"I miss her... I wanted to see her one last time."
Armin awoke with a start. Drenched in a cold sweat. Huffing and puffing as he looked around only to find himself in his bed inside the men's barracks.
It had been one week since the 9 survivors of the survey corps had returned from wall maria, one week since the death of commander Erwin, one week since Armin became a titan and ate the colossal titan shiftier Bertholt Hoover. One week, since the nightmares began.
They were always the same. First, steam. Then a giant made of muscles and bone with a head with a empty nose cavity, missing the left eye while the right eye filled with tears. Armin's supposed titan form. Then all he would hear is the voice of the one who both killed him, and saved him. And he always said the same thing.
"I never got to say goodbye"
Armin had soon forgotten about the dream like he always did as soon as the day started. Today was his turn to accompany Levi and Hange to the dungeon to check on the female titan shiftier. Still in her crystal state.
Ever since Historia took the throne the queen had decided to hire a local miner to try and free the girl. Said miner was currently hacking away at the crystal with the 5th pickaxe he had used that day by the time Armin had arrived.
As soon as they arrived Levi instantly asked the top hat wearing red shirt and cloak, black haired miner for a report.
"Any progre-"
"I'VE TRIED BLOODY EVERYTHING!" The tall miner shouted in his scratchy non-British voice. "I'VE TRIED PICKS, I'VE TRIED CHISELS, I'VE EVEN TRIED DRILLS, THE ONLY THING I HAVEN'T TRIED IS GOD DAMN DYNAMITE! THIS CRYSTAL IS TOUGHER THAN THE WALLS THEMSELVES!" He yelled clearly at the last of his nerves. Hitting the crystal one last time with the pick. Chipping the steel.
All while the miner bitched and moaned, Armin stared at the girl trapped in her own makeshift prison. Thinking about her was always tough for him. For he was somewhat sure he had a crush on her during the academy, and now looking at her again, he was twice as sure, like a part of him was even more sure of his feelings. Sadly, ever since she betrayed them, he forced himself to forget about his feelings. But before he could finish his thoughts, he was interrupted by the commander's enthusiastic exclamation.
"Well then clearly that's what we need to do next!" Hange said.
"Four eyes, we are not using dynamite." Levi cut in.
"That's commander four eyes to you, now then we clearly can't set off explosives down here, so we'll have to move the crystal to the largest and safest field. Levi, you and Mikasa can carry it there. Armin, you and the miner can go grab the explosives. I'll go secure the field." Hange finished as she walked up the stairs. Levi following as he mumbled to himself. Leaving Armin and the miner in the room in silence.
"I was joking about the dynamite." Came the miner's reply.
"ALRIGHT CLEAR THE AREA PEOPLE!" Levi shouted as he lit the fuse.
The field was completely empty, save from the single crystal in the middle with multiple sticks of TNT laced under it like a campfire.
In the safe zone was Hange, Levi, Mikasa, Eren (Who helped carry Annie), the miner, and Armin.
Said field was in wall rose a secluded area with no nearby villages in case Annie turned into a titan again.
As the fuse got closer and closer Eren asked a simple question.
"So, what do we do if she does turn into a titan?"
"Send out you again, maybe Arlert too." Levi replied. "He'd act as a vantage point, scope out the area. While me and Mikasa attack the nape."
"But what if I can't control my titan form?" A nervous Armin asked.
"You'll have too." Came Levi's reply.
*BOOM*
The blast immediately caused the group to direct all attention to the now rising dust cloud. The group waited as the dust spread across the field, hoping it would pass.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three.
Four.
At five Levi had had enough.
"Arlert, go out there."
"R-right."
Armin immediately left the bunker and headed toward the place where the crystal was placed.
Brown smoke, that was all he could see. At least until he heard the crunching of glass under his foot. Looking under it as he saw bits of the unmistakable crystal that held the girl he loved.
'Wait. I don't love her, it was just a simple crush that's all.'
'What, of course I do.'
