"I must say, I'm quite surprised that you joined the military given your family status." Erwin stated.
"What family status?" Mike asked.
"I come from a noble family inside the city of Mitras." Nick replied.
"Eh?" Hange and Mike asked. Quite shocked that a noble would risk his life in a battle.
"As much as I would like to catch up. We have more pressing matters at hand." Erwin said, using very formal dialogue when he spoke.
"I'm Commander Erwin Smith of the Scouting Regiment, but you already knew that." He then pointed to the tall man next to him. "This is Section Commander Mike Zacharius, he pulled you from the titans mouth." He then gestured to the woman next to him. "And this is Section Commander Hange Zoe, head of titan research for the Scouts."
"So she's the crazy titan lady I heard about. I thought she would look more creepy than that." He thought to himself.
"As you can see we have just arrived. Captain Levi told us that the hole was plugged by a titan. Is this true?" Erwin asked.
"Well, it's partly true." Nick admitted, because Eren wasn't a titan, he just blocked the hole in his titan form.
"What do you mean by partly?" Erwin asked once again.
"Well... It was done by a human." The three of them looked shocked for a moment. "Who can transform into a titan."
"What!" Hange shrieked, as she grabbed onto Nick's shoulders. "Where is he? What does his titan look like? Oh just think of the experiments I could run." She was drooling now.
"What's with people drooling on me today?"
"Hange calm down." Erwin spoke once again. "Let him speak. What happened today."
"Well the Colossal Titan breached the wall. Us cadets were assigned to the Middle-Guard during the evacuation. After the withdrawl bell sounded, many of us didn't have the gas to get up the wall. So we launched an all or nothing attack on the HQ that was overrun by titans. We killed the titans in the supply room. We retreated back to the wall with Eren."
"Who's Eren?" Hange interrupted.
"He's the one that sealed the wall." Nick replied.
"Hange let him finish." Erwin spoke up again.
"Right, Eren was about to be killed by one of the Garrison Captains but Pixis stepped in. Eren then transformed. He picked up the boulder and then plugged up the breach." Nick finished the summary of the battle while Erwin pondered his words.
"And what of Eren, Do you think he is our enemy?" Erwin asked.
"No Sir, he hates the titans more than anything." Nick replied.
"But he is a titan." Mike pointed out.
"But he only found out about it today, and from the looks of it, the MP wont be happy about this. He will most likely be put on trial for treason." Nick countered.
"Well then, looks like we'll have to fight for his custody then." Erwin spoke out loud before turning to Nick. "You've been a great help Cadet. Go get some rest, looks like you need it."
Nick began to walk back towards the inner wall by going on top of the wall when he remembered something. His clothes, they were soaked in titan guts.
"Wait. Section Commander Hange." He said as he ran back to the scouts.
"What is it?" She asked, turning around to face him.
"Have you ever seen what's inside a titan's stomach?"
(Two days later)
Eren had been taken to the Capital where he would await a trial to see whether the Military Police or the Survey Corps would get custody over Eren. Eren hadn't woken up yet as he was still unconscious from his exhaustion at using his titan form three times in one day. Mikasa and Armin had bedn dragged along to the Capital to act as witnesses in Erens trial. Nick was ordered to go too but he refused, saying that he would be there when the trial happened and that he would help clean up the bodies in the Trost District .
The titans that had been corralled inside the Trost District were fired upon by the cannon armaments from the top of the wall. The cannons never stopped firing the day after the wall was sealed. The titans that remained behind were cut down by the Scout Regiment, however two titans were successfully captured to be used as test subjects by Section Commander Hange to test for any other weaknesses the titans have. However 207 soldiers were either dead of missing while 897 were injured. While the recovery of Trost proved as Humanities first real victory against the titans, too many soldiers died for celebrations to be put in order.
Nick was walking alongside Jean in the streets of Trost, surveying the danage as dead bodies of their fellow soldiers were named, counted and then unceremoniously dumper onto carts to be burned on a pyre later in the day.
Jean was walking with Nick down the street to help clean up more of the bodies when a body next to them caught Jean's eye, when he turned to look at the body he saw it was Marco. His jacket was gone and his right side had been completely bitten of by a titan. Jean was too in shock to process what he was seeing.
"Is..." Jean started, only to stop at the shock value of seeing Marco like this. "Is that Marco" he said while his arms were shaking.
"Jean what are you-" Nick started, only to stop when he saw Marco's body lying in the street next to where Jean was standing.
