Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Heaven and Hell ❯ Lies of The Heart ( Chapter 18 )

Manga - Addicts Presents:
Heaven and Hell
Revelations 1:8 - Lies of the Heart

HTML version 16 May 2008

Neon Genesis Evangelion created by, registered, and copyrighted to GAINAX, Project EVA, Movic, and any other company and/or division associated with the creation and/or production of Neon Genesis Evangelion. A.D.Vision holds the copyrights to the English version of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

This work of fiction is not intended for any commercial purposes but was created for the entertainment of the Author and Fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

No copyright infringement was in any way intended.

Heaven and Hell written by Jino Turtlegod

M Rating. For mature readers only. Some scenes, themes, language, and situations are not suitable for younger readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Revelations 1:8 - Lies of the Heart

Within the womb of the Earth, three behemoths stood vigil before the bastion of humanity.

Blue for the First Children. She who had held the world in her hands.

Black for the Fourth Children. He who had lost almost all.

White for the Seventh Children. She whose innocence was just shattered.

Yuriko Suzuhara could feel her heart flutter in fear. People in the city above her had been swept away in a wave of destruction. And most importantly, her brother's heart had been lost in the terrorist attack.

“It comes.” The First Children stated over the comm link as she looked up to the ceiling kilometers over her head. The air distorted before the incoming wave of the AT Field. Rei's Evangelion raised its hands as if to stop the Twenty Second Angel's AT Field. Rei knew that she cannot stop the terrorists - her duty was to stop the Angel at all costs.

Yuri looked over to her brother's EVA - it was as silent as its pilot. Her brother was defenseless, no - not defenseless, rather, he didn't want to defend himself. Yuri gritted her teeth as she followed Rei's lead.

Yuri glared at the wave of AT Field as she brought up her EVA's hands.

"AT FIELD! FULL POWER!!" Yuri screamed in defiance.

Failure is not an option.

000

IN THE HEART OF TOKYO-3

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE

THE SEARCH FOR THE MESSIAH HAS BEGUN

"Misato..."

Misato blinked and looked up from computer screen on her desk. Did she really hear his voice? She gasped as she felt strong arms gently encircle her shoulders, the familiar weight and warmth of the person leaning on her.

"It's all right Misato," the familiar voice cooed soothingly. She closed her eyes as she breathed in the familiar mix of cigarette smoke, sweat, after-shave, and whiskey.

"Kaji..." she whispered his name.

"Colonel Katsuragi!"

Misato was shocked awake by the insistent shaking of her shoulder. She blinked away her sleepiness. She groggily looked up at the soldier who had woken her. "Wha-?! What is it Yamazaki?"

"We are under attack, Sir!" Lt. Takashi Yamazaki replied gravely, he didn't have his usual fox smile, and Misato could see that he had caramel eyes.

Misato nodded as she took her jacket and preceded the other officer into the corridor. Yamazaki drew his gun after Misato passed him.

000

THIRD CHILDREN: SHINJI IKARI

HE WAS GIVEN THE CHOICE TO SAVE OR DESTROY HUMANITY.

HE ABSTAINED.

The young man sat atop a ruined catwalk, his knees drawn to his chest. The metal walkway jutted at an angle out of a sea of amber liquid. The liquid stretched as far as he could see. The light that reflected off the liquid gave the area a yellow-orange tint.

"Shinji."

Shinji looked up at the anguished voice that called his name. Did he just hear her voice? Why was it filled with sadness and pain?

"Shinji."

Shinji looked around for the voice. He noticed the broken statues that jutted out of the surface of the yellow liquid. They were large, like fossilized monsters with arms stretched out as if to greet some beloved who will never return.

"Shinji."

Shinji stood up, his eyes finally freed from the yellow haze of reflected light. A gigantic white cross loomed in the distance. Shinji's eyes grew wide as he noticed the figure spread out in the middle of the cross. The figure was dwarfed by the colossal size of the cross to which it was crucified.

"Shinji."

The figure looked at him and it felt as if they were eye to eye. Sky blue to midnight blue.

Her red hair was like flame. Her naked skin was pale. And the blood that dripped from the wounds in her hands and feet were red.

Shinji's eyes were filled with fear. "ASUKA!!"

000

"Angel AT Field has suffused the whole of Tokyo-3! Angel ECM intensifying!! We've been cut off from the surface! Nothing's going in or out!! We cannot locate the Angel!!" Lt. Miyazawa announced. On the main monitor was the final data received from the Tokyo-3 monitoring posts - the lake surrounded by the mega-city; two red circles covered huge areas of the fortress - the detonation range of the two recorded N2 mine explosions. No one knew if more had been detonated.

