A/N: Tbh I just kind of got bored for the past few weeks, but I'm back now! This chapter's going to be more of a reveal chapter, particularly about Evangelica, but there is a small fight.
Goku257: I will make sure too!
Guest: Thanks for the compliment!
Clash of the Titans III: Understanding
"Hajime Azumabito? I've never heard of you." Alto said.
"Of course not. I 'died' two thousand years ago. Long before the Walls were even a thought in the 145th King's mind." He said,
"Wait, wouldn't I be able to see memories from you though?"
"The problem with memory viewing is that the farther back it is, the harder it is to view. Why do you think the Eldians still kept written records even with paths?"
"Okay…" Alto placed a finger on his temple, "Who are eldians? And there hasn't been an 145th King."
"I'd tell you, but unfortunately I don't have time."
"So what can you tell me?" Alto asked,
"That it's time for you to decide what to do next."
"What do you mean?"
"For some reason, the Paths have chosen to bind our souls together, and I've used that connection to monitor you, whether it's due to our atavism or Ymir just fucking with us, I don't know."
Alto chose not to pursue the fact Hajime has been stalking him, and focused on the more pressing question, "What do you mean what should I do next?"
"Way I see it. This goes down one of several ways. (A) You take charge. Overthrow the Reiss family, and kick Reiner's and the other's ass. (B) You let Eren take charge. And believe me, that will not go well."
"Why specifically Eren?"
Hajime sighed, "Any observer can see that the fate of the walls depends on what you two decide to do. You're the only ones with the power to change things for the better."
"I see." Alto thought, "Is there any more information you can give me?"
That was the last thing Alto said, before everything went black again.
When he woke up next, he was looking up at branches and leaves. 'What the hell...was that real?' He stood up, only to be greeted by a sharp pain of stabbing in his abdomen. "Fuck!" He hissed,
"You're finally awake." Alto looked up where he was surrounded by people standing in the trees around him. Only the ones he knew about had ODM gear.
"Welcome to the land of the living sleepyhead." Ymir said sarcastically, "Makes you wish you were dead."
"Ymir." Alto said, "Who are these people?"
"That's right. You don't know this whole island is a big bird-cage don't you?"
'Birdcage?' Alto wondered, 'There's a lot Hajime can't tell me I suppose…'
"What the hell?!" Eren shoot up, wide awake. "Where am I?!" He looked down at his arms, trying to get them out of the cloak tied around them. When he did, he was hit by a burst of steam and the sight of...well no arms. At least not from the elbow down.
"Yeah...sorry 'bout that." Reiner said, "I was in a rush, not a perfect job."
"To be honest, none of us are in any better shape." Alto lifted up his shirt, revealing a chunk of flesh ripped out.
"So...I lost huh." Eren said. He looked up at the group of Warriors and their escorts with a look of cold hatred. He raised his arm to prepare to bite -
"Don't try it." Ymir said boredly, "Won't work."
"What?" Eren said,
"Your body is still healing." Evangelica explained, "As long as it is, your titan powers don't work, as they're focused on healing your body."
"And take a look at where we are." Alto added, Eren did, only to be greeted by the gruesome faces of titans staring hungrily up at them.
"And more come by the hour." Alto continued, "Wall Rose and the Scouts are leagues away. This is solid titan country. I've already spotted two abnormals, both 15 meters, our size. And plenty of small ones. We aren't fighting our way out of this one without some serious back up."
"And you're forgetting about these chumps. First, we got the shifters. Reiner, Evangelica, and Bertholdt, all in full gear. Then there's that quadruped and monkey man Zeke over there-" She pointed towards a golden-haired man, who sneezed suddenly. "-Next, we got these guys." She pointed to the four men in uniform, "They work with them, but aren't shifters. Nonetheless, they've got guns. Make any sudden movements and suddenly we get turned into swiss cheese."
"As long as we're like this-" He motioned to his and Ymir's injuries, "-we're fucked. So quit being a dumbass. We might actually learn something here,"
"Hey, power trio!" Ymir called, "We're all up now. You said you'd start talking."
"We're going back." Evangelica said simply,
"No shit Captain Obvious."
"Back? Back where?" Eren asked,
Evangelica ignored him, "We'll wait for nightfall to move. Pieck will run in and snatch us out of here once done."
"Why stop at all?" Ymir asked, "I don't get it."
Surprisingly, Alto answered. "We don't have unlimited reserves of energy. No matter how much you train or how good you are with titan powers. They got tired, obviously."
'Damn, so far nothing very helpful has come up aside from the fact their friends' names are Zeke and Pieck.' Alto thought, 'Ymir seems to know things. But she isn't spilling, at least not yet.' He decided to think deeper, and look at things outside of the situation at hand, 'Why come here in the first place? What's the endgame?'
