This is a short story following the events of the northernmost district of Wall Maria during its breach in the year 845, this story is part of Attack on Titan and is directly linked to Attack on Titan: Twin Crimson Rose. Because no information exists on what happened in the other outer districts, I took it upon myself to write a short story about it. It will be written in a different way to my previous stories, not because I don't like third person descriptive and past tense writing anymore but because first person past tense will open up many new perspectives for story telling, Twin Crimson Rose shall remain in the third person while this side integrated story shall be in first person. Previous knowledge of Twin Crimson Rose is not required to understand this story although the following opening scene is of the two main characters.
Between Shiganshina and Trost, the year 845.
Morgan and Quinn rode towards the city of Trost on horseback after the devastating attack on Shiganshina by the Colossal and Armored Titans, smoke rose in the distance behind them as they made haste towards salvation.
"Morgan?" Quinn asked.
"Yes?" Morgan replied from beneath his sallet helm.
"What do you think will happen to the other outer districts of Wall Maria?"
"I... I don't know" Morgan replied while trying to imagine the disastrous situation "I hope they'll make it out alive but..."
"But?"
"The titans will reach them before the messengers do, there's just too many of them".
Quinn fell silent "So they're just birds, trapped in a stone cage?"
Attack on Titan: Bird of the Stone Cage
The Military open day had gone well so far, we were in a school group led by our teacher Mrs Vince and a Wall Garrison soldier who I think was called Ms Pendragon and her fiery golden hair lived up to her name, she was seventeen and of average height but she had a constant smile on her face throughout the whole event. I was at the back of the group of twelve students as we walked along the walls, Ms Pendragon was leading from the front and explaining the day to day life of a soldier and their equipment.
"So this is a wall cannon which the Garrison uses in the event of an attack, it's only a precaution though as we've never actually had to use them. Over to your left you can see the whole of Vulta district and beyond that is the main gate leading north".
I'd never been up on the walls before and it was a magnificent sight, the wind was bitter and cold though, more so than down on the ground but this was a daily occurrence for us Vultans, well that's what we call ourselves. Living in the northern most district of Wall Maria was hard and many people died in the winter alone, fortunately we only had two feet of snow today but it could have been worse, I guess.
"Cecilia? Cecilia Mathias please pay attention!" Mrs Vince snapped at me, I regained my focus and smiled back "Sorry".
Mrs Vince was a nice teacher but was quick to anger. We were mostly a group of trouble making ten year olds but today we were on our best behavior.
"Hey Miss Dragon?" A boy called out to our guide.
"It's Miss Pendragon" Our guide corrected him "But what is it?" She smiled warmly.
"What's this ladder for?"
Ms Pendragon looked at what the boy had been pointing at, I looked as well "Oh that leads to the gate house where all the mechanisms are housed to open and close the gate that leads south to Nedlay District".
"Ooh thanks Miss" The boy said and readjusted his wooly hat. My fingers were numb but it was normal for me, actually it was normal for everyone here since we could only afford low grade wool, nothing fancy like the pigs in the capital who can afford to keep warm.
I heard a scratching sound, like if you were to drag a wood axe over concrete and I turned around. I trotted over in my little leather boots to the edge of the wall "Cecilia get away from edge, I told you..." I ignored my teacher and leaned over, careful not to slip on the ice "Little girl, please stay with the group or you won't be allowed to continue the tour" Ms Pendragon said in a more irritable tone but she was still as warm and happy as ever, well, not anymore; I'd found the source of the noise.
"Hey Miss Pendragon? What are they doing here?" I asked while looking down at the bottom of the wall, beyond that was the interior of Wall Maria. Ms Pendragon walked up and looked as well, then the class followed despite Mrs Vince's protests.
Giant, grotesque and deformed humans were crowded around the gate house and were reaching up at us, my heart had long since frozen but now I thought it might shatter like ice. They clawed up at us despite none being tall enough, we were fifty meters up in the air but still they sent shivers down my spine.
Ms Pendragon froze as well, a girl began to cry and Mrs Vince had gone silent "I-impossible... t-that's the interior of Wall Maria, how could they g-get in?" Ms Pendragon whispered with despair, the cold and the fear both made her teeth chatter but she clenched her jaw and turned around "Miss Dragon, who are they?" Another of my classmates asked innocently.