"Ayanami and the Suzuharas have vanished from their EVAs!! EVAs are silent!" Lt. Kata reported as the data started coming in from the empty EVAs which stood still in front of the pyramid. "LCL composition has changed, it is possible that they have been absorbed!"

"Sir, we have lost contact with the security troops in the Southwest Area, probably lost to enemy assault. MAGI detects that four gates in the area have been compromised!" Antoinette looked at Colonel Hyuga in expectation.

"Begin arming D Class personnel with any surplus equipment and confirm that everyone had been moved to mega-depth facilities. Get a recon squad to the Southwest Area. Order all combat troops that there will be no surrender." Colonel Makoto Hyuga's voice was pinched. He was fully aware of their precarious grasp on survival.

"Yes, Sir!" Antoinette replied before relaying the order to fight to the last.

"And can someone please find Colonel Katsuragi!"

An explosion rocked the ground and there were surprised cries as the lights went out. In moments, red emergency lights came on.

"Contact lost to the main power plant! We've lost 90 of our power! Life support to mega-depth facilities has been compromised!" Lt. Antoinette turned in her seat to look at Col. Hyuga. In the dim, red light she could see her superior's grim expression.

"Route all power to the MAGI and Terminal Dogma."

"Yes, sir!" Antoinette did as she was ordered to. She didn't voice out her objections because she knew the standard operating procedures - the MAGI and Terminal Dogma were both key to the survival of the human race. Sacrifice was acceptable. Besides, she saw the haunted look on Makoto's face as he ordered the possible death of his family.

000

IN SHINJI IKARI'S HEART

"No!" Shinji exclaimed as he took a step forward to the lake of yellow liquid and just as suddenly stepped back out as he remembered that he didn't know how to swim.

"Shinji." He could see the crystal tears sliding down her cheek, the blood dripping down her legs.

"Damn it! It's LCL! I can breathe it!" With a scream he jumped into the liquid that he hoped was LCL.

A SELFLESS ACT

Shinji was surprised as he landed on his feet in ankle deep blood. He slipped and fell face down amongst the bodies that littered the ground around him. The dead were in piles amongst the broken ruins, as if a graveyard had spewed out the corpses in its keeping. Burnt pieces of wood, metal, and concrete jutted out from the hellish aftermath of a battle. The air was filled with the stench of blood, gunpowder, and ozone. A slight fog covered the horizon, the titanic cross to which Asuka had been crucified was gone. He could taste the tang in the air and he could feel the grit in his teeth. He knew them to be the after effects of positron weaponry and a Non Nuclear explosion.

He tried to push himself off the ground. He flinched as his hand fell on something soft and mushy. Shinji nearly vomited as he looked down at the severed arm that he had his hand on.

"Where am I?" His hands covered his mouth to reassure himself of control over his digestive tract, his hands left crimson imprints upon his face. He frantically looked around and tried very hard not to be sick at the carnage that surrounded him.

Shinji swallowed the lump in his throat as he clambered up the mounds of dead bodies, his clothes stained red with blood. There was only one thing on his mind. He began screaming. "ASUKA! ASUKA!"

THIS IS THE THIRD CHILDREN'S HELL

000

SIXTH CHILDREN: ALLEN ALLEYN.

Allen woke up and found his mother sitting by his bed. She ran her fingers through his short military cropped hair.

"Hi, baby."

"Mom?" His mother wore her black combat uniform instead of her usual black commander's uniform.

"Please remember that what I will do is for you," she leaned down and kissed his forehead. She hugged him and he felt warm tears run down his neck.

"Mom, I- I don't understand..." he hugged her back.

"Baby, never forget anything that I taught you. Be strong."

"Mom, you're talking as if I won't see you again." Allen started to worry. Her comm link beeped and she stood up to go, gently removing her son's unyielding arms from her neck.

"Mom, promise me you'll be back!" Allen's voice cracked in desperation as his mother walked away.

His mother stood by his door. He can not see her face but he knew that she was crying. She nodded to him but did not say a word as she went away. He knew that his mother never gave a promise that she won't keep.

He spent the night crying. When they came for him several days later, he had ran out of tears.

He never saw his mother again.

