"Nico? What is it?" Annabeth asked, noticing the boy's wide eyes and chalk white face.
"D-d-death." He stammered. "So m-m-much d-d-death."
Annabeth's stomach dropped.
"Hey, isn't that Armin?" Connie said, pointing to a small figure sitting on one of the roofs.
"Yeah, it is! What's he doing?"
"Let's find out."
They fired their wires at the roof holding Armin and went rocketing towards it.
Nico said he sensed a lot of death… Annabeth thought. Eren and Jason are in Armin's squad… Armin's alone…
"JASON!" Annabeth screamed, fearing the worst. "EREN!"
"Hey, Armin!" Connie said. The blonde boy didn't show any signs of acknowledgement. "Armin? Snap out of it."
Armin's eyes were distant and unfocused.
"Wake up!" Connie grabbed Armin's shoulder and shook him. "Armin! Hey! Can you hear me? Come on! Snap out of it! I need you to talk to me! Say something!"
Armin must have reacted, because Connie then said "There you are. You with me now?"
Annabeth slid down the roof to get a view of Armin. He was sickly pale and covered in some form of moisture that didn't smell promising.
"What's going on?" Connie asked. "Where's your squad?"
"...Squad…?" Armin breathed, still looking distant.
"Alright, let's get you on your feet. You shouldn't be out here alone." Connie rested a hand on Armin's shoulder, but abruptly pulled it away. "And what do you have all over you that's so slimy? What happened?"
Armin continued his black stare to the sky for another second, before his face registered such horror that Annabeth knew she wouldn't even be able to began to come to terms with what he had gone through.
He suddenly screamed a pained, terrified scream. He grabbed his hair and began pulling, tears rapidly flowing from his eyes as he twitched.
"YOU'RE WORTHLESS!" He shrieked, clearly referring to himself. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST DIE!?" He bent over, clutching his head and shaking.
"Hey you need to pull yourself together!" Connie said. "Where is everyone?"
Armin froze, his eyes slowly stretching wider and wider in fear.
"Let it go Connie." A girl said drily. "He's it. The rest of 'em are dead."
"NO!" Annabeth shrieked. "YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! JASON!"
"Take a look around you, isn't it obvious? They're all gone." The girl continued.
"YOU FIEND!" Annabeth screamed. "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Tears were starting to drip down her face. "NICO! NICO ARE THEY DEAD? ARE THEY ALL DEAD?" Annabeth grabbed the poor boy's shoulders.
"Stop it Annabeth!" Nico yelled, shoving her off him. "I can't tell alright! Not with you messing with me at least!"
"...sorry…" Annabeth back off, but kept her eyes glued to the boy.
The girl and Connie continued fighting, while Nico closed his eyes and sent his sense out.
Three names floated up to him on deaths in this area. Jason Grace and Eren Jaeger were not among them.
"I think they're alive." Nico said finally, looking up at Annabeth.
"HA! SEE, THEY'RE NOT DEAD!" Annabeth cheered. She took off, running along the roof, screaming Jason's name.
"Well, she's cracked." The girl said.
"No. She hasn't." Nico hissed, turning to fix his gaze on her. "Say one more bad word about my friend and you'll wish you'd been titan chow."
Connie frowned and turned back to Armin. "Alright come on. We gotta get out of here." He extended a hand. "Are you able to stand?"
Armin stared at his hand for a second before getting to his feet on his own.
"Sorry to be a nuisance." He said quietly. "Don't worry about me. I'll rendezvous with the Rear Guard."
"But- Armin!" Connie exclaimed as the blonde fired a wire and was blown away.
"I'll follow him." Nico said. "Make sure he doesn't get eaten. Tell Annabeth." Nico fired a wire in Armin's direction and went zipping after him.
The blonde was going nowhere, that was clear. He shot cords out aimlessly and went wherever they landed. Nico got a single glance of his eyes and saw pain. Deep azure pools of pain and desperation. He was realizing how cruel and merciless the world was, how those with the power to do whatever they liked often ended up corrupted and hateful. Anyone else was just a victim of their terror.
Armin shot a wire at a solid brick wall, and the hook simply bounced off it. He let out a small gasp and he fell to the ground.
Nico abruptly stopped and climbed onto the nearest roof, watching. He knew Armin would break down again if he knew he was being followed. He would only show himself if Armin's life was in danger.
But why? Why was he so compelled to help this boy? This boy he only talked to once or twice, this boy that has never helped Nico in anyway or could be expected to.
Why did he care so much?
Will.
