Absence, Part 4
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it)
Notes, the parenthesis indicates languages other than Japanese, in this case,English.
Day Three
The Dreaming
The House of Secrets
Tea Room
"I r-really wouldn't want to disc-cuss theology." Abel said, after pouring a new cup of tea for his guests. "It, well…" he shrugged, "it is too close. I was there, got killed. Resurrected, got killed again… and again and again, then got a job as caretaker here!" He smiled happily as he rubbed the head of a strange yellow creature he called Goldie.
"So…" Asuka put her cup on the plate, and took a cookie from the platter. "the House of Secrets for you, and the House of Mystery for your psycho brother."
"He g-gave me Goldie as a gift! He is not t-that b-b-bad!" (1)
Asuka and Kyoko raised an eyebrow each. "Really?" They said, and laughed as they looked at each other.
"Whats the deal with this house anyway? Why that creepy name?"
"Ah!" Abel perked up. "The House is more than a building! It's more than a dream too. It exists here in the Dreaming and somewhere in rural K-Kentucky, of all places. Some rich guy in Kentucky built it, and swore only pure-blooded Kentucky people could live here. Several people moved in, and went crazy soon after. The last owner tried to move it somewhere else, and the House fell down the transport, and ended up in one side of an old cemetery." Abel parted the curtains and pointed at the house at the other side of the cemetery, "And the House of Secrets appeared at the other side of the cemetery soon after, with my brother as caretaker."
"Yeah, horror tale cliches. You really get in the role, Abel." Asuka took another cookie.
Abel pouted. "The Houses have a job to do, Miss. Very important job. When mortals are at a very important point of their lives, sometimes, they need a little…" he struggled for a word, "guidance." He sipped his tea. "If they are very lucky, or…" he leaned forward, and the chimney fire illuminated his face, distorting his features into a sinister mask. "Or very unlucky, they find themselves at the cemetery. Right between the Houses."
"When a mortal encounters the houses, they have the choice of either a Secret, or a Mystery. If they chose the Secret, I tell a story, but they can't share it with anybody else. It belongs only to them. If they chose the Mystery, they go to my brother's house, who then tells them a story, but the stories he tells always have a mystery to them, one the mortal can't understand, not completely." (2)
He leaned back, his face returning to normal. "Anyway, after the story, the mortal can go back to their life; sometimes, whatever story they heard will help them improve their lives. Sometimes, not so much. No one ever knows."
"You, Miss, are a special case. My brother has committed himself to tell you a story. You will be one of the very few mortals to hear both a Secret and a Mystery. That is, if you accept."
"I'm not getting anywhere near that maniac!" Asuka hit the table with her palm, shaking teapot, cups and platter.
"You are protected by the D-Dreaming. Lord Daniel protects Lady Kyoko as an Honored Guest, you are protected imp-plicitly."
"How the He…" Abel's hand shot out and covered Asuka's mouth.
"Don't you ever invoke that place in the Dreaming! Understood?" Somehow, Abel's voice lost the stutter. And he actually looked dangerous. He waited until Asuka nodded. "S-sorry about t-that. Our Lord and that people don't see things the same way." (3)
"How does your Lord protection works?" Asuka asked, duly chastised.
"It's like a kind of curse. Whomever defies his rulings, especially if t-they are a part of the Dreaming, suffers horribly. Cain can only kill me, and I come back every time. He can't attack you, though he may t-threaten." He sighed, "You can refuse t-to go to the House of Mystery, but I wouldn't rec-commend it. You'd find yourself at the door sooner or lat-t-ter."
Asuka thought about it. She looked at her Mama, who just looked back at her with those luminous blue eyes. She knew whatever she decided, Mama would be with her.
"Abel, do I have to decide now, or can I wait until after your story?"
"A story, yes. I p-promised you a story…" Abel looked around the parlor, until he picked up a colorful book from the bookcase that dominated a whole wall. He flipped a few pages. "The story of the House was for you both, but the one here, this one is only for you, Miss. You can decide later. Just chose before you leave the Dreaming."
"Very well." Asuka sat comfortably in her chair. "Please, begin."
Abel opened the book, his voice firm and clear. The voice of a consummate storyteller. "Our story begins a long time ago, in San Francisco, California. In 1969…"
Tokyo-3, Japan
Katsuragi-Ikari Apartment
3:53 A.M.
