Creation began on 05-16-23
Creation ended on 05-18-23
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Evangelion: God and Protector
Behemoth was pulled down by the largest of chains before the rotating form of Leviathan within the Labyrinth! It glared as it looked up at it.
Flash! Behemoth, bathed in Leviathan's light, saw the day it chose to abandon its duty to serve as the god's protector in favor of its own interests, which included wanting to harvest the souls of all those that suffered during the great calamity that claimed the lives of half the world for its own purposes.
Leviathan felt betrayed and threatened by Behemoth's desire to harvest souls from Earth to rival its own power. And not only did Behemoth develop the desire to usurp its position as a deity, but because it left the Labyrinth to do as it desired for itself, it obtained a large number of souls from the dead due to the calamity that humans committed against themselves. More than the Cenobites had in a large number of centuries, making Behemoth almost strong enough to overthrow Leviathan as the ruler of the Labyrinth. Almost…but not enough.
Behemoth snarled as it looked into Leviathan and saw one of its most recent actions against the human race. There was this…little boy, alone and unloved by virtually everyone in that maimed world he was born into…and the Hell Priest granted him an audience with Leviathan, who discerned that, despite the boy being in pain, had a genuine desire and would be undeserving of further suffering. A soul, pure and untainted by the hatred its heart felt at being abandoned by people, longing only for the love and affection of another. In the end, Leviathan granted the boy his desire, free of suffering…and Behemoth felt like chastising the god of flesh, hunger and desire for allowing the souls of those that sought pleasure to receive their just desires when pain and pleasure were indivisible. If it had been Behemoth, the boy would've been teased with such a promise of forever…and then tortured for eternity.
More chains shot from around the Labyrinth and restrained Behemoth.
"You shall know our finest methods," went the Hell Priest to Behemoth as they levitated in the air. "By the time we're done with you, you shall know the true meaning of what it means to protect and serve Leviathan."
But Behemoth didn't intend to make anything easy for the Cenobites. Whatever they could do to it was whatever they had done to countless others over time after time. Everything they had ever done to every man, woman and child of generation after generation, world after world, Behemoth wasn't unaware of any of it. Sin and desire were a universal understanding; so many souls, so many lives, shackled in flesh, in tangible forms, seeking and wanting to experience new, greater feats of their existence, no matter how forbidden they were deemed by the rest of society that viewed them as flawed. One degradation after another degradation, one sin after another sin, throughout the whole of existence…without any sense of ending.
So much flesh, thought Behemoth, so many different pleasures…and so many different ways to inflict unending agony.
And you will feel all of it, it heard Leviathan's voice, before and after we're through with you.
When the light shined on Behemoth again, Leviathan shot a chain through its neck.
"Gaaaaaaurgh!" Behemoth gagged.
"We have such a retribution to give you," the Hell Priest told Behemoth.
And with Behemoth now back in the Labyrinth, all that was left to do…was ensure the current holder of the box…received an audience with Leviathan, as was promised by the box that would grant a boon once the offerings were made and given. Pleasure born of pain, pain derived from pleasure…and rewards given to those that sought them out.
-x-
"…It hasn't changed yet?" Maya asks Fuyutsuki as she examines the Lazarus Configuration upon learning that it had absorbed the blood of Behemoth, the creature NERV had assumed to be an Angel.
"No," he answers her.
Unfortunately, because Gendo wanted the box, they had to meet in the women's bathroom; it seemed to be a secure place that Gendo wouldn't have tried to look for them in.
"We probably have to wait until the Cenobites have dealt with Behemoth," Fuyutsuki tells Maya. "There seems to be a lot of history between Leviathan and Behemoth."
"Behemoth was a servant of Leviathan…until Behemoth betrayed Leviathan…and now Behemoth is getting its comeuppance from the Cenobites," Maya suspected as she looked out of the bathroom stall that they were hiding in. "But on the positive side, if they're dealing with Behemoth, they won't be tormenting Dr. Akagi if they already were. As soon as the box changes into its last configuration, we get her back and that's that."
"Yes, but it's easier said than done due to Ikari wanting the box so that he can claim something from the Cenobites. My reason is for atonement. His is for greed."
