See you Later, Eren Chapter 12
Title: The Female Titan
Hello again! Quick update: I wanted to tell you all that there is a definite possibility that I am not able to get Chapter 13 out next Sunday. I will still aim for it, but things are getting tougher at my job, so it'll be harder to progress at my usual rate. Hopefully it will only last for this week, though. I just wanted to mention it because the chances of me not getting Chapter 13 out on the 4th of July are higher than typical Sundays. Anyways, that's all. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
OH and one more thing. In this chapter, I utilize "..." to indicate a change in point of view during the same scene. So when you see a bold "..." by itself, you'll know that the perspective has changed to a different character, but we're still following events of the same scene. -Y
Response to The r3wr1t3r: Thanks so much for the review! It's awesome to hear that I had you hooked from start to finish, as boring my audience is a big fear of mine. That, combined with my tendency to write wayyy too many words, is a recipe for disaster haha. I'm glad you appreciated Eren's reaction to Mikasa's desertion, too. I originally had him not really react to the fact, being more focused on killing the titans, but I realized that with how precious Mikasa is to him, he'd totally be upset. Armin's monologue was, as always, a sheer blast to write, because I relate to Armin on a spiritual level. Haha so you think Annie will lose to Mikasa? I'm excited to have you guessing like that, I guess you'll just have to see. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Response to dareaderreads: Thank you so much for the review! The hopelessness that comes with the Trost arc is one of its defining features, so I'm very relieved that I was able to recapture that for you! Your compliments about this story being similar to AoT in how you experience it just made my day, it really is one of my biggest priorities to simply recreate the essence of the show/manga for everyone, while also adding something new. I'm very surprised that I was able to depict my action scenes with the same level of quality to you as my dialogue scenes, as action has so far been quite a bit more difficult to write, mostly because it doesn't bode well with my tendency to overwrite. Sorry for the cliffhanger haha, I understand why it would be a little frustrating. To be honest, I hadn't written the Female Titan's entrance until that Sunday, and was debating on whether to put it in this chapter or leave it in chapter 11. Ultimately, I went with the latter, thinking it was something that an actual chapter or episode of AoT would do. The timeline has pretty much changed completely, so I'm excited to start to tell my completely unique story! As always, I hope you enjoy!
Response to kaffeenator666: Wow, what an incredible review, though I should expect nothing less from you! Don't worry about posting late, every review is a blessing and never fails to make my day, so take all the time you need to sort out your thoughts. Although, I'm afraid I can't directly address a lot of your review, because most of it is theorizing and I've got to maintain the suspense hehe. I'm so glad you loved every part of the chapter, seeing your compliments were awesome and brought such a smile to my face! Yep, Mikasa, though she's clearly not been doing a perfect job at changing the future (as evidenced by RBA outwitting her), she has had enough of an effect to make the difference between total despair and a glimmer of hope, like with saving Eren at the last second and teaching him the new tricks. I'm glad you liked my Mikasa and Eren team-up as well. I think Eren would have gotten a few kills, but when I was rewatching the Trost arc to get a feel for the tone, I was reminded of how difficult it actually is to kill a titan. They dedicate entire squads just to kill single titans, and people with insane ability like Mikasa and Levi are definitely the exception, so I had to strike a balance between having Eren not be overpowered, but also not be deadweight, and I hope I hit that middle ground when writing. I'm super happy I surprised you with the Female Titan encounter haha. All I can say is: answers and action await! It's great that you noticed the detail of Eren remembering the Female Titan as well. In Chapter 8, Eren had a flashback where he saw the Female Titan, so that was what I was mainly referencing there. One thing is for certain though, Eren is seeing more and more of his future, and whether it's this timeline's future or the previous timeline's is still a big question, as Eren did end up seeing the Female Titan in both versions anyways. This is something Mikasa will have to realize and take into account if she wants her plans to succeed. The possibilities are vast, Annie winning, Mikasa winning, them not fighting at all, not to mention the hole in Trost, Eren's titan abilities, and RBA's endgame. Needless to say things are quite complicated for our girl, so I won't spoil any of them, only that I hope you enjoy what comes from this chapter!
The crickets chirp an ominous tune. At least, they do to Annie. Growing up in a more rural part of Marley, the noisy bugs aren't anything new to her, but she swears they're louder here than they were back at home. Or maybe it really is just her. Her, Reiner, and Bertholdt haven't had to meet in the remote part of their training field in nearly a year, since she encountered Kenny the Ripper and had to put a stop to her investigations. The three had decided that in order to break the proverbial wall they hit in finding the King of the walls, they would have to literally break Wall Rose. But that was eleven months ago.
As her, Bertholdt, and Reiner reach a lone tree, signaling their usual meeting place, she finally decides it's an appropriate time to speak up.
"What's this about?" she lets out bluntly, crossing her arms and remaining on her feet as Reiner moves to take a seat. Before Bertholdt does the same, he pulls a piece of bread out of his pocket, offering it to her.
"I didn't see you at dinner... Did you eat?"
She keeps her arms crossed. "I wasn't hungry."
The boy's face falls just a smidge, and he begins to reel back his arm. She sighs, taking the bread and forcing a light "thanks..." out of her mouth. He blushes, and she pretends she doesn't notice. At the very least, however, she's going to hear what this is about before taking so much as a bite.
"Calm down, Annie. I'm sure the look on Bertholdt's face spooked you, but I keep telling him this and I'll tell you now, nothing's happened."
Her shoulders slump a bit in relief, but her frown remains stuck on her face. "What do you want, then?" she asks, trying to keep her disdain for these meetings from seeping into her voice. She feels like a criminal, a murderer. Though she supposes she is, so there isn't any sense in complaining about the theatrics of it.
Reiner is silent for a second as he mulls over the words he's about to use. "I got to talking with Armin this evening." He takes a measured drink from his cup, which she didn't even notice he was holding until now.
Her heart rises a little in confusion. Small thoughts start to fill her mind, such as "Is this about me? About him training with me? It isn't even often, and besides, I thought you wanted me to be nicer to your friends." And before she realizes it, she's already prepared an argument about Armin.
He starts to prepare his words again, but after glancing to Bertholdt, who makes a face, he sighs. "I'll just cut to the chase. I think we need to change our plans for breaching Wall Rose."
Annie finally sits down, wondering, among other things, how the hell talking with Armin and changing plans for the big operation that they've had five years to ready themselves for have anything to do with each other.
"How come? I don't think there's any way we can save your friends, Reiner. Armin included." The last part comes off her tongue with somewhat of a sting. She wouldn't consider herself a friend with him, but she knows, deep down, that he hasn't done a single thing to deserve to die. None of them really have, but Armin especially.
"How many times do I have to tell you? They aren't my friends. The reason I brought up Armin was because he mentioned something that I hadn't really noticed. He told me Mikasa looked like she was planning something."
Annie disengages from her slumped position. Mikasa? The girl who doesn't like her? What does she have to do with Trost? She is good friends with Armin, but besides that, she really has nothing to do with what they're planning, either. She lets her silence do the talking, and Bertholdt responds to it.
