In case you haven't seen, I added a chapter with additional scenes to Life on an Island last week.
So... As you may already suspect, by now, this won't be a mere rehash of canon.
Here's hoping I'm still okay-ish at writing action.
Chapter 29: Doomed
The sky was tinted with beautiful shades of crimson, rose and amber, the colours bleeding together seamlessly. Dusk cast its orange glow across the horizon of Maria.
"How long has it been since the Survey Corps had a send-off like this?"
The citizens of Trost were crowding on the ground, gathering on rooftops, cheering up at the entire force of the Scout Regiment—more than a hundred soldiers, standing at the ready on top of the Wall.
"As far as I know, it's a first," Erwin said, his mouth drawing into a fierce grin.
And he raised his fist, ejecting a battle cry that had Nora, her nerves high-strung, flinching, and the crowd below rejoicing.
Drawing his sword, Erwin turned and faced his soldiers. "Commence the operation to retake Wall Maria!"
#
The Survey Corps travelled through the darkness of the moonless night, lamps powered by glowing stone illuminating their path. Already, the soldiers had pulled their hoods over their heads, concealing their identities to potential enemies nearby. They wouldn't make it easy for them to locate Eren.
Nora was walking by Levi's side, as she had so many times before on previous missions. They didn't talk. They hadn't since they had left his rooms—left their own, little world behind them. Since before one last kiss. Occasionally, she would glance at him; his severe features were partly concealed by his hood, outlined and shadowed by the glow of the lamps. He always noticed, when she looked, and would return her gaze evenly; his expression an impenetrable mask.
There was no telling what was going on in that head of his.
They arrived at the destroyed inner gate to Shiganshina with the first rays of dawn. The enemy was nowhere in sight when the soldiers of the Survey Corps engaged their ODM gear, hoods drawn, and scaled the Wall.
They were running atop the inner Wall, their destination the breached outer gate. Behind Nora, Armin stopped, firing a smoke signal. He must have found something—there was no time to see what, though. Squad Hange and Squad Levi pressed onwards, flying along the outer Wall of Shiganshina district, Eren in their midst.
Once they reached the destroyed gate, he transformed directly underneath. Light flashed, and seconds later, the hole was no more; plugged up by glimmering crystal, the eternalised outline of Eren's titan at the centre of the rock-hard material.
"We did it…" Hange mumbled, incredulous, squeezing Nora's wrist for a brief moment.
"And still, no enemies or titans in sight." Nora felt her heart pounding in her throat, every muscle in her body tense. The Scouts had given up Eren's position, had made themselves targets, so where were their opponents? What were they waiting for?
"As long as they're alive, they'll keep breaking through the Wall," Levi said as their group of soldiers headed back for the inner breach, his expression dark, "Until we kill all of our enemies, including Reiner and Bertolt, the plan to retake Wall Maria isn't over."
They had almost made it back to their comrades when the smoke signal to halt the operation rose over the inner gate.
While they'd been away, Armin had put his head to use, and now a troop of Scouts was searching the surface of the Wall, suspended on their wires.
The Special Ops squad was standing on the Wall right above the unfortunate comrade who found the hollow spot Armin had them looking for.
A split second after he gave them a signal, a blade pierced his chest—wielded by a blond warrior coming out of his hiding place from inside the Wall.
"Reiner!" someone screamed, and before Nora could do more than draw her swords, Levi had already spurred to action beside her, quick as an arrow—dashing down the Wall straight at their enemy. His blade hit its mark before Reiner could react. It went right through his neck. The second blade sank into his chest.
Levi retreated mid-air while Reiner fell to the ground. A flash of light accompanied a burst of steam.
Where Reiner had been, the Armoured Titan was lying on his back.
"How the fuck did he survive that?" Nora shouted, the tips of her feet protruding over the edge of the Wall. She had been about to jump after her captain on mindless instinct, only held back by Hange's vice-like grip around her arm.
