Disclaimer: I don't own Tokyo Ghoul :Re nor Shingeki no Kyojin or anything related with both the Anime and Manga, all those are the property of their respective authors (Sui Ishida and Hajime Isayama).
Caged World.
Chapter One: Titan Encounter.
The crimson blade of Yukimura cut through the giant's fingers effortlessly releasing the flesh tendrils into the air before they fell. Haise leaped back only to see how steam began to rose form the monster's injuries and slowly, new fingers replaced the wounds.
'Figures' Thought Haise still wielding his quinque, 'Regeneration is also common here, but still, what the hell is that thing?' Continued to think the bicolored-haired investigator dodging the other arm before rolling over the ground.
The gargantuan-like humanoid followed him with slow movements still trying to catch him, it didn't even try to dodge the numerous slashes that Haise continued to throw at its arms.
Haise jumped back and dodged another arm and frowned at the reactions of his opponent. That did not resemble anything he had faced before, at least with a ghoul, he knew wisely that they possessed intelligence on a par with the human and were capable of the same things, only limited by society, but that 'ogre' was Only a gigantic brute who tried to catch him as if he were in no hurry.
'Not to mention its regeneration, with such a large body, it must have a good number of RC cells in there.' Haise thought while grabbing Yukimura by the hilt with the blade to the ground looking for an opening to try and attack what was probably the universal weak point.
'There!' The researcher thought before jumping, taking advantage of the short distance that separated it between one of the huge arms and landed on them feeling the warm contact of the skin under his feet.
Without losing a single second, Haise jumped again and remained a short distance from the face of the giant that opened the smiling mouth exhaling a rotten wave that confirmed the suspicion that the investigator had about the diet of being.
Before the monstrous humanoid could get any closer, Yukimura's long blade was nailed firmly to its temple and with a single short pull, it slashed through numerous pieces of flesh leaving Haise soaked with the half-boiled liquid.
The investigator took impulse from the skull and jumped, just to land a few meters behind, Haise squeezed what he could of blood and was ready to deactivate Yukimura only to hear the same sound of smoldering steam while his nose detected the smell of fresh meat boiling.
'You have to be kidding ..' He thought as he turned to admire just how the face he had mutilated was regenerating. The fleshy fibers of the muscles joined slowly as patches of skin sprouted from reddish matter, all of which emitted the same type of vapor.
Soon he recovered fully showing the horrifying face with that smile wide open, apparently, that thing did not lack the intelligence necessary to stop even with a regeneration like that, who would?
While Haise had not been at all surprised with the regeneration of his fingers, seeing how a giant of apparent human nature regenerated from much of his face and even a cut in his temple as if nothing was disturbing.
"Tsk," Haise snapped before stabbing the hand trying to pounce on him. "At least Yukimura is effective to cut it, but that regeneration ..."
It was true, despite being a B-rated quinque, Yukimura was incredibly sharp, even for quinque standards, if that tool allowed him to even cut through a Koukaku kagune without much effort, which he could do to A common human being was incredible.
And apparently, Yukimura cut like a hot knife on butter when his blade traversed the monster's flesh.
But the edge of his quinque was useless if he simply cut the stupid. Haise elbowed another of his arms again before cutting a cut into what appeared to be a deformed wrist. Blood sprout from the new wound as the monster's full hand falls to the ground.
The giant looked stupidly at his severed limb before emitting what seemed to be a grunt of annoyance and he raised his other arm only to unload a pack on Haise, or rather, on the spot where the investigator had been standing.
Haise looked at the small fissure that had formed under the fist of the giant and took notice of the strength it had. Without thinking twice, Haise deactivated Yukimura before putting the hilt in his belt and let the black kakugan's cape occupy his left eye while two crimson tentacles of his kagune emerged beneath his trench coat.
'Well, you have to use one monster to kill another.' Haise thought before extending both tentacles and shaping the ends until they resembled a pair of rams. Both appendages shot out into the immense bulk of the giant as the investigator cracked his index finger.
The giant was momentarily absorbed in the sight of the two crimson tentacles that ended up nailing in his chest causing a new surge of blood. It had no opportunity to try to detach them before a third tentacle sprouted just below its silhouette and ended up impaling it from there.
'My kagune causes him much more harm, but he continues to regenerate.' The Half-ghoul thought frowning as he manipulated his tentacles so that they quietly pierced the huge body of the beast who tried to shed in vain the predatory appendages that pierced it's body again and again from different angles like furious snakes at their master's order.
Haise noticed that the hand he had cut was fading to the ground as skeletal remains barely covered by scraps of flesh and muscles from which small fumes of burning steam rose.
'So that's what happens to what's cut.' Reasoned Haise while controlling the three tentacles to merge and take the form of a three-finger claw very similar to the one he had used against Serpent and attacked the head with it.
The much thicker tentacle with the point ending in said claw took the top of the monster's head and brutally squeezed it crunching the skull as if it were an eggshell, like the ones that he used to prepare in the morning sometimes in the Chateau.
Haise wiped from his face the remains of warm blood that had come to rest and looked with a certain morbid fascination as the head slowly regenerated. Definitely, that was something that no ghoul would be able to do.
