Chapter 6: Warriors

Ah fuck, before I forget. There will be spoilers in this chapter for Season 3. So, if you haven't watched that, I'd recommend watching it first lest this spoil it for you. You've been warned.

Drifting, that's what this feels like. Embraced within this cool darkness where I can't see, hear, or taste anything. Like I'm asleep and awake at the same time, hibernating. Sometimes I hear voices that belong to Hitch and Armin, no one else. That's all I can do, listen to their voices with no ability to respond or communicate in any way. How long have I been here? I don't know how time works here; have I been here for a few months? A few years? It all seems to blur together; an eternal dream… What's this? Sensations of extreme rage and heartbreak washed through her conscious as a familiar feeling she hadn't felt in who knows how long suddenly began to ignite. Desperately trying to locate a source, she concentrated on the burning feeling as hard as she could. This cold fire that was constantly pulsing, the pain that came with it. Not physical pain, but the pain of betrayal; the unbearable feeling of loss. Then, as if locking onto something, she was suddenly pulled as if she were on the end of a rope. Rushing through space as a blinding white light seared her vision before an image slowly began to come into view.

It was the sky, relatively overcast as grey clouds floated through the sky. The image shifted as she began rising off the ground to see a sight that shocked her to her core. The armoured titan was walking towards her with Mikasa on his shoulder, desperately trying to penetrate it's armour with her blade Reiner. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the colossal titan perched on the wall, emitting steam to defend itself. That wasn't all, she could faintly hear Eren's screams of rage as she suddenly lurched towards the armoured titan, Mikasa leapt off Reiner's shoulder driving a fist directly into the armoured plates covering it's face. However, Reiner's defense proved to be too strong as he reacted with a straight punch that sent her flying through the air before landing in a heap. Eren's groans reverberated throughout his form and she shuddered as waves of pain rolled through her. She realised; she was watching through Eren's eyes. The eyes of his titan form that was battling Reiner. So, the feelings of betrayal and anger she felt before; Reiner and Bertholdt had made their move and were attempting to abduct Eren right here. It was clear that Eren wasn't thinking straight, blinded by his rage, and fighting Reiner the wrong way. He couldn't be defeated in a slug fest, but he had a key weakness – martial arts that involved holds and throws. Do I try to help him? Can I even help him? Chances are, at this rate, Reiner will defeat him and capture him, and they might try to retrieve me at a later date. Which they'll have to do anyway, we need as many shifters as possible. It made sense to have Reiner win this, but with what Eren's feeling right now. His older brother figures just revealed themselves to be the ones that caused his mother's death. Putting myself in his shoes, it just isn't fair. Fuck it if Reiner's going to win this then it's going to be on fair terms. Besides, I have a reputation that Eren's currently butchering and I can't let that slide.

"Eren, remember what I taught you. Back at the academy, remember what I showed you. Don't let your emotions control you, idiot."

*Eren's POV*

My eyes widened as I hit the ground, I swear I could've heard Annie's voice just now. Remembe- back a- academy- remember- Don't le- emotion's control… you. I was pulled back in time, to where Annie had me pinned on the ground, strangling me.

"Right, that's enough Annie. You can let go!"

"Come on, I've barely shown you how this works and you're surrendering? There's a twofold benefit here or don't you want to learn how to talk to women," she tightened her grip and Eren's face turned from red to a deep shade of an unhealthy bluish purple.

"Fine, whatever. Just please stop strangling me!"

"Ah, so you are interested in what I can show you." A yell could be heard as Reiner's body flew towards their position. Annie leapt away just as Reiner impacted Eren. After the dust cleared, Reiner could be seen twitching on the ground as his head laid in Eren's lap.

"Not sure I really wanna know how you got here," Eren stared at the big blonde male. He snapped back to reality as he returned from the memory, trying to process what just happened. Why did that come to me just now? Picking himself up off the ground, he faced Reiner once again and screamed with rage to give the impression that he was doing the same move as before. He moved to strike Reiner and as predicted; the armoured brute tried to counter with a straight. Eren ducked under the strike and caught Reiner in a hold before throwing him to the ground in a perfect mimicry of Annie's technique. So similar that you could overlap the two performing it and see no difference in the execution.