FOR TWO YEARS, HE LIVED FOR REVENGE

HE HAD STUDIED HIS ENEMY

HE HAD LEARNED THEIR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

HE WAS READY TO STRIKE

BUT

FOR THE LAST FEW DAYS, HIS WORLD HAD BEEN SHAKEN

Allen touched the etched letters of his mother's name on the tombstone. She and her people were buried in the city where they had fallen. He was on his knees in front of his mother's grave. He wore jeans and a red shirt. A blue cap was pulled low over his eyes.

The boy's hand strayed under his shirt. He felt the cool, hard steel of the gun he had stolen from Juno. She had no use for it at the moment. He did.

"Be strong..." A mother's words echoed in the son's head.

Allen heard a familiar tune hummed and his long bangs danced in the wind that had appeared. Allen felt light headed, as if a great weight had been taken off his shoulders - it was as if the shroud of sadness and confusion in his heart had been ripped away.

Hope and memories.

Allen slowly turned around and saw a boy a little older than he was. The other boy had wild, unruly black hair and wore a black shirt, jeans and white sneakers. His eyes were as black as coal but shone with an inner light.

"A song is good," the boy said in a beguiling melodic voice.

Allen looked at the boy as if he was crazy. And a gnawing sense of disappointment.

The boy looked shocked as he took a closer look at Allen. "Oh, sorry. Thought you were someone I knew. I'll leave now." The boy stopped then looked back at Allen. "Sorry, but you do look familiar. Have we met before?"

Again, Allen looked at the boy as if he was crazy.

The boy slowly shook his head, a momentary look of confusion was on his face. He smiled before he spoke. "Probably from a past life. Do you believe in reincarnation?"

"Look, this is crazy. I think you're crazy. So I'll be saying good bye now." Allen started to edge away from the other boy. Discomfort? Probably. He ignored the blush coloring his cheeks.

Allen walked away without looking back so he did not see the gentle smile spread on the boy's face.

HE WANTED SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN

Several minutes later Allen stopped walking. He looked back towards the cemetery. His hands clenched into fists and he started running back. Allen panted heavily and he walked the last few feet. He felt his heart sink when he saw that the boy was no longer by his mother's grave.

000

IN SHINJI IKARI'S HEART

"ASUKA!" Shinji screamed hoarsely with a tinge of desperation as he slumped down amongst the dead bodies that were piled up all around him. "Asuka... where are you?"

It dawned on him that it was over. He will never see her again. He no longer cared about himself as he gave up on finding Asuka. He wanted to die.

Shinji sobbed as he laid his head on the lifeless sacks of flesh that surrounded him. He couldn't care less about being revolted by touching dead bodies. He could feel his life drain away as he refused to live. In moments he felt the void within him grow and his sight blurred.

The flame of life began to dim. The drum beat of his heart came farther and farther apart.

THE END HAS COME FOR THE THIRD CHILDREN

"Get up." A cold, dispassionate voice.

The flame of life suddenly flared. The drum beat became louder.

Shinji blinked. He wondered if he had just imagined it as everything came back into focus. The familiar deep, cold voice that called to him. A shadow fell over him and he looked up at the familiar silhouette that had plagued his nightmares for so long. He held his breath in hope and fear. It was... "Father."

Shinji pushed himself up from the dead bodies and looked up at his father. The boy pushed his blood drenched bangs out of his eyes so that he could see better.

Gendo just looked at him and then began to walk away as if he expected Shinji to follow.

"Stop!" Shinji cried out to his father, not in a whining tone but rather authoritatively. In fact, Shinji reminded himself of his father.

"So." Gendo looked dispassionately at his son. "Are you going to fight or are you just going to lie there and die?"

"Fight? Who am I going to fight, Father?" the boy spat out in anger.

"Do you remember?"

"Remember wha--" Shinji was cut off by a flash of pain - he grabbed his head with both hands as the pain forced him to his knees.

Darkness spreading over the Earth.

Monstrous Evangelions with human faces.

A red lance at his throat.

Spreading his wings.

Rei.

Gendo smirked.

"So." Gendo towered over his child's cowering form. "Will you fight or will you let everyone down. Will you allow everyone to be returned to nothing?"

"What other choice do I have?"

"A lot more than you think. All you have to do is grab it with your own strength. You are Yui's son. You are no longer a child, Shinji. Stand on your own two feet," Gendo looked away from his son, "and walk."

"I remember," the young man smiled bitterly. "Your first words to me as a father..."

Shinji looked up when silence answered him. He was greeted by the empty white landscape. With a resigned sigh, he stood up and brushed the tears from his face with the back of his hand.

