Azrael had stood in the middle of clearing in the woods by the mountains. It was night time and the full moon was out and brightly mocking him. Nobody knows for sure how Azrael or as people known better as the "Slender Man" or "Slenderman" and to Seele the "Angel of Death". And nobody knows why he wears a dress and a blank face. Literally. And nobody knows why he had come to Earth to stalk and prey abound the people. There have been many theories to his existence and spawned countless amount of mythos and viral videos around the world documenting his peculiar and murderous nature.

Of course they don't release that he is the child of Adam the first Angel and for centuries was the only child of the White Egg to have roamed the Earth. Nobody knew how long in his cruel soul that he believed the Earth belongs to his kind, and not the Lilin that have made this planet disgusting with their blood sprouting and taken their root for eons. And how much he wanted to kill them all off and when he did he would make sure to be enjoyed in the sport. To many a time he would stalk a chosen victim and would do many sinful acts of torture to his prey... this was Azrael's fetish of pure delight. And when is about done he would impale his victims with his tentacles and suck the life out of them. That was his favorite part of all, the final end of the line for one stupid Lilin and laughed as he heard the screams of dying children, women and men under his dark atmosphere.

It wasn't only his extreme hatred and sadist nature that made him so different from the other Angels. Unlike the other children of Adam who were born female Azrael was the only male child of Adam, and he was destined to sire all the Angels that should have rule this Earth once his sisters were born. Sadly the children of the Black Egg had beaten his kind for dominance and had in the last few months been killing off his family. Azrael hated the Ancestral Race, who had decided in favor for Lilith to dominate the planet and not Adam, and he hated the Lilin and it fueled his anger even more and the quest to hunt them.

Surrounding him were giant monoliths that only he can see and no one else. The menacing, black monoliths were Seele and they circled around him. To the untrained ear, all but one sounded exactly the same as their voices were altering to hide their identity in case if someone were to have found out. The only one that had chosen not to do so was Kneel who was in charge of Seele and the one to puppet the people at Nerv to carry out his goal of the perfect life form and what he believe to be was the proper method to cleanse the sins of the human species and to be one step closer of Eden and God. Kneel had come from a very long line men and women who had ruled Seele with power for the last five centuries; it was one of his ancestors that had made contact with Azarel and had tamed the Angel. A taming which the Angel would be in rage as these humans have the one thing in killing him: the Lance of Longinus. A duplicate exactly but still deadly enough to have finished him off. The only reason Azarel was kept alive and allowed to continue his killing spree was because Seele knew he was of use for their plan. After all, it was according to their scriptures that they have been following since their birth.

"We are very pleased that you are doing as told." Kneel said as Azarel stood below his monolith. "But we would also like it if you can also stay out of the way at times."

Out of the way? Azarel hissed but was careful not to get to angry in front of them. But still he hated humans and their nonsense. You must be a fool to let Tabris talk about the Evangelion; she will make everyone think there is something is strange about this.

"While we do consider you reasoning and concerns, you have no right to start creating a bloody mess." One of the monoliths said. "The plan is that if Tabris has stepped out of line in terms of betraying us or trying to be in one with a human, then you may kill him."

"But as of now having peopled, such as that of children, see the Unit-06 is nothing of a concern to us at the moment." Another one said. "For all they know it could be a new line of Evangelions, just like the failed prototype Unit-05." Unit-05 was France attempting to make a six-legged insectoid looking Evangelion, but it had proven to be useless against an Angel attack due to the legs. But the temper in Azarel was still on the rise.

But you just said that to kill her if Tabris attempted to be one with a human. So far he as shown interest in one of the Children.

"Again, nothing of a concern to us at the moment." Kneel said. "Tabris had selected her cat's paw and done so to get one step closer to Ikari and the First Child."

"Isn't that girl one of the daughters of Dr. Langley?" Asked one of the other monoliths.

"Indeed she is." Answered another. "The Fourth Child and the oldest I believe."

"Such an incredible scientist; more or less better than Dr. Akagi." Said another. "Of course not so brilliant when it comes to the weakness of human nature."

