Annie, Bertholdt and Marcel were dragged far away from the rest of the crowd, far enough for their cries of pain and help dissipate in the air inaudible. The only instructor who accompanied them, was sergeant Drake, the most cruel of them all. Despite the particularly harsh treatment he submitted to these 3 children, he had high hopes for them and thus, he decided to force their full potential out.
They were in a forest area, and were forced to play a sadistic game. The rules were simple, the 3 would fight one another. The losers lose their privilege of eating for a day, while the winner was rewarded with a large supply of tasty and caloric food. However, if the fights weren't 'enjoyable' in the eyes of the drill instructor, which by normal people's standards translates to brutal and bloody, then the winner wouldn't win anything.
The first battle was between the boys. Drake let go of Bertholdt' hair, letting him crash on the ground in the process. He was not optimistic about his outcome, he had seen the Galliards fight and concluded that the older brother was better than him, which was weird because he mentioned never having practiced before. But supposing Marcel didn't have his uncanny natural talent and would otherwise be inferior, Bertholdt was simply too nervous and scared to fight properly.
"Sorry about this." Marcel muttered behind his breath with a guilty expression while they prepared their fight stance.
Bertholdt was frozen in fear and anticipation, there were tears threatening to stream down his cheeks. However, he believed Drake wouldn't find that 'enjoyable', which could potentially aggravate the penalty, so he managed to hold them back.
Marcel was approaching him slowly, probably because he feared a counterattack similar to what his brother suffered. The frightened boy refused and didn't know how to hurt his opponent, he could only retreat slowly.
"C'mon Bert, you have to react or else he'll get angry." Marcel whispered pleadingly, despair was evident in his voice.
"Do I need to start the fight myself?" sergeant Drake hollered menacingly.
Marcel looked down and closed his eyes with a defeated expression, clearly extremely hesitant and reluctant about his current obligation. He tried to expel his indecisiveness out through a deep sigh and think rationally about the reason why he was there. It worked. He opened his eyes and directed his now threatening gaze at his adversary. It succeeded in intimidating.
"Damnit, don't just stand there! Do something! What did my father tell you about intimidation? Just when I thought he was improving..." Annie thought to herself frustrated. Normally, seeing 2 people combating thrilled her to no end, but that display of violence was something she definitely wasn't looking forward.
Marcel wanted that to be quick. Nonetheless, he had to make sure his assault would be brutal, which should be easy considering his feeble opponent.
He dashed at Bertholdt and tackled him, grabbing his hands in the process to avoid any chance of escape or counter. Both fell on the floor. Marcel pinned his adversary's hands to the ground with his own, while pressing his right knee on the poor boy's chest and the other in his throat. Bertholdt thrashed, screamed and kicked in desperate attempts of escape but no avail, Marcel simply wouldn't budge.
"Do something! Claw my legs, just do something!" the dominant boy whispered desperately. He tried do something brutal, but his feelings got in the way. Only if the submissive boy reacted by slashing his legs, for example, would that poor excuse of a fight shed the blood Drake craved for.
Without the ability to think for himself, Bertholdt followed his attacker's advice and started scratching his legs to create the violence they were ordered to commit. Even though he was being somewhat successful in not allowing his tears to be bold enough to descend down his eyes, he was doing a terrible job at holding back his whimpers. The terror he was feeling prevented him from tearing his adversary's skin hard enough to cause a bleeding. He only hurt Porco earlier out of instinct, the notion of causing the slightest amount of harm to another living being otherwise is despicable for him.
Annie was looking at him disappointed as usual. No wonder she thought he was pathetic. However, even though she refused to admit it, that was the first time she felt genuine pity for him. Before that, such a pathetic display of weakness triggered exclusively repulse in her.
"I'm not liking what I'm seeing." sergeant Drake calmly stated, grinning viciously.
"For goodness sake!" Marcel exhales in frustration as if he was about to do something he would regret later. "I'm so sorry, Bert." he imparted guiltily.
