"Are you sure of your recommendation?"
Pixis and Erwin stared down at Gohan in unison. Despite their locked gazes, Gohan felt no hesitation or doubt in my mind.
"She's the right candidate. She'll make the tough calls needed and won't falter under the pressure. More than that… she's a good person, genuinely."
Pixis sighed and wrang his fingers together even as he looked over the portrait of Historia and her file. "Well we certainly need that." He glanced over to Erwin who was still pondering the decision. "Erwin?"
"She has merit, undoubtedly. However… Historia may still be affected by the curse of Ymir, are you sure it's wise to choose someone with a limited life span?"
Gohan grimaced. "If I get my way, it won't matter."
"You're going to find a way to remove the curse I take it?" Gohan nodded, though didn't look Erwin in the eyes as he did so. "How do you plan to do that?"
"I haven't figured that out yet. But I'll find a way."
Erwin laughed, openly and with disbelieving smile on his face. "If anyone can do it, it's you Gohan. Well… you have my vote, Pixis?"
"Agreed. Historia is a very capable young lady, and with Ymir by her side she won't be easily influenced by anyone who means to subvert her good will. Many may have issue however, as queen she will be expected to further the royal line. This may face some… complications."
Gohan raised his eyebrows, having completely not thought of such a potential issue. "Oh, uh… well I suppose that will be for her to decide how to solve. If she agrees that is."
"If? You've not discussed this with her."
"Not yet, I wanted to get your approval first."
Pixis and Erwin shared a look with each other but said nothing about it to Gohan. "Very well, you have our approval. Please inform miss Reiss and let us know her decision."
Gohan nodded and disappeared in a blur. There wasn't even a gust of wind as he rocketed out of the palace and through the air, such was the level of his Ki control.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that." Pixis mumbled to himself before pulling out a separate file. "Onto the next item of interest. The restructuring of the military, and associated technologies."
Erwin pulled out one of the pieces of paper and inspected it, already familiar with its contents. "The treasure trove of information we were able to recover from the caverns has been invaluable, but much of it has paled in comparison to the concepts that Gohan has already presented us with. The combustion engine, aircraft, advanced biology… it's not enough that he's the most powerful being in existence but a genius too? His studying must have been intense to be so learned at such a young age."
"All the better for us Erwin, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth." Pixis laid out two documents before the two of them, two proposals for the modernisation of their military and society. "The new Eldian military doctrine. Combining the elements of the Scout regiment, the Garrison regiment, and the Military Police into one more unified command system. But, whether we invest our resources into Ki training for all of our troops, or only specific individuals."
Erwin had reviewed them both in great detail, the merits of both options being well documented. In spite of the overall simplicity of the plans, the documents were thick with information. Proposed candidates, expected costs, health risks and benefits, as well as review of potential political and cultural risks. A physically powerful elite posed a potential risk of coup attempts, whilst a more widespread power over the whole military also posed risks of corruption and abuses of power.
Not an easy decision.
"With Gohan acting as tutor, I think it's best we start with a division of troops and review the results. Pick those of the right temperament regardless of existing skills, they will develop them in time." Erwin proposed.
Pixis hummed in thought. "One of Gohan's suggested training methods may be able to help in more ways than one. He outlined a way to train the troops by ploughing fields by hand. We'll increase crop growth at the same time we improve our soldiers."
"Useful." A population explosion was expected, and food had long been in a too limited quantity for their people. Gohan had outlined potential applications for technology to be used in boosting agricultural productivity. Combined with the now immense amounts of free space and land, the future was looking hopeful for them.
Erwin and Pixis continued to review their plans for some time, settling on the plan of a limited division of Ki trained troops. They could increase in scope with additional trainers down the line if required, but they would be limited by time as Erwin and Pixis reviewed the next major item on their agenda.
The liberation of all Eldians.
Historia arrived at the palace with Ymir in record time thanks to Gohan's assistance. One quick flight for him to carry the two of them over before he carried on to other works, and all the couple had left to do was finish entering the palace. Something Historia found herself hesitating to do.
She was stood still at the bottom of the steps, one foot on the first as the other remained frozen in place. So much as she willed it, she couldn't push herself forwards.
"What's wrong?"
Historia sighed and stepped back, leaning into the arms of Ymir. A hand rubbed her back soothingly and she let her head slump into Ymir's shoulder.
"There's no going back after this." Historia looked Ymir in the eyes. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
"I told you, I'm here with you. I never cared about any kind of normal life anyway." Granted, Ymir probably didn't want to be worshipped as she had been before, but it had been better than her life on the street that she had previously known. "If this is something you want to do, then I'll be here to support you at every step."
