Chapter Text
The Walls guide. The Walls protect. The Walls will always stand.
The opening passage of every book chronicling the history of the Chosen World mentions the Three Walls: Sina, Rose, Maria. The Walls are primordial. The Walls signify the beginning of the Chosen World and the end of the Old World. The Chosen World would not have come to fruition if not for the formation of these Walls, if not for the sacrifice of the God-Queen Ymir.
"The walls guide us, protect us."
Today, the bells ring to signal the completion of midday mass. Here in Mitras, the capital of the Chosen World, a midday masses are dedicated to the God-Queen herself. Offerings and prayers are offered to her in the grand temple. Sunlight streams through stained glass windows and fills the space with vibrant color. And today, a girl approaches the altar for the first time.
"She created the Walls, Mother?"
She looks up at the image of the God-Queen as her mother fixes a pin in her hair.
"Honor her properly," her mother tuts, pushing her to kneel.
She watches her mother kneel and follows suit, her skirt rumpling underneath her. She watches her mother close her eyes and clasp her hands together, and follows hesitantly. Her mother prays quietly, mouth pressed into a neutral line. She closes her eyes too, but wonders what to say, what to pray for. When her mother taps her shoulder, she opens her eyes to see her scowling face. Her mother knows she hadn't said a thing to the God-Queen.
"Our family has a duty to uphold, and once you've come of age you will understand."
The girl looks up at the face of the God-Queen and wonders what duty this is, but she's been told this many times before. Once she's reached a suitable age, she will gain a title as a proud member of her most noble family. It's a lonesome existence most of the time, she thinks, being the only child of her mother and father, the only heir to some grand, unknown destiny. She knows she has few friends in Mitras because of this.
"When?" She scowls at her mother.
Her mother sighs. "When you've outgrown your scowling face and learned to stand up straighter."
She watches her mother walk ahead, a prime vision of what she should become in the future, and follows quietly. Upon exiting the temple, she sees the birds fly overhead and thinks them so lucky.
As she grows older, this mysterious duty never comes any clearer. It's never mentioned unless she asks, and she doesn't understand why she's made to play certain games, attend certain events, train in certain arts.
But among all those things, horse-riding is her favorite. Horse-riding is where she excels. In her age group in Mitras, she is the fastest rider but she is never given any recognition for it. Instead, she is given honorary badges and made to watch when actual races are hosted. She is eliminated from the competition and she doesn't understand why. Everyone, including her mother, knows that she'd rather be one the grounds.
"Watch. Pay attention."
Her mother tells her this will help her. Everything she does and everything she's made to do is going to help her. But all the horses look the same, and she can't predict the future. She doesn't have her father's insight or her mother's scrutinizing gaze. She's no genius by any means, but she's known about horses all her life and she's been told she has her mother's eyes and her father's wit.
"Tell me which horse will win."
The race starts and the rounds are made. She selects a horse and is surprised it wins.
"The eyes never lie."
But the next horse she picks loses. Well, she has her mother's eyes and her father's wit, but she doesn't have her unwavering gaze or his intuition. She is just their daughter.
The next day, like every other day, she goes through books and puzzle games, swordsmanship training, and several lessons on things she thinks are unnecessary. But her mother insists on this, she always does.
"This is for the good of our people's future."
She wonders what this future is, because she sees no future in Mitras involving fights or grand puzzle games. Still, she learns and she trains. She learns to read fine print and finer lines, familiarizes herself with faces and flattery. She trains with the sword, the pen. She trains her voice and her posture. Her mother tells her the only battle she will participate in is the battle at court. Her mother tells her she will never set foot past Wall Sina.
"Am I truly never leaving Mitras, Mother?"
She is aware of the outer walls of Rose and Maria. She is learning about all the other districts, their demographics, their functions, but she hasn't yet learned of the world outside. All she has heard are stories of Titans, man-devouring monsters roaming the world. The very source of fear. The destroyers. But she will never see them, because she is safe here in Mitras. And she will forever be safe here, won't she? She will never leave this place. This place she has grown tired of. This place she wants to get out of.
"Will I never go outside Wall Sina?"
Her mother frowns at her.
"Why would you ever want to?"
Her answer makes sense. Most people only ever dream of entering the inner cities of Wall Sina, Mitras especially. Mitras, the residence of the royal family and all the nobles. Mitras, where no one will ever want for anything.
But she is tired of looking at the birds flying overhead.
Now that she is older, she is more restless. She is more curious. She sometimes breaks her routine by circling the entirety of Mitras. She is more stubborn. She is more careless. She goes to the different establishments within the capital and memorizes them by name. She watches visitors pass through the gates of Wall Sina and wonders where they go. She wants to see it for herself, taste and smell and feel the world for herself.
"It is our duty to serve the royal family. We are their advisers, their protectors, their confidants."
