"The creative adult is the child who survived."
Ursula Leguin
Chapter 11: Tinkering and Training
A large airship with a rotor on the back and metal wings was flying in the sky. Its destination was close, and the pilots determined their exact time of arrival would be two more minutes. Throughout the entire voyage, the passengers were telling stories to pass the time. And now, a young boy was telling his story.
"So after Sasha took one look at that meat, everything went to Hell. Instead of her hands, she used her mouth to grab it before anyone could get some for ourselves. I didn't see it, but I heard it took about five minutes for Jean and Connie to make her share."
Eren's friends and Dina, who had her own reasons for joining them, laughed at the story. When the laughter died down, Dina shared a story of her own. "Have I ever told you that I once tried working at Carla's farm?" she asked. "Her parents hired me when there weren't many jobs in town. So, like Cinder, my first job was to clean the stables. Just as I was sweeping around the back, a horse began to nibble on my head, apparently mistaking my hair for straw. I never worked in there again."
Everyone laughed again, and Nora sprang off her seat. "Ooh, ooh! I got a good story!" she said as she looked at everyone. "So... there we were... in the middle of the night."
Ren turned to Nora. "You told me it was day," he corrected her.
Nora ignored him as she continued her story. "We were surrounded by Ursai."
"Ursai? You told me you saw Beowolves."
"Dozens of them!"
"Two of them."
"But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora sat down with a proud smile on her face. Ren sighed as he explained Nora's "story."
"Nora's been having this dream since she came back home," he explained. "I guess she wanted to make it sound interesting."
Everyone laughed once again, although it took a few seconds for Ren to loosen up and laugh at Nora's exaggerated dream. Cinder stood up and prepared to share a funny story of her own, but a voice cut her off.
"Could you all keep it down?!"
"..."
They all turned around to see a stretcher on wheels in the back of the airship. And on that stretcher was Mercury Black, who was trying to ignore the pain in his legs by sleeping. And unfortunately for him, the laughter was preventing him from doing so. Dina put a finger to her lips and watched the children nod before she moved to Mercury's bed and gently stroked his head, attempting to comfort the hurt child.
"I'm sorry, Mercury," she said sympathetically. "We'll be landing soon, so you just rest. We'll all be quiet."
Mercury took a deep breath before closing his eyes. "...Sure," he said. "Whatever."
It had been about two days since the incident with Marcus Black. The doctor at Kuroyuri had been working day and night to arrange a trip to Mistral's hospital for the young boy, since he couldn't help with Mercury's legs. Now that time had come, and the children volunteered to travel with him.
Eren initially wanted to stay with his mother, to help her with anything she needed after the attack. However, Carla insisted that she would be fine and that Eren should go with his friends. And with her farmhands all working at the farm once again, Carla would have more than enough help in case anything happened.
Besides the pilots, Dina Fritz was the only adult on the airship. She volunteered herself to accompany Mercury to Mistral, even though she had another reason for being in the city.
The airship landed and the doors opened to reveal the backdoor of what appeared to be a hospital. Two uniformed men suddenly rushed onto the ship and moved the stretcher. Everyone began to run after them as Dina explained what happened to him.
"Our town's doctor wanted me to tell you that he was able to clean the wounds and prevent any infection," she said. "Other than giving him two splints and some medicine for the pain, there wasn't anything he could do."
"Don't worry, ma'am," said one of the orderlies. "The best surgeons in the Kingdom are waiting right now."
Mercury groaned in pain, causing Dina's heart to ache. "Should I go in there? He doesn't have anyone to take care of him."
"Ma'am, the only thing you can do is wait with the other children. We'll take it from here."
Mercury's groans became louder, and he impulsively grabbed Dina's hand. When she saw what was happening, Dina gently gripped his hand and formed an embrace. Other than being taken to get help, this embrace was perhaps the only kindness Mercury received in his life.
"You'll be fine, Mercury," Dina said. "It's going to be okay."
"..."
He didn't think about it before, but Mercury was starting to feel scared. He had no idea what was going to happen or what the doctors were going to do to him. And his fears only grew when one of the orderlies prevented Dina from going into the operating room. Alone, all the boy could do was try to calm himself by breathing. The rest was up to whatever God was watching him.
Dina sadly took a seat in the waiting room, where the rest of the children were waiting for her. Cinder appeared to be just as worried about Mercury as Dina was, since she still felt responsible for his condition.
Fortunately, Cinder had Eren to help her.
"It'll be okay," he said. "They can help."
"That's right," said Dina. "Mercury has the best doctors now."
"..."
Once he saw that Cinder was smiling and Dina was staying with her, Eren walked over to Nora. "Hey, Nora," he said politely. "We haven't had a lot of time to talk. How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay," she said, showing Eren her wrists. "The rope burns stopped hurting this morning. And Ren's parents have been talking about it with me." Nora turned to Ren. "And so have you." She pulled him into a hug. "Thanks for coming for us."
Ren smiled and returned the hug. "I'll always be here for you, Nora," he promised.
"Me too," said Eren, causing Nora to smile.
"Me too," said Cinder, who walked over to Nora as well. "You see? As long as we stick together, we'll be okay." Cinder looked to Eren and Ren. "Right?"
"Right!" the two boys said with passion. All four of them knew in their hearts that as long as they were around each other, things wouldn't be as bad as they seemed.
"Excuse me?"
The children and Dina turned to the sound of the voice to see a tanned woman with dark hair, who was wearing a dress shirt and blue dress pants. Everyone knew that she didn't look like a nurse or doctor, so they could only guess who she was. The woman turned to Dina. "Are you Dina Fritz?" she asked.
"Oh, yes," Dina said as she stood up and shook the woman's hand. "You must be Detective Montoya. I'm sorry we had to meet here, we have a-"
"Never mind that," the police detective commanded. "I'm here about the allegations you told me over the phone. I hope you realize how serious it is, accusing a Councilman of what you told me."
"I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. And I have proof, if you're willing to listen."
"...Alright." The detective walked into a more secluded part of the waiting room, one with a door. "Let's talk."
Mercury's eyes were beginning to open, slowly but surely. As he was waking up, he could still feel some pain in his legs. It wasn't as serious as before, but the pain was still lingering. It wasn't morning, but a light was shining on Mercury's face, and it had woken him up. It wasn't sunlight, it was something blue and not very warm. It was the color of the TV, and it was on the news channel.
And the news had a very special story to share.
"Reports have just arrived that Councilman Charles, has been arrested early this morning. Allegations about kidnapping and selling women, both young and old, on the black market were made against him, and with the large amount of evidence against him, it seems unlikely he'll be released anytime soon. After a search on his property was conducted, authorities found a hidden room that seemed to act as a den for child pornography. Along with that was a young malnourished girl, who was immediately sent to the hospital. The evidence also pinpointed that Councilman Charles is also known as 'King Charlemagne', Mistral's most wanted human trafficker. The staff of the Mistral Watch are praying for the young girl's recovery. In other news, the Grimm activity in Argus..."
Mercury was having a hard time hearing the rest of the story, since he was still tired. He didn't understand everything he heard, especially that he had a role to play in the Councilman's arrest.
After Carla, Dina, and Nora had been rescued from Marcus Black, Li led some of his hunters towards the broken cabin. They had been told of Marcus' demise, but they wanted to make sure there was nobody else was with him. When they arrived, all they found were Beowolves and human bones.
Among those bones was a Scroll, a device that had every detail of Marcus' mission and arrangement with the man he had been working with. Dina volunteered to bring it to the proper authorities, which was how she met Detective Montoya earlier. And when she did, an arrest was made and a child was rescued.
All because Mercury was brave enough to stand up to his father. And now, he was about to receive the help he needed.
"Ms. Fritz, turn that off! He's awake!"
The television in Mercury's hospital room turned off and Eren and Dina moved closer to Mercury's bed. Dina smiled when she saw his eyes were fully open. "Hello, Mercury," she said. "How are you feeling?"
"...They... still hurt," Mercury groggily said, being careful to lay absolutely still. "What... What did they do?"
Dina cleared her throat before answering, wiping her forehead to clear the sweat from her nerves. "Well... they looked at your legs, they needed to see what happened to you. Now, they're going to see what they can do."
"We wanted to wait here with you," said Eren. "Cinder, Nora, and Ren are still here, they just got hungry."
