Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Nephilim ❯ Knowing the Path and Walking It ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

See Chapter 1 for disclaimer, 2 for speech/thoughts things.

NEPHILIM

Chapter 3: Knowing the Path and Walking It

-----

'Well, at least it's quiet in here,' were the thoughts of Shinji Ikari at the moment. After being shown to the holding cells, he was promptly sent inside and hadn't seen another person for about six hours now. Since then, he'd worried himself a lot about the upcoming battle. He knew how powerful the Angel would be, and had worked out the basis of a plan. 'A lot of risk in it...but I don't have any other options,' he'd thought several times, but it did no good to calm him. 'I wonder what that other thing over the Angel's shoulder was,' he idly thought.

'I had been wondering when you would ask that,' the voice of Nephilim sounded in his head.

Shinji sat up, 'Yeah, what was that we saw?'

The form of Nephilim then appeared before the boy, 'Someone I did not want to see again.'

'Huh? Why are you still thinking instead of talking?' Shinji asked.

'There are some things I will explain that are best left from the reach of other ears,' the angel explained. 'As for your previous question, that was Azrael. Another like me.'

Shinji noticed the dark look that crossed Nephilim's face, 'Like you? Is he here to help, too?'

'No,' Nephilim thought, shaking his head, 'he has a purpose no different than those false Angels. He is what is best described as a fallen angel.'

'I don't really get it...' Shinji asked, very surprised.

'Well then, let me explain,' Nephilim started. 'It began centuries ago, in the heavens above. There was once an angel who had watched the darker events of the ancient world, like the Dark Ages and Crusades...many bloody medieval events. Watching the humans kill one another for their beliefs angered him. After nearly five-hundred years, he finally chose to cast judgment on them all himself. He had more power than I had at that time, to the point where he could walk among humans.'

'Wait,' Shinji interrupted, 'what do you mean by 'walk among humans'? Aren't you doing that now?'

The angel shook his head, 'No, only my spirit is on this plane. I cannot directly interact with this plane of existence. Let me show you.' He then demonstrated this by passing his hand through the nearby wall.

'Oh,' Shinji said with a wide-eyed look.

'Now then,' Nephilim started, 'this angel began his own bloody feud with humanity, killing hundreds of humans over the course of forty-seven years. Until, that is, the Creator managed to bind him and bring him back to the heavens. He then exiled this angel from there and in to what you would call Hell. Eventually, sometime after Second Impact, the angel escaped the realm he had been bound to and started to roam the Earth in search of a way to seek his vengeance on both the Creator and humanity. This angel was known as Azrael. I had tried to help him control his anger, but he was not one who listened to reason. Since that time, I hoped that he would change his thoughts. But seeing him out there yesterday, I see that he cannot be swayed back to the side of good.' He then looked at Shinji, 'That is the whole story.'

'I see...it must be hard for you to fight someone you don't want to,' Shinji thought. 'Much like I'd been made to do before...'

'I have no choice in it,' the angel explained, 'and he has proven that he is my enemy.' He then decided to change the subject, 'Are you sure of what you will do next?'

Shinji's expression took a worried look, 'I-I'm pretty sure I do...but I have to take a few major risks, as well.'

Nephilim then he looked into the boy's eyes and understood what he had been thinking. 'So, you are ready to take that kind of chance...I am impressed at your actions. And I pray that it comes out well...' He then faded out into the wall he had entered through.

Shinji laid back down on the cell's cold, hard bed and tried to get some rest. The next day-and-a-half after his release would test him in more than a few ways...

-----

Nine-and-a-half hours of restless sleep later, the cell door finally opened again. Standing on the other side was Misato, one arm in a sling and a bandage around her head.

"Umm...hi," she said, trying not to sound as worried as she was.

"Hi Misato," Shinji spoke flatly. "Finally free to go?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm underneath.

"Yeah...I got them to release you early," she replied, "and I’m sorry this had to happen, Shinji. I just wish I’d been here..."

Shinji rose from his seat on the bed and left the room, "It’s alright, Misato. I’m used to the Commander wanting his ‘pawns’ to behave and obey. But I just couldn‘t kill the pilot..."

