Creation began on 07-30-18
Creation ended on 08-02-18
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Hope from the Sky: Strength of the One for the All
As he finished checking the regulator and confirming that Unit-01 still had over a month of power in its internal battery after eating most of the last Dark Titan body Kaede had abandoned to lengthen its active time, Shinji shut the Eva off and ejected the plug. Today was a day he wasn't as happy as he thought he'd be to look forward to. The Survey Corps was preparing to go to Marley, but they were going without Kaede, who was still incarcerated for the next thirty days.
She might've made a full recovery from her sickness after everything with the ultimatum, but she still had a penalty to pay for her deception, and she had to serve it, no matter what he did. Fortunately, the plan to fight Marley was still to start out using Shinji's plan, which, if trying to seek peace didn't work out, he would wear them out of their weapons until they had used up so much that the Survey Corps would be able to fight their military forces. And they made sure they dozens of arrows to use against the Titans Marley could use against them; as the transmitting and receiving of knowledge seemed to keep going on without Kaede's conscious choice (as it seemed impossible for her to stop this from happening), Sasha Blouse's knowledge of archery got an uptick in arrow creation, developing arrows that contained capsules of the Dark Titan spinal fluid. Since the last battle with the enemy Titans and the Angel demonstrated that the Titans didn't need to necessarily consume it to be turned back into humans, just being attacked with small amounts of the spinal fluid seemed sufficient enough to turn the tides against Marley.
"Hey, Shinji," he heard Sasha greet him as he climbed down the plug and onto the deck of the carrier. "I heard you went to see Kaede yesterday."
"Yeah, I did," he responded; since they were shipping out today, he said goodbye to Kaede yesterday. "I won't be able to see her today, so I went to see her yesterday."
"If your plan works out, we'll be able to deal with Marley pretty quickly. If not…then I guess we gotta hurry up and get other boats in working order."
"Just how many of you have acquired knowledge about boats?"
"Less than eighty of us woke up with boats on the mind. It turns out Eren's newfound knowledge is more towards the use of explosive powders."
"Let me guess. Grenades, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Ohh…"
"You make it sound like he could be unstable."
"I just don't want him to do anything that might jeopardize the goal for peace. I know your lives are practically those of violence and bloodshed, but if I can change that, you can all leave that life behind and move on."
"With you and Kaede on our side…I want to be able to leave this life behind me and start anew."
"After what Kaede told us she discovered in a dream with her Dark Titan, I want to believe that we can get to the path to peace if we put in the effort."
"To get the Cart and War Hammer Titans so she has all nine of Ymir's Titans."
"For balance sought between two nations at war with each another…and maybe more."
"I never asked this before, but your Eva… It's not a Titan…and it's not exactly a robot after what we discovered beneath its dense armor…so…what is it, exactly?"
"I have no idea what it is. Some sort of cyborg, perhaps. It would explain why I used to feel pain each time I face something that can actually hurt it."
"Cyborg… From the two words that comprise it, 'cybernetic' and 'organism'. Something that is bionic to various degrees."
"Yeah… Tell me something. Does it worry you sometimes, being able to know and understand new things that you didn't and would have taken a long time to comprehend?"
"Honestly…yes, it does. But I'll get used to it until it stops. Now, you tell me something. You and Kaede, you two are as close to Historia as possible, being her advisers and all. Tell me…is there something going on between her and Ymir?"
That wasn't a question Shinji expected to hear from anyone. Also, it wasn't really his business to ask Historia about her personal relationships…unless she herself asked him for advice about them. Even if there were something going on between herself and Ymir, the fact that she was the queen, unless she abolished the monarchy or the people were okay with these types of relationships, it was her own business. Of course, he didn't have any problem with these relationships. Well, he was adjusting to being around so many different members of the Survey Corps and Garrison that he barely considered the possibility of these young and veteran individuals developing relationships they hoped would lead them someone into old age.
"I honestly don't know," he answered her. "It's not my business to ask these things, especially about the queen."
