Chapter 39: Death of a Monarch
"Three…two…one…" Levi kicks the wooden door open as a bright light from inside the wide cavern hits their eyes. A group of four garrison troops run forwards with their muskets onto the landing as they point their weapons in the direction of the open space.
"Woah…" said one of the soldiers as he lowered his weapon slightly.
"What the hell is this place?" said another as they walked down the spiral stairs. Hange and Levi slowly stepped in; Hange looked to be in awe at the massive cave before them as Levi only scanned the area looking for danger.
"It's an open space." Levi said looking at his squad who were waiting in the hallway of the underground entrance. "Bring the barrels forward." Jean and Connie quickly moved back and rolled three wooden barrels towards the door.
Alphonse peered from the door and marveled at the massive cavern, its bright diamond like walls and stunning pillars; it was something out of a fantasy, an entire cave formed from an element or material he had no knowledge of. "The walls…" he muttered "They're glowing." The cave seemed to just go on with no clear end.
Where's Ed in all this…
The Four garrison troops approached the crystal pillars; one of them circled the nearest one and looked upwards.
"They're on top-" he yelled as a burst shot was fired at him, his head blown off as his body slumped onto the pillar, blood staining the diamond surfaces.
"Shit, everyone get back!" Levi ordered but it was too late as the Anti-personnel squad quickly eradicated them as they rained shots down from above. Hange and Levi quickly ran back into the hall way "Fuck!" Levi yelled, he pulled out his blade and quickly stabbed a hole in the barrels. "Do it now!" Connie and Jean both quickly rolled the three wooden barrels down a curving staircase. The barrels rolling down the white stairs and onto the mirror like floor as a trail of smoke violently seeps out of a large crack. The team quickly rush out onto the landing, Levi leading the charge, as he quickly run down the stairs.
Armin urgently focused down at the barrels on the ground as he strikes his match against the box. A burst of fire shot through the air towards the barrels of gas. The wooden barrels exploded as the fire stuck them; thick clouds of dark gray smoke were left in the wake of its destruction, filling the cavern like a flood of water filling a house.
Both Mikasa and Levi flew forward and vanished into the wall of smoke.
"Armin and Sasha keep the enemy off focus and provide support!" Petra ordered "Everyone else, get ready to move!"
"I count about twenty of them!" Levi yelled as he glided from and around the pillars "They're grouped near the ceiling; finish them off here and now!"
"All troops scatter and eliminate the enemy!" Traute ordered "We've come this far, do not let everything we're worked towards end here!"
Hange and the Levi squad charged forward into the fray; as Alphonse fired his cable into the nearest pillar and reeled himself forward he couldn't help but feel himself succumbing to the dread and doubt that continuously devoured him. He glided under the trails of flares and black smoke provided by Sasha and Armin and watched.
Levi and Mikasa ruthlessly carved through the Anti-personnel troops; almost dancing through the air they evaded the shots with ease as they sliced anyone who was unlucky enough to be spotted by them. A small trail of blood and corpse were left in their wake as they continue their rampage.
He fired his cables upwards and pulled himself up against a pillar, the thick dark smoke still masking his location, he quickly spotted Jean ambushing an enemy soldier from behind and beheading them with his blade.
"Connie, lookout!" Petra yelled Alphonse quickly turned his head towards Connie to see two Anti-personnel troops descend upon him. But a large ball of fire suddenly consumed and turned them into charred flesh as they fell to the floor. Sasha fired an arrow into the heart of another, their body dangling from the cable latched onto the ceiling.
"Connie, stay hidden in the smoke!" Armin yelled, a freshly lit match burning away in his hand.
Have you gotten use to it, Armin? He thought. Has it all become so easy for you all?
Petra flew forward and stabbed his blade into the chest of a nearby enemy before quickly moving on. It was only for a second but he could see the look on Petra's face. It was disgust.
No… Alphonse wondered it never did but you all resolved yourselves to do it.
Can I really do this… he quickly moved forward under the smoke. "You got your hands plenty dirty." Levi's words seemed to ring round his head.
Alphonse quickly spotted Hange moving forward, blood running down her face as she went in pursuit of a lone MP. He quickly followed, passing through thick walls of smoke which masked his approach. He watched as the MP fired her guns at Hange and missed widely, hitting a pillar.
"You missed!" Hange taunted. Neither Hange nor the woman she was fighting was aware of his presence as Alphonse circled round.
The woman MP landed onto the side of a pillar to face Hange directly. She's out of ammo, what she's… the MP pointed her gun at Hange the hooks…
Alphonse needed to think fast.
Hange going to die if I don't do something! He fired his cable onto the pillar which held the woman MP.
Alphonse swung around the pillar.
I could just kick her off but she might turn the gun on me… I could just cut her cable wire but still get away and hit us again, I could just…He wondered what kind of material this cave was made out of… he didn't know. Another plan out the window…
He was behind her now, her gun pointed directly at Hange as Hange looked to brace for the shot.
