Chapter 5 Hizuru and Neumann
During the months, Eren and Historia have been secretly training their own soldiers outside of the Military faction. And with Gloria Tybur's help, they are all trained with the weapons provided by Anti-Marleyan Volunteers. So far their training grounds are located in Shiganshina and the forest near Reiss' farm, and they are also hiding from the Military Police, which works well because of Eren's powers to wipe out other people's memories.
And right now the port has finished, and the friendly nation of Eldia: Hizuru, has sent a ship with Lady Azumabito to the island. In the meeting room, she takes out a crest and asks Miaksa, "Do you recognize this family crest?"
Mikasa gasps as she holds her wrist, "That's..."
"Show it, Mikasa." Eren says.
"But my mom said to keep it a secret." Mikasa says.
"You showed it to us when we were little. It's a secret meant for today." Eren says.
Mikasa sighs as she takes off her bandage and shows the symbol, much to the Hizuru's surprise. "Before she died, this symbol was passed down to me from my mother. She said I should pass it on to my child."
Kiyomi walks over to her and places her hands on Mikasa's shoulders while she hunches over. "What an admirable deed! Over a century ago, the shogun we Azumabitos descended from had a son. He was on friendly terms with King Fritz and often came to Paradis. After the Great Titan War, Hizuru was defeated and in disarray. In the confusion, a child of the shogunate was left behind on the island. You're the lost descendant of our nation's ruler! You're the hope of Hizuru!"
Mikasa is shocked, her eyes are wide as she clutches her wrist with the other hand tightly.
During a break in the meeting, some members of the military express their doubts.
"I still don't get what a nation is." "Anyways, now we've got leverage with Hizuru!" "What if it's a trap?" "I suppose we should ask Yelena's opinion." "No! That's exactly what they want!"
"One thing is for certain:" Pyxis says. "The sea has joined us to the world, but we're still a child learning to walk. We should sit quiet and hear what others have to say."
At the same time, Historia turns to Mikasa. "Hey, why'd you only show Eren that symbol?"
"Huh?" "You've never taken off your wrist wrap for anyone." Historia says.
"Well that's..." "You seem happy." Eren says.
"I am! You, Eren, and I were both born with a heavy burden to bear!" Historia says. "There's nobody else I'd rather rely on!"
"Yeah..." Mikasa says with a slight frown.
"It's a historic day for both our nations. Today is only possible thanks to the one who brought us together, Zeke Yeager." In the meeting, Kiyomi says, "After meeting with him in secret, we agreed to an arrangement under the condition we were able to meet Lady Mikasa."
She shows the ODM gear in front of the table. "Zeke Jeager said if we cooperate with him, our nation may just helm an industry that restores it to its former glory. And yet, he hasn't even prospected your reserves. But a resource like that in this age of modernization would be worth its weight in jewels and treasure."
"So I'm being used as a pretext?" Mikasa thinks with anger.
"Yelena said the talks would go well since the Azumabitos are money grubbers." Hange thinks.
"After all, it's not worth the risk of coming here unless money is involved." Pyxis thinks.
"And? What exactly is the arrangement you have with Zeke Yeager?" Historia asks.
"As you know, Zeke Yeager has a secret plan in mind. To achieve it, Hizuru's cooperation is needed. Here are his three points to protect Paradis from the rumbling." Kiyomi says.
"First is the test run of the Rumbling- to release a sample of its power and show the world its devastation. Next is Hizuru's cooperation. Your military must be strengthened until the use of the rumbling isn't necessary. And lastly, the Founding Titan and a Titan with Royal blood must be passed down. That's the third point."
Eren glares at the paper as she says this. His teeth are clenched together as Mikasa's eyes are wide while Kiyomi continues. "Since Zeke's time is almost up, he will pass on the Beast Titan to someone in Paradis and that person has to spend 13 years to bear as many children as possible."
"Even if weaponry advances, the rumbling itself is powerful." Hange thinks. "Unless we get rid of it, inheriting Titans will continue for generations to come. Is it right for us to push this problem on our descendants to save ourselves now? Of course not, but..."
"Very well. I agree to inherit the Beast Titan. As long as the Rumbling is necessary for our continued existence." Historia says.
Kiyomi's eyes widen and she looks away with a sad look. The others have the same look on their faces. Mikasa looks around and then at Historia. "Historia..." She whispers but gets cut off by Eren, who suddenly stands up and places his hands on the table. He glares at the table while he speaks.
"After years of getting trampled on, now we've gotta breed like livestock? If that's the price of getting to live, Zeke Yeager can take his damn plan and shove it!" Eren says, which causes both Historia and Mikasa to look at him. "It's too dangerous to gamble on having the rumbling. We need to spend our time exploring what other options are available to us."
