I Don't Own Naruto or Attack on Titan!
Royal Redemption - Chapter 3
Naruto felt happy...
Looking around his surroundings, the fourteen year old boy saw smiling kids and proud parents everywhere. The sun was high and warm in the air, and soft brisk wind blew through the serenity and calmness around Wall Maria. In the past two years, the crime rates within Wall Maria had been decreasing gradually, and the numbers were continuing to drop. The name of the Purge had reached all corners within Wall Maria, and criminals withered away at the name.
The criminals inside the large wall were not soft or cowardly people, but they were pragmatists. They were eerie about the Purge, but never actually thought that it would actually pose as a threat against the entirety of the criminal world. The chilling fact was revealed when the Purge traveled inland and utterly destroyed the entirety of the main merchant of Wall Rose.
It was pandemonium. The 50,000 square feet estate was completely broken down. The walls were demolished, the trees were uprooted, the housing infrastructure was torn out, and the main merchant himself was hung up in a fifty foot long pole from the ground. The man was not dead, but someone had blade-carved out the word "Greed" on his back, chest, both cheeks, and forehead.
The man's twenty women harem was disbanded the same day, and it was the man's private security unit who carried boxes of money out of the estate. It turns out that the man harbored a huge fortune inside his property, and the Purge man his men evenly distribute all of it to the people within Wall Rose and Wall Maria. Then there were the merchant's trading goods; all of it was sold at the minimum price to the public.
All of these things made the population very happy and grateful towards the Purge, and the rise in positive energy made the general mood of the public a lot better than before. People started to place their faith in the economy again; like a chained reaction, everyone was improving gradually.
'One person can make a difference…'
"Hello there young man!" chirped a middle aged woman holding a basket of roses. "How about buying some flowers for your girlfriend?"
Naruto smiled back and nodded. "Sure, give me several."
"Here you go!"
The blond walked away after giving the lady some money. Naruto was just on the way to visit Doctor Jäger so he could check if the girl he save a year ago was doing alright, and the roses would be a good gift for her. The blond also had a bottle of wine for the Jäger family.
With the flowers in hand, Naruto made his way towards the address he got from his sources, but he was stopped when the giant bells on the clock tower rang loudly. The blond knew exactly what it meant; the Recon Corps was back. Naruto had high respect for the people who chose to expand the human horizon, but unfortunately, their death tolls were always over 30%.
Naruto walked over to the gathered crowd and peered out to see the marching horses and walking troops. The smile on the blond's face immediately faltered when he saw the bloodied and distraught faces of the men. The mood worsened considerably when family members of the Recon Corps walked out to see their sons and daughters, and some of them couldn't find them. Naruto closed his eyes in both respect and sadness as mothers cried for their fallen sons…
"Why do these pathetic people even try?!" cried a man as he pointed over at the Recon Corps. "They are going out there to be dinner for the Titans!" People around the man glared over at his direction, but no one said anything. "They should al jus-"
The man was silenced when someone suddenly punched him hard in the stomach; he doubled over and started to cough violently on the ground. The people around the man smirked at his embarrassing posture and just watched the scene on. The man on the ground groaned in pain as he twisted his body to see the person who attacked him…
"Y-You punk!"
Naruto glared down at the man viciously as he stomped his leg on the man's chest. "Maybe I should throw you over the wall…I'm not a great cook but I'm sure the Titans won't mind!" The man chose wisely and kept his mouth shut. "If I hear you say anything so disrespectful again I will kill you…" Naruto allowed the threat to linger a short while before he walked off…
The prince stalked off silently into the dispersing crowd, and had a slight frown on his face. Conquering more land for humans was among the top priorities on Naruto's list when he would become King, but the Titans were still apparently too much for the Scouting Legion. The difference in number and power between humans and Titans had too great a gap; it would take some major developments on the human's part if they ever want to exterminate the Titans. For the very same reason, Naruto planned to order the Wall Sina population to heavily focus of technological research and development; it was about time to task the Sina population instead of letting them live like royalty.
