Day 5: Armin as the Founding Titan
"Armin, have you seen Eren?" Armin looked up, seeing his friend's father next to him. Lost in thought, Armin hadn't heard the man coming.
"He was here when I fell asleep. Mikasa went to look for him" the blond said "I'm sure he didn't go far."
"I see. And Carla?" Armin looked down, muttering: "I'm sorry, but she didn't make it."
"Carla…" Grisha muttered in grief, his eyes wide. Then he shook his head, saying: "There's something I must give to Eren."
"I'm sure he'll be back soon" Armin reassured, not sure what else to say. They fell in silence and while Armin was glad to have an adult he knew around, he felt like something was off with Grisha "Well of course, he just heard his wife died."
But something had seemed off even before Armin told him that. Was it just this horrible situation that made something feel wrong?
Armin glanced at Dr. Yeager, and the man seemed to be deep in thought. He seemed restless, too.
"Come with me" he suddenly told Armin.
"Huh?" the blond asked "Shouldn't we be waiting for Eren?"
"I'm running out of time" the man said, getting up "You can give what I give to you to Eren when the time is right."
Why? He was sure it wouldn't take long for Eren to come back… but Dr. Yeager seemed to be in a hurry. He supposed it wouldn't do any harm for him to take whatever it was that Dr. Yeager had and give it to Eren later, whatever it was.
With that in mind, he followed the doctor in to the woods.
XXXXX
Armin sat there on the ground, his body smoking, holding the doctor's glasses, staring at what remained of the doctor's body. He was dead, Armin had killed him. Eaten him. The man had told him about his mission, about the power of the titans, about the time limit. At first, Armin had thought the man had gone crazy, but looking at what was left of the doctor and his own steaming body, he knew it all had been true.
Including the fact that Armin had only 13 more years left to live.
"13… years…" Armin muttered, and ended up throwing up. Only 13 years. What could he do during such time? Could he do anything? How? He couldn't go against the world alone, and who would believe him, a child titan?
Just what was Dr. Yeager thinking, giving him this power?
XXXXX
Armin was thirteen years old now and in military training. He had ten years left to live, but he hadn't told that to anyone, not even Eren. Maybe he should, considering he had inherited the boy's father's mission, not to mention had the hold on the key to their family's basement, where more answers and more detailed information could be found. But would Eren even believe him? Also, how on earth was he supposed to tell his best friend that he had killed his father? As far as Eren knew, his father was still alive and out there somewhere. Would it really be right of Armin to take away that hope? Or was it crueler of him to watch Eren wait for the man? He didn't know.
XXXXX
Armin had turned fifteen, and graduation was approaching. So was his death; he had only eight years left. That was all the more reason why he had finally decided to take action, having taken it upon himself to train his titan abilities. Alone in the woods of course, for he had still to tell anyone. He'd been able to keep it a secret from everyone though.
Until this day, that is.
From his looming height of fifteen meters, Armin stared down at his sturdy, blond haired friend staring at him in disbelief.
Reiner. Reiner had seen him.
But the guy didn't know who he was, right? There was no way he would. Even if he was here to specifically look for him, there was no way he could make the connection.
Seeing Reiner still being frozen in shock, Armin knew he had to make a decision on what to do before the guy regained his chances.
One option was to let Reiner run back and then quickly abandon his titan form. No matter who Reiner told about what he saw, it was unlikely anyone would believe him, for the evidence was minimal. Armin had done some damage to the surroundings, but nothing too major. And even if someone suspected something, him getting pulled in to it was extremely unlikely.
Or was it? If Reiner had come here to look for him, he might be able to put two and two together. Did his titan form resemble him outwardly? Armin wasn't sure… what if Reiner would really suspect him? The safest choice would be to silence the man on the spot.
"No way" Armin thought. It was undoubtedly the safest thing to do, but that was not who he was. Besides, Reiner was his friend. There was a third option.
There was always a third option.
Deciding to go down the riskiest route, Armin emerged from the nape of his titan, calling out to Reiner and revealing his identity.
"…Armin?"
There was no going back now.
XXXXX
"So, you're telling me that the titans were originally humans?"
"That's right" Armin said.
"And the walls are made of titans"
"Right"
"And… and there are other people outside of the walls?" this seemed to shock Reiner the most.
"Yes" Armin said. Reiner didn't sound doubtful, but he couldn't be sure "Reiner, do you believe me?"
"Honestly?" the bigger blond asked "Had you told me something like this yesterday, I would've thought you were crazy. But after what I just saw…"
He didn't finish, not that he needed to. Armin got his point.
"Who else knows? You know, about all this" Reiner asked, and Armin didn't hesitate to tell the truth.
"No one" he admitted "I know I should tell Eren, but I just don't know how. And with his hatred towards titans…"
He saw Reiner grimace; the guy knew exactly what he meant.
"Yeah, no kidding. He might not take it so well" he agreed "But he's your best friend, right? He might punch you at first out of instinct but, since it's you, you'd probably get around to him in the end."
Armin looked at Reiner in surprise, feeling more optimistic about telling Eren than he ever had before "You think so?"
"Yeah, just make sure Mikasa doesn't come and behead you first if she sees you as a titan" the guy chuckled "She might actually be able to pull it off."
Armin laughed, knowing it was true. The joke, if it could be called that, was rather morbid, but he knew Reiner was only trying to cheer him up.
"Just make sure to pick your timing right" Reiner said "Don't tell him after one of his fights with Jean… or after he's gotten his ass kicked by Annie."