Mercury had a lot going on for him right now. Knowing that his father wasn't going to come back anytime soon, being unable to walk, having all these new people around him... it wasn't a very normal time for him right now.
"Why... are you helping me?" he asked. That was perhaps the one thing that wasn't making a lot of sense at the moment.
But Dina was more than happy to clarify. "Helping children is something I've learned that I'm good at," she explained, thinking about her time with Eren and Cinder. "And I don't have a reason to stop now."
"Same here," said Eren. "And you helped us, too. Something like this happened to me before. A friend of mine and I helped each other when we needed it most. Now it can happen again."
Mercury still had a little trouble understanding their reasons, but that didn't stop him from saying one other thing.
"Well... thanks."
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
A soft knocking on the door caused everyone to turn towards another doctor. "Sorry to bother you, but I was hoping we could talk outside," he said. "And we're bringing someone else in now." The doctor turned to Mercury. "Sorry, young man. I hope you don't mind sharing a room."
Mercury shrugged. "If they'll be quiet, it'll be okay," he said.
The doctor nodded and held the door open for Eren and Dina. As they walked out and waved to Mercury, Eren and Dina saw another child in a wheelchair being sent into Mercury's room. Dina couldn't stop staring at her, she looked so tired and so hungry. And she also looked very familiar. "Oh, dear," she said softly. "Isn't that the child they found at that Councilman's house?"
"Yes," said the doctor. "Physically, she'll be fine. She just needs some rest and food. But I may reconsider sending her to the psychiatric ward. I can't imagine what that monster did to her."
"Neither can I." Dina looked back to the doctor. "What about Mercury?"
"Well... that's something else I'm concerned about." The doctor put on a pair of glasses he had in his pocket and looked at a clipboard. "His legs took more damage than we thought. Fortunately, it's been long enough to rule out that no bone marrow got into his bloodstream. That would have been bad."
"How bad?" Eren asked.
"Bad enough that... nothing could save him."
Dina frowned when she heard that, but still remained hopeful. "But you can do something now, right?" she asked.
"Well... that's something we need to talk about." The doctor looked up from his clipboard. "The report your town's doctor provided helped us see what the extent of his damage was. His kneecaps and tendons are capable of healing when given the right treatment, but there are some factors to take into consideration."
"Such as?"
"Mostly time. With his kneecaps and tendons healing, the process alone could take a couple of years. Add some physical therapy in the mix, it would take even more time before he can walk properly again."
"But still possible."
"Oh, yes. More than possible." The doctor put away his glasses. "But, Ms. Fritz, if I may be blunt... a process like this, the number of surgeries we'll need to perform, it won't just take time. I'm afraid I need to ask you about-"
"I see." Dina looked down. "It'll be expensive, won't it?"
"I'm afraid so. If you can't afford something like this, there's a second option, one I would probably prefer. We can amputate his legs and gain a prosthetic pair in a few-"
"No, no, no!" Dina cried. "I can't tell him we have to take his legs!"
Eren also didn't like the idea. "Why does this matter?!" he asked. "Money really shouldn't be a problem here, there's someone who needs help!" Back home, soldiers who were injured by Titans rarely had to pay for their treatments, and his father didn't ask for too much money when he worked as a doctor.
"I'm sorry, young man," the doctor replied. "I hate the idea of medical bills as much as you do. But I'm afraid this hospital isn't exactly a charity organization." He could see that the two of them were having trouble dealing with the situation, so the doctor decided to give them some time to think.
Dina slumped into a chair. She put a hand on her forehead as she pondered the situation she had found herself in. Eren was also a little overwhelmed, so he decided to talk with Dina. "Is it that bad?" he asked calmly.
Dina sighed before she answered him. "I don't know what to do, Eren," she said. "Like the doctor said, this will cost too much money. The costs are more than I make in a year. But... I can't just leave that boy like that."
Eren began to think of ideas involving money. "What about Mom?" he asked. "She told me her farm makes a lot of money, maybe she can help."
"I could ask her," Dina said. "But I don't know how much she can spend."
"I thought she said her family's farm was rich."
"Well, rich by the outskirts' standards, Eren. The capital is a different story."
"Oh."
Eren didn't exactly understand the economic differences between Mistral and the villages, even though he understood how a wall had been built between the two societies.
"But what about the other idea the doctor had, about... prosthetics?" he asked next. "What's that?"
Dina wiped her brow. "An invention in modern medicine," she explained. "Prosthetic limbs are made by people to replace lost arms and legs."
Eren was surprised to hear this. "Wait a minute. People can make new limbs?" He leaned a little closer. "Like I can with a Titan?"
"Not exactly." Dina was whispering as well. "I remember learning that Titans can replace limbs like you said. But prosthetic limbs are usually made from metal. I don't know how they work, but they can act like a real arm and leg."
Eren was beginning to understand. "And they work? They could help Mercury?"
"Yes, but the cost is still high. And I don't want him to know we may have to take his legs." Dina started to tear up. "But you might be right. Let's call Carla and see if-"
"Oh, there you are."
Dina and Eren looked up to see Detective Montoya walking towards them. Once she saw Dina rub her eyes, she stopped. "I'm sorry, am I... interrupting something?" she asked.
"Um... no, it's fine," Eren said. "Do you need something, Detective?"
"I just wanted to give your mother this."
Dina stood up. "Oh, Eren's not my-" She stopped talking when she looked down at an envelope the detective was holding. "What's this?" she asked.
"King Charlemagne was on the Kingdom's Most Wanted list for years," Detective Montoya explained. "Who would've thought he was a Councilman? Anyway, there was a huge reward for anyone who could find him. And since we couldn't have done it without you, the chief figured the reward belongs to you." As Dina took the envelope, Rosa Montoya left without a word.
Eren looked back at Dina. "Huh," he said. "I didn't know about that."
"Neither did I," Dina said before she opened the envelope. "But I guess we should see-"
Dina looked at the contents of the envelope, which was a check for a certain amount of Lien. Eren looked as well, the sight causing him to fail to notice Cinder, Ren, and Nora walk towards them.
"Hey, Eren," she said. "Hi, Ms. Fritz. How's Mercury doing?"
A tear fell down Dina's cheek. "He'll be just fine, Cinder," she insisted. "I promise."
Nora walked up to Dina and looked at the small check she was holding. "Wow! That's a lot of zeroes!"
With some of the money that Dina had earned, surgeries for Mercury's legs went underway. The doctors were mostly focused on his tendons and bones, making them stay in the right place with special casts. Mercury was given anesthesia throughout each one, and would always wake up to see doctors around him. Carla, Dina, and the children would also visit him from time to time, along with the little girl he shared a room with.
One day, a few hours after Mercury came out of surgery, the girl had begun leaving her room with a nurse. The nurse would always put her in a wheelchair and walk outside, but she was having trouble today.
"Darn it," she said as she tried to unfold the wheelchair to no avail. "We need to get more wheelchairs." Turning to the girl, the nurse told her that she would try to find another one, if they weren't already in use. So she put the broken chair next to Mercury's bed and left the room.
Mercury was thinking about getting some rest, but he instead found himself looking at the girl next to him. She seemed to be heartbroken; the idea about not going outside seemed to bring her spirits down. Mercury had seen faces like that when he was working with his dad, on the victims he had to see for himself. Now the girl was wearing the same face, almost like she was begging for help. But given the fact she didn't talk much, it didn't seem likely that she was going to ask.
"And it's pointless, anyway," Mercury reminded himself. "If I help, I'm just gonna get-"
That was when Mercury remembered that he was alone. His dad was nowhere near him, not even on the same level of existence anymore. Anything he did right now, right or wrong, his father wouldn't be here to punish him for it. He could do whatever he wanted without fear of being beaten.
And since he had nothing better to do, looking at the wheelchair wouldn't hurt anybody.
The girl couldn't stop staring at the evening sky. It had been so long since she saw daylight, since she had been given something decent to eat. When she realized that things at the hospital would be nothing like that basement, she made a promise that she would enjoy everything the outside world had to offer. But now, seeing the sunlight once again was most likely not going to happen.
"Okay, it should be good."
The girl turned around and gasped. Mercury had carefully moved across his bed to get a better look at the wheelchair. When he saw that one piece was jammed under a small pipe that had fallen loose, Mercury was able to fix both pieces and push the chair open, which surprisingly didn't take a lot of energy.
