"This is war, leave your morals at the door…Herald, human, Titan, dog, tree. It doesn't matter what you are, we all die in the end"-Edith M. Brown Diary, 850
Spring 850
Order of Ymir: Church of Faeries Ruins, Stohess District
"How pathetic" Nona spat over her shoulder at the prone form of Edith, as she grabbed both Maria and Rose (still bound) and headed towards the tunnels that wound underneath the district. Moving like rats in the night, Nona escaped leaving her long-lost friend to succumb to her wounds amongst the fires and newly distributed rubble. She didn't even spare Edith a second glance.
Edith lay battered on the holy ground broken and bloodied with holes and tears ripped into her figure like she was a piece of moth-bitten clothing. Blood poured from every orifice imaginable and pain racked the small form of the woman, no matter which way she moved.
From the corner of her eye, Edith could spot the shiny metal of her prosthetic jutting out from beneath a slab of concrete. Further along, the wispy remnants of her training habit were caught on one of the iron chandeliers that lay upturned on the ground, not far from her.
The fight with Nona (she would always be 'Nona' to her) had been a rather large blurry mess. The power she had felt surge through her bones from the prayer of Ymir's Last Sacred Rites had been far more than she could ever imagine. Bolts of red and black had flown around the room like they had been torn up from Hell itself; and even then, Nona had easily outstripped her.
It was true, it seemed, the power of the Homunculi that the Spriggans wielded, far outdid that of the Heralds. Possibly because, Edith had yet to fully complete the ritual needed for her to access the full extent of her powers. Something which she cursed at this point in time, due to the sudden drain on her body. I feel like fucking death! Edith groaned.
It seemed, that unlike Edith, Nona had no qualms about getting down and dirty, bartering far more than her own soul in exchange for earth-bending power. Just what did she give to Truth for that kind of power? Edith thought, her chest aching with each breath that she took.
The gentle pitter-patter of footsteps had disappeared by this point, down into the dark depths of the underground tunnels that ran beneath the district. Painfully twisting her head in the direction of said tunnels, Edith could only watch as firelight danced against the stone passageway that had sprung up from behind the once proud statue of Ymir.
I should go. Edith grit her teeth in determination as she rolled herself over onto her front. Exhaustion pulled at every inch of her body and she wanted to do nothing more than sleep forever, to fall into the never-ending darkness where the land of sweet dreams reigned. But she had promised she would meet up the rest of the squad once she was done, and so she would.
Come on! You can do it! Shakily pushing herself upright with the one hand, Edith—using various pieces of upturned rubble and debris—slowly inched her way over to the dark passageway that Nona had taken only moments before. "Right, let's go" Leaning heavily on the stone wall next to her, Edith disappeared into the dark.
Spring 850
Crystal Caverns, Reiss Church
Dressed all in white and surrounded by the sparkling crystal cavern, Historia stood gazing up at Eren where he had been strung up in iron chains. "Alright Historia, it seems we're finally alone" Lord Reiss, her father, sighed as he walked forth into the cavern the blonde occupied.
"Father…" Historia greeted softly, turning to face the pot-bellied man.
"I'm sorry for making you wait" Reiss apologised as he set his bag on the ground at their feet, "Listen Historia, I imagine that this will sound strange to you, but Frida isn't entirely dead"
"Huh?" Historia gasped, her eyes wide in confusion.
"Your sister's memories are still alive. Would you like the chance to meet her again?"
"Yes!"
Reiss gifted Historia with a knowing and secretive smile as he knelt down to search through his bag. "Ah ha!" He triumphantly muttered when he found the item in question. Standing up, Reiss pulled out a small rectangular box, one no bigger than that of a pair of scissors. Inside the velveteen box lay a single syringe, its needle and a small bottle of serum.
Up on the ledge where he was bound in chains, Eren's eyes blew wide when a memory suddenly came to him. It was of his father. He had held a young and terrified Eren by the arm as he sobbed, injecting the boy with the serum in the syringe. With panic flooding in his veins, Eren began to yank and pull on his chains, crying out through the metal gag in his mouth as he helplessly watched Reiss assemble the syringe and pierce the little bottle.
