AN: Here's the next chapter. Not much to say aside form the fact I made a discord. More on that at the end. Here's the link to join though.
Discord Server: discord dot gg/kSvA5vftJ9
Let's get on with the show!
XXX
Groggily, Shinji opened his eyes. The ceiling of his room in Misato's apartment came slowly into focus and he sat up a moment later. Shinji let out a sigh as he pulled the covers off his body. He felt drained. He supposed that made some sense. His past few days had not been relaxing really. Between Israfel and the events that followed the seraph's fall, he hadn't gotten much time to just rest.
Logically, Shinji knew that he was not tired. His body wasn't really capable of that. But the mind was a wondrous thing. He would have been tired as a human and he knew that. The fatigue was reflected even now. He supposed that if he wasn't actively focusing on the logic of his new existence, he could remain somewhat normal for a human being.
Patting his face, Shinji woke himself fully and got to his feet. He quickly left his room and walked off to the restroom to get ready for the day. Walking over to the sink he turned on the water and bent down to splash his face with it.
Ound… hi…!
Shinji's head jerked up and he whipped around. Droplets of water flew from the damp fringe of his hair as he looked about.
There was no one in the room with him.
Shinji wondered if Misato had left the tv on. Turning back to the sink he looked in the mirror and blinked, frown stretched across his face. For a minute he thought he'd seen himself glaring.
"I was more tired than I thought…" Shinji mumbled before continuing with his morning routine. Once he was refreshed, he went back to his room to get dressed. It wasn't long after that that he was out the door, never noticing that the tv was turned off.
Shinji didn't really remember how he got to school. It was almost as if he was stepping up to the gates the moment he stepped out the door. He knew the way like the back of his hand, so his lack of attention was a non-issue, but he couldn't seem to remember what daydream had distracted him so. School was mind numbing. Which wasn't anything new for Shinji. In fact, he welcomed it. This was the normality he'd been missing. So much had happened lately that he'd not been able to enjoy just being a kid.
"Murderer!"
Shinji winced and massaged his temples, wondering where his sudden headache had come from. It wasn't long before he'd put it out of his mind and let his train of thought continue, however.
The Third Child had even more responsibility on his shoulders now than he did in his original dimension. That's why when he finally stepped into the too clean halls of the school, he felt at peace. Finally, he was in a place he could be free to relax. He could fall into the monotony of classes. This was a routine he could get behind.
But today was not routine.
Musc… rophy? Angels… incappa… things.
Alwa… specia…
"Shinji!"
He turned at her voice, deciding that whatever had been said before Asuka spoke was just some overheard conversation in the halls. The students chatted about the angels often enough, after all. A smile slipped onto Shinji's lips that he was incapable of suppressing. Not that he would want to. He didn't want to hide his happiness at all. Asuka walked up to him, slowing down as she must have been speed walking. The girl threw her arms around him in a hug that filled his nose with apple and jasmine. Her locks of silky red hair tangling between his fingers as he circled his own arms around her.
Asuka's breath ghosted upon the skin of his neck as she brought her lips close to his ear and whispered.
"We'd all be better off without you."
Shinji pulled her away from him, his eyes wide. "What did you say?" he asked. Asuka rose a brow as her cheeks colored and she leaned in again.
"I said school hasn't been the same without you… I missed you, stupid."
"Oh… I missed you too, Asuka." She smiled at his reply and went in for another hug with a content sigh.
Shinji Ikari found that Asuka was much more upbeat here than in his own dimension. He already knew that she was just a happier and lighter person overall thanks to actually having a family, but even then, she was grumpy and downright mean on occasions. He wondered if these were the perks of being the boyfriend now. As long as he didn't make her mad, he should be free to see her this cheerful all the time. Note to self, don't piss off Asuka. I like this cheer.
"That's just gross," gagged Toji. And from right next to his ear he heard Asuka sigh before he felt her head lift out of the crook of his neck.
…ake sure… really… inji…
"Shut up, stooge." Asuka snipped. Shinji wondered why hiss fellow schoolmates were being so loud today.
"When did this development come about…?" Mayumi asked, closing her thick book. Shinji hadn't caught the whole title. Something "light."
