A New Cause

by Traitor of All Traitors

Where the madness ended, a new darkness will begin, one that leads to light…if those that are tasked with leading the way can endure the wrath of those that stand against them…as well as each other. The Angels descend, the dead talk, myths and legends come to life, and judgment comes to more than just Japan. All of the world isn't safe…but is it in any greater danger than before?

19. Heaven's Order

Creation began on 03-03-15

Creation ended on 04-02-15

Neon Genesis Evangelion

A New Cause: Heaven's Order

He didn't say it outright, but Death found sitting against the trunk of the Asagis' home tree was quite relieving of some stress, though his body lacked the qualities needed for obtaining stress. And then, there was Mana sitting beside him against the tree.

"Is it truly necessary for you to be sitting with me?" He asked her.

"I need to find something constructive with my time," she explained, "and some of your tactics with the criminal element has caused some schools to shut down temporarily in order for the honest police to perform thorough background checks on every student and their families."

"You don't even go to school. And my actions against the criminal element have diminished the majority of crime within this nation. No reports of kidnapping, no child abuse, no spousal disputes, car thefts, nothing that would attract my presence. If there was some disorder in Japan, I would know of it and resolve it."

"But since there is nothing of the sort, this should allow you to take it easy."

"You remind me of Famine. He once asked me to take it easy. But it's not easy for me to do nothing."

"Then…why sit against a tree? It's the same as doing nothing, isn't it?"

Death found that this girl was right about that. Sitting against a tree…was no different from doing nothing. But it was mainly because he had to honor the request of her mother's soul, and that was to watch out for Mana.

"What if I were to suggest that I was waiting for something?" He tried as an excuse. "What if I was waiting for someone to give me an excuse to do what I do best as a Horseman of the Restorative?"

"Well, that wouldn't be doing nothing. It would just be waiting around." She expressed.

Death then lied his head back against the tree and stared at the sky above.

"Death?" Mana spoke up again.

"Yes?" He responded.

"Does Heaven have an order for the Earth?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, does Heaven have any plans for what becomes of the planet and the good people?"

He only knew of the grand design the Restorative had for the planet, and it was an elegant design that he would follow to its conclusion for the beneficial rewards that would be received.

"I only know that the Restorative has an order for the world," he told her, "and that is to cleanse it of the devastation that has left it in immense ruin beyond even mankind's ability to mend."

Mana accepted his answer and rested her head against the tree.

-x-

"…He needs to be sedated!" A physician told three other physicians as they tried to restrain the reanimated corpse of Shinji Ikari, who kept shouting about flesh being weak.

"…Seeking release!" Shinji shouted. "Flesh is weak! Let it die!"

One of the physicians took out a syringe and pierced Shinji's neck and injected him with a sedative, and the teen stopped struggling against them.

Outside the room, Yui had seen the whole scene between her youngest son and the four men that were called in to restrain him after the last Dummy Plug was produced.

"It's like, the more he's regenerated, the more active he becomes, but not in the desired way," Nama expressed, taking notes down about Shinji's recent activity.

"It may be as you yourself suggested," she responded. "Shinji's body has no desire to live."

-x-

"…But quickly withered… They're falling so soon again this year…" Death heard Mana sing, as he simply sat against the tree for over an hour and let the world pass him by. "…I will not believe that we will never meet again… There is something I have to tell you… There is something I have to tell you…"

He turned to face her, and saw her crying.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

"Huh?" She gasped and quickly wiped away her tears. "Um, yeah, Death, I'm fine."

"Then…why does your heart say differently?" He asked her.

"I was…just thinking about my mother," she explained to him.

Then Death was reminded of the woman he saw when he was unconscious…and the request she asked him to do for her.

"Tell me about her," he told her. "Please."

She explained what she knew about her mother, about how she was a kind and caring woman, loved children, put her family before herself, and didn't want for anything like a few people could demonstrate, for she had no desires for immense wealth or to change the world. This all had the horseman wondering how many women from the past were similar to this young girl's mother, being uninterested in those wants that he had gone after those with cruelty in their intentions desired.

"…For her, everything that she had…was enough for her?" He asked Mana.

