Creation began on 07-16-23

Creation ended on 08-02-23

Attack on Titan

In the presence of Divinity

Marley was facing scrutiny from all sides after the airships returned due to the men aboard them being terrified by a series of lights in the night sky that were either curtains or in the shape of animals. This and the loss of their Titans were becoming increasingly evident in their inability to deal with their enemies overseas, who were becoming emboldened by the fact that it seemed like the Titans were becoming a thing of the past, reducing people's fears. This was almost a month or so ago, and now Marley was faced with preparing for a new war against their foes that had joined together with a new realization that the nation that had once been tortured the most by the Eldian nation, exploiting the very power that had brought said nation infamy…was now a thing of the past, leaving its exploiters severely weakened. And the worst part about this all is that Marley would be working with only firearms that would barely have any effect upon soldiers that wore body armor on them.

"We're screwed, aren't we?" Bertolt asks Annie as they were ordered by Calvi to go home; with the loss of their Titan powers, the Warrior Unit was no longer an active part of the Marleyan military force, resulting in its members being reduced to regular civilians no longer exploitable because their sole purpose for being used by the leaders was gone.

"More or less," Annie responds; because of the loss of the Female Titan, there was more at stake than just a shot at a better life in Marley, but none of this really mattered to the girl.

"And it'll be a question of what comes next if Marley musters the courage to go to Paradis," went Reiner, upset that the unit was disbanded due to the loss of their Titans. "How did something like this happen to begin with?"

"If I knew how this became the harsh reality," spoke Pieck as she walked beside the former Colossal, Female and Armored Titans as they returned to the internment zone, "I'd know how to better the situation that we're all facing."

Out of each of them that were returning to the internment zone, it was Zeke that was the most bothered by their current predicament. None of them really understood what his issue was over not being able to go to Paradis and face the island devils to take the Founding Titan, if it was even there, and he wasn't very talkative about himself. Then again, none of them were talkative about themselves, except perhaps Marcel, the former Jaw Titan, who had to break the news to his family that he was discharged from the military after confirmation that Marley's Titans were gone. All in all, it was not a good time for anyone in the country right now.

-x-

Nobody would ever think to find them where she chose to hide them away for safekeeping and to protect the world from their misuse ever again. As far as anyone was concerned, Historia was simply hiding some of her toys from people. But only to Ymir, the truth was partially obvious; Historia was safeguarding the people from something that had been used to torture them for generations and had to be disposed of to ensure a better future. Even if she didn't know how the young girl was able to do all that she could do and more, she couldn't fault her for her decisions when they came from a place of caring. Especially when they came from a place of caring.

Splash! All Ymir heard as Historia completed the objective of the day.

The box of animal statues, representing and containing the power of the Nine Titans, buried at the bottom of the lake, obscured by the deep darkness and at a depth so deep that nobody could ever hope to reach them. And as time passes by, they would disappear from any perception and fade into obscurity until the end of time. The power and legacy of the Titans would be nothing more than a memory that would be forgotten about as people moved on, free from their fears of their disappearance or possible return. An absolution long overdue.

"You really think nobody is going to get the idea to look down there?" Ymir asks Historia as they walk away from the lake.

"Nobody can hold their breath for long underwater," Historia tells her. "Even if they could, why would they want to go down there, anyway?"

That was a valid question to ask. Even if people could hold their breath underwater for long periods of time, why would they want to go down to the bottom of the lake in search of something that was meant to be forgotten about?

"Good point," Ymir states as they go through the woods. "What next?"

"What next is…turning the desert terrain into something more manageable for future use."

Historia imagined the desert terrain on the island and in place of the sand was an expanse of soil that was rich in nutrients that one could use to farm more produce from. In addition, a series of trees different from the ones that were common on the island, carrying bananas and coconuts. Eventually, the villages that were created just beyond the Walls would discover these and begin harvesting them and turning them into a farming ground. And the Titans that used to be on Paradis that she turned back into people would be able to integrate into the villages as they waited for the day when the people behind the Walls would meet them and a time of understanding would be granted between those that knew more than others didn't…and how greater peace and understanding could be established beyond the island.

