Publicly Available Information of Paradis: Roughly 100 years ago the rest of humanity began hunting down those born with the genetic mutation responsible for "Titanism". A condition which, under the right circumstances, turns people into mindless man-eating giants called Titans. Fear and hatred of the Titans forced many of those with the condition to relocate to the island of Paradis and built three great walls to protect themselves from the genocidal monsters of the outside world. Especially the vicious Marleyans, who ruin the name of these people more by forcibly turning the ones they keep imprisoned into Titans to use as weapons and expand their empire, but ultimately seek their peoples extermination.
The rulers of the walls have made it their priority to ensure that the remains of their people are protected at all costs. They, to their deep regret, passed a laws stating that those on the verge of death (by accident, injury or disease) and who commit heinous crimes such as murder, rape, and treachery against the kingdom of Paradis will be forcibly injected with a special serum to turn them into Titans. This is not only a life-sentence, but it is also meant to keep the rest of the world from invading the island. All the while the government has put millions into funding for technological developments. Specifically for military purposes, including many effective forms of weaponry capable of killing Titans easily and air travel via blimps and "flying boats". The latter of which has been useful when consulting with one of the few good other countries in the world, Hizuru.
The military of the walls is divided into three main branches. There is the Military Police composed of the top ten of each class that serve the interior and guard the king. They are even given a special injection that gives them the strength and agility of a 3-meter Titan. Then there are the Garrisons, the largest branch which maintain order within the walls. Then, there is the Survey Corps, which patrol the lands outside the walls to keep an eye out for enemy forces. There is also a special division called the "Scouts", composed mainly of those who were considered top ten but chose not to join the Military Police, but also some volunteers from the high ranking members of the Military Police. Their job is the most dangerous, to infiltrate enemy nations to serve as spies.
Paradis 845
"Eren says he wants to join the Scouts," Mikasa Ackerman, who for all intents and purposes is the Jaegers adopted daughter, says bluntly.
At that moment, Carla Jaeger stops washing dishes and turns around in fear and shock. Grisha Jaeger stops packing his things. Their son, Eren, freezes before he slams his hands down on the table.
"Mikasa! I told you not to say anything!"
Carla rushes over to her son.
"Eren! What are you thinking!?" she asks scared and angry. "Do you have any idea how many people have died outside the walls!? Eaten by Titans? Killed by Marleyans?"
"I do!" Eren retorts back.
"Then why-"
"Eren. Why do you want to go out there?" Grisha asks curiously.
Eren responds passionately.
"I want to know what the outside world is like! I don't want to live my entire life in ignorance inside the Walls! Plus if no one follows their footsteps, then the lives of all who've died will be for nothing!"
Grisha's face is cold and stoic through his son's rant. But inside, his mind is turning. It seemed like all those years of subtly telling Eren that a man does whatever they have to for the prosperity of their people and referring to the scouts as the greatest people in the walls (outside Carla's hearing range) had paid off.
"I see." Grisha stands up and walks to the front door. "I'll be off now."
"Hold on, dear! Talk some sense into Eren!" Carla tells her husband.
"Carla, words can't hold back human curiosity," Grisha replies in a neutral tone, then he looks at Eren. "Eren, behave while I'm gone and when I get back I'll show you what I've been doing in the cellar. Agreed?"
Grisha pulls out the key from around his neck. Eren's eyes light up. His father never let him (or Mikasa and his mother) into his cellar. He only said that he was doing important things down there for work and that he would finally show Eren when he was "ready." Now, it looks like that time has finally come.
"Y-yes sir, you got it!"
Grisha kisses his wife goodbye and whispers something in her ear. She nods at him then he pats Mikasa on the shoulder. He makes his way outside to the family automobile. He cranks the lever in the front and when the car starts Grisha gets inside. He is pleased with himself. It took thirteen years, but he is finally able to follow through on his plan. And it couldn't have been too soon. He would retrieve Historia and bring her to his home, tell Eren the truth about Eldia, then he would return to the capital and take the Founder and use Historia to unlock it and free Eldia from Marley once and for all!
"Have a good trip!" Eren yells as Grisha drives away.
That Evening
Eren and Mikasa are outside in a part of town with their friend, Armin Arlert, who they just rescued from bullies.
"I said that Paradis should also try to make peace with the other nations instead of just preparing for war with them and they called me a heretic and hit me," Armin tells them.
"I still don't understand why you keep pressing that, Armin," Eren says as he throws pebbles in the water. "I mean they wanna kill us all just because we can be turned into Titans." Eren scoffs. "As if we would even want that."
"And yet you're the one who wants to go out and see them," Mikasa points out.
"I want to make sure our home stays safe," Eren says. "I want to seek out help from the others like us that are being kept prisoner and help them. And I wanna crush Marley before they crush us. And what's with you telling my parents!?"
"I never said I would help."
"How did they take it?" Armin asks.
"Mom…wasn't pleased," Eren says.
