≃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 anymore; 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.
She 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.
She laughed, the young girl; at not yet five years of age hadn't had any friend to play with in so long! Probably never. She was all alone. But the animal wouldn't stop; their survival instinct was stronger than anything at that moment.
It ran right into it. A cave, no, an old giant tree. The piglet squeaked as it tumbled down the unexpected hole. It hit water. The girl stopped right in front of the tree; she felt bad. What now? She was scared, but she made herself go closer. The place was very dark and she felt chills crawling down her spine as she looked down into the abyss. She was trying to hear something, maybe the small thing was fine down there. There was only silence. After some time without being sure on what to do, she gave up on trying to save the creature. The piglet was probably dead.
-.-
"I knew I would find you here."
- Year 867 - On a field somewhere.
Levi held his nephew in his arms, like he used to, only it was getting increasingly hard to properly hold him. Not just because the fourteen year old boy had grown a ton in the past year or so, and was already thirteen centimetres taller than his uncle, but because of how increasingly difficult things had become for them. Not that they'd been easy over twelve years ago when Levi decided to fulfil his promise to raise him.
Azzy was confused. He hadn't expected that level of affection from his uncle. "I'm fine, you know I can take care of myself. You taught me how," Azzy assured Levi with a nice smile on his face.
The sweet caring uncle figure that had possessed the older Ackermann went as briefly as it came. Levi punched him in the shoulder. Still somewhat affectionately but quite hard - well, hard on a regular human scale, but nothing that would bruise their kind. He started the scolding:
"You are NEVER to leave my sight again. Do you hear me? Never. I am the only person you have and YOU are the only person I have. That is not how we do things! You can't just disappear like that, Azzy. Do you have any idea how worried you make me when you pull out this kind of shit? Do you know how long I've been looking for you? I came to this stupid field hundreds of times! Multiple times a day. Like an IDIOT! And you were never here. So I looked everywhere else. I ran out of places to look, so I was already fearing the worst!"
Levi stopped himself. He had more to say, but he had to slow down and catch his breath. He glared at the boy, and waited for a response.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, I... I had to run away from the Royal Guards. You said that we had been made, I had to act quick-" He stopped himself, his mind was hazy.
"Azzy-" Levi was more worried now. "Is that the last thing you remember?" he asked the boy.
"I think so. It was yesterday morning, you told me not to go outside when they were doing patrol, but I forgot to check the time again..." He pulled a timepiece out of his pocket. It was gold plated, embellished, and carefully engraved:
"To you, my son.
Be the master of your time."
- Armin
"The guards spotted me," Azzy continued, staring at his pocket watch. He stopped for a second; the number in the date corner wasn't the one he was expecting to see.
"That was two months ago," Levi told him.
The boy slowly kneeled down on the grass. The headache was coming back, his whole body was shivering. "Why?" he said very quietly, almost in a whisper.
Levi kneeled on the grass with him. "It's okay, calm down. It will come to you, take your time," he said.
"That's the last thing! I don't remember anything else... I'm not lying this time, uncle Levi, please believe me! I really don't remember!" the boy told his uncle.
"I know, I believe you," Levi assured the boy. He hated seeing Azzy that helpless. "Let's get out of here, I've found another place where we could go. It's going to be better soon, you'll see." Levi raised him back up and they walked together, away from the field.
- Year 859 - A private council meeting is happening in Hizuru:
"We need a symbol," Kiyomi exclaimed.
"And in what way is that going to help?" said Yelena, bored. They were all exhausted at that point.
"We need a name, a person, someone valid, that people trust! So we can get the people's hopes back up. We need to unite the broken world!"
"Are you talking about monarchy? I don't see how a head figure would help our cause here." Onyankopon was reluctant to agree with Yelena, even after all those years. He still doubted she was really on their side. But she had a point.
The meeting was for the World Alliance members to give suggestions and help each other's countries in every way they could. The situation in the world wasn't much improved since Armageddon; they still had too much to build. For the ones in Hizuru and other isolated areas, building up defences was a priority, the low technology on Paradise Island was an advantage for them. And for those living in the great continent of Marley, hidden communities were the best solution, as the Eldians slowly grew their population outside the island.