'Who are you anyway?'
'I'm you, well, I am now as much as I hate it.'
"Wait, don't tell me.. Bertholt?" Armin questioned now talking aloud.
'good guess.'
"Why are you in my head?"
'It's a side effect of the titan shiftier powers getting transferred. It's rare, but possible.'
"So, that's what's been causing my nightmares?" Armin asked staring off into the dust as he looked for the rest of the crystal.
'yea, from what I've heard this side effect is like the old shiftier becoming a ghost trapped inside the new shiftier's mind.'
"So, you're trapped inside my mind forever?"
'yea. Sorry, stuck with me.' The voice replied.
Silence. All Armin could hear for a solid two minutes was the dust slowly dissipating and his knee high boots hit the ground still heading toward where the crystal was.
The noise that finally broke it, was the painful moan of a girl of around fifteen years of age. Immediately catching the attention of the two minds in the same body.
As soon as the pair of blue eyes moved in the direction of the noise, the dust moved so that a giant hunk of crystal came into view, right in front of it lay Annie leonhart struggling to get up due to her entire body being completely numb.
If Annie had to pick one emotion to describe herself right now, it would be sadness. Not one that would be typically associated with her. But she had it all the same. The reason as to why was rather obvious, at least to her.
She had failed. She had a simple task, kidnap Eren Jeager, that was it. But instead she was forced to use her last resort and crystallize her self. Now she was out, and was most likely going to be tortured and placed in a dungeon, if she knew the military police she was forced to work for.
Before she could think any longer she heard a sound in the distance. A crackling of glass. The only problem was that her head was facing the opposite direction. Slowly, she lifted her neck, attempting to shake the numbness out of her body. Having to close her eyes in order to Muster enough strength to raise her head high enough to turn it over and finally get her head facing the right way, letting it give in to gravity.
Finally opening her eyes, for a second all she could see was dust. Only for it to quickly be pushed away by the wind to revel Armin Arlert. The nerd, the wimp, the one who figured her out, the one who she couldn't kill. Why? Well, she had no real idea. She considered it being a crush. But she ruled that out.
Armin meanwhile walked up to her and immediately grabbed her hand to check her pulse. Staring right at her blue eyes to blue.
After feeling the faintest pulse, he placed her hand down and sat beside her. "Can't move huh?"
Annie only nodded slightly.
"Well, you missed quite a bit since you were frozen. Long story short, all that's left of the warriors is Reiner and the ape titan shiftier, and we took back wall maria"
Annie was shocked. They had not only figured out about Riener, but there was a high chance that they had found and, if Armin was to be believed, killed Bertholt. So with all the strength she had, she spoke.
"What...about...ber-"
"We used the titan serum on one of the operatives," Armin said, hoping to squeeze some info out of her if he could give her a little bit. "That person gained his powers."
Annie immediately got tensed up. If they had Bertholt's powers, then she never had a chance to be able to look her father in the eye again. She needed to figure out who had the colossal titan powers. And the first step was getting up.
Yet again, mustering her strength, she pulled herself up, her muscles tensing up and gripping the ground digging her toes.
Armin saw this and helped her get up, standing her up on her feet and balancing her body. Only for her to sway and fall into his chest, thankfully he grabbed him and held her up to his chest to keep her up.
And for whatever reason, his arms pushed her up so her chin was resting on his shoulder. Making sure she was comfortable. Hugging her tightly, but not so tightly as to hurt her.
"Um, uh, sorry." Armin said now realizing the position they were in. And for whatever reason he started sweating like mad.
Meanwhile in his head he was trying to figure out what was going on. But before he could the mind piggybacking on his spoke up.
'hey Armin, can you do something for me?'
"What?" The blond replied.
'tell Annie about me.'
"Just tell her you're trapped inside my mind, sounds completely believable." Came a sarcastic answer.
The voice of Bertholt only rephrased his question. 'Just say goodbye to her for me. Please. That's all I'm asking for.'
