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).
The Author Notes are numbered in the text, in this chapter, they are particular to the Justicar and Escalla novels.
We Don´t Know What You Did Last Summer (Or Five…).
Tokyo-3, Katsuragi-Ikari-Soryu Apartment
"Uh, Shinji, you said you´ve known about Instrumentality for months. How is that even possible?" Misato asked, her anger now under her control. Her hands still shook, but less and less by the second.
Shinji held her hands for a couple of seconds more, and realized she would recover completely. He exhaled in relief, Misato had been the first person in his life to look at him and seeing another person, not a burden, nor a tool, nor a scientific experiment.
Just for that, he would fight for her to the best of his capabilities. He would even discard his facade if necessary.
He released her hands carefully, making sure she felt he wouldn't abandon her.
Shinji stood again, and Tom jumped to his arms, demanding attention. Shinji scratched behind the mechanical cat´s ears, making him purr. "That's a long tale, best told over a fire on the woods. But I think we can do it here. It's been a long day, and our bodies need sustenance. Asuka, Rei," the two female pilots pilots perked up, "will you help me prepare a feast?"
"Yes." Rei answered, standing up. Next to her, Asuka stood up a moment later, she smoothed her skirt, and then looked at her hands in slight disgust. "Yeah, but I will need to change first, wandering around in a spider nest, not good for clothes. Wonder Girl, you too. I'll loan you one of my dresses, come with me." Vester´s voice let itself be heard, as the pair entered Asuka´s room, "I am certainly NOT cutting nor peeling food! I am the weapon of champions, and I have my dignity…" Asuka slid closed her door with more force than strictly needed, cutting off the rest of the blade´s tirade.
Shinji smiled at her departure, but kept silent. Tom still purring. "I'll return soon. I want to get some things you can't get around here." He went to his own room, leaving the door open.
Until the food was ready, he would refuse any attempt to get the story out of him.
About five minutes later, the two female pilots emerged from what had once, long ago, been his room. Seeing them, he couldn´t contain his smile. Asuka wore an orange sundress, almost identical to the one she had lost during the Eight Angel´s attack, almost a lifetime ago. And Rei was wearing a light blue dress that complimented her skin and hair. It was a very flattering look for his sister. "You two look great." He said.
Asuka grinned self-importantly, while Rei´s cheeks tinged with a very small blush.
Tokyo-3
Alley behind New Star Mall
It had only taken one try. To be honest, Grurruk had thought it would be more difficult to get the goblins to obey him. But once they saw him shrug away their clubs, and take the dogslicer off the hands of their leader (along with most of his left hand, by the way), the small tribe of goblins folded to his leadership.
First order of the day, get food. Second order, find a good place to sleep.
The goblins began to argue about exactly whom should be doing what, until the orc cut off any discussion by the simple expedient of stomping on the body of the ex-leader, crushing most of his torso to a bloody pulp, pointing at each goblin, and assigning them a task to do.
Close to five minutes later, long after Grurruk and his new and problematic gang of unruly goblins had departed, the body of the unfortunate goblin chief evaporated among wisps of smoke and dust.
Soon, there would be nothing to mark the passing of the goblin.
Tokyo-3
Main Sewage Treatment Plant
The giant amoeba that had been prowling around in the sewers, feeding on the varied detritus of modern city life finally found what could be considered paradise. A big tank of steel and stone, where the waste water was collected, and began to be separated from the contaminants it carried. Excrement and biological waste was filtered, while other debris was separated by automatic filters and moved up, where it was further separated by size, and eventually checked by remote sensors, in case something interesting or dangerous appeared.
The giant amoeba checked both boxes, but as it was independently mobile, it managed to stay clear from the scoop system, and happily stayed down. Soon, it would divide in two, resulting in two giant amoebas.
And far less work for the recycling systems.
Tokyo-3
Katsuragi-Ikari-Soryu Apartment
A few minutes later, the trio had begun to cut and mix ingredients for several dishes, Asuka and Rei followed Shinji´s directions to the letter. Said ingredients included several spices and vegetables not native from Earth.
For some reason, Shinji had put some foul smelling leaves into tea strainer, as if preparing a cup of tea. He left the water to boil for some time, then took the little pot on the kitchen counter and covered it with a plate, leaving it to cool down. Later, he would put it to heat again.
