The First Crossing was once a simple path.

In times past, travelers looking to escape the titans entered the Walls through the stretch of land that would later become Shiganshina. The First Crossing, connected by one entrance of the district to the other, was a transient place of brief respite. Tens of thousands of people came within a single day, and hundreds of thousands more were left to their fates when the gates finally closed. Families reconnected and lamented their losses in equal measure.

The last of the Wall people who came and finally settled remembered those who couldn't be saved, and named their city Shiganshina, as a "historical insight" to the past. Or so the stories say.

Over time, people began building on top of this main road, the Crossing became buried by infrastructure and human habitation. As a result, the once straight route no longer existed; today, it was now a crisscrossing, incoherent maze of narrow tunnels and disorienting pathways. But the people somehow managed, despite this.

The general reason, I suspect, was due to the fact that there was no use for a clear path towards an exit that never needed to be opened to begin with.

Additionally, it turned out that throwing soldiers and supplies into a hostile place, never to be seen again, tended not to earn people's gratitude and respect. People hated the existence of the Survey Corps, so the district builders have over the decades built their city in such a way that attempting to traverse the city from the inner wall to the outer wall would be an hour-long test in one's patience.

Presumably, this was all just to make it as annoying as humanly possible for the Survey Corps to properly navigate the district. With all of the residential areas and market stalls lining the thicker roads, and narrow alleys blocking everything else, it provided few methods of easy travel for such a large group.

Of course, once the Corps did eventually figure out the details, some big changes were made that streamlined the process of getting supplied and ready for deployment into a fraction of the time it originally took when I had first started observing their work. I almost thought that they had invisible people like myself amongst their ranks, but no.

After a recent change of staff structuring that happened seemingly overnight, the Survey Corps seemingly reconsidered its state of affairs, and then began the long process of reestablishing their position within the minds of the people.

As it turned out, it seemingly took them a lot of bureaucratic work and a hefty sum of community service work just to clear the way for their wagons and exploration equipment. So the immediate goal changed from an exterior to an interior focus. The Survey Corps functioned as well as they could manage within their authority as a semi-paramilitary force, acting nearly without any government oversight, but their limitation was the lack of commitment on the part of the people they needed to work with.

Over the next few weeks following their staff restructuring, it slowly became apparent to the people of the city of Shiganshina that the Survey Corps wasn't going to fall apart and be replaced anytime soon, as often happened wherever that particular regiment underwent drastic internal changes. So, after a short side-eye period, everyone generally forgot about their existence and went back to business, as usual.

Then over the next several months, their community services continued while supplies and manpower required for expeditions decreased to bare minimum skeleton crews. Building demolition and reconstruction, manual labor, postal services, and any number of activities that were required, but not necessarily liked by the locals were taken on by commission through the Survey Corps.

I overheard some news that might be related to the changes.

Apparently, the spoken census is that the Shiganshina South Regional Division had discovered a fascinating new titan phenomenon that was only happening in this one area. Due to this, the entire Regiment was holding renewed interest in Titan Research and finding new weaknesses to exploit. However, it was also gaining some level of pushback in receiving special resources due to a potential miscommunication from the Interior or some such. As a result, the Corps was forced to rely on more local-means of gathering needed materials. As such, their recent behavior was pushed on by a need for "securing resources."

What this ultimately means for the entire regiment, I do not know.

Maybe I should take a peek in their offices later today...

Once I made it to the Outer Gate, I began to start the task of clearing the other side of titans. This was usually a slow process, but today, I learned new flavor-methods of dispersion.

My face takes on an amorphous, fluid-like form, in preparation for rapid-sequence transformations.

I shift into a man with laugh-lines and a red mustache, 'Start running, you dogs!'

A little girl crying in anger, 'Go away!'

Wide-eyed gaunt face, 'Move away from the wall, heathen!'

Chubby-cheeks, 'Get your fat asses moving!'

Dark-eyes, 'I'll bury you down to the neck if I see you again!'

More faces and words were expressed, shifting quickly before I could describe them. Lives passed by my lips within moments and ended just as fast.

Eventually, the feeling of things hiding out on the other side of the wall went away to god knows where, and I can finally stop my impersonations. I revert to neutral.

It only works if they can hear me, I think, so that means that the titans have to be both listening and in a place where they are capable of obeying. It's odd since this wall should be 50-meters tall, meaning I should technically be yelling over 100-meters. Despite this, the titans hear me just fine.

Also worth noting, since I'm not able to truly interact with the physical world, my voice cannot vibrate the air to make soundwaves, thus the actual means of communication should be something unrelated to sound and the real distance of 6-meters probably shouldn't be affected by physical barriers. Curious.

My head plants itself, ear first, to the ground, feeling for any rumbling from stragglers still moving.

Silence, 'Mmm, yes, it seems safe to attempt to climb the wall now.'

