Attack on Titan Fanfiction – Bladesmiths & Librarians: Chapter 4

Lily and Len

The circular basin at the garden’s southernmost edge displayed a modern copy of the ancient sculpture of Ymir Fritz. From that direction came a small person bounding up at full speed. 

“Uncle Levi!” he heard the familiar shout. The royal child was running toward them, waving her hand and grinning from ear to ear. She was all zestful energy, a hurtling ball of fire. But something was wrong. 

Princess Ymir was covered from head to toe in filthy, smelly, sticky brown mud.

She was going to hurl herself toward Levi for a bear hug, but the man held his hand up, grimacing. The princess stopped in her tracks.

“For heaven’s sake, Lily, why’re you covered in mud?”

“We were experimenting!” she replied brightly, as if that explained anything.

“Experimenting with what?” 

“With a backward standing long jump!”

“What do you mean?”

“Len and I are trying to find out how far back people can jump when they’re frightened!”

“Why would you want to know that?”

“Dunno! Len thought it was a good idea!”

As if on cue there was another ear-splitting shouting of his name, more energetic running and in a flash her twin was there. Levi grimaced inwardly as the prince crushed him in a childish bear hug. He wasn’t as grimy as his twin, but his hands up to his elbows were caked in mud, his face splattered here and there with mud stains. It was obvious he had been knee-deep in a mud puddle. 

“For goodness’ sake, Len, you’re filthy!” Levi frowned, dismayed at his dirtied clothes, dying to brush off the recently transferred mud stains.

The prince didn’t even bother to answer his question. With his arms around Levi, his face pressed to his chest, he goes, “We thought you’d never come visit us again! We thought you forgot about us! Uncle Jean came to see us last week! And the week before! He told us all about his naval battles! Won’t you tell us what the Special Forces did, too? Tell us everything!” 

While Levi was being distracted by the prince’s muffled monologue, Princess Ymir jumped from where she stood and hugged Levi, too. Now he was covered in mud. His clothes were ruined. Sighing, he put his arms around them both.

“Well, I’ve been busy. But I’ve come to see you today. So, give me a good reason why you were sleeping in a pigpen.”

“Wasn’t a pigpen,” Len said. “We made a mud pool…”

“…and I rolled in it!” finished Lily. She said it as if it were an accomplishment. 

So nothing much has changed then, thought Levi. There they go again, finishing each other’s sentences. It’s been like that since they learned to talk. 

Pulling out a grubby piece of paper, a stubby pencil and measuring tape from his pant pocket and showing them proudly to Levi, Len said, “I measured how far back people can jump…”

“…after I lay on the ground without them noticing, and got up all of a sudden, to frighten them!” finished Lily.

“They thought it was the ground moving…” said Len.

“…like a golem from our books, but real!” finished Lily. 

“Everyone was so shaken…”

“…you should have seen their faces!” Peals of laughter from both of them.

Levi raised an eyebrow, not thinking it funny. Another one of their meaningless pranks. But he tried to be game. “So, who jumped back the farthest?”

“The head gardener…”

“…Mr Lehmann!”

“After that he praised Lily…”

“…saying I was the cutest golem he’d ever seen!”

Levi couldn’t help but smile at them fondly. They were growing up so fast. Every time he saw them they seemed to be growing by the foot. Soon they’ll be as tall as their father. With the better nutrition, hygiene and health care that Paradis offered nowadays maybe they’ll even grow bigger than their father. Princess Ymir was caked in layers of mud it was hard to see what she looked like, but the unsettling eyes were the same: the left eye was emerald green like her father’s, the right eye sapphire blue like her mother’s. Prince Eren’s was the same. Both of them were dark-haired like their father, but with a golden lock of hair on one side. It was as if Historia’s and Eren’s genes battled within the womb, and instead of each child looking like either parent, they split each between them evenly. But only the coloring. For the face, the last time he saw them they looked exactly the same: spitting images of their father, Eren Jaeger. Hard to tell what Lily looked like now, what will all that unsightly mud.

“Hey, Uncle Levi, how far back do you think our dad could jump?” Prince Eren asked.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Your dad was six feet tall, long-legged…since the broad jump is a test of explosive leg power and lower body muscular strength, I suppose he could jump back pretty far. Maybe eight to ten feet?” Levi made up a number. 

