Chapter 8: Strength through Others
The five of them still sat there; Armin and Mina were still stunned by what had just happened, Edward and Alphonse began to examine the large carcass trying to come up with some kind of idea as to why a Titan's body had suddenly just been transmuted from thin air and Mikasa had quickly composed herself sitting up and surveying the smoke for signs of movement from the Garrison Corps, her hand resting on her blade.
"All squads stay alert!" said a voice from the smoke to the chorus of rumbling footsteps "Get that cannon reloaded!"
"I heard the cannon fire" said Armin weakly though it was enough to snap everyone out of their daze "then there was a large explosion and a blast of heat… now we're in the innards of…"
"Eren did this for us." Said Mikasa sternly "that's all we need to understand for now."
"Are you serious?" questioned Edward "he was able to transmute a large body from nothing and you're not going to question how?
Mikasa shot Edward an annoyed look and was about to respond to him when suddenly the bones of the titan began to creak above them, they all looked upwards.
"It… it's still alive" said Mina.
Suddenly the creaking stopped and the sound of someone running from behind caught their attention, they tensed up expecting it to be Garrison soldiers, instead it was Eren "Mikasa, Armin, Mina" he called "are you alright?"
"Hey" yelled Edward "How the hell did you..."
"I don't know" Eren responded urgently, suddenly the flesh and bones that encased them was dissolving into ashes "Look it's starting to vaporise just like a Titan." He turned to the direction of the garrison soldiers; the thick dark grey smoke blocking his view of them "They're probably still watching and waiting, but once the smoke clears they'll resume the attack."
The rest of them scuttled out of the Titan corpse from it's exposed chest and they turned back and observed its carcass "After this, I don't think there's any chance of reasoning with them."
"I don't think we ever had a chance of reasoning with them." retorted Edward.
"You're probably right…" replied Eren grimly he then held up the key around his neck in full view of the group "I'm starting to remember, this key, our house, the basement; my dad said to head back home and there I'll find answers in our basement. It might have the answers, maybe information on the Titans and how to stop them."
He slammed his fist on one of the ribs of the Titan's corpse in frustration.
Everyone looked at him dumbfounded by what he was saying, that the mystery of the Titans was inside Eren's basement, Ed and Alphonse thought back to what the Truth told them how it was an enemy which they don't yet understand but apparently it seemed like someone knew quite well what was going on.
"You're kidding me" said Mina "You could have the answers to stopping the Titans inside your basement?" she was dumbfounded, her squad mates died fighting those Titans today, some many other cadets died fighting the Titans today and their deaths could have been avoided if they just knew more about the Titans and how to stop them… those answer were apparently inside someone's basement.
"It sounds crazy, I know" responded Eren equally furious "I can't believe my dad would keep this kind of information from everyone, thousands of scouts have died to obtain answers about the Titans and it was right under my nose." He tightens his fist in anger. "Damn him, that bastard."
Edward flinched at Eren's anger at his father; it reminded him of his own hatred towards his dad and the regret he had for feeling that way about him, Alphonse had noticed Edward discomfort and thought to interject.
"Maybe he had a good reason?" suggested Alphonse, the glares that were shot at him from the two of them made him instantly regret his decision to speak "Speaking from personal experience, sometimes people hide this kind of information because it serves a bigger purpose."
"What purpose can be bigger than keeping humanity from the brink of extinction?" questioned Eren.
Alphonse didn't really know how to respond to that; he thought back to why his dad left him and his brother when they were young and he never said why, Edward had come to resent him for that, but in the end it was to save the lives of fifty million people and Alphonse couldn't think of a reason why someone would hide something like that when the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.
"Hey" said Mikasa "Let's focus on the situation at hand" reminding them that they were still surrounded by Garrison soldiers and with a cannon pointed in their direction, they quickly ran behind the dissolving Titan carcass for cover and knelt in a circle facing each other.
"Listen I'm getting out of here." Said Eren, Mikasa, Armin and Mina gasped.
"Where, How?" asked Armin.
"For now anywhere but here" he replied "then from there I'll head for the basement" he lifted his clenched fist to his face "but I'll have to turn into a Titan again."
"You can transform at will?" asked Armin.
"I don't know how I'm doing it to be honest, but it just feels like a reflex, I just know that I can do it."
Ed and Alphonse took in this information; so far he was able to transmute a living Titian from nothing and he didn't need a transmutation array and can bypass the laws of equivalent exchange. There were only two explanations to this; Eren had a philosopher's stone or he was homunculus and transforming into a titan was his ability.
"How exactly did you get this power?" questioned Ed.
"If I can remember, my dad injected something into me" Eren replied.
