CHAPTER THREE
Armin stood next to Eren as the graduation list sounded aloud from the instructor. A few of the cadets placed close to where he expected them to. Mikasa came in first. Bertolt and Reiner placed near the top, with Annie close behind. Through a combination of carefully controlling his abilities, Armin placed right behind Eren. With a bit more effort, it would have been nothing to place first. That didn't seem like a wise idea to him, though. The last thing he wanted was to attract undue attention. There would be plenty of time to demonstrate what he could do, once people understood and accepted whom he was. After the readout had completed, the cadets returned to the mess hall for celebration. They needed it; soon, the horrors of war would be unleashed upon them all.
Jean pouted about how he placed behind both Eren and Armin. As the graduating cadets enjoyed themselves, Thomas Wagner and a small bunch of the others gathered around the two most controversial. "You mean you're joining the Scout Regiment?" Thomas asked, a sharpness of urgency in his voice.
"Yeah," Armin replied.
"Yes," Eren said, at the same time.
They shared a glance and a smile. Thomas found himself torn between horror and bewilderment. "But, why? The Titans can't be defeated! There's no overcoming them!"
"What, so we're just supposed to calmly wait to die?" Eren snapped. The dull roar of conversation died out instantly. A moment where a pin drop could be heard passed uncomfortably.
Armin put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Eren, it's okay," he said. Eren had more to say, but he stifled his tongue. Armin looked at the group hastily and drew his attention to those nearest to him. "Look, I'll believe they can't be beaten when it becomes clear every effort has failed. So far, there's still so much to be done. I haven't tried everything I'm capable of." He took a step forward. "Until I can say that, I'm not quitting."
Eren moved forward, taking back the initiative. He loved his friend, but the fair-haired youth tended to take charge. It made him proud, but at the same time, it could annoy the hell out of him. "Look at all we know about the Titans!" he said. "Are we really going to waste all those lives by giving up?"
The silence slowly gave way to the dim murmuring of people, some complaining about Eren and Armin's do-or-die attitude, some praising them, and some even being motivated by them. Eren, however, stormed off, moderately upset by the whole ordeal and Armin followed him.
"I'm joining the Scout Regiment," Mikasa said, approaching them, seated on the steps outside.
Eren wanted to protest, but he knew it would be pointless. "So, we're all together still?" he said.
Armin smiled. "This is finally it," he added. "We're finally going to be fighting."
Mikasa turned to Armin. "So, how's the training going?"
Armin looked at her, his smile returning. "I believe I've got it down," he said. "I've figured out how to use them together with the gear, as well as by themselves."
"You've worked so hard to blend in," Eren added. "I hope the day comes soon where it won't be necessary."
Armin gave him a serious look. "If either of your lives are threatened," he said, "I won't be worrying about blending in."
Eren smiled. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
As the trio talked, the revelers continued discussing their futures, and two in particular, Bertolt and Reiner, sat in the corner of the hall, writing on some parchment. Somehow, they felt that Armin was spying on them. He adopted a subtle feeling of paranoia around them. When they spoke, he gave the usual pleasantries, but both of them, but Reiner in particular, could tell when someone was paying attention. It lie in the subtle ways they tilted their head, their careful posture.
Armin got up from where his friends were seated, and began walking up the steps. Eren followed him closely. "You said something once," he said, "that I never forgot. You said, you found something you were looking for. What was it?"
"I didn't tell you because I wanted to make sure it was real first," Armin answered. "I guess you need to know."
"Know what?" Mikasa replied.
Armin leaned against a building wall. "I discovered how I got to the Earth."
Eren's mouth hung open. "What?"
"Nobody came across it because it was buried in the ground," Armin explained. "A small vehicle made of metal that…" He searched for words his friends would understand "…had my father's memories in them."
Both Mikasa and Eren looked at him oddly. "His memories?" Eren asked.
"A diary of some kind? A letter?" Mikasa asked.
Armin shook his head. It would be difficult to explain. "No," he corrected. "My people were advanced enough that he could copy his mind. I was able to actually speak to him."
"N…No way!" Eren exclaimed. "Is that even possible?"
"So," Mikasa searched for meaning while she spoke, "you spoke to his ghost, in a sense?"
Armin nodded. "That's a good way of putting it."
"So," Mikasa asked, "what did he tell you?"
Armin used his senses and looked around. "Let's go somewhere where nobody might walk in on us talking," he warned. They followed him down the street a ways and he found an open area where it would be difficult for someone to remain hidden and still be in earshot. He regaled them with the story of the Planet Krypton, a huge world orbiting a sun very different than the one in the afternoon sky of Earth.
"They discovered their star was dying," he said. "It ran out of fuel and would explode, taking their planet with it. My father and his brother decided letting their legacy die with the world wasn't something they could tolerate, so they built vessels to save my cousin and myself from death."
Neither knew what to say at first. The thought of an entire world deep in the blackness of space struck them as so much absurdity. Yet, nonetheless, neither could explain the fact that their friend could do things that none of them had ever seen a human do. If Armin wasn't human, but something similar in appearance, it would, at least, make a puzzle piece make sense.
