40 Flap of a Butterfly's Wings

Dragonstone, AOT World

[Congratulations! You have successfully altered the course of history. Whether this change is good or not remains to be seen. Reward: 5,000 CP Continue to alter the course of events for more rewards. The more significant the change, the greater the reward!]

Aemon wordlessly stares at the screen before him while processing the words, an act made more difficult by the slight haze of his vision, the pounding in his head, the racing, yet somehow sluggish, nature of his thoughts. Whatever supernatural drink Evelynn had brought him has successfully inebriated him where more mundane drinks have failed since his change.

"Are you guys seeing this?" asks Simon as his eyes wildly travel between them all.

"Aye." replies Aemon, his tongue dry and feeling heavy and cumbersome in his mouth. "The implications of this are staggering."

"Yes, but it's good news at least, for Anakin." Shepard adds while looking at Anakin with a smile. "Your destiny isn't set in stone."

"Good, that's good." whispers Anakin, his eyes still staring at nothing in the air but no doubt seeing the same screen as them all.

A smile threatens to grace his face before it is quickly replaced with a frown.

"What about Palpatine? He's still Chancellor and I don't have proof of him being a Sith Lord to convince the Jedi Council or to prevent the Clone Wars from happening." Anakin says as he finally looks up from his screen.

"You cannot prevent the Clone Wars." Aemon tells him. "Not at this stage. The best you can do is prepare for it and make use of it to reveal Palpatine's machinations to the galaxy."

"If the war begins—" "—countless people will die, yes. But this is out of your hands and anything you do to stop it might just start the war prematurely. Let it go." says Jennifer as she interrupts Anakin.

"Let it go Anakin." she reiterates when she sees Anakin stubbornly staring at her. "You need to learn to let some things go."

With a clenched jaw and a frown on his face, Anakin closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "Fine." he says once he reopens his eyes. "How do I prepare?" he asks

Briefly silence fills the room as the group thinks of an answer, or how they can contribute to his preparations.

"I can spar with you and teach you the basics of war, things such as logistics, supply lines, infantry tactics, psychological warfare, how to use politics to your advantage, and the likes. For advanced matters pertaining to war between the stars you will have to ask Shepard, she is the only one experienced in such matters." Aemon says as he turns to her.

"The technology between our two worlds are different, but I can teach you a thing or two. Of course it'll be up to you to figure out how to apply them in your own world." Jennifer says with a nod.

"I can't think of how to personally help just yet, but I'm sure I can come up with something." Doctor Hamilton says as he stands from his seat. "Unfortunately I cannot stay longer, I have work tomorrow. See you all next time." says Doctor Hamilton with a wave before teleporting away in a flash of light.

Following Doctor Hamilton's exit, Jennifer and Anakin also return home, leaving only Simon and Aemon in the room.

The two remain there in silence, Aemon deep in thought while Simon fidgets nervously while constantly glancing at Aemon.

"Um, sorry about that man." apologizes Simon, drawing Aemon from his thoughts.

For a brief moment Aemon regards Simon, not a word leaving his lips. Simon, unsure of Aemon's thoughts, cannot help but anxiously await.

Eventually a sigh leaves Aemon's lips as he says "Why do you apologize when you've committed no wrong? A life has been saved due to your decision, stand proud Simon for you have done well."

"Thanks, I'll see you later man." replies Simon with a smile before teleporting away.

With Simon gone, Aemon hangs his head with a sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose as if the act would alleviate his headache. A disaster has just been avoided that would have been caused by Aemon's ignorance. Simply the thought of Anakin finding out about Simon's knowledge after his mother's death would have been catastrophic.

Aemon had not lied to Anakin about his ignorance. In fact, as a fey, he cannot lie; at least not outright. Lies of omission, half-truths, and riddles are still possible, and that is what Aemon did. He in fact did not know that Anakin's mother would die for he has never seen the prequels. He did in fact know that Anakin would become Darth Vader, but that was never asked of him. He did know of the Clone Wars, but once again that was never asked of him. In fact the entire Skywalker era of Star Wars is for the most part a mystery to him for his introduction to that world was through the KOTOR cinematic trailers and he never found the eras beyond that interesting.

The rule of two ruined the spectacle to him, and the lack of a Sith Empire made the era plain in his eyes. The same could be said for his knowledge of Mass Effect for while he knows the basics anything else is beyond him. In truth, sci-fi has never interested him much and he always preferred fantasy. The worlds of Tolkien, GRRM, Rick Riordan, made up the bulk of his interest in western media, comic books notwithstanding; his main interests lay in manhwas and anime.

"My Lord." calls out Evelynn as shen enters the room, a Scout Regiment shirt and jacket in her hand. "Reina has returned with the prisoners and the leaders of the Scout Regiment in tow. They are already in the dungeons" she reports.

"No rest for the wicked." Aemon says with a sigh as he stands and makes his way out of the room, Evelynn following half a step behind.

As they silently make their way through the corridors, Aemon changes out of his black and silver and into the uniform of the Scout Regiment, only keeping his black pants, and boots; and even replacing his lone red glove for a black one.

As they near the dungeons Evelynn shifts into a raven and perches herself on Aemon's shoulder.

