Creation began on 07-17-21

Creation ended on 09-06-21

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Grimoire of Evangelion: A Warrior's Restraint

A/N: Most don't understand the true meaning of having restraint when doing something, for better or for worse.

It was the only time Shinji had ever attempted such a move that promised no results or a win against his adversary. He flew against Patolli and grabbed him by his waist and slammed him onto the ground several dozen feet away from the Golden Dawn HQ.

"Dark Restraining Magic," he uttered moments after he got up, "Dark Dome of the Covenant."

Patolli saw something dark rise from the ground around the pair and entrap them in some sort of dome of dark energy.

"You do realize that light always overpowers darkness," he told Shinji.

"That's not entirely the truth," the young Magic Knight responded. "Before there was light, there was only darkness, until the birth of existence, allowing for many things, including light, to spread across the vast unknowns. But light and darkness became a balance in the universe; neither can survive without the other. Even in a land of light, you will find specks of darkness, just as you will find specks of light in a land of darkness. Try if you want, but so long as I have the mana to support such an advanced spell, I will not let you leave until we have resolved this issue, peacefully and without the need for violence."

"We shall see."

-x-

All Rika did was pull the thread that was keeping the pole arm that one of her dead daughters had tried to master…and it broke free of the binding spell that kept it in check, escaping the basement and out into the Clover Kingdom. However, the weapon was only drawn to people that possessed a good measure of discipline and a basic sense of how to use a weapon similar to it. A high level of mana alone wouldn't suffice for a relic like this, no matter who the person was or what lineage they possessed. Even if members from the royal families were to gain possession of it, if they were unfamiliar with it or lacked the discipline necessary to wield such a powerful weapon, it would've been no different from giving an unlocked firearm to a child that thought it was a toy.

So, who is it heading towards? She wondered.

There was nothing going on in Hage Village, and it was only a matter of time before the culprit behind the deaths of countless people from the Spade Kingdom was found and brought to justice.

-x-

Patolli had never encountered any mages with Dark Magic that was this potent. He had to give Shinji his due respect; not only for his diversity in magic, but his restraint towards violence.

"You won't win," he told Shinji. "One of us must go."

"I don't believe in murder, Patolli," Shinji replied. "What must I do to make you see that violence is unnecessary to resolve this matter that was caused by a heartless demon fifteen centuries ago?"

"Even if that were the case, I have crossed the line and can't go back."

"That's not true. It's never too late to stop and make amends."

"That's your belief."

Patolli unleashed his light whips again, but they were multiplied into several dozens, forcing Shinji to evade at every turn within the dome they were inside.

Grip! One the whips had ensnared his right leg, followed by another around his waist.

"I have you now!" Patolli expressed, levitating up towards him. "I really must commend you for your tenacity against me and the Eye of the Midnight Sun. You beat the Third Eye and even turned Rades Spirito into a believer of second chances."

"I didn't… I didn't beat the Third Eye, even on my own," Shinji grunted. "I helped capture them, but I wanted to know why they hated the Clover Kingdom and what, if anything, could be done to keep both sides from crossing the line. I know what happened to your tribe, and I am sorry you were devastated by a devil, but it's still out there, lying in wait for the right time to make its appearance. If we find it and apprehend it, we can put it in the Void for eternity where it can't escape, no matter what it tries."

"And what, then? The elves still waiting for the chance to live again just move on and the world forgets that they existed?"

"No. If you came back and the Third Eye came back, then there has to be a way to restore you to life. I'm sure we can find a way to save all of you."

Patolli bound all the whips into his left hand as his right arm generated a large sword.

"As much as I want to believe you, you don't know how Reincarnation Magic works."

"And how does it work, then? What makes Reincarnation Magic the way it is?"

Patolli raised his sword-holding arm up and prepared to strike Shinji down.

"For what's worth," he expressed, "I am sorry you had to suffer this way."

Shinji had doubts that Patolli was sincerely apologetic if he was still willing to cross the line if he felt this was the only way to resolve a matter that took place long ago.

"Patolli," he uttered to him.

The elf mage brought the sword down on Shinji…but it never made contact with his head. Something was blocking the strike. Patolli looked down…and saw some strange, stick-like object with a blade on one end of it.

"What?" He questioned, and saw Shinji, who had his eyes closed, open his eyes to see what was happening between them.

"Is that a pole arm?" Shinji reacted as Patolli pulled back his sword to try striking again.

Whack! He brought the sword of light down again, but the other weapon, this pole arm, didn't waver against his might.

