9 June 2016: Tokyo-3 has been rebuilt into a Holy City by the Nephilim, now called Zion. Nephilim from all over the world begin to make a pilgrimage to hit. Human societies do not attempt to stop them, all too eager to see them gone.
17 June 2016: The Japanese Diet has opened conversations with other world powers. The primary subject on the docket is the mysterious Project Babylon. Talks seem directly aimed at the remains of the United States. Rumor has it, a construction project is beginning on the eastern seaboard of the US Northeast Coast, though there is no confirmation if there is any connection.
1 January 2018: A massive, glowing, humanoid figure is seen above Zion. Massive demonic hosts have gathered near the city… it seems Armageddon has finally arrived…
X: War Without End
Warmth surrounded Hikari as she lay on her side. Rei was spooning her from behind, holding the girl who was wrapped in a separate sheet. The comforter was over both of them, but after Hikari had come down from the highest of heights, she found she was very much unable to stay warm. Now warmth surrounded her and she sighed contently as both girls basked in the afterglow.
"I never knew it could be like that," Hikari whispered.
"You act like I knew what I was doing," Rei noted with amusement. "I just did what seemed right. You seemed to be enjoying it so I kept going."
The matter-of-factness of the words made Hikari giggle and blush, despite the lack of any real embarrassment. Rei chuckled at her reaction, running her fingers though the smaller girl's hair.
"You weren't so bad yourself," Rei added, eliciting a much more pronounced and genuine blush from the girl.
Rei's hand rested on Hikari's tummy. Knowing the girl would be far too sensitive for anything more intimate at this point.
"Back in junior high, I never thought I'd be involved with a girl," Hikari noted. "Other girls were having their experimental phase, but I was bound and determined to be 'good'. Now I feel like I was depriving myself of so much."
"Would our time together be the same if you already had experience though?"
Hikari made a sound. "Probably not. So, I guess I'm glad I stayed 'good'."
"As am I," Rei admitted. "I wondered actually if you and Asuka had a similar relationship."
Hikari blushed a little more. "I think I came close to trying on more than one occasion, but I knew she wouldn't reciprocate. She was too obsessed with that Kaji person."
"Detective Ryoji," Rei noted. "She wanted what she couldn't have."
Hikari was silent for a moment. "Why do you think we haven't seen the others?"
"Others?"
"Shinji's guardian for one. You know, the girl that Kensuke and Touji were obsessing over?"
Rei thought about that for a moment. "I do not know for sure. Misato, I believe was killed before the impact, however that would not matter since there were others who died before the impact happened and they returned. It is possible because she was so close to Shinji that she has as special place set aside for her in Eden."
"That's nice to think about," Hikari noted.
"I imagine the same could be said for Doctor Akagi," Rei noted. "She also died before the event happened, but she tried to save humanity in the end. Shinji could have saved her as well. But we must also consider Shinji's words. He said that anyone who wanted to return could. It's entirely possible they had no desire to come back. Misato's life was particularly difficult so that possibility seems almost as likely."
Hikari curled up tighter. "And Touji died during the war," she noted.
Rei held her tighter. "You loved him."
"The first person I ever loved," she noted. "He never noticed me though. He finally got around to asking me out just before he was chosen… and then." She stopped. "Sorry, I'm ruining our moment, aren't I."
"No," Rei replied. "We are creatures of emotion. It is only natural that as we reminisce into our pasts to understand our present, that we will touch on sad times as well as happy ones." Rei kissed her on the neck, drawing out a content sigh from the smaller girl. "We should remember them."
"Always…"
Division-9 Headquarters
The cool morning air did little to placate Bastion. Standing upon the roof of his compound, he stared at the walls of Zion, paying little attention to the sounds of the building being cleared out. With the failure of the JSSDF and his own people in their mission, having the heart of an organization hellbent on controlling or destroying Nephilim right next to their holy city was no longer sustainable. Within the hour, their HQ would be moved to a safe location within Tokyo-2.
