In this chapter, we finally see the meaning of its title. As Fairy Tail celebrates the return of the long-lost Lisanna, the male members get into a fight again and the three cats forge a new friendship! On the other hand, Luvia appears to have underwent yet another makeover, this time returning to her hair-curled-up-at-the-ends former self (noooooo~).

Anyhow, it seems that we have yet another group of people who are plotting – again – Fairy Tail’s demise. A big fight between the guild and the government itself is set to unfold, though I think that would not be happening in the immediate future. Looking at the new members of the Council, though, I can’t seem to have high expectations of their abilities, try as I might. The fact that the author pays less attention to their character designs does not help either.

And then we see – I don’t believe it – Ryoshi Morino from Ookami-san to Shichinin to Nakamatachi???? Nah, sorry to get your hopes up high (did I?) but the new character did look like him in the first page, with his eyes covered and all. Anyway in this chapter we get to see his frightening powers: the ability to take life. He appears to know Natsu, so does that mean he is a dragon slayer, too?

Looking at your typical manga/anime villain, I can only think of a few reasons for this guy’s appearance: 1) He has a vendetta with Natsu (hence his emo look), 2) he is a evil crony (can’t really tell, though), 3) he is gay yaoi (“I want to hurry up and see you, Natsu.”).

All answers will be revealed in the next few chapters (I hope), so let’s stay tuned!

A typical morning peak hour on board a train in Tokyo-3.

It is all going to end. At last.

For the first time in more than a decade, Ikari Gendo feels release, like an ex-prisoner of war who has finally been released after serving a long and arduous sentence. At this moment, all the years of painstaking planning is finally coming into fruition. There is no longer any need for secrecy, nor is there for suffering anymore.

He is going to see her again. The woman that has evaded his clutches for many years is going to return to him.

A small smile that does not reach Gendo’s eyes breaks out on his face. His right hand reaches out and grabs his left wrist. With a sharp movement, he gets rid of the thick black leather glove that has encased his left hand.

He turns, and his back is now facing his desk. His eyes focus on the only other occupant of this wide space that is his office. It is a young girl, with beautiful snowy-white skin, deep crimson irises, and shoulder-length hair in the bright colour of the sky.

She is looking in front, but the two do not make eye contact.

Gendo’s lips parts, and his voice issues out, “You’re here.”

“You called for me, Mr Ikari,” the girl replies in a toneless but gentle voice.

Gendo flexes the fingers of his left hand. “Yes, I did, Ayanami Rei.”

*****

There is nothing to be seen, only a limitless expanse of white nothingness.

Gendo winces as he takes a step; for every movement he takes his body is wracked with searing white-hot pain; it is as if he is being burned alive, though his skin undergoes no change or whatsoever, and neither is he sweating. He is being swathed with gushes of scorching heat, again and again. He opens his mouth, as if to swear at the predicament he is trapped in  or scream in pain, but no sound comes out — he is able to speak no longer, he suddenly finds.

Then he stops short, as his eyes dart towards the woman who has materialised in front of him, a serene smile on her face.

Gendo blinks, for it is her. He opens his mouth again, and tries to speak, and yet again he has no voice.

“You’re not fit to talk to me, Gendo,” the woman says in a familiarly tinkling voice that is stern and quivers slightly.

“It couldn’t be …” Gendo rasps, and his eyes widen in surprise — he has regained his voice, albeit a hoarse and damaged version. “Instrumentality … has it been a success, after all?”

“No, it is not,” the woman says coldly. “I made it fail.”

“What … do you mean?”

“You would think, after all these years, after all you have done, that I, of all people, will still wish to be with you? You actually thought so?”

“But …”

“Forget it, Ikari Gendo. Forget me.”

“Instrumentality!” Gendo roars hoarsely. “It is the product of all these years of hard work … so that I can see you again …”

“And why do you want to do that? Answer me, Ikari.”

“Because I love you, Yui. Because you’re my wife.”

“You love me?” the woman named Yui says in a frighteningly soft voice. “Do you really feel so?” She takes a few steps towards Gendo. “Then tell me … where is Shinji?”

“Shinji ..?” Gendo’s voice falters. “He is … coming.”

“Nonsense,” Yui hisses, her face twisting in an expression of pure fury. “He is not coming. You’ve never meant for him to come. You loved me like you never, ever, loved Shinji. To you, he is a tool, just like I am to you.”

“You’re mistaken, Yui …”

“No, I’m not, and I am sure of that, because I’ve seen your actions, your atrocities, with my own eyes,” Yui says slowly, her voice picking up volume with every word. “You began Instrumentality in order to reach me, but that is because I am the perfect medium through which you can control the process.