One thing was that his head was cut off, but from what he read in the reports of the SS-rate ghoul Noro and seen in the roof fight, apparently as long as the head remained intact it was possible that ...
It was over, Haise looked disgusted as the half-regenerated head of the giant stared at him hungrily, if that infernal expression could be called glance. The fleshy friars could hardly join with the shattered muscles while the pale remains of the skull tried to come together again showing huge cracks. Only one eye was formed, an orb the same size as a basketball and injected with blood.
"Truly, you are a monster," Haise commented before tricking his finger again causing other three tentacles to rise from his back and join with the rest while he released the claw that formed the other three. The former First Class Investigator commanded his tentacles to cut off the giant's limbs which they did quickly provoking the huge mass of the limbs to fall on the ground raising a cloud of dust.
Haise walked slowly toward the fallen silhouette as he activated Yukimura again, letting the long crimson blade materialize into a reddish halo.
"Can you understand me?" Haise commented as a question when he had finished climbing the fallen silhouette of the beast. He did not feel any fear of seeing his reflection appear in the two black orbs, as big as basketball balls that looked at him uselessly.
His kagune continued to prevent the regeneration of the limbs without any effort, so he was completely out of harm's way, of course, as long as he stayed away from the mouth.
The monster showed no signs of understanding the question and merely opened and closed his mouth trying to reach Haise with the little mobility he had.
The half-ghoul sighed in relief before raising Yukimura and calling two other tentacles on his back, which rose a couple of yards before violently piercing the deformed head.
He did not stir even when the blood splashed his face, in fact, he approached before one of the tentacles brutally sliced the tendons from his mouth, rendering it useless.
Haise released the rest of the tentacles and manipulated the six appendages to brutally protrude head again and again. There was no way something could survive that and to be sure, Haise grabbed Yukimura and lifted the quinque so that the blade pointed to the neck where without missing a single second, draw a long slash on the neck that creaked deafly when the bone was cut.
The deformed head, with everything and neck, detached itself from the body revealing a torrent of blood on the ground.
Almost immediately, Haise noticed that the steam that usually flowed from the wounds now appeared more intensely than the body, but it did not stop the appearance of fleshy mass.
'So beheading is effective,' Thought the investigator before descending his body and giving a look at what was left of the body which begins to deteriorate in some way. Haise watched as the flesh began to boil more intensely until it began to evaporate, something that caused him to raise an eyebrow at it.
'What is this?' He wondered as he tore off a piece and brought it to his mouth, swallowing some saliva, Haise bit something and brought it quickly. The sweet taste of the meat soon invaded his palate and ended up confirming his fears.
Apparently, whatever that thing was, it was at least edible.
'I wish it weren't so hot.' Haise thought while taking another bite of the piece he kept holding, 'And the steam is annoying, but it's the best for the moment.'
He wasn't slow to realize that what he was holding was not free from evaporation, so he hastened to finish it just to see that the mass of the corpse was hardly covered in flesh as the previous times because he could see the ribcage clearly and parts of the bones.
Haise walked around with curiosity as he watched as the remaining pieces of meat continued to evaporate. The investigator mentally calculated the height and ended up determining it between seven and eight meters, was not sure because the head, or what was left was no longer there as an indicator.
By then he had already reached a single conclusion. Haise was definitely not in his world. And also, if it was in another where there were creatures so prowling nature, it was more logical to have to leave there as soon as possible and seek refuge.
He had no intention of spending the night completely vulnerable to the appearance of other similar creatures. While Haise hoped he could effortlessly wipe out one or even two creatures of that caliber, he did not want to risk meeting anything worse.
"Well, on the bright side. At least I don't have to worry about eating." He shrugged before putting Yukimura in his trenchcoat and starting to move away from the remains of the gigantic skeleton that would remain there, as proof of what he had killed to survive.
Haise walked through what was left of the meadow, giving a vowel to the little stream toward the hills he had seen minutes before, and continued to advance. The wind blew his black and white hair as his gray eyes turned red for a moment to detect a well-known scent.
Wherever he went, death apparently followed him and saw it in the form of a deadfield from the top of the hill.
Apparently, he had found a possible shelter but also something he did not want to see.
Numerous bodies and remains were stacked in an area of dead vegetation. Judging by the remains, they had been there for years, but what really disturbed Haise were the huge tracks in the mud, as well as the signs of destruction in the small village the distance.
It was not necessary to think too much to know what had happened there.
Haise under the hill and covered his nose preventing the stench of putrefaction continued to circulate through his system and continued walking towards the village, maybe some of those small buildings could serve as a shelter for the night.
xXx
Haise had traveled the whole desolate little village in a half-hour pass, and if he needed further proof that he was definitely no longer in Japan or going much further, in his own world.
To begin with, the architecture of the place was similar to that of the West during Medieval periods and had already ruled out the fact that it was an isolated community of Europe because the latter seemed to be completely implausible.
The sun was already setting and the shadows began to creep in slowly, covering the whole plain where the village was located, whereupon the investigator decided to take refuge in the building that seemed to him more solid, which was something like a church.