Shinji took advantage of this delay in his would-be execution and used his sword to free himself of the light whips. Then, he grabbed the pole arm and swung it at Patolli, causing the elf to back off, despite the blade of the weapon being shorter than a regular pole arm; it was most likely the length of an average adult's head or at least a newborn's body, something small and not as intimidating as expected. Strange as it was, the weapon felt good in his hands, like it was meant for him to wield.

"Whoa," he expressed, holding its pole behind his head defensively as he and Patolli floated in the dome.

"It looks like you're just full of surprises, young Ikari," Patolli told him.

"Last chance, Patolli. Stop this conflict…or there will be repercussions we can't walk away from…please."

While a definite threat if left to persist, Patolli was moved by Shinji's desire to cease the conflict between them. But this was the only way to resolve the matter. One of them had to fall before the other and admit his defeat. It was the only way to settle the issue.

"I am sorry," he told Shinji, and charged towards him with his sword of light. "Aaaurgh!"

Shinji held the pole arm by the end of the shaft and swung it like a baseball bat against Patolli, hitting him against his chest, just missing the sword.

Bash! The pole arm struck Patolli with enough force that his spells were all negated, excluding the one needed to keep his magic in check by the Third Eye, but it also felt like his bones were affected by the attack.

However, he couldn't be sure unless he had used his magic. His grimoire had fallen to the ground along with him, no longer glowing.

Is this…Anti Magic? He wondered as he turned onto his back, looking up at Shinji as he descended from the air above. He…negated all of my attack and defense spells. What is he?

Shinji touched the ground and approached the fallen elf, moving his grimoire away just in case he was still able to put up a fight.

"Are you alright?" He asked Patolli, holding his weapon with caution. "Can you still move?"

"What are you waiting for?" Patolli responded. "You have me right where you want me. Do it. Finish me."

"No way, Patolli."

"I just tried to kill you in front of the Golden Dawn. They're bound to find out that their leader has been affiliated with an elf the whole time and will want me dead. You kill me, they'll probably give you an award for taking out the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Do it. You know you want to."

"You don't know what I want, Patolli. I don't want to kill you, even after you tried to kill me. And killing you isn't going to resolve anything. I really hate it when people think that the only way to resolve any situation is to kill whoever you believe is the cause of some pain and suffering. Murder solves nothing. It has never solved anything. It will never be the best solution to any terrible situation. If you're in such a rush to die, then pick up a knife or a use poison and take your own life, but be warned that suicide is a sin that is retribution of the worst sort. And I keep telling you, we can settle this without conflict."

"Not everyone believes as you do."

"Well, not everyone believes as you do, either. Why do you feel this is the only way to settle this feud that was caused by a demon that wanted to drive a wedge in between coexistence with humans and elves?"

"When so much time passes, you can't see past the possibility of coexistence between two races, no matter how much you may want to."

"Not even when the only way it ever happens is when members of both races put in the effort to understand and tolerate one another?"

"I was fifteen years old when I died. Forgive me if I can't see people setting aside their differences and forging new bonds with others."

"I am sorry you had to suffer the way you and the elves did, but causing other people pain will not alleviate your own. And desires of vengeance, wanting to win something at all costs, or even to try and bring back people that were killed at the cost of sacrificing other people…won't solve the problem that looking for a nonviolent means could."

Then, just when Patolli thought Shinji was going to do him in, he saw the boy pick up his grimoire and place it on his chest.

"What are you doing?" He questioned as he watched Shinji step back.

"Waiting for you to heal yourself so that you can stand up on your own," the Magic Knight answered him. "You probably have a bruised chest, so you need Healing Magic to remedy the injury. If you want to persist in conflict, I'll just echo my last move and injure you again and we'll be back to where we started…because no matter what you say, I won't kill you. Call me pathetic if you want to, but I won't kill another person unless I have absolutely no alternative…and I prefer alternatives over anyone's belief that a violent end justifies the means so long as the end result is justice or peace."

Patolli opened his grimoire and performed the spell necessary to recover.

"You're fighting a losing war over what others think is the best way to settle matters."

"When it's a war based on choices, any war is one where everyone loses if their beliefs or desires clash instead of blend in. The only way to win in any war…is not to succumb to someone else's beliefs when you favor your own. You stay true to your principles, regardless of what others think or feel, and no matter what happens to you…you won't lose, even when others believe you did. And…I walk a very thin line between letting a dangerous force out of its cage…and keeping it locked up where it can do no wrong."

