The Killer Butterfly - an Attack on Titan Story

Chapter 3 - Goodbye

Year 843

Amelia woke up on a chilly morning. Autumn was halfway done, and today was the day when she would leave for the Cadet Corps.

She didn't believe that the day had come so quickly. She expected that the days be be like normal, long and drawn out. But no. Instead they had gone by quickly, not letting her stop for breath.

Amelia was admired and respected in the village, and tried to spend most of the days with Ella, but it seemed like the village had other plans for her. A lot of the times when she was walking through town she was cornered by someone wishing to talk to her about her leaving. And of course, the news of her going spread through town quickly, making a lot of the kids in love with her confess the next moment they saw her. 

But she denied every one of them. Some she straight up said no to, because she didn't like them at all, whereas others she had to say that she was happy staying friends. It was always hilarious and a little frustrating for Ella when the two of them were approached by someone when they were hanging out together. 

Seeing flustered kids run up to them and confess their love for Amelia was amusing, but also annoying, because Ella wanted to spend as much time as possible with her best friend. Amelia had noticed this, and after two weeks of being confessed to, whenever she noticed that she was being approached, she grabbed Ella and they ran to the other end of town.

But, those days were over. She was leaving. Leaving behind her entire world, just to see a new one. But Amelia could not persuade herself to back down. Her parents had asked a few times when arranging transport to the training camp if she really wanted to go, but Amelia had always said, "I want to do this."

Now she wasn't so sure. But as she gazed outside, she knew that she was doing it, no matter what.

As she got dressed, she held in the tears that she knew would fall no matter when she was saying her goodbyes. As she pulled on a lilac coloured skirt and a white shirt, she looked around her minuscule room. It was small, but filled with memories. A drawing Connie had drawn of the two of them when he was five, a painting of flowers she got for her eleventh birthday from her parents, and the clay sculpture of a butterfly that Ella had made for their first friendship anniversary.

When she walked out into the main room of the house, her sister Sunny jumped on her. Though only six years old, she wasn't the lightest thing in the world, and Amelia was not ready to catch a child flying at her. So, naturally she fell over and immediately started laughing. It was a genuine laugh, and when her mother and father starting scolding her little sister she said, "No, I'm fine. Now, where's the little rascal I have for a brother?"

At those words, Connie ran out from behind their parents and hugged her tight. He had grown in the past two months, but was still short, so Amelia dropped to the ground and embraced him. "Promise to be a good older brother to Sunny and Martin when I'm gone," she whispered. Connie nodded, and with tears in his eyes he said,

"I promise"

Then they heard a knock on the door. When they opened it, Ella was standing there, her brown hair a mess, and she wiped her eyes hurriedly. It was obvious she had been crying for a while, because her eyes were red.

Amelia turned to her parents, and hugged them. "Thank you for being amazing parents," she whispered. This was getting harder and harder. 

Then she hugged Martin, Sunny and Connie. They were all small enough to hug at the same time, so she did that, but she squeezed them tight. It was only occurring to her now that she may never see her siblings again.

When she turned to Ella, she saw that she had been joined by her father. They were taking her to the camp, because the Luther family had a horse and cart, compared to the Springer's that didn't. 

"Sorry to interrupt, Amelia," said Ella's father, "but we've got to go."

"Thank you for taking her," said Julia. She was grateful that they had found a good way to get Amelia there, because although she didn't show it, she was nervous about her little girl leaving home.

As the family walked out of the door, they were greeted by most of the village that had come to wish Amelia luck. Amelia however, was unnerved. She didn't think the word had spread that much.

As the horse and cart started moving, she hugged her best friend who was sitting next to her, and waved goodbye to her family. She didn't dare speak, fearing that more tears would fall. But when Ella hugged her back just as tight, they rolled down her cheeks.

After a while, the tears gradually started slowing and Ella wiped Amelia's now wet cheeks. She gazed into her best friend's eyes and wanted to start crying herself, but she held it back. She needed Amelia to feel like her best friend wouldn't be completely shattered when she stepped out of the cart.

"Promise me you'll make the most amazing friends," said Ella.

"Of course," said Amelia, " I'm just wondering if there'll be anyone as amazing as you."

When they neared the training camp, other people were arriving. Kids all near Amelia's age were hugging family members and saying their goodbyes. When the cart stopped and the two girls stepped out of the cart, they hugged one last time before Amelia would start her over three year long training. Ella shoved a folded piece of paper into Amelia's hands.

"I'll never forget you," said Amelia, "I promise."

"And I you," said Ella.

Amelia then hugged Mr Luther, and thanked him for the ride. He said in reply, "No problem! Thank you for being Ella's friend all these years."

As Amelia stepped away from her dearest friend and into her new world, she made a promise to herself. To never forget all of the amazing people of Ragako.

Author's Notes

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. That got sad. To be completely honest, I nearly started crying writing this chapter so I've got that going for me. Anyway next chapter might be a little while away because I have school tomorrow. Also, in the next chapter I decided to change things up a little and make a character already in the series be older and from the same class as Amelia. Have fun guessing who they are I guess. 

Have a nice day/night!