Wings of Freedom

Chapter 24

Armin felt a terrible sense of déjà vu, as his ears rang and he groaned in pain as he pushed himself up off the floor. Armin and his friends were ending up in this kind of situation far too often for the boy's liking. Fear and concern for his Dragon and friends, compelled Armin to push those feelings down for the moment though as he looked up with blurred vision.

Armin's vision cleared enough for him to see that the couch he and Eren had been sitting on, was now on fire. Eren was laying unconscious in front of it with a little smoke rising from a scorch mark on his nape and Roy was laying on the other side, also unconscious with smoke rising from his burnt hand.

"RRRAAAHHH!"

Armin winced at the panicked roars that bombarded his ears and made his headache worse as Thalia and Scarlett rushed to their Riders' sides.

Something then nudged Armin's side and he felt immediate relief as he looked over to see his Dragon, unharmed and he immediately picked him up before shakily standing himself and shaking the last of his dizziness from his head.

"Eren!" and of corse Mikasa was the first Human among them to run to Eren's side as she called his name, with her gray dragon on her shoulder and the black one right at her heals.

Armin was quick to fallow as they came up on Eren, with Scarlett hovering over him and Thalia doing the same with Roy "Eren, can you head me!? Eren!?" Mikasa called out as she rolled him onto his side but not all the way to his back, on account of the burn on his nape. Eren didn't respond though and just lay there limply.

Armin grimaced with worry before looking to Roy, who was similarly unresponsive "Thalia! How's Roy?" he asked, knowing Mikasa would take care of Eren.

Thalia glanced up at Armin for a fraction of a second before focusing back on Roy "I can feel him but…it's like his mind isn't here and none of his thoughts make sense" she answered and Scarlett whined from where she hovered over her own Rider "Eren is the same" she said before focusing back on Eren.

Armin's mind buzzed as it worked overtime to process everything. Mikasa and the Dragons were all too frantic to work through this properly.

The boy gritted his teeth as he forced down his emotions and looked the scene over before turning to the adult Dragon "Thalia, put the fire out while we deal with Roy and Eren!" he said but the Dragon cast him a glare and a growl "I will not-"

"We don't have time!" Armin cut her off with a glare of his own "if the fire spreads then we won't be able to help Roy or Eren and your the only one who can get it out of here! So deal with that and we'll deal with them!" Armin ordered.

It was truly an odd sight, the small boy ordering around the massive white Dragon, who actually looked stunned for a brief moment. The Dragon quickly snapped out of it though and simply growled as she grabbed the still burning couch and want to toss it out of the tree.

While the Dragon did that, Armin moved to Roy and set his own Dragon down and started looking Roy over and aside from the burn on his hand, there didn't appear to be any other injuries and his pulse was strong, if rapid. Armin really wished he knew healing magic right about now, but he was still learning the basics so even attempting it was out of the question. So, with that option out and no physical condition he could see, causing this, he decided to try probing his mind as Thalia made her way back.

Armin grimaced though as he did. It was like Thalia said. It was like Roy's mind was somehow not there, and as Armin didn't share a bond with Roy like Thalia, he could feel even less then her and couldn't here his thoughts, come on, what do I do? Armin thought as Thalia began digging around in in Roy's head again, in her attempt to reach him.

Armin felt helpless as he knelt there and looked between Roy and Eren. His Dragon's panic didn't help things ether as he hunkered down next to Armin and the boy ran a hand through his hair come on think! There must be something I can do! he thought. He could check Eren since that thing in his neck was the cause of this, but not only did that run the risk of him ending up in the same situation and potentially making Eren worse, but he didn't even know enough about magic to even try.

Armin was pulled from his panicked spiraling by Thalia yelping in even greater panic then before and Scarlett looked more agitated as well. Armin soon found out why to, as he was reminded that he was still in Roy's head by the second most agonizing pain he had felt in his life, coming from Roy and looked down and saw the scar over Roy's eye, glowing a sickly and sinister red, all the way down his chest.

Between the pain and confusion and panic of the whole situation, Armin hesitated in pulling out of Roy's mind just long enough for him and Thalia to feel a bit of Roy's mind, desperately reach out to them and yell "PULL US OUT!" and nether Dragon waisted any time in delving as deep as they could and clawing their Riders back out, now that they were working from both sides.

"GAH!"

Both Riders gaped awake and shot up with panicked expressions and Roy gripped hay his eye while their Dragons rapped them in their wings "Eren!" Mikasa called with relief as the boy hyperventilated.