"If you have a name for this one it would help so we could pass it along." One of the clean up officers said as she walked over to them.
"I wondered where he was, but he's not the sort of guy... Marco, what happened? No, somebody saw it, they had to. Somebody must know how he died?" Jean said to himself, clearly suffering from the death of his friend.
"I need his name, we don't have time for this." The woman interrupted his rambling with. "Please son. You understand. Its been two days since the hole was sealed in Wall Rose, it's been too long, we're no where near accounting for all the dead. Unless these poor souls are dealt with soon an epidemic is likely to break out, we're the first line of defense against secondary disaster. We will commend the fallen once we have finished here. Understand."
"His name is Marco Bott." Nick said as he got down to examine his body. "He was a member of the 104th Cadet Corps, he was the Captain of squad nineteen I think."
"Yeah, that's right" Jean spoke once again.
"Thank you cadets, I'll make sure to pass this information on." The woman said as she noted down his name and affiliation before walking away to note down the names of the others.
"Nick, what are you doing?" Jean asked, watching as Nick had Marco's corpse turned on its side, seemingly looking at something.
"The upper half of his harness is missing and there's a cut on his belt here." He thought to himself as he pulled his finger along the cut on the middle of the belt. "The way it's cut makes it seem like his ODM gear was ripped off the belt."
"Do you think it was a titan?" Frieda asked him.
"It would be easier to say yes, but if it was the left side of his upper harness would still be attached alongside the left side of his ODM gear. The way it looks to me is that someone removed it forcefully from him." Nick grimly thought.
"But who would do that to Marco? He was always so nice and positive." Frieda proclaimed.
"He must have seen or heard something he shouldn't have. It was most likely the Armoured and Colossal Titans."
"So they were part of the military?" Frieda concluded from his statement.
"Either that or they waited outside the walls for five years, which I doubt, there was a reason none of the noble families hired any workers after the fall of Wall Maria. They most likely mingled in with the refugees and joined up when they were old enough."
"Hey!" Jean yelled as he yanked Nick's shoulder. "What are you doing?" He asked him, the anger clearly shown in his face.
"Oh right, I just found it strange that his upper harness was gone completely instead of ripped on one side." Nick told him in response.
Jean then paled and then spoke. "So you think that... someone did this?"
"It's possible." He stated.
"What? Why would someone do this? Marco was the nicest guy in the Corps." Jean said, with a sad smile on his face at the fond memories of Marco.
"Jean." Nick began, contemplating whether or not to tell him some of the truth to put him slightly at ease. "What do we know about the Colossal and Armoured Titans?" He asked.
"Well, nothing I guess. Why?" Jean asked back.
"Well, since Eren can transform into a titan, is it not safe to assume that they are the same as him, humans who can turn into titans." Nick told him.
"Can we trust him?" Frieda asked.
"Well his mother did show up that one time with an omlete, and the enemy would not have taken their family's with them, that would leave their superiors with no leverage to use against them."
"But... But why would someone do that?" Jean asked, slightly raising his voice.
"I don't know, but you see this cut on Marco's belt here." He said while pointing it out for Jean to look at. "His ODM gear was ripped off forcefully by a human, if it was a titan, it would either be crushed or still be there."
"We have to tell someone about this Nick!" Jean proclaimed.
"No Jean we can't." Nick countered with.
"What? Why not?" He asked.
"Because it's just a theory, and if rumors about our greatest enemies being a human as well spread, people would turn on each other, paranoid that their neighbour could be the Colossal Titan." Nick explained to Jean.
"Then what are we going to do?" Jean asked.
"You're not going to do anything Jean." He told him rather coldly.
"What? Marco was my best friend and-"
"This is exactly why you can't be a part of this." Nick stated. "Your emotions are guiding you, and they will in the future if you can't restrain them."
"How can you be like this?" Jean asked. "We just found Marco's body and you're acting like nothing happened!" He shouted at him.
"Because I learned the hard way during the Battle of Trost that my emotions got in the way of my goal, and I won't let it happen again." Nick told him.
"Right... Alright then, I'm trusting you to find out what happened to Marco."
"Jean before you leave, who was in Marco's squad that are still alive? They might have seen something happen.
"The only ones left are Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner." Jean told him as he walked away with Marco's body so he could be burned to prevent an epidemic.
"What are you thinking love?" Frieda asked once Jean had left Nick on his own in the street.
"I think that the enemy will go after Eren if the Scouts get him, and Rod will definitely try something if he's given to the MP's."