Nico's heart throbbed painfully. He hadn't seen his boyfriend in three years. Was he getting so desperate to see Solace again that he was starting to see Will in this boy? They both had blue eyes and blonde hair, but that's where the similarities ended.
Maybe I see part of myself in him. Nico thought. We've both lost family.
He was so caught up in his thoughts he almost didn't notice the death right in front of him.
A man was laying on the ground, the bottom half of his body bitten off. A woman was giving him CPR frantically, while Armin watched.
Oh my gods… This is horrible. That man is dead, surely she knows that. She can't bring him back with CPR. And Armin, seeing this can't be good for his mental health...since it's no good for mine either.
"Stop...please stop doing that." He heard Armin mutter. "Stop…" Over and over again.
That's when he heard the footfalls.
A titan that looked about nine meters tall with frayed brown hair was steadily making it's way towards them.
"We have to get on a roof!" Armin screamed. "We're titan food down here, do you hear me?"
"I don't care! I refuse to leave him like this!" The woman screamed back.
"He's gone! You can't help him!" Armin responded.
"I don't care! I don't care!"
Nico tensed himself. Once the titan walked by him, he would get it's nape. Then he needed to take Armin and this lady somewhere safe. Maybe find the rest of the cadets and camp with them. Nico had less than a tank of gas left.
The titan drew closer and closer.
Five… Nico drew his sword from it's sheath. Four...three...two…
He fired a wire onto the other roof. One.
He let out a loud battle cry, his sword raised. He made two quick slices through the titan's nape, removing a chunk of flesh. Nico landed on the opposite roof as the titan staggered, then collapsed onto the ground.
Armin met Nico's eyes.
"You shouldn't be relaxing down there." Nico said drily. He jumped off the roof and landed on his feet, sending a quick jolt of pain up to his thighs. "You're practically asking to be devoured."
"Oh thank God!" The woman exclaimed. "Please help him! He's not breathing and he won't respond to CPR, and I-"
"I'm sorry." Nico cut her off. "But he's dead."
"What? No. No. No no no no no no! You don't know that!"
"I do. And I also know he died for you. Don't make his death meaningless by getting yourself killed."
The woman fell onto the man's chest, furiously sobbing.
"We can move his body into one of these houses and come back for him once we have the power to ward off the titans." Nico suggested.
"I don't believe it." The woman whispered. Nico's heart broke a little. He'd have to prove it to her, one way or another.
"Then let him tell you." Nico growled. He sent his senses down, deep into the Underworld. Billions of people clawed at him, begging to be brought back up, but he sent off a clear message. Back off unless you're the man this woman is crying over, or face the consequences.
One person was still hanging on to Nico's power.
This is him.
Nico yanked his power back. The ground shakily parted in front of him, and the man's spirit shot out.
The son of Hades collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. He hadn't counted on having to fight of so many desperate spirits, and not to mention sending his power to the Underworld was no easy task.
"Talk quick." He grunted. "I can only keep him here for a couple seconds."
"F-F-F-Franz?" The woman asked.
"Yeah." The man's spirit tried to take her hand, but his fingers passed through hers. "Listen, I"m sorry I had to leave you, but you need to keep living. I can't come back."
"B-b-but you're back right now."
"Only because I'm recently deceased."
"C-c-can't hold o-o-on much l-longer." Nico grunted, shaking from the effort.
"I love you. Don't forget that. Keep living." The man said.
"I-I-I-I love you too."
Nico released his hold, and Franz's spirit was dragged back through the crack in the ground, and then that was promptly sealed up.
"What was that?" Armin exclaimed.
"Unimportant." Nico hissed, stumbling to his feet.
"Unimportant!? You just brought someone back from the-"
"Not now Armin!" Nico yelled. He turned his attention towards the woman. "Come on. We need to find the rest of the cadets."
"O-o-okay."
~:~
"Come on guys, we can do it!" Sasha exclaimed. "Right? Let's go! If we all work together we can make this happen, I know we can! Alright? I'll take the lead!"
No one responded to her. The sea of disturbed, hopeless faces stared straight forward. Nico doubted anyone had actually heard her, or cared.
Sasha looked around for a reaction of any sort, then she spotted the blonde boy leaning against the wall, his hair shadowing his eyes from view.
She jogged over to him. "Armin! It's time to go!"
The boy didn't respond. He just stared straight forward like everyone else.
Nico scowled. He had next to run out of gas on getting Armin and the woman here. Armin seemed to accept the fact that Nico wouldn't explain his little show with Franz's spirit after the fifth interrogation, and Nico already regretted it. The boy's mind was strained and his sanity was on edge. The last thing he needed was to see greek magic and ghosts.
