Chapter 7: The Basement
Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin
Previously: Erwin and Armin think Zeke's affection for Eren may be useful. Levi decides to ask Kenny about the Ackermans. Erwin thinks about taking Armin and Jean under his wing.
I hate that feeling that I'm forgetting something. Happens every chapter, ugh.
Bertolt began to glow as he transformed, Mikasa and Armin fleeing.
Erwin and Levi watched in shock.
A massive spheral explosion erupted in Shinganshina.
"Armin, get down!" Mikasa yelled, holding out a hand toward him.
The shockwave ripped apart the homes caught up in it before the entire screen began white.
The silence was interrupted by soft, shuddering breaths. "It hurts." Bertolt's voice echoed as a skull appeared, left half muscles and right half bone. "It hurts so bad," Bertolt said. Armin opened his eyes in a daze. Darkness surrounded him and he stared up at the half-muscle half-bone skeleton.
Its lone eye teared up and began to cry.
"I don't recall anything like this happening to me," Eren said.
"Me neither." Ymir's own first experience of waking up as a Shifter had been seeing a vast night sky full of stars, no hallucinations of any kind. Although she couldn't remember what had happened afterward. She never saw the sun rise and suddenly, her next memory was of her walking in the middle of the afternoon, heading for the Walls. I can't believe there's a desert on this island. Armin was going to be thrilled to see it.
"Guess it's not something that happens to all Shifters," Hange said. Perhaps it was because Armin and Bertolt had a connection, they were friends. Eren said he had a weird dream when he woke up in the refugee camp.
On the Wall, Armin muttered softly, "Bertolt."
"It hurts," a female voice said.
The words snapped Armin out of his head and he looked over to the person lying on his left.
"It hurts so bad," Sasha said, eyes closed, forehead bandaged with burns on her face.
"Sasha? Sasha!" Armin lifted the blanket and saw the bloody bandage around her chest.
"You're in terrible shape. What happened?"
"I can't believe we've survived yet another crazy mission." Jean wondered for how much longer their luck would hold out. "Sooner or later, one or more of us is going to die."
"Let's hope our luck holds," Sasha said, fingers crossed.
"I'm offended none of you count my inevitable death as a loss," Ymir said in mock hurt.
They smiled sheepishly at her.
"Sorry," Armin said. "We keep forgetting. It just doesn't seem real cause we never saw it happen. Out of sight, out of mind." And it was easier not imagining it since they didn't want it to be true.
"Armin!" Eren was running over.
"Eren?"
Eren hugged him. "I'm glad you're back!" He squeezed Armin, crying.
Only thirteen years. Hange was not looking forward to breaking that piece of heartbreaking information to them. Ymir had been pushing them to share it quickly. She and Eren had limited time left and Ymir wanted him to live their remaining eight or so years to the fullest as she planned to.
Armin only gaped, confused at Eren's actions. "What?"
The sound of 3D gear was heard before Levi came up from the side of the Wall. "You're up?"
"Captain, what in the world happened here?" Armin asked as Levi came to stand before them. "I remember Bertolt becoming a Titan… What about the others?! Are they okay?!"
"That's as far back as you remember?" Levi said, pulling out a flare gun.
"What?"
"Eren, tell him everything," Levi told a dejected Eren before firing a green flare.
Down in the city, Connie, Jean, Mikasa with Floch, and Hange took note of the green smoke at once.
The wind moved soft, ruffling their clothes.
Blue eyes wide as saucers, Armin was speechless, in shock.
"Well? Did you follow it all, Armin?" Levi asked when the boy remained silent.
Mikasa sat beside Eren while Connie and Jean sat beside Sasha. Hange stood before them as Floch kept an eye out not far behind the group, holding up a spyglass.
"Are you telling me the Survey Corps is the nine of us here and that's it?" Armin asked.
"As far as we can tell, yeah," Jean replied, holding a water flask.
Nine. Historia thought, sickened. "It's still so insane to think about. That only nine out of a hundred survived." A ninety-one perfect mortality rate. It was almost enough to make her glad she wasn't there. Nah, she thought a second later. I still should have been there.
"And they haven't made it back to safety yet," Jean reminded her. "They might encounter dangers on the way back."
There's already so few of us even now in this changed timeline. Erwin thought. Compared to the rest of the world's armies, their fewer than fifty thousand total soldiers was a dauntingly low number. And calling many of them "soldiers" was being generous. Most were lazy, fat, and undisciplined, no more combat-ready than the average civilian. If Paradis Island was to survive, they really had to play to their other strengths.
If his assumption was right and Historia would become queen, he'd advise her to shake up the military structure. With Marley courting war, it's the worst time to be divided. Paradis' military would need to reform to reflect their new enemy: humans. And every soldier, every single one, had to be put through some sort of short training exercise to ensure they were in good shape. Not just physically but mentally too. Only the MPs, and the Garrison soldiers that acted as the police, were used to seeing humans as enemies. Yet majority of those soldiers still weren't trained to kill people—only as a last resort but not as something they had to do actively do without hesitation, otherwise they or their fellow soldiers could lose their lives.
"The fighting ended four hours ago," Jean informed Armin. "We've been looking for survivors, but none yet."
Connie brought the water flask to Sasha's lips.