That was when Haise realized the last thing he needed. For after getting through the destroyed half-timber gate, he did realize that it was a temple of some sort. Long wooden benches and a sort of podium to the end occupied the room, though far from paying much attention to that, the investigator opted to head for the door that had to the side of the bottom.
It did not seem surprising to him that it was closed, maybe the owner had left their things he considered too valuable or heavy to load and certainly did not need much ballast when they tried to flee those things.
Sighing, Haise quietly activated the blade of Yukimura before crossing the lock with his edge and kicking the door whose wood did not tolerate the impact and fell to the ground with a creak.
"What would Akira say if he had seen that?" He mocked Haise before passing through the remains of the door that creaked as he felt his weight.
scoured the room carefully and was surprised to find that it contained only a few stone steps that descended a few meters. The steps continued until meeting their end in another door, this visibly of metal that seemed to be secured to keep outside to any intruder.
'Or inside,' Haise thought, recalling a couple of disturbing reports about Ghoul Restaurants. There was a reason why he had been pre-empted by Mutsuki when he had offered to accompany Juuzou in the auction infiltration and even planned to oppose his decision.
Likewise, the investigator descended on the steps until he reached the second door and nailed the blade of his quinque on the supports of the door and shot upstairs causing it to collapse.
With a heavy sound, the iron door came to rest on the floor behind the port thanks to a slight push from Haise and raised a small cloud of dust that made the gray-eyed young man cough.
"Well, thank goodness the landlord is not here to sue me for property damage." Continued Haise resuming his habit of talking to himself. At that time even the presence of Ken Kanequinque would have been well received.
But he stopped as soon as a well-known scent reached his nostrils and set him on alert. Sniffing the air full of moisture and abandon, Haise managed to detect the bittersweet aroma of putrefaction and close enough for his taste.
The investigator firmly took his quinque while also preparing his position in case he had to make use of close combat or his kagune, which after the light meal of hours ago, was full and ready.
His gray eyes scanned the darkness of the basement while his scent smelled more signs of smell and quite close to him.
By then, Haise had already been able to distinguish the vague forms of the HB. Composite pallid walls made of stacked and neglected brick, wooden floor in which damp and deserted stains spread, which were obvious to explain, but of furniture he could only catch a couple of chairs as well as a half destroyed and stacked table in A corner next to a pile of dry and dead wood, maybe to be used as firewood.
Until he came up with the familiar vision of a third door that was just the place from which the smell emanated, he did not change his position and slowly approached with his quinque on hand, ready to discharge a knife to the first thing that tried to rush at him.
Without missing a single minute, Haise kicked against the creaking door before a gap opened between the wood and cut the remnants to break through.
Entering the new room, Haise noticed several things: It was definitely a much better place than the rest, which had been built so that the interior was preserved intact as well as the skeletal remains lying against the wall.
The investigator approached and bowed to the remains trying to find some clue. But with all the time that had passed between his death, it was almost unimportant to determine what had been the cause.
In the same way, Haise made an attempt to close the man's inexistent eyelids and lay his body on the floor, perhaps he would try to give him a dignified burial along with all the other corpses he had seen.
He turned to look at the contents of the room and arched an eyebrow. It was an alcove decorated with a couple of furniture that had a layer of dust on them.
A light four-poster bed was attached to the wall and perfectly tense, while the wrinkles on the cloth showed that it had not been used in a couple of years. An almost empty bookcase was stacked against the wall while a few volumes bound in what appeared to be leather piled up on their shelves. Out of nowhere, a rustically worked wooden desk was glued to the wall opposite the bed with a stool that seemed to have seen better days.
Of course, Haise approached the bookshelf and took one of the volumes before cleaning the cover of the film of dust that covered it which caused him to sneeze.
"Reste der Menschheit," Read Haise while frowning. Well, if he needed another proof that he was not in Japan anymore, he had it now. It was German for 'The Remnants of Humanity'.
Even frowning, Haise began to read the content after opening the first page.
xXx
Next morning met Haise, using his kagune to pile the bodies he had found, and two others, whose tips had been shaped like shovels, were in charge of digging a hole that served as a common pit.
The investigator did not look very well and the bags under his eyes served as evidence. A couple of hours of staying awake and reading the books that had been added to the information he had acquired had made him an insomniac.
Imagine waking up in a place plagued by humanoid and man-eating creatures that could reach over fifteen meters in height. Now summing up the fact that mankind now lived trapped between walls while the gluttonous giants, Titans, remembered Haise, prowled the outskirts of the fence to close their jaws on the poor men who fell in them.
The Ghouls had the appearance, and thought like humans, on the other hand, they ate them and they prevailed but never they had reached so much, they did it simply because it was the only thing that they could eat. And from what he had read, those 'Titans' did not require eating to subsist.
Haise finished putting the bodies in the pit he had dug and began to put dirt on it, it was the small thing that could do about it. But while he was doing it, he directed his gaze towards the hill from where he had descended, whose other side still had the remains of the Titan he had killed the day before.
Just to imagine the dozens, not to mention hundreds of those creatures wandering around the world made Haise felt an emptiness in his stomach.
