Chapter 54: The Truth of this World
"Commander Erwin!" someone cried out , he looked the fifteen meter titan in its large hungry eyes; he could feel the pressure of its fingers around his body as it began to crush him in its grasp, he felt himself fading into black before the titan was struck down and he himself was quickly lowered to the ground.
"Please… forgive me…." He muttered out as he was dragged away from the battlefield, a long line of scout soldiers and familiar faces stared at him, watching him with judging eyes all while the battle around them continued in its intensity. Many of those watching him were soaked in blood or missing limbs, some of them were faces from years gone by and others… from just a couple minutes ago. "Please… forgive me…." The faces of Gelgar, Mike, Dirk, Marlene, Klaus and Levi squad watched him… and as he was dragged further down the line he saw the faces of those wearing garrison uniform; Ian, Mitabi and Hannes all watching him.
"Why did we die, Erwin." A voice asked.
"What was it for…." Another asked as Erwin's vision began to fade to black just before he saw his own father before him, an iron brand mark on his chest.
Erwin quickly sat up from the bed he laid on as he caught his breath; he turned his head to both sides to find himself inside of a tent with no one with him, only a table of surgical tools and bandages. He moved out of his bed and walked towards the entrance, pushing the flap aside to look; outside was the same, completely deserted with not a soul in sight. Just rows of empty stretchers in front of him and piles of equipment and boxes scattered around.
He tried to hear out for anything, a word or a creek, but there was nothing. Only the whistling of the wind and the sound of his own footsteps crunching underneath the dirt as he continued to walk forward searching.
"What is this…?" he said out loud. "Hello is anyone there?" he tried calling out. He looked up to the sky, suddenly a normal grey day turned to night in a flash as he saw before him a night sky blanketed in stars decorated with streaks of emerald green.
"How is this…"
Suddenly the ground beneath him began to shake as the sound of a massive boom invaded the silence. Erwin was far to accustomed to the sound; he quickly turned around to now find himself in a land covered in nothing but sand for as far as he could see as in the near distance he spotted it, the colossal titan marching towards him.
He watched the titan for a few seconds, quickly picking up on the differences; this wasn't Bertholdt's colossal titan and he had observed Mina and Annie enough to know that a titan body will change based on the appearance of its holder.
He looked up to the face of the colossal titan; Bertholdt's titan face was mostly exposed flesh with strips of skin covering it, this titan face was mostly covered in pale skin at the front with only parts of its face on the side stripped of its skin with its teeth exposed. The rest of its body was covered in flesh and nerves however some of its ribs stuck out from its side with the front of its sternum sticking out of its chest.
The titan looked at Erwin with an expression that was frozen in seriousness.
"Who are you?" Erwin called out to the titan.
Suddenly he felt a hand grab his shoulder; he looked down at it at to the person standing behind him to see a person dressed in a surgical dress and a mask, as he looked at them he quickly realized that the environment around him had instantly changed and he was back just outside the entrance to Shiganshina with people walking around or lying in stretcher as a few of the medical team tried to get him back to the tent.
"Commander Erwin, you shouldn't be walking around right now." Said one of the medics as they lured him back.
"What happened?" he asked "How long was I asleep for?" he asked, he looked up into the sky; the orange haze of dawn covered the sky rather than the brilliant stars he had previously saw.
"You were out for about twenty minutes… before…" the medic stopped as their voice trailed off.
"Before what?" Erwin asked.
"Erwin." Someone called out; he turned his head to the side to see Levi walking towards him. "You should be asleep." He said "Mina was asleep for a few days when she-"
Erwin expression turned sharp as he quickly caught on to what Levi was going to say, suddenly the strange hallucination of the colossal titan made sense. "You transferred the colossal titan to me?" he asked, Levi nodded his head. Erwin then had a sudden urge to look down as he moved his hands in front of him. Two real human hands appeared before him, his hands. "I see…"
The team lured Erwin back to the tent where he sat on the bed as Levi stood by him "I guess I should fill you in on what happened." He said as Erwin sat with his head lowered and his hands clasped together. "Well I you didn't figure it out already, we won the battle against the titans and wall Maria and Shiganshina is now ours again." He stated "But… the bad news is the Beast titan got away, along with the armoured and two other shifters and so far we've counted about ninety people actually survived this fight." Erwin looked up, he could tell through Levi's hard expression he was frustrated by that "I'm sorry Erwin; I didn't kill that hairy bastard like you asked."
"Its fine, Levi" Erwin told him reassuringly "You and the others did what you could and in the end we achieved the goal we set out five years ago in taking back wall Maria. When the time comes we'll worry about the beast in any future encounter."
"Guess you're right." Levi replied "We may have beaten them back this time but there's no telling when they'll come back for round two."
"How are the others, what about the other officers?" Erwin asked. "Did they survive?"
"Hange and Nanaba are the only scout squad leaders who made it out of this but they're both resting at the moment, only Petra and I are left" Levi replied "For the garrison, only Rico is still alive." Erwin nodded his head solemnly.
"How are the Elrics, are they alive?" Erwin asked "Did Eren and Mina all survive?"
