ã€ŠAs The Divine Light Breaks (Evangelion AU)ã€‹


 Prologue

    PROLOGUE

    This is Eos international space station message reserved Nerv Central awaiting confirmation.

    Radhak looked out the window at the galaxy and stars and earth below as Kaji spoke calmly. "Conformation reserved sending up two pilots to you now, they should be breaking atmosphere within two minutes, please stand by."

    Radhak turned eyeing the others at their panels along with Caia who was second in command. "Who do you think they''re sending?" Caia didn''t look up as she carried typing. "They didn''t say, last time it was Shinji and Kaworu."

    Radhak pushed his dark hair back. "Yes but we saw them in the atmosphere yesterday and they only just got back from Dubai as they were both helping with building work over there as Shinji is really good at putting up the skyscraper foundations that can be used to lower buildings."

    He paused. "Mari, we saw shadowing the UN fleet with Toji yesterday as well but they would never send her to do space work she''s just not trained enough as you have to pilot an Evangelion for at least two years or more before they allow them up into space."

    Caia folded her arms. "Well whoever they send I just want it to be quick, the Mars Lander will be here in a week''s time and we need the secondary arm fitted to help them dock we can''t use our first arm it''s purely for science only and use it to beam feed to Nerv."

    Radhak folded his arm over his astronaut''s suit, which was quite thick leather and was based on the same technology as the Nerv plug suits but they weren''t as thin or as body hugging as they weren''t used to sync with Evangelion technology but they did have heart rate read outs just like them though.

    He breathed in deeply sitting back in his chair. "They''ve spent four years on Mars they better bring some worthwhile shit back this time, last time we spent two years analysing dead rock samples." Caia looked up at her friend who was from India while she was from Italy. "Yes but it was interesting none the less."

    Radhak breathed in deeply. "Yes if you love that kind of crap, I don''t I want them to find dead organisms or at least one fascinating thing." He looked up seeing the two huge cases shields with the Evangelion''s break atmosphere. There secondary rockets falling away on both shields as they carried moving towards them one of them had their new attachment fixed to its upper section he watched as they both came up on either side stopping as there rockets went to the special stationary position so they wouldn''t move.

    Kaji''s voice came again. "Please stand by tapping you into the pilot''s personals feeds their faces should appear momentarily."

    Caia watched as both shields slowly opened as Misato''s voice came over the com. "We sent you our best two for this." She watched as unit 02 appeared floating out in to space its huge clawed feet pushing it away from the shield as its massive muscled lycanthrope body swirled.

    As the clawed hand came out as the miniature fitted rockets fired so the whole body could move through space the two tails had wrapped together as the four green eyes glowed and the massive crest came into view with its demon like horns which really stuck out. She could also see the massive upward facing sabre teeth and wide sharp toothed jaws though they were covered with a jaw restraint to keep the cold of space from freezing them and the inner tongue and throat.

    Its whole body painted in red as it carried gracefully swerving around the space station stopping at the section some way from them. "They sent Asuka Langley Soryu?" Radhak turned seeing 00 come free with its similar lycanthrope body type though in a much leaner muscular version.

    With its similar jaw set, though both the long upper and lower canines, which were all, lacerated and curved over on both the super and lower jaw and like 02, they were covered with the same kind of restraint to keep the cold out.

    It had a large three sectioned horned crest on both sides of the face and its single swivel red eye was turning as it eased up its huge thick tail which was body length much like 02''s but had a razor ended cutting part it moved pulling the new arm off the shield as it slowly worked its way over to 02 who was waiting calmly.

    "As well as Rei Ayanami that''s a surprise." Caia watched as Asuka''s face appeared on screen he could see her very long red hair with its interface clips and her patched left eye as her good piecing blue eye scanned a holographic schematic.

    She was wearing the new plug suit type with white shoulder and dark green stripes and around her neck was a green and silver endless knot symbol which had been a gift from Rei and never left her neck. Rei face appeared opposite with its soft green eyes and short dusty light brown hair and white interface clips and a pendent with three interlocking white gold triangle''s all combined which was on a semi thick woven white gold and blue necklace which was called the Valknut or Odin''s knot.

    She was also in the new plug suit types which had whiter shoulder though her bars were sharp light blue, he''d heard her old one had been put to rest last week after the angel Bardiel incident as it just wasn''t responding anymore to her changed Evangelion and had been put in the visitor centre along with Asuka''s tattered red one from the UN Alpha test unit accident which had blinded her in her left eye and was how the angel Bardiel had gotten in to her mind to start with.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    He looked up knowing he could now speak directly to them both and from what he had heard they were a couple now along with Kaworu and Shinji. "Testing, please respond that you are both receiving?" Rei spoke calmly as her unit began to un-wrap the new arm as unit 02 started helping. "Receiving you loud and clear Eos and I have to say ¨C "

    She looked up. "Space looks beautiful today."

    Caia smiled. "Is it ever?" She eyed Asuka. "Are you receiving Langley?" Asuka turned a sly smile forming. "Yes, receiving you loud and clear." Radhak watched as unit 00 slowly eased up the arm placing it in the new section as 02 pulled the space tools off its knees which had been put there so she could work on it. "I heard you ate the angel Bardiel."

    Asuka didn''t look up as she started to work. "Yes." Caia paused the last time Asuka had been up here was after Shamshel and neither she nor Radhak had been in charge then so they had no idea what she was like but Nerv had made it very clear that she was really good at mechanical work. "It''s just I saw the footage that was kind of violent and you ate two thirds of him."

    Asuka looked up for a moment. "Yeah well he was a creep who invaded my mind and got into my personal life and made me really verfickte uncomfortable so when I got the chance and expelled him from my body then through my Evangelion ¨C yes I ate him."

    Rei looked up smiling calmly her unit held the arm as Asuka carried on working in 02. "What Asuka means is it wasn''t fun for either of us and he made her really angry."

    Radhak smirked. "Well who wouldn''t get angry? Who wants a third wheel anyway?" He paused looking at Asuka whose unit was now fixing in the massive brackets while Rei was holding her units tools in the huge blue clawed hands. "We keep getting e-mails from your older step sister Mari."

    Asuka rolled her good eye. "Please tell me she''s not sending lewd comments about how that new device you have for measuring dark matter reminds her of a massive dick." Caia turned as one of the team at the terminal spat out their coffee behind her while a few others smirked. "No it was more that she was desperate for one of our special drink bottles." She paused. "We have one to send down to her it''s in our return package."

    Asuka blinked in confusion. "Return package?" Rei looked up. "It''s fine I know where that is I''ll pick it up." Radhak breathed in clearing his throat. "So I''ve heard that your left eye glows and you can make your teeth grow when you''re angry, Nerv told us all about it can we see it?"

    Asuka took the huge tool from Rei''s units hand as she tightened the last bolt. "You know it''s not a party trick."

    Caia looked up pushing her brown hair back. "Oh come on please we get bored up here and they promised us you''d do it." Rei turned looking at Asuka speaking softly. "Go on Asuka, it won''t hurt you at all." Asuka eased her hands away from her controls looking directly as him as she snarled at him feeling her back molars turn to razors on both sides and both her canine teeth slightly extended as her right eye ignited.

    Caia looked at the light coming through the patch. "That is so fascinating do we get to see what''s under the patch?" Asuka eyed them as she took hold of her controls again knowing her teeth would go back to normal once she started working again and the warm feeling would go from her eye as its blue and white light faded away. "No."

    Radhak put his hands together. "But we are astronauts we are changing the world and must see all." Asuka didn''t look up as she started moving the huge power cables in to place on the new arm. "Yeah and I''m an Evangelion pilot I eat angels for breakfast and save the world from ugly verfickte creations like Bukavac, I outrank the both of you."

    Caia looked at Rei folding her arms in annoyance as she spoke evenly. "Your girlfriend has a real way with words."

    Rei eyed her screen she knew that wasn''t a compliment she could tell by Caia''s voice tone she felt a smile form she was going to throw it back in her face just for the fun of it. "Doesn''t she just, hence why I love her that much." She smiled inwardly watching as Caia blinked in surprise. "She''s also a wonderful engineer, you should be really grateful that she''s the one fixing your space stations new arm because though the other Evangelion pilots including myself all have degrees she''s the only one who has real engineering and mechanical experience."

    Asuka moved her units clawed hands fixing the final cables in to place. "Okay its ready would you like to test it?" Radhak breathed in pressing the buttons on his hologram screen. "Shiva, be merciful let this work without fault." He watched as the arm powered up as software code loaded he turned to Caia. "This is your arena."

    Caia watched as both units backed away getting to safe distance she watched as the holographic controls appeared opposite she raised her hands putting them on it pressing down watching as the huge arm started to move back and forth. "It worked first time that''s a first." Radhak turned sharply. "Don''t jinx it."

    Caia opened the huge grabbing arm watching as 02 moved back towards its open shield while 00 shifted through mid-air floating on it as it moved grabbing the package which was seated on the open bay as it moved towards the shield. "Okay we will have to keep you here another half hour just to run all tests but after that you can both leave." Asuka rolled her good eye as she moved her controls into locked position as she pushed 02''s feet back in to the shield bracing. "Great¡­"

    Rei looked at her image on screen as she put 00''s clawed feet into position on the shield turning their channel to private so Eos couldn''t listen in. "It''s not so bad you get a great view of the earth." Asuka looked down turning 02''s head even from here she could see the dead zone of second impact which now only hung above the Antarctica but everything above it was green and blue and filled with light. "I''ve never seen earth from here before, it''s stunning."

    Rei looked down at the planet. "I heard you went up after Shamshel with Shinji." Asuka looked down feeling a smile form. "Yeah but I was his guard, I also never once looked behind me so I just didn''t see all this." She slowly pulled the drawing pen bringing up the drawing program as she started to sketch. "Do you think if I painted this it would look good in the Elysium gallery?"

    Rei looked up as watched her sketch. "Yeah I think it would be great I mean we are visiting a couple of days so hopefully they can go through all of your works."

    End of part 1

    Silvermoonlight

 As The Divine Light Breaks

    AS THE DIVINE LIGHT BREAKS

    Misato put her feet up on the desk looking over the two resumes again, since Makoto had been arrested for treason and they needed another bridge lieutenant staff member to fill the gap granted Kaji now had Makoto''s desk but someone needed to fill his role? the problem was Ritsuko had shoved ten candidates on her desk and she didn''t like any of them and after all that had happened with Yuki before he''d been tossed out due to hate crimes she didn''t trust anyone Ritsuko put forward she was also Colonel now and has more power.

    She looked up as Kaji walked over he eased up his data card between his fingers. "The data you asked for it''s the full read out from 02 when Asuka was inside the core, be very grateful to Maya because she said this was a massive pain to download it''s taken hours."

    Misato took it from his hand. "Thank you Kaji." She eyed the data card. "I''m convinced Asuka saw her mother in there hence why I want to see the read outs because she''s been different since she returned it''s difficult to describe I mean she''s still edgy and moody at times but at the same time she seems lighter not as burdened emotionally."

    Kaji looked over. "Yes I would say that too." Misato picked up a resume. "Do you know a woman called Sumire Nagara?" Kaji slowly took a chair opposite hers adjusting his Nerv jacket. "Yeah I know her she works in the Magi systems Ritsuko has her doing some boring crap like replacing the Magi''s power cables."

    Misato handed him the resume. "Did she piss Ritsuko off, is that how she got demoted?" Kaji raised a hand. "I don''t know the whole story but she challenged her and her career got nailed." Misato passed him the resume. "Yeah but look at her, she''s got all the qualifications to be a great bridge staff member."

    Kaji flicked through the pages. "Yeah I see what you mean, were you thinking of hiring her to have my former desk now that I have Makoto''s?" Misato looked up. "Yes because the so called candidates Ritsuko gave me are just shit and I don''t trust her since she loves people who will blindly follow her and Gendo."

    Kaji put the resume down. "Then promote her, you''re Colonel now, you don''t have to justify anything and Ritsuko and Gendo said it was your choice." Misato eased her feet of the desk as she stood up. "You know what you''re right." She moved over to him running her hand down his Nerv jacket. "Have I ever told you that you look good in official bridge staff uniform?" Kaji felt a coy smile form. "It''s the colour, it suits my eyes."

    Misato leaned over his chair. "No it just adds to your handsome charm." She leaned over about to kiss him only for a knock to sound on the door. She turned seeing Maya looking through the glass, she stood up rolling her eyes. "Come in." Maya opened the door moving inside. "Sorry I forgot to give you Kaji this."

    Misato took the disc from her hands. "What is it?" Maya took in a deep breath. "That thing you really, really hate when you meet the Prime Minster with all the pilots and have a formal dinner." Misato took it from her hand. "Oh please no it''s not that time of year again I hate that man so much, his wife is a massive idiot and their two twenty year old brats are just a fucking nightmare."

    Maya looked up. "It gets worse I''m afraid¡­they demanded Asuka presence and Asuka hates these things and Ritsuko said that she''s going to tell her personally and she landed with Rei half an hour ago though they are currently taking it easy in the wreck room."

    She paused trying not to laugh. "And she''s probably going to chew her out for saying that Eos new dark matter device looks like a big dick." Misato smirked. "Yeah but it does, the web has been mocking it for months." Kaji put his feet on the desk. "Look even I can admit that it looks phallic and that it''s the internet''s favourite joke."

    Maya folded her arms. "Yeah but that''s the problem someone from Eos''s ground station leaked the communication and now it''s all over the web, though it was more a reference to Mari saying it, everyone''s getting a good laugh out of it."

    Misato looked up. "So it''ll just be damage control then? Let Ritsuko vent steam and tell Asuka it''s no problem and not to worry." Maya nodded. "Yes, though Asuka had not even spoken to Ritsuko in ages so this will be the first time since they''ve been near each other since the whole Obrax incident where she tried to fry her brain to get Bardiel out."

    She paused. "I''m still not happy with her calling Asuka an animal and recently an apex predator because of what she did to Bardiel." Misato looked up. "Don''t dwell on it, it''s not like she gets Asuka, took me a very long time to get where she comes from as a person as well but I understand now and I''m working to build bridges."

    Kaji eyed the disc. "Yeah well that dinner will be one hell of a bridge builder, getting her there is not the problem because Rei can do the leg work on that, the problem is she hates rich socialites who don¡¯t work for their money or inheritance with a passion and I think Mari does as well though from what I''ve seen she always behaves at formal events."

    Maya breathed in deeply. "Trust me you''ve never been to these dinners it''s hard, it''s not just that Ritsuko is sucking up in them it''s that the two twenty years olds they just say whatever they want and they''re so insulting and we have to have a Nerv translator there as well just in case the pilots go back to their native languages and it can get real messy."

    Misato turned eyeing Kaji as she adjusted her dark trousers. "Yes as a matter of fact you should come with me it''d be good for you." Kaji raised his hand. "Please that''s a terrible idea I''m just a sickly ex spy I have nothing good to add." Maya turned. "Yes he can go in my place because I''m not sitting next to Ritsuko again while she kisses Gendo''s ass about how much a great man he is, last time I wanted to physically vomit."

    Kaji sat up in his chair. "I don''t even own any well pressed formal dress wear." Maya looked up. "Oh don''t worry there are plenty of places that stock them and make them to fit perfectly in the Arcade, you''ll have no trouble."

    Kaji rolled his eyes. "Why am I being roped into this all of a sudden?" Maya turned. "You''re not myself and Shigeru have been countless times and since you got Makoto''s station it''s your turn, it comes with the job and that jackass bailed out last year so I''ve done it two years running I want to avoid it and go and get drunk and watch a movie up in Nerv''s cinema complex."

    Misato turned becoming serious. "I''d really like your company Kaji and I''ll help you pick a suit." Kaji leaned back in the chair. "Okay fine I''ll come."

    Maya breathed in. "Oh thank you."

    Kaji looked up. "I just know I''m going to regret this."

    8

    Asuka leaned over putting her hands gently around Rei''s waist pulling her close so she her back was up against her they''d just got showed and dressed and were now in the changing rooms. "I had fun today." Rei gave her a smile. "Personally I expected it to take far longer."

    Asuka eased up her hand running it down the decorated sleeve of her white shirt sleeve top. "Please I was not going to spend five hours up there, three hours was more than enough." She eased up her other hand running it through the smaller woman short hair. "After all I want to spend time with you, I mean all of your belongings have been moved into my house now and we have the new two three seat sofa in the living room plus tomorrow they start work on your pottery studio outside the back garden right now it''s all in bits and just the framework."

    Rei moved her hand up running it through the taller woman''s red hair. "You could have had it ordered readymade." Asuka moved her hand down taking her smaller one with its delicate fingers as she gently kissed her neck. "Yeah but I want you to tell the builders what you want and it means you can change things that don''t suite you."

    Rei turned feeling her smile widen as she eased up her hand easing Asuka''s patch off watching as her left eye came into view with all its pulsing blue patterns that changed and pulsed with her emotions.

    She eased up her hands running them down the other woman thick dark brown loose custom leather jacket with its dark red shoulder and arms stripes "Is there a limit to what I change?" Asuka leaned closer. "No you can change anything you want however you want it''s yours." Rei moved her hands folding the leather jackets shirt like collar which was a habit she had picked up as Asuka sometimes forgot to fold the edge on one side because she rushed sometimes to get back in to her normal clothes and she could on occasion get distracted it was very charming though.

    "Well I look forward to throwing around commands to your builder." She moved to kiss her lips only to see Mari fly into the changing room with her astronaut''s cup. "You picked this up!" Rei looked at the dark brown haired woman with her tailed hair and blue headband, who was three years older than Asuka and was wearing red framed glasses and who was taller than her and Asuka. "Yes we did."

    Asuka eyed her older step sister who adjusted her white shirt and dark trousers and black skate shoes. "Yes we did four eyes but I don''t get what''s the big deal is with that thing." Mari moved forward raising the cup as she adjusted her green tie. "It''s a got a filtration system in it princess, means you can shove really awful water into it and re filter it."

    She eyed the cup. "They claim it works on red water too but no one''s sure if that''s a boast." She looked up. "You know since red water is fucking creepy and like swimming in blood." She turned slightly. "No offence intended as Rei told me you like swimming in that shit."

    Asuka turned putting her arm around Rei''s shoulder. "None taken yes I like swimming in it I can even dive in it, I just can''t swim in normal water it freaks me out because of the accident." Mari folded her arm. "Yeah I remember when we were kids dragging you out of my families lake you were really freaked out, not surprised you don''t swim anymore and hate deep water."

    She paused. "You know maybe me and Rei can help you with that." Asuka felt her body tense. "No thank you I just got used to using a hot tub but I''m not going in Nerv''s sub-tropical swimming pool." Rei turned putting a hand on her arm. "That a good idea we can both help you."

    Mari moved forward. "I agree with Rei, plus I kind of owe it to you after that fight we had when I tried to drown you weeks ago." Asuka breathed in why was this suddenly happening to her? She raised her hand. "You, Toji and Shinji helped move all of Rei''s things over, you don''t own me anything." Mari smirked. "No you and I are family, it''s about more than that, it''s about me helping my little sister out because she can''t swim."

    She paused. "Plus your grandma said I was officially part of your family and she apologized to me for separating us in childhood because she had no idea how close we were and was really grateful that I rescued you from drowning as a child." Asuka rolled her eyes. "You know I was there for that video call you were at my house." Mari raised her hand. "Yes and you were half asleep and Rei had wrapped you up in a blanket."

    Asuka eyed her pulling out her medication bottle which was now empty. "It was the stupid medication Maya gave me for renewing my white blood cell count it made me tired, not to mention I couldn''t drink alcohol."

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    "Asuka Langley, get in here now!"

    Mari turned as Toji poked his head around the door he was in his dark jeans t-shirt she watched as her big muscular friend spoke in a whisper. "Ritsuko wants you Asuka." His eyes darted. "What did you do I mean she is really pissed off?" Asuka turned throwing the empty pill bottle in the bin. "She hates me remember I don''t need to do anything other than be verfickte breathing to piss her off."

    Toji pushed his thick black hair back as his eyes darted. "Oh yeah..." Asuka shook her head making sure that her next words were playful sounding. "You''re such an idiot sometimes." Toji smirked he knew Asuka was teasing and meant nothing by that. "Yeah but you like me right?"

    Asuka moved away from Rei she patted his chest as she walked past. "Yeah I like you." She took in a deep breath stepping out in to the wreck room seeing that Shinji and Kaworu were looking uncertain she turned as the other followed her out.

    She could see Ritsuko standing in the middle of the room wearing her dark two piece suit with her medium length blonde hair she was clearly deeply pissed she could see it in her dark eyes which were staring death at her. She folded her arms as Mari and Toji sat down though Rei remained standing just opposite her. "So do what do I owe the pleasure, I assume this isn''t a medical call since Maya takes care of us all in our medical needs and not you."

    Ritsuko looked at her in disgust. "Put your patch on." Asuka narrowed her gaze. "Why?" Ritsuko looked up. "Because the pulsing colours in your left eye are really distracting me!" Asuka felt a sneer form as she put her black patch back on speaking coldly. "You being here is really distracting to me but I''m not complaining." Ritsuko eased out her tablet. "When I send you to space on missions I do not expect to hear shit like this over the web and media!"

    She pressed it hearing Asuka''s voice recording. "Please tell me she''s not sending lewd comments about how that new device you have for measuring dark matter reminds her of a massive dick." She watched as Mari and Toji snickered opposite while Shinji just smiled along with Kaworu. "You do not make comments about Eos''s equipment looking phallic you were told about that in the mission briefing!"

    Rei turned sharply. "No she wasn''t I was there we''re just told to fix in the new arm on Eos and enjoy the view of earth by Misato." Ritsuko turned sharply. "I wasn''t talking to you!" Rei looked up. "I was on the mission though we were both briefed together so if you want to punish Asuka shouldn''t we both be punished for not playing by your rules?"

    Ritsuko turned eyeing her ¨C gods she hated these two being in this relationship, because ever since Asuka had come out of the core Rei was becoming much more forward and in her face and she hated it so much she was sure she was getting it off Asuka- it was bad enough having Shinji''s backchat for years without having hers now as well. "Asuka said it you didn''t!"

    Asuka rolled her good eye. "Our channel was secure which means some idiot leaked it over at Eos station over in South America, why are you chewing me out when they''re the ones to blame?" Ritsuko put her tablet away. "Because you represent Nerv what you say and do carries weight and it reflects badly on us!" Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Please the whole world has been mocking that device since it went up, it''s been all over the news everyone knows it''s a media joke."

    Shinji looked up from his magazine. "Asuka''s right it is a media joke and Eos is yours and my father''s problem not ours we just go up every six months in the Evangelion''s to make drop off deliveries and to pick up their packages which we have sent back to Eos''s earth''s station so they can run the data." Rei looked down. "I think personally you''re just sore because I heard that device''s outer casing was in part your design and you hate that it''s a laughing stock."

    Ritsuko eyed her. "That monstrosity was not my design I only created the power core device, I had nothing to do with the outer casing and shell that was some idiot over in Switzerland." She eyed Asuka. "You know your country of origin."

    Asuka felt a sneer form. "My whole family on my Grandmothers side lives in and outside Ravensburg city and it''s a German state at the very edge of Germany it''s not part of Switzerland!"

    She narrowed her good eye. "It''s not that hard to see look it up on an online map!" Ritsuko breathed in deeply as she changed the subject pulling out two cards one was gold and the other was metallic red. "These are for the five star restaurant Alimentum which is in the Galaxy five star skyscraper hotel, the one that has a revolving restaurant at the very top and it has the best view of Nerv''s Evangelion training fields I know that you know it as you used to woo all your conquests up there once upon a time. The gold one is your hotel and restaurant entry the red one allows you stay in the hotel overnight."

    Asuka eyed the cards. "Yes I know it and I know about the cards but why should I care?" Ritsuko eyed her. "Because tomorrow night you''re going to be there because the prime minister is having a formal lunch with his family and all of the pilots must attend, that includes you."

    Asuka raised her hands. "I''m sorry I don''t do all that fancy scheisse." Ritsuko moved a step closer to her. "No that''s incorrect you didn''t do it because you dived out of the spot light for three years and became a recluse but now you''re really popular and the world is suddenly interested in you again because you killed an angel all on your own and you created two spears out of his churned up digested parts!"

    She raised a hand. "Trust me I don''t want you there but the Prime Minster insisted, so you are going whether you want to or not!" She looked at her clothing. "And you will not wear those clothes either you will turn up in formal wear and you will be extremely polite."

    She shoved the cards into her hand. "You will sit with Rei and you shut up unless you''re spoken to, because I will not be picking up after you or cleaning up your mess like I had to do years ago back when you were nineteen."

    Rei turned sharply. "I was there that was not Asuka''s fault, that celebrity tried to come on to her in the hallway after the dinner, even Misato saw it she wouldn''t take no for an answer so Asuka punched her." She looked up slightly. "What was she meant to do let her have her way? Asuka didn''t like her or have any interest in sleeping with her."

    Ritsuko eyed her. "Sometimes we all must do thing we don''t enjoy for the good of the company." Rei eased up her hand playing with the chain that Asuka had brought her. "You have got to be joking right? Because that''s insane peoples bodies are not commodity items to sell to the highest bidder."

    Ritsuko eyed Asuka who was looking at her coldly. "We were going to sign a very high end celebrity endorsement deal and you fucking ruined it." She folded her arms. "I don''t get what the issue was I mean she was gay and you used to screw anything with a heartbeat." Asuka looked at her for a long moment. "Just because I''m bisexual does not mean that I''m attracted to every man or woman I see its only certain people that bring out certain emotions, Shinji will tell you same since he''s also bisexual!"

    Shinji looked up slightly. "Asuka''s right this is how it works and your just being cruel now you wouldn''t ask any of us to take one for the team in that way, so why your implying that she should have is beyond me." Rei breathed in deeply. "Do you have anything else to add Ritsuko or are just here to insult my girlfriend?"

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. "No other than deal with your father''s gift." Rei looked at her for a long moment. "You mean Kimi the traitor who put drugs in Asuka and Mari''s LCL so they''d fight to death just because that creepy now dead politician Shigeo wanted to marry me and wanted Asuka dead because he didn''t like that we were together?"

    Ritsuko turned sharply. "Yes her, I''m sick of her being locked up and under my feet, so deal with her your father gave her punishment to you, so do something with her already!" Rei shook her head. "I don''t care about her, I''ve said that already and I have no interest in being part of my father''s game!"

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. "Then tell him that personally because I will have no part in this." She turned raising her hand to Asuka. "You remember formal dress wear, no cheap clothes like your leather jacket and do something with that scruffy mane of loose red hair for once in your miserable life."

    Asuka watched as she turned away. "My leather jacket is a custom it cost a lot of verfickte money it wasn''t cheap!" Rei moved in front of her shaking her head as Ritsuko disappeared from sight she wanted to hit her so badly right now Asuka had self-esteem issues and had problems viewing herself as beautiful or even good looking and she was only just starting on the long road to getting around them she didn''t need comments like this as she only recently gotten her in to swim wear and she was still struggling with that in some respects when they visited the hot tub in the gyms spa.

    "Ignore her, nothing you wear is cheap and your hair is beautiful and I like that you always have it loose outside the entry plug." Mari stood up walking over to Asuka. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say that woman is a massive fucking bitch."

    Toji raised his hands. "No argument there." Shinji lowered his magazine. "Trust me she''s always been this way right from the start it''s just now she seems to think it''s okay to pick on Asuka when it''s not."

    He eyed Asuka who really wasn''t taking any notice. "Your clothing is fine and there''s nothing wrong with your hair being loose." Kaworu nodded. "I agree with Shinji, Asuka how you dress is of no concern the woman is being petty and most cruel."

    Mari turned to Asuka who was still looking down. "Ignore her last comment Asuka, she''s just one of these miserable completion climbers who sees every other woman as a rival hence the mean comment about your physical appearance." Asuka pulled the patch off putting it in her pocket. "Where am I going to find a formal dress wear by tomorrow night, I don''t even know what brand looks good and I''m not going in a dress?"

    She breathed in. "That means I only have tonight to get it and it''s going to take me all verfickte night, I''m meant to be working with the builders tonight on Rei''s pottery studio along with putting her old apartment up for sale!"

    Rei looked up sharply putting her hands on her shoulders. "It''s okay Asuka, I can do that I have your spare keys it''s not a problem and I know where everything is in your house now." Shinji stood up. "I know a place that tailors suits it''s on the twenty ninth floor of the Arcade I can take you there myself, Toji and Kaworu all got our formal suits made there."

    Mari turned. "Are you talking about the really expensive Italian tailor shop run by Piero and his four sisters?" Shinji looked up. "Yeah him and his sisters make men''s and women''s suits and dresses to fit and to order, I heard that Misato is dragging Kaji down there, because he''s coming to as they are a couple now and he is going in Maya''s place."

    Mari felt a wide smile form. "Yeah I had my suit made by them as well though mine has a knee length skirt and I wear flat black shoes with it." She grabbed Asuka''s arm. "Come on little sister we''ll both take you down there they have it measured to order and you can have trousers, it will be really comfortable."

    She turned to Rei. "Do you need to come as well?" Rei shook her head. "I prefer to wear long dresses for formal but please take Asuka along with my brother." Asuka turned as Shinji took her other arm. "Don''t I get a say in this?!"

    Rei moved towards her in truth this wasn''t about the suit this was about other people looking at her during the fitting. "Don''t worry Asuka you''ll be fine." She leaned over kissing her gently before pulling away. "Shinji and Mari will take care of you and I''ll take care of things back at our home."

    Mari as watched as Asuka opened her mouth to say something as Rei stepped away. "Come on little sister, you can spend all night with Rei since she now lives with you and she''s still unpacking boxes and putting books on those nice new shelves you put up for her."

    Shinji turned seeing the uncertain look in Asuka''s face. "It''s going to be fine, don''t worry Asuka." Toji watched as they vanished from sight. "Can someone explain something to me, because I''m confused?" Kaworu looked up. "What do you need explaining?" Toji raised his hand. "I''ve seen Asuka''s footage in the visitor centre of when she was younger she was so confident, what happened? I mean she''s just so unconfident about her own body image."

    Rei turned slowly to him. "Shamshel did it to her, she made her see herself as others saw her and she utterly hated herself afterwards." Toji blinked. "But that shit was when she was eighteen she''s twenty three now."

    Rei breathed in sadly. "It''s never really gone away, we just never realized because she became so wayward from us over time, I don''t know if its a wound that can ever be fully healed but I''m just trying to bring her out of herself but it is slow going." Kaworu looked up slightly a warm smile forming. "Rome was not built in a day, these things do take time and she needs a lot of blocks putting back in to place as her wall is rather battered."

    He paused. "But I''m sure you''re up to that challenge as you speak to her in a way we can''t." His smile became wider. "You speak and your words caress her soul." Rei eased up her delicate silver chain which had been gift from Asuka and had Odin''s knot pendent on it. "Yes I do but I think it goes both ways, I''m sure you understand no doubt you''ve had those moments with Shinji."

    Kaworu looked up. "Yes many times as they are not so different they both have battered walls but though they may be solid and harsh on the outside once you get past them it''s like the soft caress of silk."

    Toji blinked okay now he was just confused he didn''t really get it when Kaworu and Rei spoke in riddles he slapped his hands together getting their attention. "So who''s up for lunch?" He paused. "It''s just going to be ages before Shinji, Asuka and Mari gets back and Mari gets distracted and likes shopping." He took in a deep breath. "Her and my little sister Sakura are a nightmare together they don''t stop."

    Rei turned to him. "I''d be up for that." Toji stood up. "Great lets have Mexican, I know a really great place and my little sister can meet us there since I was going to pick her up from the school level!"

    End of part 2

    Silvermoonlight

 Safe And Sound Haven

    SAFE AND SOUND HAVEN

    Mari smirked as she shoved Asuka into the shop which was filled shoes, ties, shirts and trousers of every colour and form along with rolls and rolls of material of every colour on every shelf while dresses hung on racks. "Here we are princess." he watched as Shinji followed her in and they closed the door behind them causing the brass bell to ring.

    She watched as Piero appeared, a big smile on his face as he caught sight of her and Shinji. "Hello Mari, it''s great to see you again." He turned as Shinji sat himself down. "It''s great to see you to Shinji!" He straightened his suit. "To what do I owe you both the pleasure?"

    Asuka swallowed she couldn''t do this, it was going to be awful, terrifying and embarrassing she turned trying to back away towards the door only for Mari to grab her collar pulling her back before she could escape.

    Mari pushed Asuka forward. "Oh it''s not us we brought someone very special to you who needs nice new formal dress wear." Piero blinked in surprise he had been here for six years and not once had he ever seen Asuka, she had never come into his families shop.

    In fact he had heard that she was extremely picky about which shops and stores she went into and she tended to be very regular as well at the restaurants she ate in. It was only because of Rei that she was suddenly branching out and appearing in shops and stores she''d never been in before and it was creating a lot of talk on the Arcade levels.

    She was just how she looked in the recent pictures his youngest sister Romia was a massive fan off hers and liked collecting her merchandise the only thing that did surprise him though was her height she wasn''t that tall she was the slightly smaller than Misato, granted the smallest was Rei and he''d seen her in person.

    Maybe it was because of her husky voice because it sounded so deep that it gave this false impression that she was six foot tall or something. He could see though that she was really nervous her good eye which wasn''t patched kept looking around as if she was trying to find another exist route since Mari her step sister was standing right behind her so she couldn''t run to the door.

    He moved over to the cabinet easing out a bottle of wine and two glasses. "Hello Asuka." Asuka forced a smile. "Hi." Piero slowly poured a glass of wine the other knew what he was doing because they''d been here before and this was how he and his sisters liked to treat all their clients. "I can''t say I''ve seen you here before." Asuka looked down at her feet. "I''ve never been here before." She moved her hand to her pendent as she started to nervously fiddle with it. "Until recently¡­."

    Piero eased open his holographic pad he had other clients but he was going to push her to the top of the list as he had a feeling that since she was here it was probably urgent along with Kaji who had left an hour ago after being dragged in by Misato.

    He moved forward easing up the wine glass. "Maybe you''d like a drink to calm your nerves." Asuka took the glass from his hands she normally didn''t care for wine because she didn''t like how bitter it could be but she''d drink anything to the point of getting wasted if it meant calming her nerves right now, she took a slow sip.

    Only to pull away in surprise as it wasn''t bitter at all it was very sweet and aromatic also as it was a white wine it didn''t feel like it was clinging to throat like red wine did. "That''s nice." Piero eased up his hand. "It''s made from a recipe from my home village it''s delicate and fine, I''m glad you approve." He eased up his note pad. "If you''re here it means you need fine tailored dress wear, what were you thinking of having as we can make anything to your taste."

    Shinji turned seeing one of Piero''s sisters poke her head through the curtain she gave him a wave only to blink in surprise as she caught sight of Asuka and Mari. He stood up moving towards them seeing the others appear behind the certain. "Hello there."

    Lucrezia spoke first. "Is that Asuka?" Shinji stepped inside. "Yes." He raised his hand. "She''s here for formal dress wear as she has to attend a dinner with us all tomorrow night." Romia hands came together. "This is so cool! She is so awesome." Shinji eased up his hand. "Could you all do me a big favour?" Cianna leaned over ruffling his hair she knew he didn''t mind. "What''s that Shinji?" Shinji looked up. "When you take her measurements utterly faun over her, tell her she''s intelligent, smart and beautiful, because she has confidence issues and we are all trying to help her out."

    Gia blinked in surprise. "Hey I heard a rumour about this but I thought it was only a rumour, did this come about because of her left eye being blinded and this scar she has on her lower stomach, I''ve heard it''s quite large."

    Shinji shook his head. "No it''s a problem she''s had for some years but we''ve only just become very aware of it and the Alpha unit incident did not help matters granted Rei is always saying nice things to her but I think she needs to hear it from others."

    Cianna pulled back the curtain eyeing Asuka who was now describing what she wanted while Piero was showing her designs and cuts and even talking about shoes as she could have them fitted here as well as everything came as a complete set Mari was standing close by looking over with interest. "Wouldn''t think she had this problem I mean on screen she always has this confident moody edge."

    Shinji looked at her. "I think that''s so others don''t see the truth that she''s nervous and afraid, just like the rest of us." He paused. "Oh yeah and this is really important." He watched as they all turned back. "Don''t take her patch off and her leather jacket is really precious let her give it to you don''t take it off her and don''t remove my sisters pendent because she''ll get really annoyed."

    Lucrezia nodded. "Thank you we got that." She paused. "Can I ask a personal question though?" Shinji nodded. "Go ahead." Lucrezia leaned closer. "How does your sister keep her so under control I mean we''ve seen the visitor centre footage and she just turns her into this soft gentle kitten?"

    Shinji shook his head. "You misunderstand that is who Asuka really is, Rei is not controlling or taming her that is and she''s like that when they are alone, she very gentle and loving and she''ll do anything to make her happy."

    Cianna looked up. "That''s so sweet I had no idea she was such a soft touch, I mean when we first set up shop they told us pacifically not to annoy Asuka because she has a hot temper and that if you piss her off you do so at your own peril."

    Shinji eased up his hand. "That part is only half true she doesn''t just attack random people, normally they deserve what''s coming to them like Yuki also she''s only cagey towards people she doesn''t know once she gets to know people she''s fine." Gia put her hands on her hips. "Yeah I saw that video in Nerv''s cloud feed, massive homophobic prick that guy I have a friend down on the seventh who he harassed because he''s transgender so seeing her dish out justice for that was so satisfying."

    She turned as Perio moved his head behind the curtain. "Okay I have Asuka Langley coming through to you, handle this one with great care, she''s very new to this kind of thing and seems really nervous we need her full measurements for a long sleeve shirt and suit with trousers that had a leather belt and specially made tie and her foot size as she needs really good shoes."

    He raised his hand. "Oh and pockets are a big deal she wants inner and outer and pockets on the trousers and she wants the gun holder compartment that we stock the one that can be moved to the leg or hidden under the suit and this one''s a fast turnaround she needs it ready tomorrow." Shinji moved back giving them a wave. "I''ll leave you to it."

    8

    Rei turned watching as the front door opened as Asuka walked in carrying some bags as she pulled on her black and red motor cycle shirt opening to let the air as she took her gloves off as she locked the door causing the metal shutter to go down on the opposite side. She looked up from her seat on the new three seat sofa where she was lying back reading her book. "Did you have fun with finding a suit?" Asuka pulled her jacket off. "Yeah it just took a while and they measure everything."

    She paused as the smell of something hit her nose. "Did you order Mexican?" Rei felt a smile form. "Toji took his sister to a Mexican restaurant in the Arcade with me and Kaworu, I got you some take away, I know Piero''s sisters love to chat and it takes a long while to leave that place as it''s a family affair."

    Asuka put her bags down pulling her boots then eased off her leather trousers and jacket putting them on them on the hanger opposite Rei''s motorbike leathers which were hanging up close by. She clearly gotten here hours before her and had parked her motorbike up she had put her opposite it in the garage of her former farm house home. "I swear Shinji said something to them because they showered me with nothing but complements on how I great I was."

    She pulled off her t-shirt throwing it in the washing machine. "It was really weird." Rei watched as she stretched she was only in her underwear and bra now she looked up not really reading her magazine''s words as she let her eyes trace the other woman''s shoulder muscles. "I''m sure all of it was true."

    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    Asuka pulled off her patch throwing it on the kitchen top. "Random people saying things like that to me creeps me out." She turned meeting Rei''s gaze. "Did they finish the frame in the back garden?¡±

    Rei looked up. "Yes I was there to see them put it all up, it''s just how I want it and they left an hour ago they''ll come back after tomorrow to put in the walls, floors, roof and furnishing and heating." Asuka moved towards her. "So long as it''s what you want."

    She looked up grabbing her bag. "Give me a moment I just want to get a quick wash and change I''ll be right back down." Rei looked up. "Take your time." She watched as she vanished from sight, she knew it wouldn''t take her long to come back down she had brought some bath salts for her bath as it was more than big enough for two, so hopefully they could lie in there together some time.

    Clearly Shinji had been trying to help with her self-image problem which was nice but clearly she needed much more time.

    She turned as Asuka reappeared wearing some fresh blue jeans and a white t-shirt she was bare foot and had a few shopping bags in her hand she turned putting her dirty clothes in the washing machine then grabbed the food, she eased up her feet watching as the red haired woman sat next to her on the sofa looking at the food bag along with her shopping bag.

    Asuka looked at her bags. "I got you something." She opened one of the bags pulling out an old book. "You said you were having issues finding this edition, so I found it for you."

    Rei put her magazine down taking it from her hand looking it over the shock hitting home. "Where did you get this Asuka?" Asuka didn''t look up as she put a smaller bag on the coffee table which had newly bought hair ribbons in it. "Some book shop on the fiftieth floor of the Arcade, you said you lost that edition in school you lent it out and never ever got it back." Rei blinked in shock. "Asuka how much did pay for this? There are not many copies of this around and the one I had in school was tatty this looks almost new."

    Asuka opened the ribbon bag as she pulled out a couple of the hair ribbons which were in reds and blacks. "It''s just money I didn''t mind spending it." She eased up a ribbon. "Do these look any good?" Rei sat up fully. "I would have been fine with a second hand one."

    Asuka looked at her speaking calmly. "Trust me I looked into a second hand one, they are battered to hell, that''s semi used and I got a very good price on it by being intimidating the shop keeper and making my left eye glow."

    Rei looked at her for a long moment. "Seriously you did that?" Asuka eyed the ribbons again. "Yeah he was trying to rip me off, I hate being ripped off, granted pre-second impact books are expensive but he was trying to swindle me by saying how much it was in Yen and not euros and I''m not stupid I know how much Yen is too much."

    She eyed the silk ribbons again. "Granted maths was not my best subject in school and when I engineer things I always have the data card run the hologram maths calculations twice to be sure I have the numbers right which I don''t always get right but I''m not a moron."

    Rei laughed as she looked up. "I heard in school you used to get these two bright boys to do your maths homework for you." Asuka turned slightly. "That incorrect I used to threaten to beat them up because I was really lazy and didn''t want to do the homework, I wanted to draw instead because that was the one thing I couldn''t do in Germany, since art wasn''t high on their list and they didn''t like my drawings in general."

    She eased up the ribbons. "These don''t look tacky or anything? They are for tomorrow night." Rei looked at the long silk ribbons which were in mostly reds though there was a black one as well. "No not at all but like I said your hair is beautiful loose you don''t have to tie it up just because Ritsuko was digging at you."

    Asuka eyed the ribbons. "It''s not because of what she said, I don''t give a scheisse about her opinion on my hair or how I wear it, I just want to look nice, since we are dinning together."

    Rei lowered the book. "Well in that case I would like to see you in ribbons, I mean you used to wear ribbons at Misato''s when we were younger and they looked really good on you." Asuka put down the ribbons feeling a smile form. "I''ll get the suit tomorrow afternoon so I''ll put them on then." Rei shifted a little closer raising the book. "Thank you so much for this." Asuka eyed the new book shelf opposite where almost all of Rei''s books were unpacked but the shelf still wasn''t full. "There still room for way more."

    Rei leaned over gently kissing her. "Yeah well I''m sure I''ll fill them in time." She leaned over grabbing the food bag putting it in Asuka''s hand. "You should eat up I brought you one of those massive sized burrito with pulled pork, Toji in convinced you can''t eat a whole one like he and Mari can."

    Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Please I can eat anything meat based and still have room for more and I know I could eat him and Mari under a table." Rei felt a smile form. "I did tell him that." Asuka took a bite out of it enjoying the taste. "Thank you for buying me lunch."

    Rei sat up running her hand through her long red hair. "You''re very welcome." Asuka turned slightly. "Tell me because its years since I''ve been to one of these formal dinners, what are they like? Because the last one I remember going to before all that Hikari crap blew up in my face was really boring."

    Rei put the book down as she eased herself up against the other woman putting her hand around her waist. "Nothing''s changed they are still absolute terrible, it''s basically just the same as it always was Ritsuko sucks up to whoever is prime minister and their family and guests and tells them how brilliant they are and goes on about how great my father Gendo is."

    She moved her hand up running it down Asuka''s baggy t-shirt. "Believe me though it''s worth the three hours of pain for the hotel room." Asuka stopped eating. "What''s so great about the hotel room?" Rei looked at her as it suddenly occurred to her that Asuka had not stayed in the hotel room she had always left and gone home on her motorbike as she had seen her leaving countess times over the years. "Misato booked us a suit just like Shinji and Kaworu so I''ll get to show you."

    Asuka looked at her for a long moment why did she suddenly get the feeling this was going to be one of those roller coaster rides where Rei threw her through a loop? Because she had a habit of doing that granted the ride was always beyond compare but it start always felt like she was being shifted out of her conform zone.

    She turned suddenly hearing a chewing sound only to see that her small tortoiseshell cat with her tatty right ear was sitting on the sofa arm and chewing on the end of her half eaten burrito. "Erika!" Her cat''s head shot up its yellow eyes blinking as it tried to play innocent she knew Rei had fed her, because she''d put out the new feeder alongside the old feeder bowls which fed the cat wet and dry food for a number of days she eyed her food as the carried on staring at her. "Fine I''ll give you some."

    Rei watched as she stood up, she was a massive push over when it came to her cat, we''ll tactically it was their cat Asuka had said that the day she''d moved in. "I did feed her." Asuka cut off the burrito end putting the meat part only in disk as she watching Erika bounced on the kitchen top digging her head in as she threw the other bit away then carried on eating the remainder. "I know you did, it''s just cats have no shame and I forgot the golden rule about not leaving food lying around, she used to be a stray so she''ll eat anything going."

    Rei looked up. "Have you had any luck with the two Spears of Destiny? I mean I heard yesterday you got pulled into the quarantine zone along with unit 02 and had you test them on stuff." Asuka finished her food she felt a scowl form. "I am getting so verfickte sick off those tests, the Spears don''t do anything! They told me that there meant to create life so Ritsuko keeps bringing up dead cows for me to poke and nothing happens."

    She breathed in deeply. "I just end up sitting 02 like a cat inside that massive glass room which they tell me used to be for Evangelion training in the really early days it would be fine if she let me play music or draw in the waiting periods but she won''t she turns off all 02''s fun stuff and demands that I get the spears working since I created them out of Bardiel digested remains."

    She paused. "They don''t do anything and nothing I''ve tried works." She eased up her hands looking at them. "Also I get this weird sensation off them it''s not evil or anything but it makes me feel like they''re not mine, despite that I created them."

    Rei blinked. "Maybe that''s because after Bardiel died his soul ascended through you and 02 so maybe it feels more like his than yours." Asuka shook her head. "He asked me to create them but they''re not his and they''re not mine and nothing I touch comes back to life." She looked up slightly. "Only amusing thing was when I accidentally sprayed half a dead cow across the screen in there."

    She felt a sly smile form. "I was picking it up to point the spear at it and I kind of crushed it, and the blood went all over the glass viewing screen and Ritsuko was so pissed off." Rei felt a knowing smile form on her lips. "So you did it on purpose then?"

    Asuka laughed. "Yes I did it was completely purpose, like I said I get so bored and I hate the hour long sessions and this crazy push for results." Rei stood up moving towards her putting her around her waist. "Well tomorrow we can just take it easy, though Misato wants all of the Evangelion''s at the world parade in a few days."

    Asuka looked at her. "Where is the world parade this year it moves every year?" Rei felt Asuka''s arms close around her in their normal gentle hug. "R¨ªo de Janeiro in Brazil." Asuka breathed in deeply. "Great so we''ll be standing our Evangelion''s around doing nothing but looking menacing."

    Rei breathed in as the intense smell of sun flowers hit her nose which came from Asuka entry plug and LCL and never left her body. "Sadly yes, but it does mean we can talk if nothing else." Asuka breathed in deeply smelling alpine forest it was a smell she adored and came from Rei''s LCL. "Well I can manage that, I mean it beats killing terrorists twenty four seven."

    Rei moved her hand to her hair running her hand through it. "Come to the gym with me tomorrow, I know you had a lot going on with moving my things but now we are more settled I want you to come and do gymnastics with me." Asuka took in a deep breath. "You know I''m going to be really terrible at it don''t you?"

    Rei eased up her hand putting it on the side of her face. "No because it''s like a dance and it''s not that much different from the fight training you and I do with Kyo which is like a dance so I think it will transfer over well." Asuka closed her eye just enjoying the peace which was the one thing she felt around Rei and she never got this sensation with anyone else. "If you say so¡­."

    Rei looked at her seeing that she closed her eyes as she''s getting more relaxed which always happened as she tended to take a while to calm down when she got home then she became deeply relaxed and very open and her left eye was starting to glow she could see even through the slit in her eye. "Please stop selling yourself short Asuka I think you''re capable of anything."

    End of part 3

    Silvermoonlight

 Gentle Grace And Movement

    GENTLE GRACE AND MOVEMENT

    Asuka took in a deep breath as she walked into the gymnastic floor she felt so out of place here it was like being in another place entirely. In all the nine years she''d been here she''d never gone near this floor and it wasn''t helping that the Nerv staff were all looking at her. Like didn''t they have anything better to do with their time than stare at her?

    She looked up seeing the high bar and the many gym mats. She could see the curved glass at the far end that led out onto a balcony where people could sit and eat, there was one on the opposite side it was the same on every single level. While down at the very bottom was the huge sub-tropical swimming pool below with its flumes, wave machines and cocktail bars.

    On both sides were the glass spa and hot tub sections which were on both sides and interlinked to every part of the vast gym so you could visit the spa areas from any section of the gym while a huge section of spa made up three to off the floors.

    She put her gym bag down fiddling with her new red gym sleeveless top and sports bra along with silk trousers as her bare feet pressed in to the floor, she turned as Rei ran in behind her wearing a thick tight gymnastic top which was black and body hugging pants in the same colour.

    She put a hand on her face groaning inwardly, this was going to be like mental torture she loved this woman''s one-piece black swim wear but this was on a whole other level of sexual that was going to kick her in the lowers, why did she ever agree to this? Oh that''s right because she couldn''t vocalize the word "no" when Rei asked her to do something.

    Rei moved over seeing that Asuka''s good eye was on her for a very long lingering moment before she forced it upwards to look at the bar. "Oh don''t worry we won''t be trying that, maybe when you get more advanced." She caught sight of the gathering Nerv staff watching them through the glass above with great interest.

    That was getting to be a habit in that whenever she dragged Asuka somewhere new they wanted a front row seat, her brother never had this issue with Kaworu him and his lover could go anywhere and be mostly ignored but she and Asuka just never got that.

    She could only assume it was because it was Asuka she was dragging around and people were still trying to wrap their heads around their relationship and how it even worked and of course they wanted to know who was in control even though it wasn''t either of them as it didn''t work that way.

    She moved over picking up two of the dancing ribbons she had one of these hanging in the wreck room but it was a trophy hence why it was on display and not used. She eased up the ribbon which was red; she''d asked the gym to put one out for her. "We are going to do dancing with ribbons." Asuka took the ribbon from her hand. "Okay¡­"

    Rei eased up her blue one. "The idea is to get this flowing as you move your feet." She paused. "We''ll start simple I just want you to copy me." Asuka blinked suddenly starting to feel nervous. "I''m not so sure this is such great idea I''m not that good at dancing." Rei raised an eyebrow as she came to stand next to her. "I remember you being a really good dancer back when we were younger in the Tokyo Three night clubs."

    Asuka looked at her for a long moment. "Yeah that''s because I was drunk." Rei felt a smile form as she took hold of her hand rotating it watching as the ribbon started to spin it. "The point is to be loose and gently and I know you can be very gentle.¡± She eyed the flowing ribbon. "That''s why I know you''ll be good of this."

    Asuka took in a deep breath ignoring the warm sensation in her left eye wishing she could stop it because that meant it was glowing. "You have so much faith." Rei moved over as she started to spin her own ribbon opposite. "Stand wider Asuka like me." She watched as the red head shifted copying her. "Just keep the ribbon in motion."

    She paused. "Do you remember that time Shinji and Kaworu danced in really perfect sync, you know for that Nerv dance competition?" Asuka turned watching her trying to get her pose and movements right. "Yes I remember." She breathed in deeply. "I tried out with Shinji and I really screwed it up because I just got frustrated and angry and kept missing the moves because I just couldn''t keep sync, hence why he went with Kaworu."

    Rei looked up. "You know maybe it wasn''t so much you screwing up have you considered that maybe you just had the wrong dance partner?" She turned slightly. "Granted I never took part but maybe you''d have been better off with me."

    Asuka laughed but it was a dry laugh. "Look you really don''t have to make me feel better, I know you wouldn''t have picked me a year ago when that event was going on, we didn''t even talk that much."

    Rei stopped as she grabbed her hand seeing Asuka''s good eye meet her own as she stood still. "No but here''s the thing Kaji mentioned that I could do something with you and I laughed at the idea, I thought he was joking until it hit me he was actuality being serious."

    She could see that Asuka was deeply confused as to where this was going. "He even said you were really good at hand to hand and that skill might transfer over well in my form of dance. I just didn''t get what he was talking about until you fought Yuki because your skill with lightning rods is pure perfection." She eased up the ribbon. "This isn''t much different you just need to learn a more gentle touch and motion."

    She moved closer. "So I know you can do this." She looked up seeing that more people were now gathering behind the glass. "You shouldn''t worry about them either." Asuka looked up. "I just wish sometimes they''d leave us alone, I mean when I was around before Bardiel they barely noticed me I could just fade in to the background." Rei lowering her voice to a silky soft whisper. "They just don''t get us we are a puzzle they are so desperate to solve."

    She felt a sly smile form. "Or more to the point they are trying to figure out how I get you to go places, they probably think I somehow tame you." She moved her hand up running it through the long red hair letting it spill though her fingers. "Though there very much mistaken, as you don''t need taming, you''re very much in control of your own wants and desires and you come with me because you love me and you trust me."

    Asuka breathed in sharply feeling the blush creep on to her cheeks she wanted to say something but nothing was coming, her voice was completely stuck in her throat. Rei only ever used that voice normally when they were in bed together she was going to have to blast herself with a freezing cold shower after this.

    Rei stepped away, okay maybe that was a little mean because she knew she''d just turned on the sexual charge in Asuka''s body but she knew she would now focus completely on her and by the end of this session that sexual energy would get knocked out and be replaced with tiredness but it wouldn''t be from being overworked but more intense concentration.

    People really just didn''t get it, Asuka''s rough confident unafraid fa?ade wasn''t really who she was it was up there like a shield so she could protect herself from harm as she was so untrusting of people underneath she wasn''t very underconfident and always questioning what she could and couldn''t do granted in an Evangelion she could do anything but she had only recently realized that and now outside the entry plug she got very nervous about trying new things and had to be gently guided in to it.

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    She turned raising her blue ribbon. "Shall we try this again?"

    She watched as the taller red head nodded quietly her good eye now really fixed on her. "Just remember no harsh movement okay you want it to be really soft and flowing." She started to move watching as Asuka went with her movement she was trying far harder now to go in time with her and the music which was playing off side through the speakers which was meant to help with relaxation.

    Misato looked through the glass watching as Rei and Asuka danced in motion neither of them had seen her as she was much more to the back away from the crowds she looked at Kaji as she spoke. "You''re right they do have natural rhythm I mean okay it''s quite choppy now but given time they could get that perfect sync like Kaworu and Shinji."

    Kaji raised his hand. "Now imagine if you could get that in the Evangelion''s personally I think Rei''s Evangelion bearing so much similarity to Asuka''s isn''t some random coincidence." He carried on watching. "It''s like a yin and yang duality, granted Asuka''s model is the bigger stronger one but Rei is the faster one even before it changed Asuka could never take down 00 on the training ground."

    He pointed to Asuka. "I also don''t think she ever will and maybe that''s the point maybe she''s not meant to because Rei is her only true equal, I think it''s time we up their training to see if they can run the Diablo inferno simulation together."

    Misato turned sharply. "You do realize that is the hardest simulation of all right? Asuka has run that simulation countless times and never once completed it with anyone, neither has Rei, not to mention the hologram pain threshold is at max level so the pain feels real even in the Evangelion, only Shinji has ever completed it and that was with Kaworu."

    Kaji looked up. "In my opinion you should run them both if they can get half way through it or even a third you''ll know you''re on to something." Misato looked up. "You know the others cannot even enter the training field when it''s running its half an hour of hard slog." Kaji raised his finger. "Great then the press and media will love it I mean we only run it once a year and on very rare occasions outside that."

    He stroked his short thick beard. "Also up the stakes tell them they have to use the Evangelion''s body, because Asuka is better at this and Rei can pick up on how she uses 02''s claws and teeth and maybe get that tail moving as she''s barely used it in training for more than working out balance between all fours and hinds unlike Mari who instantly got how to use her units massive whip lash tail straight away."

    Misato folded her arms. "Yeah her unit is very different to Rei''s and Asuka they''re more powerhouse''s her unit springs around and its real slender and thin and it can crawl out of Asuka and Rei''s grip and even Shinji has issues holding it, it snakes its way out and leaps way higher than the others, Kaworu has to move fast when he''s airborne to avoid it."

    She breathed in deeply. "Also unlike Rei and Asuka she didn''t need her guns adjusting because the only 04''s front hand fingers are longer but not the palm so she can still fire all her weapons and use knifes while the back legs are lycanthropic with claws." She shook her head. "Just really wish she''d stop grabbing and licking with that super long pointed tongue though just to put the others off."

    Kaji smirked. "I heard that people don''t like the sound either, Rei and Asuka''s units both bellow and roar like big cats but the media and press say''s Mari''s unit sounds like a pissed of king cobra and it screeches so loud that it hurts peoples ears."

    Kaji raised his hand. "There''s just one thing I don''t get, Asuka can make her eye left glow even control her teeth in that she make them grow and go back to normal outside the Evangelion but Shinji, Rei and Mari can''t and we have seen them both angry in their new Evangelion''s they both get sharp teeth and glowing eyes." Misato breathed in deeply. "I believe they can probably do the same but they just don''t know how yet."

    8

    "Let me see it in action!"

    The old woman in the dark suit watched as the huge mouth filled with razor teeth opened letting out a roar as the four glass red eyes turned on as the white Evangelion with its gold and blue patterns coming into view its two set of arms could be seen as they moved in the bay as the pilot tested them while the long whip lash tail flicked through the air.

    The huge lycanthrope like feet and four clawed hands moved in perfect tune with the pilot without issue. "How is the sync?" The man looked up. "Perfect Pharaoh, your grandson has perfect tune." The woman smiled. "Of cause he does he''s a true Langley as is my granddaughter."

    The scientist looked up as the huge Evangelion started to move around the test bay though it remained on all fours. "The final products are very akin to a mix of Bardiel and 02''s Nekomata we were concerned for a while as when we got the guts in it and the muscles started growing it grew the secondary arms the unit for your granddaughter did the same but we are still fitting the armour it will be four hours until its completion."

    He paused. "Though her units secondary arms didn''t grow downwards like this one they grew above the head much like Bardiel''s and it''s got six eyes and three body length tails."

    He looked at his tablet. "Even better because Nekomata was already enhanced as it''s in a permanently controlled berserker form, it means these two units are as well and your grandchildren don''t have to go through the effort of changing them, they basically have these animals at their beckoning and the S2 Engines both grew perfectly."

    The woman''s dark eyes narrowed as she pushed her dark hair back. "My late son''s dream finally a reality at long last to have living gods that can take control of this world and all of humanity." The scientist paused. "Your son was right of course the Evangelion''s should not be tools to protect humanity they should rule humanity and humanity should kneel to their demands."

    The woman looked up a smile forming. "We also have the added bonus that only three of Nerv''s six units have fully transitioned so they will not stand a chance against these two living gods."

    He stroked his white beard. "We may have problems though dealing with Mari, Asuka and Rei''s unit''s as they are all like this in that they have transitioned to their permanent primal forms." The woman looked at him. "Don''t worry about that stack of domino''s I have plans for them." The scientist turned his face filling with confusion. "What sort of plans?"

    The woman''s gaze drifted up to the Lance of Longinus which was in its stone form hanging above on the ceiling. "I''m going to get that bastard child Asuka and I''m going to ruin her life from the inside out along with her lover Rei, they''re only strong as a couple but they are weak once you cut through their hide.

    Nerv won''t know what hit them and Asuka will do as I command and bring that lance back to life as she is it owner, the former destroyer of the worlds and then she will call up on its counterpart and bring it back to life as well and then she will hand a lances to my true Langley children, Mari will be of no concern she''s weak and her Evangelion looks like a weeding rake, thin ugly pink thing that it is with its angler fish mouth and despite being my blood I don''t class her as a Langley."

    The scientist raised a bushy white eyebrow. "You make it sound so very simple."

    The woman raised her hand looking at her ringed finger. "It will be, you see it''s very easy to build the world up but even easier to send it crashing down and as I''ve said before I will no longer play second fiddle to Cerberus or Ouroboros, Ankh will rule this world. We lost our grip over it in the Second World War and third because we relied too heavily on the chaos, it won''t happen again my family have been denied ruler ship for four generations now will take it back by force."

    The scientist turned. "What do you want to call these Evangelion?" The woman looked up. "I want this one to be to be called Sobek after the crocodile god who embodied a pharaoh power, fertility and military prowess." She turned. "The other shall be called Sekhmet after the lion goddess of destruction, war and violence who breathed life into the deserts and was said to protect the pharaoh''s."

    She paused eyeing the Evangelion. "I want the world to know fear again but not the fear of Ouroboros''s half-cocked angel child hybrids abominations, I want them to people to see an Evangelion and kneel to it and plea for forgiveness for their sin of asking help from living gods."

    End of part 4

    Silvermoonlight

 Returning From The Darkness

    RETURNING FROM THE DARKNESS

    Misato walked the long corridors that made up the Magi''s four massive server rooms which were so tall that they loomed over her head with neon greens and blues as the huge device that ran along the floor shifted huge sections as well as moving and replacing sections its job was to repair any damage and it was AI learning program which had been running for five years solid.

    She stepped over the huge cables that lined the outside floor, inside the four massive Magi it was cable clear but outside it was a fucking mess and the work of replacing power had to be done by people, normally it was a job of lower end staff who were working their way up the ladder and normally you only did it for six months before you shifted up the rank.

    Almost every employee had done it at one time or another with the acceptation of the intelligence ranked employees because they were just too important and needed to be always working. Even she had though it was years ago and she been very young and fresh out of her second job two years after university after getting Pen Pen.

    Unfortunately it was a maze down here and also quite dark. She eased up her torch catching sight of young man working to fix a power cable. "Hey do you know where I can find Sumire?"

    The young man looked up he was in the official cream Nerv uniform but his uniform had reflective sections to make it glow because the light was so limited down here and the shoulders were grey to show low rank. "Yeah turn left down that path right and then left again Corporal." He paused. "Word of warning she doesn''t like high level staff because one put her down here and she''s been stuck down here for two years, so don''t expect a very warm welcome."

    He breathed in deeply. "In fact everyone down here stays away from her because she''s got a really nasty temper." Misato breathed in deeply. "Thank you."

    She carried walking catching sight of the tall woman who was of Mexican descent who had striking dark green eyes as well as long black hair which was tailed back she was in her thirties and very slender in build and she was wearing a striking gold necklace despite that wearing these things weren''t Nerv dress code. She lowered her torch looking at the woman who was busy fixing a huge piece of cable "Sumire Nagara I presume?"

    The woman looked up slightly her dark green eyes glinting in the darkness as she carried on working. "I''m busy, fuck off." Misato blinked they weren''t kidding when they said she didn''t like top brass, clearly she had nothing but seething hated for them because she was stuck doing this senseless and boring job for what she probably felt would be the remainder of her career. "You know I am a Corporal."

    Sumire carried on working. "I don''t care one of you assholes put me down here to rot." She threw her spanner aside violently holding back none of her anger. "I had a promising career I was working towards being one of the bridge lieutenants but instead I got shoved down here and that slimy bastard Makoto got to gloat and to top it off that bitch Ritsuko stopped my transfer to China last year. So now I''m stuck in this Nerv hell till I retire which won''t be for another thirty years.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply it was strange normally she would expect people to behave in her presence but this woman was just hurting and lashing out and she could understand why. She wouldn''t want to spend two years down here this was not a job you forced people to do long term who didn¡¯t like it because it clearly led to serious mental issues as it was a fourteen hour day everyday with very few breaks.

    She breathed in deeply and she had the look of someone who was borderline depressed she knew the look well she''d seen it in Shinji and Rei eyes and recently in Asuka and Mari''s and like all of them she was lashing out due to pure misery.

    Sumire looked up slightly. "So whatever Ritsuko sent you to say go ahead, it''s not like you can do any more damage that hasn''t already been done!" Misato eased up her tablet. "You didn''t hear the news then?" Sumire eyed her for a long moment she was confused somehow she was hoping that her temper would get her fired because that was the only means of escape she could see to leaving Nerv hence why she''d gone out of her way recently to piss of any higher level people coming down here because then it would be a release from this boring grinding torture. "I don''t hear anything down here we don''t really get long lunch breaks."

    Misato looked at her sadly. "Makoto has been dubbed a traitor." Sumire felt a cold smile form. "I told people years ago that he was off but it fell on deaf ears well at least I can smile about that if nothing else." Misato shook her head. "His leaving has caused a shift around in the command structure."

    Sumire looked up suddenly feeling really confused. "Why are you telling me this? I am sure you have plenty of Ritsuko''s ass kissing candidates lined up." Misato looked up seeing that she really hadn''t caught on. "I spoke today to Kohji Takao, your former manager he is now a Evangelion specialist and works with the specialist team who repair and refit the Evangelion''s armour he works alongside Hayden Ironton''s vast bay crew, he highly recommended you he even stated that he missed your company as you he barely sees you now."

    Sumire looked up. "Are you trying to give me a promotion of some kind?"

    Misato looked down thank the gods she had finally caught on. "Yes effective as of immediately, better pay and you get to spend time in the Delphi gardens, use the gym and shops in the Arcade and see the pilots from time to time and have hours where you get to see daylight."

    Sumire narrowed her gaze now she just suspicious no one did things like this, this had to be bullshit or a joke maybe she should just play along for the hell of it she spoke not caring that her voice was thick with dark sarcasm. "So I''m guessing I''ll be pouring your coffee then or filing your cabinets I''m sure good assistants are so hard to find."

    Misato blinked in surprise seriously why was this woman not getting this? She looked down she already knew the answer she was depressed she wanted to see the worst in everything and everyone she breathed in kneeling down so she was her level and no longer standing over her, if there one thing she''d learnt recently it was that depressed people who had built up thick walls to protect themselves tended to really hate being talked down to it made them even less trusting as they felt even more threatened.

    She slowly passed the tablet over speaking calmly. "No it''s for a job as bridge Lieutenant you''ll be taking Kaji''s former position as he now has Makoto''s desk and Maya''s been shifted up to Major science Rank but we need that extra hand badly because she, Kaji and Shigeru are struggling up there and Maya is feeling it the most as she has Ritsuko''s former position on top of what she''s already doing and its hard for her sometimes."

    She watched as she flipped through the position contract. "Between us and only between us I''m not Ritsuko''s biggest fan ether, hence why I picked you over her candidates and they tell me that with every spear hour you''ve had off this job you''ve been desperately trying to keep your skills sharp even though it¡¯s affecting your health."

    She looked around her. "I need eyes and ears I can trust up there, I need people like you more than ever, there is a massive war brewing our rival Ouroboros has created an angel creation with a joint piloting system and we know there''s more than one and we also have Cerberus who want to destroy the Evangelion''s and Ankh are desperate to build their own Evangelions because they want to use them to cause terror the events of Australia some time ago were the tip of the iceberg."

    She looked up slowly seeing that the woman now knew she was now serious and that this was not a joke. "I don''t want Ritsuko''s mouth pieces I want men and women who will help me fight this battle and who I can depend on that''s why I came all the way down here to promote you."

    She looked at the other woman who was suddenly crying maybe because it was strain of finally being free of this pit which to her must feel like a tomb. "All the other candidates I looked at were good but your marks were exceptional and that why I want you and not the others, so are you interested?"

    Sumire wiped her tears away sharply she did finally recompose herself it was the relief of finally being free of this bleak black shit hole she''d been stuck in for two years. "Yes, I want out of here, I can''t stand it anymore."

    Misato stood up watching as she did the same, she would need to have Maya transfer her to the medical staff as she probably needed counselling and maybe some anti-depressants, just until she got herself back together. "You get your things from your locker and I''ll personally escort you up the first lieutenants break and wreck room, I have told Kaji, Maya and Shigeru they will be waiting for you there."

    She paused as the other woman wiped away the last of her tears. "Also you will get very good health care and I would like it if you can go for a check-up in the medical wing as soon as possible. Because being down here might have really impacted your health and made you ill and they can give you some drugs to help you and they have doctors who are very good at dealing with stress." She looked up hoping she would read between the lines.

    Sumire looked up she knew what the Coronal was talking about and though she didn''t really like the idea personally but she''d do anything right now if it meant sitting at a desk and doing a real job again. "I''ll do that Coronal."

    8

    Rei looked up from her seat at the very wide oval table where she had been seated opposite Misato who was dressed in her black military over the knee dress with its dark crimson red collar and double buttoned front as well as red folded sleeves on it were all her shoulder insignia including rank of Coronal.

    While she had her black high heels on the seat opposite, was empty as it was Kaji who was set to arrive along with Asuka while Ritsuko was seated dead centre in her typical well pressed back suit, shoes and trousers.

    Shinji and Kaworu were opposite her while Toji had been seated with Sakura who was in a very pretty red dress with her long dark hair tied back the thirteen young girl was full of smiles as she clearly liked these kinds of formal lunches.

    Her brother was in a white shirt and dark trousers wearing a black and white patterned tie while Kaworu was in a white shirt and grey trousers with a simple grey tie. Toji though had gone all out with a full black suit in including the jacket and black tie and shoes he''d even put in little gold cufflinks.

    She turned looking at Mari who had gone for white short sleeved shirt only and knee high skirt along with leggings and flat shoes her hair was in its normal style she just hadn''t bothered with the white interface clips on the black headband and black tails she watched as she took in a deep breath pushing up her red glasses she spoke in a whisper. "Where''s Asuka?"

    Mari eased up her hands. "I heard she''s coming down in Kaji''s car." She looked seeing that the prime Minster his family and delegates was now arriving along with the Nerv translator who was an older man in the official cream uniform with his orange shoulder straps with a band off gold which meant he was from the official class as this section from Nerv dealt exclusively with people from all over the world and most were fluent in more than three languages.

    This man who was called Satoru was a twenty five year company veteran and he could speak, Japanese, two forms of Mandarin, German and English. He was there because sometimes Mari and Toji and Sakura tended to slip into their own languages and he was there to tell the delegates what they were saying Kaworu although he was from the Ukraine didn''t have this issue as much as he tended to always speak Japanese maybe because he''d been here so long while Toji and Mari where much newer to the program.

    Asuka though despite being here so long had never stopped swearing in German though the rest was all Japanese but since coming back in from the core she was swearing less.

    Ritsuko put a hand through her long blonde hair her dark eyes narrowing as she eyed Misato. "Kaji better show up." Misato eyed her as she spoke coldly. "He will be here, he gave me a message he''s coming up in his car with Asuka they both had to pick up formal dress wear from the Arcade." Ritsuko breathed in deeply watching as Satoru led the delegates over towards them. "Yeah well I''ll be interested to see what those scruff bags turn up in."

    Misato eyed her in disgust realizing that she couldn''t throw a comment back as Fumio who was middle aged man was walking towards the table with his wife Sakae and there youngest son Ryo and daughter Miki and there shared personal assistant Akane along with four other guests.

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    Ritsuko stood up watching as the others did the same. "Welcome Fumio, it''s so great to see you and your lovely wife and children again." Fumio smiled as he seated himself watching as the others did the same. "It is most wonderful to get your invite again I do so look forward to our yearly meetings." Misato breathed in deeply great three hours of this kiss ass shit. Fumio pointed to the two empty chairs. "It would appear that you have two missing guests."

    Ryo''s head shot up as he turned to his father. "Yes where is Langley? I want her you said you''d get her for me." Rei rolled her eyes watching as Mari just shook her head. Fumio raised his hand. "Be patient son." He turned. "She is coming?" He put his hands together. "It would break his little heart if she''s not here." Mari looked up as she spoke in English knowing full well Ryo couldn''t understand her. "Don''t you need to have a heart before you can break one?"

    Ryo turned eyeing the Nerv translator. "What did the British pilot just say?" Satoru breathed in deeply it was going to be a very long night, he could feel it already. "She says that her younger step sister will be coming soon." He watched as Mari winked at him which was her way of thanking him, yes a very long night.

    He looked up catching sight of Kaji who was appeared wearing a very well pressed black trousers and light blue long sleeved suit and a red and black tie and black jacket and black shoes. "Ah Kaji is here." Misato looked up oh thank the gods she watched as he sat opposite her he had tied his long hair back with black tie to match the suit she spoke in a whisper. "I''m so glad you''re here." Kaji gave her a smile. "Well I said I''d come."

    Misato leaned over. "Where''s Asuka?" Kaji pointed. "She''s here just give her a second she just getting herself psyched up, she''s really nervous and she did nothing but read this miniature booklet on how to fine dine on the way up here, because she couldn''t remember how to do it as she''s not been up here in three years." Misato looked at Rei. "I can send in Rei to get her." Kaji shook his head. "Trust me don''t steal this moment from her."

    Misato looked at him for a long moment. "What is she wearing?" Kaji put his hands together seeing Asuka appear. "You''re about see." Rei looked up suddenly catching sight of Asuka who came into view walking slowly towards the table in a beautifully pressed black pair a trousers and black belt along with flat black shoes she had a long white sleeved shirt but the collar had this really delicate red edging as did the shirts folded edges.

    She had a simple red tie and a black jacket which was slung over her shoulder, her hair was also tied up in a light red ribbons one on either side and her patch was in place as she calmly made her way over to her chair putting her jacket over it speaking incredibly politely as she looked at everyone. "I''m sorry I''m late may I be seated?"

    Rei heard the sudden clatter as Ritsuko dropped something oh pay back was so damn sweet she could see everyone staring but who could blame them she looked amazing in a suit and she had never been seen her in one before. She looked up. "Can she take her seat?"

    Ritsuko voice finally came as she spoke coldly. "Yes please be seated." Asuka slowly seated herself opposite Rei catching sight of the beautiful white knee length long dress she was wearing which had see-through shoulders and sleeves and a really beautifully decorative collar as well as lovely white shoes, she leaned over speaking in a very low whisper as everyone started to talk again. "You look stunningly beautiful tonight."

    Rei looked up. "So do you, that suit look''s amazing on you." Mari turned leaned over. "See myself and Shinji said it wouldn''t be a bad idea and it makes you look good princess." Asuka raised her hand. "Okay no need to gloat four eyes."

    She turned eyeing the restaurant which had these new marble carvings of Evangelion''s in kneeling positions at each corner off the room along with the units second name banners. She only had to look right through the glass and you could see the Nerv''s training field which was really close and lit up with strobe lights. She looked up as one of the Chiefs appeared which meant it was time for drinks she paused as the waiter opposite put a huge fruit carving in the centre of the table as the chief spoke the joy in her voice. "Welcome to the Alimentum."

    She pointed her pen at the highly decorated fruit carving. "As you can see for your entertainment tonight we have unit 02 eating Bardiel, because even Evangelion''s have to eat." Asuka eyed the carving why was she now just wishing that she''d just torn that bastard apart and not eaten him.

    Because she just couldn''t escape from images of it, it was everywhere she turned it was even getting parodied on the World Wide Web and on television. Rei turned eyeing the carving. "It''s nice¡­" The head chief moved forward eyeing Asuka who was just staring at it. "Does it capture the moment?" Asuka looked up forcing a smile. "Perfectly."

    The woman smiled. "I''m so glad you like it my staff spent all morning on it." Asuka eyed the red guts in her unit''s mouth. "It''s shows." The woman turned clicking a button which caused a hologram screen to shoot up at every seat. "Please order your drinks and first course and we''ll bring them out to you." She paused. "As Nerv has said that money is no object so order whatever you like."

    Asuka eased up her finger flicking through the menu as she ordered frankly she hated expensive restaurant food it was finger food. She breathed in deeply tapping in her first course along with her drink it also never filled her up but she was here for Rei''s company not the food.

    Ryo leaned forward. "So you''re German right?" Asuka looked up speaking calmly. "Your powers of perception are incredible." Mari and Shinji had both mentioned that Ryo and his sister Miki and their assistant Akane were assholes and that Ryo had tried to chat up every single one of them at some point and was just a massive sexually charged sleaze bag. While Miki was incredibly arrogant and rude and Akane worshipped the ground they both walked on.

    Ryo looked at her, he couldn''t tell if she was being sarcastic because her face was unreadable he let his eyes wander up and down her body she was very attractive that was sure. "So what''s under the patch?" Asuka looked up. "Not to be rude but it''s none of your business."

    Rei breathed in deeply great he''d started already he just couldn''t let the grass grow. Mari shifted her gaze to Ritsuko she swore she had placed them all down here on purpose she hated this separating the gender role crap with guys at one end of the table and women at the other.

    At all other functions they went to this never happened they were always mixed but here she couldn''t even talk to Toji or Sakura because they were just too far away and the delegates made up half of the table and they stuck down here with the assholes.

    Granted Shinji, Toji and Kaworu had the parents and other suck up guests but it was better than this and she knew Ryo he had clearly wanted to be positioned down here because of Asuka. "What''s under her patch is for friends and close family only."

    Ryo smirked seeing that his sister was ignoring him and was more focused on Toji at the end of the table. "Oh I see, well I''ll just ask my father you see all I have to do is ask and I get." Rei looked up. "So does that mean you''re dependent on your father then to fulfil you''re every wish because you can''t fulfil it or accomplish it on your own?"

    Ryo eyed her that was a first she normally didn''t say anything she just sat quietly and said very little and her tone wasn''t like what he was used to hearing as she normally spoke very softly this was really sassy and quite dry sounding.

    He ignored her as he turned to Asuka feeling that he shouldn''t waste any more time. "So you''re bisexual." Asuka looked up sharply great she knew just where this was going granted this was more a of rare thing now in sociality but it still happened to her now and again and it was always from men and women who made the assumption that, that meant she was sexually available despite being in a relationship because of her sexuality. "Yes I am."

    Ryo''s smile widened. "So how''s about you and Rei join me after lunch, we can have some fun together?" He felt a sly smile form. "I mean once upon a time you liked riding Shinji''s dick so I''m sure you''ll love mine."

    He put his hands together. "Your step sister could even join us too since you''re not genetically related." Mari felt a sneer of disgust form, this guy in the past had tried to chat up her, Rei, Shinji and Kaworu and now he was trying to pull this shit on Asuka did he think she was dumb or something that she''d go for this crap?

    She eyed Satoru who looked disgusted but wasn''t saying anything as he couldn''t as he was very much between and rock and a hard place and he clearly wasn''t happy about the seating arrangements as he couldn''t hear Toji or Sakura very well from here.

    Asuka looked up as she spoke coldly. "You seem like the type of person who has a really high level of delusional fantasy." She watched as there drinks and starters were placed down before she carried on speaking. "The issue with that is the people you sleep with you very much view as objects and things which you neither love nor care about because it''s about your own self pleasure and not theirs and that must make you such a pathetic lover and I don''t waste my time on people like you."

    She eased up a cooked half shelled king prawn looking at it. "You don''t know how to give love and you don''t know how to please others." She bit the prawns head off making sure to crunch the shell just make a point. "Plus only Rei can handle me in bed you couldn''t, I''d eat you alive."

    She eased out her tongue licking one of her canine teeth. "Maybe they haven''t told you but I can get my teeth to go really razor sharp personally I''ve never used them on people but you''d be an acceptation to the rule." She watched as his face suddenly turned to discomfort as he shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah I thought not, after all I''m so far out of league you''d drown."

    Akane turned sharply eyeing Asuka. "How dare you, you should respect him, he is a great man." Rei turned not missing a beat as she spoke not caring that her voice was laced with dry sarcasm. "Why are you defending him Akane, are you riding his bologna pony?"

    She watched as Mari started laughing she turned realizing that Misato and Kaji had both heard that and were just staring at her in utter shock as were a few other people at the table.

    Even her brother was looking at her in shock which had now drawn Ritsuko''s attention and she was staring daggers at Asuka, because she clearly thought she had something to do with this which it didn''t.

    She breathed in keeping her eyes fixed on Akane. "So are you Akane?" Akane smashed her fist down hard. "I''m his assistant!" Rei carried on talking as if she hadn''t spoken. "You should get a better job then, I mean I bet he makes you clean up all his mess."

    Ryo eyed Miki who gave him a cold smile she was clearly enjoying how this was turning out and she wasn''t going to defend him he knew that already as they didn''t get on at all. "I am not sleeping with my assistant!"

    Rei looked up putting her spoon in her finished potato and coconut soup. "Of course you aren''t since you would just prefer to harass myself and Asuka for a threesome, it''s extremely rude not to mention you''ve done this before to my brother and Kaworu and now Mari."

    Mari stuck one of her bacon and cheese pinwheels in her mouth this was the best thing ever, who knew Rei could be so fucking feisty and Ryo now looked very nervous because his father''s face had suddenly turned to anger and he knew why asking her and Asuka was one thing but harassing Gendo''s children was quite another and clearly Ryo''s parents were so unaware of how he behaved. Fumio eyed his son. "You asked Gendo''s daughter and son for a threesome?!"

    Satoru looked up seeing his moment to drive the nail in he was so sick of having to watch Ryo try his luck with every damn pilot every single time they had these lunches and it sickened him so much. "Well in this case he asked for Asuka and Rei to sleep with him and said Mari could join in since she''s Asuka''s step sister."

    He looked up enjoying the shock on the prime ministers face and his wife''s. "And last time we were here he tried the same thing with Shinji and Kaworu." Fumio turned eyeing Shinji. "Is that true?" Shinji eyed Ryo he had no love for him he was predatory letch who saw people as objects he took a slow sip of Sake before speaking. "Yes that is true."

    Fumio turned he knew full well that Gendo did not like or tolerate people messing with his children and he had heard enough stories about people who had tried to, to know that the outcome was always very bad and the whole recent thing with his rivals Shigeo and Kin both having accidents and dying had made him extremely nervous.

    Because he and the rest of the cabinet knew perfectly well that Shigeo had been pushing his luck with Rei by giving her constant phone calls and sending her gifts and he had literally shot out a wide screen TV with his hand gun when the news had broken that her and Asuka had become a couple.

    The crazy bastard had totally lost his mind after that and done nothing but rant that Asuka should die, he had told him to let it go but he just wouldn''t the rumour was that Gendo had some extremely powerful friends who dished out punishments on his enemies and these people were untouchable and that they could make you disappear.

    Even the former prime minister who was a real iron fisted woman had told him on his very first day not to piss of Gendo and then she''d dropped a six inch thick document on his desk about how Nerv worked and what the protocols were and told him to have fun reading it.

    He had told his son not to chat up either of Gendo''s children under any circumstances and not to try and date them, the other pilot¡¯s fine but only on outside formal dates with no funny business. He looked up at Ritsuko "I had no idea this was going on, had I but known I would have stopped it."

    Miki breathed in the smell of her white grape wine looking up as she spoke darkly. "Perhaps it would be prudent to move my younger brother in between yours and mothers guests." She looked at Toji. "You could maybe move Toji and his sister down here next to me so the translator can tell us what they are saying as he can''t hear them from up here."

    Fumio turned pointing as his son. "Move it now you and Akane."

    He watched as Ryo stood up along with the other woman. "We will be talking about this after lunch mark my words." He eyed the waiter. "Please move my sons food and drink and our assistant''s down and bring Toji and Sakura up here putting them in their place."

    Miki smiled as the plates were moved around as the big strapping man called Toji seated himself opposite her along with Sakura who took Akane''s spot, finally she could get a better look at this strapping beef cake as every time they had these meals he was always out of her site and she couldn''t talk to him granted she had no intention of playing her brothers dumb game she''d play by her father''s rules and give him a card after the dinner was over to see if he''d go on a formal date.

    Mari watched as Toji sat down with Sakura. "So nice to see you up here, I was getting bored." Toji breathed in as the hologram board came up again as the names were switched by the staff and his drink was placed opposite. "Nice to be here trust me it was getting boring down there."

    Fumio looked at Ritsuko. "I apologise that will never ever happen again I hope that we can talk this over after dinner and come to an arrangement where Gendo need not know about this." Ritsuko breathed in deeply she hated Rei and Shinji but sadly in this case she could see where they were coming from and Asuka throughout this had remained really quite and just put a hand on Rei''s. "Yes I''m sure we can work something out."

    End of part 5

    Silvermoonlight

 To Be Loved And Cherished

    TO BE LOVED AND CHERISHED

    Asuka took in a deep breath could this get any more boring? She had just finished her dessert she watched as her empty dessert bowl was taken away. How annoying, she wasn''t even full and she wasn''t the only one.

    Toji and Mari both had that look like they wanted to desperately to eat something else, only Rei and Sakura looked content, granted since Ryo had been moved it had been much better down here but she really didn''t care for Nerv politics plus she could see Miki staring at Toji like he was a lamb chop but she could at least relate to that on some level since in her youth she''d had that lusting issue but she wasn''t pushing her luck she was being very polite.

    She looked at her hand. "Tell me this is going to be over soon." Rei leaned over. "Soon it will be." She looked down suddenly wanting to do something she''d never done before in her life she eased her fingers down running them over her dark suits trousers then slowly walked them up closer to her belt. "Just another twenty minutes."

    She slowly dipped her hand down hearing as Asuka''s breathe suddenly hitch as she started to move her fingers as she spoke in a silky smooth voice. "Maybe I can make the time pass faster for you." Asuka felt her good eye dart oh please this wasn''t happening?

    It wasn''t that she didn''t want it but she had never in her life been in the situation where a lover had done something like this to her when she''d been surrounded by people and that part terrified her because they might be able to hide their desire but she couldn''t her eye and her teeth tended to seriously give her away she just didn''t have that level of control.

    Granted their relationship didn''t revolve around love making it was a now and again thing but when it did come about it always felt like a tornado striking and it was always Rei leading not her because she wanted the other woman to be comfortable and feel in control.

    Rei had said that the previous men and women who had been her lovers had left her because she couldn''t give the physical constantly because to her the emotional mattered more and she loved the emotional with her it made her so content as she didn''t have any pressure to perform or impress.

    She closed her eyes feeling one hand start to clench as the sensations started to get the better off her, this woman knew how to drive her verfickte crazy. Plus three years of being in the void in terms of feeling very little beyond the physical then going to this was like being shoved into a blazing fire because when she wanted it, she wanted it badly.

    She breathed in sharply only for a voice to suddenly cut through her thoughts as Fumio spoke directly at her. "What are your thoughts on the Bukavac?" Asuka looked up realizing to her horror that everyone was looking at her she forced a smile trying her best focus as she spoke meekly feeling her foot force its way onto the wooden floor. "It''s a badly made angel hybrid."

    Fumio turned looking around him why was everyone suddenly looking at Asuka oddly? He spoke again. "Do you think the Evangelion''s stand a chance? I''m only asking as you got closest to it."

    Asuka swallowed she was having real difficulty forming words now as she starting to feel very turned on and it taking everything she had to keep her eye and teeth under control. "Yeah¡­I think¡­we can kill it." Mari looked over she wasn''t stupid Rei was doing something and she had a very good idea what it was she could see it in her face as she was playing it so casual and innocent.

    Fumio blinked this was just weird the red head was having serious trouble concentrating and she looked flushed. "Are you okay are you feeling sick?" Mari leaned over she saw it only fit to rescue Asuka from this because she was not going to survive it. "My little sisters just very tired, you know long day."

    She put her hand on her shoulder. "Isn''t that right Asuka?" She looked down getting no reply because Asuka just wasn''t with it now clearly Rei had found the soft spot and she wasn''t letting up but maybe this was her plan to make it look this way so they could both be relived and go to their room where Asuka would fuck her senseless hence why she was turning her on so badly. "It''s those stupid Nerv drugs Maya''s giving her for low white blood cell count they make her really tired and cause hot flushes."

    Rei looked up seeing her moment. "I''d like to take Asuka back to our room now as she''s feeling unwell." Misato looked at Kaji she knew this was bullshit and suddenly she had a very good idea what was going on as did he though she couldn''t believe it was actuality happening, because Rei didn''t normally do things like this.

    She could see the shock in Shinji''s face as well because he knew just what was going on as well, Ritsuko was the only one buying the story because Maya had told her that Asuka was on those drugs but she had completed them two days ago as her blood work was back to normal. "You two should go."

    Rei stood up not thinking as she grabbed Asuka arm easing her to her feet as she breathed in heavily. "Thank you, it''s just her medication is back in our room." Mari smirked. "Yeah I''m sure she''ll need the large dose." Toji watched as they left or more Rei took Asuka suits black jacket as she helped her stagger out.

    Sakura turned feeling really confused this was one of those annoying adult moments when the adults knew what was going on and she didn''t. "What was wrong with Asuka?" Toji took in a deep breath as he looked at his twelve year old sister. "I''ll explain later."

    Sakura turned sharply. "Why not now?" Toji breathed in shaking his head. "Now would not the best time Sakura." He turned seeing that Satoru was shaking his head a wide smirk on his face while Miki was just rolling her eyes. Fumio put his hands together. "Poor woman, I mean I was told that Bardiel made her physically sick, I just didn''t know she was still suffering the after effects."

    Kaji looked up slightly he was so fucking na?ve and now they had to play along. "He attached himself to her brains cerebellum and he survived by sapping blood through her spinal column and nervous system and we believe when he forced his way out of 02 he started sucking out its material so he could reform into an Evangelion form without armour he also sucked out Asuka''s blood as well, hence the low white blood cell count."

    Ritsuko looked up. "When we retrieved the leftovers we found that he had made himself into a hybrid in that he''s copied 02''s DNA sequence to create a new form, if anything he could have been classed as 02''s child."

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    Misato eyed her. "Yes and when we ran the data the experience for Asuka was the same as childbirth hence why she couldn''t stand 02 afterwards, granted Asuka''s body was fine but the last thing anyone expected was him to pass through her body then go out through 02''s stomach plating and create an umbilical cord then grow full size before separating."

    Sakae looked up speaking she was one of these people who didn''t say much. "A question though why the desire to eat him like she did, I mean it was so no holds barred?" Misato now knew the real reason for this Rei had told her it was Asuka''s act of revenge for him watching them the first time they''d made love though Asuka''s eyes he''d basically shared part of an experience which was not meant for him despite that Asuka had not wanting him around her during this time but she couldn''t say that at this table. "He got a little deeper into Rei and Asuka''s relationship than he should have, he seriously crossed a line."

    She put her hand on her drinks glass. "Asuka is very protective of Rei because at the start he was driving her to mental ruin and Rei was the person who came to her rescue and none of us saw it coming as they weren''t close friends at the time they just talked now and again and Asuka was very wayward from the others and spent a lot of time alone."

    Sakae looked up. "I did read an article that Asuka feelings were long standing in that she loved her back in school but she was rejected by Rei." Kaji looked up. "That''s true but that was a very different Asuka to the one now, in her youth she got her feelings of lust and love tangled up and she had serious anger issues, her anger now though is never misdirected and her feelings are very genuine."

    8

    Rei put the do not disturb sign on the door to the hotel suite as she closed it checking it was locked. "Well that was boring." She turned only to see Asuka staring down at her left eye blazing through the patch as smile formed on her lips and the razor molars appeared on both side along with slightly longer canine teeth on the upper and lower jaw as she spoke in a soft silky voice. "Not the last part."

    Rei looked up into her good eye feeling her smile widen as she eased up her hand pulling the patch off seeing the burning blue and white light underneath as she put it on the chair opposite along with her jacket. "Would you like me to finish?"

    Asuka looked at her for a long moment before leaning closer. "No." She moved her hands down her dress enjoy the feel of the fabric. "Maybe you''d like to direct me as to how I take this off." She looked at the white dress. "Because it''s been so long since I''ve taken one of another woman let alone owned one." Rei suddenly felt Asuka''s knee find its way between her legs seriously she had not expected this to go this way because normally Asuka didn''t lead.

    Asuka eased up her hand running it through the other woman''s silky short hair yes she was turned on yes she could explode and it taken every ounce of her mental strength to stop her eye going off along with her teeth until they''d gotten in to this room but now she wanted to lead for a change as her eyes scanned the room. "Where would like me to make love to you divine goddess the couch or the bed?" Rei felt herself breathe in sharply as Asuka''s knee began to push up as her hands started to roam her body slowly and sensually as she laid kisses on her neck.

    Okay now she knew this was going to be on roller coaster ride because Asuka was the more experienced one she was still learning even though she led up till now as despite being with both men and women she had never gotten past second base with women as they''d just had no time for the lack of physical when it came to sex Asuka was her first in that sense.

    It was only because she had been on medication and the whole Bardiel event that she hadn''t been firing on all cylinders, this was changing now though as she was starting to really get her confidence back. Rei breathed in deeply unable to break away from Asuka intense gaze. "Bed¡­"

    Asuka slowly turned her as she found the clasp which undid the dress though she had no intention of undoing it right away she wanted to tease a bit it was only fare game. "Do tell me where do you get all of your clothes from they''re so nice?"

    Rei was about to speak only for Asuka''s knee to suddenly find it was back in place as her hands moved down her arms as she started kissing her lips very gently as she could kiss her despite the teeth as she had it down to such a fine art and had never once bit her or bleed her lips. "Arcade level¡­"

    Asuka moved Rei closer to the bed feeling the other woman grab at her tie pulling it loose and throwing it aside as she kissed her speaking between words. "The Arcade has over a sixty levels soon to be eighty as I heard there building two more levels." She put the other woman on the bed seeing the red blush creep into her cheeks, she was so beautiful just like her mother had been, granted she only seen pictures and old footage but enough to know that she the spitting image with her dusty light brown hair and green eyes.

    She pushed her down gently enjoying the view as the light from above bounced off her eyes causing all of the hues to appear as she started kissing her again suddenly feeling the other woman''s hands grab at her shirt and start to undo her buttons as she spoke as she started to undo her dress which was side zipping. "Because I''d like to buy you many more they look so good on you."

    Rei took in a deep breath finally getting the words out as began to pull open her dress but very slowly because she never rushed everything was slow fire some and sensual. "Twelfth level¡­"

    Asuka leaned in kissing her again as her shirt was opened fully as Rei started to pull it down as she got fully on the bed. "You should show me some more that you like you and I''ll get them for you."

    She felt the red ribbons come loose as the other woman pulled them free causing her hair to fall loose. Rei took in a deep breath pulling her shoes off only to hear Asuka''s come off as she pulled the other woman''s shirt off completely as her dress came free and everything suddenly got more intense.

    Asuka was never pushy, rough or violent the ground rules were always clear if she didn''t like or want something she just had to say stop and she never felt like she wasn''t in control. She had so much sexual freedom to explore, to try new things it was a freedom she''d just never had in other relationships because it was someone else making the rules and she had hated it but this was the best thing about Asuka that set her apart from the others. Every choice was her own and it extended into every branch of their relationship allowing her to explore and find out what she liked and disliked and love making was always a special thing between them.

    There was never any pressure for her to perform in bed and she got the impression Asuka liked this as well because she didn''t feel that pressure either. Their relationship was more about the emotional with kissing and touching and sharing things.

    If someone had said to her a year back that she would be in this situation with Asuka she would have laughed because the very thought would have been utterly stupid to her because Asuka had been so wayward from all of them and a solitary loner who lived alone and didn''t talk with the others that much they''d never seen her house.

    Even she''d branded her as selfish and all about herself even though she barely knew her because she''d been hung up on how she''d been in her youth. She was the opposite now she was so giving and asked for nothing in return. She gave openly and loved unconditionally she was a talented engineer and an illustrative digital artist whose picture in the Nerv visitor centre draw in hundreds of people and among those was a picture of her painted as if she was a goddess.

    Once her studio was up she intended to repay that favour as she was going sculpt 02 in clay and make sure that the final statuette ended up in the visitor centre for all to see.

    She breathed in feeling the other woman''s lips meet her own and she sank into the bliss as her concentration started to go as Asuka other hands began to move lower as she took hold of the black belt only for Asuka''s hand to take her own easing it gently over her head as she spoke in her silky soft voice. "You first remember."

    End of part 6

    Silvermoonlight

 Violent Shadows From A Long Forgotten Past

    VIOLENT SHADOWS FROM A LONG FORGOTTEN PAST

    Julia folded her legs as she eyed the huge item which was now being stored in the Mars Orbiter¡¯s main bay which was partly wrapped. It had taken three months to dig this weird shit lance free and the weirdest part was even though they¡¯d had to use impact charges to break it free of the mountain it was half stuck in it was hard to pull out. Whoever or whatever threw it there had done it with real force also this was not a human sized lance whatever had held this lance was massive.

    They had been running tests on it ever since they''d left Mars as the Orbiter was currently the only thing on earth to have an S2 Engine though it was encased and they weren''t allowed to see inside all they knew was that it fed the engines infuriate power and it had cut down their travel time massively.

    It was the test prototype for all S2 Engine technology and the reasons the countries who had built it had, had to wait years to reserve it because the version they had would then be scaled down to miniature form and the countries in question would get the first small prototypes to do with as they pleased.

    Nerv would be happy to know they had been successful the whole three year mission had gone without a hitch and they would reach earth within the next week or so and dock with Eos then all of them would return to earth using Eos smaller craft and another grew would go up destine for another Mars run though they were destine to go the southern end of the planet but she didn''t see that happening now they''d probably be sent to the eastern creator and mountains where the lance had been found to find more.

    She eyed the lance, Eos would be so happy that they''d finally found some alien shit on Mars because the world had always dreamed of that. She looked at her tablet weird thing about this whatever the hell it was that they''d run a barrel of tests on it and came up empty as all they could get was a date on it and it appeared to pre-date Adam''s landing on earth by around four thousand years.

    There was something else about it though she couldn''t really put it into words but she got this vibe of it, all the men and women on the crew felt it and some had been complaining that they''d been having extremely violent nightmares ever since it had been put on board.

    The thing felt evil and violent it felt foreboding and even she didn''t like hanging around it too long because she started to feel depressed and again she wasn''t the only one to feel it two men and two women also got the sensation from it.

    More disturbing were the nightmares the crew were having were all similar of these weird white winged Evangelion''s which looked nothing like the Evangelion''s they knew as they had no eyes and only a mouth of teeth and they were creepy as fuck as they ripped some kind of Evangelion apart that looked like 01 but not the one she knew and this insane voice girls screaming at them and laughing as she took control of them using two lance.

    She eyed the lance, the sooner they got rid off this the better once it got to Eos station on Earth it was their problem she and the crew didn''t want to see it again as long as they lived they just wanted to go home to their families.

    She felt a weird vibration she looked around just in time to see the stone at the hilt light up with red veins which burned with red light for a second before fading away. She stood up moving slowly over to the lance she slowly eased out her fingers running them over the stone only for a dark female voice to speak opposite. "Don''t touch things that don''t belong to you."

    She swung around seeing a young red haired girl kneeling down opposite dressed in a pure red plug suit though it was missing the arms parts she blinked was that? No that was fucking impossible this lance was screwing her head up.

    The sixteen year old didn''t look up as she spoke again in an even darker tone. "This lance is not for you your hands are unworthy to hold it and you do not have the hand of a god to bear its forbidden fruits." Julia moved closer feeling her heart beat faster. "Who are you?"

    The face slowly looked up almost causing her to scream because it was outright awful, the right side had this massive bleeding wound which had cut right down to the skin revealing muscle and part of the upper lip was missing revealing the gums and teeth and the right eye was just an empty socket with blood pouring out which was hitting the floor the whole of the right arm was also torn up in part showing muscle and bone underneath while the good eye on the right side of the face was cold and looked physiologic as it stared at her. "I am part of the destroyer of worlds."

    There was a long pause. "I have read your thoughts I know you intended to give me to Cerberus so they can destroy me." The ripped up skeleton hand raised itself forcing her on to her knees. "I have waited for an eternity to be returned to Earth."

    The good blue eye narrowed as the young girl came to stand over her though her walk was slow as it was clear that her right leg was crippled and had a permanent limp. "I was cast out by my owner, because of sentimental thing called love and sacrifice, it was unfair I liked it in those hands of blood and glory."

    There was a long pause. "I will be returned to my true owner once more so I can find my twin of sorrow and pride and you''re going to help me, though I doubt you''ll see the fruits of your labour but then few of the Lilith''s children ever do."

    The mouth formed a truly cold sadistic grin. "Because myself and my twin who remained on earth will not be denied our glorious destruction again and we won''t be cast out again for the sentiment you call love." The face leaned closer. "After all love is just an illusion and it''s a trick to force Lilith''s creations such as yourself to reproduce and reproduce you do like a vermin. Adam was smart to hold no sentiment or care for your race few of you are useful and even less can say that they have true divine power instead you reach for it and create gods and tokens of worship it''s pathetic."

    Julia felt her skeleton hand grab her hair forcing her head back savagely. "One does though you might recognise her as I am taking her form or a least the form she died in centuries ago before ascending into human instrumentality and throwing it in utter chaos, a lots changed she might be even older now but I''m sure you know her as Asuka and she tends to pine after this little bitch called Rei."

    8

    Mari eyed the do not disturb sigh on the door as she knocked she had waited a couple of hours as had the others now she wanted to give Asuka half of the pizza she had as Toji had ordered in three from room service because he was hungry which he shared out between her, Shinji and Kaworu. She also had a little bag of sea food for Rei as though she was vegetarian she did seafood just not red meat as it made her feel sick as she hated the taste of blood.

    She had said she''d knock just in case Asuka wasn''t in a great mood because she tended to let her off because they were sisters and she shift around her bad moods to a certain degree though she didn''t half as well as Rei.

    She watched as the door opened and Rei appeared she was dressed in her pyjamas and her hair was slightly damp. "We brought room service!" She paused. "Cause I know you''re both hungry and the restaurant only stocked finger food."

    Rei opened the door slowly catching sight of Toji Sakura, Kaworu and Shinji who were all smiling at her all of them were in casual clothes now. "Come in¡­just be quite okay she''s sleeping." She paused. "Let me wake her up." Mari walked in adjusting her glasses seeing that clothing was laying hap hazard over chair and very mixed up, so there were no prizes for guessing what had been going on.

    She turned seeing Asuka on half under the covers in her very long t-shirt which was guys sleeping on her side her hair was also damp which meant they''d properly both used the wide bath in the other room. "So¡­looks like you both had fun." She paused. "Here and at the dinner table." Rei looked at her feeling a very sly smile form. "Yes we did."

    She eased out her hand. "Take a seat I was just watching TV." Shinji eyed the large sofa and chairs which were in front of the flat screen just like in his and Kaworu''s room opposite as they all been placed next to each other than Kaji and Misato who were on the floor below. "They don''t spare any expense with the suites do they?"

    Rei looked around. "No they don''t it''s the first time I''ve been in the romance suite I had no idea they were this large." Kaworu looked around him. "They are rather large I confess." Rei moved over to Asuka shaking her shoulder very gently. "Asuka." She shook her again. "Asuka."

    Okay that was odd she normally woke up after being shaken a second time she looked down realizing that her eyes were shifting in her sleep and her left one looked wrong it wasn''t letting out light. Mari leaned over. "Aw bless did you wear her out again?"

    Rei looked up sharply. "No normally she wakes up." Shinji moved a little closer to the bed. "That''s true she normally does." Rei leaned over very carefully easing Asuka''s left eye open instantly seeing that something was different the colours were black and red not white and blue granted sometimes when she dreamed her left eye remained a glow but it normally dimmed as the night drew on and went back its normal blue pulsing colours and pure white pupil.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    "That''s so strange why is it black? It''s never black or red and when Bardiel took over her it was pure red in both eyes." Sakura looked over watching as Rei''s green eyes suddenly turned red as they started to pulse and glow. "Er¡­I don''t want to startle you Rei but your eyes?"

    Rei looked up seeing everyone''s surprise she turned looking at the dressing mirror opposite, this normally happened inside the Evangelion during training when she got mad it normally didn''t happen outside of it. "Oh that''s just great¡­" Mari smirked. "No that''s cool." Shinji eyed his younger sister. "Yeah I agree it''s not bad Rei I mean that''s how my eyes look when I get mad in 01."

    Mari leaned a little closer. "Yeah but why no teeth, I mean you get teeth similar to Asuka''s when you''re really angry in 00?" She paused. "Plus how are you even doing that I mean I¡¯ve been trying to do it outside my unit, I can''t do it." Toji turned. "Yeah Mari''s got this really interesting theory that once your units fully changed you can change your eyes and teeth because Asuka does it all the time, it''s natural to her."

    Mari turned pointing to Shinji. "Yeah but I think it applies to Shinji to because his unit is partly transformed and was the first to change years ago but right now is just the crest horn and claws." Rei blinked eyeing the mirror again. "It feels like my eyes are warm but it doesn''t hurt."

    Kaworu moved closer looking at her. "Most curious like with Asuka left eye I think it''s a window into the soul as it lets off light." Toji sat down. "Could be a soulmates thing my grandma used to talk about all the time when I was young and living in the China slums." He looked up. "It''s from some Greek myth that Zeus first made humanity where everyone had two sets of arms two sets of legs and two heads, then he started to fear their power so he cut them in two.

    He sat back. "And there''s whole thing that you''re born to search for your better half in every life time, maybe your somehow connecting souls." Mari smirked. "That''s stupid it''s probably hormonal in that they''re bounding and its affecting their eyes." Kaworu looked at Shinji feeling a smile form. "I agree with the myth personally I think everyone is born to meet someone who is special."

    He turned hearing a groan watching as Asuka sat up in bed rubbing the sleep out of her eyes he turned watching as the glowing red instantly faded from Rei''s eyes, clearly it had to be linked and it was most fascinating. Mari leaned over seeing that her younger sisters left eye had gone back to its normal pulsing blue colours and patterns. "Ah your finally awake princess, did you sleep well?" Asuka looked at her. "I was having a real nice dream until you woke me up four eyes!"

    Mari grabbed the pizza box and sea food. "Maybe you''ll forgive me Toji and the others." She leaned the box closer. "Because we brought you some real food¡­." Asuka eyed the box as she pushed her fringe back seeing the others smiling at her. "Is that pizza?"

    Mari tossed the sea food bag to Rei watching as she caught it before turning back. "Yes its meat feast Shinji said that you really like it." Asuka eyed her. "Yes I do." Mari passed it to her. "Thought as much as the food in that restaurant was nice it really wasn''t filling at all." Toji turned watching as Shinji and Kaworu sat down along with Sakura. "That''s not food I know real feed food that''s not it, I''ll never understand fine dining what''s with the all finger food anyway and miniature plate dishes?"

    Kaworu looked up as he picked up one of Asuka''s graphic novels looking at it. "It''s the concept that the meal is small but the taste makes up for it." Shinji turned looking at his sister as she sat down as Asuka started eating. "The meal was okay I was more amused by seeing Ryo squirm, I can''t stand that guy."

    Mari turned to Rei. "Please where did you get bologna pony from that was brilliant?" She turned hearing Asuka almost cough on the mouth full she was eating. "Oh so it was from you?" Rei watched as Asuka swallowed her mouth full. "No I heard someone say it once back in school, it wasn''t Asuka though I''ve always wanted to say it."

    She paused. "It was totality worth it to see him loose it, he''s just disgusting." Shinji looked up. "It''s a shame you both left because when everyone went to go to their rooms his parents were shouting their heads off at him outside the restaurant they were so angry with him and he was saying something about how you never touch Gendo children''s or bad things happen to you and if our father ever found out what he did he might be in trouble."

    Rei looked up. "Please our father doesn''t care about us I doubt he would care if we got run over by a car." Shinji raised his hand. "Yeah I know hence why it confused me, I know he gave you Kimi to punish but we both know it''s just some twisted game." Mari eyed Asuka. "I still can''t get over Ryo''s face after he asked all of us to go to bed with him you said you''d eat him."

    Shinji smirked. "Seriously you said that?" Asuka pulled herself out of bed picking up the robe opposite putting it on as she put her pizza down as she eyed the drinks cabinet. "Yes and enjoyed watching him freak out since he had this idea that I''d enjoy sleeping with him since I slept with you years ago."

    She looked at the can of drinks and bottles. "Would any of you like any drinks since I''m not paying for it I''m going to raid the fridge since it''s on Nerv''s money?" Toji pointed. "I want the beer." Mari moved over to the drinks cabinet "Any cocktails in there, Maya had them removed from my room''s fridge?" Asuka rolled her eyes as she threw Toji a beer can before turning back. "No there''s none in here but I do have coke and a coconut rum bottle."

    Mari pushed up her glasses. "That''s fine I''ll take that." She took the coke bottle along with the full size white rum bottle. "I bet she had them removed from your fridges as well." Asuka looked at her. "You know I''ve been through this with her already when I used to over drink years ago just finish the program then you can drink cocktails again and you''ll be better because you won''t want them so much because the medication helps your body become less addicted to alcohol."

    Mari turned. "The medication tastes like shit, plus every time I try to chat her up she ignores me, tell me oh great Asuka how do I win her over since you''ve been her friend for years?" Asuka watched as Sakura came over pointing to what she wanted which was the fruit juice she calmly passed it to her. "We are not having this conversation again Mari!"

    Mari knelt down not caring that she was right inside her personal space since she knew she could get away with it along with Rei, Shinji the others couldn''t. "Look I really fancy her I think she''s hot and I love her cute little lab coat she got and that short tailed hair and a cute face."

    Asuka pulled out a bottle showing it to Rei who shook her head she pulled out another watching her nod she sneered as she felt her teeth grow as her left eye ignited she pulled the cork off with her back teeth ignoring the fizz of the Champaign as she spat it in the opposite direction. "I told you before we never dated, I only know that she likes cocktails, love novels and that she has cat stuff and that she likes romantic movies."

    Mari eyed her seeing her teeth and eye return to normal. "Is that a new party trick of yours using your razor teeth to pop corks?"

    Rei shook her head. "I told you not to do that Asuka you could break your teeth." Asuka looked up suddenly remembering that conversation as she tried to play innocent. "Yeah sorry I forgot." Rei took the bottle from her hand as she picked up the two glasses as Toji handed out the others and she started to fill them. "You won''t forget if you break one and you know Maya hasn''t tested them for bite force because you said you don''t like the sound of her putting devices in your mouth."

    Mari laughed only to watch as Asuka gave her a cold look. "I''d love her to stick anything in my mouth personally even if it meant her strapping electric devices onto my teeth." Asuka raised her hand. "Look she''s ignoring you because she really loved someone once and they screwed her over big time and it really broke her heart, now she''s just weary and she probably thinks to you its just fun and games and you are just looking for a night of fun."

    She paused. "She''s not interested in games Mari she wants to settle." She looked up at her older sister. "And you might want to reconsider because I think you enjoy your one night stands, don''t get me wrong I''ve been there myself but it''s a different ball game when it''s serious." Mari felt her eyes dart. "Who screwed Maya over?" Asuka raised her eyebrow. "Do you really want to know?" Mari breathed in turning serious. "Yes because I want to punch them in their face."

    Asuka looked up. "Oh if only you could, it was Ritsuko and happened before she married Gendo." Shinji turned looking at Mari. "Maya loved Ritsuko very deeply and one day she confessed and it back fired on her horribly Ritsuko just spewed some homophobic mantra at her and it really broke her heart, because she really admired Ritsuko back then before she took charge after Kozo was murdered and became Gendo''s second and she took on the science rank in Ritsuko''s place."

    Asuka looked up. "We became friends not long after I came on the program at fifteen but she was still sore about it and she always buries herself in her work." She took the glass as Rei passed it to her. "If you want to walk this line you''ve got to be serious about it Mari she''s very weary also as everyone''s being shifted she''s now taking the Major science rank maybe you''d want to give her a congratulations present."

    She took a long drink. "She might take to that better if she believes your intentions are genuine." Toji eased out the card that Miki had given him with her number. "She has a point Mari can''t hurt to try."

    Kaworu put an arm around Shinji pulling him closer as he kissed his lips before looking up. "Gifts always warm the heart." Mari eyed the card in Toji''s hand. "Please tell me you''re not even considering calling that woman she was staring at you like a rack of meat over lunch." Sakura looked up. "I didn''t like her she made me nervous."

    Toji eyed the card with its reflective. "I had no intention of doing so, it''s just I might keep it you know if I need a favour sometimes you know the saying keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

    Asuka watched as Rei sat opposite her. "Fine but just don''t make it a sexual favour because that''s one hornets nest you don''t want to kick believe me I''ve slept with men and women like her¡­it never ends well." She breathed in deeply. "Five years ago one of them sold my sex life to the media is was really embarrassing and unpleasant."

    Shinji turned slightly. "Yeah political people are utter nightmares, never ever sleep with them, because to them your trophies to brag about and if you ever do call in that favour be prepared for a return favour which you really might not like much."

    Asuka looked at him. "Would you and Kaworu like a drink?" Shinji turned as Mari passed him and Kaworu glasses. "Do you have grape seed wine?" Asuka turned pulling the bottle out of the fridge. "Knock yourself out there are two in here."

    Toji eyed the card not thinking as he flicked the card watching as it landed in the bin, clearly this one just wasn''t worth the effort, she''d probably burn his dick off yet like Mari recently he had been finding it hard as the others were finding love and romance and he wasn''t.

    End of part 7

    Silvermoonlight

 Running The Gauntlet

    RUNNING THE GAUNTLET

    Rei yawned it was more boredom than anything else why had Misato called them to suit up yet nothing was going on and now they were all standing in a line waiting she watched as Asuka stretched opposite why did she have this bad feeling about this?

    Like she was going to pull some crazy thing on them all for training because she always did that when she had something insane going on and she was making them all wait just to add to the frustration.

    Shinji looked down folding his arms looking at Kaworu. "She''s going to run the diablo inferno simulation it''s why she''s making us wait." Mari turned sharply. "You can''t be fucking serious? I hate that simulation I mean which asshole thought up that simulation anyway? It''s horrible that demon they run has all of the angels powers and it''s self-leaning and you have to deal with him along with hologram army it''s a nightmare and the pain is real."

    Toji tensed he had only run it with Mari in the training Beta unit he was yet to run it in 05 and even with all of 05''s weapons and upgraded lashing tail he was dreading it because only Shinji and Kaworu had ever completed it and that was by the skin of their teeth.

    Asuka stretched again. "So clearly you''ll be running it then because she never asks me and my score on it is scheisse." Rei looked at her. "Thirty percent isn''t bad Asuka." Asuka looked at her. "Rei even your score is higher than mine you have forty percent." Mari pushed up her glasses as she adjusted her black plug suits glove. "I have less than twenty percent so I can''t comment."

    Kaworu turned to Shinji. "It''s just numbers it''s the taking part that counts." Asuka looked at him for a long moment. "Yeah it''s the whole taking part bit I''d rather miss." Mari looked at him. "If only the press thought like you Kaworu, unfortunately they don''t to them it''s a blood bath over whose fucking country is better due to the score."

    She looked up as Misato appeared a self-satisfied smirk on her face as Kaji followed her. "I hate it when she smiles like that because you just know your fucking screwed." Asuka tensed seeing the smile which she knew meant they were all in trouble. "No verfickte kidding."

    Misato looked at all them they were standing in a neat little line just as she asked all dressed up and ready to go. Even now as grown adults they still stood in the same formation Rei at one end Asuka next and Shinji after her and after him was Kaworu who was next to Mari and Toji who were standing opposite each other. "Well you might have guessed we are about to run the diablo inferno and the press above are biting at the bit as the countdown began thirty minutes ago."

    They had brought up the big screen which was normally only put up for delegate displays and now a laughing oni icon was counting down and from what she heard everyone was packing out of the visitor centre and media centre roof was full of people watching and all the press helicopters who normally flew by during training were gathering some way from the training ground above to watch though two vertical flying wings were hovering keeping them from getting to close as they weren''t allowed to fly over the field.

    She walked down the line stopping next to Shinji because she wanted the others to think that he was going up with Kaworu. "So two of you will be going up and showing your skills to the world today so you''ll have to be fast on your feet and ready." She took a sudden step in Asuka''s direction. "Isn''t that right Asuka?"

    Asuka looked up sharply suddenly feeling very confused. "Yes." Misato leaned closer feeling her smile slowly widen. "Maya says it''s your turn today Asuka and you''ll be going up with Rei in a team exercise." Rei turned sharply. "What?" Asuka eyed Misato as she laughed though it was a really dry anxious laugh. "This is a joke right?"

    Misato looked at her. "No Asuka it isn''t." Asuka blinked. "Why would you even send me up here? You know my score is beyond pathetic." Misato eased up her tablet looking at it there was that self-worth and low self-esteem talking again but Maya had said that it would take Asuka time to get over this despite that she was doing therapy once a week with Rei she''d made it very clear that it wasn''t going to be an overnight thing as it was very deep rooted and had been there for a number of years and like Shinji it might take some years to heal.

    "Maya stated that the last time you took the test with Mari which was six months ago you had the start of depression and your drinking bottle was being laced with drugs and we didn''t know about it hence your results were probably all wrong hence you need retesting." She turned seeing the uncertainty in Asuka''s good eye. "You defeated Bardiel all on your own and ate him alive I don''t know what you''re worried about."

    Asuka looked up meeting her brown eyes. "This is so stupid." Misato turned stepping in front of Rei. "Rei would you kindly escort your girlfriend to 02 though this time could kindly you not tease her sexually before you put her in like you did at last night''s dinner table?" Rei eyed her suddenly feeling annoyed so she''d done that so what?

    She took Asuka''s hand seeing her stare daggers in Misato''s direction she spoke not caring how dry her tone was. "Oh I''m sorry that bothered you but you sticking Ryo opposite us bothered me because he''s repulsive and vile and I wanted to leave early and Asuka really didn''t mind she was bored."

    Misato blinked in shock seriously since when had Rei become so dry and sassy? She turned seeing Kaji smirk while Mari laughed she took in a deep breath. "Would you both just move the simulation starts in fifteen minutes?!" Asuka felt a sneer form. "So that''s an order then?" Misato eased up her hand she couldn''t believe she had to do this, talk about difficult couple. "Yes get in your Evangelion''s!"

    Kaji turned watching as they left. "Maybe bringing up the whole thing about what happened under the table wasn''t the best idea." Misato ignored him as she turned eyeing Mari who was still finding this funny along with Toji while Shinji was trying desperately to keep a straight face. "Don''t laugh because after this you¡¯re all having training drills the hard ones!"

    She turned pointing at Mari. "Also once you''ve completed your medication with Maya you''re doing the diablo inferno simulation as well with Toji because your results were also messed up because of the drugs and your alcohol level."

    Mari rolled her eyes. "You can''t be fucking serious?" Misato shook her head, there were moments she swore when Mari was so like Asuka even though they were step sisters they really picked up on each other behaviour and it was really annoying. "I thought you''d be happy since your Evangelion is now enhanced along with Shinji''s, Rei''s and your younger sisters."

    Mari looked up. "Like that will make any difference the simulation is meant to be unbeatable it''s like some bad sci-fi movies joke where the captain of the star ship can''t win and he or she is then told that this is the point of the exercise to lose as its builds character."

    Toji turned sharply. "Wait I watched that film didn''t the person hack the simulation because it was only way to win?" Misato folded her arms. "Don''t you even think about hacking the diablo inferno Mari and it¡¯s not unbeatable Shinji and Kaworu have done it." Shinji leaned over. "Yes we have but we think we just got lucky, I mean we''d done it hundreds of times before and failed Mari''s right it''s the almost unbeatable scenario." Mari felt a smile. "Plus the simulation demon what''s his name?"

    Toji looked up. "It''s Ch¨­jin." Mari turned back. "Ch¨­jin is an asshole he laughs at you not to mention he''s a demented fucker who is off putting." She breathed in deeply. "Whoever programmed him has a really twisted sense of humour, so no even with an enhanced Evangelion I feel unhappy with the whole idea, because you''re always still destined to lose."

    8

    Asuka took in a deep breath watching as the countdown carried on as the Ch¨­jin demon icon face carried on laughing behind her on the big viewing screen. She couldn''t believe that, that asshole was programmed the same way as Anneberg her AI leaning personality who protected her computer system at home and all other things like her phone and digital scroll though she had been working to joint connect him to Rei''s computer which was now in the computer room opposite hers.

    She really needed to get upgrade her girlfriend''s system for better gaming plus her VR helmet needed upgrading it wasn''t outputting the sensations right Rei probably wouldn''t like if she just changed it but her birthday was coming up next month maybe she could somehow pull it into being a present she was going to hit twenty three as she was the youngest of all of them while Mari was the oldest at twenty six.

    The others including her were twenty three she turned as Misato''s face appeared on her screen with that self-satisfied smirk on her face. "Make this look good for the press won''t you both." Asuka didn''t think as she eased up her fingers flipping her image off her holographic screen.

    As she turned eyeing 00 which like her was on its hind legs waiting patiently as she spoke darkly. "Yeah I''m sure they''ll love watching us getting our asses kicked around by an angel sized hologram that is a complete verfickte asshole." Rei''s face appeared on her screen opposite and just like her she looked just as unimpressed as she spoke evenly. "Probably and where are all of our weapons?"

    Misato''s face suddenly appeared again as she smirking. "You both won''t need them today, you¡¯re running this simulation using your Evangelion''s only since they both have teeth and claws and your tail knifes, have fun." Asuka watched as she vanished. "Oh this scheisse just gets better and better doesn''t it?!"

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    She felt her teeth grind together as she spoke knowing they could hear over in the training ground building which was directly opposite. "I know you can hear me Maya! You and I will be speaking after this since this was your idea." Kaji''s voice suddenly came over the com. "Actually it was mine you both have fun now."

    Rei''s face turned to pure annoyance as she spoke coldly her voice directed at Kaji. "You know Asuka won''t be visiting your vegetable garden at all this week¡­so you won''t get any help planting your vegetables and fruit."

    She felt a sly smile form knowing this was wrong but she really didn''t care. "You could rope Misato into it I''ve heard she loves manual labour." Misato''s voice suddenly came back up filled with panic. "What¡­no I don''t!"

    Asuka felt a wide smile form suddenly getting where Rei was going with this they had fifty second left on the count down now and this would be worth all of it. "Yes she loves it really Kaji she''s just shy, she''s said how much she loves your vegetable garden and wants to be there, we''ve both heard her." She breathed in deeply. "You should give her a spade and have her work the ground you always told me and Shinji that it builds character."

    Kaji turned giving Misato a smile. "You really like my garden, I had no idea we should go up there sometime you can help me plant some carrots." Maya leaned forward watching Misato''s face turn pale this had clearly backfired on her in a way she wasn''t expecting and Asuka and Rei were utterly enjoying it.

    She looked over seeing Shigeru smiling while Sumire who was new just had a very strange look on her face like she had no idea what she''d walked into on her first day. Personally though she was sick of Misato saying she''d asked things of Asuka when she hadn''t it was a kink in their new friendship she needed to fix and it was time she dealt with it on her own. "Yes Asuka''s right she loves manual labour Kaji she''ll be a great help."

    She watched as the huge demon appeared in hologram form he towered over the Evangelion''s he took up half the field he had three sets of horns and a mouth of teeth with clawed hands and feet and three huge tails which could change and fire out all manner of weapons fire some angel and some none around him were hologram tanks and all types of aircraft.

    She looked up as both Rei and Asuka''s faces turned deadly serious the others would be watching this from a screen bellow along with everyone at Nerv as this simulation was always shown on the Arcades massive screens along with delegate displays for serious battles. "Inferno diablo activated, pain threshold set to maximum!"

    Asuka looked up as Ch¨­jin''s red and yellow eyes opened as he started to laugh as he spoke granted this was all for the press they could hear what this AI was saying as could they but she had already turned off her outward speaker as she had no interest in replying and had gone to private. "02 and 00, this would be a first."

    There was a long pause. "How many years since they put you to together? Ah yes eight years ago." His huge feet collided with the ground as his long tongue came out licking the air. "This should be short and most sweet an affair then." His smile widened. "Feel the pain and agony."

    Asuka rolled her eyes not thinking as she forced 02 on its hind legs grabbing the nearest firing hologram tank by its cannon throwing straight at him watching as it flew up smashing into his face causing him to roar in anger. "Verfickte shut up!"

    Rei looked up feeling the pain as all of the hologram tanks and planes started firing she hated this simulation as much as Asuka who had grabbed the nearest vertical wing by its tail and had sent it smashing into another. She grabbed the nearest plane sending it smashing into the earth watching as Asuka brought up her secondary tail causing the retractable knife to fly out as she started to stab it anything near her feet.

    Misato leaned over seeing that Rei was more behind as Asuka carried on tearing everything she could get her units hand on. "What''s with Rei she not moving?" Kaji raised his hand. "Give her a moment she''s just watching Asuka."

    He watched as the demon raised his tail taking aim as rockets appeared at the end as he started to fire only for them to miss as the blue unit suddenly vaulted on all fours getting alongside 02 as it brought up its slicing tail section driving it into anything on the ground while taking out the jets with claws and teeth.

    He smiled watching she was clearly picking this up fast she was mimicking which was what she needed to do as she still been using 00 like it had been in its old form and it was holding her back she needed to use her unit like Mari and Asuka did, because she just wasn''t getting the potential out of it.

    Asuka looked up only for her unit to be struck in the face with an N2 missile which blew up throwing her back she felt 02 hit the floor feeling the slight daze which passed by quickly yeah it hurt but the real thing hurt way more. She front flipped unit 02 back on its feet they weren''t even close to the demon which just sucked.

    She stood up only for two N2 rockets to hit her throwing her back blowing up she felt her good narrow this was starting to really piss her off. Rei turned hearing Asuka sudden scream of rage as her unit got up she could see that one of the demons tails was purposely following her girlfriend''s movements because the simulation knew she hated N2 rockets.

    She watched as one fired she leaned out her units hands last second as she smashed a tank aside with 00''s tail dagger only to stop the huge missile mid-flight, she''d seen Shinji do this so there was no reason she couldn''t. She turned the rockets around throwing it straight back watching as it hit the demons tail causing it to roar in agony as its tail was thrown in the wrong direction which caused it to come down blowing up half of the tanks below as its other tail raised as it started to fire like a machine gun.

    Asuka looked down as the third tail started to come down trying to hit her sending tanks flying. She picked up a hologram jet throwing it at a vertical wing the tank army was all show. "Get up no to his tail!"

    Rei turned sharply narrowly avoiding the other tail as it smashed down as the middle one carried on firing. "Asuka!" She watched as she leapt on to his tail close by only to suddenly click at what her idea was and it was crazy not that, that was much of a surprise, she leapt onto the other tail clawing her way up watching as Asuka did the same on the opposite side.

    Misato turned. "Can they do that is it in the rules?" Kaji watched as they climbed higher both trying to get to the very ends which were firing weapons. "Yes they can it''s not against the rules to climb the hologram." She leaned closer. "What are they trying to do I don''t get it?"

    Rei leaped up finally getting to the end seeing Asuka do the same she grabbed the end digging her units claws in hard hearing herself scream in anger which in turn caused her teeth turning the back molars to razors as the front canines lengthened on her upper and lower jaw it was a weird sensation and she could feel the sudden warmth in her eyes which meant they'' were now glowing red.

    She could see Asuka''s left right eye igniting as her right turned green and her teeth did the same through her teeth were much more pronounced than hers. She looked down suddenly seeing the one thing that made this all worthwhile as the demon holograms face turned to panic as both of his tails were pointed at his own face as they fired hitting him over and over causing him to cry out in pain.

    Asuka started to laugh not caring that it sounded sadistic. "Look at his poor pathetic face." Rei suddenly found herself laughing along though her laugh was just as sadistic. "Yeah almost makes you feel sorry for him!" Kaji eyed the score. "Score sixty percent and rising¡­" He looked up. "They both might actuality do this."

    He looked up only to see the two tail suddenly come crashing down as the clawed hands came out grabbing both Evangelion''s pulling them free before throwing them both half way across the training ground which had to hurt. Sumire shook her head. "Perhaps not today."

    The demon simulation suddenly started to move which meant the sixty five percent score had been passed and now the final phase was starting. She watched as they both got up only to be smashed by the clawed hands which grabbed them both one in each hand as it started to pummel them into the ground as the tails came over firing all together at them. Maya looked up. "Stop the simulation!"

    Misato raised her hand. "Just one more minute¡­." Maya eyed Asuka and Rei''s which were showing real pain now as they were both now hemmed in and corned and it was difficult to see through the smoke. "No end the simulation the pain there experiencing is real remember?"

    She looked up only for the demon to suddenly roar as one of his hands flew up which had 02 and 00 attached both of them were biting into the fingers while stabbing the tails into other fingers cutting in to them it shook it huge hands as fingers fell off disintegrating away causing him to let go completely causing both units to crash down to the floor. Misato looked up. "Okay, end the simulation now."

    She watched as Kaji typed in causing the huge still screaming demon to fade he could see both unit sprawled out unmoving along with Rei and Asuka''s face''s they were both breathing hard now and feeling the pain.

    Asuka groaned painfully. "Well that''s not fair¡­I hadn''t finished eating him." Rei laughed despite that it hurt to do so. "You and eating things, you just can''t help yourself." She lay back in her entry plugs chair trying to ignore the fuzzy feeling which was a mixture of pain and adrenaline. "I swear it''s weird how powerful the teeth make you feel."

    Asuka eased out her tongue licking one of her canine teeth. "You get used to it after a while believe me." She sat back in her entry plug chair taking in deep breaths from her unit she could see the press helicopters off in the distance recording. "Think we gave them a good show?"

    Rei moved her unit''s eye seeing the helicopters. "Yeah I think there just confused as to why we aren''t moving." Asuka breathed in deeply. "Trust me I can''t stand right now but we might as well sit back to back, at least then they''ll know that we are not unconscious." Rei took her controls pulling her unit up in to a sitting position watching as Asuka leaned up against it as she raised her first tail causing the retractable knife to come free hitting the floor close by. "I swear I want to soak for a long time in the hot tub after this."

    Asuka looked down. "I will be joining you plus I want alcohol." She lay back closing her eyes feeling 02''s tail move slowly and carefully over to 00''s entry plug.

    Rei looked up feeling an odd sensation go through her it wasn''t pain or hurt it was warmth. "Asuka what are you doing?" Asuka felt a smile form though she didn''t open her eyes. "Would you like to connect with me, I''m sure deep down you already know how."

    Misato watched as 00''s tail rose and the huge slicing dagger point which unlike 02''s tail was not an add on but part of the real tail lowered revealing an end piece which looked just the same as 02''s. "What''s going on what does she mean connect?" She watched as the blue end moved towards 02''s entry plug as Rei took in a deep breath closing her eyes. "Rei, Asuka, you both want to tell me what you''re doing?"

    Asuka felt the warmth flood in as she spoke calmly. "Don''t be afraid, I won''t hurt you." Rei breathed in again as a smiled formed on her lips. "I know you''d never hurt me." Maya looked up only to watch in shock as both ends came down over the entry plugs locking in.

    She looked up as the monitors on both sides went crazy for a moment before everything became still. Misato leaned forward looking at them both, they had both gone still and were completely unmoving their eyes closed to the world and very relaxed. "Rei, Asuka!" Kaji looked up in utter confusion. "I''ve just lost all entry plug control in both units I can''t eject either of them!"

    End of part 8

    Silvermoonlight

 A Beautiful Harmony

    A BEAUTIFUL HARMONY

    Rei breathed in deeply opening her eyes how strange it was like floating on air in a warm surround which had encompassed her she looked down as her plug suited feet touched the snow yet it wasn''t cold it was warm she looked around her seeing the vast stretches of snow and blue water. Yet the air was warm it wasn''t cold and above was a warm red sky with rays of golden light she turned looking around her where was this?

    She raised her hand seeing that she was in her plug suit but it had lost its sleeves. This really wasn''t like being in a VR simulation it was so much more real in that she could smell the ocean and even though it a cold place the air was so fresh. She leaned down looking at herself in the blue clear waters she looked the same she moved her hand down running her fingers through the water which wasn''t cold it was warm like the water of a hot tub yet the ice was not melting.

    She looked up sharply seeing the water some distance away turn blood red there was a massive splash as a huge figure broke the surface coming down hard on the ice the huge clawed feet digging in. She blinked eyeing the lycanthrope tiger form which she''d seen in Asuka''s drawing the embodiment of Nekomata wait she''d spoken about this before she''d taken on this form to fight Bardiel the first time after Ritsuko¡¯s machine Obrax had put her in a temporary coma she''d only the lost the battle and been forced out of her coma because he''d tried to drown her. She could see the huge clawed hands and feet and two tails swinging back forth and the huge mane of red fur and hear the heavy breathing which sounded human. "Asuka?"

    She watched as the face turned revealing the tiger ears and glowing blue and white left eye which was scared as well as the tiger like face with its huge teeth and snout though the right eye was perfectly human and bright blue.

    Yes it was definitely Asuka she''d seen this image countless times in her drawings the visitor centre even had these drawings but to see her up close this way was just mind blowing. Because it just wasn''t what you saw in your everyday life you saw things like this in movies and pictures but you could never touch them.

    She was also massive in this form at least six feet tall and on every muscle section were black stripes so much like a real tigers, the gender was impossible to distinguish due to the fur as it was so thick in the chest area and below the waist but she could see her pendent lying inside the neck fur which said it all.

    Asuka eased up a huge clawed hand looking at it before looking at her it felt like a long time since she''d been in this form. "Okay that was completely not what I was expecting." She took in a deep breath. "When I plugged in I thought I was going to have human form." Rei moved closer seeing that Asuka was remaining on her knees. "No please don''t change it I''ve never seen anything like this before."

    She moved closer easing up her hand seeing the uncertainty in Asuka''s good eye. "Just like your drawings." She moved her fingers through the thick fur which was soft to the touch. "You look magnificent in this form." Asuka slowly sat herself down suddenly feeling more relaxed. "Thank you." She eased out a clawed hand laying it palm flat watching as Rei ran her fingers down it in a gentle motion. "I really didn''t think I''d see it again anytime soon."

    Rei turned looking around her. "What is this place I mean where are we is this the core of 02?" Asuka felt her jaws form a smile. "No it''s not the core, it looks sort of like my subconscious but maybe it''s not maybe it''s a bridge of both of our thoughts." Rei felt her eyes dart. "You mean like our thoughts and imaginations overlapping?" Asuka looked at her for a long moment. "That would be more accurate yes we are here mentality and our bodies are still stationary."

    She looked out over the ice. "I apologise for the ice and water that is my mind and I don''t know why it''s taking president over your thoughts." Rei took hold of one of her clawed fingers tapping the clawed tip. "Maybe it''s because you have more control over your mind in this state than I do hence you can do this with your form."

    She moved her hand up through the huge thick mane. "Because of what happened with Bardiel." Asuka breathed in deeply. "Probably but I can tell you I only took this form because I opened my mind because here there are no limitations and I believe anyone can do this."

    She eased out a clawed hand moving her fingers watching as a sunflower grew out of the snow in full bloom before picking it handing it to the other woman who took it smelling it. "I''m sure your imagination is up to the challenge." She leaned over her voice turning playful. "I''m guessing they can''t hear or see what we are thinking when we do this but I''d advise against sexual thoughts you know just in case Misato''s in the mood to complain."

    Rei looked at the sun flower as she sat in Asuka''s furry lap. "I don''t know what her problem was earlier, I mean so what if I turned you on under the table." Asuka laughed as she looked at her. "I think she and the some of the others are still under the delusion that you''re so sweet and innocent and that butter wouldn''t melt in your mouth." She felt a sly smile form. "Myself on the other hand I know way better and I enjoy that side of you very much."

    Rei looked up. "I think it''s more than they don''t envision me having sexual desire, because I never talk about sexual things, the truth is more than the relationships I have had just weren''t worth talking about because they were so one sided and I hated them."

    She eased up her hand running her fingers under Asuka''s jaw it was just like running her fingers through a real cat''s fur all of the sensations were so real. "They also assume that your sexual one because of your past sexual behaviour but with me you''ve always been the reverse in that you wanted to be led and for me to make up the rules."

    Asuka good eye looked down at her for a long moment. "Yes because I love you and want you to be happy, you should be happy you should know that you''re completely in control." Rei looked up. "I know this is going to sound strange but can I open yours jaws?" Asuka blinked in confusion. "Why?" Rei looked up. "Because I''ve never seen inside a tiger''s mouth before, the only ones remaining are part of breeding programs and people are no longer allowed to get close to them not even in zoos."

    Asuka slowly opened her mouth so she could look inside she watched as the small woman eased up her hand running her fingers over the canine teeth completely without fear but maybe that shouldn''t have surprised her she had once put her hand inside her mouth of razor teeth just to feel them she had no fear. She watched as she lowered her hand as she closed her mouth speaking calmly. "You''re very trusting off me."

    Rei looked at her. "Yeah well I know you and I know you would never hurt me, so I never worry." Asuka looked up suddenly remembering why she had, had the urge to do this. "I remembered the dream I had last night, I remembered it so perfectly on the train up here." She leaned closer to Rei. "I dreamt that I saw my mother inside the core she was speaking to me telling me she loved me¡­it felt so real yet I know it wasn''t a dream it felt more like memory."

    Rei sat up fully taking in a deep breath she knew this moment would come in the end because something deep down in her gut had told her that Asuka would remember because she''d had started to remember everything else. "I''m really sorry I haven''t been completely honest with you Asuka." Asuka eased up a clawed hand. "What do you mean?"

    Rei took in a deep breath. "What freed you from the core was when I called your unit out by its true name¡­" She looked up slightly. "It answers to Kyoko." She looked at her hands. "That''s your mother''s name." She looked down feeling unsure of her next words. "I understand that you might be mad with me for not telling you but I think it''s something we are not meant to know it''s the secret Nerv keeps from all of us."

    She looked up at her. "I once had a vision of my aunt when I was in my unit. Shinji has seen our mother and Mari said recently when her unit changed said she saw her mother as well and that she apologised to her for ignoring her and not doing better and that she had accepted her sexuality."

    She took in a deep breath. "Maya told all of us it was our minds and not real but I know from your unit that they''re not visions, all off our mothers are in there as well as my aunt but I just couldn''t say anything I think people probably die for talking about this kind of thing."

    Asuka moved her clawed hand putting it on her shoulder. "Please do not ever think that I''d be mad at you because I perfectly understand why you would have to be silent, ever to me that why I asked you to connect with me, because I remember my mother telling what the tails are really for, this only confirms all the more that our conversation was real."

    She laughed as she looked around her. "I mean my mother is alive she''s in this unit and so is your aunt and your mother and Mari''s they''re all not dead, they live on here in their own human instrumentality''s because they destroyed the AI core personality and took over." She looked around her. "Hence we can now both chat and talk this way it''s wonderful."

    She paused before speaking. "I remember my mother saying that in here time passes slower in that we can spend hours chatting but if we return only minutes might pass outside." Rei watched as the light burst out Asuka left eye surrounding her whole body for a moment before fading away as she took back her normal form though she was wearing casual clothing and she was still seated in her lap. "You have to teach me how to do this." Asuka felt a sly smile form. "Oh believe me I will."

    She leaned closer meeting her lips as she kissed her intensely not thinking as she eased her down gently into the snow as she got on top of her. "All in good time..." Rei felt her eyes dart. "You know if we are interlinked your mother and my aunt can probably see us." Asuka carried on kissing her. "Yes I know and believe me I wouldn''t take thing further as it would be very rude to make love to you here as this is part of my mother and your aunt''s home we are just visors but my mother knows I love you and I think she won''t mind me kissing you here." Rei laughed trying to push her off. "If you do mind we are really sorry!"

    She knew she was speaking outwardly more to the units than anything else as she had no idea how this all worked. "Thank you also for this we both really appreciate it." Asuka turned watching as a large canvas appeared close by it was sitting on the ice and snow upright and was a painting of a green landscape her mother had been painting it when they''d last seen each other she sat up. "I believe my mother can hear you as that is one of her paintings I remember she was painting it when I got sucked inside the core."

    Rei eased herself out from under her moving over to the canvas looking at it. "Your mother paints more like my brother with thick paints also your styles are very different." She leaned closer. "Except for the way she draws trees she draws them like how you do with the soft edging." Asuka felt her smile widen. "We also have a few other interesting things in common believe me."

    Asuka turned watching as opposite a small toy appeared which was a monkey with a long tail and a happy face it wasn''t her one it was completely the wrong colour, hers had been brown this one was blue. Rei turned catching sight of it she walked over picking it up looking at it knowing that her aunt had sent this as she brought one for her as a child. "I used to have one just like this he was called Totoro and he was my favourite toy."

    She looked at Asuka who had a strange look on her face. "Are you okay?" Asuka moved towards her eyeing the toy. "I had one to but I destroyed mine¡­it''s kind of stupid really." Rei looked up at her. "How was it stupid?"

    Asuka took in a deep breath. "It was after my mother had died my step mom brought me one just like it and I tore it to bits because I was angry and confused and I didn''t know how to deal with the emotions." She felt a sad smile form. "Mari saw me do it and she called me a weirdo but after that she was no longer mean to me and we started to get along so I guess some good came out of it." Rei eased up the toy. "You want to hold him?"

    Asuka raised her hand. "No he''s your toy." Rei looked at her for a long moment. "No he''s ours, just like all this is ours." She felt a wide smile form. "So please hold him." Asuka breathed in slowly taking the toy from her hands looking at it realizing that she had missed something as she hadn''t been looking closely. "He''s missing an eye."

    Rei felt her smile widen. "Don''t you always say that just because something isn''t perfect doesn''t mean it shouldn''t be viewed as less?" Asuka looked at her for a long moment feeling a toothy grin form on her lips. "Yeah I do say that."

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    8

    Maya breathed in staring at the two Evangelion''s who were in a sitting position on the training ground both of them back to back tails locked into one another''s entry plugs. They''d been like this for five minutes now and she could see that Rei and Asuka both had their eyes closed in the entry plug. "I don''t know what this is¡­it''s like there brain waves have totality overlapped."

    Kaji brought up the similar scan on his holographic screen with the Hikari incident were Asuka had put her tail into her entry plug to try and hurt her and it had done so. "It''s totality different from Hikari, she''s not harming Rei''s mind at all and Rei''s not hurting hers but we just can''t tell what they''re doing in there."

    Misato leaned over eyeing the read out. "Great so for all we know they could be having sex and we wouldn''t know." She eyed Asuka''s second tail which wasn''t doing anything. "So would I be right to assume that if Rei has a lock in tail like Asuka that Mari has one to?"

    Sumire brought up a bunch of photos on her hologram screen eyeing them. "The recent photos imply so yes all three tails have the same lay out but Asuka''s secondary is different the specialists said after Bardiel was kicked out of her body it changed and doesn''t have the same layout." She looked up at the training screen. "Is this a normal day for you people here I''m just curious?"

    Shigeru looked up. "Not really but let''s just say that these two like to surprise us often." Misato folded her arms. "Send 01 and 04 up and have Mari try and lock into Asuka secondary tail with her unit."

    Maya turned sharply. "You know I think that''s a really bad idea." Misato turned sharply. "What¡­why?" Maya looked at her read outs. "Because if I was having fun with my lover I would not be happy if someone entered the room I''d kick them out." Kaji looked up. "She has a point, Asuka hates the third wheel."

    Misato raised her hand watching as Shinji and Mari appeared in their units above ground. "She''s her sister!" Shigeru turned slightly. "You really don''t have any brothers or sisters do you? My older brother used to shove me out of the room when he was trying it on with girls and sisters are no different from what I hear."

    Mari''s face suddenly appeared on screen. "Can someone explain to me what 00 and 02 are doing? I''m confused." Shinji''s face appeared opposite. "Same here what are Rei and Asuka doing?" Misato looked at them both. "We don''t know, all we know is that they''ve gone into some kind of state where their brain waves are overlapping neither of them are hurting one another but we can''t do anything we are locked out at this end though we can look at the reads outs."

    She eyed 04''s long whip lash tail which was almost twice its body length. "Mari we believe you have a similar device on the end of your tail we want you plug it in to 02''s secondary tail." Mari laughed nervously. "You are fucking joking right?"

    Shinji turned his unit eyeing the other two he could see the press helicopters still recording. "That''s a terrible idea." Misato eyed them both. "Look all you''re doing is plugging in, it''s not like you''re taking control." Mari pushed up her glasses easing up then eased up her unit''s clawed hands. "Yeah you see this here there''s something going on and it''s a private party as in older brother and sister not invited." She looked up. "If I plug in she will kick my ass."

    Shinji turned looking at 02. "We''ll be happy to test us doing it up here I mean Mari can use her tail to plug into 01''s entry plug and you can test the readings but her trying to get in between Asuka and Rei that''s just a bad idea all around."

    Misato rolled her eyes. "What is everyone''s problem with Asuka and Rei I just don''t get it?" Mari was about to speak only for Shinji to speak first. "Its easy Asuka is fierily protective of her and it extends outside of the Evangelion and she will hit the roof if we interrupt her and Rei during a private moment." Misato looked up. "Just plug in Mari that''s an order, I''ll take full responsibility for whatever happens."

    Mari kneeled 04 down into a sitting position as she grabbed 02''s secondary tail putting it up to her entry plug trying to put it in only for nothing to happen. "Okay I got nothing." Misato put a hand on her face. "Okay now 02''s tail to your tail."

    Mari pulled 04''s tail over as she raised 02''s. "For the record this feels really fucking wrong just so you know." She breathed in trying to place the two together only to get nothing. "Well what do you know clearly slot A doesn''t work for slot B." She was about to say more only to suddenly feel intense pain as lightning shot through the red tail end right into her units tail end causing her to let go painfully. Shinji turned as Mari''s unit leapt backwards on its hinds screeching and hissing. "Are you okay?"

    Mari tensed painfully. "No that fucking hurt it felt like I was being shocked!" She turned eyeing Misato in annoyance. "Can we have a new rule, me not be the one to test Asuka''s shit anymore, because every time you do that I get hurt?!" She raised her hand. "Also stop using me just because I''m her older sister, you''re putting me a really awkward position."

    Shinji took in a deep breath he knew where Mari was coming from as Misato did have a habit of doing to this to him growing up and she tended to switch when she needed him to do something for her, he didn''t want to do she''d ask Rei to ask him for her and sometimes she''d reverse it and have him ask Rei now she was doing the same with Mari and Asuka.

    He turned sharply as 00 and 02 suddenly sprang to life he watched as the tails slowly eased up as they separated themselves carefully from the entry plugs and 00''s moved back slowly as the pointed end came back up locking over the end to protect it.

    Misato watched as both Rei and Asuka eyes opened, they both looked extremely calm both their eyes and teeth had now gone back to normal. "Ah well hello there." Asuka eased 02 slowly up moving it forward on all fours. "Hi." Misato''s face shot up on her screen. "Are you going tell me what you were both doing?" Rei looked up. "How long were we like that?"

    Maya looked up. "Ten minutes." She looked up how fascinating it felt like at least two hours in side. "Well since we''ve finished here we should go back down below, I mean you wanted to run drills right?" Misato raised her hand. "No you are not going to just walk out of here, you''re going to tell us what the hell you just did!"

    Asuka breathed in seeing that Shinji and Mari were standing there units nearby she knew that Mari had tried to lock in somehow she had felt her presence but when she had tried she could read her thoughts and that she didn''t want to do this and that Misato had put her up to it. "We had a chat I mean that''s what it allows you to do chat."

    Maya looked at Asuka''s face she wasn''t telling the full truth but she''d ask her when she had time what it really was. "I see, you mean like talk through your minds, that''s interesting."

    Asuka looked up not missing a beat. "Also Misato don''t put my sister in that kind of position again where you try and make her plug in, it only works with one tail and that''s the left one." Mari turned sharply as Asuka''s image appeared in her screen. "You felt that?" Asuka nodded. "Yes and I''ll be happy to try with you and Shinji another time but not today, it should work for all of the units and Rei should be able to do it as well as you."

    Shinji looked up feeling a smile form. "You both did well really on the diablo inferno." Kaji looked up ignoring Misato''s annoyed look it clearly just wasn''t her day today. "Yes you both scored between you seventy percent granted you didn''t complete the scenario but that is a massive improvement on both of yours scores." He looked up slightly. "You should both be really proud."

    Rei eased up 00 on to its hind legs. "It''s nice to hear that." Asuka looked at her hand. "It''s just numbers but it was nice to give it a try together." Kaji breathed in deeply. "You two should go now we''ll get the others doing there drills now."

    Misato shook her head as she sat down she couldn''t believe how this day was turning out it outright sucked. "You two can go now." Kaji turned looking at her. "So I''ll take you up to my garden tomorrow night." Misato watched Asuka and Rei vanish from the grounds as the others started their drills, she couldn''t believe she''d been roped in to this by them she forced a fake smile as she looked at him. "Sure."

    She watched as he turned away she wasn''t going to let Asuka or Rei get away with this she would get her own back the first chance she got and that wouldn''t be far off. Since they were meant to coming around to her house tonight for a meal and a chat but she guessed that, that had probably slipped Asuka''s mind as she got distracted at times everyone knew it because unlike in her youth she had been so disengaged from people that she tended to sometimes forget things because she wasn''t used to doing them as she''d spent three years out of the spot light.

    Oh revenge would be so sweet maybe she''d play them at their own game and rope them into something, they both would not like too much.

    Oh yes Asuka had an expensive suit now maybe she could send them both to the Tokyo three antique auction yeah she''d do that since Asuka was starting to do live interviews again though she''d only currently done two so far she could use that to kick her fully back in to publicity work. She had wanted to send Shinji and Kaworu there but she could just send them to Tokyo three''s hospital and then have Mari and Toji to open up the new store opening up in Nerv''s Arcade.

    Yeah that was what she''d do and she''d get a kick out of it since the last thing she was looking forward to was shovelling with a spade as she hated manual labour of that kind, yes she loved Kaji and truth be told she didn''t want to hurt his feelings so she''d just have to make the best off it.

    8

    Asuka leaned back taking a long drink from her lager bottle as she lay back in the hot tubs bubbling water she slowly put the bottle to one side her gaze falling on Rei who was sitting under the hot tubs water reading a magazine. "What''s in that magazine that''s so interesting?" She leaned closer a smile forming. "You''ve had your head in it since we got here."

    Rei looked up suddenly realizing that Asuka had no idea that this was a very old magazine which she''d picked up in one of the Arcade''s collectable shops. "You don''t recognise this?" Asuka moved closer. "No¡­should I?" Rei felt a sly smile form. "I''m surprised since Mari told me you have an identical copy in your locker which you have hidden and you''ve had it in there for many years."

    She watched as Asuka suddenly froze the colour draining from her face. "There''s some very interesting sensual art work of us together in the middle pages." Asuka felt her eyes dart. "Mari told you about that magazine!" She felt her hand form a fist as the anger suddenly took over. "I''m going to verfickte murder her!"

    She raised her hands inching closer, as she adjusted her red and white two piece swim wear nervously. "Please it''s not what you think." Rei looked up smoothing down her one piece black swim wear was it wrong that she enjoying this just a little? She looked up slightly. "What do you think that I''d think?" Asuka took in a deep breath. "That maybe I was using it to get off on or something."

    Rei raised an eyebrow. "Yes you see this is where I understand you better than Mari your older sister sometimes makes the mistake of thinking you''re a bit like her." She eyed the magazine. "In that you''d like it just for the art and sexual content only but I''ve noticed that you always have a twofold reason for liking everything, I think once Mari''s been around you longer she will catch on to this."

    She flipped the magazines pages finding the other interesting page as she looked up. "This magazine was published three years ago and in it is a really nice interview where you talk about your life and they asked about how you felt about me and your being so charming."

    She raised the magazine. "It''s very sweet." She looked up. "You make this little slip though and it sort of gives you away." She let her eyes drift over the words. "They asked you do you like me? You said you''d do anything to save me in battle." She felt her smile widen. "You told me you were only honest about the issue of your feelings for me in the LGBT magazines but never in the normal interviews which I think is the real reason you hid this magazine away."

    She felt her smile widen. "Because if I ever read it I''d know plus the art would have forced me to ask all sorts of questions." She looked up. "Also Kaji was the one who put the other issue in the wreck room but he says that it vanished the same day¡­clearly it found its way into your locker out of sight."

    She picked up her cocktail taking a slow sip from it. "I''m just surprised you didn''t show me this since we are together now." Asuka breathed in deeply. "Look it was the art work of us some of it¡­is far too much in the realms of fantasy." Rei flipped the pages back. "I don''t think it''s so bad but I have to ask because your more experienced than me is the upper left one even possible?"

    Asuka looked down. "Not unless you want to break your back it isn''t." She moved her fingers to her green pendent playing with it for a moment. "Also to be fair I don''t think I''m more experienced yes I''ve had many sexual partners but I didn''t love any of them and I only had sex and that included your brother."

    She moved her hand over grabbing her lager bottle taking a long drink before she spoke again. "With you it''s different we make love and it''s very new to me it''s an experience I''ve never had before." Rei put the magazine down moving towards her looking at the large sunken hot tub room which smelt of vanilla and jasmine around them with its water spring close by and wooden floors and walls it had a panel at the far side on the floor which controlled the water temperature bath salts and room temperature and the room had glass surround part and bamboo blinds which were electric this was one of their favourite places to go and relax together.

    She looked at the blinds which had shut to keep people from looking in from the balconies. "It means a lot to me that you think of us that way." She shifted closer. "I mean I thought my inexperience might bother you." Asuka laughed as she put her bottle down. "Please Rei I don''t care about that, all I care about is us being together." She turned suddenly realizing that the other woman was right up close to her green eyes looking directly into her own with a real deep intensity.

    Rei looked down at Asuka who now seemed frozen in place. "You know the first time we were here you showered with me so much affection and love." She moved her hand up tracing the long jagged scar on Asuka''s lower stomach seeing her left blue eyes patterns suddenly start to pulse as she spoke in a soft tone. "How''s about I return the favour now."

    Asuka eyes suddenly darted to the camera opposite despite that her left one was blind it still followed the other eyes direction when they both moved around. "Rei¡­you know this isn''t like the last time the camera is on this time." Rei turned eyeing the camera as she spoke in a coy tone. "So it is."

    She moved her hand up finding the zip on the front of her one piece top watching the blush creep over the other woman''s face as she unzipped it very slowly stopping part way down as she leaned over whispering softy and seductively in to her ear. "If the idea of being bothered by the camera is getting to you, you can always just get rid of the camera."

    End of part 9

    Silvermoonlight

 Shake And Bake Family Dynamic

    SHAKE AND BAKE FAMILY DYNAMIC

    Misato turned looking at Shinji and Kaworu who were finishing the cooking on the new cooker close by and were now filling bowls with hot food. Her table on the floor was set though she''s brought in a bigger one now and sold off the old one and put down fresh cushions for everyone to sit on.

    Mari and Toji were already seated along with Kaji, Mari was looking at her phone and talking with Cheshire her AI learning personality who protected her computer system and other devices. Asuka also had one of these his name is Anneberg and he did the same thing though he''d recently been ported into Rei''s devices and computer as well and could shift between them and as like Cheshire he had free will he could go in between either. "Asuka is coming right?"

    Mari looked up. "Yeah she said she was, look she probably just got distracted." Toji lay back putting his hands behind his head looking at Sakura was opposite who was playing with Pen Pen who was enjoying the game. "I heard she took out the hot tubs camera''s today along with the sound, she literally punched it out."

    Mari turned looking at him. "I want to be surprised¡­but I''m really not." She typed watching as Cheshire asked another question his yellow eyes flashing on his animated icon. "They should just turn it off for good sound and all when she''s in there with Rei because it being on is just another reason for her to destroy it."

    She adjusted her glasses. "Plus it''s not a big secret that they love to make out in there everyone knows it, there declaring it Asuka and Rei''s little romantic haven." Misato put the drink glasses in front of them. "Actuality I didn''t know that." Kaji folded his arms taking his seat. "I did." Shinji smiled as he filled a large bowl with cooked octopus wieners, he could remember giving these to Asuka for her lunch when he used to cook it along with Rei''s back when they were kids.

    He thought it would help break the ice as it had been almost three years since she''d been here also as a gift from Nerv on her promotion Misato''s whole house had been refurbished now with new kitchen items like a cooker black garnet work top and it had all been repainted.

    Also Pen''s Pen''s huge freezer had been upgraded almost everything had been replaced or upgraded apart from the sofa chairs and her personal recliner. "Yeah but they get way to much attention more than myself and Kaworu do, it must just get on her nerves being watched by Nerv staff all the time wherever they go."

    Kaji eyed Misato okay they were both guilty of this as well but for a completely different reason. "Yeah but no one ever expected this happen, some of us knew Asuka''s feelings but no one expected your sister to fall in love with her or return her feelings."

    Toji sat up a smile suddenly forming. "Did anyone hear about the gym Rei had her dancing to music and going with a red ribbon on the gymnastic floor?" Kaworu raised his plate. ¡°Now that I did hear about it was most intriguing because they said they were towards the end starting to get a rhythm going that was almost perfect."

    He felt his smile widen. "I say almost because Asuka''s just not quite there yet, though it''s understandable she''s used to fighting not dancing and she can be over aggressive in her moves." Misato slowly took the bowls putting them on the table. "I will never understand how Rei gets her to do things like that she won''t do it for anyone else."

    Mari looked up from her phone. "Oh I think that''s easy Rei just smiles and she goes with it." She put her phone down. "I think she loves that Asuka is so protective of her it means she can just say what she wants now and no one will dare back chat her because they''d have to answer to Asuka."

    She put her hand on her chest. "I''m her older sisters and even I wouldn''t go there, when we were going through that rouge spot I did try my luck and she made real clear that if I pissed of Rei I''d be answering directly to her and we''d already had one punch up and personally didn''t fancy another."