Outside, the sounds of rapid gunfire and the clashing of blades could be heard echoing around the large space. With each breath, they drew nearer and nearer. Eren wasn't sure if he should be thankful or not.
"It sounds like the enemy's drawing nearer" Reiss commented, "This is it. We need to hurry"
"Right" Agreed Historia.
"NGGH! NGGH! NGGH!" Eren protested strongly, yanking on his chains and drool flowed down his chin.
"Hm?" Reiss turned at the commotion, prepped syringe in hand.
"What's the matter?" Historia demanded, staring up at Eren "Why are you glaring like that?"
"Because, he's realised what it is we have to do" Reiss replied gazing up at Eren, "The power his father stole for him must be returned to its rightful place. Historia, that place is with you"
"Huh?" Historia stared up at her father with bright blue eyes glistening in question, wanting nothing more than to see her dear sister again.
"NGGH!" Eren cried. But the nobles ignored him.
"The cavern we're in now was built around a century ago, using the Titan power of our ancestor. The vey same power was employed to the build the three Walls and its thanks to those enormous Walls that we, humanity, have survived. The voice of this Founding Titan reached out to touch the people's hearts and altered their memories forever. Understand, that although a few bloodlines were exempt, even their knowledge was lost or warped over time. Today, humanity knows nothing of the world before the Walls. The only exception is your sister, Frida Reiss—" Reiss seemed to drift off into his own little world as memories of that day played in front his glazed eyes.
"—Frida possessed far more than the power to become a Titan, she knew what this world was once like and she knew what brought it to its current state. She was only fifteen when she took that burden of knowledge upon herself. It was eight years ago that she performed the ritual. In this very cavern, she ate her uncle, my younger brother. In doing so, Frida inherited the Founding Titan and the memories of this world. As her uncle had before her, as our ancestors have for a hundred years"
"Does that mean…?" Historia trailed off.
"It's true" Reiss nodded, "Had she survived, Frida could have used her tremendous powers to eliminate humanity's woes with ease. In time, she could have wiped the Titan scourge from the face of the world…But then his father came and stole that power away. Now, that power resides within Eren, but it's wasted with him. The Founding Titan's might can only be wielded by a member of our bloodline. As long as he remains the vessel for that power, this hell will never end"
"Huh…then…"
"Hey, hey, hey! Just wait a damn minute!" The familiar southern drawl of Kenny erupted into the cavern, quickly smothering any kind of atmosphere that Reiss was trying to—quite successfully— create. Propelling down from the cavernous ceiling, Kenny easily landed next to the two nobles.
"Kenny" Reiss acknowledged.
"Sounds like you said that if someone who isn't a Reiss eats Eren, then they won't get powers of the King"
"Yes, that's right"
"So, then what! Even if I do turn into a Titan and eat Eren, it ain't gonna do me any good?!"
"What are you saying?"
"UGH!" Kenny lunged forth and gripped Reiss' collar in his sweaty fists. Bringing him close until they were nose-to-nose, Kenny shoved his pistol in the lord's face.
"LET HIM GO!" Historia pleaded.
"What the hell's gotten in to you? Do you think I'm lying?"
"No, I don't. I've waited a long time for this day because I knew if there was one thing that you weren't lying about, it was the succession ritual! Damn! You prick! You knew what I was after this whole time and you knew I didn't have a chance in hell of gettin' it! But you went ahead and used me, huh?!"
"…I'm very grateful. When my brother first brought you into his service, I thought you were just one of his foolish whims. But you—"
"You keep on talking shit about Uri and you can kiss this half of your head goodbye!" Kenny threatened shoving the barrel of the pistol further into Reiss' face.
"STOP IT!" Historia lunged forth and grabbed the weapon from Kenny's hand, pulling it away from her father's face. "Get away from my father!"
"Come on! This is pitiful! Don't you get it yet, Historia?" Kenny drawled, turning to the blonde "Your daddy doesn't give a DAMN!" Kenny easily tossed Historia aside, "He brought you here so he can turn you into a monster, and after that, he's gonna make you eat your buddy, Eren"
"…Hm…If that's my duty—" Historia rose to her feet with a look of determination set in her features, "—Then that's what I'll do!"
