Creation began on 07-08-24
Creation ended on 10-12-24
Attack on Titan
Grausam Zanki, Condemned to be Redeemed: For Change, Not Violence
"…Please, people," one of the Titans spoke to the people on the captured ship, "disembark and follow us to our camp."
It was insane, hearing a Titan speak to them that wasn't affiliated with Marley. But they had no other choice at the moment. They vacated the ship and slowly followed the two Titans in front with the third Titan behind them. The four children soon noticed several people from a distance, each wearing the same sort of uniform with a cloak over it, watching them.
The camp nearby, a mile or so inward, comprised of tents and small buildings, was where the ship's crew was greeted by none other than Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps.
"It is nice to meet you," he greets them all at a table. "Please, sit down."
They obliged, not feeling that they had a choice right at the moment.
"Who are you?" The crew's leader demands, nervous by being in the presence of some Titans that were unlike what he had heard of before.
"My name is Erwin Smith. I'm in charge of the Survey Corps and the Jaeger Titan Corps."
"Ja…Jaeger…Titan Corps?" One of the children, Bertolt, questions.
"That's right. Those Titans you saw that plucked your ship out of the water…aren't that different from you. They've had practice to hone their power and control it for the greater good."
"This is impossible," the girl, Annie, says. "There are only Nine Titans, and they have intelligence and stand out. There's no way that there are other Titans with similar intelligence on this island."
"There weren't…not until a little over two-and-a-half years ago…and things started changing."
"And what do you want?" The crew leader asks him, noticing that there was an old man nearby that kept his distance.
"We wish to talk about progressing into the future," they hear a female voice, similar to the one they heard earlier, and see a girl step into the room, looking a little damp and with small scars on her cheeks. "That was quite a shot you took at me earlier."
Their eyes widened at the sight of Hange Zoe.
"Do forgive Ms. Zoe," Erwin tells them. "She's among our Titan experts and enthusiasts. She was the first subject to become a Jaeger Titan."
"No risk, no reward."
Grausam sighs as he continues to stand against the wall behind himself as he observes the meeting between these people of the island and these people that were from Marley. All he could do was hope that they would be convinced enough to not want to engage in conflict with the Jaeger Titan Corps. Even if he didn't have much concern over the adults in this room, he understood that the soldiers within the Jaeger Titan Corps would a crisis of conscience if they crossed the line and took a child's life, even if Marley treated children's lives like cheap fodder if they were Eldians. And over time, he did come to understand the depths of grief when it came to seeing one die.
When did it start? He wonders, just as one of the boys, Reiner, started protesting against any idea of conversation between the island and the mainland. When did I start to feel the sense of remorse that I tried to discard so long ago?
"…Anything you say is to spite the motherland!" Reiner shouts. "You can't be trusted! You'll unleash the Rumbling and lay ruin to the world!"
"Now, why would we want to do that?" Erwin asks him. "Why do you think we'd want to do something like that? This Rumbling that we knew very little about until almost three years ago…is the absolute last thing we want. Why destroy the world we live in? We don't even know any of you yet. Please, give us a reason you would think is worth doing the unthinkable."
Grausam watches with curiosity as to what Reiner could say in response to a simple question. If he could give a reason specific enough to warrant wanting to destroy the world, then maybe it was worth talking about. But if he couldn't give one, it was nothing but talk being wasted trying to drive a wedge in between the possibility of establishing a new relationship and another doomed hope. Either way, he wants to see where this goes.
"You're island devils," Reiner says. "You're the reason everything is wrong with the world. You're the reason Eldians are persecuted or confined to internment zones, you and the king you serve. You could unleash the Rumbling upon the world whenever you wish, and that would be the end of everything."
"And if I were to tell you that, as someone that has never seen the world beyond this island, that rarely saw much of the world beyond the Walls until a few months ago, and has been impressed by the sight of the ocean, wishes to see the world as it is today instead of what could be after an apocalyptic event that hasn't occurred…and hopefully never will, how would you respond?"