Erwin didn't even finish uttering his next command before an explosion of light and noise rippled through the air behind them, inside the territory of Wall Maria.
Nora turned in time to see the Beast Titan coming to his feet. It was flanked by an army of pure titans, forming a half-ring at a distance from the inner gate, trapping their horses—and the soldiers keeping watch over them—inside, the Wall to Shiganshina at their backs. The Beast lifted a massive boulder and flung it at them; it soared through the air in a high arc.
Shit. That was all Nora had time to think.
The soldiers on the Wall scrambled for cover. Levi pulled her down by the straps of her harness just as she was about to duck.
The impact shook the high ground beneath Nora's feet, the deafening noise fuelling her terror.
They quickly realised that the shifter had not aimed for them, but below; blocking the breached inner gate and cutting off every escape for their comrades and the horses down on the ground. On the Shiganshina side, the Armoured Titan had begun to climb up the Wall. Next to the Beast stood a hideous quadrupedal titan wearing cargo on its back—most likely a shifter, as well.
In short, they were surrounded, and they were utterly, royally fucked.
"The enemy is even more formidable than we predicted," was the way Erwin phrased it.
It was then the Beast Titan let out a roar, sending more than a dozen of its smaller titans running.
Advancing towards their trapped comrades far below their feet.
There was no time to even think. And yet, that's exactly what their commander was doing; his piercing blue, calculating gaze on the quickly approaching titans.
A warm, strong hand closed around Nora's in a firm grip; Levi. At once, she noticed she had clenched hers into fists so tightly she was hurting her palms with her nails.
He let go as soon as she looked up into his steady, silver eyes. "Breathe," he said, "We aren't dead, yet."
Nora managed a wry smile. "That's the most reassuring thing you can say about this situation without lying, right?"
"Exactly." Levi turned back to Erwin, towering a head over him, still silent and unmoving.
"Commander, the Armoured Titan is getting extremely close," Armin's shaking voice rang out at their backs, "Plus, we still don't know where Bertolt is…"
"Yes, I know," Erwin answered absently. A few more excruciating seconds passed. Nora was shifting her weight back and forth between her feet, unable to hold still.
The titans running at them were much nearer, now.
Finally, the commander straightened his back, drawing in a deep breath.
"So you're finally ready to talk, huh?" Levi's voice was as expressionless as his face. "Or should I get breakfast, after all?"
That earned him nothing more than a side-eye from his commander. He started bellowing out commands, ordering the other remaining squads on the Wall to guard the horses with their lives. "Squad Levi and Squad Hange, take out the Armoured Titan. Deploy the Thunder Spears at your leaders' discretion." Erwin raised his voice as everyone spurred into action. "Once more, for humanity's sake… Devote your hearts!"
This was it. Finally, the waiting was over; the fear, the apprehension. Finally, Nora could do something.
"Levi, wait," the commander said, "You're staying here."
Nora stopped mid-run, her blood running cold.
"You want me to protect the horses, not Eren?" Levi asked with a frown.
"That's right. And wait for your opening to kill that thing." Erwin pointed at the enemy blocking the way back to Rose. "You're the only one I can trust to destroy the Beast Titan." His stern gaze landed on Nora, still standing close by, frozen in place. "Hange and Nora can lead both squads."
"But—" Nora stopped herself, biting her lip.
"You are Levi's second in command, after all," he reminded her.
She nodded, not trusting her voice. What could she have said? Erwin wasn't commander for nothing. There was no choice; no matter how much it hurt. No matter what the uncertainty of not knowing if she would ever see Levi again did to her. Her insides twisted into a tight knot. In her head, her own words intermingled with his. We will all fight to the last soldier standing, because it's all we can do. Who'd fight, if not us?
Levi's eyes were hard as steel as they met hers. One last time. His face was unreadable, the sharp line of his gritted jaw the only visible sign of tension.
