Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love

by Garmmermibe01

When Shinji Ikari arrived in Tokyo-3, he didn't know what to expect. In time, fate tears his life and everything he knows apart and then crushes it back together just so it can be torn asunder once more. As the end of the world nears with each toll of the bell, Shinji and his friends must find a way to survive be it through the power of hate or the power of love. Officially a Lemon

51. When The Dust Settles

Well, Merry Christmas, everyone.

So, before we start this, I want to explain some things about this act. Like the rest of the story so far, Act 3 is mostly made of established canon events that have been twisted in slightly different ways. However, and I don't want to sell my own OC's too hard here as I've been trying very hard to make sure they don't eclipse the original established cast, but things are going to go… differently to an extent with the act 3 characters essentially serving as catalysts for the changes I'm determined to present. And, despite events in act 3 still borrowing ironies from the original series, manga, and rebuilds, things are going to start to diverge. Now, yes, I know I've had Kaworu omnipresent throughout Act 2, and Ahni and Amelia were also introduced in the lead up to the finale of Act 2, but all of that was really just a prologue for them. And Act 3 is really where Kaworu, Amelia, and Ahni actually get to shine. However, despite me promising change here, I also want to say that Act 3 should also be a "return to form" or it's going back to its roots for this story and I'm hoping, assuming I write it well enough, that act 3 should bring up more classical expected nostalgic feelings for the original series. What exactly does that mean? Eh, well, I'm hesitant to say because of obvious spoilers. But I thought I'd still attempt to give you all a new set of expectations. The last time I really deliberately did this was actually all the way back at chapter 1 when I'd tried to relay my intentions for this story. I did occasionally build on that in additional author's notes claiming things like "this story is about everyone" or "this story is a like a bunch of smaller stories that converge into one bigger ones." Hell, in one author's note, I even made an offhand comment that Christmas would play a big part in this story, and most people probably don't even remember that. Anyhow, to a degree, a great degree even, that is all still true. However, I feel that I should still restate my more up to date intentions here since we have come to a crossroads now.

As I've mentioned before, the first scenes I'd written out for this story was Asuka and Shinji's drunken sex scene and then the leadup to Shinji's fight with Zeruel. All of that was essentially my first "milestone." The fight with Zeruel was my original goal to reach for this story. And, then, after I'd mostly laid down the events for that, I actually went about setting up the story of how everyone got there. That is to say, for a long while, I hadn't actually considered what would come after the fight with Zeruel because I was trying to get the uh… I'm hesitant to call the entire first two acts the setup to the rest of the story. But I guess in a way, everything is a setup to the rest of the story. Anyhow, I was trying to get the origins of the events down. Sowing the seeds of change, occasionally throwing in minor stories that eventually snowball into something else. A tug at the thread which unreeled the rest of the story's weave.

But all of that is in the past. Why do I point that out? Well, mostly just to draw some more parallels here. You all read last chapter. Or at least I assume you did if you're here. You probably all saw me planting some seeds of things to come. And yet, that's kind of why I felt the need to type this up. Because, like I said, this act, despite the differences, is a return to form. In fact, any of you who don't come back to reread these few chapters and this forward to Act 3 over the next few years may very well forget some of the things I revealed in Act 2's finale. (Unless you're reading this several years from publishing this, in which case all I can do is congratulate you, because it's still entirely possible I haven't typed up the relevant tie ins with how slow I type, so this may very well still apply to you. ) And I have to say part of that is deliberate. And yet, at the same time, I'm probably still going to continue throwing in little things to remind you of some of the revelations of Act'2 Finale. In fact, the title of this act itself heavily ties into something Zeruel mentioned last chapter, even if it was only in passing.

Anyhow, most of this is all just to say that… I don't want to say that the focus of the story has shifted. But I guess what I want to say is that… like Act 1 and Act 2 set up the foundation for this act, Act 3 sets up the foundation for the end. For a better or worse future for the Evangelion Pilots after this story is finished. And yet, I can't say much more without starting to spoil stuff for this act itself is also an end. Though, I think an end to what exactly will be discovered some time other than right now. Though, having said that, I just thought I'd let everyone know that there is going to be a short epilogue to this story also. Once again, don't want to get too spoilery, but I am trying to build some expectations here.

If this act is to be a return to form, then this is the return of an ancient enemy but in a modern age. Characters who had thought their lessons learned still have to take them to heart. Fates will be repeated. The burden of living is shared with all who still live to honor the dead.

There is going to be a question at the end of this act. And part of the answer is found right here.

Anyhow these might as well just be vague meaningless prophecies to all of you at this point in time. So, I guess the thing I really wanted to hit home about is that this act should feel, once again, assuming I pull off the mood right, "quintessentially Evangelion." Some of you are going to guess what that means and be positively ecstatic. On the other hand, some of you are going to guess what that means and you're probably going to be really frustrated with the things that happen in this act. So, I guess, all I can really say is that, either way, you should probably brace yourselves. Because winter is coming in more ways than one…

Now, with all that being said, I think I'm going to skip review responses this time because its uh... Christmas? And Also because I think it would be better just just let you all see this for yourself.

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:Music Guide:
:Song One:

Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Everlasting Light

This song is played right at the beginning of this chapter and has no associated titlecard.

There's isn't a perfect match for what I intended on youtube. I'd recommened checking my download link on this story's facebook page. If you would like to stream a close approximation of it from youtube, you can find it at- /watch?v=AhpxykHEt54

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:Music Guide:
:Song Two:

Where Dæmons Abide

It should be played at the titlecard-

/

-Communion-

/

If you would like to stream it from youtube instead of making use of my download link, you can find it at- /watch?v=w7bs0cqKjNs&t=240s

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Text Guide

Standard Wording

"Spoken Dialogue/Sign Language/Phone Texts"

'Internal Dialogue/Thoughts'

(Flashbacks)

/

[Slash denotes scene transition for the moment; this may be changed in the future so as to become more visible.]

Italicized text, however it is used, is nonstandard and is often used for, but not limited to, emphasized or stressed dialogue, phone texts, sign language, contextual references either through dialogue or narration or exposition, and extra-literary quotations among other things.

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Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off of Neon Genesis Evangelion, The End of Evangelion, or the Rebuilds of Evangelion. I do not own Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Sohryu, or any of the other characters/ideas from the Evangelion intellectual property collective. All licenses remain with the proper license holders. If asked to, I will formally remove this story from the hosting website.

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*Cruel Angel's Thesis and Eva intro starts playing*

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Neon Genesis Evangelion

A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love

Chapter 43

When The Dust Settles

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"When every star has gone out and every black hole has evaporated and the radiation from the big bang fizzles away, all the nothing that exists will reach the same temperature, some impossibly small decimal. Still not absolute zero but about as close as anything will ever get. We, as humans, are inherently fallible. We build houses with cracks in the walls, strike matches that singe and fall from our fingertips, seek solitude without ensuring self-sufficiency. And fortunately for our survival we are generally insulated from these mistakes. A cracked wall, a singed finger, is a setback, not a catastrophe. The cold will strip that insulation bare, remove our layers of protection, show us how desperate a situation really is. The cold punishes arrogance, forces isolation, remembers our mistakes. But to depict the cold as malicious, antagonistic, is to limit its power. The cold is not an anthropocentric force. It doesn't care one way or another about its effect on us. It was present before anything existed. It will remain after everything is done."- Jacob Geller, Fear of Cold

And so we fell unto the end.

It's at least 2016 though I don't know the month or day. I know that everything ended on New Years Eve. And while I don't know exactly how much time has passed since then, it's been more than I care to remember even if I had been keeping track. And now I'm sitting here in this empty parking lot of this empty apartment in this empty city in this empty world in this totally empty universe.

Though the weight in my head is gone, the blue in my eye has lost its sparkle.

Everything fell apart so quickly. All I remember was my mother talking to me, telling me to kill myself. Whispering it in my ear over and over again everywhere I went. And then I woke up to her telling me how much she loved me.

And then I died. And the next thing I knew, I was in hell.

I wonder if I could kill myself here? Would it bring me down a step to the next layer of hell? Would it get any warmer the deeper I went? Or were we already in the deepest pit of hell?

I sigh and I can see my breath freezing in front of my face. A few months ago, that wouldn't have been a common sight.

Looking up, the clouds are dark and grey with a tinge of red. The sun looks so much colder, even when not shrouded behind the clouds. It's no longer the cheerful giver of life. It's icy and distant like the moon.

I notice snow starting to fall around me, thick, yet light at the same time. Soon, it would cover the streets like a blanket, but with none of the comfort. All of this red turning into white.

I should go back inside soon, but I want to stay out here a bit longer. I want to be away from everyone for just a little while more. As unaccommodating as the chilled wind can be, it helps me clear my mind. It brings my thoughts into painful and sharp clarity.

The sun is close to setting now and that girl with the glasses is probably cooking another bland unseasoned dinner. Shinji was always better at cooking, but he's totally useless now. Even if it doesn't taste good, at least the food will be hot assuming Ahni's lighter hasn't run dry.

How much longer will this last I wonder? How much longer will I last? I don't know when but I'm probably going to kill myself soon. How long until one of us is the first to end it? And then another and another until, one by one, all six of us are gone. How will they do it? I'm probably going to hang myself but I wonder about the others. I wonder how long it'll take our bodies to rot in this wretched cold. I just want to lay down and die. Hopefully, it would be warm then.

Hell's… a lot colder than I thought it was gonna be...

This…

This is how I got here.

This is how the bitter cold reclaimed the mantle of winter and slaughtered the eternal summer on the altar of night. Once again, forever changing the planet.

This is how the entire world met its demise, swallowed whole by the jaws of death. One final wave to wash the world clean of humanity's impurity.

This is how a few people not cut out to be heroes ruined the lives of every person on Earth and consequently became the villains. The thirteenth angel was right about humanity. We had created a cataclysm greater even than Second Impact. I wish that I could turn back time, because now the guilt is all mine. If I could just have done something different. Made a better choice. But it wouldn't change anything. We had arrived where all roads lead; the end of the road. No matter which path we'd chosen to walk down, the events that followed could not be averted. The authors of our fate, whoever they may be, chose this part for us before we were even born. There was no avoiding what was to come.

This is how the saviors turned into the destroyers of the world.

This is how a few tragic words sealed the fate of humanity.

This is how our story came to a close.

This is how each and every Evangelion pilot died.

I'm Asuka Langley Sohryu.

And this?

This is how it all ended.

Act III: The Symphony of The End

This Is (Not) The End

3.33

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Hell opened and heaven wept,

Light resplendent, darkness swept

The land reborn from the ashes,

Our souls forever scarred with gashes

That do not heal, made to remember

Fire carved shadow, and left naught but ember

"The Death of Light" by, Amelia Bree Rineheart

Several months ago, in Tokyo-3, in the Geofront, at The End of Ideals, in the aftermath of the battle against the Angel of Might, Zeruel…

"SHINJIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Asuka screamed seeing Unit-01's body slip down the spear it had been impaled with.

Everything seemed to fade into red. Everything except Shinji. The warning light in her plug, her plugsuit, the armor of her Evangelion, the Spear. That wretched spear! What was it? Where had it even come from?

Asuka reached for her cockpit radio before crying into the mouthpiece, "Shinji!? SHINJI!? Please! Answer me!"

There was no answer and Asuka once again looked outside of her entry plug up at her Eva's shoulder. That boy was still there, standing there like he'd rehearsed this moment every day of his live. Asuka felt at her hip, making sure her gun was still with her. Feeling that it was, she once again screamed at the boy, tears streaming from her eyes.

"I REALLY AM GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE!"

Despite the fact he probably hadn't heard her voice, he turned to face her nonetheless. Something was just wrong with him and Asuka could feel it. Her vision once again flashed purple and in her mind she heard what she could only assume was the boy.

"You will do no such thing," the voice echoed in her mind.

She stared directly at the boy and he stared right back at her with those piercing red eyes, somehow glowing in the darkness of the Geofront. Before long, Asuka's vision returned to normal. She couldn't stand to look at the boy's eerie visage any longer and instead tried to regain her bearings.

Unit-02 appeared to be slowly descending to the ground. The dust and ash that had been kicked up during the fight fell back to the ground as well without Zeruel or Unit-01'desires to keep it aloft. The falling haze outpaced Unit-02's descent and Asuka eventually lost sight of Unit-01 and the spear. And despite her efforts to understand her surroundings, they now looked more unrecognizable than ever.

After what might have vaguely been half a minute, she felt something impact the Eva and her entry plug was jostled. She couldn't make out anything outside of her Eva, but she assumed she must've been returned to the bottom of the Geofront from what little tactile information she was receiving through her bond with the Eva.

Despite the ominous silence, Asuka still had Ahni and Amelia's chat windows open, though she'd almost forgotten this fact until Ahni cried out a few words.

"Asuka, I'm scared."

Asuka glanced at the window, her own lip trembling as she watched Ahni shiver with terror and Amelia barely able to keep a straight face despite her limited expressive capabilities.

"Just stay where you are," Asuka finally said, "I'll come find you… after I take care of something."

"Why were you screaming earlier?" Ahni asked.

"It doesn't matter. Just stay put."

"I don't want to be in here anymore!" Ahni timidly declared.

"I don't care. It could be dangerous outside. Stay in your entry plug. I'll come get you and Amelia when I can."

"If it's dangerous, why are you going outside!?"

"Because!" Asuka shouted before taking a moment to compose herself, "Because... there's something I have to see for myself. If something bad has happened, I… have to be the one to see it. Not someone else. Its my obligation. My responsibility."

"What are you talking about? You're talking like something drastic is about to happen."

"Because something drastic is about to happen!" Asuka said, a hint of malice seeping through her voice.

"Then we should be there!" Ahni said.

Asuka shut off her connection to the Eva, finally giving Unit-02 the chance to recuperate. She then prepared to eject her entry plug but before she did, she placed her hand on the seat, next to her hips, making sure she still had her gun. As soon as she placed her hand over it, it began rattling as Asuka's hand shivered with fear and anticipation, vibrating the frame of the revolver against the seat as it lay suspended by its cylinder.

Realizing just how nervous she was, she held her hands in front of her face and tried to control herself but they simply wouldn't stop trembling. She took a shaky breath before finally reaching for the ejection button

But just before she could press it, Ahni called over the radio again.

"Asuka! We're leaving our Eva!" Ahni said as a nervous assertion.

Asuka's paused and considered her response. She knew that she should tell them to stay inside. But she couldn't realistically do anything to stop them and a part of her had a soft spot for Ahni's disregard for authority.

Asuka let out a smug huff in the darkness before saying, "Fine. You won't have any radio if that's what you want. And I have no idea if the roof over our head is even gonna stay standing. But whatever. Don't come crying to me if you see something you don't wanna see."

Asuka then pressed the eject button and her plug slid out from the Eva's spine. She shut off the rest of her console including the radio. The LCL in her plug began to empty as air rushed in from the outside. Her lungs burned as she gradually coughed the LCL out of her lungs and after waiting for her oxygen deprived daze to end for a few precious moments, she finally flung open the hatch of her entry plug, throwing an emergency ladder over the edge.

She felt a sickening sense of vertigo as she watched the ladder disappear into the dust. But after climbing over the edge, she found she was actually only a few feet from the ground and probably could have done without the ladder.

Thankfully, the dust seemed to be clearing rather quickly. But there was a lot of it and for a moment, Asuka wondered if she'd actually be okay. She hadn't stopped to think about if she could even breathe in this mess. She'd heard stories of people who had suffocated in volcanic clouds. However, despite the monumental scale of the battle, surely it couldn't have thrown up enough materiel to even come close to a volcano. Coughing a few more times and then inhaling just to make sure, she decided to take the risk and departed from the Evangelion.

She tightly held her gun against her hip in an attempt to hide it. But with no loose fabric, the plugsuit provided little more concealment than her own body. Nevertheless, she tried to hide any silhouette of it by holding it close. She'd lost track of the silver haired boy upon exiting her Eva but she fully intended to shoot him the moment she saw him. Whether or not she finished him off if he still lived after the first shot was another matter. But for the moment, she was distraught and furious and alone. He'd taken her eye and now he'd in all likelihood taken Shinji from her as well and she was in no mood for a peaceful resolution. She had no idea who he was but she knew he'd done enough already. And, save for getting the chance to shoot him, it would be too soon if she never saw him again. The only problem now would be to find him.

Looking around, she could hardly see anything but he didn't seem to be on the Eva anymore. Though, if he could fly or lift objects with his mind, he could potentially be anywhere. And so Asuka tried her best to walk silently through the ash while also hoping to find where Unit-01 might have landed.

"He's not that way,"a voice said in her mind as her vision flashed purple and a familiar pain started to make itself known in her hips.

So apparently, he could see her. Or he was trying to make her think he could. And worse, he could speak to her without revealing his location.

Asuka winced and shook her head, trying to ignore the disruptive element that invaded her mind. She then continued onwards in the same direction she had been.

"I already told you. He's not in that direction. Try turning left for a start," the voice once again echoed in her mind.

Asuka tried her best to ignore the voice and again did not deviate from her heading.

"Well, how about right then?" the voice said.

"Stop fucking with me!" Asuka shouted shouted into the dusty nothingness.

Asuka stopped for a moment though. She just realized something. He was allegedly trying to help her though she didn't believe this for a moment. But even if he was going to try to live up to his claims, perhaps Asuka could bait him into revealing himself. And then, oh yes, then Asuka could decisively end this.

"If you really want to help me, show yourself!" Asuka demanded!

"To the woman who threatened to kill me only moments ago? You'll forgive me if I'm not particularly eager to make myself presentable for someone who's so famed for being bloodthirsty," the voice once more seeped into her consciousness.

Asuka groaned and placed her free hand over her hip as a jolt of pain shot through it and her vision once again went purple. After a few moments, the sensations and color faded and Asuka sighed in relief.

"Listen, maybe we got off on the wrong foot," Asuka called out into the cloud of ash, "Every time you talk to me, it causes me pain; actual physical pain. And its disorienting. I'm sorry. I was frustrated. I didn't mean it when I said I was going to kill you. Can you please just show yourself or stop talking to me so I can focus on finding my friends?"

"You would have me reveal myself?" the voice question again before another strikingly similar voice sounded out directly in front of Asuka, "Very well."

Asuka's could hear her heartbeat in her ears and throat as time slowed and her focus narrowed in onto where the voice called from. She eventually heard footsteps and in the obscuring cloud of dust, she could see a pair of faint glowing red lights that appeared eerily like eyes.

Asuka slowly and silently raised her gun. She then inhaled sharply and pulled the trigger.

There was a flash of pale golden light and a metallic shearing sound, both of which faded just as quickly as they'd presented themselves. The glowing red eyes seemed to narrow as if judging Asuka's actions.

"How… disappointing," the boy's voice said, obvious only a few feet from Asuka now.

The dust directly around both Asuka and the enigmatic boy suddenly dispersed in a burst of wind and Asuka could finally see the silver-haired child standing before her completely unharmed.

"No," Asuka gasped before pulling the trigger on her gun again.

The deafening crack of thunder rang out again and there was then the signature metallic pinging sound of an AT field. A pale gold plane of light spread out in front of the boy and the bullet smashed into it, flattening in the air before silently thudding into the ash at the boy's feet. The golden light faded but the boy's shimmering red eyes continued to stand out against the haze.

"An AT field!?" Asuka gasped.

Her surprised expression quickly became a scowl directed at the boy and she fired two more shots. And again, they did nothing except reignite the AT field and fall harmlessly to the ground.

"It's pointless trying to kill me that way," the boy said boredly.

"YOU TOOK MY EYE!" Asuka screamed at him, furiously pointing the gun at him.

"I apologize for my part in that, but I really didn't," the boy said with a shrug.

"Bullshit! If you hadn't been fucking with us, we could have handled Unit-03 with no problem! No one had to get hurt! I- I DIDN'T HAVE TO LOSE MY EYE!"

"You're wrong. I had no choice. Someone forced my hand. If I hadn't intervened, I wouldn't be here right now. I was only trying to get both of us out alive while doing the least harm possible."

Asuka shook her head, her hands trembling with fury as she tried to restrain herself from shooting again.

"No. No! All lies! Every word! YOU TOOK MY EYE! AND FOR WHAT!? I don't know who you are, but I know you can't be trusted!"Asuka shouted in denial.

"Believe what you will. The past is the past. Whatever you believe, it doesn't change anything."

Asuka felt a chill run down her spine and her lips curled into a terrible expression she could hardly describe. Her lower eyelid twitched and her finger had already pulled the trigger of her gun halfway. The rage and regret, the need to correct the things that had gone wrong, nearly consumed her. But then her expression softened. She lowered her gun and her arm stopped trembling. She gave up. He was right. Whatever he was, Asuka couldn't lay a finger on him as matters currently stood.

"Acceptance, at last," the boy said as his glowing red eyes finally dimmed and flickered out.

"I don't have time for you right now. We'll finish this later," Asuka hissed as her bangs hung in front of her face, obscuring her eye as she looked at the ground in regret.

She then bolted off, her hair the last thing the boy could make out before she disappeared into the dust.

The boy looked up through the dust. The ceiling of the Geofront was slowly becoming visible again and he took a moment to appreciate the world he now found himself arrived upon.

"To terrifying heights it rises, this dark moon and the one that hangs on high," the boy said in awe before following after Asuka.

-The Opening of Act III-

What Remains To Us When The Dust Settles

"All cruelty rises from the wellspringof weakness."- Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger

A short while earlier, with Ahni and Amelia, at The End of Ideals…

Amelia had been somewhat hesitant to leave her plug. And yet, despite the air being thick with ash and dust, she couldn't deny a part of her took relief in simply being able to stand and feel the air. Though, the appreciation of such things would have to wait. Despite being out of the woods, briars at the edge of the forest still clawed at her ankles.

She'd only just finished coughing the LCL out of her lungs when Ahni came around the side of the Evangelion. She nearly tripped over some rubble and stumbled into a hug, embracing Amelia from behind as she leaned against the side of the Eva.

"I thought we might not ever be outside again," Ahni said with a sniffle.

Amelia turned around to face the girl and kissed her for a few tender moments before an explosion rang out, jolting the girl out of the kiss.

"What is it!?" Ahni asked the suddenly attentive girl.

For the moment, Amelia said nothing and listened intently. Another explosion eventually echoed through the air around her and then two more a few moments later.

"Hey, what is it!?" Ahni asked again.

Amelia finally looked back at the girl before signing to her, "I think I heard explosions… Or gunshots. We should be careful. There might be some kind of gas leak from the fight. Stay close to me."

"Well, what should we do then?"

Amelia thought for a moment, trying to decide upon some kind of course of action. They could stay with the Eva. If the battle was over, surely a recovery team would arrive soon. And yet, Ahni seemed reluctant to stay which was the whole reason they'd even gotten out of their plugs in the first place.

"Maybe Asuka heard the explosions. If she did, she might go there," Amelia signed, "We could try going in that direction carefully. You should call for Asuka while we walk."

Ahni considered the suggestion before solemnly nodding. With that, both of the girls departed the Evangelion, the dust and crumbs of rubble falling onto their hair like snow.

They trekked through the destroyed infrastructure, making their way to only god knew where. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be that many hazards aside from the particulate debris in the air itself, which was also gradually clearing away. There were hardly any fires and while some of the concrete and steel was sharp or rough, their plugsuits were resistant enough to cutting for that to not be a worry for the moment.

"ASUKAAAAAAA!" Ahni called out after having walked for several minutes.

Both girls paused but Amelia heard nothing in response and poked Ahni in the arm before gesturing with her head to continue onwards.

It was difficult to tell exactly where they were going. On top of the fact that the dust in the air was disorienting and obscured their view, there wasn't much to see anyhow as most of the land had been rendered barren and the ceiling of the Geofront looked the same from one end to the other apart from a few scorch marks that had been burned into it. Aside from the pyramid of NERV-HQ, there were no landmarks. But even NERV itself was difficult to make out from the rest of the grey haze.

