Eren watches as Pixis explains the situation, but his mind is stuck on his dead brother.
He doesn't understand why he didn't do anything, he should have done something, but he knows he couldn't have done anything, he's still weak.
The sudden rise of Pixis's voice startles him, surprised by the loud shout from the go lucky man.
"Attention!"
"These here are blueprints of the Trost Recovery
Operation that is about to commence." His voice echoed across the area making everyone stand straight.
Everyone looks towards the blueprints showing a hastily drawn up plan. Most not being able to truly comprehend what the diagram is asking of them.
"That is where this fellow comes in." Indicating to the anxious Eren.
"Allow me to introduce Cadet Eren Jaeger." Eren can feel the unimpressed looks but he endures for Harry.
"Don't let appearances deceive you." Apparently even Pixis sees their expression or can sense it.
"This young man is in fact the successful product
of cutting-edge science." Using the cover Armin geniusly provided.
Eren knows Harry would've been proud of Armin.
"Does everyone recall the massive boulder roughly a league from the gate?" as if anyone could forget such a thing.
"The plan is for our soldier to assume his Titan form, using said titan form, Cadet Jaeger will hoist the boulder on his back, schlep it to the hole, and voila!" The man finishes as if it's a simple task.
"And this is where you all come in." The seriousness reminds him of a scolding Harry which makes his heart ache.
"Your job will be to defend him." Pixis chuckles at the disbelief
"Yes…"
"…You're going to be defending a Titan against his own kind, I know it's a hard task to do." He ends solemnly.
"But!"
"Should we succeed, we'll make history!" Pixis Exclaims spreading his arms out.
"Today is the day! that the lands that have been taken by our greatest enemy! will be reclaimed!" The heartfelt shout is met with silence.
"Now, it may seem to be an insignificant plot of land compared to the vast tracts of the former glory
That has long been abandoned." He says knowing the minds of his men.
"But as a symbol!"
"As an idea!.."
"….That we aren't hopeless, that we aren't cattle!" The hearts of the men swell as they feel the passion billowing from their commander.
"Trost being regained shall stand as a reclamation of pride and hope beyond measure!"
"A leap greater than we have ever taken!"
'I can do this' Eren knows everything is riding on his shoulders, and he just hopes he can accomplish it.
———-
Why can he see Harry and himself talking to a blonde man?
'Where? Who's the girl in the distance?' The thoughts filter through him as he watches what only confuses him, he can see Harry speaking to what looks like-
"Eren! I know you're in there!" Mikasa's desperate voice knocks him into the present.
"Snap out it!"
" Come on!"
"We need you!" The shouts of his comrades enter his ear.
"Get out of there mikasa!" Eren doesn't understand why they are scared for Mikasa, he would never hurt her?
"What the hell?" He hears as he swings his arm wondering why he's doing that?
"You tellin' me the kid was a regular Titan all along?" No he is Human!
"Our job now is to keep the others off him until he can be recovered. Whether we like it or not. He's still our last best chance." The resigned voice of someone makes him remember his task, he has so many people riding on him, he has to prove to himself and to Harry that he's not useless.
"We're not about to abandon him. We're expendable. He isn't."
'Wait! No one is expendable!' Eren shouts in his mind when hearing that.
Harry, hell even his mother taught him everyone has value and no one is worthless.
'That's right, of course.'
'I have to fight so others can live!'
'I have to fight for our freedom! I'm the only one who can do it' if they're going to risk their life for him, then the least he can do is fight for them.
With that he releases a roar.
Armin watches as his best friend finally breaks out of his funk and picks up the boulder, blue eyes marveling at the strength of the Titan before him.
"He came out of it somehow!"
"We're set!" Armin feels relief despite the lingering despair of Harry's absence, he hopes Harry is a miracle worker like Eren.
He's determined to see the mission through to the end!
"As long as we've got his back" mikasa starts
"while he heads for the wall," Armin's adds
"victory will be ours!" They both finish with elation.
———
Harry taught Eren that they are all born free.
'All of us.'
His titan roars with the screaming of those who die for him to accomplish his task.
With each scream extinguished he pushes himself forward using their deaths as a reason to fight.
'Are free.'
"Some don't believe it. Some try to take it away." He remembers Harry telling him.
"To hell with them!" He roars out the words of Harry.
"Water that is so hot it's like fire. Mountains of ice as far as the eyes can see. The gentle but powerful waves of the Ocean, and all that jazz." The lazy drawl of Harry enters his mind.
"Once you lay your eyes on that, once you see how small you truly are in the grand scheme of things, only then will you know what freedom is, the freedom of knowing that you're nothing in a cosmic scale, but still being able to say 'screw that I can make myself something'."
