Epilogue
Her dark hair swayed silently in the breeze in a stark contrast with the cheerful shouts of children playing nearby.
December, 18, 2022… as I sit outside the park dedicated to the late Survey Corps Commander Erwin Smith, the sense of melancholy… no…
She tore the journal's page out and wrote once again.
December, 18, 2022… park… Erwin Smith… melancholy… God damn it!
Ilse Langnar ripped another page out from her journal and tossed it into the garbage bin next to her before shutting the notebook and sinking onto the park bench. She eyed the pair of doves that perched themselves on the statue replica of Erwin Smith, his arm pointing the old Survey Corps sword forward in an inspirational pose that would hopefully have generations to come asking various questions.
It also made for an excellent perch for doves and pigeons that needed a rest, apparently.
"Hey."
She glanced to her right, Matthew White approaching silently. Still in uniform, though now with a very fitting stripe stuck onto it.
"Matthew White… lieutenant now?"
He nodded, sitting down next to her without a word.
"You know, Matt… I need your advice."
"Well, getting straight to the point…"
"What, did you become more sentimental in the last three years?"
"Well, we've had these amazing, simply incredible meetings about sensitivity training that really opened my eyes to how my behavior was toxic and-"
"Matt, shut up."
"Yeah, yeah, what do you want?"
"I'm almost done with my book."
"Did you use my real name?"
"Ah ha ha, buy it to find out."
"Will it also take three years to print?"
Ilse frowned.
"I mean, I get you guys are basically running around with a wacky mix of tech but… is that really an excuse?"
Ilse shoved him over, groaning.
"Right, right, so what's the issue, really?"
"The ending."
"It's practically autobiographical, isn't it?"
"Maybe, but… I wanted to capture so much! You know your president declassified some papers on this CIA team-"
"Haven't read it."
"They worked with the SAS and I think you met her during the incident in the capital."
"If I did it wouldn't be the biggest issue from back then… I still can't figure out how some morons in the MPs broke through a Stryker using 17th-century cannons. CIA spooks being in our midst wasn't exactly a high concern at the time."
"Well I included what I could dig up… thought her name was Catherine at first, but I don't think that's true. Then Team Levi's involvement-"
"How's the old team, anyway? Haven't seen them since last year's exercises."
"Huh? Oh, I included that here. Um… he got married and settled down in the capital recently."
"Oh, really? That old guy got hitched?"
"Yeah… but the ending-"
"What about the commander? The whole mystery of the titans' existence…"
"Matt!"
"Come on, I haven't been here since-"
"Matt, come on!"
"Look, look, just answer my questions and I can help you come up with a better ending. Cool?"
Ilse groaned but opened her journal to look through her notes.
"Uh, commander Hanji keeps visiting your side of the Gate for some reason… I really don't like the conspiracies surrounding her."
"Huh?"
"Stuff about possible tests regarding remnant titan… something."
"Spinal fluid?"
"That's just it. It's all conspiracy stuff. Can't find any proof for anything."
"Did you ask the commander directly?"
"Uh, no, she's busy… but her new assistant, um… On…ya… ko… pon… I can't ever get his name right, sorry. He's been on board since after the war ended and Hanji must have taken a liking to him 'cause she made him a personal aide."
"Huh… and what did he say?"
"He says she's going over to get updates on something called the coordinate…" then, shaking her head, she said, "I'm pretty sure it's the remnant of the Founder but… again, I can't really prove anything either way and even Onya is quiet on it. For all I know, it's her secret lover from New York or something."
Matt shrugged, then said "Hey, that's one way to end it. Some ominous warning for future readers that the threat of titans could once again return?"
Ilse glared at him.
"What?"
"Matt, the US Air Force unveiled a new stealth bomber two weeks ago! And that's ignoring the Abrams upgrades, the Europeans upgrading defense spending, the fact we're trying to keep up… There will never be a titan threat even if they're resurrected!"
Matt chortled at that.
"What?"
"Well, then just go for a corny ending. Everything's nice now, isn't it?"
"Well…"
"Like… the 104th… they're doing good, right?"
"Y-yeah… Queen Historia invited them all on a diplomatic trip…" then, as if dismissing the idea, "But it's probably just going to fail again. A lot of the same problems still exist and-"
"And that's life! Come on, we're only human, Ilse. Things are improving so just go with a corny ending that leaves the reader smiling or something."
Ilse paused, eyeing the children playing tag nearby. A girl ran around the statue of Commander Erwin while a boy chased after her, both squealing as they did so, with their parents watching from another bench nearby.
"I suppose… but what about you?"
"Me?"
"Yes, dumbass, you."
"Hmm… well, I expect about fifty-percent royalties on whatever you make given how big a role I played-"
She slapped the back of his head.
Matt smirked.
Ilse shook her head and said "You know… sometimes I think back to the old days… the team I lost. The commander…"
Then, as if something came over, she opened the journal again and started writing as she spoke.
"My teammates… the ones that died, Allen, Yvonne, Ari, Mika, Lana… Commander Erwin Smith, the old guard, Representative Kelly, that kid Ymir… everyone… I'm alive. I should have died that day. I think about those who live, my parents, my friends, the people I've met, all my former enemies…"
She turned back to Matt.
"I still have to live for them. I'll keep giving meaning to their deaths so no one ever forgets them!"
She glanced back at her journal, continuing to write feverishly now.
"B-because I'm free, and… no… Because we're born free and that freedom comes with a responsibility attached! I won't let the memories of those we lost die because they fought to preserve that freedom, too!"
Matt glanced at the statue then. The flags of the Survey Corps flew next to that of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, and Canada. The small plaque contained words he knew in a variety of languages, though they were all the same:
In Memory of our Fallen.