"Eh?"
"Yeah, I've decided. I'll eat Eren and bring my sister back! I'll inherit the world's history! And exterminate every last Titan! If that's my duty, then I'll do it!"
Up on the ledge, Eren's eyes had blown wide at the declaration. Here was this girl who could barely hurt a fly, who stole bread from the kitchens to give to Sasha on their first day, who refused to leave a comrade to freeze in the snowy mountains. Here she was, denouncing her ways in favour of her duty, in which she would eat a comrade. Someone she had fought alongside for months. Eren couldn't believe it. Neither could the figure in the shadows.
"Dammit Historia!" Kenny sighed, scolding the young woman as he set her father down on the ground, "Think about this! What the hell has this old bastard ever done for you?" Switching from pistol to dagger, Kenny continued to threatened the nobleman as he casually talked to her, "Only reason he picked you up is because of that royal blood of yours. This piece of trash is too scared to turn into a Titan himself. That's why he forced his brother and daughter to do it for him! That's the kinda man your daddy is!"
"He's wrong Historia!" Reiss protested, hand coming up to catch the blade and push it out of his mouth. "That isn't the truth! It's essential that I do not become a Titan myself! You mustn't believe him! I'm the only man alive who you can trust!"
"Hm…" Kenny dropped Reiss, letting him fall to his hands and knees as he gasped for much needed air, "Is that so?"
"Father!" Historia cried, running forth to help the coughing and wheezing man.
"Heh…Kenny, you served me well up until this moment. You're free now" Reiss hissed over his shoulder whilst holding his throbbing jaw. "Go find another purple for your life and live out your years"
"…That'd bore me to death. So—" Kenny drawled before turning to climb the crystal staircase up to where Eren hung.
"KENNY!" Reiss warned, HIstoria at his shoulder. "Just what are you planning to do?"
"—If she wants to turn into a Titan, well, then that's her choice to make" The two noblemen watched warily as Kenny fiddle with the bindings of Eren's metal gag, before it fell to the floor with a small clang. "But I say, the boy should get a fair shot. They can both turn Titan and duke it out; if Historia wins, well, then you have your piece. But if Eren takes her down—" Kenny deftly spun his knife through his fingers before slicing a thin line across the boy's forehead, letting the blood run free "—the situation stays the same. Go on livin' for the sake of drawin' breath? That doesn't sound like any kinda life to me"
"HISTORIA!" Reiss turned on his daughter with filled syringe in hand, "TAKE THIS INJECTION AND YOU'LL BECOME A POWERFUL TITAN! If you can remember; it's not enough just to bite him anywhere, to take his powers you have to consume his spinal fluid!"
Reiss thrust the syringe into Historia's shaking hands as the blonde stared wide-eyed down at her fate. Should she take it? Fulfil her father's wishes and become the next in line to wield the mighty power, killing her comrade and friend in the process? Or should she refuse, deny her father's wishes and continue to struggle through life as a lowly Scout; just another body to throw to the Titans?
"Go on! You have to hurry!" Pressed Reiss, moving away from Historia who had poised the syringe above her wrist, but was unable to pierce the skin. Not on her own.
"Eren…why…?" Historia turned to the boy up on the pedestal, "Why aren't you transforming? You're gonna fight back, aren't you? You can't just let me…! Defend yourself!" Eren simply raised his bleeding head and stared down at the blonde with despair on his face and tears in his eyes.
"Historia! This is your chance!" Reiss cheered.
"…It didn't have to be like this…" Eren murmured quietly, but his voice echoed far and wide.
"Huh?" Historia breathed.
"All that death…could've been avoided…Five years ago, if dad hadn't done what he did…your sister, she would've been ale to do something to stop all this. But because my dad chose to steal your family's power from the rightful owner, countless people ended up getting killed!" Eren shamelessly wept, the pain of everything finally getting to him.
