BURNING RED SKIES AND SUN LIT STARS
Asuka spoke outwards her own voice sounding like it was coming from a distant place in time. "Do I need the third spear the one which Ankh holds, which is one of those I left behind?" Bardiel's voice came again. "Any other would but not you, you brought the worlds end last time with only two spears and the one Ankh holds is no more than a dead trinket without power, true spears are made by a god's hand but dead ones are no more than stone and though you can reactivate it and its counterpart which you hid you don't have to bother as now you have something much better."
There was a long pause. "Arael and I switched places but causing chaos was only half of our desire our true goal was to recreate the spears of destiny through one of us sacrificing ourselves so that we could cause dissention among Adams ranks and who better than you to recreate them, you the creator and artist, you the one that everyone thought so little off. You the one who was so deeply under trodden who had so much desire to be more and whose will and wanting could overshadow the others."
Asuka stopped 02 as she slowly eased up her units head skyward. "I understand." Bardiel's voice came as he spoke softly and gently. "Now light my path to ascension so that I may find my own instrumentality and transcend this universe and find another as I begin my exodus."
Misato pressed the com she couldn't tell what Asuka was saying anymore her sound feed had stopped. "Every unit attack unit 02, tear up the fucking AT field do everything you have to, to get through! Get those spears out of her unit's hands they're lances of Longinus and she's about to cause an impact event!" She watched as they all ran at Asuka without looking back as they started firing there weapons at her AT field.
Shinji watched as unit 02's mouth opened as a massive channel of pure white light came out it flew upwards as the AT field opened just enough to let it through as it flew skywards not stopping as it penetrated the sky above carrying on as it breached the heavens.
Kaji shifted in his chair. "We are getting feed coming in directly from Eos's camera!" He watched as the feed came up as the light hit an area some distance from the space station tearing open a huge hole which swirled with golden and red light." Shinji carried on firing his gun watching as layers of the AT field started to shatter while Mari leapt on one section trying to stay away from the light as she started ripping layers away with her units claws and teeth.
Kaworu started firing his rifle while Toji moved to Mari's section pulling out his unit's huge sword as he slammed his foot in to it sliced his long blade in to cutting away at the layers. Rei ran backwards dropping her units empty machine gun seeing that Kaworu's rifle was barely doing anything. "Give me Asuka's big gun!"
She watched as the flying wing opposite dropped the huge gun she turned grabbing it raising it up high. "Get out of the way Shinji!" Shinji turned pulling back as Rei started to fire the huge machine gun watching as it shells started to rip through along with Shinji's fire. She forced 00's foot into the floor trying to ignore the pain in her arm from the pure strain it took just to fire it.
Why did some of the press always mock Asuka over this gun? It took so much effort just to fire this thing and she fired it all the time but for her it was agony with every round not to mention the painful recoil. She watched as the first huge empty chamber came free smashing in to the snow opposite. "How do I reload this thing?!"
Shinji dropped his empty machine gun picking up the other as he watched as Kaworu started to fire on there area which they were almost half way through now and all of their fire was being concentrated on one section. "The left side locking bar, pull it back!"
Rei slammed the gun down pulling the huge bar back watching as its second barrel loaded. She screamed as she started to fire it. "Come on open up!" She watched as Toji shifted closer to the really damaged area putting his blade back into his holding area as he grabbed his double barrelled pistol shooting at the remaining layers his voice hitting the air. "Mari, I need you over here this sections breaking, we are getting closer!"
Shinji watched as Mari leapt over tearing at the section they were still shooting at. "Everyone keep tearing and firing at that section it's weakening!" Rei watched as the last cartridge unloaded as she threw the gun down in anger. "Fire unit 01's beam at Asuka AT field go crazy!" Shinji dropped his emptied gun picking up Rei's rifle firing it. "I can't I can only do it once a day you know that and the last time I did it twice I wrecked 01's jaws!"