'it's worth fighting for!'
Fight to live! Risk it all for even a glimmer of real freedom!
The sight of a man getting his head bit off only fuels him.
'It doesn't matter what's waiting outside the gate'
'or what comes in.' His mind whispers snidely.
'It doesn't matter how cruel the world can be! When the world doesn't do anything for you you fight for yourself!'
'Fight! Fight! Fight!'
"Fight!" He roars out, the word unintelligible from the bad enunciation.
He heard Armin's shout that there's still one ahead of them, and with the boulder he can't do anything.
"I'll take care of it!" Mikasa starts but before she can a shout passes by her.
"Out of the way! We've got this"
Two soldiers fly in front of the titan with a battle cry using the mobility of their gear to catch the titans attention, diverting the thing out of their path.
"Go!" The shout of the man is interrupted as Eren roars unknowingly, sending a jolt throughout everyone in hearing range, sending them into an adrenaline high.
"Fight!" He roars but within the chaos no one buy mikasa and Armin hears the word what little they could make out.
———-
The steam dissipating off his face is still disgusting to him even after three years, despite the fact that nothing remains he still feels dirty.
Having just saved the three brats, with them being too preoccupied with cutting their friend out of a Titan, it's not the weird sight that shocked him, more so the fact that the boy seems attached to the thing.
he's saved a couple people by slicing the stomach open if they were lucky, or unlucky depending on the thoughts of being swallowed alive.
The lines on the brats face only make it more fucked up.
"This is the part where you explain to me exactly what
it is, I'm looking at?"
He almost snorts at the stupefied face of the blonde.
'Wait' he remembers them.
they were by Harry as he exited for the expedition, unknowingly his gaze sharpens making his already intimidating figure all the more.
"Oui, you brats gonna answer me or not?" Levi isn't a patient person, while he wants to inquire of Harry he has more important things to worry about like the Titan boy in front of him.
"Sir! W-we are cadets who have been tasked with plugging the wall, using the power from Eren's, who is the one unconscious, newly discovered abilities. Commander Pixis is-"
"Shut up." Levi quips, not really caring, after hearing that an official is overseeing.
'So this brat can become a Titan?'
"Only Harry" he can't help but mutter amused that one of Harry's little cherubs, Harry's words, is an anomaly.
He wouldn't put it past the oblivious idiot to not see that he had a Titan boy under his nose; he can't wait to tease the man when he finds him, hoping to rekindle.
He notices their grief stricken faces as they hear him utter their adult figures' name, making something in the back of his mind itch.
"Tch, blonde brat, what's the problem?" He growls out
at their tense faces
"Sir, you wouldn't happen to be the temperamental shorty H-harry mentions often are you?" The meek voice stuttering over Harry's name, the wobble making an unease grow.
'Shitty mop head is only two inches taller'
"Yeah…" he growls before reigning himself in, they're just the messenger of the nickname.
"Do you know where he is? I have… something to tell him" he ends lamely, contemplating on whether to rekindle or choke his ass.
Maybe both.
"Uh. I- he-" the blonde stutters out making his mood worse.
"He's dead!" The quiet one who hasn't relaxed from her protective stance, keeping watch.
"What" he says in a deadly voice.
"H-he didn't get out of the colossals range quick enough and got swept up, we, Eren is so beat up about it-"
Everything blurts after those words escape the blonde's mouth, he doesn't know when he regains himself but when he does he finds that he is in front of a cracked mirror, in his bleeding fist is a cravat that Harry gave him.
he hopes his blood doesn't drip onto it.
————
Levi with apathetic eyes on the other side of the bars as the brat whimpers from a nightmare or something, he doesn't really care.
he just wants to get this shit over with.
"Wha- where am I?"
"Tch"
"As you can see, it's a dungeon." Erwin starts.
"You're currently in the Military Police Brigade's custody, and we've only just received permission to see you."
"Tch, look brat we need to know whether you're a threat to us or not?" Levi cuts in ignoring the warning look from Erwin.
"Uh-" the intelligent response from the shitty brat makes him scowl, his brow quirks when he sees the boy looking for something.
Levi watches as the boy starts rattling his chains when he notices that Erwin is holding his key they found on him.
"Where'd you get that?" The boy shouts, making Levi hide a wince.
"Off of you."
"Don't worry, you'll get it back."
"Let's talk home. Specifically the good doctor's
cellar back in Shiganshina. Pretty big secret
in there, right?"
Well Erwin never beats around the bush.
