"I didn't make the cut…" Hopeless words tumbled from Eren's mortified face. Marley's warriors had been selected and he wasn't one of them. He stood in the courtyard of Liberio, bunching tight handfuls of his brown hair until the roots threatened to rip from his scalp. The boy's lower lip trembled terribly, eyes becoming two glassy domes filling with tears. "I didn't do it." Everything that he had driven for had been snatched away from him, his gigantic ambition punctured, leaving his hope to deflate in front of his very eyes.

"Eren." Zeke stretched a hand to his little brother's shoulder to console him. "It isn't a shortcoming on you–"

"Now mom will never be accepted here." All other words to Eren were deaf bar his own. Today was supposed to be the day that he turned his life around, the day his mother no longer had to live in fear. And now he was petrified to tell her that he had failed.

Zeke had been given the Beast Titan. Marcel had the Jaws. Annie was now the Female Titan, whilst Reiner owned the Armored. Bertholdt? The Colossal. Even Pieck had been selected as the Cart Titan. He and Porco had nothing – they were the disasters. Eren wanted to be sick, he didn't know if the dizziness was from extreme emotion or a sign that he was crushing his skull too much.

"How did you do it?! How did you ALL do it?" Eren's blubbering erupted hysterically as he looked at his companions, all of them becoming shifty and lowering their heads. They pitied him and it made him angrier. "I trained so hard for this! Harder than all of you combined! Why didn't they choose me? I NEEDED this!" His chest was rising and falling tremendously, teeth chattering. "I can't go home, I can't face her, not like this."

"It's okay, Eren." Zeke tried to intervene, not wanting his kid brother to have a mental breakdown when he hadn't even hit puberty yet. Their world wasn't fair, but it was just the way it was. Life wouldn't let up on them, because life didn't have favorites.

"This is your fault!" Eren slapped Zeke's hand from his shoulder, directing his ire on him. "You made me think I could do it! You made me think that we would be in this together! Your mom is gone, you don't need the power of a Titan to save her!"

CRACK!

The second those words breathed into the world, Eren was put on the ground, courtesy of Zeke's fist. He hadn't intended to strike him so hard, but if he kept running his mouth about things he didn't understand then it would have gotten uglier. "Mind yourself, Eren." Zeke warned once, and only once. He relaxed in his stance and sighed apologetically, offering his hand to his hysterical sibling.

"You don't understand." Eren hid his face behind the sleeve of his shirt, pretending to wipe more dirt away when in fact he was catching his tears. "You'll never understand." He sniffled, unable to control it. His heart hurt more than his face. All he could do right now was string together enough composure to breathe without breaking. Every bone in his body shook, he shoved Zeke's open palm away and scrambled to his feet, sporting a bright red blotch on his cheekbone. "I'll find a way to do this! I'll show you! I'll show everyone!" The boy spun on his heels and dashed from the courtyard with a speed like the devil was right behind him.

"That was tough." Bertholdt spoke softly; guiltily.

"It is life." Annie added, less empathetic. "No use in crying about it."

Reiner understood Eren's distress, he had gone pallid, seeing the boy lose it had been a startling reminder of the reality he could have faced had he not been chosen. He got to go home to his mom with the glorious news that he had succeeded – the same could not be said for Eren. His heart went out to him for that.

This war was never supposed to be easy on any of them.

Eren, in all his turmoil, barged beyond adults in his path, wiping his eyes roughly with his sleeve. He didn't know where he was going until he got there. The boy stopped on one of the bridges. They were always empty by sunset. He got about halfway before his lungs packed in, due to running while crying, or he might've gotten further. Eren heaved in breath after breath, gulping in sharp mouthfuls at a time, unable to compose himself.

Whoosh!

The boy was nearly flung from his feet as Pieck lunged into him from behind, locking her arms around him gently. She pressed her cheek between his shoulder blades, expression blank, apart from her eyes. They were sad – sad for him. Eren would've gotten a fright if he didn't recognize her tiny arms by now. She was the only person who would hug him at any angle. "Let me go, Pieck!" Eren's temper inflamed a little as he squirmed and struggled. "Cut it out!"