"We've been thinking about it, and it kind of seems like she has a distrust for us. It doesn't mean anything on its own, but..."
Reiner interjects. "To be honest, I only noticed the fact that she didn't like you, Annie. But I didn't think that was weird on its own. After all, what's there to like? It really wasn't strange." Annie ignores Reiner's passive jab, patiently waiting for him to get to his damn point, though it's growing thin. "But looking back, she never really seemed to care for the three of us, even though she's usually pretty friendly, all things considered."
"So we're changing our plans because someone doesn't like us? Are you sure these devils aren't your friends?"
He shakes his head. "Armin's smart, we can use that. He said she might be planning something. Who knows what it could be, but it may have something to do with us. I doubt she'd hesitate to kill us if she knew the truth, and she could probably do it with how skilled she is. I considered her a legitimate threat before, but if she has some sort of ulterior motive, I suggest we play it safe."
Annie can't hide her long sigh. "You've got to be kidding me. She's dangerous, but she's not a titan for god's sake, there's only so much she can do."
"She's an Ackerman, Annie."
Her face remains the same. Yeah, that is indeed her last name, but what's special about it? Her years of investigating the situation of Paradis haven't clued her in on anything related to Ackermans, and they certainly aren't in Marley.
Bertholdt speaks up. "I thought the name sounded familiar when I first heard it, but it was Reiner who remembered something a few months ago."
"Yeah. If my memory serves me right, I'm pretty sure Ackermans served as close warriors to the King," Reiner informs her. Annie shouldn't be surprised that he's seemingly pulled a significant fact out of nowhere, as he always was one to study Eldian history. War Chief Zeke did it because it fascinated him, but she suspects Reiner only spent so much time in the Marleyan libraries because he hoped to boost his score. She thought it had worked, for a time, until Marcel came out with the truth and her respect for Reiner plummeted. Now, though he's done much to earn it back by serving as their leader, she doesn't care enough about this damned operation to have an opinion on it anymore.
"If Ackermans were still guardians of the King, we'd know about it by now. I didn't spend so much time in the capital's sewers so I could miss something like that."
"You're probably right. The commandant addresses her as Ackerman all the same, so I don't think they're still as prominent..." he looks to the ground, eyes set on a couple of blades of grass, just like Bertholdt. Annie can't really see what is so dangerous about this girl. She's seen how good she is, true, but for all that power, she refuses to fight Annie. That has to either be due to cowardice or a deep lack of respect, neither of which indicate she'd be a threat to their plans.
Or maybe on some level, it's that she wouldn't mind Mikasa being more knowledgeable than they might have thought. Surely that would be enough to take home, if they could capture her or something...
"All of these devils seem to have no idea what they've done. They don't know about their own history. But Ackermans might."
Both her and Bertholdt raise their heads again, shocked by his words. He looks back at them with a grim, hardened face. "The King has to remember the atrocities of the Eldian Empire, which means it's not a stretch to say some of the people close to him might know as well."
"Reiner, we can't confirm that," Bertholdt says, a hint of apprehension in his voice. However, Annie is the one to speak up.
"We can't, but it's possible. The deeper into the capital I got, the more suspicious things became. It seems like some of the most important noble estates are all secure, following the Kings like loyal dogs, and I don't really get why. Usually powerful families like that would jump at the first opportunity to slit his majesty's throat."
"But if they knew something the population didn't, that would explain it. Like you said, Bertholdt, we can't confirm it, but think about how dangerous Mikasa would be if she knew about Marley. Armin is rarely wrong about these things, I'll trust his hunch that Mikasa has something up her sleeve." Reiner finishes.
Bertholdt swallows, looking down. "Right... maybe we should change plans."
"Not so fast," Annie interrupts. "Just because there's a slight chance that Ackerman's memories haven't been wiped, and an even smaller chance that those memories have been passed down to Mikasa, a girl with no parents since she was, what, five? It doesn't mean we need to be taking any risks."
"I'm not going to, I only had two ideas as to how we change our plans, and they just make things safer, if a little less convenient. The first one is that I break the outer gate, not Bertholdt."
Annie lifts her brow. "What would that do? Mikasa couldn't put a scratch into the Colossal, no matter how strong she is." She sees Bertholdt nod slightly.
Reiner sighs. "I'm not worried about him while he's in his titan, it's when he has to leave. If she knows about Marley, there's almost a guarantee she's aware of what a titan shifter is. She doesn't know it's Bertholdt, otherwise she'd have killed us by now, but she'd still know to look out for a human once he leaves his titan."
"That completely depends on her knowing about titan shifters, though. If she did, why wouldn't she tell everyone inside the walls?"
"The same reason no one else has, if our theory's correct. The King."
"So you're suggesting there's a fifteen year old servant of the King that just so happens to be in the same cadet corps as the only three threats to her entire way of life?"
Reiner takes yet another long sigh, placing a hand on his head. "I'm not suggesting anything, it's just something to keep in mind. Think about it this way, even if she's just as oblivious as every other devil on this island, she still might be capable enough to kill Bertholdt, assuming she's in the right place at the right time. If I break the wall instead, I can't be harmed by her, but I can also retreat."
"You'll be in your titan form, why not just kill her if you get the chance?" she asks.
"Because I doubt I'll be able to. I've seen her move during training sessions, she'll be too fast for me." The burly blond straightens his posture a bit, adjusting his seating position on the grassy earth. He wears a face, one that shows a hint of regret and anticipation, less at the fact of what he's about to say it, but more out of a certainty that she won't want to hear it. She knows that damn look too well. Bertholdt looks confused, and considering he had his well placed doubts about Reiner's memory theory, she guesses that he doesn't know what he's about to say either. "That's where you come in."
Annie's eyes widen slightly. "You want me to kill Mikasa? I thought I wasn't supposed to be a part of this operation. That is a big risk, Reiner." Does he not see it? Having her play a role in the plan to breach through Rose would mean that all three of them would be away. There would be no one to cover for them, no one to ensure things run relatively smoothly, all so they can kill one girl?
"You think you can do it?" he ignores her caution, and she feels her features twist in exasperation, fed up with Reiner's overkill of a plan.
"This isn't about whether I can do it. She isn't the part that has me worried, it's risking our cover being blown."
Bertholdt finally pipes up. "Wait... what if your titan would contribute more than just killing Mikasa? You could draw titans in the city, just like you did with Shiganshina."
Reiner puts a hand on his chin, but hums in agreement a moment later. "You're right, Bertholdt. It's less risky if we just wait for the titans to come themselves, but, Annie, if you did bring titans with your shout, that would make the fact that the three of us are missing less noticeable."
Annie simply crosses her arms, keeping her gaze settled on a nearby firefly. "That's a big 'if.'"
"Maybe, but the risk is greater if we do nothing. I don't trust Mikasa, it's as simple as that. If there was nothing to worry about, why would Armin be suspicious?"
She looks at the uneaten bread she still holds. It's awfully cold and a bit dirty as she feels the coarseness of the food between her fingers. This really doesn't seem like the smartest decision Reiner's made, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't at least understand his reasoning. Armin is the brightest person she's ever met, and not only would he be able to notice something before anyone else under normal circumstances, but Mikasa also happens to be one of his best friends.
