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I opened my eyes as I woke up from my dream. The sounds of the waves crashing in and the chirping of the birds moving in unison above me were the first thing that I hear. The sand beneath me was soft and dry. I looked up and saw the skies, painted in grey. I felt the chilling wind that was blowing towards me. Somehow, I felt comforted by all these things I was seeing, feeling or sensing.
I got up, brushing off the sand from my body and from my hair. Looking around, I saw no one. I was alone. But I was waiting for two particular people that are important to me. After all, they were the reason why I was here at the beach and I could wait for them no matter how long I would have to wait.
So, I decided that I will walk around the beach, just to kill some time. My steps were steady, even my shoes weren’t made for walking on the sand. I didn’t mind that. All I have to do was walk and walk until they arrived here.
My eyes observed the surroundings around me. I wondered will there be any other people that will find this beach. Possibilities were endless. I could only think of what might happen, still, I couldn’t grasp the true nature of those complex systems that this universe had.
In my coat was my personal journal. It was where I wrote down my thought and what I experienced each day on the daily basis. I got it out and flip open to the page I hadn’t written anything down. I retrieved the pencil from my coat that was also in the same place where I kept my journal. I stopped walking and wrote a date down.
“What date is today?” I asked myself. I thought about it for a few seconds before writing it down. It was hard to keep track of time these days. I wished there would be a more efficient and easier way to do so. Maybe some time in the future, someone might invent it. I could only wish that I would live that long to witness the birth of it.
It would be great if I’m the one who end up being that person.
My handwriting was getting better than it used to be. There was a time when I injured my hands because of the heavy usage of the three-dimensional maneuver gear. Those memories of me in that gear and doing my duty to protect humanity still lingered in my mind. I remembered everything. All the defeated battles, all the victories, all the lives that were saved and all the lives lost – still in my mind, fresh, like they happened yesterday.
I put my pencil down and turn around when I heard a familiar voice shouting out my name. I saw two people approaching me. Both of them, a man and a woman, were waving hello at me. I put the journal and the pencil back inside my coat to wave back at them.
“Armin!” the man shouted gleefully. His name was Eren Jaeger.
I saw that they start to running towards me and I do so as well. I run as fast as they can. How can it be helped? I mean, these were the two people I cared about the most. There was no reason for me not to run.
When we finally met, I embraced them with both of my arms. The woman, Mikasa Ackerman, took her red scarf out from her neck and wrapped it around me. “Thanks” I replied. “I’ve been waiting for you guys.” I said as I let both of them go from my arms to take a good look at them.
“You’ve grown, Armin! You look taller!” Eren said, his eyes looking at me from the top of my head to my feet.
“We miss you so much, Armin. We want to see you every single day but that’s not possible, not now anyway.” Mikasa’s voice was quieter. Her face turned from a happy one to a sad one.
“You don’t need to feel like that, Mikasa. I’m sure there’ll be a day where we get to stay together for a longer period” I said my words, patting her at her shoulder as I tried my best to console her.
“So, Armin, what have you been up to?” Eren asked, smiling. He moved closer to Mikasa and brought her closer to him. I could see a faint smile at Mikasa’s face.
“Nothing much really…just the usual stuffs. Finding more survivors and taking notes are the most important. It’s been ten years since the war ended. But we still have a lot of work to do.” I replied.
I took pride at my work. I was one of those people who weren’t hesitated to go on a long journey to seek out for survivors. I knew I am braver that I used to be. Mikasa and Eren taught me so many lessons in life, including bravery and not giving up.
“I guess in two weeks or so, I’ll be going back to travel around places again.”
“Sounds like fun?” Mikasa asked. She seemed happier than she was a moment ago.
“Yes and no. Sometimes it is, sometimes it’s not. There are still a few titans out there. But they don’t eat us anymore. In fact, their human traits are regaining back to them.”
“Oh wow. If only the titans were like this back then, our job would have been easier” Eren chuckled.
“Time changes and we all have to change” I smiled back. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I will remember you guys for the rest of my life.” I reached out for them to bring them closer to me again but failed to do so. Their bodies started to become more transparent.
“Ah! Not this again. Sorry, Armin .Our energy sometimes is not enough to retain a flesh or a physical form as you know of a human being.” Mikasa spoke, her voice indicated frustration.
“At least both of you don’t have to worry about aging” A smile came up on my face. I laugh, and they do so too.
“Oh and tell Marco about the fact that I’ll be here only for two weeks too”
“Sure. I’ll make sure to tell him” Eren stated.
For those who didn’t know, Marco Bodt wasn’t just any ordinary soul. He had become a “death god”. The thought of him being a death god terrified me at first. Upon meeting him a few years back, that thought was changed. As I could recall, he was wearing a black eye patch at the right side of his eyes. He was also wearing a black suit with a red tie. “It’s a normal uniform for the death gods” Marco said.
I asked him about my request of getting me to meet Eren and Mikasa in a designated place for a short period of time. “I will be informing you where my current whereabouts is” I spoke.
And there, he said yes, saying, “But on one condition, there have to return to the spiritual world before the sun goes down, okay?”
I asked him why. He simply replied to me, “It is how the system works. If they’re out there in the living world for too long, I can’t guarantee their safety. Also, they might end up becoming something else. And I’ve seen too many souls becoming something else you surely don’t wanna see.”
“Okay then” I agreed on his condition. “But how can I contact you?”
