Attack on Titan: The Story of Keith Aberdeen

by mimetrix

A spinoff of the story Attack on Titan: Pure. We follow Keith and his journey of trying to achieve some normality to his life. When things get hectic he does all that he can to try and bring things back to normal. However in the process he learns that sometimes normal isn't exactly easy to get. He fights valiantly for the sake of his family and charges into war.

4. Act 1

The troupe packed up and began to make its way to the next town that they would be performing at. Each time that they would stop, Keith watched as Lana would both read her books and take notes or was training to be a top tier performer. He had begun to realize that she had become determined to be a real performer and not just a freak sideshow. He too decided to make it all in his best efforts to keep practicing.

The night of their arrival, Keith and Lana were in their tent as per usual. Lana was in her bed reading and taking notes as Keith was cleaning off the blades of his knife.

"So what were you doing that day? You seemed pretty upset with me when I wanted to go with you guys."

"Huh, nothing just leave it."

"See there you go again. Look Eleonore said that we might be top tier performers together and if we are going to have this partnership with each other I don't want to keep anything hidden," she shouted leaning over the edge of her bed.

"I told you to leave it Lana," he shouted back slamming his knife into the table.

Lana rolled out of her bed and landed gracefully on her feet. She grabbed a hold of Keith and angrily stared at him in the eyes. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. Unsure of how to respond, Keith remained still.

"I've told you everything about me Keith, it's only fair."

"Alright," he replied pushing her off of him. "You really want to know what we were doing. We were given a special task. We usually do. Madame Nina is involved in some sort of group I don't know what it is but they give her stuff to give us because they are too incompetent to do it themselves. We were…we were tasked to kill someone."

Lana's jaw dropped as she began to step back. She covered her mouth as she continued to listen to what he had to say. Staring at him in complete disbelief

"These people had us doing simple jobs at first but some of the jobs resorted in taking the lives of some people who had crossed them. I don't take pleasure out of any of it. If I could do something to stop it I would trust me."

"Then why don't you!"

"Because then we'd all be dead! They told Madame Nina that if we didn't do as we were told then the whole circus would be dead."

"If they have that type of power then why aren't they doing this themselves?"

"I don't know…I just do as I'm told."

"So that's why when you all rescued me, the deaths of those men were easy for you."

The tension in the room rose as Keith watched her solemn face. Her hands dropped at her sides as she was staring at the ground.

"Yeah, I would guess that would be why."

The two didn't speak to each other the next day. They continued to train under Eleonore without saying anything to each other. They even went as far as to not make eye contact with each other the best that they could. Eleonore tried to address the situation but failed to fix anything. Keith was unsure of how Lana felt about the whole situation but he knew that she thought differently of him and the others. She wasn't around for the meals and kept to herself in the tent. The two didn't even practice throwing knives with one another. The longer that he didn't talk to her the more he felt lonely. Since her arrival, the two of them were nearly glued to each other. They had become so close and he had helped her through her training and learning around the circus. He had even went as far as to teach her archery as they had to hunt for food on the road a skill he had learned from his father.

The following day Neal had gathered all of the boys together and saw the opportunity to get to work. It was their job to pick pocket the citizens and gather any valuables that they might have without causing any trouble to make some extra money. When Keith made his way to the others he found that Lana was with them. She watched him with a stern look on his face. Something was not right.

"What are you doing here?"

"I want in. I'm you're partner," she replied with a low voice.

He looked up at Neal who had approved of her involvement. Keith knew that there was no point in arguing with either of them. He decided to just let things go along with what was happening. They all left the circus and made their way into the town to get to work. Nicholas and Jack were partnered together as Lucas was partnered with Neal. That left Lana and Keith to work together as a team.

Keith wanted to speak to her but he had no clue what to say. He didn't know whether to apologise for keeping things a secret or even if that was something worth apologizing for. He watched her scan the area as she was looking for an easy target. She gestured towards a couple who appeared to be very young and naïve. The woman was dressed in a very nice dress as the man appeared to be a working class man.

"No, we can't go after them."

"Why is that exactly?" she asked with a slight annoyance.

