HUMANITY'S STRONGEST?

Chapter 54: The Memory of Trees

This is where I get into the weird and the metaphysical . . . mostly drabble, but insightful.

The entire squad stood in what had been set up as a briefing room. It looked more like a classroom, with desks and a chalkboard. ++"Good news, Jaeger. I've figured out a way of stopping your titan form if you lose control without having to kill you."++

++"You have, sir?"++ Eren asked. How does he manage to say everything with the same even, bored sounding, emotionless tone?

Levi had drawn a simplistic humanoid form on the board with a smaller human form in the nape and an outline of the cutting area around it. ++"The fastest way to do this is to cut around your body and out of the titan shell. It means cutting off your arms and legs, but they'll just grow back lizard style. Creepy little shit."++

++"But . . . we really don't know they'll grow back. What if they don't?"++ Eren asked nervously.

++"You'll be alive."++

++"Yes, sir."++

"Now everyone saddle your horses. We're going on patrol along the wall."

Levi still hadn't figured out why Zoe had chosen to join them on this routine, and rather mundane task of checking the walls for any signs of wear or damage. Probably can't stand it to be away from her newest titan obsession. Poor kid! At least he doesn't seem to mind all of her pestering and weird questions, but I wonder what he's really feeling inside. I can't help but get the feeling that he uses that smile of his to hide his true feelings; his mask is just more pleasant to look at than mine. Hate to admit it, but he and I have a great deal in common; the poor little shit!

They had stopped in an open field near the edge of one of the few remaining forests behind wall Rose. The five squad members were seated on the ground in the warm sun around a diagram of the Long Range Scouting Formation as Eld explained it to Eren and where they were to be positioned during the upcoming expedition.

Levi had wandered over to the tree line, after checking on the horses, and Zoe had followed him. "So, what do you think about Erwin's plan to capture a titan shifter?"

"It's sound enough, I suppose," Levi answered her. "But it's not my job to make or question the plans. So I really don't have an opinion about it. If it works, fine. If not . . . well we won't know until the mission is over."

"Hmm. I'll take that as a positive answer," Zoe decided. "Because if you thought for a moment that there was something wrong with it, you wouldn't hesitate to voice your 'opinion'."

"Tch!"

"I know you entirely too well!" Zoe boasted. There were several moments of silence as they leaned back against a large oak tree (oak trees were exceptionally rare these days) and listened to Eld explaining their part in the upcoming mission to the others. Zoe then looked straight up into the branches of the tree. "You know," she said dreamily. "It's too bad trees can't talk."

"What?" Well that was random!

"Well, trees live a lot longer than humans." Zoe was still looking up the tree. "This one for example, must be a couple of hundred years old. It was alive before the walls and before the titans. If it could talk, maybe it could tell us what really happened 107 years ago."

"Who says trees can't talk? They just don't use a means that we can understand."

Zoe looked at Levi in surprise. "You really think that?"

"Everything communicates in one way or another. Why would trees be the exception. Theoretically speaking, all living things can be understood by all other living things; a common 'language' if you will. It's just that we as humans have either forgotten how or choose to ignore how."

"Wow! Levi! That was . . . deep!" Zoe exclaimed. "I'm guessing you got that from one of those books you got from Grandmother."

"Perhaps." Levi reached up to stroke Firestorm's muzzle as she had come over to join them. "I think maybe it has something to do with why I can understand everything Firestorm says, but no one else can." He stepped away from the oak tree and turned to face it, looking up into its strong branches. Levi would never be able to explain what suddenly came over him in that moment but, for whatever reason, he reached out his hand and placed his palm firmly against the rough grey bark and thought, Talk to me.

What happened next was even more unexplainable. In the blink of an eye, Levi's mind was suddenly filled with images spanning the tree's 168 years of existence, from sprouting from the soil one spring, to growing and reaching for the sun, the gentle rains, horrific storms, wildfire, caterpillar infestation, people gathering under its strong branches, cattle grazing in the nearby field, the other trees being cut down for wood, then the sudden appearance of the wall. Levi gasped in shock and reeled back against Firestorm's chest.

/Levi! What happened? Are you okay?/ the horse asked worriedly.

Zoe was equally worried. "Levi? What's wrong?" She reached out to help support him. Had Firestorm not been standing directly behind him, he would most assuredly have collapsed to the ground.

"Holy mother of Sheena! Talk about a head rush!" Levi shook his head to try to clear it; images still dancing around in his mind while he tried to sort out the vast amount of information he had just received. What the fuck was that?! I don't even know what possessed me to do that! Never mind the fact that it actually worked. Shit! My heads spinning so hard I can barely think!