"Titans".
Ms Pendragon went to the other side of the wall that overlooked Vulta district and took something from her belt and fiddled with it then raised it into the air; a flare gun. A red plume of smoke flew high up into the air, and perhaps ten seconds later another followed suit from within the city and another and another. Church bells rung out and then our world came tumbling down.
"Miss Pendragon, w-what do we do?" I asked with fear in my heart, I glanced back to see a hideous one staring at me, I nervously stepped to the side but its beady eyes followed me as I went. I picked up a rock, a chip from the wall and dropped it, to my satisfaction it got stuck in the big bastards eye and it grunted then scratched at its face.
"Cecilia don't do that!" Mrs Vince said and took my arm but she too froze as the giant took its hand and gouged out its own eye to get at the rock, a blood curdling and animalistic screech followed as its blood flowed out in bucket loads.
A girl screamed, Mrs Vince gathered us all up in a group "Ok, we will take the elevator down to the city then I'll lead you to the center, after that all of you must go home to your parents, do you understand?"
The group nodded "What about you, Teacher?" Someone on my left asked "I'll be fine, tell your parents to get to the evacuation points".
The church bells continued to ring and I turned to see the tiny dots of people scurrying about beneath my feet, I looked up suddenly to see seven figures leap up onto the walls and join Ms Pendragon "Corporal, are you alright?"
"Yes, yes we're all fine, get these people down safely please then prepare the cannon teams" Ms Pendragon said then turned to me "Please be alright" She said and hugged me tightly, I didn't know why she hugged me but I hugged her back anyway.
[#]
We made our way down to the city, people were fleeing in terror but to where? The only way out now was the ships and we only had the one that had arrived last week with cargo from the merchant lord in Stohess. People crowded the docks in terror and I watched from afar. I snapped out of my panic and ran to my house to find my parents, before I reached the front door a shadow was caste upon it and then all at once my house was gone, reduced to splinters as a massive tree lay on its side.
"NO!" I screeched and fell to my knees "NO! Mum, Dad where are you?" I got no reply, my house had been ruined but by what? A tree had fallen out of the... no, one of them must have thrown it over the walls. I turned around with tears in my eyes to see an uprooted oak tree crash into a bell tower perhaps a hundred meters away. Wood and rock cascaded down the tower and crushed those beneath it, I didn't want to imagine the fate that was granted to the bell ringer.
Another tree fell and this time far into the distance yet the crash was all too easy to hear. Something was throwing those trees. I turned back to my house and staggered up to see if I could save my parents, I yanked at a bit of wood but I didn't have the strength, my scarf was whipped up by the wind and plastered itself against my tear stained face.
It was hopeless and I knew it but refused to believe it, they had died instantly and there was no helping them. I pushed the emotions to the back of my mind then searched around the wreck of my house to find anything of use, I found where my bedroom was supposed to be and found my slingshot. I put it in my satchel bag then rummaged around some more, to my half hearted delight I found what I was looking for, my father's short bow that he used for hunting, he had told me that it was so strong that it could slay a bear in a single shot. I looked around to find the quiver, I discovered it under a fallen beam which I moved using all of my strength. To my dismay I found that half of the arrows had been snapped in half, I removed them then tied the belt around my waste that was attached to the quiver, I still had ten arrows left. I knew that it would be a struggle to use but it was better than nothing, I lacked the strength to use it effectively, hell I lacked the strength to do anything in this world.
I turned around and climbed out of the ruin then onto the road, another crash in the distance, another house and family gone. I looked back one last time then ran off to the docks. Five minutes later and I reached it, hundreds of men, women and children crowded around it but a portly man and his men had taken up the loading bridge with a massive wagon of his valuables. "Fuckin' pigs" A man shouted in despair and threw a rock at the merchant lord. The soldiers nearby did nothing to stop one of the hired thugs from dragging the man down and beating him half to death while the others pushed the cart up the ramp. People screamed and children cried, some tried jumping the gap and others tried pushing past but all failed. "Let us on, forget your bloody valuables you pig!"
