- Year 841 - Survey Corps Headquarters
"My condolences, truly. I too have lost many colleagues since I joined this Regiment." Erwin told the new recruit. He took the young Levi by the shoulder and sighed. "I want you to stay here, with your skills you can be of great help. For you to stay with us you need to understand that is part of the job. We Scouts have to sacrifice a lot for our cause. So I'll advise you not to get too attached. You must learn how to adapt-"
"That is a little cold, don't you think?" the twenty-year-old interrupted.
"It's a fair warning." Erwin firmly replied. "We have a mission, and it's more important than any of our lives. If you truly want to stay, you have to be aware of all this, and believe in our cause."
"I haven't decided yet," Levi said with some disdain and crossed his arms.
Erwin sighed and continued his case: "Like I said before, you can do some good here, you have a gift and it wouldn't be fair to waste it as a petty thief-"
"Come on, Erwin!" Hange barged in and sat next to the new recruit. "He is just playing hard to get," she added while putting her arm over Levi's shoulder and oddly, but somewhat affectionately, bringing him closer to her. "You've done pretty well in this mission," she said, bringing him even closer. "But you have to think one thing for yourself: you've set your own bar too high," Hange explained. "And we won't expect any less from you after that! So you better bring that 'A game' in every next mission!" She said excitedly.
Levi only stared at her, with a hint of disgust. He said nothing as he removed her arm from over his shoulders, wondering when was the last time that woman had showered.
"You'll fit well in here, little one," Hange added over her glasses with a smile.
"Don't call me little, four-eyes." Levi complained, crossing his arms again. "You people are all way too weird," he added.
"Sure, we can be considered eccentric. And that's why you fit in perfectly," Hange replied and Erwin smiled.
"Come on," Erwin said, leaving the room.
"To where?" Levi asked, confused.
"To plan our next mission, silly," Hange explained smiling.
"Already?" he asked, baffled, for they had just come back from their latest mission.
"Of course!" she replied. Hange stood up and looked back at him, holding the door. "We are soldiers." She stated very seriously. "There's always a mission, and then the next one."
Hange then walked away, following Erwin.
Levi considered things for a moment, for most of his life he never felt like he had a home. This odd place with these odd people felt to him the closest to home he could ever get. So he too stood up and left the room, following the others. After all, they had a new mission to plan.
- Year 841 - Somewhere in the Underground
"Just Levi," the man commented. He was talking to an old friend in an inconspicuous bar, hidden in a narrow Underground alley.
"What?" Kenny Ackermann asked, while drinking up his glass of whiskey.
"I had to track this down," his good friend replied, throwing a fancy paper sheet across the bar. It was the official Survey Corps enlistment sheet. "No surname. That's him isn't it?" he asked, pointing at the 'Levi' name on the list.
"Probably," Kenny sighed, picking up the list to take a look. "I'd never tell the brat our name, he'd get himself killed with it," he explained. "I thought I had asked you to keep an eye on him."
"That's why I asked you down here in the first place, but you took so long to show up I had to send some men to investigate the runt's whereabouts. Wasn't expecting him to join the Army that's for sure," his friend explained.
"Don't call him names, I'm the only one who can do that," Kenny complained, throwing the list back at him.
"That boy stole from me so many times, I can call him what I damn well I like!" his friend retaliated.
Kenny stopped for a moment, calculating. He swiftly took out a fancy silver and gold dagger from under his coat, with a beautiful red jewel encrusted in the handle. He jammed the dagger in the wooden board, in between his friend's hands, completely tearing the fancy Army document. "We've known each other for a long time, John. And I don't disrespect you, so don't you disrespect my family," Kenny told him sternly.
"That's a fancy dagger you've got there. Wanna sell it?" his friend asked, with a smile full of teeth. The bar owner and crime boss was used to unscrupulous hotheads.
"Nah, this one is not mine, I'm saving it as a gift for someone. But I don't mind testing it before I deliver the gift," Kenny threatened, removing the dagger from the damaged wood.
"Or I can buy you another drink," old John suggested.
"Or you can buy me another drink." Kenny concurred, tipping his hat at his old friend and putting his weapon away. They both laughed out loud and kept the unlawful talk.
.
≃2000 years ago
[Five Years after the first appearance of The Titan]
Azymondeus walked around the Eldian camp a little confused, the new recruit had just joined that army and he wasn't really sure what his place should be. So, the twenty-year-old decided to ask some of the brainless soldiers about war meetings and such.
"Strategy-what, lad?" the toothless man asked back.
"Strategy meetings is what I said. About what to do next," Az tried to explain. "The overall plan, how to go about the next battle and so on."
"Like anyone cares about that sort of thing. If it's not our flag, just kill it. That's all we need to know," the soldier replied.
"What if I want to know more?" Az contested.
The man tutted. "Then just go ask General Ackermann about it. But he won't like it much let me tell ya, for a recruit to go talk to him."
"What?" Az asked, completely pale. His voice cracked. After so long, he couldn't believe he had just heard that familiar word coming out of that toothless soldier's mouth.
"Boy, you just turned as white as cotton," the soldier commented. "For a recruit to go talk to him," he repeated slower and louder, thinking the new recruit must have been deaf.
"No, no-" Azzy stuttered even more. "What did you say before that?!" he asked again.
..
"You knew?!" Az barged into the largest tent in the camp, to confront his beloved.
"Knew what?" Ymir asked back unfazed, she continued to brush her long hair and play with her jewels.
He came in closer to whisper. "Who Lud actually is!"
Ymir burst out laughing.
"This is not funny. How come you didn't tell me? This is serious!" Azzy complained.
"Of course it's funny. It's hilarious!" Ymir replied, trying to clear her laughing tears from under her eyes. "Oh, I was waiting for this!" She kept laughing. "You were there all high-and-mighty criticising my choice of being near my family and you did the exact same thing without even noticing!" Ymir laughed even more. "And you've been here only three days! You must admit it's sweet how close you two have become in such a short period of time."
"He already knows me in a way, we fought against each other many times before," Az pointed out, a little stressed, waiting for it all to sink in.
"Which must feel wrong for you now, surely," she commented.
"Not really, it actually feels sporty, in a way," he replied.
"You Ackermanns do love a fight," Ymir added, pouting.
"Shush!" he pleaded, Ymir rolled her eyes and crossed her legs. Az started to pace around the tent. "I should get out of here," he cogitated, sitting down for a moment.
"You're being too dramatic, you barely got here," Ymir protested with a stern voice. She stood up and came near him.
"We need to be more careful about all this," he expressed his concerns and held her hand.
"Don't worry about it, as long as you don't fuck them, you'll be fine!" she joked. "Plus, he and his sons are all males, so there's really no problem there," Ymir added.
"Why must everything be a big joke to you?" Az replied, annoyed.
She came in closer. "All I'm saying is that he doesn't have any daughters, if you were thinking of getting yourself a girlfriend," Ymir pointed out and hugged him from behind, with her chin resting above his forehead. Az looked up at her mesmerising green eyes. She then leaned closer to his ear. "And it's not like we don't already have each other to suffice those needs." she added in a whisper.
"Ymir..." he trailed off in slight admonishment, then sighed with disappointment and concern.
"What? I'm trying to cheer you up!" she replied, but he remained contemplative.
"Don't you worry we are getting more and more entangled in this mess?" Az asked.
"What do you suggest we do?" Ymir asked back, in a very regal tone.
"We could just run away," he suggested.
"But you always run away," she pointed out. "That's your answer for everything." she added. Ymir sighed and thought for a second. "And it's not like we can go home," she reminded him. "I'm a banished princess and you are my banished knight. If that's the life we were given why can't we just live it?!" she questioned while heavily expiring.
"I guess we are stuck here, like she said," Az reminded himself out loud. 'And will die here,' he thought.
"Like who said?" Ymir questioned him.
"Oh, no one important." Az replied.
.
- Year 841 - Shiganshina
The two boys played around the streets of Shiganshina. Throwing rocks at the river, running, climbing trees and talking. Dreaming. The two very small friends dreamed of freedom and of mystery. They dreamt of one day learning what laid beyond those giant Walls.
"And then, once the machine gets enough thrust it will hover up in the sky," Armin said with wonder, looking up the clouds. "So then-"
Eren continued his thought: "We're gonna fly up the Wall! Fly out of here."
"Yes, we will fly out of here," Armin confirmed.
"Together," Eren said, "together," Armin repeated. They promised each other.
They were playing like they were air machines themselves, jumping out of tree branches into piles of dry leaves. The two friends were having much fun until they saw the other boys in the distance, they were bigger and a little threatening, quite the bullies.
"Maybe I should go home," Armin said. He was carrying a couple of new books around with him; that his parents had just given him. And he didn't want to risk those boys throwing his books in the mud, or tearing them apart, like they had done before.
"Why? Are you scared of those idiots?" Eren asked, about the boys coming in the distance.
"Yes. But also, I'm going out to the field with mum and dad today. And I don't want to be late, or they could leave without me," Armin justified his fear.
"Again? I thought we were going to play at my house today," Eren complained.
Armin was a little conflicted, he really wanted to go see and help his parents work on the air machine, but he had made plans with Eren as well. "Okay then, I guess I can always go see their machines next time."
"Good then. So we can stay here a little longer, maybe even until nightfall!" Eren replied, excitedly.
