To Kill A God / Reiner Braun

TO KILL A GOD

━━━━ TO
KILL A GOD

Show me your sins and I'll show you mine
━━━━

          ACE AUSTEN DOESN'T WANT WORSHIP.

Ace Austen wants understanding.

Descendant of a legacy she did not choose, honor and respect follow her like the ghosts of her ancestors.

Youngest child of a family of renowned Scouts, daughter and granddaughter of a long line of squad captains and commanders, she could not escape her fate more than she could escape her name.

   Her birth had dictated her entire life, sharpening the edges of her being, and would undoubtedly follow her to her grave. It was written in the stars and graved onto the walls, she would leave this world the same way she had come to it: kicking and fighting.

   As an Austen, it's the only way she knows how. And the only choice she allows. Ace would not have it differently, even if given the option on a golden platter. She would see her family's legacy through, no matter the stakes. They had taught her that the end justifies the means. It is what is expected of her. To uphold reputation and surpass the ambitions they have carved onto her skin. More than that, it's the only thing she believes in.

What could you believe in, if not yourself? her father would always say.

Forged from fire and ice, bred from battle and blood, she could not rise as anything else but a warrior. Come forward, as you are; they would say. And she would comply, in unequal parts: all warrior and no girl.

   This is what happens to a youth when they are taught to be weapon before they can be human. This is what happens to a youth when they grow up in the cold embrace of the Elite Warrior Special Program. They are damage, wound, and blade before they are kids. They are embedded a destiny before they are given names. If you are wealthy, if you have the right connections, if you are foolish enough to believe a curse can be a blessing, you enroll your child into this school. You give a kid, and in return, you receive a weapon, a knife, a gun, a machine.

A price you accept to pay, but at what cost?

You want to ensure their future, because you are a parent and ultimately, you want what's best for your next. To make sure that they are ready once the time for military enlistment comes. A little damage and sharp edges are worth guaranteeing their survival in the training corps and beyond. Cracks and scars are worth securing their positions as high-ranking soldiers. You are a parent and you want what's best for your child. So you participate. And you think you are right. This is how the military elite reproduces itself. This is how they maintain their power.

You feed them kid after kid, and they chew and they chew and they chew—until they spit them out. But they are no longer your children. They are warriors, machines, weapons. They no longer belong to you or to themselves. They are here for one purpose. They are here to wage war and to win it. You are parents and you are complicit to a system that kills without killing.

This is how the Austen family have vowed to break it. By partaking in it, by sending child after child to become what the system wants of them. By forging golden warriors that reach the highest of ranks. By earning the trust and respect of people who would not believe in them if they knew their true intentions. Ace would be the final piece of the plan, the final girl. The final bullet. The final knife. When the innocence of having never touched vice had been mercilessly stripped away from her, she knew. This would be the only way. She would have to succeed.

Failure to Ace is as foreign as virtue. She never fails, it's written on her scars. Yet—she is falling, falling, falling. They taught her that Gods don't bleed, Gods don't fall. But in her descent, if it is meant for her to go down, then she would take all of them with her. She would prove them wrong, and she would defy them. She would take back what they stole from her, of youth and humanity.

Tonight, Ace Austen is a God killer. But tonight, the Gods are sick of being Gods. They will be monsters instead. Are they not one and the same?

Ace becomes what they want of her, a monster killer. Even if it means turning into the villain she would try so hard not to become. Even if it means bringing her own end. As long as she could have theirs first. That is her bloodline's legacy, after all. And she refuses to fail it. So, do not be surprised when the beast you created comes back for you. Hungry dogs are never loyal, and Ace is starving. She will bite the hand that feeds her, just because it beats her.

But when the world asks; are you willing to become the devil you sought to destroy? Ace wonders; is she too young for this? Too young to feel like she's running out of time. Too young to feel like she's falling.

A girl is a gun. Ace Austen is a bomb.

A ticking time-bomb. So, in retrospect, Ace Austen is running out of time.

Reiner Braun would only accelerate time till detonation. But Ace swears she would cross oceans and universes she does not know the existence of, just to waste another moment with him. Even if Paradis Island would brand him enemy of the state. Could there be stronger loyalties than that of which a born-and-bred soldier has towards its nation, towards its cause? (Love, perhaps).

Reiner puts Ace at a crossroad, not knowing which way to go. Would she choose him, in the end? The boy who betrayed her. Or would she succumb to the fate of her bloodline?

Would existence precede essence?

Reiner seems to bet on losing Gods. And Ace, self-proclaimed God killer, is coming for the world with no one to stand in her way. With no mercy left in her to spare.

They wanted a knife, they wanted a gun, they wanted a bomb, they wanted a weapon. They wanted a monster. This is what they got, this is what they have made: Ace. And for that, they would have to pay.

   

AUTHOR'S NOTE.
━━━━

• started: 10/04/2024 ━ ended: ?

• season 1 ━ onwards

• I follow both the show's script/story line as well as my own.

• I only own my plot, dialogue and original characters.

• the opinions stated in this book aren't necessarily the ones I share.

• TRIGGER WARNING: offensive, sensitive, mature, nsfw content.

• dark mode is recommended.

• enjoy and comment your thoughts.

Tonight, the Gods are sick of being Gods. They will be monsters instead.

━ take me far, and keep me safe.

copyright © 2024 godscars
all rights reserved.

reiner braun x original character
attack on titan

I'll have my vengeance, in this life or the next
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