"Shut it!" This is worth more than all of you!" The corpulent merchant retorted then pulled out a flintlock pistol and held it at arms length "Try anything and I'll shoot ya!"
I backed out of the crowded docks, knowing that it would be hopeless unless the fat bastard moved. The soldiers had been blackmailed into helping. I glanced up at another soaring shadow, a tree crashed into the crowd and splattered people to death. Things went bat-shit crazy from then on, only a handful of people had actually died, others dragged themselves up from the dirt and others pushed and shoved. The soldiers and thugs pushed back then one soldier drew his swords and the crowd recalled in terror "Get away!" He roared and swiped the air franticly.
"This is horrible" I whispered to myself and climbed up the ladder to the top of the bell tower of the docks, wary of more flying trees I looked around. In the distance the Wall Garrison had begun blasting titans from the walls with their cannons but a red smoke signal went up from the far north of the city; where titan territory was beyond. The titans outside the walls had begun hammering on the main gate, we were sandwiched between two groups of titans, one on the interior and one on the exterior. No one knew how or why titans had come up from the south, perhaps one of the other outer districts had fallen then let them in.
I took the short bow off of my back and strung an arrow then crouched, I had a perfect view of the surrounding area and the people below me, the wagon was barely a quarter of the way over the loading ramp; I looked down suddenly to see Ms Pendragon directing people yet they ignored her and swarmed in from the rest of the city to the docks despite the situation, the crowd had grown so large that people were being pushed into the icy river and drowning, most did no know how to swim since not even in summer was it warm enough to go swimming in the river.
I breathed in deeply and held the bow up and pulled back with all my meager strength, I had used it a few times in the past but it was hard work. I loosed the arrow and it zipped through the air and stuck the fat merchant in the forehead, he staggered back with his eyes twitching then toppled over into the river and knocked a thug down with him. I gasped for I had just killed a man at just ten years old, I hadn't even thought about what I was doing, I had just acted for the better of the people. The crowd stopped and looked around then up at me. My heart skipped a beat, I thought that I was going to be in deep shit but to my surprise they cheered and whooped in relief "Thank you little girl!" Someone shouted out, somehow it warmed my heart to save them despite slaying a man.
The soldiers dispersed and the thugs backed down, the crowd lurched forwards and using their combined strength tipped the goods laden wagon into the water and swarmed onto the boat.
I had saved them all.
I climbed down from the tower and joined the crowd, my heart was racing but I got on board with the hundreds of terrified but glad citizens of Vulta district. Cannon fire continued blasting out then in the distance a rock came hurtling towards the cannon teams on the gate house of the wall and crushed the emplacements and men alike. I gasped as little figures were cast off the wall along with their guns and fell to their deaths. The ship groaned into life and lurched forwards with as many people as it could carry, hopeless civilians who were left behind jumped to the ship, some made it, most didn't. We neared the wall but stopped suddenly before we passed through the tunnel, we were thrown forwards at the sudden loss of speed. I was the first to right myself, I was near the prow and gasped as a great hand gripped the side of the ship then the other hand reached up and splintered the opposite side. The people around me screamed in terror as a head rose from the waters. This titan was bigger than the others, perhaps twenty, maybe twenty two meters tall it pushed back against the ship with incredible strength. It had been the one throwing the trees, but who threw that rock?
I called it the Goliath Titan.
The massive titan rose up from the icy water, it was heavily built and muscular with tusks on its still human like head and it was truly huge. It snorted out water from its nose and observed the tiny people before it, it was tall enough to stand in the water and strong enough to halt a ship as big as this. I ran back towards the stern of the ship, using everyone's fear to my advantage as they were frozen like statues. I reached the back of the ship then turned to see the Goliath Titan raise both its fists up then slam down on the deck, the front of the ship collapsed in on itself and water began to fill up the prow. Men, women and children along with great slabs and splinters of wood were cast into the air from the staggering strike. The ship tipped as the titan pushed down to drown everyone onboard, those on the docks ran away back into the city, now glad that they hadn't boarded the ship.
