Star Child Records, Nu Kyoto, AD 2022.
“Are you sure about this?” the man wearing sunglasses asked, as he and two others walked down a lighted hallway. They passed several closed doors, offices of the people that worked in the structure. “I mean, we have several other choices lined up. Why are you sure we should use this one?”
He turned to his companions, but received no response.
With a huff, he continued with his questioning.
“This has no precedent, you know… How are we sure that she’s even good?”
“Don’t worry about it,” the man at his side replied, a smile on his face. “If there’s anything I can guarantee, it’s that.” The hall lights reflected off the glasses he wore, obscuring the look in his eyes.
The man with the sunglasses arched one his eyebrows, not too convinced of the man’s claims. Really, what did he know about this anyway? He was just an outsider. A consultant, and nothing more.
“Aww, c’mon, loosen up a little.” The man in the sunglasses almost fell forward as he was given a pat to the shoulder by his other companion. “Have a little faith, will ya?”
The man gave the woman an indignant look, as he dusted off the shoulder of his suit. “I would, if there wasn’t so much at stake in this, madam. I’d think that you’d be a little worried yourself; you, of all people, should know how important this is…”
The woman laughed, and shook her head. “Everything will turn out fine, you’ll see.” She bent forward to take a look at the other man, who was positioned on the other side of the suit. “Right?”
“Right,” the man in eyeglasses agreed. “I have faith in her.”
The man wearing the sunglasses sighed in defeat. “Fine, have it your way,” he announced as they reached the room at the end of the hall. Placing his hand on the doorknob, he gave both of his companions a skeptical look, and said, “But you’ll only have yourselves to blame if this flops.”
As the man in sunglasses opened the door into the room, his companions shared a smile, and as a group they entered…
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Echoes
SOUNDTRACK DREAMS
A Sidestory/Songfic by Myssa Elaine S. Rei
“Hey, it was about time you guys got here,” a familiar voice announced as they entered the control room of the recording studio. “I thought that we’d have to start without you guys.”
Shinji smiled, as he walked over to stand beside the owner of the voice. “I’m glad to see you too, Asuka.” He pushed his glasses up back on his nose, as he studied the person standing beside him.
The former Second Child, stunning in her office blouse and miniskirt, her fall of red tied up in a long ponytail, artly raised one of her eyebrows at the newcomer. “I’d expected generalissimo to be late, what with her business at the RDC,” the woman began, as she waved to the other woman in the room. “But I didn’t think that the Invicible Ikari Shinji would miss out on something important as this.”
Shinji scratched his cheek, feeling even more embarrassed than he looked. “Give me a break Asuka. If I let Misato drive the car, I might’ve not gotten here alive…”
The redhead looked from Shinji, to the general—who had been talking with the studio representative in the background, and who was now directing a frown in the young man’s direction—before coming back to Shinji.
“Anyway, I’m sorry about it…” Shinji continued, before being interrupted in mid-sentence, as Asuka leaned her face close. Instinctively the young man leaned back, the young woman’s nose nearly touching his.
“Really?” The young woman asked, her blue eye, the one not obscured by her long auburn bangs, staring at him intently. Shinji gulped, feeling her breath on the skin of his face.
“U…uh, really,” he managed.
It took a concerted effort on Shinji’s part not to blush, but it was a battle he wasn’t winning.
“Hmmm.” Asuka turned away, and Shinji took the chance to sigh in relief. She gave him a sidewards glance, as she pointed gestured with her thumb to the room in front of them. “Tell that to her.”
Shinji ran a hand through his hair, and faced the direction the young woman was pointing to. In front of him, separated by a layer of glass, sat a girl who was about his and Asuka’s age. She wore a long-sleeved white blouse over a matching skirt, with long dark hair framing a pale face. She seemed to be talking to one of the many musicians sharing the booth with her, but she turned and waved when she noticed him.
Shinji waved back. “She doesn’t look nervous, does she?”
“What? Angel-girl? Nervous? Pah.” Asuka turned her face to the technician seated beside her, who pressed a few buttons before giving her the ‘okay’ sign with his hand. “Here,” she said, as she handed Shinji a headset. “If you’re that worried, you can ask her yourself.”
