The Path Back to You | Levi x OC

Chapter 41 - The Bliss of Ignorance

Erwin

"Wait for me!"
Erwin chased after Anastasya as she raced through the city gates and out into the countryside, beelining for the spot they'd found a few weeks ago. The air carried the promise of summer, and their days were filled with school, stories, and adventure. Erwin eventually caught up, and Anastasya poked him in the arm as they ran.
"I wanna go first!"
"All right, all right," he replied, almost out of breath.
Anastasya reached the rope swing they'd discovered nestled in a grove of trees and jumped up onto the wooden seat.
"Will you push me?"
Erwin obliged, pushing her higher and higher and laughing as she yelped with excitement.
"I'm flying!" she cried. "Woo!"
Without warning, she leapt from the swing and with cat-like grace, she landed ten metres away, turned, and bowed.
"Now you!"
Erwin settled onto the seat and Anastasya came back to push. However she wasn't very strong, and he burst out laughing when he realised she was taking a run up each time. He slowed and twisted round just as she crashed into him, but he grabbed her before she could topple over.
"Hey!"
"Sorry," he chuckled. "Let's go and see if we can find the rabbits."
They went to a small meadow in which a family of rabbits had been digging burrows the last time they'd been there.
"I think they must be underground," he said.
"We're like rabbits," Anastasya replied thoughtfully, sitting down on the grassy slope at the edge of the trees.
"Huh?"
"We live underground too! My... My daddy once told me that there's a big city underneath the capital."
"Mm, I've heard of it. It's dangerous there."
"My daddy said that, too. I wonder why."
"Maybe the people there are frustrated because they don't see the sun or trees."
"Maybe. Anyway, I want to see what's beyond the walls!" Anastasya declared.
"Me too. I found a book the other day that says there's an enormous expanse of water in the world called the 'sea'. It's salty."
"Salty water? Ew!"
"Anastasya... My dad told me that he thinks the government changed people's memories."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Promise you'll keep it a secret? The Military Police asked me some questions about it just this morning, so I don't think we're supposed to know..."
"I promise!"
He hesitated, just a moment, then told her what his father had told him.
"All of the history books that my father uses in his lessons...he says they're full of mysteries and contradictions. And it doesn't make sense that our history wasn't passed down by the first people who lived inside the walls to their families. They're hiding something."
He watched as Anastasya's pretty, amethyst-blue eyes widened at the revelation.
"Oh...! But Erwin, you have to be careful! My daddy...he knew things he shouldn't and..."
She trailed off with watery eyes, and he put a hand over hers.
"It's okay," he told her. "If enough of us discover the truth, they can't deny it or silence us."
Anastasya looked doubtful.
"If they really can change people's memories... Why don't they just change the memories of the people who know too much? That way, they wouldn't hurt them."
He didn't have an answer, and the reasoning surprised and impressed him.
"I don't know... Maybe my father has some idea. We should ask him."
"Yeah," she agreed.
"I don't want to go back yet, though."
"Me neither. It's such a nice day!"
"And... I brought this."
He pulled a heavy book from his bag.
"Is that the second story?!"
"It is. Wanna read it?"
"Read it to me!"
He smiled and for the next few hours, they ate sweets while he read the sequel to a story they both adored. When the sun began to dip low in the sky, they knew it was time to go back.
"Do you want to stay for dinner?" he asked.
Since her father's murder, Anastasya's mother had been depressed and gloomy, and he knew that she didn't enjoy going home anymore.
"Yeah!"
They made their way back into the city and to Erwin's house. However when they arrived, the front door was wide open. They wandered in to find Erwin's aunt weeping in the living room.
"Auntie? What's wrong?"
"Erwin! Oh Erwin, come here," she said.
He went to sit on the sofa, a terrible feeling dropping into the pit of his stomach. Anastasya joined him and reached for his hand, fear blowing her pupils wide.
"Erwin, my darling... Your father... It seems he was in an accident. They found him this afternoon near a village out in the countryside. I'm so sorry, Erwin. He... He's dead."
Erwin heard Anastasya gasp and start crying but he simply sat there, staring at his father's armchair, picturing him in it with a book and a glass of brandy as he told him stories each night. Except, he'd never, ever sit there and read to him again. The realisation crashed into him like a brick wall. He jumped up and ran to his room, slamming the door shut so hard that the wall shook. He threw himself onto his bed and wept, burying his face in his pillow. He had done this. He was the reason his father was dead. Seconds later, Anastasya hurried into the room. He felt as she laid a small, gentle hand upon his shoulder.
"...Erwin?"
"It's my fault!" he cried. "I told other people about my father's theory and the Military Police killed him, just like they killed your father!"
Anastasya hugged him, just as he had hugged her the day he'd found her sobbing by the canal.
"Together," she vowed, "we'll unveil the truth. One day, we'll make our fathers proud."