"I'm not suggesting any structure of power, just that we consider a name that people can believe in. To unite us. You are all survivors and heroes, and no one here wants the spotlight. Eldians have a happy family and an heir to grant their future! People need that. You here are all our peoples' heroes. We might have lost the majority of the world's population but, the ones that survived are here because none of you gave up." Even with all the preaching, Kiyomi didn't get anywhere. The 'heroes' had no interest in political games; they just wanted to go back to helping rebuild their families' lives brick by brick.
Onyankopon followed her in the corridors after the unsuccessful meeting. "There's something that we might be able to do, but I didn't want to say it in front of the others, because I know they would oppose it. I think we might have a person who checks all your boxes. A great figurehead for the future, someone who can honour our fallen heroes. An heir," he said.
"We do?" She wasn't expecting to hear that after such a long day.
"We should discuss this in private," he finished.
It was too late. The enemies had the idea first.
- Year 867 - In the harbour of Paradise Island:
"A ship?" the teenager asked. "We are getting on a ship?" He was trying to understand. His uncle had told him they would never leave the Island.
"Yes, yes we are, Azzy," Levi answered.
"To where?" he said in disbelief.
"We are going to Hizuru," Levi answered him again.
"HIZURU?" Azzy was still in disbelief.
"KEEP- keep your voice down." Levi snapped for a moment but he said it to calm his own self down as well as his nephew.
"We don't have papers. We are going to get caught even before we enter the boat. Besides, the sign says it's going to the continent, NOT Hizuru," Azzy affirmed.
"Why do you always have to be a smartass?" He tapped Azzy on the back of the head. "We are going as help, for the kitchen, I believe-"
"Great." Azzy crossed his arms.
"I made some contacts. They are expecting us, they have been for a while. Some of my friends-"
Azzy interrupted his uncle. "YOU? You are telling me that you have friends?" He laughed.
Levi tapped him on the head again. "Listen to me, they are meeting us on a smaller boat, in the middle of the journey. When the time comes, we will jump ship. So stay with me AT ALL TIMES. It's a small window, so we can't miss it."
"Jump?" Azzy asked.
"Yes, jump," Levi responded.
"In the middle of the ocean?" Azzy asked.
"Yes, in the middle of the ocean," Levi responded.
Azzy looked up at the ship, overwhelmed. He uncrossed his arms. "So, that's why you didn't want to tell me the plan before we got here," he concluded.
"I know it's a lot to take in," Levi said. "We never left the island before, so I understand. I grew up here, same as you did." They both looked back. "But it will all be better soon. We won't be hunted anymore, and we'll have peace. You will make friends, have a normal life. You deserve more than the mess that has been your childhood. You will be happy there." Levi held his nephew's shoulder.
Azzy looked down, thinking. He looked back at the Island again. He'd been getting somewhere before those guards got in the way. If he left now, it meant he was leaving his search behind. He became silent.
"Come on!" Levi gave him some change. "Go buy us some oranges, we need sustenance." He smiled at the boy.
"Sure." He nodded. "But can't we get that from the kitchen?" Azzy said it with a smirk.
Levi didn't tap him on the head that time; he was happy to see his nephew with his spirits up! It was going to be a long journey and a lot would finally change. Also, Levi had been staring at those oranges since their arrival.
He gave Azzy a hat. "Remember-"
"Stay down, don't call attention to myself," Azzy interrupted his uncle. He knew the drill. Levi nodded at him.
The boy came back from the orange stand and sat on the harbour floor, noticing that his uncle was talking with someone on the side. Boarding was about to start. He was staring at the Island shore. So many questions, no answers.
He poked around the merchandise inside the bag. Just oranges, with one exception. He noticed there was a small piece of paper inside: it was a note, addressed to "Arlert".
He calmly held his head up and scanned the harbour. This was a problem: there was someone in there who knew his name. It couldn't be the man in the stand; no, that was too obvious. He looked at everyone, checking every detail, and nothing. He retraced his steps, nothing. He had no idea at what moment whoever left him that message had done so. But he was ready.