She's not an idiot, either. Mikasa is a force to be reckoned with, and maybe if she was as worried about the mission's smooth success as Reiner, she'd be legitimately concerned about the raven haired girl too. Her general skill and the Ackerman theory aren't enough to prove anything, but they might as well go a more Mikasa-proof route, right? Maybe Annie's overestimating the effects of her disappearing along with Reiner, but at this point her capture is more of a daunting proposition than the success of any mission. She'd promised her father she'd come back, and that is her ultimate goal, Marley be damned.
As she moves her gaze from the bread to the calloused knuckles that wrap around it, she thinks about her fighting abilities, the tactics, the technique, the training, everything she only knew because of her father. He was the only one, despite his harshness, that truly made her feel like she was something other than what everyone told her she was, an Eldian devil. Maybe they're right. Maybe Eldians are devils, maybe she's a devil, but he'll love her anyways. And suddenly, Mikasa's words echo back to her.
"But Eren and Armin are my family. They're all I have, and they're all I want. If you think I won't stand in the way of you hurting them, you'd be wrong" Mikasa once told Annie.
"Why am I thinking of that at a time like this?" she wonders to herself.
She huffs through her nose, causing Reiner to look up at her again. "I trust Mikasa..." she lets out, because she realizes that they, despite their wildly different circumstances, are the same. Unfortunately for the girl, she stands in Annie's way.
"Huh?" Bertholdt asks, prompting Annie to look them both in the eyes.
"I'll kill her. I'll kill Mikasa."
The stomps of her own feet overwhelm her ears, protecting her from the piercing screams that echo around her. Screams that she caused. But she doesn't deserve the luxury of feeling bad, so she doesn't, continuing her brisk pace through the uneven streets of the city. The sky is dark, cloudy, and small droplets of rain fall around her, though it's scant. It feels nice, having the raindrops fall on her body. It's like she can't feel it, but absolutely can at the same time.
Annie's titan, like all titan powers, she assumes, can't feel in the same way regular humans can. They feel, but it's more of a tingling sensation than anything else. She'd be a fool not to count it as a blessing, as she's broken countless bones, scraped enormous chunks of flesh and muscle, and if she felt the full pain of that, it would simply be too debilitating to continue her missions. But... she still hasn't quite decided if she likes it or not. The raindrops feel strange, like tiny bolts of electricity that dissipate throughout her body. They don't stay, they don't roll around, dampening her flesh and making her slick with the world's tears. No... they just... evaporate.
She likes it, she decides. She wishes she could feel like this all the time. For some reason, not feeling pain, not feeling anything as strongly as humans normally do, makes the emotions numb, too. She isn't Annie, she's the Female Titan.
Though, at the same time, she knows that that's only what she tells herself. When she leaves her titan, she's just as vulnerable and sensitive as anyone else. Physically speaking, at least. Maybe she compensates for that by acting so emotionless. That's what Reiner told her once. He called her out, during a particularly argumentative "discussion of their plans," and despite Bertholdt's flimsy attempts to defend her, she left that night feeling exposed.
She wishes she could be like Mikasa. That girl is always so cold, Annie can tell. Mikasa's naturally cold, but appears warm and friendly to most, the inverse to her. If it could just come naturally, things would be easier. Easier to do.
Annie doesn't pride herself on being able to read people, because she knows she isn't any good at it, but she begins to wonder if anyone could truly be naturally cold. It could be the case that Mikasa has had something happen in her life, or multiple things. Multiple things is more likely, Annie thinks. That raven haired girl always brought a sense of stoicism to everything. It was as if she had been ailed by a thousand misdeeds and tragedies, even though she's only fifteen. It seemed to the blonde that she carried a certain wisdom about her, but that was only an impression she got. The most Mikasa showed it was in the form of teaching her fellow trainees new tricks, new strategies, and new ways of thinking on the battlefield.
So maybe Annie's wrong. Maybe there is a warmth to her, she just has yet to see it. After all, if Annie can kill thousands of innocents, Eldian devils or not, and still doesn't feel like a icy cold beast, then it must be impossible. Perhaps it's only Eren that manages to bring it out of her, in which case, she'll never be able to see an emotional Mikasa. In her last moments, once Annie is about to crush the life out of her, will she cry? Will she beg? Will she be too weak to do anything?
The possibilities sicken her, they shake her stomach violently. There she goes again, humanizing the people she's about to murder with impunity. She's not like Reiner, she doesn't have some mental problem. She can't dissociate herself from what she does, she can't convince herself she's a true human being. If these innocent men, women, and children are devils... then what does that make her?
Annie. It makes her Annie.
For what it's worth, she doesn't enjoy it. Sometimes she thinks that if she acts sadistic and cruel, then it'll change her mind. The way people say simply smiling can make you happier. But that's bullshit.
She breathes, settling the storm that's brewed in her stomach. Despite her titan form protecting her from any sense of physical feeling, there's nothing there to shield her from pain that comes from the inside.
Thinking about this is exhausting. What, is she really daring to have some kind of existential crisis during a mission? She remembers what her father told her. It doesn't matter if everyone hates her, if she becomes an enemy, a monster of the world. It doesn't matter so long as she returns to him.
As she plows through buildings and alleyways and ruined streets, she scours for anyone other than titans. It's quite annoying, having to constantly run at a decent pace just to keep the titans off her back. She brought them here, but so far they've been her greatest bane, and the longer she takes to find Mikasa, the more frustrating and tiring it becomes. She's nowhere to be found. Not with the vanguard, not with the middle guard. Not even with the elite squadron, which she must say were a pain to kill.
So she runs. She runs and runs, keeping her neck crystalized just so any straggling soldiers she might encounter don't get any bright ideas. And eventually, after a solid half an hour of searching, she finds... a small boy laying on the cobbled street, unconscious.
It doesn't take her more than a second to realize, however, that this boy is Armin. His face is surprisingly calm, and if it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of his chest, she might have thought he truly died. And once again, despite herself, her stomach does somersaults. The first cadet she actually knew, the first person to call her a friend that she's seen in Trost. Be it by chance or fate, she hasn't encountered anyone in the 104th before him.
She finds herself kneeling down, inspecting the boy for no particular reason. He's alive... but she has no reason to kill him. It doesn't get her any closer to her goal, and he doesn't stand in her way. A flicker, a momentary, bothersome thought enters into her mind, the thought of saving him. She could place him on a nearby rooftop, safe from the ire of the titans. But that, too, would be neither detrimental nor beneficial to her mission.
Unable to choose, she gazes at his face. For some indeterminable reason, he looks formidable, a force to be reckoned with, and she chuckles softly out of her nose. "Not Armin..."
Standing upright again, she leaves. She leaves him to fate, because she cannot decide. Saving him would be admitting, demonstrating to herself that she places some devils above others. He will die, but it won't be by her hands. She doesn't know why she has such a disinclination to finish him off, but her heart stings at the simple thought. "I'm sorry, Armin." and letting the words flow into her mind shocks her, it makes her freeze with guilt.