From a distance, watching from behind a tree, Brother Correction smiles as Historia continues to forge a new path for the people of Paradis to enter a new world when she was ready to face the rest of society.

-x-

As she walked around the developing farmlands of the village she was now living in, Dina Fritz-Yeager, once a Titan condemned to walk the lands of Paradis in search of human flesh to sink her teeth into, returned to humanity, was pondering how someone she had never met, may never meet, was able to return her and many others back into humans and create these communities for them to reside in until the day came where they would meet the people behind the Walls that didn't know they existed yet. For years, she thought that only those with the power of the Founding Titan could do something like this, but now she was forced to rethink her beliefs. It was as though someone else, someone with a heart that beat with joy, was trying to look out for each of them. Someone with power comparable to those of God's.

Historia the Almighty One, she thinks as she accepts an apple from a farmhand who was passing them around to people. Who are you?

But whilst she thought about the identity of the person that returned them back to their previous state of being, she also wondered what, if anything, could be about Marley and the rest of the world that still hated and feared Eldians and Subjects of Ymir. Even if there were no more Titans, that wasn't going to stop them from looking for another excuse to blame them for something else, but it seemed like this Historia the Almighty One was taking steps to ensure that the day they did have to face the rest of the world, it would be without conflict or repercussions. If she lived to see that day, she hoped to meet her husband and son if they were still alive.

-x-

"…So, Marley is currently engaged in another war with this Mid-East Alliance," said Reiner to his relatives once they took the time to process that he no longer had the Armored Titan. "It could be a while before any news is reported."

"How is Marley expected to win the war without the power of the Titans?" His uncle questions.

If Reiner could tell them what he believed to be the truth, he would say that Marley didn't expect to win without the Titans, as none of them could be turned into Titans any longer. But because he didn't know any more than he already knew due to the loss of his Titan power, it was anyone's guess as to what was likely to befall Marley now that there were no Titans wandering around, intelligent or not.

"Will they send you out to fight?" His aunt asks him.

"No," he answers. "Nobody from the disbanded Warrior Unit will be sent to fight. And the goal to invade Paradis is unlikely to happen because of these reports that it's no longer accessible."

"Because of these monsters that attacked the ships?" His mother asks.

"That's right."

"So…you're not able to turn into a Titan at all?" Annie's father asks her when she informs him that the unit was disbanded.

She raises her left arm up and shows him her cuts as proof that she couldn't become a Titan.

"I am sorry if I disappointed you," she tells him, but he silences her with an embrace.

"It doesn't matter," he responds. "None of it ever mattered. You're here. That's what matters."

"How is this possible?" Bertolt's father questions upon discovering that his son, who possessed the Colossal Titan, the largest and most destructive of the Nine Titans, no longer possessed it and was just as human as the rest of them were now. "Why?"

"Nobody is sure," he explains to his parents. "They think it has something to do with the Founding Titan, but there's no proof of this, and we can't go to Paradis to find out."

"Maybe it's best if nobody went to that island," his mother suggests. "Even if there is no threat of Titans stampeding the grounds across the planet, no good can come from going to that island of devils. No good at all."

"…But Zeke, what good will come from you trying to go there and finding that it's likely that the Titans are no longer around?" Zeke's grandfather asks him after Zeke reveals his intention to still try and go to Paradis. "Just stay here and find a job when you're old enough to get employed. Now that you don't have the Beast Titan, you can have a future."

"What good is a future when we're still locked up?" Zeke questions, his mind already made up on his decision. "With or without Titans, the goal to go to Paradis should still be possible."

-x-

It wasn't something any of them expected to hear, but even Alma had no say in it because Frieda stood up for the girl. For the time being, Historia would be staying with the Reiss family. Even if the secret of Rod's affair with Alma came out in the future, the former Founding Titan wanted for her sister to be with the family, no matter how questionable it seemed. All Historia asked was that Ymir come with her, which Frieda saw no issue with; as far as she understood it, the freckle-faced girl was Historia's only friend and was a recent companion for the lonely girl.

