To her immense relief, Annie wasn't the only one who had stared at the aftermath of the whole thing with dropped jaws. At her sides, many from her class (along with Armin and Jaeger's Guardians) watched with various expressions.
"What the fuck?!" Jean finally snapped, with Marco holding him back with a cautionary hand on his shoulder. "After all that shit of Flame Oath, they just broke it like that?!"
"Flame Oath?" Reiner quietly questioned Bertholdt who gave back a confused shrug.
"What do we do...?" Mina fretted, unaware of how her shifty feet slowly pushed her in the direction of Armin's location.
"We... We should get back." Christa was the one to speak up, getting all of their attention. "We're their classmates so I imagine that we might get called and questioned..."
"Well, they'll have a field day with this now." Thomas crossed his arms fretfully. "Armin went and fixed up the Colossal Titan's hole so maybe they won't be seen as enemies, seeing as that helped out a lot?"
Annie silently nodded in agreement. With Bertholdt's hole gone, morale had actually risen up a bit amongst the soldiers. Plus, it looked like they'd finally found one of the missing Warrior Titans, probably the Attack Titan since Jaeger was obviously no royal and therefore, not the Founding Titan.
"Plus, Eren went and killed about a hundred titans all on his own, even if he became a Titan himself." Conny pointed out. "Considering that he didn't attack a single human, maybe they won't all be screaming for his death like those Wall Cult creeps."
"Seriously, it's all Weilman's fault, anyways." Ymir huffed as they all started to leave now. "Whether they were enemies or not, he's the one that everyone will remember giving the order to attack."
"Especially as they still didn't kill anybody despite everything." Marco added.
The next time Armin woke up, it was to a dull ache in his chest and the scent of air fresher than he could ever remember breathing.
Then Armin remembered that he was currently atop Wall Maria, after having Sealed the two holes at the opposite sides of Shiganshina.
On his left side, Eren slept on with his arm serving as Armin's pillow while the other wrapped around Mikasa protectively.
'Huh... We haven't slept together in years.' Armin rubbed his eyes as he got up to look at the lands beyond Wall Maria.
Maybe it was because the sun had totally risen yet, but it looked so beautiful without any titans roaming about.
"So beautiful."
Armin didn't react as Mikasa moved to stand beside him, leaving Eren still asleep. "Yeah... I wish everyone else could've seen it."
His Guardians. Mikasa's fellow Elements.
Not only had he broken Flame Oath, he'd also left behind their Guardians.
The ache in his chest throbbed.
"They'll come." Eren stated instantly as he awoke, no doubt having felt the ache through their bond. "One way or the other, they'll follow after us."
"Yeah." Leave to his Cloudy Sky to cheer Armin up. "Now, I know I said I wanted to come home here, but what now? I'd say we find the ocean but I have no idea where to go."
"I do. I mean, I have an idea myself." Eren grabbed at the key that he had always worn around his neck. "This key goes to the basement of my house. Dad said that it was important I go there. That it would all make sense..."
Eren clutched the side of his head in confusion. "I think I remember... Yeah, he's the one who made me into a Titan..."
Eren stalled, his eyes going wide while Armin and Mikasa balked at the sheer horror and revulsion he was exuding, before he suddenly turned around to retch violently over the edge of the Wall.
"I ate him! Oh god, I ate him-"
The aftermath of the Trost Incident was a confused mess, so much that the only bit that made the most sense was only of the Colossal Titan's reappearance.
Hange honestly felt a bit cheated that those Garrison morons had chased away such prominent Flame wielders, especially when their new recruits had confirmed that they'd always displayed full intention on joining the Survey Corps!
And one of them had definitely been a Sky like Erwin, too! What else could've explained all the already Active and Harmonized recruits they'd gotten?!
(Except Braun and Hoover for some reason. Those two were still unattached despite being very close to Active.)
"You worry too much." Erwin assured his Mist when she told him of her worries. "Do any of those Harmonized soldiers look like their Sky's dead?"