From what he had read, it seemed that those monsters had appeared a century before, enveloping all of the humanity in a unilateral war against the beasts, which, endowed with prodigious force and a skill of regeneration, devoured without restraint or moral the soldiers who treated to engage them.
The remains of mankind had built gigantic walls, three of them exactly to keep the beasts from scratching and stay safe while the rest of the world was dominated by the Titans.
Haise had read a little about the history of that century, in which basically the remains of the humanoid had remained trapped in the same cage that they had created but were unable to leave because of the Titans waiting hungrily in front of the walls waiting for the opportunity to get in.
Or rather, they had stopped waiting.
The man he had found dead in the room was none other than a faithful devotee of something called the Cult of the Walls, an apparent religious organization that idolized the aforementioned walls that were supposed to keep mankind safe. Haise could not help but roll his eyes as he read that, he had never had religious devotion or thought possible to have it because of his nature, but he knew how stupid it could be to make the mark of divinity something clearly created by human hands.
In the same way, he had found what appeared to be a diary, which did not cost him any effort to decipher like the rest of the books despite being in German. Thanks to the close ties that the CCG had with the Ghul Forschung Gesellschaft, it was almost a requirement to have an understanding of the language, and he was not the exception. Haise probably didn't have the language as smooth as the Special Class Matsuri Washuu but at least he understood it well enough.
Apparently, the poor man had received the news that one of the walls had fallen and a certain part of the population was moving towards the next. Instead of escaping, the man had kept all his possessions in the basement and had locked himself up in the hope of surviving and remaining in the place where he had lived throughout his life.
'So the day their historians feared truly happened.' Haise had deduced after reading it last night, but now it seemed to him simply that it was useless.
He walked towards the refuge that he had taken as a refuge and descended the steps leading to the room almost closing the door before remembering that it was destroyed by him.
The Ghoul Investigator leaned on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, letting his thoughts take over.
Just like the day before, his mind was perfectly calm, with no trace of Chibineki's sinister presence or hunger and strength that had plagued him in the past. But outside of his mental problems, there was something that worried him too. Although he had seen his reflection in the creek where he had been drinking before the Titan had ambushed him, he had not seen it clearly and the glass that he had found in a desk drawer if he had allowed it.
His height remained the same, of that he was very sure, the greasy roots that crowned his white hair had also regressed, which had surprised him since, in theory, his hair should have reverted to its original black color.
But what had really changed was his face. Though he still retained his oriental features, and his well-defined features as well as pale skin, he could see that his eyes seemed to have become slightly brighter, and his cheeks were a little more marked. But the strangest thing is that he felt much younger, more than when he was 19.
He looked like a kind of European-Asian mix.
None of that made much sense though of course, suddenly appearing in another world was not that clear as well.
Placing both arms at the nape of his neck, Haise reflected on what he had read. He still had a lot of questions and reading only seemed to increase them. Why was he there? How did he arrive? And perhaps the most important, for what reason?
He remembered that he was about to be 'erased' when he recalled his previous life, as well as that he had revealed himself and even tried to take control in case he did not know that he was indeed only one facet of the complex and distorted mind of the enigmatic horror who was Ken Kaneki.
He also remembered suffering an appalling torture at the hands of a new manifestation that seemed the protagonist of the Egg of the Black Goat on a very bad day before apparently 'dying' while lamenting for not being able to continue living his life or dream, it didn't matter anymore to him.
He still had the same question. What exactly was his purpose now? As Haise Sasaki, it was being a Ghoul Investigator who followed the orders of his superiors without hesitation in exchange for being able to live a life that someone of his condition could only aspire for. He also served as a container for the vortex of madness and despair that was the consciousness of Ken Kaneki whose will manifested itself through sinister or innocent projections, but all with the same purpose: To make him remember.
And in theory, he had already remembered everything that had lived. But in a body that was no longer, his and had finished disappearing just to wake up in this place.
He knew that Ken Kaneki's memories must have been somewhere in his mind but he did not dare touch them and he doubted he could embrace them as if they were his own.
During the confrontation with the Other, he had refused to accept that burden by remaining foolishly in his role as the dream that was Haise. And now he seemed doomed to live with those memories but far from the life he had wanted. How ironic.
It was useless to worry about all his acquaintances, it was more than obvious that the one who had taken his place was going to handle things better, one could dream, right?
With those thoughts in mind, Haise decided to move on to more important ones, such as what to do?
From what he had read, he was in a sort of long-distance plain of the Maria Wall in the South and Wall Rose in the North, an area infested with Titans since the first had fallen when a kind of 'Infernal Calamity' had happened a couple of years ago according to the diary, but had no way of knowing how much time had passed since then, because the owner had been dead for a while.
He could not stay in that place, that he was sure. After what he had been reading, it was suicide being in those areas with no one to defend himself against the Titans, although he was sure he could kill a few, the First Class Investigator could not see himself getting sick and surviving an entire horde of them.
He had also read about the government of what remained of mankind, sheltered behind the third wall, Sheela. A monarchy/oligarchy with ample privileges as well as a rigorous military system divided into three divisions, each with a different duty, although apparently all with the training necessary to deal with the Titans.
