Prologue

"Hey mum! What's for tea?" I asked, walking in the door.

"Oh, hey Marlie, we have chicken stew again. How was school?" Mum asked.

"It was good, only I fell over again. I cut my knee up, look." I said, rolling down my sock. Mum winced and laughed at me. I laughed too and pulled my sock back up.

I went upstairs to my small bedroom and put my bag away. I got out of my uniform and put my home clothes on, then went back downstairs.

"We learned about Titans today mum. About how they're made up and how their bodies work. Did you know that they don't even know what they're doing?" I said.

"What, so they have no idea they eat humans? They're mindless then?" Mum said, turning around to look at me. I nodded. "Oh right. I thought they knew what they were doing when they did that."

I shook my head and picked up my fork just as mum put my food on the table. She sat down too and we began to eat. We spoke about our days and what we had done and what made us laugh.

"I was in the toilets today at lunchtime, and someone walked in. The floor was wet because someone had spilled water on the floor, and when they came in, they slipped up and fell on their bum, it was so funny!" I laughed. "You should've seen her face!"

After that, we began talking about funny memories and things that have happened to us in the past. We spoke together for about three more hours, laughing and joking about the people who made us laugh and the people who we don't like.

"OK miss, you need to get ready for your bath." Said mum.

"Oh, but it's still light outside!" I moaned.

"That's because it's summer, love, go and get in the tub." Mum said.

"Okay. But I don't want soap in my eyes again!" I said.

Just as I'd said it, there was a low rumbling sound, like the sound of many footsteps getting closer and closer. I looked at mum. She was as white as a sheet.

"Mum, what is it?" I asked. She didn't answer. "Mum, what's going on?" Still no answer. She walked over to the kitchen window and looked out. I followed, and the sight before me was horrific. At least twenty huge, lumbering monsters were just entering the village.

"Oh no." I said. "Not now, not today!"

For one moment that seemed to last a lifetime, everything was deathly silent, as the whole village held their breaths.

Then the attack came. Hundreds of screaming people, silenced in seconds. The village that was once my peaceful home, destroyed in minutes flat. Blood stained the once white houses red, and streams of it ran down the streets.

I looked at mum. She was frozen with fear. She would not move, not even when I pinched her arm. "Mum! Come on we need to go before we get eaten!" I screamed. No response.

Suddenly, the wall smashed and a huge terrifying face peered inside. I ran to the other side of the room and hid behind the chair, expecting my mum to follow. She didn't.

"I - I know you. You're that one. The one who killed my brother. You - you brought so much sorrow into my life. It's all your fault! Gah!" Mum yelled at the Titan, as it picked her up in its brutal fist.

"MUM!" I screamed. I looked around and smashed the glass case that held my dad's old swords. I grabbed them, not fazed by the glass cutting into my arms. I ran over to the Titan and sliced at its arm. It wasn't fazed at all, so I went for it again. This time, it swiped at me with its free hand. I went flying and crashed into the kitchen unit. "Mum! Mum, no!"

"Marlie, go! Don't worry about me, I'll be OK!" She yelled.

"NO! You won't be OK, you're about to be eaten by a Titan! The same one that killed uncle Ash!" I screamed. "I've got to help you!"

"Leave me now! Do not look back, just run and hide in the forest! Go to the wall and become a Cadet, kill every single one of these disgusting beasts! Now go!" Mum yelled. I knew there was nothing I could do, but all I could do was stand there frozen in fear and despair. My mother closed her eyes and hung her head. As much as I wanted to run, I couldn't. I was stuck in my shoes.

All of a sudden, there was a spray of blood and it snapped me out of my fear. I looked up, and my mother was gone. All that was left of my mum was her locket. It fell from the Titan's hands and landed in the grass. I grabbed it and ran as fast as I could towards the forest. The sounds of despair and bone chilling screams made my ears ring. I stumbled into the mouth of the forest and sat down behind a tree. All the adrenaline seeped out of me, and all that I had witnessed came flooding back. I wretched, and threw up in the grass. I threw up so much, that the next thing I remember, everything went black...

"Marlie!" I heard. I felt my shoulder being shook. "Marlie wake up!" My eyes opened slowly and I looked up. The person above me was shouting my name, but my vision was blurry so I couldn't tell who it was. I lifted my arm up and rubbed my eyes to clear my vision. I saw the person clearly.

"Luke!" I exclaimed, jumping up and hugging him tightly. "Are you OK?"

"Not really, but I'm better now that I know that we're all alive. I was with Chad and Fern, so they're safe. Is your mum OK?" He asked.

I looked down at my feet and shook my head. "No. She was eaten. By the same Titan that ate my uncle when he was in the Survey Corps. At least his death meant something. My mothers' was pointless. What about your family? Are they alright?"

