Chapter Two
Thanks to everyone who followed/favorities/kudos'd! J
A bit of housekeeping: usually I update every Wednesday, but life has been crazy and I'll be away all next week, so I probably won't be able to update until 2 weeks from next Wednesday. Unless I decide to shamelessly write on the plane.
As the last titan fell, Levi whirled around to see the helper titan watching him. Wasn't she that traitor girl? Betraying the traitors? Well, good timing on her.
A quick scan of the surrounding field revealed no Beast Titan, no quadrepedal.
He could keep searching.
Or he could save Erwin, confess his failure, then keep his promise. Find Zeke and feed him to Erwin.
He had no more time to waste. "Coming or running away?"
Soaring off towards the soldiers, Levi was surprised to see the smaller Titan following him. "Aren't you that traitor girl?"
The titan growled. "Define…'traitor.'"
She could talk?
"No worse than me," Levi said quietly.
His heart fell as the bodies splattered across the field came into focus. Erwin had fallen farther back – no time to stop –
A few moans filled the air, sickening Levi; they needed the serum, too. But the Survey Corp would survive without them, and not Erwin.
Or would it? Who knew what these people could do? Levi's palms began to sweat, but he was determined to save Erwin, even if it damned him. Because he knew Erwin.
How despicable, but he had made his choice.
Towards the wall, a pale-haired girl caught his attention. She knelt over a body, talking to someone still alive, dressed in a brown dress quite distinctive from the Survey Corp. Levi's heart skipped. Another Shifter?
He'd kill her.
Ymir grunted behind him. "Saskia."
"Who the hell is Saskia?" Levi swooped down and wrenched the girl up, even as his eyes scanned the field for Erwin. "What are you doing?"
She stared back at him, frozen. Whoever Saskia was, she was no fit soldier.
"Levi…" whispered the only voice he wanted to hear.
"Erwin." Levi cursed himself for not checking beneath him. He stared down at his friend's bloodied body as Saskia, still wordless, yanked herself free, knelt and reapplied pressure to his side.
"I don't understand," Erwin muttered, glancing up at the girl.
"You don't have to; you should be concentrating on living," Saskia replied. Her eyes met Levi's. "Just know this: I'm your hostage for as long as you need safety here."
"Where were you twenty minutes ago?" Levi snapped as his hand fished for the serum.
"Held captive by that bitch," Saskia said, glaring at Ymir's titan. The titan snorted, then glanced around the battlefield.
Ymir had to admit, the explosion of bodies was enough to shake the coldest heart.
Erwin noticed Levi's possession. Of course he did. "No."
"Yes."
"Not me."
"Don't waste energy arguing," Saskia shot back. Her eyes fixated on the syringe. "Wait. What is that?"
"A cure."
Her hand closed around the syringe. "This is titan serum." Did the Reiss family betray us?
"Do you want him to die?" Levi asked curtly.
"She doesn't," said a now-human Ymir, startling Saskia. "Saskia doesn't want anything. For her to help your friend is more than I expected."
"Then why bring me here?!"
"Oh, you know that," Ymir said vaguely.
Levi noticed the girl fuming silently. "We'll deal with you later, hostage."
"Are you…a shifter?" Erwin choked.
"No." Saskia glanced at Ymir. He'll have to eat her. She didn't particularly want that. "What is the point of saving him if someone else has to die?"
Ymir's cool gaze said she knew. Her Titan loped off.
Hopefully in search of a better plan.
"It's called sacrifice," Levi snapped. "Now, get out of my way."
She found herself knocked onto her back.
Zeke would want me to wrestle it away at any cost. Move, grab it, redeem yourself – move, Warrior.
Death was all around her. One life saved by whatever means, whatever treason, had to be worth it.
She didn't move.
"Turn into a Titan and I will slit Reiner's throat," Mikasa threatened as soon as she saw Eren carelessly dragging Bertoldt's limbless body.
"Where's Armin?" Jean demanded.
"He's dead, and Bertoldt killed him!" Eren shouted. A scream bubbled up from inside him.
Mikasa's eyes widened. For a second she was a child again, watching her mother fight, watching her mother die. Not him – I helped raise him – not Armin.
"As soon as you are done telling us what we want to know, I am going to kill you," she seethed.
He wouldn't let go! Bertoldt wanted to say that he hadn't wanted to kill him, that killing was the only mercy he had left, but was it? Really, was there any protest that could erase his sins?
He felt numb. So numb.
"He killed Armin, Armin, Armin," gasped Eren. Now he truly wanted to hurt himself, but he was too exhausted to risk turning into a Titan again.
