Chapter 1:
Why the Spoiled Kid Joined the Military
"You, there, what the hell is your name?!" Keith's voice rang through the yard as he looked down upon a thirteen year old female. Brunette, loose side ponytail, dark complexion, and bright pale blue eyes.
In turn, the girl saluted the taller man, her right hand balling up in a fist and slamming over her left chest, her left hand falling behind her as her posture became erect. "Lila Ellis from Stohess, sir!" She yelled back, her gaze now hardening to focus on the bald man in front of her.
"Stohess, eh? So I'm dealing with a spoiled brat, then?" He asked with a cock of his dark eyebrow. It was clear that he surmised that her life was easy just because she grew up in Wall Sina.
Oh how wrong he was.
"I would disagree with that statement, sir." Lila replied calmly, still in salute.
"You're spoiled and you like to talk back to your superiors?"
"I can agree with one of those, sir."
Huffing, the instructor gave up on the female and marched on to find his next victim to yell at. It wasn't long until his booming voice was heard once more and another kid began their introduction. But most eyes were on her with questioning gazes. Questions such as, Why is a kid from the Inner Wall here? and, She had it all, why did she throw it all away so she can put herself in danger?
In all honesty, it didn't bother her that the kids now thought she was a brat. But soon, they would see otherwise. All they needed to know was that she grew up in Stohess.
Nine years ago, the serum that gave humans the ability to make and control a Titan body was created by Dr. Grisha Jaeger and Dr. Joseph Chepicov. Dr. Jaeger came from Wall Maria in the Shinganshina district, while Dr. Chepicov was a highly regarded doctor in Stohess. Even though their meetings always occurred in Wall Sina, Jaeger would sneak back their progress to Wall Maria to hide it from the Military Police Brigade. Unknown to anyone outside of the Chepicov family, Grisha would often travel to Stohess to work on the serum with his friend. Until finally, it was done.
"How do we test it out to make sure it works?" Grisha asked his friend cautiously as they both looked at the jelly jar filled with the golden serum. He used caution in his voice because he knew how irrational and naïve his partner was. In the years they had worked together, Chepicov had said some odd things.
"We need a test subject.." The auburn haired man mused as he stroked the stubble around his chin with his meaty fingers.
"We can't victimize a random citizen!" Jaeger protested immediately, glaring at the man over his glasses.
"Oh, believe me. The person I have in mind is not random."
Later that day, Grisha, Joseph and Mona's mother, Samantha, packed up to go on a pick-nick up in the mountains. Every adult knew what was going on. Grisha and Samantha both had tried to talk the doctor out of what he was planning. But he would not be persuaded otherwise. It was the perfect plan in his eyes.
"Mona! Come on, we're ready to go!" Joseph's voice boomed through the big house, calling to his daughter.
"Joseph, please don't do this.. She's just a child, how could you think to do this?" Her mother asked in a hushed but pained tone, her pale blue eyes shimmering.
"Quite. I know what I'm doing." The man huffed, his arms folded. It was clear he had no intention of listening to his wife.
Moments later, five year old Mona toddled into the kitchen, her eyes not unlike her mother's filled with excitement with her stuffed horse clutched in her chubby hands. "I'm here, Daddy!" She squeaked, bouncing over to him.
"Good girl!" He encouraged, kneeling down and catching his daughter in his strong arms, holding her close. "Let's get going!"
Sam led the way, opening the door of the house and holding it for the two men to exit before she closed it, locking it tight and slipping the key in her husband's pocket before they set off, making their way through the peaceful streets of Stohess and to the edge of the town.
"Daddy? Why is mommy sad?" The little girl asked, looking into her mother's dulled blue eyes. Her movements were sluggish and her gaze rarely left the ground out of guilt.
"I'm not feeling too well, babe." Was the woman's gentle reply as she looked up, looking into the innocent eyes of her first and only child. "I'll feel better in a bit, Mona." She lied, caressing the soft and chubby cheek of the girl.
At such a young age, the young Chepicov didn't know how to lie or know how to detect a fib. So she smiled, leaning against her mother's warm and gentle touch. "I love you Mama.." She whispered as her eyes flicked up to meet Samantha's.
"I love you too, baby…" She said, smiling sweetly to try to distract her daughter for what was to come.
After a while, Mona thought it peculiar how her family wondered so far from Stohess. They had been trekking through the woods for hours now and yet they kept going. Why did they need to go this far for a picnick? Usually they would only go a few minutes away… "Daddy, I'm hungry…" the small girl complained. Half of that statement was correct; the other part of her was frightened. It was now apparent to her that something was up, and the small Chepicov didn't like it.