Three kids stood listening through the Wall. Perhaps they heard the titans running, too?

I ignored them, casually walking up. I raised my foot and planted it against the strange material that Wall Maria was made-up of, and started walking vertically up without losing stride.

It's curious. I'm a sort-of ghost-like entity, but I also have to obey most natural laws, like gravity or conservation of motion. The exceptions are that I cannot be heard, touched, seen, or interacted with. I don't need to eat or breathe, but I get tired and I'll fall asleep eventually. My body cannot pick up objects, exert force, cast a shadow, or be harmed by natural forces like fire or pressure, but I can be physically pushed around easily by a fluttering leaf or a person walking directly into me.

And the rain. Sweet un-joy, the rain. It's not like being literally pelted by a thousand bullets since I'm invulnerable, let it be told, but one cannot be ping-pong'd across an empty street for several hours without rest and not be inflicted by a traumatic experience.

Honestly though, it's not the water that terrified me.

It's mostly untrue that I'm unable to hold stuff. I can float a marble on the palm of my hand if it has nowhere else to go with only gravity trying to pull it down, but essentially, most things are now Thor's hammer, although the reference eludes me. Being underwater would be like being buried in concrete, until every single drop dried up. Being covered in honey would be like being locked in sweet, immovable shackles.

However, the absolute worst possible situation, of all I could imagine, is being buried in sand. A bear might come by to lick the honey away and a body of water won't last forever, but sand is coarse, rough, and eternally damning.

I made my way to the top of the wall.

Anyway, titans and titan-material seem to exist in opposition to anything based on logic when I personally interact with them. titans can hear me, sometimes, and titan-material like the Walls do not obey set natural laws. Something unique about them gives them unnatural properties.

To walk up the walk vertically, I assert to the Wall that gravity is now in 'this direction' and that this effect applies over natural gravity. Thankfully, the strength of effect corresponds to the level of assertion, so that this does not affect the Wall itself, but otherwise, I am able to use this effect on myself for as long as I remain in direct contact. Simple.

It only took me several weeks to realize that I could do this at all, therefore all this time, I had to wait to tail someone whenever I wanted to pass through the Interior gates.

I'm just glad I didn't accidentally launch the whole ring of Maria into high orbit. Someone, somewhere must be glad I didn't introduce this world to the Eldian space program so early.

Once I made it to the top, the trip to the bottom wouldn't take nearly as much time, as all I had to do by that point was let gravity do half of the work for me.

My legs slipped off the ledge facing what is referred to as "Titan Territory" and I immediately reasserted my own artificial gravity in the opposite direction. When combined, not excluded, with natural gravity, I can use the effect to skate down the Wall.

As I dropped, I noted that all the titans that were here had seemingly left in a hurry, their wide footsteps imprinted on flattened grass. The area surrounding the gate was a fresh green of low-growing plants, courtesy of not being cannonballed everytime the Survey Corps wanted to go outside, or burned to a crisp from having a horde of sleeping titans dogpiled over them every night…

I collided with a nearly unnoticeable lump along the way, which suddenly disconnected my contact from the Wall.

I didn't panic. It simply wasn't in my nature to do so. Just as I couldn't be harmed, I couldn't fathom why I needed to worry about this minor inconvenience.

Up here, I was closer to the kind of freedom that only birds felt.

Two seconds later, I pancaked into the ground.

[]

Once, I was a very different being.

Not a person. Even though I could take on the shape of a human, and in doing so, think and feel as humans do, I was not brought into this world as many living creatures were.

Instead, I was created from the contents of another.

Contrived for the purpose of collecting and storing information, or so my past-self believed. In truth, there was nothing to believe about the origins of my creation, as there was no objective purpose or meaning to be found. My past-self had no true predecessor, and thus had no reason to believe that this world held a reason for its creation.

For a long period of time, there was No emotion, No desire, No will.

However, when that past-self attained a human form for the first time… It thought as humans did and had a will to freely express itself. It tried to search for a purpose to its own existence. At first counting the steps that It walked, and then counting the humans It had come to know.

My past-self wandered the earth for as long as the dawn of civilization grew in its infancy. It saw as people settled, multiplied, dispersed, multiplied, and once again settled. They changed with the passage of time, becoming different. Unique behaviors sprung like the seasons, amassing with each cultural rebirth and death.

Soon, people had better means of producing food and shaping their environment. Later, they grew methods of complex communication. Even further after that, humanity developed an understanding of the past beyond human memory.

But then, something changed in Its being.

The being that I once was, grew weary. My mind gradually changed over time to one of despondent complacency. Where humanity flourished, my predecessor fell into a decline, not unlike a depression of thought.

A softly spoken wish was made.

An Orb fell onto the world, which would be inherited by its creator; my predecessor would leave behind another in Its place. In return, my past-self would grow the Orb with all that It knew, and then vanish forever.

