Chapter 45: The Female Titan II
"Good, very good." said the voice of older man, he sounded pleased. Mina didn't know where she was; it looked like an area surrounded by a forest if the mass trees were something to go off of. A dummy stood in front of her, a thick white pad covering the main body. "Keep going." The man demanded "You'll never become a warrior if quit now, you have to keep practicing." Mina felt exhausted, she wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the ground and scream out in frustration.
I don't want to keep doing this! Mina yelled. Except nothing came out, it was like trying to shout underwater or from a stuffed pillow.
The old man stood just by her watching, Mina raised her fists and positioned her legs before striking the dummy as she had done a thousand times before with a sharp kick. She turned her head slightly to look at him; the man looked middle aged, slight wrinkles on his face and black hair combed in a conservative fashion. What caught Mina's eye was the cane; he needed a cane to walk.
I remember. I… no, Annie… no it was me, I kicked him in the leg and…
"Your father is proud of you." the man said.
But… you're not my father…
She didn't know when it started but she was suddenly in the rain, outside again except it wasn't that small training field with the single dummy and she just wasn't with that man. There must have been more than dozens of children like her; all dressed in some kind of brown uniform and carrying what looked to be muskets but for some reason Mina had never seen them before… or at least she didn't think she had.
"Keep moving you sons of devils!" yelled a man on a horse. "You swine will never become warriors if you don't work for it!"
She was getting ahead of the others as she slogged through the thick mud; she looked behind her to see others being left in the mud and rain. One looked back to her, a boy who's uniform and short blonde hair was soaked in water and dirt lying down as others passed him.
As she reached the endpoint Mina closed her eyes for a second and suddenly the rain stopped and she found herself somewhere more familiar; she was indoors this time, it was a long wooden cabin filled with girls, all of whom she recognised.
The 104th! I'm back at the camp… but why…
She suddenly felt someone tap her shoulder, she turned her head to see a short girl with a round face, silvery grey eyes and coal black hair done up in two pig tails standing close to her.
That's… that's me but… I'm younger…
"Hi, I saw Shadis skipped you during the intros" Mina said with an innocent grin on her face. "I'm Mina Carolina, born on a pigsty and inferior to pigs." she laughed.
But you can't be me… I'm me and I'm standing here… right next to… myself? How can I be talking to myself?
"So whats your name?" the younger Mina asked.
"My name?" Mina repeated the question; she had finally heard her own voice expect it sounded like someone else. "My name is…"
"AAARRRRRG!" Yelled the titan in front of her; it was taller than her only by a few meters and began to swing wildly at her with its hands. She should have been terrified but in that moment she felt calm, in control and more powerful than she ever felt in her entire life. She ducked her head to the right as the mad titan made a swing with his left hand before delivering a swift punch in the stomach which pushed him back.
Eren, that's Eren's titan. She said why am I fighting…
She went to swing her leg at him when she felt a pair of hands grip her ankles, she looked down to see just that, hands sprouting from the ground holding her in place. She snapped her head to the side to see Ed standing just a couple meters away.
Ed! Mina called out.
She should have felt happy to see him. Instead it was anger, frustration and hatred. Like he was standing in her way, making it things difficult for her, keeping her from seeing her dad and creating a bigger problem for them to handle.
Why do I feel this way?
She turned back to face Eren who was now charging towards her, Mina shut her eyes and braced herself. Suddenly she was inside again, except she was in a very familiar cell, the light from the torches illuminated the room enough to see someone on the ground struggling to move.
"Why?" the person asked. It was Mina, it was her voice.
"I promised my father… I'd come back to him." Mina replied. She ran down the hallway of the castle dungeon and up the wooden stairs.
No…
She opened the door.
No…
"What the hell!" yelled the MPs waiting by one of the tables, they scurried for their muskets as Mina placed her finger in her mouth and hit down hard.
Run! Get out of here! Why am I doing this?
An explosion of light soon engulfed her as she could hear the screams of the MPs caught in the blast. Once more everything went black.
As her vision returned she awoke to see herself being lowered into mouth of an eight meter titan, a skinny monster with slender fingers wrapped around her with long black hair and large silver eyes on a gaunt looking face.
"I'm sorry!" Someone yelled out, she recognised that voice. "I'm so sorry!" she saw Alphonse turning his head away from her as he held his sword pointing at Captain Levi, a look of shock on his face as he, Ed, Sasha, Connie and Jean watched with wide eyes and open mouths.
"Someone please!" she seemed to cry, Mina could feel the fear, the panic and dread as she was half way into the titan's mouth "No!"
I'm screaming? Am I the one being eaten?