The awkward silence on the streets started to lift, and chatter began to liven up again. With a sigh passing through his lips, Naruto continued his way towards the Jäger home, but his pace was very slow. The past few weeks had been very hectic for Naruto as he was finishing up the criminals on the northern part of Wall Maria, and he wanted to enjoy a quiet walk in the midst of town. Naruto's favorite part of the town was the calm river that ran through it; it was quiet and steady; the very image he was thriving for his people…
It was when Naruto was enjoying the view of the river that he saw something very familiar…
It was his mother's necklace…he recognized its brilliant green reflection. Adjusting his gaze across the river, Naruto saw the girl wearing the necklace, and she had a soft smile on her face. It was a beautiful smile; one of contentment. It was Mikasa, looking more grown up than one year ago, and she was happy.
There were two other young teenagers around her; one of them was Eren Jäger, the same boy that was at the Ackerman home the night of their deaths. The other boy Naruto did not know, but he was also smiling and apparently was having fun with his two friends. The group of three was holding onto a book; Naruto couldn't see what the title was, but it was an old book and he was glad that there were still children willing to learn from the historic wisdom of the old ages…
With a smile still etched on his face, Naruto saw Mikasa turning over to his direction…
The prince saw the girl's eyes glaze over for a brief second before widening. Naruto smiled brighter as he lifted his arm for a wave, and felt happy when he saw the beautiful smile that appeared on Mikasa's face.
The girl turned to face her savior fully; hoping that the river between them would somehow disappear…
"Narut-"
Before the heartfelt reunion could ensue, a ground shaking explosion sounded through the area. Naruto and Mikasa's eyes widened as the ground beneath them shook violently from the apparent impact. Around them, people were falling into the river because of the sudden shock, and glass windows were shattered from the vibrations. From the corner of his eyes, Naruto could have sworn that he saw a strike of yellow lightning hit the ground near the outward area of Wall Maria…
Looking back over at Mikasa, Naruto saw that she was also staring over at him. A silent message conveyed between them and they both started to run towards the town hall to get a better view on the situation.
The blond was a lot faster than Mikasa and her friends, and made it to the common area in less than ten seconds. A giant crowd had already gathered in the large area, and everyone was looking up at the wall. Naruto felt a huge sense of foreboding as he turned his eyes up at the wall, and what he saw shocked him to the core…
It was a gigantic hand, and its fingers were strong enough to crack the top parts of the wall. A large shroud of steam blocked the view, but the full image began to clear up as the seconds that felt like days passed. The face of the most disgusting Titan revealed itself to humanity; showing everyone in sight that their walls were obsolete…
"Titan…" Naruto whispered to himself as he challenged himself to accept the fact that the Titan's height exceeded the 60 meter tall wall.
Panic started to arise around the prince; people were running away screaming, mothers were cradling their children, husbands were pulling their wives into their arms, some people were just crying on the spot. Everyone must accept something that they convinced themselves would never happen. The Titans will break through the wall. Deep inside Naruto's mind, he also had a linger hope that the Titans would never make it into their walls, but he was reminded of how naive that hope was...
Naruto saw the Titan put his other hand on the wall and started to lean his head in…based on the experience he had in fighting Naruto knew that its body language suggested only one thing…
"RUN!" cried the prince as loud as he could as his eyes widened in shock.
Naruto was on in horror as the bottom gate of Wall Maria was destroyed by a single kick from the Titan. Large piles of debris were destroying countless buildings around town, and a huge number of people were crushed on impact. Complete havoc ensued in a split-second, and the town was in pandemonium.
The quiet serenity turned into piercing shrieks of fear, and the grounds were shaking as everyone ran away from the southern part of town. Naruto remained motionless as he waited for the dust to settle. Much to his horror, there was a gaping hole where the main gate once stood, and it was large enough for the other Titans to come in. Smaller vibrations of footsteps were filtered into the ears of everyone in the area, and smaller Titans started to come through the hole in the wall.
Everyone was catatonic; it has been one hundred since mankind had been protected by the walls, so no average person alive today had ever seen an actually Titan in their lives. Entire swarms of people were barreling to the other side of town in frenzy; it would not surprise Naruto if someone was trampled to death by other humans. Everyone had heard stories about Titans and how the eat every human they see; that alone was much more than enough to render everyone into fleeing cattle.
Naruto himself, after two years of hunting down criminals, was shocked at the sight of the Titans. The models his teacher prepared for his training did not do the Titans justice. The real Titans had a strange smell to them that made human cower away, and their heated presence was very intimidating. The worst part for Naruto was the expressions of the Titans faces...some of them were smiling as they devoured their meal...
