"Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway."
John Wayne
Chapter 10: New Faces
"So after you tie the knot like this... you got it! It's done!"
Cinder and Nora were sitting at the kitchen table, looking at a book of arts and crafts. At the moment, Nora was attempting to make a small ragdoll using the book as her guide. After a couple of failed attempts, Cinder walked her through the process and made a better doll.
"Wow!" Nora said as she looked at the doll. "It's pretty!"
"It really is," Cinder agreed. "Good job." As Cinder closed the book, she caught Nora staring at the doll's faceless head, feeling as if it was missing something. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just need to do one more thing." Nora jumped off the table and moved to a set of drawers. After searching through each one, Nora found what she was looking for; a black marker. Once she took the cap off, Nora began to draw on the doll.
"Um, I don't think that's part of the instructions," said Cinder.
"I know, I'm just adding a step," said Nora, scribbling on the doll.
"But you might ruin it!"
"Relax, Cinder. I'm just about... done!" Nora showed the doll to Cinder, revealing a smiling face with a few freckles. "See? Now she's like Vasilisa!"
Cinder had to admit, she was skeptical of going against the rules like that. However, once she saw what Nora added, it wasn't so bad after all. It was actually a great idea, one that Cinder wanted to try on her own.
"Nora!" a voice from behind called out. The children moved from the table to a window in the kitchen, revealing Dina Fritz waving to them. "Li and An are here!" she called out again.
"Coming!" Nora said as she took her doll. Before leaving, she pulled Cinder into a tight hug. "See you tomorrow, Cinder!" Quickly letting her go, Nora ran outside with a smile on her face. As she left, Dina came in and looked at a smiling Cinder.
"Did you have fun today?" Dina asked calmly.
"I did," Cinder honestly admitted. "Thank you again for letting her come."
"Of course. Seeing you two together is always a treat." Dina turned outside to see Eren picking apples off a tree. "I only wish Eren could join you sometime."
Cinder joined her gaze. "He's working again? This is the third day in a row he's done nothing but pick apples alone." Saddened by the sight of her best friend doing nothing but work, Cinder picked a basket off the floor and moved to the door. "I'll go help him."
The sound of a door closing behind him made Eren look to see Cinder walking towards him. "You don't need the basket," he said as he turned back to the tree. "I think I got enough already."
"You had enough when you stopped picking yesterday," said Cinder, who picked up Eren's full basket to make him stop working. "Eren, what are you doing out here? You missed Nora coming over."
"It's fine." Eren sat down against the tree. "I didn't want to bother you."
"I'm bothered you've been ignoring us." Cinder moved in front of Eren. "What's your problem?"
Eren was starting to grow annoyed. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we don't have time for games."
"Don't have-?" Cinder couldn't believe this was what Eren was thinking, how serious he was being all the time. Things were fine now, Kuroyuri would be back on their feet soon. So why was Eren so serious?
"But Eren, isn't this what we're fighting for?" Cinder asked. "To be free? To do anything we want without worrying about someone keeping us trapped? Why can't we enjoy it? Why can't we-?"
"We?" Eren stood up. "We can't. We still have work to do, you know. As soon as things are under control, I'm going to keep training my Titan." Eren pointed at Cinder. "If you want to enjoy what we have, that's none of my business. So you do what you feel like doing." Eren stood up and walked away. "I'm going to see what I can do."
Dina witnessed the whole thing from her window. Ever since learning about the Titans, she decided to do a better job at keeping an eye on the both of them. There were times she had to work on the farm with her hired help, but she made sure to look after the children as well. And now, she was able to walk outside and stand in Cinder's way.
"Cinder, let him go," she said. "He's... obviously not listening."
Cinder looked down at her feet, a few teardrops hitting the ground. "Did I... do something wrong?" she asked. "Is this my fault?"
"No." Dina kneeled down to Cinder and put her hands on the child's shoulders. "If Eren wants to be stubborn, that's his fault. You were only trying to help, to be a good sister." Dina looked back to where Eren went. "I'll go talk to him, let him know that-"
"No, it's okay." Cinder dried her eyes and smiled at Dina. "Thank you, but I think I can try to talk to Eren later. Maybe tomorrow."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. But there is one thing I'd like to do."
"What is it?"
"I think... I can start working too."
Dina looked back at the farm, then back to Cinder. "Are you sure?" she asked. "After what I heard about this hotel you and Eren were taken to, I don't want you to think-"
"I'm sure." Cinder suddenly had a thought. "But... you're not going to make me do everything here, are you?"
"Of course not, Cinder." Dina took her hand and walked towards the rest of the farm. "If you think you want to start now, we should start small. You can..." Dina's eyes turned to the stables and a broom outside. "You can start by cleaning the stables. Once you use a broom to push all the straw out, I'll have someone clean the muck." Dina looked down to Cinder. "Does that sound like something you'd want to do?"
"I used to clean a lot in Atlas," Cinder replied. "So, yes. I can do this." With that, Cinder walked inside and started sweeping all of the straw outside the stables.
The next day, Cinder and Nora were together once again, walking through Kuroyuri's streets. A lot of work had been done into rebuilding the town, and everything was just about down. The main priority right now seemed to be cleaning the rubble as well as building new houses and the drawbridge Eren and Cinder suggested. Soon, there would be a moat surrounding the entire town, protecting it from any Grimm.
But that news didn't seem to make Cinder happy. All she could think about was Eren, and she couldn't help but describe her problems to Nora.
"And that's what he told me," Cinder finished her story. "All he's thinking about is the Titans."
"Well, that's not very fun," Nora agreed, who did nothing but lend a helpful ear to Cinder. "It's... really sad."
"I know. That's why I begged him to come with us today. But he's still at the farm, working all day."
Nora suddenly felt that she could sympathize with Cinder. There were days where Ren didn't really feel like spending time with her, where he felt like there were other things he either wanted or had to do. Nora was able to understand this sometimes, but there were times when she felt incredibly lonely. But in that time, she made a system that always worked.
"You know, Ren sometimes doesn't want to play with me either," she said. "So I found a way to make him change his mind."
Cinder suddenly felt a hope that she could do the same thing with Eren, whatever it might be. "Really?" she asked with a smile. "Tell me!"
Nora yelled her idea with a bigger smile and arms in the air. "I sing to him!"
Cinder's smile disappeared when she heard the idea. During all the time she spent with Nora, Cinder had seen her do some funny, weird, and incredibly stupid things. And the idea Nora just had was no different. "What?" Cinder dryly asked, unable to believe she just heard Nora say that.
"I sing one of my favorite songs to Ren! Whenever I do, he says he'll play with me."
Cinder still didn't think that was such a good idea. "Nora, how can that possibly work?"
"I'll show you!" Nora moved to a more private road and began to sing loudly and incredibly off-key.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star! How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the-!"
"Nora, Nora, stop!" Cinder yelled as she put her hands to her ears, unable to withstand the terrible singing and even unable to hear herself think. "Please, stop."
Nora stopped singing and looked at Cinder's reaction. Seeing her head down with her ears covered, Nora knew how she was feeling. "Wow. Am I really that bad?"
Cinder opened her eyes and looked back at Nora, realizing what she just did. "Wait, I didn't mean-"
Nora suddenly began to laugh. "No, it's okay!" she assured Cinder. "See? Whenever I sing like that, Ren will want me to stop. So I'll stop when he spends some time with me!"