"About that," Misato started, "the Fourth Child...it’s Toji."

Shinji faked his best surprised look, hoping his friend was fine, "Toji...is he okay?"

Misato’s expression brightened slightly, "Yes, he’s got some bruises and scrapes. Other than that, he’s doing just fine. Should be released tomorrow."

Shinji let out the breath he’d been subconsciously holding at the news, "Ah, that’s good to hear...what are they going to do with him and Unit-03?"

"He’s going to be taken off the combat pilot roster. Probably going to make him a backup, I guess. As for Unit-03, they’re going to try and clean anything left of the Angel out of its system before they even try reactivating it," Misato explained. "That should take a few weeks, maybe a month or two."

Shinji relaxed a little at the knowledge that they weren’t going to attempt to use Unit-03 anytime soon. "What room is Toji in?" he asked.

"C’mon, I’ll take you there," Misato said, turning to continue down the hall.

"Umm...Misato, could we stop off at the locker room first? I need to change out of this thing," Shinji said, tugging at the leg of his plugsuit. He then took a smell of his gloved hand. "And maybe a shower, too. This stuff smell horrible dried out."

Misato snickered a little, "Sure, I guess I forgot you were still in that thing." She then started walking down the hall, following after the boy. Her expression then went a little darker, "And I’m sorry about not telling you about the Fourth..."

Shinji turned around and faced his guardian, "Hey, it’s okay. I would’ve worried more had I know who was in it, anyway. Let’s just forget about it, okay?"

The major looked down at the boy, feeling relieved at his words, "Sure, I just wanted to apologize." That said, the two continued down to the locker rooms.

-----

Nearly an hour later (after a change and a thorough rinsing), Shinji walked into NERV’s hospital wing. As he approached the reception desk, he saw that Hikari Horaki and Kensuke Aida had run into some difficulty getting clearance to Toji’s room.

"C’mon, can’t you just allow it this once? He’s our best friend," Kensuke explained.

Shinji stepped past Kensuke and showed the desk nurse his NERV ID card, "It’s okay, they’re with me."

The nurse looked to the card and back at Shinji and nodded, "Seventh room on the left hall, sir."

Shinji returned the card to his pocket and looked back at the others, "I guess this means you heard about what happened, huh?" The both of them nodded. They then walked down to the room the nurse had pointed out. Opening the door, they entered to greet the room’s only occupant.

"Hey there," Toji said, sitting up.

"Hi Toji. How you feeling?" Shinji asked.

"Not that bad. Not that good either, but I ain’t complainin‘," he replied. "So...what happened? They haven’t explained it to me."

Shinji took a deep breath, "Unit-03 was infected by some sort of parasitic Angel and went berserk on activation. We were ordered to destroy it, but I went against orders and removed the plug. I just couldn’t kill a human...I didn’t know it was you at the time."

The three teens looked to Shinji with surprised expressions. "You went against orders to save me? I feel kinda honored, man," Toji said. "Especially after I beat you up and everything when ya first got here..."

"Thanks, Toji. That makes me feel a lot better," Shinji said, smiling a little.

"So what happens to me now?" Toji asked.

Shinji‘s look became serious again, "Making you a backup pilot, Misato told me. And the Eva, they’re going to get rid of any of the Angel left in it. I still wish you wouldn’t have to get in one again..."

A silence fell over the room until, "Man, I can’t believe you got to pilot one..." Kensuke said. He was met with three dark glares. "Um, never mind." He went back to studying the ground.

Hikari looked to Shinji for a second, motioning him to come closer, "Hey, could you two, uh...leave the room please? I need to talk to him..." she whispered, blushing slightly.

"Don’t worry, I get what you mean," Shinji whispered back. He then remembered something he‘d thought over while in the cell. "By the way, do you know where Asuka is?"

Hikari shook her head, "No, I haven’t seen her today."

Shinji nodded and tapped Kensuke on the shoulder, "C’mon, let’s go for now," he said, motioning between the other two. Kensuke nodded and stood up. "Sorry, Toji. We gotta be going. Hope you get out soon."

"Yeah, see ya later, man," Kensuke said. They both left the room a few seconds later, leaving Toji and Hikari alone.