He no longer had time to think fast. He only had enough time to act and act now.
"You must accept that there's no coming back from this."
He pulled his arm back and lurch it forward towards the back of the MP, the blade pierced through the gas canister on her back and through her chest. Alphonse detached the blade from his handle, leaving it buried into the back of the MP.
"Alphonse!" Hange yelled.
Everything seemed to slow down for a second; he detached his cable and swung around to face the MP, he caught her eyes moving in his direction as her arm slumped down and she free fell towards the ground. His senses began to dull as he watched her fall.
Thud!
Alphonse and Hange quickly fired their cables onto a nearby pillar, Alphonse landing roughly as his back hit the pillar. Everything was muffled for a moment; his vision was a bit hazy and his hearing was dulled as he felt the blood rushing through his head, he felt someone grab onto his shirt and shake him a bit, he turned to see Hange trying to say something to him. But in that moment all he could hear was the sound of his own heavy breathing as he stared down at the body on the floor.
"Traute!" yelled one of the MPs; it was the first thing he heard as he began to regain his senses. A zealous comrade of hers flew towards Alphonse and Hange with their gun pointed towards them. Alphonse felt his shirt being pulled as Hange tried to move him out of the firing line when flew right past them and shoved their blade into the MP's stomach, quickly detaching their blade as they hung from a nearby column.
It was Mina "Hurry!" she yelled "Historia and Ed must be close!" she pointed further down the cave as blood ran down her face.
Alphonse quickly snapped back to reality "Right!" he quickly slammed his handle into another slot of his scarab.
"Traute's dead!" yelled an MP "fall back! Retreat!" what was left of their already slim numbers was now in complete disarray as they rushed to escape the attack.
"After them now!" Levi ordered "Keep your eyes open for Kenny!" the team pursued what was left of the Anti-personnel squad.
Ed… please be okay.
The distance echoes of gunshots and yells slowly crept in volume as time continued. Ed had his head turned towards the seemingly endless tunnel that led up to this sacrificial area.
C'mon… C'mon… he thought, hoping that the others would show up just in time to confront Rod and Kenny before anything else could happen. He looked back at Rod and Historia.
"Our enemies are closing in." Rod commented as he looked back "We must hurry, Historia."
"R…right" she stuttered, a look of uncertainty on her face. Eren continued to struggle, his chains rattling as his muffled screams blocked out the echoes of distant fighting. "What is it, Eren?" Historia asked "Why are you glaring at me?"
"He has become aware of his fate." Rod commented "He realised where his sinful life has led him." He looked up at Eren "The powers that were stolen from us will be returned to its rightful place, that is you, Historia." Historia looked at Rod confused "The power that resides in Eren had created this cave a hundred years ago, it created the walls we live in but has always graced us with a life of peace for what remained for humanity. It reached into our hearts and altered humanity's memories."
"What?" Ed gasped. Ed knew about the coordinate and its power, unbelievable power but controlling the memories of people…that really was an almost God like ability.
"A handful of bloodlines were unaffected." Rod continued, ignoring Ed. "But their descendants no longer remember the time before the walls, no one knows the history of humanity or the titans…. Except for Frieda Reiss." Rod then explained the history of his daughter and the power of the coordinate "It is a duty that the Reiss family is charged with for a hundred years, the memories of humanity and the powers of the coordinate, she was free to revel the mysteries of the world to us… But those who inherited the coordinate all chose not to share the secrets of the world as they inherited the philosophy of the first king, the creator of our world who sought after a world of peace."
A world of peace? hiding behind walls, afraid of being eaten, how can that be peace?
If Frieda still possessed the power of the coordinate, if she was still alive today, then all this conflict we find ourselves in, against titans and now humans, would never have occurred. Dare I say the titans themselves could have been eradicated had the power not been stolen."
Ed tried to piece everything together; why Grisha tried to kill an entire family, the powers of the coordinate and why over a hundred years no one had broke from the philosophy of peace, Eren was a hothead and stubborn guy who sought freedom beyond the walls yet if he possessed the coordinate why hasn't he succumb to this idea of peace and why hadn't he gained the memories of the world?
"The true powers of this world can only be used by those descended from our line." Rod stated "And so long as Eren is the vessel of the coordinate… we will never be free from this hell."
"Historia… only you can end this hell." Rod finished.
There it was the last piece of information.
"Bullshit!" Ed yelled "You listening to me, Bastard?" Historia turned towards Ed "Historia if you eat Eren then nothing changes, if what Rod is saying is true then the first King's philosophy will take over then you'll end up like Rod's uncle and your sister. You can't change the world if you inherit the coordinate because it won't let you!" Ed focused his attention towards Rod "You and your family had this power for years, how many people were killed when the walls were attacked and how many were killed before? If you never did anything then what makes now any different? Your family allowed so many people to be slaughtered and I'm willing to bet you'd be perfectly fine with it, what the hell kind of philosophy is that?"
