Chapter Text
⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝
Sometimes, the most beautiful things are often the most dangerous to touch. Just like a rose has its thorns.
That's what Laura Ellise learned, and grew to relate to in a world where a power greater than humans took over the world. Forcing everyone to settle between walls.
The Titans.
To be powerless and caged inside the walls, like a vulture being locked in a cage must have been a gruesome feeling. And she knew best. Not only the walls keep her captive, but also the filthy streets of the underground city. The concrete jungle full of criminals and drunkards seemed endless. A darkened place where not even the sun rays dared to reach.
But it was her home, despite all the awful civilians that surrounded her. Hell, she even had a family and a place to call home. In between the growing concerns and overlooked crimes, she managed to find a place of her own.
The primary definition of family may be a group of people bonded by the same blood, but for her, it was different.
Family meant understanding and trust. Individuals who she could call her dear ones. With whom she could laugh, but also cry beside. So her parents didn't fit in with her beliefs.
She barely even knew them anymore, as she decided to forget all that was.
All that was before she finally met the sun was gone. Every single thing she ever thought of as her own vanished with the wind, when she finally managed to escape the hellhole that's been eating at her brains from ever since she knew.
But Laura wasn't weak, she didn't give in. So she chose the sting of the sun over the peace of the shade. She endured the ache after seeing the beauties of the realm she only heard about in stories.
The will to continue was there, but what could she do, without a roof over her head? And without a person to hold her hand?
Empty pockets and an empty stomach was all she had. So no funds to sort out her gaps.
She was only 12 when loneliness became a problem. A problem that not many could find the strength to live with.
Despite all the horrible events that occurred in her past year. She still looked upon herself as lucky. Luckily she was in the right place at the right time to hear about the wonders of the world just as she was about to settle for a grave.
As she rested on a dark alley, hiding herself from human eyes. She overheard a conversation that changed her view on the purpose of life.
A boy with shoulder-length blond hair carried a heavy book in his hands. He ruffled the pages, then placed it on the ground with care in order to show his friend. Also a boy that looked around my age with eyes that looked like emeralds, and a look full of hope plastered on his face.
She used to seek a bond like those she saw. However, she realized nothing ever lasts. People come and go, no one stays forever.
But still, curiosity got the best of her, so she peeked from behind the brick walls where she took refuge.
Her eyes averted to the time-worn, yellowed pages. Listening to the words that escaped the blonde boy's lips like an ancient tale. And Laura couldn't be more intrigued.
He started talking about how the book held illegal knowledge, and he had found it in his grandpa's attic.
The so-called "forbidden information" was about a world beyond the walls. With infinite waters that stretched endlessly, full of salt. With fields of ice described as frozen earth along a vast expanse of land covered only in sand. That truly sounded like a fairytale.
But what if it was true?
What if humanity was closer to discovering the truth than they'd ever imagine? If she tried to put her mind around it, it didn't seem impossible, not even near. After all, what was beyond the walls was a mystery you could only imagine upon.
So, why was this information kept hidden from the world? Was it because of the basic human fear of the unknown? Was it because the walls worshippers? Or was it, maybe, because it may be true? There must be a reason.
That day, after being caught by a girl with black hair while eavesdropping on their secret conversation, Laura found herself getting along with the trio. Making her first 'friends' from Shiganshina. Although, she didn't let much of her past slip, she made sure to keep as much as possible to herself. But how could she lie about not being an orphan? When her clothes were ragged and her bones were showing due to starving? She had to admit, she couldn't do this alone.
And that's why she considered herself lucky. Because the kids whose names she found out to be Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert and Eren Yeager, were kind enough to offer her a place to stay. They were even eager to argue with their parents if they wouldn't agree.
Laura was more than grateful, but she couldn't help but find it quite naive, inviting a complete stranger to live with you. But she wasn't mad about it, they were kids, after all.
Moreover, as both the brunette and the blonde's family agreed on taking her in taking turns, she started taking small tasks in the exchange of money, trying to pay for her stay there. In her years she spent between the three, the girl found herself connected with Eren over their hate for titans. She watched the Survey Corps return from every single mission. Pained to watch every corpse being carried, every cry let out for the dead.
But that only fueled her hate for titans.
Her wish to join the Survey Corps only grew stronger as she grew up. She shared with Eren the devotion over their "suicidal" decision, as some say. But not many understood them.
Sometimes, not even he understood her.
Laura Ellise learned that titans aren't the only enemies. Humans were too. She sensed someone had to be behind everything. Behind the formation of the giants, behind the construction of the walls. Behind everything.
There was no such thing as gods.
If they existed in some sort, what would be their reason? Since gods are seen as something saint that only do good. Why would they allow all the manslaughter? Why did he create monsters that destroy everything they touch?
Laura Ellise had a mind beyond her age.
Maybe even beyond her time.
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