victory_road | Friday the thirteenth doesn't usually get this whacky

[Good gods, that actually worked. Erwin's responses come slowly, as this is a new technology and he's still grappling with it.]

Hello, Kirstein. What is this place?

To be frank, sir, it's beyond explanation. None of us understand why or how we're here, and most of the important aspects of this world are infuriatingly mysterious. Trying to find answers to those questions has been a fool's errand.

In the most general sense I can manage, it's another world totally separate from ours. No Titans, no Marley, no Shifters. The technology is incredibly advanced. And the culture here is very heavily connected to the creatures you've most likely already seen, called "Pokemon". Their presence permeates nearly every aspect of society. The vast majority of the time, they're almost entirely benevolent towards humans. There's no war, little conflict... It's a very... harmonious place.

Edited 2020-11-16 03:05 (UTC)

[Ah, this reminds Erwin of why he'd always liked Kirstein. The kid has his rough edges--don't they all?--but when it comes time to focus on the important things, the kid comes through and gets things done. Erwin wonders idly how long Kirstein has been here; he sounds more articulate, and somehow older, than Erwin remembers him.]

That explains the tiny, colorful horse that's taken to following me, then. I suppose it's a

Pokemon?

[Is he using that term correctly?]

A world without conflict... hard to believe such a thing is possible. How do they maintain order?

[Those rough edges have definitely been sanded down over the last four years of Jean's life. While he was still plenty brusque with his close companions, he knew how to be clear and concise when giving a report to her superiors.]

[Even after a year in the Pokemon world, he found himself falling back into the role of a soldier with ease. It was so uncomplicated it was almost comforting]

They have police that most citizens respect. There are also master... I guess you could call them Pokemon tamers, that have a lot of authority here, and they help keep the peace.

[A life beyond being a soldier... Erwin can barely imagine it. A world without conflict sounds more likely.]

Ah. So it's not that there IS no conflict, but rather that any uprisings are quickly contained.

[Sounds familiar!]

Another question: what is Marley?

[That was the only thing Kirstein mentioned about home that Erwin didn't recognize.]

If there were any, I have yet to hear of them. There's the occasional human-caused natural disaster, but you'd be surprised how cooperative people and Pokemon are about cleaning up afterwards.

[Oh, right. Erwin died right before they learned that name. It's odd to think about, since it's been a major part of Jean's personal lexicon for years now.]

It's the name of the country across the ocean that has been subjugating Eldians- the people that live inside the Walls-- for the past hundred or so years. All the shifters, Annie, Reiner, Bertholt, the Beast Titan, they're all from Marley. Marley is also responsible for creating the Pure Titans that live outside the Walls.

[That's as simply as Jean can put it. It goes much, much deeper than that, especially when it comes to motivations, but it's best to start small when divulging life-shattering information.]

[It's going to be a few minutes before Jean gets a response to this. That's because Erwin needs to collect himself, and perhaps make a few very undignified noises. There is a world beyond the walls, and there always had been. He'd been right the whole time.]

Tell me everything. Did they use the same serums we found to make the Pure Titans? Why was our world put behind the Walls? Why did our world forget that there was anything beyond the Walls?

[Okay then. I guess it's exposition day.]

Yes, it's the same serum. But it only works on people with Eldian blood. When it comes to motivations... The people of Eldia have a long and complicated history.

A long time ago, maybe hundreds of years, the Eldians gained the power to transform into Titans, and the nine Shifters. They used that power to gain control of a large part of the world. For some reason, that nation collapsed, and Marley became the new world power. They were able to gain control of the power of most of the Shifters. After that, most of the Eldians left in the world retreated to Paradis-- the island we live on today-- erected the Walls, and the King used the power of the Founding Titan to erase the memories of everyone living inside them. I'm not sure why, maybe to help prevent people from wanting to leave.

Eldians are largely hated by the rest of the outside world for atrocities committed by our nation in the distant past. In Marley, the remaining Eldians that didn't make it to Paradis are treated as second-class citizens. They're forced to live in poverty and conscripted into Marley's military to perpetuate the Shifter bloodlines, since only Eldians can become Titans. If Eldians break their laws, they're taken to Paradis, where they're turned into Pure Titans and let loose, both as punishment and as a form of security, to keep the remaining Eldians on Paradis.

[Was that everything? Jean thought that was everything, but it was such a tangle he could understand if he missed something important.]

[Come on, Jean, you had to know that dropping bombshells like that would lead to having to explain them.]

[Erwin is quiet for a long time, processing all this information. Some of his suspicions are confirmed, others are blown apart, and the whole thing just leads to more questions. It was a solid, succinct report, though, and he's glad it's Kirstein here to guide him through it.]

An irony that they called our island Paradis.

If they wanted us to stay on our island, behind the Walls, why did they send their titans to attack us, and then infiltrate our military? What was the plan there?

[Gods, he wishes he could have sat down with Ymir, Reiner, or Bertolt and talked to them about where they came from!]

Marley had control of most of the Titan Shifters, but not all of them. Eren's father Grisha had the Attack Titan, and as you know, the Fritz family had the Founding Titan, which Grisha also took by force. He passed both of the Titans down to Eren by turning him into a Pure Titan and letting himself be eaten. Marley wanted those powers back.

The Founding Titan has the power to control other Titans, like you saw when we were chasing Reiner down. I don't know how he did it then, because he's never been able to replicate the act, but normally the Founding Titan's power to control can only be used by people with Fritz blood. That means it's completely possible for the Founding Titan to be used to wake up all the Colossal Titans in the Walls and use them to destroy the world. It's apparently been done in the past by Eldia, which is part of the reason we're so hated by the outside world. It makes total sense that Marley would do anything they could to stop that from happening again.