Marcel picked up his victim by his hair and neck and forcefully pushed his frontal body against a nearby tree. Then he slammed the poor boy's head against the painfully irregular wooden surface repeatedly.
"You can do better than that! I wanna hear the collisions harmonizing with his screams!" the drill instructor demanded roughly.
Up until that point, Marcel was bashing Bertholdt's head as softly as he could, but the extreme hunger he was feeling persuaded him to beat him harder, he would starve unless he made the sergeant happy. The loud noises originated form the impact accomplished that. He only stopped once Bertholdt ceased his shrieking and fainted.
"All right, that's enough." Drake intervened satisfied. "Now it's you against the winner." he directed these words at Annie cruelly.
Despite her cold attitude, Annie knew she would hate herself if she bested Marcel as violently as Drake desired. She refused to admit it, but witnessing Bertholdt suffer such a gruesome beat down made her feel... Angry. Very angry. Of course disappointment and disgust were what filled the majority of her heart at that moment, for teaching him how to fight well enough to make that a fair match, only to watch him cower and do nothing. Still, she felt a foreign desire to avenge her former sparing partner.
Maybe that was the point. Maybe the instructor intended to awaken the wrath within their hearts.
"Commence!" he yelled while approaching Bertholdt. He placed the poor boy's body in his lap and examined his injuries and tried to reanimate him.
Marcel and Annie prepared their fighting stances. Both were staring daggers at each other as they waited for the other to make the first move. Just when Drake was about to order the start of the battle, an impatient Annie decided to draw first blood.
She ran at his direction and when Marcel was about to counter, she dodged and powerfully kicked his shin. The unbearable pain forced him to fall down to his knees and caress his violated bone, leaving his head vulnerable. From there she kicked his left temple, which could potentially cause serious damage for life, causing him to fall face first to the ground. Then she jumped on him and started punching his nose, hoping to shed enough blood to satisfy Drake's quota. To her surprise, her victim wasn't in such a bad state as she predicted. Marcel grabbed her right fist before it touched his nose once more and forcefully gripped her neck to stun her. She made the foolish mistake of not restraining his legs, so he was able to get her off of him with one kick to the back of her head.
It was at that moment that she realized she had underestimated her fellow participants. She thought she would surpass all of her peers without much effort. She was convinced she would earn one of the Titans with flying colours. Only now did she perceive that there were problematic obstacles in her way. Marcel being the most worrisome. The guy had talent, she had to admit.
He wrapped his right arm around her neck before her head had the chance to collide with the floor. His right hand gripped his left bicep, while his left hand pressed against the back of her head to prevent her from headbutting her way out the strong chokehold he had created.
Drake grinned mischievously. He was amused by the show they were putting on. It was far more enjoyable than the previous one.
For the first time in years, Annie was on the verge of defeat.
"If you can still breath, you can still fight." her father's displeased words echoed inside her head.
She didn't let him overpower for more than 3 seconds, by reaching her hands at her opponent's face and inspecting the location of his eyes. He was also a fool for not restraining her arms with his legs. When she found what she was looking for, she lightly gouged out his eyes, only hard enough to leave him no choice but to free her.
The stinging pain in the sensitive organs forced him to scream and let go of his hostage. While he had to back away to recover from the deep pain in his eyes, Annie took that time to cough and catch her breath.
When she thought herself fit to continue, she repeated her initial assault at his nose until the quantity of blood it spilled was visibly noticeable from the distance the sergeant was.
"Stop!" he ordered pleased. "Looks like Annie Leonheart is the winner. And since I liked what I saw, here's the prize I promised." he softly announced as he handed her over the large tray of food. "I'd make you fight this shithead, but I don't think he'll wake up anytime soon." he stated while turning over Bertholdt's body with his foot. "So there you go. Well, goodbye."
"Did Marcel purposefully knock out Bertholdt so he didn't have to fight me? That would spare us a lot of energy and him a lot of pain." Annie wondered.
Then the instructor started sprinting at a different direction from whence they came. The 2 conscious children were too tired, hungry and sored to chase after him. They were left alone in the woods.