Despite his fear and shock, Naruto knew what he had to do. The blond turned around and ran as fast as he could to the very east end of town. It was very hard for the young man to not stop and help some people along the way who were stuck under piles of debris, but he knew that it was more important to deal with the Titans first. Shifting his eyes back at the main wall, Naruto was shocked to see that the giant Titan was no longer behind the wall…it just disappeared.
The prince's mind was running at a hundred miles an hour while trying to reason the situation out, but he could think of nothing. It should have been impossible for something so big to vanish in thin air. It was almost as if it had thoughts, and its purpose was to break down the wall so the other Titans could come in and feed...
Shaking his head, Naruto gave a final short burst of speed, and he arrived at the guarding station with Wall Maria.
"There are Titans coming in from the south!" cried the prince into the station. "Gather your equipment and let's go!"
Much to the young man's surprise, there were only five guards in the station. He could see at least ten 3D harnesses on the equipment shelf, so the only explanation was that five other guards had already ran away…
"What are you doing here kid, run away!" cried one of the guards as he got ready to jump into action.
Suppressing his own feelings of disappointment, Naruto ran past the remaining guards and grabbed a pack of equipment for himself. Ignoring the cries of the men behind him, Naruto immediately placed the harness on himself and readied his blades. He knew he had the skill to fight, and he would delay the Titans as much as possible. The main priority was to evacuate the population of Wall Maria to Wall Rose, and that would take time…
The prince was leaping from building to building using his gas propelled cables, and he could already see some Titans up ahead…
'Wow…this is the first time I've actually seen a real Titan', thought Naruto to himself as he got closer to the 7 meter tall being. 'It kind of looks like a human…' The Titan was holding a man in his hand and was biting it in half as if he was enjoying a nice snack, 'But it is just a monster!'
Naruto shot his cable to a wall behind the Titan and propelled himself towards it at high speeds. "DIE!" The prince drove his twin blades straight across the back of the Titan's neck; permanently killing it. He could still remember the training from Dallis clearly, and his muscle memory was still there.
Another Titan suddenly ran out from beside Naruto with its mouth opened, and it almost snapped the prince in half. The blond escaped by the skin of his teeth by jumping off of the building he was on, and was immediately back on the initiative. Glaring at the mindless beast behind him, Naruto shot his cable to the right and attached himself to a tall tower.
Pulling himself towards the building, Naruto channeled his weight to his left side, and just as he was about to touch the tower, he released he cable and allowed his body to be shot into the distance. With his height in the air, Naruto could fully see the Titan below him. With another shot down towards a building close to the beast, Naruto barreled down while spinning his body and his blades almost sliced the Titan's entire head off from the base of its neck.
"RUN!" The prince cried to the people below; the Titans were flooding into the town, and there were still countless people around. From the corner of his eyes, Naruto saw something that shocked him. There were people running back to the southern end, and it was Mikasa!
Mikasa's mind was still wondering if Naruto was okay after the sudden attack from the Titans, but her body was following Eren to their home. Their father had left for the inner wall early in the day, so he should be fine, but their mother was still at home. Looking ahead, the girl saw her brother frantically running up the stone paved road; he had an extremely feared look on his face, one that reminded Mikasa of herself a year ago.
In the time Mikasa had joined her new family, she had gotten to know her little brother a lot. He was a young man with extreme emotions, and she knew that he would not be able to calm his mind during hard situations. Mikasa was praying in her heart for their mother's safety, not only would Eren go crazy if he lost her, she also didn't want to lose two mothers so soon…
As the two ran past the devastated areas of their usual neighborhood, they were horrified to see the carnage that paved the roads. People were crushed under large chunks of rock, their blood splattered along the pavement. Family members were wailing out their loved one's names as they desperately tried to pull the lower half of their bodies out of the gathered debris.
All of this made Mikasa and Eren even more scared than before…
"No…" muttered Eren as he ran ahead of Mikasa, "…our house is going to be just fine; we are going to turn around this corner and it is going to be standing there like always!"
Mikasa was also very hopeful, but she was disheartened when she saw the shocked expression on Eren's face when he turned around the corner. The girl rushed past her brother to see the situation for herself, and she was also shocked to see half of their house as rubble on the ground.
