Creation began on 01-02-18

Creation ended on 01-04-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Recuperation

Through a combination of regular consumption and intravenous fluids, Shinji Ikari had recovered enough in the short, forty-eight hours that he needed to regain some measure of strength to make the journey to Tokyo-3. During his treatment, he had shown several personnel of Japan Heavy Chemical Industries the powers of some of his Magiswords, even lending five of them over to be studied in the hopes that they could be used to help people that were suffering from the Eva program he was part of, since he had more than one of some of the same swords in case of emergencies. He had lent the company extras of his Dairy Product, Bacon, Carrot, Celery and Waffle Magiswords, enabling them to help people who were short on food.

"Your transportation will be arriving shortly, Mr. Ikari," a woman informed Shinji in the room he was in as he was waiting.

He turned to face her and responded, "Thank you, ma'am. And please, just Shinji is fine. It's not formal, but I don't wish to be accidentally compared to my father."

"Understood, Shinji."

"Thank you."

-x-

"…I still can't believe he's actually alive," said Asuka to Misato as they waited at the airport for the boy to arrive. "How'd he end up from Tokyo-3 to Tokyo through the Angel?"

"Do you honestly expect him to have the answer to how he got there and why? All he said was that he was someplace else for what felt like five years to him…and maybe it was for him," Misato stated. "The fact that he was able to find his way back here is at least a sign that he was able to obtain the means of his return…and it took him a long time to get those means."

The plane Shinji was on was expected to arrive at three-eighteen, which was fortunate for them, since it was the only plane on the arrival manifest schedule. And it was nearing that time when the redhead saw a plane set down on the ground.

"I guess that's his plane," she told Misato.

They went to the arrival gate with a sign that had Shinji's name on it, which seemed unnecessary; because of the increase in attacks by the Angels, more people left Tokyo-3 and even less people lived in or commuted to it. The gate opened up…and they saw the petite form that was Shinji's current state, dressed in a semblance of his casual clothing that was comprised of jeans and an orange shirt, earning slight concern from both women, but they could still recognize his face enough to know that he seemed within the realm of recovery.

"Shinji," greeted Misato as she went over and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're okay."

He slowly brought his arms up to hold her back, allowing Asuka to see his still-thin wrists that showed his nerves as he responded, "It's good to see you again, Misato."

What in Gott's name happened to him? Asuka wondered. Where did he go? What did he do?

-x-

"Major Katsuragi and the Second Child have retrieved the Third Child," Makoto Hyuga informed Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki. "They're bringing him to HQ for further medical evaluation and treatment."

"It's still a wonder, how he was able to disappear from Unit-01 and end up somewhere, only to end up in Tokyo a week later after saying he was elsewhere for five years." Fuyutsuki confessed.

"And he asked them to call Katsuragi, someone he trusts."

-x-

"…Other than borderline malnutrition and dehydration, he's in recovery," Ritsuko told Gendo in his office, updating him on the medical status of the Third Child. "There is something else, too. I drew blood and had his post-recovery samples analyzed…and wherever he wind up must've been high in slugs as food because his digestive tract contained unprocessed slugs mixed with ground beef."

"Slug burgers?"

"We'd have to ask him."

"Where is he now?"

"Major Katsuragi took him back to her apartment after his evaluation."

-x-

It felt like a daydream to be back in his room with the modern conveniences he knew, even if the ceiling was always unfamiliar to him. For Shinji, any ceiling was always going to be unfamiliar because, as often as he resided in one place for an undetermined period of time, it was hard to address these places as home. But this was a place that had familiar scents and sights. The one thing he couldn't hide from Misato and Asuka was his voracious appetite for the takeout food the guardian had brought; it was like he hadn't seen food in a long time…and he owed them an explanation like the people at Japan Heavy Chemical Industries.

"He didn't even complain about it being takeout," said Asuka to Misato in the living room.

"It wouldn't be weird if he did eat five dumplings and most of the teriyaki," Misato expressed. "According to Ritsuko, he might've had to eat some sort of slug-like creature as a meat substitute, wherever he was."

"They called them Slugburgers," they both heard Shinji say, seeing him by the entrance to the room, holding the knapsack he had with him when he returned. "They were like regular burgers…but with slugs mixed in with the ground beef. Not bad, really, but it makes you really want the actual thing."

He sat on the sofa beside the two and set the knapsack on the table.

"I think I've recovered enough to tell you about my sojourn experience where I ended," he told them, opening the sack and pulling out a miniature of a sword-like object with a stack of pancakes topped with butter. "This is some of what helped me to survive where I ended up. I'll show you what they can do."