"Crap! Why is he running that way? We didn't come from there!" Marcel panicked.
"Does that matter? Bertholdt might be in serious danger because of you!" she spat angrily as she held the brutalized boy in her arms.
"Look, I know this is hard, but we got to pull ourselves together. This is exactly what that guy wanted. To pit us against each other like mad dogs, he intended to not make us think straight and give in to anger. Don't do what they want us to do." Marcel soothed, while pacing comforting hands in her shoulders.
"Yeah..." she muttered as she looked down. He was right, if he hadn't said anything, she would have let herself be consumed by her inner monster. It made sense if they wanted the tops of the class to be more savage.
"I-I didn't want him to suffer more than he already had so... I'm sorry..." he apologized to the fallen boy as he searched for him with his hands. His eyes were too hurt to be able to stay open.
"I'm sorry about that too... " Annie calmly confessed, referring to Marcel's eyes.
"It's okay. You had no choice. I'm sorry about what I did to your neck too..." he exchanged the heartfelt apology. "I got it! He went on a different direction just so he could confuse us! He wanted us to doubt ourselves and our sense of direction. I'm sure we're meant to follow our instincts and go the way we came from." he beamed as he concluded their superiors' scheme.
"That or he just took a shortcut. Or maybe he went to a different facility... Either way, Bertholdt is in no condition of walking and I'm not leaving without him." Annie assured tenaciously.
"Neither will I! I can't even see properly. Look, he said he'd wake up, so we don't need to worry too much, but... Do you mind sharing your... prize with us. We'll starve to death if you don't." Marcel pleaded lightheaded, fatigue and starvation were about to put him in a similar situation to the boy he fought.
"Sure." she generously stated. "We should also start a fire or something, that way someone might see the smoke and come to our rescue."
"Good idea. Let's do that. This'll be all over soon." he responded serenely as he caressed Annie's back as a way to convince her that everything would be fine, that there was nothing for her to fear.
Maybe Bertholdt was right about starting a friendship. Maybe that deal with Pieck isn't such a bad idea. At least this guy looks nice enough. So far he has only proven himself a pretty clever and supportive guy. I like him. Still, as father told me, I must proceed friendships with caution. I can very well end up betrayed.
Bertholdt... I'm here with you. There's no need to be scared like you always are. Just wake up.
After the brutal martial arts demonstration in Reiner, Porco and Pieck's side, vast fighting knowledge was crammed inside the head of all the children. They only had to keep practicing, in order to keep the combat information in their long term memory.
Foolishly believing the worst part of their day was over, they were unpleasantly surprised when the competitors were ordered to stand in line and follow the instructions of a certain mysterious blonde man in his late teens. Though he was wearing a military uniform, it wasn't the usual outfit used by the Marleyan instructors. If the children didn't know any better, they would guess he was Eldian.
"My name is Zeke Yeager. And I have been in this academy when I was your age as well. Now, I will cut to the chase. Your next task is to perform all of the 13 punching techniques you learned today on one of the trees in this area. You will only succeed if the instructor that is watching you believes the skill and strength you applied in your techniques were acceptable. I am warning you that it is most likely that your hands will bleed and ooze puss by the time you finish successfully." the man with glasses instructed emotionlessly.
The competitors knew that if they made a sound, they would be instantly punished physically, so they manage to repress gasping. Still their eyes widened in surprise. Why was an Eldian teenager giving them orders? What authority did he have on them? But the worst of all was that they were feeling more despondent than they ever imagined they could, due to the fact that that man didn't even bother sugar coating the pain they were about to feel.
"I know what you are feeling. I know it all too well. After all, I was once in the exact same situation as you. I guarantee you that one day, you shall be thankful for the training you are receiving. This one, for example, bestows a physical and psychological edge in combat upon you. You may not comprehend the benefits of your training for now, but as you grow older, you shall realize how greatly they benefitted you. Trust me, I of all people can assure you this. Even if you don't receive one of the Titans power, you shall still have incredible war prowess that can save your lives as well as your comrades' during a war for the good name of Marley. And that is all that matters" Zeke preached soothingly, far more sympathetically than before.
