In the Rose Garden / [Fanfic] World End’s Messiah

gorgeousshutin · Back to Top

Chapter 7 (Many, many thanks to the kind encouragement from everyone at the different sites. Keep the C&C coming, guys! )

“These are . . . ?”

“They all used to be living, breathing students of the Academy, yes.”

Goosebumps raised, Kaji followed a candelabra-carrying Tsuwabiki through the clearly defunct dorm’s unlit hallway, where numerous straw dolls in student uniform could be seen positioned about in dramatic poses suggesting despair and resignation.

“How . . . ?”

“Students who cannot become Duelists have no choice but to become straw,” muttered the non-growing boy in a husky voice too old for his current appearance. “That’s what the Acting Chairman broadcasted over the Academy fifteen years ago, and what everyone got turned into since.”

Kaji’s frown – already there to begin with - deepened. “Humans turning into straw, a building morphing into a ruin . . . what’s happening here really don’t make much sense at all.”

“Neither would regaining physical form from LCL by imagining oneself in their heart, if one does not understand the mechanism behind the process,” said Tsuwabuki, stopping in front of a child-sized ‘straw doll’ in an elementary girl’s dress – one with the name tag ‘Hozumi Mari’. “I doubt your current appearance is identical to how you looked entering the Collective Consciousness as a NERV agent, Kaji-san.”

“Wha--” Quickly checking himself on a wall-mirror, the agent saw - to his dismay – that he now looked like the 15 yr old teenager he was fifteen years ago. Not only that, but hew now was wearing a gray uniform reminiscent to those he saw from Utena’s memory. “Guess I still had my mind full with Tenjou’s adolescent recollections when I returned from the Collective Consc--” And he stopped, a look of dawning understanding on his now boyish face.

“You, who’ve been part of the Collective Consciousness, should understand.” At last turning away from the little girl straw doll, Tsuwabuki again walked on. “In a medium where all life forms are malleable, people could only be as they imagine themselves to be in their hearts.” His voice dropped to a murmur. “Having no real life experience to draw upon since what happened fifteen years ago, I cannot imagine myself as a genuine adult, that’s why . . .”

“A Collective Consciousness-lite medium,” pondered the teen-ed agent again following behind, “so that’s what this Ohtori place really is, huh?”

“That and a pocket dimension,” muttered the ‘young’ boy, walking on up ahead. “Ohtori Academy is a living thing. Think of it as an egg, with the physical boundaries surrounding the area its defining shell, the area within – the buildings and people included - the liquid glair, and the Acting Chairman the chick embryo feeding off our souls.”

The agent blinked at what he heard. “Feeding off our . . . souls?” Tsuwabuki stopped on his tracks.

“Kaji-san, haven’t you noticed how it’s become more difficult to remember certain things since you came here?” He then looked over a shoulder and at the older man. “Who’re you parents? Have you got grandparents? Any aunts or uncles?”

“Oh . . .” The words sent a chill through the agent’s spine, as he, who prided himself on having a keen memory by trade, could barely recall any solid details about what family he once had. At least he still could remember Katsuragi, along with all things related to his professional life . . .

“If the human soul is made up of memories, then that monster is feeding right off it,” stated Tsuwabuki, glinting blue eyes apparently seeing right through the still-older male’s confusion and uncertainty. “Kaji-san, didn’t you say that Tenjou-sempai has evolved into a higher-being of great Power? Wasn’t she the one who contacted and saved you from the Collective Consciousness?”

“I actually have to summon the will to save myself back there,” clarified the agent. “But other than that, she does seem very powerful by my human standard.”

“Then . . . why does Tenjou-sempai have to wait until now to retaliate against the Chairman. And why does she have to sent you, instead of coming to fight him herself?”

“Tenjou told me she will be coming to fight Ohtori Akio soon, and that she and Himemiya are getting prepared as we speak. She has basically sent me here as her forerunner, though I’m beginning to wonder just how much help a mere human like myself would be.”

“Tenjou-sempai likely chose you as her forerunner for your ability as a high-level NERV Agent,” assured Tsuwabuki, those his voice and expression remained gravely solemn. “If you’re here with a plan to move against the Acting Chairman, I’d advice you to make your move soon - before the Chairman does.”

“A plan . . . ” Somewhat suddenly, Kaji donned a broad grin. “You know, Tsuwabuki-san, you’re fairly well-informed: not just about Ohtori, but NERV and the Human Instrumentality Project as well.”

“Having reservations about me?” asked the “boy”, displaying more of the sharp, mature mind hidden underneath his misleadingly juvenile appearance. The agent kept his broad grin as civil as it was unreadable.

“No offense, Tsuwabuki-san. But . . .”