"Well look, she is holding on to him. There is no way we could get to either of their pockets without really being noticed. You don't want to go after people like that who are holding on to each other. Now if they were just walking normally side by side, then we could've used a diversion method. You know have one of us bump into one of them as another reaches for their pockets."

The two of them ignored the couple and continued to wander down the street. Keith gestured to a man walking all by himself. He had his hands concealed in his pockets and kept looking around. There was something unsettling about this particular individual.

"There. That man is hiding something," he gestured.

Lana looked over in the direction and saw the odd man.

"Go over there and act as a distraction while I see what he has."

Lana agreed as she began to follow through with the plan. She made a run towards him and kept her head down. She braced herself for impact as she almost threw herself into him. This caused the man to lurch forward as she fell to the ground.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" he shouted at her.

"Sorry sir. I am so sorry!" she looked over and saw Keith was right behind the man as he was yelling at her. He was starting to reach for his pockets as Lana continued to delay the man's reaction. "I wasn't paying attention. I'm really sorry!"

"Damn right you are!" The man looked over and saw Keith's hand. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Shit!" Keith shouted.

"RUN!" Lana yelled as he grabbed a hold of his arm. The two made a run for it with his money. They tried to run as fast as they could. Keith dropped the wallet in the process as the man came running after them. Keith turned back to grab the money, only to realize that the man had a gun in his hand. He was carefully aiming it at Keith. His eyes went wide at the sight of the weapon. He left the money and ran after Lana.

"RUN HE HAS A GUN!"

"WHAT!"

"I SAID HE HAS A GUN!" he shouted as he caught up to her.

The blast of a gun could be heard as the bullet nearly hit Keith. He ducked his head in cover as the man went to reload. The two kept running as fast as they could making their way behind a building. Here is where the found Lucas and Neal counting their latest catch. Out of breath, Keith tried to tell them what was happening but was too late. The man chasing after them had reached them and held them at gun point. Lana was scared and hid behind Keith as Neal drew his sword from his cane. He pointed it at the man and vowed to protect them. However, he was no match for a gun. The bullet went straight into his head the moment he went to defend. Lana screamed as Keith watched in horror. Lucas stood his ground as he was ready to strike the man.

Keith knew that none of them stood a chance against a gun. He could feel something at his side as he stood before the man. It was Lana grabbing one of the knives. With tears in her eyes and a shaky stance, she pulled the knife from out of his jacket and ran towards the man. She charged towards him and threw the knife into his throat just as a gunshot was fired. Keith watched her fall with the man as the two landed on the ground.

He quickly pushed passed Lucas with tears in his eyes. He grabbed a hold of Lana and pulled him off of the man to see that she was shot in the stomach. She was limp. Lucas proclaimed the other man to be dead from the strike at his throat. Keith held onto Lana crying trying to figure out what to do. Neal was on the ground dead and Lana was dying.

The shaky boys had no idea what to do or who to grab. It wasn't until Keith could feel movement in his arms. Lana was moving around and started coughing. Steam was rising from the wound that was in her stomach. He watched the wound slowly stop bleeding with the bullet dropping to the ground. It began to close as Lana began to open her eyes.

"That hurt," she said quietly.

"LANA!" Keith shouted.

"No way! How is this even possible," Lucas proclaimed.

"It's her powers."

Nicholas and Jack came around the corner to see the scene that was laid out before them. Nicholas saw Neal on the ground dead. He immediately disregarded the others and went straight for them to confirm his death. Tears welled up in his eyes at the sight of the father figure he once had. Keith helped Lana up from the ground as she had appeared weak. Blood of the man she had killed was all over her clothes along with the still evaporating blood of her own. Lucas picked up Neal and began to carry him back to the grounds.

The news spread like wild fire and the show was cancelled. Madame Nina refused to speak with anyone for days. They remained at the tent and buried Neal within the grounds of the town. No one was training and the entire circus now resided on the shoulders of Madame Nina. Many of the top tier performers had decided to part from the circus. The only thing that was keeping them there was Neal and with him no longer being a part of the circus they decided to part ways.

After a month had passed people had started training again. Madame Nina had declared Nicholas to be the new ringleader of the troupe. He accepted the position with honor and promised everyone that he would do his best. Lana was continuing her training under Eleonore along with Keith, as well as her training with Jack and Nina. Things had resumed as per the usual.