Misato opened the balcony. Shinji smiled to himself.
Half an hour later, Shinji served the first dish, a thick, rich vegetable soup. Misato and Hikari tried it carefully at first, but soon began to spoon it into their mouths as if they were starving. Rusilka tasted hers, and added a pinch of dry leaves from a small plate Shinji had left in the middle of the table.
"Needs just a bit more of scadpree." She said, apologetically.
Shinji nodded. "Noted, next time I´ll add a pinch more."
Rusilka looked around and explained, "Dwarven soup. My mother used to cook it for us when… Wait, …I can remember that!" Her eyes lit up at the memory.
Limiri´s eyes followed immediately. "Maybe your memories are coming back!" Closing her eyes, she joined her hands in silent prayer, and Hikari followed the example of her mentor.
Shinji put the pot on the center of the table, over a round piece of wood to protect the tablecloth. "I hope that's the case. I would like if you and Rusilka wrote down what you can and cannot remember. That way we can compare your memories now and later. Hopefully you will remember more and more things and details."
When the bowls were empty, Shinji served a salad. It was a simple Japanese recipe, very much appreciated by Rei, Limiry and Misato. Once that was finished, two main dishes. A vegetable roast for Rei and Limiry, and fish for everybody else. Both dishes were generously bathed in a thick, creamy sauce.
While everybody ate, Shinji began his tale, pausing only to put a piece of food in his mouth, and chew carefully. "Asuka knows part of this, so I ask for patience with the parts you already know."
The red-headed pilot nodded, saying, "Go ahead, Sensei. This dish is delicious! So I won't argue with you." She stressed he point by looking at a piece of fish, before popping it in her mouth.
Shinji leaned back on his chair, and began his tale, "For me, it begins with the Twelfth Angel, the one which was a shadow."
Asuka swallowed, and tapped her right index on the table, she looked at Rusilka, Limiry and Hikari. "That one was a dimensional anomaly. It looked like a black shadow, but it was almost like a hole on the ground, several buildings fell into it, along with several dozens of cars, bikes, and assorted stuff. But the Gott-damned thing was thinner than a…" She searched for a comparison their guests could understand, and came up with none, "thinner than a cat´s hair. Way thinner than that."
"The Angel not only was a dimensional anomaly, it was a whole dimension by itself. Inside it, I couldn't see an end to it, just white space in every direction, EVA-01´s senses and instruments didn't have a way to measure the limits of it. Though I could locate several of the things the Angel had absorbed." Shinji continued, "But the really important this is that the Twelfth Angel was a dimensional door."
Kaji was the first one to connect the dots, "It sent you to another world!"
"Right on the first try, Kaji. It is a very different world from this one."
Now it was Tom who spoke. "Oerth. One of the many worlds that exists in the multiverse."
Shinji scratched behind Tom´s ears. "Yup. One of many. From what I can deduce from what Rusilka and Limiry have told me, and some of the events since my return, Oerth is more alike to their world than to Earth. It is a world from some fantasy novel, with magic, gods, dragons and strange creatures." Both dimensional exiles nodded their agreement.
"When I was inside the Angel, Unit-01´s systems went off one by one. Life support was the last. I was breathing LCL more and more dirty each minute, and the cold was getting worse too. I was sure I would die there, alone and forgotten…" Shinji closed his eyes, and trembled.
Misato and Asuka held his hands at the same time, Rei followed them a moment later, she would later realize that her hand had covered Asuka´s, but the redheaded pilot hadn´t reacted negatively to the contact.
Shinji opened his eyes, and smiled at them. He squeezed their hands back. Misato wondered at the rough callouses on his fingers and palm, but didn't say anything.
"I am not sure what happened, but I woke up later, on the floor of a forest. That was the luckiest day of my life. I had been found by an adventuring party. Heroes all." He smiled sadly. "I found a family and a place I could really belong."
The Third Child stood up, extracted a roll of parchment from an ivory case and unfurled it. He held it open to show a group portrait. Down center, Shinji himself, dressed with leather armor, and smiling widely. To his right, a gangly blonde teenager, holding a crossbow, also dressed with leather armor. To Shinji´s left, for some reason, a badger dressed with a shirt made to its size, holding a big hat with a feather in its claws. Behind Shinji, to his right, a small blonde woman, who seemed to be about two feet high, with transparent insectile wings, she wore an outrageously small dress, that left nothing to the imagination. Kaji whistled in appreciation of her beauty, only to receive Misato´s elbow to the ribs. "Behave, you old dog!" She hissed.