"Fuck you," Mikasa stepped forward, trembling with rage.
Hange put a hand on her shoulder. These kids wanted Bertoldt's blood even more than she did, which was darkly impressive. "Keep to the plan."
Bertoldt scanned Reiner's body. The blond behemoth was breathing, at least, but battered so much that, had Reiner been a normal human, he would be beyond much hope.
"He still looks better than my squad," Hange hissed, digging her nails into Bertoldt's shoulder.
This was war. She should understand that.
"Wake up." Connie kicked Reiner in the face.
Bertoldt squirmed.
But his friend was stirring – and so was a very bloody Sasha.
"Sasha!" Connie dove back towards his friend, shaking her. "You're here!"
"Why is there two of you?" she murmured. "Just … more of you to love, I guess."
Jean almost laughed, but his wounds hurt too much. Armin hurt too much. Any other time, he would have teased Connie relentlessly. But now, he held his blade parallel to Mikasa's, right at Reiner's throat.
Reiner started. Jean jerked forward.
"Move and you're dead." Mikasa, calm on the outside, peered into Reiner's face. "And Eren will kill Bertoldt."
"And fucking enjoy it," Eren spat.
Reiner's gaze shifted to his friend – his friend with no legs, with arms just beginning to grow back. "Bertl."
At the sound of his voice, Bertoldt's heart leapt. If he didn't survive, maybe Reiner still could. Reiner was a strong Warrior – unless, what if Zeke found out Reiner's condition? Who would look after him?
"Here's the deal." Mikasa narrowed her eyes. "You are going to tell us what you know, or else we will kill Bertoldt. And considering his crimes, I think every one of us would enjoy it."
She felt sick. She didn't want to enjoy killing. But if he had killed Armin – if Armin was really dead – she wanted to kill him so badly.
"Go to hell," mumbled Reiner.
"Very well." Hange grabbed a Bertoldt from Eren's grasp and tossed him onto the ground. "Although, if I can help in some way, Mikasa, I would love to avenge my squad. As long as he's too weak to turn back into a Titan, perhaps we can take turns flaying him."
Flaying? Mikasa's stomach turned. She was about to protest, but then Hange's all-too-light tone registered. "Yes. Then he'll look like a smaller version of his true self."
True self? Bertoldt was aghast. The titan was only part of him.
Yet, it was the part that defined him.
"Eren, would you care to help?"
"Leave him alone!" bellowed Reiner.
"Make us." Mikasa swung her blade back towards Reiner. "Tell us what you know."
"Here's a start: why are you killing us?" suggested Jean. He didn't want any more of his former comrades to die, whether traitors and murderers or friends, and he doubted Mikasa did, too.
"We have to," Reiner stated.
"Why do you have to? This really isn't that difficult," Hange said.
Zeke would kill him this time. He'd have the mindless titans rip off his armor and eat him alive, like he wasn't human. Reiner felt panic rise in his throat.
"You don't have to," Bertoldt said then, his voice flat.
He wasn't sweating. His eyes were emotionless.
Does he want to die? Reiner shivered. Not Bertoldt. "Because you're all pathetic, fighting fools. Your memories are wiped clear, so you bicker over riches and ruin while people out here suffer in Titan form. You've made it clear you want to kill them all, take the easy answer. In your state, you're all a danger to humanity."
Did he just –? Bertoldt's eyes widened.
"Who made that decision?" Hange asked icily, still offended at the notion that her mind was less than whole.
"Our Warchief."
"A name would be nice," Eren snarled, visibly tightening his grip on Bertoldt.
"Zeke. Zeke is his name," Reiner said quickly. Am I a good soldier now? Betraying my country to save my friend?
"So what is his goal? We're not fit to live over something we have no control over?" Jean exclaimed.
"You're a danger," Reiner yelled back. His head hurt. He felt dizzy. I hate myself, both of my selves.
He broke down. He didn't know which self was speaking. "Don't you see, we had to. The Kings held you all hostage, and you still couldn't unite to fight one foe! You're hopeless! We had to stop it."
"By letting hundreds of thousands die? Are you insane?" Eren cried, shaking Bertoldt.
"Probably – and stop hurting him; I'm confessing to you, for goodness' sake!" Reiner hissed.
"Then keep talking," said Hange as Jean swayed above Reiner.
Reiner now had to wonder if Horseface was going to pass out and accidentally slit his throat. What would happen to Bertoldt then? "Do you know what the First King did? How he kept our ancestors outside the walls to die?"
