Creation began on 09-03-24
Creation ended on 03-28-25
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Grimoire of Evangelion: Pondering
A/N: We ponder each day, about many things: People, events, the past and future, our relationships. But what do we ponder about them that takes precedence over all else?
Maybe it was the most personal question to have ever been asked, but it was the reason they were sitting in front of Guardian of the Void, within the Void itself, looking at the small fire that burns in front of them.
"What did Harbinger do to you to put you both on opposite sides of the order that exists between you two?" Suki had once asked Guardian, which made the Anti Magic creature sigh, most likely because it was personal.
"What Harbinger did," Guardian speaks up to the four Ikaris and the Black Bull squad, "wasn't so much directed at me as it had been directed towards his own intentions. But in truth, it was to show how heartless and soulless he truly was and continues to be to this very day. Before I was Guardian of the Void, before I ever met House Ikari…I had a family of my own once in a time before time."
This was a revelation they didn't expect to hear.
"There were my parents, my life partner, my three siblings, even my grandfather. We each had a calling, something to drive us, to give our lives meaning and purpose…except for me at the time; I had yet to find mine. And then a drifter came crawling one day. Harbinger, before we knew who and what he truly was. He thought we were simple-minded…and hazardous to what he believed was the whole of existence…simply because we were alive. He toyed with us first when he showed his true colors, trying to force me to decide…which order we would all die in."
"That's horrible," Rika says to him.
"It's depraved," Captain Yami expresses.
"When he murdered my little brother, killing all of my siblings," Guardian continues, "I was going to kill him before he could kill my mother…when I received my calling in that moment of reckless vengeance. I saw the possibility of my own downfall after impaling him in his back with a broken off piece of one of his horns…and my spouse saw it, too…and made a choice that, to this very day, I still grapple with living with."
Waving his left claw in front of the fire, Guardian shows them all a memory of his past, seeing Harbinger, prior to his post-Dark Triad devil consumption and evolution, back when he had the boa-like appendage wrapped around his neck, with part of his left horn broken off, impaled in his back, about to rip Guardian's head off his body…and then being forced to bear witness to a feminine-looking version of Guardian, his partner, his spouse, push him aside and lose her head in front of him.
Grey covers her mouth in grief while Charmy puts down her meat shank with a solemn expression on her face.
As the memory continued to play out, Shinji saw as Harbinger had kicked Guardian aside and slaughtered the remaining members of his family, leaving him as the sole survivor before fleeing after his father had lodged a piece of one of his own bones into his neck before having his own neck snapped like a twig, swearing that when he returned for Guardian, he would do away with him, too. The memory fades from view with Guardian forced to cremate their remains before setting off on his path of vengeance against Harbinger.
"I wasn't even the equivalent of what humans would refer to as being in my thirties at the time, but Harbinger taught me vengeance and how far one had to be willing to go for it," Guardian tells them.
"Psychotic," Tenshi utters. "Harbinger is megalomaniacal, remorseless, unemotional, narcissistic, and genocidal. This Harbinger of Death and Destruction is a monster among the worst kind and needs to be put down."
"Trust me, you're not the first person to want Harbinger put down for his crimes, and you may not be the last person to want that, either. And worse, many devils in the Void feel that Harbinger is a great threat, even when all of their powers were neutralized. But I fear that Harbinger has become more dangerous now due to the number of devils he has devoured. If he's consumed all but the weaker devils, including the majority of those associated with the Tree of Qliphoth, then it's going to take a multitude of miracles combined with Anti Magic to put him back in the Void."
"Then we'll forge our multitude of miracles," Rika says to him. "You said that he hasn't been able to heal from that injury you inflicted upon him on the neck, and he's looking for the Time Magic Devil to permanently regenerate from it, right? The next time we face him, we'll have the edge and wear him out."
"How do you suppose we do that?" Noelle questions.
"The majority of his magic powers are all stolen and combined with his own magic power to eradicate whatever stands in his way, but because of his Anti Magic-based injury, he can't use his stolen power to their fullest extent. He's forced to do so in moderation."
"Because he can't endure so long as he has a handicap," Shinji realizes, "and trying to keep all of those different powers contained within his body must be a struggle for him."
"He's basically as Guardian himself once stated," went Suki. "He's a container that's been broken and pieced back together. He doesn't have the same degree of endurance that he used to. If he wants to be restored to his true strength, he needs the Time Magic Devil."
"But so long as he can't find it," went Rika, "he's left with trying to hold all of that magic power within himself constantly, unable to keep it contained."
"It will seep out every time," adds Tenshi. "Even if we were to try and force him to exert himself with hit-and-run tactics, he'll likely still have plenty of power to spare because he devoured more devils in the underworld."
"Even so," Shinji expresses, "he's still just one creature…and we're a squad of Magic Knights and some of the strongest mages we know of in the Clover Kingdom."
