Chapter 15: Revelations

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Previously: Ymir repays her debt to Marcel by saving Reiner and Bertolt. Historia wants to trade Annie for Ymir. Squad Levi gets new members. Armin tells Mikasa about Eren's memory loss. Eren tells the squad the Walls are made of Colossal-type Titans.


Eren mirrored the reactions of his friends at Hange's news: shock, denial, grief.

Hange and Connie had returned from Ragako with the conclusion that Titans were humans. Truthfully, it didn't affect Eren beyond just feeling sad for the victims. Mostly he felt bad watching his friends take the news. Unlike him, it was a world-changing truth for them, destroying what they'd known all their lives.

"We've got news of our own," Levi said, leaning back against his desk. "Eren remembered one of his father's memories. The Walls are built from Colossal-type Titans."

"What?" Hange's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Connie paled. "Does that mean we've been protected from Titans all this time by Titans?"

"What's happening with the world?" Jean mumbled to himself, dazed. "Humans are enemies and Titans have been protecting us..."

"Does that mean we've killed people?" Sasha asked quietly.

"Don't think like that," Levi scolded her harshly. "There was nothing else we could have done. It was either we kill them or they eat us."

He's probably killed more Titans than all of us combined. Eren was sure privately Levi would mourn the blood on his hands, regardless of the fact, as he had said, there was nothing else they could have done. But Levi couldn't let that get to him right now and appear shaken in front of his team, making them feel worse.

"Connie, we'll be leaving for a remote cabin in the mountains to train Eren in safety so go get your shit packed. Hange, it's up to you and your squad to inspect the Walls."

"I'll check it out. Something fishy's going on here." Hange was frowning. "It seems like the Walls, Historia, and the Titan trio share some connection, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. And I know the perfect man to start with. Remember that priest from Eren's trial?"

"Pastor Nick?" Levi said and Eren scowled, remembering the fanatic.

"I always thought it was strange how much influence those Wallist idiots have. I think there's a threat there we can pull. I'll investigate Wall Rose and meet Pastor Nick and see if I can crack him."

"You know where we'll be. We'll wait a few days for you to join us and start the experiments on Eren's Titan. In the meantime, he can practice trying to harden his skin."

"Wait!" Eren jumped in suddenly. "There was actually another memory. This one came before Historia and I made contact. It happened around the time when we caught Annie," he lied. It had happened earlier but he had opted to talk to Armin and Mikasa first, whom he trusted the most, before he would tell the rest. Then he had become distracted by the Female Titan and later by Wall Rose being breached.

"What did you remember?" Hange asked.

"Do you know what an island is?"

"Island?" Jean echoed, clearly not knowing.

"What is it?" Levi asked.

"It's a piece of land surrounded by water," Eren explained quickly. "I had a quick flashback of coming to this place, this island, on a ship. Can't tell how long ago it was. But I remember landing on the beach."

With the exceptions of Armin and Mikasa, they were astounded.

Sasha looked like her brain was spinning in her head. "How can there be so much water?"

Eren bit back the words on the tip of his tongue, that almost three-fourths of the world was covered in water.

"It just keeps getting crazier and crazier," Connie muttered, shocked.

"Tell me about it," Jean said in disbelief. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Walled Titans and now this?"

"Why keep it from us for so long?" Hange asked, appearing awed by what he'd told them.

Eren shrugged. "Just seemed irrelevant, or unhelpful, I should say, compared to all the shit that was going down. I kept waiting for a good time but something would come up and I'd forget."

Despite his efforts to keep neutral, Levi appeared somewhat amazed. "That means Reiner and them are from another civilization out there. Which means the Beast Titan must have come over in a ship."

A troubled expression appeared on Mikasa's face. "They might have brought more soldiers."

"Considering they sent three, no four, Titans here originally, I would say they may have been a scouting party with another mission objective," Hange speculated, brows furrowed. "It's been five years since the first ones showed up. I doubt their people would send a large force without fully understanding the situation. They probably sent a small group to investigate, which means we should expect some company aside from Reiner and Bertolt."

"Then shouldn't we execute the operation to retake Wall Maria as soon as we can?" Connie asked worriedly. "You know, before they run back to where they came from and come back with an army."