A whooshing sound behind him caught his attention; it was the same noise Tashima made when he was unceremoniously dropped in his office yesterday. He turned to see four individuals there.
"Hello, Bastion," Rei greeted in a low voice. Kaworu stood to her left, Asuka to her right and just behind them a little girl could be seen who looked nervous but he admitted was rather cute, though her red eyes were off-putting.
"Lilith," he replied. "I take it you're here to make good on your promise."
"I would love nothing more than that," Rei nearly hissed. "But unfortunately, HE decreed you be allowed to live."
Bastion raised an eyebrow. "Shinji? Why?"
"Because you are the only one who can save humanity," Kaworu jumped in. "Haven't you noticed it? The consistent rise in monster attacks over the last few months?"
"How could I not," he replied matter-of-factly. "Several cities have fallen, including Osaka."
"Exactly. The hastily built walls will not hold the demons forever. You need to bring humanity to its own sanctuary, just as we have brought our people to our own."
Rei continued. "You have elevated yourself to a position where you can influence the Diet. The rest of the world is holding its breath waiting to see what Japan does. They saved the world, more or less, before, and so they wait to see what their path should be. This is your opportunity to influence the entire world and actually do what you have set out to do all this time, save humanity."
"It's the real reason Shinji established Zion," Kaworu added. "Not just to bring our people together but to protect them… not from you, but from what's coming."
Bastion's face took a skeptical look. "You expect me to believe the monsters that have been attack are actual demons? How am I to prove that?"
Asuka walked forward about half way between both groups putting a box on the floor, large enough to carry a bowling ball.
"This is the remains of a core taken from one of the monsters I killed in China," Asuka explained. "The monsters there had the ability to consume Nephilim cores like a Nephilim Jackal, and gain some measure of control over the powers they possessed. I was almost killed by one of these monsters. Study that, and you'll have all the proof you need."
"Regardless of what you feel about us," Rei added, "We are all fighting the same enemy. Shinji wants all of the people of this world to live together in peace… even monsters like you, Bastion. He believes no one is beyond redemption, but make no mistake; you have a lot to pay for, and salvation is your choice, not ours."
"Save your people," Kaworu concluded, "and perhaps someday, we can live in harmony."
With another whooshing sound, the four vanished before Bastion. The man walked the remaining distance to the box and opened the top, finding the shattered remains of what appeared to be a Nephilim core…
… but this one was Jet Black.
Zion
Daquan stood on the grounds of a new construction project; a community center in the midtown area of the city. Nearby a group of four matter manipulators, Nephilim with the gift of creation, stood holding hands as the first support structures for the new building began to rise from the ground.
"You're going to need better cross-bracing," Daquan noted. "There, and there would be good." The material seemed to obey, but this was the work of the Nephilim not the matter itself. "Excellent, now let's make the housings for the windows nice a big. A community center should be very well lit with natural light. In fact, can we just make a glass roof while we're at it?"
"Wow, you are very engaged." The words came from a sweet-sounding voice behind him. He turned to see a girl that made his heart beat faster like no other before.
Standing only 5'2" tall, she had a young face but maturity in her eyes. She was very thin, but had a nice shape. Her pale skin didn't look unhealthy, in fact it seemed to almost glow. Like some Nephilim, she had red eyes, but they were bright and not so deep red as to be disturbing. Her long white hair flowed down past her hips. The sundress she wore clung to her upper body revealing modest assets on top but enough to make her seem completely perfect in his eyes.
"I take my work seriously," he replied with a gentle smile. "I helped design he defenses in Langxi when I was there. Kaworu figured I'd be great with the rest of the civil engineering."
"I agree," she replied sweetly. "Your attention to detail is beyond commendable."
"Thank you, Miss…?"
"Ayame," she answered, holding out a hand with her palm down. "I'm one of the city planners."
"Daquan," he replied as he gently took it.
"Are you free after this project?" she asked expectantly, and Daquan knew she was not talking about business.
"As a matter of fact…"
"What you are suggesting is impossible… almost heretical!"