A few more weeks had passed before Keith was announced as a top tier performer. They had travelled to another town away from the burial site. It was decided that Keith would be doing his knife throwing act in replacement of Nicholas' act. He was very excited to finally have an act of his own. Lucas also shared the same dignity as he too was part of the top tier performers due to a lack of performances. Many others took up the positions but Lana was the only one out of their group who still was not up to their level.

As top tier performers, they were given their own tents which meant that Lana was no longer sharing a tent with Keith anymore. It almost meant that there was no chance of her being Keith's partner since his main act was knife throwing. Although Keith was disappointed by this factor he was still happy to be able to do what he loved. She responded to the situation by working on her aerial acrobatics on her own.

It had come time that they all performed their first performance with their new performing line. Knives the knife thrower was the first to perform right after the Ringmaster had made the introductions. Keith got up on the stage and was a little nervous at the sight that was before him. Many eyes were on him. He could feel the sweat on his palms and wondered if he would be able to throw the knives accurately. He looked back at Lana who was waiting in the wings as per the usual.

Things between the two of them were still shaky. She was talking to him at the very least but ever since that incident, he knew that things would never be the same again. With this in his mind he began to lose focus on the show. He tried to shake the thoughts out of his head as the music was playing. He threw the knives and hit his mark with each throw. The crowd went wild at the sight. He could feel the rush of the audience and it felt great.

The Strongman and The Charmer performed their acts next. Lucas showed off his abnormal strength as Jack used his unique talent with snakes. During their performances Keith tried to talk to Lana in the wings.

"Hey, you're not reading any books."

"I decided to take a break. Besides I only have the three books that Madame Nina got for me. I've got almost all the information I can out of all of them."

Keith only nodded not knowing what to say to her.

"It's getting lonely without you in the tent."

"Really?" Keith said trying hard not to sound too excited.

"It's quiet. You tend to snore, so I actually get a good night's sleep."

Keith only glared at her as she responded with a laugh.

"LANA!" came a voice of one of the stage hands.

She looked up at them as they had a panicked look on their face.

"Angel hurt herself! She may have broken an ankle! We need you to take her place."

"ME!" she shouted and stood up.

"You're the only other person who knows aerial acrobatics!"

Keith looked over at her, "You'll do fine!" he stood up and grabbed her shoulders, "You are talented and can do this."

She was pulled away and put into a costume. Nicholas addressed her onto the stage as she timidly entered. Keith watched from the wings just as she was watching him. She was clearly nervous as the fabric was gently dropped to the ground. She looked over to him for reassurance. Keith waved and smiled at her his cheerful smile was enough to relax her. He watched her take in a few deep breaths as the music started. She climbed onto the fabric and begun her routine. She was beautiful, majestic, something of another world. Keith had never seen her acrobatic routine before, only her trapeze work. He was mesmerized by her movements as she swung around. It was something of a dream as he watched her move. The timid girl that he had met before was blossoming. A few petals had been torn off but the vibrant colors remained.

After her performance she hurried back stage and met up with Keith. She was so nervous that she couldn't make any sense.

"Holy cats, that was incredible! You were great!" he proclaimed.

"Thanks! I really had no idea what to do and then I just took what Eleonore said. I just listened to the music and felt it. It was like a whole other situation up there."

Nicholas came up to both of them and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"That was beautiful Lana."

She grabbed his hand and smiled sweetly towards him. Keith watched the two of them and awkwardly stood before them. Jealousy came over him as he glared at Nicholas. Nicholas only responded with a slight smile towards him and tipped his hat. He left the two of them and made his way towards the stage. Lana took notice to Keith's changed demeanour.

"Keith are you ok?"

"Fine, let's go get undressed."

The next day Keith was sharpening the end of his knife so that it would stick better in the target for the next show. He was sitting by himself quietly enjoying the day not letting anything get to him. He could hear voices from behind and realized that it was Madame Nina and Caroline. Their voices caught his attention as he quietly listened.

"I don't think that Eleonore will be able to do any performances for a while," Caroline said.