Armin's mind shorted out as everyone sat there in an uneasy silence. Was it really over that quickly? What caused it in the first place? What were they supposed to do now? All these thoughts and more, raced though Armin's addled mind as he knelt here he was.

Eventually, Eren blinked as he snapped out of it and looked around "S-Scarlett…Mikasa…" he trailed off "yes, we're here Eren" Scarlett answered as she held him close.

Eren blinked with confusion and surprise "you…you two stayed by me this whole time?…" Eren trailed off in amazement but Scarlett and Mikasa both gave him confused and worried looks "what? Eren, you've only been out for a few minuets" Mikasa replayed but Eren just stared back at her with shock "what!?…b-but…we were gone for hours!" He exclaimed.

Everyone looked at Eren with shock and confusion "what?…Eren, what are you talking about?" Armin asked as he finally stood up "years" Roy spoke before Eren could answer, though his voice was so quiet that they almost didn't notice.

Thalia lifted her wing, revealing Roy with a somewhat hollow look on his face "for me it felt like years but also instantaneous. It was almost like time had no meaning in that place…" he said while pulling his hand back to look at the burnt skin of his palm.

Armin just stared at Roy for a second as his mind struggled to make sense of everything "what?…Roy, what happened?" he finally asked and Roy looked over at Eren for a moment before looked up at the others "it was…unlike anything I've ever seen or heard of before"

Roy and Eren walked across the sand dunes of this other worldly realm with a mix of trepidation, confusion and curiosity. Roy was on guard as his eyes scanned the area for any signs of life and his hand ghosting over where his sword would normally be, but Eren had a look of fear. He couldn't explain it but something about this place evoked a deep instinctual fear that he couldn't explain and made it impossible for him to admire the odd beauty of the blue tented desert.

Eren grimaced a little as he rubbed his palm where his Gëdway mark was and felt his Dragon's panic over their link. It was almost unbearable, feeling his partner's desperation and confusion for what was feeling like hours now, as they walked towards the pillar of light at the center of the desert, and the constant zapping from the two magics fighting for dominance in his body, wasn't helping ether.

"Eren?" Roy called back, snapping the boy from his thoughts as he looked up at the older Rider, who glanced over his shoulder at Eren with concern "how are you holding up?" he asked. Eren just stared at the ground for a moment "ok I guess…but, something about this place… it just feels wrong…" he trailed off as he looked up and out over the desert and stared down one of the giant sand sculptures of of a Titan, that dotted the land at seemingly random, but were becoming more common the further in they went "what even is this place anyway?…" Eren muttered, mostly to himself.

Roy sighed as he decided to stop for a moment and cast his gaze to the aurora filled sky to ponder Eren's question "if I were to hazard a guess…" he started, earning Eren's attention "I would say this place is a mental construct of some kind. A sort of illusion that represents this mental plane and where we are in it" he said before turning to face Eren, who grimaced as he tried to grasp the concepts of what Roy was implying "so…we're still in the tree…but our minds are…wherever this is?" Eren asked.

Roy huffed as he crossed his arms and shook his head in frustration "it's just a theory but it's the only thing that makes sense to me" he said then held out his hand to look at his Gëdway mark and the tether coming from it "these tethers must represent our bonds with our dragons, while the one coming out of your nape represents the one the parasite in your neck, and by extension you, share with whatever is in the light at the center of this place" Roy Explained.

Eren's eyes widened before he slowly looked up at the countless tethers up in the sky "but…then that means…" he trailed off in shock "yes, all those lights probably connect to parasites in other people" Roy answered Eren unfinished question as he looked up as well with narrowed eyes "judging from the shear number of tethers it would take to fill the sky like that and the fact that Armin and Mikasa most likely have the same parasites, I'd say at least the majority of the population of the walls has them, if not the entirety of it" Roy explained.

There was an uneasy silence between them for a moment before Roy broke it with a groan and let his arms fall to his sids "of corse this is all just conjecture at this point. There's no way to confirm any of this until we reach the center and then get out of here to check things from the outside" Roy grumbled.

Eren gripped his hand a little tighter with a frustrated grimace in response to that "and how are we even supposed to get out of here? It's not like we can just walk out" he grumbled himself, his inability to do anything but get zapped and feel his Dragon's panic and not even being able to send positive feelings back to reassure her, starting to grate on him.

