Ah the moment is finally here. Eren talking to Annie inside the crystal. Hopefully I get their personality as right as I can, I always found their "relationship" quite interesting even if it wasn't fully shown in the Anime. They are my Otp so forgive me if some parts seem a bit much. Drop a review and tell me your thoughts. Let us begin.
"So you came to talk? That's it?" Annie questions him, and she watches Eren stare at her for a moment before he closes his eyes for a moment.
"Yes, that's part of why I'm here. I also..wanted to try and see if you could come out. Like I said before, things have changed alot since you went to sleep. I think if you were to wake it would not only be helpful for us, but for yourself as well."
She stares at him for a moment, and decides to ask him about this "change".
"So what has happened since I've gone to sleep? Did you ever reach your basement?"
He nods, and there's a faraway look in his eyes as he talks. "Yes, we got there after we took back Wall Maria. I learned the hardening ability and used it to seal both gates. And I learned about what's on the other side of the ocean, Annie. Where you came from, how we both got our powers, and who the real enemy is."
She appears surprised at this last remark, and decides to probe further into it. "So you learned about them, haven't you? And from what I observed you watching, you know how I feel towards them?"
His eyes light up as she says this, and he gets closer to where she stands. She doesn't move, and she can see that fire in his eyes. "Please tell me that it's true, that you hate them. That you hate the Marley, and want to destroy them like I do!" She tilts her head at his insistent words, and questions him.
"And if I do? It's not like we can do much against them except survive on this "Paradise" King Fritz created for our kind. They have too many of the powers Eren, surely you know this."
At this rather demoralizing recap, she's actually surprised to see him give her a smile. The same determined smile he gave when they trained together, back in their training days. The smile he would give when he got back up after getting knocked down for the dozenth time, or when he managed to use a move she taught him successfully against her.
"Oh there's no denying that Annie, your right. They do have some of the powers, but if you were to join us, then we would have 4 of them. And they're ones that can give us the edge to win."
Her eyes widen slightly at his words, and she presses on harder for more information. 'Can he be telling the truth? Does he perhaps have...the one I was sent here for?'
"Which ones do you have, and who else has them? Do you know how to use them correctly?" Just like when she would give him instructions on how to perform a set of takedowns, that he would attempt till he got it right. He nodded a bit and her hope began to rise, and she waits for him.
"I have the Attack Titan, and because of...what my father did, I also have the founding Titan. And I have used it, it's how I'm talking to you now."
Her heart skips a beat, 'So he knows how to use it. And if he were to be set against the Marley with the Titans under his control, then they will burn. All of them, it's a guarantee. Of all the people who can have the coordinate it had to be him. The one person who should never have it in Marleys eyes, and the savior of our people in mine. His anger for the Titans made him into the person he is now, and if he knows all this, then-'
But her thoughts of rebellion are interrupted by the realization that he only told her two of the powers, so 'who has the third?' As she asks him about this, his eyes get a little downcast, and he looks at the "ground" before replying "Armin. He's now a shifter as well, he got his power about a month ago. He...he nearly died, but we had a vial of the serum and..he ate Bertoldt."
Annie is shocked, 'Of all people to be given the power, much less such a strong and effective one, it was Armin who got it? And Bertoldt...' Her thoughts change as she thinks of the tall quiet warrior from the Liberio Ghetto.
He hadn't been overly dedicated in their mission like Reiner was when they first started, but he had known his place in it. He had been the one who stayed the most level headed during all of it, since Reiner began to get blurred at times about what he was. She wasn't dedicated at all to serving the Marley, but she never let it show to her fellow shifters, nor to their oppressers. She had her own mission, and wasn't going to let it show until she could pull it off.
Bertoldt hadn't always been the most outspoken, but perhaps he felt deep down what they did was wrong. After all he did begin the Trost invasion, only to break a little when the incident with Marco happened. Marco. She thought about the poor freckled boy who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, even if it was Reiner and Bert's fault for openly speaking about their plans
She hadnt been able to do anything, since he did hear too much. Reiner had blackmailed her to where her loyalties lay, whether her father and her were different from "the island demons." as he had said back in Marley. She struggled with one of the hardest decisions she ever made that day.