Kaworu wasn't at all happy with what Rei was suggesting at all. In a private room on an upper level of the Basilica, a few Nephilim discussed what amounted to an impossible journey.
"It's not impossible," Rei countered. "In fact, the entire nature of the world that has been made makes it possible."
Hikari stood nearby listening, though even she was less than enthused about what Rei was suggesting. Nearby at the window, Kensuke watched as the new community center was being erected, and their Chinese Engineer apparently courting a particularly cute girl. Though even through his observations, he was listening to the conversation.
"No one has ever gone below the first armor layer. They try but they can't proceed."
"I can," Rei retorted. "I've been on the second layer."
"What?" Kaworu couldn't believe what he heard.
"The day after I was rescued, when Hikari was gone, I explored."
"After I told you not to! After I warned you that the watchdogs could be piggybacking on you!"
"They weren't," Rei retorted. "They couldn't. My mind is too alien for them. I am actually half-angel, remember?"
Kaworu said nothing.
"The air down there was moist, and there was a breeze cutting though. I didn't want to get caught outside my room, so I didn't go further but…"
"But?" Hikari echoed.
"Something was calling me… drawing me forward. It took a lot of will to pull away and return to my room."
"And now?" Hikari asked.
"I feel the pull once more."
"Unsurprised," Kensuke finally added. "The Basilica was built upon the only remaining access point to the armor layers below."
"Why would you close off all the other access points?" Kaworu asked.
"In the event that the walls of the city are ever breached, everyone knows to flock to the Basilica. If the walls of the Basilica don't hold, we could escape into the layers of armor beneath the waterways and seal the entrance behind us. We would be trapped in Purgatory, but we would be safe. With no other access points available, there would be no chance they could enter in another way."
"And now that path is mine to follow," Rei declared.
"Not alone," Hikari interceded.
"Hikari."
"Don't!" she almost cried. "Don't even! We have shared each other's souls now. I know you want to protect me, but we are one now, body and soul. Where you go, I go. Whatever your fate is, so shall it be mine."
"If that isn't love, I don't know what is," Kensuke concluded.
"I can't talk you out of this," Kaworu noted, earning both girls shaking their heads in response. He sighed in defeat. "Very well. When are you planning to leave?"
"In the morning," Rei answered. "I have preparations to make now, especially since I have a traveling companion."
Hikari hugged Rei from behind. "Thank you," she whispered.
Tokyo-2
The Diet of Japan was once the home of many older gentlemen who had control over the country. Now, many of the members were much younger. In fact, the number of older people who still lived after the Third Impact was a rather small number comparatively. This was no world for old men after all.
"In conclusion," Bastion wrapped up as he finished his initial presentation, "the information we attained shows a consistent increase in demonic activity over the next year and potentially continuing even longer. Anything after three years at this point would be pure speculation. "
He stood upon the platform in the front of the diet, pictures of graphs and analysis data were illuminated on the wall behind him in massive augmented reality displays visible clearly even from the back of the chamber. Tashima stood next to him, ready for his part now that Bastion had wrapped up his briefing.
"We do have a plan," he began. "It is one that has been explored before, shortly after we returned from the event. This plan consists of the creation of a great walled city."
Tashima turned towards the displays as they changed, showing a map of the northeastern United States. A line was drawn starting at Rhode Island and curving around though several states before looping back into southern New Jersey.
"The current population of the world is less than a billion souls. This entire population can be easily housed within the planned city, with enough space for food production, industry, and whatever else we desire to place within it. In addition, much of the material we need to produce this wonder of a city is located within the confined area already, waiting to be recycled into usable materials."
The screen changed over as he walked back towards the font of the platform, the images showing what he was explaining.
"The defenses will be impregnable. The outer walls consist of three layers of defenses. The first is an inward sloping trench before the first defensive wall. Any assault upon the wall would be forced to deal with plunging fire from the defenders staffing it. The entire wall structure is suspended on higher ground as well, so the next defensive wall beyond is even higher up. The back of the 1st wall is also sloped away from the entrenched position, being as the first wall is actually the edge of the raised ground. Even if the first wall is breached, the positions could not be used by the enemy as they would be exposed to plunging fire from the second wall. In addition, fortresses will be constructed within each of the defensive walls at key entry points, and these will be the most fortified of the positions. The third and final defensive wall will carry the largest artillery guns, the tallest walls at nearly 50 meters and act as the last line before the fields beyond."