This made it quite a pain to actually find out where anyone else was. While their plugsuits did have beacons, the girls had no two-way tracking equipment, massively hindering their ability to consciousness home in on Asuka or anyone else for that matter.

After some few minutes of continued expedition, Ahni inhaled again to call out for Asuka. Though, before the girl's name could pass her lips, Ahni instead coughed, interrupting her attempt. Amelia quickly tended to the girl and leaned her over to help expel whatever she'd inhaled. But Ahni recovered soon enough.

"I'm fine!" Ahni shallowly coughed before raising her head back up.

A slight sense of dizziness overtook Ahni despite her claims however. Feeling lightheaded, she gently shook her head and rubbed her eyes before looking back out into the perpetually grey curtain. But upon fixing her vision in the distance, she saw something that looked… vaguely human.

She paused and intently tried to identify who it was or if it was just perhaps some piece of rubble or a tattering of cloth. Oddly enough, despite there being no discernible air current, it almost appeared as though the figure wore a cloak that was occasionally billowing in a ghostly non-existent wind.

Surely this was an illusion. Nevertheless, Ahni whispered to Amelia, hoping to get a second opinion.

"Hey, Amelia, do you… see someone? Right there," the girl asked as she raised her hand and pointed at where she thought the person was.

Amelia let the girl's finger guide her gaze and she too then saw it. A shadowy figure seemingly standing some few meters away. It couldn't have been much further than that judging by the person's size. They were close enough to speak to and yet made not a sound.

She, along with Ahni, stared at the person. And just as they were both about to come to the conclusion that it must've been nothing more than a case of mistaking an object as a person, the figure raised it's left hand and pointed in a seemingly meaningless direction. This caused both girls to pause in something similar to fear, suspicion perhaps, or maybe disbelief.

"H- Hey! Asuka!? Are you there?" Ahni called out to the person.

There was no response, which Amelia relayed to Ahni. The person just kept pointing and this began to freak out the two girls.

Amelia was the first to take a step forward and before long Ahni hesitantly followed behind her, both girls approaching the figure. But it was no use. Eventually, the person seemed to simply fade away until both Amelia and Ahni were standing almost on top of where the figure had been. And there was nothing. No notable debris or fabric that could have been mistaken for a person. Just an empty gray patch of earth, the exact same as any other place in the Geofront.

However, just as both girls were about to settle on the idea that there indeed had never been anyone there, in eerie simultaneity, they both caught sight of yet another person seemingly hiding in the dust just beyond their sight. And again, the person raised their hand before pointing in the same direction they had before.

"Who- Who are you!?" Ahni shouted at the silhouette.

Again, there was no answer. At least not verbally. But both of the girls suddenly felt ill and nearly fell to the ground. Hunched over, Amelia held her hands over her mouth, trying not to throw up, while Ahni rested on her hand and knees, panting as she stared blankly at the ground. The sudden and extreme onset of the feeling left both girls even more disoriented and when they looked up, the figure had once again disappeared.

The discomfort the girls felt gradually dissipated, though there remained an indescribable nagging urge as both of them stood up.

"I feel… wrong," Ahni groaned as she stood up.

Amelia gave the girl a pitiful look with tired eyes as she took a few uneasy breaths.

Looking around again at the blank canvas of gray that surrounded them, Amelia realized she felt some kind of inclination to begin walking in a seemingly random direction. She couldn't explain how or why she felt this way, but something in the distance seemed to call to her.

She glanced at Ahni, who still seemed to be recovering, but oddly enough seemed to be gazing in the same direction Amelia had.

Amelia wordlessly took the girl by the hand and began leading her into the darkness. And before long, the shadowy figure appeared before them again. But this time, it did not point. It simply stood motionless in the haze and continued to fade away as the girls approached it again. This time, neither girl fell ill and instead choose to take this as a sign that they were on the right path. Whoever or whatever was guiding them didn't seem to lead them astray.

Death lurked in the dark. But into the darkness was the only way back to the light. And so they pressed on through the detritus into a future yet unwritten.

/

Meanwhile, with Misato's prayer group…

"SHINJI!" Misato screamed as she barreled through the dust and debris.

Ritsuko followed behind the woman, hoping not to lose sight of her while trying her best not fall into a fit of coughing.

"Misato, slow down!" Ritsuko's muffled voice came from under her coat as she used it to try to filter out the particulates that permeated the air.

"No! Shinji! He has to be alright! He has to be!" Misato said more to herself than anyone else as she continued ahead.

Behind her, Ritsuko heard a sharp gasp and a plasticky clattering. Looking behind her, she saw Maya had tripped and fallen as she tried to keep up.

Ritsuko then turned back to Misato and shouted at her, "Misato, Maya can hardly keep pace with us!"

Misato did not heed the woman's words and vaulted over a small mound of rubble, determined to keep going until she found Shinji and Unit-01.

Ritsuko sighed before returning her attention back to Maya though Midori was already helping the girl up.

"You okay?" Midori asked.

"Mhmm," Maya nodded before looking back down at her laptop and moaning, "Mmgh, my computer."

Ritsuko leaned over and picked up the off-white machine before dusting it off and handing it back to Maya.

"Here," Ritsuko said.

"Thank you," Maya responded before coughing a few times.

She then opened the computer again and it showed her the display of multiple graphs and measurements she had previously been viewing before tripping. Looking over it, all seemed to be well and nothing was broken. At least not at first glance. But upon looking at the pilot vital signs display, she saw something peculiar.

"Huh?" Maya questioned.

"What is it?" Midori asked.

"Its… Its Pilot Ayanami. I'm picking up her health diagnostics from her plugsuit. But, that shouldn't be possible. Her plugsuit stopped transmitting after… After the angel…"

Ritsuko stepped around Maya so she could see exactly what she was seeing. And, to Ritsuko's surprise, it appeared that Maya, at least from what Ritsuko could tell, was not mistaken.

"So what? She's alive? After all that?" Midori asked.

"I wouldn't be so quick to make assumptions but," Ritsuko said before trailing off.

"But what?" Midori questioned again.

"Well, let's just say that stranger things have happened today. So let's count our blessings and focus on saving everyone we can," Ritsuko finally continued.

"Well, I'd rather have her than that punk inside Unit-01," Midori huffed as Misato again called out for Shinji somewhere further ahead.

"She's straight ahead of us if my tracking isn't off. Almost right where Unit-01 fell," Maya said before looking up from her laptop and into the clouded path ahead.

Ritsuko likewise looked into the dust obscuring the way forward. And for a moment, just for a moment, there appeared a human-like shape. One that seemed familiar to her. One she had seen before but never clearly.

Ritsuko had never been a woman of faith. And yet the day's events along with her own experiences seemed to only ever push her thoughts to a single conclusion. Despite her reservations, she slowly found herself believing. Believing that there was a god. Believing that there was someone who watched over her and kept her safe. Maybe that god wasn't omnipotent. Maybe that god couldn't erase suffering or remake the world into one where second impact had never happened. But a powerful god nonetheless. And by the grace of that god, she and everyone else had been spared this day. At the end of everything, she still drew breath. At the end of everything, her prayers had been answered. At the end of everything, she found hope. And for now, that was enough for her.

"It's you again, isn't it?" Ritsuko whispered as she watched the figure disappear into the grey.

"Hmm? What're you on about?" Midori questioned, pulling Ritsuko's attention away from the hazy surrounds.

"Nothing… I was just thinking out loud," Ritsuko said with a shake of the head.

/

A short time later, with Asuka, at The End of Ideals…

Wandering around in the miasma of grime had slowly started to erode Asuka's perception. The boy, whoever he was, had left her in silence. Ahni and Amelia where nowhere to be seen. And she hadn't taken her phone with her so she had no way of contacting them or Misato. And now, though it had surely only been a matter of minutes, Asuka was already starting to lose her grip on the passage of time. The homogeneity of the landscape and her adrenaline had distorted anything she could use as a reference and she was beginning to wonder if she was only going in circles.

For a moment, panic began to set in. Despite her believing she would be fine out here, her doubts had started to seep further into her psyche. What if she did just suffocate out here? She put her hand over her sternum and for a moment even considered asking for help. But there was no one to ask. She was alone again. After everything she'd done, everything she gave to finally forge a friendship, she was alone. At the very least, Ahni and Amelia were alive. But Shinji and Rei…

Again, the crushing weight of the burden of solitude crashed against the shores of her mind. And again she wanted to scream for someone to help her. It was slowly but surely becoming unbearable. But her pride wouldn't let her. For all she knew, the only one listening was that boy who'd stolen her eye from her. And he was the last person she wanted to talk to.

"Gottverdammt es," she gasped as she clenched her fist to her chest.

Perhaps it was all in her mind or perhaps not, but she truly felt as though she were choking to death. She looked down at the silken gray ash clinging to the heel of her red plugsuit, the only color left in this godsforsaken land, and she felt hot tears well up in her eyes before dripping onto the top of the foot of her plugsuit, staining the grey ash black.

"Asuka?" she heard an uncertain voice call out.

Asuka gasped and spun her head to the right, seeing two hazy feminine figures hidden in the dust.

"Ahni?" Asuka questioned as she blinked her tears out of her eyes.

Upon regaining her vision, she could see what seemed to be on of the people making a few gestures before the other rushed forward. Initially, it was hard to tell, as the plugsuit was grey as well. But before long, the bright warning-colored orange stripes on the plugsuit allowed Asuka to identify the girl as assuredly being Ahni, who nearly plowed into her.

"Asuka! It is you!" Ahni shouted as she threw her arms around the girl's neck.

In any other circumstances, Asuka would have been offput by the display of affection, even if she'd been trying harder to make friends. But for now, she was grateful to not be left alone.

Amelia gradually appeared from the dust as well and tried her best to give Asuka a smile.

"How did you find me!?" Asuka asked Amelia as Ahni finally pulled out of the embrace.

Amelia made a few gestures, conveying Asuka's words to Ahni.

"We… Don't really know," Ahni then responded, "There was someone… or something, in the dust. We tried to follow it and it led us here."

"Someone? Did you see him?" Asuka frantically asked.

Amelia tilted her head questioningly before signing to Ahni, who then gave their answer.

"Him? You mean Shinji?" Ahni asked, "No. No, we didn't see him."

Asuka let out a sigh of relief. She had actually been asking about the silver haired boy. But such a striking person would likely have drawn the girl's attention had they reliably identified him. And yet, they didn't mention him, so she took this as confirmation they hadn't seen the boy. Yet, Shinji himself was still on Asuka's mind and so she decided to not waste any more time explaining the nuances of her inquiry that she'd failed to specify earlier. Instead, she simply nodded her head to the side of her shoulder, gesturing for the girls to follow her. And with that, they continued on their way.

They walked on for some few minutes, the ash softly shifting beneath their feet and the rubble crackling as they kicked it. Again, Ahni coughed. As the smallest of them, it was possible the dust was saturating her lungs before the others. But thankfully, it did seem to be clearing. Whereas before, she could hardly see more than a few feet in front of her, Asuka could now clearly make out the surrounds roughly within fifty or so meters of her vicinity, the visibility now being more reminiscent of a foggy day rather than a sandstorm.

Ahni cleared her throat again, though, this time, Asuka thought she'd heard something else as well. She held out her hand to her side and said "wait," stopping the other girls behind her.

Ahni glanced at Amelia for clarification but all the girl did was place her finger over her lips, telling her to be quiet.

Listening intently, Asuka vacantly peered into the dust, looking at nothing in particular but trying to pick out any sound that wasn't that of cracking concrete or muffled grime. And then she heard it again. The scattered timbre of a woman's voice calling out the word "Shinji."

"MISATO!" Asuka called back, recognizing the woman's voice.

"Asuka!?" the voice echoed back.

Asuka looked back at the Americans again and waved for them to follow her before she began jogging towards where she'd hear Misato's voice.

"MISATO!" Asuka called out again.

"Asuka! Are you okay!?" the woman called back.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Asuka shouted back, "...Are you hurt?"

"Me? No. I'm okay," Misato's voice echoed back, seemingly having grown closer.

Ahead of Asuka were two mounds of rubble and what appeared to be a large twisted slab of metal that looked vaguely like a filing cabinet resting between them. It must've fallen from thousands of feet above when the angel had blasted its way into the Geofront. Asuka easily ran up the side of it and anchored her hands to the edge of it, pulling herself up on top of it as Amelia also followed a few moments later. Once both girls stood atop it, they turned around and together reached downwards, allowing Ahni to take their hands as they pulled her up as well. After pulling the girl up, Asuka turned around and saw a shrouded figure standing atop another pile of rubble perhaps a hundred feet from her. And though she couldn't clearly tell who it was, she knew it had to be Misato.

Her heart felt like it stopped beating for a second and she jumped down from the metal jut, tumbling into the ash as she landed. She quickly got to her feet and while Ahni and Amelia took their time to descend more carefully, Asuka bolted for Misato who similarly had frantically clambered down from her vista and ran towards Asuka.

"MISATO!" Asuka screamed as she crashed into the woman and hugged her.

"Oh, Asuka! My darling! My baby!" Misato gasped as she hugged the girl back as though she'd never embraced anyone before in her life.

Misato quickly but gently caressed the girl's hair out of her face before kissing her on the forehead. She then clasped the girl's cheeks in her palms and tried her best to not begin crying.

"Asuka, your eye? Are you okay? You're bleeding?" Misato asked as she fanatically looked over the girl's face to make sure she truly was okay, though she only saw a trickle of blood seeping from Asuka's eyepatch.

"I'm fine, really," Asuka said looking over to her side and into the soot, trying avoid eye contact with Misato before asking, "What about Rei? Where is she? Is she…"

Misato closed her eyes and let her head slump down before inhaling and whispering, "I'm sorry, Asuka..."

Misato felt the girl tense and as she looked up, she saw a scowl across the girl's lips while the rest of Asuka's expression was hidden by her hair and eyepatch.

"And Shinji?" Asuka asked, still avoiding eye contact with Misato.

"I don't know. We lost contact with him just before the angel died. Lieutenant Ibuki said… he'd disappeared from Unit-01's plug," Misato said with a shake of the head.

Misato gave the girl a moment. She could see that Asuka was wrestling with the possibility that she might be the last of of the original pilots as, despite her trying to remain silent and strong, the girl sniffled a few times.

"I… I see," Asuka choked out as she finally looked back at Misato, a streak shimmering over her right cheek where a few tears had just fallen and the dark red stream of glistening coagulating blood trickling down her other cheek as it seeped from under her eyepatch.

How the girl could remain so composed despite her emotions was beyond Misato. How, after everything, could she still be resolute enough to press on? Loosing her eye and now Rei and possibly Shinji and still she stood? How did she not just crumple to the ground and give up on everything? What gave her the temerity and conviction to get up again and again? To face the somber and sorrowful possibilities that awaited. It would surely be too much for most people to face the truth the way Asuka would.

Again, Misato gently caressed the girl's cheek, perhaps hoping to remain in that moment and not have to bear witness to what surely rested in the depths of this dark moon.

"Co- Colonel Katsuragi," Maya called out from behind the woman before also seeing Asuka and adding, "And Asuka! Oh, thank goodness you're okay! ...You are okay, aren't you?"

"I'm fine," Asuka quietly affirmed.

Before long, Ritsuko, Midori, Ahni, and Amelia also joined together around Misato, Maya, and Asuka. What, under other circumstances, might have been a joyous reunion. Looking around, Asuka saw her friends, all of the people who had stood with her. Who had refused to give up on her. And likewise, she now refused to give up on them. She then looked back at Misato and inhaled, trying not to choke.

"He's here, Misato."

"Hmm? Who do you mean?" Misato asked.

"Him. The one who tried to kill Shinji. The one who took my eye. I lost track of him, but I know he's here. Probably listening to us right this very moment."

There was then a throaty chuckle that came from somewhere beyond the haze before the sound eventually changed into a soft sigh.

All the women looked in the direction of where the voice had come from and before long, a pair of glowing red orbs appeared in the dust. And eventually, a boy emerged from the empty grey background, smiling in a way seemed neither genuine or disingenuous. An alien smile. Something uncanny and unrecognizable and yet blatantly obvious in the attempt of what it was trying to emulate.

"You're not wrong. I have a gift, you see? One that allows me to look past the walls of the soul and the fog of war both. I followed you every step of the way. Heard every word whispered and wailed," the boy said in a soft and smooth voice.

Taking Asuka at her word and thoroughly creeped out by the nearly supernatural presence as the boy conveniently appeared from behind the curtain of dust, Misato instantly pulled her gun, cocked it, and pointed it at the boy.

"IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" Misato spat.

"Who in the fuck is this freak?" Midori questioned as her back straightened at the sudden shock of Misato pulling her service pistol.

"Where in blue blazes did he come from?" Ahni unconsciously asked aloud.

"Who… is that?" Maya asked.

"Didn't you hear me, bastard!? Identify yourself!" Misato demanded again.

"He's… arrived," Ritsuko gasped, "The fifth child... So, the cherub finally stands before god."

"What did you say, Ritsu?" Misato asked in shock as she glanced over her shoulder at the woman.

Ritsuko was nearly speechless however and she looked as though she'd seen a ghost. It was an expression Misato herself knew intimately. One that she herself had worn for quite some time after the events of the Katsuragi expedition. Misato had never seen the woman so utterly terrified though. It was unnerving. Ritsuko was almost always the perfect picture of composure and restraint. Sure, the facade slipped sometimes, but this… This was different.

Misato looked back at the boy, still smiling at her with those glowing red eyes, seemingly without a care in the world despite the devastation that surrounded him. It caused something like rage to boil up inside her. Ritsuko had said he was the fifth child. That would make him one of the fated children. And yet, that meant nothing to Misato. That irritating smug overly-cordial smile and his sparkling red eyes nearly made Misato lose control. How could he stand there like that after all the suffering he'd caused to what were effectively Misato's children.

"I'll only ask one more time- Identify yourself!" Misato ordered.

"Its as she says," the boy proclaimed with his ever-present smile, "I'm Kaworu. Kaworu Nagisa, the fifth child and pilot of 2nd Generation Production Model Evangelion Mark.06."

The boy's eyes narrowed and his smile got even bigger while he waited for the woman to make her next move.

"I'll blow that fucking smile off your face!" Misato snarled as she flipped the safety on her gun.

"Don't bother, Misato!" Asuka interjected.

But Asuka's words fell on deaf ears. The boy's unblinking red eyes stared straight into Misato's and with a chuckle he said, "You're welcome to try."

"Bet on it!" Misato spat before pulling the trigger.

The sound of thunder ripped through the air. Maya could be heard screaming while Midori shouted out asking if Misato had "lost her goddamn mind." And then there was the golden flash and the sound of an A.T. field. And then everything was returned to silence except for the low humming of the golden A.T. field that hovered before the boy. The bullet hung in the air between his eyes, only inches from his face. The hexagonal plane then flickered out of existence and the bullet fell to the ground.

"Who- ...What are you!?" Misato asked in astonishment after Maya had stopped screaming.

"I already told you. I'm Kaworu, designated pilot of Evangelion Mark.06."

"Smartass," Misato hissed before firing her gun again and again, completely unloading on the boy.

"YOU'RE GONNA KILL SOMEONE, YOU PSYCHOPATH!" Midori furiously shouted at the woman.

Ritsuko rushed to her feet right as Maya also began pleading with Misato to stop, begging her "COLONEL KATSURAGI, PLEASE STOP! HE'S JUST A CHILD!"

Ritsuko finally came up behind the woman and place her hands over Misato's arms, trying to force her to lower the gun.

"ENOUGH, MISATO!" the woman scolded her.

"HE TRIED TO KILL MY KIDS!" Misato screamed!

"I KNOW THAT, BUT YOU CAN'T JUST SHOOT HIM! YOU'RE GOING TO GET COURT MARTIALED, YOU FUCKING IDIOT! JUST STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING! YOU DON'T HAVE AUTHORITY TO ENACT SUMMARY EXECUTION!" Ritsuko yelled as she tried to restrain the still struggling woman.

Barely able to yank her arm from Ritsuko's grasp, Misato managed to again aim the gun at the boy and pulled the trigger one final time and the last bullet she had shattered against the golden A.T. field. She had nothing left as she used her previous magazine against the thirteenth angel. Perhaps she should have saved it for now, though it would have had little effect either way.

"Are you finished yet!?" Ritsuko spat in frustration while Maya cried in terror behind her.

Misato took a few uneasy breaths before glancing at Asuka, who looked back at her with a pitying expression. The only one who didn't seem surprised.

"You can't do anything to him, Misato," Asuka said before looking away from the woman and glaring at the boy with searing hatred, "He's untouchable."

"If you've finished considering my welcoming reception, I do believe there was someone else you were concerning yourself with," Kaworu said innocently.

"Yeah, thanks to you, you fucking shitwad klugscheißer" Asuka spat back to the boy.

Asuka took a few furious steps towards him, dearly wishing she get just one good hit in on his smiling face. But she knew it would be futile and eventually slowed her pace before stopping and starring at the ground. She then inhaled before looking back up and glaring at the boy.

"You better hope he's okay. Or I will come back for you," Asuka said through grit teeth, "I will chase you to the end of the universe if there is so much as a scratch on him. I will kill you and I will drink your fucking blood. I will burn this whole world down!"

The smile on the boy's face finally faded and he looked over his shoulder, as though he was telling her where she should go if she wanted her answers.

"Its… just ahead… Unit-01," Maya finally said though a fit of muffled sobbing as she glanced down at the map on her laptop before looking back up from it and gazing ahead at a small mountainous ridge of rubble roughly thirty feet tall.

Looking back at the girl, Asuka saw she seemed to be looking in the same direction as Kaworu. She then again bolted off and began clambering up the incline of refuse and twisted metal.

Misato holstered her gun, giving one more spiteful but powerless scowl towards Kaworu before she also followed after Asuka and began climbing up to the peak of that mountain of worthless discarded materiel.

Amelia was the next to follow and then Ahni and finally the rest of the women and Kaworu, who seemed to take precise effortless steps and quickly caught up with the other's who began ascending before him. Asuka was the first to the top however. And upon finally summiting the hill of rubble, taking in the sight with her only remaining eye, she collapsed to her knees in defeat.

"Why? ...Why!?" Asuka asked as she felt her heart drop.

Misato finally pulled herself up next to the girl. And she too became witness to the carnage. She gasped and tightly held her cross.

"N- No! It… It can't be," Misato sobbed.

As the dust settled, everyone could see Unit-01 rested at the bottom of a valley of broken concrete and the red spear had it firmly pinned to the ground. There seemed to be a massive puddle of LCL soaking the ash around the fallen Evangelion, all but confirming it had punctured the entry plug as the area around Unit-01 had been turned into an ashen marsh.

"Shinji…. SHINJI, NO!" Asuka screamed before she ran down the hill and into the chasm.

"Maya, eject the entry plug," Ritsuko ordered.

"I- I can't! I'm getting an obstruction warning," Maya sobbed as she fumbled with her laptop.

"Let me see that!" Ritsuko said before snatching the laptop from the girl.

Using a few commands, she was at least able to get the entry port open so that the plug was exposed. But it still was unable to eject. At least in full. But if she could get the plug out even a bit, it might be just enough clearance to open the hatch even if the plug wouldn't fully eject.

While Ritsuko continued working on excising the plug from Unit-01, Ahni ran down the hill after Asuka which prompted both Amelia and Misato to follow after her while Midori remained atop the cliff side next to Maya and Ritsuko. Midori then looked over at Kaworu, his hand casually resting in the pockets of his black slacks.

"What's your deal?" Midori asked the boy.