Rod looked ready to respond when Kenny reeled himself down to the ground, agitation written all over his face "Wait… so you're telling me there's no point in turning myself into a titan and eating Eren?" Kenny grabbed Rod by his collar and lifted the short man into the air as jammed the barrel of his gun into Rod's left eye. "All the plans, everything I worked for and believed are bullshit?"
"Father!" Historia yelled
"I waited for this day for a long time, waited for ya to do the ritual ceremony and all… ya knew my intentions and ya played me like a damn fiddle." Kenny accused him as he continued to point the gun in Rod's eye.
"I'm grateful…" Rod replied "I always thought that Uri picking you off the streets was just another one of his mad whim-" Kenny pressed the barrel of the gun further into Rod's face.
"If you insult Uri one more time" Kenny threaten "Ya gonna find half ya face all over the floor."
Historia pulled the gun from Rod's face and towards the ground "Let go of my father." She growled.
"Historia, ya poor thing" Kenny replied as he broke free from Historia's grip. "Ya old man wants to turn ya into a monster and make ya eat Eren." He said pointed towards Eren with his gun. "He's only using ya, listen to Ed there he seems to know what he's talking about." He said as he turned Rod around to face her.
"Historia… I can't believe I'm saying this but please listen to Kenny." Ed pleaded.
"That's the spirit!" Kenny responded as he pulled out a knife "Ya dad didn't care about you for all ya life, he left ya with a mother who hated ya guts. Everyone thought of ya as a disgrace and everyone didn't want ya to exist, ya just a stain on them." He stated remorselessly "Ya think he's playing dad now because he loves ya, NAH! This fat worm doesn't want to be a titan himself and just needs ya blood!" Kenny stuck his knife into Rod's mouth and wiggled it around. "Why ya think he got his younger brother and his own daughter to do it for him?" Rod began to cough up blood as Kenny continued to spin the knife around "He even tried to hide the fact the power was stolen and only spoke up about it when Eren arrived, you know how many people died in those five years he kept quiet and you think he gives a shit about humanity?"
"Not humanity!"
"Not his family!"
"Not you!"
"Only himself!" Kenny stated as his began more and more violent in his torture "So what do ya think of ya dad now!" Ed watched horrified at the sight as Rod continued to cough up blood onto his face.
Rod grabbed the blade of the knife with his hand and forced it out from his mouth. "He's wrong, Historia." Rod gasped "There's a reason why I can't become a titan… you can't trust anyone else…"
"Historia, you know that's not true, he's lying to you." Ed countered.
"You're the only one, Historia…" Rod continued "Inherit the founder…become God and save us all…" suddenly the sound of zipping cables caught their attention, for a brief second Ed allowed himself to hope it was his friends, an anti-personnel squad member landed in front of Rod and Kenny. The soldier was covered in bandages and breathing heavily as they collapsed onto their knees.
"Captain Ackerman, the enemy…." He gasped out.
"Where's Traute? Why the hell are you telling me?" Kenny questioned.
"Traute… the enemy killed her, it was that Elric boy." The squad member replied.
Ed quickly took a sharp intake of breath as his neck snapped towards Kenny's subordinate. Alphonse? He turned his head towards the floor as anxiety began to flood his mind and body. Why? Was it because of me…?
Kenny dropped Rod onto the floor; there was a look of resignation on his face as his subordinate's message sunk in. "Of all the fucking people…" he muttered, Kenny looked back at the MPs "Go back and hold 'em off." The MP looked at Kenny completely dumbfounded. "Go!" reluctantly the lone MP fired his cable and back into the fray.
A stream of blood flowed down from Rod's mouth as Historia quickly crouched beside him. Rod turned towards Ed "The things we do for our family…" he said, taking a dig at Ed. Ed snapped his head upwards towards Rod, anger began to overtake him and he desperately tried to bring his hands together to transmute something and break free. But all in vain. Rod turned to Historia "Historia, what Ed said about the philosophy of the first king was true, he wished for a world of peace and wished for humanity to be confined to these walls for what reason I do not know and like my father, my brother and Frieda you too may be influenced by him but in the end you would have become God and whatever you decide, I will follow you and pray like I have done with Uri and Frieda."
"Gim'me a break from your shit." Kenny commented as he walked off towards the stairs.
"What are you doing?" Rod questioned as everyone watched him.
"Historia, if you wanna turn into a titan then be my guest." Kenny stated as he approached Eren, he was now standing behind him as he pulled out a knife and undid the muffle from Eren's mouth.
Annie, who had been silent this whole time, began to muffle something in a panic as she tried to desperately move.
"Both of ya can become titans and fight it out" Kenny stated "If Historia wins then you can have ya peace and nothing changes." He spun his knife in his hand "If Eren wins then yah can't use the power so nothing still changes."
