This chapter is short because the next few will most likely be rather long.
Also, world/character building!
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HISTORIA:
The night's gentle breeze brushed against porcelain skin, eyebrows furrowed as azure irises focused on the moonlit sky above. Despite this moment of reprieve from the kids, the castle's eyes and the talk of her assassination attempts – Historia's heart was unbearably heavy. Levi had been keeping his distance since the morning before and although she wanted to approach him about their misunderstanding, the young queen felt as though her words would be spoken in vain.
She blamed all of her problems and heartaches on him, forcing him to shoulder more even though he already carries the world in his broken heart. She sighed loudly, assuming she was alone and free to finally express herself. But that was when Elias' soft voice called out from behind her,
"You alright there your majesty?"
Historia turned her head slightly to meet eyes with her knight and forced a meager smile.
"I'm exhausted." She tried to play it off, hoping he wasn't good at reading faces as much as Levi. He sat down beside her about a few inches away.
"Then why don't you retire for the night?" His kind voice seemed to plead with her instead.
"…I can't sleep." She replied plainly, her fake smile still etched upon her soft red lips. Historia looked down and mistakenly let out another sigh.
"…I really wish there was something I could do to help you…" Elias' voice cracked and this forced her to look directly at him. He was gazing at the ground with a defeated expression.
"I feel so useless."
"Hey now, don't do that." Historia spoke tenderly and for a moment they locked eyes on one another.
"You've done more than enough for me, stop being so hard on yourself Elias."
Elias hummed a small chuckle before saying fondly.
"You sound like my little brother."
"Oh? This is the first time I've heard you speak about this little brother of yours."
"…Well, it isn't often that a conversation allows me to speak of him." He chuckled lightly.
"…I see..." It was in that moment, Historia realized she didn't know a thing about Elias other than he was dutiful and had a good heart.
There was a moment of silence.
"…Elias."
"Yes, your grace?"
"…Why did you decide to become a soldier of the Military Brigade?" Historia boldly inquired. Elias took his glossy emerald eyes to the sky as he seemed lost in thought before saying,
"I came from an honest family of farmers. The village we grew up in was tightly knit and everyone supported one another. My brother and I loved this book my father use to read to us about a knight saving the trapped princess from a tower. It was a boyish dream of mine at the time to mimic the main character." He giggled softly before continuing.
"But as I got older, I yearned to save my parents from another working day. I saw they were getting old and I just wanted to earn enough money so that they could retire like old people should…"
There was few breaths of silence before Elias would continue:
"…When wall Maria fell, we had no idea what was going on until the Titans were visible. My parents left into town to buy Trey a birthday gift so it was up to me to save the both of us. When we both nearly escaped into Wall Rose, we hoped to find our parents...But-"
Another deafening pause.
"My little brother was only 8 at the time…there wasn't enough food to go around and although I gave most of my rations to him, I…still had to watch him become skin and bones. I went to look for odd jobs to do – thought about stealing– anything to save him from starving to death..." Elias clasped his hands together and was visibly trembling as he spoke.
"But, Trey knew how much I wanted to become a soldier in the military brigade. I wanted to make my family proud and he told me not to ruin my life by thieving." Elias sighed heavily before gingerly inhaling.
"All I could do was apologize over and over while taking out the little rocks he tried to eat from his mouth. Even though he barely had any strength, he told me to 'stop saying I was sorry.'" The words quivered from his lips and Historia saw his struggle to hold in the breath that wanted to release his sorrows.
"…He would really be proud to see me now – a knight to the kingdom's first Queen." He choked on his words and this stabbed at Historia's heart. She looked away, knowing no amount of words could mend his pain.
"…Don't blame yourself, Elias. Your brother wouldn't want you to live full of regret and sorrow…" It was something she told herself every day when thinking of Ymir and her other fallen comrades. For a moment, she hesitated but chose to reach and grip his shoulder before saying,
"And it may not mean much…but I'm proud of you…"
His frame sank as if the pillars holding him up broke. He shielded his face away from her as he said tearfully,
"…I'm sorry, your majesty…" His said through muffled cries. For a moment his choice of words confused her but she soon deduced the fact that Elias came out here to help her but instead became the one who needed consoling.
"It's alright, Elias – you don't need to apologize to me."
She could but only offer up a hand of support, nothing more and yet, it seemed as though it was more than enough.
For the moon tried to shed its light on the truth on the final night before the clouds would shield the loving queen from its guiding rays in the days to come.
I hope you enjoyed this little piece on Elias.