“None taken, Kaji-san,” assured Tsuwabuki with a casual wave of his hand – one adorned with a black-colored rose signet similar in design to the one Kaji got from Utena. “You are an agent on a serious mission – one I doubt you yourself completely understand - in a place of danger. What you know about me, you know from Tenjou-sempai’s memories from fifteen years ago, and we both know how people and circumstances can change with time.”

“You’re one understanding man, Tsuwabuki-san,” Kaji’s smile gained an appraising edge. “On Tenjou’s memories: somehow, I cannot find recollection of you ever being a Duelist while searching through within it.”

“That’s because Tenjou-sempai’s memory, as were mine at the time, got fiddled with by that devil: she’d have no recollection of us less . . . prominent Duelists.” The boy again walked onwards. “I’m not asking for you to unconditionally trust me, or those others I’m taking you to see – I’m simply taking you to meet with people who may be helpful in bringing down this place.”

“You shouldn’t know much about me either, Tsuwabuki-san,” said the agent, still trying to get a better handle on the younger male as he followed along, “but you seem to have no problem trusting me.”

“People who’ve had a prolonged stay at Ohtori will gradually develop this sharper . . . you may call it a sixth sense,” explained Tsuwabuki, not losing patient. “You came here bearing Tenjou-sempai’s rose signet – exuding her signature noble vibes even now. Me and the others can sense this easily, and have no reason to distrust you.”

“I see,” said Kaji, even though he did not. “I’m assuming these others you’re taking me to see are all Duelists, being that they are – I assume – still human like yourself and not made into straw.”

“Human like myself, huh . . .” Stopping in front of a set of double doors leading to what appeared to be some sort of storage room, Tsuwabuki produced a key and started unlocking. “Here we are, Kaji-an. Let’s get you acquainted with the group, and we’ll take it from there.” The doors opened to reveal a dark, unlit interior - one seemingly cloaked under yards and yards of flowing drapery – underneath which anyone and anything could be lurking.

Not that Kaji took on this mission thinking it would be in any way safe, of course.

“Let’s,” said the seasoned agent, posture languidly assured as he stepped up and into the room, towards what awaited in the opaque darkness.

***

“Is this . . . Dio’s Grave?”

“What remains of it, yes.”

Awed, Shinji could not help but gawk at what Asuka now was showing him.

Upon exiting the long, dark tunnel, the boy found himself in a massive underground space - one at a size rivaling that of the large room at NERV’s Terminal Dogma. Within this gray-shaded space was a massive globe colored in purple and gold, upon the side of which perched what looked like a huge stone statue . . . or rather, a broken, hastily reassembled version of it. Somehow, the statue had rose petals spilling out from its many cracks, raining downward in a dramatic red shower that accumulated upon the pristine marble floor in a vast crimson pool.

“How come there’re flower petals falling out from the statue?” he walked up and towards the gathered pile. “This scent . . . the roses are real?”

Already at the edge of the pool, Asuka gently picked up a singular piece, cupping it cherishingly in a delicate dark palm.

“That ‘statue’ is Prince Dio’s carcass,” she spoke with downcast green eyes, “the roses are his lifeblood.” Her words shocked Shinji into stumbling backwards from the suddenly macabre-seeming red pool

“This stone giant is that Rose Prince alien you told me about?” The boy remained confused. “But . . . you called this a grave. And . . .”

“Those who can die are lucky,” muttered the girl, lowered face veiled under pale pink long locks. “The Rose Prince, by nature of his alien race, cannot truly die in the human sense of the word. He can only go on suffering – it’s his punishment for failing his role as humanity’s infallible savior.”

“How did he fail?” Shinji regretted his question almost immediately upon voicing it, as Asuka’s expression now had visibly stiffened with something akin to exasperation.

“Shinji-kun, you of all people should understand that one man – no matter how powerful - can only shoulder the world’s burden for so long before inevitably collapsing under its weight.” This time, it was Shinji’s turn to tense up - the girl’s words had him recalling the various traumatic moments he had been forced through since becoming an Eva pilot. Sensing his growing discomfort, this ‘new’ Asuka softened her voice and stance prior to continue on. “Having to continuously battle all the adversaries against mankind depleted the Prince of his strength; he was rendered bedridden with illness, unable to continue fighting on the people’s behalf.” Pause. “And, having let the world’s people down, so too had the Rose Prince let down his other half.”

“The Rose Prince’s other half?”

“The Prince’s sister – the Rose. Unlike humans, individual units of the Prince’s race come in pairs of opposite-gender siblings, each sharing half of the single whole. Although Dio’s equal by birth, the Rose – like those humans of the time - lived sheltered under his protection. A hothouse flower, she who had no need to grow strong became weak despite her potential.

“When the Prince failed in the eyes of the world, and the world’s people turned against him in their desperate rage, the Rose crossed those people trying to protect her brother. Being weak, she was no match for the mob’s hate-filled violence, and was crumbled in an instant.”