"The giant found in Hage? The same one that you were found inside?"

"The Evangelion. Yes. It's an undesired piece of my past that I never want others to suffer because of. To let it out is to unleash a threat upon the world that I can live without seeing for the rest of my life."

"You fear something you can control?"

"The Eva isn't something you can actually control. As something intended for something else, it is the worst feeling to have something dangerous and can spell disaster for all. Basically, it tears me up inside having to remind myself constantly that I never want to see it unleashed. You'd think that after a few months of being a Magic Knight, I'd be past that."

"So, you have a devil all of your own?"

"In a way, yes. It's a…terrible heritage of sorts."

Patolli recovered and rose up.

"You inherited a devil?"

"Sort of."

"And it scares you?"

"What? People can get scared of something they know is dangerous."

"I don't find it remotely funny."

"Thank you. It's never funny to laugh at one's misfortune."

"And not once have you been reported to laugh at those that have experienced suffering. You're a moral person. You follow your heart and your conscience, no matter where they take you. I can see that the mana of the world adores you the most."

"I've only been a witness to magic for less than a year, whereas other people have seen it for years. I only see it as a form of make-believe back in my world. But here…I see its positive and negative actions and reactions. I've seen how far some people are willing to go in order to achieve something, and how some people behave as a consequence of what form of magic they can do or their background. There has been hardship and grief, happiness and loss, trials that test one's conviction and tenacity, and in a strange way…not everything is different from what I understand back in my world, just with magic instead of science. Wherever you go, you still manage to find the same types of people based on their behaviors, positive and negative. You see the average man, the fancy lady, the neighborhood bully, the politically ambitious suit, the happy family that has everything, the bitter guy that feels dissatisfied because he never got to achieve something, or the lonely lady that misses someone from her past, and others that exist wherever they are here. So, it's not all that different here."

"And you find life here similar to the life you had where your family was exiled to?"

"Yes. Similar…but only similar. Nothing is the exact same as what I understand."

Patolli sighed and conjured another sword of light, causing Shinji to hold his pole arm defensively in front of him.

"Patolli," Shinji uttered, "we're not enemies for wanting something others consider unrealistic. We're only enemies when we choose not to see another way to settle our differences."

"And what makes you think that you can apprehend the devil responsible for the massacre of my tribe?" He asked him.

"The fact that I believe in my squad, that I believe in Guardian of the Void…and that I believe in myself. No matter how strong the devil is, it's still just one enemy…and from what was learned recently with the razing of the Spade Kingdom, a devil is no match for Harbinger. To defeat a devil, it will take everyone at their strongest possible. To defeat Harbinger, it will take everyone at their strongest possible and more. Whatever magic a devil possesses is insignificant to whatever magic one has that comes from a place not fueled by cruelty…but from a place fueled by hope."

Patolli was reminded of the old story of how influential House Ikari was to people that were lost to their negative emotions.

"Because of their mastery of many forms of magic, their ability to combine different forms, any member of House Ikari, with a compassionate heart, could change the hearts of other people," Patolli heard from his father one time. "They were among humans with the most noble of hearts, unable to be swayed to those with intentions or beliefs they just couldn't conform to because they went against their morals."

"So, they were humans that were benevolent and incapable of being turned against their own beliefs?" He responded, confused at the time.

"If they were pressured to agree with others to drive someone away that did nothing wrong, they wouldn't bend to the desires of others unless they also saw reason to want them gone, but that was as rare as the sky turning red at night due to a great fire."

And looking at this member of the Ikari family, a young man that hadn't been around the Clover Kingdom for over a year yet…and was already becoming a powerful mage in his own right…and was inspiring other mages to get stronger, as well. Even as he fought against him, holding back every now and then, just to see how far he'd go to defeat him, there was no denying that Shinji was getting to the point where he would match and eventually exceed the magical prowess of the Magic Knight captains, who were second only to the Wizard King himself…or so he used to believe once upon a time. There were the mana levels of House Ikari's current matriarch and patriarch, and they were almost comparable to the ones possessed by more than thirty of the nobility's highest mages. If this boy wanted to one day, he could become the Wizard King and take control of the entire Magic Knight organization…but it seemed fate had other plans for him.

"You find this devil, the one that caused the death of my tribe…and it gets locked away in this Void place where it can't escape…and then we find a way to restore the Elf Tribe without harming the people," he spoke to Shinji, trying to see where he would go with this. "Yes?"

"Yes," Shinji replied.

Patolli sighed and made his sword of light disappear.