"You're too nice for your own good, Shinji. No way is anyone like you meant for a life of violence. The sooner we deal with Marley, the better we'll all be."
"Thank you, Ms. Blouse."
Almost an hour later, the aircraft carrier separated from the port of the city and the Survey Corps, along with at least half of the former Titan Shifters that were turned by Grausam Zanki, were heading towards Marley now that they knew which direction to go to reach the mainland.
Shinji, looking back at the city as the people waved them on, sighed as he wished he could've seen Kaede once more before they left.
-x-
"I heard you're feeling better now," said Historia to Kaede as the queen came to see the Dark Titan Shifter in her cell.
Kaede, looking as radiant as she had been when she met Shinji for the first time in Shiganshina, turned to face the queen and smiled.
"Yeah," she responded. "How are you today?"
"Never better."
"That's nice."
"You won't believe what the Garrison found a week ago when they were asked to check out the far side of the island, but it might relate to Marley in a way that requires your presence and advice. Your incarceration doesn't negate you from acting as a guardian or offering your suggestions or criticism."
This, of course, meant that, even though she was still serving her sentence, she had a job to do for the queen.
"What did they discover on the far side?" She asked her.
"A village, southeast of where Wall Maria once resided," Historia answered. "They were keeping track of the Titans that were freed from the Walls when they found the village."
"A village? Out in former Titan territory? Were there people around?"
"From what Dot Pixis informed me, there were plenty of them, all men, women and children."
"If they've been around for years, how were they able to keep themselves safe from the Titans before Shinji fell from the sky and changed everything?"
"That's something I'd like for you to help find out."
Kaede bowed her head to Historia and assured that she would try to figure out the mystery of this village that was discovered.
"Oh, and Kaede," she asked the girl, "I don't know if Shinji even knows the answer to this, but…is it…allowed…for people to feel for other people?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand your question, Historia."
"What I mean is…are people allowed to be together…even if they're the same?"
"You mean…the same gender?"
"Yes."
"That's something we'd have to ask Shinji. If it was something that occurred in his world, then people had to have known."
"Thank you, anyway."
-x-
It was quite a turnaround for the Eldians that had lived in Marley. At first, none of them wanted to believe in facing their people on Paradis in exchange for Marleyan citizenship if they obtained the Founding Titan, thinking it was impossible, and then each of them was injected by the Titan Doctor and given the power to become Titans at will to serve their only purpose. Now, after their defeat at the hands of the might of Paradis and returned to being simply human, with the promise of acceptance from the queen and the blessing of new knowledge that had once been forbidden for them to possess in Marley (mostly knowledge of how to maintain the carrier and other sea-worthy vessels in ways Shinji and the Survey Corps couldn't before Kaede took the Founder from Eren), they shifted their allegiance in favor of the hope they were bestowed and promised to help Eldia regain its freedom from Marley.
"Can we trust you not to betray us?" Shinji had asked one of the former Titan Shifters that lived in Marley, in front of Levi and the other corps members. "All I'm asking for…is your honesty, nothing more."
The man, a thirty-three-year-old that held aspirations to be a policeman at one point, but prevented because of Marley's views on what anyone of Eldian descent could and couldn't be, looked at Shinji, a non-Eldian, and answered, "I was injected with a serum I kept hearing was the worst thing that could be put inside me while strapped to a gurney by people I had to put up with every day for years…and I never did anything but try to live a good life. If I can live a good life by helping you fight for balance between Marley and Eldia, I'll bleed out my bad blood for the people I once thought were the Devil's children if I have to. Just tell me what I need to do."
It was the same with every other Eldia that lived in Marley; they all had dreams and aspirations that were prevented from becoming true out of the spite the Marleyans had for them, due to Karl Fritz's guilty conscience and conspiracy with another Eldian family that defected to Marley and turned the tide for the worst, and now that they were free of their Titan curse and granted new knowledge, they wanted to fight against the Marleyans for a chance to regain some of their dreams back. While Shinji was willing to overlook their anger, he did worry that their anger was greater than their ability to want peace. Fortunately, their new knowledge was restricted to just the workings of the carrier, so whatever their knowledge was on how to fight was likely limited.
