"Their mindframe compared to ours are quite different. All at once they can lose themselves within the confines of their mind, leaving their body to act on its own as if they were two completely different beings. But I see this takes an important experiance, usually traumatic. It's as if a bond of some sort is cut. That bond being their lifeline." Exert from Dr. Grisha Jaeger's medical journal.
It was raining, well that was just fucking great.
Jean groaned inwardly but otherwise kept his commanding persona up as he ordered his troops to position themselves and the traps. The rain made it hard to see where everone had settled theselves and even harder to secure the traps in the designated spots. Jean heard someone about fall from a branch above and when he looked up he noticed that his men were having problems securing the trap on the wet bark, the contraption kept slipping.
With another groan Jean looked out into the wet mist around them. He knew it was there, he could hear it right now. He knew the rain wouldn't be a problem in a moment or two, but if it hindered their plan then this expedition could end disastorously just like the previous ones.
"Damn it, the last one and this fucking shit happens," Jean muttered to himself as he tightened the fastingings on his gear just in case he needed to use it. Still, he kept his eyes forward in the direction where it awaited. "But of course nothing ever goes as planned, right, Eren?"
With a small smile Jean looked up and noticed a small sliver of blue skies rolling along with the rain clouds pressing on them. "Man, Eren—you promised to be here when we took down the last one. Some promise-keeper you are." With that, Jean heard the shout from a scout ahead. They had gotten the Titan's attention just like he had wanted.
"Alright! Get ready, it's headed our way!" Jean shouted to the regiment around him.
"Yes, sir!" they responded back.
It's been too long. It's time to end this, with or without Eren, Jean thought to himself as he latched a projectiling hook onto a giant tree and swung himself upward with most of his men. "Sorry, Eren, but we just can't wait anymore."
"IT'S COMING! !" another scout shouted, the sound of his horse's hooves pounding hard against the muddy ground as he charged it through their ranks and then away.
There it was. The rain had stopped, well, not exactly. But Jean could see the shock on the newcomers' faces as they first experienced this Titan. Their eyes were wide when they watched the hard pressing rain suddenly vanish into vapors and all at once a silence surrounded them. A silence that terrified everyone still—besides Jean.
"Liam! Liam, come back!" Jane all about whined the whole way as she continuously found herself at Liam's heel; just close enough to keep up, but just far enough to never quite catch him like she wanted.
Liam seemed to all just ignore her as his eyes took in the outside world—all so vast and untamed. It amazed the raven-haired teen to no end. There were raging rivers, vast forests, open fields with various kinds of flowers blooming bright. After seeing all of this, why would anyone want to remain inside those dull mundane walls?
Maybe . . . perhaps . . . that is what his mother had thought.
Liam hadn't meant to think on such things, but the thought would no longer escape his mind. His heart skipped a beat at the possibility that perhaps Eren Jaeger was still alive. That perhaps he was living peacefully outside the walls; a home on the beach; just waiting for Liam to find him.
That thought alone caused him to stop and Jane, who had been chasing his heels since they snuck outside the walls, had about ran into his back had she not noticed the sudden halt in his motion. She landed on a branch near him and about toppled over from the slipperly footing she had placed herself upon. To her right was a raging river, a furious thing that made her quite uneasy.
So, carefully this time, she made her way onto the branch Liam had stopped himself on. The boy looked as if something troubled him. She hadn't seen him like this since he had been refused from joining any Corps regiment.
"Liam? What's wrong? Come on, Liam, you need to wear this just in case we're seen," Jane pressed as she drapped the dark green cloak over her friend's shoulders that was identical to the once she was wearing at the moment.
Jane had been in the procress of hooking the cloak properly when she watched Liam look at her with wide eyes. She blinked in confusion once before she heard him say, "Jane, do you think my mother's still alive?"
Well this certainly brought back memories. Jane remembered when they were younger; she remembered Liam crying when Eren Jaeger hadn't returned in the timeframe he usually did. She remembered Liam telling her his fears of his parent's demise in the line of duty. This had caused Liam to not sleep well at nights and his schooling slowed down for his recovery. Afterwhich many of the townspeople began quieting about the "Eren Jaeger" subject. The truth was no one knew what happened to their supposed savior. They couldn't comfort Liam in an unknown death nor could they hope for the best when many still had the image of those monstrous Titan in their mind. So it was silence.
"What makes you think that, Liam?" Jane asked.
Liam shook his head and motioned around them. "Look at the outside world. It's unexpressable. It's amazing and if I had the chance . . . I know I would live out here, mapping every forgotten place of this world. Maybe . . . maybe that's what my mother did. Do you think so?"
"It's a possibility," Jane said. "But why wouldn't his friends tell you if he settled outside the walls?"