"How do you find a devil when they can't enter the mortal realm without the use of the magic stones belonging to the Elf Tribe?" He asked Shinji.

Shinji lowered the blade of the pole arm to his side and responded, "Not physically, but they can manifest a part of themselves in an incorporeal state, based on the memories we looked at belonging to Rhya, Vetto and Fana. Here in the Clover Kingdom, a devil will try to take possession of a four-leaf clover grimoire after the owner has become overcome with despair and vengeance, which corrupts the grimoire into a darker version that is separate from the Black Clover grimoires that existed and contained Anti Magic."

"Black Clover grimoires and grimoires possessed by devils both have five-leaf clovers?"

"According to Guardian, they're called Grimoires of Despair, and unlike a Black Clover grimoire, they can be returned to their previous, uncorrupted state by the original owner still being alive and is inspired to believe in hope once again."

"But what about the grimoire belonging to that member of the Black Bull squad? For as long as the Third Eye and I could determine, we believed that to be Licht's grimoire; he uses the Demon-Slayer and Demon-Dweller Swords. Licht's swords."

"The Black Clover grimoires periodically improve upon their Anti Magic spells with other spells from other grimoires as a foundation to act on. Whatever sword spells Licht possessed at the time, they would've been assimilated into the Black Clover grimoire owned by Asta, but he would have to put in the effort to use those spells for his own purposes; he can't imitate anyone else's efficiency with spells. And he'd receive Anti Magic versions of Licht's swords, not the originals owned by Licht at the time. If I gave Asta a small dagger and he imbued it with Anti Magic, it would be absorbed into his grimoire for a short time and then regurgitated after being fully replicated."

"So, then…his grimoire…isn't Licht's grimoire?"

"No, it isn't. Wherever Licht's grimoire is, Asta doesn't have it."

Patolli wanted to believe that this boy that people believed in the beginning to have no trace of magic had somehow gotten possession of Licht's grimoire. Now, he was being told that the grimoire he had wasn't even Licht's, just a five-leaf clover grimoire that represented this Anti Magic attribute that was a rarity in the world, just as rare as four-leaf clover grimoires. This revelation was enough to make him feel despair over the whole reason he was so full of contempt toward humans for what he had believed to be their fault, but to be told that it was all because of a devil that wanted to cause pain and death to the communities around it…and the potential promise of saving his people's souls and giving them a chance to live again…was enough to keep the despair at bay.

"You win, Ikari," he told Shinji, dropping to his knees. "You beat me."

"No, I didn't beat you," the Magic Knight replied. "I made a compromise with someone else, one that I have to make sure can be met after everything else has been all said and done. This isn't a victory. Not even a hollow victory. Find the devil responsible, lock it up in the Void, and then it becomes a victory one can talk about at a later time."

The dome around them began to disappear as Shinji's magic ceased supporting the spell he used.

The mana loves this young man the most, Patolli thought.

-x-

"What do you think, Guardian?" Suki asked the Anti Magic creature as they could see the dome dissipating.

"I think Shinji is stronger than most suspect when he uses words and a handshake instead of violence and irrational assumptions," he responded.

Tenshi went over to where the dome had been erected and saw Shinji two feet away from someone on their knees.

"Should I be concerned about anything here?" He asked Shinji.

"Nope," his nephew responded, "just two mages after a little dispute."

Tenshi was about to say something else when he noticed the pole arm Shinji had with him.

"I haven't seen that naginata in use since the days of your elder aunts, Kana and Mana," he told him, impressed with Shinji having it in his possession. "How is it?"

Shinji looked at the pole arm and responded, "Honestly, it's a bit heavy at the top."

"Well, it was forged from obsidian and steel with wood from an ancient cedar tree."

"So…what now?"

"Now? Now, there needs to be an explanation from Mr. Patolli of the Light and William Vangeance of the Golden Dawn, and from there, locating and dealing with the devil that manipulated the elves to act on vengeful desires."

"And what are the chances that this doesn't result in some people desiring an execution when there are better ways to resolve an issue?"

"The chances of that ever happening are slim because I'm part of the Magic Parliament and am unbiased towards other people. I won't seek execution."

"That's good."

-x-

"…I can't believe it!" Noelle yelled when she heard from Mimosa what had happened at the Golden Dawn headquarters.

"What happened?" Asta questioned, curious.

"There was an altercation between Shinji and the captain of the Golden Dawn…and it turns out the captain was an elf reincarnated!" She revealed.

