I don't own Attack on Titan: just my OC's and the plot.
The Awakening
Chapter 9: The Morning After
The twittering of birds was the first thing he heard as he slowly awoke from his dreamless sleep, which was strange, given that he lived in a city: the sounds of people talking and walking about, horse hooves clip-clopping on cobbled streets, and carts and wagons rolling by; these were what he usually heard first thing in the morning. As he peeled his heavy eyelids open and noticed the sunbeams shining in through the window, he realized he'd been asleep on a makeshift mattress on the floor: looking around the room, he noticed his leg brace leaning against the wall in the corner by the door, and sighed in relief to see it was still in one piece (and looking remarkably clean, considering how much mud and water he had to wade through yesterday); frowning in confusion, he suddenly realized this wasn't his room...
Hearing footsteps approach outside the door, Bryson sat up in alarm, but was only more confused when he saw his brother open the door, and walk in with his clothes neatly folded in one hand: looking down at himself under the thick sheets, he nearly jumped when he saw he was completely naked. "Sorry about that," Breck smiled sheepishly, "There was no way they were going to dry properly with you still wearing them, so, I sort of took the liberty of slipping them off you while you were still passed out"
Passed out?
Thinking back to the last thing that happened before he blacked out, Bryson could recall some strange disturbing dream where he and everyone he knew from Shiganshina had been saved by four magical titans, from a gang of armed criminals: it was, so surreal, and yet so vivid, as if it had been real. "Oh, and if you think it was all a dream? Think again" Breck smirked as he handed him his clothes: confused, Bryson quickly shot out of bed, slipped his underwear and trousers on, and strode over to the window; outside beneath the bedroom window, the giant boar titan was sat on its haunches, gazing down at Clay, Hazel, Shyla and Fox, as they appeared to be in conversation about something.
Gasping in shock as he nearly jumped clean out of his skin, Bryson jumped away from the window and practically went flying across the room like a spooked cat, pushing himself up against the back wall as far as he could: his twin brother however, merely watched with a discerning smile. "...There's a titan outside the window..." was all Bryson could utter, his panic beginning to spike at seeing Breck's alarmingly calm demeanor: "I know" Breck nodded, "No, you don't understand: there's a titan outside the window!" Bryson pointed to said widow: "I know, he's been there all night" Breck nodded again, "All night?!" Bryson exclaimed, "What the-, how-, why-, what the hell's going on?!"
Breck approached him: and placing a hand on his shoulder he looked him square in the eyes and told him: "...If you promise not to completely freak out, I'll explain what I can, okay? But first things first, get dressed, and get your brace back on"
A short time later:
As Bryson followed Breck down the stairs into the kitchen, the smell of bacon and eggs frying hit his nose, and immediately his stomach reminded him of just how hungry he was: "Nice to hear you got an appetite," Rosemary smiled as she lifted the pan off the stove and deposited the eggs and bacon onto a plate that Lucile was holding, "Oh West dear, could you hand me another few of those eggs?" Rosemary pointed to the basket on the table, "Here you go Rosemary" the young man handed her a couple of eggs as he sliced an apple. Looking around the kitchen, Bryson was surprised to see Rosemary, Derek, Skadi, Ran, and those two men he remembered from the dream ('yesterday', he reminded himself, 'it was yesterday'). "Hey, you're up" Pascal glanced over at him: "... Whose house is this?" Bryson asked offhand, "Ours" West replied, pointing to himself and Pascal, "We let everyone spend the night here, seeing as we were cut off by the storm: good thing this house has four bedrooms, it was a bit of a squeeze but we got everyone in alright"
"I take it Breck filled you in on what happened yesterday?" Ran asked curiously, "He did" Bryson sighed as he did up his cuffs: "And?" Rosemary inquired; Bryson paused a moment and then sighed in irritation, there was no use lying about it, "...I still have no clue what the hell is going on" he deadpanned. "Well, you won't be able to get much comprehending done on an empty stomach" Rosemary smiled as she handed him a plate of fried sausages, eggs, bacon, and a few slices of buttered bread, "Eat this first and then you can go back to worrying about what's going on"
It wasn't until Bryson was three quarters through his breakfast, that he suddenly noticed all the bowels of chopped up fruit sitting on the table: apples, cherries, pears, plums, strawberries, raspberries, peaches and apricots, they all looked deliciously ripe and sweet, and smelt good too; but that was when he suddenly remembered it was still March, none of these fruits would be in season for another four or five months at least, so where had they come from? "...Where did you get these fruits from?" Bryson pointed to the bowels. "Out in the garden, Shadow grew them this morning" Derek replied offhand. Unsure if he heard that right, Bryson tried to clarify: "...They-, were grown, this morning?"
"Don't believe me?" Derek shrugged with a smile as he pointed to the back door, "Go see for yourself". Getting up from the table and heading out the backdoor, Bryson stopped when he saw six fully grown fruit trees standing in the back garden: every branch was heavy with ripe fruit, and on the ground coiled around the trunks were three strawberry bushes and three raspberry bushes, all filled with big juicy berries hanging off the limbs: so big and ripe they looked like they'd burst. The sweet smell of the fruit was heavenly, and as he approached for a closer look, his shoes squelching into the muddy earth, he noticed Bestla, Freya, Miriam, Mabel and Bren at the other end of the small orchard, each picking the fruits and depositing them into a large basket. "Oh hey you're up!" Bestla smiled as Bryson approached them, "Wha-, how can these trees be baring fruits at this time of the year?" he gestured to the trees. "Well because shadow grew them, we didn't have enough eggs, bacon and sausages to go around so he grew these trees for us instead" Mabel smiled in wonderment, "Honestly Bryson you should've seen it! It was amazing!-
"Ah!-, he hasn't been filled in on that just yet, he only got up ten minutes ago!" Breck suddenly interrupted them as he poked his head out the back door. "Oh..." Mable blushed, "Uh, sorry: not to worry though, all will be explained eventually" "Eventually?" Bryson raised an eyebrow, Freya pointed towards the forest: looking over to where she was pointing, Bryson nearly gasped when he saw the lipless titan, the black and white female titan, the boar titan and the bird titan all standing in a triangle some five hundred yards away: with the children all standing in their flattened palms, while Carla, Lucy, Lucius, Ashlyn and Hawk stood on the bird-titan's shoulders. As he watched with dread-filled bated breath, he realized there was no fear or panic, or any attempt to consume them: but rather, the group seemed to be talking among themselves; whatever was being discussed, it seemed to hold a particular importance as there were a lot of exaggerated hand-gestures between the children and titans. "They've been at it like that for over an hour now" Miriam commented as she placed a few apples in the basket, "Guess they're still trying to work out how best to explain it all"
"Explain it all?" Bryson glanced over at her in confusion: "They said they needed some time to get their heads together, figure out best to explain what happened last night, as well as the other stuff that's been going on apparently" she replied, "The other stuff?!" Bryson exclaimed in alarm, "Aren't you even a little concerned about the fact there are four titans here?! Inside the walls?", "I had noticed, thank you for pointing that out Bryson" Miriam remarked sarcastically, "And you're not worried about the fact we could be eaten at any given moment?!" he panicked. Miriam simply deadpanned at him, and stated, "Bryson, I think if those four 'titans' wanted us for a snack they'd have eaten us the first chance they got" she carried the basket back to the kitchen, patting him on the shoulder as she walked by him: "I don't think we have anything to worry about". Bryson stared at her completely dumbfounded, glancing back at Freya, Mabel and Bestla, he gazed at them pleadingly, hoping and praying this wasn't some topsy-turvy world he'd woken up to: "Trust me Bryson, we're all as astounded as you are" Bestla held up her hands in mutual bewilderment, "But Miriam has a point, I think if were in any danger here we'd have been eaten yesterday: I know that must not sound like much of a great comfort for you, but trust me, we're all trying to get our heads around this as best we can"
Bryson still didn't know what to think, his head was still spinning with the fact that there were four titans here and they weren't trying to eat anyone: this didn't make any sense in the least; he was about ask something else, when he noticed the children coming back this way with Carla in tow, the four titans however, remained where they were in the trees and stood there watching them curiously. Bryson felt that same chill go up his spine as he felt their eyes upon him, and naturally backed up a little. "Hey hey it's okay!" Ariana tried to assure him, "They know you're not comfortable with this, that's why their staying back there" she thumbed over her shoulder towards them. "Everything sorted?" Freya asked in concern, "Yeah, we're just about ready I think?" Ariana glanced up at Carla, "It's going to take a while, but we'll try our best" she sighed with a small weary smile. "In that case, I'll go fetch the guys" Bren excused himself as he went off around the side of the house, "Oh yeah I forgot to ask, where'd our dads sneak off to earlier?" Ariana looked around the garden. "Oh, they squirreled themselves away behind the sables I think?" Freya glanced over at the stables and small carriage house on the other side of the building, "Don't know what they've been talking about; it was a bit peculiar, they took one look at the titans and took off. I can't be certain but I think it's got something to do with those markings they have" she glanced over at the four giants, who were remaining motionless among the giant trees, "You noticed that too huh?" Gale sighed: Freya looked at her oddly, "How do you know about-
"-Ah!" Ariana held her hand up, "All will be explained mum, come on" she headed back inside, followed by the others: glancing back at the titans, Bryson swallowed hard as he re-entered the house; he made up his mind that no matter what happened from here on, he was getting answers one way or another...
As they watched the humans all file into the house, the gods all glanced at one another: "Well? We set the parameters: the rest is all theirs now" Javorin sighed: "Do you think it's a good idea? Letting them in on everything we've done these last nine months?" Hecate glanced at him dubiously; "Well? The kids got their folks to listen to them last night, that's a good start as any right?" Herne shrugged encouragingly, "Except for the Scout," Hecate deadpanned: "I could sense that guy had an instinct for titans, but I never expected him to be practically boarder-line psychic; that was, totally unexpected. He sensed us before we even assumed our physical forms: most humans with psychic abilities weren't even capable of that back in the day" she thought aloud. "...What're you thinking?" Javorin glanced at her questioningly, "...I'm not so sure if it's our divine power he sensed, but rather the curse"
The other three gazed at her, realizing she had a point: "...You could be right there" Herne sighed as he thought about it: "So? How long's it going to take for them to explain what happened?" Elysia asked nervously as she rubbed her wing bends together, "As long as it takes," Javorin sighed as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder: "Hey, don't worry about it okay? You explained to Carla and the children what happened and they understood your predicament; and we understand too, so don't think you're alone here: we got your back" he smiled warmly, "You really mean that? Even though I screwed up?" Elysia cowered away from his touch slightly, as if she were expecting to be punished: "...Brat..." Hecate sighed in an unusually sympathetic tone, "...There's no way any god could've contained that much chaos manner by themselves, let alone try to beat it back single-handedly: the fact you got away with your life is a miracle in of itself"
"She's right kid" Herne glanced over at her, "Even her elemental power over water couldn't have fought back the rain; not when it was tainted with so much chaos manna"
"It was bad for sure" Javorin frowned in deep thought: "But what really concerns me is why there weren't any other Tempus gods present?" everyone glanced at him in concern: "A storm corrupted by so much chaos manna? Every Tempus god in the hemisphere should've flocked to it like flies to a horse to try and temper it back to normal, but instead, Elysia was the only one there"
A moment of uneasy silence passed, as the four of them considered the implication of that observation: "...I don't think I like what that implies brother" Herne sighed regretfully: "... Neither do I," Javorin sighed in equal vexation: "And as much as I don't want to have to put a pin in it for later: Unfortunately, the current situation demands our attention..." he glanced over at the house: noticing how everyone had congregated in the parlor. He was about to say something else, when a small noise caught his attention: flicking his ear in the direction of the sound, he heard it was coming from behind a tree next to the house; glancing over at said tree, he saw it was Claude, watching them with intense curiosity. Realizing his cover had been blown, the skinny human quickly beat a hasty retreat into the house.
"Well? Nice to know at least one of them is interested" Herne shrugged,
A few hours later:
Bryson stared at Ariana dead in the eye with a completely perplexed frown, his jaw slightly slack and his eyes glazed over as his mind tried to comprehend everything he'd just heard: his face conveyed the perfect expression of one who had become so lost in his thoughts, that he had become totally oblivious to everything around him; while everyone else in the room was more mixed. Most were more amazed and fascinated than anything else, others were astounded to the point that they honestly didn't know how to react, and the rest were so overloaded with unbelievable information that they just made up their minds to go along with it and not think too hard; except for Claude, who had hung onto every word like a child hearing their favorite story for the first time, utterly entranced and curious beyond measure. Meanwhile, Carla, the Children, Pascal and West all felt like they were in the dock of a courtroom: hoping and praying that their friends and loved ones believed at least some part of what they'd told them was true...
Between all of them, they told everyone everything: from the night Ariana ran away into the forest and encountered shadow, and the following day when she ran into him again; Carla also clarified how her run-in with those human traffickers was not halted by an angry bear, but rather the bird titan 'Angel', and how she too returned to the forest the following day to try and find her, and ultimately ended up caring for her, and teaching her the ways of the human world so as to avoid being caught. And together they explained the details of their secret meetings that were conducted under the pretenses of early morning hunts, and foraging trips for wild herbs and mushrooms (all the while finding it a tad perplexing if not a little funny that both their titans didn't tell one another about them; why they didn't tell? They hadn't thought to ask either of them yet, much to everyone's bewilderment). From there, the other kids explained the events of 'that crazy day' that took place last July, including their run-in with the dark riders (much to their parents horror): all collaborated by Pascal and West (of their part at least), who despite getting 'off on the wrong foot' with the titans, ultimately parted company on a good note.
After that, Carla explained how she took the delivery job so as to act as chaperone for the children, so they didn't have to go into the forest unaccompanied every time they wanted to meet up with their titan friends: meanwhile, the titans kept them up to date on their efforts to rid the Marian forest of the Disciples (and ultimately hindering the progress of the wall cults efforts to built their 'sanctuary'), as well as keep the Scouts safe on their monthly expeditions (which suffice to safe, came as a great surprise to Bryson). They talked of all the things they did together over the past eight months, all the wondrous and awe-inspiring powers the titans had shown them, all the games the kids liked to play: and with the dark rider's presence on their conscience, the Celtic kids even explained how they endeavored to keep their 'regular folk' friends safe by equipping them with the skills they need to survive in the wild with nothing to hand (it had become plainly obvious to everyone by this point that Tyto, Evrard, Falken and Eraman's families were Celts: a fact no one seemed to be concerned about or questioned, much to Evrard's great surprise and concern), by teaching them everything their fathers had taught them (much to the four father's amazement).