"So . . . you're just like them . . . you think he's dead," Liam said with a small nod of saddening understanding.
"No, no, that's not what I'm saying and you know it, Liam Rivaille!" Jane scolded as she crossed her arms and tried to reason with the revelation-struck teen. "I'm just saying why wouldn't he come back for you? He loved you, right? It's just strange is all."
"Maybe it's time I stop expecting answers that'll never be spoken and just go and find them myself," Liam said as he let the rains fall down, wetting his dark hair and soaking his bangs against his brow.
"But you can't leave, not now," Jane said. "The are still Titans out there. I know Commander Jean said the age is amost over, but that doesn't mean it's any less safe."
"Then why are you following me?" Liam asked.
Jane was taken aback. She went to say something but nothing came out. With a sigh she bowed her head and then reached out and grabbed a hold of Liam's cloak and stood there for a moment.
"It's because I feel safe . . . with you," Jane admitted.
Liam slowly blinked but time halted as the rain vanished.
"Wha—?" Jane turned just as Liam did. The clouds above head had been ruthlessly pouring down upon them but a second ago, now nothing was falling, or, actually . . . "The rain," Jane started as she pointed upward. "It's still falling down, but . . . it's vapourizing before it even touches the ground."
The sudden change of temperature had startled the two. Jane seemed more disturbed than Liam, but still . . . Liam was baffled as well. The mystery of the dissolving rain would eat away at them until . . .
Until they met the cause.
"AAHH! ! !" Jane cried out, her hands flying to her cheeks while Liam's eyes widened in horror and suddenly his hands flew to the blades lain in the 3D Gear.
This may have been the first time . . . or it may have not, nevertheless Eren would forever remember this morning as the morning he, yes he, Eren Jaeger, woke up first. Of course the first one up meant that it was their duty to prepare breakfast. That wasn't so hard; eggs, sausage, and biscuts sounded good and none were too complicated to make.
A light fatigue struck him the moment his feet touched the cold hardwood floor but the reason for that lay right behind him. With a slow blink, Eren turned his head to see the little devil who had kept him up most of the night . . . his little mopheaded 2-year-old daughter, Anna. There she was, in the throws of her slumber so peaceful with her papa holding her tightly.
There was a light grumble before Eren shook any annoyed feelings away from the direction of his daughter and instead let her be, softly snoring in the arms of her papa while he made his way downstairs to start breakfast. The moment he began the gravy he jumped back upstairs to check on the rest of the family. Usually the smell would wake most of them up so Eren wanted to spy what they were up to.
To his surprise, all were still quite asleep. Peeking back into the master bedroom there was Eren's husband, the great Levi Rivaille, reknowned worldwide for his strength and skill—still slumbering away with his little girl curled up against his chest. With a roll of his shoulders, Eren made his way to the room across from his and opened it slightly to smell the pleasant smell of lilies. With a smile Eren saw that even his eldest daughter, the beautiful raven-haired-green-eyed Monette, was still in dreamland. Yes, she was quite convered in all her blankets and pillows of pinks and purples and reds.
With a chuckle Eren decided to check in on his firstborn even knowing that he probably wouldn't fair too much better than his siblings and father.
Yep, there he was, Liam Rivaille, spinning image of his father, alike so much that even he was still asleep. Eren blinked and noticed the boy readying to wake. Well, looks like he might be the first to come down for breakfast. Rolling his shoulders, Eren quietly shut the door and made his way back downstairs to finish setting the table.
Just as the last plate was filled with the contents of breakfast and set down Eren watched the first groggy-eyed relative come slumping down the stairs. Ah, it was Liam who was first awake.
"Morning, Liam," Eren said with a smile greeted to his eldest as usual for every day.
The boy hadn't even pulled out a smile, instead, with his eyes closed, he made his way to his chair and sat himself down, laying down on folded arms near his plate.
"Ah, easy, easy, Liam. You're going to get eggs in your hair!" Eren warned as he moved the plate away a little. "Sit up straight, you know better than to sleep at the dinning table."
"But Anna does it all the time," Liam retorted.
"Liam, she's two," Eren deadpanned, waving his finger at the boy who only playfully stuck his tongue out before shaking his head and taking up his silverware, ready to eat. Eren smiled and shook his head before he heard more feet coming down the staircase.
Turning he watching just in time as his long-haired daughter, Monette, took her seat next to her brother. She looked as perfect as ever. Ever since she hit the age of 10 Eren had never seen her come downstairs with tangles in her hair or with any blemish on her skin. He often wondered if it was a boy, but he wasn't one to press on it like Levi was. Now, at the tender age of 12 she was growing up before his eyes. Still quite a child, but Eren could see she was trying to become a woman a little too soon.
