Author's Notes: Hey guys! Once again, THANK YOU for the reviews! They motivated me to continue on to this next chapter, which, without me stalling you, is down below.
Tomb
Eren looked at the ceiling, lightly illuminated as he went over everything he'd read in his head. Half of it he couldn't even process, the words and images coming to his mind yet not making any sense. He sat normally again to look at his teammates, all who were watching at him tensely, no one sure of where they could even start. Eren opened his mouth like a fish out of the water only to close it back again, knowing nothing of what he could say in such a situation. They kept on like this for a while until finally Reiner near-bellowed, "Your father is Grisha Jaeger?!"
"I think you know the answer to that by now. Why?" Eren halfheartedly replied. Reiner reeled back in shock as he continued, "Why?! What do you mean why?! Grisha Jaeger is the very reason Valhalla's alive and improving! How could you not tell us he was your father?!"
"Because apparently, you know far more about him than I do. Besides, didn't you think through the implications of him and me sharing the same last name?"
At this, Reiner embarrassedly rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand, averting his gaze from the green-eyed Shifter. Bertholdt was doing something along the same lines, Ymir was looking at the group in question and Annie still looked at Eren in shock. Bertholdt responded, "When our parents taught us about Doctor Grisha, they never mentioned his last name, and the few times that they did, we never retained. The name 'Grisha' was practically taught to us to mean nothing short of savior. Being kids, we weren't taught who exactly he was and weren't as formally introduced to him as 'Doctor Jaeger'."
Eren feebly nodded his head at the explanation, now turning his gaze to meet Annie's pale blue eyes. He knew he had nothing to do with what happened between his dad and her family, hell, he'd found out just now, but still he managed to mouth. "Annie. I'm sorry."
The words shook her a bit, but still ignited no response. In her silent demeanor he could tell that she was overwhelmed by both shock and melancholy at the revelations. He inadvertedly stood up and walked towards her. He wrapped her in his arms, offering whatever condolence he could give. Despite him pressing her head against his chest, the others taking the initiative to follow his lead and try to comfort her any way they could, she didn't heave up and down as he had when he'd found his destroyed home. Still, he felt the wetness of tears being soaked up by his shirt. She spoke, her tone surprisingly not too far from her normal one in spite of her emotional state yet still retaining a level of sorrow,
"I just… I just remember going to her funeral. I always remembered my father being the strict one in the house, me being the quiet one and my mother was the one to bring us both alive. When I saw her get buried… I saw my father cry for the first time in my life. The only other one who cried, other than her friends that I didn't recognize at all was a tall, slick man with glasses and long hair. I remember my father giving him one of the most vicious glares I'd seen from him in my life. I didn't understand anything that was happening, only that my mother was dead. My dad became so much colder since her death, and I did too in return. Then, one day, I see him walk back into my house with that same man, my dad promising that he was going to make things better for us. I assumed he had been one of my dad's friends and that he'd done something stupid before the funeral to get him so worked up like that, I just never imagined… who he was. I heard him call him 'Grisha' a few times, but I didn't hear from him like the others, so idolized and worshiped. All I remember is that one day, my dad comes with him and we're both given shots that were supposed to 'improve our Titans' and all he said was that 'Doctor Grisha has repaid his debts'."
"Sometimes, I really do think we live in a fucked up world." Eren muttered. Ymir chuckled bitterly at his comment, her hand keeping a good grip on Annie's shoulder. "Did you ever doubt it?"
"No, I just looked for the people that'd make my time here easier." He responded neutrally. Annie was quick to get off him, merely nodding to the others that she was 'fine'. The term was relative, of course, given as to how much the word was used by people who went through all kinds of hell. The five were a prime example of that. After the group settled down, Reiner and Bertholdt sitting on the couch, Ymir behind the chair and Eren and Annie standing up, the brown-haired Shifter chose it was time to lead them again. "Alright, we're unloading all the records and experiments onto our backpacks. I'm sure some of the knowledge left here can be placed in better hands at Valhalla."
"Yeah… Yeah! That's exactly what we'll do! Hell, after everything we've all done, I'll be damned if we aren't welcomed back like heroes!" Reiner shouted, getting up in the attempts to cheer up everyone's mood. Those in the room couldn't help but smile at the blond Shifter's overly-confident attitude. Beginning to deprive the room of everything of importance, the backpacks of the men of the group were filled to the brim, where the two still had theirs empty for food and supplies. They began to exit up the stairs, finding the night before them to be very quiet. They took a deep breath, feeling the coolness of the night enter their lungs. The chill in the air appreciated much by them, they walked in a briskly pace, preferring to go on foot out of the city and enjoy the weather, if only for a little while.