Levi was still talking to that man so he couldn't signal him. Even so, he was sure he could take care of it. His favourite knife was at hand; still, he wished for a gun, which would be so much better and precise, but apparently 'it wasn't a good idea' according to his uncle. Well, hand-to-hand combat was the best option anyway: less messy. And he was 'not supposed to call attention to himself'.
Curiosity can be a bad, bad thing.
He decided to open up the note. It was killing him and his uncle was taking forever to come back! He had to know.
The note said:
"Azzy, I know you are looking for answers. You have been searching.
I have all the answers you seek."
The note continued with an address.
This was bad, it was at the heart of the beast! Azzy was not to ever set foot on Mitras ever again. He knew it would be like signing his own death sentence. But it was too tempting. He would finally know the truth. He had a lifetime's decision to make in a very small window of time. People were already boarding the ship. He looked at his uncle in the distance, and he thought for a while.
Levi could tell something was wrong; he turned his head in the direction of the boy.
He sighed. They were so close to freedom.
But the boy was gone.
- Year 859 - In that very same harbour, a ship was arriving from the continent:
Pieck looked down at the docks; the two familiar faces were already there to greet her. She'd missed those two idiots. War had made them friends.
"Miiiss Finger! Great to see you," Connie exclaimed as they proceeded to help her carry her scant belongings.
"Urrhg, no, don't do that, I didn't like that," Pieck joked. They exchanged hugs. Connie seemed more affectionate, Jean more timid.
"So..." Jean looked up toward the boat. "Just you then?" he asked.
"Yeah, and you didn't bring down the children with you..." She looked around the harbour.
"Oh, we can't call them that anymore," Jean added.
"Yeah, but if we need to, it's a good way to get them annoyed," Connie laughed.
Gabi and Falco were spending some weeks on the Island, visiting the friends they'd made - a few years ago - in the middle of war. It was a way to remove the teenagers from the miserable situation their country found itself in. For the moment they could take some time, visit the family that had taken care of them in a time of need, the people who helped them in the most unlikely of situations. It brought them close, so, despite everything, they kept in touch.
"Well, it's not like you were only gonna show up and take them right away anyways. Come on, let's take the train," Jean said as they left the harbour.
Visiting the Island wasn't easy for Pieck. It wouldn't be for anyone who was accustomed to seeing the misery that was left on the continent, or 'the colonies' as Eldia referred to them now. The prosperity the Island had was hurtful to see. She left the train cabin and went outside, to the rear balcony. Jean followed her.
"Did you get my letter?" he said, and closed the door.
"Yes," she answered.
"And?" Jean asked, "What do you think?"
"You have no idea what the world is like outside this island now, so maybe you should reconsider," she suggested as she looked around. How the cities had grown in these past few years, how everything was so different now. It was clear: they'd won.
"I can't stay here, there's no point. I feel as useless as ever," Jean complained as he rested his arms on the guardrail.
"Well, but are you ready to give up all this comfort? If you come, it won't be a vacation, or a holiday. The situation is not pretty, and there's no giving up and coming back." Pieck paused before asking her friend, "You understand that, right?"
"Yes, ma'am." He nodded.
-.-
"You look so familiar! Doesn't she, honey?" Mrs. Kirstein turned and reached for her husband. "Are you sure you don't have any family here? It's like we've met before! Does she look familiar, dear?" she asked.
Mr. Kirstein didn't engage; he'd noticed that his son had his hands over his face, so maybe it was better to wait for someone to change the subject.
"So, Reiner and Annie, I guess they are pretty busy with everything, right? It's a shame, I was hoping we could catch up." Connie told Pieck.
They were all together in the Braus farm. The youngsters were helping out Mrs. Springer and Niccolo with the luncheon. It was a lovely day; Gabi and Falco would be upset when they had to leave, but they knew they would come back next year.
"If I know Mr. Braun, he's helping with the new buildings nonstop." Falco came around to set some plates on the table.