The miniature then enlarged until it was large enough to be held like an actual sword, looking more like it had when tiny.

"Pancake Magisword!" A male voice announced in the room, but neither Misato and Asuka could see who had said what they assumed was the name of the sword Shinji had.

"Any requests?" Shinji asked them.

"Chocolate chip pancakes, please?" Asuka requested, and Shinji aimed the sword at the table, and saw it fire a stream of light that condensed into a plate of the pancakes she requested, topped with a strawberry and syrup. "No way!"

"Way," he revealed, sliding the dish over to her. "Go ahead, taste it."

Asuka picked up the fork that came with the dish and cut into the top pancake, putting a piece into her mouth…and felt her tastebuds ignite from the flavor. But what shocked her the most was that it was all real.

"It's real," she expressed. "How?"

"Magiswords," he stated, now holding another enlarged sword, this one with a large burger with a propeller on the top bun. "Each one has a different specialty based on its form. Here, Misato."

"Excaliburger Magisword!" The same voice announced, and the sword produced a large cheeseburger with a propeller floating towards the purple-haired woman.

Misato snatched the burger from the air and the propeller disappeared, feeling like a real one.

"Magical swords?" She questioned.

"Yeah. They were a… They are a thing where I was. Just about anyone with an interest in them had one or few or many. I was found by a pair of siblings that would go crazy each time there was a new to be found or collected. Eventually, I needed to get into the fad, as well if I wanted to survive. I have to say, I'm glad I got into obsession. I ended up getting some very rare and very beneficial Magiswords that helped me get back here."

They saw him pull out another sword, but this one was quite the looker. It was shaped like Shinji's body outline, dressed up in a white shirt and black slacks like his, but there was no face.

"What is this one called?" Asuka asked.

"It's my past and present," he answered, being cryptic…or rather, he was being cryptically literal. "I'll show you."

"Shinji Ikari History Magisword!" The same disembodied voice announced the identity of this Magisword as it was used…and Misato and Asuka saw everything.

-x-

My First Magisword

So far, the land that Shinji was told to be Lyvsheria didn't seem all that unusual. The only thing that did make him uncomfortable was being alone with the Warrior siblings' dragon houseguest because it, or rather, he just gave him the creeps a little bit. And that was what he was right now, alone with Grup.

"So…are Vambre and Prohyas always out looking for these…Magiswords?" Shinji asked the dragon in the living room.

"Yep," answered Grup, which left Shinji bothered because he could understand how people talk. "Hmm… You don't like Grup, do you?"

"What? No, that's not true."

His expression, however, told of a completely different story to the little dragon. Shinji was merely disturbed by the fact that Grup was a dragon, but totally different from what he had known about dragons from mythology…and he was nothing like the Komodo dragons that once existed in his world. If anything, Grup was like someone's attempt at making a dragon that was as close to child-friendly as possible.

"It's just…you're a dragon, yet you're not what I had expected," he confessed to Grup.

"Not what you expected?"

"All I knew about dragons was that they were…huge and not as friendly as you."

"Oh. Most dragons here don't get as big as a person…and most don't talk to people…unlike me, that is."

Shinji… Shinji… Shinji heard a voice in the room.

"What was that?" He asked Grup.

"What was what?" The dragon responded.

"You didn't hear a voice just now?"

"Nope."

Beneath your feet… He heard the voice again, more clearly and could hear that it was a male voice. Beneath your feet.

"I'm hearing a voice telling me 'beneath your feet'."

"Beneath your feet? A while back, I did hear a voice like that, but I ignored it."

"Where was this?"

"Here, actually."

"We're back!" They heard Vambre and Prohyas declare outside, reentering the house.

Prohyas had a Magisword shaped like a piece of construction equipment.

"Welcome back," Shinji greeted the siblings. "What type of Magisword is that?"

"Excavator Magisword," answered Vambre. "It can dig through hardened surfaces."

"Just like an excavator can," the Evangelion pilot realized, and an idea hit him. "Prohyas, might I borrow that for a moment?"

Prohyas thought about it for a second and decided that Shinji could be trusted with one of their Magiswords and handed over the Excavator Magisword.

"What could you possibly want to do with it?" He asked Shinji.

"With your permission, I would like to excavate under your house," he requested.

"Do you think there's some sort of treasure buried?" Vambre asked him.

"I'm not sure."