"Hmm? I'm quite sure I don't know what you mean," The boy questioned as he glanced at Midori, the red glow in his eyes finally fading.

"You're an Eva pilot, right? Aren't you gonna help them?" Midori clarified, "I mean, not that I care. That punk can go to hell for all I care."

"They don't seem to want my help… But I suppose I should offer my assistance anyways. Its the least I can do to make amends," the boy said before he too gracefully jumped down a few steps worth of rubble.

Midori watched as the boy practically floated down the side of the slope with the light-footedness of a feather. She then looked out over the valley at Unit-01 before making a disgusted sound.

Asuka tried as best she could to wade through the swamp of ash and blood, every so often tripping on some unseen hitch or protrusion submerged beneath the LCL, causing her face to occasionally fall beneath the surface. And when she rose her head above the water again, it was black with the LCL-soaked ash clinging to her face, the sickeningly sweet scent of blood wrapping around her as it did.

Ahead of her, she could see the entry plug of Unit-01 jutting out of it's port. Apparently, Ritsuko had managed somehow to get at least the hatch outside of the Eva's body as she could see it exposed now when her vision wasn't obscured by the blood-stained silt seeping into her eye.

"Asuka? Asuka! Be careful! I can't see anything under the surface!" Ahni called from the edge of the lake of blackened LCL.

Asuka looked back at the girl for only a moment, but this only caused her vision to become more impaired as her wet hair swung around and clung to her face. She spat out some of the black liquid but she could feel gains of sand and rock grating against her teeth as she returned her focus to the emergency hatch that was just ahead of her.

Misato herself had been hesitant to step into the pool but now she had jumped in as well and the lower half of her red jacket was stained just as black as Asuka's hair.

"Asuka!" Misato cried out for the girl as Asuka finally found herself before the hatch.

"Stay back, Misato!" Asuka ordered.

At last, she was here. She would learn the truth of the matter. Perhaps it would be painful but she had to know.

She braced herself before grabbing the super-heated levers and beginning to disengage the lock. She could quickly feel the heat building up in the palms of her plugsuit. But if she could hold on just long enough.

Long enough proved to be not enough however as the palms of her plugsuit lit up. She screamed and yanked her hands away from the lever before sticking them into the LCL pool below her, fearing her plugsuit had been lit on fire. However, she soon noticed her hands didn't seem to be in any significant pain and more than that, the glow still emanated even after she'd lowered her hands into the pool.

Raising her hands out of the LCL, she saw a shimmering pale golden glow over the palm of her hands and occasional sparks shooting from her fingertips or dancing up in front of her face.

It almost looked like fire. Almost, but not quite. No, it was something else. The way it pulsed and flickered was distinct from fire. It was more like an A.T. field.

"Won't you try again?" the voice of the boy said from behind her.

She looked over shoulder to see Kaworu standing atop the LCL behind her. Not in it, but on top of it. A similar glow flared between his feet and the surface of the LCL and it apparently allowed him to walk on the surface of the LCL.

Asuka looked up at the boy, his red eyes glowing once more.

"I don't need your help! I don't even want it!" Asuka hissed at the boy.

"You're really going to let your vendetta against me get between you and saving your precious comrade?" Kaworu asked.

Asuka said nothing and only continued to glare at the boy.

Kaworu sighed and slumped his shoulders before saying, "Ah, very well. I supposed I shall just have to save him myself."

"No!" Asuka snapped, "You've done more than enough! Stay the hell away from Shinji!"

With renewed fervor, Asuka once again grabbed the levers of the hatch, begrudgingly accepting the aid of what was apparently Kaworu's A.T. field as she wrenched the lock loose with the protection of his AT field.

"Please be okay!" Asuka whispered to herself as she finally flung the door open and, upon looking inside, she desperately called out, "Shinji!? SHINJI!?"

/

-Home at Last-

/

That night, at NERV Hospital...

"T'would seem you've been safely returned. Just as I promised. Rest. Rest now and recover your strength. You will need it in the days to come."

"Shinji!"

"Monumental forces work to your detriment. You will not be able to avert this catastrophe by yourself."

"Please be okay."

"Be sure to hold your loved ones close. They will be the ones to lift you up when all crumbles around you. They will be your salvation come the end."

"I swear to god if you don't get up!"

"Our time draws short once again. But perhaps that is for the best. Until we meet again."

"It would seem his consciousness measurements are returning to a lucid state."

The worried commentary surrounding him finally caused Shinji to open his eyes. And before him was the same ceiling he'd seen so many times before. He sighed before looking to his side and seeing Asuka. Looking away from him, perhaps behind her, she had a pout across her face that she probably wasn't consciously aware she was making as she eagerly awaited Shinji's awakening.

"Asuka? When did you get that eyepatch?" he asked.

Gasping as she did, Asuka looked back at Shinji, surprise and elation evident in her expression.

"SHINJI!" Asuka just about screamed as she dived onto the hospital bed and hugged him.

After hugging him, she then kissed him numerous time both on his lips and all across the rest of his face.

Exhausted as he was, both of Shinji's arms felt heavy. Nevertheless, he tiredly mustered up the strength to hug Asuka back with at least one of his arms as she continued to lean over the hospital bed and hug him.

"Not to sound ungrateful, Asuka, but it's a little hard to breath," Shinji sighed.

"Oh, sorry," Asuka said before finally taking some of her weight off the boy and resituating herself on the side of the bed.

"You've got some nerve!" Misato said as she walked up alongside Asuka, "Running off to the gods know where and not even telling me!"

Unexpectedly, Misato then slapped Shinji. Though, this happened so abruptly Shinji hadn't even realized his cheek now stung.

"MISATO, DO NOT SLAP MY BOYFRIEND!" Asuka just about shrieked.

"Now, now, Kat. The kid's had a hell of a day. Give him a break," Kaji said as he put his hand on Misato's shoulder and tried to pull her away from Shinji.

"A break!? A BREAK!? He told both you and Ritsu but the best he could do was leave me a note!?" Misato protested against Kaji's assertion before returning her attention to Shinji, "How dare you, Shinji Ikari! Think about how I felt! Do you have any idea what you've put me through!? And if that sounds mean, its only because I care! Damn you! Damn you for making me worry!"

Seeing tears starting to fall from Misato's eyes, Shinji was beginning to feel guilty about running away even more so than before.

"I'm sorry, Misato. You deserved better than for me to just up and leave..."

"Just don't do it again, okay? My heart can't take it," Misato sniffled.

"I won't," Shinji said in a regretful voice.

Misato then leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the forehead before sniffling and wiping her eyes.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to speak then," Kaji said after a few moments of silence, "I suppose I should congratulate you on another angel slain and another day saved. If the mood in the city is anything to go by, your fight was a rousing success. I imagine there are at least a few bottles of champagne having their corks popped off at the moment. You've put on another grand show, my friend."

Kaji then gave the boy a wink which, for some odd reason, caused Shinji to blush. Perhaps it was just that he wasn't used receiving praise.

"Oh, thanks I guess. But I don't feel like I deserve any congratulations," Shinji replied sheepishly.

One might have taken this as him being excessively humble. But it is what Shinji truly felt at that moment. Something felt wrong and incomplete. Perhaps it was the weight of the revelations in Zeruel's words or the fact he hadn't previously taken Misato's feelings into account. But he felt less than he could have been. Like he had done something very wrong despite all he might have done right.

"Well, to each their own. Isn't that right, Ritsu?" Kaji said before looking past Misato and at the obvious person waiting on the other side of Misato.

"I'll say," Ritsuko huffed before glaring at Shinji, "I don't even know what to say to you except what I already said before; that you're lucky you're worth more trouble than you cause."

At this, Shinji couldn't help but give the woman a slight shit-eating grin, to which the woman sighed and shook her head in exasperation.

"Still, you did save us," Ritsuko said, finally giving the boy a smile, "But just because your work is over doesn't mean mine is. And in fact, I'd go so far as to say your work isn't over. You owe me a lot of explanations. Not just from before the battle, but during it. And I'm not letting you go home until I've touched on all bases."

"Oh well. I was just getting comfortable in this bed anyways," Shinji groggily joked.

"Ey, hero of the hour! How is shit with you?" a boyish voice said as the door to the hospital room opened.

Looking to the entrance of the room, Shinji saw Toji standing in the doorway along with Kensuke, Sakura, Hikari, Ahni, and Amelia.

"Toji! You're safe! Is everyone okay?" Shinji asked.

"You bet!" Kensuke answered with a smile.

"Never better!" Sakura cheered.

"Oh, thank goodness," Hikari sighed in relief.

"We kinda already dropped by actually since Asuka was crying her eyes out and needed emotional support," Toji said with a chuckle, "But we figured we'd hang out outside until you woke up so we could surprise you."

Asuka looked at the boy with an incredulous expression on her face, her jaw hung completely agape at the audacity Toji displayed.

"I was crying my eyes out!?" Asuka asked in total appallment, "In case you've forgotten, I only have one eye, so your choice of words is in really poor taste. Second of all, YOU were the one who was complaining that I wouldn't pick up your calls when I'd left my phone at home. And you were the one crying for me to give you visitation access for this section of the hospital once you got here since you have to have a NERV ID to get around this portion of the building. And thank god I found you when I did. That poor nurse didn't know what to do with you crying at her feet. Just because you've got aspirations to see your boyfriend doesn't mean you can go around harassing people with them! You were like two seconds from being kicked out of here for causing a disturbance and obstructing care and relief during a state of emergency!"

Asuka finally huffed and crossed her arms, obviously not very flattered with Toji's joking portrayal of her.

"Boy- Boyfriend!?" Toji stuttered.

"Sheeeeesh!" Kensuke exclaimed as he glanced over at Toji, who had a mortified look on his face.

"And also!" Asuka continued, "You weren't waiting outside to surprise Shinji! You were out there because Doctor Akagi kicked you into the hall because you wouldn't stop disturbing the peace and getting in her way!"

"Thanks, Toji. I appreciate the surprise," Shinji said with a light chuckle.

"I'm glad you're okay, Shinji!" Sakura added in, "I hope you can get well soon so we can all go do something fun!"

"I'll try my best, Sakura."

Looking around at everyone, his eyes eventually stopped on Amelia. Her cheeks rose, brightening her eyes and indicating that she was trying to smile to which Shinji also silently smiled back and nodded at her.

And then finally, there was the almost audibly ticking time bomb which seemed ready to go off at nearly any moment. Ahni stood straight and tense next to Amelia her eyes wide and her brow raised in excitement or perhaps awe. Shinji couldn't really tell.

"You…" Shinji tiredly raised his arm again, pointing at Ahni, "You look like you got something to say, tiny Latina girl."

Upon seeing Shinji point at her, Ahni nervously glanced around to make sure no one else was talking. Seeing everyone was looking at her and no one else was speaking she finally said her piece.

"You- Er, uh, I mean. The- The angel! I mean, holy crap! That-" she stuttered before finally composing herself, "That was the most insane thing I've ever seen in my whole life! The way you just beat the ever loving shit out of that angel with Unit-01's bare fists was so metal! You didn't even have a prog knife! And you still just went right up there and-" Ahni ecstatically recounted the fight, replacing her words by dramatically swinging her firsts through the air before jumping on Shinji's hospital bed and continuing with, "That was the hardest most metal thing I've ever seen! Oh, dios mio! And don't even get me started on how you walked out of that giant purple beam after the sky turned gold and Unit-01 disappeared! How- How did you even do that!? And that part where you blasted the angel's face off with that laser beam! Good god almighty! You have to tell me how you did that! I didn't even know an Eva could do that! That whole fight is going in the history books as one of the hardest moments of all time!"

While Shinji could tell the girl was impassioned over something, he had no idea what. But what he did know was that she was invading his personal space to an absurd degree and he feared he might need an ice pack if he got hit in the face again by any of the girl's spatially unaware gesticulations!

"Asuka!" Ahni exclaimed, looking at the redhead with a determined expression, "You didn't tell me your boyfriend was such a badass!"

Asuka's eye widened in surprised before a blush spread across her cheeks. Though, eventually, a smile did cross her face despite her discomfort.

"Well, you know what they say," Ritsuko interjected, "Its always darkest just before the dawn… Or was it eternal nothingness? Anyways, though its a forlorn hope, I'd like to get home on time tonight. So, Shinji, will you tell me what you remember so I can finish putting together my report? What exactly is the last thing you can recall?"

"The… last thing I remember… Hmm…" Shinji paused to recollect, "I remember… the angel crying… I saw his mask and then… everything turned into this… I dunno, a tunnel of colors is the best way I can describe it. And… at the end of the tunnel was…"

Finally shaken out of his groggy stupor, a burst of adrenaline shot through Shinji as an urgent terror enveloped his heart.

"REI! WHERE'S REI! IS SHE OKAY!?" the boy shouted.

Everyone looked at Shinji, nearly all of them wearing a mask of confusion.

Shinji tried to sit up in the bed but he must have been more tired than he though as when he tried to get up, his body was heavier than he'd expected and he fell back onto the mattress. There was then a slight rustling of the blankets beside Shinji. He instantly looked over at the direction of the noise only to shove his nose right into a ball of blue hair. Frozen in shock, it took a moment for Shinji to register exactly what was happening. But it eventually dawned on him that it was Rei. She was asleep and had apparently crawled under the bed sheets to be next to him while he was unconscious and in the process, had apparently fallen asleep directly on top of Shinji's right arm.

Asuka giggled for a moment. She then stood up and walked to the other side of the bed to be next to Rei.

"She's been there the whole time," Asuka said as she lovingly caressed the girl's hair, "I know she's usually a quiet sleeper but you really didn't notice her?"

"No… No, I guess I didn't. My whole body feels like a sack of potatoes. I guess I was just too tired and mistook her weight for my own."

Shinji then sighed in relief and kissed the girl on top of her head before laying back down in the bed, being extra careful to not wake the girl.

"I… I don't understand. I… don't even know what to say. How is she- How did she-" Shinji stuttered.

"No one knows," Ritsuko interjected before Shinji could even properly get his question out.

Shinji then glanced at Ritsuko in shock. And in turned, Ritsuko then cast her gaze to Asuka before nodding at her.

"I found her inside your entry plug," Asuka said in a shakey voice, still stroking Rei's hair.

"Wha… What!? But how!?" Shinji asked.

"One of many questions I'd like answered. Though I doubt an explanation will be very forthcoming," Ritsuko said.

"There was no one inside Unit-00's entry plug," Asuka added.

Shinji sighed before asking, "So… what? You're telling me she teleported into my plug?"

"Its hardly the most miraculous thing that's happened today," Ritsuko stated.

Though Shinji had been a first hand participant in the earth-shattering battle that had happened earlier, it was only now that how miraculous and eerie it all was finally started to set in. He'd been so consumed by incandescent rage he'd never thought to ask why. He was solely focused on killing the angel and saving Rei. Nothing else had mattered. And by the time the fight has ended, he was too exhausted to maintain consciousness. Now that he'd woken up, he'd been presented with his first chance to actually think about the implications of what had happened.

Seeing Shinji seemed lost in thought, Ritsuko decided to speak once more, hoping to wring out any information from the boy.

"Why don't we back up. Instead of beginning at the end, how about we start at the beginning? Earlier on in the battle against the thirteen angel, you were observed talking to yourself. Though, this conversation sounded anything but one-sided. I suspect there is more to this than you simply talking to yourself."

Shinji nodded before clearing his throat and saying, "The angel… He spoke to me."

"Spoke to you?" Ritsuko asked, raising her eyebrow before pulling a pen from her coat pocket as well as a clipboard from a sidetable next to Shinji's bed and began to write some things down.

"It really spoke to you!?" Toji asked, "How? Like in Japanese? How would it even know how to speak it?"

"No, no. It wasn't like that. It wasn't Japanese… It probably wasn't any language we've ever heard. It was more like… It was more like having a feeling about something. Something universal. And then that feeling… somehow got turned into words by my mind. It was like how you or I say we feel happy or sad and we know what that means even without experiencing what the other person feels. Except, in this case, its almost like I was feeling what Zeruel felt. So, we didn't need to say anything. We just… understood each other."

Apparently, Toji had already asked Ritsuko's next question as she continued taking down notes.

"Zeruel?" Hikari asked.

"That's what he said his name was," Shinji responded.

"Interesting," Ritsuko mumbled to herself, still taking notes.

"What do you mean, Ritsu?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko finished jotting down her note with intense focus before responding to Misato, "The angels are given codenames after they've attacked. We have a preselected list of names that follow a specific set of naming conventions just like how hurricanes or craters on Mars are named according to a number of criteria. I find it interesting, and perhaps slightly alarming, that the angel was able to tell Shinji its own name without Shinji having been told the name before as far as I know. I would assume under most circumstances that for a translation to take place in the manner Shinji described, it would have to draw on Shinji's existing vocabulary. And yet, that seems to not be the case."

"What did the angel's voice sound like!?" Kensuke was the next to ask.

"Hmm… It didn't really sound like one voice. It sounded more like a whole group of people speaking together at the same time and saying the same thing."

"Hmm, sounds suitably scary and angelic," Kensuke said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"So, tell me Shinji," Ritsuko sighed before tiredly looking at the boy, "What did these… voices say?"

"Uh… a lot of things," Shinji said before unsurely glancing over at Toji, Kensuke, Hikari, and Sakura.

"Nothing too compromising I hope," Ritsuko said with a forced smile as she glanced at the friend group as well.

"Uh, how to put this…" Shinji said, rubbing his eye with his free hand.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Kaji encouraged the boy.

"Uh… listen," Shinji finally said after a few more moments of silence, "I'm gonna leave out all the personal stuff. A lot of the stuff Zeruel and I talked about was personal. And its not that it's private, but I know that's not what you're asking about. And that leaves me with this, which I really don't know how to say, so I'm just gonna spit it out. Zeruel... told me that there are aliens. And-"

Without waiting for Shinji to finish, Toji and Kensuke instantly looked at each other. Their jaws had dropped in shock but their lips quickly turned upwards into a giant pair of smiles.

"Aliens-" Kensuke squealed like a schoolgirl.

"-Are real!" Toji finished the sentence in a similar voice.

"Oh, I knew it!" Kensuke cheered.

"Oh, that's sick!" Toji said in a hearty and enthralled voice.

"Oh, how awful!" Hikari whimpered.

"-Zeruel said he killed a lot of them. Most of them… Maybe all of them," Shinji finished.

Toji and Kensuke were just about to high five each other though their hands abruptly stopped before making contact.

"Well, that kinda answers the Fermi paradox… Kinda..." Kensuke said in a suddenly downtrodden voice.

"Well, that sucks…" Toji said with a dejected expression.

"Well, that's a relief," Hikari hummed as she happily clasped her hands together.

While all the kids were either cheering or bemoaning the fate of fallen civilizations, Misato leaned over to Ritsuko and whispered in her ear, "You seem distinctly unsurprised, girlfriend. What's up with that?"

"Don't get smart with me, Misato. Ignorance is bliss! Now-" Ritsuko harshly whispered back before putting her finger to her lips, telling Misato to be quiet.

"If that's true then who…. or what, have we been fighting all this time?" Asuka finally asked.

"That is an excellent question, Asuka. But one I fear must remain unanswered for now," Ritsuko said before looking at the rest of the kids, "As for the rest of you, I trust you won't go blathering your mouths off about this. Though I doubt anyone would believe you even if you did."

All the kids looked like someone had just poured water on a dwindling fire they were about to use to cook marshmallows. But they all seemingly non-verbally, but reluctantly agreed to not go around telling anyone that apparently aliens had been conclusively discovered and that the angels themselves were extraterrestrials. Granted, a lot of this was already a forgone conclusion to the wider population if not in scribbled in the notebooks of various conspiracy theorists the world over. Nevertheless, Ritsuko seemed to prefer to keep NERV's hands clean of any implication.

"Hey! What's goin' on!?" Ahni blurted out, which earned her a slight elbow jab from Amelia.

"Amelia, will you let her know that I'll explain everything once this is over," Asuka sighed, to which Amelia nodded and began signing to Ahni to be patient.

"Now, Shinji, if we could get back to your story. Perhaps you could tell us why this Zeruel went around slaughtering aliens," Ritsuko prompted the boy to continue.

"Uh, right well…" Shinji said, taking a short moment to recall what Zeruel had told him, ""He mentioned some… blessings. Blessings of life and knowledge. And fruits-"

Ritsuko then instantly put her finger to Shinji's lips, confusing him since he'd only just started speaking.

"Ahp, that's enough of that!" Ritsuko said.

"Oh… Is that… classified or something?" Shinji asked with a tinge of embarrassment.

Ritsuko didn't say anything, but she did wink at Shinji.

"Aww! What!? Come on! You're really gonna blueball us out of the history and lore of some ancient alien civilizations!" Toji complained.

"Yes…" Ritsuko said boredly.

"But what if we promise not to tell anybody! I'm trustworthy, I promise! Shinji will vouch for me! I promise we won't tell anybody! So will you please let us hear it!?" Kensuke begged.

Ritsuko chewed on her pen for a moment before taking it out of her mouth and gently bonking Kensuke on the head with it.

"No," Ritsuko said flatly, "And don't ask me again. Why did you think that begging me would actually make me change my mind?"

"Hmph! Loose lips sink the ships I guess," Kensuke grumbled.

"If it makes you guys feel any better, I don't really know any of the specifics of it. We were in the middle of a fight after all, so were weren't exactly having a really in depth conversation about it," Shinji bashfully admitted.

"Here, you're kids. You like candy, don't you? Maybe this'll make you feel better," Ritsuko said as she reached into one of the pockets of her lab coat and pulled out handful of miniature chocolate bars before holding them out for the children.

"Hmm… bribing me with food, eh? Alright, I'll keep my mouth shut for now," Toji said before taking a couple of the chocolates from the woman.

"You can't pay me off with candy because I'm not corrupt!" Kensuke declared.

"Well, fine then. More for everyone else," Ritsuko said before beginning to step over to Hikari.

"Ah! But wait! I was just going to say! Upon my honor, I swear to not tell anyone!" Kensuke hastily added in.

Ritsuko narrowed her eyes at the boy before reluctantly handing him two of the small chocolate bars.

Upon being handed her own chocolate bars, Hikari blushed before letting out a quiet "Oh, thank you."

And finally, Ritsuko stood before Sakura, looking down at her as she judged the little girl.

"You've been exceptionally well behaved, so you get an extra one," Ritsuko said before handing the girl three of the chocolate bars.

"Say what!? But she just had ice cream yesterday!" Toji exclaimed, though this seemingly didn't stop Ritsuko from dropping the extra sweet token into Sakura's waiting hands.

"Thanks, Miss! But why do you carry around so much chocolate!?" Sakura asked.

"An associate of mine. I don't always know when or if she's eaten. So I try to make sure I carry around something for her. And candy or other small snacks are the easiest thing to bring with me," Ritsuko explained as she also handed some food to Ahni and Amelia.

Ritsuko then walked back over to Asuka and handed her couple of candy bars as well, telling her "Here. You must be famished."

"Thanks," Asuka said halfheartedly apparently distracted by her thoughts.

"And finally some for you," Ritsuko said as she dropped the remaining chocolate bars on the bed next to Shinji, "All of you have been pushed well beyond your limits. Make sure Rei gets some when she wakes up."

"Will do," Shinji confirmed.

"Well, with that settled, perhaps I should save the rest of this for another time. Shinji, I'm sure you're tired. But will you come see me soon? It doesn't need to be tomorrow. But within the next few days would be great," Ritsuko asked.

"Yeah, of course. I'll try to get by tomorrow if I can," Shinji confirmed.

"Wait, Ritsu! Before we go…" Misato said.

Ritsuko looked at her friend, but didn't say anything, allowing Misato to continue.

"If the angel was talking to Shinji… Do you have any idea how that's possible? I need to know."

