From: mew3point14@doramail.com (Daniel Snyder) "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful bride. She knew love, and she knew what it was to be loved. But she was proud, too, and resolved not to give herself to anyone. "On day of her wedding, she was dressed in her most beautiful gown and surrounded by everyone she loved. But she frowned, because she was proud and she had only half-chosen her husband-to-be. Although she knew him by the word of others, she had never seen his face. "'Smile and love your husband,' they all shouted, 'smile and love your husband.' And the longer she did not smile, the louder they shouted, and the more impatient everyone became. "Finally, she swallowed her pride and smiled weakly. In that moment, her bridegroom came to her. She saw him for the first time. "He was beautiful to look upon, and charming in his bearing. Willingly, she smiled then. Willingly, she married him. "What was the name of the bride?" -- An early summer rain came to Feuervogel Academy. It was not spring rain. It was summer rain, the kind that feels heavy to walk in. Watching it you feel tired. Feeling it you sweat. It is dark, but offers none of the peace that the dreary autumn rains bring with them. It cannot wash you clean. On the north end of the Academy was a landscaped garden covering more than three acres. It couldn't be considered a proper garden, because there were no streams or ponds or bridges; and the only rocks were ones to be walked on. There were many kinds of tall, beautiful trees, however. And in the middle was a temple of all faiths. It was an octagonal building with a little over 100 square meters of floor space inside. There were eight pews in one half the building, but no kind of an altar. Anyone could come inside, worship, and perhaps find grace. The building and the walkway to it were formed out of a dull rock the color of concrete. It was off of the walkway to the temple that the walking paths diverged. And it was just to the side of one of these paths, within view of the temple itself, that the three Magi were, in a group under a tall pine tree. "Wild west wind, when wilt thou blow, that the small rain down may rain? Christ, that my love were in my arms, and I in my warm bed again!" "Beautiful! How inspired." "It sounds foreign. Where's it from? Who wrote it?" "It's English...an anonymous author, sixteenth century, I believe." And the rain fell, and the world was still. They were silent again, for almost a minute, before their talk resumed. "There was a Duel yesterday." "There was, wasn't there? I heard about it." "I don't see why you mention it. This makes the fourth Duel since young Ikari arrived on campus." "But it was exceptional, you see, because it wasn't one of the Student Council who was Dueling." "It was Sohryu Asuka Langley who was the other Duelist." "She was the Duelist, wasn't she? And Ikari accepted?" "So I heard from him. Funny he should accept, isn't it?" "You heard it from him, did you? Ah, yes, it is funny." "Pray tell, wherefore did he Duel?" "I will tell you what he told me." -- By 7:30, Ikari Shinji had sat down to breakfast--rice, miso, tea, and a fish. He'd begun adding raw fish to his diet when Pen-pen started offering Shinji a bite of his own meal first. Cooking the fish would have smelled, and Ayanami Rei didn't like the smell of cooked meat, so he compromised. At 8:00 they left the dormitory to go to the greenhouse. Rei, Shinji and Pen-pen were still on the front path when someone hallooed them from afar. The group stopped to look. Sohryu Asuka Langley was walking up to them quickly. She was dressed in a boy's jacket and red tights, and had her red sword down low on her left hip. It swayed up and down as she hurried to intercept them. "Where are you going, Herr Ikari?" she asked loudly, so loudly that Pen- pen flinched. Shinji answered, "I'm going to class...why do you want to know?" "Oh!" she exclaimed, walking right up into his face. "So, Ikari Shinji just spends his happy little days studying in class, while Katsuragi Misato has to spend them cooped up in her room, does she?" "Um..." "Without a shred of guilt, you wile away your days with your every thought on learning, while poor Katsuragi-san hides away from the world? Is that your story?" "It's..." "You--are--disgusting!" She punctuated each word with a finger jabbed into his sternum. "You are revolting specimen of the little boy species, with no sense of responsibility or care for your fellow