God of Hate
Annie knew a golden chance when she saw one. She didn't know what caused Eren to start attacking Ymir, and she frankly didn't care.
With all the chaos going on, she made a rush for Reiner and the weird creature ensnaring him. She delivered a slice to the tail and was surprised by how well it cut into the beast.
"What did that?!" Grice roared as his tail unfurled instinctively, snapping his jaw around as he searched for the new foe.
"Reiner, now!" Annie yelled, looking right into his Titan's eye as she flew by.
"The Bitch," Grice growled, trying to swipe her out of the air, but Annie escaped by centimeters.
Reiner took the opening, punching the Crawler in the head. It did little damage against the hard skull, but it did knock his foe off him for a moment.
Grice snarled as he saw the Armored Titan rise once more, looking ready to fight again despite everything. With a bestial screech, Grice leaped forward and tackled the Titan to the ground.
But the moment they made impact with the ground, he recognized that the body was limp in his grip and hissing steam was starting to rise from it.
"Cowards!" he cursed, raising his head to bellow out over the city. "The Dogs are trying to escape! They're heading for the wall!"
"You heard him!" Rico called out to the soldiers on the wall. "Everyone with a blade, watch for anyone attempting to approach! Do Not Let Them Escape!"
Anticipation rumbled in Grice's throat and chest as he leaped atop the nearest building, crushing a piece of ceiling in his grasp as his eyes scoured the walls for any sign of them.
Normally, he'd expect them to go somewhere less defended. But the shifters couldn't just abandon the Colossal Titan like that. But they weren't stupid…spent and desperate, but not stupid. If they could, they'd make an opening or wait for one to-
Lightning rained down from the heavens.
Grice turned around to see Yeager being struck by it. But of course, it did no damage, coursing over and through him, as Yeager let loose a mighty roar.
It was not a scream or a call, there were no words. It was a primal roar of fury and defiance. As the lightning subsided, so did his roar and so did the storm.
Grice felt like smirking as he saw the green eyes of Yeager. "Looks like he got his heads in order."
His good mood evaporated as another lightning strike came down, causing him to look up at the wall.
Just as he expected, Yeager's light show had distracted everyone just long enough for the Marleyian Dogs to make their move. The Female Titan was on top of the Wall. Her transformation killed or scattered those that could stop her. She was about to jump onto the other side and make a run for it, her allies no doubt on her Titan's body.
They might just get away today.
He saw her body tense, prepared to jump down.
And once more, lighting danced across the sky. But this lightning didn't fall, nor did it rise. Three beaming bolts became as one and shot straight through the Female titan's right shoulder, severing her arm from her body, and forcing her to let out a horrendous screech. The limb fell with a clenched fist, Annie futilely trying to grab it before it fell.
Her blue eyes shot up, looking past all else and straight to Yeager.
His chest and necks began to glow once more with ominous energy.
Annie flung herself over the opposite side of the wall as fast as she could.
Bertholdt knew several bones had cracked or even broke by the end of that fall. By some mercy, he hadn't landed head first while still held in the fist.
"Dammit," he cursed, feeling the heat of the steam against his skin while he pushed the large finger off, crawling his way out.
"Dammit!" he cursed again, his entire body in pain while slowly healing. He stood and checked his gear but realized Annie's grip and the fall had damaged them beyond use, his hooks bent and at least one of his gas tanks was cracked open.
"Dammit all, it wasn't supposed to go like this," he muttered desperately, feeling the rumbling in the ground and hearing the zipline in the air. The crash gave him some cover, the steam and dust covering the area.
But what options did he have now? The wall behind him blocked him, towering over him all the more now that he couldn't use his ODM gear. The houses nearby? That'd save him for a few minutes at best, they'd search them for sure. Not to mention, hiding wasn't easy with his size.
He could...he could transform again...
He clutched his hand as he remembered the feeling of his hand exploding, and one knee grew weak at the memory of those lightning beams tearing through his leg.
He couldn't explode again, that was off the table. And it didn't help at all the first time. But he could...he could try and fight. Kick the boulder through the wall and escape in the confusion.
But that pain, that terrible pain. He had never felt pain like that before. He never felt any pain from his Titan before! There was the pain from the wound to trigger the transformation and the pain from overusing his powers, but his Titan's own injuries? Those never hurt. So what was-
A low roar and a harsh snap of jaws drew his attention. To his left, he could see the strange shape of the Crawler climbing along the roofs.