The sound of human footfall reached his ears, and he glanced up. Mikasa was running towards them.
"Mikasa! Weren't you with the rear guard?" Someone said.
"Annie!" Mikasa said, ignoring the man. Annie turned to meet her eyes. "I know how bad things have gotten, it's selfish, putting personal matters in the forefront, but have you seen Eren's squad?"
"Some squads made it back." Annie replied. "But I don't know about Eren's."
"We found Armin, he's over there." Reiner jabbed a thumb at Armin, still slouched against the wall.
Mikasa turned and set her eyes on him. "Armin!"
"Oh no…" Nico muttered. "This isn't going to end well. Mikasa and Eren were like siblings."
"Poor guys." Jason agreed.
"Though I'll tell you what, I didn't sense Eren's death." Nico whispered. "I don't know what that means."
"So he might be alive?"
"There's a chance, but don't get your hopes up. We won't know for sure until we see him with our own eyes, or we don't."
Mikasa knelt in front of Armin. "Armin, are you okay?" She asked. "You're not hurt, are you?"
Armin clearly couldn't bring himself to respond. Mikasa sighed and got to her feet, glancing around. "Where's Eren?"
Nico flinched. He couldn't see Armin's expression, but he could imagine the strain and fear on his face.
"Armin?"
The boy suddenly looked up, the shiny paths of tears evident on his cheeks.
"They were-" Armin choked on a sob, and he bent over, his hands resting on his knees. "The cadets of squad 34, Thomas Wagner, Mark Tears, Phillius Seraphski, Mina Carolina, Eren Jaeger," Armin's voice broke in pain. "These brave five upheld their duties. They died valiantly on the field of battle."
Fearful talk broke out through the groups. Jason felt tears began to fall down from his eyes, and through blurred vision, saw Percy experiencing the same. Even cheerful Leo and cynical Nico had a drop of moisture rushing down their face. If five great people could be yanked from their lives so quickly, what chance did they stand of overcoming the titans?
"I'm so sorry Mikasa." Armin choked out between sobs. "It should've been me that died, not Eren. I...I couldn't do a thing. I'm worthless."
Mikasa knelt down in front of the crying boy and rested a hand on his. "Armin."
He shakily looked up.
"Calm yourself. We haven't got time for you to get emotional right now."
Armin let out a little yelp of surprise. Mikasa grabbed his hand and stood up. "On your feet."
"What's going on…?" Hazel breathed, watching Mikasa spin around and prowl across the roof.
"Marco, if we eliminate or bypass the titans at HQ, we can there refuel our gear, allowing us to get back over the wall. Is that assessment correct?"
"Well, uh, yeah I guess so, sure." Marco replied. "But there's just too many of them out there, even with you on point."
"I can do it." Mikasa snapped, drawing her blades. "I'm strong. Real strong." She thrust her blade in the air. "None of you come close."
Wanna bet. Percy thought darkly.
"Do you hear me? I am a warrior. Know this. I have the power to slay all of the titans that block our path. Even if I have to do it alone. As far as I'm concerned, I am surrounded by a bunch of unskilled, cowardly, worms." Mikasa pointed her blade at the crowd. "You disappoint me. You can just sit here, and twiddle your thumbs, and watch how it's done."
"Wait, Mikasa, are you out of your mind? That's crazy!"
"You can't be serious, trying to take them out by yourself!"
"There's no way you can hope to beat them!"
"If I can't beat them then I die. But," she spun around, facing HQ. "If I win, I live. And the only way to win is to fight." She leapt off the roof and shot a wire, gas shooting out behind her as she headed to HQ.
There were a few seconds of stunned silence, before Jean of all people raised his blade. "HEY! DON'T JUST STAND THERE, WE WEREN'T TAUGHT TO LET OUR COMRADES FIGHT ALONE! UNLESS YOU ARE A COWARD, IN WHICH CASE STAY OUT OF MY WAY!" He ran off the roof, taking the same path Mikasa had. Connie followed suite.
Then everyone was charging, yelling battle cries and raising their blades.
"THIS IS INSANE!" Percy shouted as he shot another wire.
"THAT'S OUR THING DUDE!" Leo replied. "CONSERVE GAS, WE'RE RUNNING LOW!"
"Check Mikasa out." Piper said. "She's cutting through titans like they're pieces of cheese!"
"She's going too fast!" Annabeth exclaimed. "She's going to run out of gas!"
"There's nothing we can do about that!" Nico barked. "She's in denial about Eren's death, she won't listen to anyone!"