"Yeah," she answered. "Sometimes, people that have everything that they want out of life…have no need for anything more than that. A kid that has this perfect family that consists of their parents, grandparents and several siblings…is likely to not want anything else…but their happiness. Why want more when you have all that you need?"

Death then turned away and thought about her question of not wanting more than what was already obtained…and found that question to have many different answers…for many, different reasons.

"Of course, there's only one person that I'll always want in my life," he then heard her express.

"Who?" He found himself asking her.

"My mother," she revealed her longing. "It's a selfish longing, maybe, but I don't find it that wrong to want someone back in your life if you love them for no other reason than to love them."

But love was something Death was unfamiliar with, as that emotion had burned out long ago, leaving only his relationship with his twin as his only stability for the time being. For him, love was one of the many luxuries that his past self, Shinji Ikari, could never afford, not because of who he was or what he did, but because of who others were and what they did to him. And for the horseman that wore his face, such a feeling was like a root that needed to be severed from the main body because it didn't help much or even hindered some sort of developmental behavior.

"You must think it hopeless and silly of me to want that," Mana told him.

"What I feel…for such a desire to mend an innocent one's heartstrings…does not matter," he told her.

-x-

"I think I'm probably bound to jump to conclusions," went Mordecai to his father-in-law, as they were in the kitchen, looking outside the window and at his daughter and the Restorative Horseman of Death, "but doesn't their time together by the tree seem a bit romantic?"

The elder looked out the window and at the two sitting by the tree.

"I think if there was any romance between Mana and Death, the horseman would be trying to come onto her, but he is the purgatory incarnation of the late Shinji Ikari, who showed no interests in romantic relationships as he was interested in vengeance. I doubt that Death is looking to be romantically involved with anyone, especially Mana." Miroku expressed his opinion. "Also, you said that Mana expressed that Death didn't seem like the type in need of romance. Instead, he seems to be in need of a friend."

"Yet, befriending him seems difficult."

"Almost anything with Death is difficult, whether it's escaping or accepting it."

They then noticed the horseman pointing towards them and moving his mouth, and then Mana looked their way.

"Uh-oh," Miroku sighed, wondering what Mana was thinking (and saying to the horseman at that moment). "We're caught watching. Busted."

"I'm jumping to conclusions," Mordecai added.

-x-

"…Famine," went Mother Gaia to the physically-younger-looking horseman that rode the field hunter paired with him, seeing that his meal bowl hadn't been cleaned of its edible contents, "I'm surprised you haven't eaten."

"Yeah, you're usually the first to consume your meal," added Conquest, setting down his bowl of porridge that had additional ingredients of eggs and celery.

"I just have a bad feeling," he expressed why he hadn't eaten his meal.

"Describe it, please," Gaia requested.

"We're close to fulfilling our goal in this cause to save the world and cleanse it of sin, but there's the risk of danger," he explained. "Our Horseman of Death may not have seen the last of that Apocalyptic version that wore the face of someone his past self detested."

War, drinking the remains of his bowl of porridge, set the bowl down after hearing that and wiped his mouth clean.

"I hate to agree with Famine," he uttered, "but there's no denying that possibility. Whoever unleashed that condemned soul were unlikely to stop with just one of the fallen souls sentenced to eternity in Hell's fiery inferno."

This, however, left Conquest feeling uneasy about everything. Because there was a light and darkness to everything that existed, past, present and future. Wherever there was a source of light, a sense of justice or equality, there always had to be an equal and opposite source of darkness, a sense of injustice or inequality to balance things, but the Poison Master hated this universal truth because it seemed like everything they were working towards would be undone in the unwritten future. And the fact that there were four lost souls tasked with carrying out the Restorative's grand design meant that there could and would be further disorder against them from the souls of those either still shackled in flesh or burning in the inferno, longing for retribution.

"Mother Gaia, is there a chance that the Apocalyptic Horseman of Death wasn't the only one that was released from Hell?" He asked the goddess.

