Author's Note:
Hello lovely reader! Thank you very much for taking your time to read my work. This is my first fanfiction of Attack on Titan (I freaking love the show), but feel free to message me any criticism or ideas that you'd like me to include in future chapters. Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin, all the characters belong to their rightful owners.
^_^ Enjoy! ^_^
Background: It's the year 851, and the Survey Corps has returned to their abandoned castle in the woods. It is late in the night, all are asleep, and Erwin Smith is calling a very important, secretive meeting for a select few.
Chapter 1: The Meeting
A rough, urgent shake of his shoulders woke Eren in the vacant night. He slowly opened his leaden eyelids and was unluckily greeted with Levi's quirky smirk. The lance corporal shook Eren once more, jolting the drowsiness from his torpid body. They had trained together all day yesterday, with Levi ruthlessly teaching Eren even more specific techniques of combat. Although Eren had picked up many of the skills, he had become quite battered and very sore by the end of the lesson.
"Wake up, asshole," Levi ordered, forcefully pulling Eren up by the shoulders.
Eren rubbed his eyes as he reluctantly dragged himself out of the bed.
"What's going on?" he asked, following Levi into the hallway.
"Don't ask so many questions." Levi grumbled, his shadow disappearing into the darkness.
"Hey!" Eren shouted. "Wait up!"
Levi opened the door to a room that Eren had never seen. It was extremely small, with just enough space to hold a puny wooden table and three dusty chairs. A single flickering candle stood in the center of the table, the glistening wax slowly dripping on to the wood. Commander Erwin Smith was sitting in one of the chairs, his face expressionless. He seemed to be in deep thought, but immediately lifted his head when Levi and Eren quietly walked through the door. Closely eyeing them both, he motioned for them to take a seat.
After he sat down, Levi stretched his arms behind him, leaned back on the chair, and instinctively turned his head toward the door.
"Are we waiting for someone?" he asked coolly.
Just as the words flowed from Levi's mouth, Hanji dashed into the room and slammed the door behind her.
"I'm here!" she shouted with glee. She stared at her wrist, checking an invisible watch. "And only a minute late…"
Erwin held up a restless hand. "Hanji please," Eren noticed that there was an impatient strain to his voice. "Be quiet, we don't want to wake anyone up."
Hanji smiled apologetically and looked for a place to sit. Levi, seeing that there were only three seats, furtively kicked Eren out of his, causing the poor boy to fall to the ground. Ignoring Eren's surprised cry, Levi nodded at Hanji, and she happily took the seat without a protest.
"Thank you for your noble sacrifice, Eren," Hanji chuckled.
"Damn it," Eren cursed under his breath. He arduously pulled himself up and rubbed his aching hip.
"This is not a time for nonsense," Erwin scolded, hastily glancing at a blushing Hanji. "I have called you three for a very important reason, and so this meeting must be taken seriously."
Eren's ears perked up once he heard Erwin's words. He had taken part in a special operation with the Survey Corps before, but it had never been with so few people. Well, that was before the 57th expedition… he thought wistfully.
"What is it Erwin?" Hanji whispered excitedly. "Are we going outside the walls again?"
"Yes," Erwin replied exhaustedly. (Hanji yelped in genuine delight.) "However, this time it is different."
Levi, who had been staring at an enormous spider web in the corner, suddenly turned to face the commander.
"I have made a discovery," Erwin continued, aware that he had finally gotten all of their attention. "That may change the face of humanity."
Erwin scanned the perimeter for any Titans. None were in sight. He coaxed his horse to run faster and forlornly observed the rubble of obliterated houses, houses that also carried lost souls of the city.
The night before, he had decided that in order to devise a new and long-awaited mission for the Survey Corps, he had to quickly scout the Titan-conquered territories alone. He hadn't bothered telling anyone, not even Levi, in hopes that he wouldn't need to. Erwin had actually done this many times before, by leaving the city from a personally constructed gate near the far right of Wall Rose. He had never revealed this secret, as it was something, he believed, that only the commander himself was responsible for. In each of these brief investigations, he never engaged combat with a Titan for his sole purpose was to just study what was out there.
However, during this scouting, Erwin encountered something utterly frightening. As he was riding his horse through the debris of fallen cities, he had already spotted a handful of Titans in the distance and was prepared to return back to the wall. Suddenly, his head was wrenched with an alien ring that reverberated through the still air. He immediately stopped his horse and turned around to see what was causing the noise. There was nothing at first, but then…
He saw it.
In the distance, an enormous skeletal figure was fumbling through the forest, devouring the earth in fire with every step. It released another agonizing cry, causing Erwin to cover his ears. The horrifying creature was too far away for Erwin to scrutinize its miniscule characteristics, but he already had enough information. There was a now new species of Titan outside the walls. Something had to be done.