"Ed and Al survived but they're both injured; one of Alphonse's arms is broken and Ed has lost one of his eyes." Levi told him "Both Eren and Mina sustained minor injuries, nothing they haven't healed themselves from."
"I see." Erwin replied.
"You should also know, Alphonse questioned Reiner and got some information out of him before they managed to escape." Levi said, Erwin moved his body up straight, like a student listening carefully to their teacher or parent. "He said that the shifters are from a place called Marley and that they're mission is to 'save the world' as Reiner put it." Erwin breathed him deeply as if to control himself upon hearing the information.
"Have you explored the basement yet?" he asked.
"No, not yet, we're gathering a team to head there." Levi told him "It's going to be the two Shiganshina brats, Edward and myself."
Erwin stood up from the bed "I'm going with you." he stated.
"Like hell, just because you got your real arm back doesn't mean you're fine." Levi argued "You need to rest, leave it to us; we'll bring what we find back to you."
"That, I'm afraid, is not good enough." Erwin argued back "As I told you before, I came here to discover the truth of this world, to be there when it happens; so if you and the others are heading to that basement then I will come with you."
"I know what you said; I think it's a dumb decision." Levi retorted "Beside we still have to keep an eye on you, for all we know there could be some unknown affects to inheriting the colossal titan."
"You think I'd transform into a titan?" Erwin asked "I've read the reports from Hange on how a shifters powers work, rest assured my mind is solely focused on the moment we find out the truth of this world and what this 'Marley' is and why they are hell bent on trying to exterminate walled humanity." Erwin walked over to the flap of the tent "Beside, Edward did promise that if we won this battle, he'd bring me to the basement, wouldn't want him to go back on that promise." Erwin said with a fox's smile.
Levi rolled his eyes as they both headed out of the tent and towards the others. "Damn it, Erwin." He muttered "I'll trust your judgement."
Ed looked up the steps of a small slope going upwards; around him was the rubble of the houses that may have once made up a community of people; people, families, children, parents and others. At the end of the slope, just off to its side looked to be a house crushed by a massive boulder, similar to that of the boulder used to seal up Trost all those months ago; Eren and Mikasa's home.
The houses destroyed or left standing after the initial invasion of the titans five years or from their battle were swarmed by overgrowth as nature tried to reclaim the area with years of humanity's absence.
He looked back to Eren and Mikasa who stood just behind him, looking around staring at the street as if reliving a memory, Edward stayed silent knowing what Eren must have been thinking about.
"Should we keep moving?" Erwin asked as he walked up the steps.
"Yes commander…" Eren replied as both he and Mikasa began to move up the overgrown steps up towards the house crushed underneath the boulder. As they moved up to the steps Ed surveyed the destroyed house wondering if the door to the basement was trapped under the boulder before Eren moved closer, walking into the rubble before pointing at a space underneath a pile of rubble. "There." He pointed, that's the hatch to the basement."
"Alright then, everyone grab a plank of wood." Erwin ordered as he picked up wooden beam and inserted it into the rubble.
"Don't cut yourself now." Levi remarked.
The group all grabbed a wooden beam as they tried to push the debris off of the wooden hatch that was covered, the rocks sliding off and bits of wood snapping and breaking away from the combined effort, after a few minutes of work, the hatch is clear and the way is open.
Hange grabs the handles for the hatch and pulls the door to the side, opening it; before them was a straight staircase going down towards another door, they shone their glow stones towards the entrance. "This is it, the moment we've been waiting for." Edward stated, he looked towards Eren "You first."
Mikasa grabbed onto Eren's shoulder "Let's go." Eren walked down the steps as the others followed him just behind, in front of the wooden door placed on its handle was a lock. Eren reached for something around his neck, pulling out a key with a loop of string attached to it. Eren try to place the key into the hole, the key fumbled as it failed to be inserted. Eren began to panic.
"Whats wrong?" Levi asked.
"This key isn't for the door." Eren exclaimed as he continued to try and force the key in.
"Move aside." Ed said tapping Eren in the shoulder, Eren moved to the side as Ed clapped his hands together; he looked at the door, then the lock, then the door, then the lock… before kicking the door handle and forcing the wooden door open as it swung to the side. "It's open now."
The team walked into the room; inside a small desk met them with a small assortment of tools and books resting on it, the rest of the basement was filled with cabinets and shelves containing various other tools, books and vials of medicine. Cobwebs, mold and decay decorated the walls after years of neglect.
"Everyone spread out and look for anything that might be suspicions." Erwin said as he walked over to the desk, looking through the books laid out on the table. Ed walked over to the shelves full of books picking out some of them.
'The anatomy of the human body,' 'A history of pandemics,' and 'Importance of personal hygiene.'
Ed placed the books back on the shelves as he continued to look.
"This place looks like just a simple doctor's office." Erwin said looking at the room from the desk "As if he was trying to conceal something using normality as his disguise."
"He'd be stupid to leave anything out in the open for the interior MPs to find." Levi said as he examined the labels on the bottle.
Mikasa walked towards the desk, looking at its sides before noticing a small key hole hidden away. "Eren, there's a key hole here." She said. The group quickly huddled around the desk as Eren proceeded to open the hidden draw at the side of the desk; there was a timid click as the key turned.