They permitted Shinji to excavate under their house and he took the Magisword outside and walked a good seven feet away so as to not cause any unintentional property damage.

"Excavator Magisword!" The voice of a man announced as Shinji used the sword-like object on the ground, rapidly digging a large hole.

"Whoa!" He gasped; he hadn't expected it to be so wild and powerful. "I was just expecting it to be subtle!"

However, since it was his first use of any Magisword, the Warriors gave him the benefit of the doubt that first-time usage of any was always the worst time. In less than a minute, perhaps eight tons of dirt, the excavation ceased.

THUNK! Shinji hit something solid that the sword was now meant to break.

"Retractable Ladder Magisword!" That same voice announced as Shinji wiped away small amounts of dirt off of a large chest, and saw Vambre and Prohyas climb down into the hole.

Shinji looked up and couldn't believe the sword shifted through enough dirt to be almost a mile deep. It was amazing.

"What'd you find?" Prohyas asked, looking at the chest.

At last, someone finds me, that voice in Shinji's head expressed, coming from the chest.

"Something," Shinji stated; he wasn't sure what he found yet.

Opening the chest, the three were bathed in light.

"Waaahh!" They gasped.

Large, TV-like screens manifested around the three, all of them showing Shinji at various moments in his past, from his childhood he had very little memory of, the time he spent piloting the Eva, his estrangement from his father, his displacement into the world of Lyvsheria, all the way up to now.

"Shinji Ikari History Magisword!" That voice announced the name of some Magisword they knew nothing about, and the light faded, revealing Shinji holding a Magisword that looked like his body.

"Oh, dear heart!" Vambre gasped, seeing Shinji actually suffering in the Eva, whether he was in a battle against a giant creature or not.

"Fuss," went Prohyas, seeing Shinji being walked away from his negligent, black-hearted father.

Shinji saw events that he had forgotten about due to the trauma he experienced with losing his mother. Somehow, the Magisword he had found, or rather, the Magisword that wanted somebody to find it, was able to reveal the total sum of the finder and wielder's past, whether they themselves had recall or not. Anytime it was used, it would reveal everything there was to know about them up to the present, where there was nothing but the current events not related to their past, which was history.

When the screens creased showing everything after showing Shinji finding the Magisword, the Warrior siblings looked to him and bowed their heads in sympathy.

"Looks like you found your first Magisword," Vambre praised him, then looked at the chest, "and something else, too."

Shinji back at the chest and saw some things that weren't there before. Inside the chest were a note and a set of dark clothes. He picked up the note and began reading.

"Congratulations on finding the Magisword that will forever represent your past up to the present. If this is your first one, then all the more reason you were meant to find it. There are other Magiswords out there that need to be collected. Some of which may be the ones you need to change your fate and the fates of others important to you. You must be the one to gain these Magiswords however you can, no matter how long it takes you. Do your best to escape the darkness looming over your soul. I shall have faith in your ability to succeed. Use the power you have. Good luck." The note read.

He showed the note to the Warriors and picked up the clothes in the chest, also finding a small pouch that jingled when moved. Opening the pouch, Shinji removed a small number of strange, gold coins with what looked like a silver or maybe platinum, unicursal hexagram engraved in each one.

"Oh, dear heart," he heard Vambre say. "They really do exist."

"These coins?" Shinji asked her, putting them back in the pouch. "What are they?"

"Empire Coins," revealed Prohyas to him. "Based on old stories, these were the god-like wealth of families chosen by almighty beings to guide the rest of the world to an age of peace and prosperity. They say one coin can pay for a decade's worth of food at any marketplace these days. Their value exceeds that of jemms."

Shinji didn't count the number of these coins that were in the pouch, but figured if he needed to find more of these Magiswords in order to find the ones necessary to get back to his world, he had to rely on the Warriors' knowledge and develop his own skills if he was to survive.

"Thank you for helping me to find this," he praised the siblings…and gave each an Empire Coin as a form of payment.

"That note says you need to find other Magiswords," Prohyas stated, "which means you just started something amazingly-daring."

"We know most places to go to in order to find Magiswords," Vambre revealed, "and there's one place to go for most Magiswords, and that's Ralphio's House of Swords, owned by Ralphio Sabreware. Some of the ones we have we got from there."

Shinji decided he needed to go to this Ralphio Sabreware…but first wanted to change out of his plugsuit, as he hadn't had any other clothes to use before finding the clothes in the chest.

To be continued…

A/N: Some wondered if I wasn't going to use the announcer voice. Boo-yah!