"Such a respectful man, unlike Ikari who lies and double-crosses us each time." Said the one that was asking about the daughters. "It is a damn shame that Ikari isn't like him."

"Speaking of Dr. Langley he had informed us that he will be taking his daughters as well as Tabris as planned." Said the one that was speaking of Unit-05. "Pretty soon we will have Panslavia's project to its knees and be back on track."

"This is why we had brought you here Azarel." Said Kneel. "We feel that you need some fun every once and a while." The slender man perked his head and inside him his heart grew a sinister smile.

I'm listening.

Monday had arrived and the day started off with another unusual chill in the air. Mari as usual got up before everyone else; she glanced over to see her sister sleeping. Asuka had come home Sunday evening though still a bit sour as with Mari. At least the two still talked to one and another, but Asuka kept to herself in their room the rest of the day. It was then once Asuka had closed the door and went to bed that Misato had told Shinji and Mari the news. The news that was for Mari and Asuka to be reunited with their father back home in Europe along with Kaworu as she had explained to them about the Jet Alone Project. Misato was planning on telling Asuka once she was in a better mood. It wasn't shocking for Mari that the EU wanted them back since they were still part of the Europe division for Nerv; what was shocking was that it was their father who had called Misato and not their major or commander. That sort of thing made Mari's stomach go into knots and it had sickened her that, after all these years away from him he finally had called for them. Only in the name of the protecting everyone from some zombie/cyborg dragon and not finally wanting the time to be with his daughters. Both she and Asuka have his blue, bright eyes though they were in different hues and his intelligence but that was about it about their similarity to their father. Everything else was from their respective birth mothers. It was these qualities that pained her especially the history between their father and Mari's mother.

She shook those memories off like a horse with flies on his head; now was the time to not remember those memories. She had to be ready for school and help Kaworu patrol the hallways in the school. Yet for some reason this was the morning that she didn't feel like waiting for Shinji and Asuka to get up. In fact, she just wanted to walk alone for this one day though she couldn't figure out why. So without wasting any time, Mari made a lazy cat stretch careful not to wake Asuka up. Then Mari went to the bathroom to clean up and brush her teeth; made something for her to eat as Mari crunch on a piece of toast; pet Pen Pen and feed him; got dressed and left a note on the table and was out.

It was eerie in the morning as there were hardly anyone outside saved for a jogger or two and a barking stray dog. The city however was starting to wake up with her as went through its daily transformation as the city prepares itself for a new day. The solar panels that power the city were already channeling the energy from the Sun for use for electricity and the routes for the transportation were wired in advance to avoid traffic. The street signs too were ready to help out as some people were starting to get up and continue their morning existence going to work. As for Mari it was just another day going to school. The school was a few blocks away so it wasn't so bad to walk; though with no one to talk to and being the only girl out in the streets, Mari was starting to think otherwise about her decision. This had caused her to walk a little bit faster. The gentle chill on her arms and legs seemed to have fallen off as her body was now producing a little heat as she paced to her school. Birds were flying by including a white crow that was cawing to his fellow flock mates.

After around fifteen minutes of pacing Mari had slowed down a bit as she reached to the school. It was still too early for the school to be open or anyone waiting outside. Or so has it been. Mari noticed that someone was there on the stair's concrete railing. As she crept closer more details of this person were coming together. And she heard them too, for this person was humming a classical tune at that. Once she was within recognizable distance that Mari realized it was Kaworu. Kaworu had his red eyes closed but it looked as if they were still open as his face gave the impression he was watching the raising Sun to come out and greet the Earth. Yet he still was grinning to himself unaware that there was someone there too. Mari didn't know whether to greet him or let him continue his humming. Mari was no music expert but it sounded like "Ode to Joy" though she wasn't so sure about it. Kaworu then stopped his humming as he finally had sense her presence. Kaworu face towards Mari who was now walking towards him. She replied his grin with a smirk on her face.

"I didn't expect you to be here so early." Kaworu said as Mari was on the bottom step. The stairway that leads to the school's entrance wasn't long, but long enough to give the impression of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet of course the female was at the bottom. He looked down and into her blue eyes. "Usually you come much later with the other children that are your friends."