"Stop... stop... you're going to kill his best friend anyways. You're letting him die. There's no use in apologizing to ghosts."
But she can't stop herself from feeling.
However, luckily her mind snaps back to her mission when she remembers... that was Armin. "Mikasa will do anything to protect her friends... she has to be near."
Although... if Armin is all alone, does that mean she's dead? Why else would she be away from Armin's side? Did the titans do the job before Annie could even step in? That would be nice...
It's doubtful, though. If Mikasa was eaten, what would be stopping the titans from eating Armin as well? "He probably tried to escape, which means Mikasa might still be fighting."
So she breaks into a sprint in the direction opposite of Armin's crash. Eventually, she finds titan corpses. One, two, five, ten. Mikasa must be close. And as she follows its trail, she finds two figures of similar height, talking on the rooftop of a wide building. She approaches, letting her loud stomps notify them of her presence well before she's close enough to identify them. Once she is, however, she takes a deep breath.
It's Mikasa. She's standing with Eren, putting her arm in front of him, as if the simple act alone would protect him, and Annie's relieved. "I should have known. Where else would you be other than near your loved ones, protecting them? And who do you love more than Jaeger..."
She runs at them, but as soon as she's close enough to fully make out their faces, she blinks in perplexity. Eren looks spooked enough, which is fitting given her titan form and her intelligence, but Mikasa looks absolutely mortified. Eyes as wide as they can be, and Annie wonders if she, to someone who's killed upwards of twenty titans at least, is really that terrifying?
It doesn't matter, though, because in an instant, Mikasa steels herself and comes flying right at her with a speed which catches her off guard. It's no matter, however, and Annie readies herself, about to accomplish the goal that will take her one step closer to home. "This is it. Goodbye, Mikasa."
Annie launches her fist, not needing to focus her attack much thanks to the massive size of her hand. She feels the wind break with the speed of her arm, and prepares herself to see a splatter of blood and the limp corpse that once belonged to her rival. However, she sees nothing as the force of her strike catches up the rest of her body. Nothing for a few languid moments, until she realizes Mikasa has hooked onto the lower part of her arm. Before the titan can reel it back, she's already spiraling around the arm, once, twice, three times, making deep cuts as she does so.
"What?!"
Mikasa releases, making a final swing at the right shoulder before using her hooks to turn to her right. Annie looks at her arm, the wounds deep enough for fresh blood to continue to pour out as it immediately begins to steam, and she feels the force of Mikasa's gas propelled straight towards her neck. Luckily, her nape is still encased in crystal, but Mikasa seems to realize this, not even bothering to attack it. Instead, she maintains her flight around to the left shoulder, keeping her hooks entwined with the flesh as she anchors herself far away, giving Annie a wide berth.
"What about my hardened nape? Does she know ab-" her thoughts are interrupted as her target pivots, rocketing herself towards Annie's face with unfathomable speed. With less than a moment to think, Annie recognizes that she's going straight for the eyes, so she moves her left arm to protect them just in time. A gaping slash is cut into the hand, rendering it unable to curl up into a fist, yet she keeps it over her eyes in an instinctual fear.
"She's fast... why is she so fast!?"
She hears Mikasa's shout, either from exasperation, anger, or sheer determination, Annie doesn't know. Gauging the distance between her and the sound, she peeks from her hand, seeing the girl descend to the ground, right in front of one of the smaller buildings. Seizing her opportunity, she shoots a devastating kick with her right foot, crashing into the ground and house, launching glass and stone and wood in every direction. But before she knows the result of her own actions, Mikasa's already in the air, propelling herself towards her torso.
Her right arm useless, her left wielding only a hand that dangles by the middle of the palm, she can only watch as Mikasa makes a debilitating gash just under the chest, blood spurting on her face and hair as she makes a pronounced grunt.
"This is wrong..." Annie thinks. It's unbelievable. Mikasa was never this fast, never this concentrated, never this deadly when they trained. She wants to deny what is going on before her, because she's actually losing, she's losing to one, single island devil, but she hasn't the time. Her mind flashes with lessons she received from her father so long ago, and her muscles twitch with the memories they hold, but it's useless. Never before has she needed to nor trained to kill someone like this, who, in size, is the equivalent of a fly. Or, perhaps more like a hornet.
Wrapping around, Mikasa drags her feet on the ground as she stretches farther and farther behind the titan. "Come out!" she cries in fury, blitzing towards her shins. Annie's heart stops at Mikasa's words, but she can't fully process their magnitude before she understands what she's about to do. "She's trying to make me fall!"
With all her strength, Annie jumps high into the air at the precise moment where Mikasa would have lacerated her ankles, catching the raven haired girl off guard. As the titan shifter plummets back into the stony ground, Mikasa dodges in time, but Annie, seeing one of her wires still anchored to the side of a building to her left, aims her foot towards it. The slam shakes Mikasa violently, and she tumbles to the ground, chunks of stone even coming undone with her crash.
Before anything else, Annie takes a long breath, thankful to have some room to think about her situation. Mikasa... she knew about her crystal, yelled for her to come out... and is evading every single one of the warrior's attacks as if she knew titans could be capable of such focused, powerful, and precise blows. It appears that Reiner's theory was correct, or at least he made the right call by playing it safe. At this rate, she wonders how his own part of the mission went. Surely Mikasa couldn't harm him, right? It doesn't matter how proficient you are when fighting against titan armor, something that modern technology has only begun to conquer. Except... if she knew about her being a titan, she might have some sort of strategy to face the Armored Titan...
"Wait, I can't assume she knows that it's me who's in control of the titan. Even if she knows about the nine shifters, it doesn't mean she has any reason to think it's me. I'm not the only blonde cadet, and my hair's the only thing that could hint her to the truth." she reminds herself.
"Mikasa!" a boy's cry, one she knows to be Eren's, comes up from in front of her. But, although she hears it, Eren himself is nowhere in sight. Annie panics. She could find Eren easily, but she doesn't have time, and she's weak. "Just do it! Just finish her off!" she resolves to herself. She lifts her knee, seeing Mikasa struggle to lift herself up, her arms trembling, failing to carry her whole weight. She looks so weak, like she couldn't do anything if she tried, and a part of Annie pities her. Especially after this fight, however, she's not about to enact mercy on the Ackerman.
Before she can launch the full weight of her left foot down onto the small girl, she hears a roar of utter rage come from behind her. It's Eren. In one clean move, he cuts at the joint behind her knee, the one muscle she's using to support her entire frame at the moment, and losing all control, she falls backwards with a mighty crash, extending her still healing arms behind her in a futile attempt to support herself.
She feels the hard crystal dig into the earth, and she lays there, eyes wide as saucers as she takes in what just happened to her. She was just defeated by two soldiers, one of which she placed above in the rankings, not that those ever mattered.
...
"Mikasa! Are you okay?!" his eyes are full of desperation, and concern is thicker on his face than she thinks she's ever seen it. "Don't worry... Eren, I'm okay..." she wants to say, to comfort him, but her head throbs with pain and the words die in her throat. "This fight isn't over, Mikasa, get up!"