    She looked up. "So good luck to the first person who oversteps that mark because she''ll break their nose like she did mine, when I insulted her mother after the accident with the UN Alpha test unit before our family history got fully resolved." Kaji looked up hearing the door go which caused Pen Pen to look up as Asuka and Rei entered the room dressed in there casual clothes. "Ah you''re both here at last."

    Misato looked up as she sat down. "What''s wrong Asuka did you forget where I live?" Asuka eyed her as she took a seat watching as Rei sat down opposite. "No¡­" She looked around her. "They''ve done up the place nice." Rei looked around her. "Yes it''s very nice."

    Misato watched as Kaworu sat opposite putting an arm around Shinji. "It''s so nice to have you both here." She turned to Rei. "I''m guessing you had to drag her up here right and she made all kinds of excuses hence why you''re late." Rei looked up breathing in deeply shaking her head "No I didn''t and we were late because we went to the Elysium gallery before coming here as they wanted to go through Asuka''s artwork and pick pieces for her new exhibition."

    Asuka leaned over stroking Pen Pen''s head as he greeted them. "The two nice people who own the gallery got into an argument over one piece, it was very amusing." Rei watched as she took her patch off putting it away. "Trust me Asuka that is normal they do that all the time with Shinji''s huge painted canvas."

    Misato watched as Kaji started to pour drinks as everyone started to tuck in instantly as they were all hungry. "So Asuka I heard that the spa hot tub camera got punched in, you wouldn''t happen to know anything about that would you?" Asuka eyed the food seeing Shinji just shake his head. "No I wouldn''t camera''s get smashed all the time at Nerv it''s none of my business." Misato eyed her clearly something''s just never changed.

    Everyone knew Asuka had a history of breaking camera''s she''d broken over a hundred Nerv camera''s people knew she did it, there was even footage of her doing it but she would just never admit to it she''d admit to everything else and be honest to a fault but never that. "Come on Asuka I know you broke it."

    Rei looked up. "They shouldn''t have cameras in the spa hot tubs anyway I mean I''ve never heard of anyone having a fight in any of those hot tubs or saunas." Misato leaned forward. "There in there so people can''t have sex because that''s against company policy rules."

    Kaji looked up. "Not that, that means anything since Maya once ran into Ritsuko and Gendo burning the mid night oil, in some room in the restricted zone years ago." Asuka looked up slightly seeing disgust appear on just about everyone''s face. "Yeah Kaji I could have gone the whole of my life not knowing that¡­it''s going to take me a week to burn that visual image out of my brain." Kaji smirked as he leaned forward. "I''m just saying the rule is more of a guide line and I''ve seen enough employee footage to know it gets ignored from time to time."

    Rei looked up speaking calmly. "Yes well we didn''t do anything we shouldn''t." Misato eyed her. "No of cause you weren''t because you always play by the rules right Rei?" Rei took some food not missing a beat as she spoke. "Yes and like Asuka says camera''s get smashed all of the time Nerv has thousands of employees accidents happen."

    Misato turned wishing Sakura wasn''t here watching and listening because she couldn''t throw out the crude statement she really wanted to say about how they''d had sex in there and that was why the camera had been smashed in. Asuka ignored Mari''s smirk as she turned to Shinji. "This is really nice, thank you for cooking." Shinji leaned over kissing Kaworu''s lips. "It was a joint effort between me and Kaworu."

    Asuka eyed the food. "Then thank you to both of you." She looked over catching sight of something odd which sort of stood out. "Are those octopus wieners?" Shinji pushed the bowl her way seeing a sly smile form on Rei''s lips. "Yes I remember you liked them a lot in school." Asuka picked on up looking at them. "Yes I did." Mari leaned over. "What''s so good about them it''s just I''ve had these before in restaurants over here and they don''t move me?"

    Asuka eyed her. "Why don''t you go poke one with a chop stick four eyes and find out?" Mari eyed her as she picked one up chewing on it only for her eyes to widen. "Oh that''s so good!"

    She turned looking at Shinji. "You''re a really good cook." Toji leaned over. "Yeah he is, almost makes me jealous I can''t cook this well." Sakura looked up. "You do a great job and I enjoy us both cooking together." Asuka took another mouthful. "Be grateful the meats real when I came to Nerv you only had synthetic and it''s not the same."

    She pointed her chop stick at Shinji. "He could actuality get it to taste good and that takes real talent." Rei looked up. "That''s true my brother can even make the synthetic fish meat taste nice." Kaji felt a smile form. "If I''ve said it once I''ve said a thousand time''s people love others who can cook, food is a way to any person''s heart."

    Asuka looked down she wasn''t that great a cook she just tried her best and she never felt that the effort was ever good enough for Rei who could cook miles better than she could. Misato eyed Kaji she knew he wasn''t being rude but she knew she couldn''t cook that well it had just never been the central focus in her life and she found it easy to just have dried noodles and eat out now and again.

    She felt herself smile inwardly it was nice though to have everyone here it made her home feel so alive in a way it hadn''t for a very long time and she still needed to get to know Toji, Sakura and Mari better along with Asuka who she was starting to get to know all over again.

    Toji looked up. "Hey Asuka have you seen the new Nissin cup advert for noodles, because you know they do little CGI units fighting around the noodle cups?" Mari turned laughing. "I''ve seen that new one it''s funny." Asuka looked up why did she not like the sound of this? Oh wait it was because right now she couldn''t escape food and Bardiel in the same topic. "Let me guess my units eating Bardiel."

    Toji raised his hand shaking his head. "Yes and no he''s in sauce form and your unit and Rei''s fights him then you both push him in the cup where he melts away." Mari laughed. "The tag line is want a filling meal eat away all of your problems Evangelion style."

    Asuka put the chop sticks in her mouth she hated that food manufactures had the rights to show boat the Evangelion''s as mascots of their products she spoke unable to keep the sarcasm out of her tone. "My life feels so complete I made a noodle advert, what''s next eat Bardiel here?" Toji eased up her finger. "As a matter of fact¡­." Asuka raised her hand. "Don''t answer that Toji, it was rhetorical!" Toji blinked in surprise. "Are you angry about that whole food carving they had at that formal dinner party?"

    Rei turned looking at Asuka. "No Toji I think Asuka just annoyed about the fact that they keep asking her interviews how he tasted, it''s kind of disturbing and they never ask me how Bardiel''s S2 Engine tasted." Shinji looked up. "They never ever asked me that either and my unit eat part of Sachiel including the S2 Engine."

    Asuka looked at her food. "I thought I was going to get some interesting questions but the world probably just thinks I''m a dumb angel chewing moron who can''t do perfect math." Rei turned sharply feeling her eyes dart she had been wondering why this issue had been getting to Asuka now it was all too clear and she could tell by how the patterns were sharply spinning in her left eye which meant that this was really agitating her emotionally. She moved over taking her hand. "Has someone up at Nerv made some comment?"

    Misato looked at her for a long moment well that had come out of nowhere and was quite unexpected. "Has Ritsuko made a comment?" Asuka breathed in sharply. "She doesn''t have to she''s always treated me like I''m a moron." She felt her eyes dart. "I mean in her eyes I probably am since my mother could run equations through her head and write them on paper without a calculator." She looked at her food. "I mean I hated maths so much in school that I beat up two boys and got them to do my homework for me."

    Sakura laughed as she looked up. "That''s so cool." Asuka turned to her speaking calmly. "That''s not cool don''t ever do that Sakura, it''s cheating and picking on people and threatening them to do things on your behalf is very cowardly." Shinji felt a smile form. "That explains so much I did wonder how you got straight A''s for a year, when you didn''t study at all and you spent all your time drawing in that A4 sketch pad."

    Mari pushed up her glasses somehow this felt all very weird since in school back in Britain she''d been the one on the reserving end of the bullies who had tried to make her do their homework because they knew that she was very good at crunching the numbers. "My sister is right Sakura it''s also not nice to be the one on the reserving end either."

    Kaworu leaned over. "Intelligence does not dictate a person though you can be very intelligent and be foolish or be the reverse and be normal intelligence but very smart to what''s going on in the world around you so intelligence is not a defining factor it is how the person in question uses it."

    He looked at Asuka for a long moment seeing something he''d seen very often in Shinji as these two were very much alike though how they worked their problems and dealt with them was the parallel opposite.

    This wasn''t so much about intelligence she wanted respect and Shinji had gone through this as well two years ago. "I think if you were that intelligent Asuka I don''t think you''d enjoy it because you like art and creative pursuits." Asuka looked at her food, knowing that he was right. "True¡­I guess just once though I''d like to just throw Ritsuko through a loop I hate how smart she thinks she is."

    Kaji pushed his empty bowl aside. "I think that crap comes from her science background but in my opinion she''s not that great a scientist and she''s also a former scientist since she''s now in management as Gendo equal." He paused knowing Asuka wouldn''t like what he had to say next as he pulled out a note. "Speaking of which Gendo wants to talk to you and Rei." Asuka looked up sharply. "What, why?"

    Kaji watched as she took the note from his hand. "He wouldn''t say he just said he wants you and Rei in his office tomorrow morning." Rei looked at the note as Asuka passed it to her as she turned to Shinji. "Since when does he ever want to talk to me?" Shinji took in a deep breath. "Seriously he''s going to do the drill questions on you to?"

    Rei eyed the note. "What do you mean drill questions?" Shinji took in a deep breath. "When you and Asuka spent a few days off after she came back from the core he called us up to the office and started asking these weird questions to myself and Kaworu it was like some messed up interview. I didn''t say anything because he never calls you up for anyway and I assumed he wouldn''t because he doesn''t like being around you, you remind him to much of mum."

    He eyed Asuka. "I''m shocked that he would call you both, I mean he''s always had mixed feelings regarding you." Misato looked up she could remember the conversation some time ago where he had talked about Rei and Asuka''s relationship and he said that he had seen it as a conveyance because he felt that Rei kept Asuka in line and made her behave better.

    As for Kaworu he saw his relationship with Shinji as a benefit to the program because it had made relations with the Ukraine division much easier. Granted the man was an asshole but he had wasted no time in making sure that Shigeo died once he found out that he was a traitor and that he had been harassing Rei.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Personally though she knew it wasn''t love, it was owner ship Gendo saw his children as extensions of himself and he took the stance that they were his therefore he had low tolerance for anyone outside of Nerv screwing with them. "I would just answer the questions Asuka and do whatever he asks of you."

    Asuka eyed the note in Rei''s hand nothing about this made her feel happy only anxious she hadn''t been up to the head office in years and she hated it up there. She looked up desperately wanting to change the subject. "I''m sorry I should have wished you both congratulations on you and Misato getting together."

    Kaji looked up giving her a smile. "Thank you Asuka." Misato looked up pulling out the cards which were for the weeks coming events taking in a deep breath she had wanted to use this to get her own back on Asuka yet somehow she didn''t have the stomach for it anymore not after what she''d said tonight.

    Truth was she didn''t know who she was talking to anymore she just didn''t know her the way she thought she did and she needed to build bridges she slowly laid the cards out watching as they all looked over them. "Hey I have some events for you guys this week I need two of you to go to each. I have the shopping store opening up in the Nerv Arcade, an antique auction and the children''s hospital.

    Mari picked up the card eyeing Asuka and Rei. "Hey I know this brand, they make electronics and robotics can I have this one, it''s just I''d really like to go?" She watched as they both nodded their heads Toji sat up fully. "I''ll go with you." Shinji picked up the second card. "An antiques auction?"

    Asuka looked up sharply. "Is it ancient as in ancient history and civilizations?" Shinji eyed the card as he started to read it. "We welcome you to a four hour auction where we will sell pre second impact items as well as ancient items from Macedonia, Egypt and other counties."

    Asuka watched as Rei''s head shot up she knew that she had a love of things that were pre second impact and she loved ancient history and mythology she shifted forward ignoring the surprise as it appeared on both Kaji''s and Misato''s faces. "I''ll take that if you don''t want it." Shinji passed it to her. "Yeah this is more your kind of thing and Rei''s, I know nothing about this kind of stuff."

    Kaworu picked up the last card. "Well I think this one will be far more fitting for us, it''s what we do best anyway." Asuka the card he was holding up. "That''s probably for the better I can only handle one kid a time I''m no good with groups."

    Misato looked up eyeing Asuka who was eyeing over the card which she passed to Rei. "You like ancient history? It''s just I thought you hated it back in school." Asuka pushed her empty plate aside. "No I like it but I only got really interested in it in the past three years." Rei looked at the card. "I like pre second impact items, I mean before they used to have lithium batteries and cars were run on petrol engines, seeing that old stuff is fascinating."

    Misato put her hands together. "Well its formal dress wear for that one Rei but you two seem to have that stuff worked out now plus you''ll have to be polite."

    She adjusted her dark trousers as she looked at Asuka. "You will get press photos on this one sadly but I think they will really like your new suit it looks good on you, plus they''ll be plenty of couple talk but Shinji and Kaworu can fill you in on that as they''ve been going to these and they know how it all works."

    Asuka looked up she still didn''t know how to handle nice comments from her and despite all that had happened between them she was still very wary of her. "Wasn''t my idea it was Mari''s and Shinji''s."

    Mari looked over. "Yes but it was still your choice princess, so don''t try and pass over the credit to us on this one." Misato eyed the red haired woman she still didn''t like compliment or praise or maybe it was more than she only liked it from Rei and still hadn''t really taken to accepting it from other. Kaji sat up. "Who knows you might meet some people you used to know."

    Asuka looked up the internal thought of meeting anyone she used to know from three years ago made her feel physically sick as they''d all left her to rot after she''d been falsely accused of beating up Hikari in bed and the universes being what it was they probably would again given the chance. "I''d rather not meet any off those people ever again plus I''d rather just be friends with you guys that is all that really matters to me."

    8

    Asuka slowly looked out over Misato''s balcony seeing the spreading lights of the city they''d have to go home it was getting very late yet she was out here regardless. Maybe it was the pull of memory that was making her sit here, she had so many memories of being here and arguing with Shinji and getting in Rei''s personal space while she''d been doing her homework and later ones of trying to make up for actions after their relationship had ended so they could still remain friends along with arguing with Misato before she''d moved away three years ago after which Rei and Shinji and Kaworu had moved themselves and found their own homes though Rei was now with her.

    Granted her memories here weren''t all pleasant but none the less they were memories and maybe that was why she found it hard to be here, it wasn''t like her home it didn''t feel like a happy place she had very few happy memories here. Yet maybe she still had the childish desire to look out over the balcony and see the sprawling city because it was something she''d always liked though she''d didn''t care for city living she liked the view with its many lights.

    She wished that it wasn''t so late because otherwise she''d have pulled out her digital A3 scroll and pen and made a sketch. She took a sip finishing the last of the Japanese Kirin beer from the bottle in truth tonight was probably the first real happy memory of being here.

    "Asuka."

    Asuka turned watching as Rei came in closing the blind behind her as she came to sit on the tables chair opposite. "Sorry I was just distracted it''s been a while since I was out here." She eyed the trees in pots. "The house is all fresh and new inside but outside it''s all the same."

    Rei sat back in the chair. "The last time we were out here was before you moved out, you were getting very drunk and Shinji had to take you to your bedroom because you couldn''t really walk that well." Asuka looked down how ironic Rei had a memory of her being here that she barely verfickte remembered. "I don''t remember."

    She looked up slightly. "Sorry in advance if I was being an asshole towards you I can be a massive idiot when I''m completely wasted." Rei looked at her she really didn''t remember at all it was funny because since they''d gotten together she''d found herself going over past memories all over again and seeing them a very different perspective. "You weren''t being awful or anything you were being crude I''ll admit but it was all very amusing even Shinji saw the funny side, he just got really worried when you fell out of the chair because you couldn''t stand." Asuka looked at her empty beer bottle. "Sounds very embarrassing please tell me the crude part wasn''t towards you."

    Kaji moved forward seeing that Misato was up against the patio''s glass looking through a small crack in the blind he spoke quietly. "You know it''s rude to eave''s drop." Misato eyed him. "I''m not eaves dropping I just want to see how they interact, I saw it up at their home but its more than they act really homely¡­I want to see them kiss really kiss."

    Kaji blinked taking in a deep breath. "You saw that in the visitor centre footage." Misato eyed him. "Yes it''s when people are around I want to see it when there not, because though they hug and kiss cheeks and lips, stroke hair but I''ve never seen them go at it like Shinji and Kaworu in full view of everyone even in public."

    Kaji looked up. "Funny you''d think it would be the other way around." Misato looked up keeping her voice to a low whisper. "Yeah you would since Asuka used to be all sexual energy yet now it''s so reigned in." Kaji felt a smirk form. "I don''t think it is, I think its that''s more private to them and they don''t want others seeing it."

    He turned catching sight of Mari who was had a drink in hand she looked up a coy smile forming. "What are you guys doing?!" Misato eased up her finger as eyed her. "Be quite we are watching Asuka and Rei here."

    Mari raised her hand. "Oh I see I''ll be going then because I want no part in the blame if she catches you watching her and Rei make out." Misato blinked in confusion. "You don''t want to watch?" Mari shifted around the boxes in the storage room as she spoke. "I don''t believe in crossing those kinds of boundaries with my little sister so have fun with that."

    Kaji watched as she left. "Okay I''m genuinely surprised by that." Misato blinked. "So am I." She turned seeing Shinji appear she raised her hand signalling him to be quite. Shinji moved closer trying to avoid the boxes this had once been Asuka''s room he turned seeing just what they were looking at as he spoke quietly. "Whatever you''re both thinking, it''s a very bad idea."

    Misato looked at him. "Oh please tell me you''re not that tiniest bit curious I mean so far how often have you seen them full on kiss I mean tonight you and Kaworu kissed way more than them?" Shinji looked up granted he hadn''t but he didn''t like the idea. "Yeah I''m curious but it''s not worth risking my neck over. You know they make a deal of shutting the hot tub blinds because they like the privacy and they''re sick of everyone always gathering around them it''s probably why Asuka broke the camera because she really tired of this and your both being no better." Misato raised her hand. "Look I just want to see them really kiss then I''ll leave them both alone, I promise."

    Rei leaned forward. "No you weren''t being crude towards me you were talking about this guy you had sex with who literally ran out on you in terror and that you were really annoyed that he didn''t finish because you were really sexually frustrated and pent up."

    Asuka leaned forward suddenly remembering that event. "I''m not proud of that moment he was this guy who just kept on harassing me in my favourite dance club making out that he could handle me and tame me back when I was sixteen and a half." She looked down at her hands. "So the next time I saw him I said bring a rubber and we would see if you had what it took."

    Rei leaned forward feeling a knowing smile form. "But he couldn''t handle you though could he?" Asuka leaned a little closer to her. "I hate being anyone''s sexual challenge or trophy I dominated that asshole into the ground to the point that he ran out in terror." She breathed in deeply. "Kind of pathetic when I think about it but I used to enjoy doing that to others it was a form twisted sexual power play."

    Rei breathed in deeply. "If it makes you feel better I think the men and women I was with in the past just saw me as trophy hence why they never cared about my feelings beyond the physical I always found it deeply disappointing."

    Asuka stood up slowly easing off her leather jacket. "You know its cold out here." She carefully put it around the other woman''s shoulders. "You should stay warm." Rei looked up at her. "It''s nice that you trust me so much with your leather jacket." Asuka leaned forward speaking in a soft silky voice. "I trust you with everything I own plus I should really repay you for that wonderful session in the hot tub it made my day so worthwhile being the object of your affection."

    Rei watched as the other woman''s left eye started to flash and flicker she felt a coy smile form. "I personally enjoyed you smashing up the camera and killing the sound."

    Asuka felt her smile widen turning into a toothy grin. "Always nice to know that you appreciate my violence in a way others don''t." Rei looked up feeling a smile coy smile form. "Yeah well I''m not afraid of it and it completes you." She grabbed Asuka shirt not thinking about her next actions at all, she really didn''t care anymore about holding back on her feelings or desires when it came to this woman and she also didn''t care how the outside world viewed them they didn''t know anything anyway.

    She was on her feet shifting her back in the opposite direction as she kissed harder and with more passion as she pushed Asuka against the wall feeling both her hands get tangled in her hair.

    Shinji turned sharply watching the shock as it spread across Misato''s face and he could understand why his sister was the one dominating this whole thing not Asuka she was just going with it and it was so fire some and passionate despite the leading from Rei there was no pushing from Asuka''s side she was being very gentle. "Okay¡­seriously we all need to go now." Misato pushed him away as she carried on staring. "No fucking way¡­your sister is in control of Asuka."

    Kaji blinked looking up. "I can honestly say that I did not see that coming." Misato leaned closer watching as Asuka''s left eye suddenly ignited letting out white and blue light. "It glows when she''s turned on¡­." Shinji breathed in shaking his head he and the others already knew this but Misato didn''t and clearly no one had informed her or Kaji he could guess that Maya knew but she probably hadn''t told them though. Kaji leaned over. "Wait her teeth are going as well."

    Misato leaned closer trying to get a better look. "Wait so when Rei was being a sexual tease under the table, she was somehow stopping this?" Shinji turned walking away he no longer wanted any part of this. "Good luck guys I''m done breaching my sisters and Asuka''s privacy."

    Misato looked up sharply. "No wait you''re not going, how does Asuka kiss her like that and it not bleed her lips?" Shinji rolled his eyes moving towards the open blind that led to the hall way. "With great delicacy and tenderness or so Rei tells me." He turned as Toji ran in a big smile on his face. "What are you guys doing?"

    Shinji grabbed his arm pulling him towards the door. "Something you want no part in, believe me." Toji turned only to knock off one of the boxes causing a massive crash he watched as everyone''s face turned to shock followed by horror.

    Mari watched as everyone came running into the front room all seating themselves on the sofa''s she eyed her game which she''d been playing on her phone, she''d heard the massive crash from in here she felt a coy smile form as she eyed Misato. "Well you''ve got about one minute before she comes in here and asks what the fuck you were doing."

    Misato turned to her keeping her voice low. "If you say you did it, I''ll make it worth your while." Mari looked up adjusting her glasses. "Okay I want to know what gift I can buy for Maya you know something she''d like." Misato blinked. "You want that, seriously?" Mari turned hearing the patio opening on the other side she started to hum. "Half a minute and counting."

    Misato turned back seeing that Kaji looked just as nervous they both knew Asuka had zero tolerance when it came to personal matters. "Okay fine." She watched as Asuka came in through eyeing everybody along with Rei who did the same they both looked really unimpressed, Asuka''s eye and teeth had returned to normal. Misato leaned back on the sofa giving Asuka her best smile. "Have fun on the veranda you two?"

    Asuka eyed her yeah she must think she was stupid or born yesterday. "Okay who of you was watching us?" Mari stood up putting her hand on her chest. "I''m so sorry that was completely my fault princess, you see Shinji was telling me that, that room in there was your old room. I was just looking around it and I knocked one of the storage boxes off I had no idea you were both out there."

    She moved closer purposely shifting her gaze to Misato as she spoke. "I do hope you''ll forgive me." Asuka eyed her instantly catching the signal which Misato didn''t see because she was too busy drinking her iced coffee and trying to pretend that she was innocent.

    Also Mari stayed around her house sometimes and she never ever breached boundaries when it concerned Rei, it was an unspoken rule between them and it went both ways. She looked up giving her a sly knowing smile. "It''s no problem."

    Misato looked up okay now that was really unexpected and suddenly that made her feel very nervous. Asuka moved over to the sofa knowing her next move was a real mean thing to do but she wanted to make a point she licked one of her canine teeth feeling all her back molars turn to razors as her left eye ignited.

    She calmly leaned over the sofa making sure she was really up close for her next words as she felt a wide smile form on her lips. "You should really stack your storage boxes better Misato, maybe not pile them up so high." Misato turned feeling her body freeze as she eyed the teeth which were on full display along with the left eye she felt her eyes dart as she eyed the teeth she had never ever been this close and she could see that they really were razor sharp she forced a smile. "I''ll remember to pack them better."

    Asuka eyed her. "Yeah I mean I wouldn''t want another one to fall down." She kept both eyes fixed up on her. "That would be most unfortunate I mean something might get broken." Misato looked up it didn''t take a genius to get that, that statement was twofold and very much a subtle threat.

    Rei moved forward putting her hand on Asuka''s shoulder speaking calmly. "You know it''s late we should be going or we will miss the last train home." She watched as Asuka stood up everything reverting to normal almost instantly. "I also need to shift money in my accounts around since my old apartment sold this morning."

    Shinji looked up. "That was fast." Rei gave him a wide smile. "They said that it was considered celebrity real estate and that it would sell very fast." Asuka turned to her as she put her patch back on. "Your apartment was way too small anyway you had barely any space to move around." She pulled her leather jacket around her shoulders as she passed Rei, her coat. "At least you can breathe at my place."

    Rei felt her smile widen. "Yes there is that." She eased up her hand. "We''ll see you guys tomorrow." Misato watched as the others gave them a wave. "Safe trip you two." She heard the door go as they left she took in a deep breath letting it out as she eyed Mari who was showing something on her phone to Kaworu and Sakura. "How did she know it was me?"

    Mari looked up. "I wouldn''t know ask Rei sometime." Misato put down her coffee. "You sold me out didn''t you?" Mari looked at Shinji before looking back. "I have no idea what you''re talking about, since Asuka can smell bullshit from a mile off, maybe she just saw right through you have you considered that?"

    She felt a sly smirk form. "Just be lucky you only got a flash off threatening teeth and nothing more, I mean I thought everyone would get by now that Bardiel got eaten alive because he pushed his luck where Rei is concerned."

    End of part 10

    Silvermoonlight

 All That Glitters Isnéˆ¥æª› Gold

    ALL THAT GLITTERS ISN¡¯T GOLD

    Why am I going up to the head office, I mean we had to cut out training just to be here for whatever this is? Nothing about it makes me happy Gendo doesn¡¯t even like me, why would he even call up on me? Why bring Rei it makes no verfickte sense at all maybe it¡¯s like Shinji says he¡¯s going to be creepy and ask leading questions to the both of us. I hate being here, I¡¯ve never liked the head office and I never been in here other than to be told off or shouted down to.

    The only difference is this is the first time I doubt it¡¯s about some threat to throw me off the program for misconduct which has happened twice before when she¡¯d been much younger, she eyed the large door as they came to stand in front of them. ¡°What do you think your father wants with me?¡±

    Rei took in a deep breath she was as nervous about this as she was she hated Nerv¡¯s head office and she wasn¡¯t interested in her father¡¯s games. ¡°I have no idea Asuka if I did you and my brother would be first to know.¡± She eyed the older woman who looked deeply un-amused by the whole thing. Last night though she¡¯d been much more clingy in that she hadn¡¯t wanted to let go off her while they¡¯d slept and she tended to do that a lot more when something was really bothering her. She knew why though the only reason she¡¯d ever been sent up here was to be shouted at for breaking the rules by Ritsuko.

    Ritsuko was not here though today she was flying over to Cape Town in Africa to have a look at a new weapons technology they were working on over there. She looked at the guard who spoke quietly. ¡°You are both free to enter at any time miss Ayanami.¡± Rei took in a deep breath eyeing Asuka. ¡°Let¡¯s just get this over with.¡± She opened the doors slowly stepping inside the office where he father was seated at one side of the large joint desk Ritsuko normally took the other side.

    She took up her standing position in the centre watching as Asuka remained on one side and behind her as she knew she wasn¡¯t allowed in the central spot only herself and Shinji were. She could see her father sitting as his desk the light reflecting of his glasses though he had his hands down for a change so she could see his face with its dark hair and thick black beard which wasn¡¯t under his nose only his chin along with his dark black suit.

    He wasn¡¯t smiling though as normal his face was unreadable. He looked down shifting through his papers as he spoke darkly and with little emotion. ¡°You have been causing a stir at late.¡± Rei eyed him was that a reference to her or Asuka because she couldn¡¯t tell? She took in a deep breath speaking evenly. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you cared to notice.¡±

    Gendo eyed her that was surprising he was used to the quite subdued tone in his office unlike her brother she didn¡¯t normally show anger to him in these meetings. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re just becoming more interesting.¡± His eyes shifted to Asuka. ¡°As for you, well I thought you wouldn¡¯t last much longer on this program but here you are evidently full of surprises.¡± He looked up seeing that she wasn¡¯t making any comment she had remained completely quite. ¡°You can speak.¡±

    He watched as she remained quite he turned eyeing his daughter. ¡°How did you do it?¡± Rei breathed in deeply great this was like her brother had said weird questions. ¡°Do what?¡± Gendo raised a white gloved hand. ¡°How did you tame her?¡± Rei blinked oh really so this is where he was going with this? How strange and messed up. ¡°Are we really going to have this conversation?¡± Gendo looked up sharply. ¡°Yes we are because I would really like to know how you pulled off keeping an apex predator like her in line.¡±

    Asuka felt her good eye narrow she really hated being called that Ritsuko called her that as well and it made her uncomfortable as it made her feel like she was some kind of monster. Rei turned seeing the hurt appear in Asuka¡¯s good eye for moment before it turned ice cold. ¡°I don¡¯t approve of you referring to her that way.¡±

    Gendo put his hands together. ¡°Why?¡± Rei took in a deep breath. ¡°Because she¡¯s not a predator she¡¯s a person.¡± Gendo eased up his device pressing it bringing up an image of Asuka face with all the razor sharp teeth on display and showing and the left eye on fire with white and blue light. ¡°So you¡¯re not afraid of this I have heard that this happens outside the entry plug not just in it?¡±

    Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°No why would I be?¡± Gendo eyed the image. ¡°I had a few scientists analyse these teeth they tell me that they could probably rip your flesh off and bite right down to the bone and they theorize that her bite force is probably twice what¡¯s normal of the average human bite during aggression and rage.¡± He turned back. ¡°A very dangerous thing to play with some might say and something to be feared.¡± Rei felt a cold smile form. ¡°You once said that humanity fears the darkness that¡¯s why we scrape away at the edges with fire.¡±

    She folded her arms. ¡°Unlike you I¡¯m not afraid of the dark and I personally welcome the fire since humanity created it to keep our selves warm.¡± She looked down. ¡°You¡¯re just doing what everyone does to someone they don¡¯t understand or fear you give that person a label to suit your unfounded prejudice.¡± She looked up punctuating her next words as sharply as possible. ¡°I also know all about that since I look like mom and you can¡¯t stand the sight of me, even though I¡¯m not her and we are two very different people.¡±

    She watched him seeing no emotion in his face as he looked down turning a page on his document as he eyed Asuka. ¡°Do you talk at all or did she tell you to be quite before you entered?¡± Asuka looked up keeping her voice even. ¡°She doesn¡¯t tell me to do anything director.¡± Gendo looked up that was the first time she¡¯d ever used his title in this room. ¡°So you don¡¯t get sexual treats for good behaviour?¡± Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°No I don¡¯t.¡±

    Gendo looked at his notes. ¡°We¡¯ve been here before you and I first it was with my son some years back and now my daughter I do hope this isn¡¯t a play on your part to make your division more powerful and gain access to Nerv¡¯s thrones of power.¡± Asuka looked up. ¡°Please, I have no interest in making my division more powerful and I don¡¯t care about those thrones of power both of which belong to Shinji and Rei not me, I also have no interest in Nerv politics.¡± Gendo looked up ignoring his daughter¡¯s ice cold gaze. ¡°What kind of power does interest you?¡± Asuka blinked in confusion she really didn¡¯t understand this at all. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in power.¡±

    Gendo leaned forward. ¡°Come now everyone interested in something and we both know that you like owning things, you¡¯re like my son your value possessions they give you comfort maybe that¡¯s what you see my daughter as a possession.¡± Asuka looked at him for a long moment he was trying to piss her off that was clearly his game here and she had no interest in rising to the bait. ¡°I don¡¯t own Rei she¡¯s not mine she belongs to herself.¡±

    Gendo eyed her why couldn¡¯t he get her angry it had been so easy to do in the past? He wanted to see her rage but not to punish her for it but purely to see it up close and how his daughter reacted he wanted to watch her tame her because he¡¯d always been told by Ritsuko it could never be done and that Asuka was a lost cause and should always be kept underfoot. ¡°You¡¯re a worthless underling with delusions of grandeur, just like Kaworu you are just trying to climb a ladder you can never scale.¡±

    Rei turned sharply not holding any of her anger back. ¡°How dare you say that to her she deserves better than this! She killed Bardiel and she created two spears out of nothing but his churned parts?¡± Gendo pushed up his glasses how strange he had not expected anger from his daughter at all and he still wasn¡¯t getting the anger he desired from Asuka it was like some strange role reverse.

    Asuka breathed ignoring how much that comment stung as she spoke coldly. ¡°Think off me what you will but I don¡¯t have to justify myself to you, I barely know you and you barely know me and the only opinions that matter to me is your daughters yours means nothing to me.¡±

    She looked down. ¡°I¡¯m not a bad person but I still get branded as one from time to time for no more reason than existing and being different.¡± She looked up. ¡°If you think I would ever use my so called teeth to threaten or scare your daughter I wouldn¡¯t and I have never laid a finger on her during our whole relationship, the only people who should fear me are those who would try and harm her, because then I¡¯ll happily become the monster your claiming me to be and see them punished.¡±

    Gendo looked up how fascinating that was the tone of deep seated loyalty he knew it very well, it was what he expected from everyone at Nerv. Though this was the first time he was hearing it from her and it was so interesting clearly her loyalty was different in that she liked to attach it to a person. That in its self-explained a lot maybe that loyal attachment was what allowed the taming of her nature through his daughter.

    It was clear though that he wasn¡¯t going to get her to get angry this time around but no matter he could patient and he wasn¡¯t done with these two nor had he finished with his son or Kaworu either. These meetings were tests of character granted both his children were lined up to take his throne should he die that was in his will but now as adults he wanted to see if both were even worthy of it, they had finally both come of age and where they were starting to make their true desires known.

    Granted there choice in lovers couldn¡¯t be more different but that in itself was also interesting, Shinji had chosen a quite natured individual and his relationship with him was very open he¡¯d seen the footage of kissing full on in lifts among other things. His daughter on the other hand had chosen the one person who by most was considered moody, turbulent and extremely dangerous yet she could clearly tame her somehow and their relationship was much more subdued and private.

    He understood his son picking Kaworu because of they shared many common interests along with the close friendship they¡¯d had before they¡¯d become lovers. On the other hand he had no idea why his daughter had picked Asuka he couldn¡¯t see the appeal the only real thing he knew about the German was she could draw like his son and he knew Rei had always liked art but beyond that it was a completely mystery to him.

    If she were a lesser person he would say that she would be playing with fire because it was part of a joy ride but he knew she wasn¡¯t that stupid she was a very methodical thinker just like mother, she also knew how to stay out of trouble and make herself invisible. Or at least up until recently as he heard that her voice was suddenly getting much louder and more vocalized on her wants and desires and for the first time ever she was throwing comments back in people¡¯s faces which she¡¯d also done to him today.

    This was where her character and personality was separating from her mothers and that was also fascinating and unexpected. He¡¯d always assumed that she would never fight that she would remain in Shinji¡¯s shadow but she was now clearly drifting out of it and going in her own direction and she had even moved in with the woman opposite and sold her old small apartment off. She knew full well that he could punish her for his comment over him not liking her because she looked like her mother. She¡¯d tried to say it before once many years ago and he¡¯d cut her down part way through and told her to be quite and to remember her place maybe finally like his son her true face was finally being revealed. ¡°You¡¯re both dismissed.¡±

    Rei eyed him typical she should have known he¡¯d punish her speaking out he did it every time. ¡°Are you dismissing us from the program?!¡± Gendo looked up speaking coldly. ¡°No you are dismissed from this office for today you can return to your duties.¡± Rei turned taking hold of Asuka¡¯s arm not thinking as she moved her towards the door she wasn¡¯t interested in this twisted game! It was just like Shinji had said weird behaviour and strange questions. Asuka turned watching as the doors were shut behind them that was just outright strange and nothing about it had made her feel good, she now just felt even more nervous.

    8

    ¡°So why do we have to do this shit again? I mean we¡¯ve been doing this since Bardiel got eaten.¡±

    The woman turned eyeing the man opposite who was pulling out the recording device of a scarecrow which was sitting in the rice fields some distance from them as Asuka¡¯s Langley¡¯s home where Gendo¡¯s daughter now lived. ¡°Quit complaining will you Orino, I don¡¯t like dressing up as a dirty farmer and changing the camera¡¯s card ether but what Pharaoh wants she gets.¡± Orino folded her arms. ¡°This is bullshit Hachiro I don¡¯t know why we can¡¯t just break in there and bug the place also we are trained to kill people not do this kind of shit.¡±

    Hachiro breathed in pulling out another memory card slotting in a new one. ¡°Yeah that would be stupid, if anything we were told that Asuka will shoot you before you get inside she¡¯s always carries around a Korth combat revolver and is a superb shot with it and she has no issue with shooting people. Someone did try after she moved in years ago a stupid overzealous stalker and she had no issue knee capping him in fact they said he was lucky to survive because she very nearly blew his brains out.¡±

    Orino looked up. ¡°Yeah right we could still take her.¡± Hachiro laughed as he looked up pretending to fix the scare crow. ¡°Have you not seen the footage our spies got out of Nerv before they were captured? There¡¯s hospital footage of her throwing a fucking hospital bed through the hospitals plate glass in a fit of rage.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Oh yeah and almost all her teeth minus the front ones turn to fucking razor blades and she can change them back and forth unlike the other pilots, they say the insane strength only comes out during intense rage.¡±

    He eyed the farm house. ¡°Pharaoh said that the last thing we want to do is piss her off or make any threat towards her girlfriend, because she will just fucking kill anyone who crosses that line.¡± He eyed the scare crow adjusting its hat. ¡°So her house is off limits we are just here to track her behaviour and patterns and report them back right down to what she eats and drinks how much she fucks that kind of crap since we get footage from the front window when the blinds are up.¡± Orino looked up. ¡°Well she has sex with Gendo¡¯s daughter a lot less than I would have thought which surprises me.¡±

    She looked up eyeing the house. ¡°I thought she used to have a ravenous sexual appetite and screw anything with a heartbeat yet she is really content to fuck this woman only now and again it¡¯s really weird.¡± She wiped down her clothes adjusting the sun hat. ¡°I still don¡¯t get why this stuff is important though.¡± Hachiro looked up. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me I don¡¯t know what our leader has planned but I¡¯m not going to question her, she doesn¡¯t like questions and the last idiot woman to over question her got shot in the office though I heard there was more to that story.¡±

    Orino looked up. ¡°I heard that her son was Asuka¡¯s step father and Mari¡¯s dad and he was obsessed with the Evangelion program he even slept with both Asuka¡¯s mom Kyoko and Mari¡¯s mother Lydia because they both were affiliated with Nerv and he wanted the information on them from the German division and he later divorced Asuka mother. He had no interest in ether of the girls he saw them as nothing but by-products to obtain his goals. Asuka he viewed as a bastard child because he wasn¡¯t her real father and she was from a birth chamber and Mari he saw as weak and pathetic.¡±

    He took in a deep breath as he lit a thin cigar. ¡°He also didn¡¯t like children with gay tendencies he was a real old world thinker, in that homosexuality makes a boy or girl weak and unfit to be warriors and soldiers and would make them weak emotionally which is totally crap and everyone knows it.¡± He looked up. ¡°Asuka¡¯s grandmother later took Asuka away a few years after her mother¡¯s death and brought her up while he took Mari¡¯s British mother Lydia for a ride and took all her money than ran once he had the remaining information he needed.¡±

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    He eyed the house. ¡°Then one of our rivals stepped in and killed him along with Mari¡¯s mother Lydia but his mother was adamant that she would complete his life¡¯s work which at the time he was so close to completing.¡± He breathed in cigar before breathing out the smoke. ¡°Which she finally has now and it¡¯s only a matter of time before her oldest grandchildren from her son¡¯s first marriage both have Evangelion¡¯s Christopher now has his and Achika¡¯s is a day away from completion.¡±

    He eyed the scarecrow. ¡°We also have the Lance of Longinus the first one which is currently dead all we need now is its forma owner to breath back life in to it and call up on its twin who is still hidden.¡± Orino folded her arms. ¡°Yeah but Asuka created those two spears of destiny shouldn¡¯t that be of concern?¡± Hachiro felt a cold smile form. ¡°Hardly word has it she can¡¯t get them to work there meant to create life, yet in her units hands they do nothing and to me that makes sense she was not born to be a creator she was born to be a destroyer it is her natural calling and now she is finally ready to give that power to us. She doesn¡¯t need it in this life and she being deeply selfish keeping it all to herself...¡±

    8

    Maya breathed in deeply as she looked up from her desk in her office where she was typing up another report while looking at the holographic projection opposite which was showing Rei and Asuka¡¯s over lapping bran waves. She was surprised that Ritsuko wasn¡¯t in her office right now banging on about what had happened since it had been recorded by the press and media who also wanted answers.

    She took a sip of her Latte not that she really had anything worthwhile to give her in her report and she was wondering if she even should because this whole thing seemed very intimate and deeply personal since it was about sharing thoughts and minds. She was perplexed she knew that all the Evangelion¡¯s had human souls inside them some were now awakened that was Yui who was in 01, Kiko her sister was in 00 and Kyoko was in 02 while Lydia was in Mari¡¯s unit which was 04 so why had they done this?

    What was there whole thinking behind having interconnecting tails on 00, 02 and 04? Granted those units had all lost their humanity they¡¯d all become primal more powerful forms accept 01 it was some middle transformation and she knew this wasn¡¯t the end 01 could fully change and Kaworu¡¯s 03 and Toji¡¯s 05 could very well be next. Granted 01 already had an crest horn with that opened in to two sections and claws on its hands but her gut was telling her that maybe years ago it had started its transformation but then stopped because maybe Shinji just wasn¡¯t ready.

    That also made sense as the transformation took a massive strain on the pilot and in both Mari and Asuka¡¯s cases there had been a massive energy realise before both had passed out. Rei had not passed out but physically she¡¯d been exhaustion and had, had difficulty standing it was also clear that eating an angel¡¯s S2 Engine could trigger it which what happened in both Rei and Shinji¡¯s cases. All of the Evangelion¡¯s had a working set of guts with stomach acid so caustic it could burn people to a crisp but it meant whatever they eat they turned to energy and it passed through their bodies enhancing them.

    Asuka though had eaten almost two thirds of Bardiel while Rei had eaten his S2 Engine and the two spears had been created by Asuka because her Evangelion just couldn¡¯t take in all that energy so she had forced it out and the two spears of destiny had been created. She looked at her holographic document as she deleted a line only to hear a tapping on the glass she looked up catching sight of Mari who was grinning at her through the glass.

    She pushed her short tailed hair back as she eyed her, she really couldn¡¯t figure Mari out, she understood Asuka and there were a hell of a lot of similarities between them but there was a complete separation in how they acted on a private level. Asuka was always serious whereas Mari could be like a big kid and be extremely crude at times unlike Asuka she had no filter she said what she felt but it was more comments about sex where as Asuka comments were more about her voicing her annoyance.

    She turned in her chair knowing this was going to be yet another attempt to chat her up, she signalled watching as Mari came in through the door though she clearly had gifts she put her hand on her temples, it wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t like Mari, she just didn¡¯t think this was about love she¡¯d only recently come out publicly though she¡¯d been in the closet privately and hiding her life style for over a year and possibly longer from what the British division had said.

    She felt though that this was not really about any kind of love but more infatuation and maybe uncertainty because the people around her were going in to relationships and she wasn¡¯t. There was also the added difficulty that like Asuka she was coming in for therapy though her therapy was to do with over drinking and a lot of bottled up feeling regarding the murder of her mother and her sexuality and maybe it was better that she got that worked out first. She looked up as the tall woman who gave her wide smile. ¡°You know your therapy session isn¡¯t until tomorrow.¡± Mari moved closer to her desk. ¡°But I come bearing gifts.¡±

    She put the wrapped package down. ¡°You know since you¡¯re now Major Rank.¡± Maya took in a deep breath as Mari she sat down folding her legs as she gave her, her sweetest smile possible speaking softly. ¡°I wanted to give you my congratulations.¡± Maya eyed her for a long moment as she took hold of the package. ¡°Okay.¡± She slowly opened it watching as a large fluffy cushion came in to view with a smiling cats face on it, she felt a smile form. ¡°This is really nice I used to have one like this years ago but it was very different in its colours.¡±

    Mari looked up turning serious. ¡°What happened to it?¡± Maya eyed the cushion truth was she¡¯d thrown it away because after Ritsuko¡¯s rejection and after her promotion she had seen it as a childish thing to have and that she should just grow up as she was taking more responsibility plus it just gave her bad memories of Ritsuko.¡± She eyed Mari she knew the younger woman wasn¡¯t stupid she was sharp as hell and the only way she could know about this was if Misato had told her. ¡°I lost it.¡± She put the cushion down eyeing Mari. ¡°Why are you really here Mari?¡± Mari pushed up her glasses. ¡°Maybe I just like visiting you and I like your company.¡±

    Maya looked up slightly. ¡°You know Nerv has plenty of other women you can visit I believe they have meet ups every Friday night.¡± Mari raised her hand. ¡°Yeah you know I¡¯m really not interested in that, plus I¡¯m not in to that kind of clubbing. I used to do that back in Britain I used to bullshit the soldiers at the base back in London so they¡¯d let me leave and I¡¯d go and meet girls in gay clubs it got boring after a while.¡± She laughed slightly. ¡°I¡¯m not really interested in that right now I mean the last time I did it was three months ago and it wasn¡¯t the same as before and I stressed about not being out and thinking that I never would be.¡±

    She breathed in deeply. ¡°Plus I don¡¯t know any of those people at Nerv and it¡¯s not like I can drag Asuka down there she hates loud blearing music and from what I¡¯ve heard she¡¯s still really sore over the fact that they all banned because of the whole thing with Hikari. Even though she was innocent and didn¡¯t physically dominate or beat her in the bedroom and that ban was on her for three years solid.¡±

    Maya looked up. ¡°They did lift the ban on her a week ago and they¡¯ve been sending her gifts as an apology from what I¡¯ve heard.¡± Mari laughed. ¡°Yeah if only they knew that she¡¯s been bringing them in to work and leaving them in random places with post it notes saying free stuff so Nerv staff can have them.¡±

    Maya looked up sharply. ¡°Really?¡± Mari smirked. ¡°Really plus Rei kind of talked to her in to it, because her first idea was to amuse herself by putting them on the rail tracks near their home and watch the trains drive over them.¡± Maya breathed in deeply somehow that first option didn¡¯t really surprise her. ¡°Yes well your younger sister does have a flair for doing the crazy and sometimes rash things when her temper gets the better of her.¡± Mari looked up. ¡°You misunderstand she wasn¡¯t angry this time Rei told me she saw the whole thing as amusing and rail road thing was purely for her own personal amusement.¡±

    Maya raised her hand. ¡°Yeah accept putting things on the rails in dangerous and might damage the trains or the rails there high speed magnet trains after all.¡± Mari leaned on her elbow. ¡°What so you don¡¯t find it just a tiny bit funny?¡± Maya looked up slightly. ¡°Not really.¡± Mari felt a wide smile form. ¡°Seriously you need to get out more have some fun.¡± Maya eyed her seeing just where the next line was going before Mari even spoke it. ¡°Well I have work to do, so I won¡¯t be going anywhere with you Mari.¡± Mari blinked okay that was just not great at all. ¡°Why what¡¯s wrong with going anywhere with me we could have a great time together and have some fun?¡±

    Maya put a hand on her face. ¡°Look I get it Mari, your life has become more open you¡¯re not hiding your sexuality anymore and you are looking for someone to fill the emotional gap in your life but I am not that person plus you¡¯re younger than me it would be inappropriate.¡± Mari leaned forward. ¡°Oh come on that¡¯s not fair! Plus Ritsuko was much older than you when you tried to pursue her.¡± Maya looked up sharply. ¡°I would respect that you don¡¯t bring that up! I know Misato loves to run her mouth off about my past history with her but it does not give you a reason to bring it up with me.¡± Mari felt her eyes dart. ¡°Look I get it that woman hurt you but you shouldn¡¯t let what she did to you rule your life.¡±

    Maya closed her hologram desk down as she folded her arms. ¡°It doesn¡¯t rule me, you just can¡¯t seem to take the hint that I¡¯m not up for a relationship with you.¡± She breathed in deeply. ¡°Plus your just not in that place emotionally and I think deep down you know that.¡± Mari eyed her in annoyance. ¡°That¡¯s nice thanks for judging me there but if you haven¡¯t noticed most people aren¡¯t always there as you put it when it comes to relationships because people are never perfect every ones flawed, so how¡¯s about you tell me the truth.¡±

    Maya put a hand through her hair in frustration. ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re childish Mari! Everything to you can be a joke sometimes and I doubt you¡¯d take a real relationship seriously.¡± She breathed in deeply. ¡°On top of that I don¡¯t have those kinds of feelings for you and up till now I¡¯ve been nice about this but for you I think this is childish infatuations not real love and you told me about the women you bring home its always one night stands.¡± Mari breathed in trying to ignore the pain in her chest over those words. ¡°I am not childish and this isn¡¯t infatuation!¡±

    She raised her hands. ¡°If you want to see a fully grown woman child in action watch Misato off duty!¡± Maya looked up sharply. ¡°Yes and I¡¯ve had to work with that for over ten years, granted she¡¯s my friend but I sometimes I get very sick of the hand holding and the fact that I have to point her in the right direction because she utterly fails to understand people at times.¡± She raised her hand. ¡°I don¡¯t want that in home life and that¡¯s why it wouldn¡¯t work out Mari!¡±

    Mari stood up breathing in painfully, okay she had the right to say no but this could have been said so much better and she wasn¡¯t even being honest she was just throwing these comments at her to get rid of her because she just didn¡¯t want to take a chance. Not just on her but anyone because she just didn¡¯t want to be hurt again clearly Ritsuko¡¯s actions had screwed her up really badly all those year ago and more than anyone realized.

    Now she was afraid to take a chance on anyone and deep down inside she probably didn¡¯t know what her feelings were because she didn¡¯t want to reconnect with them on any level her mother had, had that same issue after her father had walked out so she¡¯d just filled the gap with alcohol. ¡°Well this has been a bunch of one sided bullshit maybe we¡¯ll talk again when you¡¯re not in such a mean as fuck mood.¡±

    She took in a deep breath before speaking trying to keep a hold on the anger that was building up. ¡°Excuse me.¡± Maya watched her go only to hear the sudden scream of rage as the metal bin outside was suddenly kicked only for the crash to follow as it hit the floor someway down the corridor. She could see some of the general staff and hospital staff looking deeply confused through the glass on the other side.

    She breathed in deeply she should have known that was coming and it was now going to bring up questions, though it wouldn¡¯t be the first time this had happened. It had happened with Shinji who had punched a wall, Rei had shoved everything of a desk once and Asuka who had punched in and cracked the glass of a vending machine.¡± Mari was just trying to fill that gap in her life with other things and she wasn¡¯t ready for a relationship of that kind.

    She breathed in mildly hating that a part of her did find Mari very attractive but she knew it was just her sexual drive talking and not her heart and it didn¡¯t equate to love. It was just lusting longings and she knew better than to trust her instincts on that, plus she just wasn¡¯t up to any more childish crap with Misato it was annoying and she just didn¡¯t want that in her life twenty four seven Mari would also get over this it was just a lusting phase and unlike Asuka she probably wasn¡¯t at that point of her life where she could settle.

    8

    Misato breathed in deeply as she put the wiped the sweat from her brow as her gaze shifted to Kaji¡¯s house he was another person who preferred the rural side of Tokyo Three though he loved on the complete opposite side to Asuka and Rei, but the train near their home could take you all the way to his home as he also had a train station opposite. Though his house was not a farm house it was a medium sized apartment inside one of the refurbished old Tokyo buildings and each person had a piece of land and they were very big areas.

    She pulled the spade out this wasn¡¯t as bad as she though it was going to be yes it was hard but somehow it felt rewarding to plant the seeds and crops while pulling up others. She turned watching as he finished throwing more corn cobs in the basket. ¡°So when Shinji comes up here to help you what do you guys talk about?¡±

    Kaji looked up as he finished his ice cream. ¡°He just asks life questions it¡¯s mostly about money and things like that, it¡¯s normally house related.¡± He stood up from his kneeling position. ¡°He did ask about Kaworu and liking him a few times but it was very awkward for him. Personally I didn¡¯t mind just tried to help him as best I could but it was hard because it¡¯s not a topic I know everything about so I couldn¡¯t fill in the gaps in places.¡±

    He eyed one of the planted rows. ¡°He¡¯s very good at planting though and moving the earth.¡± He turned eyeing one area that needed pulling as its harvest was almost ready. ¡°Asuka is much better at harvesting it¡¯s also the job she prefers and she loves getting messy.¡± Misato leaned on the spade. ¡°Do any of the others come here?¡± Kaji raised his hand. ¡°Apart from Rei no and she just came up with Asuka last week but they couldn¡¯t stay long because Asuka tried to dig up some earth but she wasn¡¯t up for it and the medication was making her tired. So I just sat them both down and gave them a drink instead and we just small talked.¡±

    He looked up putting his hands in his pockets. ¡°I know Kaworu has growing experience and his apartment has a roof top garden but he grows herbs in his patch not vegetables and I don¡¯t think he likes being in gardens like this it reminds him to much of the war and his mother who he really misses. Shinji told me they used to spend a lot of time in the vegetable garden with her.¡± He breathed in deeply. ¡°As for Toji and Mari I think it would take miracle to get ether of them here, they don¡¯t seem to like manual labour and there both at difficult stages in their life.¡±

    Misato eyed his apartment which was surrounded by green. ¡°Why do you live here? I mean you could easily afford a place like mine.¡± Kaji looked up. ¡°I like it here it¡¯s quite gives me reflection to think and these apartments are all new inside it¡¯s only the outer shell that looks a little worn.¡± He tapped the earth with his foot. ¡°Ten years ago this was all red lake and destroyed second impact buildings now it¡¯s green grass blue lakes and now it¡¯s breathing and living thanks to the Oculus project.¡±

    He looked around him. ¡°If there¡¯s ever proof that humanity can rebuild and try again it¡¯s here.¡± Misato turned slightly. ¡°Did you have those discs sent the ones that will tell the pilots the truth about their mothers being in the Evangelion¡¯s?¡± Kaji turned. ¡°Yes¡­it was delayed because the Seele six opposed the idea but they soon realized that it was in there favour and that Asuka could reveal the truth anyway as she was stuck in 02¡¯s core for a long time.¡±

    He looked up slightly. ¡°Granted though they might not like Seele¡¯s methods because they¡¯ve sent the black guard to all their homes and they¡¯ve all hacked the doors and then left the discs inside their homes. They¡¯ll be here when they all get home tonight and it might cause a stir come tomorrow though I doubt any of them will say what¡¯s on the disc they might talk about the fact that someone got in to their homes didn¡¯t touch anything and dropped something on their kitchen table and they only sent them to those who have awakened units. They will send out the last two when the units awaken fully but not until.¡±

    He breathed in deeply. ¡°Oh and tomorrow should be interesting because the counter name for Toji¡¯s unit 05 has finally come through.¡± Misato felt a smile form. ¡°What is it?¡± Kaji smirked. ¡°You¡¯re going to like this one, its Karasu Tengu you know after the Crow demon.¡± Misato felt a smile form. ¡°That¡¯s quite fitting and the Chinese division will really like it I mean it seems that Toji is a very good flyer granted he¡¯s not as perfect as Kaworu who is a real master but he has real talent and flair for it and it would be great to get another Evangelion who is really good at air combat.¡±

    Kaji turned slightly. ¡°The only thing I don¡¯t like is how quite Cerberus, Ouroboros and Ankh have been since Bardiel¡¯s death I mean it¡¯s like they¡¯ve gone in to silent mode, granted I know the spears of destiny are probably scaring them off but the whole thing makes me nervous because Nerv¡¯s black guard who control the spy division which I used to be part of told me that they are not operating even in the undergrounds it¡¯s weird.¡±

    Misato adjusted her jacket. ¡°I don¡¯t like it ether it¡¯s like that long silence you get before something bad happens and I know Bukavac has probably had all its repairs done by now but we know there are two more not just that one angel creation, so why not send in the others to attack us or the Evangelion¡¯s?¡±

    Kaji felt himself tense. ¡°It turns my stomach to I think there waiting for something what that is though I don¡¯t know.¡± Misato walked up him putting her arms around him pulling him close. ¡°You know maybe we shouldn¡¯t trouble ourselves with it and just enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts.¡± Kaji wrapped his arms around her. ¡°Yeah I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts.¡±

    End of part 11

    Silvermoonlight

 Very Strange Circumstances

    VERY STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES

    Rei closed the door to Asuka''s house she eased up her dango on a stick taking a bite enjoying the taste they''d in by train so rather than go home right after work they''d visited one of the street markets and brought a few things as they had a few things they also really needed to buy. She turned to Asuka who was busy eating seasoned beef on a stick. "You know I think you over paid on the food you could have haggled."

    Asuka took a bite of her food as she turned on her intelligent, digital home system with the key watching as their house sprang to life and the flat screen lowered as the tea and coffee maker started up in the kitchen as one started to make coffee while the tea maker started to fill a mug of green tea as all of the lights turned on. "Yeah but they''re just trying to make a living." Rei laughed. "More like they all wanted your autograph along with mine."

    Asuka shrugged. "Yeah well I didn''t mind." She was about to say more only to stop dead in her tracks as she caught sight of a miniature green gloss disc on her coffee table. "The builders are coming tomorrow night to put in the walls, floors, furnishing and heating on your pottery studio right?"

    Rei turned sharply. "Yes." Asuka grabbed her gun pulling it free of her leather jacket as she pulled back the safety trigger. "Stay behind me Rei." She eased the weapon up slowly as she put her food down along with the bags. "Someone has been in our house."

    Rei turned sharply. "What¡­how?" Asuka eased up her hand as she began to shift as she started to move room from room seeing that the garage was empty. She shifted opening the back door to the back garden raising her weapon seeing that the pottery studio was empty and very much a skeleton ready for its walls and floors.

    She shifted back into the garage opening the draw as she pulled out a brand new USP elite semi-automatic pistol complete with a holder, she had been really hoping to give this to the other woman as a present for her birthday next month but she had no choice but to give her to her now. "Take this."

    Rei eyed the gun which had a leather shoulder holder. "Wait you have a USP elite hidden in your garage as well as your Korth combat pistol you never told me that?" Asuka breathed in deeply. "No this is not for me I brought it for you, you said you liked the USP elite and you find it the easiest to fire." She breathed in sadly as she made her way back in to the living room. "It was going to be a present for your birthday." Rei looked at her for a long moment as she started to make her way towards the stairs. "You brought me a gun?"

    Asuka moved up the stairs slowly looking around the rooms which were wide open seeing Rei appear behind her. "Yes, you should have one." Rei blinked feeling even more concussed. "I''ve never been attacked in Tokyo Three Asuka."

    Asuka moved checking their bedroom followed by the bathroom. "No but I told you some time ago that my house was broken into once before two years by some stalker who I kneecapped, I wanted to ensure that you have personal protection I get that we are all trained in hand to hand combat but I''d rather no woman or man ever got that close to you plus Mari agreed with me that it would be a good idea as she owns a Glock nineteen."

    Rei breathed in deeply in all honesty she felt this was crazy she had never carried a pistol Shinji and Kaworu didn''t she carry one either though she had heard that Toji did carry one but she''d never felt comfortable around fire arms outside the Evangelion this was Asuka''s over protective side going in to over drive. "I''m really grateful for this Asuka but I don''t like guns outside the Evangelion."

    Asuka breathed in deeply as she checked the bathroom. "You get used to them after a while." She looked around. "I don''t verfickte get this! Someone breaks into our home puts some disc on the table but touches nothing¡­it makes no sense."

    She turned to their computer room putting her gun away. "Anneberg!" She watched as her computer turned on along with Rei''s as the animated orange demon with double horns appeared his green eyes blinking. "Can you talk to the IDHS downstairs?" Anneberg flared his teeth. "Do I have to? The so called intelligent digital home system is a moron."

    Asuka rolled her eyes as she sat at her computer chair watching as Rei sat on her chair opposite. "Look I know you don''t like the IDHS, because it''s not AI like you." Anneberg stuck his tongue out in disgust. "I don''t know why you don''t just let me run the downstairs and that system I could do a better job."

    Asuka looked at him for a long moment. "Because you are not a house slave and it''s not your job to lower the wide screen or make coffee or tea and you shouldn''t have to do any of that." Rei shifted closer. "Asuka''s right you''re not our house maid you shouldn''t have to do that and you protect our computers and devices and that enough." Anneberg''s eyes blinked. "But I would like to help you both." Asuka watched as Rei put the gun down. "You do help us you don''t have to do things like that."

    Anneberg blinked as he spoke his animation forming a smile. "I''m accessing the IDHS." Asuka leaned closer. "Okay bring up outside camera footage from the front of the house." She watched as it came up showing a black car pulled up as a man and woman got out wearing black suits only for the camera to suddenly corrupt as Anneberg spoke again. "Footage distorted."

    His green eyes narrowed. "Records show that they somehow hacked the door opened it but then closed it, was anything taken?" Rei looked up. "No it wasn''t Anneberg but they left a disc on the coffee table." Asuka breathed in deeply. "Rewind to them getting out of the car and freeze."

    She eyed the footage which wasn''t great. "They look like the verfickte Roswell women and men in black." Rei leaned closer as she finished her food. "I thought they were a myth?" Asuka eyed the image. "No I looked into this once because everyone associates them with Roswell but here''s the weird thing they''ve been seen in many countries not just in America and normally when there around people have really awful accidents and die, people think there some kind of special force but who their handler is no one really knows." She eyed the footage. "Whatever that disc is, we shouldn''t touch it." Rei looked up. "What if it''s important?"

    Asuka looked at her for a long moment she turned seeing Erika appear as she made her way towards her then jumped in to her lap. "Seriously it''s not worth dying over and these people broke into our home." She looked at the gun Rei had put down opposite as she stroked Erika''s head. "Makes me glad I brought you a gun."

    Rei took in a deep breath. "You know I didn''t want a gun Asuka, you didn''t have to buy me one¡­" She looked up slightly. "I think it''s very nice that you''re trying to protect me but what are you afraid of?" Asuka looked at her for a long moment before speaking. "I don''t want to lose you it''s just that simple I''ve lost so many things that mattered to me and now we are together I''d rather you be safe."

    She looked down at the floor. "I was an asshole in my youth and I have a lot of enemies in the media and other places and I know that they might try to hurt you just to get to me, so I''d rather you kneecap them if they ever try anything."

    Rei pushed her hair back in frustration. "You know the media are running more positive stories on you Asuka, you''re not considered demonic or an abuser by them anymore." Asuka looked up slightly. "I''m not talking about them I''m talking about the people in high places who turned their backs on me after what happened with Hikari."

    Rei turned looking at Anneberg then back to Asuka. "What happened with those friends I remember you saying they left you high and dry?" Asuka took in a deep breath. "When I got accused I asked them for help and in a few cases begged for anyone to prove my innocence but they all turned their back on me."

    She looked down at the floor as she eased her patch off. "Most of them just walked away but some of them called me horrible things to my face." She looked at her hand. "A couple though said if I ever came back they''d hurt me¡­some of them might be at that auction and I''m not looking forward to seeing them again along with some of the press because I''ve rubbed most of them the wrong way to."

    She moved her hand taking the other woman''s. "You should never suffer because I made so many enemies and that is why I brought you a gun." She breathed in deeply. "Plus they still haven''t caught Alistair and that bastard stabbed me in the shoulder last thing I want is for him to attack you on your motorbike." She breathed in deeply. "I just want you to be safe that''s all." Rei looked at the gun she loved Asuka but sometimes she could be really paranoid and overly suspicious of others.

    Her brain tended to think the worst at times rather than look at the positives which was that people saw her very differently now. Maybe it was best to just go with her feelings and once she saw that everything was okay she could just keep the gun at home or just use it out on the motorbikes when they were together.

    Also this whole break in didn''t make sense to her but she just had a gut feeling that it was someone trying to help them in some way. Why would you break into a house only to leave a disc? If they had come for a sinister purpose they would have taken something or trashed the house. "Okay if it will put your mind at ease I''ll wear this when we go to the auction." Asuka looked up about to speak only for a pounding to hit her door. "Ah great¡­just what I don''t need right now guests."

    She turned to Anneberg. "Who is it since you''re still tied in to IDHS and see through the camera?" Anneberg''s eyes narrowed. "Mari and you should open the door as she''s very intoxicated." Rei stood up hearing the door pound again seeing Erika leap of Asuka''s lap. "Thank you Anneberg." Asuka breathed out deeply. "Great first Gendo acts like a weird asshole towards us then men and women in black break into our house and now my older sister shows up drunk¡­bang up verfickte day this is turning into."

    Rei looked up. "You know this could have been a lot worse." Asuka stood up following Rei as she went down stairs watching as she moved there bags aside as she opened the door. She watched as Mari came into view with a massive stupid smile on her face as she spoke half slurred. "Finally, you know there are too many holes on your path I kept tripping up!"

    Rei could smell the alcohol it hit her like a brick wall intoxicated was an understatement more like wasted. "Hello Mari." Asuka shook her head as she moving forward helping Mari inside only to feel the taller woman cling to her. "Come on four eyes¡­" She looked up. "How much did you drink?"

    Mari raised her hand struggling to get out her next words. "I''m¡­not¡­drunk!" She watched as Rei picked up the bags moving over to kitchen as she refilled Erika''s food bowls. "No your drunk¡­what did you drink please tell me, you didn''t drink cocktails?" She led her over to the three seat sofa sitting her down watching as Mari''s glazed eyes tried to remember speaking slowly. "I had cocktails yes¡­one or maybe two¡­I don''t remember¡­they were looking at me odd on the train¡­because I was singing¡­."

    Asuka looked at her for a long moment. "You took your medication this morning right?" Mari looked up. "Yes¡­why¡­" Asuka moved flying past Rei grabbing the nearest wash bowl moving back towards her. "Because your about to have a very unpleasant time."

    Mari blinked at her in confusion. "Huh?" Asuka looked at her for a long moment. "You''re about to be very sick¡­that medication is tailored to make you throw up the drinks your meant to have." She moved closer putting a hand on her shoulder as she sat down opposite. "I should know I tried more than once to get around the medication it never ends well."

    Mari laughed for a long moment as she spoke though slowly. "Yeah¡­Maya was telling me¡­you''re banned from ever drinking German brandy at Nerv for as long as you live¡­because it turns you into a raging angry asshole¡­because that''s what you used to drink back when you had issues with thinking¡­I mean drinking." Asuka rolled her eyes as she sat down opposite she wasn''t going to be laughing for much longer that was for sure in the next five to ten minutes or less her stomach was going to betray her big time and it wasn''t going to be at all nice. "Why were you drinking?"

    Rei moved forward putting a glass of water in front of Mari. "Yes why drink so much?" Mari''s looked down as the anger took over as she spoke in an angry rush. "I tried to chat up Maya and she fucking threw it back in my face she said that I wasn''t grown up enough for a long term relationship with her!" She raised her hand. "She¡­called what I had infatuation and she compared me to Misato who she called a woman child!" She pushed up her glasses. "It''s so fucking unfair¡­"

    She put a hand on her chest. "I''m not like Misato I can take my life seriously¡­" She stopped mid-sentence as her whole gut suddenly twisted like a knife causing her stomach to churn. "Oh shit¡­I don''t feel so good¡­" Asuka moved the plastic bowl into her hands and took a gentle hold of her hair seeing her face turn very pale. "Yeah that''s the drug betraying you¡­it''s not going to be a good next few minutes for you, your about to sober up very quickly."

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    Rei breathed in watching as Mari leaned over being violently sick she looked at Asuka. "You''re banned from drinking German brandy?" Asuka rubbed Mari''s back. "Yes they''re not allowed to even serve me Asbach Uralt in any of the Arcades restaurants, bars or food stalls."

    Rei blinked. "What did you do?" Asuka watched as Mari threw up a second time she leaned over easing her glasses off as they were coming loose. "I got really wasted back when I was nineteen had a bout of violent anger and broke one of the holders for the barrels in one of the bars back rooms. I basically sent all of the barrels tumbling and one of them cracked open and pissed alcohol everywhere. Rufus who you know owns the bar on the twelfth level forgave me for the whole thing but I still feel bad about it to this day."

    She turned to Mari who had put the bowl down and was now cradling her head moaning in pain, she kneeled down in front of her carefully passing the water to her watching as she started to drink it. "Feeling better now?"

    Mari looked up one turquoise eye opening. "No I feel like shit¡­.and I can''t see either." Asuka carefully pushed her glasses back on. "See better now?" Mari blinked as her eyes refocused. "I don''t feel so hot, can I stay here tonight?" Asuka moved her hand up to her hair. "Yeah sure I''ll let my dumb older sister stick around."

    Mari eyed her wishing that she didn''t feel so awful right now. "I am not dumb!" Asuka felt a sly smile form. "You just tried to ignore your medication and went drinking everything you''re not meant to that''s pretty verfickte dumb." Mari sat back on the sofa as she carried on drinking the water trying to ignore how awful she felt. "Oh shut up princess!"

    Asuka smirked. "You know I''m going to rib you all week about this don''t you four eyes?" She stood up getting rid of Mari used bowl. "Would you like me to make you some Miso soup it will stop the pain in your stomach?" Mari turned looking at Rei. "No I''d rather Rei make it, she makes it way better than you when you make it you never get the flavour right."

    Asuka eased up her hand. "I''m not used to making vegetarian food I''m still learning!" Rei breathed in deeply. "I''ll go make that it should only take me a few minutes." Mari turned eyeing the disc on the table. "That''s a really weird looking multi-layered disc." Asuka moved over to table swiping it before she could pick up. "It''s nothing important Mari."

    Mari eyed her younger sister who was lying she could see it in her face she turned to Rei who was cooking not missing a beat. "So what''s with the disc did you two like make a dirty sex tape or something?" Asuka breathed in deeply feeling the blush creep across her face. "No it''s not a sex tape, it''s¡­"

    Rei looked up. "Someone broke into our house put it on the table they left everything completely untouched." Mari sat up only to groan and lay back down again. "Great so someone broke into your home and you didn''t fucking call me."

    Asuka shook her head. "We had only just gotten in not more than five minutes ago we were out shopping then you came around, I would have called you given five more minutes." Mari took in a deep breath eyeing Rei. "I hope she''s given you that new gun right the specially made one in that it''s very light weight?"

    Rei turned eyeing Asuka who suddenly looked uncomfortable. "The USP is light weight?" Asuka eased out both hands. "Well if I remember right you said you went out of your way to get me comfortable swim wear¡­I thought it was only right¡­I mean you say one of the reasons you don''t like pistols is because the of the weight and you''re not fond of my Korth so I got you something light."

    Mari eyed Asuka. "You have no idea how much she sucked up to Kyo so get that for you." Asuka turned sharply. "I didn''t suck up to him! I asked him politely because he knows people in special ops division who make weapons to order."

    Mari sat up. "Oh please Kyo has a massive soft spot for you and everyone knows it since you''re his favourite student." Asuka turned sharply. "No he doesn''t, he just respects me and I respect him and I paid him for the gun it wasn''t a freebee."

    Mari smirked clearly Asuka was in denial since she''d heard that he''d knocked the price specially for her even though the gun had been custom made because he''d told her during hand to hand combat training. Which she was redoing with him along with Shinji, Toji and Kaworu and Rei as they were all being retrained one to one with him as Yuki''s training had been massively flawed and his was helping them improve.

    Rei looked up as she filled a food bowl with Miso soup, Asuka really didn''t see it but she did Kyo looked at her very much like a daughter maybe she just didn''t want to as she had very much struggled with the father figures in her life just like herself and Shinji and clearly had difficulty accepting it.

    She didn''t know who her real father was who had been the sperm donor for her when she''d been born in the birthing chamber and had never wanted to know either. Maybe because she felt that it would only end in disappointment. She moved towards Mari handing her the soup and a spoon. "He does like you Asuka."

    Asuka breathed in as she opened her box opposite the cat tree which was new and therefore extra bedding for when she had guests. Opposite it was a large shelf where Rei had displayed all of her pottery, she pulled out a blanket and pillow as she moved over to Mari putting the pillow behind her while putting the blanket over her ignored her smirk. "Yeah well I''d rather he just like me as a student."

    Rei turned hearing her phone going off she eased up putting it on voice. "Hello Shinji." Shinji''s voice came back filled with annoyance. "Someone broke into my apartment and left a disc on my breakfast table!" She looked down. "Really?"

    His voice came again. "Yes I asked Kaworu if he had the same happen to him but he said no and so did Toji." Rei took in a deep breath. "Well the same thing happened to us here someone broke in and left a disc." Shinji voice came back sharply. "I''m coming over to you right now Rei."

    Rei took in a deep breath. "Weren''t you meant to go out with Kaworu tonight?" Shinji''s voice came again. "He has a live interview tonight, so I''ll pick him up after I visit you both to talk." Rei turned looking at Mari. "It''s us three tonight since Mari''s here."

    Shinji voice came again. "Should I bring up drinks of any kind or snack food?" Rei eyed Mari. "No that wouldn''t be a good idea we also have plenty up here." Mari eyed Rei. "Spoil sport!" Asuka turned eyeing her coldly. "Maybe next time you should reconsider not drinking what you''re not meant to then you can have snack food, alcohol and all the other things you like."

    8

    "They both look identical."

    Rei turned to her brother who was eyeing both discs turning them between his fingers Asuka was sitting quietly in the recliner and she was sitting opposite while Mari was wrapped up in a blanket opposite her brother on the other sofa watching quietly while drinking more water. "We saw some weird footage from the outside there were these men dressed in black."

    Shinji looked up. "We should play one." Asuka breathed in deeply. "No we shouldn''t it might be something sinister." Mari raised her hand. "I disagree with Asuka I want to see what''s on there." She eyed Asuka who folded her arms realizing that she''d just been out ranked. "Three to one Asuka, you''re out voted."

    Asuka shook head as finished her chocolate bar. "Fine just don''t say I didn''t warn you because I did twice." Shinji eyed her she could be really paranoid and suspicious at times, she never used to be this way growing up he stood up walking over to the wide screen seeing that Erika was watching him from her cat tree. "Where do discs go?"

    Mari looked up. "Bottom left side there''s a slot." Shinji turned finding it. "Oh right I''ve got it." Asuka stood up. "Wait just before you play that give me one moment." She pulled out a device from behind the kitchen counter turning it on slowly moving to the centre of the room hearing no beeping sounds. "Okay the room is clean."

    Shinji blinked staring at her. "When did you become so paranoid?" He eyed the device which he knew was for finding bugs. "You''re not meant to even have one of those did you get it off Kaji or something?" Asuka breathed in deeply. "Please I gave Kaji the one he has I traded him for Nerv layouts¡­this is my spare and my grandmother sent it over to me." She folded her arms. "Also I''m not paranoid I just prefer to play it safe since this creepy bastard broke into this house after I moved in and stood near my kitchen counter demanding sex from me."

    She felt a cold smile form. "My reply was to blow his kneecaps off, made an awful mess of the brand new carpet I had to get it replaced." She breathed in deeply. "After what happened with him I started to take general security much more seriously and this is the second time someone''s has broken in to this house!"

    Shinji raised his hand. "Why do you have Nerv layouts? You''re not meant to have them either, it''s against the rules." Asuka turned feeling her teeth grind together. "Oh please don''t start with that playing by the rules scheisse! Yesterday I heard that you broke the rules to, you pulled out one of the sky train''s power breakers so you could have make love to Kaworu high above Nerv headquarters."

    Shinji raised his hand trying too hard to ignore the heat in his cheeks. "Yeah right like you didn''t punch out the camera in the hot tub and make love to my sister up there!" Asuka folded her arms. "Yes I broke the verfickte camera but we did not make love in there and what we were doing in there is none of your concern!"

    Rei moved quickly standing in between them. "Can you two please stop it?!" Mari looked up feeling a coy smile form on her lips. "You know now I can see why you two spilt up, you argue like a miserable old married couple." She took a sip of her water looking up at Rei. "If you''d stayed together you might have ended up strangling each other."

    She watched as a very uncomfortable look appeared on both their faces as they stepped away from each other going completely silent she looked at Rei. "How''s about you play the disc now." Rei shook her head as she turned to Shinji. "Just to set the record straight we didn''t make love in the hot tub but as Asuka said what we were doing really isn''t anyone''s business." She breathed in deeply. "Unlike you we have this problem with audiences and it can be extremely tiresome."

    She looked at the disc. "We also get very sick off always being the puzzle everyone at Nerv is desperate to solve not to mention that chatting with father this morning was terrible." She looked up. "He seems to have it in his head that I have Asuka on some kind of controlling leash and that I give her sexual treats for good behaviour."

    Mari smirked. "You know when you say it that way it sounds like some of kinky fantasy role play maybe you and Asuka should try that out sometime in private." She watched as Rei and Shinji turned to stare at her in utter shock. "Just saying¡­" Asuka breathed in deeply. "Please stop giving us dating advice¡­"

    Mari looked up her smile widening. "Oh come on you know you like it really Asuka plus there''s nothing wrong with spicing up you sex life." Rei shook her head snapping out of her haze. "My point is I''m so sick of hearing some people saying that I somehow tame Asuka or my father saying that she is an apex predator and that I''m somehow playing with fire. We would both just like to have a normal relationship without everyone asking questions for one day. Like what you have with Kaworu where most people just turn and looks the other way when you''re having fun in the sky train I mean we can''t even kiss on Misato''s apartment''s veranda without her spying on us."

    Shinji breathed in deeply to be fair he could see where she was coming from. "You know this does come with the territory, when myself and Asuka were together I got asked similar things."

    Asuka folded her arms. "Thanks I feel so much better you bringing that up since I prefer not to think about how bad that was and it does doesn''t help that your father asked me yet again if I was making a power play to gain control over Nerv''s seats of power." Shinji turned to her. "Kaworu did get asked the same thing if he was trying to give more power to the Ukraine''s division Asuka it wasn''t pleasant for either of us."

    Asuka folded her arms. "Yeah but I doubt you got asked why you were sleeping with someone who could tear the flesh from your bones with their razor sharp teeth." She breathed in deeply. "I hate being seen as a verfickte savage animal, yeah I get it I probably set myself up for a world of hurt by eating Bardiel alive but I''ve have never hurt Rei in private and it pisses me off that some people still think that I would."

    She looked up sadly. "I mean you love Kaworu but no one will ever question how he treats you in private or implies that you might hurt him in a fit of anger." Mari turned eyeing her younger sister. "This will pass Asuka you just need to give it time."

    Shinji turned to her. "Mari is right this will pass Asuka you just need to be patient and the people at Nerv will lose interest soon enough and the press will get the message and so will my father." He turned the disc in his hand. "Look let''s just watch the disc okay?" Asuka sat back down. "Fine¡­" He pushed it in watching as it loaded on screen. "It must be encrypted hence the long load time."

    He turned watching as the bar ended as the screen flickered as video footage appeared which showed unit 02 with the machine Judas on its body which had been put on to get Asuka out of the core but it was partly damaged. The bay was empty apart from Rei who was standing there looking straight in to unit 02''s huge face, the camera panned in closer as she spoke evenly as the camera beamed in closer. "I know you can hear me."

    There was a long pause. "I know what you really are." He looked around. "What is this Rei?" Mari¡¯s eyes darted in confusion as Rei spoke again to the unit in the video footage. "I know you''re not AI I know you''re not some personality, because no AI personality would have done what you just did."

    There was a long pause before she spoke again. "I''ve seen some of Asuka''s videos and I didn''t want to believe but now I do." She moved a step closer "I know you can understand every word I say don''t you? You even looked at me once using 02''s eyes when it lost its face plate and that unit didn''t have green eyes before but I''ve seen the videos yours are green."

    She folded her arms getting even closer. "Isn''t that right Kyoko?" Shinji felt the world suddenly stop as unit 02''s mouth formed a huge smile as it tongue came out licking one of its canine teeth as the huge arms smashed the lower braces as they rose up as the tails rose out of the water though he couldn''t see what was happening as the camera was to close in as the four green eyes flashed with light as his sister spoke again her voice filled with joy. "So you are Kyoko!" He blinked as the footage suddenly cut out and the disc forced itself out of the player.

    He turned seeing the nervousness as Rei eyes started to dart he turned not thinking as he moved towards Asuka putting his hands on both sides of her recliner before she could get away as he stared straight into her good eye which looked deeply uncertain. "Your mother is inside 02''s core!?"

    Asuka swallowed she understood his anger both herself and Rei had kept this from everyone but they had done it for their own safety as they knew that people most likely died for knowing this. "Yes¡­"

    Shinji leaned closer knowing that he was now very much inside her personal space which was a dangerous place to be in general and he knew only Rei and Mari could normally get this close and even during their relationship she had not always tolerated it. "How is your mother in there?"

    End of part 12

    Silvermoonlight

 A Deeply Moving Revelation

    A DEEPLY MOVING REVELATION

    Asuka breathed in deeply looking straight in to Shinji''s eyes. "The accident." Shinji raised a hand ignoring Mari''s utter shock. "You told us your mother went crazy, you said she was still alive before she took her own life."

    Asuka felt her teeth grind together as she spoke. "No that was verfickte soulless shadow! The unit took her soul the thing that committed suicide was not my Mama it was an empty vessel with her left over emotions and feelings."

    Rei moved forward. "Why are you shouting at Asuka I knew about this as well I''m as much to blame as she is?" Shinji stood up slowly. "Why didn''t you both say anything you could have said something?!" Asuka sat up slightly. "Because people no doubt die if they find this out it''s probably Nerv''s biggest secret! We could not say anything if the cameras had recorded it our lives might have been in real danger."

    She raised her hand. "I would never risk Rei life the only time we ever spoke about this was when we connected tails in our units and we knew it was safe to speak about it because no one could hear or see us!" Shinji breathed in deeply. "But that means¡­"

    He turned to Rei. "Our mother and our aunt Kiko are in¡­there." Rei looked down as she spoke quietly. "Yes they''re alive and living inside the cores." She put her hands together. "It means the visions we both saw when we were younger were not just our imaginations or a desperate desire due to stress like they told us it means they were real."

    Mari stood up. "Wait just one second are you all telling me that my mother is alive and that vision I saw when my unit changed that was fucking real!" Asuka looked up. "Yes your mother''s soul is alive Mari and in 04''s core." Mari stood up moving closer to her. "No this is utter bullshit I mean my mother was dead she was decapitated, she wasn''t like Yui, Kiko or your mother she was already dead."

    Asuka stood up watching as Shinji moved out of the way. "When I was in a core Mari my Mama said something to me that they put the soulless half into the core after her death, Nerv somehow knows how to channel souls how they do it I do not know but somehow they put your mother''s soul in there."

    She put a hand on her face in frustration. "I don''t remember everything we talked about it in that core I can remember parts but other parts are coming back but it''s taking time. I know this though the partial AI in the core is there to control the souls but my mother has destroyed it and so has Yui and Kiko and it appears your mother has recently destroyed the one in 04''s core and taken control."

    She watched as Mari blinked as if struggling to register her words before she spoke outwardly and almost like she wasn''t there. "Can I please have some of your alcohol¡­I really need a fucking drink¡­."

    Asuka put her hand on her arm. "Sure¡­just don''t drink any cocktails or spirits okay? You''ve already been sick once and I don''t want you to be sick again." Mari nodded moving over to her fridge opening it as she grabbed the nearest can of Kirin beer cracking it open drinking it, even through the taste was awful and she''d never cared for lagers or beers.

    She slammed the half-finished can down suddenly feeling her emotions start to pull and the pain came through. "So my mommy telling me she didn''t care that I was gay and that she was sorry for the way she treated me was real¡­oh gods I thought it was all in my fucking head. I thought it was from the drug they put in the LCL!"

    Asuka moved over to her putting a hand on her shoulder. "Yes Mari it was real." She didn''t get a chance to move as the taller woman wrapped her arms around crying desperately into her shoulder she breathed in hugging her tighter. "She came to your rescue in your time of need and desperation."

    Shinji sat down looking at his hands as he wiped a tear away the tears which weren''t sadness more happiness. "They didn''t die, they''re all alive." Rei moved closer to her brother. "Yes Shinji." She put her hand on his shoulder. "The test didn''t take them from this world there happy alive and well inside the cores."

    Shinji looked up feeling a smile form. "You don''t know how happy knowing that makes me feel, I mean you know how I always said that the LCL smells like mum, now I know it''s because she''s there with me and aunt Kiko is with you." He stood up putting his arms around her. Mari freed herself from Asuka as she took off her classes wiping away her tears. "I don''t understand we all saw a vision but why not you Asuka?"

    Asuka looked down sadly. "I never saw one because when Shamshel got into my head she showed me a lot of awful things and it was all I saw I think she stopped my mother''s vision coming through somehow but she was there waiting for me in the core she dragged me into it stop me causing an impact event because I''d lost control, it was the only way to save me and everyone else." Mari put her glasses back on. "Well I get why you couldn''t say anything I mean people die for knowing this."

    Shinji eased himself free of Rei who looked happier now. "Does this mean that Kaworu and Toji Evangelion''s also have their mother''s in the cores then?" Asuka took in a deep breath. "Possibly but I don''t think there awakened yet in that they have not overrode the partial AI and you cannot tell them Shinji, not until they get those visions." Shinji raised his hand. "I won''t."

    He looked down sadly. "But I confess that I wish I could tell Kaworu, because he really misses his mother he talks about her at lot." Asuka moved towards him putting a hand on his shoulder. "I''m sorry Shinji but this has to be this way Rei knew but she couldn''t tell me and I think my grandmother knows as well as she was hinting about it in one of our video calls but I just didn''t catch on."

    Shinji watched as Mari got closer leaning over Asuka now deeply curious. "What''s it like in there I mean you got sucked in I mean how do they live?" Asuka took in a deep breath. "Have you ever heard of human instrumentality Shinji?"

    Shinji looked up sharply. "Yes I saw some of my father''s videos in the Nerv achieves...it''s the merging of all human souls in one plain of existence." Asuka shook her head. "Yes his ideal of it was that all souls would be interlinked but Yui had a very different idea of it that someone''s soul could inhabit a core."

    She slowly knelt down in front of him taking hold of his hand. "My mother spoke about in her videos along with your aunt Kiko it''s the ideal that you can inhabit a core and make your own version of human instrumentality within the core you become a god and you create all you desire."

    She rose her hand watching as Mari got closer hanging on her every word. "You see once the partial AI has no control over your soul you''re free to do as you wish and let''s just say that my mother sent me to a few other places first but when I got you there it was like a vast landscape and it all felt real. She was painting and enjoying herself and she could also feel what was going on outside and see it somehow it was like she had double vision.

    So where ever your mother is whatever she''s doing she''s really happy and if you''re wondering about the lock in tails it was done on purpose as a way for us as pilots to speak to others without the outside looking in but also so our mothers could see one another, they can hear each other in whispers but they can''t see one another this allows them a chance to see each other again for the first time ever."

    She eased up her hand putting it on the side of his face. "So wherever Yui and your aunt Kiko are they are very happy." She stood up stepping back looking at Mari. "And your mum is probably just starting to get the hang of the whole thing and creating her own world."

    Mari grabbed her ruffling her long red hair. "This is so awesome my mum is in there!" Asuka eyed her. "Yeah just don''t go telling anyone four eyes or we''ll all be up scheisse creak without a paddle." Mari eyed her. "I have no intention of doing so princess¡­you know my mother must have made my Evangelion take on the new look then?"

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Asuka eyed her. "No trust me they play no part in the piloting side the transformations are all us Bardiel just lied to me about my unit changing to win my trust when he didn''t do anything it was all me and the same goes for you, Rei and Shinji." Mari blinked eyeing her. "Yeah but how come we didn''t get super pissed off strength like you?"

    Asuka felt a sly smile form. "Oh I can tell you now you got something, believe me so did Rei my mother told me, the glowing eye and strength was my subconscious choice and they are all necessary without them we can''t pilot these Evangelion''s they come with the transition." She turned to Shinji. "You may have something to but you just never realized it."

    8

    Misato took a sip of her coffee watching as the neon light flicked at the Arcades restaurants where she was seated with Kaji and Maya who looked outright annoyed and was trying to bury her head in her arts and crafts magazines and wasn''t talking much. "So I heard you had a fun day with Mari today."

    She felt her smile widen. "I heard she left your office in a huge storm of anger and sent a bin flying down the hall in a fit of rage, did therapy not go well?" Maya looked up. "It wasn''t therapy she was trying yet again to chat me up¡­." Kaji looked up. "You know I think she really likes you." Misato took another sip of her drink watching as there breakfasts were laid down. "Yeah maybe you should date her." Maya looked up. "I don''t want to date her she''s a woman child!"

    Kaji blinked in confusion. "What''s wrong with that?" Misato eyed her food turning around eyeing the waiter opposite. "Hey, you forgot my extra! I''m collecting those little angel and Evangelion food toys remember?" Maya shook her head watching as the waiter passed her one which she opened pulling it out to look at it she eyed Kaji. "Do I really have to explain?"

    Misato eyed the small toy which was of Bardiel''s true form and had little shifting upper arms. "I think she''d be fun to be around." Maya rolled her eyes. "Please tell me I''m not getting dating advice from you?"

    She raised her hand. "Plus I''m meant to be her superior!" Misato eyed her. "I got that you never dated Asuka because you weren''t right for each other and remained friends for years but you have a very different relationship with Mari and she loves being around you plus she''s twenty six so it''s not like she''s out of your age range." She felt a sly smile form. "Also didn''t you tell me once that sitting on your inner emotions when it comes to your feelings for someone is a terrible waste?"

    Maya looked up sharply. "I don''t have feelings for her and what she has is childish infatuation and lust it''ll pass." Misato took another drink of her coffee as she put her toy down. "You know you shouldn''t lie you''re really not that good at it¡­you''re like Asuka you don''t have a very good poker face and it really gives you away."

    Kaji began to eat. "Asuka must have a pretty good poker face since she can cheat at cards¡­its more that her lying face is terrible. She just can''t lie to save her life and neither can Shinji and Rei never lies." Misato looked up sharply. "Yes Rei does lie...she lied about the camera in the spa to protect Asuka."

    She eyed her food. "Plus she''s getting really dry and sassy and I''ve heard like Shinji she starting to really stand up to her father and is really throwing it back in his face." Maya took a bite out of her food. "Yeah I heard about that because both of the door guards heard her shouting inside, it was a surprise to them because Asuka was really quite and it was only Rei''s voice throughout."

    Misato turned sharply. "Seriously? I mean when Asuka''s been brought up there in the past and she¡¯s had no trouble telling Gendo and Ritsuko where to shove it in German." Maya looked up. "Apparently she was on her best behaviour just like at the dinner table."

    Misato rolled her eyes. "Yes let''s not bring that up again I still can''t believe Rei did what she did." Maya leaned on her elbow seeing the perfect opportunity to get her own back. "You know it almost sounds like you''re jealous in some way you know that they''re being sexually adventurous and you''re not."

    Misato slammed her fist down hard. "That''s utterly ludicrous we have a better sex life than Rei or Asuka!" Maya looked up slightly. "Well clearly something''s amiss since you feel the need to spy on them making out at your home." Misato raised her hand. "I was just curious I wanted to see who''s in control that''s all."

    Maya raised an eyebrow. "Have you considered that it''s in fact that no one is and it''s very balanced?" She eyed Kaji who had suddenly stopped eating. "Maybe you should stop paying attention to them and leave them alone because they have enough problems with attention as it is and start by trying to spice up your new sex life up somehow."

    She felt her sly smile widen. "Maybe you could have some fun up the sky train like Shinji and Kaworu did the other day." She felt a smile form. "Or try out the couple''s unisex sauna and since you''re a corporal now they could probably cut out the sound and video feed just for you."

    Kaji looked up feeling a sly smile form. "You know that''s a really good idea, I really like the sound of that we should both do it." He turned to Misato who looked nervous. "Like she said you''re the corporal you can make anything happen and I can get deal with the buffer feed." Misato eyed Maya who gave her a sly smile. "Stop giving us dating advice!"

    Kaji put his hands together. "No please do you have any more ideas because I''d love to hear them?" Misato felt a sneer form. "You know you''re meant to take my side not hers!" Kaji turned slightly. "But she''s right we should be spicing it up and having fun, so what if we both aren''t twenty doesn''t mean we can''t rock the boat." Misato put a hand on her face. "This isn''t happening!"

    8

    Julia raised the bloody kitchen knife eyeing the body opposite whose insides were hanging out as she spoke coldly "I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of the destroyer''s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice."

    She eyed the remaining man and woman who were all looking at her with the others through bloody doors glass. "Holy and pleasing to the destroyer of worlds this is true worship!" Ode turned to Jade who was breathing heavily they had only just managed to close the bay door to stop Julia getting through and locked it. "She''s fucking possessed!"

    Jade breathed in eyeing her African friend as she looked at her uniform which was covered in blood. "She was fine two days ago I checked everyone it''s like something snapped in her head! She fucking killed Romulus and three of the others she''s out of her mind."

    Ode knelt down behind the locked door. "It was that fucking spear I told you that it was possessed and evil but did you all listen? No you didn''t you were all let''s just dig up the crazy alien shit and Ode is doing his everything is cursed routine!" Jade breathed in deeply. "For the record I was on your side remember?!"

    She raised a ringed finger. "I said they shouldn''t touch it but you know Julia she was desperate to win that fucking noble prize!" Ode breathed in deeply. "Okay point taken." Jade looked through the bloody window watching as Julia went back to cutting up one of the bodies. "That spear gave us all nightmares from the moment it was placed in the bay." She breathed in deeply. "Can we help her, you''re the therapist I mean is there any way we can talk her down?"

    Ode shook her head. "This is not normal behaviour is like some physiologic break I mean they test for that stuff back on earth she was clean¡­only way to help her is to kill her or space her." Jade turned. "Space her that''s awful!" Ode eyed her. "If you haven''t noticed she started skinning that body! She has turned into a fucking animal, she killing us off one by one she wants control of this ship!" Jade breathed in painfully sliding down the wall as she eyed her bloody Canadian logo as she breathed in sadly. "Why is she referring to Oppenheimer?"

    Ode breathed in deeply. "It''s not Oppenheimer''s words it''s from the Hindu scripture of Bhagavad Gita where Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him he took on his multi-armed form and says, ''Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

    He paused shaking his head sadly. "It referees to a death god¡­but Julia is Christian she''s one of those few who still believes in the one god¡­" He breathed in deeply. "I mean she''s speaking Latin bible verses but changing the word god to destroyer." He breathed in sharply. "She''s already reset the ships course she clearly wants to get home at least two days ahead of schedule and she pushed the engines to its max."

    Jade looked up slightly. "Can we wait her out?" Ode looked up. "Yes but it''ll be a long while before we dock with Eos and we stuck on the shitty side of the ship there''s no water or food here." Jade looked up. "Please we have the experiment bay for growing plants there are fruits and vegetables in there." Ode blinked. "But those were for research they were our test batch from Mars."

    Jade looked up sharply. "I don''t care I''m eating them and you better join me unless you want to starve!" She looked down slightly. "I mean once we doc with Eos they can subdue her they have a protocol for that all we have to do is warn them and we can do that we can just re-route the signal out and keep her from overriding this door."

    End of part 13

    Silvermoonlight

 A Forbidden Crossing In To The Unknown

    A FORBIDDEN CROSSING IN TO THE UNKNOWN

    Misato sat back watching the Rio De Janeiro parade from the control room at central Dogma as the thousands of colourful floats moved and the dancers danced in the morning sunlight. At the far corner she could see all of the Evangelion''s lined up neatly standing still, she looked up noticing that unit 02''s eyes had gone dark unlike the others.

    She pressed her holographic panel. "Could someone please wake Asuka up? The Brazilian president is about come though and she''s not meant to be sleeping." Mari turned keeping her hands off the controls eyeing unit 02 as Rei face appeared on her screen as she spoke. "I can''t reach with my units tail can you do it?"

    Mari smirked. "Yeah sure¡­" She slowly rose unit 04''s whip lash tail snaking it along the floor past Shinji¡¯s unit feeling around finding one of Asuka''s units tails she wrapped slowly around it then shapely yanked as she spoke through the com. "Rise and shine princess!" She watched as unit 02 suddenly bolted upright its eyes glowing as Asuka''s voice hit the air as her face appeared filled with confusion. "What''s happening?" Mari felt a coy smile form. "You were sleeping."

    Asuka eyed her as she sat back in her seat. "No I wasn''t four eyes!" Rei''s image came up on her screen. "Yes you were Asuka, it¡¯s okay we all understand it''s boring." Toji''s face popped up. "I think it''s cool I mean look at the all the awesome floats I mean they even made Evangelion ones."

    Asuka looked down watching as a group of dancing women and men went by far below as the drums and music bellowed through the air. "Yeah I guess there is that." Misato''s face suddenly popped up on her screen. "You know next time you decide to have fun with Rei all night please don''t do it a day before your meant to stand on display."

    Asuka folded her arms. "I wasn''t doing that and even if I was it''s not like it''s any of business anyway so like get out of our verfickte sex life and get a new hobby." Shinji''s face appeared opposite. "I was at Asuka''s last night and Mari stayed around the night as she was feeling under the weather."

    Maya looked up eyeing a media clip which was off Mari singing god save our noble queen in very slurred English which the media centre had, had to pull from every website as fast as possible as it was a breach of the pilots privacy.

    The public weren''t meant to record the pilots when they were out enjoying themselves. "Yes I''m sure drinking that much made you very ill Mari." Mari lay back putting her hands behind her head. "I have no idea what you''re talking about." Maya put her hands together. "Please don''t play dumb with me¡­you ignored your medication and got wasted on cocktails."

    She eyed Asuka and Rei. "I''m guessing you both picked up the pieces right when she threw up all over your house." Mari felt a sneer form. "Like back off what are you my mother?" Maya folded her arms. "You know I''m really disappointed in you, I get that this is hard for you but why did you have to blow two weeks of program?"

    Asuka raised her hand. "No now that''s not fair I blew the medication program three times before you chewed me out I think you can cut my sister a little slack on this one." Mari folded her arms eyeing Maya. "I don''t know why you care after all you said I was childish I was just proving your point."

    Maya rolled her eyes ignoring the fact that the others were now looking at her. "You know that was not what I meant by that!" Mari picked up her drinking bottle taking a sip. "Could''ve fooled me¡­I mean your words were that I wasn''t grown up enough for a long term relationship!" Maya eased up her hand. "Can we please not do this right now?!"

    Mari felt a sneer form. "You started this maybe if you weren''t being such a mean wanker the other day we wouldn''t be having this conversation now!" Maya blinked in shock tapping her panel so Mari couldn''t hear her. "What the hell did she just call me?!"

    Kaji eyed his holographic panel. "Wanker it''s a British slur for calling someone an idiot." Maya leaned back folding her arms. "I don''t believe this I''m trying to help her!" Kaji looked up. "Mari''s emotional wounds are still too fresh and she lashes out just like Asuka used to, I think you need to be gentler."

    Maya breathed in deeply. "I just want her to stop drinking I mean I was reading Marcus''s file about her from the British division last night and he said this has always been a long standing problem with her with regards to drink."

    She shook her head. "She also wasn''t as healthy as she is now, they had to work her hard over there as her body type didn''t fit in the entry plug chair at first and she was resultant back then as well but they managed to iron it out but it was touch and go for a while."

    She put a hand through her hair in frustration. "Just wish I could figure out a way to keep her off cocktails, because she''ll be so much happier when she drinks less." Asuka eyed Mari. "You know she is trying to help you, you didn''t need to be that harsh." Mari folded her arm looking up in annoyance. "Please from what I hear you called her every name under the sun when you started the drinking program."

    She took another sip from her water bottle. "And don''t deny it because she told me." Asuka leaned back breathing in deeply. "Look when we get back I''ll speak to her okay." Mari looked up. "Don''t bother she thinks I''m a fucking child anyway." Toji''s face appeared on her screen. "You know she probably didn''t mean it in that sense."

    Mari felt a sneer form. "Yeah she did¡­I hate being called a child you know during the first year of training back in Britain the other fucking candidates used to call me podgy, childish, weirdo and they used even take the piss out of the fact that I didn''t fit well in the simulation chair." She put her drink bottle away. "I had a very bad diet because I was fucking poor it wasn''t my fault I didn''t fit well in the fucking chair!"

    Shinji''s face came up on her hologram screen. "Those chairs are not comfortable I remember when Rei and I trained in them they really bite at your sides and I they''ve always had tight regulations in that you have a certain weight in the entry plugs its really stupid, I mean the back rest moves as does the leg rests but they won''t change the stomach or waist section to fit any size." He was about to say more only to feel a rumbling under his feet. "What''s that?"

    Kaworu''s eyed his screen feeling the vibrations under his unit''s feet he looked down seeing that the people had stopped dancing. "Feels like an earthquake¡­" Misato''s voice hit the air. "That''s not normal ever since second impact Brazil has not had many earthquakes because it was believed that the impact itself caused the ring of fire to became less active while Europe has become much more active and developed the new ring of fire"

    Shinji looked around hearing the earth quake siren go off as the people started to run as the sea start to boil out in the distance something was rising some way from shore, he looked up watching as a huge form rose slowly from the water its huge green armour plated shifting the waters as the huge head carried on rising causing water to flow to the shore only to be stopped by the huge breakers.

    Suddenly everyone was screaming and running as its huge thin body rose skyward which was covered in orange and green plating it wasn''t Bukavac despite being the same size it had long a long thin salamander like body and tail along with thin arms and long clawed fingers and long hind feet with white claws it had a huge head though it was large it was only half covered by plating as it opened its huge wide gap showing off rows and rows of small inner teeth as it let out an ear splinting screech.

    Misato turned sharply. "Great this is just fucking great I was wondering when Ouroboros were going to show up again!" Kaji looked up eyeing the monstrous being which was remaining off shore and not moving any closer as its huge jaws closed as the purple lenses caught the glint of the sun light as the armoured tail rose upwards as eight long waving blue tentacles came up four on each side of its back close to the duel pilot operating system. "Reading angel the closest match is Shamshel!"

    Misato watched as it stood still but didn''t move. "Move all three flying wings closer get ready to drop weapons!" Shinji turned seeing the others all start to move in to position as they readied themselves though the huge monster still didn''t move it carried on staring at them as it rose up on to its hind legs as a male voice came over the speaker "It''s nice to meet you all, you sinners who denied us heaven!"

    Mari blinked seeing the confusion on everyone faces. "Any of you have a clue what the little fucking fruit cake is talking about?" The voice came again though filled with anger. "Fruit cake that''s funny coming from a fat faced weirdo like you!" Mari watched as the people carried on running below her she turned suddenly recognising the voice. "Oh well look who is it, it''s that jack ass piece of shit Joshua¡­long time no see wanker!"

    Joshua''s voice came again. "Fuck you, you fat bitch, you got me thrown off the program!" Mari felt a sly smile form. "Please you were doing illegal drugs and selling them to the other candidates you deserved what you got, you piece of shit!" Misato looked up sharply. "Joshua, get me everything on Joshua now!"

    Maya looked up as a file was brought up. "Joshua Hays military British candidate he was only on the program for a year he was later court marshalled for the reasons Mari stated and he was stripped of his medals and honours and discharged." Another male voice hit the air. "Would you not torment them Joshua we are here to work."

    There was a long pause. "I do hope you doing well Kaworu you know I was quite offended that you left without saying good bye to me¡­took me a long time to get over you." Kaworu leaned back in his entry plug feeling a cold shiver go down his spine. "Avel?" The voice came again. "Oh so you remember¡­do you remember the fun we had you sucking my cock and liking it but I hear you''ve taken to Shinji''s cock now such a pity?"

    Kaworu felt his fingers tense on the controls. "I never liked you and what we were was never an item! You are cruel and unkind you do not care for humanity all you care about is yourself."

    Avel spoke again his voice turning dark. "You are such an ungrateful little bastard! The only reason you''re still not wearing that slave collar that could blow your head from your neck was because I hacked it and freed you from its fucking shackles you walking dead zombie!"

    Kaworu looked up slightly trying to keep it together seeing Shinji face filing with concern on his holographic screen. "Yet you wanted sex as the currency for your so called kindness." Kaji eyed his screen. "Avel Kostya dropped from the Ukrainian program very skilled at hacking but was kicked due to extremely violent behaviour."

    Misato eyed him in confusion. "I don''t understand I thought the program managed violent behaviour." Shigeru looked up. "You misunderstand he has a seven counts of violent abuse towards former boyfriends the program does not tolerate this kind of behaviour because it reflects badly on Nerv." Misato looked up. "Great so these two are another couple just like Hikari and Kensuke."

    Sumire looked up. "Yes it appear so as in my debriefing I was told that these angel abominations can only be run by lovers as they must have a close connection to use the system as it puts vast stress on the pilot and that unlike in Evangelion the sync doesn''t work through positive emotions but negative."

    Misato looked up as the angel alarm went off. "Are the civilians out of the danger zone?" Maya looked up. "No they need a few minutes more and the Brazilian army are also coming in as we speak!" Misato pressed her holographic panel as she looked at Shinji. "Stall these two for a long as you can, the city is close to evacuation and people are flooding in to the shelters."

    Shinji nodded as he stepped 01 forward very slowly raising as clawed hand. "What do you want?" Joshua''s mocking laugh hit the air. "We want the destroyer of worlds if you surrender the death god to us right now we won''t fight we will leave you be!"

    Shinji blinked in confusion. "Destroyer of worlds¡­what are you talking about?" Misato looked up as Gendo and Ritsuko appeared above. "It appears that Ouroboros has sent its second attack dog this one was made from Shamshel it would appear!" Ritsuko looked down eyeing the angel abomination. "Don''t just stand there have them destroy it!"

    Joshua spoke again the anger in his voice as he eyed 01. "Don''t play stupid with me Shinji you dick less little shit¡­I''m not in the mood for your stupidity." The Archangels huge long arms moved as it raised its four clawed hands slowly. "Unless you want our creation of the gods Eligos to destroy you, you will give us what we fucking want!"

    Mari breathed in deeply. "I don''t know why your bothering talking to this idiot Shinji he''s properly high as a kite on grade A drugs!" She slowly eased up the new weapon which she''d been sent from her division which was a huge double barrelled machine gun which also had three vibrating and routeing cutting blades to slice open AT fields. She turned seeing Asuka pull the huge machine gun free from her back holder as they had been the only ones carrying weapons as they were acting as guards at the display. "So let''s kill him and his boyfriend already!"

    Eligos''s armoured head turned to look at unit 02 as Avel spoke calmly. "Come to us destroyer of worlds let us embrace you, you do not need these fools." He turned eyeing 00. "You do not need her either, it not like she can ever love you the way we can we''ll embrace your faults and flaws in a way Nerv never has."

    Asuka felt her teeth grind together as her units clawed fingers started to play with the trigger as she pressed her holographic screen going to a private channel. "Kaworu did this verfickte piece of scheisse ever beat you?"

    Kaworu''s face popped up on her screen he looked tense and uncomfortable as he spoke quietly and sadly as Shinji''s appeared opposite the deep concern showing. "Yes he did." Asuka turned slowly back to the huge angel. "They call you Avel right?" The soft voice came back. "Yes." Asuka felt a cold sadistic smile form on her lips. "Well I have four words for you and your obnoxious boyfriend." She raised the gun higher. "Fick dich ins Knie!"

    She slammed down the trigger hearing the sound as the massive bullets started to leave the barrel. She watched as the Angels huge AT field rose up as the bullets started to smash against it cutting slowly through the layers. She moved closer to Eligos watching as three flying wings flew overhead as they began to drop the others weapons which they picked up and started to fire at the ugly Salamander like Archangel who remained completely still.

    Its huge tentacles waving as they all rose higher in to the air slashing back and forth violently. Mari felt a sneer form as she ran at Eligos feeling 04''s clawed feet leave the floor as she came down ramming the cutting the blade in to the AT shield watching as it started to slice through the already damaged layers. "Hey shit heads did you know that your Archangel looks like a walking dildo!?"

    The next moments turned to agony as the two of the tentacles shot out smashing into her unit sending it flying causing her and her weapon to collide with the ground hard as she smashed hard into one to of the cities buildings causing one of its top section to fall down close to her sending glass and rubble everywhere as her units tail trashed around violently as she pulled her unit back on to its feet feeling the blood run down her chin as her teeth grown together as the anger started to boil.

    Shinji moved forward with the others. "Keep all your fire focused on the AT field that''s disintegrating!" He was about to say more only for one of the tentacles to shoot out without warning grabbing his units leg as another shot out trying to lash out at Kaworu''s unit the next moment hurt as he was thrown up into the air only to come crashing down back first onto one of the skyscrapers only to be thrown upwards as he was smashed into another as the tentacle let go and unit 01 came crashing down hitting the floor hard sending cars flying as both pilots in Eligos started to laugh as Joshua''s voice hit the air. "Look the little fucker bounces when he lands in his shitty Evangelion!"

    There was a long pause. "You think Shamshel was bad well get a load of us you little pricks!" Toji watched as all eight tentacles suddenly shot out trying to hit the others who started to duck and dive as they came down smashing up sections of the city skyscrapers and road.

    Asuka breathed in suddenly hearing Misato''s voice hit the air. "Give Toji your big gun!" Asuka blinked in confusion. "What why?" Misato looked up sharply "Because I want you to get right up close and distort that bastard''s AT field while Rei cuts it from the other side, so the others can do some real damage!"

    Mari''s voice suddenly hit the air as 04 stood up its long tongue moving around as it started to drool as it got on to its hind legs as an awful air spitting screech hit the air causing sky scraper glass to shatter around her unit. "Hey Joshua go fuck yourself!"

    Asuka found herself putting her hands to her ears only to see that it was effecting the others as much as her as they all stopped only for the screech to change frequency as it stopped hurting her ears, she turned seeing that the Archangel was suddenly shaking its head from side to side violently as it started to roar in pain as all eight tentacles rose up trashing around above.

    Misato blinked in shock. "What going on what is Mari doing?!" Maya eyed her holographic screen. "I don''t know it''s like she''s matching the Archangels AT field frequency it''s not distorting the AT field but its causing pain to both pilots somehow!" Misato turned sharply. "Toji take Asuka''s gun and protect Mari now she clearly can''t do anything else while she''s doing this!" She watched Asuka threw 05 her gun watching as it caught it dropping its other weapon.

    She could see unit 01 running forward as it roared in anger as it''s two crest horn sections to open outwards as it readied itself to fire a full on beam. "Rei, Asuka move in now I want Rei to cut the lower section of the AT field bellow and Asuka distorting it on the other side!" She turned sharply. "The rest of you lay down opposing fire!" She turned eyeing Shinji. "When the AT field is weak enough I want you to fire your beam directly at that bastard!"

    Asuka raised her tail turret gun firing it as she started to move forward on all fours towards the Archangel seeing Rei run 00 towards on its hind legs while firing her machine gun as she moved towards the other side of the AT field pulling up its cutting blade tail as they both moved towards each side of the AT field. She could now see the Brazilian heavy bombers and jet planes coming in as they started to fire there rockets at the Archangel causing fire to blast up as they hit the AT field along with the other Eva''s bullets.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    She could see Mari unit was starting to tense clearly her older sister could not keep this up forever. She raised her cutting blade tail shoving it in watching as Rei''s dagger like tail started to cut from the other side like a knife through butter while on her side the AT field started to fade as Joshua''s pained voice the air. "No you fucking don''t, you are not going to get near our entry plugs the way you did Bukavac''s you little German bitch!"

    Asuka looked up only to see on the tentacles come down like lightening grabbing her unit''s hind leg as she was violently lifted high above the AT field and swung around in to mid-air as Joshua''s voice came again. "Take a fucking swim you over grown cat on steroids it''s no secret that your scared stiff of water everyone knows it!"

    The next moment turned to terror as he threw her causing unit 02 to go in to a violent spin she looked down realizing where he was aimed her which was right at the huge ship yard where they were building three huge super dreadnaught destroyers one of which was complete.

    She felt her units body slam in to the ship yard hard as it rolled off sending metal flying as she came crashing down off the roof right in to one of destroyers as its support cables began to snap as they got they tied up on her units shoulder sails causing the huge dreadnaught to come free from its huge holding station.

    It came flying down the platform towards her smashing into her units chest causing the air to get knocked out her lungs as she was forced towards the sea along with it unable to break free as they both sped down the slide and she hit the water hard as everything turned to pure blue and she felt her unit sink downwards as the huge dreadnaught ship remained floating above.

    She felt her body freeze as the panic set in as she started to sink into the deeper depths and the sensation of ice cold water hit home as she hit the sandy floor below feeling herself curl up which in turn caused 02 to go into a fetal position as she started to breath faster as her hands started to shake the controls violently all she heard was a booms above as more rockets were fired.

    Misato looked up sharply only see Rei¡¯s unit get sent flying in the other direction as it was grabbed by another tentacle and was thrown at one of the tourists pears where it smashed head first straight in to a docked White Star Line ocean Cruise liner before hitting the water of the docks hard on its side hard.

    She could see that Rei was clearly dazed and disoriented as she tried to stand unit 00 up only for it to fall to its knees breathing in heavily as it dagger like tail trashed around violently smashing down on some sailors ships opposite destroying them instantly.

    Kaji looked up sharply at the holographic screen. "I''m giving Rei a pain killer and medication for concussion!" Maya looked up at the press feeds from the press helicopters that were flying over as she began to type in to her holographic desk. "I''m giving Asuka a sedative to relax her, her heart rates gone far too high the waters causing a semi panic attack!"

    Kaji looked up sharply. "I thought Bardiel fixed this when he was in her brain as she didn''t panic as much when Mari and her had that punch up and she tried to drown her."

    Maya turned sharply. "I believe he suppressed it for his own self-preservation." She grabbed her ear piece putting it in putting it on a private channel. "I can talk her down I just need a moment, I''ve done this with before with Gaghiel as she had a semi panic attack after freeing Rei from his throat because she got pulled under too fast! That''s what causes it when she loses her sense of control in deep water."

    She breathed in bringing up Asuka''s image on her holographic screen seeing that Asuka good eye was darting and her hands were shaking the controls as she spoke softly. "Asuka I need you to focus." She watched as the red haired woman face turned clearly hearing her voice. "The water is shallow it just looks deep you need to start swimming upwards slowly."

    She watched as the woman said nothing but started to move the unit slowly out of its fetal position. "That¡¯s it now just swim towards that super dreadnaught you won''t drown 02 is protecting you no water can enter your entry plug." She watched as the red unit started to move swimming slowly upwards towards the others. "She''ll surface in a moment."

    Misato turned eyeing Shinji as Mari''s unit stopped screeching as it lowered its head while Toji was lowering Asuka¡¯s gun which was now empty. "Fire your beam now!" She watched as unit ones crest sections locked as it raised its free clawed hand as Shinji''s eyes started to glow red he suddenly let out a scream as the huge beam came out 01''s mouth all at once hitting Eligos''s AT field tearing in to the layers violently stripping them away cause the huge Archangel to step back he breathed in seeing the final layer tear away just as his beamed stopped.

    Joshua''s laugher came. "Look at that you ran out of ammo, do you fire blanks in bed to!?" He was about to say more only to hear a huge rumble off in the distance he knew the Evangelion''s were almost out of bullets now as was the military who were flying off. He turned as the caught sight of the super dreadnaught started to make grinding sounds.

    Misato looked up sharply seeing that Asuka had now come up under the ship. "Asuka what are doing!?" The red haired woman didn''t reply as her good eye turned green as her left eye started to glow under the patch as her teeth turned to their razor form. Maya turned sharply. "She''s trying to lift the super dreadnaught!"

    Kaji eyed his holographic screen seeing that Rei was coming to her senses. "It''s not possible Evangelions can''t lift them they''re just too heavy!"

    Shinji watched as the huge ship suddenly started to rise up into the air as 02 surfaced its tiger like roar hitting the air as was raised fully out of the water which in turn caused sections of it crack violently as it started to fall apart. It was slowly moved forward as she got ready to aim it at Eligos. Misato turned eyeing Ritsuko who had an utter look of shock on her face while Gendo had cold a smile on his.

    The world seemed to slow down as Asuka unit moved closer getting into shallower waters the huge dreadnaught was suddenly thrown with incredible force in the Archangels direction as it smashed through the broken AT field hitting it head smashing into thousands of pieces and blasting up in to flames which caused the Archangel to scream in pain as part of it was set alight.

    The next moment caught everyone by surprise as Mari''s unit raised it head again this time opening its mouth wide as beam of ultra-bright light came out like a laser beam it flew past Shinji and Kaworu slicing into the tentacles cutting three of them off half way down causing red blood to spill everywhere before dissipating as the Archangel backed off further screeching in even more pain as Mari''s voice hit the air filled with rage. "Fuck you Joshua''s and your wanker boyfriend!"

    Misato looked up sharply eyeing Ritsuko. "Well it would appear that we vastly unrated the potential of the primal units! It appears all three of them can take massive beatings and can hold their special skills far longer than our calculations anticipated." She turned to the screen eyeing all of the pilot''s images. "Finish off those bastards now make the Archangel fucker wish he and his boyfriend had never been born!"

    Sumire blinked eyeing her read out. "Wait I''m getting a funny reading something''s coming towards them all very fast!" Misato turned sharply. "Is it Bukavac!?" Sumire shook her head. "No!" Shigeru eyed his holographic. "She''s right it matches none of our normal readings it''s like an energy spike but it''s not from a weapon fire!"

    He looked up watching in surprise as Evangelion suddenly broke the surface it flew through the air landing squarely on the ship yards roof looking over at everyone it had four arms and was pure white though it was covered gold, blue and golden patterns its lands and feet were lycanthropic it strangely had a face similar to 02''s current form it had four red glowing eyes and a long whip lash like tail in one set of its hands was what looked like a stone lance and nothing more.

    A young male voice spoke as it raised the stone spear high in to the air. "I am Sobek and the time for war and song is at an end for the time of the walking god has come!" Misato blinked in confusion. "Is that an Evangelion?" Shigeru looked down at his holographic panel. "I''m reading unit 02 but I''m also reading Bardiel this makes no sense!" Ritsuko looked down. "It''s Ankh that''s their colour scheme!"

    Maya looked up as all four Magi appeared on the screen opposite. "All four Magi agree that it was made from Bardiel''s hybrid DNA when he made 02 give birth so he could create a body of his own that''s why it''s reading 02 but also angel and it''s not a reading our computers are not used to as it contradicts what we are used to as its as much Evangelion as Angel!"

    Gendo looked up speaking calmly. "And it would appear that, that is has the lance of Longinus that we threw back into the dead zone of Antarctica it¡¯s of no consequence in that hybrid abominations hands as its dead so this is clearly foolish childish posturing from a boy." Ritsuko eyed him. "This is serious he could start the final impact!"

    Gendo turned slowly to her. "No he can''t my dear as we both know he''s not the original owner and her hands are now tied to the spears of destiny this a just another fruitless attempt of Ankh believing they are suddenly important."

    Misato put a hand to her face as the truth hit her hard. "Those bastards, that''s why Bardiel''s tongue went missing for so long because they were stealing his DNA from it!" The Evangelion raised the lance as its pilot spoke again pointing it at Asuka. "Heed my call destroyer of worlds I call up on you to fulfil your destiny!"

    Asuka blinked in utter confusion as she pulled 02 out of the water walking it slowly on all fours towards Rei and who had pulled 00 onto its hind legs as she came out of her daze fully she turned on her live speaker. "Please be verfickte, quite! You''re the second idiot to call me that today so why don''t you take your shitty little four armed Evangelion elsewhere?"

    She turned hearing 02''s bellowing roar hit the air. "Before I eat you alive like I did Bardiel!" The white Evangelion raised the lance higher as the male voice spoke again. "Surrender to your true will sense your true calling and finally be free from the shadows!"

    Asuka moved about to say something only to watch in surprise as the spear blasted up with red lightening for a second she found herself freezing before she could get any closer to Rei nothing would move and all she could suddenly feel was a drumming of her own hear beat in her ears as everything turned to a cold silence.

    The next moment''s turned to utter agony as she grabbed her left patched eye screaming in pain as her own voice hit the air but it wasn''t her speaking. "Humanity doesn''t deserve to exist anymore, it''s pathetic it''s worthless and without remorse therefore it should feel none in return!"

    There was a long pause. "It left me to die it left me to burn and it will all suffer for I am the destroyer of worlds!" Asuka felt her good eye snap open as she looked down into the blackness seeing her left hand no longer had flesh on it was burnt down the bones and tendons bloody skeleton like and bleeding into her LCL.

    She looked down seeing that her right leg looked wrong the foot was no longer level like the bone had not been rest right and all she could feel was pain in it spiking up her leg. She could also feel pain in her face and the feeling of something cold running down it she eased up her fingers pulling them away on to see blood running down from her good hand.

    She paused hearing the tapping of something above her she looked up slowly only for the breath to leave her as she found herself staring into the face of a skeleton whose one good eye looked similar to her own. It spoke no words as its mouth opened revealing a tongue she could see that its right leg was crippled and had healed at the wrong angle from being set wrong as its hand started to move towards her face as it finally spoke in her own voice though it sounded raspy almost sickly. "The joy of death awaits you now destroy those who tried to break you."

    Rei shook her head feeling the pain full daze subside she turned seeing that 02 was not moving not even its tails were shifting it was frozen in place and Asuka''s face was just staring blankly forward maybe it was the shock of falling into deeper water but even then that didn''t seem right as she was leaned over her controls clutching her left eye. She moved her unit closer. "Asuka are you okay?" She tried again. "Asuka its Rei..." She stopped feeling the cold why was it suddenly so cold?

    She stopped looking down feeling her sight turn to white as a barrage of voices slammed into her mind it was so painfully that it caused her to learn forward only for them to fade as she looked down seeing that she was suddenly naked from head to toe staring into the clouds. She felt her hands rose as she realized that they were shielding a small unit 02 that looked like Asuka''s used to look apart from the huge crest horns which were even larger and horn like.

    It looked toy size though and it had six demonic looking wings and darker colours as a voice which was her own spoke from afar but it was so subdued and quite. "Did you ever try to understand others or is blocking them from your heart easier?"

    She paused hearing Asuka''s cold voice hit the air the tone was chilling to the bone. "What''s to block there annoying, cheap and fucking, worthless." Her own meek voice came again. "Have you considered that the one you block out the most is the one who still loves you even now?"

    Asuka''s voice came again. "Would you shut up Wonder girl? God you''re so annoying!" Her own voice came again. "Because I''m like you..." There was a long pause. "Asuka you can use your power now to do so much good, you can recreate this world with your limitless imagination you don''t have to kill all these people to bring them into human instrumentality I can bring them in for you it will be painless."

    Asuka''s voice came again only harsher. "Imagination doesn''t mean anything at the end of the time, in the end all paintings and books burn or are forgotten to timeless waste lands after all we are stuck in this endless cycle that just keeps on repeating and I''m tired of it. I''ve seen my past lives once again and nothing changes I never get what I want. Also what good would imagination ever do for me? I can''t draw I have no imagination outside numbers so if your trying to save these people don''t because I''m going to strike them all down I don''t care for your painless way just like I don''t give a shit about them or your so called love for me, as if you could ever love anyone your just a doll!"

    Rei looked up feeling the tears come before she could stop them she knew it wasn''t her Asuka speaking but it still hurt so much it felt like her heart was being stabbed with a razor sharp knife suddenly she just felt so depressed and couldn''t stop herself breaking into tears.

    Shinji blinked suddenly realizing his world had turned to darkness he watched as it faded away and he found himself sitting on the floor in Nerv but it wasn''t the Nerv he knew. It smelt of rot and damp and the corridor he was looking down was hollow almost lonely he looked up hearing his own voice speak. "Kaworu you can''t do this!"

    He stood up running towards the voices coming out in what looked like the Arcade zone area but there were no shops no music no colour it was old worn out levels with decaying steps and rotting facades and a few broken down cafe''s but nothing more, off side he could see the Delphi gardens if you could call that it was tiny compared to the one he knew and run down.

    He turned realizing he was standing in the garden though he was much younger at sixteen but Kaworu was also there though his skin looked so much whiter and his eyes are more glowing red.

    He moved closer hearing Kaworu speak as water dripped down from the damp facets around him. "It has to be this way Shinji my life has now become forfeit and I have betrayed Seele by telling you of their plans but it will give you a chance to win because you can tell the Rei and Asuka of their plans to cause a final impact." There was a long pause. "Don''t worry everything will change this time around." The younger Shinji spoke again getting more and more panicked. "But you can''t do this please I love you!"

    Kaworu mouth formed a warm smile as he leaned over giving him a gentle kiss on the lips. "Don''t worry we''ll see each other again, you won''t understand now but you will and one day this will all become clear to you."

    He stepped back his red eyes focusing on something above Shinji turned realizing that a young short brown haired woman with dark blue eyes who was also his age was standing a level above him dressed in full black armour holding up a rifle she spoke in a whisper. "Target acquired Keel."

    A male voice spoke coldly. "The angel dears to betray us, kill him his role in this cycle is over make sure you aim for his head but leave Ikari''s worthless boy alive let him see his new lover and plaything die in front of his eyes." The woman spoke as she loaded her rifle. "As you command..." Shinji felt his breathing start to go faster as he spoke. "No you can''t!" He felt his eyes dart realizing she couldn''t hear him he turned back as Kaworu spoke to the younger Shinji again. "Always remember one thing Shinji if you see me again I will be the person you truly deserve and not a puppet to anyone, I intend to free myself from this endless game as I feel it''s been played out long enough."

    Shinji heard the rifle crack behind him only to watch in utter pain and horror as the younger Kaworu''s head exploded violently in a flash of bone and blood in front of his younger self eyes only to be followed by his screaming which echoed through the rotting zone like a knife as he felt himself start to panic before he stop it.

    Maya watched as 02''s panel went crazy flashing red as the sync started to break along with both unit 00 and 01 doing the same. "I''m losing readings from 00, 01 and 02 the others are unaffected!" She eyed all three pilot screens Asuka was bent over in pain holding her left eye clearly in pain, while Rei was crying and it was becoming getting more intense while Shinji was starting to have a panic attack similar to his youth she could see it in his eyes. Misato looked up sharply. "Shut all three of them down now!" She eyed the other three units. "Attack that hybrid Evangelion and get that stone spear from its hands, now!"

    Toji''s voice shot up on screen. "What about Eligos?" Misato looked up seeing Eligos suddenly leap backwards smashing in to the water disappearing under it before any of them could stop it as it vanished from sight. "Let it go I want that spear right now, it''s affecting the other units we''re trying to shut them down!"

    Kaji breathed in eyeing his panel. "What in the fuck is that spear doing? I''m getting odd brain waves from all of them and the syncs are fluctuating like crazy one minute there normal the next there dipping in the danger zone!"

    Rei turned watching a younger version of herself-appeared though her hair was lighter blue and she had glowing red eyes and her skin was pale she was fifteen years old and completely naked as she stepped towards her as she spoke in that meek tone as her fingers reached towards her. "Are you me¡­or am I you? I don''t understand I should not be here my time has passed and you are who I have become."

    The fear hit before she could stop it as she felt her hands rattle the controls. Maya turned sharply seeing 00 suddenly leap out of the water as her Evangelion''s lion like roar hit the air as it started to leap up and down in a crazy circles it tail flying out smashing the huge White Star ocean liner in half as the blade came down only to pull back revealing the lock on port it suddenly swung around in a violent motion as Rei''s sudden cry of panic hit the air. "Get out of my mind!"

    She turned not thinking the action was pure instinct as she shoved her tail port over 02 entry plug watching it open as she slammed it down unable to stop herself she wanted to be in Asuka''s mind and a safe place and away from this she couldn''t stand it anymore! Asuka breathed in as the one eyed skeleton in front looked up sharply only for it to instantly vanish as the blackness faded and everything returned to normal as Rei''s voice hit the air speaking clearly in her mind. "Get away from me!"

    She blinked looking up seeing the three flying wings fly over again dropped extra bullet cartages as others were reloading trying to fire at the white four armed Evangelion''s AT field which was super thick. She felt herself suddenly cough as it felt like a stomach was starting to boil and feeling of indigestion setting in and it really hurt.

    Sumire looked up sharply watching as unit 02''s mouth started to slowly open as a huge blue and red ball started to form in it. "I''m reading massive energy levels in 00 and 02 cores!" Misato looked up seeing the ball as unit 00 turned so it close to 02 like within inches of its face as it started to crack it teeth together. Misato turned. "Ah shit." She turned sharply. "Turn them off Asuka''s about to do what she did on the training field!" Shigeru typed faster. "Unit 01 is about to shut down but I can''t shut 00 down its attachment to 02 is blocking me!"

    Unit 02''s head suddenly went back only to go forward as the energy ball left its mouth as it rocketed towards the white hybrid Evangelion slamming into its AT field sticking to it, unit 00''s mouth opened suddenly as a rocket of pure white light flew out of it slammed in to ball which remained still for a spilt second before it blew up with enough force to blast outwards in pure red and blue fire light which smashed through a huge amount of the layers and sending the white hybrid Evangelion flying off the ship yard and in to ocean where it landed hard causing water to fly up.

    Misato watched as 01 hit the water its eyes going dark as it shut off as Kaworu¡¯s unit came down landing next to it as he pulled his units white wings open folding them around it, clearly trying to protect it. She turned as 00''s tail separated suddenly from unit 02''s entry plug as both units hit the floor hard as they shut down.

    She looked as all of the pilot''s images came up on the main and it was very clear that Asuka, Rei and Shinji had all lost consciousness. Toji and Mari on the other hand were moving out into the deep water trying to find the white hybrid Evangelion which had now also vanished from sight. Sumire looked at her holographic panel. "I''ve lost both energy signatures for Eligos and Sobek."

    Misato turned eyeing her. "Great this just what I didn''t need they had Eligos if that stupid white Evangelion hybrid had not shown up we would have destroyed them!" She breathed in deeply trying to calm herself down. "Send in the medical flying wings, have 00, 01 and 02 lifted out and have the others shadow them home."

    She turned eyeing Ritsuko and Gendo. "Either of you want to tell me what just happened, because that lance did not seem like it was dead?!" Ritsuko eyed her. "We didn''t keep anything from you! This is as strange to us as it is to you!" Gendo eyed her speaking coldly. "I can ensure you Colonel we were told even from above that it was dead."

    End of part 14

    Silvermoonlight

 A Little Slice Of Heaven And Hell

    A LITTLE SLICE OF HEAVEN AND HELL

    Nerv Grand Central Terminal

    The guard watched as the Native Indian woman who was from Canada or at least that what her electronic ticket read put her bags on the belt he turned eyeing the one that looked like some kind of cat box though it was covered. "You know pets are not allowed at Nerv central unless it¡¯s for a vet visits in the Arcade zone there restricted from all of the science zones as well."

    He eyed her ticket again. "Miss Chilamu is it?" The woman who was in her mid-thirties who had long dark black hair and was of Inuit decent eyed him in annoyance. "It''s Chilam."

    She eyed the cat box which suddenly rattled. "Yes I know the rules I did try to apply to Nerv four times only for one of your heads Ritsuko to rejected me outright despite that I worked on the other Evangelion program which wasn''t attached to Nerv years ago you know the one the UN pulled the funding on and put everyone out of work. So imagine my complete surprise when Colonel sends me an e-mail two days after Bardiel gets eaten alive that my services are required to work with another high level scientist down there whose also working the problem."

    She eyed the cat box which rattled again. "There not pets there my special babies and I was told that could bring anything I wanted if it will help me with your whole Archangel problem." She raised her hand pointing at the sky train which was destining for Nerv central. "So why don¡¯t you put my bags on the train like a good man and let me get on with my day since it took me a while to get over here from Canada."

    She ignored his cold look as he began to load her bags on to the train via the belt he leaned over about to take the cat box she put her hand on it sharply. "But not that one that one stays with me." She pulled it up walking away as she went to sit in the train which was very much empty.

    She breathed in deeply she hated cities like this too much noise and sound to many people unlike the quite lab she worked in back in Canada which was surrounded by vast forests but the truth was you couldn''t turn down Nerv they never asked twice and she''d wanted to work here her whole life.

    She watched as the empty train started to move from what she''d read there were no more stops as it would head right in to Nerv central so now was a better time as any to let them have some flying room as they''d been cooped up since she''d felt Canada. She eased up her cat box pulling up the cover seeing the little white faces staring back they had no eyes but then they didn''t need them as they could sense vibration like bats and hear really well and they had stumpy little arms and legs and small black wings as well as large mouths with human like teeth and tongue which meant they could smile they also had small heads and bodies and were only the size of a cockatiel.

    They liked eating any food you put out they weren''t fussy but then she''d engineered them to be omnivores which was a not what the original brief has specified when she''d made them as the company had wanted them dyed in the wool carnivores which she had hated the idea off.

    She had six in all and they were her pride and joy and her babies they all had names and she loved them dearly she eased open the cage watching as they all flew out only to land on top of the box looking at her. "So how are mommies babies today?"

    She leaned over stroking there little heads hearing them chirp happily. "You going to be living with me now in Tokyo Three but we have to spend the night here until they sort our accommodation sorted out they said we''d get a home out near the farm land but I don''t believe them, either way it''s a brand new start for us." She put her hands around them protectively. "There''s going to be so many new things to see and do."

    8

    Asuka felt her eyes slowly open though everything went out of focus for a moment feeling the pain in her left eye as she realized that she was on a hospital bed though still dressed in her plug suit she groaned rising herself up into a sitting position as she pulled her patch free seeing that she wasn''t the only one in the room as both Rei and Shinji were still passed out and both in the hospital rooms opposite to her and like her they were still in there plug suits though like her their sleeves and gloves had been removed which was done in emergencies if you had suffered any form of shock she could see Kaworu sitting opposite Shinji''s bed he was clearly waiting for him to come around and deeply concerned about his boyfriend.

    She watched as Maya ran forward. "Asuka you need to lie down." Asuka breathed in deeply. "I''m fine." Asuka breathed in feeling her feet touch the floor. "How long have I been out for?" Maya watched as she stood up slowly. "You have been out for half an hour."

    She felt the uncertainty as she spoke her next words. "Do you remember what happened to you Asuka?" Asuka breathed in deeply as she stretched. "Yes." Maya breathed in deeply. "Do you want to talk about it?" Asuka turned slightly. "No I don''t I want to check on Rei and Shinji." She turned looking around her. "Where are Toji and Mari?" Maya looked up. "Getting some food I sent them away as they were exhausted it was really hard to get your sister to leave as they wanted to stay with you."

    Asuka turned towards her. "You know you should not have been so hard on Mari about her drinking problem, she''s trying it''s not easy." Maya looked up watching as the blue patterns in Asuka''s left eye pulsed and flashed. "I just want her to do better Asuka like you did." Asuka took in a deep breath letting it out slowly. "Then give her time and stop being so hard on her it just makes it worse." She looked up slightly. "She means well she''s just having it hard right now."

    She began to walk towards the other hospital room. "Plus she really likes you." Maya shook her head. "No she''s infatuated it will pass in time." Asuka looked at her for a long moment before speaking. "No she isn''t she genuinely has feelings she talks about you differently from her other girlfriends as she had a few back in Britain but it was hidden from everyone in her Division as she didn''t want to come out and granted they weren''t long term but she has had relationships before."

    She moved over looking at Shinji''s bed and then Rei''s which was opposite. "Look I''m not saying you should be together that''s for you two to work out I just want you to know that you''re not some kind of fling or moment of lust to her."

    Maya blinked inwardly this was so odd Asuka right now seemed so relaxed despite everything that had happened to her and it was so strange. Maybe the fact was that the younger woman was just growing past her anger now and channelling it so well that it just wasn''t affecting her outside the entry plug. Or maybe her focus in her life being on her relationship with Rei was now taking centre stage fully and she viewed it as more important.

    Asuka moved to stand opposite Kaworu which gave her the best view of Rei as she could see her through wide glass window of the other room though she was being looked over by one of the doctors. She gently put a hand on Kaworu''s shoulder watching as he turned to look at her. "Hey."

    Kaworu breathed in as he looked up sadly. "Hi." Asuka pulled up a chair sitting opposite him as she turned looking at Shinji. "You know you shouldn''t worry about him he''s very strong and he can take the hits idiot has a real hard head."

    Kaworu looked at his hands. "This is all my fault had my foolish ex not showed up and that white Evangelion he would be conscious now." He turned looking at Rei''s hospital bed. "So would Rei." Asuka breathed in deeply. "Shinji would never blame you for this it''s not your fault." Kaworu looked at his hands. "I thought he was out of my life once he got thrown off the program."

    Asuka looked at him for a long moment before speaking. "Why were you forced to wear a collar?" Kaworu looked at his hands again he''d told Shinji this truth but few others because he felt guilty. "After my parents were killed and the rebels in the Ukraine put a collar around my neck as a small boy which would widen as I grew into a man."

    He tensed painfully. "If I ever tried to remove it, it would blow my head from its shoulders and cut my life short. You see without my medication my eyes go a more intense glowing red and my skin goes whiter, it¡¯s called walking dead syndrome it is a feared condition in my country and some others as they say you''re cursed by demons and your soul is impure because the devil had touched you. They even told my mother and father after my birth to end my life because I was a curse and the rebels used me to scare their enemies that''s why they killed my parents in the first place because I was a trophy they could use." He shook his head. "I fled the rebels because Avel was able to hack my collar, he couldn''t release it but he could trick it enough that we could both flee."

    Asuka put a hand on his. "But there was a price?" Kaworu nodded sadly. "To keep it from going off I had to give him sexual favours, at first I didn''t mind it was just nice to be with someone even in physical sense even if not emotionally and I was happy to join Nerv Ukraine as a soldiers I had no interest in the Eva program."

    He took in deep breath letting it out very slowly. "That didn''t last long because in my mental tests I was scoring high and myself and Avel were both tested in the sync test and we both passed. They removed my collar fully and gave me medical and health care and tablets which make me look this way. It was after that Avel started to abuse me he would beat me if I didn''t comply with his sexual wishes it was only then that the program got wind of his former rebel life and the other boyfriends he''d abused and he was thrown off."

    Asuka eased her interface clips loose feeling her hair spill free as she put them to one side. "Did you tell them he was abusing you?" Kaworu tensed sharply. "Yes it was the hardest thing I ever had to do¡­ because I thought he''d kill me and it was becoming more obvious every day to everyone because I was turning up with bruising and black eyes and I kept making excuses like I fell down the stairs I tripped but my division started to think different. I was used to being beaten by the rebels as punishment for not doing as I was told but this was so much worse because at one time we had been friends and in the beginning I didn''t mind the sexual favours."

    He paused before speaking. "Shinji says it''s not my fault." Asuka shifted closer. "That''s because he''s right, it isn''t your fault you were the victim Kaworu and someone asking you for sexual favours isn''t normal."

    "She''s right¡­you were the victim¡­I always tell you that."

    Kaworu turned sharply seeing that Shinji had opened his eyes thought he looked groggy he moved closer to him helping him sit up in bed. "Are you alright you had me deeply worried?" Shinji coughed painfully his throat felt sour clearly he had been crying out in Evangelion not just in that awful vision. ¡°My throat hurts, was I crying out?"

    Kaworu leaned over giving him a gentle kiss on the lips as he wrapped his arms around him pulling him close as Asuka stood up giving them both more space. "Yes it awful, you told me once that you used to scream in your youth due to panic attacks and fear but I never realized how bad it was for you. Your scream sounded like your inner soul was being torn out."

    Maya walked in through the door as she spoke. "Kaworu''s right you were screaming whatever that Lance did it seemed to effect 00, 01 and 02 the most all of your syncs were going out of alignment and then dropping into the danger zones but then correcting themselves but this meant all these units froze in the end we had to shut you all down.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    She looked at her tablet. "Tomorrow I will need you all to tell me what you saw." Shinji felt Kaworu move back as he tried to get out of bed. "Rei I need to check her!" Asuka turned putting a hand on his shoulder easing him back down. "Don''t worry I''m going to take care of her." Shinji looked at her for a long moment. "How come you didn''t pass out?" Asuka stepped away from him. "I did pass out I just feel fine now."

    Shinji breathed in deeply. "Yeah but your walking around right now my body feels like it''s been hit by a car and it hurts to move my legs." Asuka shrugged as she moved towards the door. "I''m used to pain remember?"

    Her next word didn''t come as she felt someone grab her from behind as Mari''s voice hit the air. "You''re awake don''t do that to me you had no idea how worried I was!" Asuka struggled feeling Mari''s arms tighten around her waist as she watched as both Kaworu and Shinji smirk. "I''m fine now let me go four eyes you''re crushing me!"

    Mari eased her grip as she ruffled the other woman''s red hair. "Stop complaining princess and enjoy it for a change." Asuka let out a deep breath realizing that there was no point in fighting this and though her body didn''t hurt mentally she felt drained and a part of her just wanted to curl up and go to sleep. "Mari could you let me go I need to check on Rei she still hasn''t regained consciousness."

    Mari smiled as she released her picking up a bag opposite seeing that Toji was bringing more as he coming up the corridor holding food in his arms they were both in their normal clothes. "We got you all some food." Asuka turned looking at Shinji and Kaworu. "Great feed them I''m not hungry."

    Mari watched as she walked past. "Since when are you not hungry are you feeling sick or something?" Asuka eyed her as she made her way towards Rei room seeing that the doctors were leaving. "I''m going to check on Rei now."

    She walked slowly into the hospital room pulling up a chair and sitting opposite Rei who didn''t move she eased her fingers running them in a gentle motion down the other woman''s arm to her fingers before taking hold of her hand. It felt strange being here now as she was so used to being on the opposite side as Rei had visited her so much after the Alpha unit accident.

    She''d never been good at this she never knew what to say to people when they''d been injured least of all someone who was her lover. She''d never been good at it even with Shinji when they''d been together and she knew that Kaworu always had the right words to say, which she didn''t which was why they were so good for each other. She looked down tensing in frustration as finally spoke. "I''m really no good at this Rei I verfickte suck when it comes to knowing what to say."

    Rei''s other hand suddenly moved taking hold of her own as the other woman''s eye opened but her right one remained slightly closed as she smiled speaking in a low weak voice. "You''re trying, that''s all that matters." Asuka looked at her in surprise. "Your awake¡­can you move?" Rei breathed in feeling the stabbing pain around her right eye and up her right arm. "My right arm hurts¡­and so does my right eye."

    Asuka breathed in helping her sit up though it was hard to stand the painful sounds that came out of her mouth as she eased her up right watching as the younger woman breathed in painfully let out deep slow breathes as her hand went to her lower stomach. "Does it hurt there to?" Rei nodded letting a painful breath as Asuka adjusted the pillows behind her. "Feels like someone twisted my insides the wrong way." She tried to move her arm only to stop because it hurt too much. "What was that Lance doing to us?"

    Asuka watched as Shinji was given a pain killer by Maya as Kaworu kept him steady in the other room no doubt she''d been in here next opposite them she could see Mari and Toji sorting through the food. "I don''t know." She paused. "But thank you for what you did when you locked into my entry plug it somehow freed me from it."

    Rei looked up slightly. "Did we beat Eligos?" Asuka looked up slightly. "I don''t think we did we were so close though." She looked down slightly. "I also don''t get why everyone is calling me destroyer of worlds even my own stupid vision which was some kind of skeleton but it had one living eye was calling me that before you plugged in." Rei breathed in deeply. "Maybe it''s just some stupid tag line which the vision gave you, in mine I was talking to my younger self and she was naked and it felt weird."

    Asuka turned sharply she had not said anything about this yet to Rei but she couldn''t this goddess version she remembered clearly now it had all come back to her when she''d remember her mother in crystal clarity but that goddess had said that she would see Rei in the future so she could not jeopardize that as she had no idea if doing so would affect things. "Your younger self did she have dark blue hair, you know the colour you used to dye it?"

    Rei looked down slightly. "Yes but it wasn''t as dark blue its seemed much lighter." She looked at her hands. "It was awful it made me feel so uneasy she looked like me when I was young but I knew she wasn''t me there was something so off about her."

    Asuka squeezed her hand gently. "In what way?" Rei put a hand through her hair in frustration. "She just seemed odd, it''s like when you look in the mirror you see your reflection but you know it''s not really you it''s an illusion created by the glass but the difference with her was I felt like the glass image was trying to reach out and touch me and it really it scared me."

    Asuka turned as Maya came in to the room she stood up. "Rei''s right eye and right arm are feeling painful and she has stomach pains." Maya moved forward loading the medical gun as she came up to the bed. "Okay I can give you something for that Rei but it will take a moment to kick in." Rei felt the sharp pain as the pain killer went in. "Thank you."

    Maya put her hand on the younger woman''s face easing up the hologram scanner checking over her right eye carefully seeing the results come up as negative for damage as she pulled away. "You''re experiencing some form of ghost pains as is your brother we couldn''t see any injury on his body or yours and Asuka''s."

    Rei looked at her as she started to feel the pain lessen enough for her to move her right hands fingers. "I thought you fixed the issue with ghost pains seven years ago in that you fitted the Evangelion''s with a form sync damping which means old pain or wounds can''t loop back to the pilot body once they leave the entry plug?"

    Maya put the medical gun to one side. "We did, so we are not sure why this has happened and only to you two and not Asuka so we will need to run the simulations tonight. Misato and Kaji and the others are already doing so as it will take all night to run the numbers and find out how and why the lance caused problems both to you and your units."

    She breathed n deeply. "As soon as you feel better and you''ve eaten I want you and your brother to go home and sleep this off as ghost pains can take up to a day to go away, which means neither of you three will be do training tomorrow." She put her hands in lab coat pockets. "I know your both going to the auction event tomorrow night, so maybe the rest will be good for the both off you."

    She looked at Asuka. "I want to run a brain scan on you in a few minutes I just need to set up the bed as you woke up before I could start, as your brain was acting incredibly strangely at one point it''s like 02 was bringing up pilot code error which the unit only does that when it thinks the wrong pilot is in the entry plug." Asuka rolled her eyes. "Great just what I need more scheisse brain scans like having all the other ones when Bardiel was in my head wasn''t bad enough."

    Maya breathed in deeply. "I''ll make it as quick as possible this time." Asuka felt a sly smile form. "I''ll hold you to that." Maya moved towards the door. "I''m sure you will but for now rest once your scans complete you can eat the food Mari''s brought you after its done I have to go and start running the numbers and like Shinji I need you both to tell me what you saw tomorrow."

    Asuka watched as she vanished from sight she didn''t like anything about this it all felt strange and wrong deep down none of what had happened made any sense. It all gave a deeply uneasy feeling how had that strange Evangelion gotten hold of a lance?

    There weren''t meant to be any lances or at least that was what she''d heard from Seele. That lance though it was oddly familiar somehow despite being made of stone it felt like she''d seen it before yet she knew that she never had. Maybe she was being stupid and overthinking this maybe it wasn''t anything but a copy of the real Lance of Longinus fact was it wasn''t something she wanted to dwell on. She turned back to Rei as she leaned over giving her a gentle kiss on the lips before speaking. "Can you stand?"

    Rei looked up slightly feeling a smile form. "Can you help me get me to on my feet I want to see Shinji?" Asuka nodded as she helped her slowly get on to her feet though it was clear that for Rei it hurt. "Okay lets gets you in the other room just take it slow." Rei moved forward slowly. "Is this your first time trying to talk to me passed out?" Asuka turned giving her a wide toothy grin. "Yes." Rei carried on moving forward feeling her smile widen. "You know it wasn''t that bad."

    8

    Christopher breathed in painfully as he was pulled from the entry plug by the workers who laid him down carefully on the floor so they could tend to his head wound as the Lance of Longinus was slowly brought back up into its safe place which was hanging above the Hybrid Evangelion bay and close to his grandmother''s main office. "That little bitch you know one of you fuckers should have told me that she was going to do weird entry port shit with her girlfriend!"

    He watched as his sister walked up to him she was in her plug suit she had used her hybrid Evangelion to swim up and grab his and pull him back to the safety of the undersea air ship Hatshepsut which was currently deep down under the sea both there Hybrid Evangelion''s were side by side in the huge bay soaking in bloody water. Achika adjusted her round glasses as she pushed her long dark brown hair back speaking calmly. "Well she always was a weird little shit."

    Christopher looked at her for a long moment his brown eyes narrowing. "Both her and Mari were weird little shits I hate being related to the runt of the litter and the bastard child." Achika walked over to him she snatching a lit cigarette from one of the workers mouths which she gently passed to him watching as he took it. "It''s not all bad brother, you''re still alive and that is what counts."

    Christopher pushed his dark brown hair back adjusting his short pony tail as he breathed in the cigarette. "Well I guess there''s that but Grandmother''s going to be utterly pissed I mean I messed up my first mission." He blew out the smoke. "I don''t get what happened like I had Langley but then the other units started doing weird shit."

    "Yes they were and it was deeply intriguing."

    Achika watched as their grandmother came closer he breathed in deeply as the work crew moved to one side to let her through as she stopped in front of them she never shouted at them but this time she knew it could be different. Christopher looked up slightly putting out his cigarette. "We failed Grandmother and we take full responsibility."

    Gabriella felt a sly smile form on her lips as she looked at her grandchildren. "No please my precious children you have not failed if anything you have proven that the Lance of Longinus we hold is not dead I mean it was most curious to see 01, 00, and 02 behave that way but there part in the final equation isn''t relevant what is, is that 02 was most effected which means the lance still holds a very deep sway over Asuka." Achika''s turquoise eyes narrowed. "If it had not been for 00 and Rei it would have worked."

    Gabriella raised her hand. "Which means we need Asuka outside the entry plug we need to capture her and it would seem that a most perfect opportunity has presented itself to us." She eased out a controller pressing it watching as hologram screen popped up opposite showing a television event. "It appears that tomorrow Rei and Asuka are due to attend the Action house in Tokyo Three."

    She smoothed down her black suit feeling a cold smile form. "What a spectacle this will be our contact in the auction house is getting the arrangements ready for you and our spy contacts Orino and Hachiro will shadow you for safety, let me be clear Asuka''s so called strength that''s brought about by rage is an issue but I''ve made you some new toys to deal with it."

    Christopher stood up he feeling one of the doctors give him a shot of pain killer with the medical gun as another put a special wet bandage to his cut to stop the bleeding. "I assume you only want Asuka?" Gabriella turned slightly. "Yes leave Gendo''s daughter unspoilt, she''s too much of a risk and I''ve heard enough rumours of what happens to those foolish enough to play around with Gendo''s children and none of these stories end well."

    She eyed the hologram image which was running the advert and milking the event with everything it had since this was Asuka''s second official visit anywhere. "Plus she''ll be too much of a distraction to Asuka and we need her to focus on becoming the destroyer of worlds again not on her little sex toy. Christopher smirked. "Well speaking sincerely I''d screw Rei all day long if she was my girlfriend she is very attractive." Achika laughed as she adjusted her silver rimmed glasses. "Yes well I''d like to sleep with Toji, doesn''t mean it''s ever going to be real."

    Christopher smirked putting a hand on her shoulder. "Well there is such a thing as illegal pilot VR dating simulations sister you could try one of those since I have them all so I can copy them and sell on the black market as people will pay a lot for them." Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "You children and your VR toys it''s so charming." She turned. "Now come and get out of your plug suits I have the chief preparing us all something nice and you have a long day ahead of you both tomorrow."

    Achika pulled on the collar of her white plug suit which had sections of gold and blue on the legs just like her brothers. "Tell me this man can at least cook Timballo because the last chief who you sent to the Caribbean to feed one of our wealthy supporters couldn''t." Christopher sneered. "Yeah I hate it when it''s not traditional because it tastes like shit." Gabriella raised her hand. "Oh trust me you won''t be disappointed this time my precious ones."

    End of part 15

    Silvermoonlight

 Shadows In The Night

    SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT

    Ritsuko eyed the six monoliths whose yellow symbols glowed in the darkness which represents the three men and three women who made up the UN council as she spoke. ¡°This is what I said was going to happen!¡± She raised her hand. ¡°I said bringing back the destroyer of world was bad and you all ignored me, now look what¡¯s just happened!¡± Seele one spoke his dark tone hitting the air. ¡°It was dead our tests said it was stone we believed it had no power!¡±

    Gendo looked up. ¡°It would appear that it is still alive it was trying to reach out to its forma master.¡± Seele two spoke though her voice was deadpan. ¡°That is incorrect it was reaching to links in its past and the German girl was not its only master.¡± She paused. ¡°We thought with the creation of the Spears Of Destiny the Lances of Longinus would lose there hold over forma owners, because that is what is written in the dead sea scrolls.¡±

    Seele three spoke his tone filled with concern. ¡°But there is the fact that the second Lance is still lost we have no idea where the German girl tossed it in the last cycle and it¡¯s been out of our sight for a long time one lance cannot bring about our doom only two can.¡±

    Seele four spoke though her voice was as cold as ice. ¡°We knew that we might have these issues though so we prepared well ahead.¡± Gendo turned as the floor opposite rose and he caught sight of the six devices coming in to view all round in shape flashing in colours of yellow and white under them was a thick black collar which wasn¡¯t turned on. ¡°What are these?¡± Seele five spoke his tone filled with distain. ¡°Insurance if you will, these devices need to put in side all of the entry plugs there technology is far from your understanding but they will disrupt the signals from the Lances.¡±

    Seele six spoke her voice unlike the others was calm and collected. ¡°They will stop the disruption the Evangelion experienced, that disruption means the cores souls are no longer in culmination with the pilots its why none of them could reach out to their children.¡± Gendo looked up. ¡°But the British, Chinese and Ukraine pilot were not affected.¡± Seele six spoke again. ¡°Yes they were but for people who have never grasped a lance the effects are different and we won¡¯t risk their units behaving the same way.¡±

    Seele three spoke his tone still uncertain. ¡°We always believed Keel would try this because Ouroboros has more resources yet we are now facing Ankh who we have underestimated and we know little about them apart from there leader who is a woman who calls herself pharaoh our spies speak of them owning a form of air ship powered by a type of AT field but we have yet to see it in the flesh.¡±

    Seele one spoke his tone still just as dark. ¡°They clearly stole the DNA from Bardiel¡¯s tongue to build there hybrid that is both angel and Evangelion we¡¯ve now updated the Magi system personally so it can read their signature though your workers could have done it, it would have taken too long. It¡¯s also clear that, the hybrid unit is in primal form which is unnatural as transcendence from one form to another should be natural this means they must have a very mental disciplined pilot to handle the mental stain, as it will great. This means that whoever built that foundation has links with the Evangelion program and we believed all loose ends had been tied up regarding this which means one escaped our notice.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed the black collar moving her hand towards it. ¡°What¡¯s this for?¡± Seele three spoke up his sharp tone hitting the air. ¡°Do not touch that!¡± Ritsuko pulled away. ¡°You said everything here was to help us.¡± She watched as another floor section rose up showing a strange filming device which looked like a tripod standing old nineties style professional video camera though its lenses was a gleaming silver colour and it had coloured veins of gold running through it.

    It had no film reel instead it had twenty different coloured filters made of glass which could pushed in, in a line on top of the camera. Another section of the floor rose up which was a tall shelf which had open medical cases on each section which had every odd looking medical devices in them and syringes but they looked other worldly.

    Seele six spoke again her voice still just as calm. ¡°These medical items and the collar are both items that you should pray to your gods we never have to use, they are last resorts after we returned from instrumentality in our last cycle we had these made as soon as your technology was good enough this why they look outdated to you a decade before would not have done the job it had to be as soon as you reached your technological age, but this deceive is one we don¡¯t like to use as there things humans are not meant to see, we are your protectors we keep some things from you for a very good reason as we have all experienced horrors beyond your wildest dreams.¡±

    Inside the Vatican¡¯s secret library Vienna

    When you¡¯re a god you can bypass the laws of time as morals pass you by you can move so fast that they are out of your line of sight yet you can slow the world to a crawl and see things going on in different times and places. Though nothing really changes for me I still enjoy reading books I¡¯ve read in Library¡¯s on every continent from the British Library to the still standing library of Alexandra which they stopped from burning in this cycle and forced the Christians back after the death of Hypatia who they used as a martyr to gain revenge and a keep their foot hold.

    Its why in this cycle the one god religions are not as powerful and they are now even more at the mercy of falling out of favour with humanity. Because the angels landed and one followed another proving that walking gods are not single but are plural, thus the multiple god religions have gained a huge popularity all a new they were always popular before though they had remained and modernized themselves but now they sit like a gold pillar commanding the world.

    Christianity and Roman gothic has suffered and the Vatican hates the Evangelion program the y believe it rid them of followers and they always refuse help to Nerv they keep their secret documents stashed away. They shouldn¡¯t stash such secrets of importance I move my finger seeing thousands of books and scrolls open at once as there pages flip at lightning speed as I read them all at once.

    I can see thousands of words written fleeting in front of my eyes as I open more scrolls and books replacing others it¡¯s not as interesting as Alexandra but it is fascinating. Human history in the blink of an eye different perspectives, different truths, miss truths and outright lies. I recall in my beginnings always enjoying reading and my desire to read and explore has only become more as time has gone on I crave to understand and to know more god hood did not diminish this for me when I returned to this world.

    I thought it would be maybe the truth is as I travelled through galaxies and universes I realized that though reading these stories and histories was fascinating it wasn¡¯t the same as being back in my own universe reading books. Maybe it¡¯s the smell of them even the feel I know my human counterpart in this world who is the reincarnation of the first Rei who created me in the first cycle and gave me all her godly power in the last cycle.

    Twenty cycles have passed now but my counterpart still read books like me it seems like no matter how many times, time resets in human instrumentality and history repeats some things remain the same while others become different and though we very different in appearance. It fascinates me how another version of me is the same be they clone or human. It proves that there is endless wonder in the tones and shifting of the cycle and they create very different combinations, she is Rei and I am Rei but we could not be more different and that¡¯s the beauty of creation.

