≃2000 years ago:
"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" Fritz asked the girl.
Ymir didn't have much to say, even if she could. After all those years in that nightmarish environment, she'd gotten used to not thinking much. Her mute state and all the trauma she had suffered made her mind stagnate. She lived in a state of wonder, and sadness, as if she was still a young child. The girl felt very lost.
One of the Chief's advisers leaned over to his ear to explain that the girl being questioned was a mute slave.
"Oh, I see," Fritz said while scratching his chin. He wanted to know what motivated the young girl to set their entire month of food supply free into the woods.
"Meat is a very delicious provision, my dear. Pig flesh is extremely tasty, almost as good as human flesh." The old wicked man laughed. "Were you upset and vengeful because your owners didn't give you any? Is that why you set the pigs free?" he asked.
Ymir didn't respond. She didn't even engage with the old Chief. The girl just stayed there, kneeling, looking down at the ground. Ymir was staring at a group of ants, in line, carrying their food, and thinking how small they all were and yet how those small creatures had an organised society. How they lived in peace and order, following and serving their queen.
"Or maybe you were looking for the glory of the chase," the wicked man presumed. Ymir looked up at him, confused, and Fritz laughed.
"You are my kind of girl then. Pigs are animals set for slaughter; they die depressed, and you can taste it in the flavour. Chasing wild boars at the height of their survival energy, or killing a glorious warrior at the height of battle always makes for a better, much juicier meal," Fritz said with a wicked look on his face. He was bored; maybe he finally had an opportunity to make this afternoon more interesting.
The Chief held his chin with one hand and thought for a moment, then he leaned over to his best warrior:
"What do you think, Lud? Are your boys ready for some hunting? I believe we will eat well tonight. We have good game," he told his right hand man.
"Always ready to serve you, Chief." Lud gave Fritz an evil smile and adjusted his best sword.
The poor innocent girl understood who was the game in question: it was her. Ymir started running. She ran towards the open forest.
"I told you we have good game. She's fast." Fritz laughed. "Get the horses," he ordered.
-.-
She was racing through the woods, running up the forest. Running as fast as she could, further and further away from the village. She was panting, her heart was racing, it was almost beating out of her chest. But she couldn't stop: she could hear the voices, the laughs. They were getting closer. She was bleeding; those wicked men had been shooting arrows at her. She was desperate, but she would not give up. The girl wanted to live, she was a survivor. The pain in her shoulder and in her leg, it was too strong - she'd been pierced by two arrows and the blood was streaming down fast.
The girl lost her balance and fell to the ground. Her mind was as if in a trance, barely awake. Ymir finally saw a place to hide; for some reason, she felt that giant tree was there just to help her, to protect her. The girl walked slowly in its direction, like it was calling her. She would finally be home. It was waiting for her. As she walked, her blood stained the flowers below her.
The tree was giant, and it felt out of place in that forest. The innocent wounded girl walked into it. The hole in the tree was much taller than the girl, showing just how ancient that wooden cave was. Ymir looked down the hole; she couldn't see anything, there was no light in there. She was disappointed, she couldn't hide in that, but it was still calling for her, like an evil spell. The girl was smart enough not to throw herself into a sinister black hole. She didn't know how deep it was, or what laid down there.
Unfortunately, she wasn't careful enough. She didn't notice the dirt giving way under her feet. Ymir fell down the hole, and hit the water at the bottom. The poor innocent girl could feel her life leaving her; she was fading, drowning.
Sinking deeper and deeper into the water.
-.-
There was a thunderous noise that could be heard all over that area and beyond. A giant explosion, an inexplicable explosion arising from the heart of the forest.
The villagers were in awe as they saw it in the distance. It was like the forest had given birth to a monster.
.
- Year 866 - Mitras, In The Royal Library:
"Right, human conflict can be quite interesting, I suppose." The old librarian was thoughtful for a moment. "We've been fighting each other since the beginning, or at least, since history started being recorded. What memorable wars do you have in mind?" he asked the boy, while picking up and checking the labels on some of the books Azzy had piled up next to him.
The boy was very concentrated in whatever he was reading at the moment. He was taking some notes, as if he was solving a puzzle. 'Perhaps he is researching the patterns of human behaviour in these drastic conditions,' the old man thought, then he inquired, "I suppose this is not for school."
"You know I don't go to school, Mr. Librarian," Azzy answered. "I'm not allowed."
"And that is a shame. I should talk to your uncle; honestly, you are a bright young fellow. I'm sure you would do incredibly well, it's a waste of talent! He should be more concerned about your future, I mean, what kind of professions does he have in mind for you? You should have a proper education if he wants you to succeed in life," the old man advised. He was concerned, as he admired the young boy.
"I don't think he cares. He doesn't care about anything besides his own paranoia," the boy disclosed.
"Are we having trouble at home?" the librarian asked.
Azzy sighed. "I ran away," he finally confessed.
That was quite sudden. The man thought about his next words, wanting to be helpful. "Well, I'm sure you two will make amends. Whatever your conflict was, I know you get along well and see eye to eye in most things," the man concluded.
"Not about this," Azzy laughed, "he'd kill me if he knew what I was up to." He raised himself up to look up more books on the shelves.
"You had quite a growth spurt since you were last here," the librarian noted. "You look very tall."
Azzy took a moment as he thought about what to say next. He took out his pocket watch and looked at the time. He turned to his friend with a serious face, not a hint of smile or joke in it. "That's because I'm already fifteen," he answered, looking straight at the old man. "I travelled in time and got lost. For some reason I couldn't get back to where I left from, in 867, so I had to find a safer place to land in. July, 866 seemed like the best spot." He'd let it out; Azzy hadn't properly talked to another human being in weeks, and he felt comfortable enough to confide in his friend. He had to talk to someone.
The librarian laughed out loud. "You were always very funny, young lad," he said mid-laugh, clearing his tears of laughter with a handkerchief.
Azzy was a little annoyed and hurt, but he let it go. "I'm looking for some books on recent history, but I can't find any, not even from a hundred years ago," he commented while shuffling through one of the shelves. "Why is that?" he asked the librarian.
"There's not much in here about recent history, especially about wars. You should talk to the professor about it. He is trying to fix that, he's been researching and documenting things for many years. I'm sure he would have information you are looking for," the librarian suggested.
"Thanks, how do I contact him?" the boy asked.
"He is always sitting somewhere around the west gallery. Advising his pupils from the Royal Academy, or sometimes just talking to himself. He's quite a peculiar creature, I must say," the librarian noted. "And a little rude," he continued. "You should get on his good side, though. Who knows? He could help you get into the Academy," the man suggested.
"You know I don't care about that stuff, but thanks anyways. I'll go looking for him." Azzy said while piling up some of those books on his arms. Then he went looking for the professor.
- Year 854 - After the Rumbling - Fort Salta
Reiner quickly raised himself up once he heard the noise. Eren's crystal was slowly breaking apart.
"I think he's still unconscious," Reiner observed.
"Do you think Pieck is right?" Annie said while raising herself up in a frenzy. She continued, "Do you think we can't transform?" she asked worriedly.
Pieck was no longer with the two of them; she had quickly retrieved herself inside the Fort.
"I'm sure you don't need that, love," said Mr. Leonhart to his daughter. He came near them and gently held Annie's shoulder. "You can take down that sad excuse of a human being fairly easily, I know so; especially in human form. I trained you well," he affirmed.
Annie smiled at her father. She was ready to fight.
Reiner was more concerned with the gigantic shadowy figure coming up on the horizon. The night sky was pitch black, but they could all see the unnatural creature coming among the clouds.
"Airship!" one of the soldiers yelled.
None of them knew what to do with that information. At first they thought it was their rescue, but that was proved wrong very quickly. Reiner moved himself closer to Eren's crystal with the intention to immobilise him before he could raise himself up. A shot was fired from the airship; it hit Reiner right in the arm.
"Aim for the head, you moron!" one of the Yeagerist soldiers told the other inside the airship.
The soldiers and citizens on the ground were quickly making their way inside the Fort, terrified that this new Yeagerist wave was there to exterminate them all.
"Are you telling me we don't have a single weapon in this entire Fort? Nothing to fight with?" Pieck asked one of the guards as she frantically searched one of the weapons chests.
"We have weapons, but we are just very low in ammunition," the soldier tried to explain to her as countless frightened citizens ran into the Fort. "I'll be surprised if you find anything useful," he said with deep embarrassment.
"That's what you get for discharging weapons unnecessarily! Now we have the opportunity to end the enemy once and for all, and we have nothing to fight with!" Pieck said with frustration. She looked at her bandaged arms for a moment; she had never thought she would miss that power, and she was determined not to miss this opportunity.
"We had no idea this would get this far. This whole situation was worse than usual. I'm sure you can understand." The guard was trying to justify himself, but Pieck made a small gesture for him to stop talking. He understood and turned his attention to control the crowd looking for shelter inside the Fort.
Eren was still dizzy, sitting inside his broken crystal, trying to make sense of it all. He held his head, confused.
The Yeagerists kept shooting at the crowd below from up in the airship. Hoping to scare them, but also to single out the shifters outside.
"Tell them to stop," Reiner ordered. "Isn't the amount of people you killed already enough? Why make more victims out of these poor people?" he asked Eren.
Annie had no intention to just stand by. She quickly made her way closer to Eren, and before he could respond to Reiner, she kneed him in the mouth. Her strength was brutal. She held his head before his upper body could reach the ground again, and she placed herself behind him, keeping him in an armlock.
"Give me one reason not to break your neck right now?" she whispered in Eren's ear.
The blow of her knee to his face was enough to wake Eren up. He was finally back to his senses, although his nose and mouth were bleeding heavily, and so was Reiner's arm.
"I've missed you," Eren told Annie in an evil tone.
She rolled them out of the crystal remains and kept him held tight in a full body lock.
"You stink," Annie replied.
Karina came to Reiner's aid with an emergency kit and some bandages. The Yeagerists had stopped blindly shooting the poor survivors, and now had their attention turned to Annie. They were trying to aim at her but she was too close to Eren; she was using his body as a shield.
"I should kill you right now," Annie told Eren while tightening her grip around his neck. "But that would be a quick and almost painless death, and you don't deserve that relief. You deserve to suffer, you deserve to be in pain for a long time."
Mr. Leonhart was proud of his girl, but he was also aware of the position she'd just put herself into. He stood there, a few meters away, anxious.
"Mother, what are you doing here? Go back inside!" Reiner told his mother.
"You are coming with me," she replied.
"We are all going inside. Annie's got this," Mr. Leonhart told the two of them while gesturing for them to move.
Reiner picked up some bandages from his mother's hands and placed them on his bleeding arm. "You go, come on! You both need to get inside," he told the parents.
"We need a clear shot. Does anyone have a clear shot?" one of the Yeagerists yelled to all the others. All of them had their guns aimed at Annie.
"I do," Louise responded. She took her shot.
The bullet hit Mr. Leonhart right in the stomach.