They listened to him describe the things his father told him. After what seemed like an eternity, he came to the end of the tale, and it was nearing time to turn in. Armin began to walk in the direction of their military quarters. "So, that's what I know," he said.
Eren and Mikasa had their questions, but the night moon hung overhead, and neither would be able to process the information overload much longer if they didn't sleep. The temporary quarters proved to be much more comfortable than the barracks of old, during the training, so when Armin changed into his evening clothes and tucked in for bed, he found no trouble tuning out and entering a dream-like state.
Armin awoke, followed his usual routine of putting on his uniform and brushing his hair into shape with his hands. Sliding on his boots, he stepped out of the barracks and into the sunlight. As always, his sleepiness evaporated when the light touched his flesh. The conversations he'd had with his father taught him the sun gave him his powers. Through a vaguely described notion Zor-El referred to as the "photonucleic effect," his body's smallest components converted the solar radiation into enormous amounts of energy. It enabled him to punch through stone and resist damage from heavy impacts, such as a titan trying to bite through him. It also had other side effects. He ate food like everyone else, but lately, he'd stopped feeling hungry and thirsty altogether.
Eren and Mikasa waited outside. The Survey Corps leaders, Commander Erwin and Captain Levi, were returning from their latest expedition. Armin scanned his eyes across the crowd, seeing some familiar faces. Thomas Wagner and some of the others were talking to Eren. Armin noticed he didn't see Bertolt or Reiner. He considered using his see-through vision to find them, but didn't want to violate everyone's privacy. Mentally, he chastised himself for his paranoia.
A familiar figure approached. All three smiled. "Hannes!" Eren announced. Armin turned, and waved.
"Nice to see you again," Armin said.
"I've made the rank of captain," Hannes said. "Meanwhile, Grisha Yeager's son made it."
"Congratulations," Eren said.
"I owe your father a debt," Hannes continued. "He saved my wife from disease."
"Commander Erwin!" Someone from the crowd shouted. "Give those titans hell!"
Another pointed at Levi. "That's Captain Levi!" He announced. "They say he's as strong as a dozen men!"
"This is nothing like five years ago," Eren exclaimed.
"Everyone's gotten a bit cheerier since then," Hanna said, chiming in from behind Eren. "Nothing's happened in five years."
Armin said nothing as he turned slightly away from her and looked somewhat pleased at the group. Levi had an expression of disgust on his face at the gawking crowd, and Armin could imagine he understood, even if he hadn't the same frame of reference. Franz stood behind Hanna and decided to add his two cents.
"They've upgraded the cannons as well," he explained. "I don't think the Colossal Titan will show up again."
Eren shot around to look at them like someone had slapped him. "That's a load of absolute crap and you know it!" He shouted, fists clenched. "Keep that nonsense to yourselves, you idiotic couple!"
Hanna could have combusted from embarrassment. "Us, a m-m-married couple?" she shrieked, shielding her face in her arm.
"You're getting ahead of yourself, Eren!" Franz added, throwing his arm in front of his eyes.
Hannes decided to interrupt, tapping on Eren's shoulder. "That day," he asked, "I hadn't the courage to ask, but how did you get the roof off your mother?"
"I don't know myself," Armin said, injecting himself into the conversation. "Honestly, I think it was a mixture of the right leverage and, well, the heat of the moment."
Hannes looked suspiciously at them a moment, then shrugged and accepted it. "Fine, I suppose that makes sense," he said. "How's your mother and father?"
Eren took a deep breath. "Mom's fine, living in the house we built for her," he explained. "There hasn't been a titan nearby for years now. She still has to walk slowly, and with a limp. Dad? I don't have a clue where he's gone."
Hannes looked at the ground. "I wish I knew," he said. "If only I had more answers."
"You did what you could," Armin said.
Eren knew he had a place to be, so he took off running. There would be plenty of time for reminiscing later, if everyone came back alive. Armin gave Hannes a hug, then followed Eren.
Atop the wall, Eren took the long pole and began probing the inside of the cannon to remove loose dust and debris. He saw that Connie Springer had the Scout Regiment symbol on his jacket. "Connie!" he said. "I thought you were joining the military police!"
"Looks like your speech earlier got to him!" Mina said, approaching from the other direction. "You too, Armin."
Eren looked over at Armin, standing near him. Thomas and others had approached, with Sasha Braus coming up fast from the rear. "Hey, guys!" she announced. "I stole some meat from the officers' storehouse!"
To this, everyone reacted with horror. "You're crazy!" Jackson said.
"Do you want to get court-martialed?" Thomas added.
"Hey, just think," Sasha said, ignoring them, hiding it in a wooden box, "we can later share it, cutting it into slices and serving it with bread!" At the thought of this, she began to utter a guttural, laugh-like noise and quiver back and forth.
Jackson was the first to speak up. "You know, I'd like some!"
Wagner agreed. "I'd like some as well," Connie said.
"You guys, what's wrong with you?" Eren said.