An injection, that's how King Bradley and Ling became homunculi, they had a philosopher's stone in liquid form enter their bodies, but the stone didn't cause memory loss, Ling remembered everything that happened over the course of Greed's possession and from what Roy told him about Bradley he remembered the process of becoming Wrath. Then again he might know more than he's letting on.
"Do you remember how it felt when you were injected, did it feel as though your body was being broken and rebuild from the inside out?" asked Alphonse.
Eren, Armin, Mikasa and Mina all looked at Alphonse in confusion over his very detailed question "I honestly can't remember how it felt" replied Eren "But I have to ask, how the hell are you guys able to make weapons from the nothing, Captain Weilman said you can and I saw you melt your weapons into the ground and make lighting appear between your hands when you did it."
"It's called Alchemy" said Ed in his rushed reply "and we're not done asking you questions, do you remember anything about what your dad injected into you? Was it red coloured? Was it something between a liquid and a solid?"
"What?" said Eren with a look of confusion "I don't know, my memory blurry as it is, I can't remember what something like that would look like?"
"Is turning into a titan the only thing you can do? Or are there any other abilities you can perform; an ultimate shield or spear perhaps." Ed question, becoming more intense in his interrogation.
"I don't know damn it!" responded Eren with the same kind of intensity "what the hell are you trying to get at anyway?"
"Brother, calm down" Alphonse advised "I don't think he's one of them."
"One of them?" asked Mina "wait are you talking about those people you had to fight back in your world who had regenerative powers?"
Eren quickly looked at Mina and then shot back to Ed "wait you guys are from another world? And you have Titans too?" He asked, Ed didn't respond "Hey you can't just throw a bunch of question my way and not answer mine!"
"Fine, how about I get to the point then." said Ed he then clapped his hands and placed his left hand on the ground, transmuting a large military knife from the ground. Mikasa gripped the handle of her blades when she saw the knife form, it was clear to her that Ed intended to use it against Eren and she was going to stop him before he decided to do anything with that knife. "Are you one of the Homunculi?" he said gripping the large knife, leaning in forward towards Eren.
Despite the large knife, Eren didn't cower away from Ed; instead he also leaned forward, the two just inches away from each other "I don't know what the hell you're talking about or what a 'homunculi' is." He said in a vicious tone "but unless you get that knife away from me then we're going to have a problem."
"Could you guys just stop!" yelled Mina pushing them slightly away from each other "Please there is a much bigger issue here; we can't be fighting among ourselves when we have the Garrison regiment surrounding us."
Alphonse grabbed his brother by the shoulder "Can you please calm down! I doubt he knows anything about who the homunculi or Father are and I doubt he has a philosopher stone."
"Damn it I don't have time for this, I need to go!" shouted Eren frustrated, blood running down his nose.
"Eren, your nose is bleeding" warned Mikasa.
"Your skin is also pale and you're breathing heavy; you're not in good shape." added Armin.
"I don't care" replied Eren as he wiped his nose "Look I have two ideas; the five of you could make it out alive, if you just leave me, I'm doing this on my own, I've brought you enough trouble as it is."
Armin and Mina gasped "Eren you can't just-"
"If you're going then I'm coming with you." Mikasa declared "Whether you like it or not."
Eren looked at her in frustration, he was about to respond when Ed butted into the conversation "We're coming too." Ed declared
The four cadets looked at Ed stunned, not just a minute ago he was threatening Eren with a knife and now he wanted to escape with him. "Like hell you are, give me one good reason why I should trust you let alone let you come with me?" Eren growled.
"I'll give you three." Ed replied "One, those soldiers want Al and I dead just as much as they want you dead so we're on the same boat whether you like it or not, two, we have our own reasons but believe it or not we're here to help in defeating the Titans too, your friends can vouch for us on this and finally whatever is in your basement it may be information on how you were able to bypass the laws of equivalent exchange; you manage to transmute half of a large Titan carcass from thin air. Al and I know of only one thing that can do that. So if your dad has information on that then we're gonna make damn sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands like it did in our world." The final part was spoken with a great sense of fortitude.
Eren focused on Ed; taking in what he said, some of what he said Eren didn't understand; what does transmute mean? And what was equivalent exchange? He was still angry at Ed for threatening him with a knife, but the way he talked about keeping whatever dad had in his basement from falling into the wrong hands, the determination in his voice and the fire in his eyes it instantly became clear why he held a knife at him, Ed seemed willing to do anything stop something he perceived as a threat.
'I'LL DRIVE THEM OUT'
"You guys can't go!" Mina interjected "If you step foot outside Wall Maria by yourselves then you're as good dead and how can you ever hope to help us, help humanity, if you can't work with others who want to help it too?"