For a moment, Annie's whole world felt lost. Her father fell to the ground.
That was enough for Eren to remove himself from her tight lock and rise up from the ground.
'No,' Annie thought. She kicked at his legs for him to fall again, but before she could break his neck he made his threat:
"Kill me and they will kill your father," Eren said through bloodied teeth. He laughed.
She punched him. Then she left Eren there and ran in her father's direction.
"Just stay behind me," Reiner told his mother. They were expecting to be next.
"Aren't you going to shoot them?" one of the Yeagerists asked Louise.
"Wait," she answered.
"I'm sorry," Mr. Leonhart said. "I should have known I was leaving myself vulnerable. I'm sorry for being a target," he told his daughter.
"It's okay, it's okay," Annie said while applying pressure on his bloody wound. "Don't force yourself to talk. Just keep breathing. I'll get you through this," Annie reassured her father.
Eren raised himself up. He cleaned the blood off his face with his left arm. He raised his right arm and made a gesture for the airship crew to wait.
"See?" Louise told the crew. "Throw down the ladder!" she ordered.
Reiner asked him, "Why are they here? Is this what you are going to do now? Since the Rumbling wasn't fully successful, you are going to order your minions to shoot the few survivors?"
Eren was thoughtful for a moment. "I don't want you to die," he replied. "I want you to see what I'm building." He smiled. "This world will finally be a better place for our kind and I want you to be a part of that."
"What if it doesn't? Are you going to blame the humans who are left?" Reiner questioned him.
The Yeagerists sent down the ladder for Eren to climb, and he held on to it.
"Don't test me. I already decided to spare you," he told Reiner.
Shots could be heard; this time they were coming from inside the Fort. Pieck had found herself a loaded gun.
The airship crew pulled Eren up as quickly as possible.
"Don't shoot back. Just go up and let's move away!" Eren ordered the crew. He held his side. One of Pieck's bullets had grazed him. "That damn woman," he complained.
Pieck kept shooting at the airship until she ran out of bullets. She was shooting her frustration away.
The airship quickly disappeared into the darkness of the night. Some of the soldiers came out of the Fort to help aid Mr. Leonhart.
Pieck looked at her friends with much sadness. She couldn't believe they'd lost the one thing they had won in that Rumbling. Eren was no longer their captive.
Annie was crying; her father had lost consciousness. She feared the worst as the soldiers removed him from her bloody hands.
They were all lost for words.
"Are you okay?" Karina asked her son after a few minutes of silence. She was cleaning his wound.
Reiner sighed and looked at his arm. "I already miss my regeneration," he told her.
The airship was already a safe distance away when Eren ordered them to set the course to Paradise Island. The Yeagerists were cheering and partying inside the craft.
"Where's Floch?" Eren asked Louise. He'd finally noticed Floch's absence.
"I'm afraid he lost his battle, Sir," she answered.
"What a shame," Eren complained.
"Sir, we might need to have a detour. We need to find a safer place to land. One of the bullets from the ground hit our engines, Sir," one of the soldiers told Eren.
"Of course it has." Eren became annoyed. "Just tell them to fix it quickly, will you?" he ordered his soldier. "All I want now is to get home." The Yeagerist nodded and left his presence.
"I should have accounted for her," Eren grumbled while holding his grazed side. "She's always unpredictable, that one."
"Did we fail, Sir? Should we have killed them?" Louise asked.
"No," Eren responded. "I wanted to spare them, so they can see the better world that is about to begin! Thanks to all of us," he preached.
"Thanks to you, Sir, above all else," Louise praised him.
[Still] Year 854 - After the Rumbling - The Queen's Farm
The people of Eldia were rejoicing outside. The Yeagerists inside the farm couldn't contain their excitement to see their saviour return home. Eren was very clear, however, that he didn't want to be bothered. Once he entered the building, he went straight to the Royal quarters.
"Doctor," Eren said as he closed the door of the smallish room. "I wanted to see him first, before I go to see the Queen."
"Oh!" The doctor was taken by surprise. "Of course. I wasn't aware you already knew." The doctor wondered how Eren could have known about the stillborn baby, but he didn't question further. He took the man to the corner of the room and slowly uncovered the fresh remains of the child.
"Hello, Ezra." Eren moved in a little closer and caressed the baby's cold head. The boy looked very peaceful. "What happened to you, son?" he gently asked. He turned his eyes to the doctor, hoping he would have a proper answer.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think I have the answer," the doctor told Eren with sadness in his eyes. He continued: "I checked the babies' heartbeats before the labour started and only one could be heard. I decided not to raise any alarms, so that we wouldn't complicate things. I was going to tell the Queen afterwards, when it was all over and I could be sure the boy couldn't be revived. But..." The doctor sighed.
"But what?" Eren was eager for him to continue, and somewhat suspicious, as he always was with everything and everyone.
"She noticed something was wrong as soon as the baby was born and he didn't cry, or move. The nuns thought it would be best if she didn't see it or hold it. They thought it would be too traumatic," he explained.
"And do you agree?" Eren questioned.
"I think it's best. She's been in shock ever since. It would only make it worse." The doctor gave his opinion and continued trying to justify his side in the matter: "I did try to revive the poor thing, as soon as he was removed, but it made no difference. He's been dead for a while."
"How long?" the father asked.
"I couldn't tell you, but not very long," the doctor responded.
"That's vague. And do you know the cause?" he asked again.
"It's difficult to tell; there's no apparent cause. For us to find these things, it would be necessary to realise a full autopsy on the small child-"
"Don't!" Eren interrupted the doctor. "Don't do that, it would be too cruel. Let him lay as he is, he seems to be at peace." Eren played with the boy's cold and small fingers. He stayed there for a while, looking at his lost son.
"May I leave, sir?" the doctor asked. "If you don't need anything else, I don't want to spoil your moment."
Eren wasn't paying attention. "Do you believe in curses, Doctor?" he asked the doctor.
"I'm a man of science, Sir, I don't believe in magic or anything related to such things," the doctor responded.
"You are still an Eldian. And I'm sure you've been on the Island long enough to learn about our history," Eren argued.
"An Eldian doctor, raised in Marley," he stated.
"My father was an Eldian doctor raised in Marley, and so was my grandfather. Still, they learned about our history, they knew a lot about it, and believed in it. Don't you?" Eren questioned the doctor.
"Is that why you chose me?" The doctor tried to change the awkward subject. "Because you trust more Eldian doctors that come from Marley? Like your own lineage?"
"Probably," Eren responded. "And because I believe your knowledge and advancements were wasted in a population that didn't deserve you-"
"Well," the doctor interrupted Eren, "it seems they aren't here any more to complain," he said in a very cold and dry tone. The doctor had been in favour of the extermination of the Marlean population.
"Still," Eren went back to his previous point, "even with all your knowledge and new technologies, you have to admit science can't explain everything."
"I believe it can't, yet. But we will be able to, at some point, I'm sure of it. Eldians are a source of mystery, fear, and fascination. We have been throughout the centuries! But the more we study and learn about this condition, we will have breakthroughs, and I believe it won't take long before we solve the mystery and lay all this magical and 'curse' nonsense to rest." The doctor gave out his speech.
Eren asked, "So you don't think people will be right if they say my son's life was taken by the Devil as a sacrifice? To pay for what I have done?"
"Do you believe that is the case?" the doctor questioned.
"I don't know. But I know they will say it. Especially my enemies," Eren affirmed.
"The Queen asked me to keep this a secret. Only I know, and a couple of the nuns. If it remains a secret, you won't have to worry about what people will think," the doctor suggested.
Eren considered it for a moment. He stared at his son. "Did you notice this?" He pointed at the darkened skin around the child's eyes.
"Yes, this is common as the body disintegrates," the doctor explained.
Eren wasn't giving much attention to the doctor, and decided to open the boy's eyelids. They were both shocked, but both men maintained their composure. The boy's eyes were black. The blackest black. The sclera, the iris, and pupil. The entirety of it, of both eyes.
"Can your science explain this?" Eren questioned in disbelief.
The good doctor didn't respond.
"Did you know his eyes were like that?" he asked once more.
"Yes," the doctor was hesitant to respond. "The eyes were one of the first things I checked. And no, I have no explanation for it. In all my years of practice, I have never seen anything like it."
Eren sighed, saddened. "You can go now." Eren signed for the doctor to leave; he wanted to be alone with his son.
Eren looked into Ezra's blackened eyes. He wondered what happened and why, but he didn't have the answer. He only knew that it felt very evil. He closed the baby's eyelids again and covered the small body with the white sheet. He left the room.
-.-
Historia was happy; she had left her worries in the back of her head. She would think about them later. Now she was concentrating on loving her child, the one who was born alive. She was in bed, nursing the baby girl in her arms as Eren finally walked in the room. "I knew you had arrived. Once I heard the commotion outside," she commented as Eren closed the door.
"I'm sorry I took so long, we had some problems on our way back. I'm sure you know that all is done with," Eren told her. Historia nodded as he walked closer to the bed.
"I assume things didn't go as well as planned," Historia remarked.
"Not exactly," Eren responded. "But things worked out in the end. And we showed them. Didn't we, Ymir?" Eren smiled at their small baby. "Can I hold her?" he asked.
Historia gave him Ymir to hold, she was very small and was peacefully sleeping now. She was warm, her chest moved up and down as she breathed and she made small noises from time to time. A very different situation from the baby in the other room.
"Have you seen him?" Historia asked with a broken voice.
"Yes," Eren responded.
"They won't let me," she complained.
"I'm sure you will, once we settle the funeral arrangements." Eren started talking, but Historia looked away, upset. He continued, "I know it's difficult, but we have to bury him. I'm sure you understand that."
Historia stayed reflective for a moment. "I want to take him to our garden," she suggested. "That place is so peaceful, it's the perfect place for him to rest. And it's hidden, so no one will disturb him, or us, when we go there."
Eren sighed. "That's a long way to Mitras right now, especially with all the commotion outside. Are you sure you want to-"
Historia interrupted him. "Yes, I'm sure."
"I heard you asked for secrecy. To the doctor and the nuns. Why?" Eren asked.
"No one has to know. This is our private life," Historia responded.
Eren respected her wishes.
"And what about this one?" he wondered. "Will she ever get to know?" Eren gently played with the baby's fingers.
"We will find a way to explain it to her. And she will love him. She will love the memory of him," Historia told Eren.
Eren never told Historia what he'd seen in Ezra's eyes, the darkness in them. He didn't want to upset the mother and he didn't want to know what it meant. He buried that mystery with his child. In the garden.
- Year 866 - Mitras, In The Royal Library:
Azzy walked around the gigantic library, carrying his books. He stopped right at the center of it. Under the magnificent dome and the decorated columns. There it was, guiding the way to the children's section: a statue dedicated to the lost princess. He stared at the girl for a few good minutes, wondering. Her ingenuous face looked up, towards the skies. She was charming and sweet, a lovely figure, "I wish I could have known you better," the boy thought. "Before-" He stopped himself, he didn't want to think about it. "Before everything went wrong."