"Do you believe they can be trusted?" Levi asks Shinji as he sat on the deck of the carrier's island, looking at the ocean in front of them.
"I want to believe there's good in them, that their hatred for Marley can be tempered by peace and balance," he told Levi. "Go ahead and tell me. I'm too nice for my own good…that I'll probably blow the whole move up. I get the feeling that some of you want to say it."
"Someone that doesn't want to kill, even for the sake of fulfilling a mission, goal or objective," Levi responded, "is either hopeless, hopeful or something else altogether. With you, the guy that helped us get beyond the Walls faster than we thought we could in days and months than we've ever gotten within years and decades, I'd say that you're someone that has been in one violent situation after another before you were even old enough to decide what you wanted to do with your life instead of what others told you what you were going to do. Seen too much violence or too little that has the same effect: You want out of the life for good, so you have to keep doing what you hate the most to make that dream a reality."
"Yes, it's true, I hate piloting the Eva. Or rather, I used to hate it…but not as much now. Helping y'all makes it worth what I go through."
"What do you plan to do when you can finally stop and put it behind you? Should the day be within reach?"
"Something as far removed from the violence as possible."
"You and Kaede Sogen," Levi stated.
"What do you mean by that?" Shinji asked him.
"You both hope to end things as they are as soon as you can."
"Some things we want to end more than others."
Levi was confused by what he meant by that. What were some of the things they wanted to end more than the others? All he really understood was that the Sogen family now had what was best known as a vendetta against Grausam Zanki for his sins…and it was bound to cause problems if it wasn't resolved…even if there was only one way to resolve it.
"Grausam Zanki? You don't want anything to do with him," another former Eldian servant of Marley had informed them when asked about the guy. "He's like fire and ice; he burns everything and everyone around him…and feels nothing for them. No remorse or guilt for who he hurts. He personally stuck my wife in the neck with the same needle he used to stick me with. All he did was smile. What kind of man does something as sick as that?"
All Levi could assume was that this Grausam really was what Shinji had found out through Kaede: A man that, through his obsession with the Titans, to regain his lost leg, to escape the Walls and the life he had within them, chose to become a mockery of a great demon nobody had ever seen and lived to tell about it.
"Akuma Titan?" He asked Shinji.
"Yeah," he sighed, "the Devil Titan."
-x-
The amalgamation of all seven of the Nine Titans clearly made Kaede unlike what the Colossal Titan had been when Bertolt had it. Even at one-hundred meters in height, she could move at a pace that smaller Titans possessed. But what she saw as she carried Historia, Ymir, Erwin and some members of the Garrison was beyond what she imagined.
The village was rural and very primitive, but clearly maintained over the years. Each of the houses seen by them were at least two stories in height and made of wood and stone, with thatched rooftops. Small trees with apples and oranges were visible, being tended to or played around by adults and small children.
Kaede stopped her Dark Titan a good distance and let Historia and the others off and detach herself from the body.
"Aah!" She gasped, ripping herself from the flesh of her Titan body and climbing free from it. "This is so much easier now."
"With you, I think you're capable of anything now," said Erwin to her.
"Capable…but not completely willing to do whatever people think I could."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, I won't control people. That would be wrong."
"Right, uh…thank you."
"I'm serious. I wouldn't do that."
They walked towards the village and were seen by the people that lived there.
"Hello," Historia greeted them, but they didn't respond. "Um… We're from the land inside the Walls that were broken down recently. How are you?"
Still, nobody in front of them spoke up in response to her.
Kaede looked at a woman carrying a basket full of apples and pointed to it with her left hand.
"May I have one, please?" She requested…and the woman reached in and offered her the requested fruit. "Thank you."
A boy appeared from behind the woman and looked up at Kaede and noticed the minor burns on her cheeks.
