Well hello there! Here we are chapter 21! My last chapter got quite a few reviews of people shocked by the ending of my last chapter well now we find out what happened after Annie escaped with Eren as her prisoner (Dramatic music)

Oh and if you can please read ''Simple joys'' by my friend Takenohime, it converted me to a Levi x Petra shipper!

So as usual enjoy the chapter and don't forget to leave a review if you could or just PM me if you have any suggestions or questions about how to improve my story.

Annie...That was Annie's move… Eren thought he was dreaming. He wanted to dreaming: the last memory he had was that of the Female Titan taking up the position that Annie had taught him. Eren refused to believe the voices that were shouting the painfully obvious truth at him. It's her! You know it is. Don't lie to yourself. Eren's thoughts were pulling him in several agonizing directions.

When his consciousness returned to him, the first thing Eren noticed was that he was inside a building. He went to open his mouth to ask where he was but the words wouldn't leave his throat - all that came out was a painful sigh. Giving up on trying to speak, Eren instead started to look around and inspect his surroundings. Immediately, Eren found a throbbing pain in his neck. Whenever he twisted his head, Eren felt a powerful burning sensation coming from the sides of his neck and shoulders.

From his position, Eren could make out that he was lying on his back and looking directly up at the ceiling of whatever building he was in. The ceiling he was staring at was an old and decrepit oaken frame that looked like no one had refurbished in many years. Eren took a long, strong breath in. The air felt thick and musky, causing Eren's face to contort into a grimace of disgust.

Where the hell am I? Eren's sunken and weary eyes darted around in every direction, trying desperately to determine his location. As he looked around his surroundings gory images of the Female Titan flashed in front of him. Did I lose? Eren's memories of the fight were fractured and jumbled up; he seemed to remember pinning the monster down on the ground and raising his fist to crush it's skull like an egg, but from that point on there was an expansive void in his memories. The only other thing that Eren could remember was the terrifying sight of the Female Titan using Annie's signature kick.

As the moments passed Eren found the feeling gradually return to his body; firstly, he felt a tingling sensation in the tips of his fingers and toes. Then after a few moments Eren felt the strength to ball his fists and a few minutes later Eren could flex his toes and eventually the pain in his throat faded to a dull burning feeling.

''Where am I?'' He croaked to no reply. His breath was heavy but his jaw was set in a stern line of determination. ''Is there anyone there?'' Eren said slightly louder and with more authority but yet again, no reply. He tried to sit up but his body was still weak from the exhaustion that followed a full body transformation.

With his new found strength, Eren lifted his head up and saw that there was a blanket covering his body. It was a muddy brown and dotted in patchy holes; a result of years of neglect and abuse. There was a window about three meters to his right and through the dirty and murky glass Eren could tell that the sun was setting as a warming, orange light shone through the dirt stained glass. ''Hello?'' Eren's mind was racing with questions as his tired voice rang through the cabin. Where am I? What happened to me?

''I need to get out of here now.'' He ordered to himself. Eren took a deep breath and with all his dwindling might he forced his body to sit up. Through a thick fog of pain Eren managed to rise from the tarp underneath him. His entire body felt heavy and Eren sighed as he felt his bones creak and relax.

A sudden wave of pain crashed through his head; Eren came tumbling back down to the floor as fireworks of agony blurred his vision. Eren screwed his eyes shut and willed that the maddening fire in his head to subside.

Eren didn't know how many minutes had passed when his storm of a migraine dissipated but when he finally opened his eyes the friendly sunset light of the sun was gone, replaced by a consuming darkness that engulfed the entirety of the room.

Thankfully, now that Eren's headache had passed, almost all his strength had returned in its place. Eren gritted his teeth, balled his fists, and with all his might brought himself to his feet.

The instant Eren stood to his full height he wished that he was still lying on the floor. A cloud of nausea descended on the boy; Eren felt his stomach flip as he attempted to take a single step forward. ''I need to get outside.'' He commanded his battered and damaged body to move in the direction Eren hoped would lead to the doorway.