"It's open." Eren said softly, he pulled the draw open to reveal… an empty draw. "It's empty?" he exclaimed in shock.
"Look closer, it's a false bottom." Levi said as he placed his hand on the bottom of the draw to reveal another level, he pulled the false bottom from the desk; revealing three books neatly tucked away with small rolls between them.
Erwin reached his hand into the draw as he picked up one of the books, looking at them wide eyed and in complete awe as Eren and Ed picked up the others "This is it…" Erwin said as he held onto the book, his voice trembling. "This is what we've been looking for…" Erwin turned to Eren "Eren, since this is your father's books, it is only right that his son should have the honor."
"Thank you, commander." Eren replied as he took the book from him, Ed watched them; both of their hands shaking slightly. Eren placed the book down on the table, he placed his hand on the cover, and so did Mikasa, they both looked at each other before looking back at the book.
Everyone's heart racing as an intense silence held onto the atmosphere of the room.
As they turned the cover of the book, the hard cover hitting the table with a soft pat, those watching were greeted with…
A single photograph on the front page of what looked to be a young man dressed in a suit standing next to a young woman dressed in a white dress sitting down on a chair with a child dressed in smart clothes sitting on her lap.
"What the…" Eren muttered as he picked up the photograph for a closer look. "What is this..."
"I've seen something like this before…" Erwin said as he looked at the photograph, he then turned to Edward.
"Wait a minute…" Ed said, he quickly fumbled around his pockets as he pulled out his pocket watch, opening it he pulled out his photograph of him, Alphonse and Winry, unwrapping it. He held out the photograph. "This is a photograph, almost like this one but without any colour." Ed and Eren handed Erwin the pictures as he examined them
"How are these made?" Erwin asked.
"With something called a camera." Ed replied "But that kind of tech is decades ahead of humanity-" the sudden realization fell on him like immense ton of bricks crashing onto him.
Marley... a nation…warrior…army rank…photographs, cameras and advanced technology… there was no way the titans have overrun this world if humanity was this advanced…
"Oh my God…" Ed muttered.
"Commander there's writing behind Grisha's photograph. " Mikasa said pointing at the picture.
Erwin flipped the photograph around to read the message "This is not an illustration." Erwin started, his own voice quivering "It is an imprint of reflected light, left on a special kind of paper. It is called a photograph." The voice was deathly silent except for Erwin "I came from beyond the walls, where humanity enjoys a refined existence…"
"Humanity has not perished."
He had never seen anything quite like it; standing upon a large wall overlooking the vast open space of the island of Paradis to one side, where the kingdom of King Fritz and his demonic army of colossal titans who guard his exiled devil spawn and on the other side the ocean which separated this island, that Marley had ironically called 'Utopia' and the rest of the world.
The last stronghold of the Eldian Empire and the dumping ground of Eldian dissidents to wonder around for all eternity.
A small convoy of ships sat at the docks of the harbor as they waited for the warriors to arrive.
"Whats taking them so long…" mumbled one of the soldiers standing on the wall frustrated. "You think that the full force of Marley's warrior unit would be able to defeat those devils."
"We were able to crush the enemy nations to dust with the warrior unit's titans." He replied.
"You got that right." The soldier replied.
Suddenly there was a loud roar nearby which grabbed everyone's attention, from the cliff face, as a titan came charging towards the wall in full sprint on all of its legs.
"Is that them?" another called out "Or is it just a random pure titan?" As the titan got closer they noticed three people holding onto its back and to its hair as they rode the titan towards the wall. The titan ran around the wall and to the docks. "It's them, the warrior unit."
"Everyone back to the docks!" yelled one of the officers; they all rushed down the stairs of the large wall and crowded around the titan, the warriors jumped off the titan as the cart titan shifter left it's titan's nape.
"War chief, what happened?" asked one of the officers "Where is the founder? Where the other-"
"Staff sergeant, I need to speak with Magath." Zeke said, there were traces of wounds on the body of the titan holders which were still healing. "We have to leave now."
The officer nodded their head "Everyone back on the ships!" he ordered "Start up the engines and get moving." They all rushed towards the boats, back into their positions as the engines of the ships began to hum loudly.
The person wondered around the interior of the ships, the pipes and echoes of footsteps concealing his movements as he approached the officer's quarter's one slow and silent step at a step. He could now the muttered echoes of those talking behind a closed door; he stood by the entrance of the door.
"So you failed to secure the founder?" Magath stated.
"Yes…" Zeke replied "Our enemy got the better of us in the battle."
"The better of you?" Magath said almost perplexed "The backward kingdom of Eldia's forces managed to outsmart you, the boy wonder, and whats worst you have now lost the colossal titan and the Female titan?"
"Bertholdt was defeated and by the time we could retreat he was already within the enemies grasps." Zeke explained "We could only rescue Reiner and Porco. And the enemy has managed to transfer the Female titan to one of their soldiers; we can only assume they'll do the same to Bertholdt…"
There was a sudden crash, as if something was kicked around the room "Damn it…" Magath exclaimed in a hushed growl "This is bad… if anyone finds out about this... This doesn't leave this ship, only the higher ups have to know about this, understand?"
"Yes, colonel." Zeke replied.
The person quietly listening behind the door slowly crept away from the door as he headed back to the hull of the ship with the others.
