Creation began on 09-25-15
Creation ended on 10-31-15
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: A New Love
It had been a week since Tokyo-3 had become more lively after Shinji used the Tenseiga to heal the people that were either injured or dying. And since then, Asuka found it difficult to find even an unnecessary reason to try and hassle the boy that spent most of his time away from the apartment with those two stooges of his. Another reason she had problems right now was because she found out that Kaji had proposed to Misato, who accepted his proposal; the redhead just viewed the two as crazy right now to be in the throes of planning their wedding day when they still needed to deal with the Angels. In her mind, everyone was being either dumb or outright pathetic to be ignoring the danger that still existed.
"Everyone's going bonkers all over the city," she expressed her opinion of the city's current state to Hikari one day at her place. "I think this all started shortly after that stupid Shinji resigned from NERV and the last Angel was defeated by an unknown source."
"So, just what are you saying, Asuka?" Hikari asked her.
"That this is all that baka's fault," Asuka complained, deciding to blame Shinji for what was going on around the city…and her lack of Angels to face. "Ever since he resigned, everything has been messed up."
"But resigning from NERV was his choice, Asuka," Hikari tried to express towards the redhead. "If he didn't want to pilot the Eva any longer, nobody should force him to continue. It's just wrong and immoral."
"Why are you defending that jerk?"
"I'm just stating the obvious that everyone can choose for themselves whether to continue with something that they've come to know…or quit right there and then. Asuka…are you envious of Shinji because he decided to walk away from what you dedicated your life to, because he wants more out of his life than what you choose to pine after?"
"What?! No! I'm not envious of that baka one bit! He thinks he's so better than I am that he gives up and walks away. I never walk away from a challenge. I'm better than he'll ever be."
-x-
"…Shinji, it looks like it's made entirely out of diamond shards," Kensuke told Shinji, examining the blade of the Tessaiga right now with Toji in the countryside where they had the convenience of privacy.
"And it's not heavy at all?" Toji questioned, concerned about the sword's weight.
"No," Shinji answered him, and Kensuke backed away from the sword as Shinji raised it over his head like it weighed next to nothing. "It must be this way for whoever owns it…and doesn't use it for personal gain."
"So both swords can't be used for personal gain, but they can be used to save people?" Toji found himself asking. "Soryu probably wouldn't be able to use either of them, even if she had them for herself."
Shinji responded with, "Asuka Langley Soryu is a young woman ruled by her pride and bloodlust. The previous masters of these swords demonstrated no such arrogance or made any contempt towards humanity as a whole heard or known. The original master of these two swords wasn't human, but he tolerated people, even up to his death. He didn't see them as expendable or pathetic, even took one woman as his bride, using Tessaiga to protect her from harm."
"But…how can you know of this, Shinji?" Toji asked him.
"Every now and then, I get these dreams that show me what what happened to the previous masters," he explained to his friends. "The original master had been a demonic dog of sorts, able to assume a humanoid appearance, was beyond those under him, in both physical strength and mental and spiritual strength. He ruled the western lands with a just reign, believing that ordinary people and benevolent demons could coexist harmoniously. Any malevolent demon that didn't agree with this ideal or tried to destroy people, the Great Dog Demon dealt with them. Prior to his demise, he had fathered two sons with two different women, one of whom was a lesser demon that couldn't understand why he would choose a human woman as his second bride."
"So, his first wife was a demon like himself, and he left her for a human wife?" Kensuke asked.
"Not everyone parts ways on the best of terms, but, yes, he did leave her for a human wife."
"That almost seems sinister."
"Maybe, but the original owner lived differently from other demons that were around at that time. He wasn't cruel, even if the eldest of his two sons had initially suspected him of being so."
-x-
"…I still can't believe he proposed to you," went Ritsuko to Misato, unable to comprehend how her friend from college could be engaged to their unshaven friend.
"I couldn't believe it myself at first," the purple-haired woman responded. "But we do go together nicely. Or as nicely as any two people go together."
