Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 25 ( Chapter 25 )

Brave heroes of the true crimson youth,
Crusade against the merciless goddess!

Clear winds that blow so strong,
That beat against my heart and soul,
Yet I see, that image inside, a man I once knew of.

Holding fast, to my truth in my mind.
Someone I hope to see again,
That is why, I'll stand and fate to carve out my own fate!

Someday they'll see those that stand
And bear the duties of all.
They will know of the legendary force
Of the Alioth Epsilon star!

A cruel goddess's
World will come to ruin!
Five shimmering youths to overcome all odds!
No matter how bad
Things may seem,
Keep hope alive and you'll see it through to the end!

So stand and fight brave warriors of Pentrine,
Shape your fates with your own hands!

 

 

"This is the first time I've ever been on a plane," Cecil said as he, Fenrir, Charybdis, and Isaac settled in for their 1st-class flight to Tokyo. The ride would take about five hours, unfortunately.

"Nothing really exciting though," Isaac commented. "The movies are bad, you can't eat the food, and the idiots in the seat in front of yours never stop speaking. I took a few flights back when I was training to be a Saint in Siberia... rather be frozen to the core than be on a flight. What about you, Fenrir?"

"Nah... I'm like Cecil," the Alioth Epsilon God Warrior stated. "Never had the chance."

"Well... it's five hours of this hellhole, more than you could ever want," Charybdis stated. She had taken a window seat, mulling over the past week or so instead of conversing with the three boys. "So be quiet or do something. I'm tired."

She closed her eyes and took a breath. Had it really only been nine days since the Mariners and Calypso?

It was hard to believe. What was worse was the fact that although Calypso was, by now, reincarnated, she might not be the same person. Reincarnations worked like that... and her own little sister that she had protected so hard for fifteen years was never coming back. Never.

But Chary still remembered those encouragements during her battle against Sigurd. Calypso and the others... Baian, Casa, Krishna, Sorrento, and Thetis, all keeping her going against a seemingly invincible enemy. And now she had three boys, all seventeen, entrusted to her. It was a step up... a large one... and she felt that her initial hostility towards Cecil and Fenrir had mostly faded. They had pulled their weight in the battles against Hilda and the other God Warriors, and it had been those two that had saved her and Isaac by stalling Thor.

And besides, with the legendary sword Gram in addition to One World... she felt ready to tackle anything.
_
The rain beat hard against the window in the office. The lights had been turned off... she had wanted it that way. Her formal prosecutor's outfit had been damped by almost an hour of continual crying, her whip she had used so often to silence unruly witnesses or defense attorneys now in her hands for a different purpose.

She couldn't do it again. Not after two whole days of humiliation in court. He was toying with her, that was the only reason the 'Not Guilty' verdict wasn't in yet. After all... he was the one responsible for Lune and Reiji... her biological and adoptive little brothers... she couldn't... she couldn't handle it anymore.

She tied her whip around a light fixture, testing the weight before fashioning a makeshift loop to put her head through. This was the only way out. She climbed up on the desk, wiping her tears away before preparing to step off to her death.

She just couldn't handle one more day in court. She couldn't stand watching another witness's testimony be stricken from the record, another piece of evidence rejected when it was all right there... she KNEW he was guilty, she knew he was the bastard who had did it!

She took a step off, all she had to do now was shift her weight onto the foot and she'd meet her death like so many others that had confronted that man in court.

"HOLD IT!"

The lights slammed on, a figure with long, dark violet hair pulling on her whip, knocking Franziska von Karma to the ground. She blinked once, trying to recognize the man. She had seen him once before, she was sure.

"Just what's going on here?!?" the man said, looking down at her before helping Von Karma up.

"I can't do it... I just want to die," she said, looking at him. She was sure they had seen him before, she just couldn't remember. "The case is down to its final day... three district attorneys have committed suicide over the course of it... Saiban's argument is airtight... more and more solid every day... I would have been the fourth... if YOU would have-"

He slapped her hard across the face before walking away. "I see... and what's the case?"

"Murder..." Franziska answered. "The only suspect has the best defense money can buy, Gyakuten Saiban... he's driven-"

"I know," the man answered, "Forty witnesses or prosecutors have either gone mad or committed suicide during or after their trials with him. As a result, Saiban has a perfect win record and never gets penalized. But not this time. Let me handle the case."

Franziska snorted. "You?!? I'm sorry but do you even know the first thing about law here in Japan?"

"Of course..." the man said as he smiled at her, "You're looking at the guy that wrote his own share of books on the subject. You're looking none other than Aiacos Higashi."

The name echoed as she looked at the man. That... that was where she'd seen and heard of him... "Higashi... you mean... the 'King of Prosecutors'?"

"None other," Aiacos said. "I had to take care of some personal matters for the last six months, but believe me... I'll handle this case."
_
"I... I didn't know you had come back..." Franziska said as she and Aiacos sat facing each other, separated only by a coffee table that had the remains of a small meal between them.

"Six months," Aiacos remarked, "I spend six months on leave a year to... pursue other duties, but I always spend the other six here."

"You know you abandoned my brothers, don't you?" she asked, looking up and smirking weakly.

"I did no such thing," Aiacos remarked. "Lune and Reiji both idolized me as a prosecutor. Lune certainly doesn't hold me any grudge, last I saw him. I went on leave here, they held down the fort here too."

"But Reiji..." Franziska spoke up again, recalling her adoptive little brother... ironically seven years older than her but initially much less mature. She paused as she said the name again, but she had long since cried her last tear over him. "Saiban broke him in court... thirty penalties in less than ten minutes and then getting a 'not guilty' verdict... I knew he was going to kill himself but I just couldn't believe it until I saw him with a knife in his heart."

