𝔹𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕖 | aot

⟡ Chapter One - You were just a child ⟡

Before the wall had fallen, you lived a peaceful life. You lived with your mother and your older sibling, who both had great jobs that payed handsomely. You had very minimal memories of your father, so he was out of your mind most of the time. You never longed for common necessities, you always had easy access to them. You were never starving or cold, you were never lonely or sad. Your life was calm, you liked it that way.

You had been sitting on a chair in your room reading a boring book when your mother barged through your door.

"(Name)... Wall Maria it- it's been breached..." She said quietly, she almost couldn't believe it.

You slowly stood up and your book fell from your hand, landing with a thud on the wooden floor. You walked over to her and she grabbed your hands and held them in her's.

"Honey, it's going to be alright. Wall Maria is the farthest wall from here, and Wall Rose is still intact. Even then, we have the military police protecting us and if-..." She paused, "If they fail, I'll be here to protect you." She attempted to reassure you, but you weren't worried about your safety.

'What about the people living behind Wall Maria? They'll all be slaughtered by the titans... Even if they do make it behind Wall Rose, we don't have enough food for all of them. They'll get eaten or they'll die from starvation!'

"Mom, what about the people living behind Wall Maria? And the outlier districts?" You asked her.

"Don't worry about them honey, they're all going to die anyway. We can't feed them all." She answered.

'How could she be so heartless? They're all going to die and she doesn't care!'

You ushered her out of your room, telling her you needed some time to process all that happened. You went to your bed and lied down, staring at your ceiling and thinking. You thought about Wall Maria and it's people, about how the breach would effect everyone else, about how Wall Rose might be next...

Your view on the world you lived in changed that day. The rich are privileged, and you had taken everything you had up until that point for granted. And now people were going to die, and your life probably wouldn't be affected whatsoever. You wanted to help those people who weren't privileged, but you couldn't.

You were just a child.

· · ── ·𖥸· ── · ·

You hadn't even realized you had fallen asleep until you woke up. You hadn't dreamt while you slept, but you imagined that if you had, it wouldn't be a pleasant dream. You sluggishly got dressed left your room somberly, the events of the day prior had not left your mind, they wouldn't for a while. 

Entering the kitchen, you were met with your sibling making breakfast. They had been at work all day yesterday so you hadn't seen them. You sat down at the table, no words were spoken between the two of you.

You were about to ask them how work was when-

"I think I should tell you, I'll be leaving to join the Cadet Corps in a week." They said candidly.

"Wh-what?!? Why?" You sputtered, confused and shocked. "(Sibling Name) you're only thirteen, I'm sure they have plenty of soldiers already! Why should you go?"

"(Name), I can only imagine how many soldiers died when Wall Maria fell, and how many are probably dying right now helping citizens evacuate to Wall Rose." They said, not facing you, "I'm old enough to start training, and I need to help them."