Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Dark Prince Emerges ❯ On the strings of Eros ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I don't own NGE, & James Dolan is an idiot.

I know I threw y'all a knuckleball last chapter, but that's what I do. I've always done it when I had creative writing assignments. In fact, all my English teachers liked this tactic. One of them actually told me she never expected actual writing tactics from a ghetto kid.

 

My good old cousin pointed out to me that I haven't put enough emphasis on romance in this. Well, he picked the categories, it was his idea, so he should technically write that part, and then I remembered how he writes, probably why he picked me to do this in the first place. Romance ain't my forte, but I'll try damnit.

 

This Chapter's Soundtrack: Bizzy Bone “Thugz Cry” (Screwed & Chopped) Bone Thugs always helps me write, hell they taught me the English language.

--------------------------

The Dark Prince Emerges
Chapter 6: On the Strings of Eros

--------------------------

2025 - Tokyo 3

 

The past few days have been strenuous in the Katsuragi residence. Misato had lost 3 nights of sleep trying to clear her name from that bastard's list. However she somehow felt that De Valera would keep on thinking of her as a suspect. There was something else bothering her, Rei & Asuka. Both girls were acting weird since she told them about the incident in her office. What was weirder was how Rei looked at the spare room since then. Every time she passed by it, she would give a sad smile & looked like she was going to cry. Asuka was no better, she avoided the room altogether. Frankly she was tired if this. Misato had to confront the girls, they were hiding something & she was going to find out.

 

Unfortunately for her, it was too late that night for that. All she could was walk to their rooms to see if the girls were asleep. As she opened the door to Rei's room she heard noises coming from inside. Apparently Rei was having a dream, a pleasant one at that. Misato just stood there, as she finally understood the young woman's words.

 

“I found you Ikari, I finally found you.” Rei kept repeating those words while clutching one of her pillows. Misato could clearly see that tears were flowing from her eyes, tears of joy. She simply let out a sigh as she closed Rei's door.

 

The sight that was before her eyes a few seconds ago confirmed Misato's suspicions. Rei hardly dreamed at all unless something was on her mind, & from her words it was Shinji. She knew something about the long missing young man, & Misato vowed to find out. Unfortunately, it was too late for a talk. This would have to wait until tomorrow.

 

All this thinking was making Miasto thirsty, so she decided to grab a beer from the fridge. Then with beer can in hand, she started to walk towards her room. If she was going to confront Rei about Shinji, she needed to be well rested because she not only had to deal with Rei, but Asuka as well, knowing how protective the redhead was of her best friend.

 

Misato was about to open her door when she was startled by a sudden burst of a thunderstorm. This was really odd. Just a few minutes ago there wasn't a cloud in the sky, now a storm moved in that sounded like it would last all night. If this was an omen of things to come, tomorrow didn't look good at all for her. Brushing those thought aside she went inside & lay on her bed, hoping for at least a couple of hours of good sleep.

-----------------------------

2025 - U.N. Headquarters, New York City

 

It was looking like it was going to be another long day in Dion De Valera's office. The investigation into the murders of nearly all of SEELE was sucking him dry. Not only were his main suspect proving really credible alibis for her employees, but he also had a deadline to meet. He not only had to answer to the UN council by November 15, but he also had to answer to the Mossad. After all, they technically `earned' the right to kill SEELE off on the grounds that they manipulated the Dead Sea scrolls. He was actually surprised that he got this case, but he was the best investigator that the UN had.

 

As De Valera started reviewing the files in front of him yet again he looked at the clock. It was a quarter past 7 at night. He let out a sad sigh when he saw the time; it was too late to cancel the reservations. He put down the files in his hand & picked up the one of the few pictures he had on his desk. Sometimes Dion wondered how the woman in the photo put up with him. It was true that sometimes he becomes a workaholic, that's why so many other girls left him before, but this girl sticks around. He smiled as he looked at the girls' emerald green eyes & then at the name engraved on the bottom of the frame, Sharon.

 

She was the sweetest & kindest woman he ever met, but she also an extremely fiery temper one would expect from an Irish woman. That alone told him that he was in for a hell of a night later on, He promised her that they would go to the club where they first met after a romantic dinner. Unfortunately he let his job dictate his schedule, again. He still couldn't believe that it was 1 year since that night. He also didn't forget how they met.

