Creation began on 05-31-23
Creation ended on 06-01-23
Attack on Titan
Absolution of a Friend
A/N: Brother Correction did say that Historia looked like she needed a friend…but he didn't mean himself.
She basically had permission to do as she wanted without restrictions, provided she followed the two rules that did restrict her a little bit. It was like a door she couldn't go through for a long time because some adults had the key to unlock it, and then someone, a complete stranger that paid her attention and gave her this freedom, unlocked the door for her and let her walk on through. But even now, as she sat atop the parapets of Wall Sina, looking out at the scenery…she felt a little lonely. She wished for a friend, someone who would be her companion.
"There's one out there for you, you know," she heard Brother Correction say to her as she turned to her right and saw him sitting less than a feet away from her. "Can I ask what brought you up here? It couldn't have been this glorious sight in front of us, even though it is very…wondrous."
"Today has been…incredible because of you," she tells him. "For the first time in my life, I felt like I really had fun. I got to do things that made a difference in some people's lives…but…I'm still by myself."
He could sympathize with her; he had been in this position of power for such a long time, he rarely had the luxury of friends or allies. While he had a few over the course of his position, they were scarce and in between situations that required his attention. But this girl was different; she had such an unhappy past because of other people's struggles or weaknesses, their crimes or choices…and she had no right to be made a victim because of them.
"What do you know of the Titans?" He asks her.
"I've never seen any before," she responds. "Do they really exist?"
"Yes, they do, but their existence is a cursed one."
"Why?"
"Come with me."
He held out his left hand to her, and she accepted it. The next thing she knew, they were on the ground beside a wall.
"Wall Maria," he explained to her where they were, "about a mile east of Shiganshina District. Walk with me, please."
Historia walked with him, and along the way, he informed her of all there was to know about the Titans. Suffice to say, he chose his words carefully so that she understood everything as well as possible for someone her age could.
"That's a long time to feel upset with people," she tells him as they walk by some moss-covered rocks. "Can I do anything about this?"
"Of course, you can," he replies. "If you wanted to right now, you could make all of this hatred disappear in an instant. You can remove the Walls, end the royal bloodline requirement that the Founding Titan exploits, you can even remove the Nine Titans if you wanted to. It's all up to how you choose to make your moves, Historia. And whatever you do, it's your choice. What do you want to do?"
It felt like a job, having to decide what to do, but Historia wanted to end the hatred and suffering that befell the people. But she also wanted a companion…and to be loved by her parents, no matter how difficult that goal seemed. And yet, here she was, able to do anything she wanted to…and she wanted to do many things.
"I need someone to be my friend," she utters. "Someone who won't turn away."
Soon enough, the ground shook from afar, and they saw something coming towards them. It was…a Titan. A five-meter Titan, heavily emaciated, covered in dirt and bruises, and with dark eyes and hair on its head.
"Aah!" Historia gasped, but Brother Correction stood his ground as she hid behind him.
"If you can think it, imagine it, you can make it happen," he reminds her. "You can make it reality as you so choose."
And being reminded that once upon a time, Titans were as human as they were, she tried to imagine the Titan as human, as someone who used to be like them some time ago, wanting them to go back to being that way.
Thud! The Titan fell in front of them…and began evaporating, leaving only a young girl, tanned and sweaty, bare as the day she was born.
"Oh!" Historia gasps…and the girl wakes up and rises to a sitting position, looking at them.
"I…I'm alive?" She asks them, and Historia nods in the positive.
The blond-haired girl then holds out her arms…and hands over a large pair of trousers and a shirt for the tanned girl.
"Here you go," she offers, and the freckle-faced girl accepted them.
"Thank you," she praises her.
"I'm Historia. This is Brother Correction. Who are you?"
"I am… I was…once called Ymir."
"Ymir? After Ymir Fritz?"
"Yes."
"It's nice to meet you, Ymir."
The freckled girl looks at the younger girl and becomes confused. She didn't expect anyone to be happy to meet her after what befell her so long ago. It had felt like a nightmare, being lost in the darkness the day she and a bunch of others had been turned into Titans and left to wander around for eternity.
"Brother Correction?" She asks the man beside her.
"That's right," he answers back.
"That's a very…"
"I don't break bones over it. Everyone has a name that doesn't make sense to many, but it is their identity, such as your name, Ymir. It is still nice to meet you."
Historia then offered Ymir a cup of water, which confuses the girl because just a moment ago, there was no such thing in her possession.
"How?" She asks, curious.
"I made a wish upon a falling star," Historia lies; so long as she didn't say the truth, she wasn't breaking the rules.
"You made a wish upon a falling star?"