However, Roy actually cracked a grin for the first time since waking up here, in response "actually, I've been working on that for a while now" Roy said before turning to continue their walk and Eren fallowed close behind "it is possible to cast spells mentally, but it is very difficult and very dangerous, so I've never attempted it. But given our…unique situation, it might be possible for me to cast a spell to strengthen our bonds with our Dragons enough that they can pull us back out if we can't find a way from in here" Roy explained his plan as they continued on and Eren relaxed a little at hearing they at least had something going for them.

And with that, the two fell back into silence as they continued on their trek towards the center, and hopefully answers.

Their path would come to an abrupt end however, as they came upon the first real obstacle they had seen so far, and as they drew closer, they couldn't help but stop and gawk at the wall of sand sculptures of colossal Titans, only a little shorter then the one that broke through Wall Maria.

The two just stared for a long moment before looking left and then right, only to see the wall of Titans stretch on endlessly in both directions with a slight inward curve "well…that's something…" Roy muttered as he just stood there and stared, trying to rationalize why such a construct would exist in this place since all the sculptures they'd see so far were mostly random.

Eren hummed in thought though as he looked the wall over "well what do we do now? Try and find a way through?" he asked and Roy hummed in thought "I don't see many other-agh!" Roy stopped abruptly with a grunt of pain and Eren snapped his head to him with worry "Roy want's wrong!?" he asked but Roy just stared at the ground with a look of shock and terror "no, it can't be…not here too" he said and that's when Eren noticed that Roy's scar was glowing and his eye was turning bloodshot.

In-human laughter, suddenly echoed over the land, as if a thousand voices were acting as one and Eren went ridged and he found himself unable to breath with fear gripping his chest as the most intense killing intent bore down on him like the weight of a thousand Titans and the air became unbearably frigid and in that moment, Eren knew with absolute certainty…

He was about to die…

"Vanyalí vard!" Roy yelled as he spun around and shot out his hand while gripping his face with the other and white light, shot out from his outstretched hand and the sands below them jumped up to meet it at Roy's commend, forming into the same words he spoke repeatedly until a dome of the magic script, materialized around them in an instant, blocking the blast of red energy that detonated against it.

Any other time, Roy would have been fascinated by how magic operated in this realm, but at the moment he was too busy staring in horror at what lay before him.

Eren was likewise, paralyzed with fear, and that was just from the killing intent that was bombarding him. He had face the horrors of the Titans before but this was something else entirely. The Titans simply killed because of instinct. As much as it sickened Eren to admit it, there was no malice in their killing and eating of humans, they were simply higher on the food-chain then them.

But this…

What Eren was feeling right now was pure, evil and malicious intent to kill for the sake of killing and the joy of it.

Something that would forever haunt Eren from that day forward.

All the while, the laughing continued as Roy called out more defensive spells in rapid fire as more attacks came in just as fast. Eventually Eren gulped as he worked up the courage to slowly turn around, only to gasp in horror at what was attacking them.

Dozens of monsters of all shapes and sizes, from walking corpses and skeletons, to the monsters of legends such as minotaurs and gorgons, all wreathed in unnaturally shadows with glowing red eyes, were bearing down on them with all manner of spells.

The monstrous laughing of the hoard finally let up a little, along with their attacks, giving the Riders a moment of respite "we did not anticipate you discovering this place" one of the monsters, a black skeleton with no legs, but hovering on a cloud of shadow with a tattered black cloak, rasped at them "I wander how it is they discovered it" a giant spider, chittered next, as they began speaking amongst themselves but still with a unified thought process, only occasionally using a singular pronouns.

Eren recognized only a few of the words being said but he didn't like the tone they were speaking in as they debated amongst themselves "R-Roy…what are these things…" Eren stuttered and Roy took ragged breaths as his cursed scar continued to flare, but oddly enough, didn't hurt him as bad as usual "these things…are the spirits that make up the Titan Shade" Roy answered as he mentally ran through the, regrettably small, list of spells he could preform well enough and really wishing he had his sword.

One of the spirits, a gorgon, slithered forward on her lower serpentine body a little as she gave a disturbingly wide grin with her otherwise featureless, pitch black face and the snakes that made up her hair, seamed to hiss as if chuckling "very good Rider, but only partially, for we are but a fraction of our full potential. The rest of us remain in reality while we explore this realm" she explained with a taunting edge and the message was clear. Even with a fraction of their full strength, Roy was still no match for them.