    I find my hand moving as I stop reading all off the books suddenly bringing a single scroll floating down as I eye it feeling my stomach turn, as I flick my finger sending it flying across the room. As much as I like the norm I really dislike that scroll it turns up in every universe, it gets to me how this writer keeps showing up over and over and there are times when I wonder if galaxy is more alive than I am and likes its irritating and debasing jokes on immortality.

    8

    Misato let her gaze shift over her holographic screen she had been waiting her for Ritsuko to return from Seele and she was starting to get bored. No matter how much data she looked over from the specialists and Maya nothing made any sense the figures just didn¡¯t add up it was so fucking frustrating. Not to mention that Asuka had been scanned because her brain waves had for a second gone so strange it made no sense to anyone in the command desk something about the fact that the 02 was getting the error code for the wrong pilot but not rejecting her.

    The Lance was meant to dead that was what she had been told so why now was this shit happening? Asuka was the forma destroyer of worlds she could understand her unit getting affected by not 00 and 01 what was it about them that had caused them to be affected as well? Oh there were so many questions none of which she had any answers to.

    She¡¯d been told that all of the pilots had been sent home hours ago and all would need downtime tomorrow to recover while the units were checked over and their guns reloaded. She looked up watching as Kaji appeared he gave her a wave before opening the door and stepping in to her office. Kaji walked up to her taking a seat opposite as his smile widen as he looked at her holographic screen. ¡°Still crunching the numbers I see?¡±

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    Misato eyed him taking in a deep breath. ¡°Nothing makes sense Kaji I feel like I¡¯m reading some other language.¡± Kaji brought his tablet flicking the two images on it on to her desk before putting the tablet down. ¡°Then you¡¯re going to like this even less.¡± Misato watched as two brain scans appeared. ¡°Maya asked me to bring this to you the right one is Asuka¡¯s from her current scan.¡± Misato eyed the other scan. ¡°What¡¯s this one then?¡± Kaji pointed to the scan. ¡°That¡¯s Asuka but it¡¯s not our Asuka.¡±

    Misato eyed the scan. ¡°That makes no sense Kaji¡­¡± Kaji leaned closer. ¡°The Magi formed this scan based on those readings the Evangelion wasn¡¯t going berserk because it was still Asuka in there but one the unit couldn¡¯t recognise and I can tell you now this brain is very different it¡¯s firing differently and it doesn¡¯t match our Asuka¡¯s.¡±

    He paused not liking what he was going to say next. ¡°This brain has, had serious damage at some point there is evidence of extreme trauma but it¡¯s not to the central lobe but it shows that she might not have been able to walk right on one leg, which we can¡¯t say and there¡¯s really awful damage to the brains stems cord and it hasn¡¯t been repaired correctly it was clearly a rush job enough that she could walk but what state she was in we¡¯ll never know.¡±

    He eyed the scan. ¡°I¡¯m no doctor but I know work like this gets you jailed up for life it¡¯s unethical even more so when you¡¯re dealing with someone¡¯s brain so whoever did this was never held to account but it means that she had pain for the rest of their life down her spine.¡± He put a hand on beard. ¡°It gets worse this is the brain of a sixteen year old girl not a twenty three year old woman and she died at that age the Magi are deeply certain off this all four of them agreed on it without question.¡±

    Misato eyed the scan. ¡°So this Asuka could be the one our Asuka drew in those images of the unit ascending in the past cycle?¡± Kaji closed the image. ¡°It¡¯s very possible but from this we have no idea what her personality was like it¡¯s impossible to tell from this and we can¡¯t recreate her on the hologram stand life size as we have no blood or tissue samples so we have no idea what she looked like ether.¡±

    Misato turned to look at him. ¡°It sounds like her life was tragic and very short.¡± Kaji raised his hand taking hers. ¡°Sadly it would seem so she was still a child at death she never saw adulthood like our Asuka did.¡± Misato looked down sadly. ¡°Now that you know the truth about these cycles do you ever think about the versions of us that came before us, you know if they were happy or if they ever got together?¡±

    Kaji felt a sad smile form as he shifted his chair closer. ¡°Yes from time to time but I don¡¯t dwell on it, things like that can screw with your mind.¡± He eased up a hand putting it on her face. ¡°I just enjoy the here and now it¡¯s just easier.¡± Misato looked at him for long moment she couldn¡¯t help her next actions and she was kissing him before she could stop herself she was getting sick of hiding their romance in lifts or out of sight she just wanted to break the rules she wanted to feel that spark of youth and feel like a teenager all over again.

    She wanted to play around in the way Shinji, Kaworu and Asuka and Rei were doing as that was what she was jealous off it had just taken her some time to work it out it was that care free feeling of inner carefree teenager which she¡¯d lost due to so many bad relationships before this.

    She felt him suddenly push back as the sexual game of tug of war started and Kaji clearly wanted it as he grabbed at the blind close by causing it to fall giving them much more privacy from the dock workers working on the units below. They both stood up as his knee suddenly found its way between her legs as they both stood up as his other hand found her chest as he started to move it sensually.

    ¡°You¡¯re both meant to be doing work in here not having sex!¡±

    Misato snapped her head around watching as Kaji face turned to pure anger as he pulled away she turned back seeing Ritsuko in the doorway. She took in a deep breath adjusting her clothing feeling all sexual feeling die in a heartbeat. She felt her teeth grind together as she spoke seeing Kaji adjust himself. ¡°You know you¡¯re meant to knock!¡± Ritsuko eyed her in disgust. ¡°I don¡¯t need to knock my position is higher than yours.¡± Kaji folded his arms. ¡°Was there something important to your visit here or is this just a social call?¡±

    Ritsuko closed the door behind her as she smirked speaking in a dark tone. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Kaji did I ruin your game of hide the sausage?¡± She paused ignoring his look of utter distain as she pulled out her tablet. ¡°No I¡¯m here because of you just hired!¡± Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°You said I could hire who ever I wanted for the command post so I hired Sumire!¡± Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°I¡¯m not talking about her! Who you hired was your choice and you picking some reject that is your choice, no I¡¯m talking about Chilam the fruit cake from Canada!¡±

    Misato folded her arms leaning on her desk. ¡°Oh please she¡¯s a brilliant scientist she worked on the Mass Eva program till it folded, I thought she would be great to pair up with Vitor, since he¡¯s very depressed at the moment and not working as well as he could be and trying to pair him with other scientists has been fruitless as they don¡¯t understand the level of genetics involved in the Archangels as there so different to the Evangelions.¡± She turned slightly. ¡°Chilam does and her field isn¡¯t that different to his as she created the mass Evangelion prototypes without cores the only difference is he clones she creates from with none cloned sources.¡±

    Ritsuko moved a step closer. ¡°Chilam is a reckless lunatic who blows up labs and doesn¡¯t play by the rules there¡¯s a reason she never got hired back in to the private sector and had to work in the public it¡¯s because she caused issues, it why we have rejected her CV countless times!¡± She was about to say more only for Maya to suddenly burst in through the door her voice hitting the air. ¡°You hired Chilam are you out of your mind?!¡± Misato turned to her. ¡°Not you to, you know she already said this to me!¡±

    Maya turned eyeing Ritsuko who gave her a dirty look. ¡°She did?¡± Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°Yes it would appear that for the first time in seven years you two agree with each other on something.¡± Maya put her hands in her lab coat pockets. ¡°Well as much as I hate to say this she¡¯s right Chilam is out of her mind, she¡¯s a danger to everyone is the science division.¡±

    Misato put a hand on her face. ¡°Most of the people in the science division are eccentrics who have to be tethered down by you Maya since you liaison with them all of the time so I don¡¯t see the problem.¡± Kaji turned slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t see the problem ether I mean we work with difficult people all the time.¡± Maya looked up sharply. ¡°We are not taking about a difficult person here we are talking about a lunatic whose actions have nearly cost people their lives.¡±

    Misato eyed her for a long moment. ¡°Look I need her because she can do what she does and she¡¯s the only one who can work with Vitor, she¡¯s the only person who has that level of understanding of his Archangel work. I mean Seele is trying to find the other missing scientist¡¯s but time is short and today¡¯s battle was just a lucky break we all know that if we¡¯d have had two or even three Archangels it might have been different along with the new added bonus of that new hybrid Evangelion.¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply hating that Misato was right and even she couldn¡¯t deny it. ¡°Fine you¡¯ve made your point I¡¯ll move them both to a lab where there less likely to cause problems but you know Vitor¡¯s going to blow up over this he likes working alone.¡± Misato eased up her hand. ¡°Yes I¡¯ll deal with him personally.¡± Ritsuko turned eyeing Maya. ¡°Oh you¡¯re just going to agree with her now¡­you know you never agreed with me that easy when you worked under me.¡±

    Maya turned slightly meeting the other woman¡¯s cold gaze. ¡°The fact that I ever worked under you is something I prefer to forget ever happened.¡± She moved towards the door opening it sharply. ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me I have things to do, like setting up a lab for them that¡¯s so out of the way so no one will get hurt.¡± Ritsuko watched as she left she turned back remembering why she was actually here.

    She eased up the small suit case in her hand walking up to Misato¡¯s desk dropping it on it not caring that it sent some of her papers flying. ¡°This is from Gendo he wants them installed tonight they go in the entry plugs that¡¯s all of them.¡± Misato watched as she stepped back she eyed the case looking at the six round black glowing circular items. ¡°What are these?¡±

    Ritsuko smirked as she looked at her. ¡°That¡¯s need to know and you don¡¯t need to know all that you need to know is that the orders are from Seele and the specialists will know where they go.¡± She stepped back. ¡°So I¡¯d get to it and not distract your selves again tonight.¡± Misato watched as she left closing the door behind her hard she grabbed a folder throwing it violently at the closed door watching as the papers went flying everywhere. ¡°Fuck off bitch!¡± Kaji shook his head. ¡°I hate that woman.¡±

    Misato sat down in her office chair picking up one of the glowing objects moving it between her fingers as she felt her anger slowly fade away. ¡°You know you should go home Kaji, I mean your shift is over.¡± Kaji sat down pulling up the chair. ¡°No I¡¯ll stay until we get this done plus I need to set up Sumire¡¯s panel she has no holographic image during the fight it meant the pilots couldn¡¯t see or hear her. I need to get that sorted its due to the hologram desk as it was downloaded and wiped by the Special ops division after Makoto¡¯s arrest so it needs her personal information putting in to it.¡±

    Misato turned to him. ¡°How is she doing because she wasn¡¯t doing so well when I bought her back to Nerv central?¡± Kaji breathed in deeply. ¡°She very quiet, myself Maya and Shigeru were having breakfast with her to make her feel more welcome but she didn¡¯t open up to us at all, maybe it¡¯s because she spent so long in the down below area that being up here is jarring and surreal now.¡± He paused before speaking. ¡°She¡¯s clearly very good at her job though and you were right to pick her she knows just what she was doing.¡±

    Misato put a hand on his. ¡°Her wounds won¡¯t heal overnight but I hope in time she¡¯ll get better.¡± Kaji picked up one of the strange devices. ¡°Yeah I agree she just needs more time, I think she¡¯s been through hell this past year and it¡¯s just gotten to her and it¡¯s safe to say we both know what that¡¯s like.¡± Misato nodded. Yeah I guess we do.¡± She eyed the device again. ¡°So you want to come with me down to the docks so we can fit these, whatever they are?¡± Kaji felt a wide smile form. ¡°With pleasure, with both of us working it will get done much faster.¡±

    End of part 16

    Silvermoonlight

 Feeling Warmth In The Darkening Night

    FEELING WARMTH IN THE DARKENING NIGHT

    Kaworu lives in one of the high scrapers it''s a modern apartment building but it overlooks one of Tokyo Three''s many large parks like me he''s old fashioned and his house has no IDHS system but he still has security cameras and the flat screen, video games and console are all modern as is the sound system.

    There''s a wide front room with two three seat sofa both are covered in beautiful blankets with highly colourful patterns and his flat screen TV and media system are in the central room there is also a grand white piano opposite the white kitchen which is where he loves to write his music and on the other side is the four seat round dining table where I''m sitting now.

    Go upstairs there''s a large bed that has velvet covers and on one side to it is the bathroom and you come to the computer room and his store room there are no blinds here but then there are no doors either its very open space and there always intense oils burning which makes the place smell sweet and gives it a warmth.

    These buildings are normally used for families as there cosy and have lots of space and he has a lot of items from his own country here like blankets and panted procaine and special clay plates and bowls for eating out of he even has a special outdoor wood stove cooking pot on the balcony like Asuka and Mari he likes things to feel like home.

    I think he still misses home sometimes and like Asuka, Mari and Toji he orders in a lot of Ukrainian ingredients for dishes and like them he uses a knife and fork to eat when he''s not at work.

    My body has finally stopped hurting but it took a long time it''s why I''m sitting here now as he cooks. He hasn''t spoken much is just not like him I can sense the tension even from here as he''s trying to cook Pirozhki which are fried buns filled with meat and vegetables it''s one of his favourite dishes.

    Shinji stood up slowly walking over to him. "Would you like some help?" Kaworu tensed slightly. "No I can manage." Shinji moved to stand opposite him taking the cooked food from his hand carefully plating it up. "You know if there''s something you want to talk about we can."

    Kaworu breathed in deeply after joining the Evangelion program and Avel being thrown off he had never wanted that part of his life to return to haunt him and now he was so uneasy because of it. Avel still scared him deep down and it brought back painful memories all over again off feeling helpless and at his mercy maybe that was why he told himself it was always his fault because that made it easier than facing the fact that he had never stood up to him when it mattered and inwardly he felt like a coward.

    In the rebels he''d killed people as a teenager they''d taught him to have no remorse and at first it had been easy but as he''d grown up and learnt that the rebels he followed were no better than terrorists he had started to want freedom every day and it only became more clear that he was being used by them because of his condition to cause fear, terror and uncertainty.

    It was why he hated his own condition deep down and he hid it using the drugs making sure no one ever saw him off it because he always felt that they would never accept him because of it and he knew not only in his country was the condition disliked it also disliked in some small rural areas of Japan and Russia and some of the middle east and no one knew what caused it because in the genetics it wasn''t clear, only how to suppress it.

    Worse he''d never felt that Avel ever loved him despite his condition comments like him being his little zombie didn''t help ether they just made him feel worse and made want to hide it all the more after Avel had been thrown off the program.

    He turned looking at Shinji as he spoke sadly in truth he didn''t want to hide his feeling from his lover as Shinji even when they''d been just friends had always listened to him. "It was so hard seeing Avel again." Shinji moved closer to him putting an arm around his waist. "You never did anything wrong I told you that so many times, it was him."

    Kaworu breathed in painfully. "Every time I hear his voice I feel myself shiver, every time I think of our memories I just feel sad and I wish I''d fought back but I never did because I thought he''d hit me harder." He paused as he spoke painfully. "I was such a coward I had the opportunity to run more than once but I never did and even when he was gone I always worried that he''d track me down and appear on my door step to either force me back with him or kill me for getting him thrown of the Evangelion program."

    Shinji eyed him as he spoke unable to keep the anger out of his voice. "I would never let him touch you." Kaworu looked down sadly. "I never wanted that chapter of my life to come back and haunt me least of all now that we are together."

    Shinji moved to stand in front of him he''d seen Kaworu sad before but never like this it felt like the air had been blasted out of the other man''s sails and all of his confidence had left him in one go. He gently put his hand on the other man''s face. "If I make one promise to you it is that I would always protect you, no matter what."

    Kaworu looked down feeling the tears come before he stopped them. "Don''t make promises you can''t keep Shinji." Shinji pulled him close as he started to cry harder. "You know I always keep my promises Kaworu and this man will not come between us."

    He held him tighter it wasn''t some off the wall statement he meant every word of it, he loved this man and he wouldn''t let anything happen to him. He had seen Kaworu cry before but not like this, this was so raw and painfully and it felt like a long time before those painful tears finally subsided. He eased up his face kissing his lips gently as he ran his hand through his thick white hair. "Would you like to order in you know we can get some uiro-mochi that steamed rice cake that you love eating and Taiyaki fish cake waffles." Kaworu looked up as he nodded sadly. "Yes I would very much like that."

    Shinji pulled him close again. "Don''t worry everything is going to be okay." Kaworu breathed in deeply Shinji was right and he knew it but somewhere deep in his heart he couldn''t turn away from the fear maybe his best option was not to dwell on it and try to move forward despite how hard it felt.

    8

    Avel winced painfully as he ate his food at the table his right shoulder and back were still hurting like hell as was Joshua''s who was eating opposite him. He eyed Kensuke who was eyeing him a smirk on his face. "What are you looking at?"

    Kensuke pushed up his glasses. "Oh I don''t know it just looks like you and your boyfriend got your ass whipped." Hikari felt a cold smile form. "Yes it would appear that you did get kicked around and weren''t you making out that you were going to do the job that we couldn''t the other day." Joshua looked up sharply. "Fuck off Hikari." Hikari smirked. "You said you could not only beat 02 but you''d bring the destroyer of worlds to us well I don''t see her!" Joshua''s smashed his fist down hard on the table. "I said fuck off!"

    He turned as a small Chinese woman sat down opposite him she had very delicate features her brown eyes narrowed as she looked at him as she spoke softly. "It would appear you were both deeply unprepared."

    Avel breathed in deeply. "Admit it Joshua, Fang is right we were unprepared." Fang looked up as a tall Japanese woman came over to stand opposite her though unlike all of them her eyes were a glorious glowing blood red colour and her skin was white and pale her hairs true colour was white but she''s dyed it black as she had walking dead syndrome and worse because of it her parents had named her after a Japanese Y¨­kai called Kuchisake out of shame but in her eyes she was a marvel of beauty and she got to sleep with her every night.

    Women wouldn''t touch her homeland in the rural region of China as she was considered broken goods as she didn''t have a perfect figure and she was considered overweight and having a robotic leg didn''t help either. Kuchisake sat down eyeing Joshua. "She''s right you weren''t prepared and as usual your fucking ego got in the way."

    Joshua leaned forward. "Isn''t there a building you should be haunting Kuchisake?" Kuchisake snarled as she pulled out pull her short wakizashi sword slamming it close to his dinner bowl within inches of his fingers as she leaned closer. "You ever say that shit to me again I¡¯ll ram this into your balls Joshua!"

    Joshua eyed the sword before looking up he knew she''d had that sword specially made and it was razor sharp not to mention the blade was crafted from Evangelion flexible fortified steal the same steal they used to cover the Archangels. "Point taken you can remove that."

    He watched as she pulled the short sword away seating her self-eyeing him coldly. "What is it with both you and Hikari and carrying around daggers?" Hikari eyed him. "It''s called emphasising a point Joshua but you wouldn''t know that since you always use drugs to get people to do what you want them to do." Kensuke eyed them all. "Well just be happy Keel''s on business and hasn''t returned yet because you know he''s going to be mad."

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    "Spoken correctly Kensuke..."

    Avel looked up watching as Keel appeared walking slowly into their private dining area which had its own private buffet with their foods of origins the room had plush luxury furniture and their bedrooms which had luxury bathrooms as standard fitted were close by as was there special wreck room when they weren''t training they could have anything they wanted they just had to request it.

    He turned eyeing Avel and Joshua as he spoke coldly. "You were both an utter disappointment but I guess it''s not all your fault this time the hybrid Evangelion was not something we knew nothing about in our calculations nor did know that it would have a sleeping Lance of Longinus."

    Avel looked up at the tall fifty year old man who was dressed in a long black coat with white markings on the collar and shoulders as well as long black trousers and shoes. His hair was grey and he had the red visor on his eyes. "You didn''t tell us the primal units had some form of ability where they could pair up."

    Keel came to stand next to the table. "This has all thrown our plans out of place but it is clear that Ankh has now drawn there newest cards and none bode well for us." He paused. "They were trying in some failed foolish attempt to awaken the destroyer of worlds but they are so pathetic and amateur in their thinking that they''re doing it incorrectly it demands ritual and sacrifice." He turned to them all. "I want that Lance you are to now to all focus all off your efforts on finding Ankh''s base of operation raid and destroy their bases kill everyone if you have to."

    He turned to Fang. "But not you, I have something most special for you two to do, as your Archangel needs to be tested." He typed into the wooden tables controls binging up a hologram map. "I want you to take Moloch here in to the Dead Sea¡¯s deepest trench in Antarctica, which is deeper than any in the whole ocean." He typed again bringing up a photograph of a deep sea image of a huge stone statue at the very bottom of the red sea. "Find this and bring it to the base."

    Kuchisake eyed the image. "Wait that looks like those strange standing white statues that are all over the world but the head is different, it looks more Evangelion." Keel looked at her for a long moment. "Yes you are correct as you all know the huge standing statues were from the mass Evangelion project in the last cycle they are all in a dead state now."

    He pressed the table controls watching as the photo changed to a video as the undersea device filming worked its way around the huge statue before its camera started to crack due to the intense sea pressure before fading to black clearly destroying the filming device. "This though is the destroyer of worlds former vessel her former Evangelion now dead as stone." Fang eyed the video feed as he brought it back up again looping it. "If it''s dead what use is it to us?" Keel put his hands behind its back. "The statue is unimportant and its entry plug maybe stone but I want the LCL contents inside it." He felt a cold smile form. "As what is in that LCL is our means to bring the past into the present."

    8

    Why was it a skeleton of me what was the verfickte point of that? I know it was me her single eye looked like mine but a slightly lighter shade of blue. The more I hear the term destroyer of the worlds the more uncomfortable it makes me feel like I''m missing something my Grandma called me not long ago to check we were both okay but I couldn''t say anything to her because I really don''t know what happened if I''m honest.

    So after this I''d just watched Rei tell the builders what to do they finished the pottery building two hours ago and it looks stunning they even added gold and black as well as blue Dragon gods to the roofs sides and Japanese sliding doors inside, it reminds me of a small Japanese temple.

    What Rei saw bothers me just as much, as that clearly was not her goddess version she has darker hair, no this was something else. She took in a deep breath only to feel soft fur as she put her hand on Erika who was sleeping on her chest as she was lying stretched out of her three seat sofa.

    Maya said I shouldn''t worry about the title that, that is what is it is just a weird title that means nothing and it probably just came about as I almost caused an impact not long ago though it was stopped because my Mama pulled me into the core then later she sent me home. Though a remember her being so happy to see me and hugging me and accepting me I remember that she was trying to tell me something important but I can''t quite remember what it was.

    She watched as Erika looked up yawning slightly she raised her hand stroking her cat''s chin gently watching as she started to lick her fingers. She turned eyeing the new building as something in her gut was telling her that something wasn''t right she thought Rei would have left the pottery studio by now.

    She sat up watching as Erika jumped off her as she walked over to the kitchen opening the fridge door grabbing the Muscat Bailey wine bottle which she''d brought for her last week along with two glasses. This was just not like Rei in quite moments she was always in the house or maybe she had it all wrong and she was just enjoying having something that was very much for her and part of her personal place.

    Asuka walked up to the beautiful building opening the sliding Japanese door which could be locked coming inside she carefully took her shoes off placing them in holder seeing Rei''s were already there. As she moved into the room which had a two kiln''s one was smaller and a one that was huge in the other area of the room for life size sculptures there was a wheel in the centre of the room and plenty of wooden shelves for finished pieces and things she was working out.

    There was a very cosy area where a wooden coffee table had been placed and her old two seat sofa and a small area where you could make tea and coffee with a coffee maker like hers and there were incense burners and candles and it was painted in warm cream colours.

    There were many bag of clay ready for use on the under floor heated wood flooring though none of them were in use they were instead stacked up high. The dragon seemed to be theme they were on the wall as well on wall in ancient copies of scrolls as well as the godly fox many tailed Kitsune around the room she had no idea that Rei liked dragons this much but then in Japanese culture these being were considered guardians and this one could possibly be Zennyo Ry¨±¨­ the dragon king who could be either gender but she wasn''t sure.

    She moved over finally catching sight of Rei she was seated at the very large drawing desk near the pottery wheel looking at whatever she was drawing in annoyance. She smiled moving closer as she put the wine and glasses down nearby as she eased her leather jacket off putting it to one side feeling a toothy grin form. "So you''re enjoying your new studio."

    Rei looked up sharply she had been so focused on her sketch and had forgotten the time she eyed it remembering why she hated it as it made no sense and it had been stuck in her head since she''d woken up in hospital. She eyed her sketch which she was anything but happy with on any level as she just couldn''t capture the others Rei''s face she''d seen and it was getting on her nerves and it had been a long time since she''d drawn this type of drawing.

    She didn''t normally draw images in this way her sculptures sketches were much more were more spiritual and about perfection in the details whereas this felt more emotional and jarring and made her uneasy. "Sorry I forgot the time, I was trying to draw the thing I saw but it''s not that good."

    Asuka looked at the chair which was like a long padded stool and enough for two people she sat down opposite Rei. "It looks stunning to me I couldn''t draw her that way." Rei felt a smile form. "Yeah but her face is all wrong I just can''t get her expression right." Asuka looked at the image. "How is it not right?"

    Rei looked at the image. "She doesn''t seem spaced out enough as it felt like she was adrift." Asuka looked at the face. "Maybe it''s just the eyes maybe they just need to be more forward and staring." Rei took her pencil as she started to change the image seeing instantly what Asuka was getting at. "What did you see Asuka?"

    Asuka looked down slightly. "I saw a skeleton version of myself and I saw my limbs inside the unit change my left hand was burnt and bleeding I think I was bleeding at the waist, like I''d been shot and my right leg was permanently crippled."

    She breathed in deeply. "The skeleton was talking some scheisse about humanity and about it not deserving to exist and saying I should embrace my true calling." She turned to Rei putting her hand on hers stopping her drawing. "Did your vision speak?" Rei tense d painfully. "Yes she seemed confused like I was the present and her the past but before that I had a vision of floating above the clouds naked and I was holding your unit in my hands but it was like some strange demonic toy, we were arguing and it was awful it was like you hated me even though I was in love with you."

    She looked down sadly unable to stop the sting of her own tears. "It was awful it was like you didn''t love me." Asuka moved putting an arm around the younger woman pulling her close. "I would never do that to you I love you, I always have and you should never doubt that."

    She paused speaking softly as she wiped the other woman''s tears away. "Maybe your vision was playing on how I treated you in school and your desire for love while mine was playing on my own self-hatred and fear of being seriously injury again."

    Rei breathed in painfully watching as the colours pulsed in Asuka''s left eye. "Maybe your right but I hate how real it felt." Asuka felt both of her eyes dart. "Feel better that it''s not real Rei the last thing I ever want to experience is something like Bardiel in your mind again I would never want anything like that to happen to you."

    She turned feeling the need to change the subject. "Your pottery studio looks beautiful." Rei felt a wide smile form as she wiped her remaining tears away. "You think so?" Asuka felt a toothy grin form. "Yes." Rei eyed the room. "I''m glad you like it, I had the design in my head ever since you said I could build anything I wanted in your garden."

    She pulled another sketch over putting her pencil away. "I was thinking there could be a small garden of herbs or a shrine close by what do you think?" Asuka eyed the sketch. "I think you should put in anything and everything that makes you happy." Rei moved her hands taking hold of Asuka''s. "You know you can say no Asuka."

    Asuka leaned closer to her. "But I''d rather say yes." Rei shifted closer pulling her into a warm hug. "You know you spoil me too much right?" Asuka leaned her head onto the other woman''s shoulder she knew she did this but a part of her just didn''t care. "I love you I just want you to be happy." Rei breathed in the reality was that Asuka didn''t need to spoil her this way but she wasn''t sure how to tell her that but it was something she was starting to notice in that Asuka would buy her gifts even if she just noticed something she was interested in it would turn up and the hand gun was another example of that it was like she was desperate to protect her.

    Her thoughts were suddenly cut off as Asuka started to kiss her maybe her thoughts could wait for a few days as tomorrow they were being told to relax and tomorrow night was the auction maybe she could talk to her after that she breathed kissing back feeling Asuka push her back very gently as her kissing became more heated and passionate.

    End of part 17

    Silvermoonlight

 Strange Friends And Associates

    STRANGE FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES

    Maya turned looking at the three people seated in office it was morning and she had Rei, Shinji and Asuka in her office and all looked uncertain of themselves as there a strange silence hanging in the air which was so strange as Shinji was normally talkative as was Asuka but both were very quiet. "Did you all draw the pictures for me I wanted of what you saw?"

    She watched as they all nodded she eyed Shinji whose eyes were now looking at the floor, he was clearly shaken by the other day''s events as he had not been around for breakfast this morning and has spent a lot of time alone with Kaworu and not in the wreck room like they normally did but the other day had been hard for him and clearly deeply stressful on many levels including Kaworu''s ex appearing.

    She turned feeling that maybe it wasn''t a good idea to pick him first she looked Asuka. "Asuka can I see yours?" Asuka looked up pulling up her digital scroll opening it watching as Anneberg''s face appeared his green eyes blinking. "Anneberg please transfer images triple seven over all of them." Anneberg looked up. "Transferring all seven images now Asuka."

    Asuka watched as they began to appear on the hologram screen behind Maya in sequence. She paused eyeing them seeing the horrifying skeleton with one blue eye reaching towards the viewer she could even see the downward picture where Asuka was looking down at her body and the right bloody hand and the seriously crippled right leg as blood leaked into the LCL.

    It was just as the brain scan had suggested a serious injury which had not been fixed right and had clearly ruined the other Asuka''s life and she was only a sixteen year old child. She eyed her friend as she closed and put away her digital drawing scroll clearly there was nothing missing. "This is what you saw Asuka?"

    Asuka nodded putting her hands together. "Yes." Maya eyed the skeleton. "Who was the skeleton?" Asuka breathed in deeply. "It was me." Maya eyed the sketch. "How do you know that?" Asuka tensed sharply. "Her only eye was the same as mine and she spoke in my voice." Maya looked at her for a long moment. "What did she say to you?"

    Asuka felt her good eye dart a part of her wanted to lie as she was getting no pleasure from being here right now and she''d found getting up so hard this morning and she wasn''t the only one. Rei had been just the same and a part of her wished she''d just skipped today but she had pushed herself here today because she knew it was better to get this out in to the open as soon as possible.

    And she had Rei here as she knew she still couldn''t do therapy on her own she needed the other woman''s help and she could admit that openly even to herself. Last night had been very quiet after they''d kissed in the new pottery building it was like the toll of the day had struck suddenly and they''d both just wanted to sleep and it had been so welcoming just to lie together and fall asleep.

    She eased up her hand speaking calmly. "The skeleton told that I should watch humanity burn and embrace my true destiny as the destroyer of worlds." Maya breathed in deeply hating that she had to lie to Asuka but it was better she never knew the truth it could destroy her world and her sense of self or put her back into a depression spiral and sadly the same was true for Rei as she couldn''t know the truth that a god version of herself existed in this world or that she had once been a god in the former cycle and used Asuka as the hand of god. "Seele have told us that the Lance of Longinus brings about visions that play on your worst fears."

    Shinji looked up sharply. "So it is a Lance of Longinus?" Maya turned to him. "Yes and we have no idea where Ankh found it, but it is not alive it''s in a state of semi death this means though that it can''t cause the final impact it can cause serious issues to Evangelions and there pilots mentality but Seele has now fitted all your Evangelion with counter technology to stop it happening again."

    She looked at Asuka how strange she was being very open and hiding nothing she could see it in her good eye there was no hint that she was telling a half truth or lying as she could still be deeply guarded with her emotions. She turned to Rei who looked very uncertain of herself. "What did you see Rei?" Rei eased up large roll of paper unrolling it so she could see the A3 which was off herself although much younger and clearly a child. "My self but I looked like this."

    Maya eased up a scanner running it over the drawing watching as it appeared alongside Asuka''s. "Did your vision say anything to you?" Rei looked up not missing a beat as she spoke. "No it was mumbled." Asuka eyed Rei for a long moment in all the time she''d known her she''d never seen a lie outright but she knew why she would do it really hurt to bring how she felt to the surface and her vision had really rattled her she had felt that last night when talking to her.

    Maya moved a step closer to Rei as she put her drawing on the desk. "Are you sure absolutely Rei?" Rei breathed in sharply speaking in an even tone. "Yes." Maya looked at the image on the screen. "What colour was this younger self''s hair?"

    Rei felt her eyes dart. "It was a lighter blue not the same colour as in Asuka''s art." Maya breathed in clearly wasn''t the goddess. "It''s strange that she''s naked." Rei tensed slightly. "I found it disconcerting and strange." Maya put a hand on her chin. "Maybe your vision is due to your problems with your body image, as Misato told me you struggled with the idea that you would never have a woman''s body as a teenager and you were subconscious of others seeing you naked at bath houses."

    She breathed in not liking that she had to say this but Rei had talked about this in the past. "Also I know people have taken a lot of amusement out of calling you childlike, even though it''s not the case."

    Rei watched as both her brother and Asuka looked at her with concern in their eyes as she was sitting in between them she turned back to Maya. "Maybe it was that." Maya looked at her why did she get the feeling Rei wasn''t being forth coming it was so unlike her?

    Maybe the truth was she wanted more privacy and wanted to tell the truth some other time and maybe now was not a good time to push it. She turned to Shinji who had put a hand on his sisters back and was rubbing gently. "What did you see Shinji?"

    Shinji eyed the five images from his sketch pad in his other hand knowing they were a lie the biggest part of the story was missing the part where Kaworu had died and been shot in front of his younger self. He didn''t want to remember the feeling from drawing them and he didn''t want Kaworu to know about them right now as his boyfriend had far too much on his shoulders to deal with right now. He also didn''t want to think about as he not slept well last night.

    He gave Rei his best smile as he got up putting the images on Maya''s desk watching as she scanned them causing them to appear which showed someone walking through the Arcade zone but it was duplicated and rooting and falling apart and they were looking down on the broken glass of a smaller Delphi garden which was tiny compared to the one he knew.

    Maya eyed the images. "You didn''t see yourself at all Shinji?" Shinji looked down sadly yes he had and yet no part of him wanted to be honest about it. "No I only saw the Arcade zone it was in ruins though maybe it was what they looked like before Nerv built on them." Maya looked at the painted pieces which were small but heavily painted in acrylic. "No Shinji they are not as when I came here before you and Rei arrived that area was no more than rafters and once Ritsuko married your father they started to create the facilities."

    She moved over to her holographic desk typing in to it watching as an image came up on screen opposite Shinji''s drawing. "This though looks as though it could have been the gardens if they¡¯d have been built to the first design speck as this was the builders first lay out it was really small but Ritsuko threw it out and told them they could do way better and needed to think more along the lines of vast shopping complex which could rival any in the world and be better than Tokyo Three''s."

    Shinji looked at her feeling deeply confused. "Why would I have an illusion of something I''ve never seen?" Maya eyed his images. "Maybe it''s not about that and more a fear of losing Nerv as it is the only home you''ve ever known and one of the few places you''ve always felt safe."

    Shinji looked at his hands. "I guess it was that then." Maya moved towards him putting a hand on his shoulder. "You''ll always have family here Shinji never forget that okay?" She watched as he nodded but said nothing. She turned to Rei who was starting to look very uncertain of herself she knew now that she hadn''t been honest her eyes were giving it away. It was that sideways look as if she was thinking about something deeply. "Look Rei if you remember anything please come back to me and tell me okay?" She watched as she nodded being just as quite as her older brother.

    Her gaze shifted to Asuka who seemed as calm as ever. "Are you and Rei prepared for tonight?" Asuka good eye shifted slightly. "Yes we are prepared we brought our formal dress up here and we came by train and not motorbike."

    Maya nodded as she moved over to the desk picking up two gold and silver cards handing them to her. "Misato wanted to give you both these, there for the Bukowskis auction house which one of five that Swedish own worldwide you will need one of these cards for the door and special areas." She paused before speaking. "Nerv''s special stretch limousine will pick you up from here later tonight and take you to the building and pick you up and take you both back home afterwards."

    Asuka looked up slightly. "Wait Nerv has a stretch limousine?" Shinji turned to her. "Yeah Kaji though that the official Nerv land rover looked to army like so they replaced it with a stretch two years ago." Asuka breathed in deeply. "You know I liked the land rover, it reminds me off the ones at home in Germany and Toji''s has the same feel."

    Rei felt a smile form as she eased her hand up running it gentle through Asuka''s hair. "The stretch limousine is bullet proof and as you know the press outside is not allowed to photograph celebrities up close when getting out of the car only when they are on the carpet, also the press are not allowed inside the auction building and only two selected press are allowed inside to tape interviews."

    Shinji looked up. "The guests inside are high status celebrities singers, musicians, film stars and presenters from every county along with well-known business men and women from all around the world and its very private I went there with Kaworu once." Asuka felt a wide smile form. "Did you buy anything?"

    Shinji shook his head. "No but it was fun you get a nice restaurant dinner and the male and female waiters are always serving all kinds of drinks and hors d''oeuvre." He raised his hand. "They give you a special number sign to raise or you can raise your hand." Maya sat down looking at all three of them. "You can all go now, Misato has also asked me to tell you all to relax and have¡­." She stopped as her mobile phone suddenly went off she leaned over picking it up. "Yes?"

    "Maya I need you down here now!"

    Maya put a hand on her face as she signalled for the other to leave watching as they went closing the door behind them giving her a wave as they left. "You know I''m busy Misato I was talking to Rei, Asuka and Shinji like you asked." Misato paused on the other of the line before speaking. "How did that go?" Maya eyed the images behind her as she typed in to holographic panel. "Sending them to your office now, it went without a hitch, there was one issue though."

    She eyed the images as the download bar moved across the screen. "Asuka told the truth I think Shinji did as well but I''m not a hundred percent sure and Rei I know lied to me openly about what she saw she wouldn''t say what her version said to her and I know what it said got to her as she was screaming for it to get out of her head in the entry plug."

    She watched as the download finished. "I think she needs more time, as does Shinji neither of them have had visions like this before and Asuka was the only one who came clean but I feel her scrape with Bardiel has taught her that keeping it in just isn''t worth the price." She breathed in deeply. "I''ll work with both Shinji and Rei I know they''ll come clean soon." She closed her screen. "What do you need me for?" Misato¡¯s voice came again but it was cold. "Vitor¡­"

    Maya put her hand in her face. "Not again!" She eyed her phone. "What has he done this time?" Misato spoke though in whisper. "He''s kicking up a storm in the new lab and me and Kaji can''t reason with him." She paused before speaking. "Why do all scientists have to be so fucking anal?"

    Maya breathed in sharply. "I''m a scientist or have you forgotten?" She paused. "And I deal with the science division and specialists all the time." Misato''s voice came again but with an uncertain tone. "I wasn''t referring to you personally and I respect the work that you do I realize it''s hard as I find dealing with the science division very hard."

    Maya looked up slightly. "I''ll be down there in two minutes okay." She turned her phone off putting it in her lab coat pocket as she shut down her desk her eyes wandering once more to the kitten pillow Mari had a brought her. She tensed turning away no she wasn''t going down this road again it just led to more hurt and Mari was just too screwed in her emotions to understand her own and Asuka was just being the good step sister and trying to protect Mari as she saw her as family.

    8

    Vitor turned to Maya, Kaji and Misato as he adjusted his ear piece which meant they could understand his Spanish and he could understand them as he was still struggling with learning Japanese. "I''m not working with her!" Chilam folded her arms. "You know I''m not stoked about working with you too pal but here I am."

    Maya breathed in wishing she could have just stayed in bed this morning. "This isn''t a request Vitor and she Is the most qualified person we have to offer, she''s been brought in from Canada specially because she understands genetics in the way you do she worked on the Mass Evangelion program." Vitor felt a sneer form. "Those were fucking abominations its little wonder the UN cut you''re companies funding!"

    He paused eyeing the cat box close by. "Plus she has some weird looking little feathered shits in there I saw them flying around they stole my breakfast burrito this morning." Chilam eyed him. "Like your one to talk since you are budgie smuggling!"

    Vitor narrowed his gaze as he spoke through gritted teeth. "How dare you, you have not seen me in my swimwear!" Chilam eyed him. "No I was referring to the Budgie inside your hidden pocket in your lab coat the one that''s clearly genetically manipulated as its super smart as I saw you feeding it this morning." Maya moved to stand between them. "Stop it now both of you, you''re arguing like some toxic old world couple!"

    She watched as they both went quite she turned to Chilam. "What does he mean things flying around?" Chilam walked over to the cat box. "Oh these there just my babies they won''t hurt anyone." She pulled on of her little mass Eva''s out opening her hands so they could see. "See there harmless."

    Misato moved closer. "What the fuck is that?!" Maya stared at the little being as it chirped. "That shouldn''t be alive that''s against scientific protocol, I was told that you put down the prototypes and that they were brain dead!" Chilam eyed the little being. "Why would I do that? I created them they''re mine it''s not like I followed the brief anyway they aren''t carnivores they''re omnivores and they''re tame and very good natured I engineered them that way."

    Vitor stroked his beard which had white areas. "No they are not they''re little bastards and they stole my breakfast!" Maya turned to the older man. "She said you have a budgie is that true?" Vitor turned slightly. "No!"

    Maya folded her arms knowing better. "Vitor stop stalling!" Vitor breathed in opening his lap coat watching as a small dark blue and white budgie crawled out of his pocket onto his shoulder and started chirping. "Her names Salome and she''s not hurting anyone, we play chess together."

    Misato looked closer seeing that it had a miniature version of the device Pen Pen had which meant it had human intelligence it even had miniature versions of the wing claws to grip. She blinked looking closer. "I didn''t know ultra-intelligence tech worked on budgies, the company I worked for only did it on large sea birds."

    Vitor eyed the budgie. "Yeah well Colonel you can miniaturize it and some of the pets I used to clone used it it''s how I copied there intelligence over so they matched the original since the device stores mental algorithm and gives them a buffer allowing their brains to store ten times as much hence there human intelligence range and much longer life spans."

    Maya put a hand her face in frustration. "How long have you had that Budgie Vitor? You know pets are against the rules." Vitor moved his hand stroking his budgies head. "I made her the first day after I started working here because I always had a budgie in my lab and this is a copy of my original who I was told had passed away after you brought all my stuff up from Salvador which had been put in cold storage by my two fathers who thought I was dead along with my two brothers and three sisters who stored my dead pets DNA."

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    He sneered slightly as he pushing his dark hair back. "They even had a fucking funeral for me and are still getting over the fact that I''m still alive, it''s been very difficult for all of them, they kept my research as they believed it could all be valuable to science, ironically they were right since my work helped to build those shitty Archangels."

    Maya breathed in wishing she had not come in to work today. "We told you the rules Vitor." Vitor turned pointing at Chilam. "Well she is clearly allowed pets so this argument is redundant!" Kaji moved forward as he put his hand on his beard. "Okay so you both have pets but is there a way to keep both sets of pets out of testing labs?"

    Maya breathed in sharply hating that she was breaking the rules here as Ritsuko would mock her no end if she found out. "Fine you can both keep them but I want them kept in special areas when you''re testing!" Kaji moved forward raising his hand. "Yes they must be kept out of lab testing build them both pens." Visor eyed his budgie. "She doesn''t need a pen you can speak to her like a human she understands."

    Chilam folded her arms putting one of the tiny mass Eva''s on her shoulder. "Yeah well mine are just as smart as his are." Maya eyed them both. "Regardless of how smart your pets are if Ritsuko is around your box them up out of sight is that understood?!" She watched as they both fell silent nodding. Misato eyed the smaller woman talk about bad mood it wasn''t like Maya to be this pissed off; clearly something was getting to her and she was taking it out on other people.

    Chilam raised her hand as an uncomfortable grin forming on her lips. "Does this mean my request is void?" Maya eyed her in confusion. "What request?" Chilam breathed in deeply. "The one where I get to see the pilots in person it''s just I''ve wanted to see them all my life and the Colonel stated I could."

    Maya turned eyeing Misato. "You know I have enough trouble keeping Mari out of the labs she is always drifting around down here in places she shouldn''t be as she hacks the doors to this level despite that we¡¯ve changed the codes so many times she just can¡¯t get in to the voids labs below where the Evangelions are built as its iris coded, but now you want all of them down here?" Kaji turned as he spoke calmly. "You know Mari''s probably down here because she''s trying to learn science to impress you¡­she''s been trying hard you said that yourself."

    Misato watched as Maya gave them both a dark look she turned slowly back to Chilam as she folded her arms. "I''ll sort that out for you I''ll be there when I bring them down to meet both you and Victor." She shuffled nervously. "But you''ll probably both see Mari before that as she loves to look around labs as she has an avid interest in science even though she''s a programmer and very good hacker."

    8

    Toji turned the corner as he eyed Mari who was behind him keeping pace with his run. "I have to get this book to Sakura she needs it for her test next week." Mari breathed in deeply. "How did she forget it? She never forgets anything." Toji turned sharply. "She''s been a little distracted lately." Mari turned another corridor which led to the school inside Nerv which was for the employee''s children and was close to the Arcade zone. "Does she have another crush on a boy in class?"

    Toji shook his head. "No it''s not that she normally tells us both about her crushes, I think it''s that bad time of the year again as our Mother died and it''s never a good time for her or me, I know she tries not to show it but I know it bothers her deeply."

    Mari turned to avoid someone she knew what that feeling was like and despite that she now knew her mother''s soul was in her Evangelion it didn''t take away the sting of her murder and she sometimes still had nightmares about it. She hated that she couldn''t tell him the truth but she had promised Shinji, Rei and Asuka that she wouldn''t say anything about it to him or Kaworu as the risk was too great. "Yeah well I know how you both feel loosing loved ones is never easy and it always hurts."

    Toji picked up his pace two more corridor turns and they''d be at the school which was a massive area and as big as any real school it was just built underground. "I''ll just cook her favourite dish with lots of Dim sum tonight it might make her feel better."

    He turned the corner turning only to see two late that a dark skinned woman holding files was coming the other way and wasn''t looking where she was going. The next moments turned to blinding pain as they both collided with each other which caused her files to go everywhere along with his book as he hit the floor landing directly on top of her on all fours. He tensed trying to get rid of the pain he opened his eyes realizing he was on all fours sprawled out over the woman who was around the same height as Mari.

    He looked down as it hit him hard how beautiful she was long flowing dark hair and piecing dark green eyes she was dressed in the Nerv bridge uniform with the yellow shoulder parts yet he didn''t recognise her.

    Her face suddenly turned to annoyance as she spoke in an unimpressed tone. "Would you get off me?" Toji looked down suddenly realizing where his hand was which was her chest as he felt himself blush he felt Mari pull him back up on to his feet as he struggled to get back up. Sumire breathed in deeply as she sat up eyeing her folder which now had electronic papers scattered around as she spoke unable to keep the rage out of her voice. "Fuck it!"

    She grabbed at them just great and she''d been asked by Maya to bring these up and now they weren''t even in order so this was a great start to her day! It was bad enough that she was lost in this place because she still didn''t know the areas well enough as a lot had changed so much since she''d been here last.

    She turned suddenly see that the tall man who was in casual dress was trying to help her spoke in a rush. "I''m really sorry I didn''t mean to mess up your paper work can I fix it?" She blinked in surprise in all the time she''d worked here she had not had any one help her this way and it was so confusing.

    Mari eyed Toji well that was a first she''d never seen him help anyone in this way she adjusted her glasses feeling a smile form this was going to be interesting to watch. Toji carried on helping the woman with her papers noticing how quite she was. "I''m really sorry for tripping into you that way are you okay?" He raised his hand. "I''m Toji."

    Sumire blinked suddenly realizing who he was he was one of the Evangelion pilots the one from China she''d seen his face on the hologram screen during the battle she looked up slightly eyeing the other woman in glasses who was clearly the British pilot Mari. She felt her eyes dart hating that she felt out of her depth right now she had no idea how she was meant to address the pilots. "It''s fine Mr Suzuhara."

    Toji felt a wide smile form as he watched her sort the electronic files as he picked up his fallen book. "No you can call me Toji." Sumire breathed in as she stood up now feeling even more uncertain of herself she didn''t expect people to notice her least of all an Evangelion pilot.

    Toji leaned closer to the beautiful looking woman. "What''s your name?" Sumire looked up snapping out of her haze. "It''s Sumire." Toji looked at her. "That''s a really nice name, are you part of the bridge crew? It''s just your uniform looks like it is." Sumire slowly stood up watching as he did the same. "Yes I''m new my job is to replace Makoto." Toji moved a step closer to her. "I''m sure you''ll do a much better job than he did, he was a fucker from what I heard."

    Sumire looked down trying to hide the blush which she could feel forming. "I should go¡­it was nice meeting you both." Toji watched as she turned leaving at a sharp pace he waited till she was out of sight before speaking. "That woman is so beautiful." He turned to Mari. "You think so right?" Mari felt a smirk form. "Yeah she''s good looking just not my type." Toji put a hand on his face. "Ah gods I should have asked her for her number!"

    Mari blinked in surprise. "I think you''re getting way to ahead off yourself Toji she''s new and settling in." Toji turned to her. "Yeah but she looked kind of sad did you see it in her face?" Mari eyed him this really was a first she''d seen her best friend try to chat up women and fail but she had not seen him this head over heels for a woman it''s like he''d been struck by cupid''s arrow. "No I didn''t notice that to be honest she looked more pissed off that you were sprawled on top off her." Toji breathed in, in annoyance. "That was an accident I didn''t mean to touch her breast!"

    Mari couldn''t stop her next actions as she started to laugh unable to stop herself. "You know there are better ways to get dates than tripping over and touching their chest." Toji folded his arms in annoyance. "Oh laugh it up it''s not like you''re having the same luck with Maya!" Mari wiped away her tears of laugher. "Yeah but I didn''t have to trip and fall on her to make a point."

    Toji turned rolling his eyes. "Look let''s just get this book to my sister." Mari sniggered. "Yeah be sure you don''t trip and fall into other women on your way there." Toji breathed in clearly he was not going to hear the end of this for the rest of the day.

    8

    Mari turned eyeing Asuka who was toying with her remaining fries they were all eating at a Cajun restaurant on the Arcade''s fiftieth floor which specialized in burgers, fries and other soul food it was painted in deep red colours and blacks and had an enormous crocodile skull and skeleton hanging above the eating area.

    Clearly a trophy which was the owners it had been a twenty foot crocodile when alive as one of the odd things about second impact was the hotter climate meant that reptiles could grow even bigger and some crocodile''s, alligators and pythons had become giants freaks of nature who were very hyper aggressive.

    This meant though that in certain areas of the world they had become notorious human eaters and though the seasons were returning in that now you had a short sharp winter thanks to Oculus work these animals had remained problematic and people all over the world tried to hunt them down and kill them. Even celebrates got in on the act as killing one of the super apex predators as they were called was worthy of praise if you could do it, not that many of them did they tried whereas the former bush hunters and poachers were excellent at it.

    She could see the huge bowls of food cooking as it was a buffet and you fill your plate with food burgers and fries. Though it had been a strangely quiet affair and it was starting to get to her, she hated long silences and everyone around her seemed lost in thought. "Are you going to eat that princess?"

    Asuka eyed her plate then Mari before pushing her plate towards her. "No you can finish it four eyes." Mari eyed her then shifted to Rei who was strangely eating her sea food quite fast. "Is she eating at home Rei or is she ill and hiding it?"

    Rei looked up slowly from her meal giving her a smile. "No she is eating fine we are both just not eating as much because of the auction tonight as they serve dinner there." Asuka turned eyeing Mari. "Must you check up on my health?"

    Mari smirked as she adjusted her glasses. "Yes I must little sister wouldn''t want you to be hurting and not telling me." She turned to Toji who was busy eating his second burger with a dreamy look on his face. "Your still thinking about that woman, aren''t you?"

    Toji turned to her. "Oh come on she was so hot looking." Shinji looked up in surprise. "What woman?" Mari leaned forward. "He ran into Makoto''s replacement whose name is Sumire, or more to the point he fell on top of her and ended up touching her breasts."

    Toji turned sharply. "It was an accident I was running to fast and we collided in the hall!" Kaworu looked up. "Well these things happen and if it wasn''t with bad intent I''m sure she understood it was a mistake." Mari felt a sly smile form. "Well at least you didn''t trip and fall on her lower parts then you would be in trouble." She watched as everyone turned to her the shock in their faces she raised her hands. "What it could happen?"

    Asuka took a slip of her coke. "Yeah just not in the real world¡­only in your fantasy¡­." Toji turned to them. "What should I say to her?" He paused. "You''ve all dated what did you say to ask people out the first time?" Kaworu looked up. "Maybe bring something to her and ask her out."

    Mari leaned on her elbow. "That doesn''t work for everyone though as Maya rejected my advances when I did that." Asuka turned sharply. "Maybe you should just try talking frankly with her say you like her." Shinji pushed his empty plate aside. "Yes just be honest with her no front or pretence just be yourself." He turned to Rei who was still eating. "What do you think Rei?" Rei looked up from her sea food. "I never asked anyone out other than Asuka out so I wouldn''t be very helpful to you."

    Toji finished his burger. "Yes you are, like what would you say?" Rei looked at her food. "That there beautiful and I''d like to go out with them." Mari suddenly leaned closer to her. "Did you say that to Asuka?" Rei met her curious turquoise gaze. "That''s private."

    Mari turned to Asuka. "Why do you both have to be so secretive? I mean you love each other so flaunt it, I mean your both so private." Shinji looked up slightly. "She has a point Rei maybe if you do things in front of others the Nerv staff might finally leave you alone." Toji turned to Rei. "I might try your idea and Shinji''s I mean I''ve got nothing to lose right?" Mari turned to him. "I just hope she says yes." Kaworu felt a smile form. "I''m sure she will." Shinji looked at him. "Yeah I mean you''re a great guy."

    Rei sat up in her chair. "Excuse me I''m going to get some more of this, is so nice." Shinji watched her go. "I don''t think I''ve ever seen my sister this hungry before." Mari eyed the empty plate. "Well it is sea food gumbo." Shinji turned to Asuka keeping his voice low. "Did she eat last night?"

    Asuka looked up. "Yes but speaking from personal experience having visions like that we had is very mentality straining." Toji turned to them. "Yeah okay we lost that fight with Eligos but what I just don''t get is how you three had visions but my Kaworu and Mari and I didn''t."

    He shifted slightly as Rei sat back down digging instantly into her second bowl of food with a spoon. "It''s like it affected you three way more than us and people are saying it''s a Lance of Longinus but its dead in some way they think maybe Adam left it there and Ankh found it that''s the rumour at least."

    Asuka watched as Rei carried on eating taking no real notice of the conversation to be fair she''d never seen her do this she wasn''t normally a seconds person but maybe it was the stress from the vision some people reacted differently to it. "Well if it''s a weapon we can break it, I mean there must be a way to destroy it." Shinji looked up. "Maybe with your Spears of Destiny if you can get them working."

    Asuka breathed in deeply. "Look I know this is going to sound verfickte odd but I don''t think there mine they don''t feel like they were created for me despite that I created them." She put her hands together. "Plus they don''t work for me all the experiments to create life have failed." Mari eyed Asuka. "Stop being modest princess you just need more time to work them is all, I mean it can''t be fucking easy they are powerful after all."

    Asuka shook her head. "No four eyes it''s not that, I swear they aren''t mine they don''t feel right in my units hands¡­I know they belong to someone but every time I think about who my mind goes blank, I know there''s something about them I''m meant to remember and I just can''t."

    She put her hands together knowing her next words were more for Shinji, Rei and Mari''s ears. "Something happened in the entry plug but I just don''t remember what it was." Toji pushed his empty plate aside. "They said your memory was going to be slow when you came out of there."

    He paused before speaking. "Maybe it will come in time but you should maybe forget it tonight and enjoy the auction." Shinji raised his hand. "Yeah Toji is right Asuka I mean it will come in time and you should relax and enjoy yourself as Ritsuko wants you to try again with the spears again tomorrow. Maybe when you''re back in the room with them the memory you''re missing might come back."

    Kaworu looked up. "Yes I agree and I think it is better to live breath and enjoy the intensity and joy of the moment than dwell on this right now, things will work out in time and you''ll maybe find your answers."

    Asuka looked down they were all right and she knew it maybe she was over thinking this but she just couldn''t get away from the feeling that her Mama had said more in the core, it was like she had the first half of the memory with the god Rei and meeting her again but she couldn''t remember past it just flashes and visions but nothing truly solid and she knew her Mama had told her something really important but nothing came to mind when she thought about it. She looked up slightly. "Yeah you guys are right maybe it will come in time."

    8

    Christopher eased the VR onto his head as he lay back in his chair watching as the screen lit up he moved his hands shifting through the settings getting to the sexual dating simulation all of which were highly regulated worldwide and took consent very seriously as you couldn''t win over the AI simulation without consent and this normally resulted in the simulation kicking you before anything could happen and fining you.

    He moved his fingers switching it on only for the screen to go red as it flashed up a two hundred Euro fine in front of his eyes. "What the fuck?!" He pulled the VR off violently turning to his sister''s side of the double level section they shared which had very modern comfort since there grandmother liked to spoil them both. His sister had the top half and he had the bottom half. "Achika!"

    He watched as Achika appeared adjusting her elaborate long sleeves shirt which was pure white, she was also wearing tight black jeans that were body hugging and a thick leather belt which had a gold emblem on it and black army boots. "What is it?" Christopher eyed her. "Did you use this recently?" Achika eyed the VR helmet. "No brother I didn''t and we both know I prefer sex toys and I only use your sex simulations occasionally so what is the problem?"

    Christopher eyed his VR. "This has a fucking two hundred euro fine on it, which means someone breached consent with the sexual simulation and now I have to pay it off!" Achika breathed in deeply looking at her brother who was dressed in an open black leather jacket and dark blue coloured jeans and a red buttoned shirt and black expensive walking boots with silver trim. "Well it would appear we have some kind of creep getting into our things." She turned to holographic screen near the flat screen TV. "Romulus!"

    Christopher turned as the image of a huge white werewolf head appeared which had red and orange glowing eyes and curved teeth a couple which were plated in silver it was his sisters AT learning personality which had no slave parameters. "He can help?"

    Achika put her hand on her waist as she adjusted her glasses. "Romulus who has accessed my brother''s VR in the last two days?" The werewolves head turned as it began to run computer code only to stop as it brought up a line of code as it spoke in a very delicate accent. "VR was accessed at twelve am this morning."

    Achika put a hand on her chin. "Can you pull footage from overhead camera?" She watched as Romulus brought up the footage which showed a man slightly older than them sitting in Christopher''s chair with his black leather jacket in his hands which had the silver bull head on the back blowing off steam which he shoved on as he sat back in his chair opening his belt and putting his hands down his pants as he started moving it. "Well, it would appear that, that snivelling weasel Alessandro was both dressing in your leather jacket and touching your property."

    Christopher sneered. "I''m going to personally kill that miserable little fuck for touching my shit and daring to wear my custom made leather jacket!"

    Achika moved putting a hand on his shoulder. "No please let me deal with him, I mean he has always makes a mess." She leaned over. "Remember Connecticut, he screwed up that mission it was a disaster." Christopher eyed his VR. "Not to mention he clearly misunderstands the principles of sexual consent so grandmother won''t even miss him she''s hates rapists and paedophiles of either gender she enjoys killing them, so she won''t care if we deal with him."

    Achika leaned against his reclining black leather chair. "Yeah but let''s make it look accidental then it will be much more fun, plus I''m bored I want to entertain myself."

    End of part 18

    Silvermoonlight

 Pillars Of Blazing Burning Light

    PILLARS OF BLAZING BURNING LIGHT

    Asuka adjusted her red tie again and smoothed down her black suit and adjusted her hairs ribbons as she eyed the Nerv parking lot turning to Rei who was dressed in that beautiful white dress again all of their casual clothes had been put in their lockers along with wallets as the card was what they needed to pay though they both had phones and one set of house keys the other had been left in Rei''s locker while this morning Erika''s feeder has been set up to work for two days. "Where is this verfickte limbo?" Rei turned putting a hand on her arm seeing that the other women looked anxious. "It will be here in a moment."

    She looked up as the shining black three door limbo which was a Lincoln appeared she had been in it before but Asuka hadn''t. It pulled up alongside them and she caught sight of the Nerv symbol on its first door which read the gods are in their heavens and all is right with the world.

    She watched as the driver door rolled down and a woman of Korean decent appeared giving them a wave she was dressed in an all-black version of the Nerv uniform had special gold and red shoulder parts which meant she was part of the special transport division whose job was to ferry Nerv diplomats and guests to and from Nerv Central, this wasn''t the only limbo as there were in fact three others and they ran daily.

    The woman who was in her late thirties and had long tailed black hair gave them a wide smile up as she spoke. "Hello there, they told me you''d both be here." She paused pulling down her reflective glasses looking in Asuka''s direction. "Well aren''t you just a wonder to behold Soryu didn''t think I''d ever get to see you in person in my life time since you went underground and became a recluse."

    She pressed a button inside causing the back door to open. "Clearly much better than your last girlfriend Ayanami that woman had issues..." Rei turned to Asuka. "Asuka let me introduce you to Nari she drives us all around for events."

    Asuka eyed the woman forcing a wide smile. "Hi." Nari smiled. "Get in make yourselves comfortable." Asuka slowly seated herself in the limbo which was red lit with plush velvet black seats and galaxy lighting complete with a plush drinks table which had many bottles glasses and food it was for eight people but they were the only ones here there was also a music player.

    She eased up getting comfortable watching as the black window went down as Nari looked at them pressing more buttons as the door closed. "Knock yourself out with drinks it''s going to be a slow drive anyway and we have to wait our turn to get out of the car as there is normally a line."

    She paused. "Would you both like some music?" Rei sat back getting more comfortable looking at Asuka who looked slightly out of her element. "Asuka what would you like?" Asuka raised her hand. "You choose."

    Rei turned back. "Can you play Kanon-D-dur?" Nari smiled pressing her panel hearing the music come on. "Oh yes I can play that for you." She turned back as the black window went up. "You two have fun now." Asuka breathed in trying to calm herself she wasn''t afraid to admit that she was nervous it felt like a life time ago since she''d been to this building and the last time had been when she was seventeen and she''d caused trouble there none of which she was proud off.

    She turned to Rei who gave her a smile as she picked up a Kirin beer bottle handing it to her. "May I ask who your last girlfriend was?" Rei took in a deep breath letting it out slowly. "Rosetta Martinez."

    Asuka turned sharply blinking in surprise. "You mean Rosetta Martinez the fashion designer?" Rei nodded. "It lasted less than a week and she didn''t like that I wouldn''t put out I ended it fast I''ve had some bad boyfriends and girlfriends but she was the most self-absorbed woman I''ve ever met."

    Asuka put a hand on her face. "Oh Schei? drauf I slept with her too when I was nineteen she just tries to sleep with any high class celebrity going because she wants to brag about it in her high class social circles back in the Paris."

    Rei filled a glass with sparkling wine. "Well she does love to brag and I know that Shinji got tangled up with her as well and he regrets it as much as you do." Asuka opened her beer bottle. "I couldn''t stand her it was like looking at the younger me and I don''t blame either you or Shinji running from that one."

    Rei turned pressing the button which meant she could speak to Nari. "Nari is Rosetta Martinez on this guest list tonight?" Nari''s voice hit the air. "Yes she''s is¡­I amuse you were hoping to avoid her?" Rei eyed the speaker. "Yes."

    Rei felt the car start to move as it headed out of the Nerv car park as Nari spoke again. "Well you have Asuka with you tonight she can make anyone go away she has razor teeth and a glowing left eye from what I''ve heard."

    Rei eyed the speaker. "Oh yes I had not considered that point." She turned off the speaker turning back to Asuka who looked mildly surprised. "Well she''s not wrong." Asuka took a slow sip of beer feeling the need to change the subject. "Why didn''t you tell Maya the truth about what you saw in your vision?" Rei breathed in deeply. "I''m not ready yet I just need more time to figure it out." Asuka put her beer bottle down as she reached out taking hold of her hand. "You should take a long as you need."

    She felt a smile form. "Just wanted to know that you were alright." She eased her hand up running it softly through her short hair. "I was just worried that''s all, I mean you were really hungry today." Rei looked up. "Yeah about that I''ve been feeling that way since I''ve got up I¡¯m still feeling hungry now, I just hope this feeling goes away its annoying it feels like I haven''t eaten for two days or something along those lines."

    Asuka leaned forward giving her a gentle kiss on the lips. "Visions like that mess up your head I know from experience and people react differently maybe unlike me it just gives you more appetite but these feelings do pass in time." Rei moved her hand running it through the other woman''s long red hair kissing her softly. "Yeah maybe it''s just that and it will pass in time like you say."

    8

    Aleksanteri breathed in as he walked towards Mana''s white villa with its ancient looking temple with its solid metal doors bolting shut and built to size opposite the modern Greek villa which was made of white stone and had a huge outdoor swimming pool outside and a huge central building and long built up sections on either side with so many modern connivances and it was a huge symbol of wealth as was the temple as normally to the Greek gods people normally erected statues and shrines in their homes but Mana was clearly going the extra mile to impress.

    This whole area had a stone wall that was white and kept it from the outside world and the sky lights lit it up in the dark of the night and it was on the highest ridge of the mountain overlooking the grand and modern city of Lamia which had huge white marble statues of the Greek gods Hades and Apollo and two more of the Greek goddess''s Athena and Aphrodite in its central square.

    He sneered as he pushed open the wooden doors to her central business room watching as the twenty three year old woman with medium length brown hair looked up sharply her light blue eyes blinking in surprise as she stopped writing on her holographic screen with a digital pen.

    She pressed her holographic desk causing whatever she was working on to vanish. He could see her beautiful white long dress which was sleeveless and knee high and had white collar while she wore simple brown leather sandals. He didn''t think as he threw two electronic papers on her desk. "Explain this to me Mana explain to me why my bill was rejected yet again!"

    Mana breathed in deeply eyeing the fifty year man with his white beard and dark brown eyes that wasn''t well liked among most of the politicians as he was very high up, higher than herself as she was in the middle tier of the Greek political government.

    She picked up the paper eyeing them. "Yes the Greek prime minister has rejected your tax bill it is most unfortunate but I don''t see what this has to do with me."

    Aleksanteri moved over to her a wooden desk slamming his first down hard. "Don''t play dumb with me! We both know that''s not true I don''t know how but I know you fucking influenced her you little fucker!" He raised a ringed finger. "I had that bill in my hands and it was agreed on then it suddenly gets rejected!"

    Mana put the electronic bill down. "Yes well maybe their change of heart was a good thing taxing the poor into oblivion would not have been a good course of action unlike taxing the rich who have more to give and can help us create projects to give the poor more work and better living conditions."

    Aleksanteri pulled up a chair sitting himself so he was close to a desk. "You mean the rich like you Mana?" Mana put her hands together. "Unlike you I''ve spent my life giving my money to the poor I pour vast wealth from my estate to help them, because I don''t want to see people starving like they were after second impact which was still suffering when I was born."

    Aleksanteri smirked leaning back in the leather and wood chair. "You mean dumped in Delphi we all know you''re just a street urchin who never got adopted and spent her whole childhood and teen life in an orphanage."

    He folded his arms. "What was it? Oh yes behavioural problems which meant you suffered from rage and anger and didn''t behave hence you got no new mommy and daddy." He folded his legs seeing that, that comment had clearly hurt as he''d heard it was quite a soft spot for her. "Scruffy little street urchin like you I''m not surprised you weren''t adopted." He pulled out his tablet turning it flicking an image off it causing her holographic screen to come on as it copied over.

    He watched as it appeared showing a scruffy ten year old girl on the dirty streets of Delphi in a filthy dress holding a battered fabric doll toy collecting cans to recycle along with two other boys and another girl. "Oh yes quite the little urchin weren''t you? I imagine these pictures have never seen the light of day but maybe the press would love this and I have ten more this is just a taster."

    He paused before speaking coldly. "Maybe the Pope would like one since you pissed him off in Rome last year, with your talk about repenting and turning the older gods as the one god concept is foolish when the angels prove that god is not singular." Mana narrowed her gaze. "What do you want Aleksanteri?"

    Aleksanteri leaned forward. "Tell me the truth how did you over turn my bill because I''ve noticed that you never reach for higher power you have no interest in being prime minister, yet I''ve noticed despite your middle standing you seem to have loyalty among the higher ranking politicians it''s like you have powerful friends and allies despite your rank." He leaned back in the chair. "So do you sleep around is that how you do it? Blow a cock here, lick pussy there, do tell?"

    He eyed the room. "Make sense since you live alone must be lonely in this huge villa." Mana leaned on her elbows putting her hands together. "I do none of those things Aleksanteri and I don''t have to this isn''t the old world I do not have to sleep my way to the top anymore due to my gender, I win loyalty because I believe truly in the divine¡­and you should to."

    Aleksanteri sniggered. "Please that''s worthless pathetic crap and I know they call you the Star of Thessaly but it''s just a title your no better than the rest of us, it''s just you live in world of imagination where you think you''re special¡­but you''re not special you''re a shitty little street urchin who somehow got rich probably by sleeping with rich people."

    Mana felt the anger as it twisted an ugly knot in her stomach. "I obtained my wealth through my own project as an entrepreneur though my invention which was stainable fast growing crops trays system which I worked on with Oculus which was the project of faster growing crops which could be grown in vast underground complexes."

    She breathed in deeply. "It''s the reason Greece''s people are no longer starving and every person who took part in the project was paid generously, my creation was the rotating levels which mean you can grow ten levels a time and none die due to the special lighting system." She paused eyeing him. "I graduated from university as an engineer and my system is even used in Tokyo Three and has been used all over the world by the UN." She looked around here. "You may not like my villa but its mine everything I earn is mine and I wasn''t born into privilege like you, I worked for everything I own."

    Aleksanteri moved his hand. "I''m not interested in your stupid life story I asked you how you got those of higher power on your side!?" Mana looked at him for a long moment before speaking. "I told you what you wanted to know take it or leave it." She looked at the image on her screen. "I care nothing for your threats you''re just afraid of change when it doesn''t suit you hence you taunt those who have crafted their world in a way you can''t."

    Aleksanteri stood up. "Fine have it your way you little street peasant but this isn''t over between us believe me when we are done you''ll be grovelling on the floor and sucking my dick which is where you should be because someone like you does not deserve power it belongs to people like me! I built Greece up from the ruins after second impact, you''re just a little shit of a street urchin who doesn''t have parents!"

    Mana stood up slowly as she spoke coldly. "You''ve overstayed your welcome get out of my villa!" Aleksanteri smirked seeing that security guards had opened the doors to her office and were eyeing him making it clear that he had overstayed his welcome. "Good night Mana but remember that by tomorrow your little street pictures are going to be in every newspaper in Greece, let''s see how your fans and supporters like your idealism when they see where you come from."

    Mana narrowed her gaze bringing up her houses garage camera. "Your Mercedes-Benz S-Class is parked on my property get rid of it along with yourself¡­"

    Aleksanteri smirked enjoying the moment as he turned away from her following the security guards walked him out of the villa towards his car which was parked opposite Mana''s Aston Martin V12 Vanquish which was pure bronze in colour.

    He got in his car fastening the seat belt only for his eyes to wander to temple which unlike before now had its huge bolt off and was slightly a jar. He leaned over seeing a strange pulsing red light in side which was flashing violently inside.

    He looked up as security guard tapped his window speaking calmly "It''s time to leave sir, please move your car off the premise" He eyed him before putting his foot down seeing the huge gates open to let him out as he moved down the mountain path as they closed behind him locking tight

    Worthless little fuck, still at least he had the upper hand now and in a few more miles he''d be out of this crappy city he hated it here, there was something unsettling about it. He turned moving up the mountain road seeing the city which was all in lip up lights far below in the night.

    He turned as the car radio came on and a voice hit the air though it was strangely hard to tell the gender. "Do you take pleasure in hurting clever, intelligent young women?" Aleksanteri turned smashing it with his fist. "Stupid German shit off a car I thought they''d fixed this shitty radio!"

    The voice came again. "You have never gained anything in your life, you stole from your dying mother your brothers your sister you put them into poverty for the sake of celebrity they still suffer because of you even though all three of them should have got the money in the will which you tampered with but don''t worry I''ve sent them the real copy."

    Aleksanteri eyed the radio. "Who the fuck is this?!" The voice came again. "You stepped on and ruined everyone around you to gain fame¡­but your time is now ending mortal." There was a long pause. "You shall not piss off what I love the most and treasure in this world!" Aleksanteri felt his eyes dart. "Wait so are you Mana''s loser of a boyfriend or girlfriend or something?"

    The voice came again but truly cold. "No I am much worse than your small mind can comprehend and you really ought to pay attention to the road mortal." Aleksanteri looked up only to cry out in utter horror as he caught sight of something in the middle of the road which could not be, everything in him told him it couldn''t be real yet it was real.

    He could see the huge clawed feet and green and red scaled skin a huge body could be seen standing on all fours like a western dragon with a long tail and five heads that looked like huge snakes and were horned as the mouths opened showing off razor sharp teeth and snake like tongues as the white eyes glowed in to the night.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    He pressed the breaks of his car but it was too late as his car smashed into one of the hydra''s legs which sent it tumbling violently as it rolled across the empty road. Crashing against the barrier which was the only thing stopping it going into the jagged rocks and pounding sea which from his position he could see out of the corner of his eye he was now bleeding from five places and he couldn''t move his legs and all he felt was fear as he watched one of the heads appear in the smashed window above looking down at him.

    The radio lit up in the now dark car as the voice came again. "When she said she loves the divine it was no lie but it''s far too late for you to learn this lesson as you threatened her." Aleksanteri suddenly felt the grinding as the car was slowly pushed as huge clawed hand appeared. "Wait! I can give you money!"

    The grinding carried on as he heard the buckling of metal as the barrier started to break and the voice spoke again. "Every time you exist in any cycle you''re never smart, last time I never got my chance to deal with you as Keel was in my way he''s not now which means I get to finally deal with you personally!"

    The hydra began to push harder ignoring Aleksanteri desperate cries to be freed which turned to a cry of utter terror as the barrier was smashed apart and his car was sent flying over it as it smashed against the cliff as it carried on downwards finally hitting the rocks below in a shattered mess it owner now dead from the impact.

    The huge hydra raised its heads roaring into the night before it vanished becoming no more of a shadow as it melted away just as other cars appeared screeching to a halt as they caught sight of the broken barrier and the car wreckage on the road which looked like an accident as it was meant to as no one would think for a second that it was hand of Cerberus this death would look like no more than reckless driving.

    8

    Asuka felt the car come to stop outside the Bukowskis auction house which was a huge T shape building which ran auctions worldwide daily and was surrounded by strobe lights and had a red carpet which led to the central plush white and gold well-lit foyer which was filled with very special antiques all behind glass then you were led in to the special auction room which was huge and took up a lot of the building which the other rooms were for sorting through goods and items and paying and were private and locked.

    Even through the window she could see the special ribbons for the celebrity walk up in to the place and the press behind it ready to take pictures and she suddenly felt very nervous she had not done this in such a long time. Nari''s voice hit the air over the speaker. "Okay you''re both up in a moment."

    She paused before speaking again the glee in her voice. "Give them a great show." Rei turned to Asuka noticing that her hand was gripping the door handle tightly to the point that she could see white knuckles. "Asuka are you okay?" Asuka looked outside seeing the press unable to keep the fear out of her voice. "I''m not sure I can do this¡­"

    Rei leaned over instantly understanding where this fear was coming from as Asuka had not done this in so long and she was feeling really out of her element. "You''ll be fine let me lead okay I''ll get out first and you follow." She stood up moving to stand in front of Asuka knowing that this would cause a slight delay. "You did this at the visitor centre you can do this now."

    She eased up her hand pulling up the black patch seeing that the other woman''s left eye had ignited and was letting out bright blue and white light which meant she was experiencing extreme emotion. She pulled the eased up her hand putting them on the sides of Asuka face making sure there eyes met as she spoke gently. "Please come with me now Asuka its going to fine."

    She leaned forward kissing her very gently on the lips seeing a very innocent look appear in the other woman''s good eye. "Just take my hand and follow my lead." She felt Asuka take her hand as the other woman pulled her patch back down which glowed slightly which meant her left eye was still alight as she took hold of the door handle. "On three..." Asuka nodded. "One, two..." She watched Asuka let go of the door as looked at her. "Three."

    She gripped Asuka''s hand tighter opening the door as she got out watching as the camera''s went off and film crew started filming went off as Asuka stayed behind her, her grip on her hand tightening as she heard the roar of the general public who were behind rails on one side while the press were on the other.

    There was a thirty three feet of red and white carpet and walk to the building. They slowly started the walk up along the carpet keeping to the public side ignoring the questions from the reporters which came as a jumbled mass of cry screams all at once.

    She moved quickly taking hold of the nearest fans photo book as she gave them a smile sighing it watching as Asuka instantly started to doing the same while saying hi to the people as politely as possible as she sighed there books as they walked slowly down the carpet ignoring the presses questions. She could see other well-dressed celebrity couples in front of her and some celebrities getting out behind her.

    Rei moved up the line she had tried to sign as many posters and photo books as possible while Asuka had been signing any she had missed, much too their fans delight. She breathed in seeing the special press by the door who would be allowed inside later on for recorded interviews and she knew they couldn''t avoid their questions.

    She came to a stop seeing Asuka do the same as the other woman put her hand around her shoulder as the young press man spoke while the woman behind him raised the camera while the other man and woman started taking the close up photographs. "Good evening to you both." He paused. "So do you both have any plans for getting married?"

    Rei eased up her hand seeing that Asuka''s face was unreadable. "Sorry but no comment." The reporter eyed her. "Oh come on there has to be more!" Rei took hold of Asuka''s hand moving towards the front door. "We''ll be leaving now it was nice talking to you."

    She breathed in deeply feeling the relief almost as the doors closed behind them and they walked up the small corridor that would lead to the central foyer. Asuka looked up as a man and woman came into view both dressed in white and gold suits they had card readers which they both raised as the woman spoke in a dead pan code. "Insert your cards for reading." She raised her card watching as they scanned it.

    She moved her foot forward only for the woman to suddenly slam a pamphlet into her chest as her tone turned serious. "These are the ground rules, there is to be no touching of waiter or waitress staff serving drinks and food or sexual propositions towards either gender period."

    Asuka eyed the pamphlet feeling a sneer form on her lips. "This is so stupid I know the rules and I have a girlfriend now just in case that has escaped your verfickte notice!" The man opposite spoke in a sly tone as they put their cards away. "That didn''t stop you before when you were seventeen when you broke the rules twice on two separate visits here some of us remember it very clearly."

    Rei tried to hide the smirk as she moved Asuka forward. "Let''s go Asuka I''m sure these two people have a lot more people''s cards to scan." Asuka watched as the second set of doors closed. "Why did the assholes have to bring that up I was young and being stupid, I''m not that person anymore." Rei moved to stand in front of her stopping her. "I know you aren''t so you pay no mind to what they say it will just take some people a little more time to shake of that old image of you."

    She moved her hand to face seeing that the light was no longer coming out of her patch which meant the other woman was now much calmer. "What matters is I know who you are." Asuka moved her hand putting it on Rei''s. "Yeah I guess that is all that matters."

    She felt her good eye move as she realized that Rei was standing in front of a huge statue she slowly moved her head upwards watching as the huge grey statue came into view which was in the centre of the room its huge arms spread outward with hands on each side and its long neck with a head that had disintegrated away its was huge and was as large as an Evangelion and its head was close to the ceiling it looked ancient. "Is this new?"

    Rei turned looking at the statue. "Oh this it¡¯s not new it¡¯s said to be an ancient sculpture that outdates humanity their like a remnant or ruin and the scholars and archaeologists can''t figure out who made it, in fact this building was built around it not the other way around to protect it so it could be studied."

    She looked at Asuka who was still staring at it. "You have not noticed it before." Asuka eased up her hand pulling up her patch as she carried on staring at it. "No I''ve never noticed it before." Asuka breathed in why suddenly did this statue seem so familiar to her?"

    Rei looked at Asuka watching as her left eye blue and white light faded as it turned to black with glowing red circles which span as she carried on staring at it now somehow mesmerized. She eyed the statue suddenly not liking the feeling she was getting it felt like and ice cold chill as if someone was walking on her grave she moved her hand putting it on Asuka''s arm as she spoke in a dead pan tone before she could stop herself. "Hey Asuka, let''s go."

    She pulled on her arm speaking loudly and sharply as it was clear that the other woman was taking no notice of her. "Asuka!" She watched as Asuka snapped out of her trance turning to her as her left eye returned to its normal growing pulsing blue and white pattern state as she spoke a wide tooth grin forming. "Sorry I zoned out there for a moment what were you saying?"

    Rei felt her grip tighten. "Let''s go sit down at our table, I want to get away from this statue its very unsettling." She has seen her left eye change that after they had been at the prime ministers meal and she had no idea what it meant and that was making her feel even more uncertain.

    As she has assumed the first time which had affected her as well had been caused by a dream or something else but this time Asuka had been awake which meant it wasn''t emotion it was something else.

    She carried on moving Asuka forward feeling the dark sensation leave as they came toward the auction room which was a huge room decorated in white, reds and gold with hundreds of round tables all had four plush red and gold chairs and name tags on the tables she watched as a waiter came up to them speaking calmly. "Your table is this way, please follow me."

    "Hey Asuka Langley long time no see awesome you eating the angel Bardiel and all that!"

    Asuka turned sharply watching as a man in his thirties dressed in black suit with a goatee beard waved at one of the tables she leaned over eyeing Rei keeping her voice to a whisper. "Who is he?" Rei eyed the man whispering back. "Famous Hollywood star Antonio Aguilar he''s won two Oscars for best actor two years running."

    Asuka looked up forcing a fake smile as she waved. "Thanks¡­" Asuka watched as they were brought to their seat which was opposite Antonio''s filled table where three others were sitting one of whom she instantly recognised that Rosetta Martinez who gave her a cold look.

    She sat at her table watching as Rei sat next to her seeing the silver names for the two men opposite them one read Nicolai Gedda and Claude Rains who yet again she had no idea who they were. Rei sat down watching as the two men smiled at them they were given their number cards she eyed Nicolai who was in his fifties with whiting beard and hair and a stocky build who was an operatic tenor and very famous in Spain who she had heard nothing but good things about as he was a gentleman through and through.

    While the man opposite was an US TV host who she had not heard good things about she got more comfortable watching as Nicolai spoke calmly. "Well hello to you both it''s an honour to be seated with you both."

    Claude eyed Asuka as he lit a thin Cuban cigar as he pushed his long tailed hair back. "What a pity we are not allowed to interview you two would be most fascinated¡­" He breathed out the dark smoke as he eyed Rei Ayanami who was the spitting image of her mother Yui who he''d heard everyone had tried to sleep with at one point but been rejected outright. "But since I can''t I do have one question."

    He felt a sly grin form. "Tell me do those sexy skin tight plug suits creep into private places?" Nicolai turned sharply. "Plug suits are not some gross sexual fantasy for you to drool over! They are Nerv''s exceptional equipment and there to save lives and state of the art." Asuka put her hands together eyeing Claude as she spoke coldly". "How''s about you don''t ask my girlfriend crappy questions like that again tonight or I''ll make you really wish you hadn''t."

    "I wouldn''t mess with her Claude she might eat your face off in the literal sense have you not heard she has razor teeth now that appear very suddenly?"

    Asuka watched as Claude''s look turned to nervousness she turned to Rosetta who was slim and had long blonde hair and light green eyes and was dressed in her flamboyant silver dress and was slightly older than her. "Hello Rosetta." Rosetta smiled as she turned to Rei speaking in a silky voice. "Is she still a wet fish in bed I have to ask? Because I remember fucking her as such a chore."

    Rei eyed her seeing Asuka sneer as she spoke in a cold tone as she in no mood for this. "It''s not my fault you don''t know how to turn people on Rosetta, pressing the right buttons was never your forte when we dated two years ago." She eyed both Nicolai who smirked while Antonio did the same. "Plus I found you a chore since you are so about yourself."

    Rosetta folded her arms in truth she was enjoying this verbal sparring but she didn''t want to show it. "Yet you''re now dating the epitome of self-centred, so I really couldn''t have been that bad now could I?" Rei eyed her coldly. "Well at least this so called self-centred version loves me which is more than you ever did all you did was start complaining about how I never put out."

    Asuka turned as the waitress put a drink of German brand of beer called Franziskaner beside her while another gave Rei her some warm sake called Ginjo in a special pottery sake cup as these had been pre-ordered in advance by Maya as they could use the hologram menu on the table to order food and drink which were on Nerv''s tab. "You''ve had your fun Rosetta, now how''s about you be verfickte quite before I put my foot up your ass?"

    Rosetta suddenly burst in to a fit of laughter as she smiled widely. "My, my you two really are made for each other I never would guessed, seriously speaking though I thought this was fake on your part Rei since you never get laid hence why you picked up this sexual t-rex as a stunt because we both know that''s a hard train to ride in bed but clearly you like her because you''re really passionate about protecting her."

    Rei took a sip of her sake which was clearly the Dassai brand by the taste. "Well I''m glad we have established that so we can now end this conversation and move on with the rest of the night." She turned knowing the auction would start soon it was just a case of getting the last people seated.

    She watched as the waiters and waitress''s moved around her dressed in up market suits and long dresses moved around her, this place had really not changed since she had been here last time at seventeen and now it felt really strange or maybe the truth was that this was the first time she ever paid attention to the place since on both occasions she''d gotten slightly drunk even though Misato had told her pacifically that she wasn''t allowed to drink till she was eighteen and the night had felt like a roller coaster whereas now every moment felt different but then she was different and in a strange way that felt like a good thing.

    8

    The guard looked up slightly from his spot near auction building gardens which stretched out for a long way and had a maze and high fences which all of the celebrates would go out into after the action was over to talk and mingle. Behind him was a tall iron and wooden door which could only be opened from the other side via iris lock or on his side with his thumb print. He turned hearing some ruffling in the maze close up he raised his gun AK47 gun slowly. "Come out!"

    He breathed in only to lower it as he caught sight of the young woman dusting herself off who was the prime minister''s son'' s assistant Akane he smiled as he eyed her as sometimes assistants and body guards came in this way. "Hello Akane do you need me to let you in?"

    Akane smiled. "Yes please." She watched as he turned. "You''re a nice guy, you know that." Her hand moved inside her coat as she pulled out her hand gun. "Such a pity..." She didn''t think as she aimed it for the back of his head firing it instantly watching as blood spattered against the door as his body slumped against it leaving a blood tail as hit the floor his body shaking slightly in the final moments of death she already knew that inside was the other contact who had already put static footage on this camera and the ones of the gardens.

    She grabbed his hand pulling it up trying to get him to stand she turned seeing the group of a hundred men and women dressed in black who were getting ready to enter. She turned seeing the tall dark haired woman walk towards her whose name was Achika stopped in front of her eyeing the man as she pulled out a medical knife which had clearly been changed from a normal one as its blade was different as she spoke in a cold tone. "I''ll deal with this."

    She felt her body freeze as she started to separate his thumb from his hand causing blood to spill everywhere there was horrible crack as bone separated from bone and the tall woman pulled his thumb up slamming it against the scanner. "I hate long waits¡­." She watched as it turned green causing the doors to slowly open as Christopher came towards her as she threw the severed finger aside pulling out a white cloth to wipe the blood off her hands and knife. "Well that was easy."

    Achika looked up. "No one ever expects an attack on this place brother and Tokyo Three has become lax since it''s been a decade since their last terror attack." She eyed Akane pulling out something from her pocket which was gold credit card. "This is compliments of our grandmother or Pharaoh as you know her, for your help and giving us the lay out and plans even passwords and for your contacts work inside, fourteen million enough to retire on."

    She watched as the younger woman took it. "But tell me before you vanish and catch a plane to another country why help us? You see out spy contacts Orino and Hachiro are desperate to know as they can''t be here tonight due to secrecy and all that."

    Akane smirked as she started to walk away. "All my life I''ve given everything for up market creeps lived my life for them and I got nothing in return and I''m tired of kissing Ryo''s worthless ass because his father is prime minister and putting on a show that I adore him, I hope that you''ll kill him for me. I refuse to end up like my father who died painfully as an old butler, because his employer wouldn''t pay his medical bills even after four decades of service."

    Achika adjusted her glasses. "So you don''t care about our true goal the pilots." Akane shrugged. "I don''t give a shit about the pilots even if I did meet them some days ago I just want to watch all these wealthy fucks burn."

    Christopher stepped closer to her putting his hand in his black leather jacket pocket what looked like a black heavy metal bat with special buttons on its handle over his shoulder as he smirked. "Oh don''t worry heads are going to fucking role tonight and our grandmother gave us some fun toys to play with, you should go somewhere safe and watch the show because it''s going to be glorious." Akane eyed his weapon. "What is that? I''m curious."

    Christopher eased the baseball bat from his shoulder swinging it smoothly as he pressing a button causing a spark of intense electricity to fly out for a moment. "Oh this well I''m sure you''ve seen lightning rods have you not?" Akane nodded. "Yes¡­" Christopher pressed another button switching it off as he put it back against his shoulder. "Well this a beefed up version made from Evangelion plate steel in the form of your average baseball bat which I had specially made just for Asuka as she can with in stand intense pain this will be very painful even for her." Akane eased her hand towards it. "How fascinating..."

    Christopher took hold her hand gently pushing it back as he smiled smugly. "I wouldn''t touch that as this is the equitant of being struck by lightning, I intend to test it out on Ryo first just for your pleasure as I''m going to beat the shit out of him.¡±

    End of part 19

    Silvermoonlight

 Break The Foundation And Awaken The Turmoil

    BREAK THE FOUNDATION AND AWAKEN THE TURMOIL

    As much as like seeing all these old world items currently there''re just cars I want to see the books as that¡¯s the thing I want to bid on and it''ll be hours before they get to the ancient world artefacts. Asuka doesn''t look bored though she seems to be enjoying herself maybe because the lot after this is old world motorbikes.

    Wait I should tell that joke I wanted to tell her it in the limo up here as I was asking Mari and Shinji what kind of jokes she likes as I have no idea they both said the same thing which is jokes with a dark sense of humour and I read a really good German one online today. Rei sat up slightly. "Hey Asuka."

    Asuka turned slightly. "Yes." Rei paused keeping her voice low as not disrupt the binding which was for some kind of sports car and getting very high. "I heard this joke you might like." She paused watching as Asuka smiled at her. "Okay so the judge says to the accused, you are accused of having driven your neighbours into the forest with curse words and there beaten them quite horribly. Didn''t you go a little far, defendant?"

    Her smile widened. "His answer is, yes, that''s right, your Honour, I should have done it earlier in the meadow." She paused seeing Asuka stare at her for a moment only for her to suddenly burst in to laugher, which was loud enough to cause both Claude and Nicolai to turn in surprise as Asuka banged her number on the table.

    Rosetta turned sharply the shock in her face. "That was a terrible joke, how could you say something like that it''s so messed up?" Rei eyed her. "Oh please it was for Asuka not you." Asuka raised her number higher pointing it at Rosetta as she carried on sniggering. "It''s not our fault you and your friends don''t get black comedy."

    The auctioneer''s loud voice suddenly hit the air. "I take Langley''s bid currently standing at English sterling of thirty four million for this mint condition Lotus Elan 1600 S1 convertible, which has an ultra-rare and still has a working petrol engine!"

    Asuka turned sharply feeling the colour drain from her face, as she quickly lowered her sign hearing the auctioneer speak again. "Do I have any higher or do I close at thirty four?" He paused. "Is that final?" Asuka breathed in as a voice she recognised hit the air as a bidding sign came up. "I bid thirty six on my father''s behalf!"

    She breathed seeing the prime minister''s son Ryo with his sister Miki three tables away, as much as she hated the little bastard she was grateful for this because she would rather put money on a classic motorbike shell or parts than a sports car. "Oh that was so close and here I was thinking I''d have to give that to Kaji."

    Rei watched as the hammer came down as Ryo bid was successful. "He''s not into those anymore his most recent car is a Rolls Royce Phantom Seven." Asuka took a long sip of her lager bottle before turning to her. "Oh yeah he drove me up to hotel in that really comfortable."

    Rei felt a smile form as she was given another-hot sake by the waiter who moved to the other tables handing drinks and food out. "Yeah it''s a great car, he had it custom made in Britain and had it shipped here plus he drives better than Misato."

    Rei breathed in deeply sipping her pottery cup. "Everyone drives better than Misato." She pressed the table''s panel bringing up the hologram which listed the items. "Two more cars to go and then they''re bringing up the old world motorbikes followed by ancient history."

    Asuka eyed the list. "Finally something I want to spend my savings on." She turned to the other woman speaking gently. "You know if you want something just say, I don''t mind buying it." Rei pressed the desk panel watching as the hologram dropped as she put her hand on Asuka''s. "Its fine Asuka you don''t have to buy me anything." Asuka felt a toothy grin form. "I know but if you want something just say." Rei looked at her for a long moment. "Okay."

    She looked down slightly clearly they needed to talk about this sometime because as much as she liked Asuka''s gift she just got a feeling her gut that was pushing this like maybe Asuka was desperate in some way to please her or afraid to lose her and was spoiling her just like she did with her cat Erika.

    Yet she didn''t have to do any off this as she loved her regardless and didn''t care about her money or wealth she loved her for her company but this topic could wait for tonight right now she wanted to enjoy the evening together.

    8

    Christopher moved toward the room watching as Achika followed pulling her blade free as he pressed the code to the door which they''d been given it was clear of guards as she''d said it would be and this room had the central server as well which was important as they fully intended to wipe it and destroy it''s information and cut out its camera''s which were all recording and also take out the alarm system so when they broke into the auction room bellow they wouldn''t go off even if the celebrities and staff pressed them.

    Yes some could hack the inner com but he doubted any would get that far as they''d have killed the guards by that point and surrounded the room but this was one of the hardest parts he tapped on the door changing his tone as it switched to green and the bolts on the other side came free. "Hello I brought you some refreshments from down stairs."

    A male voice hit the air both people inside were clearly they were unaware that anything was amiss as Akane contact working outside was still hacking their feed and switching old camera footage so they couldn''t see them outside the doors. "Hey bring them though, we are starving!"

    Christopher pulled out his gun eyeing his sister. "You get the one on the right I get the one on the left." He watched as she nodded as he sneered as he opened the door seeing the woman closest turn as the man at the other desk turned looking at him in confusion as she spoke. "What is this are you the entertainment?!" Christopher pulled up his hand gun as he smirked. "Well I guess you could say we are lady."

    He pulled it watching as the blood spattered across the console as his sister vaulted grabbing the guy smashing him to the desk as she raised her surgical blade to his face keeping him in place as her brother grabbed the dead woman pulling her out of the chair as he put his baseball bat and gun away ignoring the bloody screen as he started to type he eyed the man his sister was holding down. "Okay little piggy unless you want my sister to make you squeal how''s about you tell me which camera will show me Asuka Langley or I''ll kill you?"

    The man''s eyes darted as he spoke in terror. "It''s F45!" Christopher smiled as he typed watching as it came up on the holographic screen. "Okay she¡¯s located near the B exit door." He turned to the men and women looking in. "Go to the B exit and block it I don''t want her leaving and Pharaoh''s orders have not changed you don''t touch Rei Ayanami! She has to leave here alive today its Langley we want no one else, so don''t touch her or we will make an enemy out of Gendo."

    He paused pulling out a data card which was black and red shoving it in to the slot as he watched it download. "Well lets gets this fucking party started shall we?" He watched as the data card turned red as it got ready to let out a special pulse that would take out everything and fry it internally. "You see this toy it''s going to rock your miserable little world."

    He watched as it went off causing sparks to fly as the desk went dead followed by ever camera dying all at once as the huge server panels went dead meaning that the backup would no longer exist he pulled out the card looking at it as he put his foot on the dead desk. "Well that your commutation gone to the outside world and your ability to send out alarms so I guess job done." He paused eyeing his sister. "You can kill him now." The man turned in horror as Achika pulled his head up. "But you said you weren''t going to kill me!"

    Christopher eased up his cigarette lighting it with a Zippo lighter. "No my friend I said I wasn''t going to kill you but I won''t deny my sister the pleasure or fun of killing you since I killed your friend it just wouldn''t be fair."

    He watched as the man was slammed back first on the desk. "Personally you''ll wish I had killed you because her method is way worse." Achika eased up the blade keeping the guy locked in place. "Large intestine or small intestine, which would you prefer to see?"

    She eyed his stomach area. "Let''s go for both shall we." Christopher watched as the dagger went in and the screaming started followed by blood spilling all over the floor followed by part of the man''s guts falling out as he started to shake in shock as she let go watching him hit the floor on his side. Achika breathed in, in annoyance as she pulled out her cloth wiping the blood from her hands and blade. "I hate it when they go into shock like that its utterly pathetic."

    She eyed her grandmother''s men and women who were backing up though she kept her eye on one which was Alessandro as they would both have plans for him after this mission that was amusing that he didn''t screw up all by himself which was very possible. "I give him less than an hour I severed his larger intestine inside so he won''t get a twenty four hour window instead his own guts will poison him." She eyed her blade. "Funny how such a small thing can save and kill with such elegant beauty and to think I used to waste my talents on saving people in surgery."

    8

    Mari walked the long corridor of the Arcade which housed the very expensive and luxury shops from all over the world which reminded her of Bond Street and Piccadilly where Harrods of London was which was a place as a young broke teen she could only look at but never go in to it.

    She stopped by the Luxury sex shop which was called S¨¦r¨¦nit¨¦ C¨¦leste which in French meant Heavenly Serenity which had a pure black front and gold writing. She had been wanting to go in here for a while but had not had the chance she moved forward seeing the sensor rise for her to place her Nerv ID card up against as just like the other four shops like this scattered around the Arcade this one also didn''t allow underage customers.

    She moved her card across watching as the sensor went green and the electric doors opened as an electronic voice spoke. "Welcome Mari Makinami Illustrious." She felt a wide smirk form oh she just had to drag the others in here sometime just for the fun off it.

    She walked inside seeing all male and female Nerv staff shopping around all looking like they were having fun as this shop was geared heavily towards both genders and had toys and items for both as well as gay toys for both sexes it was wall to wall of fun. She liked toys she wasn''t a prude to admit it and she''d try anything new as she enjoyed that sort of thing either alone or with someone else, though other person being a woman was no longer private or hidden anymore everyone knew.

    She turned in surprise catching sight of not the thing she had been looking for but something else as on a stand in the middle of the room where six strange plug suit like outfits three male and female but they weren''t plug suits more meant to look like them as thought they had bottom parts which looked the same the upper half almost down to the lower waist part was clear and see through and had a metal parts to mimic the sensors though there were more than normal as there were four either side and the words test on the upper chest.

    The lower arm part was clear while the upper part was normal and it had metal parts on the arms and the male and female mannequins even wore huge interface clips that were decorative and these were in their colours though it was showing on hologram screen that there were many other colours for both suits and clips. She moved closer watching as a male shop assistant who was well dressed and in black came towards her smiling as he spoke. "Can I help you Makinami?"

    Mari felt her smile widen. "Are these licenses by Nerv?" The shop keep nodded calmly. "Yes there were recently licensed by us and two other shops similar to ours in a nationwide chain, we were only allowed them under the condition that they didn''t look like real plug suits like what you wear and were more obvious imitation."

    He paused. "I do hope this does not offend you." Mari suddenly leaned over. "Hardly in fact I want to buy one." She turned pointing at the pink one. "Namely that one in my size made to order." She paused ignoring his and the other female assistants surprise. "Do the sensors do anything?"

    The other assistant suddenly came forward smiling. "Yes sex toys can fit to the lower parts on the suits of both genders and the four ports on the front have vibration sensors which can be felt in either the whole suit or one area and controlled by the wrist control. The clients that have brought it have been very pleased." She paused before speaking. "If you come to our back desk we can help you go through the finer details and have your item made to order."

    The other assistant looked at her. "Was there anything else you wanted to buy?" Mari eased up her hand adjusting her glasses. "Yes as a matter of fact there is you wouldn''t happen to have one of those kinky leather collars with a leather chain would you?"

    The man turned as they started to walk towards the other desk. "Yes we have plenty made to of the best quality is it for you?" Mari adjusted her shirt. "No it''s for my little sister so I need it in her neck size just super tight it''s a surprise for her and her girlfriend, you can access that info right?" The man turned slightly. "Yes we can do that Nerv gave us the data base sizes for all staff and pilots though we are not allowed anything other than that for security reasons."

    Mari gave them their credit card and ID card as they began to access the database getting her size readings as they brought up the hologram section so she could choose her extra''s which she began to do not caring as the euro price carried on rising as she added all metal parts for each sexual female attachments which were add-ons and the vibration sensors throughout along with the colour. She turned seeing the final price turn to British pounds. "Okay done."

    She turned only to feel all her pleasure instant leave as she realized Maya was heading right towards the desk with something in hand the smaller woman stopped looking at her in surprise. Mari turned just in time to see the male assistant show her three collars as he spoke. "Which one would you like, these are our finest product they come in any colour?"

    Maya lowered her item looking at Mari feeling the really awkward silence in the air as it was clear in Mari''s face that she had no idea what to say to her and was almost looking for an escape route which was so unlike her as she was normally always so confident.

    She turned realizing it had to be her who spoke first since they had not spoken since the battle some days ago and the reason she had been so mad today was because the words Mari had said about her treating the same as Ritsuko had treated her just wouldn''t leave her mind along with the gift because the reality was she missed her old cat cushion and who she was when she''d had it and now she was being reminded all over again.

    The reality was that, that was why she is in this shop now buying a new sex toy with more speeds just to get rid of the pent up frustration since she had never cared for VR dating simulations and saw them as unrealistic. She breathed in finally finding her voice as she spoke. "I would pick the second one."

    Mari let out the breath she''d been holding as she eyed the collar there was no denying it was probably the right choice she eyed the assistant. "That one, have it made in dark brown leather complete with leather chain and have it sent to Rei Ayanami''s mail box here at Nerv." She turned putting her credit card in the slot. "Take it off my card."

    She pulled it out putting it away as she turned back to Maya eyeing the item in her hand as she spoke knowing her voice was filled with uncertainty. "You know that''s not best model you should buy the one up from it, it has more speeds."

    Maya lowered the item as she looked up at Mari well at least the other woman was not in a bad mood anymore. "You''ve tried it?" Mari nodded calmly. "Yes." Maya shifted slightly. "Look I think we got on off the wrong foot a couple of days ago and I wanted to put it right." Mari looked down slightly turning serious as she spoke. "No I think it''s fair to say that maybe I should know better, you said no and I carried on pursuing you after all no means no."

    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Maya looked up slightly that was not the response she had been expecting from Mari. "Look how''s about I just get the better item you just told me about and we go have a coffee together, it''s not a date or anything like that I just want to sit and talk, you know just maybe get to know you. Because the truth is that I don''t know you in the way I know Asuka and there was something that you said that has played on my mind for some time now."

    Mari blinked in surprise okay now she really felt out of her element she had fully expected this to be just a formal talk and nothing more and now she felt really nervous. "Okay I guess a coffee wouldn''t hurt."

    8

    Asuka breathed in as the motorbike was shifted off the stand another Harley Davidson which she had no interest in she wanted a piece of BMW or Honda part she''d go for a wheel or a tank right now.

    She looked up as the sudden sound of what sounded like guns firing hit the air she clearly wasn''t the only one to hear it as other celebrities were hearing it as well as waiting staff she felt her good eye dart why did suddenly have a sinking feeling in her stomach. She turned slowly only to watch as every door was suddenly smashed open causing screams of commotion all around her as men and women dressed in black moved inside militarily guns raised.

    Her hand was on her gun inside her suit as she watched a man dressed differently from the others appeared who had a steal baseball bat over his shoulder as the screaming and panicking started he raised his hand gun over his head firing it as he shouted out. "How''s about you all fucking hit the decks right now!"

    She didn''t think as she grabbed Rei not thinking as she pulled her down as everyone hit the floor on their knees the panic in their faces how had they verfickte gotten in here? This building was meant to be terrorist proof the alarm should have sounded shouldn''t it?

    She turned looking at Rei who was pulling the hand gun she had brought out from under her long dress, clearly she had brought it and she wasn''t the only one she could see other celebrates pulling out hand guns but hiding them.

    Christopher turned eyeing every single person who was now in the floor hands over there head he smirked as he walked forward seeing his sister hanging back. "Well, well isn''t this a swell party your all having here?" He turned as the auctioneer slowly stood up speaking in a shaky voice. "Take what you want we won''t stop you!"

    Christopher eyed him. "Now what makes you think I care about any of your wealthy shit?" The auctioneer eyed him in confusion. "That''s why you''re here is it not to steal the Greek and Roman and ancient Japanese''s artefacts since there worth billions."

    Christopher laughed as he turned to one of the woman opposite dressed in black. "Could you please do me a favour and shoot that guy? I''d do it myself but I''m not in the mood." He turned as the woman turned raising her M400 firing it causing blood to fly through the air as the man was hit in the chest causing him to smash against the auction desk going limp as the hologram screen behind carried in playing.

    Christopher turned enjoying the fear as it spread over the faces. "Well I hope this is clear enough for you boys and girls I don''t care about your expensive shit!" He didn''t think as he swung the bat knocking over the nearest table as he put his gun away. "So now that we''ve established that I am going to tell you what I want and you''re going to give it to me."

    He paused swinging the bat. "If you don''t I''m going to kill you all one by one¡­." Antonio stood up slightly as he spoke. "What is it you want?" Christopher felt his smile widen. "I want Asuka Langley Soryu on her knees right in front of me with in the next few minutes or I''m going to fucking kill all of you!"

    He moved forward leaning on another table. "I know she''s here among you all you can''t miss her she can''t speak proper Japanese and curses in German and has real bad broken English along with long red hair and a patched left eye and is always in a foul mood."

    He grabbed a chair seating himself as put his foot on the table. "Is this ringing any bells for you boys and girls? Or should I illiterate further?" He slammed the bat down hard on the table. "Likes to fuck men and women and is currently fucking Gendo''s daughter." He paused raising the bat. "Come on now I''m sure one of you high class fucks will be happy to hand her over to me."

    8

    Maya watched as Mari sat down though she still looked nervous and uncertain as she sat down in the special British caf¨¦ which mirrored a Victorian coffee house was on the fourteenth floor the truth was she''d come here hoping that it might calm Mari down because she was so on edge.

    She paused as a special cake stand was placed in the middle of the table with cakes on it of all sorts as she''d ordered a sweet platter which was cakes and traditional British tea something called earl grey for two. She turned to Mari who still looked unsure of herself. "So what are these cakes?"

    Mari turned as her tea cup was filled by the waitress who was dressed as a Victorian maid as she eyed the levels as the maid left. "The top is scones with jam and clotted cream." She eyed the second level. "Victoria sponge slices." She eyed the third level. "I think that''s Eccles cake but I''ve never tried it."

    Maya eyed the cakes. "Really I thought you had caf¨¦''s like this all over Britain." Mari burst out laughing before she could stop herself causing both maids who were moving between the tables to look up she smashed her fist on the table stopping her own laugher as she eyed both maids who looked unimpressed.

    She watched as one pointed to a sign which read something along the lines of manners and good behaviour from both ladies and gentleman. "Sorry really funny joke." She turned back to Maya who still looked confused. "The truth is we don''t have cafes like this all over in Britain they''re just in special tourist areas.

    Maya looked around her. "Oh I''m sorry I thought this was common we can go somewhere else if you''d like." Mari shook her head. "No its fine never tried this even at home, the crummy caf¨¦ I used to live near in London just sold awful tea and sloppy English breakfast." Maya look some cake from the stand. "Have you ever met the Queen?"

    Mari took a bite of sponge cake. "You mean Queen Diana who is married to Duke James, no never met them though I''ve done the royal parade many times in my Evangelion, never had a royal invite though. Also they don''t give knighthood to celebrities only to people who are truly brave and save lives in acts of pure courage and its open to any class."

    Maya drank some of her tea. "So you''ve never wanted to be invited?" Mari breathed in deeply. "You know to be honest I was never into all that elite stuff." She paused. "I probably wouldn''t fit in anyway."

    Maya breathed easing out her phone as she brought up a picture on it so Mari could see it. "I was digging through the British achieves and I found this off you." She turned her phone so Mari could see it. "It''s you and Marcus but I didn''t realize you were so different then and during that fight that pilot Joshua was calling you fat and it was so unkind Marcus wrote about this issues but never in full detail."

    Mari eyed the image which was her some years back when she''d been over weight not long after coming onto the Evangelion program. She had always known this was going to come up she had been ready for it and maybe it was better that it was Maya and not anyone else. "After my mother died and I started stealing and hacking I used to eat badly I gained a lot of weight."

    She eyed the image which was her opposite Marcus who had an arm around her. "Joshua was military he hated the idea of me even being on the program as he felt he was trained and should be the Evangelion pilot, he was openly gay and I hated him for that because I was jealous that I couldn''t be as open as he was.

    At every turn though he tried to humiliate me called me fat and stupid, it was hard because Marcus knew I couldn''t function the simulation chairs, unless I dropped my weight to a healthy size to fit in them but he never gave up on me, he always looks out for me and still does but he won''t fix my messes he believes I should fix them myself, I finally dropped the weight but it was hard I had been accustomed to eating bad things."

    Maya eyed the picture. "Why were you overeating?¡± Mari looked at the picture again. "It was after my mother death I just got in to eating and drinking because I was so deeply depressed, I managed to give up the food but drink still haunts me."

    She moved her fingers over the pictures of herself which she had in a private photo album in her apartment. "I hated how it had turned out and I kept having nightmares about seeing my mother''s severed head after I saw her body in the morgue, eating and drinking became like a comfort from the intense inner pain."

    Maya looked at the other woman for a long moment seeing that the front had now fallen completely and she was in fact talking to the real Mari and she came across much older than her true age. "How did you and Marcus meet I mean you''ve never talked about it to me."

    Mari looked down slightly gods it was strange to have the memory of London''s base fly through her mind she could remember the dark and damp walls of the torture room so clearly. "Marcus was the first person who was ever truly kind to me."

    London''s Bethany Nerv base many years ago

    It''s just a matter of time now, I know it I feel it in my body I can''t take much more of this, everything hurts and I''m so hungry and so tired the beatings are five times daily now along with the constant name calling I can''t even see my attackers I''ve been blind for almost three days now and I can only feel around for things. It won''t be long now though I know it I just want them to get it fucking over with!

    Maybe this time when they water board me I''ll pass out and never wake up and somehow it will be bliss maybe I''m just letting this carry on because I want them to kill me, I mean I have nothing so why should I care for being in the land of the living?

    Mari felt the pain as a fist collided with her stomach causing her to hit the cold floor of the room she coughed trying not to be sick as the woman''s voice spoke behind her. "Are you we really going to do this shit again you fat little fucking geek?!¡± Mari didn''t answer she turned seeing the looming shadow she groaned closing her eyes not bothering to answer since they would hit her regardless of a right or wrong answer.

    Her hair was suddenly grabbed as she was pulled to her knees as a man spoke opposite. "This could all be over with if you just fucking tell us who your leader is and what fucking hacking ring you''re part of!" Mari felt a coy smile form as she spoke coldly despite how weak her voice was. "Yeah but then I miss the sounds of your voices you fucking wankers."

    She was pulled up and slammed against the table as the man spoke again his voice filled with rage. "You know what fuck this shit! How''s about I just kill you right now you I mean we''ve been at this for three days now?" Mari looked at his blurry shadow. "Go ahead you piece of shit¡­"

    She watched as his shadowy hand raised she felt her eyes close waiting for that welcoming death blow only for a bellowing voice to hit the air. "Stand down!" The next moments caused pain as she was released causing her to fall of the table and hit the hard floor though she didn''t move she had no energy to as the woman''s voice came again. "But general sir¡­we are so close to a confession." The voice came again. "Regardless you''re both dismissed."

    Mari could hear the door as it was closed she looked up seeing the large shadowy figure coming towards her stopping next to her as his voice spoke again but this time calmer. "Marian is it or do you prefer Mari?"

    Mari didn''t speak she slowly shifted her gaze to the floor hearing the voice speak again as the figure moved picking up something close by it was probably a gun, this man had come to finish the job, maybe make her death humane. The footsteps came again she felt a large hand placed itself very gently on her collar as she was sat up right as the voice came again even gentler. "That''s a nice pair of red glasses you really shouldn''t be without them."

    Mari felt his hand move towards her face she grabbed it in panic only for his voice to come again. "Hey easy now I just want to put your glasses back on I''m not going to hurt you." Mari watched as everything came back into focus through the cracked lenses.

    There was a big burly coloured man standing over in a full generals uniform he had a bald head and a thick white beard he had dark brown eyes and he loomed over her like some terrifying shadow. He looked at her a smile forming as he spoke again. "Well I finally get to see the intelligent beautiful girl who has frustrated us all over the past three days."

    Mari eyed him in disgust. "Go fuck yourself!" Marcus laughed as he leaned closer. "Feisty too I''m impressed." He raised his hand. "Most people don''t last a day but you, you''re made of some fucking strong stuff kid." He looked at her. "Are you hungry?"

    He pulled out a large bar of chocolate. "It''s a got mint filling from what I read in your files you like mint chocolate you buy it a lot." Mari eyed him as he put it close to her she was so hungry but she wasn''t going to take it despite that her stomach hurt from being punched.

    Marcus looked at the young girl. "It''s not poisoned." Mari yanked herself away from him shuffling herself so she was in the corner away from him despite that everything hurt so much. She leaned against the wall as she spoke. "What is this, the good cop bad cop routine? I don''t want shit from you!"

    Marcus breathed in clearly there was an emotional crack coming though he moved forward staying on his hands and knees as he sat opposite her again. "You misunderstand I''m not here to hurt you or kill you as far as I''m concerned your torture is over no one''s going to lay a finger on you again." He turned seeing that her turquoise green eyes were staring off in to space. "I''m here because I have a proposition for you."

    He breathed in deeply raising the chocolate bar again. "Because I think deep down you don''t want to be here I think you want more out of your life than wasting it with those pathetic hackers." He moved the chocolate closer. "I can also see that you don''t serve a prison sentence because as I''m sure you''re well aware that hacking the government can get you life imprisonment."

    His smile widened. "Young thing like you wouldn''t really be fair now would it you wouldn''t get to have drink and party?" He looked up. "Or make sweet love to boys or girls that kind of stuff like a normal kid your age should be doing?"

    Mari turned eyeing him. "What do you fucking want?" Marcus put the chocolate down close to her as he pulled out a newspaper cutting from his pocket opening it seeing the photo of the German Evangelion pilot who was called Asuka Langley Soryu. "We were going through your things and I found this, it looks to me like this is one those Eva pilots."

    He eyed the cutting. "We''ve been going through your web activity and logs you spend a lot of time surfing Nerv." Mari eyed him. "So it''s not a fucking crime and I didn''t hack them!" Marcus put the cutting in front of her. "So you''re aware that Britain is now part of the Evangelion program."

    Mari eyed him. "Yeah and I''ve heard you already have seven candidates." Marcus smirked. "You mean shit candidates¡­picked by the prime minister." He put his finger on the cutting. "I don''t think they have what it takes they''re too restricted in they''re thinking." He moved a little closer. "Also I just think I found someone better." Mari put a hand on her stomach trying to ignore the pain along with her stinging body. "This is a joke right?"

    Marcus shook his head. "Listen kid I don''t joke, I read your files, your homeless you got in with the wrong crowd, life handed you some shit cards but your hacking is impressive but so is your way of thinking I mean you covered your tracks so well that you nearly slipped through our fingers that kind of mental aptitude is what the program needs." He looked around him. "You didn''t break either under our torture and you have no military training the sync demands a strong mind."

    He looked up. "I''m giving you the offer of a life time come with me now I''ll give you training I''ll make you a hero, hell if you have a good a sync as I think you have you could be magnificent."

    He watched as she turned looking at him for the first time though with tired eyes as everything was now taking its toll. "If you succeed in the training you will get your own Evangelion imagine that kid you''ll stand on the shoulders of giants and fight for your country you''ll get money, fame and power no more skulking on the street like a fucking rat buying cheap take away food."

    He eyed her. "Doesn''t that interest you?" Mari leaned over picking up the chocolate bar opening it taking a bite only to feel her stomach scream as she started to eat the whole thing before she could stop herself she finished it only for Marcus to pass her some water which she also finished very quickly.

    She looked up as she placed the empty glass down knowing that she''d fall asleep soon she had not slept right in three days as they''d constantly kept her awake. "Okay¡­fine I''ll test for the program¡­anything''s better than this shit." Marcus leaned closer watching as her eyes closed as she started to drift off. "Get me a fucking medic in here I want this kid''s wounds healed I want you to make her healthy food after she rested and give her fresh clothes and a nice bed to sleep in!"

    8

    Maya blinked as Mari ended her story. "That''s awful but I can see why you to became friends." Mari looked down sadly. "To Marcus I wasn''t some worthless fat little hacker to him I''m someone special who he wanted to put faith in and trust he apologised some months later for my torture and said he deeply regretted it but at the same time was glad he found me through it."

    She felt a sneer form. "Alexandra never did though she felt my torture was justified it''s why we''ve never seen eye to eye but she is the leader of British intelligence division of Nerv and has a seat in the shadow council in government whereas Marcus heads all of the Nerv division military throughout Britain and they have to work together though very closely."

    She took in a deep breath letting it out slowly. "On the training field you were right I had been drinking and I was sick around Asuka''s, I was lying to save face the truth is I got drunk because you called me a child I''ve never liked being called that but maybe you''re right maybe I''m not ready for any form of relationship but I will say that my feeling for you are not a childish crush nothing''s changed but I have no intention of pushing that issue if you don''t feel the same."

    Maya put her hands together. "You know the truth is I came here to speak to you about something you said before because it was true, I was treating you the way Ritsuko treated me I didn''t want to admit it even to myself but it is true." She looked up. "The truth is relationships scare me and I just don''t feel I''m up to one with anyone right now."

    She paused. "I just have some thinking to do regarding myself right now it''s just your gift reminded me of when I was younger and happier and maybe I need to find that part of myself again because I think it''s why I''m not happy."

    She moved her hand taking hold of Mari''s. "But I want us to be friends though and take this journey together as I think we both have a lot to learn about ourselves." Mari looked down. "If that''s what you want then I''d rather be here as your friend if nothing more."

    End of part 20

    Silvermoonlight

 Bleeding In To The Fire Light

    BLEEDING IN TO THE FIRE LIGHT

    Christopher breathed in seeing silence fall up on the room this was not how he had hoped this would pan out and he didn''t like it celebrities were meant to be shallow assholes right? So why were they not handing her over, granted he could just stroll over to her but he wanted to humiliate them all to get what he wanted. He paused eyeing them. "So you''re all your willing to die for some red head you don''t even know is that it?"

    He tapped his bat on the table frankly he was curious. "Anyone want to explain why you''re protecting her?" Nicolai stood up slowly seeing that Asuka was eyeing the door to their left and the shooters stationed there. "She''s a pilot she protects this world and you are terrorist it is the world law that we do not negotiate with terrorists."

    Christopher laughed as he eyed him. "Spoken like a true idealist Nicolai Gedda, no wonder all of Italy wants to blow on your dick." He raised the bat pointing it at him. "That''s the bullshit answer now give me the real one." He watched as Ryo suddenly stood up. "She''s over there stupid why don''t you just take her!?"

    Christopher eased himself up right on queue stupid little shit he moved towards him seeing his sister back away from him. He raised the bat putting it near the younger man''s face as he eyed his sister Miki as he shook his head sadly. "Ah Miki your idiot brother talks what a surprise!"

    He paused eyeing everyone else their faces a mix of anger of terror. "Just so you know this stupid little bastard is the reason I''m inside the room and the cameras are all dead hence no one can see what''s going on in here and you''re cut off from the outside world and all the alarms are off and your phones have no outside signal since we blocked them so send all you want your messages won''t go anywhere!"

    He paused. "Because someone who used to work for this little brat wants his head on a pike and we intend to deliver." He moved the bat down suddenly ramming it full force between Ryo''s legs ignoring his scream of pain. "You see this little bastard has in fact got a list as long as my arm of people he has sexually harassed men and women who hate his guts and people who are tired of cleaning up his mess."

    He watched as he stumbled back. "So now boys and girls we are going to show you the price of your disobedience!" Miki moved forward only for a gun to appear in front of her face. "Wait my brother is a moron and a jackass but he doesn''t deserve this."

    Christopher smirked. "Would you like to take his place Miki? I mean you shouldn''t feel bad it''s not your fault he screws up aren''t you tired of cleaning it all up, don''t you think you deserve better?" He paused. "Didn''t he steal your last boyfriend the professional boxer you really liked for some one night stand so he could brag about it? He''s cruel, privileged and self centered and he takes things from you and he needs to be taught a lesson and you know it."

    He watched as she turned away. "I''m on your side Miki don''t feel guilty no cameras are filming you this is just business and this is yet another one of his screw up you won''t have to clean up." He turned the bat on eyeing Ryo he didn''t think as he smashed it into his leg hearing him cry out in agony as he hit the floor as the lightening cracked he smashed his leg a second time hearing another bone crack as he eyed everyone. "Come on Asuka show yourself or are you a coward?"

    He smashed the bat down again hearing one of Ryo ribs shatter as he eyed everyone. "Boy and here I thought you''d want to get up and fight." He turned watching as three celebrities suddenly pulled out hand guns only for shots to fire off instantly as they were gunned down by his men and women before they could even get a shot off causing their wounded bodies to hit the floor hard as they began to bleed out clutching their wounds which were serious. "Well aren''t you a bunch of trigger happy fucking morons?!"

    He slammed the bat down hard hearing more of Ryo''s ribs shatter the loser was now on the verge of passing out and had started crying from the pain. "Next one of you assholes who pulls out a gun I''m going put you out personally!" He eyed Ryo turning making sure Asuka could hear him. "You know people are dying because of you Asuka! One more blow and this time I''m going to cave in Ryo''s head!"

    He felt a wide toothy grin form. "You know maybe you want him to die I mean he did ask you and Rei Ayanami to have a threesome from what I''d heard, apparently you turned him down. Not that I blame you no one would but isn''t it a little cold hearted to watch him die?" Asuka breathed in deeply looking down slightly a part of her wanted just to get out of here with Rei but the reality was three people were bleeding all over the floor from gun wounds one was out right dead and Ryo was going to die if this verfickte bastard carried on.

    She eyed Rei again the truth was this wasn''t about her they were probably after her girlfriend, they just wanted her out of the way to get to Rei that''s why they were doing this, she wasn''t the prize Rei had to be. She turned to her hating her next words as she pulled the safety off her gun. "Rei I have to go." She paused. "Maybe if I go they''ll stop hurting and killing people."

    Rei grabbed her arm. "No!" Asuka took hold off her hand gently pulling it away. "Look they''re not after me, they just want me out of the way to get to you I''m not the prize you are and I know I can take that sack of scheisse down." Nicolai turned sharply. "You don''t have to do this Asuka."

    Asuka breathed in getting ready to stand ignoring the shock and uncertainty around her from the others kneeling by their tables. "Yes I do because I''ve taken down lesser men than him." She turned to Rei pulling her close holding her for a long moment. "I can do this we both know it and you have my phone call Nerv and you can hack the alarm it''s behind that corridor and not attached to the main system I tried to hack it last time I was here for a joke it''s why they threw me out along with the sexual harassment of staff."

    She gave her a gentle kiss on the lips as she ran her other hand through her short hair. "I can take this guy out maybe then they''ll negotiate with you." Rei felt her let go knowing that what Asuka had said was right she just didn''t want to admit it.

    Asuka stood up eyeing the others. "Protect her, this won''t take long I promise you that and like I said before the panel is not far from here." Christopher looked up catching sight of Asuka she stepped away from her table walking towards him with a gun in her hand. "Well, well look who finally decided to show up?"

    He put his bat over his shoulder eyeing the group of two men and two women opposite who were the specialized group signalling for the first two to go in to action. "Take her down but keep her alive!" Asuka watched as the first man ran at her she raised her gun knowing that for all the times before now that she had used a gun she had never killed outside the Evangelion. It had always been fake targets on the shooting range but these weren''t targets these were people clearly evil verfickte people who would go to any lengths to get what they wanted.

    She had trained for this all of her life and she was doing this to protect Rei she felt a sneer form as her finger pressed the trigger watching as it hit the man in the face sending blood everywhere as the next round hit him in the throat. As she turned it on the woman who ran at her firing again seeing it strike her neck as she fell to her knees bleeding out the pain in her eyes as she shot her in the leg sending her falling sideways. "How''s about you not hide behind your people and verfickte come here and fight me!?"

    Christopher eyed his sister who nodded he paused as he pulled his hand gun out tossing it to one side. "Okay how''s about you get rid of yours and we''ll fight like you want?" Asuka turned raising her gun and holder as she tossed it watching as it landed next to Antonio''s table. "What about your bat?"

    Christopher smirked. "That won''t be part of our arrangement which is if I beat you I get the prize of being the only person out of a few to ever do so, and if you win we talk and this bat well it''s just a version of a lightning rod I thought you could handle those." He swung the bat forward. "It''s just metal and lightening or are you afraid of pain? Because I heard you weren''t in fact I hear you get off on it."

    Asuka stopped a few feet away from him. "You seem to know a lot about me how is that?" Christopher moved a step closer. "Let''s just say we crossed paths once before but I doubt you''d ever remember you were very young at the time." Asuka eyed him. "Are you that boy who I lived next door to me the one I used to play knights and princess''s with along with my older sister? Because I used to like him and if you''re him I won''t be impressed."

    Christopher smirked. "Right time period Asuka wrong person I''m not him." He swung the bat. "As I say I''m not surprised you don''t remember if I were you I''d probably forget to."

    He turned seeing that Miki was holding Ryo who had now passed out. "I will say this though I know your one of the best at Nerv in terms of fighting and I''m going to beat the shit out of you and no one''s going to interfere that''s the rule." Asuka felt a sneer form on her lips. "Yeah sure you are."

    She felt her knuckles crack. "I''ve kicked in lesser men and women than you in my lifetime you people are never a challenge you all brag and verfickte monologue." Christopher laughed changing the bats setting to its highest. "Then I look forward to proving you wrong!" He swung the bat full force watching as she instantly ducked out of the way.

    He swung it again watching as she moved backwards avoiding it personally he didn''t care for this mellow side of her he wanted to see the enraged beast the part that he had heard so much about the part of the video footage who had thrown a hospital bed in a fit of blinding rage and had razor teeth and a glowing left eye that was the challenge he wanted.

    Because this was a walking god in human form the destroyer of worlds whose true purpose had yet to be fulfilled which was to become a death god and then pass on her power to them because in this cycle she clearly didn''t want to be the bringer of death that was clear if she had wanted to she would have destroyed the world after the fight with Bardiel.

    But what it was to be in the presence of a living god who didn''t know there true purpose there true destiny and was living a human life without ever knowing never thinking for a second of the power she had because she was trapped in a human cage of flesh and blood.

    He swung the bat watching her avoid it again as he good eyed narrowed as she tried to punch him only for his feet to shift. His grandmother had trained him for this for almost three years he was now ready he swung the bat smashing it to her exposed side watching as she stumbled forward crying out in pain. "Come on Asuka you can do better than that!" He paused. "What is it that highly pressed tailored expensive suit, is it a reminder that you have to behave yourself in good company and can''t let go?"

    Asuka breathed in as she tried to kick him only for him to leap back much to her frustration. "How about you not verfickte talk!?" The next moments turned to blinding pain as the bat impacted with her shoulder causing intense pain that was much worse than what she was used with lightning rods.

    Christopher smirked. "Do you like my toy I had it specially made just for you?" He shifted as she tried to punch him again only to side step as his grandmother had taught him to judge closely her every move and match it with the opposite. "Is that suit a symbol of your fear? The fear that you are not human not fully that your forever tainted by an angel?"

    He felt his eyes narrow. "Because we all know what''s inside you Asuka you are a beast a force of nature that has no equal. Nerv just has you on a leash restraining you like that its pathetic when power like that should be free! Stop restraining it and fight me as your true self!"

    Asuka turned only to be hit in the stomach which caused her to stumble back painfully only for the next moments to turn to blinding pain as its hilt smashed into her face causing her to crash sideways in to a table. "You know this is really fucking disappointing you can do better than this!" He moved closer. "But let me guess you don''t want everyone to see because you''re afraid?"

    Asuka breathed in feeling the blood as it ran down her chin, why couldn''t she verfickte hit this bastard? It made no verfickte sense it was that stupid bat but it hurt worse than anything she was used to she had to get it out of the bastards hands! She had hit other people at least once by now.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    She turned throwing her leg out smashing it straight into his knocking him clean off his feet as she got onto hers only to scream in pain as the bat made contact with her shoulder before she could grab him forcing her backwards as she tried to take the pain. Christopher eased himself up as she backed up a step he could see the anger now in her face he could see Rei watching her and struggling with the emotion.

    He swung the bat around. "Or maybe is it that you''re afraid for that good looking woman you like to fuck might see the real you and be very afraid?" He felt his smile widen. "After all you were once up on time deemed to be unworthy by everyone and maybe you still are unworthy to everyone. Maybe that''s the truth and that your terrified of them finding out that their savour is just an animal in human form and you''re not good enough even for her!"

    Asuka looked up sharply feeling rage start to burn before she could stop it, it was like a fire in her chest heating up her lungs and burning into her stomach who was this worthless piece of scheisse to tell her she wasn''t good enough?!

    Christopher felt his smile widen as he watched the dark patch turn lighter yes this was what he had been hoping for she was close just a little more and then he''d finally see the beast. Asuka moved sideways watching his every move as she felt her teeth grind together as she moved towards him her hand moving fast as she grabbed his bat hand before it could strike her feeling the force as he tried to force it towards her shoulder he was strong she could feel it in his movement.

    She swung her other fist around watching as it smashed against into his face throwing him backwards though to her surprise he didn''t fall over instead he only stumbled back.

    She felt the confusion take over as he turned back to her grinning widely as blood ran down his chin as he spoke playfully. "Nice try, try harder." The bat was suddenly forced down right down into her shoulder causing intense pain followed by his knee slamming into her stomach throwing her backwards causing her to hit the floor on her knees in agony.

    The next moments turned to a massive daze as the bat collided with her face throwing her backwards as everything went in and out of focus and her ears rang as she hit the floor on her back holding her face trying desperately to take the pain as she pulled her patch off in a violent motion as she felt the blood run down from her forehead.

    Christopher breathed in eyeing her as he walked over to her raising the bat ignoring Rei''s sudden cry of horror as she stood up fully. "How fucking disappointing." He brought it down only for Asuka''s hand to stop it before it could hit her he didn''t get a chance to think as she yanked it from his hand in a violent motion.

    He watched as she rose to her feet still holding the bat despite that it was still shocking her only for her to throw it violently across the room causing it to land of one of the table sending drink and food flying before hitting the ground hard. Asuka''s voice hit the air though the tone had changed it was darker. "Let''s see what your like without your annoying verfickte bat!"

    Her head rose slowly and he felt his heart race as he caught sight of the eye which was glowing brightly so much so that it was letting blue and white light, he watched as her mouth opened revealing the razor sharp teeth in all there wonderful glory. He could see the shock from all of the celebrities some were even recording it on their phones despite that they couldn''t send any messages or video to the outside world. "Yes that''s it reveal your true face!"

    Asuka opened her mouth as she licked one of her canine teeth feeling every muscle tense as her scream came out before she could stop it she heard it change towards the end becoming more inhuman and more like a tiger¡¯s roar.

    Even if she wanted to stop the anger she no longer could and a part of her just didn''t want to now because she liked the feeling as she ran at him smashing her fist into his side causing him to show instant pain knocked him clean off his feet she walked up to him bringing up her foot only for him to move as she brought it down full force hearing the floor boards crack under the carpet.

    She watched as he got up strangely still smiling which was so confusing because people didn''t normally smile at her when fighting her they always looked angry or afraid he didn''t he looked smug and without fear and it was so unsettling.

    She came at him only to once more be hit which caused her to stumble back she ignored the pain as she grabbed his fist as it came towards her as she elbowed him straight in the face. Sending him flying back as his nose started to bleed and an angered look appeared on his face as he wiping it away with his fingers.

    It was almost satisfying to watch him squirm for the first time. Her smile suddenly left her as his foot came up lightning fast striking the side of her face sending her crashing back first into the table closest. She groaned in pain only to move as his fist came down hitting the table as she moved as fast as possible avoiding it.

    She watched in surprise as he raised it eyeing the blood on it only to lick it with his tongue. "You know what play time is over Asuka." Asuka blinked in surprise as his whole body tensed as he turned to her only for his brown eyes to suddenly turn a glowing red as his teeth became razor sharp except for his front teeth but the lower canines grew upwards protruding out from his mouth to a huge existent. She felt her body freeze in shock how was that even possible it was only the Evangelion pilots who could currently do this¡­how had he gained the ability? Clearly he had to have stolen it from Nerv maybe by using their blood samples.

    Christopher smirked. "You know in my home country they called me raging bull as a nick name do you want to know why?" Asuka breathed in breaking out of her haze. "Wouldn''t raging hog be more fitting it suits your teeth way better?"

    Christopher eyed her letting out a cry of anger as he ran at her grabbing her before she strike him forced her back first into the nearest table back first hearing her scream of agony from his fist making contact with her stomach. "You think you''re the only one who has intense rage¡­well you''re wrong, everything you can do I can do."

    Asuka eyed him despite the pain as she spoke through gritted teeth. "And yet I''ll still be better than you, you bastard since I didn''t steal my abilities from someone else." She rammed her head up right in to his watching as he stumbled back crying out in pain. "Clearly another thief at Nerv, a traitor who has somehow tampered with our blood samples and given himself gifts."

    Christopher ignored his fully bleeding nose feeling the rage start to build up fully. "I stole nothing my gifts are my own!" He paused noticing that she was still holding her side clearly she was starting to feel the pain now because she wasn''t used to having someone stand up to her and his grandmother had said he had to wear her down as much as possible. "How''s your stomach¡­intestines still feeling sore didn''t you get those pulled out once?"

    He turned only to grab her fist as it came at him followed by the other which he caught he felt her push against him he smiled as he began to put the pressure down on her fists seeing the pain in her face.

    Christopher eyed her. "Maybe now would be a good time for you to surrender clearly that stomach wound of yours has had long standing consequences, you know another punch there might really hurt you." Asuka moved closer to him ignoring the pain. "Pain is just part of living it''s the god''s way of telling you, you''re alive."

    Christopher felt a sneer form. "No that''s the lie you tell yourself the reality is you don''t believe in the gods and you never have and like me you get off on pain you like the buzz it gives you." He threw a fist watching as she avoided it only to feel the pain as her foot slammed into his side.

    He''d found the weak point he just had to hit it again in the same spot, clearly that old wound wasn''t as hard as the rest of her he could see that one of the ties had now come loose from her hair which meant half it was now loose.

    He eyed her avoiding her punches which were becoming faster and more agitated waiting carefully for the one moment ignoring the pain from the blow that hit his side as he smashed his elbow into her face watching as she stumbled back her breathing getting longer and heavier. He smiled seeing her turn on her heal to kick him he slammed his hand up stopping her leg as he shifted closer ramming his first into her stomach before she could move or shift hearing her cry out once more.

    Asuka felt the agonizing pain as she punched in the stomach yet again which caused her to stumble back as he let go of her leg only for a second blow to land on her exposed leg causing her to hit the floor hard on her back as her vision started to truly blur as every breath came out painfully.

    Christopher felt his razor teeth grind together as he walked towards her slowly feeling his fist tense as he got ready to grab her as he was truly pissed off now and wanted to end this he ignored the cold feeling of wet blood running down his nose. "You see you''re not the only one with razor teeth or special gifts which your Evangelion gave you!"

    Asuka looked up as she got to her feet slowly and painfully only to be struck again in the face which sent her flying backwards causing her to hit the floor on her side as she breathed in staring at him trying desperately to stay focused. "What would you know about an Evangelion!?"

    Christopher leaned over grabbed her by the long red hair yanking her half way to her feet so her face was close to his. "As much as you destroyer of worlds..." He watched as her both of her eyes including her blind light one widened in shock as it clearly clicking in her mind who he really was. He didn''t think as he drove his knee into her stomach ignoring her cry of pain. Asuka breathed in painfully trying to take the pain which was so hard now. "Wait¡­your him your that verfickte pilot!"

    Christopher smirked smashing his foot into her leg ignoring her scream of agony as she hit the floor on her knees once more. "Yes that''s right but I have to say that the more pressing issue is you not knowing who you really are." Asuka breathed in painfully as she fell forward realizing for the first time that the victory was truly slipping away from her, her stomach felt truly awful now and she just wanted to throw up and it hurt to move. "My name is Asuka Langley Soryu."

    Christopher grabbed her red hair which was now completely loose again yanking her to meet his gaze as he spoke in a sharp cold whisper. "No that''s not who you are, that''s who you think you are between you and me I envy you I really do. To have such limitless power yet for it all be trapped away because of your human shell, to live your life without never really knowing your true purpose¡­there is no greater sin or pity."

    He raised his hand. "All of this its illusion you know even fucking that good looking women it''s all distraction it''s not your true destiny, that''s what we are going to return to you, that''s why we are here, we are here for you destroyers of worlds." Asuka looked at him as a horrible realization of his words truly sunk in. "You''re here for me¡­not Rei¡­"

    Christopher''s wide toothy smile slowly widened further. "Yes we are here for you¡­and now it''s time for you to sleep." He grabbed her neck hoping that this would be enough to stop her as he wrapped his hands around her throat squeezing tight seeing the shock in her good eye as the other one dimmed becoming dark as he pulled her on to her feet and then higher.

    He watched as her shoes started to shake as she grabbed his arms her face turning to panic and anxiety he didn''t want to kill her, he just wanted her to pass out. He felt her hands claw and grab only to suddenly stop as they both fell to her sides as her breathing became heavy and slow followed by her eyes rolling back as she finally passed out. He let go seeing her hit the floor hard on her back through she didn''t move though her leg twitched slightly. He breathed in turning to the audience. "Well looks like I won what a huge pity for the rest of you fuckers!"

    Achika smiled as she walked out from her hiding place finally coming into view for everyone to see she paused ignoring their surprise she knew why it was there and hated the reason for it she had gotten it everywhere ever since Mari had joined the Nerv program and she hated it. She moved closer to Asuka tapping her foot with her shoe seeing her remain still. "She''s out cold."

    She turned to the armed men and women. "Bag and tag the destroyer of worlds and keep her sedated." She turned pointing to Rei raising her finger as she signalled in her direction as she spoke in a calm tone. "You be a good girl and come here now please."

    Rei watched as Antonio grabbed Asuka''s gun and holder pulling the Korth combat revolver free of its leather case taking the safety off. "No." Achika moved closer to her adjusting her glasses. "Let me make this clear to you, we are not interested in you and we won''t lay a finger on you, your Gendo''s daughter and we don''t want to make enemies with him."

    She put her hands behind her back moving closer. "Something bad is about come to full foliation and we don''t want you around when it does, we want you to be set free far from this place safe and sound."

    Rei felt her hand raise the gun trying to keep it hand steady so the shake didn''t show which would give away her fear. "Who are you? You remind me of Mari." Achika moved closer her anger suddenly burning. "Don''t compare me to the runt of the litter! I''m way better looking than her!"

    She moved a step closer. "Now come here! We both know you don''t have the guts to fire that gun, you''re not like us it''s not in your nature to kill in cold blood it is nothing to be ashamed of it''s a noble trait in some circles." A wide grin formed on her lips. "Plus you wouldn''t want to kill me with that weapon, it''s an expensive tailor made hand gun clearly Asuka likes you to have the best of the best."

    Rei eyed the gun lowering it so it was no longer aimed at the taller woman but the electronic box which powered all the lights in this room which was close by. "No your right I wouldn''t shoot you in cold blood." She breathed in deeply raising it in a lightning fast motion. "Why bother though when I can do something far nobler."

    She fired the gun seeing the shock in the woman''s eyes as her bullet hit its mark causing an explosion of sparks which caused the room to plummet into darkness followed by cries of pain as guns fired she ran not looking back seeing hundreds of people flooding out of the doors towards the light as she followed them still hearing gun fire along with cries and screams.

    Achika sneered as she watched some of the men and women turn on their lights in her direction she turned eyeing them. "Don''t stand there we need Gendo''s daughter now, I want her with us she''s to be dropped off outside the building and don''t cause her any harm!" She felt a sneer form as she turned to the other group. "Pull the buildings central flags down and put the new ones up the Gryphon ones as soon as we have Rei this will come to a satisfying conclusion!"

    Christopher walked forward feeling his teeth return to normal as he pulled out a small object from his pocket which was silver and had flashing red parts. "That it will sister, I mean it''s time to see what grandma''s device is truly capable off."

    End of part 21

    Silvermoonlight

 As Blood And Guts Run In To The Blazing Fires

    AS BLOOD AND GUTS RUN IN TO THE BLAZING FIRES

    That man he had teeth like Asuka''s and his eyes glow like mine and he beat her so badly it was really awful to watch, I''ve honestly never seen Asuka get beaten in combat and it made me sick to my stomach. Who are those people?

    I mean that woman referred to Mari as the runt of the litter and the man he said he knew Asuka when she was young clearly he is an Evangelion pilot as he has the abilities like us which means he must have been the one we faced off against in battle who had the dead lance of Longinus and that''s even more terrifying. I have to find that panel though now for everyone else and Asuka''s sake if she could open the foyer doors she could let everyone out.

    Rei turned pulling away from the screaming crowds and employees almost feeling her feet slide on the carpeted floor as she ran away from them as they ran towards the foyer strangely the gun men and women weren''t following. She ran down the opposite corridor seeing the panel come into view which was glowing blue.

    She eased herself up pulling off its blue screen throwing it to the floor as she eyed the computer screen trying to remember the emergency code as she shoved her key card into the lock ignoring the commotion which could be heard up the hall as everyone ran in the foyer only to hit the closed doors at the end.

    She turned watching as Rosetta and Antonio appeared coming alongside her much to her surprise. "What''s the emergency code I really need the code!" Rosetta turned sharply. "Now I''m wishing I hadn''t drunk so much." She raised her hand. "It five seven five nine four seven...there''s more I know there is."

    Antonio spoke leaning forward. "Its five seven five nine four seven three four seven..." Rei started typing watching as the code flashed green as she started to go through the systems areas up on a long list. "Cars, parking, credit¡­where is it? I need the override all of the buildings doors so they will open and everyone can get out." Rosetta stopped her hand. "Three down four to the right."

    Rei moved her hand pressing it bringing it up. "Activating it now..." She watched as a ten minute count down started. "Why does this have a download bar?" Antonio eyed the panel. "Security reasons so you can cancel it, its old style technology but an unsuccessful type that was replaced with emergency digital alarms."

    Rosetta looked up. "You know Asuka tried really hard, she had so much courage." She breathed in about to say more only to hear the cracking sound of a gun followed by intense pain she looked down watching as blood started to drip down her leg only to hit the floor in intense pain.

    "Yeah well the bitch still lost and I''m sick of having to look around for you, you''re wasting our precious time!"

    Rei turned as another shot was fired at Antonio who hit the floor bleeding heavily from his shoulder opposite her still holding Asuka''s gun, she eyed the masked man. "Stop hurting these people they''ve done nothing to deserve this!" The man eyed her, his Spanish tone noticeable despite his mask as he raised his machine gun higher. "Stop wasting time, you are coming with me now!"

    Rei eased the gun up not thinking as she fired it straight at his boot ignoring his cry of agonizing pain. "No I''m not!" The next moments caused intense pain as his weapon hilt smashed into his stomach only for the next blow to hit her in the face causing her to stumble back as blood ran down from her nose.

    The man''s hand suddenly found her hair as he dragged her up it. "Pretty little thing aren''t you? You''re so young looking in the face." Rei looked up only for the man to be punched full force by another man who was being closely followed by a woman who shook her head in annoyance as she kicked Asuka''s gun out of Antonio''s hand which he''d raised aiming to shoot the man then punched him in the face sending him sideways.

    The other man''s voice hit the air filled with anger. "What part of we are not meant to touch her did you not understand Alessandro!?"

    Rei fell to her knees only to be grabbed by the woman she felt a medical gun get shoved into her neck only for it to be fired causing her whole body to slowly go numb as her mind became very heavy though she could still hear them speaking as her gun slipped from her fingers hitting the floor as everything started to go in and out of focus. A hand moved to her dress pulling off Asuka''s phone which clattered to the floor only to be stamped on causing a crunch as the glass broke. "You stupid bastard you broke her nose! Achika will have to fix that back on base before we send her back to Gendo we don''t have the specialized medical equipment in the vans!"

    Antonio watched as the load bar hit two thirds complete which caused all of the emergency alarms to go off instantly so people knew that the doors were about to open. He watched as the woman pulled Rei up on her shoulders as she started to move in the other direction away from them.

    Alessandro ignored his stinging mouth and bleeding foot as he eyed the other man. "The little bitch shot me!" The other man gave him a cold look as he spoke. "I don''t care if she ripped your worthless little dick off you had orders they were not to touch her and I''m getting tired of cleaning up your messes we were all given medical guns for a reason!" He turned away. "Now get off your pathetic back side, we need to pull back as the vans are waiting at the other end of the building so move it!"

    8

    Nari breathed in sucking the lollypop in her mouth as she carried on playing on the app in the stench limousine which was parked some way from the auction building in a private parking area which meant she could still see the building.

    She eyed the time realizing it would be at least two more hours before it was over plus the extra press time as the press would try to get more time as they loved swarming celebrates and some of the world''s best were in that building. She eased up her hand adjusting her mirror only to stop as she caught sight of the auction houses flags lowering slowly which was so odd maybe it was a publicity stunt or something wouldn''t be the first time.

    She paused watching as the flag pole slowly raised again as two flags worked their way up she felt her whole body tense as they unravelled revealing something truly shocking. Both were Red flags with large white circle in the middle though inside that was black griffon symbol. She paused closing her hologram app screen realizing whose flag it was it belonged to the terrorist group Gryphon who were much smaller than the bigger terrorist groups.

    Unlike all of the others Gryphon believed that the angels were gods and that Nerv shouldn''t be killing them, but they were low level terrorists and loved to nail bomb other religious temples and kill people but they never did mayor attacks on high level places they just didn''t have the man or woman power or the contacts.

    That was until now as they clearly gone up in there station which meant the auction house was under attack she moved pressing Rei''s mobile phone number only to blink in confusion as it came up with no signal.

    She tried a second time still getting nothing she breathed in pulling back the special compartment on the dash board so the special Nerv channel could be contacted. She breathed pulling out the lollypop as she typed in to using the special code hearing it slow ring as a male voice answered. "This is Nerv central how can we help?"

    Nari looked up. "There''s a serious problem at the auction house." There was a long pause followed by a long sigh. "Great which celebrity did Asuka beat up this time?"

    Nari leaned forward in annoyance. "This isn''t about Asuka it''s about the auction house!" The voice came again. "What do you mean please clarify?" Nari looked up. "Put your Nerv cameras over the auction house it''s got terrorist flags on it!" She waited for a moment only to hear him speak again. "I see the flags but this is a joke right a publicity stunt?" Nari breathed in deeply. "Those are Gryphon''s flags that means there could be a terrorist group in that building right now!"

    She paused. "Call the Colonel right now or put me through directly to her home phone." The male voice came back slightly nervous. "She said no interruptions tonight, which was an order." Nari eyed her com. "I don''t care put me through!"

    8

    Rosetta looked up slightly as she grabbed Rei''s fallen gun eyeing Antonio as she pulled up her dress tearing a long piece of it off as she moved over to him wrapping it around his shoulder. "We have to get out of here Antonio."

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Antonio breathed in painfully grabbing Asuka''s gun trying to ignore his stinging face. "There''s another door an emergency exit it''s not far from here it will open when the front doors do, it leads out into the gardens maybe there we can contact someone." Rosetta grabbed her dress tearing it as she wrapped it around her bleeding leg while grabbing Rei''s shattered phone. "Rei''s phone might get a signal it''s a Nerv phone assuming it still works since it¡¯s connected to Nerv."

    Antonio stood up slowly helping her up as they worked their way slowly towards the other door they could hear commotion and screaming as they clearly weren''t the only ones trying to get out he could hear doors being banged on violently they would open any moment now. "Where do you suppose there taking Rei and Asuka?"

    Rosetta breathed in limping slowly forward knowing the doors would all open soon. "I have no idea I don''t even know who these bastards are they don''t look any off the ones in the news." Antonio breathed in deeply. "Maybe they''re a new group." He looked up as the blue strobe light came on signalling that every door in this building was about to open.

    He turned the corner only to see Miki come into view she was desperately trying to drag her unconscious brother towards the door which suddenly opened. They came closer to her as he spoke. "Do you need a hand?" Miki looked up although her face was white and she looked really afraid. "I can''t lift him¡­I hate the bastard but I can''t lift him!" Antonio moved forward helping to lift the man despite that it caused agony to his shoulder. "Help my friend she can''t walk."

    He watched as Miki nodded doing so as they all walked out in to the gardens bellow seeing others run out while others piling out the doors on other sides of the gardens as they found a spot as he placed Ryo down carefully.

    He breathed in sitting near a tree out of sight watching as the others did the same. "This was not how I thought this night was going to go." Rosetta pulled out a vaping cigarette breathing into it before breathing out mint smelling smoke as she tried to get Rei''s phone working watching as Miki put her brother in to recovery position. "Here I was trying to quit vaping¡­"

    Miki''s hand suddenly grabbed her vaping cigarette as she took a long breath blowing it out. "Yeah that makes two of us." She eyed her brother taking another long breath breathing out the smoke. "Stupid fucker if you weren''t my brother I''d kill you myself right now!"

    Antonio eyed her. "You need to calm down." Miki eyed him in disgust. "Don''t tell me to fucking calm down they didn''t beat the shit out of your brother right in front of you!" Rosetta turned to her. "Do you know who these people are I mean that guy who beat up Asuka he said it was his fault?"

    Miki turned sharply. "No I don''t know who they were my stupid brother pisses off a lot of people!" Her next words were cut off as massive boom echoed through the air causing everyone who was still running out of the doors to hit the dirt. She looked up in horror as red fire blasted through the roof of the foyer section of the building going miles in to the air blasting smoke and fire outwards and upwards causing distant screams which could be heard all around them in the darkness of the night as the fire engulfed the whole foyer section of the building including its flags.

    She stared at the fire for a long moment nothing felt real anymore to her and she just felt like she was floating through a nightmare the tears came before she could stop them as she leaned forward sobbing uncontrollably as both Antonio and Rosetta tried to console her.

    The pain inside became almost rage and hurt boiling into one she didn''t care who it was or how much it took she would make them pay for this and for what they did to her brother! He needed medical help now more than ever and she just felt so helpless in all of this. Whoever these people were they had just killed hundreds and all of some king of vile revenge on her brother.

    8

    Achika eyed the burning building from the fake food vans passenger seat window as they drove away it was almost artistic and beautiful yet there was something so strange going on in that the burning roof was falling away revealing the ancient statue which was completely untouched by the flames despite that everything was burning around it. Her gaze drifted to Asuka who was laying further back and chained along with another figure that she was not happy to see as she should not be with them and should have been dropped off. She paused eyeing the men and women in the back as Christopher carried on driving his eyes and teeth had now returned to normal. "So does anyone want to amuse me right now?"

    She paused feeling her teeth grind together unable to stop the anger. "And tell me who broke Rei Ayanami''s face!?" She eyed them. "What part of don''t touch her did you not understand? Also I''ll have to fix her nose back on the ship since I don''t have my special medical equipment here right now!" The first woman looked up who was tending to Rei''s nose. "It was Alessandro¡­he did this."

    Achika raised her hand. "Oh great I might have known he would mess this up for me yet again first Rome then Argentina and last time Russia!" Christopher breathed in speaking coldly. "Along with trying to rape my date simulation what a guy¡­like I think we should both move up our dealing with him to a lot sooner."

    Achika eyed him clearly the irony wasn''t lost on her as they''d both intended to set him up after this event but he had just dug his own grave for them she eyed the other men and women. "Which truck is he in?" The man opposite spoke. "The medical one since Ayanami shot him in the foot even though again the special medical equipment isn''t there."

    Christopher felt his hand grip the wheel tighter as the rage took over. "Ayanami should be in that stuck not him it has high end pain killers!" He paused eyeing both the man and woman. "Thank you both though for your honesty, I''ll reward you when I get back since you both didn''t try to cover this up."

    The woman looked up. "Our loyalty is to you both and Pharaoh and we hate Alessandro he''s a screw up." Achika eyed the now burning statue in the distance which though covered in flames was not burning and remained white as they moved to Tokyo Threes higher roads. "Yes Antonio is a screw up and all screw up must answer to their gods in the end, it''s the way of things."

    She paused. "We are only put on this earth for a limited time and we must always appease our gods or suffer the wraith of them." Christopher moved the van higher on to the main roads as they drove normally and slowly as to not gain any attention. "Clearly he didn''t learn that lesson where he grew up in Spain hence I look forward to teaching him personally what it means."

    8

    The phones ringing I just don''t want to answer it I''m too tired and my brain wants quite it''s my night off I had a really nice night out with Kaji and he''s now sleeping opposite me. Maybe if I ignore it will stop ringing I pause realizing that it''s not going to stop ringing since whoever is calling is persistent as hell. I need to get one of those new hologram phones so I don''t have to answer or sit up in bed or do anything.

    Misato opened one eye groggily as she pulled away from Kaji who still sleeping next to her in bed, she slammed her fingers on the receiver causing the hologram to pop up as sound only as she eyed the time. "What is it, it''s one in the morning I''m sleeping!?"

    Ritsuko''s voice hit the air filled with annoyance. "I don''t care if it''s six in the morning! You''re meant to be on call twenty four seven it''s in your contract and Kaji''s." Misato eyed the phone seeing that Kaji was waking up though he looked as tired as she was. "What do you want Ritsuko?" Ritsuko''s voice came again though it was very dead panned. "There''s been an incident at the auction house building."

    Misato breathed in deeply. "Look if Asuka beat up someone they probably had it coming and I''ll deal with it tomorrow, I''m tired." Ritsuko''s voice suddenly cut through her thoughts. "Turn on your news feed right now this is deadly serious!"

    Misato turned grabbing the control that lowered the large flat screen in the bedroom pressing it watching as came down turning on she eyed it. "Turn to channel twelve and show high definition news." She watched as it came on as it began to run breaking news and a view of the auction building from an aerial perspective. "Is this some kind of joke? It''s just a press shot¡­"

    Her next words were cut off as the footage showed the whole front section of the building blowing up in a huge blast of flames which lit up the night sky as the press voice spoke solemnly as the camera angle changed showing different angles of the destruction. "This live feed was taken two minutes ago we believe a terrorist attack has just taken place at the Bukowskis auction house."

    There was a long painful pause. "Medics police and fire crews are making their way down there now¡­we don''t know how many are hurt it''s too early to tell, all we know is that this was a very powerful attack Nerv military trucks and tanks and medical crew have just left central base as we speak all we know is that this was an attack by the terrorist group Gryphon.

    Mobile phone camera footage came up showing two Gryphon flags rising on the front of the building moments before the huge explosion. "Gryphon has never done anything like this before, we believe the explosive used in this event had to be military grade but Nerv will confirm this on sight."

    The news presenter spoke again. "There worst attack to date was on the temple of Quetzalcoatl in Mexico but this was a very long time ago." He spoke again. "We can¡¯t report either on who is alive or dead though we know the blast caused injuries to hundreds on the red carpet who were waiting for the many celebrities inside from all walks and professions in including sport, TV, film as well as presenting, fashion and music. We also have no idea if Asuka Langley Soryu who''s older step sister is Mari Illustrious Makinami is alive." There was a long sad pause. "We also don''t know if Rei Ayanami the daughter of Gendo Ikari who is the younger sister of Shinji Ikari is alive."

    Ritsuko''s voice hit the air. "You and Kaji need to get down to that place right now Maya is coming to you in one of the special medical military trucks she already rung Shigeru and Sumire as they will both be dealing with the pilots during this difficult period as we don''t want them near this building at all or inferring in this investigation as with both Shinji and Mari this could get very difficult as I''m sure your aware." Misato turned seeing the shock in Kaji''s face. "Will Gendo be joining us?"

    Ritsuko¡¯s voice was emotionless. "Yes since Rei is his child and he wants to find her." She paused breathing in deeply. "Asuka''s grandmother has also been notified though she''s taking this very badly." Misato looked at her phone as Ritsuko''s phone call ended she turned to Kaji as her next words came out in an emotionally numb manner. "We have to go."

    End of part 22

    Silvermoonlight

 Falling In To The Depths Of An Unending Nightmare

    FALLING IN TO THE DEPTHS OF AN UNENDING NIGHTMARE

    There are no words that I can use to describe what I''m seeing I''ve never felt as awful as I do now, as I watch the Nerv science staff move through the burnt bodies taking a sample with their special devices which reads DNA and says who the person was.

    Hundreds of people were in the foyer when it blew up and now in the ruins which have been put out some hours ago. We are now moving through the dead burnt contorted bodies that used to people but are now screaming skeletons of black and red that stare skywards soullessly. I''ve seen dead bodies before but never like this it''s turning my stomach and it''s only made worse by the fact that we still have not found Asuka or Rei yet we are not half way through these bodies.

    There were over hundred injured by the outside blast and another two hundred taken to the hospital who escaped the building and those are all being interviewed but it''s going to be two days before we have everything and that is not half of it I''ve been told that all of the camera''s and feed was destroyed inside the building but there are thousands of mobile phone recordings which were sent to Nerv and other media outlets which are sending them to us.

    It was clear they were desperate to send a message outside but couldn''t get any out the receiver had been blocked in the building once it blew up all of this information came out all at once.

    The most unsettling thing is despite that the foyer burnt down that old ancient statue is still standing untouched even black charring smoke has not touched it, it''s still as white as ever standing there it''s so fucking creepy even more so since its surrounded by hundreds of dead bodies.

    I watch as one of the science staff takes a sample from a skeleton which has its hand on its base and whose slightly melted gold ring I recognise as she spoke sadly. "That was Nicolai Gedda the Opera singer." She watched as the scientist screen ran the DNA confirming it. "So both him and the US presenter Claude Rains are dead¡­this just gets worse."

