Chapter 4: Desire to Leave the Walls
Three years later
The 104th Cadet Corps had worked hard for the last few years and are reaching near the end of their training. Keith notes the cadets' skills when the time to test their abilities against killing Titans came along, with Mikasa being exceptionally strong in all areas of the exercise than everyone else. During this time, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie have been carefully spying on Eren. However, the three weren't able to find anything suspicious about him ever since Godzilla's voice was heard a while back. Nevertheless, they all tried to remain covert as to not attract any attention from the other cadets on their true intentions.
The graduation night had commenced and the top ten students of the 104th Cadet Corps were announced, with Mikasa being the top of the class down to Krista Lenz being the number ten soldier. After the ceremony, Keith rides a horse to the Jaeger Household so that he can deliver the news to Carla about Eren, Mikasa, and Armin passing the training. As he arrives, Keith knocks on the door with contentment, knowing that he managed to fulfill his promise to Carla on making the three friends stronger. When the door opened, Serizawa appeared and confused Keith, who stood in place wondering who this man was.
"Who the hell are you ?" he asked angrily.
Serizawa quickly realizes who Keith was and replies, "I'm Carla Jaeger's caretaker. You must be Keith."
"And you're not the one I appointed here."
"No, I'm not," Serizawa answered as he showed Keith his way in, "Why don't you come in and we can talk about this without any trouble."
Keith walked inside with caution and quickly made his way to Carla's room. He opens the door and looks to see Carla reading a book in bed. Beside her bed seemed to be various tools and medical equipment, causing Keith to wonder what Serizawa was doing to Carla. Despite her being okay, he reached the edge of her bed with a panicked expression.
"Carla ! Are you alright ?!" he asked loudly.
Carla put her book down and replied, "Why, I'm perfectly fine. But what are you doing here, Keith ?"
Serizawa walked into the room and watched the scene unfold. Keith proceeded, "I came with news about Eren and the others, but I just wanted to make sure you're okay."
"Eren ? What happened to him ?"
Keith calmed down and answered, "I just want to let you know that he, along with Mikasa and Armin, have graduated from their training in the Cadet Corps. I thought it was best to deliver the news myself."
Carla smiled and said to him, "Thank you, Keith. I'm glad none of them gave up whatsoever. Where are they now ?"
"They're currently making their way to this district to celebrate the end of their training. I was wondering if I could escort you over there so that you could see them before they deploy."
"Really ? It wouldn't be too much trouble for you ?"
"Not at all, Carla. I only wish for you to see how much they've grown for yourself."
"Very well. We should be going right away."
Serizawa spoke up, "I'll remain here to get everything ready for tomorrow. I'll see you both later."
Keith was reminded of his presence and told Carla, "Actually, we have some time before they get here. I'd like to speak with my acquaintance for a moment."
Carla nodded and resumed reading her book while Keith and Serizawa exited her room. Suddenly, Keith grabs Serizawa by the collar of his lab coat and lifts him against the wall.
"Who the hell are you, bastard?! Where's the guy that's supposed to be here ?!"
"He's home safe. No harm done."
Keith put him down while still holding back his rage, "You better give me a damn good explanation why you're here and what you're planning on doing to her !"
"Relax, it's not her I'm after. It's Grisha."
"Her husband ? Why ?"
"I have some personal business with him that I'd like to settle and Carla is the only way I can find out more about his whereabouts. If possible, she could also tell me what he's been doing within these walls."
Keith tried to analyze his words and came to a conclusion that Serizawa might be someone outside the walls, just like Grisha in the past. However, he was curious about what kind of business Grisha got involved with that would risk the safety of his family.
"Grisha disappeared when Carla resided in a hospital. She has no idea where he went and I doubt she could tell you anything about his business in these walls that would interest you."
"I'll believe what you said because I know you're trying to protect her. Trust me, she is in no trouble at all."
"That's it, then ? You'll leave for good ?"
"Not exactly," Serizawa shook his head, "I still have things to do within these walls and looking after Carla is one of them. Even if I have nothing to gain from her about Grisha, I can still use her as cover to avoid suspicion from the government here."
At first, Keith was upset at him for using Carla as collateral until Serizawa said, "At least for the time being, I can fulfill the deal I made with her."
"What deal ?" Keith asked as he calmed a bit.
"The deal to help her walk again," Serizawa explained, "For these past few years, I've been gathering materials needed to make a suitable prosthetic, or a fake leg if you prefer, that is durable enough to help her stand and flexible enough to allow her to move."
