Chapter Text
On that day, humanity received a grim reminder…
A bolt of lightning ripped the sky to the south beyond the walls. You stopped to watch, your mouth agape. There was not a single sign of rain in the azure sky, only small, wispy clouds that floated lazily on the late afternoon breeze. Something was not right.
You scanned the bustling crowded streets. As far as you could tell, no one else had noticed, content instead to continue with their peaceful lives, chatting amiably and remaining completely oblivious to strange bolts of lightning hurled from clear blue skies.
How can they be so blind?
You raced through the streets of Trost, small feet pounding against the cobblestones worn smooth from a hundred years of traffic. Adults shook their heads as you flew past them, muttering under their breath at your carelessness. You barely noticed them. There was someone you had to see.
“Jean!” you called as you rounded the corner of an all too familiar street.
“[Name]!” came the reply as a boy with copper blonde hair came running toward you. “Did you see it too?”
You nodded, eyes wide. “What do you think happened?”
Jean looked at you, his face serious. “The wall is broken.”
You stood together, side by side and watched the boats come. Dark smoke rose in columns to the south, and blasts of cannon fire could be heard in the distance. A silent tear rolled down your cheek as you reached for Jean’s hand. He squeezed it gently in return.
“I've decided something, [Name],” he said, honey-gold eyes staring into the evening horizon.
“What’s that?”
“Two years from now, when I’m old enough, I’m enlisting. I want to join the Military Police. Shiganshina is gone. So is Wall Maria. Trost could be next, and I don’t want to die.”
You looked at him. He seemed completely serious, his normal joking visage replaced by a look of determination.
“Then I’ll enlist too,” you said. “We can go to Wall Sina together.”
He nodded. “I’d like that.”
“It’s a promise then.”
You both turned back to the boats. Even from a distance you could see the faces of their passengers, the pain and the terror. You caught the eye of a brunette boy with a turquoise gaze. He stared back blankly, before casting his eyes downward.
“I don’t want to die, either,” you whispered.
Jean gave your hand another reassuring squeeze. “Nobody does.”