CHAPTER_7.5 - INTERLUDE THE FIRST (WITH A PARADE)
There were quite a few unexpected paths that Shinji's life had taken in recent months, let alone days. Taming a colossal two-headed wolf and then making friends with said wolf through the power of tummy rubs was one such event. Gemini Lupus was sleeping in comfort in Unit One's lap at that moment, and Shinji had exited the Evangelion, careful not to disturb the beast.
For now, the citizens of Boldhold and their visitors from Summerise wanted to let sleeping wolves lie in both a figurative and literal sense. And so the wolf slept outside the wall, and with rows of archers on shifts watching it.
"So, young hero," said Marshall Boncourage. "You have saved us all! I never doubted your capability the moment I saw your war machine."
Shinji was embarrassed by all the attention being heaped on him. He was already blushing, but the cold was making his cheeks even rosier. "I-I, it's no trouble. I'm just glad that the battle went well."
"Indeed, as are we, young man," Boncourage turned to Queen Sergevague and nodded slightly. "My Queen would like to have a word with you."
Queen Sergevague took that as her cue to walk gracefully towards Shinji. She reminded him of Rei Ayanami somewhat, having a grace and poise in the way she walked and a cool, unemotive demeanour. Nevertheless, Shinji's Japanese customs and newly gained social nous led him to instinctively bow his head in deference.
"Mr Ikari, kneel before me," she commanded in a quiet yet assuming voice.
Shinji, not having the quickest of reactions, was caught off guard by Queen Sergevague's demand. He only bent his right knee awkwardly as the other leg refused to comply, which made him embarrassed; predicting correctly he looked a bit goofy. The queen looked slightly puzzled.
Boncourage, in high spirits, said to Shinji: "My queen is requesting that you kneel in front of her."
"Oh, uh…right. I see." Shinji promptly kneeled in front of Queen Sergevague, head bowed and trying to hide the lustrous shade of pink his face had gone. He didn't want to embarrass himself or Marcus and Renee any further, possibly ruining any chance of securing an alliance between Boldhold and Summerise.
Shinji heard the metallic ring of a sword coming out of a scabbard. He was suddenly afraid that his bumbling ignorance had caused such offence that he was going to be killed on the spot. He lifted his head to protest, but instead saw a smiling Queen Sergevague laying the newly released decorative sword on his left shoulder, and then his right shoulder.
It was a beautiful sight, and it strongly reminded him of the first and only time Rei Ayanami smiled.
"I, Queen Rivera Sergevague, do bestow upon you, Shinji Ikari of the land of Japan, the title Knight of the Colossus. From now, all shall address you as Sir Shinji Ikari, Knight of the Colossus, Combustor of Slimes and Tamer of Wolves!"
Cheers of jubilations and clapping erupted from those gathered to witness Shinji's ascension to knighthood. "Congratulations!"
"Wonderful!"
"Well done!"
"Fantastic!"
"Let's get some drinks!"
Sir Shinji Ikari stood up humbly and bowed, as was Japanese tradition.
/
The next couple of days were a whirlwind for Shinji. Due to his heroics, not that he considered them as such, he was whipped from parties with delectable food to gatherings with way too much alcohol (not that he remembered drinking any, deliberately or otherwise) to congregations with fancy worded speeches, all so that Queen Sergevague could show him off. She even showed him, Marcus and Renee off to the rest of the city with a fancy street parade where everybody was inundating them coloured rice and little bits of paper along the way.
This led Shinji to wondering why this never happened in Tokyo-3. After all, Rei, Asuka and himself had saved the city and the world on multiple occasions. Maybe NERV is just no fun. And no wonder, if my father is responsible for running the place.
It was no wonder that Misato drank herself into a state of delirium sometimes. There couldn't possibly be another reason, right?
He was riding in an elaborately decorated open top carriage with Marshall Boncourage, Renee and Marcus. They were all dressed as formally as possible. Quite where Renee and Marcus had fished out their dress uniforms from was a mystery. It was all so fancy and gilded and there were so many medals on their lapels.
Not that Shinji was underdressed. The day before, there was a team of seamstresses and tailors attending to him for nearly two hours as they measured every part of him – large and small – and had come up with an extravagant and colourful ensemble. Given Shinji was normally dressed as simply as possible, this made him feel like an unwarranted centre of attention. To which the head tailor rebutted that he was very much the centre of attention. It was appropriate, since he was the one everybody credited with saving Boldhold.
He felt happy, for the first time in a long time, that people were paying attention to him. It was better than a bowl of ramen and what was now, in hindsight, a paltry sentence of praise from his father. Maye I am worth something after all…
As they reached the end of the parade route, Shinji could see a large contingent of soldiers flanking Queen Sergevague waiting for them. There was also a surprise guest. A much smaller, and happy Gemini Lupus was waiting for them next to her, tail wagging languidly. The two-headed wolf was now somewhat human sized.