Shinji mainly says this because, in his mind, it is the truth; the Black Bulls were among the strongest of Magic Knights he has ever seen by far, and they only got stronger since he and Suki joined them, and when he included his grandmother and uncle, two of the strongest mages he had ever seen, they already seemed like a force to be reckoned with by any that threatened them. And Harbinger was indeed just one creature, operating on his own terms, teamed with his mother, who had her own agenda…and even if they were working together, they were clearly similar to people with different ideas on how to do things, which puts them at odds from time to time. There was only so much that two individuals could do as a team, and Shinji couldn't call his mother and Harbinger a team. Not a team, not even partners, just a pair of loathsome cretins that despised everything and everyone in the world that exists, and waning only to put an end to them and remake the world to their liking.
-x-
"…It looks like things are calming down over there," went Kaji to Misato as they and the others look down at the photo album, seeing only scenes of Shinji, his grandmother, uncle, or aunt in various situations that had nothing to do with his mother, either working with the Black Bull's members, wandering around on missions of a lesser sort, or gathering information for later use. "Just another calm between storms."
"But for how long?" Misato questions, looking down at a photo of a younger Shinji with an older Rika, making cookies in a kitchen. "How long until Shinji's mother decides to go after him by targeting the people he loves because he rejected her beliefs on how people in that world should live? Or worse, she goes after other people because she feels like it has to be done? Or…she just forces him to make a choice that he's uncomfortable with making because it won't be what she wants from him at all?"
Asuka looks at the photo of the younger Shinji with his grandmother, seeing the happy child that had no positive connection with his mother or father, but still had other relatives that actually wanted to be with him, seeing his little smile, envying him a little because he had other people in his childhood that actually… If his mother drives him to choose between the life he had here in Tokyo-3 as nothing more than an Evangelion pilot…and the life he has over there as a Magic Knight, only Gott knows what choice Shinji was likely to make, and it doesn't sit well with most of them. It was only because of his mother's reclusiveness that they were unable to ascertain whether or not Shinji would be forced to choose between returning or leaving; if he chooses the former, that wouldn't be a serious deal, at least not to some of them, because they would have three pilots again to face the Angels when they made their choice to attack again in the future…and if he chooses the latter, it was likely they would never see or hear from him again. But if he did choose the latter, it would only affect those that would have to live with his absence…and all because of a woman that wanted him to do things he was uncomfortable with doing for her own benefit.
She touches the photo…and sees a brief glimpse of Shinji, as he was now, laying down in his room at the Black Bull HQ, his eyes dull with a sense of bitterness.
He looks so miserable, she thinks as she looks over at a desk where his grimoire lays, open to the pages revealing Evangelion Unit-01, looking more like a monster than a heroic figure of sorts. I think I'm starting to see why he hates it so much.
A large shadow looms over her, and she turns around to see the creature that was with him much of the time, serving as a sort of guardian to him.
"Do you, really?" It questions her. "Can you really see…why he hates it so much?"
Before she can respond, she finds herself back in Ritsuko's office with everyone except Gendo, and sighs before turning to the next page in the album.
"Did you see something, Asuka?" Misato asks her.
"Only Shinji looking miserable," she answers as she looks down at the new page of pictures, seeing the younger-looking Rika Ikari sitting beside the girl that Shinji helped to rescue from his mother, who seemed to be struggling with an issue she had.
-x-
Mimosa Vermillion had made a complete recovery, but was uncertain of whether or not to return to the Golden Dawn after what Yui did to her…and for the curse that was on her that had yet to do anything.
Rika, sitting beside her on her right at the hospital, sympathizes with the young lady; it was often difficult to return to anyplace that had been changed emotionally due to an attack or some sort of trauma that had been inflicted upon you.
"The Golden Dawn is taking precautions to ensure that what happened over there at their base doesn't happen again," she tells Mimosa. "Everyone is on high alert to keep watch for signs of Yui. Even Tenshi is making sure she doesn't return, not that we don't believe she'll even try to."
"Why wouldn't she?" Mimosa asks her.
"Before she left the Golden Dawn, she discarded her Magic Knight robes in favor of a white coat. In a way, that white coat of hers represents her resignation from the Magic Knights and her return to acting on her own interests as an independent force."
"I still don't understand why she doesn't just… What does she hope to gain from doing these horrible things to everyone? A world without magic? That's not a reasonable goal to achieve in a world where magic is everything. She's like…some twisted lady version of what Asta could've become, only everything she does, she tries to rationalize it and claim it's for the good of the people when it isn't. Not when the people she did go after with Harbinger are either dead or…"
Dead or homeless refugees. Despite this being what Mimosa was trying to say, she wasn't sure how to say such a thing.
"I wouldn't call Yui a female version of Asta," Rika says. "Asta is still young, a believer of righteousness and the integrity of those that do right by others. And Anti Magic is magic that can be used to help others. It negates the magic of others that aim to do harm to others, but it can't take magic away from anyone that possess it…and Yui doesn't exhibit any qualities of Anti Magic, whatsoever."
"Meaning she can't use it like the rest of you that can have?"
"Or she has never felt she has to study it or develop it. As a consequence, however, she squanders her potential by limiting herself to what she knows or chooses to specialize in."
"It's mostly metals and the human body."
Rika looks at Mimosa in revelation; knowing of this helps to understand what kind of magic her youngest daughter chose to specialize in.
"Blood Magic? Bone Magic? Skin Magic? Body Magic? Steel Magic? Iron Magic?"
