It's been a minute… hasn't it?
For those who skipped the last chapter's end notes, I have been absent because I needed to focus on graduating from college, moving back home, and finding a job. Writing this story takes a lot of mental effort and energy that I just couldn't afford to spare these past 3 months. I'm sure you all understand. Big life decisions always take priority over this goofy hobby.
Anyway, a little bit of trivia I forgot to include last time: Nördlingen (the name of the village featured in the last chapter) is the name of a town in Germany that Isayama used as inspiration as he designed the look circular walled city districts of Attack on Titan. If you are an Attack on Titan fan, you should look up some images of it!
Shout out to my two beta readers: my irl friend 'J' and my discord pal Klosekom. Klosekom is a fellow PJO fanfiction author himself, go give him some love!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, or AOT and I'm not profiting off anything.
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Author's note
Narration
Thoughts and Internal Conversations
"Speaking, duh"
Chapter 14: Spark
7 hours after the Titan Spotting
Within Wall Rose
Percy's POV:
The following hours were hectic, stressful, and tense.
Leaving the ruined houses and headless corpses of Nördlingen behind us, Sam and I continued riding westwards with the group of mismatched and 'mis-geared' Scouts we found ourselves stuck with. Traveling in the direction of some outlier district called 'Klorva', we continued to warn nearby settlements along our way. Sticking in pairs of two, our little squad would fan out, taking slight detours off the main path whenever we spotted a stray cabin or loan country farmhouse.
It's frighting, splitting up our already tiny group like this. Although we've yet to encounter another titan or see any signs of one, the attack on that village continues to strike fear in my mind.
I can't let what happened to Nördlingen happen to others. We need to warn these people.
"The closer we get to the wall, the less populated the area will be," Henning speaks, breaking the silence of our quiet trot.
Sam and I are currently traveling squashed between Henning and Nanaba—if that's any indication of the trust issues that still need to be resolved. But at least Nanaba's watchful gaze and Henning's scrutinous leer have somewhat lifted since Nördlingen.
"Only to be replaced by Ymir's daggers in your back."
I shiver at Annabelle's jip, reminded of the hostile brunette riding behind me, whose identity I almost exposed to Christa not too long ago.
"From here on out, we should be making good pace." Henning continues. "It's almost about time we turn around and begin tracing Wall Rose for the breach."
"There are still a few more villages between us and Klorva… but I agree." Nanaba concurs. "We should head for Wall Rose and begin our survey."
"Who else is going to warn them?" I blurt out.
"The other squads, if not those who have already heard the news," Nanaba responds. "Our priority is finding the breach."
"But—"
"Christa and I should withdraw from the front off and continue warning the villages." Ymir cuts in.
"Ehhh?! Ymir!" Christa gasps.
"That's a negative," Nanaba responds. "We still need your services."
"Seriously?!" Ymir yells back. "You know Christa and I don't have our battle gear, right?" Ymir points at Christa, then herself, emphasizing the lack of gear around their waists. "What are we supposed to do about titans?"
Annabelle's giggles echo in the depths of my ears.
"Not even a few hours after she berated you for not caring about the stake of things and she's already trying to dip!"
"Hypocrite," I mummer in agreement.
"Fuck you, not all of us are indestructible freaks of nature!" Ymir yells back. "The South is going to be crawling with titans. If we can't defend ourselves, you ought to just serve us up on a platter! We wouldn't make a dent of a difference and that's the truth!"
"Freak of nature—"
"...look in a mirror, why doncha?" I finish Annabelle's comeback.
Ymir growls.
"Stop it Ymir!" Christa cries. "Can't you see? This is the moment we need to stick together more than ever."
A silence immediately befalls our group.
Our little horseback squadron continues riding westward, and despite the dilemma, Ymir brought up, Nanaba and Henning gradually begin stirring towards Wall Rose. A flash of light attracts my eyes to the left, my gaze zoning in on a glistening clear body of water that we're just about to ride up to.
An orange hue reflects off the passing lake's surface, painting the vegetation around the water edge with golden shimmers of the Sun's setting glow. On the far side beyond the large pond is a herd of white sheep, happily grazing on a picturesque spring-green hillside. As Sam moves forward, a gentle breeze caresses my face, tickling my hair and cooling my skin. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, losing myself in the feeling of crisp air filling my lungs.
It's tranquil, beautiful, peaceful…
Makes it easy to forget there's a titan apocalypse unfolding around us.
"Ymir… Look," Christa starts again. "I'm aware of what I've gotten myself into. Come on."
I glance back at Ymir struggling to make eye contact with her blonde comrade. But eventually, Christa's soft pleading persuades Ymir to turn her head.
"Hey, no one made me join the Scouts and you know it. I… I chose it for myself... I know it's a different story in your case."
"What!" Ymir snaps. "You think I signed up for all this crap because of you!?"
"What other reason do you have for being here?"
Suddenly I become painfully aware of how personal this conversation turned.
