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845- The Braun Household- Prior to Departure
“Are you sure that you two don’t want to enroll Martino? You only have one more chance next year before eligibility ceases,” Karina questioned Uncle Mateo and Aunt Sigrid as they finished off their watered coffee at the dinner table. She made sure to turn to them subtly to show off her red armband she likely hadn’t removed since the day she received it except to wash it.
Reiner knew not to roll his eyes while his relatives chattered in excitement at the dinner table. Why would his younger cousin even need to join the Training Program? It wasn’t a dishonorable duty. It was just that his family already had him fulfilling it. He’d worked so hard for this, and all his mother was thinking about was who would get his Titan next. She must have been trying to convince her brother to try to get Honorary Status so that they could all travel together outside of Liberio once she told his father the news that they would be united again as a family.
They never met his father, a Marleyan, since it was illegal for them to be together. He hoped that his uncles would understand, and his aunts. His grandfather hopefully too, but he was very sick and spent a lot of time in a hospital. Grandpa Marwig was at least proud of him for becoming a Warrior, and the pension from receiving the red armband gave him better medical care.
He knew a bit of what his dad looked like. Large build, dark brown hair. A cook who worked at various military barracks. He really did love them, as his mother told him. He wished he could find where he was working at the moment before he left. Maybe his mother would be moving during the mission to the island. He’d never heard of an Eldian moving out of the Internment Zone to live in the city with a Marleyan. He didn’t see anything in the rulebook for Honorary Marleyans for that.
Zeke Jaeger’s father and mother didn’t listen to the rules. They were bad Eldians for thinking that they could break the rules and restore Eldia. Those stupid devils got to be sent to live on the island. So the instructors repeated this story and brought Zeke in frequently to their classes to demonstrate how to spy on your parents if they said anything wrong. But his mother couldn’t have been lying. They were good Eldians, and good Eldians listened to all the rules. They wouldn’t break the rules just so they could leave this place and cause trouble to everyone else. She told him that they were special. That’s why they were going to be reunited as a family, but in Marley instead of a barbaric old empire like Eldia. That made him happy.
“You have a good excuse not to. We need one boy to carry on the Braun family name,” Uncle Giuseppe said. He gazed toward the living room outside of the dining room where the little boy of about six years was playing with some toy soldiers while little Gabi sucked on her thumb and cradled a stuffed toy as she watched on. Then, she threw the toy down and grabbed a soldier to hold instead. She toddled to her mother and pointed at the soldier toy.
“Rah-nah?” she babbled in her childish voice. She looked at Reiner.
“Oh, how precious,” Aunt Tina remarked. “I hope she learns one day just what a brave thing you’re doing, dear.” She lifted Gabi to her lap. Uncle Giuseppe patted her on the head.
“Papa!” Gabi reached out to her father to be transferred to his lap instead. She hugged him tightly. “I lub you.”
Was that what having a dad looked like and felt like? His grandfather would sometimes read him stories after he joined the Warrior Program when he was little, but that wasn’t the same thing. His dad wouldn’t be like Zeke’s, and he wouldn’t always be sick like Pieck’s dad. Maybe he’d be like Annie’s dad but not limping all the time and using a walking stick. Before he got hurt, he was a very strong fighter or something.
But that made him wonder. Annie’s dad was not the dad whose seed she was born from. One day, in training, as the candidates were struggling in a heavy windstorm to run around the track, Commander Magath shouted something very obscure as Reiner almost passed Annie.
“Pick it up, Leonhart! Half Marleyan blood won’t make you a full Marleyan!”
Annie grunted and picked up speed. She finished well ahead of Reiner. He was agape. They had all their information about their parents on record here, and the Commander just openly stated this abominable fact? He panted as he goaded information out of her.
“What did he mean you’re half Marleyan?”
Annie stared coldly at him. “What do you think he meant? Do you think I was able to steal blood vials from the Marleyans and inject myself with it?” She turned to walk away to grab a towel to cool off.
“But that’s illegal!”
“Yeah, I know. It’s why my mom was probably hanged and my Eldian dad was probably sent to the island if they caught him. Marley had enough heart to let my mom and her husband drop me off at the gate.”
Reiner gulped. He hoped that his dad never said anything to anyone about him and his mom. She had been lucky to be selected by an Eldian work committee to work outside of Liberio as a cleaner in the barracks- a second or third place honor compared to being a Warrior and saving the world, but very privileged next to just working in here. But nobody was simply born a Marleyan. He had to prove it.
