You Can (Not) Forget

A Man Defined ~ Past

Shinji sat in the plug of the Black Beast; his fingers still wrapped tightly around the controls. His chest heaved with every breath he took, and his eyes stung. I knew piloting this thing would be hard, but damn. This plug just feels wrong. Like it's tainted.

It probably is, Leliel responded to him, this thing... it's essentially an angel, more so than even the cousins... I think. Its existence truly is an odd one. What's worse is that though the soul inside of it is silenced and unable to exert its will upon Armaros, it is definitely thine soul, brother. I believe that is what must be causing this reaction. Nothing I do to it can prevent it from being able to interact with ye.

Shinji grunted in response as he slowly got his breathing under control. A few moments later he looked around the battlefield. The others were getting back to their feet, but he was glad they looked well enough. Asuka and Toji had taken the most damage, but that was to be expected, what with the whole eye lasers thing. Honestly, he shouldn't have been surprised when it happened. He'd just wished he'd been closer at the time so he could have lopped off Sahaquiel's head before she even got that chance.

A screen popped up on his left, showing Asuka's face. One with Misato was right next to it.

"Shinji... Where did you get this Evangelion from?" Misato asked. Shinji's eyes cut away from them with a frown. He really didn't feel like explaining, but he doubted he really had the option to refuse. Well, that was a lie. He could, but he knew doing so would be counterproductive. The Black beast began to sink into a fresh portal, courtesy of Leliel.

"I'll tell you when I get back..." he grumbled, eyes narrowing. He cut the link with them as the Black Beast vanished into the Dirac.

~X~

Misato and the other pilots waited in Central Dogma for Shinji to arrive. Asuka and the Lieutenant Colonel were the most worried amongst them. They'd been the only ones able to talk to Shinji at the end of the battle and what they saw unsettled them. His eyes had been sharp, burning red, and unkind; his hair white as snow. He looked disheveled, as if he'd been in some sort of fight or struggle, but they couldn't understand that considering how easily he'd killed Sahaquiel. Asuka personally thought she'd seen some sort of dark purple glow about him, but assumed it was a trick of the light or something like that.

"Was he alright?" asked Rei. Asuka told the rest of them that Shinji had seemed off when they talked but didn't elaborate any further whilst they were making their way back to Nerv. She held her silence until they arrived in Central Dogma as well, unsettling the others even more. Seeing an equally worried expression on Misato's face didn't help either.

"We're not entirely sure," Misato responded, hesitantly, biting her lip.

"I doubt the boy is hurt," intoned commander Ikari as he stood from his seat and left the room. He had little doubt Ritsuko or Fuyutsuki would keep him in the loop concerning Shinji. Misato shot the man a glare, but kept her mouth shut. The doors closed silently behind the man and she turned her attention back to the pilots.

"As I was saying," she began, "we're not sure. He just seemed very troubled. We can't do much more than wait for him to get here." Her pilots made some disgruntled noises at the news and she could understand. She wished she had more answers for them, but these days she found herself increasingly lost on how to help them. There was just too much out off her control; too much out of everyone's control really. None of the adults were capable of truly assisting these kids on this journey like they should be. They tried their best, but in the end the only ones who could really understand them to the fullest extent were their fellow pilots.

Honestly, she was just happy there were so many of them now. They were invaluable to each other. The doors opened again, and she turned, expecting to see one of the technicians walking in or walking out as they went about their business, checking on something or other. Instead she found herself bearing witness to one of the oddest scenes.