Preparations and Farewells

Clara closed the curtains and let the two have some privacy. Heishi and Andrea maintained their position as they watched the mesmerizing sight of the rising sun that brought bright colors upon the dark world once more.

The front door of a nearby mansion opened up and both Layla and Melissa stepped out. The mansion's front door was located behind the tree they leaned in, that was why they did not notice the two girls. Heishi's senses had been enhanced but he was still getting used to it. Layla's sleepy eyes immediately turned wide awake as she quickly patted Melissa beside her.

"What?" Layla did not respond but pointed at the cuddling two. Melissa's eyes opened wide in excitement. "A major scoop! Young lord Heishi of the main Ryoshi branch is having an affair with Young Lady Andrea, cousin of the beautiful Young Lady Melissa, both from the Shizuru branch."

"Huh? What affair? Aren't they both single?" the confused Layla turned towards her cousin.

"Meh, It doesn't matter. I need a good title or others wouldn't read my papers." Melissa shrugged and said while also hiding a thought in her mind. 'Plus, I can use it to threaten him. He has to answer my questions or else I'll publish it.' Not getting her answers and being ignored did not discourage her but instead made her more determined. Since the time she could remember, no one has ever ignored her. Anything she wanted, she would get. For the first time, there was something that she did not get thereby exciting her and making her want it even more.

"Quickly, while they have yet to notice us. Get Andrea's camera." The three have always worked together to gather information. Layla would get information, Melissa would record it, and Andrea would take a picture of it. Now that one of them was part of their info herself, they had to do her job instead.

Layla rushed back inside and quickly came out holding the camera. Melissa took it from her, positioned herself at a good angle, and took the picture. The camera was one of those that had photo paper inside and would immediately print out the picture. With a flash, a piece of photo paper came out of the camera. The black square on it began to clear and show the image within.

Heishi and Andrea were startled awake from their trance of watching the sunrise by the flash and turned towards the two.

The excited Melissa waved the picture in the air. "Haha! I have evidence! I have evidence of your affair, you two!"

"Uh...What affair?" Heishi had a questioning look on his face while Andrea had her head hung low as her face reddened in embarrassment. She was used to the two and their antics for she was always together with them whenever they did something. How could she not understand what was going on in Melissa's mind? She was usually the one taking the pictures for her and did not feel anything about it but now that it was her who was taken a picture of, in such a position that others would easily misunderstand on top of that, she could not do anything but now her head in depression being the meek and shy girl she was.

Heishi on the other hand was not meek at all. He noticed the look of sadness accompanied by embarrassment on her face and decided to take the picture away. He rushed at Melissa and tried to pry away the picture from her hands. She naturally struggled but was defeated as he was able to pull the picture from her and threw it to Andrea.

"Here, Catch!"

With the sudden loss of the object she was pulling with so much effort, she lost her footing and balance. As her body was about halfway to the ground, Heishi quickly caught her with both hands on her back. His face was so close that it was mere centimeters away from her own and for the first time in the 10 years of her life, her heart began beating rapidly and her face became flushed.

What was in reality only a few seconds, felt like a very long time to her.

He pulled her back up so that she could stand on her feet once more. "You alright? Sorry about that."

*Flash*

Another flash was heard as Layla had taken another picture but this time of the two. She looked at them with an apologetic look. "Sorry I couldn't help it."

This time, it was Melissa's turn to be embarrassed though she was already flustered by what just happened and became flustered again upon seeing the picture in Layla's hands.

"...Oh, forget it. Keep the picture." Heishi sighed in resignation. He would not take the picture from Layla this time, who knows what would happen if he did.

Melissa wondered why she felt disappointed that he did not try to take the picture from Layla for her like how he did for Andrea. She shook her head rapidly before grabbing her cousins and pulled them back with her to the small mansion they were temporarily residing in.

"Give that picture to me later." She said as they entered and she closed the door.

....

Heishi, who was left outside, looked at the closed door and wondered what he was supposed to do now.

"Wow, what an eventful morning you have, kid." A rough rugged voice was heard from behind. Heishi abruptly turned around and found Guri standing there wearing baggy shorts with a cup of coffee in hand. What truly surprised the boy was that the ape's eyes had become pitch black with blood-red vertical slits for irises.

"...Was it you who talked just now, Guri?" Heishi hesitated before asking.

The said ape opened its mouth and spoke in the same rough voice as before. "No. Technically, It's me the Lived who is talking to you through him."

"The who?"

"The Lived. You don't remember me because I took the memory of our first encounter from your mind. I'm here to tell you something. Your rival has arrived. To maintain equilibrium, the moment you've been reincarnated into this world, it had already been decided that there would be another one like you. There is no such thing as being the only one except for the creator himself. Everyone else including you and I have another person like us. Like a mirror version of you but the opposite.

You are destined to fight him and the one who comes out victorious would remain while the other must die. Be prepared, trust me. Based on my experience of fighting the other one, Your abilities would contradict and cancel each other out. It will be a hard fight, a long and arduous one." With that, Guri's eyes returned to normal. He looked at his surroundings in puzzlement. He threw away the cup of coffee and went back inside. He never did like coffee and would always prefer tea.

