Chapter 7: We're only Human

"You're all gonna die" said Eren with a creepy smilie on his face, still in his trance and completely unaware of the situation he was in. Both Armin and Mina who were now holding him up looked at him confused and scared by what he said.

"Eren?" said Armin, weakly.

Eren slowly lifted his head; slowly being brought back to reality and out of his trance, his eyes slowly began to widen, he blinked and almost immediately came to. His jaw dropped as he saw Mikasa holding her blades out standing in between two other people holding out their own weapons while being surrounded by soldiers from the Garrison regiment, their blades pointed at the small group of people.

Mikasa and the other two turned their heads to face Eren, Eren got a good at them; both had blond hair and golden eyes and from the way they were dressed it was clear to him that they weren't soldiers but one of them had a broader face and was carrying a sword and the other had a more rounder face and was carrying some cross between a spear and a battleaxe.

"You alright?" asked Mikasa, a look of concern on her face

Edward examined Eren; his light green eyes stared at them and the soldiers with a look of confusion and terror, he didn't look like a threat but as soon as he came here the soldiers encircling them were quickly ordered to fall back by that nervous looking captain into their original position as if they need to put distance between him and them.

Well, he is a guy who just came back from the dead… thought Edward.

"Look at me Eren, can you move? Can you hear me? Speak to me" pleaded Armin, the situation growing dire by the second "Listen you have to tell them everything, they're terrified but they'll understand."

"Armin?" he then turned his head to the left "Mina? What's…?"

"Did he just say we're all gonna die?" said one of the Garrison soldiers "That son of a bitch wants to eat us!"

What the hell is going on? Eren thought what is this? Who are those two? His eyes making passing glancing at the two why are their blades pointed at us, those blades were meant for killing titans and what's with that look? He stared at captain Weilman who stood at the center of the garrison soldiers Are they afraid of me?

Connie sat at a wooden table while telling Ymir and Krista her they managed to escape Trost, he couldn't however tell them about what happened; about what happened to Mina or the standoff between Ed and Alphonse against the Garrison soldiers only just minutes ago having been forced to be silent by the captain.

"If those two hadn't of cleared out the room we might never of gotten a hold of the gas in the supply room and we might of never of gotten out of Trost, hell I don't think this many from our group would have made it to HQ without them" said Connie, he looked over to the side at one of the cadets who managed to make it out;Tom he remembered from Jean's squad, he sat on the ground with his head in his hands and black hair spilling over his fingers.

"It's good that that happened then." said Krista "That most of us could still make it back, we volunteered to run supplies but the situation was bad, we were afraid that you guys weren't going to make it."

"Where are those two, didn't you say they tagged along with you guys and where's Mina?" asked Ymir.

"I can't tell you, I want to but they slapped a gag order on me and Sasha" said Connie frustrated.

Krista and Ymir both looked at Connie stunned by what he was saying, Ymir shifted her head towards Jean who was sitting down at the wooden table next to them and taking heavy gulps of water.

"Hey Jean do you know what happen?" asked Ymir.

Jean looked at her with tired empty eyes and took another gulp of water "I can't they placed a gag order on us too, through I think it's for a different reason than why Connie's got one, they're fool if they think they can keep this quiet word will get out" he said thinking back to when Eren was pulled out of the abnormal Titan's neck "unless we don't all die first."

"Cadets Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert and Mina Carolina!" called out Captain Weilman "The four of you have jointly committed an act of high treason by conspiring with outside forces; Whether or not you all receive a swift execution depends on you!"

What? Eren thought, still trying to make sense of the situation.

"First day here and we're already facing execution" Ed muttered to himself "people usually just run us out of town."

"Any attempt to move from your places or anything I deemed the least bit suspicious will be met with cannon fire!" he announced "Do not test me!"

"Now answer carefully; Eren Yeager, Elric brothers, Are you boys human? Titan or some other kind of monstrosity that has developed outside these walls?"

What kind of question is that? Thought Eren why are they all glaring at me and those two like we're some kind of monster?

"Human!" shouted Alphonse "We're human just like you and everyone else! We're not here to hurt anyone! We're here to help!"

"Do you take us for fools, boy?" yelled back Captain Weilman "You raise your blade at us yet claim you're here to help? Many of the cadets called you angels, but you're just demons in disguise."