"KAA-SAN!" cried Eren as he ran as fast as he could to his home.
Mikasa quickly followed and grew increasingly shocked at the sight of their mother being trapped under the central pillar of their own home. The debris covered Carla Jäger up to her upper back, but she still appeared to be fine. Eren was desperate to get to his mother's side, and Mikasa was right behind him.
"Eren, Mikasa…" Carla muttered in relief, not because they were here to save her, but that they were safe themselves.
Eren analyzed the situation and stood by one side of the pillar. "Come on Mikasa, we have to get this pillar off!"
"Okay…" Mikasa grabbed the other end of the pillar, and as one, they both tried to lift the large chuck of wood. The girl knew that it was no use; both of them were mustering as much strength as possible, but the pillar did not move at all; it was just too heavy for them. But no matter what Mikasa did not want to give up; she suppressed the thought of it being impossible in her mind and kept on pushing forward; convincing herself that something will happen and her mother would be safe.
The footsteps of nearby Titans were getting louder and louder, and some of them could be since despite some large buildings covering most of their bodies. The sounds of humans crying out were getting softer, and it was probably because most humans had already been eaten…
"Mikasa…" started Carla with a low voice. "Eren…run away now!"
Eren looked at his mother in shock. "What are you saying, Kaa-san, we are not leaving here without you!"
The mother gave up on convincing her son and turned to her daughter. "Mikasa, this pillar is too heavy; take Eren away from here before it's too late!" Mikasa had tears in her eyes as she was put in the middle; she wanted to save her mother, but also wanted her brother to survive.
"NO!" cried Eren before anyone could go on, "We'll all get out of here; no one is going to die!" Eren continued to pull on the pillar, and his hands were bleeding. Mikasa mentally agreed with her brother, she didn't want to stand helplessly again as her family was being slaughtered.
Carla was opening crying as she watched her children desperately trying to save her…
"CAN YOU TWO LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE?!" cried the mother as loudly as she could, "JUST THIS ONCE?!"
Suddenly, there was very close and loud footstep…
Mikasa and Eren looked up, and there was a Titan right in front of them. It was standing behind their house, and was heading towards them. It had the most disturbing smile etched to its face, and its eyes barred into the children's souls…
Carla knew what her children were seeing and cried more. "Please…run and live on."
A large shadow stretched out from behind the house, and the footsteps became louder and louder. From where she was, all Carla could see was a large hand reaching down towards them, and she closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted to see were her children being devoured by a Titan right in front of her…because of her.
Eren and Mikasa both hand their eyes closed as they felt the Titan's heat near their skin…but they were still trying to lift the pillar.
"NOOOO!" cried Carla as loud as she could.
For Mikasa and Eren, all they could hear was their mother's voice. Suddenly, there were no more footsteps, no more rumbling; even the heat near them was starting to dissipate…
Both children looked up after a few seconds, and saw the Titan just standing there…then they saw some blood along its neck. The Titan's large body started to sway from side to side…then it fell. The impact with the ground was very loud, and it shook everything around the area. Carla felt pain throughout her body was the debris on top of her shake, but was more than happy to see the Titan dead on the ground…
The body of the Titan almost landed on top of the house; it was only off by a few feet. As the sense of extreme relief coursed through Eren, Carla and Mikasa's mind, they realized there was someone standing on top of the Titan's head…
Eren and Carla were shocked at the scene, but Mikasa had tears flowing from her eyes…
"You didn't think I would be late every time, did you, Mikasa-chan?
Naruto jumped down from the evaporating corpse and walked up to the two kids with a smile on his face. Everyone was looking at him with different expressions and emotions, but he was particularly happy to see Mikasa's. The girl had a smile on her face, but it was not just any simple smile. The soft curve with her lips and tears of relief in her eyes conveyed to Naruto that her own miracle had happened…her prayer had been answered…just as she thought; he was there to save her again.