"Yes. Chemicals, too."
"That would make sense now, given her choice of scientific methods."
"But Harbinger… I heard he has acquired more forms of magic from the devils that dwell in the underworld, making himself more dangerous. How can he access multiple attributes…while Yui only chooses the ones she wants to work with?"
"It's all a matter of preference, Ms. Vermillion. Harbinger has recently demonstrated powers he didn't have until he decided to take them from someone that did, but probably only has a rudimentary grasp on such abilities."
"As in, he only uses these stolen powers at a basic level?"
"Some of them…and most of the time. It's also possible that he only uses the stolen powers to reinforce himself due to the Anti Magic-based injury he hasn't recovered from…or rather, he can't recover from, which would imply that, however strong he has become over the short period of time since his escape from the Void, he's still handicapped due to being unable to use his power for prolonged periods."
"And he can't use Healing Magic at all?"
"If anyone he's taken magic away from to use as his own possessed the power to heal, he hasn't demonstrated it at all. It's likely possible that Yui herself doesn't demonstrate Healing Magic abilities, either, which would make no sense for someone like her to not have."
"How come?"
"She stresses that she is a scientist, but certain scientists practice the art of healing others from what ails them, gaining the designation of doctors. Even a scientist with access to magic would have to have a degree of expertise in the art of healing. A doctor, a medical practitioner, even a mage with basic healing skills. Someone that lacks the ability to heal is just…"
"Strange?"
"Yes."
Even so, this didn't help to ease Mimosa's anxiety about returning to the Golden Dawn HQ. In addition to this, she wouldn't be useful even if she did return. She didn't have her grimoire, which had been away taken from her by Yui for some twisted purpose of hers, and she wasn't sure when or if she would ever regain it. Holding her hands up in front of her, imagining it in her possession once more, it just felt unusual to no longer have it, like she had lost a part of herself. She wonders if it was the same for other mages that lost their grimoires.
Rika can sympathize with her uneasiness about her stolen grimoire. It was the worst feeling to have, and the second worst feeling being that you would never get it back. You would do just about anything to have it back. Anything.
"Mother," they both hear Tenshi as he arrives to see them. "Miss Vermilion."
"Tenshi," Rika replies, but then notices her son's expression was that of an irritable person's. "You look like someone rubbed you the wrong way."
"I was hoping you could talk Shinji out of something he aims to do later," he says.
"Which is?"
"Although it is not considered a priority to do so, yet, Shinji wants to go back to his mother's hideaway to retrieve Ms. Vermillion's grimoire. I tried to talk him out of it, explaining that Yui may be expecting him to show up again, but he responded with the belief that, as a Magic Knight, he and everyone else that chose this profession has an obligation to make sure other Magic Knights are able to serve and protect the Clover Kingdom to the best of their abilities, and in order to do so, they need their grimoires. Personally, I think it's because he feels guilty that his mother hurt Ms. Vermillion the way she did, and he wants to right a wrong his mother won't do herself, and…"
"It's not considered a priority?" Mimosa cuts him off, wanting to make sure she understands correctly. "Getting back my grimoire isn't a priority for the Magic Knights?"
"Not yet, at least," he responds.
"Why?"
"That Tokyo-3 replica city is a no-go zone first up, and second…we don't have permission from the person the stolen property belongs to in order to act."
"If your nephew needs my permission to act, then he has my permission to act," Mimosa says, which surprises Rika to hear. "Does my permission make it a priority to do now?"
Tenshi looks at her, then at Rika, who simply nods in compliance, and then he faces Mimosa again, sighing.
"Yes," he answers her, nodding his head. "Yes, it does now. It looks like trying to talk Shinji out of it is now…moot?"
"Tenshi, it was moot from the very beginning," Rika tells him. "A Magic Knight needs their grimoire, otherwise they can't protect and serve the kingdom to the best of their ability."
Tenshi nods in understanding and then informs Mimosa that the Golden Dawn HQ has been checked from top to bottom and every precaution has been taken to ensure that, should she ever choose to return, Yui would be unable to trespass upon the premises if she ever made the choice to attempt such. And if she did…he would have to go to extremes to apprehend her and bring her in to face the people that would want her dealt with severely.
-x-
Shinji wasn't sure when it started, but he could barely stand the sight of his own reflection when he looks in mirrors. It was like, every time he did, he would see either his mother or father staring back at him, uttering nothing but how disappointed they were with his choices, his ambitions, and everything in between.
"You know," he hears Suki say, standing at the door to his room, "you can get wrinkles and crow's feet due to stress."
Turning to face her, he asks, "Speaking from experience or from an article you read?"
"Both. Are you sure you want to go back there, Shinji?"
"Yeah. If it comes to it, I'll tear the pages out of my grimoire and burn them in front of her to show that I'm erasing the most unbearable part of the past that she had a hand in causing. How do you think she'll feel once the one thing that actually matters to her is no longer around to obtain, throwing her off?"