There were two more pressing matters to deal with after all the destruction: taking care of the sick, and better organising the survivors. And building new houses for them to live in, and not just houses, but hospitals, schools... they had to build the whole society back up again. It was a restless effort, but it was also very rewarding.
"Yes, we managed a lot in the last year. Communication is still the main issue, but we are doing our best. Annie is helping around too, oh, and Mr. Leonhart opened up a shoe shop! It's great, the main city is developing fast-" Pieck stopped herself; maybe she shouldn't give too much information. All the cities that were being rebuilt were a secret; the Eldian Kingdom was very interested to know their location, specially now that the colonies in the continent were expanding fast. The Queen wanted everything 'annexed and accounted for.'
-.-
"So..." Jean was looking for a conversation topic as they walked around the village, following the sunset. "How does it feel? You know..." He shrugged a little.
"Well, it is still very weird, I... I wasn't expecting to live this long, so it's strange." Pieck tried her best to explain. After the rumbling it seemed like the curse had been lifted, but they didn't know how or why. "And... how are things here? I mean, it seems like the Crown left you alone," she continued.
"There's no point of worrying about the losers, we pose no threat, and I guess... they left us alone out of 'respect'. We were 'friends' once, I'm sure you know that," Jean explained.
"Right. And what about the Captain? He didn't come today; did you lose touch?" she asked.
Jean hesitated for a second. "Yeah, we haven't heard from him since it all ended," he lied. "I'm sure he's fine. He just wants to be left alone." He didn't trust Pieck enough to tell her the truth.
"Makes sense. Do you think they know?" she asked.
"What?" Jean was waiting for her to continue.
"Do you think they have the answer about what happened to all of us? I mean, for us, the shifters, well, it seems the curse is done. You guys came back to normal and you seem to be fine too, even Connie's mother came back. But the maze remained there. That's the one thing that doesn't make sense to me," Pieck explained.
"Well, it's not like we can go waltz into the palace and ask... but I think they definitely know more than we do," Jean added.
"Do you think it's true? What they say about the girl?" Pieck asked.
"What? That she inherited The Founder somehow? Nah, that doesn't make much sense, specially since we know none of you guys can access your shifter abilities. I say it's all gone for good. We should thank Armin for that probably." Jean took a moment to remember his dear friend, and how bitter the ending had been.
"So, they are basically spreading that rumour then?" Pieck wondered.
"Yep. It seems that the Queen is not very certain about her popularity in the continent. Having the threat of 'The Maze of the Dead' waking up again. It's good to keep any resistance at bay, don't you think?" Jean crossed his arms.
"Yeah, it seems like a good strategy," she confirmed. "I hope it is just a rumour, like you say, for all of our sakes," she changed the subject. "It's a nice, quiet village, this one. All very peaceful," Pieck commented, she wanted to take her mind off of things.
"Sure, but in the Island everything is old, we don't have the new technologies, all the improvements you guys had, since we got stuck in time. It's a shame the continent is destroyed; we were finally getting some cool things, life was getting more decent around here-" He stopped his rambling, as he noticed Pieck was staring.
"What's wrong with you?" She couldn't believe it. "Are you really complaining like that? I'm sorry if the deaths of billions made your life more inconvenient," she snapped. "I mean, how self-centred can someone be?" She was disappointed.
Jean thought for a while; he was disappointed in himself too. Then he said, "See? That's why I need to leave this place. I can't get comfortable, it's not good for me, it turns me into a jackass every time! I'm sorry about that, sometimes I forget to use my brain... jeez what I said was really stupid, wasn't it?" He felt horrible.
"Extremely," she concurred.
"Well, this old Jean dies here, with this stupid island. I'm glad I'll finally have something good to do. I really want to help, I need to be useful again."
They walked away from the village.
-.-
"I'm going too," Connie said as Jean was walking back into the house.
"What, are you serious?" Jean wasn't expecting that. "What about your mom?" he asked.
"She's fine, she made friends with your parents and Sasha's parents. I guess we are all a big family now," Connie added.
"I was actually counting on you to keep an eye on my parents. Are you sure you want to do this?" Jean asked.
