Creation began on 02-12-23
Creation ended on 02-13-23
Attack on Titan
Town of Choice, Island of Penance
Thirty years later
Thirty years. Thirty long, back-breaking, finger-bleeding, painstaking years. That was how long it took for the people who left Paradis Island to turn the ruins of a former place destroyed by the Rumbling…into a home of their own and where people could be more than just a soldier preparing to face an enemy that may never come. While most would have believed that thirty years to build and rebuild a disaster spot was impossible to achieve because of its new tenants being from the island nation of Paradis and they likely knew next to nothing about building a society, they were proven wrong by the fact that within such a time, the people had gotten much done. When asked what the town's name was, a sign was erected with the chosen name this place was meant to represent for its residents: Epilogés.
One of its most prominent buildings established by the former Eldians from Paradis was the Epilogés Museum of Paradis History, where what was salvaged from the island the people that used to call home was exhibited in order to encourage people to remember the people of the past that had represented the stability of Paradis.
"…Okay, now, I gotta be honest here," a young woman in her early-thirties expressed as she looked at a man who was looking at a display of a mannequin wearing the uniform of a Garrison soldier. "I think I've seen you in here every week for two years, and you always seem to be looking at the displays of the uniforms from Paradis' military factions. Are you a stalker?"
The man, also in his early-thirties, with a pale complexion that was a contrast to his dark hair, turned to face this woman that seemed to be a contrasting combination of her youthful appearance and gray hair.
"I used to hear these stories about a group of people from this island that were tasked with exploring the unknown world and reporting to their superiors on what they discovered," he responded. "The Wings of Freedom they carried a symbol of how the world could belong to them and not the Titans. I come here every chance I get when I scrounge up whatever money I can, just to learn about the Survey Corps, the Garrison and the Military Police among the other things that are here. I like the uniform of the Survey Corps, but I love the symbol used for the Garrison. Is this where the Guardian Unit was established? They're the successors to the Garrison of Paradis?"
"Some people believe this. It is the same as the Survey Corps being the inspiration for the Surveillance Corps. Are you looking to apply for either group?"
"No, ma'am. I'm just a man trying to make a living as a chef. I'm not a fighter."
"Who is? Where are you from? It's kind of obvious that you're not from here."
"I used to live in Hizuru, but that was sixteen years ago…before I chose to leave."
"And why did you leave?"
"My parents and I…didn't see eye-to-eye; they wanted me to be a leader…but I had a different interest that they couldn't accept. When I was given the choice to get with the program or face the consequences, I… Well, I made a choice that I had to live with each day for the rest of my life. Even if I did go back to Hizuru, I would be dead to my parents and everyone else that thought they knew me."
"That's a sad story. At least you're here. I hope you're able to get to where you want to be."
"Thank you. Right now, this is where I want to be."
"Unfortunately, the museum will be closing in the next twenty minutes."
"Oh."
"I'm starting to wonder why we do this every time now."
"Old habits, perhaps?"
"Heh-heh. Yeah. My place or yours tonight?"
"Mine? It's closer and you can't argue with the view of the shore."
If it had been anyone else, this conversation between them never would've happened. But these two had been seeing each other for a year after meeting one afternoon. There was no disgust, no doubt in initial objectives, not even a desire to cause the other pain. It was just two people involved with one another.
Some would've found this to be impossible because of the way most countries treated Eldians, but most people from other countries weren't as judgmental about them as the people before them had been. However, when they hear about the people still on Paradis, most thoughts were of the very likelihood that they were not enjoying the same period of reconstruction as the rest of the world was. And mainly because the Eldians that built Epilogés were the only ones from Paradis that lost their faith in the island's government that became different from what they understood before the Rumbling and its aftermath. That was more than forty-five years ago, and it still felt like the people left behind were picking up the pieces.
The so-called ambassadors were supposed to have establish peace between the island and the rest of the world, but these Yeagerists were a troublesome group because of their beliefs. This made any future attempts to establish any semblance of coexistence between the two unlikely so long as the Yeagerists were in charge of Paradis. The only benefit to their existence was the lack of Titans, but even that was only a fringe benefit to the current state of things. In the end, it seemed like the only thing that made sense to the people was that Paradis was isolated from the rest of the world by the mere fact that its own people, the ones that chose to remain on it, that is, were divided between preparing for a war that may never come…and making sure its people knew that when war came, there were only these two choices: Fight or die.
-x-
"…So…why a dance instructor, Kaede?" The gray-haired woman's boyfriend asked as he sat across the table from her in his apartment later that evening.
"I've always loved dancing," she answers him. "There's no need to worry about things when people are dancing down the street or at some site where there's something going on. And there are different styles of dancing that have been around for years. Who doesn't like dancing?"
"I…don't want to think of any that would dislike dancing."
"Why a chef, Shinji?"
"I've always felt at home when cooking meals. Some people believe that cooking is just a woman's job, but I've always preferred that over politics and military service. There's no conflict in cooking…except with trying to get the ingredients to blend together and create a taste that appeals to the tongue and an aroma that excites the nose. Who doesn't like cooking?"