Armin sighed.
"Okay. Just tell me what to say and I'll repeat it to her."
Annie felt her body start to wake up as feeling returned to her legs, now able to support herself, she tried to shake herself out of Armin's grasp. Mainly because she felt kinda kward in this position. But then again, who wouldn't. She could feel the warmth of his body collide with her's as her arms were right up and feeling his chest, she could swear she could fell abs underneath his shirt, but her mind, somehow was wandering off in another direction.
Or at least, it was, until Armin spoke.
"Uh, Hi Annie. Sorry we have to say goodbye like this."
Said blonde was overly confused. The one holding her was still Armin and the voice was still the same high pitched voice. Yet, something felt different. Like it was someone else talking. And as her mind tried to rule it out due to logic, Armin, or whoever was talking, continued.
"Sorry, this may seem a little odd to you, but to make a long story short, I'm trapped inside Armin's mind, so, I'm talking to you through him."
Annie was still confused, who was talking to her, who was inside Armin's mind, or was it just Armin playing one of his mind games on her?
"Um, Well, to start you've been in that crystal for at least 6 months, and in that time, I died. And, well, I just wanted to say goodbye to you. And well, I need to say something to you that I've always wanted to say."
By this time Annie had no idea what was happening. She was about to push Armin off her and make a break for it when she saw some kind of projection coming off of Armin which at first she thought it was her eyes adjusting to the small, multiple rays of sun peeking into the dust. But the projection soon took the form of the colossal titan shiftier Annie knew. She stared at his face in awe as things in her mind started to click.
Armin was the one injected with the serum, and had become the new colossal titan. And that he had gotten the rare side effect that the people of her village had always warned her about. Meaning that Bertholt was currently talking to her.
All the while Armin talked while the projection mouthed his words to a t. "Annie, I love you."
Instantly the projection disappeared along with the rest of the dust, blowing away nearly as quickly as it appeared, if not quicker. Armin then let go of the female titan shiftier and stood in front of her, head tilted down, facing the ground.
Annie was out of his grasp, it would take at least a minute until Levi would get here, if she ever had a perfect chance to shift, eat, and gain the colossal titan's powers to escape, it would be now. But, for the same reasons as before, she couldn't kill Armin arlert.
And of course, the reason was every reason in every other aruani fanfic, she had grown a certain fondness for Armin, maybe it was his smart, maybe it was his kindness, what ever it was she simply couldn't kill him, and as for Bertholt's confession, She could only blame herself again for never noticing the signs, It made her feel even more like a failure.
And here she stood in front of both of them, as the scouting legion closed in in them. 40 seconds.
She had no chance to escape now, they would get here too quickly. She stared at the boy in front of her, he stared t the ground with his hands at his side, clenched into fists and ready to fight if she tried anything. 30 seconds.
Annie couldn't take it, she had no chance of coming out of this unscathed. So, she went with what she considered the dumbest option. But one that would at least make her happy, she decided to give her own confession. 20 seconds.
Grabbing both his arms, she pulled the boy to her and smashed his lips right into her's, eyes shut. 10 seconds.
Armin's eyes meanwhile were wide open with shock but slowly he melted into the kiss, closing his eyes as Bertholt's mind spoke. 5 seconds.
'hey Armin, promise me you'll do one more thing for me.'
"What?" Armin asked internally as his hands started to wrap around Annie lovingly, deepening the kiss.
'take care of her for me.'
Armin's arms pulled Annie close, setting on her lower back as Annie's moved up and wrapped around his neck. All the while Levi and the rest of the group stood watching with confusion, wondering what had happened
"Yea," Armin replied to the mind of the one stuck within his mind. "I will."
(Cheesy ending I know, but... with all the latest chapters, I think we could all use some cheese in this. Unless you're lactose intolerant. :/
Either way thanks for reading this and please leave a review, I'm new to writing and I don't want my own ego being the only criticism for this. Other than that, See ya next time.)