Shinji quickly put on the headset. “Thanks.”
“Baka,” Asuka smiled at her companion. “Where’d you go without me?” She quickly put on a headset of her own, and passed him a secret wink.
“Nowhere,” Shinji replied sincerely, before he spoke into the headset’s microphone. “Hey, you okay back there?”
Mayumi was handed a headset of her own, and it didn’t take long for him to hear her voice in his earpieces. “I guess, Shinji-san… It’s a little…overwhelming.” He saw his friend take a deep breath, one of her hands on her chest. “It’s nothing like back in middle school.”
“Don’t worry too much about it, okay?”
The girl nodded to him. “I’ll try. Still, I’m feeling a little nervous…”
“Take it easy Angel-girl,” Asuka spoke in turn. “Just think of this as a test to pass. Y’know, like the one you took to get into Kyodai? Think of this as something similar…”
“Asuka…”
Asuka turned to face Shinji, and saw the wry expression he was giving her. “Whaaat?”
Shinji ignored the frown being directed at him by the redhead, and returned his glance back at Mayumi. “Just take a deep breath, and try to have some fun. Everything’ll work out fine if you do. Ne?” He gave her a thumbs up, and smiled.
A small smile appeared on the face of the young woman, and she nodded in response. “Un!”
Shinji turned to face Asuka, and saw that she had a fond look on her face. “What now?” he asked, feeling his cheeks heat up as she regarded him.
“Oh nothing,” she returned. “It’s just that it’s not often I see you like this… Acting mature, I mean.”
“Four years is a long time, Asuka. People can change.” Shinji averted his eyes, and added quietly to himself, Some more than others.
“I guess.” Asuka focused her attention back to the recording room, but not before sending a smile in his direction.
“So, is everything ready?” The man with the sunglasses walked over to stand behind Shinji, his conversation with the general already adjourned.
“More or less,” the technician answered. “Just a few more tests, then we can begin.”
The man nodded, seemingly relieved by the news. “Good. The sooner we can start with this, the lesser the expense will be.”
The general chuckled, as she took a position behind the technician. “You worry too much, you know that?” Misato said, while she observed the man go over a few last-minute adjustments to the control panel.
The suit threw an indignant look in the mauve-haired woman’s direction. “You wouldn’t talk so lightly if it was your company’s money you were using.”
Misato merely raised her hands. “Okay, okay. I understand already, geez.”
The technician looked up from his seat, and looked at the man wearing the sunglasses. “We’re ready sir.”
The man nodded, and turned towards the sound booth, where the band was preparing to start. “Good. Then we can begin.”
The technician raised his right hand, and started to count off with his fingers.
In the control room, Asuka was a little surprised when she felt something grasp her hand. She looked down, and smiled, seeing Shinji’s hand holding on to hers. She turns to her companion, but saw that he was intent on what was happening in the studio.
She smiles, and holds on firmly, before letting her own eyes observe what was about to start.
Inside, Mayumi took a deep breath, and gave her friends one last look as the people around her got ready. Off to the side, a large screen was coming to life…
The organist began, setting the mood of the piece, and the flutist did his introduction… While the rest of the band softly, but steadily joined in.
* * *On the screen, words start to appear, white against a background of black:
I want to Live, they announce.
I want to Love.
I want to see you again.
A figure is revealed, awash in the radiance that accompanies its rebirth, ascending into the heavens, a pillar of light left in its wake. In its heart a boy sat, his head bowed by sorrow, his cheeks wet with tears. Winged shapes, their unsettling grins colored red by gore, circle it around it, like a pack of wolves awaiting its next kill.
A familiar face flashes for an instant in the youth’s mind, one that once brought both fear and comfort to him now tiwsted in pain, its features bathed in blood… Then, the boy raises his face, revealing blue eyes that gleam with sadness…
And defiance.
* * *
At this, Mayumi closes her eyes, and begins, the words already known to her by heart.