The boy adjusted his book pile and kept walking, towards the west gallery, looking for the professor.
The old professor was sitting alone at the very corner, at the very end of the corridor. It seemed like he was hiding away from the sun. He was thin and sickly, with long blonde hair and a longer beard that he clearly hadn't shaved in a while. He was concentrating, frantically taking notes and talking to himself. Azzy was a little unsure about this creature, but he trusted his friend Patrick, so he decided to approach the odd old man.
"Hello." The boy came up the steps carrying his heavy book pile. "Are you the professor? The librarian said you could help me. I have some questions-"
Zeke stood up from his chair. "Are you sure you don't need some help with those heavy books?" he asked.
"Nah. They only look heavy." Azzy didn't have any trouble carrying those extremely heavy books. He placed them on the table. The heavy weight of the books shook the wooden table and it even made cracking sounds. The dust from the books came up in the air. Zeke started coughing; he took out his glasses to clean the dust out of them.
"Well, I guess this is an old table," Azzy assumed.
"And some old books," Zeke added. He was waving his hands to clear the dust from the air. "I'm a professor specialising in recent history. Are you sure you are in the right place?" he asked while checking the old books the boy had brought with him.
"Actually, yes! I just brought these with me because I found them interesting," the boy explained. "I couldn't find much about recent events, except for some newspapers and some very blatant Yeagerist propaganda."
"Well, in that case," Zeke extended his hand for the boy to shake. "Professor Yeager. How may I help you?"
"Oh," Azzy awkwardly shook his hand. 'All right then,' he thought.
"What is it that you are interested in? I've been cataloguing most of recent history myself. I'm surprised to see a younger generation interested in this. You are unusual, let me tell you," Zeke noted.
Azzy was a little thoughtful; he held his small notebook in his hand, wondering for a moment. He needed to drive this conversation the best way possible, without raising any suspicions.
"You were there, right? When all this 'Rumbling' happened," he questioned. "How did you survive?"
"Oh, that's quite a story." Zeke sat back down, excited to finally have an ear interested in his own personal journey. Azzy took a chair and sat at the table as well.
Zeke told the boy his tale.
"...In the end, I slowly regenerated my body for the neck down," the old man disclosed.
Azzy made a funny face. "That sounds a little painful," he said. 'And disgusting,' he thought.
"Well, regeneration is a fascinating process. A true gift only Titan Shifters have the honour to receive," Zeke explained.
"Right," Azzy responded. "And do you know how long it took?" he asked. He started to think to himself if he would ever dare to try something similar; as an experiment, of course. But that would be so very painful, or maybe it wouldn't be. He was a curious boy. He held his chin with both hands, being quite interested in this story now.
"I don't really know, Zeke wondered. "That's actually an interesting question." He smiled and continued, "I woke up naked and dazed, with the sun burning through my skull. Unfortunately I had lost my gift. Just like all shifters had, when the curse was lifted. So I could never recover properly from those burns." He gestured, showing the boy the scars around his arms and hands. "I walked around that desert for days. I survived by eating beetles and crabs until these sand people came out to help me-"
"Sand people?" the boy interrupted.
"Villagers, really, who lived in the area. What a strange bunch. They'd named their village, 'Village of the Dead'... quite poetic when you think about it," Zeke observed while scratching his ear.
Azzy concluded they'd probably named their village after the Maze of the Dead, that gigantic structure nearby. It felt obvious, but he didn't mention it because he didn't want to interrupt the story.
Zeke continued, "They nursed me back to health and I eventually made my way home. Why are you interested in the Rumbling? If I might ask," he questioned the boy.
"I just want to fill the gaps of the knowledge I already have, and I'm glad to meet someone who was actually there!" Azzy decided to praise him. "It's always nice to receive information right from the source." He opened his small notebook to take notes.
"I suppose you are right." Zeke admired the boy's enthusiasm. "You'd make quite a journalist," he suggested.
The old, tired man proceeded to tell the boy all the happenings of those fateful days. He looked back into his own past, he wondered how things would've been if he had had it his way. He was too tired and disappointed with his own self, and it was too late now. His Royal blood or his former powers were of no use; he felt that he was of no use. The man was living a pointless life. But that boy, and his bright questions, had brought him back his fire and his sense of importance. He was interested in life again, and its meaning.
Azzy took notes about everything the professor said; he needed to know how everything had happened. This was much easier than randomly jumping around that year. Besides, he needed to be careful with his jumping. He had already locked himself out of the year 867, so he could not make the same mistake with the year 854. And further than that, the bright young boy also cogitated the possibility of locking himself out of time itself. That was a possibility that terrified the boy.
He kept taking notes and paying attention as the professor showed him the few books in storage that contained information about those recent events. Most of it was filled with Eldian propaganda, of course, but he looked past that. The last thing he should do was question the old professor about that. His identity was already in peril, and he shouldn't add to the fire with philosophical or political questions.
The boy made a mistake. He involuntarily picked up his watch from his pocket, to check the time. He didn't even think twice about it.
The professor stopped talking and started to observe the boy. "I didn't know you came from the continent," Zeke noted.
"The continent?" Azzy laughed. "I've never left this Island."
"Interesting. Whoever you stole that watch from did, and they probably also had stolen it from someone else even richer from the continent," Zeke suggested.
"What makes you think I stole it?" Azzy tried to take that offence lightly. He laughed a little. "This watch's been in my family for generations."
"May I?" Zeke extended his hand, asking to see the watch. Azzy was a little reluctant, but he gave it to the professor anyway.
Zeke held up the pocket watch and analysed it more carefully. "This is an astronomical watch, and this crest belongs to the Tybur family." Zeke pointed at the symbol on the outside. He was about to check the bottom of it when the boy whisked it from his hands. Azzy had forgotten the inscription on the watch. That was a close call. He needed to be more careful.
Zeke felt a little insulted by the way the boy was behaving. "Of course you stole this. There's no way a brat like you-" He stopped himself and tilted his head slightly. "Now to think of it, you do look a little like... like you could be-" He started to cogitate.
"Like what?" Azzy asked aggressively. "I don't even know these people you talked about," he added.
"Well, if it wasn't for, you know," Zeke held his two fingers up and pointed at the boy's eyes.
"What's wrong with my eyes?" Azzy asked, irritated. He crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair.
Zeke continued with a little trepidation, "the shape, they look quite... Eastern..?"
"You mean, Oriental?" Azzy asked.
"Yes," Zeke responded.
"My grandmother was Asian," Azzy explained.
"Oh, that's unusual," Zeke wondered. He scratched his ear again.
"You might be right, it's probably stolen." Azzy decided to give reason to the professor. He was sailing too close to the wind at that point. He needed to be more careful; he just needed to hold this act until he got all the information he was looking for. The boy turned his concentration back to the pages of the book the professor was showing to him.
- January, 17, Year 859 - The Palace - City of Mitras
"But I want to play outside!" the small child complained.
It was raining heavily in Mitras that day; it had been raining for a few days. The weather had turned, the skies were dark, the winds were harsh and cold. There were thunderstorms everywhere.
"I'm sorry, darling, but we can't go out in the rain," Eren explained to his daughter.
"But I want to play in my castle," Ymir complained again. She ran towards the large windows and pointed outside.
"As soon as the skies clear, we will let you play outside, I promise." Historia gave her word. She picked up her small child in her arms and gave Ymir a hug.
Eren was reading some of Historia's birthday cards, on the corner of the table.
"Anything interesting?" Historia asked. "I believe those came in today."
"It's been a couple of days and you are still getting presents," Eren noted.
"Are you jealous?" Historia joked. "They are all from our supporters, of course, but I think I might have gotten some from the colonies too," Historia wondered. With Ymir in her arms, she moved away from the window.
Ymir kept pointing at the window, at the rain pouring heavily. "But what about my friends? I can't just leave them alone in there."
Eren gave Historia a look.
"It's a phase, you know that," Historia explained. "It's common for kids her age to make up friends."
The young girl was very lonely. She was surrounded by adults; any friends she had stayed only in her imagination.
Ymir left her mother's arms, and ran to the center of the room. She started playing with paper wrappings on the floor, seemingly worried. Historia went back to sit at the table, to finish her tea.
Eren kneeled down next to his daughter. "Why don't you invite them inside?" he proposed to the girl.
"I can't. They don't like to leave the castle, it's their home," Ymir graciously explained.
"Aren't you going to miss them?" he asked.
"Just leave her be," Historia advised.
The small girl sighed. "I'll see them again, once I'm allowed out."
Eren gave her some crayons so she could colour the paper wrappings. He moved back to the table. "All those toys and she wants to play with those wrappings left from your birthday presents," he pointed out.
"It's something new; she'll get tired of it soon enough," Historia responded.
"I wish we could meet her friends," Eren whispered, joking.
"Don't be annoying. It's her imagination, and it's perfectly normal. Just let it go," Historia advised him.
"Well, I think she needs real friends. She needs to interact with real kids. I know you grew up very sheltered, but for me, childhood was the best time! I was always running around Shiganshina, chatting with everyone and causing trouble." Eren laughed.
"And picking fights," Historia added.
"Defending Armin." Eren justified himself.
"I had an awkward play day once." Historia decided to bring out old memories. "Frieda brought me into their household, to meet Florian and Abel."
"And did you get along?" Eren asked.
"I remember we had a lot of fun," Historia continued. "I was there for a whole afternoon. Then the Queen found out. It wasn't pretty; she freaked out and had a fight with Frieda. I don't think I ever left the farm again after that."
"Where was your father in all this?" Eren questioned.
"Oh, probably here in Mitras, hatching his nasty schemes, I suppose," Historia presumed.
Eren wondered for a while.
"Frieda arguing with her own mother, just to defend you. That sounds just like her. She was a remarkable person," Eren commented.
"Yes, yes, she was," Historia confirmed.
Eren continued, "I'm sure all of your siblings were great. They were young and naive and they didn't deserve to die-"
Historia interrupted him. "Eren. Please, your father's sins have nothing to do with you. Let's not meddle in that."
Eren stopped himself; he wondered about those things as he stared out at the heavy rain. "But do you ever wonder? What would have been? If things turned out differently?" he asked Historia.
"The past is the past, Eren. And it will stay in the past. We need to think about the future," she responded.
"True." Eren smiled. "No one better to give me a time lesson than Queen Historia herself," he joked.
"I'll pretend you didn't just make a cheap joke about my name," she said, annoyed. Historia held her head down and played with her biscuits.
Eren continued observing Ymir's concentration as she played with her crayons and wrapping paper. She was talking to herself again.
"She needs real friends," he remarked again.
Historia thought for a while; she needed to choose well.
"I'll write to the Captain," she replied.
"Again?" Eren complained. "He won't respond to you."
"You thought it was a good idea, and we know Azzy is a good kid. He's a little older, but I'm sure they would get along wonderfully," Historia stated.