"It's possible," she responded. "The only thing worse than one Horseman of the Apocalypse…is Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and all four of them coming after you before you can ride together or before all eight locations on the planet have been chosen. Still, the fact that it can happen…is what makes the fear of facing them inevitable."

"If they come, we'll deal with them," said War to her, unsheathing his sword. "No matter what happens, the side of right is the one with the most might, and will always be the side that prevails in the end."

"In the end, only one side can be allowed to come out on top," added Conquest. "Such is the order that the Restorative has for the world. A desire to restore the harmonious scales between the light and darkness of the future."

-x-

"…Would you sing for me, Mana Asagi?" Death asked the little girl.

"What?" Mana responded, having wandered mentally for a short while.

"Would you sing for me?" He repeated. "You do owe me a song."

She then remembered that night he showed up in the Geo-Front and left the blood message that expressed his desire to hear her voice.

"What do you want me to sing?" She asked him.

"Anything, really," he expressed. "I just want to hear you sing."

Mana got up and stood in front of him, cleared her throat of minor obstacles, and unleashed a little tune for the horseman to hear.

"Let it all out, let it all out… You don't have to think your heart is made of steel," she sang, and Death listened with undivided attention. "Come away now, from your own doubt… Like a flower of hope that's growing in a field… You will heal… Although the road has changed you… And the world has often failed you… You've gotta carry on and show them you're strong… You've gotta bury what is past and gone… Some days will be worse than others… But you've gotta find another way…"

As she continued, the horseman leaned in to listen better (though it didn't matter if he did or didn't, as his hearing was superior to a living person's) to her voice.

"…Through pain and fear, or rain and tears… We will hold on to the light… We'll chase the dawn that waits for us beyond the darkest sky… Keep following that distant star… Never walk away from who you are… Never forget that your future's waiting up ahead…" She continued. "…As seasons change and rearrange… And the sands of time descend… As all your hope starts vanishing, you'll always have a friend… In brightest day or darkest night, even if we have to say goodbye… You'll be alright… I will always and forever be by your side…"

Death raised his hands up in front of him…and slowly clapped them.

"That was…beautiful," he expressed.

"Thank you," she responded, and then noticed something wrong with his face. "Your left eye."

"What? What about my left eye?"

"It's…bleeding."

Death raised his left hand to his face and felt something wet under his eye, on his cheek, and removed it to find that it was blood.

"This is nothing," he expressed.

"Are you sure?" She needed to know.

"It is nothing to be concerned about," he repeated.

This left Mana wondering if this was something that could only occur to Death every now and then…and only when he feels some measure of emotion that would make him do something like this.

Is it possible for Death to only shed tears of blood instead of regular tears? She wondered.

-x-

"…Countless sinners have begun to turn themselves over to the authorities after what happened in Macau," a dark voice said to the one and only Kiel Lorenz in his personal chambers, cloaked in the shadows. "This horseman may not seem entirely dangerous, but he does have the criminals and crooked police on the run and calling it quits after many of his kills have gotten him such infamy."

"Yet, neither you nor the one that claimed to have control over the Third Child before he ended up on the wrong end of a pistol have been able to deal with him." The aged man responded, addressing Gendo, who remained silent during the meeting, unable to speak up or he'd have to deal with another arrow run through him. "If this continues, there's no telling what could happen to the council. He may find us and do away with us. If that happens, neither of us will get what we want."

"The Restorative Horseman of Death is the obligation of the Apocalyptic Horseman of Death. The day he becomes my obligation is when this fool proves himself completely unworthy of the duty he was bestowed," the dark voice told the old man. "But this fool now takes his orders from me."

The owner of the voice stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself to be the same guy that Gendo had been shot at with arrows.

"If we're to beat the Restorative Horseman of Death, strategy and the element of surprise are to be employed," he told Kiel. "We will use what he is vulnerable against and employ tactics that he has no understanding of."

"And should he be aided by these other horsemen?" Kiel asked.

"Then we'll deal with them," he answered, and then turned to face Gendo. "Isn't that right, Gendo of the Damned?"

"Yes," Gendo uttered, being permitted to speak because this guy was speaking to him.

