Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto, Shingeki no Kyojin, nor Fullmetal Alchemist.
Edward landed in an alley a few blocks from the inner gate of the Shiganshina District. He sat the children down against a wall. He was panting heavily. He absolutely had to rest for a moment. He cursed his present level of stamina. It had been weeks since he came here and still his chakra hadn't properly rejuvenated. It topped out at less than a third of what it should've been. For a moment he feared he'd never be normal again, but then he forcibly suppressed his worry. He just didn't have the time for it. He had to see that the children were safe.
He scanned the area for titans and breathed a sigh of relief. There were none around for miles. That was one positive aspect of chakra depletion, he supposed. The giants weren't hauling ass to get at him, putting everyone around him in danger. He'd made certain to burn up his chakra en route. He could've gotten here much sooner, but he'd have a caravan of cannibalistic humanoids hot on his trail. That would severely cut down the time these people had to evacuate. He'd had to take the scenic route.
He turned to the children. Mikasa was so withdrawn, she seemed almost catatonic. Eren had awoken right before he stopped in the alley. He was staring at Ed with a murderous expression.
Ed sighed. He bent down on one knee. He reached out to grip Eren's shoulder. Casually, Eren shrugged off his touch and hit him with a straight right to the nose. He also aimed a kick at Ed's groin. Edward caught the second, but allowed the first, despite the slowness of the attack. Normal people moved like snails to his reflexes. Even in his present condition, he could've stopped Eren, but he took no action. Possibly it was because he felt responsible. The boy had lost everything. If only he'd been able to enter sage mode, he could've made it in time. He cursed his stamina again.
Ed dropped the boy's foot, rubbing his reddened nose and thinking that would be the extent of his outburst. He was mistaken. Eren lunged at him, swinging wildly and shouting incoherently. Ed simply dodged allowing him that moment to vent. Eventually, Eren would burn himself out. He was physically and emotionally running on fumes.
"Are you done?" Ed said.
"Fuck you, you sonofabitch!" Eren shouted. "I just needed a little longer! We could've saved her! You just left her to die!"
Ed just took the onslaught, saying nothing. He just waited for Eren to calm a bit.
"You know that's not true, Eren." He kept speaking even as the boy turned his head from him and covered his ears. The young man was in denial. He needed to hear the truth. "She was dead before I got there. That thing crushed her before it swallowed her. There was nothing anyone could've done to save her."
"Liar!" Eren screamed and drew back his fist menacingly. He shouted, "I'll kill you!" This time Ed caught it mid strike and shoved the youth up against the wall none too gently.
"You really need to get this through your thick skull. You can't kill me." He said. His doryoku locked onto Eren, who's hell and high water fury evaporated beneath Ed's killing intent. All the fight left his body as he stared into those eyes. His will siphoned from him into to the glowing red circles filled with black crescents nested around a matching pair of gold and silver moons. Urine dripped from his toes onto the street below.
Ed pressed his forearm against Eren's windpipe and pushed till the boy struggled to breathe."And you couldn't save her either. All you could've done was get yourself exterminated and your adopted sister dead beside you in the process." Mikasa stood roused from her stupor, poised as if ready to jump in, but Ed's scathing glare stilled her movements. Edward leaned in close and whispered his next words in Eren's ear. "Because... believe me when I tell you, boy..." he pushed even harder, shutting off all Eren's air. "You. Are. Weak."
Ed released him and he slumped to the ground. Tears streamed down Eren's face as the truth of those words finally penetrated his denial.
Edward's mood softened instantly. Gently, but firmly, he took him by the hand and pulled him to his feet. He grabbed Mikasa's, as well, and wordlessly led them both around the corner and into the flow of refugees streaming towards the gate. They stood in line for what seemed like hours before they made it onto the ship docked in the harbor of a river that stretched some 100 kilometers all the way from the inner gate of Wall Maria off to the Trost District, a town located on the Southern edge of Wall Rose.
Despite its size, the ship was filling up quickly. Other ships had already departed down the river. This was the last. Thousands of people were clamoring to get aboard. A horn sounded. One of the crew shouted to the crowd. "Step aside! Stand aside I said. Let the wounded through!"
Reluctantly, the crowd split down the middle as a group of wounded soldiers from the Scouting Legion came through the gate. They made their way to the ship and boarded wearily. They came limping and leaning on their compatriots. Drifting in on crutches and carried on cots. Hoisted in the back of wagons and some even dragged in on their backs by those too weak to carry them. In terrible condition from a scouting mission they'd had to join in when the wall was breached in an attempt to back up the Garrison atop the walls. Clearly, they were in no shape to fight any longer. Their condition was significantly more wretched than even the refugees.
People murmured in the background at the pitiful look of the defeated soldiers. "There's so few! Where're the rest?!" Someone said.
Another exclaimed loudly. "They're all dead! Those monsters took us by surprise and had their asses for lunch!"
Multiple people started wailing in a cacophony of malcontent. "Sorry son's of bitches. Lot of good they did. Our tax dollars at work."
"Why the hell aren't they out there fighting? What if those things get in here?!"
"Fight what? A fifth grader? Look at 'em! Put the pipe back in your pocket and shut the fuck up!"
As the men finished boarding, an old woman pushed her way across the deck towards the battle weary men. She stared intently into the eyes of a tall dark haired man, who was obviously the leader. He clearly recognized her. He stood still as she clutched at his clothing with urgency only a parent could bring.
"I don't see my son. Please, tell me where my son is?"
She stared in her eyes saying nothing. After long moments, he motioned another soldier forward. The soldier approached the old woman, who stared in his eyes expectantly. He handed her something wrapped in a blanket and silently retreated to his former position.