"Some wishes get heard because some desires are louder than others," Brother Correction informed, collaborating the young girl's lie. "I've seen seventeen people in my life that made similar wishes on other falling stars…and they made similar things happen because their hearts were as pure as the sky was blue."
"So, then…can you… I don't know… Can you free the Eldian people of Marley from segregation and abuse?" Ymir asks Historia.
"Why only Marley?" Historia responds. "From what I recently learned, there are a lot of Eldians across the world that have been oppressed by people of other nations because of a series of actions against them that's over two-thousand years overdue to be forgiven and forgotten about. The men and women responsible for these acts of death and destruction, like first Fritz king and his descendant from over a century ago, Karl Fritz, have been dead for a long time…and people that can't let go of what they did in their lives…are just nursing the hatred instead of trying to move past it. Part of the reason for this is the cruelly-exploited power of the Titans that has been used more for malevolence instead of benevolence. In an instant, the power should be taken away from whoever has it and hidden away from any that would misuse it for wrongful purposes. And anyone that has been turned into Titans against their will be returned to normal, never again to be exploited or turned into monsters to roam the land in search of flesh to tear through to satisfy a hunger that is endless."
Unbeknownst to Ymir, Historia was making her words reality; whoever had been turned into Titans long ago were being turned back into humans and those that possessed the power of the Titans were being relieved of them to end their misuse. But Historia felt that the power was better hidden away from the world rather than disposed of, so she imagined a set of animals back in her room on the farm, tucked away under her bed, each one representing a different member of the Nine Titans.
A falcon to represent the Founding Titan.
A crane to represent the Female Titan.
A bear to represent the Beast Titan.
A crocodile to represent the Jaw Titan.
An armadillo to represent the Armored Titan.
A horse to represent the Cart Titan.
A wolf to represent the Attack Titan.
An elephant to represent the Colossal Titan.
And a gorilla to represent the War Hammer Titan.
Historia would keep these Titan powers safely hidden away so that nobody would be stigmatized any further by their possession or hurt any further by their abuse and misuse ever again. No more exploitation of a power that had many possibilities…but was used to harm and spread hatred. Whoever saw the Titans as a means to control or destroy the world would not get their hands on them again and pick up where they left off, and those influenced by the powers they brought would be free of their taint.
Brother Correction felt this happening all across the planet and smiled at her choice. While it would be some time before anyone would wise up to the revelation that things were changing, he didn't give the people that possessed the Titans a second thought beyond the fact that it was Historia herself who chose to put an end to the use and misuse of the Titans and the curse they left behind to the people afflicted by their existence.
-x-
"What the Hell happened out there?!" General Calvi of Marley demanded from Theo Magath, who oversaw the operation against the enemy nation with the Warrior Unit's Titans, disappointed by what befell their forces in the end.
"We don't know, sir," he explains, looking at the former holders of the Titans they possessed for more than a century now. "They claim their Titans just stopped and disappeared."
"They don't just disappear!"
"Except they did. There was no evaporation and they don't have the scars associated with their respective Titans, which would be on their faces until they recovered from using them. They just vanished, and during the midst of a war. They can't even explain why their Titans are gone."
"It wasn't just their Titans," went a fellow soldier from Marley. "The Titans controlled by the Beast Titan also disappeared. Everyone injected with the spinal fluid was turned back and passed out. We've barely recovered them from last battle; there's still thirty-seven men who are AWOL. If they're alive, they're hiding somewhere."
Calvi looked at the children who had been entrusted with six of their seven Titans. They each had a look of confusion on their faces; not a single one of them were sure what happened, leaving them unable to explain themselves for their inability to carry on with their orders to destroy their enemies and lay claim to their land and resources. But there was one possibility that left him feeling miffed with the operation's failure: The Founding Titan, able to control all other Titans. If the ruler of the Eldians had made use of this power, it would've explained why their Titans, their primary resource in their expansion operations, were no longer active. But if their Titans had been removed, the only proof that would verify this as a fact…would be to check if it was only their Titans and not the one belonging to the Tybur family.
"Orders, sir?" Another Marleyan soldier asks, reminding Calvi that their forces had pulled back when the Titans disappeared; with the primary muscle of their forces reduced to just the Eldian personnel, either enlisted or drafted in to serve their motherland, they were at the mercy of their enemies, who were taking advantage of the confusion and the fact that several Eldians had fled.
Calvi, despite his willingness to sacrifice all of his forces until the enemy nation was defeated, felt they had no other alternative but to declare a tactical retreat. If they lived today, they lived to fight another day.
"Pull back," he told them.
"Sir?"
"Retreat. Everyone."