And then finally, they relayed everything that happened yesterday: how Angel planned to use her 'weather-summoning powers' to create a storm that would strike lightning down on the sanctuary, thus burning what was left of it to the ground: but instead, something went badly wrong and she lost control of it (all the while emphasizing that the resulting flood wasn't her fault, and she was in fact injured by a lightning bolt): they even explained, when they sought out higher ground to get away from the flood on the wall cults land, how the cultists turned on them like a pack of animals and tossed them into the flood without a second thought. The rest, everyone remembered exactly as it had happened: after Bryson fainted the titans escorted everyone back to Pascal and West's home, with Breck and Claude carrying an unconscious Bryson between them; Midnight used her 'water-powers' to clear the worst of the deluge out of their path, Boar used his 'earth-shaking-powers' to stop another landslide in its tracks, and flatten out what was left of the half-destroyed road for them to safely walk upon, Angel used her power to clear away the worst of the wind and rain, tempering it into a steady breeze and a softer steady shower, while Shadow, used his 'plant-controlling-power' to rapidly grow a strange looking rhubarb-like plant that had an enormous leaf over four to five feet across ('Gunnera manicata', Lucius called it, something Shadow had taught him a while back) and a stem over two to three meters long (lined with sharp spikes, that were easily countered by wrapping a towel around them). He chopped them off at the crown and handed each one out as a make-shift umbrella: and as if that all wasn't enough, boar revealed his power over fire, by warming up the air around everyone to banish the cold away, and keep them from freezing until they got to Pascal and West's place; he even went as far as pushing the wagon all the way there so they wouldn't be without their provisions.
It was an incredible saga to say the least: with everything that had happened it was no wonder they hadn't told anyone of their gigantic friends; their powers alone were unbelievable, never mind all the crazy, dangerous, questionable and (sometimes) near-stupid things they had done/gone through together. But the one thing that stopped them from dismissing it all as complete and utter horseshit was the fact they had seen the titans for themselves and had witnessed their powers in action. On that evidence alone they took their story with a slight pinch of salt: not questioning the parts about how they first met, why they continued to meet up in the forest, how Pascal and West got involved (although the part about the kids using ODM gear sounded a bit farfetched), and why they kept the whole thing secret from them, those all sounded quiet plausible despite their incredibility. But the part about the dark riders however? That was dubious: much to the Children's, Carla, Pascal and West's dismay...
"...Okay..." Tyto sighed as he leaned his head against his propped up elbow on the table, "...You do realize there are some serious questions that need to be answered here" "We know dad" Ariana nodded: "...Okay, putting the titans aside for a moment: I don't doubt your claim about seeing the dark riders that one time last July, but, don't you think if they were out there in the forest on a regular basis, we'd have picked up some sign of their activities by now?" her father asked her.
"Yeah, I figured that would be kinda tricky to explain," Ariana answered anxiously: "Well? Like I said before, Midnight is always the one to go after the Disciples hunting parties: Shadow and Boar only take care of the supply depots and half-way houses. When Midnight hunts, she always likes to bring back trophies and stash them away in her tomb"
"Which is the proof we have to back up our 'claim', and which we'll show you later," Rowan frowned: "... But the fact we're having to go over this again is bullshit! We're your kids! Why're you even questioning us on this? If we were in the middle of the forest and I smelt the riders approaching us: would you question me right up until they slit our throats with their swords?!"
"It's not that! It's just-" Tyto tried not to raise his voice as he rubbed his forehead, trying to stay focused, "...I've been avoiding them a lot longer than all of you children put together: me, your mother, and your parents combined" he gazed at his nieces and nephews seriously: "We know what to look for when we're migrating from one area to another, we know their tracks and tricks by heart; half our lives has been dedicated to avoiding their gaze. So you'll forgive me if I take your claim with a pinch of salt..." he gazed at his adopted sons, "...I don't have to remind you of the consequences for those that get caught"
"I know dad," Ash sighed, "But what reason do we have to lie about something as serious like the Disciples? You've said it yourself plenty of times, a foolish hunter can only cry wolf so many times: and when have we ever cried wolf to any of you?" Knowing he had a point, Tyto sighed in submittance: "...Never" "So why now?" Ariana demanded incredulously, "Why do you doubt what we've told you? You've told us a thousand times over we have to remain vigilant for the dark riders: we finally see them, nearly get killed by them!We finally tell you truth and you won't believe us! WHY?!"
"Why?" Evrard frowned, "Why didn't you tell us about this before?! You could have left the titans out of it, but you should have at least told us that the dark riders were near Shiganshina! Why didn't you?!" "-Because we didn't want you all to panic!" Ash shot back, "-We were scared that if-, you found out the dark riders were in the eastern forest, that we'd pack up and move back to the wild in the western woods; that somehow you'd all get it in your heads that the wall cult were closing in on us and that we had to get out!"
"What?" Ran gasped: "-Ash, listen to me!" Freya grabbed him by both shoulders and looked him square in the eye, "If we knew the Disciples were in the forest again, we would never do anything so reckless as to leave Shiganshina! Not while those wolves are out there! How could you think we, or anyone else would be so stupid to pull a move like that?!"
Ash dropped his gaze as an awkward silence passed between them, before finally admitting: "...Because, it seems to be only answer we have for everything..." "What?!" his mother let go of him, and stared at him in surprise as he pressed on undeterred: "...Every time the wall cult, or bad 'regular folk' gossip is mentioned in one form another, we always talk about how we're 'going to return to the safety of the wild' or, 'how the forest will provide us with a bounty of hides': we don't stop to consider if maybe we're just getting a little paranoid, or that life in the city is just not agreeing with us anymore. Either way, we don't talk about getting along with it, or just being careful not to imply the wrong thing, whatever the hell that means anymore? ..." he frowned at his father, uncles and aunts, who all stared at him agasp: "Did it ever occur to any of you that we don't like having to be reminded all the time that we're descended from cowards?! That every time the going gets tough we pack up and run away with our tails between our legs?! Sure, our culture survived by being stealthily, but did you ever think of the cost we had to pay for that?! Our pride, our dignity, our confidence, our courage; in all the time we've been hiding we never fought back against our oppressors, not even once! I know it's not our way to give into violence and I still agree with that principle: but damn it! That doesn't mean I have to be at peace with it!" he shouted angrily.
"-Listen" Ariana tried to clarify, "we get why we have to do all the things we do, we know it's what keeps us alive. But you can't expect us to think that running away every time the world comes too close to us is going to work every single time. What if the wall cult found out we were living in Shiganshina, and rather than draw attention to themselves by storming the house directly, they simply wait for us to return to the wild?"
"Besides, even though Midnight has been doing a great job at keeping the Disciples out of the forest, there's no guarantee the cult won't send more" Hawk pointed out; "For the last eight months they've sent out nine hunting parties, all of which she 'took care of', and yet in all that time they didn't seem to get the message. I don't know if its hubris on their part, or if someone covered the up the disappearances in an attempt to avoid trouble. Either way, the forest still isn't totally free of them...Long and short of it? We didn't tell you about them because ultimately, we assumed you were all going to blow things way out of proportion, and do the only thing we know how to do. Run and hide"
"Besides: even if Midnight's got them on the run, we can't move back to live in the forest anyway: we've got our lives here in the city, our friends, we can't just up and leave!" Clay stated vehemently: "Wait a minute-, I thought we established that we're not leaving Shiganshina: whoever said anything about moving back to the forest?" Bestla frowned, "Dad did" Hazel and Clay both pointed at their father, who suddenly felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place as his wife and sister both gawked at him: "WHAT?!", "I didn't think it'd be too much of an issue! I was going to tell you when we got back from our trip!" he innocently tried to explain: "Yeah, only after we'd packed up and were half-way out into the forest!" Hazel fumed as she glared at him, "-And don't you dare try to make any excuses dad! The only reason you want us to move back there is because of some stupid rumour you overheard the pastors gossiping about!" "Rumour?! What on earth are you talking about?!" Skadi exclaimed.
"The day before last, Evrard overheard a couple of pastors at the church talking about some new decree the royal government is reviewing that'll enable the wall cult to hold 'religious studies' in all the schools: therefore, he decided he'll move himself and his family back to the wild" Tyto explained: Evrard looked at him incredulously, to which Tyto merely glanced at him as if to say: What? You expect me to lie? "WHAT?! You were going to move us back to the wild?! Without consulting me?! Without consulting your sister?!" Bestla fumed, "-It's not just that" Hawk interrupted coolly, "Uncle Evrard's worried that by going to school, we'll be sacrificing our traditions and customs by learning stuff that's got nothing to do with us, you know? 'regular folk' stuff an' all that?" "Personally? I don't see how that can be a bad thing?" Ashlyn shrugged innocently. Evrard gazed at her in surprise: "You don't see how that's a bad thing?" he shook his head in disbelief: "Ashlyn, our culture is dying because of what 'regular folk' think is best for the world, and you think learning their backwards ways is okay?! After everything we've been through, how can you think that?!"
"-OH LIKE YOUR ONE TO TALK!" Rowan suddenly yelled at him, "Rowan?!" Freya gasped, "No mum! This has to be said!-" Rowan stomped over to his uncle, and stared him down fiercely: "You think we're not aware what the world is like?! You think we don't know how cruel it can be?! Having to hide what we are for fear of the wall cult finding us! You say we have to be scared and hide from the world; but what if something happens and we can't hide anymore? What then? Where will we run to? Where will we hide? What if everything we knew that kept us safe before, doesn't work anymore?! Did you ever think about that? No, you didn't, because you still like to believe that the wild places of the forest are still safe for us, that they'll always keep us from harm. Well I got news for you uncle Evrard, THEY WON'T! For eight months the titans have been confronting the Disciples and making them 'disappear', for eight months the wall cult have tried to establish themselves here in Shiganshina, and the titans have been there to screw up their efforts; the only reason no one has 'disappeared' is because of them! The only reason we could still continue our camping and bush-craft trips is because of them. They've been keeping everyone safe: not just us but all the other people that live out there in the forest too: Celts or regular folk it doesn't matter, everybody's fair game as far as the Disciples are concerned..." he took a deep breath as he calmed down a little, "...Look, I get why you got upset, and yeah I don't blame you for feeling like that..." Rowan looked at him with a sense of confidence: "But if we're to stand any chance of surviving in this world: I mean, any real chance of survival? Then it's not by hiding away but by learning how to hide in plain sight: and if that means we have to learn what regular folk know then fine: I'd rather miss a few hours of learning how to gut a deer then miss learning how use money properly, or learning to write straight without getting ink all over my hands"
"Besides, it wouldn't be like we're giving up our whole culture entirely," Dale clarified, "It's nothing like that: but if you seriously think we're so naive and gullible that we'd believe anything anyone tells us just because we're kids? Then you don't know us as well as you'd like to think you do uncle Evrard"
"And one other thing I can't stand," Clay frowned at his father: "-Is how much of a hypocrite you are towards everyone else! What was it you said the other day? Humanity has nothing left to show for itself? That there's no such thing as 'good people' in the world anymore, that even our neighbors would sell us out to the wall cult at the first opportunity?!" he confronted him: Evrard immediately froze as everyone glanced at him in astonishment; but Clay wasn't finished just yet: "...You know dad? The one cruel fact I have learned about this world is that bigotry goes both ways: you keep saying that 'regular folk' are stupid, backwards, spiteful, greedy and cruel: but how the hell are you any different when your arrogance and condescending attitude leaves no room for people like the Willums, the Leon brothers, Claude, the Fitzsimmons, and Mrs Jaeger to be considered our friends. How can you say such things? After everything everyone has done for us? We've put our lives in their hands just to make it this far, and then suddenly you turn around and decide none of that counted for anything?! That they weren't putting their own lives on the line too?!..."
Everyone stared at Clay in amazement: Evrard in particular sat there in stunned silence, every word he ever said in anger and frustration coming back to haunt him, and he felt horrible. But Hazel had her own opinion to share, as she stated: "...You once said, that the best quality that defines a Celt is our ability to look past all hatred and spite, and to see the potential for good in others; how the hell can we see any good in the world if all we do is hide away in the shadows and keep ourselves distant from the rest of humanity? How does running and hiding solve anything? How does that make us better than everyone else? Or better yet, how cruel does it make us, if we're willing to turn our backs on our fellow man?"
An unbearably uncomfortable long silence hung in the air as Evrard sat there contemplating what he just heard: as he felt their eyes upon him, he reluctantly turned his head to look at everyone else in the room. His wife and sister were glaring daggers at him as if to say: how could you? Falken and Eraman and their wives simply looked at him as if to say: Seriously? What were you thinking? All Tyto could do was gaze down at the floor, and let karma bite Evrard for his own foolishness: he felt no reprimanding gaze was necessary. Rosemary, Lucile, Mabel, Bren and Derek stared at him like a couple of kicked puppies, hurt but not angry, more confused than anything else while Miriam and Gustav simply gazed at him the same way a cat eyes up a mouse. Bryson, Breck and Claude merely stared at him in disconcertment, but like the Willums and Fitzsimmons, they didn't appear to be outraged either; and neither was Carla as she sat there trying to lend him a sympathetic gaze. Feeling like the odd one's out (mostly because they weren't family men), Pascal and West tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible: this was some heavy emotional family stuff being exchanged, stuff they knew they weren't qualified to lend an opinion on, so for their part they simply kept their mouths shut and waited for the subject matter to move along, all the while feeling as though they were stuck between a several large rocks and a very hard place.
"...Look..." Ash tried to lighten the subject: "...I don't know the real reason why the wall cult wants to wipe us out? And frankly I don't want to know. All I know is that they hate our guts, and to that I say they can go screw themselves. I'm not going to hide away just because a bunch of psychotic zealous nut-jobs think they know what's best for everyone. I want to go to school, I want to know how to get by, so at the very least I know how to stand on my own two feet: in both the rest of this walled world, and the wild"
"It goes the other way too you know?" Belle offered, "At least, by learning how to hunt and how to gather food for ourselves: we know what to do when we fall on hard times and don't have a coin to our names. They don't teach that in school" "They don't teach you how to make your own weapons either" Poppy smiled sheepishly, "And besides," Ariana chipped in, "So what if the wall cult teaches 'religious studies' in school? That doesn't mean we have to suck it up and accept it as fact. We got brains you know, we can choose what we want to accept as real and deny what we believe to be false. It's just like what Dale said, we may be kids but we're not stupid; it's our lives, we get the final say in how we want to live them: no one has any right to tell us otherwise..."
Another long silence had the children on tender hooks, before Tyto sighed offhand: "...So that's how you all really feel huh? ..." he got up and glanced over at the children: "Would you-...Could you all leave the room for a while please? We've got to have a little grown-up's chat"
"About what?" Ariana asked, wondering where her dad was taking this; Tyto glanced over at Evrard with his poker face, and sighed, "...A few things I think are long overdue to be discussed between us all" he glanced back at Ariana: "It's okay, we'll call you back when we're done"
"Why don't you all go and check on the titans?" Carla suggested, "They must be getting pretty bored just standing around out there?" glancing out the window, everyone saw the titans hadn't moved from their spot: like children waiting to see the head teacher for a misdemeanor, they just stood there impassively: were they anxious? Frustrated? It was hard to tell. Glancing around the room, the kids all began to get the vibe that their presence was no longer required, and so didn't probe the matter any further as they quietly took their leave, with Tyto softly shutting the door behind them.
Heading outside and making their way across the boggy muddy earth to the small clearing where the titans were standing, the kids all glanced up at their giant friends, who all kneeled down to meet them with sympathetic looks: "...You heard all that, didn't you?" Ariana looked away in anxious embarrassment. Shadow softly lifted her up between his finger and thumb, and gently held her in his palm: lifting her chin up with the tip of his thumb to get her attention as he wrote out, : With these big ears? It's kind of hard not to: he pointed to one of his elfish ears, before adding, : But listen, no matter what happens, your parents will always love you; and it's because they love you so much, that they're willing to go to the length's they'll go, to keep you all safe: "I get that," Ash sighed with a slight wince, feeling bad enough as it is: "But does that mean we have to be cowards in the process? Do we really have to turn our backs on our friends, just to stay alive?" he thought aloud, "...If part of staying alive as a Celt means having to be hypocritical about our most basic belief in humanity, then I don't want any part of it"
"What?" Clay gazed at him in surprise, "Come on, I know we're asking some serious questions here, but you don't mean that, surely?" "Don't I?" Ash gazed at him stoically, "...I have to agree with him" Hawk sighed reluctantly, "If we're not willing to admit our own faults as a people different from another culture, then how can we expect to find any common ground, if we can't even sympathize with them when it comes to our own lesser qualities?"