"S-So, after we managed to seal the gates of Shiganshina, Reiner, the Beast Titan, and another Titan escaped. Bertolt was captured. Then there was a disagreement about using the injection on Commander Erwin or me," Armin summarized, Mikasa looked sad. "And I turned into a Titan and…ate B-Bertolt."
Eren watched him in worry.
Armin began to choke back vomit and cough.
Jean knelt and held out his water flask. "Here," he said.
Armin drank gratefully and breathed deeply. His eyes still held a distant and distressed look. "Why me? No matter how you look at it, wasn't Commander Erwin the right one to bring back? Captain, why did you give me the injection?!"
Hange still believed Levi made the wrong choice. But no point in crying over spilled milk. They just had to pick themselves up and keep moving.
"Hmph," Levi grunted. He kicked Eren, who rubbed his back.
"You should kick him back one of these days," Mikasa said without any bite, lips twitching in a smile.
"He'd rip my leg off and probably beat me senseless with it."
"Would be fun to watch his reaction still."
Eren scowled at her. "I'm not losing a leg for your entertainment. When you'd develop such a morbid and mean sense of humor?"
"It's been a crazy couple of weeks."
"I told you to tell him everything," Levi said. "The thing is, it seems your two friends here didn't think that way." Eren and Mikasa looked down. "They stood up to me, prepared to draw blood."
Armin turned to them.
Eren and Mikasa felt embarrassed at the mention of their disobedience. They would have done so again and without hesitation. Still, they weren't particularly proud of it.
Not our most shining moment, Mikasa thought. Yet she couldn't regret it as it had saved Armin's life. It was just their misfortune that it came at the expense of the commander's.
"We'll accept our punishment," Eren said quietly.
"While you'll be disciplined for insubordination," Hange said, crouching before them, "don't think that accepting punishment excuses your actions."
"Of course not," Eren agreed.
"Let's get one thing straight," Levi said. "Ultimately, I was the one who chose you. No, that's not it. For personal reasons, I chose for this to be Erwin's place of death."
Why would you say that? Petra wished he'd stopped at "I was the one who chose you." Was there really a need to clarify and decrease Armin's confidence instead of increasing it?
Levi wanted to hit his TV-version. It was bad enough he let Erwin die, he should have at least tried to instill confidence in Armin and ease the self-doubt he was clearly feeling. Instead, he was adding to it by telling the boy it was a personal decision rather than a professional or logical one. That was the last thing he needed to hear. Armin was probably going to face scrutiny for being picked and not Erwin. As the person responsible for making the choice, I need to have Armin's back and raise him up, not knock him down.
In a house, Erwin's corpse was shown, his green cape covering his face and torso. A pot with white flowers sat on the small table by the beside.
Historia was creeped out, imagining ninety-one corpses littering the streets. And that's not even counting the civilians. It had been hard enough clearing out Trost of the dead bodies after it was breached, but clearing out all of Wall Maria was going to take so much longer.
"I still don't understand. We can't let Commander Erwin die." At Armin's words, Eren and Mikasa shifted their eyes guiltily. "What are we supposed to do without the commander?" He clutched his water flask tightly.
"I also thought Erwin was the right person to bring back," Hange said and the teens stared at her. "That's my honest opinion. But most of all, I wish we could have prevented things from turning out like this."
But we can prevent it from turning out like this, Sasha thought cheerily. Ymir, Squad Levi, Squad Mike, Connie's siblings, and many more had survived already. They could save Erwin and countless others too. Thinking about their successes always lifted her mood.
Hange was silent before saying, "In the end, Erwin entrusted Levi with the decision to use it. And Levi ended up choosing you."
Armin was beyond stricken.
Armin knew exactly how his TV-version felt. I have to be a charismatic leader everyone can rally behind, a brilliant strategist with impressive results to show, and politically wily to outmaneuver the opposition! He thought he had decent talent in one of those but he had no idea what to do with the other two. Out of all the commanders, Erwin lost the least soldiers with his Long-Range Formation that cut down the mortality rate by 30%. Can I produce such impressive results? The commander was able to puzzle out they were infiltrated all on his own and predict their moves. And what about politics? I know nothing of politics. But Commander Erwin crushed that noble who sent Captain Levi and his friends and halted the anti-Survey Corps organization's movement so effectively. Armin had no idea how to navigate political minefields and eliminate his opponents before they became too troublesome.
I'm not a leader. And definitely not one who can inspire soldiers to follow crazy plans and even to death. That was Jean's thing. He thought fast on his feet and could effortlessly get people to follow him. But Hange's gotta be the commander now. Wasn't it on her to deal with the leadership and political aspect of Erwin's position? Sure, pass it all on to her, you wimp. Armin felt guilty and lazy for shoving it on Hange. Commander Erwin didn't die so Hange could be saved.
"Don't get in your own head, Armin," Eren warned, seeing the panic on Armin's face and realizing he was spiraling in his mind. Eren knew how his best friend could get, always focusing on his weaknesses and ignoring his strengths. "You've accomplished a lot in your young age already. You've much more to offer still. But you won't get far if you don't stop putting yourself down."
Armin knew while Mikasa was driven by emotion and Eren was reckless, his flaw wasn't lack of smarts but lack of self-confidence. "I know," he said. But just knowing it didn't automatically erase it.