Boncourage saw the look of disbelief on Shinji's face, and explained. "Ah yes. The wolf. Renee and I worked some magic on him and shrank it down so that he's small enough to be a companion for Her Excellence. She took a real liking to Gem. And Gem took a real liking to her too. This way, they can keep each other company and we can even afford to feed him."
As the carriage in which Shinji was riding got closer to Gem and Sergevague, he noticed that Gem's tail was wagging ever faster. He alighted with Marcus and Renee as the carriage stopped, Gem whining and paws tap-tap-tapping away on the hastily arranged stage.
Shinji walked towards Queen Sergevague, aware everyone was watching him. He tried his best not to look nervous as he traversed the short distance and this time, kneeled correctly. Meanwhile, Gem took the opportunity to use both tongues at its disposal to flank his face with big slobbery licks, eliciting laughter and amusement in the crowd.
"Sir Shinji Ikari, Knight of the Colossus, Combustor of Slimes and Tamer of Wolves," began Queen Rivera Sergevague with his ridiculous title. "You have, with you presence, bestowed upon the people of Boldhold a great blessing. You have foiled an attack on our fair kingdom that would otherwise certainly have brought ruin upon us all. For that, Boldhold will forever be in your debt."
The people on stage clapped and those beyond it cheered his name. Shinji, despite always wanting praise from those he helped, had never received much of it, and so had absolutely no idea how to deal with it. So instead, he looked down at his lapel as his cheers warmed up to incandescent.
Queen Sergevague walked closer to Shinji and looked him in the eye once the cheering stopped. Up close, she was even prettier than Shinji knew, a bob of dark hair with a hint of red, framing cool blue eyes, with a small, kind smile on her lips. "I also wanted to thank you personally for saving everyone, and for introducing me to a lovely new friend."
Then she did something Shinji didn't expect; she kissed him gently on both cheeks and gave him a radiant smile while her eyes lit up too. His heart skipped a few beats at the sight from a feeling of elation, and from even more raucous cheers from the crowd. Even Gem joined in with a happy howl. Everyone watching wondered whether Shinji's cheeks could get any redder, because if so, he would be declared by scientists as a new species of beetroot.
/
"So Shinji, we have a few days left in Boldhold. Is there anything you want to do before we head off?" Renee asked Shinji as they ate breakfast one morning. The warm afterglow of being cheered and hailed as a hero hadn't quite worn off, and Shinji had been both enjoying and hiding from the attention.
"I'm not sure," Shinji replied as he chewed on his sausages and eggs thoughtfully. "I feel like I've forgotten something really important."
"I'm sure you'll remember," said Marcus as he wolfed down his breakfast. "Maybe you should go down to the Adventurers' Guild and see if there are any simple commissions you can pick up?"
Shinji froze. Ah, yes. Commissions…Oh, I already took one!
He finished his breakfast in record time, bid Marcus and Renee a good day bolted out the door.
/
"Hah! The hero of Boldhold himself, Sir Shinji Ikari was the one who accepted my humble commission?" proclaimed Mansell Boncourage to his students. "You are all in for a treat today!"
"Oh, I-I, uh…it's nice to meet you all," said Shinji as he bowed in front of a class of about forty sitting in theatre style seats. It was not lost on him that the students were predominantly girls, and all of them were focused on him, specifically. It was a little uncomfortable.
"Now, let's get to the point of this class; MAKING ART!" shouted Boncourage triumphantly. "Shinji, there will be two different poses that we'd like you to work through for us today. First, the class has requested specifically that they all have an opportunity to paint their own portraits of your colossal fighting machine."
"Oh, uh I hope everyone will be ok with that…it's…pretty tall."
"Don't you worry, young man, we have a great pose in mind…"
That statement made Shinji worry much, much more.
/
There had been many embarrassing moments in Shinji Ikari's life since he'd become an Evangelion pilot. He'd been pile driven headfirst into a sandy beach by the Seventh Angel. He had worn a leotard for a week so that he and Asuka could beat the damned thing togther, with all his friends seeing him in his fulsome glory. Even after defeating said Angel, Unit One fallen in a humiliating heap on top of Unit Two after running out of power. He overheard someone describing it as "two Evangelions found after getting as drunk as college frat boys."
It was, perhaps, a most apt description.
But today, he was holding Unit One in a pose outside the walls of Boldhold. This position had the purple colossus lying on its right side, right leg straight and left leg bent at the knee. The Evangelion's right arm was bent at the elbow, the hand supporting Unit One's head. In front of him, a few rows of Boncourage's students were busily drawing and painting on their easels.