"Yeah, after all we've been through, living here, doing nothing, it feels like a cancer. I'm sure my mother will understand. I can be a hero again, I wanna help out there." Connie had made his decision.
-.-
"I'm glad you guys are coming too!" Gabi said it with excitement.
They were back at the harbour. The ship was about to sail, there was no going back now.
"I wish I could go too!" Kaya told her friend. Her parents would never let her go. Gabi and Kaya hugged each other. It was time to say the goodbyes; the situation of the world was too unpredictable, this could be the last time they all saw each other. Time to leave the loved ones and go on this new mission. It would be challenging.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pieck asked Jean.
"Yes, I am sure," Jean responded.
They left on their journey, across the ocean, away from the Island.
[Still] - Year 859 - At Mitras, the heart of the Island:
The young boy looked up, mesmerised at all those tall buildings, amazing structures, beautiful gardens. He wasn't used to that. It took some convincing, but Levi knew, at that point, the better play was to go on his own than be forced to later on. He had received a cordial invitation to the palace; not exactly him, Azzy was the invited guest, he was only going as the boy's guardian.
The doors opened to the palace. It was immense, with so many workers, so much prosperity. After all, 'History is written by the winners'.
"Hello, Azzy!" Historia gave the boy a big smile and ruffled his honey coloured hair. "You've grown so much since we last saw each other." She kneeled down to look at his eyes. "Do you remember me?" Historia asked with a smile.
"Yes, you're the lady from the orphanage," he affirmed.
"Good memory!" She touched his small nose affectionately, like a mother. The boy wasn't used to that.
"And very eloquent." She raised herself up, complimenting the uncle.
"He didn't get eloquence from me," Levi said in a threatening tone.
"Come this way."
The Queen welcomed the visitors and kindly guided them to a new room.
The gigantic room was full of books and puzzles, toys and other things one would want for great child development. But Azzy ran straight to the center of the room, a table full of sweets and other kinds that kids loved.
"Grab a cookie, Azzy. You can have whatever you want," Historia told the boy.
"You play dirty." Levi crossed his arms.
"You know he will have a better life here, he'll have all he needs to develop properly-" She was still talking but Levi interrupted her.
"Jeez! How many nannies do you need?" He was pointing out the number of servants in the room. Counting those with the guards, there were more than twenty people there.
"Does the princess need all that? And she's not even here." Levi noticed.
"She's in good care. And as I was saying, you can see how good of a structure we have here. He will be looked after by the best, including myself."
Azzy seemed concentrated solving one of the puzzles on the floor as he munched on a cookie. He lifted his head. "Are there other kids here? Like in the orphanage?" His eyes were shining brighter. Azzy was used to travelling from city to city with his uncle; he'd never made friends anywhere.
"I'm sorry, young lad, are you considering this?" Levi said with arms crossed disapprovingly.
"Azzy, this talk is for the grownups," Historia admonished in a condescending tone. Azzy did not like that.
"Well, it's boring anyways." He had finished the puzzle.
"I know what you are trying to do; everyone does. I'm not leaving him here to play house with your daughter."
"What are you getting at?" Historia laughed, and exclaimed, "She's only four years old!"
"Well, let me see," Levi proceeded. "You have a prosperous kingdom, money, colonies. The enemies still fearing 'the maze of the dead'. The world is at your feet, Your Majesty, everything is perfect... for now. The only thing you have to worry about is the future."
Historia just stared at him with a calculating look.
"So, you lost the previous nobles' support - most of them are dead - had to build your court from the ground up. And you did a good job, I'm sure, but none of those stupid Yeagarists will ever be enough for your daughter. Not to mention, you get to profit from his parents' deaths and spread lies about their beliefs, when we both know they were against your ideals up to the very end. They would never allow this, and so I won't," he finished.
"You are talking about it as if his parents were revered down in the continent." She was calmly sipping her tea.
Levi had no interest in his, remaining with his arms crossed. "I know they are," he said very sternly.