Mina remembered her close encounter with a titan, the moment at Trost when Alphonse had arrived just in time to save her. But this place wasn't Trost and she didn't remember not being able to move her hands or feet.
Someone help me! She wanted to yell to them Alphonse!
She felt the teeth of the titan press down in between her stomach and back till they cut through her, the upper half of her body sliding down the titan's throat and into its stomach.
It was unbearably hot; if she could breathe she'd have suffocated by now. As she landed into the boiling stomach acid of the titan, sinking down slowly, her vision once more went black.
Mina woke up, this time she violently gasped for air as she pushed the upper half of her body up from the ground with her arms, she looked down at her legs and her body; she was dressed in her scout uniform but there was a large ripped hole at her side soaked in blood. She quickly placed her hand at the side of her body and felt around, lifting it up to see not a cut or drop of blood on her person.
She breathed out a sigh of relief before she left herself flop back the ground. The sand that she was laying on cushioning her head. She looked up at the sky; an endless field of stars on a blank night greeted her. But what caught her eye was the river of stars and lights that all seemed to go in one direction, a pale green symphony of lights.
"Beautiful." She muttered. She felt like she could lay there forever looking up at that night sky.
She shut her eyes for a split second, reopening them to find something blocking out the sky in front of her. Standing over her.
The Female titan.
She should have panicked, ran away, called out for help but instead she continued to lay there, looking at the titan as it stared back at her. A mixture of curiosity and familiarity swept over her as she and the titan studied each other.
"Annie?" she finally said.
She quickly began to notice that the hair of the titan was much darker and its length was longer, just slightly touching her shoulders than she remembered, that the skin of the titan was paler than what she remembered, the exposed muscle was a faded shade of pink, the face of titan was slightly rounder with a smaller nose and piercing grey eyes.
"Who are you?"
Alphonse sat quietly at the end of the table as Captain Levi, Petra, and the other scout officers who had accompanied them sat at the sides eyeing him, some with disapproving looks and some with blank expressions.
Not an entire day had passed since Annie's death, Alphonse was still in the clothes he wore for the mission, in fact they all were. As soon as the deed was done, Levi ordered them to move Mina to the castle with his squad.
"You think you're going with them?" Levi questioned him "You are getting your ass to Trost and explaining to the Commander what the hell you've done."
They all practically had to sneak into the district and into the HQ to meet with Erwin.
The door to the room opened, Erwin stepped in to the others standing up and saluting him. "Sit down please." Erwin told them as he took his seat at the other end of the table. "What is the status on Annie Leonhart, were you able to capture her?"
"Why don't you ask the brat on the other end of the table?" Levi replied. "He'll tell you what he did."
"Alphonse?" Erwin asked.
"Commander Erwin… I transferred Annie's Female titan to Mina Carolina." Alphonse stated, there was no point beating around the bush.
Erwin leaned forward "Did you give your men authority to use the titan serum?" he asked Levi.
"No." Levi said.
"Petra?" Erwin asked, looking at her.
"I stole the serum before we left for the mission, commander." Alphonse said before Petra could reply.
"Petra, did you know he had it on him?" Erwin asked her.
"No, Commander." Petra replied. "It was only when he had shown it to me did I know and by then…"
"Nobody knew." Alphonse interjected. "It's not their fault, I take full responsibility. The Lieutenant tried to stop me but I restrained my team before they could stop me."
"Alphonse, you realise you've committed multiple offences?" Erwin questioned "Misconduct to your superior officer and stealing equipment for your own purposes."
"To be fair to Alphonse, we were always gonna transfer the Female titan to someone if we captured her." Petra stated.
"There are probably a hundred better candidates to pick from that Mina." Levi replied. "Nanaba, you, Mikasa hell even Hange would have been better suited to take the Female titan."
"It wasn't them dying there!" Alphonse yelled angrily, his frustration bursting out. "What was I suppose to do? Just let her die?"
"I don't know." Levi replied, frustrated "For the record I wouldn't have wanted Mina to die either but don't think for one second that this is going to go down well with the other branches and Darius, in your little quest to save her you just brought down a whole pile of shit we've now gotta put up with from the higher ups."
"Levi is right." Erwin added calmly. "There will be those in the upper command who would have wanted to draw up candidates to inherit the Female titan and will likely argue for Mina to give up the titan given the circumstances of her inheritance. And, of course, there will be divisions over whether you should be put on trial for what you've done." Alphonse felt his stomach drop slightly "And we can't put you on trial for what you've done in case we spark unrest with the public but doing nothing so will send a message to those in our ranks that you or your brother can disobey the chain of command and get away with it."
"I am sorry, Commander." Alphonse replied. "I understand the mess but I don't regret doing what I did."
