Vanguard Variable

Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan

He was charging. They were all charging, every last one of his soldiers; Towards the Beast Titan, with the incoming rocks almost as if in slow motion.

It was so surreal. It felt like he had done this before. That the words he cried out were spoken long ago, and not of his own making. "My soldiers push forward! My soldiers scream out! My soldiers raaaaage!"

He jolted, feeling as if he was plunged off his steed. He heard someone cry out his name, as something agonizing was happening to his right arm.

Something was wrong about that, but he didn't have time to think. They had to catch up with the Armored Titan. Even if they died, they had to get Eren back. "I said advance goddammit! Eren's right in front of you! Do Not Falter!" he commanded, willing himself to ignore the pain. But he had no intention to die. There was only one way out of this. The bastard gnawing on him could keep the arm.

With a snarling clenching of his teeth, he cut himself loose and fell.

He grunted as he landed upon the back of his horse, at the head of the Scouts, ready to make their departure from Karanes. A great many would probably die, if he was truly correct about enemy Titan-Shifters having infiltrated the walls, and that they were going to target their most unique new recruit, Eren Yeager.

He scowled even as the gate raised, the expedition about to begin. Something was very wrong.

Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.

Everything felt out of place.

"Enough," Erwin said firmly, turning around calmly to gaze upon his soldiers.

His fallen Soldiers. Nanabe, Miche, Ness…and so many others. Too many to ever name them all. They gazed back at him with blank, sullen, deadened eyes. Erwin lowered his gaze, but tightened his grip on the reins. He steeled himself, meeting their gaze once more with a determined look. "Am I dead?" he called out to them.

The ghosts of the past did not answer. Instead, they fell to dust, revealing only a few. A few he knew very well by now:

Hange Zoe

Levi Ackerman

Jean Kirstein

Sasha Blouse

Connie Spinger

Historia Reiss

Mikasa Ackerman

And another, one man he only barely recalled as a new recruit. One that had spoken to him before the final charge...Floch, that was his name. Floch Forster.

Something was still wrong about this. No, not wrong, but missing.

He slowly glanced to the side and saw a wagon. Within it laid two bodies: Armin Artlert and...Bertholt Hoover?

But, where wa-

From the corner of his eye, he saw one soldier with his horse pacing forward, heading out of the gate. A young man, and even from behind, he recognized the soldier: Eren Yaeger.

But why was he riding ahead of them and alone?

A great flash erupted before him, blinding Erwin for an instant and forcing him to cover his eyes.

When he lowered his arms, he saw that he was on top of the wall again. Which wall, he didn't know anymore. Nor did it matter, as he stared up at his companion:

The Armored Titan.

It was crouching on the wall, leering down at him. The giant's protective covering was fractured and chipping away, half of the face missing to reveal the muscles beneath.

"...I see. So I'm not dead yet," Erwin deduced solemnly, not sure if he should feel relieved or disappointed on some level while staring up at one of the enemies that had started this renewed nightmare years ago. "I suppose I can pity you, Braun," Erwin mused idly, before closing his eyes and finishing firmly. "But I have no sympathy for you."

Then, he opened his eyes.

He was honestly stunned now, standing as a boy in a classroom with his hand raised. And he had never, ever, recalled the memory of his father's face as vivid and clearly as in this moment...

"Excuse me, but how can we be sure that there aren't other humans living somewhere far away from the walls...?"

His childish voice faded into that of a tired, raspy adult as his vision faltered, eyes fluttering before he reopened them in full-

And stared up at the true blue sky, his arm reaching up towards it.

His brow furrowed. This...didn't feel like a dream any more, or whatever those sights had been. He could very clearly feel all the sores and minor protests of his body, the slight ache from lying on stone for an extended time. But more bizarrely and contrary to reality as he remembered, was that he was staring at his arm. His right arm.

A cough grabbed his attention. He looked to the side and saw that an injured Sasha Blouse was resting nearby.

Right, right. The Mission to retake Wall Maria. The suicide charge against the Beast Titan. But if he was still alive, with a new arm...

"Erwin."

His head cleared at the familiar voice of Levi Ackerman. He glanced upward, seeing the soldier staring down at him. To most, his expression would seem to be his normal apathetic one, but Erwin could detect some relief in his eyes as Levi's jaw muscles relaxed slightly.

With that, the Commander of the Scouts pulled himself up into a sitting position as Levi stood beside him. Erwin took the moment to observe the crowd around him.