The door opened to reveal the same nurse before. "I hope you don't mind waiting a few minutes," she said as she closed the door. "Our elderly patients need the-" She stopped talking when she saw Mercury was moving. "Young man, you shouldn't move like that! You might hurt your-!" She became silent once again when she saw the fixed chair.
"There were a couple of pieces loose," he explained. "It should work now."
The nurse looked at the wheelchair and moved it around, seeing that it was indeed fixed. "Um... thank you," she said. "How old did you say you were?"
"Nine."
"And you fixed this by yourself?"
"I had to learn how to fix some broken weapons my dad brought home. He also made me fix a few things around the house. Chairs, mostly."
"Well, thank you. This was really helpful." The nurse turned back at the smiling girl. "Ready to go outside?" The girl happily nodded and the nurse helped her in the wheelchair. As they walked out, the nurse looked back at Mercury. "You be careful, now. I meant what I said about hurting your legs." As she was rolled out the room, the girl looked back at Mercury and gave a small wave.
About fifteen minutes later, the nurse and the girl returned. "Now that was a nice trip," she said as she helped the patient into her bed. "Wouldn't you agree?"
The girl nodded with a smile.
But this only made the nurse frown. "Still don't feel like talking yet?"
The girl slowly shook her head.
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." The nurse walked by Mercury, who was reading a magazine while resting on his bed. "Thank you for your help, young man. Would you like to take a trip outside too?"
"I'm fine for right now," Mercury answered. "But thanks."
With that, the nurse left the room. Just then, Mercury felt something touch his arm. Looking down, he saw a small flower sitting by it. The girl was waving at him and pointing at the flower. Mercury picked it up and looked at it, taking the gesture as a way for the girl to say "thank you."
"Um... no problem," he said as he put the flower down. "But you could just say thank you."
The girl slowly shook her head.
"No?" Mercury thought back on a few times the nurses talked to the girl, but she only responded by shaking or nodding her head. The doctors said that she was capable of talking, but whatever happened to her made her slow to speak again.
"You don't really like to talk much, do you?" he asked.
The girl shook her head again.
"But you can if you want, I don't mind. I mean, I said that I wouldn't mind sharing a room with someone if they didn't bother me. I was just expecting someone loud or annoying, but you don't seem that way. So if you wanna talk, I won't mind."
The girl didn't nod or shake her head, but she smiled at Mercury. The air had indeed been cleared up, but she chose to remain silent.
"You're just not ready yet?" Mercury assumed.
The girl shook her head again.
"Alright. Take your time, I guess." Mercury looked at the flower again. "Well, thanks for the flower..." Mercury suddenly realized that he never knew his new friend's name. "What did you say your name was?"
The girl didn't shake or nod her head, she simply shrugged.
"You don't know your name?"
The girl shook her head.
"Huh. Well... I gotta call you something." Mercury took a couple of seconds to think of something. While he was doing so, he couldn't help but notice the blue eyes staring back at him. They not only caught his attention, but they gave him an idea. "How about... Blue Eyes?"
The girl shook her head, not really liking the name.
"Yeah, it's kind of dumb. I, uh..." Mercury began to feel awkward with what he said next. "Just noticed your eyes were blue. It's... It's my favorite color."
The girl smiled at Mercury again and nodded in understanding. She took the idea as a compliment, which was Mercury's intention. But he still needed to find something to call his new friend.
"Maybe... Spring?" he suggested.
The girl shook her head.
"Flower Girl?"
She shook her head.
"She Who Must Not Be Named?"
The girl took a moment to think about it... but still shook her head.
Mercury looked at the magazine in front of him. It wasn't a very interesting one, it was mostly about spring decorations people could advertise and buy. However, the title gave Mercury another idea. There was a word on the cover that he liked, one that sounded interesting and unique.
Much like his new friend.
"How about... Vernal?" he suggested.
The girl took another few seconds to think about the name. When she did, she began to see that it was much better than the earlier suggestions. She too believed it was interesting and unique, and that it was something she would like to be called.
So with a smile, she nodded and accepted the name.
Mercury smiled too, as he saw that it was a nice name. "Nice to meet you, Vernal," he said. "Thanks for the flower."
Ren was enjoying the peace and quiet of his room. The last visit he paid Mercury was a long one, and the sleep he was getting was well needed. And just like every sleep, he was starting to wake up.
And he woke up to see Nora staring down at him.
"Wake up, lazy butt!" Nora enthusiastically ordered. "It's morning, it's morning, it's morning!"
Ren groaned as he sat up and listened to Nora. He was normally someone who woke up bright and early, but last night was a rather long one. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, but Nora had other plans.
"Nora, what time is it?" Ren groggily asked.
"Time to see Eren and Cinder!" Nora answered. "They're outside right now, they wanna talk to us!"
"Tell them they have to wait." Ren slumped back into bed.
Nora was never a very patient girl, but she was ready to grant his request. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly had an idea on how to get Ren to join them. "You know, Ren... I've been practicing my singing. Maybe you want to hear it?" Nora cleared her throat and prepared to sing.
"No, no, wait!" Ren pleaded as he jumped out of bed. Sighing in both relief and in annoyance, he moved towards his dresser. "Tell them I'll need a few minutes."
"Okay!" Nora ran out of the room and then out of the house, wishing a good morning to both Li and An. Ren on the other hand, took a few minutes to change. Once he had his green shirt and white pants on, he walked outside to see Eren, Cinder, and Nora waiting for him.
"Okay, we're all here," Eren said as he began to walk away. "Come on, we need to talk." Cinder and Nora followed him, with Ren behind them.
"What's going on, Cinder?" Ren asked when he finally caught up to her.
"A couple of things," she replied to both Ren and Nora. "Eren woke me up and told me that he wanted to talk to us. And I have some news too, I'll tell you later."
"Okay," Ren agreed. "Where are we going?"
"To the farm. Eren thinks it's the best place to talk."
"I hope he's okay," Nora said. "He looks like there's something going on."
"I'm fine," Eren said, who was listening to the whole thing. "But it's all of you that I'm worried about." As he continued to walk, Eren didn't notice everyone else stop and stare at each other, confused by what he was talking about. Nevertheless, they followed him all the way to Carla's farm. And rather than going inside the house, they all stood in the middle of the field.
"What's going on, Eren?" Ren asked calmly.
"Yeah, why are you acting weird?" Nora asked. "Is everything okay? Is it your mom?"
"No, she's alright," Eren insisted. "Her headaches finally stopped, and she can work like she used to again." Eren pointed towards a window on the farmhouse. There, everyone could see Carla sitting in her study going over paperwork and other details about her farm.
But when she noticed everyone was looking at her, Carla paused her work and waved to everyone with a smile. They all waved back with smiles before they turned away from the window.
"So, what's going on?" Nora asked.
Eren sighed as he explained himself. "Listen, guys. Things have gotten back to normal here. The drawbridge is finished, the repairs are done, and we're all safe."
"And it's gonna get better," Cinder said with a smile. "Eren, can I tell them? I said I would tell them later, but I'm just so excited!"
Eren could tell how excited Cinder was; she almost looked like Nora right now, which was a first for her. "Sure," he said. "Go ahead." He felt this meeting was important, but Cinder had some big news she wanted to share.
"Thanks!" Cinder said as she turned to her friends. "Ms. Fritz said she had a lot of money left from Mistral, and the Mayor's gonna use some of it to get better defenses against the Grimm."
"Oh, I heard about that," said Ren, "Father's happy about the upgrade we'll be getting. And the moat we have will only help us more."
"And that's not the best part!" Cinder insisted. "Ms. Fritz said that she's gonna use more money to build a school!"
Ren's eyes widened in amazement. "Wait, a school? Really?"
"Really! Everyone's gonna learn like we do, Ren! Isn't that great?!"
"That's... amazing!" Ren always liked his tutoring sessions with Dina, so a school was going to be even better.
"She wants to build it close to the farm," Eren said as he pointed across the field. "They might build it over there. Most of the kids here should be going, and Mom wants me to go too."
"Yeah, but that's still not the best part!" Cinder insisted with a smile. "After Eren's mom and Ms. Fritz told us about the school, Ms. Fritz said she has some big news for me!"
"What is it?" Ren asked.
"She said... She said she wants to adopt me!" Cinder began to jump in the air. "She's gonna be my new mom!"