"I only have a guess," Ritsuko said as she took off her glasses and hung them onto the collar of her shirt before looking back at Misato, "And I'd be willing to bet your guess would be just as good as mine."

"No… It can't be!" Misato gasped.

Shinji and Asuka both glanced at Ritsuko and Misato, their words seemingly attracting a spike in interest.

"The intricacies of it yet escape me," Ritsuko sighed, "But I believe it may be naught less than synchronization."

"Synchronization?" Asuka asked.

"What do you mean?" Shinji added.

Ritsuko sighed before chewing on her pen yet again, "Asuka, Shinji, tell me. Do you remember when I had you sit in during Ahni and Amelia's sync test the other day? And how I told you about pain. How it's almost just a figment of your imagination?"

"Yes," Shinji said.

"I remember," Asuka affirmed.

"Pain has basically no meaning until it's processed by the brain," Ritsuko continued, "It's real but intangible. A product of chemicals sending signals to your brain, which your consciousness then interprets as pain. Block those signals and you feel no pain generally. Then there's also your phantom sensations, which seemed to be more prominent when you'd started piloting but also flared up during particularity intense moments of recollection or during your episodes. All of this a recollection of a pain you never felt."

"But… that our Eva's did," Asuka realized.

"Precisely," Ritsuko stated, "You'll also remember during Ahni and Amelia's sync test that I said that they might be mildly aware of their consciousnesses and that they might even be able to share each other's emotions. Potentially even read each other's thoughts to a limited degree."

"You're saying I actually synchronized with an angel to understand it!?" Shinji asked in shocked surprise.

"I can't say for certain… But I currently have no other explanation. What else could it be? The ability to share and experience beyond the confines and understanding of a single being. To look beyond the flesh and to see into someone's soul and psyche and then influence it. Likewise, I believe your episodes may have been a case of synchronization as well. As well as that, Asuka, you mentioned you and Rei both felt ill before you engaged the angel. But that, when you decided to fight the angel, the feeling disappeared."

"That's right," Asuka confirmed.

"Misato, Maya, one of our engineers, and myself felt a similar feeling during the fight itself. The onset was abrupt and with no identifiable conventional cause. And it ended just as quickly as it began. Not impossible, but unusual I think for a physical illness to start and then resolve itself so quickly. But, for absolute terror sickness, where one's actions and feelings might be experienced by someone else..."

"I also felt sick for no reason!" Shinji added, "It was after Asuka and Rei left to fight the angel. I thought it might have just been anxiety or something. And, I didn't realize it at the time but it went away when I decided to go to the Geofront. And Rei said she felt like something was pulling her. No! She said someone. I remember. At least once, she said someone one needed her. And then Zeruel consumed her… You don't think he was trying to lure her, do you?"

"I couldn't say. Its possible I suppose. But there's too many other possibilities and the only one who could answer that question is dead. But part of me thinks it wasn't him given the circumstances of the onset of the sickness. Misato and I fell ill right before that ghastly purple pillar of light erupted from the ground and returned Unit-01 to us. And, I similarly felt like someone was reaching for me… Or calling me perhaps. In that event, I somewhat doubt Zeruel would have been desirous to share his feelings with us… But who can truly say? He apparently did it with you, Shinji. It could have been him… Or perhaps not. Either way, assuming someone, angel or not, was reaching out for us, I imagine that our instances of illness may have been absolute terror sickness… Synchronization in short. We should be wary and vigilant of abnormal affects from here on out, though this is easier said than done. But there may be more to the act of synchronization than I yet realize and these events could be driven by forces beyond our ability to control."

"Hmm… I wonder though, if Zeruel was the one making us feel sick though synchronization… Why did I feel sick before fighting him but not during when we fought? Maybe you're right, Doctor Akagi. Maybe there is someone else… And... from what I know of him… even though I only knew him for a short time, Zeruel didn't seem like the kind of person to try to trick someone. Maybe he wasn't trying to trick Rei. He fought… honorably I think for the most part. Even when he turned into Rei, I thought he did it just to make me angry, but… he claimed he did it to understand us."

Everyone seemed to give Shinji an odd look as though he had said something rather outlandish. And it took Shinji a moment to realize that perhaps he had said something rather strange.

Ritsuko sighed before placing her hand on Shinji shoulder.

"Shinji, I know I already said this, but you really need to come speak to me once we have some privacy," Ritsuko said before shooting a mild glare at Toji, "But until then, go home. I don't think there's anything else we can speak of right now. And admittedly, I would really like to go home and sleep in my own bed. So I'm willing to put this off until tomorrow."

"Wait, but Ritsu!" Misato asked again, "What about when Unit-01 disappeared? Did Shinji… Did he… He didn't die, did he?"

"I can't answer that, Misato."

'Die?' Shinji thought to himself. Why would anyone have though he died?

"What do you mean, die?" Shinji asked before looking at Ritsuko, "When you where talking about the sickness, you mentioned some pillar of light returned Unit-01. What happened? Did Unit-01 go somewhere?"

Again, for the most part, everyone starred at Shinji in silence.

"Ahni also just mentioned Unit-01 disappeared," Asuka added, "And while I was barely conscious during that part of the fight, I remember she said she that no one was left and… While I told her not to say anything, I had a suspicion she was about to tell me Shinji had been killed."

Shinji and Asuka both looked at each other with an uncertain terror before they both looked back at Doctor Akagi, expecting answers.

"As I already told Misato, I can't say anything for certain," Ritsuko finally relented, "Unit-01 did disappear for a few moments. The angel had just fired off a double beam attack. And when the angel quit firing, Unit-01 was nowhere to be seen. In the heat of the moment, I think most of us assumed Unit-01 had been vaporized. But, in light of Rei's little magic trick of teleporting into your entry plug, I'm not willing to say for certain if you died. Perhaps you were just pulled away into… some place. After several minutes, and after our sickness had passed, some symbols formed on the ground near the angel and a that was when that pillar of light came into existence and Unit-01 emerged from it."

"That… That can't be possible," Shinji said as he rolled over to face Rei, holding his hand to his head as he looked back at the girl, "I think I remember the beam you mentioned. But… I thought it was just…. I thought I'd just come out of the attack just fine. But you're telling me I was dead?"

"You were gone, dude," Toji asserted, "You were gone for awhile. A few minutes at least. The whole world saw it. It was all caught on the public video feed from the cameras at the top of the geofront."

"Shinji, I just said that I wasn't going to say you were dead," Ritsuko addressed the boy's concerns, "When Unit-01 was returned, it had a strange black A.T. field around it. I'm sure you saw it."

"Uh huh," Shinji nodded in disbelief.

"Well, when Maya tried to get readings on it, she said that she couldn't find out where it was coming from. All she could tell was that it wasn't yours and it wasn't the angel's. But she had no idea where it was coming from. Now listen to me. If Rei could somehow wind up in an entry plug that she never entered and if you can end up with an A.T. field that isn't yours, perhaps… Perhaps you were just taken somewhere by… someone. But none of that matters. You're here now and so is Rei. And while she has been asleep, she was awake before you and she did display a continuity of memory as have you. I know this must be difficult for you, but you are here. That's what matters."

"R- ...Right, thanks… Doctor Akagi."

Despite Ritsuko's assertions, again Shinji found himself looking at his hand in doubt.

'Was I… Did I ever even exist? Am I…. really me?' the boy wondered to himself, his heart bleeding with doubt.

Though, as fate would have it, Rei's eyes suddenly fluttered open and the girl stretched her legs before wrapping her arms around Shinji's neck, distracting him from the question of exactly what he was or if he had died. Finally, despite his doubts, Shinji accepted Ritsuko's words. Rei, being before him now, convinced him. He remembered his father had told him that Rei was likely beyond saving and yet, Shinji had gone to great lengths to save her nevertheless. And now here she was. Right in front of him, exhausted but alive, just as he was. And if he couldn't accept himself as still being alive, how could he accept Rei as being alive either? He finally decided that if Rei was still here, then so was he.

"Well well, looks like the sleepyhead has awoken," Kensuke chuckled as Rei squeaked from stretching.

"Goddamn it, they're so fuckin' cute," Toji said before Hikari gently hit him on the side of his shoulder and told him, "Don't cuss!"

"Go home. All of you. And appreciate the lives you've been given," Ritsuko ordered.

"Shinji," Rei whispered into Shinji's ear.

"Rei… I'm glad you're safe," Shinji whispered back to the girl.

"I'm sorry I didn't protect you," Rei again whispered.

"No, Rei. I'm sorry I didn't protect you," Shinji quietly said back before kissing her on the cheek.

"Well, it's getting late and it's probably best that we let Ritsuko, and our pilots of course, get some rest. Never know when another angel will show up, so recover while you can," Kaji said.

Misato sighed. She still wanted answers. But perhaps it was best to let everyone recover for now. In only a matter of days, there had been three angel attacks and the last one had very nearly put the final nail in the coffin. Everyone was exhausted, but Shinji, Asuka, and Rei more than anyone. And she knew this. She could see it in how they walked, how Rei had fallen asleep in Shinji's hospital bed despite everything that had happened, and how all three of them had dark circles under their eyes despite the rest they had gotten. And that was to say nothing of the fact that Asuka's eye was still healing. She remembered how tied she herself had been after her shrapnel injury to her own chest and how much the simple act of healing took out of her. And so, despite recent events not sitting well with her, Misato finally decided that it would indeed be best to take everyone home.

"Can… you walk?" Asuka asked as she held out a shakey hand for Shinji to take, which he did and Asuka helped him from the bed in spite of her exhaustion.

Likewise, Toji approached Rei's side of the bed and picked her up from it, which brought a surprised expression to her face for a moment before she simply accepted it.

"Hey, Kat, here's some money for dinner since I know you probably already spent all your paycheck on booze and Shinji's probably too tired to cook," Kaji said as he pulled a wad of cash from his wallet and handed it to the woman.

"You're not coming with us?" Misato asked.

"I wish I could. Ritsu's got reports to fill out and so do I. And while Ritsuko's may be able to wait for tomorrow, mine can't," Kaji said with an upbeat but still regretful tone.

Misato then leaned in and kissed the man for a moment while everyone else made their way for the exit.

"So, where are you parked, Miss Misato? Same place you brought us down in I assume?" Toji asked.

"Oh, yes. Same one we came down from this morning. The underground garage that leads to the lift in our residential district. There should be a metro that'll take us to it, which I'm not sure if you rode to get here since we parted ways at the Geofront shelter a few miles from here."

"So, I assume Kaji guessed right when he said you're not gonna be cooking tonight," Asuka asked as she and Shinji held hands, heading to exit of the room together.

"Oh gosh," Shinji tiredly sighed.

"Its okay, Shinji. Honestly, I'm so tired that I could probably go to bed without dinner. Though…" Asuka mumbled as she looked down at her shaking legs, "If I'm being honest, I could probably do with some food."

"Same…" Shinji said as he and Asuka finally stepped out of the hospital room with everyone else.

Oddly enough, almost everyone already standing in the hall had gone quiet. And initially, Asuka was surprised by this until she saw what they were looking at. It was him. The same boy with the white hair.

Instantly, Asuka put her arm in front of Shinji and as well as the rest of the group and defensively tried to keep them behind her as the boy approached them, smiling all the while. Asuka returned that smile with a glare and the boy simply chuckled as he passed them by, continuing onwards to somewhere else in the Geofront.

"Asuka? Is something wrong?" Shinji asked the girl.

"No… No, it's nothing. He just looked shady is all," Asuka said before finally relaxing again.

"He is… familiar," Rei said, causing Toji too look down at her with a confused expression.

"How strange. Was he wearing contacts? His eyes looked red like yours Ayanami," Hikari said.

"Perhaps… Strange… Like me… Not like me," Rei slurred as she tiredly tried to resist the urge to sleep.

"You okay, Rei?" Kensuke asked the girl.

"Sleepy… Hungry…" was all the girl said back.

"I think it would be best if we got her home as soon as possible," Toji said before glancing at Shinji, "Hey, Shin-Man, I know you're probably tired as a beat dog. You think you'll be okay getting her upstairs to your apartment by yourself. Or you want me to come with you? I don't mind the detour."

"No, no, that's okay, Toji. Besides, I'm sure Misato is probably tired too and she probably doesn't want to drive any more than she has to. We can go our separate ways once we get to the lift," Shinji politely declined.

"Alright. Just let me know if you change your mind and need help. I don't mind at all. Helping you all get home safe is the least I can do for the people who protect us," Toji said with a smile.

"Thanks, Toji. I appreciate it," Shinji said.

"Well, we should probably get going then. I know I said I don't mind helping, but we should probably get Rei back to the car before my arms give out," Toji said before leading the group down the hallway

One by one, everyone followed after him, first Hikari, Sakura, and Kensuke, Ahni and Amelia next, then Ritsuko, followed by Misato and Kaji, and then finally Asuka until only Shinji was left standing at the doorway. Gazing down the hallway in the direction that other boy had disappeared, he found himself wondering why Asuka had been so on edge around him and why Rei had said he seemed familiar. And the gods be damned, he could feel it too. Something about that kid that both chilled Shinji but also enthralled him.

"Hey, Shinji, what are you doing back there? I'm about to collapse and you don't look much better," Asuka finally asked the boy after noticing he hadn't accompanied her.

"Oh, sorry," Shinji said with a shake of his head, "I was just…. thinking about something."

/

A short time later, in Misato's car, on the way home…

Amelia gazed out the window of Misato's Renault with a profound relief. Looking up, she watched the moon when it wasn't hidden behind a building or billboard. It had been probably nine or ten hours since she had last consciously looked up at the sky, earlier in the day when Zeruel had first arrived.

But there was no angel looming overhead now. The sky was clear for the most part aside from some few wispy clouds that drifted in front of the moon. And yet, the otherworldly silver orb had taken on a new meaning now. Asuka had explained to them on the way back to the surface what Zeruel had told Shinji. About the fallen civilizations that Zeruel and the rest of his heavenly host had ushered unto oblivion. That there had, at least at one point in history, been others out there. All dead and gone now. And yet, Amelia still found herself wondering who all might still be out there and how close they might be.

Unlike the stillness above, the streets of Tokyo-3 seemed to be in a celebratory mood, even more than what frivolity was usually born from the defeat of an angel. There was no denying that this had been a rather closer call than usual. And while people the world over where probably celebrating, it was doubtless here in Tokyo-3 that it was the most lively. While Tokyo-3's nightlife certainly had a presence any day of the week, tonight the streets seemed even more alive as people simply went out to celebrate existence itself. There seemed to have been a number of improvised parades and quite a few fireworks that were being set off as well as numerous street vendors giving out free food as a gesture of good faith and the willingness to spread the good that had been done.

And oblivious to it all were the very people who had made such celebrations a reality. Shinji, Rei, and Asuka had all passed out in the back seat of Misato's car. Rei rested on the far left side of the car, her head leaning against Shinji's shoulder while Shinji himself had let his head fall back onto the top of the seat's headrest, his neck slightly crooked, though this didn't seem to be uncomfortable enough to wake him. Asuka sat at the center of the seat to Shinji's right, her own head also resting against Shinji's opposite shoulder. A small glimmering streak ran down her cheek as she seemed to gently cry in her sleep, the colors of the city lights passing her by as they reflected off her tears. Ahni sat next to her and Amelia then sat on the far-right, next to the window. And, while Amelia seemed more focused on what was above them, Ahni was more entranced by the people at her side.

She couldn't help but find herself staring at them in awe. Every single one of them, Asuka, Rei, and Shinji were living legends in their own right and she was right next to them. She'd finally seen them bring their full strength to bear. The mettle and furiosity the Japanese pilots put on display during the fight against Zeruel was beyond astounding. She almost couldn't believe it that she could sit right here next to them and get a glimpse into their lives that almost no one else would ever get to see. It was everything she'd dreamed of and more.

"You're… amazing!" Ahni whispered as she watched them sleep, her eyes shimmering with admiration in the darkness.

/

A short time later, at the Katsuragi Residence…

"Finally, we're home!" Misato sighed as she stepped inside the apartment and immediately took off her shoes, eager to put the events of the day behind her.

"If I weren't so hungry, I'd go straight to bed," Asuka groaned as she walked in after Misato, also kicked her shoes off.

"I'll get right on it," Shinji tiredly responded as he nearly slumped against the wall in exhaustion.

"Home… Sleepy… Hungry..." Rei added as she too tiredly swayed into Misato's apartment.

"THIS SONG IS SPONSORED BY THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT OF NERV! LEGALIZE N2 MINES!" Ahni shouted before making an attempt at what was apparently beatboxing, a futile endeavor much to everyone's dismay and annoyance.

"What are you doing!? Why are you doing that!?" Amelia signed to the girl before bonking her on the head, desperately trying to get her to stop making whatever kind of inarticulate noise it was that she was making.

"Oh, Shinji, you don't need to worry about cooking. Kaji gave me some money for dinner," Misato called out to the boy as he made his way into the kitchen.

"You really think there's any places still open?" Shinji asked her.

"Huh? Oh…. Right… Good point," Misato mumbled after realizing that with there having been an angel attack it was possible any restaurants and delivery services may not be operable just yet.

"Well, with most of the fighting happening underground… I dunno. Maybe Pizza Hut is up and running," Asuka suggested as she stepped into the kitchen and very nearly collapsed on top of the dinner table before managing to take a proper seat.

"Maybe… I'll give them a call I guess," Misato said as she walked into the kitchen and pulled out her phone before leaning against the countertop and making the call.

"Hungry!" Rei groaned as she too took a seat at the table.

Shinji as well sat down at the table before closing his eyes and pressing his hands against his face with a sigh.

"Hey, Asuka, sounds like they are miraculously open and delivering," Misato said to the girl.

"Hey, Americans, we're getting Pizza Hut. What do you want?" Asuka asked as Ahni and Amelia also took a seat at the table.

After a few moments of translation Ahni suddenly blurted out "YOU HAVE PIZZA HUT IN JAPAN!?"

"Yes, yes! Now what do you want!?" Asuka said, raising her hands in the air and making a gesture for the girl to calm down.

After a few more frantic communications Ahni finally bombastically responded with "I want the spiciest one! Something so spicy it'll make me cry!"

"I- Uh, okay, I'll find something," Asuka said before reaching across behind her to the kitchen counter where she'd left her phone to charge earlier that morning and look up an online menu, "And you, Wondergirl?"

"Vegetable," Rei said before tiredly resting her head face-first on the table.

"I was hoping for something a little more specific," Asuka said as she continued to scroll down her phone.

"Don't know. Hungry," Rei mumbled into the table.

"Oh, goodness gracious," Asuka sighed before looking up at Misato and saying, "Okay, Misato, uh…. How about uh… Some uh… Jesus Christ, how about some Super Korean Bulgogi for the Americans. And I guess some Keema Curry Pizza for Rei. And maybe some Teri-Mayo chicken for the rest of us. Unless Shinji wants something different."

"Huh?" Shinji questioned, finally removing his hands from his face, his eyes straining to readjust under the kitchen light, "Oh, no, that's fine. I'm good with whatever."

"And I guess that's it," Asuka said.

"Wait, wait, wait! Do they have wings! I want wings!" Ahni added in.

"Agh, wait. Add some wings to that I guess," Asuka corrected.

"What kind?" Misato asked.

"I don't know. Just tell them to go with whatever the spiciest one is. This girl sounds like she wants her teeth kicked in," Asuka said before taking her ease as she dipped out of relaying the order to Misato.

"Did you get any wings!?" Ahni asked in suspense.

"Yes, I got wings," Asuka tiredly replied as she slumped into her chair.

Despite his attempt to flee, Shinji couldn't help but admit that part of him was glad to be home. Maybe this was were he belonged. Tired and beaten down as he was, he couldn't help but feel a rising well of happiness at the sight. Rei resting her tired head for all that she gave and Asuka finally seeming to connect with other people, it brought a smile to his face. A smile that couldn't be wiped away even as he felt something sharp and menacing brush across the calf of his leg. Looking down, he saw Pen Pen, apparently welcoming him home as he retracted his claws before walking over to Misato and affectionately rubbing his head against her as well. Watching as Misato reached down to pet the bird just before she hung up her phone, Shinji could almost forget that Zeruel had attacked.

Almost, but not quite. The words proffered by the angel were magnitudinal and vast, and perhaps, more than anything, haunting. And he couldn't help but wonder at what the exact implications were. Zeruel had made it sound as though there were perhaps a greater threat. One even more pressing than the angels themselves. This man in blue. What did that even mean? A man? A man in what way? Perhaps as a metaphor. Or perhaps there simply didn't exist a word to describe this person and Shinji's own mind had substituted the word man in place of one he had no concept of. And yet, would than not go against Doctor Akagi's own recognition that Shinji had been able to understand the Angel's own name. Something that he also hadn't had a concept of until recently. But if that were the case, then who exactly was this man? Surely he couldn't have been someone of Earthly origin if he had done something to the people of Pleroma potentially millions of years ago? Or could he?

Shinji didn't know. Perhaps it wasn't even worth thinking about. After all, it wasn't this man who was attacking them but the angels. Though, to be fair, that had only been one of Zeruel's revelations. That he could talk to this Lilitu person as well. That the souls of the dead could inhabit the bodies of the living. And that was to say nothing of the fact that Zeruel and the rest of the angels played at least some part in the suppression or extinction of other races aside from humanity. It was all too much for Shinji to take in and he almost wondered if this had simply been some dream. If he was still asleep even now. It usually wasn't like Shinji to questioned his existence. At least, not in such a grand and far-reaching manner. He usually had just been someone who accepted his place and went with the flow. But to be given this knowledge and to have it granted to him by his own enemy, it was almost enough to make him reconsider.

Shinji eventually realized that he had been staring at Misato's feet and Pen Pen for an amount of time he couldn't quantify but assumed was probably longer than was socially acceptable. Shaking his head and trying to free himself from his thoughts he looked back up to the people at the table with him only for something else to catch his attention.

Asuka seemed happy enough. As happy as one having gone through her ordeals could be at any rate. And she seemed to be getting along well enough with the American girls as they engaged in a rather stunted conversation. And yet, something was wrong. Looking at her for a moment, Shinji wondered if it was just her eyepatch. He'd only just started to get used to her wearing her hair down and having bandages over her face. And now she'd gone and changed up her looks again, her neural connectors back in her hair and the patch over her eye. But as he continued to wrestle with it, he deduced that that still wasn't it.

Finally, looking down her body more, he saw it. A black necklace with a pair of red rectangles around her neck. Seemingly identical to the one he'd been wearing until Doctor Akagi had taken it from him before he'd attempted to run away. But why? What did it mean? Why did some necklace seemingly have so much significance? And why was Asuka wearing one? What was it that Gendo had told Shinji when he'd first adorned it.

"Due to your previous transgressions, you will be wearing that collar from now on. Consider it retribution… and insurance. I can't let you simply walk out of here without some means of keeping you under control," or something along those lines was what Gendo had said, wasn't it?

But what transgressions? And what manner of control? What did Asuka do? And how did wearing the necklace do anything to control her?

Shinji remembered Ritsuko had also said, "Yes, it's NERV's burden to bear, and so it shall remain with NERV."

But again, Shinji couldn't possibly imagine what Ritsuko had meant by it being a burden. Aside from it being a tracking device, Shinji didn't see how else it could be a burden.

Noticing such a strange thing around Asuka's neck, Shinji glanced at Rei next. It was hard to tell as the girl was resting face first on the kitchen table but her hair was short enough that Shinji could see a black band around the back of the girl's neck. In all likelihood, she was wearing one too for whatever reason.

Examining the American girls next, Shinji saw both of them were also wearing another pair of the chokers.

And finally, feeling his own neck, he felt one around his own throat as well.