"I mustn't run away."

000

Shitou paused as he entered the Chapel. He cocked his head to a side and smiled.

There was screaming as gunfire echoed within the forested parks of the geofront. The soldiers of both sides played a fatal version of hide and seek amongst the trees.

NERV soldiers fought with the desperation of those who would not accept their own deaths, the cold steel of those who lived and protected by taking the lives of others.

The fighters of the Sword of God fought with the flaming passion of the fanatic, those who cared more for the death of their enemies rather than their own survival.

Who was right? Who was wrong? They both fought for what they believed was right. And both were in the right, and at the same time in the wrong.

The three EVAs towered over the battle, still and unmoving - mute witnesses to the murderous ways of humans.

Inside the control theater, officers and technicians prepared for the worst as they barricaded the doors and prepared to fight to the end.

"Enemy forces are advancing from Entryways 109 and 065 - they have breached Central Dogma!" Lt. Antoinette St. Croix reported. "We've lost contact with Second and Twelfth Troops."

Makoto's fists trembled - he still had no word about his wife and child. He went to the front of the bridge and looked down at the theater. It had become a sort of rallying point for the beleaguered defenders. Wounded soldiers and non-combat personnel milled about as they waited for orders. All of them were armed.

"Move First Troop to the base of the Main Transit Hall!" Misato ordered as she strapped on a flak jacket. "Order Ninth and Tenth Troops to withdraw from the First Defense Line and into Central Dogma! The enemy has already sneaked in and they're useless in their current position! Close all the blast doors linking all sections! Let them fight their way through one section at a time!"

"We had six Troops in Tokyo-3, none of them have reported in," Lt. Yamazaki said from where he sat at the head control officer's station - his prerogative as the most senior control officer. "I wonder if they used all five missing N2 mines?"

Antoinette and Miyuki paled at the thought of the carnage in the surface. By the last estimate, half of the city's population was dead. Including four Evangelion pilots. Antoinette looked over at Misato and saw the restrained anger and grief in the woman's actions.

"I wonder if there are any survivors up there," Lt. Hanano Miyazaki wondered aloud as she completed loading an automatic rifle. She leaned it against one of the workstations as prepared to load a pistol. "How the heck did they sneak those N2s into the city in the first place?"

Before anyone could answer, one of the doors to the theater exploded inwards and the shooting began.

000

SIXTH CHILDREN: JUNO HURST

SHE HAS DEEP SCARS WITHIN HER SOUL

Juno felt like she was floating in warm water. She knew she was naked by the warm caress of air on her face and chest which were above the water. The girl opened her eyes and turned her head in the water when she felt something bump into her.

Juno's breath caught in her throat. The water was red and smelled fishy. The thing that bumped her was a human head. A severed head. Fear gripped her and she turned her eyes to the sky.

The red sky from which a red eye looked down at her.

Fear gave way to panic.

The red eye blinked.

She screamed.

SHE HAS A DIFFERENT PATH

000

The Control officers and technicians were all crowded into the bridge section after the invaders withdrew. Twenty NERV technicians and officers were alive out of those who had gathered at the beginning of the battle. The bodies of tan uniformed NERV personnel and green uniformed enemy agents littered the blood-stained floor of the theater. The huge main monitor was shattered, the three next generation MAGI were also not spared from destruction - the terrorist goal was destruction, not capture. NERV was now dependent on the sub computers that supported the MAGI.

Miyuki leaned against one of the workstation, she gasped as she tried not to look down at herself as Yamazaki bandaged the painful wounds on her chest.

"They said that the brassiere was invented when Amazon warriors bound their breasts so that they wouldn't get in the way when they draw their bows," Yamazaki joked half-heartedly, a sad, wistful smile on his face. "It was a sort of rite of passage for young Amazons to get their first bras."

"Didn't anyone tell you that lying is bad?" Hanano dryly remarked to Yamazaki as she held Miyuki's hand.

"She's been gone a long time," Lt. Yamazaki whispered as he tied off Miyuki's bandage. He felt the sadness from the memories, but this was not the time for it - soon, they will be together again.

"All gates from here to Terminal Dogma are no longer sealed by the MAGI - their locks can now be manually over-ridden," Antoinette reported to Misato and Makoto as they all crouched behind the Commander's table and out of direct danger. "Communications jamming isn't very severe within Central Dogma but we've lost communication with our units within the geofront. We've lost control from Level 29 to Sub-Level 04; that includes the EVA hangars." Antoinette looked at the far wall of the Command Theater - the EVA hangars were only several meters away.

