(Author here. Older readers may notice some changes regarding chapters and other things. For any older readers, I would like to offer a quick explanation. Any new readers might be interested too. So, I recently went back, after two and a half years, and changed some things about this story. Chapter 1 and 2 went through a total rewrite. Many small chapters were combined into larger ones, and many details changed to accommodate the new plot line. I would advise any old reader to go back and read the new chapters 1 and 2, for they are far better in my opinion and also offer a lot of backstory for this story. This story is taking path I didn't originally think it was, as over the years as Attack on Titan was expanded and the Manga released, things changed. And as such, this story has changed to fit more into the Manga plot.
I would like to thank anyone who has read through all this, as it's actually quite a lot and I'm sort of proud of it all. I really hope this story starts to kick off soon, as up until now the building up of characters and hinting at things has been going on. I think I'll probably really condense the Retaking of Trost, and just tell it after it happened, as Angel doesn't change much and not much is added to THIS story there.I also think I'll probably skip going into detail for the Female Titan Arc, and instead write a few choice scenes with Angel introduced in that Arc. Primarily because that arc is long and has a lot of things happen which aren't very related to Angel himself, but is very much about Annie who is the second biggest character in this story and as such I want to have here develop there.
Angel is also going to become a more fleshed out character. A lot of earlier chapters and writing didn't really have much of an Angel character other than this sort of lame kid who was skilled and overly confident. The direction I've taken this story recently has offered me a lot of room to play with his character, and I also have a lot of ideas about how he will develop as the story progresses. So although he is still sort of bland now, although it's certain he's become more fleshed out than he was before, I plan on really taking his personality and giving him some real life.
And as a last note, as a reward for all your patience, I promise the Titan fight scenes are coming soon. Angel has a very cool Titan and I'm very excited to show it off. Signing off, Cerily.)
The plan was simple, if insane. There was a large rock in Trost which happened to be roughly large enough to block the breach if placed in front of it. Angel knew the rock well, having lived in Trost. It was far too large to move by any method, but Pixis believed Eren had the strength. And so Eren was to move the rock in titan form, while the rest of the soldiers distracted titans around him.
Angel didn't like this, for a number of reasons, but Kurt assured him the plan was genius and would work as Pixis was the mastermind of it. Even so, Angel could not help but feel troubled by the plan. It placed Eren in a risky position, and while he trusted the boy to remain safe, there was just something wrong about all this.
Angel felt fiercely protective of Eren. He wasn't sure why. But after seeing the boy emerge from a titan he had felt honour bound to ensure the boy was not harmed. He was searching his memories for clues as to why, but there was a vastness of memories to understand, and only with time could he start to unravel their secrets. Already he had figured out a few things, and some other things had been made noticeable to him.
First and foremost, he knew there was some power vested within him. The exact details of it he was still searching for. What he knew so far was that up until the Great Traitor, his ancestors had wielded the power of the Blase. Yet after the Great Traitor, the woman from his earlier thoughts whose name was still hidden from him, his ancestors refused to use the power. He knew his father had thought Angel would use the power, although Angel had refused to delve deeper into his father's memories for the time being. They were hard to see.
His father had touched the power a few times over his life, but he had never embraced the full extent of it. He had never invoked it's name and wielded it with righteous fury like it wished to be used. Harrison saw the power as a horrible monster within himself, one that was to be kept caged at all costs. Harrison had bargained with the demon on occasion, but never embraced the promises of strength and power. Although the creature whispered to Harrison to accept it, he never had.
Angel had wondered about the voice he had heard speak to him earlier. He had spent some time determining if the creature was speaking to him, but in short time he had identified the voice as being the cumulative memories and thoughts of his ancestors. The creature's voice was a voice made up of the temptations of those who rejected it, and the experiences of those who accepted it. There was no voice whispering of power really, but his mind simply turned the thoughts urging him to accept the power into the creature's voice. For the last person to use the power had been the Great Traitor herself. No, that's not true.
The last person to use the ancient Blase power was me. Back in Trost. And the only witness to it was...
Annie Leonhart came walking over to Angel. She came in front of him, looked up into his eyes, and spoke, "Are you going back into Trost?"
He glared back at her, the connections starting to make themselves, "Yes. What about you?"
She shook her head, "You're a lot braver than me." Angel had suspected something back in Trost. Annie's attitude towards him was just not right. None would be as calm as she was after what she seen. But back then his mind was still trying to figure out his situation, and he had accepted that she was willing to delay explanation for a later date, as he had asked her to. But on top of the HQ, he had seen as clear as day that she had some reason for protecting Eren in titan form.