"Eren, I'd rather go home. We can play there, or maybe somewhere else close to the river!" Armin suggested.
"Are you really that scared of them? I'm here, you know I can handle it," Eren replied, crossing his arms.
"You can never handle it, and we just end up as more work for Dr. Yeager," Armin reminded him. "I'm really not in a mood to talk to those brainless fools," he added.
"Don't be a sissy," Eren complained and annoyedly sighed. "You need to understand that we can't solve things in life just by talking the problem away. Some people need punches to really get the message across." Eren said while bumping his own fists, the six-year-old enjoyed a fight. "You need to learn to throw a few swings," he added, punching the air a few times.
"I don't like fights," Armin replied. "I see no point in it."
"Well, you better find someone to throw your punches for you then. I can't be around all the time to send those bullies running," Eren said, with a bit of a gloat in his tone.
Armin stared at the waters, contemplative. He looked down at his brand-new books. "We should go home before they notice us, I don't want them to tear my books around," he pleaded to his friend.
"So you're not up for some philosophical debate with those brainless morons?" Eren joked.
"Not today," Armin replied, smiling, he held his books closer.
Eren sighed, he was hoping for some action, but he agreed. "Okay then, let's go home."
The two small boys ran together through the riverside, crossing the plaza and the market so they could finally get to their shortcut and walk more peacefully into their neighbourhood.
..
"Incredible! It's such meticulous work," doctor Yeager commented. Mr. Arlert had taken some time to help him fix the wall clock.
"It's nothing really," Ode replied through his magnifying monocle. "All clocks, watches, they're all the same mechanisms. Just different sizes. And I'd say operating metal and oil is not as impressive as operating flesh, doctor."
"Well, I can tell you engineering has always been somewhat of a mystery for me personally," the doctor confessed.
"There you go. All done," Ode had fixed the clock. "It should work properly now. Just don't forget to wind it up from time to time," he advised.
"How much?" Grisha asked.
"Nonsense," Ode replied while cleaning his hands with a cloth. "You patching up that boy for me every time is more than enough!" he added as they watched from the window the small boys coming in the distance. Mr. Arlert sighed. "I don't understand how he keeps getting himself into trouble."
"They're just boys, it's only natural," Grisha replied.
"Not for me," Ode smiled.
"Were you a timid child?" the doctor asked and he nodded. "I quite understand, I was a timid child myself. Eren seems to be the complete opposite of me but it still seems difficult for him to make friends." Grisha said of his son.
"I never bothered to make friends myself. And so my father would give me books, so they could be my friends," Ode told him.
"Which is admirable, also quite educational," Grisha commented.
"And he seems to do that for Armin as well, he is probably worried the boy might get too lonely but he and Eren have become good friends," Ode told the doctor.
"It's true," Grisha concurred.
"And what about you? If you don't mind me asking. Were scalpels your closest friends?" Mr. Arlert asked.
Grisha laughed. "Yes, I wasn't very good at making friends either, but I had my sister. We were inseparable," he said smiling.
"Oh, you never told me about her. Does she live somewhere near?" Ode asked.
Doctor Yeager became more reflective, he looked down. "She died when we were still quite young, unfortunately. But before that we were very happy. We had a great childhood."
"I'm sorry to hear it, and glad to know you had time to make good memories." Ode gave his condolences.
"I closed myself off after that, so I'm glad that one is finally making friends," Grisha said, pointing at Eren out in the garden.
..
"It's okay if you want to stay to play with Eren instead," Armin's mother held his chin and told him very softly. They were in the Yeager house's front garden, discussing plans.
"Are you going again tomorrow?" the seven-year-old boy asked his mother.
"Not tomorrow, no." Valeria replied. "We only have to go today to see about a few things," she added, vaguely.
Armin looked down, a bit disappointed.
His mother smiled. "But there's always the next week, and the week after that," she proposed to him. "Don't worry about it, we will fly soon! We are almost there," Valeria whispered in her son's ear. Armin looked up with bright eyes, full of excitement.
There was no point in whispering, really. Carla Yeager was too busy focusing on cleaning Eren's face, she'd always complain how she couldn't understand how easy it was for Eren to get that amount of dirt in his face. But she did remember her good friend was going to the fields outside of Shiganshina that day.
Carla turned to ask Valeria for a favour and Eren took the moment to massage his poor, reddish cheeks.
"Oh, that's right. You're going out to the fields today," Carla commented.
"Yes!" Valeria confirmed.
"Could you get me some camellias from the florist down the road? I've been meaning to get some, but I can never find the time to leave town," Carla asked her friend.
"Of course!" Valeria agreed. "We won't take long there today so I can bring them to you tonight, when I come to pick up this little man," she replied while holding Armin and messing up his hair.
"So you are staying?" Eren asked, jumping and Armin nodded, ready to run and meet his friend.
"Wait. Where's my kiss?" Armin's mother asked while still holding his hand, she pulled him closer and the small boy kissed her on the cheek. "See you tonight, my angel." Valeria told her son, while staring at him with those bright yellow eyes.
"We will see you tonight, son." Ode added, coming over and patting Armin on the shoulder.
The Arlerts left, waving at the Yeager house from the distance. The boys and the Yeager couple waved back. Eren and Armin immediately started to run around the house and the small garden, playing hide-and-seek.
The doctor was also getting ready to leave the house, to follow up with some consultations. Before he could walk out the front gate, he noticed a shadow of a man in the nearest alleyway. So he decided to quickly investigate.
There was a man there, on the side of the alleyway. He was leaning against the wall of a house, calmly smoking a cigar.
Dr. Yeager walked in closer, observing the stranger. "You know, that is very bad for your health," the doctor warned. The man gave him a look of disdain. "I'm a doctor. I should kn-" Grisha continued but was interrupted by the man.
"I didn't ask you," Kenny replied, giving the cigar another puff as he walked away.
- Year 841 - The mountains beyond the fields of Wall Maria
The morning was bright but cloudy on that side of the mountain and the wind was softly shaking the leaves and the grass. Cillian was preparing his hunting gear when he saw that familiar figure coming in the distance.
He looked back at his rifle for a moment but thought it was best to greet that man unarmed.
The middle-aged fella was doing his best to look dapper with his hat and his coat, galloping that tired horse. He had been riding for a while in those Wall Maria fields. He brought the horse to a halt and took a much needed deep breath. Cillian came over to greet him.
"Kenneth! H-How did you even find me?!" he asked his older brother, baffled. They hadn't seen each other in over two decades.
"It wasn't easy finding this shithole you hide yourself in, let me tell you," Kenny complained while coming down from his horse. "It's been far too long, Key," he took his little brother's hand to shake.
Cillian smiled. Still a little dazed by the sudden surprise. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? We haven't written to each other in so long!"
"It was kind of last minute," Kenneth vaguely said. "Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked.
"S-Sure," Cillian stuttered. He wasn't sure if this was the best idea, but he still walked the rest of the field with his eldest brother and welcomed him into his home.
Kimiko watched it all from behind the window curtains. With a wary look on her face. The two brothers arrived at the house and Cillian opened the door, very nervously but doing his best to make this whole situation less awkward if he could.
"This is my wife Kimiko," he introduced her to Kenny. "Honey, I'm sure you recognise my eldest brother," Cillian smiled charmingly, trying to break the ice. He turned to Kenneth and explained. "We have those portraits here, of the four of us, I kept them."
"Oh, I was wondering where that was! It was quite expensive," Kenny said with a laugh and turned to the lady. "How do you do ma'am? I'm sure I looked better when I was in my twenties." He removed his hat and gave her a smile full of teeth.
The Azumabito woman greeted him with a small bow.
"Please, come in," Cillian said after a minute of awkward silence. "You had a long journey to get to here."
"I sure did," Kenny replied, unceremoniously sitting on the largest chair, without being conceded to.
"Yes, you live in Wall Sina, is that correct? That is where my Cillian's family is from if I recall," Kimiko asked, awkwardly sitting too.
"I'm anywhere my job requires me, actually," Kenny replied while putting his dirty boots on top of the table and stretching his arms up and behind his neck.
..
The six-year-old was sleeping in her small bed, in her small room as the noise of her parents talking to that loud man in the other room started to slowly bring her back into consciousness. Mikasa could hear her mother, her father and a voice similar to her father's but older and raspier.
..
"We don't have to talk about your 'job' here," Cillian interrupted him.
"Don't worry about it, Key, I've changed careers. I'm a new man," Kenneth replied with a smile full of teeth. He took the glass of water his brother offered him. "I 'work' for the good guys now." he explained to his sister-in-law, and then gulped the water in. "So, are you some kind of Asian Princess or something?" he unceremoniously asked and Key gave him a stern stare.
"What? Am I being impolite here, Mrs. Ackermann?" Kenny asked Kimiko a little theatrically then tilted his head to see the small creature slowly pacing towards them, coming from the corridor. "Oh, would you look at that?! Come here, doll," he called for the little girl as she hid behind some furniture, waiting for her parents' affirmation.
"Oh, she must've woken up with the noise," Kimiko awkwardly commented as her husband went to take the girl in his arms.
"Good morning, baby girl. Did you sleep well?" Key said and gave his daughter a kiss on her forehead. He took the girl in his arms and Mikasa hid her face in her father's shirt.
"She looks very foreign. Now I understand why you decided to hide in the middle of nowhere," Kenny commented and crossed his arms.