Nobody had to ask any further. The order was given and had to be followed. Until they had a better strategy and more armament, Marley had to fall back from their operation.
-x-
For the first time in the few years she had been a vessel for the Founding Titan's power, Frieda Reiss felt like herself. In an instant, gone was the feeling of dread looming over her head. Gone was the knowledge of the future of the world as she had known it…and gone was the saddening sense of being stripped of her free will. She was just…herself, walking down the dirt road, being greeted by friends and admirers. Her eyes, once clouded by the presence of that ideology that her family's ancestor had imparted to keep future holders of the Titan under control, were now clear and could see…only the world as it was in front of her.
What has happened? She wonders as she walks over to a nearby try to catch her breath. The Founder's influence…is gone.
While she still retained some of the memories belonging to the previous holders, they paled in comparison to her own memories of her half-sister, whose very future she had witnessed…had suddenly been erased by something she had no perception of. She had seen what was going to befall their family, knew she would die, knew Historia would have to carry on the bloodline…but now she could see none of that happening, like someone took a hammer to this mural that depicted a life story painted for years…and shattered it to pieces, effectively destroying whatever future she had previously seen.
For the first time, I feel…free, she thinks as she resumes her journey towards the farm where Historia lived. I can't see the future. I can't see the past. The Nine Titans are…they're gone. They're gone.
Try as she might, she couldn't make sense of this phenomenon, but had to assume that the Titans were no longer present. Whoever had possession of them would likely feel less than who they were after inheriting them from the previous holders, but would be, more or less, feeling like a weight had been taken off their shoulders.
-x-
He saw his youngest son commit the unforgivable…but then he disappeared from his perception…along with everything else. Making a small cut on his left wrist, he waited for signs of regeneration. But there was no steam generation or signs of healing. The cut was minor, but it should've been healing faster than a regular cut. It was as though…the power of the Titan he was given…was gone.
How is this possible? He wondered as he wrapped a small bandage around his wrist down in his study. What has happened to cause this?
For Dr. Grisha Yeager of Shiganshina District, this was a question that begged an answer. But there was nobody that he could ask and expect an answer from.
-x-
Unknown to the people within the Walls, the Titans that once resided inside them were slowly exiting the Walls on opposite ends through small openings large enough to let a large number of people out at a time. From out of these openings came men and women of various ages between early-twenties to late-sixties, dressed as they had been the day they were turned into Titans by their former ruler. They looked up at the blue sky above and breathed in the fresh air around them. It felt like they had each awoken from a nightmare that had been forced upon them for a long time…and were now in a new dream that offered some sort of reprieve from the darkness they had been condemned to against their will.
In front of them, several feet from the Walls where they had emerged from, unseen by the people living within their enclosed districts, several two-story houses appeared, each one exhibiting a welcoming atmosphere.
Please, live here for now, people, they each heard a young girl's voice in their heads. For now, just live as you did before this terrible thing happened to you. I will not let you be turned or silenced by whoever would dare to hurt you again.
"Who," went an elderly man in his late-sixties, aided by his wife, "who are you?"
That question…raised an intriguing answer.
I am…Historia the Almighty One, the voice responded. Let the intentions of my words be heard…and my benevolence be granted.
-x-
"Historia the Almighty One, hmm?" Brother Correction asks Historia.
The young girl looked down in embarrassment. She had simply thought of a good response to say to the people she had just released from the Walls and their curse as Titans. It wasn't really like she had told them her actual name if she left out her last name.
"I like it," he tells her.
"Me, too," added Ymir. "It makes you sound like you're out to do good. What next?"
"Well, I… I need to get home now before anyone notices I'm not there," Historia tells them.
"Ymir, you should go with her," Brother Correction suggests. "The young lady, despite her gracefulness, is lonely and needs a friend. It's always nice to have a friend."
Ymir looked at Historia and agreed with Brother Correction.
"I…I could use a friend after such a long time without one," she says.
In an instant, the two ladies were back on the farm.
Ymir looked around, unable to believe that Historia brought them here in just a moment. It felt like…something that was impossible to do unless you were a… But all Historia said was that she made a wish on a falling star.
"I don't think I'll get used to that," she tells the younger girl.
"One day at a time," Historia responds, seeing someone coming from down a road. "Oh! That's Frieda! You have to meet her!"
"Who's Frieda?"
"My sister!"
To be continued…
A/N: Some rules can't be broken, but some can be bent if you know how to exploit a loophole. One of the rules Historia has to follow is that she can't tell anyone that she has god-like powers, but if someone jumps to a conclusion close enough to know the truth, it's a bending of the rule since Historia didn't tell them anything. The humor is going to be hard in the next chapter. Who else would like to see Alma having to do right by Historia?