Bastion picked up from here. "The city could be ready for its first residents before the end of the year if we begin soon. This will be our sanctuary, a defensible location from which humanity will one day reclaim our world."
The presentation ended with a standing ovation. The Diet voted unanimously to go forward, naming it "Project Babylon".
Purgatory
Rei carefully pushed her way past the door leading to the stairwell down. She and Hikari were both now on the platform within the first armor layer at the top of the stairs leading to the second layer. Already the warmer breeze from below was washing over them. The metal here looked slightly rusted, and Rei was careful not to touch anything as both girls carefully descended the narrow stairwell.
"What do you think we'll find?" Hikari asked as she nuzzled into Rei. The dark room make seeing her impossible, but feeling the warmth of her skin was all the assurance Hikari needed now.
"My destiny," Rei replied, tracing a single finger down Hikari's bare back along the spine. She could feel the girl press into her harder now, bodies touching pleasantly. They had already made love again, and were now simply basking the afterglow of their love. "We may never come back, you know."
"I don't care," Hikari noted. "You have already shown me what heaven is like… I only hope when we find the real thing, it's not a disappointment after that."
The only sound they could hear was their own footfalls on the metal. With no one else down here, the lack of sound was eerie, but neither girl was afraid now. They were intent on their destination, no matter how long it would take.
"The great pilgrimage has never been attempted before," Kensuke told them. "But if anyone has the ability to complete it, the two of you can. It will be hard… the path though purgatory will be akin to the path though hell. The barrier between man and God was never meant to be circumvented easily, and the quest to do so not taken lightly. Be wary of what you see down there, keep your wits about you, and remember to always keep faith."
"We will," both girls responded as one. They were kneeling on pillows before Kensuke as he granted his blessing. Nearby the capstone over the entrance to the waterways was being removed by two other Nephilim.
"May Shinji watch over you and guide your quest. For as it was in the times of old, so shall it be now. The pilgrimage is as much a spiritual journey as a physical one. May He light your path, and may you never stray from His light."
Rei pushed opened the door, revealing the tunnel within the second armor layer. Here, there were no working lights of any kind. Hikari produced an LED flashlight and stood next to Rei.
Ahead of them, the tunnel shifted from metal into moss covered stone. Vines could be seen growing out of the stones. Warm air passed over them from the mouth, almost giving the impression the cave was breathing. The sounds of distant wild animals and perhaps other living things could be heard. Hikari turned off the light a moment, and the girls could make out a distant glow, meaning some parts of what lay ahead had their own light.
The girls said nothing, simply turned their heads to look upon each other before turning their gaze back towards the tunnel entrance. Hikari slipped her hand into Rei's, which the pale girl grasped gently. Then, as one, they began to walk forward into the unknown…
What is it we will find? The pilgrimage is a spiritual journey both of the exploration of faith, and of our own place within the divine plan. He has given us the day, but it is our choice to stand and walk within the light. The pilgrimage, however is not a stroll through the light, but a journey into shadow, an exploration of the darkest corners of our own psyche. Only here can we be properly tested.
May our faith never waver, and may He find us worthy of His enlightenment…
-Nephilim Bible: Suzahara 7:5-7
Credits
Neon Genesis Evangelion is Property of GAINAX
All characters within with few exceptions are also property of GAINAX
Ayame, Daquan, and Noboru Tashima created by Archdruid Sephiroth
Bastion Kane based upon the same character from MARVEL COMICS
This was a work of fan fiction for entertainment purposes only. No monetary compensation was awarded for this production. Please support the official release.
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Special Thanks to
Orionpax09 for getting me into fanfiction
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And all my readers who seem to like my drivel