Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Longinus ❯ Act I - Cursed ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: see Act 0.

Loki's final reincarnation, and the final steps of Fate's last scenario has been taken. As the pieces fall into place, an unforseen variable steps into the equation and forever changes the plans of Fate.

An unknown named Ayanami Rei.

He was stuck in a moment of indecision. He held a young girl in his arms, injured and bleeding. Her short gasps of pain echoed and reverberated painfully in his ears. He did not want to inflict pain on anyone. And for his bastard father to actually...

"I'll do it! I'll pilot it," he declared softly.

A flurry of activity began as he placed the neural connectors onto his head and climbed into what they called an "entry plug". All of the technical babble went over his head as he tried to concentrate on not running away screaming bloody murder.

I mustn't run away I mustn't run away I mustn't run away...

The angel known as Sachiel's final cross flare attack hit Shinji's Unit 01 at point-blank range.

However, confusion reigned in Sachiel as the pale copy of Adam came forth, unharmed and very much enraged. He sensed a new presence within the copy...it was not a normal field. This AT field was nothing like the others.

But Sachiel had no time to dwell on such thoughts as Unit 01 attacked, a vicious, barbaric fight ensued. The dark nothingness in which he dwelt came upon him; Sachiel knew no more as his physical project ceased to exist.

Ikari Shinji, having been the victor of his first battle, promptly fainted in his entry plug.

And Ayanami Rei watched with curiosity at her place at the Commander's side, wondering what it was about that boy that made her want to...

...scream in horror.

At her hospital room much later that night, Ayanami Rei stared impassively at the ceiling above her. It was a dull white colour, a colour tiresome and hateful as the crimson red of her eyes.

All she could think about presently was him. The boy who had been called by the Commander, the Commander's son Ikari Shinji. He was nothing but a mere boy her age, a belligerant boy who disobeyed his superior's orders. Or rather his father's request. She wondered why.

How come she had never heard of Commander Ikari's son? Why hadn't he said anything of him? Were they not related? Were they not family? Wasn't Ikari the Commander's son and the Commander Ikari's father? She had read that family members showed affection to each other. They protected and cared for another. Why was that not true with the Commander and his son?

She remembered his eyes. Those deep Prussian eyes. Every time she looked into them, she wanted to scream. Scream and scream and scream. Untold horrors lurked in them, a lifetime full of pain, suffering and anger. Perhaps even more than one lifetime, perhaps not. In her mind, logic ruled all. Logically speaking, Ikari was simply a boy who had been mistreated and abandoned by society. Such philosophical, nonsensical thoughts were unnecessary.

So why was she thinking of them then?

Her red eyes shifted over to the door, the door opened and in walked the Commander. He was dressed as he normally was, save that his eyes were not hidden behind the bifocals he usually wore. "Rei."

"Commander," she voiced quietly.

What made it seem even more...weird, for the lack of a better term, was that he smiled at her. A bare ghost of a smile, but a smile nonetheless.

She had never seen nor heard of the Commander smiling. Ever.

A feeling of something akin to joy spread through her as she responded to him with a small smile of her own. They were never much for words. Minute actions spoke volumes which words could never convey. They were meaningless, just sounds strung together in a pretense of coherency. If words were supposed to be coherent, then what was the use for different languages such as Japanese, English, French, Latin, Greek and more? What purpose did they serve?

What purpose did Ikari serve?

"How are you Rei?" the Commander asked.

"I am well as I can be," Rei answered monotonously.

"Tomorrow," he stated softly.

"Yes sir," she answered.

He left.

She was alone in the room once more, her thoughts as company. But her thoughts kept on straying to the new pilot, the one known as Ikari Shinji. Why would he pilot when it was obvious that he did not want to? Was her state of physical weakness the affecting factor in his decision? What was she to him?

Questions plagued her endlessly and Ayanami Rei spent the night trying to decipher them, but nothing could make her ever forget his eyes.

His horribly, dead eyes.

Within the void, spirits swirled together, a plethora of colours meshing. Some shades had no names, no words could describe them. They had never been seen by the eyes of a human, a Lillim.

Sachiel had failed.