Arriving at the dungeons, they find two of Reina's werewolves guarding the entrance, their black Wild Hunt uniforms making them seem like living shadows. Sitting on his haunches and towering over them is Ghost who seems to have grown once again and is now bigger than the biggest warhorse Aemon has ever seen.

"When shall you stop growing?" asks Aemon as he scratches the direwolf under the chin. "At this rate you will be as big Caraxes soon." he jests, receiving only an unamused glare from his friend.

With a chuckle, Aemon enters the dungeons with Ghost in tow.

Unlike the castle itself, there is nothing special about the dungeons. It is a part of the castle situated and carved underground, the cells are essentially hollowed out caves with metallic doors. Of course like all things Targaryen the imagery of dragons can be seen everywhere, from the carved out statues, to the dragon wing shaped cell door handles, to the occasional scaled patterned door.

Arriving in the deepest parts of the dungeon, Aemon finds Balalaika leaning on a cell door with her usual thin cigar between her lips, though this one remains unlit. Where she found someone to manufacture her those cigars is a wonder to him.

Rather than her customary wine colored suit and Russian military coat, she wears the Scout Regiment uniform with an oversized version of the coat draped off her shoulders as opposed to wearing one normally.

Standing near her around the same door are Commander Erwin, Levi, Hange, and Johan along with his four friends; all in the Scout Regiment uniform.

"Sofia, you seem to be settling in well." greets Aemon as he observes her in the Scout's uniform. As usual when it comes to her, the uniform suits her well and with her scars she strikes a beautifully dangerous figure.

"Gotta roll with the punches. New life, new allegiances, but the same old shit." Balalaika says with a grin as she hands Aemon a cigar.

With a smile Aemon takes the cigar and places it in between his lips before lighting Balalaika's with a snap of his fingers. It has become something of a ritual between the two, she would offer Aemon a cigar whenever they meet and Aemon would accept; as if they were meeting one another for the first time once again.

"Boss." greets Johan with a nod before going back to stare at Balalaika with stars in his eyes.

"You seem to have found yourself an admirer." observes Aemon with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile on his lips.

"He's got the potential to be great, but the poor kid's got a bad case of hero worship." she replies.

"Perhaps, but it is understandable." Aemon says before turning Commander Erwin and Levi, Hange having made her way behind him during his brief exchange with Balalaika to pester Ghost.

Despite trying their best to hide it, Aemon can see the duo's excitement and patience.

"Are you sure that you can do this?" asks Levi with a frown.

"I am most equipped to question them. Your inexperience may result in no answers at best and misinformation at worst." Aemon replies.

"Which one is in this cell?" he asks.

"Bertholdt." replies Balalaika as she produces a folder from within her coat and presents it to Aemon.

Opening the folder, Aemon finds that save for information on their background, much of what is in the documents is knowledge that he already knows from the anime. What he did not expect however is the psychological profile written in Balalaika's hand detailing her thoughts and observations on them all. Much of it is quite accurate, especially her conjecture that Bertholdt is potentially the easier of the three to obtain valuable information from at this stage.

"Very detailed and reasonable. Now, shall we?" says Aemon, receiving a nod from them.

Straightening up from her position, Balalaika retrieves a set of keys from her pocket and opens the cell door.

Within is a big room bisected by a set of bars. On the other side of the bars lies Bertholdt on the cold ground with a chamber pot a few feet away. While on their side of the bars is a bucket filled with cold water and a single chair.

"Johan, wake him." Aemon commands as he takes a seat.

With no hesitation, Johan hoists the bucket and drenches Bertholdt with the cold water.

The titan shifter wakes with a gasp, his eyes wildly taking in his surroundings.

"Wakey wakey." says Johan as he tosses the bucket at the cell bars, producing a clanging that echoes throughout the cell.

Hange makes to stop Johan from doing anything else, but Erwin stops her.

"When questioning someone, it is best to have them disoriented, and loud noise or bright lights after an abrupt awakening works well." Aemon says as they watch Johan make a ruckus, stopping only when it seems that Bertholdt has fully awakened before returning to his position next to Balalaika.

"I would wish you good morrow, but it's not is it?" says Aemon as Bertholdt's eyes focus on him.

"Who are you? Where am I? What do you want?" rambles Bertholdt before abruptly stopping when Aemon's right eye turns an icy blue that glares at him.

"Silence." commands Aemon as he snaps his fingers and produces a flame at their tips. With the flame he lights his cigar and takes a deep breath. With a slow exhale, the smoke exits his mouth before slamming into Bertholdt's face by a cold breeze, disorienting him further even as he attempts to process Aemon's feat of magic.

Like negotiations, interrogations are an act of showmanship.

"Now, shall we begin, Bertholdt Hoover, Warrior of Marley, and Colossal Titan." says Aemon while he leans forward to caress Ghost's fur as the direwolf silently makes his way out from behind the others to lay at Aemon's feet, his blood red eyes glaring at Bertholdt and a silent snarl on his lips.

"Please do not attempt to shift, for if word does not reach the soldiers who hold Reiner and Annie captive every three hours, they will be relieved of their heads. Besides, where would you escape to, we are on an island miles from the coast of Paradis."

Author's Note: Sorry the chapter is late, my laptop's software is acting up. As usual, tell me what you guys think and if you want to please support me at patreon.com/servantambrosius