And she does, struggling as she lifts her sore knees in time. Ackerman abilities don't give her anything like titan healing powers, but she has found her durability to be quite potent compared to others. Although, maybe that's just because she's always fought for what she loves. Without so much as a warning, Eren places his hands on either of her temples, inspecting the cuts and bruises that have inevitably marred her face. After quickly getting over the closeness of his face and the way she feels his tired, worried breath on her nose, she moves his arms away. "Eren, it's not dead yet."
"I'll worry about that, you need to leave!"
"That's not going to happen."
He groans in frustration, but before they can do much else, the ground shakes, reflecting the violent trepidation that bubbles in her gut. She stands. "You're the one that needs to leave, you're not strong enough to kill her."
"Her?! And, hey! This is not the time to worry about who should be the one to fight it. We'll do it together."
The menacing figure before them kneels, casting a dominant shadow on the pair. Its eyes are cold, yet shine with a profound anger at the same time, and Mikasa knows that look all too well.
"Annie... you knew. You, Reiner, Bertholdt, you must have known about me... why else would you be trying to kill me?" and it dawns on her, that if she can kill Mikasa, Eren will inevitably be next. Her energy returns, fueled by her desperation and rage as she unsheathes fresh blades. Her last pair, given by Eren. "I won't let you have him!" she doesn't yell.
"You piece of shit!" Eren shouts wrathfully at Annie, his eyes practically glowing in passion and anger, "You're dead!"
And the two stand. If looks could kill, Mikasa's frigid, determined glare and Eren's fiery inferno of a gaze would do the job ten times over. Annie shifts, balancing on her weakened knee, the dead, pale green eyes of her titan staring back at them.
"Eren, you go for the legs, try and cripple it. I'll attack its arms and shoulders. We need to make it so it can't attack."
"Right. Did you see the thing on its nape? It's some kind of crystal."
"We can't pierce it."
Eren gapes. "Then how do we kill it?"
She holds her silence, wondering if cutting her out without thunder spears is indeed possible. Maybe not strictly, "but if we can cripple her, then the titans will do the rest. They'll force her to leave the nape, and that's when we can kill her."
"But what if she transforms again? She did that in the forest of giant trees, remember?" she argues with herself.
"She'll be too tired."
"But what if she's not?"
"Then I'll do it all over again until she dies!" vexation at her situation overwhelms her. Not only was it Reiner who smashed the gate and outwitted her, but now Annie comes at the worst possible time, attempting to outmatch her. She almost wants to laugh at how poorly everything has gone. This morning she had a plan, she had gotten Ymir on her side, she was ready to cut out the Colossal and kill Bertholdt. Yet here she is now, desperately fighting for her life. For Eren's life.
She feels an arm roughly shake her. "Oi, Mikasa! Listen! If you don't think it's possible then... maybe we should retreat, and get away from this abnormal." The words come reluctantly out of his mouth, as if he's afraid saying it would be admitting some personal failure on his part.
"No... I've given too much away already... she needs to die!"
"Wh-" Eren's befuddlement is interrupted by the sound of Mikasa whizzing towards the titan yet again. The catalyst of every single sting that sits on her face, and every ounce of fear that dwells in her heart. Annie...
Mikasa will make her pay. The blood that sparks in her veins tells her so. The wind, the rain, the firm grip of her swords, the feelings are absolute, and she has total command over them. "Annie is prepared now, she knows how strong I am. Still, I know how she fights, more than she could ever guess."
She twists her whole body, spinning her blades and preparing to hit her shoulder joint, but Annie counters. She drudges up some of the rubble that lays by her hand, making for a wide swing and releasing pieces of wood and glass all around her, with a large chunk of it coming straight for Mikasa. She gasps, quickly puffing gas away from the debris, slowing her descent enough for her to snake in between the larger pieces of wood and stone. She feels small shards of glass scratch and stab various parts of her body, and she grimaces through the pain.
Eventually making it through the storm of projectiles, she goes for the shoulder, only for Annie to move her arm at the last second, causing her to instead slice at her forearm, and not deeply enough. Mikasa scowls as she turns around to face the titan's backside. Before she makes her next move, however, she's met by the rapidly approaching back of its hand.
In an act of pure reflex, she jumps out of the way. The wind produced by the swing threatens to unbalance her, but she hooks into large, white fingers, holding onto them for the duration of the attack. As Annie stops, Mikasa dashes up the arm with incredible speed, boots slapping against the hot flesh and muscle. "The joints... along here!" she swings at the space adjacent to the elbow, blood gushing out as she uses her Ackerman strength to sever the ligaments that connect her arm together.
Looking back up, her heart begins to beat faster in a sickening type of relief. Annie's crystal fades slightly, the corners that stretch from either side of her nape disappearing back into her skin. It isn't enough to render her unprotected, but that means the more they force her to heal, the less energy she'll have to spend on keeping herself guarded.
Mikasa grips her handles harder, jumping up to avoid yet another one of Annie's attacks. She's surprised herself with how effectively she's handling her, remembering how things went during their first fight in the forest. If it wasn't for Levi... she probably would have been killed, and Eren would be lost. She knows it was due to her haste, her emotion. She was so desperate to get Eren, she was willing to throw herself at Annie with reckless abandon. The girl can still remember the drop of her stomach, the aching of her heart, and the tears that threatened to form under her eyes as she witnessed him be eaten by that unnaturally gaping mouth. At the time, for the smallest of moments, she thought she had lost him. She thought that after her second chance to be with him, after he miraculously emerged from the titan, she let him die again.
She supposes things aren't that different now... just on a grander scale. This time, however, she has experience, knowledge, and all the might of a twenty-two year old Ackerman who's fighting for her life, and the life of the person she loves more than anything in this world.
Rage and resolve course through her once again as she shouts, taking a long slice at her right arm, which dangles by the incised elbow. With a final crack, Annie's right forearm falls to the ground, leaving her with one weakened arm and a half-limb. Her green eyes shudder in confoundment, and in that moment, Mikasa doesn't see Annie, she sees another Female Titan, one of the many she killed on the day they stopped the rumbling. And with it comes the realization that she's done this multiple times over. She knows how to kill a Female Titan. "You may be stronger than the others because of your training, but you're still too slow."
...
Annie, feeling that her legs are mostly healed, tries to stand upright. Her first thoughts are to escape, to retreat and modify this stupid plan of theirs. Out of all the things she thought could go wrong, though, her struggling to kill Mikasa was admittedly near the bottom of that list. She's underestimated her gravely, but it was too late as soon as Mikasa cut her arm up during her first punch. Her pride stays her feet, planting them in place and forcing her to question whether Annie could have won if she was more careful, but her logical side interjects. "It doesn't matter now. You lost."
But her stomach twists with the realization that now Mikasa knows for a fact that they aim to kill her. "Will we have to leave the Military? Go into hiding...?" she ponders. Unfortunately, just as she begins to stand, Eren soars towards her left leg with a shout. He can't manage to cut it deep enough to sever much muscle, but it's enough to send her back crashing into the ground. "Shit!" she curses.
She knows it's only a matter of time before Mikasa kills her if she doesn't leave as quickly as possible. She can feel her crystal waning despite her sincere efforts to reverse it. They way your muscles simply fail to work once you've exercised too much.