-----------------------------

2024 - Yonkers, New York

 

The streets weren't very lively this night, which suited the young man walking just fine. It was 3 weeks since his ex-girlfriend broke up with him, calling him a `workaholic robot'. He needed a break from his job, but the advancement exams were coming up soon, & even though he was already the best recruit that the UN Investigation Bureau had, he could still fall under the cracks if he didn't do well on the exam. Sometimes he wondered if he made the right decision by joining the UN, the same organization that almost caused the death of mankind. Unfortunately it was either that, or face a hard life in his hometown of Dublin.

 

Dion's daydreaming stopped when he reached his destination, an Irish poetry club. He had to be careful; in essence he was entering enemy territory. Not only was this place a club, but a hotbed for anti-UN sentiment. He could only imagine the reception he'd get from the crowd if they found out he was from the UN, even if he agreed with most of their opinions. Those thought aside Dion paid the bouncer & went inside.

 

The place had a very Celtic feel to it. All the writing on the walls & the signs were in Gaelic. Everything on the food menu was from Irish recipes; all the alcohol was from Ireland, Even the furniture was made in Ireland. The young man smirked at this; they obviously didn't want outsiders to come. He looked around for an empty seat in the house, which looked like it was packed. Luckily, not only did he find a free seat, but a free table. So he walked over to it & sat down. It was fitting in a way; he had no one who he wanted to join him in his little adventures into the other side. Most of his co-workers were either too conservative & anal, or too scared to come with him. The old UN that was controlled by SEELE was still fresh on their minds. That also meant he didn't have to pay for his co-workers' drinks. Soon the waitress came up to him for an order. He told he wanted two shots of whiskey.

 

As soon as Dion got settled he looked towards the stage as the host introduced the next speaker. He couldn't believe what he saw. A young woman with fire red hair & emerald green eyes dressed in a t-shirt, jeans & boots stepped on the stage. It seemed like time almost came to a halt at that moment. He smirked a little when the girl stepped onto the microphone. He noticed a couple of things as she introduced herself to the audience. One was that her voice was very soothing to the ears; the other was her accent, a Dublin accent.

 

As the young woman who introduced herself as Sharon Connolly began her poem Dion looked around the place. Nearly everyone there was paying attention to her. It looked like she was very popular among the crowd. Then he realized he was being rude to the girl, his table was in front of the stage. He quickly looked back to the stage. The poem was very pro-IRA. The crowd cheered loudly as she ripped the British government for maintaining their claim to Northern Ireland. All cheered except for Dion, who was analyzing her words. She had to be at least somewhat college educated given her vocabulary.

 

When the girl was done Dion looked at his watch. It was 2 in the morning & apparently it was time to close. Dion left 7 dollars as a tip to the waitress on the table & got up from the table to leave. At that moment he butted heads with someone. Both people fell on the floor massaging their heads in agony. Then both of them decided to look up to see who was the person at the other end of the blow.

 

As the two people stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, they both felt embarrassed. Finally Dion got up & extended his hand to the other person with a smile on his face.

 

“You should watch where you're going, you know, especially coming from the stage, Sharon is it?”

 

Sharon simply cracked a smirk as she accepted his hand & noticed who he was. “Or maybe you should look around before you stand up, sad stranger”

 

A perplexed look came into Doin's face “What do you mean sad stranger?”

 

“Well, you looked a little heartbroken at your table, like you lost a lady”

 

“Well, I did break up with somebody, but I didn't think I showed it on my face.”

 

“Nobody does, say what's your name?”

 

“Doin, little lady. I'm wondering, what part of Dublin are you from?”

 

This time it was Sharon's turn to be confused. “How did you know that?”

 

“Come on now, your accent said it all.”

 

Both laughed as they stepped out of the club together. For some reason neither of them said goodbye, instead they spent most of early morning talking about the world & each other.

----------------------------

2025

 

That night proved to be one of the best in the young man's life. Dion found out that Sharon was from southwest Dublin & was attending NYU on an international scholarship. Her major was actually political science, which made talking about his job a little easier, even though he didn't tell her until their third date. He was actually surprised at her reaction to it when he told her. She laughed a little bit, and then cracked a smirk while she told him “At least there's someone with common sense in that nut factory.”

