SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN – TWO ROSES

Chapter 2 – "New Beginnings"

847, Trost District

Paul was walking along the main road of the southwestern quadrant of Trost, with narrow streets and quiet residential buildings replacing the sight of decaying industry and infrastructure of the former Refugee Sector. He continued off the main road, in an alley with trees planted in the centre of the road, making it unusable for horse carriages. Still, Paul thought that the inhabitants did not mind, as the lower noise made for calmer days. Passing by a clockmaker's workshop and a few residential buildings, the Bergmann boy went inside of a small tavern and approached the barkeeper.

"Hi Kid! How can I help you?" said the old man behind the counter, while Paul was looking around the establishment.

"I was told to meet someone here, but I don't see anyone like they described. Could you tell me if there was someone looking for me recently?" Paul said that while looking somewhat disappointed in anticipation of having been rejected outright. Surely that must mean it was not meant to be after all, he thought.

"Nah, I had this place closed all morning. I guess I won't mind if you wait here for a while. Would you like something to eat or drink? You'd have to pay, of course." the response of the barkeeper was completely nonchalant, as he was busy with cleaning the beer glasses on the shelf.

"Uh yes, I'd like some apple juice, if you have it"

"Sure, coming right up"

As the barkeeper was pouring the liquid into a glass, the door opened and a short, light-brown haired woman walked in. She was dressed in a military uniform underneath a thin civilian coat, a barely effective disguise if that was the outfit's intended effect. As she looked around, and saw Paul sitting at one of the counter seats, she immediately approached him.

"Ah, pardon me. Are you by chance Paul Bergmann?"

"Oh! Yes, it's me. Are you the person sent by the office?" Paul was looking somewhat surprised by the appearance of the person sent to meet him.

"The recruitment office? Yeah, I guess that's me. Petra Ral, from the Royal Survey Corps. I apologize for the slight delay by the way. Shall we sit down somewhere more comfortable?" the woman said, with a friendly and trustworthy expression. She gestured softly with her hand towards one of the cornerside tables, before pausing and thanking the barkeeper for taking care of Paul, and ordering some food.

Both sat down, and as Paul drank some of his beverage and Petra took off her coat, only the sound of the boiling water in the Kitchen was heard. Once the coat was neatly put together on the nearby seat, she looked at Paul and gently smiled at him.

"So, here we go. I heard from the captain that you wished to sign up for the Cadet Corps this year, yet there were some special circumstances why that might be difficult? Is that correct?"

"Yes… may I ask something?" Paul said rather timidly, intimidated by the person sent to talk with him, despite her friendly attitude and looks.

"Sure." Petra responded, in a laid-back manner, unaware of the stress Paul was under.

"You're too impor… uh, no… how come Mr. Müller sent a member of the Survey Corps to meet me? I surely can't be that important."

"Oh?… Oh! Don't worry, we were just sent to watch over the Training of the 103rd and they have some free time today, so General Erwin had us help out with some minor stuff while we're in town." Paul relaxed a bit at that, as Petra continued. "Actually, you're lucky you didn't get the captain or Hanji. I would trust either of them with protecting me in battle even against the biggest, meanest titan… but I'm not sure if they're the right person to talk with new recruits." Petra chuckled some at that statement, while the noodles she ordered were brought to the table by the barkeeper.

"But what happened to Lieutenant Rozco?"

"The person that was supposed to meet here? Don't worry about her. She and her comrades are enjoying a day off today, thanks to us." Petra then took the initiative and kept talking "So, Mr. Bergmann. How exactly can I help you?"

Paul took another sip of the juice to calm his nerves even further, and then started talking. "So uh, yeah. I wished to join, but I come from the Utopia District and my mother likes to go to church a lot and follow the rules that Minister Nick gave us all and she really dislikes the Children of Maria and..."

Petra was overwhelmed by the increasingly rapid and chaotic response of the anxious child, yet did nothing except stare in disbelief and wait for him to finish, which Paul then did.

Paul looked at petra, took a deep breath and tried again. "Uh, so yeah. My mother doesn't want me to join the military because she thinks it's against God's will."

"Ahhhhhh… I see. And yet you wish to join anyway. Is that right?" Petra returned to her previous expression.