"Armin's grandpa, Thomas, Mac, Mina, Marco, everyone on Levi's squad, the people of Stohess, the soldiers who came to save me…and H-Hannes…I can never atone for all of their pain…That never should've happened. Those days I spent in training, that stupid dream that I-I could see the world…And—and me, I shouldn't have happened…if nothing else, at least let it end at your hand. Take your p-power back and use it to save humanity…! It's all…up to you…"
"Eren…" Historia breathed, her heart aching for the boy who had the weight of the world thrust upon his shoulders, "I remember…when you said I was a normal girl. I was so happy…!"
Suddenly Reiss was back in front of his daughter, Historia had paused mere millimetres from her skin when the memory of Ymir at Utagrd castle came to mind. Back when everything fell apart. "What's wrong, Historia?" Reiss edged, carefully taking the blonde's hands and inching them closer to her wrist, "Are you scared? All you have to do is inject the liquid into your body"
"Wait…" Historia whispered, "Father…for a hundred years we had the power, but we didn't use it. Why didn't our family do something? If we could control the Titans, then why didn't we liberate humanity?"
"…That's because the same King who built this world within the Walls for humanity wanted us to live in fear of the Titans for all of time" Reiss sighed, leaning back and calming slightly, "The first King believed this to be the only path to lasting peace. But I can't tell you why…because only those who've seen the world's memories can know…"
Reiss stepped back into Historia's personal bubble, his hand resting gently on the syringe still in her hand and guided gently to her wrist once more, where it rested against the milky white flesh, not quite piercing through. "…When the time came for either my brother or myself to take up the honour, it was my brother who succeeded our uncle. After my brother completed the ritual, when I looked into his eyes, I understood. My brother wasn't there, he had become something greater…an omniscient being exempt from death who built and rules over the world we live in. Do you know what such a being is called?"
Historia couldn't even shake or nod her head, she merely stared at her father with wide, unblinking eyes as the two stayed locked in place with the syringe still pressed to the flesh of her wrist. "God!" Reiss breathed, "There is no other word aside from 'God' So now, it's my sacred duty to rebirth God back into our world and then to offer up my prayers. I'm praying right now, Historia, for God to return and lead mankind once again!"
The needle seemed to move in slow motion, shiny blue liquid sloshed around inside the syringe as it was pushed downwards and Ymir's words rang in her head, like a bird's call in the light of the dawn. "…So I guess when you break it down, this is really just more of a hope…Krista, live a life you can be proud of…!" And all at once, the world seemed to snap back into place. With a quick flick of her wrist, Historia sent the syringe flying to the floor where it smashed into a million shards, spilling the fluid on the cavern floor.
"AHHH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Reiss demanded, gripping Historia by the shoulders and began to shake her. With determination gleaming in her eyes, Historia heaved her pot-bellied father over her shoulder, where he landed with a loud crack on the ground.
"GOD MY ASS! IF IT'S SUCH AN HONOUR TO BECOME HIM, WHY DIDN'T YOU DO IT YOURSELF? I'M DONE WITH YOUR SHIT! AND I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU MURDER ME!" Historia roared before grabbing Reiss' bag from the ground, and raced up to where Eren still hung from his chains.
"The hell are you doing…?" Eren cried hysterically as Historia pulled out the keys to his chains, "Historia!"
"Setting you free" Historia replied shortly.
"No! Stop! You can't! If you don't kill me then everyone else will keep suffering! JUST EAT ME ALREADY! DAMMIT! I CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS! END IT!"
"SHUT UP, DUMBASS!" Historia smacked Eren up the head, "Stop your crying! I don't care! I don't care about killing all the Titans! I don't care about mankind either! I'm sick of humanity! Let 'em get wiped out by Titans! And if that makes me the enemy, so be it! I don't care if I'm the worst girl whose ever lived! You get the hell outta here, I'll deal with rest"
"Y'know, you would've done well as a Sister" Nona commented as she chose that moment to emerge from the shadows\y rafters and pulled Historia to her. "Well, well, well! Look how lucky I am! Already plucked and ready to serve, just for me! M'Lord you know just how to treat a girl!"
"What—?" Historia gasped out, dropping the keys at Eren's feet as Nona clasped Historia's chin in her hands, turning her this way and that as she inspected the young blonde.
