Chapter 14: Zeruel
"I remember shortly after I came out of the sea," Misato began. "I stumbled upon my cross. It was on the beach, nailed to a bit of a driftwood. Like some sort of memorial. At the time I was confused, but later after Shinji explained it me I realized that I hadn't just been badly wounded before instrumentality. I had died."
Ritsuko nodded. She was one of the few people alive would could understand what she had experienced.
Misato went on. "For the longest time I questioned why I was alive. Why I had been given a second chance. Death is supposed to final after all. For the longest time I did not know. I was a relic leading a glorified museum. Then the Angels reappeared, and I thought that was why I had been revived. To defeat them, to ensure they stayed dead."
Misato sighed.
"Now I'm starting to think I was brought back as punishment for my failures. They hate me now, and I can't blame them. They're wrong about her, but I don't blame them."
"Considering the situation, it's not too late to undo what happened," Ritsuko suggested. "You were extremely emotionally distressed. You can just say you made a rash judgement. "
Misato stared at her. She had a point, but not one Misato would accept. "Zeruel's planning something. They all have plans. Sachiel has plans, Ramiel has plans, Leliel has plans. They're schemers and liars all. She may not trying to make herself some sort of god, she may even actually care for them. But that doesn't mean she's on our side. We trust her again, and we're putting a noose around our neck. Nothing's changed, not really."
There was no way any of them were actually on the side of humanity. Misato just couldn't accept that. They had warred for control of the world, fought each other in a war of extinction. The White Moon of Adam versus the Black Moon of Lilith. The two could not coexist equally. One had to either be on top or the only survivor.
Ria was planning something. The girl had kept up one massive lie for 16 years, what was one more lie to someone like her?
Allowing her to exist was a necessity. But trusting her was insanity. No matter what Shinji and Asuka thought. Sadly, convincing them of the truth was impossible.
"If nothing's changed, then why are you referring to her as 'her' and not 'it'?" Ritsuko questioned.
"Dehumanizing them was stupid," Misato admitted. "But just because she is a she, that doesn't change the fact she lied to us and manipulated us for over a decade."
"And how is that any worse than what I've done to you?" Ritsuko asked.
Misato raised an eyebrow
"When you took me and Shinji down to the dummy plug system I don't recall you turning into a giant monster and nearly wiping out the entire Bridge staff," Misato replied.
Misato had forgiven Ritsuko for her crimes, but some things couldn't be forgiven. Shinji and Asuka may have though death brought absolution. But it didn't, not for the Angels and not for her.
/
The walk out of WILLE was one of the more painful and awkward experiences Asuka had ever had in her life. Escorting her daughter out while everyone watched and judged. Most glared at Ria with fear, terrified of the Angel walking among them.
The younger Shinji looked at Ria like she had stabbed him in the back. So hurt and angry. Asuka's younger counterpart judged them more coolly, leaning almost casually against a wall as they passed. Though Asuka could still see anger in her younger self's expression. It would be some time, if ever, before they forgave Ria.
Mari was nowhere to be seen, Mana having already taken her home.
Kodama was still there though, standing alongside her mother, younger brother, and Kensuke near the door out of WILLE. They had been trying to leave. Bad timing on Hikari's part.
Kensuke cowered, the wounds still far too raw for him. Hikari retreated, But Kodama… With only a look she made it clear just how much she hated Ria right now.
Ria spend the car ride hunched over and miserable, staring at the floor of the backseat. Shinji and Asuka tried to comfort her. Tell her how proud they were of her, how what happened with Misato wasn't her, how they would try and fix all of it. It did nothing to help. As far as Ria was concerned she was now hated and feared by almost everyone she ever cared about, and a few comforting words weren't going to change that.
If there was one bright spot in this whole disaster, it was that this whole incident had done a lot to strengthen Asuka's trust in her daughter. She had done her best to save Misato even after everything she had done to Dimitri.
Though her loss of control was more than a bit troubling. It wasn't Ria's fault obviously, but still, her losing control in that form could be just as dangerous as a pilot snapping while inside of an Eva.
