"Do you believe him?" Misato asked.
Touji and Hikari stood in front of her desk. Their look of fear suggested that they did in fact believe Sachiel.
"I don't see what he could gain by lying," Hikari replied.
Trusting the word of an Angel was a bad idea at the best of times. But Okito was broken and captured, and this warning didn't benefit him.
Of course, that was if it was true. It meant they had another Angel operating on a completely different agenda: They had Ramiel and his plans, Leliel and her plans, Iruel's own plans, Ria's plans, and now Bardiel and whatever it had planned. Them all working against each other did make them less of an organized threat. Of course it also meant she was being attacked by many different groups with as many tactics. Planning for all of them would be a nightmare.
As would the fact they now might be dealing with an Angel who could be anyone, at any age. That was going to be hell to prepare for.
"I'll station some security near your apartment," Misato said. "Unfortunately, it's the most I can do at this time."
"We're stretched thin as it is," Touji noted.
"We're hiring replacements and automating where we can. Not connected to the Network of course."
'Of course some of those replacements would have to be mercenaries at the rate things we're going.'
Hikari spoke up again, hesitantly. "What will you do when…"
"Okito will be given a trial when this is all over," Misato interrupted evenly. "That's all I can promise."
Killing him flat out would be simpler, far simpler. But the government had made a clear powerplay with Ria and the pardon. The last thing she wanted to do was give them more power to use against them. And executing someone that was on the surface a 16 year old boy could be spun very hard against her.
Hikari gave a solemn nod. Hikari wasn't being as foolish as Asuka and Shinji were, but she still cared for Okito despite everything.
Misato was grateful she didn't have biological kids of her own. Ria was hard enough to deal with as it was.
"Can we move our daughter and Kensuke out of school at least?" Toji asked.
Misato shook her head regretfully. "Too high profile. One little tip off could create a leak we can't afford. Best I can tell you is talk to Shinji or Asuka about that."
"We're not exactly on speaking terms with them right now. Not after they allowed her back at school," Toji explained tensely.
"Is there anything you could do about that?" Hikari about begged.
Misato put her hands up in defeat. "It's out of my hands. Anything I could do against her would get me thrown out of here before the day was up."
Right now an Angel that had killed thousands was speaking with the Empress of Japan. Misato had no idea what would come of the meeting, but she suspected one way or another it was going to just make things worse for everyone.
/
Asuka adjusted Ria's tie for what felt like the twentieth time in as many minutes.
"It's fine," Ria whined, batting ineffectually at Asuka's hands.
"You are meeting the Empress of Japan, it needs to be more than fine," Asuka insisted. "You're the one who insisted on wearing a suit, after all."
"No one, not even an Empress is getting me into a dress," Ria said defensively as she smoothed out one of the arms of her black, business style suit.
"Presenting the Angel of Might in a dress would probably be sending the wrong message anyways," Shinji commented dryily.
Ria raised an eyebrow as she stared at her father. "Oh, so we're joking about it now?" she replied.
Shinji shrugged indifferently. "Ehh, why not? We don't have to really worry about hiding it anymore. The damage is done and things have gotten beyond the point where I can even call this weird anymore."
"When you start dealing with alternate universes on a regular basis," Asuka observed, "weird kind loses all meaning."
Asuka couldn't deny that she felt a lot more at ease around Ria. It wasn't that she had been scared of her, not exactly at least, and she still felt that tension from time to time, but ever since the attack, the Angel aspect of Ria really didn't bug her as much anymore. Sure, what she had done to Misato was worrying, but it was no different then Shinji losing control while piloting Unit-01. Ria was clearly fundamentally human, for all the good and awkward that implied, right down to the embarrassing parts of her having a girlfriend sleep over.
One of the Imperial servants stepped into the waiting room.
He bowed deeply before speaking. "The Empress will see you now."
Asuka was uneasy. The Imperial Household Agency had spent the past few hours preparing them for this. When to bow, where to stand, the appropriate amount of respect to show, etc etc.
Personally Asuka found the idea of a monarch with any real power absurd. But the people of Japan wanted a stable government after Third Impact. And out of all the things people had discussed at the time, this seemed like the least terrible option. Particularly compared to some of the noises the Church of Lilith made back then. Asuka shuddered at the memory of what they'd wanted her and Shinji to be used as.
The Throne hall was about what Asuka had expected, ornate and ancient looking, despite the room being less than a decade old. The end of the hall was dominated by a large dais, the Empress hidden behind blue silk curtains, flanked on either side by servants in tuxedos.
Asuka began to bow. No matter how much it annoyed her, insulting the Empress would have been a stupid move.
"There's no need for that," a voice rang out.
The Empress stepped out from behind the curtain. She was young, very young. If anything she looked younger than Ria. She was dressed in a simple black and white dress, a cherry blossom pinned to her chest. Her black hair was tied in a conservative bun.
"The World owes the two of you too much for you to bow to anyone," she said gracefully.
"Thank you," Shinji replied, nervous and awkward.
The Empress studied Ria, her hands gripping a small closed fan as she held herself straight with practiced dignity.
Ria stared at her with naked skepticism.
Asuka was quietly grateful that Ria was smart enough to not stare at her like she stared at almost every pretty woman who crossed her path. If nothing else recent events had done a lot to curb Ria's more perverted side.
"I must admit, I didn't think you would come," the Empress remarked. "The Prime Minister wanted you working with us to be a condition of your pardon. But I told him that would only make things worse. We need someone who will work with us willingly."