"So, you do have contact with the others down there?" She was fishing for information; it had taken Levi too long to notice, it was too late now and he didn't care.
"If I do, what business is it of yours?" he asked.
"Still, none of that matters, that's not why I want to raise the boy." Historia changed the subject.
"Yes, it is. You are looking for the approval and grace of the rebels in the colonies, it's perfect. He is perfect for it. It's the perfect marriage." Levi made the point clear as crystal.
She pondered her answer to all those accusations; she still respected Levi, even though they had such different views about everything. "Have you considered that I might just want to have my own son? I've raised orphans. He is an orphan," she said in a clear and presidential, but somewhat sad tone.
"Please-" Levi rolled his eyes. He looked up and down at the Queen's young figure. "Are you telling me you can't have children of your own anymore? If you want a son, I'm sure you can produce one yourself. By the way, where's your husband? When I saw the invitation for the palace I didn't think I would be meeting you-"
Noting that the staff was paying attention to the conversation, the Queen cut him off. "I don't have a husband," she said firmly.
He crossed his arms again. What was the game now? He looked around the room, at the staff-
"Look, Cap-" She forgot for a moment, and corrected herself. "Levi. I just want to help. Calling you here was my idea. Despite what you might have guessed, I was the one who invited you here, I'm the one trying to amend things." She kept pointing at herself. "For the benefit of the child. He will be happy here. I can keep him safe." She said it with grace.
"Really..?" Levi was looking around the room, "You can keep him safe?" he repeated. "So, tell me, where is he now?" he asked, amused but also worried about his nephew, of course.
Historia scanned the room. "How is that possible?" She was openmouthed. "Even with all the staff... Where is the boy?" She got a little desperate.
The help was shaking their heads and looking around; he wasn't in the room. He hadn't been for a while.
"No one noticed this? When did he leave? Come on! Start looking!" she ordered.
"Don't worry too much." Levi was getting a little more amused. "He will turn up, eventually. You have no idea of the trouble it is raising that child." He smiled. "He could be anywhere in the palace right now. He's probably exploring."
In the Secret Garden:
The boy was already far away. Exploring all this new environment, it was all so colourful and bright. He was enjoying the day. He arrived at this place; it was empty, with no guards. It was a garden, and a very nice one. So many flowers dancing around with the wind, so much green. It was beautiful, the waters in small ponds reflected the sky. He reached the largest one and went closer to it. He was looking, looking at the sky, the plants, the flowers, himself, all reflected in that pool of water; it was all very magical.
It all seemed peaceful and still for a minute or so; he was so concentrated on the image, but it suddenly changed.
There were ripples in the water.
"Are you the gardener?" Azzy asked the person he saw throwing rocks into the pond. He approached the man.
"Why would you suggest that?" the man asked.
"You are the only one in the palace wearing simple clothes instead of a fancy uniform," Azzy remarked.
"You are very perceptive for a six year old," Eren told the boy. He tossed a small rock at him, as if inviting him to play, but at the same time, using the situation to check his reflexes.
Azzy swiftly caught the pebble.
"How do you know I'm six?" he asked, looking at the small rock.
"Because I know you, Azzy. I was there when you were born. You were so small, I carried you around with me everywhere. But you were too young to remember that." Eren explained while throwing a couple more pebbles into the pond.
The boy was staring at the ripples, observing them.
"It's interesting, isn't it?" Eren lifted another rock. "How a small rock can create such disturbance in the calm waters." He looked at the boy.
"How do we win? Is it who throws the rock the farthest?" the boy asked. He wanted to play.
Eren smiled. He'd heard the exact same question eighteen years ago. When he was teaching the game to his new-found friend.
"It's who can make more ripples," he replied. In the exact same way he had replied, to a very similar-looking six year old, all those years ago.
Azzy reached to grab the biggest rock he could find then: he knew it would make a stronger impact. Eren was not surprised. He remembered a small boy, with a similar thought process. "Right, that's why you won every time, Armin, you beat my game before I even started, and here you are doing it again," he thought to himself.
