AN: I am so, so, SO, sorry for the lateness. Personal issues and writing combat combined make a potent combination. The fact that I had to expand the chapter more to provide you all a real look at what is going on really takes up the time. But now I'm here and the show goes on. If my apology isn't enough, have this enormous 10k+ word chapter as recompense.
Onto the Battle of Trost.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Sersi cannot tell whether the thumping was of her own heartbeat or the Titans' terrible footsteps.
For her, time slows to a crawl. The noise and the colors seemed to be a blur, blending together in patches of unidentifiable motley, clouding her vision. She wants to faint, to lose consciousness…
But she can't. She's still staring right at it. The nightmare known as the Colossal Titan is still real, flailing its arms wildly around the top of the walls. Far behind it, Titans of various sizes and grotesque shapes are starting to realize the gate has been breached, and are now lumbering, towards the Colossal's feet, to the broken gate behind it. What can she do?
She failed them.
The images stay blurry as the noises grow louder as she feels herself being hoisted up…
"...ersi, SERSI!"
Something hard and flat slams itself against her right cheek, snapping her out of her delirium.
"SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Sersi returns to reality as strong hands hoist her up. The harsh voice belonged to Thena, who mere seconds ago had backhanded her hard enough to make her see stars.
"Never in my 7000 years of hunting Deviants did we back down from a fight with them. Are we backing down now?"
Dazed and confused, Sersi says nothing, still half-lost.
"Are. We. Backing. Down?" Every word sounded like an axe grinding on a whetstone.
"No." The reply was shaky. Thena's eyes soften immediately.
"Then look at that," the warrior maiden points to the walls, where the Colossal Titan continues to wreak havoc. "Despite unfavorable odds, you know humanity within the Walls will fight. They will fight with all they have and they will lose." Thena's gaze bores through Sersi, whose back becomes more straight. "If we are not there."
Sersi takes in her words with the gravity they deserved. She wanted Thena to slap her again. She had fallen to despair while the denizens of Trost and the Walls at large fight for the right to survive, to live, despite the insurmountable odds.
"By your command, we have followed you this far." Thena continues, her voice forceful. "What will you do now?"
Determination returns to Sersi's eyes. "I will fight the Deviants. I will save humanity."
Pleased with her answer, Thena steps back and places a fist over her heart. "Then humanity in the Walls will not die today." The rest of the Eternals incline their heads in respectful expectation. "Command us."
Sersi returns their respect with a curt nod.
"Makkari." The speedster perks up at the sound of her name.
"Full speed. Aim for the ankles."
The Eternal Prime could almost see a hint of sadistic glee in Makkari's eyes before she disappears, dust kicking after her golden cosmic trail. Seconds later, a sonic boom impacts the heel of the Colossal Titan, almost toppling it over the wall. The trail of light simply retreats and returns the impact twice fold on its other ankle, and another and another, turning to dozens of strikes, all in the span of seconds.
The day had gone from promising to being fucked up beyond all recognition in record time.
Eren Yeager feels unsatisfied. His unit had went from cleaning the cannons atop the wall to engaging the Colossal Titan, with him leading the charge.
Vengeance was right there… Right at the palm of his hand…
…only to disappear in a cloud of steam. The same way it had done 5 years ago.
He and his unit had been ordered to retreat to HQ, where they along with many others stocked up on their blades and gas, with orders to come.
He thought back to the "fight", or what counts as one, with the Colossal Titan. He swore he saw something strange…
Up close, the Colossal Titan was uglier than Eren thought.
The gate was already kicked in, with Titans immediately making their way over from the corner of Eren's eye. Barely did he manage to avoid the Titan's single swipe of its great sinewy paw, demolishing the battlements with the rails and the mounted cannons on it.
The bastard really does have intelligence.
Aiming a hook at the Colossal's upper right arm, he reeled himself in close with his ODM gear. The bastard either didn't notice or didn't care, still flailing away at the top of the wall. Latching onto its right shoulder, Eren bolts forward and past behind. Pivoting upwards, he sees his opportunity.
The nape. Wide open.
It's the only one capable of destroying the wall! If I can at least put this one down…
Attaching his hooks, he descends on it like a falcon, blades drawn like talons.
Mom, Dad, please watch me…
Suddenly, the Colossal lurched forward, as if tripping on something.
The sudden loss of target, combined with the Colossal falling forward, also threw Eren in the same direction. Flipped over and barely having time to react, he had only managed to barely avoid impact with the Titan's stone hard skull, instead landing on the fleshy upper neck. Anchoring himself firmly on the flesh with his swords and blearily looking around, he found that it had fallen on top of the wall. Its large body had fallen, arms and head draped on the wall, crushing everything under it.
It fell over or something…
Almost regaining his balance, Eren immediately loses it as the Titan loses more of its own footing, raising its head upright, causing him to topple over, the sudden movement loosening both of his hooks, causing him to freefall. Had it not been for him retracting and shooting his other hooks onto the Colossal Titan's upper back, he would have impacted the ground in seconds. Eren calms himself, trying to catch his breath. He looks up. The Colossal was nearly on its knees now. The nape is still there. There's still time for the killing blow…
Then he turns his head downward. His eyes widened at what he witnessed.
Through the heavy fog, flashes of golden light moving with unfathomable speeds strike the heels of the Colossal Titan from multiple angles and directions. With every crash, Eren could hear a small blast-like booming noise erupt. It was the cause of the Colossal Titan's sudden loss of equilibrium. He could not believe his eyes.
Whatever it was, it had propelled itself far faster than any ODM gear towards the Colossal's feet hard enough to make it fall over, and to run back and forth with equal speed, slamming itself into the weak point of its heel with equal strength as before, driving it further down.
What the fuck…?
He was struck in the face by a searing heat as he was thrown off, his hooks suddenly free as their anchor points disappeared. Steam clouds his eyes. He only manages to redirect his gas propellant forward, to the direction of the wall, attaching himself onto it as he came close.
The Colossal was gone, same as before.
As his friends came in flying to check on him, Eren couldn't shake off what he saw. He swore at the corner of his eye he saw the earlier trail of golden light bolt its way to the forest's edge afar…
"...ren, Eren!" Mikasa's authoritative tone snaps him back. He was back at the supply depot.
Eren was in the middle of filling his gas tank when he spaced out, damn near overflowing the thing. Armin was babbling something about him being utterly useless and humanity within the walls being destroyed before Mikasa shut him up too. Around them, their fellow cadets, only having graduated the day before, hurriedly gear up for their unexpected first day of combat. The air is rapt with adrenaline-fueled elation wrapped in a thick wool of despair.
