THANATOS:

The putrid stench of filth mixed with blood made her wrinkle her nose in disgust.

It was natural for Warriors to feel uncomfortable in closed spaces like this one. It was in these sorts of places where they were vulnerable, where they were as weak as humans.

But for Annie, there was more to it.

This broken down shack was a relic of the destruction that had been unleashed within Wall Maria.

This was one of the places that Annie feared the most.

She put a hand on her head, hoping to stop the persistent throbbing.

The blood she had spilt…

The lives she had taken…

The thoughts made her shudder.

Annie was by no means weak. She had been raised for this very purpose. They had trained her and transformed her into a cold-hearted killer, one who destroyed everything in her wake.

She had endured pain greater than she could have ever imagined.

But all those times, she had been convinced. Convinced that she had played her role in serving the greater good.

She no longer knew if she was right or wrong.

Her nails dug into the palms of her hands.

'You can't stop now. Not when you're so close to succeeding.'

'Once you're done, you'll finally be able to go home. You'll be able to meet your father.'

She felt a pang of grief course through her.

Her eyes lingered over the person who lay on the mat, wrapped in blankets, his teeth chattering.

He had always been the one Annie had looked up to. And it wasn't just her. He'd been an elder brother to all of them. Even Reiner and Bertolt.

He had given them hope. Hope that they could get back their lives. Hope that their suffering was worth it.

And it broke Annie to see him like this.

Weak, Fragile, Alone...

The person let out an involuntary gasp…

"Annie" He whispered "Where are you?"

She grasped his hand tightly.

"I'm right here, Marcel."

He didn't seem to notice. His eyes were dreamy, unfocused. For a second, they came to rest on her, but they quickly swerved away.

He writhed in agony, silent sobs wracking his body.

"Why won't anyone answer me? Why won't anyone listen to me?"

A single tear ran down his face.

Annie shuddered.

"What has he done to you?" she whispered.

But there was no response. The boy's head hung to the side, mouth agape. Annie felt a burning sensation in her hand-which she quickly withdrew. Wisps of steam rose from Marcel's body and his clothes blackened because of the heat.

Annie let out a cry and scrambled away. She rushed outside and slammed the door shut.

'Why?'

She slid to the ground, one hand on the door, another one pulling at her hair.

'Why is it always us…"

'I don't think I can survive any longer.'

'I don't want to kill anyone else.'

Her eyes burned, and it took all of her willpower to stop her from breaking down.

Chapter-2

Selections:

Mallow felt dizzy as he sat on the ground, staring up at the person who loomed over him menacingly.

Onyx eyes.

Black Scarf.

A cold expression on her face.

To a bystander, it would appear as if she'd pushed him down. But the truth was that he had accidentally run into her, not bothering to see where he was going in his haste to reach the grounds on time.

To be honest, it felt like he'd collided with a wall. He'd been knocked back, but she'd barely moved from her spot.

The weirdest part? Her face had jogged his memories. She seemed overwhelmingly familiar to him and yet he'd never seen her before.

His mind was one big mess as he struggled to recollect. There was something about her which gave him a warm feeling. But as he brought his eyes down to her scarf, Mallow felt something which he hadn't experienced for a long time.

Rage. Pure, unadulterated rage.

He was tempted to rip that stupid scarf off her neck and tear it into pieces.

His anger made him irrational and for a second, he almost gave in to his instincts.

Then he was back to normal. His muscles relaxed and the urge was gone.

"How long are you going to be sitting there?"

Mallow looked up in surprise.

"What?"

The girl furrowed her eyebrows, as if she wasn't used to repeating things again and again.

"Get up" She told him.

Mallow got to his feet at once. For some reason, he found her intimidating.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled.

She didn't seem to notice his apology, but continued to gaze at him intently.

"Are you a member of the 105th squad?" She asked him at last.

Mallow nodded, not entirely sure why she seemed interested.

"Mallow Archer?"

He recoiled in surprise. "H-How did you-"

"Come with me"

Mallow blinked. "Why should I-"

The look she gave him made him tremble.

"I've already spoken to Inspector Shadis." She stated. "There won't be any issues with your absence."

Before Mallow could respond, she turned on her heel and trudged away.