"You have intelligence in spades but you need to believe in yourself more," Mikasa said firmly. "You're a fast learner too and you're very driven, so you can improve any shortcomings faster than any other person."
"They're right, you know," Jean piped in. "The only one holding you back from your full potential is you. I'm sure there will be issues with you being chosen over Commander Erwin, but I think you do have what it takes to prove to them that Captain Levi made the right decision."
Armin was grateful for Jean's words. Eren and Mikasa's support meant a lot to him. But Jean wasn't his childhood friend and tended to speak his mind without mincing words. It caused his words to leave a big impact in a way different than Mikasa and Eren. No point in being so self-critical. And since he had the chance this time, he would observe Erwin and learn as much as possible to slowly eliminate his weaknesses and better his strengths.
"There's nothing more to say," Hange continued. "Erwin's life and a Titan's power rest on your shoulders. No matter what anyone says, that's part of who you are now, Armin."
"Does that mean I need to be Erwin's replacement?" Armin choked out, looking sick. Sweat covered his face. "I can't possibly do that!"
"Don't get the wrong idea," Levi said. "You'll never be Erwin's replacement. But you do have a certain set of skills that no other human possesses. I have no intention of regretting my decision. However," Levi said, slapping his hands on Eren and Mikasa's heads, "don't make these guys regret it. Nor anyone else. And above all, don't regret it yourself. Those are my orders for you."
Finally, I said something sensible. Levi thought. Armin had needed to hear that, especially with all the doubt he would likely face soon. Levi wondered how his own self would fare. I could be looking at a court-martial. Though due to his unique position they wouldn't be able to punish him too severely. At the very least the brass was probably going to verbally rip him a new one. But once the truth of the outside world was out, how would the population take to the news that he sentenced one of their best strategists to death? Especially in the wake of what the basement would surely reveal. Levi had a feeling they weren't going to take it well. No commander had been more regarded than Erwin since the days of Jorge Pikale.
Levi was more concerned about Armin than himself, though. He hoped no one was too hard on Armin for something he didn't have a choice in. He doubted most had the gall to question him to his face and might go after the less intimidating Armin instead. I had better defend him, he thought with narrowed eyes.
Armin stared at Levi without any words until pained noises from Sasha pulled his attention to her.
"Shut up!" Sasha said in pain, eyes still closed.
They gaped at her, surprised.
The group laughed at her interruption of such a serious discussion.
Petra chuckled. "They probably needed that."
Hange began laughing quietly. "We're no match for Sasha. Well, as the successor to Erwin's title, I'm facing a lot of pressure, too. The two of us will just have to steel our resolve," she said to Armin.
"Yes."
"Alright." Hange stood. "If Armin's fine then it's time to press on." She moved away and stopped, facing them again. "Levi, Eren, Mikasa, and I will go investigate."
"They are not ready for what's coming," Ymir said with pity in her voice.
Eren could already feel the disappointment, knowing what their TV versions would soon be going through. They'd feel that same horror and hopelessness they'd felt when Ymir told them about the ugliness of the outside world.
After such a hard struggle, Petra thought sadly, what's supposed to be a sweet victory will quickly turn sour. The basement was supposed to give the dead soldiers' sacrifice meaning. Reaching it and learning the truth would mean they hadn't died in vain. While that was going to be true, the answers they were hoping for would turn out to be cruel and disappointing.
"You other four keep watch from atop Shiganshina's Wall."
"Got it!" Connie and Jean said to the new commander.
"Eren, do you still have the key?" Hange asked.
"Yes." Eren clutched the key around his neck. "Right here."
"Okay, good. For a second there, I got worried he might have lost it in battle somewhere."
"That would've been a kick in the teeth."
"Yeah, but it would have figured with our luck. Even when we're victorious, the casualties or whatever other loss that happens is usually so bad that it gets hard to celebrate the win."
In a flashback, Grisha pulled out the key. "Eren," his voice narrated as the stairs leading down to the basement appeared, "when I get back, I'll show you the basement that I've kept secret all this time."
"Eren, no!" Carla stopped her young son, who sat on his knees before the top of the stars. "How many times must I say you can't go in the basement?!"
What I wouldn't give to get scolded by Mom again, Eren thought, smiling affectionately.
"Why aren't I allowed to?" Eren asked in a petulant tone.
"Because your father keeps his work tools there." Carla started to walk away. "Including drugs. It's dangerous for children."
"Hmph," Eren grunted and began to close the trapdoor.
"Mom went down there plenty of times before," Eren said thoughtfully. "Wonder if she ever saw anything."
"Probably not." Mikasa shrugged. "Your father must have kept whatever he left in there hidden. Otherwise she'd have seen it."
One by one, the four soldiers jumped off from the Wall.
"Your intentions are the key," Erwin's voice narrated as the Colossal Titan's attack on Wall Maria was shown. "The key to saving humankind from this despair," he said, holding up the key, sitting outside Eren's cell.
Erwin addressed the new recruits. "We have reason to believe that the basement of Eren's home in Shiganshina houses a secret of the Titans that not even he is aware of." In the crowd, Connie and Sasha, Jean and Annie, and Armin and Mikasa were shown. "If we can just reach this basement, we may be able to obtain information that will help us break free from the Titans' century-long tyranny."