Eren shook his head. "As far as they're concerned, I'm, and maybe Captain Levi, we're the only ones who can challenge them. We probably don't pose much of a threat. Not enough to give up a perfectly good ambush out of extreme caution to get more backup and risk missing us. Three Titans vs. me and a couple hundred humans. If I was them, I'd say those were good odds."

Levi inclined his head. "Exactly. As much as it pains me to admit, we have yet to beat them in a fight. Annie was a different case but there's no avoiding battle this time. From what Eren told me, Reiner was probably sloppy last time because he didn't believe Eren could do anything against him. It might be harder this time around. The rest of us are pretty useless against him. And the Colossal Titan, he can push us back with his steam so we'll have to figure out a way to deal with that, too. Then there's the hairy bastard. We don't know what's capable of."

"That's making me anxious for the upcoming fight," Sasha said gloomily, arms folded on the table, hiding half her face. "They won't go home and return with an army of soldiers cause they're strong enough to kick all our butts by themselves."

"Don't forget, though, Eren has that weird ability," Jean reminded her.

Historia nodded. "If he can get all the regular Titans to attack them, we could win."

"No pressure," Eren mumbled to himself.

"Along with hardening," Hange declared, "that'll be one of the things we'll study."


The cabin they were staying at was pretty nice. Eren would have liked it better with a jacuzzi in the back. And a cupboard full of chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers. It had been a while since he'd had s'mores. Only a few days ago he would have been excited about the trip, trying to find some time to spend alone with Mikasa. Now it was ruined thinking he couldn't get too cozy with her because he wasn't her Eren. And because of the conversation he'd overheard between Mikasa and Armin. He had a feeling she was going to confront him about that soon.

Eren rolled his eyes when Levi assigned chores. "He's going to bite your heads off if you don't clean thoroughly," he warned his friends, but they didn't take his words too seriously. For a second there, as they cleaned together Eren was reminded of Petra and the others, causing him to miss them.

As expected, Levi was less than pleased when he sat at the head of the table, checking the area under the table and rubbing his fingers. "We'll discuss your shitty cleaning skills later," Levi said, causing Eren to sigh. "First things first, Eren and Historia, try touching again and see if it triggers anything new."

Eren wasn't surprised when nothing happened. Eren II had started appearing more often now compared to when Eren first woke up in his body. Usually it had been during times of distress and danger. Lately, though, Eren II was starting to show up when it was pretty calm. But it was still difficult to time it when Historia was also around so they could test his theory to see if Eren's presence was causing the memories to come slowly. We're two souls that switch bodies and sometimes share this one. Eren had his own memories and beliefs and feelings. I wonder if I'm causing some sort of traffic jam.

"Last time it took a couple of days," Jean noted after they were done shaking hands. "Let's see if it'll be the same amount this time around."

"Eren." Levi turned to him. "You'll start practicing with your Titan later this afternoon. You need to be able to crystalize your skin. If you end up being overrun by Titans again out on an expedition, at least you can protect your nape while we try and get you out. We can't afford to lose your Titan powers."

"You could have said lose him, he's more than his powers," Mikasa argued, glaring at Levi.

Eren had forgotten she still held a grudge against him for what happened during the trial. "I'll unpack and start after chores and lunch," he said quickly, not wanting the two to get into a fight.

"Excuse me, Captain Levi?" Armin spoke up. "Can we ask what's happening with Annie?"

Eren had a growing suspicion Armin's feelings, whatever he'd felt before they found out she was the Female Titan, may have been more than platonic. Maybe they still were.

"Nothing." Levi shrugged. "She's just being kept prisoner in an underground cell."

"Really?" Historia said, and she wasn't the only one surprised. "She was caught five days ago. Why isn't she being interrogated?"

"Because we've had one problem after another occur since then. The day we caught her, the news about Wall Rose being breached came. The next day we chased after Ymir and lost a third of our forces. Erwin's in a coma now, Mike's gone, I've gotta keep an eye on Eren, and Hange's been trying to figure out the Ragako mystery. Now we've gotta deal with the Titans in the Walls. Something keeps coming up again and again. Leonhart's nice and secure in her cell so we keep pushing back the date to question her."

"I get that she's under our jurisdiction," Jean said, "and that most of the trustworthy members are unable to see her. But what about Chief Zackly? What's stopping him? Surely he can go interrogate her."