"I have no idea where my dad and my brother are. But my sisters were all killed." Luke whispered.

"I'm so sorry. Where are Chad and Fern anyway? Fern is the only family I have left now." I sighed.

"They're getting into cart. The military are here and all the Titans are dead. They brought a big load of carts to carry all the survivors to the Walls." Luke said. Just as he said it, a man in uniform came up behind him. He was tall and blonde, and he had a stern look on his face.

"Hey kids, you need to follow me. We need to get everyone to safety." He said. "My name is Commander Erwin. Come with me." I looked at Luke and he nodded. He helped me up and we followed Erwin to the carts. We walked past hundreds of dead bodies, body parts and rubble. There were puddles of blood everywhere, we had to look away.

When we reached the clearing, three large transport carts could be seen parked right next to each other. Two of which were filled already.

"You will get into Captain Levi's cart. He's the little guy over there. In the green cape." Erwin said, pointing to Levi. He walked off, and me and Luke went over to the Captain.

"Can I help you brats?" He said, hands on his hips.

"Commander Erwin told us we needed to get into this cart. You are Captain Levi, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. I am. Get in." He said.

"How old are you, sir?" I asked.

"None of your business, kid. Why?" He replied.

"Oh, it's just that you look too short to be an adult. I'm almost the same height as you and I'm eleven." I said.

"Yeah, well that just means you're a midget too, then doesn't it? You're tiny." He replied. I snapped.

"What? I am not tiny! Why would you call me tiny?! Jerk. " I said.

"Oh so you think it's OK to talk to a member of the military like that huh? Brat. You'll get what's coming to you. I bet your mother would be so ashamed of you. And your father would be disgraced." He said, smirking. He knew that I'd lost my mother? But how? And I wasn't going to stand him disrespecting my father.

"My father was Johnathan Rivers, one of the best men in the Survey Corps. He slayed over two hundred Titans in his time, and some say he was the best in the whole Corps! How dare you say something like that? My father loved me, and so did my mother! So why don't you learn some manners you little shrimp!" I shouted right in his face.

"So your father was Johnny Rivers. Well you certainly have his attitude that's for sure. And his hair. Yours is exactly the same as his. Naturally blonde and brown." He said, walking away. "I apologise."

I looked at him in surprise. Then I looked at Luke who had a huge smile on his face. "What are you grinning at?"

"You. You get so angry sometimes." He laughed.

"Yeah I do. Hey, wait! Levi, you knew my father?" I asked, going to sit down next to him as the carts began to move.

"Yeah, he was a good friend of mine." He said.

"Tell me what he was like. In the military, I mean." I said.

"Well, he was a jolly man that's for sure. He always cracked a joke at deadly serious times. If one of our comrades had just died, he'd sing a happy song in their honour. To remember and celebrate the best times in their life. He truly was a good man. He killed each Titan in one blow, and you're right, he did kill over two hundred. Way over. Nine hundred and ninety-nine to be exact. He would've killed his thousandth if he hadn't of vanished like that. I was with him before he left. He said to me, 'Levi, if you ever quit later in life, I will personally come back and kill you myself. And, if you ever get the chance to meet my daughter, give her my family locket and my green cape for me.' He passed me those things and he rode away on his horse. Tip was much too fast for my own horse to catch up with, so I just let him leave. He was severely injured when he left, the thousandth Titan that he was about to kill had bitten off his left arm; it was bleeding an awful lot." Levi explained.

"Oh." I said. "Well, when my mother was about to die, she looked at the Titan, and said that it was the one who killed my uncle. He worked with my dad, his name was Ash Malters. How would she know?"

"Because she was there. Ash and your father were trying to save her. He told her to run and she did. She ran to the village and stayed in her house for days. I'm assuming you already know that though." He replied.

"Yeah I do know that. She told me it had happened while I was at school, but she didn't tell me she was there too." I said, sadly. "Thank you for telling me about my dad. It means a lot." I stood up to move.

Levi nodded and said, "I'll give you his things when we get to Wall Maria. You're not the only village who experienced this today. A small town called Shinganshina has perished too. There are more survivors there though, which is hardly surprising as you lot lived outside of the wall." I nodded and went to sit back down next to Luke.

After that, I was intent on becoming a soldier in the Survey Corps. I would not quit, and I would wipe the Titans off the face of the earth. That was a promise to my mother and my father.

How was that? Not too bad I hope! This is my third Fanfiction. I finished Junior Alchemists this morning, so I bet you can tell how much I love writing XD I'm so emotional though, because my other 2 fanfics were so much fun to write, and my own characters are like my children and I'm going to miss them an awful lot :(

Hope you enjoy the story, it will be longer than my other fanfics, and more structured too. I have loads of surprises in store!