"Welcome home, Historia," the woman that had no idea that this young girl was her stepdaughter greeted.

"Thank you, ma'am," Historia replied, looking around the living room. "It's really pretty here."

Although the girl blessed with god-like power knew of her relation to these people she had met for the first time, knew of her father's affair with her mother, she dare say nothing of it because it shouldn't have mattered now. Even though it mattered to Frieda, she dare say nothing of it to stir trouble where it was unnecessary. Someday, people would know the truth and accept her of their own accord, but for now, Historia was just a distant relative of theirs who would be living with them with a friend of hers.

"It feels like a dream to be here," Ymir confessed to her as they looked around her new room. "I'm afraid to say anything to ruin it."

"It's okay," Historia responded to her as she sat on the floor beside a window. "Even if it's a dream, it's fine to indulge a little."

"Are you ever going to tell them about anything?"

"What is there to tell? All I did was make a wish upon a falling star. Many people do that and wait for a wish to come true. Didn't you do so once?"

Ymir smiled and uttered, "Yeah, once. I don't really remember what the wish was, but I just kept waiting for it to happen."

Historia then thought of her mother, about how it seemed that she wouldn't accept her as anything but how she viewed her as already, no matter how much time passed or what was said to her. But she was content with this reality; even with her power, she didn't want to force her mother to care about her if she lacked the ability to do so of her own volition. If Alma cared only for her brief passion with her father, then that was her choice, and if her father was afraid of his affair being discovered by anyone other than Frieda, whose only concern was her half-sister, then he was permitted to feel that way until such a time came where everyone knew, but it wouldn't be Historia who told anyone. She had other priorities she needed to deal with before anything of that sort became public knowledge.

-x-

How was Marley going to face this Mid-East Alliance without any of their Titans? How did they expect any support from their allies against their enemies when they decided to set aside their differences and old grudges in favor of defeating a greater foe that threatened their lives? How could they expect any loyalty from the Eldians they kept segregated if there was no longer any fear of being turned into Titans? None of these questions seemed to have any answers, which made their situation worse than they could anticipate.

"…If they can't be turned into Titans, anymore, then the Subjects of Ymir are as dead as the Titans themselves!"

"…Their blood has been tested numerous times, and there's nothing to indicate that they are different from other races…"

"…The Tybur family no longer has the War Hammer Titan…"

"…We sent three more ships to Paradis…just to see what would happen if they used more Eldians than Marleyans…"

"…This has to be an act of God…"

Even though his ship was at an alleged safe distance from the island, Calvi wasn't convinced that these so-called monsters existed that kept the ships from approaching the dock.

Show me your monsters, Paradis, he thought, thinking this was nothing more than a bunch of cowards turning tail and fleeing out of fear of death instead of engaging an enemy. Is there a god protecting you that doesn't rely on the Titans? I don't think so.

He watched as the three ships got closer to the shore of the island, but nothing happened to them; the Eldians aboard the ships were not even soldiers, just homeless men and women with no ties to anyone being sent to their potential deaths in a different way.

Bash! Calvi's ship was suddenly hit by something, sending it moving towards the island a little.

"What was that?!" Calvi demanded.

"Something hit us!" The ship's helmsman alerted.

Crack! A large tentacle emerged from the water and wrapped around the ship!

"Aaaah!" One of the soldiers yelled.

Seconds later, the ship was lifted out of the water, causing Calvi to hold onto the closest object connected to the deck, which was a bollard. The tentacle turned the ship upside-down, making several of the crewmen fall into the water…and Calvi saw a large eye and mouth close the surface of the water. His eyes widened with fear as he held on as tightly as he could to the bollard. Then, the tentacle brought the ship down, back into the water.

To be continued…

A/N: Did any of you get the impression that Calvi was in the presence of a god?