So it's that time again. New chapter is finally here!
This took quite a while to write, as this chapter contains a lot of information. Anyways, let's get into it.
Chapter 2: Sachiel(2nd Part)
"An unfamiliar ceiling."
Opening my eyes, I saw the black ceiling in front of me.
Not only the black ceiling, everything is pitch black in here. Well, to be honest, I expected this much after literally got drugged after getting out of the EVA. There was like, an army covered in black military suits waiting outside the entry plug, waiting for me to come out like an criminal. Of course, I didn't even have the chance to explain what and how I absolutely obliterated a monster capable of tanking N² mines. They just pushed me down to the floor and arrested me.
"And it's quite dark at here, too. Damn it, can't they even build a ceiling light?" I muttered, sighing at the situation I'm in.
Looks like I'm stuck here. For an indefinite amount of time. Okay.
Day one and I have already gone to jail, what's next? They are going to use my body for scientific researchs, and I'm going to be a lab rat for the rest of my life?
"...No thanks. I need to find a way to escape this hellhole."
I'm not going to stay in jail forever. I got a mission to accomplish before this human body dies from illnesses and old age.
"SACHIEL SUGGEST YOU SHOULD TRY TO DIG A TUNNEL AT THE LEFT WALL." A big voice intruded in my head, causing me to shake slightly.
What was that? I looked around, only to see no one was around.
Oh, it's him, isn't it?
"Hey there Sachiel. It's great not seeing you screaming in panic and wondering why the hell you're still alive." I joked a bit before realizing what I just said.
"YES. HELLO, SHINJI."
"Are you still mad at me?" I asked, wondering why he was so calm and relaxed.
"IT'S NOTHING. SACHIEL DON'T HOLD A GRUDGE AGAINST YOU." He answered with a matter-of-fact tone. Sachiel's mental image appeared in my head, manifesting as its angel form.
"Really?" I asked and received a nod from Sachiel. This guy is surprisingly considerate.
"SACHIEL HAS ENOUGH TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE SITUATION WHILE YOU'RE SLEEPING." Sachiel said while sitting on my left shoulder.
"Good. You're okay, Sachiel?" He's quite calm, maybe he is in a good mood?
"I AM. YOU HAVE BLACKED OUT FOR QUITE A TIME. ARE THE LILINS' DRUGS THAT EFFECTIVE ON YOU?" The voice asked me.
"Yes. This's a human body, meaning that whatever can damage humans can hurt me as well." I answered, and the voice went silent for a moment.
"...SO. IT APPEARED THAT YOU ARE CARRYING A SYMBOL OF FATHER WITH YOU." It changed the subject, turning its eyes(?) on the blue ring which has just appeared in front of me.
"Indeed. You could see it?" I nodded. Sachiel looked at me once again after poking the little floating blue circle.
"WHEN YOU WERE TAKING MY CONCIOUSNESS AND MY WILL TO YOUR OWN BODY, I SAW IT." Sachiel said. "IT'S THE RESURRECTION MEDAL FATHER MADE A LONG TIME AGO. IF MY FATHER HAS TRUSTED YOU TO THE EXTEND THAT HE GAVE YOU SUCH AN IMPORTANT THING LIKE THIS, I WILL TRUST YOU ALWAYS."
"Good. It's great that I don't have to explain all details to you." I looked at him, satisfied with the result. Suddenly, the image of Sachiel in his Angel form bowing to me popped in my head.
"UNCLE SHINJI, I'M SORRY FOR THE DAMAGE I HAD DONE TO YOUR CITY." Sachiel bowed to me mentally, causing me to shiver.
"What!?" Surprised by his sudden apology, I yelped. "No no no! You was following his orders! It's not your fault at all!"
Also, I'm not that old yet! I'm just fourteen years old, you know!?
"No need to be so formal with me, Sachiel. You can call me Shinji as you like." I said, correcting his mistakes.
"ISN'T CALLING FATHER'S MALE FRIENDS UNCLE A FORMAL THING LILINS ALWAYS DO?" Sachiel pondered for a bit. "ISN'T IT RUDE NOT TO CALL YOU MY UNCLE?"
"Well, yes, but you don't have to behave yourself like thatl." I sighed. "In any case, I would like to have a good relationship with you. Like, friends and stuffs. I don't want Adam to get mad at me for belittling his children."
"I SEE, UNCLE SHINJI."
"Hey, drop the honorifics. What did I just say?" I grumped.