 

Amazingly over the course of a year the relationship got a lot stronger due to Dion's job. Sharon kept telling him that he was the only guy she dated that could keep up with her in conversations. He even remembered one that they had the night before. Sharon could tell that the case was getting to him, so she asked if he needed help.

 

After he told her every thing he could about the case, they talked about the different scenarios involved. After all, the world was never the same after 2015.

----------------------------

After SEELE was revealed to the world, the global political climate was in chaos. The integrity of the UN was immediately questioned. Even during the tribunals the majority of the world wondered if it was all for show.

It was even worse for most of individual countries involved in project EVA. While the United States & Japan were heavily criticized for their involvement, Germany received the harshest treatment. All that the SEELE revelations did was remind the world of Germany's actions in World War II. Some European countries even demanded the Germany should be broken up in order to prevent another mass genocide.

 

In the immediate aftermath of this, two countries actually became shining lights to the world. They were Italy & Israel. Israel was the only country that proved to be independent even through the SEELE regime, thus its' political status was raised. Italy did the same but only because of the influence of the Vatican.

 

The years following the tribunals saw most of the world slowly calming down. The US, Germany, & Japan were eventually forgiven by the world & took their places atop the political sphere. The UN slowly began to get back the world's trust, at the expense of diminished power. The European Union was getting back together just to pick up the pieces.

 

While it looked like the world was getting back to normal, 3 big anomalies emerged that would change the world's power structure.

 

The major assumption that the UN had was that Latin America & Africa, the two areas that were clearly ignored by SEELE, were going to be in complete chaos for decades to come. The opposite actually happened. Latin American leaders gathered immediately after the SEELE tribunals, & announced a plan to work together under the banner of unity & solidarity. African nations quickly followed, although there was still tension between the Muslim north & the Christian south. Latin American cooperation quickly went from simply working together to talks of unifying the entire continent. At the same time African nations were settling old feuds from the last century. Ten years later their goals were accomplished. Starting in 2026 where the UN usually expected 74 delegates now only 3 will arrive, one representing the newly named Amerindian States, the other two represented North & South Africa.

 

Asia on the other hand, was a completely different story. Ancient ethnic tensions quickly resurfaced right after the SEELE tribunals. Soon after that nearly the whole continent became a gigantic killing field. Almost every country was in, recovering from, or on the fringe of civil war. Thailand & Cambodia nearly bombed themselves into oblivion. India was split in half by the decade-long war between Muslims & Hindus. China was split between 3 armies, the old communist army, a democratic Buddhist army, & the followers of Falun Dafa. The chaos of civil war had also caused Korea, Laos, & Vietnam to simply not exist anymore. To top it all off, the once secret Triad organizations, came out of hiding to profit from the suddenly booming illegal arms, drug, & assassination markets. The only country that escaped the chaos was Japan, but the growing rate of political refugees that kept flooding in started to have a dire effect on the economy.

 

Overall, the world truly changed in the years following SEELE. Not only did supposed war zones become lands of peace & economic growth, but the region that was supposed to be the pillar of order in the world became a true pit of despair.

------------------------------

Dion was still a little out of the loop after the talk. He still couldn't put the pieces together last night; he was too tired to think. Tonight his mind was fresh, so he decided to solve the puzzle. Once again however, he simply let that determination get the best of him again. Now he was going to be late to a dinner he promised his girlfriend & he was going to fry for it.

 

Then the solution suddenly hit him. Asia is in ruins, the only people that had remote control in the area were the Triads. Katsuragi had the perfect place to hire a killer with no ties to NERV. That meant that it can't be traced back to her. How could he not see it before, why else would she be so willing to give information on her personnel to him.

 

While this revelation was going to make his job a lot easier, it was not going to tonight. Usually he would stay for an all-nighter on the case, but instead he gladly put his things away. The case was important, But Sharon was a bigger priority, & he had a dinner to attend.

---------------------------------

2025 - Tokyo 2

 

Touji was looking over the packages in the yacht dealership. He was really surprised at how much luxury can go on a boat. He can pretty much build his mansion on the sea. Usually He wouldn't even look for a yacht because of how Hikari would act when she saw the receipt, but he had to cover his tracks. Amazingly this fell in line with his anniversary. All he was planning to do was fly to Paris for a romantic dinner, then to Venice for a boat ride around the city. This was a far better present.