"...You know? I never thought we'd actually be talking about something like this" Jaye admitted anxiously: "I didn't really used to think about this kind of thing much: well? Not as seriously as I probably should have been, I mean sure I knew we had to remain hidden for our own safety an' all that, but, I never thought the things that defined us as Celts could also set us apart from everyone else in a 'bad' way?" he pouted slightly, "Am I wrong?". Josefa laid a hand on his shoulder, but she wasn't sure what to say.
Feeling helpless, and frustrated at not being able to do anything to change all this: Fox sighed in defeat as he lay a hand on Ash's shoulder: "Listen...I may not be a Celt, but as someone from the outside looking in: I can tell you right here and now: we've got way more in common that you think," Ash turned to face him as he explained: "I know on the surface we look very similar, and that beneath that surface we've got very different ways of doing things: but, you're not the first to run from a fight" "What do you mean?" Rowan frowned. Hoping deep down he wasn't making a mistake, Fox took a deep breath, and thought back to the day, when he and Shyla made the greatest choice of their young lives...
Another few hours later:
As she poured the tea, Rosemary glanced over at Evrard, who was sitting with his face in his hands: "Oh cheer up dear, it's not the end of the world: we've already explained how we've forgiven you" she tried to encourage him: "It's not that it's just-," he chuckled, feeling emotionally tired: "...I just can't believe I'm the last to know all this... Am I really that much of a bigot?" "You're not a bigot you idiot" Bestla sighed in exasperation as she took her cup and sat back down, "You're just short-sighted and pig-headed: like your spirit animal"
"It has to be said, you don't exactly strike everyone you meet as 'overly open-minded" Ran sighed offhand, "But you try your best; that's all anyone can ask for" Lucile smiled. "And let's face it, you wouldn't have handled it well, even if all the guys told you together" Freya shot him a mother-hen look. "The fact it's come to this? It shouldn't have happened in the first place; not if you'd learnt to be a little more understanding in bending the rules and learning to make acceptations where necessary"
Gazing over at Tyto, Bryson, Breck, Gustav, Bren, Derek and Claude: Evrard leaned back in his chair as Rosemary handed him a cup of tea: "...So? The traitors and heretics? Kind of an appropriate nickname considering the crack-pot theories half of you have come up with" "Hey, be polite!" Freya swatted him over the legs, "Actually he's not kidding there Freya: we would be hung or burnt for even mentioning things like the 'altered memory theory', or the research I've been doing on the walls," "I'm still surprised you actually went through with that, considering the risks involved" Mabel commented offhand, "But, given the curious mind you possess Derek, I guess I shouldn't be surprised" she smiled wearily.
"...And, you really don't have any qualms over this? ... " Evrard glanced over at Bryson and Break: "Evrard, when you've starred down the jaws of a titan and lived to tell about it: I can honestly say, there's not much that fazes me deeply...except..." his smile dropped as he glanced out the window, and gazed over at the titans, who were still talking with the children. "-Oh I meant to ask, how're you coping now? Knowing their not about to be made into autres I mean?" Pascal butted in with his devilish grin, trying to lighten the mood (to not much avail). Bryson swallowed hard, he could see the titans were obviously presenting no danger: the logical part of him knew that now; but still that sharp chill that went right up the center of his spine told him to stay on edge. Which for the most part he was now mostly ignoring: putting it down to old habits as a former Scout; "...Okay" he admitted, "I accept they pose no threat to humans (for the most part), I accept their highly intelligent and are capable of using language: I just-, as a former Scout this is a very unusual situation for me! One I wasn't trained for!"
"Like you're the only one!" Gustav grumbled as he slurped his tea, "We're all in the same boat here kid! So don't go rocking it just because you got egg on your face!"
"Ah! But think of the opportunities presented to us here!" Claude perked up enthusiastically, "If what the children said is true, we could be looking at the emergence of an entirely new species of titan! One mankind has never encountered before! And if what we witnessed last night was only a fraction of their full powers, then the possibilities are endless!" "Wha-, hang on a second Claude-" Carla interrupted, "We haven't found any other titans like them, and they haven't been able to find any of their own 'extended family' either; we don't know if they might be the only ones in existence, or, if the rest of their kind might be somewhere out there in the outside world?" she pointed in the direction of wall Maria, "Either way, It's a mystery both we haven't been able to solve yet" she clarified, "Well? Then maybe it's a mystery we can solve together? Like the riddle of their markings, I can't wait to get started on that!"
"Actually, that's one hell of a theory you guys came up with" Carla thought aloud as she gazed over at Tyto, "And you're sure you recognize those markings?"
"It's as I've explained," Tyto sighed as he sat upright and leaned over in his chair, "Those markings are known to the Celts, their part of our written language and art style: they form the very basis of how our people interact with the world, and how it relates to us. After we retreated behind the walls, the style itself became rather 'contemporary': becoming smaller, less detailed and expressive for the sake of conveying information as facts, not as a cultural interpretation. Markings like the ones on Shadow's back? Those have not been seen since our Great-great-grandfather's grandfather's age"
"Wow. That's way more than just a hundred years ago," West raised his eyebrows in amazement. "Which also leads me to believe our kids pestering us all winter to learn our people's language wasn't just a coincidence," Eraman realized, "Did you know about this?" he gazed over at Carla: "They discussed it amongst themselves: they did plan to teach me and the others once they learnt the basics. But yes, it wasn't a coincident" she nodded frankly, "They wanted to try and figure out what they said, as well as what was carved into their tombs"
"Which brings us back to the subject at hand ..." Miriam stated as she addressed the whole room: "...We still gotta go out there and 'formerly' meet them: because if you what you four surmise is true," she glanced over at Tyto, Evrard, Falken, and Eraman, "Your asking us to take a hell of a gamble: even if we're not involved directly the fact we know about them alone puts us in an uncertain position, one we might not be able to handle as a whole... And then there's you two," she glanced over at Pascal and West, who suddenly felt trapped under her commanding gaze, "We still haven't touched on the subject of what happened yesterday: like how you seemed to be 'familiar' with those men that attacked us"
"We are familiar with them in name only," Pascal deadpanned, "Trust me, we have nothing in common with those psychotic nut-jobs" "Yet you trade stolen ODM gear?" Bryson frowned at them, "How's that any different from what they did?" "We don't kidnap women and kids to sell as slaves and whores on the black market; we may be criminals but we're not sick in the head like some we've had the unfortunate luck of running into. We have morals and standards I'll have you know," Pascal stated matter-of-factly: "Yeah, Carla has confirmed as much by the fact she's still here in one piece: the kids too seeing as their all accounted for," Miriam stated: "Besides, if you really were part of that gang? I'd have smelt rat all over you in heartbeat, and you wouldn't have got away from that fight alive, I'd have made sure of it"
"Trust me, I believe you" Pascal deadpanned as he recalled the fight, and how she practically mowed down every man standing in her way: though she was old, Pascal made a particular mental note to be careful what he said around her. Getting Miriam's drift that these two weren't dangerous, Bryson lowered his guard a little: "...So just who were those men anyway?" "The guy who nearly made diced meat out of you?" Pascal picked up his tea and took a sip, "He goes by the name of Shredder (no guesses why): his gang owns-, or, used to own that whole section of road. They'd mostly jump poor folks traveling late at night: and when the wall cult muscled in last summer and kicked out all those laborers? They struck pay-dirt, must've grabbed about ten families in total I think? Last night, we were damn lucky the titans showed up when they did"
"And you know all that because?" Break frowned skeptically, "Shiganshina might not be anywhere on the scale of Mitras, but the criminal underworld thrives beneath its polished exterior all the same" West chipped in, "We go to the city regularly to check what's being said down the grapevine: in a place where crime can go about its business quietly and the law is as reliable as a dead dog, you have to stay on your toes constantly" "The second someone tries to muscle in on your turf, you gotta know who you're dealing with: so you can either pay them a visit and send them packing, or pack up and leave yourself; half the gangs in this region? You take one look at them and you know it's a fight you can't win," Pascal stated, "Oh, and before you ask? There's a difference between cowardice and knowing when the odds are not in your favor; and we're not gamblers"
"Well good: gambling's a waste of money and a waste of time anyway..." Miriam nodded as she approached them, "But that whole yarn you two spun about the kids using ODM gear to try and 'rescue' their giant friends?..." she eyed them suspiciously for a long tense moment, before asking, "...I'd be interested to see if there's any truth to that"
"Say what?" West blinked in surprise, "There's a lot of bullshit I've heard in my time boys: as such, I raised my nieces to never lie about important matters, and they fully understand the consequences for lying in my house. So when they tell me they used ODM gear from a couple of crooks to rescue their friends, knowing how that sounds and knowing what'd do to them for even attempting to make up such horseshit...What am I to believe? Except, that it can only be the truth: I just need to corroborate it from you two, seeing as you're the one's they got the gear from" she frowned at them.
The two men stared at her in disbelief, half wondering if she really had all her marbles: glancing over at everyone else, they just shrugged and shook their heads as if to say: just go with it. Deciding not to push their luck, they didn't question her about it: "...We'll go get the gears" Pascal simply said as he and West snuck out of the room, and squirreled away towards the basement. "Good. While you two are busy with that, we'll be tying up the loose ends" she called over to them. "Loose ends?" Evrard frowned in confusion.
"Yes, loose ends..." she gazed over at the giant redhead with a sideways mother-hen look: "Before we go any further with this, you might want to go and patch things up with Clay and Hazel: trust me, you don't want to leave things like that lingering for too long before its time to resolve them..." she glanced over at Tyto, "You too Tyto, Ash and Ariana were pretty sore too"
"But-" Evrard hesitated worryingly, "I don't even know where to begin? I don't even know if they'll want to listen to me anymore"
"Evrard," Miriam sighed in an unusually sympathetic tone, "...He's your son and she's your daughter: you tell them both you are their father, you love them very dearly, and sometimes you can't help but fuck things up. That's just the way parents are. But that doesn't mean you'll not be there for them, and you'll never stop loving them no matter how much fucked up shit they go through in life. Okay?"
Evrard stared at her for a moment: "...Fair enough..." he sighed meekly, deciding not to question her choice of words; "Come on..." Bestla sighed as she took him by the hand and wandered over to the door, "...I'll open up the dialogue, and then you can handle the rest": "I think I might need a tad moral support as well" Tyto smiled sheepishly as he and Freya got up and followed them outside. Watching out the window, they saw the two couples stop just short of the tree line, and upon noticing them, their children left the titans and ran over to them.
"...Don't punish yourself..." Miriam glanced sideways at Carla, knowing she'd been wearing that same face since Clay's outburst: the one that told her she couldn't help but feel she should have done more to smooth things over between Clay and his father: knowing it was him that first told the children about the wall cult and the Disciples. "Evrard's a lot of things but he's not a bad man at heart: just a flawed one, like everyone else in this world. Could you have done more? Who knows? Maybe not; these little outbursts have a reason for happening: their usually a kid's way of trying to reach out for someone to listen to them, because unlike us grown-ups they can't articulate themselves as well, so they do the only thing they know how...And it's a habit we don't really seem to grow out of: we just learn to apply to the things that hurt us most... Though that being said: I'd say they got their message pretty good" Miriam explained as she watched the parents talking with their children.
"...Whatever happened to Evrard to make him resent the rest of humanity so bitterly? Did he loose someone he loved to the wall cult?" Carla couldn't help but ask, "...We all have" Falken sighed ruefully, "That's the whole reason our four clans came together to live in Shiganshina... It wasn't just the Crow clan that was wiped out that night all those years ago..." Carla turned round and stared at him in disbelief: "... So? Pascal wasn't kidding when he said the kids were last of their bloodlines" she suddenly realized, "The last of the Red Boars, Black Hawks, Ravens and Grey Owls; the four great clans of southern Maria" Eraman sighed: "Now, we are a single clan that lives under the name Grayson: and in all likelihood that is how we will remain until the end of our days"
Thinking about her part in all this, Carla couldn't help but turn back to the window, unable to look everyone in the eye as she watched Evrard bend down on one knee to talk to his son and daughter face to face: "...I should've said something to you sooner; I'm-...sorry I went behind your backs like this" "Ah don't beat yourself up about it," Miriam waved off, "You were thinking of those kids the whole time: when you're a mother you do what you must, even if it means you gotta be sneaky about it. And those titans? I'm just glad you're a good judge of character like me". Thinking of Eren, and how she came very close to death yesterday, Carla reluctantly sighed, "...Miriam? When we get back home: do you mind if I only work part time? After yesterday: I just want to be with my family" Glancing at her, and seeing the heart-aching look in her eyes, Miriam sighed: "...Yeah, figured you ask that; I'll talk with Freya, see what we can shuffle around" "After we're done here I just want to head straight home: Grisha and Eren must be going out their minds wondering what happened to me" Carla worried.
"Oh, that's another thing that struck me as a tad-, well? Odd" Claude hesitated a little:"I'm a bit surprised you didn't let your husband and son in on your little 'titanic' secret; I'd have thought with the friendship you struck up with Angel that you'd be brimming at the seams to introduce them to her"
"Believe me Claude, there's been plenty of times I wanted to," Carla smiled weakly: staring off into the forest as she thought about the reasons why she didn't tell her own family about the titans: "...But...every time I thought about it: I couldn't help but think of the complications involved; I know that sounds hypocritical coming from me of all people and I don't feel good about it in the least. But I never had any intention of letting things get this far: in the beginning I thought it was only Angel, and if were just her then yes, that's probably how things might have transpired, just between the four of us. But then I met Shadow and found out Ariana had known about him all along too, and after everything that happened on that crazy day back last July? Before I knew it, it was way out of my control"
"And you didn't want to let anyone else in for fear of it spiraling out of hand any further" Rosemary surmised: "The less people who knew the better: am I correct?" "Initially," Carla turned to face her, "But it wasn't just the titans that were the real reason I didn't tell Grisha and Eren about them. The Disciples had me greatly worried: if Grisha had to travel through the forest late at night to go and see a patient, and he had a run-in with them?-" "Ah" Breck realized, "Yes, I see what you mean" "That's why," Carla continued, "When we started going to see the titans during our delivery trips, I laid down some ground-rules so as to keep us all safe; if the Disciples were ever in the in forest we were not to visit the titans until Midnight had 'seen them off': and if you and your children were out on a hunt while they were there, one of the titans had to keep an eye on you at all times, and if the Disciples ever found you? To get you out of harm's way" she glanced over at Falken and Eraman: "So it wasn't all just fun and games eh?" Skadi thought aloud.