"..."
Cinder's jaw dropped at the realization and at Nora's great idea. She had no idea that this was her plan all along. If Ren was anything like Cinder right now, he wouldn't want to hear the singing as well. In order to do that, he would do anything to stop the terrible singing. In the end, everyone got what they wanted. Ren wouldn't hear singing and Nora would spend time with her best friend. It was perfect.
"Nora... that's a great idea!" Cinder said with a smile. "Do you think you can do that to Eren sometime?"
"I could, but I think I have a better idea," Nora said. "You can try singing to him."
"What?" Cinder felt a heat rise to her face as she looked down. "Oh, Nora... I don't know, I-"
"What's the matter? It's really not hard, and I-"
"Well... I never tried singing before. I don't even know if I can sing badly."
"Well, that's okay. Just choose a song and sing naturally. If you've never sang before, then you won't be good."
"Right, but... I don't know a lot of songs." Cinder had heard music before in Atlas, but never tried to sing. She knew the point was to sing badly, but she was still unsure about singing at all.
Nora looked behind Cinder to see a bookshop. An idea suddenly came to her. "Let's find you a song then!" Leading her into the bookshop, Nora looked for books that had songs and music. After finding one and showing it to Cinder, the girls looked for something that would be long.
A few minutes later, after leaving the bookshop, Nora and Cinder stood by a crowd of people. Nora looked past Cinder and pointed at one of the stands. "Look!" she said. "There's Eren now!" Cinder followed her gaze to see Eren sitting alone at Dina's produce stand. Cinder immediately followed Nora's lead and walked up to the stand. "Hey, Eren! Cinder has something to say to you!"
Nora stepped aside to let Cinder talk to Eren. "Eren..." she began. "Do you remember what we talked about yesterday?"
"Yeah," Eren said. "Why?"
"Well... I was hoping you would change your mind. Nora and I-"
Eren sighed as he walked over to the girls. "Cinder, look. I already told you, I'm not here to play games or anything like that. I'm sorry." As he walked back to the stand, Cinder looked at Nora in defeat. But Nora gave Cinder a very determined look and a nod to tell her it was time.
So Cinder took a deep breath and turned back to Eren. "Okay... here I go."
Eren looked back to Cinder. "Wait, what are you doing?"
Nora put her hands to her ears. "Just remember, Eren. Cinder gave you a chance." With a smirk, she lowered her head and pressed her hands hard against her ears.
And with that, Cinder closed her eyes, opened her mouth... and began to sing.
"Like the scarlet night, veil in the dark.
You can hide your fear, can lie my dear."
Nora took her hands off her ears and opened her eyes. Looking back to Cinder, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was expecting Cinder to sing like her, be loud and not following the correct way of singing. But instead, the voice that came out of Cinder's mouth was... angelic. Even Eren was taken off guard as she continued to sing phenomenally.
"Just like it is, look into this dream.
See these wings are stained in blood, spread them out!"
The group of people turned to the source of the beautiful singing, which Eren and Nora easily noticed. "Um... Cinder?" Nora said. But Cinder didn't allow for any distractions as she continued to sing.
"Like a fallen angel.
Drifts and falls to the ground.
For the winds of time will never allow.
Into the starry night!
Like a Goddess you appear!
Please embrace me, for eternity!
Fly to Heaven."
The sound of applause and cheers made Cinder open her eyes and see that Nora and Eren weren't her only audience. The entire block seemed to be captured by her voice, and they seemed to want more. But Cinder was too surprised by her apparent fans to sing anymore, as an intense heat rose to her face.
"I thought everyone was supposed to cover their ears," Cinder whispered to Nora.
"You just sang better than anyone I know!" Nora whispered back. "How did you do that?"
"Cinder... that was amazing," said Eren, who was smiling for the first time in days. "Where'd you learn to sing like that?"
"Right here... just now." Cinder brushed a hand through her hair. "You really liked it?"
"Yeah!" Eren walked away from the stand again as the people began to disperse. As she walked, he remembered Nora saying something that sounded like a warning as she covered her ears. It seemed something was going on. "What's all this about?" Eren asked calmly.
Cinder blushed once again. "Well... I was hoping that... Nora and I were talking, and..."
Nora saw the opportunity to help Cinder once again and happily took it. "Eren, look," she seriously said. "Don't worry about the singing, just listen to me. Ren, Cinder, and me... we miss you. We don't see you anymore, it's like you're shoving us out." She took Eren's hand. "I know you're still thinking about the Titans and everything, but you shouldn't worry about that right now. Ren and I are still going to help you, but we need your help too."
"What do you mean?"
"We don't wanna be... whatever you call people who help you that share something. We wanna be your friends, Eren." Nora began to sniffle, as if she was feeling sad and about to let it all out. "Can you... Can you be ours too?"
"..."
Eren had no idea that all of this was about what he said to Cinder. And he definitely had no idea that what he'd been doing had been affecting Nora as well. Then, he remembered how upset Mikasa would be when he had the same attitude. While she never really cried when he said he wanted to do things himself, it was clear his actions hurt her feelings.
And after what happened before he died... Eren decided that now was the time to get that stick out of his ass and not make the same mistakes he made before.
"Cinder... Nora, I... I'm sorry," Eren said sincerely. "I guess your singing was supposed to have some kind of other affect, but you're right." Eren began to smile. "You guys need me, and... I need you too."
"Thanks, Eren," Cinder said as she felt an incredible amount of relief and happiness. "But really, it was that good?"
"It was," he replied.
"I really liked it," said Nora.
Just as Cinder was about to thank them for being honest, a new voice from behind them said something. "I... liked it."
Everyone turned to see a young boy standing a few feet behind them. The boy had silver hair and was wearing brown shorts with a black shirt, which had a gray pattern that resembled a "Y." The boy was about Nora's height, a few inches smaller than Eren and Cinder.
Cinder had never met the boy before, there weren't that many children in Kuroyuri. Regardless, she spoke to him. "Um... thank you," she said politely. "Who are you?"
"Hey, haven't I seen you before?" Nora asked, not knowing who the boy was either.
Eren moved from the stand and looked at the boy's face. A bruise was resting under his left eye. "Are you okay?" Eren asked. "What happened to your eye?"
"Mercury!"
A loud voice caused everyone to jump in shock and turn to the road behind them. Walking down that road was a man in a red sleeveless shirt, tan cargo pants and black and green combat boots. Around his waist was a black and silver utility belt with various pouches and an empty holster for what looks like a gun of some kind. Sticking out from one of the pouches was a chrome alcohol flask with two stylized black wings. The man had pure white hair cut short and a pair of stormy grey eyes. A few noticeable scars were seen on his face and some on his arms.
And he didn't look happy.
"I thought I told you to stay put!" The man hissed as he roughly grabbed the now named "Mercury's" arm, his voice having a slight slur along with the faint smell of strong alcohol that left the four kids cringing. "When I say stay put, you listen to me!" Mercury flinched at the anger directed at him.
"...Yes, sir," the boy sadly replied.
As the father continued to pull his son away, Cinder and Eren looked at each other with a cross expression forming on both of their faces. The bruise on the poor kid's eye, the rough way he was being dragged away, the angry words that were apparently enhanced by alcohol, the way he flinched and the meek submissive words painted a rather grim picture. One that left a rather sick feeling in both of their stomachs, particularly Cinder.