Jackson picked up a pole and began brushing out a cannon. "What's with you, Eren?" he asked. "We'll get discovered if we don't get working!"
"Lunch isn't for a while," Mina said, walking off.
Eren stood back, gazing around, staring down at the elaborate anti-titan traps set around the entrance, the array of brand-new cannons, and smiled. It's not like five years ago, he thought. We're not the weaklings we were.
We can win!
Boom.
The air exploded with a burst of yellow and white lightning. A gigantic gust of steam plumed out as a figure emerged from the haze.
The Colossal Titan stared over the wall. The cadets all stood frozen, staring in disbelief. One individual fell to his knees. He couldn't believe what he saw.
Armin used his see-through vision.
He saw Bertolt Hoover, connected to the musculature of the inside of the neck of the huge creature.
For a long instant, he found himself scarcely able to think. When his mind opened up, a single thought came to him.
Why?
The question plagued Armin. A sound of thunder startled him out of his stupor of confusion and betrayal. He clenched his fists. The gate had been broken open by the titan's foot. He pressed himself to his feet as he saw a giant hand reaching to sweep the cannons off the wall. A burst of wind from the titan blasted all the cadets off the wall except for him. The fact that he stood firm in the tempest caught Bertolt's giant gaze. Armin opened his mouth in a teeth-clenched glare. His feet firm, he pressed off to a leap with such force that a strong vibration passed through the wall.
Armin's right fist slammed into a section of the massive upper chest of the Colossal Titan. A five-foot circle of flesh exploded in a cloud of gore as the huge creature shot backwards with tremendous force. For almost thirty meters did the creature slide backwards, uprooting trees like toothpicks and digging a large trench. Armin flew down and forward like a cannon blast, directly at the head of the beast. In his single-mindedness, he failed to change course in time, and a colossal backhand launched him sideways through a series of trees to land in a dirt pile with a rumble. He threw himself into flight with such tenacity that he flattened an arc-shaped section of forest with his wake.
A giant puff of smoke later saw the titan vanish. Armin activated his see-through vision at once, and through the cloud, he made out the figure of Bertolt, running, scrambling for his life, in any direction he could. Armin landed and sprinted. As he took to his feet, time seemed frozen at the speed he dashed. Before Bertolt had time to register the dumb look on his face, Armin stood before him, having, as far as Bertolt could tell, suddenly popped into being in front of him.
A tight grip around Bertolt's neck enabled Armin to spin him around and plant him on the dirt. The dark-haired young man looked up at the angry, fair-haired boy and saw the look of death. He twitched his hand as he tried to shift, but the moment a finger moved, Armin tightened the vice-like hold.
"You so much as try to turn," Armin yelled, "and I'll rip your fucking face off!"
Bertolt went to speak, but it came out as a gurgle. Armin tilted an ear in the direction, loosened the grip. "What?"
"Look at me!" Bertolt shouted.
"What?" Armin said. Before he could complete a sentence, he heard booming footsteps behind him. He turned his head just in time to see a massive armored foot collide with his body.
The Armored Titan punted Armin off Bertolt like a child kicking a toy ball. Armin tumbled head over foot as he soared through the sky in an inadvertent arc. Summoning his flying force, he righted himself in midair, staring down at the Armored Titan, kneeling near Bertolt. Using both the ability to see through things and see far, Armin made the next horrifying discovery of the day.
Reiner Braun was the Armored Titan.
He blasted forward, colliding with the Armored Titan and knocking him backward. With a bit of effort, he wriggled underneath the plated bastard, and pushed him over onto his chest. Armin dug his fingers into the thick armor plated over the nape and ripped a plate clean off, tearing chunks of meat and blood spraying everywhere. He lifted his arm and prepared to drive it through Reiner's body, before a gigantic hand wrapped itself completely around Armin's body and began to squeeze.
The mighty hand pressed Armin down. He shouted obscenities as he jiggled back and forth until he had his feet pressed against the palm for leverage, and braced his arms against the fingers. His anger boiled over. Burning heat gathered at the back of his eyes. He opened his eyelids as wide as he could and let the rage flow.
A massive heat beam arc forty-five degrees wide exploded outward, turning Bertolt's hand into a thin vapor. He turned around mid-air and flew straight through the Colossal Titan, tearing the traitor out with one smooth motion. The giant body disintegrated in seconds. He dropped the young man. Reiner rushed forward, making a diving leap. Unfortunately, Bertolt hit the ground before his ally could get too close.
Reiner clamored forward, his Armored body stumbling and growling. Bertolt was alive. His back and neck were broken, along with one of his legs bent a bit in the wrong direction, but he breathed. Reiner quickly looked around before shouting in agony as the last plate covering his neck came off. A strong grip grabbed the body of Reiner inside the titan body, yanked him out, and lobbed him. Reiner landed in a roll, shattering both legs instantly, shattering an arm into powder, and giving him a nasty case of whiplash. Both were screaming in pain. Neither would be transforming again for a while.