I slipped and hit the raised mid section of the rapidly nose-diving ship, people cascaded into the water for an icy death or worse, brutal consumption by the titan. It swatted people down and smeared them against the deck effortlessly, I retched but kept a level head then turned and ran then leaped into the water away from the ship and everyone on it. I crashed into the freezing waters and it hit me like a furious December night, I gasped and spluttered but fortunately I could swim. My limbs began to rapidly go numb then a plank of wood from the ship hit me and I went under. I looked up hazily, the water stabbing at my eyes with icy daggers. The dull sun barely illuminated the relatively shallow waters for it was a cloudy day, my breath was at its limit and I forced myself upwards but I was too far down. I cried out but only bubbles followed, I knew I would die.
I choked on the freezing water but to my relief a hand reached in and yanked me upwards and out of the water onto the stone platform beside the lake. "Cecilia, are you alright?" A warm voice asked in panic. I looked up with my hair plastered to my face, Ms Pendragon, a Corporal in the Wall Garrison and my school guide looked down on me and pushed the hair back out of my eyes. I coughed and spluttered then stood up, even the slightest breeze chilled me to the bone. Ms Pendragon took her jacket off and gave it to me so I removed my wet wooly coat and put it on "T-thank you" I said through chittering teeth. A crash followed by more painful screams came from behind me as the ship was halfway down in the water at eighty degrees, the stern was straight up in the air. The Goliath Titan smashed down again and the ship tore in half and crashed into the water, everyone on board was dead.
"Come on we need to go, the cannon teams are targeting the titan" Ms Pendragon said and took my hand, with her other hand she fired a smoke signal up into the air. She replaced it to her belt then hurriedly led me back into the city. I looked up to hear cannon fire and the projectiles zipped through the air over my head and impacted into the Goliath Titan. It staggered back against the tunnel wall from the shells but righted itself and looked directly at me, it took a step forward but was halted when a heavy explosive shell tore its upper half to bits in a fiery blast. It slumped back then sank deep into the water to its icy grave, along with all the hundreds of people that it had killed.
We ran to the center of the city, somehow I was glad that the monstrous giant had been slain but if what they said about the titans were true then it didn't matter, it possessed no intelligence and so could not feel the effects of irony nor karma. "Where are we going?" I gasped, my little legs could barely keep up especially since they were still recovering from the cold. "I-I don't know".
All our escape routes had been cut off, fortunately no more trees had been thrown since the death of the Goliath Titan, the only one I guessed that was strong enough to throw trees over the walls. "W-what do we do?" I asked desperately and looked at civilians running around with nowhere to go. "They can't get in so we're safe for now" She replied "What about the big one that got through the river tunnel?" I asked.
"It was tall enough to walk through the river but the ship has blocked up the tunnel now so no more can get in that way" Ms Pendragon assured me but I had my doubts.
"Corporal, a messenger has come from the Shiganshina district by riding along the top of the walls. He says that Shiganshina was attacked seven days ago and that the titans have invaded from the south, the other districts have fallen as well from the inside" A soldier hurried up to us and said. Ms Pendragon stopped "Seven days ago?!"
"Yes, Shiganshina is hundreds of kilometers away, this was the fastest he could do" I looked up at the soldier before me, perhaps twenty years old and of strong build. "Can we fight them?" I asked.
The soldier looked at me with despair clouding his eyes, his expression was all I needed to know the truth. "Are we safe here?" I pressed and wrapped the jacket around me tighter.
"For now but I don't know if they can get in in the future, they'd need the ones that destroyed Shiganshina to breach that wall" The soldier said, I was relieved to know that the worst had passed for now "W-what do you mean?"
"There was this massive titan, red and skinless the messenger said. It could look over the walls it was so big" The soldier said "I-impossible, the walls are fifty meters high" Ms Pendragon said.
"I'm telling the truth, this thing was said to be colossal. How else do you think it could let the titans in? The inner gate then got rammed by a titan with armor".
[#]
I woke to the sound of a gunshot and it rung throughout the halls of the Garrison fort. Ms Pendragon had saved me and let me stay with her in the fort, the city was safe for now but no one knew how long. The titans still clawed up at the walls during the day and left an eerie silence at night, we had no escape route, we were birds in this stone cage around us. I got up and wandered down the halls in my pajamas, fortunately Ms Pendragon had taken good care of me and so tended to my every need despite Vulta's situation.