human beings, who wouldn't know amity if it bit him!" At that she grasped his nose and tweaked it to one side so sharply that Shinji had to twist his head to accommodate the strain. "Please move, Langley-san," Rei said, taking a step forward. "You are blocking our way to class." Pen-pen squawked in agreement. Letting Shinji and his nose go, Asuka turned her attention to the girl. "Oh, Wunderbar, so you don't care what happens to anyone but yourself, huh?" But then Asuka stopped her ranting in shock--Rei had begun to blush, and nervously clasped her attache to her chest. "You--you--you're worried about Ikari? You really think he's your husband?" Rei grew even redder. "You're his lover? Mein Gott, this is disgusting! Ikari, you've forced yourself onto this girl in such a revolting manner? How could you!" "Please, Langley, it's--OUCH! THAT HURT!" "I'm glad! Here's another!" Asuka slapped the boy across the face again, and then a third time. "You aren't just satisfied with being a sadist, you're also a sexual pervert who takes advantage of the retarded! Ikari Shinji, I challenge you to a Duel! I must preserve what remains of this young woman's virtue, and at the same time keep you from hurting your fellow students." Shinji was in enough pain that he couldn't say anything immediately. Rei responded instead. "Langley, you do not possess a Seal of the Living Rose. It is entirely in Ikari's discretion whether he Duels with you or not." Asuka responded with a furious akanbe. "If," she added when she was finished, "there's one thing I can rely on, it's that Ikari here will try and attack me. Won't you, you sniveling little worm?" "I...I don't want to fight you, Langley..." he said looking down into the ground. She laughed. "That's such an obvious lie, I'll let it pass. Shall we be off to the Dueling Arena?" "But I--OUCH!" "So what you're saying then..." Asuka leaned in as close as she could to Shinji. Her blue eyes were cool-burning flames. "...is you don't mind my doing this?" She slapped him a fifth time. "Or this?" She spat in his face. As he wiped it off, he realized how heavy his breathing had become. His body was trembling. But still, he wasn't going to give in... "Or..." Asuka turned her searchlight smile to Ayanami Rei. Rei stiffened, and took a small step backwards. Asuka shifted her weight. "NO!" Shinji leaped forward between Asuka and Rei. He spread out his arms to protect the quiet girl. "OK, Langley, I'll...I'll do what you want. We can have a Duel." "In the Dueling Arena." "...in the Dueling Arena..." "Now." "...now. If you say so." She relaxed, victorious, and laughed. -- Shinji stepped out of the catapult into the Dueling Arena. The floor was a blue-black slate tiling that sounded hollow beneath his feet. Across the arena from him, Langley's hair blew about in the breeze, like twisting cords of red silk. Shinji moved to Rei's side. She opened her mouth to let out the blinding light. From its center Shinji took the sword by the hilt. "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ!" he said. Asuka circled towards him, but he stepped quickly to the side, outflanking her. They began their swordplay. She had the upper hand at the beginning, using her greater agility to throw off Shinji's rhythm. But she quickly tired, and changed her strategy. She would attack in a short burst of random thrusts and then draw back to taunt him. "Come on, you idiot, can't you do any better? I'm waiting!" Before five minutes had passed in the Duel, Shinji had found a hole in Asuka's defense. On his second attempt, he slipped in between Asuka's wild thrusts and knocked the Angel's Heart free from her jacket. "It is over," Rei announced from where she stood a few paces away. "Be quiet!" Asuka snapped. Ignoring the fallen badge she drew en garde again. "Come on, Ikari. It's not over yet." "Yes, it is," he insisted, pointing to the thing at her feet. "You lost your Angel's Heart first. Therefore, I win." "Stop it! You're not ending this so easily. Come on," she continued, "draw your sword and duel." He had a minute to say "No!" before she lunged at him. Without thinking, only reacting, he swung his sword to parry. His blade struck hers furiously, carrying them both to the side; and to their mutual surprise, Shinji's tip swung wild, clipping into Asuka's left cheek, drawing blood. Asuka let her sword fall and dropped to her knees, clutching the side of her face. "Oh, no," she wailed, "it hurts...Shinji, what happened?' "It