My superiors have to hear about this… He thought The Mid-East Alliance can now fight back against Marley.
Alphonse sat quietly inside the carriage; looking up to the sky as thought back to what Ed had told him, how sullen he looked and how disappointed his voice sounded
"Alphonse… there are other people outside the walls; humanity is all still there… it's just…"
"Uhhhh…." Moaned a person to his side, he looked to see two other people wrapped in bandages and covered in blankets. All around him were individual riders surrounding the convoy of carriages which went full speed back towards Shiganshina.
I can't believe this…
He looked around at everyone, all the people that his eyes could see and he began to wonder… what would become of them in the future, he tried to wonder a scenario where a positive outcome could be achieve, instead all he saw were people who knew nothing about the world outside…
A world that hated them.
Why did it have to be like this…?
"Trost district gates, nine hundred meters away!" yelled one of the riders, the message spreading among the convoy. Alphonse turned back to see the small line of wall Rose appear in the distance, growing larger the closer they got to it.
The cart quickly hit the clear dirt road heading towards the district entrance as the curved walls of Trost began to loom over them and the titan cages hanging off of the walls and the extended walls of the titan crusher.
"Fire the flares!" came an order, there was a clicking of metal just eking out of the clopping of hooves and the rolling cart wheels before flurry of bangs cried across them as a forest of green smoke littered the sky as they now approached the outskirts of the abandoned town that sat at the entrance of the district, the convoy came to a gradual halt as he stopped at the gate of Trost.
Just outside the gate, behind the thick walls of Rose the cheer inside the district could just be heard from outside, the rumbling of the gate being raised drowning out the sound until it came to a halt at the top.
Now the cheering and cries from inside the district were heard unimpeded; the convoy of carriages and horses passed through the gate and into the district to the mass crowds of people lining the roads; all around, people standing on the edges of the road, watching from the windows and even sitting or standing on top of the rooftops of nearby houses as they cheered out, waved colorful pieces of cloth and threw flower petals at them.
He caught sight of some of his friends getting hugged by the various onlookers; he noticed Jean getting squeezed by a middle aged couple who cried tears of joy, Sasha and Connie getting bits of flowers tossed at them and Marlowe getting ambushed by Hitch who slapped him on the head before hugging him.
Alphonse looked at the faces of those looking at him; some looked joyful with wide smiles on their faces, some wept into their hands and others ran to the cart trying to touch him as they thanked him before going to the others. Suddenly a rider rode their horse up to Alphonse carriage; Alphonse looked up to see Edward ride up to him.
The two looked at each other but neither of them were smiling, it was unnoticeable to the others who were swept under the sea of jubilation but it they were both apprehensive.
It was clear that for them this was meant to be the moment; the moment they succeed in their goal, beating back the titans and securing a future for humanity as they prepared to head back home victorious. This was mean to be the moment they reached the summit of the mountain they climbed; instead they found they weren't even close.
"Hey, Hey!" came a cry from the side of the road, they both looked to see a child sitting on a stack of boxes waving at them "It's them! Those are the Elric brothers!"
"They saved us, they really did save us!" said another.
"Heaven's angels have saved us from the titans and reclaimed our lost homes!"
It was a whisper… a murmur that no one else would have caught on but Alphonse did "We didn't save anyone..." Ed waved at the child trying to put on a smile.
"Brother." Alphonse spoke out, catching Ed's attention; he didn't really know what to say "What can we do now?" A question whose answer was a mystery to them.
"I don't know…"
Levi pushed open the door gently, the hinges squeaking slightly before closing it to a soft click; in front of him was Erwin sitting at his desk as he continued to read over Grisha's books, a notepad and pencil in one hand while the other flicked through the pages. Erwin looked up towards Levi who walked up to his desk "You still reading those journals still?" Levi said as he pulled out a chair and sat down in front of Erwin.
"Darius wants to know the details of the battle and our findings from the Yeager household's basement." Erwin explained "It's only wise I make note of all the vital information I'll need when presenting our report to the other commanders and the Queen." Erwin looks back down to the journal as he continues to write.
"Hange and I were talking to Eren and I thought I should let you know about it." Levi said.
"Thank you, please inform me." Erwin asked, not looking up from the book.
Levi stared at Erwin for a few seconds "Are you sure you're reading those books for the report or is it something else?" he asked, Erwin looked back up to Levi.
"What do you mean?" Erwin asks puzzled.
"It's been three days since the battle, since then you've been locked in your office reading those thing." Levi stated "I've seen the trays of food they leave outside your office; at best it gets half eaten but sometimes it doesn't get touched at all."
"Well I'm extremely busy; firstly I been drawing up plans to restructure the regiment after the recent losses and now currently trying to write a report about the aftermath of the recent battle-." Erwin replied.
"Don't give me that crap." Levi interrupted "I've seen this before, Erwin… you're chasing it."
"Chasing what?" Erwin asked confused.
"That feeling, the gratification, the feeling of getting that itch scratched." Levi stated "I've seen folks in the underground who had the same thing; whether it was drugs, money, sex or alcohol, it was like they were trying to get something that they had and then kept on doing either to get that moment when they first started or just to stop the pain." Levi paused for a second as the two looked at each other "And they never do, it just eats away at them."