Her titan can do nothing as Mikasa blazes straight towards her right eye, carving it out with startling efficiency. "We can't stay in the Military... Mikasa won't hesitate to kill us. She doesn't know, but there's a good chance she'll figure it out sooner rather than later. We have to-" she gasps as an idea hits her. They could leave the walls entirely...
If the threat of an unstoppable Ackerman isn't enough to convince Reiner to retreat to Marley, then nothing will. This could be the reason to get home she was waiting for, right? All she has to do is get out of here... though that's easier said than done.
"Think, Annie, think!" she pounds the phrase into her head as Mikasa spins around to her back again, trying to take a slice out of her left arm, her only functioning arm. She juts it back suddenly, and though it isn't enough to avoid a slash, it mitigates the effects. Summoning up the last of her adrenaline and energy, she slams her back into the ground, creating a massive crashing sound that ripples through the structures, more like piles of rubble than actual buildings, as she does so. She rolls from her back to her side, bringing her left knee up to her chest, poised to launch a devastating kick as she sees both Eren and Mikasa flying in her direction.
In an attempt, halfway between calculation and desperation, to shake them off, she rockets her foot at the pair, but both dodge with ease, continuing their descent towards her. Annie's heart sinks as both slash at her leg from either side as they move along. Mikasa spins, making a litany of furious cuts, and Eren pushes his gas straight at the titan from the other side of the leg, making one, deep slice as he does so. Her crystal diminishes further.
She weakly flails her remaining arm at Eren, which he evades. "Your too weak to even fight!" she realizes. Her movements have slowed, as has her mind, it appears. "You idiot, come up with something or you're dead!"
Mikasa cuts at her armpit, and she squeezes her left arm to her side to protect the area. She wishes she could use her hardening to fight back, as it may be her greatest weapon against the Ackerman, but...
"I need time. Time to heal." she hurriedly reminds herself
Annie thinks to scream. There aren't many titans in sight, Mikasa's killed most that were in this neighborhood, but her shout is powerful. She could bring in all the titans that have invaded Trost, probably, but what would that do? They'd come for her first and foremost, not likely to even bother the humans that are so close to bringing her out of the nape. Even if they did allow for an escape, she'd just be exposing her true identity to her. And could she really elude Mikasa just on her ODM gear? Not likely... her best shot at survival is to stay in her titan.
"Know your enemy, Annie! They will never be the same, you can't possibly prepare for all of them without knowing each of them." her father's words echo back to her, and time seems to slow as a wave of memories hit her. The years of back breaking training hit her like a cold splash of water, reminding her of what her great suffering was worth. She has to remember... who is Mikasa? What can she use to beat her, where is the chink in her armor?
"Mikasa... you're quiet, but stronger than all of us. You're cold... you're almost always cold. Why? And why do you warm up whenever your with Eren? You'd do anything to protect him, you said that yourself...
An idea pops into her mind. She takes a quick inhale, and time resumes, with Mikasa swinging her blades yet again at her frail arm. She still feels the familiar tingle that comes with having complete control over her arm, so she knows it's still possible. However, she feels the crystal that's protected her nape completely gone, and she knows it's only a matter of seconds before Mikasa discovers it too. "You have one shot..."
Instead of fruitlessly attempting to avoid Mikasa's attack, Annie steels herself, lunging forward on her remaining, barely functional leg and shooting her shoulder forward, to keep the brunt of her attack from hitting any important bits. This catches Mikasa by surprise, as she's forced to starkly readjust course once landing the blow onto Annie. She shoots her hooks, blasting forward, right at her nape. It's now or never. Annie only has a split second, but she can do it. She shifts her eyes to the brown haired boy flying ahead of her, to her right. Using the last momentum of her lunge, she grasps at the air, closing her eyes, hoping, praying, that she can do it.
And she does.
She feels the small press of a human body on her enormous hands as she lightly wraps her fingers around it. Gasping, she instantly turns her body completely around, falling back-first into the ground once again as the force of her jump drags her across the stone and dirt. Mikasa draws in a shocked breath, adjusting her gas immediately to take her to the top of a building, where what Annie's sure is her worst nightmare is about to be realized.
In the palm of her hand, she holds Eren, wriggling violently, vainly, against her iron grip. She sits up, staring at Mikasa with a stone cold gaze, a total opposite to the raven haired girl's expression of utter horror. "EREN!" she screams, her voice more desperate and afraid than Annie's ever heard her.
Knowing the next few moments are crucial, the warrior takes a glance at the boy in her grip. Any shock that was once on his face is gone, now replaced by a seething anger as he struggles. Not long after, however, confusion sets in. Most likely out of the fact that she isn't immediately trying to crush or eat him.
Mikasa scowls with a hellish resolve, positioning herself to shoot herself straight at Annie's hand, but the titan simply puts her thumb next to Eren's head, pressing on it lightly.
Mikasa stops, her eyes widening even further as the fact of the situation dawns on her. "You so much as blink, Ackerman, and I'll kill him."
But she won't yet. If she killed Eren now, she knows there would be nothing stopping Mikasa from ending her pitiful life right then and there. An enraged Mikasa isn't something she would survive an encounter with, under any circumstance. "I can't kill you. I can't even stop you if you went for me right now. But you're not going to do that. You love Eren too much... that's your weakness. You'll stand there for as long as I need you to."
Steam rises from every one of her wounds, the sheer number of them causing steam to almost completely envelop her body. She's exhausted, no amount of healing will change that, but if she can just gain more control over her body, her crystalizing abilities will come back. Not that she's going to use it against Mikasa, though. As soon as she's finished, she'll be retreating and regrouping with Reiner and Bertholdt. Even with Eren in her grasp, there's still no possible way she could actually kill Mikasa, even if she can completely heal.
"Let me go! I'll kill you!" Eren shouts petulantly, green eyes fuming in a deeply unsettling rage. Despite him having no control over the situation whatsoever, Annie finds herself disturbed by just how angry he looks. But it doesn't matter.
"I'll hold Eren as I heal, and I'll keep him with me as I run away. She'll follow me, but she won't fight. There's no way to communicate with her that if she follows me as I try to run, I'll kill him, so I have no choice but to let her. But... she has to run out of gas eventually, and when that time comes, I'll get out of Trost."
Looking back at Mikasa, her eyes are full of distressed tears, though they don't shed, and they don't affect her deep, menacing glare. Annie almost feels bad for doing this. If she didn't have such a rivalry with Mikasa, and if not for the obvious fact that she tried to kill Annie and came very close to succeeding, she probably would feel guilty. But in order to escape, this is her only option.
"Do I kill Eren once I'm clear of Mikasa? I might as well... he'll still be in the grip of my hand. No, no I shouldn't... if I kill him, Mikasa would truly be on a suicidal hunt for me. She may not know it's me, but I know what a need for revenge does to someone. She'll figure it out. If I don't choose to crush him, it may allow for some kind of truce."