"Kenny, leave him alone!" Ed yelled.
"Whatcha gonna do?" Kenny questioned, he looked down towards Eren. "Ya probably can't bite your tongue so I'll help ya along." He said as he cut a clean line across Eren's forehead, blood quickly running down his face. Kenny pointed his gun towards the ceiling, a hook blasted upwards as Kenny pulled himself from harm's way.
Ed quickly realised why Annie began to panic; they were going to be in the middle of a titan battle with no way of escape.
"Eren, don't!" Ed pleaded "Just for a little longer, the others will be here to get us!"
"Historia, you must do this now." Rod urged her as he handed her the syringe.
"Historia, please don't!" Ed pleaded "You know how this ends; you don't have to listen to him."
"I have to do this Ed…" Historia replied "For humanity I have to try." She stuck the needle into the forearm, blood trickling from the small open cut.
"Are you sure you're doing this for humanity?" Ed asked, causing her to pause.
"Historia…" this time it was Eren. "Please… eat me…"
"Eren!" Ed yelled.
Eren lifted his up his head, tears and blood ran down his face as he looked down upon Historia from his high chains. "Never needed to happen… none of this" Eren sobbed "If my father hadn't of killed Frieda then she could have fixed this… so many people died because of him… because of me… Armin's grandfather, Thomas, Mylius, Nac, Marco… Petra's former squad mates… the soldiers who tried to rescue me… and the others I'll never know… I can't atone for something like that…"
Ed was speechless as he listen to Eren express his guilt Eren…
"All those days spent training… all those dreams about going past the wall, it never needed to happen… I never needed to happen…"
"Eren…no…" Ed muttered weakly.
"Please… just end this for me…" Eren finished as his voice cracked from his tears, he seemed content to give up and die… A feeling Ed knew all too well.
"Eren… that day you called me normal… it really made me happy…" Historia replied. Historia looked down at the needle into her arm and gently placed her thumb onto the base of the plunger.
"Historia, please!" Ed screamed "Just look at me for a second!" Historia lifted her head and turned it towards Edward "Listen… I know why you want to do this but I am telling you right now it is not worth it."
"Do you Ed?" Historia questioned "Do you really know what I'm thinking? How I'm feeling right now?"
"Maybe not entirely… but I know that look." Ed replied "It's the same one Al and I had when we performed the biggest mistake of our lives… and it was all because we wanted to see our mother smile again." Historia moved her thumb from the plunger of the needle "It was our lives, we should have liv-" suddenly Ed found himself being gagged as a piece of cloth was quickly and roughly wrapped around his mouth.
"I've had enough of your back talk" Rod.
Throughout all the madness and emotion, Annie sat quietly and watched as Rod Reiss tried to coax Historia into eating Eren and Ed begging both her and Eren to wait for reinforcement.
Right there… Annie thought the coordinate is right there… a member of the royal family was right there under our nose. Amidst the anxiety of a potential titan fight and the uncertainty of her life hanging in the balance she couldn't help but feel frustrated that their objective and then some was only a dorm and a bunk bed away respectively.
She tried to bite down on the metal muffler in her mouth, hoping her teeth break and she'd cut her gums but to no avail. Bashing her head against the glowing crystal pillar would be an idiotic gamble between drawing blood and knocking herself unconscious.
She was an observer whether she liked it or not. And she hated it.
She weighted up her options, who would she prefer wins this? If Rod succeeded than she'd be eaten and have her titan transferred to one of his lackeys. But if Levi and the scouts got here in time… what would happen to her? Tortured and locked in a cell again? Would they kill her? No, she could still convince them she's useful. And from there…
Krista… Historia… please don't…
Historia continued to stare down at the syringe in her arm.
What are you thinking?
"Live my life with pride" Historia said softly.
"What was that, Historia?" Rod asked as he walked back to her.
"No…" she replied pulling the needle from her arm.
"No?"
"I won't do it." She lifted her head up to face Rod; he was now standing in front of her.
"Historia, don't let his words sway you." Rod said as he wrapped his hands around Historia's wrists and on the syringe and tried to redirect the needle back into her arm. "Listen to your father who will pray to you."
There was a muffled response from Ed as he desperately tried to say something through the piece of cloth.
Historia stood firm as her arms locked in place against her father as he tried to move the needle back into her arm. "Historia… do as your father says…" he grumbled this time as he became increasingly agitated by his daughter's refusal. The distance gunfire suddenly grew louder as Rod's patience rapidly evaporated "Do as I say!" he commanded as he tried to forcefully move the needle into her arm.
Historia then let go of the syringe and had shockingly threw Rod to the ground with the strength of which no one expected from someone her size. Rod crashed to the ground with a loud thud! The syringe in his tight grasp of his hand. "Cut the bullshit!" Historia declared looking down at him "You're only saying this to manipulate me and save yourself!" Historia turned her back on her father and picked up the black bag "I'm not going to let you kill me!" she yelled as she ran up the stairs towards Eren
Through the shock and confusion, Annie couldn't help but be impressed by Historia; coming face to face with her father and standing up to him, following her own path.