But that did not matter. Soon, Shamshiel would take the place of his fallen brother to complete their duty.

A swirl of jade green entered the void and a booming voice could be heard. "Shamshiel, your time has come."

Nothing more was said.

"I'm home," he mumbled.

"Welcome home," she answered cheerfully.

It really made no difference. He was still staring at yet another unfamiliar ceiling. His superior officer, Captain Katsuragi Misato had taken him in, even though he wanted to live on his own. He wanted to be alone, he did not want to be a burden to another. But Misato-san had assured him that he would be no burden.

But he already was.

He had become a burden the moment she had come to collect him. He had refused to pilot, only to reconsider his choice after looking at that injured girl. Then he had been knocked unconscious during the battle, nearly getting all of the people at NERV killed. He truly was useless.

"If I'm so worthless...then why did my father call me?"

Father. The man had not been called tousan for a long time, just as he had not said the word tousan for an equally long time. Having been abandoned at an early age on the doorstep of his teacher, he had grown up with no parental figures to influence his life. But somehow, he had grown up to be a young gentleman. Perhaps it was the lack of an influence that had made him like that.

He decided that it was no longer worth mulling over. He was here, consigned to NERV for only God knows how long. From now on, he would be dancing to his father's tune, jumping when ordered to, killing when ordered to, and dying when ordered to.

A soft click signified the ending of one song and the beginning of the next.

As Track 26 played on Shinji's SDAT player, he found himself reliving his memories of the battle. A battle that he had not fought. The slight throbbing of his eye, the pain in his wrist; a bit more of his soul slipping away silently, like a leaf in the wind as the spray of blood and blinding red-violet light engulfing his senses.

Locked in that moment of absolute terror and morbid fascination, something within Shinji had been awakened. As he watched the Angel known as Sachiel die, he had felt a very strong sense of...

...glee.

Satisfaction.

Elation.

Bloodlust.

That thrilling, addictive rush of adrenaline, living in the moment of battle. He did not want to say it, but...it was amazing. No, it was fucking fantastic. He had power in his hands, the power to destroy and to kill. But no...there was still so much pain involved, the pain of knowing that in the end, he would still be the same worthless, useless Ikari Shinji.

So it all came back full circle to square 1. Why was he here?

That didn't matter, really. He had nowhere else to go.

He yawned and turned onto his side, trying to fall asleep. The strains of the melody rung in his ears.

But nothing could block out the memories of the dying seconds of a beast long dead...

...Hod.

Amber eyes peered out from Prussian blue as he heard the words of his vessel's keeper.

"You did a good job, Shinji-kun. Good night."

A dry chuckle escaped his lips. A good job? Oh no, this wasn't over. Not in the least. Fate had decreed him as the soul for this Ikari boy and he would make sure that Ikari would never be a servant of the Fates.

"Damn bitches...thinking that they can control me. How foolish they are."

He remembered those red eyes...bordering on garnet. And the azure hair, how odd. He could sense nothing about her past, she did not have one. Most people had a past life that they had lived, each life made up a fragment of their souls, adding to the unique personae they became with every reincarnation. But this girl...she was a blank slate, no past, nothing.

"So that is why the Fates tremble...an unknown. She is not bound to the Fates..."

Mystery surrounded that girl, introvert and quiet, most likely loyal and obedient to a fault. Just like the Ikari boy.

"But I am Ikari...and I too am loyal to my duty," he murmured.

The last reincarnation he remembered...2015 years ago as the High Messenger of God. Wasn't that just ironic? The former God of Destruction being reborn as the right-hand of their so-called "God". It was an irony he had spent 2015 years laughing about.

And these "Angels"...they were not so much Angels. They too, were former Gods that he had fought and killed during that day of Ragnarok. Hod had been his enemy today, unlike he had been all those millenia past. It seemed like Hod had finally been reborn, only to be slayed again.

Perhaps he could finally break free from the Curse of Longinus.

Longinus...

He felt it. That vile presence of the darkest evil. His double-pronged spear that had been the death of Heimdall, and himself. In his mind, he could still hear Longinus' hissing, dry voice laughing as he died. Calling him a fool for daring to try to tame an evil untameable. He wanted revenge for Longinus damning him to a pitiless, merciless fate.