Ren and Nora gasped when they heard the news, but Nora was the first to react with enthusiasm. "Adopt?!" she asked with a smile. "Like what Ren's parents did for me?!"
"Yeah!" Cinder replied. "She and Eren's mom asked if I wanted that, and I said yes!"
Nora immediately ran up and hugged Cinder. "Oh, Cinder! I'm so happy for you!"
Ren smiled at Cinder when he understood how happy she was. "Me too, Cinder," he said.
Eren was smiling too, and he put a hand on Cinder's shoulder when Nora released her. "Yeah, we're all happy for Cinder," he said honestly. He remembered how happy his friend was when Dina brought up the idea, so it was easy for him to be happy for her. After everything she saw and went through, Eren knew Cinder deserved to have a loving parent.
Just like how Carla loved Eren.
"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."
Everyone turned to Eren when he said this. He was still happy for Cinder and Kuroyuri, given that things were going to be better for everyone. However, Eren knew that he had to do something to make sure things stayed that way.
"Things are going great, but they might not stay that way," Eren explained. "Something just as bad as Grimm and Marcus Black could come at any time. We survived both of them, but we weren't prepared. The Mayor and the adults are preparing, but I want to help you prepare too."
"Oh," everyone said in understanding. They couldn't argue with the fact that they weren't expecting Grimm or a false Huntsman, and they couldn't deny that things wouldn't have been so fortunate if Eren wasn't here.
"What can we do?" Cinder asked.
"How can we prepare?" Ren followed.
"It's actually pretty simple," Eren confessed. "I want you all to live, and there's only one way I can help you do that."
Nora suddenly remembered something. "You mean going after Salem?" she asked cautiously. She was still scared of the woman, despite the fact that she was miles away.
"No, that comes later," Eren explained. "And that's just for me. What comes next, right now, is me teaching you how to fight."
Nora gasped as Ren's eyes widened. Both of them were unsure about the idea, and Cinder was starting to have some doubts about someone like Nora and Ren trying to fight. Before they could protest, Eren explained his idea a little more.
"Cinder, your fire powers are great, but you can't always rely on your Titan," he said. "You were human with those people from Atlas, and that first Huntsman."
"I remember," Cinder admitted. "I couldn't have gotten away without you."
"If I teach you how to fight, you can make sure nobody will hurt you again."
That was all Cinder wanted. She wanted to be free of anyone or anything that tried to hurt or control her. In order to do that, she would have to defend her freedom by fighting. Eren learned that a long time ago, and now he was teaching Cinder the same thing.
She had to do this.
"Okay," she decided. "But I thought we were supposed to do this to protect people like Ren and Nora. Do you want them to fight too?"
"Yeah, I don't know, Eren," Nora confessed. "I don't really like fighting."
"Just hear me out," Eren implored before he turned to Ren. "Ren, you haven't passed up an opportunity to help Nora. But other than your Semblance, there wasn't much you could do when the Grimm attacked that night. I can help you do more."
"...And there may be another time like that," Ren said as he stared at the ground. "You might be right."
Eren nodded as he made his final point. "Nora, we're always gonna be here for you. But Mercury's dad could have really hurt you, and we would've had no idea. Or worse... we could have come too late."
Nora didn't say anything, she simply nodded. Being kidnapped by Marcus Black was one of the scariest experiences in her life, one that she didn't want to repeat again.
"So... what do we do now?" she asked. "How can I make sure that won't happen again?"
"By letting me train you," Eren insisted. "I learned how to fight back home, how to defend myself against regular people and Titans. It should help against people like Marcus too, if we try to use Aura and Semblances too. Cinder learned a few things, but I didn't have the chance to teach her everything. I can do that now."
"How long do you think until we're ready?" Ren asked.
"A few years, I'd have to say. My training in the military was long and hard, but it was something I needed. And I think it's something you all need too. I'm not going to force you to do this, I just think that it's something that will help you."
Cinder moved up to Eren. "I think you already know my answer," she said. After everything they'd done so far, every danger they faced, she was still willing to help Eren.
"Mine too."
Eren and Cinder turned to Ren. "If you think this is something that's going to help us protect ourselves and each other, I'm ready to start."
"Me too," said Nora, who took Ren's hand, in an effort to show that he wouldn't be alone in this.
Eren smiled. "Alright... let's get started."
[Play 'Battle Tapes- Sweatshop Boys' on YouTube]
Eren was running down a dirt path, moving his arms steady and running at a steady pace. "Doing great, everyone!" he encouraged. "Try and keep up!"
Cinder, Ren, and Nora were all running behind Eren, panting and feeling that their hearts were about to explode. Nora stopped running and immediately fell to the ground.
Eren gave a series of exercises to everyone, staring with curled push-ups. "We'll work on a new form once you're strong enough," Eren said as he watched Ren and Cinder move up and down. "Right now, focus on pushing yourself off the-" Eren stopped talking when he saw Nora eating a pancake instead of exercising.
"Um... you hungry?" she asked with a smile as she looked up at Eren.
"..."
Later on, Eren watched Ren and Cinder spar with a piece of wood, pretending it was a knife. Cinder grabbed Ren's hand to get the wood. They soon began to play tug-of-war with the wood.
"No, no, no!" Eren said as he stopped them. "It's not gonna be that simple. Ren, you need to use your other hand to get Cinder away from you. And Cinder, you can't just go for the weapon, you need to attack another way. Try again."
Just as the two prepared to try again, Eren turned around to see Nora running laps. "Keep running, Nora! And let me tell you what happened to the last time a girl brought food to training!"
The next day, everyone was sore and not looking forward to training. But that didn't stop Eren from giving them the same exercise as before.
"Okay, Cinder. You be the bad guy now. Use that wood to attack Ren."
Cinder did as she was told and swung at Ren. As he tried to dodge and grab the wood, Cinder only landed more strikes on him.
"Good job," Eren complimented his friend as Ren looked up from the ground. "Those were fast and good strikes." He then looked down at Ren. "We'll work on your reflexes."
The days and weeks that passed were like this. Fighting and exercising until everyone was ready to drop. But everyone improved in their own way, mainly with Ren and his speed. As he threw Cinder against a tree when sparring with the knife, Ren felt Eren pat his shoulder.
"Nice throw," he said as he turned to Cinder. "Cinder, try to keep your balance this time." He then turned to Nora, who was doing her push-ups while waiting to spar. But her strength was starting to fail her, as she fell to the ground. Eren simply looked away, failing to notice Nora hit the ground in frustration.
One day after training, Ren noticed Nora practicing her exercises in her room. Seeing her struggle both day and night, Ren helped her with some push-ups. When she asked him about running better, Ren gave Nora one answer.
"You have to want to do it, Nora. If you don't want it, then doing anything is impossible."
The next day, Nora once again struggled to keep up with Cinder and Ren while running. But then, she remembered what Ren said, and decided that she truly wanted to run faster. So with a sudden burst of energy, she passed them in the middle, causing Ren and Cinder to fall to the ground once her arms hit them.
Eren's jaw dropped when he saw Nora running faster. When she stopped running and cheered, he found himself chucking.
"Remember, Nora, you have to find a way to get me on the ground so I can't hit you with this wood."
"Got it."
Nora had been trying various ways to get Eren on the ground when he had the knife. Her attempts didn't work since she didn't have the strength to throw him or grab it out of his hands. But today would be different. With a smile, Nora told Eren to attack her.
So with a charge, Eren swung the knife at Nora's chest.
But she immediately backed away and sent her leg up, right into Eren's crotch.
With a yell, Eren dropped the wood and fell to the ground, clutching his crotch and ignoring Nora's joy.
"I win! I win!" Nora yelled.
"Way to go, Nora!" Cinder cheered.
Ren would have joined Cinder's cheers, if he wasn't cringing about Eren's injury. "Eren, are you okay?" he asked calmly.
Later in the day, after Eren got off his feet and grabbed an ice pack, he came out of the house with a new plan. "Okay, I think you all should learn... proper fighting techniques."
"You got the basics down, so let's try something different this time. Kill this Grimm."
Using his Titan powers, Eren had summoned a Beowolf. It lunged at Ren, who jumped out of the way and quickly got up. Using his father's knife, he stabbed its hand first to keep it in place. With a yell, Nora punched it in the throat, which caused it to fall backwards. Cinder picked up a pitchfork and stabbed it in the chest, watching it turn to dust.