Alphonse gritted his teeth, making that sword was a bad call an impulsive action which is something Edward would have done, not him; he had only done it because he thought the only person he managed to save and had been nothing but helpful to them was in danger, or at least that's what he thought, now he worried about whether he had backed his brother and him into a corner and that they might have to leave this place only saving the lives of cadets back in Trost, he wondered whether that would be enough for the Truth to allow them to have the demand, if not then they will return home without the one thing that motivated to watch that portal home close and put themselves through this entire ordeal here.

"We're not Gods or demons!" yelled Ed "We're only human!"

By the look on his face it seemed the captain was unconvinced by their answers, he then shifted his attention towards Eren still in a state of shock and confusion about what was going on.

"And you don't think you can hide behind them! Don't think for a second you can evade the question! You'll be blown to hell before you can assume your true form!" yelled Weilman.

"True form?" asked Eren confused by the accusation "What true form?"

"Don't play stupid! Many people saw you!" Weilman retorted "They saw you emerge from the carcass of a fallen titan in full view of your comrades."

Edward, Alphonse and Mina both turned to Eren in shock at the accusation, he was a Titan; the abnormal Titan who was killing the others this whole thing is getting more and more complicated by the second thought Ed first the unknown force is some kind of man eating giants, the group of people was humanity as a whole and now people can turn into titans? What next?

"And you, Elric brothers, you have already displayed to us your ability to perform some sort of unholy power which no human could do!" he yelled "you created the very weapons you point at us with from nothing!"

Unholy ability? Creating weapons from nothing? Thought Eren who are these guy?

"Creatures and people of unknown origins, ability or allegiance have infiltrated Wall Rose! And those creatures are you!" he announced "Under the circumstances you are being sanctioned by his majesty as being neither here nor there! You three are a risk and I am well within my rights to eliminate! And every second I spend here, every second my soldiers spend here in this standoff puts us all in jeopardy from the Armoured Titan! Hell you can be in league with them!" his paranoia and fear was engulfing his sense of reason. "I will not hesitate to kill the six of you here!"

"Nor should you" said a female soldier standing next to him, she had short grey hair and wore thin rim glasses "If they're this committed to defiance then so be it" she said plainly "I doubt they'd have any kind of useful information for us and it's as you said; this is all just a waste of time and resources."

Edward gripped the staff of his halberd tighter it was bad enough trying to reason with the guy on his own and now she's egging him on to kill us.

Alphonse lowered his sword "Look, I'm sorry I reacted that way, if it makes you feel any better I'll get rid of the sword, so we can talk about this." He tried to reason; he knelt down and placed his sword carefully on the ground and he slowly pressed his hands together and placed his hands on the sword, the garrison soldiers tensed up as they saw small blue sparks appear from his hands and the sword slowly merging into the ground. Al stood up and looked at his brother, indicating him to do the same. Ed had a look of irritation on his face; if they got rid of their weapons it could give those soldiers the chance to kill them before they could transmute anything, but he placed his halberd down and transmuted it into the ground.

Eren stared at them, stunned by what he had just witnessed; those two had just melted their weapons into the ground just by touching it, they also somehow made lightning appear between their finger tips as they do it.

"Now can we talk?" said Edward in an irritated tone.

"Sir!" yelled one of the Garrison soldiers "two of them are now unarmed and the other is still in human form, if we strike we can take them now easily!"

"Son of a bitch!" yelled Edward, he gritted his teeth in frustration; trying to reason with these people was a bad move and now they were unarmed and open to a possible attack, they could probably transmute faster than those soldiers could zoom here with their ODM gear and blades but against a cannon and a firing line, they'd be shot before they could react.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" said Mikasa; her tone was just as menacing as her look "My specialty lies in slicing up human flesh and I will demonstrate this on you if you try anything." She held her places at a sideways angle, glaring at the garrison soldiers.

Everyone looked at Mikasa stunned and scared even Ed and Al who were standing beside her shuffled away back a few steps.

and I thought Winry was scary when she was angry thought Ed.

Despite the wide distance between her and himself even captain Weilman flinched at the threat, another soldier standing by his side leaned in next to him "There something you should now, sir" he said "she was assigned to the rear guard along with the elites fresh out of graduation, she's probably worth a hundred men, losing her could be devastating to humanity's efforts."

"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" said Eren "And who are you guys?"

"Mikasa we can't go making threats, it's only going to make the situation worse" said Mina.

"You can't take them all on and if you could killing people won't do us any good" pleaded Armin.

"I don't care who I fight; Titans, humans, the entire Garrison Corps, they'll have to get through me before they can get to Eren."

"Please we can still talk this out with them, they're just scared, we just have to stay calm and explain ourselves" said Armin, desperation in his voice.