The floor under his seemingly bare feet was cold and slightly damp. How did my shoes come off? This thought made Eren worry even more, and due to the darkness Eren couldn't tell the state of his other clothes, or if he was even wearing them.

After feeling around his chest and legs Eren confirmed that he was still indeed wearing his Survey Corps uniform. At least I still have my clothes on. He thanked silently.

A few clumsy steps later and Eren was standing with one hand resting on the handle of what he thought to be the front door of the building. Time to find out where I am. With that he hauled the door open and gasped at the sight before him.

There were no clouds in the sky to obstruct the grandeur of the full moon; the ghostly white light that shone down from the shining orb in the sky bathed Eren's surroundings in an almost unnatural glow. Even Eren, the famous loudmouth of the 104th, was lost for words at the staggering beauty of the scenery before him. That was until a single sulking figure passed into his field of view.

''Is that a Titan?'' Eren was right - a few hundred meters away was a lone Titan. Eren guessed that it was at least a ten meter class but that wasn't what bothered him. ''Why is it still moving this late after sunset?'' Eren was right to be worried; it was common knowledge that Titan's became dormant after dark; even the infamous 'abnormals' became drowsy and lethargic once the sun had set.

As he watched the Titan stroll through the stunning night, a deeply troubling thought burst into his mind. ''If there is a Titan here then...where am I?'' From his basic training, Eren knew that Titans came primarily from the south and with the gaping hole in Wall Maria, hundreds, if not thousands, of the carnivorous monsters had flooded the territory between Wall Maria and Rose. ''I must be somewhere between Wall Maria and Rose.''

Eren stayed like that for what felt like hours, his mind racing with potential ideas and plans to escape back to Wall Rose. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice a shadowy figure approaching from a nearby forest. In fact he didn't see the new comer until he heard the sound of their boots against the dry ground.

''Who's there?'' Eren called out in a panicked tone.

The approcher sighed and raised a single hand to their temples. ''I didn't plan for you to wake up this soon...'' They said in a voice so terrifyingly familiar that Eren felt an icy dagger pierce his heart.

''A-Annie...Is that you?'' Eren's voice was trembling more than his legs, which threatened to buckle under him at any moment.

At a speed that seemingly defied conventional thought Annie rushed forward in a blur of shadows and before Eren could comprehend what was happening she was already behind him. Annie balled one of her hands into a tight fist and with all her might she brought it crashing down onto the back of Eren's neck; sending him into a paralyzingly black sleep.

Eren was dreaming, but it didn't feel like the many visions he suffered from in the long years since the loss of his mother. This time it felt like he was having a conversation…with his own shadow.

''Why is Annie here?'' Eren asked.

''I think you know the answer.'' Replied Eren's shadow.

''N-no that is impossible.'' Eren didn't realise his fists were clenched.

''Eren think back to the fight with that Titan.'' These words made Eren shudder. ''It fought..Just like her.''

''NO!'' Eren jolted upright as if a lightning bolt had been passed through his body. His eyes shot open as he returned from his nightmare. The first thing Eren realised was the blistering heat that roared against his bare skin. His breathing was fast and erratic. ''Wh-what happened?'' Eren wasn't sure who he was directing the question at and he didn't care, all he wanted were answers.

''I guess there is no point lying to you anymore.'' The voice sounded as if were a whisper from a mile away.

Eren's vision was blurred due to the unnatural light that filled the cabin. ''Annie...I know that's you.'' His voice was low, almost animal like.

Eren turned his head to the source of voice and noticed a small fire in the middle of the room, he came to the conclusion that Annie built it while Eren was asleep and standing over the burning flames stood the Female Titan. Stood Annie Leonhart.

Upon hearing his former lover's voice Eren's vision instantly cleared. ''Why are you here?'' Part of Eren's mind chastised him for asking a question with a painfully obvious answer.

''Eren you know the answer to that.'' Her voice was low and tired sounding.

''No I don't.'' Eren's voice was dripping with anger. ''The last thing I remember was fighting the Female Titan.''

''Is that what they call me then.'' Annie scoffed.

''THIS ISN'T A JOKE ANNIE!'' Eren roared.

''Like I said, there is no point in lying to you anymore.'' Annie said with a the tiniest hint of relief.