Historia has tears in her eyes at his words, she knows that Eren loves her so much that he won't let her be in danger, and it is also a good thing that the meeting goes well than expected.
After the meeting is over, Eren and Historia are now at the Reiss Farm, Eren is angry and he says, "The Military Police is moving forward with a plan to turn you into a Titan and feed Zeke to you once he's here on the island. If anything, they are reducing your life to 13 years. I'm not going to let them happen."
"I know you won't." Historia says. "And I'm really grateful for you to stand up for me like this. Still... didn't we already decide to have a child because it will be Ymir?"
"Yeah, Ymir is waiting for us to free her." Eren says. "But we have to make sure that we fight for our freedom."
Just then, a small wagon arrives, and Gloria walks out of it with another girl. Gloria says, "Your Highness. I would like to introduce you to her."
The girl bows and says, "My name is Aya Neumann. My family is the Royal Family of the Female Titan. I heard everything from Lady Gloria here and I am here to help you out."
"So you're the Royal Family of the Female Titan." Historia says, "I heard you've been living in Hizuru, how are the Eldians treated there?"
"Eldians in our home are still being discriminated against, but not as awful as the other nations when it comes to law. But when it comes to financial and other resources, our Eldians are poor and won't be able to get a nice job. I only made it as one of the officers in Hizuru because of Ms. Tybur here. I can fly a flying boat if you want me to."
"That will be helpful." Eren says. "With this, six of the nine families are united. And it is also fortunate that the other 3 families are located on the island as well."
Aya says, "However, I also heard that you've acquired the Female Titan, may I ask where it may be?"
Eren says, "She locks herself inside of the crystal for 3 years. I could break her out, but that will also give away the fact that I have full access to Founding Titan to the military, which won't be a good thing."
"I see... I can actually wait for the day when you reveal the truth so I could get what belonged to our family back." Aya says. "I will also teach the battle style of Hizuru to your own faction of soldiers, is that fine for you?"
"I'm not sure if my soldiers are keen on more training since they've already trained a lot, but I would like to try out the battle style of Hizuru." Eren says.
While Eren and the others are training their soldiers, they also manage to get more soldiers to their side, the Military Police that guards the Reiss Farm is on her side, and most of the new trainees are willing to help Eren.
Since there are no Titans around the area, so the Scouts are usually helping the Anti-Marley Volunteers with their construction, Eren is fortunate enough to be with Gloria and her followers' side, and they also go from district to district to help with the medical problems. Because of how Eren is treating their sickness and injuries, he has been loved by the citizens of all areas.
Eren sighs at how the people are now looking at him, a lot of years ago, they are terrified of him because he can turn into a Titan, but now they like him not only because he has talented medical skills, but he has the Founding Titan who will destroy the enemies outside of the island. Eren also needs to ask them to stay low because he doesn't want the Military to know the truth.
Back with the Scouts, when the 104th are gathering together, Jean says, "By the way, did you notice that Yeager has been spending a lot of his time with the queen?"
Connie says, "Yeah. I mean, most of the time he's spending at her orphanage. He said that he was there to help her take care of the homeless children. But it seems like there is something more."
Sasha says, "Armin, Mikasa, you are Eren's best friends, did Eren tell you anything about what he's doing there?"
Armin shakes his head and says, "I don't know. Every time I tried to sneak on Eren about what he was doing, I always lost sight of him in the end. What about you, Mikasa?"
Mikasa frowns and says, "I was the same. Although I did manage to see him talking to queen Historia, and the two of them seem to be happy about something. Not to mention that there is also one Anti-Marleyan Soldier, she seems to be close to Eren as well."
"You mean Gloria, right? We were given the task to help the Anti-Marleyan volunteers, and Eren was paired up with her under Commander Hange and Yelena's orders. What's the matter with that?"
"For some reason, she gave me a weird feeling." Mikasa says. "I just hope she isn't going to make a move on Eren."
"Come on, you're overthinking, she's a Marleyan. And I don't think she's Eren type of girl." Jean says.
"Whose type of girl?" They jump to see Eren walking towards them. Armin says, "Eren, we're just talking about the volunteer that has been helping you, you know, Gloria."
"Oh, her? She did help me a lot with Medical knowledge. Marley's medicine is different from Paradis after all." Eren says.
"Is that so..." Armin says. "By the way, I heard you were just back from Stohess."
"Yeah, I treated a patient who had a stomachache." Eren says as he decides to tell them about something they don't understand.
Here is a new chapter, and we have the Neumann member arriving at Paradis to help Eren and his Yeagerists. I hope you like this chapter.