"So..." Hikari began. "Why did you decide to pilot it? I’d heard Shinji say it was painful..."

"My sister," Toji said. "I got her moved into this hospital in exchange."

Hikari nodded. She had known about his sister’s hospitalization after the Third Angel’s attack. "That’s a pretty noble thing to do, Suzuhara. You just might go and lose that tough-guy image of yours like that," she said with a grin.

"Nah, I’ll never let that happen," he replied, grinning the same. "Why’d you come here, anyway? Just part of being class rep, huh?"

Hikari turned away from him to hide her growing blush, "No, I just wanted to see if you were okay...and see you, too."

Toji smiled and laid his hand on hers, "Heh, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you cared." He yawned, "Anyway, I need to get some sleep now. Come back again, maybe we‘ll continue this." He then removed his hand, laid back again, and closed his eyes.

Hikari smiled at their little interaction. "See you later, Toji." She then got up and left as well, deciding to let him sleep.

-----

Sometime after that, Shinji had made it back to the apartment for a little rest. Only he wouldn’t get it just yet. One rather upset German girl had answered the door.

"Oh, you’re home," she said.

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Asuka," he answered back. He walked past her into his room to relax with his SDAT for a little while. As he went reaching for it, he remembered his conversation with Kaji the night before the battle. ‘One more ghost I can bury for now and get off my chest,’ he thought. ‘And considering the risks I’ll be taking in the next day, I might not get another opportunity.’ He then took a deep breath, exhaled, went back to the living room, and sat on the opposite end of the couch from Asuka.

"Something I can help you with, Third?" she asked through a fake smile.

Shinji sighed, "Yeah, I just needed to talk for a bit to you. You don’t look busy or anything, so..."

"Well, come on already! Don’t just sit there and waste my time," she said impatiently.

"Look, just sit there an listen for a few minutes, will you? This is kinda serious, and I don’t need you getting upset with me right now," Shinji explained with an equally serious expression.

Asuka looked at him, slightly surprised. He usually didn’t speak up like this out of the blue, "Fine, go on."

"Sorry, it’s just that I’m worried about what’s to come," he told her.

"Whaddya mean ‘what’s to come’?" Asuka asked.

"I...I’ve got a bad feeling about the next couple of days. Like something is going to happen," Shinji said. He hated lying to her, but he couldn’t let her know he knew what would be happening. "And there were a few things I need to say if that feeling is right..."

"Yeah, like what? You gonna confess to me or something?" she questioned.

Shinji choked for a second and turned away from her, "Well...that was pretty close."

Asuka looked at Shinji for the next few, quiet minutes, "Like I’d believe it..."

Shinji turned back to Asuka and stared into her eyes, "Believe whatever you want. I’m just going to explain the truth to you. I..." he hesitated for a second, probably more nervous than he‘d ever been. ‘Maybe it would be for the best if I didn’t say it all at once,’ he thought, wondering if he were sweating bullets right then.

"You what?" Asuka asked, now greatly interested in hearing this to the end.

Shinji gulped and continued to stare eye-to-eye with the girl, "I...I like you. A lot, really. I’d been thinking about it for a long time, but...the words are just that difficult." He closed his eyes and bowed his head to get away from her gaze.

Asuka’s expression went from tired to wide-eyed at the boy’s words. ‘Did he...did he just say that?’ she thought. She shook her head to regain her senses, "Hah, do you want me to believe that, Ikari?"

Shinji stood from his spot on the couch and shakily walked over to the redhead. Trembling, he knelt down and took one of her hands in his. "I’m not sure what you believe or not right now. I just wanted to say some things I couldn’t say before." He looked up into her shocked face, staring into her ice-blue eyes again, "But I mean every word. Your spirit, your attitude, your features...they’re all equally beautiful to me. No matter how you treated me before, I still care a great deal about the young woman before me." He then brought his face to hers and kissed her on the cheek. "And that’s what I needed to say...now I need to take a walk for a bit," he said, getting up and heading to the door, leaving behind the currently shocked-as-hell Second Child.