"I'd believe you're lying."
"And what of the rest of you?" Grausam finally speaks up, making himself heard. "Why destroy a world we long to be a part of? It makes no sense, as we live in this world, the same as each of you that grew up on the continent. And while it is true that within the Walls lay Titans slumbering until the day they're called on to ravage the world, that day has yet to come…because nobody, not even the king himself, has decided to want to do anything like that…and likely never will because he's nothing more than a miserable person that bluffed his way out of a situation where he took a handful of his own people to some small island, built three rings around it, and then wiped their memories clean of any life beyond the island. It's only because of a black miracle, quite possibly the blackest of any miracles we'll ever know, that even a handful of people here know the truth in its spades and want only something different than what was believed to be the only path they believed to be their fate. No one person can speak for anyone or everyone else, but what do each of you believe when you stop to listen and make your own decisions based on what you see, hear and feel? What do each of you believe in? What do you want to believe in?"
"I think," went the eldest of the three boys, Marcel, "that if you wanted to kill us, you would've done so before we ever stepped off that boat. In fact, if you wanted to kill us, you would've simply so without even suggesting that we talk. You call only a handful of you knowing shades of the truth a dark miracle, and you want to prevent the Rumbling from ever happening, to keep the world as it is instead of laying waste to it? You sound like you're desperate to change things…but not violently. Defensively, maybe…but you don't use violence unless provoked into defending yourselves. But since I can't take a gamble and risk anyone's safety, I have to ask for myself…what exactly do you hope to gain from talking with any of us?"
"An end to conflict," Erwin says. "A nonviolent solution to every problem that exists. Not everyone seeks to control or destroy and not everyone wants to believe the world will come to an end. While we're prepared to defend ourselves if something does go wrong, we don't wish to resolve any mishaps with unnecessary force. And look at you right now. You're kids, dragged into the military before you even turned ten, and you get told that there's an enemy that they need you to take out in exchange for something that isn't entirely equal to the bloodshed you cause. I mean, do you truly, honestly, believe what these people from Marley have told you if you prevail?"
"And what do you know of what they may have or may have not told any of us?" Bertolt questions them.
"The Founding Titan," went Hange, "in exchange for Marleyan citizenship. A life beyond the confines of an internment zone, being able to walk wherever you want free of the prejudices by others. We don't know everything, but we know enough. But do you truly believe in that? Do you truly believe that, if you can capture a Titan that has the power to command other Titans, to unleash the Rumbling upon the world, and bring it back to your superiors for them to take control of, that they will let you live freely like they do? I'm just asking you, young man, do you truly believe in their promise of a future outside of a confined space among the people?"
There was a silence in the room that was heavy. Nobody spoke up with any response. But it was still a question of whether or not these four children that were in possession of four out of seven of the Nine Titans Marley had held onto for over a century believed in Marley's promise of a life among their people outside of their confined spaces where they had lived all their lives. All they were looking for was their honesty, nothing more, nothing less.
A hand raised into the air…belonging to the girl with the vacant expression.
"Yes?" Erwin utters, gesturing towards her with his left hand.
"I don't believe in Marley's promise," she says to them, which surprises the boys beside her. "The only reason I'm even here right now is because of my father, who desired a life outside of the internment zone…and saw me as his path to that life…until he realized the error of his ambition and only wanted me to return home to him. So, I'm asking you this question: If I were to request a return back to Marley, with the open invitation to escort a handful of you, just a handful of you, so that you could meet with Marley's leaders…can you guarantee my father's protection from them if they decide to kill him?"
-x-
It was just another day where Grisha found out that his son got beat up by a member of the Garrison in Shiganshina due to bad-mouthing them for not doing their job, and instead of trying to cheer him up in his time of contempt, he chastised Eren for voicing his opinions instead of just keeping them to himself. Ever since the discovery of the Survey Corps not accepting new recruits for the time being, the revelation of his first wife being returned to human form, and the future being changed, Grisha has become concerned about what he sees yet to come in the future. If the memories he saw were those of Eren's before he possessed the Attack Titan, he doesn't want him to possess the power and do anything that would create problems that could become unavoidable for everyone. In fact, he doesn't want to do anything that could result in a situation where violence was inevitable.