"I'll bet. She's just worried for you," Armin says. "Not that I blame her. There seems to be a lot of hostility in the world. But that's all the more reason we should try to make peace with them. Our small island can't win against the world, Eren."
"We have Hizuru to help us," Eren counters. "And whatever few good nations that don't treat our kind like crap."
"Of course we only have the Royal government's word on that," Armin grumbles. "All those books that my parents smuggled, they all seemed incomplete. They noticed that there were parts missing. And there were some pictures of Titans eating humans in them too. Some of them looked like soldiers. I honestly don't think the fact that we can become Titans is the whole reason they hate us. I think there's more to the story."
Eren looks down. He remembers Armin's parents and how they were good friends of his dad (of course they only met after he met Armin). They were such good people. But when they were accused of treason for harboring the very books that Armin talked about they were arrested. They are currently mindless Titans outside the walls and Armin has lived with his grandfather ever since. Up until then, Eren had no issues with the government. But now he saw them for what they are. Sheppards that raise them like cattle for eventual slaughter.
"Armin, I hate them as much as you do. But it's the outside world that's really to blame. They wouldn't be doing those things if-"
Lightning strikes.
Publicly Available Information of Marley: Roughly 2,000 years ago, Ymir Fritz made a contract with the Devil of All Earth and gained the Power of the Titans. She was a monster that ravaged Marley and birthed the Eldian race from the Devil himself. When she died her soul split into nine and gave rise to the nine Titans that formed the Eldian empire. Among the nine was the Founding Titan, held by the royal Fritz family, that can turn other Eldians into Titans. For over a thousand years the Eldians used the power of the Titans to wipe out entire cultures, force other peoples to bear their children, inflicted pain and suffering on the entire world, especially the Marleyans. They looked down on other races and attempted to wipe them out with eugenics. Then, when the warlike Eldian Devils conquered the continent of Marley (oh and the rest of the world too), they satisfied their need for death and violence by fighting amongst themselves in the Great Titan War and causing even more bloodshed amongst other peoples. The number of lives taken by the Titans is estimated to be three times that of the current world population. This continued until about 100 years ago when the great Marleyan hero, Helos, manipulated the nine families into escalating the conflict. He sought out and killed the Devil of All Earth, weakening the king. Then he allied with the Tyburs, the holders of the Warhammer Titan, the only good Eldians who were fighting for Marleyan rights. Together, they defeated six of the seven other houses, taking their Titan powers. Then they confronted and defeated the supposedly unbeatable King Karl Fritz. Though at the cost of great Helos' life, the great nation of Marley was reborn and the other nations were freed by the Eldian Devils in turn. The wicked King Fritz was forced to flee to the island of Paradis, taking only his most loyal followers with him and abandoning the rest of his Devil kin to pay for Eldia's horrific crimes. The remaining Devils deserved to be wiped out a million times over. But, out of mercy the nation of Marley spared them, provided that they and their descendants redeem themselves for their sins by swearing complete loyalty to Marley. However, before the King and what was left of the wicked empire could be executed for their crimes, the King built three massive walls made of tens of millions of Colossal Titans and he warned that if they ever interfered with their affairs the Titans would be unleashed and flatten the earth.
For the last 100 years, the great nation of Marley has sought to share its greatness with the rest of the world. However, within the last decade the Marleyan Chancellor and Council had revealed that despite the Devils promise not to unleash the "Rumbling" upon the world unless provoked, the Island Devils were planning to do just that soon. Titan researchers have yet to figure out why they have yet to do it after so many years. They can only reason that it's a fluke. Some suggest that perhaps the blow that Helos dealt the original king was so great that the new Founder is having trouble using his power.
To counter this threat, Eldian children were selected from intermittent zones all over Marley (and occupied or allied nations) to enlist in the Warrior Program. Warriors selected by the Marleyan military would be given one of the six captured Titan powers (which until now had been passed down through adult Eldian soldiers). The government's reasoning for using children was that the Devils enlist young (as many soldiers during the Titan war were 15 at least) so they would be the proper age to enlist upon arriving at the Island. Their goal was to infiltrate the military, and steal the Founder from the king before the Rumbling can commence, and kill as many Island Devils as they can. In doing so, they will be promised forgiveness for Eldia's sins and their families will be granted honorary Marleyan status. All they have to do is save the world from destruction by the evil island devils and punish them for their sins (and to a lesser degree, for abandoning them).
The chosen warriors for the Beast, Cart, Colossal, Armored, Female, and Jaw Titans are as follows: Zeke Jeager, Pieck Finger, Bertolt Hoover, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, and Marcel Gillard.
Bertolt Hoover, 12 years old and the current holder of the Colossal Titan (called that because it stands 60 meters tall), grips the edge of Shiganshina District in Wall Maria. As he looks down at the city below, he couldn't help but think it doesn't look too much different from home. It was different architecture for sure. What he could see from the tiny people below their choice of clothing was also very outdated. But he sees cars, telephone polls, etc. He is surprised that there aren't any weapons or at least surveyors at the top of the wall, but he doesn't dwell on it. He has a job to do.