Armin grabbed Bertolt by the leg and began to drag him to where Reiner was. Each motion brought a blood-curdling screech of pain. He laid them side by side, face up in the dirt. He knelt and stared at them. "Talk, or I'm going to kill the both of you right now," he said. His eyes glowed a fiery red.
The click of dozens of rifles caught Armin's attention.
He stood up, and turned around. Commander Erwin and Captain Levi stood in between two rows of scouts and soldiers, rifles loaded and aimed at Armin. Erwin closed his eyes a moment, inhaled, and let it out. "I need an explanation out of you," he said, dead-eyed serious.
Armin motioned behind him. "These men are traitors!" he said. "This is the Colossal Titan, and the Armored Titan!"
A collective gasp escaped from the ones who hadn't seen the whole thing clearly, such as Connie or Eren, who were too busy making sure their friends were safe. Eren looked as though he had turned to stone. Connie and Jean were beside themselves.
Erwin looked at the two, their breaths ragged and intermingled with the occasional shout of pain. His gaze returned to Armin. "What about you," he said, his tone confused and angry. "What are you?"
Armin looked away from Erwin at the sound of booming footsteps, and saw a group of scores of titans approaching of various sizes. "Commander, sir," he replied, "do you think you could let me explain in a minute or so?"
Erwin considered it. "Do whatever you can," he advised Armin, "but I want an answer."
Armin flew straight upwards about ten meters, so he could see all the titans in his vision that were approaching. Opening his eyes wide, he unleashed a conical beam of pure heat, melting titans by the score, moving his gaze upward until all of them were gone. He waited a few minutes, to make sure no more would emerge from the forest.
With a reprieve from external attack, Armin landed and approached a safe distance from Erwin. "You may not believe me," Armin said. "I was hoping to keep this a secret, honestly, but my anger got the better of me." He looked up at his commander. "I'm not from this world."
Erwin cocked his head to the side. "Excuse me, what?"
Armin folded his hands behind his back, and swallowed. "Beyond this world, deep in the night sky, there are other worlds like this Earth, with stars like our sun," he explained. "I'm from a world far from this one."
Levi barked out a laugh at the childish absurdity.
Erwin asked an obvious question. "Then why are you here?"
Armin sighed. "My world is dead," he said. Quiet discussions rose among the others. "And so, I was sent here, to survive."
Levi stepped forward. "You don't believe this crap, do you?"
Erwin looked at his trusted officer, then back at Armin. "After what I just saw," he told him, "I don't know what I believe anymore." He blinked a long blink. "Here's what I do know: regardless of the impossibility of Arlert here doing what we just saw, he saved us."
Levi looked behind him. "He might have killed the titans drawn by the attack," he warned his superior, "but what do we do about that hole in the gate?"
"I can keep watch," Armin said. "I don't need to sleep."
"No," Erwin replied. "We need you to keep an eye on these two." He looked behind at the two lying on the ground. "What's going on with them?"
"They're…titan shifters," Armin replied.
Erwin let out a sigh. "Ok, what?"
"There apparently are people that can turn into titans," he explained to the commander. "For all we know, all the titans could have been people at some point."
"You think you can hold us?" Reiner shouted. "We're both going to heal, so you'd best kill us now, or we're going to keep going until we kill you demon scum!"
Armin knelt and clamped a right hand on Reiner's throat. "You know, I might just take you up on that!" He shouted. "If you want to live, talk!"
"I have no idea what I just saw a few minutes ago," Levi said, folding his arms, "but if long-hair over here can do more of that, I don't think there's shit you can do against him. If you want to live, we need to know what's going on."
Erwin stepped forward, picking up on Levi's gambit. "Somehow, I don't think this is the work of you two alone," he said. "Neither of you strike me as the mastermind type."
"Alright," Bertolt said, gravel in his voice. "Since our only way out is death, I'll talk."
"Bertolt!" Reiner shouted.
"They're going to kill us anyway," Bertolt replied. "That's what their kind does."
"You think it's funny?" Levi chimed in, standing over the tall young man. "Do you have any idea how many lives you're directly responsible for ending?"
"Bertolt!" Reiner continued. "Shut up already!"
"Look at them, Reiner," Bertolt implored. "They really don't know."
Armin looked down at the source of much of humanity's grief. His eyes began to glow red. "If you want to live past tonight, you'll start talking," he explained.
"You want to know about Ymir, and the horror you Eldians caused?"
Erwin and Levi exchanged a questioning glance. "What the hell is an Eldian?" Erwin asked.
Bertolt explained the story as told to him by countless others who came before. How the woman known as Ymir acquired the power of the Titans, and it was only through the power of will and perseverance that the Marleyans managed to survive. The threat that the island of Paradis—yes, they were on an island—held the last major obstacle between peace and prosperity for all. It turned everyone's stomach hearing the twisted words of how the Eldians threatened the safety of everyone in the world, and of their blood descended from demons.
"You might have gotten us," Bertolt concluded, "but rest assured, soon enough, your lot will be destroyed, and the world will be saved."