"Grisha I can understand, but Eren? You're still not sure about him?" Mabel asked offhand curiously, "I mean-, don't get me wrong, if you're not sure about introducing him to the titans because you feel he won't be safe enough, I-
"-It's not like that Mabel" Carla was quick to clarify: "I've no doubt Eren would love them, and they him: and you couldn't ask for better chaperones with them around..." she smiled thoughtfully: but her eyes still held doubt as she spoke her thoughts aloud: "...Some part of me still hopes to introduce him to them one day: but... It's a great burden, knowing what we know and knowing what the consequences will likely be if it gets out. The kids have found it difficult enough keeping it from all of you, and I don't want Eren to have to go through life suffering that same burden; knowing he could never tell Armin, or any other new friends he might make in the future? I don't want that for my son," she gazed out the window, just in time to see Evrard hugging Clay and Hazel, and Tyto patting his children on the head: "...That night Angel and I met? I don't know if that was fated, or if it was just a completely random fluke: in any case I owe her my life, and I made the conscious decision to go back and see her. This whole thing (from my perspective at least) has transpired due to circumstances that were totally beyond all our control, and what choices we did have, we tried to make the best one's for everyone's benefit: not just us or the titans. If we had the chance to go back in time and change something would we do it? Probably? I don't know? All I know is that for the past eight months it's been a bitter-sweet time: sweet, for the company and fun we've shared together with our friends; and bitter, for knowing we couldn't share it with the whole world, for the one obvious reason" she let her gaze drop in rueful heart-ache, "...I don't want Eren to grow up with that ache in his heart; if something happens beyond my control and he finds out about Angel or the other titans? Then so be it, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it: but for now, I just want him to have a childhood free of as many burdens as possible. For as long as it can last"
As everyone pondered her reasoning: one thing stood out to Rosemary: "...And you think that'll be okay with Ariana and the other children? I'd have thought it'd go both ways?" "Of course it goes both ways" Carla sighed, "Ariana's already asked me about it twice, and she doesn't like having to keep it secret from Eren any more than I do; it's just-...I don't know if she'll fully understand the real reason why I won't tell him"
"Heh" Miriam couldn't help but smile: "I think after that little outburst earlier? Those kids are more than just aware of what's at hand: and it seems pretty clear to me they ain't as naive as they look..." she placed a hand on Carla's shoulder, "Just talk to her okay? Ariana may not be the smartest kid on the street, but she sure as hell has the heart to deal with your line of reasoning; she is her father's daughter after all"
"It's hard, I know" Rosemary sighed as she got and wandered over to the window: "But there comes the day every parent has to face, when they have to step back and let their children take the reins: and if we don't instill them with the reassurance they need to find that confidence and surety in themselves, then we've failed them before they've even had a chance to step out into the world..." Rosemary smiled as she watched the children by the side of the house, slipping into the straps and harnesses, and readying the ODM gear with Pascal and West: "...I think it's pretty obvious that our young ones are growing up fast, and they're now on the cusp of understanding the 'bigger issues' of life...Have a little faith dear, those children will be fine as long as your honest with them"
"And specking of honesty" Miriam changed the subject as she noticed the kids were finally ready, and were launching themselves into the trees: the loud pop of the pitons firing off echoed through the back door: "I think it's now time for the honest-to-god moment of truth: come on" she beckoned everyone to follow her outside. "What?" Claude looked all around, before suddenly remembering, "Oh right yes! The ODM gear, Come along chaps! This should be interesting" he practically jumped out of his chair, grabbing Bryson by the cuff and dragging him outside: "Uh- wait a minute! Those titans won't be anywhere nearby right?" the former Scout hesitated, "Oh come on!" his twin brother shoved him out the door, "You're going to have to meet them eventually!"
The rest of the adults filed outside, but avoided the mud by staying on the back porch: Bryson's breath nearly hitched in his chest when he saw the titans standing just beyond the tree line, all standing in a row as if waiting for something to happen: except for Shadow, who was holding Bemadette in his palm; with her back turned to them it was hard to see her clearly, but judging from the way her arms were moving about she was definitely doing something. "Calm down or you'll make me skittish!" Breck deadpanned as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Where did the children go?" Lucile asked offhand as she looked all around the garden and the forest.
"UP HERE AUNT LUCILE!" Gale called down as she and her sisters flew overhead on the ODM gear, followed by the other children like a flock of birds: "-CAREFUL! Watch where you're going!" Evrard chased after them in a panic, his nerves practically being raked over the coals as he dreaded Clay and Hazel, or any of them falling suddenly: "Will you chill dad?! We got this!" Clay smirked as he shot his lines at one of the giant trees, and pulled a sharp turn. On the back porch, Falken, Skadi, Eraman and Ran watched in stunned amazement, as did Rosemary and Lucile, though Miriam and Gustav's faces hardly budged an inch as they folded their arms and watched them carefully: Mabel, Bren and Derek watched in astonishment, smiles growing across their faces as they marveled at their talent. Claude and Break couldn't help but smile in amazement as well, while Bryson just couldn't take his eyes off them. With the trained eye of a veteran professional: it was clear to him by the way they were straining to keep themselves upright that they hadn't totally mastered all the necessary techniques, but the fact they were able to swing and counterbalance their own weight, in addition to the weight of the gear on their thighs, was nothing short of remarkable, given that they were much shorter compared to the usual average height many new recruits were when they started ODM gear training. 'They learned all this-...' he thought in astonishment, 'They learned to do all this from that one time I let them try my gear on?!',
Were these children really that strong? Or had they just 'got the hang of it' from that one time he let them use his gear? In any case, Bryson couldn't help but be mightily impressed. Glancing over at Carla, he noticed the happy smile spread across her face as she watched them soar through the trees: sailing past the titan's faces, before coming back around and being joined by Pascal and West, as they flew with them on their own gear. "Mind your lines!" Pascal called out, trailing them from behind as they turned to make another lap around the perimeter of the clearing, "And watch out for each others hooks!" West added. "Okay, so the ankle-biters can use ODM" Gustav nodded in content, "That takes care of that". "But-, how on earth are they able to move like that?!" Skadi gasped as she watched her son and daughter clear a branch, half worried they were going to hit it, "I'd say they got the balance down pretty good" Claude adjusted his pince-nez, "And it looks like they have good spatial awareness, judging by the way their able to fly so close together without bumping into one another".
At that moment, Tyto, Freya and Bestla wandered over to the house from where they'd been standing by the tree line: Evrard had given up pursuing the children as he stood in the clearing trying to get his breath back, while the other three parents all watched their children nervously; "You're okay with this?!" Falken gawked. "Hardly!" Tyto waved off as he watched his sons and daughter, hoping and praying that they knew what they were doing, while at the same time, secretly impressed by their prowess: "But damn it, they sure know how to move on those things" "You know?" Eraman thought aloud, "With gear like that, you'd never have to worry about building another dray again: you can just shoot your lines up a tree, swing up with your bow and quiver in hand, and just wait until something comes along; you could fill up the pantry in less than a few days" "Now there's an idea" Tyto raised an eyebrow: Freya and Bestla could only roll their eyes in exasperation, "Trust you to get an idea that involves our children potentially breaking their necks!" Ran gave her husband a sideways glance: "Hey I'm just saying" he shrugged innocently, "It just seems like a good skill-set to keep handy: being able to use ODM gear, you could do all sorts of things!"
"Actually?" Bryson chipped in, "The chances of breaking your neck using ODM gear isn't really that high" "Hey! Don't encourage him!" Ran swatted the back of his shoulder. As they approached the house, the children came to a wobbly stop as they adjusted their pistons to 90 degrees away from their hips, and shot their lines outwards to the nearest trees, effectively letting the cable's natural elasticity absorb their momentum, bringing them to a stop. "Nice" Pascal smiled as he and West both swung up, recalled their lines as they twisted in midair, and landed on the very end of the porch: "At least you learned to slow down and stop this time". "So?" Gale glanced down at her elders, "Do you believe us now?"
"I stand corrected" Miriam admitted humbly, before glancing over at Bryson with a mother-hen look: "Looks like they learned more than just how to balance themselves; what the hell did you let them get up to when you let them try your gear on?!". Bryson nearly jumped, feeling like a mouse backed into a corner by a cat, "Uh, well? It was just a few basic moves really?-" he fumbled as he tried to explain, half wondering what she had in mind for him, thinking he was responsible for this: "-Ah save it" she waved off dismissively, "What's done is done" she sighed, glancing up at the kids, "And I suppose you enjoy using those things?" "Uh? Pretty much, yep!" Belle nodded with a big grin spread across her face. "It's actually not bad once you get the hang of it!" Ariana smiled: "I'm sure it is darling," Freya nodded as she patted her chest, trying to slow her racing heart: "Now please get down from there before my heart gives out!"
"Meh, just five more minutes?" Ariana grinned cheekily as she recalled her lines and took off, only to have her lines caught by Shadow, as he gave her a rather 'oh really?' sort of look, gently depositing her on the porch: under her mother's full reprimanding glare. Bryson felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up as Shadow kneeled down, looming over the porch: one by one the children recalled their lines and dropped down onto the back of his shoulders, and slid down his left arm, landing feet first in the mud, while in his right palm, Bemadette sat with her legs crossed and a half-full hessian sack sitting in her lap; "Well? Seeing as everyone else has met the titans, you're the only one left Bryson" she smiled as she scooted down out of the titan's palm, and approached him with the sack in both arms.
Glancing up at Shadow, the sight of those lipless, cheekless teeth made it hard to like him: every instinct screamed at him that this wasn't right, he should be running, or fighting in his final moments of life before plummeting down the giant's gullet: and yet, nothing was happening. Looking up at his eyes, the former Scout felt his fears quell momentarily, as he suddenly felt a strange calm sooth his anxiety; those eyes, they were so bright and vivid: glistening with every hue of blue imaginable. He'd never seen eyes like that before, except for one, and only one: Ariana's left eye. "You know? If you ignore the teeth, he's actually rather handsome" Mabel smiled, "You said the same thing about me!" Bren frowned incredulously, "Oh tish-tosh, I'm just jesting" She playfully swatted him. "Uh..." Bryson swallowed hard, "...Hi"
"Is that all your going to say?!" Gustav raised an eyebrow, "Well what the hell do you say to a titan?!" Bryson exclaimed, "Anything you want!" Ariana shot back as she strode over to him, took him by the hand and led him towards Shadow's knee: Bryson really didn't feel comfortable doing this as he pulled back a little, like a skittish horse: but he held his composure and refused to run as he allowed Ariana to do-, whatever it was she had in mind. Shadow offered his open hand, and grabbing his thumb, she placed Bryson's hand on it: "Okay? Now you can say you're the first Scout to ever touch a titan without getting eaten". Staring down at her in surprise, Bryson suddenly realized what she was trying to do, and deep down he couldn't help but be amused and humbled by her simple idea. Glancing back up at the titan (the size of him alone was intimidating enough as he loomed right over him), Shadow raised his other hand, and to Bryson's astonishment the marking's on his hand and wrist glowed blue: as he waved his hand to one side, a strange glowing substance that he could only describe as 'smoke light' materialized from the markings, and formed words, a whole sentence that spelt out, : Hello Bryson, it's good to finally meet you at least. :
Bryson gasped in awe: it was words, a constructed sentence complete with grammar and punctuation: for a moment he didn't know what to think as he watched the words fade away like mist; then, Shadow waved his hand back the other way, and more words appeared, : The children have told me much about you:. Still at a loss for words, he nearly jumped when Carla came up alongside him with a reassuring smile, and gently stroked Shadow's thumb, "It's okay, it's always hard to get your head straight the first time round"
"The first time round?" he frowned, removing his hand from the titan's thumb: "Trying to think of what to say in reply; I should think for you especially, this is quite a unique encounter" she replied, "Unique?!" he couldn't help but laugh nervously, "Uh, that's one word to describe it" he nodded. "By the way, he has something for you" Carla gestured to Shadow, who gestured down to Bemadette as she approached, and handed him the hessian sack: looking inside, Bryson was completely taken aback; it was his ODM gear. Lifting it out of the sack and inspecting it all over, he saw it was his gear all right: right down to all the little dents and dings and every strap and buckle of the harness, except it was polished up to a shiny finish, the cables and hooks had been replaced with a new set, and the hand grips leavers and triggers felt smoother than ever. "How-" he stared at the gear in complete astonishment, "I lost this when I attached it to that tree"
"And he went to go and find it for you after we got to the house" Carla smiled, "It took him a few hours, but he found it and brought it back: Bemadette fixed it, cleaned it up, and Pascal and West provided the spare parts to replace the damaged ones". "It wasn't too badly done in actually" Bemadette mentioned offhand, "The cables and hooks just needed replacing, and the hip-harness needed pounding back into shape, but other than that it was in good shape". Gazing up at Shadow, all Bryson could think to ask was "Why did you do this for me?" : Because: Shadow spelt out, : I can sense it is precious to you; it's saved your life many times, and I can feel a piece of you within it. That's how I was able to find it:
As he gazed down at his gear, Bryson felt like the whole earth had suddenly shifted beneath his feet: all of a sudden, it was as if the pendulum of his instincts had began to swing in a whole other direction, leading away from fear and dread, and towards something more akin to a curiosity. Shadow, this titan had gone out of his way to find his ODM gear (which admittedly was special to him) and bring it back for him so he could continue to use it (presumably?), because he could 'feel a piece of him' within it? (Or whatever that was supposed to mean) Whatever the explanation, Bryson realized this was no mere titan he was standing in the presence of: gazing deep into those intense blue eyes, he saw something more than just a creature of great intelligence and cognitive ability; there was something deep and profound in his gaze, something that spoke of a great mystery, one so vast and complex he couldn't even begin to fathom what it looked like. Whatever it was, deep down he felt himself compelled to want to get a better look at it. A smile finally spread across Bryson's face as he took his gear, and gave Shadow a courteous nod: "Thank you, Shadow". The titan tipped his head to the former Scout as he scooted back a little, allowing Midnight, Boar and Angel to come up alongside him. "Well, now that the ice is finally broken, shall we say hello to everyone else?" Carla smiled as Angel leaned right down to greet them with her nose-boops.
"How about that eh? A Scout and a bunch of titans actually getting along" Claude grinned, "Who'd have thought any of us would live to see the day?" "Indeed" Breck couldn't help but smile like an idiot, "What I wouldn't give to see what's going through his mind right now" "Whatever it is, it seems to have calmed him right down" Evrard shrugged. "Oh this is simply too fascinating!" Claude was practically bouncing on his heels as he watched Angel chirping down at Bryson, "I can't wait to get started on the research!" "Research?" Falken raised an eyebrow at him: "But of course! Oh goodness I don't even know where to begin? There's the biology, anatomy, comparative-anatomy, behavior studies, analysis of those strange powers of theirs, linguistic studies to determine just how similar their vocabulary is to ours, analysis of those markings and their significance-" as Claude continued to rattle off his list of studies, Pascal leaned over to West and grinned in a hushed voice: "Oh boy, we used hustle guys like these back in the day, remember?" "Easy money" West shook his head with a nostalgic smile.