I heard yelling and opened the door to the officers lounge to find blood smeared on the wall and a girl slumped against it with a rifle beside her, she had shot herself out of despair. I covered my mouth and tried not to cry out then turned and ran back to my room but collided with Ms Pendragon in the gloomy corridor "Cecilia, what happened?"
"S-she shot herself" I gasped then covered my mouth again. "Go back to your room, I'll go see" She assured me and I nodded with a sniffle.
[#]
Day six, thirteen days since the fall of Shiganshina and Wall Maria.
I stood atop the gatehouse alongside Ms Pendragon, she had taken to dragging me around everywhere she went to keep me safe and for that I was eternally grateful. The remaining population of Vulta district, about six thousand, had been carrying on life within the city as best they could but still they lived in fear, six days had passed since our escape route was cut off and food was growing thin and fresh water sparse. I looked over the walls as Ms Pendragon kept watch, the titans just stared at me as they reached up. Some banged on the gate but it was futile, even the Goliath Titan couldn't destroy the main gate. I had my fathers short bow with me and my slingshot was in the satchel bag, I had an old Garrison cloak to keep me warm but it was a bit big for me.
I thought about my parents, I didn't even see their bodies but I'm glad I didn't, I think it would have been too much for me. A pang of pain struck my heart as I realized; I realized that I sent all those people to their deaths by killing the merchant lord. No, it was the right thing to do, how was I suppose to know the ship was to get attacked? It was their only hope of salvation and I gave it to them, what then followed was out of my control.
Day thirteen.
Things are starting to go to the dogs, social order is breaking down and there's fear of a plague from the hundreds of deceased corpses. The titans continue to claw at the wall, eager to get at us but it's snowing and it seems to slow them down, not that it matters much since it's the waiting game not a race to die first. Those living by the north gate are feeling the worst of it, they are the poorest of Vulta and so a few have frozen to death, mostly the young and the elderly. I walked through the eerily quite city towards my old house, Ms Pendragon had to go to the fort so I was all alone. I reached the old wreck and looked around, kicking bits of debris to see what was beneath but it was a mistake, an overturned chair revealed a stagnant and congealed pool of dry blood; I gasped and backed away for I knew it belonged to one of my parents, or worse both, but I stepped back against something. I turned around to see a man looking down on me with a sinister grin. "H-hi" I whispered under my breath.
"This your home?" He asked casually.
"I-it was" I replied and backed away but stepped in the pool of blood. "I can give you a new home if you like?" He said, what a peculiar notion? My dad always told me to be wary of people, slaver gangs often patrol the poorer districts, maybe this poor sod got stuck in Vulta when it was cut off from the rest of the world. "N-no I'm fine I live at the fort".
"Oh, really? Well let me take you back" He said and grabbed my arm with enough force to startle me but not enough to make me panic "No I'm fine" I said but he led me away towards the poorer areas of Vulta "T-the fort is that way".
"No it's this way little girl" He chuckled, I knew then who he was as his scarf dipped down to reveal the mark of the slaver gangs. I gasped quietly and the man turned back but ignored it and carried on dragging me forwards, I resisted so he stopped and slapped me across the face "Do as I say" he spat and carried on. I panicked, I reached down to my waist and drew an arrow from the quiver then held it close to my body to hide it, we reached an intersection of alleys and he looked side to side, as his head switched sides and saw directly ahead I jumped up and stuck the arrow head first into the side of his neck and he screamed in agony and I let go, I backed away as he thrashed around trying to get the arrow out but it was a diamond shaped tip, designed not to come out. I turned around and scampered away back to the fort, dreading that I might have killed another man, and I'm still only ten.
Day twenty nine.
I sat on the wall overlooking Vulta district and I did not dare go down, not even Ms Pendragon and the soldiers with her wanted to go down, the inevitable had happened and it wasn't titans, the populace had turned to cannibalism. They had stormed the Garrison fort to take what little supplies we had left but we had escaped in time, Ms Pendragon sliced a mans head off to stop me from being grabbed by ravenous people, the world was spiraling out of control, sometimes I wish I could fall asleep and never wake up, I didn't know what was worse; being eaten by titans or being eaten by desperate humans. I would never turn to their last resort. I looked down at my bread roll and took a bite and savored it, the fresh water was all gone and the weather had only deteriorated even further, but that did mean that snow could be made drinkable so at least they didn't start drinking human blood like vampires, eww gross stop thinking that. Ok, right what now? No one had a plan, the only thing was to survive within our prison for as long as possible.