"It's okay, that's just your uncle," Cillian tried to appease the girl, she was very scared of that loud and menacing looking stranger.
"What's wrong, baby girl? Aren't you gonna give your uncle a kiss?" Kenny jokingly said and opened up his arms. "Mikasa isn't it?" he asked.
"How did you know?" Kimiko asked.
"I still have that letter you sent me," Kenneth told his brother.
"What letter?" Kimiko turned to ask her husband.
"I sent my siblings letters when Mikasa was born. I thought it was time to leave the past behind and finally reach out." Key awkwardly explained. "But I thought they weren't delivered since I got no replies. If you received yours perhaps Kuchel received hers as well. Have you heard from her?" he asked, very interested, while finally sitting down with his baby girl on his lap.
"Mikasa." Kenny said. "The name, what does it mean?" he asked Kimiko, changing the subject.
"Burning mountain," Kimiko replied.
"Your mountains sure were burning when you had her!" Kenny joked and laughed out loud. His brother gave him a look of disapproval. "What? It's just some harmless fun, boy," Kenny said.
"Don't call me boy," Cillian replied, firmly.
"You will always be a boy to me, Key. My boy." His brother replied sternly. Kenny turned to Kimiko and sighed. He continued: "When our mother died Key was three years old. And our baby brother, well, he was a baby. Our sister was nine and I was barely a teenager. Did he ever tell you this?" Kenny asked her. "Dad left, that drunken bastard, he could never keep a job. Grandpa was around and he pitied us, but the old man could barely support himself. So I had to work and take care of them, of all my siblings," he said, very reflectively. "Our baby brother, he was sick. He was born sick-"
"I think that's enough." Cillian interrupted him, putting an end to the story.
Kenny sighed. He looked at Mikasa more softly and extended his hand for her to come near. Key let her down and the small girl took a few steps towards her uncle. Kenneth took her small hand to hold. "I brought you a gift," he said. He removed an ornate box from under his coat and gave it to the girl.
Mikasa opened it and saw the beautiful dagger inside. "It's for you, little one," Kenny told the girl.
"You are not giving my six-year-old child a knife." Kimiko reprimanded him. She stood up and closed the box, she took it from Mikasa's hand and gave it to Cillian while holding the girl in her arms.
"That is a dagger, not a knife," Kenny complained while standing up as well. "Doesn't your wife know anything about armoury?" he asked his brother.
"Take care," Kimiko harshly said her goodbyes as she took the small girl into the corridor, she entered Mikasa's room and closed the door.
Cillian sighed, he gave the box back to his brother and gestured to the door.
"Can you please track Kuchel down? I need to hear from her, it's been far too long," Key made a final request.
Kenny became more reflective. "If I did, do you think she would talk to me?" he asked softly, thinking of the past and of all the things he couldn't say to the deceased.
"We are all getting too old. I think she moved past it." Cillian replied, having no idea his sister had 'passed on' rather than 'passed it'.
"And you? Have you moved past it?" Kenny asked.
"She is better than you and me," Cillian sighed. "I-I don't know if I have," he replied, uncertain.
Kenny took his hat to leave. "I'll track her down, make sure she's safe," he said with certainty, lying of course.
"Like you made sure Collin was safe?" Cillian asked defiantly, he didn't have to think about it, it was just the natural response.
"Clearly, you can't move past it." Kenneth replied. "I think it's time for me to leave," he said, walking out of the door.
Kimiko joined her husband as he watched the lonely middle-aged man slowly walk out in the fields, to meet his horse and gallop away.
"Why would you allow that man to come to our house? You know he's a crook!" Kimiko scolded him.
"I didn't know he was coming, we haven't spoken in years!" Cillian replied.
"You sent him a letter! Why would you do that after all the trouble we had to finally find a safe place to live?!" Kimiko questioned her husband. "You gave him our address!"
"That was when Mikasa was born and he didn't even reply and neither did my sister so I thought they'd never even received it." Cillian tried to justify himself.
"Why do you think he showed up now? It's a long way from Wall Sina to here," Kimiko asked, she was curious about the crooked man's intentions.
Cillian sighed and thought about it as he watched his brother go. "He is getting older, we both are. I was still a teenager when we last saw one another. It's been so long, maybe he is trying to reconnect," the younger Ackermann considered. "Maybe he feels lonely."
"Do you want to reconnect?" Kimiko asked, dubiously crossing her arms.
"I don't know how to feel," he confessed. "I honestly wished I wouldn't care."
"But?" his wife asked, considering his expression of uncertainty.
"But he is my family," Cillian reminded her.
"Well, my entire family is dead, so I apologise if I can't share this sentiment with you," Kimiko sternly replied and walked back into their home.
The small girl was watching it all through her bedroom window. Mikasa watched as that strange man walked away in the field to meet his horse. She watched as he rode away, wondering if she would ever see him again. And she kept the memory.
.
- Year 870 - Hizuru - The Azumabito House
"I thought I heard you come in," Sunny said softly but excitedly to the figure she could vaguely see in the darkness. She walked out to the Balcony to greet him.
"You heard me or you sensed me?" Azzy joked. Sunny smiled, she walked closer and sat beside her brother.
"You look tall," he noted.
"And you look the same," she noted back as she evaluated her brother's figure, under the stars and the moonlight in that dark evening. It felt like the day when he left. "Are you still fifteen?" Sunny asked.
"Probably, but I'm not really sure," Azzy replied with his fingers passing through his hair, he sounded confused.
"How curious. Now we're the same age," she gave him a little smile and stared at his eyes.
"What?" he asked back, with a smile too.
"I wonder if I will be an old lady one day and see you again. Still looking like this, still fifteen," she said thoughtfully. "How insane that sounds," she added.
"Hopefully not. I still intend to grow up," Azzy replied.
"It's been three years," she reminded him. "Just come inside, mom needs to see you. She needs to know you are okay."
"I'm not okay. How is she?" Azzy asked.
"The same. She has been in the same mourning state since it all happened. And it didn't help that you left like that, it just made things more difficult," Sunny explained. "We barely talk anymore."
"I'm sorry," Azzy said in a small voice.
"Are you? Truly? You're so reckless sometimes," his sister replied, angrily. "She misses you too much, and father," Sunny added in a small voice.
"And how are you?" her brother asked.
"I feel completely alone in this house. It's all just boring and sad. Meaningless." Sunny let it out. "Why did you leave?" she asked.
"I thought I could save him. Maybe I was just trying to save myself," he confessed. "I don't know anymore."
"And what made you come back?" Sunny asked.
"I'm not back, not completely yet. But I will, I promise you," her brother replied.
"What does that even mean?" she asked, confused.
"I need your help," Azzy replied.
"My help?" Sunny asked again, still confused.
"To fix things," Azzy replied and Sunny looked at him puzzled.
He stood up with more energy. "All this time I was trying things my way, I was trying my best but it could never work, I knew there was something missing. And I finally realised that it was you."
"Me?" she asked.
"Yes! Last time you helped me. You were older of course, and much wiser. But still, I think you can help me now. Doing what you do, whatever it is that you do. That you did, that time," Azzy explained excitedly.
"That sounds completely insane. How am I supposed to help you if you don't even know how and if I don't remember any of that," Sunny pointed out.
"You said you would guide me. To wherever I needed to go," he smiled. "You're like my shooting star."
"Like I said, I don't remember any of that," Sunny replied.
"But I do, I remember everything." Azzy told her. "Even if you don't remember, you still trusted me when I told you this before, that day in the library," he pointed out.
Sunny looked at him sternly and slapped him in the shoulder. "So you remember THAT now?"
"It feels like it was only a couple of months ago for me, actually. So yeah, I remember it vividly," he replied while caressing his sore shoulder.
"You said you didn't remember that conversation and it was only the day after! You made me feel like crazy!" Sunny complained.
"Maybe I didn't at the time, you know how these things work. My memory usually fades and resurfaces at different times, it's part of what I am. But that doesn't matter, what matters here and now is what you are. And how you can help me." her brother explained.
"Well, I don't know how I helped you in this future you keep talking about. Was I really old?" Sunny was curious, seeing now her older brother slightly younger than her had just made her question the laws of all that madness.
"Not old. Just older than, well, than you are now. But you didn't look much different, just, you looked like a proper adult that's all," he tried to explain while scratching his head.
"So I will see you like this, when I'm older, just like I contemplated before," Sunny concluded.
"I'll be younger actually. There is something for you to look forward to," Azzy told her.
"I'll tease you," she said. "Endlessly," Sunny added.
"Of course you will," Azzy replied. "I know you will."
"So what now?" she asked.
"Last time you said you would guide me, take me where I needed to go. You just told me to concentrate on my powers," Azzy reminded himself and told his sister.
"I suppose I could have meant mentally. I could help you focus on somewhere in your mind where it's most important to you. Where perhaps you think you failed. Unfinished business. A strong memory," Sunny concluded.
"I see," Azzy said, squinting a little.
She played with his hair and head. "We just have to see where in this beautiful head your brain sparkles the most!" she joked.
"How charming," he added, sarcastically.
"That might probably work, but it's not like we tested before," Sunny joked. Azzy smiled. "Where did you end up last time?" she asked.
"I have know idea," he replied and explained further: "That is one of the things I can't remember. After all, it hasn't happened. I just woke up here in Hizuru, like it was any other day. I don't know where I ended up before that, but I know it was very important."