"Well I am an early bird and I do wait for the others, but today I felt like walking alone." Mari said. "Say I heard you humming, was it "Ode to Joy"?"

"Close." Kaworu said. "It's Symphony No. 9 "Finale". But "Ode to Joy" is my favorite."

"You were humming a bit. How long have you been waiting? School won't start for another hour and a half."

"A while. I usually passed the time to hum some of my favorite songs. I must say the Lilin culture had produced some of the finest work of art. It's remarkable I must say." Mari cocked her head in confusion.

"Lilin culture?" She asked. "What's a Lilin?" Kaworu smiled and shook his head.

"Never mind that. Just a quirk of mine." Mari nodded.

"I see, well we all have quirks. Like I tend to do things that are a bit weird."

"How so?" Mari paused for a moment. She wasn't so sure how to handle this. Normally these sorts of things were to be discussed with the people that you know, not someone that you only had known for like four days. But still there was something in her that compelled to make a conversation with him.

"Well I have an incredible sense of smell." Mari blushed a bit as she was unaware that she climbed a few more stairs to get closer to Kaworu. Sure enough he still smelled of LCL. Kaworu had raised an eyebrow and his face gave way to someone of curiosity.

"Oh really?" He said. "How interesting. Some Lilin like to smell in a fetish delight." He put his hand under his chin and thought about what he had just heard. Mari was taken back when he commented that it was a "fetish delight" that she liked to smell. Before Mari could say anything about it, Kaworu stood on the railing and jumped off and landed perfectly on his feet. Not a single stumble. He placed his hands in his pocket and looked up at Mari with his red eyes. And his lips went back with the grinning again.

"Care for a walk as we wait?" He offered. Mari blinked her eyes.

"Um..." Mari blinked again. "I guess so. What the Hell." She started to climb down the stairs and made a leap towards Kaworu. She landed without a stumble to her feet and chuckled. "After all we are going to be walking around like zombies in the school collecting donations for the homeless." Kaworu gave her a puzzling look.

"What are "zombies"?" He asked. It was Mari's turn to give the puzzled look.

"You know, walking dead people that like to eat people's brains." She started to imitate a zombie with the pose and the slow walking. She even perfected the zombie groan. Kaworu still looked lost.

"Eating brains? That sounds completely stupid." Kaworu said. "I hope it's not one of the Lilin arts that I have witness while being here." Without giving Mari a chance to say anything Kaworu had walked on ahead, with Mari skipping behind to catch up.

The two walked around the school property in silence. Perhaps it was best for now for the two though Kaworu continued his humming from earlier; the two would stop every once in a while as Kaworu would look at the scenery and absorbed the enriched detailed of the environment. Every tree with their crown of leaves, the passing insect with their wings and the singing call of a bird had brought so many answered, and unanswered, questions to him. With every pause he had thought really hard about what was occurring in his mind. This finally had prompted Mari to try and start a conversation with him.

"Say I see that you like nature." She asked. "If you asked me, I think nature itself is the greatest work of art." Mari had placed her hands on her hips and smiled. "It is almost as there was an artist who such an amazing sense of humor and imagination. Why just look at the hungry caterpillar. Such a fat, greedy little bugger grows up to be a beautiful butterfly." She paused and she chuckled at the thought of the process unfold. And then she stared at the sky as the clouds were floating by as whimsical characters for their shapes and sizes. "When you look up at the sky, especially at the stars at night, you can see the soul of creator and his inner beauty." Mari's words were very insightful and to Kaworu's ears, made her sound pretty wise for her age. Nevertheless there were some things that seemed to trouble him.

"But then you also see his pain." Kaworu said in a said in rather sad, cynical tone. He walked "When you look at the sky, especially when it is a sky like this. The clouds were gone. "He looked up and stared at it for a moment. "You can see the barren, loneliness in his heart. The artist fears of being alone and so paints the world that he seeks happiness. But even that he is not pleased with and so the artist shows his pain that is life. Life is full of pain and that is why life has committed sin to please their actions. The caterpillar is unhappy as he knows he is repulsive and unloved. He becomes a glutton to satisfy his heart but still doesn't make him any handsome. For three years he continues to sin until he finally becomes that handsome butterfly. But he only has a day left to live and so dies. Death is the only way to be truly happy and be freedom from pain. That is why the artist painted death." His words had hit Mari right in the core. It took her breath away. For such a charming boy, Kaworu's words were cynical and sardonic, yet strangely retained that same poetic nature of him. A gentle breeze had blown and their hair were swaying and dancing with the wind. The two had stared at each other for a while. Red meet Teal, Teal meet Red. After what seemed to be forever, Mari finally had made an effort to say something.