“Did she . . . die?” asked Shinji, who gradually found himself caring in spite of the outlandish nature of the tale told. Asuka’s expression darkened a further notch.

“Remember what I just told you? Those of the alien race cannot die easy – nor is the wounding of their flesh an action without consequence. Just as the Prince’s body was as torch to the Light of the World, so too was the Rose’s body something of great significance to life on Earth. When the rabid mob tore her apart with their innumerable swords, when they ripped open that fatal wound upon her flesh, they were really doing the same to their world.” She then gestured to the side of the underground hall, to where a tallish set of broken white doors could be seen barely upheld by the thorny rose vines webbed upon its cracked surface. “Do you know what that is?” And she continued on before the boy could hazard a guess. “Some called them the Rose Gates. The wound opened upon the Rose Prince’s sister, as manifested upon the world; the world’s wound, if you will.” She glanced sideways and at the boy. “In contemporary times, those involved in the Human Instrumentality Project had given them a less whimsical name - the Doors of Guf.”

“The Doors of Guf?!” gasped Shinji; the unexpected linking of a term he recalled from his bout in Instrumentality to an ancient tale that seemed more fairytale than history had greatly startled him. “But I thought they were those . . . openings on Lilith’s palms; you know, the ones that radiated Anti-A.T. Field while sucking in human souls during Third Impact?” He studied the broken, desolate-seeming gates uncertainly. “How could they possibly be here, or on this Rose Prince’s sister you’re talking about?”

“By its alien nature, the Doors of Guf can manifest in various different forms, and at numerous locations and times,” explained Asuka, her voice somehow bitter. “When the people of the land inadvertently wounded the Prince’s sister during their attack, the wound’s opening released both a magical . . . you would call it an Anti A.T. Field, and a suction force: the Anti-A.T. field reverted the people back into LCL, the suction force drew the liquefied souls right into it.

“Unfortunately for the world, those were not the only things the Rose took unto herself”

“You see, Shinji-kun; the Anti A.T. Field and the suction from the opened Rose Gates were so strong, that they affected even the illness-plagued Prince. It was with great difficult that the weakened Dios had narrowly escaped getting sucked in along with the humans, but his power – the Light of the World – was lost to the Rose’s vacuuming wound. Almost immediately afterwards, the opening closed on their own, sealing inside the sister a generation of hate-filled souls, and the Light that once kept the world alit and trouble-free.

“Had the Rose still retained her original purity at the time of her absorbing the Light, she might have still been able to use it in place of her brother, and all still would be right with the world. As it was, the hatred from the absorbed souls had since corrupted her heart, degenerating her into a Witch - one no longer able to exude anything but malevolence. Dios’ Light was sealed and lost to all, and the world became as we know it - a place of unending darkness and suffering.”

Headiness from the onslaught of highly peculiar info aside, Shinji was by now listening rapt. “What happened to the Prince?” Eyes veiled under thick lashes, Asuka bit down upon her peachy lower lip, leaving a red imprint.

“Remember how the Prince and his sister were two halves of the same whole by nature of their race? He could even feel her hurt and sufferings with his body. Thus, when his sister came to be corrupted by human hatred, even he – once perfect in his nobility – could not be spared. He degenerated into the Devil, who, along with his sister the Witch, roamed the bleak world seeking for ways to again unseal the lost Power.

“The main difficulty was this: how to reopen the Doors of Gulf and unseal Dios’ Power without incurring the Anti A.T. Field and suction that could again threaten Earth’s Lilith-based ecosystem?

“Through their many failed tries, the alien siblings would discover that a strong, noble soul, one bearing energy enough to neutralize the Witch’s vast Anti A.T. Field, is the only ‘key’ with which to safely ‘unlock’ the Rose Gates; only with such a thing can they free the Light of the World without destroying the world.

“And that’s how it all began.

“Both since corrupted by human hatred, the now malevolent Devil and his Witch started hunting for what strong, noble youths they could find, then leading them onto specific quests of their design. Using what power she had got left, the Witch would bewitch these youths into seeing her as a desirable trophy woman, and the quests she assigned them heroic journeys towards attaining the power they want. Such quests would always end with the hero at the Rose Gates, with his trial-strengthened soul seized by the Devil for use as test key in unlocking the Rose Gates. Through the many quests, those test keys seized had always failed in unlocking the Rose Gates, and with their breaking so too would the selected youths be broken in body and mind. These ‘heroes’ were, in effect, nothing more than gloried pawns manipulated into serving the Devil’s purpose at the cost of their own destructions.

“The siblings’ efforts lasted throughout known human history, spawning religions preaching high ideals, games of combat and sport demanding nobility and strength, and, perhaps of utmost significance, a human organization that did the procuring of strong-willed potential sacrifices for their purpose. Choosing to puppet the humans from behind the scenes, even members of the organization’s inner circle knew not of the siblings’ true form and nature, and instead believed themselves to be in charge. Backed by the aliens in secret, the organization rose to hold an Illuminati-like power cabal over the rulers of the land, flourishing past the ages and unto modern times.

