Attack on Prime

Outside the Walls

"When I was a young child, I lived in a walled ghetto called Liberio with my family. Many people like us were forced in these places because we were considered monsters. My childlike nature refused to accept it when my sister wanted to see a flying ship land. For her sake, I managed to slip past the guards and leave Liberio. Outside, we were met with glares and hatred, even though we were just children. We managed to make it to the landing pad of the ship. I was content to see my sister's ecstatic face, but we were caught by two public securities. I volunteered to take physical punishment for my sister. I was beaten, and my sister was taken away by one of the officers. The officer still remaining told me to stay with him and watch the ship land. When I got home later that day, my sister wasn't around. She was found in the river the next day.

"The officers met with my parents in our home. The one who took my sister said to them that he didn't know what happened to her after he left her at the gate. I knew this man from the Marley Public Security Authorities was lying. He was skipping out on his job and sleeping by the riverside. He could not have been busy. My mother was overwhelmed by sorrow, while my father demeaned himself in front of these men. When I saw my father and this man, I held so much hate for them that I began to feel dizzy. But even more than that, I cursed my own foolishness."

"That doesn't explain anything," Levi interrupted Optimus, causing the Prime to look at him, "Why were they discriminated against? And what the hell's a 'Marley'?"

Optimus grabbed another one of the books and opened it to the first page. "Over 1,800 years ago, Ymir Fritz, the progenitor of the Eldians, made a contract with the Devil of All Earth and acquired the Power of the Titans. Using the power of the Titans, Ymir cultivated the wastelands, built the roads, and constructed the bridges, bringing abundance to the land and wealth to the Eldian people. Ymir's power built the Eldian Empire, and when she died it was divided among the Nine Titans. The Empire then brought ruin to the great and ancient nation of Marley and became the conqueror of the continent. Now possessing the power to become Titans, these Subjects of Ymir (the Eldian People) oppressed and subjugated other races for about the next 1,700 years, even conducting ethnic cleansing.

"The Eldian Empire had grown arrogant after 1,700 years, eventually allowing Marley to work from within and instigate a civil war, causing it to grow weak. Marley was also able to acquire seven of the Nine Titans, winning the Great Titan War about a hundred years ago and defeating Eldia. While Fritz, the 145th Eldian King had inherited the Founding Titan with its ability to rule and control all other titans, he made the decision to renounce war, moving to the remote island of Paradis along with some other Eldians. There, he built three layers of walls and hid inside them. Meanwhile, the Eldians who held out and were left behind on the continent were segregated into interment zones, forced to live under Marley's tyrannical rule."

"Well...shit," Hanji spoke.

"So while we have wanted the titans dead, there's an entire nation that despises us as well," Pixis declared.

"From what we know so far, it seems the entire world hates us for what our ancestors have done," Erwin said.

"Shall I continue?" Optimus asked.

Hanji nodded her head, allowing Optimus to continue reading from Grisha's early life. "My father told me the history of our ancestors. For someone who lost his daughter, he looked content with belittling his ancestors and defending his masters like a dog. I told him that the officer knew something, that my sister and I didn't do anything wrong, but my father told me to be quiet. A simple rumor could get us all sent to Paradis, and forced into becoming titans for all eternity. My father wanted me to remain quiet, and accept the reality that I was born into for the sake of my family that was still alive.