"That's really powerful." She said as Kaworu was still standing there opposite from her. She pushed her glasses as they were falling off. His hands the entire time were still in his pocket and he closed his eyes.

"Indeed. Shall we continue our walk?" Kaworu lead the way once more with Mari following right behind him. They still had a while until school starts, but there were other kids already waiting by the school's stairway. Mari hoped that Kaworu won't notice and want to socialize with the other kids. He was too... "different" from them. And she liked that. Mari was happy that they were walking further and further from the crowd and turned the corner to the soccer field. The grass despite having students run on their backs and chewing them with their feet, they still smelled fresh as they first sprouted. They continued to walk towards the center of the field; Kaworu's gait reminded Mari of a majestic, but humbled, great hart who took his usual walks around his territory and stop to indulged the scenery every now and then. It was turning out to be a beautiful day and with the cool breeze and the warm rays of the Sun made both children smiled. Mari's was wider and she decided to lie down and do a little cloud watching a bit. Kaworu once again not understanding her action crept over and looked at her.

"Why are you lying down?" He asked.

"Cloud watching. Don't tell me you never did this before?"

"I am afraid not."

"Well, I guess I will make you!" Mari leaps up and grabbed Kaworu to the Earth with her. Kaworu was now right next to her.

"So what do you do?" Kaworu asked as Mari closed her eyes and smiled.

"You look at the clouds and say what they look like to you." She looked over and noticed how close Kaworu's face was. Those red eyes. Perhaps it was his smile that made them so soft and gentle. Otherwise it would scare the crap out of some people just as how Rei usually creep Toji and Kensuke out from time to time. And his scent was powerful, causing Mari's body to tingle; she blamed it on the LCL. Kaworu laughed and they both look up at the sky.

"Okay sounds pretty interesting." He said. And for the rest of their time waiting for school to start, the two children were just relaxing under the great, blue sky and out of the sights of all the other students. For the most part, it was Mari who doing all the comparing clouds to other things. But soon enough Kaworu got the jest of it and the two continue this. Like whimsical characters of a Broadway show, the clouds had took their own props and costumes and had put on a grand show for the two of them. There cute, innocent bunnies that had hoped around the blue pasture; there were scary, evil dragons that flew and breathed white fire; lost, forgotten buildings that stood tall and proud of themselves; princesses and knights who took the time to kiss each other; a sleepy cat on the comforts of a preferred sofa. They even debated on some of the clouds which both sides laughed at each other's reasoning. The show had delighted them so much, that neither of them had not mind the idea of not going to school for the day, spend the entire day on the green, fresh and gentle pasture. Beside them a chipmunk had chirped followed by the humming wings of a bee. A flock of cranes had flown over them as they sang their mournful, gay songs.

With cat-like hearing, Kaworu heard the bells from the school and got up and helped bring Mari up to her legs too. And once more they had journey together and with the occasional pauses from Kaworu all the way back to school. All while Mari was smiling, though she had no idea why she was smiling so much. It was just a bunch of clouds and walking around after all. Maybe she didn't want Kaworu to be the only one smiling. The two had entered the classroom together, unaware of the snickering from their fellow classmates. She made a quick glance, still smiling, and had noticed her friends with mixed reactions. Shinji was surprised to see her smiling with Kaworu; Toji and Kensuke were confused as to exactly what was going; Rei's eyes grew wider but of course no one notices her; Hikari smiling thinking it was cute to see Mari being with a guy, even if the boy in question is an oddball. It was Asuka that Mari stopped smiling. Asuka had her arms cross and her sky blue eyes scorned Mari. She had not gotten over this yet, and Mari cannot wait to see what would happen if she when she will hear the news.