"What?" Finral gasped; he couldn't believe that the respected leader of the most powerful squad in the kingdom was actually an elf. "No way. I mean, that's… That's ridiculous."

"There were dozens of Golden Dawn members there. They saw some of the fighting and saw the elf after it was over."

"Oh, dear," went Grey, hoping that Shinji was doing fine.

-x-

It was a bind now; the discovery that William Vangeance was a host to an elf spirit, literally a man with two souls in his body, and this caused some unrest within the Golden Dawn squad and with the Magic Parliament. There were those that wanted a deeper explanation to how and why this was so…and there were those that wanted to silence this revelation as much as possible and pretend it never happened.

"…An elf leading the Golden Dawn?"

"…Could the entire squad be compromised?"

"…What about the whole organization of Magic Knights?"

"…We have to protect the sanctity of the Magic Knights…"

"…William Vangeance must be dealt with…"

"…I heard one of those Ikaris fought the elf to submission…"

"…The boy didn't kill him, just like he wouldn't kill those other people that attacked…"

This was the talk of people that were either upset, afraid or just reacting to incomplete facts regarding the situation.

"So, how many people are demanding the elf be punished for his crimes?" Julius asked the leaders of the Silver Eagle and Crimson Lion squads in the capital, five days later.

"It's mostly the nobility," Nozel Silva explained.

"Except we can't condemn this Patolli without condemning Vangeance," Fuegoleon Vermillion added, "making this matter difficult to prosecute."

"And what do we know about this Patolli?"

"Only what Vangeance confided in both us and young Ikari."

Nozel frowned slightly at the mention of Shinji's recent involvement in the matter as they were going back to the dungeon where the Third Eye and William were being kept. It seemed that every time something escalated, these Ikaris were involved in one way or another.

"And he hasn't tried to escape from custody?" Julius questioned.

"No," Nozel answered; while it was true that they had the elf in custody, they couldn't contain him at all, as he was only in custody because he had made some sort of deal with the boy that defeated him without killing him. "I don't trust this elf not to do something when we least suspect. We should probably execute him and be done with this."

"And risk killing a man that is the leader of the Golden Dawn?" They heard a woman's voice as she appeared from the shadows, revealing herself to be Rika. "Must we really cross such a line?"

"What are you doing here?" Nozel demanded of her.

"Invited by the Wizard King," she expressed. "I have been developing new spells to help with this interrogation and tracking down the devil responsible."

"And…your grandson?" Julius asked her.

"Shinji has been…helping to train up two of his fellow squad mates in other areas," she stated; after the discovery of William Vangeance and Patolli of the Light being one and the same, Shinji had to stay away from the Golden Dawn and the capital until this matter was resolved thoroughly. "I'm still curious as to whether or not the Magic Parliament will be requesting him to answer other questions before they even have a full understanding of what to question."

"We're still days away from that happening…unless Kira makes a schedule change, that is."

Rika sighed and made a mental note to inform Tenshi that Damnatio Kira would have to be understood properly if he did do something.

"Please, lead the way," she told the leaders of the Magic Knights.

-x-

Swing! Shinji swung his new weapon in the wood outside Henry's house, venting his frustration over his restricted traveling. Swing!

Henry and Grey, looking to become stronger than they were previously, watched from a safe distance with Guardian and Suki, as Shinji brought the edge of his pole arm's short blade against the side of a nearby tree trunk, just inches away from the bark.

"I don't like feeling like he's being punished for his involvement," Suki expressed, albeit impressed by her nephew's interest in naginatajutsu.

"All he did was fight the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, right?" Grey questioned. "That shouldn't get him in trouble, though, even if he didn't hand him over to the government personally. It was the captain of the Golden Dawn that had asked to see him."

"This will get resolved within two more days," said Guardian, seeing the possibility of Shinji walking away from this matter. "There's still the devil and Harbinger to deal with."

"Your rivalry with the latter is the greatest one ever, huh?" Henry asked him.

"You have no idea."

"Urgh!" They heard Shinji grunt as he slashed a tree in half with the pole arm. "Uh…okay, I'm a little too angry over the restriction."

"You're angry, Shinji," Suki stated the obvious. "Be angry. You have a right to be angry. Hell, I'd be angry, too, if I couldn't go anywhere."

"Okay, who's ready to begin the lesson?"

Henry and Grey looked at each other, both getting cold feet over training with Shinji.

"Coin toss?" Suki asked Shinji.

"Coin toss!" He replied.