"And I am not important I suppose, and neither is Mother. After all you are so eager to leave us, yet again," his sister complained.
"I told you, I'll come back this time. After I fix things. Then I can face her, when she can finally be proud of me," Azzy explained.
"I think I shouldn't ask how do you intend to 'fix things', quite honestly, I'm a little frightened to know," Sunny commented.
"I don't know it yet. But it doesn't matter, you might not even remember we had this talk," her brother pointed out.
"Oh, I'll do my best to remember it all this time. Don't think you can leave me out of the loop," she joked and he smiled. Sunny looked up at the moon and at him again. "Close your eyes," she said.
She looked at her brother in front of her as her eyes shone bright yellow, Sunny felt a lot of sadness in that moment. She hugged him very close. "Goodbye," she said very softly, closing her eyes.
"I'll see you soon," Azzy replied, hugging her back. His body was emitting a bright blue light as he concentrated on his powers. That blue light confused itself with the bright yellow his sister was emitting. Making the two siblings shine a mixture of blues, yellows and greens, lighting up the entire Balcony.
And just like that, her brother was gone and Sunny stood alone again in the Balcony, staring at the moonlight.
≃2000 years ago
[Six Years after the first appearance of The Titan]
The throne room
"How dare you?" Elke barged into the throne room very angrily, followed by one of the Queen's maids. Her father, the King, was listening to some of his advisers. "How could you lay with that whore?!" Elke questioned him and Fritz calmly gestured for all the men to leave the room. "Disgusting," she added to her complaint as her father's advisers left the throne room.
"Tell him what you told me," Elke ordered the maid, the poor woman looked very nervous. "Come on! Are you a mute?" the princess insisted with much annoyance.
"She's late, Sir, the que-" the maid stopped midway through that word and quickly, and nervously tried to rephrase herself. Neither the princess nor her brothers, the princes would accept the 'wench' being called 'queen' in front of them. The poor maid feared for her head as she looked for better words. "It's been over three months since we cannot find blood stains when we collect and change her sheets, Sir."
The maid spoke and Elke looked at her father, confronting him. Fritz looked to the side, with his head held by his fist, calculating.
"You can go now," she told the maid. "Out!" The princess added, pointing firmly at the door and rolling her eyes.
"Elke, my dear-" her father said.
Elke interrupted him: "Don't even start. Don't you have any decency left? No shame?"
"Sweet daughter of mine, do you really think I would lay with that dirty wench? She's not even human," Fritz told the princess. "And not even then she is of my taste," he added.
"Then how do you explain-" Elke started to ask.
"Call your brothers, my dear," Fritz interrupted her. "We have to commemorate."
"Commemorate?" she asked.
"It worked." Fritz said with an evil grin. "We are getting ourselves some little monsters."
The battlefield
The Eldian Kingdom was expanding fast and gaining more and more of the Marlean territory each day. The battles against Marley were far too common at this point, and the Eldian Army could now stand on its own without the Titan for most of it. The Marleans tried to combat this new and ever-growing enemy in any forms they could. They now had brought bigger animals to the battlefield, bigger than horses. The wild animals were brought from afar, and were being used to take out as much of the Eldian Army as they could. The Marleans had found some monsters for themselves, even if much smaller than the Eldian Titan, still beasts in their own right.
Azymondeus was fighting easily and with customary style when he saw a herd of those exotic animals flocking towards Ludvík. The fear came to him instantly, he knew that man was about to die. He didn't hesitate for a moment, it was like instinct. Without thought he jumped to save the man, he quickly held him and jumped again with the Ackermann, to take him to safety. Luckily, because of the commotion those animals were making in the middle of the battle, no one noticed the inexplicable event that had just occurred. And how the General in peril had just disappeared into thin air.
Lud and Az reappeared again, much higher, they were on the side of the mountain near the battlefield. And they could see the battle happening far below the mountain. Ludvík immediately started to throw up, he was feeling extremely dizzy and confused. "What- What just happened?" he asked the young soldier.
"It's okay, we are safe now," Az told him while looking down below, watching the battle.
"Your arm," Ludvík pointed with his sword.
Az looked down, he hadn't even noticed, most of his right arm was gone. And what was left was bleeding intensely.
"I'm so sorry," Lud said as the young man tried to stop the bleeding. Az was very silent. "How did it even happen? How did we get up here?" the general questioned.
"I guess I wasn't careful," Az said as the insides of his arm started to glow in regeneration. He sighed, he definitely had been very careless with it all. He tried to cover the arm over with some fabric but Lud quickly came to inspect the otherworldly blue light.
"It's like sorcery," he said, looking close to the severed arm. "How did you bring us up the mountain? Was it sorcery too?" he asked, spellbound.
"I wouldn't call it that, but perhaps," Az replied, holding his shoulder and slowly walking to sit on a small rock. Feeling miserable about this stupid mistake. In an instinctive urge to save a friend, no, family, he ended up jeopardising his own existence in that world. Now someone he couldn't completely trust knew his secret.
"You and her," Lud said smiling, "you are the children from the woods!" He continued as the young soldier held his shoulder very reflectively. "No one in the village knows where you two came from, and everyone bets different things!" Lud told the young soldier, curiously. "Can you turn into a monster like her?" Lud asked.
Azzy smiled. "No, definitely not, that's Ymir's thing."
"But you can heal like her," Lud pointed out.
"Ymir can control her healing and I can't." Azzy explained. "In a situation like this, she could prevent herself from healing and not be exposed. Which I clearly am not able to." He said, showing his slowly regenerating arm.
Lud looked again, examining it. "Fascinating. This blue thing, is that what you're made of?" he asked, pointing at Az's visible insides.
"No, that's just this energy that sustains my-" Az tried to explain but the man looked confused. "Yes, I guess you can say I am built out of that."
"And you can just regrow yourself completely?" the man continued to ask, very curiously.
"It just grows back again, wherever is hurt," Az explained.
"What if we cut your head?" Lud asked. Az shrugged with uncertainty. "We could try and see what happens," Lud suggested as a joke and Azzy laughed. "What about one of those fingers," he jokingly suggested again, pointing at the arm that wasn't currently regrowing, of course.
"It would still hurt," Az pointed out, complaining.
"Nonsense, boy," Lud said. He held his hand up, it contained only three fingers. "I lost those two years ago, and I didn't even notice when it happened." he told the young soldier.
Az smiled, still a little contemplative. He regretted saving the man and exposing himself, but he did enjoy that moment and that talk. Ludvík put his hand down. "You know I was teasing you, of course," he said and Azzy nodded, smiling. "Good. I want you to be sure that you don't have to worry about me. I can keep this secret. And I'll protect you." the Ackermann promised.
"Protect me?" Azzy asked.
"If any of those sorcerers and witches out there ever captured you, they would run all sorts of experiments," the more experienced man explained to him. "I gather this should be your worst nightmare," Lud concluded.
"I actually never thought of it before," Az disclosed.
"The gift of healing, of immortality, they would do horrible things to try to understand it, to harness it. You should be more careful of all that," Lud advised.
"I will. Thank you," he replied earnestly.
"We need to get back out there," Lud said, looking at the battle down below.
"You can go ahead without me. I still need to wait," Az said, pointing at his regenerating arm. He had to wait for it to regrow completely, so not to raise suspicions.
"I shall wait with you," Lud replied, jamming his sword on the ground.
Azzy stared at the sword, contemplative.
"Do you like it?" Lud asked, pulling up the sword again. He vainly looked at himself in the reflection of the blade. "This one is new, I got it brought to me straight from Hizuru-" he said and Azzy opened up his eyes wide as Lud was speaking. "It's a legitimate Azumabito, the very best."
"Of course it is. Lucky me," Azzy mumbled under his breath as he tried his best to hide the haunting expression from his face.
"Have you seen such a magnificent weapon before?" Lud asked, swinging his sword around with much dexterity.
"I was raised there, in Hizuru," Az thought there was no harm in commenting on it, or perhaps he had lost too much blood and his judgement was impaired.
"You?" Lud asked, unconvinced. "But it's so far, and you are certainly not hizurian."
"My grandmother was, that's why we moved there," Az explained. "I have some great memories of my childhood there, with my sister," he added, smiling.
Lud opened up his eyes wide and came in closer, a little nervously. "You two are siblings?" he asked in a lower voice, sounding very concerned.
"No, I'm not talking about Ymir," he replied sternly. "Ew. Why would you even say that?" Azzy complained, shaking himself with disgust.
"That's a relief," Lud said, smiling. "One never knows how these kinds of things are for your kind," he added.
"Do you really think we're from another planet?" He asked and Lud pointed at his glowing arm again.
"No one knows you're the same boy from the woods. I clearly just made the connection now," Lud explained.
"They keep saying that about Ymir-" Az commented.
"So you two are from the same place," the old Ackermann confirmed.
Azzy decided to divulge. "I was born on an island and so was she."
"In this planet?" Lud joked, but he still had his doubts.
"It's actually somewhere close to Hizuru, but not very close," Azzy explained, scratching his head. "And it's not like the maps in this time help," he mumbled.
"What?" Ludvík asked.
"I mean I don't think I can properly place it in one of our maps," Az explained more clearly.
"Well, that doesn't help your case," Lud joked.
"Do you really think I'm from outer space?" Azzy asked, baffled.