"If it's all she really does care for, I want to see her idea of hope become despair. But honestly, Shinji, and this is just me saying this… I don't want to see you become a hollowed-out version of yourself because of what your mother has chosen to do with her life here. Believe me, as much as I want for her to pay for her crimes, and I do want for her to pay for her crimes, you being made to pay a much higher price in order for her to lose everything as she faces the consequences…is a scary thought."
Shinji nods his head in understanding. It was not something he wished to experience…but he was willing to throw his life away if his mother tries to take the lives of these three people he values above his own. Whatever it takes to stop her. Still, he doesn't wish to go down that dark road Guardian of the Void met him on in his dreams when they met for the first time.
"You've been down that road, Shinji," he told him when they met, and he looked down the dark, rainy night street they had been on. "Time and time again. And you know exactly where it ends…and it's not where you want to be again."
But now, he saw himself on that same stretch of road, at night, in the cold rain, but there was a new element to the scenario: His parents…and Harbinger…and the Eva. They were on one side of the road, the one that leads down a darkness he couldn't see through, even with a flashlight…and on the other side of the same road…there was Rika, Tenshi, Suki and Guardian of the Void. Even in the darkest, most unexplored corners of his inner world, Shinji would try desperately to hold on to what he felt was representative of his humanity…and what he feels was now a representation of what was what it meant to be inhuman…and inhumane in every aspect. He wanted to go down the road to his maternal grandmother, uncle, aunt and the ancient beast that had a past that intertwined with one of his ancestors and has been with the family ever since…but he would feel that discomforting fear from his parents with each second he spent on the mere thought of leaving them to their fate, that they would do everything in their power to make the rest of his life feel as bitter and empty as they possibly could.
"In what way, Suki?" He asks his aunt.
"In that way," she answers, cryptic…but not so blunt with him.
Whenever she would tell him those words, "in that way", it was meant to imply exactly to what Shinji was feeling at the time.
"Or worse," she says, "how Aang felt in the episode where he confronts the Sandbenders that took Appa. That fury is…an unbearable one from a place where anger can cloud your morals."
Of course, Suki would use Avatar on Shinji; they and Tenshi had great admiration for the series. And it was one of those cartoons that you could learn from due to the lore that was built from drawing from other aspects of life and infusing it into the fictional world that draws you in. But Suki…Suki had this way of getting in Shinji's head that some of the other women in his past were simply unable to due to factors most couldn't grasp; she was among his longest established relationships with a woman, a relative who showered him with love and affection when he needed it most…and was oftentimes just there to be an ear willing to listen to his issues or waste personal time over insignificant things.
"Anger," he replies. "It's often the easiest feeling to feel…but often the most toxic to one's heart and soul."
"While our family name can mean such, it doesn't have to be who we are deep down. We can be…humble…protective…conservative…or just be who we want to be."
"I already know what I want to be."
"Which is?"
"A good mage. Like the ones I look up to."
"They must be pretty impressive to you for you to want to get to their level."
"Every day, I'm reminded of how far they've gotten…and how much further I need to go."
"How many mages…and how good are they to have inspired you?"
"Three. More than ten when you include the squad."
"And do I have any competition among any of them?"
"Trust me, Suki, you're already among the best of them."
-x-
To Gendo and Fuyutsuki, it seemed like Yui was implementing her own version of the Human Instrumentality Project, but they each have to wonder why she was trying to implement such an extreme in a world that wasn't even in any danger from the Angels each time they saw a photo depicting her in her NERV HQ replica lair. For Gendo, each time he saw tiny bits and pieces of his wife committing acts that were doing nothing but driving a greater wedge in between herself and their son, not that it seemed to matter to her now that she made her intentions of disposing her other relatives known to him, and for Fuyutsuki, he fears that Yui was only doing this all to prove that she could pull it off, even when it was unnecessary for her to do so in a world that wasn't hers, that she didn't belong to…and could leave whenever she desired.
"I don't understand what she aims to achieve from this," Fuyutsuki utters. "All she's done is push her son away."
"Even if she's stopped and apprehended," went Misato, "there's doubt in any reconciliation between her and Shinji…or any of them."
"Ouch," adds Kaji in response to hearing this. "Parents that can't or won't reconcile with their kids are among the worst."
Rei looks at a picture of Yui sitting on the floor in a room that actually resembles Gendo's office, minus the desk and inscriptions on the ceiling and such, and wonders what she's thinking about in that instance while, just across from her in the room, Harbinger was crouched on the floor with several bone tendrils protruding from his back like spider legs.
"There's bitterness," she says.
"What do you mean?" Asuka questions her.
"This woman, Ikari-Kun's mother, has bitterness towards the rest of her family that he has sided with against her. There's nothing she won't do to possess him."
"Even when she knows she's wrong?" Misato asks Rei.
"She may believe that her way is the only way that matters," Rei states.
Misato turns to the next page in the photo album and sees an old picture of Shinji with Suki on a day that appears to be Valentine's Day, because he was giving her a heart-shaped pink box. Beside the picture on its right, she sees a picture of Shinji standing in front of the Tokyo-3 replica city with his uncle, aunt and Guardian of the Void, on his face was an expression of angst or anger. She touches the photo…and finds herself standing beside the quartet, in front of the replica city…and Shinji turns to face her.
"You're here again," he says to her.