"We can't deal with this crap now, not when we're close to the operation to retake Shiganshina." Levi stated. "And if Mina gets reinstated back into my squad then it won't go down well with some of our comrades, many of them know about her relationship with Leonhart."
Alphonse mind travelled back to the two scouts they met in Stohess.
"Is that true?" Erwin asked the other officers.
"Word spreads around quickly." One officer replied. "Many blame her for the Female titan's escape to begin with."
"I see." Erwin replied. He turned back to Alphonse "So from what I understand, you stole military property, restrained Petra and used the injection on Annie Leonhart with authorisation."
"Yes, commander." Alphonse replied, he was exhausted at this point.
"Tell me, was the reason you brought the serum purely because you thought about the possibility of having to use it on Mina?" Erwin asked.
"Yes." Alphonse replied.
"But if anyone else was to have been gravely injured or on the verge of death then you wouldn't have hesitated to use the serum on them?" Erwin enquired further.
"Yes, if that of happened I would have still used the serum." Alphonse replied, it was the truth; while he had brought the serum with him because he feared Mina's frame of mind at the time could have gotten her killed. He would have still used it on anyone else.
"So really Mina Carolina was just a victim of circumstance." Erwin stated, there was a look on Erwin's face and a glint in his eyes.
"What are you trying to get at?" Levi asked.
"Who else knows about what happened besides those at this table?" Erwin asked.
"The special operations unit and now possibly Hange." Petra informed "We ordered them to stay quiet until we had this whole thing sorted out."
"Good." Erwin replied "Here's what happened; both you and Petra took titan serums with you in the event of needing to transfer the Female titan to some else, you even had my blessing on this, during the ambush miss Carolina was gravely injured in battle and Petra authorised the use of the serum on her which Alphonse did." Alphonse stared at Erwin flabbergasted that he would lie about this, while the others were both shocked yet remained cool. "This is the official story and the events in which I will brief Darius on when I meet with him to discuss the ambush, is that clear?"
"Yes, commander." They all said in imperfect unison.
"What you told me doesn't leave this room; head back to your posts and continue your preparation of the upcoming operation." Erwin added, a stern tone to his voice "As far as everyone else knows Alphonse, you are not guilty of any crimes. As for Mina Carolina, I'll have her transferred to Hange's squad to ease any tensions within our ranks and a representative will sent to her parents to explain the situation, Hange squad will, of course, still work closely with the special operations unit and prepare miss Carolina for new responsibilities as one of our titan shifters." Erwin paused for a few seconds to allow everyone to digest his orders. "As far as I'm concerned, the mission to retake Shiganshina is our only priority, there will be no further distractions."
Mina sat up, her legs crossed as she continued to stare at the Female titan in front of her with the backdrop of a field of stars and the trails of lights. She didn't know how long she was staring at the titan as it continued to stare back at her.
"Annie, is that you?" she asked the titan. The titan continued to look at her. The titan then knelt down, small dusts of sand blown to the side; it then leaded in slightly as its face now completely overshadowed her.
Mina looked closely at its face, the exposed muscle around its cheek, the ebony black hair that was now brushing against the sand and its silvery grey eyes. Mina continued to state into it, she wanted to reach out and touch it.
Then the world around her began to dissolve, the starry night gave way to a stone ceiling, the bright lights of the trail had transformed into the dull light of the midday sun which entered in through a window. And the titan that was only inches away from here was replaced by Alphonse who sat on the chair at the end of the bed sleeping up against the wall.
Mina looked around with confusion, she was in the medical room of the castle, the sound of rumbling and construction could be heard from the hallway and from outside, there was a small desk and what looked to be medical equipment lying around.
"Alphonse?" Mina said confused.
Alphonse woke up abruptly and looked towards Mina, he jumped out of his chair, and he looked as though he had seen a ghost. "Mina! You're awake!" he looked around, moving towards the hallway and peering out into it.
"What's going on?" Mina asked.
"I um… I have to get the others." He told her. "I'll be back, stay right there." He then ran out of the room "Hey!" she could hear him yelling down the hall.
Mina sat there looking down onto the bed, a simple bed with a wooden frame and wool covers. She was dressed in plain clothes than her tore uniform. As she waited her mind began to wonder about the dream she had; the strange memories of places she never went, of events she was never a part of and of… being eaten by a titan.
Why did I dream something like that?
She then thought of the land which was covered in sand under the star filled night sky, and the Female titan which stayed with her.
Suddenly a group of people began to fill the room, it was her friends. They crowded around her, some of them kneeling down beside her bed.
"Mina, we're so glad you're awake." Sasha said.
"Yeah, we were all kinda worried." Connie added. "It's crazy what happened."