"Or from inside the earth, some of the villagers used to bet on that too, about the children in the woods," Lud told him.
"Where do they get that from?" Azzy complained, annoyed but still curious to know.
"It actually makes sense," Lud decided to explain. "There were these rocks some miners found once, they would glow a strange light. Just like that," he pointed at Azzy's regrowing arm. The young man looked down and sighed.
"What about your parents?" Lud asked.
"What about them?" Az asked back.
"You said you were born on some island, I'm assuming you were born from other people, like humans are," Lud explained.
"I am human," Azzy said.
"Sure," he replied, unconvinced. "How were your parents? Were they Titans?" Lud asked. He was referring to the godlike creatures the marleans worshipped and that were the source of their mythology.
"My parents were humans, well, they were a little different. But they were nothing like me," Azymondeus divulged.
"Then how come you were born like you were?" Ludvík questioned him.
Azzy sighed. "Do you believe in curses?" he asked. "I was born cursed, at least that was what it always felt like," the young man confessed. Az then looked contemplative to the lavish sword. Remembering Hizuru and his childhood. Thinking of the memories he had of him and Sunny running around their Azumabito home and all those old relic swords on display around the house. Similar to that one sword Ludvík had in his hand, but in a state of complete ancient decay.
Azymondeus longed for his home, he couldn't believe he was so far into the past. Trapped in that ancient era, he yearned for his sister and his mother. But he knew he would never see them again.
"Do you want to go for a few rounds?" Lud asked, trying to cheer up the poor foreigner. For some reason he felt close to the boy, like he was his own son. Ludvík raised up his weapon and smiled at him.
Azzy smiled and took out his own sword, with the only hand he had at the moment. "I don't need some special, asian sword to beat you," he challenged the elder Ackermann.
Lud smiled and they fought for a quick moment, as the real battle happened below the mountain. Azymondeus had only one working arm to defend himself from the lunges and for attacking. Even with all that, it took some time for the elder Ackermann to take him down. Lud was having a little trouble disarming the one-armed man, but he was eventually successful.
"It's impressive, you fight very well, even with only one hand," Lud congratulated the young man's resilience.
"You were holding back on me," Az commented, reaching out for his banged up sword on the ground.
"I was," Lud confirmed. "But still, you must've had a great teacher, in Hizuru."
Azzy smiled. "He was very strict, and a perfectionist. I hated him for most of it," he reminisced, putting his sword back in his scabbard. "He could be a devil, but I miss him. I miss him a lot!" he confessed. "He taught me everything I know! He made me who I am, my uncle."
"That's nice to hear," Lud replied. "Are you going to keep that banged up thing?" he asked, about the sword. Azzy looked down.
Lud thought for a moment, he took out the sword from his second scabbard and offered it to him. It was his old sword, and second best. He kept it as a spare but saw no harm to pass it down now. "I like you." he confessed after offering Azzy the sword.
Azzy smiled charmingly and reached out to grab it, with his now completely regenerated arm. "Thank you," he said, admiring the sword. "Are you sure you don't want to give it to one of your sons?" he asked.
"They are far too old. And they don't care or see me in the same way as before, when they were young, like you," the father explained.
"Well, in that case, thank you. I'll make good use of it," he said as he replaced his old sword with this new gifted one. "And did you really just say you like me?" Azzy asked, smiling.
Lud smiled. "Now tell anyone that I said that and I will kill you," the Ackermann warned.
"You can't kill me," Azzy gloated.
"Don't you know me by now, boy? I will find a way." Lud joked, and held him around the shoulder. They walked down the hill together, back to the battle.
-.-
- Year 841 - The mountains beyond the fields of Wall Maria
The small boy stared at the great Wall and at the scorching apparatus burning near them.
"There are no marks," Armin pointed out. The small sever-year-old looked up at the old Military Policemen and continued: "There should be marks on the Wall, if like you said, the air machine really crashed into it." the clever boy pointed out very seriously, he was sure he was right about that. "It should have left more of an impact."
The MPs laughed. "Do you think your father's stupid machine would make a dent in our sacred Wall?!" One of the MPs commented.
Doctor Yeager held the small boy's hand. He was in shock seeing all those flames, he hadn't expected that. "Wait here, your grandfather must be somewhere in this crowd," the doctor left the small boy in the sidelines, closer to those MPs, so Armin wouldn't see the true horrors of that fire. Grisha made his way across the curious people from the mountains who had gathered to see the spectacle in flames. He finally made it to the front and found grandpa Arlert just staring at it, in complete shock.
Grisha stopped and observed the flames beside the old man. Most of their friends from the Garrison and some local hunters were doing their very best to bring water from the distant river to try to contain the blaze. "Hannes," he called up his friend. The Garrison man then approached him. "Doctor, I'm glad you came to help," Hannes said, and came ever nearer to say it in a small voice: "But from what we can see inside that machine, we are past your kind of help," he explained.
"I know," Grisha replied, saddened. "How long has it been burning?" he asked.
"A few hours, it appears the MPs found it. Those idiots," Hannes complained. "They don't even help, just stand there with arms crossed, telling us they need to 'investigate this further', what a bunch of lazy jackasses."
"I was afraid this would happen," grandpa Arlert said in a small, broken voice.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Arlert," Hannes replied. "We all are, truly."
"Why are you having trouble putting the fire out?" The doctor asked.
Hannes scratched his head. "I think there's some kind of oil in there, and the water source is too far away," he explained. "At this rate we won't recover much," Hannes added, again in a small tone, close to the doctor's ear. The Garrison soldier was afraid there wouldn't even be proper corpses for burial at this point, if the fire couldn't be put out.
Grisha thought about it. "We need to use something to inhibit the contact with oxygen," he said.
"What?" Hannes asked, confused.
"We need to kill the fire, perhaps with cloths or- or sand," the doctor was thinking. "Do you have a shovel? If we throw the dirt around it over the fire it will probably work."
"Wouldn't that make more of a mess?" Hannes pointed out.
"But it will work." Grisha replied.
..
The MPs didn't even notice but Armin started to walk away, the poor boy was dazed, walking aimlessly near the dark woods.
"What are you doing around here, little one?" Cillian asked, approaching the lost boy. He put down the game from his shoulders and kneeled to stand at the boy's height. "Where are your parents?" he asked with a charming smile.
Armin pointed at the thing in flames in the distance, with a small tear coming out of his left eye. And Cillian understood and sighed. He stood up and took the boy by the hand, he also took the game with his other hand and put them up over his shoulder again, together with his hunting rifle. Armin stared at the dead animals, feeling a little scared. "Don't worry, it's just food, it can't hurt ya," Cillian appeased the boy.
..
The Garrison soldiers were doing their best to stop the flames, they used buckets and shovels, anything they could find to carry grains and dirt to kill the fire and it was finally working.
"I suppose there's no chance my son or his wife are alive in there," Mr. Arlert finally asked the doctor.
Grisha sighed. "No, I'm afraid not. We can feel from here how hot these flames are," he explained. "If there's any consolation, I believe they lost consciousness with smoke inhalation relatively early into the fire, and passed from that. Asphyxiated rather than burned," the doctor tried to appease the old man, about the poor souls who were burned alive.
"Does that mean they suffered less?" Grandpa Arlert asked.
"Let's not think about it," Grisha replied.
The old man shed a small tear. "It's all my father's fault, you know?" he let it out. "My old man was obsessed with the outside. He was sure he was going to get out of the Walls one way or another. Ode grew up with those stories he would tell, I should have stopped this before things got too far," the older Armin Arlert confessed.
"Don't blame yourself," Grisha advised.
..
"Is it this one?" Cillian asked, about the carriage the small boy had previously pointed at.
"Yes," Armin confirmed.
"But it's empty, there's no one here," the Ackermann pointed out.
"The doctor must've gone looking for my grandfather, somewhere in this crowd." Armin explained. "He probably doesn't want me to get very close," he added.
"Well, he shouldn't have left you with those lazy MPs. Let's go find them, shall we?" Cillian offered his hand again. "I'm sure you want to see your grandfather now more than anything," he added and the boy nodded. Armin was very contemplative.
..
"Doctor Yeager!" Cillian shouted in the distance and Grisha waved back at him.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought him," the doctor tried to explain to the grandfather. "But I had no idea the situation was as bad as this when they told me to come."
"How am I supposed to raise that boy?" Grandpa Armin asked himself, sounding desperate.
"We will help you," Grisha replied. "He is a sweet kid and he and Eren have a great bond."
"Then can you please take him home, away from all this?" the old man pleaded.
"Of course!" Grisha replied. "He can stay with us for as long as you need," he looked around the accident scene. "For as long as you need to handle all this."
The doctor left the closeness of the flames to meet with the hunter and the small grief-stricken boy.
"Doctor! I hope I can say I'm glad to see you, of course, I wish it would be in better circumstances," Cillian greeted him.
Grisha gave him a half-smile. "How is Kimiko? And your girl?" he asked.
"They are fine, and I'm sure going to hug them when I arrive back home after this," Key replied.
"And what about this one?" Grisha asked. Armin just stared at both men and at the commotion in the distance.
"Oh, he was wandering next to the woods when I found him, quite lost," the Ackermann explained.
Grisha kneeled down, to look at the boy closely. "I'm sorry about all this. I already talked with your grandfather, you can stay with us for the time being," the doctor told Armin.
