Tokyo-3 Arcana


Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I'm I doing wrong (to correct it).


Chapter 10

From Light to Darkness. From Joy to Anger.


NERV Secondary Base at Matsushiro
Sunday, 10:27 A.M.

"Man, I feel so strange." Toji turned around, looking at his own backside on a full body mirror. "I bet the Class Rep would slap me if she saw me in this outfit. It doesn´t leave anything for the imagination!"

A soft knock on the door announced Major Katsuragi´s entrance. "Ready, Toji? The first synch test is in ten minutes. And I hope you´re ready for a lot of just sitting there doing nothing but get bored."

"Yeah, I´m ready. Shinji has told Kensuke and me how it goes, Major K."

Misato almost facepalmed. "Toji, the proper way to address your superior officer is either rank and full surname, or just the rank. Major K sounds like a cereal brand." Still, she was smiling a bit, so he hadn´t offended her.

"Sorry, Major. I´m new to all this. Kensuke is the one who knows all that by heart. Maybe he would have been a better choice. At least he likes the idea."

A shadow crossed the Major´s face, but she shook it off. "Maybe the next one. Although I´m almost sure he would try to take the EVA for an unauthorized joyride."

Toji smiled back at the very image. "He would!"


Tokyo-3; Katsuragi-Ikari-Soryu Apartment
Sunday, 5:17 P.M.

"So, senpai..? Now?" Asuka held her spell book in her hands, while Shinji finished drying the plates. The young pilot dried his hands with a towel, and smiled back at her.

"Sure, Kaji went for some food, he should return in about an hour or so. Follow me. I´m going to show you the coolest things I brought back from Oerth." He put the last plate in its place, and went to his room. "You are not going to believe it!"

Once back in the living room, Shinji brought a black handkerchief from a hiding place. Asuka saw him unfold it, and unfold it, and unfold it! The thing was the size of a bedsheet! A kingsize bedsheet, in fact. Shinji extended it over the floor. "Now, watch." He said, and put his hand inside! It looked like he was searching for something. Impossibly, the blackness just absorbed his hand, ordinarily, his hand should have stopped at the floor, but it was now well below the floor level! Asuka recoiled with a gasp, remembering how the 12th Angel had absorbed Unit-01.

For a moment, Shinji just looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face, until understanding why she had gasped. He hit his forehead with the palm of his hand, "Oh, sorry; sorry. I forgot how this looks like, I had the same reaction the first time I saw it, too. Should have remembered it. Come closer. It´s perfectly safe." Shinji pulled his hand, holding what seemed to be the top of a… a ladder. And impossibly, he stepped down into the dark sheet, lowering himself into it. As he descended, he smiled warmly at her. "Don´t worry, it´s just a portable hole, it´s completely harmless by itself. Although the Justicar and Escalla can make weapons out of almost anything!" his smile grew wider, "Step carefully after me. It is time for you to meet your mentor in wizarding magic."

Carefully and gingerly, the redheaded girl put a finger into the black surface, and once she saw it had no effect on her, Asuka followed him. Although with some hesitancy she did her best to squash. Once inside, she saw they were in a round room, about four meters in diameter. There were several old style chests, made of wood, with metal bands; they almost looked like pirate chests from the movies, except their tops were flat, not curved. And there was an elaborate lectern in the center of the room. Between two chests, Asuka saw a bunch of manga books.

"Welcome to my home away from home, Asuka!" Shinji spread his arms expansively. There was a huge smile on his face. Asuka had never seen such joy on the Third Child´s face.

"Very nice… Quite homey." Asuka looked around, the lectern seemed to call her attention at a primal level. She realized if there was a place for a big and powerful magic book, like the Tome of Arcane Knowledge surely was, it would be there. But the lectern was placed in such a way she couldn´t see what was over it´s V shaped top.

A new voice filled the strange place. "Finally! You took your sweet own time, kid! Is than my apprentice?" The voice was a bit shrill, though; ruining the effect Asuka had expected from a magical, talking book. She expected a deep, ponderous, elegant, maybe even rumbling voice.