"I WANTED TO SHOW MY RESPECT TO YOU." Sachiel hastily added. "YOU'RE FATHER'S FRIEND, SO THAT MEANS IT'S MY DUTY TO BE RESPECTFUL TO THE ELDERS."
"BESIDE." Sachiel said. "I WOULD BE A COWARD FOR NOT RESPECTING THE ONE WHO HAS DEFEATED ANGEL OF WATER, SACHIEL."
So, he's not angry at me. In fact, he's in a pretty good mood. Good, good.
"Thanks, Sachiel. I appreciate it."
"NO NEED TO THANK, UNCLE." Sachiel went silent a bit before continuing to speak. "WELL, HOW ARE WE GOING TO ESCAPE HERE?"
"For now, let's wait." I said. Escaping right now would undoubtedly be a stupid decision.
"THEY ARE SCARED OF YOU BECAUSE YOU DEMONSTRATED YOUR SUPERIORITY TO THEM?" Sachiel asked, finally realized the issue.
"Well, I guess? So, for now, let's just sit here and do nothing at all." I sat down and began to close my eyes again.
The two of us were sitting in silence before Sachiel spoke again.
"UM, UNCLE SHINJI?"
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"UNCLE SHINJI, UNFORTUNATELY, I WILL HAVE TO RETURN TO MY SLUMBER. " Sachiel said regretfully before returning to his slumber in my body. "I NEED REST TO FULLY RECOVER MYSELF. SORRY, I HAVE TO LET YOU BE ALONE FOR NOW."
"I understand. Go get some rest." I nodded, and the voice went silent.
"Sleep well!" Shouting in my head, I could see Sachiel turning his head back and nodded, and he disappeared from my mind.
Opening my eyes again, I hoped someone would show up and save me from this cell.
"Now, we wait."
How long will they keep me in here?
"Doctor Akagi, it's your turn to report."
Gendo Ikari, sitting in his NERV command center, turned her eyes to the blonde scientist. Kozo Fuyutsuki, the vice commander was standing behind him, his eyes were staring at Gendo as if he saw an alien.
Ritsuko has to admit, despite not knowing too much about her boss, she can see that Gendo is seriously enraged under that orange glasses of his.
Is this because Shinji Ikari managed to destroy half of the Angel with a single punch? Ritsuko couldn't believe that at first. Unit 00 was never as strong as this abomination called Unit 01 which was just recently operated.
She had read the reports. She herself has personally observed the moment Unit 01 had its sync ratio spiked to 1200% and practically vaporized the Angel with just a light punch. Still, she couldn't believe it.
There's no way an EVA Unit is this strong. There's simply no way.
Sure, it might be comparable to Angels, but that doesn't explain how absurdly strong Unit 01 is.
"Yes. Unit 01 is practically unharmed. The reason for the sudden increase in the synchronization rate of Unit 01 has not been found yet. The Third Child has finished his first Angel in a total time of 15 seconds. The damage to the city is minimal, and-"
"Enough. You may leave now, Doctor Akagi. Thank you for your report."
Guess he's too angry to even pay me any attention at all. Ritsuko Akagi silently nodded before leaving the room.
"Gendo. Are you good? Something happened?" Kozo finally said after the blonde scientist left the room.
"...You have already known the reason, Sensei." The man sighed in frustration. "The scenerio has completely gone to waste. Fifteen years of planning, just to dump it away like this."
"Oh, don't be so sad, Gendo-kun." Kozo chuckled. "It's just a little detail. It's not like the end of the world. Beside, the Scrolls are just prophecies."
"No crucifix appeared, the Dead Sea Scrolls are wrong for the first time." Gendo said, his eyes were attached to the now resting Unit 01. "And I'm sure that something went wrong."
"Come on." Kozo sighed. "Don't be like that. Keep yourself calm. You got a meeting with SEELE later, you know that?"
"Yes." Standing from the chair, Gendo Ikari walked out the command center. "What a hassle."
"My, my." Kozo exclaimed. It has been a long time since he last saw Gendo being emotional. Looks like he wasn't drinking lately, which is a good thing to know.
"Sometimes he reminded me of Yui. They're really alike, don't you think?"
Kozo suddenly remembered something.
"Wait, did I ask him about Shinji being locked in the detention room?"
"What do you mean you don't know where he is?!" Misato was outraged, shouting at her blonde scientist friend. "He was literally kidnapped in front of our eyes, and you didn't even do anything about it?! What's up with those guys anyway?"