Haise had been skeptical when reading about the methods of combat but he could not deny he was impressed by the ingenuity of humanity in that world. In spite of having a technology barely superior to one of the medieval times, they had developed methods enough efficient to defend themselves against the man-eating brutes. The researcher could not help comparing one of the particular divisions, the Survey Corps with the CCG at its foundation.
If the other two walls had not fallen, perhaps it might be a good idea to go there and try to find a new life. Maybe a librarian?
No, he doubted it very much, Haise was not somebody for the calm life. Years of combat and adrenaline had already molded him into what he was, he might try to play a kind of savior by making use of his skills.
That sounded worse in his mind. As if mankind would suddenly accept the appearance of something that could be worse than just titans. Haise knew very well that the man feared what he did not understand and hated what he could not destroy.
The world where he was and where he had come from was more than enough evidence.
Haise could not suppress a chuckle. "Truly my name is at stake with this world." He said as he continued to look at the ceiling. He knew he had to leave, but that did not mean he could try to do something profitable for a couple of days, like training. It had taken some time since he had entered into his kagune exclusively since neither Division 0 had been allowed to use it, other than that he was quite interested in his new acquired ability of detachment. He knew that skill would be very useful in the future.
Whether it was against the monstrosities called Titans, or even worse. Against the humans themselves.
He could only wait for the moment.
xXx
The trunk received the impact of the blade of the Haise kagune that traversed it from left to right, causing the tree to fall by raising a small cloud of earth with impact. Far from being satisfied, Haise got the tentacle to grab the trunk and lift it a few yards before throwing it.
The wood creaked as it hit the ground, allowing the visitor to see that his strength, even with the kagune, had not diminished. He had already experimented with the edge of his tentacles several times, he still could easily cut any of the materials he had found, including what appeared to be an abandoned steel blade, but that last did not surprise him, especially remembering the time when he accidentally had cut in half a Quinque Steel bar during fight.
After that, he was never asked to attend a mission to protect a similar shipment. Stupid Special Class Marude.
It had been about three days since he had arrived in the village, and Haise had abandoned his usual investigator outfit in favor of a pair of simple clothes he had found in one of the houses. At that time he was wearing a thin cloth brown shirt with some sandy colored pants while his own clothes were in the desk located in his 'room.'
He had developed a kind of routine for the moment, which included exercising a little, both his body and his kagune. Although the last thing was only cutting and lifting things and molding the shape.
This last had always been his specialty and to possess the most versatile type of RC together with a great creativity, the possibilities of creation were enormous. And all this without counting the ability of separation acquired.
Speaking of which, Haise concentrated on separating a certain part of the tentacle that had outside and allowed an expression of satisfaction to decorate his face to see how effectively it was separated before being buried in the ground.
Haise took a small stone a few feet away from his feet and threw it just to hear a crack and see the tip emerging like a red stake.
'It is disturbingly like the distance mode of the IXA' Thought Haise satisfied with the result. Maybe it was rather rudimentary compared to what Nutcracker was able to produce in life but at least it was something.
After all, a series of stakes hidden on surfaces that reacted to vibrations could be very useful weapons, but he still did not lose the hope of creating something more.
The researcher sighed as the sun began to set and prepared to return to his current residence where he was about to continue with the other part of his routine.
Read, read everything he could from the books he had found. Both on the history and current organization of humanity (or what was left) as the geography of the territory and above all, the Titans.
Even though he now knew that the beasts were not active at night, that did not mean he was not tired.
The more he read about this world, the more he noticed the similarities between his own. In truth, he wondered what had been the reason for having appeared there, but for the moment there was still no answer.
'Maybe it's for the best,' Thought the investigator as he caressed his eyes by missing his reading glasses, 'I should find that answer for myself.'
Calmly, he put the book in its place before settling on the bed, tomorrow he would try to leave the place to the Rose Wall, which in theory should remain standing. I had considered for a few moments to go to Maria to see the desolation with her own eyes but he ended up discarding because of the imprudence, I had no way of knowing how many of the titans there and he preferred not to run the risk of being devoured.
At least in the CCG, he had never had that danger since he had rarely faced Ghouls much more powerful than him.
Of course, if he did not consider the One-Eyed Ghoul of the Auction who had used him to sweep the floor. (a nd the walls).
In short, he had already rested enough and was determined, tomorrow he would undertake the trip and try to reach the Wall in search of answers or people or perhaps something much better, Coffee.
With those thoughts in mind, Haise closed his eyes and set to sleep. A small part of him hoped that he would wake up in his hut of the Chateau but little by little it went away.
His Dream was over, there was no reason to want it again.
He had never existed. But perhaps, now he could have the opportunity to live on his own, without having to take never party for anyone else against his will, not even that of his past self.
xXx
Location: Wall Rose-Trost District.
The nervous atmosphere added to the chill of the night kept the newly formed cadets in front of the podium shivering, though most of them covered them with faces full of indifference that hid the nerves that threatened to eat them, just like the beasts they had faced a few days ago.