“The Organization is now known as Seele – the backer behind both Gehirn and NERV.”

The revelation hit Shinji like a punch to the gut. “WHAT?!” Gradually, implications of what he was told started sinking in, leaving him chilled. “But . . . that means . . . all that we did at NERV, all those times I tried so hard not to run away . . . we’re actually just . . . pawns?” His small frame started to tremble, in fear in sadness and in something seething and hot. “So many lives got ruined - Toji got crippled, Kaworu-kun and Misato-san both ended up dying . . . this is all because of them?” Fists clenched, his lips now were pulled back from his clenched teeth a dog-like snarl. “All because . . . all because of these rose aliens?!” Asuka’s eyes upon him were cloudy as deep, dark pools.

“On top of having strings over the world’s governments, Seele also got direct influence over the wealthy Ohtori Clan,” she said, not exactly answering his question. “They owned this Ohtori Academy. A prestigious private boarding school on the surface, it is really an altar that puts selected children through difficult trials meant to forge a strong soul – that very thing needed to unlock the Rose Gates.”

“Putting selected children through difficult trials . . .” hissed Shinji, now perspiring from his budding rage.

“Many decades past by, with none of the selected children even coming close to having what was needed to even get close to the Gates . . . up until fifteen years ago, when the Devil and the Witch at last found themselves one truly strong, truly noble child; that child's soul appeared to have potential to finally unseal Dios’ Light – that miraculous power glorious enough to right all the wrongs in the world, and justify even the siblings’ horrific actions for all this time.”

“Fifteen years ago . . . wasn’t that the year of . . . ?”

“It was.” Asuka’s voice remained coldly even as she delivered the dramatic reveal. “In the year 2000, on September the 13th, a noble child who failed to unlock the Rose Gates instead tore them open through brute strength alone, thus triggering the global cataclysm known to the world as the 2nd Impact.

“And that, is how our turn as NERV’s selected Children came to be, Shinji-kun.”

To Be Continued . . . ?

Last edited by gorgeousshutin (08-15-2013 03:17:18 PM)

The_Lame_Goat · Back to Top

I just have to say, I really love the way you connect the events in SKU to the ones in NGE. It's incredible. This chapter just proved it even more..

gorgeousshutin · Back to Top

The_Lame_Goat wrote:
I just have to say, I really love the way you connect the events in SKU to the ones in NGE. It's incredible. This chapter just proved it even more..

Thank you for your continuous support for this project, Lame Goat! Am putting out the next part of Seinen Kakumei right after this post, hope that pleases you too emot-wink

gorgeousshutin · Back to Top

http://archiveofourown.org/works/548356 … rs/1855006
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8650175/8/W … -s-Messiah

Chapter 8 (BETA-ed by NGE fanfic great Gob Hobblin, who I’m lucky enough to have as a friend XD)

All NGE and SKU characters belong to their respective owners.

Time: 09/13/2000
Place: Ohtori Academy, Houou City

Even wounded, even sorely betrayed, Tenjou Utena simply could not give up on saving her – that monstrous, tragic princess who led her to this place and state.

“Himemiya . . .” She grasped at the Rose Gates’ vine-covered handles, uncaring of the sharp thorns now pricking into her fingers and palms. “You don't know how happy I was . . . just being together with you . . . !” A tear escaped her eye at the deep pains she felt - a tear somehow dropping in perfect unison with a mysteriously materialized water drop impacting her Rose Signet ring.

‘Prince . . .’

Almost as soon as she heard that phantom voice – sounding eerily similar to that of ‘Dios’ – Utena noticed a dramatic change coming over the Rose Gates’s appearance, to the point that it now resembled a standing rose-motif coffin – not unlike the one she had once saw imprisoning Himemiya during the ‘Rose Bride spirited away’ incident. Taking a quick glance up, Utena saw that the large clutter of aerial swords – the ones skewering through and walling in the Rose Bride – now had exploded outwards in a dark, dissipated ring. The target of their primal hatred was notably absent.

And that could only mean . . . .

“Himemiya . . . you’re here!” Overjoyed, Utena put all her strength into pulling open the coffin’s lid. “Just wait, I’m saving you now!”

“Can’t be . . .” Akio-san’s voice, once manfully assured, was now brittle with uncertainty. “No way a child like you could’ve unveiled the Rose Gate’s true form without a soul sword, unless . . . unless those fools in Antarctica had actually managed to--NO!! ” Already, Utena could hear him running up from behind. “Girl! STOP!! Don't open that! You don't know what will happen!”