 

Still, guilt never left his mind. He knew why he was here, why he could only spend a certain amount of money. All he was doing was trying to keep the biggest mistake of his life from becoming public knowledge. At the same time he felt proud that he was able to provide the best for his family. Hopefully he would take his secret to the grave, but in this day & age that was nearly impossible.

The paparazzi in Tokyo 2 were among the most ruthless in the world. They were always hanging out at all the upper class hot spots looking for any photo opportunity that could start the well-run gossip wheels of the city. They alone broke up at least 5 marriages. However Touji's worries were not about a mistress since he didn't have one. His main concern was seeing his face in the front page of the tabloids with bold headlines.

 

SUZUHARA HIRES KILLERS TO ASSASINATE SEELE.

 

That's all he needed, he was already a favorite target of them simply because he was young, rich, & a former employee of NERV. Luckily for him only one other knew the truth, & he always kept his mouth shut, unless he was drinking. Touji just now had to make sure that Koushiro never drank again.

 

Somehow even as his thoughts were elsewhere he was still capable of picking the yacht package that Hikari would like the most at his budget.

 

“I'll take this one sir.”

 

The salesman looked at the picture that Touji was pointing at in the catalog & wrote it down in the ordering paperwork.

 

“Excellent choice, Mr. Suzuhara. The yacht will be ready in time for your anniversary.”

-----------------------------

2025: The next day - Tokyo 3

 

Misato stood nervously at her front door. Today was that day she confronted Rei. She had to be very subtle about however, considering she had Asuka as backup. Slowly she opened her to find that the table had already been & the girls waiting for her. She couldn't help but smile at this. The girls knew she was under a lot of stress due to the UN investigating her, so it was nice to see that there were at least 2 people in the world that really cared about her.

 

There was a minute of silence until Asuka finally broke the ice.

 

“Well, Misato what do you think, we cooked all your favorites, rented a couple of movies for later, & Rei has set up the bathroom like a spa. “

 

Misato's jaw dropped at that. She almost broke down right there. Asuka & Rei went to all this trouble just so that she can rest. She thanked God right there for letting these 2 girls into her life. Unfortunately, this was going to make the talk with Rei that much harder.

 

“Everything's wonderful Asuka. You girls didn't have to go & do this, but I really appreciate it. Well let's eat!”

 

As the 3 women sat down for dinner & served themselves Misato kept noticing that Rei kept looking over to the spare room, so she decided to hint at Rei that they were going to have a talk later.

 

“Hey Rei, you look like there's something on your mind.”

 

Rei's immediate reaction to that was a pale face, even for her. She quickly looked at Asuka like she was asking for help. Misato knew now that this was going the only chance she would get to talk to the girl, or else she would hide in her room while the redhead acted as her bodyguard.

 

“Look, I know something's going on. You two keep looking at Shinji's room like he was there. That & I heard you last night Rei. You don't talk in your dreams, especially about the topic you talked about. If you girls know something, please tell me.”

 

That was the straw that broke the camels back for Rei. Slowly a trail of tears started to flow from the eyes of the blue haired girl as she realized she couldn't hide her thoughts anymore. She looked down at the table to avoid her guardian's eyes. This was going to be hard for her to tell the only mother figure in her life.

 

“Do you remember the pictures you showed us? The drawings looked familiar for some reason. I didn't realize what it was until a few seconds later. Ikari once showed me some drawings that looked almost exactly the same when I was in the hospital. That & the fact that no pictures of EVA Unit 1 were made public made it certain to me that it was Ikari who drew those pictures, that Ikari is alive out there somewhere.”

 

With that Rei completely broke down. She moved her plate to the side & began sobbing on the table. Misato quickly got up from the table, walked over to Rei, & gave the tightest hug she could give to try to calm the young woman down. As she began stroking Rei's hair, she began to feel a few tears racing down her cheeks.

 

“Why didn't you girls tell me about this sooner if you felt this way?”

 

Asuka knew she had to answer that question. Her best friend was too emotional to do it.

 

“I wanted to tell you Misato, but Rei told me not to. She didn't want to raise your hopes up in case it was somebody else, or to make you think that he's the killer.“

 

Misato couldn't argue with that. She couldn't picture Shinji hurting a fly, let alone picture him being a heartless killer.