Mikasa knelt down, hands clapping around Eren's face, holding him close, the boy straining uselessly against her iron grip. "Focus. I'm not losing you today." With that, she immediately releases her hold, before curtly departing from the two, out of the hall proper.
Annoyed, Eren continues preparing his ODM gear, fixing it on himself. No matter how hard he tried, Mikasa always had to bail him out. Always looming over his shoulder like an errant nursemaid. Why can't she let him grow up and be his own man? His mind, with the annoyance fleeting and now gone, returns its attention to what he saw instead of the task at hand.
That strange gold trail of light…
"Uh, Eren…" Armin's tentative voice came at his side. He too had finished putting his own gear on. "You're spacing out again."
"Sorry. A lot on my mind."
The blonde looks at his friend in worry. "What? Is it the Colossal? Facing it must be scary for you…"
"No…"
Armin narrows his eyes. "Then… what?"
"I… saw something today, Armin.
Something. The stress on the word worried Armin. He knew then not even the Titans, not even the Colossal that had haunted their nightmares since the fall of their home, could have spooked Eren this much.
He had to know. "What did you see?"
"When I was fighting the Colossal, it suddenly fell over the wall. Damn near threw me off it too…"
Armin narrows his eyes. The Colossal? Falling over?
"Could it even…lose its balance…?"
"NO! Armin! You don't get it!" Eren's voice returns, now even more frantic. "Something crashed into it and caused it to fall over!"
The blonde's narrowed eyes now widen to saucers. "What? That's impossible…"
"It's true. When I looked down and saw…" Eren struggles with his words. "...something had collided into the Colossal's heel. Hard enough to actually topple it over. It then came back… with astonishing speed… and struck the other heel." He recounts, voice shaking. "It nearly got the Colossal down on its knees, Armin. I saw it."
Armin's normally competent logical mind now ran thousands of thoughts per second, trying to make sense of Eren's story. "A… Titan? An Abnormal maybe?"
"No… it's small… human-sized," Eren recalls. "I think it's far faster than any Abnormal we've ever seen… even faster than our ODM gear or even our fastest horses… and when it runs, I saw a trail of gold light after it. I have never seen anything like that, even in my wildest dreams."
"That's… impossible…" Armin could not help but answer Eren's disbelief with his own. What manner of creature could travel at such impossibly fast speeds?
Armin's eyes light up. Unless…
Both boys fail to hear the stomping of boots on wood.
"Guys, you're the last ones left! Briefing's about to start!" Snapping their heads around, they see a familiar face, peering through the doorway. Franz Kefka's voice had forcibly removed both boys out of their deep thoughts. A quick glance around reveals everyone else had already finished with their preparations and are now quartered in the courtyard of HQ.
Oh right, they both thought. The brass are about to brief the situation and assign troops to various positions in defense of Trost.
Eren gives a half-hearted reply. "We'll be there."
"Hurry up!" With that, Franz quickly departs, leaving them alone.
"Well, this is it," Eren sighs as he rises to his feet. "Our first battle."
"Yeah…" Armin rises to his level. "We're gonna survive, like we always have done, right?"
"Let's hope so."
Armin packs his theories in as they both made their way out of the supply depot. There was nothing left but the battle ahead.
"Makkari, status report." Sersi's voice beckons no argument.
"I toppled it, I'm sure of it," Makkari signs with a grimace. "When I was sure it was down, I was about to make my way up its nape, where you said the shifter was… but then…"
"The steam," Phastos joins in.
"Yes," Makkari's fingers continued her report. "It suddenly erupted, violent enough to blind me and throw me back. When the smokescreen cleared, it disappeared. As if it was never there."
"Did you have any sign of the Warrior?" Phastos asks.
"No," the speedster metaphorically shakes her head. "They used the smokescreen to escape, I couldn't see. I'm sorry."
"It's alright." Sersi places an affirming hand on her shoulder.
"It's like these Deviants are surprising us every day," came Druig's voice. "Or someone's been giving you faulty information, Sersi."
"Not even Zuras could know everything about the Titans, Druig," Sersi responds, her tone measured.
"Stop." Came the commanding voice of Thena. She points at the broken entrance to the district. "The gate to Trost is down and the Titans are already on their way in. What's the plan now, Sersi?"
The matter transmuter takes a deep breath. This is now her moment.
"We can't fend them all off from the outside. Too many have gotten in. No matter how many we stop from getting in, those already inside Trost will decimate everything. We have to assume from the sheer number pouring into the gate that whatever defensive measures the humans have set up there have fallen."
"Wait, you don't mean…" Kingo realizes her meaning.
"Someone has to go into the thick of the Titans converging at the gate, cut open a path. Make space so that we could establish a base." Sersi states.
The Eternals look around. For a plan cooked up in the din of battle, it was sound…
"How are we supposed to do that?" Druig asks, positively intrigued. He had rarely ever seen this side of Sersi before.
"Makkari's sonic boom is strong enough to break bones. It will knock the Titans down and disorient them. While they try to recover, she'll come back to us to pick up someone who'll break the bottleneck of Titans at the gate." Her eyes scan her friends. "We need someone to go first. Any volunteers?"
It was a daunting task. Druig and Phastos need not show any sign for Sersi to understand their doubt. Knowing their mostly supporting roles, she does not blame them. The remaining two, Thena and Kingo seemed pensive.
"I'll go in first," Came Thena's voice, causing multiple heads to swivel in her direction. "Barring Ikaris and Gilgamesh, I'm the only one with enough combat experience to take multiple Deviants at once. I'll make the sortie and hack them to pieces."
Phastos immediately interjects. "Thena, we trust you, but…"
"I'm keeping my Mahd Wy'ry under control, Phastos," Thena's eyes were hard as steel. "After the incident at Zuras' home, I've been keeping to myself. Controlling it without Gilgamesh was hard already… but I must try. Something of far more importance is at stake today." She turns to her leader for reassurance. "But… if I lose myself to Mahd Wy'ry again… you all know how to stop me."
Sersi nods, Zuras' words on her friend's condition still nagging at the back of her mind.
"As for everyone else, after the situation at the gate has died down… relatively," she continues. "Makkari will take everyone in, one by one. Once everyone is gathered, I will assign roles to each respective Eternal as we begin our counterattack." All gathered share a nod at her words.
Sersi falls silent. Her heart is balanced between the creeping dread and the adrenaline-fueled excitement that precedes any battle. She looks at her friends again, her eyes scanning over them carefully. Once a proud fighting unit, they had been laid low by secrets, treachery and sacrifice.
