The walk down the hallway was maddeningly tense. Dina found herself hesitating at nearly every step, only forcing herself forwards out of a sense of responsibility. The guards around her were tense as well, but with good reason. The prisoners were being kept in an open yard, and only a short hour ago one had attempted an escape.
As she reached the gate that led to the open area, she could see the scorch marks from where the attempt had failed.
Gohan had explained it all very simply to them. They were now prisoners, but he would make sure they were being kept safely and not hurt. He had also warned that any attempt to transform and escape would be met by him personally. Reiner's attempt had been thwarted handily. A burst of lightning had made the Colossal Armoured Titan appear, and a golden warrior had wiped out the Titan's form in an instant.
Reiner was still unconscious from the attack, but the two with him had been made well aware of how futile any future attempts would be. That had somewhat set the guards at ease, especially given how vehemently they had objected to the orders not to lock the three Titan shifters up. But seeing a Titan transformation with their own eyes had been quite the daunting experience.
Almost as daunting for them, as seeing her son would be for Dina.
He was facing away from her when the gate opened, but even before he turned to look she had recognised him. He was a man grown now, a far cry from the young boy she had known. Yet he was so much like his father now that the resemblance was impossible to miss.
When he turned to look at her, the both of them froze. For a moment, Grisha was there before her. Except it wasn't her husband, she knew it in his eyes and the subtle differences between the two of them. He had many of her own features as well, but there were some that were distinctly Zeke. Particularly, the hard and almost fearful look in his eyes as they met hers.
She took a step forwards, and he flinched.
She did too, hurt by the instinctual reaction he'd showed. But she'd also known it would happen. She knew exactly how he had felt the last time she'd seen him. When he had sentenced her to a Titan death. That day, that moment, she had remembered his eyes.
The anger. The fear. The hate. The hurt.
His eyes were like that now. Muted after years of acceptance, but those same feelings remained.
"You… you're alive."
He spoke coldly, but still Dina pushed forwards, coming closer with each determined step. Her hands gripped each other in comfort, but her stride did not falter.
"I am. I was… returned to human form only recently."
"Annie…" He put it together quickly. Her eyes glanced to Reiner's still unconscious body, thankful that he was not awake to react to such news. "Braun informed me of the events during his flight from the walls. Most of it, I did not believe. It had seemed so impossible at the time. Now… He said that Annie was consumed. There are so few Titan shifters remaining now, your source of power had to come from somewhere. Thirteen years of life remaining for you now then, how does it feel? Do you hear the ticking of the clock."
Dina winced. She knew his question what his question truly meant. The burden he had been cursed with.
"You would be 25 now, right? Tracking the years since that day is hard but… how long do you have?"
His anger seemed to abate for a moment, as instead he broke his gaze and looked far away.
"I gained the power when I was 17. I was one of the oldest to receive it. Five years are left for me now."
Her breath caught in a gasp. Even knowing the truth would be terrible, it hurt no less to hear how little time her son had left. She would outlive him by eight years potentially.
"The years since that day. Did you live? Do you have anyone? A new family?"
He hesitated, swallowing down the answer that was on his lips and replacing it with a snarl.
"What is this? What are you doing!? Are you really going to act like it isn't there to talk about!? COME ON! Show me your anger mom! I know you feel it!"
He wanted anger? Her hands were shaking, but she reached out. He braced for the slap, but none came. Instead, she gripped his shirt and pulled herself into him. The last time she had hugged him, he had been shorter than her, yet now she barely came up to his neck.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He trembled beneath her grasp. His hands came up, shaking as he wrestled with the emotions he was feeling. Gently, his hands rested onto her shoulders. The instant they touched, his hands froze before suddenly jerking her away.
"Y-You… I can't believe you… go, go away!" His body began to tremble in rage, pain boiling over into anger. "GO! LEAVE!"
She flinched back, shrinking down and in on herself. Her hands found themselves gripping her arms in support as she stepped back. He looked away, still standing his ground but refusing to look her in the eyes anymore. She opened her mouth to speak but could only muster a weak 'ok' as she left.
The gate opened, she stepped through, and as she rounded the corner her first tears began to fall.
It hurt to be rejected by him, by her son. She knew this was a complex issue, a cause that she and her husband had believed to be just, one that she still believed had been a necessity. But she loved her son. No matter what he had done that day, or what he had done since. She was not a fool, he had killed people, innocent people. But he was and would always be, her son.
Others would judge her. They would decry him as a monster, a murderer of innocents. Maybe he was, but it had been she and her husband who had pushed him down that path. She bore the blame for so many of his actions, and she would live the rest of her years trying to make some kind of a life for him.