-----

About forty minutes later, Shinji was walking through the outer forests of the Geofront, thinking about what he’d said to Asuka. ‘Well, it was what I’d needed to tell her. I can just tell her the rest if this all goes well...’ he thought. He then heard someone call for him. Turning to look, he found he’d ended up at Kaji’s watermelon patch.

"Hey there, Shinji," the older man said, watering some of his melons. "Go off wandering with your head in the clouds a lot? It’s not good for you to do that too often, y’know."

Shinji blinked a few times before answering, "Not really, I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"Really? Anything you need to get off your chest?" Kaji asked.

Shinji turned his head away, "Nah, I just did that with Asuka..."

"Ah, yes. How’d that go?" the unshaven main questioned.

"Not sure, really. She had a look on her face that spoke loud enough, though," Shinji answered.

"Ha, took her a bit off-guard, eh? That’s good. She might just have to think words like that over, then," Kaji said. "She tends to not listen well enough to others."

"I hope so..." Shinji said, looking at the ground. "I’m also worried about the next battle. I...I have this feeling that something bad is gonna happen." As soon as the word left his mouth, the Angel alarm sounded. "Great, now I really hope I was wrong..."

Kaji looked at the boy with a serious expression, "Yeah, me too."

"And one more thing, Kaji," Shinji said. "If I were you, I’d reconsider your line of work. They’re going to get rid of you before long. And I wouldn’t want Misato to go and worry herself to death if that happened." He then took off for the pyramid-shaped NERV headquarters.

Kaji, meanwhile, was currently frozen in place by the Third Child’s last few words, ‘How...how did he know about that? Maybe he’s a lot more observant than I thought.’

-----

"Where is the Angel?" Misato shouted on the command deck of headquarters.

"It’s just broken through the final defense line at Gora," one of the technicians answered back.

A loud explosion was heard a few seconds. "It just took out eighteen layers of armor!" Aoba shouted.

"Eighteen layers in one shot," Hyuga said, not liking the sound of that.

"There’s no time to launch the Evas. Position them for combat in the Geofront," Misato ordered. "Where are the Children?"

"Section 2 reports that the First and Second Children are on their way. The Third was spotted heading to the locker rooms about five minutes ago," Maya reported.

A video window opened to show the cockpit of Unit-01, Shinji seated inside with a dark expression on his face. "Pilot Ikari here," he said flatly.

"How’d you get here so fast?" Misato asked.

"I had been taking a quiet walk when the alarm went off. Just went running in the direction of headquarters after that," he replied. "Just launch now, I need to hold that thing off ‘till the others get here."

Misato blinked and turned to the bridge technicians, "Launch Unit-01!"

Shinji once again found himself feeling the familiar anger at the Fourteenth Angel, the same he had felt when he fought it before. ‘I won’t let it get that far into there this time,’ he thought, feeling heavily worried about his decision.

The Eva came at a stop inside the Geofront and turned to grab two rifles from the armory building, just as the Angel came through the ceiling. Unit-01 lifted the weapons in the direction of the Angel and opened fire, even though Shinji knew it would be a waste.

After it landed on the floor, the Angel released its arms length and swung them in the Eva‘s direction. Shinji attempted to dodge the ribbon-arms with some success, the left leg of Unit-01 getting sliced slightly. Shinji grimaced in pain and got the Eva to its feet in time to see the Angel’s eyes flash, signaling a cross-flare. Unit-01 leaped out of the way, barely getting singed by the attack.

In that instant, Shinji ran towards the backside of the oblivious Angel and leapt on it, pinning it to the ground. He then proceeded to pound into the Angel the same way he’d done previously.

Until, that is, the Eva ran out of power. "Out of power?" Shinji asked, looking back behind the Eva. There, he saw that the Angel’s cross-flare had taken out the cable, something he’d missed seeing. ‘Shit, there goes the plan,’ he thought with defeat.

The Angel then chose this moment to take the upper hand, throwing the powered-down Eva off of it and onto the ground. It then shot a cross-flare at the torso of the Eva, exposing the core, and started to pound on the core with its arms.

-----

Inside the plug, Shinji started to turn to his last resort. He began thinking to the Eva, ‘Mother, if you’re there, please awaken this machine. I need to protect them...I need to destroy the enemy...I have to survive. I don’t care if it means I have to be one with this machine, I...I’m ready to take that chance!’