The children empathized with Zeke. He managed to convinced them to see the bigger picture and perhaps this was due to sheer childish naivety, but they actually believed every word he said.
"Smart move. Have an Eldian give an encouraging speech so that everyone indentifies with him and believe every word, though I have to admit he brings up good points... He even threw Marleyan propaganda for good measure. I wonder if he really is an Eldian, better yet, I wonder if he has actually been to this academy. If that's the case, he must have been subjected to serious indoctrination if he truly believes those last couple of sentences. Will that happen to us as well?" Pieck wondered inside her mind pessimistic.
"Yeah fucking right! How the fuck is punching trees gonna help us at all? I don't buy the shit that guy's selling. Still, I didn't come here to be an underachiever. This class is filled with pussies, I doubt any of them will have the balls to do what they're asking us to do, UNLIKE ME! God, I'm so good! *Mental self-five* Well shit, if someone could read my mind they'd think I'm cocky. But I ain't cocky, I'm just far better than everyone else in every aspect. Haha that was funny Porco, you're so funny and cool and hot and strong. I bet that loser Marcel wishes he was like you! Well thanks, Porco, I agree." Porco thought to himself carefree.
"Gosh! That guy made feel a lot better. I really feel like I can trust him. I was really not looking forward for this whole punching trees thing. But he's totally right! They wouldn't put us through this hard times if they didn't think it would help us. The Marleyans always know better. Plus, supposing I don't receive a titan, which definitely won't happen, I still get to help out in the war a lot. I might even be like dad! Mommy is always saying I'll be like him when I grow up. I can't wait to do the things mom said he did, like playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun and surviving! And even if I find an obstacle, I got ton of friends that'll help me. Bertholdt is such a weak target. I just need to snap my fingers and he'll do whatever I want. I almost feel sorry for him..." Reiner pondered internally. He was still too immature to be fully aware how bad it is to exploit someone, especially someone whose strongest wish is to have a friend, and he was also far too immature to acknowledge when he was being intellectually manipulated.
"I'm sure you are all nervous about your task at hand, so allow me to distract you, as a way to calm your spirits. I was the best in my class, this was because I worked very hard and followed my instructors' advice and orders accordingly. Consequently, my superiors thought my skills were fit for the Beast Titan. Of course, at the moment, I am still a regular Eldian. The person who I shall inherit the Beast titan power from is sergeant Drake, perhaps you already know him? Regardless, I am to incorporate his power 3 years from now, just like you. We were actually together in the middle of a minor conflict with our country southeast neighbours, but we managed to dispose of the threat faster than expected and that is why we came here to guide you with our first hand experience. Sergeant Drake is my mentor and friend, I have learned a lot from him, that is why I am prepared to carry his burden, just like whoever earns one of the Titans will have the former holders as your mentors." Zeke continued his comforting speech. The children were very curious about him and his story, hearing him made them forget about the hardships they would face, in fact, it made them consider said hardships not so bad. He made them feel like they weren't so... alone. He was clearly gifted with his words, but mostly with the tone of his voice. It was truly calming and assuring.
After an uplifting speech, 'War chief' Zeke, as he dubbed himself, put a start the task everyone was reluctant to accomplish.
"Pieck, remember that guy? He said he'd... reward us. I wonder what was all that about." Reiner whispered to Pieck intrigued as they approached a tree.
"Correct. We can't rule out the possibility that he was lying to make us continue though. But that remains to be seen." she stated calmly, despite her current objective.
"You're awfully calm! I'm really not looking forward to this." he noticed surprised.
"That's 'cause you're a pussy..." Porco insulted smugly, though his remark was ignored.
