RahXephon Movement 9: The Shrine of Time/Sanctuary

Johji walks around the island and hears about ‘spiriting forth,’ the reverse of spiriting away. Ayato tries to produce the RahXephon’s shield so Itsuki can get more data on it, but he can’t seem to do it. Makoto wonders why they keep him if they can’t get the data they need. He asks if Ayato knows how much they sacrificed to bring him there and that not knowing would be almost criminal. Ayato talks back but Makoto says he’s from the Earth Federation, so he represents mankind. Ayato says that must mean mankind doesn’t need his services and Itsuki breaks them up. Makoto orders Sayoko to take Ayato home and wishes them a happy new year. When they leave Makoto asks Itsuki if he wants to try. Haruka does some spring cleaning in her room and Megumi gets her for supper. Ayato returns to find Quon waiting for him and she suddenly puts her head on his chest and listens to his heart beat. She says he’s having doubts about where he belongs and he pushes her away when Megumi comes out. She asks Quon if Ayato was doing another weird and she says he wasn’t. Megumi tells Ayato to get to bed because they’re going to the beach the next day. Quon indicates she wants to go too and says it’s almost happy, pointing to Ayato’s watch. It’s almost midnight and the other two realize she means happy new year. Two TERRA employees complain about not being able to go to the beach and Souichi says the weather will be the same for the next few days. At the beach, Kim sees Ayato drawing Quon and says he’s pretty good. Elvy and Cathy both want to model next and they start fighting over it. Kim uses the distraction to take Ayato’s sketch book and sees a sketch of Reika. She shows Megumi and says it’s Ayato’s favorite subject. Ayato says she’s just a classmate and Kim says they would have been sweethearts if it weren’t for the Mu. Ayato says if that was the case, they’d both be 29. Kim is surprised he’d actually be older than her and asks if he has any memories of the Great Mu War. He says that Itsuki told him all his memories were fabricated but he’s sure he’ll learn the truth one day. Sayoko tries to get information on Makoto, but she can’t break the password protection. Haruka listens to some music, but Quon takes her headphones and gives them to Ayato. He listens to it and Haruka asks if he likes the song before she goes swimming. Quon and Ayato look off to a cliff, where they see Reika standing. Makoto tells Itsuki to have confidence because he’s qualified and he puts on a visor. Ayato looks for Reika but realizes she couldn’t be there. Quon says she knows and walks off with Ayato following her. Quon asks if Reika is some one important to him, and he says he doesn’t know. He says that she died and even if she didn’t, she’d be in Tokyo. Quon asks if he’ll go back and they arrive at a shrine. Itsuki tries to operate the RahXephon and Sayoko sees him. She asks Makoto who he is because he’s only been with the Federation for a month and there’s nothing before that. Quon says she knows the shrine and the door on it opens. Makoto takes Sayoko by the chin and says he can be kind sometimes. The RahXephon rejects Itsuki and he wonders why. Quon enters the shrine and Ayato chases after her. Sayoko wonders what’s happening and the power goes out. Makoto says that the goddess is guarded.

Haruka reports Ayato and Quon missing and they search for them. Ayato wanders down a dark corridor and Haruka finds the shrine. She opens the door but rocks block the entrance. Johji shows up and says the shrine is where the spiriting forth took place. He says 38 years ago two girls suddenly appeared. He explains how spiriting away is an escape from reality and people who return from being spirited away usually disappear for good shortly after. He says there was a spiriting away recently in Tokyo and search planes fly overhead. Sayoko tells Itsuki Quon will be fine, but he snaps at her and tells her to go home. Several days pass by and the search is called off and Haruka says she’ll never give up. Haruka goes back to the shrine, but the entrance is still blocked. Ayato continues down the hall and he’s suddenly above Tokyo Jupiter. Quon finds herself in a room with a black egg on a table. She picks up the egg and tells Reika that Ayato is looking for her. Reika says that the egg is the cogwheel that turns time and that it’s her’s to possess. Reika says music is the shape the new world will take. Quon says an instrumentalist will tune the world and Reika says that Quon is also an Ollin and that Reika is Ixtli. The egg cracks and Quon sees a vision of two girls in front of the shrine. Ayato falls to Tokyo Jupiter but hears Haruka singing. Haruka hums outside the shrine and Ayato comes out of it. Haruka tells him he’s been gone for days and he says it was just five minutes. They find Quon lying outside and Haruka says it’s like Tokyo Jupiter with the time lapse. Ayato says he saw Tokyo Jupiter in there and came back because he heard her singing. Haruka asks if he would have gone back and he says that the place he belongs is on the island. The power goes back on in the RahXephon’s shrine and Makoto says he thought it would be more interesting. Haruka calls Itsuki and tells him she found them and is surprised to hear Ayato humming her song. He says he remembers it, but doesn’t know where he heard it before. Sayoko and Makoto drink together and he gives her a key. He says partners should get to know each other better.