Nodding, the two began walking towards the drunk.
"Guys, no!" Nora stepped in between them with her arms spread out. "Don't do anything stupid!"
"What?" Cinder asked. "Nora, that kid needs help."
"Who is that?" Eren asked. "What's his problem?"
Nora turned back to the man. "That's Mr. Black, the Huntsman that the mayor hired to live in Kuroyuri," she said.
"Wait a minute," Cinder said as she pointed to the man. "He's a Huntsman?"
"Yeah, he has a license and everything. And he's really good at fighting Grimm." Nora looked directly at Eren. "Big and small."
"..."
Cinder looked back to Eren, thinking about how the fight might turn out. "Eren... I think Nora's right."
Eren nodded and turned to Nora. "Does he have a Semblance?" he asked.
"Yeah, but... it's weird."
"...What?"
Nora turned back to see if the Huntsman was gone. Once she knew they were alone, Nora turned back to her friends. "Yesterday evening, he showed us how he fights Grimm. He doesn't use a weapon, just his hands and feet. After a couple of Grimm died, he made a wave of fire to scare them off."
"Okay, so he's like me," Cinder assumed. "He can make fire too."
"That's not all," Nora said.
"Not all?" Eren asked. "But a Semblance is only one power."
"That's what I thought too. But when an Ursa was outside the wall, Mr. Black lifted his hand and it flew into the air. It must have been up there for a minute before it came crashing back down."
Cinder and Eren looked at each other once more, totally confused by the information. More than one power? How was that even possible? But more importantly... how dangerous did that make him?
"I hate to say it, Eren... but we should probably watch him before doing anything crazy," said Cinder.
"And we should see what else he can do," said Eren. "There's nothing we can do now. Come on... let's get back to the stand."
"Eight... nine... ten!" Cinder opened her eyes and looked around the empty field. "Ready or not, here I come!"
All day long, the children had been helping clean up Kuroyuri with Ren's parents and Ms. Fritz. A lot of progress had been made, as all the rubble had been removed and most of the demolished houses had been torn down. All that remained was the construction of new houses as well as the bridge Eren and Cinder suggested for the town.
In order to take a proper rest and celebrate all the work they did, Nora suggested to Eren, Cinder, and Ren that they have the rest of the day to themselves, playing games to relax. Eren was a little unsure, he couldn't remember the last time he ever played as a child. His childhood was destroyed the day the Titans breached Wall Maria, and he had some trouble remembering all the good times before the wall fell. But after yesterday's performance and confession, Cinder was adamant that he join in, regardless of how he was feeling.
And Eren found himself to be having fun after playing hide-and-seek. This would be the third time they played today, and Eren was hiding from Cinder with Ren and Nora. And he was about to have a little more fun himself when Cinder approached a bush.
"And... found you!" Cinder yelled as she pushed through the bush. But she didn't see anyone on the other side, just a patch of dirt.
Eren jumped out from a hollow log behind Cinder. "Boo!" he yelled.
"Gah!" Cinder cried out as she fell. When she looked up, she found Eren laughing at his prank. "Eren, that's not fair!"
"Hey, you found me, didn't you?" Eren asked as he held out his hand to Cinder. Once she took it and felt herself come off the ground, Cinder looked around for Ren. "Yeah, I don't know where Ren is."
"Hang on, you actually gave me an idea." Cinder cupped her hands around her mouth and cried out. "Found you, Ren!"
Just then, Ren came out from behind another bush. "How did you find me so fast?" he asked in disbelief.
"I didn't," Cinder said with a laugh. "You just showed me where you were."
"What?" Ren looked back to his hiding place, which still appeared to have hid his presence well. "But you said you saw me!"
"I lied," Cinder said with another laugh. Eren needed a few more seconds to realize what Cinder's plan was, and he started to laugh as well.
"No fair!"
"Hey, Eren cheated first!" Cinder pointed at the young boy behind her.
"Hey, that's not true!" Eren defended himself. "You still found me! And now we found Ren, so this game's been nothing but fair!"
Ren looked up at the trees, its leaves giving the children shade. "Well, at least one of us is still playing fairly," he said. "I'm sure Nora's hiding in another tree."
"Let's find out." Eren ran over to another tree while Cinder went to a taller tree across the field. But they didn't find Nora. After searching the rest of the field, in all the possible places Nora could hide, the children found nothing.
"Well, it seems that I was wrong," said Ren. "I guess Nora cheated as well."
"We said that we couldn't leave the field," said Cinder. "So you're right, she cheated. But let's look one more time just to be sure."
"Hey guys!" Eren called out to Ren and Cinder. Coming out from behind a tree, Eren showed his friends the black long-sleeved shirt he was holding. "Isn't this Nora's?"
Ren walked over to Eren in order to get a better look at the shirt he was holding. "You're right," he said as he took the shirt. "Nora wears this over her T-shirt, she was wearing it today."
"What about this?" Cinder asked. Turning around, Eren and Ren saw Cinder holding a white and pink sneaker with a gray strap on it. "Does Nora wear this kind of shoe?"
Ren took a look and nodded. "This is strange. What is she doing without her shirt or shoe?"
"Maybe she fell down a tree and hurt herself," Eren suggested. "Our house is pretty close, she could have gone there for help."
"I hope she's okay," Cinder said as she turned in the direction of the farmhouse. "We should go check on her." With that, Cinder led the way back to Ms. Fritz's house, with Eren and Ren following her. As they were walking, Ren turned to Eren and started a conversation.
"Eren, can I ask you something?" he politely requested.
"Sure, what is it?" Eren asked.
"Well... ever since Nora and I found out about you and Cinder, I've been a little curious about the Titans."
"I don't mind talking about them. Well, as long as you don't have a lot of questions. The first time someone talked to me about my Titan, we stayed up all night."
"All night?" Ren's jaw slightly dropped at the idea of two people talking throughout the entire night. The only person who could have enough energy to do that was Nora, and he already had his hands full with one Nora. So Ren could sympathize with Eren's feelings on that day. Regardless, he began to ask his questions. "Well, I was wondering... what are they, exactly?"
"Well, after a while, I found out there are two kinds of Titans. Cinder and I are the kind that can turn into one whenever we want. All we need to do is bleed. A small cut or bite is enough to let us turn into Titans."
"And the other kind?"
"Most people would call them 'Pure Titans.' Cinder and I can change back and forth, but the people who got turned into Titans couldn't change back."
"How come?"
"They were changed against their will, prisoners that were sent to my first home. The people who did this had a way to make Titans of their own. They were mindless, forced to give into their primal nature. But the worst part... they ate people."
Ren gasped at the idea of giant man-eating monsters. While he was confident that Eren and Cinder weren't like those Titans, he was still afraid. "So they were monsters," he assumed.
"...Yeah. My friends and I fought and killed them to protect our home. That was before the war, before we found out anything about Marley." Eren turned back to Ren. "You might have seen that war, when you saw my memories. Again, sorry about that."
"It's fine." Ren had another question about the Titans he wanted to ask. "So, what made you and Cinder special? How come you can control your Titans?"
"Back home, there were nine special Titans that stood out from the rest," Eren explained. "They were made by a girl named 'Ymir,' who was the first Founding Titan. After she died, she passed down eight Titans with different powers to her people. The people who inherited them passed them down again and again for years. There was the Colossal Titan, the Armored Titan, the Attack Titan, the Female Titan, the Jaw Titan, the Beast Titan, the Cart Titan, and the War-Hammer Titan."