"A fake leg ? I've never heard of such a thing. Usually amputees are restricted from doing most things in their life, but they had no 'fake' limb to help them recover what they lost. Some soldiers I know have an eyepatch, just like you, and you'd expect me to believe that you can somehow create an operational eye for them to see."
"No, not an eye. A leg and an arm, however, is very possible as long as I have the necessary materials to do so."
Keith thought about the possibility of Carla being able to walk again, but he was suspicious of Serizawa and his personal affairs with Grisha. Despite his doubts, he had to admit that Serizawa had proved to be no threat to Carla and decided to settle on an agreement.
"If you can actually make her walk again, I'll consider keeping this conversation off the record."
Serizawa nodded, "I promise you. Nothing bad will happen to her."
"You bet your ass that nothing's gonna happen. Not unless you want to lose one more eye."
Serizawa reached out his hand and Keith shook it in agreement. Keith went back to Carla's room and brought her out in her wheelchair. They both left the house, while Serizawa stayed behind and resumed his secretive mission.
The graduates celebrated their years of hard work in a mess hall, where they discussed one of the three military branches that they are picking to join. However, Jean's bragging about being able to join the Military Police seemed to cause discomfort among most of the other graduates, but managed to aggravate Eren.
"With all the training you pulled off, Jean, I'm surprised that you're putting yourself in a stupid ass position where you're just hiding from the Titans," Eren remarked.
Mikasa whispered to Eren, "Please, don't start another fight."
"I won't."
Jean leered at Eren and said to him, "Hiding from the Titans ? You think me living deeper in the walls makes me a coward ? No, I'm just being realistic."
"What the hell do you mean ?"
"Half of humanity went to reclaim the land stolen by the Titans, but no one could do a damn thing because they were afraid of that damn lizard. We know nothing about it, yet it has the capability to take down Wall Maria like paper. If it were to turn on us, it would be the end of humanity. If we don't have a chance against the Titans, we wouldn't do any better against that thing."
"So, what ?" Eren asked, confusing Jean, "You're saying that just because someone is bigger and stronger than you, they're automatically a threat ? You think you know a lot about him, but you haven't even scratched the surface of who he truly is."
As everyone begins listening in on the conversation, Eren continued, "I'm gonna join the Survey Corps, so that I can go explore beyond the walls and see more creatures like him. Maybe they're no longer out there, or perhaps hidden, but I'd like to see a part of our world that we only got a glimpse of. Godzilla is proof that there are things out there in the outside world that we don't even know about, and who knows what else is out there."
The name, "Godzilla," caught everyone's attention as they wondered why Eren had decided to name the creature that. Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt suspected that the name belonged to the voice inside of their heads, but with little proof, they weren't able to confirm it.
Jean chuckled, "Godzilla ? What the fuck kind of name is that ? You must be losing your damn mind thinking that beast is some kind of 'God', Jaeger."
"He's here for a reason, and that's to help humanity. The fact that he's saved people from the Titans can't get through your thick skull, then the only problem you have with him is that you're just a little bitch."
"Shut the hell up, Jaeger !" Jean shouted as he readied his fist.
Just as Eren began to retaliate, he turns to see Mikasa with a troubled expression. With his heated argument against Jean, he completely forgot about what she had said to him. Eren wasn't worried about getting scolded by Mikasa like always, but rather, how this behavior of his will affect his promise to his mother. He was supposed to become stronger so that he can look after Mikasa instead of the other way around, but he was unnecessarily causing an avoidable fight.
Because of Eren's hesitation, Jean shot a straight punch to his face, knocking him to the ground. Mikasa and Jean were both wondering why Eren didn't fight back since he usually does. Even the other graduates had the same thought, but they gathered around Eren to check up on him. Mikasa held him up and saw his nose bleeding, which tensed her up. Despite Eren being okay, Mikasa decides to carry him outside with Armin following them. Everyone else looked at Jean, who felt like he made a fool out of himself.
As Mikasa and Armin escort Eren outside of the mess hall, they come across Hannes, who was walking with two other soldiers. He sees Eren's condition and figures that he got into a fight with someone else. Hannes ends his interactions with the soldiers and goes to check up on him.
"I can't say that I'm not surprised you got in a fight, but it has been a while," Hannes said to the three of them.
Eren, Armin, and Mikasa all saluted Hannes, who saluted back to the three graduates.