"He can't."

"Why not, sir?" Sasha asked. "He's the man in charge of the military, isn't he?"

"The Assembly of King Fritz is demanding Annie Leonhart be handed over to them." Levi was obviously not keen on the idea. "They don't want anyone talking to her."

Connie frowned. "But she's our prisoner. What the hell do they want with her?"

"I don't know. But I don't trust them. They've been fighting with Zackly and the chief hasn't budged yet. So she's just been left alone. Zackly's saying as a Titan and a member of the MP Bridge, she's under the military's jurisdiction. The Assembly is claiming they're speaking on behalf of the king and his word is final in all matters. So the chief's been demanding to see King Fritz. To talk to him and hear him out but the Assembly isn't letting him, saying that he can deal with them."

"Man, I had no idea this shit was going on." Eren should have figured though. The government went beyond the Survey Corps. They were just one division in the military.

"Politics are a pain in the ass," Levi said, scowling in annoyance. "Don't worry about it. Focus on your own selves. We've gotta start preparing for the next battle. I'm sure Zackly can handle the Assembly and whatever idiotic agenda they've got cooked up."

"You don't think they'll do a surprise attack, do you?" Sasha's voice had a hint of nervousness. "Reiner and Bertolt and the Beast Titan," she clarified.

"I don't think so. I don't know for sure, obviously. But I hope they won't. Just to be safe, Wall Rose's refugees were sent to the Underground. Tensions mounted fast down there and Wall Rose had to be declared Titan-free cause of how close it was getting to total chaos breaking out. So all the refugees have returned home. Anyway, Reiner knows we're going to be on guard for a while. Besides, as I mentioned before, they know we're heading to Wall Maria eventually, so I'm sure they'll go for the safer option where they know the lay of the land and have the advantage of setting up a trap."

"Any idea when we'll head for Shinganshina?" Eren asked, hoping for a time frame.

"We have to wait for Erwin to wake up first."


"Do you think the Royal Government knows there're other countries, or at least one, still out there?" Eren stepped over a fallen branch, hiking through the forest with Mikasa to collect firewood. Levi had deemed his and Mikasa's assigned spots satisfactorily clean by his standard and sent them out while their friends had to keep cleaning, Levi breathed down their necks.

"At this point, I wouldn't put it past them to know and purposefully keep the populace in the dark," Mikasa replied, carrying double the amount of firewood compared to him.

"Gotta be careful about this around other people," Eren said, picking up another dry stick and adding it to the pile in his arms. "The existence of the Walled Titans can be proven, but this truth?" He shook his head. "Without solid proof, we'll get our heads chopped off if the government finds out."

Mikasa stopped.

"You ready to head back? Looks like we have enough between us—"

"Hanging."

"What?"

"If we're caught claiming there are other countries out in the world, saying that the government is lying, we won't be beheaded. The execution method is hanging. You should know that." Mikasa gave him a pointed look.

Looks like it's happening now. Eren placed his firewood down and sat on a fallen log. "You know." She joined him. "When did you figure it out?"

"I didn't know you'd lost your memories. I thought it had to do with your being eaten during the Battle for Trost. I've heard a near-death experience will often change a person and put things into perspective." She fiddled with her scarf. "I was happy about the change because you seemed happier. Calmer. More accepting."

"The experience in Trost, and everything that happened after, it changed my life." Eren worded his reply carefully. "Made me more aware. I'm not the Eren Yeager you've always known. He's gone. He was changed having experienced what he did and he will never be the same again."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I forgot almost everything. I barely remembered a handful of people and my own name. It was terrifying. I couldn't exactly tell everyone in that moment. Fear twists people's minds and they were scared shitless and already thought I was some monster. But I needed help so I told Armin. A few memories were already coming back to me and I figured it was probably a temporary thing. There was no need to panic you over it and cause people to question my loyalty."

"But over a month has passed and you still haven't regained everything."

"No," Eren admitted. "I know more now. A lot more. But not everything. I should have expected you to figure out something was wrong and told you myself what had happened."