-x-

"…So, now that the Japanese Government knows a lot of things that NERV's former commander and some people from the UN that funds it were up to, everyone down here and at every other NERV branch is under suspicion?" Asuka asked Misato during their lunch in the cafeteria.

"That's right," the purple-haired woman expressed. "The information they had received from an unknown source seemed convincing that NERV wasn't as honest as it was initially expected to be."

"If we're to be monitored because of some secrets the former commander and the people that fund this agency kept hidden from the governments, that'll make our job of defeating the Angels even more difficult than it already is because of those stupid horsemen declaring them off-limits."

"Dealing with the Angels is already difficult with the horsemen protecting them from harm."

"If it's not thing, it's another. Why couldn't it just be Angels? Why'd it have to be horsemen that, literally, take their cues from biblical sources? And why did one one of them, the only one that can be identified through a deceased identity, have to come back from the dead to make people's lives more miserable? And then, there's the fact that the late Third Child went and visited the Fourth Child and did nothing to harm or threaten her, like she's not worth killing for simply giving up."

"Her father didn't want her getting killed," Misato accepted the reason for Mana's discharge from NERV. "She almost did get killed, but Death saved her and then returned her home."

"And we're on permanent standby until we get our new orders. What, is Heaven truly against mankind trying to survive annihilation?"

"If that were the case, then the Four Horsemen of the Restorative would've done away with everyone a long time ago," a male voice spoke up behind the redhead.

It was Commander Chansu, having unintentionally eavesdropped on the ladies' conversation about NERV's current predicament.

"Commander Chansu," Misato spoke up, hoping to defuse any of degree of disrespecting the man's authority over the agency.

"At ease, Captain Katsuragi," he calmed her. "To answer a question with the most logical of answers, Heaven doesn't unleash Hell onto the innocent. People with a desire for wealth, power or whatsoever is on their minds are the ones that unleash Hell on the innocent. While we may be on opposite sides, none of these Restorative Horsemen have had any other reason to come after NERV or cause some form of catastrophe that results in extensive deaths…all save the Horseman of Death and his crusade against the criminal element that exists."

"Still, it's not right that we're stalemated against them," said Asuka.

"Because of the Angel?" Chansu asked. "NERV is still up to date on the ones present, and none of them have done anything beyond just standing where they stopped in each city. If these Angels wanted to destroy us, they would've done so already. They wouldn't be wasting anyone's time with extended hesitations or hidden tactics. Whatever their reason for just standing around, it must be understood before anything else is attempted."

"It's not like we can just ask the Angels why," Misato expressed. "None of them are able to communicate with us…and we have no means to communicate with them."

-x-

Using his kama, Death etched a picture into the ground beside the tree.

Mana noticed them with the setting of the sun, and saw that he had etched a face. It was of the goddess that was responsible for the well-being of the Four Horsemen of the Restorative.

"That's really talented, Death, the Endgame," she praised him. "Where did you learn to draw like that?"

He looked up at her and answered, "If you enjoy what you do, you get better at it. The more you demonstrate a skill, the more it refines…until it becomes second to none of the other skills you demonstrate. This…is a skill belonging to the late Shinji Ikari."

"And he drew things all the time?"

"There was nothing else to do as he waited for the time to claim vengeance."

"What did he draw during the time he…waited around?"

"He would draw many things, past and possible futures, people and places."

"Would he have… I mean, would he draw people if he was asked to? I mean, just draw them as they are, how he saw them?"

"He probably would've…if he'd been asked by people. Then again, I wouldn't really know."

Mana accepted that this was another way of the horseman distancing himself from the boy he used to be in life; he may have looked like the dead boy, maybe even possessing his memories, but Shinji Ikari wasn't invulnerable, had an accelerated healing factor, enhanced senses…or a horse to ride around on.

"I must be boring right now, asking you such a question," she uttered to him.

"You're not boring," he assured her. "Hearing you talk, ask questions of curiosity, it adds a measure of peace to my semi-chaotic mind."

"Is your mind always in a state of semi-chaos?"

"It actually depends on the type of chaos that dwells within the mind. Chaos exists in many states. For some, it is a feeling of hopelessness, for others, it is a feeling of noise that they can't silence."

