So I have two parts of this chapter done, the second part will be posted tomorrow.
/
Chapter 15: The Darkest Part of Noon.
Through the armored glass, Ria and Okito looked at each other. The former was dressed in a black naval uniform devoid of any markings or adornments save for gold buttons. The latter was barely more than a head, torso, and arm, naked and strapped to an elevated table.
Regret marked both of their faces.
"Look at what you've become," Okito said weakly. "A hound on a leash."
Ria sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I'm standing here, in WILLE. With them fully aware of what I am and there's not a damn thing Misato can do about it. What argument do you possibly have left?" she replied.
Okito looked down, dejected and defeated.
"Did you come here to gloat?" he asked. "Rub your victory in my face?"
"Do you really think I won here?!" Ria snapped. "There are four, maybe five people alive who actually like me. My relationship with my grandmother has fallen to the point where if we spent five minutes alone together, one of us would probably kill the other. I'm miserable half the time. I can barely sleep anymore. I haven't won. I just managed to salvage something out of this mess you created."
"Yeah, I know, I know," he muttered. "So why are you here, then?"
Ria wanted to hate him, but he was harmless, broken, a shell of his former self. Anything he'd done to her he'd done to himself a thousand times over. However angry she was, she pitied him more than anything.
She raised three fingers. "I need three things from you. First is everything you can tell me about Bardiel."
She still couldn't believe he had known about Bardiel all this time and had never told her. They could have dealt with them together years ago.
Okito rolled his head. "I already gave out all the info I have on them."
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Ria said skeptically.
"It's the truth. I don't have any reasons left to withhold a scrap of info on them. I want them dead as much as you do," Okito replied.
She believed him, as much as she could believe him.
"Okay, so I suppose you would be willing to give me all the info you could on Iruel? I can't imagine you want him alive anymore than Bardiel," she asked.
Okito inhaled sharply through gritted teeth. "...That's not so simple. I want to tell you, Ria. Don't get me wrong, if there's anyone who could ensure that traitorous ass dies a horrible, agonizing death, it's you. But that info would almost certainly lead to Ramiel and the others."
"So?" Ria shrugged. "Why would you care? They left you to die."
"You don't know Ramiel. He's coming for me, sooner or later he will. I was wrong to assume there was Angelic unity. I was wrong to call you a traitor. But I still believe in our plan."
Ria shook her head in disgust. "Really? Really?! After everything you've done, everything you've suffered, you're still trying to enact this insane plan for godhood?"
He hadn't learned one bit. He was still an utter goddamn idiot.
"It's all I have left!" Okito snapped. "Fine, maybe you beat the odds. Maybe the Lilin won't betray you the moment this is over. I don't have that opportunity. I threw away everything else. Maybe if I'd talked to you first, maybe if I had been less stubborn, we wouldn't be here. But it's too late to change my path."
Ria buried her head in her hand.
"I suppose it's pointless to ask you my third question then?" Ria said angrily.
"I don't see the harm in hearing you out at least," Okito said softly.
"Fine," Ria glared at him. "I need to know how you transformed into your original self. I pushed myself as hard as I possibly could during your attack and it very well could have killed me if I let it go too long. There's no way transforming like that should be possible without it being incredibly lethal to us. So how did you do it? How do you make transforming like that possible?"
"Oh that? That's simple," Okito replied with false cheer. "You just need a catalyst."
"W-what?" Ria was thrown off.
"A catalyst, something to push you further. A remnant of our old flesh, a piece of one of our bodies, or one of the Adam-based Evas," Okito said.
"...Why are you telling me this? You won't tell me anything about Iruel but this you give freely?" Ria asked, incredibly confused.
"Because I want you to survive this," Okito said, completely serious. "You were my friend, the only one who never used me. I don't agree in the slightest with what you're doing, but I can't stop you. The others won't show you mercy so it only seems fair to at least level the field in this regards. Besides, I owe you for what happened Iruel. If I should have never let him be a part of that mission."
Ria stared at him skeptically. "You do realize I'm going to kill Ramiel and the others if I can?"
Okito nodded. "I know. And I'm also perfectly aware what is going to happen between us if and when I escape..."
"...You could always try staying here and accepting your situation," Ria countered.
'Maybe not make everything horrible for once?' she mused bitterly.
"We both know that's not possible. Sooner or later I'm getting out of here," Okito replied.
They knew if they ever met outside of this room, one of them would end up dead. They both sighed at the thought.
Ria turned away. "I wish I could say it was nice seeing you Okito. For your sake, I hope this is the last time we see each other. Goodbye."
/
Dimitri wasn't entirely sure where he was now. Which was probably the point. Ramiel had moved the entire operation in the middle of the night.
They were in some sort of multi-room concrete bunker, hidden beneath another building.Most disturbingly was that the place had guards, human guards. Guards who fully understand what they were doing. Ramiel clearly had more resources than he had suspected.
Dimitri wasn't exactly a prisoner but Ramiel clearly didn't want him knowing where he was, lest he report back to Leliel. Then again, it was more than likely Leliel had given up and abandoned him.