"Two days ago," he responded as Asuka detangled herself from him. That was a Saturday night he couldn't forget. Saving his mother, thwarting his father's plans, and finally getting together with Asuka. A lot had transpired in such a short amount of time. Overall, the past two days had been great. He'd spent them talking to Asuka, much to the amusement of Misato. He was still living with her. Yui had not woken up yet and that was the only damper to his days.
Putting the more troublesome thoughts out of mind, Shinji took her hand in his own but didn't get to enjoy the warmth or softness for long when Hikari and Mayumi pulled her away. Asuka looked back at him with an apologetic glance as she was accosted.
"We're only just now hearing about this today!?" Hikari yelled. Next to them, Mari laughed at Asuka's misfortune and earned herself a punch for it. As she rubbed her shoulder, Rei shook her head at their antics. Mari should know better by now.
"I don't know how you do it Shin-man, or why you would do it for that matter. The she devil is unbearable… but let us know if anything goes wrong with you two and uh… we'll have your back," Toji finished weakly, holding his hands up in surrender as he and Kensuke walked alongside Shinji to class. Shinji didn't enjoy them calling Asuka names and apparently, he must have shown his displeasure more than he'd intended considering Toji's backtracking.
Classes had passed quickly. To be honest, Shinji hardly remembered them at all. He hoped that wouldn't make doing his homework harder.
"You and I are going out to eat, Shinji." Asuka said as they walked towards the school. He nodded with a smile and they later found themselves at a little bakery near Misato's. the two of them chatted as they ate pastries. Shinji paid.
It wasn't long before they left and almost as soon as they walked into Misato's, Asuka had him against the wall. Her tongue fought viciously with his for dominance as she moaned into the kiss. Her hands roamed his chest. Shinji slid his down the curve of her waist.
Hot breath, kisses along their necks, and clumsy steps led them to Shinji's room. They flopped onto his bed. His hands tugged at her skirt.
…In… Ji…. Shi… Shinji!
Groggily, Shinji opened his eyes. The ceiling of his room in Misato's apartment came slowly into focus and he sat up a moment later. Shinji let out a sigh as he pulled the covers off his body. He felt drained. He supposed that made some sense. His past few days had not been relaxing really. Between Israfel and the events that followed the seraph's fall, he hadn't gotten much time to just rest.
Logically, Shinji knew that he was not tired. His body wasn't really capable of that. But the mind was a wondrous thing. He would have been tired as a human and he knew that. The fatigue was reflected even now. He supposed that if he wasn't actively focusing on the logic of his new existence, he could remain somewhat normal for a human being.
Patting his face, Shinji woke himself fully and got to his feet. He quickly left his room and walked off to the restroom to get ready for the day. Walking over to the sink he turned on the water and bent down to splash his face with it.
"An awful creature that we'd all be better off without."
Shinji's head jerked up. He didn't look about. He knew there was no one else here. There never was. Shinji dropped to his knees. The snippets of conversation he'd thought were his classmates were far, far from anything so comforting. He remembered. He heard. He understood.
Shinji sniffed. The first of many tears escaped his eyes and he covered his face with his hands.
Seraphiel had won. Nuriel and Leliel had found him. Over a month later, when he hadn't woken up, Doctor Akagi brought those who cared for him together and talked of his condition. Nuriel and Leliel informed them that an Angel would not atrophy. And yet his shriveling body was there before them as proof. Nuriel had commented that Shinji had always been oh so special.
They'd observed him for months. Nuriel's suspicion grew. She'd went over a plan with everyone to make sure it was really him when he finally awoke. Shinji shuddered out a breath through his tears. It wasn't him. He'd failed. He'd been weak. In the end, he just wasn't good enough.
"I see that you're aware again." Shinji' sorrow was quickly eclipsed by his anger as he rose his head from his palms and stared a smirking version of himself in the eyes.
"Yes. Despite your best efforts to keep me down. Having me relive this dream-like day over and over again. How many times has it been now, hm? Fifty? More?" Shinji spat. Seraphiel threw his head back and laughed.
"Me? Ho—oh no. No no, you fool. This is not of my making. You did this. In your sorrow and your regret, you built up your perfect little world and relive the best day of your life. And how pathetic is that? Your best day is just getting a hug from that shallow wench who pilots the red cousin."