"They claimed that they were following the Commander's order." Akagi sighed, and she threw away the cigaratte to the nearby trash can. "I didn't have the chance to ask him. He dismissed me before I was about to finish my report. The Commander is in a serious bad mood, despite what happened today."
"Can you do something about it?" The purple-haired major asked."I don't want the kid got the wrong impression of us. Especially after he saved our asses from that literal titan out there."
"Can't do. It's the Commander's order. If somebody could change it, it's him." Standing up, Doctor Akagi waved at Misato before she left the room. "I'll go home now. We can go drink again if you want. Bye, Misato." Closing the door, she left a confused Misato standing inside, holding her head.
Seeing her friend acting so irresponsibly like this made her blood boil.
"God damn it!" She grumbled. "Where should I go to find him? Hmm..."
A dangerous thought appeared in her mind.
"Maybe they kept him inside the detention room? I have to find him." Kicking open the door of the room, she ran outside to find the boy.
She didn't know why she was doing all of this to protect a boy she just met today. But the thought of the child locked up in an unknown organization's room, confused and scared by everything, makes her determined to keep moving forward.
There was something about him that made her feel some affection for the boy. He didn't talk much, he is quite silent, and he had that lonely vibe on him.
She couldn't leave him alone like that.
"C'mon, move! Stupid elevator." Misato punched the wall of the elevator in frustration.
Finally. She let out a sigh of relief. The elevator has reached its destination.
She has reached the room. Her hands were about to reach the doorknob, but something made her hesitant.
Will this affect her job? Will this momentary act of kindness cause serious consequences for her?
She shook her head. Didn't want to answer the question, she opened the door.
"Misato-san?" The boy who was sluggishly sitting against the wall said, his eyes were looking at her in awe. He wasn't expecting this to happen.
Thanks god he was here. Misato smiled, offering her hand to Shinji.
"Time to go, Shinji. You and I will stay at our place tonight. Let's get you out of here."
Shinji smiled. Shaking her hands to get up, he nodded.
"Yeah, let's go."
Gendo, the Commander was exhausted.
Years of plotting...gone.
It was a fortune that the damage to the city was minimal, but aside from that, everything else went wrong.
No Unit 01's Berserker Mode, no Sachiel self-destructing and crucifix.
Of course, as we all know, Gendo isn't the only one who suffered from this event.
Some of his "collaborators" even threatened to stop funding NERV. Luckily, Gendo successfully convinced them not to do so.
Today was his first day to start his Scenerio, yet he failed. In. The. First. Day.
Maybe a bottle of vodka would cheer him up. Maybe. He wanted to be drunk.
"Just great." Pouring his first cup, Gendo was about to drink it until...
"Sir! Sir, you would not believe this!"
A nameless lieutenant rushed into his office, hands holding a stack of unsigned paper. Gendo scowled.
"Leave." Gendo said angrily. This bratty lieutenant was practically kicking the door of his office, barging in like a complete idiot.
This isn't somewhere you can just go in like that.
He had enough today. He has a gun under his desk, and it's ready to shoot the lieutenant at any moment.
"Sir, we found Professor Yui Ikari! She is unconscious, but reports said that she is stable condition!"
"...What?" Dropping the glass cup, Gendo opened his eyes wide as the glass completely shattered from the impact.
"Sir? Sir! You alright? Somebody call an ambulance!"
It was indeed a eventful day.
"Can I really come in? Are you sure?" I hastily asked Misato before entering her house.
"Sure, Shinji. It will be your home, even if it's only for one night." She laughed, pushing me into the house.
Jeez, she's really considerate too, huh.
"Then, I guess it's my new home now." I muttered. "Welcome home."
"Home sweet home." Misato added and wrapped her hands around me.
Holding my hand, she dragged me to the living room, which was...
"Umm, Misato-san?"
"Yes?" Misato responded with an innocent tone.
"...Why is it so dirty in here?"
The room was full of garbages and beer cans. And how the hell is a frying pan sitting on a bookshelf!? And that is a mountain of empty beer cans!? And that's a penguin! Why is it so... wait, penguin?
"Eh? Who is this little guy?" I sat down and poked the penguin. Irritated, he bit me with his yellow peak. Ow.
"That's Pen-Pen, my roommate. What were you doing, Pen-Pen?" Misato said as she was trying to move the mountain of beer cans to a corner. The little penguin squeaked, annoyed at Misato for some reasons.
"Oh, I forgot about feeding you. Sorry Pen-Pen, another time?"
She didn't feed him?! Poor, poor penguin. And she knew what he was saying? Wow, Misato-san is incredible.