Armin winced. Eren held up his own against Annie pretty well these days, but the tiny blonde still tended to have the upper hand.
"I gotta go; Bert's probably already wondering where I am" Reiner said, standing up "I take it you want me to stay quiet about everything?"
"Yes, please" Armin said, wondering if he really would. Reiner was trustworthy, he was sure, but he was also very close with Bertolt. Would he keep the secret from him? "I'll take the risk."
"I'll find a way to tell Eren and Mikasa, eventually" Armin told "But until then, I'd prefer if no one else knew."
"Got it" Reiner said "Though next time, make sure you aren't followed."
"Noted"
XXXXX
"Armin? You in here?" Armin had hidden in to the trees after training in his titan form as he heard someone coming, but it turned out to be only Reiner, so he came out of his hiding place.
"Here" he said "Do you need something?"
"Not really, just wanted to check how you were doing" Reiner told, sitting on to a fallen tree trunk "Without anyone overhearing us, of course."
That made sense. Having decided to quit for the day anyway, Armin went over to sit next to Reiner.
"Training coming along well?" Reiner asked, clarifying "This training, I mean."
"I think I'm getting the hang of it" Armin admitted. Frowning a little, he confessed: "Though I'm worried about my stamina; I can't be gone for too long, so I haven't exactly been able to test what my limits are in terms of time."
"I could cover for you some time" Reiner offered, but Armin shook his head "No, I don't want to risk you getting in trouble because of me."
"This again?" Reiner snorted "You worry too much. Besides, if you can master this… thing, you'll help everyone with it, right? It'd be more of an investment."
Reiner wasn't wrong, Armin knew, but he was still unsure. After all, he didn't know how to really make use of this power. He didn't know how to protect anyone.
"Since Eren and Mikasa haven't offered the same nor are here with you, I take it you haven't told them yet?" Reiner asked, making Armin nod "I just still can't bring myself to tell Eren the truth… and they'd worry…"
"Of course, they would; they'll be sad to know you have less than ten years left to live."
"Yeah…" Armin trailed off, but then froze as realization struck him.
He had not told Reiner about the rule of thirteen years.
He hadn't; he was sure of it. He had left out some smaller details as well, but that was the one important thing he had made sure not to share. He didn't want to deal with the pity, nor did he want Reiner to feel bad for him.
So, the question was, how did he know?
"Reiner was… from somewhere within Wall Maria, right? A small village, the same one Bertolt comes from…" that's what he'd said, at least, but what if…
"Is something wrong?" Reiner asked, and Armin hurried to shake his head.
"No" he said "We should probably head back."
"Yeah, let's do that" Reiner said. He was the first to get up, turning his back to Armin as casually as usual. Was he being paranoid? Had he actually mentioned the matter to Reiner after all?
"That has to be it" Armin told himself "There's no way…"
"Is something wrong, Armin?" Reiner asked. He had taken a few steps, but had now stopped, standing with his back to Armin who was still sitting down. But now the taller man was turning around, making a face Armin had yet to see him make, yet which sent shivers down his spine.
He had never seen Reiner look so cold.
"Well?"
"…No" Armin lied, knowing his voice was strained as he forced on a smile "Nothing's wrong."
Despite saying this, he didn't get up nor take his eyes off of Reiner. The taller man didn't move, either.
"I'm being paranoid" Armin still told himself "He's only acting weird because I'm acting weird."
Despite telling himself this, the young man could not bring himself to move.
"Armin" Reiner started "Sometimes you're just too smart for your own good."
It all happened so quickly. Reiner pulled out a knife, and Armin didn't need to wait and see to know that the man was planning to use it on himself, not him. Instinct taking over, Armin brought his hand to his mouth, biting down and transforming. And while he was at it, he saw Reiner transform as well.
Now, in front of him, stood the Armored titan.
Just now, the idea that that would be the case had briefly passed by in his mind, but for it to actually be true…
"Think of it later" Armin thought "For now, run."
And he did exactly that, managing to slip past Reiner with the power of surprise as he charged at the Armored titan blindly, dashing past him instead of at him at the last moment. That was the only rational solution; he could not win Reiner one on one, human forms or titan forms, of that he was sure. His best option at survival was to attract the attention of the cadets, have them charge at the two of them, hopefully, and then slip away in the chaos without Reiner spotting him. He had no plan yet what to do after that, but he'd think as he went.
Or that was the plan anyway, had there not been a sudden explosion and another titan right in front of him.
A female titan.
Must've been a companion of the Armored titan, but there was no way that was Bertolt. However, the titan's features reminded Armin of someone else.
"Annie?"
He had no time to think of this further as a giant fist flew towards him, Armin feeling his head tear off seconds later. He wasn't dying, he realized, it was just his titan form's head that had been blown away. But as his titan sunk to its knees, his human form was now completely exposed and he wouldn't be able to heal fast enough. He could already hear the Armored titan closing in on him.
He was going to get eaten.
Knowing he couldn't get away, Armin fixed his gaze on the weary looking female titan.
"Annie, right?" he asked, and the widening of it's eyes was all the confirmation he needed "Why do you do this? You're also Eldians, right? We're the same."
Could Annie speak in that form, he'd never know. Nor would he ever know if the girl was planning to answer in the first place, for that was when Reiner caught up with him, sinking down his teeth. At first, Armin felt a mind shattering pain, but after that, nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
A.N: I was actually rather tempted to make a longer version of this where Armin actually doesn't get caught and fights to save Paradis, doing a lot better job than Eren. But since I have so many other projects already, I probably never get anything like that done.