Bertholdt sagged a bit behind when he saw the hole on Shiganshina's gate, but was quickly grabbed by both sides by Reiner and Eren, both offering their comfort to the man. He thanked them silently as he allowed them to let go, the group finally going through the puncture and entirely out of the Walls. Outside, they found a few hills, a forest beyond them going along and around the river, and very far away the topmost of a mountain. It was when Reiner spotted a building, one far older than the one that they'd previously encountered that the group stopped at his remark. "We really were lucky that we found Maneuver Gears inside that old place."
"Not really, no." Eren answered normally. The rest looked at him in question, Reiner voicing the doubts. "You're going to tell us that when you lead us to that abandoned windmill, you actually knew that-"
"It's common knowledge amongst the Survey Corps that there are several small pockets of supplies scattered all over the area in between Walls Rose and Maria. When they retreated years ago when Maria was broken, the scattered whatever supplies they could spare throughout countless abandoned settlements. That way, when the day would come that they'd be able to take the territory back, they'd have backups if they ran out along the way." Eren answered. The group silently acknowledged the fact, looking curiously back through the hole in the direction where the establishment had been. Shrugging, they followed Eren who'd already started walking again, only to hear a couple of rocks fall behind them where the Wall's perforation was. They looked back, finding pieces of the wall broken on the ground, leaving them to look up at a figure at the top.
The Titan covered in hair was at the top, watching them from above with a smile plastered to its face. Eren's eyes widened as he remembered bits and pieces of his fight with the thing, none of them bringing him comfort. The five looked at it paralyzed as the beast fiddled with something large in its precise hands. It was then that they saw it fondling a particularly large piece torn from the Wall, leading Reiner to roar, "EVERYONE RUN!"
All five did, running for several yards until the rock crashed before them, putting their sprint at an early halt. They looked back at the beast, surprising them at the sight of it still having its hands full. Now from a better distance, the paled at the sight of five Titan-like creatures along the line of the Wall, all holding similar body builds to the one in the center. On instinct, Eren put his hand in his mouth, ready to bite it until Annie swiftly knocked it from his mouth. Glaring at her in question, she quickly whispered, "Not here with those things, they'll destroy you more quickly in your Titan. We need to run, now."
Reluctantly complying, Eren ran with the others at full speed, dodging any and all of the boulders raining on their path. Still not far enough, they made their way to the old structure fifty meters from the Wall, dust filling the air as Ymir kicked open the entrance. Looking in fear, the five turned around to find the aberrants stop their onslaught and instead begin to quickly climb down Maria, their fingers strong enough to puncture the stone.
"Shit, shit, shit! We need to find somewhere to hide, NOW!" Reiner shouted. All looked around, trying to find anything of use when Annie pointed at a set of stairs heading downwards. The Shifters ran down, finding the stairs to go in circles from the length downwards it went. Finding themselves at least ten meters from the roof, they heard the structure breaking and some sort of shuffling the remains, their search for them obvious. Looking around the circular basement, they found a door that opened to a cellar filled with countless bottles of wine. They ran, making their way to the its end. When they finished, they saw a giant arm crash down and meet the floor, fondling it to find their bodies. Finding nothing, it felt the walls, trying to find the entrance through which they went.
Reiner ran, shutting the door as he did. At his initiative, the four others grabbed the cupboards on the right of the room and pressed them against the door. They ran back to the cold, humid wall at the room's end as they waited for something to happen. Soon, they heard crashing against the wall, a force trying to open it, yet not enough to knock the gate down. To their best guess, a finger was all the beast could fit, and it didn't have the muscle alone to get to them. Then it stopped, silence reigned as Annie sighed, something that brought the five to look at her.
"We won't last long down here." She whispered.
"There's not much we can do besides waiting it out, so what do you suggest?" Ymir mouthed.
"Well, for one, we can't see shit down here. It's a miracle that we grabbed the wine cellar's boards before Reiner closed the door and shut out whatever little light made it down there. The only way we knew to get back here was because any other way was blocked either by a wall or the barricaded door. Besides, lights aside, we have no food nor water down here. The only thing we have is dated wine, and we'll get shitfaced drunk too quickly and could do something incredibly stupid that could kill us all." The bleach-blond Shifter continued.