She only wished she could give him a future.
Gohan watched the young man in the distance at work from his position on the rooftop. He was leant against a chimney, as out of view as he could be given the newfound levels of attention he was receiving. He watched carefully as the man helped with the rebuilding efforts, moving rubble studiously and without complaint.
Edgar Bohm was the son of a minor noble family, one whom owned and operated various merchant enterprises throughout the nation. No business was exceptionally large, which had limited their standing amongst the political elite apparently. Still, the family had managed to raise several good-natured children by most standards. Edgar was eldest of four, two brothers and a sister, and had been the first to go and physically help with some of the reconstruction efforts.
He had even invested a large sum of money in paid workers to help him in the task. He was also however, not doing it for entirely selfless reasons. Edgar had made sure that he was always visibly seen helping out and seen by some of the prominent families that remained and had retained their ventures. He had paid several media groups to document his story and work, ensuring his good deed was heard by all.
Instinctively, Gohan felt irked by it.
Was a good deed performed for selfish reasons still good? His gut said no, but he also knew that he was being terribly naïve. Human beings were complex, and at the end of the day, he was still helping out. His effort was not faked, the man was sweaty and tired yet continued regardless of the fact that more than enough information had been taken for a news story.
Gohan scribbled down a few more notes of his own on the page that had been prepared for him by Pixis and Erwin. One of their notes did stand out to him unfortunately. Edgar had been at the head of several failed ventures and expansions, squandering a not inconsiderable sum of his families wealth in attempts to diversify the family businesses.
A good man perhaps, but a poor businessman.
What would such a man do at the head of a nation? He would mean well perhaps, but perhaps couldn't manage such a vast scale of responsibilities.
Gohan frowned and put down a score for his initial thoughts before he took flight. Edgar wasn't the first on his list, he'd already been through a decent number of people already, most of them nobles or other prominent members of society, those who people already knew and trusted. He'd been surprised to see a member of the clergy on the list, but apparently the man had been as good as the word he preached. He had been sadly, quite the small minded person. Charitable, kind, welcoming, but only ever dealing with small scale problems.
Not suitable for an entire nation of people.
He hoped his next person on the list would present more promise, and tentatively landed with soft steps. Familiar eyes locked onto him and a confused expression greeted him.
"Hey Gohan? What are you doing here?"
"Looking for Historia actually, is she around Ymir?"
The tall girl narrowed her eyes at him. "As if you don't know Mr 'Angel'. She's inside, still working."
Ymir gestured towards a small wooden building with a line of people queued up in waiting. The smell of cooked food emanated from the inside, mainly from soups he was sure. More than a few homes and food storages had been lost during the collapse of the walls, leaving a number of people struggling to get full meals in the meantime.
Whilst Historia hadn't been the one to organise it, she had swiftly become a driving force at the centres as a manager in spite of her small size and young age. Historia, unlike Christa, apparently had quite the fierce streak.
"What are you doing outside?" He asked casually as he watched her lean back against the wall.
"Inventory." She scoffed at his raised eyebrows and revealed a pad and paper from out of sight. "I am actually working, I'm not just taking a break."
He could see she had actually written down a fair amount of information, and decided not to begrudge the little break she totally hadn't been taking.
"How are things going? How have the two of you been since… well, everything that happened."
"Good, good… She's been keeping herself busy, I think the food work has really helped her. She's been…" Her eyes flicked back to the building quickly, making sure that Historia wasn't nearby. "She's been having nightmares. About that day, that feeling. She doesn't let it show much, but I know it affects her."
"She's strong. She went through a lot, knowing that she's been recovering a bit is good to hear."
"You're right, she's very strong." Ymir hesitated, looking off distantly. "Stronger than me, that's for sure. All I can think of is that day. I thought she was gone, turned into one of those things. I… I tried to turn her back." Gohan stilled as he caught the implication instantly. "I didn't want her to live like that. Like I did. But… I also didn't want to live without her. I guess I was pretty selfish like that. Historia was suffering, and I still could only think selfishly."
Gohan didn't answer for several moments, letting her words sink in and planning his next words carefully.
"I'm a very selfish person too Ymir."
"Pfft, what?" She looked at him in disbelief. "You're the most selfless person I know. Probably in this whole country or whole world. A lot of people talk the talk like you do Gohan, but you're the only one to actually walk the walk. You love damn near everyone."