The trainees of the 104th Training Corps were formed not far from their companions.
However, before Jean had a chance to respond, the Survey Corps commander's high silhouette made his appearance on the podium with some of his subordinates escorting him before retreating to one of the corners.
The blond soldier took a step forward and headed for the cadets who stood in front of him.
"I am the chief of the Survey Corps, Erwin Smith," The commander said, "The Survey Corps receives their policies of action from the king himself. On this day, the purpose of my address to you is nothing more than inviting you to our group at the time of your selection. "
There was some murmuring among the crowd about it, it was obvious that part was already waiting, but seeing that they had no choice but to wait until the culmination, the majority opted to listen to orderly the words of the Commander.
Erwin did not deign to wait long before placing both hands behind him and continued with his speech.
"However, you were already forced to have the experience of how an expedition will be outside the security of the walls," Spoke the blond commander referring to the recent attack in the Trost District.
"Even more," Erwin continued, staring at them. "Being recruits yourself, I don't think this sacrifice is an unprecedented experience."
"No shit." Someone beside Sasha mumbled who seemed to have memories of what had happened while the commander's words came to her. And she was not the only one.
Around him, several others began to reflect all that.
Connie looked down at the floor, feeling an imaginary weight on the back of his neck.
"However," Erwin finally continued, with an imperturbable expression on his face. "Although what we have lost in this attack has been great, Humanity has taken a step forward towards the victory we have never had." The commander spoke as he lifted one of his arms slightly and clenched his fist.
"And as you already know, we have obtained a passage that leads us to the true nature of the Titans."Continued Erwin before pointing to one of the hooded figures who seemed to be uncomfortable in that place.
"This is the existence of Eren Yeager!"
Eren swallowed as he stood still in his place listening to the speech of his commander who continued to report on his exploits and participation in the Battle for Trost, as well as when he had sealed the fissure in the wall carrying a gigantic rock using his Titan Form.
"In addition, in the basement of what was to be his home in the Shiganshima District is in the middle of the mystery surrounding the Titans!"
The expression of Eren was now completely comic, because of all the things that he had hoped would happen during the speech, definitively that was not on the list and was not the only one.
In the crowd, the reactions of most recruits were not so different. Those who had a case of a serious face like Jean and Ymir, only frowned, while Reiner and Berthold adopted surprised expressions that were completely the opposite of Mikasa and Annie who simply raised an eyebrow. Only Armin seemed to have his lower jaw hanging slightly.
'So he really wants to get new recruits ' Armin thought, while discreetly glancing around him, testing the more lively reactions of the cadets than before. 'Even that kind of information is getting available to the public.'
But his eyes widened at the commandant's next words. Apparently, this one was preparing to say something else.
"What's he thinking about that?" He wondered aloud, an action that managed to get him an stare from Mikasa who tried to ask him about it before Erwin's voice interrupted them.
"However ..." Continued Erwin, "In order to take our time to thoroughly investigate that one basement. We will need to get Wall Maria back under our control first."
It was basically one of those times when, if a lock had fallen, they would all have heard their jingling on the tiles with the quietness of the crowd.
"Is he serious?" Jean asked, but no one had the courage to answer back.
"Our objective is what I just stated." Explained Erwin, "But now that we can not use the gate of the Trost district anymore, we have only the option of departing from Karanese and advancing to Shiganshima in a roundabout way. Is now lost. "
Confused murmurs sounded among the crowd of cadets with only a select few, understanding where the Commander was going to arrive. And just what some fear, it arrived.
"In those four years, over 90% of the Survey Corps members died." Calmly stated Erwin with a straight face. "90% in just four years."
Well, if the atmosphere was already tense, that last proclamation enough to fan the flames entered the cadets.
"This is not going to work out." Murmur Reiner frowning meintars that Berthold at his side trembled a little before nodding. If the Commander's intentions had been to frighten them, he really had.
"According to our most optimistic estimates, we will have to sacrifice at least 5 times more soldiers and 20 more years before it will be possible to dispatch a large fore to Wall Maria again and even these figures are not quite realistic."
"According to our most optimistic estimates, we will have to sacrifice at least 5 times more soldiers and 20 more years before it will be possible to dispatch a large fore to Wall Maria again and even these figures are not quite realistic."
Needless to say, fear and anguish were taken over by a large number of the faces of the cadets present, and no one made the slightest effort to disguise it.
"The Survey Corps is always in search for talented members. With great loses after every mission we suffer from personnel shortage." Continued Erwin as if he were addressing a group of cadets who seemed to want to return to their homes and hug their mothers before hiding under the bed.
"I'm not going to hide anything from you." Declared the blond, "Those of you who will choose to join the Corps will have to participate in a scouting expedition outside the walls in a month from now. There's a pressing need to break a supply route."
Christa trembled in her place and a ray of fear passed slightly through her blue eyes as Ymir beside her gave him a disapproving look before turning back to the front.
"The probability of new recruits dying during an expedition to the outer lands was 50% I think .." Continued Erwin with the same straight face. "Those who manage to survive it, though, will become excellent soldiers with high survival rate."