At least we won't have to split up, he had said months ago, before the 57th expedition. But they had to, now, and nothing she could say would change this.
Shit. Don't leave. Shit, shit, shit.
"Understood," Levi said in answer to Erwin's command, "I wasn't fast enough to finish off the Armoured one earlier. I'll make up for it by taking the Beast Titan's head." And he turned and jumped off the Wall, taking her heart with him.
Nora turned to look at the Beast again, eyes darting over the huge titans still flanking it, standing at the ready. She counted quickly. The result was like a kick to the gut.
Almost forty.
Her chest was hollow and cold. She shut herself away and let the ruthless soldier she needed to be take over.
#
Right after the Armoured Titan had reached the top of the Wall, Eren transformed on the ground below, inside Shiganshina. Reiner took the bait, sliding down the way he'd come from instead of going for the horses on the other side.
The two titans fought a vicious battle amidst the ruins of the abandoned district. With his hardened fists, Eren managed to pierce through his opponent's armour. By the time Squad Levi and Squad Hange got into position, both shifters had done considerable damage to each other.
"For as long as possible, one of us should stay equipped, just in case," Hange said. They were lying in wait behind a rooftop with half of their forces. "Nora—you will keep your spears ready in case someone misses. If you see an opening, take it."
"Alright," she answered, her eyes not wavering from their enemy struggling with Eren's titan on the ground.
They cornered Reiner in a street surrounded by high buildings on both sides, just as planned.
Hange and Mikasa led the charge, each launching a Thunder Spear into the Armoured Titan's eyes. The boom of the explosion was as loud as his scream. The smoke subsided—the attack had left the titan blind.
Connie, Sasha, and Jean advanced, bombarding the Armoured's exposed neck with their spears. From the roof above, Nora was watching, shielding her ears with her hands, the blast of the combined explosions whipping at her cloak. At Hange's command, they commenced one final assault.
When it was over, and Nora's young comrades had retreated to nearby rooftops, the Armoured Titan had slumped down. Reiner—what was left of him—knelt exposed on its torn-up nape.
Everything above his jaw was gone from his head. A steady amount of steam was coming from his human body, his hands and legs still fused with his titan.
There was no steam emanating from anywhere other than its blown-up neck, however. She thought of Levi's failed attempt to kill Reiner, earlier. For all intents and purposes, he should have died, then, and he should be dead, now.
But the titan wasn't dissolving, and his human body was still steaming.
While Hange's squad cheered and Sasha and Connie cried, the short bout of elation Nora had felt abated quickly. This wasn't over. And they were probably short on time, with Bertolt still hiding somewhere, waiting to strike.
If you see an opening, take it.
She'd probably have to blow up the bastard's whole spinal cord and separate him from his titan to finish him off.
Nora jumped off the roof, flying towards the exposed nape of the Armoured Titan from his front, ignoring the baffled shouts of her comrades.
One at the base, one into his back. You cannot miss.
She waited until she was close enough to see Reiner's body—his real body—clearly through the hot steam. The first spear landed in the titan flesh connected to his limbs, between his arms. As she soared over his hunched form, so low her feet almost grazed Reiner's shoulders, she turned mid-air and aimed again. The second spear struck the warrior beneath his shoulder blade.
Right then, the Armoured Titan opened his mouth and let out a bone-curdling scream.
It was cut short when Nora pulled the triggers.
She was still a bit too close, the blinding light and the noise so overwhelming she almost crashed against the building she had chosen to retreat to. Grappling at the edge of the rooftop, she pulled herself up, drawing blood from her fingertips.
Only now could she look over her shoulder to see if her efforts had been enough.
The Armoured Titan had collapsed to the ground. The steam wasn't flowing in a concentrated rush from his neck anymore, but instead from all over his dissolving body. There wasn't much of a neck left, in fact. Reiner wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Strewn on the cobblestone around the titan were blood and human body parts, though.
They had done it; they had really pulled it off.
