Chapter Two
Author's Note: My assault against good writing continues! This chapter took much longer than I thought it would.
Day Two- Calm Air
Shinji woke with a start. Fresh daylight was streaming through an opened window. It was an unfamiliar ceiling in an unfamiliar room. It looked somewhat like a hospital room actually. He blinked dully a few times as he stretched. Ah. Aaah. That hurt. He was stiff all over and a dull pain was spread over his entire body.
Looking down, he saw that his torso and below was completely swathed in strange brown bandages with some weird squiggles on them.
Gah. What was that? It felt like…it felt like…the events of the previous day rushed before his eyes as he remembered. That…that…that was…how did he not notice that? He was being lied to. Again.
Five seconds later his finger jammed onto the buzzer to call the attendant nurse so hard that it's casing nearly cracked.
000
Ritsuko snickered, much of the bridge personnel joining in with her.
"Stop that," Fuyutsuki ordered, though he was smiling as well.
"Well, I'm sorry sir. I knew you and the Commander were close but I had no idea things between you two had gone so far," she teased. Behind her Makoto tried and failed to suppress his laughter.
"Ritsuko, as Vice-Commander of NERV, I am orderingyou to cease this immediately."
Ritsuko smiled the carefree smile of one who knows that they are completely indispensable and continued.
"But you're a matching pair now! Isn't it sweet?"
Fuyutsuki sighed heavily and pressed his white-gloved hands into his pockets.
000
A pale hand patted the side of the great purple armoured beast. In direct comparison to the massive Unit-01, Rei Ayanami looked like a tiny porcelain doll, fragile and delicate.
Gendo had enough experience with her by now to know that was only half-true.
"Feeling better?"
There was no response. The white child ran her hand down Unit-01's armoured face, a slow croon emerging from her.
It may have just been his imagination but the unmanned Spirit seemed to shudder slightly, responding to the girl's touch.
Rei began to sway slightly and suddenly pressed herself hard against the side of Unit-01, as if she was trying to get as much skin contact with the Spirit as possible. This time Gendo definitely heard the drawn-out groan emitted from the motionless Unit-01 as it reacted to the white child.
After a few seconds, she retreated back to Gendo, meeting his covered eyes with her own scarlet ones.
"Ready to go back now?"
She nodded silently.
000
A few minutes later, Gendo walked into the command centre to find that something had clearly happened in his absence as a few of the less wise computer technicians took one look at him and nearly started laughing.
Or at least, they tried. They wilted under his gaze and slowly turned back to the computers pretending as if that hadn't happened.
Gendo decided he really didn't want to know.
"Ritsuko," he called out. "Call up the sync data of all three Pilots. There's something I need to test."
000
Ryoji Kaji greeted the new day with a slow moan followed by immediate revitalisation through the miracles of coffee. His job had always required him to visit foreign places and he was used to it by now. But every now and then, he still felt nostalgia for his home country.
No…Not for his home country exactly. But for his memories of it, before the Second Impact.
He scoured those feelings out of his head with another gulp of boiling hot coffee. It tasted awful. What he needed right now was-
"KAAAAJJJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
-definitely not Asuka, especially when she was in one of her moods.
"Good morning Asuka. Slept well?"
"Not as well as I couldhave," the red-haired sixteen year old said, her eyes lingering on his body in a way that Kaji was trying his damnedest to ignore. One of his greatest fears was waking up one night to find her invading his room to watch him sleep. It was only a matter of time now.
"Have you seen the videos of the Third Child against the Servant?," she cried. "And the sync rate he got with his Spirit? It even outstripped mine!"
"You shouldn't get upset ove-"
"I'm not upset! How darehe! I bet he's like some kind of hot-blooded professional ace pilot who'd never tolerate a rival! …It's about time I got some decent competition. I can't wait to see the look on his face when I defeat him!"
She paused a moment to consider something.
"To get such a powerful sync rate and grace with his Spirit, he must be another magical prodigy!"
000
"Magic? What the hell are you talking about?"
Shinji had no idea what Misato was trying to tell him.
Some time had passed after he had started babbling incoherently at the attendant nurse. After some debate, Misato arrived to talk to him. Her first words to him had been a question, asking if he had read the file she'd given to him yet.
Of course he hadn't. When had he had the time?
When he had replied in this manner, her next words were to tell him that that was good, as he wouldn't have to immediately forget the lies that it was filled with. They hadn't been planning on telling him yet but since he'd already figured part of it out, it was better to tell him the truth rather than let one of their key personnel try to clumsily investigate things for himself.
At first, Shinji had been excited. But after Misato's reply he realised that she was just teasing him, though he had no clue why.