"You're one of them, aren't you?" He asked, breaking the people's silence.
"You can speak? I mean, I'm one of what?"
"Titans," the woman that gave her the apple responded. "The giants that prey upon the flesh of the Devil's children. You're one of them."
Devil's children? Do they mean the Eldians that lived behind the Walls? And they're asking if I'm one of the Titans? Kaede thought and realized their asking.
"Those blessed and damned by the giants always have their faces seared for a time," a man uttered as he stepped up to the small group. "The Devil can't forever scorch those that carry the giants inside them…but in the end, the giants betray them to the Devil."
They were describing the positives and negatives of being a Titan Shifter, such as being burned by the hot flesh when vacating a Titan body and being able to regenerate from injuries. But they hadn't met anyone like Kaede, who was a different sort of Titan Shifter.
"Which one are you?" The woman that gave her the apple asked her, possibly referring to her Titan's identity. "Are you the burning monolith…or the battering ram? Are you the vicious savage…or the running maiden? Are you the fighter…or are you the master?"
Kaede looked at Historia, as if seeking her permission to answer the questions.
"She is a Titan…but none of the ones you speak of," she expressed, stepping up. "She took the powers of the Colossal, Armored, Beast, Female, Attack, Jaw and Founding Titans and made them her own. She is the Dark Titan of Eldia, our friend and a harbinger of hope."
"The Dark Titan," several of the villagers murmured, and Kaede bowed her head to them.
"A Titan…that can take Titans into itself?" A wrinkled man, far older than the other men present, possibly in his sixties, with graying hair and wearing a dark robe with a tied sash, asked. "Do you control her?"
"Yes," Kaede answered for her, "she does. I am a servant."
"Only when we're in danger," Historia added, making it clear that Kaede wasn't just some servant to her. "Beyond that, you're your own person, able to make your own decisions."
"Why are you here?" The elder asked them. "Are you here to punish us because of what we did for the last strangers that came here?"
This raised the curiosity of Kaede, Historia and Ymir to a new level. They were visited before by someone else before they came?
"Someone came here before we did?" Erwin questioned them kindly. "Can you tell us who they are, please?"
"One of them had a giant of fire with them," a little girl said as she was being held by her father. "A girl dressed in red, with fiery hair!"
Kaede gasped! This…was a terrible revelation to her! These people, this village…had been visited before…by Asuka and her Unit-02, meaning that Shinji's father and the guy that ran this NERV organization he defected from…had discovered this place long before they even heard of its existence.
"Excuse me, but this…this girl in red with fiery hair," she spoke up, "was she with some men that came with her? Did she ask you for anything?"
"She came at a distance," the father of one of the girls revealed. "A while afterward…she came back with three men. They had weapons we've never seen before. The girl desired Titans of her own, Titans that could be harvested and controlled by the people she served."
"You gave them Titans?" Ymir questioned.
"No," the elder man responded to her. "We have neither the means nor the power to control the Titans. But the girl whose hair was like fire itself, her poisonous voice masked by a false gentle nature, desired Titans for her masters. We feared she would use her giant to harm us…so we gave her the preserved blood of the Titans to appease her."
"Preserved blood of the Titans?" Historia, confused by their choice of words, spoke. "Could you please show us what you gave this girl?"
The elder bowed his head and led the large group to a large building that seemed big enough to complement the entire village that Ymir recognized as a church. He led them to a small room and pulled out a small case.
"We gave her these," he explained, holding up a small vial that was tightly-sealed up.
"Historia, Commander Erwin," Kaede uttered, holding up another vial, "are these vials what I think they are?"
"Yes," Erwin answered, worried. "These are Titan Serums."
"Only those born of an Eldian's blood can receive the damnation of the giants' blood," the elder revealed to them. "Nobody of this village is born of Eldian's blood."
This was a revelation for them to know. A village of people established on Paradis…and there wasn't a single person that was an Eldian or a Subject of Ymir. It seemed…impossible unless the people were Marleyan in origin.