"You have one of those Titans now?"
"...Sort of. You know how the God of Darkness gave me my new Titan?" Ren nodded, remembering the meeting he saw. "Well, I became the new Founding Titan. It's not like the Titans from my home."
"But you can still pass them down, right?"
"Yeah, that's what Cinder asked me to do."
"And she was... the Female Titan?"
"That's what I thought too. But no." Eren looked back to Cinder, who was still walking in front of them. And they were much closer to the farmhouse. "She's different from the rest. The Female Titan had powers that let her harden her skin. But Cinder can make fire whenever she wants. It's like she's this giant incinerator."
"So would you call her that?"
"Call her what?"
"The Incinerator Titan. That's what she does, right?"
"Well, I-"
Cinder suddenly turned around. "What did you call me?" she asked.
Eren stopped walking. "Oh, sorry," he said. "We were just-"
"No, not you." Cinder walked up to Ren. "You were talking about my Titan, right?"
"Uh... right," said Ren, who was worried he had accidentally offended Cinder. "I'm sorry, I was wondering-"
"Did you call me the... Incinerator Titan?"
"Um... yes?"
Cinder suddenly formed a big smile. "Wow! I like it!" She looked back to Eren. "What do you think, Eren? The rest of those Titans have names! Doesn't the Incinerator Titan sound like a good name?"
Eren looked back to Ren. "I think Cinder's been spending too much time with Nora," he said.
"I think you're right," Ren agreed.
The rest of the walk to the house was filled with more talk about Titans, as Ren had a few more questions for Eren. As they approached the front of the house, Cinder ran up the steps. "Nora, are you-?" She stopped in her tracks, leaving Eren to bump into her.
"Cinder, what are you-?" Eren suddenly lost his train of thought when he followed Cinder's gaze. The two children were staring at a broken doorknob with the handle destroyed. It looked like as if something, or someone, had kicked the door open. Ren looked at the door as well, seeing the peculiarity. After all three children shared a worried glance at each other, Eren slowly opened the door. "Nora?" he called out. "Ms. Fritz? Are you okay?"
"..."
Everyone shared a glance once again before walking inside the house. Once they went inside, it was clear something terrible happened. The kitchen was destroyed, leaving a few broken plates on the ground along with the furniture being overturned. As they looked down the hallway, they saw one of the bureaus had been knocked over and the door to Dina's bedroom was open. Eren and Cinder rushed over to see if anything else was wrong, but the room was fine. It seemed nobody was inside.
"What happened here?" Cinder asked nervously.
"I've seen something like this before," Eren said as he gently pushed past Cinder. "Someone broke in. They kidnapped Ms. Fritz." Cinder and Ren gasped, unable to believe something like this would happen. Eren ran outside again and looked around, but couldn't find anything. So he walked back inside and punched the wall. "Dammit! They could be anywhere."
"This has never happened here before," said Ren. Kuroyuri wasn't a city without crime, there would be occasional robberies and vandalism. But nobody had ever done something as horrible as kidnapping.
"Who would do this?" Cinder asked. "And why?"
Eren turned to tell Cinder that he had no idea, but stopped himself from talking. He didn't notice it at first, but there was a bad smell lingering in the hallway. Eren took a few sniffs before he asked Cinder a question. "Cinder... do you smell that?"
Cinder took a sniff in the air. After a few seconds, she took another one. Then another. "That smell... It smells like..."
"Liquor."
Back in Atlas, Eren and Cinder were forced to serve meals to the guests of the Glass Unicorn. Along with those meals came a drink of the customer's choice. One of the choices was strong liquor. Strong enough to make Cinder's nostrils feel violated when she got too close to the glass. This liquor wasn't as strong, but the smell was more than detectable. Eren and Cinder were able to follow the smell to the corner of the kitchen, where they found a small flask spilling alcohol on the ground.
"I've seen that before," said Ren, having a good look as Eren picked it up off the ground. "It belongs to-"
"The Huntsman. He did this."
Li Ren and his wife were the first people to learn what happened at the Fritz farm. When they walked to the farmhouse to pick up Nora and their son, the husband and wife found three children running up to them, crying for help. Cinder explained what happened at the house while Eren showed the flask as proof. When Ren told his parents that Nora was missing as well, An began to panic.
Li took action by telling his wife to take the children back home. In the meantime, he would go find Marcus Black with a few other men and figure out what was going on. When they found nothing at the Black household, everyone knew that he was involved with the kidnappings. The mayor was quick to organize a search party since the majority of the town volunteered to help.
When they search party left, one of the unanimous decisions was leaving the children behind.
"Dammit!" Eren yelled as he punched a wall. "How can they just leave us here?!"
"They must have been gone for almost an hour," said Cinder, who sat in the corner. "That means they haven't found anything yet."
"And that means we're wasting time," said Ren, who sat at a table by himself.
Eren turned back to his friends. "So we all need to do something. Right?"
Cinder nodded. "Nora and Ms. Fritz have always looked out for me. If they need my help, then they deserve it."
"I abandoned Nora once," Ren said as he stood up. "I promised that I wouldn't make that mistake again."
"Good." Eren pushed the door open and ran outside. "Let's go." He suddenly bit into his hand.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Cinder cried out.
Eren stopped his transformation and turned around, leaving his hand to bleed from the bite. "What?" he asked in annoyance.
"Don't just transform!" Cinder argued. "That's not going to help us now."
"Why not?! We can cover a hell of a lot more ground than everyone else could!"
"We know we can go farther than the adults. But we don't know where to go."
"Cinder's right," said Ren, who stood behind the young girl. "They could be anywhere, and we don't have time to guess."
"Well, what do you think we should do?!" Eren asked, growing impatient.
Ren suddenly had an idea. "Do you think you can... track them?" he asked. "My father once told me that some Grimm can track whatever they're hunting."
"I tried that once," Eren confessed. "The night we looked for more Grimm to bring outside Kuroyuri. It didn't work." Eren looked at the blood falling on the ground, seeing it was black. He was confused at the sight, but ignored it in favor of going outside.
"Where are you going?" Cinder asked, watching the blood quickly falling to the ground.
"To find Ms. Fritz and Nora," Eren said as he stopped walking and turned around. "You two coming?"
"But what are we going to do?" Ren asked, concerned about his friend's willingness to act without a proper plan. "We have no idea where to go."
"I know."
"And he could be working with other people."
"I know."
"You're thinking about going outside without any help, or weapons, just relying on-"
"I know!" Eren clenched his fists as he continued to scream. "I know we don't have much, but that hasn't stopped me before! I've done things with my Titan that helped my friends back home, and I know there's something I can do right now!"
Cinder was about to stand in between Ren and Eren to calm them down. She too wanted to go with Eren, but they needed some idea of what to do, since Titans may not help against a Huntsman. But before she did anything, Cinder saw something growing from the ground, right next to Eren. "Ummm... Eren," she called out.
Eren seemed to ignore her as he continued to make his claim. "But if you're worried about not having anything to use, Ren... I can make you a Titan too."
Ren's eyes widened as he backed away. "Wh... What?" he asked in disbelief. He had been curious about the Titans before, but he never imagined becoming one. "Eren, I don't know."
