Disclaimer: I do not own SNK in any way, shape or form
A.N at the end of the chapter
At the edge of a forest of massive trees, lost somewhere inside a hermit kingdom on a godforsaken island, a party of over thirty valiant soldiers stood on their mounts. The sky was turning into an orange coloring, giving the entire a field a surreal feel to the scene it was a witness of. The soldiers had their swords swinging in the air as the nearby trees were dampened by blood on the leaves. In the middle of the scene there was a being three meters in height roaring at the crowd. The Jaw Titan moved to where a small blond girl was.
Historia made no move against it, though. Inside of such a beast lied Ymir, the only person to this point that actually cared about her as to what her real self was. Her blades remained hidden on her ODM gear as Ymir's hand made for her. She was confused. She was even a bit scared about the giant hand reaching towards her. But still she made no attempt to defend herself. She knew that inside that titan there was Ymir, probably the only person in this world who has seen the real her and actually cared, and she knew Ymir wouldn't hurt her. Just last night she literally risked it all to save her and the others in Utgard. She gasped as the hand closed around her and lifted her off the horse.
She saw from the corner of her eyes as a scout dashed towards Ymir, swathing him away like a fly, him crashing on a tree. Before she could process what was happening, the other scouts were making for them and Ymir rapidly jumped back into the trees. Shouting and the stomping of several hooves sounded behind them. Ymir, what is happening? Historia wanted to ask as she put into the titan's mouth, light fading as its jaw closed, where are you taking me?
With the chase on, the scouts made their way across their forest, making sure that the Jaw Titan was firmly on their sights. As they rode, more and more mindless titans became aware of their presence and followed them, the slower riders soon fell to their chasers. Everyone was on their edge, that much was evident.
Eren was fuming. The fact that Ymir had swooped in, killed some of them, took Ymir and ran off could only mean that, once more, she had done a deal with Reiner and Berthold, she had once again surrendered to Marley. He would be disappointed in his failure to turn her over if not for the fact that he was now only focused on killing her. Eren would not, under any circumstance, allow Marley to gain the Jaw back.
He kept riding behind Levi, alongside Annie, through the forest. He could see from the corner of his eye Armin, Mikasa and the others a few meters away. All their sights were on the path ahead, and the Jaw in the trees swinging rapidly, maneuvering through them without any signal of stopping. The faint noises of agonizing screams behind him as the more scouts were cut down by the mindless titans they were attracting.
Finally, the end of the forest appeared at before them, with the figure of the Armored Titan not too far off from it. The Jaw jumped when reaching the tree line and jumped into Reiner's back, who quickly started running towards the south, towards Shiganshina.
As the scouts in turn made their way out of the forest, Erwin shout out the commands.
"Listen up!" he proclaimed. "Levi, take your squadron and deal with the main targets! Everyone else, we will cover them from the other titans! Get to it! Give your hearts!" Without another word, each soldier got to their position, jumping off their horses and choosing a titan to take down.
The Levi Squad kept going forward across the open field over to the two shifters. Two human figures stood with them, one large one on the shoulder of the Armored, and a smaller one on top of the head of the Jaw. A plan of attack was already on Eren's mind. He turned to Annie.
"I'm faster than you" he said. "I'll go after the Jaw. You keep Reiner occupied." Before she could retort, Eren was already moving towards Levi to let him know of the plan, leaving Annie behind and out of hearing range.
"You think we can trust her, brat" argued Levi when informed.
"It's too late to leave her out anyway" he retorted. "Besides, my titan's faster than hers." Levi gritted his teeth before relenting.
"The rest of you brats with me!" ordered the veteran scout. He jumped from his horse and started his ODM gear. With the titans being taken care of, that left the recovery of the Reiss girl to him. "Listen up, we got to take the girl out of harm's way!" he said as the others closed in on him. "After that, we'll provide support when needed!"
They moved through the air, approaching directly as Eren and Annie remained in the ground, trying to catch Reiner and Ymir when their attention was elsewhere. From the distance, it was difficult for Annie to make out who was who. All she could see was one of the scouts try and grab Krista –or whatever her name was-, before dodging out of the way of a swing by the Jaw. Swing that broke down halfway, as another scout cut said limb, falling uselessly to the ground. A shriek of pain rumbled out of the Jaw Titan. With that, they quickly took hold of the girl and moved out.
Meanwhile, the other scouts were covering those two, by going after Berthold, who was quickly hidden by one of Reiner's hand.
"Are you ready, Annie?" Eren asked. It took her a second to answer. She knew that once she turned into the Female and attacked, any chance of returning to Marley with the Warriors would be thrown out the window. She would then be completely tied to Paradis in the eyes of Marley. Was she really going to do this? Perhaps if she turned and attacked the scouts… She pushed the thoughts away. She could not do that to Eren, not after going all the way to make sure she wouldn't get executed. Annie sighed internally, she was going with this after all. She looked up and nodded.