"50%?" Mumbled Berthold with a disturbed expression written in his face.
Erwin seemed to take a few seconds' breath before staging a much more intense tone than before. "Those of you who are still willing to put your life on the line despite learning the dreadful state of affairs, stay here!"
All eyes fixed on his silhouette as he continued, this time showing that he had really reached the climax of his speech.
"And let me reiterate this again: Most of those who will decide to stay here and join the Corps Survey will probably be dead soon." Spoke Erwin with a half-frown before his voice thundered. "Listen to your hearth very closely and ask yourselves if you really have what it takes to sacrifice your life for Mankind!"
After that, Erwin only announced that he had finished and ordered those who had no desire to remain to withdraw to choose another division.
Slowly, the crowd began to separate one by one until small groups followed.
"Commander, don't you think that you intimidated them to a little more than necessary?" Asked one of the subordinates besides Eren, "That speech is sure to cut the number of our new recruits by a lot, you know ..."
Eren looked curiously at the silent commander who merely resisted not watching the group grow smaller every time more cadets withdrew visibly affected by the speech they had heard.
And it was not the only one, because below Connie and Sasha watched as those around them moved away with the firm determination planted in their faces. Armin looked nervously at those who fled while Mikasa gave them a dry look. A few feet to one side, Jean clenched his fists and bit his lower lip while I watched as those around him joined them.
'Shit ..' He thought closing his eyes. 'I beg you, don't make me hate myself even more.'
Reiner looked disapprovingly at those retreating and stood firm as Berthold glanced at Annie who appeared to have been standing in another section of the crowd.
Each of them had different thoughts about the words of the Commander. But of them, Sasha, Connie and Jean shared a similar context.
'If ... I ... I do not leave this place ... I'll..Face them again ..' Thought Sasha nearly crying when she recalled how titan almost managed to cath her during the Battle for Trost.
Beside her, Connie felt dense beads of sweat running down her face as her hands tightened slightly.
'Ah, I remember now.' He thought before recalling how he had wanted to become a policeman so his mother could be proud and the village could stare at him in awe.
But they all had the same conclusion.
'We already know ...' Thought Sasha now crying.
'We've already seen ...' Thought Connie closing his eyes and cenching his fist frimly.
'Titans ..' Finished Jean staring at the ground while the primal fear filled his mind and was soon followed by images that did not help at all to the state of the three.
A meadow whose pasture was wet with blood and viscera as well as the body dismembered from the fallen. The shrieks and cries filled with despair cut through the air followed by the creaking and clicking of the flesh being ripped apart as the jaws of the monstrous humanoids curling their brains brutally uprooting those they had trapped.
Connie saw himself being brutally lifted from the ground by his two legs while he felt like one was crushed slightly just to be ripped out of his rennet causing a scream of pain on his part, one that did not get anything as the smelly miasma of the Titan It ended up wrapping it faster than the sharp teeth that were closed wide.
Sasha could only shout at being elevated in the same way but unlike Connie, she did not have the same fate as I ended up feeling like one of her arms was brutally ripped meintars that her lower half was bitten by the obese titan who She was trapped with no possibility of escape. His tears mingled with the blood of his own wounds, waving in vain, screaming.
Jean, on the ground and covered in blood, could only crawl in despair, seeing the horrible fate he had for his companions. His horse had fled and now he had only one of the blades in his hand. Paralyzed, he watched as both Titans, along with dozens approaching the distance had already detected him and now marched towards it with monstrous open mouths showing the scraps that had not been gobbled up.
Slowly, the last of the cadets left the yard, leaving only a few in front of the podium; A miserable amount compared to those who had been there before.
Erwin crossed his arms back as his eyes scanned those who had remained. "So, will you be able to go if you're told to?"
"We don't want to die sir!" Someone yelled.
"I see," Said Erwin walking in front of the ones who had decided to stay,"Everybody, you all look determined." He finished before turning for a moment before returning to his former position.
"Alright! I welcome everybody here to the Survey Corps!" Thundered the blond commander slamming his hand against his chest. "I salute your bravery, remember. Dedicate your lives to the cause!"
"YES SIR!" Replied all the cadets that stayed, which included most of the survivor from the 104th Recruits Camp as well as a few others form other divisions.
All of them had their hands slammed against their chests and looked firmly at the front, with Sasha's exception since she was actually crying.
After that, the twenty-one people who had stayed were revealed.
"Guys ..." Armin said gretting them, but he was ignored when he noticed that most of them were busy muttering or quiescing themselves.
'We're doomed.' Though the blond when she saw how she wanted to return to her village. 'We're so doomed.'
"Geez, why'd you even stay if that put you on the verge of tears?" Asked Ymir to Christa who was still shaking but did not bothered to reply.
'I did it, I'm close to achieving the order ..' She thought
While Reiner looked forward with a sweaty face and did not let his thoughts were marked by his expression, Bethold was the opposite, because despite having the same position, the tall boy only turned back until I see the familiar Silhouette of Annie leaving the place. Well, not everyone had a suicidal desire apparently.
'Annie' He though before turning back when Reiner patted him in the shoulder while giving him a nod, which Berthold reluctantly imitated.
