"It seems the young lord has decided now is the time for action."
Sekhmet put a hand on Dian's shoulder, as they watched Ragnar's True Form roar a challenge across all of Hannibal from the highest point of the Acropolis. In the daylight, he was even more intimidating, his armor and crest so like Inanna's, that Dian felt a pang of longing.
"Sekhmet," Dian asked suddenly, the longing within her heart solidifying, "Do you wish we could serve Inanna again?"
Sekhmet mulled her question over, knowing that Ishtar would search both their thoughts. And if she saw any deviance, then she would likely end them both.
"I do miss our old master…" She said carefully. "But it doesn't matter now. Inanna is dead."
Dian nodded, but her eyes were locked upon Ragnar, as he began to rampage through the streets.
Ragnar thudded towards the great black fortress that dominated the center of Hannibal, leaping over the rows of houses and small businesses that lined this part of the city. Ahead of him, a handful of warriors had shifted, and were waiting for him, a wall of flesh guarding the great thirty meter high gate.
He slowed as he saw several more join those by the gate, along with more and more who proceeded to surround him. None of them were a threat, not to Ragnar. Holding his hand out as he had done, his scythe burst into being, its blade black like his armor.
A ten meter titan who charged him, trying to take his legs out from under him, died in shock as that great blade killed the Shifter in its neck, followed quickly by two more who came to its aid. Again and again, before those gates, warriors came at him, and died.
This is too easy… These must be lower ranking warriors… He thought to himself, as he tore the head off of one with his free hand. Cut. Slash. Stab. The Way took him, his scythe becoming an extension of himself.
After his tenth kill, a trio of much more deadly looking Shifters appeared, their Titan's bodies rippling with muscle. Each of the three held a pair of swords, crystalline and sharp.
Myrmidons. And high ranking ones at that. He thought, as they spread out, their blades glinting in the sunlight.
They moved first, one of the females leaping forward, her blades slashing in from low and high. Ragnar caught one on his armored forearm, and the other on the handle of his scythe. With a roar, he shoved her away, so that he could knock the other female's blades away. But the third one, a vicious looking man with raging brown eyes, was able to connect, his blades skidding across the armor protecting Ragnar's neck.
Damn! I could kill any one of them… But not all three at once! He thought, as he slashed horizontally. The three Shifters darted backwards outside of his reach, before attacking all at once.
Ragnar retreated while parrying their blows with quick twirls and flourishes of his scythe. He lashed out when he could, taking off one of the females arms at the elbow. Steam burst from the wound, but this fight would be long over before…
His eyes caught sight of a familiar figures standing atop a roof to his right.
It was Annie.
His distraction cost him, as the one armed female stabbed through the armor protecting his right eye.
Pain, terrible pain shot through him. He jerked away, now blinded, turning slightly so he could keep all three of them in his field of view. But as one of them tried to edge around him, an incredible explosion knocked them all off of their feet.
Ragnar felt the incredible heat, the feeling of being burned alive within his armor. And then it was gone, and he was astounded by what stood before him.
"Fucking bastard! How could you betray us?"
Eren could hear Connie's voice still railing against Reiner from where he, Ymir and Levi hid. The killing field was a field outside the walls of Hannibal, and it had begun to clear of spectators as Ragnar began his distractions.
"Eren, can you take him if Ymir can't get to him in time?" Levi asked as he sat with his back to a tree a few yards away. Ymir had worked her way around so that she was behind the guards
Eren thought about it, remembering the last time he and Reiner had battled…
I can do it! He thought, and felt Erebus' approval. I nearly had him last time, and he only won because of Bertoldt. And he isn't here.
A dozen other warriors were in attendance, surrounding the mostly stripped survivors of Squad Levi. They were bound at hand and foot, and forced to kneel before a pit that a Titan had recently dug. There had been double that number, but they'd charged off towards the city at Ragnar's first demonic roar.
"I can do it, Captain. Just give the signal." He said, trying to sound as confident as he could.
Levi nodded, producing a flaregun from a pocket, and firing it up into the air. The thunderclap of Ymir's transformation resounded against his chest as she burst into the field, her Titan dancing forward.
Eren and Levi moved as well, but saw immediately that Ymir hadn't followed the plan they'd made exactly. Instead of trying to take Reiner out, as he was the surest threat in the vicinity, she was running towards their captive teammates. Then he saw why she'd made the change, as Reiner transformed several seconds before he should have.
He must have been anticipating this… Eren thought, as he ran past the edge of the treeline and into the field. His Titan exploded into being around him, muscle slipping over bone in the now familiar sensation. Reiner's armored form stood resplendent in front of him, looking towards where Ymir was sheltering Squad Levi with her comparatively tiny body.
Eren slammed into him, having cleared the field in two long strides, and felt his Titan's entire left side being turned into a mass of pulverized muscle and bone. But he brought his other side into action immediately, and, gripping Reiner's neck inside his arm, sent him hurtling through the air with a twist of his waist. Reiner slammed into the ground thirty meters away, barely missing one of the fleeing warriors, with Eren right behind him.
Things are going to go differently this time. Eren thought to himself, as Reiner dragged himself erect.
"Ymir! Ymir!"
Ymir could hear Historia screaming her name as she lay curled over her erstwhile allies, but she couldn't respond. She felt the thudding of Eren's footsteps as he stormed forward, and knew that she had to do something to help, having already thrown their hastily laid plans into confusion.
