it.