Choosing Humanity: Attack On Titans

Chapter 2

The surrounding was pitch black but she could see clearly. Not as clear as in daylight but clear enough to see every pebble and every curve of the tunnel. Her father’s old age had affected his vision in the darkness as well, she remembered bitterly. Her eyes swelled up with tears and she cried her heart out but never stopped walking.

Before this, her thoughts had wandered in so many different directions and she hadn’t had the time to cry, but now she did. At times, the grief and guilt that she felt, weighed her down and made it impossible to walk but she forced herself to.

When she found the other end of the tunnel, her mind had gone numb with all the pain and sorrow. At that point, she didn’t know what to do.  She still had the bags. Her father had forbidden her to go through his papers but now he was gone.

She had run out of tears to cry so she just sat there. After a lot of thinking, she could neither bear the thought of reading the papers that had cost her father’s life, nor to throw it away. So she retraced her steps and walked back a few minutes. Then she dropped all her bags there, walked back and nervously knocked on the door, vowing to come back for it.

That day, she learned an important lesson. A lesson that no book could have ever taught her, the world was truly cruel and unfair.

The door opened and she was greeted by a rather relieved looking Butch, her caring butler who had been fired a few months ago for some frivolous mistakes.

He quickly ushered her in and gently led her to a small sofa and wrapped a blanket over her. She hadn’t even noticed herself shivering uncontrollably until now.

He sat beside her and engulfed her in a warm hug and patted her head as she sobbed yet again.

Butch was in his late 30s and had been in the house since she could remember. He took care of the house and the daily chores.

After she stopped crying, he disappeared behind a door and brought a steaming bowl of soup. He gently coaxed her to finish it all up and she did so reluctantly. She had no appetite and just thinking about everything made her sick from within.

“This is for you, Miss” he said, handing her an envelope addressed to her in her father’s writing.

My Dear Daughter Ava,

If you are reading this then I suppose the worst has already happened and eventually, everything is going to be just fine. Always remember that. This is only a small fraction of life and I hope, with time, you will be able to wash away the grief of not having me around. Miss me, but don’t tear up. It was never your fault. Do not seek revenge either. I want you to live without any regrets.

I knew this day would come. So, I built this house that you are currently in and gave it to your Uncle Butch to take care of. If anything, Butch is the most trustworthy man I have ever met. Listen to him. He is family. No one else knows of this house and hopefully, your whereabouts. To other people, you died in the explosion so never reveal your true identity to anyone. Your life will be safer that way.

After meeting new people, you will notice that you are capable of much more than them.

You are not like others, dear. Your speed, stamina and strength highly surpass that of average humans. Your intellectual ability and memory is also highly developed. When you were born, you were given certain doses of drugs that boosted up your overall brain development which in turn, developed your whole body. Because of this, if they find out about you, they will hunt you down to use you and I do not want that to happen. I want you to be your own master.

I wish I had told you this sooner, but I couldn’t. You are a special child, Ava. Nobody knows of the formula other than me but they do know of its existence. I will make sure to dispose all the evidence of the formula. No one should ever know its true composition. Even if you do figure out the composition, promise daddy that you will not share it with anyone. It has caused enough deaths already and people are too greedy to utilize it correctly. 

You are superior to normal humans but do not take pride in it and boast around. Learn to be humble and help others. That is the greatest deed. Uncle Butch already knows about your abilities. Learn to distinguish between right and wrong. Protect yourself and Uncle Butch and above all, keep it a secret but do not hesitate to try out new ideas.

Even if it killed me, your invention was the most useful thing to me.

Invent and explore. Let not even the titans bring you down.

Your daddy,

Neave Sherman.

She sobbed silently as she read through the letter for the second time. Not because she would never see her father again, but because he had sacrificed his life to destroy his works and she had saved it.

She had saved the one thing that her father died to destroy.

His death had been meaningless now. And this thought ate her up from within.

She was too ashamed of herself to tell Butch about the papers. He led her to her new room and brought up the dinner but she hardly ate anything. After cleaning up, he tucked her in her bed. She wanted to tell him that her father had stopped doing that almost a year ago but couldn’t muster up any energy to.  It just brought back painful memories and she cried herself to sleep.