I'll have to use that ability of mine… She thought, as several more Titan's burst into being upon the field. I have plenty of choices though…
Her eyes flashed to the largest of the Titan's, a fourteen meter that was moving towards where Eren and Reiner were duking it out. But the other four warriors were in her way…
She danced forward, claws flashing as she leapt onto ones back. The warriors inside dead, she fell upon the next, dispatching him just as easily. She swept through them like a scythe, reveling in her first chance at activity since those bastards turned her over to the Praetor.
And I'll make them pay, somehow. Ymir though as her teeth snapped together on the nape of a Titan's neck, bisecting the body of the last warrior in her way. Her opponent was waiting for her, his fist slamming in towards her face, but she slid under it, using her size to maneuver around behind him.
The larger Titan began to struggle as she wrapped him with her arms, biting down on the nape of his neck…
Flame exploded outwards, a beacon that rose high into the sky.
Annie wasn't fond of her new form.
She felt awkward as she moved, without the lithe speed her past form had held. Her arms were longer, thicker and covered in a similar carapace to that which protected Ragnar's Titan. A strange structure covered her brow, forming a crown that ran around her head. And…
She lunged forward, slamming one of the Myrmidon's backwards with a punishing blow, and then turned, painfully slowly, to find Ragnar standing over the beheaded corpse of one of the other Myrmidons, the butt of that giant scythe of his grinding into the steaming body. His eyes, the one that had been stabbed already having healed, were locked on her.
Nodding curtly, she charged the last Myrmidon, knocking him into a row of houses. A strange feeling came over her, and she felt a tingling sensation from her arms. Risking a look down, she saw a pair of blades extending from the top of her forearms.
What the hell are these… She thought, before noticing the Myrmidon besides her stirring. She used the blades to dispatch him, before turning to find Ragnar standing near her. Very near her.
His eyes seemed to smile at her, as he reached out with his left hand to stroke her cheek. She felt her heart beat faster, felt a desire rise within her, which she squashed quickly. More figures were popping into existence, roaring challenges. Ragnar watched them, and then gestured for her to follow. The ducked through the sprawling streets around the Acropolis, heading outwards from Hannibal's center. Twice they were waylaid by soldiers, and twice they killed them mercilessly.
In the distance, a pillar of flame erupted, lighting up the clouds that hung low in the sky. Distracted, Annie was nearly unable to duck under the blade that appeared from around the corner of a building. But she did, and her own right arm blade disemboweled the Myrmidon who'd tried to ambush her, as a dozen more of his fellow soldiers charged from all directions.
She shrieked, the sound echoing down the streets, matched by Ragnar, who came up behind her. Together, they reaped their enemies, and then proceeded out of the city.
Eren, we're here.
Eren countered one of Reiner's strikes, feeling the bones of his right arm snap under the force, and then risked a look out of the corner of his eye at the cacophony happening all around him. He didn't know where Levi or the other Squad members had gone, but he knew that the flame had to be Ymir.
Good. He responded to Ragnar. We need to get out of here. Now.
Reiner took advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration, and slammed his hand, fingers flat and together, thought his chest.
Pain exploded through every nerve, and for a moment, as his blood flowed down Reiner's arm, their eyes met. The pain was a trigger, but that momentary meeting of their gazes was the finger that pulled it.
And so it begins… A voice said, so familiar, yet also so strange. It was his father's voice, but changed. The wings of freedom…
Ragnar came into view, as Eren felt the pain in his body redouble, it felt as if he was being twisted, being pulled in two directions. His eyes were suddenly obscured by steam, as he collapsed onto his knees, no longer able to stand.
He screamed, wishing the pain would stop.
Annie stumbled to a halt as she came upon the confused scene, Ragnar continued forward, squaring off against Reiner, who wisely chose to retreat back towards the city. The flames that she had seen earlier were beginning to dissipate, even as a miasma of steam and smoke enveloped Eren, his scream reaching a pitch and volume that would likely be smashing windows in the city.
And then, all went calm, and a silence settled upon the execution grounds.
Annie… Ragnar's voice said in her mind. Can you hear me?
Yesss…? She thought, not understanding how she could now hear his thoughts.
She saw his own form sinking to the ground, as he rode its shoulder down. Following his example, she came to stand in front of him.
"I'm not going to apologize." She said abruptly. "For what I did."
He waved her words away, and embraced her.
"I trusted you, and that's all that matters." He said, looking down at her. "I love you."
She blushed and looked away, as the ground shuddered, and a shadow cast itself upon them. Looking up, the familiar figure of Ymir stood above them, looking down at them with a ferocious expression. But she joined them, as did the rest of the squad, to stand outside the steam surrounding Eren.
"They'll attack us soon," Levi said, "We need to get back to the Walls."
Ymir snorted.
"They have at least a thousand soldiers able to give chase. Even if they keep three quarters of them here to keep the slaves from rising, there's still no way we can take them." She saw Krista, and went to stand by her, an affection hand on the smaller girl's shoulder, "Someone has to lead them away. And no, I won't volunteer."
"I'll do it." Ragnar said, looking aside at Annie expectantly. She nodded once, and a small smile split Ragnar's lips. "We'll head further away from the Walls, then hook back around."
Levi nodded, noticing for the first time the box on Annie's back. His hand went to his swords, but Annie removed the case, handing it to him without any fuss.
"Good, now-"
Everyone's gaze turned to the steam, where a pair of wings, leathery and black, rose above the cloud of steam. They seemed to stretch far, far above them, before flapping downwards, banishing the cloud.
"Well, I guess we've found a way to get home." Ymir quipped into the shocked silence that followed.