Rei turned to Mari who was ripping at the layers. "You can fire focused beams, fire one now!" Mari looked up sharply. "I don't even know how I did the first time!" Rei turned in frustration her gaze drifted as it fell up on the fallen S² Engine. She slowly leaned down picking it up what choice did she have? It was their only chance they just weren't getting through fast enough despite all their best efforts.
Misato's voice suddenly came on. "Rei what are you doing? Don't you even think about it!" Rei slammed her fist down on the hologram screen turning her off as she looked at 02 behind the AT field. "You once said I'd be a divine goddess who could destroy everything in my wake if I got truly angry let's see if you were right!" She shoved the huge piece of liver into her unit's mouth hearing the jaws crunch she tasted blood which instantly made her feel sick she felt the unit force it down as she swallowed it trying desperately not to throw it back up.
She closed her eyes feeling them open as he heat started to burn out of them. "Give me all that you are 00!"
Kaji looked up watching as 00's core reading started to go nuts along with Rei's brain waves which started to spike erratically. He breathed in sharply as all eight cores cylinders flew up expelling a mass of heat as the unit hit the ground on its hands and knees as it shook violently and its back legs began to change as claws burst through on the feet as they lengthened, turning lycanthropic.
The arms became longer as well as the palms on the hands as thick black claws burst through and a huge tail grew downwards though it wasn't whiplash, it was very thick and the end it had a massive cutting blade like extension. The muscles burst through the plating sending some of it flying off as its build changed becoming similar to Asuka's but with finer stronger muscles.
The head shook violently as the neck lengthened and throat widened as the head's huge jaws widened sending plating flying as huge long serrated teeth came down on the upper and lower jaws as the gape widened so it matched 02's as the two canine teeth on the upper and lower jaw became over lapping so they stuck out of the mouth and a long very flat tongue appeared while the horned crest grew much higher as real horn smashed through the metal tips as the shoulder sails lowered.
The core cylinders shot back into the units back as Rei's eyes turned a glowing red colour which mirrored her brother's but with one massive difference he could see extended canines growing as well as back molars which were turning to razors just like Asuka's though not as extreme Rei turned screaming with rage as 00 let out a roar that matched that of a lions she suddenly ran at Asuka's AT field holding nothing back as the others raised their guns and weapons stopping their fire.
As she hit the AT field her units crest acted like horns as they smashed into it shattering away a huge amount of the layers. She came down only to leap back up piercing it with her claws as she raised the tail so the massive cutting blade was forward as she jammed it into the field watching as it started to work like a hot knife through butter ripping through the layers. "You are going to let me in Asuka!"
Misato watched as a huge form slowly started to come out of unit 02's body it looked like Bardiel but he looked so different his body was a glowing white and blue colour and the eyes were no longer red but a piecing amber colour. The mouth of shark like teeth remained as did the long tail and lycanthropic front feet and hind legs she watched as he slowly spread out white wings which were like Adam's but there was only one set and not two.
He floated above 02 remaining still for a moment before his huge wings went back as it flew up the light steam at immense speed breaking through the AT field which closed up behind it instantly as he followed the light upwards not stopping as he flew past Eos's camera and into the golden and red light which closed behind him as he vanished and the white light steam slowly began to dissipate.
She looked down Rei was almost through, she breathed in seeing unit 02's clawed feet start to leave the floor and its two tails rose skyward circling over on either side as its AT field became flatter but the hole that the others had made got even bigger as some the really damaged layers started to designate away. She turned as Asuka closed her eyes as all her camera and feeds cut out completely only the feed for her entry plug remaining.
Rei watched as Shinji, Mari and Kaworu grabbed the last layer ripping it back creating a wide hole. "I'm going through don't any of you dare follow me!" Mari blinked in confusion eyeing Shinji who looked just as surprised they all watched as Rei forced 00 through the open hole squirming violently to get through as she got inside hitting the ground hard on the other side she pulled 00 onto all fours as she ran at 02 at lightning speed leaping onto its back as it rose higher.