The clinking of glass pulled Shinji out of his thoughts and he looked over his shoulder to see Misato reaching into her cabinet of alcohol, grabbing as many bottle necks as would fit between her fingers before carrying them to the kitchen table and laying them out.

"Oh, Jesus, Misato. What is that? Surely even you can't drink that much," Asuka groaned.

"Not by myself. As for what it is, just consider it uh… a celebratory award for victory."

"Uh, yes, that's great. But we're not supposed to be drinking," Asuka stated rather flatly.

"That's not like you to say, Asuka. Since when have you ever let rules stop you? Besides, I know you've been drinking my stash anyways," Misato said with a carefree smile as she set some glasses down on the table.

A small blushed streaked across Asuka's face.

"Here we go," Shinji whispered under his breath.

At this point, even Rei, tired as she was, raised her head from the table and looked about curiously with her droopy eyes.

"Be that as it may, we have company at the moment," Asuka said after clearing her throat and glancing at the American girls.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll understand," Misato said as she waved her hand dismissively.

Glancing back at the Americans again, a sort of worried smile crossed Asuka's face as she tried to take stock of the situation to make some kind of judgment call. Amelia seemed to be looking anywhere but the kitchen table in an attempt to feign ignorance of the situation. That, or some small grey moth on the ceiling was just particularly fascinating to her. As for Ahni, excitement seemed to brim from her eyes to the point one could almost swear they were sparkling.

"Oh my god, Asuka! Oh my god, is this what I think it is!? A token of gratitude and a free pass to drink as much as we want!?" Ahni asked, looking to Asuka for confirmation.

After a few moments of silence, Asuka's forced smile widened as she finally gave a stiff nod to the girl.

"Aw, hell yeah!" Ahni cheered, "Supposedly crime doesn't pay. But saving the day sure does if it means we get to do crimes after anyways! No more Listerine for me! I've finally graduated to not having to use a fake ID to get actual drinking alcohol!"

The smile on Asuka's face disappeared and a slight look of shock manifested itself in its place. She then looked back at Misato before stating, "Well… I guess that's sorted out."

While Misato didn't exactly understand what Asuka meant by that, seeing Ahni grabbing for a bottle and pouring a glass for both herself and Amelia mostly answered any questions Misato would have thought to ask.

"Enjoy yourselves. But don't go too crazy now," Misato said with a wink as she poured herself a glass as well.

"Oh, its too late to say that now," Asuka chuckled also grabbing a bottle for herself.

While Shinji wasn't particularly fond of the alcohol himself, he grabbed a bottle as well if for no other reason than to blend in. Though, if he was being truthful, having been exposed to the stuff beforehand, he was probably going to end up drinking at least some of it to help take his mind off of everything Zeruel had told him. Otherwise, he imagined it would prove very difficult to get any sleep tonight.

The only person who hadn't reached for any alcohol was Rei. She stared blankly at one of the bottles, perhaps at her reflection, but made no move to procure any. And while the girl wasn't always the most proactive one when it came to personal indulgences, Shinji wondered if there was something more than just exhaustion troubling the girl.

"Rei, is everything okay?" Shinji quietly prodded the girl as he wrapped his fingers around her hand reassuringly.

Rei looked confused for a moment, looking down at her hand and then at Shinji.

"Hmm? Yes. Everything is fine," Rei confirmed.

"You seem really tired. If you think the pizza delivery will take too long, I can make something for you if you don't want to wait," Shinji offered.

"No, I am fine. I will wait," Rei said with a gentle shake of the head.

"If there's anything you want to talk about, you can tell me," Shinji said, again making another offer to comfort the girl.

Rei simply looked back at Shinji and gave him a small smile.

/

Sometime later, on the front balcony of Misato's apartment….

Shinji found himself leaning against the railing of the balcony, a glass in his hand, now emptied of its contents. The lights of the city glowed in the night and Shinji felt his cheeks radiating heat that was swept away by a gentle breeze.

He assumed it must've been past midnight by now. The warm food and the alcohol tempted him into the dark embrace of sleep on top of the exhaustion. The only things really keeping him awake were his thoughts and the general celebratory mood. Though, thankfully, his own mind was slowly beginning to release him from his focus and he'd mostly stepped outside to view the fireworks that were being set off, though he remained mindful enough to not drop his glass over the railing.

Behind him, Shinji heard the door to Misato's apartment open. He raised his glass to his lips once more and the few drops that still clung to it found their way onto his tongue. He cringed at the taste before turning around to see Rei standing in the doorway.

"Shinji?" she quietly asked.

"Yes, Rei?" Shinji said after clearing his throat.

"I believe everyone is getting ready for bed."

"Alright. I'll be inside in a few minutes," Shinji said before turning back around to gaze at the city once more.

Rei stepped outside and closed the door behind her, walking up alongside Shinji, she too leaned against the railing. Looking down, she saw the pair of scissors she'd dropped were still laying on the parking lot. Perhaps she should go down and retrieve them at some point. But she was too tired right now and didn't want to walk down and then back up five flights of stairs.

She then looked back up and out across what she could see of the city. Orange and blue fireworks went off at that particular moment seemingly launched from a few kilometers away. Rei watched as the colors faded before then turning to Shinji.

"Is everything okay, Shinji?"

Glancing back at the girl, even in the darkness, Shinji could see her whole face was flushed likely from the alcohol. Her dark red eyes glittered in the night and her hair without the light of day to saturate the colors in it looked like a ghostly mist.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Are you okay? I didn't really get time to ask you about it before you left, but you where saying some strange things on the train before the angel attacked. Like, about that glow you mentioned."

"Oh, um… Yes… I'm… unsure of how to describe that," Rei said, brushing her hair out of her face.

"You said that it felt like someone was trying to pull you somewhere. And if Doctor Akagi is right about it being synchronization… I guess that means… someone must have been there. Right?"

"Yes… I suppose that is reasonable," Rei said, looking back out across the city.

"But you don't have any idea who?"

"Commander Ikari… Perhaps Colonel Katsuragi…"

"Hmm… Doctor Akagi did say that she and Misato also felt sick. And yet… somehow, that doesn't sound right to me. You felt sick before joining the battle. But Doctor Akagi said that for her and Misato, it happened during the battle. Wouldn't that indicate that it was two separate situations?"

"Perhaps so," Rei agreed.

"I feel like I'm trying to put a puzzle together without all the pieces."

Rei reached for Shinji's hand and held it in her own as she leaned against his shoulder.

"You should go to bed," Rei said before yawning.

Shinji closed his eyes and sighed, "Yeah. I guess I should wait until I hear what Doctor Akagi has to say."

The door to Misato's apartment opened and a wall of laughter erupted as Ahni, Amelia, and Asuka stepped out. Apparently, it was just as Rei said as the girls seemed to be vacating Misato's apartment to return to their own for the night with Asuka seeing them off but not before having conversed over something that at was least mildly comedic. Though, with how drunk they were, Shinji wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't really been all that funny. Or perhaps it was just Ahni's deafness that caused her to laugh so loud. Amelia was rather quiet and Asuka, while laughing rather hard, wasn't nearly as loud as Ahni.

As was to be expected, both Shinji and Rei turned to face the girls and the commotion they were causing. And the eye contact only drew in Ahni's attention as she noticed the two were outside.

"See you tomorrow Wondergirl and Shortcake!" Ahni said with an exaggerated farewell wave before she and Amelia turned to make their way to the stairwell.

"Don't call me that!" Shinji said in futility as the girl continued drunkenlly laughing all the way down the stairs.

"With how tired you were, I'd have thought you'd already be in bed, Rei," Asuka said as she walked up to the girl and hugged her.

"Soon," Rei yawned again, almost ready to pass out in Asuka's arms.

Asuka gently stroked the back of the girl's head and kissed her on the cheek before pulling out of the embrace.

"Why don't you go get the bed warm for us? Shinji and I will make sure Misato is in bed before we join you," Asuka suggested.

"Okay," Rei said before sleepily swaying back into the apartment.

Shinji and Asuka both watched the door nearly swing shut, though it stopped just short of the threshold, letting a sliver of light through onto the balcony. Not caring enough to shut it all the way, Asuka leaned against the railing with Shinji. Below them, Asuka could hear Ahni and Amelia kissing rather loud and drunkenly with Ahni giving out an occasional lewd and breathy remark before the door to their apartment opened and shut as well.

Finally sensing they had a measure of privacy, Asuka finally spoke, though she didn't say much.

"So… I guess we're not leaving then?"

"I guess not."

They both sat quietly for a moment, watching and listening as the fireworks continued to go off throughout the city.

"Shinji, I'm… I'm sorry for dragging you back into this."

"It's fine, Asuka."

"I just… when Rei... When I looked back and saw Ahni and Amelia and then Rei turned around too, I just… I had to go back. I couldn't leave them."

"It's okay, Asuka, really. I felt the same way. That's why I came back too. You don't have to explain yourself."

Asuka glanced at Shinji before looking back out at the city. She then awkwardly sidestepped closer to him, though she didn't completely close in the distance. Waiting again for a few moments, she scooched closer to him once more, finally getting close enough to rest against him. Shinji put his arm around the girl and pulled her close to him before kissing her on the cheek as well.

"It only really just hit me how close we all came to dying," Asuka said in a wavering voice, "I wasn't thinking about it during the battle. There was too much going on and I was entirely focused on killing the angel no matter the cost. I didn't really realize how much ground we lost and how beaten down we all were by the end of it."

"Yeah," Shinji said as he looked up at the moon.

For only a moment, he could swear he could still she the glowing golden sky. The moon and stars shrouded behind the heavenly clouds. But as soon as the vision had conjured itself, it dispersed. All was as it should be. The city made dark again but illuminated by lights of human design and human intention. The moon cast its silvery light and the stars shimmered in the inky veil of night.

"Why we fight… And why we die," Shinji continued.

"Hmm?" Asuka questioned, giving him a quick glanced as he continued to look into the sky.

"Its something Zeruel said to me," Shinji answered, "He wanted to know why we do the things we do. He seemed like he couldn't understand why we go through it all day after day after day. He said that because we all die, and because we spend our lives fighting and destroying the things we create… I guess he all thought it was worthless in the end. At least from our point of view he thought so. I think that's part of the reason he wanted to kill us. So he wouldn't suffer and… so that we wouldn't suffer. And, while part of me can't understand his reasoning… I think a part of me can."

Asuka sighed before saying, "I really hope you don't make it a habit to listen to your enemies' reasons for trying to kill you."

Shinji's eyes widened a bit and he looked back at the girl before smiling at her and chuckling a bit.

"Don't worry, Asuka. I know why I fight. I do it for you. Rei… Misato…"

Asuka brushed her hand across Shinji's cheek before reaching behind his head and pulling him into a kiss. They stayed like that for a few moments before Asuka broke the kiss, her blue eye sparkling in the moonlight as she continued to gaze at Shinji.

"So, what are you doing tomorrow, hero?" Asuka asked teasingly.

"Ah, right. I was gonna go visit Toji. Sakura is apparently very serious about setting up some kind of meetup. So I was gonna hang out with him for a bit and figure out something for all of us to do. Though, since tomorrow's Wednesday, it might have to wait for a few days."

"Wednesday, huh?" Asuka mumbled, "Tomorrow it'll have been a whole week since you went to your mother's grave."

Shinji looked at Asuka with a surprised look before responding with a simple "Yeah…"

"Insane to think how much stuff has changed in just seven days. A week ago, I still had my eye. You and Commander Ikari seemed like you might've been able to fix things up. The Americans weren't here. I wonder what else will change from here on out…"

"Me too, Asuka. Me too."

/

-A Welcome Visitation-

/

The next morning, a few hours after sunrise, at the Suzuhara residence…

"Hey, Toji! I'm here!" Shinji called out, knocking on his friend's door a few times.

Shinji could here some stumbling on the other side of the door accompanied by some girlish giggling before Toji called out, "I'll be right there!"

There were a few more moments permeated with the sound of mild chaos before the deadbolt could be heard unlocking and the door swung open!

"Well, come on in!" Toji generously exclaimed.

Stepping inside and removing his shoes, Shinji could see Kensuke and Sakura sitting in the middle of the living room floor along with a few other young girls.

"Hey there, Shinji!" Kensuke called out.

"You two are truant so you can start running a preschool?" Shinji asked jokingly, noticing the scent of something savory in the air.

"I guess you could say that," Kensuke chuckled.

"They're Sakura's friends. Tenka and Kafuru," Toji responded less jokingly as he led Shinji into the living room, "Sakura could get out of school no problem because of her doctor's note. But the rest of us… Well, I guess you could say we're gonna have to make it up later."

"That's right! And you'd better not even think about trying to wriggle out of your responsibilities!" Another authoritative but feminine voice called from somewhere else in the apartment.

Shinji noticed Toji shiver and then looked over to his side to see none other than Hikari standing in the kitchen with a ladle in her hand. Perhaps not a weapon, but something that could be useful for bonking misbehaving children in need of discipline should the occasion arise.

"Brother's girlfriend is kinda scary," Sakura said.

"What!? No! I'm not scary!" Hikari cried, totally changing her demeanor and tone of voice before nearly floating over to Sakura and patting her head, "I'm just teasing your brother! He works best under pressure!"

"Eh, I dunno about that," Kensuke chuckled under his breathe.

"Well, if you say so, Miss Class President Horaki," Sakura responded doubtfully.

"Please, just call me Hikari," the girl said with the most charming and winsome smile she could manage.

Shinji glanced at Toji and Toji stared right back at him with an embarrassed blush.

"Sorry about all the little ladies hangin' about. It kinda spiraled outta control when I told Sakura you'd comin' over today," Toji whispered.

"No, it's fine, really," Shinji whispered back as both he and Toji sat down with Kensuke and the girls.

"So, class president," Shinji said as he watched Hikari walk back into the kitchen, "You're out of school too? That's a bit odd."

"Yes, well, someone had to keep Toji in line. And after everything that happened yesterday… maybe we all deserve a day off or two, don't you think, Mister Ikari. Some people are still celebrating from last night."

"I know! I still heard some people lighting fireworks on the way here. Kinda crazy if you ask me."

Sniffing the air, Shinji assumed Hikari must've been fixing a late breakfast for everyone. How generous and benevolent of her.

"You cooking something, Class President?" Shinji asked.

"Oh, yes. I just figured I'd make myself useful. And please, we aren't in class. Just call me Hikari."

"Well, Hikari, in that case, call me Shinji."

Shinji heard a small gasp from Sakura's friends and they apparently both started whispering to each other and giggled some.

One of the girls, thin and slender, had long brownish-black hair and gleaming hazel eyes contrasting against her lighter colored skin while the girl she was whispering to was shorter and had sand colored hair tied into two ponytails and slightly darker skin with dark grey eyes. Both of the girls seemed mildly excited and kept occasionally glancing at Shinji, which he was eminently aware of and slightly unsettled by. Meanwhile, Sakura seemed to have a mischievous and smug look on her face as she eyed her two friends.

"Hey, would you two quit gossiping!" Toji scolded the gaggle of little girls.

This caused both of the girls to let out a squeal of anxious amusement. And for a second, Shinji thought he might've been somehow making a fool of himself. Though, eventually, Sakura nudged the black haired girl with her elbow and gave her a wink.

"Hey, hey, you're the Eva Pilot, right?" the black haired girl asked, her hand held nervously in front of her lips.

"Uh, yeah, that's right," Shinji chuckled nervously, trying not to let his anxiety show as he stuck a finger into the collar of his shirt in an attempt to loosen it.

"The one inside the purple one who fought that angel yesterday?" the other girl with the sandy hair asked rather more forwardly than the other girl.

"Yep, I'm Shinji Ikari, the Pilot of Evangelion Unit-01," he reaffirmed, this time feeling a small sense of pride well up inside him at the declaration.

Though, before he could really appreciate the feeling, both of the girls pounced on him, knocking him to the floor and clambering all over him!

"Hey! Do you think you could take me inside the Eva!" the black haired girl asked

"Me too! I wanna see what it's like inside!" the girl with the sandy colored hair added.

"You must be able to take me inside! You have special privileges, don't you!?"

"Is it possible for me to get one of those colorful suits! One of the real ones! I wanted one for halloween a few weeks ago but I want one of the real ones! The ones at the costume stores are cheap and they tear too easily on the concrete if you aren't wearing shoes!"

"Oh, me too! I want one! Do they come in orange and blue? I want an orange one! Orange is my favorite color and it looks so pretty with blue!"

"I want a yellow one! I think it would go with my hair!"

"Hey, hey! Do you want to be my boyfriend!? You should be my boyfriend! I would give you lots of kisses and hold your hand all the time!"

"No, no, no! You should be my boyfriend! Then we can get married and live happily ever after!"

"TOJI, HELP ME, I'M DYING! THEY'RE SMOTHERING ME IN THEIR GIRL-HAIR AND THEIR FRILLY CLOTHES!" Shinji shouted.

"Alright, you two! Knock it off! You're gonna give each other cooties!" Toji against scolded the girls.

"Cooties will be worth it for just one kiss!" the black haired girl amorously declared.

"I don't mind the cooties at all if it means I can date an Eva pilot!" the blonde girl added.

"Hey, seriously, cut it out! He's not gonna be your boyfriend! He's already got two girlfriends, you pipsqueaks!" Toji snapped as a final assertion.

"WHAT!?" The black haired girl shouted as she finally stopped trying to steal a kiss from the boy and instead looked up at Toji in shock.

"TWO!?" the girl with the sand colored hair nearly choked as she too looked up wide-eyed.

"Mister Ikari, you're not cheating, are you!" Sakura gasped.

"No, no! I can explain!" Shinji gasped as he was finally able to sit back up to a degree, though both of the girls still invaded his space as they braced themselves against his legs.

"Shinji would never cheat! He's a man of honor!" Kensuke declared!

"That- That's right! Shinji won those girls' hearts fair and square! And with dedication! And bravery! And- And… with other things too! Though I can't think of anything else off the top of my head."

At about that moment, Hikari stepped back into the living room with a platter of rather aromatic onigiri and she looked down at Shinji with a mildly suspicious look.

"While I'm somewhat unsure of what to think of the unconventional function of their relationship, I too can attest that Mister Ikari is no cheater," Hikari said as she set the platter on the floor before looking at Shinji with a horrifically threatening soulless gaze, "Though, I expect you to treat those two girls fairly, Mister Ikari."

Seeing that the girl meant business, Shinji gave her a stiff nod.

"Wait! So you've actually got two girlfriends!? And they're both okay with it?" the black hair girl asked.

"Absolutely wild! That is crazy! I guess Eva pilots are worth it," the other girl responded.

"I guess you could say that," Shinji bashfully said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Toji told me you were dating Rei awhile ago but… The other… Is she Asuka?" Sakura asked.

"Uh, yeah… It's Asuka. It was a recent development so that might be why Toji didn't tell you yet," Shinji again said with a tinge of embarrassment.

Sakura seemed to think over that revelation for a few moments tilting her head in though before looking at Shinji and giving him a smile.

"Well, I guess it makes sense, with you three being Eva Pilots and all," Sakura said in a satisfactory manner, "Rei and Asuka are both very brave too. And I imagine you've all gone through a lot together. And they're both very pretty too."

"So all the headlines were right!? All the Eva pilots are dating!" the black haired girl said in amazement.

"Well, no! We're not all dating," Shinji tried to correct the girl, "Er, I mean, we are, but we're not all dating each other…. Well, I guess that's not entirely accurate either. What I'm trying to say is I'm only dating Asuka and Rei!"

"I wonder how the marriage ceremony is supposed to work like that!" the other girl wondered as she counted on her fingers all the way up to five.

Seeing how many finger the girl was counting, Shinji again interject with a quick and embarrassed, "I just said its not like that!"

"Oooooh! How does kissing work! Do like all three of you all go at it? Or like…" the girl with sand colored hair asked in eager curiosity.

"Uh… What… What's you name?" Shinji asked, pointing at the girl as he gave her a deflated expression.

"I'm Kafuru!"

"Uh, right, Kafuru… I don't think I can explain that. It's something you'll understand when you're older. When the time is right."

"You're no fun, Mister Ikari! That's what my parents always say about everything! It's not fair though! You already know about all this romantic stuff and I'm only a few years younger than you!"

"Well, if it's only a few years, surely you can wait until then, right?" Shinji questioningly challenged Kafuru.

"No way!" the black haired girl interjected, "My homeroom teacher is always telling us about second impact! About how it killed half the people on the planet! About how we're still trying to repopulate! And my mommy says that the only way we can repopulate is by getting married and having a big happy family! That's what she did and that's what I want to do! She says that now is the time for everyone to be strong! And I want to be strong! I want to help rebuild our world!"

"Uh, you're..." Shinji said, pointing at the girl.

"That's Tenka," Toji whispered in the boys ear.

"Uh, Tenka," Shinji started again, "Your mother is right. And so is your teacher. Its good that you want to help make our world a better place. But there's other things you have to do right now. You're still young and finding your place in the world. I don't exactly want to say that there's more important things for you to worry about right now because fixing our world is really important. But I guess what I'm trying to say is that… We all have to find our own ways to help. Everyone contributes to the world in a way that only they can. And we only live for so long. So we have to find the best way to help in the short time we have. We have to find a reason to fight, something that will motivate us act even when we feel like we can't make a difference. We have to find a reason that's personal to each of us but that also helps as many people as possible. And you're still finding that reason. You don't need to worry about all that romantic stuff yet."

For a moment, Toji and Kensuke were a little surprised by the depth of what Shinji was saying. Granted it wasn't the most introspective thing ever, but it was a lot more than either of them were expecting.

"Teamwork makes the dream work. But people need their own reason to want to work as a team," Toji said, giving Shinji a hearty slap on the back.

"What he said. Its important that everyone has something driving them internally," Kensuke reaffirmed with a hopeful nod.

"And to work as a team, we all have to do our part as individuals. Something that we're good at," Hikari added, "Besides, you're quite young to be having kids just yet. Why, you're still just kids yourselves. And kids need food so they can grow up to make a difference in the world."

Hikari then picked up two of the onigiri before handing them each to the girls.

"Yes, ma'am! Thank you," Tenka said, graciously accepting the food.

"Thank you miss class president," Kafuru also said.

Picking up one of the onigiri for himself, Toji took a deep breathe of the scent before sighing out, "Mmm, spicy crab. So delicious! Thank you for the meal, Hikari. You're the best!"

Hikari let out a little giggle as she clasped her hands and nervously shifted on her feet.

"So, where're Rei and Asuka?" Toji asked.

"Ah, probably still sleeping back at Misato's place. Despite how tired we all were, we went to bed fairly late last night. If they aren't still asleep, I imagine they've only just woken up," Shinji responded.

"You think they'll be rested enough for whatever excursion we plan? I wouldn't want them to be left out."

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure. I mean, Asuka's still healing and I'm sure it takes a lot out of her. But I haven't known her to be a quitter. And not Rei either," Shinji said as he too finally reached for some food as well, "Besides, I think they could use a break more than anyone."

"And what about you? You don't think you could use a moment away from it all?" Toji asked.

"Me? Why would I deserve anything like that?" Shinji asked, looking at Toji with a slightly confused expression.

"Dude..."Toji said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You did kill that angel," Kensuke added.

"Oh… That…" Shinji said before hanging his head in thought for a few moments, "To be honest… I didn't really come back here to save the world or anything heroic like that. I was only here because of Rei and Asuka. While I could use a rest, I don't know that I'd say I deserve one. I came back for selfish reasons. Asuka and Rei didn't. They actually came back to protect everyone. I just came to be with them."

"Well, what difference does that make?" Toji questioned the boy.