"Mina…" said Alphonse apologetically, in his mind it looked very unlikely that they'd be on good enough terms with this world's military to work alongside them so going out on their own seemed like the best option open to them.
She scanned the faces of the two of them; Ed and Al "You two said that you were here to help, how does running off into Titan infested lands and possibly getting yourself killed supposes to help us retake Trost? Retake Wall Maria? And what if the basement turns out to be a bust what happens then?" she then turned to face Eren and Mikasa. "What happens when the four of you, the best hopes for all of us, are too far away to do anything when the Titans decide to knock down Wall Rose and Sina?"
The five of them got into a heated argument over whether it was worth going to Shiganshina district, Armin stayed quiet and thought to himself.
As the situation stands, the Garrison regiment isn't likely to be very to launch an attack in us, but it's all too likely that they have their cannon trained on us which they must be reloading and I doubt that either Eren or Ed and Al would be fast enough to form some cover for us the next time.
He lowered his head and thought back to the times when he, Eren and Mikasa were just kids, the countless times they saved him from those other kids and the more innocent times they spent together, he lowered his head even after all this time he was useless, he couldn't save them, all his life he had to rely on the help of others and now at a time when his friends and comrades needed him most he had let them down.
"Could everyone just be quiet!" shouted Eren, silencing the argument they were having. "I said I had two ideas, remember?" he turned his head to Armin "Armin I trust you to make the right call." Armin lifted his head to face Eren "This may sound unrealistic; I know this, but what if we were able to use my Titan powers and their Alchemy alongside the military strength, I'm not a strategist like you Armin but even I can see combination like that would be formidable." Armin thought on Eren's words and it wasn't hard to see that Eren was right; both Eren and the Elrics had the potential to close the hole in Trost district, Eren could use the boulder and plug the hole or the Elrics could use their Alchemy to seal off the hole entirely. "This might sound crazy, but if you tell me that you can convince the Garrison regiment that we pose no threat to them than I'll believe you, but if you say no than I will go with my first idea, whatever you decide, I'll respect your judgement."
Armin looked at Eren stunned with the responsible that he was being entrusted with "Why? Why are two putting your trust in me to make this call?"
"Because you're worth putting my trust in, you've always stayed calm and made the right judgement call no matter how messed up things got, you've always been someone Mikasa and I could rely on."
"When have I…"
"A bunch of times; five years ago you saved Mikasa's and I life by going to Mr Hannes, if you hadn't of done that then we would have been eaten by the Titan."
"Back at the castle you came up with the idea on how to clear the supply room, that was your idea, the people who escaped are alive because of you." Added Mina hoping that the further encouragement would boost his confidence.
"She's right" said Edward "You're the real reason those people are alive, not Al and I, you are." Alphonse nodded in agreement.
"Armin, if you have a plan, then I have faith in it too." Mikasa added.
Armin knelt there, as a large chuck of bone collapsed behind him stunned by what they was saying all this time I thought I was useless, that I was just weighting everyone down, but my friends, they don't see me that way…
"Armin" Eren said, urgency in his voice "We're almost out of time."
Eren and Mikasa, my friends, the only two people I have left in the world have faith in me, my comrade Mina has faith in me and these two, even though I had only met them today they've placed their faith in me too.
What other proof do I need?
Armin stood up and looked down at the group with a look of pure determination on his face "I swear I'll convince them" declared Armin "the five of you just try an act as calm and non-aggressive as possible." He turned and marched off to face the Garrison.
Ever since the appearance of the Elrics and Eren transforming into a titan, something has been gnawing at the back of my mind, I still haven't collected my thoughts but I'll just have to think on my feet.
He undid the latches of his ODM gear which sent it crashing into the ground from his waist, the sound of metal hitting the floor caused the Garrison soldiers and the captain to flinch and gasp. He ran out of the smoke and came to a gradual halt with the soles of his boots skidding across the the ground
"You, Halt!" shouted Captain Weilman "Monster! I know you wear the disguise of a human, I won't be fooled!"
"Neither Eren nor the Elric brothers are foes of humanity; we're willing to share whatever we know about his power and their own abilities with military command!" shouted Armin, tears welling in his eyes.
"It's meaningless to argue!" retorted Weilman "We saw him transform into a Titan before our very eyes and those two had formed weapons which they proceeded to wield at us! How can you claim that they are not foes of humanity when one of them can transform into the one of the monsters who seeks to destroy humanity and the others wield weapons against those who seek to protect it? What proof can you show us?"