“Oh go n’ shove it!” snarled Utena, dismissive of Akio-san’s warning in her current revulsion against the cynical corruption she now knew was masked under the entity’s cultured, gallant front. To think she would be tricked into believing that to be the prince of her dreams, to the point of offering him her . . . . At least the coffin’s extremely heavy lid (likely weighted down by magic) now was slowly moving from her push. “I’m almost there.” Her voice softened significantly as she redirected her attention towards to the one she now truly cared for. “Hang on, Himemiya!”

“You FOOL!” Akio-san’s frantic voice came closer and closer. “Tearing apart the Rose Gates without using the sword will end up releasing--” Whatever else he was about to say turned into a bestial, agonizing howl, right as the very world itself seemed to change around Utena.

“Wha . . .?” Utena now found, to her shock, herself having reverted into a much younger girl; young, just like the newly orphaned child she was on the night of her parents’ death, when she shut herself into that extra coffin beside those of her parents, hiding from life, hiding from the world. Then came the Princ . . . no, Devil, drawing her out of her shell by showing her someone suffering far worse than even she did; someone the child she was had felt compelled to save upon first sight. “Himemiya . . .”

“Who . . .?”

That familiar child’s voice - dulled by pain, deadened with despair - drew Utena’s focus back to the present moment. She now saw that a vast, dark space existed beyond the coffin’s half-opened door; within this darkness laid the Rose Bride in her original, most primal form: a short-haired, breakable-seeming wisp of a child, one who incurred humanity’s hatred just for loving her brother. This time, the swords had been removed from the Bride’s body; this time, she was simply curled up on her side in a fetal pose; maybe, just maybe this time, the eternal sufferer could finally be reached by her words . . .

“ . . . Himemiya . . .”

The child Himemiya slowly turned towards her with hazy, unrecognizing green eyes. “Who are you?” That simple, childlike question alone almost overwhelmed Utena with hurt and with cherishment.

“I . . . came to save you.”

“But, you're a gir--”

“I came here to meet you,” insisted Utena, not giving her friend the chance to (again) crumble her with rejection. “So don't be afraid of this world where we'll meet for real . . . Himemiya.” The words had much more impact than she had hoped for: reality was now gradually reclaiming the surreal moment, turning the child Rose Bride of the past back into the buxom young woman existing in this present. Most importantly, there now was a look of recognition rapidly dawning within Himemiya’s eyes.

“Utena . . . sama . . . ?”

Utena – likewise reverting into the bruised teen she should be at this time and place - broke into tears. “This here . . . is us; our real selves. Finally, Himemiya . . . we’re finally meeting! For real!” She thought she saw a brief flash of what could have been awesome joy lighting up Himemiya’s stunning emerald greens, before they were to widen in alarm . . . and horror.

“Utena-sama!” screamed Himemiya, back in the moment and again too aware of the clear and present dangers from around. “Hurry and run! The swords above--”

“Himemiya!” Cutting her friend off, Utena strained to extend her arm further into the ominously deep space within the coffin. “Hurry! Take my hand!”

“Forget about me!” At last abandoning the Rose Bride’s vapid mannerism, Himemiya now urged her one and only friend to flee with a frantic urgency. “Go! Run away while you can! The swords are coming down any moment--” Utena would have none of that.

“Take my hand! Come on, Himemiya!

“You don't understand! If you don't escape now--”

“Hurry! Hurry--” choking upon the pain her stretching was doing to her wound – the very one she got from Himemiya’s earlier backstabbing – Utena wheezed raggedly before persisting on, “. . . take my hand . . .” The metallic droning from those hate-filled, predatory swords swarming above was steadily increasing in volume . . . and closeness; not that she would (or could) care at this point.

“Utena.” Gradually, a sort of tragic-seeming resignation came upon her friend. Tears in her eyes, the girl – no longer the Rose Bride, no longer the Witch - began to reach up; slowly, hesitantly. “You’re going to lose everything . . .”

“Himemiya . . .” Utena could barely hear what the other girl was saying, so focused she was upon their now touching, clasping fingers. “Someday . . . the two of us--”

And the Rose Gates chose that very moment to break off from the bridge attached, as the Dueling Arena began to break apart with the brittleness of a smashed eggshell; even as she still was desperately reaching out, Himemiya had since plummeted down the dark depths below, screaming.

Even after giving her all, this meddlesome hero still could not save her suffering princess in the end. Akio-san was right: sincerity alone really was powerless to revolutionize anything or anyone, after all.

Her fairytale – the only world she ever saw / knew / believed in - had ended with her failure.

“I really . . . couldn't become a Prince,” muttered the despairing girl from where she hung limply over the now shaky bridge. “I'm sorry, Himemiya; for ending up just a make-believe prince . . . .” Her vision of the dark abyss that just swallowed up Himemiya now was blurred by her own tears. “Forgive me . . .” Vaguely, she thought she saw light coming from within that darkness, accompanied by a gentle warmth now washing over her . . . or was that merely her own wishful fantasy?