"I do, which is why I'm so selfish. I have made vow after vow, promise after promise to myself, that I would never let anyone else suffer. I've failed, a lot. But I keep driving to that goal every time." He thought back to all the times he'd sworn to himself that things would be different, that he would draw a line in the sand and not let anyone cross it. Shiganshina, the cadets, Trost, wall Rose… so many times, and so many people. "Perhaps I should accept that it's not possible. That it's too much for one man, even with all the power I have at my fingers. But… I don't. I want everyone to be happy and safe. I'll keep fighting for that until the day I die. Being selfish isn't wrong Ymir. You've decided what you want in life, and she's decided she wants you as well."
"I have." Ymir's eyes flicked over to see Historia had come join them. Gohan had of course sensed her arrival, though he genuinely hadn't planned his words to match with her timing. Historia walked towards Ymir with a purpose, eyes narrowed and making Ymir flinch back slightly.
She grabbed Ymir's hands and held them tight in her own, all the while keeping her gaze held firmly on Ymir. "Ymir… part of the reason I have those nightmares about that day, is because I remember what you were going to do. I remember that feeling, that I was about to lose you. I'm not kind like Christa was so I need you to listen to me. You have to promise me you won't ever do something like that again. I don't know how I could live in a world without you. A world where you did something like that. I don't care what it might cost me, you have to live."
Ymir looked away, mouth opening briefly before she closed it quickly, hesitating on what to say. Historia beat her to it, forcefully pulling her head back to face her. She pulled her in for a kiss and Ymir melted into it before Historia pulled away once again.
"We're girlfriends now. So that means we have to listen to each other a lot more. So you listen to me okay? Otherwise… otherwise no more kisses." Historia seemed to realise what she had impulsively done and blushed alongside Ymir. The two were quiet in their peaceful moment together, before an awkward cough reminded them that Gohan was still standing there.
"Right, sorry." Historia brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and turned to face him. "Is there anything I can do for you Gohan?"
A good question, and one he felt like answering truthfully. However at the last minute, he decided it would be best to speak of something else first. Something that he had decided he would need to speak to Historia about sooner rather than later.
"I needed to talk to you about Frieda."
Historia stilled, eyes locking on him with an expression he wasn't sure was cold fury or deep sadness. Potentially it was both. Ymir's hand tentatively reached out and touched her shoulder, snapping her free from her thoughts.
"What is there to talk about? I know what she did. What she… was forced to do."
"And what she chose to do." Historia had not taken the news about what Frieda's lack of control and sacrifice to free Historia well, but it had been information she'd needed to know. He couldn't have disrespected Frieda's memory by not letting Historia know who she truly was.
The lines were blurred about Frieda. How much of her actions had been her or the King. There had been many years where she had been separated from the founding Titan's powers. Maybe there had been more she could or should have done morally, but upbringing had pushed her away from that. He didn't know. He knew who Frieda had been in her last moments however.
A sister, who loved Historia deeply.
"You know the truth, but nobody else does. I wanted to ask your opinion on what to tell them."
"Do they need to know?"
Gohan didn't miss the small bite in her voice. This was painful for her, but she was standing her ground at least.
"This country has been lied to for so long, they need to know the truth. Or something at least." Rumours had long been circulating about the origins of the Titans and the world beyond what had once been the walls. In the wake of the battle and the visible destruction of the Titans, tensions had calmed somewhat. But Gohan knew it would not be long before paranoia begun to rise once again.
"The truth? Everything?" Historia eyed him as she spoke. "You're going to tell them that Frieda was a victim like so many others, and that a long dead king was really in charge the whole time?"
"I would. If you wanted me to." He meant it, and Historia knew it as well. That was why she broke her eye contact and leaned subconsciously into Ymir. Her girlfriend was there with arms wide open and ready to comfort her as she thought over what Gohan had said. Perhaps it would have been kinder to make the decision for her, but Historia deserved to be the one making the choice.
Frieda had been her sister, and Historia had been her world in the end.
"Don't tell them. Lie." She finally said numbly, taking both him and Ymir by surprise.
"Are, are you sure?"
She nodded weakly, looking defeated by her own decision. "With everything that's going on, it's too much for people to comprehend. They need grounding, something that they understand. Frieda was in control of it all, and you stopped her. You freed us."
Gohan shifted on his feet, feeling uncomfortable. "You know you won't be able to mourn her if you do that? You can't give her a grave."
"I know." She looked him in the eye, small tears beginning to well up that she tried to squash down. "But she gave me back my memories before the end. That's how I'll remember her, in my memories. It's for the best that way."
He wasn't comfortable with it. It felt as both an injustice to Frieda, and a lie to the people. But he would do as she wished. If Historia wished to mourn privately with the memories of her sister then that was her choice. He would accept it.
The silence that followed didn't linger as Historia's fingers interlaced themselves in Ymir's and she made subtle moving motions.
"We should get back to work. I'm sure Ymir is finished with the inventory by now."