The two shifted and moved directly to them. Once they were at a close distance, they jumped of their horses, shifting in mid-air.
A shining light came from Reiner's left. Inside his titan, he turned its head to see the figures of Eren's mysterious new titan and, most shockingly, the Female Titan. And before he could fully process what was in front of him, the hardened fist of Annie's titan made contact with his jaw, breaking the armor of his face and sending him tumbling.
Suddenly, Berthold Hoover was shot out from inside the safety of the Armored Titan's cover. Spinning through the air, it was at first difficult for him to make out what was truly going on. He saw himself plummeting to the ground, and instinctively ignited his ODM gear, shooting it blindly, praying to the heavens that it connected before he crashed into the ground. As hope was leaving his body, the wires of the gear vibrated as the hooks connected; he immediately moved himself towards the direction of a nearby tree that, by nothing short of a miracle, he had hooked himself to. It was just then that he could see what was going on. He wasn't too surprised to see Eren's titan, but instead of going directly after Reiner, he was taking a hold of Ymir. What made his eyes go wide as plates, however, was the form of Annie's titan grab the Armored into her hold and throw him into the air. Air escaped his lungs and his heart sank when the realization. A-Annie?! he said to himself what are you doing?!
Ymir's day could be doing better. On one moment, she successfully taken Historia from the party of scouts, and had made it back to Reiner and Bert. And then the others of the 104th were on them. Mikasa had cut one of her arms when Captain Levi had tried to get Historia back. And then something smashed against them. And now she was being held by her leg by a beast, squeezing tightly. The sound of bone snapping reaching her ears. From her position it was hard to see all of it in detail, but the look of a masked face looking down on her was enough to terrify anyone. Its sharp angles, long chin, empty eyes and missing mouth, from which the gnarling sounds of a wild animal emerged. Her instincts were panicking. She had to get out of there.
Ymir tried to desperately to turn herself to be able to bite the hand that was holding it. After some struggling, she managed to bite a few fingers of, and jumped out.
Inside Genesis, Eren was getting even more angry than he already was. He was not really seeing the Jaw Titan desperately limping through severed arm and broken leg, nor was he seeing Ymir, the woman whose assistance could have been so valuable, no. He was seeing all of the failed savings and half-assed successes. He was staring at all the deaths he could stop even with benefit of foresight. He was glaring at the chance of this opportunity being for naught. Eren was tired of that. This time, things will turn out fine, no matter what!
Catching up to Ymir was not too difficult with how injured the Jaw was. He extended Genesis' claws and pierced them through the torso and lifted Ymir in the air. Damned be Ymir, damn her!
Reiner was confused at first at seeing the sight of Annie in front of him. It took him a few seconds until he could process what was going on, and what it meant. A feeling of betrayal ran through his spine inside the Armored's nape. The feeling of half his face being exposed after the Female's punch was chilling. He got up to his feet and assumed a fighting stance.
Annie assumed her standard fighting stance. She had always been Reiner's superior in hand to hand fighting, and the advantages that the Female had over Reiner's titan only amplified the gap. He knew he could not possibly stand to her, especially in the current situation. All Reiner could do is stand his ground as long as possible, and pray for a miracle.
Taking a long breath, he threw himself to her.
Annie, why?! Why are you doing this? Implored Berthold on his insides watching the Female Titan wrestle with the Armored. Not only did that meant that Annie had been captured, but that the Survey Corps had coerced her into working for them. It did not make sense.
The warrior could not continue to stare as Armin and Jean were approaching him, blades on their hands. Instinctively, he planted his feet and prepared to fight. A part of him lamented on not bringing a rifle all those years back, he could easily shoot both down before they reached him. No matter. The two scouts landed on the tree branch opposite to him.
"Time's up, Bert!" exclaimed Jean. "Lay down and we'll be gentle."
Berthold did not respond, keeping his blades in a defensive position and watching the corners of his eyes for any maneuver down his flanks.
"We're not letting you away" Armin said after picking up him eyeing his sides. "You have a lot to answer for."
"What did you do to Annie?!" he exclaimed suddenly, against his will. Armin and Jean hesitated slightly against the display. "You turned her against us!"
"You were the traitors first!" Jean retorted angrily. "We trusted the two of your disgusting asses, all of us did! You cannot play the victim here, Bert!" he said pointing his blade towards him.
When it seemed the two were about to throw against the other, a high-pitched shriek rumbled through their bones. Berthold looked up from them and witnessed horror.
With the Jaw firmly impaled, Eren was ready to end this, no matter what it took. He was not thinking on the repercussions of this. He simply saw Ymir, she who could throw a wrench in all his efforts.