"So what's the point?" Alto asked, "All this, five years of living on this 'birdcage'. Why?"
Evangelica said nothing, and Reiner and Bertholdt turned away.
"Alright then, keep your secrets." Alto shrugged, 'Wait. They came from beyond the walls right? And the existence of those four other men, who don't seem to be shifter indicates there's some form of society out there…' Alto closed his eyes, 'What could I possibly want from a hermit kingdom if I was a leader of a belligerent nation.' Then it hit him. In hindsight, it was so obvious it made Alto want to laugh.
"The Founding Titan?" Alto threw out there, Evangelica gasped. Reiner raised an eyebrow, and Zeke adjusted his glasses.
"So it is the Founding Titan then." Alto laughed, "I see, it makes sense now."
"Founding titan?" Eren asked, "What the hell is that?!"
Alto shrugged, "You wouldn't understand. It's an inside thing."
Eren was getting angry now, "Don't fuck with me! If you know something, you need to talk about it!"
"The less you know, the better alright?" Alto shot a cold glance at Eren,
"On a side note, those Titans at the castle had no problems with moving at night. What's stopping these guys?"
"The titans here can't move around at night." Reiner explained, "But then..you should know all about that Ymir."
'Wait a minute, how come Ymir and Christ- no Alto can transform into titans? It didn't catch either of them off-guard like it was for me…whose side are they on? Why can't they tell me anything?! Everyone here has their own ace up their sleeve while I'm stuck playing Jacks!'
30 minutes later
"Reiner, got any water?" Ymir asked, "Help me out here,"
"Sorry, not a whole lot the bunch of us can do. Our supplies are elsewhere."
"That helped a lot." Ymir said sarcastically,
"Speaking of which-" Evangelica mentioned tiredly, "We've been working our asses of here! No food, no sleep, jack shit!"
Bertholdt raises his head, one of the Panzer Unit soldiers raised an eyebrow.
"I know," Reiner complained, "Ever since those titans showed up yesterday…"
This time, even Ymir, Alto, and Eren picked up that something was not right here.
"All I can say is that we're sure as shit lucky the wall hasn't been destroyed." Evangelica reclined, crossing her legs and lying flat on the branch.
"Still, we deserve a break or something! I mean, come on. We deserve it. And promotions!"
"Don't even go there man." Evangelica shook her head, "I've spent two years in the Corps. Two years! And what do I have to show for it? Not even a medal, I just got bumped into a commissioned officer two months ago."
"...what?" Zeke looked up from a book he pulled out, the mood suddenly became awkward.
"Thank you! We've done our fair share of heavy lifting. I don't think it's too much to ask."
"Yeah, it's just nice to be acknowledged for once…"
Bertholdt's face turned from surprised to sad. As Ymir said, "You bang your head or something? What the hell are you talking about?"
"M-miss Tybur?" One of the Panzer Unit said tentatively,
"Don't give me that 'miss' crap." Evangelica rolled over, "I'm a Leutnant."
"Oh come on Ymir! I'm not saying we storm HQ and demand the rank of Captain or something,"
"No..that's not what I mean."
Reiner ignored her, "By the way, where'd that cannon come from? I owe you one."
Ymir breathed out, pieces slightly beginning to click together.
"You know, do you guys think me and Krista could be a...you know. Thing?"
Evangelica gagged, "Are you well? That's like asking a cow and a frog to do it together."
"Speaking of, how's your relationship with Ambros huh?" Reiner turned to her, "Have you guys...you know-"
"Don't even finish that sentence. Or I will throw you off Wall Rose myself."
"Snappy snappy!" Reiner huffed
"What the hell…" Eren stood up, "…is wrong with you two?"
"Huh?" Reiner and Evangelica turned to him,
"What are you so pissed about all of a sudden? Did I say something?" Reiner wondered,
"Loosen up Eren. I know you're all 'Kill all Titans' and all that. But we're just talking."
"Oh yeah?! Keep it up and I'll be the one throwing you into Titan country!"
"Hold it." Alto said, he put a hand in front of Eren.
"I think...these two have run off the deep end." Ymir smirked, "Is that what this is Bertholdt?"
Suddenly, the entire group focused their attention on him, his guilty face sold it all.
"If you know something, now would be a really fucking good time to lay it down on us. I don't know about you two, but I don't feel very comfortable having a wacko as a prison guard."
"Reiner...we're not soldiers for Eldia anymore." Berthold whispered quietly, but Reiner picked up on it anyway, "You and I...we're Marleyan Warriors."
"The problem with memory viewing is that the farther back it is, the harder it is to view. Why do you think the Eldians still kept written records even with paths?"