I whip my head forward, side to side at Henning and Nanaba for escape. But they're no help, with Henning fiddling with the reins of his horse and Nanaba staring blankly ahead. I can't tell if she's planning our next move or trying to tune them out.
"You tried talking me into joining the military police until you were blue in the face." Christa continues. "You even bowed out so I'd be eligible for it! Don't try to deny it. I wasn't good enough to make the top 10 on my own. Ask anybody. When it comes to skill, you're the better soldier by far. I have no idea how you did it but….. Why? Why do that for me?"
…
I squirm in my saddle.
…
The silence is actual torture.
I reach my hand out to the passing lake's edge, immersing myself in the feeling of the smooth crystal element to feed my hyperactive brain.
"My family? That's it, isn't it…" Christa disappointedly concludes after a lengthy pause.
The water surface ripples in a nonexistent breeze, a wave lapping the water's edge in response to my hand. Within my ears, it calls for me, seducing me to take a swim.
"Yeah, sure. Why not?" Ymir yields.
"Relax Christa, don't worry about it so much. Take my word for it, sweetie, I'm only looking out for number 1."
"Really?" Christa cheerfully asks.
"That's such a relief."
The lake lets out one last yearning cry as we completely pass by its waters.
…
I really wish I took a dip.
11 hours after the Titan spotting
"Damn it. What the hell is going on?" Henning breathes in a hushed whisper.
It's dark. So so very dark.
In Henning's right hand, he holds a fire-lit torch, pointing its flamed edge into the dark abyss of the night. Apollo's chariot has long since completed its daily journey across the sky, landing somewhere beyond the horizon hours past. Even though we're supposed to have a full moon, it's a cloudy night. The cloud coverage is so thick that the sky above is practically a black canvas.
The world is just so dark without electricity. The crudely fashioned torches we made barely provide enough visibility to illuminate ourselves, nonetheless light the path in front of us. But hugging Wall Rose as our travel guide, we forge onwards. Plunging into the dark uninhabited country with anxious hearts, we scour the wall's edge. Searching for that broken segment that threatens what's left of humanity and the inhabitable world.
"Why haven't we pinpointed the breach yet?" Nanaba murmurs back to Henning. "Do you think the Southern team has found it yet?"
"They had to have by now… right? God, I hope so. I can't take this much longer…" Henning's torch arm trembles, his nerves getting the best of him.
It's not just you, Henning.
We're traveling deep into titan territory with practically no visibility. I wouldn't be able to tell if a titan was next to me until Sam bumped right into it. Every passing tree looks like a titan's leg, every boulder a body, and every large shrub a head. The shadows of our surroundings morph into all types of bodies, shapes, and faces. I hear titans aren't supposed to be active at night, a fact the others keep spouting out to one another, but that does little to calm my nerves.
It feels as if at any moment, a hand will pierce into the range of our torches and snatch one of us off our horse without any warning.
…Gods, I wish I had a flashlight.
I glance over to my left to the little blonde girl riding beside me to check in on how she's doing.
Christa's not fairing any better than I am.
The second I turn, she visibly gulps, her eyes white and wide, scanning the forest for any movement, her ears perked with attention, tuning in for any brustling in the black foliage. Like Henning, the torch in Christa's trembles with shaken nerves. Meanwhile, her non-torch hand rests under her chin, its right index finger cocked back and slightly inserted between her soft lips, nails resting on teeth.
Her faltering blue eyes meet mine.
Gone are any lingering suspicions that Christa is a goddess in disguise.
All I see now is a scared little girl.
Too afraid of breaking the silence, I spare her a grin and a slight nod of encouragement. Christa reciprocates, giving me a curt nod back.
The illusion of regained confidence and safety.
With Nanaba and Henning riding in front of us and Christa riding on my left, all that leaves is Ymir, trailing in the back. And with Christa's attention firmly on me, Ymir takes the opportunity to ride up on the other side of the unsuspecting girl.
She slaps her hand on Christa's shoulder.
"RAWR!"
"EEEEK!"
Christa jumps in her seat, almost tumbling off her saddle. But Ymir stops her from falling off by keeping her grip on Christa's shoulder, rocking the poor girl back and forth as she bursts out laughing.
"Haha! Your face! Hahaha, I wish you could see it!"
Nanaba and Henning turn around, clearly displeased by Ymir's antics.
Christa's fearful expression quickly shifts into a mean, repulsive scowl.
"You—You jerk!"
Christa rips her arm from Ymir's grasp and then whips her horse's reins to escape, speeding up to ride at Nanaba and Henning's sides instead.
"Come on sweetie, don't take it so hard," Ymir calls out to Christa as she storms off. "It was just a joke."
"Stop playing grab-ass and focus on the task at hand." Henning scolds.
"Would it kill to lighten the mood?" Ymir retorts.
Neither of the senior Scouts respond, opting to turn forward and return their focus to the wall.
Ymir stares at the back of her blond-haired friend's head with an unknown look on her face. Seeing her prank drive Christa away instead of doing… whatever she thought it would do, the older girl exhales a deep sigh.
Then Sam and Annabelle speak at the same time.