They arrived back at the hotel. The place seeming far colder than they had left it. Asuka found herself missing their old apartment.
The moment they walked in, Asuka grabbed Ria in a hug. Holding her close. She smelled strange, faint hints of what she had turned into still lingering on her.
Ria returned her hug weakly.
"I know things are bad now, but it will get better," Asuka assured her.
"And we're here for you, no matter what," Shinji added.
Ria smiled weakly. "Thanks."
She broke the hug, looking just as utterly miserable.
"I'm going to my room," she announced. "I need time to think."
She retreated into her room, Asuka and Shinji collapsing onto the couch a moment later.
Asuka felt frustrated beyond belief. They were in an uncertain limbo. Ria was spared but she was rejected and treated as an outcast. They hadn't expected Misato to do that. Asuka had assumed Misato would either relenant completely, or would have tried to pull something like she did with Dimitri. They were glad Misato had not gone that far. Even now that was not a road either her or Shinji wished to go down.
Still, this left them in a frustrating stalemate.
"I can't quit," Asuka said, even though right now she desperately wanted to. "We'd be completely locked out of the loop if I did. Removing Misato from power would require either a vote of no-confidence or approval from the Imperial Diet. Frankly I think the others would much more likely level a vote of no-confidence against me right now and the Imperial Diet would mean making a deal with the Prime Minister, and I don't trust that man."
"So what do we do?" Shinji asked.
"Endure," she replied. "It's all we can do right now."
Shinji shook his head in disbelief.
"How could she do this? She helped raise Ria, for crying out loud! How can Misato just turn her back on her?"
Asuka sighed. The tragic part of all this, no matter how angry she was at Misato, she was more disappointed than anything. Misato had proven herself to be a good person over the past twenty years, she had worked hard to make up for her various failings as a guardian. She been there when Asuka needed her most, after Shinji's breakdown and flight. Misato was better than this, but she was too blinded by her hatred. She still saw the Angels as the things that killed her father and she couldn't get past that. She was heavily comprised emotionally, but Asuka doubted anyone else saw that. As far as the majority was concerned, a good Angel was a dead Angel.
In time they would have to deal with her behavior and try to get the others to see reason. But for now their priority was Ria.
/
Maya stared at the inner workings of MAGI Achiral. The MAGI, like it's two counterparts, was almost identical to the originals of Tokyo-3. Though with some upgrades, restrictions, and the Personality Transplant OS being based upon Ritsuko instead of her mother.
She looked over, inspecting and re-inspecting things she had been staring for the last ten hours. The MAGI was free of corruption. There was no trace of Angel anywhere in the system. How?
"Any luck?" Misato asked.
Maya pulled herself out of the inside of Achiral and shook her head.
"The connection to the defense grid has yet to be installed. And we saw all of the Angels flee. It didn't leave with them, as far as we can tell."
"Okito admitted that he smuggled Iruel in with him through a cellphone. One of the few things he has spoken about. Perhaps one of the others smuggled him out in a smilar fashion?" Misato suggested.
Maya groaned in frustration. Maybe? It did make sense.
"I'll institute a sweep of the place. Make sure we don't find a cellphone or laptop hidden behind a desk somewhere," Maya replied.
"Good, good," Misato nodded. "Did you do the other thing I asked?"
"Yes," Maya replied. "I'll have the report to you by the end of the day but it's not very interesting."
"So no communication with any of the other Angels?" Misato asked evenly. Somehow looking relieved and disappointed at the same time.
"There was some," Maya admitted. "Apparently The Third Angel had an account on some Massive Multiplayer video game. After the attack on the Sub-Commander's Apartment, Ri-... the 14th Angel filled his inbox on the game with swears and coded death threats in Japanese, English, German, and... Spanish for some reason."
Some of the threats were quite memorable. And disturbing. The amount of hate Zeruel had for Sachiel made Misato's general hate for Angels seem tame.
"Anything else?" Misato asked.
"Her search history was harmless," Maya explained.
