This is My Last War (Attack on Titan // LeviHan) - Part 3

Home Is Where the Heart Is

The rhythmic hum of the engine resonated through the massive vessel like a content, throaty growl, accompanied by the rhythmic sloshing noise of the ship's hull clashing with the water. The smell of diesel fuel lingered in the air, a distinct aroma of modern times and grand possibilities that clashed with the salty, fresh sea breeze.

Zoë adored diesel engines, but today, she'd have preferred the purity of the latter without the pungent odor of the first.

"You alright?"

Grütter, bless his soul, had perfected the art of unobtrusive obtrusiveness. Always just hovering where he wouldn't be in the way, concerned, but not unduly worried, helpful when needed, quiet when superfluous.

"Yeah, thanks."

Zoë tried a smile but it wouldn't manifest. She wasn't alright and that was bloody obvious. As the ship rocked and pitched in the embrace of the open sea, she found herself succumbing to all encompassing nausea. The rhythmic sway of the ship played havoc with her equilibrium, and the constant battle between her eyes, fixated on the ever-shifting horizon, and her inner ear, registering the ship's motion, left her feeling extremely disoriented.

It wasn't her first time on a ship - but the first time she felt so thoroughly miserable.

"It won't be long now," Felix Grütter tried to cheer her up, pointing at a flock of seagulls that hovered in the air in the distance.

And yet, it looked like she'd lose her dignity all over the weathered deck before they'd arrive.

In an attempt to anchor them on something less turbulent than the waves, Zoë let her eyes wander up to the towering chimneys that rose proudly against the expansive blue sky. The slender, cylindrical forms seemed to stretch endlessly, a testament to the power concealed within the ship's belly. As the diesel engines roared below, the top of each chimney, a flared lip catching the wind, dispersed the ship's stinky, black breath over the vast expanse of the sea.

Not long and we will be home.

A strong gust of wind tousled Hange's hair, whipping it around her face like a battlefield banner. Somewhere to the right, a lady lost her hat and screamed at her laughing companion to help her catch it. It sailed through the air like a wounded bird, then hit the ocean and vanished. Such was life: unexpected events, loss, pain, death. Home is where the heart is, right? For the life of her, she couldn't understand why she felt so much apprehension about it.

"You won't believe what I overheard just now," Grütter chuckled, turning his body so he could lean against the railing and look up at the chimneys with her.

"I hope it wasn't Jean and Pieck," she murmured. New love... a nuisance for everyone around who didn't experience the overflow of hormones first hand.

"No," Grütter's eyes twinkled merrily as he turned to her. "Something better: A nanny was telling a monster story to the two children in her care."

"That monster story?"

"Yup, these stories are spreading and spreading fast," Grütter nodded gleefully, "I don't know whether someone is deliberately spreading them or whether they are just hitting the Zeitgeist?"

"Man-eating giants and all that?"

"Oh yes," Grütter began to recite with aplomb, "their towering, skeletal forms blot out the sun, and their malevolent eyes pierce through the darkest of nights. With each step, they leave devastation in their wake, their thunderous footsteps echoing like harbingers of doom. Unfortunate souls who venture too deeply into the heart of cursed Paradis Island never return. Etc. Etc."