She took out a coin from her skirt's left pocket and presented it to the two Magic Knights.

"One of you has to get stronger than you are right now," she told them, flipping the coin in her left hand and then covered it. "Call it."

"Tails," Grey spoke up.

"Heads," Henry replied, and then Suki removed her hand from covering the coin, revealing the result of the toss.

"Tails is loss and the one that called it has to train with Shinji," she told them, and the coin showed a face representing heads, meaning Grey lost the toss. "Get out there, Grey."

"Ah…" The girl whined, not liking this.

"Why are you worried?" Guardian asked her. "The more you're able to tap into the mana of the world, the greater your Transformation Magic will become. You've already demonstrated your ability to change things other than your own appearance, and that's quite an amazing skill."

Grey went over to Shinji as he returned his pole arm inside his grimoire and took out his katana, stopping a feet away from him.

"At this point, you should be a Grand Magic Knight," she expressed her opinion to him.

"That would be impressive," he responded, "but that'd be too impressive. Not even a Magic Knight for a year yet, and I'm making a meteoric rise up the ranks. If they wanted to promote me after we dealt with the devil and Harbinger, however, I'd accept that."

"Why not desire to be the Wizard King one day?" Grey asked him. "You'd probably be a great one. Probably even the youngest."

"To be the Wizard King means having more responsibility than I can deal with right now. I already walked away from one type of responsibility that was more than it seemed because my parents kept secrets that were not good, and I'm still trying to bury the hurt. Being a Magic Knight right now, facing problems that occur outside the kingdom and inside it, trying to resolve them with as little violence as possible… I can live with that right now. Plus, I'm fifteen; the youngest Magic Knight captain is, what, nineteen, twenty? I'm not looking to get into the history books yet…or become a control freak like my father."

-x-

"…Ouch," went Asuka, feeling like Shinji meant what he said about his old man.

"Why, that insolent…" Gendo spoke, looking at the picture of Shinji with Grey.

"What, what are you going to do, renounce him just for speaking his mind about you?" Fuyutsuki asked him. "He's beyond your reach and adjusting to his life in the Clover Kingdom."

"He won't be adjusted when he discovers that his mother is the one that decimated another kingdom," Misato stated.

"If he ever finds out," Gendo retorts.

Rei turns to the next page in the album, seeing a photo of a younger Shinji playing a board game with his grandmother, aunt and uncle, looking like he was having a good time with them.

"He really did have a happy childhood when he was with them," she confirmed.

"I can't see how their age or physical conditions would make it impossible for them to look after him before they got back to the Clover Kingdom," Kaji expressed.

"Unexpected things happen," Gendo stated cryptically.

"I guess his resentment towards you for limiting his time with them was actually justifiable," said Ritsuko, looking at a photo depicting Rika with three men standing in front of a cell with two men inside. "What's going on here?"

-x-

Nozel had to admit that these Ikaris and their ability to use and combine multiple magic attributes was a lot more impressive than he hated to admit out loud. Not only was this strange spell of Rika's useful in interrogation, it resolved an issue with William Vangeance that they weren't sure how to handle.

"Body Creation Magic," Rika had called her spell when she used it on the Golden Dawn captain. "Revival of the Lost Soul."

Beside William was a second body that resembled the reincarnated elf Patolli, despite it looking more like an exact duplicate of Licht, but it was unresponsive, as though it were just for show.

"Soul Corpse Sealing Magic," Rika uttered another spell. "Channeling the Soul."

William's body glowed as something rose from him and was funneled into the duplicate body of Patolli, which now reacted as if stirring from a long slumber.

"How…is this possible?" Patolli spoke, looking at William, the Wizard King, the other two Magic Knight captains and Rika.

"Dabbling with different spells after researching old books," Rika explained.

"If you had said this was Reincarnation Magic, I'd believe you."

"Except Reincarnation Magic, at it lowest stage, brings back the soul of the deceased in someone else's body, not their own, and it's considered forbidden when not fully understood or accepted in society. So, Patolli of the Light…do you recognize me? Do you know who I am?"

Patolli looked at her and nodded in the positive.

"Rika Ikari," he greeted. "The current matriarch of House Ikari. The Elf Tribe considered your family to be the strongest of all known magic families, more so due to your tolerance of others that have no strong or impressive magic than your potent ability to use multiple forms of magic that, even to this very day, nobody else has ever been able to top."

"You fought with my grandson, Shinji. Why?"