She wrapped her units thick tail around the mid section grabbing 02's hand trying to pry one of the lances out of the iron clawed grip. "Let go of the lances Asuka!" She tried harder to get the lances out not thinking as she brought her units teeth down biting at the units arms watching as red blood ran free. "Let go now!" She dug her feet's claws into the other units sides hoping the pain might get Asuka's attention as she bit at the arms again "I'm talking to you, you stupid, crazy German idiot stop ignoring me!" She watched as they rose higher. "You're going to cause an impact event your going to kill us all! Stop it now!"
Asuka felt her eyes open slightly as a blue clawed hand scratched across her units lenses leaving deep crack marks, she couldn't feel anything only bliss and quite she was so at peace nothing mattered anymore she was going to go to heaven.
A soft voice hit the air. "You don't want this Asuka." Asuka looked around snapping out of her haze as the voice spoke again. "My special child this isn't heaven for you it is always becomes hell, your heaven is here on earth back with those who love you and the one outside who is trying to make you let go of the spears and is desperate for you to return to her."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Asuka blinked suddenly recognising the voice. "Mama?" Her mother's voice came again. "I'll help you stop this Asuka." Asuka watched as controls slowly faded away as everything turned to pure white light. "You must come to me now sweet little one it will only be for a while I promise you."
Maya looked up as the entry plug screen turned red as Asuka's entry plug broke safe depth carrying on far past the safe range. "Asuka's diving!" Misato looked up in utter confusion. "Is her unit sucking her in?!" Kaji turned sharply. "No she's going towards the core of her own free will!" Asuka watched as two huge golden and silver wings of light folded out from her back as her hand grabbed her pendent. "Rei." The huge wings forced her forward as she smashed into the bright white light and everything faded away.
Rei watched as 02's hands suddenly let go of the spears as its glowing white eyes turned off and the halo dissipated as 02 started to fall she felt the pain as they both smashed full force into the ground as the AT field fell melting away. She couldn't move she had no energy left she was so spent she felt the heat fade from her eyes as her teeth returned to normal Unit 02 was lying over the top of her sprawled out while the two lances were buried in the show close by.
Shinji moved towards Rei only for Misato's voice to hit the air. "Don't touch 00 or 02 or the lances!" There was a long pause. "The medical flying wings are coming to lift them out and two more vertical wings will be coming to move the lances along with the clean up crew." Misato looked at her screen. "When you get back to head quarters do not let Rei touch or try to get into 02's entry plug."
Mari's face suddenly shot up on her screen. "Why what's going on?" Misato's looked up meeting her confused gaze. "We think your younger sister breached unsafe depth." Mari's face turned to pain. "No please she wouldn't do that she knows better that was the very first lesson she ever burnt into me during training to stay away from dangerous entry plug depth and never ever push your entry plug towards the core."
Misato breathed in painfully. "We don't know anything for sure Mari we need to get the unit back and find out what's going on it's just speculation all we do know is that unit 02 has locked us out now completely." Mari slammed her fist down on her controls. "I don't believe this shit!"
8
There's darkness a blanket of pure darkness but it's not a cold darkness it's like a warm blanket surrounding me like and it feels so warm and protective. I've never been afraid of the dark I'm more afraid of what's within it, its why Bardiel terrified me so much in the beginning because even in the darkness I could see his piecing glowing red eyes looking back at me and sometimes I'd wake up to them because he'd be waiting for me to get up from the threshold door in my bedroom every morning and it was hard to ever get used to in the end I just learnt to ignore it as best I could as knowing it made sleep and waking up so hard.
Yet here and despite the darkness I feel so blissfully calm as I see a vision of a drop of red water splashing into the red ocean causing soft ripples to flow outwards I close my eyes for a long moment before opening them as a thought crosses my mind which I speak softly into the warm darkness. "I wish I was smarter." Asuka heard a small voice in the darkness answer her. "You are no less smart than those that came before you."