"Your eyes, they're so pretty…" Nona trailed a blood-stained nail down the side of Historia's face much like a lover caressing their partner, "…I want them!"
"Who the hell are you?!" Reiss demanded, eyes rolling up towards the scarred woman from where he lay unmoving on the ground below.
"Sister, what are you doin' 'ere?" Kenny called over to the woman, still clinging to the rock face of the cavern wall.
"Come now, Kenny" Nona teasingly pouted towards the man, "Did you really think I didn't know about this? Did you really not think that there were more players in this game? I s'pose I should warn you then, there are more players in this game than you could ever have dreamed of"
"I don't know what you're plannin' but ain't no one but a Reiss, controlling those Titans! The boy is useless to you!""
"Oh no, no, no!" Nona twittered, "Why would I do that? We praise the Titans, sure, but to become one? How brutish do you think I am?"
"Well—"
"Don't answer that" After throughly inspecting Historia, Nona seemed to find something in the girl she didn't like as she carelessly tossed the girl over the edge of the ledge. Down she fell, down, down, down; hands only just catching on an outcropping of crystal that stopped her descent mere meters from the ground. Once pure and pristine hands, now stained with blood and ripped apart.
" 'Cause you see, the best part is…" Up above Historia, Nona had placed Eren in her hold. In a rather sensual move, Nona ran her tongue up the side of his face, collecting the drip of blood that had fall there. Eren shuddered beneath her touch as her tongue ran from his chin to his forehead. "…I don't have to"
Historia moved to place her gaze upon the woman who had just carelessly tossed her aside like yesterday's leftovers and couldn't hold in the gasp at what she saw. Black dripped from her eyes like ink from a bottle. Maria and Rose, still bound and injured, were also tossed over the side. However, unlike Historia, the two were unable to stop their descent and landed on the ground with an almighty crack and thump as the two roll a fair way before coming to a stop.
"Don't have to?" Kenny repeated, intrigued at the transformation of the young woman and also slightly weary of the look in her eye.
"You see Kenny, once the world was big and full of monsters—" Here, Nona pulled out a dagger and tucked it under Eren's bobbing Adam's apple, "—But now the world is small, and I am the monster"
"NONA!" Edith roared with great gusto, suddenly appearing from nowhere as if called forth from the shadows and landed a punch straight to the blonde's jaw, knocking her away from the boy and sending her careening across the room.
"Edith…?" Historia breathed, caught off guard by the woman's sudden and ghastly appearance. Many of the caverns' occupants stared at Edith with eyes wide at her rather gruesome appearance. With torn clothes barely hanging onto her small frame, which in turn was littered with so many injuries that it was hard to see any untouched flesh beneath it all. The metal prosthetic which she was oft seen with, was gone leaving nae but a nub outlined in nuts and bolts.
Her once braided hair hung around her face in bloody ringlets, some of which was plastered to her face with the sweat beading there. All in all, she looked like she had stepped right out of a nightmare. All around them gunfire lit up the adjoining caverns and blood stained the blue crystals, red.
"I should've known" Nona laughed at Edith as she rose to her feet with barely a scratch on her.
"Some of us are too stubborn to die" Edith retorted, repeating Nona's words from earlier. Nona curled her lips up into a gnarled smirk at the reply.
"So you finally found some bite, after all? Good. Then there's no point holding back, is there, little Herald?"
Instead of verbally replying to Nona as she had done in the ruins of the Stohess branch, Edith called on the remaining power with her. Red danced around her figure like lightning across a stormy sky; digging deep, Edith cracked open her bruised jaw and began to suck in the power she could sense within the crystal caverns. Soul called to soul, and she welcomed it with open arms.
"RAAAAH!" Edith ferociously roared as she jumped down to meet Nona on a level playing field. Veins bulged with the power she absorbed and eyes glowed a demonic red as her matted hair flared around her in an invisible wind. Raising her fisted hands above her head, Edith brought them down hard on the ground beneath her, sending a trail of destruction straight toward where Nona was standing. The blonde jumped to the side, easily dodging the blast but not the debris that followed. "HUURK!" Edith's power faltered as she choked on the raw power she had received. Unfiltered power and an incomplete Herald were not a good mix. Falling to her knees, Edith grasped at her neck when she began to choke and retch as her body tried to expel the foreign substance within.