"Let's say, about the Titans?" The boy tenses in his view.
"Yeah. I think so….That's what Dad said anyway." Eren says after a second.
He can tell it's not an act but he needs to make sure.
"Must suck having your dad and your memory MIA at the same time."
"Unless, of course, that's just a cover story I know you like those" hinting at his knowledge of Harry ignoring the questioning gaze from both of them if he doesn't connect the dots it's not his problem.
"Enough." Though the stern look makes him debate, the man knows more was said than a jab.
"We've been over this already. We know he has
no reason to lie."
"And that's all we know." Levi snarks, unable to help himself.
"How 'bout you shed a little light on things for me by telling us your intentions." The blonde skillfully ignores his subordinate.
"M-- My what?" He can feel the genuine confusion.
'Tch, the brat acts just like that mop head' he really hopes the man isn't dead, despite the claims.
"What do you mean?" The boy asks, breaking him from his thoughts.
"Here's the lay of the land, my friend." Erwin bypassed the question and changed the topic altogether.
"If we want to pay your dad's cellar a visit, we have to venture back into Shiganshina, while also sealing the breach there as we did in Trost." The man starts.
"This is the smart way to go about it, don't you think? Naturally, we'll need your special powers. Any way you slice it, a Titan's deciding our fate." The man states slightly amused before growing serious.
"It's been conjectured that the Colossal and the Armored Titan are more or less the same as you."
"That's why I ask about your intentions." Levi watches as the boy shivers under Erwin's gaze.
"They could be the key to turning the tide forever." He hears the man mutter before addressing the brat.
"You could save us."
————
A certain silver eyed man stops on his stroll as the pulse of something he's not felt in years fluctuates towards him, when the familiar feeling of the magic registers he feels a turmoil of emotions as the connection he hasn't felt from his dear pup springs to life.
The bond had been unable to connect until Harry's body fully stabilized.
"Sirius?" Someone asks.
"Sirius, did you feel that too?" The voice of Zeke makes him finally break out of his reprieve
The only thought on his mind is
'Harry'
————-
Levi slams his foot into the obnoxious brat, if he's using the brat as an escape for the agony at finding out that Harry didn't make it, well only he'll know.
He can't believe the annoying shit is really gone, just when he was getting the courage to rekindle with the shitty mop head.
Life hates him.
"S-stop! Isn't that a little harsh?" The voice of Nile stammers out.
Kicking his heel into the back of the boys head he sneers at the man.
"Didn't you want to dissect him? You'd have him executed? Why care about the boy's condition now?"
Emphasizing this by kicking the boy in the ribs, mindless of his pained whines.
"Yeah-h but what if the boy transforms!?" Is the elegant reply.
"What were you gonna do about that when you're dissecting the boy? Do you honestly think you could stop him?" Punctuating the words again by slamming his heel on top of the boy's skull keeping his face against the floor.
"While your lot couldn't, I can, so I'm offering to keep him under my supervision, if he so much as slips out of line I'll end him with my blades personally" he states digging his heel into the boy's head.
"You can't go in there, it's a private trial!" Levi along with everyone turns towards the commotion, wondering what's happening now.
"I don't give a fuck, now get the hell out of my way!" Levi hears the voice he thought was gone, making his heart pound.
The doors fly open with their own accord but the figure stepping overshadows the weird happenings, for most in the room.
Harry seems to be different, yet the same in Levi's eyes, he can feel a certain aura on the man that wasn't there, no wasn't as strong.
His green eyes glowing with an untold power, the solf expression on Harry's faces turns into a fierce scowl as he registers Levi standing over Eren with his blood spilling on tbh floor, Levi can barely hold the wince in as the static-like crack zips throughout the room, as he steps in.
"Harry!?" Mikasa, and Eren cry out in shock, feeling relief both at knowing he's alive and, knowing Harry will solve everything.
"Har'hi" Eren's muffled voice makes Levi take his foot off, mentally wincing when he sees Harry's eyes zero in on the beaten brat, particularly the chains on him.
He backs off not wanting to provoke Harry more than he already has, he knows this is necessary, but the wrath of Harry can make even him shiver.
A/n:
Sorry I'm having some writer's block.
So it took a little to get this out.
What happened when Harry went into the paths?
How will he react to all that has transpired? What will he do since he brashly barged into a trial, will he play a mask or will he be inspired by Eren and be himself?
Will Levi be in the dog house?
How will Erwin react to this mysterious new figure he's only heard rumors of?
Has Levi told him anything?
I think after this chapter I'll stop using the transcripts as a template sorry if that's annoying I just needed a little bit of canon setting