"So if I don't want to work with you, you'll just let me go?" Ria asked cautiously.
The Empress nodded. "Though I do hope you will at least listen to what I have to say first."
She prepared herself, clearly going over lines she had mentally rehearsed.
"I don't want to be enemies with WILLE. Despite our likely shared misgivings about Misato's recent actions, I haven't removed her from power because it would cause further distrust and cause problems. We need unity now more than ever," she explained.
'Well, that closes that avenue,' Asuka realized.
"Though I admit the pardon was as much reminding Misato of her place as it was an attempt to recruit you. Unity and cooperation are important, but there are limits. Now, let me ask you a question, Ria Soryu: What is your goal in life? What do you want?" the Empress asked.
Ria pondered for a moment.
"Publish a few books, graduate college eventually. Acquire a wife or two, enjoy my life," Ria said casually.
The Empress smirked with amusement. "Ramiel seeks to turn your kind into gods. Sachiel wants that plus genocide. And the Angel of might wants to be a writer. Aren't you just fascinating?"
Ria blushed slightly. "I did my duty. I get to live my life as I want. That is how I want to live it."
The Empress nodded. "Perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately for me that leaves me with little to entice you with."
"There is one thing," Ria said, almost interrupting the Empress, "Whatever you're offering me. I need assurances, in writing, that it's not permanent. That I can walk away at any point and go back to living my life."
One of the servants looked at Ria with hateful eyes, like they wanted to strangle her.
"Done," the Empress stated.
"Just like that?" Shinji said.
"Of course," she nodded. "Now as for my actual offer... Let me be blunt, we're losing the ground war. When it comes to fighting them at full size, we have enough to get by. Though it would be nice if we had an extra hand or two." She raised an inquiring eyebrow at Ria.
"Can't help there," Ria said regretfully, shaking her head. "I don't really know how they actually do that."
The Empress looked surprised. "Is that so? Hmm, curious. We'll have to work on that. But more than that, we're utterly outmatched on a human level. Twice now Angels have invaded WILLE. The first time one of them attacked with impunity. The second time they were only stopped because of you. Sachiel is only in custody because of you. On the ground level it seems like the best way to stop an Angel, is with another Angel. I ask only two things of you; to protect WILLE and help hunt down the other Angels."
"So, by protect you mean...?" Shinji asked.
"Ideally you'll be assigned a station there, watching the place at least few hours each day, especially during major operations and events," the Empress explained.
Asuka was a bit taken aback. It made sense sure but that seemed like it would only flare tensions even more.
"Er, you do know Misato banned me from ever setting foot there again, right?" Ria said.
"And I have every right to override that order, which I did two hours ago. They'll bicker and complain but I'd much rather have an unhappy WILLE than a dead one," the Empress replied.
Shinji stepped back into this conversation. "About the hunting the Angels part? That would put Ria in a considerable amount of danger. I don't feel comfortable agreeing to that. She is still a 16 year old girl. Asking her to defend WILLE is one thing. But hunting sounded like something that could easily lead her into incredibly dangerous situations. I don't think Asuka is very happy to allow that, either."
"I'm not asking her to patrol the streets or anything," the Empress assured them. "But think about what will happen if we manage to track down an Angel? Any conventional option would either get a lot of people killed or raise too many questions in the public. You, with a team there to support you and drag you out should worse come to worst, could do a lot more than the conventional options ever could. You are the Angel of Might, after all. Few of the others ever showed as much strength as you did."
A small, smug smile appeared on Ria's face.
They wanted her to fight. Asuka hated it but she couldn't deny the logic of anything the Empress was requesting. She mopped the floor with both Okito and Shamshel. If she took a more active role, she could do a lot of good. And it's not like Ria had been able to stay out of the fighting as it was.
Though the idea of having their girl go out and fight was almost too much to bear for Asuka or Shinji, it did seem the best option.
The thought of fighting the other Angels did seem to rather please Ria, which only made Asuka even more worried.
"So...if, if I agree to this," Ria said, "who would I answer to?"
"Directly to me. You might work with a few other people but none of them would outrank you," the Empress said.
"You?" Asuka was confused. "Why not the Prime Minister?"
For a second Asuka thought she saw one of her eyes twitch slightly. "The Prime Minister has the T-RIDEN-T project. This is my personal project."
"So you want me to protect a place and attack on your command. Sounds to like you're trying to make me your attack dog," Ria noted dryly.
"That was not my intention," the Empress said stiffly. "But it is a fitting metaphor, I'll admit. Though personally I would prefer to see you as my bulwark against Ramiel and the others."
Ria nodded.
The Empress went on, "Rest assured though, you will be paid well for your services. This is a job offer. You're no one's slave or serf, nor are you being drafted into any military service. You can walk away whenever you feel like."
The room was silent was silent as Ria considered the offer. Asuka was torn, wanting to both accept the deal and throw it back at the Empress.
"This is awfully generous," Ria noted.
The Empress gave a small nod. "As I said, I need someone who will work with me willingly. If I forced you I could never trust you enough to get the job done."
Ria turned towards Shinji and Asuka, the look in her eye making it very clear how she felt about the option.
They could have refused her, but they stopped themselves, trying to balance what they wanted as parents and what they knew was best for the situation. For better or worse, they left the final decision to her.
"Very well then," Ria said confidently. "I accept your offer."
