Search.

"Fifteen meter Titan spotted!"

Find.

"What!? Why is it heading for the center of the formation!?"

"It's an Abnormal, there's no point trying to figure it out!"

"We can't let it break the formation! Take it down!"

Devour.

"No! No, no, no! Please, I'm sorry! PLEASE! DON'T-!

A scream of agony.

Then rinse and repeat.

That was her existence. At one point in her life, she was an honorable candidate for the title of Warrior. She was a prodigy, top of her class, unmatched by any of her classmates in terms of skill. She was to inherit the power of the Armored Titan and be the shield of the Marleyan Dominion.

Now?

She was nothing but a beast. A gluttonous, devilish beast that did nothing but wander around aimlessly, not even in control of her body. Unable to do anything but react to base instincts to devour any human beings in sight, in the hopes of one of them being a Titan-Shifter, so she could return to her human form.

She'd read accounts from Warriors that the experience of turning into a Pure Titan, before devouring the Titan-Shifter they'd inherit the power of, was hellish, even if they were only turned for a few mere seconds to a full minute.

But none of those accounts could ever even come close to describing the true hell that is the experience of being a Pure Titan. It was almost as if someone had trapped her in her body and turned her into a puppet, the puppeteer holding the strings that moved her limbs being her baser instincts.

Worst of all, being unable to control yourself actually gave you a lot of time to think. That may not sound all that bad, but being unable to control your own body along with your mind is pure torture.

All that time you spend in your head, unable to control your body, you spend thinking of what led to this moment. You remember the times you spent with your family and friends. You remember all the things you accomplished in your life. You remember all the laughter, the joy, the happiness that those around you gave you and you desperately start hoping that at any moment now you'd be waking up in your bed, screaming and crying, your loved ones rushing in to comfort you from the horrible nightmare you just had.

During the first few weeks, Gabi desperately held on to this hope. That it was all just a nightmare. That, at any moment, she'd wake up crying for her mother. That she'd soon tell her family what her nightmare was about and that they'd comfort her as well as they could.

But in the end, she'd always end up filled with an unwavering feeling of despair and sorrow at the realization that she weren't having nightmare. That what she was experiencing was real. And that she'd likely never be saved from this hell.

During the days, she wandered. During the nights, she stood as still as a statue. She'd been a little confused at this at first, but then she remembered that one class that had taught her that Pure Titans move because of energy from the sun. The thought didn't make her any happier, only further cementing the thought that she wasn't human anymore. But it did provide her with an opportunity to think about something other than her memories.

She mainly wondered, during those nights, what those close to her would think about her fate. She knew her mother and aunt would be heartbroken. She wasn't sure about Reiner though. His hatred for those who defied the laws Marley had laid out for Eldians matched his loyalty to the country, as well his hatred for the island devils. It was one of the reasons he'd been made a Warrior.

Commander Magath would probably be, at the very least, frustrated that the most promising Warrior candidate had been exiled for something as trivial as taking off her armband. Maybe he'd even demote that woman who did this to her, Rena.

Her friends, however, weren't all that difficult to figure out. They'd most likely be shocked that such a promising candidate and friend had been turned into a Pure Titan, then they'd probably dismiss her as a traitor to Marley.

Then, there was Falco. She knew that he, like her mother and aunt, would most likely be devastated at the news. She knew that he had a crush on her. He'd shown it countless times, with him hesitating to take advantage of an opening during close quarters combat training and blushing heavily when she was around him.

Back then, she'd dismissed it, seeing it as merely giving her an advantage in becoming a Warrior, with her classmate being hindered by his affections. Now, she sincerely regretted not at least adressing it. Him being as dense as he was probably thought she'd never know how he felt.

Whilst she mainly focused on those thoughts, she also dwelled on thoughts concerning the last thing Rena had said to her before plunging that awful needle in her neck and kicking her off the wall.

It still made her feel surreal. The thought of the king of the Eldian Empire actually having wished for the atonement of the Eldian people felt as if it was a lie. But then, after long, long, time of thinking (mostly since that was all she was actually in control of these days.), it did make sense. It could be why he didn't just use the Founding Titan's power to end the Great Titan War without threatening the existence of the Eldian Empire. It could be why he didn't just order the Colossal Titans he created to attack the Marleyans and suppress their rebellion. It could be why he didn't release the Colossal Titans like he said he would when the Marleyans started turning Eldians into Pure Titans.