was an accident, Asuka," Shinji said. Gently, he lifted Asuka's hands away from the wound and looked it over. Blood was streaming out of a thick divide in Asuka's cheek. "Boy, that's a deep cut. Rei, we'd better get Asuka to the infirmary." "Yes, we must," she echoed. "Thank you," Asuka said softly as she got to her feet. -- "And then they took her to the infirmary, and that's where she still is." The rain filled the space sound could occupy in the moments that it took the other Magi to reach a mutual conclusion. "That is the biggest load of hooey I have heard in a long time." "Whoever heard of Ikari fighting a Duel so casually? And whoever heard of Langley thanking someone for their help?" "Well, that's the story that I heard from Ikari, and I'm sticking to it." "I heard it from Sohryu-san herself, and that isn't the truth of it at all." "I should hope Asuka-chan would be a better observer than Shinji-kun. She's a college graduate, you know." "Fine, fine, I've nowhere to go. Let's hear what Langley said." "The thing is, it all really began when Katsuragi Misato came back to the dormitory." -- "Good morning, Keiko. Good morning, Yuuko. Good morning, Aiko." "Good morning, Asuka-chan!" they all said in unison. Asuka gently pulled her bedroom door closed behind her and flashed a sunshine smile to her three friends and associates. "What's got you up so bright and early this morning?" inquired Asuka as they walked down the hall towards the stairwell and the cafeteria. "Have you heard?" "Have you heard?" "Have you heard about Katsuragi Misato?" "Katsuragi Misato?" Asuka pouted and tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "Now, let me think. The last I saw of her she was having a few choice words with that Ikari boy, and she'd just challenged him to a Duel. What happened? Did she win?" "It's terrible!" mewled Keiko. "She's shut herself up in her room!" whined Yuuko. "She hasn't said a word this whole time!" moaned Aiko. "SHE'S BEEN TRAUMATIZED!" the three girls wailed. "Oh, no!" gasped Asuka. "How awful! I knew from the moment that I saw him, that boy was no good. And too late, I've been shown how right I was. Keiko, I must see her at once. Is her door unlocked?" "Yes, but..." Keiko swallowed nervously and queried, "are you sure you should?" Asuka made a smart fist and flexed her arm. "Sohryu Asuka Langley is always ready to lend a helping hand to a friend in need! And now, Misato- sempai needs my help. I only pray that it's not too late. Let's go." They ran quickly as they could up to the top floor and pushed open Misato's door. Tears came to Asuka's eyes as she saw the terrible sight before her. Katsuragi Misato, with a bandaged and bruised head, was staring off into space. She sat in the middle of her bedroom, unkempt and out of place. Asuka scurried to Misato's side and put a hand around her shoulders. "Misato-sempai," she whispered gently, fighting back her tears, "I know what that beast Ikari has put you through. And I promise, I will do anything I can to bring you back to good health and happiness." Nothing happened. And then, so subtle she almost missed, Asuka saw a change sweep over Misato's face. Her eyes found the younger girl's; and she whispered into Asuka's ear, "Avenge me..." "What?" Asuka gasped. But it was gone. Misato's look of abandonment had returned. But even if she was not strong, Asuka was; and the young girl stood, burning with zeal. "Very well, Misato-chan. If you have asked for vengeance, vengeance you shall have! I, Sohryu Asuka Langley, the daughter of Sohryu Kyouko von Zeppelin, shall give you the vengeance you seek!" "Oh, Asuka!" squealed the girls from the doorway. Asuka brushed past them, walking quickly to the stairs. In her wake, Yuuko asked, "Asuka...are you going to breakfast now?' "Breakfast? Breakfast? This is no time for breakfast!" Asuka declared. She dashed down the flight of stairs into her bedroom and slammed the door. The three girls circled round the closed door. From inside, Asuka went on. "This is about friendship! About camaraderie! And never let it be said that Sohryu Asuka Langley put her personal well-being ahead of a friend's heart!" The door flew open. Asuka had dressed in a boy's jacket and a pair of tight-fitting red slacks. On her left hip was her dueling saber. Her hair was pulled back, not only by the two red clips, but now by a matching red plastic scrunchie. Her feet were in red calfskin boots with two blue flowers on each side. Asuka pointed