The Swords of Hate descended, piercing her through and dragging her out of the Dueling Arena that was really the Chairman’s Office. High above the evening-dimmed Ohtori Campus she sailed - during which none of the strangely frantic people running below seemed to notice her or the swords - past the grand buildings, over the burned ruin, and out the steely front gates, towards the ocean-framed Houou City --

No. The ocean-eclipsed Houou City.

Tsunami waves, tall as towers, amber as flames, came slamming down upon the upscale residential area, washing away the elegant white houses as origami pieces, and the people within as insignificant ants . . .

“ . . . amber tsunami waves?” gawked Utena, physical and mental pains numbed by the sheer incredulousness currently engulfing her. There was a growing, budding heat burning right over her heart; glancing down, her eyes widened at the sight of her dueling white rose over her chest shining as if lit from within (its intact state was testimony to how, technically, she never did lose that final duel). “What the . . . ?”

‘Take responsibility.’

“Huh?” Utena started at again hearing that Dios-ish voice in her head. “Who are you?”

‘Take responsibility for breaking the chick’s egg.’

“You’re . . . Dios?” asked Utena, looking frantically about. “When . . . when’ve I ever done anything like that? Or . . . are you really Akio-san?!” A sticky wetness could be felt seeping through her uniform. All over her pierced body, the many Swords of Hate now were rapidly melting away into an amber fluid - one similar in appearance to the strange floodwaters raging below. “This is . . . ?”

‘Take responsibility for opening the Rose Gates, for smashing the world’s shell, and disrupting all lives within its glair.’ The words chilled Utena to the core.

“You’re saying this tsunami is because of what I just did? Because I removed the Rose Bride from her post of suffering . . . No!” She shook her head in wild defiance. “Not even the world has the right to make Himemiya suffer on forever!” Vaguely, she noticed the wild torrents beneath her beginning to spiral in something of a whirlpool . . . or was it a funnel? “And why should I believe you? You’re Akio-san, aren’t you? You! You’ve been lying to me since day one, so why should I believe--”

‘Victor of the Duels!’ The voice – now steely with authority – hammered at her head like a physical blow. ‘Take up your rightful responsibility as the revolutionary liberator of all souls – O Heavenly Calyx!!!’

“ . . . Calyx--” And that was all Utena managed to voice, as the amber vortex spiraling below abruptly shot upwards in one colossal, dragon-like sprout.

Despite being a girl jock weak on the academic side, Utena still had heard about how water, when backed by enough force, can break even rigid stones – the many crushed, flooded buildings of the ravaged city below was proof of just that. Thus, the moment she saw the massive amber sprout rushing up at her, she thought its powerful blow would crush her upon impact.

She was wrong.

The ferocious-seeming waters ended up packing surprisingly little violence, likely due to the fact that she ended up right at the eye of the circular flow, where the current’s draw was at its weakest. That said, there was something within the amber medium, as Utena found to her shock that her skin, muscles, and bones all were melting into it like ice in hot water – at such a quick pace that her mouth vanished before she could even scream. Soon, her wounded body was no more, nor were the Swords of Hate once stabbing into it; only her radiant dueling rose remained, pulsing heart-like against her somehow still existing senses as it rapidly grew in size and splendor(was it nourished by the surrounding fluids?) . . . . She heard voices from within the rose’s fire-bright heart; voices that sounded as many as tens of thousands . . . millions . . . over a billion - all repeating those same words, all spoken without the constraints of human language:

‘ . . . gather us in, Calyx / reject us not, Calyx / keep us sound, Calyx / don’t let us fade, Calyx / safeguard us, Calyx / let’s evolve together, Calyx . . .’

Were those . . . the voices of the people newly dead from this catastrophe?

‘. . . save us, Calyx . . . please save us . . .’

Were they now inhabiting the rose?

‘. . . save us . . .’

The strong currents were slamming the now giant rose about, threatening to crumble its light-radiating petals. Watching on (without eyes), Utena realized that she wanted to steady this strange flower now giving shelter to the people’s souls; this precious, delicate thing of beauty that nonetheless harbored the world in its heart. She wanted to defend it from harm – just like how she had been defending the vulnerable, suffering Himemiya all along . . .

. . . and the moment she willed it so, was the moment she already was doing exactly just that.

***

Time: 2015
Place: Ohtori Academy, Hakone

“ . . . and?”

“And what, madam?”

“What happened next?” asked the feisty female Duelist from the gathering in this dark, desolate place - the one currently in charge of grilling the outside agent for info. “Something must’ve happened between Tenjou-san losing her A.T. Field and her becoming some higher being of cosmic significance.” The agent opened his mouth, yet she spoke on before he could voice anything. “Also, you said she is now the guardian of this Rose of Light - supposedly a thing manifested from the Power of Dios - that harbors the souls of all people dead since 2nd Impact and after, all the way up until the 3rd began. Just what is the nature of such a thing, that it could even house the collective consciousness of half the world’s population?”