But no, he could never defy Longinus. That spear had been a possession of the Gods for a long time, an artifact that would never stray from its Master. He was its Master and always would be. Longinus, as much as it thought he was worthless, could do nothing without his will. It was just a long piece of pretty looking metal without his will.

Without Loki's will.

He scanned the small room, knowing that this place, this city...the last point of Resurrection would be the death of Ikari Shinji.

Loki wondered why he felt so guilty.

"Rei."

"Sir."

"Monitor the Third."

"Yes sir."

*click*

She sat on the bed, the cellular phone sitting on the drawer. Monitor the Third. The Third Child. Ikari Shinji. Why would he ask her to monitor him? Was that not Captain Katsuragi's job? Ikari would have been living alone in a building not too far from hers had she not intervened and taken custody of him. While she had no compunctions about it, she wanted to see him.

Curiously enough, she did want to see him. There was something about him that the Commander lacked. While she owed the man for everything, she wanted to know what was it about Ikari that made her want to see him. His eyes, while they terrified her to her core, she wanted to look into them.

He was a mystery.

She had felt the angel Sachiel fall today. A tingling wave had passed through her body briefly, leaving her bereft of breath and a chill down her spine. Why? How had she felt that? And why did it make her feel...oddly satisfied?

What was satisfaction?

She had never known satisfaction, she only knew that which was, just was. She knew what she had was sufficient, she needed nothing else. All of her life, she had been provided with the basic necessities to sustain herself. She was taught that she needed nothing else but that which would sustain her. So satisfaction was a foreign concept.

With these idle thoughts, she was becoming sleepy. She wanted to rest, but there would not be much time for her to rest. The sun would rise in three hours and she would have to get up again. Commander Ikari told her that going to school would be "good for her". So she would go to school.

But just for a few moments, she reasoned, that it would be okay to rest her eyes.

Ayanami fell asleep on the bed, a small smile hovering on her lips.

Ikari Shinji woke up to a new day, stretching as he walked towards the living room. He reminded himself to clean up the apartment. Just as he walked past the bathroom, he caught his reflection in the mirror.

He sighed. It had happened again.

His eyes were swirling with amber, something he had not seen since the day his father had abandoned him. He quickly jogged back into his room and shuffled through his bag. His hands closed over a small item. He pulled them out and put them on his face.

They were a pair of dark, mirrored sunglasses.

Shinji sighed. He knew how much he would resemble his father if he wore them, but he had no other choice. The last time this had happened, he had had to transfer schools because the children had called him a demon and tried to, basically kill him.

People were vindinctive and malicious like that. But he supposed that he couldn't scare his roommate with his fucked up eyes. Then he would truly have some trouble on his hands. His father knew nothing about his eyes, it had begun to happen only after his father had left him.

How ironic that he would turn into a demon just when his father left.

Pushing the thoughts aside, he stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind him. He proceeded towards the bathroom, hoping that the amber had died out. He poked his head in and lifted his glasses.

"Nope, still there," he sighed dejectedly.

"What's still there?" a voice called.

Startled, he whirled around with a yelp, the sunglasses thankfully staying on his face. Katsuragi Misato grinned at him, seemingly amused by his reaction. "Why're you wearing sunglasses? It's pretty dark in here."

Shit! he thought. "Uhm, I, um, my eyes...they're sensitive, so, um, I have to wear them."

Misato peered at him carefully, scrutinizing him. Shinji sweated. She can't find out! She'll report it to Father!

However, she seemed to buy it as she just nodded. He mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

But that was short lived as Misato smirked and pulled the glasses off his face...

...and screamed.

End Act 1

Author's Notes:
Well, another one down. I got a comment about the misleading title. I think you meant the summary, though. :P The title is called "Longinus" I took that from the show itself; the Spear of Longinus. But yes, the prologue is very misleading. But it's meant to be that way. I'm aware that there is a manga with the title of Ragnarok, there's also one in Korean that shares the same title.

Anyways, this chapter is short. Sorry. :P I'll try to make them longer.

Thanks for the reviews.

On to Act 2...

e-mail: sherazard_@hotmail.com