"Well then, what are you going to do?" She asked him.
"I'm going to make sure that the Survey Corps are given custody of Eren." He replied with.
"And how will you do that?" She asked once again.
"I need some paper and a pen."
(Later that night)
"I am writing to inform you that-"
"No, that's too formal." Nick sighed as he scrunched up his eighth piece of paper.
"I thought it would be easier writing a letter than this." He spoke out loud, while massaging his head. Writing a letter was hard work, especially when it had to be perfect. He had to get this done before Eren's trial or he ran the risk of the MP's getting thier dirty hands on him.
"And to think I missed the funeral for this." He sighed once again, he remembered telling Sasha that he wouldn't be there since he had to leave for the Capital to take part in Eren's trial. His trial was the day after tomorrow, so he had to leave tomorrow if he was to attend.
He leaned back into the chair as he examined the room he was in. Thinking that barging into the Garrison HQ behind the inner wall and demanding an office for the night maybe wasn't the best idea. After a short talk with Pixis after barging into his office, he was given someone's office for the night as they had gone home.
"I need to finish this." He then took a breath. "Just think like him, then it should come to me."
He then started to write the letter once again, after proof reading it about seven times and making some minor changes to the grammer, he was finally happy with the end result. He then added the signature at the end of the letter to secure its authenticity.
"Now I just need the seal, I can get that tomorrow." He said as he put the letter to the side as he put his head on the desk. He was extremely tired from the days work cleaning up the streets of Trost. "A few hours of sleep couldn't hurt."
(The next day)
He was jolted awake at the sound of someone jiggling their keys outside the door.
He remembered locking the door so that Pixis couldn't send Anka or Gustav into the room to disturb him, or potentially see what he was up to.
He then stood up and walked to the door, unlocking it as ge got there. He opened the door and came face to face with Captain Weilmann. "Oh, it's you" Nick coldy said at him.
"What the hell are you doing in my office?!" He demanded.
"I'm using it." He replied.
"Who let you in here?!" He angrily asked.
Having had enough of the questioning, he shut the door in his face and started walking back to the desk to retrieve the two letters he had written the night before. Behind him Captain Weilmann had thrust the door open as he was enraged that a cadet had commandeered his office.
"Who the hell let you in here?!" He shouted as he turned Nick around and grabbed his shirt.
Nick's first response to this clear act of aggression was to grab Weilmann's arms and used his strength to twist them, putting him off balance, allowing Nick to use a sweeping leg kick to knock him over.
"I'm not in the mood for you today Weilmann." He stated as he looked down at the very tall man.
Weilmann however couldn't take the hint that Nick may have been allowed in here, so he once again rose to his feet, intent on giving the cadet a taste of how he deals with insubordination.
"Captain Weilmann." A familiar female voice called from the door before he could try anything. "Commander Pixis would prefer if you didn't attack our esteemed guest." She then turned her attention to Nick. "You were supposed to be gone yesterday."
"I was just leaving Anka." He told her after he had picked up the two letters and walked past Weilmann like he hadn't just floored him a second ago.
"Just you wait boy. I'll have you court martialed for this!" Weilmann spat at him.
"Captain Weilmann!" Anka spoke louder this time. "Any attempt from you or any other officer here to court martial this cadet will be blocked by Commander Pixis."
Witt that Nick left the room, with Anka following closely behind him, leaving Weilmann behind to ponder his own thoughts.
"You were supposed to leave yesterday." Anka stated.
"I fell asleep." He replied.
"Why did you demand an office? That was extremely disrespectful to the Commander." She told him.
"It needed to be done. I had to do something very important." Came his reply.
"What was so important that you barge into my superiors office and demand the use of a private office?" She asked him as they turned a corner that led to the exit.
"I assume you're attending Eren Yeager's trial tomorrow." She responded with a nod. "You'll see at the trial what I was doing." He said as he walked out the building so he could leave for Mitras.
(The next day, Courthouse, Royal Capital)
There was fifteen minutes until the trial began, when he reached Mitras he made a quick stop at his home to grab something before he went to the barracks to sleep.
However, he wasn't attending the trial as a cadet, rather he was attending as a noble, hence the suit he was wearing for the trial. He was in a private room in the courthouse, preparing for the trial that would determine the fate of humanity. He was dressed in a white shirt with black trousers and a black suit jacket, he didn't wear a tie because he didn't like the constriction around his neck.