"Not sure what she was thinking. What other result did she expect?" Annabelle comments.
"That human had me spooked! I was this far away from booking it." Sam announces, giving no visible indication of how close he was to running away.
My head splits, trying to process the separate voices.
"Ah, one at a time!"
"Sorry." Annabelle apologizes.
"Uhhh, no one else was talking?" Sam points out, unsure of himself.
"There he goes, off speaking to himself again…" Ymir sighs. "I can't believe Christa left me with a bona fide nut case."
With Christa gone, the gap between Ymir's horse and Sam naturally shrinks as they move to fill the void. But the air in the space that's left between us remains thick with tension.
How would I go about talking to her? I mean, just a few hours ago I called her out for a shapeshifting monster and then almost exposed it to her best friend. What are you supposed to say to someone after something like that?
"What a lovely night we're having?"
Even the inner depths of my mind are dry of options. I can't think of anything else to say.
"Are you really not going to tell the others?" Ymir whispers just before I resort to Annabelle's suggestion.
Ymir keeps her voice low and attention forward, carefully watching the backs of the other Scouts riding ahead of us.
Giving each other a look, on cue, we both pull back on our horse's reins, gradually slowing down our steeds to distance ourselves from the rest of the group.
"No. I think… I wasn't going to, but I think I'm going to tell Nanaba."
"What the fuck?!" my demigod senses flare as Ymir hisses and whips her head my way. "What the fuck happened to this isn't my secret to tell?!"
I glance at Nanaba and the others, making sure they didn't hear her.
"I've been giving it some thought—" I reply after becoming confident the others aren't eavesdropping, "—and I think telling the Scouts is the best thing to do, going forward."
Ymir hitches her breath, her pupils shaking with frustration as she grapples with my new decision.
And honestly, I do feel bad for taking advantage of her like this. She's right. I was right. It isn't my secret to tell.
"But it's an opportunity you can't let slip past."
That's right, I can't go back to that damn cell.
"Why? Why them?" Ymir asks. "I don't get it. The Scouts are the reason you were imprisoned, right? They chained you up and locked you away, why are you choosing them over Reiner and Bertolt?"
"Because I made a promise."
"Huh?"
"I'm doing this for Annie."
"Heh! That's funny." Ymir scoffs. "You're going to help Annie by betraying her comrades? What? Are you fucking stupid in the head or something?"
"Annie's different."
"Ohhh, I see… You're hoping for a little action, aren't ya?" Ymir implies. "That makes sense, you're at that age, after all."
I bite my tongue at Ymir's suggestively wiggling brows.
"Well, a word of advice from someone who went through 3 years of training with Leonhart, that snatch is as cold as ice and dryer than sand."
I force myself to take a step back, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. Then, I continue.
"Annie just wanted to go home. Deep down, she's a good person—a good person forced to do terrible things."
A daunting glint shines in Ymir's eyes.
"Aren't we all?"
For a second, those dark gray eyes look like Annie's. They tell the story of a desperate young girl struggling to survive in this cruel, cruel world.
I shake my head to clear my thoughts.
"No, Reiner and Bertolt are different."
"Oh yeah? How so?" Ymir quips. "You've talked to them for like—what, 5 minutes? You were able to tell just from that?"
Ymir's right. What right do I have to judge their character? Reiner and Bertolt could be just like Annie—kids compelled to commit horrid acts. No, given their age, they probably are. Kids who are trained to kill just to survive. Like Ymir.
Like me.
"You're right. Reiner and Bertolt probably are just like Annie. Or situationally, at least. If we had the chance to talk to them, to talk this through, I bet all we'd find are two lost kids. Kids that were compelled to commit horrid acts. Somebody, some person or force, made Annie do the things she did… and I bet they're pushing Reiner and Bertolt to do the same as well."
"But there's one difference, between Annie and them—"
—a choice they've yet to make that's unforgivable in my eyes.
"But with Reiner and Bertolt, it's not the same." I continue. "After everything they've done, they've chosen to follow through with their mission. Unlike with Annie…"
"What do you mean?" Ymir asks.
"Before she was captured, before anyone found out that Annie was a titan, she came to my cell… and confessed what she did."
Ymir flinches, eyes wide in shock.
"What? Annie was captured?"
"I saw it, Ymir. I could see it in her eyes. She regretted it so, so much. She begged me for forgiveness. Ymir…"
I pause, letting my words sink in, hoping they are coming across.
"She cried. Annie doesn't cry."
"That was the right call." Annabelle encourages as Ymir falters."Thankfully she's familiar enough with Annie to know her personality."
But then her attitude shifts.
"And what?!" Ymir growls. "That's supposed to just make everything alright? Since she cried, she should just be forgiven?"
"Of course not. It doesn't." I agree. "B-but she made the first step."
"Huh?"
"Annie abandoned her mission. Right then and there, right after she confessed, she decided to run away from her duty. She decided to fight back against whatever was making her do those things. She realized it was wrong… and that's what's stopping me from working with Reiner and Bertolt."