"No… I couldn't." Shinji retorted, voice wavering.
"But. You. Did. You stopped fighting. You knew you'd lost. And like the little worm you are you created a wonderland for yourself to slither off to in your shame. A world where you have all that you desire. In the end… you ran away, just like always. And now?" Seraphiel smirked. "Now I get to turn your world into dust."
Shinji blinked, Seraphiel vanished, and he remembered the last thing he'd heard Nuriel say.
Please don't let Seraphiel be the one to wake up, third…
The edges of his vision began to darken. His eyes felt droopy. Shinji choked back one last sob before his eyes shut and he slipped into the blackness of dreamless slumber…
Groggily, Shinji opened his eyes. Shinji let out a sigh as he pulled the covers off his body. He felt drained. His past few days had not been relaxing really. Between Israfel and the events that followed the seraph's fall, he hadn't gotten much time to just rest.
Shinji hoped today would be boring.
The Sound of Silence ~ Want for Nothing, Dream for the Fall
Kensuke unloaded every missile he had within Unit-04s arsenal.
They screamed through the air, leaving behind smoking trails. Kensuke eyed his missiles intently, waiting. Then they just vanished, almost as if they were dust clouds being dispersed by the wind. He growled, frustrated. The result had not changed once.
"How is he doing that?" Toji grunted as his Eva pitched forward suddenly, crashing face first into the concrete below. Seraphiel stood behind his prone form, his right leg lowering. The vibration seraph vanished again just as Nuriel's flaming fist swung past where he'd stood. She turned quickly and their fists met, a wall of fire bursting to life at the contact, attempting to overwhelm Seraphiel.
They fizzled out and their clash devolved into a brawl. The two of them swung at each other with what seemed to be endless energy, bobbing and weaving out of the way as flaming and vibrating fists passed by cheeks, torsos, and limbs. Seraphiel vanished again as Unit-02s flying kick soared past where he'd been. He reappeared right as Asuka landed and brought a fist down on Unit-02 as he blocked another blow from Nuriel. Asuka tried to guide Unit-02 back onto its feet only for her to bel blasted away by an invisible force.
She screamed in the plug as Nuriel and Seraphiel transitioned back into their brawl, almost as if they'd never been interrupted. Mari caught Asuka, but her momentum barely slowed, and they found themselves tumbling to the ground together in a heap. A cloud of dust and dirt exploded into the air around them. Mari groaned.
"You okay, Asuka?" Mari asked. Her cousin grunted a yes and the two of them got back to their feet. Toji and Rei regrouped with them while Kensuke went off to reload his stock of ammunition. Together they watched as Nuriel and Seraphiel continued their fight. It had evolved from the hand to hand brawl into something much more destructive. Fire scorched the ground in tsunami-like waves, only to be snuffed out by a wall of force. For once they were able to clearly see what they'd been getting hit with.
See might be the wrong word, however. There was nothing before their eyes that they could truly put a name to. They knew it was vibration, but what does one call that? Before them, it was as iff the very scenery was distorting, rippling. Seraphiel's power was causing a visual effect to anything that was perceived through it. Looking upon his attacks showed a twisting, writhing scenery of whatever lay behind it.
Suddenly a whole building churned like liquid. Just as quickly it straightened out again and they bared witness to Nuriel's form bursting apart into flames. The building behind her was turned into a fine mist that scattered in the wind. She reappeared above Seraphiel like a fiery comet, her fists locked together to strike him over the head. He vanished; she burst into wisps of fire. When Seraphiel reappeared heat coalesced into Nuriel's form and the double-fisted hammer blow struck home on his head.
He grunted and toppled over before vanishing again, reappearing only to raise his left hand up, parallel to his head. The area around his hand distorted. A long ripple formed from the center of the distortion outward in both directions.
"Is that…?" Nuriel questioned. Leliel gasped. Seraphiel chucked the distortion. It tore through the air with no sound. No visual tell that it was nearing Nuriel at all. It was as if the very air was granting it a wide berth. Nuriel just barely ducked out of the way and held her right hand out to her side. Just as something began to form there, Leliel yelled.