He raised himself up again. "Thank you," he said to Mr. Ackermann.
..
Grandpa Arlert watched from the distance as Grisha helped the boy be seated on the back of the doctor's carriage. He was feeling great pain in that moment, and he couldn't imagine how was that small heart supposed to handle this tragedy, if even his old heart couldn't.
"They would never leave me behind," Armin told doctor Yeager. "They would never fly without me. We were going to go together, to leave the Walls!" he said with bright eyes. "And see the ocean! This great amount of water outside the Walls-"
"Yes, yes, it's beautiful. Very blue and very big!" Grisha commented carelessly, as if he had already seen it. He grabbed Armin's cheek affectionately and smiled. "Let's go home."
They left in the carriage and the small boy watched the flames and the Wall disappear in the distance and in the darkness of the night.
..
"Mr. Ackermann! Were you hunting around these parts?" Hannes greeted the man approaching the accident scene. He removed some sweat from his temple. The Garrison men were tirelessly trying to stop the flames.
"Not this close but I saw the smoke and fire in the distance and thought I should investigate further," Mr. Ackermann explained. "Are these people just watching it?" he asked.
"Most of them, yeah," Hannes replied. "I guess they like the spectacle. Nothing ever happens around these mountains, certainly nothing like this," he added while shovelling more dirt into the flaming machine. It was like the burning structure was now being buried into the Earth, in an attempt to stop the flames.
"I didn't know there were this many people around the mountains," Key pointed out. "No, no, no," he told one of the men approaching with a bucket of water. Cillian put his game and his gun down. "Don't throw water in there. Have you seen an oil fire in a kitchen? Water won't help, it just creates more steam. Do you have another shovel?" he asked Hannes.
"You can use mine," Hannes replied, giving him the shovel. "My arms already feel like they're falling off." The Garrison soldier looked around the crowd. "I guess there are a great deal of people around these mountains, they just live very far apart. But an accident like this is like an event. They gather around, those curious bastards. Did you know these people?"
"No," Key replied while grabbing a great deal of dirt to throw over the fire. "This place is very remote, I don't think anyone expected people to live here."
"They didn't live here, just made some odd experiments, from what I've gathered." Hannes replied. "Damn, you're strong!" He noted of how fast the Ackermann poured great amounts of grain over the fire. "I wished you'd gotten here sooner!"
Cillian looked up at him with a charming smile, and continued shovelling the earth around them and pouring over the wreckage. After a few minutes he stopped and took the water Hannes had offered him to drink, at that point the flames were well contained.
"What about that lot?" he asked, pointing at the MPs on the sidelines. "They won't help either."
"They are the ones who found it and reported to us. Something about being out of their jurisdiction, since it's so near the Wall. Bullshit. They just didn't want to work and put out the fire, those lazy idiots," Hannes complained.
"And do you think it was already in flames when they found it?" Key asked, he was clever.
"Come on, Key. You know I can't talk about those things." Hannes told his friend.
"Sure," the Ackermann replied, he grabbed the shovel to continue the work.
"But I can say this," Hannes added and he turned back to hear it. "I wonder if you can recognise any of their faces," Hannes said and Key looked confused. "You most definitely can't." Hannes explained. "Those MPs came from far into the Walls, they are not from Shiganshina or anywhere around Wall Maria," the Garrison soldier added in a whisper.
Cillian thought about it and went back to shovelling.
The Hangar - in mountains beyond the fields of Wall Maria
The darkened figure watched the whole commotion from the distance. He was leaning on one of the walls of that odd hangar structure. Thinking of how stupid those people were, they really thought they could fly out of the hell they all lived in. And glad of how easy it was to shut them up once and for all, it was his job after all. Kenny took out a cigar to commemorate a job well done. He lit it whilst the flames of the air machine went completely out in the distance, in complete darkness.
For a moment he felt an eeriness around him, like he could hear breaking leaves near him, but it was all very faint. When suddenly a shadow jumped on top of him and pinned him against the wall. His cigar fell to the floor.
Cillian swiftly took out the very dagger Kenneth had offered his daughter as a present earlier that morning, from under the older Ackermann's coat. And aimed at his brother's throat. "I knew you wouldn't have come here for nothing," Key said very angrily. "Why would you kill those people?" he confronted his brother.
"These people killed themselves!" Kenny laughed, he quickly disarmed Cillian, throwing the younger man out of the way and grabbing his rifle. "You've always been too slow, Key." he pointed the gun at his brother and armed it.
Key put his hands up. "Are you going to kill me too?" he asked defiantly.
"I wouldn't do that to your daughter. She and her mother need all the help they can get to survive this wretched world." Kenneth replied. He started to remove the rifle's ammunition and held the small dagger under his feet, on the ground.
"Why would you come all the way here and ruin those people's lives?" Cillian asked.
Kenny took back the dagger from the ground and placed it safely on his belt. He'd removed all the cartridge from the rifle, then threw it on the ground, near his brother. The intention was to avoid any more savagery, but both Ackermanns knew they still had their fists.
"You know how the rules are, little brother," he said more calmly now. "Those people were getting too close, they could cause trouble for all of us."
"You were never one to follow rules," Key pointed out, grabbing back his now empty rifle.
"Maybe I changed," Kenny said.
"You will never change," Cillian replied. He sighed. "Why are you working for those people?" he asked.
"I don't work for them, they work for me," Kenny replied, about the MPs.
"And who do you work for?" the younger brother asked, and Kenneth turned his head to the side. "Unbelievable. After all those murderers did to your people? To our family?! Are you really working for that soulless bastard?"
"I don't work for the King, I work for the Crown, kid," Kenny explained.
"To do their dirty job?" Cillian asked. "Like it was our family's tradition?"
"There's more to it than that," Kenny replied more softly.
"No. There is not," his brother said, defiantly. "You just enjoy power, that's all there is to it. Betraying your own kind just for the sake of a higher position like this one. 'The sword of the King'," he added in disgust. "That's how power hungry your are, you've always been hungry for killing, even innocent people."
"There's nothing innocent about those people," Kenneth retaliated.
"Why? Because they wanted to leave and found a way to do so?" Cillian asked, baffled.
Kenny looked to the side and saw the game, he decided to stir the conversation in another direction. "Is that how you satiate your hunger?" he asked. "By killing animals instead of humans?" Kenny laughed. "We both know that won't suffice. Sooner or later you'll be just like me."
"I will never kill like you do, I will never be like you are," Key protested.
"Because you have a heart?" Kenny laughed harder. "You have always been too soft, Key. Careful, you might get yourself killed if you don't toughen up a little," he warned.
"Is that a threat?" his brother asked.
"Like I would ever want your harm, you never learn," he sighed. "I'm just giving you advice, kid."
"Then let me give you an advice. No, a warning: Next time you come down here to do Rod's dirty work, and think of visiting my house unannounced, don't. Because I will shoot you on sight. And I will shoot to kill," Cillian warned his brother.
"Cillian-" Kenny said, trying to interrupt.
"I don't kill the innocent," his younger brother continued. "But I don't mind killing monsters," he said and turned to leave.
"Cillian! Cillian!" Kenny shouted in the distance, but his brother just walked down the hill, ignoring him. He left Kenneth there, on his own, to watch the sunrise in all that wreckage.
..
"Is this really necessary?" Grandpa Armin asked. It was early morning, only a few hours since the fire had been put out and the MPs were making a mess, searching around the hangar.
They were taking all of the documents, plans, anything they could find and throwing it all in one messy pile, to be destroyed. While others brought back what was left of the air machine to be hidden back in the hangar. The scorched corpses had already been removed and sent back to Shiganshina, of course.
"We need to confiscate everything here," one of the higher MPs explained. "It's too dangerous. This is what got your son killed, Mr. Arlert. We must prevent others from finding this and falling in the same mistake." Sannes told the old man. "But you can keep that junk," another MP added, pointing at the scorched plane. The metal was still hot from the flames as the MPs covered it with a white sheet.
"All of this activity, all that your son was doing is very much illegal, Mr. Arlert," Sannes continued, very politically. "I hope there are no hard feelings. We are acting here under the orders of the King."
"Which King? Your king is not even real," Grandpa Armin mumbled under his breath.
"This place is quite big. You can always sell this empty barn, or keep the memories. Not that a land far out in Wall Maria is worth anything," one of the MPs joked.
Grandpa Arlert wasn't paying attention. He was observing Sannes, the MP who was just talking to him, walk outside to talk to that mysterious man in a trench coat and a hat. It was like the man was giving him orders.
"It looks like the boss is gonna tell us to burn all this paperwork away," one of the MPs commented to the other. "No offence," he said to Mr. Arlert.
On the other side of the mountains
"Where have you been all night? I was worried sick!" Kimiko asked, very worriedly as her husband finally arrived home. She noticed Cillian was covered in cinder.
"Have you ever seen someone burn until all that was left was charcoal?" he asked, heartbroken.
The man took his daughter in his arms and kissed her on the forehead. Cillian hugged his small girl and his wife, like it would never end. He could hold them forever.
..
Grandfather Armin finally arrived at his house, to see his small grandson very apathetic. The younger Armin was sitting at their old wooden table, looking out of the window. As if he was waiting for that air machine to come home, and for his parents to be safe. His grandfather sighed, and the young boy stared at him with emotionless blue eyes, watching as the old man sat at the table in front of him.