The warm feeling inside the Eva became stronger and he once again heard that synchronized heartbeat before this had happened before. ‘Thank you, mother...’ he told the machine.

Then all became black to Shinji Ikari once again...

-----

Unit-01’s eyes blazed with a fierce white glow once again as it caught the Angel’s arm and dragged it over right into its awaiting left fist, send the Angel back and leaving it minus an arm. Unit-01 then tossed the arm aside, let out an unearthly roar, and stalked over to its downed opponent.

The Angel took a swipe with its only arm at the Eva. Unit-01 raised its arms and brought them right back down, sending out its AT field right through the Angel, cutting it in half. It then crouched and crawled its way over to the dying Angel and delivered the finishing blow to its head.

As it bent its head down to devour its adversary, it grabbed both sides of its head and thrashed about, looking like it was fighting itself. It then crouched back down to its knees and powered down after one last roar.

-----

Meanwhile, the occupants of the command deck had all watched the spectacle with varying mixture of fear and shock. Only Commander Ikari had not been either until the Eva chose not to ingest the Angel. ‘Why did it not take the S2 organ into itself? This is not going according to scenario...’

Misato looked on at the quiet battlefield with a face that was both worried about Shinji and shocked at the Eva’s actions. ‘W-what just happened? Did the Eva just try to eat the Angel?’

Rei sat in the plug of Unit-00, watching with wide eyes. ‘He made it stop...’ she thought.

Asuka watched from within Unit-02 with a strange and hard-to-place expression, especially after the Third Child‘s earlier words. ‘Shinji...’

Somewhere outside, Kaji watched the entire thing from his watermelon patch. ‘Something is wrong with your scenario, isn’t it Ikari?’ he thought with a smirk.

Above the unshaven spy, the figure of Nephilim watched the scene with a worried look. ‘I hope you know what you have done, Shinji. You might not make it out of that shell...’ he thought.

-----To be continued...-----

A/N: Not much to say, just an altered retread of ep. 19 was in order. Also, you noticed this is where the S/A I’ve been leading to begins. Expect more WAFF in later chapters to come.

And on the note of how long this one took: Yeah, I know it’s really late, I have no excuses: I got lazy and kept putting it off. But I’m going to try and stop that from here on out...

*-*-*Now for another behind-the-scenes Omake!*-*-*

We find our author sitting on his mattress, going over the latest chapter.

Author: Finally, got around to finishing three...maybe four won’t take this long.

From the other room, we can hear the nu-metal buzz of an electric guitar.

Author: (looking at the camera) For those wondering, Mitsumi picked up a new hobby. Thankfully, this one is kinda harmless. And sound pretty good, too.

Upon hearing her name, Mitsumi floats into the room, carrying her cherry-red six-string. And dressed in the tightest top and shortest skirt that should be allowed on a fairy.

Mitsumi: (waving to the camera) Hi all!

Author: (noticing her attire) Umm...isn’t that a little underdressed, Mitsumi?

Mitsumi: (pouting/glaring) I like this one. And their colors go great with my ‘baby’.

Author: (sweatdropping) Ah, yeah...you got that band together yet?

Mitsumi: (scratching her head) Nah, haven’t gotten ahold of anyone who’s really interested.

Author: (surprised) Really? Hmm...how about a name?

Mitsumi: (perking up) Hah, that’s an easy one! I will call it...Cold Fairy Dust!

Author: (with one eyebrow raised) That’s...different.

Mitsumi: (smiling brightly) Meh, I thought you’d say that. So, how’s three coming?

Author: Finally done...

Mitsumi: Well, you put it off for long enough. A month and a half later is a bit late, you know...

Author: (sighing) I know...next one won’t take that long, I hope.

Mitsumi: (incredulously) Yeah, we’ll see.

She then leaves the room, muttering something about ‘baka author’. The author just shrugs and goes back to making last-minute revisions.

*-*-*End of Omake*-*-*

Pre-read was done once again by FinalMax.

And as usual, all comments are welcome; good criticism is appreciated, flames will be overlooked (or stored and used for power.)

-AngelNo13Bardiel