The bells toll loudly on Sunday morning, ringing out to summon the people. Cars roll and pack into the parking lot as people gather and co-mingle with each other. Many laugh and chat while others stay quiet and keep to themselves. There are people here of all ages, races, and backgrounds but all of them belong to the same ethnic group, the same ancient race of people. Meeting each other in shock and excitement, they have grown into a tight-knit and devoted community. Flyers are distributed throughout as they all head into the cathedral.
ARE YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW A SUBJECT OF YMIR? FREE ELDIAN DNA TESTS OFFERED AT THE ELDIAN RESEARCH CENTRE, LOCATED IN STOHESS
The crowd of church parishioners are all encouraged to pass the flyers along to friends and colleagues as DNA tests have received a global surge in popularity after the phenomena known as the Great Awakening.
The Holy Church of the Founder swells with people when only a few years earlier, it would've barely held more than a handful during Sunday Service. Now they all gather and sit in the pews, swelling with hushed excitement.
A middle-aged priestess walks to the front of the church, greeting some of her flock as she does. She says a quiet prayer to Founder Ymir, the Doomsday Titan and the Nine, their likenesses carved into stone. She says a prayer to the New Founder and the Mother, brought forth during the Great Awakening before she approaches the pulpit and clears her throat as the church grows silent and rises from their seats.
The priestess leads the people in a prayer of thanks to Ymir who watches over all of them, her blood flowing through their veins. Hymns are sung as the organ plays loudly and everyone sits down as the woman begins her sermon.
"I would like to take today's sermon to explore the topic of life and death," she proclaims, her voice echoing through the gothic cathedral. "We, all of us, Eldian and non-Eldian are well aware of cycle of life that we all must pass through. We are born, we love and are loved, we eat, drink, and are merry and after many years and few, we pass on. Death is the great equalizer, coming for us all...."
"We Eldians face our own version of death. We must, all of us, face Her when it is our time. But... we needn't fear Her. Just as the butterfly shows the power of death and rebirth, so does She. She who is Reaper but she is also Mother to us all. As the Mother, She gives us a guiding hand in strength and love to get through the hardest times in our lives. And as the Reaper, She gives us care and compassion to pass on into Her gentle hands. She carries us through life and She carries us through death, across the seas and into The Paths..."
As the priestess continues, doors to an office are opened quietly and an old priest walks out speaking gently to someone behind him. A young woman in shades follows him, wearing an Ankh necklace, a red head scarf, a skin-tight black romper, and red heels. He motions gently for her to follow him to the front pews. But she shakes her head no and bids him a silent goodbye before she walks down the centre aisle. Her heels echo loudly on the stone but no one notices her as she heads to a stone column in the very back of the cathedral. She adjusts her dark sunglasses and her short platinum blonde hair as she passively leans against the column. She proudly wears her Ankh necklace around her neck and yet subconsciously fidgets with her Eldian wedding ring as she listens to the sermon.
"...The Great Founder Ymir found solace in her struggle. The two women after all were slaves to powerful men and torn away from their family, from their children..."
The platinum blonde shifts uncomfortably, never one to enjoy these sermons.
"The Goddess Eurydice, Queen of the Afterlife" the woman continues, flipping through an ancient book of Eldian texts, "experienced lifetimes of misery and suffering. Upon Her final death, Her spirit was brought back to the paths by Her grieving husband, The Founder Eren. Through Her own grief and misery at the loss of Her life and the lives of Her children, she was reborn to care for all Subjects as if we were Her children. And in turn, we are Her children..."
The platinum blonde quietly stands up straight and turns to walk out the door, she's heard more than enough.
"Life and death are as beautiful and kind as She. We should all of us look forward to meeting our ends so She can bring us home and care for us as in the paths where She rules alongside her husband, the Savior of Eldia..."
The blonde rolls her eyes as she hears his nickname once more as she leaves. She stops out into the real world and walks down the stone steps, looks around the bustling city. The Spiritual Eldian Hospice Centre sitting next door, always open and welcome to visitors. Kids playing in the streets as people sit and chat on the steps of their nearby brownstone apartments.
The woman steps down to the street just as a teenager on a bike rides up the walkway. She doesn't even blink as he passes right through her. Instead she pulls out a camera, a film camera, and takes a picture of city life, human life.
She grins as she walks up to her parked bright teal convertible and tosses the camera on the seat next to her. She walks around to the driver side and hops in, sighing and adjusting her glasses. She turns on the radio as she looks over her manicured red nails and the blue butterfly tattoo on her inner arm.
"What is up all you rockers and shakers of NYC?! We've got a new single that's just hit our waves, coming out from Paradis Island's hottest rock group, Paradis Devils! Be sure to check them out if you've been living under a rock, this is their new song 'Under the Tree'..."
♫ Where are you at?
Where have you been?
Toikake ni kotae wa naku
Where are we headed?
What did you mean?
Oikakete mo osoku tooku ♫
The woman barely registers the song and instead grabs her rearview mirror. She pulls it towards her face and sees you staring back at her. She adjusts her hair and sighs heavily, closing her eyes. You reopen them and reach over to search through your purse for your lipstick.
♫ A bird, a butterfly and my red scarf
Don't make a mess of memories
Just let me heal your scars.... ♫
You play with your hair, poofing it out as you try to achieve your best Marilyn look before adjusting your sunglasses and fingering your ankh necklace.
♫ We're getting older
Second, by second, by second ♫
You passively listen to the words of the band known as Paradis Devils and wonder if this happens to be the same Paradis Devils you spoke to a man about all those weeks ago in the park. He had been so obnoxious about them, smirking as he stared at you behind dark sunglasses, his long dark brown hair shining in the sunlight . They're not bad, you'll give him that... but they're hardly your style.
You switch off the radio and look over your pocketbook, taking in the name and address of your next appointment as you pull away from the cathedral. You sigh as you run your fingers through your hair and speed down the quiet emptied out streets of Shiganshina, alone in a solitude as you drive towards a bright white light in the distance.
♫ Why, oh, why? Why, oh, why?
Don't you wanna stay with me?
Why, oh, why? Why, oh, why?
Are you giving up on me? ♫
♫ I'll be waiting, waiting for you
Let me hold you undеr the tree
Under the tree-ee-ee, ee-ee-ee
Eе-ee-ee-ee ♫
♫ I'll protect you.
=========================================================
TO BE CONTINUED IN 'DEFY GRAVITY'......
YOU ARE READING
Freefall | Eren x OC
Fanfiction𝕎𝔼 𝔾𝕆𝕋 𝕋𝕆 𝕃𝔼𝔸ℝℕ 𝕋𝕆 𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔼 𝔽ℝ𝔼𝔼, 𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔼 𝔸 𝕃𝕀𝔽𝔼 𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ𝕆𝕌𝕋 𝔹𝔸ℝℝ𝕀ℂ𝔸𝔻𝔼𝕊 Two star-crossed lovers, through the threads of fate and sands of time, come across each other again and again. She is a 30yr old divorcée, workin...