"Don't worry, baby…" Joseph said as if he was forcing the sweetness into his voice. His big meaty hands clamped tighter around his daughter as they stepped into a clearing completely surrounded by trees. "After you pass our… Test, then you may eat."
Just as soon as the kid started to struggle, the father knelt down and pushed her harshly against the only rock in the clearing, causing the small girl to drop her beloved stuffed to the dirty ground. He grasped her wrists and pushed her down, his eyes took the form of another mans; now when Mona looked into his once loving brown eyes, she saw the black sharp eyes of a demon. Only now did she understand what that word meant.
"Let me go!" She screamed, kicking out her chubby legs in attempt to cause him enough pain to release her.
Unfortunately, her hardest kicks were nothing more than gentle taps to his hard chest. "Come on Grisha."
Nodding, the other man put down the woven basket onto the cool ground and he took out the old jam jar filled with the golden serum.
"What is that?" the small girl asked in a squeaky voice. That looked nothing like what you would eat. In fact, it looked revolting to her. Was she supposed to eat that? What had she done to deserve this?
It was only until Jaeger pulled out the syringe did she start to panic more. "Dad! Let me go!" She squeaked again, thrashing her small limbs in attempt to free herself. There was a pain in her back, where the rock she was pinned to dug into her flesh. "Mommy! Help!"
Her mother covered her mouth and turned away, unable to witness this horrific sight any longer than she had to.
Wanting this to be over, Grisha walked forward and knelt down in the grass by the little girl and for a moment, his heart ached. Even if this experiment proved successful, he would be destroying this girl's life. She would become humanity's enemy. But even so… Perhaps, with her help, they could come closer to figuring out the secrets of the beasts that loomed outside the Walls.
With this thought in mind, he grabbed her arm and stuck the needle in her chubby body, injecting the serum into her small form. There's no going back now… Grisha thought as he slowly watched the golden fluid disappear from the clear cylinder.
Mona snapped her head back and screamed out her pain; her body began to ache worse than it had ever and her blood felt as though it was on fire. Her head spun and her eyes shut. In her pain, she dug back against her rock and…
BOOM
Everyone took a huge leap back from the sudden crash of lightening enveloping the stone, the blinding light and burst of heat making the adults cringe and bring up their arms to shield themselves from the horror unfolding in front of them. Then, as sudden as the heavens opened up to smite the ground with electricity, it was over. The bolt dispersed into the air, leaving behind a storm of steam where the surge of electricity had touched down.
"Mona… Where's Mona?!" Sam screamed, looking desperately around for her little girl. But all too soon she realized that the bolt had struck down on her daughter, engulfing her in it. In desperate attempt to recover her daughter, the mother made a dash to the swarming heap of steam, only to be stopped by an iron grip on her wrist.
When she turned, it was Jaegar holding her back with a pained look in his eye. "Don't."
Seconds slithered by like hours as they all watched and waited for something to happen. Something. Anything.
Then, they got their wish; a low inhuman moan sounded through the thick layer of heated vapor, moments before something moved inside of it. Something much bigger than a five year old girl. With one swoop of the beasts arm, it cleared the cloud of steam to reveal itself. What they saw confirmed the serum is effective; the Titan they created was crouched over, perched on her toes and her knees tucked to her chest. This Titaness with brown hair that hung in front of its massive face and fell down her massive, squared shoulders. The giant's eyes were pale blue, digging into the souls of the humans at her still-steaming feet. The skin that was draped over a muscular build was percaline, with armouring on her shoulders and forearms. For the most part, her legs were covered in white skin; except for the inner calf, which exposed red and flexing muscles. Even in the position Mona had the Titan poised, Grisha estimated she was at least fifteen meters in height; maybe a little more than that, even.
"I-is that…?"
"Yes, dear. That's our little girl," Joseph responded with a malicious glint in his eyes and a smirk to match. In his eyes, he had something better than a daughter now, he had a super weapon that could help humans eradicate the Titans off the earth. More importantly, this super weapon could make him famous, and get him all the money he desired. "Mona! Can you hear me?" His booming voice called for the beast's attention, but it didn't budge from its position, her piercing eyes never taking a break from what would normally be the Titan's diet. Frustrated by the lack of cooperation the Titan seemed to be giving, the male Chepicov turned on his heal and snapped to Jaegar. "Why isn't she listening to me?" The question was more of a growl, the white teeth of the doctor bared at the other.