He felt a snapping sensation on the head of Genesis and quickly realized its mask opened up, ready to swallow the Jaw Titan.
Inside her titan, Ymir was panicking. She was defenseless against the fate that was unleashing itself before her. The mask that covered the face of Eren's titan snapped at the level of the mouth. And from it a dark well with fangs for walls opened up before her. A long, slender, black serpent tongue moved inside said well, like a dog having food held up just out of range. She could hear someone screaming her name in the distance, most likely Historia, regret was filling up in her as she realized she never said goodbye to her, and now never will. As her titan was being introduced into the mouth, she took a small look at all the sharp, crooked fangs yearning to tear her to pieces and realized this won't be pretty.
Then the jaws closed on her.
The sound of meat of bones being crushed inside of Genesis' mouth filled Eren's eardrums. The taste of blood filled him, the blood of both the Jaw Titan and Ymir herself. The sensation of the essence of the Jaw falling down the throat came. It was something that cannot be explained, something that is rather intuited, like most things about the titans. Genesis started tilting its head like an animal, blood and guts dripping out of the broken mask. Then it screamed. A scream that was both low and high. A guttural screech that he had never heard before. His vision turned white.
And before he knew, Eren was in the Paths once more.
If he was honest, he was more irritated rather than anything else. A familiar form of nerves slithered over to Eren, erecting into the air as it got close.
"Thou hath not taken long to start reaping results, Hunter" the eerie voice of the Tezcatlipoca faded into his mind. "It seems to be most satisfying that thy capabilities to bring back my children hadn't atrophied in the jump to this new plane."
"I was in the middle of a battle" Eren answered back. "It'd be a shame if I were killed while you take me here." The beam that stood at its head remained still, boring into his eyes. Then a burning sensation came into his left eye. Eren staggered to his knees.
"Do not misidentify the satisfaction over thy proficiency, Hunter" Eren managed to hear above his own moans of pain. "It would just be too easy to end thy soul should thee be considered inconvenient."
The pain subsided instantly. "Nevertheless, it is expected that our paths shan't meet until thou hast brought the last of my children back to its due place." He looked up to see the Tezcatlipoca keeping still, the beam fluctuating amongst several indescribable colors that did not belong in reality. Around it circulated two small balls of light. Looking over his hand, he saw a third one. Figuring out what to do, Eren rose hesitantly to his feet and opened his palm; the small beam of light traveled and joined the two orbiting around the Tezcatlipoca. There was a strange peace in the aura. But as he was processing it, something pulled Eren backwards.
Eren's titan had roared had sent a shiver down Mikasa's spine. Turning to look at it, she could see its bloody mouth wide open as that monstrous shriek cut through the air, stopping any other noise dead in its tracks. A shiver that was felt by everyone else, judging by her comrades' reaction. Even the normal titans had started to behave even more aggressively. It was starting to get hard for her to get a clear picture of whatever was going on. She resigned herself to simply end the titan who was in her path.
In spite of her efforts, the horde of titans did not stop. There were dozens of them and were acting extremely aggressively. At first every scout in the party acted on their own accord. Now all were in either pairs or trios simply because it was getting too taxing and dangerous for each individual soldier. Mikasa had stuck close to Levi, and even though the two were making quick work of as many titans as they could, it was starting to take its toll. Mikasa's muscles were growing stiff and her reactions were getting slower, Levi was only faring slightly better himself.
"This is getting out of hand" the veteran said as he and Mikasa finished off a couple of titans. "We need to retreat we get completely overwhelmed." She nodded at that. A large thud came from behind them.
They turned to see Eren's titan fall to its knees and hunch over motionless. The arms hanging and mouth open, blood dripping out of it. The two looked at it with shocked expressions on their faces.
"What in the shit is that brat doing?!" snarled Levi. Before Mikasa could process it herself, a flare shit into the air calling for a retreat. "Mikasa, go get Eren out of there. I'll go to Erwin to help organize the retreat. Go!" Mikasa nodded before blasting in Eren's direction, she did not need to be ordered that.
She landed by the Rogue Titan's shoulder and started calling to Eren, no answer. She tried again, and again, all to no avail. Growing desperate by Eren's lack of answer, the swarm of titans, the quickly retreating scouts, and the still going on duel between the Female and Armored titans taking place too close for her comfort, Mikasa jumped to the nape. She cut through it and found Eren's motionless body. She feared for the worst.
"Eren!" she cried as she reached for him. Mikasa pulled his body out the nape, she would drag him back to base if need be. Just as she had taken all of his body out, she noticed a glow came from Eren. Moving him to see, Mikasa noticed that Eren's eye, his injured eye had a blueish glow to it. Then a chilling sensation ran through her muscles as her mind was swarmed with images. Taken aback her hold on Eren and her balance were lost and the two bodies fell to the ground.