Makoto nodded morosely as he slumped against the Commander's chair. Still no word about his family.

"Er, I'll leave you alone for a while, Sirs," Antoinette said with discomfort. She stood up and walked over to where the other control officers were crowded around Miyuki.

"Lieutenant."

"Sir?"

"Good job," Makoto gave a tired smile. "Remind me to put you up for a citation."

Antoinette nodded, for once not feeling proud at being praised. She wondered to herself if she was finally growing up.

Shots rang out.

Antoinette only had one thought on her mind as she fell - `I wonder if Lt. Hayes liked me..'

The battle for the control theater resumed.

000

Ritsuko sat on the uncomfortable cot in the cramped isolation ward. In the distance she could hear the muffled screams, gunfire, and explosions.

Her palms were sweaty and her body shook nervously.

"Soon... Soon... Soon..." she mumbled, as if the words were a mantra against the evil to come.

000

FIRST CHILDREN: REI AYANAMI

Rei walked down the corridor seemingly not aware or minding her nakedness. Commander Gendo Ikari walked beside her as they entered Terminal Dogma. The gigantic form of the crucified Angel loomed before them, Heaven's Gate stood open behind them. The Angel was almost completely formed now that the Lance of Longinus no longer hindered its regeneration.

They stopped as they saw a figure sitting at the edge of the catwalk. The figure wore a white lab coat over her blue and black uniform. Her eyes were devoid of emotions.

"I've been waiting for you." Ritsuko pulled a gun from her lab coat and pointed it at Gendo. Cold loathing was in her expression. She had been used and betrayed. "Sorry, I just changed Mother's program. All for this final moment. Mother, please die with me."

Ritsuko clicked on a remote control. Nothing happened.

"Wha-?! Not activated?" Ritsuko exclaimed in surprise before realization dawned on her. Three super computers that formed the MAGI. One was based on a mother. One was based on a scientist. And one was based on a woman. All three computers; Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, were all patterned after a specific part of her mother's personality. The part of her mother which she hated had opposed her, her mother had traded the daughter for the lover. "Caspar opposed it! Mother... you want to protect your man and let your daughter-"

Gendo drew his gun and pointed it at her. He said words that Rei couldn't remember.

Gunfire erupted inside Terminal Dogma. Rei lay on the floor with Gendo on top of her. Blood pooled under Rei. Ritsuko stood before them, her gun smoking. By the great blast doors of Heaven's Gate, three UN soldiers lay dead.

"He- he saved her," Ritsuko was frozen in surprise. She limped towards the two and gently pulled Gendo off Rei. She cradled his head as he breathed his last. His lips moved painfully and his eyes slowly glazed over. Ritsuko bent her head closer and strained to hear his voice. Gendo gasped in pain as he said something that she couldn't make out. His eyes slowly glazed over as death took him.

Ritsuko lowered Gendo's head on the floor and knelt beside Rei. Rei's eyes were open and her pale white form was drenched in the blood of another. Ritsuko pressed the barrel of her gun to Rei's forehead.

Rei shuddered. Tears streamed from her open staring eyes. There was nothing. Nothing worth living for. But she was afraid of inexistence. Afraid of not being. Afraid of the shape that was truly hers. There was a scream that she felt through her whole being and it wrenched her heart - because the scream was not her own.

"shinji..." Rei suddenly felt as if she had awaken from a deep sleep. She wanted to raise her head off the floor but something was pressing on her forehead. Slowly her eyes began to register her surroundings, the woman kneeling above her and the gun pressed between her eyes. In the background she could see the true form nailed on a cross.

"You're nothing but a doll," Ritsuko said in a flat, emotionless voice. Rei stared at her. The gun was warm against Rei's skin. Ritsuko smiled down weakly at the girl. Murderous jealousy had turned to something else... "But I will not be God."

Ritsuko stood up and brushed the dust from her knees. "Do what you must. I'll try to save him by my own way."

Rei looked up at Ritsuko then at the white form of the crucified Angel. Ritsuko went away, limping from the wound in her leg.

Rei tried to do what she was supposed to: to show her true self.

"i am home." Rei said, but her enthusiasm for the reunion had been dampened. The resolve she had gathered during the night before had evaporated like mist in the morning sunlight.

In the sea which was the heart of EVA, Rei opened her red eyes and looked slightly angry.