And on that note, the spirits began closing in on the two, preparing several spells as they slowly pushed them back.

Combat instincts kicked in as Roy quickly grabbed Eren and jumped with all his enhanced strength while simultaneously casting another protection spell.

Like before, the sands leaped up to form the script in the Ancient Language, some remaining as is for the duration of the spell, others becoming the nature of it, by bursting into flames or arcing into lightning bolts.

Roy hit the ground a good distance from where he once stood, but his enemy was not far behind as he spun and shot his hand out "brisingr!" he called out and fire burst to life among them, earning some satisfying, if horrific, roars and screeches of pain. It would seam that ether wards didn't work here or the spirits had neglected to protect their actual forms here. Roy doubted they would make the same mistake again though, so he pelted them with as many fireballs as he could while running in the opposite direction. "Mïnen oro" one of the spirits called out and Roy barely dodged the sickly green sand arrow that grazed him, leaving his arm numb as the "flesh?" tuned a shade of green and the arrow melted into a puddle of poison on the ground.

More spells came at the Riders like a never ending barrage and Roy's wards, which apparently did work here, were now struggling to hold back what he couldn't dodge or block with a spell and manny unknown spell passed through and grazed him damn it! Why did it have to be a magic battle!? Roy cursed as his mind scrambled to find a way out of this mess. He was just glad this was already a mental plane, otherwise he'd have to fight mentally as well and there was no way he could do both on his own.

Meanwhile, Eren could do nothing but be paralyzed with fear as Roy dragged him along and he was painfully reminded that in spite of all his work to survive out in Titan territory and the training he had been given, he was still just ten years old.

One of the spirits managed to dash up and blindside the two while the others continued to hound them and Eren gasped as he came face to face with a walking corpse.

Eren's mind went blank as he stared at the thing's face, which was somehow both devoid of meaningful expression and full of murderous glee at the same time and his mind flashed back to the nightmares he had been plagued with before Scarlett hatched for him. The horrible sight of his mother's living corpse haunting him.

And in that moment, before the spirit could strike. Something snapped inside of Eren. The sight of the thing before him dragged up memories that had slowly been overshadowed by his Dragon, his friends and his time training with them and Roy.

Eren wasn't entirely sure of what happened next and would later be told by Roy that he had begun emanating his own killer intent, and if the spirits' was an icy glee then Eren's was a raging hellfire that gave even them pause for a moment. Just long enough for him to wrench himself free of Roy's grasp and raise his hand "BRISINGR!" he screamed with every ounce of rage he held within him and the tether from his nape seamed to flicker and writhe as if in agony for a moment as the lightning that had been zapping him all this time, became a miniature cloud of golden thunder around him.

And then it stopped and all was still for a moment as the lightning died completely. And then…

BOOM!

The sands shot up faster then the eye could perceive and a raging, blood red inferno, exploded outward, blossoming from Eren's hand and consuming the walking corpse, which screeched in agony before puffing out in a cloud of smoke.

All was silent again for a moment as Roy stared wide eyed at Eren and the spirits looked on with disbelief.

Eren wasn't finished though, as his anger and bloodlust flared, finally set free from the shackles that had been place on it by Eren's friends for the shake of his sanity and he turned on the other spirits and raised his hand again before repeating the same spell and again, flames blossom forth like a force of nature. Oddly beautiful in it's destructive power as it lit the landscape in red and the spirits were forced to back up and defend themselves for the first time, possible in their existence.

Roy was slack jawed for a good thirty seconds as he watched in stunned silence and morbid fascination as the spirits were burned alive and some even killed what the hell?… Roy trailed off as he watched Eren go berserk like a raging Dragon.

Roy was forced to quickly recover though as the spirits began retaliating and he quickly covered the boy with protective spells while Eren went to town with the one offensive spell he knew how the hell is he doing this? I know I'm not the most magically gifted person but the amount of energy he's putting out should have put him out of commission by now Roy thought as he continued to focus on defense.

Roy paused for a moment though as he realized something wait, why am I not exhausted yet? I should be ready to pass out from all the spells I've been tossing around he thought as he rises yet another barrier and felt only a minor drain.

Roy cast his eyes all around him at the carnage as he tried to understand what was happening is it this place and the way the sand reacts to magic? Roy pondered as he raised a wall of fire between them and some of the spirits, before blocking another strike from the other side, as Eren unleashed another torrent of flame.