A pair of bare feet walk along the hall. The doors don't slide open before the visitor. Yet his slow stroll is not impeded in any way.
Shinji Ikari sleeps and dreams. Of old heroes and new battles. Of a red headed girl and a blue-haired girl fighting at his side. Behind them, the ghosts of colorful heroes lending them their strength, their cunning, and their determination.
Lord Daniel of the Dreaming watches the dreamer and the dream. A wave of his hand, a pinch of dust, and two figures join the army of heroes, a man wearing a white and blue armor, displaying a figure reminiscent of an insect at the center of his chest (4); and a woman in a red costume, with a yellow cloak, and golden armor over the left side of her torso, her bare face framed by a red diadem (5).
Shinji Ikari smiles, while the visitor vanishes.
Lord Daniel of the Dreaming watches over the unshaven man sleeping on a simple mattress set in the living room. For tonight, Ryoji Kaji sleeps in this place, to keep Shinji Ikari company. His sleep is, as always, anything but tranquil. He turns and tosses under the blanket. His dream is always the same, he doesn't understand it while he sleeps, and doesn't remember it when he wakes.
But Daniel knows the dream. An old memory inherited from Morpheus, his predecessor.
A dream of family. Of happiness, and betrayal, and death, and pain and loss and grief.
A dream of starting again, far from family and happiness.
A dream of forging a new life from the broken fragments of the old one.
Daniel blows a pinch of dust. And Ryoji Kaji sighs; for a few precious hours, his dream will be peaceful.
A dream of family. Of happiness, free of betrayal and pain and loss and grief. Death can wait.
A dream of starting again, with a new family, finding happiness anew.
A dream of finding a new life.
Tokyo-3, Japan
Ayanami-Soryu Apartment
4:01 A.M.
Rei Ayanami sleeps, but doesn't dream (6). The lord of Dreams will not enter this place tonight. His head turns towards another place, he will visit that other place tonight, but not right now.
A moment later, he stands next to Misato Katsuragi, who tonight sleeps in the female pilots' apartment to keep Rei company. The woman snores loudly, and the penguin who sleeps next to her makes peaceful noises.
She dreams of being a teacher (7), a curious dream for one so used to conflict, fear, and worry.
But the Lord of Dreams doesn't judge her for her simple dreams.
Tokyo-3, Japan
Horaki House
4:07 A.M.
Koichi Horaki sleeps, and dreams. In his dreams, he walks along a beach, with his wife, Junko (8). They watch their daughters run and play. The sky is black, full of stars. He looks at the smiling face of his wife, and he doesn't know why it hurts so much. She is so full of life and love…
Kodama Horaki sleeps, and dreams. In her dreams, she graduates from college, and is happy in the knowledge of her bright future. Above her, the sky is black, full of stars. She clutches her blankets, dreaming of her diploma.
Nozomi Horaki sleeps, and dreams. In her dreams, she is dancing at a school festival, along her dearest friend, Sakura Suzuhara. Outside the windows of the school hall, the horizon extends clear and free, a red haze under the blue sky. She smiles and turns under the blankets.
Hikari Horaki sleeps and dreams. In her dreams, she stands on an endless plain, in front of a strange building, made of tall, slender towers that gleam like jewels under the blue sky, somehow almost black, despite the bright sun shining above. Her long white fingers entwined with her beloved Toji's. She smiles happily as she takes flight, Toji flies next to her.
In the guest's room, Motomu Horaki sleeps and dreams. Of a youth full of anger, pride, and unending struggle. Of wounds given and received. Of an undeserved kindness and a new beginning in a city not his own. Of a strange, white face, looking at him from the mirror. The red eyes demanding and angry. He turns away from the bathroom mirror, and gets dressed to work. The owner of the company always has a kind word for him and for all the staff (9). Motomu sighs and smiles. Now dreaming of his small orchard, proud of his trees and their fruits.
There's a comfortable silence in the house. The horrors of the Angel's attack fading gradually.
Daniel of the Dreaming watches the inhabitants' dreams, an indulgent smile on his white face. His eyes, black as the night sky, watch over the sleepers and their dreams.
"A home so far from home." He whispers. "You have done well." He smiles too. His long white fingers take a pinch of dust from a pouch at his belt. He blows softly, and the pinch of dust flies over the sleepers, and settles on their bodies. They sigh, and keep on dreaming.