"Hmm... I guess I really need to stop this now..." Aiacos stood up, not fazed at all by what she said. He checked his watch and swore under his breath. "What's the situation for the case anyways?"

"Triple homicide... the Sage kids, Genus, Raine, and Date. The only suspect is this guy..." Franziska handed an envelope from one of her pockets to Aiacos. The man in it had his hair cut short, a red shirt underneath a black suit-jacket, the hint of a stubble, and transparent, red-tinted glasses. "Gendo Ikari... president of Nerve Industries."

"The top bio-medical engineering firm in Japan... high stakes," Aiacos said. "Witnesses?"

"The only one that Saiban hasn't broken already was this guy..." she handed another picture. Aiacos opened it to see what looked to be somebody in his early thirties with a mess of jet-black hair. He wore a blue sweater, but seemed to be from the wrong side of the street. "Only reason for that, however, is he hasn't been on the stand yet. What's worse is he only has 20/40 eyesight... Saiban will home in on that right away."

"Evidence?"

"What evidence?" Franziska snorted, "Every single piece of evidence the prosecution has submitted has been completely discredited and deemed irrelevant to the case. This guy is our only shot left..."

Aiacos shook his head. "What's his name?"

"Something like Ryuuchi Takane..."

"Good enough. Fill out the paperwork for me to handle the case tomorrow... I'll get that 'guilty' verdict."

"Impossible," Franziska exclaimed. "You think you're just some sort of courageous warrior who can find the truth on his own?"

"Valiant warrior," Aiacos correctly as he walked out. "Now if you'd excuse me, I have four guests to greet at the airport. And by the way... Franziska?"

"Yes?"

"Don't kill yourself. It your brothers don't deserve to lose you."

"Like you would know?"

"Yes," Aiacos said as he turned around and looked her straight in the eye, "I do."
_
"See the Garuda Specter anywhere?" Charybdis asked Fenrir as he tried to see through the crowd.

"No... not really," Fenrir answered. "I mean... only times we saw him was when he was wearing his Surplice, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be dumb enough to show up here wearing that."

"But he would..." Isaac said as he slumped over, "Do something stupid like that..." he pointed a dozen yards to his left, with somebody holding up a cardboard sign saying "Assemble here, warriors of the gods!"

"Would he really?" Cecil asked. "Is he really that crazy?"

"Who's crazy?"

They all turned to see Aiacos there in a business suit, looking at them and then at the sign.

"Uh... nothing," Fenrir spoke up.

"Oh..." Aiacos smiled as he led them out of the airport towards a taxi. "I heard you had a rough fight... so I've arranged for a stay at a hospital for a couple of days. After that I'll give you guys tours."

"Why not tomorrow?" Charybdis asked.

"Already got my hands tied down with a case."

"Case?" the two God Warriors and Mariners asked in unison.

"Yeah... I'm a prosecutor here. Of the three Judges, I'm actually the only one with any real legal experience. Believe it or not... Minos usually spends his free six months fishing up in the Arctic circle and Radamanthys..."
_
"THERE IS NO WAY I'M GOING IN THERE!" Hagan shouted as he pointed at the dark and foreboding castle, he and Minos and the front doors.

"Why?" Minos asked incredulously as he opened the door and walked in, whistling as he made his way down a candle-lit hallway.

Hagan, still carrying the sack holding the Odin Robe, started to step away when another Casting Net by Minos grabbed him and pulled him along, another set of string gagging him.

"Sorry about all of this," Minos's voice said as Hagan looked to see him talking with two figures dressed completely in black, the first looking to be a blonde-haired man about Minos's age and looking the role of a vampire in terms of dress, save for his healthy skin complexion. The woman next to him, however, had considerably more pale skin, with dark-violet hair. "He's a little squeamish over this..."

The woman turned and walked over to Hagan and then bowed before introducing herself. "Hello. I am Pandora Tudor, wife of Radamanthys... and I'm guessing you're Hagan Sleipnir?"

Hagan, upon realizing that the strings that had bound him had vanished, stood up and bowed as well. "Yes... I... I traveled here with Minos because of this." He dumped the sack with the Odin Robe on the ground and opened it, Pandora nodding at the sight.

"Certainly a reason if ever there was one," Pandora said as she closed the bag up and began walking away, pausing when she saw Minos holding four more sacks too. "The Robes and Scales?"

"Yes," Minos answered.

"She give them trouble?" Radamanthys asked.

"Plenty, but less than I feared," Minos answered. "They're catching R&R in Japan right now... Aiacos is keeping an eye on them."

"Well then... I'll take care of those then," Pandora said as she stretched out a hand. Minos handed her the remains of the armor, and the woman nodded and began walking away.

"She seems distant at first," Radamanthys said with a grin on his face, "But it's just a mask. She's rather quite social once she gets to know you. But right now she has some armor to repair and then a Box to make."

"Box?" Hagan asked.

"It's full title, surprise surprise," Minos explained, "Is a 'Pandora Box'... it seals away the energy of armor made for a god, like the Odin Robe, except in cases where the user's life is in danger."
_
The room was dark as eight young men and woman stood at military attention, a figure wearing a red overcoat and beret walking in front of them.

"Tomorrow is the last day of the trial," the figure announced, her voice betraying her female gender, "Surprisingly, there's a new prosecutor that's leading the charge against Master Ikari. He's good... but you have your orders. Under no circumstances are any of you to reveal our hand. Correct?"

The eight nodded soundlessly.

"Good. Now be ready when the signal is given... warriors of the Orochi, Hakkkeshu."

 

A/N: I am fully aware some Evangelion fans want me dead since I'm going to demonize all but three of the Evangelion cast members that appear. That being said, I admit it was fun making Shinji end up being a complete sadomasochist and psycho… because Mr. “I'm Sorry” just gets too old too fast.