"It all hinges on this plan I have, hopefully the Scouts don't have a plan that goes against mine. They must have a plan, not like the shitty MP. Trying to dissect him. Bastards." He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock at the door.
"Come in." He called out.
"Sir, it's time for you to enter the courtroom." One of the Interior MP's told him. He didn't bother to learn his name yet, but he was loyal to his family, so he gained Nick's respect.
"Is she in position?" He asked.
"Yes Sir." The MP responded.
"And the letter to my father?"
"It should arrive in a few minutes Sir." The MP responded once again.
"Alright, lets do this." He said to himself as he left the private room to make his way to the courtroom.
Once he entered he notice that the Scouts were on the left side while the Military Police were on the right, he also noticed one of the wall cultists and Commander Pixis with Anka and Gustav in tow.
He walked to the left side alongside Armin, while Mikasa was on his left with Rico next to her.
"What's with the suit?" Armin asked him. "Where's your uniform?" He asked another question, not waiting for Nick to reply to the first.
"I'm not here as a soldier." He simply responded with.
About ten minutes later the doors to the courtroom were opened as Eren was shown inside by Mike and Hange.
He was then shoved forward and put on his knees as the put a pole behind him to keep him in place.
Then a door from behind the podium opened, revealing the judge that would decide Eren's fate. "Darius Zackly." Nick thought. "I hope he believes it, because if he doesn't I'll be in huge shit. Well I'll be in trouble either way, it just depends who grills me for this."
Zackly sat down and arranged some papers before he started to speak. "You are Eren Yeager, correct."
"Yes Sir." Eren responded.
"And as a soldier you have pledged your life for the good of mankind." Zackly tried to confirm.
"Yes sir." Eren responded once again.
"This is an exceptional case, so normal law cannot be applied here, so instead ths will be a Miltary Tribunal to decide your fate. I will have complete authority over your fate, this includes whether you live or die, do you have any objections?" Zackly asked.
"No Sir." Eren responded, slightly down at the thought of him being killed.
"Good to see you understand. Now, lets hear the proposal of the Military Police first." He said as he gestured to his left.
"Thank you sir." A black haired man said. "I am Nile Dok, Commander of the Military Police, we hereby propose that after a thourough examination of Eren Yeager's body and his abilities that he be disposed of and be commemorated as a fallen hero of humanity." He then looked at his notes once again. "While I admit that his ability did help in the recent retake of the Trost District, his mere existence is akready causing civil unrest to break out because of the uncertain nature surrounding his abilities."
"Unacceptable!" The pastor shouted. "This vile fiend has defiled the almighty wall, he should-"
"Silence yourself Pastor Nick!" Zackly demanded, regaining control of the trial. "We are trying to keep this organised, another outburst from you and I will have you thrown out. Understood?"
"Y- Yes your honour." The pastor stuttered out.
"Now we will hear from the Survey Corps." He said, turning to face Commander Erwin.
"Thank you Sir, I am Erwin Smith, thirteenth Commander of the Survey Corps, we propose that Eren Yeager be inducted as a full member of the Scouts, and we use his ability to retake Wall Maria. That is all."
"Is that it?" Zackly questioned.
"Yes, I belive that with his Titan ability we can successfully seal the breach, this is where our priorities should be." Erwin stated.
"Very bold." Zackly stated. "But where would you launch this operation from? Commander Pixis, the breach in Trost has been conpletely sealed, is that correct?"
"Yes. I doubt it's gate will ever open again." Pixis replied.
"We will depart from the Karanes District to the east." Erwin explained. "From there we can move towards Shiganshina. A new route can be established if-"
"That's preposterous!" One of the merchants shouted scross the courtroom. "Our time and money would be better spent sealing the gates. There the only parts on the wall the Colossal Titan can break right? So why dont we do that and finish with this affair."
"Shut up you merchant dog!" One of the scouts shouted. "With this ability we can finally retake Wall Maria."
"We can't afford anymore childish antics or delusions of grandeur!" The same merchant shot back.
"Squealing louder won't help your case, pig." Levi interjected. "While we're bolstering our defenses, do you think the Titans are going to stand idly by? And when you say "we", are you speaking for anyone besides than you and your other fat merchant friends?"
"Order!" Zackly shouted while slamming his hand on the desk multiple times. "Save your quarrels for anothe time, we must get back to the matter at hand." He stated while turning to look at Eren.
"Mr. Yeager, as a soldier you have made a solemn pledge to answer humanity's call! Can you still serve by controlling your ability?"