The implications of those things, to her surprise, made her feel angry at his actions. He wanted peace, but he couldn't do the small job of just letting the people of Marley and the rest of the world have their freedom back, thus allowing Eldians like her to be able to live freely?

However, in the end, she knew the sins of the Eldian Empire were indescribably evil. She knew quite a bit about the evils they committed, being an Eldian that grew up in Marley and all. Begrudgingly, she could understand how it was impossible to fully atone. He was an island devil, but at the end, he'd tried to be a good guy, like an Eldian becoming a Warrior. He'd done a good thing, destroying his people's power and doing his best to punish his fellow devils for their arrogance and aggression. In the end, he'd been more than a monstrous devil.

'Unlike those damn island devils...'

To Gabi, if there was one thing she could be grateful for, it was that having become a Pure Titan meant she could finally kill those devil islanders.

Unlike the king, they fled to Paradis to save their own skin, not to atone. From what she could remember from her classes, the vast majority, if not all, of the Eldians that had managed to flee to Paradis had been slavers or Eldian noble families. The conditions that the Eldian Empire had forced upon those enslaved by it still haunted Gabi to this day. Though she now knew what true hell was, the Eldian Empire's institution of slavery was able to be pretty high up on the list of things that are almost as bad as being turned into a Titan.

Almost.

To most of the world, the Eldian Empire never ceased to be. It was just severely weakened and it's people had yet to be properly punished for their sins. It's the reason why every country in the world hates Eldians. It's the reason why her family and friends are looked down upon so heavily by Marleyans.

And it's also the reason as to why she was suffering through hell as she was currently. If only those island devils hadn't committed all the countless atrocities they did, she wouldn't be wandering around in purgatory, as penance for the sins of her people. The Marleyans are completely justified in their actions. Though she can't say that it was fair, she isn't angry with her homeland for turning her into a Titan. Though she was ashamed to admit it, she had been at first. But then she'd simply reminded herself of the ones truly at fault here, the devils of Paradis Island.

For in the end, though she didn't dwell on fact, the only thing that kept her from losing what little part of her mind she had left was her hatred for the island devils.

The Marleyans and the rest of the world are simply avenging their people by punishing Eldians and containing the threat of the island devil's. There was nothing wrong with that. But the Eldian Empire had no such reason for their aggression. The classes told her the Eldians invaded Marley in order to gain more power and to gain the glory of defeating such a great nation, but Gabi wouldn't put it past that devil Ymir to have simply invaded and oppressed the righteous Marleyans for the fun of it.

'It's their fault I'm a Titan, not Marley's or even that woman Rena's!' She'd reminded herself. 'They're the ones who annexed and oppressed millions of innocents for hundreds of years, and for no real reason!'

And now, she knew that killing those demons, to punish them for their vile race's sins, whether she was in control or not, would be something she'd enjoy dearly.

That's at least what she'd told herself, at least. Until she devoured someone for the first time.

Time as a Titan is a blur, with mainly the things that stand out the most being the few things she could consciously remember and even then it was mostly bits and pieces. But she could remember eating someone for the first time clear as day.

It had been midday and she'd been wandering around aimlessly, like she always did, when she'd seen it. Two horses galloping towards her from the distance. Her Titan body had immediately burst into action, running at them with the best of it's ability and, for the first time since the day she'd been turned into a Titan, she felt something almost close to excitement. Excitement at the fact that, even though it wasn't ideal, even though she was suffering through absolute hell, she could, in a way at least, finally fulfill her dream of fighting for the glory of Marley.

The fact that she had no control over her actions made no difference, for the thought that she could still be useful to her homeland gave her the only sense of peace that she could get in this form.

But then, as she'd finally reached them, she heard the sound of metal grating against metal pierce through the air and felt something hook into her left foot. The next thing she'd felt was a throbbing pain that burst through her leg as something sliced through her achilles heel and she'd stumbled, unable to properly support her leg.

Being a Pure Titan, she was unable to adapt to changes in situation quickly, so when she'd tried to look at the cause of the pain, her body's reaction was a bit delayed. However, when she'd looked at her heel and saw steam rising from it, she couldn't help but feel shocked.