A crease appeared in her brow. "You would say weird things and the way you think became different. It was too short of a time for you to change so much as a person. Your manner of speaking or the way you carried yourself couldn't be explained by a near-death experience, not really. It just didn't feel right to me. But Armin has known you longer than anyone and he's very perceptive. So I kept telling myself I was mistaken. But it kept bothering me so I brought it up to Armin, thinking he would make me see sense."

"Instead he told you the truth."

Mikasa brought up her legs, arms resting over them as she hid herself a little.

Eren couldn't help but think of a turtle retreating into her shell. "Look, I didn't tell you because I was scared you'd be so worried about me you'd neglect your own safety to keep my ass safe. Which, if you'll recall, is exactly what happened." His eyes fell to her ribs, shivering as the cracking sound filled his ears.

"You're a Titan, Eren. Your life is worth more than the rest of ours."

Eren felt uncomfortable at her words.

"All I want is to stay by your side," she said softly. "To be able to fight with you and to keep you safe."

Eren's mind was scrambling. Was she talking in a romantic sense? I can't tell!

This Mikasa and her Eren shared a deep bond. Was his own crush on her putting a rosy tint on her words when she could mean something else entirely? After some struggle, he decided to play it safe.

"Okay," he said, scooting closer and wrapping an arm around her. "I'm not good with this touchy-feely stuff." He was, but not his other-self. Eren couldn't meet her eyes, staring off into space instead. "You just need to know one thing: you're one of the most important people to me and I care about you a great deal. You don't need to be attached to my hip for that be true. And I'm sorry for not telling you about the memory loss sooner. I should have told you. Trusted you. But I didn't and I'm really sorry. I'm really glad you know now."

Mikasa leaned into his touch, resting against his neck as he rubbed her arm. "Thank you."

Eren kissed her hair and mentally patted himself on the back. He thought he handled that well.


Hannes sat in a hospital bed, missing most of his left arm. "How're the kids doing?"

"They're good," Hange replied, Moblit standing behind her.

"I don't think I can face them again after failing so miserably," he said, head hanging low in shame.

"You killed a Titan and faced another. That's very impressive."

"But not the one I wanted to kill. The one that killed their mother. The one that frightened me so much I couldn't even lift my sword to fight when I first saw it."

"But you did fight this time. It doesn't matter if you didn't win. You tried to protect them. You fought. And survived. Trust me, that means a lot," Hange said firmly.

"Where are they?"

"They're in an undisclosed location to learn more about Eren's Titan and its abilities."

"Yes, you want to use him to seal Wall Maria."

"That's correct." Hange leaned back in her chair. "But, in the meantime, before I join them, I have a favor to ask. Something interesting came to light recently and must be verified immediately."

"What do you want to know?"

"I need the positions and schedules of the Garrison soldiers stationed on Wall Rose. Which area of the Wall is the least secure?"

Hannes became alarmed. "Do you think our enemies will try and attack from there?!"

"No, no," she reassured him, shaking her head. "Nothing like that. There's just something that needs to be confirmed."

"You're being awfully cryptic, but okay. I trust you, and the Survey Corps." Hannes informed her of an area east of Trost. There was a curve of the Wall that faced an open field both inside Rose's territory and in Maria's as well.

"We're going to take up some equipment in crates." Hange would have a hard time explaining the tools she and her squad wanted to bring up. Their purpose would be obvious when the Garrison guards saw it. "Any advice on how to sneak it up?"

"It'll be fine. You study Titans for the Corps, don't you? No one will mind if you say you just want to keep an eye out for any Titans who're active at night. Not that any have been spotted since that encounter at Utgard Castle, thank the Goddesses."

"It's a good excuse for why we might be up there all night," Hange agreed, very pleased. "Thank you."

"Will you tell me what it is that you're investigating?"

"I can't."

"I figured. Thought I'd ask on the off chance."

"Thank you for your time, Hannes."

Hange, along with Moblit, met up with the rest of her squad outside and rode in nervous silence. It was evening by the time they arrived at the base of Wall Rose. The Garrison guards stationed gave them no trouble and she and her squad soon left them far behind.

"Careful," Hange said, overseeing her subordinates. As a precaution, they were testing the side of the Wall Rose facing Maria's territory. She would hold a lantern as Moblit and Nifa worked to carefully tear a hole into the Wall one brick at a time. They would take the bricks and stack them on a wooden slab. Abel and Keiji would then pull it up to the top of the Wall using a small pulley system they'd set up.