"Well? He ain't gonna be jumping out of his skin again anytime soon, and about time too" Miriam interrupted as she glanced down at the kids, "So, when're we going to see these 'tombs'? Only some time today would be nice"
"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about those" Ash suddenly remembered, "Hey!" he called over to the titans, "They wanna see the tombs! Are you guys done yet?". Getting back up on their feet, the titans unexpectedly walked around to the front of the house: "Where're they going?" Derek blinked in surprise, "To get ready for the journey, we already got our means of getting there" Ariana patted her ODM gear, "What? Oh no! You're not swinging around on that thing again!" Freya pointed to the device: "Um? Actually, they're gonna have to, on account we're probably not going to be able to fit everyone in" West sheepishly interrupted as he headed back in the house, "Fit everyone in? Fit in what?" Freya demanded as she followed after him. Everyone followed them through the house while the kids ran around the outside: once reaching the side of the house they shot their lines and flew up to the roof, watching as the grown-ups filed out the door to where the wagon sat near the stables; standing next to it was a considerably smaller cart, "With the shafts broken off on your wagon, our cart's the only thing that'll be able to carry us to where we need to go" West explained, "And trust me, with all this mud underfoot, it's either the cart or the gear: because either way, if we try to walk there we'll be out in the forest all day" Pascal deadpanned.
"But we don't have any horses, so what's going to pull the cart?" Bren pointed out, "Here's your horse" Pascal gestured to Shadow, "HIM?!" Evrard exclaimed, "He'll carry the cart to the grove!" Clay called down from the roof (his mother nearly had a heart-attack when she saw him standing up there), "It's okay dad! We've done this before!" Hazel added, "Well the kids aren't gonna fit in there" Gustav shrugged, "And probably at least a couple more of us are gonna have to walk" "Me and Pascal got our gear so our feet aren't touching the ground" West pointed out, "Then I suppose I better gear up" Bryson sighed as he headed back inside to get his harness on, "Me too, give me a sec to find a spare gear will ya?" Bemadette stated as she followed Bryson inside. "Angel always likes to give me a ride, so if you'll all excuse me I won't keep her waiting" Carla smiled as she held up her arms, and Angel obliged by leaning right down next to the wagon, and letting her climb up onto her shoulder. Glancing down at all the mud, and looking over at the cart, the other adults all sighed in defeat: "...Come on" Miriam grumbled, let's get this over with"
Half an hour later:
"Huh, I can't believe the grove's not far from our place" West thought offhand as he shot his lines and swung over to the next branch: "You can't believe it?! I can't believe we've been living this close to the damn place this whole time and we never even knew!" Pascal huffed as he followed after him. "Oh lighten up it's not like they probably knew where our new place was?" West waved off, "Ten gold pieces says they did!" Pascal shot back. "Hey Shadow! Did you guys know where we moved to?" West called out to the titan, Shadow simply shook his head as he passed them by, "Don't forget to pay up when we get back!" West grinned smugly, waiting patiently as Pascal and Bryson both swung by, before rejoining them from behind.
"OI! Keep yer' eyes on the trail!" Miriam barked up at Shadow as she gripped the side of the cart tightly, hanging on for dear life as the cart steadily rocked back and forth: "Well? You gotta admit: this is one way to get around the forest in a hurry!" Derek grinned nervously as he peered over the side of the cart, and felt his stomach clench nervously at the ten meter drop below. "Indubitably ol' chap!" Claude grinned as he sat right up on the front of the cart, savoring the view. "Yeah? Well you can keep it!" Gustav grumbled as he held on tightly, "Give me a horse any day of the week! The view from the saddle's fine for me!", "Ah quit yer grippin' pops! We ain't got far to go!" Belle grinned as she shot her lines and jumped off of Shadow's shoulder to avoid a large overhanging branch.
The long walk to the grove had been nerve-racking for the adults, as they sat clambered together in the cart like chickens in a coop, while shadow carried it with both arms like a fully loaded fruit basket: carefully making his way along the muddy trail, trying to keep the rocking motion to a bare minimum while also trying to avoid slipping on the wet mud. Behind him, Boar and Midnight were doing some sort of strange waving motion with their arms, their markings glowing purple and golden yellow, as their footprints vanished from sight as they followed behind. Flanking Shadow's right side, Angel made her way along with Carla sitting on her left shoulder, and Lucy, and Lucius sitting on her other shoulder. The kids took it in turns to sit on the titans shoulders for the sake of saving gas, intermittently using the ODM gear every time they were about to knock into an overhanging branch, with Pascal, West and Bryson following on their gear. "This may not be the conventional way to travel" Bren swallowed hard as he peeked a look over the side of the cart, "But they weren't kidding about the mud". "It's not just the mud," Breck sighed as he glanced down at a small stream: though having reduced in flow and size, it was clear from the amount of debris on its edges that it had been overflowing quite considerably yesterday: "That flood did more than just soak the earth".
All around throughout the forest, the sounds of trickling rivulets, bubbling streams and dripping water could be heard everywhere mingling with the songs of the birds: the flood had certainly left its mark, as a number of trees had lost their anchorage and toppled over; some that had been situated on the banks of the larger rivers and streams had been pounded by debris and washed downstream, snapped in half and even broken to pieces; and some had been washed out of the earth and carried downstream all together. They had collected at choke-points in the topography of the forest floor, creating large areas that were full of dead-fall: broken splintered branches and piled up trees, like a giant stack of pick-up sticks. "...Goodness: I've seen devastation from storms before, but nothing on this scale" Tyto sighed offhand, "Well look on the bright side: with all these dead trees everywhere, we can look forward to a bumper-harvest of mushrooms this year" Eraman offered, trying to see the glass half full.
"I hope everyone in the valleys got out okay?" Ashlyn thought aloud as she swung alongside Shadow, "I'd hate to think we were the only ones!" Lucy called up to her, "I just hope those cult bastards got washed away!" Rowan frowned as he cleared a branch, "Hey! We're there!" Ariana pointed straight ahead, "Thank god, I thought this ride was never going to end" Miriam grumbled. As the titans entered the grove of giant trees, the adults all gazed up at the ancient trees in astonishment: "Great Sina," Claude gasped, "I've never seen giant trees this big before", "Neither have I" Tyto blinked in surprise, "I never knew this was here before?" "Heh! Show's what you know old man!" Rowan chuckled as he flew down to the ground and landed on a large log. As carefully as possible, Shadow placed the cart down between two elongated roots, making sure it sat snug and tight with no room to wobble. "You might wanna stay on the roots, Giant tree bark ain't slippery when wet" Ariana suggested as she launched herself off of Shadow's shoulder, and into his palm.
As the adults disembarked, helping each other get up and out from the cramped cart: Angel quickly took the opportunity to go and check on her nest; as she leaned down into the root cave, Carla breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the nest and the cave floor were both dry: "Oh thank goodness the rain didn't get in here", "Looks like the whole grove mostly stayed intact" Lucius mentioned offhand as Angel backed up, and headed for the hollow were her tomb was. The three humans and one bird titan all stared down at the hollow in slight dismay, as the whole base and inside of the tomb was completely underwater: like a chalice the hollow kept the water trapped with no way of draining off; considering the height of the tomb including its base, there had to have been nearly two feet of water in there. "Well? At least it's still standing" Lucy shrugged. The grove itself had avoided the worst of the storm and flood: with the exception of a number of broken branches laying on the ground, and several of the hollows on the outside of the grove full of water like drinking cups; by and large, not a single giant tree had come down, and much of the undergrowth wasn't submerged in a bog.
Once everyone was safely on the tree roots and using them as a make-shift boardwalk, the titans showed them their four tombs: including the cracked lids that they had put back together next to each of them, so as to display the original engraved images to top, which fascinated the Celts and Claude to no end. The insides of the tombs contained various things the titans had allowed the kids to place in there: Shadow's tomb looked like an enclosed playground, as there was a small fort made out of branches, bark, and other odds and ends, as well as a few pieces of wood with targets painted on that had been used for archery practice, as well as an impressive collection of other things that had been made into make-shift toys. In Boar's tomb there was a sizable collection of different crystals and semi-precious stones, along with several sized toy balls, and other bits and pieces the children had collected during their time together. Angel kept her treasures safely in her cave: like a magpie's nest the rim of her bed was lined with little knick-knacks Carla had found for her, as well as all the items she used to find on her invisible forays to the various hamlets on the edge of the forest. Everything from small toys to gardening tools: bits of broken ceramics and shiny metal spoons ('why only spoons?' Carla thought offhand); the head of a rocking horse and a blunt rusted wood axe, even an old carriage wheel and a weathervane ornament shaped like a cat chasing a mouse had even found their way in there, confirming Angel was more of an oddball collector than anything else. But Midnight's tomb was quite different, no toys or souvenirs had been stashed away: instead, the inside was filled with dozens and dozens of large sacks: all containing items like camping equipment, ropes, wooden poles, iron chains and hand-cuffs, guns, bows and quivers, bladed weapons, gun powder, and various other items that had been plundered from the Disciples depots and half-way houses; the children explained how Midnight figured it seemed a waste of perfectly good usable stuff, so she kept it all for if the humans ever needed them.
But one sack contained no such items: instead, it was the collection of all her 'trophies' from her hunts. The masks of the Disciples she'd encountered and 'disposed of', each stained with its former owner's blood': there were a hundred and fifty two in total. Precisely what entailed with these 'disposals' and how the Disciples were made to 'disappear' was (surprisingly) not questioned: the fact these masks were here without their owners told everyone that whatever happened, was probably not worth knowing about. In any case, the question of whether the Disciples had been in the forest or not was now put to rest: and soon after, the adults decided not to hang around any longer than necessary, and opted to leave the grove.
The journey back to Pascal and West's house was another nervy ride for the adults, but at least this time they knew what to expect (more or less), and were rather thankful to Shadow for not losing his footing in the mud. The parents also had a chance to get their nerves back as they watched their children use the ODM gear, and could see that indeed, they were quite good at using it without crashing into anything or misfiring a line and falling accidentally; it was no less worrying to watch, but they had to admit their children did have the knack for it. Once they got back and were safely on the ground, the adults needed to steady their nerves with some much-needed tea, and so excused the children to head outside (minus the ODM gear) and play with the titans, while they gathered in the parlor for another exchange of thoughts and opinions.
"So? What do we think?" Gustav sighed in a deadpan tone as he slurped his tea, "Because honestly? I really don't know what to make of it?" "I think it's a fair assumption our intrepid youngsters have stumbled onto something quite profound," Claude surmised as he held his cup between his hands, staring down at the floor as the cogs turned in his head: his initial delight and enthusiasm now replaced by serious thought and he contemplated what he'd seen in the grove: "If those titans really have been asleep in those tombs for Sina-knows how many years: then it poses some very big and important questions" "Like when did they first 'go to sleep'? What was the world like before they went it? And how and why did they get placed in those tombs in the first place? If it was even a willing choice to begin with?" Bryson frowned as he too thought about the tombs: "I have to confess, this has got me very curious" "You changed your tune" West smirked offhand as he helped Rosemary pour the tea, "Not five hours ago you were scared to death we were going to get eaten"
"Yeah well? I guess saw some sense at last huh?," Bryson shot him a sideways glance, "... Besides, now that I've had time to calm down and actually think straight: I've been pondering on what you told us about their 'endeavor' to keep the Scouts safe on their monthly expeditions," he glanced over at Carla, "You say they leave the walls and tail them at a distance, and keep the bulk of the titans from getting to them whilst remaining invisible, correct?" "That's how Shadow explained it" Carla nodded, and explained further: "He and Midnight tend to follow the expeditions on account they're the more 'seasoned' combatants: Boar can hold his own well enough and so he goes along sometimes, but Angel's not experienced on account she's never actually been in any fight of any sort before, so she's the only one who remains behind"
"Hmm..." Bryson scratched his chin as he gazed out the window, "Oh god!-" Breck suddenly exclaimed in dismay, "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, am I?!" "Maybe?" Bryson shrugged coolly, "Why not?" "WHY NOT?!" Breck stood up and stomped in front of his brother, "Because it's suicide! That's what! Not to mention you've been out of the military for twenty three years and are probably as rusty as an old cart wheel! Plus, what the hell can you do to help?! Your chances of survival are no different to theirs even with the titans providing back-up! What could you possibly do to even the odds?!" "-Whoa whoa hold up!" Bren raised his hand, "-Did I miss something? What just happened?" "Bryson got it in his head to join the titans on their mission to help the Scouts" Miriam huffed as she facepalmed, "Of all the idiotic hare-brained ideas, this takes all the cake!" "Wha-, how?" he frowned in utter confusion, "It's a twin thing" Eraman sighed, "You get used to it" "Bryson, you can't seriously be thinking about wanting to go out there! You of all people know what awaits those who leave the walls!" West pointed in the direction of wall Maria.
"I do, and that's exactly why I have to go back out there," Bryson frowned at him dead seriously, "For twenty three years I've been unable to serve due to my injury" he gazed down at the brace on his leg, "For twenty three years my heart has gone out to my brothers and sisters, hoping and praying that they've been making strides in my absence, maybe not great ones, but still, finding out what they can no matter how insignificant or mundane. When I first joined the military I knew exactly what I wanted to be, the wings of freedom were only ones that beckoned me, and even as a civilian I still see them off at the gate: and greet them when they come back again. I cheer for every soul that makes it back and I morn for every brave life lost. I maybe a civilian West, but don't ever say I'm stupid or past it, because if the titans were to break down the walls and invade our lands tomorrow, you can be sure I'll be there to answer the call! Every damn time! When I pledged my heart to humanity, I meant every single word of it!"
Suddenly, the moment was broken by Pascal's uncontrolled laughter, as he howled in hysterics in his armchair: everyone stared at him, wondering what just happened (even West was taken back), while Bryson stared at him in disbelief: "-Oh, I'm sorry!" Pascal waved off as he calmed down and regained his composure; "I knew you were a Scout, I just didn't know you were one of those scouts!" he smirked in contempt. "And what the hell is that supposed to imply?" Bryson frowned dangerously, "That you're one of those scout's who's so full of himself that it's impossible not to laugh!" Pascal chuckled, undeterred by the glowering look in Bryson's eyes; everyone began to grow tense, realizing this wasn't going to end well while Pascal continued to push his luck: "Guys like you are way too rich! You spout all that sanctimonious bullshit about doing humanity a great favor, when all you're really good for is being titan food; thirty percent of your new rookies don't live to see their first year in service, and yet you keep telling every new sucker that there's no greater honor than to pledge your heart to humanity, and die as fodder-
Practically in the blink of an eye, before anyone had a chance to try and calm things down, Bryson was up like a shot and roundhouse kicked Pascal clean out of his chair, out through the door and into the kitchen, slamming him face first into the cupboards. Tyto and Evrard tried to grab Bryson but he ducked and slipped right past them, storming into the kitchen as he unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves, while everyone else was shouting at them to stop. With his nose bleeding, Pascal flipped back up on his feet and held his fists up just in time as Bryson swung a left hook at him, but he held his arms too far up, and Bryson easily kneed him in the gut with his right leg (which had the leg brace on, that only made it feel like he just got hit with a metal club). "-ALRIGHT YOU TWO STOP IT!" Tyto barked as he grabbed Bryson and held him back while Evrard lunged at Pascal and wrestled his arms up into a vice-like grip, West tried to help him but Bren and Derek held him back as the two men continued their verbal tussle.