"...Is he gone?"

"No. I just changed the platform for communication. In this case, mind."

Heishi jumped in surprise as he turned around. On a branch of the tree he and Andrea leaned on a while ago, a squirrel was looking at him with the same creepy eyes. It opened its mouth and spoke again but this time in a cute shrill voice.

"Don't worry kid. You have me behind you. I made sure you have the advantage over him. Alright, that's all for now. I still have some other things to do. See ya." The squirrel's eyes lost the red vertical slits as it shook its head rapidly and scratched its face with an arm before running off to do its own business.

...

Evening six days later, back at the ceremony grounds.

That night, the sides were clear of people but over thirty-eight men stood at the center in front of Heishi and the other Ryoshis who were on the platform. They stood neatly in lines and each one held a syringe in their right hand.

Of the thirty-eight men, eight of them are Terrence and the seven remaining members of his team while the remaining thirty are composed mostly of old men with hair that had all nearly turned gray or white. A scant few of these thirty men are still in the prime of their adulthood.

Heishi stepped up, cleared his throat, and began his speech.

"Everyone, I thank you all for this sacrifice you are about to make. You all know that there would be a chance that you would not be able to return yet you still chose to do this. You have chosen to come and fight with me as my warriors. Fear not, for the families you will leave behind will not suffer. We would make sure that they would live a comfortable life in honor of this sacrifice you will make."

"Thank you, young lord, all I ask is that my family live a good life." Said a slightly thin middle-aged man. There are no slums or underground locations within the island for the Ryoshis had made sure that everyone would at the very least be able to legally earn enough income to feed their families. The middle-aged man's situation was just like the others.

He could earn money to feed his family legally through the farm his family was given but he wanted more for them. He wanted them to truly enjoy life. Participating in this event would mean that there was a chance he would not get to see them again but each one who joins would receive a big compensation for their family. The money was enough to elevate their social status from average to above average and above-average to the status above them.

You might be wondering, who are all these people, where did they come from and why did they take almost 100% of the total population of the island. These people are descendants of some of those who survived the various wars throughout the countries on the continent. Their ancestors were brought to the island by the past Ryoshis so that they and their descendants would be able to live a peaceful life away from the cruelty of the outside world in exchange for being isolated from it.

"It is our honor to fight with and for you my lord," Terrence spoke for him and the rest of his team.

"We are more than happy to be able to contribute to your cause." Said a man who descended from families that are still very much grateful to the Ryoshi family for taking in their ancestors and them the descendants.

Terrence and his team are similar to the first man to speak in some ways. They trained to be part of the island military and joined this special division to help further increase their family's social status but also to make them proud. All the young and those in their prime joined due to one of these three choices separately or combined.

"Eh, what the hell, We ain't got that long to live anyways. It would be our pleasure to spend our final years fighting to realize the goal of the Ryoshis." An old man with all white hair said as he spoke for him and the majority of the participants, those other old men.

"May the light shine on this world!" Heishi shouted to the crowd while doing a fist salute.

"And with it, may it bring the promised peace and freedom!" The thirty-eight men continued what he said as they raised their enclosed fists into the air.

"Alright men. Inject!" With Heishi's words, everyone except for Terrence stabbed the needle of the syringe into a vial with the label 'Armor', took a certain amount of the strange liquid inside it up until the line in the barrel, and injected it onto their left arm and pressed the plunger. Terrence took his liquid from a vial that was labeled "Enhance".

Pain could be seen on their faces as the liquid entered their bloodstream. Unnoticed by anyone, Heishi blanked out as his consciousness was pulled back into the paths for the third time, the second being when he helped create Guri's titan form. Together with his ancestors, they created titan bodies for the thirty-eight men. Unlike the bodies of their own, these bodies could only reach 15 meters, no more and no less for it was based on the amount of serum they took in properly. After creating their bodies, Heishi's consciousness returned to the physical world.

*ROAR!!!*

Heishi's roar triggered the fluid inside their bloodstream. Their bodies glowed and lights shone from their eyes and mouth. A brilliant sphere of electricity enshrouded them as they began transforming. After a few moments, the light receded and 37 fifteen-meter-tall titans stood in front of Heishi and company. Unlike the usual pure and abnormal titans, these titans had bodies of the correct proportions. They may not have the muscular body the attack titan has, but they still looked...normal, if you don't take into consideration their size and lack of genitals. The titans looked around and just as they were about to attack the humans in the vicinity, Heishi ordered them to stop.

It was six days after the inheritance ceremony before this event happened for they had to give Heishi's body time to adjust before the extraction and preparation of the serum. Having been made from Heishi's own spinal fluid, those who would intake the serum would naturally form a connection with him, and with Heishi possessing a "royal" bloodline, he could use that connection and control them most of the time. All except for one titan listened. The exception was an abnormal, it lunged at them but before it could reach them, a bright light shined within the group and a humongous arm smacked it away.