"Who are you people?" Dot asked him.
-x-
Each member of Marley's Eldian population's knowledge of said country proved helpful to the plan Shinji had to reach out to the enemy nation in terms of its geography. The knowledge of how Marley even treated the Eldians demonstrated to Shinji how the people of the nation's hatred towards them was anything but subtle when it included Eldian sympathizers that excited the Marleyans' hatred and desire for global colonization against other nations that had existed once before. As he lay within a small room inside the carrier that served as his personal space, he was a little bewildered that long ago were people that weren't Marleyans or Eldians, how Marley called one race of people the Eastern Sunrisers or a small race of people they referred to as the Southern Islanders, both of which Shinji had reason to suspect were likely this world's designation for the Asians and Hawaiians, respectively. If there were actually Japanese people around here, and they felt sympathy for the Eldians…then the Marleyans chose to pick a fight with them just because of their sympathy.
"I want to believe that there were races like Asians and Hawaiians here, he thought as he pondered how the Marleyans could get to other landmasses across the ocean…and yet they rarely attacked Paradis. Surely, a hollow threat wouldn't restrict them from sending an army instead of just a handful of Titan Shifters.
He then fell asleep.
-x-
Shinji won't be happy to know about this, thought Kaede as she paced around her cell. Asuka intimidated a village of people that has existed for decades outside the Walls on the island, completely isolated from the Titans, comprised of…of remnants of people from other nations that once existed…for Titan Serums. But only Subjects of Ymir can become mindless Titans, so it's useless for anyone from his world…as far as we know. But some of these remnants might be members of his ethnicity, these…Asians. He might be happy to see descendants of his people from this world…even if they're mixed with other races.
"Kaede?" She stopped pacing and turned her head to the bars, seeing her mother present.
"Mother?" She responded, walking over to her. "What brings you here at this time of night? It's almost midnight."
"I know, but I…" Christine spoke, sounding bothered by something. "I needed to tell you something, but I was trying to find the right time to tell you."
"Tell me what, exactly? Is…something wrong at home?"
"No. Everything's fine at home. It's just… Well…"
"Mother," Kaede stopped her, reaching through the bars to hold her hands, "whatever it is you want to tell me, please, just tell me. Whatever it is you want to tell me, no matter what it is."
"Okay," Christine sighed, and inhaled a new breath. "I'm pregnant."
"Really?" She asked her mother, surprised and happy to hear this.
"Yes. At least two months after Historia's coronation."
"That's great news. I'm very happy for you."
It had been so long since her mother was happy about something new to happen to the family, and not that many good things had happened specifically for her family in five years. And Kaede didn't lie about her feelings for this news; she really was happy for her mother and stepfather…and herself, as well. She was going to be a big sister for the first time and there was no room in her heart for any jealousy or grudges.
But that man, she suddenly thought…and her happiness was suddenly hindered by fear, but she didn't show it to her mother as she removed her hands. "By the time this little angel's here, I'll have served out my sentence and be a free woman again."
"Eh-heh-heh," Christine chuckled at her daughter, glad that she told her about the baby. "Now I know you'll be a good sister. I'll be by again tomorrow to see you. I love you, Kaede."
"I love you, too, Mother. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
As her mother left, Kaede, still happy to hear that Christine was expecting a new baby in a few months, felt the latest fear of her life form in her mind. She hated her step-grandfather enough to want to kill him herself, but now she feared for her parents and sibling-to-be and what that monster could do if he decided he wanted to reminisce over his former family ties. Her life was expendable as a Titan Shifter to a degree because she had become so powerful and Shinji was in it, but he and her parents were where she drew the line. Now, it was more than ever important that she get rid of Grausam; family was forever…but he wasn't family…and would never be.