"Can you defy what once was?" He remembers that man from his hallucination say to him, and he thought back to the paintings he had in his study. "Can you see what you truly long for?"
And he is reminded of what he saw that was different yet to come, about the Titan that is his first wife attacking another Titan that was thirteen meters, with dark hair and purple eyes. It has something to do with the past and future being malleable, capable of being reworked. If the Attack Titan could know events before they transpire from people yet to possess it, Grisha had to deviate from the previous future and move towards a different future where what he now saw included Dina, and this may have involved doing something recklessly different.
If this man has helped the Survey Corps better their odds against the Titans on this island, he thinks as he gets up, then maybe he can do something nobody else has done. That is…I hope he can do what nobody else has done.
-x-
A promise was the same as a guarantee, but none of these people could do either one, even if a young girl with the Female Titan asked them if they could. But they could do the next best thing, which was to try and do their best.
"You do know that this is crazy, right?" Grausam hears one of the boys from Marley ask, presumably, the one called Reiner. "How can you believe that these devils will even do as they claim and not something that gets us all killed?"
"Because I don't care about Marley or Paradis!" He hears the girl, Annie, respond to him. "I care about my father, and I just want to go back to him. If binging a handful of these people to Marley just to talk with the government there can help me get back to him, I'm willing to take a chance with them."
"I still say we should take the Founding Titan from them," he hears a second boy, the one they call Marcel, say.
"Marcel," the third boy, Bertolt, utters, "I have my doubts that Marley will actually honor their word now, even if we did bring them the Founder. And if these people were ready to defend their home against the four of us, I'm all for attempting a peaceful solution over attacking people that aren't even living behind the Walls."
"Eh-hem," Grausam cleared his throat to get their attention in the tent, holding up a tray of cups. "I just need to know something from you four."
They look at him with tense expressions.
"Do you drink tea?" He asks them.
"Yes," Reiner replies, and Grausam walks over to a table and sets the tray down.
"Aaugh," he groans as he sits down in a chair.
"Are you alright, sir?" Marcel questions.
"Just my legs," he explains. "I've been on my feet for most of the day. It's my blessing and curse that I can still walk. Out of curiosity, and I say this because I am a curious mind, do you young men have people waiting for you to come home? Miss Leonhart has expressed returning to her father, but do any of you have people to go back to? Anyone at all?"
"We all have people waiting for us," Bertolt states as he picks up a cup and examines the tea. "Black tea?"
"I don't like it, either, but most in the Survey Corps do. Honestly, I prefer ginger and green tea."
Bertolt sighs and sips his tea.
"Just who are you?" Marcel asks him.
"I'm nobody," Grausam states, "just a man that has been on a dark path ever since he can remember, trying to save his soul by doing the right thing for once in his life. I'm still trying to do the right thing. I want to do the right thing."
"And what is the right thing?" Reiner asks him.
"Helping to put an end to the violence and hatred that exists between Paradis and the rest of the world. Some would say the only way to do that is to eliminate one's enemies everywhere, but that only creates more suffering and condemns the soul. The other way to do so, the harder way, is to set aside differences in favor of a tolerable outcome where everyone benefits from mutual coexistence rather than racial injustice or cultural differences."
"And how's that working for you?" Bertolt wants to hear from him.
"I don't know yet. As much as I want to say that I'm making progress, three years is still too early to know for sure if I've done anything to change where my path ends upon my final breath. But in the end, I do hope that I have done enough to give my soul just a little measure of light."
"You make it sound as though you were a monster at one point," went Annie to him, accepting a cup of tea.