"I like him and miss the boy. And I still think we should be the ones raising him in the first place. But good luck getting through Levi. I don't think I have the energy to deal with that." Eren thought it best not to be involved.
"I think it's worth the try. He will have to respond eventually." Historia maintained her argument.
"You mean you'll coerce him," Eren insinuated.
"Compel him," Historia corrected Eren. "Everyone folds, eventually. And I'm the Queen."
"True." Eren smiled.
"Besides, it will be beneficial for both sides. The boy clearly needs a proper home, we can give him that. And, I believe he will be a good influence on Ymir." The Queen smiled. "He can be her protector." She was happy with the prospect.
"If you think so, I'll trust your judgement," the father conceded.
The small girl stayed there, playing on the floor, dreaming to herself innocently. She had no idea of her importance, or of all the plans constantly made for her since birth. It was always about her security, education, and influences. She was the future of a whole empire, with many subjects hoping for greatness, but also enemies expecting failure. None of that mattered, not for her. Ymir was just a happy toddler, full of imagination, playing with crayons in the warmth and comfort of her home. Hoping the heavy rain would finally pass.
.
- December - Year 850 - The Heroes' Wake - City of Trost
"We are gathered here today to honour the men and women who gave their lives in the name of our Queen and our People." Dot Pixis, Commander of the Garrison, was glad that he was chosen to open this ceremony with his speech. He continued: "Those brave soldiers who dedicated their hearts until the end, to secure the success of their mission. This, the first mission of the Survey Corps since the new regiment was put in place." The Commander graciously gestured towards the new queen, and she nodded back at him. "Thanks to them, we have successfully retaken the Wall Maria Region, and also learned a great deal about our people's history." Pixis continued his speech; he was in front of both Military Police and Garrison soldiers, and what was left of the Survey Corps. Next to him, on top of the platform, laid the former Survey Corps Commander's coffin, highly embellished and decorated with flowers. Further down, near the platform, were over a hundred other coffins, decorated in similar fashion. Surrounded by family members, further down were the SCs, MPs, and the Garrison, all gracefully standing to attention, saluting the fallen heroes.
"The entire Survey Corps, well, almost all, was wiped out in one attack. It's infuriating," Eren protested, almost in a whisper.
"They were very prepared. They were waiting for us-" Armin tried to appease his friend.
"They won't be next time," Eren interrupted him.
"Next time?" Armin repeated. "Are you proposing we attack Marley? Are you mad?" he said with disbelief.
"We have the upper hand," Eren replied.
"No, we most definitely don't-" Armin said confidently, as he was ready to make his point.
"Would you two stop talking?" Mikasa hissed, scolding her boys.
The three young friends stood back into attention. The Levi Squad was standing all in one line, near the front; any talk, even a whisper, could be heard by most of the military. The boys were embarrassing themselves.
Eren looked up at the platform; he noticed Historia looked a bit anxious, but also - of course, as always - extremely beautiful. It was time for the Queen to say a few words. She stood over her subjects with grace, but also sorrow in her eyes.
"I'm standing before you all, deeply saddened by the loss of so many precious lives. Many of these courageous heroes were the same age as I, and I had the pleasure to meet them in person." She took a deep breath. "We were all cadets in the same regiment. I knew many by name, and some I could actually consider friends. So, of course, it pains me to know that I couldn't have been there to contribute to this mission. I had all the intention to be there, with my fellow comrades, to fight alongside them. As I was trained to do. As a soldier." Historia looked at the ground. "But I was advised not to. My position had changed, and it wouldn't be wise." She looked back up, to her people. "I had to trust Commander Smith and the Survey Corps would bring victory to us. Like all of you, I had to wait, be patient and not give in to distress. I put my trust in them. The Battle of Shiganshina was an arduous and strange business. But in the end, after all the adversity and all the sacrifice, these heroes rendered us our victory." Historia proceeded with her captivating speech, to the enchantment of her subjects.
Eren couldn't help it; he had a sweet grin on his face.
"What are you smiling about?" Armin naively asked.
"Nothing!" Eren became embarrassed.
"Why do you think?" Jean teased. Connie was already making goofy faces.
Armin was still confused. The boys kept the tease. Eren was getting a little red in the face.
"They are being stupid," Eren complained, scratching his head.
"You are stupid," Jean threw back at him.
"Shhhh!" Sasha and Mikasa hastily shushed the boys.
It was a long afternoon. Most higher members of the military were given time to give speeches. All names and squads were read out loud and given praises and commendations, and family members were given the Survey Corps emblems of their fallen soldiers. After the ceremony, it was time for the funeral procession. Headed by Commander Erwin's carriage, and followed by many others, as they were ranked. Following the procession was the military, also organised by ranking, with what was left of the Survey Corps heading, followed by the Military Police, then Garrison, the new trainees. And after all the military, the families and regular citizens. All slowly walking towards the cemetery.
-.-
"It's not fair," Eren stated.
"What isn't fair?" Armin asked.
'Here we go again,' Mikasa thought.
The trio was walking behind some officials; they could almost spot Historia walking a few meters in front of them, also Commander Hange and Captain Levi a little further behind the Queen.
"We can't let their deaths be in vain." Eren expressed his frustration again. The ceremony was all done with, and there was no need to be silent any more, so he could start the discussion again.
"They weren't. The mission was still successful, even if only partially-" Armin replied.
"That's the point," Eren interrupted. "Partially. We lost the Armoured and the Beast."
"And the Cart," Armin added. His memories about the Nine Titans seemed fresher than Eren's.
"And the Cart," Eren repeated.
"Eren, it's a miracle we got out of that battle in the first place. And the knowledge your father left us was still intact. We had many losses, but in the end, the mission is still considered a success," Armin argued.
"But we can't just let things be as they are," Eren fiercely contested. "We have my father's books, and you can reach Bertholdt's memories. I'm sure that is enough intel to-"
"Eren, we can't just attack Marley like that. They have an empire, and a military much more advanced than ours." Armin just wanted his friend to see reason.
"Ugh!" Mikasa gave out a small groan. She was growing tired of those two endlessly discussing war, Eldia, and Marley. She wanted some peace. So she decided to walk near their other friends, who were a little behind the trio. She left Eren and Armin there, to keep their tiresome discussion.
"Come on!" Eren exclaimed in a more cheerful manner. "I know you." He grabbed Armin by the shoulder, and messed up his hair. "You can come up with a pretty good plan. So we can show them who they are messing with." Then Eren became more reflective. "And show those monsters they shouldn't have destroyed our hometown."
Armin thought for a moment more. That view, from up the Wall, seeing the Shiganshina citizens frightened, right before the attack, was one the strongest memories he had retained from Bertholdt. And he hated himself for it. He reflected on everything for a couple of minutes. Eren was waiting for a response.
"This drive you have, the desire to attack Marley, it all comes from an unfulfilled need for revenge. You need to stop feeding that," Armin advised his friend.
"It's not just that-" Eren replied.
"So why don't you just let go, and wait for Commander Hange to come up with her own plan? With what she wants to do? We are not in charge anyway, so I don't know why you even bother," Armin advised further.
"We are not in charge but we are Titans," Eren stated.
"Didn't you hear Zackly? We are not just Titans, we are 'their Titans'," Armin quoted, with a hint of sarcasm.
Eren was still very frustrated. He had grown more and more frustrated since they'd come back from Shiganshina. And for him, Armin seemed too detached from everything in the real world to support his best friend. Their disagreements were making them grow apart. That was disappointing for Eren; he'd thought Armin becoming a Titan would strengthen their friendship even further, for they had something in common no one else could understand. But it didn't matter. He had been wrong, and they were just falling further apart.
Eren was worn out, so he started looking up front. He decided he wanted a more refreshing conversation, and he broke formation to do so. He slowly made his way up to the front of the procession. Armin stayed on their designated line on his own; both his friends had abandoned him. 'What did I do?' he innocently thought, looking to both of his empty sides. The abandonment made him upset.
Mikasa had moved a couple of lines back, to be near her friends.
"You shouldn't be walking on the procession, you are still hurt," Mikasa advised Sasha. She was worried.
"That's okay," Sasha responded. "I'm almost healed by now, and I wanted to come. Besides, you got hurt too."
"Not nearly as badly as you. I really think you should be resting. It's a long walk," Mikasa added.
"I think it's funny how you just shrug your wounds off, like it was nothing. But then again, you and the Captain do heal faster than us normal folk," Sasha pointed out.
"Sasha," Mikasa gave her a concerned motherly look.
"I'll be fine! I'll rest A LOT when we get back to the base, I promise you." Sasha gave her word. "After dinner, of course," she added. Mikasa smiled.
"About that, do you think it would be insensitive if I ate my packed lunch when we get to the cemetery?" Sasha ingenuously asked.
"You could have died. I think the ghosts won't mind you keeping up your health," Mikasa answered.
They were still in the middle of the procession; by the time they reached the cemetery, it would be near sunset. It was a tiresome journey in that afternoon, of much reflection and sorrow for both the military and their civilian families.
"Do you think there was something else we could have done? To prevent some of those deaths? Sometimes I wonder... going back to that day..." Mikasa told her friend.
"Don't think too much about it. We all knew what we were getting ourselves into when we joined the Survey Corps," Sasha said. "We were all ready to give up our lives for mankind, even before we left for Shiganshina. Those people were asked to dedicate their hearts just like we were, and they knew the worst could come."
"It still doesn't seem fair that we were the lucky ones," Mikasa lamented.
"I wouldn't say luck played much of a role. If it wasn't for Armin and his crazy plan and Hange stepping in when I failed... well, we would probably be dead too," Sasha stated, then continued, "I still can't believe Armin actually figured out a way to take down Bertholdt. I hate that those higher-ranking officers keep treating him like he is to blame for the death of the Commander; not to mention, hoping for Hange to fail. That is not fair. They weren't there. They have no idea of what we went through," Sasha protested.
Mikasa was reflective for a second. "Do you think Armin was disappointed in me..?" Mikasa held her own left arm timidly. "When he learned that I gave up on him?"
"Floch should have kept to himself, it was none of his business. He just wanted to cause trouble," Sasha hissed.
"He would find out eventually," Mikasa said, gloomily.
"Mikasa, he would never hold anything against you. You should know this by now. Armin is the nicest, most sensible person I know," Sasha pointed out.
"Still, I'll never do it again," Mikasa promised.
That whole day was feeling very heavy. Sasha really wanted to find jokes or interesting conversations to distract her friend from the sadness of it all. Since they'd met, she felt like it was her job to cheer Mikasa up, and she enjoyed doing so. Then Sasha had an idea.
"I'm going to visit my village after this. I promised Dad I would stay longer there this time, and they are eager to see me," Sasha told her friend.
"That's good. I'm sure they are worried about you, especially after everything that happened," Mikasa mentioned.
"You should come with me! My parents really like you, and it would be great for you to have a vacation to take your mind off things. It will be fun! Just us girls," Sasha proposed.
Mikasa pondered a little. "Yes, why not? It should be fun."