-x-

"…No, I just need to be kept in the loop on when the rescheduled date of the will reading will be," went Hei-Bai as he spoke to somebody on the phone. "Thank you."

Hanging up, he sat down in his living room and resumed reading his newspaper on the events of the past, discovering that the Restorative Horseman of Death was last seen in Macau, China and had killed several more people that had committed several crimes that they couldn't be forgiven for, and he fought against someone that resembled the late Gendo Ikari.

"Oh, man," he sighed.

DING-DONG! The doorbell to his apartment went off.

Who could it be? He wondered, getting up and approaching the door. "Who is it?"

"Hello," came a female voice on the other end of the intercom, "is this the residence of Hei-Bai Ikari?"

"Yes. Who's asking?"

"My name…is Mother Gaia, and I would like to speak with you, please."

He opened the door, but kept the chain on so that he would be able to keep this woman out if it became necessary to protect himself. The woman outside his apartment was clearly not of Asian descent, not with her face or hair, but there was something about her that seemed welcoming.

The goddess was dressed in a business dress with her hair tied in a ponytail, looking as ordinary as she could be with the minor exception of her appearance and abilities that she rarely used among the mortals around her.

"May I come in?" She asked him.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" He asked her back.

"It's about your late nephews," she explained, and he removed the chain from off the door.

He invited her in and offered her a cup of tea.

"What is it about my late nephews that you want to talk to me about?" He asked again.

"It relates to the string of recent murders caused by the horseman that looks like your youngest nephew," she explained, "and why he's committing such murders."

-x-

"…What's with the drawing pad, Mana?" Mordecai asked his daughter, seeing her carrying her drawing pad and case of color pencils.

"They're for Death," she explained to her father as she was about to step outside.

"What does he need with them?"

"I asked him if he could draw me by the tree."

"He draws?"

"Yes…and no. Who he used to be drew a lot most of the time, and this skill was transferred to him in his state of purgatory."

"Oh, okay."

Mana stepped outside and saw Death stroking the neck of his horse, earning a purring from the beast.

"I'm back, Death," she uttered to get his attention, and he turned to face her. "Is there…anything I should do before you begin?"

"Just one thing," he responded. "Don't pose."

"Don't pose?"

"Yes. Pretend that I'm not here, and therefore, pretend that you're not being drawn by me."

"Oh, okay. I think I can do that."

She went back to the tree and sat down. There was a leaf by her side, and she picked it up, twisting it by its stem in between her left thumb and index finger; she did whatever she had to in order to ensure that she wasn't posing for Death, to believe that he wasn't there to draw her or anything.

Death sat away from the tree by an outdoor table and began to trace the girl. He viewed the setting to make sure that there was no error in what he was about to do, and then replaced the black color pencil with a brown one to color in the tree. And as he continued to draw the girl, he began to realize something that was happening around him: He started to feel what Shinji Ikari had felt during the time he was alive and kept isolated from others, with a degree of calmness that he didn't feel anywhere else, not even when he committed his first kills.

It's been a while since I drew pictures, he also realized; the last one he had created was the first one he made as a Horseman of the Restorative. The lighting is adjustable and the scenery is tranquil.

Then, distracted by the presence of another innocent soul near him, Death turned and saw Mana's father, who stood still after being seen by the horseman.

Mordecai pointed to the pad, and Death gestured with his head for him to come see the progress, and had to admit that this dead guy had possessed an artistic flair that wasn't seen with most other artists that were still of the mortal coil. It was like Death, and who he used to be in life, drew from the depths of existence and translated it onto paper, like he could capture a moment in life and replay it with perfect accuracy.

Mana, still trying her best to keep from posing, looked over at the horseman and her father, giving a small smile before turning away to resume her attention to the leaf.

It was five minutes later that Death declared he was finished with the drawing, allowing the girl to get up from near the tree and evaluated the picture.

"Oh, my God," she expressed, for the drawing looked no different from a painting or photograph. "It's beautiful, Death."

"I didn't expect it to be…so life-like," Mordecai added, impressed by the detail.