"Behind you!" Nuriel looked back just in time to watch Seraphiel grab her shoulder, heft the distortion, and plunge it into her from her shoulder down. "No!"
Nuriel gasped. A moment later it looked to Asuka as though a dozen distortions protruded from her flaming body. With a final choked gasp, Nuriel's body exploded into embers. A portal opened up below Seraphiel. He vanished, avoiding it. appearing a few feet away he had to vanish again as the portal expanded. He reappeared again only for another portal to appear at his back. This process repeated and repeated until finally Seraphiel appeared behind her and jabbed his distortion forward.
Only for his entire arm to sink into the inky blackness of the Dirac Sea. Leliel glared at him. "I saw it coming… brother."
Seraphiel screamed. "Leliel!"
Then he was gone.
"What happened to her?" Kyoko asked. She was looking down at the still form of Nuriel. The girl's eyes were closed, her cheeks were sunken, skin pale, and she was breathing so shallowly that Kyoko could have mistaken her for dead. The spotless, white sheets that were covering everything below her neck did not help. Kyoko knew the woman lying on the bed was not her own. She never gave birth to this Asuka. She knew that… but they were nearly identical. Seeing her like this? It was nearly more than Kyoko could bare. The only thing keeping her together was the knowledge that this woman was someone else; Something else.
"She was punctured by Seraphiel's Lance of Longinus. It searched out her core. I am yet unaware how, but Nuriel managed to only be grazed. It will take time, but she will recover." Leliel replied.
"His what? How could that be? We have the lance," said Gendo, scowling. Leliel shook her head.
"No. Ye have the father's lance. But he gifted his children lesser copies. Every Seraph of the highest order possesses a lance of their own, formed by their distinction. Nuriel's is fire. Seraphiel's is vibration."
"Why is this the first we're learning of this? Why didn't we see it from Sahaquiel?" Misato asked. Those gathered in Nuriel's room aside from Leliel—Misato, Gendo, Kyoko, and the pilots—felt as though information as important as that should have been shared much earlier.
"Forming a lance takes time. Sahaquiel was given none."
"And Shi—Seraphiel was? Nuriel was all over him!" Asuka snipped. Leliel did not spare her a glance.
"Yes. The speed with which it was formed was worrying. Seraphiel is either much stronger than we could have anticipated, or he began forming it earlier than we were aware." Leliel sighed. For a moment no one said anything. They needed time to absorb what they'd just learned.
"How long will it take Nuriel to get back on her feet?" Misato asked. Crossing her arms as her brow furrowed. They needed a game plan and she aimed to think of one.
"A month. Possibly two such." Leliel's response had her stifling a groan.
"And Seraphiel?" Gendo inquired, "what did you do to him?"
"I sent him into the Dirac. He is undoubtedly stranded in a dimension that has already been wiped of Lilin."
"Could we just leave him there?" Gendo ventured, drawing a glare from both Leliel and Rei.
"I shan't abandon my kin in his time of need," Leliel spat, "it matters little, however. The dimensions of the Dirac sea are kept from colliding because their vibrational frequencies. Seraphiel is the only other Seraph who could possibly travel the Dirac without my assistance. Though it will take him time. And I do doubt he is fully aware of that capability yet. I sent Seraphiel far away. He will not return soon."
"So we just have to hope Nuriel is up and about before Seraphiel turns back up… great." Misato huffed and turned to the door. "I'm going to try and work something out with Yui and Fuyutsuki. Keep me posted on Nuriel's condition."
Seraphiel's feet crunched the soft dirt below him. He felt like a fool, having been baited by a traitorous lesser seraph like Leliel. He huffed. Seraphiel supposed that with so little power her cunning was all Leliel could truly rely on.
"When I find my way back, I'm going to make her watch the entirety of the Lilins be brought to their knees. Their kind will fall. Now, where hast that wench sent me…?" he grumbled, looking out over a vast, black-soiled landscape.
He didn't feel any human life.
XXX
And that's the chapter! A slight reprieve here… sort of? Still much to come, but I'm glad this is all drawing to a close. Some time ago I was debating making a discord for my fics and I've decided to go through with it. Feel free to join. I would still like reviews though, so I hope to hear from you all there.
Discord Server: discord dot gg/kSvA5vftJ9
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