In front of the two women and the staff working on Unit-00's synchronization test at the moment, the monitors displayed Rei as she sat in the Entry Plug.
This was another, additional test for the Dummy System, as the initial use of said system was met with errors, requiring further tests to be performed.
"Say, has any attempt been made to have Shinji return to pilot Unit-01?" Ritsuko asked her.
"I've made no such suggestion to him," Misato responded. "He was adamant on never piloting again. I can't fault him for it."
"So one classmate of his gets placed in danger, forcing him to choose between the Fourth Child and all of mankind, and he chooses the Fourth Child over the human race?"
"He's not like Asuka or Rei. He hasn't been involved with NERV for a long time, and he sees situations from a perspective different from the perspective of a paramilitary agency."
Inside the plug, Rei sat and thought of nothing but synchronizing with the Eva. But then, she thought of Shinji, who severed his ties with the agency after what Commander Ikari did in the previous Angel attack that involved Unit-03. While there had been a small thought that he might've returned in the last attack, it had been met with doubt and the unfortunate revelation that Shinji wouldn't return to pilot the Eva again.
Commander Ikari believed he would return, she thought, but he didn't return…and the Angel was defeated by something else that wasn't an Eva.
"Okay, Rei," she heard Dr. Akagi say over the intercom. "We're done for today."
-x-
"…Okay, Shinji, I think we've practiced enough for today," went Toji to the young swordsman in the making. "I think that form of Tessaiga is the best one to be used against the Angels if it flings shards at you."
Transforming the Diamond Tessaiga back into its katana form, Shinji re-sheathed the sword and expressed towards Kensuke, "I don't know how you talked me into practicing with music."
"Uh, it's also," Kensuke told them. "It also helps to use music as a means to envision a legion of adversaries from all sides trying to attack you in order to do a training form perfectly."
"That song, Before my body is dry, is somewhat an unusual song to listen to while training with the sword."
"Any song is usual when listening to it while training."
Shinji sighed and placed the swords on his back. He hoped the next Angel came soon and he could stand between NERV and the casualties they could cause. This was mainly because he knew Asuka could be destructive; if he could keep the Angel away from her, then her brutality would be reduced. Not to mention that nobody would have to die, and that wasn't a bad desire, to not want anyone to die.
Suddenly, he got a bad feeling in the back of his head, like something awful was going to happen soon. Real soon.
-x-
The Angel of Birds made herself known to the enemy, letting them know she was there. It was time to cast her judgment upon them for the cruelty they had inflicted upon her siblings and father. In addition, unlike her explosive brother, Sahaquiel, Arael had no intention of edging any closer to the blue planet than necessary; this was essential in order to protect herself from potential harm.
-x-
"…So, it's just outside of the range of our weapons," Ritsuko informed Misato as Asuka and Rei were in the Evas. "It's been there since it appeared, and hasn't moved an inch closer."
"So, is it waiting to get closer or is it going to attack from space?" Misato wondered.
With the loss of the Third Child and the resigning of the Fourth Child after the Unit-03 incident, Rei was designated as the pilot of Unit-01, though that made no difference to the situation they were currently in.
Asuka, on the other hand, was wondering if what had attacked the previous Angel would show up and attack this Angel. She wanted to show that Shinji was unnecessary to NERV now, that it was a waste of time of even considering trying to bring him back. Ever since before they met, she knew she was better than he had been, that she was superior to him in every way possible. To even think of her as being second to him was an insult to her pride.
"Okay, Asuka," went Misato over the intercom, "You'll be the primary gunner in this operation. Rei will be the backup gunner."
"Got it," the redhead responded. "Launching Unit-02."
-x-
Standing on a building rooftop several feet away from where he saw Unit-02 and Unit-01 arise from underneath the streets, Shinji had taken his own precautions against this new Angel he lacked any information on. While the Tessaiga was his primary sword to train with, it was always necessary to have Tenseiga with him in case people got hurt.