A conversation that they'd had before, but Historia took comfort in hearing it again. She took the first step up towards the palace and continued on. The guards had been expecting her, and aside from a brief pause to inspect her identification they let her through without issue.
One man escorted her through the palace, giving Historia a direct view of some of the devastation that had been caused by the fighting inside. It was being cleaned up well, no debris was left around the hallways or entrances, but cracks and chips were evident near everywhere she looked.
She could only imagine the blood that had once covered the walls as well.
The man escorted her through a winding path, until she came to a halt before a set of large double doors. A pair of Garrison soldiers on standby opened up the doors and revealed the throne room before her.
The chair was empty, and yet it still dominated so much of the space. The carpet, a rich and finely decorated red one, led up to the throne with no other furniture in the room. Fine marble and works of art decorated the space, but the only item of note was the singular and empty throne. A throne, now waiting for her.
She hadn't even realised as she'd begun to gravitate towards it, subconsciously walking closer and with arm beginning to raise. She froze halfway, suddenly conscious that Ymir had stopped and was watching her move.
"I think it'll suit you."
"Indeed." Erwins voice followed Ymir's, the two women turning to see that he had entered discreetly behind them. To their surprise, Pixis wasn't with him, no doubt busy with some other kind of work.
Historia stilled as she fought back the reaction to salute. It was the practiced, appropriate response for a soldier. But she was no longer a soldier. She was to be a queen.
"Commander Erwin." She greeted.
"Your majesty." He greeted back. He smiled warmly as he approached. "Perhaps not officially, but soon enough. Ymir is right, you already look comfortable here. It suits you well."
He came up by her side and stood facing the throne with her. "A powerful sight, isn't it? Some might see just a chair. But it isn't, is it?"
"It's a duty."
Erwin smiled at her response, her seemingly passing whatever small test he was giving her. He motioned for an aide to approach, bringing with them a small bundle of papers that had been carefully organized for him. He flipped them over to a specific page before motioning for the pair to follow him as he led them out of the throne room.
"We have made plans for your coronation to be made official tomorrow. It will be a full day, I've had the itinerary prepared for you to review if you wish. I've been told that much of your morning will be occupied with hair and makeup. My apologies."
Historia let out a small chuckle, as if having to sit still and be pampered was going to be her biggest hardship. "What will happen in the meantime, isn't one day a little soon to be organised?"
"Coronations do have something of a routine, so they aren't a mystery to us. Though one we are certainly out of practice with. With the current situation around the former walls and districts, we are expecting the attendance to be perhaps smaller than normal for an event of this importance. The necessary nobles, locals from the districts around Wall Sina, important military and religious figures, however perhaps not as many from the usual populace."
"What do you think the mood will be, will they accept me?" Historia to them was pretty much an unknown. Worse, any legitimacy she could argue to have would only serve to worsen people's opinion of her.
"Rest assured, there will be no issue. Gohan will personally endorse your qualities as Queen at the event."
Historia nodded in understanding. "If there's anyone people trust completely, it's him. I just have to live up to everything he says about me."
"Don't sell yourself short your majesty." Erwin paused in their walk to fix Historia with a look. "Your actions with organising food distribution has gained a lot of trust and good faith from the locals. We have word being spread of your deeds along with news of your coronation, but these actions are your own. You deserve the trust of the people, and you will have it."
Historia nodded slightly, and they resumed their walking, Ymir chiming in her agreement as they continued.
"A queen who fought valiantly as a soldier in Trost and the expedition against the Female Titan. Then she devotes her time to feeding the people and is personally endorsed by the saviour of the country. You've got nothing to worry about Historia."
She blushed slightly but said nothing against it as they reached their destination, a large dining room already being filled with food. There was a great number of people present as guests, but each rose and bowed as Historia made her entrance. She suddenly felt very underdressed in her Scout uniform when faced with many high-ranking officials and nobles dressed in their finery.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to present the future Queen of the Eldian people. Her majesty, Historia Reiss."
Another round of bows and a chorus of "your majesty" greeted her. Historia gathered herself, and without hesitation stepped forwards to meet her royal entourage.
"There wasn't anything you could do?"
Petra leaned in with disbelief as Gohan told the room about what he had discovered surrounding the planet. The others in the room were all likewise in confusion and struggling to understand. Mrs Jaeger and Hannes were supporting each other as they listened, and Gohan noticed how Eren and Mikasa were doing the same. They were sitting closer to each other than normal, fingers just touching each other, and was that a small hickey he could see poking out on Eren's neck from under his shirt?