"There was no other way to resolve the issue between the Clover Kingdom and the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Ever since your family returned and two of its members joined the Magic Knights, they and the Anti Magic boy were deemed a threat to my goal to revive the elves slain so long ago."

"You perceived Shinji, Suki and Asta to be a threat to your goal? None of them were even that strong yet, so how could they have been a threat to your goal?"

"If left alone to interfere, they would've gotten in the way."

"And yet, even if you faced off against them, they would've learned from the experience and gotten stronger as a result, making them a threat to you, no matter which way you chose to make a move on them. Surely, you could've handled the issue without unnecessary violence."

"Have you seen the people of today's society? They believe in might being right, that those with the most magic and authority will decide what's what. Even the Magic Parliament is compromised by royals and nobles that can't or won't demonstrate an ounce of mercy towards those that commit even the slightest infractions."

Rika sighed, knowing that he was right, but it didn't excuse his own acts of violence against the innocent people that had nothing to do with the massacre of the Elf Tribe.

"This is meaningless and getting us nowhere," said Nozel to them. "We should just hand him over to the parliament and let them decide his fate."

"No," Rika responded. "You know as well as anyone else that the majority of the parliament will just choose execution over any other non-lethal penalty he could serve. And he's just another victim of an unemotional and remorseless fiend that is still in hiding. We catch this devil, you can prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law to your heart's content before it gets condemned to the Void for good. But Patolli…should be off-limits for the time being."

"He's an elf that attacked the kingdom and should pay for his actions."

"He lives in the kingdom, so this isn't necessarily a form of terrorism as it is indirect violence and blame."

"He's only locked up of his own volition. What's to stop him from getting up and walking away from here?"

"His grimoire was confiscated from him when we brought him and Captain Vangeance in," reminded Fuegoleon; this was the same security procedure done to the other members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun and other suspected criminals to limit the risk of violence in detainment. "If any of them wanted to escape, they would've done so already."

"The Elf Tribe is not the enemy," added Rika. "The devil that orchestrated their massacre is."

"What do you suppose are the chances that we can find and apprehend the devil responsible, Lady Rika?" Julius questioned the matriarch of House Ikari.

"Patolli, exactly how many elves were present at the wedding of Licht and Tetia when the devil initiated the massacre?"

"There were more than a thousand the day of the massacre," Patolli revealed.

"And can you feel their souls lingering around the Clover Kingdom?"

"I can."

"What are you thinking, Lady Rika?" Fuegoleon asked her.

"Body Magic, Creation Magic, Soul Corpse Magic, Sealing Magic…and at least three of the magic stones belonging to the Elf Tribe," she explained. "Even if it takes a week, I want to bring back the Elf Tribe."

"You…you'd really do that?" Patolli questions her.

"I just brought you back in your own body. And it's not really recalling the dead if their souls were prevented from moving on."

Patolli thought about it…and it was true; it wasn't recalling the dead if the souls of the slain were kept from moving on. The devil that took their souls and suspended them in limbo made it so that they couldn't move on. It was probably why he didn't feel peace upon reviving in William's body and finding his reflection an exact duplicate of Licht's, the leader he admired so much. And now the matriarch of House Ikari was willing to bring back the fallen members of his tribe, something he had sworn to do once he had obtained the magic stones of his tribe.

"Do you trust her to be honest with her intentions, Patolli?" William asked him.

"She's never lied before," he responded. "I see no reason for her to lie now. Can you begin with the Third Eye?"

-x-

It was an unexpected turn of events in Shinji's training with Grey. All she did was pick up a fallen tree branch…and she turned it into an exact replica of his naginata. Her grimoire floated by and she saw that it was a new spell: "Magic Replica".

"Not bad, Grey," Shinji praised her as she copied his appearance. "You're getting better."

Guardian could see that Grey was getting better at tapping into deeper layers of her magic, but there was something holding her back from going further. Something that stemmed from somewhere in her past. Whatever it was, it was an obstacle she would need to overcome in due time if she was to move forward as a Magic Knight and as a person.

"Whatever is holding you back, Grey, bury it and move on," he told her. "You're a Magic Knight! You can inspire others to be more than just people!"

-x-

"…It doesn't look like the Shinji is doing too bad," Asuka said as she looked at the photo of him and this Grey woman that had a similar appearance to Rei, only not as sickly and more embarrassed by people looking at her, imitating him to some degree.

