THIS FIC HAS A COMPLETLY ALTERED UNIVERSE. LIKE LITTERELY ALTERED SPACE AND PHYSICS AND SHIT SO JUST GO WITH IT.
Those titans in the walls had caused eve more madness in the minds of the people. As if they weren't freaking out enough about wall Maria being recently breached, now there are fucking titans in the walls.
This can only end badly, but all of these people's thoughts, worries and fears were behind him. All Eren wanted to know right now was why? It didn't even bother him that much that Stonehess had been nearly obliterated (the rich pompous cunts could go die for all he cared). It was the idea that someone he had idealised, someone he looked up to had turned out to be...well not a titan, and not a human but actually more like him then he ever even realised. She was more like him than anybody else in the world.
He took another sip of his water skin and continued to try to catch his breath in the very rare free time they got from training. Captain Levi had been running them through courses and training regime's that only the gods could complete( with the exception of captain Levi) who had completed it by the time Eren and the rest of them had gotten half way round. Jean was on the ground near Eren heaving and complaining about the lack of feeling in his legs but it couldn't really be understood as it came out as a breathless grumble. Armin was on the floor next to him gasping for air as well. Armin had made a rather brutal self-assessment that he was too weak, physically at least, so he began to train harder and gave himself extra workouts. Needless to say it had paid off for him, he seemed stronger and more in shape.
"Oi!"
That single syllable was enough to have them all up and to attention in a second "Yes captain!"
"Your dismissed for the day, now go clean your bratty asses up"
The communal showers weren't the greatest things in the world due to the lack of privacy. But still so needed, the warm water was such a relief to their aching muscles and sore bones. They usually got showers every morning and every night but they were so much more worth it after a long day's hard work. It helped relive his headache that had been bothering him for days now. Ever since he had had a nightmare about a village being burnt to the ground while titans swarmed the place. Devouring crushing and killing everyone. The streets had ran red in crimson gore and the village. After it was all over the village was no more than a black stain of charcoal left on the earth. It was very similar to Shiganshina. The dream ended with him being stuck under some rubble while a woman was carried of by titans and a voice screaming at him to become what he needs to be. Just like when he transformed in Stonehess.
"Eren, you coming out or what? Captain Levi will want the barracks cleaned out before any one of us gets to sleep" called Connie.
He hadn't even realised that everyone had left the showers to go and clean the castle. "I'll be out in a minute Connie, but I'm on guard duty today" He replied.
Guard duty was one of the best and worst posts. This was due to three reasons:
Reason 1) He was alone so he could think, but thinking led to thoughts about titans.
Reason 2) He was in a room with Annie, who he believed after everything she did, was still a good person and exceptionally beautiful. On the other hand she had betrayed humanity and killed many members of the scouting legion.
Reason 3) He was in the dungeon, literally the coldest place in the castle. And the crystal Annie was in always seemed to give off an un-earthly chill that could freeze your breath. But on hot stuffy days, like today, this could be extremely comforting.
After pulling on a fresh uniform and tightening his straps, he walked down the many twisting and winding staircases, covered in moss and slime, bathed in a dim light that emanated from nearby torches. As he wandered toward the gateway that contained the dark place where she was held, he pondered her reasoning's for everything, as he often did. Questioning why everything turned out how it did. He thought of ways to break her from that ethereal prison of icy diamond. The deeper he got, the more distracted and enticed in thought he became, almost like there was somebody in his mind, talking to him, telling him to free her, causing him to shake these thoughts away to try and rid himself of the headache that had been building all day.
Eventually after travelling down into the bowels of the earth he reached the iron door at the end of a particularly dark hallway, where his breath became visible and he pulled his cloak a little tighter and prepared himself for a long few hours of barely tolerable chill that would pour from the crystal and fester in his bones. He took the gun from the guard as he walked in and then stood next to the blue structure as it shimmered in the light of the candles resting on the desk across the room. As his eyes gazed around the room, the amber light of the candles was refracted by the crystalline structure, splitting the beams of light and covering the stone floor in a strange mix of teal and amber light. It was like bright flames were battling against an icy onslaught.
Today seemed like it would be a good day, his mind was clear and he was content (as could be) for now. To pass the time he would always try to think of ways to get into that crystal. But with each possibility came three new questions. It was a fascinating material though. Hange had been working tirelessly and remorselessly to try to get the crystal to open up. Her whole existence now revolved around Annie's crystal and the titan in the wall. Her obsession was admirable and quite terrifying all at the same time. Not once though had she managed to even crack the crystal, or even so much as make a tiny little scratch. Armin had been working extremely close with Hange to create formulas and methods to crack the damned crystal, but nothing worked, it simply would not yield to anything that the mad scientist subjected it to. Nobody could figure it out, and this just encouraged Hange to try even harder, despite the infuriating results.
The aura of the room was different today however. The room wasn't as cold as usual, nor was it as damp and uncomfortable. Instead there was a pleasant warm light that emanated from the candles and the air was more akin to warm summer morning. His gaze wandered to the roof which shone and glimmered like a pool of water as the light bounced off of the majestic blue prison. Then his gaze turned back to the girl in the crystal. His teacher, his friend, comrade, his enemy and once again his mind wandered into deeper thoughts regarding the petit blonde girl in front of him.
He barely remembered the fight, apparently he had turned into a monster. He remembered a voice screaming from inside him, his anger was talking to him. It was like he became something else, he blacked out and was simply along for the ride as a much darker force came into control and all the evil thoughts that he possessed decided to take over. Ripping her to shreds before trying to eat her. But he couldn't remember it, all he could remember was the tears rolling down her face as she crystallised over and that whispering voice that rattled through his mind like the roar of a truly epic explosion, but it was only a whisper. He could still see the tears now, forever stuck in her glass confinement.
And he would do anything to wipe them away and tell her he was sorry for hurting her. He wished he could shake her and scream 'Why?' but it was pointless, she was hidden within the shell and content to hide from the world. All while the world passed her by for the past 3 months, the dungeon forever silent, never a single sound other than the rapping and tapping of military boots on floor as a guard would enter and exit the cold stone brick room. Not even the faintest sound of dripping on the floor…
His attention suddenly peaked at the notion of that dripping noise but he was ultimately distracted by the booming explosion that he felt rattle the very foundations of the castle the scouting legion were using for a headquarters. He KNEW that sound, a shifter, the sound of lightning striking somebody and their body conducting all of that raw energy, his feet carried him toward the surface instinctively, leaving behind the growing pool underneath that turquoise crystal that enticed him so much…