Roy payed close attention during the next wave of spells and he now noticed that the sand wasn't so much jumping up at his commands or that of the spirits, but more being pulled and tended to be more sluggish in forming, as if against it's will, but when Eren cast a spell, the sands seamed almost eager to obey and become flame.

Roy then took notice of Eren's tether, the one coming out of his nape, which had lost it's blue tent, almost as if it had been infected by the red glow that now dominated his body, with no more lightning attempting to take his body, and Roy could swear Eren's ear was already more pointed then it had been before, with the other not far behind.

It was then that it clicked in Roy's mind the parasite! Eren shares a bond with this place but we don't. We're forcing this place to take shape with our magic but Eren already has a key Roy thought. It didn't explain why magic functioned the way it did here but it made sense. Ray was forced to focus back on the fight however and the pain from his cursed scar, which was actually growing duller as the spirits were wiped out, and as their numbers began to drop, Roy began to attack as well.

Most of them were spreading out to avoid the flames but Roy wasn't about to let them keep control of the battle field, forcing him and Eren back to back as they were. So the Rider aimed his hand at the ground "deloi waíse istalrí!" he yelled and actually smirked as a spell that would usually drain him badly, took effect and the ground around them became fire, engulfing many of the spirits.

A demon with bat wings screeched at them "you will pay for this!" It screamed before it and the rest of the spirits fled, leaving a stunned Roy behind to stare after them we did it?… Roy thought with shock. He couldn't believe they had actually pulled it off.

"AAAHHH! You bastards!" Eren screamed, reminding Roy of his berserking student "Eren!" Roy called out as he grabbed the boy and held him back before he could run off after their enemy.

The boy struggled at first but with the fighting over, Roy was able to focus on Eren and hold him still until he calmed down.

Eren eventually stopped struggling and took a knee as he breathed heavily while his senses slowly came back to him. Eren blinked a few time before looking back up and around him at the scorched sands which had turned glassy from the extreme heat "did…did we do this?…" Eren muttered with a somewhat detached voice, still feeling the after effects of the adrenaline that had been pumping through his system.

Eren was caught off guard by the sound of laughing and looked over at Roy, who was now laying on the ground, panting "and I thought Mikasa was dangerous" he muttered before looking at Eren "and most of this was you actually. Except for the ring of fire, that was me" he said while catching his breath. The Rider forced himself to sit back up though "we can't stay here though. That was only a small fraction of their power and they'll be back with countless more and we won't get nearly as lucky next time" Roy explained as he stood up and offered a hand to Eren.

The young Rider hesitated for a moment. Despite not feel particularly winded in the normal sense of the word, his head felt as though it'd just been struck with a lightning bolt, which might not be far from the truth and his body felt like someone had opened him up a rearranged everything inside. His tired and addled mind and body were begging for rest and time to process everything that happened, but Eren knew better then to give in to his body's wishes and took the offered hand and Roy hoisted him up "ok, I'll get to work finishing that spell I was talking about earlier and hopefully we can get out of here before they come back" Roy said as he got to work.

Eren took a deep breath and looked up to the sky to think about everything that had happened.

Though the fight hadn't really been short or anything, it felt as though it had ended as quickly as it had started for Eren, and most of it what honestly just a blur to him is this what's it's always like? he thought as he looked to the sky and watched the the lights flicker and pulse through the sky. Too much had happened in such a short time and Eren wasn't sure how much more he could take before he lost it again I swear if this day gets any weirder… he thought as he took deep breaths to calm his nerves.

"Eren?…"

The young rider jumped slightly at the far away voice that just called him, his eyes widened "no way" he breathed and Roy stopped what he was doing to looked at him "what's wrong?" he asked but Eren didn't answer. Instead he slowly turned around to look at one of the random tethers that had been floating up in the sky, came down to the ground and glowed brighter then the others.

"Eren, is that you?" The voice called out again, closer this time and coming from the tether, now dangling in front of Eren, who's jaw promptly dropped.

He knew that voice. He would recognize it anywhere "it can't be…dad?"

A/N - yet again, I have forced myself to end the chapter more abruptly then I would like, in order to avoid dragging out the update any longer. I'm also disappointed in this chapter a little because I feel like I had to cram too much plot stuff into a sort time frame.

Again, sorry for the long wait and thank you to everyone that a stuck it out.

Magic translations -

Magic guard - Vanyalí vard

Fire - Brisingr

Disease arrow - Mïnen oro

Earth be flame - Deloi waíse istalrí