"SINA!" Maria, who had jolted upright at the sudden appearance of her second sister, watched helplessly as she tried to fight her own power that was poisoning her. Next to her, Rose was starting stir. "HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?! THE RITUAL IS INCOMPLETE! THAT POWER! IT'LL KILL YOU!" she cried.
"What an idiot!" Nona laughed, "Did you really think you could level up using the caverns' unfiltered power? It'll certainly make my job easier if you kill yourself!"
"AHH…RAAAAH!" Edith roared louder, her gasps turning to growls as she overpowered the caverns' power, and turned it into her own. The lights around her increased, shining around her like she had caught aflame.
"NO!" Nona screeched as she watched red crystals spread across Edith's skin like armour, covering the young woman in sporadic patches. "WELL, C'ME ON THEN! WHAT'S YOUR SIN LITTLE HERALD? TELL US NOW! SPEAK! SHOUT IT BEFORE THE UNMOVING GRACE OF THE HOLY MOTHER!"
Just as the shining bright red has encased Edith, the viscous blackness had enveloped Nona. The two stared each other down, one with wickedness gleaming in her manic eyes, the other with animalistic fury trained on the enemy in front of them. "This is my sin" Edith murmured. Shedding the last scarps of her clothes leaving her bare, save for the red dancing around her form. Red met black, and the fight begun anew.
"YOU MADE MY SISTERS BLEED!" Edith launched forward so fast that Nona, powered as she was, was unable to move. Quickly wrapping her bloody and bruised hands around the elder woman's neck, Edith used the force of her attack to smash Nona through the floors of the crystal caverns, and all the ones below it. "AND I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU GET AWAY WITH IT!"
"AAAH!" Nona cried out in pain, her head becoming battered from the constant damage.
"YOU'RE DEAD!"
"You're threats…don't scare me!" Nona laughed, prying Edith's grip off of her and shot strands of black back upwards, launching herself back into the air.
"Ngh!" Edith grunted as she dug her nails into debris, squeezing out as much power as she could and followed after Nona, jumping from crystal to crystal.
"You'll never be able to catch me at this rate of speed!" Nona taunted.
"RAAH!" Not only did Edith catch up to Nona, she landed a punch straight to the blonde's gut. Nona seemed to fold over Edith's fist as the two remerged into the main cavern where the others were still gathered.
"I WON'T LOSE!" Nona shouted, kicking Edith away, "NOT TO YOU!" Returning to Eren up on the plinth, Nona yanked his head back and cracked his jaw open with unyielding hands, this time intent on completing what she had started. The inky black substance that had enveloped her began to melt from her body and force itself down the boy's throat, choking him as he struggled. "I'M DESTINED TO CREATE A LAND OF FREEDOM! I KNOW BECAUSE IN MY HOUR OF DARKNESS, LADY YMIR SPOKE TO ME! SHE TOLD ME I COULD MAKE ALL MY DREAMS COME TRUE! THERE'S A REASON I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SENSE HER PRESENCE! IT'S BECAUSE I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!"
"AND YOU BELIEVE THAT?!"
"YOU MUST RAZE THE OLD TO MAKE WAY FOR THE NEW! I COULDN'T CARE LESS WHAT HAPPENED TO FEEBLE-MINDED BRATS LIKE YOU!"
In her hands, Eren's eyes rolled back up into his head as drool streamed from his lips. Uncontrollable shudders ran through the boy making it appear like he was seizing. "EREN!" Historia cried, her hands shaking at her sides as she helplessly watched the scarred woman up above. The others could only watch on as what wasn't currently suffocating Eren, began to flow upwards and form into a transmutation circle over the two. A very familiar transmutation circle. "She's creating a human transmutation circle!" Rose breathed, having just woken and was currently clinging to Maria like a lifeline.
"BUT WHY?!" Maria demanded, "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK TRUTH WOULD TAKE THE BOY?"