"Jason, be ready to get her if anything happens!" Annabeth commanded. "She's one of the most powerful soldiers we've got!"
As if on cue, Mikasa tumbled from the sky, hitting a roof and rolling off.
"Like now would be great!" Annabeth snapped. Armin had already veered off to get her, pursued by Connie.
"But what about you guys?" Jason asked. "I don't want you to get hurt!"
"Too bad Grace!" Nico snarled. "We can handle ourselves, so stop being a stubborn Roman and go get her!"
Jason blinked, surprised at Nico's outburst. "Fine. But if any of you die, I'll kill you."
He spun around and shot his wires at the nearest building, and willed the wind to push him forward as fast as it could.
He shot through the air. How could Mikasa be so careless with her gas? Surely she knew she was running low.
'She's in denial about Eren's death!' He recalled Nico saying. Did that mess with her judgement too? She was usually so calm and composed…Did Eren's death rattle her enough that she lost all control of herself? But Nico had said there was a chance Eren survived.
If he survived, then where is he? Is he still breathing in the stomach of a titan? Did he bust out? Maybe he cut his way out with ODM gear and went back over the wall. Or maybe he's dead.
Jason grit his teeth. Eren reminded him of Thalia. Both of them were fierce, protective and passionate. He couldn't imagine Thalia being eaten by a titan so easily, so picturing Eren was difficult as well.
Focus Grace, he scolded himself. Mikasa could be being gnawed at this moment, and you're pondering how Eren's doing.
"Please be alright." Jason heard Armin say to the wind. "I'm coming for you."
A titan like roar sounded, and both boys looked to the side. A small figure was kneeling on the ground in an alley between two buildings. "There she is." Armin shut off his gas and went speeding towards Mikasa. He scooped her up and shot through the air before dropping onto a roof roughly.
Jason willed the wind to push him there, and he flew as quickly as he could to their side, landing at the same time as Connie.
"Are you guys alright?" He asked.
"Yeah." Armin replied.
"Then we better get out of here." Connie said.
"Titans!" Jason exclaimed, pointing at the huge humanoid with short black hair and a gaping mouth as it slipped out from between two buildings.
"Crap! Two fifteen meters!" Connie yelled as another titan revealed itself. This one looked different, with a very well muscled body and choppy dark brown hair that ended just past his pointed, elf like ears.
"No, that one's different." Mikasa said.
Armin looked at her, then glanced back at where he had scooped her up. The skeleton of a titan lay there, smoking and nearly done decaying. "How…?"
The muscled titan roared, keeping it's eyes trained on the other titan.
The other titan roared back, stretching it's mouth to nearly twice the size of it's face.
Jason watched in amazement as the muscled titan got into a fighting stance worthy of a Roman praetor. Everyone gasped.
The first titan roared again and charged forward.
The muscled titan swung it's fist at the other titan's head. It landed, and the other titan's head was knocked clean off. It was sent tumbling through the air, spinning until it eventually collided with a tower.
Armin had his ears covered by his hand, Connie had sunk low to the ground, while Mikasa and Jason simply stared, wide eyed at the abnormal titan. It's opponent's body fell to the ground, empty neck smoking furiously.
The abnormal raised it's hand to it's face. The punch had knocked it's fingers off, and it was also smoking as a result. Jason watched, half fascinated half horrified, as bones formed, then muscle climbed up those, and finally, skin crawled over it.
It's hand was good as new.
Now, Jason knew titans could regenerate, but the thought was still confounding to him. That something so permanent to man, like losing a limb, could be fixed by titans in seconds.
The headless titan made an attempt to get up, though it's chest barely left the ground before the abnormal pounded it's foot against it's nape.
"I-i-i-it just finished it off." Armin gasped. "It knew exactly where the weak spot was!"
"Incredible." Jason breathed.
"Come on guys, time to split. The last thing we need is him coming our way!" Connie said.
"No," Armin said quietly. "It has no reaction to us. The other titan would have been on top of us by now."
"It seemed to understand the skill of hand to hand combat." Mikasa said lowly. "What is that thing?"
"That thing is awesome." Jason said. "It just killed two titans for us and didn't give us a second glance!"
"Calm down Grace. We'll just chalk it up as another abnormal for now." Connie said. "They're always an unpleasant surprise-"
"No, this one just saved our lives." Jason argued. "We'd be in that other titan's stomach right now if it weren't for that thing."
"Whatever. Let's just go already." Connie turned.
"Hey, hold on!" Armin said. "Mikasa's tanks are empty."
"WHAT?" Connie exclaimed. "What are we gonna do? We can't clear HQ without your help!"