"And you're here again (she gestures to the replica city)," she replies.
"I'd ask if you know what my mother is doing, but you probably don't know, either, besides the fact that you told me she's making Evas."
"Looking through the photo album of your grandmother's like a story or movie, Shinji; there are always parts missing, so you can't see everything. The last I saw of her, however, was that she was in a room identical to your father's office, but without the furniture and inscriptions…with that creature."
"Harbinger," went Guardian, showing that they all could see the woman.
"Is she expecting anyone?" Suki asks Misato.
"I don't believe so, but if this is her domain, she's likely expecting anyone to just show up unannounced. Why are you here?"
"This…is a personal mission," Tenshi states.
"This…could be what she's expecting from you four, you know. Nobody really knows what she's up to, but we all know that it's not good."
"The only leverage we really have is that godforsaken Eva she used to reside in," Shinji tells Misato, showing his former guardian his grimoire's pages containing Unit-01 in the form of a spell. "I'm willing to destroy the Eva for good if it means she doesn't get what she's after."
Taking this opportunity to say what she needs to say to Shinji, Misato responds, "Shinji…some of us are questioning your judgment on what you'll do if your mother goes too far and forces you to make a choice you may not…fully understand."
Closing his grimoire, Shinji replies, "Who thinks she hasn't gone too far to make me choose something I may not understand now?"
"Well, um…your father being one of us."
"Bad example there, Misato."
"Asuka and Rei?"
"And what kind of choice do they think I'll make regarding my mother?"
"Well…that you'll…choose to stay here in this world if it means defeating her."
The way Shinji looks to her, the solemn expression on his face, Misato gets the impression that Shinji…has more or less been considering this possibility. This and the fact that he didn't respond so quickly to her when she mentions it.
"Are you comfortable with making such a choice?" She asks him.
"If it ever comes to that," he utters, "only if it does mean she doesn't get whatever it is that she's after here by threatening the people of this world. This is their world, and someone like my mother, despite her claims, despite her heritage and whatever legacy she actually wants to leave behind…doesn't belong here if she's going to complain about everything she chooses not to accept and be difficult to contend with."
Misato isn't sure if she could handle Shinji choosing to stay in this world of magic. Even if it was to stop his mother, there would be other things he would need to consider, such as dealing with the Angels when they returned. If they were even to return. But Shinji…before his mother showed her true colors and intentions…was seemingly happy after becoming a Magic Knight, no longer required to pilot the Eva, something his mother appears adamant about forcing him back into alongside his father, based solely on her own suspicions of his parents. If staying in this world means never having to pilot the Eva again, does Misato dare try anything to guilt trip him back to the previous world he lived in…or rather…just occupied space in because of his lack of roots anywhere other than with his relatives that actually gave him the time of day every time he saw them in his childhood?
Does she dare to take him away from this life he has here?
"Be careful, Shinji," she tells him.
"I'm a Magic Knight, Misato," he responds. "Danger is an occupational hazard that comes with the job. But hey, if you manage to find a way back here again, bring that man with you so he can see what kind of person his wife really is."
His grimoire floats besides him on the left, and he pulls out a naginata from within the pages, surprising Misato that he could extract such a weapon from the book before walking into the replica city, followed by Suki and Tenshi.
Guardian stays behind to look at Misato, who is, without a doubt, intimidated by him.
"I am…beginning to see a bit more of what attracted Shinji to the Black Bull based on looking at you," he says. "I have been around people in the past, time and again, but rarely around women that possess promiscuity."
"Somehow, I knew I was gonna have to hear that from someone here. I just expected it to be from his grandmother, uncle, or even his aunt."
"Expect the unexpected, ma'am."
"Yeah."
"Unpredictability is what makes life unpleasant…and at the same time, remarkable."
Guardian then follows after the three, leaving the woman alone.
"…If you manage to find a way back here again, bring that man with you so he can see what kind of person his wife really is," she repeats Shinji's suggestion to herself. Shinji actually wants me to bring his father around here to see his mother? If his father were to see his mother, maybe it would make her see reason and turn away from this madness she's committing. Maybe.
-x-
"…I'm surprised you came to see me again," Mimosa says to her brother as he came by the hospital to visit her again.
"Believe me," went Kirsch to her, "with the way things currently are, most Magic Knights have nothing but free time on their hands to do other things. The Diamond Kingdom is trying to rebuild their desecrated territories with help from the Ikari family matriarch. The Heart Kingdom is preparing for the eventuality that an attack is coming to their door. And the Spade Kingdom is… Well, the refugees are wondering when they'll be able to return to their homeland."
"I hope they can return home in due time, but because of Yui Ikari, that goal is only words until action is put into it."
"Tell me, did you really give the other members of House Ikari permission to go retrieve your stolen grimoire from that disgrace to witches everywhere?"
"It was Tenshi who brought it up, and it was his nephew that was seeking permission to go retrieve it for me."
Kirsch looks at Mimosa with eyes full of confusion.
"The youngest member that joined the Black Bull…sought out your permission to retrieve something of yours that his mother stole from you?" He asks her.
