Chapter 14 – Annie (Arc 1)
Annie Leonhardt is a girl whose life is shrouded in abandonment, betrayal, reclusion and perfection. A life built around shutting the world out and making herself into perfection. A flawless diamond. But can even a diamond hold its outer perfection until the end of time? This is the tale of Annie Leonhardt.
Annie Leonhardt was not a native of Berk, nor was she ashamed to say it. Her homeland was a small lumber town on an island in an area that was occupied by the forces of Titania; it was a peaceful life, but a hard one. It was this way as, in reality, it was harder than anything she had ever known but then again, it was all she'd ever known, so she came to be at peace with it. Her mother was a merchant, as was her father and they often worked together in the markets on the mainland, leaving her to be alone for much of her childhood.
She cannot say that she was an isolated girl at the time, for though she didn't have many, she still had friends. She had grown up as family friends with two boys, Reiner and Bertholdt as well as another boy called Marcel and a girl, Mina. They did all the kinds of things you'd expect a child to do; play in the fields, explore the woods, all of that. But what you wouldn't expect a kid to do is to be forced into a military to fight for their oppressors.
They were terrified as they were dragged away from their families, but the worst thing was, they were the lucky ones. As if their parents had resisted any further like Marcel's did, they would've been the ones left bleeding out on the fresh snow yet all that they could do was watch.
Watch in horror as their friend for years was torn apart by slaved war-dogs.
Watch as they were abandoned by their families, who whilst they cried, still reaped the rewards of their children's fate of suffering.
Watch, as countless children around them were forced to fight to survive.
But the time came that Annie could no longer watch. It wasn't in her hands anymore. All that was, was the thin knife that was still stained from its last wielder's blood as she was thrown into a dirt pit alongside another weary, exhausted girl. As they stood up, seeing the silent cold masked men observe from above, they glanced at each other and both knew what they had to do.
As Annie stood in the mud, her hands and feet drenched in rainwater and fresh blood, she knew, that from that moment on, she would not ashamed of where she came from. But she would be of what she'd done.
For the next four years, that became all she knew. Killing. Fighting for survival. Like an animal. She had become one of the deadliest and most efficient drafts the forces of Titania had recorded in recent history, turning whatever was put into her hands, from axes, to swords, to scythes into one thing. A tool for killing whatever was in front of her.
She knew what she was doing the whole time and she hated herself for it. But she knew that she would hate herself even more if gave up as if she did, what would be the point of the trail of corpses that she had left in her wake?
Annie never saw herself as a remorseful girl, but she did believe in responsibility; with each victim that fell at her hands, she would make a small nick on her one possession left from home. A crystal that she had found whilst exploring the abandoned tunnels with her friends at home. By the time she had perfected her art, turned her body into the perfect weapon, capable of using any tool and even her own limbs if needs be, she realised that of all the recruits, only 3 remained. Herself, Reiner and Bertholdt.
She ran her thumb across the crystal, silently and desperately looking to prove to herself that there wasn't enough space for two more scratches, begging in her mind that she wouldn't have to kill them. As she realised the implications of them being the only three alive, it struck her that Mina must have been killed as well. She probably died right by where her foot was now planted firmly.
She knew not what she was doing, her lithe body near moving on its own accord, her form rising from a small, locked form in the dirt to a towering monster, trembling with rage. She felt her jaw locked, her breathing slowing and her muscles ready.
It was only when she felt the seemingly boiling hot hand on her shoulder that she realised that Bertholdt and Reiner were standing too, they're eyes alit as they stared at the captors. It was taken as a symbol that they were ready. The weapons fell. Cold steel sunk into the dirt as the weapons of choice were thrown into the stadium for one last duel. Each stepped forward to select their weapons, eyes never once leaving the metal covered faces of the men above. Annie felt her hands wrap around the grips of her favoured weapon, twin knives: graceful, deadly and precise. She found herself in these blades.
As the three picked up the tools of slaughter from the dirt, they turned, eyes interlocking as gears in a war machine before snapping back up to their observers. Their handlers. The ones who treated them like animals for years on end. They had a name for the soldiers that were born of these programs. They were known as Titans. Gods of War. Dragon Slayers. The Ultimate Weapons.
And it was time for their final demonstration.