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," Petra summed it up nicely for them.
"We think it's going to help set us free when it's the complete opposite," Hange said, exhaling gloomily. "Feels like salt in the wounds." Countless lives had been lost for decades and it turned out it was basically pointless. The Titans were never the true enemies and had actually, in a way, kept the real enemies at bay.
The truth was daunting to think about. They had a whole world full of enemies that hated them and wanted to take them out. The only thing keeping them relatively calm was the TV and Eren's Founding Titan. They had a real fighting chance and planned to make the most of it.
Green blanket wrapped around him, Armin stood atop the Wall, looking out before glancing at Connie, Jean, and Sasha. Floch stood to his right a few yards away. Armin turned back to Shinganshina.
Eren landed on the ground first, taking off running, followed by Mikasa. Hange and Levi ran after them. The four slowed and walked through the dilapidated neighborhood. A worn, dirty teddy bear lay on the ground. A broken sign outside a shop danced in the wind.
Levi and Hange looked around.
"Hey, where's your house?" Levi asked.
"R-Right," Eren said, leading them once more.
They walked through the street filled with debris and abandoned personal items of the former residents.
A young Eren and Mikasa ran through their healthy and lively neighborhood. Little Mikasa saw the fruit vendor with a baby on her back, advertising her apples.
Eren and Mikasa came to a stop, looking at an old basket. They kept moving, past a single bright white flower in the middle of the street.
Levi's reflection passed through the broken glass windows of a small building.
As they came to a broken white pillar with a marble circle around it, Eren blinked in recognition. There was a wooden crate with three broken stools around it. He recalled how Hannes and his buddies used to play cards and drink there.
It's not even my hometown but it feels so right. Sasha thought. It was a little spooky, too.
They all felt that sense of homecoming.
It doesn't feel happy. Eren thought. The victory was theirs but it didn't inspire any triumphant feelings. Seeing the abandoned buildings and streets and personal items just made him sad at the loss. We may have recovered the land but the lives are gone forever. There was no getting those back.
Eren and Mikasa moved forward as their young selves approached Hannes, who waved and pointed them at Carla as she walked around the corner. The children ran after her. Eren remembered rushing back to his house after the Colossal Titan had kicked down the outer gate.
The group of four turned the corner and walked down the street, arriving at last.
"Is this it?" Hange asked the silent teens.
A pair of white birds flew off the massive, moss-covered boulder that had crushed the Yeager house.
They moved closer and Eren saw an old brown shoe in the grass.
Don't you fucking dare, TV. Jean narrowed his eyes. Mercifully, the TV didn't show the clip of Eren's mother being killed. Jean had gotten real fed up of that shit long ago. He could only imagine how much more infuriating and painful it had to be for Eren, being forced to watch it again and again. If it were me I'd have thrown something at the TV after the third or fourth time.
"Hey, Dad!" Eren stood by his father's chair. "When will you show me what's in the basement"
Grisha turned his attention away from the newspaper. "Who knows? Perhaps when you realize the most important thing of all."
Back in the present, Eren and Mikasa looked up. Eren thought back to his mother hanging white sheets on the clothesline.
Hange observed the wreckage around them. "Luckily," she said, "the fires didn't make it this far."
Nearby, Levi kicked something on the ground.
Kneeling, Eren and Mikasa picked through broken old dishes. He stared at the cup in his hand and she paused. They returned to their task. Eventually, he cleared the last of the small bits of rubble before he and Mikasa exchanged a nod.
"Here," Eren said to Levi, who stood before them. "Under this are the stairs to the basement."
"Good."
The four of them worked together to used two long wooden beams to move the boulder. After some struggle, the large rock rolled away. Eren dusted way the pebbles and grabbed the latch, lifting the trapdoor.
"Don't be flooded. Don't be flooded."
"Shh!" Historia shushed Connie. "Don't jinx it by saying it."
Concrete stairs plunged into darkness and Hange shone down her lantern, powered by the glowing ore. "That's a relief," she said. "It's not flooded with water."
Levi went in first.
Mikasa placed a hand on Eren's shoulder. "Let's go," she said and he nodded.
They followed after Levi, who also had a lantern in hand. He focused on the large padlock on the door at the base of the stairs. "Eren," Levi said.
Eren held up his key and said, "Right." He fiddled with the lock, trying to get the key to fit.
"What's wrong?" Hange asked as he continued to struggle.
"Eren?" Mikasa said in question.
"Hurry it up," Levi said plainly.
"This… This key doesn't go to this door."
"I knew something would wrong with the key," Sasha grumbled.
Connie slapped his forehead. "Did he give him the wrong key?!"
"No, I'm certain that's the one," Mikasa said, having seen it around Grisha's neck many times.
Historia groaned. "How are they going to get in there now?"
"It's a door." Jean rolled his eyes. "Not one of the Wall gates. They can pick the lock."
"What?" Hange said, confused.
"But…that's the key Dr. Yeager always carried," Mikasa said.
"Move out of the way." Levi waved Eren off, stepping in his spot. "I'll open it."
"Wait, hold up—" Hange started, Eren and Mikasa looking at Levi in surprise when he lifted his leg.