"I'm optimistic because that guy was completely right when he said our training, as brutal as it can get, will prove itself highly beneficial. In the case of our current mission of performing the punching techniques on trees, such aggressions to the bones in our hands may very well shatter our finger and knuckle bones, that is where the good part comes in. An inflammation arises in the damaged bone tissue, which will force our organism to regenerate it faster by covering the cracks with a soft callus, that will harden considerably eventually. This remodelling procedure will inevitably replace our current weak bones into far more durable and solid ones." Pieck explained silently, trying her best not to draw unwanted attention.
"I see... It's like putting armoured gloves in our hands. We'll punch harder and it'll hurt less on us, right?" Reiner asked while caressing his future abused knuckles.
"Precisely." she quickly answered. He was not as dumb as she previously thought. She had witnessed his naivety first hand before, so she was pleasantly surprised when she learned he had some logical thinking abilities.
"Holy shit! Did you eat a fucking encyclopaedia when you were little?" Porco inquired baffled by her coherent scientifical facts.
"My father was a surgeon, that's all. Since I only lived with him and couldn't be by myself, I was always with him in the clinic so I picked up plenty of stuff like this." she explained flattered.
"Interesting, you'll have to tell us more about that later." Reiner said intrigued.
As there were less instructors than competitors, the children had to wait until an instructor was free to evaluate their skills.
"You there, it's your turn now." one of the drill instructors hollered at Reiner after a child finished crying and screaming.
He closed in on the tree with its respective instructor.
"It doesn't matter the order of the techniques you use, as long as you perform 13 of the ones you learned. I don't want to see interruptions. Start." the unnamed sergeant informed and ordered emotionlessly.
Reiner tried to remember some of the moves Bertholdt helped him so well with. He started with one that consisted in swinging his clenched fist downwards to the target's nose.
This strike can be safer for a student's hand because they are hitting the wooden irregular surface vertically, which means instead of bone damage, it'll simply rip the skin. He applied all the strength in him, as well as the knowledge his friends bestowed upon him. However, the instructor didn't seem pleased.
"Harder! I have to hit harder…" he repeated like mantra in his head.
´That was when he noticed Zeke observing him. Why was he watching him? There are tons of other kids there. The way he stared at him… it was as if he was expecting to see an error. It reminded him of…
"See that man over there? That is your father." Karina whispered enthusiastically to Reiner as they sneakily peered though the window of the restaurant he worked at.
"That's him…!" he was speechless. The man he wanted to meet the most was before his very eyes, the almighty man his mother often described was just a few meters away from him. He wanted to meet him. Despite his mother's attempts of convincing him not to approach him, he couldn't resist the temptation.
"Wait! You can't go meet him! I have already told you, Marleyans can't have relationships with Eldians. You'll put us all in danger." Karina warned angrily.
"But you said he can make a fire by rubbing two ice cubes and that he could kill entire armies by himself right before pulling out a gun! If we go to him, no one can't stop us! And we'll live happily ever after together , far away from here, just like you always wanted." Reiner argued upset.
"You don't understand, it's not that simple. They may not deter your father, but they can certainly dispose of us. That is why you need to become a titan, so we can gain honorary Marleyan status, only then will we be able to live together. Please, try to understand." she explained, trying her best not to lose her patience. She desperately wanted to slap some sense into her son, but she figured she would be more successful in persuading him calmly.
"Okay… H-He's… tall but… not as muscular as you said…" he noticed, sad about not being able to meet his idol. Even though he found his mother's words illogical, he completely trusted her, so he assumed she was right.
"That's just a disguise. If you saw super muscular man wouldn't you be more likely to believe he was a threat? When he goes to war in another country, he must seem as harmless as possible if wants to blend in. But I guarantee you when you grow up, you'll be just as tall and strong." she muttered whimsically.
"Well… thanks for letting me see him. I know it's dangerous, but I really wanted to at least know how he looks like." he meekly muttered, looking down in sorrow for not being able to do more than staring.
"Just promise me you'll never try to talk to him. You might put our family in danger if you do. And I promise you that if that happens, his heart will be smashed into pieces. You have no idea how sad he was when you and I had to leave him." she convinced heartbroken. Though she wasn't heartbroken because of the sad departure, but because it unfortunately didn't happen how she described it.