"THIS BOY MEANS NOTHING!" Nona roared, "ALL I NEED FROM HIM IS THE PIECE OF MOTHER'S SOUL! LADY YMIR! YOUR HOUR IS NEAR!"
Exhaustion pulled at Edith's frame, she swayed in place and blinked rapidly as she tried to fight her own body in an attempt to stay conscious. But still she was determined on stopping her Blade from bringing more harm to the world, even if that meant killing her. Dredging up the last ounces of her power, Edith launched herself towards Nona for the last time. This is it, She thought, This is all I have. Please Mother, help me…
"YOU'LL NEVER KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE FREE! NOT AS LONG AS YOUR CONSUMED BY THAT HOMUNCULI! WHY ARE YOU LETTING HIM MANIPULATE YOU?! YOU CAN DO IT, NONA! FREE YOURSELF!" Edith reached out and gripped Nona by the forehead, knocking her away from Eren and out from underneath the transmutation circle. Red lightning danced around Edith's one flesh hand as she seamlessly performed the alkahestry.
"NO! YOU'LL KILL ME!" Nona panicked, the familiar light blinding her vision. In her mind's eye she saw not Truth, but the image of a young Nona and younger Edith happily clasping hands "STOP THIS! STOP THIS! PLEASE! STOP!
"RAAAAAAH!" Edith ignored Nona and continued to push her downwards as the transmutation took hold. Slowly but surely, bits and pieces of Nona began to deteriorate rapidly. Gone was an ear, then an eye, a finger, a leg, an arm and a toe until nothing remained, not even the organs that lay within remained; only the clothes in which she wore.
"So this is her power…" Eren breathed, his eyes blown wide as he watched Edith land on the main floor that cracked under the impact. "The true form of a Herald…" Turning away from the pile of clothes at her feet, Edith swept her gaze over Historia and Eren before coming to rest of Maria and Rose. The red light and crystal that had once engulfed her, fell away, shattering into a million shards as a gentle smile graced her lips and her eyes rolled up into the back of her head.
"SINA!" Maria, now free of her of bindings, raced forth to catch Edith before she hit the floor. Carefully, she rolled the broken and bloodied form of the young woman over in her lap, "Oh, Sina!"
"You did it, Sina, you did it!" Rose shakily collapsed next to Maria, her hands running through the matted brown locks and over the remnants of the metal socket embedded in her shoulder. Edith was eerily still, her broken body lying limp in her sisters' arms. Both women ignored the chaos around them as they began to panic when they could not receive an answer from the young Herald.
"Wake-up! Sina! Sina!" Rose shook Edith's shoulder; gently at first and then with more force.
"Please, please wake-up! Sina! Please!" Maria cried, her tears slipping down her own bruised face and landing on Edith's bloodied cheek.
"…S-Sis…ter?" Edith croaked, her eyelids barely creaking open as she did so.
"SINA!"
"Oh thank the Mother! You're alright!"
"Mmm…Sister…I'm so…tired…" Her exhausted lids fell shut once more.
"No! No, no, no! Don't go to sleep! Sina! Sina! Stay awake! C'me on! SINA!"
"C-C'me on, Sina! This isn't f-funny! We still…h-have to finish the r-ritual…" Rose sobbed as Edith closed her eyes once more.
"Y-you'll have…have to do it…without…me"
"No! Sina! Please!"
"Rose" Edith fought to open her eyes again. Lifting her heavy limb up to cup her sister's face, Edith smiled mindless of the bloody trail she was leaving behind, "Maria" Blood trailed from every orifice—both natural and unnatural—as her tired eyes flitted between the two women crowded and sobbing over her, "It's…okay…I'll be…ok…ay" She gasped, "I'll…be…"
Edith wished for a lot of things in her life. She wished to be an alchemist. She wished to be free. She wished to play outside and have friends. She wished and wished and wished. But in the end, it just wasn't enough. Even as overly super-powered as she was, she was still unstable. And so in true fashion, her own power would be her undoing. With both of her sisters' jaws clasped around either side of her jugular, and blood mixed with streaming tears, Edith drifted off into the waiting hands of Death.