How was he supposed to know a thing like that? But the twins were always, always asking what he thought their father would be like, regarding this and that. If he couldn’t come up with an answer, the devastated look on their faces was enough to make him wish he replied with something, anything at all. “Why don’t you try with your Uncle Jean? Your dad’s about the same built and height as him,” he suggests.

The twins were delighted with the idea. They start chattering excitedly. “Uncle Jean’s seeing us…” Princess Ymir begins and Prince Eren finishes, “…before supper today!” The two start making plans between themselves on how to surprise Jean and make him leap as far back as possible. Levi listened in bemusement. Should he warn the admiral? Nah.

Just then, from the kitchen wing of the palace a young woman comes hurrying toward them. It was Lynn Sedara, the twins’ governess. There was a worried look on her lovely face, and her deep brown eyes looked quite upset. As she got closer she noticed Levi’s muddied clothes and the color drained from her cheeks. 

“Brigadier Ackermann, I am so sorry…”

Levi shrugged, dismissing her concern with a wave of his hand, favoring her with a nothing-we-can-do-about-this-pair-of-little-terrors look. 

She proceeded to scold the twins, but not in Eldian. Speaking in the language of Hizuru she starts telling them they did something bad.

「コックさんにいたずらするなって言ったでしょ！あなた達のせいでケラーさんはこけてしまって足をひねてしまったのよ」 I told you not to play pranks on the cook! Mrs Keller fell and sprained her ankle because of you.

「ごめんなさい」Sorry, the twins say in unison.

「これからは松葉づえをついて歩くしかないの。どうやって料理すればいいと思う？」Now she has to walk on crutches. How do you think she’ll be able to cook?

「すみませんでした」We’re sorry, the two reply.

「レン君とリリちゃんの罰として今夜のシチュー作りのお手伝いをするんだ。わかった？」As your punishment you have to help with the making of tonight’s stew. Understand?

「うん、わかった」Yeah, we do, they reply in unison.

「これから一週間、キッチンでお手伝いするんだよ」For a week from now you have to help out in the kitchen.

「うん、わかった。お手伝いする」Yeah, we get it. We’ll help.

「ケラーさんになんという？」What will you tell Mrs Keller?

「お怪我させてしまい大変申し訳ありませんでした。今日から一週間はお仕事をお手伝いさせていただきます」We sincerely apologize for getting you injured. For a week from today please allow us to help you with your work, the twins reply, switching easily from their previous informal tone to a formal, polite one.

The governess turns to Levi and explains the situation in Eldian. Levi clicks his tongue at the twins, who hang their heads looking fairly contrite. But more than being disappointed in them he was tickled by the twins’ fluency in the Hizuruan language. 

Lynn Sedara was a polyglot, a woman from the continent who could speak in five languages; she was employed by the royal household because Queen Historia wanted her children to become fluent in the languages of the world. Hizuru, an important political ally and trading partner, would in the near future receive a Paradian royal who could converse easily in the Hizuruan tongue. Historia had learned early on that the biggest decisions made by those in seats of power were done behind closed doors–the stronger the interpersonal relationship between two heads of state the smoother negotiations became. Diplomatic ties were important in nation-building, she soon found out. Historia wanted her children to learn from an early age that there was a wide, diverse, colorful world out there for them to discover and coexist with. Even if she did manage to dissolve the monarchy, being multilingual will surely help the twins later in life, whatever non-royal path they decide to take.

While speaking with Levi, Sedara took the water-soaked towel she brought with her and started wiping off the mud from Prince Eren’s face, then Princess Ymir’s. 

Levi took a good look at them. Nothing has changed in the past year. They’d grown bigger, but their faces were the same. Eren incarnate, both of them. Typical of Eren, Levi thought. Dominating everything, even the gene pool. Maybe when puberty hit the twins will finally start looking different from one another. But as of now it was pretty hard to tell them apart, especially because they were the same size and liked to cut their hair the same way and dress the same way. They even sounded the same. Well, at least their personalities are different.

The brigadier and governess speak in low tones. How are the twins? he wanted to know. They’re becoming more and more amazing each day, she replied with genuine fondness. 