'What... What the hell?' She'd thought to herself, shocked. 'I.. I'm a Titan! They don't have any cannons! How did they wound me!?'

The answer came as she saw a man flying, flying, in the air above her, some type of steam-like gas being blown out from some kind of gear strapped to his waist. He was attached to her body via some kind of wire that extended from said gear and he was wielding swords.

She'd understood immediately. With no other humans coming to the island, the island devils had to solely adapt themselves to fighting Titans instead of humans, especially with them having their memories erased in order to prevent rebellion. Even so, it was still absolutely shocking how someone had been able to develop such weaponry, being able to wound Titans so easily.

She remembered how, even after they'd both put up such a fight, she'd inevitably defeated them. She'd eaten the one who attacked her first, but as she brought him to her mouth, she found that she would not enjoy killing these devils. For as he'd screamed his last words, she did not feel satisfaction, but complete and utter horror.

"NO! WAIT! PLEASE! DON'T-!"

She could still hear his screams, his agonizing cries as she'd bitten on him. What's worse, she could still feel taste of his corpse as she'd swallowed it down.

If she were still a human, she'd throw up and probably wouldn't stop.

As she'd felt herself grabbing the other soldier, a woman, she immediately decided that this wasn't something she wanted to do. She knew they were devils, she knew they were bad people, but she'd do anything to not feel the feeling of swallowing someone again.

However, to her horror, she found herself unable to let go of the woman and instead, she panicked as her body didn't even think to respond to her commands and the woman, who'd begun crying and screaming, was brought closer and closer to her mouth and then eaten. And she got the same feeling she got before, yet worse.

It was on that day that she realized that this was a true hell. There was no duty in it, there were no upsides. She didn't care that it was because of the islanders that she was like this. She never wanted that to happen again.

And yet, as the months, and then years, passed by, she was forced to continue devouring dozens of islanders. It felt more horrible each time she did it, the feeling of them sliding down her throat. She did everything she could to stop every single time she encountered humans after those first two, to no avail.

And as her Titan body was forced to stand still every night, her thoughts turned away from her family and friends and instead towards the people she killed. And nothing could make them go away.

Every single second she dwelled into more despair. Because this was how she lived- No. How she existed.

Her family was gone. Now that she'd been exiled to this hell, they'd no doubt deemed her a traitor to Marley, who deserved to suffer as much as any of the other bad Eldians. Her free will had been taken from her and she'd been rendered to a mere animal whose sole purpose only was to devour and gulp down thecorpses of those around it, again and again.

The only thing she could possibly hope for in this hell is the sweet release of death. She knew that if Pure Titan ate a Titan-Shifter, that Titan would turn back into a human. But she refused to do that, no matter what it would take. The Power of the Titans was held by Marley and eating one of their Warriors would mean that she would have to eat one of her cousin Reiner's friends or even Reiner himself.

Though she knew they'd probably just kill her with ease before she could even get close to them, the mere thought of her killing her cousin and feeling his bleeding, crushed body slide down her throat in the same way those islanders did was the thing that terrified her more than anything else.

Yes, death was the only thing that kept her haunted mind glued together. It was the only hope of escape from this hell that she could ever think of. She had seen those soldiers equipment, she'd even seen a few of them kill other Titans on the rare instances she'd see them. She felt nothing but envy and joy for those they managed to release from this hell.

But, in the end, she did her best to keep herself realistic. They were able to kill Titans, yes, but their own casualties far outnumbered the Titans they killed. Every time they came close to killing her, only to fail at the last minute, she could feel as small part of herself breaking with a mix of despair and sorrow. It was best to be realistic or else she'd be in even more suffering than she already is in.

Nothing was going to save her from this torture. She would be like this forever, wandering around in an endless purgatory and devouring people until the end of time.

However, one night, whilst her body was as still as a statue, something happened. She felt a flash of golden lightning course through her heard and heard a voice in head other than her own.

You're not a goddess and you're not a slave.

You're just a human being.

You are free.

And, for the first time in years, when morning came, Gabi wasn't a slave devouring people anymore.

She was a human being.

She was free.

Author's note: Sorry this chapter was so short, but I felt it was best to separate the original first part of this chapter from the second one. If I kept writing this chapter to the fullest, people would've probably moved on without even seeing I had updated.

So, what did you think? I hope you liked it. Reviews and constructive criticism is always appreciated.