"If you enjoy what you do," went Death, handing the drawing to the girl, "you get better at it."

-x-

It was quite a conversation with the strange woman. She seemed to know much about the current state of the situation that revolved around the Horseman of Death that used to be his neglected nephew, accompanied by the ghost of his elder twin. What's more was that the revelation was this woman was directly responsible for the young man's purgatory resurrection.

"…But…why go through the trouble of bringing him back if he continues to kill?" Hei-Bai asked Gaia.

"Because he, like the other horsemen, needs this to cleanse his soul so that when the time comes, he, along with his brother, can truly live again," the goddess explained. "In addition, whatever skills he picked up in his past life, he can put to use in his state of purgatory for the greater good. I've seen the good that still lies within his tortured soul. Many that have spent enough time trying to reach out to him without wanting to exploit or harm him have seen that goodness. Sometimes, even good people can be driven to commit the unthinkable, the unforgettable, unpredictable and so on. They try to find rationale in what they've done…or what they're going to do. Maybe even create excuses for their actions, but in the end, they either accept responsibility for their choices…or fall victim to the repercussions of their actions. When Death, the Endgame was Shinji Ikari, while he never showed much of any remorse for the innocent lives he took in his quest for revenge against the Ikari members that he had enough of, you never being on his hit list because he never knew of your existence, not even your father's, he did feel some sorrow for causing much grief to the people that he didn't know but were in the way of his path to vengeance, for the families he broke, the friends he crippled, but was unable to express any of it due to his poor upbringing."

"But…what about now?"

"Now…it's difficult for him, still, but since he's slaying so many guilty people that can't or won't atone for their crimes, he is getting closer to the light that had been believed to have been snuffed out of his soul long ago. Being surrounded by, even conversing or being embraced by innocent people have had some measures of beneficial effects upon Death, the Endgame. Recently, he learned the value of a hug. Hope belongs to and is afforded to those greatly in need of it, even someone like Death, who needs it the most."

Hei-Bai then poured her another cup of tea and set the kettle down.

"But I don't understand what any of this has to do with me," he told her. "I don't… I don't think that he would even like me."

"If he ever sees you, should he have a reason to, personal or professional, he may explore your soul and see you as one of the innocent. You're not a guilty person, so he never tries to shed innocent blood unless he finds that he has no choice. He has evolved over the short time he's been affiliated with the Restorative, the mortal keystone to mankind's revival, and has become quite successful in helping the Restorative get closer to its goal, the salvation of the Earth and the return of its innocence."

-x-

"…They will aid in dealing with the Restorative Horseman of Death," the guy in charge of Gendo told Kiel, as a pair of women emerged from a fiery portal behind them. "You must be familiar with what was written in Revelations. I lead…and they will follow me."

The women that emerged from the portal appeared to be in their late-thirties and early-twenties, with the one on the left dressed in petite armor with a bodice made of metal and bone, with her body's frame evoking a sort of hourglass-like shape, and the woman on the right dressed in a ragged shawl that covered her abdomen that looked as though it had been eviscerated to show only her spine connecting to where her legs were, covered in additional rags in the form of trousers and a skirt.

"If he shows his face against a corrupt soul, we'll know of it. If he makes a move against the degraded law, we'll find him, and when he slips up, we'll break him in half."

-x-

"…Secrets have a cost. They're not free. Not now, not ever." The elderly woman told this young man with powers similar to those of a spider's, after seeing him bruised and battered.

"So, everyone keeps secrets," said Death to Mana, as they were watching the film. "Why put this common truth in a hero film?"

"To enforce the consequences of what keeping secrets can do to people," Mana explained to him. "People keep them in order to either protect those closest to them, hide the truth to something serious in one way or another, and, sometimes, secrets just alienate people."

"Everyone alienates everyone with the secrets they keep."

Shortly after, the movie displayed the young hero catching cars that had been thrown off a bridge by a large, reptilian humanoid.

A/N: What do you think so far? Hei-Bai has met Mother Gaia, Death demonstrates his previous life's artistic skill that Shinji Ikari developed during his time incarcerated, and danger is approaching. Read and review, like always. Peace out.