''There is a chance you are going along with this because of your shitty sense of humor.'' Eren pleaded.

''Do you think so little of me that I would joke about killing all those soldiers?'' Annie jested.

''Just tell me the truth!'' Eren ordered.

''You want the truth? Well I want promises.'' Annie replied instantly. ''I can give you some information but in return I need you to promise me something.'' She added quickly.

''What do I need to promise?'' Eren asked with a raised eyebrow.

''That you will come with me with no resistance.'' Annie said with baited breath.

''Come with you where?'' Eren asked.

''To my hometown.''

''What does your hometown have to do with anything?'' The frustration in Eren's voice was all too clear.

''I can't tell you just yet.'' Annie sighed. ''What I can tell you is that I am the Female Titan and that you need to come with me right now.''

''If you were the...Female Titan.'' Eren spat. ''Then why would you tell me this?''

''Because there is no longer a point in lying to you.'' Annie explained.

Eren snorted and laughed. ''I don't believe any of this.''

''For God's sake Eren! Use your brain for once.'' Annie was growing impatient. ''You know it's me!'' Eren visibly winced. ''You wake up after losing a fight to a Titan shifter in a broken down old cabin miles from human civilization and the only other person here is me. You're not that stupid - just put two and two together.'' With every word Eren's face became more and more contorted with pain and denial.

''Stop it.'' Eren growled.

''You just don't want to accept it!'' Annie paused to ready her sharpest knife. ''I killed all those soldiers, I killed the special operations squad, all of them! And I knew what I was doing believe me I do, I knew who they were. Ouluo, Eld, Gunther and Petra all of them dead because of me!'' By the time Annie had finished her shoulders were heaving and her breathing was heavy.

''Stop it stop it stop it!'' Eren yelled and in that moment he thought back to the final moments of his duel with the Female Titan.

*flashback*

Despite the fact that his lower jaw had been obliterated the Berserk Titan rushed forward to meet his opponent. Charging at a ludicrous speed Eren's Titan launched one of its knees to where the Female Titan was lying but in the last moment, in the last instant before his bone crushed her seemingly ill fated skull, the Female Titan dodged to the side in a single fluid motion.

Taking a moment to weigh up her options the Female Titan came to a single and irreversible decision. ''End. This.'' Ordered the pilot of the Titan. The beautiful yet deadly body of the Female Titan turned to face her target. She raised her fists and stepped her right foot back slightly.

From inside the hulking mass of muscle housing Eren Jaeger, he watched with utter horror and disbelief as the Female Titan, the monster he vowed to destroy and pulverize, the monster he swore to hunt to the ends of the Earth, took the fighting stance of the girl he loved.

He had only time to say one word before his head was sheared from his body. ''Annie?''

*end flashback*

''It can't be...I refuse to believe it...'' Eren's eyes were sealed shut and his palms were drumming at his temples.

''I can answer all your questions but only if you accept this!'' Annie called out.

Eren looked up at her with a blazing inferno of pure hate in his tear filled eyes. ''I'll kill you!''

Realising what Eren was about to do Annie bolted for the door, just as she pulled the rotted wooden door open Eren clamped his teeth down on the soft flesh of his hand sending the world around them into a fog of burning hot steam.

Annie opened her eyes to see only darkness, she had expected Eren to do something drastic like attack her or scream at her but she didn't expect him to shift in his state. She didn't think it would be possible for him to shift in his state.

He is stronger than you think. Greif reminded.

''You don't need to tell me that.'' Annie coughed.

Apparently I do. Greif hiss gleefully.

Annie moaned as she threw a large piece of splintered wood from her body. ''I guess this saved my li-'' Annie cried out in pain as she stood up. Looking down at her leg she saw what had caused the immense agony.

A large stake of wood was sticking out of her leg that was bent at an unnatural and grotesque angle. Scarlett red blood was steadily trickling out of her calf.

''This is going to have to come out.'' Annie joked through a dense smog of pain. Annie gritted her teeth and balled her free hand into her shirt before taking the jagged spike of wood with one hand, using all her might Annie tore the object from her leg with a sickening sound as the shards of wood pulled and tore at her muscles.