"Joseph, she just transformed into an exceptionally large Titan at the age of five. Give her some time to recover from the shock of shifting before you demand things of her," was his gentle and wise response, pulling his friend and his shaken wife a bit away from the seemingly frozen Titan.
"Great, so we made her a Titan," Sam piped up now, not very happy with the result. "She's not moving, what if she's dead?"
"I'm assuming," Grisha murmured, rubbing his bare chin as he thought back to their research, "that if Mona, the Piolet of the Titan, were dead, the beast would also be dead and be decomposing as we speak. I think the shock of the recent events has affected her and the Titan."
"Poor Mona… How do we get her out of there?" Sam mused, wringing the white fabric of her dress in her moist, clammy hands. She had to admit, what they just produced was just short of a miracle, giving people the ability to manifest a Titan out of nothing and be able to piolet it was something out of a fictional story. But, something in her felt… Disgusted. Her daughter, little Mona, had just been ripped of her childhood. Now that she had this tremendous responsibility placed on her tiny shoulders, there would be no more play. No more relaxation. It would be vigorous training, trying to get complete and absolute control over the beast she now commanded. If she would have known this would have happened, she would have never wanted a baby.
"We don't know her location in the body," Grisha admitting, turning his attention from the crouching Titaness to the two other humans. "We're hypothesizing that she is either in the heart, the nape, or the head of the Titan."
"Why can't you just tell her to get out?"
"Quiet, Sam. Mona's fine. She'll get out when we're done testing her Titan's body," the father of the girl growled, snapping his hard gaze to his wife. It was true, he had no idea where in the body the little girl was. The control center was unknown as of yet. Unfortunately, their research hadn't revealed that crucial piece of information.
The woman cringed back, making her blue hues fall to the emerald coloured grass. Mona was the only thing in the world that made her happy. Ever since Joseph figured out about the serum, he hadn't been the same. His temper shortened and his touch hardened. No longer was he the gentle man she fell in love with all those years ago. But she believed there was still good in him. That he could be reverted back to the man he once was, before he met Grisha.
"Mona! Put me down!"
Hearing her husband yell made her eyes snap back to the horror unfolding in front of them. Huge, angry and narrowed eyes glared at the man in the iron grip of the new Titan. While everyone was distracted with the thought of getting the young girl out, she had moved. Now, instead of staying crouched with her knees tucked to her chest, she was down on her hands and knees, left hand supporting the massive body while the right gripped the squirming man by his waist.
"She isn't responding!" Grisha yelled, frozen in place by the sudden awful turn of events. "The Titan must have taken over her, she's gone berserk!"
"Mona! Snap out of it!" Samantha pleaded with the Titan, but nothing she said seemed to affect her. Not even the screams of her father, or the threats he threw at her to get her to put him down.
Joseph had proven to be a malicious man. Perhaps he had always been like this, even when they first met. Maybe he had always worn a mask to hide who he really was to lure her in. If that was the case, it had worked. And now that she saw the man for who he was, there was no way she could forgive him.
But there was no way she could stand by and watch her daughter eat her own father.
Chepicov took a running start, tearing through the moist ground and scuffing up her nice white shoes so her shoulder could make contact with the Titaness's plated forearm. "Put him down!" She screeched, slamming her fists against the humanoid arm over and over again. Samantha knew she wasn't hurting the beast, but maybe if she could distract it enough…
"Samantha! Get away, it's dangerous!" Jaeger howled, trying to beckon his friend's wife away from the berserk beast.
"Like hell I will!" The woman snapped, her golden hair falling from the loose bun she always kept it tied back in, "My husband might be a despicable man, but I will not let him die!" and with that, she kept slamming her fist into the massive forearm, doing everything she could to get the Titan's attention.
Unfortunately for Sam, this did get the Titan's attention. To her, it was nothing more than punches from a mouse. No more painful than a fly landing on the arm of a human. But, much like a fly, it was annoying. And to take care of this problem, she had to kill it. Her interest in food turned from the squirming man in her hand to the woman frantically beating on arm.
Something about her looks… Familiar… Chepicov thought as the icy stare of the Titaness came down to the small woman. Oh well…
Joseph got what he wished for; with ease the giant dropped the man, having him land on the ground hard. The impact stunned the doctor, leaving him to lay on the ground with his eyes closed. His head spun and his brown hair hung in front of his face, having long ago left his pony tail.
Now, the Titaness advanced and switched her arms, the hand that once held her father in its powerful grip rested on the ground, and the one that had gotten a beating from the frantic wife was grasping her and lifting her up to her mouth.