Unfortunately, no matter how much they tried, they couldn't even put a scratch on it. "Well, this does confirm what Eren said about it being made of hardened Titans," Hange said, standing atop the Wall with her squad.

"What do we do now, Squad Leader?" Nifa asked. "The Wallists will claim it's because the Walls are heaven's gifts and refuse to accept the truth."

"Or allow more explosive tests so it can't be denied," Keiji said.

"The Wallists!" Hange slapped her fist into her palm. "Of course! The fanatics among them might believe that but the people who know the truth? They will become panicked that we're figuring the secret out."

"Squad Leader?" Abel didn't seem to have caught on. "What—"

"I have an idea."

The following morning, she sat at the edge of the Wall, one knee drawn up.

"Squad Leader, I've brought him," Moblit said, dragging a robed man with him.

"What is the meaning one this?" Pastor Nick demanded, looking harassed. "Your man here accosted me and forcibly brought me here! I will not stand for this!"

Hange stood and faced him. "Wanna tell me why there are Colossal-type Titans in the Walls?" She went straight to the point, giving him a cold look.

Blood drained from his face at her words. "I-I don't know what—"

"Don't lie." A bout of inspiration hit Hange and she added, "One of the Shifters we were chasing gave it away."

"And you believed him?"

"We had Eren secretly transform last night. He hardened his skin and broke a part of the Wall and we saw an eye belonging to a massive Colossal-type Titan."

Pastor Nick gasped and knelt by the edge to look down. "You can't let it see the light of day!" His shoulders dropped when he saw no hole. They went up again when he realized what had happened.

He fell for it! Hange crossed her arms. "What do you have to say for yourself, Nick?"

"You tricked me!" A stubborn look crossed his face and he straightened up. "Get me down from the Wall this instant!"

Hange couldn't keep her anger at bay. "That's it?!" She grabbed his collar. "That's all you have to say?!" All the emotional turmoil that had kept her up through the night poured out. The frustration and rage and worthlessness of all the soldiers sacrificing their lives to further humanity's cause when many inside already knew the truth surged to the surface. She threatened to beat the truth out of Nick then dangled him from the edge. Yet no matter what abuse and threats she hurled at him, the pastor kept his mouth shut.

"I have work to do! So take me back down!" Pastor Nick clenched his jaw, defiance clear in his eyes. He was done talking.

Hange shoved him away, disgusted. "Get him out of my sight." Once Moblit led him away, she left to find Nifa, Abel, and Keiji at the base of the Wall. "Moblit is escorting Pastor Nick down," she told them. "Follow him and report back everything he does. Be discrete."

Hange was certain Pastor Nick would try to make contact with others who also knew. The truth of the Walled Titans was supposed to remain secret and the pastor would tell his cohorts about the Corps finding out. If he won't give it up, maybe one of them will. At the very least, they would see who else knew and just how deeply this conspiracy to keep them in the dark ran.

In the meantime, she was going to look into the Reiss family.


Annie was losing her mind.

She wanted to break free of her wretched dank cell and run home. But her body couldn't respond to her commands and the gag kept her from biting her tongue. The guards used to taunt her to try and frighten her. It had been terrifying at first. Now she more or less welcomed it to ward off the loneliness. Stripped of everything and dressed in a white shaft, they kept her alive using an IV drip. It was utterly humiliating not having any control over her bodily functions, suffering the embarrassment of the guards cleaning her up. The women never failed to make a snide remark and she wished she could break free and see just how confident they were in taunting her then.

When she had first woken up, an intense brown-haired woman with spectacles had been peering down at her. Annie had tried to move and realized, to her horror, she couldn't. Had they cut off her arms and legs like that freak of a human Captain Levi had threatened in the forest when they first caught her? The woman had introduced herself as Hange Zoe and explained how the Corps had captured her.

Despair had clutched her heart.

Eerily, Hange had only smiled. "No need to make that face. We haven't even started the torture yet. You had a lot of fun murdering my fellow soldiers, didn't you? Soon we'll give you your proper dues for that."

Annie had felt sick, face paling, fear clear on her face.

"You look so pitiful I almost feel bad for you."