She will not lose them again.
"Everyone, hear me," Sersi begins to speak. "I suppose all of us here remember Babylon. How we trounced the Devaint horde before it could break down the gates."
"Forget about Babylon." She continues, voice measured with determination. "For this is Trost, where the gates have fallen and where the Deviants have breached within. We look at Trost and think ourselves too late. But we are here, are we not?"
Several nods and muttered "Yeahs" was Sersi's answer.
"Then as long as there is breath in our body and fight in our hearts, Trost will not fall. Trost will never happen again. And as we Eternals live and breathe, this island will, for once, know peace. And its people will have their day, for they shall know freedom and know not fear."
Sersi receives their grim, silent affirmations with grace. She then turns to a certain member in red.
"Makkari!" The speedster snaps her head to the sound of her name. "Sonic boom. As big as you can. Take them out. Once you are sure they are incapacitated, take Thena in."
With a gust of wind, she takes off.
Sersi, arms folded, watches with trepidation.
The Walls' humanity will have their day. I'll make sure of it.
GATE OF TROST, GATE GARRISON
For Hermann, the day had gone from worse to even worse.
He was but a humble member of the Garrison, supporting with a wife and a child with the salary while welcoming another on the way. He was lucky enough to not get drafted for that utterly disastrous retaking of Wall Maria.
Now?
He was stuck loading and firing his cannon endlessly, grapeshot after grapeshot, as he and all remaining cannons lucky enough to be untouched by the Colossal Titan's rampage rained down on the unwelcome visitors of Trost.
All of it was made even worse when the grapeshot did absolute jackshit against the invaders, felling only some of them with lucky hits to their napes while only temporarily disabling others, which with their healing ability amounts to no effect at all.
And to top it all off, his commanding officer, though he has worked with Hermann for some years (they drank together often), won't stop screaming in his ear.
"Load in those grapeshots, MOVE IT!"
Another load, another shot, still no effect. The crowd of mutilated monstrosities simply took it and moved on, their wounds healing with every step.
Hermann cannot help but state the obvious. "This is… we're hardly doing anything at all!"
"Why don't you increase your rate of fire instead of cutting small talk, you idiot?! You have a wife and daughter within the walls, right?!"
If he ever survives this awful, no good day, Hermann is going to skip on drinks with his commander from now on. Bringing up his family? What an asshole. However, he can't help but respond.
"Yes! I don't wanna see Titans come any further in town! But… our cannon shots seem to have no effect!" Watching a Titan grow its entire head back from a cannon shot only reaffirmed his words.
"That's just the way it is!" His commander yelled back. "The vanguard team knew how to put them down, but they've been exterminated! FIRE!"
Hermann loads another shot, cursing inwardly. When will this nightmare end…
*BOOOOM*
A large boom followed by an equally large shockwave reverberated across the gate of Trost and beyond. The force of it threw Hermann back. His commander did not fare better: he was thrown back, rolling along several meters hitting the back of his head at the wall behind, knocking him unconscious.
"What the hell…?"
The loud booming noise had kicked up a lot of dust. Hermann, having made it back to his feet, could only peek over his battlements.
The Titans, strewn about and crippled by the explosion, were getting slaughtered by something. No, someone. The wet slicing noises, the dying yelps of the Titans were indication. Even from the dense smokescreen did Hermann barely make flashes of a strange golden light.
Only when the smoke cleared did Hermann get a clear look below.
His eyes enlarged at what he saw.
It was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Dressed in pale white armor with wisps of silver, her translucent cape flew behind her like a solidified gust of wind, with her pale blonde locks complimenting perfectly with her majestic appearance. Her presence seemed almost ethereal, as if she was not from this world. Around her, dead Titans lay about, slashed and hacked to pieces, already fading away into clouds of steam. Even more remarkable, she had done all of this without the aid of any ODM gear.
The woman turned her slowly to Hermann's direction. Her emerald green eyes, flaxen locks framed by a golden tiara radiate nothing but warmth. Hermann swears he sees a smirk form in the corner of her lips.
As the strange woman took off, traversing away in a nimble deer-like pace, Hermann could not help but let out a huge breath he had been unconsciously holding in. He does not know who this woman is, but his heart swelled with hope regardless.
Perhaps humanity will make it another day.
MIDDLE GUARD, DOWNTOWN TROST
*BOOOOM*
The loud booming startled everyone in Squad 34.
"What the fuck…?" Came Milius Zeramuski's voice. He looked as if he wanted to bolt.
There it was again, that noise.
"It came from the gate!" Exclaimed Nak Tiers.
"The Colossal… is it back?" Asks the twin-pigtailed Mina Carolina, causing the squad to erupt into fearful whispers.
As Armin, who was assigned to the same squad, tries to calm them down, Eren Yeager says nothing.
He was stunned into silence…
The thing that felled the Colossus… it made the exact same boom when it crashed into the Titan's heel. This time, only much louder. It was no coincidence.
He immediately reaches to the only other person he has told about it. "Armin… Armin!"
The blonde turns to him, exasperated. "Eren, what? Everyone's freaking out and I'm trying to…"
"Armin, remember what I told you about?"
Armin's expression was incredulous. "Eren," he begins. "Are you nuts? We're on duty and that's what you had to pull me aside to talk about? Get real, man!"
"No, I know it's here!" Pulling his friend aside, Eren insisted. "It made the same exact sound as the boom we heard! This one's just much louder…"
Armin puts both his hands on Eren's shoulders. "Eren, listen to me. Forget about it. The only thing that matters now is keeping alive in the middle of the battle!"
"Guys…what are you talking about?" The remaining Squad 34 members had ceased arguing amongst themselves and are now looking at their leader puzzledly. "Eren, what are we gonna do?"
The cadet in question stills. His questions still stuck at the back of his mind, Eren knows he needs to make a decision soon. No matter his curiosities, he had been appointed leader of the squad and he still had the duty to lead and protect them in this most unfortunate time. But he still has to know…
He turns to his team. "Squad 34, listen up! Our seniors are having trouble in the front guard! It falls to us to come to their aid and lend them our support!" His command rouses a round of cheers from the gathered cadets. As they prepare their departure, Eren feels a hand tugging at his arm. It was Armin.
"Eren, are you sure this is a good idea?"
Eren does not know. "I hope so…" He turns to Squad 34, all primed and ready.
"Right, Squad 34, FORWARD! Let's move out!"
"YEAH!" Raising their swords high, they prepare to shoot their hooks on command.
