"…Holy shit, I knew Eren had anger issues. But this? I never would've guessed…I don't think anyone could've"-Edith M. Brown Diary, 850

Spring, 850
Trost City District

"The Titan assault on Trost left us reeling, owing at least in part to the Scout Regiment's absence at the time. The military casualties were profound. Ironically, they'd embarked on a reconnaissance mission beyond the Wall that very morning.

The Scouts primary function is to establish bases of expansion, acting as a spearhead for human knowledge. Theirs is a solemn and dangerous honour. Thanks to the ingenuity of its exemplary members, the regiment's survival rates have improved.

That said, excursions into long relinquished territories still commonly result in a death toll exceeding 30%. A stark illustration of the disparity of our own strength and that of the Titans…" -The Fall of Rose, Armin Arlert

Eren felt like he was trapped in a nightmare, unable to wake. The walls around him were pink and fleshy, the smell suffocating him confirmed his suspicions. Looking down, the broken bodies of his fallen comrades floated by, their faces forever frozen in fear.

Eren let out a hair-raising scream as he realised where he was. A stomach. Backing away slowly through the waist-high sludge, he snapped around when he bumped into something. His wide eyes locking on a body.

'This…this isn't real…we were ready…we were ready! We hit the books…we trained! These things weren't a mystery to us anymore…we knew how to beat them! I survived!" Eren wept.

"Help…me! It's so…hot!…I need to go home!…Mum'll worry…I know she will…help me…please…" gasped a floating head.

Eren could only watch in horror as the head sunk below the surface, never to be seen again. "How has it come to this? Why has everything been taken from us? Our lives, our dreams, everything…" he continued to weep as he too slipped below the surface, his bad arm outstretched.

"Damn you! Damn you all to hell! I refuse to die like this! I'll drive them all out! I'll kill them with my bare hands! Do you hear me?! With my bare hands!" He felt odd, like his anger had taken on a physical form and he supposed it had, for it was all that encompassed him, only a single thought stood out in his mind. Kill the Titans.

The transformed Eren burst forth from the old Titan, spraying its guts into the air and painting the buildings as he did so. His Titan form stood at a tall fifteen metres and howled its anguish into the air, stomping down hard on the Titan who had eaten him.

A small Abnormal entered the scene, catching Eren's attention. All of his anger and rage seemed focused in that one punch as it slammed straight through the Abnormal's tiny mouth and out the other side.

'I'll kill every last one of you' he thought as he threw the smoking corpse to the ground where he proceeded to continuously stomp on the small creature. 'Get up, get up. Let me kill you again and again and again. You're mine, all mine, all of you…"

"…You're all gonna die" Eren muttered still half asleep, the warm arms he was wrapped in tightened at the words.

"…Eren?" Arming murmured, unwilling to admit that his brother was scaring him.

"You're all right?" Mikasa asked over her shoulder as Eren lost the glazed-over look in his eyes, now fully awake.

"Look at me. Hey, Eren, can you move? Can you hear me? Say something!" Armin questioned frantically,"Listen, you've gotta tell them everything! They're terrified but they'll understand"

"Armin? What…?" Eren muttered, questions running through his head as his attention was grabbed by the mutterings in the crowd before them.

What the hell are they talking about? What is this? Why are all their blades pointed at us? Those are meant for taking down Titans, what's going on? And what's with that look? Are they terrified…of me?

"I WANT ALL YOU CADETS ON STANDBY! LOOK SHARP!" ordered Norfolk before making his way over to the other able-bodied medics who were making the rounds. Out of the way sat a group of the remaining young cadets from the 104th cadet corps, the group taking up no more than two picnic tables.

Each seemed to be weighed down with what they had witnessed that day, with what they had done. Unable to look anyone in the eye, unable to face those still naive in their beliefs. Most of them didn't appear to be physically hurt, a few scrapes here and there. The worst was Edith who had a couple of bruises beginning to bloom on her forehead and left cheek from her rough landing at HQ.

"…If we hadn't found the gas, we'd have never gotten out of Trost" Connie explained over Edith's soft snores as he stared down at his hands on the table. To his left Edith rested with her head on his shoulder, taking a much needed nap; in front of him stood Krista and Ymir, the two being the only ones with energy left in them.