"She is. Asuka, let me introduce you to Tom. Tom, this is Asuka Langley Soryu, my fellow pilot and your apprentice in the Magical Arts."

Asuka walked around the lectern, anxious to see the magical book for the first time. Only to find a strange surprise looking at her with big emerald eyes.

It was a cat.

A clockwork cat.

A toy.

A Gott-damned toy.

"Asuka, meet the Tom of Arcane Knowledge. Tom for short."

Asuka turned towards Shinji, a murderous glare in her eyes. "What. Is. The. Meaning. Of. This; Third?" she poked his chest repeatedly with her finger, punctuating each word. "Is this some fucking sick joke at my expense?"

Without flinching, Shinji lifted the mechanical cat from the lectern. Scratching its head, while the two emerald eyes looked at Asuka. "If it´s a joke, my friends and I did fell for it, Asuka. But actually, Tom here was made as a tutor for young nobles who showed any affinity to magic."

"Indeed I was, girl. Made by the great wizardess Vandelia, grandniece and apprentice of the very great wizard Pentaglio. She made me by using his notes, years after Pentaglio died. It took her twenty six years to find the notes, for they disappeared when Pentaglio died. Vandelia did improve on his work, giving me the ability to teach magic. As her own health was falling, she made me to continue her own work; first to teach the third daughter of the king himself." The cat preened self-importantly, and waved an exquisitely detailed paw, stressing his point. "My creator had a strange sense of humor, and she thought a fine joke to name me so. Now, the kid here found me in a deep dungeon, and was so kind to wake me up. Sadly, being a sorcerer, he cannot learn from me, but he promised he would find the best, most brightest apprentice he could; and here I am, and here you are. Now, are you going to go in a huff, or will you put that sharp intellect he says you have to the task? Hmm?" The toy cat tilted its head to one side, looking deeply into her eyes with an unblinking gaze.

Asuka breathed deeply several times, trying to calm herself. She almost spoke a couple of times, but thought better. Until she finally felt her temper was under her control again.

"Third, I´m going out for a minute. I´ll come back once I have calmed down. Right now, I´m this close to doing I don´t know what." She dropped her spell book over a chest.

Tom nodded, "You do that, girl."

Asuka went up the ladder. The last thing she heard was Shinji´s voice. "I told you she was fire and life incarnated."


Tokyo-3 General Hospital
Same Time.

"Father? Where's Toji?"

"He is working, Sakura." Mr. Suzuhara checked his watch. "By now, they must be about to show him what he must do."

Sakura Suzuhara looked down. "I thought he would be here too, to go to the new hospital."

Mr. Suzuhara took the hand of his daughter and squeezed it softly. "He couldn't come, Sakura. He arranged for you to go to a better hospital for your treatment. But he had to start yesterday at his new job..."

"But I wanted him here!" Sakura's eyes filled with tears. "...I'm scared..."

Her father caressed her hair. "I know." He smiled wanly at her. "Wanna know a secret?" The girl nodded. "I'm scared too. For you, for him, for all of us."

The door opened, and two orderlies entered the room. "Mr. Suzuhara? The ambulance is ready. We're here to transport Miss Sakura to NERV's Sanatorium."

Both Suzuharas looked at each other. Mr. Suzuhara patted Sakura's shoulder. "Toji will come back soon, and he will visit you as soon as possible, Okay?"

"...Okay..."


Tokyo-3, Horaki Household
Same Time.

"Here are the star charts you bought, Limiry." Hikari set what looked like an old-style road map on the garden table.

"Great! Now, help me orient it..." she pulled a compass out from her pocket, and directed Hikari as the two aligned the star chart on a clearing.

A couple of minutes later, it was ready. "Now, we wait for nightfall. I´m going to teach you to guide yourself with Desna´s gift. The stars on the sky."

The next hour was spent with a long, but interesting tale of how Desna had created the night jewels. Plus several tips to orient herself with them.

At some point, Nozomi arrived, she wanted to play a game with Limiry, but her talk was so interesting the child simply sat next to them, and listened to the tales the gnome cleric spun for her sister.


NERV Secondary Base at Matsushiro
Control Bridge 5:26 P.M.