"Personal question: Why didn't you mark Commander Ikari?"
"I'm not desperate enough to sacrifice people to undo a mistake of my own making, even if one of them is someone I don't like and could care less about if they made the mistake of messing with some people that they didn't fully understand were dangerous."
Maya accepted his reasoning for why he didn't sacrifice Gendo, and looked back down at the Lazarus Configuration. It had been over half an hour since Behemoth was taken by the Cenobites, and it still hadn't changed yet. The last four times, its changing shape was almost instantaneous, but this time was different. It was just taking longer to reconfigure itself.
"How do you suppose an audience with Leviathan works?" She asks Fuyutsuki.
"As soon as the box turns into its final form, Leviathan appears," he suggests, "or the holder of the box is granted access to the Cenobites' domain for their audience with Leviathan. I don't think any of the previous holders of this box and others like it ever spoke with Leviathan directly, but through its Cenobites. So long as you state what it is that you desire and are specific about it, or if your desire is truly genuine and you've been deprived of it for some time, the Cenobites won't pervert your desire. The desire is simple: Bring back Ritsuko Akagi."
They heard the sound of the bathroom door opening and Fuyutsuki stayed quiet.
"You might as well come out of the stall, you two," they heard the voice of the Second Child as they noticed a pair of school shoes outside the stall. "I'm by myself out here. I just want to see the box, please."
"Why?" Maya asks her.
"I had the most bizarre dream about it. A little boy was playing around with one that looked like it could change shape instead of just being like a Rubik's Cube. And it was colored exactly like the object I saw the sub-commander use to harm the Angel."
Fuyutsuki calmly opened the door to the stall, looking at Asuka, dressed in her school uniform…and sighs.
"Are you sure this is exactly what you saw in your dream?" He asks her, showing her the Lazarus Configuration.
"It didn't look like that," she responds, "but yes, that's what the boy had in my dream. The same coloring, the same intricacy, everything. He said he had to hold onto the box until he could give it to someone that wanted it."
"Did this…boy ever tell you his name?"
"No. I didn't ask him, and he didn't say. But he seemed to know things that were impossible for someone of his age to know about. He didn't know anything about the Angels, but he seemed to know enough about desires and the people that make them come true."
Fuyutsuki then takes out of a picture from his breast pocket and shows it to Asuka.
"Was this the boy you saw?" He asks, and Asuka's eyes widen.
"That's him," she reveals. "Who is he?"
"That's Shinji Ikari, Commander Ikari's missing son…who I doubt is missing in the rational sense. He was nine when he disappeared. He'd be fourteen now."
"He only told me that he met some people that made his desire come true."
"The Cenobites," Maya states. "He had an encounter with them one day when he found this box…and he told them what he wanted…and claimed his prize."
"Cenobites?"
"Demons to some," Maya began.
"Angels to others," Fuyutsuki ended.
"Have you two seen them?" Asuka wants to know.
"Yeah," Maya answers her. "I can definitely understand why they would look like demons to some…and angels to others. They look…hideous…monstrous, even…glamorous, seductive…and beautiful in a strange way. If you can get past their scarifications, you can see the beauty they represent sometimes."
"Scarifications? You mean, they look mutilated?"
"Far beyond what the body can really endure," Fuyutsuki states. "Exposed bone, nerves and muscles, pins and other pieces of metal somewhere on their bodies. There's no way they could survive any of that extreme bodily modification without some sort of power behind it all keeping them active."
"And that (Asuka points to the box) has something to do with them?"
"Yeah."
"Why do you have something like this here to begin with?"
"It's a long story."
"I don't have anywhere else to be right now."
"Yeah, that seems to be the claim of everyone that decides to want to know more than they can imagine right now," Maya states.
"Human curiosity has always been the drive to compel people to explore."
"And the Cenobites are explorers in the further regions of experience," Fuyutsuki tells Asuka.
"Explorers of experience?"
To be continued…
A/N: And now Asuka is in on the secret of the box and Cenobites. What else do you think is in store for NERV? And as for Behemoth, there are such sights for it to be shown.