"WHAT THE HELL GIVES YOU THE FUCKING RIGHT TO PASS THAT KINDA BULLSHIT JUDGEMENT?!" Bryson fumed, "-You, a common criminal who preys on others, robbing them of all their worth, and for what?! To live the life of Riley having never done an honest day's work in your whole life? Scrounging off the backs of others so you can live comfortably, taking everything and giving nothing back in return?! YOU'RE SCUM! Bottom-dwelling low life scum! The scouts might as well recruit you as fodder! Seeing as you're hardly good for anything else!" Bryson shouted at him: "OH YEAH? YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!" Pascal shot back, "-You puffed-up pompous windbags drain the taxes of hard-working folk just so you can go outside the walls to die!" he calmed down a bit, but was still riled up though: "... Tell me, honestly: these last hundred years humanity has lived behind theses walls; in all that time the scouts have been going beyond wall Maria and in all that time do you know what humanity has achieved? Nothing! We don't know shit about the outside world because no human being has ever made it past the titans, and we don't know shit about the titans because your lot never did anything to actually study them! All the knowledge we do know is barely enough to fill a pamphlet never mind a whole damn book! You go out there and you kill them over and over again, but you don't do anything to actually try and figure out what they are or where they come from!"
Bryson stopped struggling, and stared at Pascal in surprise. Since Pascal had stopped struggling too, both Tyto and Evrard cautiously let them go: taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping the blood off his lips, Pascal continued in a more measured tone, as Bryson, now more curious than outraged, listened; "...You claim your doing what you do for humanity, to try and expand our territories and push the titans back: all I see is a bunch of over-proud fools going to meet their deaths..." he paused a moment, "Seeing Shadow and the other titans for the first time? That scared the living shit outta me, and for that one moment I realized the true horror that you guys faced every time you went out beyond that wall: I respect you for that..." he gazed at Bryson with a mixed look, "Look, don't get me wrong, I don't doubt your concern for your 'brothers and sisters': I don't doubt your courage, your tenacity, your commitment, or your heart; but from what I've seen and heard? It just seems like you guys repeat the same stupid pattern over and over again, without ever learning from your mistakes or trying to come up with something new to-, I don't know? Find a way to sneak past the titans so you can travel further, or find a way kill them better so you don't lose more soldiers? In any case, nothing ever changes with you guys, and your way too damn proud to ever admit it"
Everyone remained silent as Bryson contemplated Pascal's line of thought: before the former scout heaved a heavy sigh, "... Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you have a point", "Eh-, what?" Pascal raised an eyebrow, as did West: "-Come again?"
"That moment, when you see a titan in the flesh for the first time, we used to call that 'the breaker': because that was the moment that either made you or broke you, and really tested the measure of how well you could handle yourself. They say when you've been a scout long enough and you've survived enough titans, your pride is justified: because you are one of the very few that has what it takes to do what no one else has the tenacity or guts to do. Being a scout is not for the faint of heart, you don't just wake up in the morning and decide to join the Corps on a whim: you do it because you are driven, because you have the strength of heart as well as the strength of mind to push yourself to the limit, and to keep going even when your body is failing you..." Bryson paused a moment, sighing in rueful thought as he continued, "...I was one of the gifted; at least, that's what they called me: my skills on the ODM were the best they'd ever seen, I knew how to read the situation, knew what to do under every different set of circumstances; I even had a knack for being able to 'sense' when a titan was approaching. All this, was the reason I survived for so long. Eight years I served, not even the veterans lasted that long: and yet in all that time I could never bring myself to accept the promotion to squad leader, or even commander... Because-, I never felt my pride was justified..."
Staring at Bryson in surprise (as did everyone else), Pascal couldn't help but listen as he continued: "...I know surviving the titans is an accomplishment in of itself, and any pride associated with such a feat would seem justified: but to be honest? I didn't see what there was to be proud about? Every time we went out beyond the wall, at least ten of us wouldn't make it home alive; we all knew that for a fact, and there wasn't a month that went by we weren't scared of facing that inevitability: and every month for eight years I'd watch someone I knew die in the jaws of a titan. How could I be proud about surviving? When everyone I knew didn't make it. I felt I'd be disgracing their memories if I went down the street bragging about it: so I chose the path of the humble soldier, fighting in the memories of those lost, and making sure every stroke of my blades counted for someone... As Scouts, our pride might be justified for the fact we're willing to face the titans: but that same pride can also be the death of us. When it came to the breaker, those that made the cut were often the ones that were the most scared, for the simple fact their fear made them alert and ready, they didn't try to prove themselves, they didn't need to, they just tried to survive. While those that were broken were often the ones with far too much pride, or far too much anger: cocky, brash, overzealous and full of themselves; they only joined the corps as a matter of brown-nosing society or to prove a point. Theirs was a death that was ultimately the result of their own stupidity: but I stilled mourned them all the same, for it was such a waste of human life..."
He glanced over at Pascal, as he reluctantly explained further: "And to a greater or lesser degree, maybe it was that same pride that stopped us from making any real progress. What territory we were able to scout barely covers less than fifty miles beyond wall Maria, and yes, what we know about the titans as a whole can only fill a pamphlet. I won't deny that...But what were we supposed to do with the resources allotted to us? Every five years the military budget is reviewed, and every five years we were damn lucky to get what funding we got; between the wall cult's decree of 'retaining the sanctity of the goddesses' by forbidding cannons to be placed along the walls outer limits in every district, and the royal government's ban on 'unauthorized technologies', we could only use what was within our limits, which wasn't much. The one time we tried to capture a live titan as a specimen, twenty people died in the attempt, and the titan ended up getting its nape slashed by accident before we could even pin it down. That one failure nearly ended in the Scouts being disbanded altogether, and we were put on suspended duty until our commander could smooth things over with the Commander-in-Chief, and the nobles who funded the operation... What 'good' we do, we can only do with what we've got: brains, brawn, resources; we have always been sorely lacking. Everyone who's smart enough to actually do something about it joins the MP's or the Garrison, because it's the best way to guarantee your safety within the military and live a comfortable life... So on that note: if you feel so strongly about the Scouts needing to make a change in the way they do things: why didn't you ever join up?" he glared at Pascal threateningly.
Heaving a deep sigh, and getting rather annoyed with Bryson's lofty attitude, Pascal smirked: "Okay, first of all: as I stated early, I ain't a gambler. I know how the odds work, and me taking on a titan? Sorry, but I know who's gonna walk away from that fight, so I'd rather not waste my time or my life thank you very much," he stated brazenly, before turning serious: "But if I was interested? It's not career option that would have been open to me anyway, on account they don't let kids from the underground district join the military unless they can buy themselves a surface citizenship, which, never happens"
Claude and Breck blinked in surprise: "Good heavens, you're from the underground district?" "We both are: born and raised down there" West admitted, "And you either paid to be smuggled out or you got your hands on some forged documents, correct?" Miriam raised an eyebrow, "Well the stair tolls are pretty steep, and we got better things to spend our 'hard stolen' money on" Pascal smirked, before readdressing Bryson, who simply stared at him in surprise: "Ah don't give me that look, you don't need to feel sorry for anything" he waved off with a small honest smile: "We did alright for ourselves. But by the way? You might want to give some thought to how hard it is to survive in a place like that. Being penniless, being hungry and being desperate forces you to make some tough choices: ones that either make you or break you, and more often than not, you gotta be pretty ruthless if you want to live to see tomorrow. So if you think the titans used to give you a hard time? Try spending a day in the underground district the next time you're in the capitol; you might have to reconsider a lot of what you spouted out..."
Turning to gaze out the window into the forest, Pascal couldn't help but think aloud: "...You and I? When you really think about it we ain't all that different; sure we were born to different circumstances and we grew up with starkly different lives: all that was beyond our control, for the simple fact one of us was born in darkness and one was born under the sun. Growing up in the underground district? It's impossible not to feel just a little envious of the people living above ground: whether you admire them or hate them, you can't help but wonder what it's like up there, to live without a ceiling constantly over your head. For some, their circumstances were what they were and they begrudgingly accepted that, and lived the rest of their lives as such, eventually dying in the darkness. But for the rest of us? We tried to get by with what we had, to try and afford a little comfort in an otherwise human cesspool. Whether it's for money, for power, status or respect, or just plain old fashion survival like us; having to do bad things becomes second nature; it's the way of the underground, just like it's the way of the rest of this walled world. The difference is, most of us keep in perspective what makes us human, and treat each other the way we prefer to be treated, as other human beings; while others? Simply get drunk on their own psychotic hubris, or whatever other sick and twisted reasons they have for justifying what they do: either way, they have no excuses, their evil, and their the one's that make this world so damn hard to endure... Whether you're trying to help your fellow man by going out to face the titans: running away and hiding just to save your way of life, or even just being a thief living in quiet obscurity: everyone in this world thinks their doing some kind of 'good' or 'bad'; be it for their own selfish reasons or selflessly living for others: everybody thinks they know how the true nature of the world works"
"And? You do?" Gustav raised a skeptical eyebrow: turning to face him, Pascal smirked, "...Hell no! Even after all this time, after all the shit me and West have waded through to get this far and survive. The one thing that is totally predictable about the world is its unpredictability: and believe me, it's got some pretty fucked up ways of reminding you, that just when you think you know what's going on? You're wrong. Case in point..." he gestured out the window at the titans, who were still horsing around with the kids. "...He's got a point" Mabel nodded, "Well, at least one of us still has their sanity intact" Breck sighed sarcastically, giving his brother an old fashioned look. "...My point is" Pascal sighed, "If there's any 'good' I can do for this world? It is by simply staying out of its way, and carving out my own niche for my own survival (and West's of course): I never stole from any poor people, I never pushed my luck where it couldn't be pushed, I never killed anyone, and I sure as hell don't treat people like animals; I simply sell ODM gear stolen from the MP's, it's not messy, it doesn't involve having to hurt anyone, and I don't owe any debts to anyone. It's good for everyone all round, and I get to sleep at night" he stated matter-of-factly with a proud smirk.
"Oh really? ..." Miriam raised an eyebrow as a sly cunning smirk began to spread across her crinkled lips: though he didn't let his worry show on his face, Pascal felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up in alarm at the sight of that smirk: "...Well? can't argue with that logic, if no one's getting hurt then there's no gripes to be had...However..." her smile grew; and right away, everyone in the room was thinking the same thing: uh-oh! As she swaggered over to the two thieves, who both suddenly felt like a couple of mice starting up (or rather down) at a cat: "Yesterday, when that 'Shredder' idiot siced his lackeys on us: I distinctly remember the two of you swinging a few left and right hooks at him before getting jumped by another of his goons: now fair enough it was pretty chaotic and it was hard to keep track of who fought who. But considering the fact that that road starts about fifty yards from this house? I'm guessing the boarders of his turf overlapped yours, and as such, you two must have come to a 'gentleman's agreement' to stay out of each others business, correct?"
"Uh Pascal?-" West began to get uncomfortable, "-I know, I don't like where this is going either!" he frowned down at Miriam, already having a pretty good idea where she was going with this, "Uh? Where're you going with this Miriam?" Mabel asked offhand: "Oh, you two might want to start running" Rosemary smirked mischievously: "Well?" She continued, "He basically saw you two, and could see you were trying to stop him and his idiots from 'gathering up the merchandise' so to speak: ergo, whatever agreement you had has now gone out the window, and once he's done licking his wounds and his pride, his first order of business will probably be to shred you two into diced meat...How's that for unpredictability? Didn't consider that yesterday did you?"
Both Pascal and West were as pale as sheets, stunned at their own failure to predict that (more than likely) scenario: while everyone else bar Gustav, Rosemary and Lucile simply stared at Miriam in amazement: "Uh? Miriam, am I correct in assuming you're trying to blackmail these gents over something?" Claude gawked, "Oh no not blackmail, I'd never sink that low" she waved off dismissively, "No, I am simply doing my 'good' for the two of you by offering my charity, and a chance to save your own skins..." she grinned like a Cheshire cat. Gustav snorted as he tried to hold back his laughter, while outside under the kitchen window, Bemadette, Shyla and Fox could be heard giggling hysterically. "OI! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT EAVESDROPPING?!" Miriam shouted at the window, the children ran off back to the titans and she regarded Pascal and West with a straight serious face: "I'll get right to the point: we've been having a spot of trouble with gangs trying to offer their 'protection' against hustlers and pimps in our establishment, the MP's are probably in on it of course and so unless I employ Tyto, Evrard, Falken and Eraman here as full time as security guards (which would take them away from their other responsibilities) , I have little other reliable options open to me. However, a couple of gentlemen with your 'particular' skill-sets must know a thing or two about dealing with this thorny issue, without having to resolve to violent means that draws unnecessary attention, and ultimately the wrong kind of crowd to an otherwise respectable business. So here's the deal: I'll let you move in rent-free with three square meals a day and no drinks tab, in return, you will keep those idiots out of my Inn, keep any MP's from trying to muscle in and take a cut of the protection rackets, make sure the pick-pockets say out too, as well as make sure no other idiots think my barmaids are for sale as whores. Sound fair?"
Pascal and West stared at her, completely and utterly gobsmacked: everyone else was just as astounded, they knew Miriam was a savvy business woman who didn't do things by half: but this? This was downright ballsy, even for her: "...Let me get this straight..." Pascal pinched the bridge of his nose: still not quite sure he understood all that, "You want to hire us, a couple of crooks, to keep out a bunch of other crooks?" "That's it" she nodded, "But-, why the hell would you take a risk like that?" West gawked, "What's to say we're no different to those gangs? How do you know we won't rob you blind the second we find all your money?" "Because you will never make it out of the building alive, nor, will anyone ever find all the pieces of you and where they'll be buried" Miriam stated darkly: "Eh, I wouldn't test that if I were you" Gustav shook his head. "Okay, say we agree and come work for you: what guarantee is there we'll be able to keep the other criminal's away for your business? What makes you so sure we'll be able to get the job done?" Pascal argued. "Simple, you said you were from the underground, and if you were able to sneak out past the stair tolls that can only mean you're both well connected. The fact you're able to sell stolen ODM gear without the MP's kicking up too much of fuss, must mean that you have connections here in Shiganshina too: and pretty inconspicuous ones if you were able to stay under everyone's gaze this whole time: you two are not just crooks, you're professional crooks, and I only deal with professionals"
Pascal and West both glanced at one another skeptically, "... One other thing," Pascal asked dubiously: "There's no question you are a woman of your word, and I've no doubt of the consequences if we cross you... But how do we know you're not going to sell us out at the first opportunity you get? How do we know that you're not going to take advantage of our 'particular skill-set' and try to get what you want? ...How do we know we can trust you?"
A long tense pause kept everyone on tender hooks, as Miriam and Pascal stared each other down, before Miriam simply stated: "...You don't..." Pascal and West both glanced at one another again, before casually shrugging: "Meh, good enough for me: you got yourself a deal lady" Pascal extended his hand out, and Miriam took it with a firm shake, nearly crushing his hand. "Oh, one other thing" she raised a finger, "How much are the ODM gear?" Pascal and West both glanced at each other in confusion, "...Uh? Three hundred each?" "Gas refills are separate" West added: "Okay then..." Miriam nodded as she took out a house brick-sized wad of paper notes from her pocket, and started counting them out, "Geez lady you carry that kind of money around with you?!" West gawked as he eyes practically popped out of his head at that sight of all that money; "Considering how hard she can beat up a guy five times her own weight? She can afford to" Bren deadpanned, "As a doctor, I practically get half my business from all the bar fights she breaks up" Breck added. "Here you go" Miriam handed Pascal the money, "Five thousand and four hundred for eighteen ODM's, the gas we can move to the caller and I'll pay you extra when necessary; for now, the kids get their birthday presents both late and early this year"
"WHAT?!" Freya exclaimed in horror: "What? You want to have the ankle-biters gripping all the way home? They're damn good on those devices and they know it, which means none of us will hear the end of it if we tell them no: besides, Eraman's right, it's a good skill to keep handy: even if none of them don't end up joining the military, they can still use em' for other things" Miriam stated matter-of-factly, much to the Parents disbelief. "Thanks Mrs Willum!" the kids called out together from outside up on the roof (most likely having placed there by one of the titans); the parents all sighed and moaned in exasperation and despair, as if trying to keep a household of ten children was hard enough work, now they had to worry about them getting up to goodness knows what on a device that essentially gave them the freedom of the whole forest.