His mission had gotten off to a rough start with Marcel being eaten by a Titan that morning, but his friend Reiner encouraged him and Annie to carry on their mission. To save the world from the Rumbling by taking the Founder and killing the Island Devils. Annie had carried them to the walls on her Female Titan (called so because it is the only one that has a female figure), while using her "scream" ability to summon as many Titans to the walls as they could, before becoming exhausted. Reiner in his Armored Titan (named so for its armored shell) carried them the rest of the way. Reiner took Annie, who was now unconscious, keeps a distance from the wall so Bertolt could take his colossal form. His foot is now in front of the entrance gate.
'Ok, just gotta kick right at the gate,' Bertolt thinks. 'Can't kick anywhere but this one spot. Otherwise, I might free the wall Titans.'
Bertolt lifts his massive skin-less foot up and sends it towards the gate. He heard a blast, no doubt from the force of his kick and the sounds of debris flying everywhere on the other side. He knows that behind him there are hundreds of the Titans that Marley had sent to Paradis over the years. Bertolt often wondered about the logic behind sending Titans to a place with a person that can control them. It seemed to him like they were sending the enemy foot soldiers rather than keeping them contained. But he supposed it would be a while before the Founder got word and reacted.
After breaking the wall, Bertolt felt tired. He wasn't used to his transformations, at the moment he was only using his Titan form to transform once, the explosion wipes everything out, and then he changes back to normal right after (which is fine because everyone else is dead). His Titan body collapses as he pulls himself out of the nape. Now he just needed for Reiner to grab him before the rest of the Titans reached him. Bertolt's relief dies as he feels the ground shake. He sees a shadow loom over him and a shiver goes down his spine. He turns around and sees two things. One is his friend Reiner, as the Armored Titan, running toward him with (almost) all of the mindless Titans Annie called chasing him. The second is a lone mindless Titan walking right towards him.
'OH NO!'
Bertolt looks up and he sees a 15-meter mindless Titan. Bertolt shivers as the mindless stops and looks down at him. It eyes him, making her creepy smile even scarier. Bertolt gasps. He knows he can't transform now for another day (the disadvantage of having such a massive Titan form). He screams and tries to run but the mindless grabs him.
"Nooo! Annie! Reiner!" Bertolt cries.
Reiner watches with horror and anger as he sees his friend get picked up by a mindless Titan to be eaten. As he runs towards the broken wall, he has a flashback of Marcel being eaten to save him.
"No. Not again. NOT AGAIN!" Reiner roars. "Annie!"
Annie, though still tired, screams at the top of her lungs. Though not in her Titan form, that scream is still enough to catch the Titans' attention. It looks over and sees another Titan Shifter running towards them, carrying the one that called her. Still clutching Bertolt in her hand, it is driven to head towards the Armored Titan. Reiner charges at it with all his speed and he throws an armored punch at the Titan's face. The Titan loses several teeth and steam comes out of its mouth. Bertolt falls to the ground, but he is unharmed. He looks over and he sees Reiner destroying the Titan. He pounds its face inward until one can only see a massive emission of steam. He tears off its arms and legs before lifting it up by the neck and flinging it into the crowd of other Titans charging towards them. Some of them get knocked over as the rest advance.
"Reiner!"
Reiner extends his Armored hand and Bertolt jumps on. He carries Annie and Bertolt up the wall, using his armored fingers to dig into the hardened Titan skin as the mindless enter through the breach. Once they reach the top of the wall, Reiner sets Bertolt and Annie down and they look at the city below. The Armored Titan kneels down. The armor plating on his neck shifts out of the way exposing red flesh, which the young blonde boy breaks through.
"You know, you could have just stayed as a Titan until the mindless ones were in," Reiner tells Bertolt.
"I was tired," argues Bertolt. "I really gotta build up my stamina."
"Watch Annie, I'll take care of the gate."
After climbing down the wall of the Shiganshina district, Reiner heads towards the gate leading directly to Wall Maria. On his way there, he hears shots from a cannon. As he gets closer, he sees Titans being blown away by military rounds. Soldiers in uniforms sporting a winged symbol fire Anti-Titan cannons that blow away several Titans at once. Reiner gulps, they are just like the cannons that some countries have managed to develop that were able to pierce his armor.
'Of course the Devils would have guns like that. The Founder of all people would be able to develop weapons capable of fighting his own creations. If I charge at the gate now I'm toast. I should wait until it's closed and everyone's already evacuated first.'
There are going to be a few differences from canon. I am not going to spoil anything yet, just know that some people are/were worse than they were in canon, some people are/were better, some will become better and some will become worse.
Not sure when I will get around to posting the next chapter, but just so you know this story will focus mainly on the four years between 850 and 854. With a few flashbacks to give context to why things are different.
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