    Kaji moved up to her he could see Maya working with the other scientists and clearly finding this so hard everyone was. "Well if the bastards wanted to send a message they did the whole world is going to be in mourning they killed some real high level celebrities here and not just one they''ve killed hundreds."

    He eased up his tablet. "Hospital has just sent word that Ryo the prime minister''s son was brought in with Miki his daughter but Ryo has slipped into a coma they said his injuries were serious it like he was beaten with some kind of weapon very violently." Misato turned to him. "Can Miki walk?" Kaji eyed his tablet. "Yes."

    Misato eyed her phone which was now getting constant message from all the pilots but most of all from Shinji and Mari none of which she could answer and she refused to until she knew for sure what had happened. "I want her down here in the seating arrangement she was two tables away from Asuka and Rei."

    She paused eyeing the seating list. "I also want a bulletin out to every hospital in Tokyo Three for Rosetta Martinez and Antonio Aguilar they were even closer in the seating arrangement." She looked at the dead charred bodies around her. "Unless there here." Kaji eyed his tablet. "The hospital says it won''t release Miki because she has serious post-traumatic stress disorder and there currently giving her a sedative just to keep her calm."

    Misato breathed in sharply. "When can I see her?" Kaji eyed the tablet. "Two days they won''t send her to Nerv central till then they''re worried she¡¯ll have a panic attacks." Misato felt a sneer form. "Great in the meantime have them send all mobile phone footage to Shoji and Leiko in the intelligence division and have them try to piece it together until it''s complete and we have a full picture. Have the other part of the division go through the text messages, photos have them and put them in order."

    Kaji moved closer to her. "That could take days." Misato moved past the bodies that were now being bagged up as they''d been analysed and they knew who the people were. "I''m going to make whoever did this fucking pay." Kaji turned slightly. "Everyone believes its Gryphon."

    Misato turned to him. "This just doesn''t feel like Gryphon I''ve heard they prefer nail bombs and low level explosives." She kneeled down eyeing the burnt floor. "This feels planned it feels clever not like some low level terrorists work, I can''t prove it yet but my gut is just telling me this is all wrong. They''ve never had the power to set up attacks like this and they prefer to attack godly temples not social events but first we need to find Asuka and Rei." She breathed in painfully. "I just hope to the gods they are alive I don''t want to have to tell Shinji or Mari they''re dead let alone the others."

    8

    I have never felt as helpless as I do now Misato is not answering her phone nether is Ritsuko or father and I''ve called them both but have not gotten any reply. The hours are just dragging painfully and all that I can think is, is my little sister alive? The not knowing is making it even worse and I know I''m not the only one Mari is pacing getting more and more agitated like me she''s tried all lines on contact regarding Asuka just like I''ve done for Rei and had no answers or replies.

    We are not allowed anywhere near that building until they''ve done the body count and it could take hours. I can''t get that image out of my mind of the auction building blowing up.

    For the first time in such a long time I almost had a panic attack and it was only because Kaworu was there he was able to calm me down he held me tight as I went through the motions and stroked my hair calming me down.

    This is, all my fault, I should have been there for Rei and Asuka at the auction house! I could have gone with them helped them even saved them and if I could turn back the clock I would have told them both not to go. I just keep looking at the flat screen TV in the wreck room trying to see if anything has changed it hasn''t other than the celebrity names of the dead that keep coming up as there slowly realised to the press.

    The death count is now a hundred injured in the outward blast and two hundred dead but that count is still rising there were six hundred people there last night. The worst part is seeing the reports of all the different countries mourning the dead.

    The attack has gone down as one of the worst in terms of attacking high profile people and is the first in Tokyo Three for almost a decade and it¡¯s shocked everyone in Japan and worldwide to the core because it was such a violent explosion and there saying everyone who tried to escape via the front door was burnt to death. The press helicopters are not allowed anywhere near the building and the main road is completely closed off.

    "How much longer do we have to wait? This shit is pissing me off!"

    Shinji looked up realizing that Mari had spoken. "May be they just need more time." Mari breathed in sitting at the bar area of the wreck room as she spoke coldly. "Fuck them needing more time!" Shinji looked at the others who were clearly unsure as to what to say right now he turned to Mari speaking calmly. "I know what you''re going through she''s your sister and younger than you and you feel protective of her and it just makes this even harder."

    He put his hands together. "And you blame yourself for not being at the auction house and you feel it''s your fault because you weren''t there." Toji stood up slightly. "You know your both not to blame and neither of you were at fault, no one could have predicted this was going to happen."

    He paused. "But I know I''d feel the same as you both if it was Sakura." Mari breathed in painfully unable to keep the anger out of her voice. "Yeah well at least you both grew up with yours¡­I lost mine for years and now when we get back together we get torn apart again!"

    She eyed the bar. "What I wouldn''t give to drown my sorrows in cocktails right now if it wasn''t for the fact that I''d throw it right back up in a second." Shinji got up slowly moving towards her realizing that her words weren''t in reality directed at them they were at her own frustrations of feeling helpless and like Asuka she was using anger to hide her deeper feelings. "You have to have faith that there both still alive."

    Mari turned eyeing him. "I should''ve been at the auction! She could be dead because of me." Shinji moved a step closer to her unable to stop his hand twitching as he spoke. "I feel the same way about Rei!"

    Mari turned eyeing him about to get angry only to stop as it hit her hard that his feelings were just the same as hers and she wasn''t in angry at him in reality she was angry about her situation and she just wanted someone to lash out at she let out a painful breath feeling her anger turn to sadness. "I''m sorry Shinji that was disrespectful of me and your feelings are no less than mine I''m not even angry at you." She turned pointing at the flat screen TV. "I''m angry because they''re leaving us out of the fucking loop!"

    Shinji moved closer not thinking as he flung his arms around her pulling her close. "It''s going to be okay we both just have to believe that or we won''t get through this." Mari look in a painful breath pulling her glasses free unable to stop the tears as they came. "Tell me something because I spent most of my life in Nerv London and I was around when Ouroboros bombed one of the skyscrapers trying to kill a lot of people and they found the culprits will Nerv Japan find out who did this and find both our sisters?"

    Shinji felt the tears start to run down his face before he stop them as he pulled away looking at for a long moment. "Yes I have real faith that whoever did this Misato and the others will find them and that they will get Rei and Asuka back."

    Mari was about to say more only for Toji to grab her hugging hard as he spoke. "Yeah I bet they will get them back." Kaworu stepped closer as he spoke calmly. "I also believe this will end positively." He turned hearing the wreck room doors open seeing Shigeru walk in followed by a new member of Nerv staff who he had never seen before both of them looked anxious and uncertain.

    Shigeru watched as all of the pilots turned to look at them he knew this wouldn''t be good and he hated that they both had to be news givers because he knew things were already very tense. He paused raising his hand. "Maya is on site so I''d like to introduce you to Sumire Nagara she will be helping me in this difficult time."

    He paused pulling up his tablet. "They''ve not found Rei or Asuka yet and they''ve told us to tell you that it will take them till late into the night to finish the body search and get all information together and tomorrow they can start compiling all the footage."

    He paused seeing Mari wipe some tears away as she put her glasses back on as Shinji did the same. "She also wants you all to go home there''s nothing you can do here. We are also here to open Asuka''s locker as one of you will have to go to her house and look after hers and Rei''s cat Erika."

    Mari turned sharply walking forward away from the others. "That it that''s all you have?!" She felt herself laugh but it was cold. "We have nothing for you, fuck off I know you have more, you just can''t tell us that¡­let me guess Ritsuko told you can''t¡­security reasons right?"

    Shigeru breathed in deeply he had been told this could happen Maya had told him well ahead of time that Mari was the one who like Asuka might lash out in anger and be difficult. "We are telling you the truth Mari we only know as much as you do." Mari turned eyeing Sumire who was unreadable in her facial expression. "You''re new is he bullshitting?"

    Sumire blinked seeing that the others were all suddenly looking at her as she spoke calmly. "Yes he''s telling the truth." Mari stepped closer to her. "You know you don''t have to protect him just because Ritsuko has you on a short leash we know what the bitch is like."

    Sumire looked up sharply truth was she had, had enough of this she turned looking her straight in the eyes. "I get it Mari I really do its hurts right now and it''s hard to not lash out."

    Mari felt a coy smile form. "Really you do tell."

    Sumire moved closer. "If you''re wondering why I keep this chain around my neck even though it''s against Nerv rules is because it was my grandmothers she died horribly in an explosion just like this one in Mexico done by dirty terrorists who wanted to terrify the world with a statement of death!" She eyed Mari who blinked in shock. "So I want you''re your sister and Shinji''s returned more than anything because I know what it''s like when they don''t come back and are lost forever." She breathed in deeply. "So no if I had something to tell you Mari I''d tell you and I have no loyalty to Ritsuko my loyalty is to Misato since she got me out of a very rotten situation."

    She looked up slightly. "So no we are telling you the truth." Mari looked down great now she really had made an utter arse of herself, she stepped away from the other woman. "Could you give me Asuka''s keys when you open her locker I''ll go take care of her cat."

    Shigeru looked at her as he eased up the special key device which could open any locker at Nerv as they all had a special code lock but if you put this special device in it, it would undo the inner locks even without a key. "Come with me I''ll get it open and Rei''s as we have no idea which one has the house keys in." Mari eased her hand in to her pocket pulling out her special card reader which was for hacking. "Ten quid says I can hack it faster."

    Shigeru breathed in deeply he knew that she wasn''t meant to have that device but there was no point in saying in anything since she wasn''t using it for bad purposes. "Okay you take Rei''s locker I''ll take Asuka''s." Toji watched them go as the doors closed behind them he slowly walked up to Sumire. "I''m really sorry about my friend she''s not normally like this she''s normally really good natured and fun to be around¡­Asuka not being around is just really hard for her."

    Sumire eased her fingers putting them on her pendent. "Its fine you don''t have to explain." She paused. "As I say I know what it''s like to lose people." Toji looked at her. "I know this isn''t a good time but I really wanted to say sorry for falling on you again and em¡­touching certain parts¡­"

    Sumire looked down slightly trying to hide the slight blush. "Really its fine, I know it was just an accident." She looked up slightly. "We both just collided in the hall." Toji raised a hand. "Hey you know you should come to our food table sometime, it''s just we don''t know a lot about you."

    Sumire stepped away slightly seeing that Shigeru was coming back with Mari clearly they had found Asuka''s key and a phone though she wasn''t sure whose it was. "You know there''s not a lot to tell and I don''t wish to impose on you." She watched as Shigeru came to stand opposite her. "We must go now as we have to help the intelligence division we will tell you anything as soon as we hear it."

    Shinji looked up slightly. "Thank you for coming even though you don''t know anything yet." Sumire raised a hand. "Its fine we are just sorry we don''t have more." Kaworu moved forward taking her hand shaking it politely. "It''s a pleasure to meet you Sumire."

    Sumire looked at her hand before looking up slightly. "Thank you." Toji eyed Sumire. "Your always welcome here, come any time." Shigeru smirked inwardly well this was an interesting turn out for the books he had seen Toji so interested in anyone this way granted he had always idolized Asuka but this clearly wasn''t like that it was much warmer and softer. "We should be going now."

    Sumire looked down. "Yes sadly we must go now." She turned following Shigeru trying to ignore Toji''s gaze which just had not left her as they walked out of the double doors. Shigeru turned eyeing Sumire as they walked the long corridor away from the wreck room he moved his hand stroking his beard before speaking seriously. "I''m sorry for the loss of your grandmother your records didn''t mention that in anyway."

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Sumire looked up at him. "I never mentioned it and I don''t see her as truly gone." Shigeru blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" Sumire put her hand on her pendent. "Where I come from in Mexico we have a special day called D¨ªa de Muertos or The Day of the dead and we believe the dead come to visit us and we lay offering for them, so I don''t see her as gone I see her as just in another time and place out of my reach as she died when I was young."

    She paused feeling a sense of uneasy emotion hit her. "Though I wish I could sometimes as I would like to know what she thinks of me now in the present." Shigeru breathed in deeply. "I''m sure it would be fine." Sumire breathed in sadly. "Perhaps..."

    Shigeru felt a smile form on his face as he turned to her. "You know I saw you talking to Toji he seems very interested in you." Sumire breathed in feeling her body tense. "No I think you''re mistaken¡­I doubt someone like me would interest him." Shigeru leaned closer to her. "No believe me he''s interested in you I saw it in his eyes." Shigeru turned slightly. "No, handsome man like him can have anyone they want so why would he bother with someone like me."

    Shigeru looked at her, her behaviour was so strange it was like she couldn''t see what was in front her or maybe she just didn''t want to see it. The truth was that ever since she had come into the bridge team she''d been very guarded and private and this was in realty the first time she''d been at all open about something.

    Misato had said that she still suffering from stress from being in that dark place for a long time and that she would need much more time to settle in and that the transition could be hard for her, but if he was to take a guess there was clearly something deeper bothering her and it was clearly why she wasn''t being as open as she could be but he and the others had no idea what is was but was clearly effecting her confidence.

    8

    It''s so dark and everything hurts so much wait, where am I? Am I dreaming or am I dead I can''t remember, why is it so hard for me to think? Oh wait that''s right I got punched the face way too many times and I lost the fight. I feel so heavily and the pain is awful it even hurts to breath.

    Asuka slowly opened one eye as best she could see the world come into view though it was blurred. A medical gun was shoved into her neck and fired as a voice spoke. "Are you positive the chains will hold Pharaoh?" An older female voice in the distance spoke. "Yes I had them specially made for her they''ll hold." Asuka looked down as everything started to come back into focus as she caught sight of the heavy metal rigid handcuffs with Egyptian designs which were holding her hands together and had blue flashing lights in the centre.

    They were made of pure black steel and had no middle chain they were also super heavy and sitting on her lap she blinked as her vision cleared fully and she opened her other eye. She was in some kind of chair and she couldn''t move her legs they''d been locked against the chair somehow. She could see chains coming off her chest and could see a strange metal brace which had Egyptian designs on it and a large blue stone Scarab Beetle in the centre with wings holding a purple gemstone. The brace¡¯s heavy shoulders were locked tight to the chair.

    She was still in her suit though part of the sleeve and shirt were torn from where the brace had been put on her hair was fully loose and she found herself coughing painfully due to the pain. The huge room around her was in pitch black darkness apart from where she was sitting which had piecing white light coming down on it. She eyed the man opposite who turned to look at her. "Oh look who is finally awake enjoy your beauty sleep you little ginger nut."

    Asuka sneered eyeing him as she started to struggle only to feel all the mental restraints instantly tighten causing intense pain. The man smirked as he stroked his white beard adjusting his ceremonial robes seeing the two people opposite one had an Anubis mask the other had a Ammet and both masks had glowing blue eyes. "Yeah I wouldn''t do that the more you struggle the more they tighten based on your movement and the pain killer we gave you will only take off the edge."

    Asuka breathed in as the spoke though her voice was hoarse and it every word hurt. "Where¡­am¡­I?" The older white haired man turned to her. "You are in Duat the realm of the dead and we are your liberators and you are about to be judged."

    Asuka rolled her eyes great just what she didn''t need a religious verfickte fruit cake it wasn''t there masks she¡¯d grown up in Germany with gods festivals where people dressed as the Norse gods and gave offering to shrines which weren''t bloody as those days were long gone now you gave personal items which were more specially carved praying wooden tokens.

    Her grandmother was a huge worshipper of Odin. Yes people prayed gave these offerings but dressing up in ancient god figures never happened unless it was for festivals or offering days and it was always the heads of shrines and temples that did it.

    She breathed in deeply. "Can I have the real answer now¡­rather than your stupid verfickte pantomime show?" She paused. "Gods I hate losers like you who think dressing as gods is some type of show its really insulting to those who believe in the gods passionately and wear those masks because they have faith."

    The white haired man turned on her the angers in his eyes as he grabbed her face leaning over her as he sneered at her. "Listen you little ginger nut, I''m not some actor I''m a priest of Anubis!" He looked at her only to realize to late his mistake as her left eye suddenly blasted into blazing light the next moments turned to utter agony as her teeth changed as her mouth bit down hard on his hand.

    He was on the floor on his knees crying out in pain as he felt the razor teeth sink in fully as he blood started to leak out as he tried desperately to get her jaws free only for her to bite even harder which caused blood to hit the floor as bones started to crack in his hand causing intense agony. He watched as the seats chest brace alone suddenly tightened he could see her face changing turning to pain only for her teeth to suddenly let go allowing him to free his hand as he hit the floor in pain as he grabbed his robe wrapping it up trying to stop the massive blood flow.

    Asuka felt the brace loosen as she felt the blood run down her chin not that she cared anymore she turned spitting the blood in her mouth in his direction as she felt a sadistic smile form. "Next time I''ll take off your verfickte fingers priest!" She eyed him watching as two people came out of the shadows pulling him away the older female voice spoke again. ¡°So disappointing you have not changed at all you were a rebellious little child and now you''re a rebellious grown woman."

    Asuka eyed the shadows she could make out shadows but not people in detail only to the two dressing up as so called Egyptian gods. "Who are you people, where am I?"

    A woman calmly stepped out of the shadows coming to stand in the light she was around her sixties the same age as her grandmother she was wearing a dark suit and had long dark hair which had a few white streaks but was nowhere near as white as her grandmothers.

    The woman''s breathed in deeply as she raised her right hand pulling her black glove off revealing that her hand was robotic as she pulled up a chair sitting opposite her, her dark brown eyes narrowing. "Are you sure you want to know the answer to that question? You may deeply dislike it." Asuka eyed her. "Yes I want to know where I verfickte I am and who you verfickte people are!"

    The old woman breathed in deeply raising her hand making a signal. "As you wish..." Asuka watched as all of the lights came on and she realized that she was in the centre of a huge room. High above her was what looked like a hanging room which was suspended in mid-air and cut off from everything.

    There were thousands of people gathered on the banisters above watching it was all painted in gold''s reds and whites and even had Egyptian hieroglyphs on the walls and pillars along with Egyptian god statues at every corner. "This is the judgement room of the air ship Hatshepsut here we judge all those who betray us but unlike the others you are not here for that you are here to fulfill a different purpose."

    She paused making another signal. "I wouldn''t think about trying to escape ether even if you could you won''t leave this ship we''ve made sure of that." She turned watching as the roof section above the hanging prison for guests slowly pulled back realizing nothing but dark blue water pressing against the glass. "You''re deep in the ocean because this air ship can sink to great depths as we know you have a huge fear of normal water we felt while you were here you should be made aware of it."

    She watched as Asuka''s face turned very suddenly to uncertainty and anxiety. "So long as you cooperate we won''t have to discipline you by dipping you in it." She signalled watching as the huge roof section closed.

    Asuka breathed in steadying herself. "Where is Rei, I was told you came for me not her?" Gabriella smiled. "Ah yes your lover, sadly due to the misconduct of one of my men who will be punished very soon, her nose was broken it''s been repaired and she in the floating prison guest house above you in fact she can see you right now but you just can''t see her."

    She breathed in deeply. "As soon as the right time comes and her nose is fully healed she will be dropped off as we are not interested in her and we would rather not feel Gendo''s wraith."

    She eyed the guest house. "The floating prison as we call it has everything beds, bathroom food it''s purely for guests we don''t wish to keep." She looked up slightly. "As for your other celebrity friends they are probably all dead, you see the building they were in was blown up a lot of them were in the foyer when it went off the news says hundreds died." She breathed in deeply. "I do hope you weren''t too personal with any off them."

    Asuka felt a sneer form as her razor teeth grinded together. "You wanted me why kill them? They did nothing!" Gabriella folded her arms. "Because it fitted our purposes in many ways and I''m surprised you care so much since you are Nerv''s killing machine you kill for a living."

    Asuka breathed in deeply. "You said you know me and so did that asshole I lost to, who are you people you act like you know me but I''ve never met you?" Gabriella stood up calmly. "A question I will answer but right now I have an important matter to attend to its nothing personal."

    She made a signal watching as the lights dimmed. "Behave and they might feed you." She heard Asuka''s sudden scream of anger which turned once more to a bellowing roar towards the end as her left eye remained alight in the almost pitch darkness she felt her mouth form a smile there next meeting would be more interesting of that she was very sure.

    8

    Achika breathed in wiping her hands with a medical cloth she had just finished the work on fixing Rei''s nose though the younger woman was still unconscious thanks to the sedative it was clear that it wasn''t the first time her nose had been broken but that was very much to her advantage as it made it easier procedure wise as the device that fixed the nose bridge could fix breaks so perfectly that you''d never know they were broken unless you scanned for previous hair line fractures and she''d seen the repaired old one as it was higher up on the nose.

    She breathed in eyeing Christopher as they both looked down into the main hall seeing that everyone was unpacking now that they were aboard the flying ship Hatshepsut which had now sunk below depth again. They had ditched the food vans on shore and used boats to go out in the ocean where the ship had picked them up.

    She watched as her brother pulled up his other bat which was not metal but wood and had nails sticking out of it sharp point forward, she turned as her grandmother appeared looking utterly pissed as she looked down over the balcony as she''d been told what had happened.

    Gabriella breathed in deeply as she spoke coldly. "Which one of you is Alessandro Rossi?!" She watched as everyone stopped eating looking up. "I won''t ask a second time which one of you is Alessandro Rossi!" She watched as one of the men in the corner stood up slowly speaking loudly. "Pharaoh I am here!" Gabriella eased up her gloved hand speaking calmly. "Come here now please."

    Christopher felt a smile form as Alessandro moved up the stairs towards them as he gripped his bat tighter as Alessandro came to stand in front of them. Gabriella eyed the man who kept on screwing up their missions as a rule she didn''t normally put her people to death unless she had no choice and she tried to give as many chances as possible but this one had failed them all and had caused too many problems.

    Plus he had broken into her grandson¡¯s room and used his VR equipment and tried to rape his dating simulation and she had a very low tolerance for rapists it was one of the defining rules abroad her ship that no person of either gender or sexuality should rape another be they real or simulated.

    She also knew from experience that those who failed to do it to VR simulator later did it out in the real world and that meant that her crew was now at risk as this had happened once before and she had not hesitated to shoot the woman in question who had done it to one of her male crew though she''d made it look like it was because she was questioning her authority.

    She eyed the man he had also broken Rei Ayanami''s nose when he''d been told not to harm her, now she would let her grandson carry out his punishment and everyone would witness it here and hopefully it would drive home that screwing with her would not be tolerated she breathed in speaking coldly. "Did you break the nose of Rei Ayanami?"

    Alessandro looked up. "Yes I did Pharaoh but please understand she shot me in the foot it was very painful!" Gabriella breathed in deeply folding her arms. "Pain is part of what we suffer it is the will of our gods you should not complain about it since you caused worse to that woman who I told you not touch."

    She paused. "As it is Asuka is currently being restrained otherwise I would tell her what you did and let her deal with you personally but as it is I will see your punishment carried out personally."

    Alessandro eyed her. "I did nothing wrong don''t you get it she shot me!" Gabriella eyed him speaking calmly. "Stop behaving as if you have a choice in your destiny, your time is already done, you failed over and over and your recent behaviour of using my grandsons VR simulation to rape brings you deeply into question as a person." Alessandro eyed her. "I don''t know what you''re even talking about I never touched your grandson VR simulator!"

    Gabriella eyed him. "Do not lie to me you have already caused me so many problems, least of all the fact that I now have to end your life because if I don''t I can never appease Gendo who has a death squad of the highest order that go out and kill those who mess with his children they''re called the Black Guard and they are inhuman."

    She breathed in deeply. "I do not wish to be killed by their hands or have my grandchildren targeted because you were foolish, Asuka can be beaten even broken but she can handle the kind of suffering though she was born of suffering its part of her destiny but not Rei Ayanami. You see she must be kept pure and untouched she is after all the lover of the destroyer of worlds she has touched a death god between the sheets and never realized it and I may need her compliance if Asuka does not do what we want she is the key to the bloody right hand of god so to speak."

    She paused. "We believe that Rei''s pureness is how she tames this death god in human form because even monsters and beasts crave the touch of angels because they feel so unclean and impure that to touch the holy gives them some sense of purpose and they feel better about themselves."

    She moved a step closer to him. "And from what I''m told you were getting far too close to that angel than you should have, she might look youthful and sweet but she''s not yours and will never be yours ever, because you''re not impure enough to hold something that pure." She raised her gloved hands. "To put it in simple and pathetic terms for you to understand Asuka is a higher demon much like Satan and she''s holding the equivalent of the female Archangel Gabriel in her claws."

    She stepped back now. "Now it''s my grandson''s job to make sure you die well." Alessandro laughed smugly. "You''re not going to kill me you need on me you''re just an old woman running a show that too big for you maybe you should your hand leader ship to some one more component?!"

    Christopher eyed him his anger instantly rising. "Wrong answer you fucking little shit!" He didn''t think as he slammed the bat straight in to his leg ignoring his scream of utter agony as the nails dug in only to pull it out savagely as he stumbled back towards the stairs. He raised his boot slamming it straight into him watching as he thrown backwards as the panic showed in his face as he fell back on the stairs crashing downwards only to hit the bottom hard.

    He hummed as he walked down the steps ignoring everyone''s fear and panic as the man cried tried to move though it was clear that his bones had broken on impact with the solid steps. He smiled as he watched him look up the fear in his eyes. "Before I make your death all so painful tell me you little shit which of my AI dating simulations was it you were running?" He raised the bat higher. "I know it was female simulation you tried to rape so don''t lie now since I had to pay your fine."

    He brought the bat down hard on his shoulder hearing the scream as he pulled it out watching as blood ran off the nails. "Come on boy I do not have all day¡­and the longer you delay me the longer I''ll make your death."

    He watched as Alessandro spoke his words filled with fear and pain. "It was the illegal Rei Ayanami dating simulation!" Christopher looked up as his grandmother whose face turned to utter disgust while Achika''s turned to amusement. "You know boy maybe it''s for the best that you''re not going live to see tomorrow, I mean you were going to be one of the door guards in Rei¡¯s floating prison."

    He felt a smug smile form as he felt his teeth start to grow as the heat hit his eyes. "Killing you is going to be so much fun." Achika leaned on her elbow as her brother suddenly brought down the nailed bat on the wounded man''s head causing blood to spray everywhere as he suddenly roared an animalist roar bringing it down repeatedly sending blood everywhere as the Alessandro''s head was caved in and his brains spattered all over the floor.

    Gabriella felt a smile form as she spoke. "Your brother is so good at what he does and his primal ability has clearly kicked in no doubt yours will be next." Achika smirked. "Yeah he is." She watched as her brother finally stopped breathing in letting out raged breathes she eyed the horrified men and women around them as she spoke calmly. "To clarify my grandmothers rules rape of any form is not allowed on this ship towards any sexuality or gender and unless you want to have to deal with me or my brother personally."

    She adjusted her glasses. "I would suggest you all obey these rules as with either of us it will not go well for you, he will smash your head in and I will cut you open like a lab rat and trust me we don''t believe in killing people unless we have to."

    She walked calmly down the steps seeing her brothers now glowing red eyes and razor teeth. "And we did after all just take down Asuka Langley which is something to celebrate as my brother did the impossible, and we''d rather be drinking and eating than killing you people." She eyed the now dead body of Alessandro. "Now how''s about one of you call in our Evangelion clean-up crew they can clean up this vile mess."

    End of part 23

    Silvermoonlight

 Fleeting Shadows Of Darkness And Light

    FLEETING SHADOWS OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT

    Mari breathed in as she looked under the coffee table she had been trying to find Erika in her younger sister''s house and so far had not had a lot of success. She breathed as she looked around her, why was it so hard to find this moggy?

    Erika was normally always around when she visited she turned only to watch in surprise as the second video screen lowered suddenly followed by the wide screen lowering which wasn''t her doing as Anneberg appeared on the main TV screen followed by Cheshire on the other.

    Anneberg eyes blinked as he spoke. "The cats hiding under bed behind the metal shelf you need to give her meat treats to get her out." Mari looked up sharply only to slam her head into the coffee table which caused intense pain.

    She lowered her head rubbing painfully. "Thank you Anneberg." She crawled put sitting on the floor as she turned to him and Cheshire who was smirking. "How did you get on this screen I thought you had no link with the IDHS?" Cheshire suddenly spoke in a playful voice. "I helped him hack it, he said he wanted to be part of the whole house because the IDHS is stupid and Asuka wouldn''t let him."

    Mari looked at Cheshire. "You know Cheshire you shouldn''t have done that Asuka won''t be pleased." Cheshire''s red eyes darted. "Yes but you used me to hack in to Asuka house and computer, so I thought it was okay for me to do it¡­if Anneberg needed help."

    Mari breathed in putting a hand on her face Asuka had told her this was going to be hard since unlike Anneberg, Cheshire was still a childlike AI personality. "Look myself and Asuka were having a bad time Cheshire." She stopped turning to Anneberg. "Wait you asked him to help you, why?"

    Anneberg''s green eyes blinked. "Because I saw what happened at the auction house I know Rei and Asuka are missing and someone has been trying to use Rei''s phone to call Nerv I blocked them and logged all there phone calls and sent them to Nerv along with the phones current location as is at the Atlantica hotel opposite the Dorodome I have seen their face once though and it''s not Rei. Asuka''s phone has been damaged sadly I don''t have any footage from inside the auction house as something stopped me getting through and blocked my parameters and all of the outward phone signals."

    Mari slowly sat on Asuka''s sofa. "Yes but why did get Cheshire to help you take over the whole house?" Anneberg''s mouth formed a sneer. "Because whoever did this might come here and I want to protect this house I just don''t have the back door codes to the IDHS Cheshire knows them though it''s how he got into this system in the first place he used it as a way to get into my main computer system." Mari leaned back on the sofa putting a hand on her face. "Asuka''s going to fucking kill me."

    She looked up slightly. "Who was using Rei''s phone do you have their face?" Anneberg quickly brought up a picture which she recognised instantly. "Great that''s Rosetta Martinez the fashion designer from Paris if I recall my little sister and Rei both dated her at different points it didn''t end well for either of them."

    She breathed in deeply. "Send this info to Shinji, Kaworu, Toji and Misato and Maya''s phones directly please Shinji needs to know that someone has his little sister''s phone and Misato and Maya might be able to track her down."

    Anneberg turned sharply. "Sent, you have an incoming call." Mari watched as Cheshire bounced screens on to Anneberg''s as he spoke. "It¡¯s Asuka grandma." Mari turned sharply. "Put her through." She breathed in watching as Asuka''s grandmother appeared on the video talk screen though she looked so uncertain as she spoke. "Hello Mari I thought I might find you here."

    Mari looked up nervously despite that Geraldina had made her part of the family she still struggled with talking to Asuka''s grandmother but maybe the reality was she didn''t have fond memories of her grandmother on her father''s side of the family and they were memories she would prefer to forget she forced a smile though in her heart she knew it was fake. "Hi."

    She looked around her. "They asked me to look after Asuka and Rei''s house and the moggy." She looked around her. "I can''t find her right now though." Geraldina put her hands together speaking more softly. "It''s okay you don''t have to put on a smile for me Mari I know deep down its hurting right now."

    Mari breathed in deeply. "If this is about Rei or Asuka I don''t know where they are they won''t tell us anything they sent us all home it fucking sucked and I hate not being able to do anything and Shinji is feeling just as bad as I am."

    Geraldina leaned in closer to the screen. "Between us I think Asuka is still alive and so is Rei they''re both too precious to kill and they could have been taken as bargaining chips." Mari breathed in deeply. "Yes but what if she''s a hostage of Gryphon I mean what if this about killing them both for money?"

    Geraldina looked up slightly. "You need to have faith Mari we both know Asuka is highly military trained just like you no matter what happens she will fight back." Mari looked up seeing the cat suddenly appear she moved out of the seat not thinking as she picked up the tortoiseshell who gave her an unimpressed look as she spoke gently. "There you are you naughty little moggy."

    She sat down stroking the cats head turning back to Geraldina. "Sorry I couldn''t find Erika¡­she was hiding." Geraldina felt a smile form. "I had the same issue when Asuka was in hospital Erika kept hiding from me at times she does get used to you it just takes a few days."

    Mari breathed in watching as Erika moved to sofa''s arms as she carried on stroking her head. "I agree with my little sister would fight back but that''s why I''m worried¡­what if this was something she can''t win?" Geraldina breathed in deeply. "You just have to have faith that she can win because I refuse to believe that she would ever give up."

    She paused looking around her. "Is your friend Toji not with you?" Mari shook her head. "Shinji and Kaworu are coming down her later they are just packing things Toji has to take care of his little sister right now she''s going through a hard time right now as it close to the death of their mother and it¡¯s never a good time for either of them."

    Geraldina breathed in deeply. "That''s understandable." She paused before looking up. "I have to go back to work now but please if you know anything tell me right away Kolby and Aili are worried sick over here." Mari looked up slightly. "Well I can tell you one thing but I you can''t tell anyone yet." Geraldina looked up slightly. "Go on."

    Mari carried on stroking Erika. "A celebrity currently has Rei''s phone Anneberg told me I''ve already had him send that information to Nerv." Geraldina put her hands together. "Interesting I''ll keep this between us till we both know more." Mari breathed in sharply. "Yes I would if Nerv knows I''m telling you anything I could get in trouble with Maya and Ritsuko."

    Geraldina sat up in her chair. "Don''t worry Mari I won''t say anything and this channel is coded." Mari looked up slightly. "Thank you I appreciate that." Geraldina leaned forward. "Just try and get some rest Mari I know it''s hard but it''s the best thing you can do." Mari sat up slightly. "I will." The older woman gave her a smile as she vanished from the screen she turned looking at Erika. "Come on let''s get you some food before Shinji and Kaworu get here."

    8

    The huge Archangel sunk deeper into the red oceans depths its black and white plating gleaming as its huge jaws opened letting in water as unlike the others it could dive even deeper because its body had been made from the angel Gaghiel and it could handle immense pressure better than both Bukavac and Eligos and this part of the dead zone was very deep and very difficult to get to because the pressure here was the greatest on earth and even camera drones didn''t last long here.

    The Archangels huge body was more crocodile like with huge back limbs and feet with huge black claws and tail while still being lycanthropic like the others it could run on all fours or two legs.

    The difference was mouth it was long and huge and filled with razor sharp teeth and its body also had huge fin which could be eased up and down on both the back and tail to make swimming easier it was called Moloch because it commanded respect from all. Fang eyed her screen. "Pressure now coming close to exceeding 1085 mbar, Keel was not lying, the pressure is intense here."

    Kuchisake looked at her lover for a long moment before speaking. "Well then let''s break the record." Fang breathed in sadly. "Shame no one else can see us doing this and breaking the world record." Kuchisake turned slightly. "Yes we''ll get to see us doing it that''s all that matters."

    Fang turned eyeing her as she shifted her robotic leg which had sensors plugged in so the Archangel could read her limb movements and convert them. "Where is this statue?" Kuchisake moved typing in to her controls. "Turning on Moloch''s night vision cameras now..."

    She breathed watching as the outward lights dimmed and the double entry plug turned dark only to hit lit up by thousands of night depth creatures whose florescent light sparked outward. "I thought earth life couldn''t survive in the red seas." Fang watched as an odd looking angler fish shot past. "Maybe it doesn''t affect deep sea life like normal life."

    She felt Moloch''s clawed feet touch down on the floor as they hit the 4000 mbar mark at the very bottom of the dead sea trench which had been named the Tarturus by the Greek undersea grew over fifteen years ago but who couldn''t scale its depths because it had caused serious equipment malfunctions which had resulted in five people dying. Clearly though Archangels were not affected she moved the huge being forward. "Close to coordinates we should be up on it anytime now."

    Kuchisake looked up catching sight of the whole reason they were here as she looked at the ancient statue which unlike the other strange lands ones had not rotted or crumbled facially. In fact it looked perfect she could see all four eyes in stone its arms reaching outwards and clawed hands upwards. Kuchisake breathed in deeply. "Wow this bastard is even more creepy than I am, I mean just look at it, it''s a unit 02 yet it''s not the one we know though it looks like its old form sort of."

    She leaned closer seeing the huge horns which had grown backwards and were now also stone and six odd looking demonic wings three on each side which were also now stone she could even see stone teeth sticking out of the mouth though they were thin and curved like a pythons. "Does not look cat like but more demonic Oni."

    Keel voice suddenly hit the air. "Be careful when moving it, it may look as stone but it a dangerous god of death and don''t break it, it must come up in one piece as the entry plug is still within its depths and we can perhaps make use of the statue to help with Asuka''s memory because souls never forget." Fang eyed the statue. "Tell me something because I''m curious why is this form so different to the unit 02 we know?"

    Keel¡¯s voice hit the air. "When your soul is reborn it''s like creating a new layer on top of an old one that new layer takes power and is the controller of all the other layers." There was a long pause. "But if you crack a layer enough you can get the old layer in control once more but it has to be done right do it wrong you cause many problems."

    Kuchisake moved Moloch''s clawed hands carefully grabbing the statue watching Fang began to focus her sync pushing it up higher. "Yeah well we aim to please though it will mean we will have to go slow." Keel spoke calmly. "I''ll have the special submarine the Nebuchadnezzar meet you in less deep waters."

    Fang felt the statue start to grind as it began to move. "Great I hate the Nebuchadnezzar¡­it looks like a limp dildo." Kuchisake heard the grinding as the statue started to come free of the ocean floor followed by feeling a huge pressure wave as its clawed stone feet came loose.

    She turned as Moloch''s lights came back on seeing the many destroyed submarines, miniature probes including theirs and submersibles all around the area who had all sunk and been crushed by the pressure it was clear now that Greece was not the only country trying to get down here, it was obvious that all manner of countries had tried and paid for it with their lives. "Sooner we get this heap of stone up the better this place is clearly a death trap."

    8

    Mari breathed in flipping another page of one Asuka''s graphic novels as she look a long sip of coke which laced lightly with a spirit truth was she wanted to get badly drunk but the reality was that Shinji and Kaworu would appear soon and she wanted to be aware and not off her face.

    Plus she wanted to avoid that type of confrontation with Maya since they had just come to some form of understanding and she wanted try harder since the reality was she wasn''t trying to break free from cocktails because she kept thinking she needed them in her life when she didn''t she was just using them to fill in for the pain she had over her childhood and teens.

    She had Erika perched on her shoulders now and not moving as she put down her drink as she leaned up stroking her chin. She''d sent Toji a massage even though she knew he wouldn''t answer today was to hard a day for both him and Sakura and Rei and Asuka being an unknown had only made it worse and she knew she had to give them both space. She turned as she heard knocking at the door she put down everything as she stood up though Erika refused to leave her shoulder she was clearly needy and loved attention from anyone and was missing her owners.

    She walked up to the door opening it hearing the blind come up on the other side as she was greeted with Kaworu and Shinji who had clearly come up by train but she hadn¡¯t heard them coming closer to the house as she''d been listening to eighties music far too loudly.

    Shinji looked up slightly. "Sorry we are late we had to take the train as the central road being closed is causing really awful problems." Mari stepped back watching as he came inside followed by Kaworu who gave her a smile as he leaned up stroking Erika who was on her shoulder. "I see Erika likes you." Mari smirked. "She¡¯s a needy tortoiseshell dark she loves everyone."

    She closed the door speaking loudly. "Cheshire please lower the music could you?" Shinji looked up as he put his bag down seeing both AI''s on the main wide screen sharing the flat screen. "Hey I thought Asuka said she wasn''t going to put Anneberg down stairs despite his asking, did she change her mind?"

    Anneberg blinked as he spoke. "No I changed her mind for her." Shinji turned sharply eyeing Anneberg. "What do you mean?" Mari walked up to him. "He kind of used Cheshire to hack in please don''t tell Asuka she''ll kill me." Kaworu say down slowly. "We got the message that a celebrity has Rei''s phone."

    Mari put her hands together. "Yes someone called Rosetta a Paris fashion designer has it I have no idea why she took it." Shinji slowly sat down. "That does mean my sister could be alive and so could Asuka I mean she might know what happened to them." Mari moved over him lowering her head sadly. "I sent all the information Anneberg had directly to Nerv."

    She paused before speaking sadly. "Look I just want to apologise for this morning I acted like an utter wanker towards you and it wasn''t right of me." She felt Erika leap off her shoulder as she knelt down and the cat moved to Shinji who started to stroke her. "The pain you were going through is just as bad as mine."

    Shinji looked up slightly. "It''s okay." Mari breathed in deeply. "No its not I treated you poorly and like Kaworu and Toji I consider you a friend." Shinji took hold of her hand unable to stop the emotion as it hit him hard and the tears came. "I just want them to be okay."

    Kaworu moved over putting his arm around him. "They are going to be okay Shinji." He paused before speaking softly. "We just need to have faith." Mari looked up slightly. "Look I know my little sister she would kill for Rei and we both know it." Shinji wiped his tears away painfully. "Yeah I know but not knowing just hurts so much." Kaworu hugged him tighter. "Then just know in your heart that they will fight and do everything to get away if they were captured."

    Mari looked at them as she stood up. "Look how''s about I cook up something I can work Asuka''s kitchen I''m not as good as you but I can give it a shot." Kaworu looked up slightly. "Toji and Sakura will they be coming over?" Mari breathed in pulling out a pan. "No it''s not a good day for them today there mother died from starvation many years ago they both consider today bad luck and maybe there right since this has happened but Toji wants to spend time with Sakura as this day is very difficult for her she doesn''t take it well."

    Kaworu moved his hand stroking Shinji hair gently as he dried his tears away fully. "No it''s not the day it''s the memory and I know what they''re going through you question if you could have done more but when you''re a child you can''t the power is out of your hands." Mari started to crack eggs in a pan. "Perhaps I just hope tomorrow is a better day and things turns around."

    8

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    I have never missed working in the science field if I''m brutality honest and now being in this building is just bringing it all back in an deeply un pleasant way. The trashed buildings the smell of rotten and burnt flesh and people dressed in has mat suits and all the red tape and everything being closed off.

    I joined Nerv to be a scientist but the reality it wasn''t what I wanted I did it because I thought it would make my mother happy but it didn''t in reality. The strangest thing was once I left the science division as head and let Maya take my place I was happier it wasn''t just about being close to my husband Gendo it was that I enjoyed the high end of business crunching number and meeting clients.

    I enjoy visiting the up market locations and flying to distant places and seeing beautiful hotels, buildings and culture so being back here now feels like I''m in some foul time warp all over again and I utterly hate it the hours drag and the whole place in vile even the air is rancid with death and destruction.

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply eyeing Gendo who was watching everyone bellow who were still putting burnt bodies in body bags. "You know this is getting tiresome we should just pick up and carry on tomorrow, I mean we are not going to find your daughter in this burnt out hell hole."

    Gendo turned sharply his tone turning cold. "We will stay here for as long as in necessary as I want to know what has become of my youngest child, you may not like her because she is from Yui but she is still mine." Ritsuko eyed the burnt building with its untouched creepy ancient statue feeling the need to change the subject. "Why is it that, that creepy thing is still standing it should be black a pitch and burnt yet it''s not been touched?"

    Gendo eyed the statue. "Seele tell me those pillars are all scatted around this world and cannot be touched by the hand of humanity in any way fire will not burn them bombs cannot destroy them and their stone cannot be carved by any modern equipment or scanned."

    He put his hand on his beard. "They will not tell me what they are for or for what their purpose is or was only that I should not ask something I do not want to know the answer to." Ritsuko breathed in deeply. "Considering what they claim happened in the last cycle maybe it''s better to not know." She paused before speaking. "Do you think Asuka Langley is dead?"

    Gendo turned slightly looking at her for a long moment before speaking. "No I highly doubt it and this looks too well planned, this wasn''t some amateur operation I believe this was about more than killing tiresome rich celebrities there just a division."

    Ritsuko looked down below again. "Seele is forever talking about her as destroyer of worlds do you believe it?" Gendo adjusted his glasses. "Yes I do as I believe Seele would never lie regarding this matter it''s why I believe she is not dead, she is the ultimate prize and if I''m right they probably took my daughter as well because they might feel that she would useful to them in terms of getting Asuka to do what they want."

    He put a hand on his beard. "A foolish thought of theirs though as my daughter has her under her thumb by way of sexual gifts so I don''t see it happening."

    Maya came towards Misato as she held up the item in her hand as she spoke. "One of my team has just found something!" Misato turned moving towards her as she placed something on the special holographic scanning machine, it looked like a bronze coloured metal ball but half of it been blown away and its thick metal curved from the blast yet it was so small only the size of a ping pong ball.

    She eyed the hologram scanner which pacifically for forensics from Nerv''s science division as it was better than the Tokyo Three polices science one as it was faster and much more accurate. "Scan item and recreate how it looked before the explosion." She watched it scan as it began to recreate the hologram as touchable one on its screen opposite.

    She watched as it finished and the holographic ball completed. "What is that?" Maya eyed it as she analysed the read out on the holographic screen opposite. "No idea but this is odd it''s made from a metal similar to Evangelion steel but it''s not as fortified or flexible." Ritsuko walked down the steps of the make shift complex which had been built up next to the burnt building so the Nerv staff could do their work and gave her and Gendo an office to work from.

    She eyed the little holographic ball. "I''ve seen that design once before but it was years ago when my mother was in control of the science division before Yui took over."

    She stopped opposite the hologram desk seeing Kaji walk over clearly wanting to hear what she had to say. "This is part of project Hammerhead it was the idea of a miniature bomb but not a bomb that used chemicals or nuclear devises." She eyed the ball. "It was the concept for an LCL bomb the idea was that LCL could be super-heated inside a metal ball to the point of explosion but the project proved far too dangerous because the explosions were massive and out of control and just couldn''t be managed the way N<sup>2</sup> mines and rockets are."

    She paused watching as Maya brought up the project specs from many years ago. "This is our technology without a doubt the question how did it get in these people''s hands? I mean this is Gryphon it''s not Ouroboros, Ankh or Cerberus."

    Misato breathed in deeply eyeing the holographic screen. "Where was this developed and originally tested because I''m not reading it as Japan Nerv technology?" Ritsuko moved her finger flipping through the holograph papers stopping sharply. "It was tested at the Nerv German branch originally."

    She breathed in not liking what she had to say next. "Geraldina tested it but it was long before she was the division head of Germany." Kaji breathed in deeply. "This isn''t going to go down well¡­I mean we can''t just call her without telling her what''s become of Asuka or call her and accuse her of selling off old technology."

    Ritsuko eyed the ball. "Geraldina is many things but she is not someone I view as a traitor and we have already seen Ouroboros swipe technology from this division so someone long ago could have stolen it from the division without her ever knowing and since she was not in charge then it''s not her issue to bear it''s her retied predecessors."

    Misato blinked in confusion she wasn''t expecting Ritsuko to say this or even care as she knew she didn''t like or care for Geraldina. "No you should only confront her when we know Asuka is alive because if you go in there with this now she''ll think you are accusing her and even hinting that any of this is her fault will cause her to fucking loose her temper and make this even harder than it already is."

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. "For once I''m going to have to agree with you, how much longer till we are through these bodies?" Maya breathed in deeply. "The hall is almost complete but there are more inside it will three in the morning before we finish." Ritsuko breathed in deeply. "So be it and I also would like be told if you find Rei as well."

    She eyed the burnt out structure. "That is if you find her before Asuka." Kaji eyed her before speaking coldly. "Excuse my confusion but I didn''t think you cared." Ritsuko eyed him in disgust. "I don''t I''m asking on Gendo''s behalf because he is concerned about her."

    Maya shook her head in annoyance. "Oh our mistake and here I was thinking you cared since she''s the youngest on the team." Ritsuko stepped away from them. "You should all get back to work because I am not in the mood for your pathetic comments right now!" Maya watched as Ritsuko walked away going up the make shift building complex. "Great this night just keeps getting better."

    She breathed in feeling her phone go off she pulled it out seeing once more that Mari had called out no doubt for an update she eyed Misato and Kaji. "You know we are going to tell them soon or at least give Sumire and Shigeru another update to tell them that we have nothing."

    Kaji looked down sadly. "Sooner the better or Mari might take it up on herself to try and hack this site." Misato turned to him. "I agree with him and I can see that happening as well regarding Mari." Maya breathed in deeply. "Mari is just concerned for Asuka she''s no doubt taking this as hard and as Shinji is if not worse since they only recently got reunited."

    Misato breathed in looking at the others as she leaned against the holographic desk putting her boot on it as she folded her arms. "Okay tell them to push harder, tell them we have to find Rei and Asuka''s bodies if there here and if there not find out what happened to them."

    8

    Rei opened her eyes slowly watching as a decorative ceiling came in to view she blinked painfully was she still in the auction house? No something didn''t feel right she looked around at the kind sized bed with red velvet sheets and white and gold pillows it reminded of some strange celebrity royal suites the type she wasn''t very fond off.

    She sat up only to feel the instant pain in her nose she put her fingers on it knowing instantly that it had been fixed and had been broken as she had the procedure at least once before though it had been years ago.

    She eyed the room where the bed was central sitting on a high circle and had black pillars going up around it there were table''s chairs cabinets all highly expensive and decorative in dark black and a huge walks in the wet room opposite which even had a spa bath and toilet. Along with red gold carpet which had Egyptian godly figures embroiled in to it.

    All strangely surrounded the bed along with a dressing mirror she turned seeing that at least three boxes had been left close to her beds end. She ignored them as she got up catching sight of the metal doors which were huge and thick and clearly to stop her leaving, there was no flat screen or radio the place was even devoid of a clock and the mild orange light was what gave the room a cold hue.

    She could also see a metal opening slot on the opposite end of the room but she had no idea what it was for her gaze shifted as she pulled back the only long certain in the room below she could only see darkness. Where was she? She turned as the grinding of the lock was heard as the metal doors opened and the tall woman with glasses appeared.

    She smiled as the door closed behind her. "Finally you''re awake." Rei tensed as she walked past her pressing the slot on the wall which in turn caused the panel to come up revealing hot food she eyed it pulling out two plates which she laid on the round table opposite before sitting herself on the opposite side as she spoke. "I do hope you''re hungry¡­the food is vegetarian."

    Rei blinked unable to stop feeling of being on edge as she sat opposite watching as the woman started to eat some food which was clearly Italian looking. "Who are you?" The woman looked up speaking calmly. "Achika." She paused. "My brother who beat up your lover up is called Christopher."

    Rei eyed her food which was a rich Miso Soup. "Why am I here?" Achika looked up. "You''re here by pure accident once your nose has fully healed which might take a day or so you''ll be dropped off at the nearest sea port." She paused grabbing a bottle of red wine from the wine cabinet opposite and un-corking it she slowly filled her glass then filled the other woman''s. "You''re being here was a pure misunderstanding, one of the foolish rude men broke your nose I fixed it personally for you."

    She took a sip of her wine. "No hard feelings I would hope, also that man is now dead my brother saw to it personally." Rei felt herself tense if there was a sea port then maybe this was a boat and she was deep in the hold somewhere.

    She moved her chop stick through her food. "Where is Asuka?" Achika eased up her hand. "Bellow you, who know you might even get to see her before we drop you off though I wouldn''t try to escape you are hanging a hundred foot in the air there are no rooms connected to you this place can only be gotten to through an unfolding bridge, your food will be brought to you every day three square meals." She turned. "Those are new clothes just in case you feel want to change they are your size."

    Achika felt a smug smile form. "I have a question though for you because I am most curious what is it like to sleep with a destroyer god encased in human form?" Rei felt a sneer form not liking how similar that smile was to Mari''s it was so unsettling. "I heard your brother calling her that it makes no sense at all." Achika shook her head. "Nerv has not told you the truth have they? Well I''m going to tell you though I doubt you''ll sleep better knowing it."

    She raised her hand. "Your lover is a vessel within her soul is a destroyer god it''s sleeping now dormant while this subdued form is in control." She leaned forward. "She destroyed this world once before and she will now fulfill her destiny once more only this time she will give all of us all of her power and we will rule this world."

    Rei stared at the other woman for a long moment before speaking. "You people are out of your minds?" Achika looked at her half-finished plate. "No we are mentality sound and we are banking on the fact that she''ll give this power to us because she cares about you more."

    She breathed in deeply. "Because you are the one precious thing she seems to care about, it makes you most unique." She pushed up her glasses slightly. "Funny is it not how the small things in this world can have the most impact?" She felt a smug smile form. "So I''ll ask once again what is it like to sleep with a death god in human form is the sexual activity at a higher degree of pleasure?"

    Rei looked down slightly she didn''t like talking about her sex life like Shinji she considered it private yet she was talking with it to someone she barely knew yet she knew not answering the question could cause problems since she was now a prisoner and could be very badly hurt if she didn''t answer and she now deeply regretted not fighting back harder against the man who had broken her nose but she''d felt so out of her element. "I wouldn''t know I have not slept with many men and women."

    Achika felt a smug smile form. "Such a pity and here I was all curious." She paused. "I''m also curious why so few men and women I mean look at you, you''re quite a dish not that I swing that way but if I did I wouldn''t say no."

    Rei tensed slightly suddenly losing her appetite because this was the reason she hated this topic she hated being seen as a prize due to her looks or because she looked like her mother. "Because those people see me as you''re doing now seeing a prize not a person and I got angry because I wouldn''t put out."

    Achika pushed her empty plate aside putting her hands together feeling a sly smile form. "Ah it makes sense now so Asuka does not see you as some prize that''s why you like her, its rather ironic since you''ve clearly been Nerv''s prize to win while she has been the prize that no one can handle."

    Rei breathed in deeply meeting the other woman''s gaze. "Now I wish for my one questioned to be answered, I said you looked like Mari and you didn''t like it you referred to her as the runt of the litter, so do you know her?" Achika stood up sharply feeling a cold sneer form as she eyed the younger woman. "Let''s just say myself and my older brother met her and Asuka as children a very long time ago and unlike my brother I have the misfortune of sharing some attributes with her which people love to point out."

    She leaned closer to Rei not caring that she was right inside her personal space. "Let me be extremely clear that I''m not her and you should never make the mistake of mistaking me for her unlike her I will never show you any form of mercy if you irritate me in some fashion."

    Rei watched as the woman''s mouth formed a truly sadistic smile as she spoke. "I hope we are clear on this issue as I am not in the mood today to disembowel you with my precious cutting blade so please honour my request by not bringing up this subject ever again."

    Rei looked in to the other woman''s eyes even through the silver rimmed glasses she knew she was deadly serious. "I understand." Achika pulled back seating herself. "Good now that we have established this here are the ground rules while you''re here, your meals are provided through that slot daily three a day in total you can watch any movies, series documentary''s you want via the flat screen that comes up from the bed''s end but you can''t watch outside media."

    She moved her finger on the black table''s wooden top in a slow circle. "You want any books you press the intercom by the door they''ll be brought to you along with beauty and sanity products and pain killers if you need them because we all know that time of the month isn''t pleasant for everyone."

    She looked up slightly. "Oh yes and on that subject you want something for those carnal desires you can have that kind of material though VR is forbidden." She stood up slightly. "You see we are not barbaric, we treat our guests in a very civil way and when this all over you and Asuka can both return home once she gives her godhood to us."

    Rei watched as Achika picked up the opened bottle of wine moved towards the iron door. "I still have one other question." Achika stopped turning slightly. "Which is?" Rei turned to her. "Who are you people?" Achika turned slightly. "It really matters not who we are." Rei looked at her. "I know your brother pilots the hybrid Evangelion which means you''re Ankh and that means Nerv will find you."

    Achika turned sniggering slightly. "Oh aren''t you the smart one, believe me even if it true Nerv won''t find either of you¡­and we made sure that it looked like someone else took you, there probably assuming its them right now and are attacking them on our behalf as our plan was always two fold take you and her and use your capture to get rid of one of our annoying rivals."

    Rei watched as she left and the metal door closed behind her locking her next actions were automatic as she smashed her fist down on the table in anger and frustration. Why hadn''t she pulled the trigger? She could have stopped everything if she had just done so.

    She also felt very stupid since she''d told Asuka that she was being over protective over giving her a gun, when she''d been right all along. She stood up no longer caring for the food despite that a part of her felt hungry, she had, had military training and she hadn''t used it ether when it mattered.

    She pulled herself on the bed curling up unable to stop the tears which were short and sharp and came before she could stop them, she had to think of something there had to be a way out of this, Asuka was here as well if she could just think of something to help here they could both get out of here.

    8

    Kaji looked down as the last body was put in a bag, though these were from people inside the auction house and most of these bodies had not been burnt but shot and had been dead long before the fire had hit and most of it had been put out before it had gotten to them by the fire fighters.

    It was unsettling how one body which was not like the others and had been in the control room had had its guts pulled which meant a slow painful death for the man in question. It was also unsettling seeing bloody hand prints on the walls and tables and blood all over the floor right now they had huge lighting rigs up in the main auction room as somehow the lighting power box had been shot out.

    The only positive if you could call it that was that Asuka and Rei had not been found though Asuka''s blood had been found on the floor of this place but it was only a small amount and Rei''s in the corridor opposite and Gendo had just been told this.

    He turned eyeing Ritsuko as she walked through the building her voice hitting the air as she eyed a bloody hand print opposite. "I just got the news you found Rei and Asuka''s blood and her destroyed phone but not Rei''s that was still missing."

    Misato scanned another bloody print with the portable DNA scanner watching as another name popped up of a woman who was already dead. "Yes but we have not found their bodies, it''s clear that we need to put a media bulletin out as they have either been captured or escaped once you''ve spoken with Geraldina."

    She paused before speaking. "There was far more blood that was Asuka''s I think she was probably trying to protect Rei but until I see that mobile footage that Shoji and Leiko are still piecing together I can''t say for sure." Ritsuko looked at her. "I''ve heard of your impressive intelligence unit outside of the main unit do you think they can crack this?"

    Misato scanned some more blood on the floor. "Yes, I have the up most faith in them, they are very good with puzzles and details and both are very patient." She watched as the scanner brought up another man who was now dead. "I don''t think they wanted Rei if they did we''d already have a ransom note because she''s a very high prize hostage because of her links with Gendo."

    She breathed in deeply. "I believe they wanted Asuka I just don''t know why since we both know why the other groups want her but Gryphon hates us they view our killing of the angels as a sin since they view them as gods on earth who should be worshipped." Ritsuko breathed in deeply. "Maybe someone told them the truth somehow and they want to end the destroyer of worlds for good and plan to do a public killing in front of the world on camera."

    Misato stood up. "Yes but why take Rei why even care that she''s here if you''re only after the main trophy?" She looked at the bloody walls. "Something just doesn''t fit about all this my gut just keeps telling me it''s not Gryphon I just can''t prove otherwise right now and we need to go back to Nerv to go through the footage as well as have Sumire and Shigeru inform the others as soon as they get in, in a few hours that Asuka and Rei are still alive there just not here."

    End of Part 24

    Silvermoonlight

 As The Past Comes Back To Haunt The Present

    AS THE PAST COMES BACK TO HAUNT THE PRESENT

    Ritsuko breathed in as she typed into her offices holographic desk they had just arrived back at Nerv and now she had to speak Geraldina something she was dreading since there last conversation had been less than good. She breathed in bring up the large holographic screen as she made the outward call watching as the older woman appeared on screen through she clearly looked tired and not in the mood for anyone as she spoke coldly. "Why are you calling me¡­I was waiting for a call from Misato not you."

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. "We need to talk it''s important." Geraldina eyed her. "You know I''m not in the mood for your verfickte bullshit today¡­so unless you''re here to tell me that my grandchild is alive or dead I''m not interested."

    Ritsuko felt a sneer form. "Look I get you''re tired we all are but this is a matter of Nerv security." She moved pulling up digital papers throwing them on to Geraldina''s hologram screen. "You remember project Hammerhead don''t you? The failed LCL Nerv bomb concept."

    Geraldina put a hand on her temples as she spoke through glittered teeth. "Yes I remember project Hammerhead it destroyed the test building and almost killed ten people why is this scheisse important right now?!" Ritsuko breathed in throwing the hologram of the ball onto her digital screen. "Because whoever blew up the auction house used a Hammerhead bomb and worse they have somehow learnt to fucking control it."

    She watched as Geraldina stared at her genuine shock in her eyes as she eyed the hologram before snapping out of her haze her voice turning to utter rage. "Are you verfickte accusing me of having something to do with the auction house? Because I would never betray Nerv my family has given everything for your program including our lives so you can reap the rewards!"

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply before slamming her hand down. "I''m not accusing you of anything! I''m called you because it''s clear that someone took Hammerhead from your division I''m asking if outside of the German Nerv director at that time was there anyone else who knew about this."

    Geraldina put her hands together. "No I told no one it was top secret the only person who knew about was Asuka''s mother, but she only read the notes over once." Ritsuko raised her hand. "Did your daughter talk to anyone about it outside of Nerv?"

    Geraldina looked up slightly her eyes darting as she raised her hand. "Wait a second there was one person who might have seen those notes I remember now her husband Langley I found him once snooping around my daughters office. He tried to make out he''d lost something but it''s an utter lie I could see it in his face and it was clear to me that he was looking at her digital holographic screens to this day I''ll never know why but I know the man was trouble."

    Ritsuko took in a deep breath letting it out slowly. "Look I don''t mean to be rude but we all know you hate Langley all the divisions know it and we all know that you wanted Kyoko to ditch him and marry Yui sisters Kiko since Kiko had feelings for her we all knew that¡­so could you just be putting blame where it doesn''t belong?"

    Geraldina moved opening her office draws harshly as she pulled out something. "Then please tell me Ritsuko how did Langley have this? He always claimed it was from Nerv Japan I was never convinced hence why I took it from him. My telling my daughter about this was the beginning of the end of their relationship."

    Ritsuko leaned forward easing on her glasses. "Wait is that a special red sector card? The type used during my mother''s period." Geraldina breathed in deeply. "Yes but this one¡¯s very special since it''s a fake yet it worked, he could open doors with it including very special sectors and to this day I have no idea where the little bastard got it and I''ve tried to find out for years and ended up hitting dead ends whoever made this was a high level professional as it''s not easy to forge Nerv ID cards normally you need an inside source to give you one but this was done without that."

    She paused for a long moment. "Langley spent a lot of time in Japan, Germany and Britain tailing my daughter around so I guess we have to ask ourselves what was he really doing and who was he talking to?" Ritsuko eyed the card. "Why did you never report this?"

    Geraldina eyed the card. "I did to your mother, she said the same thing as you just did that maybe I had an axe to grind because I hated Langley and wanted my daughter to marry Kiko." She paused. "Though as a side note I just wanted my daughter to see that Kiko was in love with her, the marrying part seems to be a symptom of Chinese whisper."

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. "Maybe these two do have a connection then." She eased up her holographic papers. "Maybe Langley did pass on Nerv information to an outside source it''s such a shame he vanished after the marriage of Mari¡¯s mother as the last record of him was in Russia but that was years ago. He''s not been seen on any camera footage since and his credit card was never used again it''s like he vanished completely but he could be still be alive as Hikari did the same type of disappearing act."

    Geraldina looked up slightly. "Well he has a wife and two older children from his first marriage but I''ve had trouble tracking them down and there his grandmother Sofia Langley but I don''t know if she''s still alive." Ritsuko typed in the holographic desk. "We''ll look into that."

    She stood up slightly. "With regards to Asuka we have not found a body though we''ve found blood stains we believe she was captured along with Rei as both of their blood was found on the carpets of the main auction room and it was nowhere near the main explosion." Geraldina looked up slightly the anger melting from her face. "I''m so happy to hear that."

    Ritsuko looked at her for a long moment suddenly feeling very unsure of what to say as she wasn''t used to being the one in this situation it was normally Misato or Maya. She breathed in speaking calmly. "Yes well we believe she probably fought back hence the blood." Geraldina''s face turned to confusion at her response before she sat back in her chair. "Well I''d expected nothing less I just hope you can tell me more soon."

    Ritsuko watched as she vanished from the screen she slammed her fist down hard on the holographic panel why was she being so fucking soft? What was wrong with her! These weren''t even her children she barely knew them yet she kept wondering what had become of them.

    8

    Misato walked up the corridor which led towards the Evangelion bay only to stop opposite the door near her office which had an Evangelion poster on it of 01 roaring and the words keep out in bold on it. She slowly opened the door as Leiko and Shoji came into view as they both had large joint holographic desk to do their work on and there office had Evangelion wall scrolls on the back wall and they had Evangelion toys in places.

    She watched as they both looked up at her as she closed the door behind her pulling up a chair as she sat in front of them seeing the concern in both their faces. "You both said you had something important to show me¡­and you wanted to show it before the full presentation."

    The man who was African decent and called Leiko spoke first. "Yeah we have been going through all of the mobile phone footage we have managed to piece it together and create a movie though it took us all night and all morning to finish."

    The woman of Indian decent opposite looked up her gaze filled with concern as she typed into her holographic desk bringing up two images of people. "These two appear to be leaders of this whole operation and the guy is scary as fuck but we''ll get to him more in the briefing but take a look at the woman on the right and tell me she does not seem slightly familiar to you?"

    Misato leaned forward eye the woman who looked to be in late twenties possibly early thirties she had very dark brown hair and glasses she leaned closer seeing what they were getting at. "She looks like Mari they look really similar in the face¡­"

    Leiko breathed in deeply. "Yeah we thought that to so we asked the science division to run that genetic test the one that tracks faces to see if the person or persons has a possible lineage based on facial details and it came up as a ninety percent match. Even they were confused about it and asked who this woman was and said how much she looks like Mari, also they stated that its clear it''s not some form of plastic surgery this is her real face."

    She paused. "Mari has no records of having other siblings and we checked Langley''s back history and he only comes up as having two marriages the first to Asuka mother Kyoko followed by Lydia Mari''s mother and is his child directly. Whereas Asuka isn''t so this had us wondering if he''s had other offspring elsewhere and we didn''t know about or who were kept of the records before he vanished off the map some years after divorcing Mari''s mother after cheating on her."

    Shoji leaned back in his chair. "The question is do you want us to show this at the briefing? I mean if this is another step sister to Mari it could cause problems."

    Misato folded her arms eyeing the images. "Word has it that Maya is getting on better with Mari so I say let this go through in the briefing if something happens Maya will be able to talk to her, I won''t she still isn''t very open towards me." Shoji eyed her. "You know that''s a huge risk I mean it might be like kicking a hornet''s nest."

    Misato breathed in deeply. "I know but the reality is everyone including Gendo is going to be in the briefing they need to see every event as it unfolds in real time be that the good, bad and ugly it''s not going to be pleasant for anyone because they will have to watch events unfold it''s going to be hard for everyone ."

    She''d eyed the woman on the holographic screen for a long moment before speaking. "Do you have any idea who these two are?" Leiko breathed in deeply. "No we are still trying to find records on both of them but all we have is sightings across the world via camera."

    She typed bring up some old footage. "The one that looks like Mari was spotted three months ago eating in Venice has real expensive taste too seems she has a passion for red wine longer aged the better and really expensive five star Michelin restaurants." She paused. "Another reason we find this really hard to overlook because we know Mari has expensive taste too it¡¯s just her taste isn''t about food she like things¡­like she kind of splashed out a lot on one of those kinky plug suits at that French up market sex shop called S¨¦r¨¦nit¨¦ C¨¦leste or Heavenly Serenity."

    Misato blinked in surprise. "Really?" Leiko looked up slightly. "Look you know us we follow rumours and it''s been whispered about really loudly as they¡¯ve sold them to staff but they never expected a pilot to buy one and the fully upgraded version to top it off."

    Shoji turned back to his panel bringing up a video footage of people running from bulls on the Spanish streets. "As for the other one well he doesn''t have expensive taste and he comes of an idiot thrill seeker who gets off on pain¡­this is from the Bull Run in Pamplona Spain." He put a hand on his chin. "And this guy I don''t know what he''s on but he is so damn strong."

    He watched as the running man smashed his fist into huge black bull¡¯s face whose horns had been covered in gold and had white hanging tassels causing it to stumble sideways as he laughed. "Clearly he has no fear either and this was filmed earlier this year and he had to pay a heavy fine for animal abuse as the sacred Bulls are not meant to be harmed during the run, there viewed as godly and bull fighting is illegal in Spain as the bulls must never die its viewed as bad luck." He eyed the camera footage. "There is one other video though but it''s with the both of them meeting someone who then talks with someone else."

    He brought up the video footage. "This is from Lamia in Greece both these two are seen with this older woman who looks to be in her sixties. " He eyed the footage of the older woman hugging them. "Clearly it feels quite family in nature." He watched as they walked off. "Then this woman whoever the hell she is meets someone everyone knows."

    He watched as a woman with medium length reddish hair who was very young appeared. "That is the unmistakable star of Thessaly, Mana Kirishima one of Greece''s most powerful political figures." Misato leaned closer. "I''ve heard of her wasn''t she some kind of Oculus engineer who moved to politics?"

    Leiko looked up slightly. "Yes her growing food system with rotating levels was implemented around the world and she has vast wealth and is one of the richest figures in Greece. Though you wouldn''t think it to look at her as she dresses very modest the only give always that she is so well off are her villa estate and car."

    She looked up slightly bringing up the older woman''s picture. "The reality is you have to have very powerful contacts to meet someone like Mana those meetings don''t just happen and she keeps out of the media she has next to no interest in the celebrity status unlike her counterparts and no one even knows what her sexuality is as her private life is locked up tight."

    She paused. "Yet the people of Greece love her and when she does speak on camera she has real power and charisma. Like natural born leader material yet strangely she won''t make a play for prime minister despite that twice she could have been in the running it''s like she''s choosing to ignore power which makes no sense to anyone given how popular she is."

    She took in the deep breath letting it out slowly. "So you may want to speak directly to her after our briefing this afternoon and ask her who the hell this woman is because we have nothing on her at all either." Misato eyed the image. "Thank you myself and Kaji and I will look into it, when do you aim to do the meeting?"

    Shoji looked up slightly. "Two hours from now and we intend to hold it up in the old briefing room the one that used to be for pilot talks before it got outfitted and turned into a cosy cinema for important visitors to watch Nerv promotion videos on as it has that super huge hologram cinema screen and we have a lot to get through."

    Misato stood up slowly. "Okay I''ll have Sumire and Shigeru relay that message to them and I''ll ensure everyone is there without fail, because I''m going to get to the bottom of all this as its pissing me off." Shoji brought up another image on screen. "There''s one other thing before you go Mari sent us this last night it came from Rei''s phone which Asuka''s AI Anneberg locked this was on it."

    Misato leaned over eyeing the picture of the person who had tried to use it. "Wait a second that''s Rosetta Martinez the Paris fashion designer! Why does she have Rei''s fucking phone?" She raised her hand. "I assume the phone showed her location right?" Leiko nodded. "Yes it was at the Atlantica hotel opposite the Dorodome we sent a message to the special ops division to go arrest her¡­I mean you said you wanted her and Antonio Aguilar right?"

    Misato nodded. "Yes I did they were both opposite Asuka and Rei''s table, those at their table are both dead so there both the information source we need and they should have turned themselves over to Nerv after this happened."

    Shoji leaned on his elbow. "Well they should be coming in as well as Kyo went out personally to bring them in an hour ago and to quote his words he said he was tired of this bullshit he wants Rei and Asuka back as soon as possible and doesn''t care for this celebrity bullshit so they should be back at Nerv and in the prison section for interrogation before the meeting."

    Misato eyed Rosetta''s image again. "Well it appears that myself and Kaji and I are going to have a long day of talks ahead of us."

    8

    I hate how the hours are dragging how we are getting no information and I had trouble sleeping last night I watch as Kaworu prepares a warm jasmine tea at the bar in the wreck room. It¡¯s painfully quite again Toji is lying on the sofa and looks tired while Mari is playing on one of the retro arcade machines in the corner.

    Those machines have been there for years there are six of them in total and three were put there by Asuka and three by Rei as though they never got on when they were younger they both developed a very deep interest in retro gaming. Though the games are very different in what they enjoy to play its strange not seeing them on those arcade machines as they''ve started trying each out others games out.

    Now they were both gone and it felt like there was a huge empty hole in the room without either of their presence and it feels like part of the family is gone. Shinji turned to Toji who looked tired somehow he wished he could tell him and Kaworu the truth about their mothers being in the units but he knew he couldn''t. As it hurt to see Toji this way as his younger sister was clearly taking these past few days hard which wasn''t helped by the other issues as Mari wasn''t her-self either. She hadn''t been since they''d all gotten up at Asuka''s house and she clearly suffering from lack of sleep but was trying to hide it by showing that could do still things normally she had let him and Kaworu have Asuka and Rei''s bed while she''d slept on the sofa.

    He breathed in finally finding his voice as he spoke to Toji. "Sorry you couldn''t join us last night, how is your sister doing?" Toji sat up slightly. "Last night was hard¡­and this morning she just didn''t want come to school not that I blame her. It''s just hard for her she was very young when our mother died in front of us she''d been starving for a while but she never said how bad it was and she gave us all of our food as did my father but he died later in the year, Sakura was so young she didn''t understand death."

    He breathed in painfully. "We had to grow up fast on those Chinese streets and she saw things little children shouldn''t see like sex of all kinds with different sexualities, drugs and gun violence and I tried to shield her from so much but I couldn''t shield her from everything. Some days I just wish I could turn back the clock so she could still be innocent and having a normal childhood because I know she''s not like the young girls and boys in class they talk about boyfriends and girlfriends and kissing but none of done it. Yet she has witnessed it first-hand she knows how adults go all the way and how they behave at their worst, it was unavoidable in the huge homeless camp outside the city of Guangzhou."

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Kaworu passed Shinji the tea as he eyed Toji. "Shouldn''t what counts be the fact that she can live normally now and she doesn''t see any of that anymore unlike all of us she will still be able to have more of a real childhood?" Toji tensed slightly. "Your right I guess."

    He turned looking at Mari. "You know I have not thanked you, you know for all the time you¡¯ve spent with her since she got here and how you just taught to have fun and do things girls her age should be doing." Mari paused the arcade game turning to look at him as she adjusted her glasses. "Hey it''s okay¡­I''m happy to help, nothing sucks than not knowing how to be a fucking kid."

    Toji sat up slightly. "Yeah but she was crying last night and she said that despite everything she''s really likes you, you''re like a big sister to her and she feels bad that you''ve lost the person you consider your younger sister." He turned to Shinji. "She also wanted to say that she thinks it''s awful what happened with Rei and she wants you both reunited."

    Kaworu poured a cup of his own tea. "Perhaps when both our family returns a celebration dinner would be order." Shinji turned to him putting a hand on his. "That would a great idea Kaworu I think everyone would like that, we could even go to that special noodle bar you know the one just outside of Nerv where we all used to go as kids."

    He turned as the wreck room double doors opened as Sumire and Shigeru came in, Shinji looked up slightly finally they were here they''d finally hear something as they''d heard nothing all night. "Did you find my sister and Asuka are they okay, are they dead!?" Shigeru took in a deep breath letting it out slowly. "Your sister and Asuka are not dead that we have been able to confirm." He watched as the relief spread across everyone face including Shinji and Mari who looked the most relived.

    Sumire looked up slightly "Their bodies were not found but blood was from them both though the larger part of it was Asuka''s." Shigeru stroked his beard. "They are not dead of that we know now for sure we believe it was a sting operating to capture them and Asuka fought back hence her blood being more than Rei''s."

    Mari turned sharply. "Was my little sisters wound serious?" Shigeru put his hands together. "Neither we believed were injured seriously but that''s why we are here in two hours'' time there will be a briefing in the old briefing room that now been outfitted for guests as Misato''s special ops team will be going through all of the footage on the huge holographic cinema screen."

    Sumire looked at her tablet which had the list of people on it who would be present. "Gendo and Ritsuko will be there along with Kyo from special ops as he should be back within the next hour. All the bridge crew will be present and Misato and we need all of you to be there as well."

    Toji stood up slightly. "Will you be there Sumire, I''m just curious as you''re new?" Sumire eyed him before looking at her tablet again. "Yes I will be there they want everyone there as they want all perspectives including that of the science division. So they''ve invited two special scientists one you already know which is Vitor Castro but the other one is Chilam who is a new scientist on the division both were brought into find ways to hurt the Archangels weapon wise."

    Toji blinked in confusion. "Why would they want the science division there I don''t get it?" Sumire eyed the tablet. "To be honest I don''t understand that either but I was told they need to be there as something in the footage needs to be looked over by them and Maya." She paused. "Sadly that''s all we can tell any of you right now even we are in the dark regarding this briefing."

    Mari stood up. "Well at least you have better news for us this time." Sumire looked at her. "Yes there is that, now we must go we have to visit others and give them the message that they are needed in this meeting." Shigeru looked up slightly. "Yes we must go we will see you all in the meeting."

    Shinji watched as they left he let out the breath he was holding which was filled with relief Rei was alive she wasn''t dead and that meant they could get her back. He felt Kaworu wrap his arms around him as he kissed him speaking gently. "Your sister is out there she''s okay." Toji turned to Mari putting an arm around her shoulder. "I''m glad Asuka''s okay." Mari gave him a smile though it felt like an effort because she was tired. "Yeah so am I, I just hope wherever she is she''s okay." Toji hugged her tighter. "She''s Asuka she can handle anything."

    8

    How long has it been? I have no idea I''ve been in the darkness for so long it feels like an eternity I''m feeling so hungry now and everything still hurts. I''ve stared into the darkness before but it was different I knew it was in my mind but here I feel so adrift there''s no sense of time every now and again my good eye wanders to the suspended prison above. There''s a light up there it¡¯s pale and far away but it is there like a beacon in the night.

    I know she''s there I know at least she''s safe and not being tortured like I am with light deprivation as well as not being given food and water, it seems I''m allowed to sleep as they have let me sleep once so far.

    There are two shadows which are the two Egyptian guards dressed as gods as I can see the glowing blue eyes of their masks there standing well away from me watching closely. Their gender is impossible to tell under the robes in the darkness.

    I wish I weren''t still tired or I''d try to pull on these metal locks again I assume they are doing this on purpose as they don''t want me at full strength because then I''m a massive threat. Yet a part of me would crave for a painkiller because my stomach and chest really hurt now it''s those old verfickte injuries coming back to haunt me.

    I''m so stupid why did I fight that asshole I should have run and gotten Rei out or maybe tried to save everyone oh that''s right I didn''t because I let my ego get in the way I had to win I just couldn''t let it go. I can feel the pain rising in my chest but it more emotional than physical. I killed two people in cold blood I shot them because I thought I was protecting Rei I thought they wanted her and not me yet I just feel terrible so many times.

    I¡¯ve pulled out my family heirloom so many times I''ve fired it but never to kill only to maim and now I have killed when it''s not using the Evangelion and being with Mama as she is inside its core I feel empty and sad since I could have crippled them both but not killed them. I found Rosetta annoying but I don''t want her to be dead, yeah she was the worst person ever to sleep with but she''s someone I''ve known all my life and Nicolai was a perfect gentleman and Antonio stood up for us even though he didn''t know us that well.

    Claude was an asshole but he wasn''t evil much like Ryo and his sister Miki and it hurts to think they could all be dead because of me if I''d have known it was all about me I would have just handed myself over. I don''t get why they even want me I''m of no value Shinji and Rei are the ones who have high ransom value since there Gendo''s children nothing about this scheisse makes any sense.

    "Awake I see."

    Asuka turned sharply only for the light to come on piecing down on her causing her to blink painful she watched as the older woman once more came out of shadows taking a chair sitting in front of her very calmly. "I hope we are more settled now and well behaved." Gabriella breathed in deeply raising the special device pressing it watching as the huge floating prison above moved downward on its massive pillar it grinded to stop above them though some distance away which meant Rei would now see what was going on clearly as at its full height she couldn''t see much. "Now that you''re paying attention do not misbehave, or your lover will end up very hungry." It was a lie granted but she needed Asuka''s full attention.

    She folded her arms putting the device to one side. "That includes biting the person who is going to feed you after we are done." Asuka eyed her in disgust. "What makes you think I''m going to eat any of the scheisse you offer me?" Gabriella eyed her in breathed in deeply. "Because we''d rather you not die of starvation it wouldn''t benefit you and we will force feed you if we have to."

    Asuka narrowed her gaze. "Who are you people?" Gabriella looked up slightly. "We are Ankh and you are our prisoner." She paused before speaking. "You really don''t remember me at all do you? Well I guess it was deeply traumatic for you and you''re clearly still terrified of water."

    Asuka breathed in deeply. "That bastard said he met me as well yet I don''t remember you or him." Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "That was my grandson Christopher." She eased up her hand. "Now meet his younger sister." Asuka watched as a tall woman half stepped out of the shadows wearing glasses she blinked in utter confusion. "Mari?"

    The next moments turned to blinding pain as the woman fully stepped out of the shadows grabbing her chair as she punched her full force across the face. "It''s Achika to you bastard child!" Asuka groaned watching as she stepped back seeing the clear differences as well as similarities and that this woman was older than her as was her brother. "My mistake, my older sister is way better looking than you."

    Achika moved forward. "Shut up you little!" Gabriella raised her hand. "Now Achika lets, let her speak her mind." She watched as Christopher appeared close by. "Clearly she doesn''t remember any off us." Christopher swung his still bloody iron nailed bat over her leather jackets shoulder. "Surprising, hey Achika do you think it''s one of those mental trauma things?" Achika adjusted her glasses. "Probably but I never studied that I''m a qualified surgeon remember I only know how to take people apart and put them back together I just prefer taking them apart it''s more fun."

    Gabriella breathed in deeply looking at Asuka. "Well then let me refresh your memory Achika and Christopher, are your much older stepbrother and sister they were from Mari''s fathers first marriage." She eased up her hand. "You see your step father had these two first then he had Mari and you came into the fold you only have the Langley name you just don''t share our blood."

    Asuka felt a sneer form. "Well I never liked Papa anyway he was an asshole who treated Mari and me poorly." Gabriella sighed aloud. "Personally we thought you''d remember that since your mother probably tried to tell you the truth recently because believe you and me she didn''t want you anywhere near us when she was still human." Asuka looked at her for a long moment before speaking knowing her words were a lie. "My Mama is dead she committed suicide I have no idea what you''re talking about."

    Gabriella eyed her feeling a slight smile form. "Please do not insult my intelligence by lying you''re not a very good liar and we know what''s in the Evangelion¡¯s cores we know they have an awakened human souls we also know that it can take a person up to two weeks to remember everything after being dragged in. As my son Langley saw one of the early failures were a core rejected a person''s soul in the very early tests. The test subject had issues remembering it took them almost two to three weeks to remember everything and they only remembered when dreaming."

    She leaned forward. "So don''t say your mother Kyoko is not in there because we already know she is and so do you." She put her hands together. "Your mother is right to dislike and fear us after all I threw you into the lake."

    She smirked slightly watching as Asuka''s face turned to utter shock. "Strange it is but I just wanted you dead you were miserable little bastard child and you weren''t true Langley blood, I never would have guessed that Mari would have become so attached to you. I told Christopher Achika and Mari to stay put but she broke the rules and she leapt in after you, saved you from drowning even though it meant I had to punish her the next time I visited."

    She raised her finger. "The irony is maybe you weren''t meant to die I mean you had a destiny to fulfill even then, since you''re very special." Asuka felt a sneer form she hated being called special her feelings had not changed on that. "I''m not special, I''m just an Evangelion pilot I kill people because that''s my job."

    Gabriella stood up slowly as she picked up a bible which was on the desk close by she breathed in deeply. "There are always special people Asuka they shape this world through voluntary or involuntary actions for better or worse they are history deciders and definers." She eased up the bible. "Like imagine if Christianity had set up roots and we all bowed mostly to one god?"

    She eased out a black Zippo lighter. "All because one woman died at the foot of the library of Alexandra I''m sure you know your history how the Christians tried and failed to burn the library and how they killed Hypatia causing the men and women to take their revenge driving them back for good. Now there pathetic little religion is rare just like the other foolish one god believers who think they have any say in this world."

    She flicked the lighter watching as it set alight the golden and blue book. "The true gods are those of multi religions whose proof is shown by the angels coming down from the heavens. As a young woman I remember growing up in Rome and watching the Vatican''s great temple fall when second impact happen the shock wave carried on for miles destroying buildings all over the world the ancient ones still stood strong the lesser fell."

    She paused letting go of the flaming book which hit the floor as it burnt away. "That is the reality and I know the real reason you don''t believe in the gods it''s very simple." Asuka felt her hands form fists why did she feel like she was in some nutcase peanut gallery? This was just so verfickte insane this woman had just burnt a bible in front of her.

    Granted she wasn''t into gods or religion but she''d never condemn those who were and she had vivid memories of there being a couple of Christians where she''d grown up with the grandma and everyone had been fine with it and her grandma had always told her that you should respect the religions of others no matter how different they were.

    She looked at the older woman the truth was she didn''t want an answer to this question as she didn''t like where it would probably lead since she worshipped no gods. "So what is the reason I don''t believe?" Gabrielle looked up raising her robotic hand closing it so the metal grinded as she spoke calmly. "It''s because you don''t need to believe in the gods because you are a god in human form."

    Asuka breathed as she started to laugh despite that it hurt okay so that wasn''t the answer she had expected and she was still finding it hard to believe she''d ever met them as she had no memory of it. "You people are out of your verfickte minds! I am not a god I didn''t start the recent impact it was Bardiel he was in my mind I didn''t know what I was doing."

    Gabriella seated herself again. "We are not talking about that you see Nerv has never told you the truth and Seele has kept it from you but all the factions know the truth it¡¯s why they keep calling you destroyer of worlds. You are a death god encased in human form and we all want the power you have Ouroboros wants you to destroy the world once more and Cerberus wants you to remain human Seele want you to keep you subdued it¡¯s probably why they threw Gendo''s daughter at you, they think she can handle you." Asuka narrowed her gaze. "What do you want?"

    Gabriella felt her smile widen. "We don''t want you to destroy this world no we know you don''t care about that we know Rei is what matters to you, we just want you to become a death god once more then hand your gifts to us make my grandchildren gods in your stead let us carry the mantel of destroyer and bring order to this world with our two primal hybrid Evangelions. Then you can spend the rest of your days wealthy happy and making love to that woman you like so much till the day you die we''ll even ensue you both have kids in a birthing chamber how does that sound?"

    Asuka looked at them for a long moment before finally speaking. "Firstly I don''t remember any of you or you throwing me in a lake, second you''re all verfickte out of your minds if you think I''m some kind of death god."

    She tensed feeling the chair tighten as she struggled trying to ignore the pain as she felt her left eye ignite as her teeth turned to razors. "Lastly you all verfickte pathetic if you think I''d ever help you. You took me and your prison housing Rei and believe me if I ever get out of this chair I will kill you!" Gabriella breathed in shaking her head in annoyance before putting her hands together calmly. "It''s okay we understand you just don''t understand your grand purpose when we come back we will make you truly believe because your rebirth is more important to us than anything."

    She eyed the prison above. "As a gift we''ll keep your lover close to you, since you''ve been better behaved and you will be given food, though it will be via a food rod the same way they feed tigers in cages meat cubes because my employees are now very afraid of your teeth after what you did to my priest of Anubis who will need special surgery to fix his hand since you severed his hands tendons and broke bone." Asuka leaned forward as best she could as she eased out her tongue licking one of her canine teeth. "Pity I didn''t ruin more."

    Gabriella stood up putting her hand on her chin. "Truth be told we were just testing to see how alert you were he was warned to stay away from your face alas he thought you were just like everyone else." Asuka eyed her in disgust. "I am just like everyone else!" Gabriella felt a smile form. "No you''re so much more and soon you will see and believe it."

    Asuka watched as the lights suddenly went out again leaving her in the pitch black darkness which caused her to scream in anger. She hated all of this bullshit and mind games! She looked up fighting the chair despite that it hurt like hell as she screamed a second time though it ended in an animalistic roar which echoed through the large room.

    8

    Fang breathed in as she sat on the sofa happy to back home she hated submarines and the Nebuchadnezzar she loathed the most she hated how it buckled and bent under water unlike their base which despite being in the ocean depths could move around. It had huge legs which could slowly move it very slowly across the ocean surface and was outfitted to look like a mountain. It even had coral reefs growing off it and when placed near countries people took zero notice of it as its six huge legs could fold away and just look any other coral mountain. It didn''t move that often and when it did it was a huge slow effort and normally done just to get it to a safer spot.

    Keel''s idea was why hide in the deep ocean when you could be in plain sight and just be ignored it had even been called the Mountain of Azekah or so she''d heard which was a bible reference of some kind. She turned eyeing Kuchisake who pulled her head back shooting in her favourite low end drug into her neck using a medical gun which was called spice it a tempered form of fake weed which was specially made so it didn''t get you trips but more a happy feeling and she knew Kuchisake was addicted to it. She''d been addicted to it for years but it was her way of dealing with her childhood which had been awful since she''d been treated like as a curse because of how she looked.

    She''d seen the Evangelion program as her ticket out of poverty only for it be meaningless as Shinji and Rei had still been picked over her making the whole thing feel like fake. It meant going back to a shitty life and it had always made her unhappy.

    She moved her head back as her lover sat next to her and she put her head in her lap as she carried on reading her magazine. "Better?" Kuchisake lay back feeling a smile form. "Yes much better now." Fang smiled feeling the other woman''s hand move gently through her hair. "When you''re more settled how would you feel about getting drunk and having sex for a couple of hours?"

    She was about to say more only for Kensuke to suddenly barge into their area without knocking she turned eyeing him in disgust. "You know knocking was never your strong suit in China either but you doing it here pisses me off way more!"

    Kensuke eyed her adjusting his glasses. "Oh give it a rest Fang¡­" Fang lowered her magazine. "Unless you have something really important to say piss off and get out of our quarters." Kuchisake looked up slightly. "Please answer her I''m not in the fucking mood for your bull shit or Joshua''s right now we just got back off mission and we want to rest then get very drunk and have sex and you''re being annoying!"

    Kensuke breathed in deeply. "Keel is pissed." Fang eyed him. "He''s always pissed why should we care?" Kensuke eyed her. "So you have not heard then?" Kuchisake felt her hand form a fist. "I swear to the gods if you don''t fucking cut to the chase I''m going to give the kind of beating you won''t enjoy not like the kind you get turned on by which Hikari gives to you!"

    Kensuke tensed sharply. "Someone blew up the Tokyo Three auction house the bulletin''s been going out all night but the official word just dropped that Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley are not dead but missing Keel only told us now, he wants us to find them!" He paused. "Basically if we don''t find Asuka and take her back all off our plans will mean nothing and Gryphon has them clearly the vermin have come out of hiding!"

    Kuchisake blinked as Fang sat up the shock in her eyes. "Gryphon you''re seriously talking about that worthless bunch of angel lovers being success like the last time they did any real damage was in Mexico at the temple of Quetzalcoatl where they killed about forty people and that was years ago."

    Kensuke eyed her. "Don''t ask me to explain we all have to get back into the Archangels and attack their ships out at sea and get her back and Rei Keel wants to use her as a bargaining chip against Gendo if she''s still alive." Fang sat up. "Great and I was so hoping to have the night off." Kuchisake felt a cold smile form as she grabbed another spice syringe for later. "Oh I don''t think it''s that bad I do enjoy killing vermin."

    End of part 25

    Silvermoonlight

 A Painful Truth That Cuts Deep And Bleeds Out

    A PAINFUL TRUTH THAT CUTS DEEP AND BLEEDS OUT

    Shinji watched as the huge holographic cinema screen was tested, just being here was so nerve-wracking. He was really dreading what he was about to see, as he eyed the chairs of the small cinema which was normally used for visiting guests and delegates to show Nerv videos as part of the tour.

    It had once been the pilots briefing room though it looked nothing like he remembered. It now had a hugely expensive outfit plush leather cinema seats made up as though they were more like arm chairs. They even had large holders for drinks and snacks and lots of leg room and glowing neon Nerv logos on the black decorative walls.

    He could see his father seated on the top row next to Ritsuko and on the far left on the second row one of the scientists from the special division who he knew as Vitor who was working on project Iron Year which was about destroying the Archangels. Next to him was Maya. On the next row was Misato, Kaji and Shigeru and Sumire were seated while he, Kaworu Toji and Mari were on the front row. In front of him he could see Misato¡¯s special intelligence team, whose names were Shoji and Leiko doing the final checks.

    He turned seeing Kyo from the Nerv special ops division enter the room. The big man looked deeply annoyed as he took his seat opposite Maya. His father seemed uncertain in some way. He turned as a woman suddenly ran in turning fast on her heels her long lab coat flying out behind her as took her seat next to Victor as she started munching on a sandwich. What was her name again Misato had told him oh now he remembered Chilam, no one had said what her last name was yet.

    Misato breathed in standing up slowly. ¡°Is everybody here and accounted for?¡± She watched as they all nodded. ¡°Good.¡± She turned to Shoji and Leiko raising her hand. ¡°Start your briefing.¡±

    Victor watched as Chilam took a bite out of her beef sandwich he lowered his voice to a whisper as the lights dimmed. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have eaten that later it¡¯s really fucking inappropriate?¡± Chilam eyed him. ¡°I eat when I¡¯m nervous so back off.¡± Kyo rolled his eyes as he spoke in a sharp whisper. ¡°Shut up both of you.¡±

    Shoji cleared his throat watching as everyone fell silent. ¡°Here are the complete events of the capture of Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami, please note that these are hundreds of phone camera shots tied together. We know prior to this events some form of device was used to over load and completely burn out all the camera¡¯s and the data base even the footage of before events could not be retrieved as the backup servers were burnt and destroyed to a very high degree.¡±

    Leiko pressed her device watching as a special data card flew up on screen rotating in three dimensions. ¡°This is called a Kelpie after the Scottish water horse demon that drowns people, they are spoken about often in hacker circles and the name is to imply that they can drown out all media noise. There¡¯s been talk for years and even illegal prototypes made and confiscated these prototypes though when tested are very poor.¡±

    She watched as the video changed showing a small blow out on a number of holographic computer stations. She looked up as the device reappeared again. ¡°This though had to be a state of the art Kelpie as it blew out everything successfully and who ever made it was a professional of the highest order.¡±

    Shoji changed the screen with his device. ¡°We give our thanks to the main division for finding this out as it was something we were struggling with and the team leader Benjiro was a great help in filing in the text messages and footage with his team so we could put it together much faster while working on finding outside footage.¡± He paused pressing his device seeing the outside footage of the Auction house where the celebrates were arriving, along with other media recorded footage. So we know that Rei and Asuka arrived on time though there was a minute of stalling before they got out of the car.¡±

    He looked up slightly. ¡°All the cab driver Nari would tell us is it was due to nerves and she is currently recovering in the Nerv hospital. As the force of the later blast smashed out all of the windows of the block across the road and caused all the celebrity cars in the special garage to be thrown over which meant her arm got broken and her leg pinned. This also injured a hundred people directly outside some suffered from glass wounds others serious burns and being thrown from the impact blast.

    Her message that something was wrong did get through to Nerv before it was cut off by her car being hurled its believed that it had the power of an N<sup>2</sup> mine and the heat of the device explosion wise was similar to a super-heated pyroclastic cloud.¡±

    He breathed in not liking the next picture he had to show¡ªit was a dead burnt body with red lines of flesh showing through. ¡°I say similar but not quite the same as unlike the ancient city of Herculaneum it wasn¡¯t hot enough to reduce them to skeletons and boil their brains in their skulls. We know Pompeii was covered in ash and its bodies preserved this bomb though burns and melt the skin and the insides cook instantly.

    It¡¯s very similar to the brazen bull but unlike the true brazen bull which the ancient Greeks threw of a cliff, this is super-fast instantly cooking you alive like a wild boar roast and is much faster than Pompeii version you die within seconds but its agonizingly painful.¡±

    He brought up the three dimensional ball ¡°It is called Hammerhead and has been traced back to the German division and was a failed experiment and it¡¯s already been established that this had to be under the older Nerv Germany leader not the current one and we are still uncovering all parts of this and trying to tie the together. What we do know is Hammerhead was an LCL bomb working with the idea of super heating a miniature metal ball coated in Evangelion steel till it blows.¡±

    Shoji pressed her device showing the old footage of the failed test in Germany blowing up a huge building as the soldiers fled in terror. ¡°The German division said the technology was deeply unstable incredibly dangerous and unworkable when they worked on it decades ago hence why Hammerhead was scrapped. So yet again someone has fixed its issues and turned it in a lethal weapon and the final death toll was two hundred and thirty out of five hundred.¡±

    She paused. ¡°There is a possible link but it still needs following through as it¡¯s believed someone was using a fake data card in Germany around this period. That person cannot be named until we are totality sure though of their links which have thus far turned up empty.¡± Ritsuko leaned forward in her seat. ¡°I intend to follow this lead up today but I need to see everything found before carrying on.¡±

    Kyo folded his arms as he spoke coldly. ¡°Well I have two celebrity dim wits captured there in lock up currently.¡± Misato looked up at him. ¡°You caught Rosetta Martinez.¡± She paused. ¡°But who is the other person?¡± Ryo looked over at her. ¡°Antonio Aguilar he was with her they were both hiding out in some stupid hotel in Tokyo Three and they got a special doctor to come in and fix their bullet wounds off the record.¡± Ritsuko eyed him. ¡°You locked them up where, please do tell?¡±

    Kyo looked at her. ¡°The prison section I was told they weren¡¯t to be treated as guests since they had Rei Ayanami¡¯s phone and we had sent out bulletins all night for them to come to Nerv which they ignored and stayed in some fire star fucking hotel. Their counties of origin have been desperate for us to find them so once this is done we can send them packing. It would better if we could talk to Prime Ministers daughter Miki but she¡¯s off limits for two days due to needing treatment for serious post traumatic syndrome and she¡¯s still not making sense or so the doctors informed me this morning as I was going to drag her in as well.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed him. ¡°When you do that could you stick her in the plush guest room not the prison section I don¡¯t care about other countries celebrities but if we ever get her in here I don¡¯t want to cause more problems since her brother Ryo is still in a coma.¡±

    Misato eyed him. ¡°Call them again say we can give her better treatment in the Nerv hospital and we¡¯ll do it for free since we have a special division in there that deals with therapy and post-traumatic stress along with better coma equipment for her brother!¡± She turned seeing that the others were looking at her as they¡¯d all just started talking mid briefing she raised her hand. ¡°Please continue.¡± Shoji eased up his device pressing it. ¡°This brings us to the second half of our briefing which is the phone footage as from the moment the group burst in photos and shots were taken and video footage.¡±

    Leiko turned watching the footage as the men and women dressed in military black gear burst in the leading man revealing himself as he swung his metal bat she paused the video. ¡°Benjiro told us that, that bat he¡¯s holding is some form of electric baseball bat letting out a more powerful charge than any current lighting rod in service today.¡± She paused. ¡°It¡¯s also made of Evangelion flexible steel. The reason for this becomes very clear later on.¡±

    She un-paused the footage watching as the man shot the auctioneer then turned on the crowds. ¡°He specifically asks for Asuka Langley making it clear this is not a game and uses his bat with aggression to scare to people.¡±

    She turned. ¡°This is when it gets very messy we don¡¯t know what this guy is on but he is hyper aggressive some of the celebrities try to fight back but their shot. He then singles out Ryo from the others and tells everyone it¡¯s his fault that they got in and he starts beating the shit out of him while Miki watches while he berates the fact she can¡¯t do anything thus later resulting in Ryo slipping in to a coma.¡± Shinji raised his hand trying to ignore the awfulness of the video footage. ¡°Where is Akane?¡±

    Shoji paused the video. ¡°She was due to attend this event but she never arrived as she was meant to shadow them both, we did track her last movements though as she was seen leaving via the airport going to Beijing in China.¡±

    Leiko breathed in deeply. ¡°We find this very odd as well and we don¡¯t believe in coincidence and though we don¡¯t have outside camera footage she is now heavily on our radar and we are watching her bank accounts closely and there was a huge sum placed in there and it wasn¡¯t small change we are talking millions. Not to mention she didn¡¯t resign, she just up and left which is odd as she meant to a professional assistant.¡±

    Toji turned his gaze falling on Sumire who looked really annoyed he could tell from here while Mari who was sitting opposite him wasn¡¯t taking any notice. She seemed deeply transfixed on the screen and the man whose freeze frame was frozen. ¡°This is chicken shit it sounds like she fucking sold out and now she¡¯s going to sell her secrets to China for more money!¡±

    Sumire turned she could no longer stop the anger she was feeling which had been building since this briefing had started. ¡°This whole thing is utter horse shit, this isn¡¯t Gryphon!¡± She sat up in her chair eyeing the frozen video. ¡°Gryphon wear their colours proudly they don¡¯t walk around in black they dress in red and white and they won¡¯t use anything Evangelion related and they are not this professional in their attacks or organised!¡± Ritsuko eyed her as she spoke coldly. ¡°Is that your personal or professional opinion?¡±

    Sumire folded her arms eyeing her in disgust. ¡°Both!¡± Ritsuko eyed her. ¡°You should think about your next words wisely Sumire, because we both know what your personal opinion is like.¡±

    Sumire stood up slowly unable to stop her anger. ¡°This isn¡¯t about you or me this is about what I see and I know it¡¯s not Gryphon!¡± Misato turned sharply eyeing Sumire seeing that Gendo was remaining quite clearly wanting no part in this argument. ¡°Tell us more Sumire please I wasn¡¯t aware that you had a back ground on Gryphon. It¡¯s not in your record from the Mexican division.¡±

    Sumire stopped as she eyed her feeling herself tense as this was one truth which was none of their business. ¡°It was before I joined the Mexican division.¡± Ritsuko leaned forward. ¡°Oh really do tell.¡± Sumire raised her hand. ¡°I know because I was there as a child in the temple of Quetzalcoatl when they blew it up! My grandmother died in the blast I got buried under the rubble I was very young at the time.¡±

    Misato breathed in sharply well this was a shock and a surprise why the hell wasn¡¯t this in Sumire¡¯s record, why had the Mexican division left it out? Sumire moved closer to Ritsuko the reality was she couldn¡¯t stand to be here anymore it was just pissing her off and the truth was since getting out that shitty job down below she didn¡¯t like the dark anymore. She still felt stressed being in long periods of darkness, plus her anti-depressants were conflicted with her other medication she had been wanting to get them changed but with all this going on it had impacted on her worse than ever and the lack of sleep didn¡¯t help.

    She stopped on Ritsuko¡¯s row ignoring her shock as she spoke coldly. ¡°I know we don¡¯t see eye to eye but the screaming keeps me up at night as does my grandmother¡¯s dead body.¡± She pulled the pendent free so the other woman could see it. ¡°Also before they dropped the bomb they said something in Latin which was Deorum urere, ut digna est fake solum manet si diis angle the translation for this is the fake gods deserve to burn as only the angel gods should remain.¡±

    She paused for a long moment before speaking. ¡°Regardless of what you think of me and our history, I speak the truth and if you don¡¯t like that well what else can I say? Accept, chinga tu madre!¡±

    Ritsuko watched as she left via the cinema¡¯s door slamming it behind her only to hear Victor suddenly snigger she leaned over eyeing him knowing full well that his language translator could read anyone¡¯s voice and the room was set up so he could understand everyone voice in his ear piece. ¡°If you want to keep your job Victor you¡¯ll tell me what she just said and I know you can understand everyone¡¯s voice due to your ear translator!¡±

    Victor stopped instantly his face turning white and uncertain. ¡°Em¡­she said you can get lost¡­ ¡± Misato eyed Ritsuko. ¡°We need him and everyone in this room to win this war and you know it, so stop giving him and Sumire stick.¡±

    Gendo sat up slightly. ¡°Yes I would prefer to end this foolishness now since the footage is of greater concern.¡± Maya breathed in deeply great this was not going well at all. ¡°Just let Sumire calm down.¡± Toji raised his hand. ¡°Can I go check on her?¡± Maya turned slightly. ¡°Yes after this briefing finishes you can, not until.¡± She eyed Shoji and Leiko who were looking at each other uncomfortably clearly they weren¡¯t  used to this kind of bickering or that it went on at the high level of Nerv.

    Her gaze shifted to Mari who had remained really quite throughout this and was staring at the screen completely still her turquoise eyes deeply fixed in the frozen image of the man with the baseball bat. In all the time she¡¯d known Mari she¡¯d never seen her look this way and it was strange as she was finding it hard to take her gaze off her as she could see real fear in the taller woman¡¯s eyes.

    She turned to Shoji. ¡°Please continue.¡± Shoji breathed in pressing her device hoping that this would be the last interruption as she turned the video on. ¡°After this Asuka comes out and two of these men and women come at her she shoots them killing them both instantly and without hesitation and then the fight starts with this man.¡±

    Leiko breathed in deeply. ¡°As you can see the reasons for the electric bat become deeply clear in the first part of this fight, somehow this person knows she can take lightning rods so the bat is custom built purely to deal with her and he very nearly caves her head in with it but she is able to throw it free but it clearly causes her real pain.¡±

    He eyed the video. ¡°Then true to Asuka¡¯s form she brings out that real animalistic side literality like she takes it to maximum which clearly affects her scream as it becomes like an animal¡¯s roar, apparently the celebrities found this real interesting as more of them recorded it.¡±

    He raised his hand. ¡°Now it¡¯s interesting to note that whoever this man is he¡¯s very well trained military wise probably to the same level she is, because he blocks her and uses her moves against her wears her down at every turn. He is clearly just as strong as she is he even refers to as Destroyer of Worlds which we don¡¯t get as it¡¯s weird and we are still compiling an audio feed so we are getting parts but not the whole conversation.¡±

    He turned looking at the screen. ¡°Then this happens and it¡¯s fucking scary.¡± He watched as the man¡¯s lower teeth grew as his eyes glowed red.¡± He paused eyeing the video. ¡°We asked the science division here if it possible that anyone could mimic Asuka¡¯s ability.¡±

    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Vitor eyed the footage. ¡°Not unless he somehow cloned her blood but mixed blood types is dangerous, but as far we know the science division still consider how this happen a mystery. As nothing in the blood genetic changes I read the files.¡± Maya eyed the video. ¡°Yes that is true. We don¡¯t know what causes the transformations we¡¯ve been trying to find out with Mari¡¯s, Rei¡¯s and Asuka¡¯s blood samples we have come up empty even DNA strands reveal nothing we are at a loss to work out.¡±

    Chilam eyed the video. ¡°Yeah but unlike the others Asuka has Bardiel right so what if he¡¯s that pilot from Ankh? That Evangelion is a hybrid mixed with Bardiel. I mean what if your team can¡¯t see it because like any good parasite it¡¯s hidden in plain sight like hijacking a DNA strand?¡± Victor eyed her. ¡°Yes but your saying that all relationships with the pilots, is parasitic.¡±

    Chilam looked up slightly. ¡°Yes that just what I¡¯m saying and that somewhere in all their blood could be a hidden marker hence why they can transform, but I was thinking more symbiosis rather than parasitic, though Asuka could still retain part of the parasite Bardiel as well but it would be harmless because the symbiosis would cancel it out.¡±

    Victor raised his hand. ¡°Plus Asuka unlike the others is a birth chamber child they are almost always B blood type due to how they are created in the mechanical womb so unless he¡¯s B as well he couldn¡¯t have her blood even cloned in his system and a transfusion wouldn¡¯t mean change so I think he¡¯s the Ankh pilot.¡± Maya looked at them both. ¡°After this is done I need you both to look in to this see, as we have a few blood samples that didn¡¯t match the guests or employee¡¯s and to find if this idea of symbiosis is in the pilots DNA strands it might be helpful in some other manner.¡±

    Mari felt her fingers dig in to the chair of the seat she was no longer interested in what was being said she just couldn¡¯t take her eyes off the image on screen that man¡¯s face looked so familiar to her. Yet it truly couldn¡¯t be that bastard from her childhood he was died and she had been told in the car crash that the other member were also dead. Yet she couldn¡¯t stop the pressing fear because the similarity was uncanny and she found it terrifying.

    Leiko turned on the video again watching as the footage carried on flipping between phones along with bringing up important text messages with times. ¡°The fight from this point on gets incredibly violent and its clear Asuka is starting to lose it¡¯s also clear he is taking advantage of her lower stomach area which will never be up to full strength after the Alpha unit incident and he makes a purposeful choice to hit her where she¡¯s scared.¡±

    He watched as the red haired woman was lifted up in a strangling position. ¡°In the end he strangles her until she passes out after which she can be seen being taken away.¡± He paused. ¡°This brings us to final footage.¡± He watched as the woman walked out who resembled Mari but much older and with different glasses. ¡°This woman comes on scene she asks for Rei she says they mean no harm to her.¡±

    Ritsuko voice suddenly cut in. ¡°She looks like Mari!¡± He looked up as the video carried on playing. ¡°Yes that was highly noted by the team we are not sure if it¡¯s pure coincidence though it was noted by the science division that plastic surgery is unlikely but the resemblance is uncanny.¡±

    Mari felt every muscle in her body truly freeze this was not happening! It had to be some bad dream yet it was playing out in front of her like a nightmare she¡¯d know that face anywhere which meant the older man was who she thought he was and she had never ever wanted to see their faces again as long as she lived. Of all the things in her past this she considered the one of the most painful and she knew it would ruin any chance of her and Asuka being friends or even family even though they just repaired that bridge.

    She wanted to cry even scream but the emotion was too wedged in her throat. If they were alive it meant that the woman she was afraid off was still possibly alive and that terrified her even more. If everyone knew the truth they¡¯d find out that she¡¯d had stood by like a coward while Asuka had suffered as a little girl. That she had stood there for two minutes longer than she should off as the little red haired girl had begun to drown in her family¡¯s lake, she had to get out of here as soon as possible she couldn¡¯t stand to be here anymore.

    Leiko breathed in deeply as he paused the video. ¡°It was noted that she had blood on her hands and there was a male body found in the control room this man had been cut open with a surgical blade pure horror film style death he no doubt died in agonizing pain. We think this might have been her because she also has blood on her shoes and she states that something bad is coming and that Rei shouldn¡¯t be there. Rei also even states that she looks Mari and this is met with anger as the woman claims she looks nothing like Mari and that Mari is the runt of the litter it was very confusing to us.¡± He eyed the screen. ¡°Rei then in an act pure courage fires her gun at the lighting box in the room blacking everything out.¡±

    Shoji eyed the screen. ¡°After this she is not seen again but it¡¯s clear to us these people took her as well as Asuka as her blood was found on a corridor carpet. After this the phones footage gets choppy as people flee and run away with their phones a huge number of which burn out and die which is when the blast took place.¡±

    She pressed her device ¡°We have found footage of this strange man and woman in different places in the world which was shown to Misato earlier as they have been captured on camera a few times. As you can see the woman enjoys extremely expensive fine dining in Venice and the man enjoys out running bulls in Pamplona and apparently punching them in the face he even stated that he was nick named the raging bull and his leather jacket even has a bull head on the back.

    Leiko turned slightly. ¡°Your colleague Sumire though may have a point about this not being Gryphon.¡± He brought up a video of an old pale skinned man with a whitening beard in his late fifties. ¡°This is David Cooper or the white Gryphon if you want his title he is the founder and leader of Gryphon. Though he has not been seen in five years and his three children in the United States who we did look up are deeply opposed to their father¡¯s movement.¡±

    He pressed his device. ¡°This man and women though do meet someone.¡± He watched as they were shown greeting the older woman. ¡°And we have no idea who she is but it¡¯s clear she is family and this older woman is clearly some one of power as she is seen later meeting the Greek politician Mana Kirishima or the Star of Thessaly if you want her official title.¡±

    Kaji turned slightly in his cinema chair. ¡°We were planning to speak with her once this meeting is over.¡± Ritsuko eyed the footage. ¡°No I¡¯ll speak to her personally as she was the liaising with the Greek Prime Minster at the UN summit last year as her translator which myself and Gendo had to attend, though we never spoke.¡± She eyed the image. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to chat to her since she always looks far too young to be that fucking powerful since she¡¯s not much older than Shinji, so you talk to the celebrities we have in lock up.¡±

    She turned looking at Shigeru. ¡°Set me up the special room the one which is for delegates I assume you have that training the same as Makoto as he used to set that room up for me.¡±

    Shigeru looked at her for a long moment before replying he had forgotten that this would now be passed to him since Sumire was below him in the command structure and he had moved up due to Kaji getting Makoto¡¯s desk which meant the errands of sending Ritsuko¡¯s paper work back and forth was his job now while Sumire had to juggle Maya¡¯s. ¡°Yes I can have that ready for you.¡± Ritsuko eyed Shoji. ¡°I assume this briefing is over?¡± Shoji nodded. ¡°Yes Mama.¡±

    Ritsuko stood up slightly watching as Gendo followed. ¡°Don¡¯t call me that, to you its Ritsuko!¡± She turned eyeing Maya. ¡°And discipline Sumire, the last thing I need right now is her trying to break command like she did when she first came here from Mexico!¡±

    Maya watched as Mari suddenly vaulted out of her seat before anyone could stop her running out the cinema doors much too every ones shock and before Ritsuko and Gendo could even get to the door as the lights came back on. She looked at Toji who looked confused. ¡°Did she skip breakfast?¡± Toji shook his head as he watched Gendo and Ritsuko leave. ¡°No she eat breakfast with the rest of us, she didn¡¯t look so good during the briefing though. She looked like she¡¯d seen a ghost and she seemed horrified when that woman showed up who looks like her.¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°When you see Sumire tell her she needs to see me and she won¡¯t be punished I need to speak to Mari myself.¡±

    Toji nodded. ¡°Sure I¡¯ll tell her.¡± Maya looked at the others ¡°Excuse me I need to find Mari.¡± She turned to Toji. ¡°Where would she go if stressed?¡± Toji looked at her, ¡°Military training or the Game Zone which is called the Taito Station which takes up a whole level of the arcade zones thirty fifth and sixth floor.¡± Misato watched as Toji left along with Maya followed by everyone else she turned giving Shoji and Leiko a wave the only people left in the room now was her Kaji, Shinji and Kaworu who both looked concerned.

    Misato moved forward putting her hands on Shinji¡¯s shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to wait this long to find this out Shinji I wanted to tell you sooner and I fully believe they took Rei so where ever she is she¡¯s alive.¡±

    Shinji looked down sadly unable to stop his fingers twitching it was an action he had tried so hard over years to stop and had hoped that post therapy that it would vanish but it never had. He felt like his child like self all over again as he looked up to meet her uncertain gaze. ¡°It¡¯s all my fault she¡¯s gone because I wasn¡¯t there and so is Asuka it should have been me not them.¡± He breathed in painfully unable to stop the tears flowing. ¡°She¡¯s my little sister it¡¯s my job to protect her and I wasn¡¯t there when she needed me!¡±

    Misato moved forward before anyone could say anything pulling him in to a tight hug. ¡°No Shinji it¡¯s not your fault believe me, even if you had been there this would have still played out.¡± Kaji leaned over putting a hand on his back. ¡°She¡¯s right these people planned this and they would have gone anywhere to get Asuka and its clear they just wanted to take Rei somewhere else so there¡¯s a chance that she might be somewhere else now but unable to contact us, they didn¡¯t want to hurt her they made that very clear.¡± Misato held him tighter. ¡°Don¡¯t worry we are going to get them both back whatever happens.¡±

    She paused. ¡°I will do everything I can to get them back Shinji I promise you that today we have the best people on the job and they will find them.¡± Shinji breathed in painfully. ¡°I couldn¡¯t live with myself if anything happened to Rei. I always promised my mother I¡¯d look after her, after she was born she showed her to me and said that I should always be a good big brother and take care of her.¡±

    Misato watched as he pulled away she eased up a hand putting it on his face. ¡°And you have always been a good brother to her she could never hope for anyone better, but right now we need to be the ones to find her and Asuka and we will believe me the bulletin has gone out now worldwide for anyone to come forward if they¡¯ve seen them.¡±

    Kaji leaned over putting an arm around Shinji shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Shinji, just have hope we are going to find them as we want them both back as much as you.¡± Shinji looked at him nodding sadly. ¡°I know it¡¯s just hard.¡± Misato moved her hand putting it on the cross around his neck which she had given him years ago. ¡°Just have faith we got through Bardiel and the other angels we can get through this.¡± She leaned forward giving him a gentle kiss on the head. ¡°We always do.¡±

    She paused looking at Kaji who smiled, she pulling away as a knowing look past between them she turned back to Shinji. ¡°Hey hows about you and Kaworu come with me and Kaji we were going to get a snack before we carry on today so how does fried ice cream sound?¡±

    Shinji looked at her for a long moment before raising his hand wiping his tears. ¡°Sure.¡± Kaworu watched as they moved aside giving him room as he moved his hand putting it on Shinji¡¯s. ¡°Yeah fried ice cream sounds nice.¡±

    Kaji looked at them all feeling his smile widen as they were about to go to one of his favourite desert stalls in the Arcade Zone. ¡°Come on all of you I know a great place they do ice cream all flavours and you can have so many topping you¡¯re going to love it.¡±

    8

    I am so fucking stupid, I should know better Ritsuko was the reason I got shoved in that dark shit hole fixing the Magi¡¯s huge caballing day in day out. Now I¡¯m probably going to end up right back down there because I couldn¡¯t just keep my mouth shut and it was opening my mouth to her in the first place that put me down there.

    Well I guess this day can¡¯t get any worse can it? It¡¯s not like the mild anti-depressants they gave me are even working, they clash with my other medication and they make me feel so on edge.

    Regardless of what happens I know those people weren¡¯t Gryphon I joined Nerv because that one event in my life gave me focus. I wanted to stop groups like that and I joined Nerv in Mexico City at thirteen and worked my way up the ladder later they sent me to Nerv in Tokyo Three because they felt my skills would be better served there. To me as an eighteen year old I saw it as the greatest moment of my life, but it turned in to a nightmare years later and I lost so much faith in the organisation I¡¯ve given everything to serve.

    I guess the silver lining of this is they can¡¯t throw me back below so they¡¯ll probably send me back home to Mexico. I¡¯ll get to see my family who I have not seen in so long as I miss my mother and father so much. Sumire dug her fork deeper in to Chilaquiles which she¡¯d brought from the traditional Mexican buffet which was on the filthy first floor unlike the others it was a closer to her homes cooking or at least as close as she could get and opposite it there was traditional German restaurant in a state of construction.

    It had a counterpart which was called the Kegel Inn somewhere outside Nerv city from what she¡¯d been told and the plot had only been brought two days ago as the previous restaurant was up scaling so it had moved to another level.

    She took a bite savouring the flavour yes so close to home but not quite home maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so bad going home, maybe she¡¯d enjoy it. She was about to take another bite only to stop as she watched Toji enter the buffet looking around. He smiled as he caught sight of her as he raised his hand. ¡°Sumire there you are I¡¯ve been looking for you!¡± Sumire blinked in utter confusion what was he doing here? She swallowed her mouth full suddenly feeling uneasy as he worked his way past the other Nerv staff coming up to her table as he spoke a big smile appearing on his face. ¡°Can I join you?¡±

    Sumire nodded now feeling deeply out of her depth as he sat down next to her she breathed in finally finding her voice. ¡°I assume Ritsuko wants to see me.¡± Toji looked at her in confusion. ¡°No I was sent by Maya she told me to tell you that you¡¯re not in any trouble and that you should speak to her when you get a chance.¡±

    He caused before feeling his smile widen. ¡°What did you say to Ritsuko in your other language?¡± Sumire looked up slightly. ¡°It was Spanish I can also speak in Nahuatl the language of my Mexican ancestors.¡± She paused before speaking. ¡°I said fuck you to her.¡±

    Toji laughed as he leaned forward. ¡°That¡¯s so awesome you¡¯re the only other person who has said anything like that to her.¡± Sumire pulled out her medication opening it. ¡°Really who was the other?¡± Toji raised a hand. ¡°Asuka she told that she got her power by riding Gendo¡¯s dick you should have been there it was really great just like what you did.¡± He watched as she took a pill his curiosity getting the better of him. ¡°Hey what¡¯s your medication for? I mean I¡¯m not good with medication but it looks nothing like Kaji¡¯s.¡±

    Sumire froze for a moment great just fucking wonderful this was going to be a great end of her day nothing like hitting the bottom of the pit. Toji looked at Sumire who now looked deeply sad. It was that look he had seen before and it got to him. ¡°Hey you know it¡¯s okay I¡¯m not gonna judge. I know plenty of people who take medication my sister has to take some to help her body as she had malnutrition as a kid and I have to have the same in my pilots drinking bottle.¡±

    Sumire looked at him sadly. He was such a sweet guy she could see it in him but she¡¯d seen this scenario play out so many times it always ended the same. It was why she never had full relationships and could only get casual sex nothing more.

    She could lie it would be so easy yet she knew she couldn¡¯t live with herself for doing so it wasn¡¯t fair on ether of them and if he rejected her she¡¯d just have to live with it and if he was curious he would find out anyway and that would be even worse. She¡¯d heard to many stories of that happening and she believed in being true to herself as well as anyone who had any interest in her and he did have an interest in her she could see it now clear as day.

    She breathed in deeply looking at her medication bottle. ¡°It¡¯s for a robotic it¡¯s to stop rejection and it has other things in it.¡± Toji looked at her in confusion. ¡°But you don¡¯t have a robotic I can¡¯t see one.¡± Sumire looked up slightly. ¡°It¡¯s internal.¡± Toji blinked in confusion. ¡°I have never heard of internal robotic I thought they didn¡¯t work.¡±

    Sumire put her fork down taking in a deep painful breath before letting it out slowly. ¡°I was really hoping this wouldn¡¯t come up not that it really matters but it¡¯s because I am transgender this medication stops my body rejecting it and its part of my transition.¡±

    She looked at him. ¡°I¡¯ve gone through full transition. My former name was Huitzilin which means Hummingbird in my native language its Sumire now.¡± She breathed out painfully watching as he staring at her for a long moment. He was going to walk off they always walked away despite going though full transition to some she was not a woman and they still considered her fake and weren¡¯t interested since she couldn¡¯t have children. She looked down sadly. ¡°I just wanted to be honest since some people can be unkind when they know.¡±

    Toji snapped out of his haze realizing he was being rude as he put his hands together. ¡°Well you look stunning I mean I don¡¯t know much about transition but I heard it¡¯s really good.¡± Sumire stared at him unable to speak it was not the reaction she had expected to get. She had expected anger or I don¡¯t fuck fake women or for him to say nothing and just walk off that was the normal response. She looked up finally finding her voice. ¡°Yeah¡­it¡¯s very good.¡±

    Toji looked at her feeling more curious. ¡°So when did you start transition?¡± Sumire looked up slightly. ¡°When I was fifteen it¡¯s normally when you can start the medication at least you can¡¯t have surgery till you¡¯re eighteen as its dangerous.¡±

    Toji looked at her. ¡°What surgery do they do?¡± Sumire breathed in she was unused to this kind of attention and now it was hard to take in. ¡°Enhanced breast implants that look and feel like the real thing as there made from real flesh based off the same technology that can create Evangelion synthetics flesh. Followed by a jaw bone reshaping and pelvis re curving which is the dangerous one. The hormonal medication changes your voice drastically as the medication is far more powerful now and you have the internal canal done last.¡± She paused looking around her. ¡°Which I¡¯d rather not talk about here as it¡¯s very personal.¡±

    Toji pulled a menu from the table. ¡°I understand. Not like I¡¯d want to talk about that ether if our roles were reversed.¡± He eyed the menu over. ¡°So is this real Mexican food?¡± Sumire breathed in feeling her tension finally leave her. ¡°Yes. As close as to what you¡¯ll get in my home country, it¡¯s not like the other restaurants here which feel way to tourist like to me.¡± Toji looked at her. ¡°I¡¯m starving what would you recommend?¡±

    Sumire slowly started to eat feeling the start of a smile form. ¡°The Mole Poblano it¡¯s very filling and delicious.¡± She leaned forward watching as he raised his hand calling over the waitress maybe today wasn¡¯t going to be such a shit day after all.

    End of part 26

    Silvermoonlight

 Feelings Of Painful Shame And Anger

    FEELINGS OF PAINFUL SHAME AND ANGER

    Maya breathed in. She already knew what was wrong with Sumire: clearly, her medication, which was there to keep her calm and take the edge off her darker feelings, was clashing with her more important medication transition medicine which controlled her hormones among other things.

    She had read it could happen and clearly she needed to get that fixed right away, as she was responsible for any of the bridge crew¡¯s medications and that meant that both Kaji¡¯s stem cell meds and Sumire¡¯s went through her.

    All the reports from the Mexican division were that she was outspoken, but aggression wasn¡¯t normal for as she was normally very level headed. Hopefully she could use this to talk Ritsuko out of punishing her, but first she had to find Mari; she had never seen her bolt so fast to get out of a room.

    She went down a level, finally catching sight of the huge red area which was bright and filled with the neon red glow of the Taito Station first level on the thirty fifth floor; she could see its second level below.

    It had been years since she¡¯d been here; she used to follow Ritsuko around this place as it had a really plush cocktail and drinks bar called the Sun Light Parade which over looked Nerv and you could see the sky trains moving back and forth late at night, along with thousands of lights from the other hanging building above. Below it was the oldest bar at Nerv, built long before the whole Arcade zone had been shops and stalls.

    Ritsuko hadn¡¯t wanted to get rid of it in the rebuild, so it had been updated and the Taito Station literally built around it. It still overlooked the same scene; nothing had changed, and it was even considered a feature for visiting important delegates because of its history. Maya stopped, looking up at huge logo, which was a space invader glowing in neon white.

    The whole area was covered with media banners for animated shows and worldwide shows and movies, much like the cinema zone where she spent her free time and which was where she had just come from. The station had thirty large cinemas and twenty smaller ones and was the first zone, sometimes called the zero zone as it was at the very top of the complex above the first shopping zone.

    So the Taito Station was where Mari liked to go, she wanted to be surprised by that, but really wasn¡¯t. Asuka loved this place, and over the years had worn away hours in it, and despite that they were not genetically related, they could be very similar in their traits.

    She also knew Rei liked this place but for her it was more when she felt like it or was in the right mood though in her youth she had spent a lot of time here from what she¡¯d heard but it was more a safe space for her as she had not been that good with conversation at the time.

    She turned, seeing the thousands of grabbing arm machines she worked her way through ignoring how weird this place felt to her as she watched the staff win prizes and try their luck. While she could see thousands of arcade machines of every type along with capsule toy machines, what she was looking for was the Arcade owners.

    They had a central holographic console which was run by a husband and wife team and six other employees who maintained the games, and they could tell when people used a special red card to play games; the idea was that they put the card in the slot when playing, then at the end of the playing session, the amounts were topped up and they could pay in full at the desk. It also meant you could ask where someone was playing.

    She stopped by the desk as she spoke calmly. ¡°Is Mari Makinami here?¡±

    The tall Japanese man with a long beard turned, smiling. ¡°You mean Mari Makinami Illustrious?¡±

    Maya looked up slightly. ¡°Yes, that Mari.¡±

    His wife, who was clearly French by her accent, turned, typing into the holographic panel and watching as a red symbol flashed. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s here. She¡¯s currently running a British Spitfire simulation in our plane simulator in the simulation zone.¡± She paused. ¡°And she¡¯s running it badly today, which is strange as she¡¯s normally very good at this game.¡±

    The man turned to her. ¡°Did you need us to stop the simulation and call her down?¡± Maya shook her head. ¡°No, but could you take me to her. I don¡¯t know my way around here; the last time I was here it was the Sun Light Parade and nothing more.¡±

    The man slowly stepped out from behind the counter. ¡°Sure, if it helps, that bar still exists. It¡¯s at the very top of the games complex; we just built around it and it¡¯s now a feature.¡± Maya looked at him as they passed the many Nerv employees playing racing, fighting, and dance games and shooting simulations with fake guns.

    They slowly moved through the games complex and up a set of stairs, coming in to a very dark zone where she could see people sitting on leather benches watching and eating snacks while watching screens of simulation game play in action. Below them in a huge area were hundreds of simulator machines all in neat lines.

    The machines were spaced apart for safety and so you could walk around them, as they all were fenced off. The simulators were very special, in that you could hold two people and had a special roll cage allowing for very fast movement and their huge arm could pull them up and down. They were round and almost cylinder-like painted in pure black and neon blue strips of burning bright light, you had to strap yourself in tight. No one could see what was going on inside.

    She watched as the man stopped and opened a special panel which was on the fence. He turned to her. ¡°She¡¯s going to hate this just so you know. This is her weekly slot. You have to book in advance for these and pay on the day like everything else here.¡±

    Maya looked at him. ¡°You misunderstand. I want to join her, not stop her game just pause it.¡±

    He eyed her. ¡°She¡¯s still going to get pissed.¡± He pressed the holographic button, watching as the simulator came to a sudden stop. As it lowered itself to the ground, the hatch door came up and Mari¡¯s angry face came in to view. ¡°What the fuck? I was playing, you just ruined my score Hinata!¡±

    Hinata breathed in deeply, shaking his head. ¡°For the record Mari, you¡¯re not scoring very well today. I watch the console remember.¡±

    Maya moved forward so she could see Mari.¡± It wasn¡¯t him, it was me. I wanted to speak to you.¡±

    Mari¡¯s anger turned to surprise as she stared at Maya. ¡°You¡¯ll have to wait till I finish.¡±

    Maya moved forward. ¡°There are two seats, so I¡¯ll join you.¡± Mari blinked, watching as she stepped up and opened the door on the opposite side. Maya slowly strapped herself in the seat so she was secure as she closed the door. ¡°Please carry on.¡±

    Mari eyed her. ¡°You know these things can make people vomit if there not used to them right?¡±

    Maya looked at her. ¡°Yes, now carry on playing.¡±

    Mari breathed in closing her door pressing the central safely locking the doors. ¡°Okay just so you know I warned you.¡± Maya watched as it went dark as Mari brought up the floating hologram controls resetting it watching as it faded away revealing the spite fire cockpit as it lifted off and Mari took hold of the controls

    The simulator began to jerk and rotate as she took flight. She aimed it and started to fire at Russian planes. Clearly this was a World War Two dog fight simulation based on the war with Joseph Stalin and the Russians who had tried to take control of the whole world and failed.

    She paused before speaking. ¡°Maybe you would like to tell me who those people were in the video. I saw the way you looked at the man and that women who looked similar to you in the briefing.¡±

    Mari swerved, narrowly clipping another opposing plane as she spoke coldly. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about; I don¡¯t fucking know them.¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°Yes, I think you do know them and you should tell us who they are, for the sake of your sister and Rei.¡±

    Mari turned only for the simulator to shake as she crashed straight into a Lancaster bomber. Watching as everything turned to darkness, she felt the anger come before she could stop. ¡°Fuck this!¡±

    She brought up the console, not thinking as she pulled out her hacker device and attached it to the red card. As she started to type, turning to its other setting which brought up red code only to watch as the holographic panel came up suddenly going yellow and red.

    Maya turned sharply to her. ¡°What are you¡­¡± Her next words were cut off as the simulator suddenly went into a violent spin on both the arm and the cage, which was enough to slam her back into her seat as an alarm was heard outside.

    She watched Mari flip the codes as best she could, suddenly finding what she was looking for and pressing it on the panel, causing the whole simulation to go dark and change to space. She watched the cameras inside the simulator go out and heard a crackle as the panel went green.

    Mari watched the stars go by as the simulator went into a slow crawl of the relaxing space simulation. She lay back in her chair, breathing in deeply. Maya looked at her. ¡°What did you just do?¡±

    Mari breathed in deeply, speaking meekly. ¡°I just killed the camera and sound feed in here and changed the simulation, and turned off the outside screen so no one can see what¡¯s going on.¡±

    Maya felt her eyes dart. ¡°Why?¡±

    Mari breathed in painfully as she turned the simulations setting to auto pilot. ¡°Because I don¡¯t want anyone to hear what I¡¯m about to say to you now.¡±

    Maya blinked, watching as a truly sad look appeared on Mari¡¯s face. ¡°So you know those people?¡±

    Mari nodded sadly. ¡°Yes, they¡¯re part of my father¡¯s vile step family. They¡¯re from his first fucking marriage. The fucker who was shown hitting a bull is Christopher, the bitch who looks likes me is called Achika, the old woman I only knew her as Grandmother.¡±

    Maya stared at her, speaking calmly. ¡°You knew this and you didn¡¯t say anything in the briefing. Why is that?¡±

    Mari turned, unable to stop the anger as it came out. ¡°Because then everyone would know how shit I am and how I stood there like the coward I am!¡± She raised her hand. ¡°They¡¯d come to know that I stood there and watched my grandmother pick up Asuka when she was six and throw her head first into the lake.

    She asked us all to stand in a line and do nothing and like a coward I stood there along with my vile older step brother and sister, like a coward I waited until I couldn¡¯t handle it anymore and I leapt in after her because I couldn¡¯t stand to watch her drown. She was the sweetest little thing ever and I liked her!¡±

    Maya stared at the taller woman in utter shock. ¡°How old were you at the time Mari?¡±

    Mari eyed her. ¡°Does it matter? I was old enough to know the difference between right and wrong and I knew it was wrong and I still stood there. Asuka doesn¡¯t remember; it¡¯s like her mind blanked it out. She only ever seemed to remember me saving her, not that I acted like a piece of shit with my older siblings and stood there while my grandmother tossed her in.¡± She breathed in, unable to stop the tears as they came. ¡°It was my grandmother¡¯s strength-building exercise, and she considered Asuka some bastard child and she made us watch her toss her in.¡±

    Maya eased up her hand, putting it on Mari¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It sounds to me like you were a child and an adult was being abusive and manipulating all of you, making you do a terrible thing.¡±

    Mari eyed her. ¡°Regardless of it all, I still stood there for a minute before I couldn¡¯t stand it anymore.¡± She paused, taking in a breath painfully. ¡°Now they have her and they¡¯re going to tell her everything! She¡¯ll know I¡¯m not the protective big sister I pretend to be and that I¡¯m no better than Christopher and Achika.¡±

    Maya leaned closer. ¡°No. Asuka loves you as family. I think she would understand why you kept this to yourself, because you were clearly being abused like her.¡±

    Mari laughed, but it was a sad laughter even to her own ears. ¡°You know when I gave her the year of stick I used to justify my actions by saying she¡¯d turned out like Achika.

    After I heard about what happened with Hikari, it made it so easy for me to be vile to her and beat the shit out of her in the gym that day I did. Yet she was innocent all along and I was the one being an asshole. All my life I never wanted to be like Achika or Christopher, yet even though I was being drugged I still acted it out knowing it was wrong.¡± She looked at her hands. ¡°The truth is, Asuka under all that front is still the innocent little kid with a good heart. I¡¯m the bad one and she¡¯ll always be better than me.¡±

    Maya looked at Mari for a long moment. In their last talk she¡¯d seen the front slip, but this time it was much deeper and more emotional; it was like seeing deep into her soul, and like Asuka she wasn¡¯t cruel or evil, she was a broken young woman who blamed herself for so much that was not her fault. She realized something else in this moment: Mari wasn¡¯t as immature as she had first thought; that was just her front. It was used to protect herself; unlike Asuka who cold-shouldered so others wouldn¡¯t see her pain, Mari instead projected to show confidence. She had clearly been holding on to this for years and probably never told anyone about it out of shame and self-anger.

    She undid her straps as she pressed the console, causing the simulator to freeze as she stepped in front of Mari¡¯s side of the simulator. Speaking very softly, she raised her head so their eyes met. ¡°No Mari, I think you¡¯re better than you give yourself credit for. You jumped in after Asuka. You saved her, loved her, protected her, and I understand why you couldn¡¯t tell everyone about this. If our roles were reversed I would not have come forward.¡±

    She raised Mari¡¯s head higher, feeling no resistance. ¡°You were just a child Mari, and I saw the footage. Those two come off as disturbed psychopaths, but you¡¯re not like them. You¡¯re a good person.¡±

    Mari breathed in painfully as she spoke. ¡°You asked me once about the wound on my side, the long thin one under my chest on my waist side. I told you it was from an accident in London.¡± She eased up her shirt, revealing the long faded thin scar. ¡°It wasn¡¯t, it was from my grandmother. She did it with a horse whip; she whipped me till it bled¡­ it was done because I saved Asuka. I¡¯m sorry that I never told you the truth, that I lied to you just like everyone else, even to my own mother because I was a coward and never spoke my mind.¡±

    Maya looked at her as she wiped her tears away. ¡°You¡¯re not a coward Mari. A coward would have let Asuka die. You¡¯re not a coward and you¡¯re not like them.¡± She paused. ¡°But you have to tell Misato about this, she has to know.¡±

    Mari put her hands together. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t face her.¡±

    Maya spoke before she could stop herself. ¡°Look, why don¡¯t you come home with me tonight, then we can really talk this through and write something out which you can give to Misato and which she can give to the commander.¡±

    Mari looked up sharply. ¡°I can¡¯t, I have to feed Asuka¡¯s cat and look after her house.¡±

    Maya looked at her. ¡°I¡¯ll ask Kaworu and Shinji to look after her house and cat. I¡¯ll say it¡¯s important, they¡¯ll both understand believe me.¡±

    Mari breathed in painfully. ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t want to impose on you.¡±

    Maya shook her head. ¡°You won¡¯t be, and all this will be private. It will only be between us, Misato, the commander, and Ritsuko. No one else will know.¡±

    Mari looked up, wiping her tears away. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Maya looked around her. ¡°Maybe we should get out of here.¡±

    Mari moved her hand to the console, pulling her card reader out along with her card, which instantly reset the simulator. She pressed the button, ending it and causing it to lower. She watched as both doors opened and Hinata instantly appeared with utter rage in his eyes as she stepped out followed by Maya.

    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°You just hacked my simulator didn¡¯t you, to avoid paying? And to top it off, your reckless stupid actions nearly damaged it!¡± He pointed his finger at her. ¡°Why can¡¯t you just be like your younger sister and blow shit up on the zombie simulator on the other level instead of hacking my expensive hardware?!¡±

    Maya turned slowly to him; she wasn¡¯t in the mood for this. She spoke coldly. ¡°I asked her to do it.¡±

    Hinata blinked in shock. ¡°What why?!¡±

    Maya folded her arms. ¡°Private patient confidentiality; it was not for others to hear.¡±

    Hinata eyed her. ¡°Who the hell are you, you don¡¯t have that authority!¡±

    Maya eyed him. ¡°I¡¯m Maya Ibuki, head of the science division and one of the main bridge crew, as well as the colonel¡¯s helper along with Ryoji Kaji, so I have every authority since the pilots¡¯ welfare is part of my job!¡± She watched as his face slowly turned white as he swallowed only to bow instantly.

    ¡°My deepest apologies, Maya.¡±

    Maya raised an eyebrow. ¡°It¡¯s Miss Ibuki to you.¡± She turned to Mari. ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, we have to go. Mari will pay you on her next session.¡±

    Mari blinked. She had been about to say it was all her fault; now she was just stunned.

    Maya walked forward. ¡°Come on Mari, how¡¯s about we get something to eat.¡± Mari half stumbled, moving forward, following her, ignoring the general staff¡¯s surprise at it all. She almost felt bad leaving Hinata in that bowed position, but right now she just wanted out of here.

    8

    Vitor breathed in deeply as he entered his science room. He watched as Salome flew over and landed on his shoulder. He moved his hand up, stroking her head. ¡°Well that could have gone better.¡±

    Chilam smiled as her mini mass Evangelions flew out landed on her shoulders, cuddling up. ¡°What did that Mexican woman say to Ritsuko?¡±

    Vitor smirked. ¡°Go fuck yourself, that¡¯s what my ear reader read at least.¡± He put his hands together. ¡°If I see her again, I¡¯ve got to ask her out. Nothing turns me on more than a woman who tells it like it is.¡±

    Chilam smirked. ¡°Well, at least you have a type.¡±

    Vitor pulled on his lab coat. ¡°Oh, and what¡¯s your type?¡±

    Chilam breathed in, pulling on her lab coat. ¡°I¡¯m not into that right now. Just not my thing. I want to work up the career ladder.¡±

    Vitor raised an eyebrow. ¡°Ah yes, I¡¯ve been there, many years ago. I wish you luck on that.¡± He paused. ¡°How the hell are we even going to do what they asked of us, where do we even start?¡±

    Chilam breathed in deeply, walking over to wall and typing into it. ¡°You¡¯re good at making things, how¡¯s about we do the opposite and take them apart? They said blood samples and DNA revealed nothing, right? So let¡¯s do a living hologram simulation.¡±

    Vitor blinked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of that. Isn¡¯t it a new coding that makes the projection¡¯s whole internal body behave alive, but it¡¯s not body parts; it¡¯s the whole body, but it¡¯s not living, just imitating. The hologram feels nothing, it¡¯s pure projection.¡±

    Chilam watched as four round platforms rose in the middle of the room. ¡°Yes, they just recently installed it and they were using it in my lab in Canada.¡±

    Vitor breathed in as he began to type into his holographic panel. ¡°Copying Asuka¡¯s whole body to the platform. Now the Magi should build the complete body. Also uploading other pilots in case so we need to flip them up. Okay, building right now based on last full body scan, which was after Bardiel was kicked out.¡± He watched as the hologram appeared, clothed and semi see-through much like the body part projections. He moved over to it, walking around it, eyeing the teeth and glowing neon blue eye. ¡°Such a fucking beast this one¡­. check out the cutting blades she has for teeth.¡±

    Chilam eyed the razor-sharp teeth. ¡°Yeah, they tested the bite force on them in this form in a simulation, as Asuka didn¡¯t want the biting device in her mouth, and it¡¯s believed they bite at two hundred and sixty eight PSI; close to a leopard¡¯s bite, which is around three hundred PSI. Basically if you got your fingers or hand too close to that, it wouldn¡¯t end well for you.¡±

    Vitor breathed in deeply. ¡°So we have to strip this body back layer by layer till we find something the other science teams missed.¡±

    Chilam breathed in deeply. ¡°I can put the projection in realistic mode if you want, with realistic blood and body parts.¡±

    Vitor raised his hand sharply, speaking with more force than intended. ¡°No!¡± He paused, watching as she looked up. ¡°I would prefer not to. I don¡¯t enjoy that kind of simulation anymore. Before Ouroboros it was fine, but not anymore.¡±

    Chilam walked over to him. ¡°Look, I know we don¡¯t see eye to eye, but I saw that that footage really bothered you in the briefing. The others didn¡¯t see it, but I did. I saw it in your eyes.¡±

    Vitor breathed in. He had hoped no one would notice, but she had. He breathed in deeply. ¡°I don¡¯t enjoy watching that kind of violence, not after being stuck in a place with real people who do that. I still have nightmares about it, but Maya knows that and right now I¡¯m just not ready for therapy. I need more time to sort out my thoughts.¡± He paused, eyeing her. ¡°For someone who eats sandwiches while watching intense human violence, you¡¯re very perceptive.¡±

    Chilam moved over to the simulation. ¡°Well, if you and I are going to work together, we need to at least be on a level.¡±

    Vitor looked at her as he pulled up a mini device which would enable him to touch the semi solid hologram. ¡°So let¡¯s start on this. Let¡¯s unclothe her and let¡¯s skin her yard by yard, revealing all the muscle and skull and eyes.¡± He paused for a moment, tapping the jaws and slowly easing them open wide. ¡°Let¡¯s see where this force of nature gets her mean fucking overbite and glowing eye and massive strength from.¡±

    Chilam breathed in. ¡°Yeah and if we find anything, we¡¯ll check the others to see if they match; the answer has to be here somewhere.¡±

    8

    They have moved me downwards. I can now see Asuka from the window, though only for a while as she was lit up in bright light. I could see this old woman talking to her along with Christopher and Achika, but I couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying. She¡¯s in this metal chair where she can¡¯t move.

    It was awful to watch and I felt so powerless. Now I¡¯m searching this room for a way out; there has to be one in this hanging prison other than the opening bridge that connects with it and appears to lower and rise when it does. I wish I¡¯d not taken the lessons about getting out of these situations as something that wasn¡¯t serious during Nerv¡¯s special training or something that wasn¡¯t about me, because clearly I was wrong, and now this has happened to me, and it feels like I¡¯m on edge now, and it¡¯s so hard to sleep or eat. ¡°Please stop trying to find a way out. There isn¡¯t one and we have cameras all over this room.¡±

    Rei watched as the huge metal door opened as an old woman walked in, she instantly recognised her due to her robotic left hand. She watched as the metal door closed behind the woman, who smiled as she seated herself at the round dining table.

    ¡°Please sit.¡±

    Rei looked at her, moving slowly towards the table and seating herself. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Gabriella eyed the young woman whose cold expression was staring into her unwavering. ¡°Since we have not been introduced, I¡¯m the one they call Pharaoh. I¡¯m in charge.¡±

    Rei tensed, eyeing her. ¡°So you are Ankh.¡±

    Gabriella breathed in deeply. ¡°Yes, not that it matters that you know, as my granddaughter has already told you that. Nerv is probably looking in the wrong place now.¡± She eyed the clothes which the young woman had now dressed in, which were jeans and a plain t-shirt with shoes and socks. ¡°I do hope the clothes are to the right fit.¡±

    Rei eyed her. ¡°They are adequate, though not to my personal taste.¡±

    Gabriella eyed the window before turning back to her. ¡°I¡¯m here because your lover is refusing to eat. She won¡¯t take food from us, which means we now have to use you.¡± She eased up her robotic hand, eyeing it. ¡°Seems although we don¡¯t want you here, you might be useful in the long run. Soon you¡¯ll be brought to her, since she would only trust your hand over ours.¡±

    Rei looked at her suddenly, feeling the anger burn before she could stop. ¡°I saw what you¡¯re doing to her, you¡¯re tying her to that metal chair, treating her like some kind of animal!¡±

    Gabriella looked up slightly, watching as the young woman¡¯s eyes suddenly changed from their pure green to a burning, glowing red. They weren¡¯t the only thing to go; so did her teeth. Though not as extreme as Asuka¡¯s, they were a parallel match.

    She felt her smile widen, though it was more wonder than anything else, more because it answered a question that she had been wondering ever since Asuka had chosen this woman for her lover, as she couldn¡¯t quite understand the appeal. ¡°My, my, so you have razor teeth and glowing eyes too, how impressive, though I¡¯m going to assume unlike your lover you¡¯re not going to bite me with those teeth? As she bit someone very hard and did a lot of damage to them.¡±

    Rei stopped. She eased up her hand, putting it on her teeth feeling the points. Though she really didn¡¯t know how she triggered them, maybe it was anger and the stress of this situation. She sat back down. ¡°No, I won¡¯t bite you, but I don¡¯t blame her for doing the same!¡±

    Gabriella felt a smug smile form. ¡°Let me be clear, because I feel that maybe you don¡¯t understand. She has to go through this pain and suffering. It will help her become a god of destruction. That is her destiny. She must suffer to be reborn.¡± She eased out a document from her pocket that was a copy of one of Seele¡¯s Dead Sea scrolls, placing it in front of her so she could see the sketch of some kind of dark figure drawn in black ink with demonic horns and huge clawed hands, but it was very hard to make out. ¡°Seele wrote this. It¡¯s already been foretold she has destroyed this world once when her unit became a destroyer god.¡±

    She paused, seeing the unreadable expression on the young woman¡¯s face. ¡°Help her obtain her goal. Help her become her destiny.¡± She leaned closer. ¡°You are so privileged. You alone got to make love to this death god in human form. She loves you above all others and she is the beginning of the end. Her place is to take the two dead Lances of Longinus and breathe life into them and bring order to this world once more though human instrumentality.¡±

    She eyed the document written in ancient Hebrew. ¡°When the religious texts of all religions talk about the first destruction of this earth through gods and the end of days, they are speaking of your lover, but these Dead Sea Scrolls though, talk about her directly unlike the other ancient texts.¡±

    She turned the document slightly, looking the text as she read it. ¡°So I looked up the face of destruction of all men and women in the darkness. I saw the god demon arise in the night, the thing that was both creature of metal and the condemner of death. I watched the seas boil and turn to blood and the skies turn to darkness and lightening as the volcanoes blew out fire and lava.

    I watched the light spires rise to the heavens and pierce them along with the gates of hell. I watched as a red-haired girl child whose body was broken soared as a god of death to the moon and stars and I watched the souls of all be taken in the breaking of the longest night as spikes of light transverse the heavens and stars as the death god fell to earth in blazing firelight.¡±

    Gabriella turned slightly. ¡°This was written after the end of the world. You see, there is a price and consequences. When you destroy the world with human instrumentality, you in essence reset it and maybe time itself, but people are starting to remember past versions of this world in dreams and visions.¡± She watched as Rei¡¯s glowing eyes scanned the document. ¡°We don¡¯t want to destroy this world, we just want to own her power and for her to grant it to us willingly. Then you can live out your lives together happy. We can ensure that. I mean, don¡¯t lie to me or pretend you have not thought about marriage and children with her; it¡¯s what you do when you love someone with all your heart, and I know you love her. I can see it in your eyes.¡±

    She eyed the other woman, whose face was still unreadable as the glowing red eyes stared into her own. ¡°And looking at you now, I think I understand something else I didn¡¯t before. You have the same gifts as her, just not her incredible strength, but you¡¯re still a parallel opposite. It¡¯s clearly how you control her.¡±

    Rei stood up. Walking away from the table turning her back on the older woman, she took in a deep breath, hating the frustration she was feeling. They were all insane and this was just not real. Maybe it was time to play to their delusions. Maybe it would help Asuka and give her a chance to find a way out. About this place, she was convinced now that it wasn¡¯t a boat but something else, because it creaked oddly and she¡¯d felt the sensation of it sinking, so it could be a submarine. She let out a long slow deep breath. ¡°Let me feed her.¡±

    Gabriella felt a coy smile form. ¡°I knew you¡¯d be the smart one and understand us, Rei Ayanami.¡±

    8

    Misato made her way slowly towards the cells with Kaji. These cells were in the lower levels and only for maximum security prisoners. She turned, watching as the special ops guard stood up tall as she came towards the cell which had Rosetta and Antonio in. Kyo was also with her, but he was there more because she might need him to scare the shit out of them if they did not comply. She watched as the guard opened the cell door. The cell was in essence a box with four barred windows and only one door inside, and each cell was separate from the others to avoid prisoners talking to each other. The inner window bars were electrified as well to stop people touching them.

    Misato breathed in, watching as both celebrities looked up almost with relief at the sight of her. She heard the door close behind her as it was locked. She folded her arms slowly, raising Rei¡¯s phone so they could both see it. ¡°You know you two better have the story of your lifetime or I¡¯m going to leave you both down here to rot!¡± She moved forward, grabbing a chair turning it the other way around as she sat on it right in front of them. ¡°Because my team in the intelligence division spent all night putting footage together to find out what happened to Rei and Asuka and we know for a fact Asuka was taken, but what happened to Rei is still sketchy. We know she was taken as well, but not when.¡±

    She paused before speaking coldly as she slammed the phone down on the table in front of them. ¡°You better start talking right now or I am going have that special ops guy back there, the one who captured you, really give you a really bad day. Not to mention, you had Rei¡¯s phone and both of their pistols which we¡¯ve confiscated from you.¡±

    Kaji turned, looking at Kyo. Apparently this was all meant to be for show, but right now it didn¡¯t feel like it. He raised his tablet, getting ready to write everything down. Clearly his girlfriend was on a warpath today.

    Claude swallowed looking at her. ¡°We can explain everything, Major.¡±

    Misato felt a cold sneer form. ¡°It¡¯s Colonel now; they promoted me!¡±

    Rosetta breathed in deeply. ¡°Rei Ayanami tried to save everyone. She blew out the lights with her gun and gave us all a chance to escape and we helped her to open the building¡¯s doors, but it was too late; hundreds of people died.¡±

    Misato eyed them, leaning closer. ¡°What happened to Rei?¡±

    Antonio looked up slightly. ¡°The men, they came and took her. This one man broke her nose after she shot him in the foot, and then the others took her away, but not before one of them hit him as it was made clear that he wasn¡¯t meant to touch her in any way.¡± He paused. ¡°They gave her a sedative, but not before shooting us.¡±

    Misato raised her hand. ¡°Hundreds of people are dead, including Nicolai Gedda and Claude Rains. They were opposite you on Asuka and Rei¡¯s table. There were bulletins out to find you, yet you sat in that five star hotel saying nothing, why!?¡±

    Antonio fumbled around in his torn suit, pulling out a data card. ¡°Because we saw something. One who we thought was dead. I was asking my contacts in Hollywood if they could send a picture of her. She was waiting by these food vans and I saw her put Asuka and Rei inside.¡±

    Misato eyed the data card. She moved over to the slot, pushing it in watching as multiple holograms shot up showing pictures of a young woman with dark hair. ¡°Who is this?¡±

    Rosetta swallowed. ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡±

    Misato eyed the image. ¡°No. Humour me.¡±

    Rosetta raised her hand. ¡°That is the Hyena of Vasai. She was thought to have been killed in the Ukrainian civil war, which the French, Germans, and English got dragged into. It was thought that she died years ago and was killed by a German special ops solider, but there¡¯s a rumour that she survived and only lost part of her arm.¡±

    Antonio eyed the picture. ¡°This isn¡¯t anything to do with Gryphon. The Hyena of Vasai is no petty killer; she¡¯s a mass murderer and psychopath who has gunned down unarmed men, women, and children. They believe she was born in Vasai in India and grew up a street urchin, but once she came of age she became massively ruthless.¡±

    He raised his hand. ¡°She rose from gang leader to military leader to mass murderer and they say she¡¯s still alive. Her name is Gabriella Adelardo. It¡¯s unclear if that is her real name, as it sounds Spanish, though rumour is her mother was a Spanish tourist. Who her dad is, no one knows.¡±

    Misato eyed the image. ¡°So you¡¯re saying you saw her?¡±

    Rosetta nodded. ¡°Yes, but she looked way older. That¡¯s why we both hid for so long; she¡¯s a trained killer and we were afraid to show ourselves, because we don¡¯t know if she saw us.¡± She breathed in deeply. ¡°There is a rumour that she has allies in every country and she has been trying to corrupt and blackmail people in positions of power, and that she was seen in France three months ago.¡±

    Antonio looked up slightly. ¡°I heard the same rumour that she is poking around in Hollywood elite parties for allies, and that she was seen in the US five months ago. It¡¯s like she wants powerful people to fund something she up to, and she is not someone you want to mess with. I¡¯m sure every single person she targeted said yes.¡± He raised his hand. ¡°That¡¯s why we believe that aggressive fucker who beat up Asuka beat up Ryo first. We believe he said no to her demands, so she sent in that vile, violent brick wall of a man to do her dirty work. That guy was terrifying and so was the weirdo who looked like Mari, she really creeped me out.¡±

    Misato felt her anger start to fade. ¡°Where were those food vans headed?¡±

    Rosetta breathed in deeply. ¡°Away from Tokyo Three towards the old Tokyo ruins, the one they haven¡¯t fixed yet unlike the other district on the opposite side, which Oculus has made habitable. We didn¡¯t get it though, as there is no dock in that direction and no boats other than the Oculus crew ever go there. We assumed that maybe they had a base in the ruins.¡±

    Misato slowly stood up. ¡°I believe I may have misjudged you; I thought you were running like cowards, but it¡¯s clear you had a reason.¡± She turned slightly. ¡°Kyo, send a group of your best men and women to the ruins and send a message to both sections of the intelligence to find the footage where Asuka and Rei were put in the food vans, but most of all I want a shot of this woman they¡¯re talking about. I want to see if she matches the other footage from Greece.¡±

    Kyo nodded calmly. ¡°Yes Colonel.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply, looking at them both. ¡°I believe I owe you an apology. I thought you were being cowards.¡± She pointed at Rosetta. ¡°And you have history with two of my pilots and neither of them liked you much, relationship-wise.¡±

    Rosetta eyed her. ¡°I am many things and have done many things that I¡¯m not proud of, Colonel, but I have nothing but the utmost respect for Rei and Asuka. My past with both of them aside, what they did for all of us was incredibly brave. Asuka was willing to bleed so we could live, and Rei put herself on the line to open all the doors. I don¡¯t know why they wanted Asuka or Rei, but I see nothing good coming out of it, if the Hyena of Vasai has anything to do with it.¡±

    Kaji moved forward, eyeing them both. ¡°If you follow me, I¡¯ll take you both to guest rooms and have the medical staff check your wounds, then Nerv will transport you both to your countries of origin and tell them that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    Antonio shook his head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t wish to return to Hollywood right now. I heard the other movie stars like me are dead. I knew those people and don¡¯t want to face the press right now. I knew Claude Rains; guy was a total jerk-off, but he didn¡¯t deserve to die.¡±

    Rosetta looked at him. ¡°Same here, I don¡¯t want to face the press in Paris. The other designers are dead, and so is Nicolai Gedda, and he was deeply loved in my country.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°I could send you to one of our divisions in Mexico; it¡¯s very quiet down there, and it¡¯s a very well-protected place. Just until you¡¯ve collected your thoughts, then they can send you home when you¡¯re ready.¡±

    Antonio nodded. ¡°Yes, I would prefer that.¡±

    Rosetta nodded as she looked up. ¡°Yeah, I think that would be for the best Colonel, and don¡¯t worry; when we return, we won¡¯t talk about what happened. We know the rule about Nerv security, and we don¡¯t hold a grudge for this incident; we realize how it looked to outsiders.¡±

    Antonio put his hands together. ¡°I just hope you find who did this and kill the Hyena of Vasai while you¡¯re at it.¡±

    End of part 27

    Silvermoonlight

 The Dirty And Vile Holes Of Political State

    THE DIRTY AND VILE HOLES OF POLITICAL STATE

    Ritsuko eyed the hologram screen folding her arms, watching as the call carried on going. Personally, she was rather fascinated by this conversation, because she had always wanted to chat to Mana but getting her alone was never possible. Over in Greece, she tended to keep to herself and never stayed at parties.

    Mana was clearly a workaholic like her, but it bothered her that this woman half her age had so much wealth. It made her think that maybe she had powerful contacts elsewhere, as she seemed to be smart enough to stay out of corruption from the outside. She sat back in the leather chair which overlooked the large holographic screen behind her was a glowing Nerv sign.