"Levi?"

Firestorm nuzzled his shoulder. /Levi, please tell us what happened!/

Levi shook his head again, trying to clear his thoughts. "Its . . . amazing! They have . . . they're not . . . like . . . anything else . . ." he stammered, trying to find the right words to describe what had just happened. "They do talk to each other. They do pass knowledge down the generations. It's in every fiber of their being . . . This tree . . . I asked it to talk to me and it just dumped 168 years worth of memories into my head . . . and more."

"Okay, I can't believe that I am actually saying this to you, but, you're not making any sense, Levi." Zoe said in disbelief. "You're kinda scaring me."

"I'm sorry, but it's going to take a few days to sort through everything I just learned," Levi explained, the shock finally beginning to wear off. "I still can't figure out why I even did that – or why I ever even expected it to work – or that it really did work! I just . . . There's a lot more going on here than what even I ever thought there was."

Zoe had all she could do to contain her excitement over the next couple of days while Levi tried to sort through everything that had happened in that moment when a tree "spoke" to him. She could hardly wait to hear what he had learned and to try to figure out how it had happened. She knew it was real, because, well, because she knew Levi very well. She was bouncing with excitement when he finally summoned her to the room he had made into an office and locked the door.

Eren sat over near the window, since he couldn't be out of Levi's sight, and Zoe sat in the chair directly in front of his desk, eyes wide with wonder and barely contained exuberance. "First of all," Levi began. "Eren, you are not to breathe a word of anything I say tonight to anyone. Doing so could cost you and Zoe and I our lives. This definitely falls under the 'forbidden information' category."

"Yes, sir." Holy shit! What is this all about? Eren and the other squad members had been completely unaware of what had happened the other day, since Levi had recovered his composure and bored demeanor before any of them had been able to ask what was happening.

"Okay, okay! Hush! Hush! So what did you learn?" Zoe demanded, unable to wait a moment longer.

The faintest hint of a smile crossed Levi's face. "I'm pretty sure you'd love the way a tree communicates, since you get all your information at once. I know how much you hate waiting."

"Oh just get on to the good stuff already!" Zoe was hopping in her seat like a little kid that desperately needed to pee.

"Very well, then. First, I need to explain something about trees. Their memories work very differently from ours. Their memories can be passed between generations genetically."

"What is genetically?" Eren asked and Zoe nodded in agreement with the question.

"Oh, right. Genetics are . . . well, kind of like a blueprint for making a living thing. It is the code that makes you look like your mother or your father. It's . . . kind of hard to explain right now. Let's just say that the memories are passed on from the parent tree in the very seeds they grow from. As a result of this, because the memories are an actual part of their physical being, the memories cannot be erased or tampered with . . . or at least it shouldn't be possible to."

"The two most important things I learned from that tree, is first, that titans are not new to this world. They have existed alongside us from the very beginning, but not the way they are now. Second, that something approximately 107 years ago, actually did disrupt the memories of the trees. They have no memory for a two year period where the titans as we know them showed up, the walls show up and humanity migrates behind them. In a life form that 'sees' and remembers everything, there is an actual gap in the memory that has absolutely nothing in it . . . it's blank, empty, void. It's as if those two years never existed. Based on that information, I can only surmise that not only has all of humanity's memories been altered, but the memories of every living thing on Earth."

"So what about the titans?" Zoe inquired. "You say they've always existed?"

"Yes. But not the way we know them. A tree's 'thoughts' are kind of hard to put into words, it's all images . . . no, not that even. It's more like . . . just knowing; feeling. I have this 'image' if you will, of titans, but they aren't the mindless killing and eating monsters that they are now. You've both heard of the Arckayan legends, right."

"Yeah," Zoe and Eren said in unison.

"Well, apparently they are, to at least some degree, true. Approximately 2,000 years ago, what the trees simply call 'a terrible pure evil' descended on the world in an attempt to . . . to . . ." Levi paused awkwardly for a moment as he searched for the right word. "revel in the suffering it created, for lack of a better description. As we all know from the legend, a single person showed up just as mysteriously and drove the evil away, but was not able to destroy it. According to the trees, just before the gap in their memories, the evil returned, settling somewhere south of here, stronger than before, or perhaps even a different evil, and has wrought havoc in the world. It has thrown everything out of balance in the world. It is right after that arrival that the titans became what we know them as now and we found ourselves locked behind the walls devoid of the truth about what happened. I know this all sounds completely crazy, but to me, it actually makes sense. The fact that all of the titans come from the south, the fact that not even one person can remember how the walls came to be or passed the knowledge down to their children and the fact that the government goes out of its way to avoid technological advances and suppress the activities of the Survey Corps; I've always thought that there was some kind of shadow behind the scenes pulling the strings. Hell, we've lost the technologies we had just over a hundred years ago! That's why so many books are forbidden! Because they relate to a time when we knew more, had more! That tree confirmed almost everything I ever thought about this world."