Erwin looks down at the book and then closes it before letting out a deep sigh, he chuckled disappointingly "Damn it, Levi…"
"I saw how you were when you started to read those books for the first time." Levi said "I know that look you had; it's a look I've seen a hundred times."
"I'm sure you have." Erwin replied he said defeated "There's no point fooling you, is there?" Levi shook his head "You got me, Levi… I'm stuck." Erwin weakly threw his arms up in the air "I- I spent my life trying to get to that moment, everything I did was designed for it; joining the scouts, becoming a squad leader, becoming commander, every expedition I planned and every battle… I thought… it would have been easier to die but I kept dragging myself just for the moment I'd get to prove my father right… that there was a world outside these walls, his dream became my life and everything."
"If you're still feeling bad that you had other ambitions over humanity than don't be" Levi tried to reassure him "Remember what Ed said, everyone has ambitions but it all came together for humanity."
"I know that… it's just, I buried the guilt under my facade and my dream…" Erwin explained "Now that I've realized my father's dream, I realize I'm left with nothing but my lie" Erwin turned his head towards the window behind him "I know now that I have little to nothing dragging me forward now…"
"They couldn't keep going… unless they were drunk on something…" Levi could hear Kenny's words echo in his mind "They were all slaves to something…"
Levi stared at Erwin who looked out of the window, his body slumped over a bit as he spoke about it emptiness.
"Even him…"
"Maybe… Maybe it would have been better if I had died at Shiganshina." Erwin said turning back towards Levi.
Levi leaned forward and lowered his head a bit; looking at the desk as he held his hands together "Eren told us that he had memories from his titan." Levi told him "His dad's memories of his life before he came here, turns out titan shifters only live up to thirteen years after eating the previous one, we checked with Mina about Annie's memories and even she was able to confirm it." Erwin sat up as the implications began clear to him. "Needless to say; Family and friends will be feeling shitty over it but that means Eren's got eight years, Mina's got twelve years and several months and you've got thirteen years."
"I see." Erwin said.
Levi looked back up to Erwin "Maybe you feel like shit, maybe it would be easier to lay down and die and hand everything over to either Hange or Nanaba if you really had nothing to look to in the future." Levi stated "But knowing that you've got thirteen years, are you going to make those years count and lead us out of this hell?"
Both Alphonse and Edward stood outside the double doors to the hall as the other officers and officials stood with them, dressed in their smarter army clothes; some congratulated them on their victory while others tried to make some small talk with them before shutting them off as soon as they tried to talk about the recent battle.
Ed touched his eye patch, scratching at it lightly "Stop doing that." Alphonse told him "You might make it worst."
"I already lost my left eye, can't get more any worse than that." Ed remarked almost jokingly, Alphonse rolled his eyes.
"Brother" Alphonse said softly "How long are you willing to stay here?" he asked.
Ed was silent for a second before he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed "I don't know, Al." he admitted. "I guess a lot depends on what will happen."
"Whatever happens next, we have to make sure they're safe." Alphonse replied "We'll… never fulfil the promise to the Truth if we leave knowing all this."
"How long are you willing to stay?" Ed asked, looking at him.
Alphonse looked at the floor "As long as it takes." He said in a deep hush whisper.
"Hey." Came a call from a familiar voice, they both turned to see Mina walking towards to them holding a notebook.
"Mina." Ed said they both looked at her a bit surprised, before their expressions turned a bit glum. Mina mirrors their faces "They told you to attend to?"
"Yeah they did; I wasn't there when they searched Eren's basement but they said I had to be briefed on this because of my- Annie's memories." Mina explained
"How are you holding up?" Ed asked, trying to confront the elephant in the room.
"Im doing fine, all things considered I guess." She replied, she looked at the floor before sighing a bit, catching on to the meaning of his question.
"Mina, I'm so sorry." Alphonse said "If there's anything we can do we'll try our best, I know this must be har-"
Mina gently grabbed Alphonse uninjured hand; squeezing it "Please don't say sorry, just… you have nothing to apologise for, I wouldn't be here if for, well you know." Ed looked at them, their gaze and their touch; it looks like they no longer attempted to hide it.
Suddenly the double doors opened as guards dressed in their long brown coats bearing the emblems of the royal family and armed with muskets... and Amerstrian handguns strapped to their side. Both Ed and Alphonse both hid it well, the intense discomfort as they walked past the guards and into the hall.
They're already making them…
As they walked into the hall, they were greeted by a beautifully crafted wooden desk sitting on a colourful rug with Historia, sitting on a small throne while Darius and another official sat next to her, a white table cloth covering only her section of the desk with the three books and the photograph in a wooden frame. Behind her were the banners of the different military branches and in front of her desk were a long column of smaller desks lined parallel to the walls with three other desks placed in a front facing her; on the front was Levi, Erwin and Hange, in the middle was Mikasa, Eren and Armin and behind them were empty chairs.
Historia caught sight of them and politely waved at them, they raised their hand back before heading to their place as everyone else filled in the other seats. Ed sat to the left, Alphonse to the right and Mina in the middle of them as they quickly organised the papers in front of them, the room fell silent quickly as everyone settled in.