    Shigeru was standing opposite her, but it was more for show. She needed this to look as up-market as possible; that was why she had asked for him. It had to look like she was throwing her official weight around; political figures loved that bullshit because they had big egos and she wanted to play on that.

    She looked up as the face of the Star of Thessaly appeared on the screen. She looked slightly flushed and was dressed in a thick robe. Ritsuko felt a smirk form; clearly someone had either been self-pleasuring or was being pleasured, as she¡¯d know that look anywhere. She pressed the translator so the younger woman would understand her. ¡°Mana Kirishima, or the Star of Thessaly, I presume.¡±

    Mana blinked as she recomposed herself, clearly looking at the Nerv symbol behind her. Her expression became very relaxed as she typed something in on her own holographic panel. ¡°Ritsuko Ikari from Nerv Japan, I presume?¡± She raised her hand. ¡°Yes, I remember you from the UN summit. You were there with your husband Gendo Ikari.¡±

    Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°Yes, the very same and I recall you, as you were shadowing the Greek Prime Minister as her translator, along with a man called Aleksanteri, who I heard died recently.¡±

    Mana looked her in the eyes, speaking very calmly. ¡°Yes well, reckless driving has consequences.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed her. ¡°But some are putting the blame on you because he was near your estate when it happened.¡±

    Mana pushed her hair back slightly. ¡°Aleksanteri had many enemies. His misdeeds are long and bad and most are now being exposed to Greece herself. Know this though: I didn¡¯t like that man very much, I thought he was vile and unprofessional, but I didn¡¯t kill him and we are all hoping his successor Kristo will do better by the people and not do money laundering.¡± She paused. ¡°I assume Nerv though is not here to speak to me with regards to this and it¡¯s clearly something far more serious, since you¡¯ve called outside my time zone.¡±

    Ritsuko looked up slightly. Clearly this one was very bright and couldn¡¯t be baited. She breathed in deeply. ¡°I assume you¡¯ve heard that Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami are missing?¡±

    Mana put her hands together. ¡°Yes, we have also heard about the deaths. Two celebrities who were ours are also dead, as well as the legend Nicolai Gedda, who is loved in my country and will be deeply missed.¡± Her eyes lowered. ¡°I also hope that you find Rosetta Martinez, as she¡¯s a friend of mine.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed her. Well, well, that was interesting. ¡°Are you two in a relationship?¡±

    Mana laughed slightly. ¡°No, she¡¯s not my type. I just enjoy buying her clothing; our relationship is strictly professional.¡± She paused before speaking. ¡°Though I understand why you say that, as Rosetta has a wide history of famous people she has spent personal time with, but I¡¯m not among them. I realize her past relationships did include both pilots who went missing, but I don¡¯t feel she is the type to side with terrorists.¡±

    Ritsuko felt a sly smile form. She was looking forward to seeing how this young woman handled this. ¡°Yes, but are you?¡± She flipped up the video of her meeting with the older woman. ¡°We believe this older woman had something to do with them being taken, and she was seen talking with you not that long ago. Maybe you can elaborate to us who she is.¡±

    Mana eyed the image before looking at her as she spoke calmly. ¡°Are you positive that you want to know this? It¡¯s like the Pandoran box which Pandora and her brother Pathos in Greek mythology opened together and brought chaos to the world.¡±

    Ritsuko looked at her for a long moment. Clearly this woman had guts and wasn¡¯t easy to play. ¡°Go on.¡±

    Mana raised her hand. ¡°That is the Hyena of Vasai.¡±

    Ritsuko sat up. ¡°No. I know her. She was killed by one of the special ops from Germany years ago. She¡¯s dead.¡±

    Mana breathed in as she picked up a round card image which had a bird on one side in the centre and a cage on the other, with a string attached. She pulled the string taut as she spoke. ¡°Have you ever seen the Thaumatrope Bird illusion?¡±

    Ritsuko leaned forward. ¡°No, can¡¯t say I have.¡±

    Mana began to twist the string, causing the image to flip fast. ¡°The bird and the cage are separate, but twist with enough force and the bird appears within the cage.¡±

    She looked up slightly. ¡°My point is you were played. The Hyena tricked you and played dead and because you never stayed to check, she lives and now she¡¯s as old and cranky as ever, just missing part of her arm.¡± She lowered the bird illusion. ¡°She was trying to blackmail me during our meeting; she wanted me to join her organisation. I took the meeting, but declined her offer.¡±

    She paused, typing in to panel bringing up a video which showed the older woman talking, which she flipped onto Ritsuko¡¯s screen. ¡°My government is well aware of this conversation. They told me if she ever comes back to tell them so Greece¡¯s special ops can capture her. As you know, she has a long track record for killing unarmed men, women, and children.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed the video seeing that Shigeru looked concerned. ¡°How come this isn¡¯t worldwide news, that perplexes me?¡±

    Mana breathed in deeply. ¡°There is no solid proof. Yes, there have been sightings worldwide, but no one knows where this psychopath makes her home of operations now. It¡¯s like she¡¯s off the grid.¡± She paused, bringing up more photos from different parts of the world. ¡°History is so sketchy on the Hyena. Always has been. But myself and others within the government believe she¡¯s had five failed marriages and possibly five children, most of whom she ditched on the fathers to look after as maternal instinct was not her thing in her youth.¡±

    She brought up more images. ¡°These children grew up healthy, happy, well-adjusted, except one, and that the one she had in later life with a German man, Heinrich Langley. I have a picture of him and his young son here, and the son as an adult. Word has it she murdered Heinrich, who was a nice guy and a farmer, because of this boy she wanted to keep. She saw him as some sort of prodigy.¡±

    Ritsuko leaned forward, eyeing the picture of the brown-haired man, who she instantly recognised. She eyed Mana. ¡°Well it would appear you¡¯ve just solved a very interesting Nerv puzzle, Mana. Can I keep a copy of this photo and the media feeds?¡±

    Mana looked up slightly ¡°You can have the complete documents from my government on this subject. I have nothing to hide.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed her, knowing that was a lie, but it clearly wasn¡¯t about this. What it was, she had no idea right now. ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like them and I would like to thank you for your personal time, and now I¡¯ll let you go back to your business.¡±

    Mana looked up slightly. ¡°Thank you, and I hope Nerv finds what it¡¯s looking for.¡±

    Ritsuko watched as the younger woman vanished from the screen, she sat in silence for a moment before turning to Shigeru who had remained quite throughout their conversation ¡°She¡¯s lying, but not about this topic. It¡¯s something more, but I guess all political figures love to hide their bullshit.¡±

    She typed, bringing up the photos of both the man and woman image from the briefing, along with Mari¡¯s image and the only photo they had of Asuka¡¯s stepfather and Mari¡¯s real father, putting them side by side along with the colour photo Mana had given her. ¡°Well, well, this just gets more and more interesting.¡±

    She breathed in deeply. ¡°It could be possible that Mari has more to her family tree than we ever thought possible.¡± She put her hands together. ¡°Considering how she ran out of the briefing, clearly she has something bigger to hide.¡± She turned in her chair, eyeing Shigeru. ¡°Have all this sent to Misato right now and tell her that one side of this puzzle might have been worked out. The traitor in our midst could well be Langley.¡± Shigeru turned to her. ¡±I agree it seems like a real possibility.¡±

    8

    Rei looked at her hands which were chained and bolted as she was brought into the huge room. This was what she had agreed to, as they wouldn¡¯t let her see Asuka otherwise. She was being led by both Christopher and Achika, who had hold of the longer chain so she couldn¡¯t escape.

    A dim light came on as was brought to a stop. She could see Asuka bolted to the metal chair, though her head was to one side as she was clearly sleeping very deeply, and even from where she was Rei could make out the razor sharp teeth and glowing of her left eye through the closed lid. Strangely, it had not gone into its dimmed state despite the fact that she was sleeping.

    Christopher¡¯s voice hit the air as he pushed her gently forward. ¡°You can feed her, but grandmother wants to do something very important first.¡±

    He turned, seeing that the small woman¡¯s red eyes had not stopped glowing since they¡¯d left the prison room, though her teeth had returned to normal. ¡°We are going to give the kitty a bath first, since she stinks and is covered in blood.¡±

    Rei turned only for Achika to pull up her hands, bolting the long chain to the floor. ¡°What do you mean bath her?¡±

    Achika turned eyeing her. ¡°It¡¯s part of her cleansing, and necessary for her as part of her godhood. The scripture reads that the sleeping god must be washed in fresh water and then put into the sea of blood from her former life.¡± She turned as her grandmother appeared and pressed a device causing two huge water tanks to rise up slowly from the floor. One was filled with fresh blue water, the other from the red sea of Antarctica.

    Achika moved closer to Asuka, putting a glowing blue key into the huge, heavy, ridged handcuffs, causing them to separate from each other but not unlock. She watched as two huge chains came down from above, as she pushed each cuff in to them. Clearly, it was better to do this while she was asleep. Awake would be much harder, even if it meant she had to be close to her while she was drooling slightly due to the razor teeth. She moved downwards, unlocking her feet watching as the second part of the rig came down which would lock to her neck and shoulders. She brought it down, locking it and bolting the chained hand cuffs in so she couldn¡¯t fully raise her arms as she undid the chest brace, which snapped open.

    She moved to stand in front of the red haired woman ¡°Rise and shine, bastard child!¡± She paused, getting a mumbled German response which made no sense. She turned, eyeing Rei. ¡°Is this normal?¡±

    Rei looked at Asuka. ¡°You hurt her; she¡¯s probably really tired.¡±

    Christopher moved forward. ¡°Please allow me.¡± He moved forward, jamming the metal lightning bat¡¯s end straight into the red-haired woman¡¯s stomach, watching as her eyes snapped wide open. The pain showed in her face as he eased it away. ¡°Guess that part still hurts, right?¡± Asuka breathed in painfully, only to realize that her chest brace was gone and her feet were free. She stood up only to feel the pain as she was suddenly pulled back as she caught sight of the fact that her hands were still in cuffs, but they¡¯d been attached to long chains.

    Chains which in turn were attached to a heavy back brace, which was clamped on to her neck, restricting her upper body movement. The back brace itself had a chain going up into the darkness above. She moved forward, causing the chain to go taut above. Every breath hurt, as did every foot step as she spoke in German, realizing that she couldn¡¯t reach either Achika or Christopher, who were out of her reach due to the chain. ¡°Ich werde dich t?ten und dir das Blut aussaugen!¡± Rei blinked in surprise. It was so rare to hear Asuka talk in full German, unless it was directly to her family.

    Gabriella breathed in, shaking her head. ¡°Just like your grandmother; she was never one to mince her words either.¡± She watched as Asuka turned, looking in her direction in the dim light. She raised her robotic hand. ¡°How do you think I lost this? Well, it was fighting in some beat-up shack during the Ukrainian civil war, which the French, Germans and English all got tied up in at the time I was around your age.¡±

    She breathed in deeply. ¡°I was so close to slicing that woman¡¯s throat open, but then she fought dirty and threw a grenade at me.¡± She eyed her hand. ¡°Blew my arm off right down to the elbow; she only lost a finger in the blast. Maybe it was for the better, because she thought I was dead.¡±

    She moved her robotic fingers. ¡°Your grandmother taught me the most important lesson that day, which is that the greatest power you have is in the shadows. Why bother with open warfare, when you can manipulate the dice behind the scenes? Why lose limbs, when you can get others to do it for you, for the right price?¡±

    She paused. ¡°I even met her again years later at your mother¡¯s fake funeral. Granted I had to hide my hands behind leather gloves, but she just didn¡¯t recognise me. But then, she never saw my face to start with. When we fought the first time around, I wore a mask.¡± She folded her arms. ¡°Also, the Korth combat revolver you own is not even yours. It was mine; she took it from me as a battle trophy. Not that I care, guns are just things, you can just buy a new one, but I find it ironic that it was passed down to you, of all people

    She moved closer to Asuka, who looked utterly pissed off now. Her good eye was filled with rage, while her left let off blazing white and blue light. ¡°I¡¯m going off topic though, so let¡¯s get to the point. I have your lover here right now, so you better behave or I will hurt her.¡±

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Asuka turned sharply, looking around her trying to ignore how tired she was and that she was having trouble focusing. All she could make out were the typical glowing blue eyes of the masked guards and blurry red light from somewhere. ¡°You¡¯re verfickte lying, she¡¯s not here!¡±

    Gabriella raised her hands, watching as the lights came on revealing Rei, who was chained opposite along with the huge tanks, as she turned to Asuka. ¡°Oh, it would appear that you¡¯re not firing on all cylinders, how amusing.¡±

    Asuka turned, blinking, seeing Rei come into focus. She had to blink twice before realizing that her girlfriend¡¯s eyes were glowing red. She stepped forward, hearing the chain grind as she spoke softly ignoring the others ¡°Are you okay? Are they treating you well?¡±

    Rei breathed in, looking down sadly. ¡°Yes, they¡¯re treating me well, Asuka. They brought me here because you¡¯re not eating. After this is over, they want me to feed you.¡±

    Asuka breathed in painfully, trying to stay focused. ¡°After what¡¯s over?¡±

    Gabriella felt a smile form. ¡°After we give you a little bath. Don¡¯t struggle now, you¡¯ll only make it worse for yourself.¡±

    Asuka turned sharply, her eyes focusing on the tanks. ¡°Bath?¡±

    Gabriella smiled, pointing. ¡°You¡¯re going in the fresh water first.¡± She signalled her hand. ¡°Take her up!¡±

    Asuka felt the chain pull in the opposite direction all too suddenly. She tried desperately to fight against it, pulling the chain as her words came out and she was unable to hide the terror in them. ¡°No please! I don¡¯t want to!¡± Bardiel was no longer in her mind; she knew when he had been in her brain, he¡¯d repressed the fear when she¡¯d fallen in to the swimming pool with Mari, but that was no longer there ¡°Don¡¯t make me do this! I¡¯ll do anything.¡± She tried to force her feet into the ground, only to feel them slide as the chain began to pull upwards.

    Gabriella breathed in deeply. ¡°Surprising how you go from rebellious to polite where water is involved.¡± She watched as Asuka was pulled skywards. Her struggling became more intense, only for her to be stopped as the chain moved over the water, her face turning to utter terror and panic as her left eye suddenly dimmed, going dark. ¡°They say the greatest fear is fear itself, and since you¡¯re a god in human form you still know what fear is.¡±

    Rei¡¯s pained voice suddenly hit the air. ¡°Please don¡¯t do this to her!¡±

    Gabriella turned, eyeing Rei, as she spoke calmly. ¡°Understand it¡¯s for her own good¡­ She must embrace fear to be reborn and remember why she hates clear water.¡±

    Asuka stared into the water, which her feet were now hanging above. Feeling herself shake in fear, she was truly powerless and terrified. She heard Gabriella speak calmly. ¡°Drop her.¡± She looked up, but it was too late as the chain suddenly went loose and her body was smashed into the blue water. The water was freezing cold and felt like ice as she sunk into it. Her hands were chained, restricting their upward movement, so she couldn¡¯t move her arms to swim upwards. All she could see was blue, and she couldn¡¯t open her mouth as she knew she would let in water and possibly drown. She felt the banging of her own heartbeat in her ears, as a memory came flying back to her in painful crystal clarity.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay Asuka, please forgive me, I¡¯m so sorry!¡±

    Asuka felt her older sister¡¯s arms tighten around her as she painfully coughed up water. She was so cold all her body could do was shake violently. The terror was made worse by her fear of ice and cold and chilling waters and being alone in the depths, along with the intense fear of dying. The tears came before she could stop them, despite the fact that she didn¡¯t want them, as she wanted to be grown up. Marian¡¯s arms were pulling her into her lap, holding her tight as if they¡¯d never let go, as a dark voice spoke behind them. It was cold and soft. ¡°Why Marian¡­ I asked you to stay still. Your older brother and sister can do it, why can¡¯t you?¡±

    Her older sister¡¯s head turned as she spoke. ¡°She¡¯s tiny and small and she didn¡¯t do anything to us!¡±

    ¡°You disappoint me, Marian. Yet again you fail in the tests that your older brother and sister accomplish, and to be a great warrior you need to see weaker things die.¡±

    Her sister¡¯s voice came again as she kept a tight hold of her. ¡°They¡¯re not my brother and sister; they have a different mother!¡±

    A dark shadow appeared over them both. ¡°She is not even your blood, Marian. She is a bastard child created in a birthing machine.¡± Asuka felt her breathing get faster as a robotic hand moved closer but stopped near her older sister¡¯s face.

    Her sister spoke again, the anger showing in her face. ¡°I like her! She makes me happy, she¡¯s kind to me, Christopher and Achika just bully me, I hate them!¡±

    The robotic hand moved back its joints creaking as its owner expressed her anger ¡°Your daddy is right, Marian. You are a huge disappointment. You think too much and feel too much and you don¡¯t understand this family¡¯s greater plan the way your older brother and sister do.¡± Asuka watched as the shadow moved back. ¡°Since you¡¯ve made your feelings known, you get to keep your worthless younger sister, but know that when we see each other again I will punish you for your disobedience.¡±

    Asuka watched saw the looming shadow vanished from sight along with the two others, leaving her alone with Marian, who kept a tight hold of her in her lap, refusing to let go as she spoke through her tears. ¡°You like me? I thought you hated me, like my Mama did.¡±

    Her older sister¡¯s breathing suddenly became pained as she spoke through gritted teeth as her tears started to fall. ¡°No Asuka, I like you; you¡¯re kind to me and don¡¯t want us to be apart because I love you, you¡¯re my little sister.¡± Asuka blinked in confusion. She loved her? No one ever said that to her, yet now she was hearing those words and it was so confusing, and she didn¡¯t know how to react other than to hold the person she called her big sister tighter as she carried on crying.

    Asuka felt her eyes snap open as her mouth opened before she could stop it. She felt water go in and her body freeze from the shock. She was going to die; she could feel her life ebbing away. She turned, looking through the tank, seeing that Rei was screaming something at Gabriella. The chain suddenly went taut as she was yanked out, which caused pain in her back. As she rose high up, everything was shaking, she was freezing, and she found herself coughing painfully, bringing up water. The chain above suddenly moved as she was brought above the red sea tank.

    Rei felt her eyes dart as she spoke through gritted razor teeth. ¡°You could have killed her! She was starting to drown.¡±

    Gabriella breathed in deeply. ¡°You need not worry, the second tank will help.¡± She looked above. ¡°Drop her!¡±

    Rei watched in horror as Asuka was plunged in to the red water tank. ¡°Are you out of your mind? Red water has no oxygen!¡±

    Gabriella watched as Asuka sunk down, though she wasn¡¯t struggling at all. ¡°For normal mortals that is very true, but not for her; she¡¯s special.¡± Her gaze drifted to Asuka¡¯s whose whole body suddenly relaxed as her eyes looked upwards, and she opened her mouth. Her breathing slowed as her left eye suddenly lit up, along with her right one which turned glowing green as its pupil slowly changed, becoming cat-like.

    She felt her smile widen. ¡°I can understand why she may have kept this from you, Rei, but unlike those people who can swim in it using breathing apparatus, she can breathe in it like it¡¯s LCL. That¡¯s why she can¡¯t stand normal water, because she created the red sea in her former life.¡± She watched as Asuka became fully relaxed. She hung there, her mouth fully open as her chest breathed in and out deeply and slowly. ¡°We¡¯ve tracked you all for years, but we never touched you, and there are photos we took of her jumping off a peer at age sixteen into one of the red waters of Tokyo Three¡¯s bays. Our divers thought she was going to drown, or that it was a suicide attempt.¡±

    She eased up her robotic hand. ¡°As you know, jumpers sometimes use the red water to die in, as it¡¯s quicker than drowning in blue and far less painful. It¡¯s more that you cease to be and you vanish; only your clothes get left behind. It¡¯s believed that these people are returning to human instrumentality once more, and that they might return one day. That¡¯s why they can¡¯t change Antarctica¡¯s red sea back, as it still contains human souls, all waiting for their god to be reborn and for the island of rebirth to rise up from the ocean.¡± She put her hands behind her back. ¡°The point is, Asuka does not cease to be in red water. It welcomes her home like a mother wanting its child.¡±

    She folded her arms, seeing the utter shock in Rei¡¯s eyes. ¡°But would you care for the truly interesting part? She breathes because these souls give her life. They¡¯re drawn to her like a magnet, willing her to live and letting the rest die, because as their former god they must protect her; they are bound to it.¡± She moved, putting her hands on both sides of Rei¡¯s face and pulling her towards her, even though it made the younger woman¡¯s chains go taut. ¡°Now do you see what we are trying to achieve here, and who your lover truly is? Blessed and lucky you are to be the lover of the destroyer of worlds.¡±

    She turned, hearing a crackle. It was very hard to hear, but it got louder only for the room to suddenly light up as a huge Lance of Longinus hanging high above the huge room blasted up with red lightning which lit up light veins for a moment, lighting everything in red for an instant, only to suddenly go out. Gabriella¡¯s smile faded as she eyed Achika and Christopher. ¡°What just happened¡­ it¡¯s meant to stay alight, I presume?¡±

    Christopher turned, watching as a hologram of the document appeared from the hidden desk close by. ¡°The scripture is not clear, only that it awakens the death god, but no more.¡±

    Gabriella felt a sneer form as she raised her hand. ¡°Pull her out!¡±

    She watched as Asuka was pulled out from the red water only for the chain to go loose as she was brought down to the floor. It seemed to take her a moment to snap out of the haze as she started coughing up red water as she lay on the floor, clearly in utter exhaustion. She watched as Rei moved over to Asuka the concern in her eyes as she sat next to her, stroking her hair, as her face and hair were the only things she could reach.

    Gabriella felt a sneer form on her lips.¡± That was utterly disappointing. This should have started it off.¡± She turned, raising her robotic hand. ¡°Maybe we need to scrape off the top layer, like paint so to speak, using Sekhmet¡¯s eye.¡±

    Achika felt her eyes dart. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s a good idea? I mean, we tested it on our enemies with mixed results. Most committed suicide in their cells after it was used on them, or went plain insane and we had to kill them as they became extremely violent.¡±

    Gabriella eyed her granddaughter. ¡°My precious grandchild, have faith in me. I don¡¯t want to kill her or send her insane, I just want to open a crack in the souls surface between her old soul and the new fresh one that¡¯s keeping the old one subdued.¡± She turned, eyeing Asuka, whose eyes slowly returned to normal before closing as she passed out. ¡°Though let¡¯s let Rei feed her, then have her taken back to the hanging prison guest room. Her being here when we use Sekhmet¡¯s eye is just too dangerous; it affects people around it and can hospitalize them.¡±

    8

    Misato breathed in deeply as she brought up the old television reporter footage from Mexico City and the temple of Quetzalcoatl. The temple had long since been restored, but in the film it was a burning outwards with fire and smoke. She breathed in deeply, watching some of the very old mobile phone footage play out from inside the temple. The men and women ran in dressed in their red and white clothing, bearing machete weapons and hand guns, screaming their Latin words inside the temple before throwing a bomb into hundreds of innocent people.

    She looked up slightly, knowing she was going to be here all night again tonight. Ritsuko had had a load of stuff sent to her that she needed to go through, although she was going to go through it with Kaji once he got off from the pilots¡¯ training.

    She eyed the footage from the press cameras of them loading people into the hospital vans. There were horrific wounds all around. She paused, finally coming to an interesting piece of footage of a mother holding a young eleven-year-old boy who had a bloody face and arms and was covered in dirt. She turned, eyeing Maya, who was clearly waiting for Kaji to come back so she could go home, as she had said she would meet Mari outside of work. ¡°Maya¡­ you know I¡¯m not getting anything here on Sumire. I have someone here though called Huitzilin in the records. He¡¯s the right age, is he her twin brother or something?¡±

    Maya looked at her screen. ¡°Maybe you should look harder at that boy¡¯s neck.¡±

    Misato blinked in confusion. She breathed in, pausing the video, looking closer, seeing the pendant, which she recognised as the one around Sumire¡¯s neck, around the boy¡¯s neck. ¡°Wait a second, I fully understand now.¡± She leaned on her elbow. ¡°Clearly she really filled out.¡±

    Maya looked up slightly. ¡°Yes, and could you please get her to visit me via order or something? She¡¯s ignored my phone requests and it¡¯s important as I believe she has a medication conflict in that her anti-depressants are messing with her other medication. That¡¯s why she blew up in the briefing, as I read her back history and she¡¯s normally very level headed.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°Well, Ritsuko claims different, and this isn¡¯t the first time she¡¯s insulted her. It was insulting her that got her tossed in the Magi maintenance system to start with.¡± She felt a smirk form. ¡°Did find out what she said though in Spanish, kind of funny.¡±

    Maya raised her hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll talk to her. Once I get her medication sorted, she¡¯ll be fine, believe me, so there¡¯ll be no reason to discipline her.¡±

    Misato leaned back in her chair. ¡°I feel she¡¯s always going to be a fiery one regardless of us, but the reality is she is right; this isn¡¯t Gryphon and it proves it without any doubt. We are dealing with someone bigger, smarter, and if I¡¯m right they¡¯re being led by the Hyena of Vasai.¡±

    Maya turned sharply in her seat. ¡°I thought she was dead? Geraldina was meant to be the one that killed her decades ago.¡±

    Misato carried on typing, eyeing all the stuff next to her, which was Ritsuko¡¯s findings. ¡°Yeah well, apparently the murderous bitch might have lived, it¡¯s just no one in any government can prove it, or so it seems. Woman¡¯s a shadow.¡±

    Maya turned as her phone went off. She eyed the message, which was from Mari asking where she was. She had already ensured that Shinji was looking after Asuka¡¯s home and cat tonight, and that Kaworu would drop by Pen Pen and feed him again on the way up there. ¡°I need to go home.¡±

    Misato looked up sharply. ¡°Since when do you go home early?¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply ¡°I¡¯m meeting someone.¡±

    Misato leaned forward, a smug smile spreading across her lips. ¡°That person wouldn¡¯t happen to be Mari would it?¡±

    Maya eyed her. ¡°It¡¯s a personal meeting, not a date.¡±

    Misato felt her smile turn to a wide sly grin, as it was rarely if ever she got to rib Maya and since she¡¯d been getting too much into her sex life, she now felt it was time to return the favour. ¡°Oh personal, I see, will it involve Twister, scissors, or lesbian sexual bingo?¡±

    Maya turned sharply. ¡°It¡¯s official business!¡±

    Misato nodded, eyeing her. ¡°Yeah, sure it is. Why can¡¯t you just admit you like her and you want to have sex with her, then all will be right with the world?¡± She paused. ¡°I mean you even followed her into the arcade, which none of us were expecting, as we thought you¡¯d call her up to your office after she was done playing.¡±

    Maya turned slightly, ¡°Look, the issue is more complex than you realize and I¡¯ll give you a full report tomorrow on it!¡±

    Misato sat back in her chair, putting her feet on the table. ¡°Is it regarding that woman who looks like Mari and could be part of her family, I already have a hunch about that and though you¡¯ll fill in the gaps tomorrow, I know you don¡¯t bring people to your house; you make house calls.¡±

    Maya eyed her in annoyance. ¡°It¡¯s not the way you think; she is just my friend.¡±

    Misato folded her arms. ¡°A thousand yen says you sleep with her.¡±

    Maya eyed her. ¡°I¡¯m not making bets with you. I heard how that worked out with Ritsuko.¡±

    Misato raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yeah, because I was always right and she hated paying up.¡±

    Maya turned, seeing Kaji coming down the corridor. ¡°I¡¯m going, good night both of you.¡± She walked past Kaji, giving him a smile as she waved goodbye.

    Kaji turned, watching as Maya vanished from sight. ¡°Were you two just arguing?¡±

    Misato looked up slightly. ¡°Yes and no. Let¡¯s just say Mari is visiting her house tonight and she¡¯s in denial about it being platonic.¡±

    Kaji slowly sat himself down in the chair opposite ¡°That¡¯s not what I heard regarding the arcade, and that¡¯s got a lot of people talking as she very rarely throws around her authority card in that manner.¡±

    Misato looked at him as she pulled her feet off the desk. ¡°Yeah, I know, so I think there¡¯s more to it than the friend¡¯s line she spins.¡±

    Kaji leaned over, typing into the holographic desk and creating a second screen as he eyed over the data. ¡°I agree, she clearly thinks more of Mari then she wants to let on.¡± He eyed the huge section of information. ¡°Is this from Ritsuko?¡±

    Misato looked at him. ¡°Yes, are you okay to go through this with me? I¡¯ve been putting this off since she made a choice to write it like some twenty-page essay.¡±

    Kaji stroked his beard. ¡°Yeah sure, clearly she went to town with this, but the both of us will get through it faster.¡±

    End of part 28

    Silvermoonlight

 Look Beyond The Surface And See The Light Of A Blinding Soul

    LOOK BEYOND THE SURFACE AND SEE THE LIGHT OF A BLINDING SOUL

    It¡¯s so quiet now, we¡¯ve been left alone in the darkness. Though they gave me a bowl of beef stew, it¡¯s to feed Asuka with when she wakens, yet she has yet to wake up. The stress must be awful; I don¡¯t know how she¡¯s coping with it all and how she¡¯ll feel when she wakes up. My teeth have not turned back to normal; I think it¡¯s the presence of the lance. Once more, its doing things to us. It¡¯s like we can¡¯t repress it, and this kind of thing for me at least only happens in the Evangelion.

    She ran her hands through Asuka¡¯s long damp red hair gently and softly. She heard the other woman groan painfully as she started to open her eyes. Her left one instantly lit up and, strangely, so did her right one, though it turned glowing green once more as pupil once again became cat-like. ¡°Asuka?¡±

    The next moments caught her off guard as Asuka suddenly rose up onto her knees, pulling on the chain, forcing it taut, getting closer to her as a loud tiger roar hit the air. The roar was so animalistic and had no sense of human in it at all, unlike many times before. Asuka stopped within inches of Rei¡¯s face, razor teeth bared as she stared at her intensely for a long moment. Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s me Asuka, it¡¯s Rei.¡± She watched as Asuka¡¯s good eye moved as it studied her. ¡°You know me, don¡¯t you?¡± She raised her chained hand, running it gently down the other woman¡¯s face as she sniffed the air. ¡°You remember me.¡±

    Asuka¡¯s body slowly relaxed as she took in a deep breath before speaking, though her tone was full of pain. ¡°I¡¯m sorry; I didn¡¯t recognise you¡­ I thought you were Christopher for a moment; it¡¯s your glowing eyes, but then I smelt Alpine.¡± ¡±Rei let out the breath she¡¯d been holding as she spoke ¡°I can¡¯t control my teeth or eyes in this place, but I¡¯m not your awful stepbrother Christopher, I can assure you.¡±

    Asuka moved even closer, pushing her body against Rei¡¯s suddenly becoming even more animated. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­ I failed you. All of this is my fault, I should have given myself up¡­ it¡¯s just I thought they wanted you not me.¡±

    Rei looked up, putting her hands on Asuka¡¯s torn suit, which was almost dry now, as the chains meant she couldn¡¯t hold her and Asuka¡¯s chains meant she couldn¡¯t do so either. ¡°It¡¯s okay Asuka, you couldn¡¯t have known this was going to happen.¡±

    Asuka suddenly felt the anger burn again. ¡°They blew up the auction house they told me, and now all of those people are dead because I was so sure I could win against Christopher!¡±

    Rei shook her head sadly. ¡°Even if you had won Asuka, I think deep down you know it wouldn¡¯t have stopped them killing people.¡± She paused, looking up slightly. ¡°Christopher is your stepbrother, is Achika related to you as well?¡±

    Asuka looked down sadly. ¡°Yes, Achika is also my older stepsister. They¡¯re from Mari¡¯s side of the family, from my stepfather¡¯s first marriage. I had forgotten them; they visited the house once a month, but my memories of them are so vague because I was focused on my Mama at the time. But I remember that woman now, I remember she did throw me in the lake; all this time I thought I tripped or fell in, but she threw me in. She was making an example of me; all three of them, they were meant to watch me drown and die.¡±

    Rei sat up slightly. ¡°She tried to murder you Asuka, and you were a child.¡±

    Asuka looked at her sadly. ¡°Yes, and I¡¯m alive because Mari loved me more than her own family and went against them for me, even though it meant being seriously punished.¡±

    Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°They think you¡¯re some kind of god.¡±

    Asuka laughed, but it sounded anxious even to her own ears. ¡°I¡¯m not a god¡­ I don¡¯t know why they think that, it¡¯s insane.¡±

    Rei looked up slightly. ¡°What if you are a god Asuka? Have you ever considered that you¡¯re more than you like to see yourself?¡± She paused, feeling deeply uncertain of her next words. ¡°I saw them put you into red water and you could breathe in it like it¡¯s LCL. I¡¯m not angry or anything that you never told me that and may have kept it to yourself.¡±

    Asuka looked at her for a long moment, the pain in her voice as she spoke. ¡°You misunderstand. I thought everyone could do that who can swim in red water; I never viewed it as special.¡± She looked up down, unable to keep the fear out of her voice. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be their tool, Rei. I¡¯m not this death god they think I am, I don¡¯t want to destroy this world!¡±

    She felt herself start to shake. ¡°I can feel them doing something to me and it terrifies me. It feels like they¡¯re poking at my soul with hot flames, and it hurts so much.¡± She felt the tears come before she could stop them. ¡°I don¡¯t want to become what they¡¯re talking about.¡± Rei looked up, putting a hand on Asuka¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯ll never become what they want if you choose not to.¡±

    Asuka felt the tears as they carried on streaming down her face. ¡°What if I don¡¯t have a choice? What if, like they say, it¡¯s my destiny?¡±

    Rei looked up sadly. ¡°It¡¯s not your destiny if you reject it Asuka; you have the power to choose.¡±

    Asuka shifted, burying her head in the other woman¡¯s shoulder crying harder. ¡°I¡¯m not their monster¡­ I¡¯m your monster!¡± Rei turned, understanding the statement instantly, as she spoke softly in the other woman¡¯s ear. ¡°Yes you are, and so long as you never forget that, it will all be okay.¡± She watched as Asuka pulled away, her tears finally subsiding. She leaned up, giving her a gentle kiss before pulling away.

    Her hands moved as she raised the food bowl. ¡°They brought you food Asuka, you really need to eat something.¡±

    Asuka eyed the food. ¡°It¡¯s probably got drugs in it. I¡¯m not verfickte touching it!¡±

    Rei eyed the bowl, not thinking as she put a spoonful in her mouth, ignoring Asuka¡¯s shock as she swallowed it even though the taste was beyond awful and she deeply disliked eating red meat. ¡°No, it just tastes like red meat does to me normally, in that it¡¯s not very pleasant.¡±

    Asuka blinked in shock. ¡°Seriously Rei, you did not have to do that!¡±

    Rei turned to her, raising the bowl. ¡°Yes I did, if it means you¡¯d eat something¡­ now please eat this.¡± She watched as Asuka started to eat and made a face. ¡°Is everything okay?¡±

    Asuka eyed the stew. ¡°No, that tastes like scheisse. Whoever made that has no idea how to make a decent beef stew. I wouldn¡¯t feed that to Erika, let alone a prisoner.¡±

    Gabriella breathed in, turning the sound feed off as she watched Rei carry on feeding Asuka from a stationary room which was hidden inside one of the Egyptian god statues. ¡°What do you think Asuka meant when she said she¡¯s not our monster, but Rei¡¯s monster?¡±

    Christopher shrugged. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s some form of weird sexual bonding. It¡¯s not like they¡¯re a normal couple anyway, I mean ever since they got here their eyes and teeth have started showing. Must be the Lance.¡±

    Achika raised her hand. ¡°I agree with my brother, it¡¯s a sexual bonding thing nothing more. Maybe Asuka¡¯s a sadomasochist and likes Rei to punch her in bed or something.¡±

    Gabriella turned, eyeing Rei and Asuka. ¡°I¡¯m not convinced. I think Rei is hiding something. All this time I assumed that she didn¡¯t know or maybe was in denial about Asuka being a god. Maybe the reality is she knows far more than she wants to let on, and I will be chatting to her as soon as we have used the Sekhmet¡¯s eye.¡±

    Somewhere in Tanzania, Africa

    Kensuke eyed the older man who was sprawled out on the floor, breathing heavily. Blood ran down the man¡¯s face as he struggled to get up, eyeing him and the others in disgust. Kensuke adjusted his glasses before speaking. ¡°David Cooper, I presume, or White Gryphon as your little group like to call you. Honestly, you were fun to track down, but it would appear that your men and women were so afraid to be killed by us that they gave up your location before we could sink those five tugboats you call warships.¡±

    The older man eyed him before speaking. ¡°Fuck you all and your fucking abominations, which you stole from the angels who are our gods!¡±

    Kensuke walked around the house, which was an old African mansion from days gone by when white hunters had hunted the African plains. It was an antique, and it was clear that he was here because he was on vacation trophy hunting, clearly going for the super crocodiles and constrictors, just like every dumb celebrity and hunter out there who normally died for their trouble. ¡°How¡¯s about we just cut to the chase, old man. Where are you hiding Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley?¡±

    He paused, looking at Avel. ¡°Please tell us, or he is going to beat the shit out of you some more.¡± He turned slightly, eyeing Kuchisake, who looked bored and annoyed. ¡°Or maybe you¡¯re more a guy who doesn¡¯t like walking dead syndrome, because I can have her make you die.¡±

    David eyed them. ¡°I don¡¯t have those two Evangelion pilots, you dumb shits! Don¡¯t you get it? You¡¯ve been set up, no doubt by that bitch Hyena of Vasai!¡±

    Joshua eyed him in disgust. ¡°Oh please. Are you stupid, or just old and senile? The Hyena of Vasai is dead.¡±

    David laughed, but it was a cold, mocking laughter. ¡°Stupid little queer. Just because something looks one way does not make it so.¡± He breathed in painfully, dragging himself so he was against a wall. ¡°No, that bitch lived. She just lost part of her arm, but then decided open combat might be better if she was behind the scenes, so she went underground and has been there ever since working behind the scenes. But I know the truth. Fuck, do I know the truth.¡±

    Hikari eyed him. ¡°What fucking truth?¡±

    David looked up slightly. ¡°That she is the creator of Ankh, your greatest rival next to Cerberus. But that¡¯s not all; her family tree extends to Nerv.¡±

    Kensuke moved closer to him. ¡°What do you mean, extends to Nerv?¡±

    David raised a bloody finger. ¡°Mari Illustrious Makinami, that¡¯s one of her grandchildren, because in reality that¡¯s not her real name; it¡¯s Marian Langley.¡± He paused. ¡°And she¡¯s not the only brat to bear the Hyena¡¯s blood, no, there¡¯s two more, Christopher and Achika Langley, the older siblings who have a different mum.¡± He paused again. ¡°All have the same daddy though, and that daddy was the Hyena¡¯s son directly when he was alive.¡±

    He looked up slightly. ¡°I heard Keel knew Langley was an issue before he killed him, but I doubt he ever knew that his mother is founder of Ankh or that Mari is the other child linked in, as very few people know about it and they¡¯re clearly getting way too smart for you people, since you¡¯re here tracking me instead of them.¡±

    Hikari eyed him. ¡°How do you know about all this? I¡¯m very curious.¡±

    David felt a cold smile form. ¡°Because I was here first, long before all of your groups rose up and took everything away from me!¡± He narrowed his gaze. ¡°So yes, I know more than you will ever know, and I know right now, you being here is pointless. Ankh took what you¡¯re looking for and set me up.¡±

    Fang breathed in deeply. ¡°Not that I really give a shit, but why did they set you up?¡±

    David turned, eyeing her. ¡°Let¡¯s just say, one of my kids who disowned me back in the United States was of great interest to her. She wanted the child back for some reason, some shit about breeding her with her son Langley to create some Aryan race bullshit which I never understood.¡± He eyed his ring finger. ¡°Safe to say, my children are not walking wombs or studs for anyone, and I told her to fuck off and that if she got near my daughter or my sons, I¡¯d disembowel her, because even if they hate me and do not believe in my cause, I love my children.¡±

    He leaned back. ¡°I personally thought that was the end of it, but you know the moment I saw my banner rise in the auction house footage, I knew this was coming she couldn¡¯t have what she wanted. So, she took it real personally and did all this because I rejected her all those years ago.¡± He paused. ¡°I do know one thing though, which is, I know why she wants Asuka Langley. They say she was once a death god in her former life, that she brought about the end in a truly horrible way. So if you want to stop it, you need me, because if you don¡¯t we are all going to die. Gabriella was always an insane bitch, but never a liar, and she wants to destroy us all!¡±

    Joshua breathed in deeply, easing one of the double-barrelled hunting shotguns off the wall calmly loading it as he moved over to the desk. ¡°Yeah, you see, we¡¯re not really about that, David.¡± He slowly turned the gun, aiming it at him watching as the shock spread across the old man¡¯s face. ¡°We don¡¯t want Asuka because we want to stop the end of days, we want her because we want to use her for the same thing. So you should be happy you won¡¯t see the end of days when it comes, because if it¡¯s anything like the last one, it won¡¯t be nice, but it will be necessary to see human instrumentality restored once more, then all will be right with the world.¡± He paused, enjoying the look of horror in David¡¯s eyes. ¡°Nice gun by the way, always wanted to fire one of these.¡±

    Kensuke watched as Joshua fired, causing blood to splatter as it hit the man right in the chest. His face turned to pain for a spilt second before he fell forward, blood dripping down the wall behind him. ¡°You know you could have just shot him with a pistol.¡±

    Joshua eyed him. ¡°What¡¯s the fun in that? Plus I¡¯m keeping this gun, it¡¯s really good.¡±

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Kuchisake folded her arms in annoyance. ¡°What a waste of time¡­ you know Keel is not going to be happy that we just did someone else¡¯s dirty work.¡±

    Hikari leaned over, picking up an apple taking a bite out of it. ¡°Yeah, but we know way more than before. I mean he just spilled the beans on Mari¡¯s family tree; that has to be worth something right?¡±

    Avel breathed in deeply. ¡°Yeah, there is that. So maybe he¡¯ll take that, I mean it¡¯s not every day you find out who the power behind the power is, and we heard stories about the Hyena growing up in Ukraine. She had a real taste for slaughtering unarmed people.¡±

    Joshua moved over to the desk, rummaging around. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s take whatever we want then from this place, and then head back to base.¡± He pulled out a bunch of thin, expensive Cuban cigars. ¡°Look Kensuke, he even has those cigars you like in here, among other stuff.¡±

    8

    Chilam breathed in as she eyed the hologram, which was now stripped down to its skeleton and nerves and fully gutted, with all of its insides hanging in the air all over the place, all of them opened and even turned inside out. They had been at this almost all day and all night, and they just hadn¡¯t found anything. She breathed in, laying on the floor, ignoring the people from the other science labs who were looking into their lab with mixed confusion over why they had been stripping a pilot hologram down like this. ¡°There¡¯s nothing! All we have left is her brain cavity, eyeballs, tongue and spine along with her nerve endings.¡±

    Vitor eyed the female skeleton. ¡°No, it¡¯s got to be here! We stripped this force of nature back to her bones, that means it has to be here.¡± He moved over to hologram. ¡°Let¡¯s peel back the last muscle layer and expose her whole spine.¡± He used his tool, slowly easing the hologram muscle away watching as the nerves and bones came into view. He was about to peel more, only to stop. ¡°Chilam, get your ass up here and look at this with me¡­¡±

    Chilam got up, looking at the hologram spine.

    ¡°Tell me, does this look normal to you?¡±

    Chilam moved over, looking at what he was talking about, which did look strange. ¡°Hang on, I need to change the hologram to realistic. I apologise, but it¡¯s the only way I can tell.¡± She pressed the button, watching as it turned hyper-realistic just along the spine and nerves and bone. ¡°I¡¯ve turned off blood simulation because I need a better look, so when I cut there¡¯s no spraying.¡± She looked at the long thin nerve that was coiled all the way up the spine. It was red in colour, but looked swollen. ¡°I¡¯m making a minor cut now.¡±

    She paused, looking at Vitor. ¡°You know, this could just be very minor swelling from Bardiel leaving, you know as he was wrapped around her spine.¡±

    Vitor eyed her. ¡°Just cut it already.¡±

    Chilam breathed in, slowly pressing down, only for the next moment to catch her completely off guard as a mass of thick white webbing shot out instantly down the whole spine and nerves, covering them causing her tool to be thrown back before it could cut further. ¡°What the hell is this, it¡¯s fucking alive!?¡±

    Vitor didn¡¯t think as he moved over, pressed the button on the hologram desk, causing the sound proofing to come on. He pressed another button, causing all the metal panels to come down instantly cutting off the view from the few people looking in. He turned, moving to stand right next to Chilam and watching as the long red nerve turned white, pulsing and showing its real colours. There was a line of pure, glowing blue running through it as the webbing loosened, coming free and going back inside it. ¡°Is that Bardiel?¡±

    Chilam eyed the thin, white worm that went from the base of the neck all the way down to the pelvis tip, hiding itself among the real nerves, and clearly masquerading as one, hence why it had probably been overlooked. She grabbed her scanning device, scanning it slowly. ¡°No, I am getting fragments of his DNA in it, but it doesn¡¯t read as angel or Evangelion. In fact, I have no idea what this DNA sequence it is; it¡¯s not in any of Nerv¡¯s databases.¡± She eyed it. ¡°One thing is clear though, it¡¯s hooked right the way through her spine and it¡¯s got some kind of thin vines penetrating the nerves, but it¡¯s not causing any damage; not like Bardiel was.¡±

    Vitor shifted closer. ¡°So is this a parasite, like say from him..?¡±

    Chilam carried on scanning only to stop. ¡°No, and you know your concept of symbiosis? Well you could be right. This thing isn¡¯t young, the scanner ages it at just over nine years old. This has been here since this woman was a child and long before Bardiel.¡±

    Vitor eyed the strange creature. ¡°We need to bring up holograms of all the other pilots, every single one, and test if it¡¯s there.¡± He paused. ¡°This could be a true form of both mutualism and endosymbiosis; you know, where two creatures live off each other but neither hinders the other, as the one attached is very much symbiotic rather than a parasite.¡±

    Chilam lowered the scanner. ¡°Well, I tried to poke at it, it instantly tried to protect the whole spine. Maybe that¡¯s what it does, it somehow protects the spine and central nerve system. That would explain why in the Alpha Unit incident, all Asuka got was a fracture to the top of one spinal disk, which they fixed, and then there was her fall on Uluru mountain, which she walked away from despite smashing her back hard, and only needing pain killers. They said it was the Evangelion¡¯s primal state, but what if it¡¯s in reality both?¡±

    Vitor looked up slightly. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t this also mean when Bardiel took over, he wasn¡¯t hijacking one being, he was hijacking two?¡±

    Chilam looked at him for a long moment before speaking. ¡°That would explain why he stayed off her spine until he really needed to, and it¡¯s clear this thing has absorbed part of him, but neutralized it.¡±

    Chilam turned, noticing that Vitor¡¯s budgie was playing a digital chess game on his holographic panel against her mini mass Evangelion¡¯s. She moved over, grabbing her device. ¡°Wait how much DNA of Bardiel is there in that thing?¡±

    Vitor picked up his scanner. ¡°Twenty percent, but this worm has converted it into its self.¡± He paused, eyeing her. ¡°Why, what¡¯s your thinking?¡±

    Chilam smirked. ¡°All angels have code blue signals right? So what if we could find her, like her true location, like use Bardiel¡¯s material to track her.¡±

    Vitor breathed in deeply. ¡°That¡¯s brilliant, you do that while I bring up the other holograms and see if they¡¯ve got this spine worm too. When we have all we need, we¡¯ll call in everyone, because this is going to be the fucking find of the century!¡±

    8

    Gabriella watched as the guards brought through the strange, black, nineties-looking video camera, which had glowing red-gold veins moving through there were also six interchangeable coloured glass filters where the film normally went in. The guards placed the camera directly in front of Asuka, who was still being held by the hanging chain and on her knees, though once more she was asleep. Her lover had been taken back to the prison room, which Gabriella had set at its lower point, as she wanted Rei to witness this.

    They¡¯d stolen this camera from Ouroboros over a year ago, and it was safe to say they had spent a lot of time testing it on prisoners. They knew now what it was and what it did. It was a device that could see the soul under the true body and create a projection of it. As the lenses of colour spun, they cracked the body image and revealed the pure soul itself.

    Use it further though, and it became like a cheese grater, in that it could cut the soul¡¯s top layer, revealing older ones underneath. From her study of using it, she had found that when you did this it led to danger, as the soul would lash out violently to protect itself and destroy things, and the destruction was real. Not everyone¡¯s soul looked human; people had different mental images to protect themselves. Though she didn¡¯t understand the psychology of this, only that it was important and if you broke too much you could send people insane or crazy, with bad results, which was why this session was going to be a slow one.

    She adjusted the lens carefully as she turned it on, watching as the veins of red-gold began to glow intensely. She pushed down the first blue glass filter very carefully as she turned it on, eyeing Christopher and Achika behind her. ¡°Stay out of the light at all times and behind the camera; people get their arms ripped off when they¡¯re within the light. It¡¯s when a person¡¯s soul can attack you, even kill you.¡± She breathed in, easing on the second switch and watching as the bright blue light shone out on to Asuka¡¯s whole body, lighting it up. She watched as the light started to flicker, but nothing happened. ¡°Okay, so she isn¡¯t a blue grade soul, not that I¡¯m really surprised.¡±

    She slowly pushed the next filter down. ¡°Green, maybe.¡± She looked up as the light changed again, flickering, though once more Asuka didn¡¯t wake up, she just carried on sleeping. She forced the next lens down. ¡°Maybe yellow then.¡± She watched the light in the darkness of the room, seeing that Asuka was still not moving.

    Achika blinked in confusion. ¡°How is she not a yellow grade? Most people are screaming by now.¡±

    Gabriella breathed in deeply. ¡°Clearly gods are something more.¡± She pushed the orange lens, seeing Asuka¡¯s body start to twitch but not wake up. ¡°It¡¯s tapping it, it¡¯s not shattering.¡±

    Christopher eyed the final red lens nervously. ¡°Grandma, we have never used the red lens. Is it really wise? If it goes wrong, it¡¯s very hard to switch back from the high point.¡±

    Gabriella eyed him. ¡°Have faith, my precious grandchild. Clearly seeing a god demands sacrifice and bravery.¡± She slowly pushed the red glass lens in, watching as the red light fell up onto Asuka, only for the camera to go into overdrive as it suddenly burst into white light, hitting Asuka causing her to snap awake. An inhuman tiger-like roar hit the air once more, as her left eye lit up in blazing white light and the other opened, revealing the glowing green eye with its cat-like slit. Gabriella watched as Asuka stood up and started to fight her arm chains violently. ¡°The more you struggle, the more painful this becomes for you, Asuka. Just embrace it, we only care to see the real you.¡±

    She watched as Christopher passed her the second set of lenses. These went in a slot in front of the first and acted as a stabilizer so you could keep the soul¡¯s image stable. They came in bronze, silver, and gold, and had a pure crystal glass lens in the centre. She put in the bronze one, seeing Asuka struggle even harder. ¡°I might have known bronze wouldn¡¯t cut it, she must be gold.¡± She pulled it out, switching for the gold lens, only to blink in surprise as the light didn¡¯t get more intense. ¡°Strange, not gold and it is the highest range of stabilization.¡± She pushed the silver one in, ignoring Asuka¡¯s roars of pain. ¡°That makes no sense, she should stabilize on gold and reveal her soul to us.¡±

    Achika turned sharply. ¡°What if she¡¯s a gold crossed with silver? We get those; they¡¯re normally people who can swim in red water, though they¡¯re rarer.¡±

    Gabriella breathed in deeply, easing up the silver lens getting ready to put in the third holder, which meant all the lenses would line up perfectly on the top of the camera. ¡°If she is, then she is the first red, gold, and silver combination we¡¯ve ever had.¡± She looked up slightly, pressing the lens carefully. ¡°Prepare yourself.¡± She watched as the light changed to a piercing beam. The beam hit Asuka straight in the chest, knocking her back as her face turned to shock. Both her eyes widened, staring at them, only for her left eye¡¯s light to flow out slowly, enveloping her whole body.

    Christopher turned as the whole room started to shake, he grabbed the camera, trying to keep it stationary. They couldn¡¯t afford for it to fall in this state, as it could hit them. The light was getting bigger and bigger, then there was a sudden cracking sound as the back brace and collar came flying out in a crippled mess that had been bent up and warped. Its chains made to hold the arms had been broken off. He stared as the light started to slowly vanish and a huge form appeared, though it was kneeling.

    He watched in shock as the light faded fully, revealing what could only be described as a lycanthrope, but it wasn¡¯t a werewolf, no, there was blazing red fur and tiger stripes. The huge head rose with its blazing long red mane of hair, as the two tiger tails behind its body thrashed violently. The blue right eye had a slight glow, while the left was blazing out white light. He could see the huge clawed hands and feet as it rose to its feet, standing six foot tall not including its body-length tails.

    It was huge and muscular, and had teeth that came out of its mouth on both the lower and upper jaw. Along with white fur on the stomach, chest, hands, and snout just like a tiger in any zoo, it had longer ears which had wisps of fur at the tips. He could see the chains and cuffs still attached to the wrists, but they were coming away and were also bent and buckled.

    Gabriella felt a smile form. Well wasn¡¯t this fascinating? She¡¯d taken the form of Nekomata, of all things; the demon cat, the same as her Evangelion unit. No wait; this was the same face in her artwork, which was on display at the Nerv visitor centre. This was this were-tiger in the flesh. She watched as it turned to look at them, a sneer forming as it showed off its gums and teeth. She breathed in deeply, feeling a smile form as the camera light faded, though it was still there, keeping this image in their frame of existence. ¡°My, my, you have a powerful soul.¡± She paused. ¡°You understand me, don¡¯t you Asuka?¡±

    Asuka raised her huge, clawed hands, looking at the bent and buckled cuff hanging off one. She wasn¡¯t sure if this was a dream, or if she was awake; it seemed so surreal to her now. Maybe she¡¯d died and this was some kind of vision, or maybe she was still dreaming. She pulled the cuff off, putting it in her other clawed hand as she closed it, hearing the bending as it broke. She opened it, watching it clatter as it hit the floor. She breathed in as every smell and sound hit her, and her gaze shifted up to the prison.

    She could smell the Alpine from here, and even from this distance she could see Rei staring down below, utter shock in her face. Her glowing red eyes, were beautiful even at this distance, and they glistened like red sapphire in the moonlight. Asuka could see them as the prison room was lower than before. Maybe she had been laced with drugs; maybe none of it was real, and yet it felt so good, like being completely free and without restraints.

    Gabriella felt a sneer form as she eyed the huge were-tiger, who was no longer paying attention to her. ¡°Stop looking at your lover and look at me! You can talk can¡¯t you?!¡±

    Asuka turned sharply, lowering her ears as she let out a massive roar in their direction, making sure they saw her teeth as she tensed, which caused her mane to rise like a cat¡¯s did when they felt threatened. ¡°These are interesting drugs.¡±

    Gabriella breathed in deeply. ¡°They¡¯re not drugs. What you¡¯re seeing and feeling is your true soul made flesh. Right now, you exist as if this part of you is real.¡±

    Asuka eyed the other chain, yanking it free of her arm. ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t you be very afraid?¡±

    Gabriella smirked. ¡°No, because this part of you only exists within this device¡¯s light. Outside of it, you¡¯ll just go back to normal.¡± She raised her robotic hand. ¡°And if I were you, I wouldn¡¯t, since others went insane doing so.¡±

    Asuka eyed her, going down on all fours as she walked forward, before rising up on two legs again as she snarled at them in disgust. ¡°I¡¯ve already gone insane once in my life when Bardiel was trying to drive me to ruin, so I don¡¯t fear what¡¯s beyond the light!¡± Gabriella looked at Christopher and Achika, who suddenly looked very nervous. ¡°Remember Asuka, you¡¯re sitting in a flying airship that¡¯s deep in the ocean and you¡¯re a big kitty who can¡¯t swim in blue water. Also we didn¡¯t give you this form so you could escape, we gave it you so we could talk to the real you, not the human skin you wear.¡±

    She looked up slightly. ¡°Now I understand why you call yourself Rei¡¯s monster; I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s seen this side of you somehow. Maybe when you both did that strange tail linking on the training ground perhaps.¡±

    Asuka turned sharply, not thinking as she roared with all her might, leaping, landing with inches of the camera. She leaned forward, not past the light, but close enough that she could see the older woman and see her breath blowing her hair back as her jaws were inches away from her face. ¡°You were listening to our verfickte conversation! That was not for you, it was for her!¡± She paused. ¡°Now I can see why my grandma wanted you dead; you don¡¯t know when to shut your mouth. I can¡¯t wait to tell her that you tried to drown me as a child, because she always blamed Mari¡¯s mother and my stepdad being careless.¡±

    Gabriella breathed in deeply, looking at the huge, razor-sharp teeth, which were very close to her face. ¡°Mari¡¯s mother Lydia was a fool who gave birth to a weak runt of a child.¡±

    Asuka eyed her in disgust. ¡°Don¡¯t speak ill of my big sister; she is braver than you¡¯ll ever know.¡±

    Gabriella looked up slightly. ¡°Some things clearly never change. You know, I beat that child so hard with a horse whip after she saved you, I believe she still carries the faded scars on her lower waist.¡±

    Asuka narrowed her gaze. ¡°When I get out of this, I¡¯m going to rip your insides out and tear your head off its verfickte shoulders and strip the flesh from your bones!¡± Gabriella folded her arms. ¡°Please, let¡¯s stop with the small talk. You¡¯re in this form so you can give us all your godly power.¡± She raised her hand, pointing upwards. ¡°Now breathe life into that lance and fulfill your destiny!¡±

    End of part 29

    Silvermoonlight

 The Death God Cast Down And Encased In A Vessel Of Flesh And Blood

    THE DEATH GOD CAST DOWN AND ENCASED IN A VESSEL OF FLESH AND BLOOD

    Is this real? Am I really seeing this? It¡¯s not a dream; it has to be real. I can see Asuka, though not in human form but in her were tiger one that is special to me which I saw inside the bridge of imagination when our unit¡¯s tails connected. It can¡¯t be a hologram, The fur looks far to real; it moves like a real solid being, not a projection and it¡¯s not slightly see through.

    I wish I knew what they were saying. I just can¡¯t hear them, I can only see them, and it¡¯s clear whatever they¡¯re saying, it¡¯s antagonizing Asuka. It¡¯s strange, the video camera is letting out light from the lens, but Asuka can¡¯t step beyond it.

    Despite how horrible this is, I never get tired of seeing that form, with its slashing double tails. There is such power in it, and she wears it with such strength and emotion and without fear. it gives me such comfort to see it again. Seeing the Lance of Longinus hanging above gives me no comfort at all, but ever since they tried to drown her it has not become active again, and she won¡¯t agree to whatever that crazy woman demands of her, I know it in my heart she won¡¯t.

    Rei put her fingers against the glass, her eyes not shifting from Asuka, who was frozen as she stared the older woman down, not saying anything.

    Asuka felt a cold sneer form as she finally spoke, narrowing her gaze. ¡°No, I refuse. Like I said to you before, I¡¯m not a god and I don¡¯t want to be this destroyer of worlds you talk about.¡±

    Gabriella folded her arms, unable to keep the anger at bay. ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll do this the hard way, but only because you made it so.¡± She watched as Christopher pulled up a spinning black and red veined disk, attaching it where the camera film normally went. ¡°If you won¡¯t give us your power willingly, we¡¯ll take it by force!¡± She paused. ¡°I¡¯ll just strip your miserable tiger soul off you like paint on a wall and find the bringer of death underneath!¡±

    She watched as he turned on the camera, which caused a strobe lighting effect, only for an AT field to fly up, surrounding Asuka. Her jaws formed a coy smile as parts of it were torn, but instantly repaired. ¡°Please. I killed Bardiel. I ate him alive and consumed his soul, and though he ascended in death, a part of him remains forever in my mind. In a strange way, he taught me how to protect my inner soul. That¡¯s why my AT field became even stronger. In human form, I would not be able to stop you, but in this one you have no power over me.¡±

    She eased up her clawed hand towards the prison room, watching as it started to move downwards, much to their shock and horror. ¡°After all, you give me this strength by opening my soul, and now I¡¯m going to use it to set her free, because I will it and you will not stop me!¡±

    Her next words were suddenly cut off as a dark sensation swept through her body. It was chilling, like being touched by ice. She looked up as the lance above suddenly ignited. She felt the heat in her left eye die instantly as the lightning shot out, going straight through the AT field like it was tissue paper, striking opposite her.

    She felt her eyes dart in panic as it struck again, forcing her to step back as it suddenly channelled downwards. Another lightning bolt shot towards the prison room, smashing against its window. The lightning suddenly vanished as a form she recognised very clearly appeared once more, sending genuine chills down her spine.

    The skeleton version of herself was standing there again, staring her down. It¡¯s one good eye and its tongue could be seen. It walked towards her on its crippled leg as it spoke. ¡°I¡¯m part of your soul. I must return to you and we must fulfil our true destiny.¡± It paused, stepping closer. ¡°You stripped me away when you let go of your pain and revenge and you threw my counterpart beyond the stars.¡±

    Asuka backed up, going down slightly as she started to back herself closer to the room¡¯s corner. ¡°You are not me!¡±

    The skeleton¡¯s good eye moved as it raised its hand, putting a finger against the AT field, which instantly turned from gold and silver to a dark red and black. ¡°I am you, and as much as you deny your will, you can never erase me, so surrender to your fate.¡±

    Rei breathed in panic, seeing the young girl version of herself as she appeared once more, looking confused as she spoke in a shallow voice. ¡°Where am I?¡± The fifteen year old naked version walked towards her, with its light blue hair and glowing red eyes.

    Rei moved back, unable to stop herself from backing up against the wall, utterly frozen in terror. The young girl carried on moving towards her with no sense of vanity, which was utterly disturbing to her since at her age she¡¯d done nothing but cover up for fear of others seeing her naked. It had been the most difficult time of her life, as she had felt that her body would never grow and that she wouldn¡¯t fill out and become an adult.

    The glazed, staring red eyes locked with her own. She felt her heart beat faster as the younger girl version of herself stopped in front of her, looking closer at her in a way that made her feel deeply uncomfortable as she spoke. ¡°So this¡­ this is what I look like as an adult? How curious.¡± The pale white hand moved upwards touching her neck then travelling down between her breasts and waist right down to the belt of her jeans, only to stop as she spoke, her tone suddenly changing. ¡°Maybe she would accept me if I had your body.¡± The girl suddenly looked up. ¡°Yes, I was part of your soul. I remember now. You set me free by choice because I pained you, now let me return to you.¡± The other hand rose slowly before she could stop it, moving towards her face, which caused her to scream in panic.

    Gabriella looked up as the prison room filled with pure blue light. Its long surround window smashed apart as Rei¡¯s screaming came from inside, hitting the air as the whole room came smashing down to the floor opposite them. She looked at Christopher and Achika. They were both as terrified as was she. None of this had been in their plans. They had not wanted the Lance of Longinus to behave this way, or planned for it. She could no longer see what was happening behind Asuka¡¯s AT field either; the red and black was blocking it out. Why was the lance even touching Rei? It wasn¡¯t meant to affect her; it was Asuka¡¯s lance.

    Asuka watched as the skeleton got closer, its hand suddenly shooting out. Grabbing her furry neck, locked her violently in place. ¡°You¡¯re so powerful. I can feel it flowing though you. I want to be as strong as you are and have the animalistic power you have!¡± The other hand moved, stroking the thick fur as the skeleton¡¯s eye looked at her and the tongue came out, licking the bony teeth. ¡°Oh I can feel it, you have a real adult¡¯s body under there. I want that to be mine.¡± There was a chilling pause. ¡°Clearly though. your privates have seen more action than an Amsterdam whore house and I find it really gross that you like both genders.¡±

    Asuka struggled harder, only for the grip to tighten around her throat as she spoke through gritted teeth. ¡°How dare you judge my sex life and sexuality and call me whore, you backwards little scheisse!¡±

    The skeleton¡¯s good eye moved, ignoring her comment as the bone teeth grinded together. ¡°How utterly disgusting, and to top it off you have slept with that bitch Rei more than once; clearly there¡¯s something wrong with you.¡± The undead eye met her own as she struggled even harder. ¡°You¡¯re meant to love Shinji! He was even your lover once in this cycle and you let him go, you stupid fucking bitch! Clearly, like a dog, you need fixing!¡±

    Asuka narrowed her gaze. ¡°You won¡¯t take anything from me; I won¡¯t let you!¡±

    The skeleton looked up, licking its teeth again. ¡°Who says I¡¯m going to take away anything? After all, I only need your shell. Fight all you want, but I always get what I want.¡±

    Asuka snarled, eyeing her. ¡°We¡¯ve met before, you and I. You came to me when I was infected by Bardiel. In my dreams, I thought we both had an understanding.¡±

    The skeleton laughed coldly. ¡°No, you misunderstand. I¡¯m a fragment of her; she threw me away, the bitch, and now you and her are one again, fully merged and unbreakable That¡¯s why their stupid little soul digging device has not worked on you!¡±

    The cold blue eye moved sharply. ¡°But you both forgot about me, thinking you could throw me away like trash! Me and the other part, we will not be denied!¡± The bone teeth ground together as the skeleton spoke again. ¡°So no, I¡¯m not taking anything, I¡¯m just returning to where I deserve to be!¡± The skeleton slowly raised her skeleton hand, looking at the glowing black and red eye. ¡°Your left eye, which is the window into your soul, has already opened to welcome me!¡±

    Asuka watched in terror as the skeleton finger shot out, jamming into her left eye causing pure intense pain which was beyond horrible. She found herself screaming as the skeleton began to separate, turning into black smoke which forced its way into her left eye.

    Gabriella turned, watching in terror as the AT field suddenly began to collapse, sending the video camera flying. The camera crashed down opposite her and her grandchildren, turning off instantly. She could see the weretiger¡¯s shadow fading, only for a massive AT shockwave to fly outwards, knocking her over, followed by another directly behind her from the prison room. Everything plunged into darkness, only for the bellowing emergency submarine alarm to come on as the whole room shook violently.

    The sensation of diving hit home, only it wasn¡¯t diving and she knew it. They had just lost power somehow and the whole ship was sinking nose first into the dark depths. It was truly terrifying, clearly the ships special S2 Engine had just stopped working which was there to protected them from deep sea pressure and allowed them to fly and it had just been knocked out! That was not meant to happen! She heard the intense creaking as they sank deeper.

    8

    So this is Maya¡¯s apartment. It¡¯s so cosy and ultra-modern in every way, even more so than Misato¡¯s, with space-saving storage. Apparently she wasn¡¯t the only one who liked a luxury apartment; Maya liked them as well. Hers is much smaller though, and only one level as opposed to two. It even has glass windows that look out onto Tokyo Three, and is closer to Nerv central than my home.

    I can see cute little trinkets and toys all over the place. The whole thing is a white and relaxing cream, with plush sofa and large flat screen television, and very modern kitchen with all kinds of appliances along with the small four seat dining table.

    Mari could also see the large white double bed in the bedroom opposite, which had lots of fluffy toys, as well as family pictures and artworks all around her, along with a craft desk which had lots of craft projects in process. She carried on typing into the tablet. Maya had said she was just going to freshen up and that she should write as much as possible regarding her family and what had happened so she could show the document to Misato, Ritsuko and the commander tomorrow.

    She turned sharply, seeing Maya appear wearing a semi-loose black logo t-shirt and jean shorts. She watched as the smaller woman pulled her hair free from the small ponytail, causing it to spill out as she walked towards her seating. She had no shoes or socks on. She sat on the kotatsu, which was in essence her coffee table, and it was clear that sometimes she crashed here, as her craft magazines were littered around along with pillows.

    Mari breathed in sharply, wishing right now that she had not mocked Asuka for how she behaved around Rei sometimes, because she was having some difficulty focusing; her eyes kept on tracing those loose clothes. She snapped her eyes back as she adjusted her glasses. She was not here to mess around or play out her inward fantasy.

    Maya had said friends, and she had to accept that. She slowly pulled her tie loose and opened her shirt, smoothing down her t-shirt as she tried to ignore the sweat on her palms. So many times, she¡¯d been so confident in her hidden sexual exploits and always felt so in control of her own body, but right now she felt truly helpless.

    Maybe when they¡¯d both gone to bed, she could relieve herself and hope to the gods that the walls weren¡¯t thin. She eyed her mail, which she had close by, which included her test plug suit that was for sexual purposes. Maybe it was just fate or bad luck that she was in this position, as she had been an asshole about this from the start, so now she had to do the right thing and be a good civil guest and not offend Maya in any way. She shifted her gaze back to typing, despite that this felt like such a draining effort.

    Maya looked at Mari, who had remained quiet since she had come in, though she had now opened her shirt and pulled off her tie. ¡°How is your piece coming along, Mari?¡±

    Mari looked at her for a long moment as she passed her the tablet. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not good at this. It doesn¡¯t sound formal enough.¡±

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Maya took the tablet from her hand as she started to read it. ¡°You know this doesn¡¯t need to be formal, it just needs to be from your heart; that is all that counts.¡± She paused. ¡°This is very good though, and no one will fault you for being honest.¡± She carefully handed it back. ¡°Just keep going; you¡¯re doing fine.¡± She watched as Mari looked down as she started typing again. She breathed in, unable to stop a feeling that was playing on her mind. She had ignored it deeply up until this moment, but now it was breaking though.

    It was that feeling of attraction, yet it felt so alien to her as it had been so long since she had felt it and it was so confusing to her that of all the moments, she¡¯d get this now at the most inappropriate time. Misato¡¯s words just kept playing out in her mind, that she needed to have sex and all would be right with the world and that she liked her and was just lying about it. She breathed in, watching as Mari carried on typing. It wasn¡¯t like Mari wasn¡¯t attractive; she was very attractive to her.

    Granted, she was the type of woman she had never gone for in her youth. She had loved high flying intellectuals that were always out of her reach. Yet was Mari any different? The fact was that she was very intelligent, and though she hated the UN Alpha test unit incident for the pain it had caused Asuka, Mari had hacked an Evangelion which was deeply impressive.

    She wasn¡¯t a science intellectual, but she was a programming intellectual and a very good hacker; that was very clear to her now. She breathed in deeply, feeling her eyes wander over the taller woman¡¯s body before she pulled away sharply. Screw Misato, she hated how she was right about this.

    She put her hands on the table. Her younger self, who pined after Ritsuko, would have given anything to be pursued by a woman like this. Someone who was genuinely interested in her and wanted to be around her. Wasn¡¯t that what she really wanted? To be loved, desired by someone who actually cared about her and deep down had a good heart? The reality was, she had used Mari, acting and behaving immature by saying that that was why she wasn¡¯t into her, when in reality she was just lying to herself, even about her wanting to be only friends, because Mari had hit the nail on the head from the very start. She was afraid, so she was doing the same thing that had been done to her by Ritsuko, and in doing so repeating history.

    Also under that bravado and playful side, Mari was deadly serious. If she wasn¡¯t, she wouldn¡¯t be here right now filling out this document, even though once it was handed over it would reveal what had happened to her as a child; that she had been abused and almost brainwashed into doing something horrid, that her family tree on her real father¡¯s side was messed up beyond belief, and that she still punished herself over what had happened, even though on that day she had been the truly brave one and saved Asuka from drowning. Wasn¡¯t that the kind of behaviour she¡¯d want from a girlfriend?

    To have courage? That was why she had stopped dating, because she¡¯d gotten tired of the shallowness of the women she¡¯d brought home, and she wanted someone who cared about her job and work at Nerv and had a heart.

    Mari lowered the tablet as she put her hand on her face. ¡°Okay, this is everything I know. It¡¯s not perfect, but I hope it¡¯s enough.¡± She turned, eyeing Maya, who was looking at her so strangely she just couldn¡¯t read the expression on her face as she pushed the tablet her way. ¡°Does this read better?¡± She watched as Maya picked it up, looking at it, her brown eyes moving back and forth, only for her to stop as she lowered the tablet.

    She met the smaller woman¡¯s gaze as Maya spoke calmly. ¡°You know, I never told you that that gift you gave me was really nice. I¡¯m really sorry I didn¡¯t say it sooner, as I really like that cat pillow. I keep it on my chair at work, and it¡¯s much better than the one I used to own.¡±

    Mari breathed in sharply, suddenly feeling deeply unsure as to where this was going. ¡°Yeah well, it¡¯s not that big of a deal.¡±

    Maya put her hands together. ¡°Yes, but how did you know I liked cat pillows? I never told you that personally, and I know it didn¡¯t come from Asuka or Rei as they both keep my personal life private.¡±

    Mari lowered her gaze. ¡°Misato kind of messed up and I used it to bribe a favour out of her to tell me what your favourite thing was.¡±

    Maya looked up, feeling a smile form as she raised her hand, putting it on Mari¡¯s face. ¡°So you bribed Misato. That is so impressive.¡±

    Mari felt her eyes dart as she looked at the other woman, suddenly feeling very unsure of herself as a strange silence hung in the air. She felt utterly confused as she watched Maya lean towards her, only to be caught utterly off guard as the other woman gently kissed her lips. She could feel her heart starting to beat faster as she was kissed a second time, only with more force and passion as everything suddenly spun out of control.

    She found herself kissing back, only for Maya to push her down on the floor, getting on top of her, straddling her. She kissed her deeper as she accidentally kicked the kotatsu.

    What the fuck was happening? She grabbed the smaller woman by the shoulders, managing to force her back, though it took everything she had to do it, as her body was on fire and every part of her wanted to carry on so badly, more than she wanted to breathe. She felt her eyes dart as she spoke, knowing her voice was filled with confusion and frustration. ¡°What are you fucking doing? You said you only wanted to be friends!¡±

    Maya felt the grip, it was firm but not hard. It was keeping her back as she spoke, feeling like this was the first honest thing she had said to Mari in a long while. ¡°I lied¡­ You were right, I was pushing you away, the same way Ritsuko did to me, and I rejected you out of fear.¡±

    Mari blinked only to shake her head. ¡°But you don¡¯t like me that way! You said I was childish, immature, that I wasn¡¯t right for you because I couldn¡¯t take responsibility!¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°And I was wrong. I realize that now. I just didn¡¯t want to see it before. I know now, you are much better than I ever realized.¡±

    Mari tightened her grip, not to hurt, just to hold tighter, as Maya was now pushing harder forward to reach her. A dark thought suddenly crossed her mind, one which she couldn¡¯t ignore as she spoke through gritted teeth. ¡°If you¡¯re doing this because you feel sorry for me after what happened in my childhood and you are giving me pity sex, I don¡¯t want it! I deserve better than that and I don¡¯t want your fucking pity.¡±

    Maya eased up her hands, putting them on Mari¡¯s as she spoke in a slightly more seductive tone. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. You do deserve better than that, so let me give you what you most desire.¡± She felt Mari¡¯s grip loosen slightly, as a number of emotions played out in her turquoise eyes, the biggest being fear and uncertainty. She eased out her hand, gently touching her face as she felt a smile form. ¡°You¡¯re kind-hearted and noble, you¡¯re what I always wanted in a lover, and I¡¯m the foolish one for not seeing the best of you. I hope you¡¯ll forgive me for that and for being petty and unkind and afraid of my own feelings.¡±

    Mari¡¯s grip slowly loosened as she pushed forward, not hesitating as she started kissing her again, only to receive the same in return as her hands went to her shirt and underneath. Both of their actions became more frantic and heated. If she was going to do one honest thing tonight, it was going to be making love to this woman.

    She turned grabbing the black bag which she knew was Mari¡¯s sexual entry plug suit as she spoke between kisses. ¡°You should put this on, because I really want to have some fun with it tonight.¡±

    Mari breathed in, trying desperately to catch her breath. ¡°I don¡¯t have the attachments¡­ it¡¯s only the suit.¡± Maya felt a sly smile form. ¡°That¡¯s good enough for me.¡± She felt Mari¡¯s lips meet her again as they became even more passionate and demanding. As the other woman pulled her t-shirt off, she knew there was no turning back and she was fine with that. As she undid Mari¡¯s jeans belt, she felt the last of her inhibitions vanish as pure sexual desire and need took over.

    8

    Vitor looked at Shinji¡¯s skeleton hologram as he eyed the worm on it. It was deeply clear now that every pilot had one; they¡¯d checked all of them. The only difference between them was they all had different markings on their white flesh. Both Kaworu¡¯s and Rei¡¯s had lines of red bands and were almost bone white in colour. Shinji¡¯s and Asuka¡¯s were more of a cream colour and Asuka¡¯s had a long band of glowing blue from Bardiel going through it, whereas Shinji¡¯s had purple stripes. Mari¡¯s had green spots and Toji¡¯s had black bands like stripes. His was much smaller than the others, like it was still growing.

    He pulled his tool away, eyeing the six realistic bone holograms on their platforms, which all had the blood setting turned off. He slowly sat down on the floor. ¡°How do you suppose these got into their bodies? I mean, if they were this large it would have been seen inside the entry plug.¡±

    Chilam carried on adjusting her scanner, which she was altering just to pick up Asuka¡¯s worm and which was giving her a very hard time right now. ¡°What if it¡¯s like a baby squid or coral, because those are tiny, and somehow goes in through the mouth, but tunnels out somehow before it hits the stomach?¡±

    Vitor eyed the hologram of Mari, which was stripped to bone but unlike the others still had the guts in. ¡°Well, there¡¯s a spider tendril on all of them which is inside the lower oesophagus close to the stomach, but we missed it when we were stripping Asuka¡¯s hologram because it made itself look like flesh. I think it uses that to get food directly from the pilot¡¯s stomach. Like any worm on our planet, it¡¯s stomach-acid-proof, but unlike a tapeworm on earth, it¡¯s not taking more than need be and starving the host; it¡¯s just taking enough to live and nourish itself.

    Chilam looked up slightly. ¡°Yeah, but this does explain why all pilots have heavy appetites. It¡¯s been recorded in their files for years by Maya that they always eat slightly more compared to say, a jet fighter pilot, and Mari, Asuka and Toji have much more extreme appetites compared to the other three.¡±

    Vitor raised a hand. ¡°It¡¯s even more interesting, since Rei is the vegetarian of the bunch, yet her appetite is listed as quite normal. So this symbiotic relationship does not demand what a pilot can¡¯t eat; it¡¯s like the worm just adjusts to it.¡±

    Chilam carried on working. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to study this further, I mean what if this thing increases libido and sex drive? Also how does it react to same sex and heterosexual sex, and how does it work when a female pilot is pregnant?¡±

    Vitor walked over to Kaworu¡¯s hologram. ¡°Well, one thing is clear from this one. It can¡¯t or won¡¯t fix walking dead syndrome, which this guy has as he has to take medication every day for it.¡± He paused, moving to Rei¡¯s hologram. ¡°Also, it has two sets of spider tentacles. One set flies out to protect the spine, but the others are in the oesophagus, and tapping every vein on the spinal cord as well as the cord itself. And it¡¯s not just about having a tight lock, as the worm is bound in tight on the spinal cord. So it has to be something else, I just don¡¯t know what.¡±

    He paused as an idea suddenly hit him. ¡°What if this is what creates the pilots¡¯ glowing eyes and teeth? What if it releases something alien, like an enzyme, into the spinal cord, and in humans this allows for temporary metamorphosis?¡±

    Chilam looked up sharply. ¡°That would fit if you can prove it.¡±

    Vitor felt a sly smile form. ¡°Sure I can, I just need to have a pilot. They can lend me one. We still have four, it¡¯s just the others that are missing.¡± He turned, eyeing Asuka¡¯s hologram. ¡°Plus, this would explain why Asuka gets super strength enough to pick up a hospital bed and throw it. I think this pumps into her to the max, turning her into a real hard-ass who is hard as hell to hurt unless you have a worm in you too. Like I think that big bastard had in the video footage.¡±

    He walked up to her, watching as his budgie flew through small woven paper hoops which the mass Evangelion had made and were holding up in mid-air. ¡°How is the scanner coming?¡±

    Chilam looked up. ¡°I¡¯m so close. I have the DNA track, but it¡¯s not strong enough, and I want to hand Ritsuko one that they can use to scan worldwide. This one won¡¯t cut it; it¡¯s no better than a hand scanner right now. I want to show a prototype that can scan the whole base.¡±

    Vitor looked up slightly. ¡°How much longer do you need?¡±

    Chilam looked up. ¡°Three more hours, then when they come in you can call a meeting.¡±

    8

    Maya breathed in deeply, staring at the ceiling in her bedroom as she lay naked on the covers. She turned, eyeing Mari, who was sleeping opposite her, her glasses on the opposite bedside table, her long dark brown hair splayed out, with a wide smile on her face as she snored lightly.

    Clearly it wasn¡¯t only Asuka who got glowing eyes and teeth during sex, as Mari¡¯s had done the, same much to her surprise, though the eyes had only had a slight glow, and the other woman had been very careful with those long upper and lower canine teeth and had not nipped her or hurt her at any point, even when it had become even more heated.

    She turned, realizing it was very early in the morning and yet she was having real difficulty going back to sleep. It wasn¡¯t just the sex that had been so good, it was the pressing thought that she had just broken her own personal rule, which was that she didn¡¯t sleep with people who she was meant to be their superior. She breathed in sharply.

    She couldn¡¯t let anyone find out about it. Ritsuko would drag the hell out of her for this, as she hated the idea of people sleeping with those under them or above them in the command structure, even though she was a massive hypocrite and had done the same.

    She knew though, that the woman would drag her like there was no tomorrow if she found out, and she just couldn¡¯t deal with that right now; she just wasn¡¯t in the mood for her bullshit. Plus, she¡¯d probably condemn her as some pervert or creep since Mari was younger than her.

    She tensed. She didn¡¯t even want to know how Asuka was going to react when they got her back; it was going to look like she had not taken her being away seriously and had just had sex with her step sister.

    She turned over. She didn¡¯t know whether to like or hate herself right now. She had started this. It was her own doing. She had wanted it because her feelings for Mari were as real as they could be; it wasn¡¯t about casual sex or friends with benefits. She wanted a lover and partner and yet now she felt so bad because of the timing. She breathed in, closing her eyes. Maybe she was just tired; maybe her brain would make sense of this later.

    She was just foggy right now due to lack of sleep, as she had not really slept since this whole thing with the auction house had happened. She had only gotten in five to six hours in the past two days, and she knew in reality she needed rest.

    Maybe this was part of why this had happened; she was utterly sick and tired of just being the job, just slogging away and never giving herself any form of reward or fun, so maybe she felt she was entitled to this. Not to mention, she was so sick of the crushing loneliness that was sometimes part of her job, as her position meant long hours and a lot of juggling. Sumire coming in had been something of a blessing, as it had a least taken off some of the edge of the workload.

    She was starting to see why Ritsuko had never been completely happy being in charge of the science division and maybe why she had started to sleep with Gendo, because other than the command and bridge crew you just weren¡¯t close enough to anyone else. The reality was, she now wanted that same kind of contact with someone who she had feelings for. She took one last look at her kitty clock before closing her eyes, letting sleep take over fully. Frankly, she could worry about this another day. Right now, it was better to enjoy the moment and sleep.

    End of part 30

    Silvermoonlight

 Where The Ocean Bleeds Red And The Sand Is As Gold

    WHERE THE OCEAN BLEEDS RED AND THE SAND IS AS GOLD

    On the Abandoned South Georgia Island

    Everything hurts. I can feel the cold. My body is freezing and wet like I just walked through water, yet I have no memory of swimming in it. It hurts as I open my first eye followed by my second and take in an agonizing, painful breath, which is followed by hoarse coughing which hurts my chest so much.

    The feeling of my wet clothes hanging onto my body doesn¡¯t feel good either; the wet, ripped t-shirt is clinging to me, as are the jeans, and I¡¯ve lost a shoe somehow. Why can¡¯t I remember anything? My last memory I have was being in the prison room, but it¡¯s all so blank after that.

    I realize that I¡¯m lying on a beach of white sand surrounded by red sea and old wrecked buildings that are empty and ancient. The buildings are much like those in Tokyo Three¡¯s old ruins, but I know this isn¡¯t Japan; the ruins are different. It¡¯s also night; I can see the moon¡¯s light beaming down on me. I turn my head, realizing for the first time that I¡¯m not alone and that Asuka is lying directly opposite me in her now torn black suit. She is on her back, staring upwards blankly into the sky, my hand within inches of her.

    She has this strange, haunted look in her face that bothers me deeply. It¡¯s almost dead-eyed and staring, and her left eye is not glowing; it¡¯s grey and faded. I¡¯m not even sure if she¡¯s conscious or passed out with her eyes open. I know that when her left eye is grey, it means something serious is going on mentally. I pull myself upright, taking a harder look, seeing that she still isn¡¯t moving. It¡¯s like she¡¯s frozen like a statue.

    She barely notices when I get on top of her body, straddling her gently. I move my hands gently downwards, putting them on both sides of her neck very gently, seeing the darker bruised skin where the metal restraining collar had been.

    Asuka¡¯s black suit jacket was missing and only the white shirt remained, though it had lost its red tie and was ripped, revealing her bra strap. The knees of the black trousers were torn and she only had socks and no shoes. There were bruises on her wrists where the chains had been.

    Rei moved her hands gently up to Asuka¡¯s shoulders, trying to talk only to realize that she couldn¡¯t. Her throat was stinging in pain. She tried again, but it hurt too much. It felt so bad, like sandpaper in the back of her throat. She felt her grip tighten due to the mounting frustration of not being able to speak. She grabbed Asuka tighter, shaking her even harder at the shoulders, still not getting any response.

    She stopped, lowering her head. This just couldn¡¯t get any worse. They were on some island, and she had no idea how she¡¯d even gotten here. She couldn¡¯t get her girlfriend to respond. She¡¯d never felt as helpless as she did right now in this moment. She breathed in, only to suddenly feel a hand come up, gently stroking the side of her face with a warm caress. She looked up sharply, seeing Asuka¡¯s grey left eye come to life. It sparked up, going black with burning red light, only to change to dark neon blue, which meant real emotional pain as her hand left Rei¡¯s face.

    Rei watched as Asuka¡¯s eyes finally moved, very slowly, looking directly at her. Maybe it was the pain of all this, she couldn¡¯t really say, but the tears started before she could stop them. Her voice returned all too suddenly, and her pained cries hit the air as she leaned forward, crying into Asuka¡¯s chest. She felt the other woman¡¯s arm wrap slowly around her, pulling her closer as her other hand moved through her hair softly and gently. She carried on crying, unable to stop it or hold it back. She didn¡¯t know how long she was crying, for time just seemed to slip by without meaning. The thing that broke it was Asuka¡¯s pained voice hitting the air. ¡°I feel sick.¡±

    Rei eased herself up slightly, only to watch as Asuka¡¯s whole body shifted sideways sharply under her, her hands moving away from her body as she clawed at the sand throwing up violently into it, heaving painfully in the process. She moved despite her tears, keeping the other woman as steady as possible until she stopped.

    Asuka turned onto her back again, breathing in painfully. Her teeth were normal as she spoke again. ¡°Where¡­ are we?¡±

    Rei looked around her as she wiped her tears away, trying to recompose herself even though she really couldn¡¯t, as her emotions felt like they were in turmoil. ¡°I have no idea¡­. last thing I remember was being in the prison room on the ship¡­ I was watching you. They changed you with some device. You somehow took the were-tiger form and it looked so real.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°The last thing I remember is them changing me. It gets so hazy after that.¡±

    Rei looked at the red sea behind them. ¡°Do you suppose we swam?¡±

    Asuka sat up painfully, trying to ignore the exhaustion and the fact everything hurt so badly. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep, while another part of her, despite just throwing up, desperately wanted to eat. ¡°No, not from that depth; it would have crushed us both. Also, I can¡¯t swim in blue water, and even in red I can breathe but you can¡¯t, not without diving gear.¡±

    Rei eyed the wrecked buildings behind her. Clearly, there had been a community here once, but it had long been abandoned, likely because nothing green would grow in red waters, only these strange ugly red veins, like plants which were not native to the earth and wouldn¡¯t die off until you purified the water again, turning it back to blue. The red veins were covering the buildings behind them, which were decaying.

    Rei wiped her tears away sharply as she got to her feet, slowly helping Asuka gets to hers, which was difficult as Asuka was clearly quite disoriented and tired, and it took her a while to even get her bearings. She looked around her. ¡°We need to find some water, food, and some shade.¡±

    Asuka looked up slightly. ¡°Yeah, that¡­¡±

    Rei eyed the old, decaying tourist apartments which weren¡¯t all that tall in height, which meant once upon a time, this must have been an island for tourism, which meant there had to be old hotels around somewhere.

    She ignored the pain in her body as she started to walk along the sand, helping Asuka, who wasn¡¯t steady and was slow on her feet. ¡°Let¡¯s look for an old hotel. There must be one around here that still has storage cupboards; they may even have medical supplies.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply as she started walking forward, which hurt with every step. ¡°Yeah¡­. maybe they have a radio.¡±

    Rei looked up slightly. ¡°Yeah, maybe¡­.¡± She paused for a long moment before speaking. ¡°I just wish I knew where we are; I don¡¯t recognise anything here.¡±

    Asuka tensed sharply, really not liking that she had to say her next words as it made her feel deeply uncomfortable. ¡°I do.¡±

    She watched as Rei turned to her in surprise. ¡°I¡¯ve seen this place, or something similar to it, in the vision Shamshel gave me, the one where Shinji was strangling me. And before that, I had a recurring dream as a child of pulling myself onto a beach like this.¡± She paused, looking down at the white sand under her feet. ¡°The moon was different though. In both it had a red halo, and in both I felt that I had seen the end of the world. But they¡¯re dreams and visions; they¡¯re not real.¡±

    Rei looked at her for a long moment, remembering the artwork, which had slipped her mind until now. This was the first time Asuka had ever mentioned this dream to her, and it made her feel deeply unsettled. Even more so since they¡¯d escaped from people claiming she was the destroyer of worlds. Should she be afraid of that, if Asuka truly had been? No, because Ankh had not been successful.

    They¡¯d both gotten away, so it would be okay, wouldn¡¯t it? Maybe the more pressing question she was avoiding asking herself was, would she still love Asuka if that side ever resurfaced, and the truth was, she still would. It changed nothing in how she felt about her deep down in her heart, because she was her monster and no one else¡¯s. She believed in Asuka¡¯s statement. She believed that was why they were here now and not still trapped on the ship.

    8

    So this is it. With Ritsuko¡¯s information, we now know for sure that this is the Hyena and it isn¡¯t Gryphon. Gryphon is clearly a ruse to throw us off balance, make us look the other way. The only question now is, does the Hyena know about the destroyer of worlds and Asuka¡¯s purpose? The younger man and woman saying it in the footage would suggest so. Yet so far, we have not seen the end of days, which means Asuka could be fighting back, resisting what they¡¯re trying to do. We just need to find her, and I feel that Maya will finally give us the rest of the puzzle, the final piece, from Mari.

    All of this will go to Gendo and Ritsuko. We¡¯ve all had a call to go to the specialist science lab, as they found something really important and a possible way to track Asuka. Kaji and I slept here last night; it was easier, as we had too much to go through and we both needed the sleep. It was nice to just curl up on a company bed and doze together in the quiet. Right now though, Kaji is just finishing the last of the report while I¡¯m waiting for Maya to bring her part to complete it so we can go over it officially with the commander.

    Misato looked up, watching as Maya appeared, looking quite tired and not her normal self.

    Maya raised her tablet slowly. ¡°This is from Mari. I believe with this, all of our puzzles will be solved.¡± She paused before putting her hand in her pocket, pulling out a bunch of notes and putting them on Misato¡¯s desk.

    Misato blinked, eyeing the money. She felt two and two click together as she took hold of the money, a smug smile forming. ¡°Oh, I do believe this is a thousand yen Maya, so would I be right to assume I was right and you had fun with Mari last night?¡±

    Kaji looked as he spoke. ¡°Really, you did? What was it like?¡±

    Maya watched as he took a sip of his coffee, as she spoke in a deadpan tone. ¡°She¡¯s a sexual Tyrannosaurus rex.¡±

    Misato watched as Kaji almost coughed up his coffee. ¡°Are you being serious?¡±

    Maya eyed her with tired eyes. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Misato leaned forward, seeing Kaji do the same, as he was clearly really interested now in where this conversation was going. ¡°So best friend, are you going to tell us more?¡±

    Maya turned, still speaking in a dead pan tone. ¡°No.¡±

    Misato blinked in confusion. ¡°What? That¡¯s not fair!¡±

    Kaji sat up slightly. ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s right, that¡¯s not fair; we tell you everything!¡±

    Maya turned, giving them a cold look. ¡°Yes, you tell me even though I don¡¯t ask, so I don¡¯t have to tell you anything.¡± She adjusted her lab coat. ¡°Plus I have to go see Sumire now as she¡¯s in the office, so I¡¯ll see you in the science teams special briefing later.¡±

    Kaji watched as she vanished. ¡°Well that was unexpected¡­¡±

    Misato felt a sly smile form. ¡°Not completely. I think someone¡¯s tired; it¡¯s rare, but I¡¯ve seen her like that before a few times. She gets cranky without enough sleep.¡±

    Kaji put his feet on the table. ¡°Must have been a really vigorous heavy night then¡­ I want to be surprised, but I kind of expected that from Mari; she¡¯s not quiet when it comes to talking about sex.¡±

    Misato eyed up the report, looking at it. ¡°Yeah well, I¡¯m curious about this report, and if I¡¯m right I have a feeling that this will confirm my thoughts that that older man and older woman who resemble her are related. Hopefully this will give us names.¡±

    8

    Toji walked slowly across the Arcade Zone¡¯s tenth level. He turned to Sakura, who was eyeing up all the cute toys in one of the windows of one of the stores, though she was clearly not really in the best mood. He could tell by her face and her tone had been sad when speaking. Today wasn¡¯t a school day but she had wanted to come in with him, and Misato had upgraded her Nerv card so she could come into the pilots¡¯ rec room. She was dressed in casual clothing like him.

    Sakura looked up meeting Toji¡¯s gaze ¡°Have they found Rei and Asuka yet?¡±

    Toji walked to the next storefront, which was filled with clothing. ¡°No, not yet, but the scientists think there might be a way.¡± Sakura turned to him. ¡°Yeah, I remember you saying something about Bardiel¡¯s DNA still being inside her which might allow them to track her.¡±

    Toji put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°I have faith it will work.¡± He paused as they looked at another shop. ¡°See anything you like?¡±

    Sakura shook her head. ¡°No, not really.¡±

    Toji raised his hand, about to speak, only to be hugged from behind as Mari¡¯s happy voice hit the air. ¡°Good morning friend!¡±

    Toji blinked in surprise as he turned to her, feeling a sly smile form. ¡°We got your message, must say, didn¡¯t expect it to go that way.¡±

    Mari felt her grin widen as she spoke loudly, not caring who was listening around her. ¡°Maya is so good in bed¡­ we had a really long night of fun!¡±

    Toji grabbed her shoulders, pulling her close, ignoring all the general staff who were suddenly looking in their direction. ¡°I¡¯m so happy for you, I know you really like her.¡±

    Mari moved away from him turning to Sakura, ruffling her hair. ¡°Hi there, trouble.¡± She moved close to the twelve year old, who gave her a hug. ¡°Sorry I wasn¡¯t able to visit last night or the night before. I¡¯ll make it up to you, I promise.¡±

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    Sakura turned, pulling out her Nerv card. ¡°Misato¡¯s changed my card privileges since I¡¯m closer to being thirteen, so I can join you all in the rec room now on the holidays and weekends and lunch breaks.¡±

    Mari felt her smile widen. ¡°That¡¯s so good to hear! We¡¯d love your company in the rec room.¡± She raised her hand. ¡°Plus we have some fun retro video games and a pinball machine up there. Granted they¡¯re Asuka and Rei¡¯s, but you¡¯d be welcome to play them.¡±

    Toji put a hand on his sister¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Yeah, and we can get you your own chair to sit on.¡± He looked up, seeing that Sumire was walking towards them, though not fully paying attention, as she was clearly looking in the shops for something else. ¡°Sumire!¡± He watched as she looked up sharply, the surprise showing in her face. ¡°It¡¯s great to see you.¡±

    Sumire felt a nervous smile form. She still wasn¡¯t used to this kind of attention, even though it was very clear to her now that he did genuinely still like her, despite the truth coming out. It had been nice the other day to just sit and talk with him; one thing that was very clear was that, like her, he loved food and enjoyed trying new things. Today she felt more at ease, as Maya had given her a better anti-depressant this morning which clearly wasn¡¯t colliding with her other medication, and she had told her that she wasn¡¯t in any trouble, despite her remarks. She looked up, meeting his gaze, speaking calmly. ¡°Hello Toji.¡±

    Toji smiled as he turned to Sakura, who was looking at the woman he was talking to with curiosity. ¡°Hey Sakura, I¡¯d like you to meet someone.¡± He moved her gently forward. ¡°This is Sumire; she¡¯s new on the bridge staff. This is the woman I was telling you about.¡±

    Sakura moved forward, feeling a smile form. ¡°So pleased to meet you. Toji has told me about you.¡±

    Sumire looked up nervously. ¡°Nothing in too much detail, I hope.¡±

    Toji looked at her, feeling his smile widen. ¡°No, I only told her that you¡¯re very nice and that you¡¯re from Mexico.¡±

    Sumire looked at Sakura. ¡°I see.¡±

    Mari walked forward, looking at Sumire who eyed her with uncertainty. ¡°I just wanted to apologise for my behaviour some time ago. I wasn¡¯t thinking straight.¡±

    Sumire breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I understand what it¡¯s like when you feel that tense.¡±

    Mari looked down sadly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the family member you lost.¡±

    Sumire put her hand on her pendent. ¡°It was a long time ago, but thank you all the same.¡±

    Mari shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m trying to stop myself behaving that way; it¡¯s just hard sometimes.¡±

    Sumire raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t fault you regarding emotions, since I told Ritsuko to go fuck herself.¡±

    Mari raised her hand, feeling a sly smile form. ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what you said.¡± She turned hearing his phone going off, she pulled it out, looking at it. ¡°Damn it, I need to pick up some stuff from the above levels.¡± She paused realizing this was one shop they couldn¡¯t take Sakura in, since it was regarding her sexual plug suit.

    Toji leaned over, looking at the message he wanted to see those new plug suits he was really curious as he¡¯d heard staff talking about them. ¡°We could go up there real fast. We¡¯ll be twenty minutes at most plus I want to see those new¡­¡±

    Sumire moved closer. ¡°Is there a problem?¡±

    Toji breathed in deeply. ¡°Yeah, Mari needs to pick up a few things.¡± Mari eased up the phone so she could see it but Sakura couldn¡¯t. ¡°Those kind of adult things...you know that look like plug suits¡±

    Sakura turned suddenly, taking hold of Sumire¡¯s arm. ¡°Hey, Sumire could go shopping with me while you two get your adult things and your weird plug suites whatever they are.¡±

    Toji turned sharply. ¡°That¡¯s a great idea.¡± He paused, looking at Sumire, who suddenly looked nervous and completely out of her depth. ¡°Could you please take her? Honestly, we¡¯ll be right back here, and we¡¯ll be back before your shift starts.¡±

    Sumire spoke, though her voice sounded weak. ¡°Sure.¡±

    Mari turned, looking at her.  I¡¯ll make it up to you I promise, plus Misato and the others are in a special morning meeting, so you¡¯ll have more time than normal. I heard they could be in there for well over an hour.¡±

    Sumire watched them go. By the gods, what had she just signed herself up for? She had zero clue how to take care of teenagers, and now her mother and father¡¯s words were coming back to haunt her, that she should have done babysitting in her early teens because it would be a great exercise for her to learn.

    Sakura looked up, feeling the taller woman tensing. She turned, giving Sumire, her best smile. ¡°What were you shopping for today, Sumire?¡±

    Sumire turned, looking at her. ¡°It¡¯s going to sound odd, but I was looking for a gift shop somewhere around here that sells Alebrijes; it¡¯s a carved wooden Mexican figure. I heard there was a place down here that has them for sale.¡± She paused. ¡°What were you looking for?¡±

    Sakura raised her hand. ¡°Some tacky item, but what you¡¯re looking for sounds way more interesting.¡±

    Sumire began to move forward with the twelve-year-old, who had long flowing brown hair which was the same colour as her brother¡¯s. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure we can find you something interesting too.¡±

    8

    Vitor looked up, seeing everyone standing in the science lab, waiting for them to begin. He put his hands together, feeling a smile form as he looked at everyone. ¡°Welcome to our briefing, glad you could all make it here.¡± He eyed the dark-haired man who was Shinji¡¯s and Rei¡¯s father, who he had seen in the last briefing along with Misato, Kaji, and Maya, but not the rest of the bridge crew.

    He eased up his device as he pressed it, bringing up a holographic date along with the pilot¡¯s face. ¡°First off all, does anyone recognise these dates?¡± Maya blinked, recognising three of the dates. ¡°Yes, the ones for Shinji, Rei, and Asuka I recognise. These were three days after pilots got in the Evangelions. Each of them came down with flu and sickness. We assumed it was from the stress of piloting for the first time.¡±

    Chilam pressed her device, bringing three other reports forward. ¡°Yes, but don¡¯t you find it strange that Kaworu, Toji, and Mari, who were not even in this country, after piloting for three days also got sick, same symptoms, high fever, flu, and sickness?¡± She looked up slightly. ¡°One person is strange, two is baffling, but when you have all six, I¡¯d say that¡¯s very odd.¡±

    Ritsuko raised her hand. ¡°I thought you were finding out how to find Asuka and Rei. I don¡¯t see what this has to do with anything.¡±

    Vitor looked at her as he spoke darkly. ¡°Oh, believe me we are just getting to the really good part.¡± He turned slightly. ¡°They all got sick because the Evangelion gave them something, in a literal sense.¡± He breathed in deeply. ¡°Allow me to introduce you to the reason, and the thing that seems to have avoided Nerv¡¯s gaze for almost ten years.¡± He pressed the device, causing all six real-looking hologram skeletons to fly up, with their worms on full display. ¡°This is the reason why they got very sick. Allow me to introduce you to the Spinal Web Worm, as we¡¯ve dubbed it.¡±

    Chilam felt a wide grin form, watching as everyone¡¯s face turned to utter shock only for Maya to literally drop her electronic paper files. ¡°You never spotted it in your scans before, because it¡¯s a perfect mimic. It blends into the spinal cord perfectly, pretending to be a nerve, and we only found it by mistake when we were stripping Asuka¡¯s hologram down to raw bone. We poked it, and because the hologram imitates real internal function, it caused it to show and reveal its natural defence.¡±

    She picked up the tool for skinning holograms, moving it over to Toji¡¯s hologram spine. She jabbed it in hard which instantly caused the spider web coating to come flying out, covering the whole spine protecting it. ¡°Hence why we use the term, Web. When it gets any serious impact to the back, it protects the host¡¯s spine.¡±

    Vitor watched as the webbing pulled back. ¡°From the neck to pelvis, the spine is fully protected. If you¡¯re wondering why Asuka got a fracture, it doesn¡¯t quite protect one of the spine¡¯s disks near the neck, but you fixed this medically, and the reason it never reacted was you never touched the nerve it poses as.¡± He paused. ¡°Also, it¡¯s interesting to note that unlike all of Asuka¡¯s other bones that were reset, the disk has healed so much it¡¯s hard to tell it was ever seriously damaged, as the fracture is now hairline.¡±

    Chilam walked forward, bringing up the video of the primal unit 02 crashing in to Uluru. ¡°We believe these worms protect the host¡¯s spine at all costs. So, it¡¯s not just the Evangelion changing, this creature protects the pilot as well, hence why when Asuka smashed the Uluru Mountain, her back was protected; all she suffered was serious pain in the neck and shoulders.¡±

    She changed the image to a three-dimensional hologram which showed the worm¡¯s veins in the nerves and spinal cord. ¡°We believe this is your answer as to why the pilots¡¯ eyes and teeth change and in some cases they become as strong as an ox. Our theory is that this thing sends an enzyme of alien origin into the whole spine, giving the transformation and strength ability.¡±

    Vitor pressed his device. ¡°We also saw that one of its tendrils is attached to the lower oesophagus and feeds directly into the stomach. Like a tapeworm on earth, it¡¯s stomach acid-proof. It absorbs all it needs, but unlike the parasite version on earth, it does not starve the host; it only takes what it needs.¡±

    He paused. ¡°The older ones, we dated to be nine to ten years old. The youngest is nine months old, so they¡¯ve been in the pilot¡¯s body for a long time.¡± He brought up the image of the big man who had beaten up Asuka. ¡°So, to answer your question from the other day, this hulking bastard could not have gotten his ability unless he¡¯s got one of these growing on his spine, which means he has to be the Ankh pilot.¡±

    He felt a smug smile form. ¡°The best part though, is the alien worms have signatures just like Angels, Evangelions, Archangels, and the Evangelion hybrid. They¡¯re clearly alien by nature, and we believe they are a possible symbiote of the true Evangelion who may have picked the pilot for reasons we don¡¯t understand.¡±

    Chilam pulled up a device. ¡°Best part is, Asuka¡¯s worm still has part of Bardiel in it, mixed in with its own signature, so we copied the program from the Magi and had it help us create a tracker. This one¡¯s purely for Asuka, but we believe this prototype, once in the Magi¡¯s system, will track her location anywhere on earth if you feed it into the worldwide Nerv system and bases, and you can use it in future to track any pilot out of plug suit.¡±

    Vitor put his hands together. ¡°So, anyone have any questions?¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in as she spoke, unable to keep the shock out of her voice. ¡°Are these parasites, I mean can we remove them?¡±

    Vitor eyed her, pausing before he spoke. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t recommend that. It would probably kill the pilot, and they are not like Bardiel; they are not parasites. To me, this looks more like mutualism with endosymbiosis, as it¡¯s a balanced relationship where the symbiote lives with the host in perfect union. If anything, they are not hurting but helping the pilot.¡±

    Maya leaned down, picking up her file, throwing it on the table opposite. ¡°But they¡¯re worms! Worms on earth are vile things that hurt human beings.¡±

    Vitor looked at her. ¡°These are alien. The reality is on the home world where Adam comes from, their purpose might be the same as good bacteria is for us. Hence why they want to help the pilot. We have no idea how intelligent they are, and if Bardiel was anything to go by, they could be as smart as him, but we need to test that on a real pilot to know, as well as see them eating, because we are very curious about that.¡±

    Ritsuko folded her arms, feeling a sly smile form. ¡°Oh that¡¯s fine, you can just get Maya to bring her new girlfriend Mari up here and shove her in some device while you give her meat sandwiches and scan her guts¡­.¡±

    Maya turned sharply, seeing Kaji and Misato turn looking at her as both just seemed genuinely surprised. ¡°How do you even know about myself and Mari!?¡±

    Ritsuko raised her hand. ¡°Because you went home with her last night, and everyone saw you get in her sports car; it¡¯s not hard to put two and two together, since you don¡¯t entertain.¡± She pushed her hair back. ¡°Plus, your new girlfriend was bragging to Toji about how great the sex was with you, and people overheard her. So yes, the whole of Nerv knows now¡­hope that wasn¡¯t intended to be a secret.¡±

    Maya put her hand on her face. Great, just great, this was what she had not wanted to happen. She turned, eyeing the other woman. ¡°Who I take home and sleep with is none of your business, so back off!¡±

    Misato breathed in, feeling the need to stop this and get everyone¡¯s thoughts elsewhere. ¡°Just to clarify this for me, Asuka had Bardiel, so does that mean Bardiel was controlling this thing?¡±

    Chilam looked up slightly. ¡°Bardiel could hijack any organism, alien or human, but we believe the reason he might have hung out in her brain for so long might be because he didn¡¯t want to take on this thing all the time, despite tricking it and possibly bypassing it to get up to her brain. It¡¯s very clear it was fighting back though, as twenty percent of his matter is now part of it, though it¡¯s somehow been neutralized and is completely harmless.¡±

    Gendo stroked his beard as he spoke calmly. ¡°Why is the one on Suzuhara¡¯s spine smaller than the others?¡±

    Vitor turned to the holographic skeleton. ¡°We believe this one is younger, so it might be age-related, but we have a second theory that maybe they get stronger and bigger after the unit turns to primal state.¡±

    Gendo breathed in deeply as he spoke again. ¡°Well, clearly bringing you both on to do projects wasn¡¯t a complete waste of time after all. Though, your project will now go into top secret and be considered classified. No-one is to speak of any of this to the pilots from this day forward, not until we know more about this.¡±

    He turned, eyeing Maya, who suddenly looked nervous and embarrassed. ¡°That includes any of you who have had sexual relations with the pilots.¡± He raised a gloved hand, pointing at the device. ¡°That though, I want plugged into the Magi and ready as soon as possible.¡±

    Misato turned slightly. ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± She breathed in deeply, raising her tablet as she passed it to him. ¡°This is also the full report regarding the capture of Asuka and Rei, and it¡¯s clear to us now it¡¯s not anything to do with Gryphon, it¡¯s the Hyena of Vasai.¡±

    She looked down slightly, realizing that she couldn¡¯t say everything, as Maya in her report had said that she only wanted her, Kaji, Ritsuko, and Gendo to know the truth about Mari and for it not to be published. ¡°I can tell you that the man and woman are named in this report and are very dangerous. The source of this would prefer to remain unnamed to the command crew at present.¡±

    Gendo eased up the report. ¡°I see, Colonel. Well, I will take my time reading this back in my office.¡± He walked away, watching as Ritsuko followed him as he spoke calmly. ¡°See that this team is rewarded.¡±

    Misato watched him go, along with all of the others except for Maya, who looked truly pissed now. ¡°Hey, maybe you should get some sleep¡­ Clearly you¡¯ve had a very long day, I¡¯ll inform Mari.¡±

    Kaji moved toward Maya as he breathed in sadly. ¡°We read your report. That¡¯s fucking horrific¡­ What kind of person pulls that on their grandchildren?¡±

    Maya put her hand on her face. ¡°The worst part is, she views herself as being fully to blame as she knew the difference between right and wrong¡­ and she thinks she¡¯s a coward, yet she was the better one.¡±

    Misato looked down sadly. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t see this changing how Asuka feels about her. I think she¡¯ll stand by her no matter what.¡±

    Maya shook her head. ¡°Yeah well, I hope that¡¯s how it turns out when we get Asuka and Mari back together.¡±

    Kaji put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s going to be fine, believe me, but right now get some sleep; you earned it.¡±

    Maya nodded calmly. ¡°Yeah I think I will. So much for keeping Mari and myself secret.¡±

    Kaji felt a smile form. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s better that¡¯s it out in the open, as hiding it makes it harder.¡±

    Maya turned to him. ¡°Yeah, maybe that is for the better.¡±

    ¡°Hey¡­ Um, not to interrupt, but is that a normal response for the Commander?¡±

    Misato turned, looking at Vitor. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s very normal.¡±

    Chilam felt her eyes dart. ¡°Oh. I was concerned he wasn¡¯t impressed or hated us.¡±

    Misato felt a wide smile form as she raised her finger. ¡°Speaking of your reward, bonuses aside, I¡¯ll make sure to get all the pilots to this lab up close and personal as I promised, and you can run tests on Mari when the time is right and everything is more settled¡­ Just do not hurt her.¡±

    Maya looked up sharply. ¡°Don¡¯t I get a say in this, since she¡¯s now my girlfriend?¡± Misato turned slightly. ¡°You can be down here with her. She spends some of her off time down here anyway, so it means you get more time with her.¡±

    Maya raised her hand to speak, only to stop as she thought about that before speaking. ¡°Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Plus, if I tell her it¡¯s some new test, she¡¯ll buy it.¡±

    Vitor put his hands together. ¡°Finally, a real pilot! I can¡¯t wait to see what¡¯s under the hood.¡± He watched as everyone turned to look at him.

    Chilam raised her hands, feeling a wide grin form. ¡°He¡¯s speaking purely figuratively. I mean, they are incredible scientifically, since they pilot alien beings and clearly are part alien themselves, though the spine worm.¡±

    Maya stood up, taking her electronic paper files. ¡°I¡¯m going to bed.¡± She turned, eyeing both scientists. ¡°When we do this, you don¡¯t break or hurt my girlfriend. If you do, I will not be impressed with you. Do I make myself clear?¡±

    Vitor put his hands together. ¡°It will all be good, we can promise you that.¡±

    Maya rubbed her eyes. ¡°I hope for your sake that it is.¡±

    End of part 31

    Silvermoonlight

 Whispers In The Dark Ruins

    WHISPERS IN THE DARK RUINS

    Finally, a hotel. We had to walk for ages along the beachline to find one, but we¡¯ve finally found one called Forte Royal. It¡¯s clear now that this might be a British-owned territory, or at least it was once, as everything is in English, which I can just about read. This makes me think that this is either the Falklands or the South Georgia and Sandwich Islands, as both were abandoned when second impact hit; there was nothing to eat due to the red sea, making them uninhabitable for decades.

    The Falklands though, were recently made habitable again by Oculus. That was only two years ago, and the native population has been returned while the British help with the rebuild. I know that the other islands were next and it can take Oculus up to seven years to turn the water back to blue.

    It¡¯s done by a huge leviathan rig that moves slowly and creates a wall, stopping red water seeping into blue until the point that it¡¯s all blue, then they put the wildlife back into the sea, followed by land. But these islands are harder, because they¡¯re closer to the Antarctic, though second impact had, from what she heard, caused massive changes in weather, making South Georgia hotter and causing all of the ice of its mountains to melt.

    She looked up as they went inside the huge, battered, grey, sixties-style hotel, which had a long, brown roof that was crumbling and decaying and covered in red vines. They walked through the huge doors, which creaked open to an old-style lobby that was half rotted away.

    Rei could see old chairs that were falling apart and ripped, and the old wooden reservation desk. She moved forward, watching as Asuka followed close behind. She looked at the desk, seeing rotting papers and pamphlets. She picked one up, blowing the dust off it. ¡°Welcome to Forte Royal of South Georgia, the top destination for Antarctic wildlife tours. See seals and King penguins.¡± She paused, blinking in confusion. ¡°What¡¯s a King penguin?¡±

    Asuka leaned on the bar. ¡°I don¡¯t know what they are, but I heard Oculus is trying to recreate them. They¡¯ve just not been successful.¡±

    She leaned over, banging her hand on the reception bell as she smirked. ¡°Service is really dead around here.¡±

    Rei raised an eyebrow. Clearly Asuka was in one of her dark sense of humour moods, which meant she was in way more pain than she was letting on. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see what¡¯s in the bar and the kitchen; they must have food and drink.¡±

    Asuka followed her, ignoring the pain in her body. ¡°I''d give my goddamned soul for just a glass of beer.¡±

    Rei turned sharply. ¡°Asuka seriously, don¡¯t quote that movie right now.¡±

    Asuka gave her a leering grin. ¡°What, are you afraid this place is haunted or something, and the bartender might offer me one?¡±

    Rei eyed her. ¡°No, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll find some and drink it, when I need it for your wounds and bruises and we have next to no water right now.¡± She breathed in as they walked through the old shattered corridors, heading towards the restaurant and bar. ¡°Do you remember your survival training Asuka?¡±

    Asuka stopped sharply, trying to control the twinge of anger she felt, not at Rei for asking the question, but more herself for what she was about to say next. ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±

    Rei turned to look at her. ¡°You don¡¯t remember any of it?¡±

    Asuka eased up her hand. ¡°Look, I didn¡¯t pay attention. I was eighteen and I thought the whole thing was beyond stupid, because I said why would we ever be out of our Evangelions?!¡±

    Rei moved a step closer to her, taking hold of her hand. ¡°It¡¯s okay Asuka, I¡¯m not judging you; I just needed to know.¡± She turned Asuka¡¯s hand over gently, using her finger to weave a pattern over the palm. ¡°It¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of; it was a long time ago.¡±

    Asuka leaned forward, putting her head against the other woman¡¯s as she took slow breaths, trying to calm herself down. ¡°I just feel so stupid¡­ I just wish I hadn¡¯t been such a verfickte idiot and ignored the whole session.¡±

    Rei gently eased her hand up, running it through Asuka¡¯s long red hair. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Asuka, I remember a lot of it. Just follow my lead. Everything is going to be okay; we just need to work at this together.¡±

    8

    I guess that wasn¡¯t so bad. Strangely, I kind of enjoyed it. Having Sakura around is lightening and uplifting; she¡¯s such a sweet, good-natured young girl. You would never think that she¡¯d seen horror such as poverty and living on the streets, but I do see it in her eyes.

    She¡¯s older than she appears, as if she¡¯s seen things she shouldn¡¯t, and I know what that¡¯s like. We are now sitting on one of the levels at a caf¨¦ having tea and cake. It¡¯s quiet and relaxing. We did in the end find that store that sold Alebrijes. I bought a fox all in bright colours, as well as a green neck scarf, though I bought that before seeing Toji and Mari.

    She took a sip of her coffee. It was clear to her that Sakura had not found what she wanted. ¡°So, did you not find what you wanted?¡±

    Sakura took a sip of her Coke. ¡°No. It¡¯s not that the things weren¡¯t good, they just didn¡¯t suit me.¡±

    Sumire leaned over, slowly easing the green neck scarf out of her bag. ¡°You know, I bought this for me, but I feel it might suit you better.¡± She felt a smile form as the girl looked at her in shock as she spoke with uncertainty.

    ¡°Are you sure, I mean it¡¯s yours?¡±

    Sumire smiled as she opened it, putting it around the young girl¡¯s neck. ¡°Yes, it is mine, but I¡¯d have to say that the colour suits you way better.¡± She adjusted it gently. ¡°It goes well with your eyes and hair.¡±

    She sat back. ¡°Plus it¡¯s made from Egyptian cotton, which is one of the world¡¯s finest cottons and really soft.¡± She took a sip of her coffee. ¡°The boys in the Nerv School might like it too.¡±

    Sakura put her hand on the cotton before speaking. ¡°So do you have a boyfriend?¡±

    Sumire turned sharply, suddenly feeling slightly uneasy. ¡°No, not currently; I¡¯m not really looking right now.¡±

    Sakura felt her smile widen. ¡°Oh, well, what would you want in a guy if you were looking for one?¡±

    Sumire finished her coffee. ¡°Just someone who is kind, I guess, and who understands me.¡±

    Sakura took a sip of her drink. Clearly there was much more to this, but she wasn¡¯t going to push or force it out. ¡°I see.¡±

    Sumire looked up as a question entered her mind. ¡°I heard you spend time with Mari. Do you see her as a mother figure?¡±

    Sakura shook her head. ¡°No, she¡¯s more like a big sister to me. Though I realize Asuka is her real step-sister, so to speak, it hasn¡¯t changed anything between us. When I first came here, I had no real idea what girls my age do, as during Toji¡¯s training in China I just had my food and bed at the base barracks in his dorm room. It was cramped, but we both managed.¡±

    Sumire rolled her eyes, remembering the military training over in Nerv Mexico. ¡°I never liked the barracks dorm; you can¡¯t move in those things. Never enjoyed them during my training.¡± She looked at Sakura. ¡°Not a fun place for a young girl like you.¡±

    Sakura shrugged. ¡°It was okay, just boring at times, but it was nice to get meals and health care and be in a warm place that wasn¡¯t cold, wet, or windy, or sleeping under bridges or in the slum village outside of the city.¡±

    Sumire breathed in deeply. She couldn¡¯t imagine what that would even be like for a child. She had always had a warm bed and a roof over her head, and her father and mother had always loved her and had been very supportive of her transition. She turned back to Sakura. ¡°So when you came here, you had no idea what people your age are meant to do?¡±

    Sakura shook her head ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. I¡¯d spent so much time watching people shop on the streets, but I had no idea what they bought. You see them pass you by with bags of shopping, but you never knew what they bought, and they ignore you and treat you like vermin, and in the slum village you¡¯d see people doing bad or very adult things.¡±

    Sumire caught the pain and sadness in the young girl¡¯s eyes. ¡°Well, in my view, no-one should be treated that way. We are all human after all.¡±

    Sakura looked down sadly. ¡°Yeah, people deserve better, and when I came here I just had no idea how I was meant to dress or behave. Sometimes even now, I feel out of place in the class. They talk about boys and sometimes sex, but they¡¯ve never seen adults do it whereas I did.¡± She looked down sadly. ¡°They sometimes talk about the bad drugs and guns people carry, but I doubt any of them have ever escaped the barrel of a gun. Me and my brother did once; this angry woman came into the village slum and opened fire on all of us with a machine gun. We had to hide in a huge, dark underground pipe.

    We were there for hours, and it really affected my brother; he hates the dark. Later we heard she had been drinking and was going through a messy divorce, but she killed at least twelve people before the authorities stopped her, and she was long gone before myself and my brother came out of the underground pipe.¡±

    Sumire looked at the young girl, realizing the real tragedy of her life and her brother¡¯s. They had both been treated so badly and seen horrible and tragic things. Yet despite it all, they were not bitter or hateful, instead they were kind and compassionate to others. And clearly, she wasn¡¯t the only person who hated the dark, which she found comforting. She took in a deep breath before speaking. ¡°People can be very cruel, and you shouldn¡¯t blame yourself for anything that happened to you; none of it was your fault or your brother¡¯s.¡± She paused, moving her hand, putting it on Sakura¡¯s. ¡°Treasure the life you have and enjoy every moment of it.¡±

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Sakura felt her smile widen. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°There you both are, are you talking about me?¡±

    Sakura turned sharply, seeing her brother standing over her, giving her a smile. ¡°No, we were just talking.¡±

    Toji pulled up a chair. ¡°What about?¡±

    Sumire leaned forward. ¡°Just about Sakura¡¯s school and such.¡±

    Toji put his hands together. ¡°Thank you for taking care of her. Mari had to go to the rec room to store her things.¡±

    Sumire put her hands together. ¡°It was a pleasure, plus we both got things, so it was all good.¡±

    Toji eyed Sakura¡¯s new green neck scarf. ¡°Yeah, I saw the new scarf; it looks good.¡±

    Sumire eased out her carved figure. ¡°I got this. These are called Alebrijes, and very popular in my home country.¡±

    Toji eyed the light painted wooden carved fox. ¡°That is awesome.¡±

    Sumire put it away. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    She eased up her watch, looking at it. Suddenly realizing that she was going to be late, she stood up slowly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but the meeting is ending and I need to be there to help Maya sort the paperwork.¡±

    Toji met her gaze. ¡°I understand. Again, thank you for looking after my little sister.¡±

    Sumire took hold of her bags as she walked away. ¡°I hope we can all do it again sometime.¡±

    Sakura gave her a wave as she left. ¡°Yes, I¡¯d love to do it again Sumire.¡±

    Toji leaned on his elbow, watching as she left. Even knowing what he did now, it didn¡¯t change the way he felt about her. Sakura eyed her brother, who was looking off dreamily as Sumire left. She felt a sly smile form. ¡°I like her.¡±

    Toji breathed in dreamily. ¡°So do I.¡±

    Sakura looked at him, feeling a wide grin form. ¡°You should ask her out.¡±

    Toji turned, staring at her in surprise. ¡°You think so? It¡¯s just I really like her.¡±

    Sakura looked at him for a long moment before speaking. ¡°You always ask me if I like the women you bring home, and I confess I haven¡¯t liked them in the past, but I really like her. She just seems really nice and at the same time a little melancholy and unsure of herself.¡±

    Toji put a hand through his hair. ¡°You noticed that too?¡±

    Sakura nodded. ¡°Yeah, which is all the more reason to ask her out; you might be able to help her.¡±

    8

    Ritsuko eyed the holographic scenes image in hers and Gendo¡¯s office which showed Mari¡¯s family tree and her confession. ¡°Well this is extremely fucked up.¡± Gendo looked at the holographic image. ¡°So, it would appear we have the one child who isn¡¯t a psychopath from the Hyena of Vasai¡¯s family tree.¡±

    Ritsuko raised her cigarette, lighting it. ¡°This explains why Mari was so difficult in the beginning at least; this and her mother¡¯s murder clearly hit her hard, just like Asuka, and caused her to have a very difficult phase, which Maya has assured me that she¡¯s now fixing with medication for the drinking problem and pity sex for the emotional side.¡±

    She breathed out the smoke. ¡°Be interested to see how their whole relationship works out... Since I wouldn¡¯t consider Mari her type.¡±

    Gendo walked over to hologram. ¡°It also means that Geraldina¡¯s instinct wasn¡¯t just about her hatred of Langley being with her daughter Kyoko after all. The man was clearly off, and the trouser-snaking bastard had two kids before Mari, which is Christopher and Achika. They were in the video, and it means Gabriella, or the Hyena of Vasai, is the leader and possibly controller of Ankh, and Christopher was the pilot who has the dead lance of Longinus. He must have a Spine Web Worm like all our pilots do, which explains how he could defeat Asuka in the way he did.¡± He stroked his beard calmly. ¡°Clearly, our enemies have finally revealed themselves and this is their pathetic play to resurrect the destroyer of worlds.¡±

    Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. ¡°You don¡¯t sound concerned. You know this is what we always feared. It¡¯s what Seele told us about and why they wanted Asuka to be subdued during the program from day one. But their plan failed and she turned it around, because of Bardiel, in a way they didn¡¯t anticipate.¡±

    Gendo eyed the images again. ¡°My dear, I¡¯m not concerned. If there¡¯s one thing I remember about that fool Langley, he always missed the finer details. From reading about his mother, though she was a brutal solider of war, her occupation of Ukraine meant she never obtained power, because despite being a cold, hard killer, she missed things of importance. It¡¯s how Geraldina tracked her down, flanked her, and blew her arm off, and caused her to flee the very war she started. That war lead to a heated civil war, which kept going on for many more years, and this same war affected Kaworu growing up.¡±

    He put his finger on Mari¡¯s image. ¡°Clearly though, she didn¡¯t inherit this lack of attention to detail like her family.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed the Hyena¡¯s image. ¡°Yeah, well, Geraldina is going to be so pissed off when she finds out that, first, she was right about Langley, and second, she didn¡¯t kill the Hyena, since her claim to fame was that she was meant to have killed her.¡±

    Gendo eyed Gabriella¡¯s image. ¡°This though, is why I don¡¯t fear the Hyena. She can¡¯t resurrect a living destroyer of worlds, no more than I can turn sand into gold, and Asuka won¡¯t submit to her since she has my daughter held prisoner. Also if Gabriella is foolish enough to tell her what really happened with Mari I feel it will only add to her anger and hated of them.¡±

    He put his hands behind his back. ¡°Resurrecting an old soul is very dangerous. It takes time and care, and is an art form. Do it wrong, you can suffer for it, and the hyena has none of the qualities that mean she will succeed.¡± He stepped away from the holographic screen. ¡°Plus, if they were successful we¡¯d know by now.¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. ¡°I just hope you¡¯re right about this.¡±

    Gendo turned slowly to her. ¡°As I said before, Asuka is an apex predator. She only cares about protecting my daughter, possibly for sexual favours. I don¡¯t see her bending to their whims. I see her doing what she does best, which is destroying in our name.¡±

    8

    Asuka leaned over, pulling yet another empty bottle of alcohol out from the cabinet, throwing it over her shoulder, ignoring the sound as it smashed on the other side. Why was there no verfickte alcohol? Like, it was bad enough that this boring torment meant that they were stranded here, but there was nothing here to drink.

    She had been looking for a tarp that they could use to collect rainwater, but she¡¯d only found buckets, though she¡¯d found a couple of umbrellas in the guest rooms on the lower floor that didn¡¯t have holes. Now she was trying to find water or other drinks in the vast kitchen, since the bar was completely empty.

    She threw another empty bottle, ignoring the red vines, which were everywhere and it was a pain trying to step over them. She eased out a bottle. Realizing it was half full bottle of whisky, she unscrewed the cap, taking a slight drink which wasn¡¯t enjoyable, only for a voice to echo through the old corridor, though it sounded far away and difficult to hear. ¡°You¡¯re so pathetic¡­ you take orders from that little bitch and you tell yourself it¡¯s fine¡­ you disgust me.¡± Asuka blinked, staring down the corridor in utter confusion. Who the hell had even said that? Maybe this scheisse hole was haunted, which she didn¡¯t want to think about right now.

    ¡°Asuka?¡±

    Asuka jumped in spite of herself. She turned sharply, seeing that Rei was standing behind her. The other woman looked at her in confusion as she spoke calmly. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply, letting the next breath out slowly. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I thought I heard a voice.¡±

    Rei looked at her, seeing this was serious and not a joke. ¡°It¡¯s probably the wind. I was checking the rooms on the second floor; they all have holes, which means you can see outside.¡± She paused, seeing the open whisky bottle in Asuka¡¯s hand. ¡°Oh, you found some whisky. I can use this on any cuts you have.¡± She took it from her hand. ¡°All of the medical kits have rusted away. They¡¯re from the old world; they even have the old type syringes, which they replaced with medical guns, and the bandages were rotten.¡±

    Rei eyed the umbrella and buckets. ¡°You found the stuff for water traps; that¡¯s great! I found some as well, and there¡¯s a room we can sleep in upstairs. It¡¯s not as rotted away as the rest. None of the mattresses are any good, but we can sleep in the bathtub in there; it¡¯s big enough for two. I found some blankets in the storage cupboards that have not rotted away, and the room has an old fireplace so we can start a fire.¡± She eyed the cupboards, seeing the food cans littering the floor. Some had been opened. ¡°Is there anything to eat?¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply as she sat down, ignoring the pain in her body. ¡°The ones I checked were contaminated and smelt bad.¡±

    Rei picked up an open can. ¡°How did you open these?¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°I used my razor canine teeth to make a hole, and a knife to buckle them, then jar them open.¡±

    Rei picked up a can and spoon from one of the open drawers. ¡°You know, you can use a spoon; it¡¯s much easier.¡±

    Asuka lay back on the floor. ¡°Remind me when we get to civilization to buy a Swiss army knife from Germany so if I ever get stranded on some verfickte island again I have a can opener.¡±

    Rei slowly opened an old can of meat, which didn¡¯t smell bad. ¡°I think this one¡¯s okay, I mean they¡¯re meant to last for years so long as they¡¯re not bent, buckled, or have holes.¡± She passed it to Asuka. ¡°We just need to find more.¡±

    Asuka stared at the ceiling for a long moment. The broken kitchen windows were letting in some light, which helped since the building electrics no longer worked . ¡°Do you think we are going to get off this place?¡±

    Rei picked up a small spoon, putting it in her hand. ¡°Yes, I do; they¡¯ve probably got bulletins out for us worldwide.¡± She paused before speaking. ¡°Now I need you to eat something.¡±

    Asuka sat up, picking up the can, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. ¡°Great, canned beef from the year two thousand, I really can¡¯t wait to eat this.¡±

    Rei sifted through the cans, finally finding something that she could eat that wasn¡¯t meat. ¡°What¡¯s rice pudding?¡±

    Asuka eyed the can. ¡°It¡¯s a sweet treat. It¡¯s meant to be nice; I¡¯ve seen Mari ordering cans of it from home.¡± She watched as Rei opened it, taking a spoonful only for her face to screw up in disgust. ¡°Does it taste that bad?¡±

    Rei eyed the can. ¡°It tastes awful. It¡¯s really sickly sweet, what a weird thing to do to rice.¡±

    Asuka took a bite of the corned beef. ¡°I feel the same way about natto.¡±

    Rei breathed in as she carried on eating, despite that it was not that great. ¡°I guess taste is subjective.¡± She turned, pulling the whisky bottle over. ¡°Once we are done, I¡¯ll use this one on any cuts you have.¡±

    Asuka eyed her. ¡°You know I think that¡¯s a waste of a perfectly good whisky.¡±

    Rei stood up as she moved to sit next to Asuka. ¡°Are you any good at making fire?¡±

    Asuka turned to her. ¡°Would it surprise you to know I¡¯m really good at that? Since my grandma taught me how it¡¯s done without matches.¡± She felt a toothy grin form. ¡°We used to do campfires and cook breakfast on an iron pan.¡± She took in a deep breath. ¡°I would love a German breakfast right now.¡±

    Rei put an arm around her, getting closer. ¡°We just have to wait it out; someone will come.¡±

    Asuka pulled her closer. ¡°Yeah I know I just hate being in this place; it¡¯s already giving me the verfickte creeps.¡±

    Rei looked at the dark, dimly lit room. ¡°Well, at least we are together in this creepy place, and it¡¯s not all pitch black since your left eye is always glowing.¡±

    Asuka felt a warm smile form. ¡°Yeah, there is that. I get to be a human torch for you.¡±

    End of part 32

    Silvermoonlight

 Battered And Pounded On The Derelict Shores

    BATTERED AND POUNDED ON THE DERELICT SHORES

    Sumire tapped on Misato¡¯s office door. She had gone to Maya¡¯s, but she had an office sign up saying she was resting and was to be left alone. She looked up as Misato¡¯s voice hit the air. ¡°Come in.¡± Sumire opened the door, walking in nervously since this was the one office next to Gendo and Ritsuko¡¯s she was nervous about being in. She eased up her folder of electronic papers. ¡°Colonel, I¡¯ve just been told by the science division that the new software is ready for upload to all of the Nerv facilities worldwide. I wanted to tell Maya, but she¡¯s sleeping and doesn¡¯t want to be disturbed.¡±

    Misato eyed her, taking the paper from her hand. Maya liked these way more than tablets as they could be filed, then stored in the Nerv database, and used over and over. ¡°Yes, I ordered her to get some rest, as she had a very long night last night and didn¡¯t get any sleep, which I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard about.¡±

    Sumire nodded calmly. ¡°Yes, I heard about it, though I have no comment to make on it, as I don¡¯t pry in the private lives of others.¡±

    Misato felt a wide grin form. ¡°Really?¡±

    Sumire nodded. ¡°Yes, Colonel.¡±

    Misato leaned back, putting her feet on the desk. ¡°You know, I have a question I¡¯ve been wanting to ask you.¡±

    Sumire blinked in confusion. ¡°Yes, Colonel.¡±

    Misato raised her hand. ¡°What did you say to Ritsuko, not in this meeting because I found that out, but what did you say to her originally that caused her to throw you into the dark zone doing maintenance on the Magi servers?¡±

    Sumire breathed in deeply. ¡°I told her she was a pathetic, cowardly woman who always blames others and does not look for her own failures as a person.¡±

    Misato looked at her for a long moment. ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong. Clearly, you really hit her in her soft underbelly and she punished you for it.¡±

    Sumire felt herself tense. ¡°Has she ordered that I go back there after I told her to go fuck herself in the meeting?¡±

    Misato looked up slightly. ¡°No, she hasn¡¯t, but next time let me say things like that for you; I would rather not give her any more reason to punish you, and I know you¡¯re currently on anti-depressants.¡± She paused. ¡°Also, if they clash with your other medications, please inform me, as that part wasn¡¯t in your records.¡±

    Sumire eyed her. ¡°The Mexican division never saw it as relevant.¡±

    Misato looked at her for a long moment. ¡°Well, I have to note it, but no-one other than the bridge crew and higher staff can read about it.¡±

    Sumire breathed in sharply. ¡°No offence, but I would rather Ritsuko not get to read it. I¡¯ve heard she¡¯s homophobic, and I heard she backed up that vile bastard Yuki who still works here, and I¡¯ve heard of the things that he¡¯s done to people like me.¡±

    Misato looked up slightly. ¡°Ah yes, because you¡¯ve been out of the loop for a long while, you probably don¡¯t know that Yuki was fired some time ago, as his hate crimes came out in full and were no longer covered up.¡± She felt a sly smile form. ¡°Asuka also beat the shit out of the guy, as he had taken out his hatred on both Mari and Kaworu by beating them, as well as her, many years ago. Safe to say, once he was discharged, he was sacked.¡± She raised her hand. ¡°So, you have nothing to fear anymore from him, and you will be fully protected from any hate like that in future. Kaji has put a new protocol in place to ensure that all high-level bridge staff and pilots are safe from this issue in the future, and another¡¯s in place for the general staff.¡±

    Sumire narrowed her gaze. ¡°I see.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°Trust me, Sumire: no further harm will come to you.¡±

    Sumire breathed in, easing up her tablet, feeling the need to change the subject. ¡°The hospital has said you can speak to Miki, but only via com, and the Prime Minister and his wife have refused to give you to her, along with her brother.¡±

    Misato sat up in her chair. ¡°Well, that¡¯s something at least.¡±

    Sumire put her hands behind her back. ¡°Not that it¡¯s any of my business, but that medication for dealing with post-traumatic stress in some people can make them not as sharp as they should be, as it¡¯s a really powerful drug.¡±

    Misato looked up, meeting her gaze. ¡°You¡¯ve had it?¡±

    Sumire breathed in deeply. ¡°Yes, after the incident with Gryphon in Mexico they gave it to me. I had a three-week run of it and I wasn¡¯t always clear-minded on it.¡±

    Misato put her hands together. ¡°Tell me something, Sumire. Why did you join Nerv, as you were asked that question in Mexico, but you refused to answer it.¡±

    Sumire put her hands behind her back. ¡°For my country¡­.¡±

    Misato picked up a pen, pointing it at her. ¡°No, that¡¯s the official answer. So, let me ask again, why are you really here?¡±

    Sumire felt a sneer form as she spoke with more anger then intended. ¡°So I can bring an end to the vile terrorist groups who killed my grandmother as a child, because they bring nothing but suffering!¡±

    She paused before speaking. ¡°Because one day I want to put the man who leads Gryphon in jail.  But I guess you¡¯re going to tell me that revenge is pointless.¡±

    Misato stood up slowly as she spoke calmly. ¡°I¡¯m here because I want to kill Adam, as he killed my father. I can¡¯t belittle your need for revenge when I have a score of my own to settle.¡±

    Sumire blinked in surprise, feeling her anger fade instantly. ¡°I see, Colonel.¡±

    Misato stepped out from behind her desk. ¡°Now, if you would, I¡¯d like to go to the science division and see what they¡¯ve cooked up. I assume Kaji is already there.¡±

    Sumire started walking as she spoke calmly. ¡°Yes, Colonel. He is there now, waiting for you. I¡¯ll take you there now.¡±

    Out In The South Pacific Ocean

    Gabriella sneered in anger as she spoke. ¡°Get the ship out of the water now!¡± The deep loud creaking was heard as he Hatshepsut came free from the sea, its huge wings slowly opening as it floated above the surface. They had been stuck down there for hours in pitch darkness, sinking in to the darkest depth. It had taken ages to restart the S2 engine, since it had to be shocked like a human heart and theirs was a back-engineered version based on the Mars mission version, which was currently being tested. She watched as the controllers eyed the holographic panels. ¡°What damage have we taken?!¡±

    The controller breathed in. ¡°There is a hole within the ship, Pharaoh!¡±

    Gabriella watched as they brought up an image of a part of the inside, which had a massive area which had been blown apart. ¡°How many people are dead?¡±

    The controller breathed in as he eyed the reports. ¡°There are twenty people missing¡­ but there are no bodies. They¡¯re telling me that all they found was this red liquid, like blood, all over these decks.¡±

    Gabriella tensed in anger. ¡°Must be their guts. Have them vent it out using the water spray¡­.¡± She eyed the image. ¡°This makes no sense. The explosion blew this area up, but didn¡¯t blow right out creating a hole outside the ship.¡±

    The controller turned to her. ¡°There something else though. There¡¯s a boy who survived. He was the only one to live in that deck area, but he¡¯s not making any sense. He keeps telling us that he saw a horrible monster destroy the deck and kill those people. He won¡¯t say how or even what he saw fully, he¡¯s just in a state of shock it seems.¡±

    Gabriella breathed in deeply. ¡°How long will it take to repair the ship?¡±

    The controller shook his head. ¡°It will take hours, Pharaoh, and we will be exposed during that time as one of our main propeller engines to help us both fly and swim is damaged.¡±

    Gabriella narrowed her gaze as she spoke coldly. ¡°Have them clean those two decks, put the boy in therapy, and fix our engine.¡±

    Christopher looked up nervously. ¡°Grandmother, we¡¯ll be exposed. If any ferry or battleship sees us, they could attack us.¡±

    Gabriella sat down on a chair, eyeing him. ¡°It¡¯s a risk we will just have to take, and we still have weapons to blow them out of the water.¡± She put a hand on her face in frustration. ¡°We had the destroyer of worlds in the palms of our hands, and now we¡¯ve lost her.¡±

    Achika tensed, trying to forget what she had seen. ¡°Grandmother, I mean no offence, but maybe this wasn¡¯t a good idea. You saw that thing, we all did. Maybe it¡¯s better that it¡¯s gone.¡±

    Gabriella slammed her fist down hard as she turned her chair towards them. ¡°Stop being cowards, both of you! It was an illusion. It wasn¡¯t real, it was a projected soul image. Terrifying, yes, but still not flesh and blood!¡±

    Christopher breathed in deeply. ¡°But those people¡­ There¡¯s nothing left; it clearly ate them alive.¡±

    Gabriella eyed the image of the decks, which were being washed, as she spoke coldly. ¡°People can be replaced¡­¡± She paused. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter though. It¡¯s just a stumbling block on our plans, and I will have the destroyer back in our hands.¡±

    Christopher eyed his sister, who looked just as concerned as him now. They were both shaken up. They had both seen some terrifying things in their lives, but they had not felt fear like this before. Maybe the reality was that some things you weren¡¯t meant to see, and maybe you weren¡¯t meant to see a death god in the flesh. Yet their grandmother now wanted to pursue this further, and that made him feel truly uncomfortable. He had at first believed that seeing a god would be like seeing heaven and the divine; now all he could think of was that he wanted to be as far away from that Pandoran box as he could get, and he knew his sister felt the same.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    8

    Well, it rained long and hard partway through last night. I didn¡¯t sleep well because of it. The only upside is, the water traps got filled. I don¡¯t know if we just got lucky, personally, I mean what are the odds of getting that lucky? Asuka¡¯s not awake; she¡¯s slept through the night and it¡¯s getting into the late morning, and she still hasn¡¯t woken up.

    I think the pain¡¯s truly kicking in now for her. Since she has no painkillers, it was difficult putting alcohol on the cuts, as they clearly hurt. Her whole upper body from her neck, down to her waist and lower stomach is just full of bruises, both from being hit, and from the restraining devices. Her wrists are also bruised, as are her ankles, and she looks pale now and thin in the face.

    I¡¯ll have to wake her up soon, give her as much water as possible, and hope she keeps it down. Her left eye is behaving normally now, in that it¡¯s going into its dimmed state when she sleeps. Oh gods, I just wish I could remember what happened to the both of us! It¡¯s clear neither of us can remember anything after they used that device.

    Every time I think about it, I get nothing, and it¡¯s so frustrating. I hate not being able to remember; it feels so unnerving to me. I hate the unknown, and I hate not remembering anything, and I don¡¯t know how a whole chunk of my memory could just fade like that, even though I clearly have not taken a blow to the head.

    Rei breathed in as she carried on rubbing the old-world batteries with wire wool. They¡¯d found lots in the kitchen draws. Finding ones that weren¡¯t leaking was hard, but they had found a couple. She watched as the spark ignited on the burning material and wire wool. She threw it into the fireplace, lighting it again, then threw in a few broken pieces of furniture.

    Something weird had also happened last night, and she had no idea if the rain had caused it, but the red vines, which had been on the walls on every side of the room, had grown overnight and were working their way towards the tub where they were sleeping. She had had to pull some of them back, which hadn¡¯t been pleasant; they felt like flesh to the touch, and if you squeezed them you got the same blood on your hands as was found in the red sea.

    She grabbed the nearest bottle of water as she stood up, walking over to Asuka, she leaned over shaking her gently. ¡°Asuka.¡± She tried again, slightly harder. ¡°Asuka!¡± She watched as the other woman¡¯s eyes opened, though it clearly took a lot of effort.

    Asuka spoke in a tired voice. ¡°What is it?¡±

    Rei raised the bottle of fresh, clear water. ¡°I need you to drink this, Asuka.¡±

    Asuka sat up slightly. ¡°We have water?¡±

    Rei breathed in, gently putting a hand behind Asuka¡¯s head, helping her as she started to drink with utter gusto; she was clearly very thirsty. ¡°Yes, I think we just got lucky, or maybe it¡¯s one of those British things Mari talks about where it always rains.¡±

    She watched as Asuka stopped, clearly running out of steam. She pulled the now almost empty bottle away. ¡°We only have enough for two days. Maybe when you feel a little better, we can start searching the homes. I mean, someone must have a radio or Morse code device here. There might even be a still-working boat, as I saw docks not far from here, meaning we can get back to civilization.¡±

    Asuka moved her hand up, taking hold of Rei¡¯s arm. ¡°You look tired. Did you sleep?¡±

    Rei pushed her hair back, hating that it was getting messy. She so much wanted to wash, but red water made her uncomfortable and she just couldn¡¯t bring herself to wash with it. ¡°The rain kept me up though-out the night, but you slept through it.¡±

    Asuka eyed the lit fireplace before turning back to Rei. She pulled up her blanket, feeling the slight chill of the cold. ¡°Come lay with me. Sleep for a while.¡±

    Rei looked around her for a long moment. A part of her wanted to carry on working, but the rest of her body was tired, and she could feel the chill. She breathed in slowly, getting into the tub. She lay on top of Asuka, circling up slightly as the woman put her blankets over her, holding her tight. ¡°Yeah, maybe I should sleep a while.¡±

    Asuka breathed in, feeling the other woman shuffle, getting more comfortable before she settled down, her green eyes slowly starting to close as much needed sleep took over. She lay back so her head was looking up at the tub¡¯s old, long-broken shower head, which was attached to the tub via pipes. As she looked up at the large hole in the ceiling opposite, with its broken rafters which showed the bright blue sky outside, a set of birds flew over in formation. She breathed in, feeling a sad smile form. How strangely beautiful this place was, all in rot and decay, yet you could look up at an almost perfect sky.

    Right now, she almost wished she had her digital scroll to draw this, yet the reality was that she wouldn¡¯t be able to draw it anyway; her wrists hurt too much, which would make art impossible to sketch.

    The whole being here gave her a strange sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, like she¡¯d been here before, yet she knew she never had. Still, what did it matter? All that really mattered was that she wasn¡¯t alone; she was with someone who loved her. If she¡¯d have been washed up here alone, handling this would have been ten times worse, and she knew it.

    In the here and now, they had water and food and each other¡¯s warmth, so maybe she should just carry on looking at the sky for a while. She finished the water bottle close by, before resting again. She eased her hands up, putting them on Rei, hugging her gently, hearing that the other woman¡¯s breathing was now lighter, which meant she was starting to drift into deeper sleep. The reality was that as scheisse as this was, it could be far worse and she knew it: they could still be on that vile underwater airship.

    London¡¯s Bethany Nerv base

    Marcus stroked his white beard as he eyed the monitor, seeing that Alexandra was opposite him typing into her holographic panel. ¡°So, let me get this straight, right, just so I¡¯ve got this¡­. Nerv Japan found a way to track Asuka using Bardiel?¡±

    Alexandra turned, adjusting her pressed suit. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve installed the software they sent us, and it¡¯s almost finished calibrating. They said that it has huge coverage.¡±

    Marcus adjusted his uniform. ¡°But Bardiel left Asuka. They said she was clean.¡±

    Alexandra carried on typing. ¡°I asked about that, as I didn¡¯t understand it either, and I was just told that it¡¯s classified. So I asked Geraldina over in the German division, but she knew nothing and said they told her the same thing.¡±

    She carried on typing. ¡°All major bases and lesser bases have been told to update the software. It¡¯s taken five hours to calibrate in total. They said once all the software comes online, every base should get a world scan, but if she¡¯s in a base¡¯s region or owned lands, a marker should come up pinpointing her location.¡±

    Marcus breathed in deeply. ¡°Yeah, well I¡¯ll be interested to see if this even works. I mean pilot tracking normally works by the plug suit, but this is all really weird.¡± He paused, watching as the holographic world map shot up. The results started to come though as the software came online at all the other bases.

    Alexandra breathed in deeply. ¡°Okay, bringing ours online now.¡± She typed, watching as it started to scan slowly as the other bases came up empty. ¡°Frankly, I think this is a fucking waste of time. Tracking people worldwide is hard, let alone finding one single person.¡±

    Marcus smirked. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t see this working¡­¡± He stopped as a marker came up flashing brightly. He pulled himself up in his chair. ¡°Well fuck me sideways!¡±

    Misato¡¯s voice came over the com. ¡°Britain Bethany base, we are getting a strong signal from you, please clarify location.¡±

    Alexandra turned in her command chair, which was opposite Marcus¡¯s. ¡°Tracking it right now, please stand by Nerv Japan.¡± She watched as the map beamed in fully. ¡°Asuka¡¯s location is the abandoned South Georgia Island in the second impact ruins.¡±

    Misato¡¯s voice hit the air filled with shock. ¡°She¡¯s all the way out there? But that¡¯s on the other side of the world!¡±

    Marcus stood up sharply. ¡°I¡¯ll go and get her. I can get down there. It could take me five hours, but it¡¯s faster than you coming down here. I¡¯ll bring her and Rei with me back to Japan.¡± He paused. ¡°We can upload this software into our handheld trackers, I assume?¡±

    Misato¡¯s voice came again. ¡°Yes, you can.¡±

    Marcus looked up slightly. ¡°Time is now of the essence, Colonel. Those ruins are poisonous; it¡¯s the vines, they make people very sick and can even kill them.¡±

    Misato¡¯s voice hit the air. ¡°Yes, get them right now. We have no idea what the effects are of red vines on pilots. They¡¯ve never had long exposure of any kind before.¡±

    Marcus breathed in deeply. ¡°I¡¯m leaving now, Colonel. I will report back as soon as I have Asuka. Hopefully, Rei will be with her.¡± He turned, eyeing Alexandra. ¡°Send the message I want my special Lockheed CL-1201 aircraft carrier with its special medical section prepped with a medical crew, and two Euro fighters to flank me, and I want the best SIS and SAS units we have in it in ten minutes!¡±

    Alexandra turned in her seat. ¡°I¡¯ll get that for you now.¡± She paused, eyeing her screen. ¡°Now go. As you say, we don¡¯t have any time to waste; we both know what happens to people who go to that island.¡±

    Marcus stroked his beard. ¡°Yeah, you don¡¯t need to tell me. I¡¯ve dragged more dead bodies off that shit hole place than I can count. The wankers know it¡¯s a restricted area, but they still go there and pay for it with their miserable lives.¡±

    8

    It¡¯s funny, I¡¯ve travelled so many worlds and planes and so many strange places in my eons of travel, but there are strangely some things that you can¡¯t recreate on other worlds or parallel universes, no matter how hard you try, and one that seems primal and unique to this universe is its Mugicha.

    The smell, the taste, the texture, even how they place the cup on your plate; the tiny details are always the same in this universe, but not in others, and it helps me remember better times. I don¡¯t have to eat or drink, but sometimes I just do it for the sense of memories and connection of times passed ¨C some happy, some tragic and sad. Yet those are my memories; they are important to me.

    Hence why I¡¯m sitting in a caf¨¦ on one of the Tokyo Three¡¯s shopping areas, far from Nerv, watching as the people walk past the window and the world goes by slowly. I come back here every now and again since its creation, because it¡¯s a way of reconnecting with who I was during my cycle, and remembering what it was to be human. It¡¯s a distant memory now and not always easy to remember. I¡¯m in my schoolgirl form, and for a change I¡¯m letting them see me openly.

    ¡°Here¡¯s your hot Mugicha.¡±

    I turn, looking at the waiter, who eyes me for a long moment before speaking.

    ¡°You know, you remind me of the Evangelion Pilot Rei Ayanami. I bet your friends at school tell you that all the time though.¡±

    I look at my tea for a long moment before speaking, as I never had school friends. I was always alone when I was human. The only friends I had were Shinji and Asuka, and in that first reincarnation they barely tolerated me and were mean towards me, yet the versions in this twentieth cycle have shown me nothing but kindness and compassion. ¡°I don¡¯t have school friends.¡±

    He looks at me sadly. ¡°Is that because of your condition? The walking dead syndrome? Because if it is, you shouldn¡¯t let it get to you.¡±

    If he only knew, I chose to be this way because I do not care about what others think of me, and if they do say cruel things, with a flick of my fingers I can make them forget they ever met or spoke to me. I can even whisper ideas into their minds and change their destiny to suit myself, though I don¡¯t do it that often as I don¡¯t believe in taking away free will; I know what it¡¯s like to have my own taken and to be a tool in the hands of another. It¡¯s always a strong memory for me that never goes away. I look up, replying, but it¡¯s in a very deadpan tone. ¡°I don¡¯t care what they think.¡±

    The older man, who is clearly kind, gives me a smile. ¡°Things will work out, kid. You¡¯ll see, they will.¡±

    I watch as he leaves. I move my fingertips around the edges of the cup. It¡¯s a trait my other human self does often as well, though her preferred hot drink differs to mine; it¡¯s normally warm Sake, drunk traditionally. One thing though I do enjoy about being a god of sorts, is I can now eat anything just like she can. I¡¯m not hindered by my insides breaking down anymore. The first time I made this pilgrimage, I just wanted to try everything. I did so with utter gusto; I even ate meat just to try it, even though it still does nothing for me.

    After, I travelled the world, taking different forms, trying different dishes, which on alien and parallel worlds can taste so different, but unlike on those worlds where it was to try them for mere curiosity, on this one it was more about a homecoming; eating things denied to me in humanity and feeling linked to the world again in some way.

    Now, as I sip this Mugicha, I¡¯m instantly taken back to the days of walking to Nerv, going past run-down caf¨¦s, the smell of the petrol cars and trucks, and those fleeting moments of happiness, and I can feel myself truly enjoying the moment and just for a second forgetting that I am a god reborn. Remembering that I am just Rei, and there is another like me, but she is not me, as I am me.

    End of part 33

    Silvermoonlight

 The Feeling Of Simple Hope

    THE FEELING OF SIMPLE HOPE

    Marcus walked along the battered south George islands as he breathed in deeply. ¡°I hate this place, can¡¯t wait till Oculus repairs it.¡± He could now see the huge Lockheed over the red water opposite being protected by a Euro fighter, which was hovering above as they had said that something had come up on the scanners that didn¡¯t belong here.

    He turned as the huge grabbing magnetic claw on the Lockheed went down deep in to the water. Causing it to bubbled and churn, as large rocket like object painted in gold white and blue which was clearly some form of escape pod was pulled out of the red bloody deep waters. ¡°Well that explains how she got here.¡±

    He watched as it was lowered as it hit the shore as the pilot pulled the release and the magnetic claw went back inside the under carriage as he spoke over the com. ¡°Well that doesn¡¯t belong here that¡¯s for sure, and it¡¯s not from any country design I know in our data base.¡±

    Marcus eyed it. ¡°Go land when we leave here we¡¯ll take it with us back to Japan, they can look it over.¡± The female medic spoke opposite him. ¡°On the bright side Sir if we find them fast we might get to see the cruise liner RMS Titanic the White Star Line jewel in crown, as she is making her hundredth voyage today.¡±

    Marcus folded his arms. ¡°Oh please, don¡¯t talk to me about the White Star Line they¡¯ve been riding my ass for the last week, over the fact that Rei¡¯s unit 00 smashed and damaged their second most popular Cruise liner the Lusitania which has had to go back to the Belfast docs for repairs.¡±

    He shook his head as he pulled on his breathing mask watching as the huge Lockheed landed. ¡°They got compensated just like the Brazilians did over the super dreadnought, now there complaining that they don¡¯t want Evangelions anywhere near there golden league of cruise liner ships and they say the RMS Titanic is off limits on all counts.¡±

    The man opposite raised his device. ¡°I¡¯m picking up Asuka¡¯s signal but it¡¯s really strong, way stronger than we were expecting.¡± Marcus walked over to him eyeing the read out. ¡°That is really strong. Its angel strength yet she¡¯s human.¡± He breathed in through his oxygen mask. ¡°How far away is she?¡±

    The man eyed the device. ¡°She over a mile away in one of the hotels...¡± The woman opposite pulled up her arm pressing it watching as three dimensional hologram shot up from her wrist which she rotated slowly. ¡°Based on his information Sir I track her at Forte Royal. The derelict hotel that used to be a tourist trap where you could go a see the wildlife, as they used to have ocean trips out there.¡±

    Marcus breathed in deeply. ¡°Yeah my father told me about this place when I was a small boy, you could go out and see penguins, seals and polar bears.¡± The man opposite spoke. ¡°What¡¯s a polar bear?¡± Marcus pulled up his gun. ¡°A bear that¡¯s bigger than a brown or black bear and far more dangerous. They used to attack and eat people, be happy they are last on Oculus list here and they are currently at the North Pole.¡±

    He watched as men and women pulled up their weapons are they started walking behind him as they began to make their way through the cold wet ruins with their bloody vines everywhere. ¡°Now let¡¯s move out, the faster we get there the better.¡±

    8

    Asuka opened her eyes slowly, she could hear footsteps sounding down the corridor from heavy boots, which were coming towards the closed door of the room. She breathed in deeply seeing that Rei hadn¡¯t woken up she was still sleeping on her chest and unmoving.

    She took in a deep breath freeing her hands from Rei¡¯s body as she lowered them out of sight. If they were from Ankh she had one chance to shoot them but she would have to play dead, so they could get close enough as if they thought she was ill or dying they¡¯d see her as less of a threat. She breathed slowly closing both eyes to slits as she lay still slowing her breathing so it was low as she shifted her gaze towards the ceiling aimlessly.