The door broke and twisted up where his foot had connected.
Armin chuckled. "Or Captain Levi can do that."
Connie nodded wisely. "His foot is the universal key that opens all doors."
"—on a second," Hange finished while the duo gaped.
Levi removed the door and they went into the darkness.
A flame ignited. The small lantern was on the desk in the middle of the basement room. It illuminated cupboards, shelves, bookcases.
"It almost feels like a study down here," Hange observed the room.
"My dad was a doctor," Eren explained, seeing the glass jars full of medicine in a cabinet. "He was always cooped up down here mixing medicine."
"I see." Hange picked up a small, brown glass bottle. "In fact, if this medicine is all labeled correctly, it's stuff that's widely available." She put it down and faced them while Levi flipped through a book. "And since all the books here relate to medicine, at first glance, it's just a doctor's study."
Levi put down the book and picked up two medicine bottles. "Well, if he was trying to hide anything from the Interior Police, we won't be able to find it with a cursory glance. 'There's nothing suspicious here.' It's like that's what he wants people to think." Levi set down the bottles. "Hey. Quit standing around, brats. Erwin's hunches are rarely wrong."
"Yes, sir," Mikasa said before she and Eren began looking.
A black spider sat in a web in the corner.
Eren checked the books, trying to shake something loose that might have been hidden between the pages.
"Maybe he wrote something in his language—the one found on the cans that Ymir could read—so if anyone found anything written left behind, they wouldn't be able to learn anything."
"But Eren wouldn't be able to read it, either."
"Oh, right. Whoops."
"Not to mention it would definitely get him in trouble with the Military Police if they found out."
Mikasa opened the desk's drawer. She moved to its side and picked up the book, accidentally knocking down the cup beside it. It bounced off the floor. She recognized it, remembering something from years ago.
Books tucked under one arm, Grisha accepted a plate from Mikasa as he stood half descended in the basement. "Thanks, Mikasa. It's going to be another all-nighter."
Mikasa smiled fondly at the memory.
Mikasa couldn't understand what Zeke had been talking about, accusing Grisha of brainwashing his son. Eren's father had always been so kind and good to her, a veritable stranger he brought home one day. How could he ever treat his sons, his own flesh and blood, horribly?
Mikasa reached down to pick up the fallen cup and noticed something. "Eren," she said. Levi and Eren glanced at her. "There's a keyhole right here." She knelt before the key shape in the upper lefthand corner.
The four gathered around. "Eren," Hange said softly and he nodded.
"It fits." Eren leaned in and slowly pulled the drawer out. "It's empty?!"
"What the—" Sasha sputtered out.
"Fake bottom, calling it," Ymir declared. When she came to the Walls, before she joined the military, she used to survive on the streets as a thief. She knew a thing or two about these things.
"Look closer." Levi felt the sides of the seemingly empty drawer. "It's a false bottom." He lifted the fake cover and revealed three notebooks, cushioned with a white cloth.
"Knew it."
They leaned forward eagerly.
Ymir had shared much information with them but most of it was sixty years old. Grisha would have more updated intel, thus giving them new things to learn.
Hange sniffed the cloth as Levi inspected the green journal. "It smells like peppermint oil and charcoal," she said. "It must be to keep moisture and bugs away."
"It seems we've found what we were looking for," Levi said, sitting the journal on the desk.
Eren placed his hand on it. "I wonder what it was my dad wanted to show me."
Mikasa placed her hand on the journal as well. Eren looked at her in surprise before they nodded. Together, they opened it.
An upside-down image of a photograph of a family was placed on the very first page.
"Back then," Nile's voice narrated.
"Oh, come on."
"The TV does this all the time on purpose."
"I've noticed that too."
A young Erwin raised his hand and stood in his father's classroom, all the students watching him. "Erwin asked his father, 'How do we know there's not more humans outside the Walls?'"
Nile sat with some of the other military heads, including Pixis and Zackly.
"The way he put it," the MP commander explained to them, "since we can't travel far outside the Walls ourselves, we have no way of knowing whether all the humans out there were really eaten by the Titans."
Eren was fasciated. He never blindly accepted that civilization didn't exist out the Walls even as a child. The scene Nile was describing on the TV Eren was sure was the same one they'd just watched when Levi had tried to inject Erwin on the roof. He's always been propelled by his thirst for knowledge. As he lay dying with a large hole in his abdomen, had he been trying to remember what gave him purpose in life? What had kept him moving? So as he lay bleeding, he could keep fighting and live? Despite facing so much pushback, the commander had kept the Corps going even as hundreds of soldiers died and the Royal Government actively tried to shut them down. Because no matter how much he felt burdened, Erwin understood one thing: The only way to move was forward. He's like me.
Teenage Nile and Erwin sat outside, having lunch. "And yet," Erwin said, "history books declare the rest were wiped out."
"It's weird seeing the commander so young and naive," Historia said. In her head, he was the epitome of a commanding, smart, and fearless leader.
"Young, yes," Jean said. "Naive, I doubt it."
Nile stopped eating and finally focused on Erwin. "Hmm?"
"If you consider that history books should maintain an objective viewpoint, it should read, 'It is believed the rest of humanity was wiped out.'"