Watching Squad 34's youthful enthusiasm brings hope to Eren's heart. But his mind immediately returns to his earlier confrontation with the Colossus and the fast running… thing that brought the Titan down to its knees.
He knows what he saw and heard. It is here, he is sure of it. Whatever had felled the Colossus, could might very well be an ally to humanity…
If not their salvation.
"Ready your gas… deploy ODM gear!"
"YESSIR!"
With a unanimous blast of gas, Squad 34 quickly shoots off into the thick of battle.
Zooming past the buildings of Trost, the unit known as Squad 34 races towards the front. In front of them, their leader Eren Yeager bolts forward, eyes quickly scanning the new surroundings.
Something was definitely wrong.
The front line was gone. Where they once stood guard, Titans now wander around freely. Whatever happened to them was beyond the clear.
"They're incorporating us, the middle guard, into the front guard?" Was Nak Tiers' confused question. He was not wrong: many of the squads assigned with them have found themselves drawn to the front as the situation there worsened, passing their own squad by in the process.
"So many Titans already…" muttered Mina Carolina. From the corner of her eye afar, some of them are making their way deeper into Trost territory.
"What's going on? The seniors from the front guard throw their weight around a lot, usually…" Armin Arlert wondered similarly. He desperately wishes that what he fears most does not come true.
"Almost no time has passed at all… they all got completely wiped out." Thomas Wagner, known for his bluntness, finishes Armin's fearful musing for him.
Hearing the chatter of his squad mid-flight, Eren could feel his earlier enthusiasm drain away. I was optimistic about the whole thing… He thought. But this has gone way out of hand…
Suddenly, he senses something…
"TITAN!"
His sudden shout had splintered the formation, each fleeing in various directions. True to the warning, a Titan had slammed its head onto a building they were heading towards, its intended target being them. Eren tries to calm himself as he quickly does a head count of Squad 34. Mina, check. Armin, check. Milius and Nak, check and check.
Wait. Wagner. Where is he… oh, he went in front…
He went in front. Ahead of the squad.
No no no… it can't be…
Forcing his head to circle around to look at the Titan, Eren realizes now where Thomas Wagner is. The remaining members of Squad 34 realize it too.
The Titan had caught Wagner with its jaws.
Clamped between the lips and jaws of a Titan, Thomas whimpered as if he too could not believe this was happening.
That he is going to die.
Slowly, the Titan craned its head back, swallowing Thomas all while his whimpers grew into sobs as he slowly slid into its gullet, his sword at his side slipping from his grip as only his head was now poking from the monster's mouth. Thomas could only close his teary eyes and hope that his squadmates got away…
*SHLICK*
Something had split the Titan's jaw open at the side, with a slashing force so great that Thomas felt the rush of wind it created on his face. Loud, wet cutting noises erupted around him as he felt the Titan's jaws' grip on him loosen.
A hand tugged at Thomas' wrist, pulling his body roughly forward toward her form, a woman. A Scout? No…
"Hold on!"
Slung over the stranger's torso, he suddenly felt himself leaping through the air before landing down onto a roof nearby. Even half-conscious due to his injuries, he could catch a glimpse of his would-be killer, head torn apart with a visible cut in its nape as it slowly collapses in a shower of steam.
Feeling the tiles of a roof beneath him as he is laid down, Thomas blearily looks up at his savior.
Her platinum blonde hair, her gold crown, her odd white attire… caked in Titan blood, quickly evaporating into vapor. She looked like an angel, despite that.
An avenging angel, come to save humanity at its greatest peril.
But her eyes… They were so warm. On her hand was a spear made impossibly of golden light, still wet of Titan blood.
Kneeling over him, the strange warrior woman simply smiled. Somehow, to Thomas' fading mind, the smile itself outshone even the bright day sun.
"You alright?"
Thomas only managed a weak smile before his sight dims into unconsciousness. He allows himself to hope.
"Fuckin' hell…"
The Eternals could not help but agree with Druig.
The gate was the site of a bloodbath. Whatever defense the humans had put up at the front gates had been utterly decimated. Pieces of artillery and barricade once part of this defense everywhere, broken from the might of the Titans.
The destruction shown pales in comparison to the human cost. Torn and ripped apart, what was once humanity's front line now lay strewn across the front gate defenses as carrion for the crows. From half-eaten bodies to chunks of mangled flesh, some have the misfortune of having nothing but an arm or a leg being all that remains of them in the world. On the backs of relatively intact corpses, Sersi could barely make out a sigil of twin roses apart from the blood. It stung even worse in Sersi's realization that their only defense against the monsters were mere swords and musket rifles.
Standing on the bridge adobe the defensive moat, the remaining Eternals observed the carnage with grim disquiet. The scene was not much different from a village back home, devastated by Deviants, that they were too late to save.
From afar, a figure in white emerged. Maneuvering quickly across the field of battle, the two parties spot each other. It was Thena, fresh off from killing every Titan gathered near the gate. She waves at them.
Sersi waves back, as the warrior goddess ushers them quickly across the field. "We can't help them now. Let's go." Thena then points at an abandoned house. "I found us a spot."
Sersi, having used her transmutation to turn a section of wall on the house into paper, sequestered her Eternals quickly inside their new makeshift base.
"Before we start, I need to tell you all this," Thena begins the briefing, her voice grim. "The populace does not trust us yet. Expect some form of resistance. I had to dodge at least 5 cannon shots when I was cleaning up the gate."
The Eternals nod. They know well to have to earn that trust.
"Well, we're in," Kingo cracks his knuckles. "What are we doing now, Sersi?"
"Our objective, right now, is rescue and protect," Sersi relays her plan. "We are going to stop the overflow of Titans rushing in from the broken gate and save all humans from the field of battle. In doing this we will split into 3 teams."
Sersi points at two among those gathered. "Kingo and Thena: you're the assault team. Your task: search and destroy any and all Titans you come across, no quarter." She continues. "I and Phastos will play support to Kingo and Thena in terms of combat and overwatch."
"What about us?" Makkari signs in question. Druig agrees with her in the form of a shrug.
"Your role will be the most important: you'll locate and rescue any and all humans you can find. Even combatants. This fight we'll have to take off their hands. Too many have died."
The newly formed assault team nods at Sersi's assignment.
"What about us?" Druig brings up his point. "Don't think I'm gonna be of much help to Makkari while she snatches the humans up."
Sersi had anticipated this. She had seen Druig trying - and failing - to enter the mind of the Titan in Phastos' experiments. But she has an idea.
"Makkari has her role, as we all know. Druig, however," Sersi points out. "will be linked to her. Through the use of a Uni-Mind."