"They haven't made that decision yet. They must've realized what they are doing is wrong, but look at us now." I gesture to our dark surroundings.
The breach of Wall Rose was no natural event. How would a wall that's stood for a hundred years suddenly fall the day after Annie was captured? Reiner, Bertolt… They looked genuinely surprised when they heard the news. But when my gut screams they're involved somehow, I can't help but wonder if it was all an act.
"The only way I can help Annie is if I separate her from Reiner and Bertolt. I can't just break Annie out of jail—a life on the run isn't a life worth living. Telling Nanaba is the only hope Annie has to ever live free again, and unfortunately, that includes you."
Ymir looks down, her bangs falling in front of her eyes.
"Is this your only option?" Ymir asks.
"I'm sorry… for doing this." I apologize. "I-I'll make sure to tell Nanaba that you aren't with them, but for this to work, I can not not tell them about your powers. If I keep your secret… they'll wonder why I didn't tell them… I can't afford that risk."
Ymir doesn't say anything back to all of that.
"You still have some time to tell Christa on your own terms," I try to reassure her. "If that's what you want to do."
Again, Ymir doesn't respond. Instead, after a long pause, she asks another question.
"Percy, do truly believe that this is your only option?" She asks, meeting my eyes once more.
"I… don't see any other way out of this…"
"...then you really have no idea, do you?"
"Huh?"
"... of the world that lies outside the walls."
"Is that—" Christa suddenly gasps.
I quickly pull the brakes on Sam to stop him from ramming into the others.
In the darkness, is a light. Somewhere in the forest, far ahead. And it's moving, towards us.
As it approaches, the light separates into two… four… then five separate sources.
Our group awaits with bated breath.
Then, faces appeared. Reiner, the little bald kid, Bertolt—it's the other squad. The ones who were meant to scour the wall and meet us halfway in between.
It's finally over.
"Did you follow the wall here, too?" A man from the other group, who could only be Gelgar, asks.
"Yeah. Where did you find the hole?" Nanaba asks back, getting right to the point.
"Huh?"
The other group freezes when they hear Nanaba's question. Something's wrong.
"We didn't find anything to the West," She explains. "You must have found it your way, right?"
"No… there was no hole from our way either…"
What…
"...the fuck…"
"Is it possible we missed it?" A female Scout from the eastern group asks, the only other Scout in ODM gear whose name I don't know.
"No way." Henning counters. "Not a hole big enough for titans to fit through, we wouldn't have missed that."
"S-should we go back and look again?" Gelgar suggests.
"Hell no! I'm done for the night!" Sam complains.
The rest of the horses give Sam a dirty look, but none of them tell Sam he's wrong.
"We'll need to," Nanaba agrees, "but trouble is, our horses are on the verge of collapse."
Is it… possible we actually missed it?
"With the low visibility, there's no way you can be for certain," Annabelle explains.
"If only we had more light…" Nanaba mummers, thinking along similar lines.
As if on cue, the clouds covering the sky part, freeing the moon's rays in all their glory. The land is suddenly blanketed in a silvery glow, gifting us the gift of sight.
"What's that?" Gelegar asks, pointing into the distance.
Up a slope and in the distance is a large stone structure.
"An old castle…" I realize.
"Let's go."
"It looks like a mess, but we can make it work," Gelgar announces, checking the castle's walls and eyeing one of the structure's collapsed buildings.
We ride into the castle's courtyard. The structure is run down, with overgrown weeds, missing stones, and unkempt vines climbing up the cracked walls. Seems to me this place has been abandoned for decades now…
"At least it looks study enough not to fall on our heads as we sleep."
A gust of wind picks up, knocking a small pebble off one of the top walls.
The pebble tumbles down, landing another fallen stone with a small clink.
"Luckily the moon came out," Nanaba comments, hopping off her horse.
"We'll post our lookouts on top of that central tower, there." She continues, pointing up at the castle's highest structure. "Come on."
We dismount our horses, leading them to an old run-down stable. Like the others, I set to work tying Sam up the stable's hitching post, but before I make it under the stable's covered roof, it feels as if a stone drops into my stomach.
I'm overcome by an unknown sense of dread.
Something's not right. No hole, no titans, a breach that occurs within a day of Annie's capture… Whoever was manipulating Annie must be behind this, but what are they after?
"'Using Eren Jaeger as bait, we lured the Female Titan into a forest.' Isn't that what Erwin said?"
Eren… he's one of the ones who can transform into a titan, right? Why are they going after him?
"So he can be reunited with his kind, maybe?"
What?
"Maybe there's a secret society of titan shifters, like a whole town of them somewhere or something."
But they didn't need to break down the walls or kill that many people to get him. Plus there's Ymir… It doesn't seem like they're gunning for her.
"That's true. It doesn't seem like they are searching for her at all, or at least, not as much as the other kid."
And the world that lies outside the walls? What… What was Ymir saying?
"...Percy… you know how big the world is…"
Uhh, yeah?
"Maybe there are other survivors out there. Maybe… they have walled cities, just like this place. If these people did it, surely there are others who survived the titan apocalypse."