And that was an issue of it's own. The fact that every single Harmonized cadet (with the exception of the sole top ten achiever who had joined the Military Police) had joined the Survey Corps.
They'd never had such a favorable turnout before, which was good considering the upcoming expedition. Judging by the mutters she'd caught from them while they thought themselves secluded, they were all probably acting under instinctual guide of Harmonized Sky Attraction.
"Excuse me, sir?" One of the new recruits approached Erwin, saluting as she did so.
"At ease, Lenz." Erwin spoke. "What is it?"
"Have you already chosen a destination for the upcoming expedition?" Christa fretted nervously.
Erwin's eyes sharpened. "Do you have a suggestion yourself?"
Hange resisted the urge to giggle at the calculative gleam that appeared in the usually soft-spoken Sun's eyes. "If we're searching for Armin and his friends, Shiganshina's most likely a good spot to search. It was their home after all, so Armin would probably lead Eren and Mikasa there."
"I see." Erwin nodded in acknowledgement, with Hange already leaving without waiting to hear the rest.
"Shiganshina..." Hange muttered excitedly. "Come to think of it, that trail of destruction they left was headed southwards... Hehehehehe..."
"Why does she laugh like that?!" Oruo hissed as he and Mike passed her.
"Just ignore it." Mike shrugged. "You don't get in her line of work and keep all of your sanity with you. Hange's just got the worst of it considering that they're a Mist."
Oruo's eyebrow twitched. "Excuse me?"
Huh? Oh right, Mike was probably confused about her gender today. Well, Hange was feeling a bit male-ish today.
So with a quick snap of Hange's fingers and flash of Mist Flames, she became he.
"Damnit!"
Mikasa silently watched as Eren raged, repeatedly kicking against the wall of an opposite house.
After learning of... everything from Dr. Jaeger's basement, Eren and Armin had reacted differently to the total upheaval of the world they had grown up in. While Armin silently stewed in his thoughts, Eren took to transforming and waging a one-Titan war against all of the other titans still alive and trapped in their home district.
By the time he was exhausted, half of the houses were flaming rubble, all of the Titans in Shiganshina were gone and a shout from a rarely angered Armin had finally caused Eren to control himself.
For a while, Mikasa had relished the quiet while the two Skies went about.
Up until a Titan with a definite feminine figure appeared over Wall Maria, roaring as her gleaming eyes focused solely on Armin's form.
"Eh?" Armin muttered in confusion as the Female Titan roared and leapt towards him, clearing several miles with the burst of Propagation from her feet...
Wait a minute...
"Annie?!" Armin yelled in shock as the girl in question ditched out of her Titan and proceeded to tackle Armin into a nearby house that soon had bursts of Cloud, Sky and Rain Flames escaping it, along with several holes in the walls.
At Eren's behest, Mikasa waited until the sounds of violence finally stopped, but when neither blond made an appearance some minutes later, Mikasa finally approached them.
Of all the things to expect, Mikasa absolutely did not expect to see one of her best friends with a flushed expression and his shirt unbuttoned while her (soon-to-be-dead) rival straddled him with only her bra present on her upper half.
"If you don't mind, we're busy." Annie snarled even as Armin sat up and tried to put himself between them.
Mikasa's blades screeched as they were drawn and set ablaze in Storm Flames. "Not that busy."
Instantly pushed to the side, Armin sighed exasperatedly as he idly patted his Grandfather's hat which Annie had stolen from his seized property and returned to him. "At least our Bond's completely Harmonized now."
Just as suspected, the hole in Wall Maria had been closed by the same indestructible Ice that had safeguarded Trost.
If Erwin were a betting man (and he kinda was), he'd have wagered that Shiganshina's hole was similarly closed and therefore safe for the time being.
If they could find someway in, they could definitely gain a much desired stronghold outside Wall Sina while taking home the good news that Shiganshina had been taken back by the Shiganshina Trio.
That would definitely shut up all those bastards vying for the deaths of such valuable soldiers.
As they approached the Icy barrier, the first one to react was Christa, her usually soft eyes sharpening as she broke out of formation and had her horse gallop towards it.