"Judging from whichever way they turn to, I should be able to handle the Angel," he told himself, gripping the Tessaiga in his left hand. "They point, I handle before it gets bad."
He watched as Unit-02, armed with a Positron Rifle, was aiming the weapon up into the sky on his left. But once he got his lead on where the Angel was, he, along with Unit-02 and much of where they were in the city, was bathed in an intense light.
"Aaaahh!" He gasped, feeling like something was trying to force its way into his head. "Aaaaahh! No!"
He dropped the Tessaiga and grabbed a hold of his head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAUURGH!" He yelled in intense pain, seeing things from his past that were just too painful for him to take.
He saw his mother during the last time he ever saw her…and saw her vanish in an incomplete version of an Evangelion. And then the day his father abandoned him, followed by being falsely accused of stealing a bike when he found it and believed it was abandoned. There was even the memory of his aunt expressing her dislike of him because she believed he was too much like his parents when he recalled absolutely nothing about them to make up any comparison.
I am not my parents, he thought, falling to his right side on the rooftop. I am not my parents! I'm not them! They walked out on me! They devoted themselves to the Eva, not me! I'm me! I'm me!
Pulse! He heard the sound of a heartbeat, and opened his eyes to see that the Tenseiga had fallen off him onto the ground…and it was resonating in a manner similar to a heartbeat.
-x-
Asuka was in immense pain! Her past laid out in front of her by the Angel. She couldn't escape what had happened in her childhood. The day her mother tried to strangle her, the constant reminders of her needing to be better than some man's daughter, the being ignored by her in favor of a stuffed doll…and the suicide.
"Please, stop!" She cried out, unable to hit the Angel that stayed protected by staying distant from the planet. "Stop!"
Just when Gendo was about to order Rei to go down to Terminal Dogma and retrieve the Spear of Longinus, something happened.
The beam of light the Angel used on Unit-02 was suddenly cut off by a literal cut from somewhere within the city itself.
"What was that?" Ritsuko asked.
On the holographic monitors, being located atop a skyscraper, they all saw the former Third Child, wielding a sword with a glowing blade, panting…before swinging it again, sending a massive wave of light into the sky.
-x-
Something was wrong! Arael's soul-piercing light was stopped by something not of the Lilim race, and saw a wave of light approaching it. It was different from hers and had a different feeling to its purpose that wasn't to pierce any soul.
SLASH! It had cut her in half, and she felt herself fading away, as though the light that made her form and the one that assaulted her had canceled each other out.
It's not possible, were her final thoughts before she disappeared from the vastness of space.
-x-
"No way," went Misato, unsure of how to go about this phenomenon that everyone in Central Dogma just witnessed.
"He defeated the Angel," went Maya, "with a sword?"
Gendo, however, was unimpressed by what he had just seen. There was no way that this was possible, that this went beyond everything that was supposed to transpire. And yet, he couldn't deny what he saw, to claim it as nothing more than an insane dream. And his curiosity, which he was believed to lack in its entirety, was sparked by this.
"Retrieve the Evas," he ordered the personnel, "then bring in the Third Child for questioning."
-x-
Laying on his back, Shinji, realizing now that the Tenseiga could be used to defeat the Angels that his Tessaiga most likely couldn't because of their opposite natures, as he caught his breath, suspected that the defeated Angel was vastly different from the previous one. The Tessaiga had defeated the Tenth Angel with two swings, and was incapable of harming this Angel. But Tenseiga, for a different reason, was able to achieve such a feat.
It must've been like those creatures the previous owners used it against to recall people from the afterlife, he thought. They couldn't be seen by the living, but could be harmed by the sword because it connects to the afterlife to restore life to the dead. Tenseiga can't be used to harm the living, but can harm the intangible. Stay focused, Shinji. You used Tenseiga to protect the people from the Angel, not for any personal gain. Keeping them safe is what matters most.