"I know, it sounds crazy. But maybe the Titan you'll have can help us! Maybe it can track them or find out where he went!"
Cinder continued to see the growth occurring by Eren's feet. "Eren," she called out again.
"But what about my parents?" Ren asked. "If they found out, I'm not sure an explanation will help us."
"What about Nora? Wouldn't you do it for her?"
"I... I-"
"You told us you ran straight into danger to keep her safe. She needs you, Ren. She needs us all."
Before Ren could say anything else, Cinder put a hand on his shoulder and pointed at Eren's feet. "Eren!" she cried out.
Eren finally looked down and saw what Cinder was pointing at. Growing by his feet was a black pool, the water stagnant and black. Before anyone could ask what it was, a black claw shot out of the water and clutched the soil. It remained still for a few moments before another claw came to the surface, doing the exact same thing.
"Get inside!" Eren yelled as he ran to the door.
Ren and Cinder followed Eren inside. Once he closed and locked the door, they all moved to the window to see what was going on. At the moment, the Beowolf was simply roaming the ground. The puddle of water that it came out of began to disappear. After a few minutes, it moved towards the door.
Eren looked down to his hand to see that it was still bleeding. "When I tell you to run, you run to the backdoor," he said to Ren and Cinder.
"What are you going to do?" Cinder asked.
"I'll have to fight it if it comes inside."
Ren stopped Eren from doing anything by pointing at the Beowolf. "No, wait," he said. "What's it doing?"
Eren observed the Beowolf sniffing a part of the front porch. After sniffing a few more times, it turned its back to the children. It then began to sniff more, moving further from the farmhouse.
"..."
Eren, Cinder, and Ren were dumbfounded by what they were seeing. The Beowolf looked like it was tracking some kind of scent it picked up, which was exactly what they wanted to do earlier. Eren pointed to it and was about to ask if it really was tracking Nora and Ms. Frtiz. But just then, he saw that his hand was still bleeding from the bite he made.
"Guys... I think I made that Grimm," he said, noticing how his black blood from being a Titan was the same black as the puddle they all saw. "And I think it wants us to follow it." Eren began to open the door, but Cinder put her hand on his.
"I think that's crazy," she said.
Just then, the Grimm stopped smelling the ground. It turned around and walked a few feet towards the house. Growling and moving its head to the direction it was previously moving in, it seemed that the Beowolf was calling out to the children like a dog would.
"It does!" Eren said as he opened the door. "It wants us to follow it!" Running towards the Grimm, Eren watched it sniff the ground and move away once again. "Come on, let's go!"
Cinder and Ren reluctantly walked out of the house and towards the Grimm. Running to catch up to Eren, the three took off away from the house and followed the Grimm.
However, unknown to the children, someone else had felt the new discovery of power. And he had just watched one of his own Grimm take orders from a human of all people.
"...Impressive," said the God of Darkness. "Most fascinating."
"I must say Marcus, you've done it again. You caught quite the catch. With a body like that and those noble looking features she'll definitely sell well at the auction."
Marcus took a drag of his cigar, exhaling a cloud before bringing the Scroll back up. "I don't mess around when it comes to the job. Especially if it pays good. Speaking of which you better not forget my 'Capture Target Alive' fee is higher than the regular. After all, I usually get paid to silence people."
"Not to worry Marcus, you'll get your Lien. It will be transferred to you at the drop off point."
"It better. I'd rather not spend another minute longer in this skeleton of a village," Marcus grumbled as he flicked the remnant of his cigar away. He then turned his attention over to the side of the room, whimpers filling the air. "By the way, what should I do with the brat? She wasn't part of the original hunt."
"Ah yes, the young one. That was definitely unexpected. Not to worry though, one of my... colleagues likes them young if you get my drift."
Marcus chuckled. An ugly smile forming over his scarred face "Loud and clear. Just to let you know, if I do that then it will cost extra."
"My colleague will gladly pay the price for what he will no doubt see as an 'exquisite beauty' in his own words."
"As long as he pays then I'll practically gift wrap her for him with a pretty bow on top," Marcus said, the smile on his face growing wider when he heard the girl's distressed whimpers grow louder. "Tell your contacts I should arrive in a few hours."
"Pleasure doing business with you, Marcus."
"And a pleasure doing business with you too, Councilman."
Marcus closed his Scroll and pocketed it before marching over to the bound and gagged duo. "Who'd of thought that the higher-ups in Mistral were some kinky bastards." Marcus tilted his head as he nudged Nora with his foot, the poor girls cries muffled by the cloth gag. "It's a shame that you had to go and be a hero. I hope you ready for your new life as a toy."
"Don't touch her!" Dina shouted, unable to move due to her bindings. "Your supposed to be a Huntsman! Your supposed to protect people! How could you do this?!"
Marcus tsked. "You still don't get it do you?" Suddenly Marcus whirled around backhanding Dina, a loud smack echoing throughout the shack. Dina fell on her side with a yelp of pain. "Being a Huntsman is merely a cover, a means to an end. An easy disguise when I'm on the job. Did you really think I would waste my time in a death wish of a profession? Fighting an endless fight?" Marcus knelt down and grabbed Dina by the chin, turning her head to face him. "No, the idea of me being one of those weaklings makes me sick. Instead I do what I want. And right now, what I want is a nice fat paycheck by selling you and the girl on the Black Market."
Suddenly, growls were heard from outside. Marcus groaned before standing upright "Seriously? Now of all times?" Marcus turned towards the other occupant in the room. "Mercury! Keep an eye of them. I've got some pest's that need exterminating!"
"..."
Mercury only nodded, his head bowed and eyes to the ground as he heard his father walk past him.
When he heard the door slam shut, the boy flinched and released a breath he didn't realize he was holding in. It was always like this. Always getting dragged along on his father's "jobs" all so he could, in his father's own drunken words, "Gain experience, along with a spine" for when he "takes over the business" when he gets older. There were times when he learned a few things, mainly about fighting and taking a hit.
But Mercury still hated it.
He hated the beatings disguised as training. He hated being dragged into his father's messes. He hated being forced to having to get his own hands dirtied. Surprisingly, the one thing Mercury hated most of all was hearing people cry and beg and having to watch them die. He never got used to the sight, even though he learned to hide his shock under a slightly sarcastic attitude. There were times when he got beaten black and blue for trying to show compassion and kindness to people like a decent human being and then being called weak for it. So he dropped any sense of compassion a long time ago.
In its place was a hollow hole in his heart, which had started to eat the boy's soul.
"...Why?"
Mercury turned and faced the woman, Dina if he recalled her name right. "Why are you going along with this?" she asked. She had tried something like this back in Marley, before she was turned into a Titan. The only difference now was that she had faith that she could get through to the poor child. "It's obvious you don't want to do this. Or even be here. So... why?"
Mercury heard that same question about a hundred times. At first, he would apologize and try to offer some relief. But now, he simply said it as it was. "It's pointless, doing the opposite of what he says," he dryly spat. "And even if I do say no... he'll just beat me 'til I change my mind."
Dina frowned. Her heart ached for the poor boy. He shouldn't have to experience such awful things at such a young age, just like Cinder and Eren didn't need to have their experiences in Atlas. Her mind wandered back to the children, how they must be worried sick about her.
That's when she had a thought.