"Yes!" Sasha hugged her friend and put up her fist in the air with excitement. "Ouch!" she inadvertently exclaimed.
Mikasa gave Sasha a concerned motherly look, as if to say 'I told you so'.
"I'm fine! I'll be fine," Sasha whispered and held her wound.
..
Eren walked awkwardly as he made his way up to the front. He stood next to Historia; she was walking by herself, and he thought she might want some company.
Historia smiled. "You look very smart in that coat," she complimented him.
"Thank you," Eren looked down. "I only wish we didn't have to wear these official clothes only in sad circumstances." He sighed. "It seems like a pattern. I'm getting used to coming to this cemetery. We have been on this path too many times since graduation," Eren lamented.
They were both thoughtful for a moment. Walking alongside each other.
"That was a nice speech, it was very moving. You are getting better at those," Eren complimented her. Historia blushed a little.
..
A few lines behind them, Jean and Connie were smiling goofily. The friends could see from far away that Eren had overcome his shyness and it was now talking to the Queen. Connie was certain their friend would eventually be brave enough to go and congratulate his well-known crush, and he was betting on it; but Jean thought Eren wouldn’t have the necessary courage to do so.
Jean lost the bet.
"Maybe he is not THAT stupid after all," he commented while paying Connie with some change he had in his pockets.
..
Historia smiled at Eren, "thanks," she said. "I know this is only the beginning, and I had to get used to doing this sort of thing sooner rather than later." She was well aware of her duties.
"You are a natural are it." Eren kept up the praise. "You'll do very well. What I can't understand is..." he moved closer to her ear. "Why do you have to walk behind Zackly?" he asked with a whisper.
"Oh. Well, he is the highest military authority, and I'm not eighteen yet. Those regents really enjoy limiting my duties," she explained. "And my authority," she added.
"They won't be able to, not for long," Eren replied. "And I'm sure you can't wait for it." He smiled. "I bet you already have all sorts of plans."
Historia laughed a little.
"What?" Eren asked.
"They want me to get married straight away. The Queen's main duty is to have children, after all," she explained.
"Yeesh! That doesn't sound like you at all!" Eren laughed. "How are you going to break it to them that you are not interested in that sort of life? Besides, this is your Kingdom, you are the one to decide what to do with it, and with your own life. I know you won't let these old men bully you into anything."
"You know me better than anyone," Historia commented.
"I know you'd much rather have things your way than fall into the stupid traditions your family followed," Eren replied. "Otherwise I wouldn't be alive," he added softly. He straightened himself a little, and stood a bit taller. "You are the girl who saved me, and you deserve to rule your Kingdom the way you feel is best." Eren smiled. "You are already doing much better than your father ever did."
"Right," she said, then considered, "Sometimes I wonder if some of my people want me to follow in his footsteps."
"Doesn't seem like a good idea. He blatantly fed a quarter of our population to titans..." Including Armin's grandpa, Eren thought to himself, "...hoping to avoid crowding in Wall Rose. He lied and cheated, he kept his people away from the truth. So far, you've done the exact opposite. You let the information we gathered, our history, out for the people to know, and you are successfully retaking Wall Maria. Brilliantly. You are nothing like him," Eren praised her.
Historia thought for a moment. "I'm not like my mother either. I'm definitely nothing like her," she said. And I never want to be, she thought. "I have no idea who I take after."
"I can think of two people, and their names start with 'U' and 'F'," Eren replied. "Do you want to take a guess?" he joked.
"Right, I suppose so, or at least I wish." Historia considered. "I never met uncle Uri, for obvious reasons; I wonder what he was like... Well, I guess you were the one to tell me about him." Historia smiled at Eren. He felt a little embarrassed, and maybe uncomfortable. Their families were a mess, and they both knew it.
"Yes, I suppose I could," he said, "but you need to give me time to concentrate on that." He hesitated, feeling a little awkward.
Historia decided to move away from the topic of previous Founding Titan holders. "I will do my best. And I am considering a few things for the future. You were right in saying what you said. I will rule by my own accord. I want to make my own decisions. And..." She paused herself, a little embarrassed.
"And?" Eren was curious.
"I do see their point. I think I should get married and have children, but that is not the priority," she explained. "You see..." she was reluctant to bring up that topic. "I'm the only one left in my family." Eren looked away; what his father had done would forever haunt their lives. "It wouldn't be fair to leave Eldia with no heirs," Historia remarked.
"If you are doing that out of your own accord, I think it makes sense," Eren replied.
They kept walking, following the procession, to bury their dead heroes.
"I know you are more concerned about the more immediate future, and the decisions to be made," Historia observed. She continued, "I know you want your vengeance on Reiner, and you are quite right to-"
"And you know they have Ymir," Eren pointed out.
Historia sighed. "Eren, she made her choice. It was her decision to go with them, and you should accept that. I know I have."
"But you know why she followed them, Armin told us."
"I know. She felt she owed them, for Marcel." Historia smiled. "That dummy, always pretending she didn't care about anything or anyone besides herself. And she cared even for them. She was a much better person than any of us, in the end," Historia stated. "Of us and the warriors," she added.
"I promised you I'd go back for her-" Eren told Historia, but she interrupted him.
"Eren, you have The Founding. You should know better than anyone," Historia's voice became a little more broken, "that she has probably already been given as a sacrifice by now."
Eren became more upset. "How many friends do we have to lose before our island can finally reach peace?" he questioned.
"We will never reach peace," Historia remarked. "Humans are incapable of it."
"Not as long as they are out there," Eren replied.
"True," Historia considered.
"Still, we should recover our Titans. The Nine Titans are a part of our culture, not theirs. And those marleans are using our titans' power to build an empire and conquer everything in their path," Eren argued.
"Isn't that what we used to do? And what's more, I wouldn't know where the other Titan Families' influence ends and where this new Marley Empire actually begins!" Historia remarked.
"The first thing we need to do is find out about these other Titan families," Eren replied. "And figure why they decided to betray Eldia in favour of Marley. We don't know much about the War or Karl Fritz."
Historia reflected on it for a moment. "What do you know about the Attack Titan family?" she asked. She was curious about it.
"There was never much of a 'family', it was more of a randomly predestinated choice," Eren explained.
"Well, we should be glad you were your father's predestinated choice," she argued.
"Yeah," Eren looked at the ground. "I don't really want to talk about that," he said uncomfortably.
"You are always avoiding pivotal topics," Historia jokingly complained.
"You're the one to talk!" Eren replied.
"What?" Historia became confused.
Eren smiled. "I'm just glad we are back to talking normally, since that ordeal at the medal ceremony," he explained.
"I don't know what you are talking about," she joked.
"Don't play with me," Eren said with a smirk.
She smiled and took his arm to hold, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. They walked arm-in-arm, towards the cemetery.
-.-
"Don't they realise they are being too obvious?" Sasha joked. They could see their friends in the distance.
Mikasa smiled. "Let them be. My little brother has the right to enjoy what he has left of his life. We all do."
"Do you believe in that curse, then?" Sasha asked. "I didn't think you would."
"Maybe I didn't want to at first," Mikasa admitted. "But we all need to come to terms with it, sooner or later. Death is all around us. It's all around me; it always takes the ones I love most." She let out.
Sasha looked at her friend lovingly, thinking about what to say next; she wanted to comfort Mikasa. "Well, I will always be here. And so will the boys, I'm sure you know."
"I know. And I'm grateful, you are my good friends. But it won't be the same, I'm sure you can understand. They are my family," Mikasa explained.
"Yes, I understand. And it's not fair." Sasha sighed. "I don't know what I would do in your place. I can't bear to think of it. If my days with my family were numbered, I would never leave their side."
Armin was still marching on his own; he was feeling a little hurt. Funerals were always depressing affairs and this particular one was clearly very hard on him. Both his friends knew that and they'd abandoned him anyway. He was feeling very blue, but he kept walking. Mikasa slowly came back to her position by his side. She reached out to hold his hand.
"So, I take it I'm not on time-out anymore..?" he cheekily asked. Mikasa nodded. She didn't say a word, but she tightened her grasp, interlocking their hands.
The funeral procession was arriving at its destination. The young soldiers were used to that cemetery: in the past year they'd buried too many friends in that place. Now the military had to bury almost the whole of the Survey Corps branch. It was all very difficult for everyone. The sun was almost setting in that beautiful, and yet saddened afternoon.
-.-
The 104th Regiment - or what little was left of it - was spread out in the shadowy side, a little further away from all the commotion.
"Here it is, Braus, now you can rest." Jean had found a folding chair for their wounded friend.
"I feel bad, there's a bunch of old people here," Sasha commented.
"But you are still recovering," Jean pointed out.
"You should sit here, near the shadow," Connie suggested. He was under a small tree.
"You know, these cemetery trees grow out with the nutrients of corpses," Floch grimly commented.
The group glared at him unpleasantly. Sasha slowly sat on the chair, under the tree.
"Why do you always feel the need to be so impertinent?" Jean complained, putting his hands on his hips.
-.-
Erwin's coffin had reached its burial site; they were preparing things to start the burial procedure. Levi and Hange watched side by side, fairly near it. The trio was a little further away closer to their 104th friends.
"I don't get it, why do you have to go?" Eren asked Mikasa, while crossing his arms.
"It will just be a couple of weeks. She invited me, and besides I want to go," Mikasa argued. "The Braus have a nice farm and I miss riding horses just for fun. It would be good for a change."
"It sounds nice. You should go," Armin replied. He turned to Eren. "Eren, she's not obliged to hang just around us all the time."
Eren grunted, still with his arms crossed.
"Are you going to miss me?" Mikasa innocently pouted.
"It's not that," Eren complained while scratching his hair. "We know Hange will want to continue with the Wall Maria operation as soon as this is over. And you and the Captain are needed. You two can kill almost as many pure Titans as I can. You heard Historia in that speech! She promised that the citizens will be able to go back to the Maria Region by spring! That means we need to be finished by then," he argued.
"We don't know how many Titans are still out there to kill, but I bet there's not that many at this point," Mikasa contested.
"But we can't know that for sure, now can we?" Eren maintained his argument.
"Besides," Mikasa gestured to the side, "Armin is the one doing most of the killing anyway," she argued.
"Thank you, dear," Armin responded ironically, feeling a little hurt.
She continued, "We barely make any difference with our Titan count. And," she added, "that death-hell-judgement, or something machine you and Hange came up with was surprisingly effective," she told Armin.
"The Executioner from Hell," Armin corrected her. "I didn't come up with that name, Hange did," he jokingly commented, then continued, "Not that surprising, at least not to me. You just gather enough strength to make a precise blow. With all the bait in Trost, the pure Titans were sure to line up to get the machine treatment." He smiled.
Armin was more proud of that invention, from his intellect, than the amount of killing he had achieved with his Titan's strength. "Our machine worked nonstop, and it is still working when needed. Very good project, excellent execution. Do you get the name now?" He smiled at his friends, they both stared at him and at each other awkwardly. Armin laughed by himself. He looked around, and stopped. Commander Erwin's coffin was being laid down into the ground, so that laugh was badly timed.