"That's right," she answers him. "Is it that much of a surprise to you? That Shinji chose to go back to that awful place his mother built in place of the Spade Kingdom to take back my grimoire and return it to me?"
"What's surprising is that he actually wanted to do this. It's surprising that he defeated Rades Spirito without harming him, joined the Black Bull when he could've joined one of the other squads that have more promise, like the Golden Dawn or Crimson Lion, faces off against a reincarnated elf that hid as the leader of the Golden Dawn captain… I honestly don't get these Ikaris. Four of them are clearly on the side of the kingdom, but one of them is out to get everyone else because she can't stand being around people that use magic in their everyday lives. She let out a creature that another creature associated with House Ikari was keeping locked away in another dimension where it couldn't escape…and used it to ravage the Spade Kingdom, enemies and civilians, just to replace it with a mockery of a city that her son once lived in and can't stand to see around here… What is her deal, anyway?"
"Yui is a twisted woman. I think out of all the current relatives of House Ikari, she's the only one that is malcontent with all things relating to magic. And yet, she is the one that drove a wedge between herself and her son, who takes his oath as a Magic Knight to heart when he made his decision to join the military order. From what Tenshi and his mother told me, Shinji has a cruel destiny that he's trying to break away from because of his parents' twisted behaviors regarding their individual manipulations of him in the past."
"His parents…manipulated him? A cruel destiny? What, did they want him to destroy the world or something?" Kirsch tries to joke, but Mimosa's deadpanned look to him spoke volumes that his joke was not only sour…but to the bone. "But that's… Who would actually want their son…or any child, for that matter…to do something like that?"
"As far as they can determine…so far, it's only Shinji's parents. I've never met his father, but from what Tenshi confided in me about him, he's not a nice person; he actually shot him recently because he made a demand that Tenshi couldn't perform; who shoots their own in-law demanding their son be returned to them?"
"That is terrible. But Shinji and them… I mean, going back to that city to retrieve your grimoire… Do you actually believe they can do it?"
Mimosa sighs and replies, "I have no choice but to believe in them. But for Shinji, it's personal because it's his mother that took my grimoire. A woman that hates magic using magic in order to get rid of magic? It sends a violent message to everyone that someone is trying to end their way of life out of disgust and hatred towards the way we live. Her son has grown up hearing fables of the Clover Kingdom and was told that this place was real, and once he gets here, he's easily impressed by the mere fact that there are people here that can do the things his grandmother and uncle told him they could do because of magic. It's uncommon for someone to be capable of magic…only to despise it for simply being a common aspect of our existence. If anything, Yui Ikari is a dark alternative to what Asta could've been like if he decided to hate magic because other people could use it except for him."
"But according to the Ikari matriarch, Asta's Anti Magic is considered a form of magic that is ancient and the opposite of everyone else's magic, right? That's what Noelle told you, right?"
"Yes…and how, with further progression, Asta could become one of the best Magic Knights. As far as I can tell, only he, Shinji, Suki and Tenshi are capable of Anti Magic; I haven't seen Lady Rika use Anti Magic yet in the time I've met her. And Yui…"
"May not demonstrate any interest in learning how to use it?"
"Yeah."
Kirsch then shudders at the possibility of Yui being capable of Anti Magic, but only to further her agenda, whatever it may include, to remove magic from the world, something he couldn't bear to see happen at all.
"Still, do you believe in her son?" He asks Mimosa. "Do you believe in Shinji Ikari?"
"Yes," she answers him, "I do."
-x-
"…You honestly think I would bother to believe that, just because you were able to contact the Third Child through this picture book," went Gendo in disbelief to Misato, "that I can do the same?"
"All I can tell you is that Shinji suggested that you look at the person your wife has become if I could bring you over there, even for just a moment," Misato tells him. "I saw him several times now, and he's aware that we're monitoring him through the album. He knows what his mother is doing, something that will likely get her condemned by the people over there…and that you should see what she has become…now touch the damn photos."
"Whoa," went Asuka; she had never expected Misato to take charge like this before, even regarding Shinji.
She looks down at the photo of Shinji walking through the halls of what looked like the detailed replica of NERV HQ with his aunt and Guardian…and touches it, wondering if she would be in their presence like Misato had been. The next thing she knows, she's standing in the hallway, in front of the boy and his rejuvenated aunt.
"Yes or no, Suki," Shinji utters. "Do you see a girl standing in front of us with long, red hair and blue eyes that wasn't standing there a few seconds ago?"
"Yes," Suki answers him. "Is she Ms. Soryu?"
"Yeah."
"It looks like you can see me, but can you hear me?" Asuka questions.
"We hear you just fine," she turns to see Guardian standing behind her. "State your business."
"Ah!" She gasps, backing away from the beast that likely serves Shinji. "I didn't even think I'd be able to come here for a visit."
"And yet, here you are," Guardian utters to her. "Consider your fortune that you're not exactly here. Otherwise, you'd likely be at the nonexistent mercy of Harbinger."
Asuka wasn't sure how anyone in this world of magic could stand being around this creature, and then Shinji walks past her to get around Guardian.
"Right now, fear isn't an option because we're here to retrieve something personal to someone that was robbed by my mother," he tells her, and sees Suki follow behind.