"Uh… well, none I guess. But… I guess I've just been trying to think about my actions more recently. I don't want to pretend like I'm someone who has all the perfect answers to every situation. But… I want to try to make sure I'm doing things for the right reason. And I haven't been doing that recently. So, I need to think about my actions… but not for so long that it gets someone hurt from my own inaction. When Asuka lost her eye… I felt so helpless. And I didn't do anything because of it. And then later, I tried to take my frustration out on my father. But I just ended up taking it out on everyone but him instead. I didn't mean to do that of course… But its what happened. And it happened because I didn't really consider everything the way I should have. And that's of course ignoring what happened to you… Sakura," Shinji said, glancing at the girl.

"Me? Oh, please, that's all in the past," Sakura said in a shy and dismissive tone.

"Damn, bro, you sound like you've had a lot going on," Toji said before stuffing the rest of his onigiri down his throat.

"Eh, yeah, I guess I have… Maybe more than I actually realize," Shinji said with a tinge of uncertainty.

"Well, sounds like all the more reason to take a breather if you ask me," Kensuke.

"Right? So, what did you have in mind, Shin-man?"

"Uh, me!? Wasn't this Sakura's idea?" Shinji questioned before looking at the girl.

"Oh, me? I don't know I didn't really come up with any plans. I'm okay with doing whatever you want to do!" Sakura said.

"Hey, hey, I have an idea! What if Mister Ikari took us on a tour of NERV-HQ!?" Tenka suggested.

"Us!?" Shinji questioned before addressing the idea, "Uh, I don't think I can do that. Legally, I mean. There's too much red tape!"

"Well what if we went shopping then?" Kafuru asked.

"We? Shop- Shopping?" Shinji questioned, suddenly fearful over his spending power and the meager salary NERV afforded him.

"Yeah, shopping! Surely you must be rich, right?" Kafuru guessed.

"Uh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. I think more of the money goes to repairing the Evas than to me."

"We could go on a hike or something maybe," Kensuke suggested.

"No way! Sakura's still healing!" Toji blurted out.

"I'm fine, Toji!" Sakura stated firmly, though this didn't seem like it would sway Toji.

"Well, if hiking is too much," Shinji pondered aloud, "Maybe we could… go swimming? Since Asuka is healing, it might be a good chance for her to take it easy also."

"Hmm… sounds like it could work well enough," Toji surmised.

"I would love to go swimming!" Sakura added.

"I'm cool with it as long as no one splashes water on my camera," Kensuke agreed.

"Swimming? But that would mean we'd be in swimsuits! Oh, goodness me! How inappropriate!" Hikari nervously mewled.

"Well, I guess swimming it is!" Toji affirmed, "What about a location? That place we went up to in the mountains that one time with that Kaji guy might be too much walking."

"I guess Ashinoko might be the nearest place. Though it might be busy depending on which side of the lake we go to. I think some of the shoreline next to the city might be closed off since they're trying to expand the commercial district. But anywhere else should be fine I imagine," Kensuke informed everyone.

"We should, um, probably go the place that has the least people possible! I don't want anyone from class to see me in a non-uniform swimsuit!" Hikari exhaled, some small amount of anxiety present in her demeanor.

"Hmm," Shinji wondered for a moment, "I think I could find a place. And I'll also be sure to try to bring some ingredients I can use to cook stuff since I assume we'll be getting hungry. Anyone have any preferences? Hopefully any that aren't too difficult to carry to the lake."

"Ah, well, you know me. I'm down for just about anything! But this crab onigiri Hikari made is so good. I wouldn't mind having some more! Plus it would totally match up with the uh… water… seafood… whatever theme," Toji suggested.

"That sounds great. Hikari, would you mind texting me all the ingredients you need? I'll be sure to pick them up and then we can maybe make them together," Shinji offered.

"Oh, um, of course. It would be my pleasure," Hikari said, her nervousness beginning to dissipate some, "I may bring some of my own supply too. I might see if I can get Nozomi and Kodama to come along, you see."

"Perfect. The more the merrier as they say. I might invite a few people too assuming they aren't too busy," Shinji said with a smile.

"Oooh! You'll bring all the other Eva pilots, yeah!?" Tenka asked.

"I'll try my best," Shinji said.

"I'll need to bring something that they can all autograph!" Kafuru said to herself as she seemingly put down some kind of note in her phone.

Pulling out his own phone, Shinji checked the time. He knew that Doctor Akagi was still expecting him to come by at some point and he'd intended to get to the Geofront before noon. Shinji was slightly disheartened to see it was already nine forty. He'd expected it to be earlier. But, thankfully, he still had some time to spend with his friends and would be sure to make the most of it.

"So, Toji, how exactly did you and Hikari end up together?"

/

-The City of Fallen Angels-

/

Some time later, in the Geofront, at The End of Ideals…

Desolation. Before the fight with Zeruel, this part of the Geofront has been called "The Last Forest." With no trees in sight though, forest hardly seemed an appropriate name for such a place now. Perhaps it had all been a waste of money to hire so many landscapers to decorate and maintain the Geofront over the years when it could be reduced to ash in a single moment. Perhaps it provided employment to anyone willing to take on such a futile job, as there would be no shortage of work while such an employment position remained open. Though, again, whether such things were truly worthwhile was debatable. Regardless, the Geofront had certainly looked prettier before Zeruel had vandalized the place.

Shinji couldn't help but look out at the vast swathe of grey. Of course, he was here to meet with Doctor Akagi, who was probably already waiting for him. But the landscape provided an invitation he couldn't ignore. Gone were the towering pine trees and the neat cemented paths. Perhaps the pathways still remained, but if they did, they had been covered in rubble.

There were a number or men dotted across the landscape, mostly trying to clear a path for easier navigation to the buildings and lifts, though some number of them were definitely rescue workers searching for survivors… or perhaps bodies.

There was were some hastily erected barricades snaking between mountains of rubble that seemed to outline a path to NERV-HQ. And while that path was still in a state of disrepair, it at least looked as though it had been cleared of any major obstacles.

And yet he found himself drawn off this path. Vaulting over the barricade, he stepped onto the rougher terrain, drawn forward perhaps by his curiosity or perhaps by something more. Given how changed the landscape was, he didn't really know exactly where he was going and every now and then, a construction worker tried to intervene telling him that the area hadn't been designated as safe. Though, when this happened, he would show them his NERV ID and continue on his way. Not that his ID really gave him any explicit permission to be there. But then again, it was a public area and the workers didn't necessarily know why he was there. Some others seemingly recognized him as the Pilot of Unit-01 and let him continue, probably presuming he had his reasons for being there. And, finally, after probably ten minutes or so of navigating the field of debris, Shinji found what had drawn him from his path.

Zeruel's mask lay discarded, leaning against a large pile of rubble that had yet to be cleared.

"You…"

He gazed at the mask for awhile, his mind caught in a maelstrom of emotions. He shook himself out of his thoughts before espying another pile of rubble that sat roughly in front of Zeruel's mask, only a bit off center. He spent perhaps half a minute attempting to climb up this rubble until he stood at roughly the same height as the eyes of the angel's mask. And again, he found himself lost in thought as he gazed deep into the black pits of the angel's mask.

"I… I didn't forget," Shinji finally said, "I promised I'd bring you back to the light. And I will. Just give me a little longer... Zeruel."

Shinji waited for a moment. Perhaps hoping the angel would respond to him. And, when the mask said nothing, Shinji instead chose to think on the angel's words more.

"My ideals do not end. They are sacrosanct… Eternal and incorruptible. I am immaculate. I do not falter. I do not fail. Not before, not now, and not ever. I will stand for what I believe in. Even without the fruit of life, knowing what I know, I would fight on until the end and it would cost me everything… Has cost me everything."

"Why did you fight?"

"So long as the light shines on high, I will never die!"

"Why did you die?"

"A man in blue. After our war had begun, I made the journey to their home. Our home. Pleroma. I intended to speak with the dead if any still lingered to haunt the place. I wanted to know the truth of our war. Why we fight and why we die. Precious few remained. But those who did told me of their end. The Eschaton, an apocalypse they called The Symphony of the End. They called it this as this apocalypse spread like a disease and wherever it manifested, there was said to be song. Though, if this song was a dirge or simply the screams of the doomed, I cannot say. But they say it was brought on by one of the old gods and that he was dressed in cerulean. The apocalypse struck at not such banal things as the flesh, but the soul itself. It would cause an unraveling of their life's very essence and eventually, the afflicted would disperse in a burst of blood or their body would slowly fall to pieces as their fear overtook them. Or so tell the spirits. Some say even worse happened."

"I don't understand. Not yet at least. But I want to."

"If you would usher us unto our end, then with my all shall I oppose you. As the angel of might, I render up my life. Come, Heart of Darkness, let us finish this!"

"I want to understand what happened to you. I want to know more."

"After we die, our souls remain for a short while. You witnessed as I summoned Armisael unto myself earlier."

"I want to know who the man in blue was. I want to know why this had to happen. Please, Zeruel, if you're still there, won't you tell me?"

"Haha, how foolish you are, Shinji Ikari, Heart of Darkness. You spoke with her earlier. But that is like her to hide from sight. So I cannot fault you."

Languishing at his inability to pry any answers from dear departed Zeruel, Shinji clench his hands into fists, hoping against hope that there remained someone, anyone, who had the forbidden knowledge of lives long passed and who was willing to divulge that knowledge to him.

"I… will speak with Lilith," Shinji finally said to Zeruel's mask, hoping that the angel was still there to hear him, "I don't want anyone else to get hurt in this war. So if there's a way to end it all, I will."

He stood there for a moment, his fist still clenched in determination. Though, after silently trying to display his resolve to the angel for entirely too long, Shinji heard a few crumbling sounds as a some small chunks of debris tumbled down the side of the pile of rubble he was standing on. He then noticed someone humming something above him. It sounded strikingly similar to fourth movement of Beethoven's ninth symphony.

Looking up, he suddenly saw a pair of red eyes peering down at him as the humming stopped. He almost mistook the person for Rei, though the voice indicated that this was a boy. And he then remembered last night at the hospital, the silver haired boy who had passed by him in the hallway.

"Huh! You!" Shinji asked in shock.

"Why! Fancy meeting you here... Shinji Ikari," the boy said in a mysterious tone that seemed to be steeped in a practiced but natural curiosity.

"Huh!? What!? How do you know my name!?"

The boy chuckled for a moment while Shinji awkwardly squinted back up at him.

"Everyone knows your name," they boy said before continuing with, "Sorry. Is this uncomfortable for you?"

"A little bit," Shinji responded.

The boy then gracefully jumped down from the peak of the rubble before nearly floating onto the ledge Shinji stood on. Incredibly, he seemed almost weightless as Shinji could barely feel any shifting weight or even an impact as the boy landed next to him.

"Is this better?" he asked.

Unsquinting his eyes, Shinji was surprised to see the boy so close to him and recoiled away from him slightly, nearly causing him to fall over the ledge. Luckily, the boy, whoever he was, seemed to have the reflexes to correct Shinji's misstep for him and grabbed him around the wrist before yanking him back onto the ledge.

Seeing the boy holding his hand, Shinji blushed for a moment, unused to even that much physical contact despite his recent dalliances with Asuka and Rei.

"Ah, my apologies. Perhaps the ground is a better place to set one's feet," the boy said before again effortlessly prancing down the side of the pile of debris until he stood at the base of Zeruel's mask.

"Who- Who are you!?" Shinji asked as he displayed notably more effort in trying to clamber down from the towering pile of rubble.

"Why, I'm Kaworu Nagisa. The Pilot of Evangelion Mark.06."

"Evangelion?" Shinji questioned before he jumped down from the rubble and stumbled into the dirt.

"That's right," Kaworu said, holding his hand out for Shinji to take.

Looking up at the boy, Shinji accepted Kaworu's hand and the boy pulled him up from the dirt. Both of them took a moment to dust their hands off before they continued.

"I saw you in the hospital last night. But why are you here?" Shinji asked.

"Hmm," Kaworu wondered for a moment before answering with, "For the same reason you are, I think. Looking for answers."

"What!? How did- How did you know that… That I?"

The boy chuckled again before answering with, "Its a gift. I have a special way of connecting with people."

"A… gift? I'm not sure what you mean."

"Well, lets just put it like this," Kaworu said before holding out his hand, "I'm different, you see? From the ancients who clung to dear life... and from you."

Looking down at his hand, Shinji then extended his own and shook Kaworu's hand. And, despite the unexpected and sudden appearance of this boy, Shinji couldn't help but find himself smiling. While he wasn't entirely sure what this Kaworu meant by having a gift that allowed him to connect with people, Shinji found himself believing it. Perhaps the boy was just overly sociable. Or maybe he was just familiar for some odd reason. But whatever it was, he seemed friendly enough.

"Um, that song you were humming. I know it. Its Beethoven," Shinji pointed out.

"Ah, yes. It is. Quite a beautiful piece. One of my favorites. I appreciate how the lyrics express the value in life. Motivating and enlivening, it makes me realize that hope can spring from anywhere and that light shines eternal. So long as man exists, he can hope. He carries it with him wherever he goes, even into the heart of darkness. Likewise, music brings joy and revitalizes the soul. I think that song may be the highest achievement, the pinnacle, of the Lilum culture because it embodies the joy mankind carries with him. Don't you agree, Shinji Ikari?"

"Lilum!? Oh, I- I guess I do but…" Shinji trailed off before casting his gaze to Zeruel's mask, "...I think some others may disagree."

Following Shinji's gaze, Kaworu looked over his shoulder at the angel's mask. He then fully turned around before placing his hand on it.

"Powerful. Oh, so powerful. Without a doubt, the power of a god who saved the world from certain doom. Someone's hero. Someone's final hope. And yet, he's not the only final hope. He's not the only hero," Kaworu said, brushing his fingers across the mask before looking back at Shinji.

Shinji blushed some at Kaworu's remarks. If he wasn't mistaken, Kaworu was implying Shinji was a hero. Something he'd heard numerous times over the past day, but not something he could bring himself to believe.

"I'm no hero," Shinji responded in what seemed to be a guilty sounding voice.

"That's what they all say," Kaworu chuckled again, "But it's not for you to decide. And there is a reason for that. No one runs around calling themselves a hero. And anyone who does is likely only a self-righteous villain. No, its not for the hero to decide if they're a hero or not, but for others. After all, anyone could wake up one day and decide to do wrong, no matter how much good they did in the past. And as the people give the title hero, they will take it away as well. That's why its not for you to decide. You don't have to accept it. But you do have to live with it. You would do well to remember that. You can't choose to be a hero. You can only choose to live up to people's expectations."

"People's expectations…" Shinji said, again looking at Zeruel's mask, "I wonder what the people who looked up to Zeruel expect now. If he was their hero and he was trying his best to live up to their expectations, what does that make me?"

"Zeruel was this angel?" Kaworu asked.

"He is. And he's supposed to be immortal. And I'm supposed to be dead. During my fight with him, he killed me… At least, I think he did. I don't know any other way to describe it. He killed me. And yet… he's the one lying dead. And I'm still here. I… almost feel bad for killing him. I mean, he tried to kill Rei. He tried to kill everyone. But… what if there was another way? What if no one had to die? He was immortal and it feels wrong that he's just… gone. Its… unnatural. Unnatural that he's dead and that I'm still here."

"Well, if what you say is true, then only by the will of the gods themselves could such a miracle come to pass! And hence, you should embrace this second chance at life. Live it to your fullest extent. And take what you've learned and use it to make a difference. Perhaps there is a way for peace to reign. Perhaps, no one else has to die. Zeruel is dead, which means that now, if such a way exists, its up to your to find it. To walk a path of lesser pain."

"You're strange," Shinji said unsurely, "But you're right. You said your name was Kaworu?"

"That's right," the boy confirmed.

"Well… Thanks, Kaworu. You've… helped me clear my thoughts some. You also said you're the Pilot of… Mark.06, right?"

"Indeed, I am," Kaworu said with a warm smile.

"Are you going to be stationed here in Japan?"

"Until further notice, yes, I will be."

"Well, in that case, since we're both Eva pilots… do you want to be friends?"

The silver-haired boy chuckled before answering, "Do I!? Nothing in the world would make me happier than to be your friend!"

"Heheh, great! Friends then!"

"Friends," Kaworu affirmed with a supremely satisfied smile.

"Well, I probably have to go soon. I agreed to meet someone at NERV-HQ, but I've really enjoyed talking with you. We should hang out some time."

"Of course. It would be my pleasure. Oh, and before you go, here, why don't you take this," Kaworu said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out what appeared to be a marshmallow and chocolate granola bar before handing it to Shinji.

"Hmm? Why're you giving me this?" Shinji asked, reluctantly holding his hand out to accept the granola bar.

"Because I don't need it," Kaworu said in a curious tone of voice.

"Ah, well, I don't need it either. But I appreciate it," Shinji said, a slight blush starting to creep across his cheeks.

"That's fine. Consider it a gift. If you don't need it, pass along the good deed and find someone who does need it. There's no shortage of people who could use it right now. And I'm probably still going to be out here looking for my own answers for a bit. So I charge you with finding someone who could use it since I imagine you'll be passing by more people than me."

For a moment, Shinji felt a strange feeling well up inside him. He couldn't tell if it was his urge to fulfill a responsibility or someone else's trust and faith in him or if it was just the beneficent surge from Kaworu's generosity, but whatever it was, it made Shinji want to believe in himself to do the right thing, and it was perhaps the perfect remedy to the more melancholy thoughts that had been plaguing him since the fight with Zeruel. Maybe a chance to do something right for someone else was exactly what Shinji needed right now.

"Ah, I see. That actually makes sense. I'll make sure to find someone who needs it. You can trust in me. Thank you, Kaworu," Shinji said with a revitalized air of confidence.

"No problem," Kaworu said with a wave as he turned and walked away, "I'll be seeing you, Shinji Ikari."

"Yeah, I'll be seeing you too," Shinji said before beginning to wend his way to NERV-HQ where Ritsuko was doubtless already waiting for him, even if she was occupying herself with something else while she waited.

He passed a number of people on the way back to the makeshift path leading to NERV-HQ's pyramid. And as he'd promised Kaworu, he kept an eye out for anyone who looked like they might need help. Most of the people he saw were workers attempting to clear the rubble. And while they all seemed to be working hard, they all seemed to be largely taken care of with water and meals being provided by some relief services.

Eventually, after navigating between the towering stills of rubble, Shinji finally found himself back on the path. The ankles of his black pants had been coated in a light grey dust as had the blue and orange uniforms of the construction and rescue workers. And surely, this would make anyone else easy to spot or so Shinji hoped.

Continuing down the path, he passed another hill of rubble before seeing a blue tent to his left. Outside of it he could see some generators as well as some power tools and some kind of cables or hoses. He hadn't done much physical labor in his life and was largely unfamiliar with the uses of all the items. There seemed to be a number of men pacing in and out of the tent, perhaps relaying instructions. Though, they seemed a little disorganized and flustered. It was then that Shinji saw a man in an orange uniform exit the tent with a pair of children, brother and sister by the look of them. The girl looked no older than eight and the boy looked as though he could be as young as five. Both were bruised and had some bloody scrapes over their arms and legs and their cloths had been torn. Thankfully, they looked as though they could both still walk and hopefully, their injuries weren't anything too serious.

Seeing what he figured might be his best opportunity to help, Shinji approached the group of men and greeted them.

"Hey there. Is everything okay?" Shinji asked.

"Well, I don't know that I'd say anything is okay at the moment," one of the men said as he turned to face Shinji before instantly realizing who he was and stiffening his back in response, "Ah! You're the Eva Pilot, aren't you!? Uh, yes, everything is going well. We just found these two lost children. We were just trying to figure out who should take them to a relief center. We were working on clearing a blocked access way for one of the shelters when we found them. Work has been slow. And it will continue to get slower with less men. So we were trying to figure out who would be best to delegate to take them."

"Say no more. I'm heading to NERV-HQ and there's a relief center there. I can take them," Shinji offered.

"R- Really? That would be a great help. The sooner someone can get them logged, the sooner we can find their parents," the man said before stepping a bit closer to Shinji, pulling him aside and whispering to him, "And, also, if we find out their parents aren't still of this world… Well, this probably isn't the best place to learn such a thing if you catch my drift. Better that they be in a place someone can care for them."

"Ah, I see. I would be humbled if you allowed me to escort them," Shinji reaffirmed.

"Thanks, we'd really appreciate it. The kids most of all," the man said.

Shinji nodded to the man before facing the kids once more, smiling at them as he approached them and knelt down in front of them.

"Hey there, what're your names?" Shinji asked them.

"Akiko," the girl responded, trying very hard to not start crying, "And this is my brother, Fuyuhiko."

"Well, Akiko, Fuyuhiko, its nice to meet you. Would you be okay with me taking you to a place where we can help you find your parents?"

"You think Mama and Papa are okay?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"Well, you're okay. And you're down here where all of the fighting happened. Where were your parents?" Shinji asked.

"Mommy and daddy where up in the city. Daddy works in an office and mommy works at a garden place," Akiko answered.

"Well, in that case, I'm sure they're both fine since most of the fighting took place down here. We'll just have to get you back up to the surface and we'll find your parents in no time," Shinji said.

Remembering the granola bar Kaworu had given him, Shinji pulled it out and unwrapped it before breaking it in half and giving one half to Akiko and Fuyuhiko both.

"Here, you must be hungry," Shinji said.

Both of the kids eagerly took the food and thanked Shinji. Shinji then stuffed the wrapper in his pocket and took each of the kids by their free hands before and began guiding them to NERV-HQ.

"So, if your parents are up in the city, how did both of you end up down here in the Geofront?"

"We were at school when the angel came. The teachers tried to lead us to the shelter. I wanted to be with Fuyuhiko so I left my class. But then we got lost and brother got scared and ran off and we accidentally got in a thing that took us all the way down here," Akiko explained before reaching over to her brother and pushing him, "Anta baka! You're my brother! You're supposed to protect me."

"Now, now, everyone gets scared sometimes, Akiko," Shinji said before looking over at the boy, "But, just for future reference, you should probably avoid being out in the open. Its very important you get to the shelters. They're really strong and they're the safest place you can be during an angel attack."

"I was so scared. Especially when the sky turned yellow. And when those big explosions happened. And when all the dust started falling down. I couldn't stop coughing," Akiko said.

"I was scared too. I didn't know what to do. It was really hard to breathe. And sometimes the angel came really close to us. I couldn't hear at all after that one really big boom happened. I thought I was never going to hear again," Fuyuhiko added.

Shinji again felt a pang of guilt. Apparently, these kids had not entered a shelter at all after arriving down here. One stray attack could have killed them but fortunately, that hadn't happened. It was all too easy to forget how small everyone else was when he was in the Evangelion. Perhaps if he'd arrived sooner, perhaps if he hadn't run away in the first place, there never would have even been the risk of these two dying. It seemed like no matter what he did, there was always someone he was hurting. Staying out of the Eva might've put Akiko and Fuyuhiko at risk. And yet, for other people like Midori, she saw him being in the Eva as the risk.

But the past was the past, and like Kaworu had said, all Shinji could do was resolve to do better in the future.

"I'm sorry, both of you. Its my fault that you got scared. I'm an Evangelion pilot, and I didn't do a good enough job at protecting you. But I will try to make sure this doesn't happen again. So I hope you'll forgive me."

"You're the one who goes inside the big robot?" Fuyuhiko asked, looking up at Shinji.

"I am," Shinji affirmed.

"Well, I forgive you. I feel safe with you. And you're helping us to find Mommy and Daddy. And I'm sure you always do your best! So everything will be okay," Akiko said.

Shinji glanced down at the girl, trying not to get too emotional over the girls words. If only she knew everything that had been put in motion, she might not feel so inclined to forgive him. But she was young, and if Shinji was lucky, by the time she grew up, Shinji would have set things right and this godforsaken war would be over. Then, just maybe, he could fully accept Akiko's forgiveness.

"Thanks, Akiko. I also choose to have faith that everything will be okay… one day."