"Haaa, if only I could look like you every day, Monette. But the sad truth is, Monette, when you reach my age no amount of make-up will ever be able to hide the wrinkles of age," Eren said as he pointed to his face. That got his little girl to laugh but she waved her painted fingernails at him before tapping her cheek.
"If you want, I can put concealer on you, daddy," she said with a twinkle in her eyes—that girl had always been trying to put the stuff on him since she learned how to apply it from her bestfriend's older sister.
"No, no, make-up's only for girls like yourself, just be sure to keep it out of reach of Anna, please," Eren reminded before he turned and caught sight of his weary-eyed husband holding their still slumbering daughter. "Oh, good morning, Levi. Sorry, I know you like to help out with breakfast, but you looked tired."
"Take a look in the mirror," Levi muttered as he pulled out his chair at the head of the table and then let Eren come and take the toddler out of his grasp. With a yawn he watched his spouse place the little brunette in her highchair, and then coax her awake.
"Anna, it's breakfast time. Wake up, sweet heart," Eren cooed, getting the little silver-eyed girl to open her eyes and look down at her breakfast. With a wimper she let out a cry before shoving the plate off her tray. Eren jumped back and looked saddened at the new mess—and just after he cleaned up their kitchen yesterday. "Oh, now look what you've done, Anna."
"You should know better than to give her fruit in the morning, Eren," came Levi's reprimanding voice. Eren turned toward the older man who was watching him while silently drinking his morning tea. "If she sees what we're eating then she'll want it as well."
"But she won't like what we're eating," Eren complained. "That'll be another mess to clean up."
Levi just shrugged his shoulders. "Chance to take," he said.
Eren let out a sigh and looked at his weeping daughter who resembled him more so than his other two children he bore. The two had a small staring contest before Eren raised his hands in the air in defeat and shook his head. "Fine, you want to try our food? Go ahead."
To his surprise and chargin she liked it. Afterwards, Eren hadn't had the guts to look back at his husband who he knew had that smirk of "I-told-you-so." So Eren just ate quietly while their children chatted about the day ahead.
"I have practice after school, papa, are you staying at the office late today?" Liam turned to his father who was reading the paper and drinking his second cup of tea. He looked at him before folding the paper back to its original form and placing it neatly next to his finished plate.
"No," Levi said. "Not today. I'll make Erwin pay if he so much as holds me down at that desk for a second longer."
"Okay, so I'll tell the guys that you'll be picking me up," Liam said as he finished the last biscuit.
"Aww, but I don't wanna walk home with papa," Monette complained.
"Monette," Eren gasped. "What's wrong with having your father walk you home?"
The girl stayed quiet but her little secret was too well known for her papa. Levi smiled and looked toward Eren as he motioned toward their daughter. "Well, Monette has quite a following. She likes the attention," he said, leaving the rest unsaid for Eren to figure out.
"Oh," Eren nodded, understanding that the "following" must be a flock of boys continously cooing over her. Man, what was he to do when she reached her teens?
"Well, it's a minute passed schedule. Get ready everyone. I'll walk you both to school," Levi said as he stood up and wiped his hands with a napkin.
So as Eren cleaned up and watched Anna finish off her breakfast at her own pace, his two eldest were rushing down the stairs with Levi following them, a jacket in one arm and a small case in the other.
"See you latter, dad!" Liam shouted as he rushed out the door with his little sister close on his heels, her violet dress swaying as she exited the frame. "Bye, daddy!" she called in second.
"You kids have a nice day at school. No more fights, Liam. Monette, pay attention to your teachers!" Eren called out. The windows were open, it was a nice day, so Eren knew they heard him.
With a soft smile, Eren turned to take Anna out of her high chair. He wiped her off and then took her into his arms. The moment he did he felt a hand upon his shoulder, twirling him around and then a kiss. Eren's eyes fluttered before he closed them and enjoyed the goodbye kiss his husband decided to present to him at that moment.
"You behave," Levi said as he pulled away and leant down, kissing the top of his youngest daughter's messy head.
"She will as long as I'm with her," Eren said with a smile, a light pink still dusted on his cheeks.
"I wasn't talking about her," Levi said, his eyes glancing up at Eren mischeviously before that smirk was there again and before Eren knew it, he was gone, outside, walking the kids to their respected schools.
Eren's face was completely red. He didn't know how long he had been standing there, staring at the front door, but it was Anna who began making a fuss that broke Eren out of his blank thoughts.
"Alright, alright, let's go get you into more suitable clothes," Eren said. "Say, how about we head to the beach today? Would you like that, Anna?"
The little girl squealed and raised her hands in praise for the idea. So Eren did just that. Might as well, he thought, since the others would be out most of the day. So Eren changed Anna into a swimsuit as well as himself.