"I think that did the job, Nora!" Hange shouted from the other side of the street, rendering an explanation unnecessary. Her quick-witted friend must have drawn the same conclusions. Turning to her squad, Hange began, "Quick, search the ground and the titan for—"
"NO! Get away!" Armin screamed, pointing at the sky, "Above us!" Something—a round, unobtrusive object—came flying above the inner Wall. "The Colossal Titan is coming down on us—the entire area is going to get blown away!"
Nora's heart stopped. That instant, she knew he was right. "Get the hell away from here!" she shouted at the same time Hange roared, "Scatter!"
They fled in opposite directions—Hange with her squad to the left, Nora dashing after her comrades to the right, Eren running ahead of them in his titan form. She chanced a glance over her shoulder mid-air. If he transformed immediately, they'd never make it—
A human shape was standing on the roof above the Armoured Titan's remains. Nora saw the exact moment Bertolt realised his companion was dead in his body language; shoulders slumping forward. His pained scream carried all the way to them, and she looked straight ahead again, eyes on her squad, their urgency renewed as they realised what had to come next.
It happened immediately. When she turned her head back once more, Bertolt had launched himself up into the air, heading for roughly the same direction as Hange's group.
No.
"Take cover with Eren!" Nora screamed at her comrades, and they dashed at his titan, anchoring their hooks into his shoulders. Eren crouched behind the nearest brick building, putting his arms up to shield them just as the blast hit.
There was only noise, ear-splitting noise, and the earth was roaring and shaking and bursting around them. Nora was holding onto Eren's hair, the force of the explosion threatening to send her hurtling.
She could only open her eyes once the wind and the noise died down, leaving behind a dull buzzing in her ears.
"Are you all alive?" Jean asked next to her.
"I think so," Nora said, her voice rough.
Connie and Sasha were with them, sitting on Eren's arm and coughing. Armin and Mikasa joined them an instant later. All of them unhurt, fortunately.
"Hange's squad—" Nora began, but the rest of the sentence died in her throat when she saw the looks on Armin and Mikasa's faces.
"They were near Bertolt." Armin's eyes were wide and glassy, his lower lip trembling. "I think they were caught in the blast."
Nora had known. She had known, and yet, something inside of her tore. A small, raw sound tumbled from her mouth, neither a sob nor a cry, something that couldn't possibly have come from her. She doubled over on Eren's shoulder, her legs giving out under her as the devastating realisation hit her like an iron fist to the gut, all air leaving her lungs in one rush.
No—she couldn't be gone, just like that, from one second to the next… It was Hange; unflappable, persistent, brilliant Hange.
Her family. And she had lost it—again.
A hand landed on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. Jean, probably. She could barely feel it.
Steadying herself on her shaking legs, Nora took a deep breath in through her nose, out through her mouth. We're still on a mission. This is not over. You have to pull yourself together. It was Levi's voice she heard in her head.
Levi, who, for all she knew, could be dead, as well. The thought hit her like a stab to the heart.
But that wasn't exactly likely, was it? What kind of cruel joke would it be if out of the three of them, she would be the last one standing? Bloody ridiculous. Damn near impossible.
Besides, they had a problem here; a massive, huge, 60-metre-tall problem, and if they couldn't get rid of it, nothing else would matter anyways, for neither of them, because they all, and humanity with them, would be doomed.
#
The Colossal Titan plucked houses from the ground as if they were toys, crushing them in his fists and letting them fall, spreading burning wreckage everywhere with the tremendous heat he emanated.
Five pairs of expectant eyes were on her, waiting for orders from the second in command, and Nora came up with nothing. Neither did Armin have an idea. She was still shaking, and every time she tried to come up with a plan, she thought of Hange, and what could be left of her somewhere in the burnt, flattened ruins of the village, and of Levi, whose task it was to kill a rock-throwing shifter who had surrounded himself with an army of pure titans under its control.