And if those societies are anything like this one, maybe they are facing food shortages and problems of overpopulation as well…
"Maybe that's why they want to clear wipe out humanity within these walls."
That might just be our answer…
"YO BOSS!"
"Ehhh!?"
"You just gonna stand there all day or what?" Sam whines.
That's right. The castle. The stables. Sam.
"Yeah."
Jolted out of my thoughts by Sam's yell, I lead him under the cover of the stable's rigidity-covered roof.
"What's up, boss?"
"Just… have a lot on my mind…"
I throw his reins over the stable's hitching post, wrapping it once around the old wood and then tying it into an easy knot.
"Somethin' wrong?"
The hitching post's horizontal wooden beam looks dried out and worn. Run down from bored horses chewing on it in the past and from age.
"Do you think you guys could break this wood here?" I gesture at the post I just tied Sam up to.
"Can I break? Boss, you're talking to a former junior hoove boxing champion. I can smash this thing!"
"Good. If you see even a single titan, I want you to break out of here and lead the other horses out of here. Go into the forest but keep everyone all together. Think you can do that?"
"Listen up, did everyone hear the Boss's orders?" Sam neighs out loud.
The horses enthusiastically cheer in agreement.
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Anything for our prince!"
"Will those who are getting sent down under get a reduced sentence?"
"I'm ready! I'm ready!"
I grin at their enthusiastic replies. Worked to the bone, they are still beaming with energy and rearing to work.
We don't deserve horses.
"Don't worry boss, I'll take care of them," Sam confirms, showing off his big teeth with a goofy grin.
I'm not sure whether to be relieved or concerned.
"Someone was here not that long ago." Henning comments, nudging a pot on the ground.
Entering the doorway of the castle's largest tower and climbing the flights of stairs until we reached the highest room, we found evidence of recent visitors. Charcoal and ash from a previous campfire, some aluminum pots and pans, and other various camping equipment.
The stuff wasn't warm, but it was fresh. Nice because we were able to salvage what we could and start a fire to cook some meals, but worrying because the people who left this stuff could still be nearby.
"A place this close to the wall?" Nanaba asks.
"Bandits probably used it as a hideout." That other female Scout equipped in ODM gear suggests.
Lynne. That's her name, I think.
"Well, no need to worry about bandits when we got titans roaming around." Henning jokes.
"That's what I was thinking." Annabelle chirps.
"Yeah… so does anyone know where the hell we are?" Connie asks.
"I believe this is Utgard Castle," Nanaba explains. "An abandoned military outpost that was sold to some noble a few decades ago. I heard the old man croaked some time ago, and no one has owned the land since."
"No one's owned it since because it's in the middle of nowhere," Reiner adds. "Who'd want to live this far away from civilization?"
"Hey! Take a look at what I just stumbled upon!" Gelgar says, emerging from a storage room with a little skip to his step.
"Your kidding, is that what I think it is?" Lynne asks.
"Uh-huh," Gelgar slyly confirms, lifting a green alcoholic bottle for all to see.
He turns the bottle, inspecting the brand and the contents inside.
"Can't really read the label, though. I wonder what it is…"
"Tell me you're not going to drink it now…" Lynne scolds.
"Uhh? Don't be smart. I'm gonna save it for later," Gelgar places the bottle off to the side against one of the walls.
"You know, there are worse ways to spend the night than having access to top-shelf contraband," Henning mischievously smirks.
"Careful," Nanaba laughs. "You're starting to sound like an outlaw yourself."
"Alright, I want you kids to start trying to get some rest," Gelgar announces to the rest of us, switching back to a more professional manner.
"There shouldn't be any titans crawling around at this time of night but we'll take turns keeping watch. Be ready to leave 4 hours shy of daybreak."
"Excuse me," Christa speaks up. "What if it turns out Wall Rose isn't actually compromised? Where do… where else could they be coming from?"
"It's our job to find out," Gelgar replies as he turns and starts making his way up the stairs to the roof. "Starting tomorrow…"
"I'm just saying," Christa speaks again. "Sure, the situation isn't good, but is it as bad as we think? You never know right? That's all."
"She's right." Henning agrees. "We haven't really seen that many titans, have we? I mean, for them to have busted through the wall anyway."
Our minds wander as we let Henning's words soak in. The fire in the middle of the room cracks and pops, shadows dancing among the room as the campfire's flames reach for oxygen in the air.
Unfortunately, my nose is already growing used to the homely scent of burnt wood.
"Maybe they… crawled through a tunnel under the wall?" Quiet Bertolt suggests.
"A hole in the ground would be much easier to deal with…" Lynne ponders.
"With the initial sighting and the additional pair we encountered, it's only been a relatively modest handful." Nanaba smiles, turning to the younger girl. "You're right, Christa. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems."
"See?" Christa weakly grins.
"Wait, you guys encountered titans?" Reiner asks.
"We did." Nanaba answers. "Did your squad see any?"
"Well…" Reiner trails off. "One."
The others in Gelgar's squad grimace.