“Close your eyes and think of me. Or, you can inform Eren or Mikasa to tell me about your whereabouts.”
I nodded and he waved goodbye and went back to the spiritual world.
It was still weird to me how such things like spirits and the spiritual world existed. I wasn’t much of a believer until I met Marco. My belief in this kind of things was strengthened even more when I got to meet Eren and Mikasa.
I took a glance at the sun. It was going down from the horizon.
“The sun…” I mumbled.
Mikasa and Eren seemed to know what I was speaking. They turned and saw the sun. “We have to leave already? This sucks” Eren said, sighing.
“Remember what Marco told us, Eren. If we wish to see Armin again, we have to do what the rules say” Mikasa said.
“At least we got to see how Armin has been doing. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we’re going to meet him. This is our first meet of this year, right?” Mikasa added.
“Yeah” I replied. I really didn’t want them to go. I just wished that I got to stay with them longer.
“How long will I have to wait until I’m with you guys again?” I asked them. My voice became shaky and quiet. I felt like bursting out all of my feelings. I just wanted to be with them longer.
“We can’t answer you that. Your date of death isn’t what we know. Not even Marco or the high ranking death gods know about it. All you can do is waiting for your time” Eren declared.
I let out a sigh. My head hanging lower and tears started to form in my eyes. Fists were being clenched. So many thoughts were going on in my head. “Life isn’t the same with both of you. I feel lonely.”
I felt their cold hands on my shoulder. I sobbed.
“We know that you feel lonely, Armin. At least you have something to remind me of you.” Mikasa smiled.
“The red scarf” I said, unclenching my fists.
“Good thing Marco managed to make it not becoming transparent.” Eren spoke. “Besides from her scarf, you still have that as something you have to remind of me.”
I reached for an object in my coat. “You mean this?” I asked, showing them Eren’s key to the basement.
“Yep” he replied.
“Remember that time when we found out what was in the basement? I mean, it changed everything we knew!” Eren added more of his words. I liked the way he talked. I could only guess after he died and became a spirit, he didn’t have to worry much about too many things. I put the key back inside my coat, keeping where it was.
All three of us laughed. “You almost shit yourself, Eren” I giggled. I noticed that even the tears were still in my eyes, I felt no sadness.
“Good times, good times. Anyway, we have to go now.” Eren said.
“Take care of yourself, okay?” Mikasa expressed her thought.
“I will, Mikasa. And I will wear this scarf for the rest of my life.”
“But don’t forget to wash it. I don’t want it to smell bad. Don’t want to come at you during your sleep and tell you to wash it” Mikasa laughed.
“I’ll wash it, Mikasa. Don’t worry.”
“I guess this is a goodbye” Eren said, moving in closer to me, and Mikasa did so too.
“Armin, I want you to remember this. No matter where you are, we will always watch over you. Well, at least, watching over you from the other side” Mikasa spoke. She smiled at me.
“All the times we were together, I want to thank you for believing in me and Mikasa. Your faith in us was something that always kept us going” Eren stated.
“You guys are making me cry” I chuckled as I felt like I was ready to burst out the tears in my eyes in front of them. “You guys better go” I said.
Eren and Mikasa nodded. They turned around and started to depart from me. They waved goodbye and I waved back at them as long as I could. As they went further away, their bodies became more and more transparent until there was nothing there but emptiness.
The sun finally went down. Another voice came through my radio. It was Jean.
“Armin, where are you?” he asked.
“At the beach, sir.” I replied. Jean was a commander now. I was a lance corporal. Funny how I kept adding “sir” when I spoke with him through the radio.
“Drop the ‘sir’, Armin. You’re making me feel old already.” A chuckle was heard from Jean.
“Just wanna tell ya dinner’s ready. Sasha made us omurice.”
“Is that the thing where you wrap around the rice with egg?” I asked.
“Yep and you’d better move your ass out of that beach or it’ll be gone.” Jean laughed.
“Save one for me, will you? Just in case, you know. I might be late.”
“Sure. Oh and would it be okay if I sit with you, Armin? I just feel like I want to.”
“It’s okay to sit with me, Jean. But are you sure? Some people might see us and interpret that we are—”
“Lovers” Jean replied. “You have nothing to be worry about, my dear lance corporal.” He jokingly said.
I chuckled. “Well then, as you wish. I’ll be back in some time around half an hour.”
“Roger that. Kirschtein, out” Jean said.
“Arlert, out” I replied.
“Time to go back” I thought. I walked towards the beach, back to where I left my horse.
I found myself to be alone once more. The only thing filling in the silence was the sound of the waves. The moon shone its soothing light onto the beach. I also could see the stars as well. I wondered, will humanity be able to go to the moon? Maybe that would happen in the future. Just, maybe.
I felt chilly as the wind blew towards me. But I felt quite warm with Mikasa’s scarf around my neck and the coat that I was wearing.
“Omurice…sounds good to me.” I muttered.
As I rode the horse back to Jean and my fellow comrades, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Eren and Mikasa. I wondered how long I’ll have to wait for my time to come. I shook that thought out of my head. I knew both of them wanted me to enjoy my life as long as possible.
I realized something. I was the legacy they had left for humanity. I was the remnants of their past and I was their future too. Their deaths would not be in vain.
“And death shall have no dominion.” I thought, smiling, and rushed the horse to meet others at the Headquarter.