*Annie's POV*

Annie felt a small amount of pride upon seeing Eren use her technique effectively. Not completely hopeless after all. Huh, what's this? No, wait. Annie felt whatever was holding her there lose power as she began to slip from Eren's body. She couldn't offer much resistance as she was inevitably shoved back into the familiar darkness of her crystal confines, left to wallow in her own conscious for whoever knows how long. She had figured that time moves quickly as after what felt like mere minutes; she could hear the voices of Armin and Hitch again. Their words blending together as they entered one ear and went out the other as she remained suspended in her inky black prison. There had to be a light somewhere, some way to get out of what she had created yet she felt restrained. Like she possessed the strength to break out, but she just couldn't use it. It was like trying to use your muscles in your sleep; feeling as if you can hit hard but your movements are frustratingly sluggish, that's what this was like.

How long had she been here? Hours? Months? It felt like hours had passed which likely translated to at least half a year, give or take a few months. She'd stopped trying to keep track of time and let her mind go blank, not thinking about anything. Escape was impossible and even if she did break out, they'd likely capture her and execute her within a week. Unless Reiner and Bertholdt, if they were still alive, came for her; she was completely stuck. A dead end, cornered. Could she die in here? Surely after her 13 years had passed then her body would physically die but what happens then? Does she stay here or move on to whatever waits beyond the veil of death? Were her 13 years already up? Hell, if she knew, time is a fickle thing. Nothing had happened since she witnessed Eren fighting Reiner. Did they capture him? Or was Eren dead? She hadn't felt anything from the bond which had remained inactive since their last interaction. No, surely it would have done something if he were dead, she couldn't tell if it were even still there and only time could give her the answers. Just as she was about to blank out again, she was hit with that intense emotion again. So sudden that it almost felt like a slap in the face, but it was different this time. There was no rage, but complete hopelessness and self-pity instead. She wasted no time in trying to find where it was coming from, searching for that point to lock onto. She felt it click into place and she was once again thrust through space to be hit with that blinding light which was much more intense then the previous time.

When the image cleared, she assumed she was watching through Eren's eyes again before her eyes widened at the circumstances she was in. What the fuck? What the fuck is that? A massive titan was forming directly in front of her/him, it was technically from Eren's body but for simplicity's sake. It was easily as big as Bertholdt's titan form, if not bigger as it emitted an intense heat. They were in some type of crystal chamber and she could notice the ceiling beginning to buckle, were they underground? Eren was slumped against the wall as a few members from the 104th stood at his sides along with Levi. She could tell from the emotions being emitted that Eren had lost the will to live but he knew that he couldn't let his friends die because of him. She watched as Eren grabbed a vial labelled 'Armoured' and bit down on it, consuming the contents. He desperately ran towards the forming titan and leapt off the platform before transforming himself. Yellow energy blinded her, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she noticed that she was in a very different situation compared to last time. This time, it was as if she were standing next to Eren's human body and she could move her arms and legs, but she couldn't see what was happening to his titan form. She walked in front of Eren and crouched down in front of his face, a look of pure determination etched onto his features but, he didn't react to her presence. He can't see me, but can he hear me?

"Eren?" His eyes widened slightly.

"Annie?" He gasped. "Is that you?"

"Yes, what's going on?"

"Rod Reiss, he must've taken the titan serum he was going to inject Historia with. That's him turning into a titan." Rod Reiss, that name. No, that last name: we were meant to observe the Reiss family when we came here. "Annie, I need to harden but I don't know how. Please, help me."

"It's like a second layer hidden under your skin. Imagine it seeping out of your skin and spreading across you."

"No, I need to have it separate from my body. Like forming a structure."

"Then be specific, dumbass. That's raw hardening, not as hard but takes a lot of energy very quickly. Envision an origin point from any point in your body and keep pushing that substance out." His face twisted in concentration and he grunted as sweat rolled down his blood soaked forehead.

"It's working but it's not enough."

"Then try harder." She didn't know what else to say so she lightly grabbed his arms and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she could see through his eyes and what he was trying to accomplish. Shit Eren, that's a lot of hardening. She could hear him gasp in shock.

"I feel stronger, how are you doing that?" The amount of hardened material that he was producing increased as he built supports to hold the ceiling up and stop debris from falling on his friends who had taken position underneath his titan form.

"I don't know…" She responded. His conscious started to slip as he used up the rest of his energy and that familiar feeling began to return. She was about to be pulled back to her crystal again. As she left his conscious, she didn't miss his parting words.

"Thank you, Annie." With that, she was pulled out and shoved back into that all too familiar landscape of darkness.

No problem. That's twice I've saved your ass now.