"You know, my father, he was incredibly clever. He talked about escaping these Walls," the old man wondered, looking through the window. "Flying like birds in the sky, he'd say. And when he passed, my son, your father, took over the old man's research. I thought it was because of the grief, as a way to connect with his grandfather. To dream the dream he had died without reaching," the old man held the seven-year-old's hand to make sure the boy was paying attention. Armin's eyes were focused on the clouds, but he was listening. The grandfather continued: "I even gave the boy my father's name, so in a way I think I started this," he laughed a little. "I knew how dangerous it was but I let him live in that dream, and I regret that now," he sighed.
"But, my boy, there's no point in me trying to think of what could have been, trying to dream of something different. Your father and your mother were taken from us way before their time. As old as I am now, it feels wrong of me to still be here, and have to bury such young, adventurous souls," he confessed with much sadness. "But we can't argue with fate, we can just live with it. And hope that in time we can grow and become stronger and rise above all this grief. Because I know they would want you to be stronger." the grandfather advised and continued: "So keep the good memories we all had and be strong, my boy. Whenever you feel this sadness coming again, just remember them how they were, how happy they were and how they will always be in here," he pointed at the boy's head. "In your memories."
The small seven-year-old absorbed every single word of that speech. Armin stood up from the chair and jumped over to hug his grandfather, who hugged him back very firmly and fondly. The small boy finally allowed himself to cry, after three long days.
.
- Year 844 - Shiganshina, at the riverside, near the Yeager house
It was nightfall and the two friends had been playing together all day. And in their race back home, Eren had become distracted and he and his best friend got lost from one another.
"Eren! Eren! Eren!" Armin shouted around the streets when he saw a shadow of a figure. A very small shadowy figure, sitting near the river. The little girl had her head down, she stared at her reflection and at the moon's reflection over the river.
Armin came in closer, very curiously. He hadn't seen the girl's face before, she'd arrived at the Yeager residence only a few days prior and he had only seen her in the distance. Armin recognised her by the clothes. From what he could say, they were different from what the girls their age from Shiganshina were used to wearing. And the black hair, that was surely very unusual too.
"Hey, have you seen Eren?" he asked, but she didn't reply or acknowledge him. The small girl just kept staring at the slow moving waters.
The nine-year-old was carrying some books with him, because he loved to take his books everywhere. And all the running had made him tired and the books were feeling quite heavy now. So he saw no harm in sitting on the riverside, next to the girl. In truth, he was actually very curious to see her face.
He placed the books near her and started to look up to the stars. Mikasa turned her head, the cover of the book at the top of the pile called her attention, she had seen it before. Armin looked back down and she turned her face again. Avoiding that strange-looking boy's face.
"You're from Asia, right?" he asked, but was still ignored. Armin leaned in closer to tell her a secret. "I have this secret book with drawings of it. Drawings of what the world was like before it was consumed by Titans, a hundred years ago," Armin explained and stood up excitedly. He took a small, dry branch and started to draw in the grainy dirt.
He drew what he remembered from that old atlas, and he remembered a lot. He had seen it a thousand times.
"And so around here," he moved the branch around. "Around here is where your country used to be." Armin pointed with the branch. "Which is not very far from the Walls so it explains how your family arrived in time," he added.
Mikasa observed at all, hidden under her new scarf. While the boy kept leaning over, trying to get a better look at her. Armin still hadn't seen her face completely and he was extremely curious about it.
'I'm from the mountains, not from the outside. And I want to go home,' Mikasa thought but she couldn't bring herself to speak. She knew, of course, that she could never go home, for she no longer had a home to come back to. Mikasa accidentally looked at the boy's eyes and he looked at hers. It was only for a split second, and she turned her face down again, feeling a little embarrassed but also strangely thrilled.
"I know you're from the mountains of course," Armin said, which caught her off guard, it was like he had just read her thoughts. "Eren told me everything," he said.
That wasn't true, Eren hadn't told him everything, his father had forbidden him to do so, and so did the Military Police.
Armin stared at that girl, he could feel how lost she was, her silence was screaming her pain.
"I know how impossible it feels," he said. "That you will never see them again, hug them again. That you can never return home, because they won't be there, because they are your home," Armin told her. "They will always be your home."
Mikasa only listened to what he said. The nine-year-old stared at the waters, absorbing every word the strange boy said.
"It wasn't long ago when my parents died," he disclosed and she finally looked up, her black eyes found his blue ones and stayed there, fitted. Armin continued. "And my grandfather told me to be stronger, because that's what they would have wanted. He said they will always be alive in me, as long as I carry them in here," he pointed at his head. "In my memories."
Armin sat down next to her again and looked at the river. Mikasa followed his movements with her eyes. "Time will slowly heal it, but we won't forget them. Their memories will always be with us," he softly declared.
She looked down at the book pile again. "Azymondeus," Mikasa finally spoke, after three days in pure silence. She hadn't said a word since she'd arrived at her new house.
"What?" Armin asked.
"I have that book," she explained very softly, it was almost impossible to hear. "My mother used to read to me before bed."
Mikasa was used to sleep hearing her mother's voice telling her stories. So, since that horrible tragedy she couldn't sleep anymore. Every time she closed her eyes, she had only nightmares.
Armin was clever enough, he knew that book had probably been left in her house, in the mountains. And he knew it wouldn't be polite to ask about it, the thought of her house would just bring the poor girl more sad and terrible memories.
"You can keep it," he offered, picking up the book and offering it to her.
Mikasa saw how the book was brand-new. "Why would you give it to me?" she asked, confused.
Armin smiled. "My grandfather gave me yesterday, together with these other ones," he gestured to the pile. Armin effortlessly passed his hands through his hair, "I already finished," he said. He'd already finished them all, actually. Armin leaned in a little closer. "I know how it ends," he told the girl.
"Did you like it?" she asked him softly.
"I did. It's like a life without Walls," he said and Mikasa slowly moved her hand to pick up the book.
"Thank you," she said softly, from under her scarf as she took the book to hold. Mikasa then stood up to leave, it was getting late into the night.
"Will I see you tomorrow?" Armin stood up and asked in a small voice, a little nervous. She turned back and nodded, then continued her way into the Yeager house.
Armin started to run in the opposite direction, but he turned back for a moment. "Tell Eren I went home, to grandpa's," he asked of her from the distance, waving.
Mikasa waved back, smiling at him for the first time, she held the book closer and walked away in the cold night. Armin would never forget that first smile. He walked by the riverside, under the moonlight. He thought about the girl and how pretty she was, a beauty he had never seen before, how sweet her voice was, her manner, her everything. Armin's heart started to beat a little faster and he couldn't help but smile. He felt full of energy so he decided to run, he ran under the stars, into the cold night.
..
The small girl walked into the house, carrying her new book. "Where did you get that from?" Carla asked the girl from the kitchen as she washed the dishes.
"He gave it to me. The boy with yellow hair," Mikasa tried to describe the boy she'd just met. Carla and Grisha both looked at each other, it was the first time they had heard the girl's voice loud and clear.
Carla smiled. She went to inspect the book. "We should ask grandpa Arlert if it's okay tomorrow," she said to Grisha, who was sitting at the table. Carla was a little concerned, the book seemed valuable and maybe a little expensive.
"I'm sure it will be alright," Grisha replied. "You can keep it, dear," he told his new daughter.
Mikasa smiled. She said good night and walked into the corridor holding the book close, going to her new bedroom. Grisha watched her go and smiled, Mikasa was quietly humming a song.
"What are you smiling at?" Carla asked, while smiling herself.
"Nothing," he replied and went back to reading his book.
"And why are you in this state?" Carla startled. Eren had just showed up at their door, covered in mud.
"Did you fall in the mud, son?" Grisha asked.
"I was chasing toads," Eren explained. "I wanted to grab one," he said and scratched his head. "So yeah... I did, I fell in the mud," he carelessly looked down at his clothes. Eren was a little upset, he'd been trying to have a pet toad for ages!
"You are unbelievable sometimes," Carla complained. "Come on, let's get you cleaned. No, No. Outside," she gestured before Eren could put his feet inside the house. "You are not getting in my house like this." They went outside so Eren could be cleaned and Dr. Yeager went back to reading his book.
It had been a typical day at the Yeager house and now, a typical night. Mikasa went to sleep, finally. For the first time in three days, she felt peace. She could close her eyes and sleep soundly. She was happy to dream of her parents, she dreamt she was safe, she dreamt she was home.
.
- Year 850 - After the Graduation of the 104th Regiment
[And after the Struggle for Trost]
"Our girl got number 10, how impressive," Sannes commented as he looked over the list.
"What girl?" Kenny asked from under his hat. He had his feet over the table. At their MP office, in Wall Sina.
"The bastard," Sannes explained.
"Isn't she dead yet?" Kenny sighed while playing with his curved knife. "Rod should have let me kill that runt when we had the opportunity. What an idiot, he just keeps creating more messes for himself."
"You're right, Uri was definitely smarter with all this," Sannes commented.
"He was much better for all this," Kenny added, a little annoyed.
"But don't worry about it. It seems the monks made sure she got into the sacrifice corps," Sannes joked.
"She joined the Survey Corps?" Kenny asked in disbelief.