“Maybe if you get selected, you can go check the military records and try to find out what happened to your real parents.”
Annie rolled her eyes and walked over to join Porco and Pieck. She muttered something about him being weird. Why was she always so rude to him? Did she think she was too good for them all because she was a good fighter? She never seemed to join everyone else in discussing the benefits of being able to be full citizens either. Well, he didn’t care. He simply had to work harder. Thirteen years left to live to make his mother and father proud was better than living a full life in poverty and no hope of getting out. Wasn’t it?
Something blurred past behind Reiner’s chair at high speed making all kinds of noises that sounded like a little battlefield. Gabi joined in as she laughed and squealed.
“Martino, Gabi, no running in the dining room,” Karina sternly warned. “Go back to the living room if you want to play.”
The two little kids marched back to their play area.
“Reiner, can you go be a dear and play with them for a bit? I want them to remember you while you’re away.”
Reiner stood up and pushed his chair in. Anything for his mother. Ever since becoming a Warrior, he was away from home more often and didn’t get to play with them or really know them too well. Martino was pretty quiet, and Gabi was rather feisty according to his mom. That didn’t help much, but it was even harder not knowing what having a little brother or sister was like. Marcel was always watching Porco as they trained and breaking up arguments he got into with Reiner himself. How was he supposed to handle two little kids?
Martino got bored playing with the toy soldiers. He dug out a bucket filled with wooden blocks to construct a little tower. The base was very unequal, and the whole thing tumbled down. The little kid got frustrated, so Reiner knelt down.
“Here, I’ll help. You have to uh, make them balanced on each side.”
The boy’s babyish face became curious as he looked on. At least he seemed to trust what Reiner was doing. Sure, he hadn’t played with toys since he was about five, but the muscle memory returned. Military training had also aided when they spent time in the wilderness learning to set up shelter and creating the perfect fire and camouflage to avoid enemy soldiers. One misplaced stone or forgetting to remove any brightly colored clothing, and you’d be exposed and docked points heavily. Sometimes kids got sent home.
“See? All done. That’s a nice tower, isn’t it?”
The boy gawked at the wooden tower. Then, he extended his hand and gently poked it. The spectacle collapsed, and Martino cheered and clapped. All that help Reiner gave, only for him to ruin it.
“Hey! Don’t be like the dirty blooded pigs who trampled Lago! Do you remember that story?”
Martino stopped his raucous celebration. Just inciting the name of the fallen city struck fear in children knowing that they were capable of doing what their ancestors did. It was one of the first events they learned about in school and on the anniversary of the Victory of Helos. He sat up straight as if about to be given the rod.
Gabi toddled over carrying the toy soldier and her stuffed animal under her little arms while sucking on her thumb. She crouched over and not so secretly took hold of two or three blocks for herself.
“My blocks!” she declared. Then, she shoved the saliva soaked toys at Reiner and demanded, “Rah-nah build me a tah-wah.” She stood still as a statue until he complied with her request. It wasn’t a very impressive one, but she seemed to like it.
“Yay! Tah-wah!”
Martino knocked down the little tower with another toy soldier in hand. Gabi screeched.
“No hit tah-wah!” She tried to hit her older cousin who shuffled backwards and begged through his mortified eyes for Reiner’s help. Reiner sighed. Why couldn’t they be more like him when he was their age and listen to orders like he did in military training? They would stop disobeying immediately if they got shut in an isolation room for talking while the commander spoke or denied a meal if they started whining about being hungry.
“Hey, hey, hey, stop it! Or you’ll go to your rooms! Do you want to be Honorary Marleyans one day or not? We don’t act like the devils who ran away for their sins!”
Martino nodded while shielding himself from the assaults of Gabi. Reiner grabbed the squirming tyke away from him. From the dining room, he thought he heard some chuckling from his mom and relatives.
“Reiner, do you need help?” His mother called. She sounded a bit amused.
“No! I got them just fine!” he replied as Gabi kicked him in the shin. He was going to go to the most dangerous place in the world with the most evil sinners of all races. He couldn’t let anybody doubt that he was the right choice for this by making a fool of himself with little kids . Not his uncles who were always rather… distant from him until he was chosen. Not his aunts who thought he was sweet. Not his grandfather who wept for joy. Not his mom who gave him so much encouragement.
And most of all not his own father who was anticipating their reunion.