When he took up a blanket and headed outside and down the porch his feet hit the warm sand. With a smile he looked at the endless blue ocean before him but a frown replaced a smile that would have been a lingering one. In the distance he could see a storm coming. It was raining and thundering over the ocean only a few miles away. The winds were strong as well and so the storm was coming in closer than Eren would like.
"Sorry, Anna, not today. Looks like the weather's not agreeing with us this time," Eren said much to his little girl's dismay. When he picked her up the little brunette began to cry and her silver eyes watered as she reached out toward the ocean's waters slowly churning with the oncoming storm.
"Jane!" Laura knew immediately who could make a scream like that. So, with or without command she turned and sped off in the direction she heard it.
"Ah! Rosenburg, where are you going? !" Jean asked as he watched his soldier turn and dart from his side. He had heard her say her sister's name at the sound of that scream they had all heard, but why would she . . . unless . . . then she wasn't alone. "Liam!"
Without a second's hesitation Jean turned toward his regiment. "Hold the line! Squad 4, come with me. The Titan seems to be coming from the west instead of the east. Hurry!"
With that Jean darted off with a squad of ten following. As he rushed to catch up with Laura Rosenburg who happened to be Jane Rosenburg's older sister who in turn happened to be Liam's best friend, he noticed how worried she was and also how hot the area around them became.
They were close to the river and the moment it was in sight Jean watched Laura cry out as the sight of her sister's form was flung into the river. Laura was always a quicker acter and so she hadn't hesitated in the slightest to go after her, but Jean was preoccupied with the sight of it . . . of the . . .
"It's the Hellfire Titan!" his squad behind him cried out. "Commander, it's coming from the opposite direction. I'll go back and tell the others to reposition the traps."
Jean hadn't said anything. His eyes strained to find the form of Liam. His heart beat so hard against his chest that he felt it'd break out of its confines behind his ribcage and fall onto the forest floor. That kid would be the death of him if he didn't die first.
Then, a ray of hope. Just as the Hellfire Titan rammed through a giant tree, bringing it down in its wake, Jean caught sight of Liam who was struggling to keep balance and footing, but the Titan seemed to try to bring him down like the rest of the debris scattering around.
Then it happened, Liam had ran out of room. His back hit a giant tree and just as he slid down toward a branch he lost his footing and crashed upon the branch below. Jean knew he had ruined the stolen 3D Gear but it all happened so fast that Jean couldn't do anything.
So he watched in horror as the Hellfire Titan, the very last Titan known to existence, crashed down upon Liam. The giant tree was knocked off its roots and engulfed in flame. The Titan had rolled as it crashed toward the ground with the damage spraying all around it. The ground upturned as it rolled to a stop and soon, it turned, toward the river.
Jean jerked his gaze toward the river and saw Laura digging her sister's form out of the raging waters. It was heading toward the closest humans.
"HEY!" he cried out, trying to get the Hellfire Titan's attention as he shot forward, leaving his squad behind.
"Commander!" they cried out but he ignored their cries as he rushed to distract the Titan from going after the Rosenburg sisters.
"Over here you damn Titan!" Jean shouted as he waved his swords around. It worked. The Hellfire Titan turned to him and now it was rushing toward him. "Shit!" Jean cursed. He had thought about getting its attention away from the girls but not about his own safe retreat. Real smart Commander Jean.
He could just hear Eren's taunting voice saying, "Ha, how did you make that rank, shit-for-brains? There's no way anyone would promote a horse-face like you." And he just might be right when Jean's life flashed before his eyes. A second before he had a chance to feel the guilt of not watching over Liam like he promised Eren he would if anything happened . . .
"UNCLE JEAN!"
Quick reflexes really come from a long life of hunting these creatures and Jean was really lucky his mind started working the moment Liam appeared out of nowhere, somehow swinging with only one of the gears functioning. The boy had landed on the Titan's arm, the flames burning everything up; the leftover gear, the ragged clothing torn from his crash, but in the moment before his blades melted he brought them down upon the creature's hand and lopped it off.
The sheer force of it knocked Liam off of the Titan and he hit Jean. A wire snapped and Jean went twirling toward a giant tree. He might not survive the impact like Liam, but even so he kept a tight hold on the teen.
"Commander!" Jean blinked and looked up to see Laura Rosenburg, her unconscious sister drapped over one arm while the other she held onto the single wire still attached to him.
"Thanks, Laura," Jean said with a smile before turning and watching as the Hellfire Titan looked at its missing hand. "Let's go before its attention turns away from its missing limb."
And they did. It was hard for Jean to call off the attack, but they were forced to return back to the walls. The Hellfire Titan didn't follow them. It never did, but still, not having it taken down was a failure to Jean and he hated returning to Erwin with no positive feedback. And now . . . with Liam and Jane found outside the walls, returning home wasn't going to be pleasant at all.