The silence settles in as the Eternals quietly ponder its use. There will be a time when the Uni-Mind will be utilized, but now?
"How will that work?" The speedster knits her fingers in curiosity. Next to her, Druig's tentative expression is slowly morphing into realization.
"Druig's powers will be greatly enhanced by the Uni-Mind. He will be telepathically linked to Makkari, and be able to direct her during rescue operations. We can alert him by invoking Makkari's name, whereupon he can hear us and immediately send her over."
The rest of the Eternals hum and nod in agreement. Phastos, the inventor of the Uni-Mind, hums in silent approval.
"I'm not doing it," Druig blurts out, causing the rest to turn their in his direction. "You all know what the Uni-Mind takes from us in return for that kind of power right?"
Fully expecting this, Sersi gently answers him. "Our regeneration… but while coordinating Makkari's rescue efforts, you'll remain here, safe…"
"What about Makkari?" Druig retorts. "Without her regeneration anything could happen to her and she won't be able to recover in time. You heard Thena. The humans don't trust us. If they already took shots at her, what's stopping them from going after Makkari? All this, while the Titans are still tearing this place apart?" His tirade was stopped by Makkari, the speedster putting a firm grip on his shoulder.
"I can take the risk," she affirms with her remaining hand. Turning her eyes to the rest of the Eternals, Makkari takes a deep breath before she continues. "When my friends are busy fighting off the Deviants, I have to save those unlucky enough in the way. It's all what I have always done. Please, Druig. Let me do this."
Druig's expression softens. Turning to his beau, he cups her face with both hands. "Don't die." She reciprocates the gesture by holding on to his wrists and nodding earnestly.
Seeing the matter at an end, Sersi inclines her head. "So, all in agreement."
She receives a chorus of nods.
"Makkari, Druig." Sersi turns to the aforementioned pair. "Establish the Uni-Mind."
With quick light steps, Sersi makes her way down the streets of Trost. She was no athlete like Thena, but her enhanced Eternal physiology ensured she was no slouch.
Encounters with Titans had been… terrifying, to say the least. Sersi quickly suppressed the shudder that ran up her back. The one used by Phastos as a test subject freaked her out enough, even when restrained. But the ones free roaming Trost?
They had given her much trouble. Sersi was lucky enough to evade the bigger ones, but the small ones were far quicker. Quickly escaping their clumsy attempts to catch her by transmuting their flesh, and then their nape into various materials, she felt herself snatched out of the ground by a much taller one. She had only wriggled her hands free using her own superhuman strength before slamming her hands on its own wrist, turning the entire arm into a mass of confetti as she fell from its wrist.
Hitting the ground with a thud, she caught herself. The Titan's grip was monstrously strong. It would have broken every bone in her body had it not been for her Eternal constitution.
It was here she found out that transmuted materials from Titan flesh dissipated anyway, as Phastos arrived to take care of the rest of the Titans with his arm blasters. After dispatching the tallest one with a blast to the nape, he quickly knelt next to Sersi, already pained from a rough landing, to check on her.
"You alright?"
"Yeah," She nods. "Go help the others. I can take it from here."
Phastos quickly took off in a direction with a blast from his newly created rocket boots. There was once a time a young Sersi wanted to switch powers with him. Technomancy always comes in handy, she thinks.
Making her way up a roof for better observation, her heart twists when she sees the sordid state of Trost, columns of smoke rising from many of its ruined buildings. The situation has not in any way improved. In truth, she and her Eternals had encountered very few humans since the beginning of their entry into the battle. The Titans are nothing but thorough in their savagery.
Eyes scanning the battlefield, she spots a group of human soldiers. Flying through the air in some kind of gas-propelling grappling hook harness, Sersi keeps a close eye on them.
Such an ingenious way of nimble maneuvering, combined with swordplay, she thought. So that is how they kill Titans here. Phastos would have a field day with their means of transport.
*CRASH*
She turns only to catch a glimpse of a Titan leaping. It rammed headfirst into a building, scattering the panicked soldiers. It was clearly aiming for them.
Sersi's heart lurches. She did not catch it in time. Her heart fully drops when the Titan pulls back, revealing one of the humans, whimpering and sobbing, trapped firmly between its lips.
The rest of the Eternals… they were not in her area…
A flash of white flits across the corner of her eyes before landing on the Titan's scalp, cosmic weapon already drawn.
It was Thena. Thank the cosmos.
After turning the Titan's head into a mess of sliced fillets, Thena takes the soldier and leaps over to Sersi's roof. As Thena laid him down, Sersi noticed the boy was no older than fourteen.
To enter the field, at an age so young…
"Thena, talk to me," Sersi kneels down next to the warrior. "Is he alive?"
"I pulled him out before the Titan could swallow him," Thena explains. "But the Titan bit down on him quite hard. Possible internal damage and bruising. We better call Makkari."
Sersi nods. As she prepares to call the speedster, she hears a rage-filled scream.
"LET WAGNER GO!"
One of the soldiers, who had avoided the Titan earlier, is now charging over their position, fear and rage clouding his senses.
Wait, why is he… No, we're here to help!
The soldier did not look below. A previously unseen Titan had swooped up, and tore his left leg out below the knee. He landed in a heap on the roof adjacent to the two Eternals.
Sersi did not think twice. She quickly leaped over the other roof.
Quickly surveying the damage, she recognizes the boy was in a bad state. He was exsanguinating badly from his stump, blood spilling freely onto the roof below.
Flipping him over, Sersi's heart further breaks as she realizes that he was at an age with the rescued soldier. This was obviously a regular occurance here. Sending children to war like this…
"Mom…?"
Sersi felt her own heart clench painfully. The boy, in the throes of blurred consciousness due to blood loss, thinks her as his mother. Only men at death's door think of their loved ones in their final moments.
Celestial willing, she will not let him die. Not today.
"No, my name is Sersi. I'm here to help." She affirms her identity. "What is your name?"
"E…ren…"
"Eren, I need you to listen to me carefully OK?" Sersi's voice takes on a motherly, affirming tone. "You are bleeding out very fast from your missing leg. I'm going to try and stop the bleeding. After that, one of my friends will show up and take you to your medics. Is that alright?"
He mumbled something she didn't hear.
Pulling the boy to her lap, Sersi removed two tiles from the roof beneath her. Transmuting one into a piece of wood and telling the boy to bite down, she quickly transforms the other tile into a rough wool rag, proceeding to affix it tightly around his thigh to stem the bleeding.
As she tied down Eren's stump, something caught Sersi's eye.
Why was his wound leaking steam?