"I don't know. I think you might be braver, and I'm just stupider." She knew what he was. He couldn't avoid this conversation forever, but he could delay it until he recognized what she was. He was playing memories in his head, looking for information about what he suspected. Was she...like him?
"You're definitely braver than me." There was a pause, and a moment of silence between the two. Angel was closing in on it. The information was in this memory, he could feel it. It was a conversation between one of his ancestors and somebody else. It was a long time ago, before the titans. Before the titans? That couldn't be right. For they were were talking about titans. No they were talking about THE titans.
"I should probably go get ready." Angel said, and then moved to leave. It was starting to make sense now. All the tiny little things were adding up in his head. There was only possible conclusion to draw and it was being drawn. Angel played the memory once more in his head, looking for any details to search further into. He found a few things, and began to delve deeper into them.
"Wait, Angel..." She said, calling him back after he had turned around to leave, "We need to talk."
The man turned back around slowly, buying whatever time he could as he ran through his thoughts. He had found something else. There were nine, "What about?"
"Trost. I saw some things there."
"We both saw many things."
"Yes but...but I saw...something very odd."
Angel almost had it. There were nine. And seven were lost. So then there were two. But Annie was not one of those two. No, they didn't match. The one he would recognize and the other...the other just didn't make sense.
"Alright." Angel said, "So then what is it we need to talk about?"
Annie opened her mouth to speak but paused. There were nine. Seven were lost. Another memory. More information. Seven were lost. Where'd they go? What happened to them? There were nine, then just two. Seven lost. Nine. Two. Seven. Annie...
"You turned into a Titan back there." Annie simply stated.
Eren was one of the two. Angel wasn't, yet neither was Annie. He was not one of the seven either. Which makes him...what? Not important. Annie. Annie. Annie. She is not of the two. Why did she care so much about Eren as the Rogue Titan? Seven lost. Aha!
"You didn't tell anybody, did you?" She shook her head, "Good. So we're even then."
"Wha-What?"
"I didn't tell anybody about you."
She looked at him eyes open in slight surprise. How does he know with such certainty? The power of feeling other shifters is limited to my Titan alone. And how can he speak with such callousness about this?
"I...what are you talking about?" He smirkled.
"Neither of us have spoken of the other. So let's keep it that way." I have to play like I'm unaware of what he's talking about. The longer the innocent facade is kept, the more I stand to gain.
"Angel, you turned into a Titan in Trost. You can't just ignore the subject like this."
He smiled, "Alright fine. I suppose I can offer an explanation."
"Thank you."
"On one condition. You have to give me an explanation too." He's not letting up. He's far too certain of his statement to be convinced now. Which leaves me what choices?
"An explanation of what?"
"I don't know." He seemed troubled now, "I just felt it would be fitting." He looked off into the distance, "I should go. We'll be attacking Trost soon." He turned to leave again.
"Angel..." Annie whispered, "Please. Tell me what happened in Trost." He turned around again. Annie noticed a shift in his eyes. The light hearted look he had was gone, replaced by a cold, seemingly slightly annoyed, hardened stare.
"I'm a Titan Shifter." He said, his tone more aggressive and forceful than usual, "Like you."
There was a moment of silence. "I won't tell the others." Annie replied.
"The other humans?" He asked, "Or the other Shifters?"
Annie was silent. Angel nodded. Annie looked at the ground. Angel sighed.
"We don't have to be enemies, ya know?" He said. No words passed between the two. They both remained silent. Neither their heads nor their eyes moved. In her mind, Annie screamed at herself. She berated herself for what she was doing. She was protecting him. From what? From...she didn't know. She was just protecting him. She screamed at herself, asking herself why? Why? Why?
Angel turned to leave, his gear clanking slightly as he arched his back and started to walk away.
"Angel?" Annie asked very softly, her voice barely heard. He turned back to face her once more, "Don't die out there, ok?"
He nodded, "Of course." And then he moved away. Within a minute he was gone, and Annie was left wondering why she was doing this. She was left wondering what the stupid man made her feel. She didn't like this feeling, but at the same time she wanted to embrace it. It reminded her of back home. Back with her father. She promised to return. Yes, she promised to return to him, and nothing could get in the way of that promise. She would make sure of that.
And yet, Angel stood in a position to get in the way of the mission. He was a threat. A threat to the mission. But a threat to her? Oh, she didn't know. This is all too strange to her, all too wrong and weird.
Just focus on the mission, she reminded herself, If he gets in the way I'll...I'll let the others handle it. She breathed deeply, trying to kill her emotions.
Annie Leonhart hated emotions.