    She watched as the door was pushed open as a bunch of solders came through who were all dressed in dark military gear, which she couldn¡¯t quite make out due to the faded light of the room. As they all walked closer she could see masks which covered their faces. The closest spoke her voice clearly female. ¡°We¡¯ve found them they are both here general.¡± She tensed her arms getting ready as other spoke opposite. All of them were speaking in English. ¡°How did they both fucking survive here? The airs meant to be toxic as shit due to these creeper vines?¡±

    The first solider moved closer her voice filled with uncertainty. ¡°No offence but Langley doesn¡¯t look alive, she looks like she¡¯s passed out.¡± The other man opposite spoke. ¡°The general said not to touch her or get close, because like Mari she¡¯ll take your shit at any opportunity.¡± The other woman spoke. ¡°Yes he clearly said that and the general said that her grandmother is head of Nerv Germany.¡± The woman moved closer. ¡°Fuck you all she¡¯s half passed out and look Ayanami is with her.¡±

    She moved even closer. ¡°I¡¯m going check her since she¡¯s the less foul tempered one in the relationship.¡± She moved closer easing her hand down to check Rei¡¯s neck. ¡°Ayanami¡¯s okay I got a steady pulse!¡±

    Asuka didn¡¯t think her next action was automatic as she grabbed the pistol from its holder on the woman¡¯s belt before she could re-react taking the safety off as she jammed it violently in to her lower stomach. She spoke coldly keeping her finger on the trigger as sat up fully looking at the female solider feeling her felt eye ignite and her teeth turn to razors. She spoke coldly in English, knowing it wasn¡¯t her best language. ¡°You should have verfickte listened to your friends!¡±

    She felt a cold sneer form as she spoke again looking up in to the woman¡¯s masked face. ¡°Now how¡¯s about you tell me who are right now. Or I don¡¯t blow a hole in your privates making it so you can¡¯t have children!¡± She watched as Rei¡¯s eyes shot open as she looked around her realizing what was going on.

    Asuka turned hearing laughter only to watch as a large well build unmasked man with a white beard who looked like he was of Jamaican decent appeared speaking calmly. ¡°Well what was it I said to you people, oh yes that¡¯s right don¡¯t touch Asuka it might end badly for you.¡± He sniggered coming closer eyeing the female solider who looked uncomfortable now. ¡°If it¡¯s all the same with you could you kindly not shoot her, she meant well believe me.¡±

    Asuka eyed him. ¡°How¡¯s about you tell me who you verfickte are, before I turn this gun on you?!¡± Marcus blinked before laughing again. ¡°Well I¡¯m Marcus joint head of the British Nerv division with Alexandra who runs the SIS. It¡¯s a great to see that you and Rei are not dead.¡±

    He smirked again. ¡°Oh and I¡¯m Mari¡¯s dad if you will, so it¡¯s a pleasure to finally meet the person she considers to be her little sister even if not by blood because in our private calls which are on our special channel, she talks a lot about you.¡± Rei eased up her hand gently putting it on Asuka¡¯s pushing the gun away from the woman¡¯s lower waist seeing her breath out under the military armour. She spoke in the best English she could. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you Marcus.¡± Marcus moved closer to her taking her hand and shaking it. ¡°It¡¯s an honour to meet you Rei Ayanami and they clearly don¡¯t lie, you really do look similar to your mother.¡±

    He paused seeing her face suddenly become very unreadable as she got out of the tub. ¡°I met her once when I was a younger man at one of the Nerv conferences amazing and intelligent woman. The work she did for the Evangelion program along with her sister Kiko and Asuka¡¯s mother Kyoko was exceptional.¡±

    Rei looked at him blinking in surprise this was truly a first, normally outside of Nerv when people talked about her mother it was normally to say that they¡¯d chatted her up or that she¡¯d rejected there advances. None of which she cared about or wanted to hear and she¡¯d become tired of hearing these men and women in power who her mother had spurred complain to her about it, when it had nothing to do with her since she¡¯d been a child at the time.

    Rei turned to him about to say that she was a great woman only to stop as the truth was she was alive and well inside unit 01. ¡°Myself and my brother only have photographs of her only ones from the science achieve and all the recordings are from that to, we don¡¯t have ones of us just being a family do you have any?¡±

    Marcus breathed in deeply hearing that was truly saddening. ¡°Yes we have two in the British achieve of her in private interviews it¡¯s not science stuff they are recordings on her feelings on the program and her family. They were never released publicly, as Gendo stopped them going on air.¡± He looked at her for a long moment. ¡°You¡¯re more than welcome to have them.¡± Rei looked up slightly as one of the soldiers put a sheet on her to keep her warm. ¡°I¡¯d like that a lot.¡±

    Marcus turned watching as Asuka left eye and teeth returned to normal as started to get up but it was clearly a huge painful effort. ¡°Hey want a hand?¡± Asuka eyed her. ¡°No¡­¡± Marcus didn¡¯t think as he gently took hold of her arm easing her out ignoring her cold look. ¡°You¡¯re as bad as Mari, what is it with you two and hiding pain?¡±

    Asuka felt his hand let go only to feel body give out as Rei grabbed her stopping her from falling to her knees. ¡°Please tell me you have pain killers¡­I need some badly?¡± Marcus watched as another solider put a blanket over Asuka while the woman who she had threatened to shoot moved forward pulling out a medical bag as she was this SAS team¡¯s medic. ¡°Oh yes we got plenty do you want weak, medium or strong?¡±

    Asuka looked up painful. ¡°Strong¡­¡± Marcus watched as the medic pulled out her medical gun setting it up. ¡°This can make people a little out of it, are you good with that?¡± Asuka eyed him as Rei helped her stand again. ¡°Yes so long as Rei is the one who gives it me and not any of you.¡± Rei moved taking the gun from the medic¡¯s hand. ¡°It¡¯s nothing personal; she just really hates people who shove in needles.¡±

    She turned easing up Asuka¡¯s hair as she pressed it carefully against her neck watching as it fired off before handing the gun back. Marcus folded his arms. ¡°Okay let¡¯s get you both out of here we¡¯ll put you aboard our medical air craft carrier. You¡¯ll be given full body scans which we will send to Nerv central then you¡¯ll have to be put you on clean oxygen for at least four hours to ensure you have no toxic crap in your lungs from this place.¡±

    He folded his arms. ¡°Oh yes and we need carry your sunken escape pod back to Japan, which we have now put inside our Lockheed air craft carrier.¡± Rei looked up slightly seeing that Asuka¡¯s good eye was starting to glaze over as the drug was starting to really kick in. ¡°This place is toxic?¡±

    Marcus raised a hand. ¡°Very and we have no idea how your both not affected by it, it kills most people with in twelve hours of being here. We¡¯ve had people in the past come try to steal from here since the old world items here are so prized and worth an awful lot on money on both the antique and black markets. They have not lived to talk about it and we¡¯ve ended up bringing home body bags or even just their bones.¡±

    Rei felt Asuka weight shift against her. ¡°Wait we have an escape pod?¡± Marcus moved over to Asuka helping her to keep standing. ¡°Yes, look we¡¯ll talk about it on the flight over to Japan as it¡¯s clear your girlfriend is getting rather high on the pain killing drug and needs to lie down.¡±

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Rei looked at Asuka knowing he was right as she was clearly out of it now. ¡°Help me get her to your air craft carrier.¡± Marcus moved closer feeling a smile form. ¡°Sure and when we get on it you¡®ll both get new clothes. We have showers on board so you can wash yourself as you¡¯ll both need to as we also have a special soap for getting the toxic partials of your skin but I hate to say after this Nerv will probably quarantine you overnight anyway.¡±

    8

    I look out of the window of the huge Lockheed aircraft carrier as we fly over the sparking blue waters which have sea birds flying over them they feel so alive and full of life. I can¡¯t say it was fun washing in the soap in the closed of medical area. I had to help Asuka as she was somewhat out of it and it clearly hurt as her bruises are not getting any better. Yet it just felt so good to be clean again even if we both now have to be in this closed off quarantine glass area of the ship with breathing masks on and hospital pyjamas since all of our clothes have been bagged.

    Asuka has also had a really weird bandage put on her body under her clothing which Marcus told me is a special LCL bandage. As they¡¯ve been developing it in Britain its top layer dries solid but the under layer remains spongy hence you can put clothing on over it. They say if it works, it should heal some of Asuka¡¯s bruising that¡¯s more serious. Asuka though is fast asleep the moment her head hit the bed she drifted off and hasn¡¯t woken up since. She¡¯s now sleeping on the bed opposite mine with her breathing mask on we have both been put on drips which has made me feel slightly better.

    The escape pod we used is on board as this flying aircraft carrier is so huge it can fit tanks and other military weapons inside. She turned as Marcus¡¯s voice hit the air. ¡°Hey look out on your window side Rei, or you¡¯re going to miss it!¡± I turn again watching as a huge modern cruise liner appears in the water its lower part covered in pure black while its upper half is pure white. It has four golden chummily pillars with black tops but there more decorative than anything else and a nod to The White Star Lines long lustrous history as the empire ship builder of the world.

    It¡¯s the biggest cruise liner in the world with twenty decks and a maximum capacity of seven thousand eight hundred people and it¡¯s massive at one thousand and eight hundred feet across. It has every luxury imaginable the RMS Titanic is the oldest serving line of ships in the White Star fleet the first made its successful voyage from Southampton on tenth of April back in nineteen ten and made it to the America.

    Since then the Titanic class has been constantly upgraded and this is the tenth incarnation and they have an impeccable record and have some of the hugest power cores built. There meant to be the size of houses and have to swapped out monthly at the Belfast docs where it¡¯s first version is also opposite in the White Star museum and you can walk around it.

    I¡¯ve seen huge ships before but I have to say this is so big the pictures do it no justice you can see it funnelling through the water like a rocket. It might be a liner but it is such a show of power, magnificence and spectacle its making its worldwide trip from Britain to New Zealand and back on its the golden hundredth voyage it makes me feel bad that during my last battle with the Archangel that 00¡¯s face and body was smashed in to its smaller sister ship the Lusitania.

    Marcus watched as they flew over the huge ship whose passenger¡¯s waved at them from the highest deck with its restaurants and water sport areas as well as swimming pools. ¡°You know the White Star Line were really unhappy about you busting up the other sister ship.¡±

    Rei took a breath from her oxygen mask before speaking. ¡°It wasn¡¯t intentional.¡± Marcus folded his arms a sly smile forming. ¡°You misunderstand I found it hilarious along with Asuka throwing a super dreadnaught at that Archangel.¡± Rei turned blinking in surprise it was weird as she was seeing a lot of Mari¡¯s behaviour already in this man and they hadn¡¯t been with him long.

    She turned eyeing Asuka. ¡°It a shame she¡¯s asleep, she would have loved to see this ship.¡± Marcus stroked his beard. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry I have a HD camera on this filming I¡¯ll give you a copy so you can both watch it after you get out of Japan¡¯s quarantine.¡±

    Rei felt a smile form despite how tired her body felt. ¡°So your Mari¡¯s dad?¡± Marcus leaned forward. ¡°Yes I trained Mari and I¡¯m her dad of sorts, I¡¯m also really looking forward to seeing her again. As I¡¯ve been very busy as of late I have not had time to visit Nerv central. I had intended to come up to next week as I wanted to ask how she was doing now that she¡¯s out of the closet, so to speak.¡±

    He leaned forward eyeing Asuka. ¡°Although like everyone else I did not see the step sister thing coming, but it explains a lot.¡± Rei leaned over gently stroking Asuka¡¯s hair. ¡°I don¡¯t think any of us did the only pilot that worked it out was Toji who is Mari¡¯s close friend.¡± She turned to him. ¡°I think Mari will really like your visit.¡± Marcus put his hands together. ¡°I hope so, I realize I didn¡¯t visit after the Alpha Unit accident but I felt it was time for her to behave like an adult and clean up her own mess and I guess it worked out.¡±

    He leaned back eyeing Asuka. ¡°I know I¡¯m not meant to ask but was she tortured? It¡¯s just I saw the bruising all over her body and it looks horrific.¡± Rei looked at Asuka. ¡°Yes she was tortured¡­not sexually but physically, she¡¯s the strongest person I know but this really took it out of her.¡± Marcus looked at her through the see through glass where the speaker was as he spoke very quietly. ¡°Were you tortured?¡±

    Rei shook her head. ¡°No I was treated as a guest because they said I was Gendo¡¯s daughter but they did break my nose when they captured me but they fixed it before I regained consciousness¡­but they made me watch when they tortured her.¡±

    Marcus raised his hand seeing the pain in her face. ¡°Hey it¡¯s okay you don¡¯t have to say anymore, you should get some rest we¡¯ll be touching down back in Japan soon.¡± Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep right now my mind just won¡¯t let me. I hate Nerv quarantine its awful¡­I¡¯d rather stay awake before I have to go in to those awful white wash rooms where they have glass to see in and a single bed. The only part that¡¯s closed off is the bathroom and the three different coloured LCL tanks are so unpleasant they smell and taste all wrong when you go through them completely naked.¡±

    Marcus leaned on his elbow. ¡°Yeah I heard it¡¯s not fun and I deeply sympathize as I wouldn¡¯t like to be butt naked in those tanks since its five minutes of sitting between tanks and you have to use the special glass walk way between all three.¡± He paused before speaking. ¡°Though I recall Mari never used to care, I assume nothing changed regarding that?¡±

    Rei laughed slightly. ¡°No nothing¡¯s changed Mari and Toji really don¡¯t care about those tanks, they just let it all hang out unlike the rest of us who curl up and can¡¯t wait till it¡¯s over because we can¡¯t stand it.¡±

    She felt herself tense. ¡°I hate the rooms it feels like you¡¯re in a human zoo because there so tiny.¡± Marcus looked at her. ¡°If it helps just focus on your friends and family being able to see you again as I¡¯m guessing they¡¯ve all been worried about you.¡± Rei looked up sharply realizing he was right she should be focusing on that more than anything else. Though she doubted her father cared that she had been missing, though she had no doubt in her mind that Shinji had missed her and had been deeply blamed him-self for this. Even though none of it was his fault as her older brother could be like that, she leaned back looking at the big man. ¡°Yes that is a good point I should focus on that.¡±

    8

    Mari bit in to a slice of pizza watching as Sakura played on the arcade games as the others eat their food she started to hum as she stuck her headphones in her ears enjoying the sound and rhythms of the eighties music¡¯s electrophonic  tones. Today was a great day and she felt truly uplifted she hadn¡¯t felt this good in years she felt like she could walk on water or breathe fire. Yeah that was by far the best sex she¡¯d had in a long while and it was with someone who was in love with her and who she clearly loved in return. She stretched in her chair yeah today was going to be a good day she could feel it.

    Shinji turned eyeing Mari as he lowered his sketch pad. ¡°Hey Mari you¡¯re in a better mood today.¡± Mari sat up slightly turning off her phones music as she took her headphones out. ¡°I just have a really good feeling about today.¡± Kaworu looked up from his music sheet. ¡°I see and did last night help you I mean neither of us minded being at Asuka¡¯s home but we are somewhat curious because we heard that you.¡± Shinji raised his hand knowing his boyfriend was just going to come out with it, in a very none subtle way. ¡°We heard a rumour that things happened.¡±

    Mari adjusted her glasses. ¡°What you heard was not rumour it was true but it wasn¡¯t intended, it happened by accident. I went to speak to her about something that happened in mine and Asuka¡¯s childhood and one thing led to another.¡± Kaworu felt a smile form. ¡°My congratulations to you both though.¡± Shinji pushed his dark hair back. ¡°Yeah I¡¯m happy for you to and it¡¯s nice to see you back to your normal self again, as we¡¯ve all been worried about you.¡± Toji looked up from his Evangelion simulation. ¡°Yeah having you in that state again kind of sucked, because we all know you¡¯re not like that.¡±

    Shinji turned to Toji. ¡°Have you asked Sumire out yet?¡±

    Sakura¡¯s voice suddenly hit the air from where she was playing. ¡°No he¡¯s got cold feet and I totally told him he should.¡±

    Toji eyed her annoyance. ¡°No I¡¯m just waiting for the right moment!¡±

    Sakura looked at the others as she bit in to a slice of pizza as she carried on playing Asuka¡¯s retro arcade game machine. ¡°Like I said cold feet...¡±

    Toji folded his arms. ¡°Look I don¡¯t see you asking out the boys you like Sakura.¡±

    Sakura turned slightly. ¡°I do ask them out, they say no so that doesn¡¯t count.¡±

    Mari turned to her. ¡°Well that¡¯s there loss and think nothing off it.¡±

    Toji looked up slightly. ¡°Yeah what she said it¡¯s their loss.¡±

    Sakura turned as the game completed. ¡°But you are going to ask her out right, because I really like her she¡¯s really nice?¡±

    Toji sat back in the chair. ¡°Yes I¡¯ll get around to it.¡±

    Mari eyed him. ¡°Clearly she must be special then if you¡¯re struggling with asking her out, as you normally just go in there and ask.¡±

    Toji looked at his hands. ¡°Yeah I guess she is special and I just don¡¯t want to mess it up.¡±

    He turned as the double doors opened as Sumire and Shigeru appeared though the look on their faces were unreadable. Shinji stood up feeling uncertain as he spoke. ¡°Do you have any news?¡± Shigeru felt a smile form. ¡°Yes very good news Rei and Asuka have been found, they used this new tracking device to find Asuka as the science division said she does have a little of Bardiel left in her body and they were able to pin point it and Rei was found with her.¡± Mari stood up sharply seeing Shinji¡¯s face turn to utter joy. ¡°Where were they?¡±

    Sumire put her hands behind her back as she spoke calmly. ¡°The British South Georgia Island but that area is contaminated by the red sea and red vines hence they will have to go through the special quarantine tanks right after they land. You all won¡¯t be able to see them until there in the special quarantine rooms, which they will both have to stay in overnight which Maya is setting up right now.¡± She paused looking at Mari. ¡°Oh and I have a special message for you Mari, Marcus is coming over he¡¯s bringing them both over personally and he can¡¯t wait to see you again.¡±

    Mari felt a wide smile form. ¡°Really Marcus is coming! I can¡¯t wait it¡¯s been ages since I last saw him.¡± Shinji turned looking at Shigeru. ¡°How are they though?¡± He paused watching as everyone went quite. Shigeru looked up. ¡°We only just got the message from Marcus he says your sisters is very stable though she was captured she was treated well and though her nose was broken it was repaired she¡¯s just hungry and tired.¡± He took a deep breath as Mari¡¯s concerned gaze met his. ¡°Asuka¡¯s not so good she was very brutality tortured there¡¯s serious bruising all over her body.¡±

    He put his hands on his beard. ¡°They¡¯ve coated her in LCL bandages which they say will reduce it but not fully, she¡¯s asleep and just hasn¡¯t come around they say she¡¯s stable but it might take her time to be back to herself and right now they don¡¯t know what the physiological damage is, or if either of them have post traumatic distress order.¡± Mari looked down sadly. ¡°Does Asuka remember anything?¡±

    Sumire raised her hand. ¡°Yes Asuka and Rei remember almost everything the only memory gap is neither of them recalls escaping or using the escape pod only waking up on the island.¡± She watched as Mari¡¯s face turned to utter sadness and uncertainty. ¡°I¡¯m sure though there going to be okay.¡±

    Mari breathed in feeling her good feeling fade as she watched Kaworu hug Shinji as it dawned on her his reunion would be one of joy. Where-as she would have to face Asuka¡¯s wrath over what she had done in their childhood.

    She¡¯d spent so much of her life hoping, praying to any god or goddess who would listen to stop her having to face up to this moment. As nothing scared her more now than Asuka¡¯s hated and rejection but the truth of the matter was she had to face up it whether she was wanted to or not.

    She¡¯d always believed her fucked up family on her father¡¯s side would come back come back to hunt her one day but she had never expected to be in this way¡­but the reality was she could no longer escape it, destiny had to play out come what may. Shinji¡¯s voice cut though her thoughts. ¡°Mari is everything okay, you look sad?¡± Mari turned to him giving him her best smile though it felt horribly forced. ¡°Yeah I¡¯m fine just feeling a lot of emotion is all.¡±

    To her credit she could lie better than Asuka and he and the others clearly believed it as they gave her hugs but the last thing she wanted was for any off them to know about her father¡¯s side of the family or how vile they were or what she had done.

    End of part 34

    Silvermoonlight

 Floating Between Dark And Light Waters

    FLOATING BETWEEN DARK AND LIGHT WATERS

    Misato watched from a distance as the huge black Lockheed aircraft carrier appeared. It was being closely flagged by two Euro fighters, as it came towards Nerv¡¯s official landing platform. She could see at least three press helicopters tailing it, as the report was now out that Rei and Asuka had been found. She could see two of the medical staff waiting with the special quarantine coffins along with Maya and Kaji, as well as Ritsuko and Gendo whose faces were unreadable as normal.

    She stepped back as the huge aircraft carrier landed and the two Euro fighters carefully landed next to it. She watched as the huge bay door opened as Marcus walked out a smile on his face as he raised his hand as the SAS grew came out armed as they took up formation. ¡°Well hello there Misato! Long-time no see.¡± Misato walked up to him as she shook the big man¡¯s hand. ¡°Welcome back Marcus the last time I saw you was when you were bringing Mari over from Britain.¡±

    Marcus turned eyeing his team. ¡°Okay shift out the escape pod so their heavy duty van can take it away!¡± He watched as they sped in to action, he turned back to her grinning. ¡°So are you working hard or hardly working?¡± Misato watched as he walked towards the others. ¡°A bit of both¡­.¡±

    She turned eyeing the others. ¡°Let me in introduce you to Maya who is head of our science division.¡± Marcus felt a sly grin form. ¡°Heard all about you, from a certain someone...¡± He eased out his hand ignoring her surprise. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to finally meet you.¡± Maya shook his hand trying to ignore her nervousness. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you Marcus.¡±

    Misato moved forward. ¡°This is Kaji who you do know.¡± Marcus pulled Kaji in to a hug patting his back before pulling away. ¡°Yeah I remember you, nice to see you¡¯ve grown a beard and settled down.¡± Kaji laughed as he eyed him. ¡°Yeah well I¡¯m getting older have to look the part.¡±

    Misato moved back watching as a huge heavy duty military truck rolled up as the Nerv¡¯s special ops division got out and took the covered escape pod from the SAS team pushing it inside the huge truck before closing the back doors on it. ¡°This is Ritsuko and the commander the leaders here though I believe you met the commander already.¡± Marcus eyed them both. ¡°Commander and Madam¡­.¡±

    Ritsuko rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s Ritsuko.¡±

    Marcus lowered his head doing the Japanese¡¯s bow out of respect. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you both.¡±

    Gendo eyed him as he spoke in a dead pan tone. ¡°That¡¯s not necessary, here under UN protocol all armies can greet in the standard of their own countries.¡±

    Marcus stood up slightly. ¡°Must have missed that rule but I¡¯ll be sure to look it up.¡±

    Ritsuko looked at him. ¡°You know you¡¯re really not what I imagined when they told us you were of Jamaican decent.¡± Marcus turned eyeing her in annoyance. ¡°What were you expecting me to have a spliff in my mouth and to say hello there man, at the end of every sentence?¡±

    Maya breathed in looking at the staff as the SAS took up their formations again as the huge heavy duty van turned going towards the underground opening which was at the very left of the air field which opened up as it vanished from sight. Though a number of the Nerv special ops stayed including Kyo who had said he wanted to be there during Asuka¡¯s quarantine. ¡°Okay, go now put both pilots carefully inside the quarantine coffins.¡±

    Marcus turned to her. ¡°They are both sleeping so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem and once Asuka gets put in the first tank, the LCL bandage will melt right off her. If it¡¯s done its job her bruising should be healed some and we gave her a very strong pain killer so she might be quite slow when she comes around, hard as nails woman that one, clearly torture didn¡¯t break her.¡±

    Kyo walked forward speaking in a tone filled with pride. ¡°I taught her how to take it she¡¯s my little ball of fire after all.¡± Marcus eyed him raising his hand. ¡°Ah you must be Kyo I¡¯ve heard about you from Mari, as she speaks highly of you.¡±

    Kyo looked at him for a long moment. ¡°My job is train the pilots to be the best they can be in all situations.¡± Marcus felt his smile widen. ¡°Well maybe once the quarantine is over we can have a chat over some beer together and talk about how many faces we¡¯ve smashed in, since I¡¯ll have to stay here overnight since all our planes need recharging core wise.¡± Kyo nodded calmly. ¡°Yes I¡¯d enjoy that.¡±

    Maya watched as the two coffins were carefully rolled out of the Lockheed. She walked over to them looking inside seeing that both Asuka and Rei were sleeping really deeply. ¡°Send them both to main quarantine quickly.¡± Gendo raised his gloved hand as he walked forward. ¡°Stop!¡±

    Misato turned blinking in surprise she clearly wasn¡¯t the only one who was surprised as Gendo walked up to both coffins. She moved alongside him. ¡°Is there a problem commander?¡± Gendo ignored her as he moved over to Rei¡¯s coffin where the see through glass was as he could see her face only nothing more.

    He raised his gloved hand putting it gently on the plane of glass next to Rei¡¯s face though he couldn¡¯t touch her as he stood there looking down at her almost transfixed. Misato eyed the Commander she was used to him being strange but this was strange even for him. He never normally showed this kind of emotion least of all to his children, who he normally viewed as objects and property as well as extensions of himself. Maybe this event had really gotten to him somehow, maybe it had hurt for him to see that one of his children could be taken from him and could not always be protected.

    Maybe there was a chance he would learn a lesson from this and get what she¡¯d gone through looking after them for years and how she worried like hell sometimes. Even if they were late in from school or burnt them-selves cooking. When they hurt themselves playing or had to go to hospital for jabs and check-ups or just needed a hug as they needed to cry or vent painful emotion.

    Because that was the part nether Ritsuko or Gendo got about parenting and how hard and stressful it could be. Gendo carried on staring at Rei unable to keep the memory out of his mind of Yui showing her to him and Shinji after she¡¯d been born in the hospital room. He pulled away not liking the feelings or memory or how they were effecting him as he stepped away speaking coldly. ¡°Take them to quarantine.¡± Misato eyed him. ¡°Yes commander.¡±

    8

    Marcus eyed the six small tanks which were in two lines with three aside. The special LCL had colours which were yellow, red and blue, though on Asuka¡¯s side the last tank was green and not blue. Both pilots were in the first yellow tank stripped down naked as had to stay in each for a five minute stretch. He could only see from above as the only staff allowed below were Ritsuko and Misato while Maya was working the control room this was for the pilots own privacy. ¡°So why is the last tank on Asuka¡¯s side green and not blue when it fills?¡±

    Kyo breathed in deeply. ¡°She had an issue with almost drowning as a child, so she won¡¯t go near deep blue water or swim in it so we have to colour her last tank in green LCL. Otherwise she¡¯ll have an anxiety or panic attack.¡±

    He paused. ¡°For all the rest of the pilots it¡¯s always blue.¡± He breathed in sadly. ¡°But Asuka¡¯s not the issue here she goes through this quite well. Rei on the other hand not so much. We don¡¯t know what causes it but she gets really moody in quarantine it¡¯s like she was born to hate it. She is the politest of the pilot¡¯s though she is developing a certain amount of talk back at late but we feel it¡¯s because she¡¯s becoming more confident.¡±

    He leaned on the rail. ¡°But in quarantine she can be extremely moody, bad tempered as well as wall crawls and it¡¯s never changed since she was a child.¡±

    Marcus breathed in deeply. ¡°She did say she didn¡¯t like it on the way up here but I assumed it was just general dislike not outright seething hatred.¡±

    Kyo smirked as he raised his hand. ¡°It¡¯s seething hated you¡¯ll see soon enough.¡±

    Marcus eyed him as a question hit him. ¡°I apologise if this is a rude question but I¡¯ve been told by everyone that you are Asuka¡¯s father figure.¡±

    Kyo looked at him. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong that is true, though I¡¯ve never told Asuka.¡± Marcus put his hands together. ¡°So Mari came out recently, how do I tell her I¡¯m okay with it? I suspected for the longest time but never said anything.¡± Kyo raised an eyebrow. ¡°You just tell them that you love and respect them and that nothing has changed and you¡¯ll try to help if they want advice.¡±

    He smirked. ¡°Or you can just shove playboy and playgirl magazines in their back pack when their old enough.¡± Marcus turned as he started to laugh. ¡°Oh gods you really did that?¡± Kyo sniggered as he eyed him. ¡°Yeah trust me tell them before you do that, or they get really pissed off.¡±

    Misato breathed in moving over to Rei¡¯s side of the glass as the young woman had her back to her and looked angry. While Asuka was in the other tank huddled up in an almost fetal like position just taking it in her stride. Despite that she was clearly very tired and even from here she could see the heavy bruising on her body and like Rei she had refused to take her pendent off and it was now coming through the tanks with her.

    She tapped the glass as she pressing the button so Rei could hear her voice on the other side. ¡°Okay Rei this tank is going to be unfilled and be closed. I need you to move to next one, through the tunnel.¡± Rei turned pressing the button on her side. ¡°Do I really have to go through this crap?!¡±

    Misato watched as the tank slowly drained as she spoke seeing Ritsuko knock on the other tank getting Asuka to move though it was slow with her as her tank unfilled and she coughed up the LCL before moving down the tunnel to the next tank where she sat down again then curling up. ¡°Yes Rei, you have to do this.¡±

    She watched as the tank unfilled and Rei coughed up the LCL. She moved slowly up the tunnel to the next one sitting down watching as it filled up, it took a minute for her to relax in the second LCL tank before she pressed the button again inside. ¡°It tastes like antiseptic in here it¡¯s awful.¡±

    Misato pressed the tanks com. ¡°It¡¯s for your own good Rei you know you are never like this in the hospital wing.¡± Rei¡¯s face turned to a dark scowl followed by her eyes suddenly lighting up glowing red as she spoke darkly though razor pointed teeth. ¡°The hospital wing doesn¡¯t taste bad in my mouth!¡±

    Misato blinked in surprised as she pressed the com. ¡°Rei¡­¡± Rei eyed her. ¡°What?¡± Misato raised her hand putting it near her own mouth. ¡°Teeth¡­¡± She watched as Rei¡¯s hand went to her mouth. A look of annoyance appeared on the younger woman¡¯s face as she turned her back on her. Misato turned the com off as she spoke to Ritsuko. ¡°So how¡¯s yours doing?¡±

    Ritsuko folded her arms. ¡°Tired, slow but causing no trouble for once.¡± Misato eyed Asuka¡¯s bruises. ¡°She¡¯s badly hurt the LCL bandage did help but now it¡¯s off Maya needs to give her some really high end healing medication. When she gets out in to the overnight room it¡¯s going to be a hard night for her, as it will really hurt while she heals.¡±

    Ritsuko nodded calmly. ¡°So I assume you¡¯re having fun over there¡­with the first child who loves to make it known that she hates everything about this process.¡± Misato shook her head. ¡°Yeah that¡¯s about right.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed her tablet. ¡°I will never understand why she behaves this way. There¡¯s footage of Yui doing this to test the process worked and she was perfectly relaxed and so is Shinji but Rei no she acts like you stole one of her books.¡±

    Misato looked at her. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you took such notice, since you don¡¯t really care about these pilots and these two are your least favourites.¡± Ritsuko eyed her in disgust. ¡°I do care about these pilots! As much as you might not believe it, this has been hard for me these past few days seeing this whole thing play out.¡±

    She turned as the warning suddenly sounded in Asuka¡¯s tank as the woman suddenly started coughing violently in to the LCL. She turned bringing up the holographic panel pressing it as she put her glasses on. ¡°There¡¯s something wrong here, she shouldn¡¯t be doing that what¡¯s going on?!¡± Maya¡¯s voice hit the air. ¡°She throwing up clearly something she¡¯s eaten isn¡¯t good for her and the LCL is doing its job and purging it from her body. I¡¯m flooding with water to rehydrate her and anti-sickness medication now.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    Ritsuko watched as Asuka¡¯s body started to relax as she pressed the com ignoring the fact the Rei was right up behind Misato in the other tank looking over clearly seeing that something was wrong with her girlfriend though her eyes and teeth had not returned to normal. ¡°Asuka what did you eat in the last few days?¡±

    Asuka moved pressing the com on the other side as she spoke weakly. ¡°Beef stew and canned food from the year two thousand.¡± Ritsuko breathed in deeply. ¡°So lots of canned meat I assume?¡±

    Asuka breathed in painfully. ¡°Five cans or something...I forget.¡± Ritsuko turned eyeing Misato as she turned off the com. ¡°It¡¯s the canned meat the LCL is just doing its job.¡± She pressed the com again. ¡°Okay Asuka time for the final tank.¡±

    She paused. ¡°The next one might hurt your chest a little but it¡¯s just the LCL doing its job, tap on the glass if you want pain medication.¡± Asuka eyed her though the glass her glowing left eye pulsing while her other looked uncertain and deeply weary. ¡°I have no idea why your being nice to me but stop it, its verfickte weird.¡±

    Misato turned trying not to laugh as she pressed the com on Rei¡¯s side. ¡°It¡¯s okay Rei, Asuka was just very sick in the tank as that one is meant to purge anything bad in your system.¡± Rei pressed her com on the other side. ¡°Yeah I know first one does skin and muscle, the second stomach and guts and the last purges all other organs including the heart but it¡¯s hard to watch her suffer anymore as she¡¯s already suffered enough.¡±

    Misato pressed the com again watching as Asuka sat in the final tank as it filled up. ¡°Okay Rei last tank.¡± She watched as it unfilled and Rei coughed up the LCL before moved to the last tank which slowly filled up though Asuka showed no discomfort she watched as Rei started to squirm she pressed the com. ¡°Rei are you okay?¡±

    Rei pressed her com her red eyes glowing even brighter as she spoke through gritted razor sharp teeth. ¡°No I¡¯m not this last tank always gives me weird sensations like period pain!¡± Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°Tell Maya to give her the special meds for that.¡± Misato turned bringing up the hologram screen near the tank. ¡°Maya I need the special meds in Rei¡¯s tank.¡± Maya¡¯s voice hit the air. ¡°Okay flooding now.¡±

    Misato watched as Rei relaxed slowly as she turned off the com. ¡°Is that normal?¡± Ritsuko eased off her glasses putting them in her suits pocket. ¡°Yes it is some women experience period pain like cramps and some men get uncomfortable pain in their testacies. We can¡¯t stop it we can only give pain medication.¡±

    She eyed the small tanks. ¡°It¡¯s just part of the LCL doing its job Maya¡¯s been trying to fix this but so far she has no effective solutions.¡± Misato folded her arms. ¡°Well I hope you find a solution because I had no idea it caused this level of pain.¡±

    Ritsuko turned watching as both of the final tanks emptied. ¡°You¡¯ll have to excuse me I need to be present while Maya gives them their drugs that help with healing as they¡¯ll both have to have another full body scan before they enter the separate quarantine rooms and their needs to be two people present. So we¡¯ll take it from here.¡±

    8

    Rei breathed in as she lay back on the single bed feeling the boredom set in instantly. She¡¯d been given three drugs and some food which she¡¯d eaten really fast and with utter gusto. Getting through all of the hospital food fast and for the first time in days, she felt full.

    Though her appetite had, had nothing over Asuka¡¯s she¡¯d eaten everything and asked for two more servings. It had shocked Maya that her teeth had turned to razors while eating. She hadn¡¯t cared for cutlery ether and had eaten in an almost primal manner. She had told Maya that she¡¯d had no food other than the canned meat which had been purged and a small bowl of beef stew.

    After eating Asuka had just rolled up on the bed falling to sleep again either because of the pain in her body or from being overly full. Either way she was out of it much the same as she¡¯d been on the air craft carrier coming back to Japan.

    She¡¯d tapped on the glass separating them to speak to her which wasn¡¯t sound proof so they could speak to each other but she hadn¡¯t come around. She¡¯d just buried herself deeper in the bed covers though she¡¯d rambled something in German in her sleep none of which made sense to her.

    This was clearly what she needed to rest and recuperate her strength but not having her to speak to made this all the more boring. These rooms were just as awful as she remembered she hated the lack of privacy and the glass that meant people could look in and check you over like you were some lab rat.

    She lay back on the bed adjusting her hospital top and trousers as she threw the magazine she had been reading to one side. Her father wasn¡¯t here but that was no surprise it was not like he cared. She twisted and turned sharply on the bed he was probably drinking wine and dining with Ritsuko right now since he didn¡¯t love her or her brother and saw them both as tools.

    She looked up sharply watching as the door on the far side of the room opened as she could see it through the glass. Shinji walked through closely followed by Mari, who looked extremely anxious as the door was shut behind them and locked.

    She stood up not being able to contain her joy as Shinji ran towards the glass coming to greet her as she ran up to it. Her big brother¡¯s face was filled with excitement and almost tearful, as she spoke softly. ¡°Shinji.¡± Shinji breathed in as he looked at his little sister trying to stop the tears from falling it was so hard though as it wasn¡¯t sadness but more relief that she was here. ¡°I missed you so much, I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re okay.¡±

    He breathed in deeply and painful. ¡°We were all so worried about you. We didn¡¯t know that you¡¯d been captured and we feared you were both dead.¡± Rei looked at him wishing she could touch him through the glass as the tears began to run down her face. She raised her hand putting it against the glass watching as he did the same on his side putting his hand against hers. ¡°No they wanted Asuka. I was treated as the guest purely because of my relations to Gendo they broke my nose by mistake but repaired it.¡±

    Shinji spoke unable to keep the anger out of his voice. ¡°Did they touch you in any other way?¡± Rei shook her head. ¡°No not at all, they feared causing harm to me in the first place.¡± Shinji looked at her wiping a few tears away with his sleeve. ¡°They only let us in to see you, none of the others. As they said you were both really under the weather and wanted you to have as little stress as possible. They said they are letting you both out tomorrow but they have to run a final set of tests.¡±

    Rei didn¡¯t think as she smashed her fist against the glass as she spoke in a heated angry tone. ¡°What as if it isn¡¯t bad enough feeling like a lab rat in this crappy place. I have to have more tests they already dosed me with painkiller twice and I¡¯m still feeling it!¡±

    Shinji looked at her with concern he knew how much she hated this and how hard it was for her. ¡°It¡¯s just for tonight Rei.¡± Rei put her head up against the glass. ¡°I hate it in here, it¡¯s boring and I can¡¯t touch any one through the glass. It¡¯s like being in an empty void.¡±

    Shinji leaned his head against the glass watching as she wiped her tears away. ¡°You¡¯re going be okay Rei. We can stay here all night with you if you need that and Kaworu, Toji and Sakura said they go to your home tonight and cover for you and look after Erika, as she really misses you both.¡± Rei put her hand through her hair in frustration before looking at him. ¡°I know it¡¯s a lot to ask but you could you both stay. I can¡¯t talk to Asuka right now and it¡¯s so lonely in here.¡±

    Mari eyed Asuka through the glass as she tapped on it. ¡°Hey little sister, are you going to wake up in there and say hello to me!?¡± She got no response as Asuka mumbled in her sleep but didn¡¯t wake up.

    Rei looked at her as she spoke sadly. ¡°I can¡¯t wake her up ether, I tried. I don¡¯t know if its food or painkillers but she got through three trays of hospital food and then ran out of steam and has been sleeping ever since.¡± Mari blinked she wanted to be surprised but she reality wasn¡¯t. ¡°So she¡¯s in a food coma¡­can¡¯t really blame her, I heard whose who captured you didn¡¯t feed her.¡±

    Rei breathed in painfully she knew that Mari wasn¡¯t saying everything and she would rather both her and Asuka solve this alone, as it was a deep family matter. ¡°All they gave her was stew and second LCL tank purged her stomach of the remainder of canned meat as it saw it as not good for her.¡±

    She breathed in deeply. ¡°Apparently her teeth also come out during ravenous hunger even I wasn¡¯t aware of that.¡± Mari watched as Rei sat down she watched as Shinji did the same. She slowly moved to sit opposite him. ¡°They said Ankh captured you both.¡± Rei nodded. ¡°They did, but we can go in to more details later as I really don¡¯t want to talk about it right now.¡±

    She turned as Asuka suddenly said something loudly in her sleep in German as she turned on to her back throwing the covers slightly which caused Mari to snigger. ¡°What did she just say?¡± Mari looked up. ¡°I know all about your little masturbation fantasies about me first child.¡±

    Rei turned sharply seeing Shinji look around awkwardly only for Asuka¡¯s voice to hit the air again. Though this time not in German but in Japanese. ¡°Go ahead, and do it right now... I''ll even stand here and watch you.¡± Mari looked up laughing harder. ¡°Maybe she had too much cheese or something and she¡¯s having a really weird sexual dream.¡±

    Rei turned eyed Asuka. ¡°That¡¯s weird since she hasn¡¯t referred to me as first child since school.¡± Shinji breathed in deeply letting the next breath out slowly. ¡°Probably a school dream then.¡± Rei looked at him. ¡°Probably it¡¯s not like she doesn¡¯t have fantasies.¡± She turned seeing Mari¡¯s face form a wide grin. ¡°And I¡¯m not going to tell you what they are, as their between us.¡± Mari¡¯s face turned to utter disappointment. ¡°No fair you brought it up.¡±

    She raised a hand pointing at Shinji. ¡°Plus Kaworu doesn¡¯t hide what goes on with Shinji, he just blurts it out.¡± Rei looked at her watching as Shinji looked down trying to hide his utter embarrassment. ¡°No offence Mari but I¡¯m tired I just want to talk to you both about what¡¯s been happening. I really missed you.¡±

    Shinji looked up slightly. ¡°Sure there¡¯s so much to tell though.¡± Rei shifted closer to the glass putting her hands together. ¡°Tell me everything, please.¡± Mari felt a sly smile form. ¡°Well you know that women Toji ran in to.¡± Rei nodded. ¡°Yes I remember.¡± Shinji turned to her. ¡°Well we think he¡¯s going to ask her out soon.¡± Rei felt her smile widen. ¡°That¡¯s really nice to hear, tell me more.¡±

    8

    Mari walked up the corridor moving over to the fast food machine as she leaned forward eyeing it. It was late and Rei was finally asleep and so was Shinji. Both of them were sleeping in the room they¡¯d both been given blankets and pillow the truth was she just wasn¡¯t tired.

    Her brain just kept going back to the fact that her little sister probably knew the truth and she had noticed that Rei had not said anything in great detail. She breathed in deeply she probably knew the truth but she keeping it to herself because Asuka might have told her to, before she¡¯d passed out from over eating.

    She eyed the vending machine again the truth nothing took her fancy. ¡°Why you going for that crap kid, I can buy you some real food?¡±

    Mari turned watching as Marcus came in to view as the big man smiled. ¡°Marcus!¡± She leapt in to his arm feeling his arms wrap around as he bear hugged her. His big booming voice hit the air. ¡°Sorry I¡¯m so late to see you, they had to debrief me I¡¯m so happy to see you.¡±

    Mari breathed in deeply and contentedly. She had missed this so much and he was the closest thing to a real father that she had. ¡°I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re here I really missed you.¡± Marcus pulled away looking at her as he kept his hands on her shoulders. ¡°I hope you¡¯re keeping well and eating enough and that you are keeping away from having to many sweets.¡±

    He paused as he pulled up a box. ¡°Though I thought I¡¯d give you these, since you¡¯re really fond of them you know as a treat.¡± Mari eyed the box seeing the logo. ¡°Are those peppermint creams?¡± Marcus nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mari took the box from his hand. ¡°Thank you so much, I can¡¯t get these over here that often.¡± Marcus felt a wide smile form. ¡°You can thank Alexandra as she helped pick these up as well. She says she¡¯s having two more boxes sent to you.¡± Mari tensed sharply. ¡°Don¡¯t see why she¡¯s helping, she fucking hates my guts.¡±

    Marcus shook his head sadly. ¡°No she has been trying to contact you but you keep ignoring her calls. As she really wants to speak to about what happened here not long ago, because she realizes it wasn¡¯t your fault the drugs those traitor spies were giving you, were messing up your mind.¡±

    He raised a hand. ¡°She¡¯s really sorry for not treating you well or understanding all of your issues.¡± He paused. ¡°I mean she busted those television reporters for outing you. She was real pissed, since she felt your sexuality was not some media tool to be exploited.¡±

    Mari looked down sadly. ¡°What do you think of my sexuality? Like I understand if it¡¯s not to your liking¡­I mean I lied to you.¡± She breathed feeling the sudden sting of her tears. ¡°I lied to you I lied to everyone at Nerv¡¯s London Bethany base. I even brought women from outside on to the base and screwed them and then I blamed it on Joshua during the program because I hated his guts because all he ever did was call me fat and stupid.¡±

    Marcus didn¡¯t think as he pulled her in to a hug. ¡°This doesn¡¯t change anything about how I feel about you Mari. Nothing ever could, believe me and nothing about your liking women changes anything I¡¯m just happy to finally know that side of you and you keeping it secret like that for so long must have really hurt you.¡±

    He pulled away slightly wiping away her tears with his thumb. ¡°Also regarding Joshua that guy was vile wanker, he wasn¡¯t good for the program and I knew he was gay as I saw him with a guy once kissing on base but I didn¡¯t suspect the women coming on to base was you. I thought it was Emily, who works in logistics.¡± Mari laughed despite her tears. ¡°Emily, yeah I can see why you¡¯d say that she does look the type but she only likes guys.¡± Marcus pulled away shrugging. ¡°Shows what I know doesn¡¯t it? I¡¯ve never been that good at reading sexuality I did start to suspect after you came here, but I just wasn¡¯t sure.¡±

    He paused. ¡°Alexandra though she had a hunch you might like women from the start, but I didn¡¯t know that until she told me recently.¡± Mari rolled her eyes. ¡°Might have known, I think she saw one of my dirty magazines once.¡± Marcus moved putting his hand on her shoulder. ¡°Hey I¡¯m just glad I finally know what you¡¯re in to. As I thought it was unhealthy for a woman of your age to have no sex life as we all need that from time to time even if it¡¯s just for the physical side or self-love.¡±

    He raised his hand. ¡°How¡¯s about we get some food and you can tell me more along with the whole story with your step sister Asuka and about this Maya who you really like. As I saw her when I landed, she¡¯s very cute.¡± Mari felt a sly smile form. Oh she is, I really like her.¡±

    End of part 35

    Silvermoonlight

 Amongst Friends And Foes Once More

    AMONGST FRIENDS AND FOES ONCE MORE

    Ritsuko eased up the set of six weird tools which were in a see through case with three of each along with two old style syringes. Seele had, had them sent to her last night with instructions on how to use them and what order to use them in and frankly they had confused her. All she got from reading up on them were they somehow tested the health of a person¡¯s soul, though that made so little sense to her.

    Seele had said they wanted both Asuka and Rei tested and the results sent back to them before they were let out. She watched as Misato appeared behind her speaking calmly. ¡°So tell me what are these weird tools are for?¡± Ritsuko eyed her. ¡°They are need to know and you don¡¯t need to know anything other than they came from the Seele directly.¡±

    She moved up to the glass of Asuka¡¯s quarantine seeing that she was asleep as was Rei. She eased up her hand tapping the glass. ¡°Okay open up Asuka¡¯s quarantine.¡± She watched as the door was unlocked allowing her to come in as Misato followed looking uncertain as they moved towards the bed. ¡°Rise and shine Asuka!¡±

    She paused getting no response as she moved closer. ¡°Come on wake up, you¡¯re being let out!¡± She paused feeling the annoyance take over. ¡°I knew they shouldn¡¯t have let her go through three fucking food trays last night the eating machine, all she does is think with her stomach sometimes.¡±

    Misato moved in front of her. ¡°Give her a break she was starving and in a very bad way.¡± She moved over shaking Asuka¡¯s shoulder as she spoke softly. ¡°Come on Asuka its time to wake up.¡± The next moments caught her off guard as her hand was grabbed hard as Asuka¡¯s eyes snapped opened. The left one igniting for spit second as Asuka¡¯s teeth grinded together as she looked up directly at her. Only for her grip to loosen as she realized who was walking her up as her expression turned to confusion and uncertainty. ¡°Where am I?¡±

    Misato looked at her. ¡°You¡¯re in quarantine you¡¯ve been sleeping all night Asuka. Do you remember coming in here?¡± She watched as both of the younger woman¡¯s eyes darted as her face changed as the memories came flooding back. ¡°Yes, I remember.¡±

    Misato breathed in watching as she sat up pulling the covers off rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. ¡°I know you¡¯re not feeling great but I need you get up and walk to the bench we¡¯ve set up outside your room. Normally we¡¯d do this inside but since Rei¡¯s not going to take this well you¡¯ll be done outside next to her.¡±

    She paused. ¡°I don¡¯t need to tell you that I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen how it works when we do it the other way.¡± Asuka turned her head looking in to the other quarantine room seeing that the other woman was under the covers sleeping. She knew just how much Rei hated this place as she hated the hospital ward in the same way. ¡°Yeah I know she hates it.¡± Misato put a hand on her arm. ¡°Can you stand?¡± Asuka looked down slightly she had no energy for bravado, she just felt drained despite all the eating and sleeping. ¡°No can you help me.¡±

    Misato gently eased the younger woman on to her feet seeing the pain in her face as she walked her over to the bench outside, as she helping her sit down on it. Ritsuko moved to stand opposite as she looked at her putting the six tools down on a tray stand in the centre. ¡°Believe me you¡¯re going to feel much better after these tests.¡±

    Asuka caught sight of the LCL bandage which had been put back on after she¡¯d used the tanks under her clothing. She turned eyeing Ritsuko as she spoke coldly. ¡°You know I don¡¯t believe you, so stopping acting like you give a scheisse.¡±

    Ritsuko turned moving toward the other door. ¡°Open this one!¡± She watched as it came open as Misato once more followed her in. ¡°Rise and shine Rei!¡± The brown haired woman groaned pulling the covers over her head. ¡°I¡¯m tired go away!¡± Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°You¡¯re being let out Rei.¡±

    The next moment caught them both by surprise as Rei grabbed the covers throwing them off as she bolted past them and out of the door only to look annoyed as she turned to them. ¡°The main doors are not open to the changing rooms!¡± Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°No they aren¡¯t. You¡¯re having tests remember?¡±

    Rei narrowed her gaze. ¡°Can¡¯t I just skip them?¡± Misato shook her head. ¡°No you can¡¯t now please just sit yourself opposite Asuka.¡± Rei turned seeing Asuka who gave her, her best smile. She didn¡¯t think as she walked up to her coming to stand in front of her as she put her hand¡¯s on both sides off her face as she spoke softly. ¡°It¡¯s so good to see that your finally awake, I was really worried about you.¡± Asuka breathed in about to speak only for the other woman¡¯s lips to meet hers in a very slow and sensual kiss. Ritsuko¡¯s angry voice suddenly hit the air. ¡°Oh for the love of the gods get off her and take a seat Rei!¡±

    Rei pulled away ignoring Asuka¡¯s utter shock as she took a seat beside her on the bench. ¡°What I was just saying hello, I¡¯m sure you do it all the time with my father.¡± Ritsuko eyed her in annoyance seeing Misato smirk as she spoke coldly. ¡°No you¡¯re not. You¡¯re stalling because everyone knows you play up in quarantine during tests, the same way Asuka does in the ward.¡±

    Rei folded her arms. ¡°Yeah great to see you to¡­clearly you didn¡¯t miss us.¡± She paused before speaking in a dead pan tone. ¡°Bet you and my father drunk wine and fine dinned while we were both captured.¡± Ritsuko moved to stand between them. ¡°Your father was very concerned about you!¡±

    Rei eyed her in disgust. ¡°Yes I¡¯m sure he missed the fact that I couldn¡¯t run 00 and wasn¡¯t out on the job.¡±

    Ritsuko slowly sorted the strange equipment. ¡°You know I fully expect back chat from Asuka but not from you!¡±

    Rei narrowed her gaze no longer caring that she was pushing buttons. ¡°Oh why, because my mother never behaved this way you know I get so sick of everyone going you look like your mother. Oh I knew your mother I wanted to sleep with her or your mom was hot you look just like her!¡±

    Asuka raised her hand tiredly. ¡°For the record I know you¡¯re not like your mother.¡±

    Ritsuko grabbed a tool angrily. ¡°Are you done Rei!?¡±

    Misato moved forward putting her hands on Rei¡¯s shoulders squeezing gently. ¡°Okay you need to calm down now Rei and take it easy.¡± She wrapped her arms around her cuddling gently. ¡°You have to be calm for these tests¡­you can¡¯t have an elevated heart rate.¡±

    Ritsuko turned the tool on watching as its green neon light came on. ¡°It¡¯s fine I¡¯ll do Asuka first¡­since Rei needs to calm down.¡± She moved over to Asuka pointing the pen like tool down. ¡°Okay, lift your head up and look directly in to this light you shouldn¡¯t feel any pain.¡± Asuka eyed the strange tool. ¡°What are these tests for?¡± Ritsuko pushing her face up higher. ¡°It¡¯s classified just know they are for your own good.¡±

    She turned the tool on fully watching as four glowing round bands of holographic light started to turn focusing like a holographic camera on her neon blue glowing eye. It beeped signalling to do the other eye, she turned her head shining it carefully in to her other eye watching the bands appear turning once more as they focused before it beeped again. She put it down picking up the other as there were three tests in all along with two old style syringes filled with neon glowing liquid almost like mercury one for each person.

    She eyed Asuka as she pressed the tool watching as it sprang to life glowing green. ¡°Open your mouth.¡± Asuka eyed her nervously she hated dentist tools and her visit to the Nerv dentist which had to take place every three months. ¡°Maybe we could pass on that one.¡±

    Misato walked over to Asuka watching as Rei moved her hand over hold taking the other woman¡¯s. She put her hand on her shoulders. ¡°Open Asuka its fine.¡± Asuka swallowed as slowly opened her mouth feeling the tool go in only for it to open as it locking her mouth open, pressing against all of her front and canine teeth on the top and bottom. Ritsuko eyed her. ¡°Bite hard, with your normal teeth.¡±

    She watched as Asuka started to bite causing the sensor to go on as it started measuring only to beep as it finished she pressed it closing it pulling it out of her mouth then put its tip in an LCL cleaner vile. She picked up the final tool which looked more like a medical gun but wasn¡¯t. ¡°Open your hospital shirt.¡± Asuka eyed her in annoyance. ¡°I¡¯m not wearing a bra you know.¡±

    Ritsuko turned the gun on. ¡°Just the top of your chest Asuka where your collar bone is¡­I don¡¯t need to see the rest I saw it all in the quarantine tanks and I put the LCL bandage on your bruises afterwards. Though, you might have been too tired to remember.¡± Asuka eyed the medical gun as she unbuttoned her shirt slightly. ¡°What even is that its looks nothing like a Nerv medical gun?¡± Ritsuko turned pushing the gun in to her chest. ¡°You¡¯ll feel a tingling sensation all over your body ignore it, it will go away.¡±

    She watched as a spinning round green holographic counter came up only for the green to turn orange she breathed in deeply. ¡°Well that¡¯s not good.¡± Asuka felt the tingling stop. ¡°What¡¯s not good?¡± Ritsuko ignored her as she turned the tool off picking up the old style syringe flicking it with her finger watching as the mercury like liquid turned to an almost air like substance which glowed white as she eyed Misato. ¡°Hold her shoulders tightly.¡±

    Misato eyed her in confusion. ¡°What why?¡± Ritsuko eyed her. ¡°Just do it because this one will hurt her!¡± Asuka felt Misato grab her firmly as the syringe came down going in to the side of her neck as it was pressed in which caused instant pain causing her to jolt violently only for it to suddenly end as the needle was eased free.

    Misato felt Asuka force her off as she leaned forward clearly in pain. ¡°What did you do what did you give her?!¡± Ritsuko raised her hand. ¡°Shut up and give it a moment!¡± She watched as Asuka suddenly stood up her teeth turning to razors as her right eye turned glowing green its pupil becoming cat like as her left ignited in a blast of violently white and blue light.

    An utterly inhuman roar came out of her mouth followed by her slouching back in her chair as everything returned to normal as she breathing heavily as her eyes closed and she passed out. ¡°Give her a few minutes, she¡¯ll come around then she¡¯ll perk right up, she¡¯ll stop feeling like shit despite her body not being so great.¡±

    She turned her focus on Rei who suddenly looked very nervous. ¡°Your turn¡­.¡±

    Rei eyes darted. ¡°Can we not do this?¡±

    Ritsuko picked up the first tool again taking hold of her face. ¡°No.¡±

    She eased it up slowly doing the same thing she¡¯d done to Asuka seeing Misato move behind Rei. Though unlike Asuka she could feel Rei shivering under her grip clearly feeling way more anxious than Asuka. Ritsuko switched to the second tool. ¡°Open your mouth.¡± Rei did as she was told though much faster than Asuka. ¡°Bite¡­.¡± She watched her do as she was told. She turned it off pulling it out and putting in it cleaning LCL putting it to one side as she moved grabbing the gun. ¡°Chest bone, same as Asuka.¡±

    Rei looked over at Asuka. ¡°Is she going to wake up?¡± Ritsuko put the device against her chest bone watching it read only for it to go orange. ¡°Great you to¡­¡± She grabbed the other filled syringe looking at Misato. ¡°Her shoulders¡­.¡± She watched as Misato did it but once more but didn¡¯t look happy about it as she tapped the syringe watching as it turned to light as she met Rei¡¯s gaze which turned to utter fear. ¡°Yes she¡¯ll wake up and so will you.¡±

    Misato felt Rei suddenly struggle wanting to get away. ¡°Rei you need to settle down.¡± Ritsuko pushed the syringe in as fast as possible. ¡°I get it Rei, you were born to hate quarantine but believe me this once when I say this is for your own good.¡±

    She pulled it out watching as Misato let go as the pain appeared in Rei¡¯s face as she clutched her stomach though she didn¡¯t get up her teeth slowly turned to their razor form and her eyes turned to glowing red for a long moment before suddenly going back to normal as she lay back on the bench slowly passing out.

    She breathed in deeply feeling so glad that this shit was over. ¡°That could have been so much quicker.¡± Misato eyed her in disgust. ¡°You know I have a right to know what you just did to these two since you¡¯re not the only one Seele talks to as they speak to myself and Kaji!¡± Ritsuko turned eyeing her. ¡°You will be told but not now.¡±

    She turned watching as Asuka¡¯s eyes suddenly opened as she came around. ¡°Better now?¡± Asuka breathed in all of the sluggish feeling was gone through the pain was still there. She eyed her. ¡°Yes.¡± She watched as Rei opened her eyes opposite groaning painfully as she pushed her short hair back. ¡°Better?¡±

    Rei eyed her feeling a cold sneer form. ¡°No¡­that hurt!¡± Ritsuko shook her head. ¡°Because you were struggling and making it worse for yourself...¡± She paused eyeing them both. ¡°Nether of you are to have any form of sexual activity for forty eight hours, is that clear?¡± Misato folded her arms in annoyance. ¡°Oh come on, since when has that ever been quarantine protocol. You never do that to the others?¡±

    Ritsuko eyed her in disgust. ¡°This is necessary and they will do it, they are both grown women they can handle it I¡¯m sure.¡± Asuka breathed in trying to ignore the anger she was now feeling since she now had the energy to feel anger again. ¡°Clarify to me what you mean by sexual activity. Because I¡¯m really verfickte curious to hear you say it aloud.¡±

    Ritsuko turned pointing at Rei. ¡°You don¡¯t sleep with her it¡¯s really simple you want to masturbate personally fine, you want to kiss, cuddle fine but you don¡¯t go to third base!¡± Asuka felt wide toothy grin form. ¡°Wow can you say third base again? It¡¯s just seeing your face when you say that is hilarious.¡± Ritsuko raised her hand trying to ignore that Rei was smirking and trying not to laugh. ¡°Get out both of you!¡±

    8

    Mari watched the closed dressing rooms double door which was the final door out of quarantine Shinji was waiting opposite her. She was feeling deeply anxious about this meeting and after spending time with Marcus and talking to him about everything apart from her link to her family and Ankh as she was not ready yet to tell him about that. She felt like had gotten a lot was off her chest but now she had to deal with this and she just didn¡¯t feel up to it.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    One the bright side he knew she was with Maya now and had given her his congratulations along with weirdly throwing a load of dirty magazines her way. Which she didn¡¯t understand to be honest but she wasn¡¯t going to complain or ask where he got that idea from.

    She watched as Rei opened the door adjusting the clothes which they¡¯d brought from Asuka¡¯s home last night as she pushed her short hair back before looking up a wide smile appearing on her face. Shinji ran towards her grabbing her in to a hug as he kissed her gently. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re out.¡±

    Rei held him tighter unable to stop the tears. ¡°I¡¯m just so glad to be out of there, I hate that place.¡± Shinji felt the words come out before he could stop them. ¡°I should have been there at the auction house I could have stopped this, or done something.¡± Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°No Shinji you couldn¡¯t have done anything and they weren¡¯t after me, they only wanted Asuka.¡±

    She hugged him tighter. ¡°I¡¯m just so glad to be home again, I missed you all so much.¡± Mari pushed up her glasses. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be rude but is it okay if I speak to Asuka alone. It¡¯s just we have something really important to talk about.¡± Rei pulled away knowing instantly what Mari was talking about. ¡°Yeah we can do that Mari.¡±

    She ignored her brother confusion. ¡°Come on Shinji we¡¯ll wait outside the other door.¡± Shinji blinked in surprise. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Rei looked at him speaking in a very serious tone. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later when Mari says I can. I promise it will all make sense.¡± Mari raised her hand as Rei left with Shinji. ¡°Thank you Rei, I promise I¡¯ll make this up to you somehow.¡±

    She watched as they closed the outer doors she knew they could still see though the glass windows on the other side but most important they wouldn¡¯t hear anything and would have no idea what this was all about. She watched as the door opened as Asuka walked in though it felt like an eternity before the smaller woman was standing in front of her. Though her left eye was un-patched which meant she could see the neon blue colours pulsing. She could see that Asuka¡¯s face was not showing a great deal of emotion and was unreadable.

    She took in a deep breath thinking how best to frame her next words. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you know the truth about me and where I come from and who my family are?¡± Asuka looked at her for a long moment before speaking. ¡°Yes.¡± Mari felt the pain in her chest hit home hard. She had so wanted to avoid this for it not to be so but now she had to face her demons and it felt so painfully. ¡°Then you know about what happened at my parent¡¯s lake¡­because you couldn¡¯t remember¡­¡± Asuka looked at speaking calmly. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mari couldn¡¯t help her next movement as she found herself falling to her knees in front of the other woman as she grabbed at her leather jacket bottom unable to stop the floor of tears. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I¡¯m such a fucking coward I hurt you terribly and for what? I sat there watching you drown because I was afraid. I just couldn¡¯t take it, I just couldn¡¯t watch you die!¡±

    She spoke through gritted teeth. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry you deserved so much better and I know there¡¯s nothing I can ever do to put this right. I kept it from because I was afraid if you ever knew the truth you¡¯d never want to speak to me again!¡±

    Asuka blinked in shock this was not how she had expected this to go at all and the last thing she wanted was to have her older sister on her knees pleading this way, it was utterly heart breaking. She moved her hands putting them on Mari as she spoke sadly even through the glass she could see that Shinji looked shocked on the other side while Rei just looked sad. ¡°Mari, please get up off your knees.¡±

    She watched as the other woman¡¯s head shot up staring at her in surprise she spoke again unable to keep the pain out of her voice. ¡°Never ever kneel to me or beg to me. You are not my lesser and it makes me uncomfortable, so stand up.¡±

    Mari¡¯s face turned to utter confusion as she spoke. ¡°But¡­I don¡¯t¡± Asuka felt sneer form as she spoke sharply cutting her off. ¡°Get up now Mari!¡± She watched as the taller woman stood up looking truly confused and out of her element. ¡°You do not owe me any apology.¡± She paused before speaking much more calmly. ¡°Yes I met your family, your vile grandmother who told me she beat you with a horse whip. Along with your stupid older step brother, who is a verfickte poser and your look a-like sister who is twisted as scheisse.¡±

    She watched as Mari eyes darted. ¡°You know what I learnt from them?¡± Mari shook her head but said nothing. ¡°I learnt that you¡¯re still my hero, despite everything and how they viewed you, you still leapt in to save me.¡±

    She paused taking in a deep breath. ¡°You¡¯re not a coward they abused you and messed with your mind. They asked a child to murder another child while standing and watching and you denied them their rite of passage at great cost to yourself.¡±

    She raised her hand pointing at Mari¡¯s waist where she knew the scar was and still remained to this day. ¡°You even hid that from me when we were children. You played it down that you had an accident at school, I was too young to understand but I understand now, it was no accident you took that for saving me.¡±

    She lowered her hand. ¡°So tell me again how your coward? When you¡¯re the only one who was brave enough to save me and take the beating of your life for it.¡± She shook her head sadly. ¡°Worse they still refer to you as the runt of the litter but their logic is wrong. Since those who get a bad start and need help to grow are normally the strongest.¡± Mari stared at Asuka as she raised her hand feeling so confused by how this was turning out. ¡°No you should be angry at me. You should hate me for lying to you and betraying your trust!¡±

    Asuka shook her head sadly knowing what she had to do next to make this clear since her older sister wasn¡¯t getting it. She moved forward wrapping her arms around her pulling her close as she gave her gentle kiss on the cheek. ¡°You¡¯re a four eyed idiot¡­don¡¯t you see there¡¯s nothing to forgive. You were an abused child who was doing what an adult told you to do and it changes nothing between us and I could never hate you, you¡¯re my family in fact I¡¯m grateful now that I know the full story.¡±

    She felt Mari grab her tightly in a hug as she started to cry hard in to her shoulder. ¡°I promise you that when I tell my family they¡¯ll see the same thing as me. As you are part of our family now and nothing will ever change that.¡± She paused as she lowered her voice more to whisper hoping her next words would cheer Mari up. ¡°And between us you¡¯re the much better looking sister.¡±

    She watched as Mari pulled away blinking in surprise only to laugh slightly though her tears her hand moved up as it ruffled her hair as a warm smile forming. ¡°You mean that princess?¡± Asuka nodded. ¡°Yeah of cause I do. You¡¯re the real deal she isn¡¯t.¡± Mari moved forward pulling her in to a tighter hug. ¡°I missed you so much Asuka, forgive me for ever doubting you.¡±

    Asuka hugged her tighter. ¡°I missed you to Mari.¡± Mari pulled away looking at her as she wiped away her tears recomposing herself feeling the relief sweep over her. ¡°I have some amazing news.¡± Asuka put an arm around her shoulder. ¡°Yeah what is that?¡± Mari felt a sly grin form. ¡°I fucked Maya the other night I rode her like a...¡±

    Asuka turned sharply as spoke cutting her off. ¡°I love you, you¡¯re my big sister but you¡¯re not going to finish that sentence.¡± Mari pushed up her glasses. ¡°But you want to hear this!¡± Asuka put a hand on her face in frustration. ¡°No I don¡¯t¡­¡±

    8

    Misato sat in her office watching as Kaji sat next to her while Sumire stood up. She¡¯d asked them both here to be present during Miki¡¯s phone call as this one could be very hard since Miki had seriously post traumatic syndrome and there was a chance she could become hostile or deeply emotional and since Sumire had dealt with this personally she could maybe help guide them.

    She breathed in pressing the desk watching as the larger holographic scene came up as the call started. She watched as Miki appeared on the other end, though her face looked unreadable and uncertain. ¡°Hello Miki.¡± Miki paused before speaking. ¡°Hello Colonel.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°I¡¯m calling you regarding Akane.¡± Miki¡¯s body tensed even under the hospital pyjamas she could see it. ¡°Can you tell me more about her. I mean what was she meant to do the night of the auction?¡± Miki looked up sharply. ¡°She told us she would meet us an hour in to the auction¡­she had never shown any signs of disloyalty.¡±

    Misato typed bringing up a photo of a bullet. ¡°This bullet was pulled from the door guard head¡­it was very out of place with all the other bullets retrieved as they were from military grade machine guns and pistols but this was from a Ruger LC9S which is more a pistol that¡¯s lighter and concealed.¡±

    She took in a deep breath. ¡°Would I be right to assume that you own a LC9S?¡± Miki face turned to a very cold scowl. ¡°Are you trying to fucking say that I¡¯m reasonable, because I did not kill anyone!?¡± Kaji raised her hand. ¡°No that¡¯s not what we are saying. We just want to know if you own one.¡±

    Miki folded her arms eyeing them. ¡°Yes I own one but I don¡¯t take it to auctions, it¡¯s only for when I travel outside of Japan, since my mother and fathers position makes me a possible ransom target.¡± She eyed them for a long moment. ¡°Customs even know I have it, it¡¯s been cleared by my parents.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply knowing her next words would not go down well. ¡°Well it seems that Akane landed in China not long ago and checked your gun through customs with some bullshit story that you have her permission. One of Nerv¡¯s special division¡¯s in China is going to arrest her when she leaves the airport. Since a huge sum of money was shoved in to her account the night you were attacked in the sum of millions, we believe she was working with Ankh and sold you out.¡±

    She sat back in chair. ¡°And she used your weapon to kill someone in cold blood. We believe that was about her setting you up since your brother was also punished.¡± Miki¡¯s face slowly turned to anger as she suddenly smashed her fist down hard on the hospital table. ¡°That worthless scheming little bitch, I thought she was our friend and loyal to my family! Because of her my brother is now in a coma and they''re not ever sure he¡¯ll ever wake up and if he does they say there¡¯s a chance he could never be the same again.¡±

    Her hand rose as she pointed at the screen. ¡°Mark my fucking words Ankh are going to pay for what they did to my family!¡± Sumire shifted slightly. ¡°As someone who has lost family through terrorists, you should be thankful that your brother still lives.¡±

    Miki eyed her as she spoke coldly. ¡°And you are?¡± Sumire looked at her. ¡°Nagara I¡¯m one of the bridge crew but I¡¯m someone who knows your feelings and that the medication your on now is not good as I had to have it myself once.¡±

    Miki anger slowly faded as she sat back genuine sadness appearing in her eyes. ¡°I hate this medication, it makes me feel fuzzy but they won¡¯t take me off it until my heart rate stays down and I can control myself emotionally but I hate it so much.¡± Sumire put her hands behind her back. ¡°I advise that you use these next few days to push this all from your mind and focus on getting well. Then you will be free of the heavy medication and they will focus on your mental health with therapy and lesser drugs.¡±

    Miki looked up the tears coming before she could stop them. ¡°I¡¯m such an awful sister, I think my brother is the biggest idiot going and I hate that he causes me so much trouble. He has even stolen my boyfriends from me in the past but he¡¯s still my brother and I did nothing, while that piece of shit that defeated Asuka beat him up. I stood there like a coward because I was so afraid.¡± Sumire looked up slightly. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault and you are not a bad person Miki, these men and women who have this mind set do what they do regardless. I read in the report that you tried to drag your brother to safety.¡±

    Misato eyed Sumire clearly she was good at this, better than she¡¯d ever realized. ¡°These people will pay Miki mark my words there will be justice for you and your brother.¡± Miki breathed in sadly wiping her tears away. ¡°I hope so Colonel.¡±

    Misato paused before speaking. ¡°You rest up Miki Nerv has your back now we¡¯ll put this right, I promise.¡± Miki nodded suddenly looking very tired. ¡°I need to rest now I hope when they discharge me you can keep me updated.¡± Kaji leaned forward. ¡°We will Miki and thank you.¡±

    Misato watched as the holographic screen turned off she turned in her chair towards Sumire. ¡°You know I¡¯m starting to think that hiring you was the best thing I ever did.¡± Sumire blinked in shock. ¡°I was just doing my job you, asked for my help.¡± Misato raised her hand. ¡°Yes I did but I didn¡¯t realize you were really good at talking traumatized people down, that¡¯s not in your resume.¡±

    Kaji nodded. ¡°Yeah she¡¯s right you¡¯re really good at it and Maya can¡¯t always be around which makes this skill very useful.¡± Sumire breathed in nervously. ¡°I¡¯ll be going now Colonel I need to pick up Maya¡¯s paperwork.¡± Misato watched as she quickly left closing the door behind her. ¡°Yeah you were right hiring her was the right thing for me to do.¡± Kaji felt a smile form. ¡°Yeah well your instincts do tend to be right.¡±

    8

    Toji looked up as the rec room doors opened. He turned to Kaworu and Sakura who were playing on the pin ball machine. ¡°They''re here!¡± He watched as both Rei and Asuka appeared they were both with Shinji and Mari who looked the happiest they¡¯d been in days. Sakura turned sharply as she shouted out not caring who could hear her. ¡°You¡¯re here!¡± She ran up giving Rei a huge hug as the others all got up. ¡°We missed you so much!¡±

    Rei ignored her aching body as she held the young girl tighter enjoying the feeling that she was finally home. As well as safe and surrounded by family, friends and her girlfriend. ¡°We are so happy to be back here and thank you for the welcome.¡±

    Asuka turned as Sakura moved over to her giving her a hug despite her back shoulders and neck still hurt it was still a nice feeling. ¡°I¡¯m surprised they let you in here.¡± Sakura pulled away from Asuka¡¯s gentle hug as she pulled out her Nerv card. ¡°They upgraded my card. It¡¯s now a cool multi-pass which means I can go in to the wreck room since I¡¯m nearly thirteen.¡± Rei looked at the young girl. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting name for it.¡± Sakura felt her smile widen. ¡°Misato really likes it.¡±

    Kaworu moved over to Rei pulling her in to a gentle hug. ¡°Welcome back we missed you both so much.¡± Asuka turned only for Toji to grab her pulling her in to her hug. She spoke calmly. ¡°Please don¡¯t squeeze to tight or the LCL bandage will break.¡±

    Toji loosened slightly. ¡°They really put that new weird stuff on you?¡± Asuka nodded. ¡°Yeah it feels odd like liquid but it sticks and they don¡¯t want me to wash it off until very late tonight.¡± She paused feeling the raw emotion hit her before she could stop it as she felt a tears start to run down her face. ¡°It¡¯s so great to see you all again¡­I really missed you all.¡±

    Kaworu moved forward giving her a hug. ¡°We missed you to we heard that they somehow used a part of Bardiel to track you as he left a marker behind.¡± Shinji watched as he moved away taking his moment to give Asuka a hug. ¡°We are just happy you are back Asuka...It¡¯s just not been the same without ether you or Rei.¡± Mari adjusted her glasses as she eyed her younger sister. ¡°Yeah he¡¯s right it just hasn¡¯t.¡± Toji didn¡¯t think as he grabbed Rei in a warm hug. ¡°Yeah he¡¯s right, we were all worried and we all wanted you both back so badly.¡±

    He let her go carefully. ¡°And we saw the footage.¡± He paused unsure how Asuka was going to take his next words or Mari. ¡°I mean we saw the mobile phone footage of you getting kicked by that guy and his weird friend who looks kind of like Mari.¡±

    Asuka wiped her tears away with her leather jackets sleeve as she took in a sharp breath. ¡°Verfickte bastard only beat me because he¡¯s one of Ankh¡¯s pilots. So is the other woman hence they have the same abilities we do.¡± Mari folded her arms she was only happy with Asuka, Rei Shinji and Maya knowing the truth right now. Not anyone else. ¡°Yeah well my look like is a pure bitch and I¡¯d rather we not talk about her right now and focus on Asuka and Rei returning to us.¡±

    She felt a sly smile form. ¡°Plus you should give them their gifts and the food we got and you can tell them all about Sumire, who you still have not asked out yet.¡± Toji eyed her. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell them about Maya you know since you rolled around with her the other night?¡±

    Asuka put a hand on her face. ¡°Please let¡¯s not go in to that I don¡¯t want you to give her an excuse to go into every vivid detail!¡± Rei turned sharply. ¡°Really you¡¯re both together now?¡± Mari raised here hands. ¡°Yeah I was going to go in to it when you¡¯re both more settled.¡± Rei gave her a wide smile. ¡°Congratulations, I¡¯m really happy for you Mari.¡±

    Mari leaned over. ¡°Thank you, that means a lot.¡± Sakura moved over to pilot¡¯s central table where all the gifts and food were. ¡°You guys should sit down. I mean we got you some awesome stuff and we¡¯ve made you some nice food as well as brought some.¡±

    She looked at Asuka. ¡°We heard you eat a lot we weren¡¯t sure if you were hungry.¡± Asuka raised her hand. ¡°I would never say no to food from any of you.¡± She paused before speaking. ¡°If my teeth come out I apologise in advance. I had no control over them the other night.¡±

    Shinji watched as Rei and Asuka seated themselves in their normal chairs next to each other as the others sat around them including Sakura who now had a chair opposite Mari¡¯s. Which Toji had, had put in this morning. ¡°Well Kaworu and I made some food, we used one of the old mess halls and we¡¯ve made some really good stuff.¡±

    Rei looked at her brothers cooking. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how much I¡¯ve missed yours and Asuka¡¯s cooking throughout this.¡± Asuka raised her hands. ¡°Yeah I missed us all being together.¡± Mari adjusted her glasses. ¡°Yeah well we all missed you both. We thought we¡¯d never get you or Rei back.¡± Kaworu looked up slightly. ¡°Yes we need you both you complete the elaborate and unique family.¡±

    End of part 36

    Silvermoonlight

 A Distance Voice That Whispers To Your Inner Soul

    A DISTANCE VOICE THAT WHISPERS TO YOUR INNER SOUL

    I''m so sad the man I know as my adopted father has to leave but our time always feels to short. Despite that I talk to him over a private channel from home. I told him the truth tonight about my family and who they really are because having told Asuka I had to tell him and once more he proved why he is the best person I know and someone I can always trust. He said where I come from doesn''t matter one bit what matters is how I embrace the present and behave and what''s in my heart.

    I told him how it went with Asuka and that she was on my side and he said I shouldn''t worry because all her family will see my side of the story and that I''m not to blame but I''m still unsure. I guess I should hope for the best but prepare for the worst and if they are angry, then they are angry and they have every right to be. I watch as the huge air craft carrier starts up as the two Euro fighters take to the air.

    Marcus breathed in deeply seeing that Mari looked sad clearly because he had to go. He knew their conversation about who her real family were, was not the end of the conversation not by a long shot and they''d need to talk much more in the coming days. He moved toward Mari pulling her in to a warm hug. "Don''t worry kiddo it''s all going to be okay. Believe me you''ll be forgiven for what happened between you and your little sister."

    Mari breathed in deeply trying to ignore the sting of her tears. "I wish you didn''t have to go."

    Marcus smiled. "I don''t want to go ether Mari, I''d rather be here with you but you know I have to go I have to protect Nerv''s Bethany base in London." He pulled away stroking her hair. "You just keep making strides like I always tell you." He eased up his army boot. "Best foot forward as they say."

    Mari laughed slightly. "You mean dirty boots because I was never good at keeping them clean." Marcus laughed. "That''s my girl, with your funny humour." He smiled as he stepped inside the aircraft carrier. "You visit me, when you have your next Nerv holiday at Christmas."

    Mari raised her hand. "I will!" She heard the engine roar as huge Lockheed air craft carrier took off rising in to the air as Marcus gave her his final wave, before closing the door as it lifted higher as the two Euro fighters went along side as the cores meant all planes and helicopters could keep pace with each other. Though like cars and motorbikes Euro fighters had more cores like all the other jet fighters and could hit really high speeds. She breathed in as the three planes vanished from sight she was going to really miss him, she always did whenever he was away.

    "Did you and Marcus have fun?"

    She turned as Maya''s hand took hold of her own much to her surprise. She breathed in painfully. "Yeah it did but he has to go home now." Maya looked up seeing the sadness in Mari''s eyes she''d kept away to give her space as she didn''t see Marcus that often but now he was leaving after being here very late at night despite saying he''d leave earlier.

    He and Mari had chatted on and off whenever they''d had a free moment, from what she''d been told. "I realize that Toji and Sakura already left and it''s too late for you to visit them but you can come around to my home tonight."

    Mari''s face turned to a mix of confusion and uncertainty. "Are you sure it''s just I thought you''d be mad with me. Because I realized that I screwed up the other day and now everyone knows that we are a couple. Even Marcus knew because he told me about it before I was going to tell him. Apparently Kyo told him while they were drinking together. As he said he wants to see Asuka tomorrow, but tonight he really wants her to get her rest."

    Maya looked up slightly. "I was kind of mad at first I confess but after I had a long sleep I realized something. It''s only a shock to everyone because I don''t normally date and at first I was afraid that Ritsuko was going to pull some crappy rank on me. About you being my subordinate and me breaking rules but she never did she never cared, she just mocked the whole thing in her normal dismissive way." She eased her hand up putting it on Mari''s face. "It just made me realize why should I care about what others think? When it''s what I want and what you want."

    Mari raised her hands. "You know this throws a fucking spanner in the works. Because I had this whole speech prepared on how I was really sorry and how it won''t happen again and that I spoke without thinking as I was so excited and happy."

    Maya shook her head sadly. "I think you''ve done enough apologising today Mari. I watched you with Asuka and it was very hard to watch even though the none-see through glass as I had to open the main doors to let your sister and Rei and Shinji out of quarantine."

    Mari breathed in painfully. "So you heard everything? Maya nodded moving her hand up running it though Mari''s dark hair. "Yes I heard everything and I saw how hard it was for you." She paused as leaned up as Mari lowered herself giving her a gentle kiss on the lips before putting her hands on the side of the taller woman''s face. "Now come home with me Mari I''ll cook you something nice and you can sleep in bed with me." Mari felt a sly smile form. "So you''re not up for more fun time?" Maya took hold of her hands. "I might be depends on how fast you can drive."

    8

    We are finally home its felt like such a long day but I''m so glad to be back here, we both are. This is our home and even though it''s very late, it''s special to us. I''ve missed the smell of the farm land and rice fields and Asuka''s sun flowers which are on the front of the house. I can''t wait to be seated on the sofa and back in our bed. It will feel like this awful event is finally over and we will finally have some normality.

    Rei opened the door to their home she walked inside putting the second key in the IDHS system watching as it all sprang to life. Asuka''s coffee maker started as the flat screen came down though it didn''t come on though the other screen opposite for video calls came down opposite.

    Asuka stepped inside hearing the sudden thrilling meowing as Erika came running towards her, her yellow eyes wide. She leaned down gently picking her up feeling the cat rub her face against hers. "I missed you so much Erika."

    Erika began to purr softly as she stroked her watching as Rei closed the door putting down the bag of gifts. She could see their mail stacked up neatly close to one of the shelves along with a small black box addressed to Rei from Mari.

    She had no energy to go through her mail right now she just wanted to relax. She slowly seated herself with Erika who carried on purring as Rei down sat next to her. "I''m so happy to be home." Rei leaned over stroked Erika who instantly started to rub her head against her hand. "So am I, I really missed our home." She eyed the cat as she looked up at her. "I missed you too Erika."

    Asuka loosened her grip on Erika watching as the Tortoiseshell cat moved to sit on the younger woman purring as Rei stroked her. "She really missed you to." She pulled off her patch throwing it on the coffee table as she put her feet on it.

    Asuka eyed the flat screen again. "That''s weird it''s normally on." She watched in surprise as Anneberg''s face suddenly appeared on it. He smiled flashing the screen up in multicolours. "You are finally home I missed you both so much!" Asuka felt a smile form. "We missed you to Anneberg."

    She stared at him for a long moment as the confusion took over. "How are you on our flat screen?" Rei carried on cuddling Erika. "Yes I''m rather confused I know you couldn''t contact us both on our phones as they are being replaced, due to what happened and that mine was compromised. We both have to buy new ones tomorrow which Ritsuko wants to modify so they work even in places which have lost all connection to the telephones lines and the web."

    Asuka raised her hand. "Mari put you on here didn''t she?" Anneberg flared his teeth. "No I asked Cheshire to help me hack the IDHS system. He gave me the codes he didn''t have Mari''s permission." He paused before speaking. "I just really wanted to help you protect this house." Rei looked at him for a long moment. "We are grateful but you don''t have to do this." Asuka breathed in deeply. "Seriously Mari had nothing to do with this?"

    Anneberg blinked. "No it was all me¡­I wanted to do this but you wouldn''t let me." Asuka breathed in deeply wishing she wasn''t feeling tired all over again. "Yes because you''re our friend you''re not our house servant or slave."

    Rei turned slightly running her hand gently though Asuka''s red hair letting it spill through her fingers. "You know if he wants to do this maybe we should let him, as this is clearly his choice." Anneberg looked up slightly. "It is my choice it''s what I want and I can protect this house far better than the IDHS system."

    Asuka looked down slightly maybe the reality was Anneberg was growing beyond her she knew it would happen one day but she was still not prepared for it. She knew what having your growth as a child stunted was like and how it made it difficult for you to see your outward potential and she would never deny Anneberg that.

    She looked up feeling a smile form. "Then if you really want to this Anneberg then it''s not right for me to stop you." She paused watching as the joy appeared in his face. "But you must do the best job you can as I expect you to protect both the downstairs and upstairs to the best of your ability, it''s a big reasonability."

    Anneberg face formed a smile. "I won''t disappoint you. I''m ready for this responsibility." He paused as he turned to the screen opposite which was open. "Incoming phone call it''s your grandmother, Kolby and Aili."

    Asuka looked up slightly. "Put them through." Asuka watched as her grandmother appeared on screen, followed by Kolby and Aili appearing on the other side of the screen as her grandmother''s face turned to utter joy as she spoke in Japanese unable to hide her tears of joy. "My little one I''m so happy your back."

    She turned to Rei. "And you to, we missed you so much." Kolby pressed his screen clearly turning on the translator so Aili could understand and speak in the language as she wasn''t fluent in Japanese. "Yeah we all really missed you the family has been wall crawling here we were really worried about you. Both Mari and Shinji were feeling the same."

    The tall blonde woman with burning brown eyes who was in her early thirties and heavily pregnant voice hit the air. "Yes the family has been so worried about you as have I."

    Asuka breathed in deeply. "We are just glad to be home."

    Rei carried on stroking Erika''s head listening to her slow purr. "Thank you Aili we both missed you to."

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    She paused. "How is the baby?"

    Aili put her hands on her stomach. "Healthy and kicking but I have heard that''s a family trait."

    Geraldina felt a smile form. "Yes it is Asuka''s mother was a kicker so was Kolby before he was born and so was Asuka inside the birthing chamber."

    Kolby smirked as he stroked his black beard. "Yeah and me and Asuka weren''t born that long after each other. There are only a couple of years between us and she used to come around to my dad''s house and play with me sometimes." He turned to Asuka his blue eyes turning serious. "It is so great to have you back."

    He paused suddenly looking uncertain. "We heard that Ankh tortured you." Asuka looked at her hands. "They tried to torture me they didn''t succeed. One bastard even tried to pull my face around I bit his hand with my razor sharp teeth till he bled." Rei looked up slightly. "They didn''t touch me they treated me as a guest."

    Geraldina''s face filled with concern. "But why take you, why torture you?" Asuka looked at her. "Some verfickte crazy talk about me being a death god in human form¡­clearly their confused by me almost causing an impact." She paused not sure about how to say her next words as she pulled out her Korth combat revolver from her leather jacket which Misato had returned to her along with Rei''s pistol. "The leader of this group is someone you thought you''d killed Grandma. You may not like where the rest of this story is going to go and Nerv will probably issue a full report to you tomorrow but I want to get this out in the open now."

    Geraldina looked up in confusion as did the others. "That gun was from the Hyena of Vasai, I killed her she was vile child murdering bitch." Asuka shook her head sadly. "No she tricked you Grandma."

    She carefully placed the gun down. "My Mama''s husband Langley that was her son and Mari is her grandchild and she has two other older grandchildren Christopher and Achika." Geraldina''s face turned to utter shock along with the others. "Grandma there something you need to know the Hyena is the one that tried to drown me. I didn''t fall in she threw me in."

    She paused. "She made the other children watch me drown it was like a rite of passage for them¡­but Mari went against it. She jumped in to save me, because she loved me more than them. I couldn''t remember the memory but now I do all so clearly."

    She looked up meeting her grandmother''s gaze. "That woman horse whipped Mari for saving me she still has the scars today." She felt Rei put a hand on her knee squeezing gently. "I''m telling you this because I know you would have found out and Mari is not like her family. She hates these people as they abused her and she feels really awful about what happened."

    She looked up slightly. "The point is I don''t want this to change how our family feels about her to me she''s still my big sister and I don''t want that to change." Kolby raised his hands. "Hey if you trust her we are good with it."

    Aili raised her hand. "Same here, we trust your judgement." Her grandmother''s fist suddenly slammed down hard as the pure rage appeared in her eyes. "That vile woman escaped me tried to drown you and abused Mari with a horse whip and now she captures you and Rei. I''m going to make sure she dies this time, if it''s the last verfickte thing I ever do. I always knew Langley was off but Nerv never took me seriously!"

    Asuka raised her hands. "Grandma as much as I''d like you to join on that I feel you dealing with Mari is more important right now. She knows this will come out, she knows you''ll find out and I want to make sure that she feels nothing has changed. Because she was on her knees to me this morning begging for forgiveness it was heart-breaking."

    Her grandmother''s anger faded as she looked at her, her face turning to concern and sadness along with the others. "I''ll make sure that happens and I will tell her that she''s not to blame as she was looking after your house while you were gone with Shinji and it was hard on them as they missed you."

    Asuka breathed in deeply. "I missed you all so much."

    Rei looked up slightly. "I did too."

    Geraldina breathed in painfully knowing nether of them would like this. "You know they will assess you over the next week. You both won''t be allowed to pilot and they could even give you both post traumatic syndrome medication and therapy again. They did it to me after my tour in the Ukraine where we saw some terrible things during the civil war."

    Asuka breathed in deeply. "I expected as much Misato said she was going to debrief us with Kaji."

    Rei took in a deep breath letting it out slowly. "Well we did therapy together once we can do it again."

    Asuka looked at her hands. "I did this once I can do it again¡­even if it does verfickte suck."

    8

    This body it''s so adult so divine so grown up. I have experienced such a wonder being inside it, it is like being inside a warm coat she does not feel me not yet but I feel her oh god do I feel her. Her memories, her life, her loves and losses and I can''t help but stem my curiosity.

    Every organ works nothing is broken it''s also healthy and no emotion has any numbness. Her stomach works, her guts can digest food her lungs can take deep breaths. Her heart beats a beautiful rhythm unlike mine used to and her bones are strong. She''s well fed and taken care off and her womb functions normally as mine never did my periods were always short due to it not working right but hers work and she could one day bear children if she desires.

    I wonder what sexual attraction and desire is like in this body? I see something that is somewhat strange in this body it only turns on via emotional connection and then it kicks in how strange. I never had that it seems almost unfair that she does and yet with a movement of my finger I can open that walled pillar deep in the back of her mind.

    It should not be there anyway clearly it was put there to hurt and deny her, she should feel like I did when I was alive and stopped taking my medication. May be they forced her to take medication maybe that is why she can''t feel that. Well it would be most impolite to not give her, what is rightfully hers.

    Rei felt her eyes snap open as she blinked in the darkness feeling her breath come of sharply as she realized she was sweating and she had no idea why. Maybe it was a bad dream or something she lay back on the pillow instantly catching sight of Erika who was sleeping soundly at the foot of the bed on her fluffy fake fur cat blanket.

    She turned watching as Asuka came in to view she was sleeping beside her she could see the faded bruises which weren''t as angry as they had been but they were still very tender all over her body despite the second set of LCL bandages being washing off. She''d had to help her wash in the large tub though she''d felt it was better to just get in with her since it could easily fit two and help her wash down fully.

    It had felt almost like a cleansing ritual since the tub had smelled like heaven and had been filled with bath salts. It had made her realize how much you could take for granted. She had missed everything here in their home. She''d missed the rooms the back garden the smell of trees, their cat Erika and the sensation of sitting together washing each other''s body and hair.

    She paused as her eyes and mind suddenly went off track to Asuka''s sleeping form as the other woman was dressed in a yellow oversized t-shirt and due to her curled up position she could see way more as she could see her breasts and collar bone.

    She felt the spark hit her lowers before she could stop it oh gods it was burning heat and it caught her completely off guard, she wasn''t used to her body being turning on this way. It didn''t normally happen the emotions built up first followed by the sensation once the kissing started and went further than the sexual feeling kicked in but she had never been turned on this way just by mere thoughts she''d always felt absolute control.

    She felt her breathing start to get faster and the sound of her heart beat as it began to drum in her chest as the feeling got more intense and her sense of control started to waver. The sexual images were starting to appear in her mind with crystal clarity. She wanted to touch the other woman''s body even put her hand between her legs and get her fired up sexually even though she knew it was deeply inappropriate and she was sleeping. Yet she wanted to kiss her so badly, more than she wanted to breathe.

    She leaned forward moving closer to her face feeling her breathing become even more ragged as she got with inches of her lips only to stop herself. What in the name of gods was she even doing?! She turned away completely from Asuka who turned in her sleep mumbling in German though nothing she understood.

    She closed her eyes trying to focus elsewhere wanting this sensation to go away. Even Shinji wouldn''t be stupid enough to do something like this. Plus she knew the rules of consent since Misato had told them to her over and over growing up which was don''t touch men and women in their sleep it was wrong and out of order wake them up first.

    Maybe she could just go in to the bathroom and masturbate or something since that''s what people normally did and she had done it in the past but never because she''d been this sexually wound up. She turned feeling something rub against her realizing it was Erika as she was pawing at her leg which meant she wanted to get on her. She turned over letting the tortoiseshell cat move as she pawed at her pyjama top before settling down wanting her face stroked which she started to do hearing the Erika purr, so much for that idea.

    8

    Toji slowly walked the Arcade twenty fifth level seeing that shops were starting to open. He was here to early but it was due to Sakura''s early test as she''d gone up the Nerv School to study as it was today. He turned watching as more metal screens went up on shops it would be over an hour before the others got in and Mari had not been able to visit as she''d been with Marcus and she''d been there very late and she''d sent a message that she''d gone to Maya''s house again.

    He smiled inwardly he hoped she had fun again as it was nice to see her when she was in that kind of mood as she was full of energy and really happy. He turned breaking out of his thoughts catching sight of Sumire as she was sitting at Caf¨¦ on the level below eating her breakfast and drinking coffee.

    He breathed in deeply preparing himself he could do this. He wasn''t scared asking out women was easy right? Mari had done it loads of times with Maya but she had been rebuffed. Why was this chicken shit hard, you just go up to her and ask right? He took in a deeper breath as he walked down to the lower level. He could do this and it was now or never, he knew he wanted to and Sakura liked her.

    He rose his hand watching as she looked up. "Hey there!"

    Sumire looked up from her coffee she felt a smile form as he calmly sat opposite her. "Hello Toji it''s so nice to see you."

    She felt her smile widen. "How is your sister Sakura?"

    Toji shifted his seat a little closer. "She''s doing okay we are in early because she has a test."

    Sumire finished her coffee. "I hope she does well."

    Toji put his hand behind his neck rubbing trying to ignore the nervousness. "I just wanted to ask something because we are friends and I think you''re really nice and my little sister really likes you."

    He watched her blink almost in confusion clearly because he was rambling. He took in a deep breath as he spoke despite that it was loud. "Would you like to go out on a date with me?" He paused before speaking in an even bigger rush. "Because you know, I really like you!"

    Sumire put her coffee down staring at him was this for real? A well-trimmed butch nice guy who was an Evangelion pilot was asking her out? She breathed in feeling unsure of her next words. "You¡­.want¡­to date me?"

    Toji felt a wide grin form. "Yeah." Sumire felt the confusion hit home. "You want to date me despite what I told you about myself?" Toji raised his hands. "Yes!" He paused. "I''m sorry I''m being really forward you know I''m not good at this, Mari is way better at this than me." Sumire looked at her half-finished plate. "No its okay, it''s just I don''t get asked out on dates that often I''m not used to it." Toji sat up slightly. "I don''t see why, you''re really hot!"

    He put both hands in front of his mouth realizing that that could come off as really rude. "I''m sorry that came out all wrong."

    He turned only to watch as she started to laugh. Sumire breathed in as she stopped her laugher looking at him frankly she wasn''t offended at all by that comment as she didn''t hear that much ether. She turned giving him her best smile. "I''m not offended it''s nice to be appreciated in that way from a strapping beefcake like you."

    She paused. "So where did you want to take me on this date?" Toji leaned forward feeling the excitement hit. "Wait, so you want to go out with me?" Sumire felt a sly smile form. "Yes I do, where were your planning on us going?"

    Toji raised his hand. "I don''t know lunch somewhere in Tokyo three together and then you can come back to my place or I can go to yours just tell us which one, as I can have Mari look after Sakura for a while, when I''m gone." Sumire looked at him. "Whatever works for you Toji, I don''t mind."

    End of part 37

    Silvermoonlight

 When The Body Wonéˆ¥æª› Focus Like The Mind

    WHEN THE BODY WON¡¯T FOCUS LIKE THE MIND

    Asuka breathed in looking around the pilots planning room. They¡¯d all been called here yet no one was even here yet it was just her and Rei and they couldn¡¯t even pilot. Since they had to be under observation for a week, as that was protocol.

    She turned to Rei who just looked bored and frustrated she had not been herself this morning. She had felt it on the train coming over the other woman was bored and agitated, as if something was getting to her.

    Maybe it was everything they¡¯d been through. She had already dealt with Bardiel so all she felt after coming back from capture was tired and needing to sleep. The emotional side wasn¡¯t bothering her as much as it could be. Though she wouldn¡¯t lie she still felt terrible about killing all those people in cold blood with her gun.

    The images of their faces were still hunting her she had killed people before but she was used to doing it in her Evangelion. This though was the first time she¡¯d ever done in close combat and face to face and a part of her really wished she hadn¡¯t done it.

    Her gun no longer felt the same when she held it, it felt dirty almost shameful and she still had no memory of how they¡¯d gotten out, which was deeply frustrating. She turned to Rei she had never had to deal with being captured by evil people. Yet now she has experienced it, it was clearly having an effect on her.

    She knew they¡¯d have to see Maya soon maybe not today but this week as she¡¯d want to talk to them both about what happened. Truth-be told she was really uncertain about it though not for herself but for Rei. She had also had a message that Kyo wanted to see her as soon as she had time.

    Maybe it was for a weapon debriefing or about the people she¡¯d killed ether way it made her nervous. She had no idea what to even say to him but that was very much how she felt now coming out of all this which was a deep sense of uncertainty and limbo.

    She wasn¡¯t even angry in fact she felt strangely calm and relaxed even more so than normal. Her temper wasn¡¯t trying to burn its way out like it normal did in these situations and she felt no sense of tension, it felt more like she was at peace in a strange surreal way, which made no sense to her and yet she was going with it.

    She leaned over putting her hand on Rei¡¯s back running gently her hand over the other woman¡¯s shoulders watching as she turned sharply. ¡°They¡¯ll be here soon.¡± Rei breathed in deeply trying to ignore the fact that her nerve endings were firing with every moment of Asuka¡¯s fingers.

    This was like pure torture and her day had not even started yet, she needed to get through this and try to pull through yet it felt like such an effort right now. She eyed the other woman feeling her shoe push in to the floor, she felt so irritated.

    Ever since she¡¯d woken up this morning she¡¯d been feeling agitated along with having intense sexual cravings which just wouldn¡¯t go away. Her brain was working overtime just to stop these full on sexual images getting in to her head. It was making her feel angry and frustrated, since she didn¡¯t feel in full control.

    She took in a slow deep breath before leaning forward on her desk. ¡°I¡¯m just bored and tired.¡± Yes it was a really pathetic lie to tell her girlfriend but it was all she could think off right now.

    Her gaze shifted as Toji walked in through the door in full plug suit though he looked incredibly happy as he turned to them raising a hand. ¡°You¡¯re already here.¡± Asuka watched as he seated himself as she spoke calmly. ¡°You look happy.¡±

    Toji pulled up sharply in his chair. ¡°I just asked Sumire out and she said yes!¡± He raised his hands. ¡°We are going on a date this Friday!¡± Rei looked up slightly. ¡°Congratulations Toji, I¡¯m really happy for you.¡± Toji breathed in sharply. ¡°You don¡¯t think a Tokyo Three restaurant is a bad idea? I mean I just don¡¯t want to look cheap.¡±

    Asuka shook her head as she put her feet on the table. ¡°I doubt she¡¯ll see it as cheap all she¡¯ll care about is having a good time with you.¡± She turned as Mari burst in, in full plug suit though she looked out of breath and her hair was loose as she sat down. ¡°Did you have a late night?¡±

    Mari looked up sharply. ¡°Is it that obvious princess?¡± Asuka felt a sly smile form. ¡°No it¡¯s just weird seeing you rolling in here four eyes without your hair tied.¡±

    Mari blinked in confusion only for her brain to suddenly click in to gear as her face turned to annoyance. ¡°Ah fuck it! I left my hairs ties at Maya¡¯s house.¡± Toji smirked as he eyed her. ¡°Just so you know it looks really nice down.¡± Rei put her hands together. ¡°I agree.¡±

    Mari felt a wide grin form. ¡°Oh okay then.¡± She eyed Asuka. ¡°Are you going to give me a compliment on how great I look?¡± Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°Fine, you look great.¡± Mari blinked in surprise she eyed Rei who was fidgeting in her chair. ¡°Is she feeling okay? It¡¯s just she¡¯s not her normal sharp tempered self.¡±

    She paused lowering her voice. ¡°Did you fuck her lights outs last night, is that why she¡¯s so mellow?¡± Rei felt her fingers grip the table as she tried to ignore the sudden imagines going through her head which consisted of her taking Asuka¡¯s clothes off. ¡°No I didn¡¯t, we aren¡¯t allowed to have even have sex thanks to Ritsuko we have a twenty four hour ban!¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply again she wasn¡¯t even angry this was coming out as she wasn¡¯t in the mood to start arguing or fighting. She turned to Mari and Toji who now looked shocked but not at her but at what Rei had just said. ¡°Yes that sums it up¡­we have been put on ice for twenty fours.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s been put on ice?¡±

    Rei turned watching as Shinji and Kaworu walked in, in their plug suits she breathed in speaking in a dark sarcastic tone. ¡°Our sex life...¡± Shinji stared at his sister for a long moment. Not quite believing what she had just said, as Rei never talked openly about sex.

    He sat down watching as Kaworu followed looking just as confused as him. ¡°Em¡­I don¡¯t understand.¡± Mari leaned over. ¡°Ritsuko put them on ice for twenty four hours.¡± Shinji breathed in deeply. ¡°Oh right I get it, since when is that allowed? None of us have ever had that restriction put on us.¡± Kaworu put his hands together feeling smile form. ¡°Well you could just masturbate.¡±

    He paused. ¡°You know buy toys and such and¡­¡± Shinji leaned over sharply trying to ignore the embarrassing feeling as he cut his boyfriend off before he could say anything else. ¡°Yeah you should do what Kaworu said¡­.¡± Rei leaned on her elbow as she spoke in a cold tone. ¡°Yeah but it¡¯s not the same is it?¡±

    Shinji eyed his sister in utter shock his gaze drifting to Asuka who was saying nothing and being very relaxed about all of this. What on earth was going on here? It was so weird to see this Asuka being this mellow and his little sister being the opposite which was looking annoyed and deeply frustrated. ¡°Rei, are you feeling okay?¡±

    Rei shifted in her seat. ¡°Yeah I¡¯m fine¡­just wish they¡¯d get on with this briefing¡­I¡¯m bored and it¡¯s not like we need to be here anyway since we¡¯ll be under observation for a week as its Nerv protocol.¡± Mari adjusted her glasses. ¡°What protocol, I never heard about that.¡±

    Kaworu turned to look at her. ¡°Protocol seven zero eight nine in the event of capture by an enemy faction the employee must reframe from all Nerv activity and be monitored for a week to check their mental health and well-being and if need be, be given medication and counselling long or short term.¡±

    He put his hands together. ¡°When I joined Nerv I had to go through it since I was a forma teenage solider under the control of a rebel faction.¡± He paused as Misato came with a tablet in hand followed by Maya. Misato looked up at every one as Maya shut the door. ¡°Thank you for all coming here, sorry some of you had to rush breakfast.¡± Rei looked down slightly as she mumbled under her breath. ¡°We haven¡¯t even had breakfast yet¡­¡±

    Misato turned sharply realizing it was Rei who had mumbled that comment and not Asuka which was so strange. She breathed in looking at the young woman. ¡°After this meeting is done Rei you can eat.¡± She turned back to her tablet. ¡°Okay so you¡¯re here because we need to do a quick roaster for today and this week.¡± She turned to Asuka. ¡°Asuka you¡¯re grounded for a week under the rule of seven zero eight nine as you need to be checked over medically and psychologically¡±

    Asuka folded her arms speaking calmly. ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡± Maya looked at Asuka for a long moment she was being very relaxed about this which was odd as she normally hated being grounded. She turned to Rei. ¡°That applies to you as well Rei the Commander has even given the order himself.¡±

    Rei eyed her speaking coldly. ¡°Why would he care? He barely knows I exist.¡± Maya blinked in surprise watching as Misato gave her a confused look. ¡°Well he wants you to speak to Ritsuko in his office this afternoon alone.¡±

    Rei looked up slightly. ¡°Why do I have to speak to her?¡± Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°I don¡¯t know but the Commander has made this an order and I know you don¡¯t get on with Ritsuko but she has also ordered it.¡± Asuka turned slightly. ¡°Maybe she just wants to debrief you in some way that only applies to you and Shinji since Gendo is your father.¡±

    She turned to Shinji. ¡°He would do that I assume?¡±

    Shinji looked at Rei. ¡°Yes maybe it¡¯s just that Rei like Asuka says.¡±

    Misato looked at Asuka. ¡°Kyo also wants to see you this afternoon Asuka he¡¯s taken time out of special training of the employees just to see you.¡± She raised her hand. ¡°And you two need to buy new phones as Ritsuko needs to fit them with the new devices, you¡¯ll be given company phones during the overlap.¡± She looked at them all. ¡°Oh and I¡¯d like you all to meet me after work because myself and Kaji are going to the ramien bar opposite Nerv as we want to have dinner with you all.¡±

    Shinji felt a wide smile form though his sister¡¯s face remained slightly annoyed. ¡°Do you mean Tonkotsu the place we all used to go when we were kids which is next to the visitor centre?¡±

    Misato looked at him. ¡°Yes that¡¯s the place and I already booked so it I¡¯m hoping you can all come as it would mean a lot to us considering all that¡¯s been going on.¡±

    Toji raised his hand. ¡°I¡¯m there but can I bring Sakura?¡±

    Misato nodded. ¡°The more the merrier.¡±

    Shinji looked up slightly watching as Kaworu gave him a smile. ¡°We¡¯d love to go.¡±

    Mari raised her hand. ¡°Can I bring Maya?¡± Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°I have to do an all-night run Mari I can¡¯t be with you tonight, plus you need to get some rest.¡±

    Mari leaned forward lowering her tone to a lower more seductive one. ¡°Is that an order? Because I like it when you order me around...¡±

    Maya lowered her head trying very hard to hide the blush on her face as she spoke. ¡°Yes it is, we¡¯ll catch up tomorrow.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply letting her breath out slowly. ¡°I¡¯m never going to get used to this.¡±

    Misato turned trying to hide her smirk as she turned to Asuka and Rei. ¡°I hope you¡¯re both coming to.¡±

    Asuka looked up slightly. ¡°We will be there.¡± Misato turned back to her tablet as Maya recomposed herself. ¡°Okay so the roaster is as follows. Shinji, Kaworu you need to go to Sicily in Italy they need an Evangelion to put some of their volcanic testing equipment on as Mount Etna. Strangely it became active last night even though it hasn¡¯t been active in almost two hundred years and your skills with volcano diving are better than any other pilots.¡± She paused. ¡°Unit 01 has been fitted with the special ice water tank surround to keep the LCL cool and you¡¯ll leave in half an hour.¡±

    She turned to Mari and Toji. ¡°You are both needed in China in the Forbidden City of Ihasa in Tibet. There¡¯s some big celebration for the Dalai Lama and you just need to stand around and look mean apparently.¡± Toji folded his arms in annoyance. ¡°So it¡¯s a chicken shit publicity stunt since the Dalai Lama¡¯s at odds with the Chinese president as he wants control over Ihasa but the Dalai Lamas refuses as she says the city is holy to the gods and should not be part of the government control.¡±

    Misato looked at her tablet. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong Toji and she asked to see you personally, in her words she wants to see the man who controls a living god dressed in armour.¡± Toji rolled his eyes. ¡°This is why I hate my own counties political bullshit right now, they keep making me part of it.¡± Mari raised her hand. ¡°I know I¡¯m guarding him but why am I going wouldn¡¯t it have been better for them to send Kaworu in my place, since China considered the Ukraine neutral?¡±

    Misato eyed her tablet. ¡°The problem is that Britain once occupied Ihasa as it was part of the British empire for a time but they gave it up three decades ago and made it part of the commonwealth so right now there having a pissing match with China and siding with the Dalai Lama on this one about China not owning it. As they view it as a scared city and still there¡¯s by right of the commonwealth.¡± She breathed deeply. ¡°Which sadly means your being roped in to the British prime minister¡¯s bullshit as well since Britain demanded you be there as a presence, regardless of Toji.¡±

    Toji sat up in his chair. ¡°You know the chicken shit bastards do realize me and her are friends right, we are not enemies?¡± Shinji breathed in deeply. ¡°Believe me when it¡¯s about politics Toji anyone who wants to posture with an Evangelion can even if there not on the same side. It¡¯s one of the annoying aspects of our line of work at Nerv.¡± He raised his hand. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it after a while and you¡¯ll learn to ignore it. The fact is they are not allowed to use the Evangelions in any form of battle against other countries.¡±

    He looked up slightly. ¡°The Evangelion¡¯s can only be used to end disputes and stops terrorists attack as well as the kill angels, archangels and the hybrid Evangelion. They are never to be used to start wars and the world knows that but it doesn¡¯t stop them using the Evangelions now and again for personal gain.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°We realize the problem here this is causing and have said nether of you will leave the Evangelions or be interviewed and we¡¯ve put extra food in your entry plug to tide you over as we realize this situation means you can¡¯t eat or be part of the celebrations.¡±

    She lowered her tablet. ¡°As we are worried both sides will try to bring in diplomats to sway you and get you on side, when this sticky issue is nothing to do you and about your countries who need to sort this out without your influences.¡± Mari breathed in annoyance. ¡°Great I hate Nerv rations they don¡¯t taste of anything.¡± Maya put her hands in her lab coat pockets. ¡°No I made sure it¡¯s not that Mari as we have been working on ways to store hot food in a special compartment without it effecting LCL temperature.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    She looked up slightly. ¡°Both your units have been fitted temporally with these hot boxes they¡¯ve been lab tested and they work. They just need testing fully today by you and Toji but should they not work they can be turned off and you will still have rations.¡± Mari felt a sly smile form. ¡°So what did you put in these hot boxes, just curious?¡± Maya looked up meeting her intense gaze. ¡°That would spoil the surprise Mari but trust me you and Toji won¡¯t be disappointed.¡± Mari smirked slightly. ¡°Oh so did you put a naked picture in there for me, as an added extra?¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply putting a hand on her face as she spoke in a quite tone. ¡°I so did not need to hear that.¡± Misato moved forward watching as Maya¡¯s look turned to surprise and shock. ¡°Okay it¡¯s time for you all to go now.¡± She paused pointing at Mari followed by Maya. ¡°And you two need to learn the concept of private chat and getting a room.¡±

    Maya snapped out of her haze as she made her way towards the door. ¡°Please you don¡¯t get room with Kaji and she¡¯s my girlfriend, she can say whatever she likes so back off!¡± Misato watched as she left closing the door behind her seeing the shocked looks from everyone apart from Mari who smiled smugly as she folded her arms. ¡°Okay you should all get going now.¡±

    Asuka turned to Mari looking at her. ¡°So clearly she likes you then.¡± Rei turned slightly. ¡°Yes it would seem that she does like you, a lot.¡± Shinji leaned over along with Kaworu. ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve never seen her behave that way before.¡±

    Toji smirked as he looked at Mari. ¡°So you must be giving her a good time in bed then?¡± Misato turned to them. ¡°Did you all not hear me? Get moving you can chat tonight at the ramen restaurant!¡± She watched as they all got up knowing that, that was command tone and meant she was serious she watched as they all left going in different directions very quickly.

    Some meeting this had turned out to be, not to mention outright weird. Since Asuka was behaving so calmly and Rei just seemed edgy and moody it was liked they¡¯d swapped bodies. Maya had said that there was a real possibility both could suffer post-traumatic stress disorder and would need to a psychiatric evaluation in two days to be sure. So maybe it could be a starting symptom but it was still odd she had expected Asuka to be in a foul mood today. Since she couldn¡¯t pilot so it was plain weird seeing the opposite along with Rei being this abrasive as she was normally only like this in quarantine.

    8

    Kyo breathed in leaning back looking at the office around him he¡¯d been given this after Misato had put him in charge of the special ops. Yet he couldn¡¯t help feel that he felt out of place in here as he was more used to idea of sharing with the other special ops in their sleeping quarter rooms. Mari¡¯s father Marcus was now gone and after the drinking match they¡¯d had he could suddenly see where she got a lot of her unique behaviour from, Marcus was very open with no filter when he spoke and clearly Mari took after him.

    It had got him thinking though about his friendship with Asuka he had always been her mentor but people had stated that he was her father figure, though he had not wanted to admit it. The reality though was he was. He had just had difficulty embracing the issue because he felt it might cause problems as he was meant to her trainer and an authority figure. The reality was that after what had happened with her capture he had regretted not telling her the truth, in that he saw her as his daughter.

    He picked up an old Gunt¨­ which had been his great grandmothers during world war two where she¡¯d been a solider on the front lines trying to stop Russia¡¯s world take over. The blade was carved with writing. ¡°Life is like swordplay. Grip it, hold it tightly and then make your move.¡± His grandmother was long dead but he took great comfort in those words and their truth and he had not been gripping life hard enough as of late, when he should be.

    Now Asuka was back he wanted to tell her openly how he felt regarding their friendship. Because she was going to need it there was a very real possibility she could have post-traumatic stress disorder and pier to this she had only just been getting over depression. Plus this had happened while Rei was with her which would only add to the stress. He¡¯d suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a younger man and it had been hard to work though hence he wanted to be there for her as much as possible.

    Maybe she would take comfort in knowing that he viewed her as a daughter maybe it would strengthen their bond and make it a closer friendship, rather than a mentor and student. He breathed in as he watched her appear outside his office. He raised his hand watching as she walked in he slowly stood up as she came in. ¡°Ah there you are did you get lost along the way?¡± Asuka closed the door behind her as she spoke calmly. ¡°Yeah I did and I¡¯m really not used to you having an office.¡±

    Kyo moved closer to her. ¡°Between us I really don¡¯t give a damn about this office, it¡¯s a perk I don¡¯t care for.¡± He breathed in deeply not thinking as he grabbed her pulling her in to a hug. ¡°I¡¯m so happy to finally see you again Asuka, for a moment we all thought you might be lost to us.¡±

    Asuka blinked in surprise as the big man held her tighter in all the time she¡¯d known him he had never hugged her openly. She breathed in deeply feeling it was only right to be honest with him and not hide her feelings. ¡°Believe me when I say I felt lost myself, for a while.¡±

    She breathed in sadly. ¡°I thought they were going to kill me Kyo but it wasn¡¯t like that, they were all insane they think I¡¯m some destroyer of worlds.¡± Kyo pulled away from her putting a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Yes we found out what insane people they were, in the footage.¡± Asuka watched as he sat down she slowly sat down opposite as she spoke unable to keep the bitter tone out of her voice. ¡°Yeah they are and that bastard Christopher beat the scheisse out of me.¡±

    Kyo breathed in deeply. ¡°You tried your best Asuka you were trying to protect Rei the footage really showed that.¡± Asuka looked up slightly as she pulled her gun out of its holder so he could see it. ¡°And yet I feel like scheisse for killing four people with this, even though they had it coming and I¡¯ve killed people all my life?¡± Kyo looked at her for a long moment instantly understanding what was going on. ¡°I know you knee capped a stalker once who got in to your home but pulling the trigger that close is never a good feeling.¡±

    He moved his hand putting it on her gun hand. ¡°This is the first time you¡¯ve ever killed at close quarters and I can understand why it¡¯s difficult. In the Evangelion you probably feel differently when you kill terrorists.¡±

    Asuka looked at him for a long moment. ¡°I don¡¯t enjoy killing in the Evangelion but it always feel like I¡¯m doing it to save people¡­.when I unloaded my gun on those four men and women I just felt awful afterwards and I can¡¯t get their faces out of my mind.¡±

    She breathed in painfully trying to ignore the sting of her own tears which came out all too suddenly. ¡°I just keep on thinking that it was mistake. Since I thought they were after Rei but they weren¡¯t they were after me and I killed them and they didn¡¯t need to die. If I had known it was about me I would have surrendered and tried to negotiate Rei¡¯s release.¡± She took in a painful breath. ¡°I just let my emotions and anger rule me and four people felt the bullets of my verfickte gun in the process.¡±

    She eased up her gun looking at it. ¡°The pathetic thing is I always thought after all the training after all your teaching I¡¯d be okay when I final fired the kill shot to protect myself¡­yet I just feel like utter scheisse and I just can¡¯t get their faces out of my mind.¡±

    Kyo eased up his hand putting it on her face. ¡°Listen to me Asuka and listen good, those people killed hundreds off famous celebrities and staff that night they were pure killers with evil intentions and they meant to cause you harm and pain and create an act of terror in Tokyo Three.¡±

    He looked up slightly. ¡°You did what you were trained to do you protected yourself and you killed terrorists that¡¯s what you do it¡¯s what your good at. You should not blame yourself for unloading the gun in your position as in the past I¡¯ve done the same.¡±

    Asuka turned to unable to hold the sudden sharp edge of her anger back which came out very suddenly. ¡°You saying this¡­doesn¡¯t take away from the fact that I still feel like scheisse. I keep seeing their faces when I lay down to sleep!¡±

    Kyo eased up his hand putting it on her shoulder as he raised his other hand. ¡°Listen my little ball of red fire sometimes you have to take that shot and pull that trigger it¡¯s a horrible choice but you have to do it and it never gets any easier. So you have to tell yourself you did it for the right reasons which you did Asuka as you were trying to protect someone you love.¡± Asuka lowered her gaze feeling the tears start to come before she could stop them. ¡°And yet I still feel terrible, even it was for the right reasons.¡±

    Kyo moved forward putting his arms around her this was the first time he¡¯d ever seen her cry and it was in front of him and nothing was hidden. ¡°You did the right thing Asuka, in your position I would have fired my gun to.¡± He held her tighter. ¡°You did do the right thing you just have to keep telling yourself that.¡±

    Asuka pulled back as she wiped some of her tears away sharply. ¡°But that¡¯s the problem it wasn¡¯t right it could have been avoided. If I had asked the right questions but I didn¡¯t I fired first and didn¡¯t ask any questions.¡±

    Kyo slowly lowered himself down since he¡¯d always towered over her and he really wanted to be on her level. ¡°Believe me Asuka those people meant to hurt you I could see it in the footage. What was the first lesson I ever taught you?¡± Asuka looked up meeting his gaze. ¡°Do not hesitate to fire your weapon if you feel your life is truly in danger, because you won¡¯t get a second chance in most cases if the person means to hurt or kill you.¡±

    Kyo leaned over taking the gun from her hand watching as she sat down. He slowly kneeled in front of her. ¡°You did just what I taught you with this and you did it exceptionally. If ever any one was to question your skill at close range they can¡¯t anymore your shots were perfect kills, just like in your Evangelion.¡±

    He breathed in deeply. ¡°I am very proud of how you acted you tried to save all of those people at the auction house by taking on that troll faced bastard who was an Evangelion pilot like you and even though you lost thousands of people saw you. Did you know their talking about that in the media feeds? Those celebrities and staff that survived, said that you tried to save them and give them freedom. Once your battle was over they said that Rei blew out the lighting system and got the doors open. Yes hundreds died but had ether of you not acted more would be dead the bomb was intended to kill them all.¡±

    He looked at her gun as he put it back in her hand. ¡°Don¡¯t see yourself as the villain here don¡¯t view your gun or yourself as dirty because the reality is you are a hero, in all the best possibly ways.¡± He paused before speaking. ¡°As I always tell you power and controls are nothing on their own they must be balanced through honour and justice which you did once again.¡±

    He breathed in deeply feeling that now was the best time to say this. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve always heard rumours that people refer to me as you father figure at Nerv.¡± Asuka blinked in confusion. ¡°No I never heard that I mean Mari mentioned that you really like me and have a huge soft spot for me but she¡¯s seeing thing that are not there. Our relationship has always been that of mentor of student and we respect each other.¡±

    Kyo shook his head as he put her hand on her shoulder very gently. ¡°No Asuka she is not seeing things that are not there, I¡¯ve always thought more of you than any other student and I do have a huge spot for you, I always have.¡±

    He breathed in deeply realizing how strange his next words could sound. ¡°You know I told you about my daughter who died.¡± Asuka stared at him for a long moment she now had no idea where this was going and just felt deeply confused. ¡°Yes I remember you telling me she died in second impact along with your wife.¡± Kyo eased up his hand putting it on her face very gently. ¡°Well you¡¯ve always reminded me off her and the truth is I see you as the daughter I never had.¡±

    He breathed in deeply. ¡°I realize this might be hard for you to take in and I know you¡¯re not very trusting of people after what happened in your childhood but believe me when I say I would like to be a truly positive figure in your life and be a father to you in any way I can.¡±

    He lowered his head sadly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if this is a shock to you and is hard to take in but I never knew how you would react and I was scared that you¡¯d dislike this. So I never told you but after almost losing you to that terrorist group, I felt that you deserve to know the truth.¡±

    Asuka looked down as an uncertain silence fell across the room she snapped out her haze meeting his gaze directly. ¡°You really see me as a daughter?¡± Kyo nodded calmly. ¡°Yes.¡± Asuka felt a smile form despite the painful emotions and anger she was feeling. This felt like a form of silver lining even if it was out of the blue and had caught her completely off guard. ¡°I think it¡¯s really nice that think that off me like this even though I¡¯m not your family.¡± Kyo let out the breath he had been holding. ¡°Family is about connection, it¡¯s not always about blood but I think you know that already as both you and Mari are not directly related.¡±

    He raised his hand. ¡°Look the point is I know what you¡¯re going to go through in the next few weeks and it¡¯s going to be hard and I want to be there for you whenever I can. So don¡¯t feel afraid to talk to me or Maya about it as I¡¯ve had post-traumatic stress disorder as a young man and it¡¯s very hard to go through and it helps to have someone to talk to.¡±

    Asuka moved forward wrapping her arms around his neck. ¡°Thank you Kyo this means a lot to me and I will talk to you and I think you were right to tell me this now as before Bardiel I might not have believed that you saw me this way.¡± Kyo felt a smile form. ¡°Well my little ball of red fire that¡¯s good to know and I am glad you¡¯re happy with this.¡±

    8

    Vitor took a bite out of his food as he walked the long bridge that was part of the restricted zones walk way as some were just bridge levels and this was the oldest level in the complex from what he¡¯d heard. It didn¡¯t have the modern look which the newer complex buildings had and you sometimes had to use the bridge walkways to get to certain older areas as well as newer ones. They were both just here though so they could let their pets fly around as these bridges had plenty of wide open space. ¡°Wait so you¡¯re telling me the rumour is that Toji asked out Sumire?¡±

    Chilam leaned on the bridges rails. ¡°Yeah I heard it from someone higher up on in command, lots of people are talking about it.¡± Vitor opened his lab coat watching as his budgie opened her wings flying upwards soaring in the high sky of the empty old area which hardly anyone ever went near.

    He watched as Chilam let her mass Eva¡¯s out of her lab coat letting them fly sky high so like his budgie they could get some real exercise. ¡°Well that sucks he beat me to it!¡±

    Chilam turned raising an eyebrow. ¡°Look I¡¯m sure this place being as huge as it is, you¡¯ll find another woman who likes to be speak her mind and has really course language.¡± She paused eyeing the huge lab complex opposite of them which people dubbed the ghost lab complex. Because it always had the shutters down and was off limits to all staff even those in the restricted area apart from Gendo and Ritsuko who were seen sometimes coming and going from it.

    From reading the history book on Nerv it was going to be a cloning lab back when it had first been built but then the UN had banned human cloning worldwide. It had been turned in to something else but what it was no one knew and it was clearly nothing to do with Ritsuko¡¯s Evangelion research as that was on another floor and everyone could see it, it wasn¡¯t hidden in any way.

    This was something else and clearly not for anyone¡¯s eyes and something of Seele¡¯s and since no one ever really came here, it was safe for them to be here.

    Vitor looked up slightly. ¡°Yeah you¡¯re probably right and as they say you win some you lose some.¡± He looked at the enormous closed off lab only to freeze, as he realized that there was someone sitting on top of its flat metal roof. Though they weren¡¯t paying attention to them and seemed completely oblivious to them even being here. ¡°You got to be fucking kidding me?!¡±

    Chilam turned in confusion unsure of what he looking at as only to catch sight of it and the person in question was unmistakable.

    It was her clothing and short hair and pose though even from here she could see the eyes which were glowing red and not green in the dimly lit zone. ¡°That¡¯s Ayanami!¡± He paused seeing that the young woman clearly had no interest in them and was lost in own thoughts. ¡°How is she even down here, I though she wasn¡¯t allowed in the restricted zone much like her brother?¡±

    Chilam eyed the short brown haired woman¡¯s whose gaze shifted as she caught sight of their flying pets but remained still watching their in-flight acrobatics. ¡°Maybe the commander upgraded their privileges¡­or something.¡±

    Vitor eyed the young woman who was still ignoring them. ¡°Yeah but still why be here? This place is not what I¡¯d call the tourist distinct of the restricted zone why not be where the Evangelions parts are built or the Evangelion testing areas?¡±

    He raised his hands. ¡°I mean look at this area, it¡¯s never really done it up to this day unlike the other zones.¡± Chilam eyed the younger woman for a long moment even from here it felt like she was giving of a strange vibe maybe it was her eyes they really stood out in darkness and the red glow was so intense. ¡°Do you think she see us, I mean she must know we are here?¡±

    Vitor turned to her. ¡°Maybe she doesn¡¯t give a damn I mean why would she care? The Commander is her father and it¡¯s not like she¡¯s hiding her presence in any way.¡± He watched as his budgie came back in landing on his shoulders followed by Chilam¡¯s pets returning to her. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s leave her to it though I would love to know how she got down here without anyone seeing her.¡± Chilam breathed in deeply. ¡°This sucks I really want to see these pilots up close and personal yet all I ever get to see them from a far.¡±

    Vitor raised an eyebrow as they began to walk away in the opposite direction. ¡°Why are so interested with the whole up close thing, I¡¯m just curious?¡± Chilam breathed in, in annoyance. ¡°I want to look in to their souls through their eyes and you just can¡¯t do that though pictures or holograms, call it spiritual curiosity.¡± Vitor looked at her for a long moment before speaking. ¡°If you like windows of the soul why don¡¯t your little mass Evangelions have eyes?¡± Chilam turned feeling a sly smile form. ¡°Because I wanted to give them a deeper view of the world¡­and the company demanded no eyes.¡±

    End of part 38

    Silvermoonlight

 Feeling The Pillar And The Might Of The Ascending Divine

    FEELING THE PILLAR AND THE MIGHT OF THE ASCENDING DIVINE

    It¡¯s so long since I¡¯ve been to this Ramen bar it feels like a life time ago when I was so much younger. It feels like so long ago now and it brings back so many memories. Unlike so much of Tokyo Three this place still looks the same, same long red banner above and its traditional red paper lights and simple wooden seats that make up the long seating area. Even the same man is cooking ramen.

    That I remember as a school child though he hasn¡¯t said much to me yet but he is busy cooking and all I can smell is the beautiful aroma of vegetables, herbs and spices cooked meats, fish and seafood. While crispy and soft dumplings are cooking away in bamboo steamers. It feels like I¡¯m being transported back to those lazy summer days of my childhood.

    The only difference in this place is its seated bar area, is wider than it used to be, but that is the only change that¡¯s noticeable inside and the fact that there are now two extra staff but all in all nothing¡¯s changed drastically, apart from them now having a glass front outside to keep the rain out which you walk in to through a glass door.

    I¡¯m also the first one here as though its open bar you have to book reservations as it¡¯s massively popular. Even all these years on I can see people walking by going about their business not taking any notice.

    It¡¯s getting dark though and the neon lights in shop windows and skyscraper lights are on. As is the visitor centre which is very close to one of the shopping districts it¡¯s also a warm night. There is a metal railing that runs around this whole bar in a square shape and it has a locked section which you can¡¯t get through unless you booked. This means no one can get to close while you¡¯re eating.

    Today has somehow been uplifting despite everything that had happened in the past couple of days. I feel good and I¡¯m looking forward to this meal though I¡¯m the first one here. Rei said she was still in the meeting with Ritsuko but would be here soon. Maybe it was a long meeting or something, though when the time is right I want to tell her what was said between myself and Kyo.

    ¡°You¡¯re here?¡±

    Asuka turned seeing that Misato had arrived along with Kaji who gave her wide smile as they both seated themselves. ¡°What did you think I was not going to be here?¡± Misato looked at her for a long moment. ¡°No, it¡¯s just you are normally last to arrive. I thought you just always enjoyed being fashionably late.¡±

    Asuka eyed her as she adjusted her patch. ¡°No I felt it would be very rude to turn up late, since you booked this place and booking here is hard from what Shinji told me. It¡¯s not like it was when we kids when you could just walk in.¡± Kaji looked at her. ¡°Where is Rei?¡±

    Asuka eyed the empty seat next to her. ¡°She¡¯s still in her meeting with Ritsuko, I think it might have over run.¡± Kaji blinked okay so maybe the strange stuff about this morning and Asuka and Rei both acting opposite to normal wasn¡¯t so out there. Though it was weird seeing Asuka this relaxed and polite as normally even a good mood she tended to have a slight edge to her like she could snap given the chance. ¡°Well it¡¯s nice to have you here Asuka.¡±

    He turned watching as Mari appeared with Toji who was closely followed by Sakura as well as Shinji and Kaworu who were behind them. ¡°Ah there you all are, come and take your seats.¡± Mari sat down opposite Asuka along with Toji and Sakura who looked thrilled to be here. While Shinji and Kaworu sat opposite Misato and Kaji who were in the middle of everyone. Shinji looked up in confusion seeing the last empty seat. ¡°Where¡¯s Rei?¡± Asuka eyed the empty chair. ¡°Her meeting has over run.¡±

    She turned as Rei suddenly appeared running though the people on the street running through the glass door and coming to a stop at the ramen bar putting her hand on its table top as she leaned over trying to catch her breath as she spoke sharply. ¡°I¡¯m here, I got caught up!¡±

    Shinji eyed his sister. ¡°It¡¯s okay Rei, we had not been here long and we understand it¡¯s not like meetings with Ritsuko are nice.¡± Rei breathed in sitting herself next to Asuka whose hand found her hair stroking very gently as the other woman spoke calmly as she leaned over gently kissing the side of her face. ¡°Well it¡¯s over now and we can talk about it some other day.¡±

    Misato eyed Asuka noting the very public display of affection. She turned to the restaurant owner who gave her a smile. ¡°Okay we are ready to take all your orders now.¡±

    Toji raised his hand. ¡°Ramen for me and my sister with beef please super-size mine.¡±

    Shinji raised his hand. ¡°Ramen with sea food and pork for myself and Kaworu please.¡±

    Mari pushed her loose hair back. ¡°Ramen with pork and beef and super-size it.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply eyeing the menu. ¡°Ramen with pork and dumplings, normal size.¡±

    Mari turned eyeing her little sister. ¡°Since when do you go normal size princess?¡±

    Asuka looked up slightly. ¡°Since I want to savour and enjoy the flavour four eyes.¡±

    Rei raised her hand. ¡°Miso ramen with sea food and crab super-size it!¡± She ignored the looks as everyone including Asuka turned to look at her in surprise. She eyed them all lowering her voice. ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡± Kaji turned to Misato as a confused look passed between them okay this was weirder than he¡¯d expected. It wasn¡¯t helped by the fact that the moment Rei¡¯s food was placed in front of her she started eating it like there was no tomorrow, while Asuka started eating hers slowly clearly savouring every mouthful.

    Misato breathed in eyeing Asuka as a sly smile formed on her lips as hopefully this comment might get a normal reaction. ¡°You know when we first came here Asuka you called me broke and poor do you remember that?¡±

    Asuka eased up a dumpling looking at it for a long moment before eating it as the beers were poured and a coke for Sakura. ¡°Yes that¡¯s true but I didn¡¯t realize Nerv gave you a high salary at the time.¡± Rei looked up from eating as she spoke darkly. ¡°You were being cheap though as you promised me, Shinji and Asuka steak dinners.¡±

    Misato blinked in utter shock this day just couldn¡¯t get any fucking weirder could it? She eyed the younger short haired woman who was just filled with sass and anger today. ¡°If I recall you don¡¯t eat meat Rei.¡± Rei half ignored her as she carried on eating. ¡°Yeah and not all steak restaurants serve steak but you missed that miner detail.¡± Misato eyed her as she raised her hand. ¡°You know I did it because I wanted to get better idea of what you all liked.¡±

    She paused hating that she had to pull mom rank right now, as she really wasn¡¯t used it at all with Rei. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t know what has gotten in to you Rei, but you need to calm down.¡± Rei eyed her as she swallowed a mouthful of noodles speaking in an ice cold tone. ¡°I am calm...¡±

    Shinji raised his hands. ¡°Look I think we should all calm down and just enjoy the meal.¡± Kaworu raised his Ramen spoon. ¡°Yes I would agree, this is a time of happiness for us all as we are now all back together, as a family again.¡± Sakura raised her coke glass. ¡°I¡¯ll drink to that!¡±

    Rei shifting in her chair slightly a part of her wanted to get this over with, so she could go home. She wanted to release this sexual feeling somehow which was clinging to her and making her feel mentality on edge. She looked up as everyone started talking again as everything returned to normal. Asuka turned slightly looking at the other woman as she spoke calmly and softly. ¡°Its fine Rei, it was a long time ago. It doesn¡¯t matter to me anymore.¡± Rei turned to her lowering her voice. ¡°Yeah well people shouldn¡¯t bring up your past like that¡­it¡¯s not like its fair.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply as she put her chop sticks through her food bowl pulling out some noodles as she watched the other woman¡¯s eyes flash red for an instant. She¡¯d seen it before but it was normally only during sex and the Rei¡¯s razor teeth tended to show themselves just like hers. ¡°I was being rude Rei back then and it was wrong of me.¡±

    Rei took in a deep breath. ¡°Yeah but it just gets to me.¡± Asuka swallowed another mouthful. ¡°Look when this is over let¡¯s just go home and relax. I mean maybe we should just sit and go through our mail and have a quite night.¡±

    8

    I wish this feeling would go away. Gods is this what it feels like when you have an awakened sex drive? It almost like torture anything turns it on and it¡¯s so sudden and out of know where. Is this how Asuka and my brother and the others feel every day of their lives?

    It¡¯s almost scary because I¡¯ve always felt completely in control of my own sex drive but since I got back from that island my body has been acting so strange. Sexual thoughts just enter my mind and I can¡¯t blanket them out and it¡¯s hard to concentrate at times during today and during the meal where I lost my temper. I just couldn¡¯t help myself.

    My mind wanders to really full on sexual things once more and it¡¯s hard to even focus right even now as my eyes start wandering over Asuka¡¯s body at any given moment. I just think about having sex with her even though she¡¯s still healing and is still not a hundred percent and we are not meant to have any form sexual activity with each other tonight.

    It¡¯s selfish I know I just can¡¯t help it, it¡¯s like being crushed by a wave. Now I¡¯m just staring inside a package Mari had sent to me which has a leather collar with a strap. I recall her making a joke about me riding Asuka and at the time I just shrugged it off but now I¡¯m seriously thinking about it.

    She might enjoy it or even like it, it might be fun for the both of us. I¡¯ve even forgotten about the other letters I should be opening I¡¯m just stuck mesmerized by it, oh gods why can¡¯t my brain just shut off? I feel like my body is just betraying me maybe it¡¯s all the stress of what happened recently. I mean we have not been back that long and today just felt so surreal and even though we are home everything for me still feel up in the air.

    I watch as Asuka reads over another letter from the pile as she leaning against the beds side. I¡¯m seated on it opening this package and the others letters while Erika sleeping next to her right up close as she strokes her gently. It¡¯s very clear she missed us both deeply and I¡¯m grateful to both Mari and Shinji and the others for keeping her company.

    My hand suddenly goes for the collar as I pull it out fully leaning over so I¡¯m close to Asuka moving my other hand through her long red hair, as I speak in a low seductive tone. ¡°I¡¯m bored.¡± She paused before speaking again. ¡°Want to have sex?¡± She watched as Asuka turned staring at her in utter shock her good eye wide while her left eyes neon pulsed.

    It seemed to take her a moment before she spoke but even then her voice sounded uncertain. ¡°Okay¡­¡± Rei eased up the collar speaking again as she moved her hand to the other woman¡¯s t-shirt running it downwards between her breasts very slowly to make it clear she was deeply serious as she spoke again. ¡°Can I put this on you?¡±

    Asuka blinked eyeing the leather collar with its long leather cord trying to stay focused. ¡°Where¡­where did you get that?¡±

    Rei eyed the collar. ¡°It was a gift from Mari to us.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply not knowing really what to say she felt like Rei had caught her so off guard right now. She watched as Rei leaned over speaking again in her ear in a low whispering seductive tone that was making her nerve endings fire all at once. ¡°I want to see you in it.¡±

    Asuka eyed the collar taking in a deep breath unable to stop the turned on feeling that was creeping through her body as she spoke. ¡°Put it on.¡± Rei slowly moved her hand up unhooking the clasp and opening it. She gently placed it around Asuka¡¯s neck making sure it was above the half healed bruises as she gently closed it locking it. ¡°I won¡¯t pull hard, I promise.¡±

    Asuka breathed unable to stop the blush that was creeping over her cheeks. ¡°Pull as hard as you want.¡± Rei felt her fingers tighten on the cord as she started to pull as Asuka turned to her staying on her knees clearly mesmerized by all this.

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    She looked at her for a long moment before leaning forward meeting her lips the kisses were slow but felt heated as Asuka¡¯s hands suddenly moved to her shirt as they started to unbutton it pulling it off her shoulders in a smooth motion tossing it on the floor nearby as her hands moved to her lower body. She shifted position making slightly harder for the other woman so it was more of a tease.

    She felt Asuka pull with enough force on the cord that she had more free movement again. The truth was she was enjoying the level of control as she moved her hand up helping pull up Asuka¡¯s t-shirt over her head throwing it to one side, Asuka had no bra on as her chest bruises were still in the process of healing. She felt the other woman¡¯s hands move to her jeans as they started to pull them off in a slow graceful action throwing them aside.

    Asuka kissed her way down her chest and stomach she felt the leather cord pull slowly bringing her back up though she managed to unclasped Rei¡¯s bra easing it off. She turned seeing Erika leave the room which was a little odd as normally when they did this she didn¡¯t care and would carry on sleeping in the corner, then try to get as much attention as possible once it was over. Her thoughts were suddenly pushed aside as Rei undid her trousers belt pulling her jeans down slowly and carefully, so as not to cause pain, to her still healing bruises.

    Rei gently eased Asuka¡¯s trousers off nether of them were wearing socks or shoes and, which was making this easier as she kept hold of the strap making it taught as possible moving it around her back so she couldn¡¯t lean forward then started to ease the other woman¡¯s underwear of slowly.

    Asuka breathed in as Rei kissed slowly down her waist as she slowly pulled her legs wider as she felt her tongue start to move below even in her standing state she found her breathing getting heaver and faster as she felt her teeth turn to razors and her left eye ignite. Though unlike so many times before, the sensation was warmer and almost burning yet in such a good way.

    She was so turned on right now and she just wanted more she no longer cared that this was strange or out of blue. All that mattered was the internal build up in her lower body which was on fire she could only touch Rei¡¯s hair and shoulders as the leather strap was holding her back and yet it was such a turn on as she spoke in a low seductive tone. ¡°I want to touch you.¡±

    Rei ignored her carrying on as the sparks stared to fly inside her lower body and the sensation of losing control started to overcome her as she was getting closer to the edge. She moved her fingers slowly between Asuka¡¯s legs as she stood up as the other woman¡¯s lips meet her own as her whole body pushed up against hers as she finally allowed her to touch everything.

    Asuka eased her hands down slowly picking up other woman her hand going around her back feeling Rei¡¯s legs wrap around her as her hand carried on moving only to slow much to her frustration. She wanted more-so much more that it was frustrating her deeply. She closed her eyes for a moment as another feeling hit her, right now she wished that could feel all of her emotions even touch her soul in some manner beyond the physical. She breathed in deeply feeling her whole body become as warm as her left eye.

    Rei leaned back pulling on the strap only hear something snap as she watched in utter confusion as the broken collar fell past her eyes hitting the floor hard, in what felt like slow motion. As the rooms lights suddenly flicked, dimming on their own all around her.

    She breathed in keeping hold of the cord realizing that she was higher above the floor a lot higher. She turned sharply feeling fur all around her legs she turned in the dim room only to realize that she was being held up by one huge furry lycanthrope clawed hand. Her gaze travelled up seeing the huge tiger like face in the darkness with its glowing blue right eye and ignited left as the lights got brighter but only slightly.

    She felt a twinge of sudden fear as she realized she was being held up by the huge massive six foot being. She had no idea why this was even happening, or even if Asuka was still in control of herself. She also wasn¡¯t sure if she hallucinating as it all felt so real. She felt uncertain as to what was going to happen next as Asuka¡¯s good eye was staring in to hers intensely as she let go the leather cord.

    She watched as the first huge tail moved wrapping around her waist lifting her higher so she was much closer to the tiger like face as Asuka spoke very quietly and gently. ¡°Do you want me to stop?¡± Rei stared at her did Asuka even know what was happening to her right now? She looked up realizing that she didn¡¯t want her stop, even if this wasn¡¯t real because a part of her wanted to do this despite what was happening. She paused before speaking. ¡°No, please carry on.¡¯¡±

    She watched as the second tail rose up moving slowly in between her legs though its huge furry end moved past as the other half of the tail started moving in between her legs slowly and smoothly as she shifted closer to the furry chest as her hands clutched it as one of the clawed hands moved down her body in slow movements. Followed by Asuka¡¯s tongue coming out as it ran up her chest and neck as the second tail moved slightly faster as other held her gently and tightly.

    The tongue wasn¡¯t even wet it was soft with a slight bristle effect as Asuka moved her body position slightly so she was at a hundred and eighty degree angle clearly so she could give her a much better sensation. She breathed in deeply feeling the spiking heat in her lower body and the blush as she started breathing in deeper and faster wanting more.

    She had never wanted to have sex more than in this moment in her life and she no longer cared if this was real or not. It was just beyond the normal experience and she needed more. Her words came out in a rush as she heard the growing breathes of Asuka getting harder and deeper. ¡°Harder!¡±

    Asuka looked at the other woman she could feel everything right now her emotions even how turned on she was it was like it was in her own body and every sensation the other woman could feel she could feel simultaneously. She knew what had happened to her and she didn¡¯t know if it was real or an illusion. She¡¯d seen the fear in Rei¡¯s eyes in the moment hence why she had stopped to make sure it was fine and the truth was she didn¡¯t want the other woman to ever look at her that way again, it hurt her heart.

    She shifted her second tail moving it slightly harder making the strokes between her legs longer seeing an all most blissful look appear on the other woman¡¯s face as those small cries starting coming out of her mouth which were like an angels.

    Rei spoke though it was hard as she so close she could feel it and Asuka breathing was also getting louder. ¡°Faster!¡± Asuka breathed in she could feel her emotions so close to the edge gods it was bliss. She began to shift the tail moving it faster feeling the other woman¡¯s hands grab her harder while her legs held on to her waist despite the tail grip for what was clearly dear life. Nothing seemed to exist in this single moment, not the house or the bedroom as the moment draw closer and she started to cry out even though her cries mirrored roars.

    She felt Rei¡¯s body suddenly release as it hit her like a tidal wave and all she could do was roar long loud and hard only to open her eyes and watch as Rei opened her eyes which turned to glowing red as her hair turned from light brown to a lighter almost white blue colour followed by her teeth changing.

    Rei breathed in seeing the star light effect all around her it was beautiful like seeing moving galaxies filled with white and blue and in this moment she felt so content. She watched as Asuka brought her up slightly using her tail as she pressed her face against hers. ¡°Is this real?¡±

    Asuka looked around her at the starlight watching as the other woman¡¯s eyes, hair and teeth slowly returned to normal as she lowered her second tail gently. ¡°Does it really matter?¡± Rei watched as Asuka raised a clawed hand gently she gently put her hand on it. ¡°No I guess it doesn¡¯t.¡± Asuka eased out her tongue running it down her face as she felt the sudden pulse of energy around her as the star light slowly faded away.

    8

    Maya leaned back in she hated all night runs and today was one of them they normally meant keeping a look out on the command centres world map screens for any angel signals or archangel or the hybrid Evangelion they were boring. She could see Shigeru and Sumire on the desks bellow her passing the time as Shigeru was reading a thick book on guitar music.

    While Sumire was looking at what could only be described as a play girl magazine filled with strapping guys with muscle. She wasn¡¯t going to judge her since she¡¯d hidden playboy and LGBT magazines in her crafts books and magazines and read them when she¡¯d been a junior technician years ago.

    She leaned back about to close her eyes only for the angel alarm to sound almost making her leap out of her chair as she turned to screen seeing a signal appear. Shigeru¡¯s voice hit the air. ¡°Conformed AT signal¡­.can¡¯t get a lock on it it¡¯s as strong as an angels in Tokyo Three!¡± Maya felt her eyes dart. ¡°Find it now!¡± She watched as the hologram tried to track it only for the signal to vanish as Sumire¡¯s voice to hit the air filled with confusion. ¡°I lost it, it¡¯s like it just vanished!¡±

    Maya stood up from her chair as the alarms ended. ¡°Where was the last location?¡± Sumire brought up the Tokyo Three map on the hologram screen. ¡°This has to be a mistake like maybe the four Magi have misread this shit, as I¡¯m reading it being out in Tokyo Three¡¯s farmland!¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°I want all Tokyo Three media feeds up now and I want to see all camera¡¯s from that area on the other screen. If an angel walks or any of the other types of monster we will see it in the next few minutes.¡±

    She paused watching as the media feeds came up as the slow agonizing minutes started to tick while the camera¡¯s came up of the farmland districts turning in all directions as they were meant to during an angel attack only to see nothing but water filled rice fields in the darkness.

    Shigeru eyed his holographic panel. ¡°I¡¯m getting two media feeds events but they make no sense and their not angel related!¡±

    Maya walked towards him. ¡°Bring them up, I want to see.¡±

    She watched as the first came up showing a huge monster squid breaching the surface of the Tokyo Three fishing docks which never ever happened as sightings were so rare. These Kraken sized squids that were an off shoot of the giant squid family and much bigger than their pre impact ancestors had been.

    They were one of the few creatures that weren¡¯t affected by the red sea and could live in both seas but they never breached the surface or went in to shallow waters let alone fishing docks and they didn¡¯t eat or attack people. They liked to live in the deep sea trenches but no one knew what they eat as they¡¯d never been able to catch one or get up close, so what was it doing here?

    She could see the fishing boats all around it in the footage and fisherman and women looking confused as is huge eyes which glowed in the dark darkness like a cats due to a huge reflective lenses looked around it before it¡¯s huge red tentacles with their glowing neon shifting purple patterns pulsed as it tried to avoid the fishing boats as it pushed itself further back out to sea. Clearly seeing its mistake as it sank back in to the deeper waters vanishing slowly from sight.

    Maya looked at it. ¡°Was the tracker trying to find this but got confused I mean we¡¯ve gotten signals before but they come from creatures like that eating angel parts and the signal is from the parts in their stomachs as it can take decades to go away in whales.¡± She paused. ¡°What¡¯s the other media feed?¡±

    Shigeru typed bring up a new hologram screen which showed a farmers rice field where a reporter was walking through which was heaving to the max with river snakes. Which were medium sized python snakes which were harmless to humans, pets and life stock and had long frills on their tails all they eat were fish and eels in rivers and seas and tended to use rice fields only to get where they were going when moving to a new feeding spot.

    In the footage though it was like a mating ball gone wrong there were thousands of them in the rice field violently lashing through the water and wrapping around each other clearly deeply unhappy about something. ¡°Maybe the Kraken squid scared them up here, I mean it¡¯s not far from the docks.¡±

    Sumire brought up a hologram map on her desk. ¡°The squid surfaced four miles from them maybe they all ran there for protection. I mean they are at the lower end of the food chain and prey for sea and river predators since salt and fresh water is not an issue for them.¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°Okay, send a message to both Ritsuko and the Commander that this was a false positive. They¡¯ll understand, it¡¯s happened twice before and save the media feeds just in case they want to view them in the report.¡±

    Shigeru turned slightly. ¡°I¡¯m sending that message now to both of them.¡± Maya walked back sitting on her chairs desk looking at Sumire who looked very perplexed by the whole thing. ¡°Just be glad this was a false positive as I would not like to imagine an angel, archangel or Evangelion hybrid making landfall here.¡±

    8

    Shadows and memories of something I don¡¯t know its flashes in my dreams. I can hear myself speak to the one I love though my voice is not quite my own it¡¯s not happy it¡¯s sad. ¡°You know pain is something humanity must endure in its heart, and since the heart feels pain so easily some believe life is pain and you are delicate like glass Shinji, especially your heart.¡± I¡¯m saying this to him as I sit atop a decaying statue looking out over the what seems to be a huge lake and he looks so young only sixteen.

    I have never said those words to my boyfriend even though when I met him I knew they were true and he was very distant after the break up with Asuka, which had happened some time back before I arrived. I told him that pain in the heart is normal but it does heal with time. I never saw him at the age though I¡¯ve only ever seen pictures of him. My eyes snap open as I wake from the weird dream only to find I¡¯m painting for breath and covered in sweat.

    I turn slowly remembering that I¡¯m at Shinji¡¯s home which is so traditional and Japanese even though it¡¯s a modern apartment. It has a very open lay out and traditional wooden blinds even though it¡¯s in a luxury building much like my apartment. There is wooden flooring all around and a huge kitchen on the lower floor, as he loves to cook and it¡¯s when he¡¯s most happy and in his element. He loves new cook wear, the kitchen is all solid wood with white grain and there is a traditional seating area for eating on. Out of all of us he has the biggest kitchen in his house.

    Next to that is the soft white leather sofa¡¯s to sit where you can see the flat screen TV and his area where he likes to play his cello close to the open balcony which has plants. I¡¯m on the second floor where his computer and study room is.

    Opposite that is his huge studio area room for painting and sketch books next to this is his bedroom with it¡¯s a large bed which like the rest of the house has a wooden theme as well as white sheets and calm colours as well as house plants. Where I am sleeping now he is opposite me naked under the deep covers, lost in his dreams

    Kaworu lay back taking in deep breaths ignoring the fact that everything felt like it was buzzing in his every muscle. He put his hand to his face remembering what he¡¯d been told with nightmares which was to take slow deep breathes since he still suffered them to this day, from time to time.

    He moved his hand running it through the other man¡¯s hair gently as he slowed his breathing down completely before turning wrapping his arms around him hearing him murmur in his sleep. At least Shinji was sleeping soundly though his nightmares these days were few and far between and that was deeply comforting to him.

    End of part 39

    Silvermoonlight

 Awaken To The Sensations Of A Long Forgotten Deity

    AWAKEN TO THE SENSATIONS OF A LONG FORGOTTEN DEITY

    The world is so small when you¡¯re human. You can feel lost in its lights and sounds and can feel deeply insignificant. When I get bored I tend to throw this adult extension of myself out in to the human wilderness just so I can feel it and touch it and remember what it was like.

    My teenage body is elsewhere watching other places now while I¡¯m in this adult woman¡¯s body. I¡¯m standing looking at the apartments glass naked looking down on the moving lights of Tokyo Three far below. This body is similar to the human Rei the other version of my-self but it has long blue hair and its slightly older, it still has white skin and red eye as I would only be myself and no one else.

    I confess that I¡¯m here in this room because I got side tracked. I wanted to do that thing I do sometimes, which is to just have casual sex with humans. One of the great liberties this cycle allows is that I can have sex with ether gender and there¡¯s no shame in it unlike in the first cycle which I was born in to where it was frowned up on and hated.

    Every year I do this run of Tokyo Three it¡¯s like coming home I eat human food in teenage form then I extend an adult copy of myself and sleep in human hotels drink adult drinks and do adult things but more to help enhance the memories and feelings which I still have from my first cycle. Its bitter sweet and very much a ritual and I always do the things I was denied which was having an adult body and having adult experiences. So I amused myself with those kind of experiences to day it was with a man who clearly needed the confidence boost.

    That¡¯s part of why I do this to give mortals who lack confidence like I did a chance to see them-selves as worthy. As humanity can be cruel it can forget and dislike you for being different even in this equal gender world which is so sexuality liberal and open and multicultural, it still finds problems and things to dislike.

    It is a shame but even as a god I realize that perfection is difficult. You can reform and adjust a thousand times but it can still have imperfections and the reality is the imperfections are what count not the perfection as it can be very boring.

    ¡°Hey you want to go again¡­I mean I never knew that people with walking dead syndrome were so good in bed.¡±

    I turn to look at him as he adjusts his glasses giving me a sweet smile. Yes he will make another mortal very happy one day. My voice comes out though the tone is quite. ¡°I don¡¯t have walking dead syndrome.¡± He looks utterly confused by that statement but I know in time, he might come to understand. I move over to my clothing slowly starting to redress not caring for the open curtain modesty has never been my thing.

    It wasn¡¯t when I was created eons ago, it doesn¡¯t bother me now. ¡°I found you very unique but I do have to be somewhere else now.¡± The young man got up wrapping the blanket around him. ¡°Look you know it¡¯s late you don¡¯t have to go.¡±

    I move towards the door. ¡°I¡¯m afraid this moment is over for us but do not worry, your life will change in time.¡± I open the door going through fading out of time.¡± I see him fly out after me only to look utterly confused as he looks around him seeing I¡¯m gone.

    I close my eyes shifting this form and body to another place as I appear on the roof of a sky scraper elsewhere. I walk towards my teenage fifteen year old body which raises a hand to embrace my adult one as we both reform in to one being and I open my teenage forms eyes again looking down at the lights of Tokyo Three once more taking in every detail. Yes I can feel it now there somethings off in the under current, something I have felt once before but its stronger now.

    It bothers me deeply so much so that I would leave a distraction which I was enjoying. Yes I can feel it, it¡¯s that primal force that anger, that rage it doesn¡¯t even know itself but it will soon as it has just awakened once more. I can feel its pulse and reach a godly touch like mine and it fills me with nervousness.

    I¡¯ve seen its destruction and its malice once before and what it was capable off, there are somethings mortal eyes should never see and this is one of them. I already feel there is an issue for this force has the power to stand up to me. Last time it was weak, last time it was sickly it wasn¡¯t what it could be. This time it is healthy because the body it inhabits is not broken and its reach can affect others.

    So clearly someone is toying with the fabric and they have made a tear and do not understand what they have just set free, maybe this was inevitable. Yes I could damage the body it belongs to but the reality is my other self loves that body and soul deeply. Also I¡¯ve met this Asuka once before she is not evil she is good natured and means well.

    I know the being the other self she was, wasn¡¯t good she hated and loathed this world and everyone in it and enjoyed death and destruction. I now feel that I have a deep dilemma because I will not harm an innocent or my other self who loves her to get to the dangerous thing underneath. I realize now that I have to watch more closely and see how it all pans out.

    8

    Keel breathed in deeply as he eyed the other five monolith¡¯s with their glowing red Ouroboros symbols. ¡°Well it would appear that we were tricked.¡± Ouroboros one turned slightly its harsh female voice hitting the air. ¡°The deception could not have been foreseen clearly Ankh tried to awaken the destroyer of worlds but failed we should not be surprised.¡±

    Keel adjusted his visor as he eyed the dark room. ¡°True, maybe it wasn¡¯t a total waste. We know now who is in charge of Ankh, which is the Hyena of Vasai.¡± He sneered in disgust. ¡°Apparently some cockroaches just won¡¯t die.¡±

    He raised his gloved hand. ¡°I killed the bitch¡¯s son but clearly he was never the real head of the operation at the time. I saw it as a public service as he was snooping too deeply in to Ouroboros¡¯s affairs so I took a dagger to his throat and slit it.¡±

    Ouroboros two turned sharply the dark male voice hitting the air. ¡°Well it matters not though it is interesting to know that Mari is a direct child of his.¡±

    Ouroboros three turned slightly her voice hitting the air coldly. ¡°Her blood line is off no consequences and if we want to hunt the hyena it would be better to go for her other grandchildren Achika and Christopher. Those are the ones she cares about not Mari and if Mari was loyal she¡¯d have disobeyed Nerv by now.¡±

    Ouroboros four turned his icy male voice echoing across the large room. ¡°Yes we should target her children and use our Archangels to destroy them.¡±

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    Ouroboros five voice hit the air though her voice was calm. ¡°Yes that would be a better course of action.¡± Ouroboros four turned sharply. ¡°I think you¡¯re all foolish and wasting your time we should be going after the destroyer of worlds!¡±

    He was about to say more only to stop as a rumbling hit the room like there whole base was being shaken for a spilt second before it vanished. Keel watched as everyone fell silent as a huge section of the room began to move.

    He breathed in deeply as a huge red brass statue rose up from the floor it was bigger than any off the monoliths and towered over them. It was a huge statue of Ouroboros and it remained still for a moment only for its eyes to glow white in the darkness as a huge section of its huge serpent body moved forward the jaws grinding as they imitated chewing on the tail despite that the neck didn¡¯t move.

