Epilogue

"I got it!" Shinji said as his tail came out of the fridge, the tip holding a bottle of tart cherry sauce.

"Uh." Asuka said, sitting at the kitchen table and waiting for breakfast. "That thing is useful, I admit. Did you wash it?"

"Yes," he rolled his eyes. "I took a full bath, with tail, horns and wings out. It's all clean."

Asuka saw a bit of annoyed fluster in his cheeks, and giggled mischievously.

Having finished his fishes already, Pen-pen was in the living room, watching TV. The news feed was once again talking about the big crater in the middle of the city. A couple of days had passed, but it would take some more time to fix all the damage. Misato had suffered the most, due to the ungodly amount of paperwork. Hence why she was still in bed: she had vowed to not leave her room in her day off except to go to the bathroom. Maybe.

Asuka paid little attention to the blabbering of the television. She'd rather focus on the noise of breakfast being made. Soon enough, she was presented with a dish of German waffles. Shinji had insisted on trying.

"Not bad for your first try," she said, taking a bite. A second one followed, almost immediately. "Not bad at all! It's pretty good! So why aren't you eating?"

Caught red handed, Shinji didn't even try to pretend that everything was fine. He looked away, while drumming on the plate with his fork. Asuka didn't insist, at least not verbally; but she kept her eyes on him. They both knew that she would have her answer.

"I'm just thinking about the people of that other world," Shinji said.

"I suspected it."

"Aren't you a little bit curious? I mean, I saw..."

"I saw something too."

Their eyes met, blue and blue. Yes, she was curious. He could see her in her stare.

"I think," Shinji continued. "I think I would've liked to meet my other version. Speak with him. Know his opinions on... stuff."

"I did meet my other version," Asuka said. "But we barely got to talk. Although..." her fork halted, and returned to the plate. "She seemed... sad."

"Considering what Iscariote did to them, I can understand."

"Nah." Asuka took a bite, and then drummed on her chin with the fork. "She was angry at that stupid weed. Her sadness was from before, I think. For something else." She shrugged. "But, as much as I'd like to solve this mystery, we won't get anywhere by worrying about it. You think too much, and you're gonna miss important things."

"Maybe. Still, I'd like it if they could be reborn, somehow, somewhere, and have another chance at life. I hope they do."

"Maybe they are. I mean, who can tell what's going on, really? We have Angels, Demons, Evas, and now alternate timelines. Maybe God, the multiverse or whatever is in charge will give them a break. Now eat your waffle or I'll do it."

Shinji looked at her as she wolfed her breakfast down. She even licked her lips after each bite, probably without noticing. A smile crept into his lips, but he didn't try to fight it back.

Missing important things...

"You're right," he said, and took a bite.


In another place, in another time…

Maybe…

"Auntie, the suit is itchy," little Shinji protested.

"I know, Puppy," Mari said, combing his hair. "But you need to be elegant tonight. We're meeting someone very special!"

"Who?"

"An old friend of your mother." She grinned. "And she'll bring a princess!"

END

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AUTHOR NOTES:

As it says in the description, it's up to you to decide if these events are canon or not. They won't be referenced in the main DLS story, but if you wish to consider them canon, that's fine :) Think of this as a DBZ movie. Technically not canon, but it could have happened. In fact, I was trying to make this feel like a DBZ or One Piece movie, hence why characters like Sosuke, Vorak and Lamia only appeared briefly, did something for the plot and were never mentioned again xD It's also the reason why some parts might feel rushed.

In case you're wondering about the titles: Cocytus is the last level of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy, and it's a frozen pit reserved for traitors. It's divided in four sub-levels called Caina (traitors to blood relatives), Antenora (traitors to country), Ptolomea (traitors to guests) and Judecca (traitors to masters and benefactors). I though it would be fitting since, especially during the first months after the release of 3.0+1.0, Mari was considered by many to be a traitor who stole Shinji from Asuka and...

...

...

...oh, who am I kidding? I chose those names because I'm pretentious and wanted to brag xD

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked it. Special thanks go to the people of the Asushin Discord server, who helped me a lot and were very patient with my questions. So thanks to skyf0x, DarkBlueZero, Bubbles, TheCarpetMerchant and BG_Character_592 (sorry if I forgot someone); and also to all my friends here and there who have been supporting me for these past two and a half years, or more.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a prosperous New Year to all of you :D

Demon Lord Shinji will return soon.