"That's one way of looking at it," went Kaji, looking at a different picture that depicted Yui in her high school years in front of a chemistry set, her eyes like scalpels as she seemed less interested in what was happening around her than she was interested in what she was doing in front of herself. "So far, I've only seen four of them with a view on magic that is very enthusiastic and accepting of its benefits toward society…but Yui doesn't seem to exhibit any of their passion towards magic. She's either by herself or with that creature she met in the dungeon…and always doing something else."

Under the photo was another photo depicting Yui in her little hideaway, looking down at a man that was strapped to a gurney.

"What is she doing to that man?" Misato questioned, noticing that the woman was holding a scalpel in her left hand and a tube in her right…and the man's mouth was gagged. This is wrong. What she's doing is…really, really wrong.

Even Gendo was curious, but wondering what Yui might've been doing that warranted what he assumed to be a variation of the illegal human experimentation that would've given her either a lengthy prison term to serve…or, if what she did was so unethical and unforgivable, she would receive the death penalty for her actions. And then, he saw her cut the man just over his exposed chest and inserted the tubing.

"I'm beginning to think that Yui has become anything but what she was expected to be by the people she distances herself from," Fuyutsuki expressed.

"Or maybe she hasn't changed in the slightest, despite being in a new environment," Gendo suggested; it was unlikely that his wife would conform to society the way their son had due to the influence of their relatives.

-x-

Even as the sun went down, Tenshi found himself unable to rest due to the unnecessary degree of restriction placed on his nephew after the defeat of Patolli and the revelation that he and William Vangeance were two people in one body due to a reincarnation spell used long ago. So, as the night went by, he stood in his room, generating runes in thin air as he tried to augment his Spatial Magic through the Mana Method developed by the Heart Kingdom. He hadn't used it in such a long time that he was rusty, but it was not that different from learning swordsmanship or riding a bike; once you learn, it's not so easy to forget. Gathering his thoughts together, four arrays of runes had materialized around him on the floor as he focused on a spell from his grimoire in front of him.

"Mana Method: Spatial Time Magic: Gateway to the Present Days," he uttered, and a portal opened up in front of him. "Show me what is going on back in Japan."

The spatial rift showed him the present of the nation. Buildings were either being made or were still half-sunken in the flooded coastal areas, people going to work as they normally did, children going to school, the library, playing video games, going to the movies to watch a new film, dating, and he gazed upon the would-be fortress city of Tokyo-3…and its underbelly, the Geo-Front…with its people down there.

That's odd, he thought as he tried to reach into the portal. It doesn't appear that so much as a week or two have gone by over there while we've been here.

Looking past the metallic pyramid that was NERV HQ, Tenshi observed an office that was massive, dark, these strange symbols etched into the floor and ceiling, and some people gathered around a desk. Suddenly, one of them, a young woman with red hair, turned around and looked at him, allowing him to see that it was that Soryu girl that his nephew had mentioned to him.

"Hey, look over there!" She gasped, pointing at him, and everyone else looked over to see him.

"You can see me?!" He asked them.

"Where's the Third Child?" Gendo asked him, which made Tenshi frown.

"Your sister, Yui, is not doing good," went Fuyutsuki to the patriarch. "She's…"

Suddenly, the portal closed, and Tenshi fell to his knees, feeling exhaustion in his body.

"Dammit," he panted, "I am rusty. But I was close. Closer than I've ever been. I need to do this in a Grand Mana Zone; the additional mana there will supply power to the spell needed to achieve the grand feat of opening a way back."

Even though his attempt was a failure, it showed him the flaws where he needed to correct his mistakes. And he learned that not too much time had gone by since they returned to the Clover Kingdom, meaning that Shinji wouldn't be out of touch with anyone when he could go back, except with his father, who disgusted him with his question on his whereabouts and not using his name. Fortunately, Tenshi had a warrior's patience; he knew where to draw the line and not cross it. Self-control enabled him to have no issues with his lack of success so long as he continued to demonstrate restraint.

That man that was Yui's mentor, he thought, recognizing Kozo Fuyutsuki from Yui's memories. What was he trying to say to me? They could see me…but what were they looking at on that desk? Who was not doing good? I could barely hear their voices, but he seemed to be aware of something. I need to acquire more information.

To be continued…

A/N: I'd be giving too much away if I was to have Tenshi know who was becoming antagonistic, but he, just like Shinji and Rika, has restraint and will learn in due time. What did you think of Rika's decision to bring back the Elf Tribe by creating their bodies and channeling their suspended souls into them? And who out there believes that Shinji was being unjustly reprimanded just for defending himself against Patolli and not crossing the line to murder him? Read and review whenever you can until the next chapter.