She felt sick and weak.
If you want to survive, think, Levi had told her once. Too bad her brain was frozen with terror and despair.
It was as if Nora was observing her mental state from a distance. Yet, she couldn't concentrate on developing a strategy; her erratic thoughts would come to her randomly and unbidden, and slip away before she could grasp them, leaving her mind numb and empty, only aware of her rapid heartbeat and the relentless passage of time.
All the Special Ops squad knew was that they couldn't let the Colossal get to the Wall and have him spread the fire to the commander's soldiers and their horses.
The only option left was to fight.
They scattered, and Eren tackled his shin.
Before they had even a chance of getting close, the Colossal swung its massive leg—and flung Eren all the way to the Wall. He crashed onto the top, lying there motionless.
They pressed onwards, regardless, feigning a frontal assault to provide Mikasa an opening from behind. The distraction was transparent and didn't work; Bertolt saw, hitting her with a blast of steam powerful enough to repel her Thunder Spears mid-approach, detaching her hooks.
That was when Nora knew for sure they were finished. She'd probably never even find out if Levi was dead or alive. She'd never get to see if there was anything left of her best friend.
But she was a stubborn brat, and she was a soldier of the Survey Corps. And she wouldn't go down without trying to take that giant bastard with her. She didn't know if her eyes were tearing because of the heat or something else, and she didn't care. Hate welled within her, so intense it dulled her paralysing despair.
You have taken more than enough from us, already.
They retreated to a rooftop, standing above a sea of flames, and Nora started thinking again, her focus sharpened by sheer rage.
"He's getting thinner," Armin said. His eyes were on their enemy—who had continued his approach toward the Wall where Eren lay unconscious—leaving a trail of fire and destruction in his wake. "He's consuming his flesh to create that heat." And he explained to them what he had observed back when Reiner and Bertolt had first revealed themselves, and what they were seeing right now. "All that remains are his bones," Armin finished.
Nora's gaze trailed over the Colossal's form, landing on the back of his head. The white bone of his skull was exposed above his nape.
They still had a few spears left.
"I have a plan," Armin said, and told them.
Nora liked the first part of it. The second, however...
"No way. Do you want to burn yourself to a cusp?" she asked, and the caught look in his sky-blue eyes confirmed her suspicions.
"I can let go before it gets too bad—"
"Don't give me that. We can't exhaust all his reserves without losing at the very least one of us. Probably more. He won't let his guard down easily with all of us still able to fight." She glanced at each of her comrades, fear written over their faces. But beneath, there was also determination—and hope. And Armin… judging by his expression, Armin seemed to know what it would cost. "We'll trick him using Eren, as you suggested, but let me try something first before doing it your way, if necessary."
The others nodded as she explained what she wanted to do, and how they were going to accomplish it, but Armin, of course, had objections.
"He might notice before you get far enough away from the spears, or you'd have to be so close that the heat would—"
"I know what I'm doing, and I'm decently fast with my gear, remember?" Nora interrupted him, "And it would still be less risky than your approach." For you and the others, at least. "All of you distract him with Eren and get him to turn around, and I'll handle the rest."
Armin made another attempt to dissuade her, his wide eyes observing her expression. "I don't think the captain would agree with this if he were here."
Oh, the boy liked to play dirty, did he?
"Well, he isn't. For all we know, he's as dead as Hange and the rest, by now." Nora's harsh words—the sharp edge of hysteria grating in her ears—made them flinch, trading uneasy glances. She blinked a few times. Don't break, not yet. It would be useless.
When she continued, she had her voice back under control. "With the two of them gone, I'm the one responsible for you, like it or not. We're running out of time, and we don't have any safer options."
She looked up at the Wall. Aside from Eren, there wasn't a single soldier up there. A familiar, black-haired shape nowhere to be seen. Her chest clenched, but her decision solidified.
Most likely, it wasn't as if she'd got anything left to lose, anyways.