The long litany of technical readouts and operational proceedings had gone its normal course, but somehow, Misato had an overwhelming sense of foreboding. She was sure something would go wrong.

So far, no problem had been detected. Toji had previous experience breathing LCL, so the process wasn't so overwhelming for him as It was for Shinji. 'Damn..! This really smells like blood...' He thought.

Everything was normal.

Until the synch rate reached the Absolute Borderline.

The synch rate was watched by something very alien.

Very smart in his own way.

And very dangerous.

From inside Unit-03's Core.


NERV Secondary Base at Matsushiro
Unit-03´s Provisional Cage
5:27:05 P.M.

Bardiel's patience had worked perfectly in his favor.

He could have attacked at any time before, during the synch tests; but waiting for the activation test meant he not only had an Evangelion Unit at his disposal, It also meant a good chunk of NERV's tech crew was in reach!

When the systems reached the Absolute Borderline, Bardiel released a pulse of energy sending the EVA cages and a big part of the surrounding mountain into a Sea of Dirac

Unit-03 roared, the armor on its back was pushed out by Bardiel's own angelic flesh, showing a knot of veins in the underlying tissues.

And a cylindrical shaft of stone, dirt and metal was vaporized.

The loss of structural support dragged down other parts of the base.


NERV Secondary Base at Matsushiro
Control Bridge
5:27:07 P.M.

"EVERYBODY OUT! LEAVE EVERYTHING! EVERYB..!"


Tokyo-3; Katsuragi-Ikari-Soryu Apartment
5:35 P.M.

Asuka dropped down into the portable hole, her face a mask of horror. Hell cellphone still in her grip.

Shinji jumped up from his seat over a chest, while Tom jumped down from his lap. "Wha..?"

"Shinji! Something happened at Matsushiro! We must report to NERV right NOW! Kaji is on his way here and we need to be ready and waiting for him on the ground floor five minutes ago!"

"Got it! Tom, we will continue later."

"Go!"

In a few seconds, while Asuka ran out to call the elevator, Shinji folded efficiently the portable hole back to the size of a handkerchief, and stored it back into the same hiding place.

Three minutes later, both teenagers were being driven to the GeoFront by a Ryoji Kaji completely oblivious to trafic laws.


In Route to Tokyo-3, Mount Nobe
6:20 P.M.

Shinji sat unconfortably on his seat in the Entry Plug. He had set the EVA in the same posture of a runner ready to start a race, one knee set on the ground, a foot planted firmly, and both hands touching the ground with only the fingertips. He had already connected the umbilical cable at the back of Unit-01, connected to a portable generator. He was ready for the tense wait, and took advantage of the moment to think.

Every hint, every clue led him to dark fears. Most of his willpower was set on mantaining the bland expression on his face. Still, his mouth was a thin line of purpose. Misato and Dr. Akagi were absent from Central Dogma, at the Secondary base at Matsushiro. He couldn't be sure if the secondary bridge bunnies were there too or if they were simply out of their rotation at the moment. Toji's absence from school was almost certainly due to him piloting Unit-03...

And to top everything off, Commander Ikari had assumed charge for the operation. 'The damn idiot deployed us in a line! Out of sight of each other! We can't support the other EVAs!'

A voice intruded in his mind. 'Shinji... I couldn't make contact with Unit-02, they put it too far away from Unit-01´s maintenance cage; but.. I contacted Unit-00. I have terrible news...'

Mentally, Shinji nodded, readying himself for the inevitable blow. 'Go ahead, Mother.'

Yui Ikari's voice seemed to gulp a painfully big lump. 'It has part of a soul. A murdered child's.'

'Why I'm I not surprised at all, Mother?' Anger bubbled on his surface thoughts, Jus´ voice rang clear in his memories. "Anger can be another weapon, but you must be careful not to let it control you. Control it, ride it like a wave. Use it."Shinji obeyed his mentor, and put a tight reign on his anger.

'It's even worse, son. The soul is Rei's'

'WHAT?' Shinji gripped the control yoke so hard he almost dented it.