"Yes Sir, I will." Eren responded confidently.
"Really?" Zackly asked rather skeptically. "But according to this report, shortly after transforming for a third time you attempted to crush Mikasa Ackerman."
Eren looked horrified at this revelation as he looked over to Mikasa, he cleary didn't remember that happening.
"Is Mikasa Ackerman here?" Zackly asked.
"Yes Sir." She answered after raising her hand.
"Is it true that Eren Yeager tried to assaukt you while in Titan form?" He asked.
Rico whispered something to Mikasa before replying. "Yes Sir, but prior to that, he saved me twice using his abilities! Once when I was about to be attacked, and then again when we were about to be shot with a cannon. I'd like for you to take that into consideration."
"Objection!" Nile shouted. "We have reason to believe that Mikasa Ackerman's testimony is biased."
"Really, how so?" Zackly asked.
"Mikasa Ackerman was adopted by the Yeager family after her parents deaths, after this we launched a full investigation into the matter and found something rather disturbing." Nile stated.
"What did you find?" Zackly asked, eager to know if it made Eren a threat or not.
"At the tender age if nine, Eren Yeager and Mikasa Ackerman brutally stabbed three kidnappers, granted it was in self defense, but what does this say about his character?" Nile asked the judge. "Can we really invest the time and money into him despite what he has done in the past."
"What the fuck is taking so long?" Nick angrily thought. "If she's late I'll make her clean the whole house with her tongue and her spit."
"Hold on just a moment Nile." Zackly spoke. "Is there a Nicholas Meier here?" He asked.
"Yes." He said as he raised his hand.
Zackly ignored the fact he hadn't used "Sir" or "Your honour" to adress him. "You were there when Mr Yeager attacked Mikasa Ackerman, is that true." Zackly asked.
"I will respectfully use my rights as a citizen of the Inner District to not answer any of the questions you ask me that I do not want to." Nick told him.
"Well then, thats rather disappointing. Now if the Survey Corps were to gain custody of Mr Yeager, what guarantee do we have that he can be controlled?" Zackly asked to Erwin.
"She is late, she's gonna be scrubbing my room everyday for the rest of her life." Nick thought.
Just as Captain Levi hopped over the railing and kicked Eren across the face, causing his tooth to fly out. The door to the courtroom burst open, revealing a female member if the Interior MP's.
"Premier Zackly!" She called out. "I have a message regarding Eren Yeager from the Royal Assembly!"
A few of the merchants gasped while the scouts held their breath, waiting to see what the message says.
She walked up, handed the letter to Zackly and walked back, casting a glance at Nick who mouthed the word "Late" to her.
As Zackly read the letter, he was surprised by its contents, the Royal Government didn't usually involve themselves in matters deemed as beliw them, but this case was unprecedented a few days ago so he understood.
"What does it say Sir?" Erwin asked as Levi had made his way back next to him.
"It says here that Eren Yeager is to be transferred to the Survey Corps until after the next expedition and to be put under the watch of Captain Levi since he is labelled as "Humanities Strongest", it was signed by the head of the Royal Assembly and has the Royal Seal on the envelope and the letter. So Eren Yeager is officially transferred to the Survey Corps." Zackly said as he slammed the gavel onto the desk, signalling the end of the trial.
(20 minutes later)
He gad been summoned to meet Commander Erwin, Section Commanders Hange and Mike, and also Captain Levi. Once he entered the room Levi wasted no time asking the all important question.
"How did you get your old man to write that letter?"
"He didn't." He replied, getting confused looks from Mike and Hange, "I wrote that letter, I forged my fathers signature and stole the Royal Seal from his office when I arrived last night."
"What happens when Zackly finds out about this?" Levi finally asked a few moments later.
"He won't." Nick stated.
"How can you be so sure? It's been years since the Royal Government got involved in anything, Zackly will get suspicious." Erwin told him, keeping his calm demeanour.
"Yeah!" Hange exclaimed. "We had a plan in place and when Zackly finds out he'll revoke our custody of Eren."
"He wont find out." Nick reassured. "My father may be head of the Royal Assembly, but he would do anything for his family, even covering for us on this matter."
"How can you be so sure?" Levi asked.
"I sent him a letter detailing what I did, so he most likely has been to the Assembly to explain "his" actions already."
"If this falls apart, I'm blaming you!" Levi stated, while attempting to bore holes into him with his gaze.
There was then a knock on the door as an MP stepped in.
"Nicholas Meier, your father has requested to see you."