Tokyo-3, Japan
NERV HQ, Commander Ikari's Apartment
4:22 A.M.
Commander Gendo Ikari dreams of his wife. And only his wife. No other being appears in his dream. Third Impact is a done deal in his dream, mere background noise to the eagerly awaited reunion.
"So you are one of the fools who angered my sister. Meddling with the natural order of death and rebirth is never a good idea, Gendo Ikari." Lord Daniel whispers. "I'll not interfere with my dear sister's plans. She will deal with you anyway, in due time."
He almost leaves, but stops, and turns back. He looks at the mortal's right hand, though bandaged, he can feel the mutilated presence forced to bond with the man. "What do we have here?" He says, in hushed tones, "Another dreamer. So far from home, so… reduced in every sense and physicallity, yes. So old, but I remember you, because my predecessor met you, once upon another time."
Daniel listens attentively, answering a question only he could hear, "Maybe. But her sleep is not natural." He pauses. "I'll see what can I do."
Tokyo-3, Japan
NERV HQ
Evangelion Cage Number 1
Unit-00's Core
4:36 A.M.
Rei Ayanami sleeps and dreams (10), floating in a black space. Her little form peacefully drifting inside the jewel-like core. She dreams of a ghost in red, of a brother, and a sister. She dreams of songs and games. Her scarlet eyes open for a moment, recognizing the visitor. She smiles as the white man looks at her with a fond smile, and goes back to her dream when he blows a pinch of dust that envelops her in warmth.
"Sleep and dream, little one." He says softly, and turns to the red ghost that holds the child's hand.
"Hello, Boston. I see you have been busy. Well done. She had lost her way, and you guided her back."
"Um, er… thank you, Lord Daniel." The former acrobat bows deeply and clears his throat. "If you don't mind me asking… I mean, if I'm overstepping…"
Daniel smiles indulgently, "She dreams of family, of course. Keep her well, Boston, innocent dreams in one so mistreated are a treasure worth preserving."
"Yes, yes, Lord!" Deadman looks at the sleeping child, "I'd say I will protect her with my life, but you know…"
Daniel laughs softly, the sound is like silver bells in the first day of snow. "I see why my sister appreciates you." He says as he vanishes.
Deadman wipes his forehead. "Pheuf! Talking to this guy is like walking through a minefield. At least he is not as volatile as Morpheus was… the stories I've heard…"
Tokyo-3, Japan
NERV HQ, Terminal Dogma
"LCL Production Plant"
4:48 A.M.
Lord Daniel of the Dreaming stands at the edge of a lake of LCL, and contemplates the titanic figure crucified on the crimson cross. He listens, but there is no voice here. No dreams. No thoughts.
"Just what I expected." He looks away from the white and purple mask with seven unseeing eyes. "She is not here. Just an empty carcass remains."
Lord Daniel leaves the Material Plane. His curiosity sated.
He will return. That he knows for certain.
But he doesn't know who among his siblings will accompany him that day.
Tokyo-3, Japan
NERV HQ, Evangelion Cage Nr. Five
10:23 A.M.
"What do you mean? A salvage operation?" Major Katsuragi asked, her voice echoing in the vast chamber. "What are the Comitee's orders, then?"
Dr. Akagi looked at the four green jewels that were Unit-02's eyes before answering. "In theory, Asuka's life force still exists in the core on Unit-02. We need to find a way to… reassembly her body and return her mind to it. The Comitee has approved the operation. I'll be in charge of it, while Maya and the rest of the tech crew work on repairing Units 01 and 00. Unit-02 needs replacements for its armor, but that can wait."
Lt. Ibuki looked up from her clipboard, "The spare parts will be delivered later today. The planes were delayed due to bad weather." Akagi nodded.
"And I guess now Asuka's life actually matters?" Misato snorted, "I haven't forgotten the thousand N2 Mines to be thrown into the 12th Angel."
"Losing Asuka is out of the question. However, the Comitee also insisted on… acq… on recruiting another pilot. We will be notified of their final selection in a couple of days."
Misato looked aside at her friend, maybe former friend, but didn't say a word, thinking, 'Another Marduk Institute phony, for sure. Must be in the same class.' Before she started to discard possibilities, Akagi spoke again. "I'll have to send Maya, I'm to focus every effort in the recovery."
"Yeah, I bet all they want is to keep Unit-02 as their tool."