Pieck shut her eyes tightly, her hold becoming firmer than the boy had known it could be. He jerked sharply, but she stayed with him.

"I mean it, Pieck! This isn't funny! Beat it, alright?" Eren growled and seized her wrists, fighting to pry her arms from his waist. "I want to be alone!"

"No." Pieck mewled softly. Her voice was tame in contrast to her surprising stubbornness. "You can be alone all you want in thirteen years, okay?"

Eren stopped then, feeling his chest become a little tighter while his grip on her forearms loosened. He hung his head shamefully, knowing that she was really saying 'if you want to be alone, you can do it after I'm dead'. It was morbid, coming from her, but she said it so quietly that it just sounded as though she would be going away for a very long time. That would have been his fate, too, if he had been chosen. But even so he'd rather have thirteen happy years with his mom than live out a full life counting how many more bruises she would get until one day it went too far. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

As Pieck cuddled into Eren's back, she felt him shake and heard him sniffle again. When she eventually let him go, she watched timidly as he slumped to the ground, sitting with his back against the small stone wall. She lowered herself and sat opposite from him, curling her knees to her chest as he covered his face with his hands.

It was quiet on the bridge.

They sat for an indefinite period of time as the last light of the sun started to dip below the horizon.

"Eren." Grisha's calm voice defeated the silence.

Startled, Eren lifted his head, searching with eyes of disbelief and wonder as he saw his father standing at the other end of the bridge. "Dad?"

"What's the matter son?"

Fresh tears threatened to well in Eren's eyes again as he climbed to his feet, but he held himself together. "I wasn't chosen to inherit a Titan." He confessed; the disappointment still raw as his shoulders sagged.

"I see." Grisha became pensive until he offered a hand to the boy. "Come with me, Eren."

Pieck's eyes were anxious as she got up. She had only seen Grisha Yeager once or twice if he was lucky. Everything about him was a mystery to her, and to his family too.

"What are you doing here, dad?" Eren asked and took timorous steps towards his father's waiting hand. He couldn't even recollect how long it had been since they had last seen, but he was here now of all days? Why? His father was so peculiar to him. Barely anyone in Marley knew when he was here – he was a ghost in Liberio.

"Where are you taking him, father?" Zeke asked, having arrived at the other side of the bridge just in time. His eyes were filled with less wonder as he scrutinized Grisha. Their relationship had always been rocky. If any of the Marleyans caught him here, they would execute him on the spot. Zeke wondered why he would dare risk it – why for Eren? "I could have you killed here and now."

"You won't have to worry about that, Zeke." Grisha claimed as he took a hold of Eren's hand. "I am doing what is right for Eren."

Zeke's fist clenched in anger as he watched his father turn, beginning to lead his little brother to god knows where. "Have you even seen Carla? Do you even care?" After all this time, his resentment was still overwhelming. He hated Grisha with a passion and he refused to allow him to try to brainwash Eren next. He loved his brother too much to let their father get his hooks in him. "Pieck, don't follow us." He ruffled the girl's hair as he walked by her, intent on following Grisha and Eren.

As Pieck stood by herself on the bridge, she cuddled her arms around her body, watching as the Yeagers became a silhouette in the distance until she could no longer see them at all. Just what were they doing? It was getting dark – too dark for them to argue in the middle of the night. She worried for Eren most, but she was glad that Zeke had gone with him, she wouldn't have trusted leaving him alone with Grisha. Carla often spoke kindly of her husband, but Pieck didn't see that particular glamour about him after the stories that Zeke had shared with her. There was something unsettling about him being here on the day that Eren could have inherited a Titan.

A bright light erupted in the distance and had the girl's eyes widening. She knew that glow – it was a transformation.

"Eren…"

Author's note: Thanks so much for all of the wonderful reviews so far! So glad that you are enjoying it! I still wanted to give Eren the Attack Titan since it is iconic for him. I'll explain more about the end scene with Zeke, Eren and Grisha next chapter. Also the next chapter will be a couple of years later, as the warriors are readying for their mission to Paradis Island. :D