"Nick told me, like it was arranged," Sannes explained. "And apparently she wanted to, that poor bastard. I won't give her past the first mission, especially with Commander Dullface," he kept the joking tone. "And she wasn't the only one to join the death squad, little miss number one did too, aren't you proud?" Sannes asked.
"Little miss number one?" Kenny asked back and Sannes gave him the 104th Regiment list. "Do you think she and shorty will get along?" he asked with a laugh.
'Mikasa Ackermann'
Kenneth saw that name, at the very top of the list. He sighed. "Not you too, little one." he said out loud.
"What?" Sannes asked.
"I'm not talking to you, you moron." Kenny replied.
- Year 850 - The Official Army Cemetery - Kenny Ackermann's funeral
"I only met him once, he came to visit us in the mountains when I was six, he wanted to give me a dagger as a present. I never saw him after that, until now," Mikasa told her older and only cousin.
The sun was setting and they were the only ones there, close to the coffin while the gravediggers did their work. She was trying to make conversation for Levi was very silent so far. Mikasa was used to that, of course, he would often ignore her. But this felt a little different, she could tell he was hurting.
Levi gave her a slight smile and swiftly removed something from under his black coat. He showed her a dagger, it was beautifully crafted, silver molten with an even darker metal and had a yellow jewel encrusted in the handle.
Mikasa took it from his hand to observe the object closer. "Beautiful. Did he give it to you?"
"It was delivered in a package to me, with no sender, a little after I joined the Survey Corps," Levi Ackermann explained. "I never got it confirmed, but he was the only person in my life who I knew to give weapons as gifts."
"I never noticed you wearing it," the younger Ackermann commented.
"I never do. It's more decorative than anything, I never actually used it," Levi explained, with a little spite while taking the weapon back from Mikasa's hand.
"I'm sure it has sentimental value too. You brought it here today after all," she noted, while putting her hands in her black coat's pockets. "He raised you," she said more softly.
Levi sighed, putting the weapon back under his coat. "Dear cousin of mine, you should be glad you weren't raised by that monster," he told Mikasa, then laughed a little.
Mikasa startled, it was not every day she heard him laugh, in fact, she couldn't remember if she had seen his face do that before. Levi continued: "The ridiculousness in all this is that-" he stopped himself and proceeded more softly. "He taught me everything I know. And I wouldn't have survived in that wretched underground city if it wasn't for him," Levi confessed. "He made me who I am, my uncle," he added.
His cousin became more reflective, thinking of their family as the two of them watched those men digging the grave. "I don't think my father approved of him serving the Crown, after they slaughtered our people. That's probably why he moved away from that all, after their brother died," Mikasa said. "I wonder if they ever got along," she added.
"My mother never talked about any of that, she never talked about anything. I don't know if she wanted to protect me or if she was too broken to say a word," Levi told his cousin.
Mikasa sighed. "There's only you and me now," she reminded him. "Do you think we are the only ones left? After all?" Mikasa wondered.
"The survivors," Levi complemented as he looked at his uncle's coffin.
"And the King is dead," Mikasa commented.
Levi swiftly turned to her. "What? Do you want to swear allegiance to little miss sunshine?" he asked.
"It was our customary position," she made her case.
"By the Queen's side?" Levi asked, mistrustfully.
"I wouldn't mind," she shrugged. "We are under a new ruler, and I trust Historia, she is on our side." Mikasa stated.
..
Armin was staring at the sad procedures from the distance. He was up the hill, outside of the cemetery. Very contemplative as his friend came to join him. Eren had come to walk his sister and the Captain home. Out of respect for them, of course, certainly not for the dead man.
"Why are you here?" Eren asked Armin as he joined him up the hill. "Do you want to make sure the boogie man is under the earth?" he asked with a laugh. "I hear Sannes is going to prison, for life. I should talk to Historia about that, honestly, I'm sure we can do better than that," Eren stated, crossing his arms. He sure was glad to now have such a close contact with the Crown. He looked at his friend, but Armin didn't give him a reply, he just kept staring up front. "This isn't right. That wicked man shouldn't have the right to a military burial, in a military graveyard." Eren complained.
Armin sighed. "Even if controversial, the Anti-Personnel Control Squad was still a part of the Military Police and under the King's orders. I think you will find that we are the 'traitors' in all this. I don't think we would have been pardoned if it wasn't for the coup and the King's death." Armin pointed it out, very politically.
"Well, I'm glad we are under a new ruler now." Eren concluded, crossing his arms. He took a moment and sighed. "Does it feel good? Like closure?"
"Why? Because of my parents?" Armin turned to him and asked.
Eren scratched his head. "I didn't want to say it so directly."
"They were just doing their job, without question. Isn't that what soldiers do? What we are?" Armin questioned. "You saw how broken Sannes was when he realised what a monster he had become, just by following orders," he sighed. "I don't wish for their deaths, so I hope Historia feels the same, there's no need for a bloodbath at the beginning of her reign. I would say her father's head is more than enough." Armin stated.
"It feels good though, doesn't it?" Eren asked, about the burial. "We won," he added.
"I'm done with all this savagery, I hope we'll concentrate on taking back Wall Maria from now on," Armin replied.
"You really don't want Sannes and the others to be executed? I think you'll feel better," Eren offered.
"I won't." Armin replied, sternly.
"Don't you feel good now?" Eren asked, as the coffin was being laid down into the earth.
Armin annoyedly sighed. He felt Eren was being impertinent and unkind. "Kenny Ackermann died by his own hand. It was his fate," Armin stated.
"I'd like to believe he died by my hand," Eren replied with a smile.
"Eren, don't gloat. I'd say Rod put up much more of a show than you did in all that." Armin told his friend.
- Year 850 - Army Base - City of Trost
"Ackermann, there's a package for you," the soldier at the army desk told the teenager as she walked in.
"Who from?" Mikasa asked, mistrustfully.
"No name," the soldier replied. "I just need you to sign it here."
"Do you at least know who left it here?" she asked.
"It's been here over a month, miss. You never picked it up," the soldier replied as Mikasa signed her name to receive the mysterious box.
She walked away opening up the mysterious package, she unwrapped it to see an ornate wooden box with the gift inside. Mikasa opened up the box and took out a fancy silver and gold dagger, with a beautiful red jewel encrusted in the handle. And a note that said: "For the number one."
.
≃2000 years ago
[Six Years after the first appearance of The Titan]
The tower
Az had just arrived from the latest battle, one which the queen had decided not to fight on, for reasons unknown. Ymir had simply told the King she was tired and wanted to rest and not transform into Titan form for a while. So her Army had left without her. She remained in her tower, waiting for the Army and her beloved to return. Az had just arrived, after a couple of months and he jumped straight to the top of the tower, to see her.
"You know, it's a lot harder down there, for us to win," Az said, coming in from the balcony. "Without you to have my back." he told Ymir.
"I'll say," she replied, smiling. "You took far too long to come back from this campaign. I was waiting for ages!" She embraced him and rewarded him with a kiss.
Az removed his scabbard to show her. "What's that?" Ymir asked.
"Lud's sword," he explained. "Well, his old sword. He gave it to me."
"It's nice you two are bonding-" Ymir naively said.
Az interrupted her cheering tone. "I did something really stupid." he confessed.
"You always do something stupid. What was it this time?" she asked, jokingly.
"Ymir, I'm being serious," he said and sighed.
"What did you do?" she asked, crossing her arms and leaning on one of the columns.
"I saved him." He replied.
"That's not bad," Ymir tried to comfort him. "It's good, I know how you care about him."
"Saving him wasn't the problem, it's how I saved him," Az tried to explain.
"You used your powers?" she asked in disbelief. And Az nodded. "Why would you do something so stupid?!"
"I-I, I don't know!" he stuttered. "It just happened! He was in danger and I thought he was going to die! I couldn't help it! It was like instinct."
"So he knows?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Yes," Azzy replied in a small voice.
Ymir sighed, she couldn't believe it. "I really don't understand, it's not like it would jeopardise your future. I know he is your family but he already had his children, you should have let him die. And what if he didn't die? You know how resilient that man is!"
"Ymir-" Az tried to interrupt.
She continued. "No. This is insane. What if he was actually supposed to die?! What if you actually prevented his death! You said yourself we shouldn't meddle in any of this! What in the hell do you think you are doing?!" the Queen was rattled.
"Calm down. I trust him, he won't tell anyone about me. I know." Az tried to appease her.
"You are so naive it's ridiculous!" Ymir let out.
"Don't say it like that," he complained. "I know it's worrying, but I honestly wasn't expecting this to upset you this much."
"I know, I'm sorry," she recomposed herself. "I shouldn't get rattled, especially today, it should be special," she commented. Ymir took a deep breath. "If you trust that is all fine and you trust he won't betray you, then I trust you." She promised.
"I trust him, and thank you," he said. "Why should today be special?" he asked and she smiled, very cheekily. "Ymir," Azzy said, squinting.
"Nothing, I'm just happy you're home. I'm very very happy!" she said excitedly and held both his hands. "I missed you," she declared and kissed him, a long and wet kiss.
"I've missed you too." he said and kissed her again. He pulled away and saw her with that angelic smile again. "What?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"I want to tell you something," she whispered, innocently. Still holding both his hands.
"Then tell me something," he said, smiling a charming smile.
She took his hands and placed them over her stomach. "I'm with child," Ymir said, smiling.
"You what?" he asked in disbelief.
End of Chapter Eleven: "Ackermann"