"Yes Shinji, magic. Although you should probably call it magecraft. Some people get reallyuptight about you confusing the two, believe me."
"What?"
"…Where do I even start? To put it simply Shinji, I am a sorcerer."
000
"Today?"
"Yes. A flight has been prepared for you and Pilot Langley. Unit-02 will be transported over via an accompanying Wing flight," the blonde man smoothed his suit absentmindedly as he handed a sealed envelope to Kaji.
"These contain your orders, Enforcer. Do not open it until you are en route. Trust me, we willknow."
Kaji nodded as he slipped the plans inside his jacket.
Such an early mobilisation was against what he had managed to understand of the overall plan. The Third Servant must have scared them more than they let on, to even contemplate of releasing the dangerous Unit-02. Did they think that the combined forces of both Third and First Children wouldn't be able to handle additional Servant-class attacks?
It was possible. After all, the Third had appeared to be that of Assassin-class, notoriously weak in prolonged combat. What would the Fourth be?
000
Two hours later…
His gaze going to his wristwatch, Kaji hoped that this wouldn't take long. He might be late for his mandatory flight to Japan.
"So these are the orders?"
He nodded his assent.
"Brixley gave it to me not two hours ago when he told me of the flight."
Noting the fingers beginning to tug at the envelope's sealing, he attempted to warn her off.
"Don't try to open that. It has a-"
"An alarm spell encoded into it, I know," she said as she delicately slit the envelope open, the magecraft inside it shattering into a cloud of briefly visible iridescence.
"You should know by now that such things are meaningless to me," she purred as she began inspecting the now exposed sheathe of paper.
"One day I'm going have to learn how you do that."
"Oh Kaji, you're far too much of a worthless mage to even try."
He took the casual insult in his stride, accustomed to her mannerisms by now. And it was true, compared to her he might as well be some idiot who ran around only knowing basic strengthening techniques.
"Well…that's interesting. I had no idea the Association were that interested. It makes sense though," her other hand reaching up to trace along his stubbled chin, "that they'd send you to do it. It's such a shame though, having to be deprived of your company for so long."
Brushing her hand aside, Kaji took back his orders, shovelling them back into the envelope as he did so.
"Somehow, I think you'll manage."
She gave a brief snort of laughter that told him all he needed to know. Both of them knew that she hadn't been exactly faithful to their little fling, which didn't bother him one little bit. He'd never been one for commitment anyway.
Swinging his arm in a mock bow, he spoke up in a gallant tone. "By your leave, milady?"
She chuckled as she waved him off. "Please. I know you need to go now."
000
"What…what are you even saying Misato?"
"Blech. I knew this was going to be hard. Here, look at this," she said as she picked up the flimsy plastic knife that had come with his hospital meal tray.
"What about it-"
His words were cut short by the knife burying itself to the hilt in the wall behind him. With a curious feeling of detachment, Shinji noticed how close the quivering blade was to his face. If it had just been a few inches closer it could have killedhim!
"Pretty neat huh? That actually took a fair bit of reinforcement. It would have been more efficient to just transmute it into metal or something but I've never really gotten the hang of alchemy stuff," Misato said, almost looking embarrassed at her mistake.
"My own talent in magecraft lies more in binding po…"
She stopped as she saw Shinji slump back onto his mattress in a faint.
"…Maybe that wasn't the best way to prove it."
000
When Shinji opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was Misato leaning over him to see if he was alright.
With a short scream he scrambled backwards, pressing his back against the wall.
"You nearly killed me!"
"It was an accident!"
"B-But..the knife..and…the knife!"
"Calm down," a third voice sounded out, seemingly very amused at her surroundings. Shaking his head, Shinji took in the third occupant of the room. It was the blonde scientist lady he vaguely remembered from before.
"I'm Dr Ritsuko Akagi, head of Research. And relax. As scary as she might seem, Misato won't try to stab you in your sleep."
She was smiling, highly amused at the idea.
"Despite her…unorthodox methods, she was just trying to show you the truth."
"Th..Then it's true?"
"To an extent," Ritsuko said as she pried the knife out of the wall. A brief look of concentration passed through her face and the knife transformed, changing from plastic to steel before distorting and crumpling itself into a little ball.
"…Show-off."
Ignoring Misato, Shinji gaped at Ritsuko, surprise clearly showing in his face.
"Then, you too?"
"Of course Shinji! Magecraft and sorcery are deeply held secrets after all, did you honestly think a single mundane person would be in the upper echelons of NERV?"
"But I thought you were a scientist!"