Her mind races with the possibilities of her next course of action. And as she heals, the thoughts slowly become more defined into a plan. She briefly considers the notion of forcing Mikasa to let Annie kill her, under the threat of murdering Eren. She might do it... she adores Eren, but it's too risky. Mikasa's not stupid enough to trust Annie with Eren's life once she's dead.
Her and Mikasa resume their staring contests. A titan versus the most formidable devil on the island, both undoubtedly having intense inner thoughts as to what should be their next move. It's clear that Mikasa's caught on to the fact that Annie's holding Eren captive in order to heal, otherwise she would have started pleading for his life, without a doubt.
"I could keep Eren... I could bring him with me to Reiner and Bertholdt. He doesn't serve any strategic value on his own, but he could be an effective safety net, keeping us protected from Mikasa's wrath."
Yes... that's what she'll do. If she can't kill Mikasa, she'll at least make it so she won't be a threat. Who knows, they might be able to get some information out of her using Ere-
In an instant, she loses feeling in her fingers as the familiar whoosh of swords echoes through her ears. She looks down at her hand to see that Eren has escaped, somehow managing to grab hold of his blades and cut himself out. Mikasa gasps, and Annie's heart beats rapidly as he hooks onto a building, beginning to puff his gas. With her right hand, now nearly healed save for the tips of her fingers, she grabs a hold of his wires. Realizing that she won't have time to grab him in a crushing hold again before Mikasa cuts her arm, she sighs, knowing her entire plan has fallen apart.
She'll have to kill Mikasa. Which means there's no point in keeping him around.
Annie swings her arm downwards, causing Eren's wires to crack like a whip. The force of it sends Eren slamming into the ground face first, blood spurting in every direction as he rolls on the ground. She knows it isn't enough to kill him, though, so she raises her foot, ready to force it down and squash him like a bug. Mikasa won't be fast enough, there's nothing stopping her-
"Wait! Think about your father!"
She freezes. Everything freezes. The weight of her body suddenly drags her down as a profound sensation of confusion and fear enters her soul. Did... did she just hear that out of Mikasa's mouth? What? That... that doesn't make any sense. Her father... She can't know about that. Was it a coincidence? Does she know? How does she know?
Her eyes are wide as saucers, and she turns to Mika-
Mikasa barrels towards her, faster than a bolt of lightning. Annie can only get a momentary glimpse at her eyes before she's cut. They're not of a human, they're of a demon. They practically glow white with a rage and focus that's unfathomable to even a titan shifter. "Is this the power of an Ackerman?" is all she can think as Mikasa spins with incalculable speed, slicing through her neck like butter. Annie blinks, and she sees blood erupt everywhere. Looking to her right with her human eyes, she sees whiteness, an opening Mikasa has created with the force of her blow. She even feels a light cut on her real cheek, gasping with the realization that Mikasa almost cut Annie out of the nape from the other side of her neck.
Annie can't turn around before another debilitating cut strikes her shoulder blade. The raven haired girl shouts in a focused rage, flying around to her front with a startling zip and cutting at her chest. She presses her feet against the titan and jumps off, backflipping downwards until she reaches the legs, which she promptly cuts in the blink of an eye. Annie can't do a thing, once again at the mercy of Mikasa's skill. "Something, Annie, do something!"
Concentrating her focus, she hardens her knee as quickly as she can. Mikasa, busy slashing up the knees in a terrifying frenzy, unwittingly strikes her swords right across the peak of the crystal, which breaks her swords with a loud crack. Annie gasps in triumph. "Those were her last swords, she can't fight me now!"
But Mikasa is unabated.
She swings up to her left arm, dragging the jagged ends of her broken blades along the arm. It's not deep enough to do any substantial damage, but Mikasa keeps on pressing.
...
She keeps on pressing. Tears threaten to fall from her eyes, but her rage and her focus keep them at bay. Eren... Eren was hurt. She has no idea what the extent of the damage is, only seeing that he was unconscious before deciding she had to act, but she has no time to ponder how badly he might have been hurt.
"Annie has to die... Annie has to die!"
Her desperation pounds in her heart. She's so scared. Scared to lose Eren, scared to lose everything. Annie has to die. She hasn't felt this much conviction since she had to save Eren from Reiner and Bertholdt all those years ago.
But despite the adrenaline that rushes through her, the Ackerman strength that's never been more potent, she can't do anything. Annie knows what she's dealing with now, and she's healed. No amount of healing can substitute her loss of energy, but she doesn't need much to finish off Mikasa. She can crystalize whenever she wants and not her or Eren have any working blades. Her gas is low... it won't last her another five minutes fighting like this. But it doesn't matter, Annie has to die.
The titan shifts on its heels, turning abruptly and throwing a fist at Mikasa. She dodges easily, but to her surprise, it was only a distraction, allowing Annie to grab some more debris and fling it at her. Unable to reposition her wires, they get caught in the storm, throwing her back towards the ground with a loud thump.
She grunts in pain, ears ringing impossibly loud through her ears. The only senses she can fathom are the red of blood on the street, the sickening pain in her stomach, the metallic taste in her mouth, and the coarse vibrations of Annie's languid stomps. She looks up to the sky, seeing that the clouds have parted. Beams of light, cast by the heavens themselves, dot the crumbling city around her.
"I could have stopped this..."
She lifts her head with the last of her strength, seeing Annie approach her, raising her knee. Mikasa knows she'll dodge the foot that's coming her way, because...
"If you don't fight, you can't win!" she doesn't know if it's her or Eren who's talking in her mind.
"Fight!"
A stomp shakes her prescient bones as she dodges the foot, letting out a rough exhale as she struggles to catch her breath. She turns around to face Annie again. The titan's eyes are emotionless, cold, and green, just like... just like Eren's were all those years ago.
There's no hope, but she'll fight. She'll always fight.
"I have to think... if I can get-"
Annie's face crumples. From the left side of her face, it crumples from the impact of another giant fist. And Mikasa's stomach plummets, her heart stops, cracking into millions of tiny pieces. "...No...no..."
Annie is sent tumbling by the force of the punch, crashing into one of the few buildings that still lay intact, and Eren stares back at her. His muscles taut, mouth steaming, and eyes emanating a primal hate as he roars, and Mikasa wants to cry.
"No."
"No..."
"No... please... this can't be happening..."
Eren has transformed.
He brings a mighty foot to Annie, who still lays on the roof of the building, collapsing with her weight. He slams down his foot again, again, and again. Annie's only defense are the set of weakened arms that fold as soon they make contact with Eren's stomp.
Mikasa sits, head throbbing painfully as she watches helplessly. "Stop..." she lets out, her only tool to fight the thundering march that is inevitability. She wants it to stop. She places a hand over her mouth as the horror and truth of the situation weighs on her, and it threatens to crush her.
Only a few booming thumps later, Annie finally catches up to the circumstance she finds herself in, moving her head to dodge his clearly telegraphed blow and grabbing the leg. She pulls, yanking Eren down onto the building with her, which sends scraps of stone and roof tiling flying in every direction.
"Eren transformed..." Mikasa realizes, and her hands start to tremble. She never trembles. She always knows what to do, how to do it, but she's at a loss.
