Disclaimer: Bioshock is owned by 2K and irrational Games, and Attack On Titan is owned by Hajime Isayama. I own nothing.
Tears, they acted as windows to other realities and dimensions. At least that was always how Elizabeth had viewed them as. For as long as she could remember she had the ability to feel where tears were, and how to open them. She could not keep them open for long, but long enough.
She had only gone through a few of the tears but always returned back to her tower on Monument Island. She could never really explain it, but something just always made her feel like she had to return to where she left. She wished she could one day leave the tower and travel to Paris, the city that she had read so much about in the tower's stocked library.
The reason for her being in the tower was a mystery even to her. The only company she received was that of the Songbird, the being that watched over her ever since she was a little girl to the young woman she was today.
Currently Elizabeth was sitting in the towers library reading a book she had many times before. Being stuck in the tower with nothing to do left her with quite a bit of reading time on her hands. The story she was reading was one of humans fighting monsters. She loved the idea of humans banding together, putting their differences aside to reach for a common goal. It made her wish the people of Columbia could do that. Even though she was stuck in here she knew that the Prophet of Columbia, Comstock, would preach messages that openly supported segregation against those of African and Irish decent.
Those ideas never made much sense to her, she had never seen any of the discrimination, but she assumed at least some people believed it.
Elizabeth finished the book and put it back on the shelf. "Might as well read another one," she said to herself. Reaching out Elizabeth grabbed the book next to the one she had just put back. As she pulled the book out she noticed something weird.
On the back of the bookshelf was a rippling essence that signified a tear. That was odd, as far as she knew that tear had never been there before and she didn't believe tears could just suddenly pop into existence. She herself could open them, but not create them.
Curiosity about this mysterious tear got the better of her and Elizabeth made a parting motion with her arms and the tear suddenly expanded in size. Looking through the window that was now presented to her Elizabeth could see that it led to a town of sorts filled with stones houses with brown roof tiles. The design looked very European as opposed to the Colonial design of houses that she could see through the tower window. "Could this be Paris?" she asked herself as a sudden wave of hope washed over her as she clutched her hands to her chest at the thought that this might be her chance to see the fabled city.
If she was going to go and see she would have to do it soon as tears tended not to stay open long. But for some reason this one seemed different, the tear seemed stable and showed no signs of collapsing in on itself.
Elizabeth took a deep breath and stepped through the tear.
As she stepped into this new world Elizabeth took a look at her surroundings and it did not take her long to realize that this was not Paris. Instead of the Eifel Tower overlooking the town, there was only a giant wall.
The wall itself stood fifty meters high easily, and wrapped around the town in a semi-circular shape before it connected to another wall with a gate. Just what kind of a world had she entered?
Elizabeth looked behind her to see the familiar distortion of the tear that if opened would lead her back to her tower. She knew that she would go back eventually, because as much as she wanted to get out that tower was still the only home she ever knew. But still the tear didn't appear to be going anywhere so she might as well just have a look around.
Armin bent over as he tried to catch his breath. He had just had a narrow encounter with the neighborhood bullies and without Eren or Mikasa there his only option was to flee from his would be tormentors. He heard them yelling about the book he was holding and how they were going to tear it up because it belonged to a heretic. Not wanting anything to happen to the book that talked about the fields of sand or frozen plains Armin had run as fast as he could through streets and allies alike until he finally lost them.
Utterly exhausted from all the running Armin sat down on the ground and put his back against the wall as he let out a sigh and closed his eyes. "Are you alright?" a voice said making him open his eyes in surprise. Standing in front of him was a beautiful young woman around nineteen or twenty looking very concerned. She wore her brown hair in a ponytail, and had eyes as blue as the fabled sea he read about. Her outfit consisted of a white blouse with a blue collar along with a matching blue skirt and black boots.
If Armin had to guess he would say she was from Wall Sina or an area from within Wall Rose judging by the quality of her clothes. The people of Wall Maria weren't exactly the richest.
"Are you okay?" the woman asked again with a worried voice.
"Y-yeah," Armin responded. "I was just a little tired Miss."
"Well that's good," the woman said as her voice became more relieved. "Um, you wouldn't happen to know what this place is would you?" she asked.
"This is Shiganshina district," Armin told her as he picked himself up. "Part of Wall Maria." No sign of recognition appeared on her face when he told her.
"So this isn't Paris," he heard her mutter to herself.
"Paris?" Armin thought. As far as he knew there was no district called Paris. Maybe it was village within one of the walls, but certainly no district. "Excuse me," Armin said to the woman, "but are you lost?"
"Oh no," the woman answered. "I was just… having a look around. I just arrived here today here today so I don't really know my way around." She gave him a reassuring smile, but Armin had a feeling it was more for herself than it was for him. "I'm Elizabeth by the way."