“You do not love me, you have never loved me. Instrumentality is a weapon, a weapon in which I am the perfect means for control of the demon you’ve hidden underneath us! And in trying to obtain me, you have hurt Shinji, you have hurt his friends, but they do not matter to you, don’t they?”

“No, Yui,” Gendo protests. “Aren’t I as important to you as the child? Aren’t I?”

“Never, in my whole life,” Yui declares. “Shinji, my son, is the only one I love. I’ve loved him even before I conceived him, and I loved him so much that I instantly saw through your pretences, your malice. I loved him, and yearned to protect him so much, that I willingly sacrificed my soul to Unit-01, so that I can watch over him when you coerced him to pilot it! My shot at heaven, even hell, I have thrown it all away. Because Shinji is my child, and I love him with all my heart.”

Gendo opens his mouth again, but once more he loses his voice.

“You defile my memory,” Yui spits. “I died so that Shinji can have a better life; I died so that you’d have a chance to redeem yourself. But you’ve never cherished him — you’ve never cherished anything I gave you, so that’s why you went to Naoko, am I right?

“Instrumentality is over, Gendo, and so are you. You have wasted your chance — farewell.”

By then, Gendo is surrounded by heat reminiscent of a hell-inferno. The pain is so searing, so all-consuming — Gendo throws back his head, and emits a scream so animal-like, so primeval, that it is enough to shatter one’s soul twenty times over.

TO BE CONTINUED in PROLOGUE and PHASE-01: Breaking Skies

Looking at the Gundams and the devastating superweapons of the Gundam SEED series, I’ve always wondered to myself whether they would be able to even inflict a scratch on the near-invulnerable Angels of Evangelion. After I’ve indulged in my fantasies of Gundam vs Angel fights for so long, I’ve come up with this.

The story takes place in the Orb space colony of Heliopolis. Everyone who’ve watched Gundam SEED knows what happens here, but in this story I’ve added more stuff, so read on to find out more. Anyway, it will be about the destructive nature of war, how mankind’s selfish actions will lead to his demise (sounds cliche, but you know what I mean), and how children will always be one of the many victims of war and conflict.

The first few chapters will be uploaded shortly, so stay tuned!

So I decided to start telling stories. I started out with fanfiction almost two years ago, though eventually I began to culminate my own ideas for my own prose. I will be posting them here, as regularly as I can, and you might want to take a look at them, and even comment.

Anyhow, I will be posting my fanfiction chapters here first, because I haven’t got round to writing original prose yet. You may also view the stories at this site, under the same titles.

Cheers, and have fun readin!

The chapter ends with a joyous reconciliation between the three siblings, though the title of the next chapter is rather foreboding: That Which Extinguishes Life. Probably the appearance of yet another megalomaniac enemy, but you never know, what with all the plot twists throughout the entire story - Anyone still remember Natsu’s first appearance in Chapter 1? -

There isn’t much I can say regarding this chapter, though, because action is virtually non-existent. Nevertheless, it was a heartwarming ending (or maybe there are more chapters, you’d never know) to the Edolas arc by Hiro Mashima, with both Edolas weaned off their dependence on magic and the resurrection of a side character. The next arc is most probably set to start next week, so do keep a look out!

LIMIT BREAK - SUNSHINE COUNTER!!!

As I’d expected, Ryohei’s arm bangle is some sort of Limit Break gauge (think Final Fantasy VII) which fills up as he takes damage, just like in the game. Only thing is, he can unleash his Limit even if the gauge’s not filled up, albeit at various power levels which is proportional to how much the gauge is loaded.

A Limit Break/Overdrive in any FF game is crucial in turning the tide of battles, but in this chapter we, unfortunately, see otherwise. The thing about shounen manga is this – everytime you see the protagonist getting confident it means that something is awfully wrong. And would you have it – Kouyou does not wear his glasses!

Even after two Limit Breaks by Ryohei I’m sad to say that Kouyou appears to be rather unscathed (his face is still unblemished, damn it). I had been hoping to see him spitting blood, in the very least, but I think my expectations of Ryohei were a bit on the high side. Anyway, Kouyou’s glasses appear to be some sort of limiter; now that they are gone his full fury is being unleashed.

Is Kouyou’s the Cyclops of Hitman Reborn? Will Ryohei survive the fight? (This being shounen manga, he definitely will, I am 99.9% sure). Maybe we will see more exciting Limit Breaks by yours truly. Until then!