"Like you, I don't want to think of anyone that doesn't like cooking."
Dinner was eaten in a peaceful silence between the two. They were aware of each other's past and personal problems, but they were too committed to each other to walk away from wherever this relationship of theirs was taking them. They found they had a lot in common since they started going out, which wasn't hard to understand when they stopped to talk about things; neither was big on acts of violence or into politics, they like cooking and going to the museum, and when it came down to it, they were admirers of beautiful sceneries, which were rare due to the damages to the environment caused by the Rumbling.
"So," Kaede spoke after putting her cup down, "have you heard anything from your parents?"
"No," Shinji answers her. "Nothing this year, and I keep hoping that I don't. They wouldn't approve of me seeing you, even though it was my choice."
"Surely, you have regrets about not hearing from them, don't you?"
"I do…but if I did see them again…and was reminded of why I left to begin with…I'd have to regret the fact that I did see them again…and it's not something I want to experience. It is as you've said to me two years ago, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Anyone can change…but not everyone wants to. They want others to change instead of changing themselves."
"Uh, Kaede, there was something I was meaning to ask you, but I didn't want to sound like I was being intrusive of your business."
"Oh?"
"The last time we went to your place, there was that…painting you were working on. I know you said it was just something you were dabbling in, but it looks rather…surreal. What is it?"
Kaede reflected on the painting he was asking about. It was still a work in-progress, but as of late, it was nearing completion. Only three weeks ago, she started on it; she didn't let it take up much of her time, but every time Shinji or her parents came over and saw it, it did stir their curiosity towards it. If there was one thing to be said about it, it was how nightmarish it represented in its theme. While she said it was just a fantasy, nothing more than an idea of what could've been…and maybe what had been…it did feel like something that happened in the past.
The painting so far depicted a large humanoid being in darkness, standing over a series of destroyed buildings, partially demolished and in flames. It resembled a Titan of sorts, but it felt more…unlike what previous Titans had been seen as. And there was something else when Kaede had finished painting its face; there was something about the being's eyes that felt…saddening and not like the more rage-influenced Titans of the past. When she was asked about it by her father, all she could really say was…the being was not a creature of malice…but one of despair, of grief.
"What are you calling it, dearest?" Her mother had asked her once.
"I don't have a name for it yet," she revealed; it wasn't a painting she intended to give to the museum or show it off at a gallery, just something she felt compelled to paint.
"Have you thought of a name for your painting yet?" Shinji asks her.
"No," she tells him. "Does it scare you? That I painted something like that?"
"No. It's just…I have never heard of a creature surrounded by this destruction…being upset by it. It looks like a Titan, but it's…not detailed enough to be seen in its entirety yet. It's surrounded by darkness and fire, as if hidden by mystery. It's a beautiful painting you're working on, believe me when I say so. It's just…"
"It feels like it's depicting a nightmarish event."
"Yes."
Kaede gives a small smile as she takes another bite out of one of her dumplings. Every other day, she felt like telling her boyfriend something else about the painting that she had yet to tell her parents about. Every other night, she would see this being in her dreams, standing in front of her with its left hand raised out to her, as if requesting for her to reach out to it. Many times, even in a dream, she was tempted to reach out to it.
"Shinji," she utters, "you know that I care about your feelings and opinions, right?"
"I do."
"I worry that…I'm going to ruin what we have."
"You won't push me away, Kaede," he tells her. "I'm too committed to turn away. You'd have to kill me to push me away. I'm not going anywhere."
-x-
It was a day of grieving on Paradis Island. The previous ruler had passed away. In the years she had attempted to help her friends establish coexistence between Paradis and the world, it barely got anywhere due to the conflicting interests of the Yeagerists, which grew more and more complicated with each year…and something else that had been complicating matters. This left Historia to ponder what made peace unlikely to happen…and how Frieda would be able to deal with the situation after she took the throne.
Standing before a grave that had been freshly established, long after the people that had gathered to give their blessings to the fallen queen, a man carrying a single white rose looked at the row of graves that represented the people that had fallen over the years.
"Excuse me, sir," he turned to face a young woman that was a spitting image of the one that came before her, "but did you know my mother?"
"I'm sorry, but no, I didn't," he answers her. "I'm just here to offer my condolences to those that have departed. Your Highness."
"I don't feel very regal, sir. But tell me something, please. The Yeagerists…do you know anything about them that I should probably know now?"
"The Yeagerists. I know enough not to want anything to do with them."
"That's…what I've been hearing sometimes."
"Because people are weary of them. For years now, they've had free reign over Paradis, a free reign that nobody thought to put limits on. And their belief structure? It's depressing. Fight or die is a selfish drive to project on others that may want more than just those two choices. I refuse to be drafted into a militaristic society that believes that you need to kill or be killed, which is why I live away from the towns and villages. I'd rather be a farmer or an architect than some soldier. But the Yeagerists… While some may believe in them, others don't see their faith as absolute. If anything, they are just a penance that Paradis no longer has the will to put in check. That's why the ambassadors failed. That's why the island is isolated and boats avoid it at all costs…except to try and free some people that would rather live elsewhere in the world than be drafted into service here."