"Maybe I shouldn't be here. I-I shouldn't have come." Armin told his friends. He felt uncomfortable with the military staring at him.
"You have the right to be here and pay your respects, same as everyone else," Eren replied.
Armin felt very small. "Let them hate me, they have the right to do so. I took away the chance from a better man to come back to life," he dazedly confessed to his friends while watching Commander Erwin's coffin being buried.
Mikasa looked at him with sorrow, Eren decided to reply. "Don't say that, Armin. These people out there, they have no idea what you are capable of. They failed to notice how we could only achieve what we have because of you! You are the one who's brought us this far and you will take us further. They will see that and recognise it. The Captain did, in the end."
Then Mikasa said, "What these people need to understand is that the Commander was the one who gave Levi the authority to make the decision. And he signed his own death sentence in doing so."
"Yeesh! No need to get so dark," Eren replied.
"Well, I'm tired of those people turning their noses and blaming Armin for something he had no control over. All because it's the easier thing to do. Because they are all too afraid to openly judge Levi and his actions," Mikasa let out.
"To be fair, you are the only person who is not scared of him," Eren remarked.
"And with good reason," Armin added. "I wish he'd say something." He looked at Levi, in the distance. "He hasn't even looked at me since we got back." He sighed.
Levi was near Hange, both silently watching the procedures. They watched as the gravediggers slowly filled in their friend's grave.
-.-
"If you want to be part of our group, you need to watch out for the things you say. You have quite a mouth," Connie smugly advised Floch.
"Our group? He is not in our group!" Jean protested.
"Come on, Jean, cut the boy some slack. We can be nice to him, even if he is a pain," Sasha replied from her spot under the tree.
"I am right here," Floch complained. "And who says I want to be a part of your stupid group?"
"You don't?" Jean smirked. "Then why are you always hanging around us?" He crossed his arms.
Floch was bewildered. "This is literally all that's left from the Survey Corps. Where else am I supposed to go?"
"You can always go back to the Garrison," Jean cheekily suggested.
"I would never. Not after everything I've been through," Floch earnestly expressed.
"Does this mean he's a part of The Levi Squad?" Sasha wondered.
"Good point. We should get him through initiation." Connie smirked at Jean, and he raised his eyebrows. 'This will be fun,' they both thought.
"Be careful with your tongue, Forster." Jean smiled. "You might end up getting a beating from the Captain." He opened his eyes wide, for extra effect on the grim warning.
"Wait, are you serious? Does he really beat you guys?" Floch wasn't sure if they were joking or not.
"He doesn't," Mikasa said from a distance. The trio was joining their friends, near the tree. "But he will make you scrub the floor until your fingers bleed." She smiled evilly. "He is a clean freak, that midget."
"You have no idea, man," Eren added.
"Good luck joining the team," Connie joked.
"He is a small tyrant," Mikasa teased.
"Not to you, of course," Floch told Mikasa. "I bet you are his little princess."
"You clearly don't get the Ackermanns," Jean joked with him, trying to lighten the mood.
"What? Don't tell me he doesn't do anything you want." Floch was looking for some trouble; he was still indignant with the Captain. "He saved your boyfriend, didn't he? Instead of doing the right thing. Your family is a disgrace."
"Don't make me hurt you," Mikasa sternly warned him.
"But you would, wouldn't you? That's your people's answer to everything," Floch threw back at her.
"Guys! This is a funeral. Can we please act in a civilised way?" Eren softly scolded them.
"Eren telling people to be civilised? There's a first time for everything," Jean joked.
Floch stood to the side, and Mikasa decided to calm down.
-.-
Historia looked at her friends from further away. She'd been meaning to say hi for a while now. She decided to escape her escorts.
"Look who decided to join the commoners!" Jean exclaimed.
"Any excuse to get away from those boring, judgmental, old men." Historia smiled at her friends.
"Do you want to sit here?" Sasha offered her chair.
"No way! Are you kidding me? You need your rest," Historia replied.
"I told her so," Mikasa added.
Historia moved over to sit next to Sasha, on the grass under the tree.
"Don't you want a blanket or something, Christa-?" Connie stopped himself. Historia gave him a look. "I mean, Historia," he corrected himself.
"No, there's no need," she responded. "But thank you." She graciously sat on the grass. Mikasa sat next to her.
"Sometimes it feels like he does that on purpose," Jean complained.
"I'll get used to it," Connie replied, embarrassed.
-.-
"I'm sorry, you guys, but it's not like I can take a day off. Not now, anyways," Historia told the girls. They had asked her to join them on their trip.
"That's sad. It would be so much fun if you could join us!" Sasha replied.
"I know, I envy you guys," Historia confessed. "I hope you have a jolly time!" she wished.
"We could visit you at the farm afterwards," Mikasa suggested, "and see how the orphanage kids are doing."
"Yes, that could be, but then you'd have to help me with chores," Historia pointed out.
"We'll bring the boys this time. Then they can do the chores," Sasha proposed. The girls laughed.
"Okay, this started as a small vacation but now you guys are getting out of hand," Eren complained to the girls.
"Why must you always be a bummer? Let the girls enjoy themselves," Jean contested.
"That's we don't invite you to things," Connie added, under his breath.
"What things?" Eren innocently asked, and turned to his best friend in confusion.
"Don't look at me. I don't know what they are talking about," Armin lied, shrugging.
Mikasa was enraged. She looked up at Armin, to have one of their customary eye-to-eye exchanges.
'Why are you not including Eren in things?' Mikasa's eyes confronted his.
'Please, can we discuss this later?' Armin's eyes begged.
Historia noticed Hitch was away from them, near the MPs and other coffins; she could see the sadness in Hitch's eyes, even when she was smiling at her comrades.
"Marlo was such a good person wasn't he? I feel bad," Historia told the group.
"He led the charge," Floch sighed, "after the Commander fell to the ground. It was quite heroic of him," he confessed.
"Now, why couldn't you have said that to Hitch last time? Instead of breaking her heart?" Jean angrily complained.
Floch grunted, rolled his eyes, and decided to leave the group's company. He finally decided it was best to be on his own.
"Don't be so hard on him, Jean," Eren said softly. "People grieve in different ways," he advised.
"Now, why are you defending him?" Jean asked.
"Don't you see I am being reasonable?" Eren complained. The boys were ready for a fight.
"Can we please just have a peaceful, quiet funeral for a change? This is borderline disrespectful," Mikasa scolded the two.
"Sorry, Mikasa," the boys replied.
"Thank you for that. It was starting to get a little awkward," Historia said to Mikasa in a small delicate voice, near her ear.
Armin quietly laughed to himself.
"Stop laughing," Eren advised his friend while crossing his arms. "Wait until they gang up on us. You wouldn't like that," he whispered.
"Oh-" Armin hadn't thought about that possibility. He became a little nervous.
"That's why we need to stick together, you and I," Eren said smiling while putting his arm over Armin's shoulder and hugging his friend.
-.-
The night had fallen upon them. Most of the families were going home and the military had already been dispersed.
"All right. It's been a long day, and you all did very well," Levi congratulated his squad.
They bravely saluted in response.
"At ease. You are dismissed; go to the base and rest," he advised his pupils.
The young soldiers relaxed their stances and started to walk away, chatting to each other. Levi smiled; he was content with his pupils' happiness.
Eren turned back for a moment. "Aren't you coming, Captain?" he asked, concerned.
"I'll stay a little longer," Levi answered, and turned back as he gestured for Eren to leave.
Levi returned to the cemetery. He walked around the graves, under the moonlight. "I knew you would still be here," he said.
Hange was sitting on the grass, near Erwin's grave, with her hands around her knees. Contemplative. Levi sat next to her.
"I was just asking for some advice," she joked.
"He wouldn't have chosen you to succeed him if he didn't think you were up to the task," Levi assured Hange.
"How many times have we been here before? I lost count," she sadly asked.
"Hard to tell." Levi sighed. "But too many."
They stayed there, under the moonlight, in silence for a few more minutes.
"I'm glad he is properly resting now. It finally leaves me at peace," Hange confessed.
"That means our retrieval mission was successful," Levi remarked.
"Yes, that is true," she replied.
"So what now? What lies in the future for the Scouts? What is our next mission, Commander?" Levi asked her.
"We are the Survey Corps. Our job is to explore what lies beyond the Walls. Now we know there's a whole world outside, waiting to be explored. So that is our next mission," Hange told Levi.
.
- Year 866 - Mitras, In The Royal Library:
Azzy looked back, attentively, at the illustrations in this book that the professor was showing to him prior to that small distraction, and started to ask more questions. He was slowly building up the timeline of the year 854, but it was like a puzzle. And that old man going back and forth with his unreliable narrative made the puzzle-solving even more complicated. All Azzy needed was the specific time where he could insert himself and 'solve everything' as he planned.
This little journey into the past was also being useful in another way, Azzy was slowly grabbing glimpses of his parents' lives and their personalities, and was finally being able to picture who they were in his head. That would be a problem in a few seconds, and he wouldn't even notice; all his facade was about to fall down with a slip of his tongue. Azzy was starting to grow tired of this old man presenting to him the basic knowledge he had of the four years prior to the Rumbling, and how he wasn't showing Azzy's father in a good light. The attack on Marlean shores was particularly hurtful for the boy.
"I don't believe it," Azzy said sceptically.
"You don't believe in what particularly?" Zeke asked.
"Anything you said. My father wouldn't kill all those people." He proceeded without thinking, "All I heard about him growing up was how righteous and upstanding he was. It even got annoying sometimes. Everything about his life made him sound so perfect, and all this killing doesn't fit with it." Azzy kept ranting about it while pointing at some pictures in the book.
Zeke just stared at the boy. "I see." He adjusted his glasses.
Azzy sat back down on his chair. "I'm sorry for that," he apologised.
"Things do make more sense now, especially your interest in this subject," Zeke pointed out. "How is your uncle doing?" he asked.
Azzy crossed his arms. "He doesn't know where I am, that's for sure. And he definitely doesn't know you survived that beheading; I'm sure he'd be annoyed about that." Azzy warned the professor.
"I would hate to disappoint him, so let's keep that between us, shall we?" Zeke suggested. He became a bit nervous, but didn't let it show, of course.
The boy kept staring at the photograph; it was one of the few left that documented the destruction of the Marlean harbour.
"Is this picture even real?" he contested again, still sceptical, but this time a little more broken.
"Yes, it is real. Believe me, I was there," Zeke confirmed.
Azzy sighed. "Why would he kill all those people?" he asked with a smaller voice.
"We tend to idealise our parents until a certain age. Then we grow up and we can finally see them as they are: Human. And sometimes even worse than that," the professor philosophised. He thought about his own parents and his own childhood.
The boy was still looking very small; he sank a little more into his chair.