"Are we all settled then?" Darius asked looking around the hall "Good, straight to the business at hand; in this room are the ones who currently know about the existence of not only the three books but also any general knowledge of the world outside of our walls both directly from others or indirectly." He stated "We owe the retrieval of this information to the ninety one men of the combined scout and garrison expedition who came back to us and those one hundred and six scouts and sixty six garrison soldiers, their actions will be remembered for generations to come. We will find a way to honour them in time but today I wish to share the information gathered with the queen and help develop a joint strategy for the new threat we face." Darius turned his head towards Erwin "Scout regiment commander Erwin Smith, what do you make of the situation?"
Erwin stood up from his seat "Despite our victory over the enemy we have identified as the nation called 'Marley' in taking back wall Maria and stealing the power of the colossal titan, we of walled humanity find ourselves in a perilous situation." He explained in his usually calm and authoritative manner "If our enemies were just merely titans then we would be lucky… instead our enemy is greater than that, our enemy is humanity itself. The vast communities, regions, nations and empires that surround us… or to put it simply, our enemy is the world."
"On another world there are a group of people who are fighting a war for their survival; I've watched as they've courageously struggled against a powerful force they do not yet fully understand but who seeks to annihilate them."
The Truth's words echoed in their head; all that time they believed they were battling for humanity, believing that the Truth tricked them and put them in an impossible situation. Turns out the Truth never lied… but the task still remained impossible.
Is this what you meant? Do we have to protect the island from the world… do we have to face the world, even so how can we stop them…? Alphonse thought.
"According to these notes, we are the 'subjects of Ymir' a special race of a long deceased empire and nation that was capable of transforming into titans." Erwin continued to explain "These subjects of Ymir once ruled the world, and the world fears that we can still one day do so again." Erwin paused "That is why the nations and empires of the world seek to destroy us, and seek nothing less than our complete extinction."
"But why are you doing this?"
"To save the world…"
So that's what you meant, Reiner Alphonse thought But how can we… Alphonse looked around the room; his comrades, his close friends and the people he held close to him They were your friends too, how can you think we are your enemies?
Erwin continued to speak; the history of the king, the entrapment of the walls from those turned into titans forced to roam the lands and the exploitation of the Eldian people as weapons of war, the mission of Marley, the final message and instructions from an informant called Eren Kruger to Grisha and the mission to take the Founding titan.
As both Edward and Alphonse heard and understood the story of Grisha and the history of the world and the fear of looming genocide; they saw in their minds a single place, a single person and a single event
Ishval, Scar and the war of extermination; war, destruction, mass killings and vengeance all feeding into each other like an ouroboros.
In their minds they wondered; if to win this fight, if to protect walled humanity and return home with their mission completed; the thought of killing people, masses of them made them sick to their stomach.
Whatever happens, whatever we face… we can't let something like that happen, we can't give into that.
Ed leaned up against the pillar as he watched the hall slowly fill up; he looked at the faces of the people in the large room, all of them were survivors of the battle, many of them bandages covering their wounds, missing limbs and crutches and some sitting in wheel chairs. Ed once more touched his left eye, the black eye patch now covering it. He turned his head to the window, the sunlight gleaming through the three tall windows filling the hall with light.
Well this will be more recognition than I ever got as state alchemist Ed thought half jokingly though I'd prefer to have an eye than a medal.
He looked back, his brother and their friends chatted away with each other, mixing in with the general noise in the room; his eyes scanned the room as he spotted Marlowe walking towards them, Hitch grabbing onto his arm as it looked like she was lightly teasing him.
"Hitch, stop it." Marlowe whined silently.
"Don't act like that." Hitch replied "Why are you ashamed of me?" she asked playfully.
"No…" Marlowe admitted.
"Good, now." Hitch gently pulled Marlowe's head down and kissed him on the cheek "Don't mess up or I'll make fun of you." she joked as she broke off from him and went over to a group of MPs.
Marlowe scratched his head a bit before he caught sight of Ed, who was staring at him, his eyes scanned over to the side to see others watching him to; the other members of Levi squad watched along.
"How much of that did you see?" he asked, it was clear he was embarrassed.
"All of it." Sasha replied trying not to giggle at him.
"I was wondering how long it would take." Connie remarked "Didn't think it would be that soon."
"So when did you realise it?" Jean asked.
"Probably when I thought I was going to die." Marlowe replied before chuckling himself.
"Well you're no longer the second densest thing I've worked with then." Ed joked. "Though Eren still has the top spot."
"Whats that suppose to mean?" Eren questioned a bit annoyed. "I'm not someone who's completely oblivious to things." Armin covered his eyes with his hand as he massaged the bridge of his nose "Right Armin, back me up here."
"Don't listen to them, Marlowe." Mina said "I think it's cute that you two got together, c'mon tell us more." Marlowe joined the group as they began to continue chatting.
Ed stayed quiet, his thoughts wondering back to home in Amestris, to Winry and the others and the door within the realm of the Truth; he thought back to that land of sand and the starry night sky that he saw through the crack of the door.
What is that place? What's in there? And who was pushing on the other side of the door?