Just like one year ago, Mikasa released her suppressed feelings and ran into Naruto's arms with tears in her eyes. The girl wrapped her arms around her savior as tightly as she could, and relished at his warmth against her body; it made her feel safe. Naruto was the one person in her life that Mikasa knew she could always count on, and he was also the one person she could use as a pillar of strength…
Both Eren and his mother were a little shocked at Mikasa's behavior despite the dire situation. Mikasa had never once cried in front of them; even the first night she stayed over at their home, the same night her parents died, she'd never shed a tear. Unlike his mother, Eren knew who Naruto was, and could safely assume that because it was him who saved Mikasa a year ago, she could reasonably allow herself to rely and depend on him…
"It's alright Mikasa-chan…" started Naruto just like he did one year ago. "You're safe now." Absentmindedly, Naruto noticed that Mikasa was taller than before; this time she could rest her head on his shoulder.
"Y-You're really here…" whispered Mikasa close to his ear, "I was praying that you would show up and you actually did!"
Naruto smiled and nodded. "Of course I did…"
The sound of someone landing with the 3D maneuvering system sounded from behind the group, and they looked back to see Hannes land on the ground. The guard was a familiar friend of the Jäger family, and kind of a surrogate uncle of Eren's. He was also one of the guards that Naruto saw at the station earlier; he was one of the courageous few of the local stationary guards…
Hannes ran over to the destroyed home, and his eyes immediately drifted to the burning Titan corpse beside the house…
'Who killed that Titan?' wondered the man silently as he saw the blades and gear by Naruto's sides. 'Did that kid kill it?!'
"Hannes, come help lift this pillar!" cried Eren desperately.
Hannes realized the direness of the situation and immediately ran over to the left side of the pillar. Naruto also ran up to the debris and grabbed hold of the left side along with Eren. The boy looked up at Naruto, and even though his eyes were filled with tears and many emotions, the blond could make out vast amounts of gratefulness.
Leaving all that for later, Naruto turned back to Mikasa. "Mikasa-chan, pull her out as soon as the pillar is off of her!"
"Okay!" Mikasa was immediately by her mother holding her by the shoulders. Carla looked up at her daughter with tears in her eyes, but Mikasa just softly smile back.
Okay, on three!" cried Naruto as Eren and Hannes got ready. "One, two, three!"
The three males exerted as much power as they could, and at first the pillar still didn't move. After a few more seconds, the pillar broke through some of the debris and was off of Carla by a few centimeters. All three males were straining their muscles trying to hold it…
Mikasa knew it was time, and pulled her mother by the arms as hard as she could. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Carla Jäger was finally out…
The woman, along with all others, breathed a hard exhale of relief. Eren and the others dropped the pillar, and the boy instantly ran over and hugged his mother close. The thought of losing his mother was almost too much for the boy to handle, and he wanted to make sure that his mother was actually out in the open and safe.
"K-Kaa-san!" cried the boy as he held his heavily wounded mother.
Carla smiled softly and ran her fingers through her son's hair. "It's okay Eren…" Tears escaped the mothers eyes as she hugged her little boy close; the thought of losing her children was also overwhelming for her. "Mikasa…come here."
The girl tearfully leaned down to her mother and hugged her tightly. "I-I'm glad you're safe, Kaa-san!" Mikasa seldom call Carla mother as she thought it would disrespect her own mother, but in the dire situation she no longer cared.
Naruto smiled at the scene and didn't want to ruin the mood, but Hannes was the more realistic one. "This is not over; we have to get out of here before more Titans come!" Hannes leaned down and picked Carla up into his arms. "I'll take Carla, you take the children!" As carefully as he could, Hannes lifted off with the 3D maneuver, with the heavily wounded mother in his arms.
Naruto quickly flipped Eren onto his back, and lifted Mikasa into his arms, bridal style…
"We have to get behind Wall Rose!" With that, the prince lifted off with the two kids on his back. The gas was barely enough to carry all of them, but thankfully they were all still young and weren't as heavy…
Eren held onto Naruto tightly as they wiped through the air; trying hard to not look at the blood all over town…
Mikasa was feeling much safer than she should be in the situation, but that was because she was sitting in her savior's arms. It may have been a false sense of security, but it offered her mind a moment of peace…
The girl snuggled her face against Naruto's chest. "Thank you, Naruto-san…"
Naruto smiled and held Mikasa tighter. "No problem, Mikasa-chan…"
The End!
That was the third chapter of Royal Redemption, and I hope you all liked what I did with it.
PS. Some people had been asking me about Naruto using Chakra in this story; I will just say that I have made plans for it in future chapters.
PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! XD