I should have done that a long time ago…
Ed let out some muffled sounds but from the look of relief in his eyes and the curved smile on his mouth, Annie guessed he was cheering Historia on.
"Now this is gettin' interesting!" Kenny remarked as he watched from the ceiling.
Suddenly the echoed gunshots rang into the open space followed by the rapid zipping of cables and hooks crashing into the walls. Annie turns her head to the side, just in time to see an MP crash into the ground as a small figure landed elegantly onto the floor.
Levi…. A mix of anger and anxiety filled Annie as she stared at him.
Levi looked towards Ed and Annie and then to Eren and Historia. "Looks like we made it."
"Lookie here, Levi!" Kenny yelled catching his attention "Nice to see ya again, runt!"
"Old shit bag!" Levi yelled back.
Kenny aimed his gun towards Levi when he was quickly ambushed by Mikasa with her blades ready to impale him. Kenny quickly unlatched his hooks from the ceiling, avoiding her attack as he free fell towards the ground. He fired his hooks back onto the ceiling and swung round as he fired his gun at Mikasa who narrowly dodges the shot. Levi fires his cables upwards into the ceiling and pulls himself upwards to join the battle.
Annie watched, mesmerized by the display of skill, when another person landed next to Ed. She turned her head to see Alphonse looking down at them, a blank expression on his face. He stared at Ed for a second before he placed his hand over his mouth and began sobbing. "Ed… you're alive." Ed quickly pushed his hands towards Alphonse. Alphonse quickly swiped away the tears from his face as he dropped his hands and placed his hands together, an echo followed as he placed a hand on the metal rod that connected the shackles separating Ed's hands. The rod shatters and Ed quickly unties the bounds around his feet and his mouth.
"Al! Kenny!" Ed yelled as he pointed towards Kenny still locked in a battle between Levi and Mikasa. Alphonse quickly runs off into the fray.
Rod who was writhing in agony on the floor slowly tried to get up and escape when more scouts arrived at the scene. "Where do you think you're going, Rod?" Hange said as she landed only a meter away from him, Rod crawls away. Connie, Jean, Sasha, and Petra and… Mina.
Mina quickly spotted Annie up against the pillar, she ran up towards her and embraced her "You're okay… Thank God..." Mina muttered. Annie sighed softly through her nose as she rested her chin on Mina's shoulder. Their moment was interrupted when Kenny crashed into the ground.
"Ahhh…fucking hell…" Kenny groaned as he stood back up on his feet "Yep it's broken…" he muttered as he leaned onto his left foot. Levi, Mikasa and Alphonse landed around him with Ed surrounding him on all sides. Mikasa charges forward and tries to slash at him, Kenny leans back and dodges the attack and counters with an elbows Mikasa in the back as she moves past him. Kenny let out a painful groan as he places weight onto his broken foot.
Ed quickly capitalizes as he stamps on Kenny's foot and uppercuts him. Kenny quickly pulls out his knife from his pocket and tries to swipe at Ed when Levi blocks the attack and punches him in the gut. Mikasa jumps forward from behind him and slams him to the ground with her foot. Ed, Mikasa and Levi pin Kenny down as he tries to break free.
"Do it now!" Levi yells at Alphonse. Alphonse glances at his blade before quickly placing it back into the scarab "What are you-" Alphonse kneels down and lands a heavy blow to Kenny's skull which rebounds off the floor, knocking him out cold. Levi looks at Alphonse both confused and frustrated at what he'd done.
"Not when I have a chose, Captain." Alphonse declared.
"Fine" Levi conceded. "Mikasa, tie him up and put him to the side." Levi turns his attention towards Rod who is now surrounded.
Annie had been so focused on the fight between Kenny and the others she never noticed the standoff between Rod and the scouts.
Her eyes widen and a burst of shock shot up her spine as she saw Rod holding the syringe into his arm.
Oh shit! Oh fuck! We have to get out of here!
"Stay back!" Rod screamed.
"Guys get back!" Historia yelled as she and Eren came down the steps.
"What is that?" Jean asked
"Everyone get back!" Ed yelled trying to wave them back "That's stuff in the syringe turns people into titans." He said. Almost instantly everyone backed off a few steps and pointed their blades at him.
"Rod put the syringe down." Levi asked as he raised his hand towards him.
"You…all of you, you've ruined everything!" Rod screamed
"Calm down, Rod" Hange advised as she began to step forward "Don't do anything rash."
Annie watched, observing everyone's movements, she spotted both Edward and Alphonse standing behind everyone; they were softly pressing their hands together before touching the ground. It looked as if they were trying to figure something out. Everyone else looked nervous, it was like a bomb was about to go off.
Rod has nothing to lose Annie thought his family and now his power has been lost, he's going to do it.