I need to keep them safe, now more than ever, she thought as she lay down on her cot. Is this how big sisters usually feel when they want to protect their families, or is this just how I feel right now? I wish I was talking to Shinji right now so I could ask him. It'd probably be like the dream we had together. Wait… Maybe I can talk to Shinji. Clear your mind, Kaede Sogen. Think only of Shinji right now. Reach out to him. You two are in love. Follow your heart. It's more than just an organ in your body that pumps blood throughout your veins. It represents your love for those you care for the most. It connects you to them and them to you.
She drifted off into the unconscious realm of sleep, hoping that she would be able to reach out to Shinji, no matter where he was across the ocean.
Shinji…Shinji… It's Kaede… I'm trying to reach out to you… Please, reach out to me…with your heart… Reach out to me with your heart…
-x-
The grassy, sandy field at night with the feeling of an aurora borealis seemed to be a lingering thought or memory for Shinji, but there seemed to be a different feeling hanging on his conscious as he stood out in the open.
"Shinji," he heard Kaede's voice, looking as she appeared in front of him.
"Kaede," he greeted her, but noticed her expression being that of concern. "Kaede? Are you alright? Did something happen?"
"I'm trying to reach out to you in our dreams," she explained. "I'm hoping that our dreams will be able to allow us to share what we discover, even though we're far from each other."
"It must be working…because I feel you reaching out to me. What do you want to share with me, Kaede? I'm here to listen to you."
"There's a village that exists on Paradis that we didn't know about until a few days ago. They were isolated from everything and everyone, including the Titans. They might be the descendants of people you're ethnically related to…and they're mixed with people from other ethnicities because of Marley's actions against anyone that sympathized with Eldia."
"There've been people living on Paradis…outside the Walls? Really?"
"Yes…but Asuka found them before we did…and got a whole crate of Titan Serum from them because they felt intimidated by her, meaning your father and NERV now has access to it."
"But…they're not Subjects of Ymir, so they can't use them. It won't turn them or anyone into Titans, making the serum virtually useless."
"That's what we believe. There's something else I need to ask you. Should you find Grausam, please, hold him for me. I need to be the one that deals with him."
"I know, Kaede. I will do that."
"It's not just personal for me, anymore. I'm worried for my parents. My mother just told me that she's pregnant, so I don't want that man to get any ideas for a reunion."
Even Shinji, who hadn't seen the guy that hurt his girlfriend with this power and his obsession that made them both who they are, didn't want him getting the idea to see his family if he was so cold, remorseless and willing to cross the line. The guy seemed a lot like his own father, down to the very desire to cause harm.
"It'll be a few more days before we reach Marley, but we'll get him," he told her.
He walked over to her and held her in an embrace.
"I frighten you now, don't I?" She asked him.
"No," he answered. "What frightens me is what other people will do to get what they want from others…and how far they're willing to go to get it."
"And…to live for revenge…or to have such vengeful desires…is one of the things that make them unpredictable…and all the more dangerous toward others."
"Yeah."
But Kaede doubt she was able to live for nothing but revenge. She never could take out her frustrations on other people just because she was angry with a single person. In fact, ever since realizing that she could become a Titan at will, she tried her hardest to keep her emotions in check and not to get angry with anyone over anything, lest she turn into one unintentionally and be targeted like a wild animal. Even as she had gained more control over her power and no longer felt like a monster, so long as that man continued to live, she felt that she and her parents would never be free of him. And freedom from Grausam Zanki right now…was what they deserved above many things.
"It's none of my business asking you this," Shinji uttered, "but what do you suppose your father would've done to Grausam Zanki if he was alive and knew what he did to you?"
Kaede separated from Shinji and thought about what her father would've done.
"My father, he'd be a father and do what was necessary to get justice for his daughter," she answered him. "He wouldn't question any sense of morality if his daughter was hurt by some old man with one leg. He…would be the avenging angel, rip off his remaining leg, break his arms, rip out his spine and smash his face to pulp."
At least Shinji got the impression that his girlfriend's father would've done right, something his father would most likely never do, no matter what he did or no matter what happened to him.
"Thank you for asking me," she told him.
"Anytime," he responded.