 

“Well I can understand that, but what if it's true that Shinji really drew those cards? Maybe the real fuckers who did this are using him. Do you know what that means?“

 

“What?” was all that a tearful Rei could let out. Misato lifted the young woman's head by the chin so she could at both girls in the eye at the same time.

 

“It means we can find him & bring him home.”

 

Both girls' faces lit up at that revelation, especially Rei.

 

“Yea, bring him home, to hold him, to tell him how I feel.”

 

Asuka's expression quickly changed upon hearing that. She now had a slightly sad look on her face. This hurt Misato. Something was really bothering Asuka.

 

“Excuse me, I'm going to the balcony to get some fresh air.”

 

As Asuka walked toward the balcony Misato quickly looked at her other charge. She calmed down but still she still looked a little stressed.

 

“Rei, go take that bath, you need it more than me.”

 

All Rei did was nod as she started to walk to the bathroom. Misato then turned around & walked toward the fridge to grab a beer. Now that she solved one crisis she was going right into another. She was still trying to figure out how she kept her composure. Maybe she was trying to be strong for the girls. While she finished the beer in her hand she let out a small sigh. After she threw the beer can in the trash Misato straightened herself out & went to the balcony. When she got there she saw that Asuka was staring out at the moon. Misato had to be gentle this time.

 

“Asuka, what's wrong?”

 

The redhead was quickly taken out of her trance by the question.

 

“Well Misato, I've been thinking lately about Rei & me. We know that we both love Shinji so I began wondering about what would happen if he came back. Would our friendship hold or would we become rivals?”

 

Misato just sighed at that while cracking a small smile.

 

“You know I asked myself that question a lot, but then I realized something. You girls are a lot more than just friends. Both of you were suffering for a long time, but you helped each other during those trials. You helped Rei deal with the humanity that was denied to her for such a long time, & she helped you break down the walls you put up so you wouldn't get hurt. In doing that you two became something more than friends. You became sisters. Sisters who wouldn't let anybody or anything hurt them. When I realized that I knew you wouldn't throw away that kind of bond. Besides, you have to consider the possibility of Shinji being with someone else.”

 

“Don't say that!”

 

It was a long time since Misato heard that venomous tone from Asuka.

 

“But Asuka, what if he …”

 

“I told you don't say that, don't you dare say that!”

 

Misato knew now that she had to take drastic action, so she grabbed Asuka by the wrists & made the redhead look at her in the eye.

 

“Asuka, We don't know what Shinji's done, who he met, or where he's been for the past decade! You have to be open to the idea that he has met someone, maybe even started a family already!”

 

The whimpers coming from Asuka's mouth let Misato know that she was being too harsh on the girl, so she loosened the grip she had on the redhead's wrists while still being firm. Then she let out a heavy sigh.

 

“Listen, I lost my only chance at happiness because I was too afraid to take it. I don't want you girls to make the same mistake. So please, if Shinji does have someone else in his life, help each other move on. Just because you lose you first love doesn't mean you can't be happy. You two deserve that at least, ok?”

 

Asuka simply nodded as she gave her guardian a hug, then let go. As Asuka walked back inside Misato stared at the night sky. The stars were really bright tonight. She began to wonder if Shinji was staring at the same sky somewhere. She also thought about what Rei said, & what it meant. Now she had the ammunition she needed to not only clear her name, but get back the boy that meant so much to all three women living in her home.

 

Asuka finished her plate of food that was left on the table & put her dishes away. When she was done she walked over to the bathroom. Rei left the door open by accident. Asuka could see how relaxed she looked. Deciding not to disturb her friend Asuka went to her room to get the videos she rented. Before she opened her door she looked at the bathroom again. This time she said a promise she intended to keep to herself.

 

“Rei, I value our friendship too much to lose it. So I promise, whatever happens will not risk that. Not even Shinji.”

-----------------------------

Well I know it's been a really long ass time since I dropped a chapter. I've been in Miami chillin', partying it up, CELEBRATING THE HEAT CHAMPIONSHIP!! Plus I'm doing an internship that took up a lot of my fucking time. Well I'm not done with this thing yet. So I'll holla at y'all later with a new piece.

 

P.S.: If y'all are New Yorkers you know what the fuck I'm talking about with James Dolan.