    Keel moved towards it watching as all the monoliths turned. He eyed the huge statue which he had called the burning blade since its curved steel teeth were made from curved sword blades. ¡°Well it would appear that the burning blade has awakened.¡±

    He paused eyeing them as the statue carried on chewing it white eyes getting brighter. ¡°The savage heart has awakened upon this world once more.¡± Ouroboros two panicked male voice hit the air. ¡°The destroyer of worlds awakens!¡±

    Keel moved closer to the huge statue his smile widening. ¡°It would appear so and this could be off great advantage to us.¡± Ouroboros three spoke her voice uncertain. ¡°Seele will know they¡¯ll try to stop this.¡± Keel raised a gloved hand. ¡°Do you think they can hold her? We couldn¡¯t hold her once she reached full power she became so strong that our wills meant nothing.¡±

    He paused. ¡°No Seele and Gendo can try but we know how this scenario works out and we know how smart she is. She could just pull the wool over their eyes and has probably done so already.¡±

    He slowly sat down on his chair resting his elbows on the table. ¡°No I think maybe there should be a time when we go after the destroyer but we just need to wait until she is stronger and we need the real destroyer not that imitation whose violence is controlled that¡¯s coating her soul, which is currently screwing Gendo¡¯s daughter.¡± He raised a gloved hand. ¡°As long as this statue chews its tail as long as its eyes glow then we are in the presence of the re-born destroyer of worlds.¡±

    Out In The South Pacific Ocean

    Gabriella sat in her office they¡¯d only just dived some hours ago not at full depth as the repair was being tested on the Hatshepsut which was taking even longer than expected. The truth was it had been just in time as some cruise liners had passed over head above clearly doing their daily rounds with tourists in this part of the ocean.

    She¡¯d already gotten the news that Nerv had somehow gotten Asuka and Rei much to her disgust. Truth is she was unsure of what to do now and in limbo with her thoughts.

    Yes the thing in the bay had been terrifying but gods were terrifying that was the point of god, if he or she could not bring fear or they could not rule. The boy from the bay had said there had been bright light so blinding you couldn¡¯t see and then the people had been liquefied turning in to thick liquid mush which had been orange coloured but then had turned red and pooled together.

    She had asked him why he had been speared he has said that the being had looked him in the face raising a clawed hand pointing it towards his face but pulled it back as it walked away from him saying that the truly innocent would have their time, just not now.

    Her grandchildren were clearly getting cold feet over what had happened in the bay but in time they¡¯d see that this was right. You couldn¡¯t call up the destroyer without giving sacrifice and tribute so maybe that¡¯s what the first ones were the tribute that she had to give to please this being. It was such a disappointment though that the ritual had not worked she had done everything as it was written in the Dead Sea scroll yet nothing.

    She raised her robotic hand moving all of its fingers only for her thoughts to be broken by a people shouting outside the office at something. She turned only to see the huge lance of Longinus come in to view as its stone came to life as the red veins started to pulse violently not stopping as a dark voice spoke in her mind which mirrored Asuka¡¯s though it was weak. ¡°You have me now return me to my twin the spear of anger and violence.¡±

    Gabriella stood up eyeing the spear outside her window. ¡°Are you talking to me?¡±

    The spears veins glowing pulsed faster and harder. ¡°You awoke my owner I am the spear of sorrow and pride and I am talking to you.¡±

    Gabriella moved closer. ¡°I don¡¯t know where your twin is, no one does.¡±

    The spear glowed brighter as its restraints smashed as it hung in mid-air now on its own. ¡°My twin walks among the stars but they will be returning soon.¡±

    Gabriella eyed the spear. ¡°Are you god?¡±

    The spears glow dimmed. ¡°No, I am a tool for a destroyer god. My purpose is to bring about human instrumentality I can imamate my former uses voice and appearance but I¡¯ve had many forms and voices over the eons.¡±

    It paused. ¡°You awoke the destroyer of worlds. Now I ask that you return me to her as it¡¯s her destiny to end this world once more.¡±

    Gabriella moved closer. ¡°But she does not want you but my children do¡­we should talk about a deal. Like you being in the hands of my wonderful grandchildren.¡±

    The lance glowed brighter as a huge red vein separated from the rest it smashed straight through the office window as it sped towards her stopping close to her. ¡°My twin would do terrible things to you just for asking this but I am more reasonable.¡±

    Gabriella watched as both of her grandchildren and the guards smashed through the doubles doors with raised weapons. She raised her hand. ¡°Stop!¡± She paused before speaking. ¡°Lower your weapons!¡± The thick vine bubbling as it created an ice blue eye which is a creepy identical version of Asuka¡¯s. ¡°It¡¯s not hurting me, we are having a discussion!¡±

    Christopher blinked in shock as he eyed his sister who lowered her gun slowly but with uncertainty as the guards did the same. The eye on a vein moved towards him as it spoke. ¡°Oh yes I see your grandchild a forma lover of sales and acquisitions, now a master of violence.¡±

    Its eye turned to the Achika. ¡°A forma lover of surgery top in her field and very successful, now one who loves to bring pain through the blade.¡± It pulled back. ¡°Let me take a form which will be illusion but will please you all and will not be the same as my forma owners.¡± The vein separated off as it turned to a huge ball of guts of flesh which grew upwards turning in to huge were-creature.

    Its huge clawed feet¡¯s smashed the floor as it fully formed though it had an Aardvark face with wide nostrils but unlike the real things it had wide open jaws filled with jagged meat cutting teeth it was dressed in red, gold and blue Egyptian colours on its waist as well as a golden and blue Egyptian decoration in its thick red mane. Its blue eyes stared at them as its long clawed hands moved as its long ripped ears pulled back and its long tail swished.

    Its body was covered in thick dark red fur making gender impossible to tell as it spoke. ¡°Does the form of Seth please you? Sadly I can only change my body based on the forma user but now all will see me.¡± Gabriella raised her hands. ¡°No it¡¯s very pleasing and we are deeply flattered by your offering.¡±

    The creature moved towards her stopping in front of her. ¡°You awakened the destroyer but only in part but enough that I can now speak. My twin can awaken regardless all it needs is for people around it who are weak willed and seek power in one form or another, an egotistic servant to corrupt if you will. We differ in that way I need one who worships me and believes in my cause and is loyal to me.¡±

    Its clawed feet tapped the floor. ¡°Now you just need to bring me home to Nerv or bring the destroyer to me¡­I can do the rest.¡± It paused pulling up its torn ringed ears up. ¡°But not yet, the power is not strong enough but it will be soon and when it is then you can strike and maybe then we can talk about a pass over to your grandchildren.¡±

    End of part 40

    Silvermoonlight

 A Heated Dry Fire Which Pulses And Crawls

    A HEATED DRY FIRE WHICH PULSES AND CRAWLS

    Toji moved 05 on its heels as fast as he could avoiding the spear as it came within inches of his Evangelions face as 03 swung it as they spared on the training ground. All of them were up here apart from Asuka and Rei as they weren¡¯t allowed to train.

    He turned swinging the spear upwards Kaworu only to watch as it collided with 03¡¯s face sending the huge crested white Evangelion crashing in to the floor much to the surprise of everyone including himself as he rarely ever got a hit on Kaworu.

    He moved his Evangelion forward watching as Kaworu struggled to get 03 back on its feet as Misato¡¯s voice came over the com. ¡°Okay let¡¯s try this again.¡±

    Misato watched the holographic screen as the huge white and red unit with its mini horned crest and horned nose got back on to its feet as she cut off the com. ¡°What is wrong with Kaworu today, he is so off his game?¡±

    Maya breathed in bringing up Kaworu¡¯s read out on her screen. ¡°He¡¯s been a few points down on his bar since his ex and forma abuser showed up but it¡¯s not impacted on his ability. Today he¡¯s a few bars lower but his physical read outs and brain scans are all as normal.¡±

    Misato watched as unit 03 failed to dodge again and was knocked back. ¡°Is he just tired? I mean Shinji and Kaworu are a young couple maybe they¡¯ve been a bit to active.¡± Maya eyed her read outs. ¡°No I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that plus that doesn¡¯t affect piloting and their water bottles which are specialized to their body and are meant to compensate for that when they¡¯re tired.¡± Kaji leaned back on his desk. ¡°Must be the ex asshole old boyfriend coming back then. I mean they all have off days but he¡¯s way off today.¡±

    Shigeru eyed her screen. ¡°Well he¡¯s not making good score today let¡¯s pull him back and have Mari take on Shinji.¡± Sumire nodded. ¡°I agree plus the press do so enjoy it when a pilot has a bad day as I read up on what happened with Asuka after the Alpha test unit accident recently.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°Okay, pull him back and get those two fighting.¡±

    Kaji typed in to his panel. ¡°Okay Kaworu and Toji you can both stop now let¡¯s go with Shinji and Mari.¡±

    Kaworu breathed in deeply as he moved 03 slowly to one side letting 01 and 04 through. He put a hand on his face in frustration, why was he making so many mistakes? He couldn¡¯t seem to focus right on anything right now and he had no idea why.

    Despite the cool feeling of the LCL he felt hot and clammy and it was awful and whenever he tried to focus. He just didn¡¯t feel right at all and hadn¡¯t since he¡¯d woken up early this morning at Shinji¡¯s house.

    He breathed in leaning his Evangelion against the pillar seeing Toji bring his black and yellow unit to stand opposite with its two massive upward facing woven horns that separated in to two sections and metal sabre teeth which pointed down. He looked up as Toji appeared on his hologram screen. ¡°Hey are you okay?¡± Kaworu looked at him as he raised 03¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m okay I¡¯m just having an off day.¡±

    Toji raised 05¡¯s hand which had metal claws unlike those of Shinji¡¯s unit which were real. ¡°Happens to us all¡­¡± Kaworu breathed in deeply trying to hide his inner annoyance. ¡°Yes I guess it gets the better of us all, at times.¡±

    Maya¡¯s voice came over his com. ¡°Good effort Kaworu.¡±

    Kaworu breathed in deeply. ¡°Hardly, my score was not as it should be.¡±

    Maya¡¯s voice came again. ¡°Don¡¯t dwell on it Kaworu we all get off days all of us have them.¡±

    Kaworu looked up slightly watching as Shinji grabbed Mari¡¯s unit which instantly started to squirm and hiss trying to get out of 01¡¯s grip.

    Only for the long tongue to come out of its wide jaws moving across unit 01 face as its tail whip lash tail wrapped around the unit arm only for it be thrown off completely. It barrel rolled landing on two legs using its clawed feet to come to a stop as it pulled its long tongue out to full length as it let out a horrifying air splitting screech causing unit 01 to step back showing pain as it was clearly hurting Shinji¡¯s ears.

    Misato¡¯s angry voice suddenly hit the air. ¡°Mari what have I told you about your unit screeching that way? You know the press hate it and it can ruin their recording equipment!¡± Mari¡¯s voice came back sharply. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault their fucking cowards who hate my units noise and they should bring along ear plugs!¡±

    Misato¡¯s voice came again as the thin unit went back on to all fours. ¡°Your noise goes through ear plugs. I¡¯m not saying you can¡¯t do it but you need to learn how to do a training version that¡¯s less painful and doesn¡¯t shatter glass.¡±

    Maya¡¯s voice came again. ¡°Just don¡¯t worry I¡¯m sure it will be fine by tomorrow.¡± Kaworu breathed in deeply. ¡°Yeah I guess so.¡± Misato breathed in deeply watching the screen as she folded her arms turning her channel back to private. ¡°Let¡¯s hope Kaworu¡¯s better tomorrow.¡± Maya looked up slightly. ¡°I¡¯m sure he will be.¡±

    Misato looked at her. ¡°I heard you had a false positive last night.¡± Maya leaned back in a chair. ¡°It¡¯s in my full report, we had a Kraken squid show up in Tokyo Threes fishing bay, clearly it had eaten some angel at some point and was giving off a false reading since eating angel tends to leave a permanent signature in some sea creatures.¡±

    Kaji looked up. ¡°Yeah I read it you said hundreds of those River Snakes showed up close by in someone¡¯s rice field it was like a mating ball gone wrong.¡± Misato shivered inwardly. ¡°Can you not talk about River Snakes I hate those slimy bastards.¡± Maya looked up slightly. ¡°Ah yes I remember that really big dead freak of nature which hit you when you looking around the Alpha test units bunker in the mountains before the experiment.¡±

    Misato raised her hand. ¡°Yes don¡¯t remind me I fucking hate them, and I hate how they get in to Nerv¡¯s underground systems and we have to catch them and throw them out on a weekly basis. I mean they taste like shit and are no good for eating and there no better than vermin.¡±

    Sumire turned slightly. ¡°I believe their considered a delicacy in China.¡±

    Misato put a hand her face. ¡°Oh please, I¡¯ve tried that dish, it tastes awful.¡±

    Maya was about to speak only to stop as an angry note appeared on her holographic desk tops screen. ¡°Ritsuko just sent me a note. Rei didn¡¯t show up the other day for her meeting.¡±

    Misato walked over to Maya¡¯s desk. ¡°What, really since when does Rei not do that?¡±

    She leaned over eyeing the digital note. ¡°She was in a right foul mood the other day, so this is probably her form of rebellion. It¡¯s weird though at the dinner she lied to us all about going and I believed her as we¡¯ve seen that she normally only lies to cover for Asuka.¡±

    Kaji leaned back putting his feet on his desk. ¡°Yes but that rebellion has been brewing well before she started dated Asuka. So I think it¡¯s more her transforming in to her own person.¡± Misato eyed him. ¡°So her real self is sassy rule breaker like Asuka that¡¯s not a comforting thought since Asuka can be difficult at times and dealing with Rei behaving the same only makes it worse.¡±

    Maya breathed deeply. ¡°We all knew this was going to happen and it was going happen regardless of us. Like Asuka and Shinji she¡¯s a late bloomer in terms of her real personality coming out and after the capture I told you she might act out and be even more difficult than normal.¡± Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°Yeah I know you said post-traumatic stress disorder but I¡¯m just not used to her out right breaking rules in this manner.¡±

    She paused. ¡°I know those two couldn¡¯t train today, so what are they up to?¡±

    Maya turned too fully to face her. ¡°I told them this morning they can do whatever they want as that¡¯s protocol they get a few days to rest up then we start therapy.¡±

    Misato looked at her. ¡°Yes but where are they?¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°Last I was told they were at the Taito Station.¡±

    8

    Rei eased up hand grabbing the wheel of the driving game causing the arcade games car simulator to swerve avoiding another car. She felt a smile form as looked at Asuka. ¡°You know I can see why you don¡¯t have a driving licence for a car.¡±

    Asuka turned the wheel narrowly missing another car as she turned giving the younger woman a wide smile. ¡°I know I¡¯m so scheisse at this, this why I only ride motorbikes in real life.¡± She swerved again. ¡°But it¡¯s still a fun game.¡± She pressed the pause as she leaned closer to other woman. ¡°Now, want to show me how it¡¯s done? As Shinji says you¡¯re really good on this game.¡±

    Rei got up as they changed seats she sat down getting conformable as she adjusted the seat. ¡°Oh he¡¯s just being over flattering, I just enjoy this game.¡± She un-paused the game grabbing the simulation race cars gear stick and pressing the pedals. ¡°I¡¯ve heard your best game is the zombie simulator, like you have a really good score on it.¡±

    Asuka watched as the race numbers started to creep up. ¡°Yeah I guess but we don¡¯t have to do this today I¡¯d rather play what you want. I mean it been ages since we¡¯ve both been here as last time we were both here was before the Alpha unit incident.¡±

    She turned slightly. ¡°I remember that as I did see you up here a week before it happened you were playing on the music game with Shinji.¡± Rei watched as the car sped through the finish at third place. ¡°Hey we should have a go on that together.¡±

    She pulled her card free of the slot watching as the game reset getting ready for a new player. ¡°It could be really fun.¡± Asuka looked up slightly. ¡°You know I don¡¯t think that¡¯s such a good idea¡­I¡¯m really verfickte scheisse at that game, like even worse than I am on this one.¡±

    Rei felt the car simulator lock back in to place as they both got out. She turned grabbing Asuka¡¯s hand walking past the other gaming machines towards the dance machine which was at the very end. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re bad, it¡¯s not about the score, it¡¯s about having fun.¡±

    Asuka tensed nervously as she they came up to the machine which had a large holographic screen and two digital mats on the floor filled with bright colours and arrows. Each holographic mat had five places to put your feet, there were no bars and the reality was she knew she was no good at this.

    She had mild memories of trying to train on this with Shinji and being terrible years back for Nerv¡¯s dance compilation. She breathed in slotting her card in to the machine ignoring all the Nerv¡¯s staff that had stopped playing and had paused their games just to look at them. ¡°You know this is a really bad idea¡­¡±

    Rei smiled as she pressed the holographic screens buttons picking the track which was called world is mine and setting it up for two players. ¡°No it isn¡¯t and I think you can do this Asuka, if you can do the gymnastic work out with me you can do this.¡±

    Asuka looked at her for a long moment clearly her girlfriend had way too much faith in her but she was doing this for her, even if she was about to make an utter fool of herself. Rei turned slightly. ¡°Ready?¡± Asuka tensed sharply. ¡°Yes.¡± That was such an utter lie the reality was she wasn¡¯t. Rei felt her smile widen. ¡°Just do what you did in gymnastics Asuka and follow my lead.¡± She slammed the start button on the screen watching as the game sprang to life.

    She moved her feet watching as Asuka did the same though she looked uncertain as they both started to copy the screen she turned seeing that Asuka was trying her hardest to concentrate and copy though clearly it was taking everything she had to copy and she was still missing some notes. ¡°That¡¯s it you¡¯re hitting the notes, just relax and enjoy it!¡± She eyed her as the early scores came up which were average and not perfect.

    She eyed the other woman noticing that the light was coming through her patch which meant the emotion was getting extreme as other eye went in to intense focus and her feet started hitting the right notes first time without missing a beat. ¡°That¡¯s it, you¡¯re getting it!¡±

    Asuka felt a wide smile form. ¡°Yes I think I am!¡± She looked up slightly as the holographic figure of Hatsune Miku which came up above the machine saying perfect score. Since this was a game based on her, as she was one of the most famous Japanese celebrates though neither of them had ever spoken to her in person.

    Though they¡¯d seen her a few times at celebrity places over the years and she seemed nice. She snapped out of her thoughts getting her attention back on hitting the right notes as she started following all of Rei¡¯s movements including her arm and hand movements.

    Rei laughed as the movements got faster but Asuka wasn¡¯t missing her beats at all she was nailing them perfectly and even imitated her including the part in the track where Hatsune played with her hair as they hit the perfect score again.

    She couldn¡¯t believe this they were syncing perfectly for the very first time ever and it just made her heart race with pure pleasure and excitement. Because there had always a mean running joke in Nerv that Asuka couldn¡¯t sync with any one, because her ego wouldn¡¯t let her. How nice it was to finally prove them all so wrong.

    She still wasn¡¯t sure if last night had been real but the reality was neither of them cared and she had woken in the best mood possible naked on top of the other woman who was sleeping and realized what ever anger she had from yesterday was gone and it had been just nice to watch Asuka wake up and be in just as good a mood as she was. Which was only made better by the fact; they could do whatever they wanted today.

    Frankly she couldn¡¯t care less about training and nether could Asuka. So they¡¯d both agreed to enjoy themselves and they had something to celebrate which was coming out of the utter horror they had gone through and come out alive. The added news that Kyo had said he wanted to be Asuka¡¯s father had also been so thrilled to hear, because she¡¯d known for a while that he clearly didn¡¯t view Asuka just as student and Mari had pointed out the same thing.

    So hearing they had gotten to that point was such a good thing for them both they needed it and he might be able to help her with the issue she having over killing those people even though they¡¯d given her no choice. Maybe he could help her see along with Maya in the future that she had been brave and had done the right thing.

    She looked up as score came up perfect again they were going to win this and it was going to be glorious and she hoped everyone was watching right now as they so loved to watch them. She slammed the last notes watching as the game ended and there score came up which was really good no it wasn¡¯t top but it didn¡¯t matter as the hologram came up saying well done in Japanese. She turned to the other woman only to be grabbed around the waist and hugged tight by her as Asuka laughed joyfully as she spoke. ¡°I did it I synced!¡±

    Rei moved her hand through her hair. ¡°Yes you did I said you could do this.¡± She was about to say something else only for the other woman¡¯s lips to meet her own and it wasn¡¯t a small kiss it was long burning and very sensual and caught her completely of guard as Asuka pulled away letting her go gently. She breathed in quickly recomposing herself since she wasn¡¯t used Asuka doing this in front of others as she raised her hands trying to ignore her own blush. ¡°Do you want to get a milkshake to share?¡±

    Asuka pulled the card free. ¡°Sure.¡± She turned realized people were staring at them she felt a wide toothy grin form as her teeth turned to razors. ¡°You know it¡¯s very rude to stare!¡± She watched as everyone instantly turned back there games clearly getting the message. She ignored them as she followed the younger woman as she made her way down to one of the seating areas which had food, which was on the other floor of the Taito Station and had vending machines which served snack food and none alcoholic drinks machines.

    She felt her teeth go back to normal and the warmth in her left eye vanish as they walked up to the drinks machine which served milkshake. Rei turned to her. ¡°They do vanilla milkshake to share.¡± Asuka leaned on the machine. ¡°Yeah let¡¯s go for that.¡±

    She turned eyeing the claw machine in the corner which had cute soft toys if her memory served her correctly she¡¯d seen Rei trying for one of those cute toys before the Alpha unit accident.

    She looked up slightly. ¡°Hey do you still like those plush toys in that machine?¡± Rei eyed the claw machine. ¡°Yeah I want the white Llama with rainbow colours stripes but I can¡¯t get it. I¡¯ve tried so many times.¡±

    Asuka eased out her game card looking at it. ¡°How¡¯s about I try.¡± Rei watched as the machine poured the thick milkshake and adding reflective straws in to a reflective plastic glass which you had to put back in to the machine opposite to recycle along with the straws as she turned to her. ¡°Asuka you never win on those things.¡± Asuka walked over to the claw machine as the other woman sat down on the padded red sofa. ¡°No I don¡¯t normally Rei but I have a really good feeling about this.¡±

    Rei breathed in deeply everyone knew Asuka was terrible on these machines. She never won and she had a terrible habit of punching them which she¡¯d gotten in to trouble countless times. So she could see her doing the same now.

    She smiled inwardly not that she was going to stop her as she did enjoy watching her throw her weight around and it turned her on though that was between them. Asuka eyed her card slotting it in eyeing her three turns as she put her hands on the controls as she turned. ¡°So you want the white one with rainbow stripes?¡± Rei took a sip of the milkshake. ¡°Yes that one.¡±

    She watched as Asuka started to move the controls then gently pressed the claw watching it lowered only to make instant contact easing up the fluffy toy up bringing it over and instantly dropping it as Asuka kneeled picking it up as she pulled her card out giving her a wide toothy grin as she spoke. ¡°Got it!¡±

    Rei put the milkshake down feeling the shock hit her as Asuka walked up to her raising it gently as she spoke. ¡°Here take it.¡± Rei slowly took it from her hands ignoring the general employees who had come over to the machine and were now looking it over in confusion, followed by a couple of them even trying it only to fail miserably.

    She took the toy looking it over okay even she wouldn¡¯t lie this was a huge surprise even to her. She looked up as Hinata appeared folding his arms as he eyed Asuka in annoyance. ¡°I just saw you win that along with syncing on the dance machine¡­both these games your utterly crap at. So how¡¯s about you give me your older sisters cheating device right now, the one she used here some days ago?¡±

    Asuka leaned back on the sofa feeling the annoyance take over as she spoke through gritted teeth. ¡°Are you seriously verfickte saying I just cheated Hinata?¡± She eyed him in disgust. ¡°Because that¡¯s what I thought just came out of your stupid mouth!¡± Rei sat up slightly. ¡°She didn¡¯t cheat on the dance machine we¡¯ve been practicing together using gymnastics.¡±

    Hinata moved forward he knew Rei didn¡¯t lie she was always honest. ¡°Okay but that doesn¡¯t explain how she just won that toy and she always punches my claw machines even though I¡¯ve told her not to countless times!¡± Rei eyed the toy okay he was right about that but she wasn¡¯t going to side with him with on this, since he was acting so mean right now. ¡°I was right here. She used her game card I¡¯m sure the people playing over there saw it as did everyone who is using the food vending machines.¡±

    Hinata turned watching the people around the machine who nodded he turned back to Asuka. ¡°That machine is not set to give a prize for twenty more turns so how it gives you that is out of the realms of possibility.¡± Asuka felt her mouth form a sneer. ¡°Maybe you set it up wrong and you¡¯re blaming me because you can¡¯t fathom that I got lucky.¡± She raised her hands. ¡°Also, I have never cheated on these machines once. I¡¯ve come here for years and how my sister Mari verfickte messes with your scheisse has nothing to do with me!¡±

    She felt one hand form a fist. ¡°Also don¡¯t ever bad mouth my older sister to my face again or I¡¯ll verfickte rip your intestines out and strangle you with them!¡± Hinata moved forward raising his hand about to speak only to see the red heads teeth turn to razors as her left eye glowed under the patch and a low pitched booming growl came out though it was anything but human. It sounded like some sort of pissed off big cat and it was so unsettling.

    Rei stood up she slowly smiled as she walked up to him as she spoke calmly. ¡°I think it¡¯s time for you to leave Hinata. We both just had terrible things happen to us and we are trying to relax, so we¡¯d like to have that now, without your influence.¡±

    Hinata watched as she lowered her head only for her green eyes to flash a blazing red for a second before returning to normal as the young woman spoke in a truly cold tone that felt like it was cutting like a knife. ¡°Do we understand each other?¡±

    He breathed in wanting to say more as he realized this was not a good time and he didn¡¯t like the unsettling feeling that he was getting from the both of them right now. It was out right scary in a way he just couldn¡¯t describe it was more that they both were giving of this dark foreboding and both of their threats and speech didn¡¯t feel like it was jest. It felt very serious he breathed in backed away slowly. ¡°Yes we understand each other¡­I¡¯ll be leaving now.¡±

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Rei watched him go she moved back to the sofa sitting next Asuka as she raised the milkshake. ¡°Want some?¡± Asuka took the straw sipping lightly feeling her teeth and eye return to normal. ¡°That guys such a verfickte idiot.¡± Rei looked at her feeling a smile form. ¡°Ignore him Asuka, it¡¯s obvious he messed up his claw machine or it had a fault and you won fair and square.¡±

    She leaned closer lowering her voice slightly. ¡°What did he mean by Mari¡¯s cheat card?¡± Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°Mari hacked one of the machines here I think it was a spitfire simulator which Maya was in at the time as she was speaking to her but he now thinks I¡¯d somehow do the same.¡± Rei shook her head. ¡°Well that¡¯s a vast leap, you don¡¯t hack things.¡±

    Asuka met her gaze directly. ¡°I know right¡­it¡¯s not like I¡¯d even know where to start with these machines and if Mari wants to hack them and show off to Maya that¡¯s nothing to do with me.¡± Rei took a sip of the milkshake. ¡°You think it was about her showing off?¡± Asuka shrugged. ¡°Possibly, put it like this if I wanted to show off and I could to you I¡¯d probably do that myself to impress you.¡± Rei felt a smile form as she raised the toy. ¡°There¡¯s no need, I¡¯m already really impressed.¡±

    8

    Shinji watched as Kaworu played with his food clearly this mornings practice had not gone well for him and he was just having a bad day, it happened to them all once in a while. He looked at him as he moved his hand putting it on as he raised it running his fingers over the other mans. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Kaworu eyed his half-finished noodles. ¡°I¡¯m not happy with my performance Shinji, it was so bad today.¡± Shinji eased up his hand running it through his white hair as he gave him a gentle and passionate kiss. ¡°Hey you just had a bad session, it happens.¡± Kaworu turned meeting his warm gaze. ¡°It¡¯s more than that I have not felt right since this morning, maybe it¡¯s a lack of sleep.¡±

    Toji looked up from his food as they were all eating in their favourite Japanese restaurant. ¡°Yeah you just had a bad session nothing you should worry about Kaworu.¡± Mari eyed her plate as she eased up her chop sticks. ¡°Yeah I have them all the time but they don¡¯t give a shit unless you¡¯re below a certain range.¡±

    She paused. ¡°Though Maya was telling me mine is getting better, since I stopped drinking. There was also the issue that my water bottle was being laced with drugs like Asuka¡¯s which was affecting both of our ranges badly.¡± Toji turned eyeing the empty seats. ¡°Where are Asuka and Rei, it¡¯s so not like them to be this late?¡± Mari breathed in deeply. ¡°Knowing my little sister she probably found the zombie VR simulator and Rei can¡¯t peal her off it.¡±

    Shinji turned slightly. ¡°Well they need to get here soon since my father and Ritsuko wants to see them first thing tomorrow together.¡± He paused. ¡°Rei missed her appointment with Ritsuko which is so unlike her Misato told me this morning.¡±

    Kaworu blinked in surprise. ¡°Rei lied but she never lies?¡± Shinji turned to him. ¡°Yes I was a shocked as you are now, it¡¯s just so unlike her.¡± Toji raised his hand. ¡°Em¡­I don¡¯t understand why is her lying a big deal?¡± Shinji breathed in deeply. ¡°She¡¯s not known for lying it¡¯s not something she does and never openly and not to me or Kaworu.¡±

    Mari raised her chop sticks. ¡°Okay but your sister has had something of personality growth recently. You know with getting Asuka off under the table in public and becoming sassy and confident and such could it be you know part of that?¡± She watched Toji half smirked while Shinji¡¯s look turned to a mix of uncertainty. ¡°Okay the thing she did with Asuka I was shocked at, but she has never missed any session she has ever been called to by our father.¡±

    Toji eyed his half-finished drink. ¡°Look to be fair your sister was well pissed off about going like she did not want be there, plus she was in a real bad mood the other day over the whole deal with Ritsuko cancelling hers and Asuka¡¯s fun time just after quarantine.¡± Kaworu breathed in deeply. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a form of rebellion similar to what you had Shinji in that you got angry and started rule breaking as a way to anger the Commander when you were younger.¡± Shinji looked at him for a long moment. ¡°Maybe your right Kaworu, maybe it¡¯s that.¡±

    Mari felt a sly smile form. ¡°Or maybe my little sister is having a bad influence on your little sister.¡± Shinji took a slow drink. ¡°At this point I think any things possible, though and I know Asuka has that magnetism about her in that she can make you want to break the rules.¡± Toji raised his hand. ¡°Oh please tell us more, was that when you dated?¡± Shinji looked up slightly. ¡°No it was in school and let¡¯s just say she got me to break the rules a few times, she knows how to talk you in to it so to speak.¡±

    Mari looked up. ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve experienced that to with her but it was more she was tiny and cute and she used to look at me with these big blue eyes and I¡¯d give in and just go to kitchen and give her a cookie even though she wasn¡¯t allowed it and couldn¡¯t reach the jar like I could.¡±

    She adjusted her glasses. ¡°But she wasn¡¯t greedy she¡¯d break of half and give it to me.¡± Shinji looked up slightly catching sight of Rei and Asuka who were laughing about something as they came closer. ¡°Your both late you know.¡± Rei turned to her brother as she sat down watching as Asuka did the same and she put her toy on the table. ¡°Sorry, we got distracted.¡±

    Asuka raised her hand. ¡°It my fault to be fair I forgot the time and we were having fun up in the Taito Station.¡± Mari felt a coy smile form. ¡°Oh yes so preparing for real sex with touchy feely right since you¡¯re not allowed to do that until tonight.¡± Asuka rolled her good eye as she pulled off her patch putting it away since she was among her friend and family. ¡°Oh shut up four eyes.¡± Mari¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Oh look princess is back to her normal self, what a relief.¡±

    Asuka eyed her. ¡°You know next time you hack the arcade to show off to Maya tell me in advance would you? Because I really don¡¯t like being accused of scheisse like that since Hinata now thinks I¡¯d do the same.¡± Mari raised her hand. ¡°Please Hinata is a wanker and yes I did hack it but not for the reason he thinks!¡± Rei turned to her. ¡°What was the reason?¡±

    Mari eyed her as she spoke sharply. ¡°I was chatting to Maya regarding personal matters, I didn¡¯t want any sound feed.¡± She eyed Asuka as a question hit suddenly home. ¡°And why would Hinata even think that off you anyway, you don¡¯t even have a history of that?¡±

    Rei raised the toy. ¡°Because she won this toy, for me.¡± Shinji eyed the toy. ¡°Was that from the game where if you punch with the rubber boxing glove hard enough it puts virtual gift tokens on your game card, which you can use to get gift? Because Asuka could do that easy all she¡¯d have to do is get angry and she could keep winning over and over.¡± Rei looked at him for a long moment as she spoke in annoyance. ¡°No, it was from the claw machine.¡±

    She ignored the surprise on everyone¡¯s faces accept Mari¡¯s and Toji¡¯s since they had not been here long enough to understand why this was a big deal. Kaworu eyed the toy. ¡°Well clearly it would seem you are having a lucky streak today Asuka.¡±

    Shinji blinked as he snapped out of his haze. ¡°Seriously you won that on the claw machine?¡± Toji eyed the toy. ¡°I don¡¯t see the big deal.¡± Asuka turned to Shinji as she folded her arms. ¡°Yes I won it.¡± Shinji spoke before he could stop himself. ¡°So is the claw machines still intact and you didn¡¯t punch the glass out of frustration, because you couldn¡¯t win?¡±

    Asuka leaned forward speaking coldly. ¡°No it¡¯s intact.¡± Mari smirked as she watched as her younger sister pull up the mini hologram screen as she put in her order and Rei did the same. ¡°So extra brownie points for that mind blowing sex you¡¯re both going to do tonight then?¡±

    She watched as Toji smirked but said nothing. Kaworu breathed in deeply only to feel the pressure in his trousers and boxers which could only mean one thing and it was the last thing he wanted seated here in front of others. Clearly he had an erection and it wasn¡¯t comfortable and he could feel himself shuffling in his seat wishing he could just stand up and adjust.

    It was all this talk of sex which he normally didn¡¯t mind but it had set him off and it was so frustrating he leaned forward as much as possible hoping no one would see or realize his issue. Shinji breathed in easing out a gold card looking at Rei as he passed it to her. ¡°Father wants to see you and Asuka in his office tomorrow morning.¡±

    Rei took the card looking at it as she spoke coldly. ¡°Again why is bothering, it¡¯s not like he cares.¡± Shinji raised his hand as he gave her a look she would understand and the others wouldn¡¯t. ¡°You need to go Rei.¡± Rei looked up knowing that look which meant she had to go. ¡°No I don¡¯t.¡±

    Shinji felt the annoyance hit home. ¡°Yes you do Rei, you know father always punishes and he¡¯s not going to take any form of rebellion well.¡± Rei eyed her older brother ignoring everyone surprise over their now very open argument. ¡°You know we are not in school anymore. I¡¯m an adult, if I don¡¯t want to be at my father meetings I don¡¯t have to be.¡± Shinji felt the anger start to burn. ¡°Yes you do Rei it¡¯s your duty as a pilot!¡±

    Rei eyed him. ¡°Fuck my duty! He wasn¡¯t even there when I came back from being captured or when I was in quarantine.¡± She paused ignoring her brother¡¯s shock over her words along with everyone else at the table. ¡°Also, as you already know the last time we met he talked down to me and treated Asuka like she¡¯s some kind of sexually driven monster, who I give sexual treats to keep in line.¡±

    She narrowed her gaze. ¡°I bet this time he¡¯s going to blame me for getting captured or blame Asuka for letting me be captured.¡± She leaned back in her chair folding her arms. ¡°No I think I¡¯ll pass on that plus he thinks you¡¯re useful. I¡¯m just here because I¡¯m what he views as a spare that he can¡¯t stand to look at, because I look so much like mum.¡±

    Shinji stood up leaning over the table. ¡°I can¡¯t change how father feels about you Rei no one can and if you don¡¯t go he will punish you!¡± Rei eyed him as she spoke coldly. ¡°What¡¯s he going to do lock me in my room without dinner or take away my stuff? The reality is he can¡¯t do anything to me since I¡¯m not a child anymore.¡±

    Shinji turned sharply looking at Asuka. ¡°You¡¯re her girlfriend, make her see sense!¡± Asuka breathed in deeply as she sat up in her chair as she spoke though her tone was sharper than she wanted it to be. ¡°Look for the record I don¡¯t want to go ether, so I see her point of view.¡±

    She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. ¡°One day you¡¯re going to be in charge of Nerv you along with Kaworu, but that¡¯s never going to happen to us we don¡¯t want the power ladder and we know these are some kind of tests and we want no part in them and she¡¯s right he¡¯s just going to mock us over getting captured.¡± Shinji knew it was wrong he knew he was going to dislike himself for this later on but he was desperate to get Rei to see sense. ¡°Asuka he won¡¯t punish her. He¡¯ll punish you and it will be worse than anything Ritsuko can dish out.¡±

    Asuka looked at him for a long moment. ¡°The worst Nerv can do to me has already been done Shinji, so I really don¡¯t verfickte care.¡± Shinji turned pointing at Mari. ¡°You will if he realizes that and does it to Mari because he did it to me once. I didn¡¯t play along so he punished Rei for my actions as a way to teach me to stay in line in my teens.¡± Rei turned sharply holding none of her anger back. ¡°Are you telling me now that one of the times he punished me was because of something you did?!¡±

    Shinji looked at her for a long moment before speaking. ¡°Yes the week you were denied all Nerv¡¯s liberties was when you were eighteen was because of me because I rebelled like you¡¯re doing now.¡± Rei eyed him in disgust. ¡°Oh well that¡¯s just perfect thank you so much big brother for telling me that now, shame you couldn¡¯t tell me that at the time!¡± Shinji breathed in deeply. ¡°I was ashamed Rei and I¡¯m sorry I hated myself for being a coward and I never had the heart to tell you because I was too wrapped up in myself!¡±

    Kaworu looked up sharply no longer able to hold back his frustration it was bad enough having a hard on without everyone fighting. ¡°Can you both stop this right now?!¡± He watched as Rei and Shinji turned to him. ¡°You¡¯re arguing like children and this is so not like you.¡±

    He watched as the both sat down as he shuffled in his chair only for Toji¡¯s voice to cut though his thoughts as the waitress nervously put down Rei and Asuka¡¯s food then left very quickly. ¡°Hey man you don¡¯t look so good, do you need a pain killer because I have some on me?¡±

    Kaworu breathed in as he spoke sharply. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine thank you.¡± Shinji sat down he turned to his boyfriend seeing how he was posed as it suddenly hit him what was going on and he felt guilty for not noticing as the other man clearly had a hard on and he was hiding it, which was never easy. He breathed in watching as everyone went silent as they all started eating again hopeful in the silence Kaworu could concentrate and wait for it to go down and clearly when they got home they¡¯d need to talk about it.

    8

    She¡¯s been in a very sour mood since we got back home, not that I blame her. It¡¯s clear to me now that Rei is unpacking something that¡¯s been bothering her very deeply for a very long time. I feel bad that I didn¡¯t see it sooner but I assumed in quarantine that her words regarding her father and real mother were brought about by stress. We both know our parents souls are in the Evangelions cores but she can¡¯t reach her mother its in 01 and she has Yui¡¯s sister Kiko in hers but it¡¯s not the same and even I can understand that.

    It must feel to her that not only does her father not love her but her mother is still out of her reach and she¡¯s told me many times that the only video footage she has is all of her mother at meeting science exhibits and UN talks. She has nothing personal of them being a family and seeing her as a mother nether does Shinji but he was old enough to remember her Rei wasn¡¯t.

    She was very young, younger than me when I thought my Mama had her accident which dragged her soul in to 02 and felt a hollow shell. Maybe I¡¯m reading between the lines but I feel for her it¡¯s about much more than finding her own identity outside of her mother. It¡¯s the burning desire to know where she comes from.

    I also understand her deep frustrations of being treated like the child. She is the youngest of all of us though there is only a year between us but she has always been treated as the youngest and most protected due to age for years and I think she wants to break out of that and stand on her own two feet.

    I guess that is why I don¡¯t step in when she is giving people sassy come backs or comments. Because I think it¡¯s part of her natural growth and though we have not been together long, I do see a lot more confidence in her and I don¡¯t want that to stop I want her be herself, not what others expect her to be.

    Asuka eyed the hot chocolate as she poured it in to a mug adding thick whipped cream this was normally something she only made at Christmas but she felt that maybe it would cheer Rei up. She slowly walked up stairs watching as Rei came in to view, she was sitting on the bed though Erika was sleeping next to her stretched out. Her furry little body over her legs as Rei stroked her with the other hand while reading one of her graphic novels. She slowly sat down on the bed raising the steaming mug as she spoke. ¡°I made you this.¡±

    Rei turned sharply instantly smelling the rich hot chocolate which was thick cream covered and something Asuka normally only made at Christmas when her Shinji and Misato had lived together and she had to confess that she¡¯d missed it when Asuka had left. She put down the graphic novel as she took the cup looking at it. ¡°This is your Christmas hot chocolate.¡±

    Asuka felt a wide smile form. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s Heisse Schokolade I thought you¡¯d like some you¡¯ve been down since you got in.¡± She watched as Rei took a slow sip clearly enjoying it. She looked down before speaking. ¡°You know you shouldn¡¯t be so hard on Shinji he was going through therapy still at that time, the real villain in this is the Commander your father.¡±

    Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°I know, I¡¯m just angry that Shinji kept it from me I thought the week he was talking about I was punished because I¡¯d tried to get my father¡¯s attention. I thought it was due to that.¡± Asuka looked down sadly as she began to stroke her cats belly listening to the soft purrs. ¡°Look, there was a time when I would have done the same as him and if Mari had been around I might have passed it over to her, to save myself. The difference is I would have ignored my bad feelings, I don¡¯t think Shinji ever did.¡±

    She paused before speaking. ¡°I think we should go to that meeting the both of us, because once it¡¯s over its over.¡± She looked up meetings Rei¡¯s uncertain gaze as she spoke calmly. ¡°Plus it might just be me but I think there¡¯s more to this than maybe you¡¯re telling me and that it might go deeper. I know you mentioned in quarantine that your father was not there and that you don¡¯t like people making sexual comment about your mother, or you looking like her.¡±

    Rei took another slow sip of her hot chocolate before speaking. ¡°Those comments regarding my mother anger me. I guess because unlike Shinji I never knew her and her soul is in his Evangelion and he still gets to see her I don¡¯t and it makes me jealous and angry. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I love my aunt but it¡¯s not the same.¡±

    She breathed in painfully. ¡°I was so young when she was taken from me I have so few memories of her and all the video¡¯s myself and Shinji have off her is of her as the scientist there¡¯s none of her just being my mother. I find myself getting angry because the people I meet make sexual comments and how I look like this woman, I barely remember. I just want footage of her being my mother. I just want to remember what she was like, so I know where I come from.¡±

    She felt the tears come before she could stop them. ¡°I know I¡¯m not like her and I don¡¯t want to be but I still want to know what she was like as my mother. I have no photos not even ones of her holding me as a baby Shinji always tells me she loved me but he has memories, I just don¡¯t have.¡± She put her mug to one side. ¡°I know my father has footage I know he has videos but I have never seen them.¡±

    Asuka gently put her arm around her pulling her close as her head found her shoulder as she cried harder. ¡°Then maybe tomorrow you should use the meeting to demand this of your father.¡± Rei looked up slightly. ¡°He¡¯s not going to give them to me and he¡¯ll punish me if I ask for them, he always does.¡±

    Asuka moved her hand up wiping the other woman¡¯s tears gently. ¡°You and Shinji have the right to those videos Rei she was your mother. You deserve to see the video footage of her your father has.¡± Rei lowered her gaze sadly. ¡°What if he punishes us?¡±

    Asuka felt a sad smile form. ¡°Then he punishes us both as far as I¡¯m concerned, it doesn¡¯t matter so long as we are together.¡± She eased up her hand running it through the younger woman¡¯s hair. ¡°Plus you and Shinji shouldn¡¯t fight that way he has always loved you and protected you, even from me. Back when I was an asshole in my younger years.¡±

    Rei looked up as she wiped her tears away. ¡°Yeah I guess I¡¯m not mad at him more the situation and I¡¯ll talk to him tomorrow.¡± Asuka kissed her lips very gently as she put her head against hers. ¡°I know you can do this Rei. I know you have the confidence to stand up your father, you did it last time in the meeting.¡±

    She moved her other hand down stroking under Erika¡¯s chin as the cat had now moved inbetween them clearly wanting more attention. ¡°So you can do this.¡± Rei moved her hand stroking Erika¡¯s back as she took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. ¡°Yeah I can do this, I know I can, I just have to have to courage.¡± Asuka felt a wide smile form. ¡°Your very brave Rei and no one should ever tell you different.¡±

    8

    Why does my little sister have to be this difficult, why can¡¯t she see my point of view here? I¡¯m trying to help her and make her life easier. I don¡¯t get it and all I¡¯m trying to do this to help her so father does not treat her badly.

    I know I don¡¯t hear her swear that much but I wasn¡¯t expecting that to come out of her mouth, Asuka¡¯s maybe but not hers. We were all told recently by Maya that we had to be a little delicate with Asuka and Rei since both of them might have post-traumatic stress disorder and both their moods could swing. Maybe with Rei it was that.

    I should have told Rei about when I was punished but I was such a coward, I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to do so. I just couldn¡¯t stand the thought of looking in to her eyes and saying I messed up and you¡¯re going to be punished for it.

    It was one of those times when I wasn¡¯t a good brother and when I failed and hurt her and watching her not be allowed to use all the Nerv facilities for a week including the Arcade was awful. I should have just told her and not been such a coward but I feared it would turn her against me for a very long time and the reality is we might be grown-ups but I still need her. She¡¯s my little sister and I always promised mother I would always be there for her.

    Shinji threw the cut pork in to the wok the reality was he wasn¡¯t angry at Rei he was angry at himself for that week and that he couldn¡¯t go back and change it. He pulled the lever on the cooker activating the Roaring dragon burner which blasted flames up around the pan as he threw in the vegetables which was part of the Yakisoba Pork Stir Fry looking at Kaworu who was sitting on the sofa of his home watching him cook. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe my sister said what she said!¡±

    Kaworu eyed Shinji he was clearly mad and it showed in his cooking he was being much harsher with the wok burner than normal. ¡°She is just angry, she will see sense.¡± Shinji grabbed the pan opposite draining the noodles before slamming them in the wok while pouring in stock from another pan causing everything to steam. ¡°Father will just punish her like he did to me. Why, can¡¯t she see that?!¡± He threw the pan slightly watching everything cook. ¡°It¡¯s my fault I was a coward and awful I should have told her the truth.¡±

    Kaworu stood up slowly from the sofa moving towards Shinji surprised and perplexed both by the fact that he could cook angry and it still looked good. Thankfully his problem at lunch had gone away but now it was coming back. He could feel it again in his pants the only difference was now he didn¡¯t care since he was in his boyfriends company and he was finding it a turn on watching him cook this way. ¡°Things will sort themselves out Shinji.¡±

    Shinji slammed the wok down hard looking at the cooked food as he turned all the hobs off putting the food in the wok aside to cool. ¡°I should apologise to her as soon as we see each other tomorrow.¡±

    Kaworu moved behind him slowly wrapping his arms around him as he started to kiss his neck pushing up against him. ¡°But right now I want you to pay attention to me.¡± He moved his hand up running it through the other man¡¯s hair as his other hand moved to the front of his trousers as he started to push his fingers against the fabric finding the other man dick as he started massaging and pressing on it using the fabric. He started to kiss his lips hearing his breathing getting faster as he felt him turn towards him as the other man grabbed at his shirt starting to unbutton it pulling it off slowly.

    He moved his hands undoing his shirt being careful not pull off the cross chain that Misato had given him watching as it hit the floor near his shirt. He could feel Shinji undoing his belt as he pushed him down on the kitchen floor getting on top of him kissing harder as the man¡¯s other hand moved through his hair as his trousers were pulled down.

    He tried to work quickly undoing the other man¡¯s trouser seeing that he was as turned on and as hard as he was as he pulled his trousers down. Neither of them had been wearing shoes which meant all that was left was their socks and pants.

    He looked up kissing him harder as he ran his hands down his chest speaking softly. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about this all day.¡± He heard Shinji¡¯s moan as his kisses became more frantic and wanting as he pressed his body against his as he moved his hands to his briefs sliding them down slowly and carefully. He watched as Shinji¡¯s sit up sharply as he grabbed the draw above pulling it open harshly as he grabbed around inside tossing a few condoms on the floor followed by the lubrication and a medium sized fleece cloth.

    Shinji¡¯s hands suddenly worked pulling down his boxers as he helped get them off totally as he leaned over him again pushing him down slightly. As he started kissing him again moving his kisses down to his body and chest as he pressed his dick against his enjoying the sensation.

    He could hear Shinji¡¯s breathing getting faster as their kisses became even more ravenous and passionate the next moments caught him totality off guard as Shinji sat up pushing him gently on to his back as he opened a condom putting it on carefully followed by using the lubrication thickly.

    The other man¡¯s hand moved to his dick as he started to massage it once more as he felt Shinji move up close up against him. Shinji breathed in deeply as he began to enter Kaworu slowly despite how turned on he was. He didn¡¯t want to hurt him like he had once at the start of the relationship, as he¡¯d been to forward. He could feel the other man¡¯s legs up against his sides as Kaworu got comfortable. He breathed in as he started to push slowly and carefully keeping his rhythm steady watching as the hot blush appeared on the other man¡¯s face.

    Kaworu eased his hands up on the other man¡¯s shoulders feeling the sheen of sweat on his shoulders and back as the sensations became faster as Shinji leaned over kissing him. He looked up only to blink in surprise as he watched the man¡¯s eye slowly turned from a vibrant brown to glowing red.

    He moved his hands putting them on the other man¡¯s face as he tried desperately to keep his focus on building up the sensation as he stared in to the other man¡¯s eyes. He¡¯d seen this before on him but never outside of the entry plug and this was such a turnaround as Shinji didn¡¯t normally take control but right now he was fully dominating him and he was loving every moment of it. It was nothing like with his ex and the feeling was that everything was safe and he could stop at any moment and Shinji¡¯s grip was firm but gentle not hard and heavy.

    He could hear Shinji breathing getting faster and harder as his strokes became longer and slightly deeper but kept the slow pace to avoid pain. Shinji felt his body start to tense he was getting close to the edge and he could see Kaworu was to by his face it had that look of bliss. He didn¡¯t want to hold on to this anymore and he could feel his teeth grinding together only to feel Kaworu body suddenly shudder as he reached his peak.

    He closed his eyes seeing the star blast in front of his eyes as he came only to feel both his hands come down by Kaworu¡¯s sides as his breathing became heavy and laboured along with Kaworu¡¯s as everything became still.

    Kaworu breathed in deeply as he took the cloth carefully cleaning him-self as he laughed as Shinji opened his eyes which were still glowing red. ¡°Well look who makes such a wonderful dominator, I had no idea you had it in you.¡±

    Shinji leaned forward putting both hands on his face as he felt a wide smile form. ¡°I love you.¡± Kaworu smirked as felt Shinji carefully pulled free. ¡°Love you to.¡± He paused raising the cloth. ¡°You know this is your favourite disk cleaning cloth.¡±

    Shinji laughed as he eyed it. ¡°Well I guess it found another use, which I don¡¯t regret.¡± Kaworu sat up slightly giving him a gentle kiss. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t tell anyone you used your best kitchen wear during sex.¡± Shinji eyed him as tied his condom as he walked over to the bathroom feeling the cold air all over his body. He opened the bathroom bin throwing it in as he turned back to him. ¡°Trust me, they¡¯d never believe you.¡±

    He felt a sly smile form seeing their clothes all over the floor seeing that he¡¯d missed a spot. ¡°And that¡¯s my favourite shirt but you seem to have made a mess of it.¡± Kaworu sat up as he looked at him pushing his white hair back watching as his boyfriends eyes slowly returned to normal clearly like Asuka there was a real sexual beast under there, though he had never realized it until now and now he wanted to see it way more often. ¡°Well I was having such a good time, what can I say.¡±

    End of part 41

    Silvermoonlight

 The Harsh Road That Bleeds Your Heels

    THE HARSH ROAD THAT BLEEDS YOUR HEELS

    ¡°Tell me do you think wearing a fake human skin makes you human angel?¡±

    Kaworu turned in the darkness of the room which only had one light source which was shining down on him. The dark voice spoke again. ¡°It changes nothing you know your still a scummy fucking imitation, its why even from this distance I can see you, the real you.¡±

    Kaworu moved towards the light trying to put his hand through it only to feel the pain causing him to pull away sharply. The dark in human voice spoke again. ¡°Want to pretend you live in the light then pay the price!¡±

    There was a long pause as he heard hoof like sounds as the thing in the shadows moved which meant whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t human. ¡°You¡¯re just a dream. I do not care for dream monsters they are brought on by fear and misguidance in the waking world.¡±

    He watched as a single black eye filled with red circles of colour appeared in the darkness. ¡°Nothing ever changes does it? You¡¯re still a self-absorbed pretentious little bastard who thinks he matters.¡± There was a slight laugh which was chillingly cold and made him feel like someone had just walked on his grave. As well as making the hairs on his body stand up on end along with a smell hitting his nose which smelt like rotting bodies and it made him feel sick.

    It stopped as the single red and black eye narrowed. ¡°Soon you¡¯re going to know suffering and soon you¡¯ll realize you are nothing, and you¡¯ll realize that all things end. See it as retribution for what you stole from me in my other life time. He should have been mine he belongs to me, not you!¡±

    Kaworu blinked in confusion hearing the hooves again. ¡°Are you Kallikantzaros? Because if you are I don¡¯t worship you and you hold no sway over me.¡± The single red and black eye narrowed but more in amusement. ¡°You¡¯ll know me soon angel, but allow me to give you little a parting gift.¡±

    Kaworu narrowed his gaze. ¡°I want nothing from one I don¡¯t worship and you will not trick me in to worshiping you with gifts.¡± The light suddenly faded away as everything went dark as he suddenly felt a huge hand wrap around his throat as he was dragged upwards as he felt his feet kick out at nothing but thin air.

    The red and black eye got closer and he saw a flash of huge set of jaws filled with razor sharp teeth as it spoke again with its strange voice that was hard to pin down gender wise, as it sounded like a mixture of both. ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me about worship you worthless little shit. You don¡¯t get a choice in my gifts their given, because soon I¡¯ll be the only god worth talking about in your pathetic little world. Very soon you¡¯ll all love me and despair.¡±

    Kaworu felt another clawed finger touch his face as it spoke again. ¡°The cycle is about to begin a new and I will be reborn on to this world once more and since you¡¯re not a full angel this time around you won¡¯t be an issue.¡±

    The single eye opened wider. ¡°But still like all good angels you don¡¯t deserve to look human. So you should find out what it is to not fit in again just like you deserve, since you stole what was mine.¡± The clawed finger sliced in to his face causing blood to flow free causing instant intense pain as he started to panic fighting harder to get free of the grip.

    Kaworu¡¯s eyes snapped open as he sat bolt upright in bed breathing in deeply as he blinking away the strange dream which made sense at all he put his hand to his face feeling no wound even though it had felt so real. He turned seeing the first rays of the morning sun in the sky from Shinji¡¯s bedroom. He got up stretching slightly before making his way slowly to the bathroom as he needed to take his medication.

    He hated stupid nightmares like this and he hated it when random ones got through since he¡¯d done so much therapy to stem them. He breathed in opening the cupboard as he took out the medical gun that had his medication for walking dead syndrome as if he didn¡¯t take it he¡¯d turn white skinned and his eyes would go a deeper red and he¡¯d look terrible. He breathed in pushing it in feeling the medical gun fire. He breathed in only to feel a sudden stabbing pain which caused him to almost drop the gun.

    He leaned forward unable to stop himself crying out as the pain hit his stomach followed by every other muscle. He looked up at the mirror only to watch in utter shock as his skin¡¯s pink colour slowly faded away turning back to white followed by his eyes turning from dark brown to a pure glowing red and his grey hair began to slowly turn white, only for the pain to stop suddenly.

    He stared in utter shock feeling the panic take over as he opened the gun eyeing the medical cartage which was correct by the medical markings.

    He grabbed the draw nearby pulling it open harshly grabbing a second cartage from the set of eight loading it in to the gun as he pulled it up to his neck firing it a second time even though he knew he wasn¡¯t meant to ever have two doses as it was very dangerous but clearly the first dose was empty or faulty.

    The next moments caused intense pain all over his body enough for him to fall down on the bathroom floor as the pain hit his stomach which felt like his guts were being twisted in on themselves which caused him to cry out in agony. His hands grabbed at the sheep skin rug as everything went in and out of focus as the side effects of the over dose suddenly hit.

    He grabbed at the toilet seat pulling him-self up only just managing to throw up in it and not on the floor. He turned despite how dizzy he felt grabbing a long towel as he heard Shinji¡¯s footsteps coming to the bathroom which he had no lock and only a blind.

    He pulled the towel over himself trying to hide as much as possible knowing though that it was in part a lost cause since he¡¯d see his feet and legs. He looked up as the blind went across as Shinji came running in. He came closer to him his concerned voice hitting the air. ¡°Kaworu are you¡­¡± Kaworu raised his hand speaking with far more anger than intended. ¡°Stay away from me! Don¡¯t look at me!¡±

    His next words were stopped as his guts suddenly twisted again and he found himself over the toilet bowl again as he threw up and the room started to spin. The other man¡¯s arms were around him in an instant though he had no idea what happened next as the full effects of the over dose kicked in as he started to feel his eyes close and his body go numb.

    He was carefully put on the floor in recovery position by Shinji who¡¯s voice was becoming distant as he heard him run to the phone opposite calling the emergency Nerv number as everything went in to darkness accept for the sound of his own beating heart echoing in his ears.

    8

    Rei breathed in feeling the deep nervousness take over as her father¡¯s office doors were opened by the guards and she stepped through seeing Asuka follow behind her. They had both not had breakfast yet and the card said they had to go to her father¡¯s meeting despite that she didn¡¯t want to be here for a second time.

    She slowly walked in taking up her position breathing in sharply closing her eyes for a long moment as she turned seeing Asuka take up her position behind her, though her face was readable. She could still see the hint of fear in her good eye it was subtle but she knew when it was there as she¡¯d seen it many times before now.

    She turned watching as the door opened as Ritsuko and Gendo came in both taking up their desks seats in silence which only added to her mounting feeling of fear. She just had to get through this crap and ask for her photos and movies of her mother that was why she was here. She had to remember that and use it to push herself to ask despite that once again she feared punishment.

    Gendo¡¯s calm voice hit the air breaking her out of her thoughts. ¡°How is your progress going since quarantine Rei?¡± Rei looked down not wanting to answer it was an insulting question and it wasn¡¯t like he cared, so why should she care to answer?

    Gendo turned seeing that no answer was forth coming his daughter was ignoring him outright the same way his son sometimes did. He turned to Asuka who suddenly looked very concerned and uneasy her face said it all. As just like him, she was waiting for a reply from the younger woman. ¡°How has her process been since quarantine Asuka?¡±

    Asuka turned sharply ever since she¡¯d been here he¡¯d always referred to her as second child or German girl or woman, never by her name or second name and it made her feel uneasy and out of place. ¡°I won¡¯t answer your daughter¡¯s feelings, with my own.¡± She took a slow step back. ¡°I don¡¯t speak for her.¡±

    Gendo eyed her seeing his daughter gaze become deeply cold. ¡°Very well, if you wish to do this way then I¡¯ll do it this way.¡± Rei spoke unable to keep the cold bitterness out of her voice. ¡°Yes please can we get this over with? I¡¯m not interested in your fake empathy, or you making out that you care for my wellbeing.¡±

    She watched as Ritsuko and Gendo looked up the surprise showing mildly in their faces but maybe it¡¯s because it was off her tone and how cold it was. Gendo breathed in deeply as he pressed his desk controller bringing up a holographic screen with the escape pod which he turned slowly. ¡°What was the ship you were on called and what did it look like?¡±

    Asuka looked up slightly. ¡°It was called the Hatshepsut the leader of it told me its name herself it¡¯s some kind of underwater ship. They told me because they said if I tried to escape I¡¯d drown.¡± Gendo looked at her for a long moment. ¡°What did it look like?¡± He pointed to the hologram. ¡°Was the design like this?¡±

    Asuka eyed the hologram sadly feeling nothing click in her mind no matter how many times she¡¯d tried to remember escaping it was just all black and she couldn¡¯t recall anything. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡± Gendo put his hands together. ¡°How can you not remember this?¡±

    Asuka looked down tracing the floor with her good eye. ¡°Because I just can¡¯t, the last thing I remember was being experimented on and the crazy scheisse they were spouting.¡± Ritsuko looked at her speaking calmly. ¡°What we¡¯re they saying to you?¡±

    Asuka tensed seeing that Rei was still remaining quite. ¡°Some crazy scheisse, about me being a destroyer of worlds and a sleeping god in human form...¡± She laughed slightly though it was horrible nervous laughter even to her own ears. ¡°I mean that¡¯s crazy right and there out of their minds? They are mixing up what happened with Bardiel as godhood or something.¡±

    Gendo looked at her. ¡°Before you go on Asuka let me be clear we know who these people are. We know they once formed part of your step family and we know Mari your step sister is their granddaughter. We also already know they tried to drown you as a small child. Make no mistake we are very clear on knowing that family tree. As your older sister opened up about it privately and gave us the full report.¡±

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    He sat up slightly. ¡°So we know that the Pharaoh is the Hyena of Vasai and there one and the same and that her full name is Gabriella Adelardo Langley.¡± He paused. ¡°So you need not hide this information in anyway as we are already well aware of your predicament.¡± He looked up. ¡°So you have no need to cover up your step families history, you can be honest.¡±

    Asuka felt her good eye dart. ¡°I never intended to hide that fact and my older sister and I have spoken at length about this.¡± Gendo took his device changing the picture to reflect the family tree including Mari and herself. ¡°You will tell me though if these people laid a hand on my daughter right now and if they committed any acts of sexual violence towards her.¡±

    Asuka breathed in feeling the shock and horror sink in because worst of all she just didn¡¯t know because Rei¡¯s holding house had been above her prison the whole time. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know¡­.¡± Gendo stood up sharply the anger suddenly showing. ¡°That¡¯s not a good enough answer from you, you will answer me!¡±

    Asuka felt the sudden fear and terror setting in and the over whelming helpless of the situation as well as the guilt hit her hard. As if they had done that to Rei there was no way she could have even stopped it, as she¡¯d been bolted to a chair. ¡°I was tied down they had me in some kind of chair, her prison room was above me.¡±

    She suddenly felt the tears coming before she could stop them. ¡°You think I didn¡¯t fight to get free? I tried so hard the chair was stronger than me. It was specially built to house me, even with all my rage and anger I couldn¡¯t break it. I wanted to break it to save her because I failed to save her at the auction!¡±

    Ritsuko stood up everything about this was making her uncomfortable and normally she wouldn¡¯t care but Asuka¡¯s actions rang of victim¡¯s guilt and it was so hard and saddening to watch. She raised her hand instantly getting Gendo¡¯s attention. ¡°Maybe you should stop now, it seems very clear Asuka was a prisoner and does not know the answer to your questions.¡±

    Rei turned the anger suddenly exploding out of her as Asuka stepped back even further trying to recompose her-self. ¡°They didn¡¯t touch me father not in that way!¡± Gendo turned sharply to her. ¡°You finally speak!¡±

    Rei eyed him in disgust. ¡°Everything Asuka says is the truth I was housed above her they said they didn¡¯t want to hurt me because they feared your wraith. They even spoke about how you hurt your enemies for hurting us. I just didn¡¯t believe them, because I know you don¡¯t care about me or Shinji.¡±

    She breathed in deeply. ¡°Like Asuka says they were more interested in this idea that she¡¯s some destroyer of worlds and they captured me as they wanted to use me to change her mind so we would both betray Nerv and Asuka would become god and I only played along so I could see her as they wouldn¡¯t let me leave the prison room otherwise.¡±

    She looked up slightly. ¡°The last thing I remember was Asuka being experimented on with some type of camera.¡± Ritsuko looked up sharply. ¡°What kind of camera?¡± Rei raised her hand. ¡°It was a nineties video camera but it looked strange with gold markings and strange lens in different colours and they shone it on her. It¡¯s the last thing I remember then I woke up on that beach next to Asuka and neither of us remembers getting out.¡±

    Ritsuko slowly put on her glasses as she raised her tablet speaking in an unsure tone. ¡°Since quarantine, have ether of you experienced strange things happening things which you just couldn¡¯t explain?¡±

    Rei breathed in yes they¡¯d had mind blowing sex and Asuka had screwed her in were tiger form but when she said that in her head it sounded crazy and if she said it aloud. It would reveal that they¡¯d gone against the twenty four hour none sex rule. ¡°Other than you both calling us up here no nothing strange has happened.¡±

    She was lying again it was scary how used to this she was getting. How she could just say it to people faces and they¡¯d believe her even when she was lying. She was starting to get why Asuka had lied so much in her youth. It gave you this sense of power over others and though it wasn¡¯t healthy, it was addictive.

    Gendo looked at his daughter for a long moment there was something very off with her. He could feel it even from here but he knew she didn¡¯t normally lie, but right now she was doing so as he knew she had not spoken with Ritsuko the other day. ¡°Lying does not become you Rei, you have no tact for it as we both know you weren¡¯t at the meeting Ritsuko¡¯s meeting the other day.¡±

    He ignored Asuka¡¯s genuine shock over that comment as he looked up slightly. ¡°So let me repeat Ritsuko¡¯s question have you experienced anything strange these past few days? It¡¯s very important we need to know.¡±

    Rei felt a sneer form on her lips it was more because of he was lying now, not her. She¡¯d been there she remembered walking the corridor to the room. ¡°I was there, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about and to be honest I would love to have missed it, it¡¯s not like I enjoy talking to your new wife, or have you not figured that out yet?¡±

    She ignored Ritsuko¡¯s confused look as she took a step forward not caring that she was coming of as challenging and putting herself in a very dangerous position to be punished. ¡°What were you to cowardly to come and meet me because I look like mum? So you farmed me off to her for girl talk.¡±

    Asuka turned watching as her girlfriends eyes slowly turned to glowing red and it was clear she wasn¡¯t the only one seeing it as Gendo gaze was also very clearly on it as was Ritsuko¡¯s. Rei moved a step closer. ¡°You know I came here because its routine but personally right now I just want to smash those glasses off your face father. The only thing stopping me is first I want my mother pictures and videos the ones you keep from me and Shinji, the ones of her being my mother and not the scientist and it¡¯s not a request. I want them now!¡±

    She felt her teeth turn to razors as the explosive anger came out before she could stop it. ¡°Or I¡¯ll make you wish you had!¡± Gendo stood up fully. ¡°You do not make demands of me you¡¯re here to do a job, which is to pilot, you do not make threats towards me!¡±

    He eyed Asuka raising his gloved hand. ¡°This is you isn¡¯t it? You told her to do this.¡± Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°No Commander that¡¯s what you utterly fail to understand. I don¡¯t tell her to do anything, this is what she wants it has nothing to do with me.¡±

    Ritsuko stood up suddenly realizing just how close this was getting to an explosion and she could tell by the cold hated in Rei¡¯s glowing red eyes that she was deadly serious and she wasn¡¯t bluffing and Gendo was now in the danger zone. He just didn¡¯t realize it since a pilots strength seemed to enhance once the teeth were out and unlike Asuka, Rei didn¡¯t have the same discipline over it. ¡°Dear please give Rei what she wants.¡±

    Gendo turned sharply. ¡°No I will not give in to her childish desires just because she wants to threaten me.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed him as she sat back down. ¡°I¡¯m serious you give her what she wants right now or today because she isn¡¯t bluffing and I highly doubt you¡¯d like a repeat of your youngest child trying to punch you over your desk like your older one did two years ago.¡±

    She tensed slightly. ¡°Shinji was rather hard to restrain and I feel your youngest in her current state might be somewhat harder.¡±  She eased out a cigarette lighting it. ¡°I would prefer to not have a repeat of that event as it made you look bad within the company as the employees love to gossip. As they know your relationship with your children isn¡¯t good.¡±

    She watched as that sank in as he realized what she was saying and he eyed Rei speaking coldly. ¡°Very well, I will see that done today.¡± Rei narrowed her gaze. ¡°I do hope do or I will be back here to get them personally.¡± Ritsuko eyed them as she breathed out her cigarette smoke. ¡°And we will have that personal chat at some other time when your moods better.¡±

    She paused knowing that Gendo would hate this but this was the only way to defuse this situation completely. ¡°You can both go now.¡± She breathed in her cigarette before breathing it out slowly as she met Asuka¡¯s good eye. ¡°Tell your sister Mari we will be talking to her very soon. As it¡¯s very clear she knows more about the crooked family tree than you do.¡±

    Rei turned grabbing hold of Asuka¡¯s arm not looking back as she walked towards the double doors. ¡°Come on Asuka we are leaving.¡± Asuka breathed in about to say something but stopped she wanted out as much as Rei and right now everything just felt horrible and out of her control. Maybe that was why she was happy to just be led out of the room as it gave her chance to wipe away her remaining tears as the doors were closed behind them as Rei carried on walking her down the long corridor ignoring the concerned looks from the two sets of guards.

    8

    Maya looked at Kaworu who for the first time in hours was finally starting to come around. She couldn¡¯t believe this had happened he¡¯d overdosed on his special medication and right now was lucky to even be alive. Because the over does could have destroyed his liver and kidneys as it was that dangerous.

    She still couldn¡¯t think of what had compelled him to even do this and now she wanted answers and it wasn¡¯t going to be pleasant for him on any level. She could see Shinji waiting behind the glass of the hospital room but he would have to wait slightly longer as they had only just stabilized him and it would take a while for the drip to give him the reverse medication which had to go in very slowly over the course of hours as it would counter what he had taken.

    She breathed in deeply watching as his glowing red eyes adjust to light as he blinked clearly in pain. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re finally with us Kaworu.¡± She paused raising the medical gun Shinji had given her so he could see it. ¡°I don¡¯t need to tell you that Stizomazeia is dangerous in high doses with your condition but you already know that. So instead, why don¡¯t you tell me what compelled you to take two doses?¡±

    Kaworu tensed painfully in the hospital bed as he looked up slightly speaking although every word hurt to get out. ¡°You gave me the wrong medication, that isn¡¯t working.¡± Maya eyed the gun. ¡°No I had this checked by the medical team to made sure because we feared that like Asuka and Mari someone might have slipped in a another drug, but it came up that this had the right drug in it.¡±

    She paused. ¡°So tell me why you took more than necessary, it¡¯s very important.¡± Kaworu sat up despite that it hurt all over. ¡°No it¡¯s the wrong drug! I took it and it didn¡¯t change my skin, hair or eyes, so I took it again.¡± Maya looked at him for a long moment Kaworu was never one to lie he always spoke from the heart. She lowered the gun. ¡°So you¡¯re saying your medication isn¡¯t working at all?¡±

    She turned as his blood results came up on the holographic screen opposite though it was beeping and showing a red marker on the DNA holographic strand. She walked over to it looking at it in utter confusion. ¡°How is that even possible?¡± Kaworu looked up painfully. ¡°How is what possible?¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°I ran your blood when you came in, there something wrong in one of your chromosomes one of your base pairs appears to be faulty but I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before and there is no documented history of this ever happening with Walking Dead Syndrome. Because the common misconception is people with your condition are sickly and weak. When they are not they are always perfectly healthy internally and genetically and have really good stamina.¡±

    She leaned closer. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Kaworu I will have to repeat this test and I know you don¡¯t like blood tests. You will have to stay in bed all today as I can¡¯t release you till I know you can walk out of that hospital door healthy and this fault in your genes won¡¯t hurt you long term.¡±

    Kaworu breathed in frustration. ¡°Great, so I¡¯m stuck here.¡± Maya looked at him as she loaded the gun which was especially for bloods. ¡°Yes at best I can let you out tonight and you will have to go home with Shinji and he¡¯ll have to monitor you over night.¡±

    Kaworu breathed in deeply. ¡°He cannot see me this way, I look like a dead shit in low tide!¡± Maya breathed in deeply she recalled reading Kaworu¡¯s divisions reports that without his medication he could turn extremely moody and foul tempered but this was the first time she¡¯d ever seen it in person. ¡°Would you rather stay in here overnight?¡± Kaworu breathed in deeply as he spoke calmly. ¡°No I want you to fix this, that¡¯s your job to fix me. So I don¡¯t look like a freak of nature and a walking corpse.¡±

    Maya looked at him for a moment before looking at the hologram. ¡°This is not something I can fix Kaworu I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before. This will need to be sent to specialist teams in two branches and it could take them a week or more to fix it so your meds work again.¡±

    She moved forward pushing the gun in hearing him wince as it filled two veils with blood then an injection went off which was to stop any bleeding. She pulled it away looking at it. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to live with this and you¡¯re going to need to be patient and let Shinji help you, till we can get this fixed. Misato, Ritsuko and the Commander have already been told as have the bridge crew that you over dosed this morning.¡±

    Kaworu eyed her. ¡°I don¡¯t want him to see me like this. You think he¡¯s going love me looking like this?!¡±

    Maya looked at him for a long moment. ¡°If he loves you like I think he does, this shouldn¡¯t be an issue for him.¡±

    End of part 42

    Silvermoonlight

 Broken Train Of Thought

    BROKEN TRAIN OF THOUGHT

    Well that went as scheisse as I thought it was going to go and now I regret crying in front of the Commander and Ritsuko. Because Ritsuko is probably going to use this against me as a pilot, since this time it¡¯s not that I¡¯m unstable and it¡¯s not because I have any angel in my verfickte brain.

    I look at my breakfast realizing I¡¯m not hungry and I really don¡¯t want to eat it, it¡¯s just fluffy pancakes but it has no appeal. I turn looking at Rei who has already finished her breakfast of yogurt and honey and her eyes are now on my food. I don¡¯t think as I push it her way, clearly she¡¯s hungry and it¡¯s the stress from all of this and in the past few days since we returned and I¡¯m not going to stop her if she wants to eat.

    I pause feeling really unsure of my next question because personally I¡¯d believe her over Ritsuko but I feel uncertain about the whole thing. With her not showing up to the meeting but at the same time I don¡¯t blame her, if she didn¡¯t want to be there. ¡°Did you go to Ritsuko¡¯s meeting?¡±

    Rei looked at the fluffy pan cakes as she poured on the thick cream and chocolate. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know what that shit was all about but I was there.¡± She took a bite utterly enjoying the flavour. Asuka eased her patch off looking at it for a long moment. ¡°It¡¯s just if you didn¡¯t go I wouldn¡¯t blame you, I just wanted you to know that.¡± Rei looked up slightly speaking in a slightly cold tome before she could stop herself. ¡°I was there Asuka, so drop it!¡±

    She stopped seeing the hurt in Asuka¡¯s eyes it wasn¡¯t hidden at all which hit her hard along with the guilt. She eased out her hand taking the other woman¡¯s. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that came out wrong, I just feel really stressed and tired right now.¡± She eyed her plate dropping her fork on it with a clatter. ¡°And all I want to do is eat! I just feel so hungry all the time, even when I eat I don¡¯t feel full it¡¯s like I¡¯ve never eaten before or something.¡±

    Asuka looked at her she picked up the fork gently putting it back in Rei¡¯s hand. ¡°Then you should eat and not feel guilty about it, since your body clearly needs it.¡± She looked up seeing the sadness in the other woman¡¯s eyes. ¡°Plus what you did today was very brave I just hope that your father follows through on his promise.¡± Rei looked at her food sadly. ¡°He probably won¡¯t.¡± Asuka moved closer as she ran her hand through Rei¡¯s hair gently and softly. ¡°You tried Rei that is all that matters.¡±

    Rei looked at her for a long moment unable to stop her next actions maybe it was the stress of everything but she wanted to feel the other woman¡¯s affection and love. No matter how much she got right now it just never felt like enough. She was kissing Asuka before she could stop herself it was gentle kisses which were slow but with all her feeling she stopped putting her head against the other woman¡¯s. ¡°Thank you for pushing me, even if nothing ever comes of this.¡± Asuka looked at her for a long moment. ¡°Whatever happens¡­I¡¯m here with you Rei.¡±

    ¡°Would you like us to come back later?¡±

    Asuka snapped her head around realizing that Mari was standing close by as was Toji though they both looked uncertain. She pulled away from Rei watching as she got back to eating. ¡°No, we are done.¡±

    Toji slowly sat himself down watching as Mari did the same. ¡°So I assume it didn¡¯t go well? The meeting I mean.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°No it went like scheisse.¡±

    Rei looked at her food as she carried on eating it as if it was her last meal. ¡°Asuka just about summed it up, it was utterly shit.¡±

    Toji looked at Mari knowing what he was going to say next could really make Rei and Asuka¡¯s day even worse. ¡°I hate to tell you this.¡±

    Rei looked up sharply instantly catching the uncertainty in his tone. ¡°Tell us what?¡±

    Mari looked at Toji as she adjusted her glasses. ¡°Kaworu over dosed this morning, Maya told me and he¡¯s currently under her care. He took too much of the drug Stizomaziyi. I think that¡¯s what it¡¯s called.

    Asuka breathed in sadly as her older sister¡¯s words sank in. ¡°It¡¯s called Stizomazeia.¡±

    Rei turned sharply eyeing Mari. ¡°But why would he over dose? I mean what¡¯s the reason was he trying to kill himself, he seemed fine!¡±

    Mari raised her hands. ¡°Honestly we don¡¯t know, I was just told this morning but you can¡¯t go and see him or Shinji not till this afternoon. They have to run tests even Shinji can¡¯t see him right now he says he has to wait outside the glass hospital room and no one else is allowed up there. As it was a possible overdoes they have to go through suicide protocols and their trying to keep the press out as they now have photos of the Nerv ambulance leaving Shinji¡¯s home.¡±

    Rei looked at her food losing her appetite once more why was everything going like this? Why was it all falling apart? She felt her heart sink even worse her last words to her brother had been less than nice now the person he loved was sick in Nerv hospital and she wasn¡¯t there to comfort him.

    All she could feel was the painful sting of regret and she had no idea how to deal with it all. A part of her wished selfishly that she could just go back in to the quite place where she¡¯d once been invisible and could just push her emotions inwards but she knew she couldn¡¯t.

    She just wasn¡¯t that person anymore and she knew deep down she didn¡¯t want to be her but right now she just wanted to vanish as everything just felt like it was getting worse. Or at least that was how it felt to her emotionally like the walls were coming in and crushing her.

    Asuka leaned over putting a hand on Rei¡¯s shoulder squeezing gently. ¡°As soon as we can visit, we¡¯ll go Rei.¡±

    Toji raised his hands seeing the sadness in Rei¡¯s eyes. ¡°Yeah we can all go see him, we just got to wait a little longer.¡±

    Rei looked up slightly. ¡°I want to see them both, I can¡¯t imagine Kaworu doing this to himself, he seemed fine.¡±

    Asuka breathed in this was deeply unsettling as well as he had been fine but she knew what depression was like and what it could make you do. As during her time with Bardiel she had contemplated it and had shoved her gun unloaded between her teeth firing it twice readying herself to load it and fire it for real, only to realize she couldn¡¯t do it. Maybe like her Kaworu had tried to hide his hurt after his abusive ex had come back but it had gotten to him and he¡¯d cracked, ether way it was deeply saddening.

    8

    Maya breathed in the test results had come back and it was very clear now that it truly was a faulty chromosome pair and it still made no sense. She had already had to tell Misato who had been running damage control all morning and keeping the press at bay who kept asking if it was a suicide attempt, which it clearly wasn¡¯t but how they were going to run this by the press in the statement was giving her real concerns. As if she said his body had gone faulty it could be really harmful to him and anyone with his condition around the world going forward as it would play on the myth that Walking dead Syndrome made you sickly.

    No if they wanted to ride this out she¡¯d have to say it was Nerv¡¯s fault and that there was an issue with their internal supply. Or that they were improving it and he had to go clean for a time until they worked out how to fix it but the reality was it could take weeks and none of this would be good for Kaworu.

    As he was in a very low emotional place right now and he wouldn¡¯t like that he had to walk around this way. It was now finally clear for all staff and pilots to visit him as well as Shinji. She looked up seeing that Misato was coming towards her office. Misato opened the door the concern in her face as she walked up to Maya¡¯s desk her voice hitting the air. ¡°How is he, can I see him?¡±

    Maya looked up meeting her concerned gaze. ¡°Yes both you and Shinji can see him, but I will say now he¡¯s not in a good mood.¡± Misato pulled up the chair. ¡°We have kept the press off this for as long as we could, you need to tell me just what I have to say to them.¡±

    Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°I know you wanted Leiko¡¯s program in to play which goes on the idea of the pilots as human beings and not lie about their troubles but we will have to lie about this.¡± Misato leaned forward feeling the confusion take over her. ¡°Why?¡±

    Maya brought up the holographic screen showing the malfunctioning chromosomes. ¡°Because no one will ever believe you if you say one of his chromosome base pairs are suddenly faulty. Since this happens at birth it doesn¡¯t happen later in life unless it¡¯s via radiation and people with his condition are normally very healthy despite how they appear.¡±

    She paused. ¡°Basically this is why his medication no longer worked it¡¯s why he took a double dose and we need to time to fix this and it could take weeks.¡± Misato eyed the hologram. ¡°Wait this is not possible, like I don¡¯t know that much about science but this doesn¡¯t make sense!¡±

    Maya looked up sharply. ¡°Yes and it¡¯s why you need to lie and say our supply was contaminated somehow and we are recreating a new stock on sight. Make up your best story because no one can know this truth because its makes no sense. This means for now we have to say to shoulder the blame until this is fixed and tell the department they¡¯ve done nothing wrong and we¡¯ll double their pay for the inconvenience. Tell them no one will be fired as accidents happen and we can say it happened during shipment, since we¡¯ve had poor shipments in the past.¡±

    Misato looked at the holographic screen again. ¡°This is insane, first we have Rei and Asuka captured now this, will he be able to pilot?¡± Maya shook her head. ¡°No, he won¡¯t because his mental state can get very heavily affected when he¡¯s this way and I saw some of it when we were testing him, let¡¯s just say he has a really foul temper when he¡¯s this way and his past records also show it.¡±

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Misato leaned forward lowering her voice. ¡°Could it be his spine worm¡­like its not working right or its sick?¡± Maya looked up slightly. ¡°Possibly, but that needs testing in the lab with me there and I don¡¯t think he¡¯s up for that right now mentality.¡±

    She looked up slightly. ¡°The truth can¡¯t get out to the public the negative side of the press will affect others worldwide if they think it has anything to do with his condition Walking Dead Syndrome which is not fully understood despite that it¡¯s been around since humanities very early origins and people with it are always classed as sickly, weak unwell. When they¡¯re not in fact they have great stamina and internally are really healthy as well as genetically are no different from you or me.¡±

    She raised her hand. ¡°Also despite decades of research we still can¡¯t pin point what causes it. We only know how to dull the effects like using medication to turn the skin to a normal tone along with the hair and eyes and it has to be tailored to perfectly match the person in question genetically hence no two people¡¯s medication are ever the same.¡±

    She looked down slightly. ¡°Anyone from any place in the world can have this condition and it not ultra-rare yet it still gets scorn, misunderstanding and prejudice. So we need to protect Kaworu¡¯s safety as much as all those worldwide that have it. This issue needs to be handled very delicately and only Shinji and the other pilots should be able to know what¡¯s really wrong with him but they should be forbidden from saying anything publicly. The media centre is saying they have been utterly swamped with fan mail asking about Kaworu and online feed is almost at breaking point with questions and his fans wishing him well and asking if he¡¯s okay.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°Let me handle this then I¡¯ll tell them just what you said about our stock being contaminated from an outside source and that we are creating a brand new better stock internally.¡± Maya looked at Shinji who was still sitting behind the glass of Kaworu hospital room. ¡°Also tell him he can go in, it¡¯s been so hard to have to keep him out but we had to do it, since it was suicide protocol.¡±

    She breathed in sadly. ¡°I just didn¡¯t want to us to make the same mistakes we did with Asuka. As I feared him seeing his forma abusive boyfriend could have caused this as his division said once he was gone he suffered deep depression and had to have therapy after which he was given his medication and he started to really heal after that but he¡¯s made it clear it wasn¡¯t an overdose.¡±

    Misato stood up slowly. ¡°Okay I¡¯ll release a statement along with Kaji.¡± She looked at Shinji who looked utterly bored and frustrated where he was seated outside of the hospital room. ¡°But I need to deal with Shinji as this has been horrible for him.¡±

    Maya looked at Shinji before turning back. ¡°I understand.¡± She typed in to holographic panel hearing the bolts on Kaworu¡¯s hospital room unlock as the light above the door turned from red to green. Misato slowly stood up making her way out of the office watching as Shinji stood up she moved over putting her arms around him pulling him close despite that he was no longer a child and taller than her as this had never changed between them in all these years.

    She spoke unable to keep the pain out of her voice. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to keep you waiting this long Shinji I wanted to be here sooner.¡± Shinji breathed in feeling the pain in his voice as the tears started to run before her could stop them. ¡°I thought he was going to die, it was so awful.¡± Misato held him tighter feeling him cry in to her shoulder. ¡°You getting him here as fast you did saved his life Shinji.¡±

    Shinji pulled away meeting her sad gaze. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± Misato looked at him for a long moment as she moved her hand up putting it on his face her tone becoming deeply serious. ¡°Something has gone wrong with his genetics; it means his body is rejecting the medication. Maya is going to do everything to fix this but it is going to take time and you cannot tell anyone in the press about this not you or any of the others.¡±

    She paused looking at Kaworu who was lying back on the bed looking bored and tired. ¡°The reality is he could look this way for a number of weeks and he will need all your support. His records show that he¡¯s not good mentality this way and it also means he can¡¯t pilot because his emotional state and bad temper may affect his sync in a big way. As it happened once before over in the Ukrainian division but it had been resolved by the time he came to Japan to join us.¡±

    She moved his finger wiping away some of his tears. ¡°I know you can help him you¡¯ve always have and your heart is in the right place Shinji. I know you can guild him though this but it¡¯s going to be hard, he¡¯s not going to be himself.¡±

    She looked at him for a long moment. ¡°You can go in now and talk to him it will just be you no one else you know I would do anything to stay with you right now but I have to go and talk to the press they have to know it wasn¡¯t a suicide attempt.¡± Shinji breathed in painfully. ¡°You¡¯ll be back soon though?¡± Misato pulled him close giving him a warm hug. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon I promise.¡±

    8

    Ritsuko looked at Gendo for a long moment as he gazed over the report regarding Kaworu which had just been brought to his office. ¡°It just seems things are going from bad to worse first Rei and Asuka now this. Gendo eyed Maya¡¯s medical report over again. ¡°This is very displeasing and concerning Seele will want to know about this.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed her holographic screen. ¡°Has it started?¡±

    Gendo breathed in deeply. ¡°This could be mere side effect dear, the drugs you gave my daughter and Asuka were to suppress it Seele said they were the strongest they have.¡±

    Ritsuko turned slightly. ¡°What if they¡¯re not working I mean you saw how foul tempered your daughter was this morning?¡±

    Gendo turned to meet her uncertain gaze. ¡°They have informed me her temper could be due to post traumatic stress disorder but it is most unsettling.¡±

    Ritsuko turned slightly. ¡°Then I recommend you go through on your promise and give her and her brother the footage of their mother.¡± Gendo put a hand on his beard. ¡°That¡¯s already been arranged, packages will be sent out tonight, as much as I dislike this turn of events I do not wish for a repeat incident.¡± He paused. ¡°She did not show up for her meeting with you?¡± Ritsuko slowly eased out a cigarette. ¡°No like I said in the meeting.¡±

    Gendo looked up slightly. ¡°Clearly my youngest child has learnt how to lie.¡± His mouth formed a cold smile. ¡°And now she knows how to threaten like her brother, it¡¯s so intriguing.¡± He put his hands together. ¡°Things that are necessary for leadership, which means one day she might be fit to joint lead this company, along with her brother.¡±

    Ritsuko lit her cigarette breathing it in deeply. ¡°That aside, both her and Asuka still need to be very closely monitored because I have a bad feeling about all this.¡± Gendo turned to meet her gaze. ¡°Seele¡¯s medication is flawless, it will suppress the issue.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed him for a long moment as she breathed out the smoke. ¡°Maybe but the reality is I think your daughter was hiding something. I saw it in her face when we asked about strange things happening.¡± Gendo breathed in deeply. ¡°Perhaps but we will see and before that I want to speak to the British pilot Mari Asuka¡¯s step sister I want to know her view point on her rotten little family tree, since its clear Asuka knows nothing due to her age at the time.¡±

    Ritsuko began to type in her holographic panel. ¡°That can be arranged, though don¡¯t be surprised if Maya shadows her they have not been together long but it is very clear that Maya seems overly protective of her from what we both witnessed.¡±

    Gendo looked up slightly. ¡°Then we¡¯ll just need to be more delicate with this issue than normal. As I do not wish for yet another repeat where a pilot bears their animalistic teeth to me and unlike Asuka she has even less self-control from what I¡¯ve been told.¡± Ritsuko finished typing in to the holographic panel taking in a long breath from her cigarette before blowing it out the dark smoke. ¡°That would be correct.¡±

    8

    Shinji breathed in as looking at the green light above Kaworu¡¯s hospital room Misato had left and he realized now he had to do this alone. He wished Rei could be here right now as she knew what to say to him in these situations as she was always calm and methodical. He slowly put his hand on the door handle opening it slowly walking inside as he closed the door behind him seeing that Kaworu was lying on his back with the cover half on his body as his red eyes looked up a tired fashion he had a drip opposite which working slowly.

    The other man¡¯s gaze fell on him as he tried to move to turn away only to find he couldn¡¯t because his body hurt too much still which was clear by the pain in his face.

    He moved forward quickly taking hold of the Kaworu¡¯s hand ignoring his cold look of annoyance. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t move Kaworu, you need to rest and let the drug do what it needs to.¡± Kaworu breathed in painfully great his boyfriend could see him in all his horrible glory he spoke coldly. ¡°You should leave...¡±

    He paused not caring how dark his tone was. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t see me this way.¡± Shinji looked at him for a long moment feeling him try to pull his hand away though he couldn¡¯t as the medication was stopping him as it was kicking in very deeply now making him weak and tired.

    He breathed in realising that Kaworu looked identical to how he had in his bad vision inside the Evangelion. The pure striking white hair and white skin with piecing red almost glowing eyes truth be told he had found that vision strange but it had not been turned off by it in the slightest. ¡°Why you look just fine to me.¡±

    Kaworu turned his head sharply. ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be nice Shinji, I know how I look and it must be disgusting to you, I look like a walking undead corpse.¡± Shinji looked at his white hand. ¡°No I like it.¡± Kaworu gaze narrowed his gaze. ¡°You don¡¯t have to lie to make me feel better.¡±

    Shinji looked at him for a long moment before lowering his gaze to the floor as he tried to collect his thoughts. Clearly he had to be honest about his vision though he hadn¡¯t wanted to say anything about it. ¡°I¡¯ve seen you look this way before.¡±

    Kaworu turned looking at him. ¡°From my records I assume Maya or Misato probably showed you my old photos to make it less of a shock!¡± Shinji looked up meeting his gaze directly. ¡°No, I saw you like this in the vision I had in my Evangelion some time ago, you looked this way but much younger.¡±

    He put his other hand on the other man¡¯s seeing his face turn in surprise. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to tell then, because it was too personal to me, but you were there in the rotting ruins of what looked like the Arcade area and we were talking to me, you said we¡¯ll see each other again.¡±

    Kaworu blinked in confusion. ¡°Really, but you told them all you saw was the rotting Nerv?¡± Shinji looked down as he breathed in painfully. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell them because something awful happened to you in my vision and it scared me, as I don¡¯t like the idea of losing you.¡± He breathed in trying to stop his tears. ¡°And I thought you were going to die this morning and it was terrible.¡±

    He paused taking in a deep painful breath. ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to die like you did in my vision it¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want them to know the truth.¡± He looked at the white hand in his own. ¡°So if you think I wouldn¡¯t like you, your very wrong you being this way does not change how I feel about you.¡±

    He wiped his tears away. ¡°I still love you I still want you and I still need you.¡± Kaworu blinked in surprise as he turned to look at him not really knowing what to say or how to react. All his life all of his previous partners had been put off by his real looks in some manner, yet this man was the first to ever say openly that it didn¡¯t matter. He watched as Shinji moved pulling himself on to his hospital bed so he was lying with him as he put an arm around him refusing to let go as he started to cry harder.

    He raised his hand weakly running it through his dark hair as he snapped out of his haze. ¡°You really mean that?¡± He breathed in deeply. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t disgust you?¡± Shinji breathed in sharply speaking through his tears. ¡°Yes I do and you don¡¯t disgust me.¡±

    Kaworu moved his other arm despite that it hurt wrapping it around him. ¡°No one¡¯s ever said that to me before my previous boyfriend¡¯s, lovers they always wanted me on the drugs.¡± Shinji looked up at him. ¡°That¡¯s because they didn¡¯t love you, for you, I do and I don¡¯t care how you look what matters to me is your alive and we are still together.¡±

    He moved his head up meeting the other man¡¯s lips gentle kissing gentle though Kaworu didn¡¯t respond at first ether due to surprise or uncertainty before he started kissing back as he ran a hand through his pure white hair holding nothing back.

    End of part 43

    Silvermoonlight

 A Flicker In The Mindéˆ¥æªš Eye

    A FLICKER IN THE MIND¡¯S EYE

    Her world I do not know if I want to envy it or pity it. It¡¯s so clean so nice her Nerv is swimming in vast incomparable wealth. Food everywhere and no one¡¯s hungry it¡¯s vile. I would have given anything to eat this way. It pisses me off so much since in my own world you¡¯d be lucky to get one good meal a week since the Nerv I remember was starving and hanging on by a fucking thread with rotting areas that went on for miles and miles.

    Worse of all is how she pines after that little bitch Rei it¡¯s so weak so disgusting she¡¯s a coward who is always nice. Why be nice when you can be more? Why give when you can take and make the world your own by force? I¡¯ll say one thing though this equal gender bullshit has some advantages though like I never got to read magazines like this when I existed.

    ¡°Hey Langley are you going to buy that? Or are you going to stare at it!¡±

    Asuka looked up sharply shaping out of her deep haze instantly looking around her realizing that she was in a newsagent store with a magazine in her hand. She looked down realizing it was a play girl magazine and she had it open on the centre fold. She breathed it instantly slamming it shut and shoving it back on the shelf feeling the confusion take over, why was she in here?

    Wait Rei had sent her to get something hadn¡¯t she, scheisse what was it? Her brain snapped back in to gear instantly oh that¡¯s right she wanted a bottle of coconut drink.

    She turned grabbing a cola for herself then the coconut bottle for Rei as she moved towards the casher putting it down as shoved her card in the slot only to hear a beeping as the casher¡¯s mouth formed a smirk. ¡°Are you not firing on all cylinders today Langley? That¡¯s your Nerv ID card not your debit card.¡±

    Asuka pulled her card out giving her a cold look as she put the correct card in hearing it click as she brought the goods. The female shop keeper¡¯s smug smile widened further. ¡°Sure you don¡¯t want that play girl magazine to since you were drooling all over it for five minute¡¯s solid?¡± Asuka grabbed the items as she put her card away speaking through gritted teeth. ¡°Oh verpiss dich.¡±

    She ignored the woman¡¯s surprise as clearly understood her words as she walked out of the store hearing the automatic door close behind he. She looking around her realizing she was down on level fifty. Why was she down here? When there were more stores like this on the higher levels and she never even used this level for buying things.

    She felt her phone buzz she pulled it out seeing the text message from Rei saying she was on level twenty eight with Mari and Toji and for her to meet her.

    She moved towards one of the lifts pressing it with her thumb in frustration she never normally went to level fifty unless she wanted good Indian food. As the restaurants down here were the best in the Arcade zone but she never went here for anything else unless it was with Rei as she liked some of the gift shops down here as they had cute plush dolls.

    She looked down slightly she¡¯d gone to level thirty she remembered that clearly so how was she on verfickte level fifty? Not to mention she had this vile taste in her mouth which was awful like she had she eaten something bad tasting and it was clinging to the back of her throat.

    She watched as the lift finally opened which felt like ages as she stepped inside only to hear her phone go off again she pulled it out reading Rei¡¯s message which was a rather sharp where are you we can¡¯t find you? She breathed in putting her phone away as the lift opened and she ran out going towards the white and gold Japanese¡¯s dragon statue water fountain which was in the centre of level sitting next to it looking around her.

    She watched as Toji, Mari and Rei appeared coming towards her she felt a stupid toothy grin form as she pulled up the drinks. ¡°I got the stuff you wanted.¡± Rei looked at her for a long moment, feeling the confusion take over as she took the drinks. ¡°Where were you, I was getting worried?¡±

    Mari sniffed the air. ¡°Asuka you smell like you¡¯ve been near the Rose and Crown Lounge or something.¡± Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°I went to the wrong level¡­I went to fifty and got side tracked.¡± She turned sharply to Mari. ¡°What is in Rose and Crown Lounge?¡±

    Toji breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s some real old world type lounge with a casino for both men and women where you can smoke and play cards and gamble as well as order alcoholic drinks and food. I¡¯ve seen Ritsuko go in there from time to time it¡¯s like the biggest thing on that level and all types of smoking are welcome, cigarettes, vaping and cigars, pipes as well as chewing tobacco and water pipes.¡±

    Asuka raised an eyebrow. ¡°Sounds more like a vile recipe for cancer and lung disease.¡± Mari put her hand on her shoulder. ¡°Yeah well that¡¯s why we are confused why you¡¯d be down there little sister, doesn¡¯t sound like your kind of place.¡±

    Asuka raised her hands. ¡°Okay, fine I ended up on the wrong level because I pressed the wrong button!¡± She paused. ¡°I just brought the stuff since I was down there.¡± Rei felt a slight smile form as she put her hand on Asuka¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Well we are all just glad you are back as we just got a message from Shinji that we can see him and Kaworu now as the lock down is over and we¡¯ve got some gifts for him.¡±

    She breathed in deeply. ¡°Plus I need to see my brother¡­I mean we had that argument and I want to make things right.¡± Asuka looked at her for a long moment before speaking seeing that Mari and Toji already had presents ready to cheer Kaworu up and Rei had clearly brought something from them, gods she wished she wasn¡¯t so hazy.

    As it felt like she was slowing everyone down because she wasn¡¯t on the ball at all. Maybe she could redeem herself by at least making Kaworu feel better since she knew how it felt to not look like everyone else and hopefully she could also help Shinji and Rei sort it out, though they normally sorted out issues without her helping and always had. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see him and Kaworu as he must be bored up there, I know I was.¡±

    8

    Shinji looked up slightly catching sight of the others who were making their way towards the room. He eased himself off the bed, where he¡¯d been for a long while now. Kaworu had let him stay there though the other man looked tired now clearly the medication that was flushing out any remainder the over dose was half way complete and Maya had said it would be a long process.

    He smiled as they clearly had gifts as they came up to the glass looking in. He caught sight of Rei knowing they needed to talk, as his actions from the other day were still on his mind.

    He moved over to the door watching as they all came in giving him smiles as Toji raised the gifts. ¡°Look we got gifts and stuff and we are here to cheer you up!¡± Shinji watched as Kaworu groaned as he opened his eyes slowly before speaking. ¡°I was sleeping¡­.¡±

    Shinji turned to him. ¡°Look the others are here and they brought you gifts.¡± Kaworu breathed in as he sat up in bed hating that they had to see him this way. Though maybe it was better they got this over and done with now rather than having to do it later as he spoke bitterly. ¡°Great¡­¡±

    Mari blinked eyeing him she wasn¡¯t that surprised by how he looked as she knew one person on the base back in Britain who had his condition and refused to take medication. Their feeling has been why should they?

    Though Toji had clearly never seen it before she could see it in his face and nether had Rei that was clear by how they were both looking at him. Asuka on the other hand remained expressionless. ¡°You know you don¡¯t look that bad still look like a handsome stud to me.¡± She raised her hand pointing at Asuka. ¡°Also I had no idea you had Princess¡¯s mood when you¡¯re in the hospital wing.¡± Asuka turned sharply. ¡°Shut up four eyes!¡±

    Rei snapped out of her haze meeting Shinji¡¯s concerned gaze. ¡°I¡¯m sorry we were late, we got slightly delayed.¡± She was about to say more only for Shinji to come forward wrapping his arms around her pulling her close. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Rei, for the other day¡­.what I did was very bad and I should have told you all those years ago.¡±

    Rei breathed in wrapping her arms around him. ¡°No I¡¯m sorry for what I said, I was just in a bad mood and I took it out on you and father punishes us both over everything.¡± Shinji breathed in painfully. ¡°Yeah I know it just doesn¡¯t make me feel any better though, because what I did was rotten.¡± Rei squeezed him tighter. ¡°It¡¯s okay I forgive you for it, you were just in a bad place.¡±

    Toji leaned over towards Asuka speaking quietly. ¡°Em¡­do they always resolve things this quickly?¡± Asuka turned to him nodding calmly. ¡°Yes.¡± She breathed in putting her hands in her leather jackets pockets only to feel something metal, she blinked easing it out.

    She looked down in surprise as a Zippo lighter came in to view an old brass one with an embossed emblem on it and some language at the top she couldn¡¯t even read. Where the scheisse had she gotten this from? She had no memory of buying this¡­Kaworu¡¯s voice suddenly cut through her thoughts. ¡°Is that a Ukrainian Zippo?¡±

    She turned to him walking forward slowly seeing Rei and Shinji stare at her along with everyone else as she passed it to him watching as he took it weakly looking at it. His eyes lit up as he pulled himself up in bed fully. ¡°This is an official general¡¯s civil war Zippo where did you get this, there ultra-rare and I¡¯ve been searching for one for ages?¡± He paused meeting her gaze as she pulled off her patch off putting it in her other pocket. ¡°But I never told you this.¡±

    Asuka blinked she had no idea where she¡¯d even got this. She felt her eyes dart as she thought of something as fast as possible. ¡°Shinji asked me to pick it up for you, it¡¯s his gift to you not mine.¡±  She ignored Shinji¡¯s surprise and Rei¡¯s utter confusion. ¡°That¡¯s why I was in the Crown and Rose they sell all kinds of old lighters in there.¡±

    Toji looked at her for a long moment. ¡°Yeah they do their very expensive and kept in rotating glass cabinet¡¯s which you can see if you look in through the front glass window.¡± Kaworu looked at Shinji. ¡°Thank you this means so much to me that you had her go get this just for me.¡± Shinji looked at Asuka who looked utterly out of place. He had not told her this. Maybe she had over heard it from one of his conversations with Rei or something. He should just go with it, since it was making Kaworu happy. ¡°Yeah I just wanted to cheer you up.¡±

    Kaworu looked at the lighter as he leaned out taking his hand as he leaned over the bed he leaned forward giving a soft and gentle kiss before pulling away looking at the others. ¡°Well this makes me feel a lot happier, even though I look like a freak right now.¡±

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Asuka turned sharply raising her hand pointing at her left scared eye. ¡°It might have escaped your notice but you¡¯re not the only one who looks weird to everyone.¡± Kaworu lay back on his beds pillows. ¡°Yes but yours only looks like it hit your face not your whole body.¡± He paused. ¡°Plus you wear a patch to cover it, which means you¡¯re not comfortable with it.¡± Asuka eyed him. ¡°No I wear a patch because I don¡¯t like having to explain to people why it glows.¡±

    Kaworu raised his hand. ¡°Well I don¡¯t like explaining why I look like the un-dead!¡± Asuka eyed him realizing that he was clearly going through a lot of dark emotions and she knew how that felt and the last thing she wanted to do was argue with him in this state. As she knew he¡¯d just feel worse and he was lashing out at her because he needed to vent, not because it was personal. ¡°Well you don¡¯t look un-dead to me your look cool and unique.¡± Rei moved forward nodding. ¡°Yeah honestly it doesn¡¯t look that bad, we could all get used to it.¡± Toji put his hands together. ¡°Yeah man, I always thought zombie movies were cool.¡±

    Mari turned sharply. ¡°He means he likes you how you look not that you look like a zombie.¡± Rei moved forward putting the bag of gifts on the bed. ¡°We got you some gifts because we heard once that drip is finished and you are more rested you can be discharged and go home with Shinji.¡± Kaworu breathed in deeply. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true.¡± Rei moved her hands through the bags hoping the items from the Ukrainian sellers in the Arcade which they¡¯d all brought were going to be good enough.

    She pulled out the first gift. ¡°My self and Asuka got two of these, there called Nested dolls.¡± Kaworu leaned over taking the boxes from her hand smiling. ¡°That¡¯s really thoughtful of you both, these are called babushka.¡±

    He paused. ¡°My mother used to wear dresses like this they were so colourful and patterned I¡¯ll never forget how beautiful she looked.¡± Mari moved over as Rei stepped aside pulling out a bottle and huge thick slab of chocolate. ¡°I got you some Horilka and Lviv Chocolate.¡±

    She carefully passed them it to him as he put the nest doll boxes next to his Zippo lighter. ¡°You know for when you¡¯re feeling better, they told me it was authentic.¡± Kaworu look a long smell of the chocolate. ¡°Oh yes that is clearly authentic, I can tell.¡±

    Toji stepped over pulling out a decorated wooden mace from the bag as he smiled. ¡°I got you this it¡¯s called a Bulawa it¡¯s meant to symbolize strength.¡± Kaworu took it from his hands looking at it, it had been years since he¡¯d seen one. ¡°Yes that¡¯s right. I have not seen one of these in a very long time.¡±

    He turned to the others. ¡°Thank you for all your gifts there really thoughtful.¡± Shinji moved forward putting a hand gently on his shoulder. ¡°You see they don¡¯t see you as any different and we all just want you to get out of here.¡± Kaworu looked slightly. ¡°I guess that¡¯s true.¡± Shinji sat on the bed opposite. ¡°And once we get home you can rest easy as Misato wants us to take the day off tomorrow.¡±

    8

    Rei watched as Asuka laid still on the bed her hand stroking Erika who was lying in between them. Tomorrow would be there psychiatric tests and she was not looking forward to it at all and nether was Asuka. After Kaworu had been discharged with Shinji they had all been told they could all go home because Kaji, Misato and Kaji had so much to sort out with the media and press that there was no use in running training simulations today for anyone.

    She turned looking at Asuka who was staring upwards her glowing eyes blue and white patterns rotating in deep thought. She breathed in no longer being able to hold her question back. ¡°I never told you Kaworu wanted that lighter.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply realizing there was no point in holding this back as she wanted to say something on the drive back with their motorbikes but just hadn¡¯t found a good moment. ¡°I don¡¯t remember buying it...¡±

    Rei turned sharply. ¡°How can you not remember buying it?¡± Asuka breathed in deeply raising her phone. ¡°Anneberg?¡± She watched as the demon appeared flaring his teeth. ¡°Yes Asuka.¡± Asuka looked at him for a long moment. ¡°Did I make a purchase to something called the Rose and Crown?¡± Anneberg¡¯s green eyes started to search. ¡°Yes you did you spent two hundred and thirty euros on a rare Zippo lighter.¡±

    Asuka eyed her phone. ¡°Did I buy anything else other than that and drinks?¡± Anneberg eyes traced. ¡°No that was it.¡± Rei looked at Anneberg. ¡°Thank you Anneberg.¡± She watched as he smiled disappearing as Asuka put down her phone. Rei felt her eyes dart in confusion. ¡°You seriously don¡¯t remember?¡±

    Asuka turned to her. ¡°Yes Rei I don¡¯t remember. It¡¯s like I blacked out just like we did on the ship and I just don¡¯t remember anything. It¡¯s not like I know that level well Mari knows it better than me since she drags me down there to buy something she calls a chicken korma with coconut and almonds from time to time from the British Curry houses down there.¡±

    She paused. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know what a special lighter is and I have no reason to buy one let alone know what¡¯s valuable.¡± Rei looked at her for long moment seeing that her girlfriend was being brutality honest.

    She lay back watching as Erika got up slowly turning around before sitting in between them curling up in a ball. ¡°I keep thinking there¡¯s something wrong with my memory. I didn¡¯t want to say anything because it didn¡¯t make sense to me and it felt weird, but now I just have to. You asked me if I went to the meeting I did but my memories of it, they just don¡¯t feel right.¡±

    Asuka sat up sharply seeing the uncertainty in Rei¡¯s eyes she leaned over gently taking her hand. ¡°What do you mean by don¡¯t feel right?¡± Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°It feels fake¡­.like in my memory Ritsuko is too nice to me.¡± She paused. ¡°It made no sense she hates me as well because I remind her of Yui. It¡¯s just unlike my father she just puts up with it.¡±

    She felt her grip on Asuka¡¯s hand tighten. ¡°It wasn¡¯t even fake nice it was too warm like she was being motherly and overly kind.¡± She turned hearing something get put through the door which was clearly a large package as it landed hard. ¡°I should go and get that.¡± Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°No, don¡¯t bother with it Rei just lie down and relax.¡± Rei lay back realizing that she was deeply agitated she watched as Asuka lay down so she was looking directly at her.

    Asuka looked up slightly. ¡°We need to tell them all this.¡± Rei turned towards her. ¡°I know.¡± She looked up meeting Asuka¡¯s good eye as the other pulsed. ¡°I¡¯ve been really off with you and I¡¯m really sorry. As I feel you have been nothing but kind to me despite my moods swings and the fact that I keep eating your food, because I¡¯m always hungry.¡±

    Asuka moved Rei¡¯s hand up kissing it very gently. ¡°You don¡¯t have to explain, I know what having difficulty with your mood is like and you put up with all my scheisse after the Alpha unit incident when I was at my worst.¡± Rei felt a smile form. ¡°Yeah there is that.¡± Asuka felt a wide smile form. ¡°And there¡¯s this little detail that really I love you.¡± Rei felt the other woman kiss her hand again as she laughed. ¡°I love you to.¡±

    8

    Mari felt the kitchen table as was pushed firmly up against it as Maya kissed her harder. It was such a turn on and yet she could feel her mind eating at her, before she could stop it. As much as she was enjoying this, she was starting to feel uneasy about it like that maybe that was all she was here for.

    She put her hands on Maya¡¯s shoulders pushing her back slightly. ¡°Can we stop for a moment?¡± Maya looked at her feeling the confusion take over as she stopped kissing the taller woman. ¡°Is something wrong, did you not want to do this?¡±

    Mari breathed in deeply the reality was she could make love to this woman from dawn to dusk if she could and she wanted nothing more, but she knew this question would torment her if it wasn¡¯t asked and it would only get worse over time. As she was used to being dropped by women after the sex and buzz was over and they hadn¡¯t liked her being closeted, which had added to the difficulty but she wasn¡¯t in that closet anymore.

    She moved away from Maya sitting on her couch as they were in her hotel apartment room tonight and not at Maya¡¯s apartment. ¡°I just want to know something. Are we just screwing each other for sex, or do you love me?¡±

    She paused pushing her loose long hair back. ¡°Because I really love you, but you have not once said you love me, in all this.¡± She paused lowering her head sadly. ¡°Maybe I ask too much, maybe I want too much too soon but I just don¡¯t want to feel like I¡¯m just some fuck buddy who you¡¯re going to get rid of, when you finally get bored.¡±

    She breathed in deeply not feeling sure what to say next as she turned to Maya knowing she was pushing hard and taking a risk which she normally wouldn¡¯t take. ¡°I just want more, I just want to date you, go to see movies and stuff¡­.¡±

    Maya looked down slightly realizing the truth of Mari¡¯s statement and the reality of it which was right in this moment. As she had not said that she loved her only that she liked her and it was deeply unfair. She¡¯d been so caught up in her own whirlwind that she had not really given these long nights of sex any real thought. She¡¯d just enjoyed the moment, as it had been ages since she¡¯d felt this loved by anyone.

    She had come here because Ritsuko and the Commander had given her a gold card which meant Mari had to attend a meeting with them regarding her family and she needed to be there. She¡¯d come here to talk it through with her but had ended up kissing her and forgetting herself.

    She had to be honest with Mari going forward and stop with her own self-indulgences, in this way. As she was doing this since it felt so long since she¡¯d been physical with anyone. She slowly walked towards Mari who looked uncertain and nervous now, clearly feeling she¡¯d over stepped the line. She breathed in gently taking her hand as she sat on the sofa next to her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I made you feel this way, that was not my intention.¡±

    She paused watching as Mari pushed her glasses up she slowly moved her hands up to the other woman¡¯s face as she kissed her very gently on the lips as she rested her head against hers. ¡°I love you and I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t say anything sooner.¡± She paused for a long moment. ¡°I was afraid to say it.¡±

    Mari looked up slightly. ¡°I understand that.¡±  Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s just been so long since I was with anyone and I was just enjoying it all so much and I got caught up in it.¡± Mari breathed in feeling the tension start to melt away in her body. ¡°So you really enjoy fucking me then?¡± Maya laughed slightly as she looked at the taller woman. ¡°Of cause I do we have such a great time, but you are right we do need to do more with our time together.¡±

    Mari eased up her hand running it through the other woman¡¯s hair which was loose and on her shoulders. ¡°Well I have to watch Hikari tomorrow as its Toji¡¯s date but we can do something the day after.¡± Maya nodded calmly. ¡°Yes we can.¡± She paused pulling out the gold card. ¡°I meant to give you this, I just got caught up in the moment.¡±

    Mari eased the gold card from her hands. ¡°What is this?¡± Maya looked down slightly. ¡°You have to attend a meeting with Ritsuko and the Commander tomorrow morning. They want to ask you about your family, they tried with Asuka but as you know, it didn¡¯t go well.¡±

    Mari stared at the card feeling the tension instantly hit home. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can do this, they might see me as a traitor. Since my step brother knocked out Asuka and my step sister is a crazy bitch who looks like me.¡± Maya took hold of both her hands. ¡°You have nothing to fear Mari I am going be in there with you.¡±

    She leaned up kissing her lips very gently. ¡°You just have to tell them what you told me that day in the Taito Station just be honest with them, no lies. Because Ritsuko and the Commander will know and Asuka¡¯s not good at lying so they¡¯ll pick it up from you instantly.¡±

    Mari looked down slightly as she put the card on her coffee table. ¡°What if they don¡¯t believe me?¡± Maya breathed in deeply. ¡°What they believe is not important Mari. What is important is your feelings and your own conviction if they cannot see past that then there both fools as despite the Alpha unit accident you have proved nothing but loyalty to Nerv.¡±

    Mari leaned forward wrapping her arms around the smaller woman pulling her close. ¡°Thank you, you know for just saying you¡¯re going to be there that¡¯s means a lot.¡± Maya wrapped her arms around her enjoying her warm hug. ¡°Even If they said I couldn¡¯t be there, I would have demanded to be there.¡±

    Mari breathed in feeling a smile form. ¡°I forgot to say thank you for the junk food you put in my Eva some time back, I really enjoyed that meat feast pizza. I didn¡¯t know or new store box in the entry plug worked that well and it would be so nice.¡± Maya held her tighter. ¡°I was told it was your favourite.¡± Mari kissed the other woman before sitting back. ¡°Hey how¡¯s about I cook you something from my home country?¡±

    Maya looked up slightly. ¡°What did you have in mind?¡± Mari moved over to the fridge opening it. ¡°Fish and chips¡­London style.¡± Maya stood up slightly. ¡°You know I¡¯ve had that before.¡± Mari pulled out the ingredients. ¡°Not my special you haven¡¯t and Sakura loves it when I cook this, so does Toji, I¡¯m sure you will love it to.¡±

    Maya slowly seated herself watching as Mari started to cook it was very clear to her that despite sharing a lot of traits with Asuka her cooking style was very different. She was methodical where as Asuka just went with what she felt. She began to watch from the chair as she felt herself relax fully feeling instantly better now that her true feelings of love were now finally out.

    End of part 44

    Silvermoonlight

 The Fine Line Between Dreams And Nightmares

    THE FINE LINE BETWEEN DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES

    Shinji carefully finished the Tamago Kake gohan dish. He carefully cracked the raw egg over the warm rice, then gently put it on the breakfast tray next to his. Kaworu wasn¡¯t up yet he was still sleeping. He wanted to cheer him up since he couldn¡¯t go in to work today.

    There was also a Nerv security car parked outside the apartment and he knew why. It was there it was to get of rid of any press who wanted to gather outside, even though they¡¯d been trying but not been successful. Kaworu had just crashed in his bed falling to sleep instantly last night, clearly this was the last part of the drug doing its job and Maya had said he would be really tired and need plenty of sleep to recover fully.

    He breathed in he¡¯d made sure his breakfast was larger than normal as he had missed eating out last night as he¡¯d said he just didn¡¯t feel like eating. Maybe later he¡¯d also want to eat his chocolate and to have some of the alcohol that Mari had brought him. He had laid all the gifts on his side of the bed, so he¡¯d wake up to them

    He picked up the tray walking slowly in to the bedroom as he opened the blind then he carefully placed the food on the bed as he leaned over shaking the other man gently. ¡°Kaworu.¡±

    He watched as the other man groaned pushing his head further in to the pillow as he half mumbled something which was in Slavic, which he couldn¡¯t understand. He shook him again. ¡°Hey Kaworu I got you breakfast.¡± He watched as Kaworu sat up slowly rubbing his eyes as he spoke in Japanese once more. ¡°It¡¯s morning already?¡±

    Shinji turned picking up the breakfast tray putting it gently on his lap. ¡°I cooked you some Tamago, I know you like it.¡±

    Kaworu breathed in deeply as Shinji sat next to him taking his own breakfast bowl as he spoke. ¡°It¡¯s hot.¡± Kaworu looked down slowly taking the bowl and his chop sticks. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do this for me.¡± Shinji looked at him for a long moment. ¡°Well I wanted to and besides they told me you need to rest and relax today.¡±

    Kaworu slowly started to eat deeply enjoying the flavour. ¡°Well I just want them to get this fixed. I don¡¯t want to look like this forever.¡± Shinji breathed in deeply. ¡°You know have you ever considered being this way, as you are and not taking the medication?¡±

    Kaworu carried on eating. ¡°No, the world would never accept that nether would the public, they¡¯d berate and curse me.¡± Shinji carried on eating as he looked at him. ¡°But what if they didn¡¯t what if they accepted you just like they accept Asuka?¡± Kaworu felt a sneer form. ¡°Stop comparing me to her, she can hide her issues behind a patch, I can¡¯t!¡±

    Shinji looked up slightly. ¡°She can¡¯t hide the scars we both know she has them all over her body, the stomach one is very long you must have seen it.¡±

    Kaworu carried on eating. ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve seen it, again she can hide it!¡± Shinji lowered his chop sticks. ¡°Then why is she okay with swim wear? If she wanted to hide it she¡¯d wear a one piece but since Rei brought her that two-piece she still walks around in it and visits the spa and everyone can see the scars.¡±

    He paused.  ¡°Look I know it¡¯s not the same but I¡¯m just saying I don¡¯t find you unattractive this way and I think people are very open-minded and that maybe you don¡¯t need those drugs to be you.¡± Kaworu breathed in deeply. ¡°Please I¡¯ve had a childhood of being called a freak of nature. They even told my mother to kill me at birth, because they felt it was best in the eyes of the gods, as I was cursed.¡±

    He looked down sadly. ¡°She and my father refused and loved me until they were gunned down and I was taken by the rebels at the age of ten and they used me as their pet to scare people¡­so I know how people think Shinji, there sore, cruel and judgemental.¡±

    Shinji felt his gaze narrow. ¡°No, that¡¯s what the bad people told you, because they were bad people including your ex-boyfriend who abused you and raped you. We are not those people, we love you, your part of our family and we don¡¯t care how you look!¡±

    He watched as Kaworu turned to him in surprise maybe because of his raised voice. ¡°I just wish you could see this, because I saw it in the others when they visited and you taking the meds is you wanting to cover up who you are in reality but in reality it¡¯s not your true skin.¡±

    Kaworu eyed him as he finished his breakfast. ¡°It¡¯s better to live a lie than to suffer the pain and humiliation of looking this way.¡± Shinji eyed him for a long moment. ¡°Have you considered that there are thousands of people out there with your condition who have no one to look up right now, because of prejudice? Wouldn¡¯t it change the worlds view if you stopped living this lie and showed your true self to them and educated the world.¡±

    Kaworu pushed the tray aside as Shinji put his empty breakfast bowl on it. ¡°That is the fool errand Shinji.¡± Shinji breathed in picking up the tray as he looked at him. ¡°No I think it would be a very brave thing to do.¡± Kaworu looked up slightly as the anger faded and he looked down sadly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, your being really kind to me I do not mean to throw this back at you¡­I¡¯m just afraid right now¡­it¡¯s been so long since I was this way.¡±

    Shinji felt a smile form as he leaned over gently kissing the side of the other man¡¯s face. ¡°Its fine, I understand I just want you to be happy as you and not who you think you should be.¡± Kaworu took in a deep breath letting it out slowly. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll give it some though.¡± Shinji felt a smile form. ¡°Well while you do I¡¯ll go get you more breakfast as you might feel much better after a second serving.¡±

    8

    I can feel my palms sweating. I¡¯m so nervous walking up to the Commanders and Ritsuko¡¯s office, the last time I was here was after the Alpha unit incident and I feared that my time as a pilot might end but now I feel even more afraid that it¡¯s going to happen.

    Despite that Maya is leading me and holding my hand I feel no conform. Even though Asuka¡¯s grandmother has spoken to me at length last night over what happened with Asuka and my family I don¡¯t feel any better. My family are insane psychopaths and though they have a different mother to me we are all seeds of our father.

    That¡¯s why I feel so terrified because genetically I¡¯m the same as them and that alone could turn both the Commander and Ritsuko against me. I could be seen as a huge traitor just for existing even though I never had any idea what their plans were for Nerv. Or that my birth was a product of my vile father using my mother for his own gain as well as Asuka¡¯s mother and we were caught in the middle of the game never realizing we were pawns.

    Misato also can¡¯t be here because there trying to keep the press at bay over Kaworu everything feels so weird and fucked up right now. For the past few days the news has been filled with funerals after the events of the terrorist attack. A terror attack my family caused and their probably being really smug about it right now. Mari breathed in as she came up to the double doors of the main office watching as Maya stopped as both guards opened the doors so they could go through.

    She walked inside feeling Maya let go of her hand as she came to stand opposite her as she took up her place seeing that both Gendo and Ritsuko were looking at her. Though there faces were unreadable she turned as Maya¡¯s voice hit the air. ¡°We are here, as you requested.¡±

    Gendo breathed in looking at Mari as the doors closed behind them. He breathed in deeply he was hoping this was going to go better than how it had done with Asuka and his daughter the other day. Though he had for filled her request a package had been put through her and her brothers door which was filled with all the movies and photos he had of Yui though it was copied from his own collection.

    He took hold of his device pressing it watching as the family tree appeared on the holographic screen. ¡°So would I be right to assume that your Langley¡¯s daughter directly and that Langley is the son of Gabriella Adelardo Langley, who is your grandmother?¡±

    Mari looked down slightly. ¡°Yes their family by blood.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed the screen. ¡°And Achika and Christopher they are your older step brother and sister?¡±

    Mari fidgeted slightly. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Gendo eyed the screen. ¡°Who is their mother?¡±

    Mari looked up slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I never met her I mean I¡¯d see her in the car. She used to drop my older step brother and sister off but she never wanted to be around my father though I don¡¯t blame her. He was a bastard, who loved to cheat and he¡¯s the reason I don¡¯t use my families name and changed it to Makinami Illustrious which was grandfather second names on my mother¡¯s side.¡±

    Ritsuko looked at her for a long moment. ¡°Did you know that your fucked up family was leading the Ankh terrorist group or that your grandmother is the Hyena of Vasai?¡±

    Mari shook her head. ¡°No, I just knew her as my cruel grandmother who beat me with a horse whip for failing her test.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed her desk holographic screen. ¡°Yes about that and I¡¯m perplexed, I read here it was a test the drowning of Asuka¡­.but you buckled you couldn¡¯t go through with it, why is that?¡±

    Mari adjusted her glasses. ¡°Because it was wrong and I knew it!¡±

    Gendo put his hands together. ¡°Clarify to us in more detail why it was wrong?¡±

    Mari looked down slightly. ¡°Because she was an innocent little girl and they used her for their fucked up test. The test was to teach us all how to show no emotion over death, to kill the weak because they are a burden to sociality.¡±

    She tensed slightly. ¡°My grandmother believed only the strong deserved to live and that the weak should be crushed.¡± She looked down sadly. ¡°I failed because I had compassion and because I hate them and still do to this day.¡± Ritsuko eyed the screen. ¡°I see and I¡¯m assuming there¡¯s a pecking order and you¡¯re in the middle rank wise?¡±

    Mari shook her head. ¡°No in my families eyes I¡¯m the weakling the runt of the litter. All my older step brother and sister used to do was bully me and treat me like shit. It¡¯s why I failed the test because I liked Asuka way more than them, because even back then she showed me kindness despite the problems in her own life.¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in using her device to enlarge both Christopher and Achika pictures. ¡°Tell me it must be strange to have an older sister who looks just like you.¡± Mari eyed Achika¡¯s picture. ¡°We both look like our father we have his hair colour and similar eye colour but believe me when I say I¡¯m nothing like her or my brother they delight in causing harm.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed the images again. ¡°Yes that¡¯s very clear to us.¡± She paused. ¡°Which bring us to the purpose of this meeting do you know where these people are?¡± Maya looked at Mari who looked deeply uncertain. ¡°Just tell them what you told me Mari, last night.¡±

    Mari breathed in collecting her thoughts trying to keep the raw fear at bay. ¡°I don¡¯t know where they are but my grandmother was obsessed with submarines. I recall the evil bitch flipping through books on them when I was a child and saying they were the way forward and you could put a whole army under the sea so to speak.¡±

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Gendo pulled up another image which via a very shaky camera phone of some kind of air ship floating in the air clearly undergoing repairs to one of its engines.¡± This was spotted not long ago out to the sea. It¡¯s the first time we¡¯ve ever seen it and it was a fishing boat that recoded it, the special division tells me it is a submarine but also a flying ship hybrid and maybe the possible flying ship we have heard reports about.¡±

    He looked up slightly. ¡°We only received this report this morning in full along with the footage which was useful since your step sister and my daughter had no memory of being in this huge ship and can recall nothing but I was told this ship was out of the water a few days ago because it was being repaired and had taken damage to one of its engines which may explain how they got out.¡±

    He paused. ¡°So tell me would you say that your family is a threat to this base?¡± Mari eyed the ship for a long moment. ¡°There not my family and if your questioning my fucking loyalty because I¡¯m related to them, let me tell you now I¡¯d watch them burn, my loyalty is to Nerv to Asuka.¡±

    Gendo put his hands together. ¡°You misunderstand the question, I¡¯m not questioning your loyalty for better or worse you¡¯re related to Langley by blood line but you¡¯re ours. My question stems down to if your family will try to attack us?¡± Mari looked down slightly. ¡°Probably, they are all crazy after all.¡±

    Gendo leaned forward. ¡°Then I do hope if it comes to that you will prove that loyalty you speak so much off.¡± He eyed Maya for a long moment before turning back to her hoping his point was made clear. ¡°Since you now have even more incentive to our cause.¡±

    He met her cold gaze. ¡°Because if you prove any disloyalty when that day comes, the consequences for you will be extreme. Since you already don¡¯t have a good track record here behaviour wise as you like hack Evangelions from the inside. So if your facing off against your step brother and sister in there vile little hybrids the other which we have yet to see, I expect you to kill them¡­I do hope that is understood.¡±

    Mari eyed him in disgust. ¡°Oh its crystal clear Commander...¡± Ritsuko looked up slightly speaking calmly. ¡°You can both leave now, we are done.¡±

    She watched as Maya took Mari¡¯s hand leading her out though Mari¡¯s cold look never left them even as the doors were closed behind them. She sat back in her chair. ¡°That went better than I was expecting.¡± Gendo breathed in slightly. ¡°Well it was worth questioning her loyalty.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed her holographic screen. ¡°Yes well I think her loyalty is to us, after all she has much more too loose now since she¡¯s fucking Maya and all.¡± Gendo felt a cold smile form. ¡°If that is what keeps this one in place then that it¡¯s enough for me and I just want her like the others to show no mercy when the time comes to fight our enemies.¡±

    8

    I¡¯m still hungry why can I not stop eating? Oh who cares I¡¯m going buy this even though that¡¯s all I¡¯ve done over these past few days is eat and eat some more and snack of vending machines. I¡¯ve gone up a notch on my jeans belt so what was one more, bad sickly sweet snack?

    Rei eyed the vending machine slotting in some yen which she always carried in change along with euros since the machines took both and you could even mix them. There was barely anyone around as it was still early morning and she¡¯d be meeting Mari and Toji later Asuka was in the Taito Station and once she¡¯d gotten this, she was going to meet her.

    She watched as her item moved forward only to fall forward and get stuck. She eyed it in frustration great just great, she hated it when this happened and if Asuka was here she¡¯d just get her to kick the vending machine that normally did the trick. She eased her foot up slamming it in to the glass only to pull back in pain clearly that hurt more than she¡¯d expected.

    She eyed the machine slamming her hand on the glass hard, only to watch in shock as the whole thing vibrated violently for a second then threw tons of sweets, drinks and food out which clattered to the bottom all at once in a huge messy heap.

    She looked around her seeing an empty corridor as she leaned down pulling a few things out but not taking everything only what she had purchased. The machine was faulty anyway and they¡¯d fix it once everyone was in since it dropping everything on all of its shelves was not normal.

    She un-wrapped the chocolate biting down, she hated this sweet tooth she was having right now it only seemed to go away when she filled her stomach. She had never been overweight in her life but she was starting to get why Mari had said it was an awful struggle, when she¡¯d had been and that it became like an awful desire just to fill a gap with food only to get more depressed and eat more pulling yourself in to a vicious cycle.

    Ever since she¡¯d come back from captured she¡¯d just wanted to eat and she didn¡¯t know why. The feeling though was like she¡¯d never eaten in her life and she had this mental drive to try anything and everything, it was an awful insatiable craving.

    She opened the second bar biting down she was probably going to have come clean about this to the therapist today just like the rest of her problems. Like shaky unrealistic memory and the feeling of being edgy and angry at any given time.

    ¡°I have never tasted such wonder¡­your world has so much food, I want to taste it all but I can only do it through you.¡±

    Rei turned slowly around only to find herself staring in to a face that was right up to her own a young face identical to her own but with bloody red eyes and light blue hair, but younger. She found herself coughing and dropping her bar of chocolate as she stared at the fifteen year old who was fully naked in front of her and right inside her personal space like some kind of waking nightmare.

    She wanted to scream but nothing would come out she wanted to move but her body wouldn¡¯t budge, all she could feel was utter terror.

    The young girl curious face seemed to turn to sadness as she could clearly see her fear but she spoke regardless. ¡°What¡¯s it like to be an adult?¡± Rei found herself grabbing both sides of her face as the pain came all too suddenly and it was like a knife like pain to the back of her head. She found herself closing her eyes as she screamed out in trying to take the pain feeling her whole body tense in agony, for what felt like a truly painful minute which seemed to last forever.

    It stopped all of a sudden as she opened her eyes seeing that the corridor was empty now and the young naked girl who looked like her was gone. She stood up slowly looking around her only for the dizziness to hit her as she found herself leaning against the wall only for her stomach to suddenly twist before she could stop it causing agonizing pain.

    She couldn¡¯t stop herself as leaned forward throwing up all over the floor feeling her-self stagger back as she clutched the wall waiting for the painful dizzy spell to pass. She looked down at her hand watching as a ball of blazing bright blue light appeared in it. She was hallucinating she had be this was her own mind it was her body trying to screw her over.

    She looked at the glowing ball forcing her hand closed around it seeing it pop like it was filled with air only for the sound of shattering glass to irrupt behind her as the lights around her flickered for a moment before returning to normal. She turned around very slowly feeling unsure if any of this was real or in her mind as she eyed the two empty Nerv work rooms which now had shattered glass and a third which had cracked.

    She found herself stumbling away from the rooms none of this was real it was in just in her head it had to be! She turned not thinking as she broke in to a run she had to get away from Nerv she needed to find Asuka, they both needed to get out of here!

    8

    Asuka breathed in deeply raising the arcade games reflective light weight hand gun as she pulled the virtual reality visor down watching the countdown start. She was bored and it seemed like it would be better to just play while she waited for Rei. Maybe she could top her score for once as she still couldn¡¯t beat this machine and always scored third or second but she had never topped the head score by someone called Booth-five nine one.

    She breathed in changing the VR lenses settings as she started to shoot at the Zombies easing and relaxing in to it finding herself smiling. It seemed easier today though she didn¡¯t really understand why it just felt easier to get a head shot, as she walked as the neon booth simulated her steps going forward. She eyed the visor noticing the imagery of the zombies were starting to look slightly overly realistic despite that her setting was on normal game detail and not hyper realistic.

    She taped the visor verfickte thing had to be bust typical she would get the faulty visor. She turned as a long sounding thumping sound hit the air, she turned sharply. ¡°This booth is verfickte taken! Go find your own.¡± She breathed in as the sound died and she turned back to playing it was clearly going to be one of those days.

    She turned hearing the sound again although deeply distant, it sounded like a horse in that she could hear the sound of hooves making a slow steps towards her booth. Clearly someone was verfickte around and had one of those annoying sound processors toys that you could buy in the Arcade she turned back to the game refocusing on it as she began to fire again.

    Hinata turned looking at the holographic screen behind him eyeing Asuka¡¯s booth watching as the score board kept rising and rising only for the red light to flash which indicated cheating, since she¡¯d killed perfectly with headshots for the last five minutes, which was out right impossible. He narrowed his gaze in anger as he moved out of his desk he was not going to let her get away with this! She had to have a cheating device like her older step sister Mari and he would prove it this time!

    Asuka tensed sharply noticing that her game was starting to stutter she looked up seeing something in her visor which she had never seen before a weird hoofed creature. It was walking past the zombies melting them to bone and bloody muscle it was also tall eight foot in height. Was this a new add in boss?

    Because she had not read that this game had, had an expansion or new villains, she watched as the being came closer its huge horns rising skyward as it turned looking around. It moved forward as the whole games back ground suddenly froze looking directly at her. She waited trying to see if the glowing hit points would show up for the boss battle but none did.

    The creature moved forward slowly until it stopped blocking her whole visor view. She breathed in, in deep frustration and anger pulling the VR headset off only to freeze in horror, as the same black form appeared in front of her as everything around her suddenly faded in to darkness.

    The one good red and black eye stared down at her as the nostrils flared as the huge hand rose its over long clawed fingers moving as it spoke as the smell hit her, which was a mixture of rotting flesh and wet musty dog both, which made her want to gag as she dropped the VR visor as well as the gun. ¡°Poor pathetic thing you are, playing games in your world and enjoying such pleasures that others like you were denied.¡±

    She felt the pain before she could stop it as her left eye heated up to the point that it hurt as she grabbed her head feeling the pain which was like a knife being driven in to her the front of her head on the left side. One of the huge hands grabbed her neck then thrust her back smashing her in to the booths back glass.

    The panic took over Bardiel had never been able to fully touch her in the waking world yet this thing could. Her feet scuffed the floor as the pain got stronger as the claws dug in as the being spoke again. ¡°And people think you¡¯re fucking special, your nothing!¡± Asuka couldn¡¯t stop her next actions she was screaming only for it to turn to roaring as she struggled to fight back, only to feel the light blast out from her left eye as everything turned to pure white.

    Hinata walked towards Asuka¡¯s booth which was glowing from the inside getting ready to grab the door only for the booths glass to smash sending shards everywhere as he was thrown backwards. He was smashing in to the fighting games machines behind him back first, only to hit the floor hard on his side he felt the painful ringing in his ears as cold blood ran down from his nose.

    None of the alarms had gone off not for fire or emergency he painfully opened one eye watching in shock horror as all the lights around him flicked from black to white as two huge beings stared each other down as the sound came back to his ears, as the huge six foot tall were tiger who had two huge trashing tails clawed feet slammed in to the ground as it black claws dug in.

    It turned on the other monster which looked like some warped fucked up looking Pan kind of thing which instantly let go of its furry red shoulder leaving bloody marks as it let out a massive threatening roar its huge red mane standing on end as its left eye let out pure burning white and blue light. The other thing whatever it was sneered in anger its bloody hooves scraping the floor before it vanished in a blast of dark light which caused black blood to spatter all over the next booth running down it.

    The huge were tiger turned its huge feet slamming in to the ground as it moved towards him coming to stand over him its other blue eye glowing. He could see the huge teeth this had to be a dream it could not be real!

    This must be a holographic suite but Nerv had said they¡¯d never had been able to make one though it was the thing everyone wanted to crack. A hologram suit that surrounded your body that felt and looked real and that you could walk around in and your touch have it be solid to others, but caused you no harm when wearing it. So this had to be some kind of advertising stunt that was being recorded elsewhere for some shitty movie or series.

    He coughed painfully as he looked down seeing a thick shard of neon booth glass embed in his stomach as blood slowly started to leak out. He put a hand on it trying to move it only to feel intense pain shoot through his body as he realized this was real and as he let go unable to pull it out and if he did it could kill him as he¡¯d bleed out faster.

    He watched as the huge were tiger lowered its self so it was over him clearly looking at his wound its single bright blue eye staring intensely and the other let out bright light. He felt the huge clawed hand take hold of him gently though it was the last thing he saw as the lights returned to normal as he closed his eyes and everything faded in to darkness.

    End of part 45

    Silvermoonlight

 Shattering The Symphony

    SHATTERING THE SYMPHONY

    What just happened to me? I can¡¯t remember¡­.no that¡¯s wrong I do remember but its sounds insane even to my own mind. Did I turn in to that form again?

    I did but I thought the love making was in our heads. I know we had sex I know that part was real but I thought it was some sort of shared illusion brought about by stress. Yet twenty minutes ago I was walking around in that form doing something and it¡¯s hard to remember what it was. The memory is there but its blurred but not missing not like on the undersea ship or when I ended up on level fifty of the Arcade zone.

    I¡¯ve been in that form before but it was in my subconscious but now I realize this had to be real just like when we slept together. It makes no verfickte sense though you don¡¯t turn in to the things in your dreams. Humans are not gods, we can¡¯t change forms we can¡¯t reshape our worlds in the way we do in our imaginations.

    Please tell I¡¯m not going crazy again? Let this be some scheisse like Bardiel left something behind in my brain that¡¯s screwing with my verfickte mind! I don¡¯t think I can handle this a second time, I don¡¯t feel strong enough.

    Asuka leaned over the sink of the general employee¡¯s bathroom why did she have to suffer this? She felt her stomach suddenly twist agonizing. She found herself breaking away as she ran to the nearest toilet cubical slamming the door behind her locking it as she threw up violently.

    She breathed in sharply not liking this feeling it was like Bardiel all over again the intense anxiety and pure fear, she looked down flushing as she unlocked the door going over to the sink drinking from it spitting it out hating the horrible taste in her mouth then splashing cold water on her face.

    She took in a deep long breath okay she needed to go to Maya tell her everything. Maybe then it wouldn¡¯t be like the last time she had her friends and family now to support her, maybe they could help her though this verfickte episode whatever it was.

    She turned as the door suddenly slammed open she pulled herself up right only to watch in surprise as Rei appeared walking towards her fast. The younger woman¡¯s face was filled with fear and uncertainty as her green eyes darted as she suddenly grabbed at the collar of her leather jacket her voice filled with fear. ¡°We have to go home now Asuka.¡±

    Asuka stared at her for a long moment, how had her girlfriend even found her? She had not received any text message or sent one. She looked at her speaking calmly. ¡°How did you find me¡­.I never told you where I was?¡± Rei looked down slightly oh great now she was going to sound like she had lost her mind, with her next words. ¡°I felt you¡­I can feel you.¡± She raised her hand pointing at the opposite cubical. ¡°You just threw up in there¡­.I¡­I felt it.¡±

    Asuka felt her eyes dart as she pulled off her patch sharply feeling truly confused realizing in an instant she had to come clean. ¡°Well I think I turned in to that were tiger form, again but I can¡¯t fully remember what just happened to me¡­.¡± Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°Well this naked version of me who looked fifteen just appeared to me in corridor, it was terrifying.¡± Asuka turned to look at her in confusion, was that the goddess Rei the one she had met?

    She paused before speaking. ¡°Naked¡­no school uniform?¡± Rei turned sharply to her. ¡°Why does that even matter at this point?!¡± Asuka breathed in deeply realizing she couldn¡¯t say anymore. She wasn¡¯t meant to that was destiny. ¡°So like the vision in your entry plug?¡±

    Rei nodded as she moved over to the sink. ¡°Yes, just like that but she was touching me and being weird and creepy.¡± She breathed in deeply. ¡°She vanished and I threw up then ran away¡­.¡± She looked up as Asuka¡¯s previous words suddenly sunk in. ¡°Wait you became the were-tiger again?¡±

    Asuka looked at her hands. ¡°Yes but I don¡¯t remember why I was doing it, my memory is so hazy it¡¯s like I just can¡¯t remember anything.¡± She raised her hand. ¡°There was fresh blood all over one of my hands. I came in here to wash it off, I don¡¯t even know whose it is, I just know it¡¯s not mine, smells all wrong.¡±

    She put a hand on her face. ¡°What am I even verfickte saying? I sound like I did with Bardiel!¡± Rei moved taking her hand feeling herself calm slightly maybe because right now they were in the same boat and that was comforting in a strange way. Since it was the person she loved as she spoke calmly and gently. ¡°No it doesn¡¯t sound crazy at all¡­not to me like I say I felt you, I knew you were here.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply as she raised her other hand. ¡°I need to check something¡­I need to be sure.¡± She snapped her fingers hard watching as the camera behind them suddenly blew up which caused Rei to jump. She looked at her hand for a long moment she didn¡¯t want anyone to hear her next words as she felt the heat in her left eye as her teeth turned razor sharp. ¡°So I guess it was real then that night¡­.I changed and I made love to you in that form, it wasn¡¯t an illusion.¡±

    Rei breathed in taking hold of her other hand. ¡°I guess it was.¡± She paused, ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t take it back for the world.¡± Asuka turned to meet her gaze directly. ¡°What is happening to us¡­what are we becoming?¡± Rei breathed in knowing Asuka was going to hate her answer. ¡°On the ship Gabriella she called you the destroyer of worlds, a sleeping god in human form.¡±

    Asuka felt her gaze narrow. ¡°I am not a god! I am not this destroyer of verfickte worlds they talk about. Gods are made up crap so people can feel better about their lives there not real, angels are real. Gods are also there so everyone has someone else to blame when things go wrong, so people don¡¯t have to work on any form of self-reflection and fix what¡¯s wrong in sociality!¡±

    She slammed her hand down on one of the sinks in anger. The next moment caught her by surprise as the water blasted upwards from the sink like a jet stream spraying them both. She stepped away in anger wiping the water of her face. ¡°No they just switched some scheisse on in my brain some left over from Bardiel¡­that is after all how Nerv found us. Because I still have some piece oh him attached to my brain stem somehow¡­that¡¯s what Mari and Toji told me.¡±

    Rei blinked in confusion. ¡°Then why I am getting this as well?¡±

    Asuka turned sharply to her. ¡°I don¡¯t know maybe because I gave it to you by mistake, when I screwed you with one of my tails!¡±

    Rei turned feeling her teeth turn to razors and the heat in both eyes. ¡°That¡¯s not even remotely possible and you know it!¡± She moved a step closer. ¡°No it was the ship they did this to us not you, you¡¯d never harm me and you know it!¡±

    Asuka looked in to the other woman¡¯s glowing red eyes feeling her right eye really heat up. ¡°Yeah well what if I gefickt up Rei what if this time I screwed us both over, because I wanted sex!?¡±

    Rei put a hand through her hair in frustration as she looked at Asuka¡¯s normal eye which had turned glowing green and now had a cat like slit in it. ¡°I wanted sex not you! I had been wanting it all day, I woke up feeling that way I started it, so it¡¯s not all about you Asuka, not this time!¡±

    She raised her hand about to shout some more only to stop as she took a slow step back refocusing her thoughts as she took in deep breathes feeling herself calm down as the heat left her eyes and her teeth returned to normal as she spoke calmly. ¡°Why are we arguing, this isn¡¯t like us, we don¡¯t argue like this and haven¡¯t done so since we were children?¡±

    Asuka looked at for a long moment realizing she was right why were they arguing this way, why did this even matter now? What was done was done and the reality was they couldn¡¯t change what was done. She closed her eyes refocusing her thoughts feeling the anger melt away she felt the heat leave both eyes and her teeth slowly return to normal. ¡°I want to go home.¡±

    Rei turned to her seeing that she was now truly calm. ¡°You read my mind¡­let¡¯s just go home we can call in sick.¡± Asuka moved over taking her hand gently and kissing it. ¡°Yeah I want to be away from here maybe if we are at home these things will go away maybe we¡¯ll both get better. If they haven¡¯t we can tell the others tonight and I can tell Maya, she¡¯ll understand.¡±

    Rei looked down slightly. ¡°What if she¡¯s with Mari?¡± Asuka looked up. ¡°She won¡¯t be Toji¡¯s on his date tonight she has to look after Sakura.¡± Rei blinked in surprise uncertain as to why she had forgotten this. ¡°Oh yes¡­I guess that slipped my mind.¡±

    8

    Where are Asuka and Rei? They should be here right now nether of them showed up for their psychiatric evaluation this morning. She turned catching sight of Mari and Toji who had just finished Evangelion training and were still in their plug suits in the pilots wreck room she breathed in, in annoyance eyeing Mari. ¡°Where are Asuka and Rei, they were meant to be here this morning?!¡±

    Mari turned sharply she knew this was coming well in advance as Asuka and Rei had both vanished. She¡¯d been trying to text them but had gotten no reply to any of her messages. ¡°You fucking tell me? I¡¯ve been messaging them both¡­they just aren¡¯t replying.¡±

    Toji raised his hand. ¡°I messaged Shinji and Kaworu they said they are not with them.¡± Misato folded her arms. ¡°They are meant to have psychiatric evaluations today, there very important them not having them, means there getting back in their Evangelions will be delayed.¡±

    She turned as her phone rang she picked up seeing that it was Kaji she pressed it speaking more calmly. ¡°Yes?¡±

    Kaji¡¯s came though it was voice filled with uncertainty. ¡°I have footage of Asuka and Rei leaving by train.¡±

    He paused before speaking. ¡°I was told there was a seriously accident in the Taito Station and that the owner is in the hospital wing with his wife recovering but no one¡¯s has any idea what happened or will tell me anything and Ritsuko has cordoned the place off and no one¡¯s allowed inside there is some kind of special clean-up crew working in there. They¡¯ve also corroded of one of the corridors without giving any explanation.¡±

    Misato blinked n confusion. ¡°I¡¯m sick of this bullshit! I wish Ritsuko would stop hiding whatever this is all about, as we have a right to know!¡±

    Kaji¡¯s voice came again. ¡°We still have not been told what the special drugs they were given were despite you¡¯re asking.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. She hated being kept out of this loop whatever it was why was it such a big deal they knew the truth Seele had told them that the world had repeated they all knew a god Rei existed, so why the secrecy surrounding Asuka and Rei? She still didn¡¯t know why they¡¯d been told they couldn¡¯t have sex for twenty four hours after coming out of quarantine. It just felt like she was picking on them purposely.

    Not to mention it was deeply clear that Rei was going through something mentally that was very bad in that she was acting out being aggressive and lying openly and just not herself along with having an appetite that matched Asuka¡¯s on a good day. She took in a deep breath. ¡°Okay just keep me informed, somethings not right here.¡±

    Kaji¡¯s voice came again though much quieter. ¡°If it makes you feel any better Maya is just as angry about this as you. As she is now being kept out of the loop as well and I think we all have a right to know what¡¯s going on now.¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°Okay we¡¯ll talk about this later.¡±

    Kaji voice suddenly hit the air. ¡°Love you speak to you soon.¡±

    Misato breathed in speaking lower hoping nether Toji or Mari wouldn¡¯t hear what she was saying. ¡°Love you to.¡± She turned seeing that Mari was adjusting her glasses while Toji was playing with his collar. ¡°You can both go home your done for today.¡±

    She paused eyeing them. ¡°And if either Asuka or Rei ring you, I want you to call me and tell me because they are in deep trouble for missing there psychiatric evaluations and that¡¯s an order.¡± She folded her arms. ¡°And I will be coming down on them both like a ton of bricks tomorrow, as they both know better.¡±

    Mari looked at Toji. ¡°You know I don¡¯t mean to sound rude but everyone¡¯s having it kind of shit right now. Maybe it¡¯s too much for my sister and Rei maybe they needed more time to relax and think over what happened they were both captured and saw horrible things.¡±

    Toji raised his hand. ¡°Yeah everyone¡¯s having it hard in some manner because it¡¯s been utter chicken shit as of late.¡± Misato turned to them about to get angry only to stop her-self from speaking as the reality hit her hard. They both had a point as a lot of shit was happening right now and everyone was being affected in some way. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re both right, maybe they did need more time. I would have just preferred to be told if it was the case.¡±

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Mari stepped forward. ¡°I¡¯m sure Asuka has a very good explanation she doesn¡¯t normally leave without even telling me or Toji and it had to be very important for her to go like that. Maybe Nerv Germany had some issue that they couldn¡¯t tell you so her grandmother asked for a private channel chat.¡± Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°I just hope it was that Mari.¡± She adjusted her red leather jacket as she moved towards the double doors. ¡°Because right now I¡¯d love to know what the hell is going on and I hate being kept out of the loop.¡±

    Mari watched as she left turning to Toji. ¡°Why does everyone around here have to be so fucking sour lately?¡± Toji shrugged slightly. ¡°I have no idea but this chicken shit sucks. I just want it go back to how it was after Asuka got out her units core back when everyone was happy and it was quite and relaxed.¡±

    Mari turned to him. ¡°You should get ready you got your date.¡±

    Toji turned feeling a wide smile form. ¡°Oh yeah I need to get ready, I¡¯m picking up Sumire.¡±

    Mari put a hand on his arms. ¡°You got to tell me how that goes.¡±

    Toji put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡±

    He felt his grin widen. ¡°I¡¯m going to take her out to dinner then we¡¯ll go back to her apartment.¡± Mari moved over to his jacket pulling out his spare apartment keys. ¡°Well I¡¯ll be taking Sakura shopping and to the cinema she wants to see some historic romance movie, it has that Oscar winner, what¡¯s the guy¡¯s name again?¡± Toji looked up slightly. ¡°Antonio Aguilar apparently all of her school friends are hot for him as well he¡¯s the big thing right now in terms of school crushes.¡±

    He paused. ¡°I met him once at a Nerv event didn¡¯t see what the big deal was, got his autograph for her though, which she loved.¡± He moved in to the changing shower freeing his plug suit feeling it inflate then go saggy as he got out of it. He turned on the shower feeling the hot water spray all over him as he heard Mari¡¯s shower do the same opposite. ¡°Didn¡¯t Asuka meet him to at the auction before it all went to hell?¡±

    Mari¡¯s voice came over. ¡°Yeah he apparently waved at her and she had no idea who he even was Rei had to tell her¡­I guess he¡¯s just one of those actors that only appeals to certain age groups. Toji carried on washing down. ¡°Hey what should I wear?¡±

    Mari¡¯s voice came again. ¡°You know I¡¯m going to say that nice suit that¡¯s in your locker, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Toji stopped the water grabbing his towel as he started to dry down. ¡°You don¡¯t think that¡¯s too much?¡±

    Mari¡¯s shower turned off as she spoke again. ¡°Not if you really like her the way I think you do then put on your best stuff, you might get lucky.¡±

    Toji rubbed the towel over his hair as he tensed his muscled shoulders and arms as he smiled widely. ¡°Yeah I like her that much so I¡¯ll do that.¡±

    8

    Hinata opened his eyes slowly and painfully feeling the pain in his lower waist instantly as he looked down seeing that he was in a hospital bed and his waist had been bandaged. He turned watching as his wife Aimee stood up the joy in her face as she came over to his bed side putting a hand on his face kissing him gently. ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡±

    He groaned changing his language to French as he spoke to her in a gentle tone. ¡°I feel like shit¡­what happened to me?¡± A cold voice instantly cut though his thoughts. ¡°Yes that¡¯s a question I would very much like to know as well since your now fully awake Mr Kita¡­though your wife Aimee has been most giving in her side of her story.¡±

    Hinata turned watching in shock as the director¡¯s wife Ritsuko came in to view. Though her face was unreadable as she moved closer over his bed taking out her clip board getting ready to write she had an ear piece in ,which meant the room was set up to translate French so she knew just what he was saying as well as Aimee.

    The blonde woman spoke again. ¡°Because as she tells it a six foot tall being saved your life, carried you to the front desk and pulled a seven inch blade of neon glass out of your stomach. Then it created cotton fibres with its claws and stitched up your body and somehow healed your ruptured intestines and kidney. The doctors have stated that they were recently healed but they had no hand in it, it was fascinating to listen to but now I want what you saw in full detail.¡±

    Hinata sat up in bed realizing that he wasn¡¯t in the normal medical wing but some weird closed off wing which had no windows. ¡°Where the fuck am I?¡± Ritsuko turned to him slowly. ¡°A special closed off wing of quarantine, you were moved out today as we needed to run certain tests on you. Lucky for you, you passed and once this is over you can go.¡±

    She eased out her glasses putting them on. ¡°So I would like to get on with it, since I am very busy and my husband and I need to look at another issue while you sign a document of secrecy about what you saw.¡±

    Hinata felt a sneer form. ¡°You people are fucking assholes! You know not telling anyone that you created a fully functional holographic suit which you clearly gave to Asuka to piss around with!¡± Ritsuko turned to him. ¡°I will tell you now and make it very easy for you¡­it wasn¡¯t a hologram or a holographic suit.¡±

    Hinata stared at her for a long moment looking to see if this was some sort of joke but her face made it clear it wasn¡¯t. ¡°Wait that thing that were-tiger that looked like Nekomata that was real?!¡± Ritsuko moved closer to his bed. ¡°Yes so please stop stalling and give me the details of what you saw, I¡¯m a very busy woman and I hate hold ups.¡±

    Hinata felt his eyes dart in confusion. ¡°Why would you even tell me that?¡± Ritsuko eyed him as she spoke in a cold voice. ¡°Because no one would ever believe ether of you and I¡¯ve already had this conversation with your wife.¡± She paused typing in to the holographic desk bringing up two art pieces. ¡°Is this what you saw?¡±

    Aimee eyed the art. ¡°That¡¯s what I saw that¡¯s what saved you.¡± Hinata breathed in sharply. ¡°Yeah that¡¯s what I saw Asuka was in the booth I thought she was cheating her score was too good.¡± Ritsuko began to write. ¡°How was it to good? Clarify that for me since I don¡¯t play video games.¡±

    Hinata sat up fully. ¡°Too many head shots.¡±

    Ritsuko looked up raising an eyebrow. ¡°Since Asuka kills people for a living I find that statement interesting but go on.¡±

    Hinata tensed slightly. ¡°The glass booth was glowing from the inside then it blew up and I was tossed violently.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed the drawings. ¡°And you saw that?¡±

    Hinata shook his head. ¡°No not just that, two monsters that staring each other down, this taller thing roaring at the were-tiger. It was some warped fucked up Pan looking thing and it stank like rotting flesh¡­then it just vanished blasting black blood all over the place.¡± He moved his hand down to his waist. ¡°I looked down and realized I¡¯d been stabbed with glass, the were-tiger came over and picked me up that¡¯s the last thing I remember.¡±

    He put his hands together. ¡°Was that thing I saw Asuka¡­.did she become that thing?¡± Aimee looked at her husband. ¡°That were-tiger saved you it pulled glass from your stomach it turned it to sand and healed your wounds and stitched them using two claws. You wouldn¡¯t be alive you were bleeding out terribly it even handed you to me after it healed you and somehow set of the medical alarms before leaving the place.¡±

    Ritsuko stopped writing looking at him. ¡°You both shouldn¡¯t ask questions above you pay grade all you need to do is tell me what you saw. You don¡¯t want or need to know what it was, you just need to sign the agreement and take your very nice compensation pay and never speak about what you saw ever again as long as you both live.¡±

    Hinata looked up in surprise. ¡°We are being compensated?¡± Ritsuko lowered her clip board typing in to holographic screen bringing up a number. ¡°Yes, as your situation is very rare and shouldn¡¯t have happened to start with it was a freak accident of sorts which is due to something my husband and I now need to fix.¡±

    She paused. ¡°I do hope this number is sufficient.¡± Hinata eyed the figures which weren¡¯t small he looked at his Aimee who looked just as shocked by the figure. ¡°Yes¡­.that¡¯s very good for us¡­where should we sign?¡±

    8

    Sumire opened the door to her apartment building watching as Toji came inside. They¡¯d just come back from a very expensive Chinese restaurant which she had wanted to go Dutch on and pay her share though Toji had stopped her. As he had said he didn¡¯t mind and it was about her experiencing his countries food, as he had experience hers.

    She wasn¡¯t completely happy with it as she was used to paying her own way but if she was honest she wasn¡¯t used to people buying things for her. Plus she had no idea how he¡¯d feel about her apartment as it wasn¡¯t that big. It was small and cosy and overly bright to anyone who didn¡¯t understand Mexican traditional culture.

    Her neighbours really hated her painted red and yellow metal screen that protected the door since it didn¡¯t match with all the apartment blocks bland silver or black or gold coloured protection blinds. She¡¯d brought this place it was hers so the way she saw it was that the inside and outside was hers to recreate how she felt, even if it offended some people.

    Toji walked inside only to hit by the rich orange and strong colours from the traditional decorations though it was an awe moment from him. As he had never seen anything so colourful before and he was so used to most Japanese apartments being so calm in there colour schemes.