-x-
Inside the plug, Asuka, feeling relieved of tension, sat back in the chair and recalled something that was unusual in the pain she felt at the end. It was like someone she knew from long ago had finally come back and held her hand. She couldn't describe it in any other way. And there was something else she couldn't explain, either: Before the light the Angel bathed her with ceased, she could've sworn she saw someone on a nearby skyscraper swinging a sword.
-x-
Once he was rested, Shinji fled from the building and returned to Misato's to pack up his backpack; what he had neglected to take into account on NERV's grip on the city was that they could've had eyes and ears allover the place, including what wasn't actual eyes and ears. If they saw the Angel attacking Unit-02 with that light, then it's possible that they saw him counterattack the Angel with Tenseiga…and they would ask him how he did what he did that shouldn't have been possible. And then there was his father, who could've wanted the swords for himself and would have absolutely no intention of using them for the sake of protecting the people and not for personal gain.
Maybe it's a selfish thought, but it's better that NERV doesn't get possession of these swords, he thought, quickly putting on his coat and backpack and heading towards the front door. If I couldn't do what I can do with them, they'd probably put me back in the Entry Plug…back in the Eva…and it's the worse of the powers that can't be used to actually protect anyone.
By the time he had gotten three blocks away from the building, a black Sedan had shown up and three men in black suits had gotten out.
-x-
Misato was frustrated at being instructed not to try and convince Shinji by herself to return to NERV after being informed that Section Two was unable to find the boy at her place. She was certain she could've found him if she went out to find him, but Commander Ikari was adamant that other methods be used to locate the boy and bring him for questioning. Whatever means Shinji might've obtained to face the Angels, she figured he had his reasons to not tell her or NERV.
Still, a sword? That's so ancient and primitive to modern-day weapons, she thought, sitting in a chair in Central Dogma drinking a mug of coffee. And Shinji doesn't know how to use swords. I mean, he never mentioned anything about knowing how to use swords.
"You're sure you didn't know about this, Major Katsuragi?" Maya asked her.
"If I knew, I wouldn't know how to explain any of this," she answered her. "It's surprising that he had a sword that could harm an Angel."
"Do you think this was part of the reason he resigned from NERV?"
"Maybe."
"How's Asuka doing?"
"With some bedrest, she'll be alright…but I don't know how this will affect her later on."
"Looking for Shinji…or piloting Unit-02?"
Misato didn't answer her.
-x-
In the trauma ward of NERV, Asuka, despite her protests of being fine, lied in the hospital bed because Misato ordered her to. She was upset about the Angel having been defeated by someone that looked like (and who NERV assumed was) Shinji, wielding a sword. It was unlikely that he was capable of using a sword to defeat the Angel, as swords were incapable of penetrating AT-Fields, and the swords he had looked like meaningless antiques. Still, it would have explained why he had a pair of them that he kept with him much of the time.
He's always trying to upstage me, she thought. Why did he give up the Eva for a sword? Swords aren't even useful for an Eva to use.
Yet, she couldn't help but applaud his use of a sword against the Angel, like a lowly knight rising up to slay a dragon of light that had gone bad. She had to give him credit for such a primitive weapon and some luck.
-x-
Boarding the train and finding a seat in the back of the car where he could be by himself, Shinji sighed and tried to make sense of what to do the moment he got to the next town. He hoped there would be a low-rate motel somewhere that he could hide at for at least a day. Then, he could figure out how to keep Tessaiga and Tenseiga safe from NERV, and resolve to deal with the remaining Angels and keep the people safe.
The train started moving, and its passengers were heading towards God-knows-where on the tracks in the evening hours.
-x-
"…Still no sign of the Third Child, sir," went one of the agents of Section Two to Gendo in his office. "We've searched all the usual places he's been seen to frequent, and we've got no trace of him."
"Expand the search to beyond the city," Gendo ordered the man. "Check for places he doesn't frequent. Libraries, video stores, fast food restaurants. He can't hide forever."
To be continued…
A/N: Here's the chapter that will be for Halloween.