Because going through the search history of a sixteen year old girl was exactly how Maya wanted to spent her evening and not at all one of the creepier things she had done. Maya now knew far more about Ria than she ever wanted to.
"If she's planning how to kill us all," she went on. "She's not doing it on her computer."
Misato nodded. "Fair enough. Still. Keep an eye on her."
"Of course, General."
/
Asuka was in the middle of breakfast, Ria and Shinji still fast asleep, when her phone rang.
It was Dr.Akagi.
"Hello?" Asuka answered tentatively.
"The Prime Minister is in Conference Room 1." Ritsuko didn't even bother with pleasantries. "He wants to speak with you."
Asuka suppressed a curse. Nothing good could come from a conversation with the Prime Minister.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Asuka said as she got up and walked towards the door.
"The Prime Minister also wanted Ria to come," Ritsuko said. "Misato refused, strongly. But I thought you should know."
Asuka was silent, too confused to form a response. If the Prime Minister knew, what did he want with Ria?
Dr. Akagi hung up.
Asuka grabbed her things, making sure she had her pistol and hip holster with her, and left.
/
Asuka strode into the Conference room. General Katsuragi and Akagi sat on one side of the table, the Prime Minister and Kirishima on the other.
"Prime Minister, General." Asuka said curtly, nodding slightly.
"Ahh good, the Sub-Commander is here," the Prime Minister said, a transparently false smile on his face. "I've heard talk you daughter is hero of the hour, with some complications."
The General frowned. "And who told you that exactly?"
"I did," Mana was blunt. "I did tell you exactly why I was here after all."
Katsuragi and the Prime Minister both looked annoyed.
"I understand your concerns about not leaking info, General." The Prime Minister said as he walked towards Asuka. "The more people who know about the Angels, the more we run the risk of it leaking to the public. We've already had two attacks on WILLE we've had to pass off as acts of terrorism. People are scared enough as it is. But the Empress herself is most glad this news reached her desk."
He handed Asuka a paper envelope, sealed with yellow wax stamped with 16 petal chrysanthemum emblem of the Imperial Family.
Now that was a surprise.
"What is it?" Asuka asked as she stared at the seal.
"The Empress feels we must be prepared to take drastic steps to ensure our survival and victory in this terrible war. The use of EVAs we barely understand and wiping away hundreds of years of history in the reconstruction of the capital, for example. In this case she has seen fit to grant an Imperial Pardon to your daughter, absolving her of any crimes she may have committed, in whatever lives she's had," the Prime Minister said.
Asuka's eyes bulged. Katsuragi recoiled in shock. Even Ritsuko was surprised.
"If WILLE goes after your daughter it will be treated as if they attacked any loyal human citizen and will be prosecuted as such. Provided she doesn't turn against humanity of course," he explained.
"You can't do that!" Misato snapped. "The Angels are WILLE's domain!"
"Killing them is," the Prime Minister corrected. "And you've been given a free hand to do as you see fit there, and you chose not to kill Ria Soryu, leaving her in a uncertain situation. The Empress feels mistreating a potential asset like that is a recipe for disaster."
The General fumed.
He turned towards Asuka again.
"Thank you," Asuka said weakly. This did lift a major cloud out from over them. This effectively made it impossible for Misato to go after Ria without getting thrown out of power. She was still a pariah among WILLE and her friends, though.
"It was not my doing," the Prime Minister insisted. There was a twitch to his lip, a frustration in his voice. He didn't agree with this but he had been forced to go along with it.
"Still," he went on. "The Empress is hoping you're family's gratitude for this might make your daughter open to perhaps, working more directly with Her Majesty's government. We need everything we can to fight this menace and your daughter can certainly fight other angels."
Oh so that was the Empress's game, mercy in exchange for their daughter being a weapon of the military.
"You can't be serious," Katsuragi said.
"But I am," he replied.
"I'll have to get back to you on that," Asuka said, trying to keep her tone noncommittal as possible.
He nodded. "Of course, of course. No one is forcing her after all, still please have her consider the offer, if you would."