"Close enough." She flashed the paperwork quickly before Historia had time to fully read it, moving to follow the small steps she was making.
"I'll leave you to it. Keep up the good work Historia."
She nodded in thanks before exiting and heading back to work. Gohan took flight a moment later, soaring high into the sky to oversee the nation from a birds eye perspective. The air was thinner where he was, but part of Ki training enhanced both a persons lungs and decreased the amount of oxygen they used. It wasn't infeasible for someone like Gohan to have an entire fight in the upper atmosphere or potentially even past it with a deep breath of air first.
Whether he could fly to another planet or not was a question that he would have to ponder, it being far too risky to actually do. The question did prod him however, and he couldn't resist the urge to go through the mental maths involved. Firstly, he had to assume this planet had other planets within the solar system that were of typical distances between each other as in his home reality. Consider various orbits and what those distances could stretch to at maximum. Then there was his maximum speed, how long he could hold his breath, and whether he'd be at risk from the vacuum of space.
Slowly, he did actually find himself nodding along in thought. It would actually be doable. Granted, still risky and not having any point. But it was fun to consider. He paused and turned away from the earth to look up into the stars as he continued to float upwards. This was something he'd missed. The true freedom his powers gave him. He was only as tethered to the ground as he wished. If he truly wanted, he wasn't even tethered to the planet. He shut his eyes as he continued to let himself float away. Basking in the sensation of true freedom.
And then he hit something.
The collision was so abrupt that he opened his eyes with a start and released any held oxygen in his lungs. He wasn't going to suffocate any time soon, but he didn't even register the risk as he looked out at what he had hit.
Nothing.
There was nothing at all in front of him.
Gingerly, he reached out a hand until he felt it. An invisible barrier like a glass bowl met his hand. He pushed against it slowly, then harder as it refused to budge or bend in the slightest. He didn't even realise he'd transformed into his super Saiyan form as he continued to push against it, now with both hands and no hesitation.
He pulled back, powering up further until the aura around his fist glowed blindingly bright. He reared back his fist and struck with all his force. A tremendous roar followed from the sound of the impact, an explosively powerful Ki strike against the barrier. Yet, there was nothing.
'What is this?' He wondered to himself. He sensed nothing from it, and yet it was an impossible barrier. Was this some kind of magic? If so, who had created it?
"BLASTED SAIYAN! Insolent little creatures, always trying to break everything." The being fumed as they stomped around the green meadow. They had not needed their magical sight to know what the Saiyan had been doing to his barrier, having felt the reverberations throughout his body from his connection to the magical barrier.
He reinforced it again, but he was beyond frustrated with having to do so. Why couldn't such small creatures recognise their place and stay where he told them to. No, instead they always had to push boundaries, to try and become something more. None so were worse than the infamous Saiyan's he'd heard about.
He thanked fate that he didn't have to deal with them in his universe. Until recently that was.
"Is something wrong master Roh?"
Turning to face his apprentice, the Supreme Kai of Universe 9 Roh scowled at the mortal.
"Nothing of concern for you Bergamo. How does your trio progress in your training?"
The Trio of Danger were werewolf brothers and the most powerful creatures available to him in his universe, and as such he had seen fit to bestow upon them some of his divine knowledge and training. However, as his focus drew back to the half breed he'd contained, a worry was stirring inside of him.
"Our training proceeds well sir. We grow stronger each and every day."
Roh frowned. They were indeed growing stronger, but not fast enough. He had a bad feeling about what might happen if they were not enough should the barrier ever break. That was of course, highly unlikely. He was a supreme Kai after all, and this was some of his most potent magic.
Still, it was best to be safe and sure.
"Well done Bergamo, continue the good work." The werewolf preened under his praise, and Roh rolled his eyes to himself. "Yes yes, you're a very good boy. However, I think it might be best if you had some company."
Bergamo cocked an eyebrow in confusion, but Roh was already looking elsewhere, eyes scanning across the universe and with particular attention over any spikes of strength he sensed. There was a decent number of them, he took pride in his universe for its strength after all. He mentally selected a few and decided he would go and collect them to receive the same training as the trio did.
Their training would be harsh, as all things were in his universe. But suffering made strength, and in his universe only the strongest would survive. No matter what any filthy half breed Saiyan might have to say about that.
His eyes returned to Gohan, the super Saiyan inspecting his barrier like a curious child. Smart and powerful were a dangerous combination, but the boy didn't know the first thing about magic. He would be safe and contained for a while longer at least. The first barrier he'd installed had failed miserably, he'd been too gentle in trying to be so precise.
This time, the barrier would hold. Or else their entire universe would be at risk. The destruction that abomination could wreak…