"How many, did you see which direction they came from?" We all turn our heads towards Gelgar, who has paused halfway up the stairs towards the roof.
"There were two," Nanaba replies. "A 5 and a 10-meter class. They came from the west, just like we did."
She reaches forward, grabbing a spoon to stir a pot of soup we had set to boil over the fire.
"They arrived at a village that hadn't heard the news," Henning adds. "It… It wasn't pretty."
"What did you do?" Reiner asks.
"I disobeyed Mike's orders and had our squad engage." Nanaba answers.
"But Nanaba! We did the right thing. If we hadn't fought them, more villagers would have died!" Christa pleads.
"I'm…" Nanaba hesitates.
"I mean—if what Christa is saying is true, surely it was the right call?" Connie asks.
"Orders exist for a reason kid," Gelgar speaks up from his stairwell perch. "Prohibiting any more titans from entering Wall Rose through the breach is our priority."
"That's not fair!" Christa argues.
"No, Gelgar's right." Nanaba counters. "Christa's right, we did save lives. But further down the line, our actions may have cost more. Henning and I wasted precious gas in that fight. Gas we may need to defend the breach."
"How is your gas, by the way?" Gelgar inquiries.
"I'm still above 3 quarters. You?" Nanaba answers, gesturing for Henning to answer next.
"Same here."
Lynne whistles at their accomplishment. "For two titans on your own? You guys worked efficiently."
"Yeah, well… Efficient as you can be when all you can hook on to are two-story huts and the titans themselves." Henning disparagingly remarks.
"It wasn't just Henning and I," Nanaba reveals.
Still stirring the spoon in the pot of soup, Nanaba points her other thumb at me.
"We had some help."
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask… What happened to his wrist restraints?" Gelgar asks, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. One brow raised.
"A titan bit them off," I answer.
"Whaaa!" Connie yells in surprise. "How the hell did you manage that? Better yet, how'd you not manage to lose your arms?!"
"It's true! The rumors were true." Christa insists. "Percy really is invincible!"
"What? Are you pulling my leg or something?" Connie asks.
"No! You guys should've seen it. After the titan bit off his cuffs, Percy held the titan's mouth in place so Nanaba could strike its neck, with nothing but his hands!"
The other kids mumble incoherently, turning to the others in our group to back Christa's story.
Connie looks to Ymir to see what she has to say, who in turn nods, backing Christa's story.
"What else is there to say? Real freak of nature, that one is." Ymir confirms.
"No, he's incredible." Christa sighs.
If the tips of my ears haven't caught on fire already, they feel like they are about to.
"Back to what Connie was asking, how did you manage that, Perseus?" Gelgar asks.
"If you're asking if it was intentional, it was."
Most of the room stiffens from my response.
"These damn chains. If I were free, I could have saved those villagers. I could have stopped that lady from being snatched from her house… I could have stopped that titan from b-bitting off that guy's head."
We're greeted with a somber pause. Wordlessly, Nanaba passes over a bowl of potato soup. A piece of bread was placed in it, slowly sinking to the bottom of the bowl, absorbing the soup's hearty broth.
"You did good, Percy."
I can't tell whether those words came from Annabelle or from a real person's mouth.
The somber pause continues.
"Now you know what happened to us, what happened to your village?" Ymir turns to Connie.
"Totally destroyed," Connie replies. "It was crushed to timber and bits of rubble."
Everyone turns away from Connie, the mood somehow reaching a new low.
"I… I'm sorry." Ymir apologizes.
"Nobody got devoured though. It looked like they all got out. So there's a silver lining at least." Connie continues.
"That doesn't—"
"You said it was destroyed?" I ask.
"Well the houses and stuff were, but my people must have all escaped," Connie explains. "I mean, they had to. The thing is, we didn't see any blood anywhere. Not so much as one drop. So that's the only possible explanation."
A shiver runs down my spine. Ymir intakes a sharp breath of air. And Reiner, who's sitting next to Connie…
"I don't like the look in his eyes."
"Still though, there's something I can't get out of my head. There was a titan on top of my house. Just lying there, s-staring at me." Connie describes. "It couldn't move on its own, thank God. I have no idea why but it reminded me of my mom. Am I crazy?"
"Connie, what did I tell you?" Reiner asks. "It was your imaginat—"
"Are you for real?!" Ymir loudly interrupts. "Hahahahahahaha! You actually think your mom might be a titan?"
The room goes dead silent except for Ymir's laughter.
"Oh Connie, as itty bitty as you are, please! We all knew you were as dumb as a bag of rocks but this? Woah man, this takes it to a whole other level. Hahahaha!"
"Yeah, ha ha, have your fun," Connie puts a hand to his forehead, covering his face and rubbing his head in shame. "I guess I was kinda asking for it."
"Don't stop there! If mother darling is a titan it's only logical to assume dear old daddy is too. Basic biology. Think about. How else—"
"OK, I GET IT! SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP!"
And that concludes our wonderful group meeting.