"Fearing someone just because they don't look pleasant only increases the fear you have of them," she says to the girl.
"Bold words from someone that was old enough to be someone else's granny," Asuka retorts, earning a glare from Suki, who tightens her grip on her bow and arrow.
"Do you really want to go there?" She questions.
Asuka then steps back and says, "They're in that mockery of the commander's office. They're just sitting around there."
"Thank you," Shinji praises her.
Then, Asuka finds herself back in the office, her hand off the photo.
"His aunt has attitude," she says.
"If you said something to get on her bad side," went Kaji, "I can probably imagine why?"
Asuka then turns the page and sees Yui standing up in front of Harbinger.
"Uh-oh," she panics; if the woman was leaving the room, it put Shinji and the others at risk. Not good. Not good.
Beside the photo on the right, she saw a picture of a younger Shinji who appeared to be cosplaying with his uncle, dressed up in black and red with his face painted blue while his formerly handicapped uncle had a bald cap on with a yellow blanket wrapped around his wheelchair, pressing his left index and middle fingers against his temple.
"That's just embarrassing," they hear Gendo say, looking at the picture.
"To you, maybe," Asuka finds herself defending, "but he was younger when this picture was taken…and these three made him happy. I'm sure these three are the only ones he knows that make him happy to be alive."
"Happiness is a fringe benefit."
"Worse response ever."
Gendo touches the photo of his wife vacating the replica of his office…and suddenly finds himself standing in front of her.
"What is this?" He hears her say. "Gendo?"
"Yui," he breathes, looking around their surroundings. "Your hideaway is exactly like the Geo-Front. It's impressive."
"I seriously don't have time for this," she responds as she walks past him.
It was the way she sounds saying that…that makes Gendo wonder if he sounded anything like how he sounded to their son that one time he tried to invite him to lunch.
"Yui, our son is here, and he brought your brother and sister with him," he tells her, and she turns to face him.
"I will deal with them in due time," she replies.
"Yui, I know what you're up to, but why bother with these people? I mean…they're not going to appreciate any of what you have done. Why not just leave them to their fate and come back me?"
"Because there is much work to be here. Everything happens because it must. If I don't do it, who will? And Shinji… My mother and siblings have turned him against me, and they need to answer for that. To succeed, I need Unit-01, but in order to possess it, I need Shinji on my side, away from these faux-people."
"Yui…you're pushing him away from you. What's wrong with…simply leaving him here while you return to our world?"
"I'll tell you what is wrong with such an excuse. It's wrong because those three would win against me, that their way is the only way to live, and I can't let them win against me. They are just as part of the problem that exists here because of these faux-people…and I'm the solution. The sooner this world gets stripped of its delusional beliefs of magic and fairies and what have you, the better off they'll all be when everything is grounded in realism. The sooner Shinji accepts this, as well, the better he will be without those three."
"And if he refuses?"
"Then I'll just have to…"
"You'll just have to, what, Mother?!" They both turn and look behind Gendo, seeing their son, along with Tenshi, Suki and Guardian of the Void, standing down the hall by a small distance. "There's nothing more you can threaten me with than you have already!"
Yui looks down at Tenshi's left hand and notices a book that resembles the one she took from Mimosa Vermilion.
"How'd you find that?" She demands from him.
"Oh, that'd be telling," he replies. "All I will say is that Ms. Vermillion will be overjoyed to have her property back in her hands."
"I cannot let you take that."
"Oh, we can take it from you, Yui," went Suki. "You know why? Because we're Magic Nights. We serve a higher purpose than you think we do. We answer to the people that look to us for protection and guidance. We took an oath to protect and serve the Clover Kingdom with trust and respect for those of us that wish to make the country a better place over time, something that you have violated with your cruel actions and behavior towards the people."
"What people? Nobody is real here. In a world where these faux-people claim that magic is everything, what value is of people that actually exist, that actually have something to offer the world that needs to let go of such an outdated belief?"
"Spoken like someone that hates their heritage," says Guardian, "and allows that hatred to fester like a parasite that consumes all around it until there is nothing left but bitter grief. You should know that unlike those that claim to see the future, I do not see the future, only possibilities, but there are none whatsoever where the three of you, that is Shinji, his father and yourself, are together. Even right now, at this very moment, such a possibility is virtually nonexistent…and it's because of you two."
"You claim to see possible outcomes?" Gendo questions. "That sounds like the future."
"It's only the future…when people and factors make it so," Shinji tells him. "Do you see her now? Do you see what kind of person she is, that she's become? She's not all that different from the way you are, Father. The only difference so far is that she knows that she can leave any time she wants to, only she won't because she's convinced herself that she needs to hurt the people that live in this world."
"I'm not hurting anyone," Yui intervenes. "I'm saving them from themselves."
"That's bull."
"So says you," Gendo utters.
"No, actually, says all of us," Tenshi backs up his nephew. "I have mastered the spell necessary to travel back and forth between the two dimensions, and I can send you back your precious wife, only she's too invested in what she's doing to get the picture that she's made herself a pariah to everyone. She could've gone down in Spade's history as a hero to the people if she only targeted the Dark Triad and its followers, but she didn't want to be a hero to the Spade Kingdom or anyone else. She just wanted a body count."