* * *
Run through the cold of the night, as Passion burns in your heart
Ready to fight, a knife held close by your side…
A young boy, no more than a child, stumbles through the darkness. He chases after a retreating figure, tall and clad in shadow that makes the darkness around it seem lighter in comparison. But no matter how much he calls, no matter how much he tries to get the person’s attention, he just succeeds in getting left behind. The figure moves further and further, its shadow, like the cross of old, outlining the weeping child…
Like a proud wolf alone in the dark, with eyes that watch the worldAnd my name like a Shadow on
The face of the Moon.
A girl sits curled up, her face hidden as her arms clutched her knees close to her. Cold and unfeeling walls enclose her, her only refuge from herself as the world falls apart around her. She is alone, with no one to even hold her, and comfort her in her hour of need… Or is she? Ghostly arms enfold her, holding her in a caring embrace, a presence waiting to be called upon once more… To be needed…
Broken Mirror… A million shades of Light,
They all seem to fade away
But just you and I can find the answers and then
We can run to the end of the World
We can run to the End…
Of the World...
Blood. Blood of the innocent. Blood of the guilty. Of enemies long vanquished. Of friends, dear friends long gone… People lost to him. Forever. A face never to be seen again, a smile never to be beheld, a voice that would never be heard. All on his hands. Their blood. Fires blaze in the eyes of the titan, the god made flesh, reflecting the anguish of the soul it held within… A roar is released, and the very heavens themselves tremble in its wake…
* * *
The flutist takes up his instrument once more as his companions slowly let fade, and plays the intermission. Mayumi takes a deep breath, but she is already too involved with the song to even be aware of her surroundings anymore… Inside the control room, those watching stood transfixed… Even the man in sunglasses was enraptured by the voice of the young lady who was singing inside.
Only the technician seemed unaffected, continuing with his duties… And even then, he sighed, and shook his head to himself, his head filled with her voice.
* * *
On the screen, the images continued:
Faces dear flash before the tormented boy’s mind… A close friend, hurt by his lack of courage. A girl, hurt by his lack of experience. Another friend, hurt by his secrets… Face after face beared down upon the boy, his guilt replayed one after the other, for all the world to see… He could have reached out…
But he was too scared…
Through it all, a red-eyed gaze studied him… Judging… Believing…
On cue, Mayumi continued with her song.
Cold fire clenched in my heart in the blue of night,
Torn by this pain I read your name in sound…
A memory. White seets covering a frail body, blue eyes that were normally full of life dull and glazed over. It was his fault. It had to be. The boy leaned close, as if to try to ellicit a reaction from the person lying on the bed, but to no avail. Tears fall, wetting a face that would not feel… He reached out the only way he could think of at that moment. But the contact was wasted; her lips do not move.
He could not find her. It was too little, too late.
And the girl of the Dawn with eyes of blue
And angel’s wings
The songs of the season are heard the year round…
The titan alighted upon the riven earth, its mantle of light trailing behind it like so many stars, as the monsters stopped their obscene flight and followed it to the ground… To consummate the fate that was put before them by their masters, self-styled rulers of Man’s destiny. Inside, the youth stared on calmly, a strange smile on his tear-streaked face… He was not standing alone. Everyone was there. Everyone was waiting for him… Everyone was smiling for him.
She was smiling at him.
Broken Mirror… A million shades of Light,
They all seem to fade away
But just you and I can find the answers and then
We can run to the end of the World
We can run to the End…
Of the World...
Blood. It was everywhere, as the titan tore through those who stood in the path of its anger. Deep inside the bowels of the shattered military base, those who were not fighting for their lives witnessed the horror of their own making, as a man-made nightmare was released, no longer restrained by logic and reason. Deep in the heart of the beast, the boy whose will drove it continued to smile, the injuries inflicted upon the beast unfelt… He felt alive, more alive than ever before; he was fighting for something greater than himself… The train of images continued, bodies floating in a sea of blood. Some were familiar, some were not, but all drifted lifelessly in the panorama of the psyche.
Who was he?
Why was he alive?
What was his purpose?
