Pretty Little Liar (Aruani Element Shifter AU) ✔️

Part Two: Forty Five

(Two years later)

(Eren)

"Hey, your tie is all crooked," said Mikasa, facing me with her cute little grin and redoing it.

"Sorry, it's been a while since I've worn one," I said. She finished tying then nodded.

"Yeah," she started, before her mother walked through the door.

"Ready?" she started. "Everyone else is in the hall."

We followed her down the corridors of the council building into the hall where Reiner, Bertholdt and Ymir were talking in a group while Mr and Mrs Black, Bertholdt's parents and the other shifters were setting up the stage through the doors outside. Sasha and Connie and a few other non-shifters were helping too, and waved at the two if us as we walked in.

"Hey guys," said Reiner, noticing us.

"Ready?" said Pema. I nodded at her warmly. She was an air shifter from the north who had moved down a year ago. Her and Mike have been together for a couple of months now, and I've never seen Mike so happy.

Ymir had the book under her arm, which she was on her way to give back to the representative from the museum once the speech was over. I frowned at the obvious elephant in the room.

"She isn't coming, is she?"

Bertholdt chuckled quietly. "She's never been one for public speaking."

"Its been almost two years since we've seen her."

"She'll be back, she always comes back," said Ymir.

Annie left a few days after I met her in the cemetery. She stayed and sat through a whole meeting about the plans for the council, gave her opinions which they took, then helped destroy the underground labs, and then without warning, she disappeared. I haven't seen her since. Reiner saw her in Egypt where she was visiting a clan of shifters, and she helped him locate his family, which they did, but then she left him, without warning, again. I don't know where she is anymore, nobody does. We're hoping she's found her father, who is, to our knowledge, the only other living fire shifter, but the fact she hasn't come back yet is telling me otherwise.

Mike walked in and put his arm around Nanaba. "Right, kids. Ready to show the world?"

We followed him out onto the stage where the non-shifter council members, including Armin's father, were all standing in front of microphones. We stood behind them, and the speech began.

"Several decades ago, humans lived alongside certain gifted individuals who had the ability to wield the elements. These people were known as Element Shifters. You may have heard about them in the fiction books you read your children, or in the small army of historical texts that have survived. Well, we are here to announce that they do in fact exist here, and have done all along. The military and the council who served this county three years ago knew of their existence, and they tried for many years to exterminate every single one of them. They were almost successful, pushing them into hiding, subjecting many to scientific experiments, torture and killing any they found. They remained cunning and secretive, and none of the public knew of what was happening. However they were unsuccessful, and a new generation of shifters were able to defeat them and uncover their lies. I'm sure you have questions and concerns, but the Element Shifters are not a threat to the world. The previous council utilised every militant resource available to try and wipe these people out, lying to you and rotting the values of the council. The new council will include Element Shifters and together we will utilise their special gifts as well as allow them, for the first time in decades, to live among us safely. They will no longer be oppressed and forced to run, as they have done in the past. They are a pivotal part of the community. The military will not be re-established as we enter a new era of peace."

We were instructed to stand up and show a small part of our shifting. I created some stones and moved them around above my head, while Mikasa made shapes with their water, and Pema moved the air around her. The other shifters were sat in the front with the council members, nodding as the audience applauded.

We left as the council stayed to answer questions from journalists, when someone touched the back of my arm.

"Hi Eren."

Armin's mother came to us a while ago, after Armin left the hospital. After working in the museum for such a long time, she had come across quite a few rare texts on the shifters that the council hadn't found and been able to destroy. She always had a suspicion about us, and when her son suddenly appeared after being dead for a year, she knew something wasn't right. After the council was formed and the building work started on the building, she turned up, with Sasha hurrying behind her, trying to stop her from entering.

She sat with Mike for hours. When they came out again, I expected her to be upset or angry. Instead, she shook everybody by the hand and promised to keep everything a secret. She knew about us and about what happened to Armin, and had a hundred questions about her son she wanted to ask me. Mike didn't know whether she knew Annie or not, and he didn't tell her, but it didn't take long for the Arlerts to figure it out. When Armin's father became a member of the council, working with the Blacks, it wasn't long before people started talking about Annie, and the Blacks awkwardly confessed to faking her death. They're great members of the council, and I always got updates on how Armin is doing from them. They wanted to see Annie again, but so did all of us.

My heart stopped as I turned around to greet her.

"Armin, this is Eren. you used to go to primary school together."

Armin was stood just behind his mother with Christa smiling kindly at me. He just nodded.

"So, you're an earth shifter. That's amazing," he said. Christa's smile twitched slightly, looking at Armin carefully. He looked strange. I hadn't seen him in so long, and I had only ever known him as a shifter with whiter hair and brighter eyes. Now he just looked normal, ordinary, and for some reason that upset me. Armin Arlert was extraordinary.

"I can't believe we've been living with element shifters all along," he continued, taking a step closer to shake my hand. "My dad was sworn to secrecy as a councilman, obviously, but it came as a huge surprise to us." Armin's mum looked awkwardly at me for a second, uncomfortable with lying to her son, but then she nodded it off.

I nodded at Armin. I could feel Bertholdt and Reiner awkwardly watching us from down the corridor as I tried to organise the thousands of thoughts that were running inside my head.

"Anyway," said Mrs Arlert, turning to Christa and Armin. "We were just passing through to get the shifter book from Ymir."

"Ah, right, yeah," I muttered, letting them walk past. But Christa, in true Christa fashion, turned back and grinned at me.

"You guys wanna come to my birthday party next week?"

"Really?" I smirked, going along with pretending we didn't know each other.

"Yeah, of course. Any friend of Ymir's is a friend of mine," she smiled. "Ymir can tell you the details." She added, then waved, before leaving.

Bertholdt turned to me and frowned.

"He doesn't remember anything, huh?"

"No. It's so difficult for him. Apparently he lost his mind when Mr and Mrs Black came back, and now he's just learnt they're shifters too. He's really confused I'm sure."

"I don't blame him. Everyone's lying to him, he doesn't know what happened to him."

I frowned, then the rest of the council emerged through the doors, talking loudly and happily amongst eachother. I followed them and found Mikasa, Connie and Sasha in the lobby waiting for me.

"So, how does it feel to be out in the open now?" asked Connie.

I grinned. "Good. Are you guys going to Christa's party?"

"Yeah."

"Great," I smiled, imagining what being a normal part of the community was like for the first time in my life.