“Stop kicking, Gabi. You’ll get turned into a Titan and leave us if you misbehave.”
“Titan?”
“Yeah. But unlike me where I can turn into one and an Eldian again, you won’t be a girl again. Ever.”
Gabi wormed her way out of Reiner’s reach and picked up her stuffed toy. She wiped her eyes and handed it to him. “Titan?” She blinked. Then she screeched and ran off into the dining room to hide on her mother’s lap.
“Gabi, dear. Reiner is a good Titan ,” Karina explained. “You don’t need to be afraid of him. Not many Eldian boys and girls get to be good Titans.”
“Maybe one day, you can be a good Titan too,” Uncle Giuseppe added and patted her head.
Gabi still didn’t seem convinced yet. His mother was good at teaching about Eldian history and the sins of their ancestors. She helped prepare him for the written essay portion of the training program by providing as many books as she could find on the topic. He had gotten the best score in the class, a high mark of loyalty to Marley. Uncle Giuseppe attended many lectures as well provided by the Marleyan professors explaining how Eldians were not like other people and why they were so dangerous and deserved to be in here but were still better than those island devils. He was happy to share those pamphlets with him as a boy. They weren’t as entertaining as the books about knights that his grandfather read him, but they helped him.
“Don’t you remember? Reiner is going to save us all from the evil devils on the island across the ocean,” Aunt Tina added. She nodded at Reiner and gently pushed Gabi in his direction.. “Can you tell her how?”
“Uh….” He looked around. Martino had gone back to playing with the building blocks, but this time, he made a very long horizontal line of them. He had an idea. Reiner took Gabi’s hand that wasn’t covered in toddler slobber. It wasn’t the grossest thing he’d encountered as a Warrior having been tested on and having things injected into him and practicing having his body parts sawn off or shot at.
He knelt over to help stack blocks on the line.“See? Long ago, an evil Eldian King ran away with his devils to an island, and to make sure nobody could fight them, he built a big wall just like this. But now, we’re going to break the wall and catch the evil King and bring him here to punish him so we can be good Eldians again. Then nobody will ever be mean to us again.”
He picked up some of the scattered toy soldiers and laid them in front of the wall. “There’s going to be lots of devils there who might try to get in our way, but we’re Warriors. We’re prepared to destroy them all.” His two little cousins were seated at his feet and stared at him in astonishment.
“Debil?” Gabi babbled. “Yuck.”
“That’s right, Gabi. They think they can trick us because they have the King on their side. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen though.”
The adults at the dinner table were making idle chatter about this. It made him very happy that Uncle Giuseppe and Aunt Tina were so enthusiastic about him showing such loyalty. Even Uncle Mateo and Aunt Sigrid were clamoring about it, and they were the most modest of the family. Maybe they would reconsider having Martino join the training program after all. If they weren’t enthusiastic enough or expressed any doubts about Marley, after all, they could be taken in for questioning by the Public Authorities.
Gabi reached out for a random toy soldier and put its head in her mouth and chewed on it. Oh damn it, she could bite it off and choke on it.
“Gabi, get that out of your mouth!” Reiner pulled it away from her.
“ Nooooo !” She screamed and flailed in anger. She threw some child-sized punches at Reiner. Damn it, it didn’t hurt, but this kid was strong for her age. She tried to snatch her toy back.
Crash . Blocks flew in all directions.
“Yay!”
Martino had for once destroyed the correct structure that didn’t deserve to stand another day in the sunlight- and he did it by sliding into the facsimile wall. While he celebrated his pretend victory over the island devils, Reiner dashed toward the dining room in a game of keepaway. Gabi followed in a rage.
“Gabi, no putting toys in your mouth. You listen to Reiner,” Uncle Giuseppe scolded. “You’ll never be a good Eldian if you don’t behave.” Gabi pouted.
“Alright, I think it’s time for bed,” Aunt Tina stepped in. “We have a big day tomorrow.”
“No bed!” Gabi crossed her arms.
“But Reiner has a big day tomorrow. There’s going to be a parade before he leaves to kill the King. Doesn’t that sound fun? Now go get your bear.”
Gabi let out a little sigh. She waded her way through the wreckage of the block wall and took it into her arms. She waved at Reiner. “Night night.” Her mother scooped her up and took her to her room. She could be rather cute if she wasn’t terrorizing other people.