He frantically raced back to the city, but was overcome with the dreaded ringing again. As he finally reached the gate, the ringing grew louder and louder, until Erwin couldn't endure the agonizing throbbing in his head any longer. He somehow managed to seal the gate, but soon collapsed to the ground, absorbed by darkness.
"When I woke up, I was lying in the same place, but the ringing had thankfully faded away." Erwin paused and looked up to see the reactions of the others.
As usual, Levi had no response. His face was blank and emotionless. There was no way to tell if any of this information had even gotten to him, only Erwin knew that it had.
He slowly moved his eyes to Hanji, who was shaking in her chair. She seemed to have gone mad. Erwin knew that this discovery would excite her, which was one of the reasons why he had called her. In order for the mission to be a success, a group member had to possess a lively outlook on a bleak situation, and for the Survey Corps, Hanji was always the one who provided this excitement.
Then, his gaze rested upon Eren, whose face was completely drained of color. He stood there, his fists clenched, speechless. Erwin was still unsure of why he had included Eren, but he knew that the boy was miraculous, and now that he had been given a year to train with Levi, there was hope that he could use his Titan powers even further.
Levi was the one to break the silence.
"A new species of Titan, you say?" He refocused his gaze on the spider web. "I can take it on, of course."
Unexpectedly, the exhilaration that had been bubbling inside Hanji exploded, erupting into a cloud of crazed curiosity.
"A new species of Titan?!" she squealed, nearly jumping out of her seat. "Oh, is this real life? We must capture it and conduct experiments! This could be another turning point for mankind! Oh, what did it look like Erwin? Was it big and beautiful? I must see it! I must see it now!"
Hanji continued to dance wildly in her chair as Eren finally snapped out of his state of shock.
"A new species of Titan…" he whispered in terror. "It can't be… There's more? And we've never seen this one before… What does this mean for humanity? Are we doomed once more? How will we survive against something that we know so little about? Then again… How have we continued to exist for so many years? With death hanging on our very doorstep?"
Erwin gently tapped his fist on the table to break the chaos (which was mostly coming from Hanji).
"All of you," he said sternly. "Please, calm down."
"I'm always calm," Levi muttered with his eyes still glued to the unremarkable spider web.
Erwin sighed. "As you are probably thinking, we must act immediately. We need to conduct another expedition outside the walls to learn more about this new species before it brings destruction to all of humanity. So far, there are many unanswered questions, and hopefully this mission will clear up some of the uncertainties."
"And…" Eren began in a trembling voice. "…Is it only going to be us?"
Erwin nodded grimly, eliciting an alarmed gasp from Eren and a skeptical look from Levi.
"B-b-but how is that possible?" Eren demanded incredulously, "The entire Survey Corps can't even face the normal Titans out there, how do you expect just the four of us to challenge this unknown one that may be even more dangerous than the others combined?"
"Eren," Levi growled. "Watch your dirty mouth."
Enormously embarrassed of his sudden outburst, Eren apologized immediately, but was met with Erwin's understanding.
"Eren is right," Erwin began, staring intently at the candle in front of him, which had now melted into a gooey puddle. "This will be one of the most dangerous expeditions ever undertaken in the history of the Survey Corps. However, it is necessary that we keep the information about this new Titan confined to a select few people because we know so little about it. If the news spreads to everyone, especially to those within Wall Sina, then we will lose control of the operation entirely. All of you must keep this a secret for now, until we uncover concrete explanations to this mystery."
Levi and Hanji nodded, but Eren remained motionless.
"Eren," Erwin said kindly. "I understand if you are not comfortable with all of this. You do not have to participate in this expedition. But you are a crucial member of the Survey Corps, and without you, we may not be able to discover information about the Titans that will be vital to the advancement and survival of humanity. It is your choice."
Levi swiftly rose from his seat. "I'll make that fool—"
Erwin held up his hand yet again. "Levi, please."
Eren knew that joining this expedition would risk his life, as well as the lives of Erwin, Levi, and Hanji, nevertheless they were willing to readily give up their beings to benefit humanity. From the first day they joined the Survey Corps, they knew that their fickle lives were hanging by a thread, but in a way, this constant uncertainty fueled them to overcome their fear of dying and instead learn to embrace it. Eren thought he had learned to accept death, yet it seemed that even with his Titan powers, he was still hesitant. When he had finally mustered the will to turn into a Titan to defeat Annie, afterwards, he believed that he would be ready for anything. And this new expedition was the epitome of anything. He had to do it. There were so many questions to answer, so many people who were killed for the sake of discovery. He would not let those soldiers die in vain. This was his purpose in the Survey Corps: to put his life on the line for mankind's critical understanding of the Titans. He knew what his choice was.
"I'll do it!" Eren finally concluded, proudly saluting Erwin.
Erwin smiled, Levi snorted, and Hanji leaped into the air.
"Then it's settled," Erwin said triumphantly. "In two days, we begin the 58th expedition outside the walls to find out what this new Titan really is!"