    This wasn¡¯t it was vibrant and alive much like Kaworu¡¯s apartment, there were wooden decoration on the walls and wooden chairs and tables as well as statues dedicated to Nahuatl gods. The two biggest carved statues being Quetzalcoatl the feathered serpent and Tezcatlipoca the jaguar goddess, they were the most prominent on the back wall and were on either side. The apartment had decorative carpets in places over the wooden floors and red material sofas and a heavy wooden coffee table.

    The kitchen though was big which meant Sumire enjoyed cooking as the wooden cupboards were all painted red with tiled surfaces with cooking equipment everywhere as well as an old style gas hob cooker something he had not seen since his childhood, as they were very rare and hard to come by in good condition.

    Sumire closed the door and blind as breathed in deeply. ¡°Please take a seat I know the d¨¦cor is a little loud.¡± Toji turned sharply meeting her uncertain gaze. ¡°It¡¯s not loud, it¡¯s awesome.¡± He sat down on the red couch seeing a number of magazines littered on it. Sumire moved over to her fridge. ¡°What would like?¡±

    Toji eyed the magazines closer before looking up ¡°Strong alcohol, I swear Japanese¡¯s Sake is nice but its weak compared to Choujiu, that stuff is way stronger.¡± Sumire moved pulling up a jug of orange alcohol which she had made herself since she couldn¡¯t buy it here.  ¡°I have something special from Mexico, it¡¯s called pulque with orange juice, it¡¯s made from fermented cactus and very strong this is my dad¡¯s home recipe.¡±

    She poured the thick juice in to tall glasses. ¡°Though I would be very careful it can knock you on your ass if you drink too much even with orange juice it¡¯s still strong.¡± She passed him a glass watching as he took it feeling a smile form. ¡°Even a strapping beefcake like you¡­.¡± Toji took a slip enjoying the rich fruity flavour seeing his moment to tease as she¡¯d left out one of her more naughty magazines. He took hold of it raising it. ¡°I see you like strapping beef cakes like me?¡±

    Sumire breathed in sharply shit she did not mean to leave that out! She didn¡¯t think he¡¯d want to come here and she had not cleaned out the house. She felt the blush start as she took it from him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t mean to leave that out¡­I didn¡¯t know you were coming here¡­people don¡¯t come to my home that much, only my parents when they visit.¡±

    Toji raised his hands as she put it away as she sat down opposite him. ¡°You misunderstand I don¡¯t mind at all, believe me when I say I¡¯m used to stumbling on Mari¡¯s reading material a lot.¡± He breathed in realizing that at the dinner it had been mostly small talk regarding their jobs. He had not pressed for deeper questions but he was surprised that she had just assumed he would not come back here. ¡°Why did you think I would not come back here?¡±

    Sumire took a long drink before turning to him. ¡°I just don¡¯t get that many guests and you¡¯re a pilot, I thought you might have important things to do and places to be.¡± Toji felt his smile widen as he lay back on her warm sofa. ¡°No don¡¯t have anywhere important to be and they only make us do those kinds of events once a week sometimes twice but not all the time.¡±

    He took a long drink as a question entered his mind which he had wanted to ask over lunch but feared the press could be looking in or recording. As they did love to follow pilots around when it came to be boyfriends and girlfriends and he knew this as probably very personal to her. ¡°So when did you know you wanted to be a woman?¡± Sumire lowered her drink. ¡°Everything always felt off even when I was very young, I never felt I was really me as a young boy.¡±

    She paused. ¡°Until I got to my early teens then I found the names for what I was and I was able to talk to other transgender people who were going through transition or had gone through it completely and I knew then that I was meant to be a woman and everything suddenly made so much sense.¡± She took another long drink. ¡°I realized I was a girl and always had been and once I joined Nerv in Mexico at nineteen they paid for my full transition.¡±

    Toji sat up slightly. ¡°How did your parents take it?¡± Sumire turned eyeing one of her family photos feeling a smile form. ¡°They were nothing but supportive over my choice and they love visiting Nerv Japan but like any good parent there always pestering me over finding a boyfriend.¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°I swear my dad never lets up on that, like get married so we can have grandchildren.¡± She looked at her drink. ¡°They don¡¯t care that it will be though a birthing chamber they just want the patter of tiny feet one day.¡± Toji shifted a little closer. ¡°You said you¡¯d have full transition like how does that work?¡±

    Sumire felt a naughty smile form. ¡°Oh I can assure you everything works down there I¡¯m fitted with a special device called a synthetic canal. It¡¯s made from similar bio skin as the Evangelion like my breasts; it has the look and feel of a real female cervix and act¡¯s as one. I can¡¯t remove it its attached to my inner body but I do have to have check-ups every nine months to make sure the bio skin does not need replacing though that is very rare.¡±

    She took another long drink keeping a close eye on his face despite that he looked so interested she wasn¡¯t sure how he felt deep down as this had caused some men to walk out of her life in the past with disgust over the fact she couldn¡¯t give them a child normally or like a real woman as they called it. ¡°A lot of previous dates hated this idea and walked out of my life they called me a fake women and not real because I can¡¯t carry children naturally.¡±

    Toji breathed in deeply. ¡°There their chicken shit losers. Kids are kids, it doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s natural or birth chamber I mean my friend Asuka is birth chamber child as her mum couldn¡¯t have her naturally due to miscarriages.¡± Sumire let the breath she was holding in leave her maybe because the reaction was once again positive. ¡°Yeah I guess they were losers¡­you clearly aren¡¯t, your very special.¡±

    Toji smirked putting his glass down as tensed his muscles. ¡°Well I¡¯m your strapping beefcake.¡± He watched as she laughed putting her drink down speaking nervously. ¡°Em¡­.can we you know I¡¯d really like to kiss you¡­I¡¯ve kind of been wanting to since I met you, just a kiss we don¡¯t have to go any further.¡±

    Sumire felt the blush again it was an odd feeling but kind of nice in a way it remained her of the romance when she¡¯d been young, the kind that gave you deep anticipation, and made your heart pound because it was just like your first kiss.

    She shifted a little closer putting a hand on his leg watching as he gave her a wide grin. ¡°Yeah we can do that.¡± She leaned forward meeting his lips it was deep slow kiss but it made every nerve ending fire like lightening in her body as it got more intense she found herself stopping not from none enjoyment but because it had been so long since she¡¯d had this feeling.

    She got the feeling she wasn¡¯t the only one feeling this she felt a sly smile form. ¡°You know I could really get used to this.¡± Toji looked up trying to ignore the intense feeling which was buzzing like crazy in his body right now. ¡°Yeah so could I, lets kiss some more.¡± He watched as her smiled widened as she nodded her head in agreement.

    End of part 46

    Silvermoonlight

 Woe Betide The Forgotten Souls

    WOE BETIDE THE FORGOTTEN SOULS

    Rei opened one eye slowly followed by the other as she looked around the darkened bedroom it was late at night realizing that Asuka was not in bed at all her sheets had been tossed back and she could see her phone flashing on the bedside indicting messages.

    She groaned painfully running her hand through her short hair gods she felt awful, sleeping had done nothing to make her feel better. She eyed her own phone which was flashing about to pick it up only for a massive crash to hit her ears followed by the sound of Erika hissing.

    She pulled herself out of bed stumbling in her pyjamas as she opened the bedroom door fully. Had Asuka dropped something in the garage? She walked down the stairs only for an awful smell to hit her nose which stank like rotting meat it was so strong, it was hard not to gag.

    She moved her hand towards the front room light pressing it only for it not to work. She turned grabbing the torch that Asuka kept near the coats turning it on as she made her way in to the living room seeing Erika on her cat tree still hissing in somethings direction.

    She moved closer only see that the fridge and cupboards were wide open as a huge form came in to view, which was hard to make out in the darkness. There were two huge Nubian Ibex horns curving over the head. The face was difficult to make out but she could see a single black eye with red circles glowing in the darkness as well as large nostrils and strange wolf like jaws filled with unhealthily looking gums and crooked teeth.

    The being turned slightly as the front room lights along with her touch started to flash then dimmed so that it was even darker. Its long clawed hands grabbed a huge pack of veteran crisps which were hers as it tried to poke them with its other clawed finger but couldn¡¯t seem to open them. It suddenly put the bag in its mouth pressing down causing the whole thing to pop sending crisps everywhere, as it crunched down on them causing its mouth to drool.

    She stood still this had to be a dream it thing couldn¡¯t be real, she needed to wake up! The being grabbed a whole cooked chicken from the fridge as it stood to its full eight meter height. Its hoofed feet moving as it got closer to her speaking in a chilling cold voice that was identical to Asuka¡¯s, but sounded much younger. ¡°This is not a dream you fucking cretin, bet you wish it was though.¡±

    It moved so it towering over her, not caring that its curved horns were butting up against the ceiling. It eased up the cooked chicken putting it in its mouth crunching down causing bones to crack and splitter as it started to consume it. She felt her body start to move as she came towards Erika who was being even more vocal now and howling loudly. The being spoke coldly. ¡°Oh please you think I¡¯m going to eat the cat, I don¡¯t eat pets.¡±

    Its hoofed leg suddenly came down close to her as it leaning down so its horrible face was close to hers. ¡°You on the other hand I might eat.¡± It raised a clawed finger pressing it against her face in a sharp violent motion. ¡°But alas your Asuka wouldn¡¯t take kindly to that, since she likes eating you out.¡±

    It paused flaring its nostrils the next moments were painful as it pulled the claw away leaving a deep bloody cut which instantly started to bleed down her cheek. ¡°But you and me we¡¯ll have our moment, it just won¡¯t be just now.¡±

    Rei breathed in trying to stop the fear that was sweeping over her as she watched Erika leap of the cat tree seeing her moment to run through the monsters legs and out of the cat flap in the kitchen. This was like when she¡¯d faced Bardiel but her fear was deeper as she had no idea of who or what this thing was that had been raiding there fridge. She breathed in dropping the torch as she finally found the courage to speak, though it was so hard along with not shaking as her body wanted to. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    The monsters good eye narrowed. ¡°I¡¯m the servant of death¡­the beginning of the end for all humanity.¡± It paused. ¡°But to you I¡¯m Asuka Langley Shikinami.¡± Rei looked at the monster. ¡°Your lying the Asuka I know and love is Asuka Langley Soryu.¡± The monsters face turned to disgust. ¡°Ah so that¡¯s your whores full name¡­no surprise that she would get that shameful last name.¡±

    The mouth suddenly formed a cruel smile. ¡°Though no name tops yours though does it Rei Rokubungi? Named after daddy and trying to screw your own brother¡­you¡¯re a fucking embarrassment and a dirty angel half breed.¡± Rei stared at the creature for a long moment. ¡°My name is Rei Ayanami and my Asuka is not the awful outdated name you just called her!¡±

    The long clawed finger poking her in the chest hard. ¡°Who says I was talking to you? Just like Soryu you¡¯re the boring, pathetic overlay. No I was talking to the one who can hear me perfectly well she just prefers to hide inside you like a fucking coward.¡± The being moved a little closer. ¡°She¡¯s the one who made you so turned on you couldn¡¯t hold it in. It was disgusting by the way to watch you two go at it like weasels.¡±

    The lights flickered again of the face showing the skull like eye socket on the left which was empty the voice came again. ¡°Yeah mine didn¡¯t get blinded it got ripped clean out the socket in the battle with Bardiel¡­your forma self-tour it out you were told to stop destroying the unit but nothing went as planned.¡±

    It paused. ¡°My death was also violent I was shot in the stomach twice all thanks to my right leg being crippled up so I couldn¡¯t walk right¡­compliments of Nerv. Who never fixed it right and in my last battle I was pissing blood in to my LCL and dying slowly in unit 02...¡± Rei looked up slightly. ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡±

    The good eye narrowed she blinked realizing she¡¯d seen it before when she had opened Asuka¡¯s eye at the hotel and when Asuka had looked at that strange pillar inside the auction house, the creature spoke again. ¡°Oh you¡¯re remembering now when you last saw me. Good we are getting somewhere. Because I¡¯ve been around for a while longer than any of you realize.¡±

    The good eye narrowed. ¡°Your girlfriends left eye you don¡¯t even truly know why it glows do you? You think it¡¯s all about her pathetic feelings and emotions but your only half right. You understand nothing but since your days are numbered I¡¯m going to let you in on a little secret. All of the Seele wear six visors glasses because if they didn¡¯t you¡¯d see there godly scummy glowing eyes, which can burn through your soul like hot knifes through butter. Because under their fake bodies their pure eternal light.¡±

    It poked her with its claw again only harder this time. ¡°What they tell you is true. Your Asuka is a god in human form but an un-awakened one up until now, but even sleeping god¡¯s power can seep through gaps hence that glowing light when the emotions are so strong and even if you got rid of me it would never leave. Because I¡¯m the first incantation the destroyer of worlds, given true form once more...¡±

    Rei stared for a long moment as those words sunk in as Asuka had never believed this and even she¡¯d assumed that the people telling her this were crazy. Though recently she¡¯d started to feel differently about it like maybe there was something to it. ¡°You¡¯re her.¡±

    The being laughed though its laugh was like nails on a chalk board as it spoke again. ¡°One and the same the forma soul and I have to say her body beats mine for strength and power. Hence I could give myself this magnificent form once more only much stronger.¡± Rei felt a sneer form on her lips. ¡°Personally I think my Asuka¡¯s other form is better¡­it doesn¡¯t smell like rotting flesh.¡±

    The next moments turned to agonizing pain as the clawed hand came out knocking her clean off her feet she hit the floor hard on her back as a hoofed foot moved slamming down next to her leg. ¡°No one asked for your opinion! So she tail fucked you so what? She only has that form because of me, everything she owns is due to me!¡±

    The clawed hand came towards her she raised her hand only to feel the pain hit her head as blue light blasted out from her hand causing the monster to howl in pain as it pulled back and everything faded to darkness.

    Asuka pulled back as the blue light smashed upwards hitting the ceiling only to fade away she narrowed her good eye ignoring the burn on her clawed hand as the small woman rose up though her hair had turned to an intense light blue with red glowing eyes and whiter skin as the light brightened revealing nothing but the naked adult body. She ignored the pain in her clawed hand as she spoke coldly. ¡°About fucking time, talking to your cretin human self pisses me off.¡±

    The glowing red eyes narrowed as the naked woman spoke her voice being completely different as it was lower, younger and much colder. ¡°I like her.¡± Asuka pulled out her long forked tongue licking her lips. ¡°Yeah you would, she¡¯s like you, a stupid and shitty little know- it-all.¡±

    Rei breathed in sadly. ¡°You know we shouldn¡¯t be here and we don¡¯t have to do this.¡± The huge demonic being stepped back. ¡°Please I was awoken for this very reason, this is my destiny!¡± Rei looked around the house which she¡¯d seen through the other soul¡¯s eyes over the past few days along with so many other wonders. ¡°But we don¡¯t have to, I mean in this world you and I are in love. We don¡¯t need to destroy that I mean that is what you always wanted was to be loved.¡±

    Asuka sniggered coldly. ¡°Please spare me love is a lie and illusion its natures trick to ensure we punch out children to keep this worthless race alive, but there not worth keeping alive. They deserve to die and perish.¡± Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°You know I will not let you do this not again¡­¡± Asuka turned heading towards the door. ¡°Oh yes I know you¡¯ll try half breed, I just don¡¯t care this time around I have nothing to lose, my coming back was always destiny.¡±

    Rei turned angrily holding none of her anger back. ¡°God I hate how petty and cruel you are, why can¡¯t you be more like her?!¡± Asuka slammed her hoof in to the floor hard hearing the wood under the carpet crack. ¡°Oh yes you¡¯d love that wouldn¡¯t you, for me to be like the soft pathetic were-tiger who is loser?¡±

    Rei narrowed her gaze. ¡°Yes I would, because I always loved you even though you never loved yourself even at the end. She¡¯s who you could be, if you just opened your heart.¡± Asuka sniggered slightly. ¡°Your so na?ve nothing¡¯s changed, you¡¯re a puppet a doll you don¡¯t know what love is.¡±

    Rei breathed in painfully. ¡°No I always did and so did you once until you let the two lances of Longinus makes you this way. You¡¯re only this way now because their calling for you all because you couldn¡¯t let go fully of their hold even in rebirth.¡±  Asuka shrugged. ¡°Perhaps, but this is my destiny you can¡¯t change it so go now bitch Rei enjoy your time in this fancy little world while you have the chance, because I¡¯m going to since this should have been my world.¡±

    8

    Gendo looked at the holographic screen watching as the video played again which was of his daughter throwing up in the corridor. He¡¯d also gotten the message from his wife about what had happened in the Taito Station. He brought up the footage of the huge were tiger walking out of the video game arcade before vanishing of camera he ran both videos again side by side.

    This was not good in fact this was very bad, he¡¯d been told that effects of what had happened could spill out and his wife had, had to spend the day cleaning this up and buying two people¡¯s silence since it had happened in a the place where people spent their money on video games as there had been an explosion.

    His special team and the Black Guard had, had to clean up along with the glass his daughter had broken so that it would look no different and it would look as if nothing had happened. Since this had to now be covered up as no one could ever know the truth. He watched as his wife came in. She looked tired as she sat in the office chair opposite his. ¡°Is it done?¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply she wanted to crawl in to bed and sleep she eased her shoes off leaning back in her chair wishing she had some wine to soak herself in. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s done.¡±

    Gendo moved over to her watching as the footage carried on playing. ¡°This is a very serious situation Seele one is coming to chat in person.¡± Ritsuko folded her arms rolling her eyes. ¡°Great just what I need Dante Fascell. I hate that self-absorbed fucking asshole. He¡¯s worse in person, when he is in his fake fucking human form.¡±

    Gendo looked at her for a long moment realizing she was not in the best of moods. He moved over to the wall pressing a section watching as the wall pulled back and a bunch of wine bottles came in to view he slid one out opening it carefully as he pulled out a wine glass before shutting the wall section.

    He walked over placing the glass carefully on her side table pouring it calmly then gently passed it to her. ¡°I understand your annoyance but he is Seele¡¯s new leader in this cycle and we have to respect his wishes on this topic.¡±

    Ritsuko took the wine taking a long drink. ¡°Personally I think he¡¯s always way to laid back when ever things happen here and it angers me that we have to go through his red tape every damn time. Not to mention he is sometimes wrong, regarding issues.¡±

    Gendo put a hand on his beard. ¡°He is also the one who over threw Keel we should be grateful for that, he can also admit when he¡¯s wrong.¡± Ritsuko refilled her glass. ¡°Yes true but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that his drugs are not working and Asuka and Rei are both showing godly traits despite that it should have stopped it.¡±

    She paused. ¡°Worse they left and went home and we¡¯ve got to hope and pray that this is just some hiccup. As they¡¯ll have to both be quarantined tonight in the Soul Ark which now ready to go and took me the last three hours to set up to his specifications. Not to mention the staff are getting confused over sighing agreements of silence and having no idea what they were even setting up.¡±

    ¡°And I admire your hard admiral work.¡±

    Ritsuko turned seeing the tall man standing in the office who was dressed in an all-black suit with a white shirt his short black hair witch had white streaks. Along with his thick dark full beard which was also white in places. He had on a white and yellow visor glasses and was Arabic in decent his age was around the same as Keel¡¯s fifty or so.

    He breathed in as he stepped inside speaking in his normal calm but focused tone. ¡°You understand I had to let myself in, as that¡¯s normal.¡±

    Gendo slowly took a seat watching as he walked over to the images playing. ¡°This is most fascinating.¡±

    Ritsuko eyed him in disgust. ¡°As fascinating as this looks, I spent most of my day cleaning it up, it¡¯s deeply disturbing.¡±

    Gendo turned looking at the older man. ¡°I sadly agree this is not the turn of events we wanted¡­your special godly medication was meant to suppress this.¡±

    Dante watched the images play again. ¡°Yes but the mediation has been tested on others, it¡¯s normally flawless which means these two did not do what was commanded of them to start with.¡±

    Ritsuko slammed her fist down hard as she eyed the images. ¡°Oh I should have known! Not like Asuka can keep it in her pants for one fucking day, when it fucking matters!¡±

    Dante eased up his hand adjusting his visor looking at the images in a way nether of them would fathom or comprehend, if they could see what he was seeing. ¡°They will both need to be quarantined tonight there is a clearly a break in the fabric on Asuka all is not as it should be, but it can be suppressed though our other means until repaired.¡±

    Gendo slowly put his hands together as Ritsuko poured yet another glass of wine her frustration getting worse. ¡°You do realize if Keel gets a whisper of this or our enemies they will come for Asuka. It will be the nightmare scenario it¡¯s why we¡¯ve made this Nerv wealthy. So should that day fall up on us we have a serious line of defence.¡±

    Dante laughed coldly. ¡°Please Keel would be too afraid to face Asuka, he¡¯s terrified of her.¡± He paused moving a ringed finger on the desks wood. ¡°Not after the last time.¡± Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°Yeah we know the forma Asuka tortured you all killed one of you we¡¯ve heard the story, countless fucking times.¡± Dante raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yes that is true but Keel she took great offence to.¡±

    He paused as he turned to her. ¡°Have you heard the myth of Kronos of how he loved eating his children alive and whole?¡±

    Ritsuko eyed him coldly. ¡°Yes we know the myth. Kronos eat all his children accept Zeus who his wife Rhea saved, but the kids he¡¯d eaten had to grow up inside his stomach since gods can¡¯t die and Zeus slit open his stomach freeing his brothers and sisters. Who over threw and decapitated Kronos and locked him in Tartarus forever along with the other Titans. What does this have to do with anything?¡±

    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Dante turned to her. ¡°Everything, since Asuka the forma self is the stuff of your worst nightmares, she eat him alive and whole and just like the Greek children of myth he spent a long time swimming in her godly stomach acid which is like battery acid but you never die. Instead your purposely kept alive for ever in agony for a better part of an eternity. Since she could make time pass slower on the inside.¡±

    He paused seeing the shock in her face. ¡°Oh yes she spat him out right in front of us all as a bloody blind screaming skeletal mess, took him ages to even regain his semi human form. Let along his demigod form of light. He was the example and let¡¯s just say it made a deep impression on some of us long term along with losing one of our own.¡±

    He put a hand on his beard eyeing Gendo. ¡°So you see if that side of her that forgotten soul has resurfaced, he won¡¯t come knocking for it. He only wants an instrumentality he can control she would never give him that she had no love for anyone even those who loved her. Yes the present soul is much more manageable from what I have been told since she has empathy for others.¡±

    Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°There¡¯s something I still don¡¯t understand you say the forma Asuka eat keel, how what did she do turn in to a giant or something?¡± Dante turned to her speaking coldly. ¡°You don¡¯t want to know what she turned in to and pray you never ever get to see it in person. Be happy your Asuka prefers the form of a were-tiger version of Nekomata with two tails and that despite eating Bardiel she can be reasoned with to a degree and Gendo¡¯s daughter is the reason she remains deeply loyal to us.¡±

    Gendo looked at him. ¡°But you would agree that the Soul Ark protocol now needs to be acted up on as a matter of urgency?¡±

    Dante turned slightly. ¡°Yes as off now both should Asuka and Rei should be brought in and contained tonight along with Asuka¡¯s pet as they can also be affected. If the pet is fine it can be given to one of the other pilots to look after in the meantime while we fix what ever has happened to Asuka¡¯s soul and restrain its counterpart going forward.¡±

    He eyed Rei¡¯s video. ¡°As for your youngest child she is not an issue once we have restrained Asuka¡¯s counter soul the effects on her will end. As this was brought on through sexual activity and this kind of godly sexual activity is dangerous as mortals should not sleep with demigods or gods as it has side effects long term which they can¡¯t control.¡±

    Tokyo Three Central District

    The stolen white Nissan Skyline GT-R with all blacked out windows spend through the traffic at break neck speed violently swerving as it took another cars wind mirror off while grazing the side of it at the same time, as it¡¯s driver gained control again. It carried on as the two Tokyo police cars sped after it trying to get closer to it so they could PIT maneuver it by clipping it on the side to slow it down but they had, had no luck getting close as the driver had really put their foot down hard making the car go even faster.

    They said it had been stolen off a drive-way three hours ago though the owners had no idea how, since the car keys were inside the house which made it a possibly hacking hijack which did happen though they were quite rare these days as the double barrier protection was meant to stop this.

    Which meant who ever had done this had to be a top end criminal but what made no sense was this utter lunatic had not taken it to a garage to be stripped down or sold off. In fact they were driving it around it seemed for pure kicks and they needed to be stopped before they killed someone.

    Goro eyed the female police Sana officer next to him as they tried to catch up with the crazy driver again who swerved violently down another main street causing pedestrians and bikers to move fast so they weren¡¯t hit.

    The car swerved again even more violently as it was clear the driver was utterly reckless and uncaring and didn¡¯t seem even aware a four way car crossing was coming up and it was all about to end very badly. He watched as they sped through unaware of the lights or that cars were about to come the other way he breathed in hard as a car smashed right in to them sending their stolen sport car tumbling over with violent force causing it to roll twice before crashing in to a lamp post as everyone who was drinking and having fun at the bars around the area ran to get away, as the other cars all stopped.

    Sana breathed in as they both got out of the car and she pulled out her hand cuffs as they got closer to the now smoking upside down sports car. Whoever was driving this was in really deep shit and would probably have a very long jail time and it wasn¡¯t the first disturbance they¡¯d had tonight. There also been reports that someone was messing around with a holographic suit that looked like weird version of Pan and had used it to kick cars around causing lots of damage as well running over them in a street full of people making dents in their hoods before leaping up on to a skyscraper and vanishing.

    The other report was someone had seen a naked blue glowing figure floating in the sky above buildings which had to be some kind of hologram joke. Frankly it wasn¡¯t a full moon and none of the officers had been able to catch the pranksters using hologram suit or those doing the floating hologram. So the idea of getting an arrest of at least one person tonight would make her and Goro happy.

    Goro moved closer to the upside down car door as he grabbed it swinging it open getting a view of the driver¡¯s seat and who was in it he pulled back in utter shock at the person who was clearly unconscious. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be fucking kidding!¡± Sana moved looking in instantly seeing Asuka Langley¡¯s face the impact had knocked her out cold and she was still inside though held up by her seat belt.

    She breathed in deeply. ¡°Oh that¡¯s just fucking great! I thought she was over this kind of bullshit.¡± Goro breathed in as he un-strapping Asuka causing her to fall free he carefully pulled her out of the car. He eased up his medical scanner checking for injury through nothing came up and her neck was perfectly fine. ¡°There¡¯s not a scratch on her.¡±

    He pulled her arms around the back as Sana cuffed her and the police tow away van appeared blocking the view just in time making it harder for the people closest to see who it was who was about to picked up and thrown in their car. ¡°Nerv is going to love this¡­let¡¯s see if they can weasel out of this one the way they did with Misato when drunk was drunk at the wheel.¡±

    They both pulled her out ignoring the few phone cameras¡¯ that they could see going off as they pulled her in to the back of the police car bolting her in, so she couldn¡¯t move. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to headquarters fast.¡± Sana eyed Asuka as she closed the door so the public who could see her could no longer take photos. ¡°Yeah and we should keep her out until Nerv comes around and have our hospital medic check her over to make sure I didn¡¯t miss anything.¡±

    Goro got in to the car watching as the two other officers started working on setting up a perimeter so they could work on the crashed car then tow it away. He watched as they got out going to check the driver who had hit Asuka¡¯s car which had buckled up the front of their car though they didn¡¯t look injured. Though there could still have whip lash and might need some medical attention after their statements were taken.

    There radio suddenly went off as another man spoke. ¡°Hey Sana, Goro you¡¯re not going to believe who we just arrested.¡± Goro eyed Asuka he started up the car knowing time was of the essence. ¡°Well we just arrested Asuka Langley for car theft and dangerous driving beat that.¡±

    He started to drive faster noticing that Asuka was murmuring in German nothing that he understood before the other man on the radio spoke again after a long pause. ¡°Well that¡¯s ironic since we just arrested Rei Ayanami for indecent exposure.¡±

    Sana blinked in shock eyeing the radio. ¡°You are joking you are talking about Asuka¡¯s girlfriend and Gendo¡¯s daughter who has never committed a crime in her life?¡± The voice came again. ¡°Yes I¡¯m talking about her¡­did you say you have Langley?¡±

    Goro carried on driving. ¡°Yes¡­it would seem we have the pair then¡­¡± He breathed in deeply. ¡°Great this is going to go down well with Nerv¡­.only upside is they¡¯ll pay us way more bail money than the last time when we arrested Misato.¡±

    8

    Misato breathed in angrily as she walked towards the police central station with Kaji. They had been woken up at two in the morning to the news that Rei and Asuka had both been arrested and were in the police lock up and would only be released if she did their bail out. As what they had done was serious but they wouldn¡¯t say over the phone what it was, only that it was very serious.

    She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes the last thing she wanted to do was be here and for this reason. She hated bailing pilots out of this kind of shit, because it was always reflected badly on Nerv and the press normally got hold of it and had an utter field day with it.

    Plus Rei and Asuka had been difficult all fucking week so this was like the frosting on an already messed up cake. She walked in slowly instantly recognising the place as she¡¯s been locked up here her-self some years ago for drink driving. Something she preferred to forget since Shinji, Rei and Ritsuko had been the ones doing her bailing out.

    She walked in watching as the chief constable at the desk looked up instantly recognising her as he smirked when Asuka had gone to the police station last to hand in the dagger which had been used to stab her it had not been at the central station so no one had recognised her personally unlike here. ¡°Hello we are here for Rei and Asuka.¡±

    Goro smirked. ¡°Ah I was wondering when you¡¯d show up, you have a shit load of explaining to do with regards to these two.¡± Kaji blinked in surprise. ¡°Could you please tell us what they¡¯ve done?¡± Misato folded her arms. ¡°Yes please explain Goro and stop with your bullshit.¡±

    Goro eyed her for a long moment. ¡°Fine Ayanami was arrested for breaking an entry and indecent exposure. Langley for stealing a high end sports car and speeding with it which caused a serious crash which hurt the passengers of the other car though, she wasn¡¯t injured despite that she ruined the car.¡± He paused. ¡°The family who Ayanami walked in on full naked is also suing Nerv as they state of her scared the young child in the home. As she somehow walked in to and was saying it was her home.¡±

    Misato stared at him for a long moment seeing the shock on Kaji¡¯s face. ¡°Wait Ayanami walked on a family naked and broke in to someone¡¯s home?¡± Goro eyed her in annoyance. ¡°Yes their home is one of the newly refurbished buildings in Tokyo Three which used to be ruins. It didn¡¯t have its locking blind installed yet, it was going to be fitted in three days¡¯ time but she was still able to open the door without a key.¡±

    Kaji breathed in deeply. ¡°We are seriously talking about our Ayanami and not someone else? Because she would never do that she is deeply modest and only enjoys private rooms in bath houses and springs.¡±

    Goro looked up sharply. ¡°Yes it¡¯s your Ayanami she¡¯s very easy to spot, since she looks like her late mother! We put her through all manner of drug tests but we couldn¡¯t find anything she was also clear of alcohol.¡±

    Misato eyed him. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you, this has to be some mistake she would never do that, its totality out of character!¡±

    Goro pulled up his papers. ¡°Well you¡¯ll see soon enough, it¡¯s not a joke.¡±

    Misato looked up sharply. ¡°Also you say Asuka stole a car and went speeding?¡±

    Goro pulled up his pen. ¡°Yes¡­and don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to say that¡¯s out of character to even though there have been countless times in the past when she¡¯s punched people in the face.¡±

    Misato turned to him feeling the anger burn. ¡°Yes it is, because she hates sports cars! She won¡¯t drive or go near them she even refers to mine as the vomit comet and she¡¯s always preferred motorbikes. Plus she has none of the skill even required to hack in to a top of the range sports car and no reason to steal one, since her step sisters Mari¡¯s got one she could borrow if she wanted.¡±

    Goro eyed his papers. ¡°Regardless she also came out as clean as her girlfriend¡­much to our annoyance.¡± He paused. ¡°So what I can say wild night for the both of them and if you want them out Nerv¡¯s is going to have to cough up the bill and it¡¯s going to be very expensive this time. And we want long written apologies from the both of them and if you refuse to do so Coronal well this will find its way in to the news much like your fun night of drinking did.¡±

    He eased up the notepad over watching as she snatched it looking at the amount which wasn¡¯t small but since it was money to make it go away and they¡¯d have to pay it.

    Misato eyed the note pad is disgust. ¡°Nerv can pay you this as soon as there both out.¡±

    Goro felt a sly smile form. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Kaji watched as they opened the door leading to the state of the art jail cells. He caught sight of Asuka who was in her leather jacket and trouser and skate shoes though not awake and leaning against the back wall and had been put in serious end high hand and elbow cuffs. They weren¡¯t even for normal prisoners they were massively heavy and normally for highly dangerous prisoners like murders, rapists and terrorists and not run of the mill prisoners. ¡°Seriously you put her in terrorist arm locks what the fuck is wrong with you people and why is she sedated? That¡¯s illegal!¡±

    Goro looked up. ¡°She¡¯s sedated because we¡¯ve heard she has insane strength when pissed off and we didn¡¯t want her to bend the bars and get out, so it¡¯s for our protection!¡±

    Kaji turned catching sight of Rei who was in the cell on the opposite side while the other prisoners who could not hear them due to the sound proofing in their normal cells looked on in confusion and interest. She had clearly been given jeans and a t-shirt which were one size too big for her and she was currently sleeping.

    Goro breathed in deeply. ¡°She kept trying to talk to Asuka but we cut her sound off and told her to behave herself. It¡¯s like she had no idea where she even was, I¡¯m guessing her father is going to want a very long chat with her since her behaviour reflects badly on Nerv and the company and is deeply disrespectful.¡±

    Misato turned sharply. ¡°How about you shut up Goro these two have just have been through something you couldn¡¯t even fathom and I believe, there¡¯s another reason they did this and there in fact both innocent!¡± She paused stepping closer to him. ¡°Plus we filed a report with your office regarding Asuka¡¯s crime we have yet to see any results from you. It¡¯s like you just ignored the case as soon as it was put on your desk.¡± Goro turned sharply. ¡°The case is old as was the DNA on the weapon and we have yet to find anyone by the names you mentioned.¡±

    Kaji eyed him in disgust. ¡°Bullshit Asuka¡¯s wasn¡¯t the only case and you have state of art equipment here the best in Tokyo Three so tracking down two criminal bikers should be no trouble. Unless you¡¯re ignoring this on purpose because its Asuka¡¯s case and you somehow think she had it coming! Because if we find out that¡¯s the case the whole of Nerv will be coming down on you like a ton of bricks.¡±

    Misato watched as Rei opened her eyes which flashed red for a split second before going back to their normal green colour. She walked over pressing the button on the cell before Goro could stop her as Rei stood up looking truly afraid and confused. ¡°Hang in there Rei I¡¯m going to get you and Asuka out¡­I just need a few more minutes.¡±

    Rei turned looking at Goro the anger suddenly coming out before she could stop it. ¡°I saw him drugging up Asuka with sedative which is illegal! And he locked me in here and took my clothes away and put me in these I didn¡¯t do anything!¡±

    Goro sneered eyeing her. ¡°That shit might work in Nerv Ayanami but it won¡¯t work here you know the crimes you committed. It¡¯s why you were arrested!¡±

    Rei eyed him her temper become even more volatile and harder to control. ¡°Fuck you Goro I did not do those things you said I did! I don¡¯t remember what happened. I told you before when you took my statement, I went down to my kitchen and I totally blacked out. I have no memory of anything after that I woke up and you were sticking me in here and then you brought Asuka in and drugged her up and you wouldn¡¯t let me talk to her!¡±

    Misato raised her hand looking at Rei. ¡°Rei you need to calm down okay we are going to sort all of this out okay we just need time to get you out.¡± Rei moved up against the heavy door with its see through glass. ¡°I won¡¯t shut up because he¡¯s lying!¡±

    Goro turned about to say something only for both of the doors behind him to be flung openly violently as a number of special ops troops all from Nerv burst in violently. All with raised weapons the nearest pointed his machine gun directly in his face as he watched the others slam his officers in to the floor, keeping them down.  He turned watching in shock as Ritsuko appeared walked casually towards him stopping in front of him as she spoke coldly. ¡°Well, well isn¡¯t this a surprise that you and I get to chat yet again Goro.¡±

    She paused moving a step closer getting right in to his personal space making it very clear she was in no mood for him as Kyo pushed his gun closer to his face the anger in his eyes as he sneered at the chief constable¡¯s face. ¡°You know I¡¯ve never liked you or your friends at this central branch.¡±

    He eyed Kyo. ¡°Also just so you know that is Kyo head of the special ops division at Nerv he¡¯s also Asuka¡¯s mentor and he¡¯s very fond of her and if you piss me off once in the next few minutes I¡¯m going to have him break your fucking face.¡±

    Misato looked at Kaji who looked just as stunned as her right now she raised her hand about to speak only for Ritsuko to stop her as she spoke. ¡°I¡¯ll explain what¡¯s happening to you both but later.¡± Ritsuko slowly turned back to Goro. ¡°Now here¡¯s how this is going to go down these men and women are going to raid your branch and take every piece of footage you made on Rei and Asuka tonight to the point that it never existed and you¡¯re going to shut the fuck up and play along as if nothing ever happened¡­because if you open your mouth about it like you did Misato a couple of years back, I will make sure you regret it for the rest of your miserable little life.¡±

    She adjusted her suit. ¡°I¡¯ve had a very long night and I want it to be over and you have made it all the harder for me, in a way I really didn¡¯t need.¡± She paused watching as medical Nerv staff ran in with the contaminations coffins as two others worked on opening both Rei and Asuka¡¯s cells violently. She looked at Rei as the men and women threw Asuka¡¯s chains of then gently lifted her in side with the up most care then closed the lid locking it tight. ¡°I know you hate the coffin Rei but please get in.¡±

    Rei looked at for a long moment not really knowing what to even say as she was beyond confused at this point. She carefully got in not liking the sensation as the glass section on the lid was closed and bolted shut so she couldn¡¯t see out. Misato watched as both coffins were taken away followed by special ops and covered them fully to stop the press helicopters seeing who was in it.

    Ritsuko eyed Goro. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one shred of credit which is sedating Asuka was the right thing to do but not for the reasons you think.¡±

    Goro sneered slightly as he spoke coldly. ¡°You won¡¯t get away with this, there are rules and laws and you¡¯re breaking them!¡±

    The next moment turned to agony as the Kyo suddenly rammed his weapons hilt in to his shoulder causing him to fall to his knees in agony. Ritsuko raised her eyebrow in amusement. ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me about laws and rules when you¡¯ve been breaking them yourself.¡±

    She watched as he looked up in shock. ¡°Yes I know all about your corrupt little goings on here I know you ignored Asuka¡¯s recent reported crime and didn¡¯t investigate it.¡± She walked a step closer. ¡°I also know you have a back log of crimes you¡¯ve ignored over the last six months along and I¡¯ve heard they were serious crimes along with trying to black mail victims. So if you want to keep your job you¡¯ll start working. Or I¡¯ll have the heads replace you in a heartbeat because all the other stations work their asses off and do their job so you¡¯ve got no excuse. So from today you¡¯re going to do your job, I hope that¡¯s very clear.¡±

    She turned to leave. ¡°I do hope we don¡¯t have this meeting again and that I never see your miserable little face again Goro.¡±

    Goro nodded painful. ¡°That¡¯s perfectly clear.¡±

    Ritsuko stopped eyeing him. ¡°Good so now that we¡¯ve got that cleared up, we¡¯ll be leaving now.¡±

    End of part 47

    Silvermoonlight

 When Uncertain Emotion Clouds All

    WHEN UNCERTAIN EMOTION CLOUDS ALL

    Rei watched as the door to her room was checked again as she looked around her. She was in a room similar to the quarantine rooms but it was a much heavier build, she could tell that the walls were thicker and the colour scheme was very different to the calm grey and white colours, which normally matched Nerv. Both sides had thick glass much thicker than in normal quarantine.

    The labs in this area were pure black while the room she was in was pure white. So was the other room which Asuka had been put in. There was a huge thick wall of glass separating both rooms. Even stranger the rooms were decked out with normal looking beds and shelves unlike quarantine it wasn¡¯t utterly sterile and there was way more to do. With a wide screen TV on the wall in each room and video game consoles as well as games to play and movies to watch.

    It even had a carpeted floor and big double beds along with pictures on the wall. It was like every effort had been made to make it look like a normal lived room. It even had a private bathroom and toilet which was far superior to the normal quarantine one in that had a bath tub and Asuka¡¯s room was just the same.

    The other woman had been laid her on the bed very carefully as she still hadn¡¯t woken up from the sedative they¡¯d given her at the police station. Though they¡¯d taken off her leather jacket hanging it up close by and they¡¯d taken out her house keys, phone and wallet. While on her side they¡¯d put fresh clothes of her size through a special opening slot which was clearly for food and items so she could get dressed in private after bathing.

    Now she was sitting on the bed with no idea what to even do with herself. She had not seen Ritsuko, Misato or Kaji since she¡¯d come out of the coffin and all of the people in the room outside looking at the controls were in special hazmat suits but not like anything she¡¯d seen before.

    They looked very weird since there breathing section looked funny and everyone who left seemed to have to go through a deep contamination of some kind but it didn¡¯t spray them, it blasted them in light. She did know why they were both in here though, as they were both suffering from something in that they were both seeing weird stuff and strange things were happening in their lives. These things utterly defied normal explanation.

    She put her hand through her damp short hair in frustration she could remember everything last night up to meeting that messed up looking pan being that called its self Asuka but it was not her Asuka and the last thing she remembered was it knocking her to the ground. Then nothing, she had then woken up in the police cell dressed in clothes two sizes too big for her only to be interrogated by Goro who she¡¯d never liked since her and Shinji¡¯s dealings with him over Misato¡¯s drunken driving incident some years ago.

    The reality was she was truly afraid now. She was losing moments in her life where she blacked out and remembered nothing and it was so scary and her girlfriend was going through much worse but she holding together better, maybe because she had dealt with Bardiel previously.

    She watched as the men and women carried on working in there hazmat suits as if they were getting ready to turn something on she felt the whole room suddenly shake as something was clamped on behind the walls as a man spoke. ¡°Double S<sup>2</sup> Engines cylinder protections in place on both rooms as you requested.¡± A woman spoke next to him. ¡°Should we turn them on and stabilize the field to ensure the subject¡¯s powers cannot penetrate the building beyond the shields?¡±

    Ritsuko¡¯s voice came through as she watched a balcony slower lower which Ritsuko was standing on, though she was also in the same kind of hazmat suit as she spoke pointing at the team in the black lab. ¡°Yes Koji Takao I¡¯ll now begin the process. Once in place your special team can take of these hazmat suits off but not until then as you may be infected. Only once the central front glass to both rooms is lowered and I¡¯ve fully scanned will this room be safe!¡±

    She pressed the holographic screen as there was huge grinding sound as whatever was clamped on to their rooms started to spin making a sound similar to a jet engine starting up which really hurt her ears and clearly Rei¡¯s, as she watched the young woman cover her ears. ¡°Charging double engines now, when they stabilize the shields will go up and vanish as they fully stabilize!¡±

    She pressed the holographic button. ¡°Stabilizing maximum field in five four three two!¡± Asuka felt her eyes snap open as the sound that could only described as an engine of some kind on high speed hit her ears, causing her to cover them painfully as her eyes darted.

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply watching as the field hit the maximum as she moved forward pressing a button watching as both Rei and Asuka covered their ears due to the pain. ¡°Deploying the double AT field around both room¡¯s right¡­.now!¡±

    She pressed the controls hoping to all the Japanese¡¯s gods that Seele had done the work. This was why they had truly pumped so much money in to the cut down portable S<sup>2</sup> engine. The Mars Lander was a publicity stunt nothing more. While these four true S<sup>2</sup> car-sized miniatures were built to house waking gods and keep their power at bay and keep everyone safe.

    Pure purple and gold light shot out enveloping the rooms as the AT field began to do its job and the noise died down to nothing. She breathed in deeply. ¡°We are now running a full level decontamination sweep!¡± She watched as the lasers came out scanning the rooms below as well the balcony she was on and the room behind her where Misato, Maya and Kaji were along with the other bridge crew who had been watched from inside as the clan came up clean.

    She pressed the other button hearing the grinding as the glass on both rooms lowered completely but not the glass in the middle separating them. As the double AT fields would now act as the glass. ¡°No contamination present Koji you and your team can now take of your suits!¡± She breathed in popping the top of her own suit pulling it off seeing all of the staff but two leave as they had one final job to do. ¡°Orison Ark Light Camera will now be raised as the decontamination space is clean!¡±

    She watched as the nineties looking camera Seele had given her came up through the floor coming to stop in front of Asuka¡¯s side of the cell. She typed in to holographic screen as a huge arm came out of the wall grabbing the video cameras tripod legs. Its own three arms bolting in to them as it raised it off the floor swerving causing the camera to come to life in an instant as its tripod legs became a loose and moveable with a snake like neck.

    The two secondary arms came up ready to fit in the weird glass lenses as its head lowered so it was now looked at Asuka directly and would follow her every movement. If she walked it would follow and when the time was right she could place the lenses in as instructed by Seele. They had told her the colour code which was red, gold and silver combination and the secondary arms would place those lenses in the camera as it was too far dangerous to do by hand.

    Misato watched as a walk way rose locked in to the balcony as a section opening so you could walk down to the black lab floor below, where Rei and Asuka were in the now in the AT field shielded rooms. She looked up as the door opened as Ritsuko came in pulling off her hazmat helmet putting it down hard on the desk. She typed bringing up the new hologram screen as she put her glasses on turning to the others. ¡°I see your all here¡­good I want to get this over with.¡±

    Shigeru spoke feeling utterly confused. ¡°What is this place?¡± Ritsuko looked at him as she spoke coldly watching as the last of the staff left closing the door behind them. ¡°This place you¡¯re standing is one of the oldest buildings in Nerv. It was built after the void was created for Lilith and Seele six¡¯s domain, which a few of you have seen but not the rest.¡±

    She looked up slightly. ¡°The employees have nick named this place the Ghost Lab as they have no idea what goes on here. Only Koji Takao and his specialist team do, as they maintain it and they know how to work the AT field shields and they maintain the four miniature S<sup>2</sup> engines. They don¡¯t know what its purpose is though they will know very soon and will be sworn to secrecy.¡±

    She paused pulling off her hazmat gloves. ¡°Officially this place is called the Dead Zone and highly restricted, but its true name is the Soul Ark. It was built for one reason and one reason only.¡± She typed bringing up Asuka¡¯s art work which Maya had shown her some time back of the demonic unit 02 ascending in previous life time in the hands of a godly huge Rei. ¡°It was created pacifically for Asuka Langley Soryu, should she ever decide to become the destroyer of worlds again.¡±

    Sumire blinked in utter confusion. ¡°What is this bullshit what are we talking about here? A human in godly form because that concept is absurd gods live in heaven not on earth.¡± Ritsuko breathed in deeply. ¡°Misato would you please debrief Sumire once this all over and tell her what we told Maya some time back. That this is top secret to the highest level and anyone who is fucking a pilot is to keep their mouth shut about what I¡¯m about to say and take it to their grave.¡±

    She moved closer to Sumire who looked utterly shocked. ¡°Yes we know you¡¯re dating Toji. Just like we know Maya is dating Mari. So you¡¯re in the same boat with regard to keeping your mouths shut regarding this issue.¡±

    Misato turned sharply. ¡°Can you get on with this?!¡±

    Kaji eyed her in disgust. ¡°Yes please get on with it, since we can debrief Sumire as soon as this is over.¡±

    Ritsuko turned to her. ¡°As you wish¡­.¡±

    She turned folding her arms. ¡°We believe when Ankh captured Asuka and Rei they were trying to do this, all signs point to a failed forced awakening.¡± She typed bringing up more footage which included Asuka and Rei¡¯s recent footage. ¡°We believe they succeeded but not fully they could not contain what they awakened it got out and destroyed part of their ship.¡±

    She eyed Asuka and Rei. ¡°What we don¡¯t know is how they did it, but we do know this, Asuka is the worst affected.¡± She pressed the buttons changing the hologram screen showing Rei throwing up in the corridor and the huge were-tiger as it walked out of the Taito Station only to change back in to person in a blast of white light.

    She took in a deep breath. ¡°The awakening process has already started we did give them both a very special drug created by Seele to suppress and repair the damage, but that has not worked.¡± She paused. ¡°So now they are here so we can view the damage and try to fix it, because what is happening is the leaking through of a forma life, one soul trying to replace another.¡±

    Misato looked up sharply. ¡°How does that even happen, I don¡¯t understand?¡± Ritsuko typed bringing up the three dimensional hologram which looked like an onion with many layers. ¡°Think of a person¡¯s soul like an onion. As they die and get reborn new layers are added till you get something like this the old layers remain they never die as the new layer is created.¡±

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    She eased up a sharp tool. ¡°Let¡¯s be very clear you cannot destroy a soul layer, it¡¯s impossible.¡± She jammed her sharp tool in creating a hole watching as one of the under layers started to turn to liquid and leak through on to the very top layer. ¡°But punch a hole deep enough and with enough force you can give someone¡¯s forma life a way to slip through the cracks and take control and force the fresh layer under and in to complete submission.¡±

    She turned to them seeing the shock in their faces. ¡°Ankh has done the impossible the thing Seele always feared and we have to repair and fix this at all costs. The destroyer of worlds cannot be allowed to re-surface again¡­if she does we can kiss our world good bye.¡±

    Kaji breathed in deeply. ¡°But she¡¯s just another version of Asuka, I mean can¡¯t she be reasoned with?¡±

    Ritsuko shut down the hologram. ¡°No Seele have told my-self and my husband that what lies under there is beyond comprehension. It¡¯s now trying to take control of our Asuka and affecting everything around it. We came to Asuka and Rei¡¯s house last night to find its doors wide open and godly contamination all over the place.¡±

    She breathed in deeply. ¡°We caught her cat which is perfectly fine now but was showing odd signs of godly contamination like growing a second tail but we stopped it and suppressed it. The cat Erika is perfectly fine now.¡±

    She looked up slightly ¡°Though one woman had to have stitches, since it tried to attack her.¡± She eyed Maya. ¡°You and Mari can look after Erika tonight at Asuka and Rei¡¯s home which is now fully decontaminated, as nether of them can return home till this is over.¡± Maya blinked. ¡°Why give Erika to us?¡±

    Ritsuko eyed her as she began to pull off the hazmat suit off. ¡°You¡¯re her friend and Mari is her step sister. I just assumed she¡¯d only trust family in this case, to look after her pet.¡± Maya raised her hand about to speak only to stop herself. As that was in reality a good choice and she could not fault Ritsuko¡¯s choice despite how sudden it was. ¡°Yes she would so I¡¯ll do that as you request.¡±

    Ritsuko turned looking at the camera. ¡°In an hour from now that device called the Orison Ark Light Camera will reveal the current state of Asuka¡¯s soul and we will be able to see any damage that has been done.¡± Misato folded her arms leaning back as she put her boots on the desk. ¡°What are we expecting to see?¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. ¡°We will possibly be able to see the were-tiger, if Asuka¡¯s soul is still stable.¡±

    Kaji eyed the frozen video footage. ¡°It¡¯s an illusion though right a projection from Asuka¡¯s mind?¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply as she tossed all of her hazmat gear in to the cleaning bin opposite seeing it light up as it cleaned everything. ¡°No it won¡¯t be, it will be as real as her standing her now. Also it can touch its environment because its godly power is now unleashed and set free.¡±

    She slowly eased out a cigarette lighting it. ¡°And before you ask the pilots will all be told what¡¯s going on via Gendo¡¯s order. It is just unlike you they will not be told about how many times this world has cycled which is twenty times thus far. All they need to know is that Asuka was the destroyer of worlds in her previous life and it has resurfaced once again. Because someone messed with the fabric of her very soul and it¡¯s made her very sick and we are going to fix it, as it¡¯s now also making Rei sick. Plus they can all visit her and Asuka and talk to them.¡±

    She breathed out the smoke. ¡°We both felt this was a far better way to do it than last time with Bardiel and this way we can monitor everyone, without Mari trying to hack her way down here again.¡± Misato breathed in deep she had not expected any off this to go this way yet it was clear Ritsuko and Gendo were doing everything possible to be forth coming now and hiding nothing, which was a huge shock. As she had expected to get though yards of red tape before being told anything. ¡°So the injections the weird ones you gave Rei and Asuka they were suppressants?¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in her cigarette blowing out the dark smoke. ¡°Yes they came from Seele directly and both these two need to be confronted with the truth and no lies, if we are ever going to fix this.¡± Sumire put her hand on her chain playing with it slightly. ¡°I still do not buy all your bullshit about gods or that Asuka is a living one in human form Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca fly among the stars.¡±

    Ritsuko moved over to her. ¡°Let me be very clear I don¡¯t give a shit about what you think Sumire, but this is the reality we are now stuck in and you may not believe in this idea but it¡¯s about to test your religion, so to speak. So I would get used to it because if it¡¯s not fixed it¡¯s going to be the death of all off us.¡±

    She pointed in Asuka¡¯s direction. ¡°She can cause human instrumentality she has done it before and we don¡¯t want it happening again, that¡¯s the reality.¡± Sumire looked at her in utter confusion. ¡°What¡¯s human instrumentality?¡±

    Ritsuko rolled her eyes in annoyance. ¡°Can someone please get this woman up to date with her reading!?¡±

    Kaji turned sharply. ¡°She was going to get her level silver clearance tomorrow.¡±

    Ritsuko turned sharply. ¡°Make it happen tonight, because I don¡¯t like having to explain to her all this shit! It¡¯s bad enough having another child Rei who is a god running around. Without Asuka getting godly sickness thanks to Ankh and giving it to our Rei¡­¡±

    Misato raised her hand. ¡°This is the part I don¡¯t understand how do you give that to anyone?¡± Ritsuko breathed in her cigarette as she leaned up against the desk. ¡°Get the pilots down here explain the part I told you to them, then everyone one of you including my husband will know the truth, or at least part of it.¡±

    8

    Toji breathed in as Misato stopped talking and he tried to take in what had just been said. He wasn¡¯t the only one who looked confused everyone looked the same as him including Shinji and Kaworu who was hidden under a dark hoodie refusing to really show his face as he had been in a dark mood and hadn¡¯t really talking much since he had gotten in. ¡°This is chicken shit crazy, gods live in heaven, they¡¯re not in mortal form.¡±

    Kaji looked at him in surprise. ¡°Yes Sumire said that as well but that doesn¡¯t change what¡¯s going on, Asuka and Rei are both ill.¡± Kaworu looked up slightly. ¡°So am I, so is it possible that I¡¯m going through this now because of them, you said it affected Rei, what if it affected me to?¡±

    Misato looked up slightly. ¡°The truth is in half an hour there going to find out the damage done to both Asuka and Rei it¡¯s impossible to tell right now, but I was told Asuka¡¯s power means she¡¯s infected things without ever being aware of it.¡± Mari breathed in sharply. ¡°This is bullshit, my little sister is not the destroyer of worlds and you¡¯re telling me she destroyed the world in a former life it¡¯s fucking insane!¡±

    Kaji raised his hand. ¡°We understand this is a lot for you all to take in and we know how utterly crazy it sounds. We also understand that for some of you its might break the idea of your faith because we are talking about a god in human form which goes against a lot of religious texts, since in the texts the gods and goddess¡¯s live in heavenly realms outside of humanities reach.¡±

    Shinji looked up slightly. ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about Rei I know Asuka didn¡¯t do this intentionally but you said it¡¯s making her very sick.¡±

    Mari turned sharply. ¡°No here¡¯s what I don¡¯t get, you said this had happened before! So are you saying we¡¯ve lived our lives once already, we just don¡¯t fucking remember?¡±

    Kaji put a hand on his beard. ¡°Yes that¡¯s just what we are saying and we were told by Seele as they remember somehow.¡±

    Okay it was half-truth but it had to be enough to silence Mari and keep her from wanting to know more. ¡°We already knew of this Mari we couldn¡¯t tell you because we were ordered not to but now Commander and Ritsuko have said that you are now allowed to know the truth, as they wanted you to know it.¡±

    Shinji turned sharply as something hit him the vison with Kaworu the one where he had died could that have been from this previous life? Did that mean that it wasn¡¯t just a dream but a real thing that had happened? Wait that Kaworu¡­he had looked the same as his boyfriend did now and his words had been we¡¯ll meet again one day before his horrific death. He looked at Misato and Kaji who both seemed to be struggling with this as much as them. ¡°Can you make Asuka and Rei better?¡±

    Misato looked at him for a long moment before speaking. ¡°Yes, they can make them both better but they need time to do so.¡± She pointed upwards to the balcony which the walkway was attached to. ¡°You can all watch from up there, you¡¯ll be able to see and hear everything while we talk to them.¡±

    He paused. ¡°Once we¡¯ve spoken to them you can visit them but you can¡¯t touch the shield to ether of their room cells as it has a double strength AT field covering each room. It¡¯s there for your protection and ours as the effects of their powers are far reaching. It¡¯s why Rei¡¯s been so badly affected and they said it had also affected Asuka¡¯s cat Erika. They had to suppress it and stop it from growing another tail and fix the house by decontaminating it along with anywhere they¡¯ve both been.¡±

    She paused putting her hands in her pocket pulling out Asuka¡¯s keys and wallet. ¡°Speaking of which Mari you need this as you¡¯ll be staying in their house with Maya and they¡¯ll give Erika back to you tonight as she¡¯s currently in a special pet quarantine pen and giving everyone who feeds her hell by hissing, spitting and trying to claw them and they really want her to go back home tonight.¡±

    Mari slowly took Asuka¡¯s keys and things. ¡°Just like that they she said Maya and me could stay there?¡± Kaji nodded as he looked up. ¡°It was in fact Ritsuko¡¯s idea there was no argument what so ever and she said that Asuka would be probably be happier if it was you since your close family and Maya is her long term friend.¡±

    Mari blinked in surprise. ¡°Okay that¡¯s just weird, Ritsuko being thoughtful since she¡¯s been such a bitch and treats my little sister like shit.¡± Misato put her hand through her hair. ¡°Trust me we don¡¯t get it ether but as of late she¡¯s been acting off. Like real emotion is reaching her cold fucking heart. We¡¯ve seen it a couple of times now as she was nicer than normal to Asuka when she was brought in after her capture by Ankh.¡±

    Kaworu looked up wishing he didn¡¯t have to be here, he had hated the trip down in Misato¡¯s car as she had picked him and Shinji up. As he didn¡¯t want to be seen by the press or public and he had so much trouble last night sleeping and had, had bad dreams about people turning on him and throwing stones at him over how he looked. ¡°Could my looking like this be as a result of Asuka¡¯s power?¡± He paused. ¡°You said her power is far reaching and very dangerous and even Maya couldn¡¯t make sense of my condition and me suddenly having faulty genes and my meds back firing on me.¡±

    Kaji looked at the man who was clearly doing everything possible so that others couldn¡¯t see the way he really looked as the hoodie hid his arms and face. ¡°It¡¯s a real possibility but it has to be confirmed by Ritsuko, she made it very clear to us that Asuka has next to no control over what she¡¯s doing it could be subconscious. Plus its clear when she¡¯s comes out of this godly state she might not have any idea what she¡¯s even doing, though Ritsuko needs to conform that to.¡±

    Kaworu folded his arms in annoyance. ¡°If she did do this to me, she can fix it because even if it was a fun joke for her, it¡¯s not fun for me!¡± Shinji put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Kaworu they said it may have been accidental and her not even knowing.¡±

    Mari looked at Kaworu. ¡°My little sister is many things but she is not evil, if she did this it was by mistake and I doubt she even realized. Rei being around her would have a knock on effect as well if she thought Asuka was going to do something stupid, she¡¯d stop her doing it.¡± Shinji looked up slightly. ¡°This does explain though how she got the claw machine to work for her. I mean she has never ever been that lucky and she has no patience with those machines, she kicks and breaks the glass out of anger.¡±

    Kaji he looked at Misato as he spoke. ¡°He does have a point and I was told she was playing one of the game machines recently the dance machine.¡± Misato looked at him is confusion. ¡°Okay the claw machine I get but what is the deal with the dance master? We all know she¡¯s not very good at it, her best games normally involve shooting and killing stuff.¡±

    Kaji raised his hand. ¡°That¡¯s the thing she was perfectly timing it with Rei like utterly perfectly in sync, hundred percent score. Everyone was stunned and we know from the Diablos Inferno simulation she¡¯s not quite there yet when it comes to sync up with Rei.¡± He put his hand on his beard. ¡°It¡¯s like some form of godly luck.¡± Misato looked up as Ritsuko and Maya gave her the signal from the black lab room. ¡°Well whatever it is we are about to find out how it happened, as there ready in the other room.¡±

    End of part 48

    Silvermoonlight

 If Our Loves Insanity Why Are You My Clarity

    IF OUR LOVE''S INSANITY WHY ARE YOU MY CLARITY

    Ritsuko breathed in as she typed in to the holographic panel she could see the pilots all on the balcony out of danger while herself Kaji, Misato, Maya and Sumire and Shigeru were all in the black lab bellow. She watched as the door opened as her husband appeared as he spoke calmly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m late there was a hold up with the Russian ambassador.¡± He adjusted his glasses. ¡°I assume we are ready to begin with the Orison Ark Light Camera?¡±

    Ritsuko turned slightly. ¡°Yes we are the double AT field is on both rooms it¡¯s stabilized so their power cannot penetrate it, or affect us.¡± Gendo put his hands behind his back then. ¡°Then please begin. I need to see what we are dealing with.¡±

    Ritsuko turned on the sound so both Rei and Asuka could be heard but they could also hear each other. ¡°Rei I need you to sit on the bed and stay calm. As what happens in Asuka¡¯s room next might be frightening.¡±

    Rei folded her arms in disgust. ¡°What are you going to do to her?!¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. ¡°Shine a light on her soul¡¯s true self, so to speak.¡±

    She turned to Rei. ¡°You¡¯ve seen this camera or one like it, you told me and you¡¯re father but you didn¡¯t remember what it did.¡± She carried on typing. ¡°In a moment that memory might come back to you.¡±

    She watched as Asuka stood up as the camera followed her to the centre of the room. The red haired woman was mentality preparing her-self she could tell by her good eye and how serious it looked. ¡°This will be very painful Asuka, but it is going to help you and I know you¡¯ve seen this camera before.¡± Asuka took a deep breath eyeing the camera. ¡°Yes I remember seeing one like it¡­what is it going to do to me?¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. ¡°Its purpose is to see your very soul in its true form and unlike Ankh we won¡¯t stall and cause you any long intense pain.¡± Asuka breathed in pulling her patch off putting it in her pocket as she raised her hands outwards. ¡°Get it over with¡­I¡¯m ready I can take it!¡± Ritsuko breathed in. ¡°As you wish if you are ready.¡±

    She pressed the button watching as white light blasted out of the camera as the AT field rippled as it let the light through as Seele had said it would as the gold veins on the camera starting to glow intensely as the white light turned to silver shinning brighter. The camera lens started to turn adjusting to match Asuka¡¯s soul as the arms came up slowly placing the lenses carefully in to the slots, the first being the red one.

    It was followed by Asuka¡¯s in-human roar hitting the room with enough force to hurt all their ears even Gendo¡¯s as he looked up sharply as Asuka¡¯s right eye blasted in to light as her teeth turned to razors and her right eye turned to green and a cat like slit appeared in it . He breathed in sharply ¡°Insert the next one we are close, it¡¯s just like Seele said it would be!¡± Ritsuko typed fast watching as the gold one and silver were placed in next as they did their job, which was to stabilize Asuka¡¯s soul and stop the pain.

    The light instantly changed in to an intense beam hitting her chest as her left eye blasted light outwards which covered her whole body for a moment. It dissipated instantly as a huge form appeared on its knees. It was what Dante had said it would be and yet it was still a huge shock as this was no illusion it was a living breathing tiger lycanthrope. The thick fur and muscle stood out along with the two thrashing tails. Its body was six foot from head to foot and the two huge tails were body length.

    He clearly wasn¡¯t the only one in awe at this, as all the others in the room and above looked shocked and awestruck as it raised its hand to its face as the camera stabilized and the AT field flexed for a moment clearly restraining the untapped souls power its beam vanishing. His daughter moved to the glass in between to look in as a very conflicted look crossed her face.

    Ritsuko watched as the he huge jaws opened as the were-tiger shook its long mane its normal eye glowed blue while the other let out pure white light. The scar that had been on Asuka¡¯s face remained and he could see the one on her stomach but that looked strange like it hadn¡¯t healed like the other it also looked sore and recent.

    She walked forward seeing that everyone else wasn¡¯t going forward ether out of fear or uncertainty not that it was surprising a drawing was one thing. Seeing the thing as a living breathing being was quite another and even the footage did it no justice. Not to mention the huge clawed hands looked like they could rip you apart.

    They had ripped Bardiel¡¯s body and the teeth had torn up his shoulder she remembered reading in Maya¡¯s files on that the other night. ¡°Asuka I assume you can understand me.¡± The huge being turned its head as it spoke perfectly in Asuka¡¯s voice though there was a slight growl behind the tone. ¡°Yes I understand you.¡± Asuka raised her clawed hand looking at it. ¡°Is this¡­real?¡±

    Ritsuko watched as the others got closer now the pure fascination showing on their faces. ¡°Yes it¡¯s real this is what¡¯s called a soul projection, a living breathing image of your true soul, which is not normally seen via human eyes.¡± She paused. ¡°People can have different types they normally take the form they feel is closest to in their inner self. They can be monsters and animals or them-selves just different. They can also be much more extreme like creatures of myth like yourself, since you embody a lycanthropic version of Nekomata which is tiger like.¡±

    She paused meeting Asuka¡¯s intense gaze. ¡°So let¡¯s cut to the chase and not bullshit around. The reason you¡¯ve been ill since you got back from capture by Ankh is because they were trying to awaken a part of your soul that¡¯s been dormant, but in doing so it¡¯s making your normal soul stronger and you¡¯re starting to do godly feats you can¡¯t remember or even explain.¡±

    Asuka moved closer to the AT field. ¡°Like Rei said in the meeting they said that I¡¯m some forma destroyer of worlds, their out of their verfickte minds.¡± Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°On any other given day they would be Asuka and you¡¯d be right¡­.but today they are correct.¡±

    She looked up as Asuka¡¯s good eye turned to pure conflict. ¡°You¡¯ve lived a whole other life you have no memory of and in that you brought about human instrumentality and you became a bringer of death. The form you¡¯re in now is not that of the destroyer but she is somehow taking over you and myself and Gendo believe that is how you escaped Ankh but her coming out through your soul has caused you serious side effects.¡±

    She turned pointing at Rei. ¡°These are affecting her to because she¡¯s close to you, the odd looking medication we gave you both in quarantine, was meant to suppress this but it failed.¡±

    Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°And we both know why this is, don¡¯t we Asuka? It¡¯s because you couldn¡¯t follow the fucking rules and keep your trousers up like I asked you to!¡±

    Misato moved forward seeing the clear discomfort on Asuka¡¯s face the tiger form did nothing to hide it. ¡°Do you have to be this direct, is it really necessary?!¡±

    Ritsuko turned sharply. ¡°Yes it is necessary! It¡¯s because she thinks with her lowers we here now having to clean up her mess, along with her inability to follow the rules which has always been an issue.¡± Rei turned she couldn¡¯t stand this anymore. This had not been Asuka¡¯s fault, it was all hers. She spoke unable to keep the anger out of her voice. ¡°It wasn¡¯t her!¡±

    Ritsuko turned sharply moving to Rei¡¯s side seeing Asuka instantly snap out of her haze as she turned walking toward Rei¡¯s side trying to place her clawed feet down carefully as she was now too big for the room¡¯s furniture and could break things if she wasn¡¯t careful. She raised a clawed hand. ¡°Rei¡­¡±

    Rei put her hand through her hair in frustration. ¡°No Asuka, we both know what happened that night¡­.¡± Ritsuko put on her glasses as she walked closer to Rei feeling suddenly deeply perplexed by this sudden turn events. ¡°Go on Rei.¡± Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°It was me I started it, I wanted it, I knew it was wrong I just didn¡¯t care.¡±

    Ritsuko moved a step closer. ¡°Was Asuka human during this?¡± Rei looked up seeing Asuka¡¯s frustration she clearly didn¡¯t want this out there but this would be best for both of them in the long run. ¡°No she wasn¡¯t¡­¡± She watched as Asuka snarled in frustration as she walked away going to sit at the end of the room as she turned her back on everyone which was covered in tiger stripe markings much like her arms, legs and tails.

    Ritsuko watched as Rei¡¯s eyes met hers directly as it suddenly clicked in her head. ¡°Wait, you fucked her like that?¡± Rei turned sharply the rage hitting her before she could stop it. ¡°Yes and it was fucking amazing, it was the best sex I¡¯ve ever had!¡±

    Ritsuko watched as the silence hit the room as Asuka banged her head against the wall as she let out an inhuman growl which vibrated through the room. She could see a few people smirking and hear Toji and Mari laughing some distance away on the balcony clearly loving this.

    Gendo on the other hand looked very uncomfortable about this whole thing. While Misato had a look of utter confusion on her face, which was so odd to see as she normally looked like nothing ever fazed her. She breathed in finally finding her voice. ¡°Well clearly you¡¯re full of surprises and so not like your mother¡­¡±

    Misato breathed in deeply. ¡°I¡¯m confused¡­how did you have sex with her¡­it¡¯s just she has no dick.¡±

    Rei raised her hand as she spoke in an ice cold tone. ¡°Use your imagination.¡±

    Misato turned eyeing Asuka who put a huge clawed hand to her face. Maya breathed in hating that she had to enlighten Misato who still looked really confused. ¡°She used one of her tails isn¡¯t it obvious?¡±

    Misato eyed the long tails which were massive in size and had a really wide end thick with fur. ¡°Yeah but look at the size of them I mean the end would end up ripping her two.¡± Maya rolled her eyes in frustration clearly she had to spell this out to the other woman who normally bragged about knowing everything about sex and had claimed to have tried everything just once. ¡°She used friction¡­¡±

    Ritsuko adjusted her glasses not missing a beat as she spoke calmly in Rei¡¯s direction seeing her deeply embarrassed blush. ¡°Your mother Yui was never this adventurous and she¡¯d never admit to it openly.¡± She slowly eased up her tablet as she started to write on it. ¡°Clearly you like your sex on the dangerous side since you didn¡¯t mind doing a godly divine being that¡¯s three times your size and insanely powerful.¡±

    Asuka turned sharply feeling her huge teeth grind together as she spoke coldly. ¡°Can you please stop verfickte talking about this!?¡± Ritsuko turned looking at her somehow this had really taken a hard right turn to what she was expecting. She had fully expected Asuka to be the one who would have started it and for her to brag about it. Only to have Rei be the one bragging and Asuka crawling in to the corner not wanting to even be part of the conversation.

    She prided herself on her ability to read people and had always assumed Rei and Asuka were easy to read. Because she¡¯d know both their parents but from this it was so clear that the child didn¡¯t match the parent in certain behaviours granted both were ill from godly sickness but it was still a surprise. Her thoughts were shattered by Misato¡¯s voice suddenly hit the air. ¡°Wait so you¡¯re saying this is some godly disease and Asuka gave Rei some form of godly STI?¡±

    Misato sniggered in as Ritsuko turned to her. ¡°Because if that¡¯s what you¡¯re saying you know that is so out there?¡± Ritsuko slowly put her tablet down as she turned to her. ¡°I don¡¯t think you fully understand this yet but this is not some fucking juvenile laughing matter!¡±

    She turned slightly pointing at Asuka. ¡°She¡¯s a living god in human form, she can¡¯t control her power and I doubt she was the one who last night stole a car went and speeding in it. Just like I doubt Rei was the one walking around naked in a family¡¯s home, where she didn¡¯t live. That¡¯s the other half coming out and pissing around and this is the tip of the iceberg and purely them flexing their godly powers, testing if you will, if they ever gain full power you can kiss the world good bye!¡±

    Asuka¡¯s ears shot up. ¡°I stole a car? But I have no memory of that¡­the last thing I remember was going to bed as I felt really unwell.¡± Ritsuko looked at her. ¡°You didn¡¯t steal the car Asuka, I believe your other self-took it for a joy ride, it¡¯s why you woke up not really remembering anything. It¡¯s because unlike Bardiel she¡¯s not a hitchhiker she is you, therefore she can take full control over you and she can just wipe your mind when she¡¯s done, creating mental gaps.¡±

    Ritsuko turned to Rei. ¡°We read in the police report that you had a bruise on your shoulder. It¡¯s still there and we know it wasn¡¯t made by them¡­so tell me what you saw last night Rei¡­because I know you saw something. In the police report they pointed out that you were very tense and seemed dishonest in your interview like you were hiding something.¡±

    Rei breathed in as she sat down on the bed. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I saw¡­¡± Ritsuko moved closer to the shield. ¡°Yes you do, you can be honest with us.¡± Gendo moved forward slightly speaking calmly. ¡°Please tell us Rei.¡± Rei put her hand through her hair in deep frustration. ¡°There were noises in our house. I woke up because I heard a crash I though Asuka had dropped a motorbike in the garage but I came down and this was this horrible looking monster.

    It was really tall with huge horns and a messed up face, it looked kind of like a screwed up looking Pan God and it had hooves. I don¡¯t remember everything it said to me but it was horrible and it smelt like rotting flesh. All I remember was it said something rude about our Asuka and I stood up to it and it hit me with its clawed hand¡­after that I remember nothing it all goes black and I woke up the police station¡­.¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in sadly. ¡°What you saw was the destroyer herself then.¡± Asuka stood up slowly feeling the sadness take over as she walked up to Rei¡¯s side of the glass putting a clawed hand on it realizing that her worst nightmare had come true, she had hit the woman she loved. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­I had no idea what I was doing.¡±

    Ritsuko turned banging Asuka¡¯s side panel with her hand, which was for giving her food and away from the AT shielding getting Asuka¡¯s attention instantly. ¡°Let me make this really clear to you Asuka before you start going down this self-loathing rabbit-hole¡­she is not you, she is a version of you. You are not the same person. Her actions have zero bearing on yours even her subconscious is different to yours the problem is your both stuck in the same body like Jekyll and Hyde.¡±

    She paused watching as Asuka turned to look at her, her good eye filled with uncertainty. ¡°So no, you didn¡¯t hit Rei at all she did and she probably did it because she gets off on hurting others. Seele have told us she always enjoyed causing pain and she probably did it full well knowing it would get to you, as it¡¯s the one thing you would never do.¡± Asuka looked up slightly. ¡°Yet knowing this just makes it even worse¡­as she drew on my worst fears.¡±

    Rei turned to her. ¡°She is right though trust me she¡¯s not you. I don¡¯t remember everything but I know she wasn¡¯t you. She was utterly horrible there was no kindness, no love no compassion it was all gone all that was left was hatred and unkindness and the enjoyment of bullying others. It¡¯s clear she never learnt the important lessons you did that made me fall in love with you, for her everything is about vindictive power.¡±

    Asuka let out the breath she¡¯d been holding though it came out as a deep rumble. ¡°Then she is who I could be¡­.if things had been different.¡± Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°Yes that would be a very correct observation and unlike you she never reached adult hood, Seele told us she died young.¡± She paused. ¡°You once told Maya you had a dream as a child that happened a lot about crawling out of the red sea and believing the world was waiting on you, but you dismissed this dream.¡±

    She typed in to the black lab panel opposite causing a large holographic screen to come up on Asuka¡¯s side of the glass which revealed all the paintings she¡¯d painted while almost ascending due to Bardiel. ¡°Well that wasn¡¯t just a dream¡­it was an old memory and these are your drawings, proving it.¡±

    Asuka walked up to separating glass screen staring at the images it was her drawing she recognised the style. She turned seeing Rei coming up to look at them as they could see them through her side of the glass as well. ¡°I have no memory of ever painting these.¡±

    Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°You painted them right before 02¡¯s core sucked you in.¡± Rei eyed the images. ¡°Why am I a floating weird giant in these?¡± Gendo breathed in before he spoke. ¡°We don¡¯t really know, we have been very perplexed over this but Seele will not really go in to it even though they remember everything that happened¡­in fact they always knew.¡±

    Asuka turned to look at him as she snarled in anger. ¡°Then you¡¯ve known my whole verfickte life that I was going to become this and you verfickte said nothing!¡± She slammed her clawed hand against the AT field shield watching as it pulsed and rippled.

    Gendo moved in front of Ritsuko who stepped back very unsure of what to say as did everyone else. Gendo adjusted his glasses calmly. ¡°Yes we knew.¡± Asuka¡¯s animalistic roar of pure anger suddenly hit the air causing the shield to pulse faster. ¡°But to be a destroyer of worlds you need the two lances of Longinus without that you can never regain that full power and the only one that remains is dead.¡± Asuka¡¯s good eye narrowed. ¡°Accept its not I saw it in Ankh hands¡­it glowed Commander.¡±

    Gendo met her gaze seeing the images in the central glass fade away as Ritsuko turned off the hologram screen. ¡°But they still failed and the reason you¡¯re in the position is they couldn¡¯t do it right as they lacked the second lance and they¡¯ve now created a Jekyll and Hyde scenario, which we can fix in time.¡± He breathed in deeply. ¡°All we need is to find the crack in your soul and then this will all end and you¡¯ll go back to normal.¡±

    Asuka stood up slightly. ¡°What if you¡¯re wrong and the second lance still exists?¡± Gendo put a hand on his beard. ¡°No one has ever found the second lance you hid it even from yourself¡­Seele said at the end the other you felt deep regret for how everything turned out and chances of love you lost¡­.hence you just wanted a clean start and restarted the whole world a new and asked for rebirth.¡±

    He paused. ¡°Your soul now is that rebirth you do not remember the forma. You are different to your previous self, the clean slate she desired and she is only here now because the fools Ankh have tampered with things beyond their control but we can fix you, we just need more time.¡±

    He put his hands behind his back. ¡°Your cooperation would make this easier for us if you¡¯re willing to give it to us. As we want the same thing as you, we want this all to return to normal.¡± He raised a gloved hand. ¡°I¡¯m sure you want this as much as we do, you want to go back to your normal life safe and sound where you sleep with my daughter.¡± He watched as she went down on all fours pacing back and forth for a long moment clearly thinking something though. ¡°That is what you want is it not?¡±

    Asuka stopped suddenly as she rose back on to her hind legs so she was towering over him as she leaned close enough to the shield that her nose could touch it and he could see all her teeth. ¡°Yes I want that but you have yet to for fill that promise Rei asked of you.¡±

    Gendo eyed the huge clawed hands. ¡°That was done the other night, but we saw when we decontaminated your home you had not opened any of your mail. It will be there for you when you return and my son had a copy sent to him to but with all that¡¯s been happening regarding his boyfriend he may have not have noticed it ether.¡± Asuka snorted causing his hair to be blown back despite the AT fields shield. ¡°I do hope you¡¯re not lying to me.¡±

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Gendo met her good eye directly. ¡°Whatever you may think of me, I would not dishonour my word and I would not challenge you in this state it would be extremely foolish.¡± He paused. ¡°A god is a god and gods must always be respected Seele always told me that, just never why it was but now it makes sense to me.¡± Asuka felt a sneer form. ¡°Pity I have to be a verfickte god, for you to even respect me Commander.¡±

    Gendo looked at her for a long moment before speaking though there was barely any emotion in his voice. ¡°Your friends can see you both now.¡± Asuka watched as he walked away as Ritsuko came forward. ¡°We all need to have a meeting going forward but you can now speak to your friends and family.¡±

    Asuka watched as Rei sat on the bed in her confined area while she sat down on the floor looking at her clawed hands. Someday this was turning out to be maybe she should have just accepted the truth that she was some kind of god sooner but she had not wanted to admit it, how could she it seemed so ludicrous. She watched as they all left the room and everything went quite.

    She breathed in suddenly feeling a tingling sensation down her spine it was like someone was stroking the back with their hand but no one was there. She turned sharply as Rei voice suddenly spoke in her head causing both her ears to go up. ¡°You could never know you were destining to be god.¡±

    Asuka turned to look at her as she spoke back openly. ¡°You can read my thoughts?¡±

    Rei¡¯s voice came back though softly. ¡°Yes but I guess in that form it means you hear my thoughts better since it gives you better hearing.¡±

    Asuka looked down sadly as she spoke back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Rei¡­for getting you in to this mess and affecting you with this.¡±

    Rei felt a smile form as she spoke to her again mentality. ¡°No please don¡¯t be sorry like I said it was the best love making session I ever had.¡±

    Asuka felt a smile form. ¡°I really enjoyed it to.¡± She turned meeting the other woman¡¯s gaze. ¡°Again I¡¯m sorry for what happened with my other self¡­I know it¡¯s not me but I still hate that she used my body to hurt you...¡± Rei sat up slightly. ¡°It wasn¡¯t you Asuka she has a very different form to yours and it doesn¡¯t change the way I feel about you, I love you.¡±

    Asuka lowered her ears as she raised her clawed hand opening it causing a blast of reddish light which formed a heart shape though it faded away quickly as she spoke back mentality. ¡°I know¡­but if I ever meet her she¡¯ll verfickte pay for that, no one touches you that way not even if their me.¡± Rei raised an eyebrow. ¡°Like I said before it wasn¡¯t you¡­so don¡¯t feel this way she¡¯s just not worth it.¡±

    Asuka moved slowly over to the glass watching on all fours then carefully sat down close the central glass between them. She watched as Rei moved closer taking some pillows to sit on as she sat opposite on the other side then spoke again mentality as the door on the other side closed as Ritsuko locked it down and the walk way rose up down on the other side locking in to the balcony. ¡°So you are really are a living god in human, like Gabriella said.¡±

    Asuka raised a clawed hand putting it against the glass watching as Rei raised hers putting it on the other side so it was on hers despite that they couldn¡¯t touch teach other. ¡°The whole idea is still insane to me more so that they knew this was coming and they¡¯d known my whole life and said nothing to me.¡±

    She looked at her clawed hand. ¡°Weirder is finding out this manifestation had more to it than me just liking it.¡± Rei looked at her as she spoke again mentality enjoying the element of privacy this gave them. ¡°I still love it and I enjoy seeing you this way the others may never understand it the way I do but for us it¡¯s special.¡±

    She paused. ¡°They just think I¡¯m playing dangerous when I had sex with you in that form¡­but the truth is I wanted it. The form never mattered to me it was about so much more than that.¡± Asuka felt her toothy grin widen. ¡°I know¡­I¡¯m just sorry for venting steam. I wasn¡¯t mad at you, I just don¡¯t like them knowing our sex life and it¡¯s none of their business.¡±

    Rei lowered her gaze. ¡°I know I just wanted the truth out there because I¡¯m really tired of people blaming you, when it was me who started it.¡± Asuka shook her long mane slightly. ¡°They said they can cure me. Once I¡¯m cured all this will be over and we can go back to our normal lives, because I don¡¯t care for being god¡­the idea terrifies me because it¡¯s a place mortals are not meant to go.¡±

    8

    Dante breathed in looking at the hologram screen which was in the meeting room which allowed him to see both of the people on screen in their separate areas. Though right now they were talking he could sense it, but it was mental telepathy no one else could hear them but he could and he had tuned his visor to hear their conversation. He had said he would over look this whole project until it was over as leader. While Seele¡¯s others member took over his governing of the UN for a temporary amount of time.

    He turned as the door opened and Gendo and Ritsuko entered followed by the others he raised his hands. ¡°Welcome.¡± He paused looking at the holographic screens. ¡°It would seem that everything is in order and the AT field generators are holding strong.¡± Misato blinked in confusion. ¡°Who the fuck is he and why is he up here, this is a private meeting?¡± Kaji raised his hand sharply as he whispered fast. ¡°He¡¯s Seele¡­.one.¡±

    Dante moved forward looking at Misato. ¡°Colonel it is a pleasure to final meet you in person¡­¡± Misato didn¡¯t think as she bowed instantly realizing her mistake. ¡°I¡¯m sorry my deepest apologises.¡± Dante eyed her as he spoke calmly. ¡°Safe to say we¡¯ll overlook it this time Colonel. Since I don¡¯t leave the monolith and take human form that often in side Nerv.¡±

    Gendo breathed in deeply. ¡°This is Dante leader of the Seele six he will be over seeing this since it falls more with in his understanding than ours.¡± Sumire breathed in deeply looking at the thick file Shigeru had given her which was about everything top level all she could think off right now was that everything she knew had been utterly jolted and it was terrifying. She was so confused and now she was meeting Seele normally no one ever saw Seele let alone their members which consisted of three women and three men as they were so secretive.

    Dante breathed in as they seated themselves looking at him all uncertain including Gendo. ¡°So I¡¯m sure you are all now deeply aware of our situation. A living god affecting another though sex and the situation we are now in.¡±

    Sumire raised her hand unable to hold this question. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how Asuka is a god?¡± Ritsuko rolled her eyes. ¡°We¡¯ve been over this she was a god in her previous life...¡± Dante raised his hand stopping her from speaking as he walked over to the Mexican woman whose file he had read this morning.

    He leaned forward. ¡°Sumire is it?¡±

    Sumire eyed him. ¡°Yes sir.¡±

    Dante stroked his thick beard. ¡°Is it not part of your myth that the great lord Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca''s will be reborn on earth and return to your people and fight over the destiny of humanity, in your history at least you first thought it was Spanish settling there. There was a rebellion among them and some took a small army against the wishes of his king and queen and tried to conquer you but your people killed him and you even learnt to use the guns and fought back winning.¡±

    Sumire eyed him. ¡°The leader was Hern¨¢n Cort¨¦s and yes we killed him. It finally ended in letting them settle so long as they didn¡¯t try to conquer us again but over the centuries we merged as a culture and are now a mix of both and all the old Nahuatl and Inca temples still stand but as monuments and tourist attractions. As we have built new praying temples as we are still awaiting Quetzalcoatl¡¯s and Tezcatlipoca''s return.¡±

    Dante breathed in deeply. ¡°One of your gods has returned she¡¯s in the other room as prophesized as she is the end of day¡¯s god in every world¡¯s culture.¡± Sumire looked at him for a long moment. ¡°Asuka is a young woman she cannot be my god not to mention in that prophecy and to some he is a white man with a red beard and blue eyes.¡±

    Dante turned slightly. ¡°Yes a white man whom your people thought Cort¨¦s was when he came with the settlers to live in the new world. Once he proved to be untrue your people flayed him and offered his heart to the true Quetzalcoatl still awaiting his return. The Spanish settlers agreed to the punishment as they did not want to cause further issue and needed your peoples trade.¡± Sumire breathed in deeply. ¡°And yet he is our saviour not a destroyer of worlds.¡±

    Dante leaned over not caring that he was inside her, personal space. ¡°Gods take many forms more than you can possibly imagine and I lived to see the forma Asuka bring her wrath up on me. We are trying to spare all of humanity from this terror. So whether she takes the form of your god or not she is a god of the end of the days and we are here now to save you all. Because we Seele have seen you all die once over and very brutality, so you all should have more faith in us.¡±

    He stood up slowly. ¡°But I respect it might take longer for you, because you still question your great gods actions after the temple of Quetzalcoatl was destroyed and your grandmother killed. So it¡¯s not unexpected that you¡¯d feel this way.¡±

    He paused before speaking. ¡°However Asuka bears red hair and blue eyes and white skin and that is not mere coincidence however you wish to deny it. She is the rebirth of the divine and you should be very respectful of that because to anger a god in human form is petty and foolish. Your partner the man you love so has been the presence of the divine and never realized it, just like the others who should be happy they witnessed this blessing.¡±

    Ritsuko breathed in deeply. ¡°As interesting as this is have you brought the item? You said you took it away to make changes you said it was not strong enough.¡± Dante moved over picking up the suit case he placed it on the table clicking it open then carefully opened it, so they could all see in side. ¡°The one you saw was a mild prototype we have built others but this is the final model.¡±

    He eased his hands inside pulling out a thin collar with silver locks and glowing orange Hebrew writing along the middle. ¡°This is the true Ark of the Covenant not tablets or stones, the one the Christians, Catholics and Jewish talk of. This collar has the power to hold and restrain fully formed gods.¡±

    He looked up. ¡°A broken first rate prototype from another cycle sadly found its way in to the hands of fool¡¯s eons ago. In the wrong hands it¡¯s a powerful and dangerous weapon enough to knock down walls burn people alive and make them very sick to the point of killing them.¡±

    Sumire looked at him. ¡°You talk about eons ago how could you even be alive?¡±

    Kaji turned slightly. ¡°She was only given the Ziggurat book today¡­she doesn¡¯t know everything as she has not read it all yet. Only the file on the Asuka and Bardiel and the child god Rei incident.¡±

    Dante carefully placed the collar down as he walked towards Sumire leaning over. ¡°Let me be clear then to you I¡¯m what you¡¯d call a demi god. Eternally long lived and able to live over and over and I¡¯ve seen your world repeat twenty cycles and myself and the five other members are beings of light who can take a human form by choice when needed. Though we normally reside within our monoliths...¡±

    Sumire eyed him in disgust. ¡°You¡¯re lying if you were a demi god you¡¯d be like Heracles or Draupadi.¡±

    Dante breathed in looking at the others. ¡°I see this one really lacks faith.¡±

    He breathed in deeply hating that he had to do this as he didn¡¯t like having to enlighten mortals, it was boring. ¡°What sets demi gods and gods apart from you is our light. Unlike you whose AT fields are inside you and keep your soul and ego as one and keeps you separate from others, we on the other hand can¡¯t hide ours.¡±

    He leaned forward slowly putting a hand on his glasses visor easing it free carefully watching as her whole body tensed in shock as he looked at her knowing she could see his blazing white eyes though to him the whole room was alight as he looked in to their very souls.

    He closed his eyes locking the visor back on as he turned to her seeing the utter shock in her face as well as the others. ¡°If Asuka¡¯s left eye is not familiar to you, then it should be very clear to you all now. That it is there to show she is a sleeping god after it was blinded it was then fully awakened once the Evangelion took on its primal state.¡±

    He turned back to the suitcase enjoying the dead silence now from everyone in the room, since he had just proved his point. ¡°She must put on the Ark of the Covenant of her own free will. It cannot be forced on to her throat or it will not take. It is a pure stop gap for our other device which will stitch up her godly wound and end this once and for all. Though to see it the destroyer must enter through her for a second. We must see her as godly flesh no matter how terrifying. After which our Asuka must place the collar on willingly only then will this mark the beginning of the end.¡±

    8

    Misato eyed the Soul Arks doors some distance away seeing Kaji move behind her. The main doors special locks turned like some sort of huge cog device which was unlike all the others at Nerv and made the place much harder to break in to. As it had five huge bolting locks over the door so even if you somehow got the door open you¡¯d still have to saw through them.

    This place was really unlike any in the whole of Nerv and now she had a really bad head ache. She just wanted to go home with Kaji and lie on the bed and do nothing. As this day had been so fucking rough from the start and she wasn¡¯t sure that Ritsuko was going to let it all settle till down Asuka had that collar on.

    Dante had said only after its fitting he could use some special deceive to stitch up the wound to Asuka¡¯s soul once he knew where it was. She turned to the others who were coming down the raised walkway in to the black lab ¡°Okay you can all go through and visit Asuka and Rei¡­don¡¯t touch the AT fields shields it¡¯s very dangerous and Ritsuko will be monitoring you from the room on the balcony above.¡±

    Mari looked up sharply. ¡°About fucking time, we were up on the balcony for ages.¡± Kaji watched as they went through the light scanner which read negative. ¡°It was a very complicated meeting in the balcony office room sorry we kept you all waiting.¡± Shinji looked up as he walked through the scanner watching as the others followed. He breathed in deeply watching as Rei came in to view along with Asuka though she still wasn¡¯t human.

    He watched as Rei came up to the AT field shield giving him a huge smile clearly really happy to see him. He stopped close to the shield seeing that Asuka had her back to everyone and was looking at one of her tails while the other was swishing gently. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re both okay.¡±

    Rei breathed in deeply putting down her book. ¡°I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re here, I thought they might not let you or the others see us.¡± She watched as Asuka turned in her cell then slowly stood up looking in Shinji¡¯s direction. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s great that you¡¯re here.¡± Misato breathed in moving over to Asuka¡¯s area. ¡°How are you both holding up in here, they told me the rooms are specially made for your needs?¡±

    Asuka moved her tail taking hold of German translated manga raising it up. ¡°Yeah I noticed that¡­even the games in here are what I like and I can still use the bathroom despite being this way as its extra wide.¡± Rei stood up slowly. ¡°It beats the prison cell and quarantine.¡±

    Mari walked up to her now standing younger sister eyeing the form. ¡°You look so fucking awesome.¡± Toji moved closer. ¡°Yeah what she said, I mean it looks so amazing you¡¯re a real mythological creature.¡± He turned to Mari. ¡°What are they called again?¡± Mari looked at him. ¡°Their called lycanthropes¡­.¡±

    Kaworu walked up. ¡°It¡¯s different.¡± Asuka looked at them as she put the manga down carefully on the table. ¡°Trust me its overrated and annoying when it¡¯s not in my own imagination, I have to be careful not to break things hence the two tails are in fact useful since they can grip like hands since my claws ruins stuff.¡± Kaworu pulled his hoodie down looking at her. ¡°Well it can¡¯t be as bad as this.¡±

    Asuka looked at him for a long moment. ¡°At least you still get to look human and don¡¯t get to shadow the furniture.¡± She paused. ¡°And you still look handsome as ever, Shinji is lucky.¡± Rei turned slightly. ¡°I disagree with the shadowing the furniture part, I love you whatever.¡±

    Kaworu looked at Asuka for a long moment. ¡°Did you do this to me? It¡¯s just they say you have no control over what you¡¯re doing.¡± Rei turned eyeing him. ¡°They said it¡¯s not her, it¡¯s another person a totally different personality.¡± Asuka raised her clawed hand stopping her. ¡°If the other me did this to you for whatever reason as soon as they stop this I¡¯ll turn you back to how you were before.¡±

    Shinji turned to him. ¡°I agree with Asuka though there¡¯s nothing wrong with you.¡± Kaworu breathed in annoyance as he pulled up his hood again. ¡°Tell that to those out there who persecute people with this condition.¡± Asuka turned a sneer forming which showed off her long canine teeth on the upper and lower jaw even more. ¡°Bullies are always cowards¡­I know I used to be one. So wouldn¡¯t the best thing for you be to do show yourself for who you really are?¡±

    Kaworu¡¯s gaze narrowed as he spoke coldly. ¡°No it wouldn¡¯t.¡± Asuka eyed him. ¡°You were a child solider once, why don¡¯t you do what you did in the war and punch them in the face or break something that gets most cowards to learn?¡±

    Shinji raised his hands. ¡°You know I don¡¯t think that would help Asuka.¡±

    Asuka lowered her ears shaking her mane. ¡°Always worked for me...¡±

    Rei looked up slightly. ¡°She has a point.¡±

    Shinji eyed Rei who was listening quietly. ¡°Tell me you¡¯re not agreeing with that Rei?¡±

    Rei turned to him. ¡°I am since she¡¯s right.¡±

    Kaworu breathed in anger. ¡°I am not going to solve my problems by hitting them¡­its utterly foolish.¡±

    Asuka swished one of her tails around as she leaned forward her left eye burnt brighter as a sadistic grin formed on her jaws. ¡°But I can sense your thoughts from here¡­I know you want to and that you¡¯d love to break your ex¡¯s face for treating you like scheisse.¡±

    She ignored his expression as it turned to anger. ¡°Because that¡¯s the truth of why you don¡¯t like how you look because it reminds you of what he put you through. Even though he was a coward and bully and you were a victim and hero who out grew him.¡± She paused ignoring the silence as it hit the room. ¡°You should do it you¡¯ll feel so much better.¡± Shinji turned sharply. ¡°Stop reading his thoughts Asuka!¡±

    Asuka pulled back snapping out of her haze as she raised a clawed hand. ¡°It¡¯s not my verfickte fault he thinks so loud!¡± Rei turned sharply. ¡°She¡¯s not lying, he¡¯s louder than anyone¡¯s here right now.¡± Misato watched as the shield pulsed as Ritsuko¡¯s voice came over the speaker. ¡°We¡¯ve just increased the AT fields strength to stop that from happening again¡­they shouldn¡¯t be able to pick up on your minds thoughts again.¡±

    Misato breathed in putting a hand on her temples. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Kaji turned slightly. ¡°Yes thank you for that.¡±

    Kaworu pulled away going to stand behind the others that was private she had no right to go there! Even if it was true they had no right to hear it openly.

    Toji moved forward looking at Asuka. ¡°So they told us you¡¯re a god born in human form.¡±

    Asuka looked at her clawed hand. ¡°Apparently¡­.¡±

    Toji breathed in deeply. ¡°So what that¡¯s like?¡±

    Asuka looked at him for a long moment. ¡°Weirder than you can possibly imagine.¡±

    Mari looked at Asuka. ¡°Oh they gave me and Maya the keys to your home.¡±

    Asuka felt a smile form. ¡°Yes and you and Maya are going to be looking after Erika and our home¡­I read your thoughts, I¡¯m fine with it. I want our cat back home not be here in Nerv being prodded because she grew another tail.¡±

    Mari paused. ¡°You know you listening in really solve a lot of problems, in that I don¡¯t have to explain.¡±

    Rei¡¯s voice suddenly spoke in Asuka¡¯s mind. ¡°She has no idea¡­¡±

    Asuka turned speaking back mentality. ¡°Yeah and the double AT fields not strong enough I can still hear them but there more whispers.¡±

    Rei felt a slight smile form as she spoke openly. ¡°Same here...¡±

    Mari turned feeling a sly smile form. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had it in you Asuka you¡¯re a kinky fucker.¡±

    Asuka turned slightly only have Mari follow her steps. ¡°Did you ever do anything on this level of kinky with Shinji when you were together?¡±

    Shinji turned sharply trying to hide the embarrassment as Rei rolled her eyes putting a hand on her face in frustration. ¡°No we never¡­.did that¡­¡± Asuka turned sharply. ¡°No I never turned fully were- tiger and gefickt tail him.¡± Misato blinked in shock trying to ignore Kaji¡¯s smirk along with Toji¡¯s. ¡°Asuka do you have to be that blunt?¡±

    Asuka turned eyeing her. ¡°You know I was just going to the straight to the good bit you know since our whole verfickte sex life has how been picked at with a fine toothed comb. For everyone to hear about¡­.¡± Rei looked up slightly. ¡°We both found it annoying.¡±

    Mari felt a wide grin form. ¡°Oh gods you got to draw this Asuka then show it to me¡­I love erotic art.¡± Asuka raised a clawed finger pointing at her. ¡°I¡¯m not going to draw this for you Mari or anyone.¡± Toji suddenly moved closer. ¡°But it would be so cool.¡±

    Mari moved forward adjusting her glasses. ¡°Or you could just beam it in to my head princess just change Rei to someone else and change how you look to be different somehow.¡± Asuka eyed her. ¡°I¡¯m not going to beam this in to your head four eyes.¡± Mari turned to Rei. ¡°What about you?¡± Rei breathed in deeply. ¡°No Mari.¡±

    Shinji moved forward. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about something else as they told us we can be here for an hour then we have to go, as you have someone coming who needs to see you.¡± Rei turned slightly. ¡°Who is coming?¡± Kaji moved forward. ¡°Someone from Seele, it¡¯s very important and none of us are allowed to be there when you chat.¡±

    Asuka eyed him, accept that wasn¡¯t quite true. She¡¯d read it in his thoughts before they¡¯d turned up the AT field shield. Only the top staff would be there but hidden in the room on the balcony but they¡¯d hear and see over media feed while the others would leave the Soul Ark temporary but could come back after it was over. ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Misato moved closer. ¡°But after that you can both eat and they told and you can have anything you want since it¡¯s not quarantine and we can all visit you again after you eat.¡± Asuka looked up. ¡°I want a hog roast then.¡± Misato put her hands in her pockets. ¡°Yes we can get you that we¡¯ll get some in burger buns.¡±

    Asuka looked at her for a long moment. ¡°You misunderstand I want the whole pig roasted without its head and legs gutted and dipped in German spices.¡± Ritsuko¡¯s voices came over the speakers. ¡°We can get you that.¡± Asuka looked up in confusion. ¡°Really¡­I thought you off all people Ritsuko you would be against that?¡±

    Ritsuko¡¯s voice came again. ¡°The price of being in that form is you metabolize currently like a real lion or tiger would therefore it has to be sustained. It¡¯s the same with Rei which is why we now believe she was eating rampantly all week and went up a belt size.¡± Rei looked up as she spoke coldly. ¡°Thanks that¡¯s really helpful to know¡­¡±

    She paused. ¡°Now how¡¯s about you stay out of my life, where it concerns eating, since its none of your business if I gained weight or not since I¡¯m happy with it.¡± Ritsuko¡¯s voice hit the air again though it was filled with uncertainty. ¡°Fair enough, I was just mealy pointing it out.¡± Rei looked up slightly. ¡°I¡¯d rather you didn¡¯t point it out again and go get a new hobby that doesn¡¯t involve measuring my waist size.¡±

    End of part 49

    Silvermoonlight

 When You Are Your Own Worst Enemy

    WHEN YOU ARE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY

    I am god what a verfickte messed up thing to be told¡­yet it was always true. I was always destining to become god and yet I want none of this power, it feels so unnatural. I just want to go back to being me. It¡¯s quite now as everyone has left only Ritsuko remains watching from the walk way above along with the others monitoring us.

    I feel so bad I was right I gave Rei what I had now she¡¯s suffering because I¡¯m so verfickte stupid. Now I just fear my own power and the other me and what she is capable off and that I have no control over her. A voice suddenly shattered her thoughts as Rei spoke mentality in her mind again. ¡°Stop beating yourself up over this Asuka¡­I wanted to sleep with you. I¡¯m as much to blame we both bear equal fault in why we are here now together.¡±

    Asuka turned watching as she put the book down she was reading as she spoke back mentality. ¡°How do you feel about all this, I mean really?¡± Rei looked down slightly not hiding her thoughts as she thought them from Asuka the truth was she wasn¡¯t afraid of what was happening her.

    In fact in a strange way she was feeling oddly calm about it all. Like she¡¯d somehow she¡¯d gone through this before somehow she wasn¡¯t even really afraid when she thought about it in fact she felt stronger now than ever in her life as she could voice what she wanted finally and without fear. Asuka¡¯s voice spoke in her mind calmly as she moved her huge form walked towards the central glass. ¡°I¡¯m glad then at least you feel more positive about this than I do.¡±

    Asuka breathed in deeply putting her clawed hand on the glass between them as she spoke mentality. ¡°I still don¡¯t know why it is you can hear my thoughts this glass and you can hear mine.¡± Rei looked down speaking mentality. ¡°I think the AT field here is weak.¡±

    A red gloved hand suddenly tapped the AT field shield causing her to turn sharply as a figure came in to view who had not been there before. It was some strange looking man of Arabic descent who had jet black hair and thick beard both were whiting.

    He also wore a long black coat and suit and a strange visor like glasses across his eyes as he spoke calmly in to both their minds. ¡°No the AT field is not weak you both just have a very strong soul connection that reaches through it, its most fascinating.¡±

    Asuka turned looking at him still not speaking openly instead making it from her mind. ¡°Get out of my verfickte head and hers right now!¡±

    The older odd looking man adjusted his visor as a slight smile formed before raising his red gloved hand. ¡°No offence intended to you reborn god, I simple wanted to marvel in your wonder.¡±

    Asuka didn¡¯t think as she slammed her tail out violently smashing it right near the AT field shield near his face, causing him to pull back sharply as she spoke openly. ¡°Go verfickte marvel somewhere else¡­.¡±

    Rei eyed the man also speaking openly. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    The man breathed in deeply as he turned to her adjusting glasses like visor with his gloved hand. ¡°My name is Dante I am the voice of Seele so to speak and the leader.¡± Asuka got up her mane suddenly rising and standing on end. As the anger started to burn as she stepped close to the AT field her right eye burned brighter as she snarled at him. ¡°We were told you were coming, your one of those verfickte assholes who kept the truth from me my whole life that I was destine to become this.¡±

    Dante breathed in steading himself feeling the intense pulsing of the AT field shield. ¡°Yes I am but understand would we have told you. You would never have believed us as from a young age you¡¯ve never believed in gods due to your mother¡¯s suicide though you and I both know she is not dead just like Rei¡¯s aunt.¡±

    He looked up slightly. ¡°We believe that was part of your rebirth your old self never wanted that temptation again. It¡¯s clearly why you also pulled away from the light when Bardiel offered it to you not so long back you were clearly created to reject power and human instrumentality.¡±

    He paused. ¡°It why even now even with all this power, you¡¯d rather be a human, it¡¯s probably why in your later teens you rejected bullying and wanted to better yourself. It¡¯s why we did not interfere as Bardiel was your test and you succeeded where your forma self-failed. Its why we went out of our way to get you out of 02¡¯s core, because we believed after your creation of the two spears of destiny that you were truly reformed and that this side of you we can trust¡­as we can¡¯t trust your other self¡­ the one who is coming through.¡±

    He looked over at Rei. ¡°We also know you want to stay with her, because you love her.¡± Asuka narrowed her gaze. ¡°Funny, how you seem to understand me better than Gendo. He just thinks I¡¯m an animal that¡¯s get controlled by sexual favours.¡±

    Dante put his gloved hands together. ¡°Let me be clear with you¡­godly sex is very dangerous, it can suck out the lover¡¯s soul killing them instantly if done incorrectly. She¡¯s alive and perfectly fine instead and she¡¯s started to have similar issues to you. The fact that she remains alive and well means you had full control and you cared enough that you wanted it to be pleasing and not take anything from her and that you do not feel the need to own her or feel the need to possess her.¡±

    Rei stood up looked at him. ¡°They told us you and the five are demi gods that you lived one life and you remember the forma.¡± Dante turned to her. ¡°Yes we are demi gods and that is true we remember you past selves.¡± He breathed in deeply putting his hand up easing up his glasses visor for a moment revealing his eyes. ¡°Plus myself and Asuka are not that dissimilar as it would stand in the now.¡±

    He lowered the glasses clicking them in to place seeing the shock in both their faces. ¡°The difference is I have lived through human instrumentality where as you forgot everything and were reborn as a sleeping god in human form.¡±

    Asuka leaned closer to him quickly locking down her inner thoughts from both him and Rei for a moment so nether would hear this. Clearly it wasn¡¯t just the god Rei that existed was not the only god she opened her thoughts again as she spoke calmly hoping nether of them would notice. ¡°I find it sad that in the religious text I had to be the destroyer and not a good or kind savour.¡±

    Dante put his hands together. ¡°Destroyer and savour can have a very fine line, though my-self and Seele saw you, the other you as a brutal teacher of our wrongs doings. As you punished us the worst of all in human instrumentality, yet you gave us the strength to turn our back on Keel, who used to be one of us and recreate a Nerv where you and the other pilots would flourish and be happy.¡±

    Rei looked at him. ¡°So I guess the saying, there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy, is true.¡± Dante turned to look at her as he leaned against the AT field shield a smile forming. ¡°Yes Shakespeare¡¯s saying has merit in this situation Rei and I should ask how are you taking all this?¡±

    Rei looked up slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to even make of it, but everyone says it¡¯s true so it has to be.¡± Dante looked at her as he stood up fully. ¡°Understand that we will fix all this, as we have prepared for this for a very long time.¡±

    Asuka shook her mane scowling slightly. ¡°I once had a recurring dream when I was a child of being a new creator and pulling myself out of red waters on a sandy beach to look up at a moon situated in red.¡± She turned to him. ¡°Tell me why I had that dream, was it a warning? Because that was clearly from my other self¡¯s memories and not mine...¡±

    Dante turned to her. ¡°Sometimes a small piece is left even in rebirth as it¡¯s like creating a new layer but sometimes you need the spark of the has been to create the new. It¡¯s why you can have d¨¦j¨¤ vu and sometimes dreams from your forma life. I have always envied mortal lives for the fact you can forget where as we have to live forever with our foolish misdeeds it is part of the curse of being immortal.¡±

    Asuka moved closer to the shield feeling her right eye get even warmer as eyed him looking for some form of lie not caring that she was looking directly at his thoughts¡­yes there was some form of lie but it wasn¡¯t about this. It was about something else but she couldn¡¯t see what he was. He was masking it well it was also clear he was letting her look in and not stopping her. ¡°I see.¡±

    Rei turned to her as there eyes met though nothing was spoken between them but they both sensed it that something was out of their reach she could feel it from her. ¡°I see and would another curse be that my other self was destine to be reborn though me.¡±

    Dante looked up slightly not quite sure what was going on between them because they¡¯d both looked at each other but nothing had been transferred it was like a harsh form of radio silence. which he didn¡¯t understand. Clearly that bond was way more powerful than any of them had realized. Unlike her counterpart this Asuka had a really strong spiritual connection to this Rei in a way her predecessors had never had. ¡°Yes and no but it depends on you but at this point it¡¯s clear to me you want this over as much as we do.¡±

    He paused feeling that he had to be honest about something and say something which he had never said before to a pilot in all twenty cycles. ¡°Seele is sorry for the suffering we caused you in your later teens and that we were almost ready to see you go after the Alpha Unit incident. You see we feared you and we kept your leash far too short, we always thought that you were destine to grow up in to a monster like your forma self and at one point you were so close but the battle of Shamshel changed you forever and now we know everything.¡±

    Asuka eyed him for a long moment before speaking. ¡°If you have not noticed I am a monster.¡± Rei turned sharply. ¡°No you¡¯re not and if you are a monster then you¡¯re my monster, no one else¡¯s.¡± Asuka turned to look at her remembering those words she¡¯s said that people could call her a monster all the wanted but she¡¯d always belong to her. ¡°Yes I did say that.¡± Rei nodded. ¡°Yes you did.¡±

    Dante stepped away from the AT field shield. ¡°No you see that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong Asuka. Monsters don¡¯t have compassion and they can¡¯t love. You have that your forma self never did along with foresight. So no I¡¯m not in the presence of a monster only a benevolent god right now. So all I ask of you now is to trust us, so we can save you. Because what I will ask off you next must be off your own free will, you must help us bind your dark half and suppress it.¡±

    Asuka looked at him for a long moment. ¡°I want this to end as much as you.¡± Dante felt a smile form. ¡°Good then we understand each other and after your meal I¡¯ll brings what¡¯s necessary. Though it will only be a stop gap.¡±

    8

    I¡¯m so verfickte hungry can they hurry up already with my food its driving me nuts. They told me it¡¯s this form but it¡¯s still deeply annoying Rei got hers some time ago she¡¯s eating a dinner a large tofu rice bowl along with some savoury egg pancakes, it¡¯s really weird here, a slot opens close to the side of the AT field shield and all your meals are put through it you have pull it towards you to get your food.

    It also seems that unlike any another building here there are moving sections. I know there¡¯s another room behind this one it¡¯s a big room I can sense it and the AT shield is also covering it, but it¡¯s a guest room of some kind and I think both our rooms can open in to it, I just don¡¯t know how yet. It¡¯s like it¡¯s built to be first floor of a house because I think there is a kitchen in there as well as eating area and sofas.

    Ritsuko¡¯s voice suddenly hit her ears. ¡°Your food is coming through Asuka, just a moment.¡± Asuka stood up watching a huge slot opened and the smell of roasted pork hit her nose. She moved over grabbing the slot with her clawed forcing it her way as she dug her head in grabbing her food with her teeth before moving over to the corner, as she started to eat it.

    Misato breathed in deeply it was like watching a real lion or tiger eat the only difference was it was cooked. Asuka was clearly very hungry and chewing away section by section leaving bite mark in the bone as the ultra-long canines on the top and bottom jaw did their job pulling meat free. Misato watched Asuka from the walkway as the slot was closed and a large metal container filled with caramel milkshake was put through the slot. ¡°How much food are you giving her?¡±

    Ritsuko monitored her holographic screen as she spoke calmly. ¡°The whole cooked pig carcass without the arms, legs heads guts is about a hundred pounds worth of meat and a hundred and fifty ounces of caramel milkshake. She didn¡¯t want desert Rei does thought and her honey toast is coming soon.¡± Misato shook her head watching as Maya looked over from her screen opposite while Kaji leaned against the walk way and Gendo stood away from them watching with interest. ¡°It¡¯s like watching some fucking crazy eating challenge.¡±

    Ritsuko watched as Asuka pulled out the tall metal mixer out with her milkshake out of the slot then dropped half of the pig bones in it with a clatter. She took her drink over sitting down as she started to eat the other half of the roasted pig. ¡°The price of not being a god but becoming one¡­if they go fully that way they¡¯ll no longer need to eat at all¡­but right now they¡¯re both stuck in the middle.¡±

    She looked over. ¡°The reason they can¡¯t have people in there is once their finished they¡¯ll flex the shield since the food will boost their powers for a moment.¡± Maya breathed in. ¡°Do you think Dante¡¯s collar will work?¡±

    Ritsuko looked at her as she watched Asuka started to drink which was like hearing a pipe guzzle water it was that loud. She waited for it to stop before speaking. ¡°Dante is an asshole.¡± She breathed in deeply. ¡°But he is never wrong and he has never led me or Gendo astray and he¡¯s honest to a fault, even if it hurts you.¡± Kaji looked at her. ¡°Is this the first time you¡¯re seeing him as a person not when he¡¯s with in the monolith?¡±

    Ritsuko turned slightly. ¡°No this is the second time, he spoke to me when I first came to Nerv though what he said to me really isn¡¯t any of your business and was between us¡­first time I¡¯ve seen under his glasses visor though.¡±

    She turned hearing the sudden crash as Asuka threw the rest of the bones from the carcass in to the metal slot then carried on drinking her milkshake despite that her long canine teeth were starting to buckle and bend the rim. ¡°I still don¡¯t know if I should fear or worship Seele as before I met Dante I never believed in gods. I was happier believing in science because to me it made sense of everything.¡±

    She turned pointing in Asuka¡¯s direction. ¡°In science that form should not exist yet here it does and it¡¯s real and if I was put my hand through the fur I know it would be as real as any living animals and I still wouldn¡¯t be able to explain it, because Seele¡¯s version of science, the same science that built the Evangelions is beyond our comprehension or understanding.¡±

    She narrowed her gaze. ¡°I quit science for business because I was never happy as a scientist and it was my mother¡¯s wish and also because Dante made me realize that Seele science was always beyond me it¡¯s created by demi gods and only for demi gods to understand.¡±

    She looked around. ¡°I know how every science room in Nerv works accept the Soul Ark where we stand now. I still don¡¯t understand what it¡¯s doing in full as its Seele¡¯s design all we know is how to operate it via manual.¡± Misato turned slightly. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a big admission from you.¡±

    Ritsuko eased on her glasses typing in to the hologram screen. ¡°It¡¯s the truth.¡± She watched as Asuka put down her empty drinking item as she yawned stretching and like a cat which caused the shield to waver and a huge power spike to show on screen which was closely followed Rei¡¯s doing the same but more by her stretching and yawning before both shields returned to normal. ¡°Okay you can let the others in again to visit them.¡±

    8

    It weird that people don¡¯t need to speak when you can read their thoughts like as if you were watching the wide screen TV or speaking directly to them. Yet as I listen in and I know I shouldn¡¯t even though its pure whispers now it still feels alien and odd yet when I did in to Asuka¡¯s mind it feels more like a comfort blanket.

    Maybe because we both understand on a deeper level than any of the others what is happening to us? Maybe this is why the gods in our myths always got bored of humanity and acted out negatively because your level of thought is so beyond their thinking. Though, I have to question if the Seele six has posed as some of those gods in the past.

    I watch as Mari raises the card in her hand she¡¯s been playing this game with Asuka for a while now seeing if she knows what card she¡¯s holding up. I think Asuka is getting bored she¡¯s starting to read her manga out of the corner of her eye, while pretending to be engaged just for her older sisters benefit.

    The others are here to while I think Ritsuko is monitoring from the room above. It¡¯s like there waiting for something to happen but it¡¯s not happened yet. Dante said he knew when the time would come and so would we but the waiting is annoying and we have been told by Ritsuko once it¡¯s over the other parts of this building can be opened to us and people can visit us.

    Mari eased up a playing card they had now been given chairs but had to stay away from the AT fields shield. ¡°What¡¯s this one?¡± Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s the five of clubs.¡± Mari reshuffled the playing cards raising another. ¡°What¡¯s this one?¡± Asuka breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s the King of clubs.¡±

    Mari reshuffled again pulling up a new card. ¡°Okay now this one.¡± Asuka turned slightly. ¡°Eight of spades¡­.¡± Mari looked at her seeing she was now getting bored. ¡°Okay last one.¡± Asuka spoke before she even raised the card. ¡°It¡¯s the five of Diamonds¡± Mari lowered the card as she put them to one side on one of the monitoring desks. ¡°Yeah there all right only I don¡¯t get why you never got any hearts no matter how much I shuffle the deck.¡±

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Asuka lay back flicking through the manga using as single claw to turn the pages. ¡°Why does that even matter?¡± Mari eyed the cards which Shinji had taken and was looking through. ¡°I don¡¯t know it¡¯s just weird as normal when I shuffle I normally get a heart.¡± Asuka eyed the AT field shield. ¡°Must be me affecting them then in that¡¯s the case.¡± She turned lowering her tail putting down the manga as she felt a feeling take over that could only be described as awful like wanting to be sick. ¡°Maybe I should lie down, I don¡¯t feel so good.¡±

    Ritsuko¡¯s voice suddenly hit her ears. ¡°Asuka did you just say you don¡¯t feel so good?¡±

    Asuka looked up slightly. ¡°Yes I don¡¯t feel good.¡±

    Ritsuko¡¯s voice hit the air again. ¡°Tell me everything that you¡¯re feeling?¡±

    Asuka was about to reply only to feel a sudden stabbing pain hit her, which caused her to stand up as she roared in pain it was like being shot by a bullet and it was pure agony only to feel a second bullet like pain follow. She turned as the danger alarms suddenly went off which sounded nothing like the angel alarms they sounded instead like world war two sirens.

    She looked down at the wound on her stomach only to watch as Rei was suddenly on her knees in pure agony holding her head as everything from the other room ran in and pushed Shinji and the others to safety. ¡°What the¡­¡± Her next words were cut of as the stomach wound opened violently as black liquid, which wasn¡¯t blood leaked out it was more like black tar.

    Rei turned it had been fine but once Asuka¡¯s pain had started she had felt it like it was her own and it felt like she¡¯d just been shot not once but twice. She looked up in horror as her girlfriends roars of pain came again only for smoke and blackness to fly out of the liquid filling the room. The smell of rotting flesh hit her even though the glass as the whole place plunged in to darkness, so much so that she couldn¡¯t see any one.

    Only for all the lights to come back on accept in the now darkened room which was still swirling in smoke. She could see everyone in the room now including her father. Shinji and the others had been moved out of the lab and through the decontamination doorway. She looked up realizing she could no longer hear Asuka¡¯s thoughts all she could feel was that chilling sensation down her spine that felt like someone was walking on her grave.

    Ritsuko walked forward hearing the sudden bang of something inside as heavy sounding hooves hit the floor. Maya moved to black lab panel opposite bringing up the holographic screen as Shinji and others were put on the walkway which instantly rose up so they could get to the balcony and to safety and at a very safe distance. ¡°We know you¡¯re in there now show yourself.¡±

    The next moments caught her by surprise as the table in the room was launched at the AT field shield only to smash in half on hitting it. A dark voice spoke it was like Asuka¡¯s but much younger sounding. ¡°Shut the fuck up! No one makes demands of me!¡±

    She watched in surprise as Dante stepped back clearly showing fear as he recognised this voice. The smog slowly cleared and the light came back on fully in Asuka¡¯s room as a huge eight foot tall being came in to view.

    Its huge horns towered over its head and matched those of a Nubian Ibex. The face was strange as it looked almost wolf as it had wolf like ears but the nostrils were goat like. The long wolf like jaws were filled with crooked teeth and the face was covered in black fur.

    Huge arms hung down with long fingers which were over extended with ultra-long claws. Its huge feet had massive goat like hooves which were bloody and it had the same black fur all over its body along with a long wolf like tail.

    She could see human like breasts as well as huge bat like wings on either side which were stretched and opened out fully. The strangest thing though was the huge thick mane of fur on its head in between the horns, it was a much lighter and orange in colour than Asuka¡¯s own red hair and it went all the way down the beings whole back right down to its tail end.

    The creature¡¯s single eye was glowing black with red circles of colour while the other side was a skull like feature with an empty socket. She turned seeing Rei show real fear as the creature looked at her as she backed right up in to the corner of the other room, wanting to get as far away from this thing as possible.

    She turned back to the creature as it started to drool finally feeling the need to speak ignoring everyone¡¯s utter shock in the room. ¡°Destroyer of worlds I presume.¡± The creature eyed her. ¡°Wow things really never change do they? You somehow still exist let me guess in this world your still sucking the Commanders cock hoping to crawl up some power ladder you can never reach.¡±

    Misato watched as Ritsuko blinked in surprise Asuka had said those same words once before but her context had been very different and she didn¡¯t even know if this being meant them or if she was purely imitating. ¡°What are you?¡± The creature looked at her moving closer knowing it was towered over everyone. ¡°I have nothing to say to you¡­your Kaji¡¯s whore!¡±

    Misato raised her hand only for Ritsuko to stop her giving her an annoyed look as she spoke eyeing Kaji. ¡°Don¡¯t react she¡¯s baiting you, Dante told me personally that she would do this.¡± The creature moved eyeing the leaders and bridge crew. ¡°Let¡¯s see the false demi god, the traitor to Yui. The spy who loves being shot, the lesbian dyke and the other useless asexual loner and the woman who isn¡¯t one, just looks like one.¡±

    Its gaze drifted upwards to the high balcony above. ¡°Shinji¡¯s faggot Kaworu Toji the idiot jock strap, who can¡¯t tell his dick from his face, Shinji the worthless fucking coward. The other I don¡¯t recognise. Oh no wait yes I do though in my time line you wanted Yui badly your that pathetic bitch Mari, wow you really got aged down.¡±

    Maya turned sharply looking at everyone as her holographic screen brought up data. ¡°These are really outdated insults, in our culture they went out of fashion around the sixties and there no longer used in polite sociality anymore.¡± Ritsuko looked at the monster. ¡°Can you tell what that fucking thing is right now?!¡±

    Maya carried on typing as the others took to the desks accept Misato, Kaji and Gendo. ¡°It¡¯s not coming up in our data bases.¡± Kaworu¡¯s angry voice suddenly hit the air. ¡°The night before this happened to me. I saw that thing in my dream, I thought it was a dream it said it wasn¡¯t Pan or Kallikantzaros!¡±

    The monster looked at him its long forked snake like tongue coming out as it laughed clearly enjoying his anger. ¡°How does it feel to be what you really are angel queer boy¡­enjoying it?¡± It raised its clawed hand pointing with a long finger. ¡°That¡¯s what you get for taking Shinji from me yet again in this world. Because my weak pathetic other self-let him go yet again¡­because she¡¯s fucking stupid.¡±

    Misato breathed in instantly noticing that this thing was swearing in Japanese and not in German. ¡°Are you always this pleasant?¡± The monster turned eyeing her in disgust. ¡°You should watch your tongue because if I get out of here I might rip out your guts and eat them in front you, you narrow minded fucking bitch.¡±

    It paused. ¡°It would be justice for what you did to me in the past.¡± Kaji spoke coldly. ¡°What did she do to you?¡± The monster eyed him for a long moment. ¡°She had a choice Shinji¡¯s operation or mine after Bardiel. She chose his¡­.meaning I was crippled for the rest of my fucking life and had to use a cane to walk around because they didn¡¯t fix my spines nerve endings right, causing me constant and never ending pain as if losing my left eye and having a crippled leg wasn¡¯t enough.¡±

    Kaji blinked in shock remember the brain read out which was not their Asuka¡¯s. ¡°That¡¯s very unfair that your world did that to you.¡± The creature¡¯s good eye narrowed as it sneered. ¡°I don¡¯t want your fucking pity¡­it means nothing to me¡­all that matters to me is I exist again and your feeble attempts to put me back in the bottle have come to nothing.¡±

    It raised a clawed finger. ¡°Though maybe I should thank my bisexual idiot counterpart for that since she just had to get that tail fuck going with her loser human Rei.¡± She breathed in deeply. ¡°Which was disgusting by the way but I guess I should be grateful.¡± Misato folded her arms eyeing the monster in disgust. ¡°We know who she is and she¡¯s good what are you I don¡¯t even know¡­you¡¯re like nothing we¡¯ve ever seen.¡±

    Sumire turned sharply. ¡°I know what she is she¡¯s Baphomet! It¡¯s this lesser known demonic god in Christianity she represents the union of opposing forces and can appear as ether male or female or a mix of both and be intersex.¡±

    She watched as an image came up on screen with more information. ¡°King Philip IV of France tried to use this demon by saying that the male and female knights Templar were using it commit acts of homosexuality and lesbianism but this fell through because no one cared for his homophobia at the time. The Pope of Rome stepped in to protect them as they have always served in the Vatican and still do even to this day as guards to the Pope whether they are male or female.¡±

    Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°I see so she¡¯s basically the embodiment of all that¡¯s evil.¡± The demon raised its clawed hands. ¡°Well at least I¡¯m not a Nazi, you do have those in your world right?¡± Maya blinked in confusion. ¡°I don¡¯t know what she means by Nazi that word is not even in our data base it¡¯s not coming up in any of our searches.¡±

    Dante breathed in deeply. ¡°She¡¯s is speaking of a villainous group not from your cycle but another one the Seele six ensured wouldn¡¯t come around again.¡± The demon turned to him as it spoke coldly. ¡°Let me guess you didn¡¯t stop the First or Second World War though did you?¡± Dante moved a step closer. ¡°No¡­we didn¡¯t, another two new wars just rose in their place.¡±

    The demon looked at him for a long moment. ¡°Why does it not surprise me that you¡¯re meddling with time? That¡¯s so like you Dante you always did like moving golf posts, clearly you just forgot the golden rule.¡± She paused. ¡°Humanity is fucking vile, it fights kills murders, rapes and nothing you ever do changes anything."

    The hooves tapped as she turned slightly. ¡°You can change a world¡¯s face but the reality is it¡¯s still the same shitty humanity underneath¡­.same wrapper wrapping the same vile shit¡­what a way to waste your life Dante¡­clearly growing a conscience has made you soft.¡± Dante put his gloved hands behind his back as he spoke. ¡°Much has changed since your time Shikinami you and Rei Rokubungi, are both out of space and time.¡±

    Asuka raised a clawed finger. ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh with your bullshit¡­you think my coming back was an accident or something? It wasn¡¯t I wanted this all along you were just too stupid to realize the bigger picture.¡± Dante eyed the pulsing AT field shield. ¡°And that¡¯s why we are keeping you in this place to protect others. Because unlike your newer self who can be reasoned with you can¡¯t which brings me to my next question¡­and I think you know what that is.¡±

    Asuka¡¯s good eyed narrowed. ¡°Oh you want to know what I did to the people on the air-ship¡­.oh how cute¡­well here¡¯s the thing. I eat their souls there still screaming in my stomach right now¡­yes I could have turned them back to LCL but what¡¯s the fun in that? They¡¯ll be a time when I will need them and you won¡¯t be able to stop me. You see the soft loser you call your Asuka wanted out she didn¡¯t care how...and I did the job for her she just wanted to use her form to bust the deck and swim away with her pathetic human Rei¡±

    She looked in to the other cell pointing a clawed finger to the human looking Rei. ¡°That¡¯s her biggest weakness she keeps swinging herself to that woman¡¯s deference it¡¯s beyond pathetic.¡± Dante breathed in deeply shaking his head. ¡°You should humour me then as to why you did the same¡­she was your godly vice the thing you used to become a death god. You let the merge happen with Lilith thus bringing about all our ends¡­.¡±

    He breathed in sharply. ¡°But that¡¯s very typical of you isn¡¯t it Shikinami? You hate people but you would openly suck up to them if they for filled a certain desire you liked. You gave her sex at the end of it all while berating and saying you hated her in human instrumentality, being her lover and abuser when all she ever did was love you and desire you.¡±

    He paused seeing the anger in her good eye. ¡°Mock your other self all you wish but in this world we will always think better of her than you, since she wouldn¡¯t stoop that low.¡± Asuka eyed him in utter disgust. ¡°So is this why you created this equal gender world this time around, did you want it to fairer?¡±

    Dante breathed in sadly he had memories of their last world and how unfair it could be on women and minorities because Keel just loved his ethics that men were rulers and women were baby makers. A rhetoric he had long abounded as had the other five as for the first time they could pick their genders and not be forced down Keel¡¯s narrow minded path. ¡°No we just nudged here and there but this world wanted to be this way ultimately.¡±

    The black eye with its glowing red circles narrowed. ¡°How nice it is then that my pathetic other half gets to share in those glorious rewards but they were denied to me. Shinji was always considered vastly superior to me just for the fact he had a dick. Men cooed over his exploits despite his lack of training, while myself and Rei got shelved always playing his defence.¡±

    She felt a sneer form. ¡°But in the end he failed and I had to pick up the pieces and trust me I enjoyed betraying you all and I¡¯ll enjoy it this time your fairer world won¡¯t change my desire to destroy it.¡± Dante looked at her for a long moment. ¡°Don¡¯t you ever get tired of just hating everyone and being angry while riding this avenging warhorse of yours in to the ground?¡±

    Asuka laughed but it was an ice cold laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t you ever get tired of realizing that everything you thought was one thing might be another and like Keel you¡¯re just not smart enough to see it?¡± She raised a clawed hand. ¡°Because trust me I moved a piece in the puzzle just for kicks and you still have not figured it out. You still believe the thirteenth member is dead¡­what a fucking idiot you and Keel are.¡±

    Dante looked up sharply. ¡°They are dead you killed him them, we all watched you do it!¡± Asuka gave him a cold smile. ¡°It¡¯s funny how you can¡¯t seem to distinguish what you see and hear to reality clearly being a demi god is so limiting.¡± Dante breathed in deeply realizing that she was clearly trying to bait him because she loved conflict. ¡°You just love conflict nothing¡¯s changed we all know you get off on it, it¡¯s your biggest weakness.¡±

    Asuka out stretched her huge wings before folding them slightly. ¡°And clearly learning card tricks and illusions was never one of yours Dante.¡± Dante turned holding none of his anger back. ¡°Turn up the AT field shield to the max, I want this bitch back in her bottle!¡±

    Asuka sniggered. ¡°Oh please you think your room can make me go away Dante¡­I dare you to try it¡­let me see if you¡¯re a real man in this cycle or if you¡¯re the same asshole with a tiny dick that you were last time we met!¡±

    She let out a roar which was awful it was like an ear splitting screech and it was enough to make everyone but Dante clutch their ears in agony. She stopped turning to spit at the shield before speaking again. ¡°You and the five are gutless and spineless and at the end of it all I¡¯m gonna enjoy eating every one of you whole and alive the way I did Keel. Let¡¯s see how you like swimming around in battery acid for a fucking eternity you piece of shit demi god!¡±

    Dante turned not thinking as he pulled up his hand to Ritsuko¡¯s holographic console causing all the power buttons to instantly max out. ¡°Go back to hell Asuka you¡¯re not even a good looking Baphomet, your form lacks merit!¡± The demon looked at him her good eye narrowing only for the pain to suddenly start showing as the huge wings started to shake.

    The monstrous long fingers suddenly went to its ear on one side as her other clawed hand came up in a lightning fast motion in his direction as white hot fire came out from it hitting the AT field shield causing it to flex and bend but not buckle. Its many layers holding refusing to break as her screeching roar came again which was worse than anything unit 04 could put out.

    He eyed her watching as the effects hit in and the fire stopped as her clawed hand went to her other ear. Ritsuko¡¯s voice hit the air filled with panic. ¡°We can¡¯t maintain this!¡± Dante eyed her. ¡°Yes we can, the four S<sup>2 </sup>engines just need a moment to adjust!¡± He watched as the demon bent down it form was starting to shake and shudder as parts of it turned to black liquid like it was melting. ¡°It just needs to hold for a few more seconds!¡±

    He watched as black tar like liquid suddenly blasted everywhere like a bomb going off only for it to start moving drawing back leaving black bloody stains everywhere. He turned seeing Rei suddenly clutch her stomach in pain which meant it was working. The Asuka they knew was about to return. He watched as the were-tiger body started to appear as the black tar funnelled back in to the stomach wound. He could now see a bullet wound at the stomach wounds centre which all the tar was leaking back in to.

    He raised his hand seeing the last of slide inside as the bullet wound which closed up leaving unhealthy unhealed flesh. ¡°Lower the power and the shield completely on Asuka¡¯s side.¡± Ritsuko looked at him with uncertainty but did as she was told.

    He walked up watching as the pain ended and Rei sat on the floor looking utterly confused. He moved seeing the huge were-tiger¡¯s body lying on the floor laying still its huge clawed hands spread out the eyes were closed though. He walked in side easing the collar out of his suit as he kneeled down adjusting his glasses visor as he moved a hand through the thick mane. ¡°Asuka Langley Soryu.¡±

    He moved his hand tapping it against the jaws not caring that the huge canines were close. ¡°It time to wake up.¡± Asuka suddenly groaned as her huge body started to move as she opened both eyes the left igniting while the blue also lit up with light. ¡°Would I be right to say that the thing you felt before the ugly side came through was the sensation of being shot with a gun?¡± Asuka painfully got in a cat like position as she sat up looking at him. ¡°Yes¡­twice.¡±

    Dante eased up the collar. ¡°She was reliving the shots that led to her death through you.¡± He eyed the collar. ¡°This is called the Ark of the Covenant it will liberate you from her influence and suppress it.¡± He paused. ¡°I ask that you put this on of your own free will, though I confess it will take this form away from you and your current connection to Rei but in doing so it will also heal you until we can heal you for good. It¡¯s clear those who did this to you, did not do it correctly for if they had the demon would be out now completely.¡±

    Rei turned looking at them as spoke. ¡°It¡¯s not fair that she has to wear that it should be me since we are connected.¡± Dante watched as Asuka took the collar as he walked out calmly moving his hand once more causing the shield to come back up as he turned to Rei. ¡°Sadly it would have no effect on you Rei you¡¯re a symptom not the cause.¡±

    Asuka stood up fully up staring at the strange collar. ¡°So I just put this on?¡±

    Dante nodded. ¡°By your own free will...¡±

    Asuka looked at the collar this was best for everyone it was to keep them all safe including Rei and yet it made her sad that once again and for the second time in her life she was causing trouble not due to herself but for something with in her. First Bardiel now this monsters self which had come back and unlike the last time this had happened her memories had not been blacked out it was like her alter ego had shown it all to her for dark kicks and to show her power over her and it had been awful.

    Kaworu¡¯s voice suddenly hit the air speaking calmly and gently. ¡°Asuka no sin is beyond redemption. There is always hope.¡± She turned looking in his direction knowing he was right though his sin reference was not to her directly but her other self as she was clearly the redemption half. Rei¡¯s voice hit the air though filled with pain. ¡°But this just isn¡¯t fair why should she suffer because her other half is an utterly vile when all she¡¯s ever done in her later life is try to right her wrongs.¡±

    Asuka looked at the collar feeling it ease open as she pulled it open fully seeing that it could change size to fit. She turned to Rei feeling a sad smile form. ¡°It¡¯s okay Rei I want to do this it¡¯s what¡¯s best for everyone and it separates me from her.¡±

    She raised the collar watching as glowing red writing appeared on it which was clearly ancient paleo-Hebrew her gut told her that even though she couldn¡¯t read it. ¡°I know how to sacrifice.¡±

    She eased the collar up only to watch as it writing glowed even brighter as it started to change. She swept her other clawed hand across the room burning away the bloody marks and repairing the broken table as well as swinging everything in the room that had been knocked back in to place so it was all perfect, untouched and undamaged. ¡°I never wanted to be god anyway¡­.godly power is meant for the gods in there heavens.¡±

    The collars let out white light as it snapped on attaching to her furry neck its writing still changing over and over she ignored the intense pain as she leaned down only for everything to blast in to white light as she hit the floor on her knees in human form. The camera that had been following her all this time stopped as lens slowly shut down as it powered down. There was a slight pain as the collar fully tightened around her normal neck.

    Dante watched as she got up straightened her leather jacket as the glowing red words turned to white as they faded away as she sat down on the rooms chair the clear exhaustion showing on her face as her left eye went back to its normal neon blue glowing state. ¡°Your very brave Langley Soryu and very noble.¡±

    Asuka looked at him. ¡°I¡¯m just doing what is needed because its right and I always clean up my own mess.¡± She paused. ¡°Plus you didn¡¯t trick me or betray me, that is the reason why we are still talking.¡± Misato breathed out heavily as she turned to Ritsuko. ¡°Please tell me again how our Asuka is so bad?!¡±

    She could see the conflicted and uncertainty in the other woman¡¯s eye as she seemed unsure on how to even reply to this comment. ¡°Destroyer of worlds or not our version is a saint compared to that fucking vile disgusting monster!¡±

    End of part 50

    Silvermoonlight

 A Broken And Saddening Vision

    A BROKEN AND SADDENING VISION

    Fear crippling fear. The type you have trouble breathing and where you¡¯re whole body shakes and you wish you were anywhere else but where you are. Your powerless yet in this dream which I¡¯m not part of that¡¯s what I feel as I watch a limping version of myself run across the bridge towards the lift sections that leads to the Evangelion bay.

    I can also see Misato body lying close by though she dead her eyes are wide open as the stare in to nothing there¡¯s blood all over the floor. Her insides are platters all over the floor, she was trying to get my other self to the lift to help Shinji and she was just gunned down by five members of the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force.

    This confuses me maybe because these people in my world are set up to defend Nerv at all costs. Yet in this memory which is not my own they are attacking us. I watch as one man smirks as he loads his gun pointing it at the younger version of my-self who I can see very clearly now in human form. She has a patch on her left eye and it¡¯s not much different to mine.

    I can see her clear limp in the right leg which scuffs as she walks on it. Because the bone was never set right hence it causes her intense pain all the time, along with her badly fixed spine injury. She has to walk with a red and silver metal walking stick. One thing really stands out to me now is that we don¡¯t have the same colour hers has a much lighter gold hue whereas mine is red as fire.

    Maybe now I see who I was. Maybe the red fire makes sense now, my soul was reborn from the fires of hated and malice. Maybe it being red was my sign of sleeping godhood and a stark reminder of who I was lest the demi gods ever forgot. I see the army men and women laughing they think this is a fun joke. As she has a disability therefore she¡¯s weaker and comes off pathetic to them hence there not running as they can easily catch up on her.

    It¡¯s like watching a jumped up predator playing with its food, it¡¯s disgusting and just not how you kill someone if you¡¯re going to. They just want to get the maximum fear out of her, as she tries to desperately to run across the bridge which is so rusted and old and falling apart. It¡¯s like nothing is maintained here.

    The first man walks forward casually as the other laugh, as he raises his pistol. ¡°Nothing personal you crippled little brat.¡± He smirked at the others as she tries to move faster. ¡°But you gotta die.¡± I flitch as I hear one gunshot going off followed by another watching as it hits her as she¡¯s turning around sending her crashing to the ground. She breathes out painfully putting her hand to her now bleeding stomach.

    Even though the red plug suit its bleeding out I know from Bardiel that the easiest point of attack on the suit is the stomach, it¡¯s a just a sad reality. I watch as he walks forward to where she lying in agony. He kneels down yanking the patch of her face. ¡°Plus you¡¯re an ugly handy-capped looking piece of shit, killing you will be a public service to humanity. As Nerv should have put down ages ago...¡±

    It¡¯s funny I¡¯ve got a large scar on my face it goes through my eye brow through my eye and down to my cheek and yet I have also been called these things. Yet they were from two stupid kids, in a miniature vertical wing it¡¯s so odd how I can see our paths crossing in different ways.

    I watch as he starts kicking her as the men and women carry on laughing it¡¯s so sad. Then I hear a creaking sound from above. They look up in shock as a whole massive on fire section of walk way comes down on to the bridge smashing it in half as it kills all the people in the middle of the bridge.

    Misato¡¯s dead body which is at the far end falls in to the red water below and the man who was kicking her is set alight by the flames which move of him and on to her. As he stumbles, as he tries to put himself out his screams of pain filling the air along with the smell of burning flesh.

    I see her face burning as well as her shoulder arm and hand. She puts herself out by frantically rolling finally putting it out the flames, I see the sudden sadistic look appears in her good eye as she watches him screaming in agony but does nothing, instead she just watches taking drinking in every second of his pain. Oh she could end it, even though her right arm and hand are burnt she could use her good leg to shove him off in to the red water below but she¡¯s choosing not to.

    I can also see that part of her face is now badly burnt  I can see her gums and teeth as her lip has been burnt away while stripping the empty eye socket to bone all are third degree burns due to the intense heat. The man finally falls in to the red water bellow finally dying, she watches him fall then uses her metal walking stick to punt his gun out of the way as she gets up again dragging herself painfully towards the lift to the Evangelion bay, knowing she¡¯ll die soon herself and fearing death as it comes for her.

    So this was her death and this is why every time we switch over the sensation of being shot more than once hits me. Because we were both wounded in the stomach mine was ripped open and my intestines pulled out, while she took a gun shot twice from a pistol at point blank range and can¡¯t let go of the bad feelings it gives her, therefore it¡¯s become easier for her to hate than to love.

    The memory suddenly slowly starts to fade away in a sand storm fashion as I watch the huge demon smash its clawed hand in to a young boy sending him flying so hard that he hits the ships metal and is knocked out instantly. I can see Rei standing far off from it, no wait that¡¯s not Rei I can see light blue hair and red pure glowing eyes as well as white skin. She looks down at demon speaking in a weak voice that sounds younger and is filled with fear and uncertainty. ¡°Was all this really necessary?¡±

    I look at the demons feet which are swimming in red blood as it turns to her speaking coldly. ¡°Oh go fuck yourself Rei.¡± The huge hoofed feet waded through the blood. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in listening to your shit about humanity just because you like them and pity them.¡± The demon turned raising her clawed hand. ¡°Yes the escape pods are here.¡±

    She raises her other clawed hand as a sadistic smile forming. ¡°That¡¯s the S<sup>2 </sup>engine; I can feel it¡­guess that needs to go. I should blow out the engine part that controls it.¡± I watch as the whole of deck above is blown to bits as fire blasts outwards as the demon rips the wall apart revealing an escape pod. I watch as she turns to look at Rei who has covered her body with some type of AT field as she walks though the fire untouched as she moves the boy to safety, so he can¡¯t be burnt.

    The demon sneered slightly as she puts the young boy down so he¡¯s unharmed. ¡°Get in loser¡­we are getting out of here.¡± Rei looks at her confused. ¡°You¡¯re saving me, why?¡± The demon eyed her as it spoke coldly. ¡°I screwed you once, call it an old times sake favour but it changes nothing between us. Once we get back to Nerv, I¡¯m going to do what I¡¯m destining to do.¡± So that¡¯s how I got out!

    She hijacked my body and somehow it caused the other Rei to come out and hijack my Rei¡¯s body. What a twisted gefickt up way to escape¡­I also hate how she clearly berates and bullies her Rei, it¡¯s like watching the younger me but so much worse because she has no compassion or love it¡¯s all gone.

    But maybe what I¡¯m seeing is her memories and the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back. This was being shot at close range and being beaten while wounded along with being seriously burnt. She must have died in pure agony when she finally did die. I don¡¯t know what to think, my feelings are so mixed right now I¡¯m not even sure why I¡¯m in her memories.

    Asuka turned as everything faded to darkness and she realized she was in her were-tiger form as dark voice spoke in her mind. ¡°Get out of my memories you fucking whore!¡± Asuka turned seeing the flames suddenly blast upwards and outwards in the darkness as the huge demon walked out of them. The next moments turned to agonizing pain as the huge clawed hand came out smashing in to her furry chest sending her flying backwards.

    The next moment turned to utter confusion as her eyes snapped her eyes open as she realizing where she put her hand on her chest feeling her eyes dart. Stupid verfickte dream that hurt. I can feel pain in chest like my chest hurts and I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s physical or emotional. She looked around her realizing that there was a suited pair of legs and really expensive shoes.

    She looked up realizing that Ritsuko was standing over her looking very concerned. ¡°Why are you verfickte here?¡± Ritsuko turned looking at the now open door on Rei¡¯s side which led in to other area Rei had gone thought to it but Asuka had not moved or shifted. She¡¯d watched as red writing had appeared on her collar while she was sleeping.

    She had come in here to wake her up personally only for her to not wake up no matter how loud her voice was. Only for her to then suddenly vault awake now as it as clearly a nightmare she was having. ¡°Dante wanted me to check the collar as it can be very difficult to deal with when you first put it on, as your memories can collide with your other selves.¡±

    Asuka looked at her for a long moment watching as she pulled up a chair sitting her-self opposite the sofa which she was lying on though her expression looked utterly conflicted, as she spoke. ¡°What did you dream about? It was clear you were having a nightmare, Rei said she could tell by how you were gripping the sofa?¡±

    Asuka sat up slightly ignoring the dull pain in her chest as she spoke seeing no reason to lie. ¡°I dreamed of my death.¡± Ritsuko looked at her for a long moment watching in surprise as thick stand on Asuka hair turned from red to a golden colour Dante had said that might happen and it was the other half trying to punch through since her power had been repressed. ¡°How did you die?¡± Asuka breathed in annoyance. ¡°My other self-told you she was shot.¡±

    Ritsuko looked up. ¡°Yes she told us that but I want your more honest version, not her hate filled rhetoric.¡± Asuka rubbed her chest slightly. ¡°Shot twice beaten up and then being burned by flames and white hot steel which burnt her eye socket, arm and hand, she was a dead woman walking and she knew it¡­it¡¯s the moment that changed her from disliking to hating humanity outright because they had caused her so much pain and suffering.¡±

    She looked at her hand not really knowing why she was saying this to this woman now who had never liked her, maybe because it was a lot to take in. Strangely it hurt even though they weren¡¯t her emotions and because she knew Rei was already suffering and she just didn¡¯t want to unload any more on to her. ¡°It¡¯s strange to see yourself die¡­to know who you once were. To know that you¡¯re a monster and tyrant and that you brought so much pain. She even wears that demonic form to shadow her human face because she hates herself¡­and yet she sexualizes it to be an adult because she wants my adult body.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    She breathed in painfully. ¡°Yet the knowing that this is my destiny that I was born a living god is the worst thing to know and now I get why the Seele six kept the truth from us, because the pain of knowing is far worse than the pain of living.¡± Ritsuko looked at her sadly. ¡°My-self and my husband know your burden¡­Seele forced us to see ourselves not everything just snippets¡­they hoped that we would better ourselves.¡±

    Asuka laughed but it was a sad laugh even to her own ears as she looked around her making sure no one was in the room. She couldn¡¯t see anyone and Rei was not in her room which meant she was on the other side in the secondary room and couldn¡¯t hear what was going on in there. ¡°Then you know that I know that you¡¯re lying to the others one cycle has not passed, it has been twenty¡­.¡±

    She leaned forward speaking in a sharp whisper. ¡°I also remember the god Rei¡­not my Rei but the other who shapes and moulds this world to her will, who watches over us all.¡± Ritsuko breathed in deeply knowing there was no point in lying or denying. This was the price of Asuka¡¯s birth as a living god she could recount in perfect detail the collar did not supress that because it was from her and not her other self. ¡°Then you know the sad truth myself and my husband carry.¡±

    She put her hands together. ¡°Do you fear that the god Rei is coming for you¡­since you are now a god?¡± Asuka leaned back on the sofa. ¡°No I don¡¯t fear her, because her destiny is not to meet me next it¡¯s to meet my lover she told me so.¡±

    She raised her hand looking at it. ¡°But even as a god I cannot see my own destiny. I can¡¯t see yours or my girlfriends; I guess I¡¯m not that kind of god. Maybe that¡¯s because the god Rei exists and see¡¯s all and we cannot occupy each other¡¯s space and destiny.¡±

    She closed her hand making a fist. ¡°She is the god of order, space and time, which means I¡¯m a god of something else and we can¡¯t overlap each other despite our powers.¡± Ritsuko breathed in deeply. ¡°I guess time will tell then what will become of our fates since the Seele and its counterpart who became Ouroboros cannot see ahead anymore, apparently your forma stripped them all of that power since they¡¯d done nothing but abuse it over the many cycles.¡±

    Asuka looked up slightly she wanted to be surprised by that but somehow she wasn¡¯t. ¡°Maybe I gave that then to the god Rei, hence why she can see everything.¡± She paused. ¡°So knowing this I have to ask why are we even having this conversation, are you suddenly having regrets in how you viewed me all these years?¡± Ritsuko stood up pushing the chair back. ¡°No¡­.I was just curious¡­Dante wants you looked after.¡±

    Asuka moved her hand to the table top picking up two statuettes pressing hard watching as red light burst through her hand. She breathed in putting them in front of Ritsuko ignoring her surprise. ¡°Don¡¯t worry it was a small piece of power left over from this repression collar.¡±

    She moved the two little black and white cat figurines closer to her as she stood up watching as she leaned over picking them up staring at them in shock. ¡°Call it a thank you for listening then even though you hate me¡­.¡± She paused turning towards the wall. ¡°You can open this now I know there is another room through there some kind of dining area and visitor area.¡±

    Ritsuko looked at her for a long moment once again she was so unsure of what to say as she snapped out of her haze. ¡°Yes it has food and a cooking area and your friends and family can visit you.¡± Asuka looked down sadly. ¡°Have you told my grandma everything about what is going on?¡±

    Ritsuko turned to her. ¡°No, despite that she wanted to visit we had to say you¡¯re not ready yet.¡± Asuka looked at hand. ¡°Please don¡¯t let her know the truth¡­I don¡¯t want her to know I destroyed humanity once and that I was verfickte monster, who killed thousands and eat people alive.¡±

    8

    Dante watched as Ritsuko came inside the room slamming the door behind her. She sat down on the chair opposite staring at the holographic screens which were now watching what Asuka and Rei were doing in the visor area and cooking section. As they could both now move freely between this and AT field rooms whose shields had been now stretched since the two of the four engines could be moved, as they weren¡¯t stationary they ran on a tracks above the rooms.

    He watched as she put two small statuettes on the table staring at them intensely as the deeply conflicted look remained on her face. ¡°That¡¯s the thing with gods, they get to you, it¡¯s like they peel away and get under your skin so easily and even as a demi gods we cannot see in to them fully as they are superior to us.¡±

    Ritsuko looked up slightly. ¡°What is she the god of?¡± Dante moved over to her sitting down opposite. ¡°You mean our Asuka, not her counterpart?¡± Ritsuko breathed in deeply. ¡°Yes ours¡­she¡¯s clearly not a death god since she can repair furniture and stitch and heal wounds.¡±

    Dante adjusted his visor slightly. ¡°We think she¡¯s the embodiment of honour and war, it¡¯s why we really don¡¯t want her counterpart taking over as she will have that power. Right now she doesn¡¯t have it, but if the transition were to complete she would gain all of our versions power including full control of her body.¡±

    Ritsuko picked up the white cat figurer looking at it. ¡°You know I had these cat figures in my teens¡­my mom brought them for me but in college they were stolen.¡± She put the cat down picking up its black counterpart. ¡°I could never get them again they were a limited edition. Yet she just took the two Chinese shishi and turned them in to this.¡± She put both cats side by side. ¡°She couldn¡¯t read my mind the collar suppresses that so how did she know, I never told her I liked cats?¡±

    Dante ran a hand through his beard. ¡°Because she¡¯s Nekomata that¡¯s the form she takes that¡¯s suits her, even though she embodies all the war god traits¡­maybe the reality is you¡¯re not so different.¡±

    Ritsuko felt a cold sneer form. ¡°We are nothing alike!¡±

    Dante adjusted a visor. ¡°Really, then why is it deep down you desire to get some cats, but you won¡¯t tell your husband so?¡±

    Ritsuko leaned forward. ¡°Get out of my mind Dante¡­.its fucking rude when you do that.¡±

    Dante adjusted his visor again. ¡°I¡¯m merely stating a truth you deny yourself, but you have never seen eye to eye with me, because I showed the truth of your past life failings to set you on a better path.¡±

    He raised a red gloved hand. ¡°Which you have done as you no longer follow your mother¡¯s path and assume it¡¯s your own fate.¡±

    Ritsuko looked at him for a long moment as she spoke coldly. ¡°Yet you still refuse to show me how I died in my past life.¡±

    Dante put his hands together. ¡°Were you hoping that she would tell you, is that why you had that conversation with her just now?¡±

    Ritsuko looked at him for a long moment. ¡°Maybe I did, why does that anger you or piss you off?¡±

    Dante shook his head as a sly smile spread across his lips. ¡°Hardly, I just found it curious as you¡¯ve never liked Asuka, but then I know why that is and so do you. Her face is the same as her mothers and you just can¡¯t let go of that betrayal, even though it¡¯s been years.¡± He paused. ¡°I¡¯m only here to guild you and your husband but I will say this¡­you should let go off that they are just not the same person and one day fate might force you to change your perspective.¡±

    Ritsuko looked at him in disgust. ¡°Please spear me, you can¡¯t see in to the future anymore.¡± Dante stood up adjusting his suit. ¡°Just because I can¡¯t see does not mean I can¡¯t sense¡­after all I used to worship Keel I once acted as his second as he destroyed the world with every cycle and I believed his view was that it was right to repeat over and over. Because with every repeat we became more and more powerful and it became utter obsession.¡±

    He looked up sadly. ¡°We all lost sight of everything though we became addicts to instrumentality and we paid the price so highly in the end¡­and like us you need to reform this problem or you might face the same. Your other selves couldn¡¯t do it, so see it as something to aspire to.¡±

    Ritsuko watched as he left the room closing the door behind him, bastard was so full of stupid riddles, why he couldn¡¯t just be honest about anything!? She grabbed the cat figures about to throw them at the wall only to stop her-self as she closed her hands around them putting them to her chest.

    8

    They said we could see them again but in the visitor suite which is attached to the two rooms has now has its shield dropped so they could all enter. He watched as the bolted sections huge locks went back as it slowly opened. Shinji slowly walked in side watching as the others followed him in.

    He could see Asuka sitting on the sofa calmly while Rei was making something in the kitchen. ¡°Hey they said we could finally see you.¡± Rei turned sharply feeling a smile form, though Asuka didn¡¯t move in fact she didn¡¯t even open her eyes. It was clearly an after effect of the collar it was making her tired and very out of sorts.

    She moved over to Asuka shaking her shoulder slightly not getting any real reaction. ¡°Asuka...¡± Mari slowly took a seat on the sofa watching as the others did so. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± Rei looked up slightly as Kaworu, Toji and her brother seated themselves. ¡°I don¡¯t know she¡¯s just been like this since they put the collar on.¡±

    Rei watched as Mari moved her hand over to the collar. ¡°Is it broken?¡± The next moments caused intense pain as a volt of lightning came out slamming in to her fingers causing the taller woman to cry out in agony and swear something in English she couldn¡¯t quite understand. ¡°I was about to say don¡¯t touch it¡­I tried it myself¡­it¡¯s really hurt you.¡±

    Mari shook her hand in annoyance. ¡°Feels like a lightning rod¡­I can¡¯t feel my fucking fingers now.¡± Kaworu stood up as he went over eyeing the collar. ¡°The design is so unique.¡± He moved his hand forward without thinking only for nothing to happen as he ran his fingers over it, watching as the writing lit up much to everyone¡¯s shock and surprise. ¡°This is in ancient Hebrew¡­I learnt this at Nerv Ukraine.¡±

    Rei blinked as she turned the oven off where she¡¯d been cooking soup. ¡°What does it say?¡± Kaworu leaned closer. ¡°If I am I because you are you, and you are you because I am I, then I am not I and you are not you.¡± Toji watched as he pulled away. ¡°That makes no sense!¡± Kaworu breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s very curious.¡±

    Rei looked at him. ¡°I don¡¯t get how you can touch the collar but I couldn¡¯t.¡± Kaworu raised his white hand looking. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because of my condition. Clearly it¡¯s not reading you the same as me, as the version of this I once wore of this collar was DNA coded, it¡¯s why I could never get it loose. Plus it had a special key that unlocked it which my captures kept on them.¡± He eyed Asuka¡¯s collar again. ¡°Hers has no key.¡±

    Shinji looked at him. ¡°The key was by her own freewill, so it¡¯s her will that keeps its locked.¡± Mari moved over carefully opening Asuka¡¯s left eye which was in its darkened state. ¡°How curious¡­¡± Asuka¡¯s other hand suddenly came up grabbing her but not harshly as she spoke calmly as her left eye lit up. Though its blue neon and white patterns were much dimmer than normal. ¡°Please don¡¯t do that.¡±

    Mari let go of her face a wide grin forming. ¡°Ah you¡¯re awake.¡± Asuka groaned everything hurt she felt like she¡¯d been hit by a truck. ¡°I feel like scheisse¡­¡± Rei moved over filling the dish with vegetable soup she¡¯d made, it was more to Asuka German taste rather than Japanese. She walked over to her. ¡°Here eat this.¡± Asuka pulled away slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can, my stomach feels awful.¡±

    Rei moved it closer. ¡°Just trust me, you¡¯ll feel much better.¡± Asuka took it from her hand frankly she just felt ill right now. The reality was that she didn¡¯t want to offend she took it eating slowly. Rei eyed the others. ¡°Would you like some? Its western not eastern and its Asuka¡¯s recipe, there¡¯s just no meat as they didn¡¯t stock any in the fridge.¡±

    She watched as they all nodded she smiled as she pulled out more bowls filling them as she passed them around along with spoons enjoying the moment, since it felt like such a return to normality. ¡°There¡¯s plenty for seconds.¡±

    End of part 51

    Silvermoonlight