"That's a shame. The poor thing only wanted to perform and nothing more. However after Neal's passing I always felt like something like this would happen."

"I beg your pardon?"

"She injured herself on purpose."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she never wanted to blatantly give up on something. She wanted to make it seem like she kept going until the bitter end."

"So you think she fell on purpose."

"Come on dearie, this is Angel we are talking about."

"True, so does that mean Lana will take her place?"

"If that is her decision to accept or not then yes."

"What about her powers."

"What about them. She has full control over them now. In fact she is quiet the remarkable one. She can heal at an accelerated rate far beyond that of a normal human. Plus she can grow up to five meters with different versions," Madame Nina stated walking around the tent.

Keith began to listen more intently onto the conversation as he packed up the knives.

"Why yes, she has one skinless form which I'm sure you've seen. Then there is one that has an armor of bones with no skin. The third one I've seen is unlike the others. It's almost monster like, something like a fairy tale. It really is scary that one. All in all, she is a remarkable being," Nina continued.

"So what do you plan on doing with her? I mean, we do have the deal still with the clan, right? We aren't just going to fall back on them now that my uncle has passed," Keith heard Caroline say.

He never knew that Caroline was related to Neal in any way or form. He knew that she was brought into the circus because of him but never because they were family. This caught Keith's attention more than ever.

"That clan only wants the power for themselves because of that quack of a doctor that your father is. He has manipulated them in thinking that they could have the power to become an even greater force to be dealt with. They only want to have things go their way," Madame Nina replied with spite in her voice.

"And what is it that you want from me then?"

"I want you to take the research that your father has developed. The Sidonia's deserve what is rightfully theirs. Besides, I plan on seeing what else she can do, you never know what could happen."

"Research, interesting."

"Hey Keith, where have you been!" Lucas called out.

Startled by the voice, Keith fell to ground. He had failed to realize the plans that he had made with Lucas earlier on in the day. He thought hard about what Madame Nina was saying which brought him into further suspicion that something was going on. It had been a while since people were after Lana and he wondered if there was a reason. He began to feel that there was something deeper going on.

"What does she want with her," Keith stated on under his breath in his train of thought.

"What's that?"

"Never mind."

Keith wanted to be sure that the Corvus Clan stuck with their deal that Neal had created. He wanted to be sure that Lana was safe. However, the research that Caroline suggested was of a different concept. It was up to Keith to get to the bottom of things and figure out the darker secrets that resided within the Sidonia Circus.

Everyone was well aware of Neal's frequent trips overseas. During his time away, Nicholas would step up and be the ringmaster for the performances that were missed. However, what nobody considered asking was why Neal had this trips to begin with. Keith began to theorize that Neal was running some kind of errands for the Crovus Clan. From what he knew, the Crovus Clan were lying low after the incident long ago. They didn't want to create a larger target on their back then what they had already had. Even though they were known to take out the trash within the underworld, they were still kept under careful watch of the Royal Knights and were constantly trying to avoid getting captured. The deal that currently stands with the Sidonia Circus and the Corvus Clan was not clear to Keith and the others. As far as Keith could comprehend, they were given tasks to eliminate those who were becoming a problem for the clan. The clan often made deals with business owners for protection, or were paid by aristocrats to take out enemies of their families. However, Keith would recall missions where they had to steal peculiar items from known doctors such as medical tools. In return the Corvus Clan would protect the circus from any harm and promised that the clan would bring the Sidonia Circus to the top.

It was finally declared that Lana was also to be known as one of the top tier performers after the departure of Eleonore. With all of the hard work and practice, Lana was considered skilled enough to finally perform alongside the others. The group decided it was time for them to celebrate. They all sat around a roaring fire as they clinked their cups toasting for their new found future with each other. Each one of them were finally given new costumes that would better accommodate their stature as top tier performers. Lana's training sessions were finally complete and anything else was on her own practice and will. Keith even proclaimed that her skills as a knife thrower almost matched his own. At that time his training had become official and announced. Although he did admit to Madame Nina that they had been practicing for some time. He was punished for the matter and was not allowed to perform for the next two shows. This was alright in his mind and a punishment he was willing to have.

