Eren Pov
"Hey, brat!" Levi yelled, smacking his cage bars. "Get up now, we're going on a road trip."
He looked at the bars to see, as expected, Levi standing there.
"Where are we going?" He questioned.
"To the military tribunal. You've been recalled so they can relook your case," Levi replied before turning around to leave.
"You have 5 minutes."
He nodded before getting out of his cell bed and getting changed into his Scouts uniform. The door wasn't unlocked, so he supposed he was meant to wait here until someone came down to collect him.
He looked in the mirror, staring at his face, his old face. He had let his hair grow down to just above his shoulders but didn't let it grow longer than that.
He gripped the sides of the basin as he stared into the mirror. I wonder, how different this world will be with all my knowledge. Eldia stands on the brink of greatness and freedom. Though what will it cost this time.
"Hey kid," Oluo said, unlocking the door. "C'mon, we're going.
"He nodded in reply and walked out silently. They walked in silence for a moment before Oluo spoke.
"So, what were you seeing in that mirror?"
"Nothing more than myself," he replied calmly.
"What? Were you expecting to see something else?" Oluo asked, slightly confused.
"I once saw a memory mirror," he replied. "Someone else's memory. And I swear she saw me."
"Oh, she's a girl," Oluo exclaimed. "Well why didn't you start with that, I'm all ears."
Oluo let out a quick laugh, but upon seeing his face stopped.
"Lighten up brat, she's all yours. I won't take her," Oluo said with a laugh as they reached the stairs.
"Being that she's been dead for some time now you'll probably have a problem talking to her, let alone 'taking her.'" he replied.
"Ooh," Oluo said, rubbing the back of his head as they walked up the stairs. "So how'd you see a dead girl's memory? Is this the Titan-shifter memory transferring you mentioned at that kid's trial."
"Yes, it is. But I have no idea how the transfer works," he said, trying to lie.
Oluo seemed like he was going to say something else, but they reached the top of the stairs so he stopped.
As he opened the door the sun blazed down against his eyes, hurting them after he hadn't seen the sun in what felt like days.
"Hey, brat! Over here," the unmistakable voice of Levi called out.
Captain Levi sat in a cart alongside the rest of Levi squad, all had their gear on, all except him.
He walked over to the carriage and saw Petra and Eld sitting near the driver. Hmm, looks like I have made a difference. They get to live, for how long I don't know but still, I've saved them from that fate.
Though a worse one could still befall them yet.
"Hey, kid. Stop staring and get in," Levi said, a slight irritation in his voice.
Without another word he got into the carriage, surrounded by the most dangerous soldiers humanity could offer.
"So captain. I'm assuming I don't get any gear?" He asked.
"You are correct," came the reply as their carriage started moving.
"And which route are we taking?" He asked, even though the answer was fairly obvious.
"We'll go through Ehmrich district and then go the tribunal's office," Levi replied simply.
After that, they fell into silence, with only several words being spoken every so often.
I wonder, what are Historia, Mikasa, Armin and the others doing. Probably training, or perhaps they're doing some other boring task.
He laid his head back against the tarp which covered the carriage, trying to get some sleep.
Strangely, sleep found him quickly. He was dragged away into a world of darkness and then from the shadows.
"Eren Yeager."
He opened his eyes and found himself lying on sandy dirt like substance with a tree of blue and white light shining and reaching into the sky.
The paths?
He got up to see a girl standing before him. Even if he didn't know her he could feel that something was different about her. The whole world seemed to gravitate around her here, and the feeling of raw power seemed to pulse from her.
"Ymir. Why have you called me back here?" He asked.
"There are many reasons I could have called you back here for Eren, I presume you can imagine why I summoned you here now." The founder responded.
"A warning. I suppose you have called me here to give me a warning of sorts, or perhaps an offer."
Ymir chuckled softly at this. Making the founder of the titans laugh. Not something I expected to do. In my life
"How smart of you. Yes, I have come here with a warning. Eren, you cannot trust those in the Scouts. Even now they plot against you, to take the founder from you, to rob you of your freedom."
"Which of the Scouts are doing this, plotting?" He asked
"Almost all of them, none trust you and all want your power. They crave it, and if given the chance, they will take it."
"Ymir, if you suggest moving against them now, then you must think me suicidal. I have my plan ready and prepared for when that day comes, but not yet."