If they knew she was gone, they might use their Titans to find them. Marcus Black was still a trained warrior, he could stand his ground for a little while. But in the end, would never survive the fight.
And neither would Mercury. But he didn't deserve to die.
"It's not too late," she pleaded. "You can still make the right choice."
"If you think I'm letting you go, think again," Mercury replied in a monotone voice.
"I don't care if you release me. But please let Nora go!" Dina begged, her voice cracking and tears welling up in her eyes. "She's already been through enough pain. Please don't let that monster do this to her!"
Mercury turned away from Dina and looked over to the bound and gagged girl. He flinched when he saw her look his way, tears streaming down her face and whimpers escaping her. He reached a hand out to her, only to flinch and retract it back to his chest.
This was actually the first time in a while since he felt like this. And this was also the first time he went on one of his dad's missions that involved someone his age.
He wanted to make sure she didn't get hurt. He wanted to so bad.
But it would be pointless. Just like he said.
If he released her, then the drunk he called his dad would know it was him. Meaning the beating he would get would be far worse than normal, considering it would mess up his 'job' and therefore how much he is paid.
But as he looked at Nora, Mercury began to see something other than a scared little girl. He began to see... a reflection. He saw what she was going through, and how it wasn't different than what he went through. Maybe... helping her would be... helping him too?
As Mercury was lost in thought, creaking sounds came from behind him. He perked up and turned in the direction of the sound, only to release a cry of surprise when something tackled him to the ground. Mercury would be able to throw the person off easily, if it wasn't for the burning sensation he was feeling on his arms.
"If you touch my family again, I'll burn you even more," a female voice threatened.
"Cinder!" Dina cried in relief. Pinning Mercury down was a haggard looking Cinder, the sweat glistening her brow and her heavy breaths making it as if she just came from running a marathon. "You found us!"
"Not just me," Cinder said as she gestured to the side of the room. Emerging from an open window came the forms of Eren and Ren.
"Nora!" Ren cried, his eyes wide with worry as he ran over to the bound girl. He reached down and began undoing the ropes binding her wrists. "Hang on, we'll get you out of here!"
Eren walked over to Dina, kneeling down as he brought out a knife to cut her bindings. "It'll be fine, Ms. Fritz," he promised. "The whole town knows the Huntsman took you and Nora. He won't get away with this."
The Beowolf had led the three children through a long walk through the woods. Everyone was tired, sweaty, and ready to drop. But their spirits were renewed once they saw that the Grimm had led them to a large cottage, sitting close to an open road. Once the growls alerted Marcus Black, everyone was able to sneak inside.
"We better hurry," said Cinder, who was beginning to lose her grip on Mercury. "It won't be long before-GAH!" Cinder was cut off when she was struck and pinned against the wall by what looked like a bar of black energy.
"Cinder!" Ren and Nora both cried out before they to were struck and pinned by the same energy.
"What the-UGH!" Eren was cut off when something struck him in the head sending him sprawling to the ground.
Behind him stood Marcus. An angry scowl on his face as he took in the room before him. "Mercury..."
"Dad, I-GRK!" Mercury gagged when Marcus's fist suddenly buried itself in his gut. Spittle and bile escaping his mouth.
"You had a single!"
*BAM*
"Simple!"
*BAM*
"Task!"
*BAM*
"And you couldn't!"
*BAM*
"Even do that!"
Mercury cried in pain, falling to the ground. His nose bent and broken, blood trailing down his face. Bruises already beginning to form on his face and other parts of his body.
Marcus took in a deep breath before looking back down at his son "I'll finish with you later," he said as he turned and faced the kid he struck who was still regaining his bearings.
"How... did you...?" Eren was still confused as to how this man could perform three different feats at any time. First the fire, then sending Grimm into the sky, now this? How was it possible?
The false Huntsman began to laugh. "You wanna know something?" he asked. "I hate Semblances. They're a crutch. A weakness. One that people, especially Huntsmen and Huntresses, tend to see as the key to fights. It's what ends up getting them killed." Marcus turned his gaze over to the ribbons of black energy pinning the other children against the wall. "But even I have to admit that sometimes it becomes necessary to use, no matter how much it makes me wanna puke. This particular Semblance I took from a poor drunk bitch who tried picking a fight with a superior opponent."
Eren looked up at Marcus, fury in his eyes. He tried to speak up but was cut off with a gasp when Marcus grabbed him by the throat.
"This was supposed to be an easy job. Get in, get the bitch, then get out and get my pay. But you! You brats just had to go and play hero!"
Marcus suddenly threw Eren towards the door, which was destroyed on impact. Eren was motionless on the ground, causing everyone in the house, save for Marcus and Mercury, to call out his name.
The assassin began to laugh as he walked outside. As he did, Eren began to move. "Save your strength, boy," Marcus said as he raised his leg. "Or... are you really a boy? I'm a little confused, given that 'Erin' is usually a girl's-"
Red lightning suddenly began to form around Eren's body, spreading across the soil and causing the ground to rumble.
"Wha-?"
An explosion knocked Marcus back towards the cottage, where he hit the wall and fell to the ground. His Aura blocked both the explosion and the crash, leaving him with a very limited supply. But Marcus was caring a lot more about the tall monster that stood in front of him, looking down and forming a fist. Once the fist began to make his way towards him, Marcus ducked out of the way and let the fist destroy some of the cottage.
At this point, Cinder and the others were freed. Ren cut Dina's ties and helped her get as far away from the house as possible.
"There's a road over there!" Dina yelled as she held Nora's hand and ran. "We'll come back for Eren once the fighting stops!"
Cinder and Ren stopped running as they turned back to see Marcus begin to run fast up a tree and jump towards Eren. He was very close to the back of his neck, and Eren was both covering it and trying to grab the assassin. Looking back at each other, they had the same idea.
"No, you and Nora go!" Ren yelled back.
"Eren needs help!" Cinder said to Dina. "Who knows what else this guy can do?!" They both took off running towards Eren.
"Cinder, Lie, no!" Dina ran towards them, but a falling tree blocked their path. With few options, Dina picked Nora off the ground and ran.
Marcus continued to climb up Eren's back, trying to shake the black tar off his hands. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled as he yelled. "What the fuck is this shit?!" Suddenly, he had the idea that he didn't need to keep climbing. He had enough Aura to use his Semblance once more, to steal this giant for himself.
As he placed his hands on the Titan's back, Marcus began to concentrate. At the same time, he imagined what it would be like to take on this monstrous form. He would be on top of the world, he would kill anyone easier than before, and he would be able to-
Marcus suddenly realized something was wrong.
Opening his eyes, he saw that he was using his Semblance. It usually took five seconds, five and a half tops, to steal someone's Semblance. And yet, he had been using his Semblance for ten seconds.
After the fifteenth second passed, Marcus stopped any further attempts. Then, he began to think. He thought that either this kid was a special case with his Semblance, or... this wasn't a Semblance at all.
*BOOM*
A familiar explosion from behind him caused Marcus to turn around and see another giant walking towards him, this one more feminine and holding a ball of fire in her hand. This distraction allowed Eren to finally grab Marcus Black off his back and hold him in his hand. Cinder let out a wave of fire towards him as Eren threw him in the air.
But Marcus' foot was still on Eren's hand, which allowed him to quickly run once again, narrowly avoiding the fire. Once he was back on the ground, he attempted to make a new strategy.