The sound of rocks falling made him snap around in alarm to the opposite direction, seeing the Jaw Titan lurking up at the wall, watching him cautiously.
Heavy footsteps brought his numb gaze down the road before him, heavy with smoke. Closer and louder they got, but still, he could not see his final and truest foe.
Then, it stopped and all fell into silence. No one moved, and Bertholdt couldn't even breathe.
With three great breaths, the dust of debris was blown away, and Bertholdt was staring down the six eyes of Eren, each head low to the ground, their fangs bared and their eyes filled with hate.
Cold sweat crept up his spine, and he felt his hand and leg throb with steady, repeating pulses of pain.
He'd have to fight. He was injured enough to trigger his transformation. There was no other way, he'd have to try.
But something stopped him.
Because he realized too late that Eren wasn't looking at him anymore.
All he felt was a hand touch his spine before something sparked in his very soul, pain overwhelming him. Before he could even scream, he collapsed into unconsciousness, falling hard to the ground.
"Not today, Bertholdt Hoover," Frieda said while staring down at the shifter, her scarred hand still outstretched.
She shifted her sights onto the hulking form of Eren, whose three heads eyed her suspiciously.
[[[[You have a lot to explain.]]]]]
Frieda just chuckled under his scrutiny, however tired she might look and feel.
"I think that's true for all of us, Yeager," Grice said, cocking his head from his perch on the building next to the dragon.
Eren rose himself up, each head looking at the creature with different flavors of confusion.
"I don't know what the golden brat said," Levi said as he landed in front of Frieda, eyes narrowed. "But I'm going to assume he's wondering the same thing I am."
"Unfortunately, I can't explain just yet," Frieda said apologetically.
"And just why is that?" Levi asked, rather tired of this routine.
Frieda idly grabbed her crippled arm. "Because it seems I pushed this old injury a bit too much."
Levi grimaced as Frieda collapsed to her knees. He grabbed her before she hit the ground completely, awkwardly holding her up. Checking her vitals, he didn't find any signs that she was faking it or about to die.
He looked to the side as he saw Ymir's Titan climb down, the freckled girl pulling herself out of the spine. "Is it finally over?" she asked, exasperated but hopeful.
"For now, yeah," Levi answered, wondering just what Ymir would do now.
"Good," she said, pulling herself out of the titan fully, bracing herself as it collapsed and began to dissolve. "Seeing as my trial was interrupted, I'll just play it safe and turn myself in."
Levi grunted but didn't deny that point.
"Where is everyone anyway?" Ymir asked idly, glancing around at the distinct lack of soldiers in the area.
"Holding back, in case he transformed again," Levi answered, nodding to Bertholdt. "Any idea what she did to him?"
"I have a good hunch," Ymir answered with a frown. "I think you do too."
Levi remained silent at that.
[What are they talking about?]
[[No idea.]]
[[[Someone better fill us in later.]]]
"I still don't know how you put up with that, let alone with three heads," Grice commented with a head shake. "Yeager, you ever figure out what happens if we eat one of the Nine?"
Eins became rather dumbfounded at that while Zwei became very curious. Drei, however...
[Do I know you...?]
"Ummm, it's me? Grice?" the Crawler asked, gesturing to his head. "I know my face has seen better days, Yeager, but I still remember your gilded ass."
"Wait a minute," Levi said, looking up at Grice while pointing to Eren. "You know the golden brat?"
However, Grice looked between Eren and Levi several times before settling on the golden figure. "Yeager, did this kid just call you a brat?"
Ymir looked between the three awkwardly before summing up the situation as best as could. "I think there's been a big fucking misunderstanding here."
Later
Somehow, the entire thing felt anticlimactic to Jean.
"Any idea what they'll do with him?" he asked with crossed arms, frowning as he watched the grim and nervous soldiers taking the unconscious and restrained form of Bertholdt away.
"What can they do?" Connie asked, scratching his head. "I mean, what stops him from just transforming again to escape?"
"If Ymir is on our side, maybe she told them how?" Marco suggested uncertainly.
"I'm more confused by...that," Sasha said as she, unlike the rest of them, was staring in the opposite direction…more specifically, at the rather giant creature.