He dismissed it for later.
"I can try powering up more, going to Super Saiyan 2, but I didn't want to alarm anyone without telling you first. Not to mention… I don't know what would happen if I did manage to break through it."
"Can you break through?"
"…maybe. I don't know." He rubbed his chin in thought. "This isn't Ki, this is magic. I don't know enough about it to know how strong it is. But this barrier, it does feel familiar. It feels like the one I felt, the one that was limiting my power."
The news was ominous to hear. Only a theory, but one that Gohan felt reliably able to trust.
"So someone, or something, is out there, and is trying to stop you? Do you think it's this Cell that you've talked about before?" Mikasa frowned with a heat of defensiveness underneath her expression.
"I don't think so. Cell never used magic as far as I can remember, and this isn't what he would do anyway. If he could limit my power, then he would just kill me instead." After what had happened, he didn't see Cell taking any chances with him. "Whoever or whatever did this, they don't want to kill me. What they're doing is… containment."
"Why wouldn't they want you dead?"
It was something that Gohan had been wondering about a great deal as well. "I think it has something to do with the afterlife and how it works. If I appeared in front of King Yemma, I might be able to find out what happened and how I got here. Maybe whoever is doing this doesn't want me to do that or doesn't want the afterlife to find out about me."
"Wouldn't this just be buying time then? You're going to die eventually." Hannes had been the only one able to phrase it so directly. Carla, Eren, and Mikasa would have found it a little too sensitive of a subject to say.
"Not for a long time. I'm young, and apparently Saiyan's live longer and age differently compared to humans. But I agree, this isn't a permanent solution. It just doesn't make sense. After all, why put a limit on my power as well? There's something more going on, I just don't know how to solve it."
A collective sigh was breathed around the room. None of them had answers, only more and more questions.
"Have you brought this up with Commander Erwin or Commander Pixis?" Petra asked.
"Not yet, with the coronation set to begin there's been a lot of work to do. I'll speak with them soon, though."
Gohan leaned back in thought, wondering just how exactly he was going to solve this question. His senses flared briefly, and his eyes narrowed.
"One moment."
He flashed from existence as he quickly powered up and flew from the room.
"I really don't know why you keep doing this Reiner." Gohan hovered over the devastated remains of the Colossal Titan's form, the few remaining fragments evaporating into the air.
A few shocked soldiers stood at the perimeter, muskets and swords gripped nervously in their hands before they slowly relaxed again. They began to return to their duties as they saw that Gohan had a handle on it once again as Reiner's temper tantrum had failed to lead to their escape again.
Even Zeke and Pieck were looking at Reiner in annoyance rather than any sense of hope. As he crawled free of the little remaining flesh that had trapped him, Reiner spat at the ground in anger. In spite of Gohan's instant obliteration of his Titan, Reiner himself was relatively unharmed.
"Fuck you Gohan."
Perhaps once that would have stung, now Gohan simply rolled his eyes at the man. "Reiner, am I really going to have to keep coming back here and knocking you out every time you act up?"
"You killed Annie! You killed Bertholdt!"
Gohan sighed. Right, with Bertholdt's memories, Reiner was feeling the deaths of his comrades twice over. What was he to do…
"Reiner, you know you can't win. I won't let you kill anyone else, so what exactly is your plan here?" Bitter and angry silence followed, and Gohan came to a small realisation. Reiner's plan was to die, fighting and still trying to accomplish his mission. It was all that Reiner had left.
The man was a fracturing mess even before he'd lost his comrades, struggling to accept what he had done. Gohan sympathized with him to an extent. But what Reiner had done was horrific. He remembered Shiganshina so clearly in his memory. Gohan didn't have an answer for what to do with him.
Gohan lowered himself down onto the ground, standing before the three warriors with his arms crossed.
"Very well. I think it's time to hear from all three of you." Zeke and Pieck looked at him in confusion, whilst Reiner simply glared at him. "I mean to bring about peace between Marley and this country. So I need all three of you to tell me, what do you need?"
The three of them shared a hesitant look, before Zeke opened his mouth to speak.
Historia was exhausted as she finally reached the end of the day. So many introductions, so many rehearsals, endless briefings and measurements for outfits. Her energy held up just long enough to step inside of the bedroom and be out of view before she promptly collapsed onto the bed.
"I'm so tired…"
Ymir softly chuckled as she put down and organized some of the documents that she had been given to review. Many were detailed summaries on the lands laws, finances, census data, and of course her ever expanding schedule.