to the heavens. "Ikari Shinji, prepare to feel my wrath!" she shouted. And her devoted trio clutched their hearts. -- She found him where she had imagined she would find him, on the front path outside of the haunted dormitory where he passed his suspicious little days. Ikari Shinji was a short boy with a mean gleam in his eyes. He arrogantly refused to dress in the boy's standard issue uniform, and instead dressed like a slob in a thin button-down and black slacks. That morning he was walking with one arm around the bizarre creature he lived with. Ayanami Rei had the skin of a beluga whale and the eyes of a bear. Abandoned at the school from a young age and forced to live under the most traumatizing circumstances, she betrayed no emotion as Shinji casually toyed with the top of her skirt. In their wake came Pen-pen, the strange blue rodent that also lived in the haunted dormitory. "Ikari Shinji!" Asuka leveled an accusing finger at Shinji. "You have committed an unforgivable sin! You have torn Katsuragi Misato's soul right out of her body, and even as we speak she is sitting catatonic in her room." "What!" Shinji gasped. "No! I...it isn't true!" "But yes it is!" Asuka countered. "And she has only come round to ask me to avenge her, and restore her honor. So I challenge you to a Duel!" Shinji glanced around him askance. Then he lowered his voice and growled, "All right...I admit, I knocked her out. But it was all in the Duel, and so..." "The Duel, nothing!" Asuka declared. "How can you, in any conscience at all, manipulate the rules to your own mean ends? Enough is enough. I challenge you to a Duel, again, I say! Do you accept?" "..." Shinji finally pulled himself up to his full height and snarled, "Very well! I accept your challenge, and we will settle this in the Dueling Arena." "That's the first sensible thing I've heard you say," Asuka retorted. Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked towards the center of campus. At the foot of the campus tower she pushed on the secret door she knew was present. As it opened for her, she smiled--Ikari had honestly accepted her challenge. The door swung wide, and revealed...infinity. An infinitely long staircase corkscrewed around upon itself and lead up into the heavens. With each step along the stairs, Asuka could feel her warrior's spirit growing. She became more focused, more driven, on her mission of redemption. It was only when she felt confident enough, when her own willpower controlled the tower's laws of physics, that the staircase ended on the Dueling Arena. She stepped out onto a plaza of black slate and gusting wind. In the Arena's center stood Ayanami Rei. Their eyes met, and Asuka's gaze did not flinch. Rei passed her hands around, across, and against one another, then passed the mystical energies on to Asuka. A red-gold epaulette formed on her right shoulder, and the flowers on her boots changed from stitchery to inlaid lapis. An orb, red against the white of her jacket, came into being. Her hand tightened on her sword's handle. The Duel was moments from beginning. Her opponent stepped out of thin air, out of the wall itself, into the Dueling Arena, and walked to Rei's side. Ikari Shinji's clothes were no different than before, apart from the red Angel's Heart that Rei pinned on him. She then leaned back against Shinji's arm. From out of Rei's sternum, a bright light began to flash. Shinji slipped his hand into the light and drew forth a mysterious two-bladed sword. He said, "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ!" In unison, they crossed their swords. Swordplay commenced. From the start, Asuka had the upper hand--her small, lithe body was agile, and she was able to make many deft attacks on her opponent. Shinji, however, had an advantage of strength and technique. He was able to swat away or block every one of her strikes. Slowly but surely, Asuka grew tired. The minutes passed. Victory slipped away from her. Then Shinji found a hole in her defense and swiped the Angel's Heart away from her breast. Stunned, and tired from her fight, Asuka stared blankly as it fell down onto the ground. She dropped to her hands and knees. Her honor...Misato's honor...it was all coming to naught. "It is over," Rei intoned. "The winner is Ikari." "Give it up, Asuka!" Shinji taunted her, smirking. "You've lost. You just weren't good enough." Asuka groaned with fury. Once again, her spirit began to seethe and grow, enveloping her body like an