He stared at her for a second before hurrying up so that he wasn't left behind.

"B-But where are you taking me?" He asked her.

No response.

Mallow felt an eerie sensation creep up his spine.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked her.

"No" She responded with a finality, unofficially declaring that further questions would not be tolerated.

So he spent the rest of the walk in relative silence. His mind kept wandering off to the selections. He wondered how Gregory would be doing. Would he be successful in getting a place in the squad he wanted? Wouldn't he be worried about Mallow's absence? What would happen to Mallow himself if he missed the selections?

And where was this strange girl taking him?

Mallow was panting heavily now, struggling to keep up with his companion's brisk pace. But he wasn't surprised. It was obvious that the girl ahead of him was a seasoned veteran, even if she did seem a bit young. She carried herself with an air of confidence, as if she had no doubts about what she had to do. Like the other soldiers, she had probably stared death in the face many a time. Heck, maybe she'd even seen the battle of Trost!

For a moment, Mallow was tempted to ask her about the Titans. He'd only seen crude illustrations of them till now, and he really wished to know if there was a way he could find out more about them.

He was so immersed in his thoughts that he hardly noticed that the soldier ahead of him had stopped and walked right into her.

This time, she wasn't very pleased.

"Can't you see where you're going?" She demanded gruffly.

Mallow muttered an abrupt apology, cursing himself for not being more careful.

'Come on Mallow' He chided himself. 'Take it easy!'

He found himself in front of a well-built building, a large door staring back at him ominously.

The girl turned to him.

"We're going to see Commander Erwin" She announced. "Try to be polite."

Mallow froze. His legs felt like they'd been turned to jelly.

"The Commander? The leader of the Survey Corps?"

The girl rolled her eyes.

"It's obvious isn't it? Is there anyone else with the same name as him who happens to be a commander?"

Her face was expressionless as usual, so Mallow didn't really know how to react.

In the end, he responded by giving her a dull nod.

She stared at him, as if she was sizing him up, then shook her head disappointedly. She muttered something about 'clueless recruits' before proceeding to knock on the door.

"Come in." a voice replied.

The two of them entered.

Erwin's office stood out from the rest.

Most of the people in the high ranks preferred to nail proof of their various achievement and capabilities on the wall, and make their rooms look as glamorous as possible.

But not Erwin.

The walls were bare, and the curtains were drawn in such a way as to only allow a patch of light to fall on Erwin's desk, so he could attend to his tasks.

A bright-red pen-stand lay on the desk, and Levi noted that it was the only accessory in the room which didn't contribute to its gloomy look.

He watched as Mikasa Ackerman entered the room, followed by a nervous kid whose green eyes flitted across the entire place as if he was some sort of cornered animal in a cage.

'This was the brat he was talking about?'

Erwin didn't seem particularly bothered though. On the contrary, his face had split into a grin.

"Mallow Archer, isn't it? Have a seat."

The boy's eyes drifted towards the chair which had been occupied by Mikasa and then returned to meet Erwin's gaze. He shifted his weight uncomfortably from one leg to the other, then walked up to the last chair and sat in it.

For a second, there was no sound in the room except for the scratching of a nib on paper as Erwin continued with his work.

Finally, Erwin put his pen down.

"So…Mallow…" He began. "What do you think of the Survey Corps?"

By the look on the cadet's face, Levi could tell that the question had been an unexpected one.

"It's great, sir." He replied at last.

Erwin nodded, apparently unfazed by the vague nature of his answer.

"How old are you?"

Mallow bit his lip.

"I'm 15." He said at last.

Mikasa gave him a calculating look.

"You seem to be older than that."

Mallow gulped, and Levi could tell that he was exceptionally bad at lying.

For a long moment no one spoke.

Mallow rubbed his palms which had started sweating profusely even though the room wasn't hot.

The tension was unbearable.

He bit his lip.

"Sir?"

Erwin turned back to him, eyebrows raised. "Yes?"

Mallow swallowed. "If you have nothing else to tell me, may I go back to the training grounds?"

Erwin's eyes seemed to bore straight through Eren's and the pressure he was feeling within escalated rapidly.

"Yes? And what do you plan to do there? You've already been chosen for a squad."