Zeke continued: "It's tragic, I know, but you have to admit it's also fascinating. If you could only have seen how great that harbour was before, and how many ships were docked there, you could grasp the potential for destruction the Colossal Titan actually has. It's incredible." Zeke pointed at the bent structures and debris in the picture while praising the Titan's potential. "Just imagine how much this creature could destroy."
"Just imagine how millions of those could easily destroy the whole Earth," Azzy responded.
"Yes, that was, well-" Zeke thought for a moment. "It wasn't how I would have done things. If I'd have had it my way. But I didn't, and it's a shame," he confessed.
"Why did you change sides?" the boy queried.
"As I said, after four years of your father sinking all our attempts to get back to the island, I decided to try a different strategy and stop fighting against my own kind. I thought I could end things once and for all. I was naive to think that my brother would see eye-to-eye with me and follow the plan we had agreed on," Zeke explained.
"But he didn't?" Azzy assumed.
"No. No, he didn't, he tricked me," the professor sorrowfully remarked.
The boy thought for a second. "Well, I'm glad I am an only child, then," Azzy joked.
Zeke adjusted his glasses. "Right, and not only that, with the amount of destruction all those years ago, you might be the only one left. In your family, I mean. If this watch has been an heirloom for so long as you said. You should take your place then, demand your inheritance," Zeke suggested. He was letting the royalist in him show.
"Inheritance?" Azzy asked.
"You could claim the whole continent of Marley, if you are savvy enough," Zeke suggested, jokingly.
"What is left of it, you mean." The boy showed no interest.
"Tybur Castle is still standing, or so I heard. I have no idea how, but that is where I thought you had stolen that watch from in the first place." Zeke justified his previous judgement and continued, "All those abandoned houses, or what is left of them, have probably been plundered after what happened. It's a shame. But that's just how humans are, and how they behave, especially in chaos. Even in smaller quantities, they will always cause trouble. It's their nature, and it is unavoidable." The professor philosophised once more.
The boy played around with the watch, passing it through his fingers. He didn't seem very interested in ancestry or ancient houses, and the old professor noticed his disinterest.
"I wonder if my dear cousin knew about your possible noble blood, when she invited you to the palace," he questioned, holding his chin.
"I bet she didn't, and I shouldn't have been there in the first place," Azzy replied regretfully.
"That business with my niece, it was quite sad." Zeke shook his head. The boy looked unsettled. "But don't worry about it. I won't warn the Guards that you are here, at least not yet," Zeke was still a little undecided. "I am enjoying your company. You actually intrigue me. Although, I could... it would be entertaining to watch."
"Entertaining?" The boy was puzzled with the word choice.
"Ackermanns always give out quite a show when their senses are triggered. I was always curious about your kind," Zeke explained.
'We are not animals,' the boy protested in his mind.
"You are still a little young, but I wonder how well you can hold yourself in a fight," Zeke continued.
'You don't want to know,' the boy thought to himself.
The professor continued, "You clearly have the strength." He pointed at the book pile the boy had previously brought to the table. "I wonder about... what was it?" He thought out loud. "Resilience, stamina, speed," he reminded himself. "How is your speed?" he asked.
"I would say speed is not really my thing, not exactly, no." The boy enjoyed joking in ways only he could understand.
"Hmm..." Zeke was cogitating a few things.
"What do you mean by triggered?" the boy questioned; he didn't understand that comment.
"You evidently have not been awakened yet, if you have to ask this question," Zeke pointed out.
"Awakened?" the boy asked. 'That's definitely not a thing,' he thought.
"That is when your powers really come to light, at full force. Hasn't your uncle taught you anything?" the professor questioned.
"He doesn't talk much," Azzy responded.
Zeke held his chin again, thinking. "Maybe you were born powerless," he considered. "Or with little power to show, and your uncle didn't want to bother with it. That could explain you being so clueless about it. And also, your blood is tainted of course. It makes all the more sense, really. With your mother being Asian-"
"Half-Asian," Azzy corrected him.
"Right. Still, I'd be surprised if you carried enough to unlock any Ackermann powers," Zeke maintained his argument.
"Yes, you are probably right," Azzy responded. "I guess I'll never know." He sighed dramatically. "I don't think I can unlock anything; it must be my tainted blood," he added. He was having so much fun, and the old man couldn't even tell.
The young boy started shuffling through pages of his small notebook, reviewing what he had written so far.
"In what language is that?" Zeke questioned the boy.
"Not really a language, I just prefer making my own code." The boy smiled. "There are many things here only I can understand anyways." He laughed.
Zeke was confused, but still intrigued.
"Well, thank you, this was very-" The boy looked for a word. "-enlightening." He finished the sentence, and bowed.
"It was a pleasure," Zeke replied. "It's not very often we see young folk interested to learn about the past. You are being very wise. Those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it," he advised the boy. "I hope I helped send you on the right path." The professor wished him well on his journey.
"You definitely did," the boy declared while analysing the notes on his book once more. 'Now I know exactly where to go,' the boy thought confidently. He closed the small notebook.
The Royal Library was gigantic and there weren't many people in it, but they could already see a small commotion happening near the windows. There were faint sounds outside, of screams and distress. Of humans being confronted with doom.
"And that is my cue to leave," Azzy said, smiling.
"What is happening outside?" Zeke was confused and apprehensive. He moved closer to one of the windows. He hated the sunlight but it was time to confront it. "Why is the sun so bright?" he questioned while trying to protect himself from the glare.
Azzy took out his watch. "It's already night. And that is definitely not the sun."
Zeke noticed how bright it was outside and how everything and everyone was quickly disappearing.
"What in the world?!" he exclaimed.
"I believe the world has reached its end. Well, your world at least," the boy explained. His eyes were filled with a bright blue light and his entire nervous system was lighting up in a similar fashion.
The professor was open-mouthed and completely petrified.
Azzy cheerfully saluted the old War Chief, in great military fashion, while waiting for his power to build up, so he could jump away from that time. As Azzy jumped, one could see the nerves around his rib cage expand, forming what looked like bright blue wings, made of pure light. That was the very last thing Zeke saw, before his world was completely wiped from existence.
- Year 854 - undisclosed location - Paradise Island
Eren was climbing up a hill to meet the others, at the location they had previously arranged. He was thoughtful, but pleased with himself. Everything was going well with the plan. He was so close to finally setting his people free, and ending their suffering.
It was a lovely day; the sun was shining across the hills and through the tree leaves. The wind was slowly shaking the grass and the foliage. The sky was the bluest blue, decorated with orange sun rays.
A sudden rush of wind passed through him, and everything went cold in an instant. Eren looked at the skies. Something evil was coming, he thought.
"You should have stayed in prison. It suits you better."
The boy quickly emerged from a lightning bolt. The brightness blinded Eren for a second, but he recognised the voice.
"I knew you would show up eventually," Eren said confidently. "How long has it been for you? A few weeks, maybe?" he asked the boy.
Azzy was caught by surprise. He wasn't expecting Eren to know so much. That disarmed him. "How? That hasn't happened yet," he questioned Eren in disbelief.
"True, but it doesn't mean I can't see it." Eren smiled and pointed at his head. "We all have our tricks, haven't we?" he teased the boy.
"It's been a few months, actually. For me. But for you there are a few years still missing, so I'll excuse you if you get confused, don't worry," Azzy teased him back.
"I won't," Eren replied sharply. "I know you are here to kill me. But in the end, I will make you see things my way, so you won't," he pointed out.
"I doubt that," Azzy replied.
"Well then, we should move this along. My followers will soon be here," Eren warned him.
"Right, I'd hate to disturb your useless chat with your brainless goons." Azzy crossed his arms. "That's why I decided to drop by sooner than that." He explained, "It's the perfect spot."
"Yes, the perfect spot," Eren repeated. "You chose well. It will leave no mark in History once you leave here. For this conversation won't change anything; it will only change you. Are you ready for that? To revoke the promise you once so bravely declared to me?" Eren asked. "I didn't forget that," he added while pointing at his head again.
"You are a little too confident. Do you ever walk around shirtless or is that a newfound trend?" Azzy had to ask. He'd been wondering that since he'd arrived.
Eren laughed. "Well, as you said, I just left prison, and I was in a hurry," he explained.
"You should have stayed there. Jail is where people like you belong," Azzy stated.
"Come on Az, you don't mean that. You are going to kill me. Isn't that what you said?" Eren teased him again.
"Yes, that is what I said," Az responded.
"But you haven't yet," Eren stated.
"I haven't, yet," Azzy threatened him.
"And I will tell you why." Eren started his speech. "You know it won't make a difference. This is not my war; I'm just a vessel, and I'm glad to be. But if I die, she will just find someone else, and another, and another one after that. It will happen over and over again," Eren explained, while staring into the horizon. He turned to Azzy again. "And you already know that. That is the origin of your conflict, and you can't escape it."
Azzy took a few steps back. He held himself, he was starting to feel very small and cold.
"You can't escape it," Eren continued. "You have been trapped in this for far too long. I can see how tired you are, how agonising this has been. You should just let it go. Let her be, and finally rest." Eren's suggestion was a haunting one.
At that point Azzy wasn't sure who he was speaking to anymore. The boy thought for a moment. He needed to concentrate on what was really important. The reason he was there. Eren was trying to confuse him, and he couldn't let that happen.
"So billions of people should die? Do you really expect me to agree with you that this is the best solution?" the boy asked.
"Don't try to play sentimental with me. You are not like your parents. In fact, it actually made me like you more once I noticed how reasonable you are," Eren responded.
"I'm not a bad person. No matter how many times you keep telling me, trying to make me believe it. I know who I am, so just drop it," Azzy warned him.
"Really? Am I speaking to a different Azzy then? Because I know very well what you are, and what you did," Eren reminded him.
Azzy didn't have a strategy to avoid or move away from that topic; he'd rather not think about it. The last thing he'd expected was a much younger version of Eren, than the one he knew, would be aware of the worst day of his life, and of his biggest mistake. But the father knew. Eren knew the bad thing Azzy had done.
The boy stayed silent. He felt cornered and he couldn't find a way out of his situation. And for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to kill Eren.
Eren stared at him in a loving way, trying to think of a way to bring the boy to his senses. He had a proposition for Azzy, the last time they spoke. In the future. But his plans got interrupted, and now was the time to go after it again. "Don't you want to go back? To your own time? To the things and people you love?" Eren suggested.
Azzy thought for a moment, analysing the suggestion and his now broken future. "I don't think I love anything or anyone," the boy considered. "The ones I should have loved, you took away from me. I have nothing to lose," he responded.
"So we are even, then? Because you took from me the one I love most," Eren pointed out. He walked closer to the cliff with a mad look in his eyes. He laughed. "Isn't it funny?" He turned to Azzy again. "You were just a child, and you took your revenge without even noticing it. You've got to admit that's ironic."
"It wasn't like that! It was all an accident!" Azzy defended himself. "I would never hurt her on purpose! You have to believe me!" he pleaded.
Eren laughed again, he was a little more thoughtful this time.