“Do they still read that book over and over?” Levi was curious.

“Yes, but they no longer ask for it to be read to them. They read it to each other now,” the governess divulges. “Len’s favorite stories and Lily’s aren’t the same. They’re becoming voracious readers like their mother. And Lily, she’s a budding playwright: she likes to write conversations she imagines their father would be having with them.”

The 104th would be so proud, Levi thought. The book they spoke of was written and edited by Armin, a pre-school-level collection of short stories about their father. Jean illustrated it, and Mikasa, Connie and other surviving Survey Corps members contributed memories and snippets of conversation. Len’s favorite, the governess revealed, is Jean’s story of that time when the 104th rode on the Attack Titan’s shoulders while they discussed how to defeat the Beast Titan, with Eren’s titan protecting his friends from the blast caused by the Colossal Titan’s transformation. Lily’s favorite was Armin’s story of child Eren going after the bullies who pick on the strange little blond boy dreaming of exploring the world. 

“And my story of Eren learning how to make beds properly, and clean a house to spotless perfection?” Levi inquired. In the story he sings praises to Eren’s willingness to learn skills such as washing sheets immaculately, among other hygienic endeavors.

The governess laughed genially, eyeing his muddied clothes. “Unfortunately, sir, it hasn’t made much of an impact on them, as you can see…” 

“I suppose I’ll have to teach the twins myself,” Levi muttered in mock disappointment.

They chat about the twins a little bit more. Levi then tells her he brought an orphan boy with him, a child whose father was a friend of his that died in the war. He needed to figure out how to put a roof over his head, but in the meantime the boy needed a place to stay. He came to ask for Queen Historia’s permission to house the boy in the palace for a short while.

Lynn Sedara nodded her understanding. She immediately knew the boy wasn’t an ordinary child–usually orphaned children were put in one of the children’s homes the queen had built across the island–but this one had to be housed in a fortress. Being prudent, she said nothing, only assuring Levi that once they have the queen’s permission, she herself will make sure the boy will be comfortable in his temporary accommodations.

Motioning at the nearest topiary, Levi urged Jürgen to come out of hiding. The boy had been poking his head from the bush the entire time, staring open-mouthed at the twins. He was overwhelmed by them: their loudness, their boundless energy, their insouciance, their obvious bond with Levi, the self-confidence that exuded from them, even when they were being scolded in a language he didn’t understand. With wide eyes, he stood there dumbfounded. Levi noticed that despite all the eloquence he’d displayed talking to adults, he was really just a child, worried about other children liking and accepting him.

Levi introduces the boy to Lynn Sedara, who smiles at him kindly. He shakes her hand with characteristic solemnity. 

“Come,” she beckons to the twins, “and introduce yourselves to your new friend, Jürgen Schmitz.”

“Hi, I’m Lily…” the princess grins a large, toothy grin and extends a grimy hand.  

“…and I’m Len!” says her twin, also grinning broadly, also extending a grimy hand. 

Together they pipe up, “We’re known far and wide as Lilen!” Then they run in a tight circle around Jürgen, before presenting themselves in front of him once more. “Who is who?” they demand. 

But Jürgen could tell easily, because the prince was the muddy one while the princess was the even muddier one. The twins seem disappointed that he can tell them apart immediately. 

“Will you come live with us?” the princess asks, stoked that they could have a new playmate.

Jürgen looks with uncertainty at Levi, who replies in his stead, “For a short while, yeah.”

“Are you alone?” the prince asks. “Or do you have a sister like I do?” He pulls his twin toward him so that their heads touch. 

“I had a big brother,” Jürgen answers, “but he died..”

“I’m sorry,” the prince says. “What’s his name?”

“Alec.”

“Does Alec look like you?”

“We have the same color hair and eyes…” Jürgen says.

“Can we invite Jürgen to tea, Miss Sedara?” the princess asks the governess.

“Yes, but ‘can’ isn’t the right word,” Lynn Sedara replies.

“May we invite Jürgen to tea, Miss Sedara?” the princess corrects herself.

“Yes, of course you may.”

“Do you like blueberry scones?” the princess asks Jürgen.