Annie let out some muffled sounds as she tried to get Mina's attention. Mina turned around and quickly undid the muffler; Annie took in a big gasp of air. "Mina…" Annie muttered "cut me…"
"Rod put down the syringe and we can guarantee your safety" Levi said.
"You liar" Rod accused seething.
"He's going to do it" Annie muttered.
"Are you crazy?" Mina whispered.
"You have to trust me." Annie replied.
"Father…" Rod muttered, his voice cracking as his eyes welled up with tears.
"Mina, you have to do it now." Annie whispered.
"Uri…" he continued "Frieda… wait for me, I'm coming…"
"Don't!" Levi yelled. But in one quick press he had injected himself with the serum.
"Mina now!" Annie yelled this time.
Rod let out a pained cry as he collapsed onto the ground and not a second later his eyes and skin began to glow like the light of a firefly.
"Everyone move!" Levi yelled as he and Hange turned back.
Annie watched Mina turn towards her, panic on her face, lifting her blade up before burying it in Annie's leg "I'm so sorry."
Annie cried out in pain but the massive wound was more than enough.
The already brightly lit cavern was now engulfed in a blinding explosion of light. Annie felt the mass of muscle quickly form around her as she watched the colossal skeleton of Rod's titan formed. She had formed only the upper half of her body before she crystallized her right hand.
The upper part of the spine the whole body of Rod's titan curved around as its skull it the floor.
She had one chance.
The Female Titan pulled her arm back and struck a hard punch for the neck of the titan. It was like punching through a brick wall, there was a loud crunch sound as her fist broke through. And suddenly the rest of the gargantuan skeleton began to crumble, its massive ribcage collapsing on Annie and crushing her titan.
Fuck…
"We're still alive!" Connie screamed as he rejoiced at their improbable survival. Everyone began to quickly dust themselves off as they began to process the sudden events.
"Is everyone alright?" Levi yelled out, he looked up at the ceiling to see a few cracks and missing columns but nothing too concerning.
"How the hell do we keep getting this lucky?" Jean said, utterly perplexed but extremely thankful they were still alive.
Ed was in awe at the sight before him; even after seeing it a few times he still couldn't wrap his head around how unthinking amounts of muscle mass, bones and tissue could just be formed into existence. All around him and everyone else were the remains of an unimaginable skeleton which slowly dissolved into nothing and underneath the shattered ribcage of the monster was the female titan, crushed under its weight.
He felt someone grab onto his shoulder, he turned around to see Alphonse standing behind him.
"Brother…" he muttered, Edward pulled Alphonse in for a tight hug"I thought I lost you."
"I'm not leaving you, Alphonse." Ed reassured him.
"Oh. My. God" Hange shouted as she stared at the large skull of Rod's titan "Where's Moblit when I need him! We need a sketch of this!" she said pointing towards the skull excitedly.
Mina ran up to the Female titan, firing her cables upwards she propelled herself onto the nape of its neck and slashed open a wound before burying her hands inside and pulling Annie out. She carefully brought both her and Annie down. "She's unconscious!" Mina yelled to the others. Everyone quickly huddled around Annie.
Ed watched the faces of his friends; it was clear nobody knew how to feel about Annie, the traitor who just now saved their lives.
Both Levi and Petra walked towards her "Hand her over." Levi ordered with binds in his hands.
"What are you going to do?" Mina questioned.
"She's too dangerous to be left like this." Petra replied "We have to bind her while we still can."
"Captain… Lieutenant, Annie just saved our lives." Mina stated "We'd all be dead if she hadn't acted."
"And I acknowledge that and you should know it was risky as hell to put your trust in a titan shifter who's killed a number of our comrades not so long ago." Levi responded. "Just because she saved us doesn't mean she's an ally to our cause."
"What gonna happen to her?" Mina asked.
"I don't know but unless you want to join her and find out you'll follow my command." Levi ordered.
Mina looked conflicted as she glanced back and forth from her squad to Annie. She placed Annie down to the ground gently as she backed away, avoiding eye contact with Levi. Levi handed Petra the binds as she went up to Annie and wrapped them around her hands and ankles.
Levi turned back to the rest of his squad and Hange "Mikasa, drag the old shit bag with you, and the rest of you lets head back up."
On the surface it looked as though the entire army, garrison, scout and police, had arrived. Ed sat on a wooden crate as a medic looked over his wounds. "The swelling should go down in a few days." The medic said as they handed him a wet cloth "you should clean yourself up, don't want any cuts or bruises to get infected now." Ed wiped his face, the cold water running down his cheeks, and placed the cloth to the side. He looked back at the church entrance, the noticeable patch of blood present in his thoughts.
"Keep moving, scum!" A garrison officer ordered, Ed turned his head to see Kenny pushed forward towards a wagon.