"I hope you live long enough to enact this 'plan' of yours," Ymir replied. "Good luck Eren. You will need it in the weeks to come."
"Ymir, before you send me back. Why did you bring me back here? If Eldia is to survive then I must enact the rumbling, it is the only way."
"Eren, I brought you back because you already saw how the rumbling plays out, now I give you the chance to do something different, but I will not stop you if you want the rumbling to happen."
"But the rumbling is not the only way forward, you must see life as crossroads. You took one option, now will you retake that path, or will you take the other?" Ymir told him walking forward.
She reached up and touched his chest lightly, sending a course of electricity throughout his body. Her touch threw him from the paths and back to reality, sitting in the carriage with Levi squad.
Wait, we aren't moving.
"Captain, why have we stopped?" he asked, breaking the silence.
Levi looked him in the eyes for a moment before replying.
"I don't know, it's probably nothing," came the reply.
"So Eren, are you nervous?" Petra asked after a moment.
"No, I'm not," he said, shrugging. "It's unlikely they're going to kill me after all I've done for them. So I should have nothing too dear. But there is still a chance"
"Way to darken the mood kid," Oluo stated.
"Well, the kid ain't wrong," Eld replied with a smile. "I mean just look at the captain, he's got the skill of a hundred men and the strength of a titan. Yet the government didn't kill him because he's useful to them. Eren is still useful so they won't kill him."
"But you can't pass on the skill and experience of a soldier. You can do this with titan-shifting from what Eren's told us," Oluo replied.
"Well then, I guess we can only hope," Eld retorted
"Have they said anything about Eren or the mission, sir?" Petra asked after trying and failing to read Levi's newspaper.
"Everything's about the brat at the moment. Nearly all of them failed at keeping secrets from the public. They know about the shifter we captured, they know about nearly everything that Bertholdt's told us," Levi Replied, lowering the paper to look at them.
"Nearly everything?" Oluo asked.
"They managed to keep something from the public, hell even I don't know what it could be. So whatever it is it's pretty serious."
"You reckon they'll mention it when we're up there?" Oluo asked
"Well, you know the military police. They're bound to let something slip at some point," Levi replied, looking down at the paper
They once again fell into a silence, the conversation running dry.
They waited for the cart to move again, but it didn't. The chatter of a crowd of people could be heard from outside, but still, nothing happened.
"All right," Levi stated standing up. "I'll go check what's going on outside. The rest of you, stay here but be prepared in case anything happens."
Everyone nodded in near unison at this and all watched intently as the captain left.
Strange. I have no idea where this is going, yet something feels familiar. I just can't place it.
They sat tensely for several minutes longer, but this time the shouts of other Scouts could be heard.
What is going on out there?
And then without warning, a dozen things happened in a moment.
Several gunshots and the screams of citizens filled the air as the tarp covering the carriage was ripped off by ODM gear. Each member of Levi squad shot off, with Petra grabbing onto him and pulling him away as the cart was blown apart by rounds of shotguns.
Then it finally came to him, what this reminded him of.
Kenny the Ripper and his anti-personnel squad.
Petra tried to find a way out but they were surrounded, whichever direction they went there would be one of Kenny's squad to block them
Without ODM gear he was virtually useless in this situation, he would half to transform.
"Petra, let go of me," he told the stressed Scout.
"What? No, we're not doing that again," came the reply from Petra as she slowed down. "Eren we have orders to keep you from leaving our sight or trashing the city if we-."
BANG!
The sound of the gun made his ear-ring as Petra let out a scream as the round hit both of them in the back.
They fell to the ground and rolled across it, scraping his body and ripping his clothes.
The man who shot them came speeding towards them, gun raised and ready to kill them.
Dammit!
He transformed instantly, being surrounded by a golden glow and engulfed by steam for only a moment before his gigantic arc shot out and grabbed the Anti-Personel squad member.
He didn't kill him immediately, instead, he pulled the man to his demon-like face and stared at him with his shining green eyes.
The man was so horrified he didn't move, instead, his entire body shook in fear against his titan-form.
He then crushed the man in an instant, destroying his entire body and letting his blood pour to the floor from his broken body.
He then reached down and picked petra up in his unbloodied hand. He closed it at the sight of more of Kenny's squad rushing towards him.