Gendo looks at Yui, wondering what is going on in her head. If what her brother claims is true, then she could have returned upon him mastering some tactic required to travel between dimensions, only she made a conscious decision not to.
"What Harbinger did that night is not my fault," Yui claims.
"Yes, it is," went Suki. "It's the same with a street gang, Yui. Once you forge a covenant with a magical creature, regardless of their background or your own intentions, you're bound by the ethics of where you reside, for better or for worse. You forged a covenant with Harbinger; therefore, you own everything that he does. His victims are your victims. His slain are your slain. His repercussions…are your fate."
Gendo is seeing the sense of drama that exists between Yui and her relatives, but has to wonder how far this lack of love between them extends. It seems likely that Shinji would side with her relatives, if he was being pushed away by both Yui and himself, but just how far does their son need to be pushed before making his choice clear?
"If this is a feud going on here," he utters, "which side of the line are you on, Shinji?"
Shinji looks at Gendo and responds, "It's obvious by now which side I'm on."
"You would dare to defy your parents?"
"You make it easy to want and do things that you don't want me to."
"There's still a bright future ahead for you, Shinji," Yui tells him. "I just need you and the Eva."
"You want the Eva? If you're so dead set on it, then you're just going to have to get used to your disappointment in me…because I'd sooner have it erased from existence so that nobody here will ever suffer because of your twisted morals, Mother!"
And this was the first time Gendo ever saw Shinji disagree with his mother. If he were younger, less influenced by Yui's relatives (if he had been kept away from them), Shinji would have likely chose them over these strangers who were forced to live in a world that was not their own. But the truth is…he doesn't know for sure what Shinji would do because he has been around these strangers more than he has ever been around his mother and he, and that would likely carry consequences for all of them.
"You find this is not to your liking, sir," he looks at Guardian, who was observing him. "The mere fact that you're here to witness this turn of events and know where everyone stands…and you see how far and committed each is to their chosen objective. So, I must ask of you… How do you feel about all of this?"
"How do I feel!" He questions, sounding disrespected. "How am I supposed to feel?"
"I guess what Grandmother said about you is also true," went Shinji, "and this is only from an older memory of Mother's. You're not good at talking about your feelings with anyone."
"That…must sting," Tenshi adds.
Gendo didn't need to take this from any of them.
"Yui," he says to his wife, "you should just leave them where they are. Come home with me."
Shinji looks at the two, probably hoping that his mother will take the opportunity to walk away from this madness if it was his father that suggested it to her.
Please, just walk away with him, Gendo wonders if that's what Shinji is thinking.
"As much as I want that," Yui responds to her husband, turning to face him, "I stand by what I decided upon earlier."
Thrust!
Gasp! Shinji, Tenshi and Suki all gasp at the sight of Yui impaling her husband with her only attack spell in his waist.
"Since you're not really here," she says to Gendo, watching him feel her left hand dig deep into his abdominal cavity as he feels weak in his knees, "there's no further reason to speak with you. We'll be together again soon. After I have saved this world from the nothingness that awaits it. A brighter future awaits us all."
And then…Gendo finds himself back in his office, stepping backwards from the desk and the album, shuddering.
"What in the name of…" Kaji gasps, pointing at Gendo.
"Gott im Himmel," Asuka says, covering her mouth.
Gendo looks down at where he felt Yui impale him…and sees blood seeping through his clothing. This makes his eyes widen with shock. His wife had harmed him…deliberately, and he had been trying to convince her to stop what she was doing to come back with him.
"Call a medic!" Ritsuko yells when Gendo falls to the floor.
-x-
"…I don't like that you harmed him," Shinji admits to Yui, brandishing his polearm at her once Harbinger appears behind her. "Even if I feel he deserved it, that was low, coming from you. He practically begged for you to go back with him. You really should have obliged him."
"And I will," Yui says, "after this world has been given a brighter future than its begotten present and despicable past."
"Mother…the only one who has become despicable right now…is you."
"How dare you speak to me with such a tone."
Beside Shinji, Tenshi and Suki aimed their weapons at Yui and Harbinger while Guardian flared his mane in an intimidating stance.
Harbinger spreads his hooves and lowers in his own display of intimidation.
"We're taking back what doesn't belong to you, Yui," Suki declares, pulling back the bowstring holding her arrow.
"And I say that none of you are leaving here," Yui replies.
"We shall let the hands and blades of fate and deviance decide," Guardian expresses, "here and now. In the end, only one's best will determine the outcome of this throw down."
Tenshi turns his head around to face Guardian with an expression of disbelief.
"Where'd you learn to talk like that?" He asks him, and Guardian smirks.
"We get out of here, I'll tell you."
"I'm going to hold you to it."
To be continued…
A/N: This chapter is long overdue. With the cost of living rising higher each day, I have had to give up several subscriptions because I need to pay my bills, and I'm fortunate so far that I can use my phone and small tablet to write without a subscription. The power of our electronic devices that give us the leisure of an escape from reality. Let me know what you enjoy about this chapter in the future, and be weary of scammers.