"It's great to see again, Mr. Hannes. Though, I wouldn't have expected a drunk like you to be Captain of the Stationary Troops," Eren remarked.
"Well, it has been a couple of years. People change a lot after a while. Just like you, kids. By the way, have any of you picked out which division to join yet ?"
Just as Eren was about to talk, Mikasa quickly answered, "I'll be joining Eren in the Survey Corps."
"Survey Corps ? Right, I forgot you guys kept talking about wanting to go outside the walls. Unfortunately, the Survey Corps hasn't been able to advance very much because of that lizard drawing in Titans everyday, so you guys won't be doing much if you join."
"Maybe there's a way to communicate with him," Armin insisted, "If Godzilla seems to understand that the Titans are our enemies, then there's a way for us to speak with him on a basic level."
"Sounds like a good idea and all, but what's with the name ? Where the hell did you get 'Godzilla' from ?"
"Oh, that's what Eren called him earlier. I know there's no official name for him, but Godzilla seems fitting to me," Armin explained.
"Works for me as well," Mikasa added.
"Suit yourselves. Maybe I'll spread the word out of the name for you guys then," Hannes chuckled, "Anyways, I'd better get going. Congratulations, all of you."
"See you later, Hannes." Eren said as he, Mikasa, and Armin watched the captain walk away.
As Hannes kept walking forward, he reminisces about saving Eren and his family years ago. It made him happy to know that he was able to do something useful in his role as a Garrison soldier back then. He had been working a lot harder and drank less, over the years until he became a captain for a specific unit, so that he could feel the satisfaction of saving lives again when the time comes. Hannes stopped in his tracks and looked ahead to see Keith pushing Carla in her wheelchair towards him.
"Hannes ! It's so good to see you again !" Carla shouted from a distance.
"Yeah, same here," Hannes called back with a smile.
He walked up to both Keith and Carla, and then saluted. Keith saluted back and said, "I've heard news about your promotion to Garrison Captain. I must congratulate you, Hannes."
"And I must congratulate you on training these kids for the past three years. I really don't know how you have the patience to handle all of that."
"Compared to what I've witnessed in the past, these kids are barely nothing. However, I have to admit that there have been some exceptional students."
Carla added, "Keith has told me about the rankings in the class and I was happy to hear that Eren and Mikasa made it to the top ten."
"Top ten ? Whoa. I had a feeling that Mikasa would rank that high, but I'd never expect Eren considering his 'unique' personality. No offense though, Carla."
"That's fine, Hannes. I thought that as well," Carla reassured.
"Anyways, I'm sure you guys are here to see them before they get deployed. So I'll get going and leave you all alone."
Hannes waved them goodbye and went on his way. Keith and Carla continued towards the mess hall where they saw Eren, Mikasa, and Armin sitting outside. The three friends turned to see them coming and quickly rushed to their side. All three of them hugged Carla simultaneously and nearly squeezed the air out of her.
"What're you doing here, Mom ? Is it okay for you to be out ?" Eren asked as he let her go.
"It's not like I'm sick or anything. Is it bad that I just want to see you all before you go off for who knows how long ?"
"O-of course not, Mrs. Jaeger. We just d-didn't anticipate your arrival here on our graduation night," Armin stuttered.
Mikasa added, "We were actually hoping to see you tomorrow morning before we went on to apply for the Survey Corps."
"Oh, that's right," Carla said with a serious face, "You were all going to be in the Survey Corps."
They all noticed her expression, so Eren tried to reassure her, "Hey, Mom. Didn't you forget the promise we made ? That you'll still be a part of my life no matter what ?"
"I didn't, but I'd never realize how fast this day would come. Now you're all going to be leaving the walls soon," she said while tearing up.
Eren held her hands and declared, "Mom, I know this is hard, but nothing is going to stop us from coming back to you."
"We'll all look after each other like you said," Mikasa included.
Armin also joined in, "And we'll definitely fight for our home back."
"I know you all will," Carla said as her eyes began filling with tears, "I just…can't think of what to say now that you've finally made it to this point. I ss-should have been more p-prepared for t-this."
Carla starts crying and everyone rushes in to calm her down, but she decides to continue, "Keith told me that you all will be in good hands and I trust him. Just like I trust that all three of you will make it back in one piece. So, I'll wait for you as long as I can."
As Mikasa and Armin nodded, Eren thought about the last part of what Carla said. He knew that she didn't want to wait for a long time like she did with his father. This motivated Eren to do whatever he can to quickly bring his home back and return to Carla so that she wouldn't give up on him just like with his father.