"You see, Eren? Levi can be just as bad as me if you can actually get him started!" Zoe giggled. "So what even made you try to communicate with a tree? How did you know you even could?"

"I don't know, Zoe. It just came into my head to do it. Even I don't know why. It's happened before. I just get it into my head to do something freaky like that and do it without thinking how I know what to do or what made me think it would actually work. I never believed in all of this weird fantasy magic spiritual stuff, but over the years I've see, felt and done things that make me rethink what I believe is actually possible."

"Like the fact that you can understand everything your horse says?" Eren piped up.

"Exactly like that."

"So do you think maybe you have this . . . genetically memory thing, like the trees?" Eren was finding this whole conversation incredibly fascinating – almost intoxicating.

"Genetic memory, and that is a possibility. I suspect, however, that it is more likely spiritual memory," Levi replied.

"You mean like reincarnation? You believe in that?" Eren could scarcely believe that.

Zoe, meanwhile, was sitting back and enjoying the thought processes of her two companions. She'd always loved Levi's reasoning and intellectual side, not that he'd let it show very often. She was finding Eren's thought processes, curiosity and intelligence to be equally stimulating. She was content, for the moment, to sit back and absorb all the information. Her eyes widened slightly as Levi actually answered Eren's question – the only people he'd ever been this open with were Mike and herself, and it had taken her months to get Levi comfortable enough with her to open up even a little. The fact that he was so open around Eren, whom he'd only know for a couple of weeks was astonishing.

"Now we're getting into the really weird shit! When I touched that tree, I felt as if the tree recognized me somehow. I could actually feel a ripple go through the forest. It's hard to describe, really, but it's as if the tree saw me as a long lost friend, or something. I'm not really sure if I believe in reincarnation or not, Eren. I've seen and experienced to many unusual things over the years to completely discount it as a possibility. Considering that everything we have ever been taught is a complete lie, it stands to reason that there are a good many things in life that we do not know or understand. A book I read years ago had a phase in it that I still remember. 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy.' Experience has shown me just how true that is. It means that damn near anything is possible!" Levi paused for a moment, then looked at Zoe. "What's wrong, Four Eyes? You're not usually this quiet."

"I'm observing and learning," she replied. "Even after ten years, it still amazes me how you can talk about all of this totally cool stuff and yet look like you're bored with the world!"

"You mean he's always been like that?"

"As long as I've known him, Eren."

"Huh. So did anything the tree showed you explain how I could have ended up being able to turn into a titan?"

Levi thought a moment before answering. "Not specifically, but I suspect that it may be far more normal that we initially thought."

"You mean there are more people like me out there? Does that mean Mom and/or Dad was like me? Or does it mean all people can change? But why was I only able to do it now? Why not when I was younger and could have used it to save Mom? And does that mean that the Colossal and the Armored titans are just like me? And what about-"

"Whoa there kiddo! You're gonna break yourself, there!" Levi interrupted. "I really can't answer all those questions. All I do know is that the chances are very high that there are more 'shifters' out there than we may realize. It would be rather presumptuous to assume you were the only one in the first place."

"I'm sorry, Captain. I just have so many questions I want answered."

"So do I, Eren. I know your frustration. One question answered breeds a hundred new questions. All we can do is continue to search for the answers and hope that we will one day understand."

"If I understand this all correctly," Zoe said thoughtfully. "there may be literally thousands of people within the walls with Eren's ability, but they either don't know they have it, or are afraid of other people's reactions to reveal it."

"Considering how the government reacted to Eren, I'd say such fear would be justified. Based on what little we know about the Colossal and the Armored, such as their ability to appear and disappear out of and into thin air, I would suggest that the later of your assumptions to be correct."

"But that now begs the question; why would they want to destroy humanity? If they've lived among us peacefully for so long, why suddenly destroy all that? We know that the titans view Eren as food even when he's in titan form, so it makes sense that other shifter's would need the safety of the walls as well," Zoe mused. "Again, that begs the question of why destroy the walls. Things really are getting interesting! I think you should talk to trees more often!"

"Um, Captain?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think you could teach me how to talk to trees?"

"Tch! I don't even know how I did it!"

to be continued…