Hange's words brought out her anger. Annie did not want to be pitted. Did not want the woman seeing her scared and vulnerable and had forced herself to stare back defiantly. Like hell she would allow these bastards to reduce her to a simpering, frightened idiot.

Hange had sighed loudly. "Alas, we'll have to wait on what to do with you until Erwin finishes getting reamed by the powers-that-be for tricking them into thinking Eren was on the loose and running around without supervision." She had left after that with a cheery wave.

Annie had spent the endless hours beating herself up for falling for their plot.

She was pretty good at reading people and had felt something was wrong when Armin asked for her help to set Eren free. When they'd brought her to the staircase leading down into the tunnel, she had started to prepare herself. But then Eren let her go. The government was furious with Erwin and the Corps. Everyone was gossiping about it. She was sure Nile hadn't been lying and believed what he said. She could easily recall from their Training Corps days Eren's dislike of Christa. Christa was nice to everyone and they were at least polite to her back even if they didn't go ga-ga over her, believing she was some sort of deity. But it hadn't escaped her notice Eren didn't seem to care for the girl and avoided her.

Armin had mentioned overturning the court-martial. She'd thought their plan was to hand over Christa in exchange for Eren's, and Jean's, freedom, not realizing Christa wasn't the Female Titan.

You fool, she thought, then: Those lying, cheating bastards. The sneaky plan was something she might have expected from any other country, who was familiar with the concept of spies and underhanded tactics. This type of strategy was out of character for the Corps. I never should have underestimated them.

Noise came from outside her cell.

Two new guards came and relieved the ones who had been posted outside her cell.

From the anger and hatred some of the guards had for her and the things they'd said, they were clearly part of the Corps and had lost friends during the 57th Expedition. A tiny part of her did acknowledge their pain and feel an iota of guilt. But the Warrior and the tired little girl in her did not regret her actions. She just wanted to put it all behind her and have a quiet, unassuming life with her father.

Eyes closed, Annie bemoaned her fate for the nth time since setting foot on the island. She was sick of the damn place and just wanted to go home and be left alone in peace.

As the days passed, to keep the fear at bay, she had taken to studying her guards. There were always two guards, one male, one female—in case she needed to be cleaned up. Sometimes they were Corps members, sometimes MPs. They rotated fairly regularly. How much time passed between each shift she didn't know.

Hange didn't return.

At first, Annie had told herself it was their way of torturing her by forcing her to imagine everything they would do to her and told herself to not let it get to her. It had been excruciatingly difficult, though. Then, based on some of the things the guards said—the MPs weren't as careful with what they blabbed—it seemed something urgent was happening. A pressing enough situation kept popping up that she was being put on the back burner again and again. Annie hoped that Reiner and Bertolt were giving them hell and hoped they would come to save her.

With nothing else to do, she spent a chunk of the time trying to figure out how to get herself out of the mess she'd landed in. Eventually, an idea came to her. It won't help me escape, but—

Footsteps bounced off the walls. They were unfamiliar. She didn't have much variety when it came to her guards. A knot of fear twisted in her gut wondering if Erwin and Hange had finally come to torture her. Her guards had just changed so they couldn't be new replacements. Based on the heaviness and the timing between the footsteps, one was a tall man. Was it Erwin Smith?

"Hey, you're not supposed to be down here. Who let—"

Annie froze when his words turned to wet gurgles. The cracking sound that came next told Annie the other guard's neck had been snapped. A whistling sound filled the air as keys jingled. Whoever was entering her cell, she realized with terror, was definitely not part of the Corps. Had they come to assassinate her?

Panic began to overtake her. It only increased exponentially when she saw the bearded man. He seemed to remember her, too.

"Well, well, ain't this a surprise."

His voice sent chills down her back. One meeting was all it had taken for her to determine something was off about him. He was dangerous. Last time they met she had barely managed to escape him.

"You know her, Kenny?"

"Remember that little mouse I told ya about that escaped into the sewers?"

The blonde-haired woman turned to Annie in boredom. "It was her?"

"Looks like the little mouse is a Titan. Who'd have thought?" Kenny showed his teeth, smiling maliciously.

Annie wanted to scream.

"What's the matter, little mouse? Ain't happy to see yer papa?"


Please Review~