Before her commanding officer could even speak out, the Icy barrier dissipated into wisps of Sky and Rain Flames as Armin Arlert himself approached with Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackerman in tow.
While all of the cadets instantly raced towards them, Erwin briefly wondered how much stuff he'd done to have this much good luck.
"I don't smell any blood." Mike, his ever faithful Sun, dutifully reported. "I think those kids actually killed off all the titans in there."
"The church pigs are going to flip." Levi muttered, an amused look on the Rain's face as he looked at the many scorch marks lining the Walls.
"How did you do it?!" Hange screamed to the heavens as he tried and failed to repeatedly tackle Armin down like the boy's Guardians had. Apparently, the young Sky seemed to be used to such attempts from others. "We haven't been able to damage or melt the ice you created in the slightest! Is it because of the Sky and Rain Flames combined?! And you! Eren Jaeger!"
Erwin's lips twitched as the boy in question promptly turned about and ran away, swearing furiously as he couldn't burn through his illusionary constructs as easily as Armin had.
"I heard that you can turn into a Titan! How did you get that power?! How can you use your Flames in conjunction with them?!"
"Uh? Shouldn't we help him?" Surprisingly, it was the quiet Bertholdt that spoke up.
"Nope." Jean, who was definitely one of Eren's Guardians gleefully left him to his fate. "Better keep running!"
*KRACKABOOM!*
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! His hair and fists really is on fire! Cloud Flames, too!"
Erwin was starting to get a little worried about the froth from Hange's mouth now as Eren's Titan form ran into the distance with his Mist using his ODM Gear to keep pace.
He might have chased after him, but was very distracted by the book and information that Arlert was giving to him, many of his questions regarding the world being answered and replaced with new ones.
Histor- Christa sighed in content as she and her fellow Elements basked in Armin's Sky Flames later in the night, the ache in her breast all but gone now.
She rarely felt this much at peace before becoming the Sun in Armin's Sky. Becoming someone that Armin wanted.
Ymir would always be her best friend, but Armin was... Armin was just... all-encompassing and welcoming.
L̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶s̶i̶s̶ ̶F̶r̶i̶e̶d̶a̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶k̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶e̶r̶a̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶B̶o̶n̶d̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶.̶
Christa blinked at the memory which had teased her consciousness before slipping away before she could latch onto it.
That had been happening frequently ever since she'd Harmonized with Armin.
'Oh well.' Christa shrugged, fully nestling into Ymir's chest and letting sleep take it's time in lulling her.
"Pst! Armin."
Christa cracked an eye open as she saw Eren sneak over to Armin's side.
"What's the..." Armin yawned. "What's wrong, Eren?"
"I think I forgot somebody." Eren whispered. "Can you remember for me?"
"How can I remember somebody for you?!" Armin replied incredulously.
"...so, who was it again?" Eren crossed his arms. "I think I have a Bond with them already..."
Christa winced sympathetically as Armin slapped his own forehead. "Who the hell did you Bond with and forget?! How is that even possible?!"
It was surprising of Armin to curse like that, but Christa felt like it was warranted in this occasion.
How did a Sky forget someone he Bonded with?
"Goddamnit!" Hannes, Mist of Eren Jaeger, roared in anger as he learned that the expedition outside the Walls had left a day earlier than expected. "I missed asking to go with them!"
Erwin Smith's Sky Court
Erwin Smith (Sky)
Hange Zoë (Mist)
Levi Ackerman (Rain)
Mike Zacharius (Sun)
Petra Ral (Storm)
Oruo Bozad (Mist)
Eld Gin (Lightning)
Gunther Schultz (Sun)
Moblit Berner (Rain)
Keiji (Storm)
Nifa (Sun)
Abel (Lightning)
Nanaba (Mist)
KingVessel: Heh, poor Hannes. Also, every single soldier of the Survey Corps is Flame Active to the constant shaves with death they get. Obviously, none of them were ever stupid enough to alert the other branches about the existence of Flames. And yeah, they're ALL Harmonized to Erwin. Please leave a review.