"I can't really deny that, but at least they are letting us try, instead of simply ordering us to discard the core and setting up a new one."
Maya inhaled brusquely, and hurried to say something, "We are assuming Asuka's body lost its Ego Border, and was subsumed into the Core when she surpassed 400% synch; and she is floating in the entry plug as a quantum possibility."
"You mean… her body is there, but dispersed?"
"Yes. Her body, I mean, each molecule of her physical form, is still there. Analysis of the LCL shows traces of enough organic molecules and elements to be equivalent to the mass and weight of Asuka's body, allowing for a minimal margin of error."
Misato shivered, 'Maybe that's why Unit-02 is blocking any attempt to eject the plug! If Asuka is somehow able to control any part of Unit-02, she wouldn't want to risk loss or contamination!'
Maya continued, "In other words, we must rebuild her body and fix her soul in it. As Dr. Akagi said before."
"Can we do that?" Misato really hoped it would be so.
"We will need the MAGI for that. Casper is getting ready for transport."
Tokyo-3, Japan
NERV HQ
Central Dogma, MAGI Mainframe
MAGI Drei, Code-name Casper
(Currently running a simulation of New York, USA, S.T.A.R Labs. Dr. Víctor Stone's Office)
"(Okay, everybody, pay attention.)" Cyborg's electronically modulated voice sounded in every room of the expansive building. "(We are to be ready for an emergency shutdown. The city energy grid was more affected by the cyberbugs than we thought, and we will have to rely on our own generators for a few hours, while the techs make sure everything is up to regs. Every project that can be paused, must be put in stand-by. I expect every head of division to send me a list of standing projects and processes that can't be interrupted, you have three hours to register them. Use name and project numbers. Double check them, I don't want to lose our room temperature superconductor research because somebody missed a digit and kept the stress test running instead. That's all.)"
Dr. Naoko Stone nodded decisively. "(I'll send you my list in a couple of minutes, dear.)" She said, grabbing her tablet as she left the office, "(I have a couple of simulations running. See you later!)" She blew him a kiss.
The expression on Cyborg's face changed into a mask of anger ten seconds later. '(Damned hag.)' He thought.
Suddenly, he sneezed, something that rarely happened to him, even before his conversion to a metallic Frankenstein's Monster. "(Somebody must be talking about me.)"
Author Notes.
(1) Though Cain always is humiliating, berating and killing Abel, sometimes he has rare moments of treating him nicely. Goldie is a gargoyle chick, gifted to Abel in The Sandman issue 2 (Feb, 1989)
(2) I'm not sure where did I read this little bit. I haven't been able to locate the reference, but I really like the idea. Most probably, I read it in the Magic Sourcebook, a supplement for the DC Heroes RPG, published by Mayfair Games.
(3) Especially after Lucifer renounced to Hell, retired to the mortal world, and left the literal key to Hell to Morpheus, during the "Season of Mists" story-arc, in The Sandman issues 22 to 28 (Jan to Jul, 1991)
(4) This is no other than Hector Hall, son of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl. He was a second generation hero, known as Silver Scarab, founding member of Infinity, Inc. And, through a very, very convoluted set of circumstances, was the father of Daniel, the current Sandman. He debuted in All-Star Squadron, issue 25 (Sept, 1983)
(5) And this is Lyta Hall, Hector's wife, a second generation hero, Fury (and also, mother of Daniel). Before the Crisus, she was Lyta Trevor, daughter of the Golden Age Wonder Woman and her husband, Steve Trevor. After the Crisis, her story was modified slightly, and she became the daughter of a WWII heroine also called Fury. She debuted in Wonder Woman, issue 300 (Feb, 1983).
(6) Canonically, in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rei Ayanami does not dream. In the series, this is not explored, and doesn't go beyond a single line. Here, that is due to having had most of her emotions stripped away.
(7) A nod to the world without Evangelion's Shinji sees in the last episode of the series, and also to the Shinji Ikari Raising Project, where the staff of NERV is reimagined as the staff of a school.
(8) All of the Horaki family members, apart from the three sisters, Kodama, Hikari, and Nozomi, are original characters. I took their names from the list of voice actors of NGE.
(9) Hikari's grandfather used to work at New Concept Industries, and he remembers fondly how Yuchiro Takata used to treat the employees.
(10)Unlike her sister in the real world, the fragment of Rei Ayanami in Unit-00's core has kept her ability to dream.