But his attention was lost when a rock hit his head.
Ren began to throw any rock he could find, a few of them hit the assassin while others hit the trees behind him. Ren's goal was to distract him long enough for Cinder to launch more fire, and it seemed to be working.
But in a flash, Marcus ran towards Ren and grabbed his throat, bashing his head into a tree. Cinder's fire stopped as she looked at the situation her friend was in.
"Alright, enough with the giant monsters!" Marcus called out, his Aura shattering. "Or I'll break the kid's neck!"
Cinder growled as she prepared more fire.
"No!"
Everyone turned to Eren's Titan, who had his hand stretched towards Cinder. "Do what... he says," he ordered.
Cinder looked back to Marcus, who tightened his grip on Ren's neck. Reluctantly, Cinder lowered her hand. Then, she kneeled down with Eren, who began to exit his Titan. Cinder followed suit as Marcus stood and watched. "Okay, then," he said as he slightly lowered Ren. "Let's talk."
"Talk?" Eren asked. "What do we have to talk about?"
"Oh, I don't know. Let's start with... how you can do that? I know it ain't a Semblance."
"I have a better idea. You let our friend go and we let you and your son walk away."
"Heh." Marcus looked at Ren and tightened the grip, causing Ren to choke out a soft yell. "I don't think so," he said as he looked back. "You're gonna tell me how I can do what you just did, then I may let him go."
Eren was growing angrier by the second. He knew that the assassin had no intention of letting him go. He also knew that he and Cinder would need a plan B.
Fortunately, Cinder was thinking two steps ahead, as she began to talk. "What are you going to do with it?" she asked.
"A little of this, little of that," Marcus answered. "Steal whatever, kill whoever. I'll tell you what, things are looking brighter for me."
"What about your son?"
"...What about him?"
"You've kept him around this long. Don't you think he'll want it too?"
"He ain't getting shit until he learns how to be a man."
"And what is he now?"
"Someone who can't even keep two bitches in line. Weak."
"I don't know, he was about to throw me off his back a little while ago. He might be stronger than you think."
"So he can push a girl off his back. So what? Do you have a point, girl?"
"I'm only saying I don't think he's as weak as you think."
"The day he gets strong is the day I get a TV the size of a billboard. And I don't see any TV here. So let's get back to-"
A sharp pain in his side caused Marcus to stop talking and drop Ren onto the ground. Looking down, Marcus saw his broken and beaten son holding the end of a knife. The blade was in the man's side.
"AH, SHIT!" Marcus yelled as Mercury pulled out the knife.
"What's the matter, Dad?!" Mercury yelled as he prepared to thrust the blade again. "I thought you wanted me to be strong?!"
Marcus caught the blade and kicked Mercury in his gut. Once he rolled on the ground a few times before stopping, Mercury looked up to see his father step hardly on his leg.
Cinder took this opportunity to run over to Ren and help him up. Eren singled for Cinder to get him out of here, as he was prepared to finish the false Huntsman once for all.
"You know... if you had stabbed that nagging brat... I bet I would have been proud," Marcus said as he stepped on Mercury's leg and kicked his other one. Mercury screamed as the pain in his legs intensified as his father stepped on them over and over again. "But now... I'm gonna do... what I should have done nine fucking years ago!" He quickly turned back to Eren. "And then it's your-!"
The scowl on Marcus' face disappeared when he saw three Beowolves crawling out of the ground. Once they were out of the ground, the Grimm all walked over to Eren, who had his eyes locked on the assassin.
"Let's see what else I can do with these things," Eren thought as he looked over to one creature. "...Sic him."
Cinder and Ren met Ms. Fritz and Nora outside the house, where Nora let go of Ms. Fritz to run up to Ren and hug him. As he hugged her back, Nora began to cry into his shirt. Cinder joined his efforts to comfort the poor girl. "Are you okay, Nora?" Ren asked calmly. "Are you hurt?"
Nora let go of Ren and dried her eyes. "Why does this keep happening to me?" she asked. "What's wrong with me?!" She suddenly pushed past Cinder and cried some more.
"Nora, it's okay!" Cinder said as she walked behind Nora. "We're going home, we'll be-"
"I can't!" Nora yelled as she turned around and cried even more. "I can't keep doing this anymore! I can't pretend that everything's okay while I wait for things to get worse!"
Cinder's heart began to break, as a symbol of true happiness and joy was transforming into despair and depression. Before Cinder could try anything else, Nora took of running towards the tree and continued to cry. The footsteps behind her caused Cinder to turn around and see a heartbroken Ren and Dina.
"Ren, what's wrong with Nora?" Cinder asked. Normally, she would assume that being kidnapped would upset anyone. But Nora's last sentiment had Cinder believing that there was something else that made her so depressed. "What is she talking about?"
Ren sighed deeply as he looked at Nora. "It's... something she's told me before," he confessed. "Before we met, Nora's mother ran from the Grimm and left her behind."
Dina gasped as she looked back to Nora. "Oh, Nora," she said with enormous sympathy.
"And she used to think the Grimm attacking the town was her fault, that bad things happen to her and everyone she's around. I think... she might blame herself for Mr. Black kidnapping you."
"But that's not true! He took her after he broke into my house."
"I can try to convince Nora that it's not her fault. But it might be hard." Ren began to walk over to Nora, even though he had no idea what to say.
"Wait a minute," Cinder said as she walked up behind him. "Can I help? I have an idea."
"Sure."
The two children and Dina walked over to Nora, who was still crying against the tree. Ren was the first one to speak. "Nora?" he asked. "I think we'll be going soon. Do you-?"
"Go away," Nora said as she moved away from the tree. "Just... go home without me."
"Nora, we're not leaving you." Ren moved closer. "Mother and Father want you to come home too. We'll be back home, in our room." Ren began to smile. "If you don't come with us, who am I going to share my pancakes with?"
Nora looked to the ground as she giggled. But then, her smile disappeared. "I... I can't. I don't want something bad to happen again. And I don't want it to be my fault."
"Nora, none of this is your fault," said Dina. "We can talk more on the way home. Please come with us."
Before Nora could answer, Cinder suddenly moved in front of Dina. "Nora, I heard a song that makes me think about why your idea won't work," she said. "Would you like to hear it?"
Nora looked up from the ground, slightly curious about Cinder singing again. The last time she heard Cinder sing, it easy the most beautiful thing she ever heard. And if she was going to leave, it would be nice to hear her sing once again. So Nora nodded, and Cinder began to sing again.
"You're not alone.
There's no doubt.
Your gift isn't futile
To be."
Once again, Cinder's singing was beautiful. Ren and Dina were baffled by Cinder's performance, and it had only just begun. Nora had told Ren that Cinder could sing, and An had told Dina what she heard from Nora. But neither of them could have imagined Cinder's voice was that of an old soul, yearning to be heard.
"If we'll be united,
We're stronger together.
We always have the high hope.
Not all for one but one for all."
The words Nora listened to were not only beautiful, but surprisingly meaningful. Cinder was telling Nora that she didn't need to be alone, she didn't need to think like she was. Cinder wanted Nora to be stronger, and the only way to do that was if she stayed with them in Kuroyuri.
"Don't worry 'bout a thing.
We'll reach out to you.
Even if it's a harder way,
It's plain to see the reason why.
Oh, that's all because of the mighty heart.
