CHAPTER 3
*SLICE*
The titan hissed in pain, as its hand was swiftly separated from its arm. Eren dropped to the floor, unconscious from blood loss.
"Ackerman, move him somewhere safe while I take care of this!" Levi shouted over his shoulder, while advancing towards the titan.
"Wait!" Armin shouted, suddenly standing next to Mikasa, his face set in determination. "You can't kill it, captain! It's a shifter, there's someone inside! Look!"
Levi paused for a second, looking up at the nape of the titans neck. The girl inside twitched her fingers, and as he looked closely, her eyelids moved as she tried to open them.
"WHAT IS THIS I HEAR ABOUT A SHIFTER!?" Hanji shouted with glee, as she landed on the ground, red hair messy as always.
She dropped to her knees, an expression of utter delight on her face.
"OF COURSE YOU CANT KILL IT! CANT YOU SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS!?" she shouted excitedly. "I absolutely have to know what that translucent flesh feels like, and I'm sure Commander Erwin will want to know too!"
Levi turned towards her, and sent her a look that could send the colossal titan running for its mother.
"It would vastly improve the situation if you and your shitty glasses stop orgasming over titan flesh and help me cut her out." He said, gesturing towards the girl inside the titan with his blade.
"Oh, well, that's not very nice… but for the sake of science, I'll help you! Of course, you probably can't reach up there yourself, what with your 'height deficiency'…" Hanji remarked, saying the last sentence under her breath, and strode over to help.
Mikasa held an unconscious Eren, watching him closely as his wound slowly regenerated. Armin walked over and picked something small and shiny off the ground. Mikasa watched him.
"What is it?" she questioned.
"O-oh, just a bit of the titan's crystal. It's quite strange… compared to Annie's crystal it looks more clear, like glass, but it seems to have the same, if not more, resistance…"
The sounds of shattering metal made the two both look over to where Levi and Hanji both stood, both holding blades snapped clean in half.
"Well, whaddaya know, it's not flesh at all, it's titan crystal! This is absolutely amazing… the girl inside must be getting oxygen to her blood from the titan's muscle… which means that this titan can breathe!"
"Dammit! How are we supposed to get her out if we can't break it?!" said Levi, throwing his broken blade on the floor in frustration.
It was at that moment, as the blade clattered against the floor, that a flash of blindingly bright light and an ear-shattering BOOM came from the titan.
Levi and Hanji were thrown into the air as the titan's body exploded, bits of titan flesh thrown out into the air along with small, deadly bits of crystal. Armin covered his face and Mikasa shielded Eren from the shrapnel, while Hanji and Levi just barely managed to anchor themselves to a tree with ODM gear.
It was over in about three seconds, and Armin, with ears ringing from the noise, staggered to his feet. He squinted across to where the titan had been, to see that it was completely gone, no trace of it left except for the small girl, lying serenely on the ground as if nothing at all had happened.
He rushed over, and knelt beside her. She seemed to be completely unharmed by the explosion, and was still unconscious.
"Phew! What on earth happened there?' exclaimed Hanji, dropping to the ground with Levi, before noticing the titans absence.
"It blew itself up? Wow, this is a truly unique specimen…" said Hanji absent-mindedly. She noticed Armin, who had picked the small girl up in his arms and was carrying her over.
He set the child down on the floor and looked up at Hanji and Levi. Mikasa watched from where Eren was lying.
"So… what do we do with her?"
They walked back to the castle, Mikasa and Levi leading the horses that were carrying an unconscious Eren and the comatose small girl. Evening sunlight shone in patches through the leaves overhead, dappling the floor, which was already covered in snow. Hanji was walking with a spring in her step, babbling on about the girl's titan, talking half to Armin and half to herself.
"I mean, it must be some kind of survival mechanism, so that no harm can come to the controller, although you have to wonder how much it costs, having an advantage like that. Obviously the titans grew lungs; you can actually see them as proof! But I wonder, the girl didn't seem very in sync with her titan, they were almost like separate beings…".
Hanji theorised like this all the way back, but Levi gave no hint of annoyance. He seemed lost in a world of his own, thinking about other times when he had made the wrong decisions, and left people he knew defenceless and alone…
"Here we are! Well, Levi, may I take the child to the medical room? I'll need to take Eren as well, just to make sure he'll be alright," said Hanji brightly as they reached the entrance to the survey corps base.
Levi snapped out of his daydream.
"Do what you think is best. I expect you to be in my office at eight if the girl awakens and tell me what you've found out. Ackerman, Arlert, I expect you'll want to go with Hanji, do what you wish, you have the rest of the day off anyway. I have to tell the commander about this." And with that, Levi strode off across the icy courtyard towards the commander's office.
"Well then. To the medical room it is!" said Hanji happily, leading her horse towards the other side of the courtyard.
The wind blew against the window, rattling the pane. Eren could hear rain pattering softly against the glass. He groaned. His chest hurt like hell, and his head felt fuzzy…
He tried to force his eyes open, and was met with a blurry mess of colours. They swam into place, and he realised he was in the medical room. He sat up (with considerable effort) and looked around.
A vase of flowers sat on his bedside table.
There was a fresh pair of clothes laid out for him on his sheets.
A pair of honey coloured eyes stared at him from under the bed.
Nothing out of the ordinary…
His aching brain finally computing what he had just saw, he yelped and fell straight off his bed.
"OWW!"
The door flew open and Mikasa rushed into the room, followed closely by Armin.
"Eren? What's wrong? What are you doing on the floor?" asked Mikasa, coming over to help him.
" Mikasa… under the bed…"
Armin looked puzzled, and bent down to look under Eren's bed.
"What's wrong? There's nothing- AAHH!"
Armin reeled backwards, holding his nose as blood streamed down his face, and the small child who had been under the bed raced out from underneath. She hissed at Armin, and ran for the exit. Mikasa, already at the door, grabbed the child's fist and twisted it behind her back. The small fair-haired girl fought against Mikasa ferociously, kicking and biting her, but Mikasa managed to pin the girl up against the wall.
Hanji burst into the room, and found Eren lying on the floor in a bundle of sheets, Armin kneeling and holding his face while blood spattered on the floor, and Mikasa locked in a death stare with the girl she had pinned down.
Hanji looked completely at a loss for words until the girl tore her eyes away from Mikasa and growled at her.
She went over to Eren, helped him stand up and went into a drawer in the corner of the room. Pulling out a coil of rope, she handed it to Mikasa, who promptly tied the girl's hands and ankles together.
Handing a tissue to Armin she finally spoke.
"Why don't we all calm down, and you can explain what I just witnessed."
After Armin had finished describing what had happened to Hanji, she stood up and addressed the three of them.
"Well, I think that the best course of action here is for you three to go to your dorms, and I can report this to Levi. It's getting late, and tomorrow you have training, so try and get some sleep."
"But, captain, what'll happen to her?" Armin asked, referring to the girl, who was now struggling against her bonds on the floor and shooting the group occasional foul looks.
Hanji furrowed her brow, thinking hard. She sighed, and turned to Mikasa.
"Isn't there a spare room in the girls dormitories?"
"Yes... but how are we supposed to know if she's escaped?" asked Mikasa.
"We won't. That room doesn't have any windows she can break, and I can lock the door, so we'll just have to take the risk. There's nowhere else we can put her."
Mikasa turned, and looked over at the small, struggling child. Looking thoroughly displeased, she went over and untied the kid's ankles. The girl stood up, looking daggers at Mikasa.
Hanji placed a hand on her forehead, and sighed deeply.
"Well, that's sorted. Now I just have to figure out how the hell I'm supposed to explain this to Levi…"