"Oh, one other thing," Miriam counted out another six hundred and gave four hundred to both Pascal and West, "An additional advanced payment for the first ODM lessons, if the ankle-biters are going to use those things then they better learn how to use them properly", she then turned to Bryson, and gave him the remaining two hundred, "You too Bryson, I don't expect these two to be able to handle the hoard without getting devoured on the first day, a good firm military attitude will be required to keep the trouble to a minimum: also, it'll keep you too busy to go gallivanting off beyond the wall tailing after the Scouts; consider this your advanced payment too, if there are any additional costs needed to cover your hours at the bookshop we'll talk further when we get back" she stated before quickly heading out the back door, to try and see where her grand-nieces had scampered off to: "WHAT? You didn't say anything about babysitting the brats!" Pascal stormed after her, "Miriam! Seriously?! What the hell?!" Bryson stormed after her on Pascal's heels.
The parents were left stunned, the Fitzsimmons, Carla and Claude all glanced at one another in amazement, but were not really surprised by Miriam's unusual move: West just stood there counting his lucky stars, trying to remind himself that they could have gotten off a lot worse, while Breck was trying and failing to stifle his laughter. Freya stared off into space, dazed for moment, before turning to Rosemary and asking point blankly: "What just happened?" "Miriam just recruited Pascal and West to come work for us, bought eighteen ODM gears for all the children, and just hired both of them and Bryson to give them lesson" Rosemary smiled casually, "Tyto?" Freya staggered into the parlor, "Please put the tea on dear, I think I feel another headache coming on", "Uh, right away dear" Tyto got to work as he picked up the kettle and filled it with water, "Make that three Tyto" Bestla sighed as she held her head, following Freya with Skadi and Ran close behind.
Glancing over at Rosemary, Lucile and Gustav, West approached them and asked offhand: "I take it this kind of thing happens all the time with you guys?" "Eh not much," Gustav shrugged, "But we have our moment's: and trust me, you ain't gonna be bored living with us" "Oh I think I already sussed that" West nervously chuckled, "I take it your happy Bryson's gonna be kept busy for a while?" he glanced over at Breck, who was trying to stay standing by propping himself up on the door frame, "Trust me, I'd rather he'd be trying to round up the kids than round up titans" he grinned as he headed into the kitchen to help Tyto with the tea, "Miriam just did me the biggest favor ever: next time she needs my services, it's on me"
As she watched Bryson and Pascal try to argue with Miriam as she tried to round up the kids (who had all somehow reappeared back on the ground again), Carla couldn't help but giggle, "What's got you?" West smiled, "Ah, trust Miriam to hire a couple of criminals to keep the Black Stallion free of criminals; that's just so-, her" "Well she's different I'll give that," he offered, "She's sly for one". "But unbelievably good hearted, once you get to really know her" Carla smiled as she headed outside through the back door, "... You might want to rethink looking for all her money: stick around, you might find yourselves being presently surprised"
"Well? That was definitely interesting!" Herne grinned like an idiot: "Seriously? Did that just happened?" "Oh I like her," Hecate smirked as she watched Miriam argue with the two gentlemen, while the kids ran around after Angel, who was still horsing around by weaving in and out between the trees in a game of tag, "A mortal after my own dark heart" "And yet she meant every word of it" Javorin smiled as he watched Carla call Ariana over, and together, the two of them began to talk as they wandered over to the side of the stables: "She might be rough around the edges, but I sense she's got a lot of wisdom under her belt" "Yeah, that's usually the way with humans like her" Herne nodded offhand, "Still, what do you think about the others? From what we overheard I think we've got off a little easy"
"I think at least, we can expect the 'scientist' to be paying us a visit sometime in the not-too-distant future," Hecate sighed as she glanced down at the parlor window, where Claude was watching them like a little kid seeing the first snowfall of winter: "The Celts too, seeing as our 'markings' go them so enthusiastic" "Maybe that's not a bad thing?" Javorin pondered about it as he gazed down at the tattoos on his arms, "We haven't been able to figure out the significance of these markings since we awoke, and maybe having a few 'fresh eyes' might lend some new perspective? Help us to see if there's anything we might have overlooked? Plus, having a scientist at our disposal won't hurt: there's always a chance he might stumble onto something too?" "You got a point there" Herne agreed, "And who knows? We find out something new along the way"
"That aside," Hecate changed the subject, "What the hell was up with that storm yesterday? It was soaking up chaos manna like a sponge: I've seen similar magics and raw energies used to create artificial weathers, but nothing on a scale like that before. Not since the time when-..." she hesitated,
"...I hate to say it guys, but could we be looking at a rouge wizard or a dark Mage? Or even a witch with a grudge? I don't see how it's possible for a corrupted storm like that to suddenly just take on a life of its own without the necessary magics to tip it over the edge," Herne pointed out, "Not to mention the fact that no other Tempus gods were present, nor did any other god show up; at least, not that I could sense"
"None of us could sense any other gods," Hecate frowned dubiously, "I had a feeling that chaos manna would be unpredictable in other ways, and what we saw last night pretty much confirms my worst fears. We not only couldn't hear each other's thoughts, we just barely found the humans in time, their aura's were so distorted by the manna it was hard to make out anything, even from several hundred feet above the ground"
"A storm of that size and ferocity? There's no way to conclusively prove it was conjured or not" Javorin sighed in disappointment, "We can only be thankful it finally lost its momentum during the night: and that the rain itself was not tainted by that same manna, otherwise we'd have a much bigger problem on our hands"
"As it is, it looks like we're gonna be on clean-up duty for the foreseeable future, seeing as there're no other nature gods around" Herne shrugged, "Well someone's going to have to help tidy things up a little?" Javorin smirked down at him. "And speaking of tidying up..." Hecate frowned darkly at Javorin, "What Carla said, about the wall cultists tossing her and the brats into the flood? You do know what that means, right?"
"Of course" he nodded with no particular expression, "And I have no issues with you handling the matter: but considering the sanctuary's location, you might want to be discreet about it" he advised as he continued to watch Carla and Ariana talking. "Aren't I always?" she smirked, "Besides, we're looking to push the Disciples out once and for all: and what better way than to make an example of their fellow murderers"
"How do we know they won't send more in retaliation? Thinking it's some kind of anti-cult movement on the part of human dissidents?" Herne asked concernedly: "Oh trust me" Hecate smiled, her sharp fangs glistening as she licked her lips: "What I have in mind will take the fight right out of them; I am one of the night roamers after all: we don't do things by half," she glanced over at the kids, as Miriam finally managed to round them all up and away from Angel, with Pascal and Bryson still trying (and failing) to get her to change her mind, "But for now let's concentrate on this lot shall we? They still need to get home remember?"
"I haven't forgotten," Javorin waved off as he stepped around the side of the house, next to where the broken wagon and cart were parked: "Come on, I have an idea how we can get them back, and get into the city unnoticed" "Oh yeah? What've you got in mind?" Herne smirked, "Angel?" Javorin called over to the bird titan, instantly grabbing her attention: "How would you like to learn a new animal form?"
A short while later:
"Uh? Are you sure you guys got enough stuff?" Mabel looked over the contents of Pascal and West's luggage, "I mean, its one thing to keep a whole wardrobe of good clean clothes, but will you really need all this?" "Hey, you can never have enough essentials," Pascal stated as he shoved another pile of clothing into a sack and tied it up, before tossing it down the staircase: "Besides, you never know what you might need, and quite a few of these items were pretty hard to come by" West added as he carried his bag of clothing down the stairs, and placed it with the rest of the pile.
Everyone had agreed to help Pascal and West pack up their things, as well as help tidy up the house: after depositing the last of their luggage in the hallway, the two former thieves headed for the basement, and reemerged with a large trunk carried between them and a shovel each. "What on earth is in that?" Tyto frowned at the trunk curiously, "It's called a 'long term deposit': wait here, we'll be back shortly" Pascal told him as they staggered out the back door, and headed out into the forest: "Do I want to know what's in that trunk?" Bryson frowned suspiciously as he watched the two men vanish behind a small cluster of pine trees some three hundred yards away: "Nope" Miriam stated flatly.
Looking over all their things, Claude noticed a large cigar box sitting on top of the pile: having not smelt tobacco anywhere in the house, he wondered why they had this in their possession: although curious, he decided to heed Miriam's advice and leave it alone; but as he tried to step over the pile to get to the front door, his knee accidentally knocked the box, and it slid off onto the floor, half-spilling it's content's across the hallway: "Oh, hang on let me help you with that-" Lucy bent down on her knees to help Claude pick all the items up, which together, made for a rather odd collection. They consisted of a deck of playing cards, three different coloured cups, three different coloured balls, three large silver rings, a black silk draw-string bag, a couple dice, a small cube-shaped dark blue box with a star painted on each side and the lid, and a black shiny wooden rod with white tips at either end. Recognizing what it was right away, Claude broke into a big smile: "Oh wow! It's a box of magic tricks!" "Magic tricks?" Lucy echoed in confusion, "Oh yes! I remember seeing something similar to this when I was your age! It's a little box of fancy illusions and conjuring's for parties and such, you know? Parlor tricks?" "Hmm, can't say I've ever heard of such a thing?" Lucy commented offhand as she put the last few items back in the cigar box and closed the lid: "I wonder who the magician is? Or both of them, perhaps?" Claude thought aloud as he placed the box back on the pile, "Mind you, fooling one with tricks and slight of hand would be a fitting hobby for a former-thief" "I guess?" Lucy shrugged, "But, the titan's can do magic tricks too. So How's a 'box of tricks' different to what they can do?" she asked innocently, "Ah ha-" Claude chuckled, suddenly realizing Lucy had never seen a 'box of magic tricks' before: "Well? There's a pretty big difference, you see? It's sort of something like this,"
While Claude tried to explain to Lucy the difference between the titan's powers and a magician's illusions: in the parlor, Freya was done covering the last of the furniture with dust sheets, with Ash helping her out: "That's the last of them" he told her, "Good, then I think we're just about done down here: Skadi and Mabel should be finishing upstairs" she sighed as she wiped her brow. "Umm? ..." Ash nervously hesitated, "You're not still mad at Miss Willum for-, you know? 'Treating us' to the ODM gear?"
Gazing over at her son with a sideways glance, and sighing in defeat, Freya couldn't help but smile as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder, and gazed at him lovingly: "Well she'd be right about you lot gripping all the way home; I really wouldn't hear the end of it, would I?" "Probably not" he smirked, "...Just promise me you'll be careful on that thing won't you? And don't let your brother's and sister take liberties alright?" "Promise" he nodded, "...And, about earlier," she sighed, "...I'm sorry if we ever gave you, any of you the impression that we don't value your opinion; your growing up, and you will have to bare responsibilities at some point, I do understand that. But for now, I just want you to enjoy what freedom you have, whatever form that take for you. I just need to be sure you know what to do, alright?" "...Yeah" Ash smiled, "Thanks mum... And, you're sure you're okay with the titans? I mean, I know you didn't freak out like Bryson did, but-...They're part of our lives now. We still intend to visit them when we can" "Yeah I figured as much," she sighed with a weak smile, "Your father and uncles are rather keen to visit them too: and given what we've discovered here today I think they might be onto something with that 'idea' of theirs. So I wouldn't worry about sneaking off or using delivery trips as a cover okay? I think it's the old boys that're going to need keeping an eye on" she smirked, to which Ash couldn't help but chuckle.
"Okay? Everyone good to go?" West smiled as he and Pascal came back in through the back door: "That was quick" Miriam raised an eyebrow, "We're quick when we need to be" Pascal smirked, "Is the cart and wagon ready yet?" Outside the house, around the side near the stables: Tyto, Evrard, Falken, Eraman, Breck, Bryson, Bren, Derek, Gustav and Bemadette had been busy repairing the wagon as best they could. With the shafts broken off, they used some old ODM gear straps and part of a harness to fashion a set of traces, a girth and a collar, which should be able to pull the wagon's maximum weight efficiently. While just a few meters away, Gale, Poppy, Belle, Shyla, Fox and Ariana were getting the tack for the cart ready. The front door swung open as other the kids all carried a piece of luggage outside and deposited them into the cart, followed by everyone else, who looked the wagon over before helping Rosemary, Miriam and Lucile get in first, with Freya, Bestla, Skadi, Ran and Claude getting in and taking their seats last.
"Not bad eh?" Bren grinned, "Think it'll work?" "Of course it'll work!" Gustav grumbled, "I know how to make an emergency patch job damn it!" "So? Not to be nit-picky or anything? But what are we going to do for horses? Yours are dead and ours broke out of the stable and bolted some time during the night, and this lot can't carry us to the inner gate without being spotted!" Pascal sarcastically pointed out, thumbing over at the titans who were watching everyone from the opposite side of the house: "...So what hare-brained trick have you go in mind this time?" he frowned down at Ariana, who simply smiled slyly; as if on cue, the titans came around the side of the house, leaned forwards as if to get down on all fours, and in a blur of light and glistening sparks, they shrank down and transformed from their gigantic titan forms, into four beautiful horses. "HOLY SHIT!-" Derek jumped out the wagon, landing on his ass in the mud, "Whoa! Now that's one hell of a trick!" Mabel stared at them bug-eyed, "Indeed! How absolutely extraordinary!" Claude beamed in excitement "Hey, we did warn you they can change into animals you know!" Rowan huffed as he loaded another piece of luggage onto the cart. "Yes, you did..." Pascal deadpanned, "Whatever, let's get them in the collars and let's get going" he said as he went to lock the front door.
Being the biggest of the now-horse titans, Shadow was led over to the wagon and strapped in securely: in this form he was a big robust draught horse, with the same light brown colouration as his titan hair; his coat was nice and glossy, while his mane and tail were just as long and thick, and had a smooth feathering that covered his fetlocks and hooves. His markings had disappeared too, which really confused everyone, and neither were the other horse-titan's marking's present (but then that was probably a good thing: four horses walking into Shiganshina covered in strange markings? It wouldn't exactly be inconspicuous). Midnight had turned herself into a big black hunting steed with a shiny smooth coat and long flowing mane and tail, a white face and a white stocking on each leg. Boar had turned into a more unkempt draught horse with a scruffy red coat and wild unruly mane and tale: and at the corners of his mouth, two teeny tiny tusk-like teeth could be just seen peeking out; he was to be used to pull the cart. While Angel had turned herself into a beautiful glossy while mare, with a coat that looked like polished white silver: a mane and tail that looked as extravagant as her plumage, and thick fluffy feathering that covered her hooves and fetlocks; and while Angel's attempt at turning into a horse had mostly succeeded, her long flowing mane and tale had small long white feathers dotted about here and there, which did make her look a little odd. "Good grief, HORSE FEATHERS!" Gustav laughed his ass off as he picked one out of her mane, looked at it, and laughed even harder.