"Mona… Baby… It's me…." The woman cooed, tears pouring out of her unique eyes and down her face, blurring the vision of the beast opening its maw. Saliva stuck to some of the backs of her teeth and her breath was hot and putrid. But Samantha only felt remorse. She felt remorse that she wouldn't be able to raise her baby to be a respectable young woman, or that she wouldn't get to kiss her at her wedding…
Most of all, she felt guilty about letting something like this happen to her daughter. When she was born, Sam had told the little pink bundle that she would always protect and love her no matter what. But she was only human. And that means being able to accept that you can't always protect the ones you love… Closing her eyes, the woman accepted her fate. If this meant getting her daughter out of there, then she would gladly sacrifice herself.
"I love you, Mona…" she whispered as she felt the Titaness's tongue on her, the secretions covering her instantly.
Slowly, Joseph stirred, in time to see the Titan's teeth cut through his wife's leg, severing it completely. Without being attached to its body, the leg fell, dotting the plants and the beast with blood on its way down. It landed with a soft thunk next to the male Chepicov, leaving Joseph to stare at it in absolute horror. But his attention quickly went to the beast when it let out a groan, the black pupils of her eyes dilating. Instead of anger and hostility on her face was fear and confusion.
Grisha cautiously approached the Titaness, taking slow and small steps, before he reached a distance he was comfortable with. "M-Mona?"
Long ears perked at the sound of the name and her ice blue eyes darted down to the man. Blood still dribbled down her chin, making her look like a true monster.
"Mona, what did you do?"
A tilt of the head indicated that the beast had no idea what he was talking about.
Does she… Not remember? Did the Titan take over her and compel her to eat her mother? Or… Did she need to eat a human to revert back to one herself?
But before the long haired man could ask more questions, his partner found his voice and shouted, "Get out here right now!"
Confused with her father's anger, the girl made the beast lay down flat on its muscular belly. And almost the same way she came into the body, she came back out. Steam erupted from the nape, to which Grisha made sure to note that is where the human clad is. The skin parted down the middle of her neck and out from the monster emerged the girl. Mona was emitting steam as well, trying to pull herself free from the mess of muscles and tendons that was wrapped around her, keeping her attached to the Titaness. Slowly, the young girl was able to finally free herself and walk tentatively over to her angry father.
As soon as she was in range, the father of the tot wound his fist back and slammed it into her small chubby face, knocking the already-weak girl to the ground. "You're not my daughter!"
"Bu-but Dad, I-I was just doing what you told me to do!"
"I never told you to eat your mother!"
At these words, the little girl's face drained of all colour and her head snapped back to her Titan's decaying body. Massive clouds of steam were rising from its large corpse, but next to it laid a human leg, bone shattered and the pretty shoe was now stained with the crimson liquid that had been contained in the owner's skin. "M-mom…"
"She's dead, and you killed her!"
"I-I d-don't r-re-rememb-ber!" The little girl sobbed uncontrollably as her father stalked closer to her. "I-I-I'm so-so-sorr-ry!"
The man raised his bruised and rough hand high above his sloppy hair to bring it down across his daughter's face.
Mona flinched, holding up her own chubby hands in defense against his attack. Her icy eyes closed, braced for the impact of the hit.
"Enough, Joseph." Said a male voice. The man the young Chepicov forgot was there. When she cracked open her eyes, Grisha had his hand gripped around his partner's muscular forearm. "It's not her fault. It's ours. This is a side effect of the serum, clearly. We didn't go into this knowing enough about what we're getting into and Sam paid the price. Don't burden Mona any more than you already have."
Sighing, the man ripped his arm out of Jeager's grasp and he harshly picked up the shaking tot and cradled her in his arms. "Fine."
"Get her back to your house. I'll stay here and… Clean up so the MP can't find anything." Grisha said to the man.
Without saying another word, Joseph turned on one heal and began the silent trek home. No words were exchanged as the man carried Mona home with an iron grip on her body. In case if she tried to escape or shift again was her guess. Every time she would flick her gaze up to her father, his expression was stone cold. No words were spoken. Not down the muddy mountain or when he walked through the colossal barrier which separated town from town or through the streets of the town. Only when they got back to the house and the doctor set her down did he utter his words. "Don't come into my house ever again."
"B-but Dad, I-."
"I'll find you for stupid shit like parties so no one suspects a thing. Just get away from me, you monster." And with that, he entered the empty house alone and slammed the door in the small girls face. A sniff escaped her as she suddenly realized how big Stohess was.