"Please we don't have to fight or kill anyone, we've already lost too much as it is." Added Mina "Armin right they're scared but they can to be reasoned with."

"I think the time for talking is over" retorted Edward as he stared down the Garrison soldiers and took up a defensive stance "Us being alive was probably decided before we could even argue for ourselves, if we can't talk to them when we lowered our weapons than they won't talk to us at all."

Eren looked down on the ground Am I the only one who thinks I'm not a Titian? I can't make sense of all this and I don't know how I ended up here and who are these guys. He tried to move his legs but he was able to my body feels numb, I can't move my legs and if I say something they don't like then we'll all be killed for it... killed by people. What did he say about me coming out of a titan carcass but that was just a dream, wasn't it? He looked at his sleeveless left arm my arm, my arm had grown back… like a titan.

He raised his head upwards "Please sir!" he yelled catching everyone's attention "I'm not a Titan! I'm human!" all eyes on him now and the air was deathly silent for a full minute could this be it? Did I convince them?

The captain gave them an a regretful look and lowered his head to the ground, trying to avoid their gaze.

"So you say…" he responded solemnly "but I have no choice" he then began to raise his hand upwards to signal the cannon to fire. "Please don't hate us for this. But when placed in a position like this, we all have to do things that make us less than human."

Alphonse, Armin, Mina and Eren both looked at the captain in horror about what he was going to do and Ed and Mikasa both glared at the man.

"If that's how it has to be then…" Ed said under his breath "Fine. by. me." he slammed the palms of his hands together, blue sparks appearing around his clasped hands.

"Armin! Mina! Grab those two and climb the wall! She ordered "I'll get Eren!" Mikasa sprinted towards Eren and grabbed him, lifting him up on her shoulders. The two of them ran up to Ed and Al

"Guys we have to go!" yelled Mina with tears in her eyes; she was afraid that this was end for them, the end for her a soldier killed by other soldiers.

Armin grabbed Edward's shirt and looked up the wall ready to move, his heart sank at what he saw "oh no…" both Mina, Mikasa and Alphonse looked up to the wall, their stomach dropped as they saw a line of soldiers standing at the edge of the wall looking down on them. "They're on the wall." Alphonse looked at his brother who was about to slam his hand on the ground.

For Eren it was as if the entire world had slowed down, he watched Armin yelling at them with a look of panic on his face, pleading for their lives, the tears slowly rolling down Mina's cheek and the one of the blond haired boys about to slam the palm of his hand on the ground. He felt something slip from his shirt and dangle around his neck. It was the key. Suddenly he could hear his father's voice calling to him and he was having a memory that he never once had before.

Protect this key

You must go back home, go to the basement; there you'll find the answers

This injection will cause some memory loss, that's why I can't explain everything

The road will be difficult son but you must reclaim wall Maria, reach the basement, and with this power you can do it

The captain began lowered his hand signalling the cannon to fire.

Everything hinges on you being able to master this power

He wriggled free from Mikasa and grabbed her by her arm dragging her, charging towards Armin, Mina and the two others, crashing into the group and knocking the boys down. The captain's arm had now dropped and was pointed in their direction, the sound of a cannon firing close by screamed though the air.

Everyone's life depends on you being able to control this power!

He looked up at the direction of the incoming cannon ball; he raised his hand to his mouth and bit down hard.

Boom!

The explosion knocked the Garrison soldiers off their feet, the sound of the impact ringing far and wide across the entrance to wall Rose, Garrison soldiers and cadets quickly jumped to their feet and watched the thick pillar of smoke rise from a nearby area. Confusion spread, many wondering whether the wall had been breached or perhaps a misfire by cannon. However only a small group of cadets knew why that cannon was fired and the realisation made their stomachs drop.

Captain Weilman and the other officer covered their faces with their arms during the explosion, they lowered their arms "Did we get them?" he asked, trying to look through the thick fog of smoke.

Ed and Alphonse could hardly believe what they were seeing; their bodies were shaking, their mouths were agape, their eyes wide in both awe and horror at where they were. Mina wanted to scream at what she was seeing but her trembling hands covered her mouth, Armin sat there almost traumatised, his face making the same expression as Ed, Al and Mikasa who were completely dumbfounded and shocked at what they were seeing.

They were inside a ribcage.

The soldiers of the garrison stood there shaking, taking several steps backwards from the skinless titan before them. One of its arms out stretched facing the direction of the cannon, its red flesh was peeling from its bones, its skull was missing one eye and inside they could see five people sheltering inside the Titan's carcass.