"In a way, I was…and I paid a high price for being a monster. There's an old saying that is true in every sense of the words that comprise it: 'Those that fight monsters must see to it that they don't become monsters themselves'. I have to make sure that nobody else becomes a monster like I had been. The worst kinds of monsters are the ones that are deprived of any conscience, remorse or have any morality to impede them…and the second worst kinds are those that know what they are doing hurts others…and just don't care about the consequences. I was the second kind of monster…and then I paid the price for my arrogance. I would spare others of that fate."
Bertolt then drinks the entire cup and sets it down on the table.
"What would you say to someone that knows that they're a monster…but only because they felt they had no choice if they wanted a better life?" He asks him.
"I'd have to know what they have done since becoming a monster," Grausam states, "and there are stages of the worst kinds of monsters, two of which I've explained. If they are capable of regret, then maybe, just maybe, there is hope for them to turn back and atone for their misdeeds."
"Do you believe that?" Marcel questions.
"Redemption is the path of those that truly seek to atone for their mistakes."
-x-
Frieda knew what was coming, but she was unable to do anything about it. The upcoming visit was unavoidable…and the woman was different from the man she originally saw. Things were changing beyond all sense of reasonable doubt, and this elderly man, this…Grausam Zanki…was part of the reason these changes were apparent. The fact that the Titan infestation had been mitigated, the Survey Corps and Jaeger Titan Corps that enabled the establishment of several villages beyond the Walls, even the current issue with the young children from Marley that had come to attack the Walls to infiltrate and search for the Founding Titan, no longer moving to attack…and it worries her to no end…but still, she couldn't fight back against this turn of events due to the ideology she was bound by.
Even if I were to act against those that know the truth, some of them are now protected against having their memories wiped away, she thinks due to the ideology preventing her for going against the will of the past holder of the power. It's inevitable…but I don't want to die. I don't want to lose my life. I don't want my family to lose their lives. I can't do anything. Someone, please, help me. Help me.
Even as she sat beside Historia against the tree, teaching her to read, the presence of the young girl's friend and companion on the farm, Ymir, bothers Frieda because she was among these Jaegers Titans that was protected against the Founding Titan's power.
Ymir was just resting against the tree on Historia's left side, oblivious to the disturbed woman's concerns, but knew she had to be ready for anything in case danger made itself known to the young girl.
People wanting to protect what matters to them on all sides, Frieda thinks. A father with a change of heart wanting to protect his young son from himself and the world from him. This freckle-faced girl that wants to protect my sister from harm. The young men and women that took a gamble with that elder's unorthodox methods and became giants of a different kind to defend against the ones that have no choice but to seek out flesh and devour it. They don't want to fight in a war for control over the world. They want a change over the state of the world.
-x-
"…Alright, then it's agreed," one of the men from the crew of the boat says to Erwin Smith and Levi Ackerman. "We'll escort you to Marley."
Erwin bows his head to the crewmen.
"Thank you very much, gentlemen," he replies in gratitude.
"I am so looking forward to this," went Hange with a smile.
That's the part that worries me, thought one of the crewmen; this was completely against Marleyan protocols.
And without a doubt, the crew believed this woman was among the Titans capable of intellectual actions, meaning that, despite having been shot at by one of them, she miraculously recovered due to the Titan power of regeneration. But they had never encountered a woman of this sort that seemed so…hyperactive towards Titans or other people. And then, there was the elder man that seemed to have no actual use that would be staying behind on Paradis, this Grausam Zanki. Not only was his name unusual, but so was his overall presence; it was like he was an Eldian…but at the same time, he was not, and it was also like he had something to hide, but they didn't know what exactly…or if he even had anything to hide.
"When do we leave?" The captain of the crew asks Erwin, and then notices two Jaeger Titans lifting up the boat from off the rocks and taking to the water.
"How about after lunch?" Erwin suggests.
To be continued…
A/N: This was among the chapters I had to get to work on while it was still fresh in my head. What do you think so far?