"I… I promise." he guaranteed as low-spirited as his Karina.
"Let's go home, honey. There's nothing left to see." She muttered sorrowfully. She manipulatively did what she planned, tease her son with an emotional motivation so he can try harder in the academy.
Karina started walking her way home. Reiner was about to follow her. However, he froze and his heartbeat shot when his father's gaze mated with his. It seemed as though time had stopped. He desperately wanted to shatter the window that separated them, run to his arms and dry the tears he was holding in his shirt. The man was staring at him with a puzzled expression. Was he recognizing him? Was he starting to notice the similarities between them. He stared like he was expecting him to do something, to make an error.
"Reiner! Come, let's go back." Karina finally noticed his absence. Or maybe she intended to leave him interacting indirectly with his father so that his wish to reunite with him grew larger. What a cunning manipulator!
When they got back home, Karina started chopping some pieces of wood to warm that wintery night. Her frail, old, ladylike arms weren't fit for the challenge. She was having a hard time cutting those logs in half.
"Reiner, dear, would you mind helping me? I can't do this on my own." Karina softly pleaded.
"But I tried before and I failed. I'm still too young and too weak to chop wood." he replied ashamed of himself for not being able to help the woman who did so much for him.
"That's the thing, with determination, you can do anything, Reiner. Anything. When you're in the academy, never forget that you only fail when you stop trying. Now come here. Apply all the strength you have and keep thinking about the image of your father. Let him drive your arms." she masterfully persuaded.
"Uhm… Okay…" he replied unconfidently.
He gripped the tiny axe his mother was holding and swung it with all his might on the upper part of an intact log. He was ashamed in himself after observing that a small dent was all the damage he inflicted.
"That's not enough, honey. Try harder." she softly ordered.
He struck the log again and again but the damage was still too little.
"You'll never become a titan if you keep hitting so weakly. Warriors must be strong! Don't you want to meet your father?" she furthered persuaded him unsatisfied.
Those words unleashed the tears he was holding. Fortunately, however, the despair his mother was imposing on him seemed to boost his force.
"I-I can't!" he screamed hopelessly.
"Of course you can. Just imagine that log is the window that barred you from your father. You must break it." she yelled manipulatively.
Through his whimpers and cries, he managed to muster up strengths he didn't know he had and strike that piece of wood like it was the very symbol of his father's absence, the symbol of everything that made him unhappy. The symbol that made his life imperfect. Still, it was a long way until he separated the two halves he had started to create.
"Harder, Reiner! You have to hit harder!" she hollered.
"Harder! I have to hit harder…" he repeated like mantra in his head.
"Stop! You did well." the instructor congratulated satisfied. "Next!" he yelled.
Reiner couldn't believe himself. He got so caught up in his walk down memory lane that he didn't even notice that the 13 punching techniques were naturally performed on the tree. In fact… the tree displayed… a visible fist-sized crater. Finally, he hit hard enough. If only his mother was there to see the strength she wanted him to have. If only she was there to see he had created one more crack on the window that set them apart.
On the not so bright side, once his focus broke, the agonizing pain he hadn't notice before in his hands could no longer be ignored. It hurt like hell, as Porco described the time he had called his brother a loser for fun.
"Holy fucking shit! I take it back, you're definitely not a pussy." Porco commented surprised by Reiner's flawless performance. "I'm still better than you, but you ain't no pussy." he added smugly.
"I agree! No offense, but I didn't expect such a violent assault from you! You should have seen your face, you looked like a madman who was avenging the deaths of everything he held dear. There was no expression on your face, except in the eyes. All they conveyed was… despair." Pieck stated almost scared of the blonde boy.
"Really? I didn't even notice… I just… started thinking about why I was here and next time I knew it, I had already finished. I didn't even notice the techniques flowing through my arms. Heck, I didn't even notice the pain in my hands until now." he explained proud in himself as he observed the river of blood streaming down his knuckles.