Gelgar finally completes his journey up the staircase and makes it to the roof. Lynne, his partner Scout, joins him on the roof for the first watch. Ymir disappears somewhere in the tower, gods know where, probably looting this castle for whatever left it's worth. Reiner leaves the room a few minutes to track her down. With two of the three out of the room, it gives my monster radar a much-needed break. Everyone else, Christa, Nanaba, Henning, and Bertolt, have just finished up their rations and doing their best to get some shut eye.
But I can't eat. I have too much on my mind. With all that's happened.
"Eat. You need your strength."
My bowl has long since gone cold, the stew cooling in a more hardened-looking white sludge. It reminds me of my prison foo—
"You can do your depressing inner monologue after you clean your bowl, you weak-minded bastard. Eat."
I tear off a chunk of my soggy, soup-dipped bread, grimacing at its coldness, and raise it to my mouth. I hold it up to my eye, grimacing at its unpleasant appearance. But just before I bite, a fiery warm glow behind the raised piece catches my attention. Lowering the bread, I stare into the campfire's flames. Its flames are beginning to dwindle, but they are still going on strong. They dance, like slow-motion hula girls. Swirling around, filling the room with warmth.
My cheeks begin to burn with anger.
It's always the gods' fault. Since before I even knew about my heritage, they've been ruining my life. Sending snakes into my crib when I was a baby, sending monsters accusing me of crimes I can't even comprehend, giving me quest, after quest, after quest. They interfere with my lifestyle, my friendships, my relationships, my dreams… Then, after everything I survived, accomplished, sacrificed… They separate me from my friends. My family. Camp. Annabeth…
"Dude, this is like the 5th time you've ranted about all of this. When are you ever going to get it out of your sy—"
A part of me was glad I was finally outside the gods' jurisdiction, but this place ended up being a curse just as worse. The people here act the same as the gods. The military police are overly paranoid, the Scouts controlling, and the people intolerant. It makes me want to break open my belt and just—
A collapsing log in the campfire interrupts my internal rant.
The collapse kicks up all sorts of glowing embers, the smoke carrying them up in the air and sending them to fly freely throughout the room. They're like snowflakes, yet lighter. They drift in the slight draft of the room, sometimes even stopping before they hit the ground and levitating away for no reason except they chose to move in a different direction. Like bubbles.
A bit of stew drips off my hand from the piece of bread in my hand. I give it a quick lick, to stop myself from making more of a mess. When my eyes return to the fire, a particular bright ember catches my eye, burning brighter than the rest and moving more freely too. Bobbing in the air and pulling off a loop-de-loop, the ember drifts past a certain kind-hearted soul resting with her back against a wall and her head resting on her shoulder.
A little bit of drool runs down Christa's chin as she sleeps.
That's right… Not all the gods were bad. The goddess of the hearth. Lady Hestia. She was pretty cool. When all the other mighty gods went off to war or left the solstice meetings, she'd remain. The embodiment of Home. The Hearth. The god that tends to flames of hope that keep Olympus alive. She was one of the few who'd regularly visit camp to check in on us.
The ember falls, resting in front of the young girl's feet as she blissfully continues to doze away, briefly free from her stressful worries.
Maybe this world isn't so bad after all.
"I can't believe you have another crush."
Huh?
"Dude, what happened to Annie?"
Annie—I don't like Annie. And I don't like Christa either!
"Oh my god, you have a type. You totally have a thing for blondes."
Ok, time for you to leave. Get out. Out!
My cheeks burn, but I'm not sure whether it's from Annabelle's teasing or the realization it was all a self-inflicted wound.
…
"It's probably from both."
No, it's neither. Gods, how am I ever going to forget I did that…
"Did what?"
I'm just remembering how I mistook her for being a literal goddess.
I mean, it makes sense why I did, logically speaking. I was all dizzy from being tossed around and fatigued, and Christa's short, kind, and she has a good heart. And, I don't know, she's also sorta motherly? Which is definitely a 'Hestian' trait. Like, she cares a lot about the people around her and pays attention to how they are doing. And Christa never believed what the others said about me. She actually believes in me…
"Damn, you have it bad."
Didn't I tell you to leave?
"Poor Annie."
Annabelle finally grants me peace of mind, retreating into my subconsciousness. But not before giving me one last image of a little Annabeth roaming around my mind space, pushing my internal buttons and purposefully littering seaweed around my brain as she leaves the room.
The glowing source of heat catches my eyes once more. My gaze bounces between it and the soggy bread between my fingers.
"To Hestia…"
I tear off a chunk and throw it into the fire.
The bread doesn't immediately combust like it would in the Dining Pavilion's bronze brazier.
Maybe she didn't like the taste?
I wouldn't either. It's disgusting. The food in this world is awful. She deserves a better offering.
"Dad…"
The next piece lands in the fire and just sits there. Potato sludge bubbling out of the bread's pores as its stale existence slowly succumbs to the flames.
There's no ocean breeze or homely scent of freshly baked cookies. My prayers are as empty as the feeling I used to get when I'd wake up from that dream where my real dad would come home and kick Ugly Gabe out of the house.