The woman slowly unwrapped the blanket and all the color drained from her face. Though the crowd couldn't see what lay wrapped within, they could easily guess. Their silence stood as their only statement as the old woman fell to her knees and shrieked her anguish. "My baby! My baby boy! Lord help me, my baby!" She howled in agony. Hers the only voice raised in thousands of people, all of which had suffered lost that day.
The soldier standing before her sank to his knees with a deathly pallor. His stare seemed to look through the woman kneeling in front of him. She clutched at the blanket and the coat of the soldier for dear life. Both their breaths came in quick gasps.
"Ttt... tell me. My son... he fought well, didn't he?" She looked up intently into his eyes, searching for some small measure of comfort. The soldier kept staring through her. Her voice rose in crescendo until she was nearly shouting. "His death meant something in the end? He helped us?! Helped Mankind fight the titans?!"
The soldier's mouth fell open. His body jerked in response to the old woman's clawing at his uniform. His eyes continued to gaze into empty space. "He... I..." His voice caught in his throat. "No... it..."
After a long pause the soldier broke down and sobbed loudly. "It was all for nothing!" He shouted. "We couldn't do anything! Couldn't learn... anything. We lost half our men outside the walls!" He panted as if he were about to hyperventilate. "And by the time we returned... this... colossus was attacking the gate! He destroyed it! Right in front of us! We couldn't stop him!" The look of horror on his face grew deeper. "Then he... he vanished just like he appeared!" They both broke down and sobbed together in shared horror.
The crowd got loud again, grumbling their frustration, fear, and despair. The sudden sound of canons going off cut through that clamor. The crowd gasped collectively. What was going on now, they thought. The warning klaxon sounded as canon fire from Wall Maria repeatedly drowned out the crowd's. They grew ever more frightened. A voice called down from a bullhorn on the wall. "Close the gate! Close the fucking gate!"
The gate began to lower to the ground. At this thousands of refugees still streaming in through the walkway broke into pandemonium. They screamed and ran and pushed their way towards the boat. Canons punctuated the ruckus as those knocked to the ground lay trampled in the mad stampede for perceived safety.
"We're full, god damn it! Pull the gangplank! Make ready for departure!" The captain was screaming through a bullhorn on the quarterdeck. The commotion with the port side boarders intensified as frantic refugees scrambled for the final chance to board. The gangplank raised throwing people into the river. Slowly the ship pushed off from the harbor. Hundreds of people fell into the river, some from being pushed by the thousands behind them and others jumping after the ship.
The gate slammed shut as people scrambled underneath. Those too slow met with a grisly ending. Those who made it past the gate in time breathed a sigh of relief. Their journey on foot would be long, but at least they were safe behind the gate, they thought. Their relief proved premature.
The ground began to rumble. Soldiers ran from the gates screaming at the crowd to disperse. The rumbling grew louder, shaking the walls and the ground all around those near the barrier. Suddenly, the gate exploded sending stone fragments and soldiers careening through the air to crash into the road and the river. A titan covered in a reddish gold crystalline skin barreled through at an incredible velocity. As it planted its feet to halt its movements, the creature's momentum carried it skidding across the walkway, leaving a trail of bloody smears from those unlucky souls still in the vicinity of the gate. When finally it ground to halt it stood and stared at the mass of humanity writhing at its feet.
The crowd scrambled for their lives, screaming in terror. Titan's began to pour through the gates gobbling up pedestrians by the dozens. Death spread out like a bloody tsunami. People dove into the river thinking to out swim their attackers to no avail. The giants simply strode upon the riverbed, like children playing in a wading pool.
Onlookers stared in horror from the relative safety of the ship. The red and gold titan watched as the ship receded down the river.
Edward sat with his back against the railing clearly exhausted. He felt almost as weak as when he came to this world. His stamina was so drained he could no longer perform ninjutsu, let alone alchemy. He cursed his weakness again. All those people dead. And in his present condition he was just one more weak human cowering in retreat.
He looked all about him. The limp and listless passengers huddled together on that boat had all lost something and someone important. He'd seen that look before. He'd seen it in the Lands of Frost and Hot Water on his adopted world after the last war. He'd seen it back home in Ishval. The look of true despair.
He felt that feeling rise again in himself for just a moment as he glanced at the three children: Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. How could he protect them? How could he repay the debt he owed Eren's family for saving his life? He forced those feelings down. He didn't have the luxury of despair. He would bide his time for his chakra to rebuild... and next time... things would be decidedly different.
Eren's voice came to him clearly over the murmur of the crowd and he turned to listen. "They're all dead. Those people... my mother. Gone... just like that. Why?"
Ed's words echoed in Eren's ears. Because... You. Are. Weak. He held his hands before his face, voice raised in anguish. "Humans are weak and can do nothing but cry" His tears fell upon his hands.
But then Eren clenched his fists. Anguish turned to fury. Armin and Mikasa stared on questioningly. Onlookers in bewilderment. Ed nodded with determined agreement written on his face, knowing exactly what was coming.
"No! I'll erase their existence from this world!" His voice grew loud enough to be heard on the deck below. He walked to the railing and clutched it until his knuckles turned white. People looked on in confusion at the sudden noise. Armin laid a hand on his shoulder only to have it brushed aside.
"I'll kill them all! Not even a single one of them will survive!"
Author's Note: Not much to say. Had this done the other day, but then my browser crashed and I lost everything. Got to make sure I use a my own word processor from now on. I wanted to post the final part of uraomote (wrong side out) because after this there's a time skip. This concludes Edwards introduction to what seemed at first to be a peaceful idyllic world, which has now become a nightmare. I will begin to diverge more and more from the Titan story-line. I already moved some things around in the sequence of events. I'm really pissed at myself for not doing this story last year. *Spoiler if you only watch the anime. My theories about the extent of the suppression of innovation and a civil war have have all come true in the manga.