Hange was sitting by, one eye wrapped in bandages and the other far less animated than her usual self, but she did muster a small smile at seeing him awake.

Connie was sitting near the foot of where Sasha was laid, Jean standing nearby. They both nodded, but Connie was obviously distracted by Sasha's condition.

Floch caught his gaze and looked notably relieved for some reason, almost as much as Levi.

Unsurprisingly, Mikasa and Eren were still with Armin.

Something was clearly off with them though. Armin's clothes were the wrong size, Mikasa was fretting over the young man much like she was known to do over Eren, and Eren himself was seated tiredly next to Armin and...

Erwin raised an eyebrow at Eren's own right arm, which was emitting steam as it steadily regrew, currently just past the elbow.

"Welcome back, Commander," Eren greeted with a tired smile.

Erwin nodded. "I take you've been waiting on me to awaken?"

Armin nodded. "Y-yeah, I've been awake for a little while now, but the Section Commander thought it best to wait so we only had to go over this once," he stated uneasily.

Erwin was sure the young, intelligent man had put several dots together. And, unless he was wrong, he smelt a hint of vomit in the air. "I take it we're the only survivors?" he predicted gravely.

"Yes sir," Jean answered with a frown, glancing out on Shinganshina; Likely to the battlefield. "We checked while you were out. Floch was the only one to make it back. Everyone died in the charge or...bled out by the time we got there," he answered uneasily.

Erwin suddenly found a canteen placed in front of him by Levi. Erwin wordlessly took the object and began to drain the water, feeling the dryness of his throat lessen. "How much do you remember? Armin has some memory problems," Levi questioned.

Erwin scowled after swallowing, thinking back. "I remember up to the start of the charge, more or less. Unless I'm mistaken, that would be the final memory for me," Erwin noted, recalling his visions and random memories.

Levi nodded. "I'll go first since ours is shorter: Your plan worked, mostly," Levi answered with a displeased look. "I managed to take down the Beast Titan, but he escaped thanks to the rest of his Titans and that one ugly-ass four-legged one," Levi answered, bowing his head in disappointment. "I chased him back over the wall, but I had to make a judgement call between killing him and taking back the Armored Titan when they tried to rescue him," Levi finished. "...I'm sorry, Commander."

"Don't be," Erwin stated firmly, head bowed. "You made the right call. It was as far from a perfect victory as could be, but it was as much a victory as we could hope for at that point. More, perhaps, if my guessing is right," Erwin stated knowingly, his eyes trailing over to Floch, who sat up a tad straighter. "I believe that leaves you as the sole survivor of the charge...and the one who carried my body back?"

Floch nodded slowly. "Yes, Commander."

Erwin nodded in respect. "Thank you, Floch Forster."

The scout looked surprised for a moment before nodding, looking as though some weight was taken off his shoulders.

"Is he a mind-reader or something?" Connie whispered to Jean.

"Shush, idiot," Jean scolded under his breath, trying not to smile.

"And what happened on the other side of the wall?" Erwin prompted.

"Yeah? How did we manage to beat the Colossal Titan?" Armin asked in confusion.

There was dead silence.

"We...did beat Bertholdt, right?" Armin asked again hesitantly.

"No, no, we definitely did," Hange assured with a small, withered smile. "And, by everyone's accounts, it was all thanks to you."

"Me?" Armin asked, trying to recall something, anything. "Wait, I remember...right, I remember that the Colossal got skinnier the more steam he let off..."

"You sacrificed yourself," Eren stated. Blunt, solemn, and utterly spent of all emotional energy. "You made Bertholdt burn you to a crisp and gave me an opening to cut him out."

Armin stared without comprehension, while Mikasa shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't seen Armin's state, but just the idea of it made her shudder to think of how close one of her best friends had been to death.

"We managed to take down Reiner with the thunderspears while Eren and Armin did their plan," Connie added in. "Sasha got injured, but Han- Section Commander says she'll be alright."

Erwin didn't miss Hange mouthing "probably" to him, but didn't draw any attention to it. "I see. I believe I can guess the rest to a point: The Beast Titan and the Quadruped tried to grab their allies and retreat, but were thwarted?"

"Levi and Mikasa managed to stop them from nabbing Reiner from us," Hange supplied before looking curious. "Hm, actually, I don't think Levi shared what happened when they tried to take the Colossal Titan."