As they looked back to Eren, everyone saw him create another Beowolf from a pool of his blood.
"Again."
[End music]
Each day became harder, but everyone got stronger. The days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months, and the months turned into years. In those years, Eren, Cinder, Ren, and Nora had become teenagers, and were stronger than ever. Especially Nora, whose enthusiasm had manifested into her training, making her faster and stronger than most teenagers. She had become so strong that when a lightning bolt struck her during training, it merely unlocked her Semblance.
Cinder and Ren had also become faster and stronger thanks to Eren's training. They were both incredibly skilled with sharp objects, mainly knives for Ren. And Eren made sure to practice as well, regaining much of the strength he developed when he was a soldier. And best of all, their teenage bodies had become reflections of the strength they all gained.
Ren's new outfit was similar to what he used to wear as a child; a dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. That same trimming moved down the right side of his torso and formed a black collar. Along with this, he began to wear a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit and light-tan pants with black shoes. After Ren decided to grow his hair much longer than it was when he was younger, his father showed him how to tie it in a small ponytail.
Nora had been through quite the change as well. Well defined muscles formed around her body, which definitely made her the physically strongest of her friends. This became a fact that she had bragged about to Mercury, much to Cinder's annoyance and the boy's amusement. Her simple outfit from her childhood was discarded long ago, in favor of a collared black sleeveless vest with a blue central front section with red accents. That same vest had the emblem of a hammer on the back.
Under the vest, Nora wore a white sleeveless T-shirt with a heart-shaped cutout above her waist line in the center, accompanied with a pair of white detached sleeves on each arm and a pair of light pink fingerless gloves. Just a week ago, she started spotting a short pink skirt with a single white layer under it. Her white and pink ankle boots made Kuroyuri's terrain easier for her to travel.
Cinder arguably had gone through the biggest change. She was always the scrawniest when she was younger, but now she stood proudly at 5'11". Thanks to a sudden growth spurt, her body matured into one that made many women green with envy and caused many heads to turn. And the years of hard training has also left her body packed with well defined muscles. Her choice of fashion consisted of gray pants, black steel-toed combat boots, a beige leather, sleeveless jacket with light-beige details, dark brown gloves, a sarashi tied around her chest and another around her hips, and a pauldron on her left shoulder. She also wore a belt around her waist, which had multiple brown pouches attached to it. Her fingernails were always seen painted with red nail polish.
Eren had definitely grown as well. His training had left him with new muscles and a set of abs. Not very caring of how he looked fashion-wise, Eren decided to wear a very simple outfit; a white shirt and gray jeans. The white shirt was under a black jacket that Eren could tie up if he needed to, not very different from the outfit he wore the last days he was on Paradis. His hair had grown back into the way he used to have it, and it was tied at the back. He was starting to remind himself of his time on Paradis.
It was easy to say that Eren and his friends were all ready to face whatever threat came their way. All that they needed were weapons to match.
And the source of these weapons surprisingly came from Mercury. His surgeries and therapies had helped him regain the ability to walk, despite the amount of time he unfortunately needed to stay at the hospital. Furthermore, he had a lot of downtime when he was out of surgery and therapy. So whenever Eren and his friends came to visit, Mercury would spend time talking about making weapons for them all. Given that he was able to fix all kinds of things, mainly weapons and appliances at the hospital, Mercury was willing to give creating from scratch a try. All he needed were ideas and supplies.
Eren and his friends all began working at Carla's farm to earn their own money, if they weren't volunteering to slay Grimm that came close to the village. Eren was even able to teach his friends a little about farming, since he had to work at a farm when he was a refugee in the walls.
It was easy to say that Eren and his friends made a great addition to the farm's team. Carla was very proud of everyone, especially her own son. She was even sharing advice with him on how to run the farm in the future, just like she was doing now.
However, Eren wasn't sure about running a business such as his mother's farm. Even on Paradis, he always felt his skills were at their best on the field rather than behind a desk. Eren didn't have the heart to tell her this, though. He believed he had hurt her enough for one lifetime, so he swallowed his feelings and let his mother be his teacher.
Cinder found opportunities to help her own mother, Dina Fritz, at her school. After it had been built, and after she educated herself with the rest of her friends, Cinder became a teacher's assistant to Dina when she wasn't at the farm. They both still lived at Carla's farm, since the school was so close. Nobody minded, since they had all grown so close together as the years passed.
With the money they made from cultivating and selling produce, Eren and his friends all brought tools and supplies to Mercury, who took what he had and made something new.
For Ren, Mercury created two pistols capable of firing Dust rounds at an incredible speed. The pistols included two hooks at the bottom of the barrel capable of stabbing Grimm and hooking onto almost any surface. And for Nora, he created something extraordinary to see what he could actually do. With her ideas and everything she brought to the hospital, Mercury made a large hammer that Nora could wield with no difficulty. It also doubled as a grenade launcher, firing large grenades with pink explosions. While Ren named his guns "StormFlower", Nora called the large hammer "Magnhild."
As for Eren and Cinder, they decided to pay their long-distance friend a visit to see what his progress was on their weapons.
"We're landing right now," said Cinder, who was speaking into a Scroll she had gotten a few months ago. "Sure, we'll tell Mercury you said 'Hi.' Don't worry, we'll ask him about coming to Kuroyuri."
Eren tapped Cinder's shoulder to get her attention. "Ask if she needs anything while we're here," he asked politely.
"Eren wants to know if you need anything from Mistral. No? Okay, see you at home. Bye, Mom." Cinder hung up the Scroll and turned to Eren. "Mom says she's fine."
"Okay. I asked my mom before I left, but I forgot to ask Ms. Fritz. Sorry."
"No problem. Did you still want to go into town today?"
"I think Mom and I are going in a couple of days. We got that meeting with the supermarket soon."
"Oh, yeah! She's pretty excited about that."
"Yeah, she is. She said it's been years since her farm did business with the capital."
It was true that Ambrose Farms had done business with the capital of Mistral before. However, the business and deals were usually temporary, and they were before Carla's time. Once the capital had what they needed, they didn't ask for more.
But this time, Carla was sure this deal would be permanent. A few expansions of her farming property had allowed an abundant amount of food for Kuroyuri, as well as villages beyond the district it was located in. Once news reached a particular supermarket in Mistral, a deal was offered that Carla couldn't ignore. She was very proud of herself, as well as the work people like Eren were putting into her farming business.
"How come you're going?" Cinder asked. "Don't we have work that day?"
"Yeah, we do," Eren said. "But you know Mom. She thinks I'll have to do this one day."
Cinder frowned at the response. She was well aware that Carla wanted Eren to be her replacement, and she was also aware of Eren's skepticism towards the idea. She agreed that his skills were better suited for the field, but Carla didn't seem to be aware.
"You're gonna have to tell her sometime, Eren," Cinder calmly insisted. "I mean, I know how that sounds, but she's gotta know how you feel." She placed a hand on Eren's shoulder. "And you deserve to be happy with what you're gonna do."
Eren smiled and silently thanked Cinder for her support. He was aware that he would have to tell his mother that he wasn't suited for her job, but he wasn't going to tell her now.
Not until both of them were ready.
"I will," Eren promised. "Don't worry." After he made the promise and reassured his friend that things would be fine, Eren looked out the window to see where they were. "Here we are."
The airship landed in front of the Mistral hospital, leaving Eren and Cinder to walk inside. Once they did, the sounds and sights of nurses and doctors running around like crazy welcomed them.
"I guess it's one of those days," Eren noticed.
"Really looks like it," Cinder replied.
She and Eren were frequent visitors of the hospital, so they knew what kind of habits the place went through. They also knew a few people, as well, and Cinder was looking for one person in particular.
"Shoot," she said with a frown. "Doesn't look like Midori's here."
Eren didn't follow Cinder's gaze, but he still talked to her. "I don't think we should have expected to see her here," he said.
"I know. Just wishful thinking I suppose."
Eren nodded before he looked at the receptionist desk to see a woman with curly brown hair. "Well, let's hope someone's in a good mood today."
As soon as the receptionist looked up to see two familiar teenagers walking towards her, she smiled as she greeted them. "Hey, you two," she said.
"Hi, Betty," Eren greeted the receptionist. "How are you holding up?"