“Yes…” 

“May he have a blueberry scone?” the princess asks the governess.

“Of course,” she replies.

“Jürgen needs to have two blueberry scones,” the prince opines, tugging at the governess’ skirts.

“And why is that?” she asks.

“One for him, and one for his brother, Alec.” Prince Eren had a different idea of the word ‘died’. He was told his father died, but that he wasn’t really gone. He was in Paths heaven, watching over them. He thought of Alec also being in Paths heaven, watching over his little brother. If Jürgen ate a scone on his brother’s behalf, the brother in heaven will be delighted. Besides, Jürgen looked hungry and thirsty. I’ll make sure he can have two cups of tea if he wants to, Prince Eren thought to himself.

“Would you like two blueberry scones, Jürgen?” the governess asks the child.

“Yes, please.” Jürgen suddenly remembered he was hungry. And thirsty.

“Alright then, that’s settled,” Sedara says, smiling at the children.

“Will you study with us?” Princess Ymir asks Jürgen.

Again the boy looks questioningly up at Levi.

“Jürgen has to work in Hange’s lab during the day,” Levi explains.

“Oooh, you’ll work with Doc Hange!” the twins say, visibly impressed. ‘Work’ to them was a magic word that adults did. There were times when they wanted to play with their mother the queen in her large and always-overflowing-with-people office, but their governess would tell them, “Your mother is working. You mustn’t disturb her” and they’d go, “Why can’t we work with her?” “Work is for adults,” the governess would say. “When will we be adults?” the children would gripe. “When you come of age, when you’re twelve,” the governess would spell out patiently. 

After that the twins launched an experiment on ageing fast, asking Hange to help them develop a potion that could transform a child from five to twelve in a flash. Hange thought it was hilarious. “Some people spend their whole lives trying to discover the elixir of life, to stop ageing, to be young forever,” they told the twins. “You two are the first I’ve encountered that want the opposite effect!” 

The twins were fascinated with Hange’s lab, thinking of it as a magical place where airplanes were born and fireworks created. It was Hange who taught them the word ‘experiment’. They looked at Jürgen with newfound respect. He was taller than them, but he was still a small person like them. However, he was already allowed to work with Doc Hange. 

“What will you make?” they ask in unison.

“I…I’m a chemist,” Jürgen answers hesitantly. “I’m good with metals.”

“Oooh,” the twins say in unison. Prince Eren and Princess Ymir look at each other, reading each other’s minds. They’ll become best friends with Jürgen, and make sure that he likes them. They’ll try to help him with his experiments. And then maybe they can convince him to help them with their ageing potion.

“I’ve a meeting, I need to go,” Levi says. Turning to the twins he asks, “Will you give Jürgen a tour of the palace?” 

“After you get all cleaned up,” Lynn Sedara says sternly. “Off to bathe, both of you! You too, Jürgen.” The twins splattered mud all over him when they did their Lilen maypole spiel.

Soon the children were chattering and dashing across the main courtyard toward the palace buildings. Prince Eren looks back and waves, shouting “See you later, Uncle Levi!” before Princess Ymir shouts just as loud, “Bye, Uncle Levi!” Jürgen simply waves at him wordlessly. 

The man raises a hand to wave back. He glances at the Musketeer following behind the children. Their eyes meet. They nod at each other in acknowledgement. Poor man, Levi thought, having to guard irrepressible twins that bounced all over the place. Now there was one more to look after. He felt sorry for him. 

Lynn Sedara proceeds to follow the trio, but not before offering a change of clothes for Levi. 

“Maybe I should just go in as is,” he says, “to show the queen what kind of mud-loving brats she’s spawned.”

The governess shakes her head. “Her Majesty will be displeased! You’ll be grimy all afternoon, sir.”

Levi takes up on her offer and makes his trek back to the building. Twenty minutes later he was waiting at the Advisor’s Room where Her Majesty dealt with affairs of the queendom. He needed his ten minutes with Queen Historia before their meeting with other heads of the military and government began. 

He was glad the children got along right from the start. Little did Levi know that the friendship he saw formed in front of him would, for better or worse, change the course of history.

Next – Chapter 5: The Moral Compass

Back – Chapter 3: Just Like You