However, this was not all that happened.

When that past-self vanished, one immortal became Its physical replacement. And the other immortal became Its spiritual replacement.

The Orb stayed on that world, while I was transferred to another.

The essence of my birth was created within the foundations of another. Because, to be an immortal is to outlast and persevere beyond all things, even if it means morphing into an entirely new form of existence.

Throughout these distant lands, I felt these remaining impressions- for that is all that is left.

It was here in the lands of the Walls that I've been ever since…

I felt the touch of plants all around me through my unbroken hands.

Arms shifting subtly, I reached through the cracks between blades of grass, where I touched the cool earth directly. Morphing into crooked shapes, around stems, along dirt, and growing less human, I became one with the plants' shadows. The difference between where the land started and where I ended grew less definite, this way.

I felt like I could become the earth itself and all its things would become known to me. My territory was the land, the earth, the trees, and all that walked upon it. But that was no longer possible now.

Whatever I once was, I am no longer that being anymore.

Much like Eren, I do not know if the plants can perceive me. No harm in trying anyway.

The plants received my greetings, 'Your imminent future is safe.'

I spoke to the nearest white-petaled flower, 'If you can understand these words, please note that the effect on the titans will last for up to 12 hours before they return to their natural behaviors. Use this time for self-healing, as they will likely return by dusk.'

Nothing worse for wear, I got up and started walking off in a specific direction, gathering my body back into one form for the long road ahead.

The titans hid themselves amidst the trees. The tallest of the beings had to squat close to the ground to avoid towering over the treeline, but otherwise, she and her kin did fine in complying with my instructions.

I had more I wished to ask of them.

I walked past several of them, toward one of the medium-sized members of the giants, which was lying in his stomach in a seemingly relaxed position. Few ever were lucid enough to follow my movement with their eyes, and fewer still paid any attention to what I was about to do.

I knelt down next to my chosen titan, pressing my head against theirs.

Delving downward, I felt a memory of a name. Alcott.

I climbed onto his back so I could begin operating.

'I'm sorry, Alcott. I must use you for my purposes.'

Once I reached his lower neck, I began carefully manipulating the flesh, parting aside slabs of meat like putty, until I saw a certain discolored type of flesh inside.

Much like the Walls, I can shift the fleshy material of the titan as if it were my own body. Unlike the Walls, the titan's body pushed and pulled to the efforts of my hands like I were a physical being, and it's through this titan that I achieve my means of interacting with the world.

There was minimal steam throughout the process, as ordinarily happened whenever a titan was wounded. Because I was molding the body through its own bodily processes, altering its shape by the same strange means by which its flesh was created, there was only what was deemed natural. Instead of damaging the fine connections, as Grisha sometimes required in his use of surgery, I worked with the regenerative methods employed by the titans to conduct my own form of on-site surgery.

With hands practiced in several weeks worth of experimentation, I reached in and began disassembling the coiled threads of muscular tissue from the discolored flesh, grouping up the slightly pale masses together into one long cord that was only connected to the rest of the titan by a single piece of skin.

During my time trying to learn more about the titans, I came to realize that the weak-point of a titan was also the source of its power, so I collected as much of this discolored flesh as I could, leaving as little of this source behind in the body. If I leave any part behind, the titan will not die, but it will also not be useful to me either, as the source would be spread across multiple parts, disjointed, but still functioning. If the source is destroyed, then the body disappears into steam, but since I cannot damage anything- not even the titan itself, the result would just be another problem for the Survey Corps to deal with later.

I liked to avoid causing more problems that I already had.

After a few minutes, I decided that I had gathered everything that was inside the neck.

With a tug, I pulled the source cord away from the skin still attaching everything together. Right away, the severed connection had an immediate effect as the titan stopped breathing and a gust of steam erupted from the place I had been working.

I hopped down.

In my hand, the cord was already working on recreating a whole new titan from scratch, but I put a halt to that. I straightened it out, asserting the construction of a hard, protective sheath to layer over the cord and form a cylindrical, rod-like shape.

In a matter of minutes, I had a new stick about 1 meter long made out of titan source-material.

'I need more.' I decided.

I placed the stick on the ground near a tree and moved on to a titan with a particularly large forehead.

Kneeling, I patted the titan's head in order to later its name, 'I'm sorry, Maire. I must use your source for my own purpose.'

And I went back to work.

I got into a flow, simply working from one titan to the next.

Slicing through flesh as easily as the blades used by humanity, although, my efforts would not kill my subjects. Rather, I did what I did because I thought the titans could be put to a greater use beyond their natural instincts.

If they couldn't harm humans, then would they be allowed to live?

Several hours later, I had a large pile of sticks attached to the back of a particularly stubby-legged titan.

I slapped the titan's hindquarters off as I gave my request, 'Drop these off at the usual spot! Please?'

The titan took off running, and I considered that this day was a job well done.