"And here I thought you were just a myth." Another soldier commented standing in the wagon. "You're lucky we don't kill you right here and now." The soldier then manhandled Kenny onto the wagon.
"Ed" Alphonse said, catching Ed's attention. "What did the doctor say?"
"Everything's fine, just needs some time to heal." Ed replied putting on a slight smile. There were few seconds of silence between them.
"Ed-"
"Edward, Alphonse." said a voice in front of them, the two turned to see Erwin and Levi approaching them.
"Commander!" Alphonse said as they both placed their clenched fist on their hearts.
"Please, I should be the one saluting you." Erwin said "Just came to brief Edward on what's happened; during your capture the last few days have been hectic to say the least with the raid on your base and the skirmishes between Kenny's forces and our own, we've lost many of our comrades." Erwin said solemnly "But I'm glad to say that the Royal government has been over thrown and replaced by Darius and our allies in the military. We control humanity's destiny now and it was in no small part to your guidance for launching this coup." Ed tried not to cringe as he heard about the armed forces taking over the country; it reminded him too much of how Amestris was previously run. "Our last task now is mopping up the remnants of the interior military police and those who still hold allegiances to the previous regime."
"Commander, if you're still up for advice can listen to this?" Ed asked.
"What would that be?" Erwin replied.
"Tell Darius and his friends to change the system to a democracy in the future." Ed stated "Speaking from experience and everything that happened here, it's probably best if one person didn't have some much power."
Erwin gave Ed a small sly smile "Perhaps you could tell him yourself, we all have to be there for Historia's coronation after all." Erwin placed his fist over his heart "Anyway good work and I look forward to what progress you'll achieve now that you two are unhindered." Erwin and Levi walked away leaving the two once again.
Alphonse sat on the ground next to Ed "Brother… I've done something-"
"I know, Al." Ed interrupted "You don't have to say anything. I know." Ed tried to sound as reassuring as he could. "I had to do the something like that too." There was loaded pause as the two waited for each other to talk
"Are we… bad people now?" Alphonse asked "Are we still the same people who came into this world?"
Ed let out a soft sigh through his nose "We're not bad people, we're not like Kenny… we're not even like captain Levi. But I don't think we're the same as when we first started."
Another day had passed since the night of Rod's death and his rescue, Eren sat on the balcony of fancy MP barracks Levi squad were staying in for Historia's coronation. Everyone seemed to be celebrating their victory and proclaimed innocence.
But Eren didn't want to celebrate, he didn't know what to do or what he wanted, after what happened in the cavern he felt lost; he has asked to die not so long ago and almost gotten his wish had it not been for Ed stalling Historia. He leaned back in his chair as he looked up at the moon as he thought back on what happened.
I'm weak he thought at some point I convinced myself I was special and that I was someone greater than everyone else, I thought of the titan power as my own but I see now that was a weak line of thinking… I'm not someone who's an exception and I never worked for my powers. Eren sat up straight, stood up from his chair and walked towards the railing of the balcony as he looked over the capital I'm not an average nobody who's lucky that the fate of humanity doesn't entirely rest on his shoulders.
I'm not special… not in the way Ed and Alphonse are…
Suddenly the door behind him opened, Eren turned his head back to Edward walk through dressed in his long brown coat over his uniform, a stark contrast to Eren's plain clothes.
"Hey," Ed said "mind if I stay out here for a while?"
"No its fine" Eren replied. "You had business at the government office?"
"Some officials wanted to talk to Al and I about all the tech ideas" Ed replied as he walked up to the railing and leaned forward on it. "Paper work, making arrangements and all that."
"Where's Alphonse?" Eren asked.
"He's with the others celebrating." Ed replied. "Well… that's if you call what's going on down there a party, more like a group of people trying their best to forget all the crap that went down." Ed sighed heavily "Like they're trying to ignore the elephant in the room."
"Elephant?" Eren asked puzzled.
"An animal, it's…" Ed gestured to his nose "never mind." Eren chuckled slightly as Ed placed his hands back on the railing.
The two stood silently for about a minute as they stared off into the city, Eren knew Ed was going to mention it; he was just waiting for when.
"So… we're not going to talk about what happened in that cave?" Ed asked.
"Like what?" Eren replied, he sounded tired.
"Like how you begged Historia to eat you." Ed replied. That was the thing with Ed; he didn't beat around the bush. He and Eren were very similar in that regard.
"Tell me, Ed…" Eren said "In that cavern you told Historia that you knew how she felt." Eren turned his head to Ed "Do you know how I'm feeling right now?"
"Would it surprise you if I said yes?" Ed replied, a sad smile on his face. "I've been there… feeling like a complete failure and accepting an opportunity to die; a close friend of ours was… something happened to her and we couldn't undo it." Ed said, recalling what looked to be a painful memory "We couldn't do a thing and… well a serial killer came after us and when he beat me down I just accepted it then and there. If help didn't arrive at that moment then I'd be done for." Ed inched closer to Eren "Eren, why did you ask to die back in that cave."