"The bearded bastard ran off as soon as I got over the wall," Levi answered, glancing to Eren. "Eren had a blade to the giant prick's neck. I'm guessing to kill him instead of letting them retake him."

"Yeah, basically," Eren answered with a nod.

Armin blinked. "Wait, but..." he looked to his own hands then over to Erwin, "This doesn't make any sense though?"

Erwin nodded in agreement. "That is the only blank I have no theory for myself," he admitted, glancing to the last of the veterans. "Hange, Levi, how did you managed to turn us both into Titans?"

"Wait, was half a dose enough?" Armin guessed in surprise.

Hange almost looked amused. "Well, you're not wrong, but Levi and I can't take credit for this one."

"And it was more like a third of the dose."

Erwin and Armin looked in surprised to Eren.

"Wait, did you...risk giving a lower dose to try and save me?" Armin asked in shock.

Eren groaned. "Captain, Section Commander, I am exhausted and regenerating. With all due respect, but could one of you explain please?" he requested.

"Do you need anything?" Mikasa asked in concern.

"A long sleep," Eren murmured.

"Don't worry, Mikasa, the blockhead just isn't used to having to exert all that brainpower," Jean jabbed with a scowl.

Eren snorted, but didn't rise to the challenge, which was telling enough of his state.

Hange coughed. "Well, apparently Eren recalled how Rod Riess was turned into a Titan with only a lick off the floor. While he was never certain it was the exact same kind of serum, it seems that Eren's guess was correct: Only a partial dose was needed."

Erwin absorbed that. If Eren was right and only a third was needed, that meant they had enough to turn a third person. If they found a way to break Annie out of her cocoon, they could add the Female Titan to their ranks.

Armin, however, paled. "So, that means...the Commander and I...we...Reiner and Bertholdt?" he stated uneasily.

Erwin grimaced inwardly. Yes, that was right. They had both eaten two humans after being turned into Titans; Enemies, yes, but still humans, not to mention former comrades and traitors for Armin. He was sure that would play havoc with Armin's emotions for a while. Erwin wasn't sure he was so above that himself.

"I'm presuming that I have the Armored and Armin the Colossal?" Erwin deduced.

"Huh? How did you know?" Hange asked in surprise.

"Call it a feeling," Erwin answered, not sure what to make of his visions just yet. "And I suppose that Eren's arm was taken off by the Quadruped?"

There were several awkward looks about that. "Actually, you did that, Sir," Levi answered, making several of the scouts grimace.

Erwin blinked as he gazed at the regenerating limb. "I see. What happened, if I may ask?"

"..." Eren sighed. " Bertholdt woke up right as we were about to feed Reiner to you, and freaked. Reiner tried to spite me, I guess. Or maybe he was trying to save Bertholdt. Hell, maybe he was just trying to get me killed. Either way, your Titan almost ate both of them. I...managed to pull Bertholdt out at the last moment. And your Titan, well, ate my arm before turning back into you."

"Well, it's not like the rest of us didn't try to help," Connie stated. "But Eren told us to back off."

"This hurts like fucking hell, but I can afford to lose an arm," Eren pointed out, holding up his new arm, with only the fingers of his new hand still missing. "And it's not the first time I had to lose a limb."

"Kid, say stuff like that and they'll call you a masochist," Levi warned flatly.

"That aside," Erwin said, clearing his throat. "As your Commander, I'm grateful, Eren. I thought humanity would be lucky to walk away with just the truth today. Instead, we have taken the power of two of our enemies."

Eren looked surprised and then uncertain. "Thank you, Sir, but it was nothing. The truth is, it was just...luck that I remembered something like that."

"Oi, at least don't act humble about it," Jean stated in mock exasperation. "You're making everyone look worse in comparison."

"Remind me to stuff his pants with straw or something," Eren muttered to himself as Armin gave a weak, strained smile.

"Speaking of the truth," Levi said, looking to Eren. "You still got the key, right?"

Wordlessly, Eren pulled out said item, showing it to everyone.

Erwin felt a calming yet exhilarating feeling come over him. They had won, and now...

The Truth.

End of Chapter

Well, there you all go. Not much you all weren't expecting, I'm sure. So, yeah, Armin still has the colosus and Erwin has the Armored. Which was the unianimous vote by all reviews, to my amusemnt.

Next chapter, we get to see some reactions to Grisha's journals and the truth of the outside world.

p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64