Commanders Erwin and Pixis, among others, had gathered near the breach to talk with the newcomer. Among them was even Ymir.
"How many things like Eren are there?" Jean asked with a scowl. "There's no way that this thing showed up by chance."
"Yeah, and what was he calling Reiner and the others? Dogs of Gnarly or something?" Connie asked in bewilderment.
"And why does it talk...?" Sasha asked, sounding almost disturbed by that fact alone.
Meanwhile, the discussion had taken on an interesting turn.
[[[[My name is Eren.]]]]
"Eren? Okay, I get needing a new name, but why the Owl's?" Grice asked in confusion.
[[[[What does an owl have to do with it...?!]]]]
"Yeager, start talking sense or I'm bashing all three of your heads!" Grice warned in annoyance. "And how did you even get a third head?!"
Eren blinked as all three heads glanced at each other. Turning their attention back to Grice, they silently rose to their full height, towering far over the bipedal.
"...Yeah, yeah, rub it in," Grice grumbled under the obvious intimidation tactic.
"So, this is going well," Hange remarked in thought. They all understood only Grice's side of the conversation, but they still felt like they were following it well enough.
"Hey, Eyebrows, Baldy? Where's Krista? Shouldn't she be here to play translator?" Ymir reminded with a scowl.
"Sadly, Cadet Lenz hasn't been located," Pixis remarked with a hum. "But weren't you last seen with her?"
"..." Ymir suddenly looked very concerned. "I left her with someone, an old creep that works with that Frieda lady."
Erwin furrowed his brows as he looked at the shifter dubiously. "You of all people left her with an unknown party?"
"He had ODM gear and they knew each other somehow," Ymir answered with a shrug. "And, you know, I had to in case Eren got his scaly ass handed to him."
As the two giants had stopped their bickering to listen to the conversation, Eins growled above her while Drei gave a noise that might have been thanks.
"If, you blockhead, IF," Ymir repeated with a weak glare.
"So, once again, Frieda has all the answers," Levi remarked. "I don't like this."
"Neither do I, but we best deal with the more immediate issue," Hange said as she stepped forward. "Hey, you! Big guy with the Handsome Skull!"
"...Me...?" Grice asked in bewilderment.
[[[[You get used to it. Mostly.]]]]
"Yeah, Eren? Just give me a few minutes with him, okay?" Hange requested, getting a snort of acceptance. She then looked up at Grice with a wide grin. "So, you know the Beautiful Bastard here?" she asked, jabbing her thumb at Eren.
Grice reared back in surprise as he stared at the strange woman. "Are...That...I'm sorry, but are you his new wife or something?!"
Eins, Zwei, and Drei made great efforts to not react or respond to that inquiry, taking deep breaths through the noses.
"Oh, how flattering," Hange said with a grin, pretending to swoon. "Sadly no, I am still single."
Grice looked to Eren again. "I'm not sure if I'm feeling respect or disappointment," he said before looking to Hange. "Yes, I know Yeager. Not sure why he's acting like we never met. Does he have amnesia or something? Please tell me he doesn't."
"No, nothing like that," Hange answered. "Now, when you say Yeager, you know him as...?"
"Grisha Yeager?" Grice answered bluntly.
[[[[MY FATHER?!]]]]
Grice recoiled back as every human covered their ears from Eren's startled roar. "Father!? What!?" Grice repeated in surprise, and a flash of anger roiled through his body as he stared at the three-headed beast before letting it slip away. "Wait, but...Eren? So, you're not Zeke?"
[[[[Who The Hell Is Zeke!?]]]]
Eren didn't know how he was more confused right now than when he had been trying to figure out HOW he became a three-headed monster, but here he was, utterly stupefied by what this "Grice" was saying.
Grice growled in annoyance as he suddenly understood, balancing on his tail to wipe a hand over his snout. "I'm sorry, it's just...that form. He was..."
Eren's body relaxed into a state of curious disbelief.
"You mean that Eren's father could turn into this creature too?" Hange called up in interest.
"Yeah. He was the only one that could. Most turned out more like...me," Grice said with an unsettling pause.
There was a story there, but Hange decided that was something to dig into later. "Eren, just for the record, you didn't kn-?" Hange continued, immediately getting very rapid headshakes. "Yeah, I didn't think so."