"Eh, same thing, different day. Here to see Mercury?"
"As always," Cinder replied.
"Aw, come on." Betty leaned closer. "You two never have any time just to see me?"
"Of course we do. You're the first person we see each time we come here."
"True, true." Betty looked to Eren. "But most gentlemen bring something nice for their lady friends."
"Yeah, well... I guess I'm not a gentleman," Eren joked.
"No, I guess not," Betty said before the trio shared a laugh. After it disappeared, the receptionist turned to her computer and pressed a few keys. "Looks like Mercury's finishing up some physical therapy. Visiting hours are still good in Ward B."
"Thanks," Eren said as he led the way to the elevator. Cinder naturally followed him, but she was stopped by the receptionist's voice.
"Oh, Cinder!" Betty called out. "You know, the patients in that ward were asking about you. You left quite an impression on them during your last visit."
Cinder smiled as she recalled her last visit. Mainly, what she did for the patients at the ward. "Do they still have that guitar?" she asked.
"Last time I checked," Betty said with a nod.
"I'll be sure to be there." Cinder waved at her acquaintance before she joined Eren at the open elevator. "Do you mind if we stay a little longer?"
Eren shook his head. "I've got nowhere else to be," he said.
After an elevator ride up three floors, Eren and Cinder walked to the physical therapy room, where they found Mercury taking normal steps with a physical therapist. The therapist smiled proudly at the progress she and Mercury were making; after a long and arduous process, he could finally walk at an average pace. And even Mercury was happy to walk like this again. Ever since his surgeries were finished, he was excited about the therapy.
And he was feeling even better when Eren and Cinder came for another visit. After waving at them, Mercury reluctantly sat in a wheelchair and made his way to the hallway.
Eren and Cinder looked at each other in confusion. "Is that necessary?" he asked. "He looks better to me."
"Hospital policy, I guess," Cinder responded after she shrugged.
"Hey, guys! What's up?"
Eren and Cinder looked down to see Mercury extending a fist at Eren. Eren formed one of his own and bumped it on Mercury's, since it was a greeting Eren learned on Remnant.
Cinder greeted him with her voice and a joke.
"Hey, there he is!" she said. "And how's our lovely patient doing today?"
"Yeah, yeah," Mercury said as he rolled his eyes. "Call me that while you can, Cinder. I'll be outta here in a few weeks."
"That's good to hear," Eren said. "Everyone back home's waiting to see you."
"Yeah," Cinder said. "No more hospital visits, no more field trips. Now you get to see Kuroyuri at its best!"
"Um... about that." Mercury pushed himself down the hall back to his room, not wanting anyone to assist him with something he could do on his own. "Are you sure Ms. Fritz and everyone else are okay with me coming to Kuroyuri? I mean, going there was only an idea. Finding a job and a place in Mistral's not as hard as I thought."
"..."
It didn't take a genius to see that Mercury was long wrong on past deeds. It had been years since his father was finally killed, but everyone had moved past what had occurred. Mercury had been forgiven for his role, but he was still skeptical about how he would be welcomed. If he were a member of the town, Mercury knew he wouldn't warmly welcome a murderer's accomplice.
Fortunately, Eren was able to put these thoughts to rest.
"It's not hard in Kuroyuri, either," Eren insisted. "In fact, you don't have to worry about looking. We got a job for you."
Mercury stopped pushing his chair and looked up at Eren in surprise. "Wait, what?" he asked.
"We told Mom about the weapons you made for Ren and Nora. I mean, Mom's not the biggest fan of weapons, but she can see you're good with tools."
Mercury grinned as he confidently leaned back in his chair. "Guess your mom's got an eye for class."
Eren played off the joke while Cinder laughed. "Anyways, with the recent expansion, we got a lot more manpower and tools. Some of them are broken, and some of them need to be assembled. I was able to convince her that you were the right man for the job."
Mercury nodded slowly as he thought it over. "Yeah, I could handle something like that. I read up on a few farming mechanics while I've been here."
"So you'd be interested?" Cinder asked hopefully.
Mercury took a second to think it over. "Yeah, I guess so. But, uh... what's the catch, Eren?"
"No catch," Eren insisted. "Just chores and the job. Oh, and make sure you take care of your room."
"My what?"
"Your room. We got a spare room at our house for you. It's yours if you take the job. Three meals a day, and no rent to pay."
"No rent?"
When he saw Eren shake his head, Mercury took a minute to think about it. His mechanical skills would definitely help at the farm, and a roof over his head would be good to have. Everything was practically being handed to him on a silver plate if he accepted the job. And it was honest work when compared to the work he had to do with his father.
Along with that, Mercury knew it would be good to see Ren and Nora on a daily basis.
"Okay, I'm in," Mercury said.
"Yes!" Cinder said. "Welcome to the team, Merc."
"Mom's gonna like that," Eren said with a smile. "Ren and Nora too."
"Sweet," Mercury said as he began to move his chair again. "Oh, how are Ren and Nora doing with their weapons? No more problems, right?"
"Everything's fine," Eren said. "Ren's getting better with the guns, and Nora loves the hammer."
"I knew she would."
Cinder cleared her throat as she walked with Eren and Mercury. "Listen, I don't want to sound greedy," she said. "But I was wondering if... you know-"
"Any luck with our weapons?" Eren quickly asked.
"Eren!"
Mercury put his hand up to Cinder. "No, it's fine," he said. "Sorry to keep you waiting, I've only been doing physical therapy and exercise sixteen hours a day."
Cinder nodded at Eren, immediately taking Mercury's side. Eren rubbed his head and looked away. "...Sorry," he said.
Mercury suddenly slapped Eren's chest. "Don't be so serious, Eren," he said with a laugh as he rolled into his room. "But listen, I've been looking at the drawings you gave me for something like this." Mercury rolled over to his table and pulled out a piece of paper. The paper had a drawing of a figure with two large pieces of metal on its side and a grappling hook coming out of one side.
A picture of a person with vertical maneuvering equipment.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking my weapon should be," Eren explained.
"Me too," Cinder said. "When Eren told me what it could do, I thought the idea was interesting."
"Oh, it's cool as Hell," Mercury said as he put the paper down. "I mean, what it does..." He made a whistling sound. "I might even build one for myself. But I gotta say, the design kinda sucks."
Eren immediately became confused. He knew the equipment he had on Paradis wasn't much to look at, but he never heard anyone question the design. "What's wrong with it?" he asked.
"It doesn't seem really practical."
"What are you talking about? Grappling onto buildings to increase speed and grapple up to Grimm on roofs? Sounds practical to me."
"Well, yeah. But what about Grimm in an open field? Fighting them without using these hooks would just weigh you down. And the fuel consumption would be bad too."
"..."
Eren couldn't deny that this was a downside of the vertical maneuvering equipment. He would always have trees and Titans to latch on to, but it was common to find Grimm in an open field. So the first flaw was dangerous, and the second flaw was something else to take into consideration.
"Yeah, but there's not a lot I can do to change it," said Eren. He knew how to explain the equipment, since he had to maintain it every day. But making a brand new design was a different story.
"Me neither," said Cinder. "But we could find a way around it."
"Way ahead of you," said Mercury, who took out a second piece of paper. "Think you'd be interested in this?"
Eren and Cinder looked at the paper to see the same equipment. However, there were some differences that caught their eye.
It made the vertical maneuvering equipment on Paradis look like child's play.
"Wow," said Cinder. "This is actually pretty good."
"You can build this?" Eren asked, hoping that it was possible.
"Not tonight he can't."
Everyone turned around to see another teenager standing in the doorframe. She was a girl with short brown hair and soft blue eyes; she wearing a light brown vest over her torn white shirt along with brown jeans.
When she saw that she had the attention of the room, the girl casually walked inside and locked eyes with Mercury. "Hey, you," she said.
"Hey there, Flower Girl," Mercury said with a chuckle.
The girl leaned down to Mercury and gave him a kiss. After they separated, she looked to Eren and Cinder. "How's it going, guys?" she asked.
"Hey, Vernal," Eren said.
"Still haven't thought of a good comeback for that nickname, huh?" Cinder asked with a smirk.
"Give me time," Vernal answered with a toothy grin. "Sorry that I gotta steal your armorer here." Vernal took Mercury's chair and pushed him towards the door. Given that the two had been dating for a while, she was the only one Mercury allowed to push his chair from time to time.