"So is that why you are keeping me alive? To have me pay for my sins later on? On your own terms?" he joked.
"I said it was an accident." Azzy became serious.
"Right... 'an accident'. So fix it," Eren suggested. "That you know you can do." He pointed at the boy.
"I-I wouldn't know how, I tried before, but it can't find my way. I always end up at the beginning. It's worthless!" Azzy tried to explain.
"Come on, now, Azzy. You can do better than that. I know you can. You are only now discovering how your powers work! I'm sure you will find a way," Eren encouraged him.
Azzy thought about it, he had progressed a lot in those last couple of months, and he had all the time in the world! Maybe the right thing to do was fix his own mistake; he should have tried that in the first place. That poor, innocent girl didn't deserve to have her life end like that.
"Honestly," Eren continued, "if I had raised you, things would've been much different. For sure. You have so much potential! Levi had no idea what he was taking in, he didn't know how to handle you. Believe me, if you were in my hands, you would have advanced so much more on those abilities ages ago," Eren kept going, but the boy wasn't paying much attention. He was considering certain things.
There was a small commotion coming up the hill, it was the Yeagerists approaching. Azzy needed another place to reflect on his thoughts. He decided to jump out of there, out of that time. And so he did, in a quick flash of blue lightning, leaving behind his signature bluish looking wings up in the air for a fragment of a second.
Eren was still talking. The time disturbance disoriented his Attack Titan mind for a second; he felt sick to his stomach and a little dizzy. "What just happened?" He held his head. He was confused and dazed for a few more minutes.
- Year 854 - The City of Shiganshina - The Crumbling of The Walls
Azzy stood there, on the roof of one of the houses. Watching as all those Titans were being freed from The Walls, to walk the Earth and leave only destruction behind. He watched the horror from a respectful distance. The young boy was confused and uncertain; he had no idea what to do next. He knew only that he couldn't go home, not after this. After this he didn't even know what 'home' was supposed to be.
"It's horrible, isn't it?" He heard a smooth voice right behind him. "Especially when you know what comes after this."
Az was taken by surprise; the young boy had been certain he was completely alone. He was immediately curious to know who was the owner of that voice. Azzy turned himself to look.
The woman seemed young, but she was certainly an adult. Azzy was mesmerised: she was truly beautiful. She was tall and well composed. She stood there with grace in a long, ravishing blue dress, like royalty. Her long and wavy caramel hair extended to her sides and her eyes were hypnotic, a yellow as bright as the sun. Her beauty was undeniable, but that wasn't what the boy's attention was centred on. He was staring at the woman's face: she looked very familiar.
"Who are you?" the boy asked.
"Oh." She hesitated. "No one important," she said. The woman smiled, looking at him in a loving way. "You look funny like that," she teased him.
"Like what?" The boy was confused. He stared down at his clothes.
"So young," she answered.
"I'm fifteen," Azzy complained. What was it with adults belittling him? The teenager was annoyed.
"I know, I remember," the woman told him.
The boy was very confused. It was clear they knew each other, but he'd never met the woman. Either she was someone from his future, or he did meet her in the past and forgot about it. Either way, the mystery was bothering him.
"Who are you?" he asked again.
The woman ignored the question. She walked gracefully on the roof and stopped closer to him, to watch the destruction. She seemed sad and reflective.
"I can help you," she offered.
Azzy noticed something odd about her aura as she came close. He gently passed his hand over her, and just like he'd predicted, she wasn't real: his arm went right through the apparition.
"You aren't actually here." He said it with awe and disbelief. The boy looked around to see if there was anyone near them. "Am I the only one who can see you?" he wondered.
"Well, even if you weren't, I think the people in this town have more important things to worry about than a ghost from another world," Sonnen explained.
"Is that what you are? A ghost from a different world?" the boy asked. He was fascinated. The fifteen-year-old kept passing his hands through the apparition, and Sonnen started to get a little annoyed. She swiftly grabbed his arm, and gave him a disapproving look. The boy startled; he wasn't expecting the ghost to be able to pass to his world. Azzy also noticed a bright green light forming when her hand made contact with his arm, but he kept that to himself. He still wasn't sure about this ghost; he wanted to observe it, to learn more.
"Never mind me," she answered, "it doesn't matter who I am. I'm not important. What matters is what you can do."
"You keep saying you are not important," the boy interrupted her, "but I don't believe that."
"Why is that?" she asked, puzzled.
"Everyone is important," the boy stated. "That is something my mother used to say," he explained.
"Every life is worth saving," he mumbled under his breath as he turned again to watch the destruction.
"Right, that is very kind, and you seem to believe in that..." Sonnen replied.
"I do." Azzy was sure. Even if his feelings towards humanity were shallow and distant, he was still a good person, and still very, very young.
Sonnen kept looking over the Colossal Titans, marching around the city, ready to walk over and destroy the whole world.
"And do you think this is fair? So many people dying this way? The immense tragedy that falls upon the Earth after this?" she asked.
"No, I don't think it's fair." The boy looked away from her. He stared down, upset and ashamed. "Where I come from, this all already happened. I grew up in the aftermath of it all." He sighed. "I thought I could reverse it, that I could change everything, somehow. But I can't. There's no stopping it, it can't be undone."
"Who says that?" Sonnen replied, in a playful tone.
Az felt a little unsettled; he had poured his heart out to that familiar stranger and she was smiling at it all.
"I just know it, that witch, she will never stop," he explained.
Sonnen laughed.
"What if we can stop her?" she proposed. "What if you can stop her?"
Az stared away for a few seconds, pondering the stranger's proposal.
"So is that what you are? A good witch?" he asked.
Sonnen laughed once more.
"I wouldn't exactly call myself that, no," she replied. "But-" She stopped herself for a moment. "I can take you where you need to go," she continued. "I can guide you there."
Azzy noticed that made her a little upset. "And what's the catch?" He smiled, perhaps to ease her mind. "There's always a catch with these things."
She responded without hesitation: "You can never return."
The two of them stood there, in silence. Two strangers on top of another stranger's house, in an abandoned city. Watching the monsters walking, heading on the way to the world's destruction.
"Will it avoid all this?" he asked.
"It depends," she answered.
"On what?" he asked.
"On the decisions you make," she answered. "You'll have to be wise," she advised him.
Az thought for a while. This whole situation felt so otherworldly to him; it was all very sudden and a little too perfect. "So, am I supposed to just trust you?" he asked. "You don't even want to tell me who you are!"
"I trust you. Isn't that enough?" the woman replied. "I am probably the only person in the world who does," she complemented, with teary eyes.
"How will I know?" he asked. "How will I know I succeeded?"
"When you wake up, hopefully in a better world than this one," she explained. Sonnen smiled again. "When you do, you come looking for me. We will have a lot to talk about."
"I don't understand." The boy was very confused. He was honoured to be the one to amend all this, but the good witch wasn't exactly giving him enough to go on.
"There's no point in me over-explaining this to you." She sighed. "You will forget all about it. You know how unreliable your memories are."
"It seems you know a great deal about me," he told her, but she ignored him.
"Besides, I can't tell you much. Otherwise it could influence your decisions, and I don't want to carry that burden."
Azzy raised his eyebrows, what was this woman going on about with all this nonsensical talk?
"All you need to know is this: save the girl. That is all that matters," she told him in a serious tone.
That took away the boy's playfulness. That tragedy had been his mistake in the first place. If he could actually fix it, that pain in his heart and conscience might finally go away.
"You mean I could actually do it? I could save her?" Azzy asked.
"Yes, but as I said, there is a price. I can't guarantee you will live a good life, and you will most certainly die in that place-"
"But what about what you just said?" the boy interrupted her. "About me coming back?"
"Never mind what I said. Just focus on the girl and you will be fine, trust me about this. I will send you where you need to go, and from there you are on your own." Her voice cracked for a moment. "You will forget about me." She composed herself and continued, "If you play your cards right, the future, this future, will no longer exist. I trust you to be wise enough to restore time to what it should be, and end this destruction, end it all for good." Sonnen finished her proposal. She couldn't say more; all she needed now was his acceptance.
"I'll do it." He said it with certainty. "I'll fix everything." He was sure of it, and very excited about the prospect. Azzy scratched his hair for a moment. "So, what now? What do I have to do?" he asked.
The woman extended her ghostly hand towards him. "Just hold my hand," Sonnen answered.
The boy startled and pulled his hand away once he saw the good witch's hand emitting a bright yellow light.
Sonnen laughed.
"It's okay. Just focus on your powers. Close your eyes if it makes you feel better," She advised.
"Will I see you on the other side?" he joked.
"You won't," she replied. Sonnen extended her hand again for him to hold.
Azzy reached out, he held his sister's hand, and closed his eyes. She looked at the young boy for a moment and smiled at him for one last time.
'None of it,' she thought. 'You won't remember me, or any of this, and I won't remember you either.' She shed one tear.
Sonnen also closed her eyes.
There were streaks of blue and yellow lightning surging from their hands; the light quickly surrounded them. The power was enough to take the boy to where he needed to go. The sun was guiding him, it would take him on the right path.
-.-
≃2000 years ago:
She was racing through the woods, running in the forest; she didn't even realise that she was getting further and further away from the village. She was laughing, enjoying the beautiful sunny day. Her once prettily-adorned dress was now old, ragged and torn. It barely fit her any more; she had grown. The wind was flowing through her hair, and she could see the sun shining through the tree leaves. It made the forest look even more magical.
Ymir was chasing a small piglet; she enjoyed seeing it run to freedom. She knew she'd been wrong: she shouldn't have set it free in the first place, but she couldn't bear the thought of that small defenceless creature being raised in captivity, just to one day be sent into slaughter. The piglet didn't know it was safe; the animal wasn't used to being treated with kindness by humans. That's not how it worked. If the animal had some superior level of intelligence, it would enjoy the moment as much as the young girl was. But for the small creature it was like it was still being hunted. The piglet was running to save its own life, like it would if it was being chased by any predator. "Come back, friend!" the girl exclaimed while running after it.
The girl kept running and laughing. She smiled in that bright sunny day. She was staring at the piglet as it ran with its little legs, passing among the old leaves, insects, and dirt of the old forest. She thought it was very cute. Until the piglet stopped. The girl noticed that the barrier stopping the piglet was a pair of boots, a kind of boots that she hadn't seen in that place, but she had seen before. Two older hands reached down to hold the piglet; well, older than hers anyways. Ymir looked up.
"Is it yours?" the teenager asked. "He is very cute." Azzy held the piglet in his arms and caressed the poor, frightened animal.
Ymir was stunned; she had no response.
"What did you name it?" the boy asked. Az was trying to start a conversation, but it was fruitless; the only reaction the girl had was to run, and she ran. Ymir ran away from him fast.
Azzy just stood there, next to the old tree, caressing the small pig, contemplative.
He tilted his head and brought the piglet closer to him. "She does like to run, doesn't she?" Azzy commented.
End of Chapter Seven: "Going Back"
End of Arc I: "The Old World"