"You're just being pedantic," Nile rebuffed him dismissively.
"No!" Erwin argued fiercely. "There's intent behind it! For example, to make us believe that humanity doesn't exist outside the Walls. As the publisher of the records, the Royal Government could have intentionally phased it that way."
"You're overthinking it," Nile said with a smile, still not convinced. "Your whole argument is nitpicking."
"No, it's literally common sense." Common sense, which Ymir had often thought, really wasn't all that common.
"It's so obvious when you think about it but no one does," Mikasa said, wondering how it had never occurred to her before. "People just accept everything at face value."
"Critical thinking is not something the Royal Government wants you doing," Armin said, thinking about how he would have been punished if the Military Police had caught him with his grandfather's book.
Back in the meeting room, Nile looked down regretfully. "I was teasing him back then, but look at us now…"
"You'll just have to apologize to the man himself," Zackly said, elbows on the table, hands folded in front of him.
Connie eyed him sympathetically. "That's gonna suck when he finds out he was too late."
"And they've been friends since they were young," Historia said. It was going to feel like so much time wasted to make up for it, even if he only now became convinced Erwin was right all along.
"I'm surprised they're discussing it openly." Hange hadn't expected that. "They're a trusted group, so I suppose it's not that unbelievable."
Petra shrugged. "I think after everything they've gone through, it's not an outrageous possibility to think the commander was right." She turned to Erwin. "How long have you believed the Warriors came from outside the Walls, sir?"
"I'd be lying if I said I realized there was civilization outside the Walls before we started watching this. But after Eren's Titan powers came to light, it became something of a nagging suspicion."
Zackly and Nile aren't the types to talk about treasonous things so openly. Levi thought. Maybe with people who were lower ranking so their word wouldn't count for much against theirs, but not with this influential group. Something just seemed off to Levi.
Pixis uncrossed his arms and sighed, looking outside the window behind Zackly. "Dawn is about to break."
The sky began to lighten outside.
"Our heroes' triumphant return should be upon us soon."
In that moment, the door flew open and Anka barged in. "The Survey Corps has returned just a moment ago!" The men stared at her in anticipation. "They successfully took back Wall Maria!"
The population was cheering and hooting loudly, white confetti in the air.
An overjoyed Flegel stood among them. The streets were crowded with celebrating and happy people.
Historia smiled at their joy. "Aww, look how happy they are." She shrugged. "Won't last long after they learn about Marley and everything."
"I think it's still something that we beat the odds and reclaimed our territory," Sasha said, trying to remain positive. They were going to need it to face what was coming.
"I hope the survivors spread the truth quickly. I don't trust the Royal Government not to try and silence us," Jean said pessimistically, having no faith in them.
Up on Wall Rose, the wind ruffled their clothes as Levi, Eren, Mikasa, and Hange stood facing the crowd. Their expressions were hidden, their backs to the screen.
Jeez, Ymir thought, I know they can't see their faces from down there, but do they not realize the number of soldiers that came back isn't even in the double digits? Or maybe they were also trying to applaud the sacrifices made that led to victory.
Under Hange's right arm were the three journals.
"Is this is a portrait?" Eren wondered, holding a photograph.
Petra marveled at the crisp image. "I've seen some amazingly realistic drawings but nothing like that."
"That's new to me too," Ymir said in interest. "It was probably invented after my time, I guess."
"It would be a nice thing to have." Mikasa's voice had a wistful note. "You could have images of your friends and family and never worry about forgetting what they looked like." Sometimes she had a hard time conjuring her parents' faces.
"Let me see it." Hange studied the photo. Dina sat with a child Zeke in her lap, Grisha standing by her chair. The three were dressed in formal attire. "No. This is far too detailed for this to be drawn by a person."
"That's Dr. Yeager's writing," Mikasa informed her, pointing at the back of the photo.
Hange flipped it and read. "'This is no illustration. Instead, this uses light reflected off a subject and burns the image on special paper. It's called a photograph."
Eren and Mikasa listened with wide eyes.
"Fascinating!" Hange was in awe. "I wonder what special paper it is. Do we have it? Can we make it? Or the technology to make this machine? It would make recording things so much easier and better. No room for human error! And they last longer than drawings too." If Eren was fifteen then the photo had to be eighteen to twenty years old.
"You could capture all the places that were in your grandfather's book," Mikasa said to Armin. "One per place."
"Why stop at one?" Eren grinned. "We could get a dozen!"
"We'll be able to cherish them forever," Armin said happily.
Jean thought about other practical uses of a photograph. You can get copies of secret files without it taking time to copy things down and without any errors, too, like Hange said. They could map important geographical locations when planning to attack. From keeping the images of deceased loves from fading to maintaining fun memories to its uses in war, so many great uses came from one neat little invention. I wonder what this machine that makes photographs like.
Slowly, Hange's voice was replaced by Grisha's. "I come from a place outside the Walls where humanity lives in elegance." The photograph came into focus again. "Humanity has not perished. I pray the person who finds this book is a fellow patriot."
Brown pavement filled the screen.
"Hurry, Faye!" A boy's voice was heard. "We'll lose it unless we're fast!"
A pair of legs ran across the floor. "Wait up, brother!"