"How long was I asleep for?" Mina asked
"A few days now." Mikasa replied. "Ever since the ambush on Annie actually."
"What happened?" Mina asked. They all looked at her confused.
"You don't remember what happened?" Jean asked.
"Was it like this for you, Eren?" Connie asked.
"I didn't remember what happened after it too." Eren replied.
Mina quickly felt a creeping sense of anxiety "What… what do you mean?"
"Mina." Levi said as he entered the room. The others moved to the side for him, Hange and Petra just behind him.
"Mina, are you okay?" Petra asked.
"I think so." Mina replied. "What happening? Whats going on?"
"You don't remember what happened do you?" Levi asked. He turned around and pulled out a chair and sat down facing her. "I'll get to the point, congratulations you're the now the Female titan."
Mina stared at Levi, everything around just seemed to get blurry as the information quickly sank into her head. She stammered through her words as she tried to find the words to describe her thoughts. "Wha- what… how- why did..."
"What do you remember?" Hange asked.
"I… I was- I was… I was stabbed by Annie." She placed her hand at her side, the memory of both Annie placing the blade into her and her checking the wound in the sandy landscape flashed through her mind, she lifted up her shirt slightly to check. Not even a scar was visible on her skin. "I was on the ground and was falling asleep…How did that happen, why am I now the Female titan?" a dreadful thought then slipped into her mind, a thought which made her stomach begin to churn. "I… I ate Annie?"
"You can thank Al over there; he stole some titan serum from Hange's office and then restrained his team in order to use it to transform you into a titan to eat the shifter." Levi said, pointing at Alphonse with his thumb "Had he had not stolen some titan serum from us then we'd be telling your family some real shitty news."
"My parents- do they know-"
"Yes, we informed them about what happened." Levi replied. "We've also told them to keep quiet about it but needless to say they're happy you're alive but concerned about the situation."
"So Annie's dead… I ate her… and now I'm the Female titan…" Mina said, wrapping her head around the events. The churning feeling in her stomach was now intense as she head began to spin.
"Mina, how are you feeling?" Armin asked.
"I feel like I'm going to be sick-" she felt the bile from her stomach rise up through her body as she placed her hand over her mouth. Levi quickly handed her a wooden bucket which sat just by her bed, Mina snatched the bucket from him, holding it close to her face before releasing the contents of her stomach to it.
"Disgusting." Levi remarked as everyone else in the room grimaced at the sound of vomit hitting the bucket. "You finished?" Levi asked, Mina nodded her head as he took the bucket and handed it to Connie.
"Why do I have to…" Connie grumbled as he carried the bucket out of the room at arm's length.
"Mina, there are some things we need to brief you on." Hange said. "Firstly, you are still being transferred from the special operations unit; however you're going to be placed into my squad; that way you can continue to coordinate with Levi squad but we'll also help you become familiar with your new titan powers."
"Righ- Right." Mina replied. "That makes sense."
"Second, you are now a military asset, the regiment specifically." Levi continued "Similar to Ed, Al and Eren you're gonna have a bigger role in the coming operation; like Eren you'll be responsible for providing us with support against the other titan shifters we'll face while Ed and Al help secure the wall." Levi paused for a second "Do you think you can handle that?"
Mina didn't know, this was all new and overwhelming. It was like a ton of bricks had been placed on her and she was now being told to run. "I- I…"
"Don't answer." Levi replied. "Because truth be told, you're gonna have to if you don't want to end up like your good buddy who you had for lunch a few days ago."
Alphonse taps his knuckles onto the door, a mug in his hand and a jug of water in the other.
"Come in." Mina said from the other side. Alphonse pushed the door open "Hey Al." Alphonse closed the door behind him.
"How have you been?" he asked nervously.
"I've been… okay I think." Mina replied. "I don't know honestly, being told you're now a titan shifter is… it's just crazy."
"I can't imagine." Alphonse replied he poured some water into the mug and handed it to Mina; he placed the jug down on the floor as he sat on the bed near to her as she took some sips of water.
"What are you guys doing?" she asked.
"We're just rebuilding the castle." Alphonse replied "Already got the exterior of the building rebuilt, just need to fill the inside now."
"Of course, I guess that construction noise was pretty obvious." Mina replied with a light smile. "Good to hear you're making progress on it." She placed the cup down, leaning slightly to reach the floor.
A pregnant pause fell upon them as the two tried to think of something to say. Alphonse looked down onto the covers.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"What are you sorry for?" Mina asked.
"This… I didn't want think this would happen, or at least I wasn't thinking about it." Alphonse said, he sounded exhausted and he certainly felt that way. "The pressure you're under now because I turned you into a shifter and having you eat Annie… I know she was your friend."