Once the intruding object had been removed Annie closed her azure eyes and focused all of her thoughts on healing her gruesome wound. As a thin pillar of steam rose from her leg, Annie felt the new bone appear in the cracks made by the explosion. It burned at first just like every time she was forced to heal a broken bone or a torn tendon, but over the years Annie had grown to live with the discomfort.

As her skin knitted back together and the trickle of blood was reduced to an occasional drip Annie stood from the pool of crimson gore that surrounded her. Immediately she started to scan the area around for signs of Eren's Titan.

''Even if he shifted there is no way he could make a fully working body the way he is.'' Annie reminded herself.

It didn't take her long to find the pathetic excuse for a Titan that Eren had hastily made in his fit of unfocused rage.

The Titan that Eren had created was barely 10 meters long but that wasn't what shocked Annie. Below the waist Annie expected to see the legs that would hold his giant frame up but instead...there was nothing. Where the strong, powerful legs should have been there was a tangled mess of internal organs. The arms that were once used as a brutal weapon against her were now useless twigs of brittle bone and torn skin, aside from the absence of legs and the weakness of his arms not all of Eren's true body had been enveloped by his Titan frame.

Only his head had been encased by a shell of flesh, the rest of his body was hanging limply from the neck of his failed creation.

''I've never seen such a...failed shift.'' Annie sighed as she climbed up the motionless body. As she made her way towards the exposed pilot Annie noticed just how hot his Titan was, steam was billowing out of several areas of exposed muscle tissue like an active geyser.

Better get him out of there before he burns to death. Greif suggested.

''Didn't I tell you that it would take more than hot air to kill Eren.'' Annie scoffed as she approached the boy.

Oh so you care for the child. Desire hissed from the shadows.

''Don't start!'' Annie ordered.

After that the snakes remained mostly silent, apart from Hope who continuously urged Annie to work harder and move faster.

It took Annie much longer than she expected to pull Eren from his rapidly decomposing flesh; she was slightly concerned by how reluctant the Titan was to let go of Eren's head. ''If he tries shifting again once he wakes up he could become one of the Feral Titans.'' Annie said as she separated the last few thews of flesh that clung desperately to Eren.

Once Eren was free from his Titan Annie sat against a deformed tree stump and sighed. ''Now I have to wait until he wakes up again.''

He is going to try and kill you again when he wakes up. Grief.

''I think I know how I can convince him to follow me.'' Annie said with balled fists. ''Eren wants answers...well I can give them to him.''

Well first things first, you need to find some shelter. Look over there. In the not too far distance the Titan that Eren had seen earlier was making strolling towards them at a steady pace.

''Where there is one there are more.'' Annie said through gritted teeth.

She was right. Not far behind the ten meter Titan there was a small herd of the beasts that were following their one and only instinct...To feed.

''According to the map of the Walls I stole there should be an abandoned Iceburst stone caldera around here.'' Annie said as she rubbed her temples. She scanned the area around in hope of finding some evidence of the elusive mine shaft. Unfortunately due to the darkness it was impossible for Annie to see anything more that a few meters in front of her.

''I can't see anything in this dark.'' Annie huffed. As these words left her lips the full moon emerged from behind a veil of thick clouds, bathing the entire area in a ghostly and eerie light. With this new found light Annie could see for miles in every direction and while it highlighted the ever increasing number of Titans that were making their way towards them it also showed Annie the entrance to the entrance of the mine shaft. ''There!''

Previously hidden by the cloak of night was a series of mountains, at the bottom of which was a small wooden structure. ''That's the way into the mine.'' Annie said as she picked up Eren's limp body from his nearly fully decomposed Titan.

It took Annie a painfully long time to drag Eren the distance from the shattered remains of their cabin to the entrance of the mine. Annie moved as quickly as she could to make sure that Eren would only wake up in the safety of the mountainside. The door was rusted shut but after a few sharp kicks Annie managed to break through to the lifeless mine.

''ANNIE!'' Eren's remaining eye shot open as he conciseness suddenly returned to him. ''W-what happened to me?'' Eren didn't expect an answer.