Jean
Do you think Eren knows that?
Do you think he would TRY that?

Because if he wakes the titans in the Walls and sends them against the rest of the world, we would never be forgiven. It would create a war without end.

He knows about the ability. As for his intentions, I can't confirm or deny anything. The Corps has been working without his cooperation for months. I don't know where he is or what he's planning.

After we discovered the information his father left behind he's been... Different. It's hard to explain. That's all I can really say.

[And Jean hates how much it pains him to admit it.]

[So Eren went rogue. Erwin has to admit that he doesn't find that surprising. The kid had always been a loose cannon, and there had been a reason Erwin wanted Levi to stick close to him. Had he ever gone off, Levi is likely one of the only people who could have taken him down.]

Then be careful when you find him again. If he's gone rogue, he's not to be trusted any further. And with his powers, that is a dangerous, dangerous situation.

I know asking this is beyond my station, but... Armin is here, and he doesn't know about Eren turning coat. He's actually far behind me in the timeline; the last thing he experienced in our world was the first failed capture of the Female Titan. I withheld the information from him when I caught him up to my time because I felt that it would cause him unnecessary stress.

Again, I can't give orders here, but I'd appreciate it if the fact was left unsaid.

I understand. Given their friendship and history, having that information would do nothing here but cause him anguish. You were right to withhold it.

I will do the same.

Thank you, sir.

Do you know your location? I own a few Pokemon that can fly, so I can travel quickly.

You don't have to call me sir anymore. If it's been as long as you say, I'm not your Commander anymore, am I?

I'm at a Pokemon Center in Goldenrod. It's across from a restaurant called Starmiebucks.

No, you're not, but I don't think it's a habit that's going to be easy to break.

[Erwin lived and died as Jean's Commander, he'd never seen the man as anything else.]

Penny can make the flight in an hour or so. I'll be there ASAP.

[Ah... that answers the question Erwin hadn't wanted to ask. If he's not the Commander of the Survey Corps any longer, then he died when they tried to retake Shiganshina. That's not too much of a surprise, but having the confirmation is still a punch to the gut.]

I'll be waiting.

[And so now he's got nothing but time to kill, to spend with his thoughts. Erwin finds a bench outside the Pokemon Center and does some people-watching, examining both the different types of people and the different Pokemon in this world. He considers going to the Starmiebucks across the street, but it has a pair of large, leathery bird-lizard things on top of it, who occasionally let loose with some shrieking, and decides he'd rather not.]

[The little, colorful horse hops up on the bench next to him, and cuddles in beside his hip. Erwin strokes her candy-colored mane, and she lays her head in his lap.]

Are you supposed to be my Pokemon, then? If that's the case, you'll need a name.

[It feels silly, talking to a tiny horse, but she looks up at him and seems like she's listening, so Erwin keeps going.]

I stopped naming my horses a long time ago. It's too hard when you lose one, if it has a name. I just called them by numbers. If I went with that, you'd be Number Eighteen.

[True to his word, Jean only takes about an hour to show up. He knows the exact location of the Pokemon Center Erwin was talking about-- There are Starmiebucks everywhere, but only one right next to a Pokemon Center in Goldenrod. Penny takes a long, circular swoop to land, slowly enough that they don't spook any of the locals.]

[The Pidgeot is outfitted with something like a harness and saddle that Jean put together for their hardcore flying. Jean himself is wearing a pair of goggles, and when he lifts them up into his hair (all blown away from his face) there are visible white marks around his eye where the rest of his face is rather red from the sharp cold of the upper atmosphere. He strokes Penny's crest as he dismounts, and she blinks at him fondly.]

Sir. [Jean obviously hadn't taken Erwin's request quite to heart yet as he approaches. He's gotten tall-- perhaps even taller than Erwin now, but much more lean.] It's... Good to see you again.

[Erwin ducks when a huge bird comes flapping down, but then someone is climbing off of it, and he supposes it just another strange thing about this world.]

[He doesn't recognize Jean right away. When Erwin knew him, Jean was a gangly, sinister-faced teenager with a loud mouth on him, not a solemn, polite young man. He blinks up at Jean for a moment, until it connects--of course he's older, time has passed, he's a grown man now--and Erwin gently moves the Ponyta's head before climbing to his feet.]

Kirstein. [He offers his left hand to shake.] You are quite different from what I remember.

[When did the kid get so damn tall? Is this what it's like to be Levi and constantly have to look up at people?]

I would hope so. It's been about... Four years, since you last saw me? Three back home and one here.

[It's just as odd for Jean to have to look down at Erwin. It's only and inch or three of difference. Still, he takes the handshake firmly.]

You look the same. Tho', this perspective is pretty different.

I imagine it is. [Erwin smiles faintly.] You can probably see all my grey hair from up there.

[Not really, it fades into the blond quite nicely, but Mike always used to give Erwin shit about that, and it feels a little more like home to use his words on someone else.]

Is this the Penny you mentioned?

[He gestures at the flying Pokemon. His little Ponyta trots right up to her and drops her front half down in a little bow. Hello, pleased to meet you!]

Barely, sir. [Jean's expression lightens somewhat as well, not quite as acidic as it was when he was younger.] Yep, this is Penny. It's amazing how fast Pokemon grow. She could perch on my finger when I first caught her.

[He pat her side affectionately. She leaned over to greet the little Galarian Ponyta in return. Unlike some of Jean's other Pokemon, her temperament was very agreeable.]

I miss the 'Gear, but taking her for a flight is just as good.

Really?

[Tentatively, Erwin reaches out to touch Penny. Her side is warm and feathery.]

Do you think this little one would eventually grow large enough to ride?

[He looks down at his Ponyta. She suddenly got a lot more interesting if she's not going to stay this size.]

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