"Okay…" Alto placed a finger on his temple, "Who are eldians? And there hasn't been a 145th King."
'This is it!' Alto leaned forward, this was the long awaited slip up.
Reiner gasped shakily, Evangelica suddenly sat up, her hands covering her face.
"I...remember..That's right. I'm a Tybur." She nodded, "Right? That's who I am."
"Honestly, that girl...is so crude!"
"I hear she's going off into the Warrior Unit because she's so unmanageable."
"Not very fitting of a Tybur."
"I would've disowned her by now."
"Finë, I'll take you out for tea one day, so hold on until then, okay?"
"Okay!" A small blonde haired girl smiled up at her
"I'm a Tybur…" Evangelica stood, "And no one can tell me otherwise."
Reiner sat back down, "Right...that's how it is." He put his face in his hands,
"I think it all adds up now." Ymir smirked, "These are the same people who broke the wall, killing 1.5 million people, yet at the same time, these two risk their necks on an almost daily basis to save their 'comrades'?"
"It's like their personalities are split." Alto added, "They contradict each themselves at every turn. One one hand, they're Warriors intent on eradicating humanity, on the other, they're pretending to be soldiers. But eventually, all the death and destruction they'd caused got to them, and the only way to survive, to manage their conscience and keep moving forward...was to fall for their own act."
"Their hearts and minds are at war, and looking at Bertholdt, this isn't the first draw between the two. This is...split personality, they've completely lost it." Ymir laughed, "Wow! I'm surprised! The stoic princess has completely lost her grip on reality-"
In a flash, Evangelica had jumped down from the branch, and socked Ymir in the face. "You bitch!" She screamed,
"Damn, I hit a nerve huh?" She laughed, Evangelica lunged for her, but Eren pulled her back and punched her in the gut.
"Where the hell do you get off by playing the victim huh?! What the hell was going through your sick little heads when you heard about my story?!
"You...don't understand shit!" Evangelica coughed, kneeing Eren in the gut, causing him to fall backwards,
"You don't understand being told you should've never been born!"
She kicked him in the ribs,
"You don't understand living in someone else's shadow!"
She kicked him again,
"You don't understand being truly alone!"
Eren stood up, and grabbed Evangelica by the collar before throwing her to the ground.
"I told you three everything!"
He punched her in the face
"You don't know what it's like to lose family!"
He punched her in the gut,
"You don't know what it's like not to measure up!"
He punched her again
"When I told you my story, the three of you looked me in the eye and fed me sweet words of bullshit! What. Were. You. Thinking?!"
"I felt...sorry." Evangelica said at last, "I felt guilty. But I knew I had to keep going."
"Oh." Eren dropped her, "So you're not soldiers. Or warriors." Eren turned towards Reiner and Bertholdt,
"All of you...are just murderers."
This time, Reiner snapped, "Do you think...I don't fucking know that?!" Reiner shouted at him, "None of us need you shoving that down our goddamn throats!"
"So then stop being pieces of shit and acting like victims! Are you fucking proud of yourselves! This is a hell you people created! You can pretend all you like but you're not one of us! You've never been and never will be! You're not even fucking human!"
"You want us to feel bad?! Want us to sing you Kumbaya?! Want us to take the blame?! Guess what! The people you thought you knew don't fucking exist, they were paper facades, nothing more! But hey, if screaming and beating people up does it for you, then scream and fight your fucking head off!"
Both of them panted, out of oxygen.
"You idiots done yet?" Alto said coldly,
"...What?" Eren stared at him, "How can you act...so calm?"
"Grow the hell up, Eren. People die. Did they deserve it? Probably not. But it happened. We're fighting a war here. At the end of the day, we're all fighting, and we all handle our actions in different ways."
"I'm done." Eren yelled, "What do you know?! What do all of you know?!"
"Eren, if you think killing these morons is going to put an end to all this, you're sorely mistaken. You really think Reiner and them are working alone?"
"But then...who's the enemy?!"
"The enemy? That's about 100 years of history, if I told you about it things would get too complicated too quickly-"
"Ymir!" Reiner appealed, "There's no future here and you know it."
A/N: So, a bit more has been revealed about Evangelica. As shown, she'll be alot like Reiner in the fact that poor parenting and societal standards led to her becoming a Warrior, and a desire to prove herself plays a large role in her actions. But she also differs from him in the fact that rather than being forced to become a living weapon, she chose to be one to earn the approval of high society.
It's also finally come down to Ymir making a choice about who she decides to side with in the end. That will come out tommorrow.
Fandom link: the-official-flare-titan .fandom. com
(remember to remove odd spaces between the link. The dashes remain though)