Behind Shinji, the diminutive woman held the hand of the big man standing at Shinji´s left. There was a stern expression on his squarish face. He seemed to be almost grunting, but there was a spark of savage cunning in his eyes. He wore black armor, seemingly made of the scales of an incredibly big reptile. On his helmet rested the head of a black dog, somehow leaking smoke from its nostrils, smiling like a piranha, the rest of the pelt hung like a cloak over his broad shoulders, the front paws tied in a knot over his chest. For some reason, he held up the handle of a luminous sword with a wolf head pommel; showing it clearly, as if presenting tit for inspection, but pointing downwards.
Finally, behind and above the group, the face of an enormous young woman, with freckles over her nose, her hair braided with a thousand beads. She wore a headdress that looked Egyptian. Two enormous wings apparently coming from the woman´s back framed the group
Shinji held a crystal ball in his hands, almost the size of a bowling ball, and another person could be seen in the reflection. A painter´s easel could be seen, and behind it, a woman with short, dark hair, and six arms peered at the side of the easel, obviously drawing the group, her serpentine tail wrapped around the stump of a tree. (1).
The pilot pointed at each figure in the drawing. "These are my friends, Henry the Fighter." He pointed at the young man with the crossbow, "just the guy you´d want next to you in a fight." He then pointed at the extravagantly dressed badger. "Polk the teamster, he died and was reincarnated into an animal body; but that was before I met them, so I only knew him as the badger. He loves his drinks, and he chronicled our adventures in his unique style. Maybe later I will show you a copy of the journal he wrote our first meeting in."
"Here, reflected in the crystal ball, Morag, the Marilith. A renegade demon who was our magic advisor, and our lawyer. Never mess with an ex-secretary with poetic tastes and a bit of OCD." He shook his head. "She got hitched to a really nice incubus, but I never even met him. She´s very jealous of their privacy. Last I heard, they were about to publish a book on poetry, can you believe it? (2)"
Then he pointed at the brown-haired woman at the back. "Enid, the Sphinx. You won't ever find a sweeter girl. She loves riddles and books. She is engaged to Henry, they have to take some potions to change shape, but they make it work. They were planning their wedding when I came back…" Asuka noticed then the big paw resting on Henry´s shoulder. (3)
Shinji´s voice cracked, but he recovered almost immediately. He tapped at the sword, "This is Benelux, a sword forged at yet another dimension; she's very proper, proud, and demanding in questions of etiquette. I learned much of how to behave from her." Asuka rolled her eyes, "Say… like Vester?"
"Yup, but Vester was made in Oerth." Shinji continued, now pointing at the black dog pelt, he smiled again, as if remembering an old prank. "Cinders, the pelt of a hellhound with his soul still attached to the skin. Despite coming from a very literal Hellish place, he is just a big, friendly dog. He can also breath flames and is a bit of a pyromaniac, but very fun to be around if you're not worried about fire." Asuka shot Shinji a very significant look, Shinji nodded.
"Now, these two are my mentors, I learned the most from them. They actually adopted me as a member of their family. My full name is… you're gonna laugh… Shinji Ikari Brightflower, adopted son of the Nightshade Clan (4)." He paused until the expected laughs receded. "Yeah, I know, I sound like a faerie. But that's because it is true! Plus, technically I am a faerie prince, but I´m outside the succession line."
He tapped at the small woman. "Princess Escalla Brightflower, or just Escalla. She's the best trickster and con artist you could find. She's able to sell holy water to a demon and get him to toast with it. I'm not just saying it. I saw her do it! The poor demon had a nasty case of being dead afterwards. Shouldn´t have been running a slave ring… (5)"
He chuckled. "Oh, the things she taught me! Mostly magic, once we realized I had the gift as a Sorcerer." He smiled again, his grin was disturbingly similar to Cinders´.
"And last, but never least, the Justicar. He taught me combat, ethics, swordsmanship, stealth. But most importantly, he taught me how to think. He is more of a father to me than the Commander. And I am proud to be his adopted son."
