Nest & Wings (Annie Leonhardt x Male Reader)

Chapter 31: Dawn of Conflict

Back at the HQ,

You and Annie open Dr. Jager's books and start reading about his life and his experience growing up in the internment zone.

Dr. Jager was born to an Eldian family inside the internment zone in Liberio, the capital of Marley. His story begins the day he and his sister ventured outside the wall that separated them from the Marleans to look at something called an airship.

The two of them were caught by Marlean security guards and are punished for crossing the border without a permit. One of the soldiers kicks young Grisha in his gut while the other takes his sister away, saying he'd escort her back to the internment zone.

However, the next day, her body is found near the river. The soldier who took her away and likely killed her for no apparent reason denies having anything to do with it. It was obvious he was lying as he claims to have dropped her off at the gate to the internment zone.

While Dr. Jager picked up on it and wanted to retaliate, his parents give in and accept the injustice, leaving young Grisha to blame himself for what happened. This tragedy sets him on a path to bring justice to his people.

While Annie had told you about Marley and the internment zone in general earlier, this is when you learn the intricacies regarding Eldians and how they were unjustly oppressed by Marley.

"What did your people even do for Marley to hate them so much?" you ask Annie.

She responds, "Because we carry the sins of our ancestors... the Eldian Empire apparently did some horrible things in the past."

You ask, "Past? How long ago are we talking about?"

"A little over a century ago." She answers and opens the book about the history of Eldia.

You read it and learn about how the Eldian Empire subjugated the world using the power of titans which they alone had. It was Marley that eventually overthrew them and brought peace to the world.

The defeated Eldian king gathered as many of his people as he could and fled to Paradis. There, he built three walls to keep his people safe from the outside world. The descendants of the Eldians who were left behind in different parts of the world were all gathered together and forced to live inside the internment zones.

It was Marley that first came up with the concept of the internment zones to segregate Eldians. The rest of the countries simply followed and built internment zones of their own in their respective capitals. This meant that while Eldian oppression is a worldwide thing, Marley was the primary instigator that fanned the flames of hatred in everyone else which made it especially worse for the Eldians who lived in Liberio.

Dr. Jager was one of them, the same as Annie, Reiner and Bertolt. After reading about the history of Eldians, you go back to reading Dr. Jager's story where he mentions how some Eldians including his parents, accepted their circumstances and blindly obeyed Marlean authority. They resented the Eldians in Paradis for abandoning them and referred to them as 'Demons' which explains why Reiner used that term back when you overheard their conversation.

"Hey Annie, I understand their frustration... but how can they accuse us of abandoning them? I mean... we don't even know that they exist. We're taught that humanity was wiped out and we're the only ones remaining, you know." You question her.

She says, "Just like you're taught that people don't exist outside the walls, they're taught that they were deliberately abandoned. Even I believed that at some point. It was after coming here that I learned the truth. If Marcel was here... he might have approached things differently."

"How so?" You ask.

"He was originally our leader. He was very rational and understanding— a bit like you in fact; I bet you'd get along well with him. After he died, Reiner took over. He tried his best to fill Marcel's shoes, but he wasn't as quick witted as Marcel was to make the kind of judgments he would've made. I tried telling Reiner that the mission wouldn't work without Marcel, but he convinced me that we couldn't go back without completing it."