Shinji thought the pose looked ridiculous and impractical. Indeed, his lower back muscles were receiving some sympathetic twinges from the Evangelion's neural connection. He hoped the second pose wasn't going to be as uncomfortable.
/
There had been many embarrassing moments in Shinji Ikari's life since he'd become an Evangelion pilot. His first night at Misato's apartment ended with him showing his goods to his guardian and military commander. It was all Pen Pen's fault. It was not an auspicious start. When Asuka first met Pen Pen, he'd lost a short amount of memory through a bout of unconsciousness and short-term amnesia (he was certain he must have seen something embarrassing).
It was perhaps, a most apt punishment for whatever it was he saw.
But this second pose, it was most definitely more embarrassing than anything else he'd done before. For the entire art class, including the boys, had unanimously voted for Shinji Ikari to stand in front of them wearing nought but a plain white loin cloth, holding aloft an apple in his left hand, whilst gently petting Gem with his right.
This is way, way worse than when we had to do that synch test naked.
He saw one of the girls' eyes linger on him for just a second longer than was necessary while taking measurements. Was she…drooling?! What is wrong with this place?
He was well on his way to wishing for another giant beast to try its hand at attacking Boldhold just so he had an excuse to get out of this mess.
/
Soon enough, it was time to leave Boldhold. The days had passed quickly, owing to all the functions they had to attend. Queen Sergevague gladly ratified the alliance treaty with Summerise, and she was seeing the Summerisian party off personally.
"Thank you again my friends," said the Queen, gently patting one of Gem's heads. "You have ensured Boldhold is safe, and we owe you a great debt."
"That's our job, Your Excellence," responded Marcus. "We were sent here to offer our help against a common enemy, and it seems we were able to acquit ourselves splendidly. Though I must admit, it was more Shinji than anyone else who deserves the credit."
That caused Shinji to look very intently at his shoes until a Queen Sergevague shaped shadow stood over them. He looked up, and was suddenly lost in the sky-blue eyes of her face. He wasn't even aware that she'd grasped him by both cheeks and had kissed him on the lips until about five seconds after he'd forgotten to breath.
"Well, that was unexpected," muttered Renee and Marcus together.
"Um-uh-I-ah," struggled Shinji for some sort of intelligence to return to his brain, which had suddenly been reduced to the most primordial of soups. "W-wow, th-th-that…w-was…"
"A kiss that barely conveys my gratitude," said the queen in a very serene voice. "Please, Sir Shinji Ikari, remember that you're welcome within the walls of Boldhold at any time. I will welcome you personally."
"Uh-um-ah-I…ahem, thank you, Queen Sergevague. I'd like that very much," replied Shinji. Boncourage and Marcus looked at each other. Shinji seemed to have completely missed Queen Sergevague's very pointed invitation.
If Queen Sergevague was unhappy or disappointed in Shinji's pure and innocent response, she did not show it. Instead, she simply nodded, and said: "Please, call me Rivera. I think after what we have just shared, we can be a little less formal with each other."
Shinji could only nod numbly as his brain once again returned to mush at the memory.
"Now, before you begin your return journey, I also have some parting gifts," said Boncourage cheerfully. "Though, I suspect, nothing so intimate as Her Excellency's reward for our hero."
The Marshall gave the order, and several large trunks were laden on to the Summerisian transports. "There's some food for your trek, and some souvenirs. Please, please open those chests only when you get home. We want them to be a surprise!"
And so, with some teary farewells, and lasting promises to visit once again, Marcus, Renee, Shinji and the rest of the Summerisian heroes set off on their way home, spirits high after a job well done.
/
The weather was, once again, wonderful on the trip back. They retraced the route they had taken to get to Boldhold The clouds were white and fluffy, and the blue sky reminded Shinji of lazy summer days where he had the freedom to do absolutely anything. Those were the days where he indeed chose to do nothing. Nothing to improve himself, nothing but wallow in his protective shell of solitude. He didn't want that anymore. He wanted to be more assertive. He wanted to tell Asuka and Rei and Misato and his prick of a father exactly what was on his mind. He wanted Asuka to stop berating him for nothing. He wanted Rei to smile more. He wanted Misato to grow up and just admit she still loved Mr Kaji. And he wanted to tell his father to go shove a cactus up somewhere the sun never shone.
Well, that last task might take a little bit more courage than what he currently had in reserve.
But Shinji really wanted to build up to that. He very much wanted to be able to express himself better than with apologies. His new friends had shown him that he was worth something. Hopefully, he could show them that their faith in him would pay dividends.