Very slowly exhaling – so as to be inaudible, thus less blatantly exasperated – Kaji then spoke up in the crisp, neutral tone he used in the past when interacting with professional contacts. “My recollections of that time were all shown to me by Tenjou herself – via Collective Consciousness Mechanism. I’ve since recounted to you all the details I’ve been privy to.”

“Really . . . ?” Red lips pursed, the blue-haired lass – Kaoru Kozue, Kaoru Miki’s twin according to Tenjou’s memory – casually threw back the white drapery covering a piano, before nimbly stepping over its bench to sit upon the instrument’s top. “Sounds to me that either Tenjou-sempai is withholding important details, or you are.”

“Kozue-sempai,” Tsuwabuki started in a cautioning voice, but was waved off by the indolent female student – who still looked an adolescent even to this day.

“I know; the guy’s a pro who worked at NERV, and is frankly our best hope to bring down the Ends of the World.” Her blue eyes – trained upon Kaji - glinted within the dimness like those of a wild animal. “Still . . .”

“I think we can trust him,” commented Shinohara Wakaba (Tenjou’s high school best friend), who handed Kaji a cup of tea that she brewed from a thermos. “He has Utena’s ring, and I don’t sense anything off about him.”

“Weren’t you the only one of us who rode with the Chairman in his red car without sensing anything off?” asked Kozue. She got a heated reaction from the high-tailed ‘girl’.

“So I was a ditz back then! My sense for people has become a lot sharper since, thank you very much!”

“Saa . . . who knows--”

“Anyway,” Kaji decided to cut in before the girlish banter from these un-aging females would derail the conversation. “Why are there only the three of you here? Where are the rest of the Duelists? Specifically, where are the Student Council members? They seemed rather strong from what I can gather off Tenjou’s memories . . .” His voice trailed off at seeing the heavy looks current weighting on the kids’ faces.

It was Tsuwabuki who finally spoke. “About the . . . Student Council--”

//“Yay! This still works!”//

The jubilant cry came punctuated by a vast drape fluttered up seemingly on its own, revealing a chunky CRT television that had suddenly turned on. Kaji saw, on the screen, those odd characters he recalled from Tenjou’s outlandish memories.

“Are they . . . Ohtori’s Drama Club Members?” he asked the Duelists. None of them answered him.

//“Hey! This guy remembers about our Drama Club,”// exclaimed one of the trio of featureless, silhouette-like ‘shadow girls’ on screen, clearly seeing and hearing him.

//“But of course,”// said another one, //“It’s NERV’s super duper know-it-all special agent Kaji Ryogi-san, after all.”//

//“Ah! He looks so cute as a teenager!”// The third squealed with girly delight. //“Look, he’s even wearing the Victor’s Signet! Could it be . . . that the disappeared Victor had sent him here to take down the Ends of the World?”//

Alarmed by the direction this conversation is taking, Kaji tried interrupting them. “Urmm . . . girls--” He was immediately cut off.

//“In that caaassee, let’s update him on a little something he should know about his current co-conspirators!”// Producing a videotape, one of those shadow girls waved it in front of the camera. //“That which could not be told until now: Aftermath of a Revolutionary Apocalypse!”// Kaji thought he heard sharps gasps coming from beside him as onscreen, the ‘silhouette’ in schoolgirl uniform slid her tape into something like a VCR machine. //“START!”//

The video, edited like a polished film project, showed various mundane, ordinary-seeming scenes all around Ohtori’s campus. The students, all appearing radiantly aglow with youth, went about their various businesses with a sort of peaceful mundane-ness – playing sports, taking breaks, studying, having lunch . . . sharp-eyed as ever, Kaji immediately noticed one consistently present off-element within all the scenes displayed.

“Why is the sky over the campus still blue? After the 2nd Impact, all of Japan was shrouded under a thick gray smog for months afterwards. . .”

//“Such a beautiful sky . . .”// murmured Wakaba - the current subject of the video – from where she was leaning against a stone railing staring up at the clear skies above.

//”Isn’t it, Shinohara-san?”// The shot panned out, revealing Himemiya Anthy’s petite yet curvy figure leaning against the same railing as the girl. //“This sky is as beautiful as my brother wants it to be here in his garden.”// Wakaba’s listless posture visibly stiffened at the other girl’s words. //“Do you ever wonder how the real sky – the one above her on the outside – is like at this very moment? Do you even care anymore?”// Keenly observing the hightailed girl’s developing shiver, the dark-featured one pressed on with her darkly spoken words. //“She saw you as her best friend unto the very end. Not even I could turn her against you--”//

//“Can the guilt trip already, Rose bride.”//

It was Kiryuu Nanami, sauntering up with Tsuwabuki by her side carrying her stuff. The rest of the Student Council members were also coming up from close behind, bringing along with them their various ‘relations’. Back straight, with her dark hands clasped against each other, Himemiya faced the group with her vapid mask of an expression.