"You know that this is still the easy part of your job right?"
Historia groaned into the blankets. So soft, so inviting, the cool darkness of sleep beckoned to her.
"Hey, no sleeping." Ymir jabbed her in the back. "Come on, we still need to review your schedule for tomorrow morning. You have to know your words off by heart."
Historia whined pathetically until Ymir rolled her over onto her back. Historia's pout made Ymir chuckle, only deepening her expression.
"Wake up and get bathed. Then it's hair and makeup before they dress me in my coronation dress. I meet with the priests to be sworn in as head of the church. I give my vow to uphold the prosperity of the land and be a just and holy ruler. Then it's my parade through the city to the military headquarters, where I will be sworn into power in front of the crowd. Pixis swears the fealty of him and the military to myself as ruler of the kingdom, Gohan says his piece about my righteous virtues, sign a thousand different documents, and then I'm officially queen."
"Don't forget the awards ceremony afterwards." Historia moaned in response. She hadn't forgotten, merely dreaded it. Awarding out some of their highest medals to notable individuals for their efforts in the coup. She could at least take pride in the fact that some familiar faces would be present.
Jean, Mike, Eren, Mikasa, Levi, Armin, Dina, Erwin, Pixis, even Marco would be present. Then of course there was the work that would follow as a result. She didn't even realise she was groaning again before Ymir poked her again.
"You need to stop that. A queen can't be seen moaning."
"I can moan to you." She reached out and cuddled herself around Ymir's outstretched arm.
"Heh, that you can." Ymir softly stroked Historia's hair briefly before awkwardly freezing.
"Well… you need your rest. I'll leave you to it, make sure you get you sleep well." Ymir began to rise before suddenly being halted by Historia.
"Where are you going?"
Ymir blushed. "I… I have to go. I can't exactly sleep here, what would people say?"
"Let them say what they want. I'm queen."
"Not yet."
"Shut up." Ymir chuckled and Historia sat up to look at her seriously. "I… If you don't want to, you don't have to go."
"I… I could sleep on the couch I guess." Historia had never seen Ymir looking so bashful and nervous. She felt the urge to tease but pushed it down. There would be time for that later.
"That's not what I meant." Ymir blushed harder, and Historia rubbed a hand over the soft blankets of her large bed. "Soft silk… if you want to feel for yourself?"
"We haven't even been on a proper date yet."
"We'll do that another day." Historia put a soft hand on Ymir's cheek. "My feelings for you aren't changing. I want to do this… if you want to as well."
"I've never… done anything like this."
Despite all of Ymir's big talk, Historia wasn't surprised. They were both young, and Historia would have noticed if Ymir had had any trysts without mentioning them.
"I haven't either. But I'm willing to learn with you. If you want to."
Ymir blushed hard and squeezed Historia's hand as she gathered the words. As the seconds ticked by, words failed her. So instead, Ymir simply leaned in to kiss her queen.
The crown sat heavy on Historia's head. The crowd roared with applause and cheers of celebration. Much of it thanks to Gohan's speech. The people had hung on every word he'd spoken, cheered with genuine love and affection as he proclaimed Historia worthy of the title. There had been a good mood throughout, but her legitimacy was sealed with Gohan's approval.
But the crown felt heavy as the hours passed.
Coronations took a long time, and Historia was thankful when they finally reached the final duty of the day.
"For leading the Scout Regiment through our people's greatest struggle, and sacrificing so much for our safe future, we honour you. In recognition of your valiant efforts in the service of your country, I grant you the hero of humanity. Wear this proudly, Erwin Smith."
More of a necklace than a medal, Historia placed the jewel around the commanders' neck and held out her hand. With a kiss, he gave his thanks and swore to continue his service to humanity. The words were a little less fitting now, but it had been decided to be kept. Their fight was greater than just their country, in spite of not having known it. Now and forever, their purpose was still to humanity as a whole.
A large amount of people had been awarded by now, each with similar wording. She had rehearsed each speech several times, but her sentiment had never been faked. Having not been privy to all that had been happening when she had been with Frieda, hearing about all the simultaneous struggles had been hard for her to hear. She was saddened she'd heard of Connie's death so late, and had been unable to attend the funeral, but she had made sure to mention his passing as she had awarded Jean.
"For your continued heroic actions against the Titan threat, the sealing of the Trost wall, actions against the forces of Marley, and for eliminating the serial killer Kenny Ackerman, we honour you. In recognition of your valiant efforts in the service of your country, I grant you the hero of humanity. Wear this proudly, Eren Jaeger."