"I don't know what to do about them."
"That makes two of us, ma'am. If you had a choice to leave and live or stay and fight, what would you choose?"
"I can't leave the island."
"But if you could?"
"If I could, I would. I'd leave this place and never come back."
The stranger set the rose down on Historia's grave and turned back to face her daughter.
"Since time without beginning, there have been those that thrive in the darkness," he told her, "but there are other things in the darkness that thrive more than most. Sometimes, in the absence of light, only the darkness can help make a difference to those in need."
"What does that mean?"
"In the darkest of turmoil, hope can come from the most unexpected of places…but only to those that truly desire it…or are able to seek it."
He then turns away to walk away from the graves and her.
"Lady Frieda, ma'am?" A sentry came over and got her attention. "Who were you talking to?"
"I…" She pointed to where she saw the man, only he wasn't there, anymore. "He's gone."
"I was informed of something concerning the Yeagerists, Your Highness."
"Oh?"
"They learned of this town across the ocean that had been established by people that used to live on Paradis called Epilogés. For years, they thought it was where Marley resided, only to discover that it was further away on a different continent in the east."
"And why should this concern us?"
"The Yeagerists are displeased by the discovery that Epilogés has received more support from other parts of the world to expand their influence regarding Paradis' past before their establishment. It appears that this town has a historical location that talks about the previous military formations."
"The Military Police, Garrison and Survey Corps?"
"Yes."
"But…why would they be upset about this? This is in a town that's not even on Paradis, so it shouldn't matter here."
"Technically, it doesn't matter, but for the Yeagerists, it runs the risk of damaging their reputation as the only military force on Paradis. They're planning to go to this town to erase its connection to the past."
"An unprovoked assault on a location in another place will run the risk of instigating a retaliatory response to their home territory. We have to stop them."
"Stop them? Your Highness, the Yeagerists are not like the Military Police, Garrison or Survey Corps; they don't listen to anyone's authority but their own."
That probably explains why my mother had a hard time keeping them in line.
-x-
Fluttering her eyes as she felt the sunlight on her face, Kaede awoke to the new day. Or rather, she thought she was waking to the new day.
"Aaah!" She gasped at the sight of the town she had lived in ever since she could remember being razed to the ground. "What's going on here?!"
"Unnecessary brutality," she heard a voice say to her from behind herself, and she turned to face them, "and inexcusable hatred towards only a piece of the past you and those around you have carried into the present."
It was the being from her painting, the one she kept dreaming about since before she started the painting, only…not shrouded in the darkness of the flames. No, this being was just darkness in the form of a humanoid. They stood about her height, maybe a little taller, was bare as a newborn, somewhat androgynous, but the strangest thing right now to Kaede was that this being, despite looking human…lacked any external genitalia. If this was a male or a female, there would've been an external genitalia…unless…
"Who…what are you?" She asked the being.
"I am…the silent promise forged by the light in the deepest darkness," they responded. "I am the right of the Eldians to choose their own path to walk down, for better or for worse. The guardian of their faith and desires. I am an embodiment of the heart, the soul, the will to want. I am rage against the undeserving degradation, the unwavering vindictiveness and lack of respect by those who create the unforgiving malice of human evil. I am the past and future of the all and the one. But most importantly… The most important…is what has yet to be realized."
"Yet to be realized?"
Blast! A building in the background exploded.
"This…this is just a dream," Kaede told herself. "This can't be…"
"Real?" The being questioned her. "You have no idea."
Blast! Another explosion occurred, and the being was exploded into pieces in front of the woman, covering her in dark bits and pieces.
"Aaaah!" She screams.
Kaede then awoke to find herself in bed beside her boyfriend on the left, covered in perspiration.
"Ah, Kaede?" She heard him say her name as he got up. "What is it?"
"Just a…bad dream," she told him.
It wasn't a lie…but it wasn't the total truth, either.
Sniff. Shinji's nose smelled something in the air.
"Is it just me…or do you smell something burnt?" He asks her.
She didn't answer him, but knew exactly what he meant by it; on her side of his bed, there were her pants from the previous day…and the leggings looked burnt.
"I should get going now," she tells him as she gets up.
"You sound like something terrible happened," he responds, worried.
"It might be nothing. I just…need to make sure that it's nothing."
"But if it is something, you'll tell me, right? I mean, I know that I'm not the best at anything, but…whatever troubles you, I want to be there for you."
As she pulls on her pants, she looks at him and smiles.
"What did I ever do to deserve you, Shinji?" She questions before she leaves out his apartment. You should've told him. Even if it was just a dream, you could've told him that what you saw and heard bothered you.
Stepping out onto the sidewalk, she ran up the street and towards the neighborhood where her parents resided. Unbeknownst to her, a man that was eating toast on the sidewalk while looking at a map looked up and saw her.
"She must be in a hurry to forget her shoes," he suspected, noticing that she was barefoot.
To be continued…
A/N: To those that could tell more than the story was currently saying, props for being able to see. There is more to come in this post-Rumbling story that is a shift in both directions.