"But we didn't die. Zeke's father used the old science outside the walls to create the first titan shifters and save us. He lived so long; he trained us for years to attack the walls –" Reiner fell silent. And then Zeke arose and changed it all.
Everyone was silent.
"Is that enough?" Reiner asked.
"So this is all just a vendetta from a hundred years ago?" Eren screamed suddenly.
"No!" Reiner really had not missed Eren's temper.
"Weren't you listening? They want to better the human race," Hange said with disgust.
Jean trembled. "And they'll use titans to do it, before they advance enough to turn on the titans themselves; am I right?"
"It's the only way," Reiner pled. "You always lose."
"Not at Trost," Mikasa said. "And not now." She paused.
"You're coming with us to the basement."
"No – you can't use it on me," gasped Erwin, tugging weakly on Levi's arm.
"Shut up, because I am," Levi snapped, grappling for the serum. "You're in no condition to fight me, anyway."
"I'm not – but the others," wheezed Erwin. "Others…with both arms…have more life in them."
"Oh, so now having one arm means you're worthless?" Levi scoffed. "You're going to sit tight and not fight me."
"I don't …" Erwin blinked. He felt so cold. He'd already accepted his fate. Why continue? Other than the basement.
"He's going to die soon," the pale girl said briskly. She took her hands off his side and knelt on his shoulder, pressing his arm into the earth. "Inject him now or let him go."
"We need you." Levi readied the needle.
Ymir glared at them. She was not willing to die, not anymore. At least not until she'd seen Historia again. "Saskia…"
Saskia glanced behind her to see Ymir's titan with tears in its eyes. Did she hate Ymir enough to wish her dead? No, of course not.
But what could she do? Saskia turned around to see Levi slip the needle into Erwin's vein.
Eren's heart hammered as they hurried along the cobblestone streets. The streets were cracked and plants overgrown, some houses smashed into smithereens and others whole and dusty. The scene felt familiar, yet still distant. The quiet was eerie.
Mom…Mom died here. A lump rose in his throat. I miss her.
Mikasa reached out to brush her hand against his arm. She would never forget how Carla had hugged her when she'd first walked into the Jaeger home, a haunted shell of a girl. Life looks so different now.
Reiner couldn't escape the pain in Mikasa's eyes. He and Bertoldt really were damned, weren't they? Maybe they deserved death.
"Mmm? Is this it?" Sasha asked from Connie's arms. For both their sakes, he hoped so – his arms hurt now.
"Yes." Eren stared at the fallen roof. The years and Titans hadn't ruined it completely.
Mom… For a moment he was back there, desperately yanking at her arm. Determined that she couldn't die today, not when he'd just seen her, not today.
"She shouldn't have died!" he burst out then, jerking Bertoldt across a splintery fallen beam.
Bertoldt closed his eyes. He really had no argument left.
"No," Eren said. "No, you don't get to close your eyes, not when all I see is this."
"You think I don't?" Bertoldt whispered.
"Not as much as you deserve."
"Eren, the basement," reminded Hange, ducking inside the dilapidated house.
With a growl, Eren dragged Bertoldt after her. Maybe if he was angry enough at this Titan, he wouldn't feel the pain eating his heart out.
Hange stared at the locked door. "Is this it?"
Eren's mouth opened, but the sight of plates on the table took his words. Life had been so normal, or seemed so. Mom.
Jean swallowed as he leant against the wall. Connie and Sasha had stayed outside for now.
Armin would know what to say now. Jean was no Armin; he wasn't even a fan of Eren.
"Your Mom can't come back, Eren." Well, that came out wrong. E cleared his throat. "But, I mean, I'm sure she can see you somewhere. I'm sure she would be proud of you."
Eren nodded, his eyes meeting Jean's. Then he grabbed the key around his neck. "This is it."
When the purple fluid had emptied into his blood, Saskia applied pressure once again to the commander's side. She had no idea how long the serum took to heal, and she wasn't going to let him die in the meantime. Besides, focusing on him meant that she didn't have to meet Levi's suspicious eyes.
Erwin jerked suddenly. Saskia pulled her hands back and examined his wound. "Well, we're not bleeding as much."
"That had better be a good sign," Levi said. "Erwin, you need to be alive to kick my ass for failing to kill that ape."
Saskia flinched. "He's not easy to kill. Or hurt."
"I had him," Levi spat.
She didn't know how to respond. Could Levi be good enough to take out her husband? Was anyone?