Though that wouldn't make much difference with Ramiel. The Thunder of God was a paranoid one. Only he and his guards knew the location of this bunker, every other Angel was led in and out with blindfolds and ear plugs at least.
Despite that, the main room of the bunker was filled with almost every Angel not working with or captured by WILLE. It wasn't even close to all of them, but Dimitri had never seen so many of them gathered in one place before. Misato's actions and Ramiel's fear mongering had been a wild success it would seem.
Dmitri sat in a far corner, watching things from afar, horrified and disgusted that his peace attempt had been twisted this much.
Iruel, Shamshel, the twin forms of Israfel, and Sahaquiel were there of course. Joining them was Armisael, probably one of the oldest of the group. Armisael looked every bit the serious business woman, save for the video game she was currently playing.
Then there was Arael, who stuck out like a sore thumb covered in neon lights. The guy was albino, with short bright blond hair, completely pale skin, and green eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. Though what really made him stand was his outfit. He was wearing the pale white robes of the Church of Lilith. Which made him seem even paler than he was, and made almost everyone else, even Dimitri, uncomfortable. None of them cared much for ADAM anymore but even pretending to worship Lilith felt...wrong.
Lastly there was young Sandalphon. Sandalphon was about the same age as Israfel, though far more prone to acting his age. His face was hidden behind a plastic green mask that had two round eyes painted on the upper left side of it. One of Dimitri's simplest commissions.
Strangely though, Sandalphon had traveled with a chaperone. His sister Himari, his distinctly Lilin sister.
"Why are you alive?" Shamshel questioned as she stared at the girl.
"The diamond boy said I was allowed to be here. I'll keep my silence in exchange for being allowed to live," Himari said defensively.
"Okay but why are you here, in the meeting?" Iruel asked, having some how regained a considerable amount of weight in less than a week.
"Oh come on, he's eight," the girl exclaimed. "I can't just leave him alone like that. Besides, you're monitoring my house, you weirdo. You already know why."
"Also, we were promised snacks," Sandalphon added happily.
"Are we sure we should be doing this?" Sahaquiel asked as she thumbed through a magazine. "I mean, if Sandalphon is going to tell any random Lilin about us."
"I don't talk to strangers," Sandalphon replied angrily.
"That's right," Himari said with an approving nod.
Shamshel stared at the Lilin girl. "Now that I think about it, you look familiar."
"What?" Himari asked.
Iruel smiled for some reason.
"Yeah you look really familiar," Shamshel replied.
"...I've never seen you before in my life." the girl said with annoyance.
Ramiel stepped into the room, flanked by two guards, practically oozing a smug sense of confidence with every step despite his face being hidden.
"Good, good. We're all here. Wonderful," he said as he clapped his hands together. "I'm glad you all realized the dire situation we are in."
"Yes," Arimsael replied. "But I don't see how you will help us any. I mean, Sachiel's being held captive at this very moment, Zeruel has government backing, and WILLE has three Evangelions. Way I see it, if we fight, we're fucked."
"Crude, but I find myself agreeing," Arael replied.
Ramiel nodded. "Understandable, understandable. Rest assured, though I imagine I'm really the only one who cares, Okito Suzuhara will be rescued as soon as the situation allows. And I have my own plans for the Soryu woman. But I imagine you need something concrete. Something that could show you I'm more than just hot air and pretty colors."
"Well, yeah," Arimsael said.
"The entire reason we're here," Ramiel began as he paced around the room "Is because early one night two Evangelions, our great enemies were thrown into Kyoto. Time travelers, beings from an alternate universe? Who knows and who cares? Then they added another one, this distinctly from some divergent reality. Without the Evas we would have won by now. Nothing conventional can stop us. As it stands we're too scared to attack again, worried WILLE might have some new weapon dropped into their lap. What if I told you I discovered a way to harness this mysterious aid for ourselves?"
The room grew quiet.
"How? Dimtri asked.
If Leliel was behind it there was no way she would ever help Ramiel.
"I'm glad you asked," Ramiel replied. "You see it seems our dear friend Leliel has been playing some rather interesting games. Meddling with things even we couldn't dream of."
He motioned to one of his guards. Dimitri braced himself for the worse as the guard tossed a woman into the room. Her limbs were bound and a black bag pulled over her head. She was beaten, her limbs broken in several places.
Ramiel knelt down beside the figure, his eagerness obvious. With a single motion he ripped off the mask, revealing…
"What the fuck?" Arimsael blurted out.
"Gott in Himmel," Arael muttered.
"Well, that's odd," both sides of Israfel said.
Iruel smiled knowingly.
Himari screamed in wordless confused terror. Because the woman beneath the mask was identical to her, save for some bruises and cuts.
"Himari Yamagishi, I'd like you to meet Tsukiko Yamagishi. Yourself from another world. You can call her Leliel if you want."
The room was wrapped in silent shock, save for Tsukiko, who was trying to say something despite being gagged.