"Yes ma'am. I am not completely sure myself, but I had promised something myself last year and if God sees it as evil as my mother sees it is, they will stop me."

Petra was unsure herself, as she had little experience with the followers of the Church of the Wall herself or with those kinds of beliefs. The popularity of the church had skyrocketed after the attack on Shiganshina two years ago, but she was still mostly unfamiliar with anything but the basic concepts of the religion. The longer you are in the Survey Corps, and the more of the outside world you see, the more the walls start feeling like a prison humanity is trapped in anyway, instead of a holy blessing from a divine figure. Despite that, she saw the situation as pretty straightforward, and had already a vague plan of action formed in her head.

"I see. I think there is only really one good way to solve this. So, Mr. Bergmann, what if I talked to your mother about your decision? Is she at home right now?" Paul was doubtful, but thought of the promise he made to himself after Louise stopped talking to him and hoped that mom would understand. He had also hoped that the presence of an adult like Mrs. Ral vouching on his behalf would help soften the impact of any negative reaction. Mother was always right, so it would take another adult to even bother arguing about the right decision.

Paul agreed and then Petra and he left the inn after paying. He asked her a bunch of questions, about the Survey Corps, the Cadet training, Petra's personal life and the Karanes district, from which Mrs. Ral came from before joining the military. Petra was happy to answer, while omitting some of the more embarrassing things, like what happened during the first Survey Corps expedition. She was also keeping the answers vague, preferring to leave a more detailed conversation to a better setting than the middle of the street. Petra also learned some things about the Bergmann kid, such as his intention to protect the walls and the city as a member of the Stationary Corps, the tale of what happened one year earlier and how much his mother changed since the Titan Attack. Petra thus felt sympathetic to the kid, and what was just a simple mission she took to help out, has turned was more interesting for her.

Then, both found their way to the apartment building where Paul and Nina Bergmann lived, and exchanged a look.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"Don't worry, everything is going to be alright."

Paul was the first person to enter the apartment, and saw his mother reading a book in a chair in the living room. Nina Bergmann then looked up and regarded Paul with an annoyed expression.

"You're late again. I knew it was a mistake to allow you to come and go freely" Nina said calmly, yet disapprovingly

"I apologize, mother. I... was taking care of something important though." Paul said, while his mother's curiosity increased.

"Oh?"

"Mom, I would like you to introduce you to Mrs. Ral"

Petra took that as the cue to step inside of the apartment, and approach Ms. Bergmann, who looked at her warily, but then sighed.

"Survey Corps? I didn't expect my son to bring a heretic into the house today, especially not one of them. Tell me, where have you gotten those delusions that associating with those who dare to walk outside of the Kingdom of the Walls is something that will bring upon divine blessings on this house?" Petra remained cool in the face of the verbal assault by Paul's mother, yet also noted that despite talking to him, she hasn't been directing her anger at her son, but instead looked straight at her. That's good, she thought.

"If you're worried that he has been pressured into joining, then you needn't worry. Paul approached a recruitment office to join the 104th Cadet Corps next month, after school graduation. I was sent to talk with your son and to clear up the situation." Nina said after Paul remained silent and looked slightly at the floor tiles.

There was a pause and Nina looked at them both.

"Is that true, Paul?"

"Yes."

"I see… so you wish to join the military? I always knew you had heretic sympathies, ever since we moved to that wretched neighborhood. All I wanted was you to grow up a good person, untouched by the unholy Marias. Why do you want to protect the scum that brought this upon themselves?" Nina was visibly saddened and a few tears were starting to accumulate in the corner of her now reddened eyes.

Strong words, Petra thought disdainfully.

Paul answered, as Petra stayed silent. She thought that this was a situation that would be best resolved by the kid and his mother talking, and she saw no good opportunity to interject. "Mother… All I want is to protect humanity. I don't want what happened five years ago to happen here too. I thought that if God was unwilling to let me join, they'd prevent it..."

"You fool, that's not how the Gift of God wants. If they wanted us to defend the walls, or even go beyond, as the heretic you brought inside, they wouldn't have sent us the Titans. If you want to go waste your life, and doom yourself to a terrible fate, fine. I will not stop you" Nina was starting to tear up, and said one last sentence. "If only I had controlled you better, and you never gotten close to these sinners"

"I'm sorry mom."