//“Tenjou-sempai saw you as her soulmate, Himemiya-sempai,”// purred Kozue, walking hand in hand with her seemingly uncomfortable twin brother. //“Look where did that get her.”//

//“Anthy, Anthy . . .”// tsked Saionji Kyouichi, a broad hand clasping onto Kiryuu Touga’s well-defined shoulder, //“are you trying to make us feel bad, when it’s you and your brother who tossed the wench out and right into the raging tsunami?”//

//“You’re trying to have us leave this school and venture into the post-apocalyptic wasteland out there,”// stated Arisugawa Juri, //“so we may aid you in your search for Utena.”//

//“But Juri, didn’t Tenjou-san do everything for Himemiya-san?”// asked Takatsuki Shiori, her expression mock-innocent as she hanged girlishly off Juri’s arm, //“Shouldn’t Himemiya-san be the one to go out there in search of her missing friend?”//

//“What’s the point?”// muttered Wakaba, round head hung low. //“ Even if we’re to go out into the disaster zone in search of Utena, who’s to say she could be found? The waves destroyed the entire area outside this campus. Being ejected like that . . . who’s to say she’s even . . . alive?”//

//“Indeed.”// Glasses glinting with reflected light, Himemiya turned away from the group of tense-seeming teens in a manner as dainty as it was dismissive. //“Feel free to continue your comfortable stay here in my brother’s playground; I’ll go.”// The camera then showed a rear view of her walking off and towards the Chairman’s Tower in the distance, before the scene abruptly died off into static. Basked under the gray TV screen’s light, the three deathly-still Duelists present looked no more alive to Kaji’s eyes than ancient stone statues.

“So . . .”

***

“ . . . so that was how the Victor of the Duels, bearing Dios’ lost Power, fell completely under the Witch’s control - it was because those other Duelists were all too scared to go after the Victor in the Impact-ravaged world. This gave the Witch the opening she needed to seize the Light of the World for herself, and cast the world into its past fifteen years of chaotic darkness . . .”

Pulse racing while listening to Asuka’s words, Shinji found himself balling and un-balling his fists uncontrollably. “So this Witch is . . . evil?”

Asuka glared balefully at the cracked, vine-wrapped Rose Gates. “Even empowered by Dios’ unrivaled might, the Witch had allowed Seele to crush the world, NERV, and us – all to suit her own selfish plans. You decide if that’s evil or not.”

“Asuka.” Seething, Shinji bit down on his lower lip. “What happened to that Prince who became the Devil?”

“The Prince . . .” head bowed, Asuka gestured at the broken stone statue on the globe with a listless hand, “. . . is as he is now.” Straightening her back with a near-mechanical abruptness, she then turned briskly towards Shinji. “Shinji-kun, the Light of the World is the only thing in existence that can undo the damage done to this world by the Third Impact.” She slid both her slender arms around one of Shinji’s. “As the epitome of Instrumentality, it is now up to you to fight the witch, seize her power, and use it to help everyone come back from the Collective Consciousness.”

“But how can I fight this Witch, if she’s so powerful?” asked Shinji, hesitant yet also strangely eager. “Without any Eva to pilot, even I am just--” He was cut off by a rumbling, mechanical sound now resonating within the underground space to ground shaking effects. “ . . . What?” Asuka’s smile-narrowed eyes were twinkling from within.

“You shall have Evas, if Evas are to be needed.”

“Huh? But--”

Right then, numerous gigantic, angular structures shot up to protrude out of the large pool of rose petals beneath the colossal globe; it took Shinji a moment to recognize those structures to be standing coffins, each marked by one set of distinctively colored rose motifs: green, blue, orange, yellow, red . . .

“Asuka . . . these are?”

“Cages for the units. Shinji-kun, take your pick.”

To Be Continued . . . ?

Last edited by gorgeousshutin (08-31-2013 11:28:23 AM)

#51 | Back to Top08-14-2013 11:37:56 AM

Re: [Fanfic] World End’s Messiah - NGE/SKU, post series both series

#52 | Back to Top08-14-2013 01:36:19 PM

Re: [Fanfic] World End’s Messiah - NGE/SKU, post series both series

#53 | Back to Top08-14-2013 02:26:14 PM

Re: [Fanfic] World End’s Messiah - NGE/SKU, post series both series

The_Lame_Goat wrote:

#54 | Back to Top08-31-2013 10:49:18 AM

Re: [Fanfic] World End’s Messiah - NGE/SKU, post series both series

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