"Wait, Grisha never told you anything? Anything at all" Grice said with a troubled tone, getting the same answer from Eren. "What the hell, Grisha!?"
Eren seconded, third, and fourthed that sentiment.
"It would appear that we have many things to clear up," Erwin stated, eyeing Grice pointedly. "Grice, correct? Tell us, why are you here exactly? Your arrival seems to be too good to be a coincidence."
"I could..."hear" his call," Grice said, motioning his head to Eren.
Everyone noticed his hesitation in the word "hear" but didn't ask for an elaboration.
"I thought Grisha needed some help. Seemed like I was right when I heard the Dogs of Marley picking a fight with him," Grice explained. "I was wondering why he didn't answer back. I was sure he was on the other side of that rock."
[[[[I was. Just...thought you were an enemy.]]]]
Grice shook his head at the absolute mess this was all turning out to be.
"You keep using that word," Levi stated with a frown. "What the hell is Marley?"
Grice seemed to be stunned for a moment before shaking it off. "Right. The Owl did tell us something about this, all those years ago," Grice said solemnly, turning his gaze to Ymir. "Why haven't you told them anything?"
"Let's just say I was in a bit of a bind over if I should help them or not. One that Frieda cleared up," Ymir remarked.
"So someone did sneak in that night Hange's pets were attacked," Levi stated knowingly.
"Yeah, same creep with Krista," Ymir answered with a shrug.
"Wait," Hange said, rounding on Ymir to glare dangerously at her. "Are you telling me someone attacked Sean and Bean just to talk to you!?"
Ymir leaned away uncomfortably, a bit intimidated by the crazy scientist.
"I believe we should address that later," Pixis said with a chuckle as he attempted to be diplomatic. "Satisfy an old geezer's curious mind, Grice. Were you once a human, like Eren here?"
"Yes, I was?" Grice answered, almost finding the question surprising. All the same, he noticed Eren leaning in with keen interest.
"Then perhaps you might be willing to tell us if there is a way to revert to human form?" the commander asked with a wry smile.
"Turning back? It's possible. But Grisha was the only one who figured it out," Grice explained unhappily. "Either he ran off without telling me or I wasn't in a good state to talk to."
[[[[Good state?]]]]
Hange echoed Eren's question, prompting Grice to grow uncomfortable. "Unlike Grisha...and Eren, I suppose...I have to eat. If I don't, well, I'll lose control. Thankfully, eating Titans somehow works."
"That is... fascinating," Hange said, her body buzzing with excitement.
"And annoying," Grice said, suddenly groaning, his tail curling and shaking.
Eren eyed Grice warily as he heard a growl- not from Grice's mouth, but from his stomach.
"Grice?" Hange asked cautiously, backing away just a step.
"I'm fine," Grice assured as the hunger pang passed. "But I have to leave soon and hunt some. That fight took a lot out of me."
[[[[Are you going after Annie and Reiner?]]]]
"The shifters?" Grice asked, noticing the wrath was still fresh in Eren's tone. "No, not yet. I'll need to feed before I can catch up with them, and I'd rather not try fighting them as a mindless beast."
"Thank you for the aid, all the same," Erwin stated. "Should I trust you'll be back?
Grice nodded. "In the meantime, get the Jaw here and that woman to explain what's really going on outside the walls."
"Trust us, we will," Levi said, giving Ymir a sideways glare.
The Jaw Titan shifted awkwardly but made no denial.
Grice looked to Eren, who obviously had a million and one questions for him still. "When I come back, we'll talk about your father."
[[[[...Is he dead?]]]]
Grice paused, about to start scaling the wall, before looking to Eren. "He passed that power on to you. I can't imagine he did that and just left you to fend for yourself."
Eren bowed his heads; Eins gritted his teeth in grief, Zwei bore his sorrow silently, while Drei just tried to come to terms with that revelation as he gained an unfocused gaze.
With nothing else to say, Grice leaped up to the wall, his claws digging as he began to scale up the large structure.
The humans backed away, watching for any falling debris. "Levi, go up and make sure no one attacks him."
"Right," Levi said as he ascended after Grice.
Eren just watched the climbing Crawler with a touch of envy in his eyes.
As Grice reached the top, several humans backed away uneasily. "Easy, just passing through," he assured half-heartedly. He stopped as he reached the edge, looking out over the lands beyond this wall.