"That leaves only one option. If it's possible, I mean." Eren deadpanned. He couldn't see the four, but being so closed, he could feel the four bodies pressed against his. He wasn't sure what the rest's expressions were, and by now, he didn't really care. He only reacted at her response, "If you're saying what I think you mean, then yes, I think it's possible. My crystal will protect us long enough to make them go away."
The gasps he heard in the quiet of the room were enough to help Eren imagine the expressions of the others. He heard Bertholdt ask, "Are you sure we won't come out at a disadvantageous time?"
"No, but it's better than nothing. Besides, when enough time's passed, you'll be able to feel and hear your consciousness and we'll be able to choose to get out. That's how it went for me, and it was only for a few weeks. I only stayed inside until I heard from the Survey Corps outside that they would transfer me. Now form a circle and press your palms against each other." The group parted a bit, giving themselves room to breathe as they grabbed each other's arms, trying to find their hands. They did, Eren finding his hands pressed against two softer ones, a little smaller than his own. Annie's touched his right, Ymir's his left if he got the sizes right. He felt a chill when he heard a booming, yet relaxed announcement from outside the door.
"Wait in there all you like, for we shan't leave any time soon. Come out and face your destiny, your one and only conclusion to your lives."
"Shit. Alright, I want you all to relax and let your minds go blank, no matter what you feel about what's outside." Annie whispered. Eren took a deep breath, letting the air slip out of his lungs slowly as he focused on absolutely nothing. "You do know that sooner or later, you shall die. Let it be with the tranquility of knowing that you've contributed to a good cause."
Again, his lungs were empty as he took a third breath. As he let go, he truly forgot everything, even the warmth against his hands, as he heard a loud noise that emanated from Annie's direction. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell that the room was bright at her transformation, feeling her hand become engulfed by the crystal. Soon enough, he felt his hand become covered with the fluid, neither cold nor hot, hard or soft. It simply was. He soon felt it near his body and neck, and as soon as it covered his head, his mind shut down. The crystal covered the five as they slept soundly in their prison. Not long after, a puff and a breath filled the bottom with an orange gas, inadvertedly creating a thin white crust over the Shifters' case.
…
Erwin walked through the castle, tiresome from the tension over the past couple of weeks. It'd been a month since the escape of the five Titans, Levi updating him that their whereabouts were unknown. He bumped into a woman who quickly sputtered a 'sorry' until she looked at him under a better light. Hanji smiled at him a weary smile that he returned. He then asked, "Results?"
Hanji sighed again, muttering, "Unsuccessful. The 'Cure' was successful in sterilizing her for a while and knocking her out, but it was only for a couple of hours."
"And what of him?"
"Still missing. He sure knew his way around here to sneak off like that without anyone knowing."
"Damn. Walk with me, I'd like to see her."
"Yes, sir." Erwin had requested Hanji to come to the Capital for a subject entirely secret to the masses. Her scientific expertise could perhaps be enough to almost live up to Grisha Jaeger's, making him bring her along with those intelligent enough from the Survey Corps to contribute while keeping loyal. The subject had taken all by shock when they first encountered it, now leaving many with restless nights. For now, Jean would have to take up the role of Lance Corporal. They went to the lowest dungeons, the halls thankfully being massive, as the two stepped in front of a gate. "How long until you may have a countermeasure?"
"I'm not sure, Commander. It'll likely take years." The gates, four times larger than themselves, barely held back a resounding shriek originating from the inside. Erwin, grabbing a torch, unlocked the gate with a key he held in the other hand. Before he could open the door, Hanji's tired, unnatural voice stopped him. "Do you really think we'll be able to hide her for so long?"
He opened the door, taking a look at a fully chained Titan before him against the opposite wall. Female of body type, blond hair reaching the middle of her back, covered from head to toe with skin, and making a scowl that would send shivers through any normal man's spine. Erwin looked at her, emotionlessly stating, "If the nobles that came before us managed to hide Fritz's false hierarchy for decades, then we'll have to cover Historia's 'condition' for a few years. In the meantime, you'll have to keep trying to develop a way to revert her back to a human, Shifter or not, and I'll keep having to search for a way to find Rod Reiss."
Erwin shut the gates again as Historia's rampant Titan screamed once again, darkness surrounding all fourteen meters of her.
Author's Notes: Well there you have it. Six Shifters five crystalized and unaging and one a rampant Titan, unable to age. Things will keep turning in different ways, and mysteries shall be solved eventually. Keep reviewing and I promise I'll keep updating quickly. Hope you've enjoyed.
The Almighty Afroduck,
All Hail