His eyes then fell onto someone approaching him; he looked to see Erwin and Nanaba, the sleeve of her jacket's left arm pinned to its side. "Commander Erwin and Squad Leader Nanaba" the others behind him turned to her and saluted them.
"At ease." Erwin replied after he saluted back.
Nanaba placed her right arm to her chest before lowering it "it's good to see you all doing well." She said looking at them.
"It's good to see you're up again." Jean said "Though…" his eyes turned to her missing arm.
Nanaba clutched the empty space where her arm should be "It's fine, I have an appointment with an engineer later." She replied "It won't be the same but a new metal arm will be… interesting to say the least."
"It is certainly an experience." Erwin stated.
"Commander Erwin, Squad leader Nanaba." Called a voice from their side, they all turned to see a small group of scouts looking at her; their faces were familiar, some all too familiar to Ed and Alphonse "Squad leader Nanaba, it's great to see you're up and about." Floch said "We… those of us who survived Utgard castle with you and Gelgar, are happy to see you're alive help lead us through this." He said "And you too, Commander Erwin, we're happy to see you made it too."
"I couldn't imagine a future facing the enemy we now know without your leadership." Said another.
"We know you'll help lead us out of this hell." Said another.
"Commander Erwin will know how to solve this." One spoke among the group.
"With the colossal titan they won't know what hit them." Cheered another.
"Those damn people from Marley will pay for what they've done." Someone encouraged "Commander Erwin will make sure of that!"
Erwin was silent for a few seconds as the group looked at him, keeping a calm and professional look about him as he listened "I'm grateful you all feel that way." He replied. "I'll continue to do so."
"Hey, you all." Called out a familiar voice, they never raised their voice yet the command in their voice didn't need it, everyone turned to see Levi and Petra "Enough stressing out the Commander, go bug someone else."
The group began to disperse before they could all spread out; as they moved away Ed caught Floch looking at him, the two locked eyes. There wasn't any hatred on his face as Ed has usual seen, instead just apprehension. Floch then began to walk up to him, Ed heard the sound of footsteps next to him as Alphonse stood beside him, Floch saluted them "Thank you, you two really helped us back there."
"Floch was it?" Alphonse asked "You have to know; I- maybe I could have done more at Utgard but we didn't ask anyone to treat us differently, we're here to serve the people, to help humanity."
"I understand that." Floch replied. "We all have to make sacrifices in the future and I know that without you two we may have lost." He turned to Ed "Edward, it was the right decision to use those men as cover for you, it brought us our victory… but… know what we know now, it will still be up to you to make sure that it they and Hannes don't die in vain."
"Listen, you don't need to tell us something we already know." Ed stated trying to hide the irritation in his voice "We know the expectations on us, what people expect of us; honestly people need to stop telling us that we have a huge responsibility. We know."
"Then should Marley come back, should they invade us with their armies rather than the titans, will you help us crush them?" Floch asked, it was almost as if he was trying to get them to join a call to arms. "If to protect walled humanity will you use your alchemy to crush those nations of the world who wish for our extermination?"
Both Ed and Alphonse were silent as the question lingered in the air "What you're saying, we can't do something like that." Alphonse replied "You realise what you're asking? Protecting walled humanity shouldn't mean destroying other countries."
"You think just killing them will bring peace? Trust us when we say that any kind of peace that requires crushing people is hostile at best or at worst a bomb waiting to go off." Ed stated.
The feeling between them became stand-offish once more "I see. Maybe people keep telling you what's expected of you because you two refuse to see it." Floch said, he turned his back to them and walked away.
After a few more minutes Historia arrived, standing on the elevated platform in front as the hall full of the veterans and guests quickly lined up into neat sections, the light from the windows casting a large shadow of the steps before her; first were the surviving officers from the battle receiving their awards, kneeling before Historia.
Section by section groups of ten would stand up and kneel graciously before her on the platform as she placed the medal around their collar and placing a kiss on her hand. When it came time, Levi squad walked up to the steps as the section of survivors from the attack wave left.
They knelt down before Historia, their hands placed over their hearts as she gracefully picked up and presented them the medal; Ed watched as Alphonse's medal was fasten under his collar before and kissing her hand.
What must we do? Ed thought as Historia walked up to him, he bowed his head to her It was easier back when the goal was just sealing up the wall… now it's just seems unreachable. Ed raised his head as Historia placed the medal under his collar I want to go home but… he looked at Historia as she offered her hand we can't leave them here to die… He gently placed his lips on her hand.
How long do we have to stay here for?
He stared at the ground, continuing to contemplate the scale of the challenge before them.
"Eren, what's wron-" Historia said.
Both Ed and Alphonse turned their heads to look at him, a whispered gasp escaped them; Eren stared at Historia's hand with gritted teeth and eyebrows forced together in a clear look of anger and frustration.
"Eren, whats wrong?" Ed whispered.
Eren turned his head to look at them, the expression stayed the same at first before his mouth started to frown and his face soften to disappointment and sadness.
It had been one year on since that fateful battle of Trost and now the scout regiment were free to roam into the lands truly beyond the walls.
The mass formation of scouts rode forward through the uncharted lands; to the veterans survivors looking around they were almost perplexed by the lack of disruption to the expedition, not a titan in sight nor a single flare to warn them of one as they passed through a sparse woodland area, barring themselves the vast space around them.
