The Bloom Titan (1/2)

CH.49: Arielle Harper and Dr. Jeager

"You're not going to take a seat, Braus?" Commander Shadis asks.

"No! I am perfectly happy to stand!" Sasha shouts, seeming intimidated and scared about being in the same room as our old commander.

We were in Shadis's office, everyone sitting at a table- apart from Sasha, of course. I was sat next to Hanji and Eren.

"I do seem to recall reprimanding you in this room more than a few times. And that was only a few months ago. I hardly recognise you anymore." Shadis looks at all of us one by one, everyone, apart from Hanji, Levi and I, shivers under his gaze.

"Commander Shadis. Or, as I should say, Commandant. With the mission to retake Wall Maria so near, perhaps you can guess what brings us here today." Hanji says, breaking a bit of silence. I stare at Shadis plainly, while I notice he seems to look from Eren to me to Eren again.

"Eren, Ezlyn. You both look so much like your mothers." I hold my breath as Eren gasps. "But those daggers in your eyes could only have come from your father." Eren stands up abruptly and stares Shadis up and down.

"Please tell us everything you know about him and Ezlyns mother!" Eren raises his voice almost in a commanding manner.

"What I know is worth very little. The only thing I can impart is a story of no importance to humanity. It is the story of events witnessed by a mere bystander." Shadis starts. I sit my elbows on the table and sit my chin in my hands, propping myself up and keeping my attention on Shadis so I could be transfixed on what he was going to say.

"It was twenty years ago at Wall Maria. He and Arielle, Ezlyn's mother, was out there, just beyond the gates of Shiganshina. I asked them how they got out of the wall, but Grisha asked the same thing, asking if we were fighting or not. Was he telling the truth? Both of them claimed that neither of them remembered how they got outside the walls. Or anything about themselves, for that matter. All they could remember was that their names were, Grisha Jeager and Arielle Harper." I sit and stare at Shadis intensely, listening close.

"We brought them back inside the walls and confined them both in cells because it is illegal to go outside wihout permission. But Captain Hannes mentioned, when he was drunk, that they never hurt anyone and we could promise to keep it between ourselves. I agreed and we let them out. I asked what they were going to do now, then Grisha said he remembered something else about himself, that he was is Doctor and asked if I could introduce him to a hospital. But Arielle asked me a strange thing... If I could tell them about the world inside the walls, the Survey Corps and myself."

"They truly knew nothing at all. Not about this world or anything else. Arielle and Grisha were very interested about this world and how it worked. I had took them to a local bar and explained every detail about the world. That's when your father met your mother, Eren. Arielle seemed to get along with Carla nicely but Carla disaggreed with something about how the Survey Corps were not usefull. But, Arielle protested saying 'I could never be a corpsman, it takes someone destined for greatness to be one'. Destined for greatness. It was the first time anyone had said that about me. And it was true that the world inside the wall was too small for me."

"If they made me commander, I would give them the results they wanted. I'd give them results so impressive, their tiny brains wouldn't be able to deny it. And then, everyone would acknowledge me." Shadis continues, a look of disappointment, no, guilt on his face.

"At least two years later, Arielle got pregnant and an epidemic of the plaque broke out. Carla and her family managed to catch it and were seriously ill. I took them to Grisha, who was now a doctor, so he could treat them." He pauses and I pick up my cup of tea and take a light sip before putting it back down. "At least a few months later, he had saved everyone from the disease single-handedly, recieving thanks from everyone and even Carla and her family. I got promoted but I wasn't congratulated, Grisha and Carla were because they got married." Envy was flaring up in his eyes like wild fire.

"And once when I came back from an expedition I came across two women talking to eachother. Those two women were Carla and Arielle, both of them had children with them" Shadis looks up at Eren and I. "Both of which, were you two. I was beckoned over by Carla. She asked me something that made me snap. I started shouting at her and called her a whore. I ended up doing the same to Arielle because she tried getting me to stop because, Ezlyn started crying because she was scared but Eren just stared at me confused, he was not even over a year yet."

"Then the year 842 came. Ezlyn was almost killed by her 'father' and Arielle disappeared. I had to be there for court as Asher Adori was one of the highest ranking captains in my battalion. He was obviously sent to jail and banned from joining the military again. But, when the year 845 came, right after I came back from my last expedition out the walls I asked Erwin if he could take over as Commander. He agreed and I went back to trost, my home, and that's when the news hit me like a tonne of bricks. Wall Maria was breached by a Titan taller than the wall. Everyone panicked and started running for the hills. Someone shouted my name from behind me and there stood Grisha Jeager with Arielle Harper holding his hand." My eyes widened as I never knew where Mama was for three years. Was she kept hostage by my biological father because of her powers.

"I helped Grisha find Eren and Ezlyn then he took them out into the woods. I told them both to stop but Arielle turned to face me with an unforgetable stare, one that embedded itself into my memory. Grisha said to Eren to avenge his mother at all costs. But, I asked him why couldn't he do it himself and I said 'what if Eren and Ezlyn aren't destined for greatness or special like me'. He turned round with a glare like Arielle's and I remember him saying 'these chidren are not like you. Their my son and daughter. Stay out of this' Then he, Arielle and you two were walked into the forest. I remember seeing lightning so I followed it to find Ezlyn carrying Eren away. I helped her and I carried your unconscious body back to the shelter. That's everything I know." He finally finishes.

I suddenly feel lightheaded and slap a hand over my mouth. Hanji starts rubbing my back.

"So... that's it?" Eren asks softly. Hanji stops and leans forward.

"So that's the real reason you resigned. Not to atone for the deaths you caused, but because you realised you were never 'special'. What a childish reason that brought you here."

"Quit it, Hanji." Levi stops her warningly.

Hanji's eyebrows crinkle. "I don't care about your inferiority complex. Don't run away from reality. Aren't we supposed to dedicate our hearts to face reality?" She disobeys, standing up and placing a hand over her heart.

"Please stop, Hanji." I mutter, letting my hand fall from my mouth back to my side.   "The commandant was right. Eren and I was never special or anything. We're just the children of special people. That's all." I keep my eyes transfixed on my tea, the still liquid reflecting my pale expression.

"Eren. Carla, your mother, told me something. 'Is it wrong not to be special? I don't think so. If my child isn't speacial, if he never does anything great, so what? He doesn't have to be better than anyone.'"

-----------------------------

I mount Zip swiftly and look over to Jean. He smiles softly at me. I give a broad grin back.

Shadis's words were still echoing through my mind as if it were an alleyway. He told me personally what my mother had said about me. 'My daughter is special because she was born into this world.'

I look up at the sky as a cool breeze hit me. The wind blew back my hair gently, tossing it naturally. I chuckle lightly before jerking Zip's reins to go forward.

He takes off in a gallop behind everyone else.

The answers are almost on my doorstep. The answers to this god-forsaken world. The truth to why my life was torn apart...