Despite what he was taught about not talking to strangers Armin introduced himself. Even thought she was a stranger if she had meant him any harm she probably wouldn't have asked if he was okay or allow him to stand up if she was going to kidnap him.
"It's nice to meet you Armin," Elizabeth said with a warm smile.
"Uh, nice to meet you too," Armin said.
"Is that your book?" Elizabeth asked gesturing to the text that lay on the ground.
"Oh," Armin said as he picked the book up. "Yes it is."
"I love books!" Elizabeth said as her blue eyes lit up with fascination and joy. "I read all the time. What's it about?"
Armin hesitated. He knew that many of the people living within the walls, with the exception of Eren and to a lesser extent Mikasa, generally frowned upon any interest in the outside world and viewed the curiosity to be the work of heresy, as best exemplified by the bullies of this town.
"Well it's about nature," Armin finally told her so it wasn't a complete lie.
"Like mountains, volcanoes and deserts?" Elizabeth asked.
Those last two terms were lost on Armin as he had no idea what they were. "Well I don't really know what a volcano or desert is," Armin admitted.
"Well volcanoes are like mountains only they erupt and release lava, and a desert is just a field of sand," Elizabeth explained and Armin felt his eyes widen.
"Y-you know what they're called?" Armin asked shocked to believe there was someone who knew what those places were called that not even the book had named.
"Yes," Elizabeth told him. "Haven't you learned that in school?"
Armin just shook his head. "No. Hardly anyone talks about the outside world. How do know their names?"
"Well I read about them," Elizabeth calmly told him.
"You mean there are more books like this?!" Armin excitedly asked showing the book to Elizabeth who opened it up and began to flip through its pages.
"Well the ones I read were a bit more detailed than this, but they appear to be pretty similar," Elizabeth told him.
"R-really?!" Armin asked hardly able to contain his excitement at what Elizabeth reveled. "Miss Elizabeth could you tell me more about them?" Armin didn't want to sound rude by asking all sorts of questions, but he was curious and if Elizabeth could really tell him more about what lay beyond these confining walls then he wanted to know.
"Well… I suppose I don't have to leave right away," Elizabeth said. "Ask away."
"You mean it?!" asked an excited Armin.
"I'll try to answer to the best of my knowledge," Elizabeth said and Armin couldn't have been more happy.
Elizabeth had to admit she was having fun, although she knew it wouldn't last, she had to return sooner or later. Talking with Armin made her feel like she had a friend despite the difference in age between them. She found Armin to be a boy who enjoyed reading as much as she did, and it felt nice to answer the questions Armin asked about deserts, glaciers, and above all else the sea. Right when she was going to talk about the sea a child's voice called out: "Hey Armin!"
Looking over her shoulder Elizabeth saw a boy around Armin's age come running towards the two of them with a girl who had a red scarf wrapped around her neck following close behind the boy. "Hi Eren," Armin greeted the other boy.
"Me and Mikasa finished with our chores we wanted to see what you wanted to do," the boy now known as Eren said.
"Armin," the girl who had to be Mikasa said. "Who is that?" Eren turned his attention away from Armin and now seemed to realize that Elizabeth was there.
"Oh, let me introduce you," Armin said to his two friends. "This is Miss. Elizabeth and she was-,"
"What's wrong with your finger?" Eren asked cutting Armin off.
"What?" Elizabeth asked. Not quite sure what he meant.
"Your finger," Eren repeated pointing at her hand. "You have a thimble over it."
She saw Armin's eyes drift towards her hand and spot her pinkie covered by her ever present thimble. "Eren," Mikasa said. "It isn't polite to point."
"It's just weird is all," Eren said.
"Eren!" Armin cried with shock and embarrassment. "I'm sorry about him Miss. Elizabeth he can be a bit brash at times. Please forgive him."
"It's alright," Elizabeth said understanding that it was just natural curiosity from a child after all. "And as for my finger it's been like that for as long as I can remember, so I cover it with a thimble. It makes for quite the fashion statement I think."
"My dad can look at it," Eren said. "He's a doctor."
"That's nice of you to offer, but unless he has a way to re-grow it I'll just stick to my thimble."
"As I was saying," Armin continued. "These are my two friends Eren and Mikasa, and this is Miss Elizabeth, she knows about the outside world." Eren's already bright eyes lit up like a lighthouse.
"You mean it?!"
"Yes she was telling me about how she read about it," Armin told the other boy. "She was telling me about the sea!"
"You know about the sea?!" Eren asked Elizabeth like it was the most exciting thing in the world.
"Well I know something's about it," Elizabeth admitted if the books she read were to be believed.
"Can you please tell us?" Eren asked eagerly. "Please if you know about then I want to too! Is it true it's full of salt?"