"There's only one thing to do." Armin said, getting to his knees. He began unscrewing his tanks from his ODM gear. "I know there isn't very much left in them, but it's better than your empty ones." He pulled them out.
Jason's heart throbbed. His tank was nearly full.
"Armin no!" Jason barked.
"This is our only choice!" Armin replied. "It'd be a complete waste if I keep them."
Jason grabbed Armin's wrist. "No, it wouldn't. We're not leaving you behind Armin."
"You have to get back there! I'm not helpful!" Armin protested.
"You ARE helpful Armin!" Jason snapped. "Give me Mikasa's tank. You keep yours, and I'll give Mikasa mine."
"What? No! You're one of the strongest soldiers left standing!" Armin's voice broke. "You'd be more useful with the gas than me!"
"Don't argue with me Armin! I know what I'm doing!" Jason undid his gas tanks and set them aside. He undid Mikasa's as well and slid his own in.
"Jason that's crazy!" Armin exclaimed. "I'm useless! I'm better off in a titan's stomach, leave me behind! You're too valuable!"
"Who said anything," Jason slid Armin's tanks back into place. "About leaving me behind? I'm coming."
"B-b-b-b-but you h-have no gas." Armin whimpered.
"I don't need it."
"You'll be titan food if you can't get airborne!"
"I know. Again, I don't need it. So why don't you just trust me and we'll go about our day."
"Jason, you're not making any sense." Connie remarked.
"Guys, I know I'm asking a lot," Jason sighed. "But please just trust me. We can all get through this, no one has to get left behind. Now let's get out of here."
Connie and Mikasa nodded. Connie grabbed Armin's wrist and pulled him along the roof, running furiously.
I can't believe I'm doing this. Jason thought grimly. Nico's shown his powers, and now I'm going to show mine. Armin's a smart boy, he'll figure out something's different about me and my friends. Then it's only a matter of time until we have to tell who we really are, and with all the stuff going on, I'm not sure he can handle that, or believe it.
Armin suddenly tore his wrist away from Connie. "NO! Hold on, I have an idea."
Everyone halted, turning to look at Armin. "What is it then?" Connie asked.
"Only you guys are capable of pulling this off, so it's really your choice." Armin said. "This may sound crazy, but I think he might be useful."
"Woah, you mean the titan?" Connie said.
"He only attacks his own kind." Armin explained. "He seems to have no interest in us. What if, we can somehow steer him to HQ and let him loose on the other titans? Look, we know he's taken at least one out already. We can use him as a weapon."
"I like it!" Jason grinned. "See, already proving yourself useful."
"You've got to be kidding." Connie said. "How the heck do you think we're supposed to steer that thing?"
Armin turned to look at the titan. "Something tells me he's fighting on instinct. I'm almost sure if you take down the pair he's tangling with now he'll go look for others. That'd lead him straight to HQ. We're not steering him as much as luring him. I think it'll work, I really do."
"Think? You're asking us to risk our necks on a stupid gut feeling?" Connie yelled.
"If I'm right about this we could put down the siege on head quarters in one fell swoop!"
"...Armin." Jason said. He broke into a grin. "That is the most ingenious thing I've heard. I'm game."
"It's worth a shot." Mikasa agreed.
Connie looked between the three, surprised. "Seriously?"
"Better to take a gamble on Armin's gut feeling then wait around to be slaughtered. If there's a decent shot why not take it."
"So basically we're going to recruit a titan?" Connie exclaimed.
"Pretty much." Jason grinned.
Connie stared at him in surprise for a second, then he smiled. "We'll look like morons if we screw this up."
Armin smiled, and laughed a little. "Yeah, but, if we don't look how many lives we stand to save."
"When there's a will there's a way." Mikasa said, then she took off towards the titan battle, pursued by Armin, Jason, and after some talking to himself, Connie.
"Jason, are you sure you don't need gas?" Armin asked as they ran.
"Positive." Jason replied. "I'll be able to whoop these guy's butts with or without ODM gear."
"But how?"
"You'll see. Just promise not to freak out."
"Okay...I promise."
"Awesome. Now let's do this!" Jason willed the wind to carry him to the three battling titans, and he rose into the air and shot forward, Mikasa soon firing a wire beside him. They reached the first titan at the same time, and they both sliced down it's nape.
"YOU CAN FLY?!" Armin screamed.
"YOU PROMISED!" Jason yelled back. "IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S GOT THE OTHER TITAN. LET'S GET GOING TO HQ!"
The abnormal finished bashing the first titan into dust, and turned it's attention exactly where Armin had planned.