"Oh, but I ama scientist. Just not the type you thought I was. Transmutation is just one of my specialties."
"So you're like Misato?"
Ritsuko gave a chuckle at the idea while Misato just looked more and more annoyed. "By magi standards, Misato is barely literate. She's a special case."
Her voice had taken a teasing tone to it as the purple-haired Lieutenant fumed.
"Well…at least I don't dye my hair blonde!"
"No. You just dye yours purpleinstead."
"What! This is my natural hair colour! It even goes with my eyes! Look at them! Looooook at them!"
000
Step.
Step.
Step.
Tokyo-3 was a horribleplace to build a city. Absolutely surrounded by Dead Zones, it was like building a city in a graveyard. Most people who lived there were either NERV personnel, their relatives or people trying to sell things to them.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The city was filled with trees and parkland so people wouldn't feel the need to leave to see scenery. This was for the best as the only way to leave Tokyo-3 in the first place was by plane. The only other alternative would be travelling through the Dead Zones and that was widely agreed to be suicide.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Worsethan suicide maybe. For while Tokyo-3 had it's fair share of suicides, they were all by the usual methods. Not even they ever tried it by walking into the Dead Zones.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Nobody walks into Dead Zones, even if they want to die. You just don't.
Step.
Step.
Step.
There was a lake, or more accurately, the remnants of one. Its shattered bowl was filled with polluted water staining into the flat black landscape. Tokyo-3 was just a dot on the horizon here. Ashes were everywhere. On the ground, in the water, in the air, in your mind.
Cupped hands slowly reached down into the lake, taking a great handful of the toxin into receiving lips.
good
good
good
There were no more steps.
000
"So if magecraft is real…than what are the Servants? What are they really?"
"Demons," Misato replied with absolute conviction, her fingers going to the cross she wore around her neck in response. "Second Impact was the opening of Hell into the modern world. Thanks to the brave sacrifices of some," she clutched it harder for some reason "the Gates were sealed shut and buried beneath the Geofront. The Servants are powerful demons left over from the Second Impact that wish to re-open the Gates and destroy the world!"
He was taken back. Such a ridiculous story, delivered with full genuine emotion. And was it really such a ridiculous story after all? Not that long ago, Shinji would have thought that magic was false but he'd seen it right in front of him. What about demons?
Ugh. His head hurt. Really, reallybadly. He needed to think about this more.
Some of his pain must have been evident to the two women as Misato stopped talking and Ritsuko ducked out of the doorway and out of the room, as if scared of something. What an odd reaction, he thought. She didn't seem shy before.
"I guess I'll give you the rest of the explanation on everything when you're feeling better," Misato said apologetically once Ritsuko had left the room. "It's easy to forget you were nearly killed just the day before."
"Anyway," she said as she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket, "you ought to be discharged later today. When you are, I'll be ready to pick you up. You will be staying in my apartment, after all."
"What? Why?"
"Why wouldn't you be? You are my new apprentice after all."
Seeing his face she continued, "Despite what certain people might say I have a perfectly good grasp of theoretical magecraft. You were never supposed to have been deceived by that alien story for long after all, and you have some decent amount of Magic Circuits in you."
With a flourish, she thrust the paper into his trembling hands.
"See? It's right there in the schedule that's been drawn up for you!"
The paper read:
6:00 am: Wake Up, Breakfast (I hope you like ramen!)
6:30 am: Early morning combat training
7:00 am: School
3:00 pm: School ends, Be Escorted to HQ
3:20 pm: Spirit tests/training exercises
5:00 pm: Mandatory medical
5:10 pm: Leave HQ
5:30 pm: Dinner
6:00 pm Magecraft theory lesson, practical lesson, demonstrations etc etc :)
9:00 pm Sleep (Mandatory)
Did…did she write this herself? He didn't think that the official NERV schedules were in the habit of having smiley faces drawn up. After the events of the previous day and this, he was nearly in a daze. He didn't think he was dreaming, so as crazy as it all was, this strange world he had been thrown into was the real one.
He might as well go with the tides rather than swept away by them.
"Misato, this doesn't give me any sections for free time."
"What time?" she said, looking honestly puzzled.
000
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Asuka stopped drumming her fingers against the plane's windowsill as she gazed out on the dead vistas.
Was that..?
It was.
A cloud of immense Bounded Fields stretching in all directions, completely encompassing Tokyo-3 and stretching far out into the Dead Zones surrounding it.
Was that even possible?
Asuka Langley was widely recognised as one of her generation's greatest prodigies and had been gladly accepted into the Clock Tower at a young age, despite her half Japanese heritage. She was, and she would be the first to admit it, a genius.