He took it all in, the sun upon the green fields and small forests, the sights of abandoned buildings, the wind rushing over him, and so much more.
"Gods, that's a great view," he said, taking a whiff of the clear air. But with it, he caught another scent.
Yeager's. It was faint, but it was up here, or on something up here.
Turning and alarming the soldiers, he spied two young soldiers, basically children. One was blond, but the other was black haired and had to have blood from Hiruzu. They both tensed as he faced them and sniffed again. Unless he was wrong, it was coming from the red scarf on the girl's neck.
Friends of Eren's, he was sure. Still...did that mean that Grisha's son was this young too?
"What were you thinking, Grisha?" he muttered before going over the side, sliding down with his claws against the wall.
"What was that about?" Armin wondered as he watched Grice leap off the wall and head off to parts unknown. "And did he say...?"
"Grisha. Eren's father," Mikasa said with a frown, looking down at the other side of the wall, down at Eren and the others. "I think things just got even more complicated, Armin.
Meanwhile, all heads turned to Ymir with expectant looks.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll spill. Just, where do you want to do this? We just going to stand here next to the boulder?" Ymir asked bluntly.
Deeming that a fair point, Erwin nodded. "We'll take stock of the casualties and everyone's condition. Then, once we have everyone present, you will tell us all you can."
"Just for the record, my information is probably really outdated. I mean, really outdated," Ymir cautioned.
Pixis chuckled at that. "You make it sound as if you're a hundred years old."
"Eh. Closer to eighty," Ymir answered bluntly.
Hange turned to her in shock, the others giving Ymir strange looks. "Are you...immortal or something? Is that a Titan perk?"
"I wish," Ymir grumbled. "Trust me, it's nothing good. Just...get your notebook ready, I have a lot to tell. I'm sure the bonehead and Frieda can explain the rest."
"Ymir," Erwin spoke up. "What does Frieda have to do with you trusting us?"
Ymir considered how to answer that for a moment before shrugging. "Your king is a lie. Frieda's the real person in charge."
Needless to say, that startled most of them, Erwin's eyes narrowing. "How do you know that that king is a fake?"
"I think you already guessed on that," Ymir noted pointedly. "Especially after what she just did to the Colossal."
Eren frowned, feeling very out of the loop on something extremely important.
The King being a figurehead and Frieda being the real Queen? That didn't affect him really. But what did that have to do with what she did to Bertholdt?
Glancing up and seeing Eren's confusion, Ymir looked to Hange in surprise. "Wait, did you not tell him everything I told you guys about the Shifters?"
Eren's gaze wasn't accusing, but he was clearly annoyed as he focused on Hange.
"In my defense, we were still unsure if she was lying to us at the time," Hange explained apologetically to her favorite subject to study.
"Seems we all have a lot of catching up to do," Pixis mused. "Shall I suggest that Trips remains close by when we all sit down and talk? It seems best to only have to tell this information once before we decide what to do with it."
Eren nodded and, with care not to accidentally hit anyone, turned to walk off somewhere, his heads and back slumping in obvious exhaustion.
"Poor guy. He must be exhausted after all that," Hange remarked sympathetically.
"Found out his friends are traitors and he had to regrow his own heads?" Ymir mused sourly. "That alone you need a drink for."
"I'd share mine, but I doubt it'd help," Pixis joked.
Eren ignored the talking behind him, their voices growing fainter with every step. He inevitably came to one side of Trost. There were soldiers everywhere, but this had little activity and no injured lying about. Without hesitation, he laid his massive body down with a rather loud thud. Not caring if he alarmed anyone, he allowed sleep to claim him.
But even now, it was still in the back of his mind.
The glow of that tree in that vast sea of sand.
The feeling of wind beneath wings he did not have.
The Voice of the Storm, taunting and goading him.
{{{{Whelp}}}}
End of Chapter
And, fights over. They got Bertholt, Annie and Reiner are on the run, and the answers are FINALLY coming out for everyone to hear.
But yeah, Grice has been under he assumption that Eren was Grisha this whole time. Also, yes, this is canon- Skulcrawlers are perpetually starving due to a hypermetabolism.
Not much else ot say. Hope you all enjoyed the fight, I treid not to drag it out.
Early viewing of chapters 23-24 avaliable on my pat-reon:
p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64