She looked in to the darkness speaking again. "If I'd been smart I would not have created two Lances of Longinus.' She watched as darkness melted away as she found herself dressed in her normal clothes without her eye patch looking out over a green meadow with the sun beaming down her left eye was no different, she still couldn't see out of it.
She could feel the wind on her face even smell the flowers. She turned seeing that the small school girl who looked like Rei was standing in front her red eyes watching her calmly as the girl spoke again her voice sounding so much older for age. "They are both Spears of Destiny not Lances of Longinus, their purpose is quite different though they are no less powerful but to be created and to gain their power they had to be held in the hands of an ascending Evangelion." Asuka walked slowly towards her. "You look so much like Rei when she was younger but I know you're not her." The girls red eyes looked up meeting her own. "She was like me once but she chose a real life and granted me all of her power in return for it."
Asuka looked at her for a long moment as she pushed her loose hair back. "I heard your conversation it was the only one I heard, I couldn't hear the others conversations until I freed myself of Bardiel or at least I thought I did."
The school girl looked up. "When you killed and consumed Bardiel in his Evangelion form you ate his soul he then had you create the two lances because through you and 02 he could ascend and change his form. He has now ascended into his own version of instrumentality and where he will travel none of us can say but he did not make you create what he thought he did but then to Adams children all lances can seem alike and some bear similar names but they have very different purposes. He thought you were creating two Lances of Longinus but that was me I put the words Spears of Destiny into your mind and used your love of mythology to obscure my true intentions and lead him astray because I knew he wouldn't pick up on the words meaning a different thing."
Asuka breathed in sadly. "You must still be disappointed in me though, I mean I almost did the same thing that my former self did." The girl gave her a smile. "No not at all, you defied my exceptions ten fold." Asuka blinked in confusion. "I don't understand."
The girl shook her head. "I know what's going through your mind you think you sacrificed your intelligence in the former world, because Bardiel referred to your other incantations as being much smarter." She felt a slight smile form. "Granted your other versions did have high IQ's but it never befitted them, some even had degrees before even joining Nerv at fourteen but they weren't real they were token gifts from a division to make them believe they were god. Believe me though I took nothing away from you, your just as clever as they were you just think differently to them."
She moved forward putting a hand on Asuka's leather jacket. "This difference is a most interesting because your intelligence was channelled it into others places like art and things you enjoyed, you value creativity and hobbies in a way your predecessor never did. You became who you wanted to be not who you thought you had to be and unlike them you saw the errors in your behaviour and you worked very hard to corrected yourself."
She looked up. "Also like every one of them you had a fall from grace where the angel ruined you but instead of putting your value on being nothing without an Evangelion you instead channelled your value into changing and bettering yourself and you spent more time doing your hobbies."
She moved her fingers down her leather jackets red stripes on each sleeve. "You are unique and wonderful, yet you do not see it." She moved her hand up taking hold of the pendent. "But I know she sees it."
Asuka breathed in slowly and deeply. "What did I sacrifice to you?" The girl looked up meeting her good eye. "In your sadness you offered me your soul." Asuka looked down sadly. "Then I'm assuming you're here to collect?"
The young girl shook her head. "No you misunderstand I do not wish to take you from your world I'm merely here as a crossing on your journey, nothing more." She moved her fingers over the pendent. "After all your soul is not mine to take I'm not an angel and I feel that your soul already belongs to her, so in a strange way you fulfilled your own wish while also fulfilling hers which was a desperate desire to know and feel real love."
Asuka raised her eyebrow. "Did you change my sexuality to make that so?" The young girl's smile widened. "No you did and so did she, you see at the end of time and the breaking of the world souls change themselves when they are reborn. Your previous version was starting to walk the path but you just ended the journey though she apologises for the comment about her discomfort over your sexuality as now that's she has remerged properly with you, she fully understands."