She had to be seen as one of them, a warrior, just like they all had infiltrated the 104th to be seen as one of them, soldiers. She couldn't do anything, as much as wanted to let the boy go. But it wasn't her decision to make, not fully. None of them could or else they and their families back home would be used for bombardment.
That was the biggest threat the Marley used to keep Eldian children in the warrior program, aside from being turned into mindless and set loose on Paradise. It was a fate the cruel bastards had seen fit to emphasize when a recruit would begin to crumble or shown to waver in loyalties. So she had no choice than to doom the good hearted boy to his own death by being bitten in half. She'd cried during it, hating Reiners words as she and them left Marco to be killed.
That was one of the moments that defined who she was, what her mission was. And then to hear Reiner falter with his own fucking mind about who he was as he watched in genuine horror at what happened next, it was almost too much. She never wanted to kill him more than she did at that moment. The hypocritical bastard who just forced her to kill a friend of theirs not even being properly sane pushed her into a dark place that day.
And after the boulder was placed by Eren, all she could do was apologize. Even if it meant and did nothing to the corpses of people she once fought or trained with, including a "friend" of hers, Mina. Mina had been in Eren's squad when they were nearly wiped out near the start of the battle, and she had heard Eren once crying as he talked with Armin about her death. Though she didn't really talk to or know the girl, Mina had always made an effort to try and talk with Annie. From small talk to girlish things, she always had asked Annie her opinion.
She looked to Eren and answered his question more directly. "Yes I hate them, I hate them more than you do the Titans. But that doesn't change what my situation is. I can't escape from my shell without being struck down as a traitor. As much as I would like to help you Eren, I can't do much if I die. If that power goes to one of the Eldians back home who believe the lies, then you truly have no chance of winning."
Eren walks up to her and tries to plead with her some more. "What if I could get them to not attack you? Your right, most of them do hate you for what you've done, even if I tell them why. But there's no way they can deny the advantage and help you could give to us. If I could convince them to trust you, would you wake up and fight?
I won't bother trying lying about them ever seeing you the same way they did years ago, but I can promise to get them to listen. Please Annie, just put your trust in me. Otherwise we won't ever get anywhere, here or in Marley. Our race will suffer if we do nothing Annie, just like humanity did when we refused to fight the Titans.
We always had the odds against us, but we got through them. We've done the impossible enough to know we only have to try, or else we'll never truly know. We took back Wall Maria, we overthrew the monarchy with Historia. We killed Bertoldt..and almost took out Reiner and Zeke. We learned about the Marley thanks to my father, and now we have a chance Annie.
A chance to win, Annie, to free ourselves. Are you willing to take it with us, or are you just gonna stay asleep till you pass in a few years and let it all be for nothing?"
Eren asks as he finishes his little speech, and she knows how desperate he is if he's trying this hard with her.
He sounded even more heartspoken than when he tried to get her to follow him in Stohess, how hard he wanted to believe that she was a good person. She knows then that he nearly was in tears when she decided to not follow him down, but here now she could see that his emotions were still a part of him, just controlled. He learned what he needed to do in order to survive, to fight, to win. He really had changed from the hot head who had the death wish from back then.
Now she could actually call him a Warrior at heart. Not the meaningless title Marley used to glorify their crimes, but a person who fought for a cause that was rightous, with all their might. It heightened the respect that she already had for him back then, and she had to choose now. 'Do I do it to be a good person for him, or do I do it to be free? Or...can they be one in the same?'
She also him after a moment, "Do you have that much confidence that they would accept my return?" His eyes perk up at her question, and he flashes her that famous Jaeger grin. "Why don't I go find out? Do you trust me to return with an honest answer?" She looks at him with her head tilted, and nods after a few moments. As he turns to go, she asks him one last thing.
"Eren in Stohess, when I was defeated and you wanted to eat me, you stopped. Why? You had the chance to do it, but you chose not to. Again Why?"
He stopped for moment, and she saw his face look embarresed for some reason.
He tells her something she never expected "Because even after all that happened, I still cared. I never wanted to hurt you, and I still dont want to, Annie." With that, she felt his mind leave her with a question. 'Why?'