"Only one titan did not listen out of thirty-seven? Considering this being his first time doing this, the boy's talent and potential are terrifying." A 16-meter tall titan said as it retracted its hand. It was slim, with a feminine figure that had all the right curves in all the right places. The titan had long black hair and silver eyes.

"Thirty-seven is a bit much but this would be the last time I'd be doing something like this anyways so I might as well end this with a bang. Melissa, watch closely. You're gonna be the one to do this next time." The titan smashed its right palm onto the ground that sent a golden mist-like visible energy wave that moved outwards in a circle with the titan as the center. It hit everyone in the ceremony grounds and all the humans looked refreshed as if they had just finished taking a warm bath while the foggy eyes of the thirty-seven titans regained clarity.

"Can you all remember who you are now?" Heishi asked.

All the titans present except for the titan that caused the energy wave knelt at the same time in front of him on one knee and did a fist salute. "Yes, young lord."

"What about you Terrence?" Terrence inspected his body before clenching his fist and looked at Heishi, "Never better, young lord. I feel so much power coursing through me."

"It's your turn now Nasu-kun." The titan said as it looked at Nasuko.

"Please, Clara. I'm too old for that kind of nickname." Nasuko said, which earned a chuckle from it. He took out a vial with the label 'enhance' and a syringe as well. Just like the others, He took the serum from the vial and injected it into his bloodstream. Just like with Terrence, the same thing happened to Nasuko. His muscles began to bulge and veins began to protrude as his whole body turned red. Agony could be vividly seen in Nasuko's face as he gritted his teeth to endure the pain. Clara lowered her hands just above Nasuko and released a golden stream of luminescent mist. The redness of his skin returned to normal and the bulging and protruding of his muscles and veins decreased in intensity. After a while, the changes had finally ceased and Nasuko's expression relaxed.

A bright light blinded everyone once more as Clara retracted her titan form. She went towards Nasuko and whispered something to him. Nasuko nodded and looked at the others. "Everyone, If I could have a moment of your time, I would like to make an announcement. Clara and I have decided to officially have Heishi and Andrea engaged. The marriage will occur eight years later once they have officially reached adulthood. I am hoping that by then, I would have already returned with Emilia and we can both attend the wedding."

Heishi was visibly dumbfounded by the announcement. Andrea was shaking all over and her face had already turned a shade of very bright red that it would seem like steam was about to come out any moment. Layla and Kiryuu had mischievous looks on their faces. Holly and Melissa were both upset but Melissa was wondering why she felt that way. All the adults had an approving look on their faces and of course, Garou was confused but this time, Guri, who had come to watch the event shared his thoughts, 'NANI???'

...

Morning the day after...

Trotting of hooves could be heard in the distance as Heishi and co. returned to Harbor Town. They led the horses to the stable before everyone dismounted. Heishi first went down from the visibly tired Sausage before helping Andrea dismount followed by Melissa who insisted on riding with them instead of with her parents. Arriving at the docks, the escorts they brought with them were helping load crates onto the ship they used to get to the island.

Everyone began bidding their goodbyes. Andrea took out a locket from her neck hidden by the violet scarf Heishi gave her. She took Heishi's hand and placed the locket on it. "It's something to remember me by. I have another one, It's a matching set."

He looked closer at the locket and realized that it was a simple oval silver locket with an engraving of a lantern. Inside was a picture of Andrea smiling while sitting in a graceful pose. "Thank you. I'll treasure it for as long as I live."

"I also have something here for you," Melissa said as she handed him a dagger. The hilt had a slight bump. Heishi pulled at it and found a picture of Melissa winking one eye and sticking her tongue out as she did a peace sign. The dagger seemed to be specially crafted to be able to contain a picture like a locket. "Umm...Thanks..."

Heishi did not expect her to give him a parting gift, especially not a specially designed one. He could not help but feel embarrassed that he did not bring a parting gift as well. Guri suddenly nudged at him and handed over two sets of sealed containers that were stacked together and tied by a ribbon. He took them and slightly opened one only to realize that they were bento boxes. 'Guri, you're a lifesaver.'

After handing over a set of bento boxes to both of them, Heishi and Guri went towards his grandfather. Nasuko was already wearing traveling clothes and had a bag on his back. He had his long hair tied up in a ponytail and covered by a sunhat. "Do you really have to go right now, grandpa?"

"Of course I have to, Heishi. That is...if we want to be back in time for your wedding. I have an entire world to search for her. I've already made her wait long enough."

*Whistle*

"It's time for me to go. See you boy," Nasuko said as he ruffled Heishi's hair and stood up.

Heishi and the rest waved as the ship sailed away. They only stopped once the ship had already disappeared from the horizon.

...

Year 845, a year later...

On the peak of Nasuko's mountain, a young boy of about 11 years old opened his eyes after a series of images of the fall of wall maria in Paradis flashed in his mind with the date on it nearing. "Guri, it's time."

An ape hybrid between a chimpanzee and bonobo by the boy's side similarly opened its eyes before nodding. It took the wooden staff with silver ends by its side and held it in one hand. They both stood up and looked in the direction of Paradis Island, the location they would be heading to.