Levi placed his boot on Bertolt's chest. "That's a hell of a story you got there," he said. "Looking at you, I think you're too dumb to make up something like that."
"You know what this means, right?" Erwin said to Levi.
"Something's rotten at the very top," Levi said.
Armin forcefully halted his rapid breathing. He closed his eyes and held them a moment, opening them slowly. The look he gave Bertolt could stop a weaker man's heart. "All I know," Armin said, "is that thousands are dead because of the two of you. You claim that these 'Eldians' that you say we are, spent the longest time trying to wipe out the 'Marleyans' and that you have to stop us? Does that make sense?"
"Don't try to convince…!" Bertolt began, but Armin drew his gaze closer, silencing him instantly.
"After such an incredible amount of time," he explained, "and such power they had as the titans, how did they not just wipe all the Marleyans out?"
Erwin looked at Levi. Levi approached the two on the ground. "Bertolt, Reiner," Levi said, an exasperated expression to his words and face, "here's the only story you need to know. You're probably going to be executed. The only question is whether or not you'll be put to death by a squad, or by one of us for trying to escape."
"Killing us won't put an end to your problems," Bertolt continued.
"For the love of…!" Reiner shouted.
Erwin pointed a rifle at Reiner's forehead. "Why can't you just let the man speak?"
Bertolt's face adopted a grin. "Once we die, the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan will return to Marley," he explained.
"If we aren't destined to get the Founding Titan," Reiner added, "one of our brethren will! Even if they have to kill everyone on this island!"
Bertolt shot a look at his partner. "Damn it, Reiner!"
Reiner shut his mouth, embarrassed, a second too late. Levi smiled and pointed his sword. "Oops, looks like someone's said too much," he said.
"Now we know the Founding Titan is here somewhere," Armin said.
Levi shook his head. "Hasn't this day just been a learning experience?" he asked, sarcastically.
Way behind, in the back of the group of bewildered soldiers, stood Annie Leonheart. She'd seen Bertolt and Reiner appear as the Colossal and Armored Titan, but had decided not to transform herself. Shortly after the gate blasted open, Bertolt vanished behind the wall. She couldn't imagine what could have caused that. Eagerly, she ran out through the entrance to get a better look, and instantly felt like she'd gone insane. The two mightiest people she knew, were taken down by a single person. Moreover, this person, was flying unassisted. There were no buts about it. She risked a closer look, and moved forward a couple of feet at a time. Her heart beating so hard, she wondered if she would simply collapse at any moment. A single person had the strength to punch a titan to the ground. The idea struck her as so outlandish and crazy, that she slapped herself several times to make sure this was not a dream.
Once she got close enough to see that the single person managed to turn the tide rapidly and completely against the two titans, her jaw almost dropped. She actually quit breathing for a second or two. It was Armin.
Armin Arlert, the sandy-haired boy who usually kept to himself, soared around, moved titans by force, and managed to get the best of his enemies. More than once, she saw him rip the two straight out of their titans. So many questions swam through her head. Surely, if anyone else had this power, they'd have shown themselves. Why hadn't he shown them before? What else did she not know? One thing she knew for absolute certain—she wasn't going to fight him with his level of power.
Erwin got Reiner and Bertolt tied up with Levi's help and with Armin watching both like a hawk. Levi leaned in close to the duo's ears. "Do me and also you a favor by not turning into Titans," he advised the two of them. "I think Armin here might just finish the job." He gave a deathly glare. "It's not like I can stop him."
The military police showed up shortly thereafter. Nile Dawk himself, commander of the military police, showed up with several groups of officers, each armed with rifles and pistols. "Commander Erwin Smith!" he ordered, standing with hands folded. "We saw the Colossal Titan appear then disappear! Report!"
Erwin closed his eyes a moment to avoid his ally seeing him roll them. This inevitable outcome he dreaded, even though he knew it would come. "Based on everything we know," he explained, "the Colossal and Armored Titans appeared, then Arlert here fought them and won." He waited for the laughter or cries of disbelief. Only a few of the murmurs were it.
"I happened to see some of it," Nile replied, "and I still don't believe it. Is that utter absurdity the truth?"
Armin decided he had enough. If his secret would be out of the bag, let it be so. He lifted off the ground and floated upwards several feet, high enough to see almost the entire crowd. For effect, he did a wide circle and touched back down.
All voices went silent. Levi, the one who seemed the most skeptical to begin with, simply folded his arms and gave a stone-face. "That prove it?" he quipped.
Nile Dawk swallowed hard, beads of sweat forming on his brow. He'd actually been hoping the whole thing was some strange hallucination. "So," he finally said, "These two are the traitors?"
Erwin nodded. "We've managed to capture them."
"How the hell do we keep them from waiting until we're asleep and transforming?" Dawk asked, urgency and panic in his voice.
"They're no match for me," Armin countered, "and I don't have to sleep."
"Oh! You don't?" Dawk said, sarcastically. "Isn't that dandy? I don't know which is worse! We've got a single guy who can kill the most powerful titans we've ever seen all by himself, or that two of our own were the traitors all along!"
