Chapter Text
Marble statues, gilded facades, quiet waves rocking against the bottom of an arched bridge. The usual cloudy skies and gray desperation of the city had been chased away by a brightening sky and rays of sunlight shooting through the clouds. Three raven birds soared across the vibrant sky. The city was awash in a new light, brightening the hearts of those fortunate enough to witness this day.
Merry clopping of hooves broke through the clear sound of morning. “What a wonderfully sunny day we are having!” Intoned a female voice.
“Indeed! We haven’t had a day as good as this for months!” A pair of girls walked through the white paths of a grand garden, arms linked. Their colorfully plush dresses and frilly caps matched the parasols they twirled in their hands.
“We’d do well to not waste the morning!”
A man in a tan suit and top hat walked past them, cane swinging as he sauntered proudly. His face lit up in a polite smile as a bearded man dressed in the formal clothing of an officer approached him.
“How was the game last night, Officer Zeke?” He asked after shaking the second man’s hand.
“I lost of course, Hoover.” the officer scoffed. “I’m unlucky as ever.”
A third man approached them, dressed in military fashion as well. A triangular hat covered his blonde hair. “They played dusk till dawn,” he supplied with an amused smirk.
“I should swear off gambling for life,” Zeke said with a slight scowl. “But I’d like to win at least one game of cards.”
Hoover nodded in sympathy. “By the way,” he asked after a small pause, “Was Yaeger there?”
Zeke laughed, though his eyes showed no signs of merriment . “Of course he was. Sat with us until seven in the morning and never touched a card, as usual.”
“He doesn't play?” the blonde man asked.
“That’s all he ever does, watch us play. Strange fellow.”
A pair of footsteps approached their conversation from behind. A stout man and a taller blonde one in a magnificent red suit greeted the three men. “Officer Zeke, Hoover, Braun, a pleasure to see you here,” the tall man spoke.
“Lieutenant Grice! And Sir Galliard!” Officer Zeke greeted the men with a firm handshake.
“I hear you talk of yesterday’s game?” Grice, the taller man, spoke.
“We were speaking of that fellow Yaeger,” supplied Braun, the blonde man. “He never plays with us.”
“It’s as if he has some kind of guilt marked on his soul that prevents him from playing,” Galliard remarked.
Grice shook his head.“He’s poor, Porco, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to talk of him like this.”
Galliard shrugged. “That’s not my business.”
Officer Zeke stopped their conversation, gesturing with a slight lift of his finger to a pair walking towards them.
“There he is,” Braun murmured. “Pale, like a ghost.”
A man in a dark uniform walked with his hands hidden behind a long cloak. A black triangular hat with a dark plume sat on his brown hair that was just long enough to curl around his ears. His eyes were shadowed, eye bags and gloomy expression marring an otherwise handsome face. White gloves flashed out of the folds of the cloak with every step he took.
Next to him walked a man that exuded an energy that contrasted the other man’s starkly. If the air around the first man seemed to wilt every flower he stepped past, this man rejuvenated each blossom with new life. Golden shoulder clasps hung on his red uniform, a tan cape on his shoulders. Blonde shoulder length hair was tied back in a low bun, a small smile on his face as he walked side by side with his gloomy compatriot.
They walked past the larger group of men, engaged in their own conversation.The blonde long haired man shot a few glances at the man walking beside him hesitantly. “Tell me Eren, is something wrong with you?”
The man beside him looked up, as if surprised to find someone next to him. “What is it?”
“What’s the matter with you?” A careful expression was on the blonde man’s face as he observed his friend.
Eren smiled, shaking his head. “Nothing.”
The man looked at him disbelievingly. He reached a hand up to Eren’s forehead, placing it there softly. “Are you sick?”
Eren grasped his hand and pushed it off his face gently. “I’m healthy, don’t worry about me Armin.”
Armin frowned, letting their hands drift apart. “You’ve been acting differently lately, as if you’re not happy with something. You used to be quite spirited, happy even sometimes, but now all I see is gloom and dread in you.”
Eren looked away for a moment, observing the rustling trees around them as they made their way through the blooming garden. “How can I be the same? We are always changing, aren't we?” He looked at Armin, something glinting in his eyes.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes yesterday. You of all people sitting in the gambling room, your eyes filled with a foreign passion.”
Eren looked like he was about to say something, but he sighed instead, shaking his head. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I’ve gone astray.” He took Armin by the arm, leading him further down the path. “I can’t hold back my feelings any longer.” He stopped, turning to face his friend. “I’m in love, Armin.”
Armin looked at him, astonished, before breaking out into a grin. “What? You in love? With whom?”
Eren looked away with a frown. They had stopped walking, and he leaned against a tree next to him with a tired expression. The sunlight shone through the leaves, dappling his face in shadow. “I don’t know her name,” he started, speaking softly. “And I don’t want to know it. No name could encompass her heavenly beauty.”
Armin listened intently, leaning on the tree with his back partially turned to Eren.
