2000 Years Apart (An Unofficial AoT Sequel)

2. That Day

AUTHOR'S POV:

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The person seeing the memory was seeing it from the eyes of someone who was running towards a tree on a small hill, smiling and laughing.
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The sun was setting behind huge walls, while the wind had stirred up all the dead leaves.
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As the person running looked behind them, they saw a 9-year-old girl with a red scarf wrapped around her neck, running behind them, while the 9-year-old Armin followed behind the girl.

The person looked ahead as they neared the tree on that hill.
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Standing before the gigantic tree, Eren groaned, clutching his head. "Ugh... What was that...?" He briefly closed his eyes. 'That girl from my dreams again...' He opened his eyes again. 'But, I have never experienced it...' He sighed and looked back at the tree.
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In the sky, a bird flew by, leaving one of its feathers mid-air.

The lone feather started falling towards Earth slowly.
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Titan looked up at Eren and barked once, looking seemingly concerned.

Eren looked at Titan for a few moments before staring off into the distance. "Who knows? I am not sure..." He noticed the feather falling and held out his hand. "Whose memories are those..." The feather softly landed on his palm.
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The tree from inside was hollow and spacious.

Inside the hollow trunk was a spiral path that descended into the depths of the Earth, where the tree's roots formed a giant cave.
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Slowly and carefully, Eren and Titan walked along the spiral path with the only source of light being the flashlight from Eren's mobile phone.

Eren was cautious and mildly scared yet he chose to keep moving forward, his desire to get his answers fueling it.
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It was as if Eren felt like that was where he could finally get the answer to all of his questions.

The questions that had been bugging him for the last few months.
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The questions about the purpose of life.

The questions about who he truly is.

The questions about a certain black-haired girl that had been coming to his dreams.
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In the middle of the cave, near a small opening that let in some light, there were two gravestones that stood out from the rest of the surroundings.

They were smooth and polished, with no signs of aging or erosion.

They bore some writings on them, in a language that showed love and longing.
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Stood before the gravestones were Eren and Titan, starring at the stones in amazement and curiosity.

"This is..." Eren trailed off, flashing his phone's flashlight on the gravestones. "Were they buried here an hour ago? These gravestones look so new..." He took a step forward. "...yet so old..."

Titan barked and neared the gravestones before sniffing them.

Eren took another step forward and crouched before the gravestones before flashing his phone's flashlight at the gravestone to his right. "'Here lies the broken lover, the love of his life, forever drifting off into sleep, beside him. 924'" His expression began saddening for some reason and he turned to the gravestone to his left. "'Here lies my dearly beloved, the love of my life, forever drifting off into sleep. 854.'" He tilted his head and turned to the gravestone to his right again. "They seem like... lovers...?"