Noise levels in the barracks peaked as the excited recruits swarmed in, the girls gossiping and the guys poking fun at each other and generally having a jolly time.

Gregory stood out though, as he muscled his way through the crowd, an expression of deep concern etched across his face.

His eyes fell on the nervous recruit sitting at a table, his face buried in to a book which Gregory knew Mallow couldn't possibly be interested in.

He walked up to the brunette and ripped the book away from his hands.

A pair of green eyes stared back at him!

"Come on Greg!" Mallow protested. "It was getting interesting!"

"Huh?" Greg replied, venom dripping from his voice "And here I was thinking that you were hiding behind the book on purpose so you wouldn't be noticed!"

Mallow's shoulders slumped.

"Where were you?" Greg demanded. "The inspector didn't seem to be particularly bothered either. It's as if he knew that you weren't coming, wouldn't you say?"

Mallow sighed. "It wasn't anything serious Greg. I was just introduced to my future squad."

Greg frowned. "Huh? Why the hell didn't they just do it in the grounds?"

Mallow tried to stem the flow of words, waving his hands wildly. A few heads had turned towards him, making him extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm not sure why they called me to Commander Erwin's Office, but-"

Greg's jaw dropped down.

"What did you say?"

Mallow, realizing that there was no alternative, simply decided to come clean.

"I'm going to be joining Mikasa Ackerman's squad." He confessed.

His voice was louder than what he had wanted it to be. There was a hushed silence and suddenly, all of the trainees had pounced on him.

"You joined what?"

"Damn, who do you take us for son? Nobody ain't believing you."

"Did you get to see her? Mikasa, I mean?"

"Dude, she's like a 100 soldiers put together. At least that what the rumors say."

"That's a load of bull, she ain't that good. But she's still one of the best."

"Pffft… it's no big deal, Levi can take her, no problem."

Questions rained down relentlessly on Mallow and an explanation was demanded.

"So then…" Mallow concluded after a lengthy description "I was sent back to the barracks with orders to report for training starting from tomorrow."

After that, the crowd slowly thinned away. A few stayed back to ask Mallow a few questions of their own before leaving until Mallow finally found himself alone with only Greg at his side.

For a moment, the two of them just stared around, not meeting each other's eyes.

"That's a lot to handle huh?" Greg muttered at last.

Mallow nodded, but avoided Greg's gaze. He'd been acting weird ever since the selections had ended, and Mallow wasn't particularly happy about that.

"There are still lot of things I don't understand though…." He wondered aloud. "They didn't really do anything different. Why did we have to go through all that trouble?"

Gregory laughed, but it was a forced laugh and it didn't really make Mallow feel better.

"Well, you better figure it out quick, Mallow. The Survey Corps need you. You're special, aren't you?"

Mallow glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

Greg rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Mallow, no need to be modest. Let credit be given where it's deserved."

At first, Mallow couldn't seem to fathom why Gregory was being so distant and moody.

But all of a sudden, everything fell into place like the pieces of a puzzle.

"Gregory, are you jealous?"

Gregory's face turned beetroot red.

"No!" He protested "I uh-"

"You really wanted someone to ask you about your squad huh?"

"It's not like that, I-" He put his hands up in surrender. "Ok, you got me. It was just a bit annoying that's all. You getting all the attention, I mean…"

Mallow sighed. "Well, it was your fault. You didn't need to yell in front of them, you know."

Gregory nodded, visibly embarrassed. "I know… sorry."

The two of them stayed quite. To an outsider, it might have seemed like nothing serious was going on but the ice between them had been broken and both were visibly relieved.

"Well, you were the best choice for squad-104 anyway." Greg noted.

Mallow perked up. "Really?"

"Yep." Greg replied. He traced overlapping circles on the wall, immersed in deep thought. "I mean…. look at these guys. They act like they're friendly, but in reality, they're just a bunch of backstabbers who're willing to step over others if it makes them look good. If either of them was selected for that squad, dealing with the pent-up resentment of the others would be a major issue. At least with you, they can laugh it off as some sort of lame joke, if you see what I mean."

Mallow stared at him. "Thanks. That was encouraging."

Greg cracked a smile. "Don't mention it."

Mallow smirked.

"So…" He ventured "Which squad did you join?"

Gregory straightened up and Mallow could tell that he was very pleased.