/

-Communion-

/

Some time later, in Ritsuko Akagi's office…

"Doctor Akagi!? I'm here," Shinji's voice could be heard through the door.

"Yes, come in," Ritsuko called back.

The door slowly opened with a squeak and Shinji peaked his head in.

"Oh, Misato, you're here too," Shinji said as he noticed the woman standing next to Ritsuko's desk.

"Sure am," Misato said with a yawn.

"Sorry if I'm late. I was bringing some kids to the relief center upstairs," Shinji mentioned as he closed the door behind him.

"Were they alright?" Ritsuko asked.

"They were a little scraped up, but mostly fine. Just scared. I wanted to stay with them until their parents arrived. Thankfully, the parents arrived pretty quickly after I brought them in. Still, hopefully I haven't put you too far behind with the delay."

"Aww, that's my little Shinji!" Misato said with a smile.

"As tired and behind schedule as I am, I can't fault you for helping where you can. I take it you're ready to speak with me about the angel?"

"Uh, well, yes and no. I have something I wanted to bring up with Misato also, so I'm glad she's here. But… there's still someone missing. Someone who I also think should be part of this conversation."

"Someone else?" Ritsuko asked, "You're free to speak of this to the other pilots. They have the same clearance you do. Though, I must ask you to refrain from speaking to your other friends about this."

"No, it's not them. It's… Ah, how do I put it? Um… I think we need a change of scenery," Shinji stuttered for some reason.

"A change of scenery? Just what mischief are you up to? Who is this other person?" Ritsuko asked, suddenly becoming suspicious of the boy.

"Um… she… I want to go down to Terminal Dogma," Shinji finally managed to get out, "Please… if that's okay. There's something I want to know before I speak to you. I want… another side of the story I guess."

Ritsuko raised her eyebrows and sat up a little straighter in her chair.

"I'm beginning to wonder what all this angel told you…" Ritsuko said, a cloud of suspicious still hanging about her.

"I… I'm wondering too. Which is why I… really feel like I need to go down there," Shinji said.

"Do you even know what's in Terminal Dogma? I don't remember telling you anything about this subject matter. Did the angel tell you about this?" Ritsuko asked, becoming more and more confused about everything Shinji was mentioning and how he learned about it.

"Uh, no! No, it was…" Shinji trailed off before glancing at Misato, "It was, uh…"

Following Shinji's gaze, Ritsuko took off her glasses for a moment and gave Misato a look that said she was at least mildly disappointed at the woman's possibly irresponsible actions and was annoyed at the fact she seemingly hadn't been told about such a development.

"The usual suspect…" Ritsuko mumbled.

"I uh… Might've brought him down there one time. Just once!" Misato bashfully mentioned as she rubbed her arm.

"Of course you did," Ritsuko sighed before putting her glasses back and standing up from her desk, "Well, let's get this over with. If you're already aquainted with our resident deiform entity, then I imagine any explanations I give will only be cursory. And it would be nice if I could at least start on my report before lunchtime."

/

A short time later, in the depths of Terminal Dogma…

"I highly suggest you do not leave my side. Otherwise things may become… unpleasant," Ritsuko stated as she led Shinji and Misato down a dark hallway having left the elevator a short while ago.

"Unpleasant how?" Misato asked.

"Don't ask me such things, Misato. And don't tempt fate," Ritsuko hissed back to the woman.

"Alright, alright. I was just asking," Misato pouted.

"Its so dark down here. Why didn't anyone put in any lights?" Shinji complained.

"Cost cutting at its finest. Though, if that doesn't meet with your expectations, oh, I suppose you could call it preserving the natural beauty of being this far underground. Keeping in line with the artist's intent," Ritsuko said sarcastically.

"The artist?" Shinji questioned.

"Heheh, you'll see," Ritsuko said through a mock chuckle, "We're almost there."

All passed in quiet silence as the trio walked down the dark hallway. Though, before too long, they came to a door with a card reader. A red light shone dimly above it, providing Ritsuko with just enough illumination to swipe her NERV ID though the reader. The light then changed to a brighter green color and the door slide open, revealing a room awash in orange light.

An orange pool of LCL filled the majority of the room, not unlike the Eva cages, with the exception of a platform just past the door. And at the center of the room was a large red cross with a gargantuan pale and distorted human-like entity crucified against it.

"Adam… He looks different than I remember," Misato said in awe as she stepped into the room with Shinji and Ritsuko.

"You're not wrong. It began to reclaim itself after the Lance of Longinus was removed," Ritsuko explained, "Thankfully, the pilot of Mark.06 was courteous enough to put it back where it belongs after he was finished using it."

"The Pilot of Mark.06…" Shinji mumbled, somewhat lost in though.

For a moment after that, no one said anything. They stood beholding the creature. It remained still and unmoving aside from an occasional twitch.

The last time Shinji had been down here, so far as he could recall, this entity mostly resembled a human's upper torso though past it's naval it had begun to deform into a bundle of arms and legs. But Misato was right. It had changed. Where the mass of limbs used to be had been transformed into something resembling a spine that disappeared into the lake of LCL. It appeared that a number of organs also loosely hung from the creature's torso where the hips and lower body had failed to form in their entirety. As well as this, there now appeared to be long white hair growing from the creature's head and extending into the LCL and the creature's body seemed less fleshy than before and more skeletal and perhaps even vaguely feminine. But most unsettling was that there appeared to be dozens upon dozens of spinal columns and abnormally long arms reaching up from the LCL in all manner of poses. Some of the arms seemed to be grasping for the heavens, others clasped their hands in prayer, and some of them seemed to be grabbing for the main crucified body or for the spines protruding from the calm surface of the LCL.

"Doctor Akagi… I need to know," Shinji finally said, turning around to face the woman, his body silhouetted by the orange light reflecting up from the LCL, "Who is this? Misato told me that this was Adam. But Rei said this is Lilith."

Ritsuko looked at Misato for a moment before gazing back at Shinji and exhaling, perhaps trying to rid herself of the stress of attempting to explain the situation before proceeding.

"Well, since you've already apparently started to put the pieces together, its… both. But, being truthful, this is the Second Angel, the traveler, Lilith. We call her Adam as a form of misdirection. I'm sure you understand why such a thing might be necessary…"

"I do," Shinji said with a nod towards the woman.

Shinji then turned around again and faced the angel. He took several slow deliberate steps closer to the pool of LCL, gazing out into the marsh of pale demonic arms, rising out of the liquid like a forest. Some of them would be almost close enough for him to touch if he got only a bit closer.

"Shinji, don't! Come back. It could be dangerous!" Misato whispered to the boy as though she and everyone else in the room hadn't already fallen under the gaze of the seven eyes of Lilith's mask.

"Don't worry, Misato. I don't think she'll hurt me," Shinji said.

Misato glanced at Ritsuko with an unsure expression, obviously hoping for answers. But Ritsuko gave her none and only shrugged in return. Both then returned their attention to Shinji, watching as he drew ever closer to the arms.

Finally, Shinji came to the edge of the platform and he could walk no further. Only a few feet from him, one of the arms hung in the air directly in front of the boy. It entirely dwarfed him, the hand itself several times his own height. So white, it looked as though it had been exsanguinated. The flesh looked so cold and with the air temperature, Shinji couldn't imagine anything other than the feeling of an icy corpse.

But he reached out for the hand, and upon feeling it with his own palm, it was warm and soft, not at all the stiffness he would expect of a cadaver. No, it was alive. Restrained, hanging on by a thread perhaps, yearning for more, but it was undeniably alive despite the fact it seemed to not respond to his touch. And it felt so hauntingly human. The color and texture of the flesh almost reminded him of Rei's own skin. Though, perhaps that should have been expected if what the girl said about herself were true.

Shinji finally looked past the hand at the crucified body, hoping to discern if Lilith were conscious. But, for the moment, she seemed unresponsive, the unmoving eyes of her mask peering into the darkness before her.

"Lilith!?" Shinji called out to the body.

"Shh! No, Shinji! You're going to wake it up!" Misato hissed from behind the boy.

"Don't worry, Misato. As long as the lance remains in her, she shouldn't hurt anyone," Ritsuko tried to reassure the women, though even a part of Ritsuko herself doubted the statement.

"Zeruel… He said I could speak with you. And so I've come for you, Lilitu. To learn about you. To learn about the angels. To learn why we fight… and why we die," Shinji continued calling out to the angel.

She didn't move or indicate she'd heard Shinji or even acknowledge his existence. Perhaps she couldn't. Or perhaps she chose not to.

"Zeruel called you the Endbringer. I want to know why. I want to know what you are. What I am. What Zeruel was."

Lilith remained a silent goddess. Unable or unwilling to act, her vacant gaze and inanimate expression rested on her masked face as she remained still save for the occasional grotesque twitching of the fingers of her multitude of hands or the occasional shiver running up one of her spines.

"Please, Lilith! If there's anything you can tell me, I want- No, I need to know! Who are you really? What is Pleroma? How do we get there? Who is Irkalla? Who was the man in blue!? What did he do that caused us to have to fight this war!?"

The hand Shinji was touching flexed for a moment before relaxing again and that was the only answer he would receive from Lilith.

"What happened to your world?" Shinji asked in futility as he let his own hand fall back to his side.

"Shinji," Ritsuko said, finally stepping in, "I'm not entirely sure what you wished to learn from her, but I don't think there are any answers to be had here. Even if she could understand your words, she's not in any state to truly hold a conversation at this moment."

Shinji looked back at the women, concern writ plain upon his face.

"Don't take my words for something grim," Ritsuko continued, "She… largely seems to be of healthy constitution from what I know of her physiology. But she is restrained at the moment. And she has been for most of human history."

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked the woman.

Ritsuko looked up at the figure and Shinji did the same.

"The red spear through her chest; its… a device meant to restrain the deification of a living being. We call it the Lance of Longinus. Lilith is one of the earliest angels to arrive on earth so far as we can tell. She's been here long since before the others. Before Second Impact. Before the advent of modern technology. Before Humankind as we know ourselves evolved. The earliest dinosaurs existed roughly two hundred and fifty million years ago. Going back even further, some of the earliest complex living organisms are thought to have appeared around six hundred million year ago. Simple life has been around even longer than that, but the timescales involved start to become meaningless to the human perception. Nevertheless, Lilith is thought to have been around for possibly eight to ten times as long as the earliest complex living organism. She is nearly four billion years old at least. And in truth, she is probably much older than even that."

"You mean that she's…"

"Yes, she's probably one of the aliens the thirteenth angel mentioned. And depending on exactly how long she's been around, she may be more than half as old as the universe itself. She is probably the closest we've come to discovering a real goddess. Something powerful and eternal and maybe even all-knowing. Something so astronomically old… its terrifying to even think of. And the fact such a thing is alive makes it even more unthinkable. Due to how old she is, she may be somehow fundamentally different from the other angels. Perhaps an angel isn't even the correct word to describe her. She truly is more than that. A demon. A god. For all I know, she may even be a personification of the will of the universe itself. And if that were the case… she may be able to unmake us on a whim. To simply wish us out of existence and we would be no more. And, while I don't believe she would wish destruction upon us..." Ritsuko said, gazing back at Shinji once more, "...The fact remains, I don't know. I can't be sure she wouldn't annihilate us. Which is why I have to know what it is that the thirteenth angel told you. I have very little information on what Lilith truly is. It's likely no one can speak with her so long as the Lance of Longinus remains in her. And removing it simply to speak with her is an unacceptable risk as I have no idea the kind of power she might wield and whether she would use it for good or evil. That is why I must rely on your retelling of the thirteenth angel's account."

"But that spear? If we made it, surely we could stop her if she tried to hurt us. Is there really that much danger in taking it out to try to talk with her?"

"We didn't make that spear, Shinji," Ritsuko flatly corrected the boy.

"Huh!?" Shinji questioned, looking back at Ritsuko with both surprise and terror.

"Does it make sense now?" Ritsuko asked, "We don't know why, and we don't know who, but someone, so very long ago, wanted her restrained. Why they didn't kill her, I can't say. Like I said, I speculated it's possible she may be intrinsically tied to the universe and existence itself. Killing her might unravel the entire universe. Perhaps that is why they chose to simply put her into a slumber instead of destroying her. I have no proof this is true. But it is a possibility. What if she was a mad god? What if the universe had a conscience and she was the physical manifestation of that conscience. What if that conscience decided it didn't want to exist anymore? What if it decided everything was pointless and wanted to destroy itself? To kill itself? What would happen to the rest of us?"

"Wait… But you said the Lance of Longinus was removed. You said that's what allowed her to change. If we can't remove the spear because she might destroy everything, what happened that forced us to remove the spear before?"

Ritsuko's eyes seemed to darken as she looked down at the boy.

"You did. You happened," she finally said after a few moments of silence.

"Me!?" Shinji gasped, looking back at the woman in shock.

"...During your fight with Codename Zeruel, Unit-01 began to… deify itself for a lack of better words. In response to your desire to save Rei, Unit-01 did everything within its power to carry out your will. I don't care about myself. I don't even care about the world. The only thing I care about is Rei. Do you remember saying that?"

"Ye- Yes… Vaguely..."

"In order to stop this deification, the Pilot of Mark.06 summoned the Lance of Longinus to his side and then impaled Unit-01 with it to arrest its deification. To do this, it left Lilith within Terminal Dogma without its supervision. That is when she began to transfigure herself."

After giving her explanation, Ritsuko silently raised her hand and pointed to the ceiling of the gigantic room. Shinji looked up and saw a large thin hole in the ceiling. Only a small ray of light shone through it and even it was nearly indiscernible due to the length and narrowness of the hole. It must've been at least a mile if not more straight up to the top floors of the NERV-HQ pyramid.

"You could have ended the world," Ritsuko continued, "And to stop you, we had to resort to another option that might also end the universe. While I appreciate you wanting to save Rei, I can only beg you to be more careful in the future now that you see the delicate balance we must maintain. I'm not going to chastise you any more than that. I understand more than anyone that the line we walk is a thin one, painfully so sometimes. And everyone here is only trying to do their best, including you. Perhaps it was wrong of me to hide all of this from you. I can only hope you will forgive me the same way I'm trying to forgive you."

"I… understand, Doctor Akagi. Thank you," Shinji said, trying his best to overcome his disbelief.

"Oh, Shinji," Misato finally spoke again.

"Lilith can't give us any answers at the moment," Ritsuko restated, "But, together, we may still be able to solve a few mysteries on our own. So, Shinji, will you tell me what Zeruel told you?"

"I will… But where to start?" Shinji said, looking back out at Lilith again, "He called her Lilitu. But I think Lilitu and Lilith are probably the same person. Still, it might be good to write that down for your report. Aside from that… he repeatedly called her evil. He said that she was a malevolent god. And, while I'm sure he was biased… after what you've told me about this lance and what she might be capable of and the fact that someone might have wanted her restrained, maybe he wasn't entirely wrong about her being evil. But somehow... I can't explain why, but that seems wrong to me."

"Interesting. An account from a being as old as Codename Zeruel," Ritsuko said, writing down what Shinji told her on a small notepad, "I do wonder how much firsthand experience he would have with her."

"Well, we didn't exactly go in depth about it, but he mentioned someone and something before our time. And when he said our, he made it sound like he was talking about us, but also himself. Some of the things he mentioned, he made it sound like he hadn't been there to see it himself. He talked about some of it as though it were a legend. So, I guess not everything he says would be firsthand… But I guess it's the closest we have to it unless we can speak with Lilith."

"Hmm, yes. And who would these people he mentioned be? Assuming they are indeed people," Ritsuko asked, still diligently taking notes.

"Well, one of them he mentioned by name. Someone named Irkalla."

"Irkalla?" Ritsuko said, raising an eyebrow for a moment.

"This was right after you said I disappeared and then came back. Zeruel said that my mother had intervened. At first, I was confused and I though he might have meant my own actual mom even though she's been dead for years now. I didn't think about it much for most of the fight. But, now I think he may have actually meant Lilith. He also said that she had something similar happen to herself; that… she died I guess, and someone brought her back to life. And that person was Irkalla," Shinji finished explaining.

Misato interjected, "If these were people who've been alive as long Lilith, maybe as long as the Universe itself even… I can only wonder what their culture would be like. To think they had names just like us. And that we're here now speaking these names after billions of years."

"It is indeed quite unfathomable. To think our languages and myths and cultures might have originated from across the cosmos and from another place in time. Could it be imprinted in our psyches I wonder? The fact Shinji could speak with Zeruel makes me wonder if there is some kind of link. Some manner of behavioral manipulation though influencing our instincts? Or perhaps even something more than that. Maybe some kind of fundamental truth relating to emotion and intention," Ritsuko rambled as she finished taking down a note, "Shinji, if you would continue. You mentioned a man in blue when speaking with Lilith. What do you know of this person?"

"Ah, well, not much," Shinji said bashfully, "Like I said, Zeruel made it sound like a lot of this happened before he was alive. He said he visited a place he called Pleroma. He explained that we have souls and that our souls sometimes stay alive even without our bodies. When he started glowing gold, he said he'd absorbed another one of the angel's souls, Armisael. And that's why he went to Pleroma. To see if there were still any souls there that he could speak with."

"Speak with? And souls? I guess if he was indeed able to somehow summon Codename Armisael, that would explain why Maya was able to detect a second angel. Hmm," Ritsuko pondered, "That again makes me wonder if there is indeed some fundamental way to convey our intentions. Yes, the more I think on it, the more it seems to make sense, even without proof. If he could speak with you… Tell me, was he successful in communicating with these souls?"

"He said he was. That's how he learned about the man in blue and I guess anything else that happened before he was born."

"Hmm… I can only be reminded of synchronization. Yes, if he could speak with both them and you without knowing our own languages… It stands to reason there must be something that allows for this form of voiceless dialogue to be processed by individuals. Words without sound or motion, hmm. I wonder if it's something intrinsic to us or if it is perhaps indicative of some kind of… I don't know- A fundamental coding in the universe perhaps. Like something that thoughts must pass through to give them meaning that can then be understood by all, or at least some, peoples. Or maybe it doesn't need to be a fundamental property. I suppose it could be an emergent one," Ritsuko again rambled on until she noticed that both Shinji and Misato seemed to be eyeing her with confusion.

"Ah, my bad," Ritsuko apologized, "Perhaps I should save this conjecture for later after I've gathered everything I need to create a more complete picture. Continue with this man in blue, please…"

"Well," Shinji began again, "Like I said, there's not much else I can say. Zeruel said that while he spoke with the spirits, they couldn't tell him much about who this man was. I don't really even know if he means a man exactly like us when he said it. But he said that the spirits told him that the man has caused… an apocalypse I guess is the word. They called it… The Symphony of The End."

"The Symphony of The End…" Ritsuko curiously repeated after the boy.

"Well, that sounds rather foreboding," Misato added before asking Ritsuko, "And what about these spirits, Ritsu? If souls are real… does that means ghosts are too? What's your opinion? Do we take the angel at his word that souls are actual things?"

Ritsuko cast her gaze downwards and narrowed her eyes as though she was trying to formulate a response, but not one too extravagant.

"Truth be told," she finally began, "I've had some suspicions, all based on well founded evidence of course, that souls, or something similar to them, have existed for some time now. So I'm not entirely surprised to hear Shinji nor the angel say that such things exist. In fact, with everything I've seen, I'd be more surprised if they didn't. The angel's testimony all but confirms it unless of course he was lying. Though, that seems unlikely to me. This goes without saying, but I have no intention of revealing this to the public at this point in time. And I expect neither of you will either. We are at a sensitive point in human history. Announcing the existence of souls may cause people to act irrationally or in unsafe ways that, from an ethical standpoint, I cannot condone, especially with the numerous predicaments humanity faces right now. But, perhaps after this war is over… maybe things will change."

Misato and Shinji both looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Ritsuko, seemingly wearing a mask of confusion across both of their faces.

"That was me inferring, or suggesting more so, demanding even, that neither of you go around talking about this to just anybody. We have enough P.R. problems as it is," Ritsuko clarified.

"Oh," they both said.

"Back to our previous topic, Shinji, was there anything else you could tell me about this apocalypse?" Ritsuko asked.

"Um… not much. Just that the man in blue caused it and that it was something that affected their souls and apparently caused people to… I guess turn into blood is what Zeruel said. He wasn't very descriptive about it, but he made it sound like people would just... pop. Like a balloon I guess. Or maybe like a leak in a pool. He didn't really mention if there was… anything else left over."

"Hmm," Ritsuko mumbled as she resumed taking her notes.

As she wrote, she mentally acknowledged to herself that while such a death seemed highly irregular, she did know of at least one person who could, under certain circumstances, suffered from something eerily similar. Rei and the rest of the Ayanami series. They could, if not properly maintained, begin to disintegrate and that it was caused by her inability to quash out the instabilities of her A.T. field over longer periods of time. Such a similarity was difficult for Ritsuko to ignore. And again, she put down a small note on the paper.

"Well, this has been quite insightful to me. If Lilith died and was resurrected by this Irkalla person, perhaps the universe isn't tied to her own well-being, especially if there were other people around during her time. And yet, as a divinity of untold power, I'm hesitant to simply release her even with the assurance we might be able to kill her without unraveling existence itself. Someone or something still embedded that lance in her in the first place. Someone had a reason for doing that. For all I know, she could still be able to unleash destruction on a scale we've never seen. But this has allowed me to understand her better than before," Ritsuko said after she'd looked up from her notepad.

"There was one other thing," Shinji interjected, "Even though Zeruel said she was evil… He also said that she's the one who stopped the man in blue. She ended the apocalypse! But he said that stopping the apocalypse forced Lilith and her friends to sacrifice a lot. And, eventually, the sacrifice became too much for one of them. And one of the people went insane. Someone Zeruel called The God of Light. He said that Lilith then unmade them. I don't know exactly what he meant by that. Those were his words, not mine. And I don't know if he meant that Lilith killed them… or something else. He also called Lilith The Goddess of Darkness."

"Did he now?" Ritsuko curiously exhaled as she gazed back at the crucified and twitching creature though the forest of arms reaching up from the LCL.

"I'm sure those titles have some relevance, but what exactly that relevance entails, I couldn't even begin to imagine," Misato said, shivering as she squeezed her cross pendant and looked up at the pale deformed body, "So you aren't Adam… I suppose I shouldn't be angry with you any more then, Goddess of Darkness, if that's what you really are."

"Worry not, Misato," Ritsuko said reassuringly, "She isn't the one we found in Antarctica. She's been here in the Geofront since before you or me or anyone else was ever born."

"Do you think she was the one? The one who made my cross glow? The one who we prayed to?" Misato asked.

"I couldn't begin to tell you, Misato," Ritsuko answered.

"Your necklace was glowing?" Shinji asked.

"It was, yeah," Misato said, still unable to take her eyes off the creature.

"During your fight with the thirteenth angel, yes," Ritsuko added, "After you and Unit-01… disappeared, Misato's necklace began to glow a bright purple before eventually changing to black. This was obviously in contrast to it's normal ivory color. It does beg the question of how all of this may be linked. And yet, I don't want to jump to any conclusions."

"Well, if Zeruel said my mother helped me, and if, when he said that, he actually meant Lilith…" Shinji trailed off.

"It must have been her! She's the one who made my cross glow, right Ritsu?" Misato asked as she finally turned around to face Ritsuko, seemingly hoping for some kind of confirmation.

"...It could have been. But I can't say for sure. There's no way to empirically prove Lilith had any part in resurrecting Unit-01," Ritsuko sighed, "But… faith is faith. You're free to believe what you will. After all, I can't deny that someone helped us, even if it all turned out to just be happenstance and coincidence in the end… I can't help but believe someone was there. I just can't say who."

"Doctor Akagi, do you remember how you said you thought someone must have been synchronizing with us?" Shinji asked the woman.