"Alphonse… you saved my life." Mina replied "Which, let's be honest, isn't something new to us." She giggled, Alphonse chuckled with her.
"I had to pay you back for saving my life when you stopped that MP somehow." Alphonse added. "I guess that makes us even again."
"How many times has it been?" Mina asked, her eyes wondered across the ceiling. "That time in Trost when we first met, during the titan attack of Utgard and now stopping me from dying in that farm.
"What about yourself; the titan attack on Utgard, getting me out of Reiner's mouth and then the MP in the cave." Alphonse replied. "So about three times for each of us."
"Is this how it's going to be?" Mina asked. "Constantly risking our lives for each other… it's because you promised my dad you'd look out for me, is that why you do it."
Alphonse was stunned for a second as tried to think of something to say out of the storm of thoughts in his head.
No… It's because I think I…
"No… not entirely… if Ed and I don't end up helping to fix everything here, if we had to leave now then… I can look at you and know I've done some good in world." He replied, looking at her. "That you're still alive would be something I can be happy about." Mina looked back at him with soft eyes. Alphonse glanced down for a second. He wanted to ask her why. "Mina… why do you-"
Suddenly, as he continued to look down, he saw Mina's hand grab him by the collar of his shirt, he tilted his head back up as she pulled him and pressed her lips against his. She continued to hold him by his collar, trying to pull him in further as her other hand held his cheek.
Alphonse head was spinning; his eyes wide open from the surprise of the moment before he began to slowly close them. But as quickly as it happen did Mina break it off, gently parting from him as they both looked at each other, both surprised at what had just happened.
"That's why." Mina replied.
"Um… uh… okay…" Alphonse replied, at an almost complete loss for words "You uh… you vomited not long ago."
Mina cheeks began to turn bright red "Oh right… ummm… sorry about then."
Alphonse began to laugh a little "Its fine." He said trying to ease her. "I should get going, I was only meant to give you the jug of water" as he went to stand up his foot hit the jug tipping it over "Ah crap!" he yelled. Mina began to laugh this time. Alphonse picked up the jug "Guess I'll go get more then." He said with a silly grin on his face. "I'll be back soon." Mina nodded at him as he opened the door behind him into the hallway.
As he closed the door, he then placed his back against the wall as he let out a massive sigh. He felt happy, elated for second before a mixture of sadness and shame broke through him.
"You're a good friend…" his own words seem to mock him.
"Good Annie." Said the middle aged man as she struck the padded dummy once more with her leg, she placed her foot down back into position as she continued to have her arms raised. "Again." He asked.
She struck the dummy once more with her leg.
"Again." He ordered.
She slammed her leg into it.
"Again."
Her frustration and anger put into the next one as she tried to ignore the painful ache that had a tight grip over her body.
"Again."
She couldn't feel her leg at this point, it was numb but all she knew is that she could move it still.
"Again."
One more strike and she might collapse from exhaustion. The sun hitting down on her.
Suddenly a hand grabbed Mina by her shoulder; she turned around to see Eren looking at her in confusion. "Mina, that's enough." He said, both Edward and Alphonse behind him watching closely as Levi stood back from a distance.
Mina looked at him for a few seconds. Before collapsing onto her knees as he hands held her up from the ground. Everything hurt and she was bathed in sweat.
"You were only supposed to do twenty kicks." Ed said.
"I lost track of- time." Mina said stumbling on her words slightly. "How many did I do?"
"I lost count at some point but… over seventy I think?" Eren replied. "You looked really focused so we thought we shouldn't disturb you."
"Eighty six." Levi said as he walked up to them. "Eighty six kicks to the dummy. Can't say I'm not impressed but this was supposed to be a warm up after all." Levi placed knelt down slightly and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Mina turned her head to the side slightly to look at him. Suddenly the sun disappeared and the blue sky was gone, replaced by a stone ceiling, an open space replaced by four small walls and any light available came from candles which was outside of metal bars.
Where am I…
She felt angry… scared… as Levi continue to stand over her.
"Whats wrong with you?" Levi asked.
Mina hit his hand off her shoulder; she turned around on her back and began to move away slightly, desperately trying to away from him like a tortured prisoner. Both Eren and Alphonse rushed to her. She turned her head from side to side, looking at them. The walls had suddenly disappeared and the sky reappeared without her noticing.
"Whats up with you?" Levi asked.
Mina continued to look around her, as if checking if the place she was in was real. "Let's take a break for now." Ed suggested "We can always practice fighting another time."