"The 104th Survey Corps salutes to all 21 of you. You endured your fear well ... You are all brave soldiers ..." Stated Erwin, "And I respect you for that from the bottom of my hearth."
Finished that, Erwin left the podium and acamino dodne were his subordinates and Eeren waiting, one of them approached waiting for orders to which Erein responded.
"Begin preparations for the 57th expedition, we will depart in a month from the Karanese District." I command a nod before the subordinate disappears leaving him with the other three.
"Escort Eren to the barracks, and tell Hangi that tomorrow she will be authorized to continue to continue her experiments with him, that woman needs to be busy with something now that her two test subjects bite the dust." Erwin continued, to which they obeyed taking the Titan-Shifter with him.
Eren just glanced at the empty podium and wondered who had decided to follow him to the Survey Corps. But while he was escorted, his pnesamientos changed towards other things, like the expedition towards Shinganshima within a month and was not the unique thing. Their eyes looked to the familiar silhouette of the Rose Wall and thought of the words that Commander Erwin had said when they discovered the bodies of the two Titans that Captain Hangi used as test subjects.
'Who is the real enemy?' Thought Eren.
xXx
Location: Wall Maria-Wall Rose - Two Miles at the South of the Titan Forest.
(One Month Later.)
A red tentacle swiftly cut through the air and cut off much of the huge face that was trying to approach the tree. Almost at the same time, two others emerged from the back of the young adult who eventually decapitated the titan, whose body fell to the ground with steam being emitted from his wounds.
Haise, with the active kakugan, scanned the surroundings contemplating as two other titans of no better appearance approached their position slowly and with the three active tentacles, was able to lean on the ground and to descend from the tree where it was with ease.
He ran on the prairie towards the nearest one who hurried to see him approach. Crude error, because the only thing that received were two of the tentacles that brutalmente cut off his arms.
Haise took advantage of the entrance that these gave and hop supported by his kagune to remain a few meters near the deformed titan head and unload two of his tentacles as if they were barks on it. Extremely hard lashes, because this ends by creaking releasing amounts of blood and crushed flesh.
"Tsk, die fast." Haise spluttered as the titan's figure collapsed, raising a small cloud of dust. The half-ghoul squeezed this out of his present clothes and admired the immense thicket that rose not far from him. A wall of titanic trees that extended several kilometers towards the front , he had never seen trees of that size, which perhaps possessed these characteristics by the unique properties of the soil.
Seeing that it seemed to surround that forest, it was going to be a long time and that it was more probable to find shelter there, the investigator sighed before molding his kagune in the form of a pair of claws on which he could climb the trees.
He ignored the distant figure of the third of the titans that used to wander around because he did not seem to be interested in avenging the deaths of his companions since he stood in his place looking at him stupidly.
It was nearly a month later, according to his recent calculations, since he had left the village in the direction of the Rose Wall, and it had not been a pleasant journey. He had killed a total of eight titans counting the two he had just murdered.
Following his philosophy, Haise had tried to flee most of the time instead of offering combat and seeing that his speed was superior, had not had any problem, not even his diet had been one, since one of the titans, that had been trapped in a pit had served as food for a couple of days and had allowed the former researcher to support himself in a better way than in his days in the CCG.
Haise extracted a piece of old paper from his shirt and opened it, apparently being in what was known as the 'Giant Tree Forest' and had to repress rolling his eyes as he read the so uncharacteristic name. Apparently, if he managed to cross that, he only needed two or three more meadows to reach the Wall.
"Well, at least I will not have to complain about the sun in here." He murmured as he prepared to enter the woods only so that his blood would freeze as he heard a loud series of detonations coming from the center of the forest.
'What the hell?' Haise thought, 'That's almost like a pair of cannons.'
And he hurried to use the two claws he had formed to adhere to the bark of the nearest tree. Haise leapt into the air before landing on one of the rams and hurried to continue jumping using claws to gain momentum.
Apparently, it was possible that there was a military presence in the forest, which meant that there were people there and that was good for him, maybe he could find answers quickly.
But when he was half-jumping, a gigantic shadow came over him followed by a loud snap.
Haise landed on one of the branches and turned around only to find the ten-foot-thick titan mole on the ground watching him. The beast tried to embarrass himself and raised his arm full of grease toward him with the visible intentions of grabbing him.
Haise snapped his mouth as a sign of disaprovement as his right eye turned black again and the familiar shape of his rinkaku emerged from his back with the tips turned into razor sharp blades.
"You guys are persistent." He commented before jumping with his tentacles behind him at the menacing for of thh titan below.
A/N: Well, what you promised is debt. At the moment I don't really want to continue with my other project and since it's being subjected to a couple of modifications , I must entertain myself with something.
Before anyone comes to fuck with that, I already know that the language written in the Walls is katakana, but only by pure plot's sake I wrote that it's German, deal with it.
In a week we will probably see the next chapter since I'm currently busy with real-flife things.
Anyway, thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed the chapter.
-Ezequiel Kirishiki.
-(07/06/17)-
Next Time: Brawl in the Forest!