She stepped back. "Bardiel pushed her out from the start it was the only way he could get in and become a part of you and it made her forget because of the weeks of limbo and being unable to reconnect as a whole with you so to speak. She also had to take a similar grown up form because she knew you'd never accept her as sixteen year old one which she had at the end of her world." She looked up. "Because she knows you hate your younger self quite passionately and still have a lot of regret over your past actions."
Asuka looked at her for a long moment. "Where am I?" She watched the meadow faded away and she found herself looking in at a strange dark robotic looking being who was leaning over, it only had a waist, arms and a head but the heads eyes were black as if it had been switched off. "You're in the 02's core." She put her hand on the beings Evangelion shaped head pushing it seeing no movement. "This was your Evangelion's partial AI personality but I can tell you it was switched off after the battle of Shamshel many years ago."
She paused before speaking. "Perhaps saying it was switched off would be inaccurate your mother's soul tour it to ribbons internally which is understandable and ensured that it would never ever function again. These personalities are not like your AI friend they are manipulative, cruel and they just want any soul sucked into them to stay with them and they normally give the entering soul images and visions to keep them calm and placid though all are built on lies and unfounded dreams."
She looked up. "There are three other cores that look the same as this now their AI personalities have been destroyed so the true soul can take their place and the last two will follow in time and all of the Evangelion's will go through a massive metamorphosis and change just like your unit. Your mother was not recently awakened she has been awake for a very long time and watching over you and this is her domain. She's knows I mean you no harm that's why she's allowing this now, she was never happy with Bardiel but she put up with him only because you wished it and she realized that you were getting stronger and would be able to fight back given time."
She tapped the dead personality head. "She's also had her own experiences with fighting rather ugly personalities, so she believed you could do it to." Asuka breathed in deeply. "Where is my Mama?" The girl eased up her hand causing a golden and silver opening to form behind her. "She's waiting for you, though she would like you to face a few things before you reach her though as she thinks it would be good for you but it will sadly delay your returning to the normal world."
Asuka breathed in deeply as she looked up. "I was told that once you've been sucked into the core that you die after seven days, because your body rots away." The young girl moved her hand taking one of her own she slowly traced in a pattern on it in a similar way to Rei before looking up. "No your body and soul are here, any one can return even your own mother, she and the others mothers who are awakened just choose not to because they see stopping the angels and archangels as much more important and in doing so they get to be with you and can protect you."
She gently let go off her hand. "So you can return any time you wish but time here does pass slower in this form of human instrumentality when you travel but your mother is honest to her word she does not want to keep you here." Asuka felt a smile form. "Thank you for everything." She eased up her hand the movement was more automatic as she ran her hand through the young girls short hair ignoring her slight surprise. "Will I ever see you again?"
Her red eyes widened as her mouth formed a warm smile as the understanding behind the woman's action dawned on her Asuka was not seeing her in the same way as her counterpart but she was showing her compassion and kindness all the same. "As I said this is my world, it does not belong to the angels or the archangels I am everywhere in this world but I will always keep my eye fixed on Nerv."
Asuka stepped away from her. "Then maybe I'll see you again one day and maybe if not me you'll show yourself to my Rei." The young girl looked up. "She will know about me but not now but not so far in the future I only reveal myself when I want to and your world has now seen me properly for the first time but it will not be the last." Asuka felt a coy smile form as she walked towards the light. "What do you call yourself?"
The girl looked up a sly smile forming as she raised her hands. "I am the divine goddess." Asuka laughed as she walked closer to the light before turning to her. "That is a most accurate title." The girl looked up. "Yes well your Rei thinks your Freyja." Asuka looked at her for a long moment. "When I return, I'll have to talk to her about that." She turned walking into the silver and golden light watching once more as the world faded away.
End of part 61
Silvermoonlight