She prioritized Eren over Wall Rose, but she still failed. She clashes her teeth together in a vain attempt to siphon her anger, her distress, her fear. "You're useless, Mikasa! You can't do anything! Eren is..."
Tears start to fill her eyes. "There is no going back. Eren will learn everything now and millions will die. I don't... I don't know how else to stop him."
Annie stands, her eyes just as wide, if not wider than Mikasa's. And with it comes another realization. "Annie knows now, too. She knows Eren's a titan and the warriors could kill him! I won't let that happen... I..."
But if she doesn't let it happen, Eren will kill everyone.
"Eren... stop it... stop it..." she holds back an ocean of tears as her body begins to shake profusely, withering all over in an existential despair. Everything has fallen. Years of thinking about what to do, all for naught.
The Attack Titan gets up quickly, going for another focused swing, which Annie evades with ease. However, after a few more failed swings on Eren's part, Annie turns around. Planting her feet into the ground, she breaks into a sprint in the other direction.
Mikasa's chest thumps. "She's leaving. She's leaving to tell Reiner and Bertholdt and Marley and everyone." She thinks to get up, but stops herself. What use would it be? She's extremely low on gas, has no blades of her own, and she still has to protect Eren. She punches the stony ground, breaking into it with her strength and bloodying her knuckles as an intense frustration fills her soul. Things could not have gone worse. At least Eren's still alive... for a second that might have ended up not being the case. Annie could have killed him if she didn't mention her father.
Yet another thing that will inevitably come back to hurt her. Annie not only knows about Eren, but that Mikasa has knowledge regarding Annie's personal life. She has truly made herself the biggest threat to the warriors' goals, and she didn't even manage to kill any of them. At least Eren survived, right?
But... is that even a worse case scenario? Eren's death? Would she be doing the world a favor by killing him? Would it be a moral good? She supposes... objectively speaking... the answer is yes. But Eren's face flashes through her mind, of his innocence at the situation, of the goodness in his heart that she knows is there... and she can't do it. Her heart physically stops her. It's an irrational sensation, but even thinking about killing him fills her with an unfathomable dread. It makes her want to vomit. She could never do it.
Well... she did do it once.
But she'll never do it again. She's not going to live on with the knowledge that she killed Eren twice. She'd sooner die and put this cursed life behind her. But does she have another choice? Is Eren's death by her hands... is it inescapable?
She pushes the scarf up to her nose, burrowing herself in its warmth as she makes herself small. She shrinks in on herself, curling up into a ball as she tries so desperately not to cry.
Eren starts to chase Annie, the pounding of his sprint shaking Mikasa. "You can't stop him... you don't have enough gas."
This time she doesn't have enough gas. The time before that, it was because she was placed in another squad. Before that, it was because Shadis gave him a broken piece of ODM equipment. Maybe these reasons don't matter. Maybe the reason she can't stop him is because he's Eren, and she's Mikasa.
That is her fate. To follow Eren, futilely trying to stop him only for him to push her away. Her destiny is to follow him into hell, without being able to change a damn thing.
A titan approaches. It's small stature, jaws wide, hair short, and it runs to eat her. She doesn't move.
"And there's a reason you can't do anything. There's a reason you'll never be able to stop him. It's because you're a disgusting, worthless, pitiful slave-"
Mikasa covers her ears as a deafening crash booms right next to her. The impact of Eren's foot flings her a couple of feet into the air as he jumps, and he tackles the titan with all his might. He grips its head in one hand, and its torso in the other, stretching it apart at the neck with his incredible strength. A terrible cracking sound is heard, followed by a sickening gushing of blood as Eren tears the titan in two, making sure to stomp out the remnants of the nape with an angry shout.
She stands up, bewildered. "Wasn't he chasing Annie? Why did he stop?" the questions race through her mind.
In a blind rage, he moves on to another titan, this one nearly thirteen meters tall as it waddles slowly over to them. Eren runs over to it, roaring.
Mikasa takes a step back as the confusion fills her. "Why is he still here?"
Last time her and Armin had to lure him over to headquarters... but-
Another titan runs at Mikasa from behind her. Clearly an abnormal due to its speed, it reaches out with its hands. Mikasa prepares herself to dodge, but to her shock, Eren stops in the middle of his fight with the thirteen-meter, turning on his heels and practically leaping towards the titan that threatens her. He catches it in time, holding both its hands as he shoves it to the ground and presses onto its face with his foot, ramming it multiple times until he can destroy the exposed nape.
And with that, it dawns on Mikasa. "it's protecting me... he's keeping me safe..."
It proves to be true, as whenever Mikasa doesn't seem to be in any danger, he goes off to kill whatever titan is closest. But if a titan so much as breathes near her, he immediately stops whatever he's doing to kill it.
"But it doesn't make any sense... Eren shouldn't have control over his actions."
"E-Eren! Can you hear me? Can you understand me?!" she tries to get his attention, to confirm if he's doing any of this consciously, but she receives no reply. And the wild frenzy that he appears to be in hints that he truly has no real control over his actions.
"What does that mean? Why is it different this time?"
But as more and more titans come to surround them, she realizes that now is not the time to think about such things. Mikasa hooks onto a rooftop, bringing herself over to a place of relative safety while she watches Eren stick vehemently to the same area she's in.
"It's not over yet. Last time... last time he didn't remember that he was a titan. Maybe... if I can get him out and keep the secret from him that he transformed, everything will be okay."
The chances of that are low. There's no reason he won't get a similar memory to the one he had reminding him of his father in the last timeline. But, truly, it is the only hope she has left, so she'll put everything on it.
"I can't cut him out, otherwise he'll wake up with half limbs, probably while they're still regenerating. The only way he'll come out with everything intact is if I let things happen like they did last time. I have to go to headquarters, and I have to let the titans exhaust him." she resolves to herself.
As she tries at moving to a nearby building, where a titan sits, her theory once again proves true. She lands on the titans leg, and as it swipes at her, Eren plows straight through a building to grab it, biting its nape clean off.
Eren will allow her safe passage to HQ, even with her low gas... and from there, she'll... she'll save him. She will save him, even if it costs her her life. She doesn't know what she'll do, what she can do, but it doesn't matter right now.
She will find a way to keep him safe, alive, and unable to harm anyone.
Despite his giant, fleshy, terrifying exterior, she can't help but view him as more vulnerable than he's ever been. He doesn't know it, but the next few hours will decide if he gets to live, or die. He's never been in greater danger, but he'll always have Mikasa at his side. No matter what.
It isn't because she's a slave, it's because she loves him.
At least, that's what she tells herself. Only Eren truly knows.
There you have it! I hope this wasn't too cliffhangery. I mean, it's nothing compared to the last chapter's ending, but I'd hate to leave you all dissatisfied for two weeks, just in case I can't get it out to you all next Sunday. Anyways, what did you all think? I expected this chapter to be way shorter 'cause I only intended to write the RBA talk and the Female Titan fight scene, but one thing led to another and... well this is more than 10K again haha. Please tell me what you thought! It'd be great to know if I might have dragged out the fight too long, cause it really was like 6K words by the end of it. Did you all enjoy it? Could I have benefited from a quicker pace? Let me know and as always, have a nice day! -Y