Even if dad was still around… would he even be listening?
"For Olympus…"
I don't bother ripping another piece off for this offering, I just toss the rest of it into the flames.
But at this point, my offering to the gods is as heartfelt as the response I got back from them. Which was nothing, if you couldn't guess.
This was so stupid. Why'd I even bother? All I did was waste food.
Pinching my nose, I raise the bowl of soup to my lips and chug. I do my best to force the sludge to bypass my taste buds altogether and get down my throat. I gulp down what's left of it, shivering at the feeling of cold remnants oozing down my throat, then lay down. The second my head rests on my arm, the Curse of Achilles hits me.
My last thought:
If I did those dumb prayers because of my weary mind…
…or if I'm still clinging on to the past.
I open my eyes.
Oranges. Yellows. Reds. Pinks. It's like a blurry mixed oil painting.
I blink.
Things begin to focus.
I'm standing before a stunning sunset. Apollo's flamboyant colors painting the horizon and glowing in the clouds. A vast view of rolling hills and steep peaks, dotted with clusters of forested pine.
It doesn't make sense. How did I get outside?
Then I notice the drop.
"Ah—fuck!"
Falling back on my rump, I kick my legs, scooching away from the 60-meter drop.
Am I… on top of the walls? How did I—
"Hey!" A muffled voice yells. "Be careful with those!"
I'm not alone.
How did I not notice them sooner? All around me, on top of one of humanity's great walls, are people dressed in these weird uniforms. Light gray bodysuits. Round, hard top, military-style helmets. Long and tightly secured white gloves—the type that doesn't reveal even an inch of a person's skin. And strangest of all, old fashion gas masks. The ones with the trumpet coming out of their nose.
What is this? A job fair for the CDC?
I watch the soldiers bustle around. Using a makeshift pulley system, they're hauling cargo up onto the top of the walls from somewhere down below. The wooden crates clang and jingle as they are loaded off the pulley and set aside. Peaking over a nearby crate that's had its top pried off, I find it loaded with silvery metal canisters.
Gas, I guess. Some sort of gas.
"How do you think the kids are holding up?" Just to my left, a feminine voice speaks.
"Our fellow honorary citizens of Marley? They are trained warriors. I have confidence in their ability." A deeper soft-spoken male voice responds.
"That's not what I meant."
The woman is attractive—short with a nicely shaped figure, dark brown eyes, pale skin, a greek nose, and disheveled black hair that reaches her chest. She's wearing a light gray jacket with a white blouse shirt underneath and a matching pair of light gray pants. She seems to be around my age, I guess. And a bit… I don't know, laid back?
"They were only just kids when they were sent off." The woman continues. "The scope and sheer importance of this mission must be… I'm worried about them."
"Their mission has dragged out longer than expected, yes, but I'm sure they're fine."
The man is tall and broad, with shaggy blonde hair and a beard. He wears a round pair of glasses, green pants, and a tan undershirt with a dark gray coat on top and seems older too. Orange, purple, and pink sunlight reflects off his glasses, shielding his eyes as he watches over the working crew of men unloading crate after crate from the pulley.
"It's not as if they are in completely unfamiliar territory. They've completed infiltration missions before, ones that succeeded in toppling entire nations."
The man turns to his female companion, the glare of the sunlight in his glasses disappearing, revealing a pair of blue eyes.
"I guess your right." The woman softly accepts.
I have no clue what's on, but my gut tells me these are the two in charge.
Maybe it's because they're the only ones not dressed in those creepy gas mask uniforms?
A particularly strong gust of wind blows over the wall; the pair stiffens.
"More importantly, something feels off…" the blonde man speaks. "Are you sensing it too?"
"Yeah, it feels like we're being watched." The woman affirms, her eyes shifting around the wall's ledge.
The blonde-bearded man joins the woman in scanning our surroundings. He turns completely away from his companion, turning his shoulders at a wide berth.
"This area of the wall was supposed to be uninhabited." The woman whispers, continuing her search. "Did intelligence miss something?"
Both the woman and the man's line of sight pass over me. The woman glances over without hesitation, as dream walking should go.
But the man… He pauses. And his eyes look directly into mine.
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This chapter was 7.6k words long.
Once again, sorry for the absence and thank you for staying patient with me. My updates are going to be a little sporadic until I secure myself a job. But rest assured, I'm still dedicated to writing fanfiction and this story specifically. I'm trying to return to that monthly update schedule but we'll see.
Yeah, so my channel on that discord server got deleted due to inactivity. My bad, it's mostly my fault. I'm still active on there if you want to join, its a good place to meet other fanfic fans and interact with the community outside of only reading stories and leaving the occasional review (guilty as charged, lol). Maybe I'll request my channel back once I have a bigger following, or maybe I'll end up making my own server just for announcements. I haven't decided on that yet. Until then, my discord username is UnbredEel0#8649 if you ever want to send me unsolicited memes. Leaving a review or PMing me on fanfiction works as well :D
Till next time,
-Unbred
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Originally Published on 6/17/2022