Third time is the charm . . .or is it three's a crowd?

Rei III only groans a little bit, only BEGINNING to awaken from her slumber by the loud scream. Opening her eyes, she only has a glimpse of a colossal figure but it is enough for the beginning of recognition.

Mother Lilith? she thinks blearily to herself . . . right before running into someone who looks decidedly familiar; familiar as her own face in the mirror in the morning familiar! However, there is nothing beyond the beginning of the feeling of recognition at this. At least, that is until the painful, jarring impact (herself suddenly being sandwiched between her winged older sister and this other, naked version of her) sends all THREE into the awaiting form . . . of the silently waiting body of the Angel known as Lilith.

As for the mirror image of Rei III, what is her story? Why is she here, wherever HERE is? Why is she naked? Why, her name is also Rei . . . at least it was the name she'd gone most recently by. What do I mean by that? Well, this version of Rei is a LOT different than the ones who smacked into her. How? Well, that answer is . . . involved.

First, this was her latest incarnation and I do not speak of that travesty of this young woman being brought back again and again through a series of clone bodies. In her prior existence before getting caught in a . . .rut of sorts with her Rei Ayanami incarnation she’d been called Yui Akari. Yes, that’s correct, she’d been in a prior life before coming back as Rei had been one Shinji Akari’s mother. More than a few website of fans out there speculated as much . . . though how Rei’s soul should be able to dwell both in the blue haired and red eyed girl’s body AND in this reality’s Unit 01 is done by means that are far above what this forum allows (i.e. too technical and recondite). Just take it on faith that her spirit somehow dwells in both and have done. In whatever case, both Yui and Rei had been women of destiny. Yui Akari helped make the Evangelion Units to help defeat the Angels, stopping them from contacting either the most important Angels known as Lilith or Adam (which would have meant a Third Impact situation which would wipe out humankind's continued existence). When she died as Yui Akari, she soon was reborn as Rei . . . something of a tool of men who wished to bring about what they saw as the next stage in human evolution. Others wished to use her to bring BACK Rei's old self so as to be united again with her distraught husband (even IF for only a short while before Instrumentality melded all humanity into one group consciousness). However, you know by now what that all is with SEELE, Instrumentality, and Gendo Ikari so let's move on, okay? The story here in her world is same enough as the others in that regard except in this case Gendo Ikari wishes to bring back Yui Ikari's past, transforming Rei back to his departed wife, as it were.

Problem here is that like in the last movie for Neon Genesis Evangelion: Rebirth this Rei here refused Gendo's last orders, choosing her own fate (finally). She does NOT take Gendo to his wife's side, instead just uses her Angelic abilities for herself.

First, she'd regrown her missing arm which had fallen off. Oh, I see you don't know? Well, kind of a spoiler for those who have not seen the story but by this time in the stroyline/timeline certain traits within this Rei manifested itself. By this point her Angellic abilities had manifested, but at a price. She had been created and was perhaps the cutting edge of human/genetic engineering: the fusion of human and Angel. She was by now, for all intents and purposes, a humanform Angel, but at a cost. She wasn't built to last. She was dieing, literally falling to pieces because the wondrous mystical organ that made all those supernatural things that Angels could do (the Absolute Terror field/force field thing only being one) was within and awakened in her. However, that same organ was killing her, weakening her body. Her left arm had already fallen off (bloodlessly) at the elbow. The taking within and combining of the Angel Adam had stabilized her for a while. Had even given her the ability to regrow her lost limb . . . but it was only a temporary respite. The next step was either to move forward and transform. To move forward and merge with the Angel Lilith's body before her, or die in a heap of body parts. Not only was the later painful, but it also would have cosigned Shinji Akari to death (he was in danger).

Change was coming in one form or another for this Rei. Now, finally given a free choice she chose to do it where it went. Who benefited from it, this change. Either way, her life would END, but it would serve a purpose.

A old pre-2nd Impact scifi's author's words flashed through her mind and she almost smiled. It seemed to somehow fit this situation. This sad, sad situation she was now in.

"The supreme irony of life is that no one gets out of it alive."- Robert Heinlein.

The irony here is even after merging with Lilith, she was STILL slated to fade away. Even in THAT powerful form, her body would STILL fall apart after she did . . . what she must do for Instrumentality. Still, all of humanity would benefit from this change, Rei understood. Instrumentality must happen or soon (too soon) humanity would fade and die. It was at a dead end, evolutionarily wise and this was it's only means of continuation in ANY form. Oh, in so many ways it was wrong to impose this choice upon everyone, especially since they hadn't been polled. But . . . . in the end it was either this or death for the species. Time had run out for any other option . . . and let us not forget that the person she'd sworn to protect, Shinji, is in trouble out there.

So with resolve, she floated herself up with her Angelic abilities up to the prone giant body which was Lilith. She had ignored the pleas of the wounded Gendo Akari (who'd gotten hurt in the altercation with Rei when she'd broken free of his manipulations just a few seconds ago). Pleas to have her take him to Yui's side were ignored. For her to wait, those are ignored.

"I can't," she simply explains, leaving out so much. "Ikari is calling."

She means that Shinji Akari is calling. He needs her MUCH more than the Commander does, really.

Besides, why did Commander Akari have the rush to be first to be joined with those he'd loved? It would happen soon enough as soon as she and Lilith merged so why the protests and pleading? It was just that she was doing it on HER terms and not his, that's all.

A sense of peace takes a hold of her as she finds herself hovering before the giant, crucified Angel before her.

"I'm home," she says softly.

"Welcome home," the body before her seems to whisper wordlessly.

However, before the mergence with the inert mass of flesh before her and her own body begins, there is . . . a disturbance happens. It was a flash of sickly green light behind her (like a camera flash), along with the sound of a deep gong like sound (as if done underwater).

Her body is beginning to glow, signaling the beginning of mergence with Lilith when she hears a scream of protest that is NOT Gendo Akari's, but almost like an older version of herself.

If the situation had been different and there had been time, she might have used her Angellic abilities to overhear a blearily thought question. A questioning thought consisting of two words: "Mother Lilith?" given off by a young woman who had . . . a similar life -story as her own.

All thanks to the antics of a malfunctioning and . . . something we shall get to here in a moment. Be patient. We'll get to it here soon.

Okay, back to the story.

Anyway, this Rei then feels a painful impact against her back, forcing her body forward along with two other forms INTO the awaiting of Lilith. And that is when this version of Rei became painfully aware of THREE things. First, there were TWO other versions of HER in her. Second, something was VERY wrong here within herself suddenly (she felt like she was afire . . . it was both painful and . . . pleasant). Third, she suddenly remembers . . . .

1. SHE is somehow actually Lilith . . . and after somehow having been divorced from her old Angelic body she was now back, in her rightful form!

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