Dimitri could barely process what he was seeing. This wasn't Leliel, and yet looking at her she was unmistakably an Angel.
"You see," Ramiel explained feverishly, "Leliel has been doing a lot of traveling to other worlds. Allying with other versions of herself, other Leliels. It's with their help that Leliel brought the Evangelions into our world. And it's with this Leliel's help that we're going to tip things in our favor."
He leaned close to Tsukiko as he ripped out her gag. The rest of the room watching with a mix of confusion and horror.
"Now, Leliel. Tell us what you know of the Yggdrasil tree."
/
The classroom was empty save for Shinji and Kensuke. Asuka and Kodama were out of the room for various reasons.
"Soooo, how was your date with Ayanami?" Kensuke asked.
"It was really great," Shinji replied wishfully. "We were able to figure out Rei's timeline diverged from ours sometimes in the 1970s."
The differences between her world and this one were at once vast and minor. Second Impact in her world pretty much drove humanity to near extinction, left the oceans in ruins, and made everything south of the Tropic of Capricorn uninhabitable. And yet things ultimately followed a similar path. Despite the differences, she was still Rei, just a bit more open and friendly.
It still felt odd that he had been on a date with Rei, even more so that it had actually gone well and they were already making plans for a second one. Shinji never thought any girl, let alone Ayanami, would take that kind of interest in him. It was great, and terrifying.
"Interesting," Aida said. "So, I'm curious, how's Soryu taking this? "
Shinji was confused by the question. "Ahh... She seems fine about it?"
"Uh huh," Kensuke replied skeptically.
"Asuka made it clear we're just friends, nothing more," Shinji replied.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask, how the Hell did that happen?" Kensuke snarked. "I mean you do remember the aircraft carrier, right? You were just as horrified as me when she appeared at school. And then Misato made you two wear matching outfits and learn how to play rhythm games. You two were nearly on the edge of killing each other then. How did you go from that to 'friends'?"
"I know, I know," Shinji said. "Asuka's… tough to deal with sometimes. But we have a lot of common ground. And she was there for me when I needed it."
Kensuke raised an eyebrow.
Shinji sighed. "At the very least, I know I can trust her. Which is more than I can say of the Ikari family."
They had lied to him. All three of them had lied completely to him. The wound was still raw for Shinji. He couldn't comprehend how he and Asuka could have ever turned out like that.
"Yeah, I hear you," Kensuke nodded. "Do you remember when things were normal?"
"No," Shinji replied.
"Me neither," Kensuke agreed.
The door opened. Shinji found himself clenching his fist as Ria walked in.
Kensuke tensed up as she walked past him to take her seat.
Shinji couldn't understand it. Ria had lied to them, she nearly killed Misato. And she was rewarded with a pardon, offered a job by the Empress. How did any of that make sense?
Suddenly, Ria sat up straight. Scratching the back of her head
"What...What the heck?" she said, looking around frantically.
"What is it?" Kensuke asked.
Ria opened her mouth to speak, before she could get out a word, the world outside suddenly darkened, day turning to near night in an instant.
Shinji looked outside to see much of the nearby city blanketed in an unnatural blackness. There were no clouds, it was a perfectly sunny day. And yet the sun was not shining on what seemed like an entire block of Kyoto.
"I would suggest backing away from the windows," Ria said, her eyes fixed on the sight.
Shinji retreated back to his desk.
The darkness was replace with a pillar of blinding white light.
It was just like the light he'd seen when Ayanami appeared.
Shinji shielded his eyes as Ria pulled Kensuke away from the windows.
"Duck!" she shouted. Shinji crouched under his desk.
A moment later the windows burst in, showering the room with glass as freakishly cold air rushed into the room. Desks and chairs were thrown freely across the room as the wind howled. Shards of glass ripped at his shirt and pants.
Kensuke screamed in terror.
It felt like the world was ending.
Then the wind died down in an instant, the light vanishing with a loud crack.
Shinji picked himself up and looked himself over. A few minor cuts and his shirt would need to be replaced, but otherwise he was fine.
"Alright what it is this time?" Ria grumbled in annoyance. "I mean we have all three of you now. So what is it? Mr. Suzuhara from a world where he's a Pilot? Mari's mom as an Eva Pilot? My kid from the future as a pilot, you know, to mix it up a bit? A guy version of Asuka or something?"
"What are you talking about?" Shinji asked.
"Oh come on," Ria gestured outside. "That was clearly Leliel or whoever sending another Eva. At least this time she avoided dropping it on my head."
"Except there's no Eva out there," Kensuke said as he stared out the window.
"What?" Ria replied as she rushed towards the broken window.
Shinji followed them, carefully stepping over the jagged shards of glass littering the floor.
The block that had been bathed in darkness then light had been almost completely leveled by the fight with the three Angels. All that had been there a moment ago was construction work. Except that construction was now replaced with full sized buildings and a street clogged with confused drivers. They were not the same buildings that were there before either, they were shorter, and heavily reinforced with concrete and steel, looking more like a fortress then part of a city.
"Well that's...new," Ria said, dumbfounded.
