Chapter 52:
Ritterschaft

 

“MM…”

“Hikari? Are you awake? Can you talk?” Clausewitz asked.

What a weird dream. Everyone was at school, and…

Hikari awoke in a dimly lit room with white walls that looked to be made of glossy resin. Clausewitz’s voice came from outside the pilot adjustment tank.

“Yes…”

“The speaker for the European council wishes to talk with you. Politics, mostly nonsense, you know how it is… Sorry to trouble you, but are you well enough to go to the communications room?”

Hands helped her out of the capsule. Her arms were still limp, and she had to hold on to their coats for support. They led Hikari to a chair and sat her down. She was half-conscious, and it was doubtful she noticed when her makeup and hair were being done. Her weary eyes and pale skin were livened up with shadow and rouge.

“There you are, pretty lady.”

Ikari-kun, I saw you stop Yomotsu Hirasaka by turning into a giant of light. I know just as well as anyone that that was your final act as an Eva.

It was your final act as a person…

So why were you in my dream?

Hikari remembered the battle of the giants. She remembered overloading her dummy plug with her emotions. But she had no memory of how she’d gotten away from Yomotsu Hirasaka.

Her legs wobbled underneath her in the narrow corridor, and she leaned against the wall for support. No, the problem isn’t my legs.

She opened the hatch and was greeted by a light drizzle against her face. Salty. Like the tide had been mixed into the rain.

Applause followed and then the bright flash of cameras. She flinched from the sudden exposure as she realized she was on board a U.S. aircraft carrier. The Euro Eva, Heurtebise, was kneeling on the deck. Its face was scarred, and there were burns all over its restraint armor. Wires kept the giant in place to compensate for the reduction in gravity. She felt like a Lilliputian standing at the feet of Gulliver.

“Huh…? What’s going on?”

Heurtebise had vanquished humanity’s greatest enemy, the black giant, Armaros. The media had gotten ahold of footage from the Euro Eva’s visual sensors. The world had seen the moment when the Devil’s Backbone fired a black hole that annihilated the monster’s torso. They’d been dying for some good news.

In fact, it was Shinji’s Super Eva, the giant of light, that had done most of the heavy lifting in the fight against Armaros, though Hikari had dealt the killing blow.

Heurtebise the Armaros Slayer.

That title dominated the headlines of all remaining media outlets in Europe. The Europeans had finally got revenge on the monster who’d turned 180,000 of their own into pillars of salt. Now, they hailed the warrior who’d vanquished him.

For one night, Hikari was the hero who’d destroyed the world’s greatest enemy.