Mina nodded her head and both Eren and Alphonse helped her onto her feet. The group started to walk off back to the castle "Hey guys" Ed, Alphonse and Levi looked back "Can I talk to Eren for a second… it's about my titan." They nodded their heads and began to jog away, Alphonse looking back over his shoulder for a second before walking off with Ed and Levi.
"Eren… did you ever get visions?" Mina asked.
"Visions?" Eren repeated.
"Like you're seeing something or a memory that you shouldn't have?" Mina clarified.
"The memories, yeah I get those." Eren replied. "But that only happened when Historia and Rod touched me back in the cave. Have you gotten Annie's memories?"
"Yeah I have but… it's weird." Mina replied "It's like her memories spill into my everyday life, when I was kicking that dummy I was somewhere else and with someone else for a while but I don't personally know that person but I know who they are."
"Who is it?" Eren asked.
"I think its Annie's father." Mina replied "He had her practice kicking a dummy of hours, everyday till her body ached. Like he was training her to be this."
"I guess that's explains why Annie was so good at hand to hand combat." Eren remarked. "But on your memories, I don't think I've had my memories just slip into my everyday life… at least not yet anyways." There was a few seconds of silence "Was the reason you were scared of Levi was because of one of Annie's memories."
Mina nodded while she looked at the ground."I'm scared." She admitted. "But... I wonder if I could understand Annie more... maybe understand why Reiner and Bertholdt did what they did."
"I hope my memories can do the same too." Eren agreed.
"Okay, Mina are you ready to do this?" Hange asked, holding the reins of a horse next to her and her assistant, Moblit. A couple days since Mina had woken up. Since then it had been hours of hand to hand training and practice fights for hours on end.
Now was the moment.
Finally trying to transform into a titan, the Female titan… Annie's titan.
"We'll only be more than a couple meters away from you." Hange told her, Mina turned her head looking around; across the field there were a few scouts dressed in their gear watching her while she talked with Hange.
"I understand." Mina replied, looking back at Hange. Her fingers began to move slightly, she tried to grip her hand into a tight fist and as she consciously tried to control her breathing.
"Are you okay?" Hange asked, she sounded concerned.
"Yes, I'm fine." Mina replied quickly.
"Okay, no pressure, just try your best." Hange encouraged her, a kind smile on her face. Hange climbed onto her horse "When I fire the green flare that's your signal to transform good luck and remember, think of a reason to transform." Hange whipped the reins of her horse and rode away.
Mina watched as Hange horse grew smaller the further she went from her till she was a large dot on the horizon. A Green flare was suddenly shot into the sky, the green smoke trail soaring into the clouds.
Mina looked down at her hand, shaking slightly, before she placed the base of her thumb into her mouth and tried to bite down. Her hand began to tense as the muscles and skin pressed against her teeth. She relaxed her hand and moved it from her mouth; red teeth marks decorated the base of her thumb.
How does Eren do this?
She continued to stare at her hand for a few seconds before shutting her eyes for a second and breathing in deeply. "I can do this…" she muttered, she quickly tensed her hand and placed the base of her thumb back into her mouth before biting down hard.
A sharp and uncomfortable pain almost forced her to stop. There was a warm spurt of blood bursting from her hand; the metallic taste assaulted her taste buds. She quickly pulled her hand from her mouth, a mix of saliva and blood covered her hand
"Think of something." She muttered.
I want to transform… please transform…
Nothing.
I need a reason…
I… Her mind was blank
"I want to… protect my family." She stated aloud.
Still nothing.
"I want to help humanity."
It was calm, the warm orange sky and gentle wind remained undisturbed.
"I want to- I want to- I want." she shut her eyes tightly as she scoured through the nothingness in her mind. She opened her eyes once more.
I don't want to do this
What if I get stuck in the titan?
What if I'm not good enough?
I don't want to die…
She looked back at her hand, blood continued to drip down from the open wound. She recalled all those times when Eren had healed from his wounds in human form.
Why aren't I-
A storm of galloping snatched her attention as she looked up to see Hange leading a group of other riders behind her ride their horses to Mina's spot. The group stopped just a meter away from her. "Mina, is there something wrong."
Mina's mouth began to droop as she looked down onto the ground not wanting to meet the gaze of the others "I can't transform." She admitted. "I'm trying to think of something but… my mind is just blank and I'm… I'm scared."
"Oi Eren." Levi said, glancing at him. "Help her sort her shit out."
Eren approached Mina "Its fine if you're struggling now." Eren comforted "I didn't know how to use it when first tried it, just try to clear your mind."
"I'm trying but I'm worried." Mina stated "What if I get stuck in the titan?"