So why was the composition of the magecraft behind the fields completely beyond her understanding?
She gave a small shudder as her senses alerted her to the fact that the plane had just flown through another one of the concentric fields. What kind of defence was this? This feeling? It was almost as if the entire city had been converted into some great Workshop.
As the plane touched down in Tokyo-3's small airport, she raised herself from her seat and disembarked. This backwater was far more interesting than she thought it would be.
As she and Kaji left the plane, a small bird swept down from its perch on the control tower. Kaji, as if expecting it, raised his arm and allowed the familiar to perch on it like some sort of hunting hawk.
After looking it in the eyes for a long moment, he turned back to Asuka.
"We have an appointment with Commander Ikari, it seems."
000
"Here we are!," Misato cried as her replacement loaned car pulled up aside an apartment building.
"Shinji, we're going to ne…Shinji?"
"Is…is it over?" he gasped from his foetal position. Somehow, driving with Misato had been far more terrifying than being pummelled into the ground by a Servant. At least with the Servant he could fight back.
"I don't drive that bad! If you keep complaining, I'm going to have to turn you into a frog!"
Shinji was pretty sure she couldn't actually follow through with that threat. Just in case though, he shut his mouth.
"You'll love this," she said as they walked out of the elevator. "It's an absolutely wonderful apartment and I get it for free! You just have to see it."
In retrospect, Shinji decided that it really was a very nice apartment. It was incredibly large and roomy. Much larger than the place where he and his guardian used to live.
The first time he saw it though; he could have mistaken it for the First Circle of Hell.
Clothes were strewn everywhere, the kitchen was a mess covered with empty instant ramen boxes and dirty dishes. The living room was in just as bad shape, the only remotely clean surface being the couch in front of the television. He had no doubt that the entire apartment was absolutely filled with cockroaches, penguins, mice and…penguins?
What.
"Oh, that's just Pen-Pen. He's my hot-spring penguin familiar. Did you know that they're completely extinct? I rescued his corpse from that massive Dead Zone in Antarctica a few years back. Isn't he absolutely adorable?"
The familiar in question traded a long-suffering look with Shinji before slowly waddling into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. The penguin seemed thoroughly unimpressed.
"I'm not sure if I did it right though. I don't think familiars are supposed to be that independent," she said as she turned back to Shinji.
"So, how do you like your wonderful new home?"
"Uhh…", Misato looked at him with a glance that just promised a new amphibious outlook on life.
"It's very good! Yeah! I like it. Like it a lot."
000
The door slid open as Asuka and Kaji walked into the ridiculously large office. The first thing she noticed was the leyline that passed directly underneath the floor. That would explain why he would build his sanctum here, so far away from the rest of the base.
Runes huh? Symbolic magecraft was considered rather 'quaint' to the Clock Tower and it's alumni. It surprised her that this 'Commander Ikari' would devote himself to such magecraft. What was next, witchcraft?
That said, the incredibly complex runic display that covered every inch of the marble floor was not something to take lightly. She had never delved into the runic arts much but several potent destructive sigils represented themselves far too often to her tastes.
Combined with Boundary Fields swathing the room, this level of defence was almost as if this office was the Commander's Workshop itself.
But that very idea was ludicrous. Only a fool would open up his Workshop in an area that he invited complete strangers into regularly.
The man himself was dwarfed by his surroundings, his desk sitting alone in the center of the room.
"So you are Pilot Langley. I've heard a lot about you."
The thing that stood out about him most were his eyes. Or rather, the lack thereof. The thick orange glasses completely cover them, shading them from view entirely. Why would someone wear orangeglasses?
"Oh?"
"I'm told that you amazed the Department of Spiritual Evocation with your thesis, despite only being sixteen. I've heard you described as 'the Langley Wunderchild', the 'greatest prodigy of this generation'.
His words contained nothing but recognition of her deeds. His tone was flat and level. So why did it seem like he was sneering at her? His flat blank eyes looked through her, as if daring her to live up to her reputation.
And she could. She knew she could. So why did she feel so smallright now?
She looked down, shattering eye contact. There. That was better.
"Unit-02 is still being shipped as the Wing flight was delayed by heavy storms across Mid-East Asia. It should be arrive by tomorrow, at which I will expect you to join the other Pilots in their training exercises every day at 3:20 pm. You will be assigned a…"
000
Several Minutes Later
During Asuka's interview/interrogation, Kaji had remained standing by the side, watching his former charge.
When she left carrying a map leading to her new quarters, he remained.
"Tell me, Mr Kaji. What interests do our friends at the Association have in our business?"
