The astronomers of Nipan were greeted with a strange sight on the
third day of the first Season in the Year of Rust. A small glitter
in the dark night sky presented itself, and one of the stargazers at
the Imperial Institute happened to notice the new presence among the
stars. After consulting the Ancient Books of Science and finding no
mention of this traveler the stargazer went about securing a Lens
from one of the shrines to further his investigation.
Try as they might, neither he nor his colleagues could make out any
more than a murky smear in their old Lenses. The object progressed
slowly through the sky, and by the stargazer�s reckoning it would be
in their view for three more days before it passed beyond the edge
of the Disc and out of sight.
Discouraged, the stargazer simply noted it in the annals, noting
that if the object returned it would certainly be proof enough of
Stargazer Prometh�s theory on celestial cycles and creation. After
finishing he finished his scribbled not in the margin he thought no
more of the Heavenly intruder.
�Ad Hoc�
by Jerico Mele
It was good to be home, she supposed as she stepped through the
muddy streets of a town she dimly remembered. The noise of the
cicada still rang from the trees, mixing with the chirping of the
birds to produce the impression of nature springing to life in
spring. The people lining the streets of their marketplace were also
filled with good humor, with fewer sick people than she expected.
And the sound of playing children brought a smile to her face along
with a sense of sorrowful fulfillment.
Remembering how short her stay was, the woman strode a little
faster. Her simple shoes squished in the mud, bringing a look of
almost girlish disappointment. Those around her wore crude boots,
barely more than cured hunks of animal hide secured with black
plastic strip ties that the workers dug from the more profitable
ruins that dotted the countryside.
The anachronism brought another sad smile to the woman�s face, an
expression of guilt alloyed with understanding. Taking her gaze from
a young child in a playpen, the woman glanced further into town.
Rising above the small shelters manufactured from yet more cobbled
artifacts of the past was a tall statue. Its head was a full story
above the other structures in the town, and the stone robe it wore
hid its gender completely, but it was undeniably a human.
The beginnings of wings arched out from its back, the broken and
weathered stone attributing to the creature�s fall from the sky long
ago. As the woman closed on it she noticed that the area surrounding
the statue was cleared out, small arches at the base filled with
bowls of insence. People stopped and bowed their heads in the smoky
arches, eyes closed in prayer.
The woman reached the foot of the statue before she noticed the
small alteration to the statue. A hollow had been constructed in the
stone, and bright red bodysuit was sealed inside with a thick plate
of glass. Engraved below the hollow, nestled between ancient
characters meaning creation and destruction were the plain English
words �Pilot-Unit 02.�
Above the hollow was a painting of a young man, dressed in a suit
similar to that in the hollow below. A thin beard grew on his face,
adding a haunting look to the thin-framed boy. He stood bravely,
holding something that was not quite included in the picture. His
gaze was fixed at whatever he was holding, his expression plainly
marking the burden as vastly important to him. In the background a
massive purple and black hand held a bizarre spear aloft, the head
of the spear driven into an eye.
Below this picture, in simple, elegant kanji were the characters
for First and Son.
The woman stared at the image for what seemed like an eternity, the
sound of a crying child the only thing to reach her ears. The
townspeople, noticing her dress and hairstyle, began muttering to
themselves in almost reverent tones. One of them left a moment after
the woman fell to her knees and began softly sobbing.
Priest Anthony, of the Order of Ryoji, was annoyed by the little
man before him. He had been calmly reading the Scriptures when he
was interrupted by the man�s insane story of a Maidenly vision. More
than three times last Season someone claimed to see the Maiden,
though none had been so foolish as to claim to see Her in the center
of the town square. Each and every time Priest Anthony traveled to
the site of a �siting� he found nothing. It was beginning to be
enough of a problem to see High Priest Anno.
He was surprised to see more than half the village�s population
clustered around the Alters, and had to push his portly body through
the throng that had gathered. Each of the villagers was watching the
statue with an awed expression, as though they had just realized
something incredible about the Statue their ancestors dragged up
from the sea.
When he finally made it through the crowd to see what the fuss was
about, he was greeted to the sight of a woman standing directly
before the Altars. Her face was streaked with the signs of tears,
the thin layer of dirt she had accumulated running down her face. He
immediately noticed her hairstyle, cut short in a manner more common
to young boys than beautiful women.
And she was beautiful. The Priest felt a pang of pain when he saw
her, and an immediate urge to reach out and protect her in her time
of sorrow. But a single glance at her eyes rebuffed him. There was
iron in her that seemed to distance her. Such sorrow, he thought
instinctively.
After a moment he noticed her dress, simple and yet crafted at a
level far beyond anything Nipan could offer. Then her face struck
her, resonating in her mind. From around his neck he drew a small
card, crafted out of slick plastic. It marked him as the Librarian
of the Shrine, and countless others had held them before him. The
picture, still clear, revealed the boy in the picture, the Son and
the Father of the scripture.
He looked up at the woman and back to the card. The resemblance was
vague, but there. With a groan of piety he gasped: �Rei.�
Those around him gasped, muted whispers of consisting primarily of
distressed cries of �The Destroyer!?� Fear crept into the priest�s
heart, but he took a step out from the crowd. His flock would
receive whatever defense he could provide.
The woman shook her head slowly, turning from the monument and
walking slowly away. The priest withdrew, the villagers following
suit and clearing a path for the woman. The villagers followed her
towards the ocean, quiet except for the occasional muted question or
comment. The woman seemed not to notice the strange arrangement of
followers, and continued at a calm pace.
She reached the sea in a little less than a half-hour, the
congregation behind her having swelled slightly. As she reached the
shoreline she paused, finally seeming to notice those behind her.
The hundred or so people waited, attention rooted to the woman�s
face.
The woman slid a hand through her boyish brown hair, lips pursed in
annoyance. There was nothing to say, her blue eyes seemed to convey
silently. She opened her mouth slightly, once, her discomfort
obvious. Behind her, a bright dot on the sky was dipping below the
darkening horizon.
�Goodbye, children.�
In the first Season of the Year of Rust the Holy Mother of the
First returned to Earth from the Ancient�s Burial Ground. Priest
Anthony would see a confirmation of the Holy Mother of the First�s
identity, after consultation with the Elder and several secret
manuscripts penned by the First himself and passed down from the
Prophet. He eventually questioned the very truths of the Church�s
teachings.
A splinter sect of the One True Faith began that day, leading to a
heresy that split Nipan down the middle. The aftermath of the Holy
Mother�s visit would still be playing out nearly a thousand years
later, for the second visit of the Holy Mother of All.
Author�s Notes:
With all the religious symbolism in Evangelion I couldn�t help but
think that the future presented in End of Eva wouldn�t be devoid of
a new religion. With two perfect people to base a cult, I mean
religion on, I imagine this is how that religion might turn out. The
story kind of unraveled on me, but I needed a change from �Mote� and
this idea came to me. Anyway, thanks for reading and feel free to
comment.
Fnord