Hardening his hands he started at the dozen ODM users rushing at him.
Picking up the skill from Zeke he grabbed a chunk of rock from a building and threw it at them, the rocks spraying and blood everywhere.
Though it's not anywhere near as effective as Zeke's throw, it works at short range.
The squad spread apart and started firing their rounds at him. The bullets struck him and leaked smoking blood, but the wounds quickly healed.
He then rushed forward and grabbed one of the enemies and crushed them in his hand spraying the blood across the ground.
Their screams filled the air as he swung his fist at them catching two of them off guard and smashing them away. Killing them instantly.
The others seemed even more horrified now which allowed him to strike again, this time taking one out by smashing him into a building with the bottom of his fist.
Another three swung around him while the rest darted away temporarily to calm down. They kept reloading then firing every round they had in a desperate attempt to bring him down.
One of them landed on a building, seemingly to reload. Why would he do such a thing? He can reload in the air can he not? It didn't matter, but it looked like he was throwing his life away on purpose.
Taking the chance he slammed his fist into the roof of the house below him, the man tried to swing away but was knocked to the ground by the flying tiles.
He walked towards him slowly, taking his time.
The man's comrade swung down to help him, but arrived too late.
Both looked up at him, their eyes begging for their lives as they lay below him. But he showed no mercy.
He smashed his foot into them, crushing both of them in an instant and breaking the street beneath them.
In her rage, the final one swung him at him wielding a fallen Scouts blade.
She raced towards his nape screaming wildly and without a care in the world.
He hardened his nape just as the girl reached him. Her blade broke against the crystalised material covering his neck.
As he swung around he could see the shock and horror on her face as his fist struck her, sending her flying to the streets below.
His hand around Petra was still closed and hardened, and he presumed she was mostly unharmed.
The final four in the area shot towards him again, this time fury in their eyes more than fear.
As they drew in they shot his eyes out with several blasts from their guns, blinding him temporarily.
After shooting his eyes they fired continuously at one knee, slowly breaking it apart and not giving it any time to heal.
Dammit, they're forcing me to keep me regenerating my knee instead of my eyes. But at this rate, I can't keep this up for long.
He finally gave up on regenerating his knee and put all his focus onto one of his eyes, giving him vision long enough to see where one of them was all charged into them with all his speed while falling to the ground.
The surprised Anti-Perosnel squad was taken by surprise and was crushed alongside a house behind them.
He looked up and saw the other two racing towards him again, most likely to shoot out his eyes.
But as they neared him he used the titan form remaining strength to lunge at the two ODM users and hit both of them with his fists, breaking most of their bones.
He crashed to the ground and exited it quickly, blowing off as much steam as he could to hide as he did so.
"EREN!" Eld shouted, landing suddenly next to him. He was covered in blood and seemed to be injured, though it was impossible to tell due to him being soaked in so much of it.
"We need to get out of here," he said, gasping for air. "Captains orders, we're meant to meet up in hideout within Wall Rose, I can't tell you where it is, but I can lead you to it."
"What about the other Scouts?"
"We can't help them," Eld replied. "If we were attacked then it's likely they were as well, we need to get there as soon as possible. Levi will arrive later."
"All the more reason to help them. I will not abandon my comrades, my friends to their deaths at the hands of the MPs," he told Eld.
"I saved your friend from death," he said pointing at the injured Petra. "Now help me save mine."
Eld ran over to Petra and seemed slightly horrified by the situation she was in. Her back was peppered with holes from the shotgun blast and by the looks of it, her shoulder was dislocated as well.
"I'll take you two to the hideout and then I'll go to help the other Scouts. They're near enough" he stated.
Eld stopped for a moment before looking at him
"How do you know where the hideout is?" Eld asked, tears gleaming in his eyes at the sight of his injured friend.
"I'm assuming they're near each other," he replied quickly.
"Fine," Eld said, defeated. " But let's hurry."
He nodded before walking far enough away from them that the blast will not hurt them.
Using a wall he scrapped his hand deep enough to draw blood and then transformed into his titan again.
Eld then shot himself on top of his shoulder carrying Petra, which was his cue to begin running.
Running away from the carnage he let his mind wander, almost going into a trance with only one thought on his mind.
Historia, don't die on me.
Thanks for reading, and as always I'm open to any criticism. Hope you enjoyed it.