"You don't need any proof!" Armin shot back angrily "You know what happened; from the reports and with your own eyes!"
"What?" yelled Weilman.
"You saw the Elrics form weapons against you, yes, but you also saw them lower those weapons and even go as far as to dispose of them in an effort to talk and the reports say hundreds of soldiers saw both Eren's Titan fighting the Titans that surrounded HQ and the Elrics using their abilities to help the cadets escape from Trost, to put it in the simplest terms there are cadets and survivors from the Garrison vanguard in Wall Rose who are only alive now because of the efforts of those three! And it doesn't matter how you see the situation that is an irrefutable fact!" Challenged Armin.
The once tense Garrison soldiers began to lower their weapons and their guard.
"Kid's got a point" muttered one of them.
"I know a guy from the vanguard; I heard he made it back…"
Captain Weilman looked around, shifting his head left to right, watching his soldiers lose their edge and allowing themselves be persuaded by that monster in human skin. Desperation took him over. "Prepare to Attack!" he ordered, yelling from the top of his lungs "Don't let yourselves by swayed by their cunning lies; the Titan's behavior has always been beyond our understanding and the appearance of those other two only further complicates that matter! They speak our language and wear the skin of our fellow man to deceive us! We cannot allow them to slip past us!"
And with that the Garrison soldiers all raised their weapons again, their bodies tensing up and their killer instincts returning. Edward and Mikasa gritted his teeth in frustration while the rest of them gasped at the Captain refusal to see reason.
It's no use, he's let fear and paranoia overtake his reasoning; he's too scared to think this through.
He turned back to face the group, his gazed focused solely on his best friends Eren… Mikasa…
The two of them looked back at him, their faces showing that look of belief they had in him, Eren nodded at Armin confirming that they still believed in him. Armin tightened his fist, gritted his teeth and with a renewed sense of determination and confidence he turned to face the Captain and the Garrison soldiers once more and swung his fist hitting the left side of his chest with a loud thud.
"I AM A SOLDIER! AND I HAVE DEDICATED MY HEART AND SOUL TO THE RESTORATION OF HUMANITY! I SEE NO GREATER HONOUR THEN TO LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR SUCH A WORTHY CAUSE!
"IF WE COMBINE EREN'S TITAN POWER AND THE ELRICS ALCHEMIC ABILITIES WITH HUMANITY'S MILITARY MIGHT; THEN WE CAN RETAKE THIS CITY! WE CAN RETAKE WALL MARIA! WE CAN RETAKE THIS WORLD!"
"I BELIEVE WE CAN DO IT! I KNOW WE CAN DO IT!"
"FOR HUMANITY'S GLORY, FOR HUMANITY'S VERY SURVIVAL, IN WHAT LITTLE TIME I HAVE LEFT TO LIVE, I WILL ADVOCATE THEIR STRATEGIC VALUE!"
Everyone looked at Armin, stunned by what he had declared; the garrison soldiers all stood there with wide eyes and open mouths in shock, Eren, Mikasa and Mina were equally stunned but filled with pride in their comrade, but for Eren and Mikasa they couldn't have felt more proud of their closest friend. Ed and Alphonse were stunned and even more so surprised; the first time they met him he seemed to be broken individual who was deeply scarred by the horrors he witnessed and now he just delivered a speech which would have made Alex Armstrong weep and might of brought a tear to even Olivier Armstrong's eye.
"Sir, maybe he has a point…" said one of the Garrison officers behind him.
"Quiet!" yelled Weilman, he began to raise his hand upwards to signal the cannon to fire, Armin and Mina could only watch in wide eyed horror at the captain's continual refusal to listen, Eren began to raise his hand to his mouth in preparation to bite down on it and transform into a Titan, Ed and Alphonse clapped their hands together ready to perform alchemy and Mikasa reached out for the handles her blades, the four of them acting with the intention of getting Armin and themselves out of there.
Don't be fooled by their lies, they're all traitors! I am an officer of the Garrison I cannot allow insubordination to go unchecked!
But before he could lower his hand to signal the cannon his forearm was grabbed.
"That's enough" said a voice from behind him; it seemed very familiar to him.
"Still as brittle as you always been, Captain Weilman."
"Commander Pixis?" he replied, shocked by his sudden appearance.
"Can you not see this soldier's salute? I have rarely seen something more beautiful than that." Pixis said, commenting on posture "I have only just arrived, but I am well aware of the current situation, you take charge of our reinforcements." He paused for a few seconds allowing Armin to collapse onto his knees trying to catch his breath; he was both physically and emotionally exhausted by the whole ordeal "As for me, well I figure I should at least do these young soldiers and our new arrivals the favour of hearing them out."