Remember it's just natural that we'll be there if you need help.
Far across the distance, rest assured that our faith just won't die."
Cinder stopped singing once she felt Nora hug her. Relaxing into the hug, Cinder believed that Nora had gotten the message she wanted to share. And she was not only glad that she heard that song on the radio the farm's hired help was listening to, but that Nora was able to say one other thing. "You're right. Thank you."
Cinder and Ren both hugged Nora and stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. But nobody seemed to mind. They were just glad the nightmare was over.
And it got better when Dina looked down the road to see two small figures walking towards them, one of them being helped to walk. "Eren!" Dina called out. She then rushed over to the tired boy.
Eren laid the injured Mercury against a tree and looked back to Dina. "Ms. Fritz, are you-?" He stopped talking when Dina pulled Eren into a hug and tihgtly embraced him.
"We were so worried!" Dina yelled as Cinder, Nora, and Ren joined Dina and hugged Eren.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Eren said as everyone backed away. "But he needs help." He pointed over to Mercury, who was grabbing one of his legs.
Nora's eyes widened as she backed away in fear. "Wha... What?" she asked. "But... But he-"
"Helped us," Eren finished. "He's part of the reason why we're all back here." The cuts on Eren's face began to heal and the steam began to disappear. "He doesn't have an Aura, he can't even walk. We gotta do something."
Cinder looked back to Mercury, along with Ren and Nora. "His dad really hurt him," she said.
"He really helped us?" Ren asked, unable to remember what Mercury did to his father.
"Yeah, he did." Eren walked over and picked Mercury up again. "If you don't wanna help, fine. I can take him back home." As he walked away, he failed to notice the other children looking at each other, sharing each others uncertainty.
Dina, however, was the first one to walk behind Eren and help him with the injured boy. Everyone else followed shortly after.
"How bad is it, doctor?"
"Not bad at all. You two are gonna do just fine."
Dina and Nora were sitting in a small room with a Faunus with deer antlers. At the moment, the Faunus had just finished looking over Dina and Nora's bruises and rope burns. And he had just pulled out two small bottles of aloe for his patients. "If the rope burns hurt again, just put a little bit of this on," he advised.
"Thank you," said Dina. "Are they here yet?"
"They just walked in." The Faunus turned to Nora. "You're all set, young lady. Your family is waiting outside."
Nora smiled as she jumped down off the medical bench and opened the door. On the other side were Ren and his parents, who smiled at Nora and led her outside. With that, Dina looked back to the town's doctor. "What about the boy?"
The doctor sighed as he held the door open for Dina. "Well, it's him that I'm worried about," he confessed. "The bruises on his chest and face I could work with." He walked down the hall towards another door. "But his legs... they were worse than I could have ever imagined. His kneecaps are shattered, his tendons are practically hanging by a thread, his femur and tibia in both legs have multiple cracks. I'm surprised he was able to stand when I first saw him."
Dina didn't know all of the medical terms the doctor was speaking in, so she decided to see what all of it meant. "Can you do anything for him?"
"...I'm afraid we don't have the equipment for something like this. What the boy needs is surgery. After that, well... it'll take him years before he can walk properly again. I can arrange a flight to Mistral, but I'm afraid that's all I can do."
"I see. Thank you, doctor."
Dina opened the door to see Eren and Cinder sitting next to a bed, where the broke and beaten Mercury was resting.
Well, trying to rest.
The painkillers for his legs had begun to wear off, and the pain was returning quickly. Eren and Cinder looked at him with pity, but in different ways. Cinder's plan to provoke Mercury to finally stand up for himself had worked, but it came at a terrible cost. Eren blamed himself for not doing anything sooner, even though his father couldn't hurt him anymore.
"Eren, Cinder."
The children looked up at Dina and both ran up to her. "Are you okay, Ms. Fritz?" Cinder asked. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, thanks to you two," Dina said with a smile. "I think I owe you a big apology. I guess you can do some good with those Titans after all."
"It's okay," Eren said with a neutral expression. "It's good we're on the same page."
"Speaking of..." Dina looked at the poor boy on the bed. "What do you think of Mercury?"
"It's my fault," Eren and Cinder said simultaneously. They suddenly looked at each other and said the same thing again. "No, this was my-" They stopped talking again. Turning to Dina, Eren asked a different question. "Can we help him?"
"The doctor said it'll be a long time before he'll be able to walk again. He'll have to stay in Mistral for a while, but we can try to visit him from time to time."
"Good," Eren said. "We owe him that much."
"-with temperatures rising in the nineties, its seems that summer has come early for Mistral this year. Back to you, Tony."
"Thanks, Linda. And in other news, the Grimm activity in the city of Argus has continued to rise, with numbers reaching into the fifties. I've... never heard anything like this before. What appears to have started as a minor pack has grown into a swarm of all kinds of Grimm outside the city. Atlas soldiers have been able to hold them off, but they just keep coming. Nobody seems to know why or how, but something about the hybrid city has drawn more Grimm there each day. Local Huntsmen and Huntresses are due to arrive at the end of the day, hoping to figure out-"
"Arthur."
The television behind Arthur Watts abruptly turned off, leaving the disgraced scientist to continue his conversation with his new master through the jellyfish-like Grimm. "My apologies, ma'am," he said with honesty. "As I was saying, my studies here have come up with nothing. I've run every search pattern, every type of analysis. But there's no conclusive evidence that the Grimm you're looking for ever came to Argus."
"You are sure of this?" Salem asked calmly.
"Beyond any doubt. The mess it left behind at Atlas gave me a hint on what to look for, and I've found nothing like it here. Are the other Grimm having any luck?"
"None. When they're not avoiding the military presence, they've been trying to track my creation. Like you, they seem to have found nothing."
"And brining one of them into Argus, while possible, would result in a death faster than the one they're finding outside the wall."
"So it would seem." Salem put a hand to her chin. "Would it be possible for you to return to Atlas? It may have left something behind."
"Studying in Mantle wouldn't be a problem, but Atlas? Too much of a risk. Perhaps you could send that Faunus of yours... Tyrian, I think."
"Perhaps. Carry on, I will contact you shortly."
The image of Arthur Watts disappeared, leaving Salem with time to think. After his arrival to her abode, Salem had done nothing but obsess over her creation. She was still feeling over the fact it had escaped her grasp and that she could do nothing to find it.
Her efforts to pry information from the Silver-Eyed Warrior had done nothing but try the witch's patience. No matter how hard she tried, how much pain she put the woman through, Salem was unable to find any link between her prisoner's power and her creation's rebellion. So she put aside further interrogations until after she found the Grimm she created.
But each and every attempt to do so had resulted in failure. The Grimm in Atlas were able to follow its tracks to the ocean, where the trace disappeared. But the worst part was that the creation hadn't captured just her attention.
According to Watts, the people of Argus had heard that General Ironwood had recently begun his own search for the monster. His army had just been ordered across the globe to find any trace of the beast. And Salem wouldn't have that.
For the first time in a long time... Salem had no idea what to do.
All that she knew was that she wouldn't rest until her creation was either back in her grasp or it was destroyed. Once that challenge had been completed, the witch would begin to conquer her next obsession; Ozma.
Author's notes: really sorry for the wait, been super busy. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it wasn't easy to write. Please leave your thoughts in the comments, hearings from you is always a pleasure. See you next time!