Keith and Lana had begun talking to each other normally again although she had become more and more involved in her books. He decided to look past that and still saw all the opportunities to share with her. The two had become close to one another yet again.

It was declared that more supplies were needed before they headed off towards the next town. Lana and Keith both decided that it was their turn to gather up the supplies. Although some denied them leaving due to them now being top tier performers, they decided to go anyways. Status was nothing to them, they didn't care if they were top tier or no tier. They wanted to help the troupe the best that they could. At this point, Lana had refused to leave the circus ground without Keith by her side. The two were becoming inseparable once more.

As they made their way through the town, Lana took in the sights the best that she could. Keith admired her deeply for her passion on taking in the moments. They gathered the things that they needed and began to depart back to the grounds. Keith, every once in a while would steal glances at her as her bright green eyes shone. However, when he looked at her for the final time something had changed. Her happy eyes showed fear. She stopped dead in her tracks and dropped her basket of fruit. She was completely frozen in fear staring straight ahead of her. Keith followed her gaze and saw four men dressed all in black. They were looking towards the two of them. One of them took notice to Lana as she remained frozen.

"Lana what is it, what's going on?" Keith asked trying to shake her out of the state she was in.

He kept switching his gaze from her to the group of men. It was then that he realized that the group of men had started walking towards them. Keith realized what was going on and decided to try and get Lana to run. She immediately responded as Keith guided her through the street and passed people. The four men were not far behind them as the two kept running as fast as they could. Keith reached into his jacket and pulled out some knives. He turned around and quickly threw them. He aimed at the men in a way that wouldn't kill them but at the very least slow them down. A knife hit the leg of one of them and the foot of another.

Keith and Lana kept running away as fast as they could with the delay that was successful. They were able to make it to the grounds without any further problems. Once further in, Keith was still on high alert and made sure that everything was safe. He brought Lana to her tent as she was trying to calm herself down. She sat on her bed and began to cry.

"I'm so sorry,"

"Sorry! Sorry for what!"

"For causing you so much trouble!"

"No, it's not your fault Lana!"

"YES IT IS! IF I WASN'T WHO OR WHAT I AM THEN NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED."

"What are you talking about?"

"If I had only been captured right from the beginning then everyone would still be alive!"

"Woah hey now! Don't talk like that! Look things happen for a reason."

Lana looked up at him in disgust. Keith knew that at that point nothing he could say would make the situation any better than it already was. He knew that the people after them, the people she knew as the Hunters, were the Crovus Clan. Something was not right which caused further suspicion with the Sidonia's. He alongside the others did all that they could to conceal that little bit of information from Lana for her own protection.

He rubbed his face trying to come up with something to say to her but was coming up with nothing. Finally the words came through, "No matter what happens to us I don't ever want you to blame yourself. We chose to help you, we chose to be friends with you. Understand that would yeah!"

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Although what he said wasn't exactly great, it was better than saying nothing at all. At least that was what he thought in his mind. However, he was able to at least break through to her. She grabbed him in a hug looking for reassurance. He responded and held onto her making sure that she was going to be alright. It was decided that he would not to leave her side and remained there until morning. He very well knew that whatever deal that was made between the circus and the clan had been broken.

He left early in the morning to start work in the kitchen, leaving Lana alone in her tent. Keith told Lucas what happened including information on what he heard from Madame Nina and Caroline. He informed of Lucas of the break in the deal that must have been made. The Crovus Clan should have left them alone if they deal was properly finalized. Something must have happened that prevented them from following through. It was too much of coincidence in Keith's eyes that all of this was happening right after the death of Neal. Lucas tried to blow the whole thing off as Keith's over reactive imagination thinking that it was either an accident or a different group of people. Frustrated, Keith gave up on Lucas and decided to head back to Lana. As he was leaving the tent he could see that Lana was already sitting at one of the benches. Nicholas was sitting next to her with his arm around her. She was wrapped up in a blanket. Rage filled Keith, but he knew that it was best to not start anything now, especially with how fragile she was at the time. Being chased after had completely destroyed her. Her behaviour was just like when she had arrived at the circus with the exception of the affection shown towards Nicholas. Keith walked passed the two of them completely ignoring what was going on.