"Leave me," Rei intoned and the dream faded away.

000

Shitou stood atop one of the columns of the chapel. Below him smoke rose from the forest and the NERV buildings that lay beside the pyramid.

"As you wish, Mother." He smiled as he gently chewed on a bar of chocolate. "As you wish..."

000

SEVENTH CHILDREN: YURIKO SUZUHARA

"Am I dead?" Yuriko asked as she laid her head on the lap of the boy as they sat under the shade of a large tree. She looked up at his unruly black hair, and his shining black eyes.

The boy shook his head and smiled down at her. "No, Little One, this is just a dream," he replied in a melodious voice as he brushed her hair with his fingers.

Yuri blushed a bit, "I'm not that young..."

He laughed and his laugh sounded like clear crystal. Yuri sighed happily and stared off at the blue sky.

000

"Sir! Third Troop reports that their area is clear and that they are proceeding here to relieve us!" Lt. Kano reported as Misato tied a tourniquet to Kano's leg as the Lieutenant tinkered with the portable radio transceiver. There were only fifteen of them left as the enemy decided to withdraw once more. Everyone crouched low behind the workstations and none of the them dared to stand up after Antoinette's lesson.

"Tell them to hurry up or they'll have no one to relieve!" Makoto responded as he loaded his rifle. Makoto sidled up to Kano. "Any word about Doctor Ibuki?"

Kano bit her lip as she shook her head. A look of disappointment crossed Makoto's face as he stared at the floor. "Um, Colonel, they might be jamming us or the portable in their shelter might have been damaged."

"It's alright, Lieutenant," Makoto responded as he looked up, a determined look came into his eyes.

"Sir?" Kano felt nervous. Especially after Makoto stood up.

"Makoto?! What are you doing?" Misato hissed as she tried to pull him down.

"I'm sorry, Misato, but I have to go. My baby..." Makoto raised his rifle. He swallowed hard. "And I..."

"Makoto! Get down!" Misato snapped.

"They're back!" An officer shouted as he began firing into the darkness below the bridge.

"SIR!!" Kano screamed over the raging firefight.

Miyuki knelt before Antoinette's body. Tentatively, she reached over and closed Antoinette's eyes. Then she began to cry.

000

Shitou lay on his back on a pew in the Chapel, his right foot flat on the ground. He had crossed his left leg over his right and gently swung it like a pendulum. In the distance, the sounds of gunfire had diminished. "I find the Lilim amusing. Do they really hope to save themselves on this path they follow?"

"With the Lilim, one cannot really tell." Another boy appeared out of the background. He had unruly black hair and eyes as black as midnight.

Shitou smiled, neither welcoming or happy. "So, you have come to interfere."

"You know I cannot."

"Liar. You have already taken several of them from my sight."

"I only took those who would be hurt. Those who cannot be the Chosen."

"Cannot be Chosen?" Shitou asked with amusement. "That is not for you to decide."

The black haired boy averted his eyes guiltily.

Shitou narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Give them back. You are preventing me from fulfilling my purpose."

"I..."

"I see. The Lilim have corrupted you. They have given you what is not within our province. Your heart is no longer pure." Shitou gave a dispassionate glance at the black haired boy. "Give me what I need and I shall release the one that I hold."

The black haired boy balled his hands into fists. Shitou smiled.

000

IN ALLEN ALLEYN'S HEART

Allen stood before Henri's unfinished painting which he had hung on the wall of his room. The boy's gaze locked onto the swirl of red, yellow, and orange paints. What was supposed to be a panorama of Tokyo-3 in the pre-dawn hours looked like an image of the city burning.

Allen reached out and touched the painting. It felt warm. And moist. He looked at his fingertips which were covered with paint. His eyes widened as the paint began to seep over the edges of the canvas and ran in rivulets down the wall.

Then like a dam bursting, several cubic tons of paint rushed out of the painting and swamped Allen.

The young boy wasn't even able to scream.

000

IN YURIKO SUZUHARA'S HEART

Yuriko looked up at the boy's face when his hand stopped brushing her hair. His gray hair drooped and his red eyes were very sad.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a small voice.

"Nothing... it is nothing. Something got into my eye."

A tear fell from his eye and landed on her cheek.

To Be Continued

In the Next Episode of Heaven and Hell:
Rei: The final barrier has been opened and the end is coming. The Third remembers. The Second awakens. The First unleashed. Heaven and Hell 1:9 - When Children Spread Angel Wings II