"Well the water contains salt so… I guess you can say it like that," Elizabeth said much to the boy's joy.
This went on for a few minutes Eren and Armin would throw question after question at her which she would answer, although Armin asked in a more controlled manner where as Eren was going off like a hurricane. The two boys seemed very curious to know just how big and vast the body of water truly was.
"Do you think it's real?" the question came from neither of the two boys, but that of Mikasa, who had been watching the two of them fire off questions while keeping quiet herself.
"Well of course I do," Elizabeth said. "I might not have actually seen it but that that doesn't mean it doesn't exist."
"She has a point," Eren said. "Think about the titans. We haven't seen any but we know they're out there! The sea is probably not even that far from these walls!"
"Titans?" Elizabeth thought to herself. Before she could ask what a titan was the sounds of horses reached their ears. "That must be the Survey Corps leaving!" Eren said rather excitedly. "Come on let's go see them off!" Eren ran off towards the direction of the horses.
"Eren wait!" Armin yelled, but Eren was too far ahead, so Armin ran off after him. Not wanting to let two kids run off unsupervised, Elizabeth followed after them with Mikasa close by her.
Elizabeth spotted Eren standing on top of a crate with Armin next to him as the two of them looked at a column of people on horses wearing emerald green cloaks with a wing design on them. She noticed that many of them looked very grim as a gate on the wall was pulled upwards. The leader of the group shouted a command and the troops filed out.
"Who were they?" Elizabeth asked.
Eren looked at her like she was crazy. "You don't know?! They're the Survey Corps! They're the bravest soldiers humanity has against the titans! And one day I'm going to be one of them!"
Elizabeth saw Mikasa reach for the red scarf that she wore when Eren said that. "Are you cold?" Elizabeth asked her.
"Hm?"
"It's just that you're wearing a scarf," Elizabeth said. "It's pretty nice out, so I was just wondering."
"I'm fine," Mikasa replied. "Just…worried."
"About what?" Elizabeth asked. Mikasa didn't respond, but Elizabeth could swear she saw the girl glance in Eren's direction who didn't notice as he was too focused on the last of the soldiers leaving the gate as it began to close.
"I take it that being a member of the Survey Corps isn't the easiest job," Elizabeth said as she walked with the three children away from the bustling street.
"No," Armin told her. "They have the most casualties out of any other branch of the military."
"All because of the titans!" Eren said. "I mean it's the titans fault they die, and it's the titans fault we live behind these walls! We're living in a birdcage!"
The titans were the reason they lived behind this wall? Something had taken these people's freedom? Eren made them sound like monsters, and maybe they were if the looks on those soldiers faces had meant anything.
"Calm down," Mikasa told the boy in a stern yet worried tone.
Eren took a moment and then let out a long sigh of frustration. "Sorry," he said. "It's just so unfair is all."
"Well it's getting late," Armin said. "Shouldn't you two be heading home?"
"Yes," Mikasa said. "We have to be up early for our chores." Eren groaned as he and Mikasa made their way in the direction Elizabeth assumed to be their home.
"You need to be rested to do the work," Mikasa told Eren. "Otherwise you'll just fall asleep."
"I don't fall asleep doing chores! I just rest my eyes is all."
"Hm."
"What's that suppose to mean?!" the two of them rounded a corner and were lost from view.
"I should probably head home too," Armin said. "Since you're visiting and all do you know where the inn is? I can show you on my way home?"
"That's okay," Elizabeth told him. "I'll be fine. I'm actually going to head back myself."
"Oh," Armin said. "Well it was nice meeting you Miss. Elizabeth!"
"And you as well."
"Um if it's okay," Armin began, "do you think you could bring one of those books about the outside world the next time you visit?"
"Well I don't know exactly when I'll be back," Elizabeth admitted much to Armin's disappointment. "But when and if I do I'll make sure to bring as many books as I can." She didn't think Armin was ever going to stop thanking her.
As Elizabeth returned to the spot she arrived at she saw that the shimmering haze of the tear was there and ready for her to open. She did so and stepped back into her tower. She sighed. It had been fun while it lasted. Soon an all too familiar tune began to play signaling the arrival of the Songbird and she had to admit she was not happy about him being here.
When she was a little girl she would always await a visit from the Songbird. She thought of him as a friend. Over the years that changed, and she began to see him more as an acquaintance since a giant bird creature couldn't really be considered her friend. But now, now she hated him visiting. It served as a reminder that he was free to spread his wings and she was stuck in here.
Eren's words about the titans replayed through her mind. "I guess I know how you feel," she said to herself. "I'm living in a birdcage as well."
A/N: I'm a huge fan of both series and I had a lot of fun writing this, I hope you all enjoyed it, and thank you for reading.