His attention was diverted when a huge shadow swept over them, along with a loud roar from a giant flying creature, which landed in front of the Summerisian convoy with a massive flap from its monstrous black wings kicking up a cloud of dust. It looked like a massive dragon from every fantasy novel and movie Shinji had ever watched, with shiny dark scales, a mouth full of knife-like teeth and multitudes of horns jutting out from its head.
Immediately, Shinji moved Evangelion Unit One between the dragon and his friends. He'd never dealt with a flying monster before, apart from that giant bomb that looked like its body was made of creepy eyes.
A man walked along the ground and stopped just underneath the dragon's head while the beast sat perfectly still on the ground. Using Unit One's optics, Shinji zoomed in and saw that the man had scruffy peppered hair and an admittedly great beard. He had on the robes of a wizard, but pitch black and adorned with silver lining at some seams and a green brooch decorated the collar. He even wore a black cape with red interior lining, which flapped dramatically in the cool breeze.
"So, we finally meet on the field," said the man, who Shinji didn't recognise. He could hardly hear the mysterious person with a dragon. It was only because Unit One had such a sophisticated suite of sensors that he could anything at all. If they were going for a dramatic entrance, the probably should have brought a megaphone or something.
Shinji was about to say something back, such as asking the man his name, when he realised Unit One couldn't actually speak, so even on the off chance he could come up with some witty banter inside the entry plug, it would be wasted. So instead, he remained on guard and racked his brain for clever lines that could be used someday.
Despite Shinji putting himself and Unit One in the path of the dragon, Marcus also stepped up. "Gerard," he shouted at the new arrival. "It's not been long enough."
"Knight-Commander Marcus Bastion, please, you will soon be one of my subjects! I only want to treat you fairly when that occurs. Let there be no animosity between us!"
"Not likely you mad bastard. Not after you attacked Summerise and killed my parents! We, the free cities, will prevail against your evil!"
"Oh, my dear Marcus, don't say that. You will also have freedom once my victory is complete. The freedom to serve, for the glory of Wesen and Rotesland! And I am not a bastard! My parents…"
"Blah, blah, blah. Go home you mad bastard, and never attack any of us again. We will beat you."
"You mean with this new, garishly painted colossus? Ah, Marcus, do you understand that concept of air superiority? Come, my pet, demonstrate."
And the dragon sprang forth towards Unit One. Shinji barely had time to react, but by instinct, the Evangelion's AT Field materialised and the dragon smashed head-on into it, brilliant concentric octagons illuminating the air around them. The dragon was stunned, and Shinji, taking the initiative this time, screamed a war cry (which only he and his mother could really hear), punched the dragon in the face, grabbed the progressive knife and sliced both wings off in less time than anybody else could react.
The dragon even looked at Unit One in shock and awe at the speed with which it had been totally embarrassed, before rearing up and roaring in pain. If one looked carefully, it appeared to even shed tears.
"Huh. That was... unexpected," said Marcus, dumbfounded at the scene. It wasn't every day one got to see a crying dragon.
Meanwhile, Gerard was grinning as if he'd stumbled upon a treasure only he knew about. He clapped slowly. "Impressive. Very impressive. Perhaps I underestimated your colossus. Whoever the pilot is, I would offer him a seat at my round table of confidants once my Grand Design is complete."
Gerard stared straight at Unit One's eyes, trying his best to bore through to the soul sitting inside. Shinji's only response was to give Gerard the bird with both hands. Shinji was many things, scared of his father, a competent cellist, a decent cook and confused about the meaning of life and girls. But he was certain of his loyalties. He'd never follow someone so mad as Gerard.
"I...am unfamiliar with these gestures. Are they a sign of acceptance?"
Unfortunately, Unit One was incapable of expressing disappointment through facial expressions. Instead, it put one hand on its hips and held its head in the other. This seemed to get through to Gerard the Unhinged much better. "I see. Well, I will be sure to watch your downfall with great interest."
With a flourish of cape and swish of hands, Gerard bade the wings of the injured dragon regrow almost immediately, clambered back on board and retreated into the distance. He looked down and the Summerisian convoy behind Unit One. They all shrugged as if this was a somewhat regular occurrence. Marcus shook his head and signalled to everyone to keep moving.
At least it was an interesting trip…
A/N
Hi fello -ers. Apologies for taking some time with this latest chapter. I tend to write at least a chapter or two ahead to ensure consistency and due to real life commitments, there just hasn't been as much time as I'd like. Please enjoy this chapter and thanks again for all the views, favourites and follows.
Episode preview
In the next episode with our mopey hero, Shinji makes a wish, Queen Greendrake wears a dress, and Shinji talks.