To say Squad 34 was in a state of disarray was no understatement.
"Who… the fuck…"
"What the fuck are they?"
"They don't look like they are from within the walls… Maybe they're like…outsiders…?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Absolutely nothing lives outside the Walls! The Titans took care of that already!"
While his peers argue endlessly amongst themselves, Armin is lost. Even with the chaos raging around him, his mind drifts back to a time long past, when his grandfather was still alive.
"The end."
Armin's grandfather closes the storybook. It was the same story he regaled his grandson with every night.
The name of the story left little to the imagination: The Birth of Humanity.
Long before the time of the Titans, a group of godly beings descend on the Earth, with abilities beyond all imagination. For a time, they taught humanity of old farming, metalworking and writing. As they depart, humanity advances and creates civilization, forming various kingdoms and empires across the globe.
Then the Titans came along and destroyed everything, forcing humanity into three walls.
Armin was endlessly fascinated by his grandfather's stories. In a time where the despair caused by the Titans, even mere myths can be clung onto in search for hope.
"Will… they ever come back?" He once asked his grandfather, his heart full of childish hope. "To save us from the Titans?"
"I don't know, grandson," The old man pats Armin's head. "I can only hope they know of our suffering…"
Oh, right. He's still in Trost, this was his first day in active duty, and Eren got his leg…
Oh god, Eren.
It's still real. Eren's leg is still missing, and he is still with the strange Oriental woman, who is still trying to save his life. Not too far away, the blonde woman still has Wagner, not long after she…
…utterly destroyed that Titan to save his life.
They were real. The stories grandpa used to tell me… They were real.
"We're saved." The words escaped his lips unconsciously, as if a prayer.
"Saved by who?"
"Huh?" He turns to meet the worried grey eyes of Mina Carolina, who had already exited the terrified chatter of her squadmates. She quickly knelt down next to him.
Didn't she know the stories? "My grandpa… told me stories about them," Armin slowly explains. "Gods who descend out of the heavens to teach early humanity of the past how to survive. They left a long time ago…"
"And you think it's them…" Mina replies, apprehensive. She had heard tales of them in her childhood too.
"It has to be!" Armin suddenly sprung to, like a boat's sails being fed wind. "I know it!"
The blonde suddenly felt himself being yanked up by the fabric of his shoulder.
"Ya think?"
Armin's head suddenly snaps back as the boy fell roughly onto the roof tiles beneath him, nearly rolling off the roof proper. The culprit was a punch thrown by Nak Tiers, having ceased his arguing and partially overheard the conversation.
"NAK! Stop!" Mina screamed, holding both her hands up. "What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? What the fuck are you two doing, chatting about these outsiders that we don't even know anything about?" Nak yells at her. "When we're done with these Titans, trust me, they're gonna be next!"
"Wait! Armin may have a point!" The pigtailed girl tries to continue Armin's defense. "They've done nothing to us so far! What if they're here to save us?!"
"Forget him, Carolina! He's lost it!" Nak proclaims as he grabs a hold of Mina's arm, dragging her away from the still-downed blonde boy. "The Titan that took Yeager's leg is still breathing! Let's go, Squad 34!"
"YEAH!" Milius cheered, all while pulling a reluctant Mina with him.
They quickly took off from the rooftop towards the Titan, leaving Armin behind. Mina only manages to throw Armin a deeply apologetic look before taking off herself.
Face and head still buzzing from the haymaker Nak Tiers gave him, Armin slowly sits up. The other three are already off. It felt odd, but Armin did not care.
There was only one thing on his mind now: the odd outsiders with amazing powers who had all but stepped out of his grandfather's stories.
With a hiss of cable and gas, Armin took off with his ODM gear. He had to see them. He had to know what they are.
This was a mistake, thought Mina Carolina, her back slumped against the wall.
Nak and Milius' furious assault on the Titan that took Eren's leg was nothing but disastrous.
Nak himself was swatted out of the sky like a bug by a passing Titan on the way. Mina was sure he did not survive the landing. Mina did not know whether or not she should feel sorry for him, after the stunt he just pulled.
Meanwhile, Milius was snatched out of the air by the same Titan they had set out to kill.
Mina was not spared. Her own ODM wire was snagged taut and she was smacked into the wall of a nearby building as a result. Her head is ringing up a storm…
Now, another Titan has appeared. Bent over her, it looks like it was peering at something
Mina knows exactly what is going to happen. This is it, huh…
She did not resist when the peering Titan reached out with both its meaty paws and picked her up.
Everyone, I'm sorry.
*SPLORCH*
A wet explosion, followed by a shower of gore over Mina's face ended with her being dropped unceremoniously on her behind. Wiping the bloody filth from her mouth, she looked up with her uncovered eye.
The peering Titan had a whole chunk of it blown off its head, its wound spewing blood like a geyser while staggering around as if its balance was lost. Something - a light projectile of some kind - had pierced through the nape and the neck of the Titan altogether, decapitating it entirely. It slid over the wall, dead.
Mina could not believe her luck. Rubbing her face free of the Titan viscera as best she could, she turned over to the leg-eating Titan. It was an arm short, the arm holding Milius captive on the ground, severed. It was long before another projectile of light destroyed its nape with another red explosion as it fell, dead.
It was as Armin said. She was not so much a fool to not know her saviors were the odd outsiders who had saved both Eren and Wagner not long before.
She turned around again, this time to meet her savior.
He was tall, garbed in a strange purple-violet shaded armor. His caramel skin tone reflects the sun off of his flashy hairdo. His swagger was visible with every stride he took. Mina was positive he looked exquisitely dashing, in a way few humans can match.
Upon reaching Mina, his previous swagger disappears as he kneels down next to the girl.
"Are you hurt?"
Mina took a few seconds to catch her breath. "No," "this blood is not mine."
The man smiles. "What is your name?"
"Mina. Mina Carolina."
"I'm Kingo. Mina, we're here to help." The now-named Kingo lifts his head. "Phastos! How's the other one?"
Mina turns to see the second man. Far more heavyset than his companion, he adorns himself with blue-and-gold plated armor and has the darkest skin Mina has ever seen. On both his arms are ring-like contraptions, wrapped around his forearms like the barrel of a gun. Once kneeling on the ground to check on Milius, he waves to his companion.
"Wounded, but alive. Lots of broken bones. He needs treatment."
Kingo scrunches his brows in worry. "MAKKARI!"