Her mother tells her what she already knows, what she is already tired of hearing. This has been drilled into her head, but she has not yet set foot in the palace. She has not yet met any member of the royal family because, as her mother had told her, she is not yet ready. She is not yet fit to meet their Queen.
Is that all she will ever do, to serve and be served? Isn't there something more? Something grander? But she doesn't talk back, she's learned it's better to simply nod and lie.
"I understand, Mother."
When her mother leaves, she looks out the window and wonders which day she'll dare ride to Wall Rose.
But when she does, she is immediately caught by a Garrison soldier at the entrance of Wall Sina.
"Orders of Lady Klaus."
Of course it's her mother's doing. Her mother knows all about this, like she has already planned for it. But she knows better than to throw a fit or frown at a soldier just doing their job. Instead, she looks up at the dawn sky. A bird flies overhead, and she is reminded that no matter how fast she can ride a horse, a bird will always be faster.
The garrison soldiers don't offer to escort her back, but they look at her like they feel sorry for her. But she knows that past their look of pity, there is something else. It is something she is already familiar with, something she has seen in the faces of nobles. It was disdain.
She apologizes and rides back under the rising sun. She does not feel welcomed by the sight of familiar buildings and roads. Instead, it makes her wonder if this is only as far as she'll ever reach. Besides Mitras, she has seen the districts of Ehrmich and Yarckel, but there is nothing too different there either. They're missing something, she thinks, something that can only be found outside the Walls.
When she arrives home, she isn't surprised to find her mother ready to scold her.
"If you wanted to run, you would have considered playing a merchant than just cloaking yourself like those storybook heroines."
Her mother looks down at her from the high position, and she thinks this is how her mother intimidates everybody. Her mother is higher than everyone else, in both status and position, in both knowledge and posture. She only wishes to stand as stiffly as her in times like these.
"There's nothing worth searching for outside," her mother continues. "Nothing at all that can't be found here."
She scoffs. "Even the Titans, Mother?"
Her mother narrows her eyes at her. "Most people could only dream of being born into a lineage like ours."
She should understand this. After all, she has never wanted for anything. She is always clothed, always full, always given whatever it was she wanted, except for one thing.
She meets her mother's gaze. "I know, but I want to see what lies beyond Mitras, beyond Wall Sina."
She recalls the birds, the ever-lucky birds, that fly above. Some of them are homing pigeons, used by stations atop the walls to send messages and letters. Other birds are wild ones, migrating from north to south, east to west. People know very little about those birds, but their existence only proves one thing. Beyond the Walls, beyond the Titans, there is something out there. But what could it be? Where could it be?
"Is that what you really want?"
"Yes."
They stare at each other, unwavering, and then her mother speaks.
"Then it should please you to know the 86th Training Corps is accepting those who are able and willing."
She couldn't believe it. Was her mother actually saying this?
"You are free to do what you will with that information."
Her mother is actually granting her the opportunity to leave?
When she does enlist, it doesn't surprise her that her mother disapproves of it.
"You aren't built to be a soldier."
They're all seated for breakfast. Her mother is always at the head of the table. Tall and imposing, her mother carries the same posture she has at court. Her mother is always so controlled, she thinks, so controlled and controlling. So when her mother says this so suddenly, she knows what her mother wants her to do.
"Yet you went ahead and enlisted yourself, writing our name in clear, legible letters."
Her father clears his throat. He's had equal involvement in her upbringing, after all. He teaches and trains. He is not from any noble family like her mother's, but he knows all about horses, about animals, about hunting and foraging. He taught her how to use a rifle properly, how to fence properly.
"I don't see any harm in that," he says. "It might even be good training, being with the rest of the people."
Her father has always been easier to reason with, and he understands her reasons, her curiosity. He'd wanted to be a soldier before too, hadn't he? Before he met her mother.
And her mother and father do love each other, because her mother agrees to her father's suggestion.
"It should provide you with more real knowledge about what goes on outside Mitras."
"Give her a fresher perspective, don't you think?"
And her parents do love her as much as they love each other, because her father smiles at her mother and her mother smiles back.
"Very well," her mother turns to her. "But you will not use the name for anything else. Outside Mitras, you will work like everyone else and I will hear no complaints from your instructors."
She doubts she will complain about anything. She'd gone out with her father almost as much as she'd spent time with her mother. She'd reared horses before and done her chores in her father's ranches. She should be fine enough, and with her skill, with everything she's been made to learn, how would the Training Corps be any difficult?
Her father laughs. "Who would have thought, Eliza? Our daughter's going to be a soldier."
"Yes," her mother tuts. "Victoria Irina Klaus, a soldier."
She doesn't ignore her mother's obvious displeasure, but she'll take it over living the rest of her life within Wall Sina.