aura. "I must not lose!" she swore. "I can't give everything up...too many people are depending on me..." She stood, and once again held her sword en garde. "Come on, Ikari," she growled. "I'll beat you yet!" "You'll never beat me," he countered. Heedless of the consequences, Asuka charged towards him. She swung a furious chop down towards his waist. But he had watched her approach, and with a shout he swatted it to the side, knocking Asuka's blade away. It clattered, beautiful and useless, far beyond arm's reach. She had only enough time to watch it fall when Shinji flicked his blade, cutting a vertical swipe down across her forehead and cheek. Asuka clutched at her face, crying. Blood was gushing out of the wound. The pain was bad, but the humiliation that it carried was even worse. Above her, still laughing, Ikari extended a hand. "Come on, little girl. Let's get you home now." "No! No!" Asuka staggered to her feet, leaving her sword behind. "Get away from me, Ikari Shinji! I hate you! I'll never forgive you for this!" She turned and, blinded by the swirling emotions in her heart, charged headlong down the staircase. As she descended, she thought, _Misato- sempai, please forgive me...please don't hate me...I did the best I could, and...it's all his fault._ -- "Rrright. What happened then?" "Well, she's in the infirmary now, with the biggest bandage you've ever seen on her face, so I assume she decided to get treatment after all." "And you really believed that cockamamie story?" "That's so obviously made up I'm speechless." "As if either of YOU has been talking to an impartial observer." "I went right to an impartial observer. I spoke with Kaji Ryouji, and he told me nothing but the truth." "Mm. And my I point out that he's the object of the affections one of the Duelists, and been the antagonist of the other one?" "Not to mention, he's had an intimate relationship with the woman who started the two most recent Duels." "Which, if I may be allowed to explain, is how you should look at the whole lot of it." -- Kaji Ryouji stared out the window of his apartment into the blue night around him. He felt listless and unable to concentrate. Diaphanous white self-pity. His undershirt was unbuttoned to the second button. In his left hand, untouched, was a glass filled to the quarter of red wine. No motion came from the heavy wooden chair he sat in. Sohryu Asuka Langley skipped into the room and half-jumped up on Kaji's shoulders. "S'matter, Kaji-sempai?" she asked, driving straight to the point. "Hello, Asuka," Kaji replied, forcing himself to smile a little. He enjoyed being in Asuka's company. The girl's flights of fancy were always so much fun to watch. Tonight, more than any night he could recall, it all seemed so pithy and tiresome instead of playful fun. "Aw, Kaji-san, you look so unhappy!" Asuka began fussing around the older boy, making a big show of looking him up and down. "You're not feeling sad, are you? Whatever's the matter?" Kaji heaved a terrific sigh and set his glass of wine down on the floor by his left foot. He rested both of his hands, fingers intertwined, on his stomach. "I'm worried about Misato, Asuka. I'm worried about what's become of her...and for once, Ritsuko seems determined to keep the two of us apart." Asuka screwed her face up into a pout and dropped onto the floor at his feet. "I don't see why you're so worried about her," she declared. "Just because she's not talking to anyone doesn't mean there's something to be worried about." "But she's not just 'not talking', Asuka-chan," Kaji replied. "Maya was telling me...lights on or lights off, she'll do nothing but stare in front of her. But if you turn out every light but one, she'll start screaming. Asuka...that's not normal, even for this school. I'm worried about her. And not you, or me, or anyone else but Misato can make her better. That's the worst part." The two people fell silent, lost in their thoughts, before Asuka remarked, "You could challenge that boy Ikari to a Duel. If you won, that would probably snap Misato back into good health!" Kaji chuckled. "If only that were so. But Asuka, I don't think that that's going to do any good. Misato needs therapy now. In her current state of mind, I don't think she'd even understand what revenge was." "So what are you going to do? Are you just going to let Ikari get away with it?" He didn't reply immediately. Reluctantly, Kaji picked up his glass and downed half of what it held. He spoke to