"Just go. Take your things and leave. And do not come back." Paul hugged his mom, while tears were also forming within his own eyes and clouding his vision.

Petra was looking at the scene, and felt a kind of a sad compassion towards the Bergmann family. It was obvious that Nina clearly hated her and everything she stood for, yet clearly loved her son. She was pained by Paul's decision, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Despite that, she also didn't even hesitate to show nonchalant, casual hatred against what was an entire third of humanity, and de facto sent her son off to be taken into someone else's care based on them having a fundamental disagreement about future occupations? Motherly love, yet strangely twisted.

Nina helped Paul pack in silence, and Petra preferred not to help, not wanting to feel even more like an intruder. She thought of how to help Paul, as some of the problems seem to not have hit in yet. For example, the Cadet Corps training wasn't going to start for some time still, and it wasn't guaranteed that everone who joins Shadis' little hell was going to become a solider. Sometimes regardless of the cadet's effort.

At that line of thought, Petra suddenly felt bad. She did her job as a representative of the military, but hasn't she also given a child too high expectations? Should the young Bergmann kid fail, what would happen then? Would his mother accept him back? Is that even the best outcome? An worse fate might hit him yet, not too dissimilar to the kind of childhood Captain Ackermann's and his petty rivals had. Worse yet, it was too late to revert this, as both of the Bergmanns seemed very set on the current course of action, and the mother might react very negatively if I suddenly urged Paul to reconsider.

I made this mess, and I must try and make the best out of this situation.

Paul finished packing the most essential of his belongings, which were few anyway, and has given his mother a tearful hug goodbye, and Nina looked disdainful, but refused stubbornly to show any further, real emotion than what she already had displayed before. Petra made a mental note to herself to eventually talk to Mrs. Bergmann about what happened, as the current occasion was unfitting and she had no idea what to even tell her, that would reconciliate the mother and son in any way.

Having left the buildings and said the final goodbyes, the two ventured down the road, with the child walking behind her, when Paul broke the silence.

"Mrs. Ral? What do we do now? She kicked me out..." While he looked mostly fine earlier, now he was visibly shaken and had trouble keeping up

Petra stopped and thus so did Paul. She looked at him, kneeled and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Sometimes things don't have the best outcome you wish for. In this case we might have acted too quickly, and what we both didn't want has happened. However, the one thing I learned in the Survey Corps is that no matter how bleak things are, if you don't give up, you can keep going."

Paul looked unsure, but kept listening

"Besides, I won't let anything happen to you. My task was to talk to you about your application to the Cadet Corps and help resolve any problems. Well, this is just another one problem that needs a solution, right?"

"Right."

"Come on, it's time to talk to the Captain, and we'll see what is to be done."

Paul was unsure if Petra was that able to bring him out of the mess that he fell into, but at this point, he had no choice and had to keep trusting the solider and the person she was about to introduce him to.

Petra was indeed very unsure about what to do, but she thought, the Captain would surely have an answer.

At that point, both ventured to the imposing building of the Trost Armory, also known, as Petra had informed Paul, as the Headquarters. The civilian population walking around the districts became rarer and rarer as members of the military took over as the majority on the streets. Sometimes, swooshing sounds were heard through the air. An unmistakable sign of the Cadet Special training currently underway in the city.

As they arrived within eyesight of the Headquarters, a tall, bald man with signs of weariness around his eyes approached both and immediately started asking questions, in an authoritative, almost shouted tone of voice.

"You there, what the hell do you think you are doing?" The bald man shot a glare at Petra and sighed when he saw the insignia of the "Wings of Freedom" sticking out from underneath her civilian coat.

"I need to speak with Captain Ackerman. Is he here?"

"Yes. He's talking to the General in the office, so you may have to wait some time."

Petra nodded, and thanked the other solider, before prompting Paul to follow her inside the building.

Paul followed along, but not before glancing around and catching a glimpse of a cadet flying by, striking with a blade on the rear of a fake wooden titan. Paul was visibly fascinated at the display of skill, which hasn't evaded the bald man's perceptions.

The man couldn't help but be slightly amused by the look he recognized over and over again.

"Hrumph. See you soon, kid."