"There's a lot more to this than even we were lead to believe," Erwin explained. "After you hear what we got out of them, you're going to want to sit down."
This time, Levi explained what Reiner and Bertolt had said. It took him a good fifteen minutes to explain it, and even then, he had to turn to Erwin and Armin more than a few times for corrections on things he'd heard. A few times, laughter bubbled up and he shut it down, finding it hard for even himself to believe some of it. At least once or twice, Dawk nearly fell over, and his fellow officers had to correct his balance.
After the story concluded, the two groups headed back in the direction of military headquarters. To each commander, this would require the attention of Dhalis Zachary, the head of all of the military subordinate to the king. The two traitors exchanged glances. This would likely be among the last times they saw each other alive, and neither would be seeing Marley again. What neither understood, was why Armin hadn't simply killed them. It would have saved time.
The group led the traitors to a prison outside the city. Apparently, it hadn't been used in quite some time, as the dirt and dust irritated Levi to no end. The advantage of this place was that if the two decided to turn, Armin would have plenty of space to fight them in.
During this entire time, Eren simply looked at his friend in a mixture of amazement and disbelief. Here stood Erwin, Levi, and the chief of police. Armin stood near them as, if not an equal, at least a peer. They asked him questions without hesitation, and if he spoke, they listened. He had their attention and they had his. Not very long ago, he could scarcely have imagined Armin standing up for himself. Now, his friend had stepped into the limelight, and it made him feel slightly inferior. He welcomed the fact that his friend got noticed and taken seriously. At the same time, it bothered him just how little he could do. From the start, he couldn't even have saved his mother.
Armin followed them to the prison, watched them sit Reiner and Bertolt in separate cells, and sat a chair in between. Levi sat on a bench near the seat, and Erwin sat next to him. Armin took the chair, and Nile Dawk stood with several officers, arms folded. "Zachary will be over for the trial first thing tomorrow morning," he said. "We're not delaying this. Arlert, expect to give a full explanation of your history and part in this as well."
He turned to the chief of police. "I'm not under arrest?" he asked.
Dawk shook his head. "Not yet," he replied. "Besides, you took them down, you keep watch over them. You might be the only one who can."
"Like we told you before," Bertolt said. "Killing us won't be the end! Marley will come and put an end to you monsters!"
Levi rolled his eyes. "Traitor," he shot back, "you're so full of shit, I can smell it over here. We'll deal with it as it comes."
An officer came up to Dawk and whispered in his ear. He turned to Erwin. "Two soldiers, claiming to be friends of Arlert wish to see him," he said.
Erwin raised his eyebrows. "Names?"
"Mikasa Ackerman and Eren Yeager," he said.
"Let them in!" Armin chimed in. "I grew up with them!"
Levi turned to Armin. "Can they do what you can do?" Armin shook his head. "I don't know if that's good or bad."
Eren and Mikasa came rushing in. "Armin!" Eren yelled, enthusiastically.
Mikasa threw her arms around her friend. "I thought you were going to lay low!"
Armin shook his head. "Seeing the wall break made me see red," he explained. "I guess I just couldn't handle it."
Levi let out a chuckle. "I love that you were thinking of hiding such a secret," he said. "Like you thought it would be possible to keep such a thing secret."
"You saw how scared all the soldiers were," Eren said, defending his friend. "He was worried that people wouldn't accept him."
"There's no turning back now," Armin said. "Now that we know the truth, we have bigger plans than the titans."
"There's this 'Marley' bullshit," Levi said, folding his arms. He looked at Bertolt and Reiner who were shooting him daggers with their eyes. "Yeah, you can look at me like that all you want, but it still doesn't change the fact that your story is utter horseshit, even if it is true."
Reiner sat stewing in his own anger. He knew his fits of rage would get the best of him one day, and he had to struggle to hold down his desire to shift. Everything he thought he knew had a wrench thrown in it. All their planning had been based on the idea that the worst these demonic Eldians had to offer, was their ability to turn into Titans. Instead, this…thing, this being known as Armin Arlert displayed power not only impossible for an Eldian, but impossible for anyone. It seemed as if a god of some mythology had descended to the world of men.
Erwin and Levi exchanged glances, then looked at Armin. "You gave us a brief idea," Erwin began, "but I think it's time you told us your story."
Armin looked at the traitors, then back at his commanders. "Do you really think they should hear this?"
"Nothing you've done strikes me as anything men could do," Levi countered. "I doubt there's any strategic importance to what you could say. If there is, I'm assuming you're smart enough to leave it out."
"There are worlds beyond this Earth," Armin began. "The sun is a star, and out there, far away from here, used to be a world known as Krypton. It orbited a star much bigger than our sun."
"Used to be," Levi noted.
"Krypton had technology so advanced, they had ships that could sail out into the night sky, into what we call outer space," Armin continued explaining. "But, in their arrogance, they failed to see the end of their world in time. Krypton was destroyed when their sun exploded." He hung his head a moment, taking in a breath. "My father, a man named Zor-El, and my uncle Jor-El, each built a ship capable of taking their sons to safety on another world." He looked up. "Earth was that world."