Matt sighed, glancing at the girl once again.
Now Ilse sighed, and she closed the notebook.
"There… I think that should do it."
Matt shrugged.
The doves flew away as the children continued to play.
"You know what gets me?"
"Huh?"
"The birds."
"Excuse me?"
"What, three years ago this area was full of man-eating titans? Then the shifters came, and then the war… a lot of blood spilt around here."
"That's-"
"I know, I know, but… I don't know, nature going on and staying defiantly beautiful… the birds still sing, the sky's still blue, the grass is still green, the sun still comes up… like nothing happened here."
He shrugged.
"Yeah… living for those we've lost… the world moves on without us, but… we don't have to."
Ilse smiled brightly.
"Yeah!"
Freedom's Ring
End
A/N: Well… That's it, I guess.
First things first, a HUGE thanks to ThePinkMuseSundays for the art. If you guys can go give 'em some love, they drew a crazy good cover page for Freedom's Ring!
And frankly, thank you all so much for reading this far, mistakes and all.
Was it a bit anticlimactic?
Probably.
(Correction to chapter 18, I had to change the 101st Airborne to the 82nd Airborne due to readers pointing out the 101st doesn't do these kinds of operations anymore.)
Anyway, I kept mulling the big final fight in my head and while it didn't change a lot, it was ultimately shorter than I had originally intended because… well, let's be honest… even with armored cars and an armored train and suicidally dedicated troops, there's just not much you can do with it against a force armed with precision munitions that can kill you long before you see them or are even aware of them.
I also wanted the peace negotiations to be fairly simple. No one has to trade with anyone they don't want to, just leave each other alone, simple as.
And yes, Russia being the big wild card and ignoring these rules to keep invading the "Romanov Empire" was always the plan (I hinted as much in earlier chapters… funny how that turned out IRL... well... horrifying). I just figured that this would be "in character" for them, but... yeah.
And I suppose this epilogue 100% confirms the story mostly takes place in 2019, and with a nice convenient time skip to literally the present day at the time of publishing, I can bring up a few interesting topics of right now, like the new stealth bomber and... Europe rearming because... um... yeah.
But what else is there to say? Thanks so much to everyone here who sat through this insane concept that all started when I read "Thus The French Foreign Legion Fought There" (seriously, go give the guy some love, without his fic Freedom's Ring wouldn't have ever been a concept!) and cemented when I read "War of the Worlds" (By UNPeacekeeper... also go give him solve love!) Through all the big mistakes and screw-ups, I'm glad so many of you seem to have enjoyed it.
I'd never see myself writing an AOT fic, to be honest. I enjoyed the main story so much back then, and the concept never crossed my mind until I read these fics by complete coincidence. I was always afraid of screwing up the characters but... hopefully they stayed in character for the most part and hopefully the ending felt... right.
Personally, I'm mostly happy with chapter 1. I was shocked by how popular this fic got and, wow... three years later, I was able to conclude it.
Hopefully, it was delivered.
Anywho, on to the final reviewer response!
Reviewer response:
Guest- Is Gabi going to shoot Sasha?
Ah ha ha... no.
I don't think Sasha would've been in the position to be shot by Gabi even if the two had met given the alterations made to the story by this point. Keep in mind, it's only been 6 months since US troops went into Paradis. By this point in Attack on Titan, the Female Titan arc was still ongoing. Though Gabi nearly got herself killed in chapter 19, too (given her personality), I don't consider myself a Gabi hater, either, so she wasn't ever going to be portrayed as anything more than a misguided kid. Hope it worked okay...
Guests- What are the Russians doing?
So... this was a controversial aspect that I'd planned for the story since the very beginning. The idea would have always been to have Russia act as a wild card by invading the continent through a gate of their own, forcing a two-front war in a way... unfortunately recent events also revealed quite a few details of Russian tactics and attitudes that... to be honest certainly changed my decision on how I would portray this angle. So, I tried to keep it fairly neutral here (and I do mean neutral, not the "neutral" I keep seeing online from certain people), but basically Russia is probably going to be focusing on their gate a fair bit more now and maybe mess with the weaker Romanov Empire for a bit... or... well, as long as their logistics hold out...
Guest- What happened to Magath?
He showed up in chapter 19 and lived. He did disappear for a bit there, huh? Honestly, there were SO many AOT characters that I couldn't include... from Pieck's crew to Porco... even if Porco briefly showed up here, I couldn't give them a big role since the story was already wrapping up. So, sorry if a character you liked didn't make it to the fic.
Maybe on the Asides?
Guest- is the CIA woman an Earth version of Pieck?
Nah, but chapter 18's ending was very clearly based on the last scene in Attack on Titan Final Season's 1st part.
Hudson- WU radicals request.
Maybe as an Aside chapter? If I ever get back to it...
Anyway...
What's next?
Well, currently I'm working on a LOT of fics (which I promised myself I'd never do). A rewrite of The Fight we Chose already has a volume out on Royal Road, and my Girls Frontline Fic could use some love, but... I have another fic that should hopefully be up by the time this chapter comes out and... well, let's just say it's from a certain series that inspired Hajime Isayama to write Attack on Titan... those who know, well... you know what I'm talking about.
If you're interested in that, you can probably find it on my list of stories by now, and... aw man, am I shamelessly advertising my other works again?
Okay, enough of that.
One final THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING! I hope this was still enjoyable despite all the hiccups and lack of a proper schedule. I, of course, do not own Attack on Titan. Thanks to everyone giving me advice and helping me improve my writing even a bit, and just... thank you all so much! Seriously.
See you all around!