"That won't happen." Eren assured her "Controlling a titan is all in the mind." He placed his index finger onto his temple "If you want to leave then just think of leaving and you'll burst out. Just clear your mind and think of something immediate like uhhhh…"
Suddenly the earth around them began to rumble as a large dirt structure rose from the ground, sparks of blue lightening danced around it as it morphed into its shape, a titan figure which towered over them.
"Like fighting a fifteen meter titan." Ed smirked "Sorry for listening in on you guys; just thought I could help."
"Like that." Eren said pointing at the dummy titan with his thumb.
Mina then felt a hand grip her shoulder she turned to see Alphonse "We all believe in you." he told her with a softness to his voice.
"Thank you." she said nodding her head, she looked down at her hand once more, still dripping with blood. "I'll try again." She stated aloud.
"Good, we'll be a bit closer this time." Hange informed her as the others climbed onto their horses. They whipped the reins of the horses as they galloped away before coming to halt only a couple meters away. Mina could see them all; climbing off their horses and turning to watch her, she could see them and their faces.
Annie, you told me you fought just to see your father again… I don't know if I should be trying to protect the people I love or just humanity as a whole but…
She stared at her comrades for a few seconds, her eyes set on them.
They trust me and I won't let any one of them down.
She noticed yellow sparks begin to fly around her; it was like being surrounded by a festival of fireflies, all dancing around her.
She gently shut her eyes as the sound of lightening roared above her in a warm orange sky.
Hange couldn't lie, when she saw the bolt of thunder strike the ground as an explosion of bright yellow light and smoke consumed Mina, she was concerned; flinching slightly as she watched with a fixed stare and short breathe.
She turns her head from side to side, watching everyone's reactions they all mirrored her own reactions. She turned to look back once more, as the smoke cleared a tall figure was kneeling on the ground, the figure stretched its legs, and its head rose and its posture straighten.
"My God…" Hange muttered as she stared at the titan before her. She quickly fumbled for the flare gun in her hand, gripping the pistol and raising it in the air. A blue trail of smoke soared through the sky, Hange spotted the scouts scatter across the field slowly approach the Female titan. "Let's go." She climbed back onto her horse, the others following her examples; she whipped the reins of her horse and galloped forward towards her. "Stay on your guard." Hange advised.
Hange pulled back the reins of her horse as the group stood just on the edge of its shadow. Hange gripped the reins of her horse tightly as she clenched her teeth "Mina!" she yelled hesitantly. The titan looked down towards her.
Up close the titan had marked differences to Annie's titan; its hair was black like Mina's rather than blonde and slightly longer too, its eyes were silver and the colour of its skin and muscle was faded like a sickly version of its original colour, its nose was smaller and its face was a bit rounder. "Can you understand me?"
The titan nodded its head.
"Can you wave for us?" Hange asked.
The titan waved its hand at them.
She's done it!
Hange began to smile "Hehehe…" then began manically laughing.
"Squad leader, please calm down." Moblit advised.
"Now do a back flip!" Hange yelled enthusiastically.
"Squad leader, no!" Moblit protested.
"I'm just joking." Hange assured him. She looked back up at Mina "Mina, you should be able to harden parts of your body."
"Focus on your hand and try to visualise the crystal hardening." Eren yelled.
The Female titan clenched its fists, a sound like glass cracking echoed as a crystal like surface covered her fingers, and the titan presented them to the others.
"Good, now try it on the titan dummy there!" Hange instructed, pointing at the target. The Female titan turned around to the dummy; it swung its hand towards the dummy's face, shattering the statue's head as large chunks of dirt fell to the ground.
"Not bad." Levi remarked.
"Mina, come down." Hange instructed, waving her hand towards the titan, the group circled round towards the back of the titan. Mina knelt down. A burst of smoke from the neck followed by a loud hissing sound caught their attention as they watched Mina emerge from the neck. Hange took out the handle for her ODM gear and fired a cable at the nape near her. Eren followed her, firing his cable onto the other side.
Hange hung off the side of the nape of the titan with Eren as they met with Mina, still connected to the veins of the titan.
"How are you feeling?" Hange asked.
They watched as Mina stared at the nerves which had fused to her hand, moving them slightly, and the long nerves which was connected to her eyes "This is… disgusting…" She remarked "How could you get use to this?" she asked looking at Eren.
"That part of being a titan never bothered me." Eren replied.
"Try and break out." Hange said.
Mina then pulled herself free from the nerves with a wet snap as she broke off. Hange grabbed Mina by the side. "Okay let's get down from here before your titan dissolves." Hange propelled them down with Eren just following behind them as the titan was beginning to emit a cloud of smoke.
The three landed on the ground, Hange watched as Mina began to trace the outline. The marks looked similar to muscle outlines on her titan.