Erwin could picture it, with difficulty. Levi closed his eyes and imagined other Earths, with different looking people on them. "Ok," Levi interjected, "I think I can get it." He gestured with his hands. "Why did they choose Earth?"
Armin sat still a moment, gathering his words. "Because of a unique phenomenon called the 'Photonucleic Effect,'" he explained. "To put it in terms you'll understand, the absolute smallest parts of a Kryptonian's physiology, too small even to see with your eyes or a magnifying glass, when exposed to the radiation of a sun like ours, as opposed to one like on Krypton, generate huge amounts of energy and allow for the powers I demonstrated earlier."
"So," Erwin cut in, "anyone of your, 'Kryptonian' people, would have the powers you have?"
Armin nodded. "But as far as I know, only my cousin Kal-El and myself survived."
"He was sent shortly after you," Levi said. "So where is he?"
Armin hung his head again. "I…don't have a clue."
"If there are many other worlds out there," Erwin asked, "I have to assume your father intended for something when he sent you here."
The fair-haired young man picked up on his commander's implied worry instantly. "My father intended for me to help humanity with my powers," Armin said, alleviating the worry ahead of time.
"Here's the important question," Levi cut in. "What powers do you have, exactly, and how do they work?"
He looked at the traitors again. How much of this should he say? Then again, he'd used most of them on these two. Turning back to Levi, he explained, "I have a bunch. Give me a minute." The seasoned warrior gave him a nod. "Okay, here's what I've got so far." He numerated with his fingers. "I can fly. I can move fast, incredibly fast. I am extremely durable; so far, nothing has been able to hurt me. I can shoot beams of heat out of my eyes and burn things. I am incredibly strong. I can hear quiet things."
"So," Bertolt piped in, startling everyone, "everything in this world is just another thing to you? No wonder you never showed any fear in training. You're beyond everything."
Armin clenched his fists. "My friends and the innocent people you've killed and planned on killing," he countered, "they matter to me. I hate to see people die. Ever wonder why the titan population in the inner walls of Wall Maria went down? I got tired of hearing people scream as they got eaten by Titans."
"You think you're something important?" Reiner cut in. "Both Bertolt and me got sent out into war. We were trusted with the Armored Titan and Colossal Titan because there are enemies all around Marley who want her destroyed! We've had to fight since a young age, and we've seen our comrades die!"
"You say you have to atone for the sins of seventeen hundred years of ethnic cleansing?" Armin shouted. "Don't make me laugh! Ask yourself this: how does it make sense that a concerted effort to wipe the Earth clean of anyone who isn't an Eldian, didn't succeed?" He saw the two clench their teeth in anger. He also saw the gears begin to turn. "How did those without the power of titans even manage to compete? Does that make sense?"
"Don't try to talk sense into them," Levi said, wearing a smug expression. "They accepted a mission to kill people based on a folk tale."
"No!" Armin shouted. "It's bullshit! None of this makes any sense to me! I refuse to accept any ridiculous myths! There must be a truth somewhere. Nobody is perfectly good or evil." He paced around the room. "It's absurd that you two," he stood a foot from the cells, "grew up to be killers. Was the whole bit where you showed you cared, a fake lie?"
Bertolt clenched his teeth. Was it a lie? In his mind, he knew his mission had been expressly clear from the beginning. The only way to atone was to destroy the only remaining threat to peaceful Marleyan rule. On the other hand, the stories and feelings the cadets had shared, couldn't be ignored. He blinked to avoid the moisture escaping his eyes. "No," he admitted. "It wasn't a lie. Those times we laughed and shared, we weren't faking it."
Eren's fist tightened. "But, in the end, we're still demons you have to kill," he said. "So your wonderful Marleyan government can exist peacefully."
"Except," Levi cut in again, "in order to exist peacefully, they have to dominate all their enemies and destroy the ones that won't accept defeat." He cocked a half-sneer. "Makes sense."
"Maybe if all their enemies didn't want them dead," Reiner interjected. "Maybe then it wouldn't have to be this way."
"First," Armin said, sharply, "most of us here were under the impression the outside world had ended. Up until just a short while ago, nobody knew anything. Now, we know that not only are there foreign enemies who want us dead, somewhere up our own chain of command, there's those lying to us!"
"We'll get to the bottom of this," Erwin promised.
Armin nodded. "So, commander, what are we going to do about the trial? I don't think it's a smart idea to take these two into the city." He didn't break eye contact. Talking about them in the third-person sent a message. He wanted them to see his anger and his resolve.
"It's not my decision," Erwin admitted. "I'll take it up with Zachary and he'll tell us what to do."
Levi stood up, following Erwin. "Anyway, we have reports to give and a lot of crap to take from our superiors," he said to Armin. "You said you didn't have to sleep?"
"I don't get tired as long as I get sunlight," he repeated.
"I'm going to trust that nothing will happen," Erwin said.