The blood is a curious thing. How can you behave in the same way as someone else when you could barely remember them? Eren was not even a little surprised, but still, it was fantastic to watch. He missed his friend dearly. "I knew you were coming today," Eren said lovingly. "So I went looking for this-" He smiled at Azzy and reached for something in his pocket to give to the boy. "Here, it's yours now." He placed the object in the boy's hands.
"A seashell?" He sounded disappointed.
"Yes, it's a seashell, why? You don't like it?" Eren asked him.
"I mean, it's pretty. But there are hundreds of thousands of those around the Island shores..." the boy explained.
"Did you count them all?" Eren laughed.
"No, I read about it in a book," Azzy really liked books.
"Of course you did." Eren knew why. He ruffled Azzy's hair affectionately. "Aren't you going to say thank you?" he asked.
"Thank you." Azzy was annoyed. What was it with adults messing his hair and pinching his nose, he didn't enjoy that.
"The special thing about this seashell Azzy, is that it was your father's." Eren changed his tone slightly. "It meant a lot to him, it was a symbol of finally reaching the dream he had since he was your age. I'm sure that he would want you to have it. I'm sorry he couldn't give it to you in person," Eren told his nephew.
Azzy just nodded and stared at it for a while. It was difficult, he was too young, he didn't think about his parents too much at that age. He'd felt abandoned and he wasn't curious enough yet to ask why they weren't there. That curiosity would come later. For now, playing with the rocks was more interesting.
They played for a while and stared at the pond, together. Eren was noticing something, the manner of the boy, he could see both his friends there, at different instances. He was smart, and a strategist, clearly very observant of his surroundings; discerning, quick and wary. He could spend hours listing all of his friends' qualities that had clearly been passed down, but people are not made only of their parents. There was something else. This brightness in his dark blue eyes, he had this different spirit, there was something ominous about it. It was eerie.
The boy was bored, the game wasn't that interesting anymore. He saw something that distracted him, and went after it. Eren was so focused on his own thoughts and the memory of his friends that by the time he looked to the left, Azzy was already gone.
- Year 867 - Mitras, In the Palace's Private Garden
"They look lovely," Eren said as he walked in, he was coming from the open forest area.
Historia was picking up some of her favourite flowers in her secluded garden. "You know I take good care of my flowers." She smiled at him.
"I didn't think you would come," he said.
"I always come here, on the same day, every month. Plus, this is my house after all." She placed the flowers in her hands on two small graves.
The two of them stayed there in silence for a couple of minutes.
"They would be thirteen this year-" She smiled brokenly. "-can you imagine the trouble?" She laughed for a second, and stopped, to wonder what might have been.
"You never come, at least you haven't in a few years." Historia added.
"Would your guards let me in?" He laughed.
"I know you have your own entrance. I haven't figured out where it is yet." She gave him a look.
"Are you going to seal it if you do?" He continued the teasing.
"I haven't decided." She said it in a queenly manner, maintaining the game.
"It was my house too, at one point," Eren said. He continued, "I always come, like we used to, but I don't like to disturb you. I don't want to give you more reasons to be upset."
"I'm beyond upset, and there's nothing you could do to change that. In any way. I don't blame you, so please, stop blaming yourself," she told him, like she had many times before. It was useless; Eren remained the same. He would carry that guilt forever.
"You should start again," he suggested. "You need a family. Why do you isolate yourself? You can still have children; it might make you happy again." Eren knew Historia wasn't enjoying this advice, but he had to say it anyway.
"It won't be the same. How dare you even suggest that? How can you possibly think they can be replaced? Just like that? You must be out of your mind." She was getting increasingly more upset.
"I know you think that killing the devil will bring you peace, I'm aware you haven't stopped your hunt like you told me you would," he said carefully.
"It will give me closure," she insisted broken-heartedly.
"It won't bring her back," he replied.
"EREN-" She was annoyed now. Their arguments about the tragedy were always the same. They kept going around in circles forever. It never ended. "Why are you here anyway? You just said yourself moments ago, that you don't like disturbing my grief. So don't. There's nothing you can say to me that will bring me peace, so-"
Eren was reluctant to speak, but he knew it was the only way to fix things, the only way out of the circle. So, he stopped her angry tone with a sad remark, giving Historia what she wanted.