the remaining wine. "It's not an easy decision to make. But I've decided that discretion is the better part of valor, and...that it's better if we don't go rushing in without thinking things through. There is rationale and protocol to be taken care of, if we're to do it right. I'm going to speak to the other members of the Student Council, and we'll put together a plan after that." "That's INSANE!" Asuka said. From where he sat in his stupor, Kaji could see her tears, but he couldn't make sense of them. "Misato-san is hurt, and you're not willing to do one thing to help her! You're a beast, Kaji-sempai! I hate you," she declared, and rushed out of the room. Kaji followed her departure with his eyes, and his face fell. His right hand reached to the chair's front leg and took up the bottle of red wine. He pulled out the cork with his teeth and measured out a full glass, crassly spilling a little over the rim. "You're right, Asuka," he said softly. "I am a beast." -- He spent the night sleeping in the chair. A little before dawn he woke, undressed and lay down in his bed. The discomfort of the chair had left him with several cricks in his back and arms, so his slumber of the morning was deep of necessity. It was early afternoon when Kaji Ryouji woke again. He bathed and then dressed himself in a clean uniform. It occurred to him that he wasn't at all hungry, and he left Nagamara Dormitory without taking any food with him. He lay in the yard outside of the dormitory, taking in the sun, until the change of classes came and some students returned early from the school. "Hi, Kaji-sempai," said Aoba Shigeru. The boy had a smile on its face; but its smugness, its self-content, gave him an aura of mystery. He was swinging a bright yellow container of herbicide in his left hand, while his right hand held his guitar case. Shigeru's roommate was walking beside him. He was a boy named Tsuwabuki Mitsuru. He looked younger than his age of 15, and he was dressed oddly: the uniform he wore was at least a size too large. Only a long belt kept his pants from falling down. The two boys sat down on either side of Kaji. At no-one's request, Shigeru opened up his guitar case and began improvising on some airy major chords. After a minute or two of the relaxing music, Shigeru spoke to Kaji. "Asuka's in the infirmary. She arrived about a half hour ago." Kaji sat up quickly, letting his hair fall across his shoulders. "In the infirmary?" he said, excitement in his voice. "Yes, the infirmary," Tsuwabuki echoed. Then he explained, "She challenged Ikari to a Duel, and just like everyone else she came out the loser." "Shit!" Kaji cursed. He stood and stared off into the horizon. Ignoring Shigeru's music and curious glance, Kaji's mind focused on the problem and his accountability for it. _I told that girl not to challenging Ikari before we'd thought out how to deal with the problem. Now she's got herself hurt. This changes what will happen next...but how?_ Kaji glanced down at Shigeru. "Is the infirmary still open?" "Until 1700," the boy replied. Kaji ran across campus to the infirmary. Without a sideward glance, he threw open the door to Asuka's room and entered. The girl was lying on her pillows with her eyes closed...or, her right eye closed. Her left eye and cheek were covered by a large white bandage that had traces of blood on the near side. "Damn," Kaji muttered, marveling at the extent of the wound. The sound of his voice roused the girl. She opened her eye. "Kaji-sempai? Is that you?" she said. "Yes, it's me," he replied. "You foolish girl, you shouldn't have done that." She nodded, eyes watering. "But it's going to be all right, now that you're here. I'm sorry, I never should have gone after that Ikari. Now I've made you all worried, haven't I?" "Don't cry, Asuka," he said, wiping away her tears with his thumb. "It's all over now. Why don't you go to sleep, and I'll come visit you first thing in the morning. OK?" Asuka nodded. Kaji pulled her blanket up over her chin and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. Then he left her bedside and walked out of the room. Closing the door behind him, Kaji Ryouji couldn't help but make a fist. The thought of the wrongness of what he'd just seen, of a young girl throwing away her health for another's honor, infuriated him to the very cockles of his soul. _Ikari Shinji,_ he thought. _Not today and not tomorrow, but soon, I will make you pay for what you have done. I can forgive