Zero Eclipse | Erehisu FF

Chapter 1: To the Palace

Vibrant clothes shine under the heat of the morning sun, sweat glisten and cool the warm bodies clustered together in the crowd. There is friendly and excited chattering amongst sellers and buyers, friends, lovers, and strangers. The hustle and bustle of the busy streets increasingly grow as the anniversary of Queen Historia's coronation approaches.

The cities feel alive, for once there was no sight of forlorn and broken faces of suffering and grieving citizens. Ever since the coronation of Historia and the reclamation of Wall Maria the number of deaths, be it caused by titans, criminals, or accidents, has greatly decreased. Unity among the people of this island was seemingly achieved since then. Soon enough, the scouts would have progressed enough for them to go to the ocean.

'All the sacrifices we've done is all for this....' Armin thinks to himself as he watches the crowd from the glass window of the carriage.

"Are you zoning out again Armin?" Mikasa gently puts her hand on Armin's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. "We need to go now or we'll be late."

"I haven't spotted Connie and Sasha yet." He replied, turning his face to see Mikasa's worried look.

"Captain Levi will kill us if we show up late." Jean frowns as he slams his hand on his lap, letting out a frustated sigh. "We shouldn't have let them out."

"They would've escaped either way. No one can stop them from buying the cheap snacks being sold here." Armin replies, trying to calm everyones nerves.

"I seriously don't want to clean up another shithole." Jean shivers, remembering the disgusting things he had to clean out as punishment for missing training. "I still can't get rid of this black mole on my finger that appeared when we had to clean out the old storage from last month. I plan on getting this checked soon."

"I'm sure Historia wouldn't mind it if we happen to be a few minutes late." Armin glances at Eren as he mentions Historia's name. For the whole ride, Eren has only been silently looking out the window. Clearly his mind was elsewhere. Armin hoped that by mentioning her name it would snap him out of his reverie because of how much closer the two of them have become since the accident back in the cave last year, but Eren continued to stare absentmindedly at the crowd.

"Historia might be fine with it but everyone else will not be as merciful." Mikasa sighs. "If they do not return in five minutes I will personally go after them."

"I'll go with you." Jean replies, a hint of blush spreading across his cheeks.

Mikasa looks at him and nods shortly, immediately shifting her gaze to Eren who sat next to Jean and right across Armin. "Eren, do you wish to go outside too?"

"I don't mind." Eren replies, not taking his eyes off the crowd. At that moment, Mikasa wishes she could read his mind.

Silence blankets the carriage, the only source of sound coming from Jean's restless foot tapping and the crowd's noise.

"There they are!" Jean points to the two figures running towards the carriage, carrying a handful of food and drinks. He immediately opens the door to let them in, and signals the driver of the carriage to move.

"What took you two so long?" Armin asks, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer to the question already. He eyes the food and drinks on their hands and furrows his eyebrows at the strange looking delicacies the two have brought along with them. "I've never seen those before."

Sasha and Connie couldn't answer his question as they struggle to get some air after their run.

Mikasa's eyes shine with interest as she eyes the food on their hands. Jean visibly drools and shamelessly reaches out for the yellow fluffy looking cloud on a stick. Even Eren stopped looking at the crowd to get a good look of what Sasha and Connie had bought.

"Sorry for taking so long, but we bought a bunch of snacks for everyone." Connie replies after stabilizing his breathing.

"I've never seen some of these before." Armin says in awe. "Although I have heard descriptions from merchants from Wall Sina that match some of these foods."

"So some of the snacks that were exclusive to Wall Sina are available in Wall Rose now...that's a good sign." Mikasa smiles softly. "Historia must've encouraged this distribution."

"Just take whatever you want." Connie grins, handing out snacks to everyone in the carriage, even to the driver at the front.

Mikasa takes a folded thin pancake that contained fruits and cream inside.

"The seller called that a crepe." Connie explains. "I recommend the egg tart for Armin, and this burger is for you Jean, lastly this cotton candy is for you Eren."

"What else are you hiding there Sasha?" Jean teasingly says as he reaches for the burger.

"Some snacks as peace offering for the  captain." Sasha gulps, dreading the wrath of the captain. "Everything else is mine."

"Did you get some for Historia too?" Eren asks as he takes a bite of the yellow cotton candy.

"I-I...uhhh..kinda forgot." Sasha stutters, feeling intimidated by Eren's gaze. "I mean she is the queen, right? Surely she has more of these at the castle."

"It might feel different if it came from her friends." Eren continues, ignoring the suspicious and worried looks of Armin and Mikasa. "I just think that being in the castle can feel lonely. If I were in her position I would appreciate any gift from my friends. We are still her friends, even if she is the queen."

"I agree with Eren." Jean says nonchalantly. "We were together for years, it must be strange and lonely to be surrounded by officials now instead of the team."

"Let's leave some for her then, we can give it to her as soon as we reach the palace." Armin says. "Let me keep it before the two of you accidentally eat it."

Sasha and Connie sigh, handing over a caramel apple covered in plastic.

"We'll be arriving at the palace in an hour, lets get our rest here first before the meeting." Armin covers the windows with the blinds, embracing the darkness. Soon enough everyone was drifting off to sleep.

Except for one.

'Historia...'

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This is my first Erehisu fanfiction, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.