"It's like Hange had predicated."Erwin stated "It seems the entirety of those titans on the island had moved into wall Maria during the past five years; they are now either dead or captured."
"Commander should we change course?" asked one of the aides. "We should head towards clearer grounds."
"No we will continue using the planned route." Erwin responded "All squadrons press forward!" the formation continued on; through the uneven slopes and the sandy terrains, hours of travelling. As they reached over to flatter lands, red flare was blasted into the sky, catching everyone's attention. "Squadrons, converge on position!"
They continued to ride up towards the red flare, a gathering of scouts surrounding what looked to be a five meter titans lying on the ground with its face lying in the dirt, its small arms trying to pull it forward.
Ed and Alphonse broke through the mass of people towards the titan "The trail" Alphonse pointed "it's already covering over; this titan has been trying to crawl its way to the wall for a long time."
Ed jumped off his horse and next to the helpless titan, he spotted Eren standing near its head "This titan… it's an Eldian like us, a person who was sent here as punishment." Ed clapped his hands together as he placed them onto the ground; a cage forming around the titan enclosing it.
"Put some wheels on the cage, we can bring it with us when we head back." Hange advised as a team quickly slipped under the cage a platform before attaching on the wheels, tying it to some horses.
"We should keep moving." Eren said as he jumped onto his horse, he looked at Erwin "We're close, commander."
Erwin nodded his head "All squadrons, redeploy the formation!" he ordered "Press forward!" the expedition continued; as they rode forward the ground underneath them once more became sandy as dark rocks littered the landscape, passed the constant galloping of horse hooves the sound of seagulls overhead filled the air.
The sound of water soon followed; as they passed the edge of a large rocky cliff, a tall white wall came into sight both Ed and Alphonse stared at it, not in wonder as they did the large walls of Trost but uneasiness and anger. The wall that Grisha had described in his books, the one which Marley used to throw the Eldians off of before they were transformed into titans, the formation rode up to the hill, stopping on the edge to see it…
The vast and endless ocean before them at looked to cover every inch of the horizon in front of them, white clouds cast shadows of it as the sun shun down on it; the scouts lined across the edge of the cliff looking in wonder, amazement and complete awe at the sight of it.
Erwin pulled out his flare gun before then firing a shell into the air, a green trail of smoke swirling into the sky "All soldiers, dismount and set camp!"
After a couple minutes of unpacking, the scouts quickly heading to the beach below the cliff; erecting tents around the area as they begun to set up their first base on the coast. Erwin sat on a small rock, just on the edge of the beach watching everyone, his eyes drifting towards the horizon "It's there… it's all really there, father." He muttered "You were right, you were right…" he didn't notice it but a small tear ran down his cheek.
"As far as the bases we built previously, this is probably the nicest place we settled in." Petra remarked as she stepped into the water, her trousers rolled up, she turned around "Hey Corporal, you plan on joining your friends there?" she said pointing to Levi squad and Marlowe who were splashing water at each other.
"Yes, squad leader." Jean replied "Thanks Petra." He said with a smiled as he began to roll up his trousers before running into the join them.
"Hey Moblit!" Hange yelled "Look out!" she tossed him a seashell which he caught hesitantly "That looks really cool doesn't it."
"Squad leader, I'm not your second in command anymore." Moblit reminded her "You need to be more careful." Nifa began to chuckle as she watched them.
"Sorry captain, old habits die hard and I didn't want to disturb Armin." Hange replied, she turned to Levi "Oh Levi!"
"You throw one of those things at me and I'll drown you in that water." Levi threatens halfheartedly as he watched them. "You don't know where that's been."
Mina splashed water at Alphonse playful "Stop it." He laughed as he tried to cover himself as the two stood ankle deep into the water. Alphonse quickly began to splash water back at her. The play fighting become more intense as they tried to throw larger handfuls of water; Alphonse moved closer to her ready to throw more water before he stumble and bumped into her, falling on top and soaking her in the water, they both looked at each other surprised "S-sorry!" he said.
Mina had a devious smile on her face before she pushed him to the she and moved herself on top of her, soaking him in the water "Now we're even." The two laughed.
Ed watched them for a second before turning away towards the edge of the ocean which looked to touch the sky as the sunlight gleamed off the surface of the water and the sea wind blew, he removed his band, letting his hair loose from his ponytail and rest upon his shoulders and back. The sound of everyone talking and playing filled his ears; he turned to the other side to see Mikasa and Armin talking to Eren as he pointed out towards the horizon.
He walked up to them, catching their attention "I know I told you guys that we couldn't join you for this moment but honestly… I'm happy I am." He said Mikasa and Armin smiled at him sadly; he turned to Eren who had a look of disappointment on his face.
Eren turned to face him, a small smile on his face "Yeah…" he said looking down "You did agree with the commander that after sealing Maria you could leave, you and Alphonse still planning on doing so?" he asked.
Ed sighed through his nose as he looked back out into the ocean "No, we still have a lot more to do."
Hello everyone,
Hope you're all doing well just wanted to say a big thank you to you all. When I first started this I never expected to get this far or have this much support, over 500 people follow or favorite this story and we're not that far away from the end.