you for being your father's son, and I can forgive you for being afraid, but for taking that fear out on others there is no excuse. I will not allow you any more freedom than you have already received, Ikari._ -- "An impartial observer, you say?" "Since when has Kaji been such an introspective brooding type?" "Well, I don't know. It sounded perfectly believable when he was telling it to me." "Of course it did! But my point is that Kaji's story is no more believable than anyone else's." "We're surrounded by three completely biased participants in the Dueling process. We'll never make sense of this now." "Not true. We know there was a Duel. We know Asuka challenged Shinji. We know Asuka lost but kept on fighting. We know Shinji cut open Asuka's cheek as a result. There you go, what more is there to it?" "Yes, but..." "Remember what Professor Fuyutsuki says, about how vague humans are inside? Maybe we'll never be able to make sense of it, because the people who participated don't understand themselves why they fought." "Humans are such slaves to what they believe in. They fear standing up to authority. It only takes a small push to get such a person to believe in Dueling. Once they begin believing, they forget why they started in the first place." "Yes, but...as I was about to say, if we believe that there is no one definite answer, is there any truth? Can there be any truth? I have to know! I have to know if there is something that I can believe in." "Well, perhaps your answer is coming this way." Down the steps from the temple of all faiths came Ayanami Rei. She wore a white sack dress over a white blouse, and she carried a large red umbrella over her right shoulder, an ensemble that none of the Magi had seen her in before. She held her skirts up to keep them from getting wet in the puddles on the stone. "Hello! I say, Rei-san! Miss Ayanami!" She stopped walking and saw where the Magi were situated, off to one side of the path. Taking care not to slip and fall, she walked down the steps to their path. She came up before them and bowed silently. "Good afternoon, Rei. We've some questions we'd like you to answer." "Were you at the Duel yesterday?" "Yes, I was," she replied flatly. "And did you see everything that happened? From the morning Ikari-san was challenged to what happened afterwards?" "Were you paying close attention?" "My memory is adequate," she answered. "Good, good." "In that case, Rei-chan..." "...please tell us, what did you see yesterday?" "Begin at the beginning, describe everything that went on, and then stop at the end of it all." Rei closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating. Then they burst open, as if she was possessed, and the cinnabar irises saw the elemental memories of her mind's eye. "Purple, violence. Passion and purity blend, but the strengths are lost. "Red, adrenaline color in the blood. It glows, unholy, alone. "Yellow. Sunflowers turn towards the sun. It is jaundice, cowardice. "Green, life and envy. We want what we do not have, to control our fear. "White is purity. Once upon a time, it was the color of death. "Outside of the school, death reigns. Feuervogel is our hope. "Within our seven decades, many try to fight off death, but none dare to succeed. It was a pain in Rokubungi's heart that helped him see what Death's defeat could be. If Death were dead, the woman that he lost would once again be in the living world. And thus did Shinji come to be my groom. "When Katsuragi had her thwarted doom, then Langley saw a chance for love unfurled. She sought out Shinji. As their sword-tips crossed, the sole thought on her mind was jealousy. But soon her practiced guard came all apart and then she paid the cost of that lame deed; for now the girl in red has no left eye." Rei fell silent. The muse's energy that had cascaded from her had ebbed. She looked down to the Magi at her feet, but they said nothing. Presently, she took hold of her skirt again and walked out from beneath the tree's understory. Long after she had gone, her red umbrella could be seen, bobbing with each step down the wet walkway. Well after the umbrella had disappeared from sight, one of the Magi spoke. "You know what? I don't know anything anymore." -- An early summer rain came to Feuervogel Academy. On the north end of the Academy was a landscaped garden. And in the middle of it was a temple of all faiths. Within view of the temple itself, the three Magi were in a group under a tall pine tree.