"I do. And I believe I already know where you're going with this."

"Remember in the hospital how I initially thought maybe it was Zeruel who tried to synchronize with us to lure us to the Geofront? But then I kind of second guessed that idea. But… There was someone else in the Geofront. Someone else who could have brought us here! What if it was Lilith who synchronized with us? You said Misato's cross turned black. I had that black A.T. field around me. And Rei said she saw a black light coming from the Geofront. Do you… Do you think it could have been her?"Shinji asked.

Ritsuko slowly closed her eyes and sighed.

"I'm not going to tell you she had anything to do with it if that's what you want me to do. She shouldn't have been able to do anything with the Lance of Longinus in her. It could have been anyone… Anyone of course meaning any other unidentified deiform entities and not just some random Joe on the street. Anything I had to say on the matter wouldn't likely affect your opinion anyhow. Like I said, faith is faith. Place it in whoever you want," Ritsuko said in a final tone, "Just make sure… its not misplaced. Such things would seem to have an effect on our world and our survival now."

Perhaps a little disheartened by Ritsuko's response but also having his imagination grounded again, Shinji looked out of the pool of LCL again at Lilith.

"So, Lilith… Are you an evil god like Zeruel said or are you our savior?" Shinji questioned, waiting for an answer that didn't come.

"One last thing, Shinji," Ritsuko said, drawing his attention back to her, "Back in the hospital, you mentioned that Zeruel spoke of fruits of life and knowledge. Do you know what those are?"

"Not exactly, but I can guess. Zeruel said that he was immortal. But he also said he didn't have free will. He also spoke about trying to kill people with the blessing of knowledge. So, I guess that would mean we have the blessing of knowledge. And… I guess that means that… we can die… but we have free will. We can do what we want with our lives, but we only have so long to do the things we want. He said that was the difference between us and him. Why we couldn't be at peace. That we live to suffer while he suffers to live were his words. He also made it sound like our free will would be our downfall. He said that there were others like us out there. That other people had the fruit of knowledge. But that their free will caused them to have differences of opinions and that many of them killed themselves over those differences."

"How very poignant… It sounds like it was an intensely personal battle," Ritsuko said.

"Surely that can't be the future of Humanity. Not after everything we've gone though," Misato lamented.

"Sometimes it only takes one bad day. Sometimes the will to keep going isn't as strong as the urge to burn it all down," Ritsuko responded, "I'd like to say we're better than that, but that would be beyond arrogant of me. No, we'd do best to be cautious and heed Zeruel's warning for all its worth. If he's witnessed entire civilizations rise and fall, it would be folly to dismiss his experience out of hand. Especially when our own experiences, the wars of our past, reveal so much truth in his words. Throughout history, humans have engaged in bloodletting for the most trifling of reasons. Zeruel's warning is not a truth from beyond the stars, but a reality of our own making here on Earth. We may have something to unite us now with our fight against the angels. But what of after? Will we win this war only to lose to ourselves? How long until the weapons we use spill the blood of our enemies are turned against our own flesh and blood? Hopefully, I won't live long enough to find out and witness the truth of Zeruel's words with my own eyes. That is one hypothesis I am content not to test."

"Maybe we have hurt ourselves for stupid reasons," Shinji said, clenching his hand into a fist, "But you spoke of faith, and I have faith that we won't destroy ourselves! That isn't what I fight for. And I'm not going to die for that. I will chose to have faith in us, not because of ignorance, but because of hope."

"Well, I also told you not to misplace your faith. But believe what you will. Its not actually my place to tell you otherwise," Ritsuko said dismissively.

"Misato! Do you remember I said there was something I wanted to speak to you about?" Shinji asked the woman as his eyes seemed to flare with a subtle determination.

"Mhmm? What is it Shinji?"

"Before he died, I made a promise to Zeruel. I told him I would bring him back to the light. His mask is still in the Geofront, but I want to take it back up to the surface as soon as I can. I wanted to borrow Unit-01 so I could take him up with me. I understand that there is a lot we have to rebuild, and I wouldn't necessarily ask that you prioritize this when the people of Tokyo-3 still need to have their own city rebuilt…. But I want to have his mask made a part of a memorial. I don't want his death to be for nothing. And, as Doctor Akagi said, we shouldn't forget about his words. So I want to make sure we remember. I want to make sure that we do have the bright future I know we can. And, if it's possible… I know it's idealistic of me to say something like this, but maybe it'll show the angels that we don't have to fight. Do you think that you could help me do this?"

Misato and Ritsuko both looked at each other in surprise for a moment before then looking back at Shinji.

"Of course, Shinji," Misato said, "I think I may know someone who can help organize a construction project for you. But… Oh, just be careful, okay? I'm sure some people won't be appreciative you of memorializing their enemy."

"I know, I know. I want to make sure that everyone who's still alive is taken care of first. But I hope they'll understand. Like I said, I want to make sure we don't forget. I want something that will last after we're gone. I want people to remember why we fought and why we died. And, when the time is right, we'll tell them. We'll tell them everything. Why Zeruel fought and why we fought. Why Zeruel died and why we lived."

"I understand, Shinji. I'll see what I can do," Misato said, gently putting her hand on the boy's shoulder.

"And Misato, one more thing!"

"Yes, Shinji?"

"Well… there was also something in the city I wanted to see if we could get renamed since the current name doesn't really fit it anymore."

"And what would that be?"

"The Last Forest in the Geofront. It's not really a forest anymore since the battle kind of tore down all the trees. So, I was thinking… we could rename it to The End of Ideals. Because its where Zeruel's ideals ended. But also… where ours begin."

"Oh, Shinji," Misato said before briefly kissing the boy on top of his head, "I'll see what I can do. I'm sure I can make that much happen at least."

"Yes, I'm sure you can," Ritsuko said with a slightly sarcastic tone, "if you finish with the rest of the mountain of paperwork you have waiting for you. A petition to some municipal officials should be a small request."

"Agh, don't remind me, Ritsu. Three angels in less than two weeks. The number of papers piling up was already awful with the more average rate of appearance. But this? This is too much," Misato complained.

"All the more reason to get working on it," Ritsuko retorted, "What say we head back up to the surface? I don't think there's anything else down here for us."

"Alright…" Misato deflatedly groaned.

Both Ritsuko and Misato began returning to the doorway leading back to the elevator. Shinji began to follow after them. But he paused and looked back at Lilith one last time, perhaps hoping the angel would second guess herself and finally deign to speak. But she said nothing. Whatever secrets she possessed, she did not reveal.

"If… If you truly helped me save Rei," Shinji whispered, "Then… thank you."

"Mister Ikari, I'm sure your mind is bursting at the seams, but some of us do have paperwork we need to fill out. And I can't leave you down here by yourself," Ritsuko called out to the boy after noticing he seemed to have fallen behind.

"Uh, right! Sorry! I'm coming!" the boy said before jogging to catch up with the two women.

Before long, all three had arrived back at the elevator and promptly boarded it.

"I have to make a stop on the way back up. You two can continue on your way," Ritsuko said before pressing a button on the elevator.

Shinji saw a light turn on next to a floor label that read Matarta.

"Matarta? That's where I was a few days ago," Shinji said, remembering he'd seen the word when Rei had escorted him back to the surface after he'd been detained.

Ritsuko narrowed her eyes for a moment as she gazed at the blank wall of the elevator. An unpleasant topic of conversation and one she would rather leave alone.

"It is," Ritsuko said in a bland tone of voice, hoping Shinji wouldn't say anything else about the place.

Thankfully, he seemed to catch on to Ritsuko's reluctance to speak and followed suit. What felt like perhaps forty seconds had passed before the elevator began to slow its ascent before finally coming to a stop. The doors opened to yet another dark hallway, starkly contrasting the bright white light inside the elevator. It was almost impossible to see anything past the doors.

"It would seem this is where we part ways, I'll see the both of you back at headquarters," Ritsuko said, solemnly stepping out of the elevator.

"See you, Ritsu…" Misato said as the doors abruptly slid shut and the elevator continued on its way.

-The Eikonoclast-

Ritsuko paused for a moment, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and trying to brace herself. She always hated coming to this part of the subterrane of the Geofront. But like Shinji, she had questions she wanted answers to. And like Shinji, she wasn't liable to find her answers today, or any day like as not. But she had to try.

"Now, heed me, you whore of Babylon, residing in your cage of assuredness, saying to yourself I am here and I have no one who stands beside me. I will never lose my children and I shall not fall a widow."

Ritsuko finally took a step forward into the darkness. Only a few feet ahead of her was a door guarded by a card reader possessed of extreme prejudice towards any not meant to pass through the threshold. Above it was a dim glowing light with words across it that read "The Matarta Cells." Ritsuko slid her ID through the card reader and the metal door opened with a chugging gasp.

"Both of these misfortunes shall crash against your shores. In a fleeting moment, in but a single day, you will be widowed and your children lost."

Walking through the doors, Ritsuko stepped into a maze of branching hallways, again largely unlit. A seemingly endless procession of doors extended ahead of her as well as to both her left and right, repeating themselves roughly every 30 feet or so and creating a terrifying liminal space that would unnerve anyone except those who'd grown accustomed to the environment through repeated exposure. Most of the rooms the doors granted access to were empty. Most, but not all.

"In spite of all your potent spellcraft, these tragedies will befall you in all their rancor and fury no matter the dark magics you employ."

Continuing on her way, she began walking down the central hallway passing door after door, one hardly any different from the last aside from the occasional hallucinated shadow in the corner of her eye or reflecting off her glasses.

"You have trusted the dark and wicked when you speak to yourself and say I am here and I have no one who stands beside me."

Finally, she passed by Asuka Shikinami's conditioning room. Thankfully, it sounded quiet even though she had expected her and the newly retrieved Ayanami series to not get along. Hopefully, this lack of disturbance meant that that they were coexisting peaceably, though it was always possible one had killed the other. Regardless, they weren't why Ritsuko was here at the moment. And, as neglectful as it sounded, Ritsuko simply didn't wish to interact with Asuka at the moment and she continued on her way.

"A storm of untold punishment will wend its way to you and you will not blow it away."

Ahead of her, an orange glow began to come into view. Approaching it, she eventually came upon a number of vats with an uncountable number of Ayanami series. And in a vat all her own, floating upside down and glaring at her with angry but heartless eyes, Negative One dutifully watched Ritsuko as she passed by and wandered even further into the darkness. And eventually, Ritsuko came upon yet another door sealed off from the rest of the world by its own card reader. As she had done so many times before, she raised her arm, tired of carrying the unbearable weight of the card. The door creaked open and before Ritsuko was a dark stairwell.

"The heavens shall fall down upon you and hell will open and you will not escape its maw."

She looked down the stairs and saw almost nothing but pure darkness. Only a handful of small red lights throughout the stairwell provided any reference for where she was and where she wanted to go. She went down the first flight and came across another door. It led to other floor of mostly the same. Shinji had been on one of those other floors, though the room he had been kept in was further up the stairwell as opposed to below. Cautiously, she continued down, the next flight leading to a small platform where yet another door waited her. She passed this one too and continued down the last fight and arrived at the very bottom of the stairwell, concrete finally kissing her shoe instead of the shaking metal. One final door stood at the end of it all. On the other side, she could hear the screaming of something that sounded as though it could have been a demon, though the soundproofing in the wall did a good job at muffling the noise. Yet another girl no one had heard.

"The end will come for you and all your spells shall falter before it as you know not how to cast it away."

She swiped her ID through yet another card reader and the final door opened. The psychotic screaming suddenly became blood curdling in its intensity. The entire room was perhaps the blackest pit of hell. There were no lights save for a pair of dim glowing orange ones on the far side of the room. They moved together in the shade, like a pair of eyes, occasionally disappearing into the darkness as whatever creature of the night that wouldn't stop screaming paced back and forth in the dark, blinking only long enough to grant relief to its eyes before refocusing them on its prey.

Ritsuko could feel a chill run down her spine. She would never get used to the unnatural but eerily human noises this beast made. And the darkness only made it worse. Significantly disturbed, Ritsuko reach towards the wall and her hand fumbled around in the dark until she finally found the light switch.

A row of lights near the door turned on with a clacking sound. And the screams of the creature grew more feral and shifted higher in their pitch, becoming more feminine.

"Eikonoclast. Destroyer of Idols."

There was a sloshing sound and then the sound of something fleshy crashing against metal. Ritsuko winced at the sound dull ringing as yet another row of lights turned on, this time closer to the creature.

"Parvopuellulafiliaviatrix. Daughter of the Traveler."

Again, a row of lights clicked on, the encroaching fluorescence creeping ever closer to the banshee like animal as the darkness retreated.

"Na'amah. Sister-Wife of Lilith."

Another set of lights flickered on and Ritsuko finally began to step forward as she became more sure of herself despite the creature's incessant terrifying needy screams.

"Blasphemer."

A final row of lights turned on, barely illuminating the black metal bars of a prison cell. And out from the bars reached a clawed hand with skin as black as ink. Further up the arm, the skin changed to a ghostly milky white. And the scream. God, the screams were ferocious but unfathomably tormented, Ritsuko could barely stand to listen to them.

"Yui… Sazanami," Ritsuko said before she knelt down in front of the jail.

The light was only just bright enough to reveal the rest of the creature's body if one looked intently. It was the body of a girl, vaguely human and yet altered. She desperately swung her clawed hands through the bars, reaching for Ritsuko as she let out guttural high-pitched growls whenever she wasn't screaming. Her teeth were long and sharp and where so black it seemed as though they were made of polished onyx. Her LCL-drenched lilac hair clung to her face and hugged the rest of her body. She chewed at the bars and thrashed as she bit down on them, trying with all of her might to free herself. But it was futile. Distorted as she was, she was still only a girl. As her teeth slipped from the bar, she fell backwards into a pool of LCL that flooded the bottom of her partially submerged cell. And then she would lunge again, throwing herself at the metal in an eternal but hopeless struggle to free herself.

"You heard her call too, didn't you, Na'amah?"

All Ritsuko got in response was a frustrated and feral scream before the girl bit down on the bars of her cage again.

"I'm sure you know what it means. And I know how much happier you would be not knowing the things you know."

Ritsuko depressingly sat down in front of the cage before looking up at the ceiling of the room. The feral girl thrashed again and Ritsuko felt a small droplet of LCL land on her face just beneath her left eye and she looked down at the girl

"If only you could talk… Speak to us… Then we'd have our answers. Then… Then we could change the world."

The girl again screamed at Ritsuko as she forced her shoulder though the bars and raked her midnight-tinted claws through the air only inches from Ritsuko.

"How pitiful… No one deserves to live like this… To suffer like you have… I'm sorry, I truly am."

/

-In Memoriam-

/

"I've also come to realize something: there ain't no action so noble as one you take for another. I'll keep that close to my heart, and strive to be someone who strives for others, just like you."- The Decisive Dwarf

Some time later, on the slope of a hill just outside Tokyo-3…

"I don't really know what to say in a situation like this. But does anyone ever?"

Delicately carrying Zeruel's fallen mask in Unit-01's hands, Shinji bade the Evangelion kneel down and securely set it on the side of the hill.

"I remember Rei once told me something similar. I told her to smile. But I'm not sure if that's appropriate right now."

Unit-01 brushed its finger across the forehead of Zeruel's mask. Shinji couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at what he'd done even if he was doing to protect the people he cared about. Perhaps in another life, he could have found a way to dissuade Zeruel from his course despite the angel proclaiming he had no free will. Perhaps in another life, the angel could have interpreted his duty as something else that didn't involve the death of so many people. Perhaps in another life. But not this time…

"You did horrible things… But so did I. So do we all. You threatened innocent people but... I'm guilty of the same thing, so I guess I can't say I'm any better. I know you're far from home. And no one deserves to die so far from everyone they care about. But… I care. And I hope that makes you feel better, even if we were enemies. I promise, I'll try to find a way to avoid killing any more of your brothers in the future. I don't know if I'll be able to succeed. And I'm not going to give up on everything I care about just because I feel guilty about fighting you. But… if we can co-exist, if I can avoid killing your brothers, I will be sure to act with my conscious and refuse vengeance. You're not the only one I promised to try to better for. But I still make the same promise to you. I hope… I hope with all my heart, it will be enough to save at least one more life than before."

Unit-01 then stood up and solemnly stared down at the mask in a moment of silence before taking a more appropriate posture and saluting the fallen warrior.

Off in the distance, unbeknownst to Shinji, a boy with silver hair and red eyes watched the display of virtue. Smiling, he chuckled to himself before beginning to hum a song and going on with his business.

/

The day before, in a river of starlight far beyond Earth…

"So, her children have grown so strong in the blessing as to deny us our right and my life ends in blood and ash. Have care, my brethren. For a cruel and misfavored storm of darkness fast approaches. As for you, children of the Lilin, my lord… will come… for you! Let your murder mark the beginning of the end! Farewell, villain. No, farewell… my enemy. And for my brethren… may I find peace in your warm embrace when I see you all in the hereafter. I ride home to meet you all this day."

"T'would seem… Zeruel has taken his leave of us. I feel my connection to him is severed," a searing orb of purple and yellow fire announced.

"I feel it as well. A damnable pity. He always was the best of us. To think that one such as him could fall," a deep red flaming orb said in a saddened tone.

"The injustice is intolerable. They grow too powerful. Should we withhold ourselves much longer…" a blinding white star lamented.

"And yet, despite the burning pain in my heart, I am powerless to act! Gods, hear me now! I beg of thee, give me form!" a black swirling flame cursed.

"Such is our weakness," the purple and yellow star said with a solemn resignation.

"Before I deliver to them their ends, I shall inflict upon them the most tormenting of unending dreams! They must suffer! They will know our pain!" a light red star seethed into the void.

"I will burn their civilization to the ground for all they have taken! All shall be reduced to ash!" the other darker red star declared.

"Enough, all of you," the purple and yellow star requested of the others, "I know you are in great pain, the lot of you. But until the moment of our ascension arrives, we know not who of us will be tasked with the eradication of the Lilin. We must harbor our torment and turn it against our enemies. Let yourselves be taken by it. Speak not the words, for all feel our loss. Let us not dwell on this tragedy."

"If I may," a black and white star interjected, "Perhaps there is another way. One that does not involve bloodshed of our own. Cooperation."

"Your suggest we could convince the impious without the threat of bloodletting despite it being the only language they understand?" The purple and yellow flame questioned.

"I suggest we convince them to turn their arms against themselves. I am inspired by Sariel's idea of forcing visions upon them. But I would walk a different but parallel path. One that does not put ourselves at risk. We have lost too many as is. A direct confrontation will prove untenable for us, for me, and I would only fight as a last resort. If we could but force them to have a change of heart, we may convince them to end themselves," the black and white star expounded.

"You suggest suicide, Leliel?" the purple and yellow star inquired.

"Sariel has had much success with such methods in the past. While I am not as capable of her, I would use my faults to my advantage. Perhaps I could speak with the Lilin once granted the chance," the black and white star proffered.

"Hmm… I also find myself pondering on the possibilities of such a stratagem. If even our poor dearest Zeruel fell to these devils, perhaps might is not the way to victory with these Lilin," the white star added.

"Leliel, Arael... Do as you will. But have care," the purple and yellow star advised, "I feel myself slipping away as time goes ever on. Perhaps… I shall resort to such a gambit myself. Or perhaps not. The majesty of a beautiful death shall tell the tale."

"To admonish the wicked," the light red star hissed.

"To cast out the darkness," the white star chanted.

"To bring order and justice," the black star bellowed.

"To immolate all who oppose the light," the dark red star rumbled.

"To foster life and issue death," the purple and yellow star recited.

"To bring salvation to the universe, we will endure," all of the stars said in unison.

"At long… long last, the end draws nigh," the purple and yellow star said in a voice steeped in longing, "The end to life on that star… And an end to our suffering."

/

-Shadows Fall and Heroes Rise-

/

And so peace returned to the land that had been reborn from the ashes. For the time being at least.

There, Zeruel would maintain his vigil over the last bastion of hope for humanity, as would I, different though our beliefs were. Together, we would watch them. Watch as they triumphed. Watch as they stumbled. Watch as they got back up time and time again. Sometimes from afar and sometimes from within their own homes. It was our freedom as spirits of an age long, long past. We were ghosts, he and I. Ghosts that haunted this city. Powerless to act as the events that would bring this world to its end unfolded before our eyes.

We could scream, but rarely were we heard. Gods that once had been turned to nothing more than a whisper on the wind. How… ironic that the gods would be the ones to pray to mortals. Our time had come and gone. Now was their time. And soon, their time would run out as each toll of the bell would scrape away an hour, a minute, a second from their clock.

I remember we once had memorials in our city. To heroes of eld. To momentous occasions. To times long past. All of them turned to dust now along with anyone else who might remember. All of the terrible trials we went through now forgotten to all but the emptiness of the universe.

I remember stepping into the gleaming city for the first time and thinking to myself that it was a mistake to go there. Just as he had. I remember the fear, the responsibility and expectations, the weight of tomorrow resting on my shoulders scarce as I set my boot upon the cobbles. Like him, I was young and afraid. Like him, I wished to flee. Like him, I had promises to keep and I could not turn away. And now, neither can he. For if he were to retreat now, all of fate would come chasing after him as it once burned at my own heels.

I could have run to the end of creation itself and it wouldn't have been enough to escape the all consuming hatred and despair that came to end us. Conflict, as Zeruel had said, was our only defense against what was to come.

Some people, you cannot reason with. Some people are created only to destroy. It is innate to them. A compulsion. A drive or a sickness. To some, a holy duty to salt the earth and reduce all to ash. No matter the morality you try to plant in them, it fails to take root every time and the leaves wither on the vine.

And now I find myself wondering it he would turn out like me for all we had in common or if he would become the greatest threat for all he shared with my enemy, the cataclysm to end all cataclysms.

Only the days to come would tell. Calamity loomed large. It closed in and suffocated this city, and indeed the entire world, without warning, much like it did ours. Insidious, it crept beneath the surface. It was left untreated and was even nurtured within the fertile soil of the human heart. It would not be heaven's light that would burn away these people, but the same darkness I birthed and had come to cherish.

Here, they would set sail for the future. Weathering every storm that beset them along the way. And at last, they would set foot into his domain. Into the maw of death they would go to face the original and final demon. Unshakable bones as hard as iron, the tatters of his cloak beyond their reach, the yawning pit desperate to consume all life in its unending hunger, and to finally sleep in the infinite nothingness when all light had been extinguished and darkness drowned out and nothing remained to oppose his truth.

A truth that clawed at the existence of mortal and immortal alike. A truth that could not be disproven but that we would refuse to accept all the same.

.

---

*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*

.

"Well, who would have thought that we wouldn't end up in a totally red world by this chapter? I don't know about anyone else, but I knew all along because I have the script right here! Welcome, everyone, to the beginning of act three! And may I say what a pleasure it is that I, the great and infamous Misato Katsuragi, am still alive and well and here to continue on this journey with you all!

But that's enough of that! I'm sure you're all expecting something rather grim and serious next chapter after all that talk of apocalypses and universe-destroying aliens! But, nope! It says right here we're getting a beach episode style chapter next time. And uh... I mean, what's there really to say about that? Well, Rei gets to do... well, whatever Rei does when she's at the beach. Probably poking washed-up jellyfish with her bare hands! Asuka begins to invest in and strengthen her newfound friendships! Shinji cooks everyone a delicious meal while trying not to be distracted by the antics of a certain someone, I won't say who. And uh... Oh, yeah, Hikari is terribly embarrassed about being in a swimsuit in front of Toji. It'll probably, maybe, possibly, be in the next chapter of Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love: A Reunion of Sorts!

And, I did mention its a beach episode chapter, right! Do I really need to say it? Of course there's going to be fanservice!"