The boy and girl opened their house's front door.
"Hold on, you two." Their mother came up and they turned to face her.
"Is that your dad?" Armin was almost sure it was a young Grisha. We get to see what's in the journals instead of just hearing them read it! It was something he loved about the TV. They were allowed to visually explore the world.
Eren was more excited about the girl. They look alike. Were they siblings? "I have an aunt?" Eren said, thrilled at the prospect. Did he have cousins too? Were they near his age or much younger? I've always wanted a sibling. Zeke's face popped up in his head. Not that asshole.
Mrs. Yeager slipped a yellow armband around her daughter's left arm, Grisha putting on his own. "I told you not to forget your armbands when you go outside."
"It's like a dog collar," Jean said in disgust.
Levi had thought the same once.
"Grisha, you absolutely must not leave the walls."
That sounds awfully familiar. Eren thought.
"It's the 50-foot concrete wall surrounding the internment zone," Ymir said, knowing they were probably imagining the 50-meter Walls out of habit.
Faye ran out of her mother's grasp with an excited giggle.
"Hey, wait!" Grisha called after her and went to stand beside her in the street. "I got it, Mom!"
Faye waved at her. "We'll be back soon!"
Sasha wiggled happily in her seat. "We get to see the outside world!"
"It won't be pretty, I'm warning you now." Ymir didn't want to damper their fun, but she wasn't sure they could all stomach any abuse they might—will, she corrected herself—be shown.
"Come on!" Grisha led his sister away.
An airship drifted lazily in the blue sky full of puffy white clouds.
Eren's eyes nearly bugled out of their sockets. "What... It's flying!" He was stunned, not expecting to see something like that.
"What is that?" Jean gasped, amazed.
"Look at that big balloon!" Connie shouted in pure excitement.
"Connie, that's an airship, not a balloon," Ymir corrected, mentally thanking Marcel's convenient memory pop-up.
Levi was hit with a sudden sense of loss and sadness. His friends had died without seeing just how big and wonderful the world was. It was horrible, too, but there was also so much good to see. A ship for air, he thought, feeling overwhelmed in a way only someone who had been born and raised below the ground could. Isabel and Farlan would have lost their minds.
"I want one!" Sasha cried out suddenly. "Oh, can we get one? And let's load it up with food!"
"It would make traveling far distances so much easier!" While Petra loved horses, long rides were no fun and often left you sore. How easy it would be, she thought, to stay connected with people when traveling long distances became so convenient.
Historia watched the airship in wonder. "It's so big but it's not falling out of the sky. How?"
The scientist in Hange was also dying to know how much a magnificent ship was created. Never in a hundred years could she have thought such a thing could exist. Could we replicate it? That would be a dream! She practically swooned as she thought of soaring through the air and seeing her beloved Titans below and observing them to her heart's content.
"It must have such a lovely view." Mikasa tried to imagine what it was like being up there. "It's like looking down from the Walls, but it travels so you can see so much more and go over rivers and hills."
While they continued on in their reverence of such a stunning example of human ingenuity and mechanical success, Erwin's thoughts were elsewhere. I wonder how many they have of those and if there's any prepped for war. Paradis did have a solid defense in terms of ground warfare, but nothing when it came to aerial attacks. While the Walls were great for keeping Titans and troops out, they were useless if the enemy came from the sky.
We'll need a welcome party for these "airships." Would canons work well against them? Or was it difficult to aim them at such a high angle? Regrettably, he didn't know as much about them. The Garrison soldiers were the experts in that area. Connie called it a balloon, so maybe we need to pop it like one, he thought in amusement. What were those ancient weapons called? Erwin remembered seeing drawings of them in some history books. Ah yes, the ballista.
Ultra hard steel had replaced iron bamboo as the material used in forging their Titan-killing blades, but the iron bamboo was still highly effective. If it can pierce Titan skin, which is impervious to other metals, then it can tear up those airships if fired at high velocity. Much of the iron bamboo trees were still harvested for other parts of the 3D gear, though. So while the grove was a lot healthier and thicker than it had been in decades, their supply wasn't endless.
Another thought came to him. Wait, the blades. Once they dulled they were useless against Titans. The soldiers simply discarded them and used fresh ones, forgetting the blunted ones completely. Suddenly it seemed like an unbearable waste to Erwin, simply leaving the used abandoned in Titan territory after they became useless against the giants. Could they be reused someway? Then they wouldn't be using more of the iron bamboo trees in the grove, just recycling what was already harvested. Erwin made up his mind to visit the Industrial City as soon as possible. Any old factory city nearby wouldn't do. It had to be the birthplace of the 3D Maneuver Gear. The metallurgists and craftsmen in the Industrial City were some of the greatest minds behind the Walls. If anyone can figure out a way to recycle the used blades, it's them. He had some contacts there whom he could have looking into his query without any questions.
Armin also thought about how the airships could be used in war against them. What if they drop bombs on us? The resulting loss of life and land would be devastating. Perhaps they'd need designated safe zone that went underground. Like the tunnel we tried to lure Annie into, only deeper. Did more exist around the Walls? He knew they did in Sina as the Underground City lay beneath it. If Eren can control Pure Titan, we can get them to dig a network of tunnels. Titans could keep going night and day without tiring out. Though Armin wasn't sure how Eren would have to manage them. Did he have to stay awake or could he give the order and they'd follow until they were ordered to stop?