"Yeah yeah very funny!" Miriam frowned, "Well boys? Who gets to ride who?" she gestured to Midnight and Angel: Bryson and Breck glanced at one another in bemusement, and shrugged as they approached the mares and slipped the lead ropes onto them, before climbing up on the side of the cart to mount them: with no saddles to ride on, they'd have to ride bareback all the way home. "Hey can I lead?" Ariana asked offhand, "Me and the big guy here gotta talk about some important stuff" she thumbed over to Shadow, "Okay, but if it's too muddy underfoot you climb up in here okay?" Carla replied as she took her seat up the front with Lucy and Lucius. Pascal and West finished up strapping Boar into the tack and mounted the cart, with Gale, Poppy, Belle, Shyla, Fox and Bemadette all squeezed onto the back, sitting with their legs dangling over the tail board: while the rest of the children and their fathers opted to walk.
Before long the whole group had set off, and as they watched their house disappear amid the trees, Pascal and West both exchanged an uneasy look: wondering what their new business/living arrangement was going to entail. By this time the sun had began to break through the clouds, and as the canopy thinned out and they left the forest behind, everyone was pleased to see blue skies stretching from one end of the walled horizon to the other, and no rain clouds in sight.
However, when they reached the farmlands, the view was far from pleasant: in the places that were within the vicinity of the rivers, streams and drainage ditches, the flood had washed away everything in its path. Accumulating in thick mud, debris and fallen trees, the devastation reached far and wide: remains of buildings and wooden bridges, shattered carts and wagons, and even the odd dead animal littered the countryside here and there; many of the farms and hamlets that were situated on the hillsides and upper glens had escaped the worst of the deluge, but where the water had risen, the flood claimed one and all. The road for the most part was still largely intact, and passable as the family's made their way towards the inner gate. But as they gazed at the devastation all around, and listened to the stark silence that hung in the air all around them, Carla and the children realized just how lucky they had been to survive. "I'm not seeing any dead people: that's a good sign right?" Belle asked offhand anxiously. "Eh, I wouldn't hold my breath kid" Pascal winced slightly at the sight of a dead pig lying on its back in a ditch.
As Carla and the other adults talked among themselves, Ariana walked as close to Shadow as she could get without tripping over his hooves: sensing she had something to say, he leaned his head down so his face was right next to her's. "... So um? Mrs Jaeger and I talked: about, why she doesn't want Eren to know about you guys? The real reason I mean..." she spoke in a hushed voice: staring off into space as she contemplated what they'd talked about; Shadow nodded in understanding: "...I gotta admit she does have a point: it is hard work keeping a big secret; and now that I think about it, I don't want Eren to feel like he's got no choice if I just drag him into all this. Which made me realize something very important..." she gazed up at his big vivid blue eye: "Despite everything that's happened: how we first met, the Disciples, what happened yesterday during the flood, I don't regret meeting you and your family Shadow; these past nine months have been the best time I've ever had, and I wouldn't trade you, or any of it for anything else..." She smiled happily, before a more anxious look replaced her expression: "However, when Mrs Jaeger told me why she doesn't want Eren to know about you guys: I kinda realized I'd forgotten about what I already had. Sure, making new best friends like you is great: but, Eren's also my best friend too; we've known each other since we can remember, and we've always been there for each other. But? These last nine months, I've not been there for him, and that's kinda selfish and irresponsible of me; so? I don't want you to take this personally Shadow, but from now on I'm going to be spending time with Eren, as well as you...Is, that okay?"
'Oh, I don't think that's going to be too much of a problem' Javorin mentally smiled as he leaned down further and nuzzled Ariana on the cheek with a content snort; which made her laugh as she scratched him on the chin.
Before long they reached the inner gate, and the scene that greeted them was nothing short of extraordinary: on the banks of the southern Marian river next to a table bridge, ten giant trees lay parallel to the water's edge, all neatly stacked in a pile and propped up in place with several smaller logs that had been rammed into the mud to securely wedge them in place up against the brick-lined embankment. Surrounding the pile was a large gathering of Garrison troops and MP's, and even the Scouting corps were present (judging from their fresh-faced appearance, it seemed they were yet to embark on their latest expedition), with an even larger crowd of people standing around nearby, seeming trying to get a look at the tree pile. "What the hell's going on?" Breck blinked in surprise as he held onto Midnight's lead rope, "Don't know, but it looks serious" Bryson frowned. As they steadily trundled past the gathering, bits and pieces of conversation drifted about and caught their notice:
"Look, are we sure we can't find any witnesses?! Someone must have seen something!"
"What I don't get is how it happened? I mean, how the hell do you move ten giant trees and stack them like that?"
"It's impressive for sure, but who did it, and how? What kind of equipment or machine would you use to pull something like this off?"
"Under ordinary circumstances perhaps: but during a raging flood?! Give me a break! Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?!"
"And nobody saw who or what did it? How's that even possible?"
"It's not natural I tell ya', something unholy is at work!"
It painted a peculiar picture, and as the group passed by the gathering they gazed up at the giant trees in bemusement: but unlike everyone else present they carried on into the city, and as they cleared the gate, a familiar face came running up to the wagon "CARLA?!" Hannes cried out in a mix of panic and joy, "CARLA!" "Hannes?!" Carla leapt off the wagon and ran to him, thinking something was wrong, but before she had a chance to ask what was up he nearly ran into her as he came to a screeching stop: "CARLA! -Thank Maria your alive!" he sighed in sheer relief, before glancing over at the rest of the group, "-You're all alive! Holy shit! Do you have any idea how worried we were?! When you guys didn't return last night we spent half the night looking for you! Where the hell have you all been?!"
Seeing the look of genuine relief, worry and anxiety on his face, and suddenly feeling horrible for it, Carla frantically tried to explain: "Oh my god-, Hannes I'm so sorry, we had no idea-, we managed to get to higher ground up in the eastern forest before the flood hit: we were cut off so we had no choice but to wait it out all night!" Looking at the state of the wagon, Hannes blinked in surprise, "Holy-, you guys must've just barely made it!" he gasped, before explaining the situation further: "...The Garrison and MP's were out all yesterday and last night searching for survivors: hell, even the Scouts called off their expedition to help with the emergency-relief efforts. We've been rescuing people from all over the outer district, and we still haven't got as far as far as the central valley yet!"
"Oh... -Uh hey, what's going on with those trees just beyond the gate?" Carla thumbed over her shoulder towards the inner gate: "Hm? Oh those! Holy Crap I don't even know where to begin with those! By late afternoon yesterday the flood had reached its worse: the city's flood defenses were straining to keep the worst of it out, when suddenly those trees washed down from out of the eastern valley. They jammed up against dam and it looked like they were going to break right through for a while; but luckily they didn't. But then we realized it was only getting worse as they were blocking the drainage canals. We had no way to shift them other than to blow em' up with dynamite and gunpowder! It was pitch black by the time the MP's had procured the explosives, but then: we get back to the river and there the trees were! All stacked up and out of the way. I tell ya Carla, the one day I decide to quit drinking and this happens! ..." he facepalmed. Glancing up at Shadow, Ariana grinned, "Did you have anything to do with that?" she whispered: Shadow merely nodded with a cheeky nicker.
Suddenly remembering her family, Carla panicked: "-Hannes! Where's Eren and Grisha?!" "Wha-" the man suddenly remembered: "Grisha was called to the hospital to help with the refugees: but I told him I'd look out for you. They were calling as many volunteers as possible to come and help out, so Mr Arlet, Armin, and Eren went there too!" "-Thank you Hannes!" Carla shouted happily as she took off for the hospital, "Hang on a sec!" Ariana called out as she tossed the lead rope up to Lucy and took off after her. Carla knew the way to the hospital by heart, it wasn't far from the gate: the crowds were thick and numerous as refugees continued to file into the city: saved from the flood or retrieved from high ground that had been cut off, it was staggering just how many people were now homeless: all their worldly goods gone, with only the clothes on their back still theirs.
As she reached the hospital and burst in the through the front doors, Carla began scanning the faces of every gentleman in a white coat, and every young boy she passed by. Moving from room to room, ward to ward, growing more frantic with every second that passed: she couldn't let them think she was dead, she had to let them know she was still alive; the pain and agony of not knowing, it made her heart ache just thinking about it, and brought tears to her eyes. Then, as she rounded the next corner and entered the central ward, she froze as she picked him out from among the crowd: standing there in the middle of the aisle, Grisha had looked up at the exact same moment she entered, and they locked eyes on each other. Her happiness over-brimming, and his in equal joyous measure as tears came to his eyes, they both ran and hugged each other tightly; loosing themselves in each others embrace, as if they were the only people in the room.
"...I thought I lost you," Grisha choked as tears ran down his face, "When you didn't come home last night, I didn't know what-"
"-I'm so sorry" was all Carla could say as she leaned back and held his face in her hands, wiping away his tears, "I so sorry I scared you like that: but I'm back now it's going to be okay" she smiled as she planted her lips on his, and for a moment the whole world was lost to them in their kiss. "MUUUM!" Eren cried as he came running down the corridor: letting go of her husband, Carla held out her arms and scooped up her son, holding him in close as he cried his eyes out, hugging her tightly and never wanting to let her go, "Where'd you go?!" he sobbed as he gazed up at her with teary puppy eyes, "Mr Hannes said they couldn't find you anywhere! They said that you, Ariana and the others-, that you might be-" he broke down in another fit of sobs and cried into her shoulder: overwhelmed with so much emotion that he could hardly contain himself. "Shh-shhh, it's okay," she soothed him, rubbing his back as Grisha pulled them both in for a hug, "It's alright sweetie, mummy's here now, and I'm not going anywhere" she smiled as she felt her heart bursting with joy; her own tears streaming down her face as she silently thanked whatever gods there may be, for letting her make it back alive, and giving her this second chance to be with her family.
As she watched them from the doorway, Ariana couldn't help but smile. Deep down, her heart told her this was a very good thing: and just watching it from a distance, was enough to make her happy. "ARIANA!" Armin cried as he ran up to her and hugged her tight, taking her completely by surprise: "Armin!" she suddenly snapped back to reality; pulling out of his grip to get a look at him, Ariana was shocked to see him crying his eyes out too. "Oh god Ariana! You're alive!" he sobbed as he hugged her again, "When Mr Hannes said you didn't c-c-come back last night, I-I th-thought you got washed away and d-drowned in the flood: they said they wouldn't even be able to f-find you!" he sobbed uncontrollably. Feeling her gut twist with guilt, Ariana hugged him back as she began to feel bad for scaring him like this: "Armin I'm so sorry! I had no idea it'd take this long to get back," "Ariana?!" Armin's grandfather gasped as he came running up to them, "My goodness, you're alive?! You made it back alright?" "Yeah..." Ariana nodded as she stepped back a little to let Armin catch his breath, "We got trapped up in the forest when the flood hit; we had no choice but to wait it out all night" "And the rest of your family? What about the Willums and the Fitzsimmons? When they said they were going to look for you we feared the worst" "Their all okay too Mr Arlet" she smiled, "We all are". "Please Ariana just-..." Armin hesitated as he gently grasped her hand, hesitating as he tried to regain his composure, "...Don't scare me like that again, okay?" Gazing into his eyes, and seeing he had been genuinely worried, Ariana smiled, and took his hand in her's, "...I won't, I promise"
"Ariana?"
She felt her heart skip a beat when she turned around, and Eren was standing there, staring at her like he'd seen a ghost, "Eren," Ariana hesitated, knowing he had been just as worried and anxious: "...I'm so sorry I couldn't make it back sooner, I know I said I'd play with you when I got back? But we-
But her words were cut off as he threw himself at her and hugged her tight: she hugged him back, relieved he was okay now; that they were both relived she was alive: "...I don't care about that now, I'm just so happy your alive" he sobbed, "Well? I'm happy that you're happy..." she smiled, before her own guilt began to weigh heavily on her heart: tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she admitted: "...Listen, I know I've not been around much. But I swear I'll make it up to you: I'll make it up to both of you, I promise," she cried as she pulled Armin into the hug too; and together, the three of them stood there in each others embrace, content in each others presence, and relieved that they were together again.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Shiganshina:
"Well? I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to get the distinct impression our 'circumstances' are about change yet again" Herne smirked as he pulled the cart up the road, allowing West to direct him in the direction of the Black Stallion. "Well? They know we can change into animals, which will make hiding in plain sight a lot easier around here: and don't forget, we can still turn invisible?" Javorin suggested with a cunning smile. "And the reason you didn't recommend this sooner was because?" Hecate sarcastically deadpanned, glaring daggers at the god: "It never came up in conversation" he shrugged casually with a sneaky smile.
"So does this mean I can go live with Carla?" Elysia perked up "I could turn myself into a bird and live on her roof? Or into a mouse and live in her attic!", "Eh, I wouldn't get too ahead of yourself kid, let the poor woman be with her family for a bit: after everything that happened yesterday and today? They'll all want some quality family time together: not to mention the newbie's are gonna need breaking in," he glanced behind him at Pascal and West.
"And your idea about letting the 'heretics and traitors' use us for the subject of their mutual curiosity:" Midnight glanced over at Javorin dubiously, "You really think they'll be able to glean something from us?"
"If there's one thing I know about humans Hecate, it's that it's the crazy and the driven ones are often the innovators: the one's, who by their very nature go against the grain of the status quo, and let their passion and conviction drive them in the direction of change" Javorin explained.
Midnight and Herne both glanced at one another: "'Change' as in, change for the individual? Or, change for the betterment of mankind?" Herne smirked knowingly: "You've been planning this from the very start, haven't you?" Hecate realized. "Not all of it: a scheme of such a grand design is a serious gamble, even for the wisest and most ancient of our kin. No, I let this play out on its own" Javorin shrugged casually, "But, admittedly, I might have given it a gentle nudge in the right direction where needed: and while I hold no particular high expectations for the final outcome, I can say, I am pleased with how things have progressed thus far" he smiled.
"-TCH!" Hecate huffed sarcastically, "Trust the overseer of mankind to get it in his head to bring about the rebirth of humanity", "Actually? I like to think of it more as a 'reawakening'..." he clarified, before turning serious for a moment: "...The first time we came to this city and I saw how far mankind has fallen, I knew I had to do something to try and help restore what's been lost; that is my divine duty after all, and if I cannot fulfill that, I have, and am, nothing," he gazed over at them, "... I'm not sure if what I'm hoping for will come to full fruition or not (not for a few human lifetimes at least): but for better or for worse I am going to start taking a more active role in helping the humans regain their hope: between the scouts, the heretics and traitors, and everyone else involved, I have an idea, and I intend to see it through as best I can...Of course, this is going to take a good long while, and I know we all get along really well together, but if you need to return to your own divine duties anytime: I don't mind, really" he smiled thoughtfully.
"Ah come on bro don't start spouting all that mushiness" Herne grinned, "You know you can't get rid of us anyway!" "Yeah, I mean we're family anyway!" Elysia piped in. "Besides, we're committed too, so like it or not you're stuck with us!"
"... So your board is set and your pieces are all in place, now what?" Hecate asked offhand.
"Now?" Javorin thought about it, "...Just let things happen as they come, and we'll wait and see..."
Well? that's the rest of the family folks: and the gods are gonna be hanging around for while :) so stay tuned for next time, and don't forget to R&R ;)