"So what's the plan for tonight?" Cinder asked. "Dinner and a movie?"
"Overrated," Vernal answered. "Mercury and I are gonna hit the town, maybe show off those weapons he made for me."
"Don't know how long we'll be gone," Mercury pointed out. "But if you like the design, I'll try to start tonight." Before he could say anything else, Vernal whispered into his ear and winked at him. With a gasp and a smile, he turned back to his friends. "Actually, I'll start in the morning." Vernal whispered something to him again. "Later in the morning."
"..."
Eren and Cinder didn't really know what else to say after that, so they just let Mercury and Vernal leave for the town. With that, the duo decided they overstayed their welcome in Mercury's room and began to walk the halls.
"You think Mercury can build something like that?" Cinder asked.
"I hope so," Eren confessed. "That looks way better than the equipment I had back home."
"Yeah, I'll say. Too bad you never got to wear that version they upgraded, though. Maybe that would have helped Mercury."
"You kidding? What Mercury had was even better! Not even Hange could have topped that!"
"Glad you think so." Cinder stopped walking when she laid her eyes on a particular room. "Oh, here we are. Come on, let's go inside!"
Eren and Cinder walked inside and were immediately greeted by the largest room in Ward B. The room was reserved for people who were recovering from severe injury, who needed constant care and the most attention than anyone else in the hospital. It was perhaps the most depressing room in the hospital as well.
That was, until people like Cinder would come in.
Mercury would sometimes spend time in this room after recovering from surgeries, so Eren and his friends would visit him there. Nobody really liked how depressing the room was, as well as Mercury's condition. So one day, Cinder believed singing would cheer everyone up. And not only did it make her friends happy, but all of the patients liked it too.
So whenever Cinder came to visit, alone or with friends, she would always sing to however many patients were in the room. People would come and go, but everyone who was currently in the room loved hearing Cinder sing.
And today, after she and Eren were greeted by the patients, Cinder prepared to sing for them with a guitar that was left behind. She had learned how to play while in Kuroyuri, and she had many songs memorized and prepared for whenever she came to visit. Most of the patients were familiar with Cinder, but there were a few new ones who were in for a treat.
"When I was a babe, I fell down in the holler.
When I was a girl, I fell into your arms.
We fell on hard times and we lost our bright color.
You went to the dogs and I lived by my charms.
I danced for my dinner, spread kisses like honey.
You stole and you gambled and I said you should.
We sang for our suppers and we drank up our money.
Then one day you left, saying I was no good.
Well, all right, I'm bad, but then, you're no prize either.
All right, I'm bad, but then, that's nothing new.
You say you won't love me, well I won't love you neither.
Just let me remind you who I am to you.
'Cause I am the one who looks out when you're leaping
I am the one who knows how you were brave.
And I am the one who knows what you said sleeping
I'll take that and more when I go to my grave."
This wasn't a song Cinder wrote herself; she had heard music from all over, on radios and television. When she liked one so much, she would always download it onto her Scroll and practice it herself.
And sure enough, everyone in the hospital room loved it. Eren was arguably the one who loved it most. He was never a stranger to Cinder's singing, and he probably heard her sing about a thousand times. However, each time he heard her voice was more special than the last time. He couldn't explain it, but Eren was drawn to Cinder's voice. It was, along with Cinder and Carla, a gift Eren received when he came to Remnant.
A gift he would protect from the likes of Salem.
As he promised, Mercury finally left the hospital after two more weeks. Vernal had offered to let Mercury stay with her, since she had her own place in Mistral, but Mercury chose to go to Kuroyuri instead. He promised to come and visit when he could, since he always enjoyed the freedom he had with Vernal. But now, it was time to see his new home.
Eren and Cinder were escorting Mercury while helping him with his bags. So Carla, Dina, Ren, and Nora were left patiently waiting for their airship at Kuroyuri's landing pad.
Nora, however, wasn't being very patient. She was just too excited to see Mercury again, so she wanted to know when he was arriving. At the moment, she was jumping in the air while asking Ren the same question over and over again.
"Are they here yet?"
"No."
"Are they here yet?"
"No."
"Are they here yet?"
"No."
"Are they here yet?"
Ren sighed as he pointed to the sky, trying to hide his annoyance. "Look up to the sky, Nora," he said. "Once you see their ship, you'll know they're here."
Nora did as she was told, and saw a nice blue orange sky, a few clouds hanging over them. Once she gazed into the beautiful sky, Nora had one thing to say.
"...Are they here yet?"
"Ugh," Ren moaned. "I give up."
Carla laughed as she listened to Ren and Nora. "Well, I can't blame you for being excited, Nora," she insisted. "I'm excited too."
"I think your offer was too good to pass up, Ms. Yeager," Ren insisted. "Last time I checked, there weren't many offerings for a job in mechanics in Mistral."
"Yeah!" Nora agreed. "It's perfect here! Better than the last time he was here too! I can't wait to show Mercury all the new things he's gotta see!"
Carla silently agreed. There were many changes that occurred in Kuroyuri. Her farm was one of them, but Carla easily noticed a change with herself. Namely, how she legally changed her last name to "Ambrose-Yeager," to solidify her role as Eren's mother. Everyone usually called her "Carla" or "Ms. Yeager" now, and Mercury was about to do the same when he arrived.
Which, according to Dina, was about to finally happen.
"They're here!" Dina shouted as she pointed in the sky. Everyone followed her finger to see an airship coming closer and closer until it finally touched the ground.
Once it landed, three teenagers hopped out and waved at the pilot. Once he waved back and saw there would be no new passengers, he took the ship back into the air. Without further ado, Dina and the teenagers that accompanied her began to welcome Mercury to Kuroyuri. And the first to do this was Nora.
"Well, if it isn't the Merc with a Mouth!" she said with a smile as Mercury raised his arm and formed a grasp with Nora.
"What's good, Red Bomber?" Mercury asked with a toothy grin. The two had created these nicknames for each other when they were kids, when Nora would visit Mercury in the hospital. Given that Mercury loved to talk and Nora had a habit of exploding in excitement most of the time, the names were perfect. The two had formed a close bond at the hospital, given that Nora could make his bad days have one good thing. And Mercury gave Nora some tips about exercising, given that he learned a lot from both his father and the doctors.
"Welcome back, Mercury," Ren said with an extended hand.
"Hey, Ren." Mercury shook his hand. "What's new and exciting?"
"Other than Nora's unpredictable nature and our training, every day has been the same."
Now it was Dina's turn to greet Mercury. "It's so good to see you, Mercury," she said as she embraced the boy. A heat rose to his face, given that this was the last thing he expected to experience.
"Um... good to see you too, Ms. Fritz," he said.
As she released the embrace, Dina allowed Carla to step in and welcome the boy. "Hello, Mercury," she said with a natural smile.
"Ma'am," Mercury said politely, still feeling a little awkward being around the two women. "Or, uh, should I start calling you 'Boss?'"
Carla laughed as she shook her head. "Carla's just fine, Mercury. And I'm so glad you decided to accept my offer."
"Well, thanks for making it. Eren and Cinder were saying you got a few things that need fixing?"
"We can worry about that tomorrow. Nora's been wanting to show you around first."
"Yeah!" Nora said as she grabbed Mercury's hand. "Come on, you gotta see this!"
As they began to walk, Dina turned to see Eren and Cinder each carrying a set of equipment on their sides. They weren't bags, they were pieces of metal that rested on their waists. Nora and Ren turned back and saw that it was a metal case of blades and arrows, which made them gasp in amazement.
"Like what you see?" Mercury asked when everyone stopped walking.
Nora turned back to Mercury. "Wait, you made these?" she asked.
"Took me some time, but yeah."
Ren took a closer look at Cinder's as he walked around her. "Intriguing," he said. "But what does it do?"
Before Mercury or Eren could answer, Cinder followed Ren's glare and made a quick remark. "There's nothing behind me that involves my weapon." A smirk formed on her lips. "Or is there something else there that you like, Ren?"
"Gah!" Ren turned away in embarrassment, putting a hand up to block his vision of Cinder's behind.
The teenagers began to laugh, but Dina didn't. "Cinder," she said with crossed arms and a dry expression on her face. This wasn't the first time Cinder made witty jokes of her body like this, and it was never something her adoptive mother approved of.