"Alright, that's it!" A soldier roared, the same one that had relayed the message to Corporal Pendragon, I think his name was Samson Mordecai "We're leaving!"
I stood up with my bread in hand to see what was the commotion "We can't, there's no way that we can get out of the city without the titans eating us!" Someone retorted. "No, we go along the walls" Samson said and everyone fell silent "But that will just lead us in a circle and past the other fallen districts".
"Exactly!" Samson exclaimed "We have no hope at all of getting out of here unless we take that route, it won't lead us to the inner districts but who knows what we might find to help us on our way. If we can travel to the westernmost district then we might stand a chance at finding more supplies and who knows? Horses and food so that we can make it to safety, if it wasn't for those ravenous bastards then we would have enough horses to risk it and go along the ground". My eyes lit up, the idea was dangerous and foolhardy but it was the best one, no it was the only one. All but one horse had been eaten by the civilians down below us and now they turned on each other. Our last horse was atop the walls with us with our last wagon of supplies; barrels of water, three crates of bread, 3DMG gas canisters, food for the horse and a few tools and clothes.
"It- it's a good idea" I spoke up and everyone turned to me "It's our only hope of surviving, winter is only going to arrive, faster now than ever and it will make survival impossible without trade routes and structure".
Everyone nodded in agreement "There's seven of us plus the horse, on foot it will take perhaps two weeks to reach Aggrellan District to the west. We will have to spread our resources thin but it's possible" Ms Pendragon explained and turned to me with a smile on her face "When all hope is gone, the only way left is forwards so we move along and survive". Everyone cheered and I joined in, my heart and spirits had been lifted dramatically, the most since Wall Maria fell.
"Good, we'll leave in half an hour so get ready, take what you can from the gate house, everyone meet back here at that time and good luck" Samson Mordecai said "But there's something else..." He said and his resolve wavered slightly. "What is it?" I asked, not knowing the truth behind his expression.
"We can't leave all those thousands of civilians down there to cannibalize each other like animals, it's not human nor is it right especially when we have a way out and they don't, we can't take them with us as we only have enough supplies for us seven".
"I know what you're getting at, I'll do it" Ms Pendragon said and strengthened her own resolve "Do what?" I asked curiously, everyone turned to me with grim expressions.
"Open the gate".
My eyes widened and I gasped in shock "N-no you can't, they'll..." I was cut off as Samson spoke up "They'll die one way or another, letting them get killed by the titans is faster than letting them kill each other off. It's the lesser of two evils to have the enemy kill them rather than themselves, either way they end up in a stomach". My heart ached at the words but I knew them to be right, I sat down on the cold stone of the wall and breathed in deeply "Ok, ok do it".
Ms Pendragon took a deep breath then smiled weekly at me then turned and climbed down the ladder to the interior of the gatehouse. A few seconds later I heard the cranking of mechanisms and the gate grind and groan into life, it was raised up slowly and steadily then the machine stopped with a clunk and I winced alongside it. I raised my head to see everyone move to the edge of the walls, Ms Pendragon climbed back up but looked away from me, she didn't want anyone to see her face. I heard screams of terror and the thumping of giant footsteps beneath me, a 15m class titan wandered through the now opened gate then it was followed by a few more of various sizes. The people of Vulta had their fate sealed, or rather their cage opened, whichever way you looked at it they would die.
I stood back up then hugged Ms Pendragon around the waste to comfort her, she hugged me back and began to cry. I tried not to cry as well and bit back a tear.
"Thank you, Corporal" Samson said solemnly. I think he was a Lieutenant in the Wall Garrison and he inspired me with bravery that no other could. I felt safe with these soldiers and I knew that we'd make it out alive, at least most of us.
"Alright, get ready!" Samson called out "We leave in twenty minutes for Aggrellan district!"