"Quite a lot actually," he passed a familiar envelope over the desk. "See for yourself."
"Hurm…obtain files…detailed blueprints of Spirit construction…the true nature of the MAGI? Well, they certainly expect a lot from you. Who else has seen these?"
"Just you, me and Number 4. She was the one who broke the seal in the first place."
"As expected. Does she suspect anything herself?"
"Not that I could tell. I have no idea why she wanted to see them in the first place."
"Four is always planning something. She knows the risks of doing it right under Six's nose too. I can't imagine that it's purely out of interest for the Second Child's welfare."
000
For the second time that day, Shinji found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. The sleeping mat was lumpy and uncomfortable. Or maybe that was from the previous meal he'd had. He firmly decided to never let Misato cook again. How could you screw up instant ramen?
More to the point, he couldn't sleep. How could he be expected to, after all that happened in his life over the past two days?
After a half an hour with no success, he stood up. He needed some fresh air and time to think. Quietly sliding the door open, Shinji walked into the living room.
A quick glance was enough to tell him that his erstwhile guardian was sound asleep in her own bedroom.
It wouldn't be too hard to just walk out the door and get some air would it? Just keep quiet and don't step on the beer bottles.
He was nearly to the door when-
"Waaaark."
Holy shi-! Shinji nearly jumped but managed to restrain himself at the last minute. Somehow Pen-Pen had managed to sneak up on him. How the familiar had managed this, he had no idea.
"Err…hello Pen-Pen?"
He had no idea if the penguin could understand him or not. On one hand it was just a penguin, on the other hand it was a penguin familiarand Shinji had no idea how intelligent those were.
"Waaark."
"Uhh…how are you doing, you corpse…penguin…thing?"
"Waark."
"I see." Feeling the penguin's resolute stare, he began to back off. "I'll just be going then."
Surprisingly, Pen-Pen backed away. Giving a final 'Wark' the penguin slowly waddled off back into its room.
What was that all about?
000
Somewhat Later
Shinji had not meant to have done this, honest. How had a 'little fresh air' turned into 'wandering the streets of Tokyo-3'?
Sure, it had some of the lowest crime rates in the world and he was pretty certain he could remember the way home but this was just…stupid.
Even at night the streets still contained many people, bustling off in their own private worlds off to who knows where. He wanted to get away from all that for a bit.
Which is why he came to the lake.
Tokyo-3 contained three lakes inside city borders, each of them encased in a small section of parkland. It was a garden city, full of greenery and sights to discourage the citizenry from looking outside the city.
The lake in question was part of the "Miyama Memorial Parklands", whatever that was.
Just staring out at the night sky, all alone.
Well, mostly alone.
Shinji was first alerted to this when he heard the humming. At first he had dismissed the formless sound as part of his imagination but as it increased in volume, he recognised it from his own music classes. He had played that tune himself.
"Hallelujah" from Handel's Messiah. It was an easy tune to hum and could easily get stuck in your head.
He turned to see the sound coming from someone sitting on a large boulder on the shore.
"Hello."
000
Fuyutsuki woke with a start as the buzzing inside his head increased. He instinctively muttered a few words and it ceased.
Wasting no time, he leapt to his feet and got dressed quickly. Throwing a gown to keep out the cold he hurried down the stairs into a small back room that nobody but he had ever entered.
It was the Spirit Board. The Fourth Servant had been drawn down to this mortal earth. A distinct lack of alarms going off told him that wherever it was, it had yet to approach Tokyo-3. If it had even come within several hundred kilometres, the Bounded Fields being emitted by Unit-01 would have surely picked it up.
…Unless it was anothertwisted Assassin type.
Which is why determining the class would be his first priority, if it could even be distinguished under the corruption. It would require-
His thoughts were cut off as the buzzing inside his skull rose once more to nigh-intolerable levels before he cut it off again. Why would the Board sound again?
Ah.
The Fourth was just a blip on the radar now. The Fifth had begun to march.
000
There was a lake, or more accurately, the remnants of one. Its shattered bowl was filled with polluted water staining into the flat black landscape. Tokyo-3 was just a dot on the horizon here. Ashes were everywhere. On the ground, in the water, in the air, in your mind.
A single trail of footprints led to its basin. There was no trail leading back.
A rhythmic thumping beneath the water broke the long silence, as if an age-old heart had begun to beat.
The dead water rippled and began to peel back as it gouged itself out of a hole in existence. Before long, the lake overflowed with putrid liquid meat, an eternal supply bubbling out of the heart of the world.
Sightless eyes beheld the end of the world and found it good.
End Day
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gOoD