Keith decided to speak up, "Uh...Carla ? I believe it's time for us to go. We shouldn't keep them up too late."
"R-r-right," Carla said as she rubs her eyes, "I guess, this is goodbye for now."
"It won't be the last time," Eren reassured.
Carla nodded and Keith started pushing her away. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin watched them both leave and felt a bit of sadness in their hearts. Carla looked back at them for one last time and waved, which prompted them to wave back at her. Carla and Keith disappeared into the night and the three friends returned to the mess hall.
Back at the Jaeger household, Serizawa waited outside and looked around his surroundings until he noticed a person walking towards him. The person had black spiky hair with silver armor, like the men who had helped Serizawa become Carla's caretaker, and was carrying a futuristic case that had a circular symbol with three arrows in the middle.
"Can't believe it's been three years, Doc," the person stated, "Hope you got some good news on our dilemma."
"Not yet, Ozaki. I haven't found anything on Grisha, yet alone where his whereabouts are."
"That damn bastard. He could be anywhere in this place," Ozaki complained, "Anyways, here's the stuff you wanted."
Serizawa opens the case and gathers its contents. Ozaki closes it and makes his way out of the area.
"By the way, Doc, Miki misses you," Ozaki smirked, "She really wouldn't stop worrying over you."
"Oh, really ? Well, let her know I'm okay and that…I too miss her company."
"Mm-hmm. I'll be sure to tell her that."
Ozaki leaves the area while Serizawa gathers his delivered items into the house. He checks outside one last time for any suspicious activity before closing the door.
The next day arrives and the Survey Corps begin their next expedition to reclaim humanity's lost territory. Despite previous failed attempts to avoid the Titans surrounding the creature, Godzilla, whose name was spread into the public by a Garrison Captain, Survey Corps continued on with high confidence. However, the crowd who watched them thought otherwise as they believed this next expedition would be a failure like the previous ones. Everyone in the Survey Corps heard the cries and complaints of the people.
"Really ? They're going out again ?"
"What a bunch of fools, thinking that this time would be different."
"It's pretty fucking hopeless with that Godzilla thing attracting Titans into the walls everyday."
"They haven't lost casualties, yet they still didn't bring anything useful back. What a waste."
Erwin heard the backlash many times, but it never fazed him one bit. He knew that the progression they made was slow, but they learned a bit more each time. Because of the Titan's attraction towards Godzilla, the Scouts were able to spot their activities from a distance without any interference. One person in particular that took a huge interest in monitoring Godzilla and the Titans was a squad commander known as Hange Zoe.
"Ooooh ! I just can't wait to see them again," she exclaimed, "I wonder what they'll be doing this time."
Right beside her was a serious looking man named Levi, who was known to be as strong as a full squad of soldiers by many people. He said to her, "Maybe that Godzilla bastard could get off his ass and start killing those damn Titans. What's the point of being the supposed savior of humanity if it's not going to do shit ?"
"I don't know, but it's such a huge mystery that I'm just so excited to find out what it is. And with his size dwarfing the Titans so easily, it's almost as if he's a god to them. Oh ! Maybe that's how he got his name. GOD-zilla. I definitely understand the 'God' part, but what does Zilla even mean ?"
"Who the hell cares, Hange. That name seems overrated."
"Aww, Levi. Is someone jealous that someone has a better name than you ? That's okay. You're still pretty badass in my opinion."
"Sure, you do"
"Oh, man. I wonder how Abnormal Titans react to Godzilla. I wish I could see one up close."
"You're looking at one, Hange."
"Huh ? Really ? Where ?" Hange asked until Levi turned her head to see his face.
"Right here."
At the same time, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and two other people, Franz Kafka and Hannah Diamant, were in the crowd watching the Survey Corps prepare for their expedition. They appeared excited to watch the Scouts depart on their journey.
"They've really changed five years ago. There are so many impressive people in the Scouts now," Eren remarked.
"It does seem to make people very happy," Hannah stated, "A lot of people are hoping that they can do a lot better than ever."
Franz added, "And not only that, but the cannons on the walls have been fixed up. Though, I doubt that the Colossal Titan would show up and give us a chance to use them."
"What do you two mean ?" Eren said with a slightly upset tone, "Don't tell me that you two are scared. What kind of couple would that make you two ?"
"A-a couple ?! W-w-we're not like that !" Hannah argued while trying to cover her face.