"Ever heard of Hanji? You know, the one who's obsessed with Titans?"

"The scary lady with the goggles?" Mallow winced as he recalled the first time he'd seen the enthusiastic section commander.

"She's not scary. She's a genius! She's probably one of the few people here who's not doing her job for giggles."

Mallow rolled his eyes. "So why did they chose you? Did you bust out your gear and give them a taste of your terrifying skill?"

Greg turned red. "No. It was a bit more… subtle."

"Really? What did you do?"

Greg blushed. "I started a conversation with her. About Titans."

He moistened his lips. "Well, I'm calling it a conversation, but it was pretty much me listening to her going on about Titans."

Mallow nodded. "And…?"

"I just nodded the whole time and she seemed really pleased. And I might have said a few things which impressed her and the rest of the squad at the same time."

Mallow whistled. "And that got you into their squad huh?"

Greg raised his eyebrows. "I still did something you know."

Mallow conceded. Greg had a point after all.

He sighed. "It's just weird for me, you know… getting picked randomly for a squad."

Greg shook his head.

"I doubt its random." He said. "There are a few hundreds of us here and a significant number who would deserve the spot more than you."

"I know. That's why I think it's odd."

Greg shrugged. "Well, there's nothing you can do about it now. It's best if we just carry on."

He stood up, brushing the dirt off his jeans. "Anyways, I think I need to pack my stuff."

Mallow nodded. "Yeah, carry on. We're both going to be somewhere else tomorrow."

Greg stood up and headed for his belongings.

Midway, he stopped and turned around.

"Mallow?"

Mallow looked at him inquisitively. "What?"

There was something about Greg's expression which troubled Mallow, gave him a sense of foreboding.

"This might be the last time we see each other."

Mallow felt a gnawing pain in his gut. He'd known this was coming. But he'd never expected it to happen so fast. They'd been with each other for only a month or two, but Mallow couldn't imagine his world without his friend.

He managed a smile. "Nope, we'll definitely meet again."

Greg smiled in return as he left the room.

Watching him go, Mallow wondered if Greg felt the same as him.

He'd be alone once again. From now on he could make no friends, only allies.

For the rest of the recruits, their stint as trainees had just been a stepping stone towards their goal. But it had also been a part of Mallow's life.

A part that was now over.

"So" Erwin ventured "What do you think of him?"

Levi shook his head. "There seems to be nothing out of the ordinary. I see no reason to be cautious."

Erwin nodded. "And yet I am confident that there is a connection between them."

"Why is that?"

No response.

Levi scowled. "Why couldn't you just keep him under surveillance then? Why put him under the Ackerman brat?"

"Because they will come for him. Of that, I am certain."

Levi grunted. "I see. Are you going to tell me what you're planning any time soon?"

Erwin closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"No" He replied. "Not now. Not until I'm sure."

Levi bit back a nasty retort. He'd learnt a long time ago, that Erwin was a person who needed to be trusted. The path ahead of them was uncertain, but if he was sure about one thing, it was that Erwin's mind was the key. He held the answer to the seemingly inescapable mess humanity had gotten into.

"Alright" Levi said at last. "I'll go with that for now…"

He stood up and made as if to leave, but a firm hand on his shoulder rooted him to the spot.

"What about them?"

Levi froze. Images flashed in his head.

A street painted red. The bloody remains of his comrades. The monster who was behind it all.

"I can take care of myself." Levi growled.

Erwin's expression remained impassive, but his voice was one of concern.

"It's not you I'm worried about."

Levi's eyes widened.

'The Titan Shifter...'

"He's improving." He said "But he still hasn't accepted it. He blames himself for their deaths."

Erwin nodded.

"Look after him." He advised, a steely gleam in his eyes. "He's just a child. But he is also humanities' greatest hope. We cannot afford to lose him."

Levi nodded.

"I'll do that, Commander' He replied, stressing on the last word.

A thousand thoughts swirled in his head as he left the room.

'It happens every time…'

'They always die in the end…'

There was still hope for Humanity. Wall Maria could be recovered. Further territory could be gained.

But what about those who died in the process?

Levi grunted, a bitter taste in his mouth.

What about the martyrs from the Special Operations Squad?