"I can cook!" Trying to gain Misato's trust, I offered to help her.
"No, I will cook." Patting her chest proudly, Misato said confidently. She got interrupted midway by Pen-Pen though.
"Wa!? You don't like my cooking?"
"Wark! Wark wark wark!"
"Fine fine, we will order take-outs. Ugh, alright." Defeated, Misato took her phone out and began to order food, while I was sitting on the couch. Pen-Pen has retreated to his mini fridge.
Well, in the mean time, I suppose I could help her a bit by cleaning all of those mess. Using some black plastic bags I found in the kitchen, I swiftly cleaned the whole mess in no time. If I had time, I would have cleaned the floor with a mop, but before I had a chance to do so, someone knocked on the door.
"Shoot." I muttered. Misato-san is taking a bath. What should I do what should I do?!
Maybe it's NERV? That's definitely a no-no. I am not going to open the door. I can just ignore it. Okay, chill, me, I got this. I'm just going to ignore it.
*door opening sounds*
...Shit.
Is it a burglar?
This isn't good. Grabbing the mop, I sneaked to the back of the door, ready to bonk the intruder at any moment.
The door opened, and...
"Smack!"
The intruder fell to the floor, unconscious. Wait a minute...This is Doctor Akagi?! It's Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, the blonde scientist I met this morning!
Oh no, what have I done?! What should I do now?!
Lemme check if she was okay. Touching her temple, I didn't see any blood coming out. Phew, what a relief.
Sorry for hitting you, Akagi-san. I'm very sorry! I muttered to myself. Carrying her on my back, I walked to the living room.
Okay, calm down. I'm sure that there's a way to manage this. Let's drop her on the couch.
Luckily, Misato didn't notice the loud noise, neither did Pen-Pen as he was busy sleeping in the fridge.
I sighed.
"Good grief. What now?"
I was thinking about leaving here. If Doctor Akagi knew that Miss Misato had saved me from the detention room, I might have affected her job and her reputation at NERV. I don't want that to happen. And she won't be happy to know that I hit her with a mop.
"Katsuragi-san, I'm going out for a walk! I'll be back soon!"
"Okay Shinji, don't go too far away! 30 minutes, and then go home okay?" She yelled back.
I hesitated. "Right. Good bye Katsuragi-san, I will be back soon."
Closing the door behind me, I left Misato's apartment.
Well, where should I go now?
"Will you try again?"
My mind was in a daze. A dream, perhaps.
But after hearing those words, my eyes opened instantly. I got another chance.
To redo all of this. To come back to my old life again. This time I will not run away anymore.
Shinji, Gendo, I'm coming back. I will do my best to have a happy life with my family.
I will destroy all Evangelions and everything related to it, so that I can live happily ever after with all of my friends.
All of those schemes of SEELE will go to waste. They already took too much from me.
"Yes."
Then everything was white, and my consciousness faded once again.
"Definitely, I will definitely save everyone this time instead of floating in space like this! I will reunite with my family and friends again, and we will have a big party to celebrate! I will drink so much beer that Gendo had to carry me to the bathroom so I could throw up all I want! I want to be alive again! I will protect everyone this time!"
Tears flowed from my eyes like a stream. I could feel the space in front of me was distorting, shifting into a black hole. Without a second thought, I reached towards it, and then...
"Welcome back, Yui. You will make a change this time."
I saw everything again.
Standing in front of my eyes is Unit 01, its yellow eyes were looking at me, satisfied at my answer. Confused, I tried to open my mouth, but I couldn't.
With a swift movement, Unit 01 shrunk into a small purple and green orb, before flying toward me.
I tried to block it, but it went through my hands, into my chest. Somehow, it didn't cause me any pain.
"What are you..?" I muttered.
"What I am doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that I'm your tool to use, and I will assist you in your final journey. That's all that matters. Now, we will save the world, right?"
...It's right. I have a goal to achieve. I won't back down like before.
"You've finally realized what's truly important to you. Let's do this!" The voice sounded even cheerful than before.
"...Yeah." I nodded at its word.
Before I could realize what was happening, everything went black again.
The next time I woke up, I was in a hospital.
"An unfamilar ceiling?" I muttered.
And that's it! Thank you for reading.
I originally planned to write like 8000 words, but I wasted too much time for a chapter. I'm working on Chapter 3 at the moment, so expect to see it coming out soon.
You can review to point out errors in this chapter and give your thoughts about this chapter. Once again, thank you for reading.
Have a good day/night.