Soon after Martino was escorted to his own bedroom. He wouldn’t stop talking about joining the military to which his parents only gave a maybe as an answer. Reiner rolled his eyes. With that attitude, they’d be lucky to receive a slot in the Eldian regiment. Sitting at a corner and not turning either way was not how they could live here unless they wanted good Eldia to die out. But they didn’t understand what else was at stake for him.
Karina was finishing drying the dishes. Reiner stepped in to help.
“Thank you, dear. We’re all so proud of you.”
“I know.”
“I do feel a little bad that you won’t be able to see Martino and Gabi grow up- I hope Gabi still remembers you when you return. But we’ll always remind them just what you’re doing for us all.”
Two glasses clinked against each other as Reiner shut the cupboard. He looked around. Spy training came very handy at home. There was always the potential of having to snuff out a threat. But all his relatives were turning in for some rest amidst the excitement. He could ask a question.
“Is this what having little siblings is like?”
Karina looked down. She let out a small chuckle. “Oh, if I could tell you the stories of your uncles’ antics from when they were little, you would already be finished with the mission by time I would get through with them.”
“It’s not that.” How was he supposed to ask this? “Um, Mom, when we meet with Dad after the mission… Am I going to have any siblings?”
“Ah, that. Well, I don’t think that would be in accordance with the law. You see, after all these sacrifices, it may be too much trouble to have another baby like you. We don’t want anybody thinking that we became Honorary Marleyans just to spread our seeds in the wind and create more devil-blooded people. We wou- we will be happy together, just us three.” She cleared her throat.
Reiner nodded. He couldn’t imagine having to deal with a baby brother or sister like Gabi all the time. How did Marcel do it when Porco was born?
“Yeah. I hope I can see Dad tomorrow. It’s one of the only times where Eldians and Marleyans are able to stand together in a crowd. Maybe he’ll see you and join you. Just don’t stand anywhere near your brothers’ families so they don’t get suspicious.”
Karina wiped her eyes. She was so happy at this long anticipated reunion. He kept going.
“I can’t wait to know Dad for myself. No little siblings to get in the way. But when will we introduce the rest of the family to him? Will grandfather Marwig get to see him too?”
Karina sniffled. “Oh Reiner….” She leaned in to embrace him. “He doesn’t understand just how much this has hurt our family without seeing me for almost thirteen years. When you return from the mission triumphant, you can spend the next thirteen as if those days were never lost.”
Reiner smiled. “I will.”
…
His bedroom felt a lot darker than usual even with the flickering lamp nearby. This had been his bedroom since he was born. A small, cramped space prone to rodent infestations and wintering insects. Living part time at the barracks was pleasant compared to this despite being without much privacy. To think that this could be the last night he’d ever have to sleep in a bed in the Internment Zone was a dream come true.
Sure, he’d still have military duties to fulfill for the rest of his life, but to wake up in a place that didn’t keep him trapped and being able to stroll through the streets with all the Marleyans paying respect to him and Bertholdt and Marcel and even Annie- he thought for sure she would warm up to the idea of having high status- was alluring. Nobody could spit at him or throw garbage or tell him to follow strict curfews for staying out late at night.
And he would have a dad.
The city administration would soon discuss with her preparations for moving away from here. At least he hoped so. Tomorrow everybody would be too busy with all the fuss to bother to answer his questions. He was going to be escorted very early for parade preparations. He was told to not bring any personal items with him except for his military uniform. All other supplies would be provided to him and the others.
He didn’t care about any of his items here. No reason to bring old childhood toys or tattered old clothing with him. That stuff would be done away with, maybe given to some needy kids at the zone’s orphanage for abandoned children. They’d love it anyway. Items that belonged to Marley’s Shield. Maybe it would inspire them to fight to reunite with their parents they couldn’t be with due to the laws.
Or maybe there wouldn’t have to be laws keeping Eldians apart from Marleyans anymore if they were successful. Nobody would need an armband to distinguish himself from other people. Well, except maybe Porco. His family was given honorary status due to Marcel already, but he’d beg the government for a second red armband if he could just to show how great he was.
Reiner turned, fighting his restlessness. Other than some Titans that they would easily maneuver thanks to Marcel’s Jaw Titan, there was almost no danger to them there. Those island devils wouldn’t know what was coming. Their King was going to cower in fear for the first time in a century. His reign on his pathetic kingdom was going to fall to nothing but ashes.
It would be easier than a child’s game of using building blocks and then knocking them down.