Erwin sat looking out the window in the Trost scout headquarters, his finger pressed against his lips as his thumb held up his head. He shut his eyes for a few seconds, sleep threaten to take him as the dawn peeked over the tall walls of Trost. He quickly sat up from his chair and rubbed his eyes.
Still more work to do… it's not long now, soon… soon I'll know…There was a knock on the door That's right, Hange and Levi were meant to see me.
"Come in." Erwin said as he moved his chair to face the door, his hands on the desk with his fingers intertwined. Both Hange and Levi entered through the door; Levi closed the door as Hange took her seat on the other side of the desk.
"Good morning, Erwin." Hange said. "Up early as usual."
"You didn't sleep, did you?" Levi questioned him before Erwin could answer.
"There was more work that needed to be finished in relation to the Female titan incident." Erwin explained. "Now I can focus on continuing preparations of the operation."
"How about you get some fucking sleep?" Levi countered, he sounded annoyed.
"In time, all in good time." Erwin replied.
"How was the briefing with Darius?" Hange asked.
"Fair to say many within the upper commands of other corps are less than pleased." Erwin said "Some of the garrison commanders argued that each corps should add a shifter to their ranks and are frustrated that the chance is now missed. Other than that, the decision was accepted if begrudgingly. Anyway, how has Mina Carolina adapted to being the new Female titan?" Erwin asked.
"We've carried out some shifting tests to see if she can properly command transforming into her titan." Hange explained. "Then there were intelligence and stamina tests, results are similar to Eren's titan." Hange placed a brown folder on Erwin's desk "I've taken the liberty of making a dossier of the results; what to look out for, the precautions, the findings, you know the works."
"Excellent." Erwin replied. "What are you planning for her now?"
"I would like to test some of her abilities such as the titan calling." Hange replied. "However Levi and I both agreed that hand to hand combat training should be a priority."
"I have the Elrics and Eren helping Mina to improve her combat skill." Levi added. "If she's got a hope in hell of taking on either the Armoured or Beast titans then she'll need to up her game in that regard.
"Good, that is the right direction." Erwin replied, nodding his head.
"How long till the operation?" Levi asked.
"Only a few months now, still weighting up the options to having sufficient numbers of able bodies to take to Shiganshina." Erwin stated.
"Have any offers from the garrison?" Hange asked.
"Not yet, I'm still asking around and holding meetings with garrison captains." Erwin stated.
"I'm shocked." Levi said sarcastically "The garrison who is almost entirely made up of cowards who don't want to risk their lives being asked to work even when it's only just to play a supporting role? Shocked."
"You could ask Captain Ian." Hange suggested "He was a part of our uprising so asking if he wants to volunteer may prove successful."
"Thank you that is a good suggestion." Erwin replied. "One way or another, we will take back wall Maria soon."
"Reiner!" Bertholdt yelled as he stood upon the rumble of a house. The Armoured titan lay still on the rumbling of a long abandoned street market, his armour around his body shattered like a cracked window and the armour on half his face had been tore off, clouds of smoke was pouring out of his body.
The Beast titan sat, its arms resting on its knees, as it looked at his handy work.
Bertholdt climbed up onto the Armored titan, reaching its neck. The fragments of Armour shattered as Reiner burst from the titan's neck.
"Still proven to be just as worthless as you were all those years ago." Remarked a person off from the side, as Bertholdt picked up Reiner he turned his head to face him, the guy was sitting comfortably on the platform which rested on the cart titan as they both watched him aid Reiner.
"Quiet, Porco." Bertholdt growled.
"Am I wrong?" Porco replied, Bertholdt eyed him viciously, even after all these years he never stopped hating Reiner… instead after he found a whole new reason to despise him. "Five years and no results, no how about five years and two of Marley's titan's lost because you all followed his lead." Porco reminded them "A screw up so bad that Marley now has to send more of its warriors to clean up this mess."
Reiner grumbled weakly as he tried to hold himself up to no avail. "We had to fight against those two brothers on top of capturing the coordinate!" Bertholdt yelled back in frustration. "Stop acting like you know what we went through or the pain it was dealing with them all."
"Which is exactly why we should be figuring out our next steps on how to deal with them then plan out some futile mission to save Annie." The Beast titan responded with its deep and animal like voice. "But I guess that debate is settled now." A burst of smoke erupted from the back of the Beast titan's neck as a figure emerged to stand on its shoulder, cleaning their glasses. "If we're going to beat the Elrics and capture the coordinate then all we need to do first is wait for them to come to us."
Hello everyone,
So I know I said that it might be a while till the next chapter but I was too eager to write up this up and I also developed a schedule where I focus on my work in the day and then spend an hour or two writing up a section of the chapter at night.
Hopefully I can continue to do the same thing.