''You tried to shift but you failed.'' Annie huffed from behind the small fire she built.

''Why can't I see properly?'' Eren growled.

''When I pulled you out your body got...stuck, when I finally got you out one of your eyes was gone.'' Annie explained.

Eren replied by raising his hand to his open mouth. His eye ablaze with rage that was aimed solely at her. He was about to bring his teeth down on his skin when Annie's voice rang through the cave.

''EREN...Look around you. Do you have any idea where we are? No? I didn't think so, well we are under a mountain.''

''Why should I believe you?'' Eren spat.

''Look around you.'' Annie ordered.

Eren slowly and reluctantly craned his head up as his single eye scanned over the walls of the mine shaft. ''Why did you drag me in here?'' Eren asked.

''So I could talk to you without you blowing up.'' Annie retorted.

''I want nothing to do with you ever again!'' Eren roared.

With that, an uneasy silence fell upon the two of them. Grief had to stifle a laugh at the irony of the situation: a few days ago it was Annie who demanding that Eren never talk to her again, and now... Now it was Eren who was threatening to kill her.

Oh this is rich… Grief giggled maniacally.

''You promised me answers. Start talking, where is your homeland?'' Eren's eyes were firmly locked on Annie.

''Beyond the Walls...Far beyond the Walls.'' It felt so counter intuitive to talk to anyone about the location of her home.

''How do I get there?'' Eren's face was a mix of determination and unequivocal anger.

''...There is a large forest far to the South West of Wall Maria. Beyond that is somewhere my people call lake Ada-'' Annie never had a chance to finish.

''Your people! Who are they?'' Eren was trying and failing to rein in his temper.

''We come from a village far away.'' Annie was staring into the flames.

''Are they all… like you?'' Eren's fists were trembling at the thought.

''No...not all of us are shifters.'' Eren swore that he saw Annie's eyes water up slightly.

''Why did you take me?'' Eren was astounded by how much information Annie was giving him.

''I can only tell you if you promise to come with me.'' This time Annie looked right at him.''I can't tell you anymore unless you promise me.''

''You're in no place to make demands!'' Eren's new eyes filled his empty socket as light flooded his vision.

''I think I am.'' She paused. ''You can't shift again, your powers aren't as convenient as you think.''

''Why would I believe you?'' Eren was already raising his hand to him mouth.

''Because unlike you I actually know how to use my powers.'' Annie protested. ''If you shifted now you would likely kill yourself and me.''

''Sounds tempting.'' Eren scoffed.

''You kept on going on about how much you wanted to kill the Titans, I know more about them then any mad Survey Corps scientist.'' Eren let his hand drop back to his side.

''Like what? I don't care if you can't tell me, I need some reason to even consider coming with you.'' Eren sat back down against the wall of the mine.

''I know where they are coming from. I know why they eat people...I know how to stop them and...'' Annie's voice trailed off.

''And what?'' Eren pried.

If you want him to come along the best way is to tell him who they are. Both Hope and Grief agreed on this point.

''And I know who the Armoured and Colossal Titans are.'' Annie said reluctantly.

''YOU DO! WHO ARE THEY?'' Eren yelled as if an electric current had been passed through his body.

''Promise me.'' Annie said calmly.

''I promise.'' Eren growled.

Eren went oddly silent at the prospect of finally learning the identity of the ones responsible for the deaths of over a quarter of a million people; the one who broke down the outer gate with a single foot, the one who crushed Eren's house with a piece of the wall that was built with the very purpose to protect them...The one who lead to the death of his Mother.

When he was ready to talk he spoke in a low and almost animal like tone, he only asked a single question with a single word.

''Who?''

Although it pained her to give up the identities of her colleagues Annie realised that there was no other of getting Eren to follow her without trying to kill her at every opportunity.

Don't hate me for this. Annie silently pleaded.

I wonder how he will react. Desire giggled with venom dripping fangs.

''The Armoured Titan is...Reiner Braun.'' She stopped to see Eren's eyes widen with utter confusion and disbelief.

''And the Colossal Titan is Bertolt Hoover.''