And Cinder stopped doing so as quickly as she began. "Sorry, Mom," she said sincerely. Quickly deciding to change the subject, she told Nora and Ren that she would show off her weapon tomorrow. Eren promised the same thing, since his weapon was similar to Cinder's.
But first, everyone decided to walk through town on their way back to the farmhouse.
As they made the walk, Mercury couldn't help but feel that Kuroyuri was different from what he remembered. He only spent about a week in the town and that was several years ago, but he would think that he would remember a large wall with mounted turrets and a drawbridge for protection. And the village seemed to have much larger houses, some looked like they could fit two families. After a minute of walking, Mercury's curiosity revealed itself.
"So... the town looks... different," he said.
"We were able to make some big changes after you left," said Dina. "The money we got from that Councilman's arrest helped pay for your surgeries and those turrets. Later on, the Mayor decided than rather keep them on the ground, we could make the city's walls larger to keep out larger Grimm and raise the guns high enough for Grimm in the air."
"We even got a chance to expand my farm because of the safety," Carla included. "When the first expansion happened, the town decided to expand as well."
"We built a new wall when we saw we had the resources and time. When we did that, we found out it was in just the right spot."
"Why's that?" Mercury asked.
"We found Dust," Cinder explained. "A deposit of Dust that stretches underground for... who knows how long?"
"Yeah," said Eren. "The Mayor made a trade deal with the surrounding villages and the Mistral Trading Company: supplies for Dust."
"Whoa."
This was a lot for Mercury to take in, which left him speechless for the rest of the trip back to Carla's farm. After sharing a hot meal and explaining Mercury's job of keeping the farm's equipment up and running, everyone went to bed and prepared themselves for what tomorrow would bring.
The first day of working went off without a hitch. While Eren and Cinder were collecting the harvest and cleaning the stables, Mercury was fixing a broken tractor and other farming tools. After a light lunch, Eren decided now would be a good time for training. But rather than staying at Carla's farm, Eren led Cinder, Mercury, Ren, and Nora beyond Kuroyuri's wall and close to the forest.
"So, Eren gave me the rundown of your training," said Mercury, who was walking close to Ren and Nora. "Not bad, it's more than what my dad taught me."
"Are you sure you feel up to this?" Nora asked. "I know you just got out of the hospital, and-"
*WHAM*
"Gah!"
Nora suddenly felt something hit the back of her right leg, sending her off balance and hitting the ground. She looked up to see Mercury with his leg slightly extended past his body. As she rubbed the back of her head, Nora knew what the attack meant. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'"
"And I'll take that as something we should work on," Mercury said as he helped Nora stand. "Sound good to you, Eren?"
"Yeah, you could definitely show them some of your stuff," Eren said as he looked into the trees.
Mercury followed Eren's gaze and smiled. "And the moment of truth has come. You ready, Eren?"
Eren couldn't help but smile as he prepared himself for what came next. "I was born ready." With that, Eren ran towards the trees and felt himself take flight.
*THWIP*
Quickly moving his leg, a metal hook shot out from his side and made contact with a tree. The hook was connected to a metal cord that made Eren swing in the air, covering much more distance than a normal person could do.
As everyone marveled at the feat he just performed with the equipment on his side, Cinder rushed towards the same direction. "Eren, wait for me!" she shouted as she mimicked his movement.
*THWIP*
The same hook came out of Cinder's metal equipment and struck a different tree. With that, Cinder moved just like Eren did.
*THWIP*
*THWIP*
As Eren shot two hooks from his sides into the trees, he began to regain the same feeling he had when he was a soldier. It was this feeling he wished to regain when he asked Mercury to make him a set of vertical maneuvering equipment. Since it was the primary weapon of any soldier inside the walls of Paradis, Eren knew it would be the perfect weapon to have on Remnant.
In order to use it properly again, Eren tried to recreate the hanging challenge Instructor Shadis had during his training. His Hardening abilities made making the posts easy, and the rope was even easier to find. The hardest part turned out to be teaching Cinder how to hang correctly, since she wanted to have the same weapon herself. Eren shared the initial trouble he had with Cinder, but he also told her to never give up when she found her own struggles.
Because of this, after they each perfected the practice, Eren and Cinder were ready to receive their own equipment.
When Cinder was going through the air, a few feet behind Eren, she found the feeling to be glorious. The wind rushing on her face, the sudden stop once she needed to fire her grappling hook again, it was all incredible. As a child, she once wondered what it would be like to fly. And now, she seemed to have mimicked a fraction of that power.
Eren had also regained that power, and now he was ready to test more power when he saw a pack of Beowolves before him.
"It's time," Eren told himself as he grasped two handles on his side. When he pulled on them, he welcomed the sight of two metal blades that he quickly used to cut through Grimm.
*SWISH*
*SWISH*
It was easier to cut and kill a Grimm, since Eren didn't have to aim for a nape. Because of this, he was able to kill two Grimm with hardly any effort.
The blades Eren had summoned were similar to the ones he had on Paradis. However, Mercury had included a slight difference with them in order to compensate for the numerous blades Eren wished to summon. The gear contained a collapsible cartridge in design, and when inserted on the top of the controls, Eren could extend the blades out to full length. That way, he could carry more blades than what the original variant of the vertical maneuvering equipment had.
Eren welcomed this difference, and he found the gear to be just as efficient as it was on Paradis.
Cinder saw the same chance Eren had to test her own gear when she saw the remaining Beowolves. She also ejected two blades from her equipment, but she was able to do something unique. After she combined the blades and watched a metal string connect on the back, Cinder reached to the side and pulled out an arrow instead of a blade. She had learned to use a bow and arrow very efficiently while at Kuroyuri, and now she proudly let this skill kill two Beowolves.
*WHOOSH*
*SHICK*
*WHOOSH*
*SHICK*
Cinder saw that her aim was true, but this caused her to miss something in front of her.
"Cinder, look out!"
Cinder looked away from the Grimm to see herself crash into some branches. While she didn't get her hooks caught in the trees, Cinder unfortunately came flying out of the woods and into a vast empty field, with nothing to latch onto. Eren acted quickly and flung himself out of the woods, coming close to Cinder. Just when they were about to hit the ground, Eren pressed a small button where two straps met on his chest.
*WHOOSH*
Just as he pushed it, a boost of air escaped from under both pieces of equipment and sent Eren straight into the air rather than to the side. This was one of the new features Mercury had added onto Eren's weapon, a way he could circumnavigate past the initial flaw he found. Eren was happy to see that the upgrade worked, and that he could fly practically anywhere now. And the boost had just made him able to fly closer to Cinder so he could grab her. Once she was in his grasp, Eren landed on the ground.
Eren had to catch Cinder in a bridal position, but she didn't mind.
Mercury stopped working with Nora and Ren to check on Cinder. "Guys, you okay?!" he quickly asked.
"I'm fine," Cinder said as Eren let her go. "Sorry, Eren. Guess I got a little carried away."
"Don't worry about it," said Eren, who got up and dusted himself off. "It actually gave me a chance to try out that new feature. It works great, Mercury."
"Nice," the young mechanic said with a smile. He looked at Cinder's equipment and noticed something missing. "Cinder, did you fire a couple of arrows?"
"Yeah, I did," she replied as she took another one out. "Hit a couple of Bewolves right in the chest. I should probably go back and get the arrows, though." Cinder started to walk towards the woods. "Hey, Eren. Did you try out your-?"
*BOOM*
An explosion in the distance caught everyone's attention. As soon as they turned to the source and heard rapid gunfire follow the explosion, they all knew the same thing; Kuroyuri was under attack.
This caused everyone to start running as fast as they could. Eren and Cinder used their equipment to fly in the air to gain more distance. Once they stopped, they could see a glimpse of what kind of damage the walls were taking, as well as the ones responsible.
Mercury was the first to join them as he stopped running and looked at the large wall. "What is it?" he asked. "Grimm?"
Ren and Nora quickly joined him, and Ren was able to make out something at the bottom of the wall. While he was expecting to see the dark creatures trying to get inside, he instead saw a group of people trying to scale the wall and take down the drawbridge.
"...Worse."
Author's notes: Rosa Montoya is based on DC's Renee Montoya and Councilman Charles is based on King Charlemange (Founder of the Holy Roman Empire, who was also known for having perverted interests).