#
Nora separated from the squad, nearing the Wall in a wide berth around their enemy, soaring low beneath the cover of buildings. Would Bertolt notice she was missing? If he noticed, would he think she'd been wounded in their failed attempt earlier? Would he even care about a single, random soldier he didn't know, with Eren and the rest of them right before his nose?
She only needed a little opening. The rest wasn't important. And if she failed... Maybe some of the others would have a chance, at least, through trying to exhaust his reserves with Armin's strategy.
For a Scout, Nora had never been particularly heroic. She thought of Hange, dead because of the monster in front of her. And she thought of Levi, who was probably dead too, because his task had been the most impossible of all these impossible tasks from the start. Even if his strength were unlimited, his gas and weapon supply certainly weren't. She delved one hand beneath the collar of her shirt, her fist closing around the pendant of her necklace. He hadn't made it back by now…
It hurt. It hurt so fucking much she thought she might die from it, anyways. The iron ring of despair around her chest made it difficult to breathe.
So, it really wasn't out of any sense of heroism or altruism. There was no better option, her decision was logical, and surprisingly easy to make. Too easy, in fact. Her young comrades could live, and if worst came to worst, she wouldn't have to exist in a world that no longer had anything for her in it. That no longer had him in it. Win, win.
True freedom. Nora wouldn't have been able to bear it.
Still, not the most pleasant potential death one could choose. If this went anything less than ideally—which was highly likely—she'd never learn more, and she'd never take a step outside these Walls… At least once, she would have liked to.
But instead, she had found something far more improbable, something invaluable. She might have lost it, because nothing in this cruel world was permanent; but for a short while, she had experienced something even better than freedom.
Nora lay in wait on a roof near the Wall, watching the scene unfold. The squad had gathered on Eren's chest, waking him up, talking to him. He sat, after a while. Bertolt was close now, surrounded by a heat haze that had her sweating. He was continually giving off enough hot steam to set everything in his closest vicinity on fire.
Well, it wasn't like she hadn't known what she was getting herself into.
Without warning, Eren 'fell' down the Wall, tumbling to the ground. Nora heard Armin's outcry even from the distance. He really wasn't a bad actor.
The squad followed, jumping down after their fallen comrade. Eren stood with some difficulty, swaying in his Titan form as he broke into an unsure run, his friends on his shoulders or flying ahead of him.
It looked like they were fleeing, and like they were easy prey.
The Colossal turned, distracted, his head following their movements on the ground. Nora launched herself into the air, scaling the Wall right behind his back.
In those last few seconds that were hers, she thought of silver eyes in a sullen, beautiful face. True-black hair. A silky, deep voice, murmuring words of worship and pleasure into her ear.
She only regretted she never got to tell him…
The air around her was simmering with heat, so thick it was difficult to breathe, burning her throat. She was close enough to the Colossal's body she was sure it was impossible for him to catch sight of her. When she reached the Colossal Titan's height, Nora shot her anchors into the bone at the base of his skull—he did not seem to feel it.
No way would he get rid of her before she finished her job.
Even without him noticing her approach and emitting a deliberate gust of heat, she got so close that searing pain flared over her skin and she struggled to keep her eyes open. She launched the Thunder Spears.
When they drove deep into the flesh of his nape, Bertolt noticed.
Too late for him, but still too early for her.
It all happened so fast.
A violent blast of scorching heat hit her, and the spears shuddered. Nora pulled the triggers in that very instant, before they could come loose.
It was hot, so hot, and she could not think and she could not see because all that was left was agony. She was still too near and there was no time and everything was burning and hurting.
The world exploded in noise and light; bright and red. There was only fire, and pain.
Then, there was nothing.
AN:
...
This was... a risk, and a challenge. And it's not over. I won't write an essay here, so I'll just say that I thought a lot about this, because this is supposed to make sense, and I desperately hope it paid off at least somewhat.
Gonna hide, now.