He gave his thanks, took her hand to kiss, then froze. Silence followed as he gripped her hand completely rigid with fear. She leaned further to look at him in concern, noting how sharp and shallow his breathing had become.
"Eren?"
His eyes flicked to her briefly as she snapped him out of his state, but his eyes locked elsewhere. She followed to see him staring at Gohan with… despair? She felt fear begin to grip her at his strange actions before he finally let go of her hand. He muttered an apology, and with hesitation she moved on.
"For your loyal actions to the people of our country, and personal sacrifice to protect members of the Scout Regiment during the betrayal by the Military Police, we honour you. In recognition of your valiant efforts in the service of your country, I grant you the hero of humanity. Wear this proudly, Marco Bodt."
The feast that followed the ceremony was full of good cheer. Gohan could be seen merrily gorging himself on the vast amount of food available to him, with Petra by the side laughing good naturedly at his immense appetite. As Mikasa walked through the hall, she could see her friends and former comrades in conversation with each other and various military officials. Despite how young they were, their experiences and performance had gained them a great amount of interest from government officials.
There had also been the news that had been revealed following the awards ceremony. Jean was being congratulated and questioned about his recent promotion. Judging from his haunted expression, he was thrilled, but being promoted from leader of a single squad to a senior Team Leader gave him command over eight teams. It was a big step up, but apparently reports of his performance had been glowing and Erwin had been resolute in his promotion.
Following the numerous casualties the regiment had taken, it had also only been natural. Marco was in a similar state of shock, though at least managing to socialise well and catch up with his old friends. He'd even brought a date with him, some woman named Carly. Marco's state of shock however, was because he'd been offered a position in Historia's royal guard detail.
His proven ability, as well as resistance to corruption had earned him high praise and a strong recommendation. With the massive restructuring that the Military Police were expected to go through, it was also well known that Marco would no longer have a place within whatever remained. He had put in word for his team members to join as well, however Mikasa didn't know whether that would happen or not.
She had made some idle small talk with some people, genuinely enjoying the small reunion, however her interest laid elsewhere as she searched for someone in particular. She found Eren outside of one of the balconies, hand gripped white on the railing.
"What's wrong?"
He started slightly towards her but relaxed quickly. They had complete privacy thankfully, and she could see that whatever was bothering Eren he didn't want anyone to know.
"When you kissed Historia's hand, something happened to you. What's wrong?"
"I…" He hesitated, looking around again to see if anyone was listening. "I saw something, when I touched her."
Something that had clearly shocked Eren deeply.
"What did you see?"
Mikasa took his hands in hers and looked him deep in the eyes, waiting as he swallowed and hesitantly began to speak.
"I saw death… so much death."
Lara Tybur stalked down the hallway. Soldiers stood guard with rifles gripped in hands, eyes narrowed in focus yet there was a hint of anxiousness in them all. She heard the screams and bangs down the hall and could only sympathise with the soldiers who'd had to endure it for hours and repeated days of it. The sounds almost never ended during their testing.
They were made of stern stuff however, some of their best. They had to be, as only those considered the most loyal and well trained were allowed to be even remotely aware of what was happening here. Most of the guards did not know what was contained down the hall, only knowing that it could not be allowed to escape, and nobody could be allowed in without the right clearance.
She heard a blood curdling scream that had her hesitating in her steps before continuing forwards. She entered the observation deck where several scientists and officers stood watching their experiment.
"It grows stronger every day General Calvi, it will be ready for deployment when you desire."
The general hummed in approval, eyes still fixed outwards. Lara stepped up to the glass to see the same creature that they saw. Calling it a monster was an understatement, as they watched the large cicada like creature feast on another Eldian prisoner. Its long tail was stabbed into the middle-aged man and drinking him from the inside out as he cried and begged for mercy.
The crowd of Marleyan officials watched on, apathetic to the man's pleas. He was not the first man of the day and wouldn't be the last.
"There's been no discernible difference about whom it feeds on. Men, women, children, Eldian or otherwise it absorbs them all and grows stronger."
"Good, good. If we have indeed lost the warriors, then this will be our new weapon against our enemies." General Silva leaned in closer, eyes gleaming with anticipation as another prisoner was forced inside the chamber. The young woman screamed, desperately clawing at the door before she was ripped away by the creature. "Project CELL is advancing well. Soon, we will have our response to this 'Gohan' person."
A name that had come to the general all those years ago when they had first discovered the creature, rampaging and slaughtering a village of people. As if it had simply appeared in his mind, yet it had fit so well.
Cell.