We can run drills so when the attack comes from above, people will know what to do and where to run. The tunnels would have to be stocked with food, water, blankets, medicine, and other supplies. And they had to be cycled regularly so they weren't stale or ineffective when the time came to use them.
Maybe they could even create random dead ends and traps in case the enemy found the tunnels. Or maybe the dead ends could have a secret hidden door and only— Now you're really getting ahead of yourself, Armin thought. There's so many answers we need before I should be thinking about hidden entrances in tunnels that don't exist. Armin decided to run his ideas by Erwin and Hange later so they could brainstorm further. It was a serious matter but he couldn't help but feel excited about having a brainstorming section.
People continued on with their lives as homes and alleys were shown.
"I would never be able to tell this wasn't inside the Walls if I didn't already know it," Petra said, surprised how similar it all was.
"It's different in other countries. The architecture and clothes are a reflection of geography and climate patterns." Ymir felt embarrassed at the awed stares directed at her. "I mean, everyone there knows that. No need to look so impressed with me."
They opened their mouths, probably to fire away a dozen questions about other cultures and clothes and languages—and food, from Sasha and Connie.
But Ymir spoke before they could. "Let's keep watching and not get distracted. There's time for your questions later—not that I'm promising any answers, by the way." She was a street urchin before being kept as an ignorant figure to worship.
"When I first thought as to how I should start my story," Grisha's voice said, "I immediately thought of that day."
Twin looks of childish delight on their faces, Grisha and Faye chased after the airship.
"Wow!" Faye said, smiling widely.
Grisha bumped into a man and he cried out, "Hey!"
"Sorry!" Grisha said, waving in apology.
"Grisha, be careful!" The man chided after them. "Watch where you're going!"
"Oh, it's leaving." Faye stopped, watching as the airship left. She smiled adorably up at the sky. "Must be nice. Someday if I'm rich, will I be able to ride on an airship, too?" Faye asked innocently.
"What are you talking about? There's no way either of us will get rich."
"She's so cute." Connie just wanted to pinch her cheeks. "She reminds me of my little sister."
They smiled at the reminder of the changed fates of Connie's siblings. His parents had to be sacrificed but he'd been able to save his younger brother and sister, among others from his village.
They got even more excited thinking they could completely shake things up now, with no more future episodes they had to be concerned about.
Thanks to the TV we can completely turn the tide of this war, Armin thought, optimistic and hopeful about the future.
Faye hummed in agreement. "But it must be nice. I wonder what we could see from up there." The airship went out of view as the two stood a short distance from a fence gate surrounded by a concrete wall. "There it goes."
Two guards with rifles stood at the gate, one inspecting a woman's papers.
Grisha pulled his eyes away from his sister's longing face. His brows furrowed in determination. He grabbed Faye's hand and ran. "Let's go, Faye!"
"What?"
"My teacher said the airships take off and land at a place near here! Let's go see!"
"What?! But Mom said we're not allowed to leave the walls!" Faye said nervously, running as he led her.
Sasha made a face. "Ugh, I'm getting a queasy feeling."
"This won't end well," Connie agreed, feeling the same.
"Don't worry, it's just for a little bit!" Grisha assured Faye and they ran past the guard and the woman. "We'll be right back," he yelled at the guard.
"Hey!" The guard failed to grab him. "Get back here!" He chased after them.
"That naive day of my youth when I had to face the truth of this world."
"That's ominous." Not that Ymir expected anything else. In fact, she'd have been more shocked if Grisha said their day turned out to be all sunshine and rainbows.
"Something's gonna go wrong." Jean just knew it was going to piss him off. Why does something always have to go wrong?
"Nothing bad had better happen to my aunt," Eren said, already fond of her. But he was almost convinced his family was cursed so she'd probably end up in a crap situation. His mother was eaten alive, he killed his father, his brother was a huge asshole, his stepmother got turned into a mindless Titan before being torn to pieces. What chances did his poor aunt have, really? But he still tried to hold out hope.
Mikasa knew Eren was getting fed up with everything that kept happening to his family. Even the ones he considered family, like Hannes and Armin's grandfather, weren't spared from a gruesome fate. I should keep an eye on him. Eren might throw something at the TV in rage if Faye ended up becoming another victim to the "Yeager family curse" as he had taken to calling it.
"I want to be hopeful everything will be okay but the TV has beaten that bad habit out of me," Historia said, wary at what was coming.
"That's probably wise," Armin said with a nod. Eren's going to lose it, he thought. He just had a feeling.
"Well, I suppose there's no point in stewing about what will happen. Might as well dive in." Erwin reached for the remote, getting ready to start the next episode. Maybe we can take a short break after the next one.
Petra sighed longingly, staring off into space. "For once I'd like some truth or secret or whatever that gets revealed to be a bunch of puppies." Was that too much to ask, she wondered.
"I doubt we'd get that lucky." A dopey smile came over Hange's face. "But if we do, instead of puppies I'd like some cute baby Titans!"
Levi made a revolted face. "Four-Eyes, only you would find such a disturbing and disgusting sight cute."
Next Update: 10/25
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