It wasn't that long before strange visions began to enter Annie's mind. A blade piercing through Reiner's neck, the immense explosion that could only happen when the colossal titan transformed. An image of Reiner's head being blown off as the armoured titan's nape remained in splinters. Bertholdt screaming for help, her help, as a titan that looked suspiciously like Armin began to eat him alive. Had this already happened? Was it in the future? Or was it happening right now? Fuck, I really need to get out of here. We need as many of us alive as possible, if Reiner and Bertholdt die then our people will inevitably die. My father will die… I can't let that happen. Annie tried to find something that could let her escape, something to break. She tried to swing her fist in a punch but there was nothing to hit except emptiness and her movements were still sluggish. She wanted to scream in frustration as she begged her groaning muscles to move. Finally, she felt herself move slightly. It was no more than an inch but bit by bit, she slowly began to swim through the dark. Her arms and legs protested heavily but she surged forwards and she eventually hit a solid surface. It felt glossy to the touch with small grooves and dents here and there. Was this her crystal? Pulling a fist back, she struck it as hard as she could only for nothing to happen. Did she really make it this far just to be stopped now? Was this world truly just that cruel? She refused to accept that she was done here. Landing blow after blow, she desperately tried to break something.

"No matter what, you're father is always on your side" she thought about reuniting with her father and her punches became quicker and harder. She could feel it beginning to cave in but she was losing strength rapidly.

"I've got your back." The image of Eren protecting her from wolves during the survival games entered her mind and she screamed as she drew her fist back and put all her remaining strength into it as she drove it into the buckling material. At first, nothing happened but the silence was broken by cracking sound, like glass fracturing. A small light pierced the darkness before several others joined it, spreading into crevices that revealed a spiderweb of cracks that was rapidly spreading out. The sound of rushing wind filled her ears as the crystal gave way and she was thrown forwards before hitting a solid surface. Placing her palms against it, she realised that it was cool stone and she slowly opened her eyes to see nothing but blurs. She tried to push herself up, but she was too weak, and she fell back to the ground. Blinking several times, her vision cleared to reveal that she was in a room and lying in a puddle of what she guessed was melted crystal.

"So, you finally decided to come out," a feminine voice sounded. Annie glanced to where the voice was coming from and she sighed weakly.

"Hitch." They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, refusing to back down.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Annie didn't respond. "When you and Eren had your little brawl in Stohess, you both crushed innocents. Children, people who had no where to run. Dead because you two happened to pick that spot to fight."

"I'm aware," Hitch snarled at her.

"Do you even give a shit about what you've done? Murderer."

"I can't afford to."

"What?"

"When you've done what I've done, giving a shit just leads to overwhelming grief that I can't cope with."

"Then why do it in the first place?"

"Following orders."

"From who?"

"People."

"If you want me to believe you, you'll have to do better than that."

"People outside the walls that are just trying to survive. Like those within the walls."

"How can I believe that? What's your proof?"

"We were 11 years old when they sent us here on our mission."

"We? You're in league with Reiner and Bertholdt?" Annie nodded.

"What's your mission?"

"Capture whatever titan shifters exist within the walls. Specifically, whoever has the power of the founding titan."

"So, you mean Eren. What's the founding titan?"

"The strongest of the nine titan powers."

"I think you've spoken to me more in a few minutes then you did for a few months."

"I don't really have a choice; my job isn't done."

"You think I'll just let you go? What are the nine titan powers?"

"Hitch, there's no time for me to explain. Where's Ere- the scouts?"

"Currently riding out to Shiganshina to retake Wall Maria and find what's inside of Eren's basement." So those events I saw probably haven't happened yet, hopefully.

"Hitch I need to recover."

"Oh no no no, you're not going anywhere sleeping beauty."

"You don't understand, there's too much at stake here. I need to stop the scouts."

"So, you can add to your kill count?"

"Because they will kill Reiner and Bertholdt if I don't interfere."

"How do you know?"

"Hitch, there's no time to play twenty questions, I had visions."

"Why should I let you leave?"

"Because if you don't, humanity in the walls will be utterly annihilated and it won't be by us. I promise to answer more questions if you help me. So, will you help me or not?" Hitch growled.

"You have a lot more explaining to do but I'll take your word for it. What do you need?"

"Food would be good, and I need to get to Shiganshina as soon as possible."

"Fine, I'll grab you something and we'll begin riding out if you can convince me to do so by then."

"Thank you, Hitch."

"Don't get ahead of yourself just yet, Annie." With that she left, leaving Annie to lay motionless on the ground as she tried to regain her strength. I will succeed, father. It isn't over yet.