On the next table over sat the remaining cadets and while they weren't taking part in the conversation just yet, but they were still listening in as Connie explained what had happened. "Basically we got lucky, that's it"

"That sounds terrible. I'm so sorry. We volunteered to run supplies out to everyone, but the situation was so bad…" trailed Krista.

"We even found some gas we were gonna dole out to you guys, but then everything went to shit" Ymir added.

"So you're saying everyone who isn't here now didn't uh, y'know…"

"Yeah…"sighed Connie.

"Wait what about Mikasa?" Ymir asked.

"No, no. She's good, she made it in after us, with the group that Jean led"

"Hey, Jean!" Ymir called turning to the other table, "Where in the world is Mikasa? She get hurt or what?"

"Hey, talk to us" added Connie.

Jean just glanced up at the pair before taking a swig of water. "I'd tell you if I could, they slapped us with a gag order" Jean mumbled.

"Woah, you're joking right?" Connie said.

"That's nuts" added Ymir.

"They're nuts if they think people aren't going to talk. Word'll get out and when it does all hell's gonna break loose. Well that is if we survive"

Norfolk chose that moment to make his over to the solemn cadets occupying the tables. All those present rushed into tired salutes including Edith who was jostled awake by Connie's sudden movement. "At ease" he said, his gaze locking on the tired form of Edith as he continued to speak, "Brown, get your ass moving! Your on clean-up duty!"

"Sir!" She yawned, her hand still stuck in the salute as Norfolk turned on his heel.

Taking a deep breath, she groaned into her hands before stumbling to her feet, tripping slightly as she tried to disentangle herself from the picnic table. "Are they really sending you out there, already? Can they do that?" Krista asked concerned as she watched her classmate hid another yawn behind her hand.

"Mm-hm, course they can. Lord knows I'd rather be picking shrapnel outta people, but we're just rookies which means we're expendable. And that means we get stuck with crap duty like clean-up and shit sheets" explained Edith as she checked the bandages on her prosthetic and made sure that her harness was secure. "I'll guess I'll see you guys later, or not" she waved as she left, too tired to care about the looks she received as she made her way towards the other medics.

"CADETS EREN JEAGER, MIKASA ACKERMAN, AND ARMIN ARLERT! THE THREE OF YOU HAVE JOINTLY COMMITTED AN ACT OF HIGH TREASON! WHETHER OR NOT THE EXECUTION IS SWIFT IS A RESULT THAT DEPENDS ON YOU!" roared Weilman from behind the firing squad.

"What?" breathed Eren as he came to terms with what was going on. They appeared to be in a courtyard, Armin was holding him and Mikasa stood in front. Behind them stood a wall, both blocking their exit and granting some protection

"ANY ATTEMPT TO MOVE FROM WHERE YOU STAND NOW, ANYTHING I DEEM THE LEAST BIT SUSPICIOUS WILL BE MET WITH CANON FIRE! DO NOT TEST ME! ANSWER CAREFULLY, EREN JEAGER WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU?! HUMAN OR TITAN?!"

What is that supposed to mean? Eren thought as he looked away from Weilman, unable to meet the man's intense glare, Why are they all glaring at me like that? It's like…like they're looking at a monster…Oh God, is that what they think?

"I'M SORRY SIR, I DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Eren replied much to Weilman's disbelief.

"Son of a bitch is playing innocent! ANSWER ME DAMN YOU! EVASION WILL GET YOU NOWHERE! DON'T TRY TO STALL AND PRETEND IGNORANCE! YOU WON'T GET A CHANCE! YOU'LL BE BLOWN TO HELL BEFORE YOU CAN ASSUME YOUR TRUE FORM!" Weilman thundered.

"What true form?"

"PLEASE! SCORES SAW IT HAPPEN! YOU EMERGED FROM THE CARCASS OF A FALLEN TITAN IN FULL VIEW OF YOUR COMRADES! A CREATURE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, ABILITY OR ALLEGIANCE HAS SLIPPED THROUGH AND INFILTRATED WALL ROSE AND THAT CREATURE IS YOU!

UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES YOUR BEING SANCTIONED BY HIS MAJESTY IS NEITHER HERE NOR THERE. YOU'RE A RISK AND I'M WELL WITHIN MY RIGHTS TO ELIMINATE YOU. I WILL NOT LET THE SITUATION STAND! EVERY MOMENT I SQUANDER MULLING OVER YOUR SUPPOSED INNOCENCE, PUTS US ALL AT RISK FROM AN ATTACK BY THE ARMOURED TITAN! FOR ALL WE KNOW, YOUR ATTACK WAS A DIVERSION FOR EXACTLY THAT PURPOSE!

I'M SORRY! HUMANITY'S FATE HANGS IN THE BALANCE AND I CANNOT WASTE ANYMORE TIME OR MANPOWER ON YOU! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?! MY CONSCIOUS WILL NOT FALTER TO WATCH YOU DIE!"

"Nor should it" added Rico Brzenska, "As soldiers they all know the price of their position. If they're this committed to defiance under threat of death, so be it. They won't be persuaded, as you say, it's just a waste of time"

"Sir! Please! This may be our best chance! We'll use far less artillery if he's in human form!" cried a soldier.

"Excuse me!" Mikasa called, not raising her voice. Though there was no need to, all eyes were on her. "I wouldn't not while I'm standing here. Unless anyone's feeling up to the task, in which case, well I'm ready to demonstrate my own technique on you and every last inch of your traitorous flesh" she warned, her blades sitting ready in her hands.

"Sir, there's something you should know" interjected a soldier from Weilman's right, "she was assigned to the elites fresh out of training. Equal to a hundred soldiers easily, if we lost her it'd be quite the tragedy"

"Okay, somebody talk to me now. What the fuck is all this?" Eren demanded.

"Mikasa! You can't take them all on!" Armin cried as he jumped to his feet, ignoring Eren's demands "Even if you took down a few, there's nowhere left for you to run!"

"Whoever comes at Eren deals with me. I'll take on the entire regiment if I have to! I don't give a damn what they try to throw at us!" she replied, her protective side rearing its head.

"This isn't the only way! They're just scared, they don't understand what's happening. You just need to calm down and talk it out"

Am I the only one here who doesn't think I'm a Titan? Eren thought as he listened to Armin and Mikasa argue. Damn it! Why can't I remember how I got here? I'm too weak to stand up and if I say the wrong thing they'll blow us to smithereens. Is this it for me? Killed by people? What was that he said about me coming out of a Titan carcass in front of everyone? Is he insane? Why is no one making any sense? That was all just a dream…or no…my sleeve, my arm. Am I really one of them? That's not possible!…Is it?

"ONE MORE TIME! ARE YOU A HUMAN BEING OR A TITAN?!" Weilman called, interrupting Eren's thoughts. I-I don't know what to say. My life's not the only one at stake…but I mean, I've always been one of you.

"I'M HUMAN!" Eren called out as all eyed turned to him. Silence greeted his words, they did not seem to help.

"So you say, I'm left with no choice. Forgive me, when push comes to shove, all of us are monsters" muttered Weilman and raised his hand in the air, much to the trio's horror as he signalled for the wall-mounted canons to fire.

"Armin! Head for the wall! I've got Eren!" Mikasa called as she dropped her blades and sprinted back towards the pair behind her.

"Wait! No!" protested Eren as Mikasa hoisted him up in her arms and ran towards the wall behind them.

Instinct seemed to kick in as his eyes locked on the basement key hanging from his neck, pieces of memories flashed before his eyes as he fell from Mikasa's grip. He ran towards Armin, determination covering his face as he pulled Mikasa with him, his hand reached out and pulled Armin's to him, sheltering the two within his arms.

Down came Weilman's arm, sentencing them to their deaths. The bang of canon fire echoed throughout the city, the resounding crash having been heard as far as Wall Rose. With each of his siblings tucked under an arm, he bit down had on his hand resulting in a large flash of light and heat as he transformed.

His fleshy arm reached up to catch the incoming canon ball, his ribs enveloping his surrogate siblings as he placed himself in harm's way. The creature that emerged from the smoke seemed like one out of a nightmare as screams rang out through the courtyard.

"Dear God…" breathed Weilman as he locked gazes with the lone eye of the Titan.