After he saw the massive quantities of blood he had lost, his natural childish instinct of crying kicked in. However, after the praise he had received, he had to hold back his tears if he wanted to keep his newly-found manly pride intact. After all, like his mother often repeated warriors don't cry. He had to fight the tears. He had to 'hit' the tears harder. Only then would he create another crack on the window. Besided, that man, that Zeke was still staring at him. He seemed… intrigued.
"Is that so? Interesting…" Pieck mused outwardly.
"In any case, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who didn't cry all the way through. But be honest, you did drugs didn't you?" Porco asked teasingly.
"What? Of course not!" Reiner countered. To be honest, he didn't even know what 'drug' meant, but judging by the rude boy's tone, he assumed it was something bad, so he denied because he didn't want to look dumb.
"Illegal substances aside, I believe you had a psychological edge. You have no idea the power the mind holds over the body. To illustrate what happened to you, some years ago a team of psychologists conducted an experience on a large sample of people. They were simply asked to stand on a pink tile on the ground and jump as farther as they could. The psychologists marked the spot they landed on with a traffic cone, then the people went back to the pink tile and tried to jump farther. After a while, the people reached their jumping limit, usually after the 7th try. They tried and tried, but the distance they jumped was always the same. That's when the psychologists distracted the people with something, while they weren't looking someone moved the traffic cones a little farther, and then the people tried again. Surprisingly, they all jumped as far or even farther than the tampered location of their marker. This is was all due to the power of the mind." Pieck lectured excitedly. It seemed as though displaying her intelligence thrilled her.
"Wow… That was like, the most useless shit I have ever heard." Porco mocked as he laughed at her.
"What? What she said made a lot of sense! I bet you're jealous of her!" Reiner defended Pieck, who didn't seem bothered or offended at all.
"Am not!"
"Are too."
"Am not!"
"Are too."
"Excuse me." Zeke suddenly appeared, causing Reiner and Porco to stop shamefully at once. "I haven't had the opportunity to give you that reward I mentioned to you two when you fought. So here you go." he handed over a map to Reiner.
"Oh umh… T-Thank you very much, sir." the blonde boy thanked with all the composure he managed to muster up.
The trio inspected the map and they could see the facilities they were in, the woods that surrounded it and a distinguishable red cross marked somewhere far north from where they were.
"I must say, I was impressed by your performance just now. I admire your resolve, my father valued it greatly when I was a child." he confessed longingly. When he mentioned his father, he looked down and closed his eyes. "Congratulations."
Reiner could only bow gratefully, he was afraid to infuriate Zeke if he talked.
"Umh… Sir, could you be so kind as to explain this… reward you have given us?" Pieck was the only one brave enough to ask the question on everyone's minds.
"What do you think about it?" Zeke challenged her, curious about her deductive skills. He longed to find someone as astute as his younger self.
"Well… Considering the mysterious and long absence of 3 of our friends, I'd say this is related to them? Perhaps the red cross marks their location?" Pieck theorized.
"Hmph. Yes, that's about right." Zeke yielded. He was just as surprised as Reiner and Porco.
"And I assume your mentor is subjecting them to a fierce training? As a way to perfect the best ones?" she continued digging deeper.
"Correct. You should help your friends at once. Drake went through something as bad or even worse than what he is doing to them. I bet he was dying to inflict the pain he suffered. Something similar happened to me as well. It is customary for the most promising students to receive special training." Zeke informed.
"But, are they okay?" Porco asked worried about his brother's safety.
"I wouldn't count on it. Surely, they will come back eventually, but the process will be sped up if you intervene. I assure you they will be very grateful." the man warned. "Go, I shall make sure you won't get in trouble because of this."
Worried about their friends; Porco, Reiner and Pieck took their departure.
"Okay, so the red cross indicates they should be north. We only have to find out where north is and this shouldn't be too hard. I know for a fact that the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. If I recall correctly, the sun rose from there." Porco pointed his index finger to his left side. "Therefore, north is that way." he pointed to the direction in front of him.