Carefully, Shinji rolled up the parchment, and put it back into an ebony scroll holder that he closed carefully.
"We had many adventures, we brought justice to many places, saved many people, and rid Oerth of many villains and monsters. I stayed with them for five years."
"Wait, wait, wait." Kaji waved his arms around. "Five years? How is that even possible? You were missing for less than a day, Shinji! And even if you had stayed there for that long, how come you are not older?"
Shinji tilted his head at Tom, the mechanical cat sat up on the table, waving a paw didactically, "rhere are several possibilities, maybe time runs differently in other dimensions. That, or the two dimensions were out of synch. Or maybe Shinji traveled back in time. Truth is, though it really irks me, I don´t know. In any case, Shinji´s time on Oerth was to be exactly five local years. After that, both he and his golem, Unit-01 as you call it, would simply return to their place of origin."
"So, did you find the actual Fountain of Youth, or something?" Misato asked.
Asuka laughed. "That's what I asked when he told me!" She turned to Shinji, a predatory look in her eyes, "and you still haven't told me!" She punched him on the arm again. It was like punching a wall. She rubbed her knuckles for a moment.
"Well… have you ever read faerie tales? What happens when a mortal dances the night away with the faeries?"
It was Hikari who answered, "They return home years later and everybody has forgo…" she stopped mid-word. "You mean… That happened to you?"
"Not exactly, turns out that being constantly around a faerie stops the aging process completely." Shinji smiled jovially. "Very useful when you are in an unending fight for justice. I would really like to see my family again, and knowing that Escalla is practically immortal, and everybody else is too for as long as they keep near her, gives me hope. But now that I am back here, I have a job to do. To stop Third Impact, and be a force for justice, just as the Justicar taught me."
He stood up, and poured himself some of the awfully smelling water in a cup. He drank a bit, to Misato´s amazement. "What the hell are you drinking!? That stuff stinks to high heaven!"
Shinji smiled. "This? It´s just some tea from Oerth, Jus´ recipe. Apart from him, I seem to be the only one with a taste for it." He sipped another drink.
Matsuhiro Secondary NERV Base Ruins
Sublevel 26, 500 meters away from the 13th Angel Crater.
Laveth waited patiently for her spiders to return. The small group was mapping the tunnel behind the heavy metallic door, leaving behind a tangle of silk, so they could return to NERV´s lair. In her mind, Laveth worked on the mechanism of the door. Eventually she would have to go out.
Occasionally, she checked on the scout party´s progress. To her amazement, the tunnel had no secondary branches. Except for a single tunnel, too small for her to go through. This tunnel ran in parallel with the main one, so there would be no need at all to even enter there, though it could be useful to move more spiders with stealth. There were openings at regular intervals, something to keep in mind if she needed tp use the spiders to attack or defend.
So far, the scouts had not found nothing of interest. The tunnel rose at a constant angle, never going down, though it zigzagged through the stone, also at regular intervals.
This NERV was a maniac for regularity in his creations.
Anyway, Laveth kept on studying both the door and the tunnel. Hopefully, she would be able to get out of NERV´s lair soon, carrying his throne, his clothes, and his food as bounty.
Author Notes
1 The description of the party corresponds to the group after Queen of the Demonweb Pits.
2 According to her lines in that same novel, Morag is quite artistic. She is an accomplished painter, both landscapes and portraits. And she is working on a trilogy of novels, though the subject of her writing is not discussed.
3 The relationship between Enid and Henry begins during Queen, but is barely at the beginning stages by the end of the book.
4 In Descent to the Depths of the Earth, the party has to contend with faerie politics, Escalla´s life before meeting Jus and Cinders is shown. I thought it would be nice for the two adventures to adopt Shinji formally, once their marriage was recognized by her family. Though as both a human and a foreigner, Shinji wouldn't be considered as a possible heir. Especially as his stay on Oerth was limited to five years.
5 This event is my doing, In the three novels, Escalla pulls a lot of cons on unsuspecting, and even suspecting, victims. Though after she met Jus, she limited her cons to evil people. The most entertaining of these, IMO, happens in Queen, when she is "captured" by a couple of gargoyles. Don't take my word for it, get the books or audiobooks, and check it out!