Following the loud call, a loud whoosh, followed by a rush of wind, blows dust into Mina's face. The dust parts to reveal a brown skinned woman clothed in red. Noticing her sprinter's frame, Mina quickly realized that the woman had arrived by running. The larger man, Phastos, had already picked up the wounded Milius with care and placed him in the woman's arms. Holding the boy close, she took off again at an amazing speed.
Mina attempts in vain to run after the woman holding her friend. "Wait!" She loses her footing and is caught by Kingo. "Where are you taking Milius?"
"Makkari is one of us, she's taking him back to the rear to be treated by your medics," Replies Kingo. "He's in no condition to be fighting. You shouldn't stay here either.
Mina widens her eyes. This is my duty! This is what I was trained for!
Her willingness for it however, fades quickly as it comes out of her mouth. "W-wait! I can still fight…"
"Shush. This is our fight now." Phastos comforts her with a hand on the shoulder. "When you go back to your commanders, tell them this: The Eternals are here to save Trost."
The woman, her name revealed as Makkari, appeared as quickly as she had left upon being called. Seeing Mina frown in confusion at her strange hand movements, Kingo translates for her. "She's saying: Ready when you are."
Mina stills. She's not going to be in the front anymore, dying in the mouth of a Titan. She's the one being saved.
Stepping towards Makkari, she turns to her two saviors. The pigtailed girl felt like crying out of gratitude. "Please, save Trost. Save humanity."
"We will."
Secured in Makkari's embrace, Mina allows herself to hope before she is whisked away.
Armin eyed the Oriental-looking woman before her with slight apprehension. He had immediately raced over to her position not long ago and had stopped short in front of her, his face a frantic mess of emotions. He recalled the few times Mikasa ever opened up about her mother: the woman was almost a perfect match of her mother's description. She was clad in a strange green armor, and on her lap, was a despondent, barely alive Eren.
The look on her eyes…
There was something deeply ancient in her human-like eyes.
"What's your name?"
"What?" The woman's smooth, warm voice slices through Armin's jumbled train of thought. He takes a deep breath.
"Armin." He answers honestly. "Armin Arlert."
He braces for a reaction. Instead, the woman's face grows a wan, friendly smile.
"Hello Armin. I'm Sersi. I'm here to help." Hearing those words, uttered so matter-of-factly, infused a warmth into the blonde boy's heart, one Armin had long thought he had lost since he lost his grandfather.
The warmth of kindness.
"Is Eren your friend?"
For a few seconds, Armin was taken aback. "Yes! Uh… yes, he is."
"Do you… want to talk to him?"
The offer, given so freely and willingly, caught Armin off guard. Before his rational mind could warn him properly, he spoke up. "Please, I just want to know he's alright."
"Here." Removing Eren from her lap and setting him down gently, Sersi moves aside, allowing the blonde to kneel next to his friend.
Of the Shiganshina 3, Armin was always in Mikasa and Eren's shadow, a place he was content with. He was not the leader Eren was nor was he as strong as Mikasa. But with Mikasa away in the rear and Eren in such a state only made Armin's heart twist into painful knots. He could never imagine going through life without them.
"Hey, Eren…" He finally spoke up, his voice shaky. "...you idiot…"
"Ar… min…" Eren, still delirious from the pain, only manages a weak reply.
Hot tears run down Armin's face. "Why'd you charge forward like that?! You're so reckless…"
"I thought… Wagner… was… in danger…"
Armin sighed. The initial misunderstanding had proved to be nearly fatal.
"I know…" He rubs Eren's bloody forehead. Watching the district of Trost, the destruction laid bare before him, Armin could not manage any more words.
Watching the two boys, Sersi felt her maternal instinct, long dormant, spring itself to the surface. How many children had she encountered throughout history she could hold close to her and call them her child? She recalled Phastos and the pang of jealousy she felt erupt in her heart seeing him with his little boy Jack.
How many more children will die if the Warriors succeed again?
Slowly, she approaches the two tentatively. Sitting down next to them, she wraps her arm around Armin, pulling him closer and begins to stroke Armin's hair. Wordlessly, he melds into her embrace, face wet with tears.
It's always the small comforts.
They remain silent for a while.
"Hey…Miss Sersi, right?" Sersi looked down, to see the wounded boy looking at her with… something in his eyes. Reverence? Hope?
"That… thing… that knocked over… the Colossal Titan…, was… it you?" The question came out with each labored breath.
Sersi gave off a slight chuckle. The power of Makkari's shock wave was nothing to scoff about. "No. That was my friend. Her name is Makkari. You'll meet her later on. I promise you'll like her."
Throwing an 'I told you so' look to Armin, who looks sheepish, Eren continues. "I… was there… she was… moving like the wind… faster than even our ODM gear," He is obviously astounded. "It's… humanly… impossible."
ODM gear… was it their name for their strange flying harness?
"Can I ask you something?" She turns to Armin, having wiped his tears, now having that same reverent look on his face.
"Yes?"
"Are you a god?"
Sersi was caught off guard, but she was not surprised. Godhood was not something humanity of Earth has yet to confer on her. Throughout time, stories of her and her fellow Eternals had morphed into myths. Sprite's outlandish tales did not help.
"No," She answers truthfully. "Real gods would never allow the Titans to exist in the first place."
"Then… what are you?" Eren joins in, having somewhat recovered. "I saw that woman in white… tear that Titan apart like paper… with a spear made of light. That's not something… a human could do." He winces at the stump.
"She's from the stories, Eren! The ones I told you about! Remember?" Armin beams brightly. The two boys begin to chat animatedly about the stories, ones that caught Sersi's attention.
The Eternals here had made an indelible impact on humanity's psyche… Sersi thinks. Stories of them reverberate across time, across the world, even surviving the King's memory erasure…
And now those myths are attributed to us… Never underestimate the power of memory…
"My grandfather always told me that story…" Armin recounts. "Up until the day he died. And now, I was right! You do exist!" His expression turned downcast. "You've come this far, all the way here… we humans are weak and feeble, and since the fall of Shiganshina 5 years ago, we have tried to fight back but all we've done is die by droves. This time I thought it would be no different…"
"Will you stay?"
Overcome with emotion, Sersi takes Armin's hands into his own, her own soft hands contrasting his rough calloused palms, from his military training. She searches her mind for an appropriate answer.
"For as long as we have always lived, we have pledged to protect humanity. And that is what we will do." She intones slowly.
"...Really?" Armin's eyes shine up. "...you won't abandon us?"
"I won't." Sersi smiles empathetically. "You have my Eternal word."
*THUMP*
Before Armin could respond, the sound of a rough landing on broken ceramic caused all three of them to turn.
"Thena," Came Sersi's clear voice. "Quite the entrance."