"I'm just some nobody." Eren replied. "It's hard knowing that I share the responsibility of humanity, that there are people depending on me, I'd convinced myself that I was special because of my titan power. But I'm not." Eren sighed "A lot people who had to die because of me, a total no one. I don't think I can handle knowing that."
"What's wrong with being some nobody?" Ed asked. "I'm just some nobody."
"No you're not." Eren replied, thinking that the statement from Ed was ridiculous "You're a skilled alchemist who's changing the world."
"And if you take that away then I'm just Edward Elric." Ed replied "I was like you Eren; I believed that because of my alchemy I was somehow greater than everyone else, no one could do what Al and I could, but that was wrong." Ed sighed "It was arrogant of me to think I was anything more than just a simple human who couldn't save a little girl."
"How did you cope with it?" Eren asked.
Ed smiled warmly at Eren "You know the Truth asked I was willing to trade in my ability to perform alchemy to get Alphonse back." Ed placed his arm around Eren's shoulder "Who needs alchemy when I've got the people who had my back since day one? Hell I'd gladly trade it in again if it meant helping you guys." Ed then placed his other hand on Eren's shoulder "Listen Eren, that titan power you have it doesn't define you. You're still Eren Yeager with or without it. And there'll always be people who have your back."
Eren placed his arm around Ed as he returned a smile before lightly placing his fist on Ed's chest "Thanks Ed." In that moment it felt nice to have someone who understood him.
Another day had passed since their arrival to the capital; Edward and Alphonse sat waiting inside a meeting room of the royal government central office. Both were dressed in their long brown coats over their uniform.
"What do you think Darius wants to talk to us about?" Alphonse asked. "Why'd he make us wait here all day?"
"Well if I had to guess it's gotta be something about the current tech progression" Ed speculated "I heard some whispers by the garrison about how Darius has his own personal machine or something."
Suddenly the doors of the room opened as four people walked through; Darius, Erwin, Levi and Historia. Both Ed and Alphonse stood up to greet them.
"Please sit down." Darius asked as the four took their seats. "Thank you for coming here again, I know you both haven't gotten a lot of rest since the coup." Levi then handed Ed and Alphonse a brown folder. "But it's urgent, Commander Erwin." Darius said as he turned to him.
Both Ed and Alphonse looked through the papers in the folder as Erwin talked "The misinformation tactics you've boys suggested work wonders in dividing the public opinion for the royal government. However this division has not yet healed and we fear that the people will be divided over their perceptions of the old monarchy and Historia's new reign."
"What we're talking about is a continuation of tensions and the uncertainty and questions surrounding Historia's legitimacy." Darius added. "With the sudden change in government, the people haven't had the time to properly accept and adapt to the change in the status quo."
"What does that have to do with us-"
"We told the press that the 'being sent by God' story was true." Levi said, getting straight to the point. "The message is out and has been for a couple hours now."
Both Edward and Alphonse looked at the four shocked "You did what?" Ed questioned.
"If the people weren't already enamored with you then, now they'll take anything you say as gospel." Levi added.
This didn't sit right with them, the idea of it made them both feel a little sick to their stomach; misleading the people like this and to be revered as holy figures when they wanted to be seen as just normal people. It was perverted, hiding away their true reason here for some beautiful lie.
"Why?" Alphonse asked.
"Here's why." This time it was Historia as she spilled forward a single piece of paper. They both had a look at it; it was a statement claiming that they had received a message from God to support Historia's ascendancy to the throne. Underneath were two empty lines, a space from their signatures. Darius then placed two pens in front of them.
"Is this what you want to build this new world on, a lie?" Ed questioned. "Just like the royal government?"
"Darius was the head of the armed forces and now been put in charge of humanity, the scouts who were once regarded with pity and disdain are now heralded as heroes… and me, a girl who had nothing and wanted to become a martyr just became the head of state… and now you two are prophets for a day" Historia replied "The world is fucked up but we must all play our role in fixing it."
"Well said." Levi added. "So Edward, Alphonse what are you going to do?"
The two glanced over to them, the statement laying before them on the table and each other. Alphonse made the first move, picking up the pen. He sighed heavily before placing the nib of the pen onto one of the lines and signing it. Ed remained hesitant for a few seconds more; he picked up the pen and held it in a clenched fist. He looked down at the statement and gritted his teeth in frustration before placing the nib onto the line and writing.
So it's been a while but I've finished my essays and dissertation so now I'm free to get back into writing for a while. Last chapter I said that this one would be more action oriented. I was wrong, so sorry about that I had overestimated the amount of sections I dedicated to actions scenes in my story plans and underestimated the talking. I do hope you all are still pleased with it, hopefully I'm not too rusty since its been a while.
Anyway, I'm nervous and excited about June 1st COYS
Also GOT ended, was kind of anticlimactic how it all ended despite everything coming out of left field.