Creation began on 10-28-23

Creation ended on 10-30-23

Attack on Titan

A Path to Pleasure is often paved in Pain: The Box

A/N: This idea was around for a while, but I never got around to it. The question that plagued me mildly is whether to make it a crossover or just to have it possess some measure of influence.

Oh, how the Cenobites were going to enjoy tormenting Brother Correction with the favor he asked of them for the umpteenth time. But then again, they enjoyed torturing him with more than they enjoyed torturing Sister Deception, who was a waste of their practices, their craft, their pleasures, so any number of favors they could obtain from each other was worth this relationship they had. Also, Leviathan found him to be quite an ally when it came to acquiring souls that were the most bountiful when they came from a place of desires of the worst sort.

I am the god of flesh, hunger and desire, Leviathan had once told the man, but flesh has its limits and hunger is without limits…while desire varies from one person to the next…so, what is your desire, Brother Correction? What are your desires? Clearly, you have multiple desires. What are they? What are thy desires?

"Trust me, Leviathan. What I want, it's better if nobody tries to offer me magical solutions that come with strings attached. Your gifts come with consequences to those that don't fully understand what they're after. It's one of the reasons our relationship works well for you; your boxes don't appeal to all except the darkest of souls, but they're not as easy to seek out until after they have become numb to the rims of sensation. This is especially so because of the ages where desires of lust can be sated by other means. So long as you have those like myself to provide a service to you, you benefit with the darkest of immoral souls."

And yet, you only expect small tokens in return, never a gracious reward or more.

"Greed condemns those that desire the finer things in life over the simple things. What's more, I have seen what negative wanting over positive needing does to people, time and again. The question that lures people in the most is always the one invoking their longing for a new sensation over what they're used to."

But in the end, the box they granted Brother Correction would suffice, along with its requirements that were necessary for him to help others. And it was as the Auditor once stated; there were souls that sought new experiences of the darkest kind, born of their degradations and sins committed. Leviathan wanted these souls with a passion, and had to admit that its Cenobites required assistance from those that walked the line between light and darkness like this Brother Correction, who was like them in one way, a demon to some…and an angel to others.

"Let those that want more than they think they deserve pay the ultimate price for desire," Brother Correction sighs as he walks along a fence on a farmland. "But those that are willing to pay by themselves to receive some measure of happiness, let them be the ones spared of suffering."

He gazed upon the farmhouse that housed the little girl he came to see.

-x-

"Aah!" Grisha Yeager gasped, walking down the road in the woods; he had seen something that was unlike what he had been told he'd be shown after he came to possess the Attack Titan. "What was… What did you show me?"

All he saw was a young man that looked like Armin Arlert, being strung up by these…chains…and then ripped to pieces.

"Aaah!" Grisha shuddered; he wasn't sure whose memories these were, but whosever they were, they failed to explain what was going on and why.

-x-

"…For me?" Historia Reiss asks the stranger after he gives her the box.

"That's right," he answers her.

"What is it?"

"It's a puzzle box. A very special one. The only one of its kind. It comes with drawbacks, but what it gives in return for those that truly want only what their hearts desire…are worth the pain it causes for a time."

"This box…gives things?"

"Five things that can be grand to those with a need for them…and there is a sixth gift that is not to be desired unless the person that wants it is willing to do anything to have it. This book will tell you what you need to know when you're ready to play with it."

Brother Correction gives her a book with a dark blue covering decorated with six-sided star. While Historia had no idea what to expect from the book or the puzzle box, he wasn't concerned; she and others like her were not the type that desired for the wrong reasons and wouldn't squander the gifts that were there to be offered. In the end, the needs outweighed the wants.

"But…what will the box give me?" Historia asks him.

"There are five desires that people often need," he explains to her. "They are life, knowledge, love, sensation and resurrection. To desire life is to desire more time for yourself, however long that may be. To desire knowledge is to need answers to the questions you have. To have love is to have someone you want to love…love you back unconditionally…of their own volition. Sensation can be the return of feelings one used to be capable of, but haven't been to demonstrate for some time. And resurrection…is the gift of a life that was taken away…returned so that they may have a second chance to live again. Is there something you desire right now? Is there…something your heart longs for?"

Historia thought for a moment, wondering what it was she wanted, what her heart longed for.

"I…" She started when she realized something. "I wish my mother would care about me better."

"Your mother's love?"

"Yes."

"Solve the box's puzzle. Let it know what you desire…and pay the toll to receive the gift."

To be continued…

A/N: Lament, Lore, Laudarant, Liminal, Lazarus and Leviathan. What would you ask of the box and how far would you go to obtain that desire?