The Eternal warrior stood tall over the three. She remained elegant, even as she looked as if she had been through a downpour of blood and gore, a testament of her most recent Titan hunt. The red stuff was evaporating off her at a rapid pace, giving her a graceful air of menace.
Rubbing her eyes free of the viscera, Thena raises an eyebrow at the sight of the two human boys with her leader. "Oh, hello."
Noticing the two boys gaping at the warrior goddess, Sersi had to intervene.
"Everyone, meet Thena. Thena, Armin and Eren."
Slowly, the red-fading-to-white-clad warrior approaches the seated trio, the two human boys still gaping at her.
"Thena, how did the boy you saved fare?"
"He's fine," Thena, having expected the question, answers immediately. "I gave him over to Makkari. He's already being brought to the rear."
Kneeling down, she "You both fought well, remarkably well for ones so young," Thena smiles. "From one warrior to another, I salute you. But you need not fight anymore. This is our fight now."
Armin seemed relieved, but Eren wasn't having it.
"Listen, lady…" He snarls. "I don't care if you are some powerful space god, but this is our home! I'd be damned if I can't raise my swords to defend it!"
Sersi's eyes widened in shock. No one has ever spoken to Thena in that kind of tone, not even Ikaris.
Armin, alarmed at his friend's lack of gratitude, grabs his shoulders. "Eren, they literally saved our lives!" He shakes him hard. "Why can't we just step back and let them handle it?!"
"NO, Armin! This is what we're trained for! I'm gonna kill all the Titans and that's what I'll do!"
Watching their interactions with great amusement, Thena turns to an ashen Sersi. "I like these two."
*CRASH*
"SHIT! TITAN!" Thena grits. "GET BACK!" Immediately summoning her spear, Thena charges at the attacker, a bearded Titan, impaling it in the eye and forcing it back.
It had leapt up and clamped its jaws down on the section of roof where the four are situated. Sersi, in her panic, had only managed to grab Eren to avoid the monster. Armin, surprised by the ambush, had lost his balance and tumbled down the incline of the roof until he ended up hanging by his hands on the edge. Sersi acted quickly. Placing one hand down, she transmuted sections of tiles into rope, reaching all the way to the tile Armin hangs off of. Pulling on the newly formed length of rope with all her might, she finally pulled the blonde cadet up.
Seeing Eren's flabbergasted expression, she elaborates with a slight smirk. "That's my power. I turn things into different things."
With the sudden attack, the two trainees' nerves were high alert. The Titans now know where they are and any one of them could strike from anywhere.
"Armin, check your gas." Pulling out his canisters, Armin winces. Earlier on, in his panic, he did not fill his left canister all the way.
"Damn, I don't have much gas remaining…"
"Okay. Armin, do you have any blades left? Think I broke all of mine." The blonde boy looks up at him as if Eren is going to to do something stupid. Is he going to…
On the sidelines, Sersi had been slowly catching on. "Wait… Eren, what are you doing?" She could not help but think the boy was turning red from the shock.
Eren fixes in his blades. "My gas is full, I'm gonna do what I came here to do." The brown haired boy responds while propping himself up, wincing as the painful pressure on his tied stump rings in his ears. "I'm gonna kill any Titan that comes this way. Miss Sersi, take Armin and run. Don't worry about me."
"Eren, you're in no condition to fight! You're literally on your last leg!" Armin tries to hold Eren back. "You may have gas now, but if it runs out, you'll be stranded!"
"I can buy you some time," Eren replies, his voice uncharacteristically weakened.
"Eren, you're burning up. The shock of losing your leg is getting to you." Sersi's voice brooked no refusal. "You're losing lucidity by the second and need treatment. Immediately."
"I can't go back… have to fight," For a moment, Eren seemed to be slurring his words. "For Mom, for everyone they killed in Shiganshina, they must PAY!" Sersi's eyes aren't fooling her. Eren, the poor boy, is burning up so badly he is literally leaking steam.
Like his wound earlier on…
"Look, it's the bearded Titan! It's coming back!"
True to Armin's word, the aforementioned Titan was hobbling back to their position, obviously still struggling with Thena, who is trying her damndest to do it in. But she did not notice a hand, a giant one, grab her from behind.
Another Titan, this one gaunt with a pointed skull, had grabbed Thena off the bearded Titan. With a mighty fling, the warrioress was thrown into a nearby building. The resounding crash instantly buried her beneath the building's rubble.
The two Titans did not take long to turn their eyes on their new targets. Eren, in response, looked ready and willing to charge headfirst into them.
Sersi holds out a placating hand. "Eren, come with us. I'll call Makkari, and she'll take you back to the rear." Armin nods along, hoping his friend could see sense.
Eren has had enough. "YOU'RE ALL LIKE MIKASA!" He screams "ALWAYS BABYING ME… AGGGH!" He suddenly falls flat, clutching his heart.
"EREN!" Armin very immediately attempts to aid him, but is stopped by Sersi, who holds him close. "Wait, why are you stopping me!?"
"Something isn't right…"
Before any of them could react, Eren's eyes and mouth burst forth beams of yellow light. His entire body convulsed heavily as the light became brighter…
What in the world…
*KACHOOM*
For a split second, she swore she saw a golden lightning bolt strike down on Eren. Then came the explosion. The force of it, sudden and powerful, was enough to knock Sersi off the roof entirely and throw her hard into the roads below. Landing roughly against a wall, hard enough to break it, she comes to.
Thank the Celestials for my Eternal hide…
"Armin, are you OK?!" In her arms, the blonde cadet known as Armin Arlert, was lucky. He was spared from most of the impact, the brunt of it borne by the Eternal.
"Yeah, Miss Sersi, I'm fine, but wha…"
Armin is silenced at what he is looking at. Looking at the same thing, Sersi could not help but agree with him.
Where Eren once was, stands a Titan. Standing approximately 15m in height, it is heavily muscled with lipless, teeth-baring jaws and pointed ears being its most prominent features. If not for those abnormalities, Sersi thought it was a dead ringer for Eren, down to the hair and eyes.
Eyes full of unyielding malice and hate.
It suddenly raised its head toward the sky and let out an earth-shaking roar. Sersi felt her heart go still.
In that roar, it felt as if the rage of humanity incarnate, long bottled within, was released in all its glory.
In the din of the clamor, Sersi only had one terrified thought.
Eren is a shifter.
AN: As you can see, various points of canon divergence have begun. I'm just gonna say that this is just the beginning of the changes. You'll see more. And also I hope the next chapter won't take like 2 months to upload. I hope.