"No. Actually the sun rises from the east and sets in the west. This is because the planet spins toward the east." Pieck corrected smugly.
"Whatevs. It's that way then." Porco admitted his defeat and pointed to the direction in his back.
"Uhm… Are you sure it's not that way?" Reiner asked confused and pointed at some random direction, far from the one they wanted. He could have swore by the information they gave, it was the way he pointed at.
"Actually, Porco was right." Pieck informed, baffled by Reiner's stupidity as Porco rolled his eyes.
Speaking of Porco, since their search started, he hadn't cuss, not even once. Surely, that must mean he was serious. Perhaps he cared more about Marcel than he cared to admit.
As they ventured through the thick woods, they sighted white smoke ascending from east and gray smoke ascending from the west.
"Look! Smoke! I bet they did it!" Reiner screamed after witnessing the potential clues of his friends' whereabouts.
"I am certain they did it to signal their whereabouts. The 3 of them are quite athletic and not exactly unintelligent, I highly doubt they would lose their way. They must be desperate if they resorted to making a fire." Pieck pondered.
"I smell trouble…" Porco muttered worried.
"Don't falter. Together we'll be fine. Now, where should we start with?" Reiner lifted their spirits optimistically.
"White smoke rises from extinguished fire. Gray smoke rises from lit fire. In light of these facts, they are most likely over there." Pieck pointed to the direction of the gray smoke.
"Right. West side it is then." Porco decided determined.
"C'mon, they must be dying to see us." Reiner babbled energetically.
"Hang on Marcel. You saved me my life before, now it's time for me to return the favor." Porco thought to himself.
"Annie, I sense an agonized soul in you. But I'm certain you are not broken beyond repair. I hope this will convince you to accept our deal. I made this deal mostly because I was worried about your mental health." Pieck mused inside her head.
"I'm so sorry, Bertholdt. I… used you. I did it because I thought I didn't stand a chance without your help but… you should have seen what I did to a tree today. You don't have to slow down to catch up to me anymore. You don't have to support my weight anymore. This time, I will be the one who helps. This is my reciprocation. Hang on buddy. I just hope you're okay. Who am I kidding, a guy talented like you would never get in trouble." Reiner apologized mentally.
Author's Notes:
This chapter took such a long time! I only hope you didn't forget too much about the last chapter XD
I want to take this opportunity to thank all my reviewers for driving me further, including the ones who I can't reply to, thank you all.
So, chapter 96 came out and guess what? That guy who apparently took in the Titan trio in his hut and that told the same story Bert told Eren and Armin was found dead. By hanging. It is strongly implied that he was murdered by the trio and they made it look like a suicide. Just like Bert's mother did to Mrs. Azelas some chapters ago. Guess Bert learned a few stuff from mommy, huh? XD I felt so good when I saw that, it fits so well with what I wrote. ^_^ I wonder why the Smiling titan ignored Bert though…
Speaking of chapter 96, remember that scene where Reiner was chopping wood? Well, the flashback in this chapter is actually inspired by that. For Reiner, chopping wood holds emotional value as it reminds him of his parents.
Reiner may look a little more assholey in here, but don't forget that they're all still kids. Furthermore, Reiner's personality in the walls is actually Marcel's later on. It seems he is using Bert, which is kinda true, but he learned this from his mother. She was very manipulative as you can see in this chapter.
In case you thought the whole punching trees thing seemed unrealistic, that is actually one of the trainings the North Korean military have to undergo, I'm trying to include harsh trainings from all over the world in this story.
The psychological tests Pieck mentioned didn't happen in reality, but I witnessed first hand what she described.
Okay, this AN is getting colossal XD I just want to say that the chapters may have gotten a little stale, but I'll reveal some backstories in the next.
Zeke mentioned Sergeant Drake, aka, the Beast Titan will give is power to him at the same time as the kids. However, we know for a fact that he got them sooner. Can you guess what'll happen? ;)
P.S. Reiner foreshadowed his Titan, cause why not?