-x-
Returning to his empty home for the night, the enigmatic Grausam Zanki, the Titan Doctor to the Subjects of Ymir, and the self-proclaimed Akuma Titan to Marley's military power, threw his coat on a chair as he walked over to small closet. Just recently, he had experienced a very unusual dream where his step-granddaughter was alive and well, albeit in a state of confinement within what was left of the Walls of Paradis…and she swore revenge upon him. While he welcomed her foolish attempt to take his life, he wasn't foolish to let himself be bested by even one of the seven Titans Marley had possession, which was why he invested himself in improving the Titan power he already possessed. Reaching down to the floor, he removed a floorboard and pulled out a jar from a secret compartment.
They said they gave the Female the ability to harden her flesh, but even the Beast had a difficult time hardening due to it being a savage, he thought as he set the jar on the table in his bedroom and closed the curtains to afford himself his privacy. A Titan that can't defend itself as good as the Armored or War Hammer Titans is no different from cannon fodder. Even if I'm called upon to serve Marley, I can't afford to lose my freedom. I've worked too hard to lose my life here.
He sat in front of the table and opened the jar, revealing a series of cylindrical vials with different name tags written across them. For a time, before the masters of Marley saw him for his worth and his ability to refine their use of the Titan Serum, Grausam still believed that, despite his newfound ability to regenerate injuries and the restoration of his leg, his Titan power could still be refined and enhanced. He made a promise to himself that when he could gain their trust and a place for himself, he would use Marley's resources to better his Titan abilities. And for the past two years, he'd been working on specialized serums that would enable transformed Titans the ability to harden their skin, but for himself, he sought more than just that. If he was going to survive any encounter with this nation's last enemy, he would need a semblance of the power held by the two Titans that were still here to protect the people.
The endurance of the Cart Titan…combined with the versatility of the War Hammer Titan, he thought as he took out a syringe and began extracting a vial of its refined Titan Serum, will give my Akuma Titan all that it needs to enable me to survive.
From the vial labeled "Endurance", he injected himself in his left wrist and felt his body reacting to the serum almost immediately. His eyes momentarily shifted from green to red before returning to normal. Then, removing another vial from the jar, this one labeled "Hammer", he repeated the process, injecting himself in his other arm.
"Aah," he groaned, his eyes shifting colors again. "The power of the Titans is a power for all who have the will to take it and embrace it. Whoever has the power of the Titans…can become more than a mere mortal. They…can become living gods. I…will be a living god."
For a brief moment, his imagination ran rampant within him, letting him see his Titan form in all its glory: A wondrous, fifteen-meter man with dark skin and red eyes, resembling him as he was right now, but with a new feature. His flesh had become like armor, granting him improved invulnerability. It was his hope that his new injections would grant him the power to create weapons like the War Hammer could…and last longer than just fifteen hours in a given situation.
-x-
"…In the beginning back in my world, it wasn't accepted by society," Shinji had told Kaede in the dream world as she felt herself waking up to the new day, "but as the years went by, much of society has learned to at least tolerate it to a degree. It's the ones that refuse to accept people for who they are that complain the most about them. But in the end…yes. Yes, it's allowed…because you can't force someone to not like or love someone else just because they feel an attraction to each other. Some see it as a sin, but it's just a fact of life."
A fact of life? She wondered as she got up from her cot. "A fact of life. I take your word for it Shinji. I'll let Historia know when I see her next time. Somehow, I'm able to speak with you in the dream world. Maybe it's because of the Founder's power, or maybe our bond or a combination of the two. Either way, we can keep in touch now."
To be continued…
A/N: I couldn't remember why I chose the title, but I can only suggest it's due to how both Shinji and Kaede can represent someone for everyone and how anyone affiliated with Eldia can represent "one for all", as in Eldia for everyone, while Grausam and Marley would represent the reverse, "all for one", as both the treacherous Eldian and the antagonistic nation need to be in control of everything and everyone. Also, I bet none of you were expecting Kaede's mother to reveal such news to her daughter that would motivate her to want Grausam dead even more.