"I've found him."
- Year 859 - Mitras, In the Palace's Private Garden
The place was surrounded by its own forest. Eren was shouting out for Azzy. He was worried the boy had got himself lost in that forest. The boy had tricked him and run away. Eren needed to be sure the boy hadn't gone too far.
He was worried. He loved the boy's parents more than anything. This was his shot at redemption and it was slipping away. He'd already lost a son before. He was getting a little desperate, but all that distraction had completely blinded him and he lost sight of what was important. He forgot that wasn't the child he was supposed to be looking after.
"Eren-" Historia interrupted him mid-shout. He turned and looked at her, still with his hands around his mouth to better project his shout. He brought his hands down. She seemed very nervous.
"Where's Ymir?" she asked.
Thirteen Minutes Before:
He ran around the private garden. The place was immense, perfect for an adventurous heart like his. Azzy stopped when he saw a castle. "Inside a palace?" he thought. He quickly realised it was a playground. Huge! Full of all kinds of toys, it filled his eyes. But the girl there seemed to not be impressed by all the glory of her play-house. She was on one of the corners, concentrating, playing with the sand.
"Hi!" Azzy was happy to meet another kid; he was looking forward to making a new friend. Well, he hadn't made friends yet...
The girl ignored him. She was used to ignoring the "help" in the palace; she only responded when addressed by one of her parents.
Azzy kneeled down on the sand to look at the drawings she was making in it.
"Don't worry about it, Ezra, I'm sure he'll go away!" the girl whispered to the side.
Azzy looked around. No one was there. "W-Who are you talking to?" He was hesitant to ask.
She looked up. "My brother," she told the boy.
"There's no one here," he said sceptically.
"He is always here, with me-" she explained, but Azzy remained confused. She turned her head and looked at a small grave down the side, filled with flowers. Azzy followed her eyes as she said, "We were born together, but he didn't make it." She became a little sad.
"I think I understand how you feel." Azzy was trying to be sympathetic.
"But Mom said he's always with me, even if I can't see him." She smiled. "I always know when he's there."
"Okay, maybe I don't understand." Azzy retracted his previous statement while scratching his head. "I'm Azzy!" He changed the subject. "What's your name?"
"Ymir," she said, looking down in the sand again. She had lost interest in the boy.
"Right!" He stood up and checked her clothes and her manner. "Of course! You're the princess!" He looked up at the castle again, all the toys, the whole playground. It made sense.
"Is this real sand?" he wondered, grabbing some in his hand and letting it go.
"Real sand?" she asked.
"Yeah... you know, from the beach?!" He didn't understand what was wrong with his question.
"The beach? I don't know what that is," Ymir explained her confusion.
"You're kidding, right?" Azzy said. "You're the princess, you probably have another palace near the beach or something, probably more than one-" he continued.
"I've never left the palace," she interrupted. "I'm not supposed to, I'm safer here." She repeated what she'd probably heard from adults before.
"So you are telling me you never saw a beach before? The harbour, the ships? Any of that?" He could not understand how that was possible.
"No," she answered.
He looked down at the seashell his (other) uncle had given him, turned it over, thought about it. "It's not that far," he thought out loud. She looked up at him. "I can take you there," he offered.
"It sounds dangerous." Ymir said.
"Come on! It'll be fine!" he assured the girl. "You can't just stay trapped here in this palace. What's the fun in that? That's why you look miserable. I bet this is not real sand; come on, I can show you the real thing! It will be an adventure!" Azzy was overexcited about the prospect of this trip now. He had made up his mind: he was taking Ymir with him.
The girl stared at him, glassy eyed.
"See-" He looked to her side and nodded his head. "Your brother agrees, we should all have fun."
Ymir looked to her side, and pondered for a moment.
"Okay," she finally answered, doubtful but curious. She smiled.
Azzy took her hand and raised her up from the sand.
"Come on, I'll show you the ocean."
End of Chapter Two: "The Girl"