A large pain arrived in her ribcage as she landed, though Mikasa barely felt it. The attack on her mind taking all her focus. Images of places she's never been in; people she'd never met; exchanges she never participated in. Perspectives that were not hers. Two gravestones in a hill. A dusty room in a rainy day with melancholic music. A large vehicle plummeting to an immense ditch in a place with no life. A chase through a bustling city. A jail cell deep underground. A betrayal and a failure. Dozens of conversations happening at once, from which a few phrases rose above the rest.
I am a ghost. My home is gone, never to return. What else is there to me?
I can only move forward. Until my enemies are destroyed.
Because we were born into this world.
My sins? The only I acknowledge is not being honest to those that mattered.
What am I… to you?
Fight! Fight! Fight!
It's all in the past now.
This scarf is not mine; I'm just taking care of it while I can.
If we go there and kill our enemies… will we be free?
I was a hero and a villain. Now, I'm nothing.
It was never supposed to end like that.
Mikasa, I've always hated you.
Overwhelmed with so much going on, Mikasa started feeling sick. Her legs were shaking and her breakfast soon landed on the ground ungraciously.
Eren's vision came blurry at first. He was in a daze. Just one second ago he was in the Paths as the Jaw was delivered back, and then he was pulled and now he was in the ground with a cacophony around. As his vision returned he turned and saw Mikasa a few meters away, vomiting and holding her head. He rose and went in her direction. When she noticed Eren approaching, her eyes went wide and pulled out one of her blades and held it against him.
"Stay away from me!" she cried. "Stay away!" Eren staggered backwards at that, surprise flowed through him.
"Mikasa…"
"Stay away! You deceiver! You knew everything all along! You knew!" There were now tears in her eyes, her words stabbing him.
Eren fell to the ground at that. 'How' was the only word that jumped around in his head. All of a sudden, nothing really mattered to him. For a moment, the ache in his heart was all that he could hear. So this is what it felt like?
A shadow brought him back to reality. Reluctantly, he turned to see a familiar face stare down at him. Eren had completely forgotten about her, and that she had been here too.
"Dina…" he mumbled. As the Smiling Titan's hand reach for him, Eren remained still. His forces were spent and his will wavered. If it hadn't been for something killing Dina, Eren would have certainly died there.
The smoke signal shot into the air, Annie barely saw it if she was honest. Her duel with Reiner taking all of her attention. Her conflicted feelings on the matter were contained, but just barely at times.
The scouts were retreating back into a close group to get out of there. Eren's titan had fallen to its knees and was motionless. And the Armored was still up, battered and many of the pieces in his armor missing, but still standing. Berthold suddenly appeared and landed on Reiner's shoulders. She kept her guard up, but hesitations still remained.
"Annie, come on!" he called to her. "We need to get out. I don't know what they did to you, but it's not too late!" Annie was shaken by Berthold's words. She turned to see the scene. Titans were overrunning the few remaining scouts that have not yet retreated. It was beyond clear that the mission had failed, and that begged the question: what was she going to do? In truth, not even Annie herself knew.
She remembered her father's words, how he will always be with her, even if the whole world stood against her. And she remembered Marley. All the mistrust imposed on her. All the dirty looks thrown her way. How she was taught never to be close from a guard. Did she really want to go back to that? The answer came quickly, even to her.
She shook her head and pointed her finger to Reiner, moving him to get out of there, and without an answer she turned around and went to pick whatever scout remained alive, Berthold's cries drowned by the gnarls of the mindless titans as she approached the carnage.
She approached Eren's titan first and saw him and Mikasa laying just besides it, with a mindless titan reaching for Eren. Quickly, Annie hardened her leg and kicked it so hard she sliced through it. Without much else, she picked the two up and moved to rescue whatever scout she could.
By the time she made it back to the main group, she was carrying about ten to a dozen more of them. She felt relieved she could save all those she encountered, like a weight have been lifted up her shoulders. For the first time, Annie genuinely felt good about coming to Paradis.
Ok, so this chapter took me much longer than I anticipated. I will be the first to admit that I'm not the best at writing action, and this chapter is heavy on it, so it took me a while to push the chapter forward. I promise it won't take this long for the next update, as I'll be working on it as soon as I upload this one.
So now Mikasa is informed over Eren's little secret. My reasoning as to how it happens is that by pulling him out of Genesis whilst he was in the Paths it caused his memories to leak over to her. I myself don't know if that answer is satisfying but I'm sticking by it, as I promise I'm going somewhere with this plot-thread.
On another note, I just found out that there was a typo on a previous chapter name. Yeah, let's just forget that happened, please. Any typo or grammatical error I find in here is an absolute cringe for me and I promise I will revise them at some point in the future.
In any case I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you so much for your support! And as always, all reviews are more than welcomed!