He's going to be very angry – especially at me. Saskia shivered. Funny how captivity was now her safest place.
Erwin began shaking uncontrollably. Steam appeared in his side.
"Time to leave." Levi grabbed Saskia and yanked her away as Erwin Smith exploded into another wretched Titan.
"This is – this is – this is history," squeaked Hange. She hadn't breathed since seeing massive library in the cellar. Her eyes fell on a desk with an open book. She wiped the dust off it. "And science!"
"What?..." Reiner's mouth fell open. Eren's father had been an amazing man.
"That's not all." Mikasa's voice was cold.
Eren turned his attention to Mikasa as Reiner choked.
He followed their gaze to a barrel. "Come on." He dragged a nearly regenerated Bertoldt closer and peered in.
"Serum."
"Dozens of serums," Mikasa corrected him. "Many different types."
"What the hell?!" Jean erupted.
"I don't know!" Eren yelled back.
"Simmer down," Mikasa ordered. "You're not helping."
"Who was your father?" Bertoldt asked in astonishment.
"I wish I knew," Eren said sadly, staring at the serums.
"Wait!" Hange gasped, lifting the book. "There are notes written here…Eren, your father was working on harnessing titan regenerative abilities."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, to heal people." Hange flipped back a page. "Those aren't titan serums; they're attempts are regenerative serums. Some of which could, I suppose, turn people into titans – no telling how many work or not –"
"Give some to Sasha!" Jean lunged for it. He dropped to the ground, gagging up specks of blood.
"Or to you." Hange's eyes glimmered. "Your choice, but it looks like you're not in the best condition."
Reiner's heart pounded as Mikasa thrust the serum at Hange. What if it worked? What if it didn't? – Where was Armin? He must have died…How had he died?
I just turned my friend into something I lived to kill. Levi had no regrets, but the uncanniness ate at him.
"Does he know which one to eat?" Saskia asked.
"I don't think so," Levi said grimly, watching the large, lumbering commander.
"Well, it's disappeared," Saskia responded.
So powerful, but in an entirely new body. Erwin felt embarrassed, broken, guilty. What am I supposed to do now? For once, he didn't know.
Feelings were so much stronger than thinking. His abilities to think were growing fuzzier.
Eat them. His eyes landed on Levi, brandishing a sword, and the pale girl. The urge was so strong – but Levi was his friend – he couldn't eat Levi –
So many bodies. So many horses. Holes punched through them, blood and brain splattered everywhere, limbs crushed and broken, faces unrecognizable.
I gained so many troops, and this is what I did to them.
He wanted to fall to his knees, wanted to ask forgiveness from the dead, but he couldn't. Not now. No one needed to see an all-powerful Titan on his knees. Levi, all the wounded, all of them needed hope.
He glanced at his right arm. To his shock, it was still gone. Pain shot through him, and rage. Why? Why? Was he too guilty to be whole?
Saskia rolled her eyes at Levi. "Swords seem unnecessary."
"Oh really, then why did your friend run?" Levi spat. If Erwin lost his mind due to that girl, he would kill her too.
"He doesn't even have his arm back; I don't know what serum you got your hands on, but it's weak at best," Saskia said.
She strolled towards the one-armed Titan. Saskia felt herself scalded from its steam, but she rather liked the pain; it was new. "Erwin."
The Titan turned to face her. Its eyes were weak and fearful and powerful all at once, but not frightening. If Zeke's Titan didn't frighten her, nothing would.
He might not be a shifter yet, but his Titan wasn't strong, and his mind would be lost more slowly than most. He could be reasoned with.
"Look, I know you feel like you have to eat us and you don't want to. That's normal. But you don't have to eat us. Not yet. We'll figure this out."
She closed her eyes and spread her arms wide, the way she'd seen Zeke behave during the Selection.
She felt she might as well have been a Titan, taking up the space she did. Usually she shrunk besides Zeke, besides her father, besides Annie. This space wasn't natural.
"Breathe. Breathe. Now remember who you are, all the good and bad. Remember him." She pointed towards Levi.
The Titan seemed frozen for a few seconds before it turned its head towards Levi.
Levi's heart leapt. For now, there was recognition in his eyes.
Hesitantly, he approached his friend. He may have failed thus far, but he would succeed in the end. The Corp was not dead.
"Levi!" A bloody, but very much alive, Hange Zoe flew over the walls. Behind her came Eren, Mikasa, Connie, and more, armed with what appeared to be dozens of Titan serums.
Oh no. Glancing at Erwin, Levi had never been so happy and afraid to see Hange in his life.