"That's quite a bit of an assumption there, Eren," Franz said as he blushed.
The gate at the Trost District began to open and the Scouts started to advance beyond Wall Rose for their next expedition. With some people cheering and others having serious doubts, the Scouts retained their confidence and made their way to Godzilla's imposing figure far into the horizon.
Some time later, Eren goes on top of Wall Rose and helps out on cleaning the cannons with Connie, Sasha, Mina, Thomas, and Samuel. Connie and Thomas revealed that they both will join the Scout Regiment, much to Eren's surprise. Sasha comes up to them and explains that she manages to steal meat, shocking most of her comrades. As she decides to share it with them and talk about how they'll raise livestock again soon, everyone starts joining in. Eren, on the other hand, looks into the distance and sees Godzilla walking towards the wall.
"What's he doing ?" Eren thought.
A roar was heard from Godzilla as he was seen hurrying towards the wall. Eren knew that something was wrong, so he tried to warn the others. Suddenly, a lightning bolt came down from the sky and the Colossal Titan appeared out of thin air. As everyone was shocked at its sudden appearance, the Colossal Titan let out a massive burst of steam. Eren and the others were knocked off the top, but most of them managed to hold their footing on the side of the wall except for Samuel. As he was seemingly falling to his death, Sasha rushes to him and quickly grapples his leg at the last moment, holding his unconscious body in place. Eren looked up at the top of the wall to see the hand of the Colossal Titan and realized that it was going to kick the wall. What he feared came to pass as the entrance to Wall Rose was blown to bits and taken down. This causes Eren to remember the destruction of his home, Shiganshina, and drives him to charge towards the Titan. Eren reaches the top, unsheathes his blades, and stands his ground while he stares right into the Colossal Titans eyes with a raging desire to kill.
"Not only did you take my home away, but you also hurt my mother as well, You BASTARD ! This time, I'll make sure you Won't. Get AWAY ! " Eren shouted as he started running and jumped towards his long-awaited enemy.
Minutes before the Colossal Titan had appeared, Godzilla was trying to control rampaging Abnormal Titans that were trying to reach Wall Rose. He sensed that they wanted to head towards something by the wall, but due to their abundance, the Abnormal Titans managed to evade Godzilla's strikes and ran as fast as they could. Although the regular Titans remained with him, Godzilla could not let the others get away and started making his way towards Wall Rose. The closer he got to the wall, the more Godzilla began to sense Eren's presence ahead of him. Godzilla let out a roar, hoping to warn Eren of the incoming danger of the Abnormal Titans, only to see a lightning strike at the edge of Wall Rose. Godzilla widened his eyes as he saw the same Titan from years ago that managed to breach the last wall. Seeing as how he was unable to prevent another attack on the humans, Godzilla realizes that simply holding the Titans off was not enough to protect humanity. Instead, he figures that the best course of action was to speak with Eren and his kind in order to directly help them rather than keeping his distance. Godzilla ran towards Wall Rose just as the Colossal Titan instantly disappeared out of sight, hoping that he could at least make it to the humans before the Abnormal Titans did.
Back within the mysterious monitoring room, several people were managing to capture different angles of the occurring event. A young woman was looking through a live feed of the Trost District hoping to find a certain person. The man with the cane returns to the room and sees the young woman in a worried state.
"Miki ! What are you doing here ?" the man asked.
"I heard that the district Serizawa is in has been breached. I'm trying to look for him to see if he's alright."
"Of course he'll be alright. He's one tough son of a bitch after everything he's been through."
Miki sighed and said, "We have the technology to help these poor people. How can we just sit back and allow this to happen, Gordon ?"
"We just can't expose ourselves yet, especially when we haven't gotten anything on Grisha. The only leads we have are his wife and his son, but even they don't have anything so far. Only thing we can do now is let Godzilla handle the Titans and these soldiers to do their part in the evacuation."
Miki looked at the live feed with a sad look on her face as she continued looking for Serizawa, hoping that he would somehow survive the damage done to the district. She even closes her eyes and focuses her telepathic powers to locate Serizawa. Although she wasn't able to find anything, Miki persisted and resumed looking through the live feed.
So...I actually thought I'd be able to upload this chapter by Saturday night, or Sunday. Other than that, I really hope this chapter made sense in some areas because I expect that there would be questions about them. I'll answer them when I upload the next chapter, which at this point, I don't even know when that'll be. Probably next Monday or so. Until then, I'll be doing some of my personal business for a while.