'She's angry, hurt, and half-crazy with fear and pain.' Yui sighed. 'I'm not sure of the how or the why, but she was murdered by Naoko. Gendo set them up for a murder-suicide when Rei was four years old.'

It took all his self-control to not enter into a Berserker rage. Shinji breathed deeply several times. 'I'm gonna pass judgement on him, Mother.' For a moment, he seemed to be chewing the muscles of his own jaw. 'And There Will Be Justice.'

'He isn't the man I thought I married.' There was anger and sadness in her voice. 'There's something else. They put a second plug in the EVA. I feel nothing in there, except for some buzzing. It almost feels like an echo.'

Shinji nodded mentally. 'Any idea of what's in it?"

'I'm not sure. But it feels really wrong.'

'Hmm... We might have to do something about it, if it gets on the way. I don't trust the Commander to not boobytrap the other plug." The senses of the EVA alerted him; a regular stomping felt through the fingertips, set against the ground; and through the soles of its feet. 'Here It comes. Can you feel It?'

'Yes, I it. It's 's not even trying to be stealthy."

'Be ready, we will talk later.'

'Be careful.'

Shinji opened comm channels to the other EVAs. Images of Rei and Asuka appeared at his sides. "The Angel is close."

Rei nodded. Asuka kept her mask on. "Tell us something we don't know, Third Child."

"Toji might be the pilot."

Asuka suspected the same. "Riiight. As if we didn't have enough problems."

Rei hesitated for a moment. "Confirmed. He was chosen as the Fourth Child. Weren't you informed?"

"No. No one told me."

Commander Ikari's dry, cold, voice interrupted them. "Unit-03 has been reclassified as the 13th Angel. Second Child, the Angel is closing on your position, destroy it."

"That's it?" Shinji asked. He couldn't believe his ears. "What about the pilot?"

"Irrelevant. The Angel's destruction has priority. It that clear?"

"V-very clear. C-Commander Ikari." With a supreme effort, Shinji mantained his meek facade. He had almost spat a couple of Escalla's most creative expelitives. But it wasn't the moment. His own Scenario required to keep Gendo Ikari at NERV until the endgame. He was a known quantity. If he was removed, SEELE would replace him with someone else. Someone who would surely follow through with SEELE's plans. Someone he couldn´t take precautions against. Not without a lot of time to study their behavior.

Gendo Ikari hadn't bothered to activate the image feed from the Entry Plugs. Had he done so, the murderous look that flashed in the eyes of his stranged son would have sent a chill down his spine. As it was, he felt satisfied he had cowed the Third Child into submission. He smiled behind his tented fingers.

´Soon, Third Child;´ he thought,´soon you will be the perfect tool to enact my wife´s return to me.´


Author Notes.

Unlike canon, this Asuka was so focused in learning magic, she didn't snoop on Kaji's office. So she didn't know for certain who was Unit-03 's pilot.


Tom, or better yet, The Tom of Arcane Knowledge, is a mix of two magical items from the rich history of D&D. The first one comes from the much maligned satiric module, Castle Greyhawk (for AD&D 1st Edition, Code WG7), from where I took most of the inspiration for Tom´s debut. The cat in Castle Greyhawk was actually called Ye Secret Tom of Inestimable Knowledge. (I had planned on introducing it to my PC party, in almost the same way I did here, but circumstances put that particular game in indefinite hiatus…)

The other item is Golden, the Clockwork Cat. It was part of an article in Dragon Magazine (issue 299, Sept 2002), about a series of magical toys made by the wizard Pentaglio. So, It was not a big stretch of the imagination to think that Pentaglio had also made a toy to teach magic to children. However, the same article said that Pentaglio had died soon after completing his work on Golden. The same article mentioned that Pentaglio had a lot of nephews and nieces, and in fact, most of his toys were made for them. Vendelia is my own original character, but just as a background NPC, so there is no need for her stats or anything else.

Now, the reason I had to make Tom was simple fun. I thought it would be cool to prime Asuka for a big ponderous revelation, only to make it all fall flat in a way. Just like it must have been for the players of Castle Greyhawk, but with added value. Tom is actually a good teacher!

And a jerk.