Eren turned to face Armin again, leading him down the path with a spring to his step that wasn't there before. “I don’t know how to describe her, Armin! She’s heavenly! I want to spend my life with her.” The dreamy expression that had been on his features changed to one of intensity. “But the thought that she could be bound to someone else is killing me! I can’t bear it! To think that I won’t be able to kiss her even once!” He looked at Armin with wide eyes and a chest heaving for breath. “She is my Goddess, I am her faithful servant. I cannot know her name.”
Armin wasted no time in clapping him on the shoulder and pulling him in for a hug. “Well, you should've said so sooner! We’ll find your nameless beauty and you two will be married in no time!”
“No! That’s not possible. She’s rich, and her family is well known. I’d never be allowed to even ask for her hand. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. She can never be mine.”
Armin winced, covering his sympathy with a smile. “Don’t worry about it Eren, we’ll find you another. She’s not the only girl in the world.”
Eren looked at him, eyes wide and betrayed. “You don’t know me! I can’t–” he gripped Armin by the shoulders. “I can’t not love her,” his voice came out in a desperate hiss. “You don’t understand me Armin! I could only live in peace when there was an inkling of hope that she could be mine! But now–” he took a sharp breath. “But now, my life is in turmoil! Goodbye, peace! I’m sick!” He shook Armin. “I’m sick! I’m in love!”
Fear glinted in Armin’s eyes. He gripped Eren’s arm, lacing it around his and starting up a slow pace down the path. “Are you sure she hasn’t taken notice of you too? There still might be hope.”
“Don’t kid yourself. All hope is gone for me. There’s only one thing left for me to do.”
“What is it?”
“Perish.”
Armin stopped, turning to Eren with an intense gaze. Before words could leave his mouth, the conversation of the group from before floated over to them.
“I’d like to congratulate you.” Braun said to a new figure that had joined.
“Thank you,” the new man said graciously. He was a sight for the eyes, white uniform with shining gold buttons hugging his fit figure handsomely. Red shoulder tassels hung on the uniform, and a shiny black casket rested on his head. Ashy dirty blonde hair fell to his shoulders elegantly. A stubble coated his chin, adding to his handsome face. A light cloak hung around him, wide shoulders exuding confidence.
“I hear you’re getting married,” Zeke came up and shook his hand.
“Yes, I am.” He smiled at the group around him. “An angel has descended from heaven and has agreed to take my hand.”
More congratulations poured from the mouths of the rest of the group, which the groom accepted with a smile.
Armin smiled as he heard this, glancing apologetically to Eren before walking over to the man and shaking his hand. “Prince* Kirstein! Congratulations!”
The man beamed. “Thank you, Arlert.”
“So who’s the lucky girl?” The question that was on everybody’s mind left Armin’s mouth. The rest of the group listened attentively, awaiting who the Prince had chosen for a bride.
Instead of answering, Jean gestured with a gloved finger. “There, she’s coming.”
Heads turned simultaneously to look in the direction of the finger.
A cold pit fell through Eren’s stomach. Her, he thought frantically. It’s her! She’s his bride! His body tensed as her glance flitted his way. Her dark hair was tucked away under a plumed bonnet, a light blue dress draped heavily on her form. Her eyes were dark and heavy, as he remembered them, and they washed a wave of want over his skin. He noticed belatedly that she had an arm hooked with an old lady that he recognized with a shudder.
The Countess…
Dressed in a fashion much too modern for her age, the old lady looked more like a grotesque porcelain doll than a living human. Her gaze flitted over Eren and she flared her nostrils slightly.
Eren tensed up under their gazes, face pale and eyes blank as his mind desperately tried to convince himself that what his eyes showed him was false. A nudge in his side brought him back to reality.
“So that’s your nameless beauty?” Armin murmured out of the corner of his mouth. Without awaiting a response he walked up to the Countess, pulling on his uniform and bowing slightly.
“Countess, I’d like to congratulate you,” he bent down to pick up her hand and brought it to his mouth in a kiss.
Instead of responding to the formal greeting, the Countess kept her gaze trained on Eren. “Tell me, Arlert, who is that officer?”
“Which?” Armin feigned ignorance as he looked around them. “Oh, that! That’s Eren Yaeger, a friend of mine.”
She sniffed, turning her head back to Armin. “He is a strange man.”
Armin laughed, casting a glance back at Eren who had his gaze on his unrequited love. “He can be, at times.”
While Armin had engaged with the Countess, Prince Kirstein had taken his bride by the arm and led her down a tree lined path, away from the gaze of the others.
“I mistook you for an angel descending from Heaven just now,” he held her hand gently, smiling at her blank looking face. “You fit right into this garden,” he continued, gesturing at the scenery around them with his hand. “But you’re more beautiful than any flower I could ever find here.”
She gave him a faint smile, pale skin looking bleak in the mid morning sun. Her gaze met Eren’s again and she flinched, pulling herself closer to the Prince and looking away.
Eren looked at the scene of the two, looking so perfect in their garden of Eden, and his heart ached with a sharp desire. He clutched his chest, rubbing at it to ease the pain burdening his mind. “Be happy for now, my friend,” he muttered out from behind gritted teeth. “It seems you’ve forgotten that the calm always comes before the storm.”