Attack on Titan: A Blacksmith's Tale

Chapter 72: A Time to Rise

The first thing that Dillon registered upon regaining consciousness was how sore his body felt. It was like he ran ten laps around Wall Sina while carrying Shadis. These sensations caused him great confusion. He was supposed to be dead... unless this was common in the afterlife.

Upon opening his eyes, he immediately recognized the situation he was in. Chained to a chair made of metal? Seemingly locked in a barely-lit room with only two doors? An empty chair sitting across from him? Yup, he was definitely a prisoner. However, what really caught his attention was a glass object embedded in the ceiling. It wasn't a torch, but it was definitely producing light of some kind. Adding further to the strange set of circumstances, he realized that his leg felt like it had never been broken. How long had he been unconscious?

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal a gentleman wearing a suit that screamed upper class. His blue eyes remained fixated on him as he silently took a seat in the chair. The blacksmith always hated the analytical stares. It was like someone was examining his soul for imperfections. Once he was comfortable, the man spoke. "It's good to meet you at last, Dillon Amsdale. I am Atticus Tybur. I was a friend of your father's."

Ever since the revelation of other Psions, Dillon had wondered if he would ever meet the other survivors from the project. He supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised it would be in this situation. "I would say the same were it not for the fact I'm a prisoner of Marley," Dillon responded with a snort. "Unless this is some massive prank you're pulling."

"I'm afraid not." Atticus had the nerve to sound sorrowful. "It would have been nice to meet under more positive circumstances, but our situations in life have prevented that."

"I'm sure you're crying on the inside. How about we skip the monologue you have planned and get to the part where I'm executed for being an island devil or whatever bullshit you can come up with?"

Atticus narrowed his eyes at his attitude. "And here I thought you would want answers to the questions that are troubling you."

"You have no idea what I want, Atticus." While answers would be nice in light of everything, he was more focused on finding a way out of this mess. He couldn't focus if he was being hammered by more gut-punching revelations.

"You want to know that your constant suffering has actual meaning to it, that all of it wasn't a pointless exercise to prove the world is out for your blood." He pulled out a cigarette and a matchbook from his pocket. He put the cylindric stick of tobacco in his mouth and with a flick of the match, lit it. "Betrayed by your lover, your family, your superiors- well, that one you brought upon yourself... and now here you are at my mercy." He took a deep breath, and calmly let it out, the nicotine filling the air. "Unfortunate for you, but a blessing for me."

Dillon coughed from the horrid smell, his eyes watering. "Congratulations. You read my mind. I hope it hurts."

"It was very insightful, watching you flop around like a fish desperately searching for water to keep it alive," the man continued in his calm tone. "I'm here to offer you clarity before the end, Dillon. Your father was a good friend of mine before Carolyn took him away. To let you die without understanding would be unnecessarily cruel."

At this point, the blacksmith knew he had two choices: he could let the man gab on and on about the so-called truth while Dillon waited until the opportune moment to strike, or he could tell him to go to hell before he was executed or whatever judgment awaited him. While it would have been satisfying to do the latter, he wasn't completely a lost cause. "I don't have it in me to give a damn about why you changed your mind about the Eldians. I want to know how the Beast Titan is connected to all this. It's impossible that he could have resisted my mental attack so strongly, so I'm betting you had something to do with it."