"I can't guarantee that," Armin said, looking the traitors in the eye. "I'm only going to say that I plan on dealing with whatever happens."
Bertolt shut his eyes and opened them, a harsh and deliberate showing. Reiner sat with arms folded. Armin stood up and stretched, sitting back down and resting his hands in his lap. "You think we're just going to be calm and politely walk to our execution?" the black-haired traitor asked.
Armin shook his head. "That's for the court to decide," he replied. "If you resist, you'll have forced my hand."
"God has spoken," Reiner quipped, not making eye contact.
"You have killed people," Armin repeated, placing emphasis on the 'you have.' He wanted them to see. "You can pretend all you want but it doesn't change the fact that innocent people died."
"The evil government has to fall and the demon people have to die!" Bertolt shot back.
"The world can't be in peace until that happens."
"Why does an ethnic cleansing have to take place in order for peace to occur?" Armin folded his arms. "Doesn't that strike you as crazy? Doesn't that seem like someone is lying to you?"
"You can stop trying to change our minds," Reiner shot back.
"Fine," Armin exclaimed. He huffed and leaned back in his chair. "I'm going to stay here and make sure you don't do anything."
They sat in an uncomfortable silence for nearly a minute. After they exchanged angry glances a few times and the traitors shifted in their seats, all became aware of the painful, crawling pace of the flow of time. Armin, true to his part, did not get physically tired. The fact that he was the only one capable of monitoring the traitors bothered him. Eren's taking a subordinate role bothered him. Before these powers had taken hold, the sandy-haired boy expected to be backing up his more able-bodied friend. It seemed like a simple fact; Eren had a bravery and gumption, in those days, that he hadn't had. Heck, even Mikasa had been the bruiser of the trio. Now, though, he stepped outside of his mind and thought of his actions. He'd taken charge on more than one occasion. Levi and Erwin, two very important members of the military, didn't even notice Eren. Sure, his pig-headed friend, dead set on combat, ranked in the top ten, but all eyes were on a him—a youth, who, shortly ago, wouldn't have been given a second glance. Ultimately, he shook it off. Continuing to harp on these thoughts weren't productive.
"So," Reiner asked, "you've sided with these demons." He shook his head a bit. "All that power, and you choose the hateful people."
"I don't know these 'Marleyans,'" Armin countered. "I'm not interested in genocide. I don't plan on being a ruler or a conqueror. But I will do what I have to do to bring peace however I can." He leaned forward. "I assure you, for the mass murders you two have perpetrated, I will see you tried. What the court decides, is up to them."
Bertolt snorted a laugh. "So you think you can keep your hands clean forever?" He breathed hard. "Marley is coming to finish what we failed to finish. You're going to have to bloody your hands if you intend to keep these demons safe."
"You might laugh at this," Armin countered, "but I don't believe in either-or situations with only two options. I will find a way."
"Demons who only want to subjugate the world sharing the world with their victims?" Reiner argued. "I'd love to see your 'third option' that's going to save so many lives."
"You can be as sarcastic as you want," Armin said. "But I bet if you went over some of the things you were told, it'd strike you as utter nonsense."
"You're just trying to get us to betray…" Reiner began.
Armin interrupted him. "You think the government of the Eldians are liars who are manipulating the truth," he said. "So, is your government incapable of lying?"
"You're not going to get us to betray our cause," Bertolt said.
Armin believed him, at least to a slight degree. He could see in their eyes that a seed of doubt had been planted. Would it flower? He didn't know. Maybe they would go to their grave supporting Marley and this idea of genocide. He had no idea. But he'd made sure they would think about it. "Both Marleyans and Eldians have the right to exist peacefully," he said. "I'm sure both have committed atrocities. If the titans are such weapons of war as you've said, both sides are guilty for using them as such. But the truth of the matter is, I know, and I'm sure you know, the people you've spent time with don't deserve to die."
"We have to atone for the sins of our Eldian blood!"
Armin looked straight at Bertolt. "That's bullshit and you know it!" he shouted. "A son is not guilty for the sins of his father."
"We're not going to willingly march to the axe," Reiner explained. "You're going to have to kill us."
"That's unfortunate," Armin said. "I want you to live." He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "But if that is true, I will do what is needed to save the lives of the innocent. I will kill the both of you if I have to."
Both traitors looked at Armin, and read by the steady, open eyes, the absolute sincerity in his voice, and his firm conviction, that he genuinely would do as he said. It gave them a shiver. He leaned forward again, and met their gaze with full intensity.
"You may not believe me, but I'm racking my brain trying to think of a way to save your treasonous lives," he told them. "I'd advise you to make my job easier. The clock is ticking."
Bertolt barked out a laugh. "Why would you save us?"
"I came from beyond the Earth," Armin flatly stated.
Bertolt and Reiner chuckled a bit, not understanding. He gave them a moment. Dawning realization and horror gripped their faces as they began to understand.
Armin said their fear out loud anyway.
"Anything else that comes from beyond this Earth, isn't going to notice or care about Eldians or Marleyans."