* * *
The guitarist stepped forward, and eased into the song’s intermission, the electronic melodies of his instrument filling the gap end of the second chorus to the bridge. Near the end, Mayumi picked up, her voice reaching a crescendo along with the rest of the band.
* * *
Explosions blossomed across that field of death, rising into the ruined skyline like crosses reaching towards the heavens. It was like the birth of a dozen new suns, all in a single place… As the balls of fire blossomed into mushroom clouds, a single figure forced itself up the molten detritus of encounter. On unsteady legs it pushed itself erect, raising its face towards the heavens it had defied with its existence.
We met in the mist of morning, and parted deep in the night
Broken sword, and shield, and tears that never fall,
The giant raised one final cry, one that echoed across that blasted landscape, before toppling into the dust. Out of the shroud of gray it had created from its fall, a figure could be seen walking, uncaring, as if driven, into the wastes. The person took no mind of the injuries he bore, took no notice of his appearance… The only thing on his mind was to find that thing most important to him.
And bring it home.
But run to the heart…
Washed away by the darkest water, the world is peaceful and still…
The wind blew in, taking away the smoke that hung over the battlefield. Tired and hurt, the boy struggled with every step, his vision blurred, his body in shock… But after what seemed to be forever, he found it. With renewed purpose he hastened his movement, and forced open the blood-stained casket… With trembling hands he reached out to touch a face long turned pale… One last time…
But in the rays of the setting sun, hope is found, where there shouldn’t have been any.
Broken Mirror… A million shades of Light,
They all seem to fade away
But just you and I can find the answers and then
We can run to the end of the World
We can run to the End…
Of the World...
There is a change of setting… A young woman, dressed in a long-sleeved turtleneck over a brown miniskirt, and with fiery red hair, turns to face the screen. Beside her stand a strange-looking girl, with unruly azure hair and red eyes, as well as a shy-looking girl wearing spectacles… Though half of the redhead’s face lay hidden under a long fall of bangs, the joy could still be seen on her face, as she rushes forward…
Into the arms of a young man with sad blue eyes.
Run to the end of the World.
* * *
Mayumi listened to the last strings of the song, before opening her eyes. She turned to look at the control booth, and was a little surprised to see Asuka and Shinji, as well as Misato applauding her. She bowed to them, her pale cheeks reddenning in embarrassment.
“I told you to have some faith,” the general told the man with sunglasses as she finished clapping her hands. The man didn’t answer, but it was plain for Misato to see that at least she had given him something to think about.
The general looked for Shinji, and found him still staring into the studio. Asuka, for her part, seemed content just to stand there quietly beside him.
Smiling to herself, Misato decided not to disturb the two. With a whisper to the man at her side, she led him outside of the room, where they might continue their conversation earlier without upsetting the atmosphere between her two former wards.
“They did well, didn’t they?” Shinji said, breaking the silence between the two of them.
“Yeah. I guess they did.” Asuka turned to look at him, and smiled.
Author’s Notes:
Hi guys... I'm just as surprised as everyone else at this. It's the first story I've ever written in one sitting, and frankly I'm a little nervous. Almost no thought went into this; it's one of those things that just flow out on its own...
I didn't know what I set out to make. At first, I had been planning on writing a sort of backgrounder for my story 'Birthday'... There were a lot of changes in the canon events, and I wanted to show just how these changes 'created' the continuum where most of 'Birthday' is set in.
However, I didn't have any idea how to go about it.
Then, just last night, I picked up one of the CDs Axel had sent me for my own birthday, and played one of clips recorded there on Window's media player... A little piece called "Small of Two Pieces"... And everything fell into place.
Well, sort of.
I have to admit, it's a little confusing, especially the battle scenes and the lyrics... The battle scenes by the way, are from the 'OAV'... (for those who're familiar with my other story, yes, it's the same OAV whose posted Mana and Megumi were looking at) At the same time, they're reflections of what happened in EoE in this particular universe...
It also gives me an excuse to use such a great game song.
I hope everyone likes it.
Started: 12/08/02
Finished: 12/09/02
P.S. This story is set around 18 years before the events of the Birthday, and some 2 or so years from the start of Echoes so... I hope no one gets confused. Much.